Welcome to Chapter Ninety Eight. Sorry about the wait. Still working through a lot. But it's here. Now I didn't fully edit it so I could get it out for you guys faster. I will go back through and edited as soon as I can. So sorry about any and all errors. A lot happens in this chapter.
Smackdown: June 27, 2014
"So, you guys don't use the locker room anymore?" Angel heard her dad ask as Dean walked around a pile of travel cases, dressed and ready for the show.
"Haven't in a while." Roman answered. "The Shield made some enemies in its day and just because we split up doesn't mean those bad feelings have gone away."
"That and you two just love these dark back corners." Angel added swinging her legs. She knew even if the locker room forgave them, they would still be finding themselves in the dark area's behind all the travel cases and equipment.
"It fits the whole vibe we got going for us." Dean smirked.
She raised a brow. "Back alley, warehouse?"
"I like to think of it as more of an urban ambience." He grabbed his athletic tape out of his bag.
"Well, Mr. Urban Ambience." She hopped off the case she was sitting on. "We have a tour to continue."
"You're right." He nodded. "I'll tape up later." He tossed the roll of tape back into his bag.
"You wanna join us, Roman?" Angel turned to the man who was snapping up his vest.
He looked up, tossing his hair back. "Sure, I got nothing else to do until the Main Event."
"You're in the main event?" Evelyn's eyes lit up. "Who are you facing?"
"Kane." He said plainly.
"Kane?"
"Don't worry, I'm going to kick his ass." He winked.
Angel watched as her mother's cheeks turned red. "I'm sure you will."
Trying to hide her smile, she stepped up into the middle of the group and clapped her hands. "Time to get this show on the road, so we can get you two in your front row seats in time for the start of the show.
Starting their tour up again, they made their way towards the gorilla in hopes to find either Hank or Renee. And wouldn't you know it, for once, her luck was on her side. Both the people she was looking for were standing outside of the gorilla talking to each other. "What are the odds that the two people I'm looking for are here together?" She asked making them look at her puzzled.
"What on Earth could you want that would have to do with both of us?" Hank asked.
Angel paused and gave the man a fake shocked look as she brough her hand to her chest. "Well maybe I wanted to see my friends. I mean unless we're not friends, Hank."
"We're friend Angel, what do you want?" He smiled.
"Nothing." She shook her head as she stepped out of the way of her parents. "We're just showing my parents around."
"Hey!" Renee greeted them. "It's nice to see you again, Mrs. and Mr. Miles."
"Renee dear, we told you to call us Evelyn and Chris." Her mom said pulling the woman into a hug.
"Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. is way to formal for us." Her dad scrunched his nose.
"Plus, we hear so much about you, it's like your family."
Renee gasped as she looked back at Angel. "Is that so. Well I'm honored."
"You don't know what I've told them."
"Doesn't matter."
Angel rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Hank. "Now, that you've seen a lot of backstage, I want you to meet the person who makes all this possible." She said gesturing to the man older man. "This is Hank Rogers the stage manager that is in charge of the production crew. He's also like the only reason that Roman and Dean were on TV at all for the couple of weeks…months…however long the Authority has hated them."
"I wouldn't say that." Hank said as he shook her father's hand. "All I do is help out whenever I can."
She thought back to everything that the man had done for them. "Which is why we made you these." She quickly walked over to the canvas bag that her mom was carrying. Her mom opened it and Angel pulled out the large baggie of chocolate chip cookies.
Hank's eyes widened. "Wait, you were serious?"
"Of course." She handed the bag to the man. "I wouldn't lie about cookies."
"That's a lot of cookies."
"It's only three dozen."
"Only."
"We might have gotten a little carried away while making them." She shrugged.
"May have?" Dean laughed. "That's not even half of what's still at the house."
"That's not fair!" Renee gasped. "You just said that I was like family and yet you've never made me cookies?"
"Me neither." Roman added. "What's up with that?"
"Don't worry, like Dean said there's plenty more at home."
"But that doesn't help me right now."
Hank laughed. "Would you like a cookie, Renee?" He held the bag out for her. "I don't mind sharing. Lord knows I'm not going to be able to eat these all by myself."
Renee tiptoed over to the bag and grabbed out one of the cookies as if she was trying to be sneaky. "Thank you." She took a small bite. "But it's not the same."
"How about this." Angel gave an over exaggerated sigh. "Tell me your favorite type of cookie and I'll make it for you." Renee's face lit up. "But! It'll have to be after Money in the Bank. I won't have time to make them before we have to leave tomorrow."
"You could bring them for our double date!" She smiled.
Angel's face fell as a sudden rush of guilt hit her. "Speaking of that…"
"Oh no."
"We're going to have to cancel our date."
"Aw, why? What's keeping you and Dean from galivanting around Canada with me and Jon?"
"Dean got moved to Road Team B."
"He did?" Roman perked his head up.
"Yeah, apparently the higher ups thought that Team B needed more matches." Dean sighed.
"Shit. That means I'm traveling alone." Roman sighed.
"Jimmy and Jey are on Team A you could always see if you can go with them."
"Yeah but it won't be the same." The twenty-nine-year-old man sounded like a little kid was just told that he was going to be in the same field trip team as his best friend. Which in away he kind of was.
Just then a muttered yelling came from what seemed like thin air. That was until Hank gave exhaled loudly and pressed his hand to his right ear. "I hate to take these cookies and run but the powers to be are yelling in my ear and I rather not keep her waiting."
Right a way everyone knew he was talking about Stephanie McMahon. "No need to explain."
"It was so nice to meet you." He waved before quickly running off quickly toward Stephanie's office.
