Welcome to Chapter Forty Six! WOOT

Smackdown: March 21, 2014

Edited: 8/18/19

Chapter Forty Six

Dean's entire being was buzzing from what just happened, his adrenaline was still pumping, and his heart was still racing. Though he knew that he wasn't the only one that was still feeling the nights effects; both his brothers in arms were riding the same high that he was, Seth was jumping around while swing his arm about and Roman was shaking so hard that it wouldn't surprise him if he would end up causing a small earthquake.

"We run this yard!" Seth bellowed in the mostly empty locker room.

"Oh yeah." Roman agreed as he ran his fingers through his long mane. "Kane just learned that the hard way."

Smirking, Dean turned away from the two men that were still celebrating and looked over towards Angel. Instantly his adrenaline fell, and his body seemed to go cold.

Angel was sitting across the way in one of those built-in seat things that the lockers had, with her head down so that her hair covered her face. Her shoulders were slumped, and her chest was rising and falling at an almost alarming rate.

He blinked rapidly as he scanned her with his eyes. What on Earth happened? She was fine in the ring, she was jumping around and cheering for them. Even in the hallway on the way back to the locker room, she was laughing as the three of them taunted Kane.

Not sure what to do, he reached over and smacked Roman to get his attention before pointing towards their manager. When the excitement drained from Roman's face as well, he realized that he wasn't seeing things.

"Babygirl?" Roman called over to her. When she didn't look up at him or even acknowledge that he was talking to her, they looked at each other with wide eyes.

Dean made his way over to her, knelt and cocked his head trying to get a good look at her face. Though difficult, he was able to catch glimpse of her between strains of hair and what he saw made his heart drop. Her skin was as pale as a ghost.

"Angel?"

"Huh?" The small noise came from her.

"Are you ok?"

She slowly gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"You don't seem ok." He sighed, looking back at his brothers to figure out what to do. "Talk to us. Tell us what's wrong."

Sniffling, she finally looked up and his heart broke as tears welled in her eyes. "What do you think Kane is going to do about this? Surely, he's going to do something. He's not just going to sit there and let us get away with this."

"Uh…" He tried to process what she said. "He'll probably call us out and yell at us. Maybe find some other team to do his dirty work and make them 'teach' us a lesson." With each word he watched her face to see if his answer changed anything. "I thought you were ok with this?"

"I was…I am…I..." She stuttered over her words. "I just can't stop thinking about how Kane's going to retaliate. I just…."

"Angel, anything they throw at us, we can handle it." Roman stepped up.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded her head. "Sure...sure."

"What you don't believe us?" Seth asked.

"It's not that, I just…I don't want to…I don't want lose you." Her voice broke.

"Lose us?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "Why would you lose us?"

"He could fire me and then…" She sniffled. "You three are my friends, my family…I can't…These last couple of months have been amazing and I don't want it to end." She started to ramble.

"Wow, wow!" Seth put his hands up. "Kane isn't going to fire you. He doesn't even have the power to."

"Yeah but Stephanie and Hunters does." She rubbed her eyes. "And I'm sure that they are mad about this too."

"I'm sure they are." Roman nodded his head. "But they're not going to fire you over this." He told her. "Trust me. You have to do a lot worse than that."

"But it's my job to make sure…."

Dean shook his head, cutting her off. "Angel, you've read and reread that folder about how to be a manager more than anyone, probably even more than the ones who wrote the damn thing." He gave a small chuckle. "What does it say a manager's job is?"

"To do what's best for their client." She said like she was reading the line straight from the folder itself.

He gave his head a nod. "Do you think that being the Authority's lap dogs was best for us?"

After a moment of hesitation, she shook her head.

"So, then you did your job." Roman smirked. "And they can't fire you for doing your job."

"And even if they try, they have to go through us." He told her.

"And Kane just learned how that feels."

She gave a small sniff and nodded her head as she wiped her eyes again. Before she was able to say anything else, Roman stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think a few drinks are in order."

"Yeah and while we're at it, how about round of pool, this time teams." Seth smirked.

