Welcome to Chapter Seventeen! This chapter look a long time to write, though it nowhere near the longest. I hope you enjoy it! Let me know what you think!

Monday Night Raw February 10, 2014

Edited: 3/21/2020

Chapter Seventeen

"What the hell was that?!" Dean yelled as he slammed his fist against the wall of the hallway, his newly bruised ribs screaming with the sudden movement.

"He's just messing with us." Seth patted him on the shoulder. "Trying to play those mind games of his."

Mind game? Bray Wyatt wouldn't know mind games if it pulled that ridiculous beard of his. Shaking out his now throbbing hand, he turned towards Roman, who was bring up the rear. The man looked less than happy as he walked past, with a deep glare.

"Messing with the Shield, they're going down." Roman said as he pointed at the ground, and he couldn't agree more.

The Wyatts' were going down for the shit that they just pulled. They came out to the ring after his match with Mark Henry, acting all high and mighty. Like they were ready to start a fight right then and there, even going as far as getting up onto the apron. Though when Roman got into the ring to get the party started, they back off. Dropping off the apron with smirks on their faces like they had just pulled off the best joke.

Make your move.

He went to throw another punch, when something cold touched his arm. His eyes snapped over to see Angel standing there, holding out a water bottle.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down as he took the water out of her hands, cracked it open and took a huge swig from it.

"Thanks." He coughed as he wiped his mouth.

"No problem." She gave a small smile as she turned away from him and walked over to Seth to give him one of the two waters that she still had. Though as she walked towards Roman to give him the last, Dean could tell something was off with her.

Normally after a match, she would be practically bouncing around, making sure that they had everything that they needed, waters, meds, food, anything and everything. All while there was a look of worry plastered on her face. Not this time. She was moving slow and her face seemed blank, like she was hiding something.

"You ok?" Roman asked, validating that he wasn't the only one that saw the change in the woman.

"Huh?" Angel blinked. "Oh yeah, I'm fine." Her voice was small and the smile that she had put on her face was anything but real.

"Bull…" He couldn't stop the word from leaving his lips, making everyone turn towards him.

"Dean." Seth warned him.

"I'm fine, really." She tried to use that fake smile on him.

"And I'll say yet again, bullshit." He rolled his eyes at her as he leaned up against the wall behind him. "You're not fooling anyone; so out with it." He groaned as he ran his fingers through his bangs.

Angel's mouth opened to say something, but instantly stopped as her eyes locked onto his hand that was tangled in his damp hair. "You're bleeding."

Frowning, he pulled his hand out of his hair and looked down at the stinging, busted knuckle that he was trying to ignore. Well what do you know? It was indeed bleeding.

"Yep, looks like it is." He sighed as he dropped his hand to his side, trying to get her to stop focusing on it. "Now, what's bothering our little manager?" He said not letting her change the subject.

That familiar look of worry appeared on her face. "Dean, we should get it looked at."

"Stop changing the subject."

"Dean, your hand is bleeding like a lot, we need to get it taken care of." She almost begged as she stepped reached out to grab his arm. Out of almost instinct, Dean pulled his arm out of her reach and held it up over his head.

"Dean!" She gasped as look of shock came to her face.

"Out with it."

A.A.A

Angel shook her head at the man standing in front of her, as her eyes watched as the blood started to slowly drip over the tape that was still on his hands from the match. "Dean let me look at your hand."
He shook his head. "Out with it."

"Dude, come on." Roman sighed as he gave Dean a smack on his chest, which he seemed to ignore.

"Dean." She tried pleading.

That when a mischievous smirk that she had seen so many times in the ring, appeared on his face. "Out with it and then I'll let you take 'care' of my hand."

She couldn't help but gasp at the words that came from Dean's mouth. She couldn't believe that he was bargaining with his wellness. That was until his eyes flickered up to his hands and he gave a whistle.

"You're right it's bleeding kind of bad."

