ATM: The Bonehead and the Brain – The Black and the Brave
As the search for Sasha Banks begins, Stephanie McMahon continues her plans to take over the wrestling business with Bayley and Charlotte. Bianca struggles to keep tabs on Montez and Becky figures out what's going on with Finn Balor.
Chapter Fourteen – Light Conversation
The Sandbox, Greenwich, Connecticut
As everyone ate Roman couldn't help but notice the smile on Seth's face as he cut through Shawn's Mexican chicken.
"Gees Seth, I know my chicken's good but I didn't know it was that good," Shawn said noticing the smile on Seth's face as-well.
"Mine's better but this is a good attempt," Roman said and Shawn raised his eyebrow at his cocky comment.
"So, who's chicken do you like better Seth, mine or Roman's?" Shawn asked Seth who had gone from eating to blushing and Becky, Bianca and Alexa looked at each other knowing they were going to have to do something before everyone else who didn't know that Sasha was upstairs in Hunter's room got suspicious.
"Ow!" Seth said as Becky kicked him under the huge DX family dining table. "Why did you kick me Becky?" he said rubbing his knee.
"Stop thinking about making love to your wife while you're at the dining table, everyone knows the chicken ain't that good!" Becky said and Seth covered his face.
"Is it that obvious?" he asked her and Bianca and Alexa nodded. "Well do something, cover for me! You caught us in the middle, mentally, I'm still upstairs,"
As Seth continued to blush and Becky tried to get around the idea of anyone wanting to share bed space with Sasha Banks, Bianca and Alexa tried to draw attention away from Sasha's smitten spouse.
"I think Seth is just excited about being a father for the first time. I'm sure you were giddy months before your son was born," Bianca said to HBK.
"I remember it like it was yesterday, Cameron was a beautiful baby," Shawn said. "Seth's going to go nuts for awhile, it's a lot of change but it's totally worth it, right Hunter?"
"How should I know? I didn't know I was a father until I met LC seven years after she was born. Aurora came along when I was already a father. Chyna screwed me out of my first daddy experience," Hunter said and everyone fell silent.
"Hunter what is the matter with you?" Chyna said. "You're lucky LC's not here right now, she'd kick you're a* for talking to me like that."
Stephanie chuckled at Hunter's comment, "You always had a way of making an awkward situation even more awkward Hunter. LC was a technicality so let's all accept the fact that our first child together is the only real child you have," she said and Alexa tried not to choke on her Mexican chicken as the conversation proceeded to get even more awkward.
"Great stuff Bianca, now everyone's so uncomfortable no-one's looking at Seth," she said to Bianca.
"How do we keep Sasha hidden? Is she going to stay here tonight?" Becky asked.
"Well, I would love for her to stay with me but my husband has the world's biggest mouth he cannot be trusted to keep her a secret," Bianca said. "She needs to be in a place where she can be out of sight but Seth can have regular access to her. Clearly, he can't go without being near her for more than a week and it's going to take us a little longer than that to deal with Bayley,"
"So, she stays here?" Becky said. "She can't sleep in Hunter and Joanie's room,"
"We can move her to LC's old bedroom but that means we have to tell Shawn and Amy Michaels that she's here and not in Saudi Arabia," Alexa said. "We can trust Shawn and Amy they've always had Seth and Sasha's best interests at heart and they won't do anything but protect them from Bayley and Stephanie,"
"But then won't that mean Shawn tells Hunter Sasha's here?" Becky asked.
"No, Hunter can't know. He'll ask too many questions and he won't understand and he might get hurt. He doesn't have a Gift from God like Shawn and Amy do, he'll just end up making things worse if we tell him too," Alexa said.
"So, are you suggesting we keep Sasha here with only one member of DX knowing?" Becky said.
"With the way Hunter feels about Seth and Sasha right now that might be too much to ask," Bianca said.
"Well that really only leaves us with one alternative, we ask the Ortons if Sasha can stay with them. They will definitely keep her a secret," Alexa said and Bianca shook her head.
"Trish and Randy Orton live in New York City, Sasha hates New York City. Plus, Seth is working on the West Coast, if he keeps going back and forth between New York and Los Angeles, Stephanie and Bayley will get suspicious. The Sandbox is neutral ground and DX is a great decoy, the Boss needs to stay here where she's safe," Bianca said.
"But what about Hunter?" Becky asked.
"We either let Shawn tell him and hopefully convince him to keep his mouth shut, or we swear Shawn and Amy to secrecy," Bianca said. "I'm Seth's Treasurer of Secrets, if Hunter blabs and Sasha's true whereabouts is discovered, there will be consequences. God will not be happy,"
Becky looked at Alexa, "You took a huge risk brining Sasha back here on your own. That was so brave but what made you do it?" she asked curiously.
"Sasha needs to be with Seth, being separated is not good for her and it's not good for the baby. Trust me, Sasha needed to be back here. Bayley's tricks were getting to her and she was saying some messed up things about Seth. I couldn't have Bayley mess up her mind like that, she needs to be with her husband and we have got to do everything we can to make sure they stay together," Alexa said and her hand started to shake.
Becky and Bianca exchanged glances then Becky touched Alexa gently on the shoulder, "What did Sasha say about Seth?" she asked her.
Alexa took a deep breath and smiled, "Let's talk about it later, right now, let's enjoy this medium-to-good Mexican chicken," she said and Becky backed off and turned back to her plate.
