"You seen this shit?"

Bobbi thrust the phone under Dean's nose with a small grin, watched the reaction closely as his eyes locked onto the GIF that was replaying. It was one of them, from the RAW where he'd swiped the blood from her lip, and the change in his eyes as he walked away was dramatic.

"Huh."

"What about this one?"

This time, she swiped to a photo of them from the club the other night, where an absolute creep of a fan had snapped a paparazzi style picture of Dean cuddling into her.

"That's cute."

"Oh, I know it is," Bobbi smiled as she kissed the top of his head. "Don't think Stephanie and Hunter want our personal lives involved in wrestling, though."

He acted like he hadn't heard her. "Anymore of those photos?"

"You actually wanna look for them?"

"Why not?" he shrugged, "could be a fun learning experience of what not to do."

So together, they opened a tab on google and typed in their names— and automatically pictures of them in The Shield popped up. Times when they'd been pissed with each other, times when she'd saved him or he'd saved her, times when she was smirking at him and vice versa. There was even another paparazzi-style picture of Bobbi heaving Dean out of the club the night of his mental lapse.

"We're hot," Dean murmured into her shoulder. "I like it. We need more couple photos."

Bobbi giggled at her boyfriend. "You sound like a pre-teen right now who's just started dating her first crush."

"At least they know who you belong to."

"Oh, I belong to you?" Bobbi smiled at him.

"Fuck yeah."

Bobbi placed the phone back down onto the bedside table and turned her fingers through his curly hair. "And who do you belong to?"

"Wrestling." For dramatic effect, Dean paused. Then, "and you."

"What a sweetheart."

He grinned up at her. "See, I'm not just a good fuck."

But she was sitting naked and tangled in his sheets, bruises pattering the skin between her breasts once more. "You're a very good fuck," Bobbi replied evenly.

"I think I've proven that I can be rather the— romancer. Romance person…" he trailed off and there was a crease between his eyebrows, but he shrugged it off and glanced up at her with a wriggle of his eyebrows. "You know what I'm sayin'."

"You speak English, I speak English…"

"This is gonna be one of those days, isn't it? Where you're just goin' to be a shit for the fun of it."

She smirked at him. "Maybe."

They both jumped as Bobbi's phone began to vibrate next to them, the woman's face splitting into a grin as she looked at the caller ID. She swiped it eagerly. "Hey, Ma."

"Barbara, my beautiful girl, how are you?" Her mother's voice was thick with the French accent and Bobbi sat up properly, pushed away from a lethargic Dean. "I feel like I haven't talked to you for a long time."

"I know, it's been too long," Bobbi said with a little grin. "I should be able to come visit after Tuesday, though, so we can catch up properly then."

Her mother hummed. "Am I interrupting something, belle?"

"No, Ma, I'm just with a friend. Can I give you a call back a little later?"

"Of course, ma chérie. Je t'aime."

"Je t'aime, maman."

Bobbi placed the phone back down onto the table and went to turn back into Dean's embrace, but his eyes were peering at her almost in anger and his arms were crossed, and automatically she knew she'd done something wrong. "Dean…?"

"A friend?"

And oh. "Dean—"

"No, no, I get it, you've said it before, right? I'm not the kinda guy you bring home to your mum, I'm the kind you fuck at a dinner party and then shove out the window like nothing ever happened—"

"Dean!"

The tone of her voice cut him off right away, his pout pulling a little at her heartstrings. "Just stop for a second, okay? It's been close to fuckin' six years since I've had anything close to a boyfriend, so the fact that I want to take you home to her when I go back on Wednesday, the fact that I know she'll want to meet you— I'm surprised she hasn't had a heart attack already. So just— shut the fuck up, I'll tell her when I know she won't keel over and kick the bucket, alright?!"

His lips pursed and he turned away like a child. "Fuckin'— ugh. Whatever."

"Don't you whatever me, you overgrown child."

The look he sent back over his shoulder was a playful glare.

