Chapter 9

Whoever left his revised script at the front desk of the hotel was a genius. Dean knew there was only one person who wrote his scripts, so someone must've stolen his in order to change it. Who though? Who cared enough to screw Seth the way they had? Which writer did he owe many thanks? He didn't care if it was scripted or not; stealing Seth's Money in the Bank briefcase was a beyond brilliant idea!

"Come on, we gotta go, Maca!" Dean crowed, grabbing his bag and her hand, dragging her out the door toward the arena exit. "Princess is on a rampage and we gotta skedaddle out of here."

"W-Wait, what?!" Macaria had NO idea what was going on, barely having time to grab her camera and bag, wondering why they were running out of the arena. "Dean…"

"Not now." Dean tossed their belongings in the back of the car, including her camera bag, but Macaria had a hold of her actual camera, thankfully. "Come on, get in and I'll explain." He still had the Money in the Bank briefcase and tossed it in the back seat, barely waiting for her to shut the door as he squealed tires to race out of the parking lot.

It took Macaria a few minutes to buckle her seatbelt, due to all the sharp turns Dean was doing while laughing. "Okay, do you MIND telling me what the hell THIS is about?" He had basically kidnapped her out of the arena and given her whiplash with his reckless driving!

"Didn't you watch the show?" Dean jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, taking another turn after blowing another stop sign.

"Yeah, but…you were supposed to take the briefcase, right?" Macaria eyed him, seeing him nod and didn't see what the problem was.

Dean started laughing again at the memory of Stephanie screaming and carrying on, acting like someone who needed to be put in a straight jacket. And they called HIM a lunatic? He had NOTHING on the McMahon Princess! Once he stopped laughing, Dean finally pulled out a cigarette and lit it up, his blues glittering through the darkness in the car.

"Princess didn't know it was gonna happen. Someone changed what was SUPPOSED to happen on my script and left it for me at the hotel with the staff." Dean informed her, glancing in the rearview mirror back at the briefcase, and to check to make sure they weren't followed. "Tomorrow is our days off, so we'll go back to the hotel, grab our shit and then find a cheap motel close to the airport to hide out for the night."

Macaria chewed her bottom lip, not knowing how she felt about sharing a room with Dean. "I really don't understand this industry at all, so I'll just go along for the ride. Just make sure the room has two separate beds."

"Afraid I'll bite?" Dean shot back, stopping at a red light and took another pull from his cigarette, flicking ash out the window. "You can get your own room altogether if I make you that uncomfortable, babe."

"No, it's not that, but…" Temptation. The temptation to fall into bed with him was too strong.

"But what?" Dean slammed on the gas as soon as the light turned green, speeding toward the hotel as fast as he could. Breaking speed limits was an understatement, but no doubt Stephanie would be hot on his trail. "If this is about your boss…"

"Partially, it is. I'm afraid of losing my job, so maybe we should part ways at the hotel. I have no ties to you as far as the briefcase goes…"

"True…" Dean stroked his chin thoughtfully. "However, people saw you leave the arena with me rather quickly. So, to the Authority, you're guilty by association. You can take your chances though. I'm sure they won't fuck with you, but I can't guarantee it."

That ultimately lead Macaria to go with Dean to a small, deserted motel on the outskirts of town. He did take her request under advisement and made sure the room had two beds. Dean lead her down the outside hall to their room, unlocked it with an actual key and pushed open the door, letting her in first. Macaria had texted Aya to let her know she took off to catch an earlier flight home after the show and would see her on Friday for the house shows.

See you then. Was the simple, direct response.

"Pick a bed."

Dean kicked his boots off and pulled the drenched in sweat beater over his head, tossing it to the side. He hadn't showered, just wanting to escape the arena and he knew he smelled horrible. A shower was definitely in order, followed by food, which he would leave to Macaria. There was a pizza joint not far from the motel and most of them stayed open until the early morning hours. He hoped anyway because he really didn't feel up to leaving the motel until morning.

"I'll let you have the one by the window, so you can smoke." Macaria took her bag and unzipped it on the bed near the door, pulling her sleepwear out.

