June 9th 2014…
"Hey… ready?" Dean asked after walking into the locker room, helping Amanda up to her feet as her injured leg was braced.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Amanda responded quietly, the 23 year old balancing herself on her crutches and Dean noticing that she was wearing her makeup differently to hide that she had spent the past few days without much sleep… and Dean knew it was because she was reliving last week's ambush. "You don't think Hunter would mind if I went a bit off script tonight, right?" She asked, Dean knowing that she wanted to tell Seth off much like he and Roman wanted to… but Dean saw Amanda holding a picture of a younger version of herself and two kids around her age in the photo and realised who they are.
"Old friends?" Dean questioned.
"I lost touch with the guy almost 9 years ago… but the difference is that Andre never slammed a steel chair into my body and injured me. He didn't want me leaving home though… Immy supported my decision fully but she's been busy too." Amanda explained.
"Sounds like one was clingy and the other lived with the same attitude, 'whatever you can see your future in, grab with both hands'." Dean replied.
"Clingy is one word to describe Andre." Amanda said before quickly revealing a scar on the inside of her lower lip which Dean knew was from teeth.
"Oww." Dean responded.
"Yeah, biting while kissing wasn't appealing to me when I was 15." Amanda replied as Roman walked in.
"Hey, there's someone Hunter wants you to meet in the office, kiddo." Roman said, Amanda seeing that it was just a little after 6:30 in the evening.
"Did he say who?" Amanda asked, putting her Keppra and Samsung Galaxy S4 in her shorts pocket out of habit.
"No, just that you need to get to know him… yeah, creative's changing things up a bit." Roman explained.
Amanda nodded and left, heading towards the office and paying no attention to Seth and Leighla… but they noticed her as she went down the hallway.
"She's way beyond upset." Leighla said quietly, Seth rolling his eyes and Leighla nudging him. "I know it was scripted but you could at least apologize… you didn't mean to injure her, right? So go apologize!" She whispered, nudging Seth again.
Seth walked down the hallway and saw Amanda stop before she turned around, Seth walking closer and Amanda gripping onto the crutches tighter.
"Hey, don't tense up, it's not gonna help you recover-" Seth said, Amanda setting one crutch aside when Seth tried to touch her.
"One wrong move, I'm gonna make you scream like a bitch!" Amanda growled, Seth backing away in a startled manner. "And I doubt you're here to apologize out of your own volition, you're more motivated by not wanting to sleep on the couch at home." She said as she grabbed the crutch and started to turn back around, Seth stopping her… and the second he did, Amanda turned around and slapped him, Seth turning incensed.
"What the hell have you been taking?! Damn it, if it fucks your head up that much, can I have some?!" Seth yelled, his hand on his face where the impact had met.
"Oh if you want to be trapped in a fog because your brain decided to go on overload and turn your body into a human shock pad, be my guest, dickhead!" Amanda shouted, the door to Hunter's office opening and Amanda's eyes widening as she recognised the man that ran into the hallway. "Holy fuck…" She said, Finn turning to the small brunette that Hunter had been telling him about.
"Come on, you, get on in here and off that leg." Finn responded, helping Amanda into the office and closing the door as Hunter found the sledgehammer. "It's alright, the little firecracker here already whacked him hard enough." He said, helping Amanda sit down as Hunter set the sledgehammer aside.
"Well he damn well deserved it… and since she's gonna be off the road for a while, I figured that you two should get to know each other while you're in NXT, Finn. Just do your best to stay off of her bad side and she can't drink any alcohol so don't drive her to that point." Hunter replied.
"Yeah, I… I had three seizures back in March and they put me on medicine. Combining it with alcohol can turn fatal." Amanda explained, Finn realising why she was so angered to see Seth a few minutes ago.
"He saved your life…" Finn responded.
"Which makes what he did last week doubly upsetting." Amanda said quietly, Finn being careful when he rested his left hand on her right shoulder.
Immediately, he understood why…
Present time, August 24th 2015…
"Seth, chill out! It was scripted!" Dean shouted as he and Roman reached Seth in the backstage area and found him trashing it up and throwing things against walls… and Roman grabbing Seth and forcing him to sit down.
"Would you calm the hell down, damn it?! It was part of the show!" Roman growled, Seth standing up and shoving him back.
"I don't care if it was scripted or not! No one turns their back on me for some guy who can't even do half the job!" Seth yelled ragefully, before he turned towards them. "Seven vs three… they're all too pathetic to even attempt to make one for an even number! Personally, I wonder what would happen if it was him and me, out there on our own! He'd run like a bitch on his own… and that stupid slut would still go and back him up, comfort him saying it's alright to be scared, that he wasn't ready- HE IS NOTHING!" He continued, before yelling at the end and slamming his fist into the nearby plywood board of pinups of the scripts and storylines, punching a large hole right through it.
"That's the pot calling the kettle black, you were using the same tactics in FCW and NXT! Personally, I thought the thing that would piss you off most is that he bit her." Dean said, Seth turning to him.
"You thought?" Seth questioned, before he walked towards him. "I was only just getting started!" He growled, before he stepped past him and over to the lockers.
"We used the same mentality they did out there and repeatedly, even to Mandy before she joined us!" Roman responded, Seth turning back to him and then leaving.
Reaching the office, he pounded his fist against the door… it opened, Hunter emerging from it.
"Hell of a night, huh?" Hunter replied.
"We got mauled out there, Hunter! Where was Kane?! He could've scared them off!" Seth yelled.
"You think Kane will ever hurt Mandy or Amber, you're wrong. Don't like the newest ones to join the company, I take it?" Hunter said calmly.
"They've been too damn sugar coated over in Japan, any less than two more people with them than their opponents and they'll chicken out!" Seth responded.
"Okay… prove it tonight, Dean's up against Finn and after that, it's you against Karl Anderson." Hunter said with a smirk before it faded. "And no funny business, Rollins!" He growled before leaving.
In the Bullet Club's locker room, Amanda turned to Amber after the blonde tapped her on her shoulder and they walked out into the hallway.
"So… first thoughts on what it's like over here?" Amanda asked.
"Crazier, hotter and a lot more brutally honest… but I could get used to it." Amber answered.
"It can get crazy here… but Finn told me it can get crazy in Japan too." Amanda said as Amber noticed the bandage under the collar of the jacket.
"And it seems like he's still getting crazy over here… but I can tell that you and him are too strong to be pulled apart." Amber responded before they hugged.
'Damn right… Seth can run his mouth about it all he wants, he's just proving that he's possessive!' Amanda thought.
She knew that she had to be ready for anything.