HIGHS AND LOWS

Set after WrestleMania 34. Kayfabe compliant.

The arena was pretty much empty with everyone having gone to the various WrestleMania after parties, or home/hotel room after the long night the premiere wrestling event always turned out to be. Be that as it may, Roman could still hear the booing from the crowd in his head as well as a small voice inside repeatedly telling him what a failure he was. The same feeling had left him unable to look his father, his wife and daughter, or any of his family in the eyes as he silently headed up the ramp. He remembered he had grabbed onto Galina's offered hand, but hadn't felt any of the comfort she had certainly been offering. All he had felt was the aching of his head from the stiff shots his opponent had meted out in the ring and his heart aching just as painfully with misery.

Medical staff had pretty much guided his empty shell around when he got backstage. He remembered seeing the various faces of his colleagues and management; a few of whom had tried to speak to him, but all he heard was muffled noise. Not even Jimmy and Jey, nor Seth had been able to break through that barrier! It was Dr. Amann's voice that had done that: telling him that he had stitched up the wound on his forehead and they would continue to monitor for concussion, but Roman was free to go.

Somehow, he had gotten from the trainers' room to his locker room and into the shower, but the dark-haired man couldn't tell you how that had happened. He didn't know just how long he had been standing under the showerhead, but he did know that the still-warm water didn't seem to be washing away any of his thoughts.

"Damn!" Reigns sobbed, punching his fists into the wall in front of him and finally letting the tears flow freely down his face. "Damn it! How could I fuck this up?"

To add to the list of things he didn't know was just how long he had been standing there, under the shower, until he felt a pair of warm, gentle hands rub his back before the arms they belonged to wrapped themselves around his waist. A warm, equally as naked body pressed up against his back, and a very familiar scent filled the air.

"Hey, baby girl." Roman greeted, unsure of what else to say.

"Don't worry. I locked the door and your parents decided to take the kids for the night." Galina said as her husband turned around to face her. A small, sympathetic smile appeared on her face and there was a watery sheen to her big, dark eyes as she noticed the tears in Roman's. She reached up and put a hand to his cheek. "Oh, baby!"

"I…" Roman started to reply before his voice faltered. Embarrassed, he closed his eyes and wrapped his hand around hers as she tried to wipe the tears away from his face. "I just…"

"I know, babe." Galina sighed, leaning into him and resting her head against his bare chest. Her hands rubbing his back. "But you gave it your all out there! I'm so proud of my Samoan warrior!"

"Why?" Roman shook his head, wrapping his arms around her after opening his eyes again. "I let everyone down, Gal. I should have been able to beat that son of a bitch and I couldn't!"

"Only because that overgrown piece of shit played dirty, hitting you with those stiff shots." Galina replied, "If he hadn't, we'd be celebrating your big win right about now." She smiled up at him. "Believe that!"

"MMM." Roman could feel a smile start to form on his lips and his mind fill with happier thoughts, to say the least. "How is it that you can make that catchphrase sound so goddamned sexy, baby girl?"

"Pure talent." Galina purred, "Besides, I think I might have a few other ideas on how to get those negative thoughts out of your head, my brave warrior."

"Oh, yeah?" Roman raised an eyebrow, "Like what?"

"Like I said, your parents agreed to take the kids for the night." Galina smiled, "So, my plan is that we go back to the hotel and get some food in you. Then, head on back to our room where I give you one of my infamous massages that you like so much, and a much needed soak in the bathtub before I tuck you into bed and take care of you for the rest of the night. How does that sound?"

Saying nothing, a smiling Roman reached behind himself and turned the shower off.

"Ok, Rollins!" Miz grumpily exclaimed, making his way through the crowd of the raucous after-WrestleMania party that had broken out in the restaurant/bar area of the hotel most of the roster was staying in. Another growl escaped the man as he slammed a shot glass full of tequila down on the table in front of the aforementioned Rollins. "Just like we agreed to: losers of our match buy the winner of our match a drink! You happy now?"

"Never forced you into that agreement, brother." Seth smiled smugly, leaning back in his chair. "Besides, it was Balor here's idea in the first place, so don't get mad at me!"

"Come on." Finn Balor chuckled from where he was seated next to Seth. "You can't blame an Irishman for putting drinks on the line, can you?"

Saying nothing, Miz merely glared at the two men, who were now laughing at him, before turning and heading back to his own table.

"Taking the piss out of that one will never not be funny." Finn remarked, shaking his head as Rollins downed the shot in front of him before making a face. "Not your favorite?"

