PART 2 OF THE HOW UNUSUAL SERIES

He didn't like it. He didn't like it one bit. Then again, in what universe would he like it? He watched the pair out the window of the car, the girl played with a strand of the man's hair as he held her to him. He scowled, and looked in his rear view mirror. His colleague was asleep, a rough night had him exhausted. Deciding the risk was worth the reward, he slammed a fist on the horn of the car. While the couple looked round, the man in the back seat stayed asleep. He held up a hand and tapped his wrist. The man brushed his black and blonde hair behind him, and nodded, before giving the woman a way too long kiss goodbye. Nope, it wasn't ever going to be right, not even in a "Ross from Friends" kinda way.

"Come on Seth. We gotta move!" He yelled out the window.

"Alright Dean, he's coming, jeez." The woman scowled at him. "Why you gotta be such an ass?"

"Since I had a whiny little bitch like you for a sister. Go help Mom or something, you're supposed to be here to help, not holiday." Dean yelled back as Seth made his way to the car. The second he was in, Dean gunned the car out of the drive, a screech of wheels and tire smoke following as they hit the road at the bottom of the gravel driveway.

As they drove off in silence, Dean thought about the past few weeks over Christmas. Dean knew it had been a bad idea going to his sisters New Year Party. He didn't trust his sister as far as he could throw her normally, but, at his mother's insistence, he went. Because it was Christmas, and Christmas is for family she had insisted. Dean had gritted his teeth, wanting to retort that family didn't fuck off and leave their ill parents to fend for themselves all day when they were supposed to be there to help. She was the golden child however, she was the one who caused trouble, did everything under the sun she wasn't supposed to. But she barely got yelled at, she was SO good at acting the victim. The few times Dean had gotten in to trouble, his parent's had grounded him, his dad had threatened him with the belt, or worse. It took an old girlfriend to make him see that his sister was using him, and his parents, to get what she wanted. And that New Year, she did get what she wanted. She wanted Seth.

Dean had held his tongue, and after calling on Roman and Seth for backup and giving them a warning about his sister, they went. He should have seen it coming, Dean thought to himself. She'd always had a sweet spot for guys like Seth. Guys that were too naïve and trusting of her, to see what she really was. Guys that were going places, that were worth a few dollars. Now, his sister had Seth smitten. And Dean hated it. But it wasn't because it was his sister, although that did irritate. It was because anything he'd say about her, anything he'd tell Seth, Seth wouldn't believe. Seth would just think Dean's issues were because it was Dean's little sister Seth was with.

An hour passed, then two. Roman was still out unconscious in the rear of the car. They were on the highway now, and still Dean had said nothing more than a few non-commital "mhmm's" to Seth's chatter. Finally, Seth bit the bullet.

"What's the matter, Dean? You haven't been exactly your normal chatty self." He asked. Dean sighed.

"Does it have to be her, Seth? Does it have to be Casey?" he asked as he pulled towards a slip road to change roadways.

"Well, I'm pretty head over heels for her, so, yes, it does." Seth replied, frowning.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself involved with." Dean said with a slight shake of the head.

"If you mean involved with your crazy ass, I think working with you kinda covered that." Seth gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Casey isn't the woman you think she is, Seth." Dean said, as a loud snore echoed from the back seat. "Fuck, Rome do you need to snore any louder?" Seth waited till Roman re-adjusted himself, and went back in to a deep sleep before resuming their conversation.

"You mean to tell me she was a man or something, Ambrose?" Seth asked, his brow creased in a disbelieving frown. "Because from what I know of your sister, she's all woman…"

"I do NOT need to hear what you have and haven't seen of my sister!" Dean exclaimed, making Roman jump in the back seat.

"Where are we?" he asked, the conversation Dean and Seth were having being cut silent.

"Highway. About two hours out." Seth passed a carrier bag back to Roman. "some food and some wet wipes in there for you."

"Awesome. How long have I been asleep for?" Roman asked, reaching in the bag.

"Since I got you from the hotel. About two hours, give or take." Dean replied.

"I must have needed it. Had the weirdest dream. Seth was doing something unmentionable to a velociraptor." He said, at which point Dean and Seth burst in to hysterical laughter, Dean narrowly avoiding the central reservation.

