______Stupidly think you got it under control...

A man's rugged features only tend to tense up more each time one of his bleached locks would partially cover up his view. It's almost as if the wind is saying to him that, no matter how bad he wants to hide himself the truth, a slight spark of hope would always lay inside of his dead heart.

Deteriorated asphalt matches a mind falling apart, unsure it'd be able to figure out how something that has been buried for so long would suddenly comes back to life. How something Rollins finds as despicable as compassion could ever take him by surprise, taming the usual hatred's hurricane igniting his senses ?

The atmosphere is filled by incomprehension and smoke's scent and even though Seth has been sitting on the damaged pavement for quite some time, longing to clarify his own actions' motives, nothing except an irksome void can be felt.

Maybe when he clasped Owens' hand and dragged his body out of harms way, he unintentionally moved something crucial within himself as well.

Since that moment, days had gone by and yet no sign of his ordinary self emerged.

No excessive reactions nor reckless behavior.

In place of completely losing his temper when the security guards explained he'd been suspended indefinitely by Vince - who, for once, respected his word of making Rollins pay - he simply shrugged, obviously annoyed but quickly giving up the idea of forcing his way in.

Dark thoughts has been taken over by literally nothing except a worrying numb state and a vague look staring into space.

As Seth attempts an ultimate time to figure out his abrupt change, he shuts his dark brown eyes expecting his brain to throw at him the slightest of clue.

All he receives is troubling glimpses of his past furtively passing by, the whole thing too blurry for him to grasp anything consistent.

Though this is certainly not the answer he expected, he's pretty sure that he caught sight of one of numerous backstage talks shared with an old ROHs acquaintance.

But is he really only just an acquaintance if Seth would be able to perceive nothing but both their faces, brighten up by a goofy smile and childish jokes ?

Hazy questions would never be answered since an irritating sound prevents Rollins to interpret things in their entirety.

Heels hitting down the bitumen echo louder and louder inside of his tired brain, forcing him to face the reality for what it truly is : a bitter combination of factors.

Though figuring out his own impulses can prove to be perplexing, wrapping his mind around others' isn't a difficult task for The Mastermind - especially when facing one of his traiterous kind.

Both his and Banks' stare wanders right and left without ever focusing on anything in particular, each haunted by the unexpected events that unfold the night they joined forces, revealing a part of their souls they swore they smothered a while ago.

Even if an unbreakable wall seems to separate the two spiteful wrestlers, it's easy for Seth to conclude she's beside him to clear the mess he's unleashed inside of her brain. Knowing how much of a control freak she actually is, he's certain of her desire to clarify the frog surrending that night.

Except for once he's not the one instigating doubts upon others - he's the one trapped inside that endless frog, walking ahead only to feel like he's moving backwards.

In hopes they could probably help each other discovering how and why they acted the way they did, Rollins takes a deep and long breath - as if mesuring the worth of it all - before striking up the conversation.

"I'm suspended indefinitely and with Kevin being out until Payback, you and the bubble girl are clearly outnumbered." He calmy states, thinking that if he's to recall the actual situation they're in, maybe it'd help lift the veil on how the unthinkable happened.

If Rollins isn't yet able to comprehend the reasons why he got himself in such a mess, he's on the contrary perfectly aware of how things unfolded that way.

Ambrose's bad habit to quickly jump to conclusions out of simple impressions got him to misunderstand the relationship between himself and Owens. When the latter came up to Seth, begging for a truce, the Lunatic eventually thought the two were part of the Authority.

In doing so Dean and Lynch mistook their actual enemies - being Miz and Ziggler - and decided to go at war with Banks' group. Which is, on one hand, absolutely logical since both the underdogs had quite a history with Sasha and Kevin.

Therefore Vince, highly amused while witnessing this madness, is now certainly waiting for the right time to unleash his raging dogs on both the clans and ultimately, recovering control over the company.

Although Rollins isn't about to reveal any bit of it to Banks, he sure needs her to know what she's up against. Besides, if her teammates were to go down in dust and ashes, he'd be forced by Stephanie to face once more the spotlight which will most likely be the death of him - both figuratively and literally.

Seth spent entire nights recalling the one in which he came at Owens' help and always came up with that same conclusion. But each time it felt wrong, as if it's obviously part of his motives but yet not totally.

"I don't know why you did what you did but-" A worn out voice mumbles while Sasha rests her aching head on her fragile hand, confirming Rollins' previous analys.

