Sorry I'm a little bit late today, this site is being silly again! Anyway, are we ready for our new dastardly villain to rise up (sort of) in this chapter? His involvement will increase in the next story as well, which isn't a good thing!

Mandy, I honestly think Seth is more believable as a heel when I'm watching him, but I prefer writing him as one of the good guys! Kind of weird huh?! Still got to do the heel turn eventually, especially since that's where these stories are going *sobs repeatedly* why Seth, why?!

Not-that-kinda-gurl, Aww, bless you! Have you read the other stories in this series? Things might seem a little bit crazy if not! Super flattered you think it's so good though. There's another Dean/Lauren coming straight on the back of this one, so I hope you stick around for that one as well!

Minnie1015, I sort of see Dean as someone who, when he falls apart, falls apart pretty hard and needs putting back together again. Luckily Lauren is happy to lend a hand. I totally enjoy writing Shield Dean. I just see him swearing and grumbling at things like his original character did. It's fun!

Skovko, But he doesn't want to apologise! He thinks it's beneath him. In other words he's a typical stubborn man! It's not going to be easy to make him do anything he doesn't want to. Still, we know Lauren well enough by now to know that she will find a way!

AngelsDestiny22, Yeah, good old Vince popping up to throw everything to hell! So glad you're happy to see them back and even happier that you're here giving me lovely reviews again! If you like this story then i think you'll like their next one even more (coming soon after this one, really, really soon!)

Labinnacslove, Kinda feels like old times when I'm posting these Lauren/Dean updates, even though 'old times' were less than a year ago! Hope you like this chapter, the boys are back here, plus Lauren gets into a bit of trouble...wait, that's exactly like old times!

HannonsPen, Well I'm glad you still love them even after all of their adventures so far. Super excited to post their next one though, because its totally mad and it shakes up their little universe, so I can't wait to see what you all think of that! Yep, I'm teasing it shamelessly, can't help it!

Now, how to make things right with the boys?

Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word

The next morning – fortunately – Dean was feeling brighter and was back to his bullish, Ambrose-swaggering again. He didn't mention his emotional hiccup or his fears of me leaving and that was okay. I got that he wasn't a sharing kind of person and nor had he ever been.

It wasn't his thing.

Besides, whatever latent fears he had briefly given into seemed to have been worked out by the time the morning broke and although I didn't want a medal or anything, I was feeling pretty good on the awesome girlfriend front. Fortunately for me, Dean seemed to agree with it and as a result was fairly low-key sweet. There was no grand gesture, no thank you or post-mortem but there were a bunch of features that weren't usually a thing. For starters he woke me up with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows and cream which he'd got on his morning run, then he let me shower before him even though it meant me using all the towels and finally he carried my bags without grumbling about the weight, or the color or the damn wheels. He still hadn't been in contact with his teammates – or, at least not that I was aware – so we drove ourselves to the arena without them.

It was quiet, too quiet.

I didn't like it very much.

Dean put the radio on and Free Bird blared out. It was at once both soothing and oddly melancholic and to combat the emotions that I thought it might dredge up, I reached across and dropped a hand across his kneecap and then proceeded to sing along and act out the words, hamming it up and generally being an idiot in the hopes that I could maybe get him to laugh.

It had worked – well, sort of – he loosed a smile at me, then rolled his eyes and kind of snorted a little bit, but it was better than him sitting there looking all grumpy and so I took it as a win.

Girlfriend of the year.

As thanks for that – or maybe just in general – he was still touchy-feely when he dropped me off backstage, pressing me against the wall and then almost inhaling me in a long, deep, passionate and flush-inducing kiss. Unsurprisingly, it made the people around us stutter and I was still trying to focus on breathing and blinking when he finally pulled back from me,

"See you later."

"Uh huh."

"Princess, remember, if you see Wyatt – ,"

"I know," I nodded, repeating it faithfully, "I'll find you."

"You fuckin' better had," he growled in response to that, then dropped his head for one last kiss.

Wow.