Renee cleared her throat. "So, how are you enjoying the chaos that is backstage at a WWE show?"
"It's something?" Angel's dad laughed. "I always thought it would be something like this but man. I feel like this is what the inside of a beehive feels like. Constant buzzing."
"Right." Renee nodded. "I swear the production crew doesn't stop from the moment they step food in the arena. They have to set up everything for the show, make sure that all the cameras are working, get all the live feeds up and running, and then it's their job to make sure that the show runs smoothly and on schedule."
"Schedule?" Her mom cocked her head. "How do the schedules work for something like this?"
"The best it can." Renee laughed.
"So, we get schedules sent to us the day after each show, with what should be happening in the next one." She answered, pulling out her phone and pulling up the schedule she had for today's show. "Today's show is supposed to start off with the Authority coming out to talk about something, then Dean's match with Wade Barrett. But if someone, let's say Roman, runs down to the ring and attacks Randy then that might change everything. They might add a match between Roman and Randy before Dean's match, which pushes everything back. Then someone else might add a promo, pushing back everything again. And that one promo might add a match to the next show, changing that schedule. There's a lot that can change the was the schedule works."
"She's right." Renee nodded. "And even though things can change on a dime, there is a set number of matches and interviews that have to go on during a show and that's basically the only part of the schedule that we really have to keep."
"Uh huh." Evelyn nodded looking a little shell shock.
"Too much info?"
"A little." Everyone chuckled as Angel watched her adad wrap his arm around his wife. "I'm sure you guys are used to all that, but wow."
"That just makes it even more impressive that they are able to put on a live show like this, without any major hitches."
"We are used to it." Roman nodded. "But the show going smoothly had nothing to do with us."
"Ro's right. We disrupt it more than help." Dean smirked as if he was proud about that.
"Tell us something we don't know." Renee laughed.
"Only the male peacock is really called a peacock."
Angel blinked at him. "What?"
"Well, Renee said to tell you something that you didn't know and it's not common knowledge that the word peacock only means a male peacock. The real name for peacocks is a peafowl. And on top of that females are called peahens."
"Dude, how the hell do you know that?" Roman asked.
"You learn a lot of random shit when falling asleep on the couch to the Discovery Channel." He shrugged. "I also learned that peacocks aren't called that because of the size of their cocks, like I used to think."
"Only you."
"I'm sure it wasn't only me."
"No, only you would think that."
He shrugged again.
Just then a sigh came from Angel's left. Looking over she saw Renee looking at her phone, frowning. "I guess I better run down to hair and makeup or else I'm going to look like a gremlin for the show."
"You look just fine."
"That's sweet of you Evelyn, but the camera doesn't just add ten pounds you know." She smiled. 'I'll see you guys later." She patted Angel on the arm before racing off.
"Oh wow it is getting close to show time." Her dad said looking at his watch.
"Not a problem." He told him. "We have just enough time to finish our tour!" She gestured them into the main bulk of the gorilla. "This is the famous WWE gorilla, it's where a lot of the magic happens. You'll see interview in here, you'll see Superstars watching the show back here, and sometimes you even see Vince McMahon himself back here." She pointed to the small desk that both Hank and Vince liked to sit at. "He likes to be close to the action for special shows."
Turning around, she saw her parents were looking around the area in awe, like they've never need anything quite like it before. As much as she watched to laugh at the thought, Angel knew that she was same way the first time she was backstage, and she also knew that hey haven't seen anything yet.
"Now, the last stop of our tour is the best." She smirked looking up at Dean who made his way beside her. Stepping forward, he pushed opened the curtains and walked out onto the stage, followed by Roman. Both her mom and dad stopped and looked at her as if asking for permission before heading throat the curtain themselves. Taking a deep breath, she joined them.
"Oh wow!" Her dad gasped. "I've always wondered what this was like." He looked out into the empty arena. "God, it's amazing."
"It's even better with a crowd." Dean stated.
"I'm sure it is."
Pride hit Angel as she watched her parents. There was an overwhelming sense of accomplishment to have bale to wow your parents like this. She wished everyone in the world could experience at least once in their like if their own way. Because it felt like she was finally repaying them for everything.
"Shall we?" Roman asked as he came over and hook his arm around her mom's.
"Oh um, sure." She said flustered as she looked back at her husband, how just laughed at her excitement.
As Roman led her mom down the ramp, the three of them followed suit. "This is amazing, little one." Her dad said. "Absolutely amazing."
"I know." She agreed looking out at the empty arena. "I'm still getting used to it myself."
Dean chuckled. "Oh right, you've entered through the crowd for most of your wrestling career."
"Yep, and I've never quite got used to that either."
Both men chuckled as they made ti to the bottom of the ramp. Instantly her dad was wrapped back up in his wonder as he looked up at the ring like it was a mythical creature. "Shit. It's a lot taller than it looks."
"Yeah, she's pretty tall." Roman patted the apron. "All of us six-foot-tall people make it look smaller."
"Then I must make it look massive." Angel said standing beside the ring.
Turning toward her dad, she watched a man who had been watching wrestling for about twenty years turn into a young kid with tears in his eyes as he reached out and touched the apron for the first time. "They don't lie, the apron is pretty hard."
Dean chuckled. "Nope they don't lie about that." He lifted the ring skirt up. "Pure steel under here. Even with padding that shit hurts."
"God, that makes me queasy thinking about all the times I've seen someone hit the apron." Her mom frowned.
"The ring isn't forgiving. It's made of metal and wood, with a small layer of padding on it. And of course, a few ropes to keep you in." He reached up and tugged on them.
