Disclaimer - I do not own WWE or any of it's characters. I only own my character Siren and her family.
Thank you to Tamara93 for choosing to favorite and follow this story and myself.
Also a big thank you to Ebony Salvatore for the absolutely amazing review of chapter 16, it is because of reviews like this, that I post my stories! Thank you so much!
So just to help you guys out while you read this, every thing that's in bold is "in ring action, promos, text messages or social media posts", bold and italicized are "flashbacks", and italicized is "phone calls".
Reviews are appreciated, let me know what you like or don't and if you see anything spelled wrong :)
Also please let me know if you'd like to see a prequel to Wake Up.
Thank you!
The song for this chapter is, "Find Out Who Your Friend's Are," by Tracy Lawrence.
They touched down in Anaheim, California the next day for Monday Night RAW. Tasha smiled as she walked down the hallways of the arena after dropping off her bag in the locker room, seeing someone in front of her she broke into a run and jumped onto his back.
"Whoa!" John laughed as he was nearly knocked over, looking down he saw the SOA tattoo on the right arm and knew exactly who it was. He waited until she let him go before turning around and hugging her. "Hey, T."
"How you doing, J?"
"I'm better, much better. How are you?" He asked concerned.
"I'm okay. Colby took good care of me."
"Good. Remind me to thank him later." John said kissing her forehead.
Their attention turned to the monitor where three Hall of Famers were having a panel about the match that Triple H made last week on Main Event. It would be John Cena in a rematch for the titles at Night of Champions, against Brock Lesnar. Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair sat at the table in the ring, while Michael Cole asked them about the match. It seemed as though Hulk was the only one that believed that John had a shot to beat Brock Lesnar.
Both John and Siren had heard enough as Shawn and Ric said that John had gotten Siren hurt, it was his fault that she had been subjected to Lesnar's wrath.
"Hit his music now!" She snapped to the tech as she and John headed for the curtain.
John and Siren saluted the crowd before they walked together down to the ring, the crowd cheering the two of them. John grabbed two mics and handed one to Siren, neither of them looking very happy as they stood before the Hall of Famers. Shawn ducked his head as he saw Siren glaring a hole through him, he'd been the one that said John was to blame for her getting hurt.
"Look at me, Shawn." Siren snapped into the mic, waiting for him to look at her before she continued. "Now you listen to me, everyone listen to me and listen closely. John, is not responsible for what happened to me at Summerslam. Nor is he responsible for what happened 11 years ago, that one is on Lesnar and Vince McMahon."
Her eyes were focused directly on Shawn for that comment, only people who had seen Smackdown that night knew what she was talking about.
"I made my own decision to come to the ring at Summerslam with John. I knew what could possibly happen to me, and I was willing to take that chance. You know me, Shawn, all of you know me. I will never… let a friend go to battle alone. I have never bet against John, and I will not start now. At Night of Champions I will stand by his side, just as I did at Summerslam. At Night of Champions, John has unfinished business with Brock Lesnar… and so do I."
Siren tossed her mic down onto the desk, she had said her peace, and now it was John's turn.
"You can hear them just like I can. Everybody is weighing in on me after Summerslam. What's going through his mind, what should he do? Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, The Authority, the vocal WWE Universe. And now a panel of Hall of Famers. Well, I want to say…"
John pauses as he listens to the loud chant from some of the fans saying, "Cena Sucks!"
"I want to say before I go any further, I have the utmost respect for all three of you, every person that sits at this table has influenced my life. Shawn, as a professional and as a friend, Naitch, we've had some professional times and we've had some recreational times, styling and profiling."
John laughed and Siren did as well, she had been privy to several of those times.
"And point blank, if there was no hulk Hogan, there would be no John Cena. But I'm sick of all this talk about what I should do and where I should go. I'm out here tonight to tell you what's going on with me. I saw—everybody saw Summerslam, I was there, I'm not gonna dance around it, 16 German Suplexes. Yeah. There was no sports cliché or excuse or win some, lose some mumbo-jumbo that'll let me dance around this. Summerslam was an ass whooping. That was a 100% beat down.
But, Shawn, insightful as always, you said a fight like that changes a man. And you're right, it does change a man. Because after being dropped on my head damn near 20 times, when I come to in the training room and the doctor asked me what do I want to do, my answer was simple, I wanna fight Brock Lesnar again. No, oh, oh, oh, I see how you're looking at me . I see how you're looking, "good for you, John, but you got killed in there. Why do you wanna take a beat down like that again?"