Usually he liked to be dark and kind of brooding in front of the backstage crew and assorted production staff but our midnight heart-to-heart had obviously caused a rethink and I loved his newfound unrestrained side. On second thoughts though it was probably a public claiming thing, especially if Stephanie or Hunter were around. In reality I imagined I should have felt maybe offended but since it made me giddy, I honestly didn't care. In fact I watched him swagger from gorilla in a barely there day-dream I was so overwhelmed and only belatedly remembered I'd forgotten to say something as he disappeared completely, at which point –

Damn.

Sprinting off after him I skidded through the doorway and called out breathlessly,

"Oh and Dean? Apologize."

He rolled his eyes and sighed kind of heavily but he didn't say no and so I took that as a possibly. It certainly made me go back to work happily.

I may have even skipped.

Everything was fine.

Matty was waiting for me when I got back to gorilla and he grinned at my cheerful expression, brows raised. Since starting work for the company six months earlier, Matt and I had become good friends. In fact he was now my official workplace bestie and as a result there was little that the two of us didn't share.

"Dean seems kind of amorous this evening. Did you actually manage to make it out of bed before lunchtime? Or where you busy with certain other things?"

"For your information," I replied, trying to sound casual, "We were up early – well – earlyish. There may or may not have been some fumbling first thing but that was because he bought me a hot chocolate. Can't let that sort of thing go unrewarded."

Matty nodded slowly but said nothing, or nothing decipherable at least,

"Mmhmm."

"Well what about you Mister Loved Up?" I shot back, putting my hands on my hips for added effect, "Didn't you and Adriano celebrate last night? Your five month anniversary? I'm taking it you both stayed in to crochet new scarves?"

A grin flashed back at me,

"Oh we like using scarves."

"Okay, way too much information. How about we just forget I asked?"

Matt threw a wink at me and I giggled back happily, loving the fact that we were both coupled-up. Serial dater Matt and super-sweet Adriano had been together since I had forced them to talk and although at first it had gone kind of horribly, romance had blossomed against all odds. I still hadn't convinced Dean to go out double-dating but I was very slowly getting there.

Or at least I hoped I was.

I'd never been on an actual double date before. It had never really been my ex-boyfriend's thing. He had never liked playing nice with Kelly's assorted partners and so in the end it had always just been me – sitting in a restaurant as the proverbial third wheel as Kelly frenched some guy she'd usually only barely met. It was the reason I had known her husband was a winner, because he had actually talked to me instead of sucking my best friend's face.

"So?" Matt prompted, interrupting my musing, "Are you not going to tell me?"

I frowned,

"Tell you what?"

"Um, about last night? What the hell happened when you and Dean went off the radar? Stephanie was losing her mind in here. No one could figure out where you'd all gone off to and what with Bray Wyatt coming back on his lonesome – well – let's just say we were all a little scared."

"Oh," I intoned, hardly wanting to relive it, "Nothing happened, I mean, nothing too bad. Dean and Bray just fought backstage a bit. Luckily it ended when Dean knocked him out."

Matt's eyes bulged,

"He knocked out Bray Wyatt?"

"With a microphone," I nodded, before adding, "That's my man."

"So then why didn't he come back? Where did he get to? I mean, Rollins and Reigns took a pounding after that. Sometimes I don't know why the Spanish announcers bother, they should probably just break their desk before the show starts, save themselves the trouble of getting all organized and putting out their notes and their water and all that jazz."

He had a point but I couldn't really focus on it since he had also implied that Dean had walked out on his team,

"He was taking me somewhere safe," I blurted, making him a frown a little before tacking on, "Last night. That's why he didn't make it back in time to help them – he took me to Hunter in case Wyatt came for me."

Matt blinked back for a second, then nodded,

"Oh, okay, well that makes sense. Hope the other two aren't too sore about the whole thing – or sore in general, especially in Rollins' case. I don't think he moved for a good ten minutes. I was kind of surprised when he actually stood up."

"They're – ," I paused, "They'll make it up, they're brothers."

Although it kind of sounded like I was trying to convince myself.

