A/N: This story is a sequel to The New Authority. I strongly recommend reading that story before starting this one.

Bayley Martinez stood back and admired her work. "That's me done for today," she decided, stripping off her rubber gloves and dropping them into her bucket of cleaning supplies. If it was possible for there to be a problem with having such a large, immaculately finished house, it was that it had to be kept that way - at least, it did when you were as obsessive about cleanliness as Bayley was. It wasn't as if she had much else to do with her time anyway. She had already been to the gym first thing in the morning, then it had been back to the empty house for the rest of the day.

Seth Rollins, her fiancee, had returned to action for WWE nearly two months earlier, yet she still hadn't gotten the call to do the same. Being kept out of action by the company was almost as frustrating as hardly getting to see her man. How some people spent extended periods of their lives like this, she really didn't understand. Although the reason for keeping her off TV made sense - to give the fans enough time to move on from Commissioner Martinez, her almost universally hated previous character - she just wanted to come back already, regardless of what new gimmick she was given. Wrestling was what she loved to do, and she wanted to be doing it. It certainly beat spending her days repetitively scrubbing the same bathrooms and kitchen.

She walked down the marble staircase, the centrepiece of the house that she had Seth had spent nearly a year renovating from a derelict shell into the kind of house that she could never have dreamed of living in. Learning all about DIY from Seth, as they worked on shaping their dream house had been a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting experience that she would never forget. Stopping in the entrance hall, she stopped for a moment and looked around, as she did most days, thanking God for allowing her to be so lucky in life. She had a wonderful house to live in, her dream job - when she returned to action at least, and she was engaged to the love of her life. No one deserved to be so lucky, but she would definitely take it.

After putting the cleaning supplies away in one of the kitchen cupboards, she took out her phone, wondering what Seth would be doing. He'd be at the arena for that night's house house by now, she realised, probably having a great time with Roman. No, she wouldn't call him. That could wait until later, when Seth was alone in his hotel room. Those video calls always meant so much when they were apart.

The phone's screen lit up as she was looking at it, and the ring tone started to play. It wasn't Seth who was calling her though, she saw. "Oh!" she exclaimed, seeing the name on the display. Was this going to be the call that she had waited so long for?

"Hey, Hunter," she answered, trying not to sound overly excited.

"Hello, Bayley. How are you?" His deep voice was friendly, as was most often the case when they talked.

"I'm really good," she replied. It was true, suddenly. "How are you?"

"Good, thank you." Then it was down to business, as was also often the case with Hunter's phone calls. "I'm sure you've been getting impatient, waiting for us to book your return. Well, I have good news. We need you on Raw Monday night."

"That's great!" Bayley exclaimed, feeling like she wanted to jump up and down in excitement. "I've been itching to come back for so long now, I thought you had forgotten about me," she added as a joke.

Hunter chuckled. "I was hoping you wouldn't figure that out. Seriously though, of course we didn't forget about you. We've just been waiting for the right time to have you return. It's a big change to have you go from your first character to Commissioner Martinez, then go back again."

"I understand you needed..." Bayley began, before she fully processed what he'd said. Even then, she wasn't sure if she'd heard him right. Could it really be true? "What did you say?"

Hunter chuckled again, amused by her reaction. She could hear the smile in his voice as he answered the question. "I said we're going back to your original character. I argued the point before your heel turn that we needed hugger Bayley to be a role model to young people, and I still believe that. No one has ever connected with that demographic like you did, and although you did a great job as the Commissioner, I still think the hugger is the best character for you. Vince agreed to it, so that's what we're going with."

There was no way Bayley could hold in the squeal of delight. "Oh my!" she exclaimed. "I never thought I'd get the hugger character back again! I'm so excited!"

"I can tell that," Hunter said, laughing. "As we speak, instructions are being given for a whole knew line of merch to be designed for you. We're going to get a new entrance video package done, but you can use your old music. We think that's perfect for you anyway, so there's no reason to change it."

"I'm fine with all of that," Bayley said as she sat down at the kitchen island. It felt like the only way she could stop herself running around in excitement. "What's the idea behind my return? Obviously I'm a face, so I think I have a fair idea what you have in mind."

