REUNION
Takes place after the August 13, 2018 Raw a.k.a. the night that Ambrose returned. Kayfabe compliant.
"According to Hunter, he got a ride back." Seth finished saying to the person behind him as he opened the door to the hotel room, which he was sharing with Roman. The latter was apparently still recovering from being maced by Paul Heyman earlier in the evening and being viciously attacked by Brock Lesnar.
However, Roman (who was lying in bed with a washcloth draped over his eyes) wasn't alone, which made Seth pause in his tracks.
"Um, hi?" Seth greeted.
"And that's our cue to leave." Curtis Axel smiled, getting up from the sofa. "Hope you don't mind the intrusion, Rollins, but the trainers and Hunter wouldn't let him drive back here on his own."
"Could have done it." Roman grumbled under his breath.
"So, we were asked if we would." Axel continued before shrugging his shoulders. "Didn't feel right to just leave him here by himself, so…"
"Ah, no worries, man," Seth reassured, shaking Axel's hand. "I just hope that he wasn't too much trouble for you guys. Sometimes, Big Man can be a little…grumpy when he's not 100%."
"Whatever." Roman replied, raising a middle finger in Seth's general direction. There was hoarseness to his voice from getting choked out.
"See?" Seth chuckled.
"We're only a few doors down the hall if you guys need anything else." Bo Dallas replied before smiling over Seth's shoulder. "Hey!"
Seth's companion merely put a finger to his lips to tell the B Team not to say anything more.
"Thanks again, guys." Seth nodded before shutting the door. He turned and headed to Roman's bed while the other man remained where he stood. "How you doing, brother?"
"Physically or mentally?" Roman growled, removing the washcloth from his eyes. There was still a visible redness to his skin. "Mentally? I want to get the hell out of this bed, find Heyman and Brock, and pay them both back for tonight with interest!" He paused to let out a deep breath, wincing as his body reacted. "Physically? I feel like I got hit a few times by a fucking train! Vision's still a bit blurry, but burning's gone for the most part. Amann said that I'd be fine in a day or two."
"So, no injuries going into Sunday," Seth replied, sitting down on his own bed. "Good!"
"You know, we could still go and hunt them down if you want." The man in the shadows shrugged, stepping into the light. "I'm game."
"What the hell?" Roman exclaimed, getting to his elbows at the sound of the familiar voice and squinting to make sure he was seeing things correctly. "Where did you…"
"Didn't watch the end of the show, I see." Seth grinned widely, "This is the reason I was running late all day! Really should let Renee make his travel plans for him."
"Screw you, Rollins. Weather delays aren't my fault!" the man glared at Seth before turning back to Roman. "Incoming!"
"In…what?" Roman started to ask before he was cut off by the man running over and literally jumping on top of him and his sore body. "Ow! Jesus, Ambrose! You been bulking up?"
"If only the Tumblr girls could see this!" Seth laughed.
"Can't pretend that I didn't miss my Samoan!" Dean smiled, managing to still pin Roman to the bed despite the other man's half-hearted attempts to throw him off. He frowned as he noticed the redness, bumps, and bruises on the other man's face and body. "Damn. You look like shit, brother!"
"Been a bit of a rough night." Roman acknowledged, finally managed to push Dean off and to the side as he sat up. He instinctively reached over to ruffle the auburn man's hair but stopped short. "What in the hell? You cut off the bang?"
"Huh?" Dean raised an eyebrow in confusion before putting a hand to his forehead. "Oh!
Yeah, it's A LOT easier to take care of this way...especially when you only have one arm to work with. I was going to save them for you, Big Dog! Put 'em in a Ziploc bag and everything! But Renee said that it wasn't hygienic or something like that, so she made me toss 'em. Never lets me have any fun." Getting to his feet, Ambrose narrowed his eyes and unconsciously wiggled his shoulders. "So, how come you didn't see my big return tonight?"
"Ended the show dealing out some well-deserved justice to Ziggler and McIntyre." Seth added, "Thought that'd be must-see-tv for you."
"Ah, I was going to, but Galina texted me to call home," Roman explained, moving so that he was sitting up against the headboard. "She and JoJo were watching the show tonight when everything went down."
"Oh, God damn it." Seth winced.
"Short Stack okay?" Dean wondered.
"She was pretty upset, but I think she's okay now." Roman nodded, "Just needed some reassurance that Daddy was going to be all right after all of that mess.
Actually, I think Gal may have needed some too. Boys were already down for the night, so…"
"Saw that picture G sent Nee a while back." Dean replied, "What in the hell are you feeding those two? They're getting huge! I swear that they'll be starting in the Performance Center by the end of the month!"
"Man, they were already fooling around in the ring when I took them to see Uncle Afa at Wild Samoan the other day." Roman chuckled, "He really got a kick out of it."
"Man, I've missed this!" Seth smiled widely at the other two, "The three of us just hanging out and shooting the shit like the old days?"
"Old days?" Dean teased, "Come on, man! I've only been gone for around nine months, not nine years!"
"Felt like it was at times." Seth shrugged.
"Especially when he was stuck teaming with Jason Jordan." Roman added with a snicker.
"Ew." Dean scrunched his face in disgust, "Who in the hell did you piss off to deserve that? Although, it is you we're talking about, so pissing people off isn't exactly…"
"Oh, bite me, Ambrose." Seth glared, "Nah, brother. I guess that I just really missed the three of us doing like we do, you know?"
