Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing!

Chapter One – Victories, Suspicions, and Bonding.

Emma's eyes were glued to the monitor backstage and heart raced rapidly against her chest as she watched the Shield along with Daniel Bryan fight off Kane and Evolution.

It's been a few months since Kane had teamed her up with the Shield in a plot that failed to embarrass the team. There hadn't been anymore join ups between them in the ring once Kane came to the conclusion that his scheme wasn't working. However, much to everyone's surprise Emma, Dean, Seth and Roman remained close and even 'officially' became friends. Sometimes she would even travel with them and have movie nights in their hotel room.

At first, it had been a bit concerning to Emma's friends. This was still the Shield, after all! They prided themselves in being the meanest and most ruthless stable in the WWE, and they didn't invite anyone into their group. It was just them. They were brothers before they were even friends. For them to do such normal and friendly things with the bubbly Australian was definitely perplexing.

But Emma was adamant about their kindness towards her, so her friend's concerns eventually died out.

"Emma," Nikki Bella said from behind the blonde, "you're going to ruin your eyesight if you keep standing so close to the screen like that."

The Bella twins were also standing by the monitor with Emma to watch the match—Brie to watch Daniel while Nikki was mostly there to witness Emma's reactions.

The boys weren't the only ones Emma formed a close bond with over the past months. Since their talk in the locker room, Nikki and Emma became great friends. In fact, the twins had dubbed her their honorary triplet! Though she and Nikki were closer, Emma had a certain bond with Brie. Her calming presence was often helpful to the Australian.

"That's a myth." Emma dismissed not moving away from the screen.

"How's it a myth? That really can't be good for your eyes." Nikki continued even though she knew her friend would merely ignore her to keep her attention on the match.

"Yes!" Emma shouted, jumping up when Dean landed a 'Dirty Deeds' on Batista and pinning him to win the match.

Brie laughed at her friend's excitement. "Relax there, girly. Don't want you hurting yourself."

Emma was making it a habit to ignore the twins, and she clapped joyously as the Shield defeated the corporate jerks. They deserved this win so much after all they've been put through because of the Authority. And that included Daniel Bryan—she was just as proud with how far he's come, too. She was just a little bit more proud of her guys. She's been with them after the beatings, after the unfair losses. She's witnessed the disappointment and anger in their eyes as Evolution and the Authority had screwed them over countless times.

Her friends have come a long way since the beginning and they had obviously taken a big risk turning their backs on their power hungry boss. But they were dealing with it, and handling it better than the normal man would have.

"She's about to go running down to the gorilla to meet her boys." Nikki told her sister, eyes darting up and down as she watched Emma jump in celebration.

"You know it!" Emma exclaimed, finally acknowledging what one of the Bella's said. She didn't waste another moment before running off towards the gorilla position, leaving two very amused twins behind.

She was so carefree as she ran down the hall, almost bumping into a few people on the way. She yelled out some apologies, but didn't stop. A wide grin split across her face as she spotted the three men dressed in black walk through the curtain. Without thought, Emma launched herself and threw her arms around the neck of Dean Ambrose. He immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground and holding her close.

"You guys won!" She exclaimed happily, her hug tightening.

Dean chuckled. "Did you doubt that we would, Blondie?" He asked, leaning back a bit to look her in the eyes.

"Not for a second!" Emma told him earnestly, her grin never faltering.

"That'a girl." He replied patting her head and setting her back down on her feet, arms still wrapped around her.

Everyone knew that Dean Ambrose wasn't a touchy feely kind of guy, and there weren't many people in this company who actually wanted to touch him. But there was just something about Emma. He's thought it since day one, but she was different than other women to him. It took him a little while to get used to her hugs, but he could safely say that Emma was now one of the very few people he felt comfortable embracing. She just felt so right in his arms.

Like right now, his arms still securely around her waist as they grinned at each other, it just felt… fitting. She fit perfectly in his arms.

And more often than not, that thought scared the crap out of him. Anxiety began tightening at his stomach now, making his smile falter and his eyes dart around as if looking for some sort of rescue.

Luckily, Seth saved him before she could even notice his change in mood.

"Hey, no hugs for us?" The two-toned superstar interrupted with a mocking pout. "We were in the match, too, you know!"

