Author's Notes: While this is a sequel to my first story, After The Storm, it also works as a stand alone. The only thing you need to know is that in this world, Roman's fiance is named Jessica and his daughter is Leah. I don't write fan fiction about real people, so Leah and Jessica are totally products of my imagination and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

I do not own any rights to Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins. They are the properties of the WWE and/or the actors that play them. This story is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

When The Rains End

(Or, Adventures in Babysitting)

"Dean," a familiar voice called out, "Dean, where are you?"

Dean looked up from the couch as his friend Roman walked into the room, holding some papers in his hand. "I'm right here, exactly where I was half an hour ago, when you ran off to play on the computer," he said, rolling his eyes. "What, did you think I was going to vanish in a puff of smoke?"

Roman frowned. "You haven't been-"

"-No, I haven't been smoking," Dean interrupted. "I said 'puff of smoke,' it's an expression. I haven't even vaped since I've been here. My e-cig is still in my luggage." Well, that wasn't exactly true, it was in the guest room he was using, recharging, but he hadn't touched it since they arrived here yesterday, that much was true. He had thought about it a few times, but had talked himself out of it. I have to find a way to get over this myself, he told himself. It's bad enough I broke down Monday night and actually smoked a real cigarette. Even though it was awesome, I'm never going to break the nicotine habit if I'm smoking or vaping every time some little thing happens. He knew he was trying to downplay how he was really feeling, Seth's betrayal on Raw, even though it had been totally scripted, has bothered him a lot. He'd vented to Roman about it for almost the entire night after it happened, and got Roman so worried that when they were both given a couple days off, Roman insisted Dean come home with him and spend a couple of days with him, his fiance, Jessica, and his daughter, Leah. Although, if Dean were to be honest, he hadn't put up that much of a protest, which was another sign that the breakup of The Shield had been more painful to him that it should have been.

"Good," Roman nodded, approving of Dean's control. "Glad to hear it."

"Not like I've had the time anyway," Dean grumbled. "'Dean, wake up, buddy, let's go running!'" His voice fell into an overly enthusiastic, but pretty accurate imitation of Roman's. "'Good run, let's go to the gym!'" He went back to his normal voice, "I thought the point of you coming home was to spend a little time with your lady and your daughter. How do you spend any time with them when you spend so much time at the gym?'"

"I was up two hours before you were and spent time with Leah," Roman reminded him. "And tomorrow, we're going to the zoo, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Dean yawned and sat up straighter. He reached for the TV remote and hit the off button. "The zoo..." his voice trailed off for a moment, and he shook his head. "I don't think I've ever been to the zoo. Maybe as a field trip when I was in school, but like, my mom never took me to the zoo."

"Well, Leah loves it, so this'll be a good family thing. Her mom, her dad, and her Uncle Dean." Roman sat down next to him, still holding the sheet of paper he'd walked in with. "And, as for spending time with Jessica, well," he paused and grinned. "You did agree to babysit tonight, so we can have a date night."

"Yep, I did," Dean agreed. He wasn't too worried about it, Leah was a pretty cool kid for someone who was five going on six. She was cute, of course, considering what both of her parents looked like, the kid was destined to be cute now and beautiful later. And on top of that, she was one of those happy, shiny kids that almost seemed to sparkle with life. She was a little shy around strangers, but Dean had spent enough time with her that she felt relaxed around him. He was Uncle Dean, a title that pleased him more than he wanted to admit. "Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid."

"I wasn't worried about that," Roman said quickly. He handed Dean one of the pieces of paper he was holding. "Here, look this over."

"What's this?" Dean asked, taking it from him. It was a list of names and phone numbers, double column, single spaced, small font, and it took up the entire page.

"Just some phone numbers," Roman said. "I don't think you'll need them, but just in case."

Dean started reading the paper and frowning. "Okay, police, fire, ambulance... can't I just dial 911 if I need those things?"

"Yes, and that should be your first option," Roman agreed. "But I read once that sometimes those lines are jammed and people have had to call those services directly. I just wanted you to be covered."

