Lee walked into the conference room she had been directed to with her cup of coffee in hand. This was her first time going with the roster on the road and, of course, her flight had been delayed. She was walking to the pre-show meeting now 25 minutes late. She opened the door slowly and tried to just slip in the side. A man standing next to the door slid down closer to his neighbor for her; it was AJ Styles she realized. She was really going to have to get used to seeing these superstars as real humans quickly. She leaned on the wall where AJ had been moments before. But it couldn't last long...

"Ahhh, our new member. Please, Dr. Lewis come on up." Stephanie McMahon beckoned from the center of the room. All the eyes in the room turned to look at the new girl as she sighed and began to wind her way around WWE superstars.

Annalee, known to most as Lee, was by no means a petite girl. She was perfectly average height at five feet and five inches tall, but she had a sturdy frame which meant she took a little maneuvering to not run into anyone in the tightly packed conference room. She walked up to stand beside Stephanie feeling a little underdressed next to the business woman. While Stephanie was wearing a very lovely business pants suit, Lee was wearing her "uniform" for the night already, a pair of dark wash blue jeans and her black "trainer" polo. Her long chestnut hair tied back into a simple ponytail.

Stephanie smiled at her and then turned to the assembled athletes, "This is our new PT on staff, she'll be learning how we work under Dr. Edleton but then she will move into the lead trainer position for RAW when the brand splits. Do you have anything to add, Dr. Lewis?" Stephanie smiled around the room.

"She looks too young to have ever seen a real injury in her life-"

"You gonna give her something to look at?" someone teased back. Lee heard the muttering and cast her eyes in the direction of a couple men not too far from her. They were a new tag team on the main roster, she couldn't remember their names specifically. They were not the only whispers springing up either. Lee took a big breath and placed her coffee cup down on the table.

"I guess I'd just like to say, 'hello.' I am brand new to how this company works, so you guys may have to help me out a little. That being said I'm not new to the injuries and work you all need. I'm not far out of college, it's true, but I've been working in sports since before I decided to to go back to school for this. And I've spent the last five years working exclusively with the University of Kansas' football and wrestling teams. Young I may be, but I do know what I'm talking about and if I don't I can guarantee I'll be using every resource I possess to find out. Ignorance isn't my style," she said smiling and looking around the room. Trying to make eye contact and convey more confidence than she felt. "So don't be afraid to come to me. I'm a long time WWE fan and I'm excited to get to work with you all and be part of this."

Lee stepped back a little and looked back at Stephanie, who stepped forward. "Ok that's all we have, you know you're storylines, first blackout matches will begin in about three hours so go start getting ready." With that the athletes were dismissed and began to file out of the room. Stephanie turned to look the new doctor over.

"Well I guess it's time to get your feet wet. I'll take you to meet your immediate co-workers and give you a rundown on how we typically set up at these venues."

Lee's head was spinning a little at all the information being thrown at her about how these arena set ups worked. It was so ever changing! Finally, they made it to the trainer's room and Stephanie turned her over to the head trainer.

Dr. Edleton was a man in his upper 40's with short cut brown hair and a no-nonsense attitude. He clinically went over their set up and showed her the database that contained the files for all of the athletes that were liable to come see her tonight. He was done with her within 15 minutes and left her so he could go treat the first superstar to walk into the room. Lee sat there continuing to go over some of the files, taking note on some of the flagged major injuries.

"Hey, you open for business yet?" A low voice said. Lee looked up into the bright blue eyes of Joe Annoai, a.k.a. Roman Reigns. Lee smiled and stood up from her stool.

"Of course, you want to take a seat and tell me what's up?" she said as they walked over to the medical table.

"Well I've been having a thing in my shoulder. Doc worked with it last week but it's still feeling off and I was hoping we could work it out a little bit before my match tonight." The tall man said as he sat down on the edge of the table.

"Let's see what we can do," Lee said stepping to the side of the shoulder he had indicated. "Is it hurting when you move it over head? When you pull a certain direction…?"

"It's mostly when I pull back, when I create tension like this," he pulled his right arm back, drawing the shoulder blades together with a slight wince.

"Ok, ok, big guy. Don't do it again until I've worked it out a little." Lee pressed her thumb around his scapula and dug into the muscle, searching for anything that felt out of place. "How long has it been bothering you?"

"There has been a pull in it for a couple weeks, but there was an intense pain in it during my match last week against Colby." Joe answered.

Lee kept her thumb pressed into a certain point and took a hold of his forearm, "Tell me if there is any pain when I move it in any direction." She started moving his arm up and down slowly, then back and forth at different heights, finding the spots that caused tension. Soon they had pinpointed some of the problem and began to work some drills that could keep some of the ligaments from crossing each other.

"So how is the first day?" Joe asked as he pulled the band back in the motion she had showed him.

"A little overwhelming but not so bad." Lee answered with a smile.

Joe grinned as he let the tension out of the band. "The way you stood up there and called out your doubters this afternoon, you didn't look easily shaken." He said with a little smirk and took the band back up.

"I'm not shaken. It's just a lot to take in is all. There is a lot involved with all of this. I feel like just hiding in here where I know what to expect and I know what I'm talking about," Lee said with a small smile of her own as she adjusted his shoulder back while he pulled through the band.

"You'll get the hang of it, if you need help with anything you can come find me. Don't worry, Doc, we won't let you get lost." Joe said with a wink as he let go of the band.

"Well I appreciate that, Joe. How is that arm feeling?" Lee said coming back over with a water bottle.

"A lot looser, I'm not feeling that pull." Joe answered as he circled the shoulder around a little.

"Good. I think you're good to go for tonight, just keep it warm before the match, ice it after, and do a few of those exercises with the band any time you hit up the gym this week. Come back in before your next match and we'll check it to make sure those ligaments aren't crossing back over." Lee said as she smiled up at the tall Samoan.

"You got it, Doc. And I was serious, if you need help with anything, come find me." Joe said as he headed out the door.

Throughout the night Lee worked with several superstars, learning real names and finding out injuries. She managed to keep herself from being too starstruck. Her first night at RAW was winding down and there was really only the main event match left. The stream of superstars had slowed down to a trickle and Lee was beginning to put together her paperwork for the evening.

'Knock' knock' "Hey do you still have time to see me?"

"Yeah, of course," Lee answered as she turned from her computer toward the doorway. Colby Lopez, also known as Seth Rollins, was walking into the office.

"Have a seat. What are we looking at?" Lee asked as she walked toward the table.

Colby took a seat, "Well, it's not too bad tonight, but I'm supposed to have my knee checked after each match since I came back."

He extended his leg in front of him, scooting back on the table so his whole leg could fit. He was freshly showered from his match and wearing some basketball shorts that he pulled up to give her access to the joint.

Lee walked forward and placed her hands on either side of the knee, examining the scars for inflammation.

"Why don't you lay back so I can manipulate it a little bit. Did you have any problems with it tonight? Was there any pain throughout the match?" Lee asked as she began to manipulate his leg; pulling towards his chest, turning the leg from the knee joint, etc.

