Brothers-in-Arms

"Shouldn't he be, I don't know, getting ready for his match?" Carly asked, "It's only about half an hour from now."

She leaned up against the wall of the trainers' room next to Dean. Roman was sitting on the table while Seth worked on wrapping and taping his shoulder.

"Nah," Dean said, shrugging, "Seth can think better when he has something to do with his hands. And besides, he can handle Triple H any day."

After the ridiculousness of Monday, this next showdown between Evolution and the Shield looked fairly ordinary. Triple H went out and announced that he'd be challenging the Architect of the Shield. No fanfare, no drama, and nobody allowed at ringside. Apparently Trips had learned from his mistakes and banned Carly as well this time.

Seth didn't appear concerned. But then again, this was Seth Rollins. He had the best (and only) poker face of the three. He wore an expression of intense focus as he carefully and meticulously tended to Roman's shoulder. Carly watched his eyes, wondering what he was actually thinking about. Strategizing, probably. Roman winced a bit as Seth tightened the wrapping.

"You alright?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, thanks," said Roman.

"That about does it," said Seth. He tossed the tape aside and helped Roman put on his vest, "Carly, is the area clear?"

Carly went to the door and stuck her head out. Nobody but neutral parties as far as she could tell. She pulled the door shut.

"Looks like it," said Carly.

"Alright," said Seth, rubbing his hands together, "Now, if what happened on Monday is any indication, it looks like Evolution is less concerned about winning matches against us, and more about beating the hell out of us."

"Meaning this match is a trap, too," said Roman.

"Most definitely," said Seth, "But our plan doesn't change. We try to win clean, and if that doesn't work, we let them get disqualified."

"Since when are you all honor-above-all-else?" Dean asked, "I thought you were too pragmatic for that stuff."

"Carly's starting to rub off on me. I don't know," Seth wrinkled his nose, "The point is, they made this about reputation. About image. And if that's more important to them, then that's how we'll play it, too. The difference being they want to come off looking stronger. We're gonna come off looking better. As in, we are the better men, not just the better fighters. Make sense? Good. That's why I don't want you guys interfering first, no matter what happens."

"If that's how you want it," Dean said dubiously.

"I mean it, Dean," said Seth, looking at him sternly.

"I got it," Dean narrowed his eyes, "You don't have to get all pushy with me, Seth."

They scowled at each other. This was an argument Carly hadn't heard before, and she'd experienced their greatest hits multiple times. She sidled over to Roman.

"Explanation?" she asked quietly.

"Dean can be a little…" Roman hesitated, "Overeager, I guess, when it looks like one of us is in trouble. He's cost us a couple tag-team matches. Got us disqualified before Seth or I could rein him in."

Who would've thought it? The Lunatic Fringe was secretly a sentimental fool. Then again, considering the way Dean had looked after Roman when he got injured, it made sense. Apparently Dean Ambrose was a deep well. A deep treacle well, probably, but still.

"Anyway," said Seth, breaking off the battle of snarks that had continued during Carly and Roman's aside, "If you do have to get involved, don't get carried away, Roman. We need you healed up as soon as possible, so don't push yourself too far, alright?"

"Alright," said Roman.

"But you know Triple H is gonna call in his two lapdogs at some point," said Dean, "Shouldn't we at least do something to get in their way?"

That would be nice. Carly was still a bit ruffled about getting taken hostage by the Authority and locked in a room. Twice. Suddenly, a grin spread across her face. Of course. That'd be perfect.

"I have an idea," she said, "But I'll need a little help."

"We can't leave Seth by himself," Dean shook his head, "What if Triple H tries to break him down before the match?"

"Then you watch his back, and I'll go with Carly," said Roman, "Sound good?"

"Works for me," said Carly, "You'll only need one strong arm for this job, anyway."

"Then I've got you covered," Roman grinned.

"Don't worry, guys," said Carly, "I'll bring Roman back in one piece. See you in a bit, Dean."

Roman followed Carly into the hall. If she remembered correctly from following Natalya last time, Carly had a pretty good idea of where they stored all the toys.

"That was good thinking, Roman," said Carly, "Giving Dean something constructive to do with all that over-protectiveness."

"Yeah, well, I'm not just a pretty face," Roman said, tossing his hair back jokingly.

