Disclaimer: Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins are the property of the WWE and/or the actors / sports entertainers that portray them. I have no legal rights to them at all. This story is a tribute only and not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Original characters mentioned here are creations from my own head only and any resemblance to any real people, living or dead is purely coincidental.

This story is a sequel to Chasing The Moonlight, which can be found at my page (I tried to link it here, but apparently, you can't even link things within the site around here) While it isn't absolutely necessary to read Chasing the Moonlight before this one (I do offer a summary) I do feel it will add to the enjoyment and understanding of the story if you read Chasing the Moonlight first.

Dreamer of Pictures

Chapter One

As Roman looked at the neat little ranch house, he was unable to suppress a grin. After over a year of looking, they had found her, the Elusive One, as she had come to be nicknamed by himself and his fiance.

"Are you nervous?"

He looked over in the passenger's seat, where Seth, his former partner in Shield was unbuckling his seat belt. "A little," he admitted. "I don't know anything about this girl, except from what Dean told us and what Jessica found out, when she took over our search." He unbuckled his own seat belt and removed the keys from the ignition. "I know her name is Cinnamon Nolan, she dated Dean somewhere back in 2004 to 2005. She went to college on a scholarship for one year, but dropped out after she and Dean broke up. And that she moved to West Virginia, to this very house, whose driveway we are parked in right this second."

"Yep," Seth said, nodding. "And now we go and see her...and let her know about Dean. And possibly about the dog."

The dog. That was the rub of the whole situation. Apparently, at least from Dean's point of view, he and Cinnamon had an almost perfect relationship, with only one big bone of contention, Cinnamon's dog, a boxer named Rocky. According to Dean, Rocky had been a rescue from a puppy mill and the early beginning had lead to a dog who constantly barked, howled, and in general, acted insecure. Normally, Cinnamon was so indulgent that she never really even noticed her dog was, as Dean had put it, "A total pain in the ass." But, when her exams came, Rocky's habit of waking her up several times a night, just because he was barking, started taking its toll.

Exhausted from both exams and being kept up half the night by a nervous dog, Cinnamon had made a huge mistake and left chicken bones in a place where Rocky found them. Dean had been the one to discover the dog after Cinnamon had gone to her school library to study and fallen asleep instead. And when Dean found the dog, poor Rocky had paid the ultimate price for his stupidity, a bone had punctured his throat and he was past the point of being saved.

So, Dean had shot the dog. Possibly to put him out of his misery, although it wasn't known if that was necessary, but also so he could tell her the truth, that he had shot the dog, although he still had to lie about his reasons. Cinnamon had lost her parents two years previous in an accident that wasn't her fault, but she had been driving, and Dean knew she felt responsible, even if she was blameless. He knew if she found out it was her stupidity and neglect that had killed Rocky, he was afraid she'd go off the deep end. So, he had shot the dog, told her that he had done it because the stupid dog kept her awake at night. His idea worked, she believed him, but, as he also knew, she told him to get out of her life. He had done as she requested and except for a promo he had shot where he talked about shooting his girlfriend's dog, he had never even spoken of the incident. That was, until a game of, "What's the craziest thing you've ever done for a girl," a simple way to pass time on a long car trip had caused him to tell Roman and Seth the story.

When he had finished, Roman and Seth had seriously considered trying to find Cinnamon, knowing that Dean was still hurting over her. They had made some attempts, but it wasn't easy. They had been Shield back then, and always seemed to be together, which meant that Dean was likely to interrupt any internet searches or phone calls to talk to colleges where she might have been a student. Then, Shield had broken up, thing had gotten crazy for all of them, and finding Cinnamon had been forgotten.

Then Jessica found out about the search and offered to take over. And unlike Roman, Jessica had something that resembled a normal schedule, and started looking actively, never having to worry about Dean walking in on her. It had taken her less than a month to track her down. "Her name is Cinnamon, that sure didn't hurt," Jessica had explained when she told him the good news. "I mean, there are more Cinnamon's out there than you may think, but it wasn't impossible. And once I found out her last name, I was able to track her to West Virginia. She's not even the only Cinnamon Nolan, but I'm over 90% sure this is the Cinnamon we're looking for."

"What are we going to do if this isn't the Cinnamon we want?" Seth asked, as they got out of the car. "I mean, I know Jess is pretty confident, but she wasn't totally certain."

Roman looked at the other car in the driveway. "I'm pretty sure this is it," he remarked.

"Oh?"

Roman pointed to the car. On the back was a bumper sticker with three big letters, WVW. Under that, in a jagged, edgy script were the words, "West Virginia Wrestling." "Dean said they met when he was working for the independents. She likes the smaller leagues."

Seth nodded. "Then, there's only one thing to do, knock on the door."

"Yup."

The climbed the steps on to the little front porch, It wasn't a big house, but it was neat and trim looking, white vinyl siding and blue trim and shutters. It spoke of an owner that may not have had a lot, but what she did have, she took care of. "Maybe we should have called," Seth pondered as Roman reached for the doorbell.

"Nope, we agreed, face to face is the best," Roman said, as he rang the bell.

