Sami tries to adjust to their new reality. Dean helps him.

The First Looper: Sami Zayn

Dean stares at Sami. Sami stares at Dean.

"You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" Sami accuses him, and then turns to walk away. "Fine—"

"Is your life repeating over and over again?"

Sami stops and turns around, shocked. He quickly rushes to Dean, looking around as if somebody is about to snap them up just for speaking of it. He's close again, and he whispers, "You too?"

Dean sighs. He wants to reprimand Sami for acting like this, paranoid as if somebody will hear and kidnap them and experiment on them or throw them into the loony bin. Yet the paranoia, however annoying, is understandable. Dean had certainly acted the same when he first started looping: lost and scared. However, he had been alone. Sami wasn't.

"Come inside. I'll explain everything."

Sami crosses his arms and scowls at Dean. "I don't believe you." He loudly claims.

Dean nods at that. Then he takes a thin, cylinder-like object out of his pocket. With a simple click, a light saber, black and red and streamlined flares to life. Sami gapes.

"I spent a loop as the twin brother of Kylo Ren." Dean explains.

Sami closes his mouth. "Okay, now I believe you." He then slumps into the Dean's couch, dejected. "So we're basically going to be reliving our lives forever?"

"I guess you could say that." Dean shrugged. "The loops will end one day, Sami. Just…not any time soon."

"How are you so calm about this?"

"Sami, this is only your second loop. Me? Unless someone's been stealth looping—"

"Stealth looping?"

"Looping without telling anyone they're looping or making big changes to baseline," Dean added without missing a beat. "Unless someone has been stealth looping, which I highly doubt, I've been at this alone for almost three hundred loops."

Sami blinked rapidly at that. "You've relived your life three hundred times?"

"Actually, more than that." Dean admitted. "Around three hundred is when I started losing count. I'm actually a baby looper compared to most. The one who explained this to me, Twilight Sparkle, told me she's had billions, possibly trillions, of loops already. Granted, she's still nothing compared to the Original Seven, but then again, no one is."

Sami's mind almost broke at that. Billions of loops? Just the scope of that was daunting. Dean saw his haunted look, and sighed.

"I was planning on joining WWE again this loop, but I guess that can wait." Dean said. "Come on, we're going on vacation."

"Vacation?" Sami parroted mindlessly.

"How did you get the money for all this?" Sami asked as he and Dean entered the first class cabin of their flight to the Bahamas.

"I've got various jewels and other valuable pieces stored in my subspace pocket." Dean explained as they filed into their isle. "I sell them on both legal and illegal markets through use of an intermediary whenever I need money for vacation loops and the like. It's a common practice for loopers to do, when their subspace pockets are big enough."

"Wonderful." Sami sighed. "Dean, I still don't understand how you're taking this so calmly. Just thinking about it wants me want to curl away in my house and forget the world for the next hundred years."

"Which is why we're going on vacation, Sami." Dean pointed out calmly. "I understand exactly how you feel, because I've been in your shoes before. But I've also had time to accept that the situation is beyond my ability to fix. Once you get around to that, you'll see that there are benefits too."

"Like the fact that you're speaking to me in French?" Sami asked, in French.

Indeed. One of the reasons why nobody had taken interest in their conversation is because they had been speaking in French since leaving Dean's apartment. Even if they could understand French, Dean had put up an illusion spell so anyone saw them assumed they were speaking about weather or some other inane subject.

"Yes, like that." Dean agreed readily. "You could learn new languages, live in a new country, have a new job — I've lived so many different lives and done so many different things, and there are only more to come. Plus, there are also fused loops, so we have that going for us as well. It's not the end of the world, Sami — in fact, it's the complete opposite. All we can do is just go along for the ride and enjoy ourselves."

Sami blew out a deep breath. "Alright, alright. I can accept that."

