Hail to the King

Another day, another city. This time it was Toledo, Ohio. Same cold weather, same white stuff on the ground. Tonight was the taping of Smackdown and Roman was preparing for the night. He was going over the script in his room when there was a knock on his door. Setting the script on the table, he walked over, opening the door.

"Morning sunshine." Belle smiled cheerfully as she walked into the room with a brown bag and coffee.

"Morning to you too." Roman chuckled as he closed the door, following her over to the table that was in his room.

"Brought some breakfast and thought we could go over the script together." She suggested, taking out two hot sandwiches and placing them on the table.

"A girl that knows the key to my heart." Roman chuckled, sitting down and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Ewww." She scrunched her nose.

"You know what I mean." He laughed.

"I know, I'm just messing with you."

"Good." He said, taking a bite of the sandwich she brought.

They sat there for a bit, eating and drinking while looking at the script. As they studied it, Roman spoke.

"So...what's with you and Dean?" He asked, making her choke on her food.

"What?!" She said, coughing a bit.

"You know he has a crush on you and I know you have one on him too."

"Do not." She stubbornly denied.

"Ah ha! See? I knew you did." He grinned.

"So...it's nothing. We're just friends."

"Friends, ha." He laughed, sitting back in his chair. "The famous Izabella Jensen has crush. Never thought I'd see that day."

"Oh hush." She tried to blow it off.

"Nope. You have a crush. This from the girl who said there was never going to be a man in her life. I told you to never say never."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You know I'm right. I'm always right." He grinned.

"Alright. If I admit it, will you leave me alone for now?"

"I just might."

"Fine. I have a crush on Mox. There. Happy?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now can we please work on the script? I need to practice. This is the first time I'm in one and I want to get everything nailed."

"Sure. What you got?" Roman asked, opening his script book.

"Looks like..." She said, looking it over then stopping, going pale.

"What?" He said, taking her script and looking at the page she was on.

"I-"

"No. This is not going to happen. No way am I going to let this happen." He said, getting up and getting his jacket.

"Ro. Where are you going?" Belle looked at him worried.

"Going to get this taken care of right now." He said, before walking out of the room and leaving her there confused.

Heading through the halls of the hotel, Roman looked for the room he wanted. Once he found it, he knocked on the door rather aggressively.

"Can I help you?" The woman on the other side asked.

"Where is he?!" Roman gritted his teeth.

"Is there a problem?" The man in question asked.

"There is. This!" Roman put the script on the mans chest.

"Look. This is going to add more drama to the mix. We talked about this."

"There was never any mention about bringing her into this though!" Roman started to get upset.

"Gentlemen. Let's sit and talk about this like adults." The woman stated.

Roman rolled his eyes, walking into the room while the man closed the door. They both sat at the table in the room, the women sitting on the couch.

"Now Hunter, explain to Roman why you did what you did." Stephanie said.

"Yes, please do." Roman crossed his arms over his chest.

"First of all, this is going to be her debut. Everyone knows you're friends because of FCW and NXT. I want her to be seen with you guys backstage, but not as a valet. Just talking with you. I've talked to the others and was going to talk to you, but you got to me first. They are not happy about this either, but this is what I want. This will make your feud even better. Don't worry, she won't get hurt. It's only for the show. If she's as good of an actress as she was in NXT then we'll have nothing to worry about. If you read the whole script, you'll see you're the one that's going to be the hero in all this." Hunter explained.

"You could have told me this before I read the script." Roman muttered.

"I was going to, but they were delivered soon then I thought they would be. Usually creative doesn't have them done this early."

"You were still thinking about it. I could have been in on it." Roman started to get upset.

"I know that and for that I apologize. I never say that, but this time I did."

"Well thank you for clearing this up. She was really upset when she saw what was going to happen."

"Tell her there's nothing to worry about. She has my word." Stephanie spoke up.

"I'll do that and thank you both for taking the time. Sorry I came off a bit harsh at first."

"No, it's understandable."

"Alright. Thank you again." Roman said as he stood along with the other two.

He shook Hunter then Stephanie's hand before leaving the room. A sense of relief waved over him once he knew everything was going to be alright. He still didn't trust what was going to happen, but he had to trust The Authority's word on it.

Smackdown – January 31, 2014

It was almost show time and the boys were getting ready to make their way to the ring. Roman couldn't stop thinking about what happened earlier in the day, not telling the others about what happened. When their theme hit, they made their way down through the crowd and to the ring. Once in the ring, Dean started talking about what happened on Raw.

"The Elimination Chamber is a structure and a match custom made for The Shield, so make no mistake about it, the stakes on Monday Night couldn't have been any higher. Because the Universe knows, The Authority knows, and Randy Orton knows that if The Shield was unleashed inside that Chamber, one of us would've walked out WWE World Heavyweight Champion. What, do you think it would've been you?" Dean starts off, directing his last question to Roman.

"I don't think so Dean, I know so." Roman faces him.

"Oh, you think just 'cause you set some record for eliminations in the Royal Rumble, you would've walked out the Elimination Chamber champion? I don't think that. I don't think that at all bro. Hey, you know what? I don't apologize for trying to throw you out of the Rumble."