I stood in there and took a beat down that a lot of people wouldn't stand in there and take. So why would I want to do that again, am I crazy? Shawn, I don't plan on doing it again. I'm gonna bring the fight to Brock Lesnar at Night of Champions. And I know you have your doubts and, Naitch, I know you have your doubts. Hulkster, I thank you for all your support, but I want you to look at me when I'm talking to you. This rematch is the biggest rematch of my entire life, but I am not going to Night of Champions to beat Brock Lesnar. I'm going to Night of Champions to beat Brock Lesnar's ass."
The two of them walked backstage and John placed a hand on Siren's arm stopping her. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I have to do this, John. I can't be afraid of him any longer."
John nodded, he knew what she meant, "You got my back, I got yours." He smiled before kissing her forehead and heading back to his locker room.
Siren stood backstage watching the interaction between AJ and Paige that had the crowd in hysterics, as AJ kissed Paige's hand. When they walked backstage Siren shook her head laughing at her two friends. "You two are completely off your meds."
"And you're right there with us, love." Paige retorted kissing her cheek before she and AJ skipped down away the hall together.
"Hey, baby." Siren turned around to find Seth behind her smirking. "Ready for my speech?"
"Oh yeah. Are you ready for my reply to it?" She asked cryptically.
Seth was slightly unnerved at the grin that graced her lips, "Just don't put me in the hospital."
"Of course not, my heart. I'll take good care of you." She winked before his music started up and he walked away chuckling to himself. Yeah, sometimes she was ten pounds of crazy in a six pound bag, but he loved her that way.
Kane made his way out to the ring to accompany Seth Rollins for Dean Ambrose's eulogy. There was a podium and a table with flowers in the ring, as well as a large picture of Dean.
"We are gathered here this evening to honor the memory of the unstable, Lunatic Fringe, Dean Ambrose. But tonight is not a mourning of the departed, it's a celebration of the future, the future of WWE, Mr. Money In the Bank, Seth Rollins."
Seth's music came on and he walked down to the ring in his all black suit attire. His face almost looked upset that he was doing this as he climbed into the ring.
"I was the leader of the most dominant group in the history of WWE, The Shield. And there is a reason why I handpicked Dean Ambrose to be a member of The Shield. Pain was never a factor for Dean, fear was never a factor for Dean Ambrose. Dean Ambrose was a courageous fighter, but last week, I had to prove at his expense once again that The Authority always wins. And now, with a heavy heart, I would like to take a look back in the match that you—that you the WWE Universe, chose as a demise for Dean Ambrose."
Up on the screen they showed the final moments of the match between Seth and Dean last week, along with Seth handcuffing Siren to the ring rope. One might have thought that Seth felt a little bad for doing that to Dean, but once the video was over Seth started laughing.
"Can you imagine—can you imagine the moment of impact when I crushed Dean Ambrose's skull, when I pulverized his head into those cinder blocks? Or what was going through Siren's mind, when I handcuffed her to that rope? I wonder what was going through their minds. Do you think that it even dawned on Dean Ambrose that he was in way over his head, do you think that it even dawned on him that he had been outmatched, not only physically, but mentally as well? You know, it's no secret that those cinder blocks weren't out there by accident. But you know what else? That headache that Dean Ambrose is gonna have for the rest of his life, that's no accident either. And it saddens me that the casualty that is become of Dean Ambrose's career can now be summed up in two simple words.
What if? What if Dean Ambrose had known his place? What if Dean Ambrose had recognized my superiority? What if Dean Ambrose had simply walked away when he had the opportunity? The real tragedy in all of this is that we will never really know the answers to those what if's, because as far as I'm concerned, it is highly likely that you will never see Dean Ambrose again. I am the one who created The Shield and I am the one who has destroyed it."
At that moment Seth jumps when a familiar theme bursts through the speakers of the arena. He looks up to the ramp as Siren steps out onto the stage, she's wearing one of the new shirts she had designed for Dean. A white tank top, shredded across the top of her chest and down her back, the bottom stops an inch below her chest, and it says "Unstable" diagonally across the front.
She looks around smiling as the WWE Universe chants her name, before she raises the mic. "Oh my Goddess, for the love of everyone here, would you please… shut, the hell, up!"
She smirks as the Universe says the last part along with her, turning to the camera she smiles, speaking directly into it. "That was for you Jericho, come back soon." She blows the camera a kiss before she turns her attention back to Seth.
