Roman pulled Randy away from MiraBeth's door before letting go of the other man's arm and running his hand through his hair. Frustration was evident on his face. "Part of me wants to warn you away from my woman. Tell you to stay the h*ll away from her. But if she finds out that will p*ss her off even more and…" Randy leaned against the wall across from Roman, crossing his arms across his chest and one ankle over the other. A smirk was plastered on his face. "You don't have to enjoy this so d*mn much!" Roman exploded.

"Actually I do. I want to watch you squirm." Randy said as he raised one eyebrow. Roman planted his fists above his hips, trying not to punch the smug look off Randy's face. He started to pace the hallway. "When was the last time you actually had a conversation with your girlfriend that didn't include what you wanted her to do or what you thought was in her best interest? When was the last time you sat and listened to her?" Roman stopped pacing and stared at the man like he was crazy. "MiraBeth is a brave, spirited, bright, insightful woman. She also thinks that you doubt her abilities. The longer you let that continue and the more you do to protect her, the worse this is going to get. You can man up and fix this or you can lose her. And Roman…" Randy pushed off the wall and stood toe-to-toe with the unhappy Samoan. "There are a lot of men who saw her tonight, who saw what she is capable of handling, who wouldn't mind having a woman like her by their side. You might not want to screw this up." Randy spun on his heel and walked away. As he turned the corner at the end of the hall he bumped into Seth Rollins who heard Randy muttering to himself, "I wonder which stage describes 'put life on line for a friend by p*ssing off Samoan boyfriend and hoping not to die' falls under? Roman's gonna kill me."

"Whoa! Hey, Randy. What have you done?" Seth ran to catch up with the tattooed Viper.

Randy glanced back over his shoulder and continued on his way to his locker room. "Nothing wrong, that's for sure." He picked up his pace. "MiraBeth will tell Roman that."

Seth grabbed Randy's arm. "Hey, Randy. Roman's a jealous S.O.B. and very protective of Mira and that was before the latest accident. So what have you done to get on his wrong side?"

Staring down at Seth, Randy recounted the conversation the two had just had in the hall outside the security office. "So I am hoping that he talks to her and that she listened to me."

"I talked to him. That's why he was outside her office. She made a crack about him wanting to wrap her in bubble wrap and thinking she was going to break. Then she said she doesn't have time to quote coddle Roman Reign's ego."

"Ouch." Randy said with a wince.

"Yeah. He took that rather hard. The two of them need to sit and talk this out. No interruptions, no third parties, no accessories, just the two of them."

"Accessories? Am I missing something?" Randy asked. "Or is this too hot for me to know about?" He waggled his eyebrows.

Seth shook his head. "Do not prank our new Head of Security by breaking in to her house or her room. She doesn't play around. Roman and I learned that the hard way." Seth shuddered at the memory. "He should have known that she could handle herself. Woman didn't flinch… She was so angry it was us. I think she wanted it to be a real break-in so she could… That whole night was f-ed up. When I tried to talk to her and calm her down, Roman went nuts. He thought I was making a move on her. She put him on his back and I don't mean lightly. MiraBeth has moves that will serve her well as Head of Security. She can handle herself. Roman needs to remember that."

Randy nodded. "Sounds like that night was… interesting. She and I just talked about coping with accidents and death."

"You were right there, weren't you? Gotta be hitting you hard, man." Seth said, recognizing that lost in the rest of the drama was the other emotional turmoil Randy had to be coping with. "How are you doing with that? I know it's soon but…"

"Like I told Roman, she's not only brave and spirited, she's also bright and insightful. MiraBeth explained that getting through this is like the grieving process. There are stages. She said I am getting into the first stage right now which is denial that it happened and trying to isolate myself from other people. The next stages will be anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Knowing where I am and what is coming is good. Knowing that someone else is going through it too is, well, it's not nice but it's helpful to know that someone else is experiencing the same things. There is someone else to talk to that has the same memories and feelings." Randy thought for a moment. "Or she should. We talked about her stages as well. She said she knew she was in denial but she said she won't do the isolation part. I disagreed with her and said she was isolating herself from Roman." The two men had entered the locker room so Randy straddled the wooden bench. "MiraBeth credited Roman with being so essential to her getting through the stages with her first go-round. She can't shut him out this time."