Nothing more was said on the subject, and Dean privately thanked his lucky stars that the nights events needed all their concentration. There was no way he wanted the whole roster thinking he was pissed with Seth dating his sister.

Seth, on the other hand, couldn't quite figure this one out. Dean had warned them his sister was the golden child, it was true, but when asked for more info he'd simply replied he would tell another time, just to be on his guard. He'd not seen anything about this beautiful, careing, funny girl who had him bewitched to be concerned about. But Dean was…well…he didn't like it, Seth could see that. He didn't like it one bit, but wouldn't talk about it till they were alone. Hell, for all Seth knew Roman could have heard the entire conversation. Although the way the Samoan slept, he doubted it was more than a few snatches. Seth decided to collar Dean later that night and try, however hard it would be, to make sense of all of this.

Dean came backstage after his match with Bray Wyatt dripping in sweat, and blood. After grabbing a bottle of water, he headed to medical where Seth was also being seen, having been battered by John Cena.

"Bleeding enough are we?" Seth asked.

"Not quite." He said, giving Seth a crazy grin. "you done?"

"Almost." Seth replied after being given a bag of ice for his knee. Dean nodded, sat down and allowed Doc Amann to patch him up and check him over. Satisfied, he was allowed to leave. As he headed for the door, Seth followed. They walked quietly down towards the changing rooms together.

"What's the matter, Rollins?" Dean said, breaking first. "You got a problem?"

"Not me, but you seem to have a problem with you dating your sister." Dean snorted in laughter.

"See you just don't know her like I know her. And I don't mean intimately." He said, before Seth could make a joke out of it.

"Why don't you like us dating, Dean? What is it that's got you so against us? Is it because you don't have anyone, is that it? Oh I get it now. It's that girl you met…the one from the bus…Carla…you still hung up on her, Ambrose? It's been three months since then, she hasn't tried to contact you, why bother?" Seth said.

"You think that's what it's about? You…you think I'm hung up on her?" he asked incredulously, and realizing at the same time that yes, what Seth said rang a tiny bit true. He didn't like the fact he was hung up on her, and could do sweet F.A. about it. " Pal you have no idea what Casey is like! How much have you spent on her since you met her, huh? How much has she drawn outta the First national Bank of Seth?" Dean asked angrily, jabbing a finger at Seth as he spoke.

"Well…I've spent a bit on her, yeah, that's true." Seth said cautiously.

"On what?"

"Well…some clothes, jewelry…I paid her phone bill cause she was short last week…" Seth said, faltering at the sudden laughter from his friend.

"Oh she's got you good. You think you got a level head on those shoulders of yours, Seth? Well now's the time to prove it. Listen to me, Seth and listen well. Don't give her any more cash. We go back past Mom's in three days. Whatever time you tell her, we'll get there early. You stop spending money on her, and I will guarantee you, she will have a new cash filled beau on her arm when you get there, if not before. Hell she's probably got two of you on the go." Dean said before turning and walking off.

Seth wasn't happy with the way the conversation had ended, he'd wanted more answers than what he'd been given, and what he'd been given was more than enough to confuse the shit out of him. He knew something was missing from this picture, there was clearly something Dean was holding back from Seth, to shield him or Casey he didn't know. But he needed to find out. And so, with that decision, Seth sought him out after his return to the hotel. After checking his room, checking with Roman as he chatted to Paige, and the hotel restaurant, he finally found Dean sat on a stool at the bar. Taking a deep breath and reminding himself to take whatever Dean said with a pinch of salt, he went over. Dean was, after all, Casey's brother. He had to respect the man to some extent, as well as work with him.

"What?" Dean snapped as Seth sat with him.

"What am I missing with Casey, Dean? What is it I'm outta the loop on here?" Seth asked.

"What are you….sheesh…where do I start?" Dean said. He ran a hand through his hair, and paused as if debating something. "Ok, well…let's get a drink and make our way to some more comfy seats. This…this may take a while." He said, deciding on his course of action.

Once ensconced in the comfier seats of the hotel bar, Dean began. He showed Seth a scar on his foot.

"That was the first one I really remember. Casey stole something from Mom…I got the blame because I was the trouble maker of the two of us. Casey turned on the waterworks, made Mom believe she was innocent. Dad went to hit me with a belt, but the belt missed and the edge caught my foot. He missed because he saw what it was Casey stole hanging from her jacket pocket."

