Title: Internal Conflict

Author: captainbartholomew

Disclaimer: I don't own any members of the WWE or other items that may be copyrighted in this story because if I did I would have reunited The Shield on Monday night and then had them go off into the sunset being brothers once again for all the fans to love. I only own my personal ideas, thoughts, opinions, characters, and plot lines. So please, don't sue me!

Summary: Deep down inside of him he knew they needed a third man. Of course, his other half was reluctant, but sometimes when opportunity knocks you have to take it, right? He had been their brother after all and who better to go into war with? However, there was most someone holding him back. Oneshot.

Blame/Fault: This is the result of my drinking wine and sending caylendar pins of Shield Fanart on Pinterest. Note to self: don't do that again, fanart gives me crazy inspiration for fic writing. The piece of fanart that inspired this fic is of Authority Seth holding Shield Seth captive while Roman or Dean extending their arms trying to save Shield Seth. If you feel the urge to coo like I did, you can do so now.

*a/n i: I should be writing cover letters for job applications. Or do something equally as productive, but instead THE MUSE was like let's justify The Shield reunion Monday night cause he had a Seth writing itch that needed to be scratched. Stupid muse harassing me for Seth Rollins fanfics, I hope your happy! *shakes fist angrily* Ahem, I haven't forgotten about Incognito I just put it on the backburner for now.

*a/n ii: This is also, in some weird askew way, a kind of sequel to my Dark Side oneshot, but you don't have to read it to understand this, however you should read it since you made it here! :)

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He swung the back door open as the crisp autumn air nipped at his body causing it to shutter for a minute in order to become accumulated with the climate. He needed to get out of the arena and attempt to find balance. He just wanted to be able to breathe again without having to watch his every move. Where had his plan gone wrong? Maybe it was the statue, which was when everything went south. No, no that didn't seem right. Maybe it was when he started copyrighting John Cena's jargon after he broke the elder wrestler's nose. Ever since then the 15 time World Champion had been on his case like it was nobody else's business. No, that wasn't it either. Or maybe it was when Sting had showed up, no that was too easy of an excuse. Or maybe it was when he had managed to anger Kane thus splitting the monster into two separate personalities. He shuddered when he thought about that one knowing it was all too familiar to him.

He grabbed the rusty metal railing of the short stair case in front of him clenching his fists around it while lowering his head and forcing his eyes shut. He was still in his ring gear and if anyone saw him out here, it would have looked ridiculous. Thank goodness, it was only him in this grimy back alley behind the arena. He needed to clear his head and the only way to do that was think without anyone else being around. More often than not, his best ideas came when he was alone in his own element.

A deep frown crossed his face. It wasn't always like this, he thought to himself shaking out his ratted up two toned hair. He hadn't had any true friends since his traitorous turn on his business partners. Sure, J & J were great guys, but did you really want to hang out and be friends with your hired security team? Randy Orton had been there for a while, before he wanted the championship for himself and turned on The Authority. Yea, Orton had been as much of a friend to him as he had been to his ex-business partners. He snorted at the irony of that one. Then there was Kane, who since Day 1 had hated him and now wanted his title. He hadn't had anyone for a long time now and he missed having confidants.

Suck it up, Rollins, he thought to himself. As much as he wanted to do what he thought, there was a nagging feeling at the back his mind telling him this whole year and a half had been a waste. He never had successfully defended his title without help. He hadn't made any friends, excuse me, business partners. He couldn't even manage to win over any of the other wrestlers to make him seem like the most dominant one in the WWE. This whole endeavor seemed to have been a failure. Seth pushed his hair out of his face knowing exactly where that voice was coming from. He was annoyed and irritated it was even trying to speak to him. He had buried that voice in the back of his head under mountains of betrayal and hurt hoping to kill it off. It was like the voice was a cockroach that wouldn't die no matter how many times Seth tried to make it explode with radioactive bombs.

"You're comparing me to Dean now, really?" questioned the voice he had tried so hard to bury deep down inside him with a snort. Seth's eyes shot up as he stared at the person before him. Of course, he knew Seth's internal thoughts because he too was Seth Rollins. This Seth though was dressed in SWAT gear with his hair pulled back into a pony tail. He looked happy he had managed to strategically out maneuver whatever had been in his face allowing him to make an appearance in front of the other man. The man better known as one third of The Shield stood in front of the corporate stooge of the Authority.

"How did you get out?" growled Authority Seth as he gritted his teeth in annoyance seeing his former self standing there, "Didn't I lock you in a box and throw away a key?"

Shield Seth rolled his eyes as he walked closer toward his annoyed half, "You let me out at that pay-per-view when we Triple Power Bombed Orton through the announce table. You didn't think I'd figure out a different way to get out? Tonight had just the right amount of energy to let me out. Teaming with Roman and Dean wasn't your best idea now, was it?"

