Welcome to Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six! This one is long...I hope you like it.
Monday Night Raw: August 11, 2014
Walking off, he ran through everything he wanted to do before he got locked into a damn box for who knew how long. Starting with the trip to the bathroom. He then gathered everything he was going to need and finished getting ready for the show.
He was in the middle of doing some stretching, since he knew he wasn't going to be able to move very much if at all in the box, when he got the text from Hank that said; 'we're ready for you'.
"Looks like I'm needed down in the loading dock." He turned to Angel who was drawing her brows together as she looked up from her own phone. It took her a couple of seconds but then her eyes went wide. "Oh!" She stood. "Let's get you down there then."
Roman laughed. "I can't wait for this. I kind of want to come down just to see you get wheeled out onto the stage. It's going to give 'Silence of the Lamb' vibes."
"Only for you." Dean glared at his best friend.
"Yep, and it will be awesome."
From beside him, he could hear Angel chuckling. "Renee is going to be so upset that she missed this."
"Well, that's too bad for her."
Pocketing his phone and grabbing the unopened bottle of water that he snatched earlier, he started back down to the loading dock. Both Roman and Angel followed behind him, whispering and laughing about what was about to happen.
When they arrived, Dean's eyes instantly landed on the large bright red package that sat among a group of other smaller packages all wrapped in similar red or yellow paper.
"I'm going to go blind from just how bright that fucking paper is." He groaned.
"Better than going nuts from wrapping over forty fake presents with it." Hank sighed as he peaked his head around the pile. "For the big one, I had to get two crew members to help me, and we still went through four rolls of the paper."
"I'm starting to feel like the longer we know you, the more we owe you like a vacation or something." Roman told him.
"As much as I appreciate that, I would still be doing shit like this even without you." He explained. "My sanity dying is not your doing."
"Are you even allowed to go on a vacation?" Dean asked.
"The closest that I get to a vacation is when the show goes somewhere that's nice." He said looking almost shell shocked.
"Same." They all muttered at the same time.
"Shall we get you all package up?" He asked walking over the large gift. "Roman, help me out for a moment."
Without question, Roman joined him and the two men gently pushed back the gift, making sure not the mess up the paper. When the thing was lifted just enough that Dean could crawl in, he sighed.
"Shit." He growled as he basically got down on his hands and knees. Even then he couldn't get low enough. "Any change you could lift it a bit more?"
"Crawl." Roman said without battling an eyelash.
Clenching his jaw, he glared at Roman before crawling into the box. As soon as the box came back down against the floor, he felt a warm rush hit him. That's when he realized that it was going to be hotter than hell as soon as they got him under the stage lights. "I hate it in here."
"Good."
Even those no one could see him, Dean flicked the bird before trying to get used to his surroundings.
"You remembered your water, right?" He heard Angel asked.
"Yes." He answered as he patted the bottle that was in his back pocket.
"Alright, now I'm going to get some crew members to help me get all this to the stage." Hank explained what was going to happen next. "I'm going to wheel you out there on a dolly, try your hardest to stay still."
Looking down, he saw the bottom of a dolly appear by his feet. Carefully he stepped on it. "Got it."
A little pat came to the side of the box. "Good luck in there."
"Don't shit yourself while in there, I know you had that weird breakfast sandwich this morning."
"Ro, go fuck yourself."
He listened as the chuckling man walked off, leaving him alone in a fucking hot box made out of wood and shiny ass red paper. Great.
A couple of minutes later, and heard a bunch of voices gathering around him. One he could pick out as Hank's. "Let's get these out there."
Suddenly the box that he was in was slightly leant to the side, jostling him around. He only just stopped himself from falling, by grabbing onto the wooden frame around him. Sweating now from how close their plan had just crumbled before it even really started, he chewed the inside of his check as he let himself be moved about.
The ride to the stage was bumpy and it made his stomach and head hurt more then he would have like. Roman's words came back to haunt him. Though, he wasn't worried about shitting himself, he was more worried about throwing up.
Thankfully, everything came to a stop and he was dropped back down. He knew it was Hank who had wheeled him out because he was given enough time to step off the dolly before it was pulled out from under the package.
"I thought the big one was going on its side?"
"I think it'll look better this way." Hank said quickly. "And we'll just stack some of the smaller ones around it to make it blind in better."
Standing there, he listened as the crew members worked around him. it was strange to have all this commotion around him. Especially because he didn't know what was happening. Feeling like it was a good time to relax, he slid down to the floor and curled himself into a ball. Carefully he leaned back so that his back was resting against the wooden frame, before he pulled out his phone and water.
Checking to make sure that the sound on his phone was off, he started to mess around on it. Playing one of the few games that he had to pass time. The next thing he knew, there was a roar or life as the fans were being let in.
A.A.A
Angel bit her nails as she paced back and forth waiting for the show to start. She was so nervous about their plan, so many things could go wrong. What if someone finds Dean before Seth's match? What happens if another fight ends up on the stage and he ends up in the middle of it. What if some how they knew Dean was there…What if….what if.
"Angel, you're making me dizzy, sit down." Roman told her as he brushed out his hair. "Dean is going to be just fine. He's probably sitting in the box complain to himself."
"I know." She sighed. "I can't help but worry. What happens…"
"What's going to happen?" He asked. "Dean is in a box, and no one saw him get into the box, and anyone who came in through the loading docks would think that all of the gifts are empty since they would see Hank put them together."
"But."
"Babygirl, he's fine." Roman said this time with a hard tone to his words. His father voice. "Dean is a big boy and can take care of himself. I know you are so used to be out there with him, having his back, but remember there used to be a time where he didn't have anyone watching his six, he'll be fine. And if something does happen, we can charge out there and make everything better."
She nodded even as she grabbed out her phone and quickly sent a text to Dean. Just checking in.
A moment later, she got a message back. It's fucking hot in here.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Remind me never to willingly do something like this again.
I won't.
Thanks.
She smiled at her phone as she heard someone calling for the start of the show. Looking up, at Roman the two of them nodded at each other before heading towards the closest TV. Pulling up a couple of chairs, they got settled in just in time to hear the sounds of Brock Lesnar's theme music hit.
"Here we go." Roman sighed. "What a way to start off the show."
She nodded as her phone went off in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw that Dean has texted her again.
Fuck that was loud.
I'm sorry.
She giggled making Roman look at her. "He said that it's loud in the box."
"Oh shit, never thought about that one."
Her phone went off again.
The bastard is shaking the whole stage.
"Apparently Brock shook the whole stage."
Roman's brow rose. "I mean, he is a big boy."
Roman says that's because he's a big boy.
Don't ever say that again.
Not even about you?
Angel, I'm warning you.
Smiling to herself, she put her phone down and readied herself for whatever Paul Heyman was going to say. She knew it would be about this Sunday, knew it would be about John Cena, she also had a feeling he was going to bring up what happened at WrestleMania, the man always did. What she didn't expect was for him to go into a full Shakespearean sonnet.
"He's a fifteen time champ, and he likes to have his fun. But not at your expense, so let us school you, son. No, I'm not from West Newbury. No, I can't hip-hop like you, my client is the conqueror, I'm just Brock's advocating Jew. You see, my name is Paul Heyman, and My client is the Beast, and on the seventh of August, on your title he shall feast. You don't like Paul Heyman guys, you think their attitudes too smug. You're gonna beat Brocks ass, because you're the doctor of the thugs. I mean you've beaten all the best, but now Lesnar's on your plate. You say your time is now, Brocks says your calendar is out of date. So here's some free advice with Summerslam drawing near, get it out your damn system when you say the champ is here, Because we're six days away from the west coast's biggest arena, where my client Brock Lesnar will conquer John Cena."