"Monday night we're going to have you return to be Sasha's partner in a tag team match. It's part of the storyline with The Queen's Court, as I'm sure you've already guessed."

He was referring to the relatively new stable which had been built around Charlotte Flair, the formation of which had seen her turn heel again. Both the stable and the creative behind it were things that Bayley liked a lot. Born from the fact that Charlotte had often been referred to as The Queen, the new stable had seen her take on that title in a more literal sense. Nikki Bella, Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss had been given the role as ladies-in-waiting in the Queen's court, as Queen Charlotte referred to them. In reality, they acted like subservient lackeys most of the time, doing the Queen's bidding so that she didn't have to get her own hands dirty. Charlotte's new character had been built in such a way that she watched most of her stable's matches from the stage, where she would sit on a throne, but if things didn't go to plan and she did have to get involved, she invariably destroyed the object of her anger in comprehensive style.

The dynamics of the angle had worked well right from the start, when the three ladies-in-waiting had formed the stable by thoroughly beating down the returning Stephanie McMahon during a segment between her and Charlotte. Nikki had announced, "The Queen is dead, long live the Queen." That had been followed by a coronation segment the following week, where a real diamond-encrusted crown made of gold had been bestowed on Charlotte by the ladies-in-waiting. Replicas of the crown were selling especially well for an item associated with a heel character.

The Queen's Court had been focused on one goal since the stable had formed, which was to see their Queen become the Women's Champion. So far, they had been unsuccessful, as Sasha Banks had defied them at every turn to hold onto the belt, much to the delight of the fans. Adding hugger Bayley to the mix on the fan favourite's side definitely seemed like a good creative idea to Bayley, who was already looking forward to going up against Charlotte and her cronies.

"I love it already," Bayley enthused. "The Queen's Court has gone over so well as a heel stable. Having the chance to go against them will be great. Will I actually be teaming with Sasha, or is that just for Monday night?"

"You'll be friends with each other, but you won't be a team as such. We'll eventually be having several faces stick together against the common enemy as we approach Survivor Series, where we're going to have a five on five elimination match."

Bayley figured that she didn't need to point out that there were currently only four women including Charlotte in The Queen's Court stable, assuming that there must be plans in place to add a fifth in the future. It was a good thing that the two women's rosters had been merged and made exclusive to Raw, or the idea would probably have fallen short simply for lack of numbers.

"This is so great," she said, just as enthusiastically. "I can't wait for Monday now. It's going to be so awesome to be a face again. I'm so happy right now!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Hunter said, sounding a little distracted, possibly by something else that was going on at his end of the call. "Listen, I've got to go. I'll see you Monday."

"Okay, thanks again, Hunter."

Bayley ended the call, then immediately tapped on her list of recent calls. She just had to pass on the exciting news to Seth as soon as she could. There was a real possibility that she might burst if she tried to hold it in until later in the night. Besides, he would be happy to hear the news, knowing how much being kept out of the ring had been getting her down.

Seth almost failed to hear his phone ringing because he and Roman were both laughing at a video Roman had just shown him on his phone. Having his closest friend on the same roster had been a big help while Bayley wasn't on the road with him. The wrestling business could be a lonely one if you didn't have someone to travel with. Even with Roman around, being away from his fiancee at least five nights a week wasn't something that Seth had found easy over the last couple of months. Some people could do it without being the least bit troubled by it, he knew, but he and Bayley were most definitely not that kind of couple. They were the kind of people who actively sought to spend as much time together as they possibly could, and felt unhappy whenever being together wasn't an option.

"That's your boss," Roman helped out, recognising the ring tone that Seth used exclusively for Bayley.

"Well spotted, genius," Seth quipped back at him with a grin.

"Hello, angel," Roman said, mocking Seth with an overly effeminate voice and using his nickname for Bayley. Seth had really been made to regret accidentally saying it to her in front of Roman and Dean.

Seth tried to shove him towards the door, not proving to be very successful. "Get out of here. Give a guy some privacy."