"So it's real rope?" Her dad asked.
"Yep." Roman nodded. "Rope with tape around it."
"Doesn't that hurt?"
"Sure." Dean said. "But I've been in promotions where they use steel cables wrapped in hoses and that isn't much better."
"I would think not."
"But you do get used to them either way." He pointed out. " A few weeks running the ropes and you'll stop feeling the bite of the ropes."
"Running the ropes?"
Dean turned and looked at her almost in shock. "That's right, you've never been trained to be in the ring."
"Should I have been?"
"In my opinion, yes but that's just because I want you to know how to handle yourself." He ran his fingers through his hair before climbing up onto the apron. "Running the ropes is like the second thing you learn how to do."
"First?" Her mom asked.
"Falling." Or what we like to call bumping." He ducked into the ring. "You have to know how to fall without hurting yourself. Because that way you can minimize the impact a move have on you." Stepping out into the middle of the ring, Dean launched himself backwards, throwing his arms out wide. The hit echoed around the empty arena. "Landing like this, maximizes who much brunt the top of your back takes and minimizes how much your neck and head takes."
"Now you're not always able to land this way." Roman said joining Dean in the ring. "But if you can, you should."
"Speaking of landing in the right way. How do you practice without getting hurt?"
"Good question, Evelyn." Dean winked at her as he rose to his feet. "There are two ways to do a move, the safe way and the real way. You learn both. One to use while training and one to use in a fight. And normally the differences are so simple, just a change in hand position or power behind the move."
Angel couldn't help but to smile at the man in the ring. It was like the man was really giving a lecture.
"Now after you master the way of bumping, you get to run the ropes." Dean walked to the middle of ring. "Which in slow motion looks like this." The man took two large steps toward the far side of the ring before pivoting himself around so his back was now facing the ropes, he extended one arm and grabbed onto the top rope before leaning back into said ropes. This looked a lot like what she had seen wrestlers do to gain momentum. "You always wanna hit the ropes or turn buckle with your back. You front has move important bits you don't want all smashed up." He explained. "You also want to make sure you grab the ropes when hitting them, so you don't just go flying out of the ring or something stupid." He shook the rope.
He then pushed himself off the ropes and copied exactly what he just did on the other side. "You want to clear the ring in three steps." He hit the ropes again. "And once you got the slow motion down, you can pick up speed." He took off running as face as he could across the ring. Setting in a rhythm that echoed loudly.
"If you're doing this right, you should be able to have two people running the ropes at the same time." Roman said as he lined himself up to the remaining two sides. After Dean passed him a few move times, he started up as well.
The two ran in sync never hitting each other and it was something to watch. When one passed in the middle, the other was hitting the ropes. It was like a beautifully choreographed dance, one that if either one messed up, they would end up playing right into each other at full force.
Suddenly Roman stopped at the ropes, so hard that it looked like the man was going to fall forward. "When you want to stop, you hook your arms around the ropes like this." He showed off his stance."
Dean followed suit after his next pass. "Running the ropes," He caught his breath. "helps you build trust in them and in the person, you're running with."
D.D.D.
Stretching his arms over his head, Dean glanced back at Roman with a smirk. "Alright Angel, get in here." He ordered.
Angel's eyes went wide but she did pull herself up onto the apron. "You want me to do that?"
"Maybe not as hard, but yeah I want you to do that."
"You can do it."
"Give it a go." Her parents cheered.
Taking a deep breath, she ducked into the ring. "What do I have to do"
"Ro, slow it down for her." Roman nodded and started running in a very slow pace. "You want to try and clear the ropes in three steps, pivot on your feet so you can hit the ropes with your back and make sure to grab the rope as he lean back into it." He pointed out as Roman did each step. "Then you go again, using the ropes to gain momentum."
"Ok." She sounded shaky.
"Go slow."
With another deep breath, she started in a very slow job across the ropes. "Three steps." He told her. "Pivot. Good!" He clapped as she hit the ropes in a sloppy but all and all the correct way. "Again."
Standing in the corner of the ring, Dean watched as Angel ran the ropes. She wasn't perfect in any sense of the word, but he could tell that she was getting more comfortable with each pass. "Faster."
With a couple more passes she was at her max speed, or at least the max speed she was comfortable with. Which was fine. She was doing great for her first time. "Keep going." He told her as he lined up on the opposite side of her. After judging her speed, he took off joining her. The first pass they made together was very rough, she paused for a second which made him have to slow down. But son they were running together at her speed, no problems.
"Good, Angel!" Roman cheered. "Keep that up!"
After a little bit longer and a reminder of how to stop, Angel grabbed the ropes.
"How was that" He asked, stopping as well.
"I can see that you mean about the ropes biting you." She said trying to catch her beath.
"Yeah." He sighed. "You'll probably get a bruise." Even with that, he couldn't stop smiling. Mixing the two things that meant the most to him felt great. Hat him ecstatic and ready for a fight. His mind raced with all the other things he could teach her.
"Hey! Guys I need you out of the ring." A crew member yelled, ruining his fun.
After getting out of the ring, they showed Angel's parents to their seats and made their way backstage to get ready for the show. The show that he couldn't wait for. Couldn't wait to get his hands-on Bad News Barrett. You better be ready for me, Wade.
…
Dean rubbed his chin and grinned inwardly as he didn't feel those fucking stitches anymore. After they were all ready to go for the show, Angel practically pulled him to the trainers' room to get them out. However, he wasn't fighting her. He wanted the gone as much as she did, maybe even more. They were so itchy all the time and no, his chin didn't hurt anymore but if he accidently got one of the stitches caught on anything it wasn't a fun time. But that was now the least of his worries, he was good as new.
