I'm back! With a whole new story and a whole new set of ideas!

I don't own anyone or anything that is related to the WWE (although I wouldn't mind owning some of those belts...). I am only in control of my original characters!

I wanted to change some things up and go back in time and explore some pre-injury/pre-champion/post-SHIELD stuff, so this is what I've come up with...

I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think :)

Chapter 1: Fish Out Of Water

Katherine Bolton stepped into the sports bar in Indianapolis, Indiana, looking around for her group of friends she was supposed to be meeting.

It was a chilly night in early October and she was trailing behind her friends who had already been out for an hour or so. She had to finish up some work, though, and had finally arrived to commence their night of bad bar food, drinks and Thursday night football.

She spotted her group across the bar at a long high top and wound her way through the tables to them.

She was greeted with warm smiles, hugs and cheek kisses as she shimmied out of her black jacket and removed her beanie, shaking out and smoothing down her hair chocolate brown and lightly tinted red long, wavy hair.

They carried on with their conversation as if her appearance hadn't interrupted them and she settled in to listen and pick up on what kind of conversation she had walked into.

They were discussing the series of shows they had coming up the next couple of nights, the very reason they were even in Indiana.

She frowned slightly; she wasn't in the mood to talk about more work after being immersed in it in her hotel room for the last hour.

"Hey do we have a waitress?" Katherine asked after sitting for a bit.

"Um, she's been around. She's kind of flaky," her friend immediately to her right, Nicole, answered with a small shrug.

"Do you need a drink? I'll go to the bar and get you one," her companion to the left, David, jumped in.

"Nah, I'll go myself," she mumbled and reached to her coat pocket for her phone and her small wallet purse she had stuffed her ID and credit card in.

"You want some company?" He asked.

"I got it," she smiled.

She slid out of the high chair and started toward the bar, ignoring the slight frown on his face. Her knee high equestrian boots caused a low 'thud' as she walked, even with the bar sounds around her.

She sidled up the bar, sighed, and pulled out her phone to scroll while she waited on the bartender to notice her.

Nothing; her notifications were completely silent and she had no inclination to scroll any of her social media timelines. Not tonight. She wanted to detach from work as much as she could.

She slid her phone back into her back pocket and glanced to her sides, assessing the potential avenues for a friendly chat while she waited to be served.

There were two older gentlemen to her left, gray hair and disheveled suits, nursing tall glasses of beer.

No thanks.

She looked to the right and tilted her head slightly, taking in the guy sitting on that side of her.

He looked relatively young; beanie covering his hair, although she could make out a bit of a ponytail, black glasses and a black t-shirt with jeans.

He was leaning on his forearms on the bar in front of him, a glass half full of beer sitting in between his arms, and his eyes were fixed to the TV screens above the bar.

The football game faded to a commercial and his eyes dropped to his glass of beer before he reached for it to take a sip.

Katherine bit her lip, narrowing her gaze at him; she was getting a somewhat 'off' vibe from him.

She took a small step closer before speaking.

"You look a little bit like a fish out of water," she stated.

His eyes, dark eyes, and head both turned on her, giving her a confused look. He quickly looked her up and down; a somewhat tall brunette in black leggings and a long, plaid shirt. He didn't completely hate that she just spoken to him, even if it had caught him completely off guard. He was never going to shy away from attention from an attractive girl.

"Me?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Wh…why?"

She shrugged, "I don't know you just seem a little sad and I feel like being in a really cool sports bar with amazing food and a wall of craft beers in front of you isn't an occasion to be sad."

He chuckled, glancing down at his drink before turning his eyes back on her, "I didn't realize I was giving off that vibe."

"You don't want to be here do you?"

"No, I was forced to come here by some of my friends."

"Why?"

"Because I've been a little sad," he shrugged.

A slow smile crept onto Katherine's face and she licked her lips before extending her hand to him, "I'm Katherine but pretty much everyone calls me Ren."

"Like the bird?"

"Like the bird. Spelled differently, though. There's no W."

"I'm Seth," he shook her hand. "It's spelled just like Seth is supposed to be spelled; the S included."

Katherine gave him a sly look. She appreciated his snark. The bartender approached, asking Katherine what she wanted to drink and seeing if he wanted another beer.

"So why are you over here all alone and not with your friends? Where are your friends?" she asked after the bartender walked away from them.

He pointed towards the end of the bar to a table with three guys and three girls sitting at it, "I didn't have a good view of the game from the table and the Bears are my team."

"That's it?"

"I'm avoiding one of the girls, too."

"Which one?"

"Black hair."

