Disclaimer Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan and various other WWE Superstars who appear in this story, are the property of the WWE and/or the actors / sports entertainers / superstars that portray them. This story is intended as tribute only and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights.

Original characters are the property of me, and the children of my own imagination. Any resemblance to any real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

This story does take place in my world, but because it focuses on Seth, it can be read as a stand alone from my other stories.

The Girl Who Lives

Part One

There was one special kid every year. A child whose dying wish was to spend time with their favorite WWE superstars and to go to Wrestlemania. Of course, it took more than that to be the special one; there were dozens, perhaps even hundreds of dying children who dreamed the same thing, but there was always one child who stuck out, one child who had all the right stuff become the special kid. This year it was Preston Caldwell.

Preston was six years old and bald due to his latest round of chemotherapy. But, he had big, deep blue eyes and the chemotherapy had left him both his eyebrows and his long, sweeping lashes. His missing hair didn't hurt his looks either, instead it gave him an adorable, "Awww, that poor kid!" look. He had been featured in more than one St. Jude's Hospital ads, and he had inspired a lot of donations, especially one where he said to the camera, "It's never time to quit!" in a high, slightly trembling voice as if those words took everything he had to say them. With his winning, infectious grin, some might say that most people would find Preston Caldwell irresistible.

Seth Rollins, however, wasn't one of them.

It wasn't that Seth didn't like kids, he usually got along with them just fine. But, Preston didn't like Seth, or to be more accurate, didn't like the character he played. He thought Seth was a jerk for 'being part of the 'thority." He referred to Seth as "A bad man!" It was a tribute to Seth's acting abilities that the kid disliked him, so Seth was okay with that. Preston had three favorite wrestlers, John Cena was third, Daniel Bryan was second favorite and most favorite was Dolph Ziggler. All three of them thought Preston was a pretty special kid, but Dolph had really taken to him.

The only thing that was too bad about the whole situation was that Preston and the Caldwell family lived in Iowa. Davenport Iowa to be exact, which would have made it nice if Preston and Seth had liked each other. The terminally ill child bonding with the hometown celebrity. Iowa would have loved it, the WWE would have loved it. But it wasn't going to happen. They had tried to explain to Preston that Seth was an all right guy, but Preston wasn't having any part of it. And why should he? His favorite wrestler of all time, Dolph Ziggler thought he was aces and that's all that Preston cared about.

Being the new favorite of the WWE assured that Preston Caldwell and his family were brought to every WWE event they were able to attend. So, it wasn't surprising at all when Seth walked into one of the waiting areas back stage and found Preston, surrounded by admiring superstars, and his parents Myron and Andrea close by, watching and beaming.

"Can you take me down?" Dolph asked. He was kneeling on the floor so he was eye level to Preston, who leaped on him. Dolph fell to the floor, enveloping the kid in a gentle hug. "You got me, little champ!"

"Oh, no fair!" Daniel said, mock upset. "He gets a hug and I don't?"

Preston drew away from Dolph and ran over to Daniel throwing his arms around him. "Don' worry, Dan-yal," he cried out, giving the bearded man a hug. "Gots hugs for you, too!" Then he ran over and gave Cena one, as well as Nattie. The kid loved to give hugs, which sure didn't hurt in making him the favored Make a Wish child of the WWE.

Seth had come in the room looking for his suit jacket. He had been in there earlier, talking with Hunter and Kane about something for RAW tonight. Several other wrestlers and divas were there as well, all fussing over Preston, who seemed to be behaving extra cute today.

"He's having such a good day," Andrea Caldwell said to the entire room, looking at her son with such love that it was almost painful to see. Surely even the Virgin Mary herself didn't look upon Jesus with as much tenderness.

"He's a trooper, our son," Myron commented, also looking at his son as if he was a miracle. "He's got this never give up attitude. He's going to fight this with every breath in his body." Even if Seth and Preston didn't get along, Seth knew it would be hard not to be a little effected by how much the Caldwells loved their son. Or it would have been, if it hadn't been for Payton.

Payton was Preston's sister. Two years older than Preston, she had the potential to be a cute little girl, with her light brown hair and soft brown eyes. The problem was she had a general look of neglect about her. Not like a child who lacked for the basic necessities, but like a child for whom the little things were always forgotten. She usually looked as if she had dressed in the dark and quickly. Her hair was long, but it didn't look as if it were long because someone wanted her to have long hair, it looked as if it were long because no one could be bothered to take her to get it cut. It was never brushed well or fixed, instead it looked as if someone had given it a lick and swipe and sent her out into the world. Seth strongly suspected the only person who ever did Payton's hair was Payton. And she rarely smiled, at least that's what Seth seemed to have observed so far.

