It had been a hard, long road. But here they are, the night of Survivor Series, and Dolph is sitting backstage, listening to the general celebrations going on by most of the roster. He chuckles as some of the more rambuctious members of the group- Slater, especially, by the sounds of it- insists on going out somewhere to honor this occasion properly. Dolph imagines he'll be dragged along to join them soon but for now, there's only one voice he wants to hear.

After a quick check of the time on his phone, he places a call to the familiar number, listening as it rings in again and again. His smile slips until finally the phone clicks. "H'lo?"

He immediately feels awful. "Oh, hey, kid, did I wake you up? I'm sorry, I thought you might still be awake."

Zack yawns into the phone, mumbling some sort of an apology before clearing his throat. "Congrats on the win tonight, bro. I knew you could do it."

The words that Dolph had wanted to hear the most since the bell had rang out his success as the sole survivor in the match, he can't help the giddy little laugh that bursts past his lips. "Thanks, kid. The Authority are finally gone. We can breathe again."

"I'm happy for you," Zack says softly.

"Hey, when I said we, I meant you too, kid. As soon as your shoulder's a hundred percent again, you'll be back here, enjoying a much more stress-free work environment. I promise."

"I hope so," Zack says, still harboring a lot of doubts over how well his recovery is going, even though he's been following the doctor's orders to the letter.

"I know so," Dolph responds after a moment. "You know I did this as much for you as I did for myself, right? They put you in that match against Rusev to try to distract me, and it's not right. You've been through enough because of assholes like Kane, I'm not going to let anyone else get away with it if I can help it."

Zack's smile is audible over the phone. "I know, bro. I'm just glad it's over and you're ok." In the distance, the sound of the other members of Team Cena are approaching and Dolph knows he'll have to get off of the phone shortly. Zack apparently can hear them too because it's only with some moroseness that he tells Dolph, "Go on, bro. Have some fun and I'll see you soon."

"Damn straight you will," he agrees, wanting nothing more than to be at home, celebrating with Zack, instead of about to be dragged off to some dive bar on the way to the next town for the next show. "I love you, kid."

"I love you too, bro."

Dolph hangs up and looks up, allowing himself to be lost in the tidal wave of celebrating wrestlers, a small smirk on his face as he carefully puts his phone away. He had won.