"Nothing's wrong." She lied. Right now, there was a lot wrong; one thing was the fact he was bleeding.

His eyes landed back on her and she could tell instantly that he saw right through her. However, instead of just telling her off again, he let out a sigh. He then brought his hand away from the wall, and just when she thought that he was going to give up; he slammed his hand back against the wall. His bleeding knuckle smashed against the concrete wall over and over again.

"What are you doing?!" She jumped forward and grabbed onto his arm, trying to stop him. Though it would have been easier to stop a bus than this man right now. The worry was quickly starting to turn into disbelief as she just watched him. "Stop this."

"I will, once you tell me what's bothering you."

"Dean." She groaned in frustration as she watched the red mark on the wall grow with each hit of his fist.

"Out with it."

"Dean!" Tears started to pull in her eyes. Her emotions started to run wild. She didn't know whether to be, angry, sad, worried, scared, or disgusted.

"Angel!" He mocked as he hit the wall again.

"You should have lost clean!" She screamed out in frustration. "Alright! I'm upset about Seth DQing you!" The words poured from her mouth faster then she even realized what she was saying.

"Now, was that so hard?" He smirked as he dropped his hand down and wiped it on his pants. Her mouth just dropped opened as she stood there in awe as Dean pushed himself off the wall and started down the hallway.

"What?" Her mind was racing as she tried to make sense of what just happened.

A heavy weight drape over her shoulder making her look up, to see that it was Roman's arm. "I hate to say it…" He sighed as he looked down at her. "…but he played you. He's not going to let you take care of that hand. Never was. A little thing like a busted knuckle means nothing to him."

"It's true." Seth nodded his head in agreement.

Her eyes went from the red mark on the wall to the man who was making his way down the hallway. "He tricked me?"

"Yeah sorry, Babygirl."

The air in her lungs froze as she watched Dean. She felt like an idiot for not realizing what he was doing, but she couldn't believe it; didn't want to believe it. Though the more she thought about the more anger started to build in her.

She knew that she should just let this roll of her, let it go, like she always did. Like she had been doing for the past few weeks; with Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and even Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. She had let them walk all over her, had let them use her, trick her, scare her and hurt her. All while she did nothing but smile at them, like she was the one in the wrong and they weren't doing anything wrong.

Then there was Dean, he just had to be the straw that broke the camel's back. She understood that he didn't like her very much and that he resented the fact that he was forced to accept her as part of the Shield. But she didn't know that he didn't like her enough to do what he did. To use her weakness against her, to hurt himself just so that she would tell him something that she was pretty sure he already knew. It wasn't hard to figure out that she wasn't one that condoned cheating, but that just something that she was going to have to use to if she was going to keep working for the WWE, which was what she tried to tell him that. But what did he do. He tricked her. He pushed her.

With a sharp inhale, she pushed herself from Roman who was trying to make her feel better and stepped out into the middle of the hallway. Her eyes locked onto Dean's back and before she knew what she was doing, she took a deep breath and yelled out for the man. "Dean Ambrose!"

Her own voice seemed to echo through the hall and everyone including Dean turned around and faced her with looks of confusion on their faces.

Dean raised an eyebrow at her as she marched down towards him. "What?" He asked as she stopped about an arm's length away.

She locked eyes with the man in front of her. "You really want me to come out with it?" Anger pulsed through her as she spoke. "You want to know what bugging me? What's really wrong with me?" She said as she poked her own chest.

"Well here it is, we both know that you were going to lose the match tonight; that you couldn't kick out. I saw it, Roman saw it and Seth saw it… That's why Seth jumped in and DQed you, because he knew you were about to be pinned." Her eyes drifted down to the United States title that hung around Dean's waist. "We both know that if it wasn't for Seth, that this…" She grabbed the title and jiggled it around a bit. "…this wouldn't be around your waist. We both know that this should be Mark Henry's." She yelled at him.