Wherever Dean was I hoped he had appeased them – had explained what had happened and told them what they meant. I almost shut my eyes and prayed for the apology but my silent plea was broken by Stephanie striding in,

"Lauren," she gasped, crossing towards me and throwing her arms out. I braced for the hug. She came at me much like an Exocet missile and pulled me against her while blowing out a breath, "Oh my goodness sweetie, I'm so, so sorry. I tried to get security out there the second I saw. The moment Wyatt looked at you over that table, I was screaming at everyone – I just didn't move fast enough."

"It's fine Steph," I smiled, untangling myself discreetly, "Dean came through. He always does."

She paused for what amounted to a fraction of a second but I saw her expression flicker nevertheless. Evidently Hunter had told her what had happened when he had bad-mouthed my boyfriend and she was trying not to do the same.

"Yes he does," she settled for eventually, before squeezing my hand, "You feeling okay?"

"Yep, I'm good."

"How did you find being on commentary? I mean, apart from the whole Wyatt thing."

I blinked for a moment, considering my options and the number of different ways I could say Michael Cole's a jerk. Instead however, I merely shrugged a little and avoided direct eye contact,

"It was – okay."

"Dad was really pleased with how you did."

"He was?"

She nodded,

"He likes how you connect. You're a normal person Lauren and people seem to like that – we like that. Especially because we don't have a lot of that here. I don't know if you'd noticed?"

I shrugged, off-hand,

"It may have become apparent once or twice since I started, but you know, not in a major way."

It was nice that she and I had developed a good relationship and even better that we felt easy enough to joke about things. Despite all appearances – and how she acted – she actually was a pretty cool boss and provided she liked you, her company was pleasant. It felt special to be one of the people in her zone.

"So," she smiled, "That means you'll say yes then? If Dad wants you on commentary again?"

"Uh – ,"

Crap.

The one thing Dean didn't want – specifically didn't want – but just like before, how the hell did I say no? They were offering me something that was a lot of peoples' dream. I didn't want to seem rude and turn them down outright although because it was my stepmother however, I didn't even get to properly try. As usual she simply took my pause as self-loathing and reached across to squeeze my shoulder and gee me along,

"Don't worry Lauren, you'll be amazing at it – just like you were last night. Anyway, I doubt he'll actually ask. Hunter's made it clear he doesn't like that plan. I take it Dean wasn't best impressed either, so you've really got nothing to be concerned about."

Except for the fact that when it came to the McMahon crew, they weren't very good at sticking to their word. If she said not to worry or that something wouldn't happen, then probability alone said it more than likely would and swallowing down a gulp of god damn it I smiled instead and offered up a tiny nod. Fortunately however she didn't get the chance to measure it, because the show was close to starting and so she had to bustle off. The chair in the corner of gorilla was beckoning and so was another hectic Monday Night Raw.

"Talk later, okay sweetie?" she flung across her shoulder as a woman with headset chattered quickly in her ear, there was a clipboard in her hand which was already stained with marker pen and a million different arrows and highlighted text. It was always amazing to me how chaotic backstage was. It was frankly a miracle that anything got taped. I was happy to be a tiny cog in the machine though and so busied myself with Matty getting towels and assorted drinks.

The show had probably been on for an hour when Dean flashed up and I almost missed it when he did. In the end it was only a sharp dig from Matty that even clued me into it.

My heart leapt.

Yes.

The Shield were standing in the darkness together and I was so pleased to see them that I didn't sense the strain. Besides, the three of them were usually moody and sort of pent up whenever they were on the screen and so the fact that they seemed rigid and sullen didn't make any difference.

At first.

Then they spoke, by which I mean Seth did and the moment I heard him, I groaned out loud.

"Walk me through this one more time – ,"

Roman was stood glowering over his shoulder and they were both of them huddled, unsmiling around Dean. For his part my boyfriend had his own face tipped downwards but it wasn't through emotion, it was actually through rage. He was swaying side to side, like staying still was too much pressure and he was itching at his shoulder over and over again.

"I've been repeatin' myself – ," he broke in angrily, as Seth raised his voice to finish,

"Where were you last night?"

"I've been repeatin' myself – ," Dean tried a second time, "For twenty four hours, alright? An' I'm gettin' a lil' sick – quite frankly – of you two gangin' up on me – ,"

Suddenly it was Seth's turn to interrupt, which he did with words that gave me hope,

"We're not ganging up on you – ,"

Predictably however, Dean threw it right back, with added venom, in his face.