"Bastard would buy the cheapest drink he could." Seth replied, "Reminds me of something Ambrose would have bought back in the day."

"Well, we really didn't specify the rules, so…" Finn started to say as one of the bartenders set a new glass of ale down in front of him. "Uh, I didn't order…"

"From the lady." The bartender smiled at him, nodding her head towards a waving Bayley, who was sitting at the bar with Sasha.

"Should have known." Finn replied, raising his glass in appreciation towards her.

"Something you want to tell me?" Seth raised a teasing eyebrow.

"Despite what the internet may think, she's just a good friend." Finn shook his head before taking a drink. "Yeah, that's the good stuff! Speaking of friends, you know if Roman will be joining us tonight? Looked pretty down after his match! Was thinking about buying him a pint."

"You know, I really don't know." Seth sighed deeply, wishing that he had another drink as he could feel the sadness and worry he had been suppressing since leaving the arena start to rise again. "I'd imagine he's got one hell of a headache. I tried to talk to him when he got to the back, but it was like…there was just nothing there, you know? I'm actually kind of worried about him."

"Hmm. I think that a lot of us are." Finn nodded as someone set a bottle of what was known to be cheap beer down in front of Seth. A smile crept across Balor's face as he noticed who it was. "Something you two want to tell me, so I can tell your husband?"

"This is actually from that lunatic husband of mine." Renee smiled back as Seth stood up and hugged her. "Congratulations, champ! Dean was very specific that I order you what he calls real man beer."

"Because real men are cheap?" Finn raised an eyebrow.

"It's Ambrose." Seth chuckled with a shrug of his shoulders as Finn got up and walked to Gallows and Anderson, who were nearby. "Speaking of, I'm surprised that he didn't fly out here for Mania."

"He was thinking about it," Renee admitted, "But he has to fly out to Birmingham in the next few days anyway. Plus, don't tell him that I said so but I think being here and knowing he couldn't participate would have been too hard on him. He really does miss being on the road."

"Yeah, it's not easy." Seth nodded, knowing full well what missing WrestleMania was like.

"He did tell me that he cheered so loud when you won that it scared the hell out of Blue!" Renee giggled, "Took refuge under our bed for about an hour or so."

"Oh, no!" Seth laughed, "Yeah, occasionally, I'll get into things on TV or a game, and yell so loud that I scare Kevin. Gives me this look afterwards where I just have to give him a treat, you know?"

"Been there." Renee replied, "Actually, I guess that he scared my poor baby twice tonight. He admitted that he got pretty upset at the ending. Was cleaning up the shattered remains of a couple of empty bottles just now when I called."

"Wasn't exactly happy with how it went down either." Seth nodded.

"Yeah, same." Renee agreed.

"You know, I don't think that I've ever seen Uce look so out of it as he did when he got backstage." Seth said before pausing momentarily. "Well, maybe when he found out about Rosey passing away. Both the twins and I tried to talk to him when he got backstage, but it was like Roman couldn't even hear us. I was just telling Finn that I'm actually pretty worried about him."

"I texted Galina to see how he's doing." Renee said, "She said that they got the wound on his head stitched up and are monitoring him for a concussion. His parents took the kids for the night, so the both of them could have some…private time."

"Just got one stop to make first." Roman smiled, suddenly appearing behind the blonde-haired woman. One could plainly see a bandage near his hairline and he was still wearing sunglasses as the bright lights of the hotel were bothering his aching head.

"Uce!" Seth greeted as the two men pulled each into a high five that turned into a hug. "Hey! You all right?"

"I've been better." Roman admitted, keeping a hand on the slightly younger man's shoulder as they let go. "But I didn't want to call it a night before congratulating you, little brother! Meant to do it before my match, but I got distracted."

"No worries." Seth waved off with a wide smile, "Took me a while, but I finally caught up to you and Ambrose! The Shield is now all Grand Slam champions, baby!"

"Come a long way from three newbies in black turtlenecks! Yessir!" Roman nodded before wincing as a sharp pain flashed through his head at the motion. "Damn!"

"You all right?" Renee asked, noticing the wince.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Nee." Roman reassured as it was her turn to give him a hug. "Head's just killing me, thanks to Lesnar."

"That fucking bastard." Seth growled with a shake of his own head. "Almost ran down the ramp again when he did that! Not sure what exactly I planned to do when I got there, but…"

"I had to talk a certain someone out of going to the airport and taking the first flight out here that he could get." Renee added as Roman let go of her. "Speaking of that, he's flying out to Birmingham later this week for therapy. Mentioned that he wanted to see about driving down to your place for a day, so you two can hang."

