Thank you everyone who's been reading, reviewing and keeping up to date with this one! Bit of a short chapter, but sometimes, short is just right. PLEASE read and review! Zelks x
When she came to, it was to someone shaking her shoulder and yelling for a medic.
"HELP! I need a medic here, NOW! Rebel, wake up, please wake up..." the voice came slowly through the fog clouding her mind. She looked to her right to see someone's jeans as they knelt on the floor next to her. "Rebel, it's me, Roman, you ok?" he asked, helping her to her knees.
"Mother fucker..." she managed, massaging her throat.
"Yeah, you're good. What happened?" asked Roman, now gingerly helping her to her feet as footsteps sounded and Triple H followed by Doc Amaan came haring round the corner. She decided against telling them the whole story. Rebel was certain that Dean was right, that Randy would back off once he knew she wasn't going to back down.
"Didn't see what happened. Someone took me down and put me in a nasty ass sleeper as I was on my way to see the doc." She replied, leaning on Roman more than she wanted to for support. He put an arm round her waist and put her other arm over his shoulder to steady her as they stood there, before Doc Amaan decided she should get to his medical room, and he could make a better assessment there.
"I'll kill the slimy little..." Roman began.
"No," Rebel gasped, wincing with pain as she cut him off. "Whoever he is, because it was certainly a guy, got issues with me, no one else. I can deal with it. Anyone dealing with it on my behalf would just make it worse for me." She missed the concerned look that the three men shot each other as she massaged her throat.
"I'll give you a ride to the hotel." Roman said.
"I'm alright," she began, but the look Roman gave her told her he was not going to argue, and she would be getting the ride with him if she wanted to or not. Rebel rolled her eyes, not overly pleased. "Fine, fine I'll get a ride back with Roman. Jeez." She scowled.
"And you'll have a full check-up before your next fight," Hunter said. "Doc, take her to medical, and get her looked at and mopped up." He added. Rebel walked of with a scowl, not happy with the situation, as Hunter turned to Roman.
"Randy. No doubt about it." Roman said, as if he was reading the COO's thoughts. Hunter nodded.
"Can't do a thing without proof. And Rebel is saying nothing, she doesn't want the hassle either."
"She gonna make it to Wrestlemania, H? If he carries on, she's gonna be in bad shape." Roman voiced as they began to walk off towards the car park.
"I know, Roman, believe me I do. But I can't act on it if she won't say anything, can I?" Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Rebel awoke the next day to the sound of a phone ringing. It was eight am, who the hell was ringing her this early? Everyone on the roster knew not to wake Rebel before 9.30, at the latest. She was not a morning person. It wasn't till she looked at the phone she saw who it was. Knowing the phone would continue to ring if she didn't answer, Rebel took a deep breath and answered.
"Hi. What do you want?" she asked.
"Rebel, sweetie, is that any way to talk to your mother?" the saccharine voice came from the phone almost making Rebel want to puke. As far as Rebel was concerned, this woman was mother only by the fact she had given birth to her. Nothing more.
"Whatever, what do you want, Mother?" she asked in a voice like ice.
"Oh, just to see how my girl is after winning the Rumble on Sunday. I was so proud of you, do you know, I can't wait to see you win at Wrestlemania. Of course, I know you want me to be there for you, don't you, so I'll..."
"No." Of course, that's what she was after, she realised as a glance at the clock made her decide going back to sleep was a lost cause. Rebel put the phone on speakerphone and proceeded to get out of bed and dress.
"Sorry?"
"Not now, not ever. You think after that shitty voicemail you're getting a free trip to the USA outta me, so you can make MY big day all about you? Not a chance in hell." Rebel said, annoyed.