"An' I'm gettin' a lil' sick of explainin' myself, so if all of that's not good enough for you two, an' if you don't trust me then whatever – whatever."

Seth blinked,

"That's not it," he looked lost, "That's not it."

But Dean was in no mood to take on his sentiments and simply swaggered straight past them.

"I'm outta here."

Both Roman and Seth watched him go in near silence and I gulped at the look on the Big Dog's face. It was equal parts conflicted, hurt and plain angry and I suddenly wondered if Dean needed to watch his back.

Shit..

In the silence, Seth shook his head and blew a breath out wearily,

"I'm not sure if I believe him. I want to. What he said – what Lauren said – it makes a lot of sense, but so many times now it's just – over and over and – ,"

He didn't get to finish.

Bray Wyatt loomed up.

Not that I heard what any of them were saying. I honestly couldn't focus. My brain was abuzz. The safe and happy little family I had created – on the road with the guys – was falling apart and although that felt both sad and terrifying, I also knew that for Dean it was ultimately worse. Roman and Seth were the only guys he trusted and now it seemed that they couldn't trust him. Not for anything that he had done either, except for hating the man who had tried to hurt me.

Bray was winning.

How had the whole thing ended up so wrong?

"Lauren?" I heard Matt ask from beside me, before trying again with a firm little shake, "Lauren? Hey, that was kinda heavy. Are you okay babe?"

"I – um – I don't know."

From across the space my stepmother turned to stare at me and I hated that her expression seemed to say I told you so. It was a look that implied my boyfriend was a lunatic and I was better off without him.

It really didn't help.

"Maybe you should go find him," Matt whispered, "Just in case he tries to do something stupid."

I nodded numbly,

"Uh huh, good idea."

But no way could I turn on my heel and run out of there without making it look like something was wrong. Stephanie was still watching me – trying to pretend she wasn't – and the same went for the majority of the production crew too. I needed an excuse to get myself out of there and fortunately for me, the amazing Matt knew it too, brushing alongside me much like a ninja and pushing a can of Coke into my hand,

"Lauren sweetie," he barked out loudly, making sure that everyone within twenty feet could hear, "Big E wants one of these and a water. Could you take them to him? I'm a little busy here."

I blinked for a second in total bewilderment – I could have kissed him, I honestly could – but in the end I managed a semi-natural shoulder shrug and nodded my head back,

"Uh, yeah, of course."

He gave me a wink as I spun and strode away from him, trying not to burst into a desperate run. I managed to keep cool until I was safely out of eyeshot and then pulled my cell out and frantically dialled,

"Come on Dean, pick up, please pick up."

He didn't and instead it went directly to voicemail which made my poor little worried heart lurch. What if Dean had left the arena and driven off somewhere?

Oh god.

What if he'd gone home? Not just back to the hotel either but home to Las Vegas? What if he was done? The thought of my safe and secure world crumbling briefly blinded me to everything else and in the end I didn't notice the man walking towards me until he was virtually on top of me, at which point I jumped.

"Trouble in paradise I see."

"Go away Randy."

I was in no frame of mind to deal with his sass.

Sadly however and no thanks to his ego which was roughly the size of a planet as it was, the former champion decided to completely ignore my sentiments and instead he merely smirked and stepped in close,

"That's what happens when you date an attack dog – sooner or later, you wind up being bit. You know what you do when a dog turns on its family? You put it down Lauren, simple and quick."

I blinked at him in total bewilderment. What he was talking about?

"You – you want me to kill Dean?"

In response to my – I thought – rational question, Randy rolled his eyes and leaned up against the wall. He was dressed for the ring in his way too small black trunks and his proximity was instantly a nausea inducing thing and I tried not to wrinkle my nose in too much horror to maintain my air of professionalism.

"No Lauren," he sighed, much like I was stupid, "I'm saying your boyfriend is a danger to everyone. He's a liability to the company and your old man. Best for you if you cut the guy loose."

"What? No. Besides, he's twice the man you are – maybe that's why you hate him so much."