—

Money In The Bank Pay-Per-View, 2014

29th June, 2014

Boston, Massachusetts

"Bobbi, do you have a minute?"

The silver haired woman turned her head at Stephanie McMahon's voice, a forced grin forming on her lips. "Yeah, what's up?"

With a grand smile, Stephanie unraveled the material she had in her hand, watched the way that Bobbi's eyes lit up as she assessed the symbol on the front. "Due to popular demand, we got some of our designers to throw together a basic design based on what we already know about your character. I figure you've already seen the merch for the other Shield members?" When Bobbi nodded, she continued. "We're going along the same line with you. Roman's is jagged, very— predictive, I guess you could say. For Seth, of course we went for something that looked a little more architectural in design, and it was easy to think that Dean's would be a little erratic and crazy. For you… well, the lines between good and bad are flexible. Thus… the finished product."

What was before Bobbi's eyes was a black muscle tank top. On the front in light blue and white font was a backwards B and a normal looking A, the characters curved and pressing against each other. On the back, the same style of text read 'hell on heels'.

"Stephanie…" there was a wide and genuine grin on Bobbi's face. "That's awesome. That's fuckin' awesome."

"I'd say cussing usually isn't suited around my wife, but I think this time we'll make an exception."

Bobbi shifted her smile to Triple H. "Seriously, I never even thought I'd get something, let alone my own top. This is awesome." And like an excited child, she then said, "Am I allowed to wear it and show it off?"

Two minutes later and with a slight jump in her step, Bobbi found herself walking down the hallway with her new top curled up between her fingertips. She knew who she was going to show first without any hesitation— but he wasn't anywhere she looked. So obviously, her next turn was to the other two wonderful men in her life; Bray and Roman.

Their involvement in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship ladder match meant that they were more than likely together and discussing spots, so she wasn't at all surprised to find them studying other ladder matches from many years before.

"Hey, doll," Bray greeted with a smile, "you look happy as the sun."

Roman's eyes narrowed. "This can't be good… where did you hide his body?"

Ignoring the jab at her slightly murderous tendencies, Bobbi clutched the top tighter behind her back, wriggled her eyebrows. "You got your merch the other day, yeah?"

"Yeah," he nodded at her. "Looks pretty cool, like a superhero symbol."

"Guess whose looks better!"

She thrust the tank before her friends' eyes and giggled manically, trying not to jump up and down on the spot in glee, and Roman and Bray were smiling just as much as she was.

"'bout damn time they did something for you," Bray laughed happily, his eyes crinkling.

Clutching the top back to her chest, Bobbi slipped into the seat beside Roman, nudging his arm excitedly. "It's cool, isn't it?"

"That your own top?"

The semblance of glee she felt slowly began to drain from her body. Bobbi ran her teeth over her tongue before she turned to nod at Filipa. There was both a hint of jealousy and some pride swimming in the depths of the dark brown eyes and a small smile crossed the woman's lips.

"Honestly, I'm a bit jealous," she murmured slowly, running a hand across the back of her neck. "But you do deserve it."

"She'll be gunning for Diva of the Year next thing we know," Bray teased, trying to ease the already awkward atmosphere, "gonna have to step your game up, Pip."

But the younger woman just smiled. "And if she wins that, she'll deserve it too." Filipa paused and let her eyes drop to the floor, wrung her hands together. "Can we talk, Bob? After the show? I need to apologise properly and I want to do it between the two of us."

"Sure."

—

She didn't know why, but moments before the ladder match, Bobbi had pulled her wrestling gear on. She wasn't set to go out. She wasn't set to do anything, in fact. But maybe she could pester her way into an interview after one of the ladder matches that they would used for a fallout clip. So she sat watching with her leather faux leggings, the usual thick heeled boots, the blue wrap bustier, and of course— her knew shirt. She got giddy just looking at it.

Everything was going fine. In fact, the ladder match that was going on was fucking entertaining. She hadn't enjoyed something this much for a while, and watching Kofi Kingston in anything was bound to be glorious. He just looked— weightless.

