Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“No Dice.”

Cecily Perrin had tears in her eyes. She already felt out of place being back in the building where herself and her older brothers used to play around at. She left a lot behind back on June 3rd, 2014. Herself and two of her brothers never looked back. To be here in the same room with her grandfather, her mother, her father and the youngest of her brothers put her on edge. She could feel the tense atmosphere. She could see Dean’s chest moving up and down, the sounds of his heavy breathing filling the room. Cecily could see Roman tensing his jaw at the mere sight of his brother and sister so uneasy. Cecily didn’t know what to do. All she could feel was her throat closing up. It got harder and harder to breath as more and more seconds passed. She had to get herself and her brothers outta here. Next thing she knew, her feet started towards the door. Someone grabbed Cecily’s shoulders and turned her around. Her hands moved faster than her brain could currently handle. The back of Cecily’s right hand connected with a face. All she could hear was the scream of her mother as she fell into the arms of her father and brother. She watched her mom grab her cheek in shock, Her father staring at Cecily in disbelief, and her brother fuming in anger at what she had done. Two familiar hands settled on her shoulders and turned Cecily around and out of the door. She couldn’t feel her own feet hitting floor as more guided steps were taken towards the exit. The only sound flowing thru her ears was static until a tiny, familiar voice broke through.

“Don’t go Cece.” The voice of her youngest sister stopped her forward motion. Cecily turned to her side and saw all her younger sisters, the youngest with tears in her eyes reaching out toward her. Cecily fell to her knees. Before she could lift her arms, her sister charged forward at a high pace. Her body slammed into Cecily’s chest, punching the small amount of air left out of her body. Wrapping her arms around her youngest sister gave Cecily the ability to breath again. The action also released the flow of tears she was holding back until she was in the safety of her brother’s car.

“Please don’t go Cece. We miss you. So does mommy and daddy and Sethie. We all miss you.” V’s tears were soaking Cecily’s shirt. All she could do was rock Vaughn back and forth, doing her best to sooth her tears away. She was close to all her sisters but especially Vaughn. She was so young when Cecily left. She probably still doesn’t understand why three members of her family were seemingly ripped away from her and never returned. Cecily noticed Murphy and Aurora inching closer.

“Will you guys really come back? V wasn’t the only one to miss you. We all did.” Murphy spoke up, grabbing Romans hand. Aurora wrapped her arms around Dean’s leg. Family being so close yet so far. Roman, Dean and Cecily didn’t know what to say. Cecily saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked up to see her brother. His face was unreadable. It was like he didn’t know what to feel. Cecily moved back a little, keeping her eyes on Seth. She returned her attention to Vaughn. Cecily wiped the tears from her cheeks and grabbed V by her shoulders with a sad smile.

“Look, V, I can’t promise we will be back. Some very bad things happened to D, Ro-Ro and I back when you were younger. Its gonna take some time for us to move on from that. But I can promise this. If you need any of us, anytime and anywhere, we will be there. No matter what we have to face.” Cecily glances at both Murphy and Aurora. “That goes for you two as well. Now we have to go but remember what I said, Ok?” All the girls nod their heads as Cecily stands and joins her brothers.

“We’ll see you guys later alright?” The girls waved goodbye. Before the older trio could reach the elevator doors, a voice from behind grabs their attention. It was Seth.

Seth shook his head and glared at the ground before looking up and facing his family.

“Mom misses you.”

Dean spoke up this time. “She sees us every Monday and Tuesday. What could she have to miss?”

“You guys know what I mean!” Seth growled.

“I don’t think we do. The person I’m looking at hurt us a long time ago and hasn’t stopped. Why should I even take the time to understand what you say?” Dean snapped back.

“Would you guys cut the crap. You’re hurting mom.” Seth huffed and Cecily scoffed.

“We’re hurting mom?!?! Well mom hurt us just as bad. And whats worse is all of this could have been avoided but no we have rating to make. Stories to tell even at the expense of family but hey the show must go on. Am I right?” Cecily popped off and Seth was stunned.

“Guys lets just go. We’ll worry about this later.” Roman herds them into the open elevator before he turns to Seth. “Tell grandpa we will think this over. Tell mom……If we do agree to this, the road won’t be easy especially after what these two have been through. If you all want this, Your gonna have to fight for it.” Roman gave a one over to Seth and stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind him. Seth sighed before turning around and was meet face to face with his dad.