"No, nothing new. It's still a little loose feeling. It's like it just tires more quickly now, but the doctors said that was normal and, as long as I didn't push it too much, the endurance strength would build back."

"Yeah, that's a pretty common phenomenon after most muscle repair surgeries. Have you been pushing it?" She asked looking up at him suspiciously.

Colby looked slightly guilty, "No, not really...I may have done a little too much weight on some of my squats at the gym this week. But there was no pain, I swear."

"Pain isn't the only reason to stop an exercise. I can feel this and tell you that the muscle tissue is inflamed. I haven't worked with you before so I don't know how much inflammation has been normal for you since the injury. But I will say you need to go ice this joint. Pushing yourself at the gym is all well and good, you do need to rebuild the strength, but you also need to ice this as soon as you leave, not just later that night. Ice on the joint, heat to the larger muscles, the quads and hamstrings, if they're tight then it will cause tension on the new repairs." Lee finished as she went over to the fridge set up and put together a pre-packaged ice pack. She returned and began the process of securing it to the knee.

"Ok, I'm sorry, Doc." Colby said with a smile. Lee glanced up at him and saw he was lying casually with his arm under his head looking at her with a little bit of a smirk at her beratement.

"Are you sure you aren't related to Joe? He's the only other one to call me that today and you guys have very similar smirks." Lee said turning back to his knee.

Colby smiled even bigger, "We just have spent a lot of years travelling together."

"Well you should be all set," Lee said as she tied off the wrap. As she watched him sit up she noticed his hand.

"You ripped your hands. Do you want some ripfix? I have some in my bag?" Lee asked looking up to his face.

"You carry ripfix?" Colby asked incredulously. Lee crossed over to her bag, "yeah I'm terrible about ripping my hands during rig work; I refuse to wear gloves and I only seem to remember to shave my calluses down whenever they're super tender from a workout." She rummaged through her bag and turned back with the tube to find Colby watching her with a wide grin.

"You're a crossfit girl!" He stated, rather than asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," she walked back over and handed him what looked like chapstick to put on his hands.

"How long have you been in it?" Colby asked as he undid the lid and began to apply the ointment.

"Well I'd say I joined the "fold" about five years ago. I started in college with an interval training program that had its similarities, but nothing is quite the same as Crossfit. When I graduated I joined my local box," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, there is nothing that is quite like it. What are you planning to do out here on the road? Are you gonna drop in places or fight it out at the typical gym set up?" he asked handing her back the tube.

"I'm not sure, I really want to be able to drop in. I love seeing other gyms and coaching styles in Crossfit, but I also can't afford a $20 or more drop in fee everywhere we go," she shrugged as she walked back to her purse to put it away.

"If you want you could try dropping in with Claudio and I," he offered. "We almost always get in for free wherever we go." Lee looked at him strangely for a second.

"Well I'm not sure..."

"Come on, it will be fun, and you can yell at me about my knee some more," he said with a wink as he hopped off the table gingerly. "do you want to come tomorrow? We're meeting in the lobby around 10 to head over. You're in our same hotel, right?"

"Yeah, I am. And I'd like that," she answered.

"Perfect. My name is Colby, by the way, just so we're officially introduced," he held out his hand.

"I'm Lee," she replied as she returned his handshake.

"Well, Lee, we will see you in the morning. Have a goodnight," he said as he limped out the door.

"Have a goodnight," Lee replied as she shut and locked the door behind him. She turned back to her work smiling. Maybe it wasn't going to be as intimidating to make friends here as she had thought.

The next morning Lee got up, stretched, threw on the least grungy gym clothes she had brought, and grabbed a protein bar and her bag as she headed out the door.

As soon as she exited the elevator she could see Colby and Claudio standing by the lobby door with their backs to her.

"She seemed cool, and we don't have to invite her again if she turns out to be a bitch or something…"

Lee chuckled, "I'll do my best to curb my bitchiness."

They both turned, startled. Then Colby blushed a little as he laughed. Claudio simply laughed out right.

"Well I'm sure we've met worse in our line of work," Claudio said with his thick accent and held out his hand. "I am Claudio Castagnoli. Don't worry I'll try to help him keep him from putting his foot in his mouth more."

Lee laughed and returned the handshake, "I'm Lee. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you," she threw a smile at Colby. Colby smiled and shrugged before he grabbed his gym bag.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah, lead the way," Lee said and began to follow Colby out the door while Claudio held the it for her.

They walked in the box and immediately Lee started to feel a little nervous but she followed the boys up to the desk.

"Hey, my name is Seth Rollins and this is Cesaro, we messaged somebody about dropping in and getting a workout while we're in town for the show." Colby said with confidence as he leaned casually against the counter top. The girl behind the counter smiled, "Of course, Brian said you'd be stopping by. If we could just have you guys sign a waiver." She leaned down and gathered some papers.

"Yeah, no problem. Our friend Lee is with us, too, so three sets." Colby winked back at Lee. Lee smiled and tried not to worry too much.

After they had the paperwork in order the blonde from the front desk showed them over to where they could put their gear up. They all put their bags down and started putting on shoes and any lifting wraps they needed.

"We usually start off doing our own lifting programs but we typically do a metcon together at the end." Colby stated while he pulled his wraps up his knee. "Do you want to join us?"

Lee took a big breath, "Yeah, I'd like to join you guys but I'll tell you now I'm pretty positive I can't keep up with you guys at all. You might be waiting around an extra ten minutes while I finish." She kind of laughed, but it was easy to see this caused her some real anxiety. She knew when he asked her along that she wasn't at the same level athletically as they were. She was just an average, everyday Crossfitter, they were literally paid athletes.

Colby looked up at her, "We're not worried. Take an extra hour if you want, just do what you need to do." He could see she was still nervous and wondered if her worry that she wouldn't be able to keep up was why she had hesitated to agree to come with them in the first place.

The three took their time warming up and going through their respective weight lifting programs. They spent time joking around all through their sets. It was nice. Lee had spent a lot of time in the gym, she felt comfortable here. And it helped her feel a little more relaxed seeing Colby and Claudio as normal guys. They joked around and gave each other shit like any other two guys at a gym. By the time they were all ready to metcon it had been an over an hour and they were all soaked with sweat.

"Ok, so the metcon I have written in my programming for today is two rounds for time 50 thrusters and 50 toes to bars. Weights for us are 95 pounds, so for you that would probably be…" Colby was thinking hard.

"Probably 65 pounds, that's the usual weights."

"Yeah, so lightweights, stay moving."

"The weights won't be the problem," Lee muttered as she turned toward the barbells. Toes to bar were, bar none, her least favorite movement in Crossfit. She had spent hours working on that movement. Thrusters were no problem but toes to bar...she wasn't sure she was ready to struggle like this in front of the two high level athletes.

Regardless, the three readied themselves for the metcon and all too soon Colby was calling out "3,2,1, Go!" All three picked up their barbells. Lee could stay moving with the guys through the thruster work, breaking at a set of 20 and two sets of 15. Then came time for the toes to bar.