"You ready for your match?" Roman asked.
"What kind of question is that? You know I'm always ready for a good fight." He answered giving his knuckles a crack.
"Yeah but Angel's parents are out there."
"So, they've seen me fight before."
"Yeah but that was on TV this is live. Don't you want to make a good impression."
Angel laughed. "They already love him, how much more of a good impression can he make."
He went to agree with her when a weird feeling hit him. He knew that Angel was right. Her parents liked him, showed him that many times already. But for some reason Roman's words hit him hard. He did want to make a good impression. Wanted to show them how good he was. Shit. He groaned to himself. For the first time in years, he was nervous about a fight.
The TV suddenly turned on and showed a video package of what was to come at Money in the Bank. "They did a good job with that." Angel said pointing at the screen with the carrot stick that she was eating.
"Yeah they did." The video had even him hyped up.
When Roman's part came up, they cheered and gave him a pat on the arm. "And new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns!" Angel announced.
"Thank you Babygirl." Roman shook his head as The Authority's music hit.
"Please welcome, Seth Rollins, The Viper; Randy Orton, and WWE CEO; Triple H!"
"Great." Dean sighed. "I forgot we were starting off with these idiots."
Hunter started the promo talking about the different eras of WWE before going on about the ladder matches that were happening on Sunday. But soon, it devolved to Seth and Randy bickering.
Gritting his teeth, Dean stood from his seat. "We should get going."
Angel chomped her last carrot as she stood. "Let's go!"
"Good luck out there, man."
He turned towards Roman and shook his head. "It's never luck." He wrapped his arm around Angel's shoulder and the two of them started down the hallway.
A.A.A.
Bad News Barrett's theme rang over the speakers as soon as they made their way into the gorilla. Taking a deep breath, Angel fixed her hair quickly got ready to head out to the ring. She then turned her attention back to Dean who was throwing phantom punches into the air. "You got this."
"Damn straight."
BNB's music died down and Dean turned towards the curtain. Not even a second later, Dean's music started up with that long guitar slide. Giving him a pat on the back, he stepped forward to make his way out to the stage. She made sure to follow behind him closely.
The two of them quickly made their way down the ramp, not stopping for any theatrics. When they got to ring side, Dean turned sharply and started over to where her mom and dad were standing cheering for them. She knew her face was turning bright red as they stopped in front of the barricade that separated them.
Dean stuck out his hand for her father to shake, a gesture of respect as she hugged her mother.
"Aw, looky, Dean's being sweet." She heard BNB call from the ring.
Her mom glared over her shoulder. "Go get him!"
"With pleasure." Dean turned around and quickly got into the ring.
Knowing that the match was going to start right away, Angel didn't bother getting into the ring. She just stood on the side lines waiting for Dean to toss her his hoodie. As he did just that, they locked eyes and she gave him a little smile. Nodding back at her, Dean took his spot in the ring and the bell rang. She put the huge hoodie on and took her spot.
The match started out chaotic, but she didn't expect anything different. She knew that Roman had put thoughts into Dean's head about having to impress her parents with this match, so that was what the man was going to do. He was going to give this match his all. Even though he hoped he would conserve himself a little bit. Money in the Bank was two days away and she knew that if he wasn't careful this match would take a lot out of him.
Trying to wipe that thought from her mind, Angel focused on the match at hand.
Dean wailed on BNB in the corner of the ring. Like fully wailed on him until he was pulled away. "Keep on him!" She cheered.
However, Dean wasn't able to get back into the fight as BNB kneed him in the gut. A few hard hits had Dean on his knees on the mat.
Hissing, she moved around the ring quickly to get a better view of what was going on. Before she got there, Barrett sent him running with an Irish Whip. However, as Dean came flying back towards them, he ducked under a wild swing. He then hit the ropes and flung himself at the man, knocking them both down to the mat. Not wasting a moment, Dean started laying in on BNB, fists a flying.
Nothing pulled the man away from his full-on assault, nothing but apparently Dean himself. Walking back over to Barrett, he grabbed him by the back of the head and tossed him out of the ring.
"YOU WANNA DO THIS!"
"Come on Dean!" Angel grabbed the steel pole and leaned around to look at Barrett on the floor. However, she only got a glimpse because Dean rolled out and grabbed him once again. With a loud growl like noise, he slammed the man against the apron. BNB tried to stumble away but to no prevail as Dean caught him and launched him into the barricade.
The ref started to count, trying to get the match back in the ring but Dean seemed to ignore him as he paced around. Giving a crack of his neck, he gestured for her to come closer. Something that made her question what was about to happen, since Dean didn't like her getting close to the fight.
"What's up?"
Without warning he bent down and gave her a quick peck on the lips before turning around and getting back into the fight, like he never even stopped. He tossed BNB back into the ring. "Need that." He grunted with a wink before rolling back into the ring.
She blushed and turned back to the match just in time to see Dean get hit with a big boot to the face. Great. She sighed as she patted the apron, yell for him to get up. Her eyes flickered across the ring to the announcers where she saw a huge smile on JBL's face as he ranted about something. She could just imagen what he was saying. Probably something along the lines of. 'Dean needs to focus on the match, not kiss his girlfriend. He's sooooo crazy that he stops after pummeling a man to lay a smooch on his girl,' or something.
Barrett covered Dean, who kicked out at one.
"Come on Dean! Get back in the fight." She slammed her hands on the apron as Barrett hit him with slow but hard punches. She knew the man was messing with Dean. He was deliberately doing the opposite of Dean's erratic style. Getting to his feet, Barrett stomped on Dean's gut and the man shot up from the mat and while holding his stomach. "Get up, Dean!"