Less than a minute later, the door was flung open by-

By-

By-

Roman and Seth both blinked, looked at each other, then back at the door. The person who had opened it was a smaller, younger, version of Dean.

Well, not exactly. He had copper colored hair, and green eyes, but other than that, he looked exactly as they would have pictured Dean looking when he was a young boy. Same mouth, same nose, and while the color was different, the shape of the eyes was the same.

"We joked about having kids," Dean's voice came into Roman's head. "She wanted them to look exactly like me. But I wanted them to have her hair and eye color." Dean, he though, I think you both got your wish.

He and Seth were not the only ones staring, the child was staring at them, too, those intense green eyes, so green they almost looked as if he was wearing tinted contacts, wide in shock. "You're-you're," he stuttered. "You're Shield!" This last word was said with an almost worshipful reverence.

"Part, yes," Roman said, grinning at the boy, then asking, "Is your Mother home?"

"Yeah, I'll go get her." The boy turned to run, then stopped and turned back. "Don't move, okay? Don't move. I'll be right back." He turned again, stopped and turned once more looking at Seth. "You're a jerk!" he said, then once again, turned, but this time ran from the doorway, yelling, "Mom! Mom!" You're not going to believe this, but Shield is at the door! Mom!"

Seth turned to Roman and in a mock serious tone said, "Shot down by a kid, I'm hurt."

Roman shrugged. "You should be, you jerk. Thanks to you, trust is dead to me now." His tone was deadly serious, but anyone looking at him would have seen the gleam in his eyes.

"U still mad, Bro?" Seth quipped back.

"I'm getting over it." Roman said in the same monotone voice, "Just remember, you ruined my life."

Meanwhile, they could still hear the boy yelling for his mother, loudly telling her who was at the door. A few moments later, a woman's voice joined the boys. "Really? And I suppose John Cena is with them? Maybe Randy Orton?"

"I don't think so, let me check!" The boy's head appeared again from the other side of the screen door. "No!" He hollered. "They aren't there!"

"It's just part of The Shield," Roman called in through the door. "Just the Powerhouse and the Traitor."

"Hey!" Seth protested.

If Seth was going to say anything else, it was interrupted by the appearance of a tall, lean woman with hair and eyes the same color as the smaller version of Dean. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that had the same lettering as the bumper sticker on her car. When she saw Roman and Seth at the screen door, she hurried over and opened it. "Mox?"

It was only one word, but Roman could hear the worry, the fear, no, worse than fear, the terror, in her voice. Of course, he thought. She must be assuming something terrible has happened and that's why we're here. "He's fine," he assured her. "He doesn't know we're here."

She breathed a visible sigh of relief, and Roman wasn't sure if it was just because he had assured her Dean was okay, or if it was also because of his assurance that Dean didn't know of this visit. "Won't you come in?" she asked.

Both Seth and Roman stepped in the door, which also meant they stepped right into the living room. The place was too small to have an official entry way. But the living room was comfortable looking, furnished with a couple of oversized sofas and a recliner.

"See, Mom, I told you Shield was at the door!" the boy said, his voice accusatory.

"Yes, you did, Neil," she agreed and turned to Seth and Roman. She motioned to the living room in a sweeping gesture. "Please, have a seat. I'll be right back." She disappeared into the kitchen.

Neil Young, Roman thought. Her parents were huge Neil Young fans, that's why she was named Cinnamon.

They sat down on either ends of one of the sofas. Neil was practically dancing around in excitement, hopping from one foot to another. "I can't believe it, you guys are in my living room. Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!" And before either man could say anything, he continued, "Where's Dean? I went out for Halloween dressed like him. Me and my friends, Cory and Sam, we went as The Shield. I know you guys broke up, but Mom said it was fine. I went as Dean. Why isn't Dean with you?"

"Dean had things to do," Roman said, which was the truth. He omitted the part about how Dean had no idea where he and Seth were and might not be happy if he did know. "But he'll be on Raw tonight."

"On TV," Neil said, sighing, it's not the same. Then, he perked right up again. "Hang on!" He ran out of the room and returned seconds later with a photograph. "This is us, being you guys." He handed Roman a photograph in a black and orange frame that was decorated with pumpkins and bats.

Roman took the picture and looked at it. Three kids, wearing pretty good versions of their old Shield outfits were posed for the camera, arms outstretched in the old "Shield brotherhood" pose. Neil was in the middle and it really did look like someone had de-aged Dean, especially because his hair had been slicked back how Dean wore his hair back when they were Shield, so it was harder to see the coppery color. The small Seth wasn't that bad, although not nearly as good as small Dean. But they had drawn on some facial hair and used one of those cans of temporary spray dye to give the proper two toned hair look. Sure, it was much more yellow than blond, but no one would have trouble recognizing who the boy was trying to imitate.

Then there was his own counterpart. Seth had leaned over to look and was trying not to laugh. "You have to admit, the hair is perfect,"

Roman's counterpart was a girl. She was scowling and she was too young to have a noticeably different build from a boy. They had even drawn on the right facial hair, but it was so obvious this was a girl and a very cute one at that. But, Seth was right, the hair was very similar. It was even wet, looking like his did when he went to the ring.

