This is inspired by revivingophelia's story, To Ride Out The Storm, which is excellent and I encourage everyone to read it. My fic takes the basic premise but is going to go another direction entirely, and doesn't feature the same characters as her story. I hope y'all are onboard! There will be some MATURE content suitable for adults only. In the context of this fic, all storylines are real and the characters portrayed herein are intended to be the onscreen CHARACTERS and not identical to the wrestlers/personalities portraying them.
9 PM
Lilian Garcia rubbed at her tired eyes. She had stayed late at this arena to finish up some paperwork that needed doing; her friend Kaitlyn, the Divas Champion, was keeping her company. Kaitlyn was signing autographs to be auctioned off at a charity event that she would be attending when the show made their way back to Texas.
"All finished?" Lilian asked her.
Kaitlyn grinned up at her. "Just one more and I'll be done. What about you?"
"Nothing's left that can't wait till tomorrow. Do you think anyone else is even still here?"
"Gotta be a couple of people." Kaitlyn signed the last autograph and sat her pen down in triumph. "Okay, let's see if we can hitch a ride with someone back to the hotel."
Lilian pondered. "I think I saw Dolph and AJ walk past a few minutes ago."
Kaitlyn pulled a face. "Anyone but them!" she said, sticking out her tongue. The spectacular flaming disintegration of her once close friendship with AJ was well known to everyone on the roster. Just a year ago, Kaitlyn and AJ had been inseperable. Then AJ had, to put it politely, gone off the deep end after Daniel Bryan dumped her. Now that she was with Dolph Ziggler, AJ seemed happier than she'd ever been before, but she was still acting abominably to poor Kaitlyn. Lilian had felt sorry for Kaitlyn so tried to spend time with her to make her feel better, but she doubted it really made up for Kaitlyn losing her best friend. She could only hope that AJ came to her senses one day and apologized to Kaitlyn, but even if she did, she and Kaitlyn would never be as close as they had once been.
The two women left the same office they'd been sitting in and walked towards the main concourse. "My phone is all static-y," Kaitlyn complained, throwing her cell back into her purse. "I can't get a signal."
"My god, look at that," Lilian said, pointing to the window. Rain was hammering down, and the sky outside was so dark and stormy that they couldn't even see the parking lot. The only evidence that the outside world existed was the faint yellow glow of the streetlights. It had been cloudy that evening when they went into the arena, but they hadn't expected a storm like this.
Lilian checked the weather on her phone, and managed to get enough internet that she would pull up a weather report. A tropical storm off the coast had changed direction suddenly in the last couple of hours, and was now lashing the coastline. The roads had been shut down and all travel suspended. Kaitlyn groaned when Lilian told her this. "We should've left with everyone else!" said Kaitlyn.
"We probably would've been stranded in the hotel or worse, in the tour buses," Lilian told her. At least in the arena, they were dry and safe. A severe weather warning was expected until the early hours of the morning, so unless some miracle happened, it looked like they were stuck here.
On the other side of the concourse, one story up near the master control room and offices, John Cena, CM Punk, and Zack Ryder had also finished some mandatory paperwork and discovered that they too were stranded. Paul Heyman, who'd stuck around to wait on Punk, was furious. "How are we supposed to get out of here?" he ranted. "Where are we supposed to sleep tonight? Someone should've called and warned us about this!"
"It's one of those unpredictable things, Paul, relax," Punk said. He was leaning against the wall, feet crossed at the ankle, fiddling with his iPod.
"Is anyone else still here with us?" asked Cena. He was staring out the window, as though trying to will away the storm. He was regretting always being the first to volunteer and the last to leave. If he had pushed this stupid anger management paperwork off on someone else, or pulled rank to get out of it, he would be warm and comfortable in his hotel room right now.
"I think Kaitlyn and Lilian were staying late, so they're probably here," said Punk. "Ziggler and his crazy chick are here too, along with that Mr. T guy that follows them around."
"And the Shield," piped up Heyman.
"The Shield?" Cena frowned.
"Yeah, but who knows where they are." Punk shrugged. "You won't see them unless they want to be seen."
Zack Ryder, a ball of energy after being stuck in a conference room for the past hour, was almost bouncing off the walls. "We should go find the girls and make sure they're all right! What if the Shield get their paws on them?"
