Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Sorry it's been so long between updates; I've had a lot going on in the past week or so.

Part Forty-Two

They walked out to her music.

As soon as it hit, Eve winced a little, then looked over at Ambrose, not sure what his reaction would be, but the man just shrugged, smirking slightly, apparently not angry about it. Of course, it was definitely possible that the tech guys didn't know Dean was walking out there with her, so it wasn't like they would necessarily know to play the Shield's music instead of hers.

Shaking her head slightly, Eve made her way through the curtain, Dean walking alongside her as she headed down to the announce table... The diva arching a brow when she saw that there were two extra headsets out there... But only one chair. Apparently, someone had been told that she would be bringing a member of the Shield out there with her, but no one had thought to get an additional chair. Typical.

Sending a look at Dean, Eve took a headset, careful not to mess up her hair too much as she slipped it on. Dean arched a brow, but took the other one, putting it on just in time to hear Michael Cole welcoming them to the commentary table. King, however, was apparently content to focus on the whole only-one-chair situation.

"Whelp, Eve, it looks like you and Ambrose might need to share a chair. You've probably been on his lap plenty of times before... among other things-"

"Excuse me?" Ambrose interrupted, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You make one more comment about Eve and my lap, and my fist is going to be in your face," the man said, and King flinched.

"I didn't mean-"

"Yes, you did. Because you're a jackass and a pervert and the type of guy that women warn each other about," Dean said before tugging off his headset, heading over to grab a folding chair from beneath the ring, then bringing it over and taking a seat on it, the man letting Eve have the more comfortable rolling chair that had been brought out for the guest commentator.

Eve sent a smirk in King's direction, then looked toward the ring. "Correct me if I'm wrong, gentlemen - and I pretty much only mean Dean when I use that word - but we have a match to talk about, don't we?" she asked, watching as the rest of the divas came down to fill the ring. The only woman not in the battle royal was AJ Lee, who was still out because of the sprained wrist that she'd suffered a couple weeks ago. The same sprained wrist that had kept her out of the mixed tag that Eve and Roman had been supposed to team up for.

Michael Cole cleared his throat, the man shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He looked glad that he was sitting between JBL and King, which at least meant he wasn't sitting next to Eve and Dean... Of course, his positioning also meant that if Ambrose did decide to go after King, he was between Dean and his goal, which probably wasn't a good thing.

Cole cleared his throat again as the bell rang, signaling the start of the match. "So, Eve... Are there any preferences for who you would like to defend the title against? And how do you feel about being told that you're going to defend the title at Royal Rumble just two days before the event?" the man asked, and Eve frowned slightly, surprised that he'd actually asked a relevant question. Maybe having Ambrose out there to keep him in line was actually going to help... Especially since he'd already threatened to punch Jerry Lawler.

"It doesn't really matter if I have preferences for who I'm going to face, because I don't have any control over who's going to win. I just have to prepare myself for whoever the last woman in the ring happens to be," Eve replied, smirking as Rosa Mendes went through the ropes and out of the ring... Cameron joining her shortly thereafter. "I guess it won't be either of them, though."

"They wouldn't have lasted more than thirty seconds in a match against you anyway," Dean said, sending a smirk her way, and Eve rolled her eyes.

"What about Michael's second question, though? I mean... Are you upset that you're just being told you'll be defending the title two days before the event? Not a lot of time to prepare," JBL said, and Eve shrugged.

"I'm the divas' champion. I always have to be prepared, because I can never know when I might end up being told I'm defending. And really... Whoever my challenger is... She won't have much time to prepare, either. They weren't told about the battle royal any earlier than I was," Eve replied, and it was then that King decided to put his two cents' worth in.

"I bet you're hoping that it's not Kaitlyn. We all know how much you two don't like each other," the man said, and Eve rolled her eyes, watching with a slight smile as Aksana was tossed out before she replied.

"You don't even watch the matches you commentate on, do you? Kaitlyn and I teamed up on SmackDown a couple of weeks ago, and we had no problem working together. We won the match, in case you were too busy doing... whatever it is you do... to notice. She's a good wrestler, and she'd be good competition. If she wins this, then I'm sure we'll have a good match at Royal Rumble. But I still intend to win," Eve said, and Ambrose nodded.

"You might end up fighting her at the Rumble. Looks like it's down to her, Naomi, Natalya, and Tamina," the man said as Alicia was eliminated from the match, Layla falling to the outside with her.

"Any of the women in the ring right now would be a worthy opponent," the diva put in.

"You've actually defended against two of them - Naomi and Kaitlyn - during this title reign. You won - and successfully defended - your second championship against Natalya. I don't believe you've ever beaten Tamina, however," Cole stated.

"I've never faced her one-on-one," Eve replied. "But it looks like it will be either her or Kaitlyn at Royal Rumble," she continued, watching as Naomi was knocked off the top turnbuckle, eliminating the woman. Natalya had just been clotheslined to the outside... Kaitlyn smirking slightly as she looked down at the older woman... Then turning around only to be hit with a super-kick from Tamina, Eve actually cringing in sympathy at the impact, watching as the younger woman tumbled out of the ring and hit the floor, nearly landing on top of Natalya at ringside.

"Well, it looks like you've got your opponent for the Royal Rumble," JBL said, and Eve nodded, locking eyes with Tamina as the diva stared down at her from the ring.

"I suppose I do. But if she wants to take this championship from me? She's in for one hell of a fight."