Seth woke up alone in bed and frowned, thinking CJ had to have more resolve before sliding back into bed with Dean. He couldn't believe her for leaving him like that, and it depressed him that Dean ranked higher even though he had known her longer than Dean had.

"Why are you looking grumpy?" CJ asked from where she leaned against the doorframe, towel wrapped snugly around her small frame. "You didn't think that I'd go back to that ass four hours later, right?"

"Babe, I'm not going to lie, I did. But I'm sorry about it." Seth admitted with a sheepish smile, seeing the unimpressed look on her face. But it slowly turned into a smile, as she entered the room, shutting and locking the door behind her.

"I need to have a serious conversation with you, Seth."

"What's going on?"

"I know I said that I wouldn't, but I'm probably going to disappear for a while."

"How long?"

"Oh, I dunno. Eight to nine months. Maybe a year. Hell, maybe five. I just, I can't do this whole thing anymore. The Wyatts may be done with me, but The Authority sure as hell isn't and I don't want to be used as their ammunition in this game." CJ said softly, sitting down in Seth's lap. Her head instinctively laid on his shoulder and he brought his hand up to caress the skin on her back left exposed by her towel.

"Five years seems like a really long time to be underground, though." Seth murmured, free hand coming to rest on her thigh while he considered everything she said. Eight to nine months really stood out to him. "Are you pregnant?"

"Bray Wyatt says I am. But it's only been like a week, so I'm not sure I can believe him."

"Did he say who's it was?"

"Seth, we're not even certain-"

"Answer me, CJ." Seth demanded, gently kneading her thigh.

"He said both yours and Dean's. I'm not sure if that's possible, but I was going to google it before I talked to either of you about it."

"We'll google it, and regardless of what happens, I'll be here for you."

"Seth, I couldn't ask you to-"

"I love you. You don't have to ask me for anything." He cut her off with a small smile, kissing her forehead. "I'll give you the world, CJ. Just give me the chance to."

"I need some time, Seth. But I've got to figure myself out before I drag you along for the ride." She murmured, picking her head up to look him in the eyes. He saw the sincerity in her eyes and he could see how desperately she wanted to do what she said. But he knew that Dean would have to fit in this equation somehow, and he knew that would complicate everything.

"I can give you time." He assured, kissing her cheek. "All the time you need. I'm not going anywhere, babe."

True to his word, Seth kept CJ away from Dean. When they ate breakfast in a nearby diner, he sat beside her in the booth and Roman sat across from her so she wouldn't have to make eye contact with Dean. He kept his hand on her thigh while they ate, making sure she knew that she wasn't truly alone and he that was keeping good on his word. On the drive to Albany; Seth took the backseat with CJ, both googling the possibility of having a set of twins by different fathers. Both were stunned to see that it was actually possible, and CJ was pissed because it meant that Bray was most likely right. Seth knew that there wasn't much he could do for her other than let her mull it over and see what she wanted to do in regards to Dean.

She was obviously conflicted, to the point where even Dean noticed, but Seth didn't know what to say or do to make her feel better. She needed to make amends with Dean, but he didn't see that happening any time soon because what he did was careless and stupid, and it broke her heart. She was emotionally conflicted, and every time she looked at Dean for longer than a couple seconds she looked like she wanted to cry. Seth hated seeing her like this, and knowing that he had to leave her alone to her thoughts while Dean defended his title made him nervous. He knew that she had a tendency to do irrational things when her thought process made her blame herself, but he wasn't sure if possibly being pregnant would stop her from causing harm to herself.

Sadly, there was really only one way to find out.

CJ wandered around backstage durning the Battle Royal. She knew that Dean had next to no chance in hell of winning and retaining, and she'd rather not see his disappointment on the monitor. Everything seemed relatively normal for backstage at Raw... Until the rabbit walked by.

Officially curious, CJ couldn't help but follow and hope that she wouldn't fall down the rabbit hole while she did. Nobody paid the rabbit any mind, and for a moment CJ thought that she was the only one who could see it. But she kept following the rabbit, the heels of her boots clicking against the concrete flooring of the backstage area. She was surprised to see that the sound of her boots and obvious tailing weren't bothering the rabbit one bit, and for a split second she assumed that she was being set up.

What harm could a rabbit really be? CJ asked herself she followed the rabbit outside of the arena and to a bus where a party was obviously going on. The rabbit knocked on the door twice, turned to face her, tilted its head, then the two had a stare-down, CJ mimicking the rabbit's head tilt. It wasn't long before the door was opened and the loud music from inside the bus made itself known. The rabbit gestured for CJ to follow it in, and the blonde stared at the centurion who opened the door. Why the hell not? I could use some uninhibited fun with strangers.

When The Shield got to their locker room, Seth and Roman were still trying to calm Dean down after losing the title. Disappointed in himself didn't even scratch the surface of what he was feeling, and they were just trying to make sure he knew that there wasn't much he could do to retain. Not one man noticed that CJ was absent until Seth went to ask her to say something to Dean.

"Where the hell did she go to this time?" Seth asked, looking to Roman and Dean for some kind of suggestion.

"She's not safe by herself, though. That bastard Orton has been making eyes at her since his divorce was finalized." Dean commented from where he laid on the bench, towel covering his face.

"There's no sign of a struggle happening and she wouldn't willingly give in to The Authority." Roman reasoned, looking between his two teammates. "Why don't we take a walk and try to find her?"

"I'm not good to walk just yet, and somebody should stay here in case she wanders back." Dean said, waving off his teammates. "That'll be me."

"Alright. Call if she turns up or if anybody comes here trying to start some shit." Roman instructed and Dean gave a thumbs up before the two left. He really just needed a few minutes to himself, and then he would call her to see where she was at. He needed the comfort she provided but he needed to form his apology to her. She deserved better than him, and he was sure that she knew it. But he hoped that she'd accept his apology and then they could work on the road to forgiveness together because he needed her.

