A/N: Yes, a new story! I know you're as excited as I am. :) Enjoy!

Chapter One

"In here, then?" Finn Bálor asked the production assistant that had stopped just outside an open door. The man nodded, motioned for him to go in. Finn took a deep breath before doing so. He was slated for thirty minutes with a blogger. Whose name he'd forgotten in the time it had taken him to walk from the locker room. He knew she blogged for some popular site, but he couldn't remember the name of it. Giving his head a quick shake, he entered the room.

A woman was standing next to a man, fiddling with a camera on a tripod. Finn's eyes swept across the room, taking in the backdrop with the WWE logo set up against the wall. In front of it were two chairs. There was a table with a few bottles of water on it, and another with a camera bag and bits of equipment spread around.

"Oh," the woman blurted, looking up from the camera. Bright blue eyes met his as she crossed to greet him.

"Hello," he greeted, smiling as he extended his hand. "I'm here to see…"

"Violet Lovell," she supplied. Her hand was warm and soft, her grip firm. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Bálor."

"Finn, please."

"Thanks so much for making time for me," she said, pulling her hand from his and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. A pair of glasses had been pushed up atop her head. She pulled them down now, blinked behind the lenses, and her lips curved into a bright smile.

"No problem at all," he assured. "Where did you want me?"

"Right there." She indicated the chairs, then turned to grab a pen and notebook from the table while introducing the man behind the camera as Steve.

Finn sat in one of the chairs, instinctively smoothing the front of his shirt. It took a few moments to get situated, and he took the time to covertly look Violet over. An instinct, really. He tended to take stock of people without realizing it, and was usually never caught because he had a penchant for being unassuming. Accepting a bottle of water, he propped one ankle on the opposite knee, eyes following her as she moved around the room.

She was short, with generous curves. More than generous. Her dark brown hair was up in one of those intricately messy buns. Jeans hugged her lower half, and a loose-fitting long-sleeved t-shirt with Lego Batman characters hung to her hips. The sleeves were pushed up to her elbows, and several bracelets adorned each wrist. When she sat down across from him he saw a smattering of freckles on her cheeks. Her smile was warm, friendly, if a little nervous, and it suddenly struck him that her name was vaguely familiar. Gaze dipping to the characters on her torso, he was distracted by the heart-shaped locket hanging from a thin chain.

"If you're ready, we'll get started," she said, balancing the notebook on one knee. Her left hand lifted, fingers brushing over the locket, then slipped it beneath her shirt.

He nodded, trying to remember where he'd heard her name. Christ, he met so many people and saw so many names online, it was impossible to recollect them all. Opening his mouth, he lifted one finger. "Violet Lovell, right?"

"Yes. From CultureFeed." She was still smiling. "Did they send you to me without telling you who I was?"

"No, no. It's been a hectic day. And I thought your name was familiar," he attempted to explain. His lips quirked in the grin he hated. The one that always popped up when he was embarrassed. As casually as possible he rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the sudden warmth in his cheeks. He couldn't understand why, though. Perhaps because he'd just somewhat admitted to reading her articles.

Not that he was ashamed of the fact. Fans always mentioned him in tweets, and when he had a few minutes backstage or in the car he would follow links and read what was being said about him. The woman across from him had written a couple of articles he'd enjoyed. He was pretty sure she was the one who'd written about his work overseas, bringing up matches he could barely remember himself.

"Finn?"

He blinked, lips quirking again, and felt the heat in his cheeks once more. He was so bad at this stuff. He couldn't understand why anyone would want to talk to him for more than a couple minutes. He'd much rather rattle off a few words, stand for a couple photographs and be on his way. After all, the night ahead was going to be a big one for him…

"Sorry," he muttered. Shifting in his chair, he cleared his throat. "Please, start."

"So, I'm here with Finn Bálor," she said. "How are you doing, Finn?"

"I'm doing pretty well."

"I—"

"How are you, Miss Lovell?"

She jerked her head up, a lock of hair falling against her cheek. She seemed surprised that he'd asked. "I'm… Fine," she answered slowly.