My passionate comeback seemed to make him angry and he suddenly turned towards me and put his other hand out. In an uncomfortable instant I was trapped in an arm-cage, his chest right in front of me and my back against the wall. Briefly I debated trying to beat him with the Cola can but I doubted that I would come out of that fight well.

"You don't want to make an enemy of me Lauren," he growled and a look shivered through him that I definitely didn't like. I honestly wasn't sure I even knew what was happening. I mean, we'd always hated each other sure but at what point had he decided he had the chops to rule my life? He might have been the company's former champion but that didn't mean the first damn thing to me.

"I don't want to make an enemy of anyone," I replied, deciding that politeness was the way to defuse things, since I was unlikely to be able to physically push him off if it actually got that far, "I'm very happy with what I've got right now, so – um – if you could maybe just let me go – ,"

Randy eyes glinted,

"Maybe you should make me."

Luckily however, it didn't come to that because in the fringes of my periphery, two figures turned the corner and I could feel their hackles rising as they took in the scene. Sensing my attentions shift, Randy glanced back also and on seeing Seth and Roman, he quickly straightened up. He didn't seem nervous – I highly doubted he ever did – but he was certainly wary and that was enough. Taking the chance, I scuttled off towards them and Roman's eyes softened a little,

"Baby Girl? You alright?"

"Uh huh," I nodded but clearly I didn't look it as my shaky little head nod made Seth ball his fists.

"Is there a problem here Orton?"

He smirked,

"No problem, just having a little chat with the boss' long-lost kid. Someone needs to look out for her welfare, what with that unpredictable boyfriend she's got – ,"

The statement made Roman physically step forward and I was relieved that his instinct was to still defend Dean. Seth meanwhile glared back across the distance, his voice a sneer,

"Someone like you?"

"Maybe," Randy shrugged and Seth balled his fists again,

"Well thanks Randy, but no thanks, The Shield's got her back."

It was a pretty weighty and gratifying sentiment but it didn't seem to have the desired effect. Instead of quaking or looking remotely sober, Randy merely chuckled and pityingly shook his head.

"Fine," he grinned, backing up a step and then turning to swagger off, his oiled back glinting in the overhead lights, "Have it your way."

"Don't worry, we will."

We stood in silence until he had sauntered off completely at which point Seth relaxed and blew out a breath. Roman remained standing stiff like a sentinel and I glanced up at him – both of them,

"I'm glad you guys are here."

"Yeah," Seth grunted, "What the hell was that?"

I shook my head,

"I don't know, he's just a dick."

"A dick who likes to pin you against the wall Lauren. That's not good, you need to find – ,"

He stopped and stumbled slightly.

Dean.

"I know," I nodded, saving him from saying it, "That's who I'm looking for. Where did he go?"

"You tell us Baby Girl," Roman sighed heavily, "Haven't seen his ass since he up and stormed out."

There was a touch of harshness in his eyes as he said it, like he was hurt or confused or kind of pissed or all three. It made me instantly want to try my best to fix things and although I probably shouldn't have, I simply couldn't stop.

"It's not his fault – I promise – it's mine. Dean was just trying to save me from Bray. He left because he was taking me to Hunter. But he was desperate to get back to you. I promise he was. I mean, you guys should have seen him last night. He thought he'd lost you – ,"

"So what about tonight?"

It was Seth who asked and he sounded offended, which was probably to be expected given what had gone on. In many ways it felt like being back at school again and trying to play the advocate when Kelly had an argument with our other friends.

"You didn't believe him."

"It's not that," Seth sighed, "It's just – it kind of hurt, you know? I mean, I got put through a god damn table. I needed him out there."

"But I needed him too."

That shut him up and he paused and sort of blinked at me before realizing that I was probably right. We were basically asking Dean to choose between us and although that wasn't being done directly, in a quiet and unspoken sentence it very much was. Who did Dean fight for when faced with the enemy? His wrestling brothers or his trouble-prone girl?

Seth let out a groan,

"Does this mean we have to apologize?"

I shrugged,

"Well he won't so – I mean – I think somebody should."

