A/N: This story takes place in the same world as La Arquitecta and Executive Orders, and follows on from those stories. However, I will do my best to ensure that reading those stories isn't a requirement for enjoying this one.

It has been a while since I made a new O/C, as I prefer to re-use the ones that are already established throughout my stories. However, I decided that it was time to go with something new for this story. I have chosen to base the character's name and appearance on a character in the TV show Manifest, but all of the other details (backstory etc) will be my own.

Speaking of something new, I have never written Roman as a main character before either, so I'm going to give that a try as well!

Grace Stone's call up from NXT to the main roster had not gone as planned. What crap luck it had been to pick up an injury on the very night that she had received the news about her promotion.

"This is going to be your last match with us, Grace," Hunter Helmsley had said minutes before she went out to the ring to wrestle the match in which she was going to drop the NXT Women's Championship to Io Shirai. His reason for letting her know had been to give her the chance to informally say goodbye to the fans after the Takeover match, who recognised an impending call up when they saw one.

Unfortunately, Grace had dislocated her left elbow during the match. Her injury hadn't changed the finish of the match because she had bravely continued as planned, putting Io over clean. What the injury had changed was the plans for her call up. Instead of appearing on Monday Night Raw the night after SummerSlam, she had been sent to Florida for a thorough examination, the result of which had been two months on the injured list for rehab.

Initially, Grace had been depressed by the cruel hand that fate had dealt her. She had feared that her call up might be cancelled, imagining Lucy Thorne, the Chairwoman on WWE, telling Hunter, "Keep her down there for a few months when she comes back."

However, to Grace's relief, it hadn't turned out like that. Out of the blue one Thursday afternoon she had received a phone call from WWE headquarters, from none other than the Chairwoman herself.

"How's the arm?" had been Ms Thorne's first question, her well-spoken English accent quite crisp. As if she hadn't already received a report from the company's medical staff to tell her that Grace Stone was cleared to get back in the ring, Grace had thought.

"It's great, thank you. I've been back in full training for a couple of weeks now," she had said a little nervously. It was pretty much the first time she had spoken to the boss, and definitely the first time she had been the beneficiary of a personal phone call.

"That's good," Thorne had replied. "Then I think it's time we talked about how we're going to bring you back to TV. Why don't you come to the office tomorrow and we'll have a chat. Let's say noon."

"Sure. I'll be there. Thank you," Grace had stumbled. She had heard stories about Ms Thorne's preference to handle a lot of her business face to face. With the instruction she had been given, she had learned first-hand had how accurate those stories were. She was required to fly from Orlando to New York and back again for a meeting that would likely only last a matter of minutes.

Grace wasn't stupid, though. She knew full well that the meeting would be as much about the Chairwoman getting an impression of her personally than anything to do with her return to the ring. Since buying a controlling share in WWE from Vince McMahon when he opted to retire, Lucy Thorne had built a reputation among WWE's wrestlers as a firm but fair boss who looked after her people when they needed it. Like any boss, she did seem to have people she preferred over others, and that was sometimes reflected in booking decisions. For that reason, Grace knew that making a good impression might go a long way to helping her make a successful start on the main roster. Often, getting that first decent push was the hardest hurdle for people to get over. Those who failed, well, they failed.

The important meeting was now moments away. It was ten after noon, and Grace was sitting in Ms Thorne's outer office, waiting to be allowed to go in and see the boss. The corporate environment had never been Grace's comfort zone, and nerves were making her stomach flutter. Sure, WWE HQ looked amazing now that the well-publicised renovations had been completed, it just wasn't the kind of place that Grace liked to be. She was at home either in a wrestling ring or basking in the sun on a beach somewhere.

"Ms Thorne will see you now," the female secretary said from behind the desk near to where Grace was sitting.

"Thank you," she replied. Getting up, she straightened her black suit jacket, hoping that she didn't look as awkward as she felt wearing it. It was one of only two suits she owned, but at least she had a nice maroon coloured blouse to wear with it.

One thing Grace had been blessed with was a beautiful smile, flashing her perfect teeth. That smile had stood her in good stead throughout her life, whether it was disarming situations that were not going her way, or whether it was meeting a person for the first time, the smile was almost always a winner. She made sure to have it on full display when she walked into the plush office belonging to the Chairwoman.

Lucy Thorne was sitting behind a black wooden desk, wearing a black suit and a silver watch that was probably worth as much as Grace's apartment down in Orlando. That thought triggered a pang of jealously to add to the nerves she was feeling. How did some people end up with so much money? It was ludicrous.

"Grace, nice to see you," Thorne said, rising and offering her hand. There was a warm, professional smile on her face.

"Thank you for inviting me," Grace said politely as she accepted the handshake from the woman who was taller than her own five feet seven. She had the thought that a tall, good looking, powerful businesswoman like Lucy probably scared the shit out of a lot of corporate types. Good for her, Grace thought. In her opinion, the world needed more women in powerful positions.

"Take a seat. Would you like anything to drink?"

Grace wasn't thirsty, but she figured that accepting the offer was the best thing to do. "Coffee would be nice, thank you," she said, trying to sound relaxed as she flashed another smile and sat down in one of the comfortable leather office chairs in front of the desk.

Thorne picked up the phone that presumably connected her straight to her secretary outside. "Sarah, bring some coffee in, please," she said a moment later. "Thank you."

The phone was replaced, and Thorne's attention was turned squarely to Grace, who saw the pretty blue eyes scrutinising her. Her first impression was still being made.

"Talk about unfortunate timing with that injury," Lucy commented.

"Yes, I was pretty distraught about it at the time," Grace admitted, deciding to go with honesty as the best policy. "I was afraid it might mean I had to stay in NXT when I came back."

