NOTE TO READERS: So here's the plan. A few hours after Wrestlemania, I'll be on the road for vacation & be away possibly a couple of weeks. So I may or may not (most likely may NOT) see the RAW after Wrestlemania. No story next week but I will be posting a longer story before I leave that concerns possibly RAW tomorrow and definitely Wrestlemania. It will be what I want to happen and most likely bear NO resemblance to what will actually happen. I haven't decided if I'll continue the stories after this point. If not, thanks to everyone who commented and followed these stories. If I DO continue, I'm sure I'll come up with something *lol*.
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Seth Rollins sighed as he pulled out his phone and began to text.
Rollins: Change of plan. HHH has got me flying out right after the show to do promo work for WM.
Ambrose: Big surprise. Along with his big nose.
Reigns: No chance of meeting up before weekend shows?
Rollins: Nada. He's actually doing the promo work with me. I'm flying on the private jet.
Ambrose: Awww…has little Sethie been a good boy for Daddy Hunter?
Reigns: Drop it, Dean.
Rollins: Actually, Daddy (as YOU call him, Ambrose) doesn't have a clue.
Reigns: Seth, what did you do or what are you going to do?
*no reply*
Reigns: Seth!
Rollins: Sorry, had to duck from Hunter. I need to get my hands on Hunter's phone so since he's going to be dragging me along with him…
Reigns: Are you nuts?!
Ambrose: Hey, that's my gimmick!
Rollins: Gotta go. I'll check in tomorrow.
Reigns: Seth!
*no reply*
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In retrospect, it had been absurdly easy to access Hunter's phone. From traveling with the Authority years ago, he knew that Hunter always phoned Stephanie just before taking off. Sitting next to him, it had been easy to see the unlock code Hunter used on his phone. Stephanie's birthday.
And eventually Hunter had gone to the bathroom, leaving his phone on the dropdown table in front of him. It only took two minutes for Seth to access Hunter's calendar and snap pictures of it before exiting the program and relocking the phone.
When Hunter returned Seth had moved to another seat and reclined it in preparation for getting some sleep. "Still able to powernap on command?" he joked, seeing Seth had closed his eyes.
Seth grinned and raised a 'thumbs up' in silent reply.
"I always envied that about you," Hunter admitted, sitting back down. "I can't sleep on a plane. Except on those long overseas trips. And even then, not well."
"It's a gift," Seth murmured. But he didn't sleep. Instead, he was thinking hard and making plans.
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Rollins: Gonna be tied up with Hunter and promos most of the day. But I got Hunter's schedule for WM week.
Ambrose: What for?
Rollins: Hunter's been screwing with my schedule. Keeping me on the run.
Reigns: Always happens before WM.
Ambrose: Started a lot earlier. Think he's trying to keep us apart?
Reigns: That hasn't been working.
Rollins: But we've just been together for some shows. Not really had a chance to TALK.
Reigns: Think somebody overheard you and Dean planning our Vegas get together?
Ambrose: SON OF A BITCH!
Reigns: Dean, calm down.
Ambrose: Calm down, my ass! He's trying to tip the odds in Lesnar's favor!
Reigns: Seth?
*no reply*
Ambrose: You'd think he'd have enough on his plate with Batista coming after his ass.
Reigns: Hunter never lacked confidence. You know that.
Rollins: Sorry, Hunter at the door. Gotta go. We're staying the night in Detroit. Face Time you guys tonight? 11 my time?
Ambrose: Sure. Think I remember how.
Reigns: Got it. Seth, be careful. Dean, I'll help.
*no reply*
Ambrose: Thanks, Roman.
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"You look like you've been rode hard and put up wet," Dean smirked as he stared at Seth.
Seth could have maturely replied, but instead he stuck his tongue out at Dean. At that moment, Roman answered the Face Time call and saw it.
"Really, Seth?"
"He started it," Seth defended himself.
Roman saw Dean's smirk and sighed. "Okay, what's going on?"