Barrett wrapped his arm around Dean's head and pulled his to his feet, for a neck breaker. He then when for another pin which Dean once again kicked out at one. She didn't think the hit was that bad, that was until she saw Dean's face scrunch up in pain as he crawled over to the ropes.
Moving quickly and trying to stay out of the way of the film crews all around the ring, Angel slid over to check on her boy. However, Barrett came over and knelt on the back of his neck, choking him.
"Hey!" She yelled, throwing her arms up in the air. "Get off him Barrett."
"Nah," He jostled the ropes.
"Ref!"
"She's right, Barrett. Get off." The ref yelled at him before he started to count.
At the last second Barrett moved away with his arms up. He then set back in on Dean, pulling him his feet, before pressing him back so that his head and torso went through the top and middle one. Dean swung his arms around franticly trying to fight the man, but BNB just used that to his advantage. He grabbed Dean's arms and used them to pull him up so that he was sitting on the middle rope while his arms draped over the top.
"Enough!" She called out as Barrett started choking him again.
Stopping before he was counted out, Barrett kneed Dean in the chest before backing up. once again Angel went to step up to Dean's side to make sure he was ok, then the man came tumbling down the floor next to her.
Jumping out of the way, to make sure that his head didn't hit her boot.
D.D.D.
Coughing, Dean reached up and grabbed his head. The fall rattled his brain and boy it didn't enjoy that. His throat also didn't enjoy being smashed against the ropes for as long as they were.
"Come on Dean!" A familiar voice that wasn't Angel's called out to him.
Looking up, he let his eyes focus on where the voice was coming from and saw Angel's mom and dad standing there looking at him with worry in their eyes. Shit. He groaned at himself. It wasn't bad enough that Barrett got the upper hand on him with a stupid boot to the face, but Angel's parents were here to watch it. Pathetic.
Stuck in his own head, he didn't notice as Barrett made his way up to him, until the guy grabbed him and sent him back first in the barricade, right in front of where Evelyn and Chris were sitting.
BNB cheered for himself as he walked slowly up to them. "This is the man you let your daughter date?" He shook his head. "Well I've got some bad news…."
"Shut up." He glared at the man throwing a random punch, one he knew wasn't going to connect but hey it was worth the try.
After being tossed back into the ring, Dean rose to his feet with all the intentions of taking back the fight. However, that's not what happened as his face smashed against what he knew was the turnbuckle. As if by habit, his hand flew to his nose, checking to see if it was broken. Luckily, he didn't feel blood, nor did he hear a gross cracking noise. Suddenly he felt himself being lifted as if for a body slam, but he was in the corner. Was Barrett really trying to put him out of commission? He almost thanked god or whoever, when he was placed on top of the ropes.
Holding onto the back of his neck, Barrett hit him with hammer punches to the back. Gritting his teeth, he held onto the ropes, waiting for the best time to push himself away. Though he didn't get the change as a huge kick to the stomach pretty much did it for him.
Popping off the ropes, he stumbled backwards while holding his stomach. "Come on, Dean!" Angel yelled at him just as BNB put him into a headlock sleeper hold.
"Tap out!" Barrett yelled at him. "Tap out in front of your girlfriends mummy and daddy."
"Fuck you."
A.A.A.
Angel bit her tongue as she heard the f-word come from Dean's mouth. She wasn't sure what Barrett had said to bring it out of him, if he said anything at all but she knew he would be hearing about this. The censors didn't like cussing.
"Come on Dean!" She patted the apron. "Get out of there."
She watched as Dean fought to get out of the hold, slowly making it to his feet. He got loss and hit him with a few punches to the head before using the ropes to gain momentum to knock Barrett down. When BNB got back to his feet, Dean landed a kick to the stomach making him hunch over. Dean then grabbed him by the hair and threw him back against the mat.
Barrett scrambled to his feet and made his way over to the corner, turning around just intime for Dean was ramp his shoulder into his gut. However, the hit wasn't enough to stop him from reversing the Irish Whip.
Dean smashed into the turnbuckles only to turn around and slam BNB in the face with his elbow. The knock gave Dean just enough time to jump up onto the ropes and wrap his arm around the man's neck. He set up what looked like a Tornado DDT but just as he launched himself off the ropes, BNB countered the move just by throwing him across the ring.
Angel cringed as Dean landed right on his stomach. And right after he explained that you never want to land on your stomach. "You ok?" She asked leaning through the bottom ropes as far as she could without the ref yelling at her. She knew he wasn't going to answer her, he had bigger things to worry about. Like, Wade Barrett coming over to grab him.
Barrett pulled Dean up off the mat and manhandled him until he had him where he wanted, which was all set up for his Pumphandle Drop.
Come on, come on. She begged Dean to get out of the move. Her prays were answered as somehow he was able to push himself up and over BNB's shoulder just before Barrett sent him slamming into the mat.
"There you!" She cheered as Dean came launching off the ropes with a huge clothesline that knocked both men off their feet. "Finish him!" She yelled as Dean worked himself up with slaps to the face.
Letting out a yell, giving the people a look at the Lunatic, Dean pulled Barrett up to his feet into the setup for Dirty Deeds. Sweeping his leg back, he hit the move, planting BNB against the mat before going the pin.
"One. Two. Three!" Angel counted with the ref. As the bell ran out loud and proud, she slid into the ring and rushed over to Dean who had his eyes on the stage, like he was waiting for something. As the ref grabbed his right arm, she took his left and raised it over her head. "You won!" She said proudly.
