Seth frowned as he stared at his cellphone screen then pressed the button to answer and put the phone to his ear. "Dean? What's up?"

"That Helluva kick looked nasty."

Seth sighed. "Could've been worse."

"You know that was an accident."

"Yeah, I know. But Sami's no rookie. He should've been more careful."

"Like you've never hit someone by mistake?"

Seth could almost see Dean's amused expression.

"That next one won't be a mistake."

Seth leaned back in his recliner and sighed. "I know. He'll make it count in the Rumble."

"So will Roman."

"Don't you have enough on your plate?" Seth snarked.

"You sayin' I shouldn't be concerned about both you and Roman being in the Rumble?" Dean sharply replied.

"Looks like everybody's in the Rumble," Seth grumbled. "Logan Paul's gonna get in. And who knows who the surprise entrants are gonna be?"

"You mean like The Rock…or Cena?"

Seth felt his back teeth grinding together. "Guess that wouldn't really be a surprise, would it?"

"Rock wouldn't have to participate to screw things up," Dean pointed out.

Seth was silent for a moment. "You know, if Rock wants one more shot at a title, he…could take Roman out. Accidentally, of course."

Dean snorted. "Accidentally, my ass."

Despite himself, Seth snickered. "If every member of both Bloodlines get into the Rumble, it could be just one more War Games match."

"And?"

"Let them tear each other apart and throw them over the top rope," Seth replied.

"Or they could unite against everybody else then go for each other," Dean pointed out.

"Wouldn't happen."

"Are you so sure?"

Seth grimaced. "Not a hundred percent…no."

"Good. Keep your head on straight."

Seth slowly smiled. "Sounds like you're rooting for me."

"Might be," Dean hesitated, then continued. "Consider possibly working with Roman."

"Excuse me?"

"I said 'consider'…not commit," Dean flatly spoke. "Keep your options open in the Rumble. This isn't the your first Rumble so don't act like a rookie."

Seth knew he and Roman could work together. And he knew the crowd would go wild at seeing two of the Shield working together. For a few seconds, he wished he had the power to change the past.

"Seth?"

"Just thinking," Seth replied. "I get what you're saying. I really do. And I'll keep that option on the table. But there are a lot of variables involved. Might not be a chance to do that."

"True," Dean admitted.

"You gonna talk to Roman about this?" Seth curiously asked.

"Have the two of you talked?"

"No. But we haven't really had a chance," Seth explained.

Dean snorted. "Like he couldn't pick up the phone?" When Seth didn't respond, he added, "I told him to make peace with you or not. But he knew I wasn't happy about him allowing Rock to use that weight belt on you."

"Uh…let's just not talk about that, okay?" Seth chuckled. 'Or what happened to Rock after that.' "So how are you planning on handling everybody coming after you? Even with your crew helping you?"

"Let them tear each other apart for the privilege of getting beat by me," Dean calmly answered.

"Right," Seth drawled. "Gotta run. Becky's giving me the high sign that dinner's ready."

"Give my best to Irish and Roux. See ya at the Rumble."

"I wi…wait…what?! Dean!" Seth shook his head. "Son of a bitch hung up on me," he muttered as he tossed his phone onto the table next to the recliner. "See me at the Rumble?"

If the crowd would go wild at seeing Roman and Seth work together in the Rumble, the roof would fly off the building if all three members of the Shield stood in the ring at the Rumble. It was being held in Indianapolis, after all. The place where Seth had blindsided his Shield brothers and defected to The Authority, and the place where they had reunited.

The Rumble, after all, was unpredictable.