Dean smiled at him, and a comfortable silence settled between them for the next hour. Sami was perusing the guide Dean had handed to him, trying to familiarize himself the the terminology loopers used and other major looping events. That was another reason for the vacation — Dean wanted time to teach him the standard abilities loopers had, including accessing his personal subspace pocket and pinging to communicate with other loopers.

"Hey, Sami, quick question — if you hadn't come to me about this, who would you have gone to?" Dean asked, curious.

"Probably the Undertaker or Kane. If not them, Bray."

"Huh." Dean said. "Then they probably would've sent you to me."

"They're…" Sami quickly flipped through the book to the page he wanted. "'Loop-aware'?"

"Yup." Dean confirmed. "They know that time's repeating and that I'm the anchor, but that's it. They don't remember old loops or anything like that. They try to avoid me because of it. They know I'm more dangerous than any of them could ever hope to be."

"Will they start avoiding me too?"

"When you get more powerful, yes."

Sami grimaced. "I'm not sure if I should be happy about that."

"You'll feel that way about a lot of things." Dean commented. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

I did, after all.

Sami Wakes Up, and pings. He gets one response ping back. Not long after, he's off on the next flight to Florida.

He's much calmer this time around. He knows what's going on, and thanks to his loop memories, he knows nothing's different this loop. If he gets confused, he has access to a guide in his subspace pocket. And there was also Dean as well.

He can do this.

Dean opens the door and blinks. "Sami? You Awake?"

"I am. The vacation last loop really helped. Thanks for that Dean." Sami frowned when he saw Dean wince at his words. "Something the matter?"

"For me, that was five loops ago."

"Oh." That's right. Only Dean was Awake for every loop.

Dean simply reached out and patted him on the shoulder, like he was the one that need comforting. Okay, time to change the subject now.

"So, what were you planning to do this loop?"

The Anchor shrugged. "I was thinking of trying to break the Honky Tonk Man's record for longest reigning Intercontinental Champion. But since you're here, you up for tag teaming?"

Sami raised an eyebrow. "I'm not even signed to NXT yet."

"When you get to the main roster, then."

"Alright." Sami crossed his arms. "You sure you don't want to go for the world title?"

"Sami, I've won that world title more times than the number of combined title reigns of world champion in the history of professional wrestling." Dean deadpanned. "Trust me, I'm fine with it."

The next couple of years waiting for Sami to make it to the main roster pass by in a blur. Then again, for Dean, years were like moments to him. He's become skilled at acting and playing along, keeping things just the way the are, having relived the Shield's first run a thousand times over. So when Seth brandishes that chair at him, he doesn't look surprised. He just offers himself to his brother and allows the pain to come.

The pain is nothing, really. He's been through worse, even before the loops. No, what had made the betrayal hurt was the emotional turmoil, and even when Dean had made amends with Seth the first time around, he isn't sure he ever really got over what happened. Now, however, he knows Seth better than Seth knows himself, so all he really feels is disappointment.

Wanting to get Seth out of the way quickly, Dean cuts a deal — he agrees to stay out of the Money in the Bank ladder match as long as he gets a fair shot at Seth without any interference at the following PPV. The Authority, a bit surprised, quickly agree, and this time Kane doesn't need to rear his ugly head for the match. Battleground sees them wrestle, and Dean wins, and that's the end of it.

Or at least it was supposed to be. Contrary to what many expected (but not Dean, never Dean), Seth is unsatisfied, and demands a rematch. Dean agrees, and Seth brings his cronies, and Dean wins again and then that's the end of it. Seth's self-esteem takes a hit, but then he ignores Dean and goes after others. Dean is fine with that, then takes a month off to film his 12 Rounds movie.

The following months are routine, almost. There's Bray, of course, but Bray is scared of him beneath all his creepy promos. He can tell. Of course, Bray is one of the few who knows what he really is. The others are the Brothers of Destruction, which is why Kane has been avoiding him. And, of course, Sami.

Dean tags with Roman for a bit after he comes back from hernia, and then comes the Royal Rumble. He enters, fully intent on helping his best friend win and go to WrestleMania.

