Disclaimer: Hey kids! Respect copyright laws, okay? Be nice and thank the good people you technically steal from! So, thank you WWE! Thank you for creating such interesting characters. And thank you for being nice enough to not GAS when we borrow them, but to understand this is all about free publicity. You're wonderful!

Original characters are products of my own imagination and any resemblance to anyone else, real or imaginary is merely a coincidence.

United We Stand
SmackDown July 7, 2016

SmackDown was normally the throw away show, slightly more relevant than Main Event, but not much. Still, the kids loved it, so whenever possible, the three families watched it together too.

But this Thursday, Cinnamon, Jessica, and Kayla were as eager as the kids to watch. Their husbands, usually very open in telling them the story lines they were involved in, but this time all three men were being closed up about it.

"All Dean will say is that we'll love the resolution," Cinnamon said.

"That's pretty much what Roman is saying, too," Jessica remarked, taking a sip from her glass of wine.

"I have a feeling this will end in a reunion," Kayla said, "But it's got to be more than that."

"And what side would they'll be on if there is," Cinnamon murmured.

On SmackDown that night, Kevin was furious over the beating he'd received from Randy, which had story wise, left him unable to have a match that night. In an attempt to get back on Kevin's good side, Seth volunteered to "take Randy out" for Kevin.

"Are you saying that you can take out Randy, but I can't?" Kevin asked, glaring at Seth.

"No!" Seth said, shaking his head. "I'm not saying that at all. The only reason he got the better of you Monday was because he tricked you, he cheated. It wasn't fair and now you're hurt. Someone needs to show him he can't mess with the Authority. C'mon, Kevin, let me handle this for you, let me prove to you that I'm an Authority guy all the way."

Stephanie and Hunter were in the room and both of them nodded their approval. "I think that's a great idea," Stephanie said.

"I do too," Hunter agreed. "Stephanie and I can't be here tonight, we have business to take care of elsewhere, but I know it will be all under control."

"See? I knew we could find a way for the two of you to work together." Stephanie put a hand on Kevin and Seth's shoulder, smiling at both of them like a mother who just got her children to end a tiring disagreement.

"I'll let Randy know he has a match with Seth tonight," Kane said.

"See?" JBL remarked, when the cameras focused back on the ring. "The Authority always wins."

"Well, let's just see if Seth can win tonight against Randy," Cole said.

"Maybe they should have let Rhyno fight Randy," Saxton suggested, with an amused smile.

"Maybe," Cole said, "But Rhyno has a match tonight with Dean Ambrose."

"Yeah!" JBL exclaimed. "Let's see if the Lunatic can handle a Rhyno!"

Before the match between Seth and Randy, they showed Seth walking through the halls, looking around. After opening a few doors and peering into a few areas, he finally ran into Kevin, Jamie and Joey coming the other way. "Oh, great!" Seth called out, looking at J&J with an expression of relief. "There you are! C'mon I have to get ready for my fight with Randy."

"I-I'm sorry, Seth," Jamie said. "We-we've been ordered by Hunter and Stephanie to watch out for Kevin."

"But-but-you're my guys!" Seth said, looking bewildered.

"Not anymore, I guess," Kevin said, smirking.

"I thought Rhyno was your security guy!" Seth complained. "Why do you need J&J?"

"Because Rhyno has to fight Dean tonight," Kevin said. "But don't worry about it. The three of us will accompany you to the ring."

"Really?" Seth's smile was one of pure relief.

"Sure!" Kevin patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll watch your back."

"Making his way to the ring now," Lilian Garcia announced. "From St. Louis Missouri, standing six feet five inches tall and weighing two-hundred and fifty pounds, it's Randy Orton!"

Randy made his way down the ramp and into the ring, looking confident. He walked around the ring, pandering to the audience, who cheered wildly for the Viper.

"He's looking good tonight," Byron said.

"I think he's looking forward to this fight with Seth," Cole remarked. "They have a lot of history between the two of them, most of it not very good."

"They were both part of the Authority for awhile," Saxton reminded everyone.

"Yeah, until Randy lost his mind," JBL remarked with a snort.

"I don't know if I'd say that," Cole disagreed.

"Well, I sure would," JBL said, along with giving another derisive snort. "Randy had it made with the Authority, but he turned his back on them."

On cue, Seth's music started and the cameras moved over to the top of the ramp, where Seth, Kevin and J&J Security came out together.