Dean couldn't help himself and peeked over the bag, a smirk curving his lips at the sleep shirt and cotton shorts. "Now I know you're not THAT modest, Maca. You don't have to wear shorts with that long ass shirt." How would that be comfortable to sleep in? "Be as comfortable as you want."

"And how would you know I don't wear shorts with a sleep shirt, Mr. Ambrose?" Macaria retorted in a cool tone, turning to fold her arms in front of her chest.

Chuckling, Dean shot his hands up in defense and stepped back, the smile never leaving his face. "Whatever you wanna do. Just doesn't seem…comfy to wear shorts with a long nightshirt that goes down to your knees. What's the point since everything is covered anyway?"

Groaning, Macaria hated his sound logic and reasoning, waving him off to go back to sifting through her bag. "Don't you have a shower to go take?"

"Yeah, wanna join me?"

Macaria dropped the fresh panties she just pulled out and snapped wide, bewildered jade eyes up at him with a dropped jaw. "N-No, no I don't! Get out of here and go clean yourself up!" She was flustered beyond belief, her cheeks turning crimson and heard Dean's parting hilarity.

There wasn't a doubt in his mind she wanted to take him up on that offer. It was a completely serious offer too. He would not mind having the beautiful honey blonde in the shower with him. Hell, she'd been in his showers ever since he met her and didn't even realize it yet. Granted, it was all fantasy and envisioning, pretending, but Dean found himself wanting the real thing. All in due time it would happen. Eventually, she wouldn't give a damn what Aya had to say or thought and throw caution to the wind with him. They had until after WrestleMania, which was months away – plenty of time to get the honey blonde to come to her senses and join him for several showers. Smirking at the thought and possibilities, Dean wasn't in any hurry and stepped under the sprays, letting the warm sprays wash away the night's grime and sweat.

No matter what, he would not be able to wipe the smile off his face, knowing Seth Rollins was going out of his mind, worried what the Lunatic Fringe would do to his briefcase.


Nyla pulled up to the cabin around 10 AM the following morning and cut the ignition, stepping out. The smell of the woods surrounding her was soothing as her eyes closed, feeling at peace for the first time since she was home last. Stephanie had kept her on the road for one excuse or another, refusing to give her any days off to go see her daughter. Even though she was a writer and, in no way part of the Authority on television, Stephanie would not give her time off to go home. Well, Nyla was through with being pushed around by them for the time being and had taken her 2 days off that were WAY overdue.

Grabbing her bags from the trunk, amber eyes moved to look up at the cabin again just as the door flew open, a 9-year-old sprinting at full speed toward her. Nyla dropped her bags instantly, scooping her daughter up in her arms and swung her around in circles, clutching her for dear life to breathe her in. Neela was the spitting image of her mother, besides one feature and that was the eyes. She had her sperm donor's eyes – crystalline blue. Dark chocolate brown hair mirrored her mother's, same facial features as well. Granted, as Neela got older, Nyla recognized certain attributes from her sperm donor, but they were few and far between…thankfully.

"Oh, I missed you so much, Nee Nee." It was the special nickname she gave her daughter and Nyla had called her that since birth. Even when she was in her womb, unborn.

Neela couldn't stop the tears as they flowed down her cheeks, clinging to her mother for dear life. She hated being away from Mom for long periods of time and never knew when she'd be coming home. Apparently, according to her grandparents, Mom's boss was cruel and only allowed her to come home when it was convenient for them. That didn't sit well with Neela, but she had to deal with it since she was only 9 years old. All Neela wanted to do was travel with her mother for her job, even bringing home the possibility of having an on-road teacher for school, but her mother was steadfast in keeping her here. It was getting harder and harder to watch her leave each time and 2 days a month, or months, wasn't nearly enough time between mother and daughter.

"I'm so glad you're home, Momma." Neela whispered, burying her face in her mother's neck and refused to let her go.

"Neela, who's…oh my god!" June immediately took off in a run toward her daughter and hugged her tightly next, just as Benjamin stepped out on the porch. "Oh my baby, my baby is finally home!"

"Mom, you shouldn't be running like that…" Nyla scolded, finally managing to pry both of them off her long enough to grab her bags.

Benjamin was there to help out, grabbing one of them and gave his daughter a one-armed embrace. "Good to have you back home, kiddo. How long we have you for?"