Dean continued reading the list. "Pediatrician. Okay, that makes sense."

"Dr. O'Heelan is wonderful, Leah adores her," Roman said. "The first number is the answering service, the number below is her personal cell phone number. Don't be afraid to use the direct number if you need to. She's told us she doesn't mind."

"Oh-kay." Dean dragged out the word as he continued to read. "Your parents?"

"They're the back up people to go to. They've spent a lot of time with Leah, so if you come across something you can't handle, call them."

"Jessica's mom?"

"Second back up. She's spent as much time with Leah as my folks, so it's about the same."

"Your brothers?"

"Third back up."

"Your sisters?"

"Back up."

"Jessica's brothers?"

"Back up." Roman said. "Same with the neighbors on either side of us and across the street. Which brings me to this," he held out the other piece of paper. "I'll have Jessica sign this before we leave, I already have. This is, well, I guess you'd call it a permission slip. If the worst does happen, it lets whoever needs to know that we have entrusted Leah into your care and that we give you permission to allow doctors to treat her to save her life. It expires at Midnight, so we'll do our best to be home by then."

Dean stared at his friend, his brother, the man he had trusted with his life on more than one occasion. "Dude...are you for real?"

"Better safe than sorry!" Roman said only sounding the slightest bit defensive.

Dean continued looking at the phone list. "Her teacher? Her dance instructor?"

"I wasn't sure what problems could arise and who would be best to deal with them. I didn't want to take chances."

Dean stared at Roman in shock. Half of him expected Roman to burst out laughing and yell, "Gotcha!" but nope, he was serious. Dean went back to the list. "Triple H? Stephanie?

"They are parents," Roman interjected. "They have three daughters so-"

"Seth?" Dean interrupted, his voice rising. "You have Seth Motherfu-" he started to say the full word he wanted to say, but an angry glare from Roman made him backtrack, "You have Seth Rollins on here?"

"Well," Roman hesitated. "I just was putting together every number I could think of and..." he shrugged and let his voice trail off.

"Man," Dean shook his head feeling slightly hurt, but went back to the list. "Her Karate instructor?" He shook his head again, wondering if he was going to loosen his brain with all the shaking of it he was doing tonight. "She's taking karate?"

Roman nodded. "That's where she is now, don't you remember? Jessica took her while we were at the gym. They should be back soon."

"At least you know you won't have to worry about some weirdo grabbing her," Dean muttered. "She'll kick their ass."

"Well, she is top of her class," Roman admitted, unable to hide the look of pride. "It's just a kid's class, but it's a start. If she continues, I won't have to worry about anyone taking advantage of her when she's older."

"Uh, yeah." Dean went back to looking at the list. "Roman, like, I have your cell phone number on speed dial. I have Jessica's cell phone number on speed dial. Isn't that enough?"

"We're going to the movies and out to dinner," Roman said, trying to ignore Dean's stare at him by refusing to look in his eyes. "You know how P.O'ed people get when your cell phone goes off in the movies and -"

"So, put it on vibrate," Dean suggested, eyes narrowing.

"We will, but the restaurant we're going to, well, it doesn't have the best cell reception. The last time I was there I could barely get two bars. Which reminds me, the phone number for the restaurant is there too. As well as the theater."

"Roman, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I have this feeling, call it a hunch," Dean said slowly. "That you do not fully trust me with your daughter."

"I never said that!" Roman objected. "I just know that you're not used to kids and Leah can be a handful so..."

"So you think I'll screw up?" Dean asked.

"Uh," Roman stammered. "Well," As he struggled for the right words to say, the sound of the front door opening was heard. "Wow, I guess they're back!" An eager relief filled his voice as the sound of small feet running across the floor was heard along with the sound of the door shutting.

"We're home!" Roman's fiance, Jessica shouted.

At the same time, Leah came bursting into the family room where Roman and Dean were. She was still wearing her gi, her hair in two pigtails, streaming behind her. She ran over to the sofa and threw herself into Roman's arms. "Daddy!"

