Seth was leaning on the wall by the make-shift infirmary in the arena. His back was throbbing, no matter how many times you practice taking hits from that damn steel chair, it doesn't get any less painful.

He and Paige hadn't spoken after her swift appearance. Dean and AJ had retreated and she'd helped him out of the ring, where the medics took over and she too disappeared. They'd left Seth here whilst the Doctor dealt with someone else, Seth didn't mind, they'd only rub some cream on his back, give him some pain killers and he'd be off. Besides, his brain was too busy running over the events that had just occurred, he suddenly flashed back to when he saw them coming out of the elevator, this was planned. They were plotting, what they were plotting was a whole different manner, AJ already had the title, why get involved in a dispute that had no effect on her whatsoever?

Seth moved his way back to the locker room, a stiffness in his back and throbbing in his head. He was so done with tonight, all he wanted was his bed and the thought of his head hitting that soft pillow was enough to encourage him to get there. He groaned as he packed his things, every movement causing him a new wave of pain, when finally he had all his gear together he swung his bag over his shoulder and made his way out. The cooler night-time air hit Seth as he made his way to his rental in the parking lot. He took in a deep breath when he saw a slim figure leaning on the hood of it. Her dark hair protruding from a beanie, her pale skin hidden by a pair of black skinny jeans and a leather jacket, similar to the ones she wore to the ring. All the dark clothing really caused her face to seem ghost-like, she was hauntingly beautiful in this light. Seth dumped his bag on the ground next to hers as she looked up at him.

"Thanks." He said, with a gentle-tone which obviously took her for surprise as her eyes widened as he said it. "I know you did it to get back at AJ, but you did me a massive favor, so thanks. I owe you one." He ended with a small smile in her direction.

"Well… then you're welcome." Her English accent always surprised him, sent chills through his body. He could listen to her talk for hours. "And I'll probably be cashing in on that favor soon, now I'm on Ambrose's bad side." She joked, though he could tell she was serious. He understood why, you never wanted to be on Deans bad side, it was a terrible place to be, no-one could hold a grudge like him.

"Hey." He nudged her with an elbow. "Maybe I'll get you your own briefcase to cash it, when you need it." He retorted, causing Paige to laugh and Seth to join in with her, it was infectious, he hadn't heard her do it much. "Do you need a ride?" He asked suddenly, he had kind of blurted it out, he had noticed the parking lot was almost empty other than a few cars that looked like they belonged to the production crew.

"I was just going to ring a taxi, Summer took off as I was waiting for you, she's my friend but she might just be one of the most impatient people I know." Paige said, a spark grew in her dark eyes as she spoke about her friend.

"Naw, a taxi will takes ages, get in, we're all at the same hotel anyway." Seth replied as he picked up both their bags and threw them in the trunk. Paige just gave him a swift smile as they both climbed into the car.

For the whole 20 minute drive to the hotel they both chatted animatedly about times in FCW, and their respective breakouts into WWE.

"No, no." Breathed Seth. "Yours was much more memorable!" She looked at him pointedly. "Don't give me that look, you became the youngest ever Divas champion and the first ever dual holder of the Divas and NXT Women's titles!" He exclaimed, to Paige's hidden delight, it wasn't often the men in the WWE spoke this highly about the Divas. They were a lot more respectful, but still thought of most of them as lesser than them.

"But c'mon." Paige argued. "You were part of an incredibly dominant WWE stable and became tag team champions, besides…" She said slowly. "Who on earth could forget this hair?!" She quipped as she playfully tugged on a blonde strand.

"Hey now." Seth defended. "Queen Goth." He said as he raised an eyebrow at her. "My hair has a legion of fans."

"It probably has it's own Twitter account." Paige shot back, making them both laugh again. They both quietened down as he pulled up at the front of the hotel. They both got out of the car as Seth grabbed their bags and threw his keys to the valet. The lobby of the hotel was flooded with superstars and divas, all roaming about with various luggage, it was jungle, this happened every week yet it was always so un-organised. Seth felt Paige grab his arm so not to lose him in the crowd, he couldn't help the little smile that played at his lips when she did so. He guided their way through the maze of people towards the check-in desk, where they waited for their room keys and Seth couldn't help but notice Paige didn't drop her hand from his bicep, he could continually fell the warmth from her palm radiating through his arm. Finally they manoeuvred their way to the elevators and slipped in, glad to be out of the circus.

