The Bonehead and the Brain: The Man Comes Around

Becky Lynch returns to help DX save NXT and Bianca Belair tells Seth Rollins another secret
about Roman and Sasha that drives a wedge between Seth and the Shield.

Chapter Fifteen – Long Arms

Broken Skull Ranch Studios, Los Angeles, CA, 9pm PST

Finn Balor went to visit Steve Austin at his studio to make sure he was still all set to bring Becky Lynch home tomorrow. The WWE Legend was more than ready, he was also ready to marry her. Finn Balor eyed the engagement ring with the diamond skull and emerald eyes looking back at him and realised this trip was more than he thought it would be.

"So what do you think of the ring?" Austin asked Finn ecstatic. "I think its perfect for her,"

"So you're really going to ask Becky Lynch to marry you," Finn said trying to speak sensibly. "You know Becky's never been married before right? This would be completely new territory for her,"

Austin nodded and he had a big smile on his face, something Balor didn't expect from the toughest Superstar in wrestling history. "I'm crazy about her Finn, sure she's much younger than me but she makes me laugh, I find it impossible not to stare at her when we're together. I just can't imagine getting any older without her by my side,"

Finn nodded with his head but his heart knew that there was no way Austin was putting that ring on Becky's finger. Sure they had a lot in common in the sense that they were both tough former wrestlers with dominant personalities who liked to drink but that was where the similarities ended.

Becky was single for a reason and that reason was that she had frightened off every single man who had the guts to ask her out. The Man was her own Man, who liked her own space and hated sharing her life with anyone but herself. Yet Austin was determined to turn the Irish lass' cheek and make her blush with the same fondness that he had for her. That was long road to go down and as far as Finn Balor was concerned, Austin better be ready to stretch his long arms as far around Becky as he could because she was not an easy woman to hold onto.

"I hope she says yes but if she doesn't don't give up, just remember she's been through Hell and she might not be in the loving mood when we get to Dublin," Finn said but Austin was still beyond excited. He zipped his suitcase shut securing the ring in his jacket pocket.

"Let's go get my Man," Austin said and Finn smiled at him and they left for LAX to take the next flight to Dublin.

The Enigmatic Hotel, Manhattan, New York City, NY, 7am EST

The next day in New York City, Roman Reigns was on his way to see Seth Rollins after leaving JFK and signing a bunch of early morning autographs. New Yorkers loved the Big Dog, some even said they missed him on RAW last night. Seth and Ricochet had a great match and when it came to wrestling, they both got tons more respect than he did but he didn't mind. It was what was going on outside the ring that he was interested in, especially when it came to Seth, Sasha and Bayley.

Now that Bayley was part of the Shield it was Roman's responsibility to make sure she was okay. The fact that she was now his cousin's girlfriend doubled his responsibility to the black-haired beauty and he considered her to be his little sister, just like Seth did. So what did Seth do to hurt his little sister's feelings? Roman didn't know but he was sure to find out shortly.

Roman entered the hotel lobby and looked around at the gorgeous hotel. It was very expensive and it had Steph and Jeff Hardy's fingerprints all over it. The hotel chain was doing very well and it was visited by hundreds of people every single day, most of those people were wrestling fans, just like the ones about to approach him and ask him for his autograph.

"I thought you were upstairs with Stephanie McMahon?" one of the fans asked Roman thinking he was Seth Rollins.

"No I just got here, you must be thinking of my lil' brother Seth Rollins," Roman said with a smile and the fan realised their error.

"Wow you guys really look alike, his hair smells like Heaven. What does your hair smell like?" the fan asked Roman drawing closer to smell Roman's hair but Roman drew back and headed for the elevator as the mass of fans continued to encircle him.

"So Seth's with Stephanie McMahon?" Roman said changing the subject as the women tried to feel on him.

"Yeah, looks like the Authority is back," the fan said and Roman tried to conceal his laughter at that comment.

He signed one more autograph before heading to the Executive Suite to see Seth. When he stepped out of the elevator and turned to find the suite door open and Seth was standing there talking to Hayworth Helmsley and Angelo Jericho.

"Hi Roman," came the syrupy voice of Charlene MacKenzie who had just come out of nowhere with a pitcher of water. Roman got a warm and fuzzy feeling at the sound of her voice and he turned to greet her with a smile.