"Ok, you can do this. Just don't watch them," she thought to herself. So she kept herself staring with tunnel vision. She had to do the toes to bar in sets of five, and eventually sets of three, she was only on 35 when the boys started move back over to their barbells. Lee tried not to let this frustrate her or make her feel embarrassed.

She finished and started on her second round of thrusters. She came to the barbell and stayed moving, making up a little time, although the boys certainly still beat her back onto the rig. When it came to the second round of toes to bar she only made it through two sets of five before having to move to sets of three, eventually it became one at a time. As predicted Colby and Claudio finished while Lee was still in her upper 20s on reps. When she finally finished she tried to remind herself that she did well for her own standards on the movement. It didn't completely erase that feeling of not being good enough, but she had been doing this long enough to accept that there were just some things she was never going to be amazing at, toes to bar was on the top of that list.

"Hey, need some water?" Colby offered her a bottle as he sat down by her, leaning back on the rig.

"Thanks," she said sitting up to take a drink. She let out a breath, "And thanks for letting me tag along with you guys today."

"Yeah, you can come with us anytime. We usually rest day the day of a live show, so Mondays and Thursdays right now. But you can come in every other day we're on the road, if you want to," Colby offered.

Lee looked down and took another drink before answering. "I had a lot of fun working out with you guys! But don't feel like you have to invite me along Colby. I know I'm not really as good as you guys. I won't be able to really keep up in any metcon, especially any of them that are heavy on the gymnastics skills. I'd just slow you guys down."

"Is that what you're worried about? Man, Lee, Crossfit is about everyone working at their own levels and I can guarantee we have our own trouble movements. I bet you'll hang right along with us on anything that involves weight, you are really strong! As for the gymnastics, maybe that's something we can help with. Either way it's fun having you around to settle our arguments" Colby winked. "Come on, it was fun you being here. You're different than I thought you would be." Colby said casting her a sidelong glance.

"How's that?" Lee asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure, I guess I thought you'd be a little more uptight. But you're not, you're easy to talk and BS with. Maybe I was just thinking of you as a doctor, I guess," he shrugged as he got to his feet.

Lee followed suit, "Well thanks, it's generally appreciated if I act slightly professionally when I'm actually acting as a doctor." she chuckled as they headed across the gym. "You guys are different, too. But I think I still have to get used to all of you as people instead of superstars."

"Really? Are you a bit of a fangirl? You hide it pretty well," Colby asked as they went to collect their things.

"Well you guys definitely have some fans that are more hardcore than me. I don't know where people trained at or pay attention to really anything outside of Raw, Smackdown, or paper views," she said with a smile. "But I have watched pretty much since I was kid, at least enough to have kept up with most of the storylines."

"So who's your favorite wrestler then?" Colby asked with a smirk as he stopped to watch her.

"Well my all time favorites are Stone Cold and Lita. My current favorite...Dean Ambrose," she smirked back and walked past him to meet Claudio outside.

Colby followed her out, "Dean Ambrose! Be serious! If you're too embarrassed to admit it is me, that's fine-"

"Oh please! You are far too self assured for my liking, in or out of the ring," she walked up to Cesaro. "And after getting to know you guys I think I can safely say I reside in the Cesaro section."

"Yeah!" Cesaro said throwing his arms up like he would in the ring.

"Oh whatever," Colby scoffed heading around to the driver side.

Soon it was time for smackdown and Lee could be found back in her office. She had done better at finding her way this time. A few superstars had already come and gone. She had just finished working with "Neville" when Bray Wyatt walked in.

"Hi," Lee stated looking up, "Come on in, have a seat." Lee put away her cleaner as he came in and sat on the table she had just finished wiping down. Windham Rotunda, known as Bray Wyatt, came in looking just the way he does on TV. However, there was no smile, he simply sat on the table barely giving Lee a second glance.

"So do we have any issues in particular we need to address?" Lee asked the slightly distracted man.

"No, ma'am, I simply am required to see you before matches from time to time," he replied with a small smile before returning to his thoughts. Ok, Lee thought as she began to move limbs and take joints through their full range of motion automatically. They continued in silence for a while. As she began to finish up Lee asked, "Do you have any concerns about your match tonight?"

"For he said, what concern is it of yours? You are to follow me." Windham said in a startling calm voice as he looked off into space.

Lee stared at him, "Is he messing with me?" she thought. "He can't really be like that, that's a character. He can't really be Bray Wyatt…" if he's just screwing around then I can play that way, too.

"And because of this the rumor spread that the disciple would not die. The book of John. Do you think Jesus is going to protect you in the match because otherwise I'm not sure I understand the reference in the context of my question…" Lee replied.

Wyndham turned and looked at her as if truly noting her existence for the first time since he had entered the room. He looked her up and down before settling his gaze on her face.

"I believe I have been protected for a very long time. What is your name?" Wyndham asked looking her rather too directly in the eyes now.

"My name is Dr. Lewis," she replied speculatively.

"No, my dear, your full name."

"Well, my full name is Annalee Isabel Lewis, but I think under the circumstances you should probably call me Dr. Lewis," Lee replied starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze.

"Annalee. A beautiful name. Annalee, the devil sometimes masquerades as an angel, did you know?" he said looking at her with wonder. "You would make a beautiful angel, Annalee, but are you the devil?" Wyndham was looking at her completely serious and Lee couldn't decide if she should laugh or if he really was off his rocker.

"If he was really unstable he wouldn't be here; he wouldn't be safe to work with the other superstars in the ring. He has to be just screwing around," Lee decided.

"Well I think I can be an angel or a devil depending on what time of day you catch me, Mr. Rotunda," Lee smiled. "Now, I believe it is time for you to begin warming up for your match." Lee suggested in a polite dismissal, his unwavering stare was really starting to give her the creeps.

"I suppose it is," and he finally looked away as he climbed from the table. He walked to the door but turned back to her before he left, "Your appearance surprised me, little lamb, but I accept destiny as the dark one aligns it. I shall see you soon." With that he turned and left. Leaving Lee staring at the door with her mouth agape. There was just no way that was real, right?

Over the next few weeks Lee got more comfortable at WWE she went to the gym with Claudio and Colby and sometimes out for food after. She made friends with some of the other superstars and started to feel like she could join them at catering or at guerilla so she didn't feel so trapped in her office on show nights.

Wyndham came to see her at every show and every exchange was no less strange than the first. If anything it seemed to be escalating; he often spoke of destiny and claiming what was meant for him, sometimes she wondered if he was referring to a championship belt but other times he sounded like he might be, maybe, possibly, talking about her.

It didn't help that he now always stared at her unwaveringly with that smile on his face. Any time she saw him in or out of the arena he looked at her that way. By the end of third week he was beginning to show up at a lot of places Lee was; waiting for her in the lobby, out by her car, when she went out for coffee. It wasn't all the time, but he just seemed to be around an awful lot, especially at the arenas. Of course, he was one of the superstars, he was supposed to be all those places. So Lee convinced herself that she was just a little unnerved by him and that's why she noticed his presence more than some of the others. He never touched her, he didn't threaten, he didn't even make an outright pass at her. She had nothing to really complain about but she was convinced now that he wasn't just screwing around with her, something was really off with him.