"You and Dean against me and Angel?" Roman crossed his arms as he gave a challenging look to Seth.

Dean glanced at Angel who see that she had a small on her face. "Hey now, if we're doing teams, I think it should be Angel and I versus you two." He said trying to keep the smile on her face.

"That's not fair." Seth whined as he made his way over to his things. "We're going to be crushed."

Dean shook his head and turned back towards Angel who look a lot better than she did, still a bit pale but at least she wasn't hyperventilating anymore. "What do you say?" He held out his hand.

He watched as she seemed to gather herself together. Her chest rose as she took a deep breath. "I say…" She reached out and took his hand. "We're going to wipe the floor with them."

"That's my girl…" The words spilled from his mouth before he could even stop them. As his eyes met hers, he knew that he couldn't be lucky enough that she didn't notice. Clearing his throat, he let go of her hand and stepped back. "I mean, attagirl…"

A small blush appeared on her face. "Right."

A.A.A.

"Angel! Wake up!"

Angel let out a groan as her body jolted awake from the heavy sleep that she was just in. Her head was pounding and the world around her felt like it was spinning and jumping under her and her stomach didn't appreciate it very much.

Slowly she peeked open her eyes and looked around the room, regretting it as the artificial light mixed with the sunlight hit her. "What…?"

"Time to get up." Renee laughed.

She let out another groan as she rolled over to see Renee leaning over her with a huge smile on her face. "What time is it?"

"Nine thirty."

"A.M?" Her eyes shot open wide. "Why did you wake me this early? The boys gave me the day off." She went to roll back onto her side and go back to bed, but her head had other thoughts. Fighting off the wave of dizziness, she reached up and grabbed the bridge of her nose and inhaled slowly.

"Come on." Renee laughed as she shook the bed a bit. "I invited, Nikki and Brie for a girls' day!" She said in an overly happy voice.

Dropping her hand, she looked up at the smiling woman and let out a sigh. "I guess that means I'm going too?"

"Of course."

Giving an over exaggerated groan, Angel pulled her pillow up and over her face.

"It's not my fault that you stayed out half the night drinking."

"No, but it is your fault that I'm up right now." She said through the pillow.

"Wah…" Renee laughed as the pillow was suddenly pulled away from her face. "Well now that you're up, you better get ready because they are on their way up now."

As if summoned, a knock on the door echoed through the room. "That should be them." Somehow the woman's smile grew on her face as she turned around and practically bounced to the door. "Good morning!"

"Morning, you ready to go?" Brie's laugh came in the room.

"Once someone gets up and gets ready to go." Angel rolled her eyes as Renee pointed at her.

"What are you doing still in bed?" Nikki asked stepped around Renee.

"Someone stayed out all night drinking." Renee placed her hands on her hips.

Angel shook her head, regretting it as soon as she did. "It wasn't all night." She pointed out. "And if you would have told me that you planned a girls' day then I wouldn't have stayed out as late."

Renee didn't even look the slight bit guilty as she made her way over to her side of the room and started to throw things in her purse. "Well that doesn't matter now. So just get up and get ready so we can go paint the town red."

Somehow Angel managed to get herself dressed, even with Renee, Nikki, and Brie vetoing each of her outfit choices. 'Not cute enough.' 'Too Shield like' 'Not form fitting enough.' They finally settled on letting her wear a pair of bleached jeans and a nice red shirt that had a bit of a v-neck, and that was only because she agreed to wear one of Renee's leather jackets.

Then it was time to, as Renee had put it, 'paint the town red'.

Head still pounding, Angel found herself sitting in the passenger seat of the rental car that Renee got; while Nikki and Brie sat in the back. Though they didn't make it five minutes away from the hotel when a loud groan came from Nikki.

"I can't wait any longer."

"Nikki." Brie yelled at her sister under her breath.

"What?"

Giving a glance to the two in the back seat, Angel watched as the two sisters faced each other and mouthed words back and for.

"What difference does it make, now or at brunch we're still going to ask." Nikki asked out loud. Brie threw her arms up and leaned back in her seat, seemingly giving up on whatever she was trying to stop Nikki from doing.

