Disclaimer: WWE owns the wrestlers, I own the OC's. All OC's are the children of my imagination and any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. Floss once a day, brush twice a day.

United We Stand
Raw, July 11, 2016

Before the show.

"Aw no!" Seth exclaimed as he looked at his cell phone. The black screen stared back at him, almost seeming to mock him.

Roman looked up from the bench he was sitting at, taping his left ankle. The three of them, Roman Seth and Dean were sharing a semi private dressing room, something they had been doing a lot more frequently, since returning from the fire. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"My phone died," Seth said, shaking his head and looking disgusted with himself. "I forgot to plug it in."

"Really?" Dean couldn't help but give a snort of laughter over this, Seth was normally the person who never forgot those types of things. Dean was usually the one standing by his phone going, "Charge you stupid phone, charge!" as if yelling at it would make it charge faster. "Having a bad day, Seth?"

"Yeah, yeah," Seth muttered, then sighed. "I haven't texted Payton yet, to let her know that it's all going to be fine and not to worry about the show." He shook his head and started going through his bag, looking for his charger. "I'll have to plug it in and text her after the show."

Dean frowned and then pulled his own cell phone out of his pocket. "Text her now," he said, holding out the phone. "You need to let her know you're going to be okay, that it's just a show. Yeah, she knows it, all the kids know it, but sometimes you have to cover your bases."

Seth looked at Dean, then took the phone from his outstretched hand. "Thanks."

"Any time," Dean said, grinning again. "It's nice to be the one helping you with this technology crap, rather than the other way around."

"Just make sure she knows you're using Dean's phone," Roman said, trying not to smile, but unable to keep his eyes from glittering in amusement. "Or she might think Uncle Dean is being a little weird."

Seth rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Yeah, I think I'll remember that."

Raw

The show opened with Stephanie, Hunter and most of the Authority coming down to the ring and while Seth was suspiciously absent from this gathering, nobody in the Authority brought it up, they merely acted as if Seth had ceased to exist.

After the usual boos from the audience and the usual making fun of the crowd, Stephanie announced that in this Sunday's PPV, Battlegrounds, that Roman and Dean would be in a tag team match between Kevin Owens and Rhyno. This news was received with wild enthusiasm, which rose to an almost building shaking crescendo when Hunter added that it would be a no DQ match.

When the opening was over and a quick match took place, the Titantrons lit up with the usual backstage office scene. Stephanie and Hunter were talking with Kevin and Rhyno, the four of them hunched over a cell phone that Kevin was holding. Then, the camera panned out and Seth came over. "You, uh, wanted to see me?" he asked, clearing his throat and looking as if he wasn't quite sure he was happy to be there.

Kevin quickly moved the phone away, and stepped over a bit so Seth could get closer to Stephanie and Hunter.

"Thank you for coming," Hunter said, his voice smooth.

"Well, your my bosses, of course if you ask to see me, I'm going to be there," Seth said, following it with a rather nervous laugh.

"That's good," Stephanie said, wearing a smile that didn't quite match her eyes. "Because we still have some concerns."

"Oh?" Seth looked nervously from Stephanie to Hunter. "What are those?"

Hunter put his hand on Seth's shoulder, in what should have been a fatherly gesture, but there seemed to be something off about it. "We want to ask you again, were you traveling with Roman and Dean that night? Or was it really, as you said, just a coincidence that the three of you ended up at the same diner?"

"I told you we weren't traveling together," Seth said, but he didn't sound very confident, and he swallowed several times, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously in his throat. "Why is this coming up again?"

"Well, Kevin was on the internet," Stephanie said, that not-very-warm smile still plastered on her face. "And he found something very interesting." She nodded to Kevin who had a triumphant look on his face. "Kevin?"

Kevin whipped out the cell phone. "If you were traveling alone, Seth, maybe you could explain what this is?" The cameras focused in on the screen of the cell phone.

There was a picture of Seth, Dean and Roman sitting in the same booth in a diner. Half finished plates of food were in front of them. Seth and Roman had their head tossed back in laughter, and Dean was grinning, having obviously gotten off a good one. Anyone seeing the picture, even if they didn't know who these men were, would realize that these three people were relaxed, that they were close friends having a good time together. Not just the expressions, but the way they sat, close, to each other, body language telling everyone that these three were completely comfortable with each other.

"According to Instagram, a fan took this just before the three of you realize the house was on fire," Kevin said a triumphant note in his voice.

