A/N: Again, thank you so much for the support for this story. I don't know what the hell is going on with Dolph and AJ these days, but I'm still going to write them, and even if they -gasp- break apart (which ugh, I hope not), I'm still going to write them, so you're stuck with me! So I hope you enjoy the chapter, reviews are lovely if you want to leave one. :)

"So you're Big E Langston."

"That's what they call me," the big man said with a slight nod, so slight Dolph wasn't even sure that he nodded at all.

"Well, I guess I can see where you got the nickname," Dolph shrugged, "so you think you can handle being our…what is he, AJ?"

"Bodyguard, friend, guy who has our backs?" AJ said from beside him. He looked over at her, and it always struck him a little at how tiny she was. He was not a tall guy by any means, but she made him feel like a giant. It was crazy to think how this slight frame manipulated so many people.

"Okay but I just want you to know, I don't need you out there," Dolph told him, "I can do this on my own, but having you out there is like my insurance, nothing more, nothing less. If I seem in trouble, I guess you can help, but we'll see, what are you going to do tonight?"

"He's going to make sure we all send a message to John Cena and the people in the back that we're going to dominate this company," AJ said, and her voice was almost as cold as ice. Dolph simply lifted an eyebrow. "I want them all to fear us, Dolph, don't you?"

"The thought is nice, but…I don't think I'm the guy everyone fears."

"There's the problem. Nobody takes you seriously, they will after tonight, and they will after you win the World Heavyweight Championship. By the time that belt is around your waist, everyone is going to see you as a threat."

"I like the way you think."

"She's good," Big E added. "Very persuasive."

"Oh, don't make it sound perverted," AJ rolled her eyes, "I just went to an NXT show and I scoped it out. See, the thing we have with E is the element of surprise. John Cena doesn't know him, hasn't gotten in the ring with him, so he'll have no clue how to counter anything E will throw at him. I saw your brother down there, he's like you."

"What?"

"Got a chip on his shoulder, if he wasn't your brother, I might have tried to recruit him, but I figured you would never share the spotlight with your brother," AJ shrugged. "This is good though, this is great."

"We'll see," Dolph places his hands on her shoulders, "Don't get ahead of yourself, AJ, that's where we'd get in trouble. We're both in this together, but we let ourselves think we're winning is right when we're going to lose."

He made a lot of sense. She couldn't count on everything going her way until it actually went her way. She nodded her head and tried not to let visions of John Cena's broken and battered body laying in the middle of the ring flit through her mind. It was difficult though, and as Dolph watched the smirk growing on her face, she floated away to that world. Dolph shook her for a second and she came back to herself.

"I'm going to find Vickie."

"I'll come with you," AJ told him. "That'll look better."

"Are you sure?" Dolph asked. "It might be better if I just go by myself, I mean, you've kind of seen what she can do first-hand when she's angry."

"She doesn't have you by her side anymore, she doesn't scare me."

"Are you saying I scared you?" he asked her. "You do know I would never actually lay my hand on you, right? I wouldn't hit you, that's—"

"No, that's not what I meant," AJ shook her head quickly, placing her hand on his arm. She actually felt him shaking a bit, and this seemed to touch a nerve with him. Dolph was a lot of things, but he would never actually physically hurt her. "I just meant that you gave her the confidence to do and say things she might otherwise not do, that's all I meant, Dolph, I know you wouldn't…you let me slap you."

"What?" he looked confused by her statement.

"NXT, our match, you were with Kaitlyn, my former best friend, and I was with Primo, my pro, you tried to intimidate me, but you let me slap you. You could have blocked it, hell, you could have blocked those blows I gave you in the locker room, but you never did, you let me."

"I didn't let you, you caught me off guard."

"But you didn't fight back. You didn't even push me when I slapped you repeatedly. You could have pushed me away in the locker room, but you didn't, you let me take my aggression out on you because…because you knew I was seeing the writing on the wall."

"AJ, I think you're putting a little too much into things."

The scary thing was…she wasn't. She wasn't putting anything into things that wasn't already there. The words he'd said to her that night in that locker room, they'd been true, but his anger lay with John Cena. Cena was not the person everyone thought he was, but because he went out there, smiled, acted like a good guy, the little things went overlooked. The way he pulled AJ in then pushed her away, that was hidden beneath his superhero bravado. Not anymore, though, not this time. AJ wasn't going to let him get away with that, and Dolph wasn't either.

He knew this wasn't always AJ. He'd seen her then, in NXT, this girl, this enthusiastic girl who just wanted to live her dream. Fast forward, and he didn't see that girl anymore, and he wasn't even sure she was buried inside whoever he was looking at now. He remembered though, remembered the vigor with which she attacked everything, even when the odds were against her. That was still there. The girl who tried with all her might to punch a punching bag that barely gave way was still inside her, but it was focused on revenge now.