He wondered if anyone ever asked her how she was doing. Twisting off the cap of his bottled water, he lifted it for a quick sip and nodded. "Good."

"Good." She pressed her lips together. "As you know, I'm doing a mini-series of documentaries about the WWE, mainly about the lead-up to SummerSlam next month."

He nodded again. Hunter had told him about it earlier. He wanted it put out there how much work went into one of the bigger events. WrestleMania was in a class of its own, and was already chronicled in mainstream media, so now they wanted the public to know about SummerSlam. Thinking of all the paperwork and things that had been gone over during his meeting with Hunter and Vince McMahon, he recalled signing off his permission to be profiled. In the excitement, he'd probably signed off on something he would later regret. He hoped not, but there was always the chance.

"Steve and I will be following you and the rest of the men and women for the next few weeks. No doubt you'll get sick of us, or mainly sick of me, asking questions and poking my nose in, so I'll apologize now."

Finn waved the apology away with one hand. He doubted he'd see much of her outside of this interview. How much could she possibly have to ask him? He was the new kid. He didn't know anything about the inner workings of Raw or SmackDown. At least, not yet. He'd been backstage enough to know that it was completely different from NXT. At first it had seemed the same, but now he knew better. A few things that he'd fallen in love with down in NXT were missing from the main roster shows.

"I've just got a few run-of-the-mill questions…" She looked down at her notepad. "But first, I have to know one thing."

"Yeah?"

Violet leaned forward, expression serious. "When are you going to debut on the main roster?"

He laughed, because her nose wrinkled as she asked it, and because people had been asking him the same question for months. "You know I couldn't answer that, even if I knew."

"I know," she sighed, slumping back. "But you can't blame me for trying." She cleared her throat, straightened her shoulders. "Okay, to the real questions now. How long have you been wrestling?"

"Over sixteen years."

"What inspired you to step into a ring?" she went on, glancing to her notes again.

It occurred to him that she was one of only a handful of people who'd used physical notes when interviewing him.

Looking up, she smiled. "I'm a fan myself, obviously. And sometimes I get caught up in all of it while watching and think 'I could totally do that' or 'I'd love to do that.' But thinking and doing are two different things."

"Oh, absolutely. When you're a kid you don't think about how many times the guy on TV had to practice a flip before he got it right. But it was a huge part of me growing up. I'd tell people that was what I wanted to be. A wrestler." Encouraged by her warm, understanding smile, he felt himself relax. "Imagine a scrawny thing that's all legs and arms… That was me. I didn't know how I was going to do it, I just knew I wanted to."

"Was your family supportive?"

"Yeah, totally. My dad especially. He would have supported me in whatever I wanted to do, as long as I put in the work. He's one of those that started at the bottom and worked his way up. And when I got old enough to start training and everything he said to me that as long as I worked at it he and my mother would do all they could to help me." He made a mental note to call his parents after the interview. They would want to hear the news.

"So you started training, and then came the work in England?"

She'd done her research. Or maybe she just already knew. She said she was a fan, and the articles she'd done made it obvious she was aware of his wrestling timeline. Taking another sip of water, he began to talk about those first years, relaxing more with each encouraging nod from her. And he was delighted to see her face light up with recognition when he mentioned names of those he'd worked with before going to Japan. Occasionally she would scribble something on the pad in her lap.

He was positive he'd talked entirely too long when she began asking about his work in Japan. The water in the bottle was nearly gone. He was aware of Steve leaning against the table behind the camera, messing with his phone.

"We're almost out of time," Violet said suddenly with a glance at her watch. "Hopefully we'll be able to get some more things in later, but there was one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Go ahead," he said, lightly tapping his now-empty water bottle against his knee.

"It's obvious you've had to make many sacrifices, because you've been doing this for so long and have achieved so much. What are some things you've had to give up, or go without completely, to make this dream a reality?"

