Chapter 8 Restitution


Seth! Hey, Seth!

Seth Rollins stopped and turned at the sound of Roman Reigns' voice.

Yo, dude! You're going to get late for your match, Dean said.

What match? Seth wanted to know.

Your match with John Cena, Roman said, half dragging his Shield brother to the arena.

You're going to win, Dean stated. Doesn't matter how high on the food chain Cena is, he can't beat the Shield!

Got that right! Seth said, finally catching on.

~oOo~

Dean Ambrose looked out the window of the hospital room. He couldn't understand why Seth had done it.

Dean felt himself being pushed onto the commentators table. From the corner of his eye, he knew it was Seth. The coward! First he wanted to apologize and be buddies again – now this? He really was a scumbag.

"Seth!" roared Roman.

This confused Dean. Sure Roman would shout out of anger, but shout out of – concern?

The Powerhouse rushed out the ring and took out Luke Harper before he could attack Dean too. The Lunatic Fringe looked at the bell that fell out of Harper's hand and then to Roman who was checking on Seth.

Lying lifeless on the arena floor.

With scarlet liquid slowly dripping from his head.

Dean froze as replays were shown on the titantron of Seth pushing Dean out of the way before getting slammed by the ring bell himself.

Seth saved him. The scumbag, the brother who betrayed him, put his head through cinder blocks and thwarted his chance at glory – saved him.

Dean looked over at the hospital bed, where his (former) brother laid.

By sacrificing himself.

~oOo~

Roman remembered the last time he felt like this. When Dean's head was put through cinder blocks. And he couldn't stop it.

Guilt. Sorrow. A big brother's burden.

Wasn't he supposed to protect his brother?

And yet Roman felt confused. When it came to Seth, his big brother instinct died long ago.

Or maybe it was just dormant.

"Don't beat yourself up, Ro," Dean said sitting next to him. "There was nothing you could've done."

The Lunatic Fringe knew his brother well.

"He was defending my daughter," Roman replied. "And you,"

Dean sighed.

"So...how did you and Seth end up under the table together?" Roman asked to break the tension. "I didn't even know you guys would be under there."

"It was Seth's idea," Dean replied. "Though..." he chuckled.

"What?"

"He didn't come upfront and tell me, knowing I'll probably brush him off." the Lunatic explained. "So I guess he planned that I'd overhear him telling Jamie and Joey."

Roman nodded. "That sounds just like Seth. So...were you guys quiet the whole time under there?"

Dean smiled one of those rare sincere ones and ducked his head shyly.

Under the table...

Dean and Seth remained quiet; keeping focused.

For a couple of minutes.

"Ouch, my hand." Dean growled.

"Sorry about that," Seth said sincerely, moving his foot. "Wyatt's not going to know what hit him. And as for Harper-"

Seth stopped, as he and Dean burst out laughing. Thankfully at that moment, the Truth Reigns hit.

"Our little princess and the crazy schemes she comes up with," Dean grinned, raising his voice to be heard over Roman's entrance song.

"You know who she gets that from," Seth laughed.

Dean feigned ignorance. "I don't know what you talking about,"

"Shh," Seth warned as Roman's music died down.

Dean didn't need telling twice. Roman's entrance song was based on their old Shield song. The Lunatic Fringe came down to a shattering reality when the song ended.

Just as the Architect planned, Special Op hit. And both Dean and the champ are supposed to turn the table over and reveal themselves.

But Seth sensed the change in the atmosphere; Dean became cold and silent again. The Architect knew that unless Roman was being attacked at that moment, Dean was never going to reveal himself now. Not under that song.

Well, the Architect always has a contingency plan. A backup plan. And thank God for Joey and Jamie at the sound desk. J&J must have sensed what happened, because Retaliation then hit, followed by Second Coming soon after.

~oOo~

Dean and Roman stayed the night at the hospital. Only to find out later that morning that Seth was in a coma.

"His brain activity is unusually high though," the doctor reported.

Sierra. Hotel. India. Echo. Lima. Delta.

Shield.

Seth smiled at his two brothers. They were standing in a straight line, with Roman in the middle. Like a battle position.

Well the Shield was always ready for battle.

Seth entered the ring for his match against the reigning champion, John Cena. It was a great match, but nothing was better than looking over at ringside, where his two brothers were watching intently and cheering him on.

Cena picked up the win. Roman and Dean were a little disappointed, but they shrugged it off.

You win some, you lose some, Dean said.

Roman smiled gently. You know, Seth, a wrestler can learn more from his defeat than his victories.

Seth grinned as they sat down to eat. He tried his best for the match, but for some reason he was still happy.

Maybe because Roman and Dean were here. Sure they drive him nuts on a weekly basis (and Dean and Seth drive Roman nuts on a daily basis) but he wouldn't trade them for anyone or anything in the world.

Suddenly Seth's head exploded in pain. Visions of two steel chairs, broken, danced around in his mind as his two brothers lay still on the canvas.

Seeeeeth! Dean called. You listening to me, bro?

As quickly as the vision came, it had gone, with the pain too. Seth blinked in confusion but shrugged it off.