Mouth falling open, Angel blinked at the screen. "What was… something."
"Something is right." Roman rubbed his beard. "I can't tell if I loved it or hated it. Damn it. Fuck, did I like something that Heyman did."
"Oh no." She teased. "At least it wasn't something that Seth or Randy said."
"If I ever liked something that Randy said, I think I would take myself to paster."
"Oh I wouldn't say that." She told him. "You never know what could happen.
All of a suddenly they were surrounded by a camera crew that came out of nowhere. "What's going on?"
"Their announcing Roman's match."
Just as she was about to ask what the hell they were talking about, she remembered about the text that Roman got. Turning from the crew, two the man sitting beside her, she watched as he leant forward in his seat, and started to act as if he was adjusting his gauntlet. Going right into work mode.
"Going live in three, two…" One of the crew members counted down as they put the camera right into Roman's face. They stayed on the shot for just seconds before they ran off as quickly as they showed up.
"All that for like five seconds of footage?" He sighed sitting back up. "Seems like a real waste."
"That's because it is."
Her phone went off again. Expecting it to be Dean, she quickly pulled it out, only to see it was from Hank. "Roman is needed, his match starts after the commercial break." She read out loud.
"Shit." He stood up. "Gotta love that heads up, huh?"
"It's so thoughtful, don't you think." She said looked up at him. "Go have some fun, but not too much fun. We need to in tip top shape for Sunday."
"Yes ma'am." He snickered as he started down the hall.
She was left all by herself, a feeling that she didn't normally get. Either she had Roman or Dean to keep her company normally. Taking a deep breath, she took the moment to make herself more comfortable by turning the two chairs towards each other so that she could prop her feet up on one while leaning back on the other.
"Only fifteen minutes in and Paul Heyman read off a poem, and the mystery thing that Roman was supposed to be ready for is about to take place, maybe the show won't be as boring as I thought it was going to be." She said to herself.
Realizing she wasn't sure if Dean had any idea that his best friend was about to have a match, she decided to send him another text.
Roman had a match.
Who is he fighting?
Not sure.
Shit, I hate that I can't see a thing in here.
You know you can watch on the network on your phone.
But then I would have to pay them 9.99 and I refuse.
She shook her head. Use my account dummy.
I don't know you password.
It's Shieldrox
No it's not.
She blushed.
Shut up!
It is?
I hate you.
No wanting to see whatever message Dean was going to send her back, she put her phone under her hip on the chair and turned back to the screen just in time to watch Roman make his way through the crowd and down to the ring.
D.D.D.
Smirking to himself, Dean plugged in Angel's info into the Network. He was almost surprised when Shieldrox went through. "Cute." He whispered as he found the button that said 'live tv'. Clicking on it, it took a moment, but suddenly he could see the same arena that he was in, just from a different angle.
Focusing on the action, he saw just what he expecting to, Roman's music was blasting in his ears, The big lug was getting into the ring. Which meant all they had to do was wait for a moment as the answer to who Roman was fighting would soon come.
A loud, sudden blast echoed through the arena making him jump. "Mother…" He cursed as he rubbed the back of his head which he has just beamed off the wood frame behind him. Trying to hold in the loud yell that he wanted to let out, he glanced back down to his phone, even though he didn't need to see anything to know what was happen.
Kane was coming out. The first thing he noticed was that it wasn't Demon Kane, which meant that he wasn't Roman's opponent. It did mean that he was here as a lapdog for the Authority. Like always.
"It is my pleasure to be out here, once again, as the Director of Operations for the Authority." Kane's voice hit him. It took him a moment to get used to the fact that the voice wasn't coming from his phone and instead it was coming from all around him. "Now Roman, last week in your match against Kane, you were able to emerge victorious. That's like almost beating two men. Six days before you face Randy Orton at Summerslam, The Authority would like to see how you fare actually facing two men."
Drawing his brows together, Dean watched his phone intensely. He knew that he should be worried about the fact that Kane just said Roman would be facing two men, but right now he was more worried about the robotic way Kane was talking. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed that the Authority took out his brains and turned into him a robot. Maybe being Corporate Kane for so long, he was slowly starting to turn into a robot on his own.
There was another blast, this one not nearly as loud as Kane's, but it did startle him before it melted into RybAxel's theme.
Now is attention was fully turned to the fact that Roman was going to have to fight both of the men who were walking on the stage. He let out a groan. This was going to hard to watch. Well at least if things got really bad, he was right there, seconds away from being able to help his friend.
The match started with Axel and Roman in the ring. It was a simple but good start to a match, Axel tried to get Roman back into their corner, but he cockily just pulled out of his grip.
"Watch yourself Ro." Dean warned his friend. "Don't get too ahead of yourself. You might be big and bad, but you got two men out there with nothing to lose, and everything to gain from you being in the hospital on Sunday."
He didn't truly know how true his words were until about six minutes into the match. He was slowly getting to his feet, holding his phone in one had as he readied himself to go out and help his best friend. Roman had fought most of this match well, keeping himself out of harm's way. That was before the match spilled out of the ring. That's when the two men sprung to action, like it was a trap they set.
The blood was pumping in his ears as he watched both men grab Roman and throw him into the steel pole, not one but twice. They then lined up for another shot, when the ref signaled that if they did it he would end the match. They didn't even hesitate and threw Roman for a third time into the pole. Ending the match.
"Fuck." Dean grumbled as he placed his phone carefully the ground. Taking a deep breath, he gave a silent apology to Hank, Angel, and Renee who put the plan for him to surprise Seth together, because he was about to ruin it. However, just as he went to push his arm through the paper that blocked him from the outside world, he heard some commotion that caught his attention.
Quickly he glanced down to see Roman throwing Ryback out of the ring. Wondering how the man got a second wind, he watched for any signs that told him that Roman needed his help. Although he was walking a little slower then he normally did and had a small stumble to his step, he seemed to be doing just fine. In fact, he seemed more then fine ad he hit Axel with a Drive-by, before smashing Ryback into the steel pole as payback.
"There you go, man." He clapped as Roman finished it up with Superman Punches and Spears to everyone. "There you go." He cheered as Roman looked around anger and pride in his eyes.
"Roman." Renee's voice came loud over the speaker, which was followed by a wave of relief. If Renee had been sent into the ring, the match had to be over, right. Talking a deep breath, he tried to settle himself down. His heart was racing and ready for the adrenaline and pain that came with a fight.
The itchy need to move hit him so hard, so hard that it was almost painful to stay in place. With what little room he did have, he swayed and bounced, being ever so careful not to touch the paper around him. Which was easier said than done.
A.A.A.
Angel quickly made her way through the backstage, on her way to meet up with Roman who she had just witnessed take on RybAxel. Her mind on that and the fact that she knew Seth's match was coming up, she didn't notice the figure that she almost ran right into. "Shit." She cursed as she dodged very ungracefully out of the way.
"Sorry about that." She stumbled over herself.
"Maybe you shouldn't run in the halls."
Angel inhaled and let out an inner groan as her eyes focused on the bright red-haired woman in front of her, Eva Marie. "Yeah, sorry."
She crossed her arms. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Realizing she wasn't going to be able to just walk away from this, she sighed. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm heading to check on Roman."
"Oh, how sweet." She mocked.
"Yeah, but that's what you do when you care about someone."
"And I'm sure Dean loves how much you care about Roman."
The heat and color vanished from her face as she realized what Eva was hinting at. "I'm going to stop you right there." He said putting her hand up. "Do not start that shit."
"What I'm just saying."
"Roman is my friend, and just like any friend who just fought a hard match, I'm worried about him and I'm going to check on him because I care about my friend. And even if I wasn't his friend, I'm still his manager and it's in my job description to make sure he's ok."
