A/N: Okay, so... after writing the last chapter of Paradigm Shift I got to thinking... and I realized it would make so much more sense if Hannah's other love interest was AJ Styles instead of Jon. So here we are. As I said in the description, I guess this is like an alternative to Paradigm Shift (choose your own adventure: Moxley or Styles!). Fair warning, the chapters are going be extremely similar in the beginning, basically swapping out Moxley for AJ. And I totally don't blame y'all at all if you hate me for doing this, but it was in my head and I really like the concept. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Sunday, April 21, 2019
Davenport, Iowa

"Alright, alright—everyone raise your glasses!" The table grew quiet as Colby called for attention, and everyone reverently raised their shot glasses and drinks in toast. "I'll try to keep this short and sweet," he started. "Tonight was The Shield's Final Chapter, and I'm not gonna lie: it's bittersweet. When The Shield debuted at Survivor Series 2012, in those god-awful turtlenecks, I had no idea that it would become one of the greatest stables in WWE history and, in my very biased opinion, all of wrestling. Those first two original years not only shaped who I am as a wrestler and person, but gave me a sister and two brothers in Hannah, Joe, and Jon. And no matter what we're going through or where we're working, I know they'll always have my back, and I'll always have theirs.

"So here's to Jon, who's going off to greener pastures. We wish you nothing but success in all your future endeavors. And here's to The Shield, the greatest faction this side of DX."

"To The Shield!" the table proclaimed, and after clinking glasses with everyone around her Hannah McMahon kicked back her shot. She twitched unpleasantly as the Jack Daniel's burned down her throat; it'd been awhile since she'd drank hard liquor, but tonight called for it.

Just over an hour ago in front of less than 12,000 fans in Moline, Illinois, The Shield had wrestled their final match. Hannah had fought back tears as she'd raised Seth, Roman, and Dean's arms in the ring for the last time; truly, it had felt as if she were closing not just a chapter, but an entire book in the anthology of her life. The Shield was what had brought her to WWE TV after years of refusing to become an onscreen character. It had been her creative outlet for all her backstage frustrations; it had molded her philosophy on the business; it had made her a stronger person, both in front of and behind the camera. It had given her love; it had given her pain. And even though the show had been a beautiful send-off for the group, it would take more than just a final match for Hannah and the rest of them to adequately close that chapter. So here they all were, just over the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, where they could all pour one out for The Shield at Colby's favorite hometown haunt.

"Hannah! What do you want? I'm buying."

She snapped out of her reverie at the sound of Baron Corbin's voice. Most of the other wrestlers on the card had come out to celebrate—either because they were good friends with Colby, Joe, and Jon, or just because they enjoyed a good time. "Oh, I'm good," she said with a shake of her head. "I'm gonna head out here in a little bit."

"What?" Joe whipped his head around when he heard that. "Six and a half years of history and you're only gonna have one shot? I'm disappointed, Hannah. As I recall, the very first time we went out drinking together you rode a mechanical bull on Bourbon Street."

Bayley's eyes lit up at that. "Are you serious?! Okay, I have to hear this story."

"No, you really don't," Hannah interrupted before Joe could elaborate. "All you need to know is it was Bourbon Street. And a lot has changed in six and a half years, Joe."

"Yeah," Fergal—a.k.a. Finn Balor—said from next to Hannah. "Now instead of staying out drinking with us she wants to get to the hotel so she can have phone sex with Kenny."

Everyone within earshot either gaped in shock or burst out laughing. Hannah backhanded Fergal's shoulder. "We don't have phone sex!" she proclaimed in disgust.

"Bullshit. You two've kept up a long-distance relationship for over a year, you must be doing something."

Hannah's entire face burned bright red. What she did behind closed doors with her boyfriend was no one's business. "Well, you're an asshole, and I think I'll take that drink now."

"That-a girl," Joe grinned.

"I'll get it," Fergal said in consolation as he got up from the table. "You know I'm just teasing you, Hannah."

"Uh huh," she muttered; but when he returned with her favorite beer all was forgiven.

The night continued on, friends and colleagues reminiscing about the past and wondering about the future, and one by one people closed their tabs and headed out to the next town, until there were only a handful left at the bar. It was nearing midnight when Hannah finally decided she should hit the road herself.

"Are you sure you don't want to crash at my place?" Colby asked as she stood from the table. "My guest room is only 20 minutes away."

"Thanks but no thanks. I'm gonna let you two," she suggestively wagged her finger between Colby and Becky, "have the house to yourselves. Besides, you know I like my midnight drives. They're cheaper than therapy."

"That I do know," Colby grinned. "Come here." He wrapped her up in a hug, and suddenly Hannah felt tears pricking at the back of her eyes again. While her relationship with each of the guys in The Shield were unique and special in their own way, her friendship with Colby was beyond. Colby was her brother, her partner in crime both on and off-screen, and the best friend she'd ever had. Now that The Shield was officially disbanded, she didn't know if they'd ever get to work together on TV again—and, deep down, that was what really got her.

"Okay, I'm gonna start crying again," she forced a smile as she pulled away and wiped her eyes. "I gotta get out of here." She turned to Becky and gave her a warm hug. "See you at the next one."

"Drive safe, alright?" Becky said. "Send us a text when you get to the hotel."

"I will," she said, and with another wave she went up to the bar to settle her tab. AJ Styles was there ordering another drink. Seeing him, Hannah realized she hadn't talked to him all night. Although, given what was going on, he probably wanted to be left alone.

He noticed her, too. "Hannah! You're not leaving already, are you?" he asked when he saw her pull out her credit card. "This is your party! It's barely midnight!"