He pulled his attention away from the stage and smirked at her. "Of course. Did you expect anything else?" She laughed as they turned towards the crowd. Dean pulled away to jump up on the rope. He called out to the crowd who cheered back to him. When she stepped up to him, he hopped down and looked at him. "Should we go celebrate with your parents?"
"Sure!"
They rolled out of the ring and made their way over to where her parents were on their feet cheering. "There they are!" Her mom smiled wild.
"Congratulations!" Her dad patted Dean's arm.
Dean shrugged. "It was nothing."
"Nothing? You pinned the Intercontinental champ, that's not nothing."
Suddenly Dean's music cut out and Jack Swaggers filled the arena. "There it is." He sighed as he turned towards the stage to see Swagger and Zeb coming down.
"That's just great." She went to step back to make sure she wasn't in the way, but Dean grabbed her waist and picked her up.
"Hold on to this for me, won't you?" He placed her on top of the barricade, so that her back was facing the ring.
"Dean!" She called after the man as he rushed back into the ring.
"What's going on, Angel?" Her dad asked.
"I'm not sure." She said spinning around to get a better look.
For a second it looked like Dean and Swagger were about to have a brawl, when Swagger turned towards Wade Barrett who was just getting to his feet on the outside of the ring. A sick smirk appeared on Swagger's face as he ran over and clobbered BNB.
"Wait….What?" Angel hear her mom trying to put together the pieces while Swagger beat up Barrett.
Racing stomps came from the ring, making her turn just in time to see Dean leaping through the ropes for a Suicide Dive onto Swagger. The crowd went nuts around her, as Dean grabbed one of the small ladders that lined the ramp.
"Oh my…"
Angel slowly slid down from her spot on the barricade, keeping her eyes on what was happening. Dean hit Swagger in the gut with the ladder, knocking the man to his knees. He then raised the thing over his head and slammed it down on top of the man. Her gut fell as she realized this was shades of what was to happen on Sunday. For some reason it never dawned on her that she was going to have to watch Dean hit people with ladders and be hit with ladders himself.
What the hell did you think a ladder match was going to be like? She asked herself Dean tossed Swagger into the ring. However, before she could worry about what was to come, Ryback dumped Dean out of the ring on the announcers' side.
Angel went to go check on him, when her dad right out and grabbed her arm. "Do you really think you should be getting int the middle of this?" He asked.
"No, but…"
Dean was already on his feet and back in the ring, on the attack. He laid into Swagger a bit before dumping him over the ropes. He then quickly rolled out to grab him by the head, using it to send the man over the barricade and into the timekeeper's area.
"He's really going to town."
"Yeah he is." She agreed. She knew that not only was he punishing Swagger for coming out here, he was also getting out some pent-up aggression that he had towards the man. Ever since Swagger had agreed to be one of the eleven men who beat up on the Shield back in April there has been some bad blood between the men. Although she was sure the bad blood went back even farther than that.
She watched Dean stalk after Swagger, looking like a man ready to kill when a guy dressed in all black came up behind him. It was Seth. "Dean look out!" She cried but it was too late, Seth grabbed Dean from behind and threw him into the steel steps.
Dread filled her, as Seth stared down Dean. She knew that one simple attack from behind wasn't going to be the end of this. Fighting to get out of her father's grasp, she called out to Seth to stop this. By the time Seth had tossed Dean into the ring and was making his way up as well, she didn't even know what was coming out of her mouth.
"You think you're going to ruin this for me!" Seth screamed at Dean who was trying to get to his hands and knees.
"Stay down." She mumbled to herself, knowing that Dean was setting himself up for the Curb Stomp.
"I have eyes on you, all the time!" Seth took off for the ropes.
As soon as Seth's foot came down on the back of Dean's head, Angel ripped out of her Dad's hold and raced towards the ring. Sliding under the bottom rope, she stood up and got right into Seth's face.
"What do you want?" He smirked.
"I wanna see the look on your face when Dean wins on Sunday." She gritted through her teeth. "I want you to feel panic and embarrassed as you try to figure out what you're going to tell Hunter, how are you going to explain to him that you lost." Anger filled Seth's face and his jaw clicked. "I want to watch you squirm when you realized you couldn't get the job done."
Before she could do anything, Seth's hand shot out and gave her a hard shove on the chest, making her stumble backwards. She tried to catch herself, but her heel caught against Dean's side and she went tumbling down on top of him.
"I won't let the two of your ruin this for me." Seth's voice was low and almost washed out by the 'you sold out' chant. "It is my time and neither of you will take it away."
D.D.D.
He wasn't sure how long he was laying sprawling out in the middle of the ring with Angel draped over his stomach while Seth paraded around. He knew that as soon as the lights above him quiet spinning, he was going to get up and sock that two-tone haired freak in the face.
Well at least that was the plan, until the officials came to push Seth out of the ring. Apparently, it was time for the next match, and they were taking too long to get out of the ring. Well fuck them. Dean groaned as Angel helped him sit up.
"How are we doing?" She asked.
"Peachy." He stretched his bac and gave his neck a crack. God, he hated the Curb Stomp move. It was one of those moves that can lay a man out regardless of how worn out they were. Which was a weakness for someone who strived to outlast his opponent, like he did.
When both feet hit the ground, his body complained with every movement. Angel pasted herself to his side as they slowly walked around the ring. As they walked, his eyes swept over the crowd, only to land on Angel's parents. Shit.
"Are you ok?" Evelyn asked as they paused in front of the couple. "Should we come backstage? Can we be of any help."
Dean shook his head. "Nah. Stay here, watch some good wrestling. I'll be right as rain by the end of the show."