"I am so sick of hearing you talk about how you created The Shield, how you controlled Dean and Roman, and how you single handedly brought The Shield down. Let's all face the facts, Seth, you can't do anything on your own. Every step of the way, you have had someone pulling your strings. You know, I liked you when you were with The Shield, you were the main reason why I agreed to join it. You were a smooth talker, killer on the mic. You always had a plan, you were always thinking. You went your own way, never let anyone tell you what to do. Seth Rollins did what ever he wanted, to hell with anyone else.
Now… you don't do anything without being told to. You don't speak your own words, you don't think your own thoughts, and you don't do whatever you want. You used to be Seth Rollins, The Architect of The Shield. And now… you're just Seth Rollins… The Authority's puppet."
Siren stood directly in the center of the ramp, Seth still in the ring staring her down as the WWE Universe showed their support for her and her words.
"Just because you took out Dean, doesn't mean your problems are over. I'm still here, Seth. I promised you that I would be the reason you fell from the mountaintop, if it was the last thing I do. I keep my promises, Seth. Dean, will be back. And when he is he'll pick up right where he left off… beating the hell out of you. But… until he returns someone has to take his place. So…"
Siren turned and walked backstage for a moment, when she reappeared she held her kendo stick in hand. "…this is for what you did to our brother. Oh, but don't worry Babyboy, I'm not coming alone."
Seth's panic increases as Roman's music then booms through the arena, he turns to the crowd to see Roman descending the staircase towards the ring. Out of the corner of his left eye he sees Siren drop the mic and start walking towards the ring, twirling the kendo stick in her hand with enjoyment.
Seth and Kane stand in the ring, both of them removing their jackets and ties. Roman jumps over the barricade and immediately strikes Kane in the face, the two brawl beside the ring, until Roman slams Kane into the steel steps taking him out of the equation for the moment.
Seth stands in the ring looking between Roman, who stands before him, and Siren, who stands at the bottom of the ramp. Taking the lesser of two evils he lunges for Roman as the big dog climbs into the ring. Roman destroys everything in the ring as they brawl with one another, including the podium which he nails Seth in the face with.
Siren meanwhile stands over Kane, blowing him a kiss before she slams the kendo stick down onto his body multiple times. Once he's down, she slides into the ring where Roman had just hit Seth with a clothesline. As he stands up she slams the kendo stick into his stomach, knocking him back into the corner. She nods to Roman who bellows out preparing for his spear.
But once again Kane saves Seth's ass, by dragging him out of the ring to safety. Siren stands on the second rope, she sees Seth glare at her and she gives him an "I told you so" look, can't even fight his own battles. She holds up her kendo stick as Roman raises his hand, his theme booming throughout the ring.
Walking backstage Siren nodded to Roman before she headed to Seth's locker room to check on him. Knocking lightly she opened the door and peeked in, "Seth? Can I come in?"
He looked up from the bench where he was sat, "Of course you can. This is your locker room too."
She came inside and shut the door, "I know. I just wasn't sure if you wanted to see me right now."
Seth sighed, a smile coming over his face as he held out his hand to her. She placed her hand in his and he tugged her down to sit beside him. "I never don't want to see you, Tash. You said it before, we all have to separate real life, from our characters. So, while Seth Rollins, might be smarting from a kendo stick, Colby Lopez wants his girlfriend in his arms."
Siren smiled wide, leaning over she kissed Seth deeply as he wrapped her up into his arms. As much as he didn't want to, Seth pulled back from Siren. "Hold that thought, baby, I gotta go do my promo with Kane. I'll be right back."
"Okay, I'll be here."
When RAW came back from commercial the titan-tron showed Seth and Kane in the office, Seth pacing back and forth across the floor, fuming at the attack by Siren and Roman Reigns.
"We got to do something about Siren and Roman Reigns. What are we gonna do?" He says to himself thinking hard as he slams his hands together. "They keep sticking their noses into our business where it doesn't belong. And they're too stupid—they're too stupid to understand that what we did to Dean Ambrose is exactly what's gonna happen to them."
"And there's the answer." Kane says with a laugh as he pokes Seth's shoulder. "Tonight, Roman Reigns will compete in a match against Seth Rollins and me."
Seth cackles, "Oh, handicap match. Handicap match. How poetic?"
"And just like Dean Ambrose, our business with Roman Reigns ends tonight."
"What about Siren?" Seth asks, knowing that she is a deciding factor in any situation.
"Siren? Well, if she gets in the way, we'll just have to take her out, too."
