Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Nine

Eve carefully secured the high ponytail that she'd put her hair in, the former diva glancing over at the man that had just come out of the bathroom. Seth Rollins was dressed simply in jeans and a t-shirt, his bi-colored hair pulled back and secured with a hair tie. He looked far less intimidating dressed in regular clothes than he did in the SWAT-like gear he'd worn as a member of the Shield.

"How are you feeling this morning?" she asked, turning her attention back to the mirror in front of her, making sure that her hair leading back to the ponytail was smoothed down properly. For her part, she was dressed pretty simply as well... Jeans and a blouse that she'd found at a shop that only sold vintage clothes. Her boots were already out of her suitcase, though she hadn't put them on as of yet.

The wrestler gave a slight shrug, managing not to wince at the pull in his ribs the motion caused. "Okay, I guess. I think the ice pack helped," he said quietly, then shot a look in her direction. "Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem," Eve replied, not looking at him as she spoke, mostly because she didn't want him to see the look on her face as she thought about what had happened when she'd gone to get the ice... Dean Ambrose hadn't done anything to her, hadn't even said a word to her, but she couldn't help but be a little unsettled by the encounter... Which was kind of weird, really. After all, the night before, part of her argument to Brie about why she wasn't worried about being around Seth had been the fact that the Shield had never gone after any of the women in the company... And Dean Ambrose was a part of the Shield, always had been, which meant that the argument extended to him as well. Of course, the fact that she'd helped Seth Rollins the night before - and she hadn't exactly been secretive about that seeing as how she'd left the arena with him and anyone could have seen them then - probably made Ambrose more dangerous to her. Odds were that Ambrose and Reigns didn't want anyone helping their former teammate. Easier to break him down if he's totally alone.

Shaking herself slightly, Eve flicked another look at Rollins, finding the man watching her. "How's your head?" she asked, figuring that he'd noted at least a little of her reaction to her thoughts about running into Ambrose the night before... and hoping that asking him another question would stop him from questioning her.

Seth made a face. "I have a bit of a headache. But I don't feel sick, and I can concentrate, and my vision and all of that is fine, so... I'm pretty sure I'm okay."

"Good. But I'm still making sure you get to the airport. You're not taking a cab or anything like that. I'd just feel better if I knew you got to your flight okay," the woman said, then flicked a look his way as she reached down to pick up the earrings she'd decided to wear that day. "Do you have to be at SmackDown this week?" she asked him, and the man shrugged again... Though this time, the motion caused him to wince a little bit. Clearly, despite saying that his ribs felt better than they had the night before, he was still pretty sore. Not surprising, really. After all, he'd taken a nasty spear from his own tag team partner the night before... And after Reigns had flattened him with a spear, one of the Usos had climbed up to the top turnbuckle and splashed the man, and Seth had been too out of it at the time to even attempt to protect himself. Obviously, he would still be hurting from that.

"I was originally scheduled to be at SmackDown this week," Seth said quietly after a moment, the man answering her question. "No one's told me any different yet, so... As far as I know, yes. I know that Dr. Sampson won't clear me to wrestle until I've passed another ImPACT test. The company's really careful about concussions now. But I don't think passing the test will be a problem," he told her, and Eve frowned.

"Well, even if your head doesn't keep you out of competition on Friday, your ribs should. You're obviously still hurting."

"I don't think Roman or Dean or Triple H or Stephanie will care about that. As far as I know, Roman and Dean are still working for the Authority, which means that they can likely get away with whatever they want to, whether I'm medically cleared or not," the man said, and Eve made a face.

"Yeah, well, that sucks."

"I'm aware of that," Rollins replied, giving her a slight smile as he spoke. "Unfortunately, there's not a lot I can do about it. Why do you think we ever worked for the Authority anyway? It's not because we liked them. We don't. Or at least, I don't, and I never did. But we figured it was better to be with them than against them. Which probably makes you think I'm a total asshole-"

"Whatever you are, I'm inclined to think that Reigns and Ambrose are worse. They're the ones that turned against a teammate last night. And I might understand a little bit about doing things to protect yourself," Eve replied, meeting his gaze, the former diva able to see the curiosity that had entered Seth's expression... But whatever question he was going to ask, he had to put on hold, because it was then that a knock came on the door to Eve's hotel room. Quickly, Rollins glanced at the door, then back at Eve, his expression concerned.

"Did Dean see where you went last night? When you ran into him getting the ice?" he wanted to know, and Eve frowned.

"I... I don't think so. I don't know. But it's not like he would have known you were in my room... And I don't think he would knock on the hotel room door and expect me to answer," Eve replied, and Seth nodded slightly, then made his way toward the door, frowning as he went to look out the peephole... Then shaking his head.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What?"

"Last time they painted the doors in this place, they apparently painted over the damn peephole," Seth said, jerking slightly as the knock on the door came again. "What do you want me to do?"

"Answer it... But leave the chain on so the door won't open too much," she said, and Rollins nodded, doing just that, the man unlocking the deadbolt, then easing the door open the few inches that the chain would allow... His eyes widening slightly in surprise when he found himself looking out at Brie Bella and Daniel Bryan.