Being Preston's sister, she was usually brought to all these events and today was no exception. Also, like most of these events, she was off in the corner of the room, observing all the attention her brother was getting, but not participating. She was wearing a pink Dolph Ziggler T-shirt today that matched her brothers, no doubt given to her so if she showed up in any of the press pictures, she and her brother would look as if they were both dedicated to the same wrestler.

The corner she was sitting in, was right near where Seth's jacket was. When Seth got over to her, he smiled. "Hey Payton," he said.

She looked at him, her expression surprised as if she wasn't sure he was talking to her. Yet, he had said her name and there were no other Payton's in the room. She was sitting on a window ledge, one that was extra wide so it could double as a seat. Her legs were drawn up to her chest, arms around them and her head resting on her knees. "Hello, Mr. Rollins," she answered, politely, raising her head from her knees.

"Why aren't you playing with your brother?" Seth asked, more to be polite that really interested. He often felt a little sorry for the girl, she always looked awkward as if she didn't have the natural charisma her brother did.

She shrugged. "This is his time," she said.

Seth paused, not quite wondering what she meant by that. The window ledge she sat on was for a double window and she was pushed off to one side, leaving plenty of room on the other. He sat down next to her. "His time?" he asked. In the back of his mind, he thought, Maybe her lack of charisma isn't really a lack. Maybe she's been trained to keep out of the way.

She nodded. "Preston is sick," she said, softly. "I shouldn't be jealous of the extra attention he gets, he's sick so he needs it more than I do." Her voice had a matter of fact tone to it, as if she was parroting something she had heard way too many times. "He likes wrestling, so this is for him. I'm healthy, God gave me the greatest gift ever, I'm grateful for that."

"Don't you like wrestling?" he asked, then added, "It's okay if you don't." He didn't want to make her feel bad. He had met many sisters of wrestling fans who were not into this form of entertainment, but dragged along anyway.

"I do," she said, then, to his surprise, a small, almost mischievous smile spread across her face. "I just don't like Dolph Ziggler. Or Daniel Bryan, or John Cena."

Seth looked at her, amazed and instantly enchanted. That smile changed her whole face, taking her from someone who looked like a slightly depressed adult that had somehow been shoved into a child's body, into a true child and a cute one at that. "Oh?" He grinned in return. "Who do you like?"

The grin stayed on her face. "I like Dean Ambrose. I like Randy Orton. I like Kane, and I like you."

"Me?" he feigned surprise, but was secretly a little delighted. "But I'm a bad guy!"

"I like bad guys," she said, with a determined look as if she was daring someone to tell her she was wrong.

"Why?" he asked, not only to be polite, but because he was genuinely curious.

"Because they do what they want and they never feel bad," she said, as if she had given this matter a lot of thought. "If they have bad thoughts, they don't feel awful later for having them. They don't feel..." she hesitated, not because she didn't know what word she was looking for, but because she was afraid saying it out loud would be trouble. "...Guilty," she said, her voice firm, and when she realized that the roof hadn't caved in over her remark, she repeated it. "They don't feel guilty."

He started to ask her if she felt guilty about things, when her stomach rumbled loud enough so they both heard it. He smiled, finding it amusing. She wrapped her arms tighter around her legs as if she was trying to make herself disappear. "I'm sorry!" she said, hiding her face in her knees.

"Why are you sorry?" Seth asked, reaching out and gently ruffling her hair. "Everyone gets tummy rumblings sometimes. Even bad guys like me."

"Preston is playing," she said, and he was confused. Why would she apologize for a rumbling stomach because her brother was playing? Preston was so busy being hugged, admired, and loved that there was no chance he hear his sister's stomach growling, neither was it likely her parents did either. Then she added, "I'm not really hungry, it's just making noises. I've got a bubble."

There was something frantic in her tone that set Seth on edge, but he ignored it for now. Instead he decided to deal with the issue right in front of him. "Are you sure you're not hungry?" he asked, noticing for the first time, how thin Payton was. It was hard to tell with children, some children were naturally skinny with matchbook arms and legs, but combined with the barely combed hair and the pants that looked too small in the length and too big in the waist, did nothing to quell the feeling that something was wrong. "I was going to head down to catering and get myself something to eat. You could join me, if you wanted."