"Oh of course." The tone in her voice said that she didn't really care what she said.
Getting very annoyed, she pouted. "Why are you even here? Weren't you sent back to NXT to get some more training?"
She straightened her shoulders. "You must not have been pay much attention to the going ons around here, I have a match."
"You do?"
A proud look filled her face. "With AJ Lee."
"With AJ." She nodded. "That makes so much sense."
"What?" Eva said taken back.
"I said it makes sense."
"What does?"
"The fact that they gave you the match." She smirked as she played with Eva.
"You're right it does make sense." She said trying to turn it around.
"It does." She agreed. "I mean you do know that mean's they don't believe in you, right?"
Eva's mouth dropped and Angel got a sick thrill from the look on the woman's face. "What? I have a match against the reigning champion and you're saying that they don't believe in me?"
"Think about it. Six days from now, AJ has a big match with Paige. Why on Earth would they jeopardize that match by giving AJ a match tonight? Unless they believed the fighter wasn't competent."
"Roman just fought Ryback and Axel."
"Yeah." She nodded. "But you forget the Authority kind of doesn't like Roman, and they kind of want Roman to not be on his A game on Sunday."
The woman's eyes started to dart around as she processed the information. It was strange watching someone go from confident to disheartened as fast as she did, but it also kind of felt good to knock Eva down a peg.
"However that's not true with AJ. Which is why they picked you for the match today. They don't believe you could take her out."
The two woman stared at each other, and in the back of her mind, she kind of realized why Eva liked to bully her as much as she did. She was enjoying this. Though she was sure she was only enjoying it because of what Eva had been doing.
"Hey, what's going on over here." A deep voice echoed from behind Eva.
Looking up Angel saw Roman standing there looking a little weary. "I was just making my way down to see you." She said pushing past Eva easily. "Why aren't you at the trainers' room?"
"Because I don't need to be there."
Not buying into his shit, she pushed against him, and he staggered a bit. "Trainers' room now!"
Roman grabbed her shoulder. "Nah, I'm good. Plus, I don't want to miss Seth's match, which should be starting soon."
Her eyes went wide. They both wanted to see how Dean's surprise attack played out. "Fine," She said defeated. "but afterwards, you are going to get checked out and I won't hear any bitching about it."
"Scouts honor."
Walking away, they left Eva where she stood and for the first time, Angel felt like she won their 'match'. Smirking to herself, she let herself get a little bit of a ego over the fact. Pride brimmed in her chest as they turned into catering. Setting down at the table closest to the TV, they heard RVD's music start.
"Just in time." Roman clapped his hands.
Watching as RVD came down the ramp, her pride turned into worry as her eyes glanced over the box that Dean was sitting in. "Here's hoping everything goes well."
She felt Roman pat her on the back. "Don't worry, everything's going to be fine."
Seth's music started. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment as she said a silent prayer that somehow Seth didn't know about Dean. Somehow. When she opened her eyes again, her mouth dropped.
"What?" She shook her head as she rose from her seat as if to get a better look at what she saw on the screen. Seth was wearing a black t-shirt, with a very familiar logo stamped on it in bright yellow. "No. No. It can't be." She felt tears brim in her eyes.
"You ok?" Roman asked.
"That's my design."
"What?"
"Seth's wearing my design." She said again. "Remember the design I made up for the Shield. The one that had a logo for each of you on it? That was his." She started to hyperventilate as she tired to process that they had stolen her design.
"How did they get it?" He asked in a growling tone.
She shook her head. "I don't know." The last time she had even seen that logo was when she dropped off the shirt design. "Racheal was the last person to have it."
"I don't think she would give it to the Authority." Roman told her. "At least not willingly."
A bitter taste of anger filled her as she watched Seth saunter around with her logo on his chest. She had once felt proud about that design and would have been so happy to see him wear it, but a chair to the gut had changed all that. Now it was tainted. Tainted and stolen.
"Don't worry Babygirl, we'll get them back for this."
She nodded her head even though she knew that the man was just telling her that to calm her down. There was no way to get back at them for this. It would end up in a legal battle that she couldn't even imagine winning.
Tears still stinging her eyes, she lowered herself into her chair again. The match had started, and it was a fine match. One that went better for RVD than expected. She was surprised that they gave him a chance. She through Kane or Randy was going to come out as soon as he got any headway, to protect their precious little 'future of the business'. Though it seemed like this was one match that Seth didn't need help with, he was able to hold his own and fished it with a Curb Stomp.
"Now it's time for the fun part." Roman said as Seth celebrated his win.
Still feeling the anger paulsing through her, she locked onto Seth as he limped up the ramp. The shirt he had come out with long gone and forgotten, which felt like stomp to the chest. At least if they were going to steal something she worked so hard on, they could at least take care of it.
When he got to the stage, her anger turned into fear, as she wondered if Dean was going to miss his mark. What if he didn't Seth was in front of him before it was too late?
"Come on." She gritted her teeth.
Seth stopped, turned back towards the ring, and threw the Money in the Bank case up in the air, celebrating still. That was until a puzzled look came to his face. Slowly he turned his attention towards the stack of presents.
"He knows." She gasped as he eyed up the tallest of the packages.
"Hold on."
"Shit."
"He might not know." Seth walked over towards the pile and started to try and fake out the tall gift. "Maybe he does know." Roman sighed when Sethe shook the package.
She wondered what was going through Dean's mind at this moment. Was he nervous that he had been found out? Was he biding his time? She held her breath as Seth walked around the pile, his eyes never leaving the six-foot tall gift.
Seeming to be satisfied, Seth shook his head and laughed. "What was I thinking." He tapped his forehead as he rounded the gifts again.
As soon as his back was towards the package, Dean ripped through the paper, aimed right at Seth.
"Yes!" She cheered as he knocked him down to his hands and knees. "Yes!"
"I told you he didn't know. He had a feeling but he didn't know." Roman grinned.
They watched as Dean grabbed and tossed Seth down the ramp, sending him rolling towards the ring, while Dean stayed on him the whole time. Getting in a hit when he could.
At the bottom of the ramp, Seth got his feet under him and took off running. Getting into the ring with a very pissed off Dean on his trail. Catching up to him, Dean knocked Seth over the ropes with a clothesline to the back. Seth tumbled to the floor but didn't stop moving, he rolled out of the way until he was able to stand up once again. He then took off to weave his way through the timekeeper's area and out through the crowd. Surprisingly Dean did not follow him.
He instead stole the mic from Justin Roberts and got back into the ring, where he hopped up onto the turnbuckles and surveyed the crowd, looking for Seth no doubt. "RUN SETH, RUN WHILE YOU STILL CAN. But there ain't no running, ain't no hiding in a lumberjack match. In six days, your ass belongs to me. And for just NINE NINETY NINE I'M GOING TO GET MORE THEN MY MONEYS WORTH." He threw the mic down and put out his arms as the camera zoomed into his face.
"Shit!" Roman said as Angel laughed at the display.
"It worked! I can't believe it worked."
"I told you it would." He told her. "Chalk one up to Dean on that one. And the promo," He kissed his fingers in that very Italian chef kiss way. "It was a thing of beauty."
"And you can tell him that." She said getting up from her chair. "After you go and see the medics." She didn't even let him answer her back as she took off towards the gorilla, she wanted to meet Dean there, wanted to tell him herself how good everything worked out.
D.D.D.
Dean tried to catch his breath as he walked towards the curtain the lead backstage. Making sure to stop by the tall present that he was just hiding in, to grab his phone and the now empty bottle of water before heading backstage.