"The one that looks like a vampire? Scorned lover?" Ren grinned.

"You're very inquisitive…" Seth said, trailing off to take a sip of his drink.

"Well that's a yes."

"It isn't a 'yes' per say. It's complicated." he stopped and frowned slightly.

"She's all over you like a vulture and you don't want her to be?"

"Something like that. I don't know why I'm telling you this. This is…inappropriate…"

"Because I asked you," Katherine snickered and then smiled brightly when the bartender sat her drink in front of her. She reached to her back pocket for her card and Seth waved her off.

"Put it on mine," he looked at the bartender, taking the last sip of the beer in his glass and sliding it to him before cradling the new one.

"You don't have to do that," she said. "Seriously, that wasn't what I was trying to do…"

"It's fine," he said.

"Well thank you."

"So what about you? Why are you alone up here telling strangers they look sad?"

She smirked and he caught a flare of the neon bar signs reflecting off of her green eyes.

"My friends are over your right shoulder at the table by the Colts jersey. They were being boring and I needed a drink. Also I'm avoiding someone."

"Which one?" he questioned, glancing behind him.

"Plaid shirt."

"Scorned lover?" He turned a playful look on her.

"Something like that. Is it ok if I sit?"

"You've already interrogated me so you might as well."

"Feisty," she mumbled while pulling out the bar seat and sliding into it. He shared a smile with her as she settled in. "So, if you want the story?"

"Let's hear it."

"So plaid shirt; his name is David. The guy in the kind of sweater looking pullover his name is Jeff. He's been a friend of mine for like 7 or 8 years. David is his guitar player."

"It's always the guitar players. What kind of music?"

"Country."

He made a face, his nose wrinkling.

"Oh I could've guessed you weren't a fan," she chuckled.

"Not particularly; it's not all bad. I like Johnny Cash."

"Well I won't give you a total black mark on your report then."

He nodded, a half smile. "Fair enough."

"So David is in lust with me. I've never…we've never hooked up; even with all the nights of whiskey I've had around him. He's just…he's always had a thing for me and any time I'm single he hangs on me like a little puppy. I hate being in social situations with him because he's just...I don't know, I guess I shouldn't complain about someone being interested but it's a bit much sometimes. It's a little suffocating."

"Why are you here then? You could've stayed home."

"Hotels can get really suffocating, too."

"I didn't think you lived here."

"Jeff has a couple shows up here this weekend, he's doing a showcase, trying to get a deal and whatever whatever; live the dream. I told him I would come do some photography for him. How could you tell I didn't live here?"

"I travel a lot, I'm pretty good at deciphering natives from visitors, and you don't have the right kind of accent to be from around here."

"I could have moved."

"I'll take my chances."

"Are you a native?"

"No, I'm here for work."

"Hmph," she made a soft noise, a slight smirk playing on her lips, and took the slight silent moment to sip her drink.

"So you're a photographer?"

"Kind of," she replied, shrugging and taking another small sip of her drink.

"Kind of?"

"My day job is Director of Media for a radio station; photography, video, social media, live events; right now I'm mostly supervising interns, though- I do some on air stuff. On the side I'll photograph events and weddings and stuff for my friends."

"Radio?" He made an impressed face, taking his turn to sip his beer. "Well…"

"Impressed?"

"Maybe a little bit. What kind of radio?" He studied her for a minute, sitting back against the chair back.

"Country," she replied, smiling.

"I would have never guessed that," he smiled back at her.

It was a slightly arrogant smile and she lifted her eyebrows, silently questioning his sarcasm.

"It's the XM station in Nashville."

"Hmph," he mimicked her noise from a few moments earlier, smiling as he sipped his beer.

"So what's the work you're here for that causes you to travel a lot? International assassin?" She asked, turning slightly on the bar chair and crossing her legs. Her foot brushed lightly against his leg and he cocked his head at her.

"I'm a lawyer," he gave her a cheeky look.

"I haven't even had a whole drink yet, I'm not that gullible. Try again."

"Wrestling, I'm a wrestler."

"Like...wait..." She uncrossed her legs and sat up straight in her chair. "Like Monday night RAW wrestler?"

"Yeah like Monday night RAW wrestler; WWE."

She cocked her head to the side slightly, studying him. He gave her an assessing look in return. She leaned up slightly and reached up to the edge of his beanie, lifting it up slightly.

Then she laughed. It was a warm and endearing laugh; genuine. Her eyes crinkled slightly at the corner and he found himself a little drawn to it.