“Dad! Uh Roman said…” Seth started to explain but was cut off by Hunter.

“Yeah I heard him and I don’t care how hard we have to work. I missed too much of my own kids lives and Your mom and Me don’t plan to miss more.” Hunter takes his hand out of his pockets and looks at Seth’s face. All he sees is his youngest boy trying to be so strong. Trying to hold back his emotions like he has done for almost three years. Hunter brings Seth into his arms and Seth just breaks. Seth’s sobs wracking his body. Fat tears are rolling down his face and onto his fathers dress shirt. The stress finally breaking him down. Seth clutched his fathers shirt in his hands. The fabric grounding him.

“I know Seth, I know. It hurts to have them close yet so far. But I promised you and your mom that we would get them back and I meant it. I want them here just as much as you do but you gotta calm down ok? Calm down son. I’m right here.” Hunter comforts his youngest boy as Seth’s tears slow to a stop. Hunter brings Seth's forehead to his.

“We’ll get them back. This family will be put back together and we will be whole again, You hear me?”

Seth nods. “Yeah dad.” They both smile and separate.

“Now, Lets get our family back.” The two walk back into the office so they could all figure out a way to attack this situation.

Chapter Text

“MOM!” Cecily screamed into the shared locker room her family was in. It was her and the boys first night on the main roster and she was stressed out. Her brothers were holding it together but only by a bit.

Cecily stepped into the adjacent locker room where her mother and her younger sister were hanging out and watching the show. She almost screamed again but as she entered the room Stephanie gave her daughter a look and gestured with her eyes to the sleeping two year old in her arms. Cecily changed her tone and looked sheepish.

“Sorry mom. Uhh do you know where my doc’s are?” Cecily asked, taking care not to wake Vaughn.

“I think they are buried underneath Dean’s bags.” Stephanie answered with a smile. Steph could never believe that the woman standing in front of her was the little girl she and Hunter adopted so long ago. Now she and her brothers were preparing to make their main roster debut and she couldn’t be prouder.

Cecily smiled back, “Thanks mom.” Cecily closes the door behind her as she left so she could say what she wanted.

“DEAN!!! MOVE YOUR SHIT!!! I NEED MY BOOTS!!” Cecily screamed. In the other room, Stephanie shook her head at her oldest daughters antics.

“STOP SCREAMING!!! Geez, C, I’m right here.” Dean replies. He moves his bags out of the way to see his sisters shoes. Dean gets up and bows, “Your shoes, good sister.”

“I can’t stand you.” Cecily pushes Dean outta of the way but he grabs her by the neck and gives her a noogie, laughing as Cecily tries to wrestle outta the hold. Roman and Seth give a glance to each other before shaking their heads at their younger siblings. Dean gives up after a while, going back to putting his tape on and Cecily sits down to lace up her boots.

Seth sits next to her and knocks into Cecily’s shoulder with a smirk.

“What to do want, Seth?” Cecily rolls her eyes.

“Could you please do my tape?” Seth bats his eyes at his sister but she rolls her eyes, exasperated.

“You are 27 years old Seth and have been wrestling for half of your life, How in world do you not know how to do your own tape.” Cecily looks to Seth for a good answer.

“Because my wonderful, beautiful, amazing, super awesome little sister has always been there to do my tape because she does it so well.” Seth leans his chin on Cecily’s shoulder and pouts in her face until she finally gives in.

Cecily points at the floor between her legs. “Sit down and gimme your arm.” Seth pumps his fist and goes where his sister tells him. Cecily grabs the tape and goes quiet in concentration. Cecily spent many years of her life traveling around the world so she could support her brothers. Going to Minnesota and Jacksonville to see Roman play. Trying (and failing) to be the loudest fan in the crowd. Going to a CZW show and watching Dean’s matches from between her fingers. Staying the night to make sure Dean doesn’t break his stitches. Going to high school gyms in rural nowhere to support Seth. Doing up his tape for the night at whatever ROH taping she could be at.