Authority Seth scoffed at his counterpart not impressed with his little antics. It didn't matter if he was here; it wasn't like he was going to wrestle control from him. He had everything he could ever want as he glanced quickly down at the WWE World Heavyweight Title hanging over the rusty old railing. Shield Seth began to walk up the stairs leading closer to him; he too eyed the title shaking his head in disgust not very impressed by it. To Shield Seth the title never meant anything to him without his brothers by his side. Of course, the little twerp would stare at in disgust, thought Authority Seth to himself. Shield Seth finally came to ascend the stairs and attempted to touch the title, but it was pulled away from his grasp before he could do so. Shield Seth scowled at the other man angry and annoyed by his overprotection of such a stupid object which didn't focus on brotherhood or stopping injustice.

"Oh don't give me that look," complained Authority Seth as he once again rolled his eyes at the old version of himself, "It's not like you were going to get anywhere with Ambrose and Reigns anyway. They're time was up and my time is now!"

Shield Seth chuckled to himself at the unintended John Cena pun. Leave it to the sniveling coward to be compared to that. Sure Shield Seth had never really respected Cena, but at least they had managed to get along in order to make sure justice was served. The problem was Authority Seth never saw it like that, he'd beat Cena senseless taking absolute joy in the elder man's pain. When Authority Seth broke Cena's nose it was as if the man had won the Super Bowl championship. That was the problem; Shield Seth served justice with a code of honor. Authority Seth just wanted to beat people senseless with cinder blocks not caring who it was he was hurting in the process.

Shield Seth stared at his other self not quite impressed with him. He remembered the night he had let out Authority Seth thinking that once into the Authority he would be able to take down Triple H, but instead the man had embraced everything about the faction in order to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. He had continuously stepped on Dean and Roman's toes to retain said championship making sure they would never want to speak to Seth again. The worst possible feeling for Shield Seth was knowing his brothers thought of him as nothing but a traitorous scumbag cockroach.

"What's wrong, Ninja? No one can hear or see you, so I'd give up the ghost," Authority Seth cackled darkly as he stared at his counterpart, "You thought you could regain control from me tonight to help them, ha! I only let you think you could so you'd play Ambrose and Reign's little game. They will hate you more than ever before now since you betrayed and walked away from them not once, but TWICE!"

Shield Seth looked down at his chest in disappointment staring at his tactical vest. All the plans, strategies, and tactical maneuvers he could think of to stop Authority Seth wouldn't matter if Dean and Roman hated his guts by the time he returned to them. Maybe Authority Seth was right, maybe he should just give up, the likelihood of him regaining control and not being this heinous Lex Luthor like personality seemed so unlikely. Truly he did love being WWE Champion, but that wasn't him being champion. It was more like watching someone live his life as him, but doing all things champions did but in the wrong way.

Champions didn't walk out of matches.

Champions didn't stand behind security guards or their bosses.

Champions didn't screw their friends out of title opportunities on numerous occasions.

But here Authority Seth was, WWE World Heavyweight Champion since April at WrestleMania.

Roman didn't trust him anymore after that incident. If Shield Seth who lived by a code of honor managed to regain control and somehow miraculously proved himself to his brothers, he was positive Roman Reigns would never trust him again like he had when they WWE Tag Team champions. Roman would think it was an evil Jedi mind trick before thinking Seth was actually a genuinely trustworthy person again. The brotherhood that was there when Roman had told him he was still his little brother was extinguished as quickly as a bucket of water being doused over an open campfire in order to put it out. Roman Reigns would never see him as trustworthy again. However, there was another person who might believe Shield Seth was still alive and well, but the likelihood after tonight's events were small.

"ROLLINS!" Dean Ambrose burst through the back door to the alley seething looking ready to become unhinged once again just to beat the living hell out of the runaway coward that was Authority Seth. Shield Seth hadn't moved from his spot staring at his brother wanting to shout or scream or just do something to make the Lunatic Fringe look his way. But as he had found out many times before, no one could hear him except the Authority version of himself.

Speaking of that version, Shield Seth glanced around the small alley to see that the occupant of his body had dove out of the way of the back door and was hiding in the dumpster sitting on the other side of the alley. Shield Seth snorted at the image of the man wiggling through the smelly trash bags. He couldn't of thought of a better punishment for abandoning his brothers in that match with the Wyatts if he tried.

Dean had begun to glance around the alley looking for the scumbag who had left him along with Roman high and dry once again. As Ambrose's eyes darted around they became affixed on the spot where Shield Seth was standing. Dean Ambrose looked like he had seen a ghost from his past. Shield Seth recognized the look of confusion on his brother's face, but it couldn't be.