Emma laughed, and she removed her arms from around Dean and he easily let her go to hug Seth. The hugs she shared with the other two members of the Shield were much more brief than the one she shared with Dean. Despite his previous apprehension, he took some pride in that.

Daniel Bryan walked through the curtain then with his belts on his shoulders. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Emma with the Shield. From an outside view, it looked pretty bizarre to see the exuberant Emma hugging it out with those three men. Though seeing her with them has become a constant for everyone backstage, it was still hard for most of them to wrap their minds around. The Shield were just so intimidating and Emma was just so—well, Emma.

Daniel was still having trouble believing that he and the Shield were teaming together now. He wondered if this cheerful blonde had anything to do with their late change in attitude.

"Daniel!" He looked away from the four people, and smiled happily at the sight of his new wife rushing over to him. His arms instantly wrapped around her as she hugged him. "You did so well tonight. I'm so proud of you." Brie told him, kissing his cheek.

"Thank you." He said, turning his face to kiss her on the mouth.

"Ugh, do you guys have to do this all the time in front of everyone? We get it, you're married now!" Nikki walked up to them with a repulsed expression.

Brie glared at her sister. "I'm just congratulating my man. You do the same thing to John when he wins his matches, Nicole."

"Actually she does a lot worse." Daniel teased, laughing at the expression on his sister-in-laws face.

Nikki shoved his shoulder lightly. "Oh my God, Daniel, shut up!" She told him only mildly offended. "John and I aren't even that nasty anymore."

Brie shot her sister a look of disbelief. "You're telling me that you and John aren't having sex twenty-four seven anymore?"

Looking to avoid yet another argument between the twins, Daniel quickly changed the subject. "So, what's going on between Emma and those three?" He said nodding over to the group who were currently at something together.

"They're so in love." Nikki pointed out, earning odd looks from Brie and Daniel.

"What?" They said in unison.

"Emma and the Shield are in love with each other?" Daniel asked looking a little horrified.

"Not all of them." Nikki amended, looking at the two like they were stupidest people on the planet. "Emma and Dean."

That only earned more odd looks and confusion.

"You're trying to say that Emma and Dean—Dean Ambrose—are in love with each other?" Daniel asked looking at Nikki like she just grew a second head. It was hard enough to believe Dean was even capable of falling in love, let alone with Emma!

"Well, maybe not in love yet. But they totally want each other." Nikki replied with a shrug.

"What makes you think that they want each other?" Brie asked, genuinely curious about her sister's logic.

"There are a few things. They're little things, but they totally count. Like, she's always running to him first and giving him the longest hugs. And he's holding on to her like he's afraid she's going to disappear. And they're always, like, looking at each other and checking each other out. The other day, I caught Dean totally checking out her butt when she practicing her little dance." Nikki explained in an expert tone, like it was her job to notice these things.

"That's… uh, a little scary that you notice all of that, Nikki." Daniel said, put off by her observations.

She rolled her eyes. "I'm just an observant person, Daniel. And they're pretty freaking obvious about it."

"Not really. I mean, I've never noticed any of those things." Brie stated, looking over to the four now.

"You're just not as close as Emma and I are." Nikki replied giving her sister a 'be jealous' look, to which Brie rolled her eyes before closer observing Emma and Dean to see if she could spot what her sister did.

Brie was surprised to see how close Emma was standing next to Dean. Their arms were even touching as they listened to whatever Seth was telling them. Dean's hand twitched at his side, looking as if he wanted to take Emma's hand into his own.

"Hmm. They are standing really close to each other." Brie finally agreed.

"See, I told you!"

"Really?" Daniel asked, skeptically "You guys are going to make these assumptions simply because they're standing close to each other? Maybe she's just more comfortable with him."

The twins tilted their heads and their brows furrowed together in confusion.

"Who would be more, if at all, comfortable with Dean Ambrose?" Brie asked her husband.

Daniel opened his mouth to answer, but immediately shut it when he realized he didn't have one. "Okay, you make a point… it's still poor proof, though."

"Whatever." Nikki said flipping her hair and watching the people in question.

Her eyes narrowed in thought. There were clearly some feelings there. This type of behavior has been going on for months between Emma and Dean. They were mostly subtle, and she doubted either of them even recognized that there were feelings there, but Nikki noticed those little things. She knew from experience that it really is those little things that count before the big bang hits. Nikki had doubts, however. She doubted that either of them would make the first move. She certainly doubted that Dean would even admit to having feelings for anyone. And Emma—well, she probably wouldn't even comprehend that whatever she was feeling was anything deeper than innocent.

