"So, how are you feeling?" Shane asked the tiny girl kindly.
"Ahh, nervous, but I'll live." Josie replied with a small laugh. "I really can't wait to get started."
"I'm sure you'll still be saying that once you've been travelling for months on end without a break and have a bad back from all of those crappy motel beds you have to sleep in." He teased with a wink and Josie rolled her eyes.
"Hmm, well seeing what it's done to you I suppose I should be a bit worried." She teased and Shane looked injured.
"Hey, watch it! You'd better remember who's the boss around here, young lady." Shane swatted her on the shoulder and Josie chucked lightly.
"From recollection, I think it's actually your Father who's the real boss around here." She reminded him primly and he laughed loudly.
"Well then you'd better remember who WILL be the boss when Vinnie-Mac retires." They arrived at the Women's locker room and Shane banged loudly on the door.
"JOANIE!!!"
A few minutes later the door opened and a leather-clad Joanie Laurer stepped out, looking very pissed off. Her expression changed dramatically as she saw her young friend standing next to Shane.
"Oh my God!!! Jose, what are you doing here?" She rushed over and swept her up in a big hug, Shane couldn't help but laugh, Joanie absolutely dwarfed Josie.
"Oh, I just thought I'd better come and check out my new home."
"WHAT? You're working here?" Joanie asked as she pulled away from Josephine with a huge smile on her face, "Hang on a second, why didn't Shawn tell me about this?" Her expression changed back to a scowl.
"Well, he doesn't know about it either, it's been kinda top secret until now." She admitted
"Ah, fair enough." She realised why and kept her mouth shut. "So, who are you working with?"
"That reminds me...." Shane cut in and explained to Joanie what he needed her to do.
"That's all right. Come on, we should go and let Giant-Killer Simba get to work." She said in a mocking tone and dragged Josie into the women's locker room, leaving Shane standing there with a mock hurt expression on his face.
"Thanks Shane!" Josie called out over her shoulder.
"Attention everybody, please!" Joanie yelled out once they were in the room. All the women looked up.
"I want you all to meet my good friend Josie, she's new here but I expect you to treat her with the same respect you treat me, OK?" She asked with a threatening look on her face.
"Joanie! Are you trying to get me beat up?" Josie joked, only slightly embarrassed as Jacqueline stood up made her way over to the odd pair, laughing.
"Hi, Josie, I'm Jackie. It's nice to meet you, I've seen you work, you've got some pretty impressive moves." She smiled at her, shaking her hand.
"Thanks." Josie said, blushing shyly and Jackie laughed.
"Okay, now for introductions. That's Terri. Don't worry about her, she'll warm up after a while." Jackie added the last bit under her breath, pointing to a petite blond who was looking Josie up and down with a smirk on her face.
"Tori and Trish are giving each other make-up tips," She pointed to two blondes sitting over near the mirror. They both smiled at her curiously and waved.
"Lisa is over there." The woman known as Ivory gave her a warm smile and then went back to searching for something in her bag, "and I'm guessing you know those three behind you." Josie turned around to see Amy Dumas, Stacey Carter and Debra McMichael grinning at her like mad women.
She laughed, "I sure do. Thanks Jackie." She smiled at the older woman and then turned to look at the others. Stacey squealed and threw her arms around Josie's neck.
"When did this happen?" She asked excitedly
"Well, to be honest it's been in the works for ages."
'Really?" She asked and moved out of the way as Debra came over and gave Josie a hug too. Out of all of the women there, she was closest to Joanie and Debra, but she was still fairly close to Stacey and got along well with Amy.
"How have you been since last time I saw you?" Debra asked her quietly.
"Yeah, OK. I'm very lucky to still be working." She replied quietly, so that no one else but Debra, Stacey, Amy and Joanie could hear.
"You're lucky to be alive, never mind still working." Stacey lectured.
"I know, I know." Josie rolled her eyes, having heard it all before.
Amy looked at her curiously, "what happened?"
"Oh, had a bit of a fall from a cage...I got over it." She smiled at her, "So, it looks like we're going to be working together for a little while." She recounted her conversation with Jim, Amy's eyes lit up when she heard about the "little spot" that she and Josie were going to have at Wrestlemania.
"We'd better make it special then, huh?" She asked with a wicked grin on her face and Josie chuckled.
"My sentiments exactly."
"Hey, I'm not letting either of you go out there and try to kill yourselves, that's Rainbow's job. And besides, Josie, if I don't look after you, Shawn will kill me." Josie rolled her eyes as she heard Joanie's familiar lecture.
"Joanie, I know what I'm doing and if Shawn has anything to say to you about this, tell him from me that I'm not a little girl anymore and I can take care of myself."
Joanie held her hands up in an innocent pose, "Fine, but if he starts to blame me, I won't be impressed."
"I'd better take you to meet the boys now." Amy took her hand and started to drag her out of the room when Stacey grabbed Josie's bag, "You might as well leave that here, you'll be coming back."
"You'd better hurry back kiddo, I want to know why I only found out about all of this 6 days before your debut." Debra said with a raised eyebrow.