Of course. She should've been used to it by now, but Carly never ceased to be amazed by these three. They knew each other so well; how to handle their brothers and bring out the best in them. Roman stood back and watched as Carly rummaged through the boxes stored near the loading dock.

"So, you wanna let me in on the plan?" he asked.

"We're gonna give those two creeps a taste of their own- aha! Found them," said Carly. She straightened up and triumphantly brandished two pairs of handcuffs, "I don't know why this company insists on bringing this stuff along even when none of the scheduled matches call for it, but hey."

xXx

It had been easy enough to convince an intern named Juan to go tell Orton and Batista that Triple H wanted them to go to his office. And for fifty bucks it had been very easy to convince Juan that he couldn't remember who gave him the message to pass along, just that it was someone in a suit. When Roman amusedly accused Carly of stooping to bribery, she reasoned that if giving rewards in advance of loyal service was good enough for Viking lords, it was good enough for her.

Now Carly and Roman waited in the COO's office, in the dark, listening. It was a bit of a crazy plan, they had agreed. It had nothing near the finesse of one of Seth's strategies, but it would do. At least, Carly hoped it would do. As incalculable minutes (seconds? who could tell) ticked by, Carly began to second-guess the whole thing. Maybe Batista and Orton had smelled a rat. Maybe that intern was a rat. Maybe –

Carly froze as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. She couldn't quite make out Roman in the dim light, but she knew he was ready. The door opened. Two figures were silhouetted in the light from the hallway.

"Weird…" Batista's voice.

"Hey, Hunter?" Orton's.

A third silhouette crossed into the doorway. It struck once, twice, then slammed the door shut. Carly flicked the lights back on to see Roman standing over the unconscious bodies of Orton and Batista. She gave a low whistle of admiration.

"Not bad for only having one good arm," Roman grinned proudly.

"Not bad at all," Carly laughed.

Roman, one-armed, was still easily able to drag Batista across the room, and returned to help Carly, who hadn't even gotten Orton half the distance. She dropped his arm, a little embarrassed at how out of breath she was.

"They're really heavy," she said.

"Well, they are dead weight on this company," Roman said with a smirk, "You better hurry, though. They might have thicker skulls than even you do."

Carly made a face at him, and pulled the handcuffs out of her pocket. She attached one end to each of their wrists and the other to some sort of water pipe that ran vertically in the corner of the room.

"'Goodnight, ladies, we're going to leave you now,'" she said, turning off the lights.

Roman quietly shut the door behind them.

"Isn't that a song?" he asked.

"Shut up. I didn't sing it, I quoted it, so it doesn't count," said Carly.

They slipped away, thankfully without being seen by anyone. Considering how they'd taken Orton and Batista by surprise, it was safe to assume neither of them had seen Roman. Therefore, they couldn't say for sure who it was that ambushed them. Everybody would still know who it had been, of course. But they had no proof, and that was the important thing.

Carly and Roman found Dean hanging around one of the backstage monitors near the ramp. It seemed like he was sulking a little.

"How's Seth?" asked Roman.

"Fine. I walked him up to the doors, but he sent me back down here," said Dean, "How'd your secret mission go?"

"We won't have to worry about Orton or Batista," Carly said smugly, "They're a little tied up at the moment."

"Knocked 'em out and handcuffed them to a pipe in Triple H's office," Roman paraphrased, "It'll be a nice surprise for him when he gets back."

Dean's eyebrows arched in surprise.

"And this was Carly's plan?" he said.

Roman nodded. Dean threw back his head and laughed, then caught Carly in an affectionate headlock, ruffling her hair.

"You can keep telling yourself that you're all noble and honorable, princess," he said, "But you can't fool us. You enjoy being a trickster, don't try to deny it."

"Hey!" Carly squawked, "Come on, Dean, I actually had my hair looking alright today."

Dean let go and Carly tried to smooth down the frizziness. Secretly, she was awfully pleased to have Dean's approval, but it wouldn't do to let him know that. Their attention was pulled back to the monitor as they heard the Shield's theme playing.

"There's our boy," said Roman.

"Still in one piece," said Dean.

That look of intense concentration still covered Seth's face, but he carried himself with confidence. He knew what he was doing. He had a plan. But so did Triple H. This match-up made Carly nearly as worried as Dean.

