CHAPTER FIVE: Every shot has a flipside.

June 2, 2014 9:03 PM

Click Click Click

Roman slowly opened his eyes. He was standing in the middle of a deserted hallway in front of a door to a janitor's closet. He stood there trying to regain his bearings while a woman in a business suit and a pair of black stilettos was walking by him. Her warm brown eyes raked up and down his body as she gave him a seductive smile while her shoes continued to Click Click Click on the floor.

Roman stared at her as she passed him by. She looked oddly familiar. Did he know her? Or was she just one of those behind the scenes WWE employees he saw a million times, but never actually met first hand?

She flicked her dark brown hair over her shoulder and for a second, it flashed a steel grey in the dimly lit hallway. Quickly, she turned down the hallway and vanished around the corner.

"Wait, Marty?" Roman all of a sudden recalled. He sprinted around the corner and saw nobody. The hall was deserted with no doors, which could have led her a different route; she had just disappeared into thin air.

Why did he get the feeling Marty was watching his every move for her own entertainment? He shook his head; maybe it wasn't even her…

"I'm just pointing out that those cream puffs are vulnerable tonight. They just lost Bluetista. We should come up with a more aggressive plan and take advantage of Evolution's loss." Dean's voice echoed slightly down the vacant hallways.

"What do you think they'll do? We destroyed them last night, and I'll beat Orton tonight. It's all good." Roman's own voice answered Dean's from a little ways down the hall.

Roman's head jerked back to where Marty had just disappeared to see three giant shadows appearing further down in the hallway. Shit. Roman ran back to where he first appeared and forced the door to the janitor's closet open. He slipped inside and kept the door open a crack to listen in on this old conversation.

"What's on your mind? You're quiet tonight, Seth," past Roman's deep voice rumbled.

"Yeah, I didn't think it was possible for you to go this long without talking."

"Ha ha ha, very funny, Dean. I just have a lot on my mind. You know, I think I'm going to go for a walk. I need to clear my head - think of a contingency plan if Hunter tries anything tonight."

"Well, in that case, I'm going to go do my usual routine. I'll meet you two at our entrance mark."

If Roman remembered correctly, now would be his opportunity. He creaked open the door slightly. His other self was leaning one shoulder against the wall, facing the opposite direction and messing with his Iphone. Roman noticed the tell-tale signs of the cord for his white earbuds connecting to the phone. Perfect.

He slipped around the door and carefully headed in the opposite direction. As he turned the corner, he could see the other Roman sighing and pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head as he sat down against the wall. His past self focused on the phone as he read something, probably notes about his pre-match workout. He would remain there until he made his way to the boy's meeting place for their entrance.

Roman continued down the hall and was glad to see Seth, disappearing into the room the Shield had commandeered as their locker room, alone.

Roman sighed. He could do this. He would do this. He followed Seth into the room. As the door swung shut, Seth grabbed his hair, ducking his head. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he muttered under his breath sounding completely conflicted with himself.

"Hey, you got a minute?"

Seth's head jerked up in surprise. "What are you doing here, Rome? I said I needed to clear my head. Plus, you should be getting ready for your match."

Roman frowned. "I'm just worried about you, man. You seem distressed. I know things have been stressful lately with everything with Evolution, but you have to know I'm here for you. Dean and I both are. You don't have to feel like you have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders all the time."

Seth was making an effort to compose himself, straightening his shoulders and neutralizing his facial expression. "Course, I know that. I'm well aware of it."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? I'm glad you do, Seth. I really just wanted to let you know I love you; you are my brother, and you will always be."

Seth bit his lip and went for what must have been a smile. "I know."

Roman knew he was going to have to really work over Seth to get him to change his mind. What better way to do so than to pull out Seth's own thoughts? Roman smiled at the high flyer. "That's a relief to hear… I just worry sometimes. You can call it big brother intuition or some crap like that, but I really worry about you sometimes, little brother."

Seth almost flinched at the little brother label. "Yeah? And why do you worry about me?" He looked down at his gloves and fiddled with them.

Roman shrugged, like these were some blase observations. "Sometimes I'm afraid Dean and I put too much pressure on you, and it's not fair to you at all."

Seth paused from where he was adjusting his gloves. He looked up at Roman with big deer-in-the-headlights eyes. "...What?"

"We stick all the tactics and strategizing with you, which I know you enjoy. Let's face it; you're a mad genius." Roman tousled Seth's hair affectionately. "But some of the other crud we stick you with...like making you always play the peacekeeper between the two of us? I can't imagine how hard that must be. And half the time, we're not even grateful towards you, which isn't right, man."

It was almost comical how wide open Seth's mouth was. Then again, Roman was parroting issues, which had eaten away at Seth's faith in him and Dean for months now...