Punk shot him a withering glare. "The Shield don't go around attacking girls."
"Who knows what they're capable of!" Zack looked to Cena to back him up. "Have you seen those guys?"
"Have you seen our girls?" Punk asked Zack.
"I think Zack's right," said Cena. "We should go find Lilian and Kaitlyn at least. Not because they can't take care of themselves," he said at the challenging look on Punk's face, "but because it's the right thing to do. If the lights go out, they could trip or fall or something," he finished lamely. Heyman looked disgusted and Punk had gone back to pushing buttons on his iPod. "Okay, who's with me?" asked Cena.
"I am, broski!" Zack gave Cena a high-five. "If those Shield guys jump you, I got your back. We'll fistpump their faces!"
Heyman wandered over to a cushioned bench and laid down on it. "Wake me when this is over," he said, opening up his book and laying it over his face to block out the light. Punk sat cross-legged next to him, ignoring both Zack and Cena.
"Okay," said Cena. "You two wait here. We'll find Lilian and Kaitlyn and lead them back." He took out his cell phone and sent texts to both women, hoping that at least one would go through. "Zack, let's split up. You go this way, I'll go the other way, and we meet back here. Got it?"
"Yell if you need me, bro," Zack told him, and they headed off in opposite directions.
Dolph, AJ, and Big E. Langston tried to leave the building via an employee exit, and realized their mistake as soon as they opened the heavy steel door and torrents of rain poured in on them. "Ah!" AJ leapt into Dolph's arms. "Ziggyyyyy... I'm soaked!" She looked pathetic with her wet hair and mascara running down her cheeks. Dolph, who wasn't much drier, thought she looked adorable, sort of like a sad-eyed raccoon or something. He wisely kept that thought to himself.
"Oh babe, I'll keep you warm." Dolph wrapped his arms around AJ, leaving it to Big E. to slam the door shut. E.'s face was screwed up with fury as he wiped water out of his eyes.
"There ain't no way we're going out in that!" said E. His shoes made squishing sound as he stomped off back down the hall, going back the way they'd came. Dolph ran behind him, still carrying AJ in his arms and the belt around his waist.
"E., wait, where are you going?"
"To find somewhere to dry off."
AJ sniffled. "That's not a bad idea. I bet there's towels in the locker rooms."
9:30 PM
Miraculously, Kaitlyn had gotten a text from John Cena. "He says he's coming to find us," she told Lilian. "I bet he's walking around the concourse right now." The two women had found a concession stand and managed to turn on one of the grills to make hot dogs. Lilian was keeping an account of everything they were taking so they could pay for it later.
"Should I put another dog on the grill?" asked Lilian.
"Sure, why not. Hey, I'm gonna walk down this hall and see if I can find him. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Lilian took out her cell phone again after Kaitlyn walked off. Her service seemed to be back, for how long she wasn't sure, but she had also gotten Cena's text and a couple others from friends of hers who'd made it to the hotel already. She texted them to let them know that she and Kaitlyn were okay. Then she tried to call her husband, Rob, but the call kept going to voicemail. "Damnit, Rob," she muttered. Lilian turned off the grill, lined up the hot dogs in a row, then sat down on an empty crate and put her head in her hands.
Tonight of all nights he should be answering her calls, since the storm had to be making national news. Once upon a time, Rob would've answered on the first ring. Then slowly, he began to let some calls go to voicemail, and then more and more, until lately, when it seemed like she had a fifty-fifty shot of getting in touch with him at all. Lilian sighed deeply. She was an old-fashioned girl in a lot of ways, and although she'd traveled the world with the WWE for years, she had never dated any wrestlers. In fact, she'd married the only two guys she'd ever slept with. After her first marriage fell apart, she had felt lucky to meet Rob. He was so normal. Then they'd started trying to have a baby, in earnest since 2009, with no luck. The stress fractures started showing. Lilian never conceived. She'd had a miscarriage with her ex-husband, and her doctor assured her that she was perfectly healthy, so she knew it wasn't her. She had begged Rob to see a fertility specialist, but he refused. He also wouldn't hear of adoption, saying that he couldn't love "someone else's kid" like his own. At forty-six, with her biological clock ticking, her time was running out to be a mother.
