A/N: So I promised I wouldn't start a new story until I finished Lasting Legacy, but this is a one shot so it doesn't count! Just my way of saying Happy New Year from myself, oh and the Shield. Hope for all of you, 2016 is a good one!
Quick note. This story does take place within the Lasting Legacy universe but is not designed to be a companion piece. All you need to know to understand this is that in this iteration, Dusty Rhodes was very instrumental in creating the Shield.
Enjoy!
December 31, 2012
Seth had found himself in an extraordinarily good mood and as he made his way back to his hotel room, there were two people he wanted to share it with. They were the two people that he had shared everything with ever since they debuted on the main roster in November of that same year. So Seth took out his phone and dialed the number of one Dean Ambrose.
"Rollins," Dean answered their customary greeting.
"Ambrose," Seth responded in kind. "Listen, I've got some news, big awesome news, news that is going to change everything for us. So, come to my room when you can, okay?"
"Mmm, can't," Dean replied. "Roman and I are deep in a game of Go Fish. So your news will have to wait."
Seth rolled his eyes. "Well that's one less call that I have to make but really? Go Fish? You're two grown men and you're playing Go Fish?"
"Shut up jackass," Dean said. "We're bonding."
"Oh," Seth smiled. "Well in that case, play away."
As odd as it was to Seth that two adults would bond over a game of Go Fish, he was just happy that Roman and Dean were finally doing something together and without being forced.
He knew how difficult it had been for the two to bond ever since the trio came up in the WWE as the Shield. They were night and day when it came to their personalities and it seemed to cause clashes more often than not. It kind of seemed like they would never get along and given the trio's attempts to become the most dominant faction in WWE history, this was a bit concerning.
So it didn't matter that they had somehow found a way to bond over a child's game. At least they were bonding. It was a step in the right direction and one that was going to make what was about to come next for the boys, that much sweeter.
"I don't want to interrupt your fun, but when you're done, just come to my room, this news can't wait," Seth added.
"What part of 'deep in a game of Go Fish,' did you not understand?" Dean said incredulously. "Besides, we're both here in my room so majority rules. You can come to us."
Seth shrugged as he threw on his jacket. "Works for me, be up in five."
"Okay, but bring beer," Dean said.
"Wait, what?" Seth asked.
"Beer," Dean repeated. "We ran out and need more. Go Fish isn't as fun when you're borderline sober."
Seth laughed. "You guys are adults, get your own," he suggested as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm coming right from my room and I don't keep that stuff here, you know that."
Dean sighed as he moved the receiver away from his ear, but enough for Seth to hear the other conversation he was having. "No Roman, he's not bringing it," Dean responded to his friend. "He said he doesn't have any. Apparently we've adults so we should get our own.
I know. He's a square. Roman said you're a square," Dean replied back into the phone.
"Tell Roman thanks," Seth said as he turned back around to grab something from the hotel room nightstand. "Seriously, when you guys hear this news you're not going to care that I have no beer."
"I like beer Seth, so this better be good," Dean replied before hanging up.
Five minutes later, Seth was standing outside of Dean's hotel room, bag in one hand as well as a stack of papers in the other. He knocked and waited a few moments. No response so he tried again. And again, and,
"C'mon Dean, you know it's me, open up," Seth said as he held the bag up in front of the peephole.
Dean moved to the other side of the door, curious by what Seth had brought with him. "If that's not beer, then go away," he teased.
"It's better," Seth said. "Now open up."
"It's already open dumbass," Dean laughed.
Seth looked down and turned the knob. He released a deep sigh. He should have tried that first.
"You know, you guys really shouldn't leave the door unlocked," Seth said as he made a show of locking the door behind him. "Here, for your game."
Seth tossed Dean the bag. He looked inside and smiled.
"Dude when you said this was better than beer, you were making an understatement," Dean said as he held up the bottle of what happened to be the trio's favorite scotch. It was the one thing they all had in common and certainly aided in the bonding experiences of the past.
Seth smiled. "I take care of my boys."
"That you do brother," Dean said as he put his arm around Seth. "See," he added, this time addressing Roman, "that's why he is my favorite."
"I thought you guys were bonding?" Seth asked.
"We were," Dean replied as he quickly found three glasses and began pouring the scotch.
"Then I won," Roman smiled. "Bonding over."
"Oh this isn't over," Dean assured. "Once we get rid of Seth, best two out of three."
"You're on," Roman agreed as he grabbed one of the three glasses off of the table. He took a sip, enjoying the taste of the liquor and letting it linger on his tongue before swallowing. "Damn this is smooth," he said. "Oh and in case it wasn't obvious, baby bro is my favorite too."
Seth couldn't help but smile as he watched his two friends, his two brothers, finally looking like they were getting along. It had been a long road from November until now, but if things were coming together, it would have been worth it.