Dean looked good, Seth looked good (even though part of her still wanted to smash his face in), even Dolph looked good (though honestly, he looked good all the time).

The start of the match had seen Dean and Seth spill over the barricades in the first couple of seconds. Back and forth between the three men in the ring, and Bobbi was enjoying watching it with the crowd of people that were surrounding her. And even though she knew Seth was going to win, part of her was praying that Vince would have a change of mind and give it to Dean.

But as soon as Dean climbed to the top of that ladder and crashed down with Seth in a superplex, she knew, she knew. She could see the agony in his eyes. The blood drain from his face, the silent scream.

"Bobbi?"

She'd lurched upright and there was a hand at her mouth, and Bray and Roman were staring at her quizzically, almost concerned— like she was the one that was injured. "His shoulder," she said softly. "It's not good. It's not going to last him the match."

"Dean knows his limits…" Roman trailed off. He knew that Dean was always the last one to throw in the towel when he was injured.

So she sat perched on the edge of the chair.

He didn't last for much longer. Tried pushing the ladder to throw Seth off balance, but couldn't put any pressure on the socket. He shoved himself into the corner and that was that. Doctors swarmed him, referees trying to pull him out of the ring.

For what felt like a long moment, Bobbi held her face between her hands. He was so stupid, such a fucking idiot by not making sure his shoulder had healed properly. And now he was paying the price because of it. She'd told him how many times to look after it? Maybe she'd set a bad example when her ribs had been in horrible shape, but it wasn't like they'd been broken. She'd taken time off to heal them.

Bobbi could hear him. "Pop it back in, pop it back in, pop it back in— I said pop it back in right now!"

For fucks sake, he wasn't going anywhere. He was so stupid. So fucking stupid.

She didn't even wait for the boys to say anything, she was up and walking towards the gorilla position where they'd pull him in kicking and screaming if they had to.

He met her there.

But his eyes were glazed over in anger and he kicked the nearest wall he could, screaming as loud as he could.

"Dean!" she tried, reaching for his arm, "Dean, c'mon—"

"Don't you dare fucking tell me to calm down," he hissed at her aggressively, turning to shove his face right into her personal space. "Don't you fuckin' dare."

"I was actually going to suggest going to Peaches to get your shoulder fixed."

His slate blue eyes softened then.

Stephanie and Triple H were waiting for them in the medical room and everyone that was present flinched as they popped Dean's arm back into place. The only thing Bobbi heard was his pained groan.

They tested his range of motion, adduction and abduction, rotation, how high he could lift his arm without it being in horrible pain. But when they asked him to put pressure on it— the socket popped right back out and his yell echoed through her mind. He couldn't do it. Physically, he couldn't go back out there and compete, Doc wouldn't let him and if Stephanie had to cuff him to the bed, she would.

"Please," he begged, "please, Stephanie— Hunter, I can finish this, just let me go back out there please—"

"No, no way," Triple H replied straight away. "No way you're going back out there. We've got too much invested in this feud coming up and you need to be one hundred percent. No way."

Bobbi can see the anger swirling in Dean's blue eyes and drags a hand through her silvery grey hair. He wasn't upset with Hunter— the man had a point. He was disappointed in himself. That he wouldn't get to finish the match and make it worth watching. She knew all his moves and what he was supposed to be doing and his absence would definitely throw off… the rest of the match… she knew the spots. She'd even called a few of his. Her heart started to wildly thud in her chest.

"I'll go out."

Despite the way her hands were shaking, her voice was strong. Stephanie and Hunter turned to her with wide eyes, already trying to tell her that she couldn't, but her voice was louder than theirs.

"Think about it," she said slowly, pushing away from the wall. "I go out in place of Ambrose. I know the spots, I know what to do. I can do it. And the reaction— the first ever woman to be in a Money In The Bank ladder match. Don't you see? You told me that I drew attention, that I was worth investing in because people paid attention to me. Letting me go out there? That is how you get people interested again. That's how you get your rating spike."