The water bottle stopped tapping. It was a sudden question, coming so soon after what had felt like a casual discussion about wrestling in Japan. Finn exhaled. "Sacrifices…" he trailed, reaching to rub his chin. It was time to get his beard trimmed. "Probably the biggest would be family and relationships. I don't get to see my family back home very often. And I've got great friendships with several of the guys here. Like Matt Bloom. He kind of took me under his wing in Japan. Shinsuke, too. And Sami Zayn… I consider them family in a way. But… I don't get a chance to make new friends that often. I'm on the road so much, it's hard to get to know people outside of work."

She was nodding, and he glanced up from his knee to see a brief flash of sadness in her eyes.

"I mean, there's probably plenty of time, really," he went on. "But… If I meet someone in, say, Chicago, I'm usually only there for a day or so before I'm gone. And the chances are high that I won't see that person again."

"Have there been people you've met that you look back now and think, 'I really wish I'd tried to make something work' or do you just push ahead and try not think about that sort of thing at all?"

He was quiet for a moment. He hadn't expected such in-depth questions. Not about his personal life, at least. He always strived to keep that as private as possible. Gazing at but not really seeing her face, he sighed. She wasn't delving too deeply into what he wanted to keep to himself. "I try not to think about it," he said softly. "But sometimes I do worry that I've met someone who could have been important in my life and I'll feel guilty that I didn't take the time to realize it. At the same time, though, I tell myself that if I did, I'd recognize it."

He hadn't yet, but he couldn't say that. Just like he couldn't say that he was scared to make those efforts. Because what if he did and it was all for nothing?

She shifted slightly, and the movement brought her face into focus. That flash of sadness behind the glasses again. One corner of her mouth tilted upwards in a rueful smile and he knew. She understood. He didn't know how she could, or even how he could know she did, but she did.

And he wondered if maybe, just once, he should try to make an effort.

"Do you—"

She was interrupted by a knock on the half-open door. Finn sat up, recognizing the production assistant that had led him to the room, then looked to his watch. They'd talked for more than forty-five minutes. And there were a million things he had to do before the show started. He needed to grab a bite. Meet his opponent for the night to go over a plan of action. Find a quiet corner and remember how to breathe.

"I'm so sorry," she was saying, flipping back through the pages in her notebook to close it.

"Lost track of time," Steve said from behind the camera, where he was pushing buttons and suddenly not interested in his phone at all.

"It's fine," Finn assured as he got to his feet. "You said you had more things to ask me?"

"Yes, but I can get to them later. Tomorrow, or maybe this weekend if you're on the live show loop?"

"I am." He watched her stand, watched that lock of hair get pushed behind her ear again. "You'll be here all night, then?"

"That's the plan. I'm looking forward to it. I've been to Raw before, but I've never been backstage."

"Have you had a tour?" he asked suddenly. Of course she had. They wouldn't let a journalist in without showing her where she was and wasn't allowed.

"I was shown around a little before they led me here."

"I'm going down to Catering." He saw her eyes widen a little at the sudden announcement, and he reached to rub the back of his neck. "Would you like a bite to eat?" Then, realizing she was working, he began to backpedal. "Sorry, you probably have a thousand things to do and more guys to talk to—"

"No, I'm free for a little bit." Her freckled cheeks were now tinged with pink. "If you don't mind showing me how to get there."

Catering was in a room to itself. Finn had been told that it wasn't a regular occurrence, and sometimes a portion of the backstage area had to be sectioned off for the buffet-style tables and sitting areas. He motioned for her to precede him into the room, recognizing shyness when she faltered before doing so. He followed her, instantly glancing around for familiar faces. One table was taken up by members of the road crew, and there were a few other people spread around. A couple had earbuds in and were focused on their phones, the universal sign for wanting to be left alone. At the table furthest from the door, though, he spied two very familiar faces and began to grin.

"Excuse me," he murmured to Violet, who was staring at the laden tables with something akin to horror. She nodded and he headed over to greet his friends.

"What are you doing here?" Sami Zayn questioned with a wide grin, abandoning his food and pushing to his feet. Finn was quickly caught in a brief hug that took the wind from him, and returned it with vigor.

"Oh, you know, getting my feet wet," Finn answered evasively. He'd been given strict orders not to tell a soul. And while he knew that Sami and Kevin wouldn't breathe a word, who knew what the road crew would do? Slapping Sami on the back as they both stepped away, he turned to the man rising from the table. "Hiya, Kevin."