"You know, I grew up watching WWE, hating when I saw Superstars cheat another Superstar from winning. Just a few weeks ago, I watched and hated as the Wyatts DQ you from being able to be part of the Elimination Chamber match. So, when I was out there watching you fight, when I was out there rooting for you and cheering you on, it hurt to see my teammates do the exact thing that I hated to see. The exact thing that the Wyatts did to you."

She leaned back slightly, trying to get a good look at Dean face. Though she couldn't quite make out what he was thinking or feeling; though she didn't care. She was one a roll and it felt great.

"And you don't think that I already realize that?" Dean spoke as he knocked her hand from the belt. "You don't think that I don't know that if my brother hadn't stepped in when he did that, I wouldn't have this?" He unbuckled the belt and held it up in her face. His eyes trailed over her shoulder towards what she was sure was Roman and Seth, who were probably coming to break up what was going on.

After giving the two a hard look, Dean dropped his eyes and shook his head. "Do you think for a second that I'm happy about how things went down out there?" He pointed back towards the arena. "You think that I'm happy that the entire arena; no, the entire WWE Universe knows that I wouldn't still be champion if it wasn't for Seth? Because I'm not." He gave his lips a lick. "The only reason I'm glad that Seth did what he did, is because now I have another chance to prove to everyone that I'm the champ. That I deserve to wear this belt."

"I agree."

Dean blinked as his mouth dropped opened. "Huh?"

"I said 'I agree.'" And she did. She agreed fully that Dean deserved to wear the belt. She knew how good of a fighter he was. Knew how much he respected the belt. He did deserve it.

"Dean, I'm not mad at you or Seth for what happened." She stepped away from him. "Yeah, I'm a little upset, but I was just going to let it all go. I wasn't going to dwell on something that I can't change, or that I know is 'normal' in this line of work." She sighed. "I'm mad because even after I told you it was nothing, you just had to push me." She smashed her hands against his chest. "Didn't you! It was like a sick game to you! I saw the smirk on your face; I saw the look in your eyes the moment that you realized that you could take advantage of me. It was the same look that you give to those in the ring with you when you find their weakness. It was the same look you gave Mark Henry when you got that brace off his arm. You found my weakness of caring for people and then used it again me. 'Out with it and I'll let you take care of my hand.'" She gave sarcastic laugh as she mocked him.

She looked up into his shocked blue eyes, though she didn't care that he was looking at her like she had just grown another head, didn't care at how crazed she sounded, didn't even care that she was yelling so loud that she knew that most of the crew members in the hallway could hear her. Right now, all she cared about was letting it out, everything that she had been holding into for the last couple of weeks.

"I've been letting people walk all over me since I started working here." She realized that she was no longer talking to Dean but to herself. As the anger seemed to evaporate, she dropped her head. "And I'm sick of it." She sighed. "I'm sick of people taking advantage of me, sick of people like Randy…" Her voice trailed off as her eyes locked onto the pattern of the floor. She was sick of people taking advantage of her, but she was the only one to blame. If she only had the guts to stand up to people like Randy and Bray…

"Feel better?" She heard Dean sigh, making her look up from the floor. She waited for him to start screaming at her, but it never came as he just stared at her. "Did it feel good to get all that off your chest?"

It did. She nodded her head.

"Good." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You shouldn't keep shit like that bottled up. Trust me." He shook his head. "If you have something to say, say it. Alright?"

"Yeah." She couldn't help but stare at the man dumbfounded. He wasn't mad at her?

"Now, can we go get this taken care of?" He asked as he looked down at his bleeding knuckle.

D.D.D

Dean sighed as he watched Angel run off to get a bandage for his hand. She had really surprised him; he wasn't prepared for her to yell at him like that.

Damn. He rubbed the back of his neck. He knew that she was upset about how the match ended; he figured that 'Miss Innocence' would also be 'Miss Goody Two Shoes'. That normally went hand and hand. But the moment that she said she agreed that he still deserved the title….that made him think that he was starting to hear things. And then she started back in on him, making him feel like a right jackass. Which she probably thought he was one too.

