CJ woke up alone in bed, and that was surprising for her. She expected Seth to be right in her face and ready to smother her some more. But, despite the soreness of her torso, she liked that he wasn't there. Last night had been somewhat awkward for her, and she just wanted to figure out what she needed to do without him breathing down her neck.

Her phone vibrated on the nightstand and she reached for it, not wanting to try sitting up just yet. Twenty missed calls and six voicemails. She was more than certain that they were wall from Adam, but was stunned to see that her father was responsible for three of those calls, two were from Regal, one was from an unknown number, and the rest were Adam. She dialed her voicemail and put the phone on speaker, not entirely certain that she was what was to come.

"Chrissie, it's Adam. You're okay, right? Call me back ASAP, Beth and I are worried."

"Junior, what in the hell did you do to piss off Batista!? How stupid could you be that you would pick a fight with him, of all people? Call me back, kid." She couldn't say that she was surprised to hear that her father would assume that she picked the fight, and not even bother to ask how she was. So she just deleted that message. She'd call him when she got around to it.

"Chrissie, what the hell? I want you coming home to Syracuse. No excuses. I'm calling that dickhead Hunter and getting you the time off to recover, and I'll cover your flight. Call me back and I'll send you the details."

The next message was a bunch of heavy breathing, until one word was uttered that made her blood run cold.

"Run."

"What the hell?" CJ whispered, ending her voicemail adventure before she could listen to the last message. She knew then that she needed to be in Syracuse and away from all the craziness that was the WWE for a while. But first, she had to call Adam and get her flight information. Then she would go down to the hotel restaurant for some people watching.

When CJ saw Dean in the hotel restaurant all she could pay attention to was how miserably tired he looked. She didn't like seeing him like that, and made a beeline to where he was sitting in the hotel dining area. It was a nice little table; visible, yet secluded from the rest of the room. It was very private, and she liked private. Obviously, Dean did too.

"Good morning, Sir Ambrose." She greeted with a smile as she sat down beside him, having to ease herself into the chair.

"Your highness." Dean greeted simply, watching her carefully to make sure she was alright. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having the 'queen of the world' joining me for breakfast?"

"You looked lonely, so I thought I'd give you some company. I can leave, if-"

"Please don't." Those two words would have seemed normal had they come from anybody else, but CJ didn't like hearing them come from Ambrose. It seemed so out of character for a guy like him; a brash, arrogant, eccentric, just strong guy in general. She didn't like it at all.

"Is everything alright Dean?" CJ asked, bringing a hand up to rest on his arm. She was surprised when he tensed up, but didn't bother to move her hand. He was going to have to get used to her touching him if the whole 'protector' thing was going to work out.

"I had a long night." Was all he mumbled, trying to maximize his time alone with CJ before Seth came around and invited himself to the party.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. But I want you to know that I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you from Batista. This wouldn't have happened if-"

"Dean, it's not your fault. You can't have eyes everywhere, as much as you'd like to. I don't blame you, if anything I blame myself for turning around." CJ interrupted, smiling up at him as she gave his bicep a gentle squeeze.

"CJ, no. It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for something you couldn't control. Anybody would've turned."

"Glad somebody thinks so."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing important." She dismissed, removing her hand from his arm to take a sip of his orange juice. He took that as a sign to not press further, and instead looked around the area for Seth.

"Where's Seth?" Dean asked, realizing that Seth wasn't anywhere in sight like he had expected. "I would've thought that he wouldn't let you out of his sight after he pushed himself into your room last night."

"I dunno. I woke up and he was gone. I'm not surprised to see that he had more important things to do than smother me."

"He left you alone after he forced you to let him in? What a dick."

"Isn't he one of your best friends?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have left you alone when you're hurt like this. I know that you can take care of yourself, but I would've stuck around."

"You also have a different interest in me than Seth does."

"I wouldn't go that far. Sure, I'm protective, but I'd bang you too."

"You're an interesting one, Dean Ambrose."

"So I've been told. Are you going to the show tonight?"