"Well, I'm not gonna apologize for throwing you out of the Rumble. It was every man for himself, so stop complaining."

"That's cute, that's real cute. Hey, next time maybe I won't sneak up from behind ya', huh? Maybe next time I'll do it right to your face."

"Like this?" Roman gets in Dean's face.

"Hey, hey, hey! Listen! Listen to me! Enough! Enough! Enough of this petty crap alright?! We're the Shield! We are the most dominant force in the history of this company! This is our yard, and we have intruders! I'm talking about Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Bray Wyatt, The Wyatt Family! And they are the reason that we are not in that Elimination Chamber match. And I don't know why they did what they did on Monday, frankly I don't care. What I do know, is that they must be dealt with! Hey, Ambrose you listen to me. You are the greatest United States Champion I have ever seen. No one even has the guts to challenge you for that belt. And Roman, you've been spearing people since day one! You had John Cena's hands completely pried apart right before they screwed us. We had 'em! We were this close!" Seth states, getting between Roman and Dean.

"If the Wyatts want a new world, we'll give them a new world. If The Shield isn't gonna win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber, we'll do the next best thing. We'll do the next best thing and we will wipe the Wyatt Family off the face of the earth! And Wyatts, consider that a challenge!" Dean yells into the mic, stepping on the bottom rope.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Gentlemen, that's a brilliant idea! That's a match that no one ever dreamed would happen. So as the general manager of SmackDown, I am going to make history!" Vickie starts, but get's cut off by Hunters music.

"I understand where you're coming from, and I get it okay? The Wyatts cost you guys an opportunity to be in the Elimination Chamber. The Wyatts effectively cost one of you the opportunity to be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. But here's the thing guys, it's water under the bridge alright? Let it go. Let it go. Trust me on this. There's no profit in it. There is nothing to benefit, there's nothing to gain okay? Wrong place, wrong time, bad situation. But all there is in this, is loss. All there is in this, is more problems. Just let it go alright?" Hunter starts as he walks down the ramp, ending in the ring.

"Hunter, with all due respect, you've got to look at this from our perspective... " Seth starts, but gets cut off by Hunter.

"...with all due respect Seth, I've looked at it from your point of view. But with all due respect, it wasn't a request. I'm telling you, let it go." Hunter says one final time.

"I don't think you understand Hunter. We're not asking." Roman states.

"Alright. I can see by the looks in your eyes, there's no talking you out of this, I guess right? That's the way it's gonna be? If this fight is gonna go down no matter what, then I might as well profit from it. This is what you want? Is this what you want? You want to see The Wyatts and The Shield go at it? Then I'll do what's best for business. At the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View, it will be all three members of The Shield, against all three members of The Wyatt Family. Hope you guys know what you're doing." Hunter says, leaving the ring, letting The Shield have their moment.

When everything was done, they left the ring and started to head to the backstage area.

"Roman, everything alright man?" Seth asked, noticing Roman was a bit off.

"Everything's fine."

"You sure? It's not about what happened out there is it?" Dean asked, him and Roman being past their differences and leaving it for work.

"I said everything's fine!" Roman snapped, walking a bit faster.

"What's his deal?" Dean asked.

"No clue." Seth shrugged. "Maybe Belle will know. Why don't you do ask her."

"Alright. Hopefully she'll know." Dean said then headed off to find Belle.

While Dean went to talk to Belle, not having any lucky, Seth stayed with Roman trying to get him focused on the match they had coming up at the end of the night. They had a six man tag match with Rey, Sheamus, and Daniel. They needed Roman focused on this match in order to get the win so they could be on the top of their game.

"Any luck?" Seth asked when Dean returned.

"No, but she's in the same state as Roman. They're both off."

"Wonder what it could be?" Seth tried thinking.

"You don't think..." Dean said.

"I think you're right."

Just before it was time for the match, The Wyatt's promo hits the tron. Bray, Luke, and Erick appear on the screen. Bray says that normal men would lose sleep at the mere thought of "dancing with reapers", saying that "justice" is "hell's game". Wyatt says that "war" is his favorite game. Luke Harper then says that "you reap what you sow", saying that The Shield picked a "beautiful hill to die on". Bray continues, saying that The Shield should be careful when they invite the "devil" into their backyard because he may like it and "decide to stay". That's when Erick and Luke step to the side and Bray brings out Belle from behind them. She's shaking in fear, looking into the camera with pleading eyes. Erick Rowan then concludes with one simple word for The Shield, "run".

"How did they?" Dean freaks.

"We'll get her. They won't go far." Seth says.

"Match, now!" Roman says, getting in position.

Just like any other match, The Shield are the dominate ones, but the others coming back at times during the match. In the end, it was Roman catching Rey Mysterio with the Spear, pinning Rey to pick up the win. Dean and Seth get in the ring and all raise their hands in victory. The put their fists together, showing they are still a cohesive unit. After the show ends, they all walk to the back then rush to find Belle. They find her in their locker room safe, but shaken. They all get their things and leave the arena together, not letting her out of their sights. The Wyatt's are unpredictable, mostly Bray. There's no way in hell Roman is going to let them get close to her unless they absolutely have to.

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|Thank you to Shauna for hepling me with all the dialogue for the story. She's such an amazing help!|