Lee had been with WWE a month and the brand split was imminent. It was a morning after smackdown and it was the first time he sent her flowers. As she went to meet the boys she opened her door to find a vase of deep, deep purple orchids and a note. It was from Windham:

Little Lamb,

I saw you admire these flowers yesterday and I thought they would be perfect to compliment the darkness I can see hiding within your eyes. Do not worry, it matches mine.

Sincerely,

Master

Lee looked up and down the hall then back down at the flowers. She didn't want them but she didn't know what to do with them. She didn't know what to do about this! She didn't know what to do about him! She put the note on the table in the room and left locking the door, leaving the flowers right where they were.

Lee was almost shaking, she had passed a flower shop yesterday on her way to get coffee. She had been by herself, no one was around. She had seen the flowers and thought they were pretty, unique, she liked that. Now she hoped she never saw them again.

When she got to the lobby and the boys saw her they knew she was upset.

"Hey, Lee, is something wrong?" Colby asked looking at her anxious eyes. Lee looked at him wondering if she should say something. Windham hadn't hurt her and in a couple weeks the draft would happen. Everyone knew Windham was going to Smackdown and she herself was supposed to stay with RAW. She had begun to think of Colby and Claudio as friends and she didn't want them to think she was overreacting or couldn't handle this.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Lee said shaking off the thought of the flowers and smiling. "You guys ready to go?"

Colby and Claudio exchanged a look, "Are you sure? You looked pretty upset a second ago?" Claudio asked her.

Darn her inability to control her facial expressions! "Yeah, nothing big. What box are we dropping in at again?" Lee answered and turned and walked out the door.

The guys exchanged another look and shrugged before following her out to the car.

At the box they worked out hard. Lee had been doing better at keeping up lately. She still struggled with gymnastics movements but Colby would often help her a little after and she was improving. Her speed was getting better, too, with the two athletes there to push her she had started to increase her lung capacity. In return she liked to think she had helped coach them in

some of their weightlifting movements. She really did miss coaching at her gym, but it was still fun working with the guys.

Today they had retested and Open workout and they had all improved on their previous score. They were rolling out and talking about the brand split after.

"I'm glad the brand is splitting. It's gonna be weird not seeing half the roster anymore, though," Colby stated as he rolled out his quads.

"Yeah, I'm glad because maybe now I can actually have a storyline," Claudio laughed.

"Maybe you'll get a chance to beat up Colby," Lee laughed.

"Like he could," Colby scoffed. "there will be a couple of the superstars I could go without seeing for a while though."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Lee muttered darkly.

"You just started, who can you have to dislike?" Colby asked.

Lee bit her lip, she hadn't meant to say anything. "There is just one of the superstars that makes me a little uncomfortable is all."

"Who?" Claudio asked surprised.

"Oh it's not that big of deal. I'll just not be sad when he moves to Smackdown," Lee answered as she moved to roll out her low back.

Claudio and Colby exchanged that look again, "Does this have something to do with this morning when you came downstairs looking like you had seen a ghost?" Colby sat up and looked at her.

Lee thought for a second, she didn't really see how she couldn't tell them at this point after accidentally being the one to bring it up. It had been on her mind all morning, and maybe telling them would make her feel better…

"Well, it's really nothing, just one of the guys left me flowers and a note...a slightly creepy note that makes me feel like he's watching me or something. But I'm sure it was just a coincidence that he saw me when I thought I was by myself walking yesterday. He just always looks at me weird and shows up in a lot of places I am. But I think I'm just being paranoid," Lee said and kind looked down as she trailed off.

"Lee that's the beginning of stalking. Who is it?" Colby looked concerned but confused as he tried to think of who it may be.

"Windham Rotunda. And it's not stalking, he's probably not around any more than the rest of you. I think I just notice him more because he makes me uncomfortable."

"What does he do?" Cesaro chimed in.

"He just...he's just eerie. Honestly, guys he acts like Bray Wyatt. At first I thought he was just messing with me so I kind of went along with it. But it's been a month and now I see him every single day when I'm on the road. He's no less strange. He alternates between quoting the bible, the Quran, and Mussolini. He talks about destiny, the devil, and 'claiming what is meant for him'... I don't know guys. Besides that he's always just staring at me in this like really unwavering kind of way, whether we're talking or he's across the room he looks at me like that. I can feel him watching me at the arena all the time and after the flowers I feel like he's watching me outside too." Lee shuddered and her eyes kind of darted around to the door for a second.

"He doesn't talk to many people anymore, but I used to have a lot of storylines with him. He was always relatively normal outside the ring," Colby started still looking confused.

"And nobody else has noticed him going off the deep end. He has kind of just gotten distant and stopped interacting with everyone, though," Claudio said looking over at Colby.

Lee sighed, she had been worried they wouldn't believe her. "Yeah, I'm probably just overreacting. Maybe he is just being funny," she said and stood up.

"That's not what we're saying," Colby started as he and Cesaro both stood and followed Lee over toward their bags.

"No, I'm just blowing it out proportion. Besides in a week he won't be around anymore anyway." Lee started putting away her things, wishing she hadn't said anything.

Colby reached over and took a hold of her arm to turn her. "Look, whatever he's doing he shouldn't be making you feel this way. You have every right to be creeped out."

"Yeah," Claudio interjected, "Do you want us to talk to him?"

"No!" Lee pulled back, "It's not that big of deal and I can take care of myself...but thank you, I appreciate the offer." Lee smiled.

"Are you sure we could rough him up a little?" Cesaro said smiling and punching his fist into his open hand jokingly.

"I could give him the Pedigree-"

"And then I could send him swinging," the boys started gathering their belongings as they joked.

"I think it's time to bring back the curb stomp," Lee laughed.

"Smackdown chooses...The Eater of Worlds, Bray Wyatt."

Lee breathed a sigh of relief. This was it, the last regular show with him. She turned away from the monitor and found her way to catering. When she got there Pamela and Mercedes, a.k.a Baylay and Sasha Banks, we're eating. So Lee went ahead and grabbed some food and made her way to their table.

"Hey, Hey," Pamela said as Lee sat down.

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" Lee said sitting down and unwrapping her sandwich.

"We were just talking about what a relief it will be to have the draft finally done." Mercedes answered pushing her salad around her plate.

"Especially since you guys get to stay together," Lee laughed as she took her first bite.

"That doesn't hurt. I feel bad for Rebecca, she's the only one of us four that came up together to get put on Smackdown," Pamela answered.

"She gets to be the brand female heading over, though. I feel like she should be called 'The Boss' over there," Mercedes laughed.

"She's definitely got some work ahead of her," Lee commented.

"Yeah she can handle it though. Anyway a bunch of us are going out dancing tonight to kind of celebrate the last time together. You want to come?" Pamela asked looking over at Lee.

"I don't know guys, clubs aren't much my thing…"

"Oh come on, it won't hurt you for one night," Mercedes added in.

