Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Rated: T
Warning(s): Slash, Foursome, Daddy!Kink, Sub!Roman, Sub!Dean, Sub!Seth, Dom/sub, etc.

It all started after the Evolution-Shield confrontation on RAW…

Hunter returned to the locker room to find his boys anxiously awaiting his return, each wearing a look of uncomfortable uncertainty as they examined their war-wounds from the week before. The look of betrayal on their faces was clear. The man that they trusted above all others, their dominant, had all but handed them over to the wolves. And that hurt.

Dean's hurt manifested as anger. Hunter had seen him pacing the ring earlier, smoke all but pouring out of his ears. Deeply-rooted trust issues made it difficult for Dean to truly come to terms with his role as a submissive, but he'd been able to overcome with Hunter's help… until now. Now, he was back to stage one – alone and cold and scared.

Seth's hurt manifested as sadness. Away from the probing cameras and the eyes of the WWE Universe, he finally felt comfortable enough to show the full-extent of his hurt. Lithe body strewn along the black leather couch, two-toned hair falling in front of his tear-stained cheeks, he simply stared at Hunter with hollow, unseeing eyes.

And then, there was Roman. Roman's hurt manifested as… nothing. He simply sat on the floor, one hand gently stroking Seth's tangled, messy locks. He stared off into the abyss, much like Seth, but there was no way for Hunter to read the look on his face and that scared him. Roman had always been unpredictable, and now was no different…

Surprisingly, Seth was the first to open his mouth. Looking at Hunter with those pain-ridden eyes, he asked in a pitiful voice, "Doesn't Daddy love us anymore?"

The three stared at their 'Daddy', a similar look of expectation on each of their faces. Hunter could see the danger lurking behind those words. Too much hesitation would be an answer in and of itself. The wrong words could end everything. He tried to think of the right words and how to make them flow, but as he saw the pain in their eyes… he couldn't wait.

"Of course I love you three." Hunter steadfastly assured. Hope and disbelief swirled in their eyes, like ink in water, as the three members of the Shield beheld their 'Daddy'. "You're my precious boys."

"That didn't seem to matter when you were having us beaten to a bloody pulp on live television." Dean hissed, eyes ablaze. He looked to be only a few seconds away from castrating Hunter.

"An 11-on-3 beat down was completely uncalled for." Seth contributed softly. "We can take it. We can take whatever you throw at us." Another tear stole down his cheek, and Hunter wondered if he was telling the truth. "But…"

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "But?"

Roman narrowed his eyes at the bigger blond. "But don't try and feed us lies about how much you 'love' us afterward."

Hunter cocked his head to the side, and took a step closer to his boys. Dean recoiled a little and Hunter froze immediately. Finally, he was able to force out, "It isn't a lie."

He looked between the three boys, taking in their near identical looks of disbelief. He had known that this stupid 'best for business' storyline had been difficult for all of them, but, unfortunately, had not realized the true depth of his boys' suffering until it was too late. Now, he wasn't sure there was any way to rebuild what had been lost.

Quickly, he crossed the distance between himself and his three boys, taking a seat on the coffee table. He knew that, in order to win back his boys, he'd have to take a different approach. Obviously, addressing the problem head-on wouldn't work… and so, he decided to categorize each of their battle wounds, starting with Seth. He seemed to have the most.

Seth's body was littered with bruises and scabbed-over cuts. His ribs, which were the worst, were swollen and colored a dark black and blue. Hunter frowned. "Have you taken your anti-inflammatory?"

Seth blinked, surprised. Then, he shook his head, somewhat ashamed. "No… Daddy."

Hunter reached into his suit pocket and pulled out Seth's medicine. Handing the boy two capsules, he said, "Take these and lay down with the pillow on the headrest. I don't want there to be any pressure on your chest."

The two-toned man seemed skeptical at first, but then, "Why do you care?"

"Because it's my job to take care of you." Hunter said firmly. "And I know that I haven't done a very good job of it lately, but you're hurt and you're crying… and I could never stand to see you cry." He finished, smiling sadly.

Seth continued to stare at him for several moments, before tossing his head back and swallowing down the pills. Then, after situating the pillows as Hunter had said, he leaned back and declared tightly, "I wasn't crying."

Hunter's thumb gently soothed Seth's swollen cheek, catching a stray tear-drop on the way. "Of course you weren't."

Taking his attention off of Seth momentarily, Hunter turned his attention to Dean. The pugnacious brawler still looked ready to pounce on the COO of the WWE, but the exhaustion lines visible at the corners of his eyes made him slightly less frightening. Slowly, Hunter made his way over to him, looking him over with the same careful attention he'd shown Seth.

Dean was considerably better off, with only a few bruises, most to the neck and chest area, and a couple potential sprains/strains. The foreseen battle to force him to see the trainer would undoubtedly be long and brutal. But he couldn't think on that now. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd caught sight of a red, jagged cut, which still seemed to be bleeding.

"Roll up your shirt sleeve." Dean remained absolutely frozen. Hunter frowned. "That wasn't a request, Dean."

Dean stared at him angrily for several moments, before forcefully tugging at his shirt sleeve with more force than was technically necessary. The aggravated assault on the wound caused it to bleed a little heavier, and Hunter's concern for his boy merely deepened. Quickly, he went and retrieved the first-aid kit from the bathroom. This would definitely require a trip to the trainer.

"This might sting a little," Hunter warned as he soaked a cotton-swab in iodine.

Dean remained silent until Hunter took hold of his wrist, and it was at that point that he violently recoiled from the bigger man. "I can do it myself!" He seethed.