"And his opponent, being accompanied to the ring by Kevin Owens and J&J Security, from Davenport Iowa, standing six foot 1 inch tall, weighing two hundred and seventeen pounds, it's Seth Rollins!" Lilian cheerfully announced.

The four men got into the ring, and Kevin patted Seth on the shoulder. Anyone who could read lips would see he was saying, "Don't worry, we'll watch your back."

"See?" JLB said, watching Kevin. "The Authority is a true family!"

As Kevin and J&J were climbing out of the ring, Kane's music came on. Everyone looked to the top of the ramp as Kane walked out from backstage. He stopped at the top of the ramp, microphone in hand. "As director of operations, at the request of the Authority, I am declaring this match to be a no DQ match!"

The audience cheered loudly. Randy looked at Seth, then around the ring where Kevin and J&J Security were gathered, each one taking a side.

Seth broke into a grin and laughed as Kane turned and left the stage.

Randy looked as if he might try to argue with the referee, but Charles Robinson shrugged, as if to say, "Hey, what can I do? Bosses orders." Then he signaled the Timekeeper to ring the bell and the match began.

It started out as a typical match, both men grappling, but soon enough, Randy figured he'd better strike fast before he was ganged up on. He jumped out of the ring on the side closest to the announcers, the only side without someone watching Seth. He reached under the ring, grabbing a Kendo stick. Joey and Jamie came around and stared at him, but didn't approach him. Seth jumped out of the ring to see what Randy was up to, and Randy smashed him in the chest with the Kendo stick.

Seth's eyes went wide, looking shocked that this had happened. Kevin Owens came around the ring, gathering close to Jamie and Joey. Seth grinned, thinking that soon they would join in and render Randy useless.

Instead, Randy quickly moved around and whacked Seth in the small of his back. Seth screamed and bent backwards, almost falling down.

Everyone waited for Kevin and J&J to get involved, but instead they just moved a little closer and walked around so they were behind Seth.

"What is going on here?" Cole asked, sounding confused.

"Don't ask me!" Byron said, shaking his head. "They said they had his back, but it looks like they changed their minds!"

"No," JBL said. "Kevin said they'd watch Seth's back. And it seems like he's doing exactly that!"

"You're kidding!" Cole said, as Randy hit Seth with the Kendo stick again. Seth looked bewildered and a little frightened as it started dawning on him that he was really alone in this match, that no one was going to come to his rescue.

"I wonder if Stephanie and Hunter knew this would happen?" Byron pondered.

"Or, if this is all Kevin's idea," Cole elaborated further.

"Who cares?" JBL said, his voice sounding gleeful. "Kevin is keeping his word. He said he'd watch Seth's back and I don't think he's taken his eyes off of it!"

It was obvious that this betrayal had taken Seth totally off guard and he never was able to recover from it. Randy realized quickly that Seth's "help" was no help at all and doubled his attack on Seth. He beat him with the Kendo stick until it splintered into pieces, then threw him into the ring. While Seth tried to catch his breath, Randy grabbed a chair and brought it into the ring. Seth was barely on his knees and Randy brought the chair down on his back again, sending Seth sprawling.

And Kevin Owens and J&J Security kept walking around the ring, indeed making sure they were always in a position to watch Seth's back.

At one point, Kane came to the top of the ring again, and people wondered if he would come down and try to rescue Seth, but all he did was watch.

"Seth must be feeling abandoned," Cole speculated. "He's totally alone out there."

"Serves him right," JBL said.

"What did he do?" Byron asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"He put Kevin Owens in danger on Raw," JBL said, "And, he might have been consorting with the enemy."

"Seth said he wasn't traveling with Roman and Dean," Saxton reminded him. "He just said they all happened to show up at the same diner."

"Well, clearly Kevin has his doubts," was JBL's response.

It was a mercy when Randy finally pinned Seth. Seth had barely gotten a hit on Randy, he'd been dominated since the beginning. Randy likely could have pinned him several minutes earlier, but he just was enjoying beating on Seth too much.

When the match was over, a medical crew ran down and helped Seth to the back.

"Seth will be evaluated by our medical team," Micheal Cole announced, "and moved to a medical facility if necessary."

The main event was Dean vs. Rhyno. When they came back from a commercial break, Rhyno was already in the ring. Dean's music started and Dean came out, looking around eagerly, then ran to the ring.

