"The Walls of Jericho on Tamina! CJ has The Walls locked in!" CJ could faintly hear Cole's shouting over the roar of the crowd. Hearing them cheer never got old to her; even if she wasn't sure that they were cheering because they liked her, or because Tamina was getting it handed to her. Either way, they were cheering about something she was doing so she didn't care which direction it was going.
CJ hated using The Walls because she never got to see her opponent's hand come down on the mat whenever they submitted. There was something about watching somebody tap the canvas, whether slowly or rapidly, that made CJ feel powerful. It showed her that she was excellence personified, and she loved every second of it. The sound of every tap made her heart swell with pride, especially when she was putting down somebody to prove a point. Her point of the night was aimed at AJ, letting the Diva's Champion know that she would be sharing a fate similar to her bodyguard. AJ was going to tap out at the Royal Rumble and there would be a new champion. A better champion. A true champion.
Once the ref finally managed to get CJ to release the hold on Tamina it finally dawned on her that the music playing wasn't her theme(her fathers that The Authority wanted her to use), but instead it was Batista's. He was standing in the corner furthest away in as athletic a stance he could get in skinny jeans, just waiting for her to turn around. He knew that she hadn't done anything to deserve what was to come, but she was going to learn how to speak to her elders and he would be teaching her that lesson in the form of a spear on international television. But not just any spear; a full force, running sprint, spear that a grown man could barely take so the 125lb woman that was about to be the recipient of this volatile maneuver probably wouldn't be walking out of the arena tonight without assistance.
CJ could hear Jerry shouting at her to get out of the ring, but stubborn was her middle name and she couldn't back down from what she knew was a challenge. So, she did what everybody in the arena was praying she wouldn't do.
She turned around.
But she had barely taken two steps before what she assumed would be the force of a golf cart at top speed rammed her directly in her midsection, taking her off her feet, and slamming her to the mat. Her head hit the canvas hard and the last thing she saw before blacking out was Dave's satisfied smirk as he stood over her.
Dean, Seth, and Roman were waiting by the audience entrance when CJ got speared. They heard the crowd in a frenzy over something, and then all the noise was reduced to being almost inaudible through the doors. That was a rare occurrence at a WWE live event, and The Shield was puzzled.
"What match was before ours?" Seth asked, looking between his taller teammates and Dean scratched the back of his head in consideration.
"Tamina versus CJ." One of their security guards informed and Dean's eyes widened.
"You sure? I could've sworn that I heard Batista's music." Seth stated and Dean nodded in agreement. The security guard didn't have time to prove himself, because Special Op started and he had to open the door for the three men.
Even from the top of the stairs, Dean could see CJ being wheeled out on a stretcher by EMTs and the ringside doctor. He could feel the worry build up inside of him as he made his way down the stairs, but his eyes stayed cold as ever while he tried his best to avoid the hands of the WWE Universe. He hated being touched by strangers against his will, he didn't really like touching in general unless he initiated the contact or was in a match, but he dealt with being touched on a nightly basis. He liked that The Shield made a unique entrance, but he would've preferred being given his own little bubble to protect himself and that's where the jacket came into play. The jacket that he carelessly discarded onto the floor with with United States title once he hopped over the barricade, the jacket that he would sometimes envision CJ wearing when he had nothing else to think about.
"Are you going to be able to focus, man?" Roman asked, looking to see Dean bouncing on his toes.
"I'm focused." The dishwater blonde assured as he watched the ramp area carefully as the stretcher she was on disappeared from his view.
There was obvious favoritism in the WWE. That much was made clear to CJ when she was made the victim of a spear from a man twice her size for no damn reason and had three ribs broken, which caused her title match to be moved to a later date, and all Batista got was a slap on the wrist. She hated Hunter before, and now all she wanted was to punch him in his stupidly oversized beak.
"CJ you look upset, as you should, but it's what's best-"
"For business. Yeah, I figured you'd say that." CJ cut off Stephanie with a pained smile before sliding off of the exam table.