"Good to see you, man," Kevin Owens enthused, catching him in another hug. "You doing alright?"

"Yeah." Finn grunted at the tight squeeze, grinning when he was released.

"Did you just get here?" Sami asked as he reclaimed his seat. He pushed the empty chair next to him out in a silent invitation.

"No, I've been here a couple hours. Had a meeting with the boss. And then an interview."

"Have they pulled you into the behind the scenes thing, too?" Kevin sat down and reached for his drink. "I've got an interview in an hour."

"Oh yeah, I've got one at five," Sami interjected, spearing a piece of chicken with his fork. "They're going to be with us on the road for a couple weeks, right?"

"I think so, yeah," Finn answered, glancing back to Violet. She didn't look as though she'd moved an inch, but she was holding a bottle of Gatorade and talking to Sasha Banks. "That's her there."

Sami and Kevin both leaned to look at her, and settled back in their seats at the same time.

"How is she?" Kevin inquired.

Finn looked back again, then turned his attention to his friends. "She's good. She knows her stuff."

"So it wasn't you sitting there while she went on and on about your abs?" Sami guessed with a chuckle.

"Not hardly," Finn groaned. "It was a good interview."

Sami looked up from his plate just as Finn turned from glancing back at Violet yet again. His dark red eyebrows rose slightly, and he tilted his head to one side. Glancing from Finn to the woman across the room and back again, he cleared his throat. "Why don't you bring her over and introduce her? Huh, Kevin?"

"Yeah, sure." Kevin lifted his drink. "As long as she doesn't start going on and on about Finn's abs."

Rolling his eyes, Finn muttered that he'd be back and made his way to Violet. Sasha flashed him a brilliant smile and leaned in for a quick hug.

"I gotta go, but I'll talk to you soon," she said, poking him gently in the chest as she pulled away. Then, smiling warmly at Violet, she added, "And I'll see you tomorrow afternoon. Great meeting you."

"You too." Violet smiled in return, watching the woman leave the room. She looked to Finn, her nose wrinkling briefly. "She's nice."

"You sound surprised."

"I'm not, really," she assured, nodding when he motioned to the nearest table. "Everyone I've met today has been wonderful. But you know, sometimes it's hard to differentiate between an on-screen personalities and the actual person."

He moved his head in agreement, letting silence fall between them as he filled his plate. When she turned and glanced around, he saw another glimpse of shyness and motioned to the table where Kevin and Sami were. By the time he'd grabbed a drink she was across the room, smiling and shaking Kevin's hand. Sami was quick to pull out a chair, and Finn claimed the seat next to her.

"Are you based in the area?" Kevin was asking.

"No, I'm in Miami. That's what sold me on the job. I've wanted to live there since I was little and watched The Golden Girls."

"The what now?" Finn asked.

Violet turned to look at him, eyes wide in surprise. "You've never heard of The Golden Girls? Blanche and Dorothy and Sophia and Rose?" When he shook his head slowly, her lips parted into a small 'o' and she waved one hand. "It's only one of the greatest American sitcoms ever. It never fails to make me laugh."

"My wife watches it sometimes," Kevin announced. "It's pretty funny, man, you should check it out."

"You wanted to move to Miami because of a TV show?" Sami inquired after a moment.

Violet nodded, li fting her paper napkin to cover her mouth as she chewed. "It always seemed so fun, you know? The wicker furniture and lots of windows… And cheesecake to solve life's problems."

"Where are you from originally?" Finn asked.

"I was born in Pennsylvania, but we moved to Atlanta when I was little." She was looking at Kevin. "I was looking at your tweets earlier. You have two kids?"

"Two angels," Kevin confirmed with a smile. The smile that, Finn knew, only came out when he spoke of his wife or children. It was the same smile that lit up his brothers' faces when they talked of their own kids. Kevin was pulling out his wallet.