While Lilian introduced the both of them, Dean and Rhyno were staring each other down, both looking ready and willing to fight. And barely had the bell rung when Rhyno attempted to gore Dean. Fortunately, Dean was prepared and ran backwards and then jumped out of the way at the last minute, causing Rhyno to run right into the ring post.

At the beginning, that seemed to be the battle. Rhyno seemed to be using the strategy of toss everything he could and hope some of it stuck. Dean was being clever and getting out of the way, and letting Rhyno damage himself.

"Wow, Rhyno is being like a bull tonight!" Byron exclaimed.

"No, he's being like a Rhyno!" JBL disagreed, sounding annoyed, "isn't that obvious?"

"They both charge," Cole offered in Byron's defense.

"His name is Rhyno," JBL said, looking and sounding both annoyed and disgusted. "That means he's going to charge like a Rhyno, not a bull!"

"Well, whatever he's charging like, he's being thwarted by Ambrose," Cole said.

Then, Rhyno decided to stop charging and instead went back to grappling. He gained the advantage and pummeled Dean into the corner, smashing him into one of the ring posts, over and over again, until Dean was hanging from the ropes, barely able to move. Rhyno turned and made his way to the diagonal corner, watching Dean who wasn't moving.

The crowd was mostly booing as Rhyno scraped one foot across the floor, looking indeed more like a bull for a moment than a Rhyno. Then, he lowered his head.

"This does not look good for Dean!" Cole exclaimed.

"Oh, it looks like Dean has one angry Rhyno after him," JBL gleefully exclaimed. As Rhyno started charging across the ring, JBL added, "Don't look up, Dean, you won't like the view!"

As Rhyno was almost on top of him, Dean did an amazing backwards hop to the second rope, then to the third rope, balancing on his feet, but squatting down to grab the ropes for extra security. The crowd went wild with cheering as Rhyno ran full force into the ring post, bouncing off of it, staggering backwards and falling flat on his back onto the floor of the ring. Dean held on to the ropes for dear life and while he swayed a bit, he did not fall.

"Wow!" Saxton said. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone do that trick Dean did with the ropes!"

"Me either," Cole agreed. "That was pretty amazing!"

"I've seen it," JBL said, sounding almost bored. "Lots of times."

Dean stood on the top ropes, looking around with a grin on his face. Rhyno lay on the mat, not moving, looking as if he was barely breathing. Mike Chioda, the referee started to head over, but before he could make it to check on Rhyno, J&J came running down the ramp. Dean appeared to have all his attention focused on Rhyno, and never seemed to notice as Jamie and Joey leaped on to the apron, then each grabbed a leg and pulled Dean so he slammed into the top rope on his upper thighs.

"What are J&J doing down here?" Cole asked.

"Looks like they're going after Dean," Byron remarked.

"I don't blame them!" JBL said. "Rhyno is Kevin's personal security guard. J&J has to watch out for him!"

Dean leaned forward, grabbing onto his legs, then rolling off the ropes, he hit the floor with a sickening thud, as J&J climbed into the ring and began beating on him.

"I don't believe this!" Cole proclaimed, "This is terrible! What did Dean do to deserve this?"

"He's against the Authority," JBL said, "You can't disobey your bosses and expect to get away with it."

"But Kevin and J&J aren't his bosses," Saxton pointed out. "And neither is Rhyno."

"But they act with Stephanie and Hunter's best interests," JBL said.

In the ring it was like a shark frenzy, with Kevin, Joey, and Jamie all surrounding Dean, kicking at him. Kevin leaned over and grabbed Dean by the hair, hauling him up on his knees while Rhyno got back up and came over, kicking Dean in the stomach.

Dean looked at them, sneered and laughed as if to say this was nothing. Which, of course did not serve to quiet the group any, it only served to anger them further and they redoubled their efforts.

"This is wrong!" Cole shouted, "It's four against one, it's wrong!"

"If you're going to give a dance, you've got to pay the band," JBL retorted. "Dean's had his dance, now the band wants their fee."

"Where's security?" Saxton commented, "Someone needs to break this up!"

Almost as if Saxton's words were a summoning spell, Roman Reign's music began to play. This stopped the four attacker for a moment, as they looked to the crowd as the spotlight went from entrance to entrance, trying to get the first glimpse of Roman heading through the audience.