"He's right." Angel nodded. "Enjoy the show. Let me worry about Mr. Hard Head here." When her mom frowned, she said. "I'll let you know if anything comes from this."
"Guys." A crew member walked up to them. "We really need to get you guys backstage." When Dean looked back at the man, he backed off a little. "We need to get ready for Paige's match."
"Oh, sorry." Angel apologized as she gave another look at her parents. "Enjoy the show. I promise I've got this under control."
Escorted by the crew member, the two of them made their way backstage. As soon as they stepped foot in the gorilla everyone seemed to plaster themselves against the wall. It was like they were worried that either he or Angel were going to explode. Which was funny to him, because he had known since the match between him and BNB was made, that something along this lines was going to happen, however this was tame compared to what he had conjured up in his mind.
However, he knew that no matter what happened it wouldn't have come close to what he had dreamed up. For they wouldn't be able to show it on live TV.
He smirked at all the ideas that ran though his head. Ever since Money in the Bank last year, he had been cooking up ideas for the next time he would be apart of a ladder match. He wanted to bring some CZW to WWE. He wondered what the censors would do if he did. What would they do if he hit Seth in the face with a ladder over and over until his face was a bloody mess?
"Dean?" A cold sensation touched his arm, he looked down and saw Angel holding a water bottle against him. "You ok?"
"Yeah, just daydreaming."
"Oh? What about?"
"Sunday." He took the water.
"Let me guess, pounding Seth's face in?"
Smirking he said. "You know me so well."
"It wasn't a hard guess." She laughed. "That's all you've been daydreaming about for the last month."
"Hey." He cracked open the water. "That's not true."
"Isn't it?"
"Nah. I'm been dreaming about redoing our little rendezvous in the office. I'll make sure we do it right this time."
She blushed as she shoved him playfully. "You're bad."
"You know it." He took a swig of the water.
…
Dean rocked back and forth on the chair that he was sitting on as they waited for Roman's match to start up. Roman verse Kane. As much as he knew Kane wanted payback for the spear that Roman gave him, something wasn't sitting right about this match.
"Gum?"
Dean looked over to see Angel holding out his pack of gum that was in the vest that she had been wearing ever since his match. "Thanks." He grabbed a stick.
"You alright?" She asked as she took a piece of gum herself. "You seem to be chomping at the bit. Roman's got this."
"Yeah." He nodded. "Something's just not sitting right with me."
She raised a brow. "You wanna head to the gorilla?"
He shook his head. "You're right, Roman's got this." As much as he and Roman would already have each other's backs, he almost knew that they needed to let each other take their own lumps.
The explosion that singled the start of Kane's entrance came through the speakers. "Here we go." Angel took a deep breath as they cut to a video package about Kane entering the World Heavyweight Ladder match.
Then came the very familiar sounds of Roman's theme started. Roman came through the crowd, looking so very intense. With just the glances that the camera's cuts allowed him, Dean could tell that Roman was ready for this.
On the edge of this seat, Dean watched as the match got started. The two big men in the ring, jockeyed to stay in control of the match. Hit after hit was that of full power. "Come on, Ro." He clapped as Roman took a sidewalk slam. "You got this."
Kane threw him out of the ring and instantly started to clear the announce table. While JBL and Michael Cole talked about how dangerous Kane can be. However, when Kane grabbed Roman for a choke slam. Roman countered, throwing Kane back into the steel steps.
You forgot how dangerous Roman can be. Dean smirked as Roman went to town in the ring with elbows, punches, even a few headbutts. Soon Roman had Kane right where he wanted him and got ready to deliver his Superman punch.
"Come on." Angel cheered as he jumped into the air and hit Kane. "Yes!"
Then Dean's bad feeling were justified as Randy raced down the ramp and started to wail on Roman, DQing the match.
"Shit." Dean gritted his teeth as he watched Kane choke slam his best friend. It took everything with in him, to not race off toward the gorilla to help Roman. This is his fight. He needs to take his own lumps.
The urge to help Roman, grew as Kane grabbed a ladder and brought it into the ring. However, the man turned toward Randy who was leaning against the ropes in the corner of the ring. There was a look of uncertainty on the man's face.
"What going on?" Angel asked as Kane stepped back and looked up at the titles that hung over the ring.
"I'm not entirely sure."
Kane set the ladder up as if he was going to climb up for the titles, right then and there but he stepped back and turned once again towards Randy. Slowly, Randy made his way his way over to the ladder, and slowly started to climb. The man rightfully kept his eyes on the Demon Kane with each step.
"I should have known." Dean gritted his teeth as he watched the scene play out in front of him. Kane was helping Randy get the titles. "Kane is their plan b."
"That's so messed up." Angel sighed. "It's every man for themselves, except Randy." With both titles in hand, Randy showboated around like he had actually won them. "That's not fair."
"Nothings fair when the Authority is in charge."
Dean went to turn away from the screen when Roman started to move. It wasn't much, just a little twitch here or there, but it was enough to show that he still had life in him. Life that Kane was so eager to snuff out, as he waited for his chance for a choke slam. However, Randy came over and talked the man down. The sadistic bastard wanted the pleasure for himself. Randy back up into the corner and lined himself up so he could hit Roman with the punt kick that could take a man out of commission.
Dean clenched his fists as he waited for the hit, but it didn't come. Instead, Roman launched him at the man. "Holy shit!" He smirked as Roman delivered yet another spear this time to Kane. Excitement raced through him as the show went off air with his best friend holding the titles up over his head.
Angel jumped from her chair and gave a little dance as she laughed and cheered. "That was so good! What a way to end a show."
