The McMahons and WWE Inc. own everything. I, nothing

The first chapter was foreshadowing...so, this story is working it's way from the ending to the beginning in a way. All of these coming chapters are working it's way up to the time frame of the first chapter ...

...just in case you didn't get it.

Stephanie pulled back the curtain slightly and peeked outside at the growing crowd. Stephanie's eyes brightened and she smiled watching the crowd as they grew with excitement as the show came closer and closer to starting. No matter how many times she stood in the center of a crowd, Stephanie could never get over the amount of people that came to see the show that she and her fellow workers and family worked so hard to give them. There was nothing else in the world quite like that feeling that she and the other wrestlers would get standing in the center of all that energy from the crowd. "Amazing, isn't it?" a voice said beside her.

Stephanie turned sharply to the face only to be greeted by John Cena's smiling face. Stephanie blushed slightly and nodded. "Yeah…there's nothing like it," she whispered with a slight longing in her voice. She unquestionably missed being the dominant female sometimes. Stephanie quickly gathered her wits once more and flashed John a smile as she closed the curtain and began to walk back to her office, with John quickly beside her. "I honestly didn't think so many people would fill up the arena," she admitted. "I mean, the show sold out within a day."

John shrugged. "Of course, they came to see the champ," he joked.

Stephanie chuckled and walked through the hallway. "So what can I do for you John?"

John quickly jogged up in front of her and stood in front of her, holding out his hands and stopping her, with a serious look on his face. "Alright, hold up right there," he said. "First of all, I was making conversation. Is everything always business with you?"

Stephanie frowned and placed her hands on her hips. "No, it's not always business."

John nodded. "Okay, good. Second…" he paused, deciding if he should even discuss what he wanted to with Stephanie. John watched her begin to get irritated and he sighed bringing his hands down and relaxing his shoulders. "Second…Steph, why don't you go back on TV?"

Stephanie stepped back for a minute, surprised by his question. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, Steph, who are you fooling? You know you want to be back out there," John said.

Stephanie shook her head. "John, I was on television four months ago, remember? And I just got married…"

Before she finished, John was shaking his head. "No, I mean really back on television. Not being your parents lackey's like Shane is. I mean, exactly who you were on screen when I first came around."

"Back when I was general manager? On Smackdown?" Stephanie asked astounded.

"Yeah! Steph, you were on top of your game. You were doing your thing and hell, even the fans were taken to you!" he exclaimed. "Even you gotta admit that it feels good to see those signs that ain't disrespecting you and to hear those cheers for you."

Stephanie smiled. "Yeah…it does."

"See? You even sound like you wanna get back out there."

"Yeah, but John, I'm not a wrestler," Stephanie reminded him.

John rolled his eyes. "I know," he muttered.

"Hey!" Stephanie pouted.

John raised his hands up again then flashed her a grin. "Look, Steph, you know what I'm saying. You're the head of the creative team now, so you can do whatever the damn well you please. I'm just saying, if you were caught up somewhere in the storyline, I think it'll be great."

Stephanie nodded. "Well, thank you, John and I will consider it."

"That's all I wanted," he smiled.

"Okay." As Stephanie moved past him, once more to her office, she noticed he didn't budge. "Was there something else John?"

John winced. "Uh, yeah…business related."

Stephanie rolled her eyes and smiled. "After all that…"

"Yeah, so? I gotta work on my game… Look, it's about the title defense next pay per view."

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Well that's just it…there's no title defense," he told her.

Stephanie raised her eyebrow. "That's because you're going toe to toe with that celebrity, aren't you?"

"He's hardly a celebrity," John scoffed. "I mean, he's never around Raw. You got that whole DX and Rated RKO thing, which by the way is a lame ass name…"

"Rated RKO?" Stephanie questioned. "I didn't come up with that."

"I'm just saying…gimme some competition. I don't have any matches tonight."

Stephanie nodded. "Okay, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Steph, I owe you one."

"Yeah, I'd like to see that," she replied smiling while she turned towards her office. When Stephanie opened the door to her office, she saw her husband Paul sitting on the couch with his best friend Shawn. As she walked by her desk, Paul stood up and kissed her.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," she smiled at him. "What're you two doing in here?"

"Just going over the card for tonight," Paul answered. As Stephanie walked past him and sat at her desk, he shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded his head at her. "What about you?"

Stephanie shrugged. "Just running the show."

Shawn smirked at Paul as Stephanie picked up her radio and turned it on. It was one of the many ways that her and her team could communicate with each other quickly. As Paul shot Shawn a glare, Stephanie instructed the crew members to begin the ten minute warning. Just as the order was carried out she turned on the television to the USA network as the arena began to explode with cheers.

Shawn stood up and clapped his hands together. "So…I guess its show time then, huh?" As he walked toward the door, he patted Paul on the back. "See ya out there man."

"Yeah," Paul nodded, but his attention was solely focused on his wife. After a few minutes, Stephanie finally noticed that Paul was staring at him intently. She looking up from her paper work and gave him a questioning look. "Want to tell me what's bothering you?"

Stephanie shrugged. "Nothing."

Paul nodded, unconvinced. "Really?"

"Yeah."

Paul sighed and walked over to Stephanie, kneeling in front of her. "I've known you for years Steph, and we're married now," he stated. "I think I know you a little better than you think."

Stephanie sighed. "Paul…it's nothing, okay?"

"You sure?"

"Yes. It's nothing that a McMahon, like myself, cannot handle."

Paul nodded. "You're a Levesque too, though," he said quietly

Stephanie sighed again and softly kissed Paul. "It's nothing."

Paul smiled at her. "You realize that won't shut me up, right?"

Stephanie returned his smile. "Well, then I guess I have to do a little something more than kiss you, huh?"

Paul's smile never faded. "I guess so."

As Stephanie leaned in and kissed him once more while undoing his belt buckle, she never heard the radio as the crew member announced the beginning of the show and the pyro went off as the theme music blasted throughout the arena.