Stephanie was staring at her with incredulous eyes, barely even blinking. "Do you know how much pain being in a ladder match causes you?"

"Not exactly," Bobbi smirked, "but I'm about to find out. Go on, send me out. The match is ruined if there's no one out there to fill that void."

And Triple H was looking at her with consideration, his head just slightly tilted, eyes narrowed. "Alright. Go do it."

"Hunter, you can't be serious—"

"I'm being serious." He turned to Bobbi fully and folded his arms across his chest. "You go out there and you do it how you feel. You know the spots. If you don't feel comfortable, don't do it."

Heart in her throat, Bobbi turned to Dean. He was less angry now, more a look of disbelief on his face. And then a smirk ripped across his cheeks. "Go knock 'em dead. Also, if you hurt yourself, I'm never letting you take my spot again."

Stay safe. Said in the most Ambrose way possible.

The crowd were chanting for Ambrose. They wouldn't get him… but most of them were going to like his replacement.

Now that she and the COO were alone and waiting in the gorilla, Bobbi couldn't stop the shaky breath from leaving her mouth. Her hands were still shaking. Triple H noticed, placed a reassuring and heavy hand on her shoulder. "You got this," he said lowly. "We're sending Kane out at the end, but I want you to hit him with that enzuigiri you hit me with. Climb that ladder with Seth, grab it at the same time. Whoever comes down with it keeps it."

She felt like she couldn't breathe, because as soon as the information was being processed, he was gone.

His voice was loud as it reverberated through the arena. "As Dean Ambrose is unable to continue in this match, just so he doesn't feel left out— we've found a replacement for him. Good luck, you're gonna need it."

He walked back out to the sound of his music and clapped her back, shot her a parting wink. "Let's see what you're made of."

Maybe this was his way of killing her. Maybe. If she survived this, she'd seriously question her own sanity.

She was going to die.

Her theme blared through the speakers and there was silence as the crowd waited for the joke to be over. But as she stepped through that curtain with a curve to her lips, they realised there was no joke. Bobbi Arlett was going to take Ambrose's spot in the match. At first, there was a loud scream. Then, more. Soon enough the arena was chanting for her. And it was kind of overwhelming.

But one foot moved in front of the other as she sauntered her way to where Seth Rollins was now staring at her with wide eyes.

Between her hands was a steel chair. He didn't have time to protect himself as she slammed it into his ribs, he was too confused. But suddenly he understood, suddenly he realised that she was exactly what Triple H had said— she was Dean's replacement.

So he bent over and yelled in agony, let Bobbi drive the steel into his back once more. Again. He was writhing on the mat now and she let out an angry scream as she finally got her revenge, driving the chair down into his shoulder again and again and again and again.

And then when she knew he wouldn't get back up, Bobbi tangled both hands into his wet hair and almost literally threw him from the ring.

Now… now it was just her and the ladder. Pale green eyes focused on the tall ladder and she took just the shortest moment to glance up at the golden briefcase. That was one hell of a long way up. Good thing she wasn't really afraid of heights.

Her legs did most of the work as she crawled towards the top of the ladder. But she wasn't quick enough.

That was when flames erupted from the ring posts.

Her jump of shock was visible and a wide-eyed gaze was thrown over her shoulder. But she shoulder have been watching below her. A hand wrapped around her ankle and she was tugged unmercifully from the steel, plunging towards the mat below. The breath was pushed from her lungs as she landed, open-mouthed and gazing at the ceiling through barely open eyes. Seth Rollins was standing above her, mocking her, telling her that she would never be good enough.

Bobbi rolled over onto her side and sucked in a loud breath, grabbed at the small of her back. Kane was blundering down the walkway. Eyes locked right on her.