"Okay, okay! I'll be back soon." Amy grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room.
Once they got into the corridor they almost immediately bumped into Adam and Jason who were in full costume.
"Hey guys. Got a second?" Amy asked.
"Yeah, we've got a while, we were just going to talk to Shane about what's happening at Wrestlemania, no one's told us anything." Jason said, checking out Josie curiously.
Amy laughed, "Do you know where Matt and Jeff are? I'm sure you'll all want to hear what I have to say."
Adam nodded and yelled out, "MATT! JEFF! YOU'RE WANTED!"
Josie flinched, "God, is that all you people ever do around here, yell?" Adam flashed her one of his famous grins and Jason shook his head laughing as Matt and Jeff appeared out of one of the rooms just a bit up the corridor, Matt had a blue shirt on but Jeff was shirtless.
"But I wanted to wear the blue one." Josie thought she heard Jeff grumble. Matt ignored him.
"Do you really HAVE to yell to get our attention Copeland?" Matt asked, looking a bit annoyed.
"Amy wanted you." Adam shrugged his shoulders.
"That doesn't mean you have to send us all deaf." Josie said, rubbing her ear.
"Hey! Don't you start on me, we haven't even been introduced." He asked, trying to look injured.
She shrugged and grinned at him. "Well, I have to start sometime."
"You really learn fast Josie." Amy said giggling. "OK, guys, this is my friend Josephine Bolton. Josie, this is Adam Copeland, Jason Reso and Matt and Jeff Hardy."
"Hi, nice to meet y'all." She said, going a bit shy again.
"Josie will be working with us at Wrestlemania, they're bringing her in as 'Taker and Kane's little sister." The guy's jaws dropped.
"I know it's more than a little hard to imagine a little runt like me as their sister, but I am a lot tougher than I seem." She said quietly and Adam grinned at her again.
"I know, I saw that fall you took a few months ago when you were valeting for some guy. She did a moonsault from the top of the cage and hit her head on that chair, remember?" He informed the other guys who rolled their eyes and nodded.
"Was that supposed to happen?" He asked and Josie shook her head, frowning at the memory, it was pretty painful at the time.
"How could we forget? You kept making us watch that match again and again because you thought the other girl valeting was cute." Matt said dryly.
Josie started laughing. "It's always nice to hear that people remember your matches, not because of the effort you put in, but for the valets that accompany you to ringside."
"I didn't mean it like that." Matt said, worried that he'd offended her.
"I know, sorry." She grinned, "That's just what my ex-boyfriend would say. I should have known that wasn't going to come out right, nothing I say ever does." She smiled at Matt and he laughed softly. "But still, this will be interesting." She said shaking her head with a mischievous grin.
"What?" Jason asked looking confused.
"I remember the girl you're talking about. Long blond hair, very tall, slim and wore lots of blue?" She asked and Adam nodded eagerly, hoping for some information.
"That woman is my best friend Angel and she's hopelessly smitten with you."
"Really?"
"Really, and she's also coming to work here soon."
Adam's grin widened. "You're right, this should be interesting." Josie shook her head, reading his mind.
"Uh-uh, no way. Not if you know what's good for you." He looked at her puzzled and Josie sighed. "Just be careful, she goes through guys like she does clothes."
He looked thoughtful, then grinned wickedly.
Josie saw that look and groaned, "I don't think I want to know what you're planning."
"What?" He asked innocently and Jay just shook his head with a grin; he knew exactly what Adam was like and knew that he would find a way around any obstacle that was in his way.
"Okay, do you think we could meet up tonight after Raw? We need to discuss some ideas for Sunday." Amy asked the guys, getting back on the subject of Wrestlemania.
"Yeah, but there's one problem, we don't even know what's going to happen at Wrestlemania, except that we're in a cage match for the titles and that you'll be leaving us for Adam and Jay." Jeff replied.
"I've talked to Jim about that and he's explained some of it to me. I'm going to try to distract you guys," Josie pointed at Adam and Jay, "to help you win the titles," she pointed to Matt and Jeff, "Amy will try to stop me, then we'll fight...Jim wants us all to get together either tonight or tomorrow so we can sort out details and think up ideas. He also wants to meet with us Wednesday or Friday to see what we came up with." Josie was blushing self consciously as they watched her intently.
"Well, I can fit it in tonight, can you guys?" Jeff asked and the others nodded.
"If it's easier, this can be done another time. You all look exhausted." Josie said with a concerned look on her face.
"We're used to it now, besides, I never get much sleep after any show, unless I'm almost dead." Matt said with a weary smile. "But thanks for asking."
"Well, we have to go and find Shane. You guys should keep talking and work out a place to meet. Will you let us know the details?" Adam asked Matt.
"Yes, sure. Now go." Matt replied, glancing at Jeff, who was watching Josie with a smile on his face.
'Uh oh! Here we go again!' Matt thought, rolling his eyes and glanced at Amy, who rolled her eyes too.
"So, where and when are we going to meet?" Amy asked Matt, he was obviously the decision-maker of the brothers, when a voice boomed out from behind Josie.