"How dare you. You ungrateful bitch, after everything I've done for you…"
"Which is what, huh? As soon as I was old enough to look after myself, you fucked off out at every opportunity. Fuck, I was washing my own clothes at nine, making my own lunches. You only want something to do with me because it's for your personal gain, this is how it's always been. Since I stopped your gravy train, right before Christmas, you've been waiting for a chance to lure me back in, haven't you? Well, it's not going to work." She said, as she picked up the phone once again, now in her jeans and a t-shirt.
"You jumped up little slut! How dare you deny me what I deserve! You'd be nothing without me, you hear me? Nothing!" her mother yelled, at which point Rebel simply hung up, and pocketed her phone.
"Whatever bitch." She growled, as the door knocked. A quick glance at herself in the mirror in case it was a fan, or even someone remotely good looking, a quick hand through her hair, and she opened the door.
Rebel wasn't sure who she was expecting to see. Roman, maybe, or Triple H. She found herself pleasantly surprised, however, when she was confronted with Dean.
"Hey Bell," he smiled, leaning against the door frame in a cocky manner, giving her the full blast of his smile, one that had driven many a woman insane.
"Sup Ambrose?" she asked.
"Well, couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Mommy Dearest….figured you could maybe use a sparring partner." He said with a raised eyebrow.
"Sparring partner? Yeah right, you just wanna touch me up." She said with a grin to match his own.
"What, and you don't wanna do the same?" he asked, gesturing to himself. "This fine specimen is just aching to be felt up, you know you wanna," he said, smiling again.
"Breakfast first." She said, relenting with a shake of the head. "Then I can kick your ass."
"I just wanted you to grab it, I didn't say anything about kicking it." Dean said with a mock pout, and Rebel laughed. "But I suppose I can let you try it, just this once."
At the arena, Hunter watched as Dean and Rebel threw each other about the ring. She wasn't taking any of his moves lightly, and was throwing just as much back at him as he threw at her. He pondered giving Dean the slot as her opponent for Wrestlemania, at least then he would still headline. And Rebel would enjoy the fight just as much as Dean would. As he watched them fight, Roman came over and sat by Hunter.
"How's the locker room today?" asked Hunter, and almost laughed at the reaction on Romans face. "That bad?"
"Big Show and Titus nearly came to blows over their differing views about Rebel's worthiness of headlining. So yes, that bad." Roman replied, as in the ring Dean found himself in a Yes Lock, Daniel Bryan yelling out that the use of it wasn't fair, a smile on his face as he did so. Roman smiled and turned to Hunter, who was watching the pair intently.
"So, boss, do you have an opponent in mind? For Mania?" he asked. Hunter rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger, giving the impression the matter was giving him headache enough already.
"Well, truth be told, I'm not sure. I mean we can't exactly pick her an easy one, we'll be accused of favouritism."
"Yeah, that plus she'll kill you. Roman added. Hunter laughed.
"Yeah, there is that," he replied as Dean threw Rebel in to a turnbuckle. He watched as she stuck a middle finger up at Dean and ran at him again.
"Randy wants it bad, maybe giving him the shot he wants would calm things down ..." Roman ventured, getting an incredulous look from Hunter.
"You mean I should reward his bad behaviour by giving him what he wants? Really? Listen to yourself, Roman. I do that, and then what? Anytime someone wants something, they throw a temper tantrum and expect me to roll over and play dead. Not happening." He said, shaking his head at the younger man's suggestion. Roman nodded, as if he had been expecting that kind of response from Hunter. He decided to try a different approach.
"Well, if not from a behavior point of view, from a concern about Rebels safety point of view. You know and I know, she won't say anything, but it was Randy who attacked her after Smackdown. You know what Randy's capable of and he's not gonna quit." Roman replied with an open hand gesture towards the ring where Rebel and Dean were now trying to counter each others submission holds. This time, Hunter nodded in agreement.