The camera panned out and the look on Seth's face was hard to read. Some might think it was fear, others might think it was shock, but whatever it was, it was not good. "Uh," he said, swallowing and making his Adam's apple dance again. "Uh, I can explain," he began tugging on the neck of his T-shirt.

"Well then, please do," Hunters said, a quirky grin on his face.

"Uh," Seth began clearly stalling for time.

"Yes, we're all dying to hear what you have to say," Stephanie added, which made Rhyno snort in laughter and caused an amused smirk to appear on Kevin's face.

Seth bit his lip, looked at the ground for a moment, appearing to collect himself, then he lifted his head, taking a deep breath. "Okay, I'll come clean, I was eating with them. But, it isn't what you think!" he added hastily at the end.

"Oh?" Hunter's head tipped ever so slightly, as if he was trying to get his ear closer to Seth to hear what he had to say, but that quirky grin never left his face. "Please enlighten us, then."

"I-I-I," Seth stammered, then pulled himself to his full height. "Okay, I didn't want to say anything, but the truth is that I overheard Dean and Roman talking backstage a couple times, and it sounded like they were planning some type of mutiny against the Authority. I-I thought that maybe if I made them believe we were still friends, they'd tell me what they had planned, so I could tell you guys." He looked from Stephanie to Hunter, pleading with his eyes for them to believe him.

Stephanie and Hunter looked at each other, puzzled looks being exchanged. "Well, did you find out if they do have something planned?" Stephanie finally asked.

"No, they're still keeping that close to their chests," Seth admitted. "That's why I didn't say anything the other night when Kevin confronted me. Because-because I was still hoping I might get them to tell me."

"I see," Hunter said, and you were really left wondering if he did see, or if he was amusing Seth, toying with him as he watched him bury himself. "Well, okay, I admire your loyalty to the Authority. Although I still say you should have come to us with these rumors rather than to take it upon yourself to try to find out what was going on."

"Yes," Stephanie agreed. "We're very experienced at stopping a coup d'état. I'm a little disappointed that you didn't feel you could trust us." In contrast, she dragged out the word little in such a way that it sounded quite the opposite of little.

"It wasn't that," Seth protested. "I just thought that I could find out what was going on so I could warn you. I figured the more I knew and the less other people knew the better." His gaze kept shifting from Hunter to Stephanie and it was obvious he would have found a cage full of hungry bears an pleasant alternative than this situation.

"Well, in the future, we'd like you to come to us before you decide to meet with people who are not known for wanting what's best for business." Hunter said, his voice smooth, professional, but cold, as if someone had sprayed the words with a fine coating of ice. "Because having these things-" he paused to indicate the phone Kevin was still holding. "-come out in public, is not good for business."

"I-I understand," Seth said.

"Good!" Stephanie's smile widened, but still fell just short of her eyes, which were fixed on Seth. "Now, Kevin is a little upset about all of this, and I understand. You did lie to us and especially to him when he confronted you."

Seth's nostrils flared briefly and for a moment, his expression went back to arrogant, weasel like Seth. Hunter frowned at this, and Seth drew in a deep breath and turned to Kevin with a look that was clearly a pained imitation of humility. "I'm sorry, Kevin," he said, but you could hear his teeth were gritted. "I shouldn't have mislead you."

Kevin did not look impressed and instead of accepting the apology, he shrugged and looked at Hunter and Stephanie as if Seth wasn't even worthy of his gaze. Meanwhile, Rhyno appeared to have gotten bored and was messing with his fingers, looking as if he were playing "Here's the Church and Here's the Steeple" with himself.

"Well, an apology is nice," Stephanie said. "But I think the two of you have some issues to work out. So tonight, for our main event, the two of you are going to have a match."

On that, even Rhyno stopped with "see all the people" and looked up. Kevin smirked and Seth gulped again, then straightened his shoulders. "Okay, that should be good," Seth forced himself to say.

But he didn't look nearly as confident as his words indicated he should.

The crowd cheered wildly as the camera panned away from the Titantron and focused back on the ring.

Roman had a match with Kane that night, which he technically won due to interference from Big Show, who pulled him from the ring and slammed him into the announcer's table. Then, when Roman was trying to recover, stumbling around looking dazed, Kane grabbed him and slammed him into the metal stairs. As Roman staggered to try to get away from Kane, Big Show came around the corner, grabbed him by his shirt, and threw him into the barrier. Roman flopped over, looking wiped out.

