ONE NIGHT IN PHILADELPHIA
Seth Rollins knew it was because they knew each other so well that they could read the looks on each other's faces and in each other's eyes. So, it wasn't hard to read the look in Roman Reigns' eyes that were almost pinning him to the wall.
'Apologize. Now. Don't make me actually say it.'
Seth briefly nodded at Roman who walked away, shaking his head no doubt at the stupidity of his youngest brother.
The words Dean Ambrose had nearly snarled at him and Roman weren't the ones they'd planned. But the real surprise had been the bite in his words. The bite mostly directed at the youngest of the Shield.
Seth wiped his face with both hands. Now he had to figure out where Dean had gone.
The old Dean would've headed for the bowels and darkness of the building. But this Dean…
Five minutes later, Seth stepped onto the roof of the building. Standing not far away was Dean Ambrose who stood, staring out into the darkness. He stood far enough back from the edge that the lights of the parking lot didn't illuminate him. But his stance was very familiar to Seth.
He slowly walked towards Dean, knowing the older man heard him coming. He stopped a few feet away, hoping Dean would turn so he could see his brother's face.
But his brother didn't grant him that mercy.
"As hard as all this is for you, it's hard for me as well," Seth quietly spoke. "I'm not saying that as a reason for what I said or as an excuse for what I said. I'm just stating it as a fact."
Dean's head turned slightly towards him in silent acknowledgement of his words.
Seth sighed. "I keep waiting for the old Dean to show up," he explained. "I keep waiting to see the old Dean jump on Roman's back and yell 'Ro! Ro!' or dance around me and shadowbox." He took a deep breath. "But that guy's not coming back, is he?"
"I dunno."
"I took the 'Lunatic' thing too far. I understand that. I just fell back into an old pattern. I swear I never meant to hurt you with that. You asked that we not do that, and I screwed up. I promise it won't happen again."
Dean took a deep breath. "It's…a lot's changed," he finally spoke. "Never mattered before. Now…" he shrugged.
"Now it matters," Seth agreed.
Dean silently nodded and turned to stare back into the darkness.
Seth turned away, then paused. He worried his lower lip for a few seconds, then turned back to face Dean's back.
"I have nightmares sometimes. We were there, you know…me and Roman. We didn't let Renee go through that alone."
Once again, Dean's head half turned in silent acknowledgement.
"In the nightmares, you…you…you don't wake up," Seth stuttered. "You just don't wake up! So, now, sometimes I pretend nothing happened so I don't have to remember all that. That you didn't get hurt. That you didn't have surgery. That you didn't…" He took a deep breath. "Sometimes I even pretend I didn't stab you and Roman in the back," he whispered. "But that's just…stupid. All that did happen, and I just gotta stop pretending." He raised his voice. "So, I swear, all that stops. I'm genuinely sorry I went on too much about the 'Lunatic' thing. It will not happen again."
"It worked into The Plan," Dean grunted. "We can use it."
"We're more than The Plan." Seth shook his head even though Dean couldn't see it. "Not if it's going to hurt you or cause problems between us. We'll find something else."
"We'll see." Dean turned his head away again.
"We're going to have a couple more confrontations tonight. You can take some shots at me if you want," Seth offered. He saw Dean silently nod, then turned to leave.
'I think 'some shots' isn't enough.'
Dean snarled into the darkness.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Seth honestly thought Dean would take the opportunity to hit him after his loss to Dolph Ziggler. When Roman came out to break up their argument and Dean backed away, Seth then figured it would happen during the match that Baron Corbin conveniently set up for them.
In the back, after Corbin's announcement, Seth caught a glimpse of Kurt Angle and the smirk on the man's face. Both of them knew Corbin was a moron. But, at this point in time, he was a helpful moron even if the moron in question didn't realize it.
But Seth was unprepared for Dean trying to slap 'Dirty Deeds' on him.
Dirty freakin' Deeds?
Seth wasn't sure which irritated him more. The fact Dean had tried to nail him with his signature move or the fact that Dean deliberately left him enough wiggle room to escape. Or that Roman smirked at him in their dressing room behind Dean's back after the match and held his thumb and forefinger so close together they nearly touched.
'That close, little brother. That close.'
Seth chose to roll his eyes and ignore Roman.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Seth! Are you heading home?"
Seth turned to see Renee Young's smiling face as she hugged him. Fortunately, the Philadelphia airport was nearly empty at this time of early morning so they didn't have to be careful about appearances.
"Hi, Renee." Seth grinned and hugged her back. "Yeah, heading home. Got stuff I need to do. And I miss Kevin, you know?"
"Then bring him along," Renee suggested. "We can bring Blue, and they can play together."
Seth shook his head. "Once I head back for RAW next week, I won't be home until well after Crown Jewel."
"Awww, too bad." Renee leaned closer. "I still say we need to dress Blue and Kevin up in little Shield outfits."
Seth snickered, imagining the look on Dean's face at seeing his dog dressed like that. "Or dress Blue up in tattered jeans and a black leather jacket."
Renee threw back her head and laughed. "Or both."
"You makin' time with my woman, Rollins?"
Both Renee and Seth turned to see Dean looking at them with a grin on his face.
"Nah. Just exchanging fashion ideas," Seth snickered.
Renee snorted, then reached for her phone as it buzzed. "Sorry. Be just a minute. Glam girl conversation." She walked away, talking into the phone.
"Fashion ideas, huh?" Dean scratched his bearded jaw. "Anything I should be worried about?"
Seth laughed and shook his head. "You guys heading straight home?"
"Yeah, no house shows means everybody gets a break before the girls gear up for Evolution and we gear up for Crown Jewel." Dean grimaced. "Evolution! Jeez, ya think Trips approved that one?"
Seth chuckled but held up his hands. "Trust me. I don't know." He glanced down at the floor. "Gonna be a hard grind starting with RAW next week. The downtime's gonna be good."
Dean was silent for a few seconds, then spoke. "That hard grind means we…all of us…we gotta be on the same page. So, we need to make time to be sure that happens. We talk." He scowled at Seth's expression. "Don't look at me that way."
Seth slowly smiled and nodded.
Dean tapped Seth on the side of the head. "Slow that brain of yours down a little. Stop runnin' it in overdrive all the time." He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "Nightmares are a bitch-and-a-half. You have 'em. You talk to us about 'em."
Seth stared into Dean's blue eyes. 'Understood. You and Renee travel safe. What happened tonight won't happen again.'
'Travel safe, little brother. Forgiven.' Dean nodded and stepped back. "Text me when you land."
"You too," Seth nodded. As he turned towards his gate, he heard Dean grumble.
"Fuckin' hell! Now Roman's makin' time with my woman!"
Seth glanced over his shoulder with a grin to see Dean stomping to where Renee and Roman were talking. He saw Roman's head come up and the grin on his face.
Seth turned and walked away. Despite Dean's advice to not run his brain in 'overdrive', he knew he had some seriously thinking to do.