"You know, it's tiresome being somebody else all the time." Seth cuts her up, the words he's been craving to tell for so long coming out of his mouth so suddenly it even shocks him. Bringing his damaged fingers to his mouth in an ashamed way, he tries his best to avoid Banks' glare as she abruptly shifted it towards him.

His astonishing sentence echoes both side of the invisible wall, wrecking two entities entirely, the meaning of it crashing onto their disturbed hearts. Cracks surely begin to show in their bronze armours but they try their best to cover it, fooling the other one for sure yet uncapable of fooling themselves.

While Sasha's moments of clarity regarding the masquerade she's been carrying on for years hit her every so often, Seth's only appear once in forever.

While his words remind her that the limit between reality and fiction is one very thin line, they recall to Rollins he's truly is on the verge of insanity, no matter how grandly in denial he is.

An oppressive silence weights on the children of the dark, frightened at the sole idea their mask could fall down at any giving moment, afraid Sasha's truly vulnerable nature would surface and that Rollins' grandest fear would be exposed to the World.

The longer the burdensome atmosphere surrends them, the worst the shivers Seth's feeling down his back get. He licks his lips in a desperate attempt to will his mouth to speak, to break the unbearable tension building up.

But just like old times, Banks forestalls him.

"What if it's another one of your strategies ?" She voices on a tone imitating confidence, ultimately succeeding in locking eyes with Rollins.

The sole answer she gets is a nervous chuckle as the Iowa native is absolutely fascinated about the fact she keeps on calling his intentions into question. She's actually the only one who never let him the benefit of the doubt.

Realizing her intense gaze wouldn't be enough to wrest any precious informations out of his system, she decides it's time to take off - especially since tonight's Smackdown is going to start in a few.

Her elegant gait lacks her usual determination as she's cleary affected by Rollins' mysterious yet meaningful words. But when she barely has the time to catch the usb key thrown at her in a hurry, her mind's getting even blurrier.

"I can't walk pass that idiotical guard over there. Take good care of Ambrose for me, alright ?" Seth bluntly explains, yelling towards the exit door at first before lowering his tone, almost as if asking her a favour.

Completely thrown off of her game, Banks shoots a condescending look in his direction before vanishing behind the company's trucks, her brain filled with incomprehension while he's solely observing her walking away.

Eventually once her silhouette gets lost in the crowded area, he gets his apathetic eyes off her to lay them on the screen of his phone, tenderness surprisingly recognizable in his stare.

After a slight hesitation, he presses his thumb on a name very close to his - former - heart.

Without any hopes she'd pick up, he's just patiently waiting to hear her voicemail's message, her voice always able to calm his troubled self down.

"You're on Leighla's voicemail, please leave me a message and I'll get back to you...

except you Colby, you can save your lies for the next one."

At the mention of his real name Rollins jolts awkwardly , feeling both guilt and salvation running down his veins - while all Zahra inspired to him was lust and regrets.

Indeed, his love life reflects his professional one : the victims are piling up, either laying down in a cold ring or a warm bed, each individual fooled by his endearing lost kid eyes and dangerous white lies.

________________

"You really trust that guy ?"Emma's charming Australian accent makes its path throughout the agitated and noisy backstage area before hitting Banks' brain, the two witnessing one very interesting scene close to the Gorilla position.

"Of course not, but we don't have much choices left either way." Slight irritation warms up the coldhearted tone used by Banks, too focused on the TV screen to pay much attention to her acolyte.

The poisoned Daisy shrugs before scratching up her nose vigorously, her anxiety even easier to put a finger on than usual. After all, the plan they came up with had been rushed and they both had no idea if any of it made sense, let alone if it wouldn't just confirm the ending of their stable.

Right in the middle of the ring stand Becky Lynch and Dean Ambrose, each supplied of a microphone and a fire in their eyes that would burn holes in anyone - they say it's the bitterness of being hold back and fooled by their closest friends clashing with their undying show of heart, pure yet powerful.

"The law of the jungle is that you have to kill before you get killed. It's how the rejected ones, the betrayed ones, the underdogs survive." Ambrose continues to highlight the motives of his and Becky's dreadful actions, explaining that Banks and Rollins may have fooled them over and over, but that they reached their fever pitch.

"The Authority only has power if you're frightened by it. Except we, we're not." A haunting smile is plastered all over Ambrose's face, making a clear name over his enemy.

"We are the ones who won't trade their principles to reach to the top.