As soon as he stepped through the curtain, he saw everyone in the gorilla giving him a weird look, the only one not was Hank. He had a feeling they were wondering how the hell he got in the gift and how long he had been there.
Giving them a nod, he tossed the empty bottle in his hand into the small trash can. "Evening." He smirked as he walked passed them and into the hallway.
Instantly, he saw Angel standing there, leaning against the wall, with a huge smile on her face. "That was so good!" She said clapping her hands. "At first though I thought Seth was on to us, which I guess he was but then, he was like nah."
He snickered at how excited she was. "I saw." He told her. "Watched the whole thing. You gave me your password remember." He wiggled his phone in front of her face before putting it away.
A blush came to her face. "Oh, right. So, I don't have to tell you how worried I was that our plan wasn't going to work."
"Tell me about it. When he shook the box, I was so nervous the whole thing was going to fall over." He said as they started to walk off.
"That would have kind of been funny to see."
He raised a brow at her. "Yep so funny, was I fell on my ass, and my feet dangled out from the bottom."
She shook her head. "I mean not right away, but it would have been funny in like ten years."
"It would end up being on every one of those stupid top ten funniest moment. I would get sick seeing it after like two weeks."
She pursed her lips. He could tell that she was thinking about all the clips of her that were trickling around the internet. "Well, at least Roman would have found it funny."
"I'm sure the bastard would." He sighed. "Speaking of him, how is Roman doing?"
"He's good. A little wobbly on his feet." She told him. "He sat and watched your attack on Seth. I did try to send his ass to the medic, but who knows if he did it."
"If I know Ro, he's camping out in catering, eating something."
"I mean that's where I left him, but he better still there."
"He's still there." He told her. "There's no way he goes to get checked out six days before a big pay-per-view."
As they got closer to catering, he watched as Angel tired to look into the big room. "Mother fucker!" She said loudly. "He is just sitting there munching on something."
"Told you he would be."
She pulled against him, but he held strong, keeping them on their path pass the room. "What are you doing? I want to go yell at him."
"You can yell at him later." He told her.
"Dean."
"That's my name."
"What are you doing?"
"Well, really want to kiss you, but I don't know if it will be a PDA appropriate kiss or not."
She stopped fighting him. "Oh."
"I can let you go if you would rather…" He glanced over to her to see her pouting. "Alright but then don't make a fuss." He chuckled.
Holding onto her, he pulled them down the hallway and through the door that lead to one of the arena's staircase. As soon as the door shut behind him, he spun her around him and kissed her.
Her soft lips felt like heaven on his, his body was starting to come down from the adrenaline but that nasty itching feeling still plagued him. He went too long without moving. Needed and outlet for all the energy, and even thought he knew it was wrong, he was going to get it, through her.
Though it didn't seem like Angel minded, she reached up and threw her arms around his shoulders. Using them to pull herself up, getting closer to him.
Moving his hold to her hips, he gladly held her tight. Breathing in through his nose, he caught her sent. She always smelt so sweet. Like a natural sugar mixed with whatever shampoo they had picked up during their travels. The most recent one smelt like coconuts.
He felt Angel try and back away, but he didn't want to stop, so he pushed against her. Every step back she took, he kept with her, keeping her pressed against him. Not let her get away.
He heard a small knocking sound right before the two of them started to fall. Quickly he put one hand out trying to catch them. His hand and knees hit something hard, and it took him a moment to realize that it was the steps.
He groaned against her lips.
"Are you ok?" Worry sounded in her voice.
"Yep." He rubbed his knee with his not throbbing hand.
He then felt something slap against his chest. Looking down he saw Angel's hand. "That's what you get for not allowing me to breath."
"Worth it." He adjusted to pick up the hand that caught them and saw that imprint of the weird pattering that they put on the steps to stop people from tripping. "Ow." He poked at it.
Angel took his hand and looked at the marking and sighed. "I think you'll be ok."
"Kiss it to make it better?"
She blinked at him in a 'why are you like this?' way before she did lean up from her spot sitting on the third second step and kisses his palm.
"I wouldn't have done that." He laughed. "Who knows what's on these stairs."
She looked sickened. "You assho-" In middle of her yell, he cut her off with another kiss. Taking advantage of the fact that she was talking to tease her tongue with his own. She let out a noise, one that could quite make out whether it was a reaction to the kiss or if she was cursing at him. He had a feeling it was a mix of both.
When she closed her eyes and leant into him, he smirked to himself and pressed harder against her, making his dive farther into her mouth. A little moan escaped her as she grabbed onto him. She clung every so sweetly to him, as she always did. It was one of his favorite things about her. Most of the women that he had been with grabbed and groped him. It was with passion and in the moment was fucking hot. But Angel held him, clung to him, as if he was about to disappear if she left go. The harder her fingers and nails dug into him, the more desperate she was to keep him. It was so enduring to be wanted that much.
Putting his hand behind her head to cushion it as he moved over her. He couldn't get enough of her. He wanted to devour her, right her, right now. Her little noises kept spurring him on until his own lungs were burning.
Pulling back. "See what I mean? That wouldn't have been very PDA appropriate."
"Yeah…you're right…that wasn't very…" She tried to catch her breath. "That was very…private time type of kiss." She used her grasp on his jacket to pull herself closer to him.
"You good there?" He raised a brow at her.
When she looked up at him, his eyes widened to see her biting her red, slightly swollen lips. "I'm good." She smiled at him.
Taking a deep breath, he fought the urge to continue where he left off. It would be so easy, he could tell just by the half lidded look that he was giving her that she was far enough gone that she would have le him do what he wanted. His hand traveled up her arm, slowly and her eyes fluttered closed. It would be so easy.
He pulled back and let out a groan. "Ah, my back." He gave his lower back a rub. Letting out a huge over exaggerated sound, he rose up to his feet. "Sitting in that box did hell on me."
She looked worried for a moment but quickly it fell off her face as she came down from her high. "Oh, did it?"
"Yeah, it did." He faked not being able to stand straight up.
"Then we might need to tell the trainers that you're hurt and see if your even cleared for Sunday."
He stood straight up. "I'm all good." He coughed. "Must have just tweaked for a second, but…" He stretched. "We're all good."
"Thought so." She stood up. "You know what does hurt, my ass." She rubbed it. "These stairs are hard."
"That's because their steps."
She glared at him. "Shut up." She swatted his way.
Arm shooting out, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his chest. "I could kiss it and make it better."
"You're going to kiss my ass?"
"I will kiss anywhere you want." He pecked her nose.
"Please, don't kiss my ass."
"Fine, but the offer stands."
"Of course it does."
Angel went to reach for the door to the stair, but before she could open it, Dean reached out and grabbed her wrist. Stepping around her so that he could squeeze between her and it. He smirked. "One more for the road."
"It's never just one more with you." She said as they both moved closer to each other Their lips met again, this time it was a quick fleeting kiss. However, even though it was short they both savored it and pulled back with a slight pant.
"You're right." He kissed her again.
When he pulled away this time, they both smiled at each other and waited for the other to make a move.
"We really need to head back." Angel sighed. "What happens if we miss Hulk Hogan's birthday."
"They would probably find a way to fine us." He sighed.
"Or they could take away your match."
His brow went up. "Well, we can't have that."
"No, we can't."
Leaning back, Dean opened the door and without a word, Angel passed him. His eyes watched her as she past. Licking his lips, he helplessly followed after her.
Stepping up behind her, he asked. "So how many times do you think we've made this walk of shame?"
"This isn't a walk of shame."
"Oh come on. We just disappeared into a dark staircase to kiss, and now we have to walk back to work as if we didn't just mack on each other. Top definition of walk of shame."