Finn smiled, looking to his plate. He was always amused by the fact the man kept snapshots of his wife and children in his wallet, when he had a phone not six inches from his hand that was loaded with photos of them. Amused and touched, because he knew most men didn't keep anything but money, ID, and cards in their wallets. He knew he didn't. Of course he didn't have a family.

Yet.

"Well, if we're sharing pics of our kids…" Sami reached for his phone.

Finn looked up in time to see Violet jerk her head in Sami's direction. "You have kids?" she blurted.

"Two," he informed with a vigorous nod. "Doyle and Marky."

Lowering his head, Finn snorted on a laugh, aware of Kevin doing the same across from him. And, seconds later, he heard Violet begin to giggle.

"I can definitely see the resemblance," she managed, handing Sami's phone back to him. "Especially… Doyle, right? He has your…Nose. And Marky definitely has your… Whiskers. I really—"

Whatever else she was going to say was lost in a huge snort of laughter, which only caused Finn and Kevin to laugh harder. Finn could feel curious looks being sent in their direction but was powerless to stop the laughter, especially when Sami joined in. It felt good, to laugh so freely, and Finn felt some of his anxiety for the night ahead begin to slip away.

Once the humor had died down and they had resumed eating, Finn quietly listened in as Violet chatted amiably with the two other men. He felt no need to interject, occasionally nodding when one of them glanced in his direction for confirmation of a statement. By doing so, he was able to learn several tidbits about the woman next to him.

She'd become a fan of wrestling as a little girl, when she'd found it on TV one Saturday morning. She'd loved writing since her first years in school, and joining her two loves in a blog had made sense. She had been on the CultureFeed staff for three years. She had no pets, but she did have a small cactus on her desk at home, and she'd named it Ricardo.

Ricardo the cactus. Finn almost began laughing again.

"You'll be on the road with us how long?" Sami asked. He and Kevin had finished eating, but neither of them seemed in a hurry to leave.

"From today until the SmackDown after SummerSlam." Violet laid her napkin on her plate and reached for her drink. "So I'm sure you'll get sick of me."

"Will you be returning to Miami on off days?" This from Kevin.

"No, I'll actually be staying in Orlando. I've gotten permission to do a little bit on NXT and the Performance Center, so I'll be there getting what I can." She pushed that same lock of hair behind her ear yet again. "From what Triple H – er, Hunter – said, I'm getting a chance that most journalists don't get. It's not going to be some tell-all exposé, but I want to show as many sides as I can. A lot of fans just see the excitement. The bright lights and pyrotechnics and thousands of people screaming for their favorite. I want to be able to show a little of what fans don't get to see. The hours in the gym, the long rides to the next city, things like that."

"I don't think fans understand what goes into the few hours they see every week," Sami mused. "And some fans don't even know about house shows."

"They don't," Violet agreed. "A couple of people I work with think you guys only go out for one or two matches a week and that's it. They don't realize how unending the schedule is. And I think… Well, I hope, that I'll be able to get some of that across. I'm not saying I know everything, or even that I can fully understand what you go through on a weekly basis. But I do know that I want to know as much as I can, and I know that a lot of fans want to know, too."

"It's not glamorous," Finn said, and when three faces turned in his direction he realized it was the first time he'd spoken in quite a while. "But most of us aren't here for the glamour."

Sami and Kevin were nodding.

"Why are you here?" Violet questioned softly.

"Because I'm insane." It was an honest answer. He'd said before that a person had to be insane to do his job. Propping his elbows on the table, he rested his chin on one hand "And because I love it. I love wrestling."

"Yeah," Sami agreed. "Except for a few that were born into it, we're all just fans at heart. We took it to the extreme, but we do it because we love it."

"And we've made friendships that will never die," Kevin added. "I've known Sami for ages, and Finn for a few years. If I'd pursued something else, I wouldn't have them in my life." He smiled. "I wouldn't be able to tour the world doing something I love with people I love."

"Amen to that." Finn was grinning now. "Even when I'm fuc—" He glanced to Violet and cleared his throat. "Even when I'm exhausted and only have an hour to spare, I like to get out and see the sites."

"I go see the zoos," Kevin chuckled.

"I've never been to a zoo," Violet murmured.

