~*~out of the mouth of babes~*~

"Is Dean going to be okay?" Seth, as he walked backstage after taking the Instagram photo for the company's official account with Stephanie and Hunter, heard the familiar voice of Roman's daughter Talia. She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. Not the happy, giggling tone he was used to hearing. It stopped him in his tracks.

"He'll be just fine." Paige assured, stroking the little girl's chestnut hair, as she bent forward to kiss her head. "Your Uncle Dean's tough as nails. And between Emma and your Daddy, they're going to make sure he listens to the doctor this time and takes care of his shoulder."

"He fell really far from a super high place and was lying on the mat for a long time…" A sniffle from Talia came next, but it was quickly muffled by Paige pulling her into an embrace.

"Shhh," She murmured, patting her back. "Don't cry. You'll see for yourself that he's fine. I cross my heart and hope to die," The Brit recited the familiar refrain. "And stick a needle in my eye."

"But do you pinky swear, Paige?"

"I pinky swear, too."

The pair hooked pinkies, unaware that Seth was watching the entire exchange play out. He swallowed thickly, raking his gloved fingers through his hair, and before he could think twice, he closed the four feet that separated him from the Diva's Champion and Roman's daughter. He could feel his stomach twist, remembering the last time he had seen Talia, it was just before Payback in Chicago.

She was wearing her Shield shirt, the grin on her face spread from ear to ear, and she had given each of them a kiss for good luck.

He cleared his throat, and wasn't surprised by the fierce glare on Paige's face. His stomach, somehow, sank to the soles of his feet and twisted itself into elaborate knots as the Brit positioned herself between him and the little girl, her lithe frame taking on a protective stance; not unlike a lioness protecting her cub.

"Can I help you?" Her tone was measured and he knew if Talia wasn't with her, she wouldn't be as calm and would probably try to go after him like she had backstage the very night everything fell apart, no doubt wanting to make up for the fact that Cameron and Naomi were able to hold her back and steer her to the Diva's locker room.

Seth sighed heavily, his jaw clenching and ticking. He didn't expect a warm welcome from the self-proclaimed 'Anti-Diva,' and maybe he didn't deserve one after everything, but he could still be concerned about Dean, couldn't he? It's not like he was completely heartless.

He felt the urge to yell, to push her out of the way and go see for himself if Dean was all right, but he knew that wouldn't end well. If he yelled, Paige would definitely start yelling and all of the yelling would only scare Talia, meaning he'd have to answer to a very angry Roman.

"I just want to know if he's okay." He bit out through clenched teeth.

Paige gave him a long, hard look; as if she was expecting faux concern from him, like this was all some elaborate plan to continue the fight while Dean was down. He supposed he shouldn't have a right to feel insulted, but he did nonetheless. He wasn't going to into the trainer's room and start beating on him. The match was over; he had the briefcase, the contract to challenge Cena for the belts anytime he wanted, what else was there for him to do?

Her features softened, and briefly he remembered when they were friends. How they would blast their metal music in the car, much to Roman's chagrin and they would try out new moves together during training. She loved the sport as much as he did, and did everything she could to improve her technique every chance she got, just like he did.

There wasn't the warmth in her eyes he remembered, but at least she wasn't looking at him with disgust, for now, anyway.

"Doc's checkin' him out. Roman and Emma are in there making sure he listens to him this time."

"He's a stubborn son of a…" Seth stopped, when he saw Talia appear from behind Paige's legs. He could hear Roman's demand in his ear, as if the big man was right beside him, "no cursing in front of talia or so help me, rollins, i'll wash your dirty mouth out with soap."

"You were hurt, too." Talia murmured as she hesitantly stepped next to Paige, and Seth swallowed thickly. Her hesitation cut like a knife. She always used to, without abandon, run straight for him with a big smile on her face, leaping into his arms and proceed to climb him like a tree, stopping only when he agreed to a piggy back ride. Now, she could barely look at him and had an air of sadness about her.

"Shouldn't you be with Dean at the doctor? Or were you there already and he said you're okay? Cause if you weren't there, Nikki's going to be mad, and you hate it when Nikki's mad. You get sad and talk about how you'll have to buy her shoes so she won't be mad at you anymore."

As much as falling off the ladder hurt and it hurt like a bitch and a half, Talia's assumptions hurt worse, if that was even possible. She didn't know that he and Nikki weren't together anymore. There wasn't an official break up, but the writing was on the wall once RAW went off the air. He felt as though tiny shards of glass were pricking his skin, relentlessly, as he struggled to figure out what to say.

Words couldn't come fast enough and in the end it didn't matter because Roman and Emma were walking out of the trainer's room with Dean in the middle. He was glaring at the petite Aussie through the messy fringe of his curls and his jaw was ticking as he said, "I don't need a fucking babysitter, Blondie. I got a bum shoulder not a concussion. You heard the doc; I just need a couple of the pills and some ice."

"Uncle Dean!" Talia admonished him before Roman could, her eyes wide and mouth agape. "You said a really, really bad word! And not just in front of me, but in front of Paige and Emma, too. Papa Sika says you shouldn't curse in front of ladies, its bad manners. Next time you come to Daddy's you have to put a dollar in the jar."

"I should just give you my wallet, Sunshine." He joked, his usual lopsided grin curling at his lips, as he bent forward ruffling the little girl's hair with the hand of his good arm. "Also, your Mom and Dad should thank me for putting you through college with the mouth I got."

Seth felt horribly out of place as the scene unfolded before him. He remembered what it was like after matches when Talia was able to be there. Everything was calmer somehow. There were more smiles and the aches and pains were lessened, without ice and pills. She was so attentive and careful with them, biting her lip and asking if they were sure they were okay and they didn't need to be brave for her, that they could tell the truth if they were hurt cause she was a big girl and not a baby.