Once he was done feeling sorry for himself, Dean sat himself up and dug through his bag for his phone.

Let's see where you're at. He mused as he typed her phone number into his phone and waited for it to start ringing. If you'll even answer. I wouldn't.

"Hello?" He heard her just fine, along with the loud music. She sounded happy, though, which meant that he probably didn't have to kick any asses.

"CJ, where are you?"

"I followed the bunny!"

"The what?"

"The giant bunny. I followed him out to the parking lot and now I'm officially a Rosebud!"

"What? CJ you're not making any sense. Just-"

"I gotta go. Adam wants to dance." She hung up on him and he was instantly on his feet. Nobody was going to dance with her except for him... And Seth. So he left the locker room in a hurry, superstars and divas pointing him in the direction of the back door. The "Exotic Express" wasn't hard to find, the strobe lights on the inside giving away it's location easily. Dean knocked twice, then looked up at the guy dressed as a centurion. The guy took one look at Dean, who only rose an eyebrow up at him before he stepped onto the bus.

"You've got one shot at stopping me." Dean warned, flinching when he felt beads and a feather boa get placed around his neck.

"You need more color in your wardrobe." Some woman, if she wasn't dressed as a pixie he'd probably think she was hot, scolded and he instinctively looked to the Shield patch on his chest which was covered by the purple and white boa. Dark blue is a color, right? He felt two more boas her placed around his shoulders as he pushed through all the people on the bus in search of CJ. He found her in the back, sitting on some guy's lap while he played Hungry Hungry Hippos, and she looked to be having a good time. She had also been decorated with beads and a boa, but she had a glow bracelet around her wrists and a rose tucked in her hair. He almost didn't want to pull her away from here because she was having fun. But she spotted him, smiled, then whispered into her seat's ear before he nodded and let her go.

"Dean, I'm surprised you got let on. These parties are exclusive." Even though she was speaking over the music, he had to get his ear closer to her mouth so he could hear her.

"I think I intimidated the guard."

"Centurion." CJ corrected, pulling him to sit down on the two seat couch. "There's Bunny, and Grad Guy, and Leopard Lady is pretty fun, too." He nodded as she pointed out people and waved, but held he her hand in his to stop the pointing and impromptu introductions.

"CJ, we've all been worried about you. Seth and Roman are scouring the arena for you, and-"

"Shhh."

"What." He didn't like being shushed.

"Adam's about to do the thing. Just follow along and don't be a lemon." CJ instructed as the music died down and everybody moved to the sides to make space down the aisle.

"When I say 'it's party time', you say 'all the time.'" The man who CJ was sitting on earlier, who he assumed was Adam Rose, instructed and Dean looked to see that CJ was still smiling. It hadn't faded. "It's party time!"

"All the time!" The whole bus, save for Dean, chorused and CJ smacking Dean's arm could be heard before the next round.

"It's party time!"

"All the time!" This time Dean chimed in, grinning when CJ smiled up at him.

"Don't be a lemon!"

"Be a rosebud!" Dean even lifted his free hand as he cheered with the rest of the bus and the music started up again.

"You're having fun here?" Dean asked, moving CJ into his lap so he could hear her better. The music was louder than it was before, so he was having a hard time hearing himself think.

"I am. I'm not much of a party girl, but this is just so much fun." He really liked seeing the smile on her face, and he was too caught up in that that he didn't really pay attention to the fact that she was taking a selfie with him. "Pay attention to the phone, Dean." This time he held up a peace sign and made one of his signature wide-eyed Ambrose faces and watched as she made it her phone wallpaper. "Thank you."

"So you're a rosebud now?"

"You are, too."

"Awesome." Dean muttered sarcastically, not really all that interested in being a rosebud. He was only still on this bus because CJ was having a good time.

"Try having fun, Dean. It wouldn't kill you."

"How do you suggest I have fun? This isn't my kind of crowd, CJ."

"Sing along." With that, she started singing along with everybody else, moving his arms in an attempt to get him moving while she bounced in his lap. "Don't be a lemon, Dean. Let loose for about ten minutes."

Sometime during the Bryan/Del Rio match about an hour later, Dean and CJ walked into The Shield locker room. Seth and Roman looked up from the monitor to see them smiling and laughing, and couldn't help but laugh when they saw the boas and beads decorating the lunatic fringe.

"Where have you two been?" Seth asked, watching as the two sat down in steel chairs.

"I followed the bunny onto the Exotic Express, and Dean found me there, and we partied. I took a lot of selfies." CJ explained, her hand never leaving Dean's. Seth noticed but was t going to say anything, since he didn't want to kill their vibe.

"I got you guys boas because I felt bad about you missing out." Dean commented, using his free hand to wiggle the ends of the boas at Seth and Roman.

"So you feel better about earlier?" Roman asked, watching Dean's face closely.

"I'm trying not to think about it. I'll be good tonight. No worries."

"Alright."

Firstly, happy Mother's Day to those who are mothers. I'm getting this chapter posted before I go to lunch with my mom.

I also come bearing news that very soon, you lovely readers have a chance to be written into this story! All you have to do is leave a review on this chapter, and I'll plug names into a random number generator and PM the winners with the more detailed details. Three lucky winners to get reoccurring roles, and those who have reviewed more than seven chapters in the past will get three entries, instead of just one as my thank you for hour continued feedback and support. But you have to review this chapter for those three to count.

Speaking of reveiwers, I'd like to thank ArtisticLullaby, angelsdee327, Ubersassynova, Sarcastic Nightmare, UntilNeverDawns, ChelleLew, TaijiaK, and Punkedbyambrose for reviewing the last chapter!