Finn watched Kevin's face slip into a mask of disbelief.

"You've never been to the zoo?" he asked, his tone that of a man who'd just been told someone had never seen an airplane.

"No…" Violet's cheeks were rosy pink. "I feed the ducks and geese in the park sometimes, but that's as close to wild animals as I've ever been."

Before Kevin could comment further, she looked to her watch and made a small noise of surprise.

"I have to get back," she said, pushing her chair back. She reached for her empty plate, but Finn pulled it out of her reach.

"I'll get it," he promised.

"Thanks." Getting to her feet, she sent a smile around the table. "And thanks for the talk. I'll see you around."

Finn rose as well, catching the chair when she bumped into it and nearly sent it toppling. "We'll finish up the rest of the questions soon, yeah?"

"Tomorrow, if you can spare the time." She flashed him a shy smile. "Thanks again."

He watched her go, deciding he would definitely be able to spare the time. When he turned back to get the trash, he found Sami watching him curiously, and Kevin studying the screen of his phone.

"She's nice," Sami pointed out, stretching before he stood. "What are you doing?"

"Never been to a zoo," Kevin muttered. Glancing up, he looked to the empty chair then back at her phone. "I've got to go have an interview with someone who's never been to a zoo…"

"Cheer up," Finn laughed, clapping Kevin on the back. "She's fed the ducks and geese at the park."

Sami nodded enthusiastically, also clapping Kevin's back. "And she probably won't bring up Finn's abs!"

"Thank you so much," Violet said again, waving goodbye to Charlotte as the statuesque blonde left the room. Once she was gone, she released a sigh and rubbed the back of her neck, moving to help Steve pack up. "All I've done is ask questions half the day and I'm exhausted."

"You'll feel better after a good night's sleep," Steve assured.

"Good night's sleep," she muttered, taking the memory card from the camera and stowing it in her backpack. "By the time we get to the next town, get checked in, and get into our rooms, we might have five hours of sleep."

"Six if we're lucky."

Steve was older, mid-forties she was sure, but had the energy of men half his age. Violet was slightly jealous that he seemed to have more energy than she did. His work in photojournalism sent him to various places across the country on a regular basis, though, whereas she tended to sit behind a desk day in and day out. She was glad he'd requested to join her on the assignment. Boundless energy aside, he was nice. And for some reason, his graying hair and the reading glasses perpetually tucked atop his head comforted her. Probably because he resembled a kindly librarian. And she'd always had a soft spot for librarians.

"Got everything?" she asked for the second time once the camera was packed away and she had her own things tucked into her backpack. Needing to be especially sure, she reopened the bag and triple-checked that she had her pens, her notebooks. Her wallet. The camera's memory card, so she could go over the footage on her laptop. Her laptop… Where was her laptop? She whirled around, breathing a sigh of relief when she spotted it on the table next to the door. Just as she was crossing to get it, a man filled the doorway.

"Just the person I was looking for," Kevin Owens announced, mopping sweat from his brow with a towel. There was a faint trace of blood next to his nose, and when he brought the towel over his face it disappeared.

"Me?" Violet was surprised. Why would anyone be looking for her?

"Yeah, I had a couple questions. Hey, man, how's it going?" he said to Steve, who was shouldering the camera bag.

Questions? For her? Stumped, Violet lightly hugged the laptop to her chest and nodded when Steve sent her a curious look. "You go ahead. I'll be out in a few minutes.

"Sure thing."

Kevin stepped aside to let him go, then turned to Violet with a quick smile. "Are you driving out tonight?"

"Yes." It made more sense to leave right after the show, as opposed to potentially oversleeping and having to speed to get to the next venue on time. Not that she had a set schedule, but she had to get as much material as possible in a short amount of time.

"Most people do," he said, leaning against the table and rubbing the towel over his head to catch more perspiration.

"Did you just have a match?" she guessed. Stuck backstage as she was, she hadn't been able to watch Raw. She would have to stream it from her DVR back home on her laptop. All she knew was that Finn Bálor had made his main roster debut. To everyone's excitement, going by the reactions of the people she'd interviewed. As he was one of her favorite wrestlers from NXT, she was sad she'd missed seeing it live.