"Yeah. I'll probably be bored out of my mind and trying my hardest to avoid Dave, but-"

"Hang out with me. Well, I guess it's more of an us because I'll be with the guys, but I'd prefer it if you were where I could see you, if that's alright with you?" Again, CJ looked away from him while she considered her options, looking straight ahead. If Dean didn't know any better he would've thought that she was staring down Summer Rae, who was enjoying her breakfast with Fandango directly in CJ's line of sight.

"I dunno, Dean."

"It's up to you. I just want you to be safe, CJ."

"I know. I've figured that out. I'd bang you, too, if you were wondering." CJ stated nonchalantly, pulling her phone out of her pocket to look through her twitter notifications. It seemed like everybody was asking about the spear she suffered and her title shot at the Rumble, and she could only sigh. Dean, who was shamelessly reading over her shoulder, locked her phone and set it down on the table.

"Don't worry about it. You'll get your match."

"That's what Seth said. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm not getting it when I deserve to have it."

"You can't let it bother you."

"Says the US Champ. You got your title shot and proved yourself, at this rate I'll never get that opportunity."

"Shut your whore mouth."

"Excuse me?"

"You're not a whore. Worrying about shit like that isn't going to get you anywhere, CJ, and you know it. Everybody knows that you're the shit in that ring, and anybody who questions it is dumber than shit."

"You really think so?"

"I do."

CJ had decided to stick to The Shield during the show and was forced to sit in The Shield's locker room while they had their match. There wasn't a monitor in the room so she had no clue what was going on, but she didn't mind the isolation. Much to her surprise, Roman didn't mind her hanging around and things weren't awkward between her and Seth.

As much fun as she had around the company, she needed to be surrounded by family. Things were getting weird and after the conversation she had with her father, she needed a one-on-one conversation with Adam. He would know how to deal with the target on her back, and she definitely needed his guidance with getting closer to Dean. He was hot and cold and, as much as CJ loved puzzles, she wanted to figure out her protector.

A knock sounded on the locker room door and she slowly stood to answer it. She was surprised to see Paul Heyman, but he wasn't a threat to her so she didn't mind speaking with him.

"Miss Jericho, I'm glad I found you."

"Mr. Heyman?"

"Just Paul, my dear. Would you mind going on a little walk with me? I have a proposition for you."

"Uh..." CJ knew that Dean would probably be worried if they came back to an empty locker room, and she knew that Seth would probably be upset about it. But it was a short walk and she was sure that she'd beat them back. "Sure."

When the guys came back to the locker room, CJ was nowhere in sight. Both Seth and Roman looked to Dean, who only kicked the lone bench in the room before storming out in search of the blonde. Of course, Dean thought that Dave had gotten to her and she had left against her will so he was in a frenzy. The superstars and divas in the halls were used to him speed walking while in search of CJ, so they only pointed him in the right direction rather than ask what he was looking for.

When CJ saw Dean rush towards her, she mentally scolded herself for not watching monitors to check their match progression. She had just finished her talk with Paul a few moments ago, so she was alone when he grasped her forearms and scanned her body for injuries.

"Dean, I'm alright."

"Where the hell were you?"

"Talking to Paul Heyman." CJ said, almost meekly. She'd never seen him so panicky before and it worried her. She wasn't scared of him, but him panicking was cause for concern.

"Was Lesnar nearby?"

"No. I didn't seem him at all. Is he somebody I should-"

"Don't worry about it." Dean cut her off as he released her. "Sorry if I-"

"It's fine. I'm fine. I shouldn't have-"

"You're a grown woman and can make your own decisions. Don't apologize to me. Just leave a note or something next time, your highness."

"Whatever you like, Sir Ambrose."

"How are you getting to the airport? I know you had your rental picked up this morning."

"I was going to catch a cab."

"I don't trust cabbies. You can ride with me and the guys."

"Alrighty then."

I really love having the WWE Network so I have more things to do when I'm bored at work. Worth the money, one hundred percent.

Thank you to ChelleLew, AshleighxAwsome, angelsdee327, and ArtisticLullaby for reviewing the last chapter. I appreciate it guys.