"Yeah, ok," Lee answered, "but I don't have some tiny little dress to wear."

"Wear whatever you want. Just make it something you can shake it in" Mercedes said standing up and shimming a little and laughing.

After the show Lee went back to her room and searched through the clothes she had brought along, she hadn't really packed anything to go clubbing in.

Finally, she put together an acceptable ensemble of black skinny jeans, black ankle boots, and a deep red sleeveless top with a slouchy neck that hung down to show the top of a black lace cami. She like the top, it was rouched a little and didn't make her look so thick. She managed to create a passable smoky eye and found a black, multi-chain necklace she had tucked into a corner of her bag. She wouldn't have the time to curl her hair so she teased her hair into a poofy ponytail. She wasn't a showstopper but she wouldn't look out of place. Besides she was gonna be with a bunch of wwe superstars, no one was going to be looking at her, she thought. She grabbed her phone with ID and money and headed down to the lobby.

They all grabbed a couple cabs and headed down town. It wasn't long before the big group of girls, a few of them with their significant others in tow, we're taking over the VIP section of a popular club. Everyone had a drink and we're starting to loosen up and dance.

Lee was dancing out on the floor with Rebecca and Mercedes and having a fun time. Suddenly there was a cheer from the group and Lee turned to see Colby and "The New Day" walking into the section. Lee looked over and Colby smiled and waved. Lee returned the gesture and started dancing again.

"Ooh girl, is there something there," Mercedes leaned in to ask over the loud music.

Lee laughed, "No, we just workout together a lot."

"I don't know he looked right for you when he came in," Rebecca added.

"I think he was just surprised to see me out with everyone, that's all. Trust me it's not like that. He should be with someone like one of you, I'm just the charity case he helps with her muscle ups," Lee laughed.

"What do you mean 'someone like us'?" Mercedes asked.

"Nothing, I just wouldn't be what he's looking for. Besides we're good friends, that's all! Come on let's just dance," Lee said and threw herself into dancing more energetically.

After a while they made their way back to their tables to grab a drink and take a breath. Colby came over and sat down next to Lee.

"Why hello, ladies."

"Hey, Colby"

"Hey, man" Mercedes rolled her eyes. Colby smiled and winked at her then he turned slightly to talk to Lee.

"I wasn't expecting you out tonight," he said. Lee threw a look at Rebecca, "Yeah, I got talked into it somehow."

"Are you having a good time?" he asked taking a drink from his glass.

"Yeah, I like to dance. If I can do it without strange people touching me I like it even more," Lee laughed and picked up her glass before remembering it was empty.

"Do you want another drink?" Colby asked noticing the glass.

"Oh that's ok, I'll get up in a bit and get more. It's just water." Lee answered with a smile.

"Not a drinker?" he asked.

"No I just have never liked the taste of any alcohol so I don't feel the need to waste calories or carbs on it."

"Well regardless of content, I'll get you another. Ladies, anyone else need a drink?" he asked the rest of the table.

"No, thanks"

"I could use another rum and coke."

"Cranberry Vodka, please."

"Ok I think I can handle that, I'll be back in a minute," he chuckled as he turned toward the bar.

All three of the ladies look at Lee.

"We're just friends," she said glaring back. They all laughed and went back to their conversations.

Not long after Colby returned the girls decided it was time to dance some more. While a few men got pulled on to the floor Colby stayed seated with Austin and Ettore at their table.

"Man, do you gotta thing for the Doc?" Austin turned to Colby after the girls had been dancing for a few minutes.

"What? No! What makes you say that?" Colby replied defensively.

"Dude you have been watching her since the moment we got in here," Austin informed him.

"I was just surprised to see her is all. We're friends, we spend a lot of time at the gym together." He looked up and watched her dance. It was different seeing her in nice clothes. The top showed off her toned arms but not in the same way as when they were at the gym. And the color looked nice on her. But he could find similar things on the other girls he was sure, he just wasn't used to it with Lee was all. He noticed her excuse herself and watched her walk out of the section before turning back to Austin.

Austin and Ettore were both looking at him with huge grins on their face. "Yeah sure, man," Ettore said turning back to his drink. "Whatever, champ," Austin laughed.

Lee was making her way through the general public section on her way back from the bathroom. Suddenly a hand reached out and took a hold of her arm. Lee jerked around and found herself face to face with Windham once again.

"Hello, little lamb," he gave a low laugh at the look on her face. "I came to find you tonight. I was surprised to find you in this den of iniquity, Annalee. You are much better than these other harlots, parading their bodies for the pleasure of others," he was glancing around at the other scantily clad girls but he still hadn't let go of Lee's arm even as she kept trying to pull away. "Although I will say, my dear," he said turning back to her and looking her up and down, "you do look quite lovely. This color suits your nature," he said reaching out and brushing the neckline of her top. A shiver ran through Lee's body and she tried to pull away again.

"Windham, please let go and leave me alone," Lee was looking around for help but none of her friends were near and being surrounded by people made them invisible in their own way.

He chuckled again and brought his hand up to her face, "I just came tonight to set your mind at ease, little lamb. This will not be the end. Our paths are still aligned, Little Lamb, I have been shown me the way. When we are united I will become more powerful than ever." He rubbed his thumb across her jaw. Lee pulled back forcefully now, "Let go, Windham, we will never be anything! Leave me alone!" She stumbled as she managed to pull out of his grip. He laughed again, "Oh, no, I'll see you soon, Annalee."

Windham melted back into the crowd leaving Lee standing looking where he had been rubbing the part of the arm he had been holding on to. She started to walk back to the VIP section. She was really freaked out, she didn't feel much like dancing or being with anyone anymore. She wanted to just go home but now she couldn't help but keep looking constantly around her.

Lee walked back into their section and up to the table, "Hey guys, I'm not feeling real great. I think I'm going to head back to the hotel."

"What?No-"

"Come on, just a little longer-"

"We're having so much fun-"

"Ettore is about to see how many of us he can lift," Rebecca laughed.

"What's wrong?" Colby asked looking at her with concern. He could see she did look a little off, but more anxious than sick…

"Nothing, I'm just ready to go," Lee threw a forced smile to him. "I'll see you guys later." And Lee turned to leave the chorus of farewells. She slowly made her way through the crowd to the front door with her eyes darting and jumping any time anyone bumped her. Lee got out front and moved to flag down a cab.

Colby had followed her out and went to touch her shoulder as he called out, "Lee-" she jumped and spun back toward him.

"Shit, Colby, you scared me," Lee said putting her hand to her chest.

"I can see that. Sorry. What's the matter, Lee? What happened?" Colby asked looking at her. She was practically shaking…

"Windham was here wasn't he?" Colby said with realization. Lee looked up into Colby's eyes and felt like crying. She wouldn't let herself do it, but she the feeling nearly overwhelmed her, so she took a deep steadying breath.

