William Regal was a very busy man. Training rookies, doing comedy, and color commentary on NXT wasn't enough, he had to make sure that Ambrose was getting closer to achieving his goal. At times he felt bad for leading him on; but it was all for the greater good and, in the end, he hoped Dean would understand why he had to go about things this way to achieve the conclusion desired.
Of course, this desired conclusion was a conclusion that would make a lot on people very unhappy. In particular, CJ Jericho. This conclusion would devastate the young woman, especially with her current status in the company. But not only would she be devastated, but Ambrose would be as well because he would see it as his fault that CJ could no longer wrestle because of his inability to protect her. When in all actuality, it was his "protecting her" that would result in the tragic accident that ended the career of CJ Jericho.
Regal really did feel bad for stringing Ambrose along like this. Did he deserve to be strung like this? Of course not. If anybody could be misled enough to make this work, Dean was the guy. But that wasn't to say that Dean Ambrose was naive, because that was far from the case. Dean's downfall was in the fact that he looked up to Regal as a father-figure and trusted him.
You should never trust one of the best villains in the business, and Dean would learn that soon enough.
But not before Regal had used him to his full potential with this ungodly task. Even though he was a true villain, Regal hated being partially responsible for such a bright career being ended early, what was worse was who was requesting such a thing of him. He'd heard of fathers despising their children, but not to this extent and definitely not when their child had worked so hard to be like their father in the ring. But he owed Chris a favor and, obviously, the Canadian didn't see how ludicrous his request was.
It had taken plenty of coordination with The Authority, Batista, and The Wyatt Family for his various plans, but Regal was certain that WrestleMania would mark the end of CJ Jericho's title reign while the day after would end her career. But that was before the Paul Heyman factor came into play. Regal wasn't even considering that Heyman would even be interested in the second generation star, and now he was certain that Heyman would prove to be a hitch in the plan in every sense of the phrase. Heyman cost Regal nights of sleep and terrible commentary because all of his thoughts were being put into how his plan was going to work around Paul Heyman, but he only assumed that he would drop CJ as a client once she became the first Diva to defend and lose the Divas Championship at WrestleMania. In fact, he was counting on it.
CJ spent her days off in Dean's arms. Literally. The only time she wasn't was when one of them was using the bathroom, and she really liked that he had stopped tensing up when she touched him. It meant that he trusted her as much as she trusted him, and trust really went a long way.
But now it was time to get back to work. Attending live events, doing radio shows, it was all exhausting and the interviews were always boring, but CJ loved her job. There was nothing else that really appealed to her like wrestling did, and she didn't have a problem with doing everything that came with it. Especially since she was now the champion and technically represented the company now. Just the thought of the media field day if word got out about her screwing Seth and having some sort of romance with Dean brought a smile to her face.
"What are you smiling about?" Dean asked as they walked into the arena and she shrugged, smile never faltering.
"Not having to defend the title at WrestleMania, since the Divas title is always shoved to the back burner."
"Oh, CJ, you will be defending the title at WreslteMania." Vickie butt in and CJ stopped dead in her tracks to face the older woman.
"Against who?" The only repose she got was that awful cackle Vickie called a laugh, and Dean had to drag CJ down the hall.
"Jumping the general manager of SmackDown is going to land your ass in a triple threat for your title." He murmured in her ear as they approached the Diva's locker room. "Get changed and I want you in The Shield locker room. Straight from here to there and no side stops, alright?"
"You got it. But what if Paul-"
"He's not here tonight." Brock cut in as he walked down the hall, the big man noticing how Dean made sure how Dean pushed himself in front of CJ. "I'm not gunning for your girl, Ambrose. I've got a family already."
"I'm not his-"
"Let's keep it that way, Lesnar." Dean cut her off, glaring at Brock's back as he walked away before looking down at CJ.
"Really? You're getting into the possessive shit now?" She asked, looking up at him expectantly and unimpressed with his actions.
"I'm sorry. He's on the list and I'm just trying to protect you, CJ." Dean spoke softly, keeping his gaze right on hers. "Especially after the last couple days I've had, I don't want to lose you."
"Are you going soft on me, Sir Ambrose?" CJ asked with a teasing smile, poking his chest before he took a step back and scratched the back of his head.
"Uh... I'll see you soon, your highness." Dean said, handing over her suitcase before heading down the hall in a brisk walk. CJ only tilted her head slightly in confusion as she watched him walk away before entering the locker room, but stopped when all eyes were on her. They weren't friendly looks either.
"Can I help you all?" She stated in a bored tone, heading to her usual corner where her gear was already hanging up. Nobody answered her question, but their eyes followed her. "Well, I can see that I'm not welcome here so I'm going to go change in the bathroom. You know that it's sad times in the company when your champion isn't treated with the proper respect." She muttered as she grabbed her gear and left the room. She walked down the hall quickly, not bothering to stop for anybody until Seth stood directly in her path.
"Hey, CJ."
"Hi, Sethie."
"Where are you going?"
"To change in the bathroom. I'm not going to change in a room full of jealous bitches." CJ explained with a small frown, a frown that Seth didn't like seeing on her face.
"Come change in our locker room, then. There's a little shower area and you can change in there, and I'm pretty sure that the bathroom isn't good storage for your suitcase." He managed to get a small smile out of CJ for his comment and she shrugged. "How was your time off with Dean?"