"Ask what?" Angel questioned as she around in her seat as much as she could.

Nikki looked at Brie, who just shrugged her shoulders; before turning back with a huge smile on her face. She watched at the woman take a deep breath before sliding up in her seat so that she was practically between the two front seats.

Suddenly the anticipation of whatever Nikki's question started to kill her. That was until the words poured from the woman. "So, what's going on with you and Dean?"

Blinking, Angel cocked her head and stared blankly at the woman. "What?" Surely, she heard wrong.

"We want to know what's going on between you and Dean." Nikki repeated.

Angel's stomach felt like it was in her throat and her already pounding head was beating even harder. "What…what makes you think there something between us?"

"I mean how could we not." Nikki smiled. "Have you seen you two? You are so cute together."

Trying to process what was going on, she glanced up at Renee who just shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't say anything."

"So, there is something!" Nikki exclaimed as she gave a smack against the arm of Angel's seat. "I knew it!" She laughed as she stuck her tongue out at her sister who was just shaking her head.

"No….I um….what...I…" Frazzled Angel turned so that she was sitting forward in her seat, staring at the road in front of them. How in the world did Nikki and Brie find out? Renee said that she didn't say anything. Does someone else know?

"Angel." Brie spoke up on a soft voice. "Don't pay any attention to Nikki she can be nosy." She emphasized the nosy part.

"So I'm nosy, sue me." Nikki pursed her lips. "But hey it's not my fault when you decide to kiss behind a couple of travel cases."

The air caught in her lungs and her eyes widened, as she went to open her mouth opened to speak but all that did was choke herself and end up in coughing fit.

"Nikki, you're killing Angel." Renee laughed.

Wheezing, Angel turned around and looked at Brie and Nikki. "You saw us?" She said trying to catch her breath

"Well duh." Nikki nodded her head as Brie shook hers.

"Angel, don't let Nikki here fool you." Brie sighed. "I was walking with her down the hallway and I didn't see a thing. In fact, if Nikki hadn't said anything I wouldn't even have known."

She gave a nod, even though her brain was still racing. How many people saw her and Dean? How many people knew her and his secret? Was there more than Renee, Nikki, and Brie?

"Angel."

"Huh?" She glanced back over her shoulder to see that Brie switched spots with her sister and was now in the middle of the seats.

As their eyes met a sympathetic look came to the woman's face. "Stop worrying about it, Nikki is the only one who noticed. And hell, I'm not even sure how she even saw anything."

"I'm just good like that." Nikki gave a small laugh before her face turned into the same sympathetic look as her sister. "But she's right. I just happened to see Dean's foot… and as she said I'm nosy, so I went and checked it out."

Angel took a deep breath as she tried to come to terms with what happened. Even if they were lying to make her feel better, there wasn't anything she was able to do. Past was the past. No changing it.

"So…There is something going on between you and him?" Nikki asked sounding like she was trying to step on eggshell but at the same time she wasn't going to let this die.

"I…I don't know." Angel's face grew warm as she thought about it. There certainly was something going on between it but what it was, she didn't know.

"You don't know?" Both Bellas asked at the same time. "How don't you know?"

Blushing she said, "I mean, neither one of us said that we're together or dating or anything. So…"

"Why not?" Nikki asked. "You two clearly like each other enough to passionately kiss in a dark corner of the arena. Why not ask the man on a date?"

"I tried to tell her that." Renee shouted. "I told her to ask him on a date, but she won't. She's scared that Dean will say no."

"Say no!" Nikki jumped in the backseat, making the whole car move around. "You really think that he would say no?"

Angel looked back over her shoulder and shrugged. "I don't know. I've never asked someone on a date. Both the guys I've dated asked me. Not the other way around."

"Well after what I saw, I don't think that he's going to say no to you." Nikki laughed.

Even as her face heated beyond measure, Angel nodded. Nikki had a point, but there were just so many what ifs that she didn't like. Like what if the date didn't go well? What if it went well in her eyes and not well in his. What if…

"Hey." Brie's voice broke her thoughts. "Don't let Nikki push you in to anything that you're not ready for. If you're not ready, then you're not ready." Brie said looking at her sister as if it was her that she was talking to.

