Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the WWE or its superstars. The only thing I own is my original character. This is a complete work of fiction.

Fanning the Flames

Chapter 1

Raw

Raw had just gotten under way when I made my way over to catering to meet up with two of my closest friends: Kaitlyn and Layla. We'd kind of made it a ritual to see each other early on in the show if our schedules and the card for the evening allowed. So there I am hanging out with the bubbly duo.

"Oh my gosh, Raven, don't turn around!" Kaitlyn squealed. I froze.

"What? Why!?" I whispered loudly.

"Your favorite ex-boyfriend is here!" Layla singsonged. I took a breath and turned around for a quick peak. Sure enough, with his bronzed skin and delicious tattoos, Randy was a mere ten feet behind me chatting up Sheamus. I was only staring for a moment when his eyes met mine. He smiled and began to walk over to our table.

"Hey stranger," I called out.

"Hey Rave, how ya been?"

"Not too shabby…as you know my boys are doing just fine with their titles so all is well in Raven's world!" I said proudly with a small smile.

"They couldn't do it without you. They are lucky to have you, you know."

"Oh, I know and I remind them of it every chance I get!" I joked. He chuckled.

"Some things never change about you," he said fondly.

"I like to think consistency is one of my good qualities."

"One of your many great qualities, I'd agree." I smiled at him and he was quiet for a moment. "We should hang out soon."

"We really should. Text me about a day," I said almost flirtatiously.

"Alright, will do. I'll have to see you later, I've got to go get ready for my match," Randy replied softly.

"Alright. I'll see you later. Good luck out there tonight," I cooed.

"Thank you," he said before walking away.

"Holy cow! Sexual tension alert!" Layla said with a giggle. I waved her off dismissively.

"There is not!" I argued. "Just friends!"

"Are friends supposed to look at you like they want to rip your clothes off?" Kaitlyn teased.

"You guys suck!"

"But you still love us, Ray!" Layla spat giggling. "Are we all still on for drinks tonight?"

"You're damn right!" I said with a hint of excitement. As much as I loved my team, a night out with the girls sounded perfect.

"Hell yeah!" Kaitlyn cheered. I looked down at my phone at the time.

"Oh wow! Look at the time. I should be going. My boys have a match tonight. I'll see you girls after the show!"

"Alright, bye!"

"Bye!"

I walked down the hallway with a stern expression on my face. I wasn't as bubbly as the rest of the Diva's, a point that people seemed to point out often, especially the announcers. I didn't see it as a bad thing. I wasn't an unhappy person, I was just less smiley at work. I was a person of focus while in the confines of the arenas. Besides, in this business it works to your advantage for people to think you are a hard ass.

I made my way through the bustling halls to locate my pair of terror. Soon enough, I strode into the Team Hell No locker room.

"Hey boys," I said greeting them giving them both a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey Raven, I'm so glad that you are here right now," Daniel said putting his hands on his hips.

"Me too!" Kane agreed. Both of them seemed to be quite heated. Not that this was anything new. They were two brilliant wrestlers but their personalities constantly clashed with one another which always kept life in Team Hell No interesting.

"Are you two fighting again?!" I whined.

"Well Kane here insinuated that I am the reason why we lost last week on Raw, but it isn't!"

"How isn't it your fault? You got pinned! Ergo it was your fault!" Kane yelled back at him.

"Well if you would have been paying attention when I was reaching out to tag you, it wouldn't have happened at all!" He shot back.

"Well if-" I stood up and smacked them both on their shoulders simultaneously.

"Ow!" they both groaned.

"Stop it! Shut up! Please! You two need to get it together!" I said losing my cool. I flipped my long blonde and brown hair back in irritation.

"Yeah, Kane!"

"Don't look at me! We all know that you're the problem!" Kane snipped.

"Goddamnit! Both of you are the problem! You both made mistakes last week that have really cost you in those matches. We need to work together here, guys. A mediocre team can easily beat two amazing wrestlers who don't work together. You guys are amazing, the key to success here is being in sync with one another. So sync dammit!" I said sternly almost feeling like a mom. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, Raven," they said together.

"Good…now hug it out!" I ordered.

"Aw man, do we have to?" Kane whined.

"Yes, you do. That's what Dr. Shelby would want you to do, isn't it?"

"I guess you're right, Rave," Daniel conceded.

"Alright, let's see that hug!" The two men reluctantly walked towards each other with outstretched arms. Eventually, they were close enough to wrap their arms around each other. "Like you mean it!" I instructed and they gave each other a quick squeeze before releasing each other. "See, that wasn't so hard!" I said with a laugh.

"How long are you going to keep making us hug each other?" Daniel asked.

"Until you guys can act like freaking adults!" I shot back.

"Fair enough," Kane acknowledged.

"Thank you. Now are you two ready to compete tonight? You really need to be on the same page and your a-game this time."

"I'm ready," Kane said first.

"Well I'm also ready," D-Bry said proudly.

"I swear to god, you guys are going to be the death of me!" I said with a chuckle as I lead the boys down the corridor.

As much hell as they gave me sometimes they really were an awesome pair of guys. That's why I'd agreed to manage them in the first place. Whenever we were having a bad night, I always thought about why I was here doing this in the first place.

I'd managed a lot of tag teams over the past three and a half years that I'd been on the main roster. I'd managed such duos like ShowMiz, the team of Big Show and Kane, and even Airboom with Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston. I wrestled as well but not nearly as much as I'd like to. I've been too green but not anymore. I was finally reaching the point that I felt like I was ready to tear it up in the ring….I just hadn't been given the opportunity.