She had tried talking to some of her friends about this, but most of them (like Kaitlyn) were too young to understand what she was going through. They had years ahead of them to devote to a career, marriage, children, or all three. Kaitlyn kept telling Lilian that she needed to have some fun, that her stress was probably the reason she couldn't get pregnant. No, thought Lilian, the reason I can't get pregnant is I spend 300 days a year on the road, while my husband sits at home.
Trying to calm her nerves, Lilian did the only thing that always worked: she began singing to herself. The song was an old Spanish folksong that her abuela used to sing to her when Lilian would get scared of thunder and lightning when she was a little girl. Lilian had nurtured her voice, trained it into an instrument she could be proud of, and feeling of those well-loved words in her throat soothed her soul.
She reached the end of the song, and as the last note died, Lilian was shocked to her core by the sound of someone clapping. Whirling around, she nearly jumped out of her skin as a man materialized out of the dim hallway to her right. He was dressed in all black, and at first all she could make out was his outline - his tall, muscular figure and messy hair. And then she saw who he was: Dean Ambrose.
Lilian had never spoken to any of the guys in the Shield and only knew them by reputation. Dean Ambrose's reputation was maybe the scariest of the entire team. He had some kind of dark past, and had spent years in the indies working his way up in bloody no-holds-barred matches. This close, she could see tiny scars all over his arms, legacies of barbwire. He stopped clapping and stood still where he was, a few feet in front of her. Shaking, Lilian grabbed hold of the countertop behind her to steady herself.
"Are you mocking me?" she asked in a soft voice. Why else would he be clapping? She couldn't imagine Dean Ambrose, the pitbull of the Shield, appreciating Spanish folksongs. He probably wanted to scare her, intimidate her. Oh god, where was Kaitlyn? Was anyone going to come running if she screamed?
His body stiffened, and Lilian could see the tension rippling through him. His pale eyes pierced her, and if she was scared before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now. "I would never mock you," Ambrose said. His shoulders hunched a bit.
"What are you doing here?" Lilian breathed.
"I like," he paused, closing his eyes, whether to will himself to finish the sentence or to reconsider what he was about to say, Lilian couldn't tell. "I like hearing you sing."
"You. You like hearing me sing."
"That's what I said." He cocked his head to the side. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm not gonna hurt you, lady."
To be fair, he hadn't made a move to put a hand on her. Lilian cautiously straightened up, brushing out imaginary wrinkles in her skirt. She was still too intimidated to look him in the face, but she stole glances at him out of the corner of her eye. When the Shield burst onto the scene, she remembered talking about it with some of the Divas, and most of them agreed that while Rollins and Reigns looked like underwear models, that Ambrose was sort of ugly. Lilian had spent much of her adult life traveling the world alongside some of the most gorgeous men imaginable, and Ambrose didn't really compare to The Rock or Randy Orton, for example. Up close, Ambrose was a lot bigger than she had expected he'd be, though. "Um. Would you like a hot dog?" she asked him.
His brow furrowed. "A hot dog?"
Lilian grabbed the tongs, picked up one of the dogs, and stuck it into a bun. "Here you go."
Ambrose wordlessly accepted the hot dog. Lilian squirmed in her shoes. "Can I have some ketchup?" he rasped.
She let out a deep breath, almost laughing with relief. All he wanted was ketchup. It was so dumb and normal. She found a packet of the stuff and gave it to him. Lilian fixed herself a hot dog and sat down on her crate, scooting to the side a bit to offer him a seat. Ambrose hesitated for a moment, like he wasn't sure what to do, and then joined her. The crate was small, so his side pressed against her back. Trying to play it cool, Lilian took a big bite of her hot dog.
"Where's your friends?" she asked him after a moment.
"Where's yours?" He turned the question back around on her.
"She went looking for the others. She should be back any minute now."
Ambrose made a soft sound. "The Shield is doing the same. We're scouting around for anyone else left in this building."
Finishing her hot dog, Lilian balled up her napkin and chucked it into the trash can. "Did you find anyone?" she asked him. "Aside from me, of course."
Ambrose pivoted towards her. "Yeah. I'll take you to them, if you want. If you can trust me."