"Preston is playing," she repeated, again sounding like she was saying something she had been told many times. "Preston wants to play, not eat."

Seth bit back his first response, which was to go, "So what?" knowing it would not make Payton feel any more comfortable. Instead, he smiled. "Well, then, we'll let him stay here and play. You can come with me, if you'd like. We'll both get something to eat and let Preston spend time with his friends, okay?"

"I don't know if my parents will let me," Payton said.

"I'll ask them." Before she could offer any objections, Seth walked over to Myron Caldwell. "Mr. Caldwell?" He decided to be extra polite, even though he and Myron were probably no more than three years apart in age.

Myron turned away from his son, who was sitting on Naomi's lap, while she laughed and fussed over him. He smiled at Seth, but the smile wasn't as bright as he gave to the wrestlers his son loved most. Still it was a smile. "Call me Myron," he said.

"Thanks," Seth said. "Look, I was talking with your daughter and if it's all right with you and your wife, I'd like to take her on a little tour back stage." Seth didn't know why he was being indirect about his real reason for taking Payton with him. "Then, I was going to grab something to eat at catering and she agreed to keep me company. But I want to make sure it's all right with you, first."

Myron frowned, then turned to Preston. "Press, little man, do you want to go on a back stage tour with Seth Rollins and Payton?"

Seth tried not to frown, but was a little dismayed. Preston was never mention in the invitation. Preston was doing just fine, he was getting all the attention he wanted and then some. Why was Preston to be automatically included on an invitation meant for Payton?

"No!" Preston said, and then shook his head as well. "I want to stay here!" he shouted, snugging into Naomi. "I want to stay with the good guys!"

The remark elicited its share of laughter from the superstars and it took Seth everything he had not to roll his eyes. He wasn't one to pass judgment on a child, especially one who was terminally ill, but it sometimes seemed to him that Preston said things that bordered on rude, but everyone laughed merrily as if Preston was incapable of being anything but an angelic.

"Preston doesn't want to go," Myron said, shrugging.

Seth realized that Myron had no clue that to Seth it didn't matter if Preston wanted to come along or not. That the invitation never was meant to include Preston. Myron Caldwell believed sincerely that no one would dream of doing something, anything, even remotely nice for Payton, unless Preston were to be included. "That's fine," Seth said, "Preston is welcome to stay here and have fun with all his buddies. But, if you don't mind, I'll still take Payton on the tour, and then we'll go to catering together."

Myron frowned as if he was trying to grasp on to a foreign concept and was finding it difficult. "Well," he began, then looked over at Andrea. "Do you mind if Seth Rollins takes Payton on a back stage tour?"

Andrea frowned too. She and her husband both had the same brown hair as Payton, the same brown eyes, which made Seth wonder where Preston had gotten his blue eyes from. They looked almost like brother and sister rather than husband and wife. She had the same frown as her husband too. "Preston doesn't want to go," she said.

Again, Seth fought from rolling his eyes. If I said Payton had a broken leg, would you look at Preston and say, 'but Preston's leg is fine?' he thought.

"I know," Myron said. "But Seth is offering to just take Payton."

"Oh, we don't want her to be a bother!" Andrea said. "She doesn't need a tour, she's fine, and I'm sure you have a lot more important things to do than to show a little girl around."

Yeah? Seth thought, I'll bet you wouldn't worry about the value of my time if Preston had wanted to go. "Actually, I don't," he said, keeping his voice casual and friendly. "I think it will be fun for both of us."

Both Andrea and Myron hesitated and looked at each other. Then, they shrugged. "All right," Myron said. "But if she's a bother, you bring her right back, okay?"

"I will," Seth said, "but I think we'll be fine."

There was a difference with Payton that started from almost the moment the two left the room together. In order to not be lying to her parents, he did show her around a bit backstage, but restricted the tour to things that would lead them directly to catering. The moment they were out the door and the door closed behind them, Seth noticed Payton's step picked up. She had trudged out of the room as if walking was a terrible burden, but outside, her walk seemed more like a child's. Not overly enthusiastic, but it looked a lot less downtrodden. Various people were walking around, stage hands, interns, and so on, hurrying to get everything ready before the show. Seth was worried that they wouldn't be looking out for a small girl, so he offered his hand. She took it and smiled at him.

He pointed out the various things that he felt might interest her, the doors that lead into the various locker rooms. Not sure about the state of dress or undress of the people who could be using them, he did not offer to show her the inside and she didn't ask. He pointed out various private dressing rooms too. "I feel like I'm giving you the tour of doors," he remarked, after pointing out the door that lead into one of the makeshift medical centers.

