Dean was leaning against a wall listening to music and waiting for time to pass when a plastic bottle suddenly whizzed past his face, narrowly missing the trash can a few feet away. He looked up to see Seth grinning at him. Taking out his earbuds he said dryly, "I see your aim hasn't improved over the last few months."

"Oh come on, that was a good shot. It's not like you could make it either," Seth retorted with a smile.

"Of course I could," Dean said, standing up straight.

"Let's see it then."

And that is how Dean ended up playing an impromptu game of HORSE with the traitorous Seth Rollins - which Dean won.

"Good game, man," Seth said, clapping him on the shoulder. "I gotta run now. I need to warm up. See you around."

And he walked away, leaving behind a very confused Dean. Next time he comes around, I should just punch him in the face, Dean thought, remind him where we stand.

But he didn't. Instead he somehow found himself playing variations of several childhood classics with Seth: catch, tag, kick the can, and a particularly messy game of baseball using a kendo stick and a tennis ball that ended when Seth accidentally batted the ball into Kane's drink knocking it into his lap. He was not amused.

Dean and Seth never really talked about anything during these encounters. But Dean couldn't deny that his anger toward Seth was softening. He wasn't sure whether he was happy about that or not, but he couldn't quite bring himself to quit either. Goofing around with Seth was just too much fun.

xxx

Roman was worried about the amount of time Dean was spending with Seth. Their activities seemed harmless enough, but Roman couldn't stop wondering about Seth's motives. Why was Seth suddenly acting so friendly? What was he hoping to get out of it? Why now? At the same time, Roman was beginning to understand Dean's situation a bit better, because Seth had apparently set his sights on him as well.

It all started innocuously enough: Roman was walking down the hallway when he saw Seth coming from the opposite direction. Roman's jaw tightened with tension, but Seth didn't seem to miss a beat; he just continued down the hallway nonchalantly and, right before they passed by each other, smiled and offered a casual "Hey, man." Roman knew that this meeting wouldn't sound momentous to an outsider, but, as he and Seth had been spending the past year avoiding each other at all cost, it stood out.

These encounters continued with increasing frequency. They irritated Roman, but he didn't know how to stop them without working to just avoid Seth altogether and that didn't seem worth the effort. Roman wondered if all these encounters were truly coincidental or if Seth was engineering them in some way. After all, they had never run into each other like this in the past. Seth must have been avoiding me before, Roman decided.

As the meetings continued, Seth became a bit bolder. He began to follow his greeting with a question or a compliment - "How are you?" "That was a great promo tonight." "You're in the main event later?" - but he never stopped long enough for Roman to say more than a word or two in response. Each time Seth said something friendly, Roman wanted to scream, "Why are you being nice to me? You are a traitor! I hate you!" but a very, very small part of Roman had to admit that he felt flattered by the attention as well.

xxx

Roman was waiting to enter the arena for his match with the Big Show, when Seth suddenly sidled up to him out of nowhere and said, "Go for his left knee,"

"What?" Roman replied back, startled.

"Go for his left knee," Seth repeated. "He's been having troubles with it."

"Why should I believe you? He hasn't been wearing a brace or anything."

"Of course, he hasn't been wearing a brace," Seth responded dismissively. "Wearing a brace would be like painting a huge target on his knee with the words 'Hit Me Here.' But I'm telling you, his left knee is messed up."

"And I should trust you because?" Roman asked derisively.

"Look, you don't have to trust me. Taking out a giant's legs is good strategy no matter what. I'm just telling you that you should go after his left one."

"Well aren't you just Mr. Helpful?" Roman mocked. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with helping the Big Show in this match? Isn't he supposed to be part of your family?"

"Family? The Big Show? Ha!" Seth snorted. "The Big Show is a pawn. Just like I'm a pawn. There's no loyalty for us. All we have to do is decide if we're getting enough out of the game to make it worth being played. I don't trust the Big Show. He shouldn't trust me. In my whole career I've only trusted two people and, let me tell you, that didn't work out so well for me."

Roman opened his mouth to ask Seth what he meant by that, but he was interrupted by his entrance music beginning to play.

"Good luck," Seth muttered as Roman walked out the door.

Roman didn't claim to understand Seth's motives, but he did know one thing for sure: when he clipped the Big Show's left knee, the giant fell and never recovered. Seth had been telling the truth.