A/N: Thank you again so much for the reviews! I'm so happy you like this! And how freaking cute do Dolph and AJ get every week? I swear, they're trying to kill us all. Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter, reviews are lovely! :)

"Would you get in here!"

"What?" AJ nearly stumbled into the room. She looked around, not really looking for anything, but it was an instinctive thing for her nowadays. Being secret with Dolph meant she had to constantly look over her shoulder. "God, you don't have to be so rough?"

"I figured a girl like you would like it rough?" Dolph tipped his head towards her, smirking as she scowled. "You're way to easy to rile up, you know that. It's probably why you have a bit of an anger problem and a penchant for throwing things."

"You're lucky the only thing to throw in here is a couch that I can't lift," AJ told him, plopping down on the couch. "Too bad you don't have your briefcase, I'd probably make a few more dents in it."

"I have a hard head," he told her, leaning against the wall. "So you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Absolutely," AJ nodded, fiddling with the hem of her shortened shirt. She felt kind of exposed, and she couldn't figure out why. This was exactly what she wore all the time she was in front of the cameras, so it wasn't like this was any different. Maybe it was the fact that it was John Cena's shirt, and she was going to betray him in a couple hours.

"Doesn't sound like someone that's really confident about what they're doing," Dolph told her. "You know, we don't have to go through with this, I'm not going to be offended if you bail, it's better than me constantly thinking you're going setting me up for something."

"I've told you time and time again that I have nothing up my sleeve!"

"We're not friends, AJ," Dolph was quick to remind her, "I am putting my trust into someone who can very well screw me over tonight. I mean, let's face it, when you get attached to a guy, you get attached. You proposed to CM Punk without ever dating him. Who's to say this isn't a elaborate set-up to get Cena my briefcase."

"I know my reputation precedes me," AJ let her words out slowly lest she blow up at him any further, "but I am trying my best to be sincere and honest with you. We're in this together now. You very well could screw me over."

"I can?" he scoffed. "Really?"

"Who are you, Miz?" she asked sarcastically while he gagged at the comparison. She smiled inwardly at her brief triumph over him. "You could have told Vickie everything I've told you. She could be waiting until I run out there and ambush me. Face it, we both have equal suspicions, but they will both fade after tonight."

"Okay, we'll see," he told her. "So you're still planning on running out there?"

"Yes, do you know what you're supposed to do?"

"Yeah, I'm supposed to tell Vickie that if I need help, she has to come out there."

"Don't be so obvious though," AJ waved her hands, "you have to make it subtle."

"I said I would!"

"Well, practice on me," AJ said. "Pretend I'm Vickie."

"I'm not into roleplaying, sorry," Dolph told her, not moving from his position against the wall. It was like she had cooties, and he didn't want to get near her. She rolled her eyes and stood up. At some point, he was going to trust her, she just had to be patient. Unfortunately, patience wasn't exactly one of her strong suits, so instead she went over to him, standing in front of him. He made a move to step backwards, but she place her small hand on his arm.

He stared down at it, as if it were going to burn him, but she didn't move it. His skin was warmer than he looked right now, already in his ring gear. It was also a lot softer than she remembered it being last time she touched it, but that was when she was hitting him, so she wasn't exactly touching him to touch him. She gave his arm a light squeeze, and he pulled away slowly, frowning as he did so.

"Just pretend I'm Vickie," she said softly, like she was talking to a frightened deer and didn't want to spook him away.

Dolph seemed to be in a trance, but quickly his eyes cleared. "If you were really Vickie, you'd be a lot louder than that."

AJ let herself laugh, scrunching up her nose as she did so. "Excuse me! Excuse me, Dolph Ziggler!"

This time Dolph let out a laugh. "Wow, your impression is pretty dead-on. It's almost as good as Kaitlyn's was."

"She used to be my friend, I thought we'd actually be best friends forever, silly, right?" AJ said, rolling her eyes, but Dolph could see that she was just trying to put on a brave face. He wondered if that's always what she put on. Maybe her brave face was just the façade she upheld. He shook his head free of those thoughts. He wasn't going to get sucked into AJ's world. It was probably scary.

"Sorry I brought her up," Dolph said uncomfortably.

"No matter, go on," AJ stared up at him. There was something about her staring up at him like that, waiting, anticipating his every word. She was so petite. How had he never noticed how petite she was before? He wasn't the biggest guy, wasn't one of those guys who towered over everyone, but he towered over her. And when she was looking up at him, her eyes kind of looked doe-like, innocent even. "Dolph?"

"Sorry, okay, sorry," he didn't like where his train of thought was going. AJ wasn't innocent. She was calculating, and this plan proved that. She was also a lot smarter than any of those guys gave her credit for. Did any of them even try to get to know her? Or was she just some object…no, he wasn't going to allow his mind to go there.

"Are you okay?" AJ said. "Didn't you have a match this week? Did you get a concussion?"