"Shit Dean," Seth looked at the thin scar across Dean's foot. "How old were you both?"

"She was ten, I was twelve." Dean said, sipping his glass. "She managed to twist it to say she had stolen it back and was waiting for a time I wasn't around to hand it in, so I didn't get her for it."

Dean told Seth everything. How time and time again, his sister had twisted, lied and manipulated to get what she wanted, and his parents were all too eager to please the princess, Dean found out they had always wanted a girl when he was nineteen. She was the golden child, he was the black sheep.

"But you shouldn't take my word for it, Seth. See it with your own eyes." Dean added, putting down the glass that had contained his fourth whiskey of the evening. He stood up and stretched.

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Seth, his brow furrowed.

"Because you and Rome are the brother's I've never had. You're more like family to me than my own family was. And I wouldn't see either of you hurt. I know you'd do the same for me." He replied, as he walked off towards his room.

Try as he might to see it as anything else, Seth couldn't. He'd slept badly himself, Roman remarking he looked exhausted as they got in the car to get to the arena the next day. Dean had said nothing, no jokes, no quick one-liners. Inwardly, Seth thanked him for that. In his current state, with lack of sleep, things would probably have boiled over. He decided to grab a few hours in one of the other star's trailers, and thanked John Cena profusely when he took one look at Seth, and simply threw him the keys to his own trailer and told him to get his ass in a bunk. Throughout the day however, his mind wandered. Was she really capable of everything he said? When he called her that afternoon, she chatted away like no tomorrow, filled with the lovey dovey gushy stuff that would have made Dean vomit had he been there. Plans for the night what they would do when Seth came back, where they would go. Was she really the manipulative brat Dean had made her out to be?

Dean knew his words had made Seth uneasy about his relationship with Casey when the guy barely spoke to him the next day. Dean had assumed it was mostly lack of sleep, but after he came back from John's trailer, he still looked concerned, still looked worried about something. He performed as usual, his character showed nothing of what he was thinking. But once the show was over…Dean knew he was troubled. This time, it was he who found Seth at the hotel bar. Dean shook his head, and walked over, motioning to the bartender for another of whatever Seth was drinking, and a whiskey for himself.

"You ok, dude?" asked Dean as Seth gave him a whispered thanks. "Listen…I didn't mean to cause you any problems with Jezebel…"

"Who's Jezebel?" Seth asked, frowning.

"It's my not so nice nickname for Casey. Like I said…I didn't mean to cause you any problems. I just wanted to warn you…I didn't want to see you suckered in and thrown out the moment she had no use for you." Dean said as Seth sipped the drink. "You deserve someone better than that."

"I appreciate that, Dean. I'd have been pissed at you if you'd said nothing. What do you think I should do? I don't wanna confront her…I mean, she hasn't really done anything to me yet except squeezed a few dollars out of me…"

"A few hundred dollars," Dean prompted. Seth shot him a scowl, and then smirked.

"Alright, a few hundred. But it's not a trap I want to be stuck in. But...I can't just say "I've heard about you from your brother, I don't want to see you anymore." Can I? It just wouldn't fly, and hell, she'd be even more pissed at you."

"She's always pissed at me. Cause she got everything she wanted, but I'm the one with the glittering career, y'know? She always hated my guts this won't make any odds to me." Dean said, sipping his glass. "But I get you. You want proof, right?" He said thoughtfully.

"Right. I need to know, not that I don't trust you, dude, but I need to see if it's true." Seth said, shaking his head.

"Then we'll carry on with what we'd planned. Except…we tell her we'll be running a day late. No way is she gonna suspect you being there a day early, and let's face it, if she's up to no good, she won't have much of a chance to hide it. Besides, I know something that will cheer you up." Dean fished something out of his pocket and put it on the table. "I got this from the Diva's locker room earlier."

"Well ok…why have you got a bottle of black nail varnish?" Seth asked, confused. Dean picked it up with a devilish grin

"Do you want to paint a Ro-Man?" he asked to the tune of "Do you wanna build a Snowman", shaking the bottle between his fingers.

Needless to say, Roman did NOT find Dean and Seth's prank funny, and the highlight of the morning was watching him traipse down the corridor and knock on Paige's door for some nail varnish remover. Dean and Seth watched as she opened the door mid conversation with someone on her phone. Roman said nothing but held up a black nailed hand.