"I agree." Renee sighed. "Though, I do think that it would be a good idea to ask him out on a date, it might help clear up everything."

Dropping her head, she turned her attention towards her feet as she started to debate whether or not she should, could or would ask Dean out. What if.

…

"So that's all the scheduled matches for tonight." Stephanie said looking up from her notebook. "Does anyone have anything else to add?"

Angel shook her head even though she knew that Stephanie wasn't talking to her.

"If you don't mind." Her eyes shot wide as she turned towards where the voice came from. Kane came out of nowhere and stepped up next to Stephanie.

"Kane?" Stephanie gave a small smile as she stepped away from the front of the table, letting him take lead.

"For WrestleMania, we need someone to go up against the Usos for the Tag Team Championships." Kane stated as his eyes ran around the room. "Vickie and I talked about it and we thought that we would give a couple of teams a chance at the titles. We have RybAxel, 3MB, The Real Americans and the Shield."

Angel's head snapped up and blinked at Kane. I must be hearing things. She sighed. He couldn't have just said that he was giving the Shield a chance at the Tag Team Championships. He couldn't She shook her head slowly. Not after what they did what they did on Monday.

"Each of these teams, are going to be in a fatal four-way, tag team match to decide a number one contender for the tag titles." Kane went on. "For the teams of three, when picking the two competitors, please try to make sure it's not a team that has held the tag team titles in the last two years. We would like all new tag teams for this match."

All new tag teams? She looked at the three other teams that were mentioned, the Shield was the only one that were once Tag Team Champions in the last two years. Raising a brow, she looked at the man who just seemed to disappear into the shadows.

Maybe this was the way that Kane was getting back at them? Not letting Roman and Seth fight together? Was that a punishment? That didn't sound right.

"You coming?" Renee asked knocking her from her thoughts.

Giving a nod, Angel gathered up her thing and rose from her seat. "Well that was a shock." She sighed.

"The tag team match?" Renee asked.

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting Kane to give us a match tonight, let alone one that could lead to a title match."

"I know, I'm just as surprised as you are." Renee gave a small laugh. "Maybe the Shield part was Vickie's idea?"

"That would make more sense." She agreed as they made their way down the hallway.

"Oh hey," Renee grabbed her arm. "I wanted to say sorry for Nikki the other night."

"Don't be." Angel shook her head. "The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to think that you and her, are right."

"Yeah, but Brie's right too. If you're not ready, then you're not ready." Renee gave her a hard look.

As she smiled at her friend, movement caught her attention. Glancing over, she saw the three men that she was looking for leaning up against some of the travel cases that lined the hall. As she looked over them, her eyes stopped and locked on Dean.

He was already in his gear with his hoodie loosely draped around him and water dripped slowly from his soaked hair leaving a small puddle under his feet. As she ran her eyes up and down him, something grew in her chest.

"What if I am ready?" She mumbled as she looked back at Renee.

"Well, that's up to you?" Renee said looking as if she was trying to stop the smile that was working its way on her face. Though that smile turned quickly into a sigh as she looked down at her phone. "Shoot. I have to go" She put her phone away. "I'll see you later. Good luck."

"Yeah." Angel waved the woman off.

Taking a deep breath, she looked back at the three men, her eyes landing once against on Dean. Am I ready? After readjusting the things in her arms, she made her way over to the boys.

"Hey." She said as they all looked up at her. "I have good news and weird news." She said joining them.

"Lay it on us." Seth told her.

"You guys have a match tonight, a fatal four-way tag team match against RybAxel, The Real Americans and 3MB." She said as she watched each of their faces slowly brighten up. "Winner will be the number one contender for the tag team titles with a match at WrestleMania."

"Alright." Roman nodded his head. "That is good news."

"Now what's the weird news?" Dean was the one to ask.

"Kane was the one who booked the match."

Seth blinked as he turned towards Roman and Dean. "Kane did?"

"He said that he and Vickie came up with this match tonight."