Seth looked at Randy skeptically. "You sure did get a lot out of her in a short amount of time."

"Dude, I don't want to get into her pants. Sure, she's attractive. She's Roman's woman and – more importantly – she's head over heels in love with him. You, Dean, and Roman are all brothers. She needs someone she can trust. Like it or not she and I have a bond that none of you have. She and I don't have to like it either, but we were there together when it happened. And to be brutally honest with you, it's best that it wasn't Roman by her side. That is one memory they don't need to share." Randy gripped the sides of the bench. "Think about this, Seth. If MiraBeth is right about the stages that are coming up, I am going to need her. The Head of WWE Security is going to have her hands full with The Viper Randy Orton and his anger stage. How will that play out? No, I don't have romantic feelings for her. I just want her here. Selfish reasons. Make you feel better now? Hmmm, boy?" Randy stood up and sneered.

Seth shook his head. "I didn't accuse you of anything. You have some valid points. Your depression stage is going to be peachy as well."

MiraBeth sat with her head down on the desk. She heard the door open and close. Assuming that Randy had returned she didn't move. "Listen, Randy, you made some valid points but I am not ready to talk to him. Not now… Not yet. How do I tell him that I don't want to be coddled and protected anymore? How do I say that he isn't making me feel loved, he's making me feel smothered and like less of a woman? Less of a person? I want him to stand beside me and be proud of me. I don't want to feel like I have to hold back who I am to make him feel more masculine, so he can be the protector. Worse yet, I don't want to feel like I made a mistake in giving up my job, the career I busted my hump to get on my own and then kicked *ss at for so long just to give up so I could travel with him. I know he moved heaven and earth so I would have this opportunity and that it is mine to make or break. I know that this could make us stronger as a couple. But if we don't figure this out soon it could be the end of us. I can't lose him, Randy. You were right. I am isolating myself from Roman. But every time we are near each other we make things worse. How do we fix things? This isn't how it used to be."

A familiar large, warm hand rested on the back of her neck. Long fingers caressed as far as they could reach. MiraBeth peeked under her arm not surprised to find Roman's big eyes looking up at her. "Baby Girl, all we have to do is talk." he said gently. "I swear I don't want you to feel smothered or like I think you are a cream puff. You held me at gun point and dropped me on my *ss. You are one tough cookie. I know you can handle yourself and I am proud to stand by your side." He turned her and lowered her arms to her lap, his heart clenching at the tears in her eyes. "I know that in any situation you are the person that I want handling it. You can keep the whole roster safe as Head of Security; I have absolute faith in that. Accidents, attacks, break-ins, randy wrestlers with under-age friends, nude online pics, whatever this roster throws at you I have no doubt you will handle it quickly and professionally." He held her face between his hands tenderly as he dropped to his knees in front of her. "Understand that my concern stems from knowing your heart. You care so much. You can appear to be a tough b*tch to the world but I am the one who is going to hold you every night and know how much it cuts you inside. I will always want to prevent you from feeling that anguish, even when I can't stop it." He rose up to kiss her forehead and whisper, "I know your heart got fileted by that accident today. I can't fix your pain. I can't stop it from happening again. I know that desire makes you crazy but I am your man and I can't help it."

MiraBeth wrapped her arms around her man's thick shoulders and whispered, "When you put it that way, I don't want you to stop."

Nose to nose, Roman continued talking. "I was ready to pummel Orton when he came out of your office. He was so d*mn smug. He got to talk to you, to get behind your defenses while I was on the outside looking in." MiraBeth started to speak. "Shh, my turn. Even when I came in here, you opened up because you thought it was him. I won't kill him because I know he's no threat, you are mine. The arrogant *ss did ask when I last sat and listened to you, which is exactly what I did when I came in. Just listen to you talk. He was right when he described you as bright, brave, spirited, and insightful. You are also caring, generous, loving, compassionate, forgiving, competitive, and motivated. There is so much about you that I love and admire. I don't want to screw this up. I want to keep you by my side night after night, day after day until we are both old and grey."

MiraBeth silenced Roman with a shaky kiss. "That sounds good to me." she whispered.

A pounding at the door broke the couple apart. "MIRABETH! MIRABETH! WE NEED YOU!"