A/N - Hey people. So this is my first WWE story and I just wanted to get a few things out there before I started. First off, this story will mainly feature the members of Legacy and Shield. It takes place beginning the Thursday before this year's MiTB. Everything up to that point is canon, as in true to story, unless otherwise noted. It is important to note that one thing not canon is the friendship between Seth Rollins and Randy Orton in the story. It will be explained later on. Anything after MiTB is fair game and likely won't follow TV storylines.

I've decided to blend in-ring with real-life. So all names used are ring names and all 'real-life' personalities are in-ring personalities. If at any point that causes any confusion, please feel free to message me or leave a review and I will try my best to explain. I do have a personal rule of responding to all reviews. If you take the time to write them, I will take the time to respond to them.

And since this is my first WWE story, I'd love feedback, good or bad. Let me know if it seems I am portraying someone out of character. I will do my best to fix that if it happens. And let me know if there is any character you want to see in the story. I will do what I can to include any ideas, recommendations, etc that you all may have. The way I see it, I already got the satisfaction of knowing how I want the story to go for me. Posting here, that's for anybody else who just might be interested in reading it.

Enjoy!

It was a Thursday night and like he always did on Thursday nights, Randy Orton was watching the television broadcast of Smackdown. With pen and paper in hand, Randy waited as Seth Rollins' match had been slated to begin. The younger wrestler, who Randy had taken under his wing during their time in the Authority, had asked him to watch and offer any pointers he might have. So Randy observed, carefully and meticulously jotting down some notes. His plan was to give them to Seth at the next work day, before Sunday's PPV.

But in the middle of the match, Seth did something that had Randy scratching his head. This couldn't wait. So he picked up his phone and dialed the familiar number.

"You watching the match?" Seth asked as he answered the phone. "Pretty good, huh?"

"Uh it was until that just happened," Randy said, referencing a particular move that was less than perfect. "Seriously, what the hell was that? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"It's a little rough I admit, but it's something I had worked on in NXT," Seth explained. "I actually kind of scrapped it but when we were filming on Tuesday, it just felt right."

"It may have felt right but it looked terrible, definitely unfinished," Randy informed him as he made sure to keep an eye on the rest of the match. "Everything else looked solid though. You should give Dean one hell of a match Sunday, definitely enough to get the title back or retain the title. Honestly I'm not sure anymore."

"HA HA HA, very funny," Seth said as he noted Randy's laughter. "You know as well as I do that,"

"Yes, that Dean stole your title and that it's still yours," Randy interrupted. "Yes Seth, we ALL know that."

"Whatever," Seth said, not in the mood to deal with Randy's attitude. "Sunday's my first real solo match practically since NXT so I need it to be flawless."

"It will be fine," Randy said encouragingly as he turned his attention back to the television where Seth was just about to finish Dolph. "Now that," Randy observed, "that's what you have to do against Dean. That move was killer."

"Oh you liked that?" Seth smiled. "That one was being shopped. Hunter said it was ready to go."

"It definitely was," Randy assured him. "That other move not so much."

"I'm going to work on it," Seth said, unwilling to take Randy's advice on this one. "Dusty helped me with it when I first came to NXT and I think it would make a perfect tribute to Dream if I can unveil it and really stick it on Sunday."

Randy paused for a second. Something about what Seth said didn't sound right.

"Did you say 'tribute to Dream?" Randy asked curiously. "What's so special about this PPV that we are honoring him?"

Seth was stunned into silence. "You, you don't know?"

"Know what?" Randy asked agitated.

"Oh shit, I thought Triple H would have told you," Seth replied. "He sent out a mass email this afternoon and was calling a bunch of people. Check your messages; I'm sure you got something."

Randy, who still had no idea what was going on, flipped through his phone. Sure enough he had three missed calls from Hunter and another from Steph.

"I've got four voicemails," Randy told Seth. "But if you know what they are about, why don't you just tell me?"

Seth took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Okay, so here it goes," he said as he tried to remain as calm as possible. "H called me in for a meeting with a bunch of the other NXT guys on the roster who were there when Dusty was. So me, Dean, Roman, Neville, Adam Rose, Kevin Owens, Paige, a bunch more, we were there when Hunter broke the news."

"What news?" Randy asked, Seth's penchant for turning everything into an elaborate story really wearing on him in the moment. "Just spit it out."

"He had just gotten a call from Goldust," Seth finally got to the point. "Randy, Dream passed away early this morning."

It was Randy's turn to be stunned into silence. Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream, was dead? That just didn't fully register.

"What uh, I mean, how did it," Randy paused. He was having trouble forming any sort of coherent thought. Fortunately he didn't have to. Seth knew exactly what he was asking.

"All we know is that he had been sick for the past few days and that he fell and was taken to the hospital," Seth explained. "His family was with him. He died around 3:30 a.m. I'm sorry Randy, I honestly thought you knew."

Randy took a deep breath. He hadn't been particularly close to Dusty, at least not in the way some of the other superstars were. He always respected Dream though. The man was a legend in the business. He was really one of the true good guys. He left a huge impact and to think of him a being gone, that just didn't feel right.

In the midst of his own musings about the icon that was the American Dream, Randy's mind landed on one person. Instantly, he was all he could think about. How was he taking all of this? Was there anything he, Randy, could do for him? He owed it to their former partnership and he owed it to Dream to at least try.

Randy shook his head as he processed everything, remembering he still had Seth on the line.

"Hey Seth, I'll uh, I'll talk to you later okay?" Randy said. "I've got to make a call."

"But my match," Seth whined.

"We'll talk about it later, I just, I have to go," Randy said curtly before hanging up.