"Alright," Roman chuckled. "I'll go get us some coffee."

Not wanting to miss the call, Seth answered as soon as his friend left the room and closed the door. "Hello, angel."

"Hey, baby," Bayley replied sweetly. The sound of her voice made him feel warm inside, just the way it always had. Theirs really was a cliche romance in many ways, not that either of them cared in the least about the fact. "I have news."

"Good news by the sound of it?" Seth asked, noticing the excitement in her voice.

"Excellent news," she confirmed. Seth could picture the look that would be on her face, the twinkle in her eyes, and the way she would sometimes bounce up and down when things really got too much for her to contain her energy. It was the cutest thing ever, in his opinion.

"Go on," he encouraged, finding himself grinning like an idiot. Her enthusiasm was so infectious.

"Hunter called me. They're bringing back my hugger character!"

"Oh wow!" Seth exclaimed. No wonder she was so excited. She had missed the hugger character ever since the day she'd been forced to leave it behind. Getting it back again was the one thing she would have wished for, in terms of her career. "That's awesome news, babe. I'm so pleased for you. It's going to be so great to see you out there as the hugger again. The fans are going to go wild for it, too. When are you returning? Monday?"

"Yes, Monday. We're finally going to be back on the road together, Seth. I've missed you so much these past couple of months. It really has been hell being away from you so much. I never want it to happen again."

"Aww," Seth said, wishing he was there to give her a hug. "I know exactly what you mean. I've really missed you. It's going to be so good to get back into our old routine."

"It will. And it will be good to work with Charlotte and the others. I'm going to team with Sash this week on Raw, then we're both going to be in a rivalry with The Queen's Court. I think that will be great."

"I think so too," Seth said, without needing to consider it. Charlotte and the others had quickly become the best female heel team he could remember, and Charlotte herself was the most hated female character since Commissioner Martinez. "You've had some memorable matches with Charlotte in the past, so I have no doubt that you will again. Hopefully they'll give you a title run sooner rather than later, and a proper one this time. It was a real shame they had you drop it so soon on your first run."

He heard the shrug as Bayley replied. "I know, but I can understand why they did it. Being the champ and the commissioner would have been a bit much. A real run as champion as hugger Bayley would really be something though. I hope that happens. But right now, I'm just glad that I'm coming back. I can't wait for Monday night."

"I can't wait for Saturday night," Seth said, turning the conversation in another direction. Saturday night would be the next time he was at home, after being away for nearly a week.

"Neither can I. You know the absolute worst thing?"

"Sleeping in a bed by yourself," Seth replied, without needing to consider that, either.

"Right," Bayley said quietly. "You know, I've been sleeping in one of your T-shirts."

"There's nothing sexier to a man than his girl in one of his shirts, babe," Seth grinned. He just managed to finish the sentence before Roman walked back into the room with two cups of coffee.

"Hey, Bayley," the big Samoan called out.

"Tell him I said hey," Bayley told Seth. "You know what I was just thinking?"

"What?" Seth asked.

"I'll send you a picture tonight before I go to bed, with me wearing your shirt."

"I'd like that a lot," Seth replied, smiling as he pictured it, while carefully chose his words, not wanting Roman to catch onto what they were talking about.

"Okay, I'll let you go," Bayley said kindly. "Call me when you're at the hotel, please."

"Of course I will."

"I love you," Bayley said. Seth could tell she was trying not to giggle as she knew she was putting him in the awkward position of whether or not to repeat it in front of his friend.

"Love you too," he mumbled, not that it did him any good. Roman started silently blowing kisses in his direction. After Bayley ended the call, he stuck a finger up at his friend, even though he knew all of the teasing was good-natured. The truth was that Roman couldn't have been happier to see how well things were going for him and Bayley, and he fully expected to be the best man at their wedding, whenever that happened. "Get off my back, asshole," Seth pretended to gripe at him.

"I'm disappointed, honestly," Roman announced. "I was waiting for you to call her angel." He had to dodge out of the way of the half-empty bottle of water that Seth hurled at him.