A/N: As promised, this is sort of a response to/continuation of my other short story, "I Told You So." I wrote this to account for Seth's actions (in my eternal optimism) regarding his attack on Dean during Smackdown 7/24/2014.
For reference, the italicized section is strictly formatted for clarity, just so that you know it's mentioning an earlier time; I didn't feel that separating it by lines would be appropriate.
Hope you guys all like it, and feel free to let me know what you think in the reviews :)
Seth could feel the hot breath on his neck, sending an involuntary shiver down his spine, as Triple H leaned over his shoulder to watch the monitor. "Remember what we talked about Rollins," Hunter quietly growled in his ear. Seth could only manage a nod as he began to bounce on the balls of his feet, his throat suddenly feeling constricted and dry.
Seth took his position, preparing himself from something he'd been trying to avoid since this all started, and as the heavy black curtains parted, Seth glanced back over his shoulder. "I'll be watching," Triple H mouthed before turning his full attention back to the screen. Rollins felt his stomach do a little flip as he plastered a confident sneer on his face, launching himself into the brightly lit arena.
Lights and boos assaulted him fiercely as Seth charged towards Dean. As he'd hoped, Dean attacked, throwing Seth over the timekeeper's barricade. Seth silently praised Dean because disregarding Seth would buy the smaller man much need time. To him, the longer he could keep himself away from Ambrose without drawing suspicion, the happier they'd both be.
Seth pretended to claw his way up the barricade, just in time to watch in horror as Dean sailed through the air, landing on a pile of steel chairs, courtesy of Cesaro's suplex. Seth cringed as he heard the impact, watching his brother writhe in pain. Every instinct in Seth screamed at him to go help Dean, save Dean. Instead, Seth could only grip the edge of the barrack until the aching in his fingers distracted him from his instinctual yearnings to protect his family. Harder than not helping, was trying to suppress the smile that tugged viciously at his lips as Dean neatly rolled Cesaro up for the win shortly thereafter.
Bell sounding off for Dean's victory, Seth reluctantly sprung over the barricade to attack his best friend. As Seth began attacking Dean, who was propped up in the corner of the ring, it was one of Seth's greatest tests of will ever, to keep from intervening on Dean's behalf when Cesaro felt the need to get a vicious hit in as well. Thankfully, Cesaro didn't stay long, and Seth could focus solely on giving Triple H a convincing display of brutality. He made sure to make a good show of it this time, as he tried to make his weak kicks to Dean's face look as brutal as possible. Needless to say, he didn't need a repeat of Battleground...
Seth had fancied himself pretty sneaky as he'd driven away from Battleground after his third impromptu battle with Ambrose. However, after Raw the following night, he'd found his actions in question as Triple H berated him for holding back on Ambrose during their pay-per-view attacks. Triple H must have finally watched the rerun, Seth had thought. To the average fan, Seth's attacks had looked legit, but to experienced wrestlers like Triple H...well, they could instantly spot when things seemed off. Seth tried his best to put Hunter at ease by insisting that he was indeed on The Authority's side, and that he'd truly had aimed to hurt Ambrose at Battleground. To Seth's dismay, Triple H, in response, had decided to pull a page from The Shield's playbook: "Prove it," Triple H had told him with a sneer. "You boys used to say actions speak louder than words, so prove your loyalties on Smackdown. I'll even set up the perfect opportunity for you. I'll put Ambrose in a no disqualification match. All you have to do to prove your loyalty is to go out after the match and do whatever you think will impress me."
What was more impressive than attacking my brother after a brutal match? Seth thought sarcastically as he finally left the ring with Dean's prone body in the middle of it after Seth's signature "curb-stomp." He'd hoped he'd done enough damage for one night to suit Triple H.
Seth felt remorse as he sauntered up the ramp, refusing to look back at his brother who would undoubtedly be surrounded by referees and trainers. He had to keep reminding himself over and over again that the ends justified the means, while fiercely shoving down the small voice that asked, "Do they really?"
As he parted the curtains and submerged himself into the darkness that was the backstage area, Triple H made a beeline for him, a huge grin radiating from the big man. "Good job kid. I think you made your point," Triple H said with a happy smirk as he gave Rollins a few pats on the back. "Sorry we ever doubted you."
Seth puffed himself up with false pride. "No problem Hunter. I'm just glad I had a chance to prove you wrong."
Triple H nodded happily as Seth excused himself, claiming that he needed to shower off. In truth, Seth couldn't bear to see Dean come through the curtain in pain–some that Seth himself had caused. He knew it'd be near impossible to keep himself from comforting Dean, even in front of Triple H. The only small comfort Seth had as he quickly walked back to his locker room, doing his best to avoid the hateful glares of his co-workers, was that at least Roman would be there to pick up the pieces of their best friend. At least Dean wasn't truly alone...not like Seth.
When Seth finally shut his locker room door on all the prying, glaring eyes, he leaned against it, feeling immensely relieved to have a private moment to himself. Then, he felt something else. Barely making it in time, Seth's lunch decided to make a reappearance. This was the first real time that Seth had launched an unprovoked attack on Ambrose. Sure, he'd interfered in some matches, but he'd ran away each time just as quickly as he'd run down to the ring. This time though, there had been no running, and no pulling punches, not with Triple H watching so intently. And now that Seth had successfully completed an unprovoked attack on Dean, Seth wondered if he'd suddenly crossed a line that he couldn't come back from? He wondered how much longer he could keep this act up for? He felt his stomach lurch with each questioning thought.
Seth let the cold of the bathroom tiles seep into him until he was shivering against the icy porcelain, unsure whether the chill of the tiles, or something deeper, racked his body. His only thoughts, as he tried to still his rolling stomach and pull himself back together, centered on one question: is it all really worth it?
A/N: I'm not sure about everyone else, but as I watch the feud between these two, and as I stubbornly cling to my optimism, I feel that every episode can be seen in a more hopeful light...like I could write a piece like this in response to each. If enough people show interest in these first two pieces, I'd definitely consider writing more like it as the feud continues, so let me know what think and if anyone would be interested in more stories following along the lines of this one and "I Told You So" :)