"Jeez, you'd think they'd learn how to control this, it's the same manic flood every week." Paige huffed, adjusting the beanie on her head.

"Tell me about it, it's crazy." Seth replied. "What floor you on?" He added.

"Uh…" Paige stuttered, looking at the key in her hand. "Six." She stated, pressing the corresponding button. Seth looked at his key and pressed the 8 button and they fell into silence and the elevator moved upwards.

"So, who you rooming with this time around?" Seth asked, trying the break the silence.

"Well, it's usually between Emma and Summer-Rae, they're nice like that. I get to room with my friends." Paige smiled. "How about you?" She asked, knowing it obviously wasn't going to be either Dean or Roman anymore.

"I dunno, sometimes it's either Mike or Dolph, sometimes Jack Swagger. I rarely see whoever it turns out to be, we all have our own business to get on with." Paige could sense Seth brushing it off, clearly his new found heel turn had lost him some friends in the locker room. The elevator stopped and the doors flew open, filling the small area with light. Seth handed Paige her bags, she gave him a smile.

"Thank you. I'll probably be seeing you around." She said stepping out of the elevator, giving Seth a mischievous smile as the doors closed on her. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and ran a hand through his two-toned locks. He slumped against the wall behind him, a wave of exhaustion hitting him. The elevator stopped at his floor and Seth dragged himself to his room, dumped his bags by the foot of the spare bed and collapsed onto it.

The bright of morning was not Seth's friend, he groaned and rolled away from the window, fruitlessly trying to block out the sun. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table; 7:19am. He emitted another groaned and rolled onto his back, rubbing his hands over his face. He knew he had a busy day ahead, but he could feel the pain in his back was still there. He fished around for his phone, seeing that Hunter had called him in for a meeting at 10 in one of the many conference rooms this hotel must hold, it did not improve Seth's mood. He clambered out of bed and realised he was still in his clothes from last night. He grabbed his bag and headed towards the shower, 10 minutes later and with a growling stomach, he was heading towards breakfast, with bacon on his mind.

Thankfully, the buffet hall was near empty when Seth walked in, a few Superstars here and there, a couple of Divas grouped together. He grabbed a plate and grabbed some eggs, with bacon, and with pause, a banana. He found himself an empty table and proceeded to go for it, halting his stomachs protests at the after show food it missed out on last night. Mike dropped into the seat opposite Seth, giving him a nod of acknowledgement, which Seth swiftly mimicked and went back to his food. By the time he finished, it was 9, Seth let out a sigh of frustration, this meeting was messing with his usual routine, and the fact his back still throbbed, with not much else to do, he decided to go find whichever conference room he was supposed to be at. As he checked the note, stating Conference Room 2C, on the first floor, he glanced up to see Roman walking towards him. He cocked an eyebrow in surprise when the Samoan did not keep walking past and instead came to a halt in front of him.

"We need to talk." He stated simply, walking off and motioning for Seth to follow him. Mildly bemused, Seth followed suit as Roman led him to an empty stairwell. "Look I know you did what you did for you. You wanna go places. I don't care. Other than the fact it's landed me with Orton…" Roman said.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Seth mumbled, not entirely sure where this was heading.

"But Dean. " He paused, trying to think of the right words to say. "Dean will not let this lie, Seth. You gotta know that, even if you win man." He had an exasperated look on his face. "Look, we all started out together, you're still my guy, we were tag partners. I just don't see this ending well, for either of you." Typical Roman, Seth thought, never speaks often but when he did, he always meant his words.

"I know." Seth replied. "I know Dean just as well as you do. I know all of this. But like you said, he's not gonna let it go. I'm in this for the long haul. As brutal as it's gonna be." He stated, absentmindedly rubbing his back.

"I don't want to see you two destroy each other." Roman almost pleaded. A wave of guilt overtook Seth, this was all his fault, he was causing someone he genuinely liked to worry.

"I'm sorry, Rome. For everything." Roman gave him a brief shrug in response.