It wasn't that he wanted to blow off Seth, that wasn't it at all. But all Seth needed were some wrestling tips. In light of the news of Dusty's death, that could wait. This on the other hand, it couldn't.

Randy headed to his computer and after 10 minutes of searching through useless files, finally found the full phone directory of WWE Superstars, Divas and other personnel. He scrolled down the page until he found the name he was looking for: Cody Rhodes aka Stardust.

He dialed his number. Voicemail.

"Hey Cody, it's uh, its Randy," he began. "There's no easy way to say this. I just heard about Dream. Look man, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know what he meant to you. You must be going through hell. Look I know that we haven't exactly been on speaking terms for a while but I never stopped wanting to see your career succeed. We were kind of friends once, even if I was a jackass for most of it. So if you need anything, anything at all, just reach out to me. So yeah, that's it. I guess I'll see you at work soon. Take care Cody."

Randy sighed as he put down his phone. He could only imagine how Cody was feeling right now.

He remembered the first time he met the youngest Rhodes. The kid couldn't have been more than 19 years old. Dusty had brought him by Raw to introduce him to some guys. It was right before Cody was set to make his own WWE debut.

Randy introduced himself, with the arrogance and smugness he had been known for in those days. He told Cody he was the legend 'well, you know the rest,' before the kid promptly told him to stay away from his dad. Randy just laughed. Then Dusty proceeded to call him a disrespectful punk. Well, Randy didn't take too kindly to that. In fact, he slapped Dream in the face, one of the many regrettable decisions he made during his career.

The slap manifested in a match at the Great American Bash, which was the PPV Dusty made famous. This was Dusty's retirement match. It also marked the first PPV for the young Cody, who came in to stop Randy from punting Dream in the head like he had so many other legends.

Looking back on it, Randy was honored he had been the one to give Dusty his final bow as well as give Cody his first ever match. He saw a lot of himself in the kid. At the time, this didn't mean anything. Randy was focused on his own career, on the budding rivalry he and John Cena were embarking upon. He didn't have the time or the inclination to mentor some kid.

But then Legacy just sort of happened and Randy found himself the unlikely go-to guy for both Cody and the other second generation talent, Ted DiBiase Jr. They looked up to him both in and out of the ring and eventually he gave in. In fact, Ted and Cody were the first guys Randy really took under his wing.

Of course, he had his own reasons too. He would finally admit it to both Ted and Cody later that he formed Legacy to use them to advance his own career not so much theirs. They played the role he played in Evolution. They were expendable and when they no longer served his purpose, he took down the stable.

Ted ended up leaving the WWE shortly after but Cody remained. And just like Randy felt toward his own Evolution teammates, Cody felt toward Randy. He didn't forgive him. Not that it really mattered anyway given that Randy never apologized. He didn't feel he needed to. He and Cody were never friends; at least that's what Randy would tell him one day in the heat of the moment. He instantly regretted it, not because it wasn't true, but because of the way he knew it hurt Cody.

And that was kind of that. Randy forged his own path, going on to win a handful of titles, while Cody bounced from tag team to tag team as well as having an Intercontinental reign of his own. The whole time, Randy followed his career, proud of the accomplishments of the man he basically helped to manage for a brief time. But he never told him as much. He never really said anything to Cody after their post-Legacy feud had ended.

But with Dusty's passing, Randy felt the need to reach out to the kid who at one point had been like a little brother to him. He just hoped that Cody would return his call. Because the thing was, Randy knew how Cody could get sometimes. He knew this whole Stardust thing was just one example. It wasn't entirely fiction. Somewhere along the line, Cody really lost himself and out of that, the 5th dimension gimmick was born.

Honestly, Randy knew he should have reached out sooner, probably much sooner. But he felt awkward in doing so, especially when Stardust declared that Cody Rhodes was dead. Again, that wasn't an entirely fictitious statement.

Randy sighed as he looked back at his phone, hoping to have heard from his former protégé.

Nothing.

Just a text from Seth, and those voicemails from earlier from Triple H and Steph. Randy listened to them carefully, each building upon the previous one.

"Hey Randy, its Hunter. Please call me back when you can. I have some news."

"Hi Randy, Hunter again. I had wanted to tell you in person but I'm still getting your voicemail, so here it goes. I just wanted you to hear from me. Dusty Rhodes passed away. I'm calling in a bunch of his NXT guys to give them the news. I just figured I owed you the courtesy, given your history with Dream and Legacy, for you to have the news first. Call me back."

"Randy, its Hunter. Again. Look, I left you a couple messages already. I hope you're okay. We're all taking Dream's death pretty hard. He was a great mentor and friend. I know he taught you a lot and I know that you're at a point in your career where you have finally come to accept the value of those legends you set out to destroy. You've grown up. Dream was proud. He really saw the potential in you. Not sure if he ever told you, but you deserve to know. Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Please, call me back. Thanks. Bye."

"Randy, this is Stephanie McMahon. I'm calling all of the superstars and divas. I'm sure you've heard the news by now. We are having an open forum of sorts tonight to talk about Dusty and share stories and memories. I know Hunter would love to see you there, we both would. It would mean a lot to Dream I'm sure. So if you can, it's at the arena, 10 p.m. Hope to see you there."

Randy looked down at his phone. It was 9:30. Throwing a few things in a bag, he headed to his car and rushed to the arena. There was no way he wouldn't be there for Dusty's final sendoff.

A/N - Thoughts? I decided to give Randy a little less of an edge than his actual TV character has. It was just easier this way to introduce the fact that he would actually care about Cody in light of Dusty's death. So the Viper doesn't have as many Viper-like tendencies as on WWE, but don't worry, that part of Randy's character will very much play into this story in some capacity.