DISCLAIMER: Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose are the property of the WWE and/or the Sports entertainers/actors/superstars that play them. I have absolutely no claim on them at all. This fanfiction was written as tribute only and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights held by the WWE and/or the actors/sports entertainers/superstars.
The original characters in this story are products of my own imagination and any resemblance to them and real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Road Trip
Part III
The next hour passed in relative peace and for that Seth was grateful. They talked about what was up for the night, the promo, just normal, everyday stuff, at least normal and everyday for their world. By the time they were pulling into the rest stop, Seth was feeling more optimistic about being able to stick within the time schedule.
"Okay, this is how it's going to go," Seth began when they were pulling up to the gas pump. "Roman, you go, get food and bring it out, Dean you gas up the car, I'm going to the rest room."
"You should have gone when we did," Dean mock scolded him, doing a fair imitation of Seth himself.
"It doesn't matter," Seth said, "It's not going to take me long."
"How come Roman gets to get food?" Dean asked. "I could do that."
"Roman won't be distracted by shiny things and pretty girls," Seth explained, as he unfastened his seat belt.
"No, but pretty girls are distracted by him," Dean muttered. "And ugly girls, and young girls, and old women, and middle aged women, and gay men, and bisexual men and bi curious men-"
"Dean, this isn't up for discussion!" Seth said. "Start pumping the gas!"
The rest stop was extremely busy, which Seth knew could either work for or against them. Sometimes the more crowded a place was, the less likely they were to be recognized, as faces started to blend together. But if they were recognized, it was likely to be twice as bad with more people than if it were just a few. When they left the car, both Seth and Roman had grabbed their hooded sweatshirts and put them on. They were both wearing sunglasses that lightened or darkened depending on the light. Roman's hair was in a ponytail, which did a remarkably good job of making him less recognized. Seth's hair, of course, was a dead give away, which was why he put up the hood the moment he got out of the car. Roman too, put up the hood, but he didn't worry about securing it. They were simple things, but sometimes the simple things were the best. Blend in, don't call attention to themselves. If they overdid it, such as if Seth had tucked his hair and put on a stocking cap, it might have caused more attention because it would be inappropriate for the weather.
Once inside the rest stop, they separated. Roman headed for the food court, Seth to the men's room, which he expected to be hugely busy, but it was relatively quiet, which he was grateful for. The worst time for recognition had to be while you were taking a leak. There you were trying to take care of business, and some fan was hanging out wanting to talk. It was the very definition of awkward. But, seeing that the huge bank of urinals only had a couple guys at them, Seth breathed a sigh of relief, and headed for the one that was furthest away from the others.
When he was pretty much finished, just tucking things back into place and zipping up, he felt a tug on the left leg of his jeans, right below his butt, tugging hard enough that the waistband went down, showing the top band of his underwear. Startled, he whipped around as he pulled up his jeans, to see-
No one? What the he-
"Mister!"
He looked down where a small child was looking up at him. Well, at least it wasn't a ghost, he thought with wry amusement. "Yeah?" he asked, cautiously. He was pretty sure this kid hadn't recognized him, not from the back and with his hair covered by the hood, so what did he want?
"I lost my mom," the kid said, sighing. He could not have been more than five years old, maybe even as young as four, with hair so blond it looked almost white and pale skin, wearing jeans and Superman T-shirt.
And you thought she'd be in the men's room? Seth thought, but didn't say. "Uh, what about your Dad? Is he in here?" he looked around the bathroom frantically, hoping one of the few patrons would come rushing forward to claim the child.
"Dad's back home," the kid said, rolling his eyes as if he couldn't believe Seth would be dumb enough to even ask the question. "Mom and I are going to visit Grandma. Dad hates going to Grandma's house."
"Ah, okay," Seth kept looking around, not knowing quite what he should do. He headed for the sinks, the child following right along like a pale shadow.
"He says Grandma is an old bat who ought to mind her own business," the kid continued in a voice that was close to monotone. "But I love her, she makes me cookies."
"That's good," Seth said as he washed his hands, then added, "The cookies, I mean, not you know, your Dad calling her..." he let his voice trail off.
"But, I lost my mom!" The kid said, almost seeming to remember as he spoke the words, his voice getting higher with an edge to it the promised tears. "Can you find her for me, Mister?"
