Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Seventeen

Kaitlyn shifted her weight slightly as Eve made her way over, the younger diva arching a brow at the other woman. "So... I have to admit that, after I left you with Teddy Long earlier, I was a little worried. Even more worried when AJ was practically gloating all over the place about how she was going to beat you tonight and how it would put her in line as the next person to challenge for the divas' championship. Which, I should point out, she's absolutely sure she would win it from you in a heartbeat. I'm thinking that the match tonight might of dissuaded her from being so certain about that."

Eve smiled slightly at that. "Well, I should hope so. I did get the pin and the win on her, after all," the brunette said, then shrugged her shoulders. "Teddy intended for me to be up against Dolph and AJ without a partner tonight. Obviously, it backfired on him."

"Obviously. The announcers brought up the stipulation right before you came down to the ring. That if you couldn't get a member of the Shield to team up with you, then you would have to face them alone. I really think that Cole and Lawler expected you to come out for the match alone. JBL was the only one that didn't seem entirely shocked that the Shield was with you. Gotta say, though... I wasn't sure what to think of anything, especially when I never saw you in the divas' locker room tonight."

Eve shrugged her shoulders, the woman digging into her purse for the keys to her rental car, then pressing the button to pop the trunk. As she put her things inside, she looked over at the younger woman. "After I finished talking to Teddy Long, I saw Roman standing about twenty feet down the hall, and it was obvious he was waiting for me. He walked me to where the Shield was for the night, and that's where I was."

"And everything went okay?"

"It did, actually. When I told them what Teddy had planned, they told me I could choose any of them, and whoever I chose would team up with me. Which wasn't entirely true, but-"

"What do you mean, it wasn't true? Wasn't Rollins your first choice? Because, to be honest, he kind of strikes me as the least scary member of the group," the diva said, and Eve snorted.

"Yeah, plus you probably just really like his hair," Eve said, gesturing toward Kaitlyn's own two-toned locks, and the diva rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. He's just not nearly as intimidating as Roman Reigns, because that guy is huge, and there's just something about Dean Ambrose that freaks me out. So, yeah, if I were teaming up against AJ and Dolph and had a member of the Shield as my partner, I probably would have chosen Rollins. Now, if it was AJ and Big E, then I probably would have chosen Reigns because he's the biggest guy in the group. And his spear on Big E tonight? Was pretty fantastic," the Houston native said, and Eve sent her a rueful look.

"You see, I kind of missed that because I was on the floor at the time," Eve replied, then shook her head slightly as she slammed the trunk shut. "Anyway... When Ambrose told me that I could choose any of them to team up with me, I... It almost felt like a challenge, and I knew that he knew I was kind of scared of him, so... I picked Ambrose. It wasn't until we were down there in the ring that I found out that he'd made the change and I was teaming with Seth instead."

Kaitlyn's eyes were wide as she looked at her. "Wait, you... You actually picked Dean Ambrose as your partner? Really?"

"Yeah. I mean... I wanted to prove a point. When we were in the ring, before the match, Seth told me that Ambrose made the change because he knew he intimidated me. Roman pretty much said the same thing just now... That Ambrose respects me for picking him, but thought I'd really be more comfortable teaming up with Seth instead. Which... I pretty much was, so..."

"Well, hey... That may actually be a point in Ambrose's favor then, you know. The objective in a wrestling match is to win, right? If you were going to be more comfortable teaming with Rollins, then you'd be more likely to win then, right? I mean, if you're all freaked out about who your partner is, then you're not going to be able to really concentrate on the match. Although it would have been better if he'd actually, you know, told you that he was making the change before you were already in the ring."

"Apparently he thought I would try to argue about it. Which... I have to say, it's kind of creepy to realize how well he can already read me, because I probably would have. I would have teamed up with him just to prove something. But instead I teamed up with Seth, and we won, so at least there's that."

"Hey, not only did the two of you win, but you got the pin. That should put AJ way down on the list of potential challengers for the divas' championship," Kaitlyn said, then smiled. "I can't say that doesn't make me happy. Of course, that doesn't mean she won't keep trying. I think she liked the fact that she has both Dolph and Big E to back her up. It made her feel like she could do whatever she wanted to the rest of us because we didn't have people to back us up. Even with Teddy assigning us to manage, that didn't mean we had real backup, because those guys didn't necessarily want to work with us. But now? Now you not only have backup, you have more backup than she does. She's not going to like that."

"Well, too bad for her," Eve replied, then shot a look at the other woman. "So... How did it go for you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I'm not the only person here that started working with new people tonight. I know you and Daniel Bryan were at ringside for Kane's match against Darren Young. It all seemed okay, but... Was it?"

Kaitlyn shrugged. "It was no big deal. I met up with them after getting dressed for the show. Daniel insisted on hugging me, which was weird, but... You know... The teachings of Dr. Shelby and all of that. Kane... He mostly kept his distance. And he accidentally set a trash can on fire, but overall, it was okay. I think I might start keeping a fire extinguisher handy when he's around, just in case."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Because my hair? Would not look good singed."