"You shouldn't be moving so soon, Chris-" Hunter tried to stop her, but CJ only slapped his hands away and continued to walk.
"I'm fine. I'm taped up, and now I need to get changed." She called as she limped out of the trainer's office, Hunter and Stephanie following close behind. "And it's CJ."
"CJ. I can understand that you're upset, but there's no need to cause further damage to yourself because you're in a rage." Stephanie was trying her best to calm down the pissed off Canadian, but CJ wasn't having any of her fake sympathetic tone.
"I want Batista suspended for what he did to me. He had no right to put his hands on me and you both know it."
"You're right. But, we're not suspending Dave." Hunter stated, easily mirroring CJ's glare as they all stopped in front of the Diva's locker room.
"The obvious favoritism here makes me sick."
"It's not favoritism, CJ." Hunter corrected as he opened the door to the locker room for her. "It's what's best for business."
"Why don't we give you a little security service?" Stephanie suggested, looking up at Hunter before looking down at CJ. "Just so we can guarantee that you heal up without any incidents and get your title shot as soon as humanly possible."
"I don't need bodyguards, Stephanie. I appreciate the offer, but no." CJ stated before entering the locker room, slamming the door shut and heading over to her bag. She knew that there was no way she'd get back into her jeans in her extremely sore state, so she opted to just remove her shoe covers and just pull on sweatpants. She'd call Brie or Nattie at the hotel and ask them to help her get her ring gear off later.
"Hey, CJ, Seth Rollins is asking for you." Alicia informed as she entered the locker room and CJ sighed, but picked up her bag and made her best effort to look like she wasn't in pain while carrying it out.
"You're not changing?" Seth asked right off the bat and she shook her head.
"Don't pretend to care, Seth. What do you want?"
"I want to apologize for what I said. I didn't mean it, but I was just so pissed off and jealous and you calling me junior certainly didn't help and-"
"That doesn't make up for that low blow, Rollins." She interrupted and Seth sighed. "Don't you sigh at me. You know almost everything about me, Seth, and you said what was probably the worst thing you could ever say to me. I can understand you being upset, but that's no reason to say what you said. I accept your apology, but I don't forgive you just yet."
"I can respect that. I really am sorry, CJ."
"I know. I've got to go get some sleep, I'll see you around."
"Do you want help with your bag?" He asked and CJ shook her head. It may have been painful to carry, but shingles around Seth was painfully awkward and she wanted to be away from him.
"Uh, no I've got it. But thank you."
"CJ, you don't have it. Let me." He requested, taking her bag off of her shoulder before she could deny him. "I can carry you, too."
"I'd prefer it if you didn't. Being honest, everything hurts." She admitted, looking away from his concerned gaze and heading for the back door. He was quick to follow, keeping pace with her as they walked through the parking lot.
"If it's any consolation, it looked hella cool in the replay." He chuckled and she grinned.
"At least it was entertaining. I blacked out so I'm not sure how anything went down after I got hit."
"Babe..." Seth trailed off, using the pet name purely out of habit, and CJ didn't say anything about it. She may have been upset with him, but hearing somebody call her anything but her name made her happy. "We saw you get carted backstage on a stretcher but we didn't know you blacked out."
"Yeah, well, that's the job. Shit happens." CJ muttered, popping the trunk and Seth set her bag down.
"How long are you out?"
"Indefinitely. No title match at the Rumble." Seth knew in her tone that she was fighting the urge to cry. She had worked so hard, and it was basically being taken away from her because Batista was a dick. So he did what he knew she needed and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
"You'll get your match and you'll be the champ. It'll happen, CJ." Seth whispered, gently caressing her back. CJ felt her resolve breaking around Seth's gentle whispers, the man slowly but surely warming her into forgiveness solely because he was being a sweetheart. She wasn't going to tell him that, but that was definitely the case.
Immature Lexi here called in sick because I'm still not fully over The Undertaker losing to Lesnar, so I wrote a chapter. That's technically productive...right? Anyways, thank you to angelsdee327, ILoveAnime89, and ArtisticLullaby for reviewing the last chapter.