Monday Night RAW
I was walking through the halls alone, head to toe in black SHIELD gear with my title hanging from my hand. I was sweaty, tired and frustrated, Paige getting the pin on me for the first time in a long time. I was unfocused and now it was affecting my job, which was the one thing I didn't want to happen. The boys were up next against Sheamus, Alberto and Ryback and I wanted to be out there with them but I hadn't seen Dean since he had walked out on me in the locker room yesterday. HE wasn't in the bus when I got back last night and was gone this morning, and I knew he was avoiding me. All I knew was that he couldn't avoid me at work, and as though he heard me thinking about him they all came around the corner, looking ready for a fight, hair slicked back and Dean's title around his waist.
"You'll get her next time champ." Roman called out, as I stopped, waiting for the to walk over.
"Yeah I know. She got the jump on me this time but never again." I frowned, feeling the pain in various spots in my body.
"How did she manage to get on you like that?" Seth questioned as I turned, walking with them.
"I don't know, my head wasn't focused." I admitted, my curls bouncing as I shook my head, "I'm just tryna get back into the swing of things."
"Maybe you should stay back tonight if you're not on your game." Dean commented, him and Seth walking in front of Roman and I.
"I'm not that unfocused Dean, I can still do my job." I frowned, hearing the clipped tone he was using, Roman and Seth not really fazed by it.
"Just saying." He shrugged, not once looking back, gaze focused ahead.
Him and Seth started a conversation after, leaving me and Roman out of it and I ignored the misery building in me, getting used it the feeling coming every time Dean spoke to me now. Roman touched my arm slightly, slowing me down and putting distance between us and Seth and Dean.
"What's up?" I asked, looking up at him.
"You and Dean okay?" he questioned, not beating around the bush.
"We're fine." I said quickly, seeing his eyebrow go up, "Roman we're fine. You know how we get after Christmas. It's just not our time of year."
"Okay, things just seem a little..." he trailed off, searching for the word.
"Tense?" I supplied, seeing a smirk flash across his lips.
"I was gonna say angry but tense works too." He laughed, and I laughed softly, wanting to not reveal any more than I had.
Heading to our entrance we stood around waiting as everyone else entered the ring. Fixing my hair I threw my title over my shoulder as we lined up in our normal order, Seth in front, Roman last and Dean and I in the middle. I could practically feel him vibrating behind me, and I could feel his eyes roaming over me. Ignoring him I stepped out onto the steps, hearing the roar of the crowd and letting the excitement wash away the mess inside my head. Walking down I could feel a genuine smile grow on my face, seeing everyone's excitement and reminding me that despite all the drama in my personal life this is what I lived for. Jumping over the barrier I made my way to the corner, standing on the outside of the ring. Usually at this point Dean would throw me his title and I watched him turn towards me for a second before nearly jerking his whole body away, throwing the title on the floor. It took everything in my not to let the mask fall off my face and wallow in misery, instead I walked up to the apron and watched as the match began. After only a few minutes I knew that we were in trouble, both in and out of the ring. The symmetry we all shared before, the connection we had in the ring was fraying, like a rope that had been cut. I could see the animosity between all three of them and like sharks in the water the other three wrestlers were sensing it and moving in. Dean was on the outside of the ring, laying against the barrier while Seth and Roman fought on the inside. Both of them were wearing down but Dean got the upperhand on De Rio, sending him sliding back into the ring. Stumbling around he made his way back to our corner and leaned against the post, breathing hard. He looked up and we made complete eye contact for the first time in days. I couldn't move so when Seth ran at Sheamus and sent him over the top rope I was still standing there.
"Lila!" Roman shouted, and I had a split second to look up, seeing Sheamus flipping over.
Blinking I was gonna back up but before I could move there was an hand on my arm, yanking me to the right just in time. Sheamus hit the floor hard where I had just stood as I ended up on the floor on the outside of the ring, landing on top of a hard chest. My eyes flew open and I was face to face with those icy blue eyes, except they were cold and distant like they had been the last few days. These ones were wide and filled with relief, for all of two seconds before I watched them freeze over. Getting up Dean jumped to his feet and we looked back at the ring, watching Roman, the legal on in the match, finally get the pin on Ryback. I had no idea how we pulled that off, but we did, our team so uncoordinated in our efforts we were practically a mess. As our music rang out we walked out of the ring and over the barrier, Dean going first, nearly running up the steps. Following him we were uncharacteristically silent as we walked through the halls to the locker room, Seth shutting the door behind us as we piled in the room.
"Are you alright?" Roman asked, his phone in his hand as he texted, looking up after he finished.
"I'm fine. I just wasn't paying attention for a second there." I admitted, sitting on the bench across from everyone.
"I told you..." Dean began but I shook my head, raising up a hand at him.
"Don't start." I snapped, watching him almost violently rip the tape from his hands, "It's not just me that's unfocused, it's all of us."
"Oh really?" Dean's head snapped back up, "That's why you almost got crushed by 200 pounds of Irish douchebag."
"I said all of us Dean." I sighed, raking my fingers through my hair and looking at all of them, "You almost lost the match. None of you were on the same page tonight in that ring and you know it. We're falling apart."
There was silence from all three of them, my words sinking in. Seth was standing, arms crossed over his chest and he was looking at his boots as though they were the most fascinating thing in the world. Roman had his phone in his hands, holding it between his legs and holding my gaze. Dean was holding the ball of tape in his hands, legs shaking and I knew they were thinking about it.
"You're right." Roman announced, his voice soft but echoing around the whole room, "I wasn't here tonight, and you're right. You lost your match too Lila and we almost lost ours tonight. We scraped by, barely."
"We were fine." Seth argued weakly, and I could hear the doubt in his voice.
"Seth come on." I tilted my head a bit, "We're all off our game."
"Speak for yourself." Dean grumbled, catching my attention.
"I am Dean, but we need to get our shit together." I stood up, taking off my vest and setting it on the bench, "If we don't we're gonna not survive this year. And I don't want that for us."
"Who died and made you the leader of SHIELD?" Dean growled, throwing his vest in the bag, pulling out his jacket.
"Nobody Dean but if one of you isn't gonna call us out on this then we're never gonna fix it." I pointed, my hands on my hips, "I'm not the leader here, nobody is, but I'm part of this team and I love this team and I don't wanna see us fail. Seth and Roman don't either."
"Right." Roman nodded, and I turned to Seth.
Just as we all turned his phone went off in his pocket. Raising an eyebrow I watched him pull it out of his pocket, face going serious. Holding it back by his side he looked at each of us.
"Give me two minutes, I gotta take this." He said quickly, moving to the door and slipping outside.
"Seriously Seth." I muttered, pulling my hair up and into a bun, away from my face.
Seth had walked out in the middle of our team meeting, and Roman was back on his phone, texting away. Dean was looking around at us too and we made eye contact briefly before he zipped up his backpack.
"I would say this was a great talk but it really wasn't." Dean murmured, heading towards the door.
"Dean..." I called out, not slowing down as he opened the door, "Dean!"
He ignored me as he opened the door and walked out, the door rattling in the frame. Turning back to Roman I stuffed everything into my bag, seeing him look at up me with a guilty look on his face.
"I don't know what has you so preoccupied Roman and I'm not gonna pry." I began, throwing my jacket on and my bag over my shoulder, "But I could really use your help. There are cracks starting in this team, just remember that you're part of it too."
Not waiting for a response I walked out, seeing Seth on the phone a few feet away and I turned the other way, seeing Dean walking quickly down the hall. Shaking my head I turned and started after Dean, hopefully having enough time to have a few words to ourselves.