"Uh, I'm not sure if I've got the time," Seth explained, as he moved to the paper towel dispenser. Empty, of course. Sighing, he looked at the hand driers, then sadly wiped his hands on his pants. "But," he continued, because the boy's bottom lip was trembling and he wasn't going to leave a child lost in this place, "Maybe we can find someone who can page your mother and have her come get you. I'm sure she's looking for you." I hope so, he thought. Please don't let this be one of those kids that the parent abandons in a public place because they can't take care of them anymore. He studied the boy, relieved to see he looked well fed and clean, like someone took good care of him, and had the means to continue to care for him. Yes, the odds were that the child was just legitimately lost. Seth would turn him over to one of the police officers that seemed to be hanging around the place and the problem would be solved. Think of it as your good deed for the day.
"Okay," the boy said. "But give me a second, I have to go."
And thus why he came into the men's room to look for his mother, Seth thought with a sigh. "All right, but be quick about it, okay?"
The kid was already heading toward the urinals that were lower to the ground for kids. Seth waited while the child took an excruciatingly long time to take care of business. Seth didn't dislike kids, actually it was the opposite, he rather liked them, but they could be, well, strange sometimes. It was like they did everything at a million miles an hour, until they had to go to the bathroom, or eat lunch, or accept a piece of Halloween candy, then it was like time stood still and they took forever to finish the task. "My name is Caleb," the kid announced as he was urinating.
"Uh, nice to meet you, Caleb," Seth said, trying not to feel weird about this. He was not the sort-of guy who chatted when he was taking care of business, nor was he the type to chat with someone while they were taking care of business. "I'm Seth."
There was at least a minute where nothing could be heard but the faint noise of Caleb taking care of business, and then the child spoke, "there's a kid in my school named Seth." Another long pause while Caleb finished peeing and began methodically putting everything back into place and then zipping up his fly. Then, extremely slowly, his arm moved to flush. "He's weird."
Well, up yours, kid, Seth thought, but of course didn't say. I knew a kid named Caleb when I was growing up who ate library paste. But I'm not bringing that up, am I?
When he was finished with the urinal, Caleb had to wash his hands, another arduous, time consuming process, made even worse by Caleb being just a little too short to operate the faucet. Finally, Seth put his hands around the boy's waist and boosted him up so he could reach.
"Thank you," Caleb said, and although his words expressed gratitude, the tone seemed to indicate that this was the very least Seth could do for him. He proceeded to wash his hands with languid motions, as if the air around him had turned to maple syrup, while Seth held him.
Well, it's kind of like working with weights, Seth thought to himself. Kid probably weighs 40 pounds or so.
Of course Caleb refused to dry his hands on his pants, so at least another five minutes had to be wasted as he used the hand drier. "It goes faster if you rub your hands under it," Seth suggested, making a sincere effort to keep the impatience out of his voice.
Caleb turned and looked at him, eyes wide, and kept his hands as still as a rock. When the first round of air didn't dry his hands completely, he hit the button to start the hand drier again and flipped his hands over to slowly dry the backs. When he was done, he took Seth's hand. "We have to find my mother," he said.
Yeah, I notice it wasn't so urgent to find her when you were making a career out of going to the bathroom, Seth thought. "Don't worry," he said, as he wrapped his hand around Caleb's almost making the small fingers disappear. "We'll find someone who will find her right away, little man."
"My name is Caleb," Caleb said, sounding as if he were just world weary of having to introduce himself to people so often.
"I know that," Seth said, trying not to sound snappish as the walked out the door. What is with this kid?
When they stepped out, Seth could see a crowd and some type of commotion going on in the direction of the food courts. "Oh no," he groaned, unable to stop saying it out loud as well as think it, "Don't tell me Roman got discovered by a group of raging fans."
"Nope," Roman said. He had been just passing the men's room as they walked out and Seth hadn't seen him yet. "That commotion isn't about me at all." He held a bag from a sub shop in his hands.
"What's it about?" Seth said, for a moment forgetting that he was holding onto Caleb's hand.
"Some woman lost her kid and she's having a fit over it," Roman said, then looked down. "Er, Seth," he began, "Where did the little guy come-"
He never had a chance to finish his sentence as a woman broke away from the crowd and rushed over to them, shrieking, "CALEB!"
"That's my mom," Caleb said, his voice still amazingly monotone for a child who had been lost and now discovered by his parent. He didn't move toward the woman, but still held on to Seth's hand.
"Uh oh," Roman muttered.
The woman ran over to them and snatched Caleb's arm, pulling him away from Seth. "Caleb!" she cried out, scooping him up and hugging him. Then she focused her attention on Seth. "What were you doing with my boy?" she demanded, her voice angry. They were still right in front of the men's room.
"Nothing!" Seth protested, as the crowd that had formed started drifting over to them. "I was going to help him look for you!"
"In the men's room?" Caleb's mother said, her voice becoming shriller and shriller as the crowd thickened around them. "You were helping my boy look for me in the men's room?" She said Men's room in the same tone someone might use to say Rape Van.