"First of all, don't ever say 'mack on' again, and two, we were just kissing and it's not like they could really do anything about it."
"What about all the times that it wasn't just kissing? Do those moments count as a walk of shame."
He chuckled when she stumbled over herself. "I guess…but…but…"
Enjoying her flustered state, he wrapped his arm around her. However, she stopped dead as soon as he did. Confused, he followed her eyeline to see that she was looking at a TV screen that was broadcasting the show.
Curious himself, he turned to watch with her, though his attention was instantly broken as he saw Eva Marie standing in the corner of the ring. He hated to be the type of person who put down someone's abilities, but Eva really needed more training. She was so green in the ring that it was hard to watch.
The fans would never know this, but the job wasn't to really put your opponent out or end their career. The goal of a match was to take them to their limit so that they would lay down for a three count or tap out. No one truly wanted to 'seriously' hurt the other person. Well maybe Randy did, but most didn't. It wouldn't make for a good show if someone went out there, grabbed the other's arm and just broke it. Nah, there needed to be more flair than that.
As the bell rang and Eva stepped out of the corner, while fluffing her hair, he glanced back at Angel and was surprised to see that she seemed really invested in the show. Brow drawn, he looked back at the screen and watched as the two women on it locked up.
It was a good lock up, that lead into a nice bit of chain wrestling with Eva in control of AJ Lee's arm. Keeping the right amount of tension on it, she trashed AJ around like a rag doll. Maybe she was getting extra training. As if proving him wrong, AJ reversed the hold and tossed Eva over her and right into a headlock, smooth as butter. Eva looked helpless.
He would have called the match there, but a high pitch screech hit them, before Paige's music started. "Don't fall for it." He mumbled as Paige skipped around the ring. At first Dean thought that AJ would be the first person in the WWE not to get distracted by someone coming out to the ring, something that he himself was guilty at. It was very hard to keep your eye on the prize when someone was prancing around outside of the ring. Yeah, chances were, they were only out there to get in your head, but there was also the very real possibility that they were going to jump you at any moment.
Just as many before her did, AJ fell into the trap. She looked away for just a second too long and Eva was able to roll her up and get the pin.
"Fuck!" Angel hissed beside him.
Turning towards her, he saw a flame of anger in her eyes, one that he wasn't sure there it was coming from. Sure, he knew that she didn't like Eva, most didn't. But there was something else in this one.
"Listen, I knew when I pushed you off the stage at Smackdown that you were going to be mad." Paige started. "So, in addition to me supporting you here tonight, I wrote you a little bit of an apology." She cleared her throat. "Roses are red, wood-chips are beige. I'm sorry I pushed you right off this stage. It's not like I hate you, I like you a bunch, but you just have that face that I wanna punch. I'll see you this Sunday, but this part is vital. I'll be skipping my way out of Summerslam with MY Diva's title. Love Ya!"
As she skipped off the stage, he asked. "Did you ever talk to her about what's going on?"
"With Paige?"
"Yeah."
"Not since I ran into her." She sighed. "I'm not sure she's going to talk abut whatever this is. I do think she needs to someone, but she's not the type to want to bare her soul."
"I get that. But she's certainly needs something."
Michael Cole's voice picked up making both of them turn back to the screen just in time to see AJ Lee go after Eva. After just laying into her, he grabbed the woman and threw her right into the barricade. After giving her a killer look, she turned to the crowd and smiled sweetly before skipping off.
"That was very AJ Lee like." He snickered.
"It was." Angel said through a small smile. "Through it won't stop Eva, she'll just twist the whole thing around. She'll still be the winner of this match."
"And that seems to bother you."
"It does." She said before quickly adding. "Eva isn't there yet, she doesn't have the skills or the experience to go toe to toe with someone like AJ. She should be back in NXT, maybe still in training, and I don't want her to get a bigger head then she already has, thinking she's better then she really is."
"Yeah, but there's a lot of people like that." He told her. "Let them get a big head, it's funnier to watch them fall down that way."
"But it's going to make her insufferable until she does fall. The woman's locker room is already filled with enough drama, we don't need this added on top of it."
"We?" He snickered. "You becoming a Diva?"
She shook her head. "No, I would get steamed rolled, it's just I have friends that constantly complain about all the shit. I mean they also cause a lot of the drama, but that being said, it's hard to hear your friend talk about how someone who they know isn't better than them in the slightest, thinks she on top."
"Ah."
"Eva thinks she's so untouchable that I overheard her talking about Dolph Ziggler, like straight up shit talking him and saying that the only reason she's nice to him is because he's been here and it's always good to rub shoulders with those who can help you get to the top."
"She's going to be taught a tough lesson here soon, and it's not going to be pretty." He told her. "And we'll be here to smile and enjoy it when she does."
Smiling at him, her mood seemed to pick up. "Right. What justice that will be."
"Shh.." He put his finger to her lips and looked around. "We don't talk about justice anymore."
"Right."
Glancing back at the screen, Dean wrinkled his nose when he saw John Cena walking out with his titles around his neck. "You wanna hear what 'the champ' has to say or can we go find our big Samoan and check in with him before we have to stand on the stage for an hour."
Her eye went wide. "Shit."
"What?"
"I forgot that I was going to ask more people if they wanted to join our brigade of lumberjacks."
"You don't think we have enough?"
"Well we have the Usos, and Kofi and Big E." She thought about it. "I was hoping to at least ask RVD and the Rhodes Brothers. That way we have seven men that won't get bought out by the Authority out there."
"I'm not sure if RVD will be willing but I think asking Dustin and Cody is a good call. I don't think anyone could buy them off." He nodded. "But I thought you wanted to yell at Roman."
"I can do that any time, and if I wait until after the show, I can get back up while I'm at it."
"Oh, you're thinking about calling Galina?"
"More nefarious than that, I'm going to let him call her and then get him in trouble."
"You're so evil."
"Ain't I."
He chuckled. "Go recruit some men for Sunday, I'll see you down at catering when you're done."
"Sounds good."
He watched her walk off again, not ashamed in the slightest as his gaze fell to her ass.
A.A.A.
Making her way through the hallway, she kept her eyes out for the three men she was looking for. Which turned out to be easier said then done, since she had no idea where there hell they could be.
Sighing, she came to a stop and leant up against the wall. Biting the inside of her cheek, she regrated sending herself on this mission. If she doesn't at least fine one of the three men she was looking for, she would have to go back to Dean with her tail between her legs and come up with damn lie about what she had been doing. If only she didn't panic when he started to talk about Eva.
She could remember the anger and annoyance that filled her when she noticed that Eva had won the match, she should have known that Dean would have pointed it out. He knew her too well. As he talked, she felt like he was getting to close to what she had been trying to keep him from all this time. She didn't want him to find out about what Eva has been doing. At least not this way. If he did have to find out about it.
Then to get away from him, she put herself back on the task to find more lumberjacks. Which she did think was a good idea to do, but she didn't realize how hard it would be to find everyone when the whole roster was here.
"Damn it." She sighed kicking her boots at a speck of dirt on the floor. Maybe she could text Renee to see if she had seen anyone…"Shit, I'm so stupid." She shook her head as she pulled out her phone. Why text Renee when she could text Brandi, Cody Rhodes's wife.
Feeling like an idiot, she quickly sent a text asking where Cody and Dustin were, finding it off saying she had something to ask them.
Before she even put her phone away again, she got a message back telling her that they were getting their makeup for the show.
"Should have known." She pushed herself off the wall and started to the small room that makeup ladies had turned into their workstation. As she made it to the simi-closed door, she knocked and peeked her head in.
"Oh, Angel!" Leslie smiled at her. "What you need help with? More…Um…Some cover up?"