She laughed nervously, brushing her hair back from her face. Did she trust Dean Ambrose? Lilian doubted he would lead her into a dark hallway and murder her or anything like that. She wasn't sure what to think of the Shield, though. They talked about honor and principles but all she'd seen was violence. "I shouldn't leave, Kaitlyn will be looking for me," said Lilian.
"Text her and tell her to meet you at the east wing of the concourse." Dean stood up, and for some reason the spot where her back touched his side felt strangely cold.
She did as he said. Kaitlyn texted her back within moments, confirming that they would meet there. Lilian sighed; if Kaitlyn could take three seconds to respond to her text, why hadn't Rob answered a single phone call? Lilian put the hot dogs and some condiments into a small bag, planning to bring them to the others. She almost got left behind as Dean Ambrose took off in an easternly direction, not even checking to see if she was following him. Lilian had to scramble to catch up with his long strides. "You never did tell me where your friends are," she reminded him.
"Roman is calling his fiancee and kid to let them know he's all right. Seth is with CM Punk and Paul Heyman right now."
"Roman Reigns has a fiancee? And a child?"
Ambrose glanced at her over his shoulder. "What's so funny 'bout that?"
"Nothing! I guess I didn't imagine the Shield being family guys," Lilian admitted. Ambrose didn't respond; he stopped suddenly, holding up a hand as though to signal her to be quiet. Lilian almost tripped over her heels as she tried to stop. What is it, she mouthed at him. Ambrose listened, then shook his head.
"I thought I heard something."
Lilian wrapped her arms around herself. "What if someone's locked in here with us? Like a crazed fan or something?" Nightmare scenarios ran through her head. Belligerent wrestlers. Psycho fans. Serial killers. Zombies.
"I'll take care of you," Ambrose said. He sounded so frank and self-confident that Lilian couldn't help but believe him. They had just started walking again when the lights began to flicker. Shivers ran up and down Lilian's spine. Acting on impulse, she reached out and caught hold of the crook of Ambrose's elbow, pulling herself closer to him. When he looked over at her, Lilian blushed; but instead of yanking his arm away like she expected, he reached over with his other hand, took her wrist, but only pulled it away long enough to take her by the hand. They were now walking hand-in-hand, and Lilian's semi-permanent blush was raging. She couldn't believe what she was doing.
When Dean Ambrose's thumb lightly caressed her palm, Lilian almost yelped.
"I'm not trying to scare you," he said in a voice that she imagined must be very soft for him.
All Lilian could think to say was, "I'm a little bit older than you, Dean." As soon as it was out of her mouth, she regretted the words. There were a dozen things she should've said, starting with I'm married and continuing on to I barely know you, and ending with You're crazy. For the first time all night she made herself look him in the eye. He didn't say anything right away, and Lilian found herself lingering over his face. Dean's eyes were a pale, changeable blue-grey color. His hair looked very fine, like it would be soft to the touch, and his chin pointed upwards a bit, but it gave him character. She felt like a fool for ever thinking he was ugly.
"I like the way you look at me," Dean said after what felt like an eternity, but was really only a few seconds. Lilian couldn't swallow. He lifted her hand to his mouth, and gently kissed her knuckles. The warmth in that brush of lips, the feeling of his breath floating across her skin, made her skin prickle.
"Lili!"
Oh, damn. That was Kaitlyn's voice coming from a nearby hallway. Lilian jerked her hand away from Dean and stared at the floor, trying to find her voice. She desperately hoped that the dim light would hide the furious blush on her face. "I'm right here, Kaitlyn," she called out.
Kaitlyn came around the corner all smiles, but her face fell slack when she got a look at who Lilian was with. Belatedly, Lilian realized she had forgotten to mention to Kaitlyn that Dean Ambrose had accompanied her. "Ah, this is Dean Ambrose. He was nice enough to walk me over here and make sure I was all right."
"I know who he is," Kaitlyn said. She was inching closer, on guard, as though she expected Ambrose to rush her and beat her up or something. "If he's here, his Shield buddies can't be far away." Now that she was a little closer, she was giving Lilian a curious look, as though she could read the guilt on her face. "Are you all right, Lili?"