"He had to go!" Seth hastily tried to explain. "I was in there, minding my own business when-"
"I know what terrible things men do to little boys in the men's room!" Caleb's mother interrupted, shrieking. "I have the internet, and I've read up on these things! They dye their hair and kidnap them, I read one story where a man cut off a boy's p-"
"Does his hair look dyed?" Seth interrupted, unable to stop himself. "Does he look like he's in any pain or discomfort? Jeez, Ma'am, I was in the bathroom, minding my own business, when your son came in and told me he lost his mother. We were coming out to find you!"
"A likely story!" The woman snapped, then turned to Caleb and covered his face in small kissed, asking him, "are you okay, baby boy? Did he hurt you?"
Seth looked at Caleb, hoping the boy would speak up and defend him. Caleb snuggled up to his mother accepting her affection as if it were his right. "His name is Seth," Caleb announced gravely. "He's wearing blue underwear."
The crowd that had gathered, gasped and Caleb's mother turned as pale as skim milk. "Wait!" Seth almost screamed as visions of being lynched by the crowd swam before his eyes. "It's not what you think! The kid pulled on my pants so hard that-" he stopped abruptly, realizing just how bad that sounded. "Shit," he said, looking at Roman. "You'll have to explain to Hunter that I'm in jail." His voice sounded resigned.
Roman grinned and shifted the bag in his hand, his expression saying, don't worry, I've got this. "Miss," he looked at Caleb's mother with one of his patent "I am Roman Reigns, you will melt in my presence" expressions. "I think this is just a simple misunderstanding."
The woman stared at Roman, at first with a glare, that slowly softened a little. "But what was he doing with my boy?" she stammered. "You heard him, right? Heard what he said, right?"
As Roman was about to speak, a police officer came over. "What's going on here?"
This seemed to break the spell Roman had over the woman. "This man was in the bathroom, with my son, doing unspeakable things!" she snapped, "I want him arrested!"
"I wasn't doing anything!" Seth protested. "I was in the bathroom, minding my own business, doing what needed to be done, when Caleb here, came in, tugged on my pants and told me he'd gotten lost! I was going to take him to someone who worked here to find his mother, but he had to go to the bathroom first, and it took awhile. I swear, that's all that happened."
"Caleb says he knows the color of his underwear!" Caleb's mother half hissed, making the word underwear sound like a slang term for genitalia. As if just seeing an adult's underwear would instantly scar her little boy for life, leaving him nothing but a broken shell of a child. Caleb himself was in her arms, looking slightly amused as if this whole scene was being put on for his entertainment and maybe, just maybe, he found it worthy.
"Because he tugged on my pants and they slipped down! Just a tiny bit! The kid barely even saw the waistband!" Seth yelped, feeling like everything he said just made things worse. "My back was to him, and he wanted to get my attention, so he tugged on my pants! Nothing perverted was going on, this is just a huge misunderstanding!"
The police officer looked from Seth to Caleb's mother, as if he wasn't sure what he should do. Something in Seth's demeanor told him Seth was telling the truth, but these days, especially with kids, you couldn't be too careful. He looked at Caleb, "Are you all right, son?"
"My name is Caleb," Caleb said, looking remarkably calm in the midst of all the chaos. "I'm fine. Seth helped me find my Mommy, 'cause I lost her."
"Is that all?" the officer asked, smiling warmly at Caleb. He worked in this place a lot, and over the years had developed an easy attitude with kids. "He just helped you find your Mom?"
"No, he helped me so I could wash my hands, too," Caleb said, again looking weary as if he so tired of having to constantly explain things to silly adults. "Because I had to pee. I knew Mommy wasn't in the men's room, because that's for boys and she's not a boy. She doesn't have a pee-pee, and that's why she can't go into the men's room. But I had to go, and I thought maybe Mommy went in there to find me, even though she isn't 'posed to be there. But she didn't, but Seth said he'd help me find her." He looked at his mother. "Can I have a soda? I'm thirsty."
"Well," the police officer said, choosing his words carefully, "I think it's pretty clear that the boy is fine and nothing happened."
"Miss," Roman said, looking at Caleb's mother again. "I can vouch for my friend here." His voice was soft yet reassuring. "I have a little girl about Caleb's age and she adores Seth. He'd never hurt a child. My little girl is the world to me, and if I thought Seth would even think about harming her, I wouldn't let him anywhere near her. But I know he never would."
"Thank you!" Seth said, annoyed but grateful. Please let this work, please let Roman calm this woman down and please lady, listen to the nice police officer and realize I did not do anything perverted with your son!
