Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Threesome, Kidnapping, Threats, Possible Non-Con, etc.

Roman's eyes flashed. A fury that Seth had never seen before flared in the older man's eyes. It was then that Seth realized he had crossed the line. Not that he actually cared. After all, if the two men that he had devoted most of his adult life to didn't care about him, then why should he care about them? But before he could react, Roman was on him. The Samoan had tackled him to the floor and his hands were imbedded in his two-toned hair. Punches landed without care. A knee to the stomach there. A slap to the head. And Seth felt none of it.

It wasn't that he was numb to it, per se. Quite the opposite, actually. He could feel every blow as if Roman had reached into his chest and took hold of his still-beating heart, held it in his hand, and crushed it slowly and methodically. By numb, it could be implied that he just didn't care anymore. Roman could hurt him as much as he liked, it wouldn't make a difference. The slap that he had administered to Roman's face said more than words ever could. He wouldn't blindly follow them anymore. There was truth in those letters. He just knew it.

"Roman!" There was obvious frustration and confusion in Dean's voice. He put a hand on Roman's shoulder and yanked the bigger man off of Seth. "What the hell are you thinking? You keep on like that and you'll kill him!"

Roman swallowed hard. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, not surprised to find a smear of red there. "The little bastard knows better than to slap me across the face. If anything, you should be asking him what the hell he was thinking?!"

"He's in a compromised emotional state. Giving him a concussion won't answer any questions." Dean crossed his arms over his chest. "You okay there, Seth?" There wasn't an answer. "Seth?"

Roman rolled his eyes, slipping out of his sweaty shirt and throwing it on the laundry pile. "Just leave Mr. Dreamer alone. He'll come out of his slump eventually…" Roman trailed off, his attention elsewhere.

But Dean didn't listen to him. Instead, he gently kicked the smaller man in the side. "Seth, man, c'mon. You had us worried sick. Why don't you stand up and we can talk about this like -,"

Before he could finish his statement, Seth had turned on him. The fist flew through the air and struck Dean across the face; drawing a thin stream of blood from the corner of his mouth and making him stumble back. When the backs of his knees struck the bed, he fell down to his knees. Seth didn't even hesitate to throw himself on the older man. He wasn't dumb. He knew for a fact that he couldn't take on Roman in hand-to-hand combat, but Dean on the other hand…

He took Dean by the hair and started to bash his head against the wooden bedframe. Dean let out a rather unmanly squeak as he reached for Seth's arms, trying to pry the smaller man off of him. But, in the end, it was useless. Seth's erratic movements only ceased when black dots started to seep into the corner of his vision. And then, Seth was on his feet. He landed kick after kick to Dean's midsection. He beat Dean bloody, and the attack only ended when Roman took hold of him and threw him off.

Seth tumbled back, but he didn't make it far. As soon as he was able to right himself on his feet, he threw himself back at Dean. He would have made it, too, had it not been for Roman's body. It acted like a shield for the smaller man as he stumbled to his feet, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth and spitting some out from a tooth that had chipped. When their eyes met, Dean's were filled with disbelief and confusion. All he had wanted to do was help the other man. And what was the thanks that he received? He could barely stand!

"What the fuck was that, Seth? And I don't want any shit this time. I want you to tell me the truth." Dean hissed. It was hard to look intimidating with a steady stream of blood flowing from your mouth, however. "What the hell has you so upset?"

"Nothing." Seth mumbled under his breath. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides.

Roman narrowed his eyes at the two-toned man. "Don't lie, Seth. You're already in hot water. Don't make it worse."

"Who died and made you the boss of me?" Seth hissed.

Roman looked as if he were about to attack again. Dean held him back. "Seth, this act has to end. I just want to know what the problem is so that I can fix it. But if you refuse to let me help you, then we'll be stuck in the offensive."

"You don't want to know what the problem is. You don't care what the problem is. You hate me, I know it. But you know what? I hate you more." Seth hissed, willing every word to hurt just as much as the words in the letters hurt him.

Roman remained mostly unaffected, but that was to be expected. Roman wasn't exactly known for wearing his heart on his sleeve. But Dean was much more expressive. His face crumpled and his eyes flickered with a million different emotions. It was clear that he didn't know what he had done to cause Seth such distress. He didn't know what he had done to make Seth think that he 'hated' him. But it must have been something big, because now Seth hated both of them. That had never happened before.

"Nothing to say now, Dean?" Seth mocked rudely. "Good." He stormed past the two men and started to collect the rest of his stuff. He stuffed it all into his suitcase and started back toward the door. "Don't bother to come find me. It won't make a difference anyhow."

It was the first RAW of the New Year. The Shield had just intervened in the WWE Title match between CM Punk and Ryback, resulting in CM Punk retaining his title and cementing his match with The Rock at the Royal Rumble. After the encounter, the three members of Shield walked into the back to get changed. Dean and Roman went to their dressing room (which used to house all three members of Shield), and Seth went across the hall to the private locker room that he had requested.

"Seth?" Dean tried, hoping that he wouldn't get a door slammed in his face. "Are you sure that you don't want to talk about this? We both made mistakes, I know that. But… But I'm sure that we can move past all of that."

Roman threw his hair back away from his face. There was an obvious conflict in his eyes. Never one to be the hopeless romantic type, he offered, "Seth, don't be an idiot."

Dean punched him on the shoulder. He shot him a dark look. "We don't want to scare him off, Roman."

"What, do you want me to lie to him? He's acting like an idiot. Don't be a child, talk about it like a man."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Oh, like you're the most approachable person to talk to! When you're not ready to beat someone to a bloody pulp, you don't speak for hours! I'm sure it would be so easy for him to approach you!"

Roman frowned. "Do you have a problem with my personality?"

"Come to think of it: yes, I do. But we'll talk about that later." Dean turned back to Seth. "Seth, please talk to us?"

Seth's hand closed around the doorknob. His eyes flashed with anger and frustration, before he bluntly shook his head and slammed the door closed. "Not a chance in hell, Dean. Not a chance in hell."

Unfortunately, when he closed the door, he found a white slip of paper taped to the back of the door. Immediately, he knew what it was. It was another one of those hateful letters. It was the reason that he wouldn't head back to the hotel room and crawl into bed between his two lovers. If he could, he would have torn the paper to shreds and thrown it into the fire. But like a train wreck, he just couldn't look away. Unable to help himself, he took hold of the paper and tore it off of the door.

Well, I see that you finally broke it off with them. I have to say that I'm impressed. I didn't think that you had it in you. But don't think that your little stunt from earlier will be allowed to go unpunished. You're still a bitch, whether you have a master or not. And I'll make sure that you remember your place. You will submit to me, Seth. You will submit because you have to submit. And when you realize that, I'll be there waiting for you. Until then, remember how it feels to know that nobody loves you, nobody wants you, and you're all alone…