"Leah-belle!" Roman scooped her up for a hug. "How was class?"

"Good. The teacher says I'm doing great." She beamed. "I can kick higher than any of the other kids!"

"That's great!" Roman enthused. "I knew when you started that you'd be the best in your class."

"Uh huh," Leah nodded happily, then noticed Dean sitting next to Roman. "Unca Dean!" She crawled off her father's lap and fell onto Dean's. "You're still here."

"Yup," Dean caught her around the waist. She sat down on his lap, facing him, her legs on either side of his thighs. "I'm going to be talking care of you tonight, so your parents can have some adult time."

"What's adult time?" Leah asked, as she eyed the pocket on Dean's T-shirt, which had a suspicious bulge in it.

"It's very, very, boring," Dean said, his voice as serious as possible. "You'll learn all about it when you get older, but you don't want to hear about it now. You'll fall right to sleep, it's just that boring. But you and me? We're going to have a great time, right?"

"Right!" Leah happily agreed, still looking at his pocket. "What'cha got in your pocket, Uncle Dean?" she asked.

"Do I have something in my pocket?" Dean said, looking down at it. "Hmm, I guess I do. I don't remember putting anything there. I wonder what it could be?" He slid his hands between the sofa cushions on either side of him and pretended he couldn't move them. "Maybe you need to check and see what it is, because my hands are stuck to the cushion."

"No, they aren't," she disagreed, as she reached into his pocket. She pulled a small white pouch with a picture of a purple bunny on it and studied it. "Fruit snacks!" she exclaimed with the same joy adult women reserved for gifts of diamonds.

"Really?" Dean pretended surprise. "Now, how did those get there?"

"You put them there," Leah said. "So I could find them!" She slid off his lap and ran over to her mother who was coming into the room. "Mommy, look, Unca Dean gave me fruit snacks!"

"Wow," Jessica said, looking at the package. "Bunny fruits, your favorite!"

"Yeah, the berry ones, too." The young girl grinned. "Can I have them now? Please?"

"I don't know," Jessica said, looking as if she was giving this idea grave consideration. "I don't want you to spoil your dinner."

"Mommy, I did good in Karate!" Leah reminded her. "I deserve a snack!"

"Well," Jessica appeared to ponder this for awhile, then nodded. "I guess so."

"Yay!" Leah ran back over to the sofa and sat down in the place her father had vacated to head over to Jessica. She opened the package and pulled one out, offering it to Dean. "You want one?"

"Sure," Dean took the proffered snack and popped it in his mouth. "Snozzleberry! My favorite."

"No it's not," Leah said, shaking her head and frowning at him.

"Yes it is," Dean insisted. "I'm the one eating it, so I should know what it tastes like and it definitely tastes like a Snozzleberry."

"No, it doesn't!" Leah disagreed and went on to explain her reason for disagreeing, "because there's no such thing as a Snozzleberry."

"Really?" Dean scratched his head in mock puzzlement. "Well, now that you're saying that, maybe it tastes like raspberry instead."

While this exchange was taking place, Roman had walked over and greeted Jessica with a hug and a kiss. Nothing too graphic, just a sweet, familiar kiss, but Dean caught it out of the corner of his eye and could see the sparks flying between the two of them. Yeah, he thought to himself as he finished chewing the tiny fruit snack, They need some time alone together. If I had someone who made those sparks fly with me, I wouldn't be doing dinner and a movie. I'd leave the kid with the babysitter and head for the first hotel where we could- He shook his head, forcing himself to stop that train of thought.

"Dean, I can't tell you how grateful I am that you agreed to watch Leah for us," Jessica said. She and Roman walked over to a recliner, arms around each other. Roman sat down in the chair, and she sat on the arm.

"It's not a problem. Me and the little ankle biter will have a great time," Dean said, ruffling Leah's hair. "And it's the least I can do for you guys letting me visit for a couple days."

"Well, with everything that happened, we thought you might like to stay with family right now, rather than head off to Vegas all by yourself." Jessica smiled at him.