Or, at least, he was.

"I thought you weren't planning on going after the title." Sami greeted him at his house in Florida. Now that he was publicly known to be making bank, he could afford a better place that was, thankfully, close to the Performance Center as well.

"I wasn't." Dean shot back, irritated. "It was an accident."

"You're telling me that you accidentally won the Royal Rumble." Sami asked, mirthfully. "How does someone accidentally win one of the most difficult matches in the history of professional wrestling?"

"They do that by being so focused on avoiding elimination by Rusev that they don't notice their best friend being eliminated by the Authority's pet giants." Dean groaned, flopping onto his couch, he legs splayed across Sami's lap. "After I got rid of Rusev, I saw them eliminate Roman, and before I knew it I was eliminating them from the equation too. Boom. Instant win. Hallelujah."

He was not nearly enthusiastic about his win as Philadelphia was, which seemed to have been drowning in screams and cheers the moment both giants hit the ring floor. Dean was showered in sparks and confetti, and after a moment's confusion played the conquering hero and pointed the sign where pyro (which thankfully was still around) exploded around it. Aka the same schtick that every other Royal Rumble winner for the last decade and a half had done.

"Well, at least Roman doesn't have to get booed during one of the most important moments of his career." Sami said genially, ignoring the pointed look Dean gave him. "But you do know what this means, right?"

"Yeah." Dean groaned once more. "Brock Lesnar."

"You can beat him, can't you?" Sami asked, mirth gone. Even with the loops, it would be a long time before he stopped being apprehensive of the Beast Incarnate.

"I can." Dean confirmed. "I've done it multiple times. But with this," he gestured to his right wrist, where the faint markings of some runes were tattooed into his skin, "it'll be a lot more painful than it would be at full strength."

The runes were something he picked from up another loop. Using a short incantation, they repressed major body modifications and abilities, including super strength and self-regeneration. Those abilities could be reactivated in a pinch, of course, should the need arise, but for wrestling, they could be constituted as cheating. Dean had promised to teach Sami the technique once the latter had some fused loops under his belt. The last thing either of them needed was to be accused of drugs or anything of the like.

"And that's provided, of course, that Seth doesn't cash-in during the match."

"I don't think he's going to cash-in during your match." Sami posited. "The one of the reasons he cashed-in during that match, the one he didn't mention, was because he didn't want to face Roman as well as Lesnar. Even though he couldn't quite admit, he still cared about you two. More than anyone else."

"That didn't stop him from ruining Roman's moment, though." Dean said, matter-of-factly. There was a time where his tone would've been bitter, but that had been a long time ago.

"He had to believe the betrayal was worth it somehow." Sami shrugged. "It's the same with you, but for different reasons. Dean, nobody expected you to make it this far this soon. They all knew you were capable, worthy of being world champion, but quite frankly with Brock Lesnar on top they think your chances are nil. After breaking the Streak everyone thought Lesnar was untouchable, especially when he crushed Cena. You and I, and perhaps Roman and a couple of others, know differently. You can beat him, as can any other member of the Shield, if you try hard enough."

"Seth knows you can beat him, but he's also positive you can't beat Lesnar, no matter how hard you try. So he's not going to bother cashing in, because he figures you aren't going to weaken Lesnar enough to make it a sure thing for him."

"And when I do beat Lesnar? You think he'll cash in then?"

Sami shrugged once more. "It'd be the ultimate finger, cashing in after your greatest moment. You did the same to him, remember?"

"You know what I didn't miss?" Dean snarled as he entered the terminal with Sami in tow. Another illusion spell was cast over them both so they could speak freely.

It was WrestleMania week, and Dean had just finished taping the last SmackDown before the show itself. After that, it was straight to Miami. First Axcess, then TakeOver, and then, finally, the Grandest Stage of Them All.

"Paul Heyman's weasly voice?"

"Yes." Dean hissed. "Even after all these loops, his stupid voice is still grating to my ears."