While acting annoyed, she was happy to do this for Seth. Do anything for her brothers. She joined FCW/NXT because they thought having her as a manger would set them apart and she did. She set aside her budding career in Hollywood for them but its not like they just took and took and took. No, they did everything to remain a massive presence in her life. Calling her even when they were dead tired. Comforting her when an audition went bad or praising her when auditions went great. Helping her with homework. Running lines with her. Going to see her plays even if they just got in from the airport. The Shield wasn’t just a name. It wasn’t just a means to find justice or a brotherhood, it was family.

As Cecily was finishing up Seth’s tape on his other arm, Dean felt the need to put his two cents in.

“Aww look at the brother and sister being all cute. Isn’t it precious!!” Dean laughs at Cecily.

“Oh blow it out your old wazoo, Dean.” Cecily launches a water bottle in Dean’s direction. Dean ducks but the door behind him opens. It’s timed just right and the water bottle nails their father, Hunter, in the face. The laughter in the locker room screeches to a halt. The siblings look at each other in apprehension, waiting for their father to go off. Hunter’s face is blank as he grabs the water bottle off the floor. He looks at it for a second, walks over to Dean, opens it…..

And proceeds to dump it all over Dean’s head.

“AHAHAHAHAHA!!!!” Cecily, Seth and Roman burst into laughter at Dean’s expense.

“Come on Dad!! This is gonna dry out before I get to the ring.” Dean complains.

“Consider it payback for me taking your water bottle shot.” Triple H walks over and rubs his hand over his daughters hair. Cecily immediately flinches.

“Dad, Jesus Christ! I just got these braids done and they still hurt!” Cecily shouts. She tries to pat the pain out of her sore scalp.

“That’s what You get for launching a water bottle at the door.” Hunter sits next to her and draws Cecily into a hug, kissing her forehead. He ruffles Seth’s two toned hair a bit before whipping out his phone.

“So, you guys ready for tonight?” Hunter asks.

“Born ready Dad.” Roman confirms

“Then whats going on? Your mom texted me saying you guys have been doing everything except running a hole in the carpet. She can feel it and so can I. You’re all anxious. So whats up?” Hunter puts his phone down and looks at his oldest kids. They all look at each other, urging with their eyes to get one of them to speak up.

“Not it!”

“Not it!”

“Not it!”

“Not….DANG IT!!” Seth exclaims, angry his siblings forced him to do the talking once again.

Hunter looks down at Seth. “Well?”

Seth takes a deep breath before talking. “Ummm Dad, does anyone know who we are?”

“No one knows your here except Me, your mom, Heyman, Ryback and CM Punk. What are you guys talking about?” a look of confusion paints Hunter’s face.

Roman sighs and speaks up, “We want to know if anyone knows we are your kids.”

Hunter rubs his beard, “Not that I know of, Why?”

“Dad, even if the locker room is changing, what will everyone say if they find out we are the bosses kids. No one in NXT knew except Dusty and our trainers. We don’t want anyone here thinking were getting special treatment because of who we are.” Cecily says, her gaze shifting everywhere but at her father.

Hunters looks at all his kids faces, “What are you saying?”

Dean punches his fist into his palm, “We don’t want special treatment. We don’t want anyone to know our real names. We want to earn our spot just like everyone else. So…. we want to go to the regular locker rooms after tonight.”

“WHAT!” Stephanie exclaims after hearing her sons statement. No one noticed her walking into the locker room, overhearing the conversation, “Why would you want to go to the locker rooms when you can have your own private room right next to us every night.” Stephanie asks.

“Mom, we don’t need the private room. We want to prove ourselves. And I know you’ll probably say, ‘We can do all of that from here.’ But we can still do that working our way up to private locker rooms, having the respect of the men and women back here. Show all of them that every opportunity we get, we earned. We never ask for much. We will never not be thankful to you guys for letting us go our own way and carve our own path to WWE. We’re asking you one more time to let us do this. Let us make our mark, Please?” Cecily pleads.

Hunter and Stephanie look to each other. Trying to gauge what they should do here. Stephanie smiles and shrugs her shoulders. Hunters turns to his kids with a smirk.

“If, and that’s a big If, there will be rules.” Hunter asserts. All the siblings heads snap to the dad’s face. They’re all taken by surprise, not thinking this conversation would be that easy.

Stephanie speaks first, “Firstly, you four are to keep your phones on and the volume up high. If we need you, you are to answer alright?” They all nod their head frantically.

