Wow... Didn't realize it had been 3 weeks since I'd updated this one...

Thanks to everyone still reading this one. :)

Part Thirty-One

Eve pushed her hair back from her face, the woman looking in the mirror... Frowning when she caught sight of the bruise on her left arm. The armband that was part of her wrestling gear covered it partially, but not totally, and while most of the fans likely would never notice it, she figured that her opponents for the night definitely would... Which meant that they would likely try to find a way to focus on her arm. Taking a step back, Eve turned back toward the men in the room, noting the way Roman's gaze was focused on her. On her bruise, actually, from what she could tell. The guys had left the room to give her time to change, and when she'd let them back in, all three of them had immediately looked at her arm... Making it clear that Dean had told them about what had happened while the three of them had been out in the hallway. And while Eve thought maybe it should annoy her to know they were talking about her when she wasn't there, she was also a little relieved because it meant she didn't have to tell the story of what happened all over again.

"I'm gonna be the one to walk you to the curtain tonight," Roman said after a moment, and Eve knew better than to argue the point. The truth was, Ryback did seem like a loose cannon, and he did scare her a bit and, well... After seeing the bruise on her arm, she knew there was no way in hell that the Shield was going to let her walk down to the curtain area by herself. Of course, the bruise on her arm hadn't even happened when she was backstage at a show; it had happened when she was at the hotel. Part of her wondered if the Shield was going to start asking her to actually travel with them as well, but even then, it wasn't like they could be around her all the time... Nor did she want them to be.

But that didn't mean she was going to argue about whether or not Roman should walk her to the curtain tonight. She knew how to choose her battles, and that wasn't one of them.

"Are you sure your arm's okay?" Seth asked, frowning as he looked at her, and Eve arched a brow.

"It's just a bruise. People wrestle banged up all the time. It wasn't so long ago that I was having to wear something on my elbow all the time for my matches because I was having problems, but I got through that. This? Is just a bruise. No big deal," the woman said, then glanced at the closed-circuit television monitor that was showing what was happening in the arena. She shot a look at Roman. "If you're going to walk me out there, we probably ought to get going. I don't want Kaitlyn to think I'm not going to show up."

The big man nodded his head, getting to his feet as Eve went to grab her divas' championship, carefully draping it over her shoulder before heading toward the door, glancing over her shoulder to find Dean Ambrose watching her. Meeting his eyes for a moment, Eve just looked at him, then arched a brow, ducking under Roman's arm as the man held the door open for her, the two of them leaving the locker room.

"I can't believe that little bastard had the nerve to put his hands on you. What the hell was he thinking?" Roman said, his voice low, the man still clearly angry about her encounter with Zack Ryder the night before.

"He wasn't thinking. Hell, all that hair gel the guy uses has probably seeped in and damaged his brain. That's the only explanation for some of the things he's done," Eve replied, then sent the man a look. "I'm okay. I handled it. I'm not some weak and helpless little girl."

"Is that what you think we think?" Roman asked, the man frowning as he turned to look at her.

"What else am I supposed to think if you're all freaking out over a bruise? Which, by the way, I saw him this morning, and I gave him one, too. Right here," Eve said, gesturing toward her cheekbone. "I just missed elbowing him in the eye. I'm sure that Dean can make it worse if he gets that match of his tomorrow on RAW."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he'll get the match, and Ryder is going to regret it. Dean's more pissed now than he was after SmackDown," Roman said, then shrugged at Eve's look. "Dean's a bit of a hothead. I'm sure you figured that out by now... But I'd say all three of us would have reacted about the same way if Ryder had been dumb enough to say that shit about you in front of us." He arched a brow at her. "You mad at Dean for reacting like he did?"

"I think I was more in shock than anything else," Eve replied, frowning a bit as she spoke. The truth was, Dean's reaction at SmackDown had happened so fast that she hadn't really had a chance to think, much less really react herself. "And I have to admit that I like the idea of seeing someone beat Zack Ryder up... And I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't give me a sanctioned match of my own against him, so..."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're mostly against intergender matches now... Except apparently for last week when Teddy Long tried to make sure you'd have to face AJ and Ziggler alone."

"He probably got by with that because he only made that a stipulation if I wasn't able to find myself a partner," Eve replied, the woman shaking her head. It would be nice if Teddy Long would give up his vendetta against her, but somehow she didn't see that happening anytime soon... Although he might have some more problems with it now that she had the Shield around her. Teddy wasn't likely to want to cross the three of them too much. He'd be more worried about retaliation from them than he was from her... Which really wasn't entirely fair, since she was pretty sure that, if it came down to it, she was perfectly capable of making Teddy Long cry all on her own.

"Could be," Roman said, then looked over at her. "Don't be pissed at Dean for his reaction, okay? We're all a team now. None of us want to see any of the others get hurt, right? And he didn't like seeing you get insulted, either. Ryder was out of line. And now he gets to pay for it in a way that he will definitely understand." He nodded in the direction of the curtain. "Looks like she's waiting for you."

Eve looked over, finding that the man was right. "I should head over."

"You do that. I'll be right here. Now go kick ass."

"I intend to."