"Okay," she gave in, but he could tell she was simply dropping it for now, but still did not agree with him. It made him uncomfortable that she could read him already. He didn't like showing his cards, didn't like letting too many people in, and for her to already have her foot in the door unnerved him.

"Look, let's go find Vickie, I'll break it off, and let the era of Dolph and AJ begin."

"We're like Team Washboard Abs," she told him with a laugh and she looked so proud of herself for the name, he laughed too. "E, you can just hang around here, did you want me to bring you some food or something to drink?"

"You're treating him like a pet," Dolph pointed out.

AJ smacked him in the stomach, "I'm being a nice person, I can be nice to the few people who I like, so did you want anything?"

"I'm good, thanks, AJ."

"You're welcome."

Dolph led AJ to the door and held it open for her, "Who knew you had such manners."

"Shut up, I have them occasionally, I'm not completely dead on the inside, just mostly on life support," she told him with a shrug.

"You didn't let me have the jam this morning."

"Life support," she said, grabbing his hand and walking down the hallway. Her smaller fingers somehow found themselves intertwined with his, and he was loath to admit that it felt…natural. It'd been so long since he just held hands with a girl, but it was nice in a way. It was nice to connect to someone who didn't have designs on him that he didn't know about. There was no agenda with AJ he didn't know about. They were partners.

"Have you seen Vickie?" Dolph asked one of the production assistants, who pointed down the hallway where Vickie was just about to turn the corner. "Vickie!"

Vickie stopped and turned, her face almost looking like it was happy to see him until he saw who was with him. He glanced over at AJ and saw she was smirking. It was amazing how she could just change on a dime like that. They walked over.

"I was going to ask you when I saw you what happened last night, how you got her to help you, but I guess I don't need to anymore," Vickie glared at AJ, "I thought you would have better taste—"

"Oh, he does," AJ interrupted, "I mean, he did kind of trade up, don't you think? The newer, younger—"

"Prettier," Dolph interjected and AJ beamed at him.

"Model," AJ finished, "No offense meant to you of course, Vickie, I mean, it's not like I called you names or anything, but if I could—"

"Dolph, I did everything for you!" Vickie screeched.

"Did you?" Dolph asked. "Because I don't really remember asking you to make the ladder match with John Cena for my briefcase…"

"You know I had Vince McMahon on me to make that match better, you know that!"

"Didn't have to though," Dolph shrugged. "Yet, there I was, on the floor, no help from you, but that's okay because I had someone else to help me. Someone better, someone who gets me, right, babe?"

"Of course, babe," AJ said, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. "You see, Vickie, when you're with someone, you do everything in your power to help them, and that's what I was doing last night. I was helping my boyfriend retain his briefcase."

"Listen here, little girl," Vickie started but AJ started laughing, "What are you laughing at?"

"Don't you think you should take this moment with a little dignity?" AJ asked. "I mean, trust me, if anyone knows what it's like getting dumped, it's me, but even I tried to save face a tiny bit."

"It's okay, babe," Dolph said, "Vickie's just old…tired, and just plain sad, she can't help it."

"Fine, if that's the way you two are playing it, you and your little girlfriend can both have a match tonight, since you're the little lovebirds," Vickie waved her fingers in their faces, "you'll be in a mixed tag match, you two versus John Cena…and me!"

AJ started laughing, "Oh, that's brilliant, that really is, thanks Vickie, I've been wanting to get my hands on you since that fluke win of yours, it'll be my pleasure taking you out this time…I mean, I already crushed you out of the ring, why not do it inside the ring too? You wanna go warm up with me, babe?"

Dolph gave her the once over and licked his lips, "Warm up with you? Oh hell yeah, I want to do that, I've been having this cramp, I might need you to massage it out."

"He likes my magic fingers," AJ waved goodbye to the seething Vickie as she and Dolph walked away. When they were out of earshot, AJ started laughing, "Oh my God, we are brilliant, Dolph. We had her, oh my God that felt so good, what did you think?"

"You know, it did," Dolph laughed too. "I felt…I don't know, it felt good to get away from her, to lay it all out there. I kind of like this power couple thing. I never had that with Vickie. I want what you want, I want it all."

If this was just a small taste of what he could have with AJ, the power, he wanted all of it. With her help, he knew he could get the belt, and with. "What are you thinking?" AJ stopped to look at him because his face changed.

"You should get the Diva's title."

"What?"

"If we want to be powerful, if we really want to rule everything, you need the title too. You'd look great with it, you should have it. Nobody deserves it more than you do."

"You think so."

"I know so, so what do you say we add that to the agenda?"

"I'd say, let's start with John Cena and Vickie tonight then."

"Let's do it."