"We all know how hectic things get leading up to Wrestlemania," Seth began. "Even with the build-up for my match with Lesnar, the last couple of weeks have been screwy. The promo schedule is set up pretty much in advance. But Hunter's been flipping my schedule around a lot."
Dean leaned back against the headboard of his bed and scratched his jaw. "Maybe work up more of an interest in your match? I mean, let's face it. Lesnar's not going to do any promo work."
Roman snorted in agreement. "You don't think that's it, do you, Seth?"
Seth shrugged. "Not entirely." He took a deep breath. "Just hear me out, okay? Hunter was happy that I won the Rumble. I didn't think anything about it then because…I was determined to win the Rumble and take on Lesnar." Seth rubbed a hand over his face. "I think when I won the Rumble, Hunter started planning for Lesnar to destroy me."
Roman's eyes widened in surprise. "Seth…"
"Makes sense," Dean calmly agreed. "Think about it. He came to the ring when you started talking about maybe challenging Daniel Bryan for his title. And pushed you to make a choice right then and there."
"And you interrupted to give Seth more time," Roman suddenly realized. He saw Seth's look of surprise. "That was the reason you challenged Seth to another match, wasn't it, Dean?"
Dean looked uncomfortable then shrugged. "Maybe. Part of it. We can talk about that later."
After a moment, Roman nodded. "Okay, suppose you're both right. Seth wins the Rumble, and Hunter sees a chance to throw him to Lesnar. Seth starts talking about going after Daniel." He paused. "Then Lesnar and Heyman come out and Heyman runs his mouth…"
"And I make my choice," Seth finished. "Led down the garden path."
Dean snorted. "Nobody led you, Seth. That's where you planned to go anyway."
Seth grinned. "Roman, nobody expected you to come back so quickly. It took all of us by surprise. I'm not complaining, okay? Just…"
"But it gave you an unexpected ally," Roman interrupted. "Somebody to watch your back since McIntire was coming after you." He looked at Dean. "Even with Dean challenging him all the time."
Dean saw Seth's eyes widened and sighed. "Can we not get distracted here?"
"We'll just add that to the list of things to discuss later," Roman solemnly promised.
"Yeah, whatever." Dean waved a hand in dismissal. "You're thinking Hunter's behind McIntire's interest in Seth?"
"McIntire wants to be the power in the locker room. He had to eliminate the Shield to do that," Seth recounted. "He burned his bridges with Strowman and Ziggler. He has no other reason to ally with Lashley and Corbin. I think Hunter pointed out it was in their interest to work together."
"Lashley came after the IC title when I turned on you," Dean slowly nodded. "Then McIntire jumped in."
"When you said you were leaving, Hunter backed off on you," Roman looked at Dean. "You were at odds with Seth so he figured he'd isolated him."
"Then you came back, Roman," Seth spoke. "And McIntire targeted you. Hunter got Corbin involved because Corbin's an opportunist and saw that as his way back to the top. And I'd bet he's the reason Elias started going after Dean once Dean told me to Slay the Beast."
Dean shrugged. "Guitar Man and I've fought before."
"Dean, you've fought with just about everybody," Roman pointed out.
"Except Nia," Seth snickered.
Dean rolled his eyes. "So, let me get this straight. Seth wins the Rumble, and Hunter wants him thrown to the Beast. To give Lesnar a fighting chance, he encourages McIntire and the others to go after him. I've already turned on him and Roman's out so Seth's got nobody except maybe Balor to back him up."
"And Finn got mauled by the Beast," Seth pointed out.
"Dean decides to leave the company, and for some reason, makes peace with you." Roman pointedly looked at Dean who again waved a hand in dismissal. "I throw a monkey wrench into Hunter's plans by coming back early."
"Hunter must have damn near passed out when you said you wanted to reform the Shield one more time," Dean chuckled.
"Yeah, Corbin looked like he'd seen a ghost when we bumped fists," Seth cackled. "Or three ghosts."
"So I've got McIntire at Wrestlemania with the probability of a run-in by one of his current running buddies," Roman mused. "Seth has the Beast, and nobody's going to interfere in that one."