"They got you good huh Roman?" she asked, before returning to her phone call. "Yeah, Roman Reigns…hands covered in black nail varnish. Dean and Seth no doubt…well I saw them down the corridor….Ceri? Wait…was it him?" Paige said, talking to her friend as she dug out some nail varnish remover, and handed Roman some cotton wool pads. "The one you mentioned…yes…no, not that…yes him!" She put a hand over the mouthpiece. "Only use a capful, it's strong stuff, you only need a little"

"Thanks Paige," Roman smiled, before turning and walking back towards the room. Dean lingered a little to catch part of Paige's conversation when she shut the door…the name sounded familiar but he couldn't place it.

"Cheer up, Rome, it could have been worse," Seth said amused still. "Could have been bright pink!"

"If it was bright pink, neither of you would have made it to the next venue." Roman replied with a smile of his own. "If this don't come off…you're wearing black nail varnish too."

"No problem bud." Dean said, now catching up with them. "I can rock black with the best of them."

"You're an asshole and a damn weirdo, Ambrose." Roman added as they got back to their room, and he sat down to try and scrub the offensive stuff off his hands.

As the miles got less and less to Dean's parent's house, Seth could feel his stomach twist and turn. Roman had no idea what was going on, and Seth wondered if the man knew a fight was brewing. Between either him and Dean, or him and whoever Casey was seeing.

"So, who are we punching?" Roman asked. Seth laughed. He knew. Seth couldn't figure out how he knew, but he always knew.

"Well, either I'm getting a knuckle sandwich, or Casey's second boyfriend is." Dean said. "Don't ask me to explain, Rome, it took me three hours with Seth, and I don't have enough whiskey for it today."

"You mean explain how your sister is the golden child, and is manipulating our Sethy in to doing whatever she wants?" Roman raised an eyebrow in the back seat as Seth turned to look at him.

"How did you..."

"Did you forget I had a cousin like that? I can read the signs a mile off, Seth. Why do you think I was barely in the same room as her for more than a minute." Roman asked with a laugh at his friends puzzled face. "Although if we're hitting Ambrose...I demand you punch him in the nuts."

"Why?"

"You think black nail varnish comes off that easy?" Roman held up a hand which, despite his hard work, still had a slight smear of black nail varnish on it.

As they reached Dean's road, he pulled over on to a grass verge, and turned to Seth.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Bro? I'm down for whatever you decide, but it's your call. All I wanted to do was warn you what she was like, is all." He said. Seth took a moment to think.

"I trust you. You wouldn't just say this, there would be a reason. And as I sure as hell haven't done anything to piss you off THAT bad, what other reason could there be? Let's do it." He said. Dean nodded, and clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Alright, dude. Remember, don't do anything till you have proof." Dean started the engine again, and they drove down to his parents house, and pulled up in to the drive. The crunch of the tyres on gravel sounded as Dean slowed the car to a stop. Just as they were going to get out fo the car, Casey came out the house.

She didn't see Dean's car parked up, as she was too busy making goo goo eyes at a man who had his arm about her waist in a manner that was far too friendly for either Seth or Dean's liking. Seth went to open the door, but Dean held him back, motioning to wait. They couldn't hear the conversation, but the scene was eerily familiar to one that Seth had been a part of only day's before, as the man and Casey kissed.

"Didn't you beep the horn about now?" asked Seth, giving Dean an evil grin as Casey played with a strand of the mystery man's hair.

"why yes, yes I did." Dean matched his grin, and Roman let out a sinister chuckle, just as Dean hit the horn on the steering wheel. Casey and the man turned, Casey went white as a sheet as Seth, Dean and Roman got out of the car.

"Who's this lot, Casey? They need you for something?" asked the man, frowning.

"Uh...J.J...this...um...this is..."

"Allow me. Hi. This is our friend, Roman Reigns. This is Casey's older brother, Dean Ambrose. And I'm Seth, Seth Rollins. I'm Casey's boyfriend. Or rather, ex boyfriend, as of the moment she walked out the door with you." Seth said, shaking the man by the hand.

"What the? You said your ex skipped town on you!" He exclaimed.

"JJ...please..Seth...I..." Casey stumbled.

"Word of advice, J.J. This girl has been manipulating and lying since she could talk. Tell everyone you meet about her, because there is no way she will be any benefit to you. I'd call this a close one and get the hell outta Dodge." Dean said.