"I'm surprised you care." Sami stated, idly snacking on his sandwich. "We both know he's hot air. He'll deflate like the balloon he is when you beat Lesnar."

"Mostly." Dean sighed. "It does make me hope he won't be looping anytime soon. Or at all."

Sami blanched. "Don't say that, Dean! Now it'll happen!"

Dean laughed, then gave out a sigh of his own. "So, you ready to join the main roster?"

Sami nodded, clutching his arm. "Are you sure it won't pull out like last time?"

"Sami, I spent entire loops as a medically certified doctor specializing specifically in these kinds of injuries." Dean paused. "And I also spent entire loops studying healing magic. Trust me, you're fine."

"Alright. If you say so." Sami said, still slightly skeptical. "So after you win the title, how exactly are we supposed to become a tag team?"

"Well, if Seth doesn't cash in on me immediately, then I'll just pull double duty. It's not like that hasn't been done before."

"But won't that paint more of a target on you for the Authority?"

"Are you scared of them?" Dean asked instead of answering.

Sami thought about that for a moment. "No. Not really." And it was true. The Authority felt rather inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, with the looping and everything. Quite frankly, having lived two full lifetimes already, the whole lot of them seemed like children to him. He could only suspect how low Dean thought of them after all the lifetimes he lived.

"Then don't worry about it. Once the world title is off me and I make it clear I have no intention of going after it again, they'll leave us alone. You and I both know they only really care about the title. Us tag teams are below the radar."

"True."

Sami watched Dean strategically dodged several swipes made at him by Brock Lesnar. He was doing well so far, much better than anyone had expected. He had not doubt those watching were stunned at this development.

"Sami Zayn."

Sami turned around. "Roman Reigns. I'm surprised. I figured you'd be watching this," he gestured to the screen, where Dean had swiped out Lesnar's legs from beneath him. "In your own locker room."

Roman sat himself down next to Sami, a pensive look on his face. "Normally, I would be. But I've got a few questions for you, and I'm afraid I won't be able to ask them until you make it to the main roster — whenever that'll be."

"It'll be sooner than you think." Sami replied, one eye still on the match. "Management has already contacted me. They think I'm ready."

Roman paused. "Good for you then. Now, I have to ask — what's with you and Dean?"

"Nothing between the sheets, if you're wondering." Sami said dryly. "So if you're here to give me the big brother speech or whatever, sorry, but no dice."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't, actually. I know Dean. You're not his type. I was just wondering why you two have gotten so close lately. I know you have history on the indies and all, but last I checked you didn't have that much history."

Sami shrugged. "Dean helped me out with few things when I was first starting out here." Which was vaguely true. Dean had helped him with a few things, but they were looping things. "We found that we had a lot of similar interests and started hanging out more. Nothing major."

Roman looked unconvinced.

Sami sighed. "Look. I'm not stealing your best friend away. No matter what you think, Roman, you'll always come before me, alright? You're his brother — nobody can take that away from you."

Roman took in a deep breath. "Alright."

The two continued to watch the match, wincing whenever Dean was hit particularly hard and making noises of appreciation when he did something impressive. When the tide began to turn consistently in his favor, Sami saw Roman turn away to glare at something. Following his line of sight, he spotted Seth Rollins standing there, fingers tapping away at his gold briefcase. At Roman's glare, he stopped, then promptly turned away.

"I guess that's the other reason you decided to sit here?" Sami asked, amused.

"He's already ruined enough." Roman huffed. "I wasn't going to let him ruin this."

"I'm surprised you never went after him." Sami commented. "Dean beating him a couple of times must have been satisfying for a bit, but I figured you two would think he deserved more."

"And normally you would be right." Roman admitted. "But Dean…when it happened, Dean wasn't surprised. And once the anger passed for me, I wasn't surprised either. In the end, we were only disappointed in him. Regardless of whatever he does, Seth is still our brother. Will always be our brother. And, with the Authority…" Roman shook his head, disgust on his face. "Seth's convinced he needs them. But Dean and I both know he doesn't, that he never did. And we just wonder what poison Hunter poured into his ear to make him lose so much faith in himself."