Dean almost scowled but caught himself and shrugged. He liked Jessica just fine and felt she was perfect for Roman, but sometimes her honesty could be just a tiny bit too much. Yes, he was bugged about Seth, about the whole disbanding of The Shield, but he didn't want to talk about it. Not to her anyway. It was a guy thing, you didn't sit around and discuss your woes with your friend's lady unless you had been friends with her first, or she was your sister. Since Jessica was neither, he didn't feel comfortable agreeing, even if it was the truth. "Uh-" he began and then realized he had absolutely no way to respond that wouldn't sound like he was either giving in and admitting to being upset, or being a disagreeable jerk.

"Hey," Roman interrupted, sensing Dean's awkwardness. "Jessie, before we go out tonight, didn't you have some stuff in the office you wanted to go over with me?" Since Roman wasn't home very much, there was always something that needed to be looked at. It was the perfect excuse to shift the conversation.

"Yes, I do," Jessica got up off the arm of the recliner. "Dean, do you mind? We'll just be in the next room."

"Nope, have fun," Dean said, shooting Roman a grateful look.

When they were out of the room, Leah looked at Dean. "I'm glad you're my babysitter tonight," she said, grinning. "We'll have fun!"

"Sure we will," he agreed. She bounced a little bit on the sofa, something Dean had to admit he found rather adorable. He didn't consider himself one of those people who went all mushy over the thought or the sight of babies, and toddlers could be annoying little screech monsters, but kids Leah's age were pretty cool. He appreciated that some of them, Leah included, had such an enthusiasm for life that there were times they just couldn't sit still waiting for the next great thing to happen. He didn't think he'd ever felt like that in his life, or if he could, he didn't remember. His memories of his early childhood, for the most part, sucked.

She looked down, as if she just remembered she was still wearing her Karate gi and frowned. "I need to change!" she exclaimed, running out of the room. "PLAY CLOTHES!" she shouted, clearly delighted with the opportunity to change her outfit and ran into her room.

She returned a few minutes later, wearing a pair of jeans and a Shield T-shirt, that was on backwards. Dean swallowed when he recognized the shirt. I wonder if she knows her Daddy's team is no more? He knew that she thought of Seth as another uncle too, and figured her parents hadn't told her yet. I guess she hasn't watched Raw. He knew Jessica Tivo'ed the show and sometimes let her watch it later, at least the parts with her dad in it. He would have bet money she hadn't seen the latest Raw, the one where Seth had- "C'mere, Squirt," he said quickly to stop the train of thought.

She ran over and jumped on the couch next to him. "What?"

"Your shirt is on backwards, let's fix that." Carefully, he helped her thread her arms through the sleeves so they were at her sides. "Oops, your arms disappeared," He joked.

"No they didn't." She shook her head. "They're inside my shirt."

"Really? I don't believe you." He twisted the shirt so the artwork showing the three of them, Dean on the left, Seth on the right, Roman in the middle was on the front, then helped her thread her arms back into the sleeves. "Well, look at that, your arms were there all along."

"Unca Dean, you're silly!"

He looked at her, beaming up at him, the members of Shield scowling across her chest. "That's me," he agreed, trying not to look at the shirt. "Silly Uncle Dean."

She looked at him longer and frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You looked all sad."

Wow, even the kid can see it, He shook his head, pushing away any negative thoughts and reached out and gently tugged one of her pigtails. "I'm fine, Rugrat," he told her. "I'm just great."

End of Pt I

Author's Notes: No, I haven't abandoned the idea of a sequel to Chasing the Moonlight. I actually started this story before I even got the idea for Chasing the Storm. I just want to finish this one first, before I start worrying about that one.

FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT. I am not to proud to admit I only write fanfiction for the feedback. No feedback, no inspiration. If you took the time to read it, can't you take a few more seconds and let me know what you think? Good feedback makes me glow, critical feedback makes me strive to do better. I do try to answer any and all feedback I get.