"Roman, that's a valid point of view, don't get me wrong. yuI'm as concerned for Rebel's safety as you guys are. But if I gave in, that would only encourage him to attack others. Imagine he wants a title shot? He attacks the title holder until I give in. I won't do it. If Rebel tells me it was him, I'll deal with it, my way. Until then, I am not caving in to his temper tantrums." He said. Both men paused their discussion to watch the two finish their game of submission and counter tennis, and turn to see Jimmy and Jey Uso clamber in the ring. There were brief handshakes, and the new pair faced off tag team style against Dean and Rebel, giving them a chance to hone their craft. Not that Rebel and Dean didn't already have some kind of chemistry, that much was clear. But every new tag team pairing needed a practice session. Roman once again broke the silence, his concern for Rebel paramount.
"So what do we do in the mean time? She's going to get hurt, and badly if the way he's begun is any indication. Don't look at me like that. I'm just concerned for her, Hunter, there's a lot of guys in that locker room who'd do anything to take her down and rob her of what's the biggest fight of her career." He said, catching the raised eyebrow and slight smile of the older man. Hunter gave him a look that said he did not believe Roman in the slightest, but carried on as if he did.
"Well, I guess if she refuses to name names, then we have to make sure someone sticks close to her. We can't give him the chance to make her life hell, and he's gonna damn well try his best, if he wants this shot that badly. And yes, I know, she's going to hate the thought of someone babysitting her, so we're gonna have to be subtle." He paused, looking round at the wrestlers currently dotted around ringside. He then laughed and shook his head. "Fuck, what am I saying? Do we have anyone around here that can even spell subtle?" he asked, gesturing to the wrestlers gathered, some of the largest on the roster among them. Kane and Big Show, Mark Henry, and some of the other wrestlers gathered, in Hunters opinion, were about as subtle as a dig in the ribs with a blunt spoon. Roman scratches his beard, seemingly deep in thought, as his eyes settled on Dolph Ziggler, watching on from ringside.
"What about Ziggler? He's head over heels for her, he could look out for her...second thoughts no, last time those two had to spend more than a week together she nearly clocked him one," Roman said, remembering the incident when she had agreed to share rooms for a few shows. Hunter laughed too, remembering the incident's many attempted romantic gestures from Dolph that fell flat in their faces.
"And I nearly spewed my guts. That man really doesn't do subtle...or romance. He does schmaltz and sickly really well though." Hunter said, his smile increasing at the memory of Rebel taking some chocolates Dolph had secretly left her and offering them to him, as she didn't like them, later in the evening. He'd been crushed, but bounced back in typical Ziggler over enthusiastic style. Last Hunter had heard, he wasn't giving up, he was just biding his time. The two men batted names between each other of someone able to a) keep an eye on Rebel, and b) not get his ass kicked by Rebel at the same time. John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Jack Swagger and more were suggested, and turned down. Roman had sat quiet in thought, watching the four in the ring, when he had an idea. "Ok, hear me out…dare I say it, what about the Shield? Off camera, of course she likes all of us, we get on well, none of us like her romantically...to my knowledge anyway," Roman added hurriedly as Dean and Rebel shared what he considered a much too long hug for two people who were just friends. Hunter scratched his own beard, nodding slowly.
"You know, that might be our best option. I mean, there are 3 of you, you could rotate, it means less subtlety would be required ... and she may be less inclined to throw you lot out of the nearest window," he said with a dry chuckle. "Fine, you want the job, it's yours." Roman responded with a chuckle of his own.
"You know, she's not gonna like it much. I doubt Rebel even let babysitters tell her what to do, much less three grown men trying to protect her." He said. Hunter held his hands up shaking his head.
"That, my friend, is your problem." He said, and both men laughed. "Seriously though, if it gets too awkward, let me know, and we'll try for plan B…and I have no damn clue what that is, maybe Steph would have a thought or two on that." Privately, as Roman bid the man goodbye and went to join Dean, Rebel and The Uso's in the ring, he hoped to god she did. Because if he knew Rebel as well as he thought he did, she was NOT going to be impressed with the three men following her every move. But then again, with Randy as pissed off as he was, what choice did they have?