"I was in the bathroom when they were," a man in the crowd spoke out, coming forward, a gentleman wearing the clothes and possessing the demeanor of a traveling business man who had just popped in to use the facilities and possibly grab a quick bite to eat. "I didn't see anything unusual. This guy," he indicated Seth, "was keeping his distance while the boy took care of business. And I heard the kid asking to find his mother."
Seth looked in the man's direction with an expression of extreme gratitude. "Thank you," he said.
The police officer looked at Caleb's mother. "If you want, we can go in the back and discuss this, and if you insist, we'll take action, but I think this is one of those situations where all's well that ends well. Do you agree?"
"Yes," the woman said, but she was looking right at Roman, who never broke eye contact with her. "I think that would be fine..."
Roman gave her a warm smile. "Thank you, Miss-"
"Emily," the woman interjected.
"Thank you, Emily," Roman said. He reached out and gave Caleb's shirt a small, friendly tug. "Nice to meet you, too, little man."
"Caleb," the boy said, rolling his eyes and sighing as he spoke, clearly completely underwhelmed with all the attention this whole incident was causing. "My name is Caleb."
As they headed back to the car, Roman was grinning, clearly trying not to burst out laughing, which was not making Seth feel any better about the whole thing. "Showing kids your underwear, huh?" he asked.
Seth glared over at him. "It was an accident! He tugged on my pants."
"Sure, sure," Roman said, that smirk still clear on his face. "Well, at least no one recognized us. Imagine if someone had."
"Oh God, don't remind me," Seth said with a groan. "That would have been a disaster. Thank god for hoodies and glasses."
"I wonder what Dean will say when we tell him about this?" Roman pondered, not looking at Seth, afraid if he did, he'd start laughing.
Seth abruptly stopped walking and looked at Roman. "What do you want, Roman? Money? My Smart phone? A Promise? The promise that I'll babysit for Leah every free moment I have until she's eighteen? The promise that if we're ever fighting for the championship, no matter what the script says, I'll let you win? Name it, it's yours. Just please, please, pretty please, promise me that you won't tell Dean about this, okay? Because he'll never give me a second of peace for the rest of the drive. Hell, he won't let me forget it for the rest of the year!" He shuddered thinking of all the ways Dean would embarrass him if he ever found out about this.
Roman's grin widened. "There's nothing I want...now," he said, "But in the future, there may come an opportunity for you to do me..." he paused for dramatic effect then said, "a favor."
"That's blackmail!" Seth protested, feeling like Roman was putting a very sharp ax over his head, an ax that was only held aloft by the thinnest of strings.
"There's nothing I want or need right now," Roman shrugged as if to indicate it was no big deal to him. "This might change in the future. Either way, it's no big deal to me, so that's the offer. Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it."
End of Pt III
Author's Note: Yes, I was mean to Seth. But he came out of it okay and I just figured that Dean deserved to not be in trouble for at least part of this journey.
Iremmy Thank you. I'm pretty sure that the real life counterparts for Roman, Seth, and Dean do not have Nerf wars (because if they did, it would be all over You Tube) but I just like the idea and I know it's a lot better than waiting around for something to happen.
AJAmbrolleigns I'd still travel with Dean, even if he was being this annoying. Honestly, I don't have Dean doing half the stuff the three guys I used to drive around did. But, in Dean's defense, some people do not do well with boredom. And a long car trip, unless you've planned, can be very boring.
Just A Reader There is a very good possibility of a Nerf fight before this story ends.
Pipe Bomb Dreams Thank you for your review, I think? I respect your opinion, but to be perfectly honest, I am completely baffled by it. Yes, I admit, I have Dean acting immature, but I don't know if I'd say he's uncool. Dean wasn't driving at first because he wanted to sleep in the back, because he was up late the night before (possibly doing very cool things, I'm not sure) Seth and Roman drove in this story, and I've always assumed that they're cool (at least Seth was when he was in The Shield) I have written stories where Dean has driven before, so I'm not saying he can't drive, it's just in this particular story he did not. I mean, I figure he has his license and all such. And yes, I admit, peeing on someone's shoes is not very cool, but if you've ever startled a guy who had his back to you, peeing, you'd know that it can happen. I speak from experience.
To everyone else that left a review? I have responded by PM, but I still would like to say thank you. I really appreciate that you took those extra few minutes to let me know what you think, it means a lot to me.
If you've read this far and haven't left a review, why not consider it? I like to know who's taking this journey with me and I like to know why they liked (or didn't like) the story. I respond to all feedback, either by PM or, as you can see, I respond in the author's notes for the next chapter.
Until Part IV, take care.