"Most likely not," Dean agreed. "I've got nothing at Wrestlemania. No surprise there. But I can be backup." He grinned at their expressions. "What's Hunter gonna do if I do back you guys up? Fire me?"
"Not my match, Dean," Seth firmly shook his head. "The two of you faced the Beast on your own. I'll do the same."
"Fair enough," Dean nodded after a moment. "Roman?"
Roman slowly shook his head. "My first match back, Dean. I gotta stand on my own two feet. Gotta show everybody that I beat all this. Besides, if you interfere, they'll call a disqualification."
Dean sighed. "And people call me stubborn." He threw up his hands. "Fine. You guys are all on your own. In the meantime, Hunter runs Seth ragged so he's less than 100% going into his match."
Seth shrugged. "I don't think that's his real reason. I honestly think he doesn't want us talking. Because if we're talking, we're figuring this out." He smirked. "In fact, I'm expecting a little 'confidential' talk pretty soon about Ambrose."
"Warning you about how I'm probably going to turn on you at one of the house shows," Dean guessed. "Jump you right before Wrestlemania."
Roman slowly nodded. "He wants to mess with your head more than wear you out."
"Bingo," Seth slowly nodded. "Fortunately, we have Batista on Hunter's radar so he's not giving me his total concentration."
"Am I the only one who thinks his sudden appearance is more than coincidental?" Dean asked.
Roman stared at him. "Seriously, Dean? You think Hunter would go for Batista jumping Flair like that?"
Dean shrugged. "I wouldn't put anything past Hunter," he admitted.
"Seth?" Roman asked.
Seth hesitated, then slowly shook his head. "If it wasn't Wrestlemania, I'd agree with Dean. But I don't see Hunter screwing with a Wrestlemania match."
Dean shrugged. "So what's the payoff for Hunter? Seeing the Beast tear you apart?"
Seth nodded. "I think he'd see that as payback for Slaying the King."
Roman groaned. "Which means that Lesnar retains the title."
"Damn it," Dean swore.
"Which means that the next in line to challenge Lesnar would be McIntire," Seth calmly added. "That's McIntire's payoff."
"DAMN IT!" Dean angrily yelled, sitting upright.
After a few seconds of silence, Roman spoke. "Well, he's not called the Cerebral Assassin for nothing," he pointed out.
"And I played into all if it," Dean mumbled. "Every fucking step of the way to…"
"DEAN!"
Dean looked up at Roman's shout.
"Dean, don't do that!" Roman sternly ordered. He looked at Seth. "It's McIntire's payoff only if he beats me at Wrestlemania."
"So if Roman beats McIntire and Seth beats Lesnar, it's the two of you going against each other," Dean reasoned. "Hunter will just love trying to play the two of you against each other."
Roman and Seth stared at each other for several seconds. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Roman advised. "Wrestlemania first."
Seth firmly nodded in agreement. "Which brings me to Hunter's phone. I got his schedule for Wrestlemania week."
"How the hell did you do that?" Dean curiously asked, settling back against the headboard of his bed.
Seth shrugged. "He always calls Stephanie before taking off. I watched him and saw the unlock code for his phone. When he went to the bathroom on the plane, I unlocked the phone and snapped some pictures of his calendar."
"Sweet," Dean grinned.
"While I would normally frown upon such an activity, what did you find out?" Roman wryly asked.
"There's always some free time during Wrestlemania week for families," Seth reminded them. "Roman, I guess your family's coming?" When Roman nodded, he continued, "Hunter's going to be concentrating on NXT Takeover plus the Hall of Fame plus his match with Batista."
"I'm so rooting for Batista," Dean muttered.
"We'll have time to get together to talk," Roman calmly spoke.
Dean sobered and looked at Seth. "I'm not turning on you again," he promised. "But we do need to talk." He hesitated, then added, "I want to talk…to explain."
"And that'll help you get your head on straight," Roman looked at Seth.
Seth let out a deep sigh. "I know you won't turn on me again, Dean. But…yeah, it'll help." He looked at both his brothers. "So what are you guys doing after NXT Takeover?"