That's where it had all started for her. That was the match she had used to burn that bridge. It felt like a lifetime ago, when she swung that chair with only one thought in her mind: protect Seth Rollins. So she really couldn't blame Dean for his tendency to jump the gun and leap to Seth or Roman's aid. It'd be hypocritical of her to even try.

Seth paced in the ring while Triple H made his entrance. As the camera switched between the two of them, Carly watched their eyes. Their expressions were so similar, and yet… It was calculating. It was sizing the other man up. It was a confidence that bordered on arrogance. As they stared each other down, both men smiled. Seth's face was open and forthright, while Triple H looked… evil? No, that was silly. Far too cliché. But still probably true.

The bell rang and Seth wasted no time. He made deliberate use of his superior agility and speed, not letting himself get caught in a position where Triple H could use his superior strength. He would sidestep a charge, letting Triple H run himself into the turnbuckle. Capitalizing on that, Seth would unload kicks and punches on him, but would always stay ready to step out of range. When Trips recovered, Seth continued to dodge and make calculated strikes. Triple H charged again, only for Seth to slam his head into the turnbuckle and catch him with a tornado DDT as he got to his feet.

It was like Triple H was taking the match at a normal tempo and Seth was working in double-time. For some odd reason, it reminded Carly of the fight between Peter Pan and Captain Hook in the old Disney movie. She almost laughed at the randomness of the thought.

Dean looked more relaxed as well, now that the fight was in full swing. Brotherly concern aside, he apparently had a lot of faith in Seth's talents.

"Look at him go!" Dean crowed, stopping short of clapping Roman on the shoulder when he realized it was the injured one and settling for patting Roman on the head. Roman grinned.

"I can't wait until Triple H calls for backup and nobody shows," he said.

This was a welcome change from the tension they had been living with lately. The Shield may have had to forcibly level the playing field, but they'd made it a fair fight. And it was actually somewhat enjoyable to watch. Seth was performing to perfection. Triple H couldn't even lay a hand on –

Oh no. Either Seth had miscalculated, or Triple H was too quick for him. Triple H landed a blow to Seth's midsection, sending him to his knees, grounding him. That was all the opportunity Triple H needed to take control of the match. When Seth couldn't fly, he was dead in the water.

Carly looked on anxiously as Triple H beat Seth down. He seemed to take far too much enjoyment in it, much to her disgust. Out of the corner of her eye, Carly watched Dean's growing distress. His general inability to hold still was compressed into twitches that lurched through his body like spasms of pain. His jaw clenched as he glared at the monitor. On the surface, Roman appeared to be taking this setback more calmly. But as Carly watched him, she could see his mouth set into a hard line, and the tension in his hands. Roman was just as worried as she and Dean were. He was just better and concealing it.

Triple H threw Seth to the ground, reached his arm over the ropes towards the ramp and beckoned. A rumble of uneasiness passed through the spectators. Seconds passed. Nothing happened. Triple H's smug smile turned to a look of baffled irritation. Carly smirked. Throwing wrenches into the Authority's plans was her specialty.

As Triple H stared towards the stage in confusion, Seth rallied. He leapt on Triple H, attacking him with all of his strength. Unfortunately, it seemed it was also the last of his strength, and Triple H made short work of him. But when Seth was laid out, flat on his back, in the center of the ring, Triple H did not go for the pin. With grim anger on his face, he jumped to the floor. Carly's heart stopped in horror as Triple H pulled the sledgehammer out from under the ring.

"Seth!" Dean roared.

He took off like a shot for the ramp, Roman at his heels and Carly close behind Roman. Carly heard the bell ring, signaling a DQ. As she rounded the curtain, she saw Triple H strike Seth once in the head. Dean was barreling down the ramp. Seth caught himself on the ropes, trying to stand. Triple H struck again. Dean shouted Seth's name again, and in an instant he was on Triple H like a mad dog.

No, that wasn't an accurate comparison. Carly and Roman ran down to ringside as Dean tore into Triple H. Dean was moving too quickly, too ferociously for Carly to follow what he was doing. But whatever it was, it was efficient and inventive. Whatever it was, it worked.

Triple H was totally unprepared for the fury of the assault, collapsing under the rain of blows. He fell, getting caught on the bottom rope. Roman saw the opportunity and seized it. Getting a running start, he connected an apron-dropkick to Triple H's head, finishing him off.