She was saved from answering by a loud clap of thunder that rattled the concourse windows. The lights flickered and went out entirely for several seconds. Kaitlyn cursed out loud, and Lilian reflexively grabbed hold of Dean's arm. Lilian almost had a heart attack when he reached up and gave her hand a comforting squeeze. She pulled away from him again just as the lights flickered back on.
"Reigns and Rollins are with Punk and Heyman," said Dean. "They have reason to believe other wrestlers may be roaming the halls. Not sure how many." He looked at Kaitlyn pointedly. "If you're not too scared, I'll take you both to them."
Kaitlyn turned to Lilian. "Are you sure about this guy?"
"I... I trust him, Kait." Lilian made herself look Dean Ambrose in the eye. He was watching her with a thoughtful expression, one arm crossing his body, the thumb of the other hand touching the corner of his mouth. He seemed a little surprised at what he was hearing. She smiled at him. His eyebrows quirked.
Fidgeting, Kaitlyn said, "Cena says he's coming to find us." It was obvious she didn't want to follow after Ambrose, but didn't want to come out and say it.
Ambrose turned in circles, arms swinging outwards, swaying on his feet comically. "Do you see him around anywhere? He probably freaked out when the lights went out, and accidentally gave an Attitude Adjustment to Ryder. What the hell, text him and tell him to meet us on the upper eastern concourse, next to the master control room. That's where Punk, Heyman, and my teammates are." Without another word, he took off again, heading for the stairs. Lilian ran after him, and Kaitlyn followed after her, grumbling under her breath.
10 PM
Just as Ambrose claimed, his teammates Rollins and Reigns had found Punk and Paul Heyman on the upper concourse, right where Cena and Ryder had left them an hour ago. The storm raged outside, a tree lashing at the windows, the dim lights flickering ominously. Punk stared down both Rollins and Reigns. The tension was unbearable. Paul Heyman broke the tension by running inbetween the two Shield members and his client and squawking, "Okay, okay, I get it, guys. I get it. Tonight has been a bad night. And we're stuck here together. But it doesn't have to go from bad to worse because of a little misunderstanding!"
"We're not here to fight you," Seth Rollins said to Punk. The look on Roman Reigns' face clearly said that if that had been their intention, the fight would be on and he thought Punk would be getting the worst of it.
"Where's Ambrose?" asked Punk. He'd never been on the receiving end of one of the Shield's beatdowns, and he didn't intend to start now. While Rollins and Reigns were formidable by anyone's measure, they were strongest as a unit with Ambrose, and until Ambrose was present and accounted for, he intended to watch his back.
Reigns produced a cell phone from one of his many pockets and handed it to Rollins. It seemed that Rollins was the appointed talker of the two, because he said, "He texted us not five minutes ago. He's coming this way, bringing two of the girls with him."
"Girls?" Heyman cut in. "Dean Ambrose found girls?"
"Girls have a way of finding Dean Ambrose." Rollins sounded a little amused, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. Even Reigns snorted softly, as though amused.
Punk sucked his lip ring into his mouth, taking Rollins and Reigns' measures. Reigns he didn't know at all, but he didn't seem like some kind of borderline psycho, like Ambrose. As for Seth Rollins, Punk had history with him - not a lot of history, but some. Despite some questionable decisions in his past, not the least being in the Shield itself, Rollins wasn't a bad sort of guy.
Seth Rollins put out his hand to shake. "Truce?"
Punk ignored the hand. "So just like that, we shake on it and we're best buddies, at least for tonight? Is that it?"
"Cena and Ryder are still at large, along with who knows how many other people," Rollins reminded him.
"The only people in danger of being attacked by John Cena and Zack Ryder are you and your two buddies. You haven't exactly made yourselves popular in the locker room, ya know."
"Their small minds can't handle what we're about," said Rollins, locking eyes with Punk. Now Punk got the impression that it was his measure being taken, this time by Rollins himself. "Someone once told me that, no matter how much you deserve it, you'll never be given respect in this business. You have to beat it out of people."
Punk squinted an eye at him. "Touche." He took Seth Rollins' hand this time, giving it a firm shake. Overjoyed, Heyman clapped Roman Reigns on the back like an old friend, only for Reigns to give him a glare so cold that he shrank back immediately.
On their way upstairs to join the others, Kaitlyn tried to make small talk with Lilian, determinedly ignoring Dean Ambrose as much as possible. "So Rob must be blowing up your cell, huh?" she asked.