Roman continued, "It must really take it's toll on you. I know sometimes, we come this close to killing each other, and you're stuck separating us and talking us down. Don't get me wrong here; I appreciate the fact you do this, but I can't imagine how much pressure that puts on you. It probably feels like you're...suffocating or drowning half the time. I just want you to know I'm grateful you're there to patch up any cracks, and I'm always here for you if you feel like the burden is getting too heavy to hold by yourself. You'll always be my little brother and Dean's, too. We won't ever forget you because we're family." Roman paused. It was time to seal the deal... "And you know what? If we ever want to dissolve the Shield? We can do it on all of our own terms when we're ready. In a year or so, we could pursue singles careers? We'll talk about it and fine, done. When we're old and gray and we literally retire as a faction? Hell yeah! I'm up for that. We can and we will. We won't let anyone dictate anything for us."

Seth's eyes were suspiciously wet. "You really mean that, bro? You mean all of that?"

"Course I do, Seth."

Taking a shuddering sigh, Seth wrapped his arms around Roman in a big hug. "I love you, too, big brother. And I want you to remember no matter what happens tonight or what's said: I'll always be a hound. I might just get a little lost sometimes...Thanks Roman."

"Anytime," Roman said with a big smile.

Seth finally released Roman from his bear hug and glanced at the clock on the wall before he said, "we should probably head over if we don't wanna no show."

Roman smiled. "You go ahead. I'll met you over there. There's something I need to take care of before my match with Orton."

Nodding at Roman, Seth smiled his goofy lopsided grin. "You just want to fix your hair, don't you? Whatever, take as much time as you need. Big Dog, you're such a girl sometimes. But It's not like we'd start without you." Seth clapped Roman on the shoulder before leaving the locker room.

Roman sighed; for some reason, he almost felt guilty. It felt as if he manipulated Seth by addressing all the insecurities the man had confessed to him in an alternate time stream. It almost felt like cheating. But then again, he was using the ultimate cheat code with Marty's watch to change time in the first place. He shouldn't feel guilty if what he did actually had an impact and fixed their relationship. Roman had a feeling what he said really made an impact with Seth, and he really hoped this talk would do the trick and fix everything.

But Roman had a good feeling about this. Seth reacted perfectly to the talk. Roman took what had went awry from his first attempt at fixing the past, and he learned from it. He knew this plan was foolproof. He grinned, looking forward to having his brothers by his side in the future, in his present.

Roman pulled out the pocket watch and considered traveling forward, but he decided against it. He didn't want any surprises in the future if Seth still went through with the betrayal.

He went over to the monitor set up in the corner of the room for the Superstars' convenience. He turned it on to watch what transpired out in the ring. He was confident, yes, but he also wanted to see what he had accomplished.

The monitor turned on and showed Seth in the middle of his part of the promo. "And the reason Evolution perished was because even though they are three of the greatest superstars in the history of this industry, last night they were not one like the Shield. In the end, they were just three strangers that just happened to be standing on the same side of the ring," Seth said, finishing his part of the promo, and Roman's past self began to talk.

"They weren't brothers," Roman's past self explained as he put a hand on Seth's shoulder. Seth broke his serious demeanor and actually smiled; the man clapped Roman's past self on the back and walked over to Dean to let Roman get a chance to address the crowd.

Roman's past self continued, "The men standing in this ring are brothers. This is evolution," Roman said as he held out an open hand before he closed it into a fist and said, "And this is the Shield. Randy Orton! Get your ass out here and let me break your jaw with this symbol of excellence."

Triple H and Orton confidently strode down to the ring as their ring music hit allowing them to make their entrance to a chorus of boos. The Game casually held his trusty sledgehammer close.

In the ring, Roman and Dean barely glanced when Seth slide out of the ring and grabbed some steel chairs from the tech guys. Watching in the locker room, Roman bit his lip nervously when he saw Seth grab two chairs. Did his talk with him do nothing to persuade the man? This was looking more and more like deja vu. Seth set the chairs on the floor of the ring and slide back in before standing next to his brothers.

"In case you haven't figured it out yet, what I do better than anybody is adapt. Last night was Plan A; tonight - tonight is Plan B." Hunter paused before he smirked and said, "There's always a Plan B."

Dean and Roman took a couple steps forward, leaving Seth standing alone behind them.

Backstage Roman swallowed nervously. This situation looked way too familiar. He didn't understand; Seth seemed to react just how Roman had hoped during their talk earlier, so why was Seth reacting the same way? Roman had been so sure this would work. Why would Seth still betray him - them?

Seth grabbed one of the chairs and held it in his strong grip. He studied Roman's back hard, and after a moment he reached a hand out and touched Roman's shoulder. When the Powerhouse turned to face him, Seth handed the chair over to him. Seth grabbed the other chair and held it out to Dean, who accepted the chair without a thought. The High Flyer stood next to his brothers empty handed, and the three Hounds of Justice stepped forward, together, ready to intercept any attack from Orton and Triple H.