"You know where he is?" Roman grumbled deeply, clearly hoping I had the inside line. I shook my head and both of them slumped a little, which was actually kind of cute.

They were worried about him.

"No, but I can find him."

"Be careful Lauren, Orton's still out there along with the rest of the Wyatt family too."

I nodded at Roman, trying hard to sound nonchalant,

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, you just focus on you."

I meant what I said, I was determined to find him but as it turned out that was easier said than done. Seemingly, since he had kissed me in gorilla, my boyfriend had morphed into some sort of ninja and although a brooding wrestler should have been obvious, Dean didn't crop up anywhere I looked. It also didn't help that his phone was still switched off, which forced me to look in just about every room. I even went outside and checked on our rental, which was thankfully still there but sadly void of Dean.

Where had he gone?

At a loss as to what else I could possibly do to find him, I headed back to gorilla, arriving midway through Roman's match. As I had expected – as he had promised – the Big Dog was certainly holding his own and as I slid alongside Matt and shook my head despondently, it was oddly reassuring to see Roman holding court.

"Couldn't find him?" Matty whispered, watching my shoulders droop and slinging an arm around my waist,

"I don't know where he is. Do you think – ," I paused for a second, "Do you think he's left me?"

"He's just blowing off steam. Honey, he's crazy about you."

It was strange not to see Seth – or Dean – out at ringside and although in the latter case his absence was obvious, Seth not being there was more than a little odd. Through trial and error and a million other false starts, The Shield had learnt not to trust the Wyatt clan. If Bray was in for a one-on-one match up, then it was only a matter of time before it they were outnumbered and his weird and erstwhile followers showed up.

It was a fact which was proven not five minutes later as Rowan and Harper predictably lumbered in, cutting the area lights and then making the distraction as Roman was readying the Superman Punch. How they had got there was something of a mystery as they certainly hadn't walked past us backstage, but the second he saw them, Seth also appeared ringside and hit a dive across the ropes.

"Oooh," Matt chirped, bouncing up and down a little and clapping his hands like sea lion with a ball, "Things are really hotting up in this one."

Which wasn't a good thing, not even by a long shot because while Seth had executed the flying manoeuvre beautifully, his relatively small frame didn't keep them down for long and as Bray speared Roman into the ring post, Harper and Rowan clambered back up. They grabbed Seth one on either side for a body slam and I gasped in horror,

"Oh god, oh no – ."

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to watch it.

Which meant that I almost missed the sudden black blur.

It flew through gorilla at a million miles an hour and caught almost everyone in total surprise. In fact it moved so fast that most people missed it and those that saw couldn't work out who it was.

I knew though.

I knew instantly and my heart lit up like a firework show.

Dean had come to save his brothers and while it wasn't a spoken apology it was physically everything that my boyfriend couldn't say.

"Is that – ?" Matt stuttered as Dean tore through the curtains and I nodded with a grin,

"It certainly is."

Switching our eyes back down to the monitor, we watched as Dean crashed into the fray, literally launching at Dumb and Even Dumber and taking the whole damn lot of them down. He was virtually possessed he was so pent-up angry and he pummelled at Harper like he was trying to knead bread. As the threat moved up to the top of the apron, Dean slid determinedly under the ropes, piling into Wyatt without even standing and – as a by-product – triggering the bell.

"Hey, hey – ," the referee yelled pointlessly, as all six men ended up in the ring. It was a proper, full-on wrestling squabble but it ended up with The Shield standing tall. As the music kicked in they stood staring outwards, letting the Wyatt family know who had the win. Maybe not in terms of the actual match-up, but in terms of real victory, they held the upper hand.

"Looks like the boys are okay after all then?" Matty whispered quietly and I offered up a grin. The mood in the ring was still sort of unsettled but it was better, they were together and they had each other's backs. In an instant the tension rose clean off my shoulders and I let out a sigh,

"Yep, looks like it does."

Okay, so the next chapter is the last one in this particular little story, but I'm going to carry straight on into the next one which this has pretty much already set up. The next one is the real deal too. Lots going on and twists and turns galore!

But first, we need to get those Shield boys back on the same darn page, am I right?!