The idea for this came to me randomly one night just as I was falling asleep. This takes place in a universe in which John Cena defeated Brock Lesnar for the WWEWHC at Survivor Series and has a rematch with Lesnar slated for TLC. Randy Orton is still a part of the Authority and the Authority never lost power at Survivor Series. The story begins the night after TLC on RAW.

If you want you can interpret this as slash go right on ahead (love the Ambrolleigns) since it ended up coming out in a way that you could take it as subtle slash or none at all. The choice is yours dear readers!

Disclaimer- As per usual, I don't own these boys; I just love to write about them.

Seth groaned as he rolled onto his side. He was laid flat out in the middle of the ring with John Cena standing above him, triumphantly holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship over his head.

After John Cena had defeated Brock Lesnar last month Seth had set his sights on the Champ, waiting for the most opportune moment to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract. That moment had come on the night after TLC, where Lesnar had failed at recapturing the Championship, when the Beast had flattened Cena as one final statement before he left for another stint in UFC.

Once Lesnar had F5'd Cena twice and left Seth had rushed to the ring with a referee in tow, prepared to finally fulfill the plan he'd set in motion back at the beginning of the summer: to capture the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and cement his place as the undisputed future of the WWE.

Unfortunately things hadn't gone as the Architect had planned.

At first, everything had been going fine. He had successfully cashed in and the bell had rung once Cena had dazedly made his way back to his feet. He dominated Cena, pressing his advantage but wanting to make sure that when he got Cena down he was going to stay down.

Just as he had the Champion set up for a Curb Stomp, John had moved out of the way at the last possible second causing Seth to fall flat on his face which gave Cena the opportunity to lock in the STF. Stuck dead centre in the middle of the ring with Cena's 251 lb frame pressing down on him, Seth had been left with no choice but to tap out.

Numb with disbelief Seth stumbled to his feet, leaning against the ropes to catch his breath and allow himself to absorb the fact that he had just lost his best, and possibly only, shot at becoming the top guy in WWE.

As he moved to leave the ring the Authority's music filled the air. Triple H, Randy Orton and Kane made their way down the ramp and entered the ring, staring at Seth silently.

Seth began to feel insecure. For the past seven months he had been in a golden position with the Authority- he was their ace in the hole, the one who was practically guaranteeing the Authority a Champion from their own camp. Now that he had lost his one and only opportunity, the two-tone haired man was unsure where he stood with them. He hoped that all the work he had put in for the Authority held some sort of weight in his favor but he also knew just how vindictive they could be when they put their minds to it. He wondered if it was his turn to be punished by the Authority, like so many others had.

He didn't have to wonder for long.

Triple H waved one of the runners over and took the microphone from him. Seth prided himself on being able to read people and get into their heads, it was one of the qualities that attributed to his nickname as a ring general, but in that moment he had no idea what the COO was going to say.

"Seth... From the moment you came into the WWE, I could see that you were special. And after the war between the Shield and Evolution, I just knew that you would be bound for greatness if you were given the right opportunity. That's why I chose you to be the member of the Shield to join the Authority; not Dean Ambrose, not Roman Reigns- you. I gave you everything that you needed, gave you all the breaks..."

The Game sighed deeply and ran a hand over his face, "I gave you all the breaks and you still couldn't get the job done! And if you can't get it done when it counts Seth, then I guess I was wrong about you. You aren't who I thought you were. When you were in the Shield I saw a fire burning in your eyes. A fire that screamed that you were willing to do anything to get what you wanted. But it seems like that fire is gone now, or maybe it was never really there in the first place."

All this time Seth had been focussing solely on Triple H and hadn't noticed that Orton and Kane had gone on opposite sides of him, boxing him in. He glanced around nervously, taking in the predatory look in Orton's eyes and the demonic smirk on Kane's face. His gut tightened warningly and he looked back at Triple H.

Suddenly it wasn't Triple H the COO of WWE he was looking at, it was the Game, the Cerebral Assassin. His eyes were hard and staring at Seth the same way he had when they'd stood across the ring from each other in their battles as part of their separate factions.

Seth held his hands up and began to back away as the Game advanced on him, "Hunter please! D- Don't do this, please just give me another chance-"

He was cut off by a clubbing blow to his back, sending him to the canvas and after that Seth lost all sense of time.

Blows rained down on him from seemingly every direction and even as he tried to curl up to protect himself even just a little bit, the kicks and punches still managed to catch him all over. He could hear the angry voices of his now-former comrades snarling at him and the sound of the crowd, a dull indistinct roar that he could barely register. The beating continued for what felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes.

Just as Seth began wishing that they'd just put him out of his misery the crowd suddenly sprung to life, cheers replacing the angry boos. He felt his three attackers suddenly pull away and heard the sounds of fighting begin. It took him a moment to gather his bearings and get to his feet but when he did he immediately looked to see who could've possibly come to his aid.

As he looked around the chaos in the ring he caught glimpses of long dark hair and manic blue eyes and his heart suddenly jumped into his throat.

Roman and Dean were in the ring. Helping him.