She smiled. "Well, it's not really my party. And I definitely can't go as hard as the boys—I'm kind of a lightweight. It's sad, really. My Irish ancestors would probably disown me."

"Come hang out with me and the boys," he said, presumably meaning Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. "We'll teach you how to drink."

"Lord, you'd probably kill me. The amount of alcohol Gallows alone can put back would put me in the hospital."

"Well obviously," he returned. "That's why we'd start you out at Karl's pace. He's the lightweight in our group."

Hannah let out a laugh. "I'll be sure to tell him you said that."

The bartender brought her receipt. She left a generous tip—he deserved it for dealing with a bar full of wrestlers—signed her name and slid it back toward him; but she didn't want to leave just yet. She couldn't, not without checking in on him first. She just wasn't sure how to broach the topic.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here tonight," she ventured. It was as good a place to start as any.

AJ shrugged. "Well, I'm on TV tomorrow so I figured why not? I'd rather be here than home right now, anyway."

There it was. He'd opened the door for her, but she was afraid to go in. By now everyone had heard what was going on with AJ—the WWE locker room was as bad as high school, it was impossible to keep your personal business to yourself—but that didn't mean it was up for discussion. If Hannah was going through a separation, she certainly wouldn't want to talk about it with her coworkers. But she might want to talk about it with a friend; and she and AJ were friends.

"I'm really sorry." That was all she said. It wasn't her place to say anything more.

He glanced down at his beer. "It is what it is. I learned a long time ago not to get upset over things I can't change."

"Well, at least your tattoo is for your kids, so you won't have to change that." Hannah's eyes widened, suddenly mortified. Had she said that out loud? "Oh my God," she backtracked, her face burning red. "I'm a fucking idiot. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Hey," he cut her off. He was smirking. "It's ok. I've had the same thought."

She clamped her mouth shut, embarrassed. At least she hadn't offended him. "Well, I'm gonna go before I shove my foot in my mouth any further." She gave a sheepish wave and turned on her heel, eager to escape her shame—but AJ stopped her.

"Hannah." He put his hand on her arm, and she turned back around to face him. It took a second for her to work up the nerve to meet his gaze; but when she did, his eyes were sincere. "Thank you for not asking me how I'm doing. I'm sick of people asking that."

She mustered a grin, however small. "Well, I figured it'd be a stupid question."

He gave a wry laugh as if to say, Yeah, it would be.

"See you tomorrow," she said, and she walked as quickly as she could out of the bar and to the illuminated parking lot where her rental sat. She dialed Kenny as soon as she climbed into the SUV. He answered on the third ring.

"Hey, baby."

Hannah relaxed back into the driver's seat. Hearing Tyson's soft voice floating through the speaker immediately put her at ease. "Hey. You haven't been up waiting on me, have you?"

"Well, technically not; I'm up playing video games. But you know I can't sleep until I know you've made it to the next stop."

"I know," she said apologetically. "I'm leaving Davenport now; I should be in Des Moines in about two and a half hours. I honestly probably should have left here an hour ago."

"Why?" he sounded surprised. "Is everything okay?"

She sighed. "Yeah. Tonight was just… emotional. The Shield was like my version of Bullet Club or The Elite, you know? And now it's over."

"I know. But it was time. You've all outgrown it, and now you're each going on to do more amazing things. And from now until the end of time everyone will look back at The Shield as the thing that first put four incredible performers on the map."

Now, her smile risked splitting her face in two. God, she was in love with this man. "How do you always know exactly what to say?"

"It's a preternatural gift, I can't explain it."

"Well, thank you. And you're right. But nostalgia's a hell of a drug."

"That it is. But don't you worry; in two more days I'll put you through a strict detox program."

She bit her lip at the thought. After SmackDown's show in Lincoln, Nebraska on Tuesday she'd make the short two-hour flight to Winnipeg to spend a few days with Tyson before she had to be back on the road Friday. That was how they'd managed their time together ever since he'd left NJPW in January: splitting their free days between his place in Canada and hers in Connecticut, or wherever was most convenient. It could be stressful at times, and Hannah lived out of a suitcase—but it was the same for any other pro wrestler who maintained a relationship with someone outside the business. The only difference was that Tyson was in the business; he just worked for a different company. A rival company. But they both chose not to think about that.

"Oh really? And what will you prescribe, Dr. Omega?"

"I have a few pretty intense regimens planned," he said, and Hannah couldn't help herself—she let out a laugh. "What?"

"Back at the bar Fergal accused me of wanting to leave early so I could go have phone sex with you. I told him we don't do that, but this is sure starting to sound like it."

"Please, this is barely phone foreplay. Besides, Fergal doesn't have any room to throw stones about phone sex."

"Yeah, don't wanna know," Hannah quickly said. "But I'll be counting down the days until Tuesday. I'm excited to finally get to spend some time with you in Winnipeg again. I feel bad that you've mostly been the one traveling to see me the last month."

She could almost hear him shaking his head through the phone. "Don't. You've been really busy and I haven't. And if the roles were reversed, I know you'd travel to see me."

"I would," she said, and in that moment her heart swelled with joy. She was so lucky to have found someone as understanding and supportive as Tyson. It made all the difference. "Well, I'm on the highway now, so I'll let you get back to your game. I'll text you when I get to the hotel."

"Ok. Drive safe and listen to loud music."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

Hannah ended the call, her soul a million times lighter. She turned up the radio and focused on the road ahead, the past in the rearview mirror. As she'd told Colby, midnight drives were cheaper than therapy.