Walking through the curtain back into Gorilla, Mandy didn't know what to expect. A standing ovation was overdoing it, but some kind of positive response would be good.

What actually happened could be summed up with two words: not much. Fit Finlay was busy with Ember Moon, who was going to be entrant number twenty-nine. Vince McMahon and his small team were busy producing the show, and said nothing to Raquel or Mandy.

It wasn't until they walked out of Gorilla that they got some feedback. Hunter Helmsley happened to be walking towards them. Needless to say, he had something of a vested interest in Raquel, along with all other NXT graduates.

"Nice job out there, guys," Hunter said, a broad smile appearing on his face. "Raquel, you looked powerful, fearsome, and dominant, exactly how I pictured it. Mandy, nice work."

"Thank you," Mandy said as Raquel hugged her mentor and former boss.

"I'm so pleased you thought it went well," Raquel said to him.

"Didn't you think it went well?" he asked.

"Yes, but your opinion means a lot to me."

"Glad to hear it. You just keep doing what you did in NXT, and what you did out there tonight. You've got a big future ahead of you."

"I will. Thank you," Raquel said emotionally.

"You might want to stop by the doctor's office though. Natalya took a bit of a rough landing on that gorilla press. Looks like she got a sprained ankle or something. It was nothing you did wrong, but put your head around the door and ask if she's okay. You know the deal."

"Sure, I'll do that," Raquel said.

Hunter nodded. On his way past Mandy, he gave her a smile and a little more praise. "Good work. Keep it up tomorrow night."

Mandy acknowledged him with a nod and smile, although she was feeling concerned by what he had said about Natalya. Obviously she knew that wrestling hurt the performers. Sometimes seriously nasty injuries happened - she had witnessed many happen on live TV over the years. What she didn't know what how the wrestlers reacted to each other in the back when something like that happened. It was something that Roman had never talked about. Hunter hadn't seemed too concerned about it, she reasoned. But then he wasn't the one in the doctor's room with a banged up ankle.

"Is this bad for us?" she asked Raquel uncertainly.

"Us? You didn't hurt anyone," Raquel replied, half raising an eyebrow.

"We're a team now, right? If you're going to get shit for something, I'll be there beside you. I'd expect you to do the same because, like you said, we've got to have each other's backs come what may."

"You're right," Raquel said. She looked a little impressed, and maybe a little grateful for what she had just heard. That meant a lot to Mandy. "I'm sure it'll be fine anyway. It's not exactly rare to catch someone a bit stiff or to drop them a bit awkwardly. It's considered polite to apologise to them and ask if they're okay, even if it was an accident on your part."

"Makes sense. Shall we go?" Mandy said.

"So, what did you think of how I looked out there?" Raquel asked as they resumed walking along the hallway.

"My opinion matters to you?" Mandy asked, somewhat surprised, in a good way.

"You said you've watched wrestling for twenty years. I assume that means that although you don't get in the ring and wrestle, you can tell whether someone looks good or if they're the shits."

"You looked great," Mandy said honestly. "You were ripping through those girls. It looked like you could have thrown them all out one by one if you wanted to, until Lacey's part came up. If I had been watching as a fan at home, I'd have been impressed with what I saw."

"That's good to hear," Raquel said with a smile.

Mandy found the exchange interesting. After having received praise from Triple H, there was no need for Raquel to require any further validation of her performance, certainly from Mandy. It told her that her new friend didn't feel as confident inside as she tried to project outwardly. Given her concerns before arriving at the stadium, and before going out to perform, Mandy could definitely relate to that. She hoped they could help each other to become confident in time.

"What about me? How do you think I did?" Mandy asked.

"Very well," Raquel said without needing to consider it. "They didn't give you much to say, but what you did say was delivered with passion, with conviction. And you were good after I put Lacey through the table, yelling at her that it's what she gets. It made it look like I'm your one woman wrecking crew, ready to be set on whoever you see fit."

"I like that," Mandy said, smiling.

"Me too. We need to try and make sure they continue in that direction for us tomorrow night, if that's not what they intend already."

They reached the doctor's room, finding the door closed. Raquel knocked on it, opened it and walked in. Mandy followed her.

"Natalya, Hunter said you took a rough landing and hurt your ankle," Raquel said. "I'm sorry if I dropped you a bit hard. How bad is it?"

Natalya was lying on an examination table, her right foot raised up, in the process of being iced by the doctor. She looked pissed off. When she spoke, she sounded it too. "Sorry if you dropped me a bit hard? Seriously? You launched me so far out of the ring that I missed the floor mat and landed on the aisle, on the concrete. How can you be so clumsy?"

"Sorry, I didn't realise I threw you that far. I didn't mean to," Raquel said humbly.