"That is weird."

She agreed. "And that's not the half of it. Kane also said that for the teams that have three men, he asks us to pick two members who haven't been tag team champions in the last year or two."

"So, that means that Seth and I aren't allowed to team up?" Roman picked up on what she was saying.

She gave a shrug. "I guess. He said that he wants all new teams."

"So, which one of us gets to pair with Dean?"
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Seth frowned.

"I see no one is jumping at being my partner." Dean laughed.

"Hey, we're fighting for you." Roman smirked.

As they bickered, Angel's stomach growled. "Well while you're fighting over Dean's affection, I'm going to get a sandwich."

Dean laughed as he pushed himself off the travel case. "I'll come with you, since they don't need me."

Butterflies hit her empty stomach as she felt her face flame. "Ok." She looked down at the floor. "Shall we?"

As they started down the hall, she could hear a snicker come from the man. "So, what's got you all ruffled up?" Dean asked, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

His hot breath against her ear made her jump slightly as she turned towards the man and brought her hand up to cover it. "I'm not ruffled up."

"Sure…" He sighed. "That's why you won't look me in the face."

"I'm not ruffled up." She said again making a point to look him in the eyes.

He pursed his lips and sighed. "Ok, you're not ruffled up."

As they walked, a strange feeling hit her; her stomach twisted. "The other day, I had a 'girl's night' with Renee and the Bellas." The words poured from her like they were trying to escape.

"Ah." He nodded his head. "So, you spent the night getting picked on."

"You could say that." She sighed as they turned into catering. Looking around she realized that it was mostly empty; which wasn't unusual this time of night. It was mostly crew members eating right now.

A grumble came from Dean. "Something smells good." He said changing the subject completely as they walked over to the table that held all different types of foods.

Angel gave a small laugh as she eyed up the assortment of food. "Something looks good too." She said handing him the plate.

"Thanks." He gave a wink as he took the plate and instantly started to load it up.

Just as she was about to join the man in loading up a plate, she heard her name being called from behind her. Slowly she turned around to see a member of the crew making their way over to her.

"Angel Miles?"

"Hi?"

The man sighed. "We've just been informed that Michael Cole and JBL have invited you to join them on commentary for the fatal four-way tag match."

Her heart almost stopped. "Huh?" She blinked as she had to process what the man had just told her.

"Angel?"

"Oh, um…Ok." She muttered not really thinking about it as she slowly turned away with her empty plate still in hand.

She brain was racing at the same time she couldn't really think. Breathing grew tougher and her vision blurred. I'm going to be commentary. I'm going to be on commentary. She kept thinking over and over as she started to have a full blown panic attack.

"Alright, now you definitely look ruffled up now." Dean's voice came out of nowhere.

She looked up at the man and gave the best smile that she could. "I'm going to be on commentary for your match."

D.D.D

Dean cursed to himself as he watched Angel practically hyperventilate.

"Hey, hey." He leaned down and looked into her face. "No need to work yourself up, you're going to do great." He watched her and realized that she wasn't listing to him at all. Letting out a groan, he grabbed her arm. "Come with me."

Quickly he led her down the hallway trying to find a private place. Which he found one in a dark corner with a bunch of crates. Home sweet home. He sighed as he turned around and lifted her with ease up onto one of the crates.

Her face was red but not because she was blushing. Her chest rose and fell in the alarming way that he had seen only once before. When she was worried about being fired for defying the Authority. God, he hated seeing her like this once and now twice…

"Angel." He tried to get her attention. "Angel, look at me." When her eyes slowly lifted from the floor, he felt a small bit of relief. "Take a deep breath. You're going to do fine. I promise, you always great on the mic."

Though even as her eyes looked at him, he realized that she wasn't paying much attention. He needed to get her mind back, needed to bring her back from the brink.

It worked for me maybe it'll work for her. He shrugged his shoulders as he slowly leaned in and placed his hands on the crates beside both of her legs.

As he closed the gap between the two of them, there was a moment of clarity in her eyes, that was until their lips met.

