Discovering what was lined up for The Stone Roses on their second Raw segment had pleased Grace and Zelina. They were going to do an appearance on A Moment of Bliss with Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross, immediately followed by a match against Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose.

The team known as Fire and Desire had recently taken a face turn, and were involved in a romantic storyline with each other. Working against them was going to be good, Grace thought. Sonya and Mandy had such different styles in the ring that it presented opponents with a lot to of options with regard to what to do during matches. The only down side was the finish that was lined up – Zelina beating Mandy with a roll up. That kind of victory didn't do much to get a new team over.

Grace had mentioned her concern to Zelina, who had agreed. At least there was a possibility that they might be able to get something done about it, for they had been summoned to see Lucy Thorne. People had a lot of positive things to say about the boss, but there was no doubt she was a micromanager. In some ways, that might be considered a good thing, Grace admitted to herself.

"So, we have the four of you tonight in a tag," Lucy said to the competitors, standing in front of her desk, with the four wrestlers standing before her. "I'm thinking about making this a short program between you, possibly finishing with a match at Hell in a Cell."

Grace looked at Sonya and Mandy, unsurprisingly seeing positive reactions on their faces. A pay-per-view match would be good for them too, helping to build on their face turn and their new angle.

"As for tonight, first things first, we've got a new entrance theme sorted out for you. I'm talking new graphics and new theme music," Lucy said, looking at Grace and Zelina.

"Awesome, thank you," Zelina said. She was the one who had made that request after Raw the previous week.

"You're welcome. So, you're going to do Moment of Bliss, with Alexa stirring the pot as only she can."

There were a few chuckles from the group. Alexa Bliss was the best shit stirrer in WWE, that was for sure. It also helped that she and Nikki Cross were the current Women's Tag Team Champions, meaning that it was in their interest to put other teams at each other's throats, keeping attention away from themselves.

Lucy looked at Grace and Zelina again. "You will rise to the bait, saying you'll show what you can do against any tag team who wants to come out and face you."

"And that's where we come in," Sonya said.

"Correct. Ladies, I know taking a loss this soon after I promised you I was going to push you isn't ideal, but this was the only way to get you on TV this week. Zelina and Grace need the win because if they lost only their second match together it would be damaging."

"We're fine with losing, but if we're going to put them over, why don't we actually put them over?" Mandy said. "What's the point of having a roll up for the finish? That does nothing for anyone. They gain virtually nothing, and we look like garbage. I'd rather take that new finisher, the.." Searching for the name, she looked at Zelina and Grace.

"Heart of Stone," Zelina said.

"The Heart of Stone," Mandy said to Lucy. "Can't I take that and lose?"

Grace hadn't spoken, but she liked what she was hearing. She hadn't worked much with Mandy so far. If this willingness to do good business was anything to judge by, she was going to enjoy doing it.

"Alright, that makes sense," Lucy said, showing the admirable quality of being willing to listen to her wrestlers and take their suggestions on-board. "We'll go with that. Work something out and use the Heart of Stone for the finish. Okay, that'll do, unless there's anything else?"

"Nothing, thank you," Sonya said on behalf of her team.

"Thanks, guys, we appreciate it," Zelina said to Mandy and Sonya, before nodding her thanks to the boss and heading for the door.

Grace followed her partner's lead, until she was stopped in her tracks.

"Grace, just a minute," Lucy said.

As the other three wrestlers left the office, Grace turned around, worried about why she might have been singled out by Lucy. She hadn't even said anything, so what could she have done wrong?

The office door was clicked shut. A smile appeared on Lucy's face. "You didn't say a word during that conversation, Grace. You were standing there looking like you wanted not to be noticed. You're on the main roster because you deserve to be here as much as anyone else who is. Find your confidence, and act like you belong."

Managing a smile in return, Grace cursed herself for giving that impression. She wasn't usually a timid person. Now that her silence had been pointed out, she wished she had said something, anything, to make her presence known. "I will," she promised, at least happy with how determined she had sounded.

"Good. Send Becky to see me, please."

"Will do. Thanks, Lucy," Grace said.

Leaving the office, Grace found Zelina waiting for her a short distance along the hallway. Waiting was the action of a good tag team partner.

"You good?" Zelina asked.

"I'm good, just pissed at myself," Grace said, resisting the temptation to kick a nearby equipment case.

"Yeah, that's my bad," Zelina said apologetically, falling in step beside her partner. "Before we went in there, I should have said to make sure you contributed something. Thorne's a strong person. She likes to see the same thing from other people. Word is she wasn't impressed with her first few conversations with Dana Brooke, now look where she is."

"Can't remember the last time she was on TV," Grace said thoughtfully. Now it made more sense why Mandy had spoken up back in the office. She looked at her partner and showed gratitude for the advice with a smile. "Thanks, Zelina."

"Sure. Please start calling me Zel, or Z. It's much more comfortable."

"You got it," Grace promised. Looking at Zelina had given her an idea. They hadn't been to makeup yet, meaning that Zelina's natural curly hair had not been straightened. The curly hair was actually a great look for her, and since Grace also had curly hair, she thought it might look good if both of The Stone Roses went with it on-screen. She pitched the idea and her reasoning to Zelina.