Yup, the Shield affiliate replied. So, whose match is next?

I'd say, let's start a food fight, Dean suggested.

Roman faced-palmed. Not again. But he had an idea, and threw his pudding in both his little brothers faces.

Roman! They both yelled.

But they couldn't help it. Seth and Dean looked at each other and laughed.

~oOo~

Roman watched as Dean's head began to droop down to his chest. He could feel his eyelids grow heavy as well. The minutes seemed to drag by as they sat in the hospital room watching helplessly as Seth continued to lie motionlessly in bed.

Suddenly Roman sat up, alert. He was sure he had just seen Seth's eyelid's flutter. He nudged Dean to wake him up.

Seth slowly opened his eyes.

"You didn't have to do that,"

The champion tried to turn towards the voice, but his head hurt.

"OW!

"Hey, Seth, relax," Roman advised.

"Why did you do that?!" Dean wanted to know.

The champion groaned as his head continued to pound. "Do what?"

Saving Dean's own head from being crushed. But why? After everything Seth's done-

"You betrayed us! You Curb Stomped my head through cinder blocks!" Dean shouted. "Could've ended my career. Could've-"

"But I didn't!" Seth shot back.

The former Shield affiliate had emptied his stomach for the second time that year after the show. The first time being after Raw, June 2nd.

"You think I wanted to drive your head through cinder blocks?!" Seth shouted. "I wanted to stop you coming from after me all the time, and so did Hunter. And if I didn't do it, Triple H would've had Kane do it. Do you know what would've happened then, Dean?!"

Roman understood. Dean's career would've definitely been over then – being permanently paralysed.

"I just did enough to satisfy Hunter," Seth replied. "And...I wanted to convince myself that you and Roman didn't mean anything to me anymore."

"How's that working for ya?" Dean asked nonchalantly.

Roman had watched Seth and Dean's Falls Count Anywhere match last year. Unfortunately he wasn't even that city to help Dean. The Powerhouse thought it was just his (hopeful) imagination when he saw mere snippets of concern on Seth's face after the incident.

Because Seth could've put a real hurting on Dean if he wanted to.

"Just go," Seth said quietly. Perhaps he shouldn't have lost his temper and shouted so much. His head was throbbing. And it was clear his brothers... former brothers, actually, still hated him.

"Let's go, Dean," Roman said quietly. They were going to get chased by the nurse anyway.

~oOo~

Next week on Raw

Lesnar vs. Rollins rematch for the WWE Championship

The Authority (and J&J) made sure Seth was well rested and medically cleared to wrestle.

Hunter and Stephanie tried to buy time and push the match to a further date, but then the champion argued that just like Daniel Bryan, he'd have to give up his title then.

And there was no way Seth Rollins was going to give up the WWE Championship. Not without a fight.

Seth used the Superman Punch and Dirty Deeds before Curb Stomping and Pedigreeing the Beast for victory.

Well, it worked before to put the Lesnar down.

Brock congratulated him. "You're finally winning matches all by yourself."

Seth was taken aback. Lesnar was...complimenting him. Wow! But the Architect shook his head. "I didn't do it all by myself."

Brock considered the champ for a moment. No other superstar was out at ringside. Seth didn't cheat either; the Architect had a lot of cheek in the match but he didn't fight dirty.

"You got a taste of Reigns again...and Ambrose for the first time in a match," Seth grinned.

Dirty Deeds and Superman Punch. Brock smirked.

"Though I have to say...I've been hit harder with them, Rollins," Lesnar stated.

The Architect chuckled and rolled his eyes. ''Okay, whatevs'. No one can execute a move as effectively as the designer."

Lesnar put out his hand.

Seth smiled and grasped it with his own as the crowd cheered. The champion then climbed out the ring and headed up the ramp when the dong sounded and the lights went out.

The Architect whipped around to face the ring as the air went cold as a cemetery in the dead of night. Seth knew what this meant. But then...

The atmosphere lightened up as the champion felt a delightful cool breeze around his face.

Hey, Seth...missed you, bro.

When the lights came back on, there stood the legendary Undertaker, staring down Brock Lesnar.

Seth looked around in shock. He heard...or he thought he heard Dean and Roman's voices in the darkness.

The champion shook his head, putting it down to his imagination. Well, looks like Lesnar wasn't going to be coming after the title for now. Turning, Seth took one look at the two behemoths going at it before heading to the back.

The former Shield affiliate wondered (or was hoping for actually) if his brothers were going to at least congratulate him on his win tonight.

But Seth was glad Brock wasn't coming after the title. Because there was something else he needed to do first.

And that was to give both Dean and Roman a shot at the WWE Championship.

A fair shot.

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Thanks to wharfcoyote for that description when Seth woke up :)


Only two chapters left. Hope you guys enjoyed this one!


Response to guest reviewer Megan: Seth's okay for now, at least. I have been putting him through so much, haven't I? But he has to earn his brothers' trust again. Thanks for reviewing! :)


Response to guest reviewer, Iremmy: Your encouragement is amazing! I really appreciate your reviews and I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for reviewing :)


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