He met Dean's eyes as the man rose to his full height, and suddenly a briefcase that felt like it was weightless, seemed to be the heaviest thing he'd ever held in his life. He knew if they were alone this would be completely different. Most likely, they'd end up having to be separated, and cameras would inevitably show up and then Hunter and Stephanie would, and it would add more fuel to the fire, something the WWE's power couple would enjoy immensely.

"You okay, man?" He managed to get out, despite his throat feeling as dry as the Sahara.

"Don't think you're getting off easy. The trainers at ringside were able to keep me from getting back in the ring tonight; tomorrow's a brand new day."

Seth fought against the laughter bubbling in his throat; typical Dean, he couldn't just say he was fine, he had to issue some sort of challenge. He nodded, a smile crossing his lips, "I'll be ready."

The Ohioan didn't say anything, he just nodded and as Emma squeezed his bicep and began guiding him down the hallway, he grumbled, "You don't have to stay with me. I can shove a couple pills in my mouth and put an icepack on my shoulder."

Emma rolled her eyes, but her exasperation quickly transformed to adoration. Her smile was warm and her eyes were shimmering as she shook her head, "When are you going to realize that you're stuck with me, Ambrose? I'm not going anywhere, so just get used to it. Now, come on; the sooner we get back to the hotel, the sooner you can educate me on Point Break. It's streaming on Netflix and I brought my laptop with me."

Dean's elusive dimple peeked out. "Yeah?"

It was almost blinding, the smile on Emma's face, as she stood on her toes and gave his lips a peck, "Yeah."

They were gone and Seth, if it was even possible, felt more awkward being left with Roman, Paige and Talia, who was looking at him skeptically and her head tilted to the side. "How come Nikki's not here? She's always with you after matches, and when you win, Daddy's always telling her to stop kissing you and he makes sure to cover my ears and my eyes because you're doing things."

Seth swallowed thickly. He bit the inside of his cheek, unsure of what to say to Talia. For all of her six years, she was terribly perceptive. She'd call him out on the carpet if he lied. And since she watched the show, there was no way she didn't notice the tension between Brie and Stephanie during the pre-show when Daniel Bryan came out. And she was most likely all too aware of Nikki standing by her sister's side and Stephanie's not so subtle jabs about the demise of his relationship with the Bella Twin who was still employed with the company.

The little girl with her sable eyes studied him closely before she told him, "I know you want to be champion, Daddy does too and it's a big deal and stuff, but aren't they just belts? You can't kiss them… Well, I guess you can, but they can't kiss back, and they can't hold your hand like Daddy and Paige hold hands sometimes, even though I'm not supposed to say, because they're tough and that's girly." Her nose wrinkled, mimicking Roman's infamous scowl to perfection. "They can't go on vacation with you or make breakfast or watch movies. You should tell Nikki they're just belts. She looked sad when Stephanie said those mean things to her, and buy her some shoes, too. Then she won't be sad and you won't be either."

Seth didn't know what to say. He was stunned into silence.

Roman smirked as he bent forward and scooped Talia into his arms, making her squirm and wriggle before she settled and asked, batting her lashes, "Since Paige got to keep her title are we going to get ice cream? You always get me ice cream when I do something good. Like when I scored at soccer last weekend."

Paige linked her arm through Roman's and comically batted her own lashes as she pouted exaggeratedly, bouncing on the heels of her boots. "Yeah, are we going to get ice cream?"

The Samoan laughed as he shook his head. "Pops raised me right, so if its ice cream my ladies want, its ice cream they'll get."

The Brit stood on her toes, murmuring something only Roman could hear in his ear, which she tugged on, briefly, before pulling back. He shifted Talia from one hip to the other and bent to whisper back in his girl's ear, her pale cheeks flushing and just as she was about to whisper back, Talia interrupted, "Why are you whispering? Are you keeping secrets? Ugh, is this boring grown up stuff that I'm not supposed to know? Like when you would cover my eyes and ears because of Seth and Nikki? If it is, I don't care. If it's not, I wanna know."

Paige threw her head back and laughed before reaching over to pluck Talia from Roman's arms. She tapped the little girl on her nose saying, "If your Daddy has his way, you'll never know about the boring grown up stuff we were whispering about. But don't worry, Emma and I will keep him from all your boyfriends. Speaking of boyfriends how is Bobby by the way?"

Roman's eyes narrowed as a scowl came over his handsome features. "Bobby?" He grit out. "Who's Bobby?"

Talia flushed bright red and buried her face in Paige's neck. "Paige…" Her whine was muffled as she clutched at the Brit's shoulders. "Oh, relax, Daddy-O," Paige pushed Roman in the shoulder, shaking her head. "He's just a boy in Talia's class. They both like to play on the monkey bars and he always makes sure to save her a seat on the swings at recess. Jeez."

The conversation continued, as they walked past Seth, before their voices were finally gone, signaling they had disappeared down the length of the hallway. Walking back to his locker room, he remembered – not all that long ago – when Nikki would be there waiting. Sometimes in her gear, sometimes in just the knee high socks she wore with her gear and the snapback she wore into the ring. Those were his favorite times. Other than when she'd wear this particularly short, body-hugging red dress.

He loved her in red.

But she wasn't there. Not that he expected her to be.

Most likely, she'd never be there again.

And as he changed out of his gear, Talia's words came back to haunt him. You should tell Nikki they're just belts. She looked sad when Stephanie said those mean things to her, and buy her some shoes, too. Then she won't be sad and you won't be either.

If only it was that easy.