Fuuuuck. He knew that he was trying to clear her mind, but now his was running wild. As soon as their lips touched his body felt like each of his nerves were firing on all cylinders; while at the same time it seemed to calm down. And as much as he wanted to focus on the feeling and loose himself in it, he couldn't. For he was trying to calm Angel down, not work himself up.

Trying his hardest to keep himself in the moment, he started to move his lips against hers, but that's when he noticed that she was as still as a stone wall.

Come on Angel. He sighed as he peeked through is lashes. Focus on me.

As he was about to give up, it happened. Her lips moved against his; it was slow and timid but longer the kiss went on the more intense, the more heated it became. Even as he struggled to not get lost in the kiss, he found himself struggling to breath. Chest burning for air, he still couldn't pull away from the kiss. No instead he reached up with one hand and grabbed the side of her face, deepening the kiss.

It wasn't until he felt both of her legs wrapped around his waist that he realized that he had wedged himself between her legs. As she dug the heels on her boots into his ass, Dean growled into the kiss. It felt so good to have her wrapped around him like this, like he was made to be in this spot. Which just made it even harder to pull away.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the girl in front of him. And boy what a sight it was.

Angel's face was flush; her eyes were half open and those stunning hazel eyes were locked on him with her mouth slightly opened. Although, as alluring as the look on her face was it wasn't the only thing that caught his attention. She hadn't had time to change into her Shield gear yet and was wearing a small V-neck shirt; and boy it was giving him a nice look at her chest that was wildly raising up and down as she was trying to catch her breath.

Slightly feeling bad about staring at her chest, he let his eyes drop down, but what greeted him was just as alluring as the view he just had. Her legs were wrapped around his waist so tightly that he almost didn't know where he ended, and she began. If only they were naked…

Taking a deep breath, he had to swallow the lump in his throat as the urge to do more hit him. Stepping back, he leaned down once again and placed his hands back on either side of her legs. "That really does help calm you down, doesn't it?"

Relief hit him as he let out a small giggle. "Yeah I guess."

Slowly he picked up his head and looked into her eyes. "Angel, know that you're not hyperventilating," He said making her already flush face, blush. "You're going to do great on commentary. Just like you did great during your interview."

"But I had you there watching to make sure I didn't screw up."

"And I'll be there again."

A.A.A.

Still trying to catch her breath from the wonderous kiss, she drew her eyebrows together and tried to focus on what Dean was telling her.

"I'll be right there; I'll be keeping an eye on you."

She shook her head. "How? You're going to be in the match." She pointed out. "How on Earth are you going to make sure that I'm fine."

"Like I said, I'll keep an eye on you and I'll make sure that Roman does the same." He said running a hand through his hair, brushing his bangs back. "If you give me or him any indication that you need help, I'll come save you."

Her heart fluttered at just the words I'll come save you. Those words coming from this man, made her feel like nothing could touch her. Made her feel like she could do anything.

Biting her lip, she looked into those mysterious blue eyes and the answer hit her. I'm ready.

"Dean…"

"Dean?" Roman's voice echoed down the hallway. Quickly, Dean pulled away and stepped out into the main hallway. "There you are!" She heard Roman say.

Letting out the breath that was frozen in her lungs, her heart dropped as she realized that her chance to ask him out on a date had just been interrupted.

"What are you guys doing?" Roman asked.

"Angel was asked to join commentary…"

"Oh, is she ok?" Seth asked.

Angel sighed as she listened to the three men make their way over to her. She hated that they all knew that she would freak out over this, hated that they knew her weakness so well. But at the same time it just showed how much they cared.

"Hey there, Babygirl." Roman's soothing voice came as they rounded the stack of crates that separated her from the rest of the arena. "How you doing?"

"I'm doing alright." She said hoping that none of what happened before would show in her voice or appearance. "Nervous but I'm fine."

Seth gave her a smirk. "You're going to do great."

"Yeah…"

"And hey it's the best place for you." Roman brought up. "If you're on commentary, then no one can use you to get to Seth and Dean."

"That's a good point."
"Show's starting!" A crew member called out through the hallway.

Just like that her stomach fell.

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