"He definitely got to know me better." She spoke with a small smile, biting her lip at the memories of what she and Dean were calling "couch time".
"Is he bigger than me?" He had to ask. CJ was a bit surprised that he even wanted to know.
"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."
"So you're saying that you didn't sleep with him in that way?" Seth asked as they stopped in front of the door and CJ nodded.
"That is exactly what I'm saying. There was no penile penetration." She said as he opened the door for her. Dean and Roman were a bit surprised to see the blonde while they were both half naked and particularly vulnerable, even more so when she walked into the showers and pulled her suitcase behind her.
"I intercepted her on her way to go into the bathroom to change." Seth explained, seeing his teammates' confused faces. "I figured that you'd prefer her being here than in the bathroom where you couldn't get to her." Seth added, looking to Dean for confirmation.
"Thanks, man. And I wanted to apologize for taking her home with me. Had I known that she turned you down to be in her bed, I wouldn't have offered."
"It's cool, Dean. I probably would've done the same, even if I had known." Seth admitted with a guilty smile and Dean chuckled, bumping fists with him.
"Isn't it weird for you two to be interested in the same woman?" Roman asked as he put on his pants and Dean shrugged.
"I don't think so."
"It's not like she's looking for something permanent. If we were both dating her, that'd be weird." Seth said as he pulled off his shirt to change into his ring gear. CJ chose that moment to walk out in her gear, carrying her street clothes in one hand and her suitcase in the other.
"Who are you wrestling?" Roman asked and CJ shrugged.
"Cameron. For some reason she grew talent." She said simply, and both Seth and Dean could tell that something was eating at her. Neither was going to ask, though. They just watched as she slid on her show covers and made sure that they were properly strapped in place. Roman stood up to go to catering, giving CJ room to lay on the bench without invading his personal space. Dean sat on the end of the bench and CJ looked up at Seth while he dug through his bag. "Who and I sharing a bed with tonight?"
"Who did you want?" Seth asked, looking to see that CJ had a bruise on her shoulder that he wanted to investigate later on in the night.
"I just want to go to bed. With who, I don't care."
"We'll figure it out." Dean assured, patting her thigh gently before going back to tying his boots.
Seth looked down at CJ as she laid in his arms while they watched some TV show. He could tell that her knee was bothering her, even though it was currently elevated and resting on his stomach. She had tweaked her knee when she landed on her feet after Cameron moved to doge the Lionsault. But that didn't stop her from hitting the Codebreaker and pinning Cameron. CJ really didn't like either of the Funkadactyls so that whole match was basically CJ punishing Cameron for being an annoying waste of space, and Dean had made so many comments about how he thought that the way she dominated in the ring was hot.
"Stop staring at me."
"Sorry. You're just really beautiful and I wanted to make sure that you were feeling okay." He explained with a small smile, twirling a piece of her hair around his index finger.
"I guess that's okay then. Dean made a comment about you guys making a schedule..?" CJ stated in more of a questioning tone, looking up at Seth in confusion.
"We were going to alternate nights with you on the road unless you decided that you wanted a night to yourself or were mad at us. If that's okay with you?"
"That's fine. I really like being around you guys. Is there a threesome in my future?" She asked with a smile, craning her neck to kiss his lips.
"I'll think about it. Dean isn't big on sharing, I'm not either, and I'm not even sure how I got him to agree to this. I think a threesome might be a little much for him and something you definitely can't handle until your knee is better, babe."
"I'm fine, but whatever." CJ grumbled, laying her head back down on his chest. "Are you actually watching this or can we turn off the TV?"
"We can turn it off. Getting tired?"
"Yeah. Goodnight, Sethie."
"G'night, babe." Seth mumbled, kissing her head with a smile. There was a particular three word sentence that lingered on the tip of his tongue, one he barely managed to hold back. Telling her that he loved her would scare her away, and he knew that. He had to wait until she was ready to be his and his alone, even though he had this nagging feeling that when she decided that she wanted to settle down them she'd want Dean. He didn't want her to want Dean. He wanted his friend to settle down and be happy, but not with the woman he was madly in love with.
"What the bloody hell do you mean you can't demand that she defend the title!?" Regal shouted, grateful that nobody was at the NXT facility this late in the evening.
"If the doctors say no, then I can't make her do it. The rules have changed." Regal could tell that Brad Maddox was trying his best to not sound like a total douche bag, but it really wasn't working.
"You just need to stand up, put your bloody foot down, and make her defend the title in a Battle Royal on Monday Night." The deep sigh that escaped Maddox didn't miss Regal, and he could hear the distinct scribbling of pencil on a notepad.
"Alright. It'll happen."
"Thank you, Bradley. Please do make sure that every diva in the Battle Royal has it out for our lovely champion in some way." With that, Regal hung up and leaned back in his chair. There was no way that CJ could beat the odds, and when she lost her title Paul Heyman would have to drop her as a client. If not, he'd just have to go back to the drawing board.
Yes, William Regal was a very busy man.
Thank yous go out to ArtisticLullaby, TaijiaK, CharismasXe, AshleighxAwsome, angelsdee327, and UntilNeverDawns for reviewing the last chapter! Reading reviews really makes my day that much better and they bring a smile to my face.