Both Kane and Big Show advanced on him, but just as they were about to grab him, Dean popped up from where he was, ducked under and behind the barricade, grabbed Roman and pulled him over. Putting his arm around his friend, he helped him and the two of them ran through the crowd and off stage.

"Do you believe that?" JBL said, sounding disgusted. "Who gave that lunatic permission to get involved?"

"Who gave Big Show the right to get involved?" Cole questioned right back.

"I'm sure Stephanie and Hunter did," JBL shot back.

"Does that make it right?" Saxton questioned.

"Of course it does!" JBL said with a derisive snort. "They're the bosses. They can do whatever they want."

The excitement for the Main Event was almost palpable, mostly because it was so unusual. Yes, Seth and Kevin were having problems, but a match between two members of the Authority was something that just wasn't seen on TV, and people were excited, already thinking of how they would talk about this the next day at school or by the water cooler. "Yeah! Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens! Both of the Authority's Golden Boys, although it sure seems like Seth is slipping from that role quickly!"

Seth entered the ring first, with a loud pop. Authority he might still be, but people also remembered he was one of three men who, outside of the ring, had rushed into a burning house to save a family. It was hard not to be behind him. And the earlier confrontation with the Authority had gotten him sympathy for his obvious discomfort. Seth, for his part, did not look very confident as he came down the ramp. He didn't look at the crowd, just at the ring ahead of him, and when he climbed in, he just stood there. It was such a contrast from the overly confident Seth everyone was used to, that the crowd knew instantly he was the one they should cheer for.

"Seth looks pretty nervous," Cole remarked. "I think he's worried about facing Kevin Owens."

"He should have thought of that before he lied to Kevin and Stephanie and Hunter," JBL retorted.

"Well, he claims he was trying to find out if Roman and Dean were really planning a takeover," Saxton pointed out.

"He can claim anything he wants," JBL said, "that doesn't make it the truth."

When Kevin Owen's music started, he came out and stood at the top of the ramp for a moment, while Rhyno, and J&J came out too. All four men stayed at the top of the ramp for a bit, Rhyno looking at Kevin as if waiting for permission to start walking. J&J, to their credit, looked a bit sheepish, as if they weren't sure they felt comfortable not being with Seth. Kevin looked around, sneering first at the crowd, then at Seth. He didn't as much walk to the ring as he strolled to it, looking as if he had all the time in the world, accepting the boos and jeers with a bored smirk as if they were fitting tributes to him.

The four men entered the ring together. Kevin walked around confidently, glancing at Seth every once in awhile, as if Seth was nothing more than a trained seal, brought to the ring for Kevin's amusement.

The match started with Seth being the aggressor, flying at Kevin, obviously taking the attitude that he needed to strike fast and hopefully end this quickly. Kevin seemed taken off guard by this and found himself backed in a corner as Seth hammered on him.

Kevin seemed dazed as Seth began using the top ropes to his advantage, going back to some of the high flying moves he was known for back in the days of The Shield. The crowd cheered wildly.

J&J were standing by the announcer's table with Rhyno, who was frowning as he saw Kevin being pummeled, as if he wasn't quite sure this should be happening. Joey looked at him a few times, expectantly, as if waiting for Rhyno to give them orders, but Rhyno couldn't quite remember what they were.

"It looks like the team of J&J have a new boss!" JBL exclaimed as if this were wonderful news. "Now it's R&J&J!"

"I wonder why Rhyno would be in charge," Saxton pondered.

"Because he's tough and loyal!" JBL shot back. "And he's smart, too!"

"Well, he certainly is tough," Cole said.

"Smart too," JBL insisted, as the camera panned to Rhyno who grinned for a moment as Seth got off a kick on Kevin, then frowned as if realizing that he wasn't supposed to be happy for Seth. "He knows whose side he needs to be on! That's why Kevin brought him up from NXT."

"From what I hear, Rhyno was the only guy in NXT who could stand being around Owens," Cole said. "Everyone else there thinks he's bad news."

"Everyone else there thinks he's bad news," JBL repeated Cole's words in a whiny tone, meant to be an unflattering imitation. "They're just jealous because Kevin Owens knows what's best for him. Owens is smart enough to get in with the right people, unlike idiots like Neville. If you want to go anywhere in this company, you join forces with the Authority. Rhyno knew that!"