Lilian did not want to have this conversation right now, but there was no easy way out of it. "Uh... actually, he hasn't called or texted me yet."
"What?" Kaitlyn's voice squeaked with outrage. "Are you for real? You're stuck in the storm of the century, and he can't even send you a freaking text message?"
Ahead of them, Dean Ambrose twisted around to look back down at them. In the dim light his expression was unreadable. Unbidden, thoughts of the way he had kissed her hand, the way he had made her skin prickle, came into Lilian's mind. "Let's not talk about this right now, Kait," she said. Within minutes, they had made it to the concourse next to the master control room, and sure enough, there were Punk, Heyman, and the other two members of the Shield. For some reason, Lilian felt vindicated on Dean's behalf, as though he had proven her right by leading them there.
Punk and Heyman greeted them, and Rollins and Reigns nodded at them, but the meeting was subdued. The lights seemed to have gotten dimmer. Lilian hoped that they wouldn't lose power before morning. Taking out the bag she'd brought from the concession stand, she showed the others the hot dogs and packets of condiments. "I think I brought enough for everyone," she said.
Paul Heyman had already ripped open a packet of horseradish sauce and started spreading it over a hot dog. "There's five hot dogs," said Kaitlyn. "And seven of us. Lili, you can have mine."
Lilian demurred. "No, no, it's okay," she said. "Dean and I ate hot dogs before we got here." At that, Punk looked askance at Dean, who stared back at him boldly. Lilian wondered if she'd said something wrong.
The others had started digging into their food when they heard footsteps approaching. Instantly, the Shield were on high alert. Reigns stood center, with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins flanking him, in some kind of battle formation. Heyman hid behind Punk, who just seemed annoyed to have had his dinner interrupted. The footsteps drew closer.
"Oh, it's just you." Kaitlyn had never sounded so unenthused.
AJ Lee, who was hanging onto her boyfriend Dolph Ziggler's hand, simpered at her. "We followed the sound of your knuckles dragging right to you, what can I say?" Big E. Langston stepped inbetween the two women, as though to head off a fight. Ziggler made noises like a cat hissing and spitting, and laughed at the girls.
"Okay, that's enough," said CM Punk, stepping in. "Look, we've all come to a truce for the night. Since we're stuck here, we might as well put up with each other until tomorrow morning when the storm passes."
AJ rolled her eyes at him. "I'm sure Zigglypuff, E., and me all have more important things to do than squabble with any of you. So why don't you guys just pick out your own rooms for the night, and we'll pick out ours, and steer clear of each other?"
"We should be so lucky," said Kaitlyn.
Dolph Ziggler wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "C'mon, babe," he said to AJ. "I think there's a break room down the hall. Let's camp out there for the night." He pulled her close and kissed her neck, making AJ giggle. Kaitlyn stuck her finger in her mouth and make a gagging sound. Ziggler and AJ took off down the hall, but before Big E. could follow them, Kaitlyn stopped him.
"Where've y'all been, anyway?" she asked him.
Big E. cleared his throat. "In the showers. They're right down the stairs and to the left. We tried to leave the building but got drenched." This was as much as anyone had ever heard him say.
Kaitlyn decided to push her luck with him. "Mind showing me? I don't know how to get to the locker room and showers from this direction, I came in a different way." She sidled a little closer to him. "It might come in handy later." Big E. looked towards Ziggler and AJ, but seeing they were wrapped up in each other, quickly returned his attention to Kaitlyn.
"It would be my pleasure." He offered his arm to Kaitlyn. Charmed, she took it. They strolled off arm-in-arm like some kind of picturesque couple in a movie.
Scratching his head, CM Punk turned and looked at Lilian. "So... that happened."
Oh you have no idea, Lilian thought, guiltly glancing over at Dean Ambrose. He was sprawled out across one of the couches, hands on his chest, fingers interlocked. He was pretending to sleep, watching her through half-lidded eyes. Somehow she knew this was going to be a long night.
10:15 PM
John Cena received a text from CM Punk that everyone else had congregated near the master control room - and by 'everyone', that included the Shield. He and Zack had met back up on the lower level after not finding any of the others.
