*Trigger WARNING* This book deals with a soldier who has been to war and seen and done some shit. Although artistic license has been taken, most of this shit is real. In fact, all of it is, but it has been gleaned from different people and put into one. Please, if you have PTSD or deal with issues around war and gore, proceed carefully or maybe give this one a skip.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, no one in the WWE, no real or stage names. I write this purely as a form of bizarre therapy from my own time over there. I do own my own character Alicia Price. This book contains swearing (lots) and eventual smut, but no slash. It's a slow burn guys, so bear with me. This book is not cannon, and takes place vaguely when the Shield boys were together in the Shield pre-break up. The book focuses on Jon Good/Jon Moxley/Dean Ambrose/OC, but there are cameos everywhere later. I use their real names in here because I think would like to know the real person if I ever met them. I realize Renee is real and I love her and Jon, but, sorry, for this story she's just in the background. Anyway, enjoy!

The idea of this book came from the song Broken by Lovelytheband

I like that you're broken
Broken like me
Maybe that makes me a fool
I like that you're lonely
Lonely like me
I could be lonely with you

There's something tragic, but almost pure
Think I could love you, but I'm not sure
There's something wholesome, there's something sweet
Tucked in your eyes that I'd love to meet

Chapter 1

First class upgrades always were a treat, it must have been the late flight or something. They usually were booked full up. You looked down at your boots, the only remnant of the uniform that you used to wear day in and day out. Stupid suede. You had hated when they changed from the shiny black boots to the new suede ones for the war in the desert. You understood the idea, you guessed, but still it was so hard to get blood stains out of suede. The rest of your clothes had been purchased on the fly. Civvies were comfortable, but it still felt odd to be without the patches and the weapon. The weapon was the biggest missing component. You found yourself more often than not checking your side for the .45, only to realize that it wasn't on your hip and you weren't over there anymore. You were here. On a plane. A mostly empty plane right now, thanks to pre-boarding and the wonderful surprise upgrade due to your status as a homecoming veteran. An injured veteran at that.

You watched as people started to board after you. The seat next to you staying completely empty, and a hopeful sensation went through your mind. Maybe you wouldn't have to deal with anyone. Maybe, just maybe, the upgrade was because all of first class was empty. It looks good for an airline to upgrade a soldier. All too soon though, a body slumped unceremoniously into the seat beside you. Well, at least you got the window seat, and you were used to long flights so there was no real reason to have to bother the obviously agitated person next to you. Chancing a glance at the passenger next to you, you took in his body language and overall appearance.

The man would not sit still. His leather jacket brushing your arm every time he moved. He was big, but not huge. His blond hair was tucked under a baseball cap and he had a pair of dark sunglasses on his face. They covered his face, but did nothing to hide the stubble that was growing. The stubble, you noticed, was a little redder than the hair poking out in all directions from the baseball cap. It was cute. It was nice to see a little beard now. You had always enjoyed facial hair, being ARMY meant that was not around you very much.

The man barely fit well in the huge first-class chair. Tall and lithe would probably be the best descriptive words. And antsy. Good grief the man wouldn't sit still. You chuckled to yourself that First Sergeant would never be ok with someone who couldn't sit in a chair longer than five seconds without moving. You missed Top. You missed your unit. You didn't think you would, but here you were, flying away from it all forever and you missed them.

The man looked at you when he heard the soft chuckle. He could tell you had been looking. He repaid you in kind, except he did not make it a subtle gesture. Looking you up and down, almost daring you to look away. You knew what he saw. Brown hair pulled in a ponytail at the nape of your neck, brown eyes with no makeup on them, brown skin over tan from the sun, well where the sun was allowed to hit. Your one feature that stood out was a rather large nose, but other than that, a completely forgettable face.

"Wanna tell me wha's so funny?" his raspy voice asked. His brow arched slightly with a scowl on his face.

You looked him dead on. It took a hell of a lot more than a look to scare you. "Nope." You went back to looking out the window.

The airplane was beginning to fill up now. The man kept his eyes down on his phone, his hands constantly doing something. Tapping his jeans clad leg, tapping his right collar bone, shifting, shuffling. You were going to go crazy if the whole flight was like this. At least you didn't have to pay for the upgrade. The captain came on the overhead speaker telling everyone to get seated as soon as possible as they had a long flight and headwinds might slow them down.

As people sat down, one of the flight attendants got on the speaker to explain the flight information as well as the safety information. You glanced at the safety card in front of you. It was so different than flying in the military. No information on being shot at. No explanation of what to do if your plane was going down and the pilot had been shot. You chuckled again, mirthlessly. You hated flying.

The man gave you a sideways stare again. The flight attendant in the first-class cabin took this time to announce to the people on board that there was a special guest on the flight. You had heard these announcements countless of times when there were military people on board so you did not even think twice. The man next to you, however, seemed to slouch even more in his seat. He pulled his baseball cap down further to cover his face more. This intrigued you, but you said nothing.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all of you and inform you that on this flight there is a true hero." The man shifted a little more. "We have a soldier with us who was hurt in Iraq and is flying back to be with her family. Let's all give her a round of applause."

Both cabins erupted in immediate applause. You felt your cheeks grow red under the tan. You hated this shit. You politely nodded and smiled at the flight attendant. What the heck made you a hero? The man next to you seemed to straighten, as if confused. You wondered why he would be so confused about there being a soldier on board a plane. He glanced at you again, noting the blush.

"You?" he rasped out quietly.

You chuckled mirthlessly again. "I'm no hero, but yeah, I'm a soldier. Or, I was, I guess. I still am? It's a little confusing right now."

He looked at you and finally removed the sunglasses. The brightest blue eyes looked in to your brown ones. "Well, hero or not, 'm proud to sit next to ya."

Not really knowing how to handle that from the huge man you politely thanked him and went back to looking out the window. He seemed to take the hint and pulled his hat down to cover his eyes. Soon soft snores came from him as the plane lifted off and began to take them to their destination.

Two hours into the three-and-a-half-hour flight your leg was starting to ache so badly. You wished you could just get up and walk. You finally decided that enough was enough and got up to go to the bathroom. You just had to maneuver around the sleeping giant. You were by no means small at 5'7", but this man was able to take up an unproportionate amount of space in the two seats. You stepped over one leg, trying not to hit the sleeping form. Unfortunately, your big ass combat boots had another idea. You kicked his knee, hard.

Poor guy jolted out of his nap, snapping his eyes up to see your chagrined look. His face softened, even if he was rubbing his knee for all it was worth.

"Coulda jus' said to move, darlin'. Di'n hav'ta kick me or nuthin'. I would've moved." He grumbled. His voice was even raspier with sleep. Something clenched in your chest. You felt so bad.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kick you. I was trying to get around you without even waking you up. Just a little movement was all I needed, but leave it to the stupid boots to have a mind of their own." You chuckled ruefully. He shrugged and moved out of your way. You gingerly moved your leg again, not meeting his eyes. If he noticed the issue in your leg, thankfully he kept silent.

After your trip to the bathroom you made your way back to your seat. The man had apparently given up on sleeping again as he was again fiddling with his phone. You got to the aisle and he made sure to give you enough room this time so you would not have hit his leg with your heavy boots.

"Thanks," you mumbled, "and sorry again."

"'S nothin' to be sorry 'bout. 'S my fault since I was so sprawled out anyways." He replied.

You nodded and spent the rest of the flight looking out the window and enjoying the silence. No worries about being shot at. No worries at all, really. In fact, nothing. There was nothing now. Just a blank empty space where the thoughts used to swirl in your head constantly. The end of this flight couldn't come soon enough. You had an adventure to start.