Hunter delivers the second point, “Your sisters can visit you whenever they want. If they want to spend the show with you, they will. If they want to spend the night in your hotel room, they can. That good with you?” They nod again.

“Lastly, before you guys go to bed, you will check in with us. We want to know if you have any injuries and if your taking care of yourselves Ok?” Stephanie sees them all nod one final time. Stephanie opens arms and her children fall in. Steph embraces them all as best she could.

Hunter stands up as his alarm goes off. “Alright Alright, break it up.” He says with a wide smile, “Its time.”

The four members of the Shield all smile.

The siblings stand behind the curtain, blocking them from the raucous crowd inside the arena. The members of the Shield were all doing things to keep themselves occupied. Dean was jumping up and down, shaking the nerves out. Seth was stretching. Roman had his eyes closed taking deep breaths, in and out. Cecily was cracking her bones. They were all trying their darnedest to not sike themselves out before going out there and preforming for crowds four times the size they saw in NXT.

“Please tell me your not keeping the turtlenecks after tonight.” Cecily comments.

“Oh man I hope not.” Roman answers, his eyes still closed.

“Hey! I think they look good.” Seth defends their attire for tonight.

“Of course you think it looks good. You pitched it.” Dean contests. The four continue to bicker as the tense atmosphere dissipates and they all dissolve into laughter.

Roman calms down enough to speak, “Thanks CeCe. We all needed that.”

“Its what I’m here for.” Everything quiets down into a comfortable silence. Cecily fills it with some of her worries.

“Hey guys?” All of her brothers give her their attention.

“Do I look ok?” Cecily stares at the ground.

“You always look amazing. Why would you doubt that?” Seth questions.

“Its just…..There’s not a lot of African American mangers. Even less plus size ones. What if they…don’t like me?” Cecily, reluctantly, admits to her brothers. As this day inched closer and closer those thoughts creeped into her mind more and more.

Dean walked over and grabbed his sister by the shoulders. “Did the NXT crowd love you?”

Cecily was confused by the question, “Uhh Yea.”

“Did they accept you for everything you are and more.” Dean challenged.

Cece answered once again, “Of course they did……They do.”

Dean kisses her forehead, “Then you have nothing to worry about. Just be Damage. You’ll win them over.” Dean and Cecily share a hug when a stage hand comes over.

“Shield. Mr. Helmsey says you got two minutes. And he says good luck.” The stage hand smiles and stands over to the side.

Roman and Seth wrap their arms around their brother and sister. “You guys ready?!?!” Roman yells.

“YEAH!!!”

“Nice job out there you guys.”

“Man ya’ll looked great!”

“Can’t wait to see what you guys do up here.”

All the congrats felt like white noise to the quartet walking through the halls of the arena. They just went out there and showed everyone they can’t and shouldn’t be messed with. The couple of minutes they were out there passed in seconds. Seconds filled with yells, screams, punches, kicks and a four way fist bump. Everyone was patting them on the back but the four only wanted to hear feedback from two people. The two people who mean the most to them. As they reached closer and closer to the door, the siblings looked around to make sure no one saw them enter.

They couldn’t get in the door good before Murphy and Aurora were attacking them with hugs. Roman and Dean embraced their little sisters while Seth and Cecily played with Vaughn’s feet. Vaughn giggling at the silly faces her brother and sister were making. Someone in the room began to slow clap. The entire Shield standing to face their father.

Hunter wiped his eyes before finally speaking, “I remember when you three had your triple threat down in FCW and I was so proud. I never thought a moment could top that…” Hunter had to pause cause he could feel his voice starting to crack with emotion, “Then your sister made herself a home in that ring and I thought ‘What could possibly top that?’. And that moment happened tonight. Seeing you four out there, it was like watching myself, Shawn and Chyna in our prime. I am so proud of all of you. I love you kids so much.” Hunter and his kids embraced for a long time. Steph waited until the hug was over to wrap her arms around her kids. Seeing them just going for it scared the crap outta her. Stephanie didn’t know if she could handle watching her children every week doing things like that but if this was their dream, she would get used to it.

“So how’d it feel?” Stephanie asked.

“OMG so awesome!! I could feel the entire crowd’s energy or that may have been the adrenaline coursing thru my veins.” Cecily laughed.