Just from watching the scene on the monitor, Roman could see the gears working in Triple H's head. The Cerebral Assassin hadn't figured out Seth had backed out on his deal yet. It seemed like he still thought Seth was going to attack Roman's younger self and Dean at any moment.

Roman and Dean began climbing out on the opposite sides of the ring; Triple H and Orton eyed the two Shield members, suspiciously as the two men paused holding the chairs. The remaining members of Evolution were too busy watching Roman and Dean advance toward them to watch Seth. They thought Seth was on their side, so they didn't give Seth another glance. They didn't even notice as Seth ran, bounced off the back rope, and performed a suicide dive over the ropes onto them; the move knocked them down like a hand crashing through a house of cards.

The past Roman pulled Seth to his feet and clapped him on the back while Dean began an assault on Triple H with his chair. Seth threw a lopsided grin at Roman and gestured for the Powerhouse to get a couple hits of his own in. Roman targeted Orton as Dean gave Triple H a parting kick.

The Lunatic Fringe slouched over to Seth and asked him something the microphones couldn't pick up.

Back in the locker room, Roman frowned as he tried to figure out what Dean was saying. Seth mirrored the expression with a frown of his own. He began to respond to Dean with animated hand gestures and more words the microphones couldn't pick up. In the midst of their animated discussion, neither of them were paying attention to Triple H, who had now come to and was finally understanding that Seth hadn't fulfilled his part of the bargain.

As it would turn out, Roman's past self wasn't paying attention either, he was still occupied with Orton. As a result, when Triple H staggered to his feet with his sledgehammer in hand, he had a clear path to Seth and Dean. He lifted his trusty sledgehammer high into the air and used it to smack Dean in the head and Seth in the abdomen. Dean dropped, completely dazed by the blow. Triple H took advantage of Seth being doubled over with pain and grabbed the high flyer by the hair.

Dean was trying to focus his blurry vision on the scene. He saw Roman and the cream puff, Orton, trading blows before he focused his eyes on Seth and Triple H. He frowned when he heard what the Game was saying.

Watching on the monitor, Roman couldn't hear the things Triple H snarled out at Seth, not until Triple H started screaming at Seth.

"You actually think this will solve anything! I thought you were the Architect! I thought you were smarter than this!" Triple H drew back the hand that wasn't forcing Seth's head to stay still and punched the high flyer.

"You think you were the only backup! I always have a Plan B, Rollins! There's a contingency for screw ups like you!" Triple H tossed Seth against the barricade. "I don't know why you suddenly developed a conscience, but you'll regret it." Triple H paused before he glanced back at Dean, who was still crumpled up from where the sledgehammer blow left him. Something about Dean's horrified expression caused Triple H to smirk. He lifted his sledgehammer into the air again. "You think not turning on your brothers tonight will solve anything? They can't trust the scumbag who was going to sell them out for the chance at a title. You'll be dead to them. YOU'LL BE DEAD TO THEM! AND I WILL-"

The rest of Triple H's threat was cut off by Roman's past self spearing him through the barricade, and the sledgehammer went flying across the floor. Dean carefully found his footing and hesitantly walked over to where his brothers were.

In the locker room, Roman breathed a big sigh of relief as he saw his younger self pull Seth and Dean into a hug. With his brothers close to him, his younger self's face held a benevolent expression, and he looked content to have his little brothers safe and whole. It was a happy ending… but there was always more to the story especially in WWE, if not life.

Every shot has a flipside.

Roman had no way of realizing it, but if he were to see his brothers' faces, the ending would be transformed from the happy, Disney-esque one into the beginnings of something much, much darker. Seth's face was contorted in worry. His teeth bit down on his lower lip and his eyes were distant as his mind worked through scenario after scenario about what might happen to him and his brothers now. Dean's expression was also contorted: mouth drawn into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed. His eyes clouded with rage. Dean's hand resting on Roman's back would twitch as though Dean was actively suppressing the urge to strangle someone. But both Romans, past and future, were oblivious to their reactions; he had no idea of the storm that was brewing between his two little brothers.

Roman smiled at the image of his past self hugging his brothers, taking in the scene as it was presented to him and not delving any further into it. He pulled out the pocket watch; his fingers grazed over the rough scratches on the back. He flipped open the cover and eyed the dark red flakes still dwelling in the crevices along the face of the watch. Sure, there were scars from the trips, but they were all going to be worth it in the end. All of Roman's actions would be worth it when he returned to the present and found the world as it should be, his brothers by his side and all of them on top of the world; it would be worth it.

Roman spun the dials forward easily and happily. With a content sigh, he closed his eyes, while listening to JBL, Lawler, and Cole discuss the night's events. "The Shield once again beat Evolution, and they will continue to do so as long as they are together; they are unstoppable. But this is the only the beginnings of a much bigger war. But for tonight, that's our show. Good night, everybody!"