She shook her head. "Not this time." She said. "I'm actually here to talk to them." She pointed at the two men who were leaning close to the mirror. At one Dustin and Cody turned around and she blinked at them. She had seen both men as Stardust and Goldust, so the fact that thick layers of makeup covered their faces and necks shouldn't surprise her. However, seeing them with their faces half done was off putting. It was like she was finally connecting the dots that Dustin and Cody were indeed the two silly, flamboyant men who talked in riddles.
"You need us?" Dustin asked cocking his head to the side. Cody on the other hand looked strangely embarrassed. "Brandi said you wanted to ask us something?"
"Yeah." She said clearing her throat. "I know it's going to be a bit of a weird question but would you mind being lumberjacks on Sunday? The reason I'm asking is because we're trying to make sure that the Authority can't stack the lumberjacks again us and…."
"We've already signed up." Cody cut her off.
Her eyes widened. "You did?"
"Yeah, pretty much right after Dean announced the stipulation."
When she just stood there staring at the two men, Dustin said. "We figured that the Authority might try something, and we wanted to make sure that you had at least two friendly faces out there. Or at least two faces that you could trust."
"Thank you." She told them. "I've been so worried that it was going to be Dean Ambrose vs Seth and the Lumberjacks on Sunday…"
"We got you." Dustin winked. "Plus we have our own issues with the Authority so it's like a small bit of retribution for us."
A darker look flashed on Cody's face, puzzling her.
"You have no idea how much this means to me." She said quickly walking up to give both men a small hug.
"It's not a problem, as long as you understand if we take a swing or two at Dean. We still need to get back at him for the Shield."
She took a deep breath. "Totally understandable….I mean I'm not happy about the thought, but as long as you not fully against us."
"Not fully just slightly."
"That's fine then." She laughed.
"Then we're on the same page."
"We are indeed."
With nothing else to be said, she started to feel awkward. "Welp, that's all I came down here for. Um, I'll let you two finish getting ready. Thank you again."
"See you out on the stage tonight."
"Yes, of course." She sighed before turning towards Leslie. "Nice to see you again."
"You too, sweetie. And if you ever need help with some cover-up again, you know where to find me."
Fighting the blush that was working its way on face, she nodded and quickly headed out of the room. As soon as she was a few feet away from the door and didn't have to think about the fact that Leslie only knew her because of the hickeys that Dean had left all over her neck, a new feeling of excitement hit her. With Cody and Dustin added to the names she had 'recruited', there were know at least six men out there that she could at least trust in some capacity.
Which was amazing, and begged the question should she even ask RVD about being a lumberjack? Which then made her wonder since it was less then a week away, maybe the lumberjack slots were full. Cody and Dustin said they signed up almost instantly, what if she was asking people to sign up only to find out that all the slots were already full.
She drew her brows together. Great now another feeling of anxiety and dreed filled her, at least enough to make her want to go down and see if she could find the sign-up sheet.
Heading back through the halls, she found the two tables that were stationed at the loading dock entrance where everyone for the show was to come in. The crew members who were once behind the tables were gone but the paper had been left behind for anyone who didn't get to pick up what they needed before the show.
If the sign-up sheet were anywhere it would be here.
Walking up to one of the tables, she let her eyes skimmed the piles of papers. She saw house show schedules, saw a list of promos and vignettes needed. She also saw a list of Superstars who were needed to update their photos for different things. No sign of the sheet she was looking for. That was until she moved to the second table and there tapped to the corner was a list of names in all different handwriting.
She took a deep breath as she got closer. She was scared to see all the names on the thing. She prayed that it wasn't completely full of Authority goons. Starting from the top she read off the names on the paper, and a smile came to her face at the first two names she saw on it. Jimmy and Jey Uso. The names continued. Ryback, Axel, Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes, Bo Dallas, Fandango, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Cesaro, Titus O'Neil, Kofi, Big B, R Truth, Sin Cara, Heath Slater, Damien Sandow and surprisingly RVD.
She drew her brows together as she looked over the list again, she was shocked to see that not one of the Authority heavy hitters were on it. She had expected to see at least Kane's name but it wasn't there. Yet. She sighed as her eyes ran over the open line on the paper. There was one slot still open and anyone could take it. Anyone. Anyone. She glanced over to the pen that sat next to the sheet. A lump formed in her throat as she reached for the thing.
Grasping it, she thought about everything that could happen on Sunday. Who knew who they could put in the last slot. Kane might not be the worse name that the Authority could put down. What if Hunter signed himself up? What if they brought someone in.
She quickly wrote her name on the line.
Throwing the pen down like it burned her, she looked down at her name in her own handwriting. Her heart started to race, when the actual implication of what she had done filled her. She slowly stepped away from the table, her body buzzing. She felt like she had just broke the law and somehow got away with it. She shook her head.
She didn't break any laws, didn't even break a rule. Anyone was allowed to sign up to be a lumberjack, just because no one other than a member of the roster had done it before, didn't mean anything., Meaning no one would get upset at her for signing up to be one.
Well maybe not no one. She said picturing Dean's face when he saw her lined up outside of the ring with the rest of the lumberjacks. He would most certainly be a little upset. If she told him about it before the show, she was sure he would throw a fit about it, saying it was too dangerous for her to be out there. The answer to that was simply to not tell him. Which in the long run will also upset him, but at least he won't be able to stop her once the match has started.
Guilt hit her for a moment. Just add it to the list of things that I haven't told him. Her mind raced to everything that's been happening with Eva. She shook her head, this wasn't like that. It wasn't.
D.D.D.
"So, it seems like forever since we just got to sit down and talk." Roman said as they half paid attention to the Dolph Ziggler verses Heath Slater match that was playing on the screen. "I mean without anyone else."
"I guess it has been a while." Dean agreed. The man was right. Ever since he and Angel became a thing, they two of them spent most of their times together. And now the days off that he would normally go to Roman's, he went to her house. Leaving very little time for the two friends to just chat by themselves.
"So, how has everything been?"
He laughed. "I know we haven't talked much lately, but you're acting as if we haven't seen each other in months. You know how everything has been."
"You know what I mean."
He did. "Fine. It's been fine. I mean I've been stressing over Summerslam, but who isn't."
"Right." He smirked. "What about with you and Angel, you two still doing good."
Dean blinked at the question. "I think so, but you might want to ask her." He said trying to figure out where this was coming from. "Though if me leaving her breathless just before I met up with you mean's anything, I would say we're fine."
He watched as Roman rolled his eyes. "You really need to stop fraternizing at work."
"It was just kissing." He said with a toothy grin. "Nothing else."
"This time."
Dean chuckled. "Hey, now…"
"Don't play dumb with me. I know you."
"That you do, my friend. That you do."
"You're going to get both of you in trouble if you keep all that up."
"I don't think anyone who runs WWE has any room to talk, now with what they allowed Edge and Lita to do in the ring."
Roman drew in a breath and crossed his arms over his chest. "Things have changed since the show switched to the PG rating. They are a lot more strict about what you can say or do."
"And yet the let us beat the shit out of each other every show."
"Do you really want to go questioning our job like that? They might realize that violence isn't as PG as they thought and we might have to the rest of our contracts signing family fun songs and talking to each other like humans."
"Don't even joke." He said with a glare.
The two of them chuckled.
"So if we're doing this, then how have you been?"
"Good." Roman answered. "Being home for a few extra days was really heaven set, as much as I would have liked to be here. JoJo and I went to the park, and we took her training wheels of her bike."
"Shit, really?" Dean said a bit of pride radiating from his chest. "How did that go."
"Good. She fell a couple of times. But she kept getting back up and tried again, she hasn't quite gotten the hang of it but she's getting there."