“Man, The NXT crowd has nothing on that!” Seth jumped up and down.

“I feel like I could spit fire.” Dean sits and cracks his back a little.

“Well try and run your energy down. Were gonna go get some food and celebrate.” Hunter grabs his and his wife’s bags. “We’re gonna go ahead of you guys and get a table. Seth I’ll text you where we are. Cecily make sure you and your brothers have everything.” Hunter and Stephanie hug their kids one by one again before heading but one little girl doesn’t leave with them.

“Murphy, sweetie, we gotta go. Come on, lets go to the car.” Hunter kneels down on his daughters level.

“Can’t I stay with Ro-Ro?” Murphy asks.

Hunter rubs his beard, looking contemplative, “If your brothers and sister say you can, I have no problem.”

Murphy looks at Cecily and Dean.

“You gotta ask Seth.” They both snicker and go back to packing up.

Murphy turns her attention to Seth and Seth passes the baton to Roman.

“Technically I’m not the oldest here. You gotta turn it on for Roman.” Seth winks at Murphy and walks over to his bags. Murphy goes over and taps Roman on the shoulder. Roman gaze finds the deep pout his sister puts on. Roman is weak to his little sisters pout.

“Pwease Ro-Ro?” Murphy bats her eyes at Roman. Roman tries to resist but fails. His head falls and he sighs. His siblings all erupt with laughter.

“Man how short was that?!!?!” Seth cackles.

“Oh shut your mouths.” Roman and his siblings make cracks at each other and Hunter shakes his head at the scene.

“I’ll see you guys at the restaurant, Ok?”

“Ok!” All his kids reply. Hunter closes the door with a smile. This was gonna be a new ride that he didn’t want to get off of.

Chapter Text

Cecily, duffel bag sat firm on her shoulder, stepped to the front door of her brothers home in Florida. The door opens to reveal her goddaughter, Joelle. Joelle’s face lights up at the sight of her aunt.

“AUNTIE CECE!!!” Joelle shrieks, wrapping her arms around Cecily.

“JOJO!!!!” Cecily lifts Joelle off the ground and carries her into the house. Cecily sticks Joelle back on the floor and takes a look around at the empty living room.

“So this is the welcome party I get. Come on, its been years since I’ve been here.” A snort comes from the kitchen as Roman’s wife, Galina, strolls over. She drags Cecily into a hug before speaking.

“You were here two weeks ago.” Galina detaches herself from her sister in law.

“Exactly. Its been years.” Cecily deadpans. Cecily can’t keep a straight face and she bursts into laughter. Galina guides Cecily to the kitchen, a promise of drinks mentioned. Galina passes Cecily a beer then takes her seat at the kitchen table.

“Jo, Why don’t you go upstairs and see what your dad and uncle Dean are doing?” Galina asks. Joelle begins to argue but Galina cuts her off with a stare.

“Yes mommy.” Joelle drags her feet upstairs. The two wait to hear a door close giving them the signal to have their real conversation.

“You ready for tonight?” Galina opens the drinks in front of them. After a long swallow, Cecily shares her thoughts.

“I don’t know. I mean when I left WWE, I was so angry. After Colby left the Shield, my only thought was escaping and you already know how that went. Grandpa convinced me to say as long as I could. I did and a year later, I couldn’t take it anymore. After I quit, the sight of anything about my family pissed me off. We’re reaching two years later and I thought these feelings were gone. But seeing them two weeks ago just ignited them again. It feels like we’re strangers instead of family.” Cecily took another sip of her drink before continuing.

“Joe’s the oldest. He was able to let this go much easier than myself. When I think about how Jon feels, he just needed to punch Colby a couple times and he’s all good. Me? I don’t have that with him anymore and our relationship is even worse now. What do you think I should do?” Cecily pleads with Galina. She purses her lips in thought.

“Well, Do you miss Colby?” Galina retorts.

Cecily is thrown aback by the question. Her mind fills with memories. Getting Seth’s hair all wet before a match. Doing his wrist tape before his match with AJ Styles. Being there after he got surgery on his neck. Cheering for him when he won the ROH World Championship. Jumping in his arms after he won his first WWE Tag Team Championship with Roman. All these happy memories outweigh the one glaring bad memory that she associates with her brother. A small smile graces Cecily’s face.