"Well, it's not an ankle injury. The doc was just saying he thinks it's a broken heel."

"That would be my guess," the doctor confirmed. "It'll need an x-ray tomorrow after the swelling goes down."

"RIP me for a few months," Natalya said sarcastically. "Thanks, Raquel. As luck would have it, I was hoping to miss Wrestlemania."

Mandy was getting annoyed by the supposed veteran's tone. It was obvious to anyone that the injury was the result of nothing more than an unfortunate accident. "Look, she didn't hurt you on purpose. It was an accident," she said defensively.

"What the fuck would you know about it?" Natalya snarled, turning on Mandy.

Her reaction triggered Raquel, who fired right back at her. "Don't talk to her like that! If you want to be mad at me, that's one thing. I'm not going to stand here while you speak to her like shit."

"I think you should just get out," Natalya said heatedly.

"Yes, go, please," the doctor said in a non-confrontational tone. Mandy figured he wanted to get on with his work in peace. Personally, she was happy to leave. To her, Natalya's behaviour was unprofessional. If Raquel had hurt her on purpose she might have been justified, but that quite plainly was not the case.

Thinking better of saying anything else, Raquel left the room. Mandy follower her out and closed the door quietly out of respect to the doctor. It certainly wasn't his fault that the heated exchange had taken place in his room.

"Thanks for having my back in there," Raquel said as the started walking towards the locker room.

"I was about to say that to you," Mandy said. "I don't know why she was like that with either of us. It's obvious you didn't mean to hurt her. I mean, why would you? And you apologised."

"Yeah, exactly. I get being pissed off about getting a potentially serious injury, but the way she spoke to you? There was no excuse for that. Fuck her. If she thinks she's going to act like that and I'm going to shut up and take it because I'm new here she's got another thing coming. Hunter didn't criticise the gorilla press, so that's good enough for me. I think I'll tell the locker room what has happened and get ahead of it. She was in the wrong, but I don't want me, or you for that matter, getting a bad rep if they hear her version first."

"Good idea. I'm glad I was there so that I can back you up if I need to, although I'll only be telling the truth," Mandy said.

"Shall we do it straight away, do you think?"

Mandy shook her head. "No. The rumble match is still going on, and everyone will be watching it. They're not going to want us talking over it. I know it would get on my nerves if I were them."

Raquel gave a sideways smile. "Apparently you're the brains of this operation."

Mandy decided she could risk a pretty strong joke in response. "Yes, you just stand behind me and look fierce. I'll do the thinking and the talking."

Raquel laughed, which made Mandy happy. "Careful, girl. You've got a very pretty face that I could mess up very quickly."

"Noted," Mandy said, giggling.

They had made it back to the women's locker room. Raquel pushed the door open and led the way inside. Some vague words of praise came her way, but everyone's attention was on the TV on the wall, which was showing rumble match. Mandy went with Raquel over to their lockers and sat down to watch it.

It suddenly dawned on Mandy that she didn't know who was going to win. It felt pretty remarkable and exciting to be in the dark even as a WWE employee. Having the chance to continue enjoying the action as a fan was nice.

In the end it was the returning Ronda Rousey who won the match, having entered at number thirty. She too was returning with a heel turn, Mandy saw as she watched the finish and the ensuing reaction to it. Whether booking the same idea for her and for Roman later in the night was a good idea, Mandy wasn't quite sure. But booking was not her job, managing Raquel was.

When the pay-per-view went to a WWE commercial, Mandy looked at her new friend and got a nod in response. It was time to speak up about the Natalya incident.

"Guys, before the next match gets going, can I just say something?" Raquel said, drawing everyone's attention.

Charlotte Flair walked in at that moment, noting right away that something was up. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I was just going to tell everyone that I had a bit of an exchange of words with Natalya," Raquel said. "She took a rough landing when I gorilla pressed her out of the ring. The doctor says it might be a broken heel. I apologised to Natalya, but she got aggressive with me and with Mandy. I reacted to it and got aggressive back, which I admit I shouldn't have done. I just wanted you all to know what happened because the last thing I had in mind for my first night on the main roster was to be involved with something like this. I'm not a confrontational person."

"I don't know what's wrong with Nattie lately," Bayley said from across the room. "She's been snapping at everyone for weeks now. I wouldn't worry about it."

"Agreed," Charlotte said. "I didn't see anything wrong with what you did. It was a gorilla press out of the ring. It's a dangerous spot. Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have done anything differently to how you did it."

Muttered words of agreement came from several people around the room. They were like music to Mandy's ears. As quickly and surprisingly as it had started, the drama had been dismissed by her colleagues. Onwards and upwards, she thought hopefully.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review on the previous chapter.

Who do you think was in the wrong? Raquel or Natalya?