"Sure he did," Cole said, a clearly sarcastic edge to his voice, "Rhyno is-"

The world would never know how Cole intended to define Rhyno at that moment, because Seth had given Owens a flying kick that sent him crashing into the ropes in front of the announcer's table.

"Superkick!" Cole exclaimed, sounding positively delighted as if Seth might have given him an unexpected present.

Kevin turned, shaking his head several times as if to clear it. His gaze focused on Rhyno and J&J and he screamed at them, loud enough so the announcer's microphones picked up what he was saying, "Are you idiots just going to stand there? Do something!"

The cameras moved to show Rhyno, whose eyes went wide for a moment, then it was as if a light went off in his head and he remembered why he was there. He motioned to J&J and the three men ran to the ring, getting on all three sides. Kevin Owens slid out of the ring.

"Good idea!" JBL said firmly. "Take a moment and regroup!"

Seth was looking around nervously as he realized he was surrounded. Slowly and deliberately, Jamie, Joey, and Rhyno climbed up to the apron and stared at him.

Seth looked from man to man, swallowing as if he was realizing he was in serious trouble. He hesitated, clearly wondering how he could get out of this situation. The referee was waving his arms at Rhyno, who made a motion as if he were swatting him away, even though the ref was way beyond touching distance.

Seth looked at Jamie and Joey, and smiled nervously, as if to say, "We're friends, right?"

Jamie and Joey climbed through the ropes, followed by Rhyno, then Kevin Owens, who had recovered and joined the other three. Seth looked around, panic written on his face as slowly, the four men closed in on him. When they were close, Seth swallowed and laughed nervously, clearly hoping against hope that this was a joke.

That's when Kevin kicked him in the stomach, with what seemed to be enough force to send Seth flying into Mercury. Seth never even had a chance to double over, as Mercury wrapped an arm around his neck and drove his knee into Seth's back.

Seth's scream of pain could be heard outside of the ring.

As if his cry was a signal, Mercury pushed Seth to the ground and all three men started kicking him, as if Seth were a particularly nasty and abnormally large sized bug who had wandered in uninvited and now needed to be killed.

"Oh no!" Cole cried. "What are they doing?"

"Looks like Seth was caught dining with the enemy!" JBL exclaimed, sounding as if he'd been given a very special treat. "And now it's time for a little just deserts!"

"Yeah, but this is brutal!" Cole argued.

"Humble pie never goes down easy!" JBL said, his voice still cheerful as if now JBL was the one who had been given the unexpected gift. "Seth should have known better!"

The referee motioned for the bell to be rung, but no one expected it to stop the four men from beating on Seth, and indeed it didn't.

The audience was booing and screaming so loudly, watching the action, that most of them missed Kane coming down the ramp, slowly and deliberately, no music to mark his entrance.

Kane was almost to the ring when Owens and company noticed him. They paused in the beating to look at him, nervous expressions on their faces.

"If I were Seth, I'd get out of there while he can," Saxton remarked.

But it was clear, Seth wasn't going anywhere. He lay on the floor of the ring, curled up as if he were a child who had just seen for real, the monster from his worst nightmares.

Kane stopped at the edge of the ring and slowly shook his head as if in disapproval. Owens and J&J looked a bit worried and guilty. Rhyno was grinning and raised his hand to wave to Kane, but stopped when Kevin kicked him quickly in the leg. Then he looked at his leg, then Kevin and frowned, trying to put together what had happened.

Kane was holding a microphone, and he brought it to his mouth. "Boys, boys," he said, shaking his head. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, if you're going to do this, do it right!" And with that, he reached under the ring and drew out three folding chairs… and a sledge hammer. He slid them into the ring. Then, he walked over to the announcer's area, and took a seat, near the timekeeper's area, and leaned back in the office chair, looking as if he was about to watch a favorite movie.

Jamie grabbed the chairs and the sledge hammer and brought them over to the group. Slowly, he handed Joey, then Rhyno a chair. Then, with a ceremonial deliberateness, he handed Kevin the sledgehammer and kept the third chair for himself.

J&J and Rhyno began using the folding chairs to reign blows on Seth. Kevin though, hefted the sledge hammer as if judging the weight and the feel, but stayed out of the fray.

"No!" Cole shouted. "This is wrong! They're going to kill Seth! Why isn't security out here?"