But we're also the ones left for dead, struggling to take off the knife stabbed in our backs. You see while you love to sneak your way to the top by manipulating and pulling the strings backstage, we're making an impact using our will and heart inside of that ring.

So you can stomp on us time and time and time again but at the end of the day, we're still the ones that will change this place for the better. "

As the words escape from an emotional Becky she rises the priceful title laid on her shoulder, getting for response the adulation of the crowd.

You;

Deserve;

It.

These people's hypocrisy couldn't get any bigger and surely couldn't make Banks sicker to her guts. A grimace of disgust transforms her beautiful features while Emma's left highly amused, well too accustomed to the crowd's volatility.

"And if we have to use extreme methods to do so, we won't hesitate." Lynch ultimately spits out, her Irish accent adding to the impact of her statement. As she's gaining most of the fans' cheers, Dean is casually clapping for his partner - seemingfully proud she's not one to get stomped on so easily anymore.

"Now."Banks meticulously motions to both the tech guy and her acolyte, signaling the party's about to get started - except in this one the confettis would be replaced by drops of blood.

A piercing sound is suddenly heard inside of the arena, hurting ears and disorienting brains.

Ingeniously protecting themselves from the blare, Sasha and Emma proceed to walk down to the ring by the crowd, mimicking Dean's former stable - too bad he's too occupied struggling with the noise to figure it all out. While the two silent assassins blend in the crowd, a recorded video puts an end to the torture only to begin another one.

Rollins' sinister laugh is frightening everybody except for Dean who looks as if hypnotized by his bitter rival's sight. While the video has the perfect effect on the Lunatic, Emma sneaks her way inside the ring and cautiously shoves Lynch on the outside before sending her body colliding roughly above the commentators' table, landing on JBL and Saxton.

Banks takes advantage of the opening to blindside Ambrose, having barely enough time and precision to apply the Backstabber - which is mostly botched but at least put him down.

From here on out the plan unfolded quite flawlessly but that precise movement also marked the end of the premeditated strategy.

Sasha, simply unused of unpredectibility, stands still for a while before a chair nearly hits her in the back of the head. Without figuring out if it was Emma's or Becky's shot, she hurries towards the precious object, reproducing Ambrose's movement by grabbing it tightly.

Shades of their first encounter, they battle to have control over both the chair and the entire situation. Well aware she can't match his strenght, Banks eventually lets go and almost receives the hit, making the most of Ambrose's run-up to positions herself behind his back and hit a desperate dropkick.

Thankfully Emma is first to make it back into the ring and comes at Sasha's aid, the two managing to cercle him and unleashing a couple of elbows and fists.

At some point Ambrose gets rid of Banks with a rebound clothesline turning her inside-out and focus his attention upon the Aussie one.

Seconds before hitting Dirty Deeds Dean gets smashed by a chair, totally oblivious about the fact it's still inside of the ring. It allows separation between him and Emma which Banks takes advantage of to repeatedly hurt the Cincinnati native - Seth Rollins' style whilst betraying The Shield.

During that laps of time Emma retrieves the title that should - in her opinion - rightfully be Banks' and reveals a dark bag hidden below the squared circle.

Once the Australian's yellings faze Sasha, she exits the ring in a victorious way, screaming insanities at both her victims on her way up to the ramp.

Lynch crawls back inside the ring - already worn out due to her previous match but now even more beaten up - worried about Ambrose's condition. As she lays his head to rest on her thighs, her attention is drawned by two championships being held up.

While Sasha's making a valid statement in showing Lynch's title will soon be hers, Emma's rising the Owens' Intercontinental title up high as a sign their stable was once bleeding but yet far from dying.

At the thought of Kevin watching from his room, shamelessly rooting for both his "pieces of shit" like a proud father would, a small yet sincere curve draws itself to the side of Banks' face.

Tonight's curtain closes with a wonderful scene.

The enemies are wringing in pain and sorrow while her team is standing tall, screaming at the top of their lungs :

"It's,

Our,

Time!"

_______

E L E N A ;

Who's that ROH's "acquaintance" Seth suddenly thought about ?

Why Rollins would actually help out Sasha without asking for anyhting in return ?

Now you have Underdogs' motives but how will they retaliate after that attack ?

+ If anyone picked up the fact Sasha did as Rollins said without even realizing it - she "took good care of Dean" - then I'll love them forever haha.

Hope you enjoyed guys + don't hesitate to leave your opinion + love ya all xxx