It Ends Tonight - The All-American Rejects

Triple H smirks as he looks at the three men in the ring. Seth Rollins had just gotten a steel chair and now stood next to his tag team partners.

"There's always a Plan B."

Dean Ambrose stared at Seth in shock as he hit Roman Reigns with the chair. Before he could say anything, Seth hit him with the chair too.

After a minute or two, he thought it was over, but he quickly found he was wrong when he was once again hit with the chair by Randy Orton.

He should have seen this coming. Dean knew this would happen. The Shield couldn't last forever. No one did.

He and Roman had gotten into arguments plenty of times, and Seth was always the one to break it up. Seth was "the architect" of the group. He always had a game plan.

Yet, Dean knew this was going to happen.

The last few weeks, Seth had very little to say when they were working up a strategy for their matches. When Dean and Roman went out after Raw ended, Seth stayed behind and opted to go back to the hotel. When Evolution came out and ran their mouths, talking about their "adapt or perish" bullshit, Seth would unconsciously bite his lip in deep thought.

Seth showed all the signs of leaving, but Dean refused to believe it.

But now it was too late.

*

*

*

Seth and the rest of Evolution had walked backstage a few minutes ago, so when Dean and Roman finally made it back there, they were nowhere to be seen.

They went to the trainer's room in silence, where they received pain medicine and ice packs, then headed to their locker room. Seth's stuff was gone.

After a few minutes of silence, Dean spoke up. "This is my fault."

"What the hell are you talking about, Dean?" Roman asks.

"I realized Seth was acting different, but I didn't do anything to stop it," He explains, sighing.

"Dude, no one knew Seth was going to betray us," Roman says. "Quit blaming yourself. It's no one's fault but Hunter's for putting those thoughts into his head."

"Didn't you notice he was acting different?"

"Of course I did," He says. "When you're around someone for so long, you notice when something's wrong. I thought it was personal shit, so I didn't ask."

Before Dean could respond, there was a knock at the door and Roman answered it. It was a tech hand, saying that Vince needed to talk to them.

"Tell him I have a headache," He says, lying down on the couch in the room.

"All right..." Roman says, leaving the room.

Dean figured he should start getting his stuff together, so he stood up. Someone knocked on the door, so he answered it.

"Hey...."

The two-toned Superstar who stood before him looked awkward, and by looking at Dean, guilty.

"Go away."

"But - "

"Go away," Dean growls, slamming the door shut.

"I just want to talk!" Seth yells from the other side of the door.

Dean yanks open the door, startling Seth. "You want to talk? Fine, we'll talk. Let's talk about the fact you just betrayed us! You turned your back on us! We were practically brothers and you threw it all away. You sold out, Seth. You sold out and now I think you should leave."

"Brothers?" Seth exclaims, incredulously. "You thought we were brothers? We were barely even friends. You're not even here in the real world half the time, because you're always stuck in your own little fantasy world in that sick head of yours! When Hunter offered me the opportunity to jump ship and join Evolution, I gladly took it!"

"Did one and a half years mean nothing to you?" Dean asks. "Some people are actually grateful for their friends, but I see now that you're just a fucking backstabbing little prick, and you know what? I'm glad you're gone. Roman and I don't need you anyway. You were only bringing us down."

Before Seth can respond, he slams the door in his face and goes to lie back down on the couch. It felt good to get that off his chest.

He hears the door open and close, so he sits up to look at Roman.

"So what's up?" Dean asks.

"Seth leaving was legit," He says. "We're no longer the Shield. They're splitting us up. I'm going to be in the Money in the Bank match. You're going to feud with Seth."

"So..."

"It's over, man," Romana says, sighing. "It's all over tonight."

"It's been a good year and a half, man," Dean says.

"Glad we got to work together," He replies, smiling.

"Are we still brothers?"

"Of course."

---

"The walls start breathing, my mind's unweaving. Maybe it's best you leave me alone. A weight is lifted on this evening. I give the final blow."