Sami nodded slowly at that, then turned to the screen. It was the closing moments of the match, Lesnar was charging and then — a kick from Dean, hooked arms and a planted face. New champion.

"You're not going to go out there?" Sami gestured to the screen, where Dean was celebrating his title win.

Roman shook his head again, this time smiling. "This is his moment."

Dean played the neutral, solemn face as he walked towards his locker room, the people left in the back wisely avoiding him, until he finally had privacy. Once inside, he locked the door and let out a woop of relief.

"Thank the Admins, carrying that belt around was a pain." He relished.

"You are no doubt the happiest person to have just lost a world title in wrestling history." Sami deadpanned, handing dean a towel and some water.

"Yup." Dean opened the bottle and started sipping the liquid inside. "Now I just need to tell Seth that I have no intention using my rematch clause and then we're home free! Tag titles, here we come!"

"What's your obsession with the tag titles anyway?" Sami asked, bewildered. "Surely you've won those titles quite a number of times since you started looping."

"I have." Dean conceded, his expression pinched. "But, unfortunately, my tag team partners turn on me if we hold the titles for long. Well, except for Seth and Roman. But both of those guys are too focused on their singles careers right now to have an extended reign with me." He then brightened. "I won't have that problem with you, right?"

Sami shrugged. "I can always win the world title next loop."

Seth, of course, was befuddled by his decision, as were the Authority who were all no doubt investigating him to see what his play was, even though there wasn't really a play. Dean wasn't worried — he had too much practice covering his tracks, and whatever amateur sleuths the Authority employed weren't going to find anything. Not to mention, Kane would no doubt head the investigation, and Kane knew better than to meddle into his affairs.

It's still a while yet before Sami is permanently on the main roster, so Dean decides to get a head start on the Grand Slam. He quickly beats Ryback, and loses the title in a battle royal around the end of May. Sami is officially signed to the main roster by that point, and that's when they decide it's time to get started on their tag team careers. Dean already has the paperwork drawn up, and despite a small issue with the team name, it goes through, lickety-split.

("InZayn Asylum?" Dean asks, looking down at the offered logo. "Really?"

"It's wrestling." Sami points out. Dean couldn't argue with that.)

They feud with a couple of more tag teams until they get their big break at SummerSlam, where they manage to outpace the New Day and win the titles. That earns them the ire of the Dudleys, but Dean and Sami do away with them too. Of course, then they get involved with Roman's war with Bray, and now Rowan and Harper want the titles, though they visibly hesitate when near Dean. Commentary loudly wonders why, but Dean isn't about to enlighten them.

Months pass. Seth doesn't get injured (which happens occasionally during these loops), and Sheamus' cash-in is foiled and he's forced to slink back into obscurity with no briefcase in hand. Roman's feud with Bray culminates in a TLC match this time, with Dean and Sami helping to run some interference with Braun after beating Harper and Rowan in their title match, and then finally, the Royal Rumble is here.

Roman stares at them when Dean admits he isn't going to be in the Rumble this year. Sami is, though in truth, it's only because it'd be weirder if he didn't join in with the match. As a former NXT Champion, not going after the WWE Championship first chance he got would raise a lot of eyebrows.

"Why not? You probably have more of a right to a match with Seth than anyone else." Roman protested. He's right, of course, but Dean is good leaving things as they are. Roman must think it's because of him (which he's somewhat right about), and doesn't want to impede his best friend's career like this, but Dean is honestly fine with it. There will be more opportunities, after all.

"It's fine, man. I'm good with this," he slaps the title belt on his shoulder, "and I'll cheer you and Sami on from the sidelines. So do me proud, alright?"

Roman stares at him a little longer, and then smiles. They bump fists, and that's the end of it.

