a/n merci beaucoup for the reviews! JessicaRyann, humanoidaspect, Neurotic-Idealist, aliveagain, tvrox12, OMGabriel, RatedrKjErIcHo and darkshadowsofthestars! Here's chapter two!

-May 27, 2010; Florida Championship Wrestling-

The guys looked like they had been training for hours when I walked in at ten. Joe and Lucky were wrestling in the ring.

"How long have you been here for?" I asked Kipp who said they'd been training since eight, "I'm glad you're taking this seriously. The Pros will be here in about an hour. You've probably emt some of them befor, they like to speak to you guys and give you tips."

I walked around and talked individually to the rookies. I found out how Jon got his nickname, 'Lucky', past careers, university degrees, football accomplishments, former home towns and wrestling careers.

At a quarter past eleven, the Pros came in. Matt Cardona was being as loud as ever and hitting on both Layla and Michelle. Mark Henry and Alvin Burke were chatting away happily. Cody Runnels and Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah were animatedly talking about a video game when I hugged the youngest Runnels. Mike Mizanin and John Hennigan were the last people to enter the building.

"Isn't Claire supposed to be here?" John joked. I was blonde again; a bit blonder than my natural colour, but it wasn't brown. I'd also had it cut to shoulder length.

"Claire's back!" Mike said loudly and I squealed as he wrapped his arms around my waist and span me around.

"Put me down!" I laughed at him. My feet were back on the ground and I began to tell the Pros who their Rookies were.

Michelle and Layla were more than surprised when Brandon introduced himself. He has an incredibly deep voice for such a small man. John was more than surprised to find out he was paired with Kipp; the complete opposite of himself. Everyone hit it off, though, and it was easy to tell that the Rookies were happy to have such guidance.

Everyone just spent the rest of the day talking, finding out what made each other tick. The Pros would be rooming with their Rookies until their elimination; except for Brandon who would be sharing a room with Kipp and John.

Everyone was getting along great. I could tell that the Rookies were really interested in how being on the road worked out because I heard very little from them as I walked around and played Mother Hen. Brandon was telling Layla and Michelle about his time in TNA and they were comparing the different atmosphere backstage.

"How are you guys going over here? He hasn't scared you yet, has he?" I asked Kevin once I had sat down next to Mike. "Mike has some très terrible stories and, not surprisingly, most of them involve Randy."

"I really gotta look out for that guy, huh?" Kevin laughed and I shrugged. "How do you think I'm going to go, honestly?" he asked, sounding very serious, "Mike says I should do fine... But I think I want a second opinion."

"There's a reason for NXT. You don't have to worry too much; you're there to see how you go in front of a large audience without too much pressure. You've been put on NXT because Vince wants to see if you can make it on the main roster. I guess you watched season one, how much did some of those guys shine?"

"And then there were the duds."

"Everyone had their strengths. Okay, so Stu Bennett is the whole package. David Otunga's a mouth piece, Bryan and PJ aren't the best speakers, but they, especially Bryan, can hold their own in the ring. My honest opinion? Stu was always going to win, because with Chris Jericho as your Pro, you aren't about to lose." He nodded solemnly, "I'm not kidding, a lot of this rides on who your Pro is and how much they like you... This season, though, the fans get a vote as well, and you have to keep that in mind."

"I told him that he's going to go far, because he's a good character, wrestler and talker." Mike said and I agreed with him.

"You're gonna go great. Mike and the other Pros are the people you have to impress. And don't get a big head or develop an attitude, because that gets you nowhere. Ever." I smiled at him. I stood up once I had finished speaking, patted Kevin's shoulder and left to speak to some other people, hoping that Kevin would believe what I had said.

I walked back into the hotel later that night with Mike, Cody and John. Crashing at the Rookies' was not something they wanted to do having only met them for a day. Cody could have gone, having known Windham for many years, but he decided to share a room with John.

"Cody, before you go to bed, can I ask you a question?"

"Like it's going to stop ya, Claire." He smirked.

"How are things with you and Gwen? You haven't mentioned her all day and last time I spoke to her she said you had a fight..." he sighed and looked at the ground, scratching the back of his head as he tried to think of a good response, "I know I sound like an annoying mother, Codes, but you're family and she's a good friend and I don't want either of you to get hurt..."

"Yeah, we fought, Claire. What does it matter?" he asked coldly, "People fight. You and Randy do it all the time."

"I'm not dating Randy, though. She's your girlfriend, what was it over?"

"She asked me if I had cheated on her. So, yeah, I'm gonna stick around after that. I broke up with her about two weeks ago." He said as he laughed manically, "I'd never cheat on someone. You know that, everyone knows that. Dad'd have my head." He tried to joke, but he was much too angry for it to be taken lightly.

"Why would she think you were cheating on her? She wouldn't just jump to conclusions."

"I got moved to Smackdown, in case you forgot, and I got close to Layla, alright? Layla has been you while you've been away. Gwen thought I slept with Layla." I tried to think of any way I'd believe that Cody would cheat on someone, and I deemed it impossible almost straight away.

"Please talk to her, Cody." I begged slightly and kissed his cheek, "You're twenty four and too young to be fighting with anyone."

"You're the last person who should be giving fighting advice." I hit Mike's chest and followed him into our hotel room, "He's an adult, Claire... You have to let him grow up."

I rolled my eyes and sat on the end of the bed, "I know that. I've always known that... It just doesn't work." He sat down beside me and laughed at me, "You didn't tell me that you were dropping the belt." He shrugged at me and draped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me backwards so that both of us were staring at the ceiling.

"Worse things have happened."