"Yeah he found me earlier. Colby, he just…" she shook her head and looked down. "He said it's not the end. He wouldn't let go of my arm and he kept laughing when I told him to let go. He was talking about the dark one and us uniting and being more powerful. He kept saying he would be watching me." Lee sighed and tried to pull herself together.

Colby reached forward and put his hands on her shoulders. "Lee, he won't be on the road with us, it will be different. He won't hurt you, Lee. Come on let me take you back to the hotel," He reached up to call a cab.

"No, Colby, go back inside, have fun. I didn't mean to ruin your night. I just couldn't hang out there looking over my shoulder right now. But you should go back, I can get myself back to the room, I don't need a babysitter." Lee said trying to show more confidence,

"I was just thinking about leaving anyway, I really don't mind. Come on, let's just go back," Colby said opening the door of the cab that had pulled up.

Lee looked at him for a second, "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Get in the damn cab," he said exasperated. Lee gave a small smile before climbing in and Colby followed suit telling the driver the address of the hotel. When they made it to the hotel Colby paid and they made their way inside and up to Lee's room. Stopping in front of her door.

"Why don't you let me check in your room just in case?" Colby said turning and taking her key from her hand and opening the door. He went inside with Lee following. He gave a quick look around and in the bathroom and closet before turning back to her.

"You should be fine. If anything happens tonight, though, you call me. I'm literally a floor above you. None of this 'I can take care of myself' crap'" he said sternly.

Lee smiled and nodded, "Ok, I promise."

"Good, ok, well goodnight then, I guess," he replied a little awkward before turning back toward the door.

"Colby-"

"Yeah," he said turning back to her.

Lee walked up and took his hand and looked into his eyes, "Thank you." She said it with utter sincerity and she hoped he knew how much it meant for him to be there for her right now.

"Anytime," he said and pulled her into a hug. "Absolutely anytime," he said as he held her for moment. He could feel she was still tense. After a moment he pulled away until he was holding only her hands and looked back at her. She looked like she could cry but instead she stepped forward and kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, Colby."

"Goodnight, Lee. I'll come by in the morning and we'll go grab coffee before our flights." With that he squeezed her hand one more time before turning and shutting the door as he walked out.

Lee spent the night tossing and turning, wondering about every noise she heard and every shadow that passed her window. She slept very little and by five just gave up entirely and decided to make sure she had everything ready for her flight. She showered and threw on her travel outfit, a pair of old and faded gray leggings, a cami, and an exceptionally large maroon sweatshirt that used to be her brothers. The sweatshirt was her favorite, it was as soft as a blanket, it did nothing for her figure but it was perfect for long flights and time in the airport. She braided her wet hair and put on minimal makeup for her day of travel. With nothing left to do she picked up her most current book. A copy of Sherlock Holmes and the Hounds of Baskerville. She tried to read but her mind kept wandering and then she would doze.

It was during one of these dozing session that Colby knocked on the door. She opened the door to him standing in the hallway with his bag in tow. "Hey I figured we could grab coffee and head to the airport together," he said looking her over. "Who on earth did you steal that hoodie from?"

"One of my brothers," Lee answered as she turned and grabbed her suitcase handle.

"How many brothers do you have?" he asked realizing he knew next to nothing about her family. They were always talking about his brother or Cesaro's family but he couldn't remember ever asking about hers.

"I have three brothers: one older and two younger. The hoodie was my youngest brother's, Tony," she answered making her way into the hall.

"Is he a giant?" Colby laughed at the fact that it came down to her knees.

"Well he's a football player, a lineman. He played high school, which is when this hoodie is from. Now he plays at D2 school in northern Missouri. He outgrew the hoodie so I stole it," she explained as they walked to the elevator.

"So he is a giant…" Colby concluded.

"He's not that tall, I think he's six foot even, but he weighs around 300# and he's strong as a fucking ox!" she laughed. They walked up to the front desk to check out and find out about the shuttle, which would be leaving in a half hour. They decided to leave their bags and walk to the coffee shop just down the block.

"So are the other two brothers big as well?" Colby asked as he pushed the door of the lobby open for them.

"Thanks. Not necessarily. My older brother is a little shorter and he used to be pretty skinny but he kind of has a beer belly now, he's almost ten years older than me. My middle brother is the runt of the family. He's only a couple inches taller than me and in high school he was pretty scrawny, he's put on a little size in college. Chris and I used to team up on Tony, it's the only way we could take him," she laughed as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Did you guys fight a lot?" Colby was walking with his hands in his pockets looking over at her.

"Oh we'd just play around and wrestle some. Tony and I did get into a couple of legitimate fights. We broke two doors in our house by tackling them and he threw me through a panel wall in our grandparent's basement once," they turned toward the coffee shop. "But mostly we were just messing."

They walked into the little shop. It was cute, with some eclectic art on the wall and some specialty drinks. They both ordered their coffees before finding a table in the corner to sit at.

"What about you and your brother? Did you fight a lot?" Lee asked sipping her coffee.

"Well we were both really into wrestling at a young age, so we wrestled a lot. We've only gotten into two real fist fights. Both times over a girl," he chuckled as he leaned over his coffee.

Lee smiled, "Isn't that always the way. I can't say I've ever fought with Tony on that account"

"Have you ever fought a girl on his account, though?"

"No," she said thinking. "He once punched an ex boyfriend of mine, though. I didn't find out until a little while ago that he did that."

"Well I'll remember to stay on his good side if I ever meet him," Colby laughed.

"Eh, you could take him. You're a lot faster," she joked. They continued talking about their families until it was time to head back for the shuttle.

Once they got to the airport and through security they were headed to different terminals, Colby's flight didn't leave for more than an hour but Lee was going to be boarding soon.

"Ok, well thanks for this morning. It was nice to hang out," Lee said as she gathered her bag to start heading across the airport.

"Yeah, are you ok? You didn't call last night, but you look pretty tired-"

"I'm fine, nothing happened, I just had trouble sleeping," he was still looking at her suspiciously. "I swear!"

"Ok, well I guess I'll see you in a few days at the next stop," Colby said.

"Definitely," Lee smiled she leaned in and gave him a short hug, "see you soon, Colby."

"See you, Lee," he watched her walk to the next terminal before turning to his own hallway.

Things got better with the brand split. The backstage wasn't as crowded and only having one televised show a week was easier on everyone. Most importantly, for Lee, though, was the absence of Windham. He had kept his promise. At every hotel she went to she received a bouquet of dark lilies. She was still creeped out, but she no longer had to talk to him or deal with him at the arenas. Most of the time she was able to forget he might be around.

Lee spent more time with Colby and Claudio sometimes carpooling with them to the next city. She found herself talking to Colby a lot, even texting on their days off. She liked talking to him, they had a similar sense of humor. She could be her dry, sarcastic self and he got it without her offending him. It was nice to be able to be herself a little bit. The girls kept giving her shit about her and Colby "needing to just get it over" with and date. But the idea just seemed so far fetched to Lee. I mean he was gorgeous and funny and the object of lust for women around the world. She was a muscular girl who still had a little bit of a belly that she could never seem to get rid of. Guys like him didn't date girls like her. They dated little waifish things that they could hold and feel like they had somebody to protect. No, the girl that could deadlift 400# you were just buddies with. That was the way it was in life.