"What? No," he shook his head, "come on, let's just get this over with. Vickie, look, I kind of want to win this on my own, but…you know, if there's a moment where I'm in trouble, if you want to be out there, I wouldn't object to it."

"That's what you're going to say?"

"What's wrong with it?" he instantly asked.

"I don't know, it sounds fake," she told him, making a face. "It's like you're practically begging her to go out there."

"I thought it was subtle."

"It wasn't," she shook her head.

"Look, let me take care of this, alright, I know Vickie a lot better than you do. I know how to handle her," Dolph told her. AJ had to concede that point. Dolph had been with Vickie for the past two years. She gestured with her hand that he could do whatever he wanted. He nodded his head, "Thank you. If we're going to be partners in this, we have to go in this 50-50, deal?"

"Yes, deal," AJ said as Dolph stuck out his hand. She shook it briefly before she pulled away. Her voice came out quiet when she spoke again. "I just want him to feel one-tenth of the pain he's caused me."

"He really hurt you, didn't he?" Dolph searched her face. AJ didn't immediately look at him, but when she did, it was the most sincere look he'd ever seen on her face. Gone was the crazy chick, gone was the girl who tore apart flowers or wore a monster's mask; right now, it was just AJ, just her.

"He was supposed to be different. He was supposed to be the good one. I keep getting it wrong. I keep getting everything wrong," she shook her head vigorously, trying to bite back the tears that threatened her face. She wasn't that girl anymore. She wasn't the one that lashed out, she didn't want to be that girl anymore!

Dolph regret it even before he did it, but he grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. He wasn't usually a hugging-type guy, but this girl needed one, and seeing as he was the only one in the room, that job fell to him. AJ tensed immediately, but then sunk into his embrace. He gently laid his chin on her head as her arms banded around him. If they were going to trust each other, they were going to have to be friends, at least on some level.

"It's okay, in a few hours, John Cena is going to be taken down a few notches," he told her, not moving from his position. "He'll look like an idiot, and we'll both be happy."

"Yeah, we will," she whispered. "He'll be humiliated."

"Exactly," Dolph said, "and you can laugh at him all you want."

"I will," AJ nodded. She pulled away and gave Dolph a tentative smile, "Thank you, I needed that. I'm better now. I'm ready to go out there and kick some Cena butt."

"Well, what do you know, me too!" Dolph said with a smile, glad that the sadness had passed from her face. "You better get out of here before someone gets suspicious. I better get back to the men's locker room before anyone misses me. Promise not to go visit me there?"

"I was so embarrassed," AJ covered her face as she blushed. "I completely forgot there could be naked men in there."

Dolph laughed, "Well, at least I didn't return the favor and go into the women's locker room and embarrass us both."

"I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, you will, preferably while we're standing over John Cena's prone body," Dolph said. She gave him a smile and a short thumbs up before she skipped out of the room. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the rest of the night. He couldn't revolve everything around this plan. After all, he had a match.

It was grueling. Ladders were nobody's friends. They were cold, hard, and had sharp corners, as evidenced by the gash in his leg. He wasn't even sure when he got it, but one second, all he could see was blood gushing down his leg. It didn't stop him from continuing though. A cut wasn't going to stop him from retaining his briefcase. John Cena wasn't letting up though, and neither one of them got the upper-hand enough to get to that briefcase. He briefly wondered when AJ would show, or Vickie for that matter, but he never let himself dwell on it because he had to focus.

He heard the crowd before he saw Vickie, chair in hand running down the ramp. Right in time, Dolph thought to himself. He watched as Vickie tried to wait for Cena, but then the crowd lit up again, and AJ was probably running to the ring. He suppressed his smile as he saw the tenacious brunette hit the ropes.

AJ ducked out of the way of Vickie's chair before knocking her down with a couple shoulder blocks. After that, she downed Vickie with a Five Knuckle Shuffle, acting just like John Cena. She had to convince him of her allegiance now of all times. John just watched her, and he looked appreciative. Yeah, now he was happy to have her on his side, right when she could do something for him. Typical behavior of the guys she'd been with over the last year. They never wanted her unless she could give them something. Not anymore, though, now it was her time to take.

John set up the ladder, and AJ started skipping around as John climbed. She glanced briefly towards Dolph, who nodded at her slightly when they locked eyes. On her second pass, she stopped next to the ladder, just as John was halfway up, and she pushed with all her might. The ladder went over with John on it. He hit the ropes, and suddenly Dolph was there, giving him a super kick. The crowd went nuts as Dolph and AJ stood there.

Dolph stared at her, feigning his disbelief. In actuality, he was more impressed than anything else. She'd done it, she'd actually pushed John Cena over. She wasn't playing him, she wasn't messing with him, this wasn't a trap. It was time to trust AJ Lee because she'd just insured that he'd retain his briefcase. She'd just put up her part of the plan. He had to trust her. AJ smiled brightly at him before skipping away. Dolph quickly set up the ladder again and climbed, grabbing his briefcase and celebrating.

Mission accomplished.