"That's okay," she said, "I don't mind.

She looked more cheerful than he had ever seen her look before, although to be honest, he hadn't made it a point to study her at great length. But he had met her before, especially when Preston first became the favored "Wish" child and they were all hoping he and Preston would get along. Thinking back on those few times, he wasn't sure he ever saw her looking anything but quiet and solemn. She always sat at the back of the room, as if she was trying not to be noticed. And she was usually pretty successful at it. Preston was always in the center of things, getting the attention of everyone, while big sister was ignored. Seth knew that for the next couple months, until Wrestlemania, that as long as their schedule permitted, the Caldwells and Preston would be at almost every Raw and Smackdown. He decided that he would make it a point to talk to Payton. Why not? She liked bad guys after all.

They were going by one of the makeshift offices that the WWE set up in every arena, the mobile promotions department. He paused and looked at her. "Would you like a Seth Rollins T-Shirt?" he asked her. "Or a Randy Orton, or Kane?" he added, hoping she wouldn't think he was trying to push his T-shirt only on her.

Her eyes widened, but she said nothing, only nodded. The door was open, so he walked in, still holding her hand. Standing, surrounded by numerous boxes of promotional material, was Michelle, one of the promotional managers. Seth had dealt with her before and always liked her. "Hey, Mitchy."

She turned from a box she had been going through. "Hey, if it isn't Mr. Money in the Bank," she joked. Spotting Payton, her smile brightened. "I hope you're going to introduce me to your young friend."

"Of course," Seth said. "Payton, this is Michelle, Michelle, this is Payton." He did not mention that Payton was Preston's sister, having the feeling Payton spent way too much of her life being defined as "Preston's sister."

"Nice to meet you," Payton said, smiling, but looking a little shy.

"It's nice to meet you too," Mitchy said, then looked from Seth to her. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, Payton here wants to expand her wardrobe beyond hot pink," Seth explained. "She thought she might like to get a Seth Rollins T-shirt, or Kane, or maybe even Randy Orton."

"Really?" Mitchy pretended to be surprised at the request, but smiled warmly. When Payton nodded, she turned to the boxes. "I think we can arrange that, let me see..."

A few minutes later, the two of them left the room, Payton holding a bag that contained two Seth Rollin's shirts, one each of the two designs currently out, a Seth Rollin's hoodie, and one T-shirt each of Randy Orton and Kane. "Thank you!" Payton exclaimed for probably the fifth time. She thanked Mitchy effusively at least twice and now Seth, at least three times. Her eyes were sparkling and Seth could see they weren't flat brown, but actually had several shades of brown, from almost a burnt gold color to the deep brown, almost black color of good earth. They were actually rather pretty eyes.

"You're welcome," he said, then added, "Do you want to change into one of those?"

She didn't speak, but nodded rapidly, her eyes still shining. Seth back tracked to one of the smaller private locker rooms being used by the Bella twins. Nikki was just leaving the room, when Seth asked if Payton could use her locker/dressing room to change. Nikki was more than willing to take Payton in and help her if needed. Seth leaned against the wall to wait.

He was just about to knock and make sure everything was all right when the door opened and Payton and Nikki came out. Payton was wearing the black Seth Rollins T-shirt with his initials in yellow. On top of helping her change her T-shirt, Nikki had done her hair in a simple style, taking two locks from the front and bringing them around in the back, then fastening them with an elastic. The difference in how Payton looked was almost night and day.

She looks like someone cared about her, Seth thought, then felt guilty for being so harsh. God knew what problems the Caldwell's faced with a child as sick as Preston. So, he altered his thought to, she looks like someone took the time to make sure her hair was brushed and fixed. "Wow," He said, offering his hand again to the little girl, "You look great, that T-shirt is really you. And I like your hair, too!"

"Thank you," she said, then turned to Nikki, "Thank you, too. I love it!"

"Any time," Nikki said, putting her hand on the girl's shoulder and giving it a friendly pat, "It was nice meeting you, Payton."

End of Part One

Author's Notes: I've been wanting to do a story about Seth for awhile and I finally came up with this idea. I hope you like it. Please, review. Even if it's a critical review, that's fine, as long as it's a critical review designed to help me improve (in other words, I don't take kindly to flames and have a habit of turning that fire right back on the flamer) I do respond to all reviews, either by private message or at the end of the next chapter.