"Because security works for Stephanie and Hunter," JBL reminded him.

After several seconds of pounding Seth with the chairs, Joey, Jamie and Rhyno stopped. As if on cue, they turned to look at Owens, who walked over to them, while Seth lay on the floor, still curled up, occasionally twitching, to show he was still alive.

"No, no!" Cole shouted, shaking his head as Kevin advanced over to Seth. "No! This is so wrong!"

With a cruel smile, Kevin raised the sledge hammer above his head, looking to deliver not just a blow, but a killing blow. The cameras all stayed on him and the audience was almost silent. Then, a small cheer broke out from the audience by the ramp, a cheer that quickly got louder. The cheer seemed to throw Kevin off his stride and he looked up to see what was going on.

Roman and Dean were running down the ramp as fast as they could, ducking and sliding into the ring and the crowd rose to their feet, stomping and cheering.

There presence caused enough confusion that J&J, Rhyno, and Kevin stood there in stunned confusion, which gave Dean and Roman a slight advantage. Roman grabbed the sledgehammer from Kevin, and holding it crossways, slammed it into Kevin's throat. Dean grabbed the folding chair that Rhyno had dropped, and slammed the head rest into Rhyno's stomach and as Rhyno doubled over, he started beating him on the back with it.

Joey and Jamie stood, still dumbstruck as Roman and Dean attacked Rhyno and Kevin. Then, something seemed to click and they moved to help. At that moment, as if a miracle had happened, Seth rolled to his feet and grabbed the two of them and tossed them over the ropes, then fell to the floor again, as if he had used the last bit of strength he owned.

Owens and Rhyno were on the floor, dazed. Roman and Dean looked at each other, nodded, then threw aside the chair and the sledgehammer. They ran over to Seth and helped him to his feet. Seth moved his head as if trying to shake off the beating.

The three men hurried from the ring. Roman and Dean got on either side of Seth, putting an arm around him and the three of them ran from the ring together.

It had been a loud crowd that night, but the ending was more than deafening as the three former Shield members ran back stage.

End of Part Four.

Author's Notes: Man, I hope I'm getting the hang of this ring action stuff. I was actually pleased with this chapter, but I'm still pretty hesitant about the whole thing, so yeah, I hope I pulled it off.

Special Thanks To:

Burger Waitress: I like my burgers medium well. Seriously, thanks for the rush to my defense. I don't know why I attract weirdos, but I seem to do it with alarming frequency, especially when I have irritated people. I should learn to keep my opinions to myself, but man, I have a big mouth (big fingers) Thank you for sticking up for me, I appreciate it.

Ghost Guest: Okay, you're not flaming me, but you are, but I do okay with the ring action, but I don't! It's okay, it's confusing to be a ghost, I'm sure. But seriously? The next story will be more into the family realm. I know this was a departure from my usual, but, I think it's been a good exercise for me. I hope you'll enjoy the next story better, when I get this one finished and start writing it. And, I will tell you though, that the next chapter of this one, will not include ring action, it's an interlude chapter. It doesn't have the families in it, but it does have Seth and Dean.. and a discussion about vending machines that sell unusual things. (No, not those unusual things, those aren't really unusual anymore) And that's all I'll say about it.

Parvati: Thank you. Again, this is way out of my comfort zone, but I'm hoping people enjoy it. But the story I write after this one? We go right back to families and the usual stuff. I mean, I might write ring action again, I won't say I won't, but I think after this? I need a nice family driven tale. And that's exactly what this will lead up into.

To Everyone Who Review and/or F/F: Thank you. Thank you so much, it means the world to me. I keep my writing close to me when I'm doing it, because I've always found I'm terrific at telling Everyone My Ideas, and not so terrific on writing them. So, the only way I know if ideas are working/not working is by feedback. I don't have a support group to help me, I just have my betareader, and she's been so busy that I've had to wing it a lot.

So, yeah, reviews are very important. And if you have something negative you want to say, but don't want to risk the wrath of my readers? PM me. I know I have a reputation for blasting out anon reviewers who flame me, but I do feel that if you can't give us a platform where we can discuss things rationally, and if your complaints have no merit (Such as, "This story doesn't belong in wrestling, because you refuse to mention Dean's name every six seconds") I have the right to take you down. However, if you PM me, showing me you have a real account and are willing to discuss it, not just to hit and run, then I owe you my respect and I will give it.

Until Next Time
Peace Out
Willow