Seth struggled to hold himself up on the ropes. Dean turned away from Triple H and went to him.

"Dean," Seth mumbled.

He tried to let go of the top rope, stumbling forward. Dean caught him.

"Whoa, take it easy, Seth," he said, "I got you, buddy."

"Dean?" Seth said again, "What took you guys so long?"

Seth laughed breathlessly, dazedly, and collapsed into Dean's arms in a dead faint.

"Seth? Seth!" said Dean.

Dean gently lowered his unconscious brother to the ground and knelt beside him, his eyes searching Seth's face, not quite willing to entirely let go of him.

"Stubborn, overconfident smart-ass," Dean muttered, chuckling a little in spite of himself, "What took us so long, he asks."

As medics began to swarm around, Dean slipped out of the ring to join Roman and Carly. Dean and Roman nodded to each other. Something needled at the back of Carly's mind. She couldn't tell if it was her conscience bothering her, or just worry about Seth, or something else entirely. She crossed her arms uncomfortably. They heard one of the medics call for a stretcher.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Roman asked.

"We want to get him checked out at the hospital, just to be safe," said one of the medics.

Carly was startled. She'd seen the Shield get roughed up pretty badly, but never so much that the staff medics couldn't handle it. Then again, sledgehammer to the head. Twice. Worry clawed at her stomach.

"You're taking Seth to the hospital?" Dean's brows furrowed, "I'm coming with."

"That isn't necessary," the medic said, "He'll be-"

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time," said Dean, a threatening edge creeping into his voice, "I said I'm coming with."

"Right, of course," said the medic hastily, "That'll be just fine."

xXx

After getting directions to the local hospital, Carly drove Seth's car through the quiet, darkened streets. She'd seen so many cities while traveling with the Shield and, for the most part, they were all the same. Just a blur of old brick storefronts with large windows next to unnecessarily spacious Walmart parking lots, traffic lights, street lights that were rather pretty if anyone bothered to look at them, packed bars, silent churches. Neither she nor Roman had said much since they left the arena, but she could tell Roman was watching her.

"Something eating you, Carly?" he asked finally.

"Kind of," said Carly, "It's nothing."

"Come on, talk to me," Roman pushed gently, "Worried about Seth, or-?"

"Yeah, that's part of it. But then," Carly sighed in frustration, "I don't know. Nevermind."

Roman didn't say anything, but Carly knew he hadn't given up on the subject. He was waiting for her to give a real answer.

"It's just, I thought we had them this time," she said with a bitter smile, "I thought I was so clever. Orton and Batista were out of the way. It'd be a fair fight. What could go wrong? Everything. You got hurt on Monday, Seth got hurt tonight. No matter what we do, no matter what I do, it's never enough. Triple H always finds a way around it."

"You're not gonna do that thing where you blame yourself for everything again, are you?" said Roman, only half-jokingly.

"No," said Carly, "Well, probably not. I'm mad about it, more than anything. He always finds a loophole and I'm sick of it."

"Look, with Triple H, it's never gonna be a fair fight," said Roman, "You know that. Me and Dean and Seth knew that going into this whole deal with Evolution. They're gonna cheat, and they're gonna do whatever they can to hurt us and bring us down. But we know that. We're expecting it, and it doesn't change a thing. We're in this for the long haul, princess. We'll get them in the end. I promise. That help any?"

"Yeah, it does," Carly turned briefly to smile at him, "Thank you, Roman."

She parked the car, and she and Roman went inside the hospital to find Dean pacing agitatedly in the waiting area. The few other people who were around eyed him suspiciously, giving him a wide berth. Carly couldn't blame them. A twitchy, muscular guy in combat boots who looked as nervous as a cat? Dean could be a little intimidating if you didn't know him. He stopped pacing when Roman put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"What's the word?" Roman asked.

"Dunno. They wouldn't let me stay with him," said Dean, still seeming a little miffed.

"Well, wearing a hole in the floor and scaring the staff isn't gonna get us news any quicker," said Roman, his practicality oddly comforting, "Why don't we sit down, huh?"