"You… you… see… me?" stuttered a questioning Shield Seth overwhelmed with emotion in his voice as Dean blinked rapidly at the image of the man in front him looking exactly like Seth of old. At first Ambrose thought he was hallucinating and maybe the chocolate brownie Roman had given him earlier was laced with something, but when the Seth of old spoke to him he couldn't believe it. Maybe Dean was having this vision because of the intense energy from the crowd having an almost Shield reunion or there had been something in that brownie, he didn't know, he didn't care, but for right now the man who had been his brother, the trustworthy, jump out of ceilings to take down the Evolution, fight over who sat in the passenger seat Seth Rollins was standing before him.

"I can," Dean stated quietly looking at the image he had missed and wanted again for so long, "But how? Why? What? I must actually be a lunatic if I can see you."

Seth realized he didn't have much time to talk to Dean as from in the dumpster Authority Seth was staring him down trying to push him back into the farthest reaches of his subconscious. Shield Seth looked pleadingly at Dean. The two of them had been the best of friends during their days of the Shield and if there was anyone who could help him now, it was Dean.

"I don't have much time, but I'm still in here," Shield Seth said as he pointed towards Dean's chest specifically his heart, "Why do you think I agreed to help you tonight? Why do you think I stood toe to toe in front of the Wyatt's with you and Roman? Why do you think I put Randy Orton through that table with you two all those months ago? It's not because 'I'm the so called Man' or 'The Architect,' it's because your my brothers whether that two timing schemer known as Authority Seth thinks so or not.

"I know he's done a lot of crap to you and trust me, I am so sorry. The cinder blocks, the matches, but I'm most sorry he broke your hope of me ever coming back. You trusted me tonight to help you and Roman beat the Wyatts. I lost control before I could do anything, but I give my oath of loyalty to you as your brother I will be back and when I do come back I'll show you both you can trust me again."

As Shield Seth began to fade and flicker from the alley, Authority Seth begun to come out of his hiding place. The mush between Ambrose and his goody two shoes counterpart was too much for him making him throw up a little in his mouth, however before he could lock the door and throw away the key to unsure Shield Seth would not get out again soon did he say one last parting sentence to his brother.

"Oh and Dean," Shield Seth announced causing the man known as the Lunatic Fringe to look towards him once more, "I love you too, big brother."

Shield Seth immediately faded from view as Authority Seth cleared his throat making his presence known to his archrival. Dean turned around to find Authority Seth standing their snide as ever and smelling a lot like rotten eggs not knowing the man had been hiding from him in the dumpster.

"Talking to the voices in your head again, Ambrose?" mocked Rollins as Dean stared down the man who had left him high and dry in the main event with Roman not even half an hour earlier. Dean wanted to engage the man in a bitter street fight, but what he had seen and heard seemed to be holding him back.

Some battles were best left to be fought another day. This was one of those battles.

"Nah, I think you're thinking of Orton, Rollins," Dean answered rather cheekily. Authority Seth rolled his eyes and shoved his way up the stairs passed Ambrose not amused by his antics. He had things to do, people to see, and his goody two shoes loyal to the end other half to contain. He didn't have time for dealing with Ambrose right now; he'd take care of it later as he opened the door walking back into the arena shaking his head in disgust at the man known as the Lunatic Fringe.

Dean remained outside though trying to piece together what had just happened. He had seen the Seth of old. The Seth Roman had said didn't exist, but the man he had considered his brother had just monologued to him an apology for all the shitty stuff he had done to him over the last year and a half. Maybe, there were two sides to the Seth Rollin's coin like the villain Two Face from one of Dean's old Batman comics. That had to be it! There was Authority Seth who for lack of a better wording was a complete asshole and then there was Shield Seth.

The man Dean had called brother all those months ago still existed! What was it Shield Seth had said, it was him who helped Triple Power Bomb Randy Orton through the announce table? It was him who had been standing toe to toe with them as they faced the Wyatts tonight? It was him all along being there in the shadows trying to regain control and kick Authority Seth out of power and cost him his championship.

Ambrose remembered the vow Shield Seth had made to him right before he disappeared; now it was his turn to promise something of his own to his brother.

"I vow to help you return," Ambrose said quietly as he leaned against the rusty iron railing, "I know your still good Seth and I will help you no matter what."

All of sudden Dean heard a large clap of thunder above his head and looked up to find lighting streaking the sky. A steady down pour of rain was beginning to come down and hit his head. This whole night had been an emotional rollercoaster, but the effects and emotions were starting to wear on him. As Dean opened the door back into the arena he gave the alley one last parting glance.

"I still love you too, little brother," stated the Lunatic Fringe as the door to the alley closed behind him as he reentered the arena having a bit more hope about Seth's demeanor than he did before.

The End

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*a/n iii: Reviews are the wrestler of your choice giving you hope for a Shield reunion even when you think there is none! Thanks for reading!