Siren sat in the back waiting for Seth, she was watching the monitor which was showing Nikki and Brie out in the ring. When she heard the awful things that Nikki was saying to Brie her heart broke, she couldn't believe that creative was doing this to not just divas, but sisters. They were family and what creative was making Nikki say, were enough to break anyone's hearts. The longer Nikki spoke, the more Siren wondered if creative was making her say those things, or if she really meant them.
When she caught sight of Brie's face, the real tears streaming down her cheeks, Siren had enough. Opening the locker room door she pushed past Seth who was about to open the door and ran towards the ring. She knew she was signing her death warrant interfering in a segment she had no business in, but real friends were hard to come by and keep in their business. Brie was her friend, one of her closest and she'd be damned if she let her go through this alone.
The crowd was shocked as they watched Nikki knock her sister out of her chair and start to beat down on her. But they were even more perplexed as they saw Siren running down the ramp to the ring. She slid inside grabbing Nikki by her hair and pulling her off of Brie. Pulling her to her feet she slugged Nikki in the mouth with a right cross, knocking her back into the referees standing behind her.
"Get that bitch out of here before I end her career." Siren snapped as the refs did as she said, dragging Nikki out of the ring and up the ramp.
Siren kneeled down beside Brie, the twin looked up to see her and immediately broke down into tears. She wrapped her arms around Siren's waist as she sobbed into her shoulder. Siren held her close, running her hand over her hair trying to sooth her. Her eyes locked with Nikki's as she was drug up the ramp, the pure hatred in Siren's eyes making Nikki rethink what she had done.
"Come on honey, let's get you out of here." Siren said as she helped Brie to her feet and then out of the ring. She wrapped her arm around Brie's waist and lead her backstage.
Instead of taking her to the divas locker room, Siren took Brie to Seth's locker room. Sitting her down on the couch she handed the woman a box of tissues. Sitting down beside Brie, Siren took her hand in hers. "I'm so sorry, Brie. I'm so sorry, they're making you go through this."
She saw Seth over her shoulder motioning to the door, they had a match to get to. She nodded before turning back to Brie, "Seth and I have a match up next, but you can stay in here as long as you want, okay? If you'd like to travel with us to the next show, you're more than welcome to. And while I'm thinking about it, you should come with me to LA while I film SOA. You can chill on set, meet the guys. I think it'd be good to for you to get away for awhile."
Brie looked up at Siren, she nodded as she tried to stop crying. "Thank you so much. I'd love to. I know you'll probably get in trouble for coming out there, but thank you for doing it."
Siren shook her head, "I don't care what they do to me. You're one of my closest friends, Brie, you and Bryan. If I get fired helping my friends, so be it, it's all worth it." She smiled as a tiny smile crossed Brie's lips, pulling her in for a hug, Siren kissed the top of her head before she quickly changed her shirt and left the room to meet up with Roman.
"You're amazing, baby." Seth told her, giving her a kiss before he disappeared behind the curtain.
Siren walked up to the corridor where Roman was waiting for her, he gave her a knowing smile as she stopped beside him. "That was a good thing you just did, helping Brie."
"I can't stop them from trying to destroy our lives on-camera, but I can damn well show them that I won't stand for it."
Roman and Siren entered the arena first, Siren carrying her kendo stick on her shoulder as they walked down the stairs. Once Roman was in the ring, Siren knocked fists with him as she stood in front of the announcer's table, kendo stick at the ready.
For most of the match the numbers game was wreaking havoc on Roman, but he got an opening when he sent Seth over the ropes, the Architect landing on the floor at Siren's feet. While Roman had Kane taken care of on the other side of the ring, Siren kept an eye on Rollins. He managed to get to his feet, but when he tried to get past her to help Kane, he got a shot with the kendo stick to his stomach, then another to his back and arm.
He knew he wouldn't get past her without taking the stick out of the equation first. So, he did the only thing he could do while she was wailing on him, he kicked out his right leg and caught her on the left knee. She immediately dropped the stick, collapsing to the floor and clutching her injured appendage.
But as he tried to surprise Roman, he was caught in Roman's grip and flung back first into the barricade and then the ring apron.
Roman then climbed into the ring and hit Kane with the spear, but as he went for the cover, Seth ran in and slammed his briefcase onto Roman's head. The ref called for the bell, giving the win to Roman via disqualification. But Seth wasn't done there, he started hammering away at Roman, tossing the big dog out of the ring. Kane and Seth rolled out of the ring and tossed Roman into the barricade, before Kane nailed him in the face with a boot.