"That would be great." Roman said, smiling at the thought of being around Dean for a while. "Tell him to text me and we'll work something out. Right now, I'd better head on back up to the room. Galina said that she was going to time me, so…"

"I'll go with you." Seth volunteered, wanting to speak to Roman more in private. "Make sure that you get to the right place?"

"I'll tell Balor where you went." Renee promised.

"Don't really need an escort." Roman rolled his eyes.

"Nope, you're outvoted on that one, mister!" Renee shook her head, "I hold my husband's voting proxy when it comes to Shield votes." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Speaking of, I'll tell him to wait to call you until tomorrow. Sounds like Galina's got a big evening planned for you two."

"Thanks, baby girl." Roman grinned before turning around heading towards the bank of elevators. As Rollins caught up to his side, his smile turned into a frown. "So, now that Renee's not around, what do you want to talk about?"

"Just been worried about you, man." Seth replied, looking at him. "I mean, I tried to talk to you when you first got backstage, but you were checked out."

"Yeah, was on autopilot." Roman admitted, pressing the button for the elevator. "Couldn't hear a damn thing outside of my own head until Amann said I was free to go. I remember seeing you and the Wonder Twins try to talk to me, but didn't hear a damn word you guys said."

"Never seen you like that before." Seth nodded, "Honestly, you looked like Ambrose does when he gets lost in his own head!"

"Got a hell of a lot more sympathy for him now if it's anything like that." Roman sighed heavily as both men stepped into the elevator. "Uh, tenth floor. It was bad, Seth! Kept hearing the crowd boo the shit out of me and some stupid little voice telling me how much of a failure I was." Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the cool, metal wall behind him, which felt good on his head. "Still feel down actually. Should have won that match!"

"It just wasn't meant to be, brother." Seth replied sympathetically, "Can't let yourself get too down, you know? Sometimes, it just isn't your night."

"Not my night? That's putting it a bit lightly!" Roman scoffed before immediately looking apologetically over at Rollins. "Shit. Sorry, man! I know you're just trying to help and here I am, snapping at you."

"Well, you do have a headache from hell, so I'll let it slip." Seth smiled, patting Roman's shoulder. "Your luck will turn around, brother! I mean, you know that I've been in a slump since…well, pretty much since Ambrose got injured, and now look! Intercontinental champion and member of the Grand Slam Club, baby!"

"Yeah, I guess it's not all doom and gloom." Roman replied, feeling comfortable enough to take off his sunglasses. "Uh, you'll get your Grand Slam breakfast as soon as Ambrose comes back and can celebrate with us, since he sort of started the whole deal. Still not sure why he thought Denny's would do that, but…"

"It's Deano." Seth chuckled, guiding Roman out of the elevator as it reached the right floor. "Room 1016, right?"

"Yeah." Roman nodded as they headed down the hallway. "So, where's your girl at tonight? Surprised you guys aren't celebrating! Unless she's just a cover for you and Balor?"

"Oh, whatever!" Seth shook his head, "Nah, Uce. Sarah's got an aunt that lives down here, so they were going to get dinner after the show. Did send me a congratulatory text and said that she'll have something special for me when she gets in tonight."

"Ah, something special, huh?" Roman wiggled his eyebrows, "I see."

"You're one to talk." Seth playfully glared at him as they stopped outside Roman's room.

"There you boys are." Galina, who was clad in a robe, remarked as Roman opened the door. "Renee texted me and said you were headed up."

"Yes, ma'am." Seth teased, trying to sound official. "I found this stray Big Dog running around in the lobby and heard it was yours. Now, the state of Louisiana has some pretty strict leash laws…"

"Yeah, he DOES like to get off his leash every once in a while." Galina giggled as Roman just glared at Seth. Still smiling, she hugged Rollins. "Congratulations on your big win, champ! JoJo went crazy when you won!"

"Really?" Seth replied, "Well, I mean she is my biggest fan. I'll have to thank her the next time I see her! For now, though, I'd better head back down and finish that beer Ambrose told Renee to buy me before Balor drinks it." He lightly punched Roman in the arm. "You know to call me if you guys need anything, right?"

"Yeah." Roman nodded, pulling Seth into another hug. "And thanks for the talk, man. I hope that I didn't put too much of a damper on your night."

"Not at all, brother." Seth shook his head, hugging the larger man back. "Like I said earlier, we all have our slumps and you'll bust out of yours sooner than later." As the two let go, he smiled at Galina. "And, from the looks of it, your night is about to get a whole lot better."

"Believe that." Roman said, closing the door behind Seth.