Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me, they belong to WWE. I'm not making any money from this, so don't sue.

Notes: I'd orginally intended for 'Brothers in Fallout' to be a one shot, but the muses wanted a story of what Dean and Roman were doing before Seth showed up.

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Roman stalked into his hotel room, he was sore, tired, hurt, angry, and humiliated. After months of damn near killing himself to improve his ring work and mic skills, not taking days off, being the first guy in and the last guy out, Vince and Creative had decided that it wasn't enough to justify him getting the belt after all, at least at this point. The greatest night of his life, other than the birth of his daughter, had been turned into a complete clusterfuck.

He'd read the comments that he had no right to be upset about what had happened, he got to main event WrestleMania and that he wasn't the first guy to get his push taken away. Fat lot of comfort that was, he'd busted his ass, done what Vince and Creative asked him to, even when it made him look ridiculous, and then they decided to yank the championship away from him at the last minute. Yeah, other guys may have lost their pushes in the past, but he was pretty sure none of them had had it happen at fucking WrestleMania in front of their families.

If there was any saving grace to this, it was that Seth hadn't wanted to do it. Seth had wanted to at least let Roman get the planned win before cashing in, but Vince wouldn't allow it. Roman wanted to be happy that at least one of them had a good night, but he was too tired and too angry.

He set down his things and was surprised to find Dean waiting for him on the bed. Even though they were technically sharing the room, Dean had spent most of the week with Renee.

Roman sighed, "Dean, I'm not really in the mood for company tonight."

"Too bad, because I'm not leaving you alone after what happened tonight," Dean replied, wincing as he got to his feet.

Now Roman felt bad, Dean had been through a grueling ladder match, should probably be in the hospital or snuggling with Renee, and he was here trying help him.

"Dean, I'll be fine. Go spend time with Renee. I know she missed you at Hall of Fame last night."

"I made it up to her last night and this morning," Dean said. "Plus, she knew that my attending wasn't a sure thing given how my autograph signing was scheduled. And, anyway, after what happened tonight, she knew I wouldn't want to leave you alone." He walked over to Roman and looked him in the eye, "Talk to me."

Roman snorted, "Talk to you about what, Dean? That I got screwed over on the biggest night of my career? That I busted my ass, nearly killed myself, working to improve like Vince wanted, and then got thrown under the bus because the fans weren't warming up as fast as he thought they should? That I went out there and gave the performance of my life and then had my moment stolen from me by one of my best friends, who begged Vince to at least go through with the planned finish before fucking me over? That I was made a fool of in front of my family? Is that what you want to talk about?"

Dean reached up and stroked Roman's face, "I don't think I need to."

Roman was startled to realize that his cheeks were wet and his eyes were burning. He stared at Dean and saw that that had been the plan all along, get him to vent and let out his anger and frustration before he exploded. "You little shit."

Dean smiled softly and wrapped his arms around Roman, backing them up to the bed and laying down, poking and prodding until they were situated with Dean laying on his back and Roman laying on top of him. "Let it out, Uce. It's okay."

Roman was not a crier, never had been, but somehow, he felt safe enough to cry like a child into his best friend's chest and know that Dean would never tell anyone. They laid there in silence until the knock on the door.

Even before Seth showed up, Roman was determined that what had happened would not affect their friendship. The decision hadn't been Seth's, he'd just been the triggerman, and Roman wasn't going to let backstage bullshit get between them. They were still brothers, no matter what Vince and WWE threw at them.

The End