"Good, that's good."
"Also Galina was super happy to have me home for a bit. Even those I was supposed be 'resting' I go t a huge honey-do list as soon as I walked through the door. The first one was to clean the garage." He sighed. "Which was pretty boring, until I found a couple of old flyers from FCW. Then it became a trip down memory lane. God, I even found my old trunks."
"Fuck, do they still fit."
"You think I tried them on?"
"Yeah."
"They didn't."
Smirking, Dean leaned back in his chair. Only for his head to smack against something, hard but soft. Cranking his head back so he could see what it was, he saw Angel standing there with a weird look on her face. Something he couldn't quite place. "Hey darlin' did find who were looking for?"
"Yeah," She nodded. "I found the Rhodes Brothers."
"And?"
"They said they already signed up to be lumberjacks." She said walking around the table to take a seat with them.
"Oh are you still trying to find people to pad the lumberjacks with?"
She shook her head. "No actually, the sign-up sheet is full."
"It's full?"
"Yep." She nodded. "And looking at it, it's about half and half on the whole whether or not they would sell out to the Authority thing."
Hearing that made a wait that he never realized was there drain from his shoulders. "That must be because of my wonderful manager who's been rallying the troops for us."
He watched as Angel's smile turned into a big grin. "It's so nice when my work is appreciated."
"I always appreciate all the hard work you do." He told her.
"Just remember that."
He cocked his head at the tone in her voice. It was almost like she knew something he didn't. However, before he could ask her about it, she turned away from him, to face Roman head on.
"So, I'm going to guess you didn't go get checked out by the medics, did you?"
"You have no proof that I didn't." He said back.
"You know I can just go ask them?"
"Now that would take the fun out of this."
"Because you didn't go see the medics."
"Again, you have no proof."
She rolled her eyes in a very dramatic fashion that had both of them chuckling. "If the pay weren't good, I don't know if I would keep this job."
"Oh, you're only in it for the pay?" Dean gave her a hurt look.
"Why else would I deal with the two of you every day of my life."
"Because you love us." Roman smirked.
"You have no proof of that."
Dean put a hand up. "Ah, Angel. Actually, I do have proof. The whole world saw my proof."
She blushed. "You might have proof, but he doesn't." She jabbed her elbow at Roman.
Blinking at her, Roman pulled her into his side, while wrapping his arm around her head in a loose but still very efficient headlock.
"Roman!" She squealed in his grasp.
"Say you love me and I'll let you go."
"Roman."
"Say it." He ordered.
"Dean." Angel begged him for help.
To which he shrugged and said. "This is between the two of you."
"You're helpful."
"I'm glad."
With a huff, she mumbled the words out. "I love you, Roman."
"What was that?"
"I love you, you big ass."
"That's better." Roman chuckled as he let her go.
Pulling free, she sighed and ran her hand over the top of her head. "Great now my hair is wrecked."
"You shouldn't have played with my heart like that Babygirl."
"Well, you shouldn't make me worry so much about you and actually take care of yourself."
"She's got a fair point."
"You of all people are not allowed to criticize who someone 'cares' for themselves." Roman said harshly, only to be backed up by Angel who nodded her head.
"Hey, I didn't say I was a saint. I said, she has a point."
He swore he heard his girlfriend call them children under her breath as she collapsed more soundly in her seat.
"All hands on deck for the birthday celebration!" They heard someone shout from behind them.
"Shit." Dean crushed as he grabbed his water off the table and taking a swig. "This is so fucking stupid."
"It is." Roman said as he stood.
"I knew I shouldn't have sat down." Angel sighed.
As they sluggishly made their way to their feet, Dean looked around and realized that everyone in the room was feeling the same as them. They were all dragging their feet and letting out elongated breaths.
"Look how excited everyone is." He said pointing it out to the two around him. "This is going to be one hell of a party."
They all filed into the hallway like lemmings on their way to the cliff. As more and more members of the roster joined them from various areas of the backstage, it was quickly becoming claustrophobic. A feeling that he did not deal with very well.
The pack hadn't even made it to the gorilla and he felt his irritation growing. It was so bad that one someone pushed past his arm, he had to stop himself from swinging. His only saving grace was the fact that Angel was in front of him and Roman was behind him, which gave him at least a little buffer between himself and the large crowd.
"ALRIGHT! Listen up!" Someone at the front called out. "In just a moment, we're going to file on the stage. We're doing this during the commercial, so we have to be quick about it. When you get on the stage, we need you to make three lines, shorter people in the front and taller people in the back. Our goal is for everyone to be able to be seen."
Not realizing she stopped, Dean almost toppled over Angel. "Wow! Why are we break checking here?"
"There going to make us separate."
His eyes widened as he finally picked up on what the crew member just said. "Wait that's not right, shouldn't we stay together since we're like part of a team or whatnot. Are they really splitting tag teams up?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "They just said short people in the front and tall people in the back."
"Well fuck me. There goes my back up plan." He sighed.
"What back up plan."
"I was going to use you to distract myself if I got too bored."
"Of course you were." She said. "Well now you're going to have to pay attention aren't you."
"Nah, if it's tallest in the back, no one will even know I'm there."
"Yeah, all six foot four of you."
"I'm pretty good at blending in."
She glanced back at him. "I think you forget that we get recognized every where we go, and it's not because of me. IF you can blend in so well, then next time we go to the store to pick up food for you place, can you do it there so my ice cream doesn't melt while we sign autographs and talk to fans for two hours."
"What I meant was I can blend in here. Were the average height is like six foot."
"ONE MORE THING!" They heard the screaming voice of Stephanie McMahon. "I want to remind you all, you are going out there to celebrate a very important person's birthday. I don't care who you end up standing next to NO fighting. If I see ANY of you acting up, YOU will all be punished for it."
"They're going to stick you next to Seth." Roman whispered in his ear making him jump.
"They better fucking not." His blood began to boil even more. "They no that's not a good idea."
"If you do something about it, you'll get the whole roster in trouble."
"Yep." He gave a short nod. "And that's their problem if they stick me next to him."
"We're smarter than that." Dean turned to his left and saw Hunter standing there. "Seth has been told to stay on the far-right side of the stage and you will be told to stay on the far left side."
Pursing his lips, he stepped to the man. "You are smarter than you look."
Hunter just snickered as he pushed past him.
And just like that it was a like dam broke as they started moving again. The mob was condensed down to almost single file as they went through the gorilla and out onto the stage. As soon as he stepped on, a stripped shirt appeared in front of him.
"Dean, I need you to go over there." He pointed towards the left side of the stage.
Glancing that way, he saw Cesaro standing in the back and realized that his spot was next to that man. He wondered if Cesaro still hated him. Maybe he would ask.
"Angel up front of." The ref said pointing her towards the front of the stage.
"Shouldn't I stay with my client." She made a last-ditch effort.
"You heard what they said shorter people in the front and taller in the back."
"Fine."
A.A.A.
Sighing, Angel slowly made her way to the front of the stage. Her eyes scanning the crowd for an open space for her. She quickly found one, but as she slid into the spot her heart dropped when she noticed the bright red hair of the person standing next to her.
"Angel" Eva said with a smile "Hey there."
"Hi." She mumbled as she turned toward the ring. She tried to keep her focus on the attack that was taking place down the ramp. Which wasn't really actiony, but it was pretty exciting, Mean Gene Okerlund was making his way slowly into the ring, as the guest MC for the right.
"So did you catch my match?" She heard Eva asked.
"I did."
"So, you saw that I won?"
"I saw that Paige distracted AJ and you rolled her up." She said still not caring to look back at the woman.
"A win is a win."
"You're right." She agreed begrudgenly.