"Bro, are you gonna stand for this!" Zack Ryder demanded to know. "Do you know how many times those guys have kicked your butt?"
Cena sighed at him. "Yes, Zack, I know. I think I still have the impression of one of their combat boots on my ass. But it's not going to get us anywhere if we go back there to start a fight."
At that, Zack looked skeptical. "You sure?"
"I'm sure."
"So... what should we do?" Zack was at a loss. His plans for this evening started at finding the lost girls and ended with kicking the Shield's collective butts.
"Punk suggested we go to the concession area, make ourselves some food, and find a spot to sleep for the night." Cena thought it over. There was a VIP lounge in this arena one level down, with a mini fridge of beer and some cushy leather recliners. He smiled. Suddenly, the thought of leaving Punk to deal with the Shield and put up with their mutual ex (AJ) making kissy-face with her current beau (Dolph Ziggler) didn't seem so bad. He grabbed Zack by the shoulder. "C'mon buddy, I got an idea."
10:30 PM
As they approached the showers, Big E. tried to pluck up his courage. Very little in life scared E., but this small but powerful Texan girl scared him to his core. He knew it was illogical, but he couldn't help it. He was powerless before her. "Have you gotten any new clues as to the identity of your secret admirer?" he asked as casually as he knew how.
Kaitlyn pursed her lips. "Not really. All I know is that he has good taste."
"If he's in love with you, then yes. Absolutely."
They were standing in front of the showers. Big E. awkwardly turned to go, but once again, Kaitlyn stopped him. "E., I showered after my match. I don't need to shower again," she told him. She had the most beautiful mouth he thought he had ever seen.
His hands trembled. "Miss Kaitlyn..."
"Call me Kait." She leaned up on her tippy-toes and kissed his cheek. "Let's you and me have a talk. A real talk. And for god's sake, tell me where you found that hat."
Big E. gulped. "You like the hat?" he asked her.
"I love the hat." She walked back out to the concourse, E. following behind her, and they took seats on the benches near the windows. The rainfall cast strange shadows throughout the concourse. Big E.'s big heart fluttered in his chest. He had never been so scared, or so happy, or so lucky.
Upstairs, the others decided to try to bed down for the night. In their own room, Dolph and AJ pushed together two couches to form a bed of sorts. They sent Big E. a text message letting him know where they were, but he texted back and said not to wait up. Shrugging, Dolph Ziggler shed his shirt, folded it neatly, and laid it next to his championship belt. "So it looks like we've got the night to ourselves."
A completely naked AJ Lee crooked a finger at him from their makeshift bed. Smirking, Dolph Ziggler took a running leap and dove in with her.
The Shield found a room of their own to sleep in, making pallets on the floor out of their spare clothes in their luggage. Dean Ambrose wandered off, saying he was going to find the showers on his own. Roman began to meditate, but Seth couldn't doze off. Finally, he got up and wandered back out to the concourse, where he found CM Punk stretched out on one of the benches, talking to Lilian Garcia. Paul Heyman had already fallen asleep, snoring, with baseball cap pulled over his eyes.
"Punk, can I ask you about something?" Seth said.
Punk made a vague sort of hand motion. "I'm here, aren't I?"
"In private?"
Lilian stood up. "I'm gonna find Kaitlyn anyway," she said. "You boys go ahead."
Punk frowned. "You don't want me to go with you?"
"The showers are right downstairs, I'll be fine."
Once she walked off, Punk turned his attention to Rollins. "Okay, what is so important?"
Rollins beckoned to him. "Follow me." When he saw the look on Punk's face, he let out a long-suffering sigh and said, "C'mon. Do it just this once." Begrudgingly, Punk walked with him over to the master control room. Seth opened the door and waved Punk in. The master control room was where the 'magic' happened, where the lights, sound, and special effects were controlled for a show. Seth sat down at a control panel, took out his own iPod, and plugged it into something.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Listen." Seth grinned up at him. "How about some Against Me?"
Right on cue, the song 'Burn' began playing over the arena audio system. "Huh!" said Punk, a little impressed despite himself. "So you have some good music on that thing, anyway."