Roman was trading blows with Kane while Dean had Orton pressed into a turnbuckle and was targeting his midsection with quick jabs; Triple H was nowhere to be seen inside the ring. Seth snapped out of his flabbergasted state when he realized this and looked around just in time to see the Game slide back into the ring wielding a steel chair, taking aim at Roman.

Panic surged in his chest and Seth instinctively sprung into action, hitting Triple H in the back of the head with a well-placed kick that caused him to stumble and drop the chair before it could make contact with Roman's back. As the COO rolled under the ropes, Roman turned around- his attention having been drawn by the sound of the chair hitting the canvas- and caught Seth's eyes.

For a moment time seemed to stand still as the two men stared at each other but before either of them could say anything Orton and Kane came rushing at them. Seth and Roman ducked out of the way and their attackers ended up spilling over the top rope thanks to their own momentum. They landed on the floor next to Triple H and the three Authority members scrambled to their feet, trying to get to the ramp to escape.

Inside the ring Seth and Dean exchanged a quick look and with a synchronicity that came as easily as breathing they began to run and dived through the ropes. As they ran past him Seth- out of the corner of his eye- saw Roman raise his arms up in a gesture that Seth had seen the Samoan do so many times when he and Dean had done this. Seth and Dean rolled back into the ring as the Authority members raced up the ramp and into the back.

His ears rang from the crowds raucous cheers, his heart was pounding with adrenaline, and he turned around to see Roman and Dean hugging each other tightly, bright smiles on both their faces. With their arms still slung around each other's shoulders, they turned to face Seth.

The cheers of the crowd tapered off, leaving an eerie silence that filled the arena, and for the second time that night Seth felt his stomach drop.

Seven months ago he had turned his back on Roman and Dean, had tossed them aside like they were trash and treated them as such. He had denounced their bond as brothers and proclaimed that he had used them for his own gain, that they had been nothing more than pawns to him. He'd driven Dean's head through a pile of cinder blocks, had planned to do the same thing to Roman, and had said every disrespectful, hurtful thing he had been able to think of just so that he could prove that he was "better" than them. He took every easy way out and hid behind the Authority, using their power to his advantage at every turn. He had acted like a complete and utter ass.

Seth sighed heavily, he knew what was coming. Roman and Dean hadn't come out there to help him, they had just wanted to get as much of Seth as they could and took out the Authority to do just that. The two-tone haired man didn't even bother to try to think of an escape plan. He had spent seven months running from Roman and Dean, too scared to face them fairly because he knew that he deserved every ounce of their ire after how he'd treated them. He watched Roman and Dean exchange a look, Dean's hand clenching into a fist at his side, and closed his eyes, resigning himself to wait for the beating he had avoided for so long.

He waited. And waited. But still nothing happened.

There were no fists hitting him, no angry words being yelled at him. Nothing.

Seth's palms began to sweat as his mind conjured up images of the many ways in which Roman and Dean could draw out his beating and make him pay for all his misdeeds but he remained standing where he was. He had spent the past seven months running and he refused to do it any longer.

The sound of the crowd roaring to life once more is what finally forced him to open his eyes and what he saw made his heart stop for a moment...

Roman and Dean were standing side by side, holding their fists out, looking at Seth expectantly.

Roman gazed at him warmly, a small smile on his handsome face and Dean bouncing slightly in place (the guy could never stay still for more than a minute) with a familiar, wicked smirk stretched across his face. Both of their eyes were bright and alive with happiness.

Memories of all the times he had stood side by side with these men, running through everybody that dared cross their path, and all the memories of the things he'd done after turning on them crossed Seth's mind in that moment. By all rights Roman and Dean should never have wanted to talk to him again, let alone be offering what they were offering Seth in that moment: forgiveness.

By holding out their fists they were offering Seth back a piece of himself that he had felt missing since he'd picked up that steel chair all those months ago and joined the Authority. That missing piece that had left a hole inside his heart that he'd been trying to fill with power and position but had never truly been able to do.

His hand trembled at his side and he slowly curled it into a fist. A warm feeling blossomed in his chest as he slotted his fist next to Roman's, feeling more like himself than he had in months. The crowd cheered wildly and out of the corner of his eye Seth noticed Roman's eyes shining with tears and even Dean's eyes were a little glassy and it caused his own eyes to grow wet.

He had turned his back on them, thinking that he needed to be on his own to find where he truly belonged. But he'd been wrong. He belonged here, standing side by side with his brothers: a united, unstoppable force.

The tears he'd been holding back finally began to make their way down his cheeks and by the sound of the soft sob from Roman and the wet chuckle from Dean, he guessed that both of his brothers had begun to cry too. Suddenly Dean's arm wrapped around him and the other dragged Roman into the embrace, immediately those big arms were around both of them as well, squeezing tightly, and Seth couldn't help but cling onto the two of them just as tightly.

It had been a long, hard road that he never wanted to walk alone again.

It had taken him a long time to get back there but finally...

He was home.

And we're done! I seriously can't wait until the day that Seth begins his walk down the road to redemption, which will inevitably lead to the Shield reuniting and owning the yard once more, but I have a feeling that that's still a ways off yet... Anyways I hope you enjoyed this one and as always thank you to all my lovely readers! :D