"That's why we let Sam be you," Neil explained. "Because of the hair. We didn't use water though, Mom was afraid we'd catch cold with the water. So, that's coconut oil. It never dried, so our hair looked wet all night!"

I'll have to remember that, Roman thought to himself, only half kidding. If a match was too long, his hair sometimes had a chance to dry before it was finished and he had taken some grief over how "pretty" his hair looked when it dried.

"It's a great oil treatment too," Cinnamon said, coming in the living room with a tray containing a pitcher of amber liquid and three glasses. "Neil's hair was ever so soft and shiny after we washed it out."

"Mom!" Neil rolled his eyes in embarrassment.

Cinnamon put the tray on the coffee table, a large, square piece that served as a coffee table for both couches. "Help yourselves," she said, motioning to the pitcher.

Roman looked and grinned. "Sweet tea?"

She grinned back. "Close enough. I admit, I don't use white sugar, I use honey and I use about a third of the amount. The stuff they call Sweet Tea 'round here tastes like syrup it's so sweet." She turned to Neil, "I know this is going to really disappoint you, but I called Mrs. Williams and she's expecting you to go over there."

Neil frowned. "When?"

"Now," Cinnamon said. "She's making a batch of Tollhouse cookies and she needs an official taste tester." She looked over at Seth and Roman, "Mrs. Williams lives next door and she's Neil's surrogate grandmother."

Neil's frown turned into a full on scowl that was almost the spit of Dean's, his upper lip curling up. "Mom," he said, his voice trembling, "Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins are in my living room! I'm not going anywhere!"

"Yes, you are, young man," Cinnamon's voice was firm and confident, as if she knew this was a battle she would win. Roman was impressed. As a parent himself, he often found himself comparing the methods and results he and Jessica used with other parents. He wondered if he himself would have been as confident that he would be able to get Leah to leave the house if, say, Elsa and Anna from Frozen had been sitting in their living room.

"But Mooooom," Neil whined, looking a little less angry and his voice taking on a wheedling tone instead. "Roman Reigns! Seth Rollins! Two members of The Shield are in my living room! Okay, so Dean Ambrose isn't here, which stinks, 'cause he's my favorite, but still, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins!"

"Yes," Cinnamon said firmly. "I am aware of that. And I know you want to talk to them, but we have adult issues to discuss and you are not allowed to be here for that. Now, if we finish the discussion and they still have time, I will call up Mrs. Williams and ask her to send you home so you can talk to them some more. But only if they have time. They might not."

"But Mooooooom," Neil whined, but part of Roman sensed the boy knew he was fighting a losing battle. "I haven't even shown them my wrestling ring!" He turned to Roman and Seth. "It's in the back yard and it's pretty real, my friends from WVW built it for my birthday. It's lower to the ground than a real ring, but it's pretty springy and stuff. It's so cool, I know you-"

"Neil," Cinnamon's voice was just sharp enough to show she meant business. "Again, we have adult matters to discuss and you have to go taste test cookies."

Although Neil put up more protest, he eventually headed to the door, Cinnamon following behind him. When he opened the door, she grabbed him quickly and hugged him. "Sorry, big guy," she said. "I know this is hard, and thank you for being a good boy and doing what I say."

Neil looked at her, eyes slightly narrowed. "Not like I have a choice, is it?"

"Nope." She ruffled his hair. "And I know you're upset and you have every right to be upset, I would be too, but this is one of those things where you're too young to understand and you can't be here for this discussion."

End of Chapter One

Author's Notes: If you're a writer, let me ask you something. Have you ever been going along, planning something, plotting it out in your mind, have it all worked out and then suddenly, wham, out of nowhere the muse throws you a curve?

Well, in this story, my muse threw me a curve ball called Neil. Seriously, I had no intention of giving Cinnamon and Dean / Mox a kid that Dean / Mox didn't know about. Personally, I find the whole "Long lost kids" thing a bit overdone in fanfiction and I didn't want to fall into that well worn place myself. But, no matter how hard I tried to write anything else, that kid kept answering the door. Over and over again. Every time I tried to picture the story, picture Roman and Seth talking to her without Neil around, he was around. I'd picture the living room and there would be toys in it, and pictures of him on the wall. I even told myself, "The way you ended Chasing the Moonlight, she couldn't have been pregnant!" Then I went back and reread the story and said, "Oh yeah, she could. In fact, every since the muse gave me Neil, I reread that last part and go, "Wow, it looks like I deliberately intended to create Neil, but not have people think that he could exist until part two. Weird, isn't it?

My muse is a bitch. But, I rather like Neil. He hasn't had much of a chance to shine yet, but he's pretty much a true kid. And, I'm interested to see what the version of Dean who lives in my head will think, finding out he's got a kid. Because to be honest? I don't know what he'll think right now. I probably won't know until I start writing it.

I hope you agree too. And I hope the story inspires you not only to read it, but to review it too. Because Reviews are the things that keep me going when I'm tempted to just give up and stop writing. Following my stories and favoring them are wonderful, but it's reviews that inspire. So, if you want to "feed" a (mentally) starving writer, review the story. That's the food to sustain the imagination.