"Which mean's your little theory wasn't right."
"No, it was still right. I said that they wouldn't want to jeopardize AJ's match on Sunday. They still put you in that match because they didn't believe."
"Well, they should." Rosa Mendes chimed in front beside Eva. "She won."
"She won but didn't land any real hit on her. AJ got out of that match with only her pride hurt."
Before another thing could be said, the show came back from commercial and the whole arena erupted. Closing her eyes in a quick prayer to whatever god would hear her, She put on the biggest smile she could muster and started to clap along with everyone else.
She hoped that the festivities would have kept Eva at bay, but it seemed to do just the opposite as her and Rosa started to whisper to each other about the different guest that were coming out. Even Hulk Hogan himself.
"Sixty one isn't even an important age." Eva groaned. "So dumb."
"I know." Rosa said joining in. "This is just going to be a bunch of old men getting together, so lame."
Angel gritted her teeth because she hated the fact that their opinions of this whole ordeal lined up. She was become So petty that she didn't even want to have the same thoughts as the woman next to her.
Damn it.
"I really hope I can get Stephanie to give me a shot at the Diva's title, nice I won my match against Paige."
"Oh, I could see that at Hell in a Cell."
They started up as Ric Flair's music started up, which meant it was time to smile and clap again.
"You know what girl, that sounds better than what I was thinking." Eva said through her smile. "I was just thinking about having a match on a random Monday Night Raw."
"For the title?"
"I know I was being stupid."
"Yeah, you were."
Lord…please give me strength. She glanced up to ceiling. She thought she was going to have to worry about Dean starting something with Seth, but here she was seconds away from snapping at Eva.
Next to come out to celebrate was Mr. Wonderful, who stopped and got kisses from Natalya and Rosa before heading down the ramp a few steps. He then stopped and came back up to them, and Angel's eyes went wide as he stopped in front of her.
Smirking at her, he pointed to his cheek, and it took her second to register that he wanted a kiss from her as well. But that second was just what Eva needed to step up and kiss him instead.
The was a puzzled look on his face a moment, but he brushed it off and started down the ramp.
"Ew."
"I know."
"I can't believe he's demanding kisses like that."
"I know, it's creepy."
Save me. She turned her head to glance back to where Dean was supposed to be and was surprised when she couldn't find him. There weren't that many people between the two of them, and yet, she couldn't see him. Lucky. She had to keep clapping and smiling since she was right out in front.
By the time the NWO came out to celebrate, she was sure that her smile had turned into a grimace. Happy and cheerful was the last thing that she was worried about right now. She just hoped she could hold back from just decking Eva in the face. At least she wasn't talking about Dean.
The men in the ring lead the whole arena in signing happy birthday, which the only bit of relief that she got, that was until Brock Lesnar's music echoed over the speakers. That's when the silence came. Everyone even Eva was nervous as Brock walked through them and down the ramp.
Glancing around, she could tell that the same question that was on her lips was on everyone's else. What the hell was he up to. Once he got into the ring, he stared down each and every one of legends before getting to Hulk Hogans's face.
She really wondered if Brock was about to fight with Hogan. The man was sixty-one years old and not on the best side of that age. Surely, he would understand just how much trouble he would be in if he hurt one of those men down there.
Of course, they never got their answer, as Cena came rushing in to play hero. And surprisingly no on got punch today, not Hogan, not Brock, not Cena, and not Eva. All and all, it was a win.
The next couple of minutes when so slow, that she seriously thought someone could control time and pushed paused as they waited to be allowed off the stage. When the call finally did come, she practically forced her way through the group, getting as far away from Eva as she possibly could.
As she waited to get through the small opening to the gorilla, her body felt like she had to keep moving or everything was going to build up and explode. She paused for a moment and wondered if this was how Dean felt sometimes. The man hated to be in big crowds like this, she could tell just by the way he started to fidget and breath heavily. She got it now.
Once she was free, her eyes scanned the group of people who were trying clear the way. "Fuck he really can blend in." She groaned as her over six-foot-tall boyfriend was nowhere to be seen, neither was his over six foot tall best friend.
"Of course, I can." She heard a chuckle come from her left.
Head whipping around, she saw Dean and Roman standing against a wall, both with their arms crossed. Almost sprinting over to him, she smashed herself against him, face buried into his tank top, and as she pressed into him, she let out a scream of frustration.
When she pulled away, she looked up at Dean's face to see him wide-eyed. "Did you just scream into my chest."
"It was the closest thing to a pillow that I had right now."
Roman busted out laugh.
"Are you comparing my chest to a pillow?"
"She's saying that your chest is as soft as a pillow. You got a nice pair of…"
"Roman, I'll cut your hair in your sleep." Dean warned.
"She said it not me."
"No, what I meant was I needed something to muffle my scream and your chest did just fine."
Grasping onto her arm, Dean asked. "So why did you need to scream so badly."
She took a deep breath. "I ended up standing next to Eva Marie the whole time." Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Roman tensed. "She was so annoying, she kept bad mouth all the legends that came out. It took everything in me not to just scream at her to shut up."
Dean let out a little chuckle. "You really don't like Eva."
It was her turn to tense. "No I don't." She glanced once more over at Roman who was fiddling with something on his gear, trying to look like he wasn't paying any attention to them at all. "She rubs me the wrong way."
"I can see that." He hand his hand up and down her arm. "And I felt it too." He put his free arm on his chest where she had yelled.
"Sorry about that." She blushed a bit as she fully realized what she did.
"Don't be." He said with a look that told her he had more he wanted to say but just let it go. "We should head back to our shit. The faster we can get out of here, the fast I can fucking get a drink in me."
"That sound like a plan." Roman pushed himself from the table. "I also want to get a shower." He took a whiff of his vest. "I still smell like Ryback sweat."
"Well, I was going to say we could stop somewhere with food but that kind of killed my appetite." She faked a gag.
"How do you think I feel, I'm the one who smells like him."
She put her hand up. "Fine, well let me go find Renee, see how long it's going to take her to be able to leave, then we'll meet you wherever we're going and you can go take a shower. Get the Ryback stink off you."
"You wanna smell it?" He asked holding his arms out like he was asking for a hug. "It's rank."
"Stop it." She cried as she tried to hide behind Dean. "Get away from me."
"Come one, one hug."
"Nope, get your stinky ass away from me."
"One hug." He said trying to get to her.
"Can you too leave me out of this." Dean said putting up his hands.
"Tell him to stop trying to get me to hug him while he smells, and I will."
Dean shook his head and side stepped her, which in returned opened her up for the bear hug that followed.
"Ah!" She yelled making the lingering group look at her. "Ew get off me."
"See it's not that bad." Roman chuckled as he pulled her in tight.
She was prepared for an onslaught of stentch but instead what she got was words whispered into her ear. "Eva didn't do anything while you were next to her did she?"
Her eyes went wide as she held onto the man. Slowly she shook her head. "Was just really annoying."
She heard the breath he took before he pulled away. "Alright then, it's scrub a dub dub time for me."
"You showering here?"
"Might as well." Roman shrugged. "Text me when you figure out where the hell we're eating at."
"Will do." Dean nodded.
The big man walked down the hall, leaving the two of them standing there and she couldn't help but smile a little as she silently thanked him. He had been worried about her, worried that Eva did something, but he kept his promise to her. Roman was such a good friend.
BrookeWorm3: I'm sorry that I'm giving you anxiety. Lol. Angel will have her day. You're just going to have to wait a bit longer.
Katmoonchild: Dean is going in the box. Lol
Katara Melody Cullen: I hope it was worth the wait. Thanks for the review.
Sonia: I hope you like this chapter too. It be long.