"Aw hell no, girl...I'm not gonna sit here while you play the sympathy card and get me running round like a damn fool! And I supposed the fact your parent's are disabled makes you think you can get away with shit...what's so funny?" J.J. asked as Dean burst in to howls of laughter.

"MOM! MOM COME OUT HERE!" Dean yelled, between gales of laughter. Roman was holding his stomach as he doubled over, also laughing. Casey was going redder than red, trying to not throw the temper tantrum that was clearly coming.

"Yes dear? Oh Dean! I wasn't expecting you back so soon!" said Dean's mom as she came out of the house, wiping her hands on a floury apron, and went over to her son.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You lied about him, you lied about your parent's being disabled, is there nothing you won't sink to? No way girl, I am outta here. Loose my number, cause you can be sure as hell I'mma loose yours!" He said, walking off and down the drive.

"Casey...is this true?" asked Dean's mom as Dean gave her a hug, and then went to join Roman and Seth as they leant against the bonnet of the car.

"Well...I ...um...THIS IS ALL DEAN'S FAULT! I CAN'T BELEIVE YOU'RE STILL DOING THIS TO ME! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!" she exploded. Dean looked at her incredulously. However, this time it didn't work, as his mother drew herself up to her full height, and let rip.

"CASEY LOUISE AMBROSE, HOW DARE YOU TRY TO BLAME YOUR BROTHER FOR ALL THIS!" she roared, and Casey went pale and shrunk back from her mother. "I have ignored and put up with a LOT of your shit, young lady, and if your father, god rest his soul, knew what kind of woman you'd become he'd be doing this himself. I've had you steal from me, lie to me, get me to do things for you NO daughter would do to her mother. This is the last straw. I have had ENOUGH! You have two hours to get upstairs, get your things and get the hell out of this house, or I will be calling the police to have you forcibly removed, do you hear me?" she said. Dean, roman and Seth couldn't help but find themselves impressed with Mrs Ambrose's authority, as Casey, a 27 year old woman, burst in to tears and ran indoors crying. Mrs Ambrose turned to the three men, and smiled wearily at them.

"I'm so terribly sorry you had to see that, boys. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

It was late. Mrs Ambrose had insisted they stay the night, by the time dinner was over hotel reservations would have been nigh on impossible to find. It found Dean doing what he'd done many a time when he was younger, laying on the garage roof, with a beer. Just...relaxing, watching the world go by. A voice called his name, and Seth appeared at his bedroom window.

"Hey..."

"Sup?" Dean said. He gestured to the three remaining beers in the cardboard next to him. "Wanna join me?"

"Sounds like a plan." Seth said. There was silence as he clambered out the window and walked over to him, sat down and pulled out the beer. For a while, neither man spoke, just enjoying the quiet night sky and the companionship.

"Her name was Cora." Dean said after a while.

"Sorry?" Seth frowned in confusion.

"The girl from the bus. Her name was Cora." He dug in his pocket for a mobile phone, and pressed a button so the screen flashed up with his wallpaper. "You were right earlier. I am hung up on her. I've never felt a connection with anyone the way I did with her, Seth."

"She's well and truly the one that got away, huh?" Seth asked.

"She is. I kick myself every day that I didn't go after her, that I didn't go chase her and grab her number." Dean said with a sigh. "I didn't want you to feel the way I feel, if Casey did what she normally did...well...you saw how that ended up." Seth looked over at his friend, and for the first time realised he was being himself. No act, no "Mr Unstable" Ambrose. There was sorrow in his eyes, there was sadness in his voice. He put a hand on Dean's shoulder.

"I appreciate it. Do you want me to help find her?" he asked. Surprisingly, Dean shook his head.

"If it's meant to be, we'll meet again. I know it. I just...I just wish I knew when. She has to come up to the main roster soon, right?" Dean asked his friend. Seth nodded, and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Yeah...she has to come up sometime."

This piggybacked off another one shot I did, which is part 1 of the series I've dubbed the "How Unusual Series" after Cora's name. Part 1 is Dean's Bus Trip, and the new part 3 is the new,. and hopefully ongoing fiction "You Wrecked Me". Please make sure you've read Dean's Bus Trip too before going on to "You Wrecked Me". Thanks! Zelks xx