"Yeah. Dark match." Looping the towel around his neck, he gripped either end and looked at her. "Do you have plans in the morning before getting to the arena?"

"Not really," she answered after a few seconds of thought. Mainly wondering why he was so curious. "I want to go over the interviews I did tonight, but it doesn't have to be done first thing. …Why?"

"I'm going to the Metro Zoo. I went last year, but they've got new cheetah cubs that the public can finally see in the exhibit. So, what do you say?"

"Huh?" She winced at the sound that came from her mouth. It resembled the angry honks of the geese at the park she visited occasionally. Exhaling from the corner of her mouth, she gave her head a slight shake. "I'm sorry, what?"

"It's a nice zoo. Small. Plenty of shade, which is nice this time of year. You want to go?"

She stared at him. This large, serious, somewhat bear of a man was inviting her to go to the zoo. The zoo, of all places. Hugging the laptop closer to her, she wondered why exactly he wanted her to go. Sure, their interview had gone well. He was a likeable guy. Serious about his work and mindful of the hard work it had taken him to get to where he was. And as intimidating as he was, he was modest and almost jovial. Blinking slowly, she was about to vocalize her question when his eyes widened.

"Hey, I'm not asking you on a date," he chuckled. "A couple of the guys are coming, too. Just a few hours of relaxation before we get back to the grind. You can take pictures and put it in your show if you want."

"The zoo," she murmured, unable to keep the smile from pulling at her lips.

"Everyone needs to get to one at least once in their life." He tilted his head. "What do you say?"

She wanted to say he didn't have to go to so much trouble. She wanted to say she thought he was slightly insane for inviting a perfect stranger along. She wanted to ask who the couple of guys were. But, mostly, she wanted to go. It wasn't something she would have ventured to do of her own volition. Smile growing, she began to nod before she could come up with a reason to say no. "I say sure. It sounds like fun."

"It will be." He grinned and slid off the table, then asked which hotel she was going to be staying at. "Perfect," he said when she told him. "We'll meet you in the lobby at nine."

"I'll be there. Thank you," she added.

"No problem. See you tomorrow, I gotta go call my wife."

Nice guy, she thought as she slipped the laptop into her backpack. She looked around to make sure she hadn't left anything out, then left the room and made her way towards the exit. The hubbub she'd witnessed earlier had died down drastically. All the signs taped up, denoting which way to go for whatever one was looking for, were gone. Crewmembers and techs were winding cables and wheeling crates. When she passed the room that Catering had been in, she glanced inside and saw it empty and dark. She rounded a corner, spying a large tub of ice that contained bottles of water and a few sodas. Certain she was headed in the right direction when she saw a few men ahead of her, she watched them go through a door and welcomed the balminess of a summer's night.

"Sorry, excuse me," she said when she bumped into the man in front of her. He'd stopped suddenly, and she quickly stepped back, one hand reaching to rub the end of her nose, which had slammed into the side of his backpack.

He turned, and she recognized his profile before he fully looked at her. He pushed the brim of his cap back, grinning. "Hiya, Violet," he said. "Heading out?"

Why did he look so happy to see her? she wondered, even as she smiled in return. "Yeah, heading out. I didn't mean to walk into you."

"My fault." He held up his phone. "I get to reading tweets and forget what I'm doing."

"Your notifications must be going crazy tonight," she mused, adjusting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "I'll have to watch your debut when I get to the next town."

"So will I. I don't really remember any of it," he admitted.

She took a step forward, smiling when he did the same. "Was it a 'blink and you miss it' sort of thing?"

"No, I don't think so. It was… One minute I was standing behind the curtain waiting for my cue. Then I was behind the curtain again talking to Tom. I remember people cheering like I'm a big star…" He shrugged, the movement causing his arm to lightly bump against hers as they walked.

"You are a big star," she murmured.

"Not really, no." He shook his head, reaching to hold the door open for her. Once they were outside, he released a breath. "Warrior, Flair, Bret Hart… Dusty… They're the big stars. They made this business what it is today. I'm just a skinny kid from Ireland."