This thing would fizzle out.

Unless she did something about it.

"Nicole, stop." Brie's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Nikki asked giving her sister a look.

"I can see the wheels turning in your head. Stay out of it." Brie told her sternly.

"I'm not planning anything!" Nikki defended, which wasn't a total lie. She hadn't planned anything—yet. "God, you always make snap assumptions about me."

"I'm your twin. They're not assumptions, it's just what I know about you."

"So, you guys did really awesome tonight!" Emma told the guys as they walked down towards the Shield's locker room.

"Of course we did!" Seth exclaimed, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, putting some distance between her and Dean—much to Dean's displeasure. Though he'd never admit to that.

"Doll, it was a breeze. They've slowed down in their old age." Roman stated proudly. "They needed twelve other men to help them bring us down for just a moment. We're the future. They're the past."

Emma nodded in agreement. But she was still worried for them. Sure, the members of Evolution were older, but they were certainly vicious and volatile. They've proven that countless times. However, her boys have proven over and over again that they could hold their own and 'adapt', as Triple H liked to put it. The Shield didn't take shit from anyone. She wished she could have a tenth of their bravery.

"So, you riding with us tonight?" Dean asked as they approached closer to their locker room.

"Yeah, sure. I was going to end up taking a cab or something anyway."

She always said yes, and it was always Dean who asked. She didn't think that meant anything, but she was always glad that he was the one to ask her. And he was always pleased with her answer.

"Alright. We'll meet you at the entrance of the garage. Don't go into the parking lot unless one of us is with you, okay?" Dean told her a bit sternly. He didn't like to think of what kind of creeps would bother a single woman in a dark parking lot.

Roman and Seth silently laughed in the background while Emma simply smiled and nodded her head. The first time they decided to travel together, she had gone into the parking garage without waiting for them. In her defense, she had been in a conversation with a friend while walking there, but Dean had totally freaked out about it and made her promise never to do it again. Thinking back on it now, Emma found it pretty funny.

"I know the drill now, Dean. No worries! I'll wait for you outside of the parking garage."

Dean didn't really think it was so funny. He thought it was a good precaution to take. He thought someone out there would have been proud of the fact that he was taking some responsibility! "Okay, good." He mumbled. "Do you wanna do a movie night?"

Before Emma could answer, Seth butt right in. "I think we should do a Star Wars marathon. Emma's never watched even one of them, can you believe that?" He asked, amazed by the very idea of someone not watching Star Wars. "Do they not have it in Australia or something?"

"Seth… that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say." Dean said eyeing his friend with distaste. "And you're supposed to be the smarter one out of the three of us?"

"Shut the hell up, Dean!" Seth seethed glaring daggers.

"Now-now, boys, no need for fighting. You've done enough of that tonight." Emma spoke up, trying to smooth over the little argument while Roman laughed in the background. So unhelpful! She thought resentfully. "Maybe we can do the Star Wars marathon another night, though? I feel like that would be too long, and I'm pooped. We should watch something shorter." She suggested knowing the guys were feeling especially exhausted tonight. They had a pretty big battle with Evolution and Kane tonight.

"Well, fine, but I'm totally getting you to watch all the Star Wars movies sooner or later." Seth insisted as they stopped in front of their locker room door.

Dean rolled his eyes before facing Emma as his teammates entered the room. "See ya in a few, Blondie."

She smiled at him and nodded before turning away to head down to the Diva's locker room.

Emma loved movie nights. Roman always passed out right after the opening credits, Seth always chirped along to fill her in on certain scenes that she didn't understand, and Dean always kept silent but always sat close to her. Sometimes she fell asleep resting her head on his shoulder until he woke her up when the movie was finished. She enjoyed the bonding time they shared. Very few people could say they've bonded with the trio.

In fact, she may be the only one who could say it.

Ah, the sequel to Punishment has finally been published! I was amazed by the feedback I got on Punishment and I would just like to thank everyone who had reviewed, faved, and followed. It's very much appreciated and I hope that you enjoy the sequel. I haven't figured out how many chapters it's going to be yet, but it's going to be significantly longer than Punishment.

Please, review and let me know what you think! The next chapter should be posted some time next week.