Although, if she was being fair, she had leaned up some since starting at WWE. It was a little easier eating with the superstars and seeing how they ate and getting some of the same meals. She felt good at the gym, too. She had gotten so much better at gymnastic skills and she was getting stronger! She could usually stay relatively close to the boys in metcons now. One day she happened to step on a scale in one of the hotels she was at and realized she was at the goal weight she had set for herself years ago when she first began working out. She stopped and looked in the mirror, raising her shirt to see her stomach, the area that had always made her the most self conscious. It was flatter, maybe not solid but you could see some definition there. It wasn't how she had always pictured herself at this weight but she found she was pretty happy with this progress. This was the best she had ever felt.

"Hey, Lee," Colby said as he sat next her at catering one night during a house show. "Claudio bailed on me and I was wondering if you wanted to go see the new Jason Bourne movie with me tomorrow afternoon?" he sat and began to dig into his meal.

"I can't," she replied putting down her phone. "I have an appointment at three tomorrow and I'm not sure how long it will take."

"Like a doctor's appointment?" Colby asked through a mouthful of food.

"No," Lee picked up her bottle of water. "A tattoo appointment?"

Colby looked up at her, "You're getting a new tattoo? You're in a town you've never been before! I thought you liked your tattoo place back home?" Lee had a few simple tattoos; a outline of a maple leaf on her wrist, a lightening bolt on her left ankle, and a mountain range with the word wanderlust on her right foot.

"I do like my tattoo shop but we have a longer stretch on the road for the next couple of weeks so I mentioned it to Matthew and he had a friend here that had a tattoo studio. I figured if anyone knew where a good tattoo studio was in our immediate line up of cities it would be the host of Superstar Ink," she smiled and drained her water bottle.

"What tattoo are you getting that you don't want to wait two weeks for?" Colby asked leaning back.

"Well it's just a tattoo I've wanted for a long time and I've decided I'm going to get it." she answered simply.

"Ok, what is it then?"

"A quote on my ribs that says 'perhaps I am stronger than I think' with a little barbell underneath."

"That sounds like you," he said with a smile.

"Thank you, I think it does. It was the first tattoo I ever wanted, actually" she said looking down and playing with the lid of her bottle.

"Why didn't you ever get it?" he asked curiously.

" Well…" she started self consciously, "I always felt like I wanted to look a certain way before I got it. So whenever I started really working out and losing weight I told myself when I reached a certain goal weight I'd get it. I never reached it and never looked the way I wanted to so I never got it. Since I started here I've leaned out and the other day I realized I'm actually about three pounds under that original goal weight." She took a big breath and looked up, "I don't look anything like I used to picture I would, but I decide the other day that I don't care. I'm pretty proud of how far I've come. Do you know since sophomore year of college I've lost 70 pounds? And you know what, I want that tattoo, so I'm going to get it, it's as simple as that," she finished almost defiantly.

Colby was watching her and smiling, "You should. You work hard and you look great, Lee. I think this will sound condescending, but I'm proud of you. You've changed a lot even just since you've been here. You worked so hard on the gymnastic skills you struggle with and you've improved so much. And I can tell you've lost weight, you really do look great," he said sincerely.

She looked down and blushed, "Thank you, Colby."

"So do you want some company tomorrow?" he asked returning to his food.

"Well not necessarily," she laughed. "I'm going to be sitting there half shirtless trying not to show how much pain I'm in!"

"Well that's why you bring me, to distract you," he grinned.

Lee and Colby walked out of the tattoo place. She had done it, it had been more painful than her other tattoos but she was glad she had done it. Colby had stayed with her. They talked about the tattoos they had and ones they might want someday. The time went quicker than she thought and before long she was done and they were heading out.

"Well we missed the movie," Colby said checking the showings on his phone. We could go to a late one," he already knew the answer.

"If I'm up late I'll get cranky," she answered as they walked down the sidewalk.

"Oh God you're scary enough when you're aren't cranky," he laughed as she shoved him playfully.

"Shut up," she said.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" he asked.

"Wanna just have a movie night?" she looked over at him. "We could go rent a movie and grab some snacks at that convenience store down the block from the hotel."

"Ok, but I get to pick the movie. I'm not watching some chick flick," he said in a playfully disgusted tone.

"Oh but, Colby, The Notebook is my favorite!" she laughed.

"No'!"

She spotted the store up the street and grinned at him mischievously, "First one there gets to pick!" With that she took off running down the sparsely populated sidewalk.

"Hey," and he ran after her catching up at the door and grabbing her around the middle, picking her up, putting her down and going in front of her.

"No fair!" she called out following him in.

"Oh yeah because you were playing fair!" he scoffed as he headed to the movie section. "I'll pick us out something nice and gory," he teased.

"Fine," she sighed. "No horror movies, though. Action or comedy, please. I'll go grab some snacks. You want anything in particular?"

"Whatever, I'll eat anything. Just grab me a gatorade.

"Sure."

"You said you would eat anything!" they were arguing as they walked into Lee's hotel room.

"I meant normal food. Who's ever heard of wasabi bacon cheddar chips!" Colby followed her into the room shutting the door.

Lee noticed something out of the corner of her eye and did a double take. On the table just inside the door was another vase a flowers with a card. She knew who they were from, she received them every week. She tried to walk on by without drawing attention to them.

"You don't know, they could be the best thing you ever tasted," she argued a little distractedly. It was too late anyway, he had noticed the flowers, too.

"You got flowers? From who?" Colby asked setting down his bag of groceries and picked up the card. Lee continued to walk into the main room and sat her stuff on the bed.

"I'm going to start making coffee. You want some right?" she asked obviously ignoring the question.

"Lee, who are these from?" Colby asked with the envelope in hand.

Lee turned and looked at him, "Take a wild guess," she said acidly.

"Is Windham still sending you flowers?" Colby asked stepping toward. She turned and began making coffee, "Every week, always with a note to remind me that 'our paths are aligned' and apart we may be but he's simply waiting." She opened the coffee grounds a little too forcefully and spilled them across the desktop. She sighed, "You can read it if you want, I'm sure it's the same." Then she turned to go fill the pot with water from the bathroom sink.

Colby sat down on the bed and opened the envelope:

Little Lamb,

To remind you of the darkness within. Someday it will take you over.

-W

Lee came back in as he was looking the card over. She could see from here it was short, much like the others. Colby looked up at her with concern in his eyes. Her stomach did that little bit of a melting act it did when he looked at her sometimes. She made herself focus on the note and let that feeling of dread bubble back up to replace the previous sensation Colby's eyes at caused.

"Why didn't you tell me this stuff was still going on?" Colby asked looking a little hurt.

Lee sighed and came to sit beside him, "Because that's all it's been, the flowers and a note. He was calling me but I had his number blocked. I don't even remember most of the time. It doesn't seem like such a big deal when he's not saying these things to me in person. The notes I keep in a ziplock bag in case something were to happen and the police need to be involved. The flowers I'll take down and give to the front desk because it usually makes them happy to have pretty flowers and I hate them! If I never get another flower in my life it will be fine by me!" she finished disdainfully.