"And you don't think that now?" Thorne asked, testing her for her answer.

"No. I don't think you would have called me and invited me here if that were the case. I feel like Hunter would have called me and told me to come to the next set of tapings."

"Well, quite," Thorne said, seeming to appreciate the answer. "Your call up is going ahead. You're going to be on Raw this coming Monday."

This time Grace didn't have to consciously smile. She couldn't have stopped it if she wanted to. It was really happening. She had made the main roster. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it," she said.

Frustratingly for Grace, the secretary chose that moment to enter the office with a tray, interrupting the conversation. She set it at the end of Thorne's spacious desk and fixed the boss's drink without needing to enquire as to what she wanted. Grace then gave her preference, and her drink was fixed also.

"Thank you, Sarah," Thorne said, dismissing her. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes, your call up. Let's talk about what I have in mind for you."

Grace heard the door behind her close. She was on tenterhooks. Please let this be something good, she begged internally. The last thing she wanted was to be landed with a crap gimmick or a weak storyline. There was only one chance to make a first impression to Raw's much wider audience.

"You look nervous," Thorne observed, smiling slightly.

Stick with honesty, Grace told herself before giving a nervous laugh. "I'm crapping myself."

Thorne laughed loudly, telling Grace that her honesty policy was a good one. "Why are you crapping yourself? Are you worried about the pressure of the call up?"

"No, not at all," Grace said quickly, recognising the seriousness of that question even though it had been delivered with a smile. "I'm nervous because I've rarely been in this kind of environment. I'm also nervous about what you might be about to tell me."

"Explain?" Lucy said, giving nothing away with her expression.

Shit, you've dug yourself a nice little hole here, Grace told herself. Well, honesty had got her into it. Maybe it would get her out? If not, at least Thorne couldn't accuse her of not being honest. That had to count for something, right?

"My call up means the world to me. I'm thirty one. I've been wrestling for twelve years. All I've ever wanted to do is make it to WWE. Now you've just told me I have. It's incredible. But I want to be the best I can be on the main roster."

"You don't want a bloody awful gimmick. That's what you're saying?" Thorne asked in a very English way that would have amused Grace if she'd been pissed off with herself for making what seemed like another mistake.

"Well, yes, I guess that is what I'm saying," she replied quietly, telling herself to rest in peace as she spoke.

To her pleasant surprise, Lucy laughed again. "I like straight talking, Grace. I respect it. Some people come in here and do everything they can to kiss my arse, telling me what they think I want to hear instead of what they actually think. Your stock just went up a notch."

Holy shit, Grace thought, delighted. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

"And worry not," Thorne said, continuing as if Grace hadn't said anything. "I don't think you're going to be disappointed with what I have lined up for you. We're not doing anything to change your character, as in appearance, move set, all of that, but I do want you to turn heel."

"Oh, okay," Grace said, surprised. She had never worked heel with NXT, and had been quite over as a babyface. Still, she was being informed now, not asked.

"And we're putting you in the tag team division," Lucy said, again ignoring what Grace had said. "Since we introduced the Women's Tag Team Championships earlier this year we have taken some flak for 'not using them properly'. Fans say that all the time, whenever their favourite wrestler isn't pushed non-stop, but on this one I've come to realise that they're probably right."

They are right, Grace thought, thinking better of opening her mouth and being honest on that particular point.

"That's why we're putting some new teams together," Lucy was saying. "We're going to build the division, and it's going to get more TV time. Obviously you are going to be on one of these new teams."

"Great. Who am I teaming with?" Grace asked enthusiastically.

"I'm thinking about putting you with Zelina Vega."

"Okay," Grace said thoughtfully, picturing the diminutive but fiery one time WWE Women's Champion and trying to picture what they would look like as a team. The cynic in her was unsurprised that WWE were going to put two dark skinned girls together. It seemed to be the way things were done, for some reason. Even though Grace had Egyptian descent and Zelina's background was Puerto Rican, that would hardly matter. On the plus side, Zelina was a good wrestler with more experience than she got credit for, and she was a fantastic promo. There was also the advantage that Grace knew her, thanks to working with her for other promotions before Zelina had signed for NXT some years earlier.

During her time on the main roster, Zelina had alternated between managing and wrestling, as if the higher-ups couldn't get a handle on what they wanted her to do. Her longest run as a wrestler had involved her one championship success, leading to a babyface run with the title that had lasted for a few months, so far as Grace remembered. Zelina had then gone back to managing, with Cesaro and then with her real life partner Seth Rollins.

"Okay? That's not a glowing endorsement," Thorne said.

"No, sorry, I was just thinking," Grace said quickly. "I like Zelina a lot. She's very good in the ring, and we already know each from before WWE. I say let's do it, I'll be delighted to team with her."

A satisfied smile appeared on Lucy's face. "Excellent, it's decided then."

Grace realised that the meeting was essentially over already, no matter how much longer it might go on for. Lucy had formed an impression of her, hopefully a good one, and had passed on the information about her debut on the main roster. Hell, it could have gone much worse, Grace thought. She had the prospect of forming a tag team to look forward to. It would be happening in just a few days, on her first Monday Night Raw appearance. With a lot of luck and even more hard work, it might be the start of something special.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who checked out this first chapter. Special shout out to anyone who remembers La Arquitecta. I hope you're excited for more from this world!

In the next chapter, Grace will arrive at her first Raw event. What ideas do you think she and Zelina might come up with to flesh out their new team?

I'm also interested in taking suggestions from you guys on what other tag teams you would like to see in the division. Use combinations from the current WWE main roster please. I will consider all suggestions, and will use any that I like.