Seth thought about Dusty, the man who was responsible for putting the Shield together. He would have been so proud to see the guys finally getting along, even if it was only over some scotch and a card game.
"Earth to blondie," Dean said as he nudged Seth's arm, the third glass in hand. "So, what was this big, awesome news that couldn't wait until tomorrow?"
"This," Seth said as he laid the papers on the table. "It's our next job."
Seth sipped his scotch as Roman and Dean looked over the papers.
"Wait, where did you get this?" Dean asked as he looked up from the pile. He already knew the answer. It really could have only come from one place, one person. It just felt so unreal he needed Seth to confirm it.
"I know," Seth responded, completely aware of the thoughts going through Dean's mind. He had the same thoughts when he first read the latest instructions from their boss. "It's real though. Heyman handed it to me on the way out of the arena. This is our next assignment."
"It's the freakin' Rock," Dean finally said as he threw the papers causing them to scatter into a jumbled mess which Roman proceeded to straighten out. It was obvious that he was trying to process the news as well.
"He wants us to attack the Rock," Dean continued after he finished what was left in his glass before pouring himself another and taking the first sip. "Is Heyman insane or just stupid?"
"Probably a little bit of both," Seth shrugged as he finished and refilled his own glass. "But either way it doesn't matter."
"Why not?" Dean asked.
"Because we're not doing it," Roman finally spoke. "We're not attacking my cousin. That's final."
Seth nodded in agreement.
This wasn't anything he hadn't expected. The Rock was family and Roman had always spoken about the importance of family. And even though he and the great one hadn't always been close, Roman credited the Rock with helping get him into wrestling and always cited the People's Champ as one of the biggest influences in his adult life and career. There was no way he would endorse laying a smackdown on him.
"I completely agree with Ro," Seth quickly interjected, sensing the room. "I wouldn't want to attack your cousin nor would I try to force you to get on board with something like that."
All eyes turned to Dean who hadn't exactly voiced opposition to the plan.
"Let's say hypothetically we don't attack the Rock," Dean finally said, choosing his words carefully. "We can't exactly just go against Heyman's orders. He's our boss. It doesn't work that way."
"Exactly why we're here with a bottle of scotch," Seth commented. "I have a plan."
"Great, I'm all ears," Dean replied condescendingly, clearly still not sold on the idea of going against Heyman's orders.
Seth smiled. "We're not going to attack the Rock," he said, causing Roman to nod in wordless gratitude. "We're going to attack Punk."
This caused both Dean and Roman to look at Seth as if he had suddenly grown another head.
"Attack our boss?" Dean asked in disbelief. "Are you crazy?"
"Technically Punk's not our boss," Seth said nonchalantly.
Dean rolled his eyes. "My apologies," he said sarcastically. "You want us to attack our boss's client? Yeah, that sounds like a real swell idea. Great way to get our asses fired."
Seth just simply shrugged, the gesture seeming to irritate Dean.
"That's all you got, a shrug?" he questioned in frustration. "You're proposing we attack the guy who is the reason we are in the damn WWE in the first place, in a championship match, costing him the title most likely, and all you've got is a shrug? What's your end game here Rollins?"
"I shrugged because would it really be that bad if we got fired?" Seth asked, Dean's eyes widening.
"Hell yes it would be a bad thing!" he responded.
Meanwhile, Roman remained quiet, intent to fully hear out Seth's plan before making any sort of judgment.
"We all hate working for Heyman, we all hate working with Punk," Seth began his pitch. "So yeah, is this really what we want to keep doing or do we want to branch out, test the waters, make it on our own?"
It was slight, but Seth could sense a slight change in the mood of the room. Roman had seemed to be in silent agreement and it seemed Dean was coming around to the idea too. Seth wasn't really too surprised. It had only been two months, not even, and the trio had already grown tired of Punk and protecting his title. Anything to get them out from under his thumb, Seth knew the boys would be hard-pressed not to agree.
"We don't need to protect Punk's championship," he continued. "We don't need to protect anyone's championship. The thing is, we came up to the roster on Dusty's endorsement, meant to be an unstoppable force. But our first job was working for Heyman. We came up under the guise of being here to prevent injustice around the whole WWE. But have we really done that? No, we've just been Punk's bitches, doing anything Heyman asked because he dangled a few extra bucks our way. Well, I'm sick of that and I know you guys are too. I want us to go back to being what we were sent up here to be, what Dusty had envisioned when he put us together. I want us to be real hounds of justice and this is the perfect opportunity to do that, to get out from Punk's thumb. What do you say?"
"If your plan means we don't have to attack my cousin and we don't have to do any more of Heyman or Punk's bidding, count me in," Roman quickly agreed.