"Well if it isn't the Pastor's daughter Charlene MacKenzie. How is the most beautiful woman in Clearwater Baptist Church doing today?" Roman asked her.

"I'm doing good, are you here to see Seth?" MacKenzie asked and Roman nodded. "He's talking to Hayworth and Angelo about that crazy scientist lady. Did you know Kendrick Alexander is dating Kenny Omega?"

"I did know that, some people have no taste," Roman said and MacKenzie laughed. "You are not one of those people, you've always had great taste in men,"

MacKenzie nodded, "That's true, just look at the list of men I've broken up with over the years. That's all in the past though, I don't plan on breaking anymore hearts for awhile," she said.

"I hope for Hayworth's sake that's true," Roman said and he walked with MacKenzie to the Executive Suite to greet Seth, Hayworth and Angelo Jericho.

Seth hugged Roman while MacKenzie poured him a glass of water; the Prayer Warrior was thirsty as always. Prayer tended to leave him exhausted and he had been praying all night.

Roman looked inside the suite for Stephanie and Jeff but he couldn't see them which was a relief; the less distractions Roman had the better. He needed to talk to Seth without anyone he didn't trust getting involved and he did not trust Stephanie or Jeff Hardy.

"I need to talk to you can we go somewhere so we can talk in private?" Roman asked Seth.

"No that's cool Roman you just got here, we'll leave you two alone," Hayworth said and he reached for Mac's hand. "Come on let's go find Steph and Jeff so these guys can talk,"

"Bye Roman," Mac said with a beatific smile and HayMac left hand-in-hand with Angelo Jericho feeling very much like a third wheel.

"Bye Mac, don't do anything Pastor Mac would be ashamed of," he warned the beautiful marketing executive who kissed her boyfriend on the cheek and squeezed his waist much to his delight and Angelo's growing frustration. Seth watched them go concerned. "Looks like things are going well between those two huh?" Roman said.

"See now look what you've done? They're going out now how am I supposed to keep my eye on them?" Seth asked Roman.

"Sorry lil' brother I didn't realise you were babysitting Hunter's little boy and your ex-girlfriend," Roman teased Seth.

"I'm not babysitting them, Hayworth needs a life jacket that's all. You can drown in a girl like Mac if you're not prepared. That's a woman that will pull you in deep and before you know it, you're drowning in her," Seth said and Roman shook his head.

"Thinking of old times?" Roman said and Seth pulled Roman over to the bay window and poured him a glass of water.

"I had a really good night which is a first because I usually have a bad time whenever I come to New York. Yesterday I hit a home run; Steph and Jeff have re-ignited their marriage and they signed a peace treaty with DX. So all is well between Steph and DX and I can turn my attention to other people who need my help. People like Bianca and Montez, people like Alexa and AJ Styles, people like Hayworth Helmsley and Charlene MacKenzie," Seth gulped down his water finishing it, "Should I add your name to the list?"

"No, I don't ned your help Seth but you can do me one favor and tell me what the Hell happened to Bayley on Saturday night," Roman said.

"You don't want to know," Seth replied.

"Oh yes I do," Roman answered, "the girl is upset. She was on a conference call with my cousin and Sasha and she pulled out of the Black Heart Diaries project. She was crying, now Sasha and Rocky want me to find out from you what happened to her, so what happened to her? Did you say anything to her to make her cry?"

"I told her she was perfect and then I locked myself in my wife's closet and prayed for the rest of the night. If she's upset, she's upset because I didn't sleep with her, surely you can't be mad at me for being loyal to my wife. Understandably that might be a principle that you struggle with but I believe in fidelity, Naked Bayley does not," Seth said pouring himself more water and Roman gasped.

"Naked Bayley?!" he said and Seth nodded. "So she did make her return, Dean was right. So she came on to you and you turned her down,"

"She's in love with me Roman, the real Bayley is in love with me. Naked Bayley is just a cover for how she really feels about me. I didn't tell Sasha because I don't need another reason for my wife to be mad at me. Dean was right on the money and I go watching my back. If it wasn't for Bianca things would have been way worse; Bianca got rid of Naked Bayley once and for all and I will never see that side of Bayley ever again," Seth said and Roman looked at him suspiciously.

"Why are you so sure you'll never see Naked Bayley again?" Roman asked him and Seth slumped down in his chair and tapped the side of his glass gently.