Roman does do him proud, of course, winning the match. With no Authority targeting his back and no Triple H in the match to cause problems, he makes it to the end, eliminating Sheamus to cheers of the Orlando crowd. Sami does well, too, making it to the end before being eliminated by Brock Lesnar, who was eliminated only thanks to the combined efforts of the three remaining wrestlers, including the just-debuted AJ Styles.

Dean congratulates them both, and helps them back to the hotel. On the way back, they spot Seth, but summarily ignore him. Roman simply can't work up the energy, Seth has been avoiding Sami so Sami isn't about to stir something up, and Seth isn't the brother Dean is concerned with right now. Seth himself is a different matter. He spots them immediately, and zeroes in on Roman — and Dean.

Seth's reign has not been a cakewalk. Even without Dean, and to a lesser extent, Roman, to contend with, he's been fraught with top-tier challengers from the get-go. First it was Randy Orton, then Brock Lesnar, then John Cena, then Kane and Sheamus and various others. He's at the end of his rope, and mom and dad can barely do anything to placate him.

What wasn't helping were the rumors. Unlike Brock Lesnar, Dean never once pressed his claim for a rematch, nor did he even try to. He even announced, to the world, that he wasn't planning to, and so far had held true to that claim. As a result, the whispers started. Seth wasn't the true champion. He hadn't beaten Dean, hadn't even wrestled Dean after that cash-in. And when he tried his luck with Brock Lesnar, he was manhandled and it was only because of the Undertaker that he didn't lose the title.

Seth had been able to ignore them at first, but constant defenses where he had barely managed to retain by the skin of his teeth, the huge amounts of pressure the Authority was putting on him, and, though he wouldn't admit, the stress of losing his two closest friends, was all wearing on him. He had gradually become more irritable, more angry. While Dean and Roman had pretended not to care, in secret, they were worried. They knew Seth better than anyone else, and they knew that when Seth became like this, good rarely came of it.

"Well, there goes your plan of not getting involved." Sami groaned as Dean used his waterbending to heal Sami of his wounds. Sami would still have to take a week off to sell the attack so no one would get suspicious, but at least he didn't have to spend that weak in pain.

"He's desperate." Dean said. "He needs the validation. He can't put up the bravado not anymore, he doesn't have even a sliver of his pride left to do so."

"So he went after me, to force you into facing him." Sami sighed. "But Seth can't have a title match this soon. Not with WrestleMania a month away."

Dean stopped healing, and then looked at his partner straight in the eye. "Roman talked to me while I was waiting for the medics to finish looking you over. He said that he's perfectly fine with a Triple Threat match too."

"Not gonna try to keep these?" Sami gestured to their belts, which were piled on top of each other.

"You and I both know that Seth is going to have the Authority put me in a title match next RAW and if I beat all three members of the New Day by myself it's only going to cause problems." Dean pointed out. "I might as well just nip it in the bud and go through with the challenge. And as for you…"

Sami rolled his shoulders. "I'm surprised Kev took so long to go after me. Or that he stuck around NXT for so long."

"I guess there was only room for one big NXT callup, and you were it this time around." Dean suggest. "Now it's him. I take it you two will have your match at WrestleMania?"

"Hunter himself says he'll try to squeeze us in. With no IC ladder match this time around, it might actually work."

"Hopefully." Dean muttered.

Roman Reigns sighed as he parted the curtain, belt on his shoulder and his daughter on the other. There, he could see an honor guard waiting for him. He exchanged hugs with Jimmy and Jey, Nia and Naomi and others, before finally reaching the last in the line. Dean was standing there, still sweaty himself, with Sami standing next to him.

"No hard feelings?" He asked, only slightly nervous.

Dean smiled. "Never." They embraced, Dean careful not to awake the slumbering JoJo.

After letting go of his best friend, Roman turned to Sami. While they weren't as close, the last year had made them good friends. The two men clasped hands, and Roman smirks. "You did good tonight too."

"Thanks." Sami smirked back. "I just hope it's enough to keep him off my back for the time being."