Dean however, was a bit of a tougher sell. He needed more details. "I want to hear your plan before I agree to anything."
"Gladly," Seth smiled. "Punk thinks we're going to attack Rock at the Royal Rumble because we're going to follow the script Heyman laid out and attack him next week and the week after. I wish we didn't have to but it's a small thing that's going to be better for all of us in the long run."
This caused Roman to take a deep breath but Seth could tell he understood. The ends would justify the means and at the end of this, Seth knew Roman and the Rock would be just fine. Especially, considering that Seth's plan resulted in Punk dropping his title to the Rock at the Royal Rumble.
Sensing he had Roman's approval, Seth continued.
"Come the Rumble, Punk is going to have no reason not to trust us so that's when we turn on him," Seth said. "Heyman has it all planned for the lights to go out about five minutes into the match. You read it. We're supposed to attack the Rock and then the lights go back on and no one is any the wiser. But here's the thing. The lights are still going to go out but we're not going to attack the Rock, we're going to attack Punk. When the lights go back on, Punk and Heyman, they won't know what hit em. And we're not going away. We're switching sides and taking the Rock's corner for the rest of the match. Punk will know right away what happened. He'll be pissed sure, but it's nothing we can't handle."
Seth paused to allow his stablemates to take everything in. He tried to read their faces. Roman was all in and Dean, well, Seth could tell he had warmed to the idea.
"So boys," Seth said as he put his feet up on the desk near where he had been sitting. "What do you think?"
"I'm in," Roman was quick to reply, sticking his fist in the air. Seth smiled before throwing out his own.
"Dean?" he asked, all eyes on the final member of the Shield.
"No more Punk, no more being anybody's bitch, actually doing what we came here to do, maybe finally making Dream proud," Dean spoke out loud as he was working things out in his mind. "That sounds like a phenomenal idea. I'm in too."
Dean placed his now empty glass on the nightstand before swinging across the bed and bumping fists with Seth and Roman.
"Great," Seth said enthusiastically. "Now, grab your coats, we're going out."
"Going out?" Roman asked. "But Dean and I have a best two out of three to finish."
Seth sighed. "Your game will still be there when we get back," he assured them. "Besides its New Year's Eve and we've got something to celebrate."
"Being done with Punk once and for all?" Dean said.
"No," Seth corrected. "That's only the beginning. It's about to be 2013 and it's going to be our year. It's going to be the year of the Shield."
"I'll drink to that!" Dean said, frowning when he noticed he had already finished what was in his glass. The gesture caused both Roman and Seth to look at each other and laugh.
"Dude, you'll drink to anything," Seth continued to laugh as he and Roman clanged their glasses together and finished their own drinks.
"Yeah, yeah," Dean replied with a smile of his own. "So, what city are we in again?"
"Chicago," Roman said without hesitation.
"Ha, perfect!" Dean smiled. "We'll drink to Punk's demise in his own home town."
"To 2013, the year of the Shield," Seth said as he lifted his glass, "may it mean we never have to work for the Paulrus and his prick of a client ever again."
"To 2013," Roman added, "May Punk feel the taste of the People's Elbow and the Rock Bottom and a killer triple powerbomb."
"Wait, I've got one," Dean interjected. "To the year of the Shield, may it be full of ass kickings, beatdowns, and a whole lot of injustices righted. Oh and brotherhood," Dean smiled as he winked at Roman.
"May it be a year of us finally bringing Dream's creation to fruition," Seth said in conclusion.
Dean and Roman both nodded. "To Dusty," the two said in unison, empty glasses in the air.
"To Dusty," Seth added, clanging his glass against theirs, no doubt symbolizing the triple fist bump that had come to represent the friendship, the brotherhood that the three were only beginning to develop.
The trio, already a little buzzed, opted to stay in, watching the New Year's festivities on TV.
Seth watched as Roman and Dean continued to bond over the scotch and over their game of Go Fish, which had gone from best two out of three to best five out of seven. They had really gotten into it.
He couldn't help but smile as he watched the ball drop and the clock strike midnight. That's when his phone buzzed, notifying him of a text.
"Happy 2013 Shield boys! You're gonna do great things this year, you better believe it. Just remember, when you've got nothing else, you've got each other. Continue making me proud!"
Of course it would be from Dusty. It was as if he already knew, as if he could tell that this was finally going to be the year where the Shield went from someone else's lackeys to the real heroes of the WWE. They were going to make him proud if nothing else and they were going to do it together, as brothers.
For the first time since the trio was brought together back in 2012, Seth actually believed it. He believed in the Shield and he believed in the incredible things they had ahead of them, the amazing year they were destined to have.
"Happy New Year," Seth said as he took the final swig of the bottle of scotch.