"You don't think of yourself as a star?"

"Nah." In the glow of the lights of the back parking lot, his eyes twinkled. "It's nice, being recognized for my work, but I can't ever let it get to my head. Especially when there are so many others greater than me out there. I'm just a lucky one."

"It's more than luck," she insisted. Looking across the parking lot, she saw the small car she and Steve had rented. The trunk was open, and Steve was leaning against the passenger door. "And I better get going."

"See you tomorrow," Finn said. "You looking forward to the zoo?"

She'd made a few steps away from him, but that had her turning back. "How did you know about that?"

He began to grin again, eyebrows wiggling, and she allowed herself a few seconds to take in the sight of him. She'd always thought him handsome, but he was even more so in person. His ash gray t-shirt was snug across the shoulders and upper arms, and she let her gaze sweep down over the loose black shorts, slim legs, and gleaming white sneakers.

Handsome and well-dressed, she thought, recalling the black button-down shirt and slacks he'd been wearing when she'd interviewed him earlier. It really should be a crime. She pushed her mind back to the question at hand, though, and tapped one foot against the pavement. "How did you know?"

"A not-so-little birdie told me." He chuckled. "You'll have a great time, lass. We'll see to it."

"We?" she repeated, realization dawning when his teeth flashed in a quick grin. Of course. She should have known that Kevin would invite Finn and Sami along. "Oh. Right."

"See you in the morning, then." He tipped his head. "Get plenty of rest."

"See you," she echoed, watching him walk away. With a shake of her head, she headed in the direction of her and Steve's car. And with each step that took her across the parking lot, she told herself it was just three nice guys being exactly that: nice. Nothing more.

She made a half-hearted attempt at insisting on driving, but Steve was already climbing into the driver's seat by the time she stowed her bag in the backseat. Settling in the passenger side, she murmured agreement when Steve suggested stopping for gas and drinks before hitting the highway. Once they were on the road, each with a few snacks and icy drinks, Steve turned the radio to a classic rock station.

"Good first day?" he asked, adjusting the volume so he could be heard over the song playing.

"Good first day," she said with a smile. "I got a lot of interviews done, which is the main thing I wanted to get done first. We've got a few to do tomorrow."

"I'll set up the camera for you then get some footage of other things," he promised. "Hey, kid, don't worry. This is going to turn out great."

"I hope so."

"I know so. You know your stuff. And you've got more permission that I would have gotten at your age. Plus, you're just damn good."

Violet smiled, rolling an M&M between her fingers. She hoped she was 'damn good'. The things she'd seen and heard while backstage had made her realize she didn't know so much about the business after all. Her perceptions had been skewed when she saw things from a fan's point of view. She'd let her assumptions cloud her judgment, especially when it came to some of the talent. A couple she'd always viewed as just being in the company because of their family or other connections had talked of being turned away time and time again, and being sent off for further training before they could accomplish their dream of standing in a WWE ring. Not to mention just how much went on backstage… She doubted that she would get used to so many people going to and fro, everything seemingly in chaos but managing to fall into place at the last second, even if she were to follow the tour around the world for a year.

She hadn't been involved in the to and fro, or the chaos, but she was exhausted. Traversing the labyrinth of corridors, just to go to the restroom, had made her realize just how out of shape she was. And so many of the people she watched on TV every week had jogged back and forth, as though they were just trotting down to get the morning paper. Her feet hurt. Her legs hurt. Her favorite jeans, the one she reached for because they were broken in and comfortable, were now itchy and too snug. And she could feel a blister forming on her big toe.

Even so, she was excited. She looked forward to learning more, to getting more insight from the people who did this week in and week out for the entire year. Just as she looked forward to making a good impression on her bosses. The hipsters that thought pro-wrestling was barbaric and archaic. She would work her abundant ass off to produce a stellar series of documentaries for the website. And maybe, just maybe, she would catch the attention of a more reputable news source.

Maybe.

She hoped.

She dreamed.

A/N: CultureFeed is obviously ripped from two somewhat popular sites... Because I'm lame and couldn't come up with anything better.