Rolling his way into the ring, he didn't give her any more time. A hand was wrapped around her throat, an arm slung over his shoulder. Seth was watching with a giddy smile on his face. He wanted her pain, he wanted her to be put out of action, just like what had happened with Dean.

Yet Kane hesitated.

Bobbi capitalised. She hitched a boot up on his hip and pushed away at the same time as she jumped, threw herself backwards and away from the masked monster, but swung her opposite leg up just in time to catch him on the side of his head with a heavy boot.

He crumpled almost lifelessly to the mat.

Once more Bobbi was staring across at Seth, no other wrestlers even close to getting into the squared circle— just them and the climb.

Rollins was the first to reach the steel, but Bobbi wasn't far behind. She gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain, tried to match his pace as they climbed the ladder, tried to get one step up on him. But they reached the briefcase at the same time and she couldn't think because the audience was screaming at her so loudly.

And above it, she could still hear Seth screaming at her. "Get your hands off my briefcase! I am the future!"

"Future my ass," Bobbi growled at him.

They fumbled for possession of the golden rectangle. Fingers twisting and hands swatting and pulling, and somehow the hatch was pulled open, the cable swinging loose and away from them— and she realised with a start that they'd just pulled the Money In The Bank briefcase free from the hook.

His wide brown eyes met her, already shaking his head, "no, no, no, this is mine, you're not even supposed to be in this match—"

Bobbi tugged them both sideways.

A roar reverberated through the TD Garden.

Everything was so fast yet so slow. But his fingers slipped off of hers. And as she fell back to earth, the golden briefcase was being clutched against her chest. She hit the canvas with it in her hands. For a moment, all she could see were the stars circling around her.

Then the sound of the bell ringing. The sound of her music. Lilian saying "Here is your winner; Barbara Arlett!"

And Holy. Fucking. Shit.

Seth was looking at her now like he was a fish out of water. Kane was imitating the reaction. She was beyond shocked and it showed, but then… the biggest shit-eating grin she could muster was pushing against her cheeks.

—

Filipa was waiting for Bobbi when she scurried her way into the Diva's locker room. God, avoiding people with the golden briefcase was like being a fly navigating a million spiders' webs at the same time. And even when she walked into the room with a nervous glance around, there was silence as the women looked at her.

"Hey," she murmured to Filipa, legs carrying her to her suitcase. "Is it okay if we talk on the ride back to the hotel?"

The younger woman was nodding right away. "Yeah, of course. Just— let me send Seth a message and I'll see you outside."

Thin hairs on the back of Bobbi's neck stood on end but Filipa had already ducked out of the room. Seth would be pissed that things had gone down the way it had, but… was it karma? Was karma that weird simultaneous sense of satisfaction and guilt? Probably. He was supposed to win that contract, but it was Bobbi's fingers that had been around the case when they both fell.

She didn't feel safe.

Not here, not in this room where eyes were still boring into the back of her head and whispers were floating dangerously.

The silver-haired woman pulled a loose black shirt on over her wrestling top and threw her hair up in a messy pony tail, tossed everything else into the blue suitcase and got the hell out of dodge without even looking back. Dodging eyes, sticking to shadows, keeping herself away from prying reporters. For now, even avoiding Dean was a priority— at least until she got back to the hotel.

Filipa was once more standing by her rental car. But she wasn't alone. Seth Rollins' eyes narrowed.

She ignored him. "Your car or mine?"

"We'll take yours," Filipa murmured. She squeezed Seth's arms and then moved away from him, sending one pointed look back over her shoulder.

They were both walking away, but then his voice rang out. "Guess that makes us a little more even now, yeah?"

Bobbi paused. It was true. She'd ruined his golden boy chances, even if only for a night. Threw a spanner in his plans. Betrayed him, in a way. A little more even? Yeah, maybe. So she raised an eyebrow and glanced over her shoulder, smirked a little. "Guess so. Not gonna apologise, though."

"Didn't expect you to," he replied with a matching smirk.

And then Bobbi stretched out the olive branch. "You doin' CrossFit tomorrow?"