I'd met Daniel Bryan at FCW when we were training. We became pretty fast friends. He'd been giving me extra training on the side which was wonderful coming from a submission specialist like him. It had given me a pretty ridiculously lethal arsenal of submission moves. Then he got called to do the NXT season one and I got brought to the main roster. I'd become ShowMiz's manager shortly after. When he got brought up to the main roster after his Nexus tenure, we became fast friends again, him even continuing my training in our spare time. After AirBoom disbanded, I was lost in the shuffle. I struggled to find my footing as a singles wrestler in the division. Then I'd suffered an ankle injury and was out for a few months. Upon my return, Daniel had asked me if I was interested in taking on a new tag team. Of course I was, knowing it was Daniels team. I owed him a lot and if he needed a manager, I was his girl! Besides, I'd already worked with Kane and enjoyed it. So the three of us becoming a group was a mutually beneficial experience.

"Raven…RAY-VEN…Raven!" Kane called out waving a hand in front of my face.

"What?!" I said snapping out of my daze.

"Are you okay? They are about to cue our music," he said softly.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get 'em boys!" I said giving them both a football style congratulatory ass slap.

Kane's music sounded and the three of us headed out onto the stage.

The match was coming to a close as Kane choke slammed Jey Uso down onto the mat with a big thump. He went for the pin. 1...2...3!

I climbed into the ring with their tag titles in hand. I handed one to each of them proudly. I held their hands up in victory. The boys were all smiles. They were so happy that they even extended their arms for a hug. I was even more surprised when they actually went in for the hug itself. They looked over to me and each stuck an arm out in my directions, waving me to join them.

"No way!" I laughed.

"Come on! Hug it out!" Daniel cheered.

"This is a Team Hell No hug and you are team Hell No!" Kane spat.

"Oh alright!" I said walking towards them to join in the hug. The crowd cheered and that's when our music cut out and was replaced with the eerie music of the Shield. We slowly released the hug and looked at the crowd, waiting for the trio to emerge through the fans in the audience.

Dean and Seth came out on the left, Roman on the right. I stepped back almost instinctively, until I felt my back hit the ropes. Their intimidating presences continued to get closer and closer.

"Raven, get out of this ring! You'll be safer by the announce table!" Daniel insisted. My jaw dropped in offence.

"I'm not letting you guys take them on all on your own!" I insisted. "Kane!?" I said quickly looking for some backup.

"For once I agree with Daniel!"

"The one time!" I huffed as I exited the ring. I walked to the announce table area and nervously watched as the three Shield members surround the ring. Roman walked past me, glaring as if he was telling me not to be dumb enough to try anything. As a unit, they all simultaneously climbed onto the apron and into the ring to begin the brawl.

I watched helplessly as the Shield gained more and more momentum. Having one more person really assisted their plight. They were working hard to take care of Kane first since he was the bigger guy. Dean kept on Kane and Seth joined Roman to take out Daniel. I didn't know what they planned to do but what I did know was that I couldn't take much more of this.

I grabbed a steel chair and stealthily slid into the ring. All of the Shield had their backs turned to me and I acquired a target. I snuck up and swung my chair right into Seth's back. I kept swinging as he fell to the ground. Dean began to approach me. I swung again but missed this time. Dean ducked and dipped behind me. He wrapped around me in a single leg take down. I fell to the mat, front first. He gently held me to the ground and he put his mouth to my ear.

"Better luck next time, Sweetheart…" he whispered teasingly.

"Piss off, Dean," I growled only getting a lighthearted chuckle as a response from him.

He got off of me and tossed the chair out of the ring. I quickly got up. I watched as the Shield made their exit back into the screaming crowd. As soon as I was sure they weren't coming back, I tended to Kane and Daniel.

As we all made our way backstage I was concerned about the boys…but I had to admit that I was a little embarrassed by being so easily thwarted by Dean. He was very talented but it was mortifying to be tossed aside so easily.

We walked backstage and the two of them began to walk back to our locker room.

"Just where do you guys think you are going?"

"To the locker room," Kane said simply.

"Oh, no you aren't just yet. You guys are going to the trainers room," I ordered.

"We're fine!" D-Bry insisted.

"You have been holding your arm to your side the whole walk up the ramp. You are getting it looked at!" I insisted. "You too, Kane. Those ribs of yours took quite a beating."

"No they aren't," the Big Red Machine argued. I poked his ribs gently.

"Ah!" he seethed.

"See! I want you to at least get them looked at. You guys defend your titles next Sunday! I want you guys in tip top shape when you face the Shield. You can't let them take those titles away from you guys!" I said encouragingly.

"Oh, alright! I don't know how but you always have a way of getting me to listen to you!" Kane said with an amused chuckle.

"I'm good at this, that's why. Besides I managed you for five months when you worked with Big Show and now the past nine months…I pretty much know how you tick!" I said giving his arm a squeeze. He smiled.

"That you do and that is not an easy task!"

I escorted Team Hell no to the trainers and just as I'd predicted, Daniels arm was a little banged up as were Kane's ribs. They wrapped 'em up and we headed back to out locker room.

"Tough night, boys," I said shaking my head.

"Yeah, we'll get 'em next time!" D-Bry insisted.

"Definitely. But in the meantime, you should go back to your hotel room and rest up. We'll hit the road in the morning."

"Sounds like a good plan, Raven," Daniel said with a smile.

"I thought so too!"

"Want us to wait for you?" Kane asked.

"Nah…you guys go ahead without me…I've got plans with the girls. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!"

"Good night," the said in near unison as they headed out for the night.

I turned and reached into my bag to grab my hot new dress to wear tonight. I slipped it on. It fit like a glove. I could just tell that tonight was going to be a good night…

So there it is, Chapter 1. Thank you for taking the time to check it out. Keep on reading to see what Raven gets herself into and see more of the Shield!