Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Threesome, Alleged Suicide, Self-Harm, etc.

Seth slowly turned around to face Dean, confusion and concern evident in his chocolate brown eyes. "You want to tell me what the hell is going on, here? I would think that Roman should be excited to see you, instead of looking like he'd just been punched in the gut."

Dean sighed, following the path that Roman had taken with his eyes. In the grand scheme of things, he hadn't expected their 'reunion' to go quite so poorly. "Can we head inside and talk? I'm pretty sure that this isn't the kind of conversation we should be having out in the open."

Seth seemed skeptical, but eventually caved nonetheless. Thankful that Roman hadn't stormed off with their keycard, he turned around and unlocked the door, holding it open just far enough to allow Dean to slip inside. Once inside, he dropped off his articles and equipment from the gym, and traded his loose-fitting, flexible brace for a stiffer one. Dean followed the movement with sad eyes, remembering just what it was that had broken Seth's wrist in the first place, and unable to stifle the feeling of being completely responsible.

Dean took a seat at the little table by the door and Seth headed over to the en-suite kitchen to retrieve a bag of frozen peas. He tossed it to Dean, who caught it easily and touched it to his cheek almost immediately. There was no relief. There was only a sharp sting, akin to the one he had felt when Roman's fist had connected with his cheek, but this one colder... lifeless, even. He could feel tears welling in his eyes as the sensation reawakened nerve endings that had long since been numbed to the pain. Roman certainly could pack a punch.

Seth pulled out a chair and took a seat across from him, crossing his legs and leaning back casually. Dean was thankful that there was no look of accusation or anger on his face. Merely... interest. "Now that we're alone in the hotel room, care to share?"

Dean found himself unable to meet Seth's eyes, and instead, stared down at the carpet. "There's a lot to the story that you don't know. And there's a lot that Roman thinks that he knows... but really doesn't. That's why he's so pissed off."

"I hope you realize that you're talking in circles and none of it really makes any sense." Seth said, one eyebrow raised.

That earned a choked laugh in response. "Yeah. I know..." he pressed the frozen peas harder to his face. "Vince McMahon launched a formal investigation following our lawsuit against Ryback. He wanted to know if it was possible that others could be involved in either the execution of the attacks, or the cover-up."

All of the color seemed to drain out of Seth's face. "And what did he find?"

"Unfortunately, several names crossed his desk. Several names in prominent, influential positions." Dean's voice was rife with disgust.

Seth's face pinched as painful memories were summoned to the forefront, and he had to wonder how many other superstars and divas had been subjugated to such abuse before Vince got it in his head to launch a formal investigation. Finally, "How many?" Simply because he had to know.

Dean's fingers curled around the bag so tightly, Seth could hear the wet crunch as the masses of peas broke apart. "Thirteen."

The pain seemed to stretch on endlessly as Dean painstakingly named each and every employee of WWE that had had some hand, first-hand or otherwise, in allowing Ryback to continue to abuse and destroy anything that crossed his path - until his bitter end. Seth was breathing heavily by the end of it and when Dean reached for his hand, Seth allowed him to take it. He needed that reassurance, that silent offer of comfort. All of these people had known what it was that Ryback was doing, and hadn't done a thing to stop it. In Seth's mind, Vince was about ten months too late.

"W-What else?" Seth asked, having to force it out around a choked sob. Dean looked at him quizzically, so Seth elaborated. "There has to be more to the story, right? I know Roman's a little hot-headed, b-but it would take more t-than that for him to h-hit you."

Ah, yes. The part that Dean did not want to confess to. "In order to bring them down, Vince devised a plan which would make it seem like they had won. That would make it seem like they had successfully broken up the Shield."

Seth's eyebrows knitted together. "I'm afraid that I don't follow."

"Ryback had already broken you and Roman. I was only a means to an end, so that it would be easier for him to get his hands on you." Dean said. "In order for it to work, it needed to look like they had broken the entire Shield. And so, Vince approached me with the idea."

"I'm not sure that I like where this is going..." Seth trailed off uncertainly.

Dean smiled wryly. "Vince knew that I had suicidal tendencies. The bathtub incident kinda made that difficult to deny."

Another sob tore from Seth's throat as he remembered looking at Dean's bandaged wrists, asking him what had happened, and being snapped at instead. "Tell me you didn't, Dean."

"That would be a lie, baby, and I promised never to lie to you again." Dean said solemnly. "I did cut myself, but the sheer extent that Roman saw was... rather put on. I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't positively sure." Dean assured.

Seth sniffled, and there were the tears, "Sure of what, Dean?"

"Sure that it would get us the necessary conviction - and it did. The thirteen involved... well, they won't be seeing the light of day for a very long time."

"Roman... He saw you lying there... He thought you were dead..."

Dean didn't even bother to try and hide his shame. "Yes."

And it only worsened as Seth continued, "And he lied to me... He told me you had just left us."

"He only did that because I told him to. I knew what was going to happen and I didn't want you to have to hear about it before everything was settled." Dean said.

They were silent for a moment as the information sunk in. Dean had faked his own death, which had resulted in the conviction of thirteen people who had made their lives miserable over the last year. He wasn't sure how he felt about what had happened or the lie that Dean had told, but for some reason, none of that mattered. What mattered was that Dean was back and, as far as Seth could tell, he was back to stay. That corrected anything that he may or may not have done.

Seth sighed, before taking hold of Dean's hand. "I may not agree with what you did or what happened... But that's in the past now. All that matters is that we're together now, and you're forgiven."