Dean reluctantly threw himself into a chair, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands. Roman and Carly sat on either side of him. Roman seemed calmer, more content to wait for an update without stressing unnecessarily. Dean, on the other hand, was still fretting. Carly wanted to say something to try to make him feel better, but of course she couldn't think of anything.

Still… Carly had noticed that whenever Seth or Roman wanted to ground Dean from getting carried away emotionally, it worked better when they touched him. Well, it couldn't make things worse, could it?

Carly reached towards Dean, then glanced questioningly at Roman, getting the strange feeling that she was asking if she could pet his dog. Roman smiled and nodded for her to go ahead. Carly hesitantly began rubbing Dean's back. He didn't say anything, or react at all really, but Carly felt some of the tension in his muscles releasing. Good. She was helping a little, at least.

Seeing Dean calm down helped Carly feel better too, somehow. It was maddening not to know what condition Seth was in. The last she'd seen, he was still unconscious. He could be seriously injured. This could put his entire career on hold, or worse, it could end his career. Carly remembered what had happened to Daniel Bryan and shivered. The Authority was going too far. They had to be stopped. What the hell kind of boss hits his employee with a sledgehammer, anyway?

After about ten minutes of sitting in silence, a doctor walked up to them. Dean jumped to his feet.

"You came in with Mr. Rollins, yes?" said the doctor.

"Where's Seth?" Dean asked anxiously, "Is he okay?"

"Mr. Rollins is fine," the doctor said, "He's suffered a concussion, and we want to keep him under observation for an hour or so, at least until we're sure there are no other complications. He's awake now, if you'd like to see him."

Carly was surprised Dean had the restraint to follow the doctor, instead of running on ahead and trying to find Seth himself. The doctor led them to a row of beds in the emergency department, to the curtained-off one Seth was lying in. Dean and Roman immediately went to his side, clasping his hands warmly.

"Kind of a close call there, Seth," Roman admonished lightly.

"What are you talking about?" Seth said with a slightly groggy smile, "Everything went according to plan. More or less."

"Did you miss the part where you got hit in the head with a sledgehammer? Twice?" said Roman.

"You mean the part where Triple H reminded everyone what a monster he really is?" Seth retorted.

"Meaning you haven't learned your lesson about trying to do things the noble way," Dean rolled his eyes, "Of course you haven't."

"You could've gotten yourself killed with a plan like that," said Carly.

"Like you can talk, princess," said Dean, "You're the one that's a bad influence on him."

Carly made a face at Dean. He made a face back at her while Roman laughed. But Dean's words stuck uncomfortably in the back of her mind. He was right, in a manner of speaking. She thought nothing of putting honor before her own safety, even though she knew it was foolish. Seeing Seth do the same thing bothered her. For the first time, she understood why they all made a fuss when she pulled stupid stunts like that. It really was agonizing for the people who had to stand by and watch. No, worse than that. It was selfish. Maybe, the next time the situation arose, she could afford to be a little more prudent in choosing her battles. At least for the boys' peace of mind.

"I'd been meaning to ask," said Seth, "Carly, what'd you and Roman do to stop Randy and Batista?"

The mental image of those two knocked unconscious and handcuffed to a pipe made Seth laugh hard enough that a nurse came over and told them they would either have to let Seth rest quietly or leave.

"You know what this means, right?" said Seth, "They're coming for you next, Dean."

"Let 'em," said Dean, lifting his chin insolently, "With all their fancy suits, and their shiny cars, and their corporate empires, they still don't have anything that can stop Dean Ambrose."

Seth smiled up at him and nodded. Roman had released Seth's hand, but Dean had not. There was a sort of endearing familiarity in the way the boys looked after each other. Carly guessed it had long since been a habit, what with the risk the Shield always put themselves at.

"How long do I have to stay here, anyway?" Seth asked.

"Just until they're sure your skull is as thick as Carly's," Roman grinned.

"Very funny," Carly wrinkled her nose at him, "But seriously, guys, I'll make you a deal. I'll try not to pull any excessively reckless heroics if you'll do the same. Alright?"

"You got it, princess," said Roman.

"No arguments here," said Seth, gingerly feeling the bump on his head.

"I don't think you can manage it, Carly," Dean said as looked back at her skeptically.

"Your confidence in me is very reassuring," Carly sulked.

(Note: Thank you for reading, and thank you to the lovely people who left reviews!)