"That was good." Dean smirked as she bounced up to him. "Wanna go congratulate the soon to be champ?"
"Of course."
A.A.A.
"There he is!" Dean called down the hall as soon as they saw Roman. "There is the Big Dog!"
Roman looked up from the water bottle he was downing and chuckled. "Hey."
"Nice fight out there tonight, bro."
"You looked real good holding up those titles." She added as the boys high fived.
"You think?"
"Oh yeah." She winked at him.
"You had a worried towards the end there, but shit man you pull that out of the bag." Dean nodded. "But you always do."
"Let's just hope I can pull it out of the bag on Sunday."
"Are you nervous?" She asked peaking up on a slight waver in his voice.
"A little." He answered honestly. "Though, it's not the first time I've been hit with a ladder it is my first ladder match. And not to mention it looks like the Authority had stacked the deck on this one."
"Hey!" Dean barked loudly making everyone, everyone turned towards him. "None of that shit." He shook his head. "Sure, sure first ladder match can be scary and yeah Kane seems to be in the match as Randy's bodyguard, but you are Roman Reigns, wrestling royalty and by frank the best looking in the match. You got this. No giving up at the starting line."
"Who said I'm giving up." Roman raised a brow. "I said I was a little nervous, but it's nothing I can't handle. Hell, we do our best when the odds our stacked against us."
"Damn right we do." Dean chomped his gum.
As she laughed at the boy, her phone went off in her back pocket. Pulling it out, she noticed that she had a message from her mom. "Hey, why don't you boys head back and get ready to leave, apparently I have to go rescues my parents from," She looked closer at the message. "'a big hunky man' who needs validation that they are indeed my parents."
Leaving them in the gorilla, Angel walked up to where the public area and backstage meet and saw the guard stand there with his arm crossed as her parents stood on the other side waiting. "Hey."
The guard turned around. "Hello Miss Miles."
"What seems to be a problem?"
"Just need you to verify that they are with you."
She looked at her mom and dad and smiled. "They're with me." The guard stepped out of the way and let the two pass. "Thanks." She waved as she fell in line with her parents. The two of them were grinning from ear to ear. "So how did you like the show?"
"It was great." Her dad answered.
"For the most part." Her mom added.
"For the most part?"
"I enjoyed everything but watching Dean and Roman getting beat up."
Angel nodded understanding what her mom meant. She had a hard time watching it as well. "I get it, every show hurt, but I just have to remember that this is there dream job. And that they can take a lot more punishment that I think they should be able to."
"There was just some weird sensation to watch something you know personally get beat up right in front of you and not be able to do anything about it."
"You're telling me."
"I had to stop your mom from jumping over the barricade like three times." Her dad laughed. "I now know where you got it from."
Shaking her head, they walked around until they got to the spot that they picked when they first got here. "What you so long?" Dean asked lacing up his shoes. "Pretty boy and I are already to go."
"Well your changing time has been cut in half due to the fact, you're just wearing your own clothes." She said as she eyed up the fact that he really only took off his tape and changed shirt to a gray tee. He shrugged. "As for Roman, I'm impressed."
"Yeah!" Roman looked up from organizing his bag.
"What? You are a little slow at getting ready."
"Well it takes time for anyone to look this good." He flipped his hair.
"This is what I've had to travel with for the last couple of years." Dean pointed as hi best friend. "It only get's worse if we have an interview or something special to do. He also likes to take long showers in the morning. So far warning for tomorrow."
"Oh, you are going to stay over!" Her mom sounded oh too excited about that.
"Well I kind of have to because impulsive man over here, canceled my room." Roman glared. "Otherwise I wouldn't impose."
"Nonsense, it would be an honor."
Dean smirked. "See, I told you Evelyn would love for you to stay over."
"Of course, I would. The more the merrier in our house." She said grinning ear to ear. "I have to head off to work around nine but I'm more than willing to have an early morning waffle making session."
"Waffle making?" Roman questioned.
"Yep with a waffle maker and everything."
"You mean you don't just grab out the Eggos and pop them in the toaster?"
"Where's the fun in that?" Angel laughed as she looked at the bewildered man.
Dean smacked on the shoulder. "See it doesn't get better then that when on the road. Freshly made waffles and homebrewed coffee. And the pull-out couch isn't half bad as long as you don't toss and turn too much."
Samcoo 12: I'm so glad you liked the jacket, I was a little worried it wasn't going to come out right. Also yes bold Angel gets what she wants.
Silentmayhem: I sort of have an idea for the tickets. I hope I remember to put that in the next chapter, lol. I love supportive families, I know it doesn't happen all the time. But since I really don't know too much about Dean's mom. I don't even know if we know her name, I'm not going to use her that much so Angel's parents had to be sweet so that there was at least one loving family.
Labinnaclove: She is learning to be more open! And I'm glad you liked the jacket!
Katara Melody Cullen: Ah I'm so glad you loved the chapter. Part of me wanted to show Seth with her parents but at the same time I didn't know how to bring him in, but don't worry Evelyn will get her moment with the man.
BrookeWorm3: Nancy is something lol. I'm glad you liked the chapter.
Canadice: That makes me so happy! I'm glad I can effect you like that.
Sonia: I'm doing alright. Thanks for worrying. I'm trying to keep my focus on the things I really care about. Like this! I don't rock, you do for reading and reviewing.
NotRob: I'm so glad! AHHHHHH that makes me so happy! I know that it's nice to have them away from the WWE but those scenes are also the hardest for me to write. Because I have to kind of think of what Dean would do in situations that we never saw him in.