Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Thirty-Eight

Leaving Zack Ryder more or less decimated in the ring, Eve and Dean exited, the wrestler surprising Eve a bit by holding the ropes for her as she ducked out of the ring, the two of them then jumping down from the apron to the floor on the outside before heading toward the back... Ambrose actually heading up the ramp with her instead of leaving through the crowd like he usually did. Of course, Seth and Roman were supposed to be waiting for them in the back, so it made sense for him to come with her.

"They try to pull any crap with you on commentary?" Dean wanted to know, shooting a deadly glare back in the direction of the ring - and the announce table - as he spoke. Obviously, he'd realized that she was with the announcers instead of at ringside during the match.

She shrugged. "King's convinced that I've got you guys doing my dirty work for you. Because, you know, apparently you guys are totally my lackeys now or something," the woman said with a snort. "Michael Cole asked about the bruise."

"What did you say?"

"The truth. I also told them that you'd challenged Zack on your own and that it happened before the bruise did. I figured that I could at least play up how desperate Ryder was to stay out of the ring with you. Make you seem even more bad-ass."

Her words earned something that was almost a smile from Ambrose. "Thanks, I guess."

"Not that you needed help on that end, what with the way Zack looked like he wanted to run and hide when you got into the ring. Not to mention the way you tossed him around like a rag-doll and he barely got in any offense," the woman continued, and Ambrose's slight smile widened a bit.

"Can't deny that it felt good," the man replied, the two of the ducking through the curtain and heading into the backstage area...

And finding it to be in total chaos.

They'd known, of course, that it was possible that they would be attacked out in the ring, or that Roman and Seth could be attacked backstage, but the truth was, Eve had sort of expected any attacks to be more likely out in the ring area... In front of the crowd and where people could see it. After all, part of the point of an attack was to make sure that people saw it. But this attack? Considering the fact that Eve had just been out there for Dean's match and hadn't seen anything on the big screen besides what he did to Ryder, well... Unless the cameras had switched to it now, this attack wasn't being seen.

Exchanging a look that lasted less than a beat, Eve and Dean hurried to where the action was... Where Seth and Roman were fending off an attack by Big E and Dolph Ziggler. It seemed that Roman was the main focus of the attack. Not surprising, really, since the big man was supposed to be Eve's partner in a mixed tag against Ziggler and AJ in a few days at SmackDown. They didn't want him in the match. Of course, since Seth had recently beaten Dolph in a single's match, it didn't make a lot of sense for them to want him in it, either. Maybe Dolph and AJ had thought better of it, and just decided that they didn't want any match on SmackDown at all... Or, at least, they only wanted a match against a weakened Shield.

Flicking a look around, figuring that wherever Dolph and Big E were, AJ Lee was sure to follow, Eve quickly spotted the other woman, finding her standing on an equipment crate and laughing her head off, the younger diva taunting the men of the Shield from her vantage point a safe distance away... Or, really, a not-so-safe distance since she was paying so much attention to the brawl that she hadn't yet noticed that Eve and Dean had made it to the back... Or that Dean had just grabbed a discarded steel chair that was laying a few feet away. The dent in it told Eve that someone - or something - had already been hit with it.

Shaking her head, Eve took a step back, knowing all too well that if she tried to intervene, the guys would be too worried about her safety when they should be paying attention to their own. So instead of diving into the mess with Seth and Roman and Big E and Dolph, Eve instead headed over to where AJ was... Because if AJ thought she was just going to stand there and laugh, well... She had another thing coming.

Moving quickly, before AJ even had a chance to notice what she was doing, Eve strode over to where AJ stood on the equipment crate, easily reaching out and sweeping the other woman's legs out from underneath her. The motion sent AJ slamming down hard on the crate, the woman so surprised that she was barely able to catch herself at all as she landed half-on, half off the crate... She landed on her back, her legs over the edge of the crate, and Eve reached out and grabbed the other woman's ankle, only managing to get a grip on one leg because AJ was trying to kick her with the other. Still, her grip was strong enough to pull AJ off the crate, sending her to the concrete floor before moving forward, grabbing a handful of AJ's hair to yank her up, yanking her around before sending her hard into the wall... AJ slumping down after she hit, Eve moving in to attack again, only for there to be a hand in her hair, pulling her back... But that grip loosened quickly, the sound of steel hitting flesh telling her that the person that had grabbed her had taken a chair shot for his efforts.

An arm wrapped around her waist, tugging her backward, the only thing keeping her from trying to fight the fact that the person spoke to her, Dean Ambrose letting her know that it was him that had her and not Big E or Ziggler.

Shaking her head, Eve went with him, looking back over at AJ, who was currently being picked up off the floor by Ziggler, who didn't look like he felt very well himself. Big E was doubled over, seemingly feeling the effects of something... Possibly another spear from Roman.

"Is everybody okay?" Eve asked as she looked at the others, her gaze on Seth and Roman. She gestured to the chair on the floor. "Who got hit? There was already a dent in it when we got back here."

"They tried to hit me. I saw it at the last second and threw a punch, knocking it back on Ziggler, but that gave Big E a chance to get to Seth," Roman said, clenching and unclenching his fist as he spoke, the man's knuckles a bit the worse for wear after the encounter with Ziggler, Big E, and a steel chair.

Eve turned to Seth, frowning when she saw his arm, which was definitely bleeding. "Seth-"

"I'm fine. Just got scraped on the concrete. We gave as good as we got... Hell, in the end, we gave them even more," the man said, and Eve's frown deepened as she moved closer to look at his arm.

"You need to get this looked at."

"It's just a scrape-"

"Pretty bad one, and it's probably got some grit in it from this crappy concrete," she said, and he made a face.

"I'm not going to the trainers," he told her, and Eve gave him a look.

"Fine. I've got a first aid kit in my bag, so I'll take care of it. Now come on. We need to get back to the locker room before someone else decides to take a cheap shot at us."

None of the men argued, instead following her as she turned and headed down the hall.