"Yeah…"

"Come get me before? I'll text you my room number."

His eyes widened and then he was smiling and nodding enthusiastically, saying "yeah, yeah, sure, of course!"

It wasn't until they were further away and out of earshot that Filipa raised a dubious eyebrow. "Have you forgiven him?"

"Dunno," Bobbi breathed. "But I'm sick of not being on the same page as everyone else. No more hardships, no more beating around the bush. I mean…" she sighed and unlocked the car, waited until they were both seated and driving away before continuing. "I still get this sick feeling in my stomach when I think of it, but— I want to be over it. Face the problem head on, that kinda shit, right?"

Filipa nodded at her, shifted in the seat so her body was facing her friend. "I get it." A pause. Then, "is that why you're letting this happen?"

"Yeah. Plus, I do miss you. Even though you're a shithead." It was Bobbi's turn to pause. "And you're the only person I trust right now."

Her friend snorted. "Got that right," she murmured. "How many times do I need to apologise? Is it time to grovel? Buy you a Lamborghini or something? You know I will."

"God no," Bobbi laughed. "You'd actually do it."

"You know I would."

"No, I just… I don't understand where any of that came from."

"How much time do we have?"

She frowned, glanced at the GPS on the dashboard. "Ten minutes, give or take."

"God, I need longer than that. Also I need a drink or two to comprehend the fact that you just won Money In The Bank."

A strangled laugh ripped through Bobbi's throat. "I can't even— why don't we just drive to Hartford?"

Filipa was silent and just for a moment Bobbi was confused— but then she realised the woman was tapping out the address for the XL Center and getting directions. "It's only an hour and forty away… I mean, not that bad."

"And we do need to catch up…"

"Should I tell Seth you're cancelling on him?" The smile in Filipa's voice was almost visible.

"Text Dean as well, please."

"Yes, ma'am."

—

For almost the next two hours, Bobbi and Filipa cleared the air between them as best they could. There was no excuse, but Bobbi accepted the few Filipa used— the constant travel putting her under a lot of stress, being taken away from TV time, dealing with her emotions about Seth… she had feelings for the man. Bad, bad feelings. And on top of that, she was jealous of Bobbi. But she let that one slide.

And when morning rolled around and Bobbi woke up in the hotel room they'd put under a company credit card, her eyes wouldn't leave the golden briefcase.

She couldn't believe it. That she owned such a thing of prestige, that she'd won by the skin of her teeth. She knew they were going to take it off her, but in the mean time… she could have her fun. Like take multiple selfies with it next to her smug face.

WWEBobbiArlett: what a wonderful time to be alive… come find me, Trips #goldenbriefcase #hellonheels

One of the photos was attached to the tweet and within seconds of sending it out, hundreds of replies and favourites and retweets were pouring in. And against her better judgement, she looked at them.

A lot were questioning whether it was kayfabe or planned. There were people who congratulated her, sending her love, giving her praise and telling her how proud they were that she was the first woman to ever hold the golden opportunity in her hands. And… there were those who hated just the mere thought of it. Because she was a woman— because she didn't have a dick between her legs. The same people that wanted her to go wrestle with the other Diva's.

No. No, if she had it her way, she would continue to flit between the two.

And in the mean time? She was still the Money In The Bank winner.

BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING! I'VE HAD THIS PLANNED FOR MONTHS! (sorry about the wait, i've been really stressed about my Uni exam, but thought it was about time I powered my way through this :)!)

to quinzel harley (I couldn't resist... and I may not be able to resist a Bobbi/Seth match. drunkDean is also one of my favourites! hope you enjoyed how I wrote this match, let me know if anything seems out of place or odd!), Raquel the writer (he's adorbs!), and labinnacslove (do you think Bobbi did the right thing by talking to Filipa? thanks for the words, hope you enjoyed this chapter!), thank you so much for the reviews as they really mean the world to me! Let me know what you think of this.

much love xx