Siren looked over to find Kane removing the table beside the barricade, underneath it was another stack of cinder blocks. She knew what they were planning to do, she tried crawling her way over to Roman, all the while screaming at Seth.
"Seth! Don't do this! Not again, please! Seth, please!" Seth looked over to her, his eyes sad as he seemed to be contemplating her words. "I'm begging you, Seth." She said softly.
But her words fell on deaf ears as Kane picked Roman up and positioned his head over the blocks. Seth climbed up on the announcer's table, but before he could end Roman, the big dog fought back sending Kane into the timekeeper's area. He then hit Seth with a superman punch before focusing his attention on the demon once again. After slamming Kane's head off of the ring post, Roman hefted him up and threw him back into the timekeeper's area once more.
Siren had drug herself up onto the steel steps in time to see Roman pick up one of the cinder blocks in his hand. She saw the realization of what Roman was going to do settle on Seth's face and she smiled, it was about time he got a taste of his own medicine. Roman threw the cinder block at Rollins' head, but the two-toned man managed to duck out of the way avoiding the attack. As the cinder block shattered against the ring post, Seth scurried past Roman to the safety of the ramp. Roman then nailed Kane with a superman punch for good measure.
As Roman climbed into the ring, Siren looked up to the top of the ramp where Seth stood. The look on his face was one of pure fear, he realized the gravity of the situation he had put himself in. Roman could have ended his career that night, if that cinder block had met its mark.
Returning backstage to the locker room Tasha smiled as she saw Colby sitting on the couch chatting with Brianna. She was crying again, but this time it wasn't from pain, Colby was telling her a story that was making her laugh so hard she was crying tears of laughter.
"Hey, baby, you okay?" Colby asked as he saw her step into the room.
"Of course." She said assuring him that he hadn't hurt her. She changed into a black V-neck t-shirt and grabbed her bag. "I picked up your bag from the Divas locker room, Brie."
"Thank you, Tasha. And thanks for letting me travel with you guys. I really appreciate it." Brianna said giving Colby and Tasha a grateful, genuine smile.
"I told you, you're one of my closest friends. You are more than welcome to travel with us whenever you like." Tasha said hugging the woman as she stood up by the couch.
"Shall we ladies?" Colby said with a smirk as he picked up their bags.
"Oh, such a gentleman." Brianna giggled as she and Tasha headed for the door.
"He has his moments." Tasha said throwing Colby a wink that made him laugh.
As they rode to LA Tasha called Monkey as she had promised. Her mom answered the phone on the second ring. "Hey, Brat."
Tasha smiled, Brat had been her nickname since she was a kid. "Hi, momma. How did her first day at school go?"
"It went good. There were a couple kids being mean to her, but once she told them who her mom was they stopped immediately. She's the most popular kid in her class now." Teresa chuckled.
"Well, that's good. Can I talk to her?"
"Sure. Kailynn, mommy's on the phone."
Tasha smiled as she heard her daughter yell, then her little voice came over the phone. "Hi, mommy!"
"Hi, baby. How was school?"
"It was fun. Some kids were being mean to me, and I told them if they didn't stop that my mommy would come stop them."
"Well, I'm glad they stopped being mean. If it happens again, I want you to go tell the teacher, okay? So, then they can call mommy and let her know."
"Okay, momma. Is Cole with you?"
"Yes he is and Brie too. Do you wanna say hi to them?"
"Yes, please."
Tasha took the phone from her ear and put it on speakerphone. "Okay, monkey, say hi."
"Hi, Cole. Hi, Brie."
"Hi, munchkin. We miss you." Colby said.
"Hi sweetie. Auntie Brie misses you too."
"I miss you too. When can you come visit me?"
"We'll try really hard to come visit soon, honey. Mommy promises." Tasha said. She was missing her daughter so much and it had only been a day.
"Okay, momma. Grandma says it's time for me to go to bed."
"Yep, it is. Mommy will call you tomorrow night, okay?"
"Okay mommy, I love you."
"I love you too, monkey." Tasha said as she held out the phone so the other two could say bye as well.
"Bye munchkin."
"Bye Cole. I love you."
"I love you too, munchkin."
"Bye Auntie Brie."
"Bye, sweetie."
Tasha sat for a few more minutes talking to her mom before she hung up the phone and sat back on the couch. "Well, it's good to know that she's liking school. Hopefully it stays that way."