Seth sat down on the edge of the control panel, patting the spot next to him, inviting Punk to join him. After a moment's hesitation, Punk walked over and sat beside him. They enjoyed a companionable silence through the song. The next song was by August Burns Red, called 'Chasing the Dragon'. Punk had heard it before, and thought it was okay. Seth seemed really into it. "This is one of my favorites by them," he told Punk. "The emotion in his voice... and it's got real meaning. I felt like you'd understand." He looked into Punk's eyes, as though begging him to understand.
Seth's large, dark eyes were what people like to refer to as soulful. CM Punk didn't believe in God and he didn't believe in souls, either, but he totally understood how someone could be enraptured by those eyes. He had met Seth a few years back, when he was wrestling as Tyler Black in Ring of Honor, and Punk had had two thoughts about him: firstly, that he was freakishly talented, and secondly, that he was too nice a guy to make it in this business. When he'd encountered him in NXT later, Punk had given him that speech about respect, partly from bitterness, but partly because he felt like Seth Rollins would never be given respect, no matter how good he was. He was handsome and athletic and had paid his dues, and there would always be those too jealous to see past their own stupidity. He hadn't expected that Rollins would show up like he did and turn the WWE upside down. Any obstacle in his way got taken out by blunt force trauma.
"Do you believe in any of the stuff you talk about?" Punk asked him.
"What do you mean."
"You know. Honor, justice... I know Paul had something to do with getting you guys here. Was it all just a means to an end?" Punk needed to know for some reason. He needed to know if Seth Rollins stood for anything.
"We have a plan," Seth told him. "It's in flux right now. But it's coming together. I can't go into it anymore than that. But yes, we will bring back honor and respect and justice." He twisted a strand of hair around one of his fingers. "Someone has to. It can't go on like this, Punk." The song ended, and Seth rose to his feet. But instead of walking away, he stood in front of CM Punk, hovering there for a moment.
Punk knew what was going to happen long before Seth made a move. He angled his face up, and Seth's warm, pliant lips met his. They pressed against each other for a moment, not even kissing so much as just touching, and then Seth deepened the kiss, his hand coming up to cradle the back of Punk's head.
11 PM
Lilian should have noticed the sound of running water before she stepped through the next door. Later, she would blame it on the loud punk music that was being piped into the arena for some odd reason. Her heels clicked on the slick floor and she slid to a halt, realizing too late just where she was: the showers.
The curtain of the nearest shower stall rustled. Frozen in shock, Lilian could only gape as the curtain slid open. She felt her face go hot and surely red as a tomato at the sight before her. Dean Ambrose was in the shower stall, completely naked, and giving her a curious look. His wet hair clung to his face and neck, the water pouring down his body. Lilian couldn't stop herself. Her eyes roved from his face and then down his shoulders to his chest, and then along his torso to the junction of his thighs. She had only ever seen two naked men in the flesh before, and neither of them looked anything like that. She was enthralled. She was shocked. She had never been so embarassed in her life.
"I-I-," Lilian stammered.
"You in or out?" Dean asked her.
Lilian made a sputtering noise. "What did you say?"
"In or out?" he repeated slowly, opening the shower curtain even wider. Inviting her to join him.
Lilian's purse, which she had been holding before her like a shield, clattered to the tile floor. She took a step forward, stepping out of her high-heeled shoes. A smile quirked at Dean's lips as he watched her walk closer. Blood pounded in Lilian's ears as she stepped into the shower stall with him. She had never, ever, in her life, done anything like this. She couldn't rationally explain why she was doing this now if her life depended on it; just that he was so gorgeous and so there and the look in his eyes was so hungry. The spray from the water struck her, momentarily shocking Lilian back to reality, but before she could jump out of the stall and run away and ruin the moment, Dean backed her up against the wall and kissed her. Lilian's knees buckled when he pressed himself against her, his mouth working eagerly at hers. Dean grasped her by the hips, angled into her, and held her upright. Her fingertips brushed against his chest; her guiltiest fantasies in no way compared to touching him. Within seconds, her clothes were soaking wet and plastered to her body, and, as if in a trance, Lilian began helping Dean with her buttons, allowing him to peel off her clothes, piece by piece.
The cool shower tile to her back made a fascinating contrast with the heat of his body touching hers, his hot mouth and his strong hands. Her arms fell across the back of his neck, one hand combing through his wet hair, as Lilian lost herself, for the first time in her life, to sensation.