Then, the crowd began to cheer as instead Roman came flying down the ramp, sliding into the ring as if he were greased up. He rolled to his feet and grabbed Joey in one arm, Jamie in the other, as if they were but errant children caught outside after the streetlights came on. With a roar, he tossed them over the ropes and onto the stadium floor. Then he advanced on Rhyno and Owens.

Rhyno and Owens looked at each other for a moment as if they were going to leave, and even started heading for the other side of the ring. As Roman knelt quickly by Dean, they stopped and turned.

"I guess they aren't going quietly after all!" Cole shouted.

Roman and Dean looked oblivious, as if they had no clue they were about to be attacked, then, just when Kevin and Rhyno were almost on top of them, thinking they had caught them unaware, the two of them sprang up and started attacking back, punching every part of them they could reach.

Having been caught off guard, Kevin decided he wasn't going to risk himself to this and ran as fast as he could out of the ring. For a moment, Dean and Roman stared at Rhyno, who looked ready to charge on Roman. Then, Rhyno realized he too, was alone. At the end of the ramp, Kevin was waving frantically, suggesting that Rhyno get out.

Dean and Roman grinned to each other then started towards Rhyno, who decided that running off with his tail between his legs was a much better idea than facing both Roman Reigns and a pissed off lunatic. He ran from the ring, joining Kevin and J&J who were staggering to their feet. The four of them hurried up the ramp while Roman and Dean leaned over the ropes and called insults to them.

Instead of ending on that note, as one would expect, the scene cut to Seth in back in the infirmary. Someone in medical scrubs was securing a bandage around his head as Seth sat on a padded bench, looking as if he might pass out any second. "The doctor is going to look at you again," the man in the scrubs said. "I think they're going to want to take you to a medical facility to make sure you're okay, Mr. Rollins."

"Yeah," Seth said, sounding exhausted and distracted.

When the camera pulled back, the audience could see that Seth was watching what had been happening in the ring on the TV. He saw as Roman and Dean, arms around each other, were calling insults after Kevin, Rhyno, and J&J, the two of them looking as if they could take on anything, as long as they had each other's backs.

End of Part Three

Author's note: Yes, I know JBL isn't on Smackdown, but I like the team of JBL, Cole and Saxton, so that's the permanent team in my world. Jerry only works on PPV's now.

Special Thanks To:

Emilee J: Yes, another Christmas present in July! Thank you so much. And I just love the idea of the three women putting the kids down and rejoining each other for a little wine and discussion. I might have to throw that into one of these chapters.

Kevin and Rhyno, I figure make a great team. Kevin is obnoxious, Rhyno doesn't offend easily. Kevin can order Rhyno around without Rhyno going, "Ya know, you're a jerk."

Parvati: Well, right now we need to get them back together, which is the point of this story. I was just concerned that if I threw them back together, it would look bad. I mean, I talk to other fans and some are going, "We don't care, we just want them back." Others go, "They shouldn't reunite for another five years!" My feeling is that I wanted to give them something that was worthy of reuniting them sooner rather than later, and I figure the family and the fire are good reason. The WWE isn't stupid, they know this is a Golden Cow laid at their feet and they will take advantage of it.

I love Dean and Roman too, and feel they need their chance. In my world, Dean was WHC for awhile. I haven't said if Roman ever was, maybe I'll cover that eventually.

This story will be about Shield reuniting. The next one will be about the families having a bit of time off together to enjoy themselves. Barring something happening, I plan on having both of them. I usually keep my word.

I just hope you keep enjoying this story.

Guest: Thank you. I hope you keep enjoying it and stick around for all of it.

To Everyone Who R/R: Ah yes, we come to the part where Willow gets pissed off at herself for not being able to properly express how grateful she is to everyone who reads her work and then takes the time to tell her. Favorites, follows, those are nice, reviews are awesome. Even a one line review going, "Nice chapter, please update soon!" tells me that people are reading it and liking what they read.

I swear at the end of every chapter, I will find the way to tell you all how much it means to me, but I never do. For all my gift of words, in this I always fall short. But I really do mean it. Every review is a gift. Every review is special. And it means so much to me. So thank you to all of you who continue to encourage and support my writing. And if you're reading this and haven't reviewed? You'll have my gratitude if you do. And if you can't bring yourself to review for whatever reasons? At least consider favoring it, if you do feel it's a favorite story.

Until Next Time

Peace Out

Willow