"You're not expecting forever?"

"I know better not to."

"And it finally happened." Dean said as he and Sami watched Seth limping out of the ring, aided by the medics. "He blew out his knee."

"And right after he lost to you again too." Sami noted. "Time for Rebuilding then."

"Yes." Dean nodded. "Hopefully he'll be better when he gets back. But until then…are you sure you don't want to go after the tag titles again?"

"Nah." Sami waved him off. "It was fun, Dean, and we'll definitely do it again, but I think I want to do other stuff for a while. With Shane back the brand split will be coming up soon, and that means two world titles. I'm going to win myself the briefcase and snag the one Roman doesn't have."

"And I guess I'll be facing Roman at SummerSlam then." Dean commented, looking at the most recent poll on . The question was "Who should challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam?" and he was at the top of the list. There's no way the Authority could ignore that, especially with their centerpiece out.

"Are you gonna give it your all this time?" Sami asked.

Dean shrugged. "Might as well. Ro will know if I'm holding back anyway."

"Nice belt." Dean pointed to the much more tastefully designed blue belt on Sami's shoulder. "Hopefully it's not cursed."

"Hopefully." Sami agreed. "I see you have a belt of your own as well."

"Indeed I do." Dean gestured to the WWE Championship on his shoulder.

Seth wins the 2017 Royal Rumble. He comes back bigger and better than ever, but now everyone can see the chip on his shoulder. He's completely, utterly focused on Dean, and Dean alone.

Dean doesn't care. No matter what Seth tries, Dean is completely straight-laced; a natural consequence of the loops. He has seen too much, done too much, to be intimidated by whatever pathetic tactics his brother tries to pull. Which, of course, infuriates Seth. The rage builds and builds, and the Authority take the brunt of it, until…

"WHY DON'T YOU CARE!?"

Dean turns around, and Seth is staring at him, heaving. They're in the middle of the ring, the arena having fallen silent to watch their confrontation. He pauses for but a moment, and Seth takes that as his cue to speak.

"Why don't you hate me?" It is quiet and desperate, even though it is heard by millions.

"Because I know you." Dean answers promptly. "Because we've been through too much together. I could never hate you, Seth. To be quite honest, I pity you."

The world took a breath at that, and Seth's mouth began to repeatedly open and close, astounded at Dean's response. That was clearly something he hadn't expected to hear.

"You're so talented. You were probably the best wrestler of the three of us, of the Shield, and maybe the entire world. This title would've found its way into your hands eventually, no matter what happened." Dean's words reverberated, a weight behind them that seemed even stronger than his usual fare. "But instead of waiting, of just accomplishing things on your own merits, you turned our back on us. You took shortcuts and relied on lackeys to reach the top, and I, and I'm assuming everyone else here, found that ridiculous. You didn't need any of that. You never did."

"I pitied you, Seth. I pitied you because I had faith in you." Dean took a deep breath. "I have more faith in you, than you have faith in yourself."

"Did you hold back?" Sami asked, as the last moments of WrestleMania were replayed on RAW for everyone to see. Dean and Seth embracing, after an unforgettable match, in which Seth finally turned his back on the Authority and won the title on his own merits.

Dean smirked. "Just enough. I didn't make it easy for him, but he prevailed in the end."

"'Prevail' — listening to you talk like that is going to be hard to get used to."

"But you will get used to it, won't you?"

Sami smiled. "Yeah. I think I will."

Sami's intro is done. For the record, there have been no stealth loopers yet. I won't rule out the possibility in the future, but for now, it's Dean and Sami. The next looper I'll keep secret, but I will say it's one of the older members of the roster.

As for Dean's age, he has had more than three hundred loops. In fact, by the time Sami first Awakens, he's had close to a thousand loops. That's actually really late to start getting loopers, but there is a reason for this that will be explained in-story. As far as years go, he's around twenty thousand years old, give or take. That isn't particularly old for a looper, though for newbie loopers that's an entirely different matter.