Colby chuckled, "You still should have told me. I thought he had left you alone." Turning serious again, "What happens when we're in a town near them or we share a paper view and he shows up? What if next time he doesn't just talk at you? How far are you going to let it escalate before you do talk to the authorities, Lee? Are you just going to wait 'til he attacks you?" Colby asked raising his voice and standing to look at her clearly upset.

She looked down, "I don't know," she said softly. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. I was hoping whatever weird fascination he's developed he would lose over time being out of sight, I guess."

Colby sat back down but stayed turned towards her, "Well it doesn't look like he is. So what now? I think you should talk to Stephanie or Paul"

"And tell them what, Colby?" Lee now stood getting a little heated herself. "He has never done anything violent to me. He leaves me flowers, not normally considered threatening. I receive vague notes and have odd encounters when we see each other in person. It would come down to my word against his. And do you know the easiest way to solve a problem, Colby? Get rid of it. And they sure as hell aren't going to get rid of someone that makes them millions of dollars from fans around the world!" she sat back down and took a big breath. "I've thought about it. I thought about it before the brand split. But Colby I don't have anything definitive besides a few notes that he's never signed his actual name to. And I'm afraid if a brought it to anyone's attention that it would be seen as easier and 'safer' for me to just be let go or whatever you want to call it. I'm far less important to this company than any of you. And I like working here! I wouldn't want to give this up. I've made great friends here; you, Joe, Claudio, Pamela, Mercedes." She looked over at him, "So for now, I think my only option is to either let things get better or worse, as scary as that thought is."

Colby looked at her and knew she was scared, but he also knew she wasn't completely wrong. "Ok, I get it. But know that this worries me. Next time we're around the smackdown crew I want you to stay close to me or Claudio or Joe." He looked at the stubborn set of her chin, "Please? For my peace of mind."

"Ok, ok I will. Now let's get this movie night started. Put in one of those movies!" she said smiling and standing up to start gathering food.

"Which Star Wars are we starting with?"

"New Hope, duh!"

The weeks continued and Lee watched Colby slowly start his face turn, first losing the championship due to Triple H and then getting screwed at every rematch opportunity. She could tell he liked having the support of the fans for once.

Then Clash of Champions came around. Lee watched the matches in between working with superstars. When Joe's match came up she cringed watching the abuse he and Miroslav sent each other through. After he came back and she went right to work on his shoulder as they watched Claudio take on Stephen for a "final" time. They all knew the storyline coming was to take Claudio and Stephen from opponents to teammates.

"Oww, that hurts, Doc," Joe winced as she took his shoulder through a full range of motion.

"Sorry, Joe, I'll lessen the pressure," she slowed down.

"So you ready to watch your boy tonight," Joe asked her with a sideways glance.

"Oh, but Joe, I thought you were my boy?" she said innocently before ruffling his hair and turning to pick up her trigger point handheld.

He chuckled, "Don't play, dumb, Doc. "

"Oh come on, Joe, not you too," Lee said coming back over and placing the point into the area around his shoulder blade.

"Sorry, love but we can all see it. When are you two gonna do something about it?" He asked wincing a little as she applied the pressure.

"Something about what? Colby and I go to the gym. We ride from town to town. We get food or maybe go to the movies. You've done all of that with him, he does all of that with Claudio. What's so different? Nothing. We're just friends," she said firmly.

"Ok, ok whatever you say, Doc. I won't press it, but just know he hasn't spent this much time with a girl since everything back in 2015," He said looking at her.

"Well that hasn't really changed with me. Just think of me as one of the guys. It's the category I typically fall into," she chuckled.

Joe looked at her seriously, "Doc, nobody that really looks at you could think of you as a guy."

She looked at him with a lopsided grin that he could easily read as disbelief, "Thanks, Joe, but regardless. I'm just not one of those types of girls. I'm the let's go deadlift together and bullshit about life kind of girl. And I remember his 2015, I remember the pictures of both girls he was dating, suffice it to say I am certainly not his type. I wish everyone would just let us be friends without pushing it to be more."

"Ok, you guys figure it out yourself," Joe said working through the shoulder.

Lee watched the championship match out at guerilla with Austin and Ettore. It was exciting until she saw the drop. At first she couldn't tell if he was actually hurt, but as the match progressed Lee could see something was wrong with Colby. The moment he walked through the curtain she was there.

"What happened?" her hands moved to where he was holding his side.

"It's my ribs, something popped," he strained trying to stand up tall.

"Come on, let's go to my office and check but I have a feeling we will be going to get xrays," she gently steered him towards her office. People patted him on the back and congratulated him on a good match all the way to her door.

"Lee, I'll be fine. I've had injuries before," he said as he sat heavily on the table with a sigh.

"That may be true, but I wasn't here to do my best for those injuries before. I'm going to slowly raise your arm. Tell me when and where the pain starts," she examined clinically but much more thoroughly than she may have one of the others before stating it felt like a cracked rib. They went to the hospital where he was xrayed. It was confirmed and it was also confirmed he would be out for the week. They gave him some painkillers for the evening.

Lee brought him back to the hotel and up to his room.

"Here give me your key card," he handed it over. She led him in and took his bag. "Are you planning to shower," she asked.

"I rinsed off when I changed clothes," he answered tiredly looking a little lost.

"Then why don't you change into to what you wear to bed and I'll help you workout some of the muscles we ignored focusing on your ribs," Lee offered.

"That's not necessary, Lee-"

"As your trainer I say it is. You're gonna need all the help you can get recovering," she said putting her hands on her hips.

"But you wouldn't normally do this as a trainer. You wouldn't be at any of the other guys' rooms after a minor injury," Colby said looking at her.

"Some of them I might and the ones I wouldn't, well tough shit, they should have done a better job of befriending me. Now come on, get changed," she started to usher him off.

"Well I typically just sleep in my underwear," he laughed when he saw her look uncomfortable.

"That's fine, do what you're comfortable with then. Just strip down and lie down here on the bed," Colby did as instructed, half asleep already. Lee worked over his tired body, working the knots that were building up in his muscles. He slowly relaxed and began to drift off. As his breathing evened out Lee finished and stood back. He looked so peaceful and there was no denying he was gorgeous. She pulled the blanket over him and as she did he turned slightly. She brushed his hair back behind his ear and smiled softly. Sometimes she wished she was more on his level. He was so perfect, he was funny, he got her Crossfit side, he liked that she was strong, not too mention he was beautiful. But that was just it, he was too perfect! He was a superstar, idolized by millions of people. She was just her, she was normal. It was too much like the plot line of a FanFiction. She sighed and turned, shut off the light as she walked out.

The next morning Lee woke up around nine and texted Colby to see if he was ok. She got up and showered, by the time she finished Colby had text her to tell her he had made it through the night alright. Through a few more text exchanges she also found out he was given a flight out later that day to go home and recover.