"Five days."

"Really?!" Neela squealed happily, jumping up and down with a bright smile on her face, crystalline blues sparkling. "I'm so excited!"

Nyla hadn't called and told Stephanie yet, deciding to do it on Friday morning when she was supposed to rejoin the Authority on the road. With the Money in the Bank briefcase stolen, there wasn't a doubt in her mind she would be preoccupied and not worried about her writer being there to keep under her thumb. That was one of the main reasons she had changed Dean's script at the last second and swapped it for the one Stephanie instructed her to write. Distractions were the key to get more time with her family, even though it took 2 hours to drive here from the airport. They were literally out in the middle of nowhere and Nyla preferred it that way, though Neela's school was only 10 minutes away.

"I was afraid you wouldn't make it. I'm so glad you did."

June could tell Neela was starting to get a little depressed because she rarely saw her mother. Skyping, calling on the phone and texting wasn't the same as seeing her parent face to face. Since she didn't have a father figure in her life, as great as the grandparents were, Neela needed her mother. When they had a moment alone, June was going to sit her daughter down and explain her concerns, hoping they could figure a way to get her to come home on her 2 days off every week instead of once a month or every 2 months.

"Put your bags in the laundry room and I'll take care of it all." June instructed once they were inside the house and Neela immediately dragged her mother to sit down on the couch.

For the next hour, Neela showed her mother everything she'd done at school recently, proud of being a 4th grader. Nyla didn't understand the math at all, wondering why they couldn't just do regular old school math and didn't comment on it, just voicing how proud of her daughter she was. All straight A's, the kid had a bright future and a solid head on her shoulders. Nyla had been the same way throughout school and never had a problem with academics. However, when she'd gone for a degree in journalism, instead of going into the medical field, her parents hadn't been thrilled with her choice. They supported her, regardless, but always wanted her to pursue the medical field due to the jobs never running out and being secure. June was a retired nurse of 40 years, starting at the tender age of 20, though back then schooling wasn't nearly as rough and detailed as it was in today's society.

It was both a blessing and curse she'd gone into journalism because of the job she had with WWE now. However, Nyla wished she would've listened to her parents, after getting pregnant by a WWE Superstar, keeping the pregnancy a secret from him, along with the child in general, and now she was nothing more than Stephanie toy to play with and Seth Rollins' whore. The medical field would've never put a label on her, but at the same time, she wouldn't have traded Neela for anything or anyone in the universe. She loved her daughter with everything inside of her; it was the only good thing to come out of her job with WWE.

After Neela was finished showing her everything and caught her mother up, she asked to watch a movie with her while Grandma June went to make them some lunch. Halfway through the movie, Neela fell asleep and Nyla lifted her with ease to settle her on the couch, covering him up with a blanket before going into the kitchen to assist her mother. June was a cancer survivor and Nyla was afraid it would come back since it was an aggressive kind. So far, everything looked good with scans and whatnot, but she also didn't need her mother waiting on her hand and foot while she was home.

"Mom, sit down and let me do that."

"Hush up and sit down, Ny. I got it." June ordered, waving her cutting knife at her and continued chopping up tomatoes. "I need to talk to you about Neela anyway."

"What's wrong?" Nyla frowned, taking the BLT from her mother she'd whipped up and set it on the table with a side of hash browns.

June eased herself into the chair with her own plate of food, having already given Benjamin his and asked him to go to his den to watch television. She wanted to talk to their daughter privately. "Neela is becoming depressed because you're not home that much anymore, Nyla. I don't know what's going on at work, but you need to make it clear to them you have a daughter who NEEDS her mother home more than 2 days a month or once every 2 months." She didn't mean to scold her daughter, but June hated seeing the pain on her granddaughter's face every time she ended a call or Skype chat with her mother.

If only her mother knew the truth and what she'd been going through lately. "I'll talk to them." Neela was an upbeat, happy little girl, so if she was getting depressed, something had to change in her schedule soon.

June eyed her daughter shrewdly, not believing that. "Really?"

"Yes. It may take a few months to get everything squared away, but I'm gonna try my best to get this fixed as soon as possible."

"Good because Neela needs her mother more than the WWE needs you."