"I lashed her with the Truth. She finally realised that I can never be attracted to any woman but my wife and it crushed her so she fluttered away like a bruised butterfly. You should have seen her face it was awesome; you've never seen something so tragic but I think she finally got the message. So that's why she was upset, now you got your answer, are you going to tell your cousin?" Seth asked Roman and the Big Dog sighed. "What?"

"I just feel so sorry for her, why is she still going after you after all this time?" Roman asked rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully.

"I told you why, she's in love with me Roman and you always go after the one you love right?" Seth said simply.

"Seth I've never seen Bayley like that, she was so sad. How could that be a good thing?" Roman said and Seth leaned forward and gave Roman a serious look.

"Its good because it's the Truth and she's finally starting to accept it. She won't come at me like that again, the heart can only take so much rejection before it gives up," Seth said.

"Or before it breaks in half," Roman added and Seth gave him a narrow glare. "Seth I'm worried about her, I think this is more serious than you think. I've never seen a woman so...broken,"

"I should have known you'd side with Bayley on this Roman," Seth said pushing his finger across the rim of his glass in contemplation, "I was a fool to think you would take my side, after all, you're the heartbreaker of the Shield, I'm the voice of reason and Dean is the crazy smart-*** that makes more sense than he should if you pay close enough attention to him. As far as you're concerned I should just put up with Bayley's repeated attempts to seduce me like a good lil' Christian and keep her in a permanent state of delusion. That's not the right thing Roman and I know she's not dealing with it well, I wouldn't expect her to, she's delusional but she has to get over me because I am not going to lose my family for one night with Naked Bayley,"

Roman took a deep breath and tried to stay calm, even though it was becoming more and more obvious that Seth wasn't talking about Bayley. Seth was talking about him.

"Is this about my affair with Sasha?" Roman asked Seth who turned his head and looked out the window over at Central Park West.

"I don't understand how you can sit there and worry about Bayley when you should be worrying about me. She tried to take that freakin black pseudo dress off right in front of me, then Bianca reminded me that I could look at her naked and not get turned on by her. When I looked at Naked Bayley I saw this strange, desperate and lonely woman looking back at me and when I went back to Sasha's room I thanked God that I wasn't the slightest bit attracted to her. Roman, you're right, it is sad. It is sad that someone as perfect and beautiful as Bayley can only have eyes for someone who doesn't find her attractive and only feels sorry for her. If anyone needs a hug right now Roman its me, not Bayley. So make with the hug already!" Seth said and Roman reached over and hugged Seth lovingly.

"I got you lil' brother, I'll always have you," Roman promised him and Seth smiled resting on the Big Dog's big shoulders.

"Thank you Roman, that's all I needed to hear," Seth replied and Roman hugged him tight securing their friendship and putting Bayley way back in the archives of self-destructiive women that had threatened to break up the brotherhood of the Shield. "So are you going to tell your cousin why she's so upset?"

Roman shook his head and rubbed Seth's back in consolation, "No. I'll let him read about it in her diary. Rocky can find out how crazy Bayley is all by himself, who knows, maybe he'll be the one to bring her to her senses,"

"Your cousin dates more women then a bachelor back from sabbatical," Seth replied. "The most they'll ever be is friends,"

"Better she has a friend than three more enemies," Roman replied and he released Seth and sat back down in his chair. "So what do you want us to do, should we kick her out of the Shield?"

Seth shook his head, "She was never in the Shield. That was all just a ploy to get a shot at me, Bayley's the same black hearted mess she was right here in New York City. She'll be back to her old ways in no time, only grace and mercy can save her now and God has a lot of both. I on the other hand have reached my threshold,"

Roman chuckled, "Yeah right, Bayley will always be your lil' sister, I just have to make sure I'm watching your back in-case she tries to come onto you again,"

"I told you she'll never try that again, I burned her beyond recognition. Plus I go she's my Treasurer of Secrets and she is more than capable of watching my back," Seth said.

"I will never stop being your big brother Seth and Dean and I will always have your back," Roman said.

Seth nodded and drank more of his water. He wanted to tell Roman that he believed him but he had already spoken wit and he knew that wasn't True. There was only one person that Truly had his back and it wasn't Roman or Dean. It was th of the WWE.