He had pushed her to come out with what was bothering her so much, but mainly because he was getting annoyed with the whole, 'nothing's wrong, I'm always happy act' that she was trying to pull on them. But he didn't mean to make her so upset that she would compare him to someone like Randy, the man that attached her.

Looking up from the floor, he saw Seth and Roman standing there with their arms crossed and smirks on their faces. Shit. He had forgotten that not only did he have to deal with the aftermath of Angel yelling at him, he would also have to deal with these two. Taking a deep breath, he readied himself for the worse. His eyes bounced between the two of them as they walked up. Here it goes.

"Holy shit." Roman shook his head. "That was terrifying."

"Terrifying doesn't even cover it." Seth agreed.

Confused, Dean drew his brows together and ran his tongue over his lips. "Huh?" Terrifying?

Roman's eyes widened slightly as he nodded his head. "I still have chills."

"What the hell are you talking about man?" He asked as he shifted his weight slightly.

"Angel."

"Angel?" He looked between his brothers who were both nodding their heads. "Her? terrifying?" He scoffed. "I mean I know we've never seen her get upset before, but damn…"

"It wasn't that man." Roman stopped him. "She was like a tiny angry version of you."

"Me?" He pointed to himself.

"It was freaky, even the way she talked kind of sounded like you." Seth added.

"We didn't know whether to pull her away from you, or you away from her." Roman patted him on the shoulder.

What the hell did that mean? A tiny him? Her? No. He didn't see it. Too him, she looked like a little field mouse trying to yell at a bear. "I have no idea what the hell you are talking about."

"It doesn't matter. Let's just go get you taken care of." Seth shook his head as he started down the hallway.

By the time they had gotten back to the locker room, it was almost the end of the show. John Cena and Randy Orton's match was going on and most of the locker room had cleared out; which was good in his mind; the last thing he needed tonight was a bunch of sour looks from the other Superstars for the way his match had ended.

"In coming." Angel's voice echoed through the empty room.

"You're good." Roman called back to her.

Dean watched as she made her way over to him. "Here we go." She gave a shy smile as she placed everything down. He rolled his eyes; there was an ice pack, some Advil, a couple of bandages, disinfected wipe and what looked like an ace bandage. This was all for his busted knuckle?

As if she read his mind, she shook her head. "The ice pack, pain meds and ace bandage are for your ribs, if you need them and this…" She picked up one of the small bandages. "Is for Roman's eye." She said as reached towards the man, handing him the bandage. "I noticed that that the one you put on his morning was falling off."

"Thanks," Roman took the bandage from her.

Then she pointed to what was left. "These are for your hand."

"Just get it over with." He sighed, already regretting agreeing to this.

"Uh, Dean I kind of need your hand."

Gritting his teeth, he lifted his hand up and placed it on the table, and instantly she went to work. He watched as she opened the alcohol wipe while leaning in to get a better look at his hand. He couldn't help but raise a brow at her as she started to wipe down the area around his knuckle, being very careful not to touch his busted skin. She then gave him an attentive look before finally cleaning up the cut. Was she worried that it would hurt him?

A snicker came from behind him, making him look away from the woman working on his hand and over to where Seth and Roman were standing. They were standing smartly far away from him as they watched, knowing that he would have hit them if they were any closer. Glaring at the two, he heard Angel opened the bandage and felt as she placed it over his knuckle.

When he finally looked down at his hand again he sighed at the weird shaped bandage on his ring finger and vowed that he was ripping the thing off as soon as he got back to the hotel room.

"All done." Angel smiled up at him.

"Good." He said shaking out his hand and standing up from the table. "Now can we get out of here?"

Brookeworm3: Bray has something planned by we just have to wait to see what. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the chapter!

Skovko: I loved when Seth yelled at the audience for the CM Punk chant!

Labinnacslove: I hope that's a good type of interesting.

Emzy2k11: I'm so glad that you like the story! I hoped you like this one!