"Do my eyes deceive me?" Josephine closed her eyes and hoped that Paul wouldn't embarrass her. "Josephine Bolton! Sean told me you were here and I didn't believe it." She turned around to see Paul Levesque aka Triple H advancing toward her.
"Hey Hunter." She said nervously as she realised that he looked a bit pissed off.
"I have a question for you. Why is it I only found out NOW that you're working here?" He asked stopping in front of her.
"It was sort of a secret, no one else knew until now."
"Oh, I see. You didn't trust me, is that it, you thought I'd turn around and tell your Dad about it, huh?" He asked seeming angry and hurt.
"It wasn't like that Paul." She sighed, trying to stay calm. "I just figured that if I was going to keep it a secret, then I'd best not tell anyone in case someone that I'm close to got pissed off if I told someone else and not them. If I told you, then I'd have to tell Jo, if I had to tell Jo, then I had to tell Debra, then Stacey...do you see my point?" She asked exasperated. Paul's eyes searched her face for a minute before his expression softened.
"Does Shawn know you're here?"
"Nope."
"He's going to kill you, you know that?" Josie considered this before shrugging it off.
"I wasn't going to give him the chance to talk me out of it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep these things from people you know and love? Especially your family." Paul smiled sympathetically and nodded.
"I know. Look Jose, I'm sorry I just acted like a jerk. I was just a bit hurt you know? You're like a little sister to me. I worry about you."
"Yeah, I'll bet that's only because if anything happens to me while you're around, Shawn will kill you." She giggled.
He grinned and nodded, "I do have to look after myself too you know, and if I don't leave now I'll have to worry about the boss killing me." He looked at Josie gently before giving her a peck on the forehead. "Just promise me you'll be careful Jose." He whispered, looking deeply into her eyes. She nodded, unable to speak for the lump in her throat. He smiled and stepped away. "See you guys later!" He said to the others and walked back down the corridor.
"Paul." Josie called after him and he turned around with a worried look on his face, "I do trust you, you know that right?"
"I know kid. We'll talk later." He smiled at her and then kept walking. Josie turned back to the others who looked very confused.
"Do you mind if I ask what the hell that was about?" Matt asked with an amused grin on his face, it wasn't often one saw The Game beaten like that. Josie looked uneasy and was about to answer when her beeper went off.
"I have to take this. It's my friend Angel, and she doesn't usually page me unless it's urgent." Josie asked, looking worried.
"Yeah, go on. If we're not here when you get back, we'll be out in the arena." Matt answered.
"Okay, thanks." She smiled and bolted toward the exit. Matt turned to Jeff, who hadn't taken his eyes off Josie. "NO!"
Jeff looked at Matt, startled. "What?"
"I said, no. At least let the poor girl get settled in before you break her heart."
"What are you talking about?" He looked really upset. Matt and Amy looked at each other and shook their heads in defeat.
Ten minutes later, Josie returned with her bag. She had a look on her face that sat somewhere between extreme anger and worry.
"What's the matter?" Jeff asked quickly.
"Something happened to Gabrielle, Angel's sister. I have to go." She was shaking so fiercely that it looked like she was about to collapse.
"You can't go alone. Not in this condition." Jeff replied. "You'll get yourself killed. I'll take you."
Matt looked annoyed, "Jeff, you don't have time. We'll find someone else to take her."
"I won't be long. I'll just take Josie to get her friends, then I'll come straight back. Vince won't even have to find out." He had a stubborn look on his face that told them he wasn't going to change his mind. Josie and Amy looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
"Thank you for the offer Jeff, but Matt's right. I have to do this myself. I won't get you into trouble." Josie said firmly. Jeff was about to respond when Joanie walked up to them. She had thrown a tracksuit on over her costume.
"What's going on?"
"I have to go and get Angel and Gabrielle."
"What's happened?" Joanie asked, looking worried.
"It's Michael...he..." Josie's voice was shaking and she couldn't finish what she was saying.
"OK. I'll take you to get them, Vince doesn't need me until later."
"I was going to take her." Jeff objected stepping forward.
"Sorry hun, you, Matt and Amy are wanted by the boss. Don't worry Jeffy, I'll bring her right back here so you can see her. She isn't going to disappear, you know." Joanie teased. He pulled a face at her and Josie just glared.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"Well, if you're coming we'd better go now."
"OK. Tell Vince we'll be back soon." She called to the guys as she walked towards the exit. Josie stayed behind for a second and as Jeff began to walk away she grabbed his arm.
"Thanks Jeff, I really appreciate what you did...or tried to do."
"Anytime." He smiled and walked away.
"Jeff!" She called and he turned around with a quizzical look on his face, "I think you'd look better in the purple shirt." He laughed as Josie turned and ran to catch up to Joanie.
Well, that's chapter 2 up and gone. I know it was a bit long, but I had a lot to fit in in a short amount of time.
Thanks to Phoenix-Satori10 and Lizi123 for the reviews! They are mucho appreciated and I hope the story continues to meet your approval. :o)
I shall update as soon as I am able!