"I know that you can do it yourself." Hunter said as he slowly reclaimed Dean's trembling wrist in his hand. This time, Dean didn't try to yank his hand away. "From the beginning, you and Roman and Seth... all you did was look out for yourselves, and each other. I'm asking for the chance to take care of you now... to do it right."

Dean didn't say a word and Hunter took that as his 'in'. It took multiple swabs to clean out the wound and eventually, Seth caught wind of the blood staining the bigger submissive's arm. "Dean... you're all bloody!" Fresh blood was surfacing in the wound and panic was flooding Seth's already tight chest.

Dean calmed him with a small smile. "I'm fine. It doesn't hurt."

Roman scoffed. "Dean could get shot in the head with a nail gun, and would still say that it didn't hurt if only to preserve his pride."

"Hey, at least I'm not the one that had to hide a concuss-," he froze mid-word, put-off by Roman's frosty glare.

But Hunter had heard every word, and had no doubt as to what had caused his boy's concussion. The final Pedigree to end the night had been nothing more than unnecessary overkill to really sell the storyline to the fans. However, immediately afterward, as Roman had laid there, unmoving, Hunter had seen a mist haze over his pretty brown eyes... now, he truly understood why Roman was so upset.

"I'm gonna wrap you up now." Hunter said as he pulled out a roll of fresh gauze and started to wrap it around Dean's arm. "I still think that you should see the trainer, though. You might need a more serious evaluation for that."

"Thank you..." Dean trailed off, momentarily meeting Hunter's eyes. And then, he added on, "Daddy."

"That's my good boy." Hunter said, smiling. Dean couldn't help but smile in return - his earlier anger and frustration melting away in the face of Hunter's praise.

"Hey," Seth whined, sticking out his bottom lip petulantly. "What about me?"

Hunter rose and pressed a gentle kiss to Seth's forehead, smoothing back the tousled locks from the pretty boy's face. "You're my good boy, too." Seth beamed at Hunter's praise. "How're those ribs feeling?"

Seth's smile faltered a little bit. "They hurt, but I'll live."

Hunter rolled up Seth's shirt and, taking out a tube of Icy-Hot, he rubbed it over Seth's skin, soothing his pains and aches to the best of his ability. "That should help a little bit. Let that settle for a while and then tell me how you feel, okay?"

"Yes, Daddy." Seth nodded obediently, before rolling his shirt back down.

That only left Roman. Roman was the most stubborn of them all, and when Hunter knelt down in front of him, he stiffly turned his neck and turned his head away from Hunter. Dean frowned and Seth, ever oblivious, drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness on the sofa. Hunter watched as one thousand and one emotions flickered through those foggy chocolate eyes - he was just as hurt as the others, but he hid it much better.

Hunter sat down on the floor in front of him and took hold of his face, listening and ignoring the growling that came up from the back of his throat. Hunter growled back. The low, guttural sound made Roman flinch, and his head snapped back so that their eyes met. They stared at each other for several moments, until Roman began to attempt to wrestle out of Hunter's hold. Hunter knotted his hands in Roman's hair and held firm. Roman wasn't going anywhere.

"You need to see the trainer." Hunter said firmly. "You're hurting and its only gonna get worse so long as you avoid medical assistance." Hunter continued firmly. "If you don't go on your own, I'll walk you down there myself. But I sincerely hope you put your big-boy pants on tonight and can do it yourself."

"Don't treat me like I'm a little kid." Roman said, his voice dangerously low.

"Then don't act like one." Hunter said, his tone equally as menacing. "You could have lasting effects from the concussion or you could make it worse. I won't sit back and watch you hurt yourself."

"I hate you." Those words stung more than Hunter was willing to admit.

Hunter nodded limply, before loosening his hold on Roman's loose curls. "I know that you do, and you have every right to. Just... Just let me take care of you, okay? That's all I ask."

"And why should I?" He was still seething, and Hunter readied himself for the biggest submissive to lash out once again.

"Don't be an asshole, Roman." Dean chastised softly as he peeled back the blood-soaked gauze on his wrist and reached for a fresh swab.

Roman turned and leveled him with a heated glare. "Keep talking and that gash on your arm will be the least of your concerns."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots." Dean rolled his eyes, wrapping himself up again. "I could take you in your current condition, no sweat. I'd have you licking my fucking boots."

Roman smirked. "Isn't it nice to think so?"

"Boys, that's enough." Hunter growled. Dean immediately fell silent, but Roman was stubborn.

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to any of the bullshit that comes out of your mouth." Roman said, eyes narrowed.

"Because, like it or not, I'm still your Daddy. And good boys listen to their Daddy."

Roman frowned. "And bad boys get hit, is that it?"

That caused Hunter to pause. He thought of last Monday night and the 11-on-3 beat down. He thought about the rise of evolution, beating the life out of the Shield, praying that they would just stay down and end their misery... It had nearly killed him to continue the senseless barrage, but he could only imagine what it must've seemed like to them.

"I'm sorry that that is what you think happened. And I'm sorry that I hurt you, really, I am. But I can't make it better if all you do is shut me out." Hunter said.

"Maybe you can't make it better." Roman said. For the first time, emotion was reflected in his eyes. Sadness.

Hunter smiled softly. "I can at least try." He said.

"We really are a lost cause, you know. We won't ever be what you want us to be." Roman said, sounding a little lost.

Hunter kissed his temple, before ruffling his hair affectionately. "You already are exactly what I want you to be. You're my precious, perfect boys... and that's more than enough."

A/N: Hunter really needs to not make nonchalant comments like that on RAW... The plot bunnies wouldn't leave me alone, and Seth was screaming from neglect.

Anyhow, I am back. Please leave a review, if you are so inclined :)