"So, who's chicken is better, Shawn or Roman's?" Bianca asked Alexa.
"Oh, Roman's for sure, nobody cooks better than the Big Dog," Alexa said and Roman beamed proudly.
"I'd say there's a lot of things Roman does better, right Seth?" Stephanie said spitefully but Seth was too high up in the clouds to care and he didn't take the bait like Stephanie thought he would.
"Where'd you get that chandelier?" Galina Reigns asked DX changing the subject. "It is beautiful,"
"It was my father's," Stephanie replied. "He bought it for my mother. This used to be the McMahon Compound until DX kicked my father out and forced him to move to Florida,"
Galina gulped in acknowledgement of her failure to make the conversation less uncomfortable, "What the Hell, let's just make this the worst dinner of the year so far," she said and she turned to Seth Rollins, "Why the Hell did your wife tell Roman that he couldn't be a part of her life anymore?"
Hunter looked up at Roman while Shawn turned to Seth who was still looking up at the McMahon chandelier.
"Baby let's not talk about this now okay?" Roman said to his wife.
"No Roman let's talk about it now, why should Seth and Sasha get to be so happy and you feel so sad? I've forgiven you; Sasha can't punish you like this. I need to talk to your wife Seth, I don't want Roman to lose out on getting to know his own son," Galina said. "Where is she?"
"We're not doing this now, Sasha's not even here," Roman said and the chandelier lights turned blue.
"She is here," Aurora Helmsley said. "She's here in spirit and she can hear every word so you guys better stop talking s* about her, or that chandelier is going to come crashing down on the family dining table,"
"What are you talking about Ro-Ro?" Stephanie asked her daughter. "The Boss is not here,"
Aurora looked at Beth Hardy then over at Seth, it was then that Bianca, Becky and Alexa realised that Beth Hardy had told her that Sasha Banks was in the house.
"Damn it," Becky Lynch said. "One of the DX kids knows Sasha's here; she can't stay now her cover's blown!"
"Not necessarily," Bianca Belair said looking up at the chandelier as the lights returned to their normal colour. "I say we stick to the plan but we can't go home tonight. We have some business to discuss with the DX kids,"
Becky sighed; she did not want to stay over at the Sandbox but she didn't have a choice. Her assignment was to do what was best for Seth and leaving Connecticut right wasn't the best thing for any of them to do.
"It is a beautiful chandelier, I'm surprised the old man let you guys keep it," Roman said to DX while rubbing his wife's shoulder to soothe the tension she was feeling because of what happened between him and Sasha the last time they spoke.
"He didn't let them keep it, they stole it Roman, just like they stole his company. Well, the tables sure have turned haven't they boys? The McMahon family is back in control!" Stephanie declared victoriously.
"You're so beautiful when you're crazy," Hunter said to his ex-wife and Stephanie gasped as he smiled at her. Stephanie loved Hunter's smile.
Aurora looked between her parents disgusted, "Did you just make a pass at Mom?!" she asked Hunter offended.
"I'm merely acknowledging her beauty Aurora; those are some good genes you've got running through your body. Jeff Hardy is a very lucky man," Hunter said and Aurora watched as Stephanie was now the one at the table blushing.
"I don't know where to put my eyes," Aurora said with her head in her hands.
"I'll go get dessert, you can put your face in that, it's delicious!" Shawn said getting up, "Hunter will you come with me?"
"Actually, Shawn I'm quite comfortable," Hunter said still smiling at Stephanie and Shawn dragged him up from the table.
"It wasn't a request," he said pulling Hunter up and giving him the dirty plates to take into the kitchen.
"This dinner has been great Hunter, just like old times," Stephanie said giving Chyna an evil smile while she drank her red wine.
"Yeah, just like old times when I used to kick your a*. Are you sure you want to revisit that part of our history Steph?" Chyna said with a warning glare.
"Depends on what the stakes are, is there anything you're willing to put up Joanie?" Stephanie asked Chyna.
Chyna's face tightened and the chandelier lights started to flicker, "You're not having my legacy Stephanie. This is my family now and this is our house. This is the house that DX built, your legacy will never live up to mine, so drink your damn wine and leave before I throw you out. Just like DX threw out your father," Chyna said and the chandelier lights turned green.
"Wow who is doing that?" Roman said.
"Colours are symbolic of emotions. The green is for DX," Aurora explained as Bianca looked at her curiously. "Green is also the colour of my mother's eyes, so there's a conflict of interest between DX and the McMahon family,"
Stephanie sat back in her seat and folded her arms tapping on the side of her wine glass, clearly Hunter was not the only one who was comfortable at the DX family table. "I haven't felt this comfortable at the Sandbox in years," she marvelled. "Like I said it's just like old times but unlike before," Stephanie said looking directly at Chyna. "I'm not going anywhere,"
Seth looked at his phone and saw a message from Sasha telling him to come upstairs, "I think I'm going to skip dessert," he said getting up excitedly. "I really have to take this call,"
Shawn came out of the kichen with cake and ice cream and saw Seth heading upstairs, "Hey you're gonna miss dessert," he said as Seth ascended the staircase.
"Oh no I'm not," he replied with a smile and Shawn wondered what he meant as Becky, Bianca and Alexa came over to him.
"What does he mean by that?" Shawn asked them.
"We'll explain everything," Alexa Bliss said as the chandelier lights turned back to blue, then black, then blue, then black, then blue again. "It's time we let you and Amy in on a little secret,"