"I'll be fucked, I know who you are," she exclaimed. "I can't forget that blonde streak. Your face was plastered all over my building for like a month. I mean; I recognize you, I don't know you…"

"Your building?"

"Yeah, Bridgestone, in Nashville. You guys had a show there a month or two ago and the posters were everywhere. They were even in the bathroom which was kind of creepy."

"I take it you aren't an actual fan, though?"

"No, not really. My brother is and my roommate and her fiancé are...I grew out of it once I hit middle school. Huh, small fucking world. The glasses are a good touch."

"Did you watch the show in Nashville?"

"A little bit. I was working late that night and popped in for a little bit but I didn't stick around long. I knew some people that were there, though. My boss was there." She glanced over her shoulder at the group of people he had pointed out t her earlier, "are they wrestlers, too?"

"Yeah."

"Which ones are they?"

"Um, the girls are Paige and Alicia Fox and Renee. The guys are Roman, Dean and one of our stage crew guys, his name is Adam."

He took another moment to explain to her which one of them was which and she took the final sip of her drink, smiling.

"Do a shot with me," she half stated, half asked, leaning against the bar. The neon sign near them bounced off her green eyes again.

"Eh, I don't know," he shook his head, "I have to do a meet and greet and a show tomorrow, I would like to feel like a human."

"It's celebratory," she countered.

"What exactly would we be celebrating? Is it your birthday or something?"

"We would be celebrating the fact that our paths have crossed before and we didn't know it. I mean, we're strangers, but we're kind of not. It's kind of like serendipity, yeah?"

"That's a terribly cheesy, awful, movie."

"That wasn't my point."

"I'll do one shot," he held up his finger, "just one; for celebratory purposes."

Ren ordered their shots and they continued on with their sporadic conversation of 'getting to know a stranger in a bar' questions and other topics. She asked quite a few things about wrestling. The football game was mostly forgotten.

"Hey, Ren…" she looked behind her at the hand gracing her shoulder.

"Oh hey, Nic; this is Seth. Seth, this is my friend Nicole."

Nicole smiled brightly at him and he gave her a warm smile and small wave.

"Um so I was sent to fetch you. We're headed back to the hotel. I mean feel free to stay, by all means, but if you wanted to split a ride with us the boys are ready to call it a night."

"I'll be there in a minute," Ren smiled.

Nicole gave her a tight mouthed nod and retreated back towards the table. Ren locked eyes with David and then turned her gaze back on Seth.

"I didn't intend to spend the whole evening sitting here talking to a stranger," she said.

"Almost stranger," he corrected.

"You're catching on," she winked at him. She sighed heavily and slid off of the bar chair to the floor. "Are you sure you want to pay for these? Seriously, I wasn't…"

"Yes, I'm positive."

"Ok, well, thank you for the conversation. It made my night a lot better than I anticipated." She slid her phone into the back pocket of her jeans and flipped her lose hair over her shoulder, studying him. "I'm pretty sure all of my friends are annoyed with me but fuck em'."

"Thanks for calling me out about being Eeyore," he replied, a smirk on his face, "but my night was a lot more enjoyable than I anticipated, too."

He watched as she opened up her wallet and slid out a card.

"If you ever find yourself in need of a photographer, or a Nashville tour guide, or you're sad in a bar again; that number is my cell number."

"Did you really just hand me a business card?" he smirked.

"I keep it professional, always, and writing my number on a bar napkin just isn't classy."

"Thank you," he nodded, holding up the card between his middle and index finger and nodding. "I hope you have a good night and a good weekend."

"You too. Good luck at your shows."

She gave him a last bright smile and turned on her heel, trekking across the bar to her waiting group of friends. He watched her for a moment as she grabbed her coat and started a lively conversation with Nicole and they started towards to the main door.

He smirked, chuckling to himself, and shook his head. That was unexpected. It was a good unexpected, though. It had taken his mind off of things for awhile; lifted his mood.

He caught movement in his direct eye line as Dean sauntered over to him.

"I'm surprised it took you this long to come over here," Seth dryly stated.

"I wasn't going to interrupt that. What was that?"

"I don't know what it was," he shrugged. "A conversation in a bar. It was nice, though. She started talking to me; I just went with it..."

"She was a looker..."

"Yes, she was," he nodded, smirking. He looked at the small amount of beer left in his glass and downed it quickly.

"Did you get her number?"

"Yeah."

"My man," Dean patted his back.

"Mmm, we'll see. She doesn't live here and neither do I so it's probably pointless. Is it safe to go over there?"

"Oh yeah, Paige is drunk she doesn't give a shit about you right now."

He rolled his eyes, "good."