"Yeah." Roman agreed, nodding his head. "You do kind of leave a pretty big hole when you're not around, Deano."
"Missed you two assholes too," Dean replied, blushing slightly with embarrassment. "I mean, how the hell do you think I felt? Couldn't wrestle for about a year, stuck at home with basically only one arm, and Renee's been so busy that sometimes Blue was my only option for someone to talk to!
I mean, I love that dog and all, but he's not exactly the world's best conversationalist! Just a lot of staring…mostly at the food in my hand, barking, and the occasional snort. Although I got to say, he was pretty good sounding board when I was trying to work through the whole 'almost dying' thing and he…"
"What?" Roman interrupted, putting up a hand to stop Dean's rambling. "What did you just say?"
"Almost dying?" Seth repeated, his eyes wider than usual. "What in the hell? When was this?"
"Oh, God damn it!" Dean swore, suddenly turning his attention to the ground and shaking his head. "That is NOT how I planned on telling you two! Me and my fucking rambling." Letting out a deep breath, he looked back up at Seth and Roman, who were still staring at him. "Sorry! I…well, I, uh, got a pretty bad staph infection shortly after the first surgery. I mean, I'm here, so obviously, the docs managed to catch it in time, but still laid me up in the hospital for about a month or so. Sucked ass because I couldn't keep solid food down for a long while!
Would end up coming out one way or the other, you know? Sometimes, both at the same time! Hope the nurses that had to deal with THAT got paid extra."
"No doubt." Seth wondered, "But why in the hell didn't you tell us, man?"
"Nothing either one of you could have done, you know?" Dean sighed, sitting back down on Roman's bed. "And it all happened so fast! Didn't want either one of you to worry about me, you know? Had your own shit to deal with, so I didn't want to add…" He paused momentarily, rolling his shoulders before starting to pick at a loose thread near him. "Happened so fast! Barely had time to let Renee and Mom know before…swore Nee to secrecy, but I guess that if it had gotten REALLY bad, then she would have let you two know, so you could…but it didn't happen, so…Anyway, I understand if you guys are pissed, but…"
He found himself being cut off by Roman wrapping his arms around him, pulling him sideways into a tight hug.
"Ah! Uce." Dean said, now slightly embarrassed at the other man's sudden show of affection. "Come on, man."
"Well, thank God that nothing did happen." Roman replied, "Don't think that I could have taken losing another brother!"
"Ye…yeah?" Dean stammered as Roman let him go. "Eh, I'm sure that if the worst HAD happened, Rosey would have been waiting for me right outside the gates." He made punching motions and tried to imitate the voice of Roman's older brother. "Mox? What in the hell you doing here? Get your ass back down there to my baby brother and Rollins!
BAM! Superman punch."
"Was that supposed to be Rosey?" Seth chuckled, "Didn't sound anything like him."
"Yeah, should Superman punch you for dishonoring my brother like that." Roman laughed, ruffling what remained of Dean's hair.
"Sorry," Dean said, ducking out of Roman's reach and switching over to sit on Seth's bed.
"Hey! Don't look at me to protect you." Seth was unable to help but smile. "You know you talked about Rosey, but what do you think would have happened once the Big Dog and I got up there?"
"Thought you didn't believe in an afterlife or any of that." Dean raised an eyebrow in response. "What? Roman finally managed to convert you while I was gone?"
"Nah, Uce." Roman shook his head, "Gave up on that a long time ago."
"Hypothetically speaking, of course." Seth rolled his eyes.
"Well, Sethie," Dean continued, putting an arm around his neck. "the good news is that I'm almost positive that the only one of us here that even has a snowball's chance in hell of going up and not down when we get to that particular point is Uce, and I find even that highly questionable."
"So, I should tell Mom to keep praying for your dumb asses." Roman chuckled.
"Being stuck with you for all eternity." Seth nodded, smiling at the man next to him. "You know something, Ambrose? That sounds like every version of Hell that I've ever heard off."
"Your life is boring as fuck without me around and you know it." Dean shrugged before turning back to Roman. "So, Romeo, do I need to add both Lesnar and Heyman to my list of things to take care of?"
"Nah." Roman waved off, "Just got caught off guard tonight by Heyman. Bringing up my old man, speaking Samoan and all that shit?" He punched his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Sunday's going to be a WHOLE other story! Believe that!"
"Still going to be watching your back, Big Dog." Seth replied, "Because even when you win, and you will win, you're probably going to have to deal with either Braun or Kevin Owens, depending on who wins that match."
"I'm aware, Uce." Roman reassured, "I mean, it's happened to me before, you know? Got Brock right where I want him and the title in my sights when some asshole with a briefcase runs down and…"
"You would have done the same damn thing and you know it." Seth put a hand up to stop him, getting the reference to WrestleMania 31.
"Already planned on neutralizing that particular threat by locking Princess here in a closet," Dean said, prompting a glare from Seth. Getting to his feet, the auburn-haired man wiggled his shoulders before starting to pace. "Braun's a scary dude, so not really sure what to do there. Punching Owens in the face? Sounds like fun! Hell, maybe I'll just track him down and do that anyway!"
"Not even a full day back and he's already planning on picking fights." Seth chuckled, looking at Roman.
"It's Ambrose." Roman smiled back with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "What do you expect?"