"I can see your logic," Zelina replied hesitantly. "Honestly, I'm not confident about going out there like this."

"Girl, why?" Grace exclaimed. "You look badass with your curls, and hot as hell, too. You should totally try it."

"You really think so?" Zelina asked, giving a smile that betrayed some nerves.

"Absolutely I think so. You know what else I think? I think it would go over great with the audience. There would be a unique vibe to our team. Let's be honest, there will those out there who think The Stone Roses is Thorne throwing shit at a wall and hoping it sticks. It's up to us to get ourselves over."

Zelina clicked her fingers. "Now that's the kind of attitude we need. That would have impressed Thorne, too. Maybe not telling her she's throwing shit at a wall, but that passion. Alright, you've talked me into it. I'm not going to have my hair straightened tonight. Let's see how we look together once we're in our ring attire."


A couple of hours later, after Grace and Zelina had both finished their sessions with WWE's Glam Squad and changed into their ring attire, they stood together and asked Bayley what she thought of their appearance.

"You look badass!" Bayley exclaimed. Voices of general agreement came from around the locker room.

"Perhaps get some ring attire that co-ordinates a bit better," Charlotte Flair said. She was over on Raw for a special appearance that night. Her comment was delivered as encouragement, not negativity.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Grace said, nodding.

"Apart from that, I think we've found the look for The Stone Roses," Charlotte smiled.

Grace looked at Zelina, feeling blessed to have been partnered with her. Whether Lucy Thorne had been throwing shit at the wall or not, Grace liked the result a lot. The more she got into The Stone Roses, the more potential she felt they had.


"Welcome to A Moment of Bliss," Alexa Bliss said to open the latest edition of her talk show. She had a beaming smile on her face, a cup of coffee in hand, tag team title belt on her lap, and Nikki Cross sitting beside her.

"Please welcome, the latest addition to the WWE women's tag team division, The Stone Roses!" Alexa said, motioning towards the stage entrance with a flourish.

There was almost no reaction to the fairly generic new entrance music, Grace heard. Oh well, she thought. The crowd had been pretty dead for most of the night. It happened sometimes. There was also the fact that no one had much of a reason to boo The Stone Roses as yet.

Walking out on the stage with Zelina, Grace made sure to wear a look of thinly concealed contempt on her face, both for the fans and for the Tag Team Champions.

Two white chairs were arranged opposite Alexa and Nikki, a microphone placed on each, ready for the guests. Zelina took one seat, leaving Grace to occupy the other.

"Welcome," Alexa said with faux sincerity. "Zelina, Grace, we saw you form The Stone Roses last week, going on to claim a victory over The IIconics. But tell me, why should Nikki and I take you seriously?" She looked first at Zelina. "I mean, you're a manager." Alexa looked at Grace, her condescending grin getting bigger. "And you? I don't even know who you are."

"You don't know who I am," Grace said, talking like she was taking the insult in her stride. Her tone then became more threatening. "Well, Alexa, while you were sat at home recovering from Ronda Rousey treating your head like a basketball, I guess you weren't watching NXT. Because if you had been, you would have seen Grace Stone holding the NXT Women's Championship. Something that you never did, by the way."

The crowd gave an 'ooohhh' at the fiery comeback, while Alexa reacted with a nasty sneer. "Oh, the NXT Women's Championship," she scoffed. "I am a five time Women's Champion on the main roster, not the little leagues."

"Enough!" Zelina snapped. "Alexa, we only agreed to be on your garbage little talk show because we have a simple message for you. We don't give a damn what championships you've won in the past, we care about the one you have now. It's not going to be tonight, but we are going to come for the Women's Tag Team Championships, you can trust me on that."

"Forgive me for not looking scared," Alexa said, looking at Nikki and rolling her eyes.

Nikki sipped her coffee, enjoying the exchange.

"Zelina, I'm sorry to be the one to point it out to you," Alexa lied, "But you've only had one match. You're going to have to do more than that to start worrying Nikki and I."

Grace rose to that challenge. "Okay, you want to see something to worry about? We're going to go to the ring right now and face the first team with the guts to come out and take us on. Watch what we do to them."

"You'll need a heart of stone not to enjoy it," Zelina said evilly.

Great line, Grace thought as she got up to head to the ring, The Stone Roses' music playing again. She was pleased with her part in the promo. As ever, Alexa had been perfect for her guests to bounce off of.

After a commercial break, Mandy and Sonya came to the ring. The match went off without a hitch, ending with the Heart of Stone, Grace getting the pin on Mandy with the bridging German suplex.

A bit of a groan of disappointment was the only reaction from the crowd when the referee got the three count. Grace celebrated her team's second important win, however she wasn't totally happy.

"We need heat," she said to Zelina when they had left the ring. If there was a positive, it was the fact that Zelina was good at getting people to hate her. At one time, as the leader of The Vega Cartel, she had been one of the most despised people in wrestling.

"It will come," Zelina assured her. "We need to establish ourselves first, then we'll go to the next level."

I hope you're right, Grace thought.


A/N: Thank you to everyone who left a review last time.

The Stone Roses worked on their look, and continued their solid, if unspectacular start to their run.

Coming up, a bit of R & R time for Grace, and she might have Roman for company.