"You gotta do what you gotta do." Seth replied with a small smile, remembering that he had to be at that meeting, bid Roman a goodbye, with Roman giving him a clap on the back. Seth could dream that maybe he hadn't lost everyone when he turned his back on The Shield.

Stood outside Conference Room 2C, Seth scrolled through his phone, waiting for the arrival of the head of The Authority, just the thought of that made Seth roll his eyes. His eyes flicked up at the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the corridor, the legendary Triple H strolled towards him, and walked into the conference room, indicating for Seth to follow.

"That didn't quite go as planned." He said as he sat opposite Seth.

"No." Seth bluntly replied. "Might've turned out different if Kane hadn't scarpered like a coward."

"I've spoken to him. " Hunter said in his calm tone that put Seth on edge. "He's been dealt with, now you and Dean."

"What about me and Dean?"

"Summerslam." Hunter simply said. "It will end at Summerslam."

"Fine." Seth responded coldly, got up and headed for the door.

"Oh, and Seth." He called after him, the tone taking a menacing turn. Seth turned slowly, halfway out the door. "You better win." Seth's features turned stony.

"Or what."

"You don't want to find out." Seth glared at him, turned away and slammed the door behind him, the anger clear on his face.

Monday Night Raw. Less than a week until Summerslam and the atmosphere backstage was tense, getting wins in the week leading up the pay-per-view gave you so much momentum. Seth was tense for whole other reasons; his 'conversation' with Triple H played on his mind constantly. There would be trouble if he lost. Trouble he honestly couldn't be bothered to deal with after these last couple of months. He would beat Dean, no matter what it took.

The screens in the backstage area were showing AJ dominating against Eva-Marie's in the very much a red-heads comeback match. AJ demonstrating the reasons she was the champion, Eva-Marie just couldn't get an upper hand. Then, doing only what could only be described as suspicious skipping, Paige made her way down to the ring. She didn't enter, she didn't interfere (really) she just kept skipping round the ring. Which, obviously had her desired effect as it completely distracted AJ. AJ was glaring with an intense fury towards Paige, who had now stopped skipping and was smirking at AJ, and then, blew her a kiss. A blur of red took everyone but Paige by surprise, a quick roll up, a count of 1, 2, 3, and a shocked AJ had just lost to an equally shocked AJ Lee. Seth smirked to himself, Paige was becoming a good heel. She knew how to play the mind games, and he could not deny to himself how good she looked doing it. She was in her ring gear, with her leather jacket over the top, her eyes dark and mischievous. Eva-Marie had already, gleefully made her way up the ramp, AJ had remained motionless in the ring, locked in a stare with Paige, who had edged her way towards the Butterfly. AJ stood slowly, as Paige stroked the title delicately. Man, Seth thought, she sold slightly crazy well. She was giving the WWE producers exactly what they wanted.

"I'd step away from that if I were you." A gruff voice boomed out, emerging from the crowd like they used to, Dean stepped out behind the commentators. He advanced towards Paige, who backed her way up towards the ramp, only to find her way blocked by AJ, who grabbed her a threw her into the ring. Seth could tell where this was going to head, and made his way towards the ring.

Seth glanced at the screens that were hung around the place, keeping an eye on the action, setting off in a run. He stopped just by the gorilla position and the t.v caught his eye, Dean had Paige backed against a turnbuckle, his large build looming over her. To her credit, Seth thought, she refused to back down, glaring right back at him. AJ stood a few metres back, an overly smug grin on her face and the belt slung over her shoulder. Before it could escalate any further, Seth sprinted down the ramp, slid into the ring and with great force, launched himself at Dean, causing them both to fall out of the ring onto the hard mat outside, where Seth delivered blow and blow to Dean.

Before AJ could interfere, her title high above her head, ready to attack Seth with it, Paige flew at her from the top of the turnbuckle, and proceeded to chase her out of the ring, dragging the title behind her. Seth backed off Dean and rolled back under the bottom rope in to the ring, facing down with his raven-haired compatriot at Dean and AJ who had re-grouped at the bottom of the ramp. Seth looked at Paige, gave her a wink and they both flew over the top rope and landing on their targets, starting an all out brawl. Moments later, they were all being dragged about by various referees and staff, but Seth and he guessed Paige also, had a small sense of victory.