Galina clapped her hands together, “And there’s your answer. I know he hurt you. I know he hurt your brothers but if this is something that you want. If you and your brothers want your family back, you need to forgive him. Not only for yourself but because I know you. You have dreamed of your father walking you down the isle. Being there with ALL your brothers to hand you over. Those are moments you won’t get back unless you take a step just like they have. You don’t have to run. You don’t have to walk. You don’t have to hold out your hand yet. All you have to do is step forward.” Galina places a hand on Cecily’s shoulder as her brothers walk down the stairs.

“There you are! How’s my sister!!” Jon grabs Cecily by the waist and lifts her into a hug. He spins her around while the room laughs at the siblings antics. Jon sets her down then Joe wraps his arms around her from behind.

“How you feeling?” Joe asks.

Cecily take a deep breath, “I’m strangely ok. I want my family back. I want to cheer for Colby. I wanna hug my dad. I even want to argue with mom over my wardrobe like old times.” Cecily feels Joe’s laugh on her back and it brings a smile to her face.

“What do you think Jon?” Cecily glances at her brothers face, trying to gauge his reaction.

All he does is smile, “Well what are you waiting for? Get dressed! We got a family to put back together!” Cecily, Joe and Jon all embrace. The feelings they all have kept bottled up for way to long finally lifted off their shoulders. The time spent away from their family felt like a giant puzzle and every piece they picked up didn’t match. This moment was finally finding that one middle piece you need to keep going. They all knew it wasn’t gonna be easy but when has being a McMahon-Levesque ever been.

The three siblings stood outside the entrance to the restaurant Hunter had picked for tonight, waiting for the rest of their family to show up. They had arrived early full of restless energy. They were all dressed smartly, even Jon found a pair of slacks that actually fit him out of Joe’s closet. They heard a shout from their left. Joe looked up to see Colby jogging over, Hunter and Stephanie walking behind him. Joe met Colby in the middle. The two share a bro hug and exchange words for a moment. Colby keeps taking glances at his other siblings and Cecily had enough of it. She strides over to her brothers and taps Joe on the shoulder.

Cecily stares Colby in the face, “Could you and Jon go say hi to…to mom and dad. I gotta speak to him.”

Joe nods and grabs Jon by the shoulder, walking to where their parents had stopped in their tracks. Cecily takes in her brother appearance for the first time in a long time. Colby looks good but in his expression she finds fear. His whole demeanor is distressed. He’s rocking back and forth on his feet. His fingers are tapping patterns on his thigh. He’s biting his lip. Cecily lets him stew for a second, taking her time to form words.

“Have you regretted it?” Cecily utters into the space between them. Colby’s head drops, knowing what his sister is referring to.

“Everyday.” Colby speaks with conviction. Tears form in Cecily’s eyes. She steps closer to her brother. A brother who seemed so different but still the same. Cecily wraps her arms around his waist as tears fall. Slowly, she feels Colby pull her closer by the shoulders. Colby buries his tear filled eyes in his sisters hair. So many statements being whispered into the moment.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I’ve missed you so much.”

“I should have just talked to you.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

The two siblings pull away. The both of them wiping waters from their tear stained eyes.

“I missed you Colby.”

A gasp escapes Seth.

“I missed you too Cece.”

Jon and Joe walk up behind them. Jon speaks first.

“Dude you can’t make Cece cry. Then, We all gonna be blubbering all over the floor.” They siblings, all reunited once again, all laugh. Jon and Colby embrace for a little while and Cecily makes her way over to her parents. She could barely get a word edgewise before her mother wrenched her daughter into her arms. Cecily returned the hug in kind, cherishing being in her mom’s arms again.

“I love you mom.”

“I love you too Cecily”

Mother and daughter shift away from each other. Stephanie shares a look with Hunter before stepping over to her sons. Hunter shakes his head and rubs at his nose. Cecily grasps her hand behind her back. Father and daughter not know what to say to fill the silence. A couple minutes pass until one of the two makes a move.

Cecily walks over, embraces her father and buries her head in his chest. Sighing at the familiar feeling of overwhelming warmth that came from hugging her dad.

“You don’t have say anything. I just want to know if I’ll have my dad back after this.” More tears flow from Cecily onto her fathers sports coat.

Hunter clutches her tighter, “I’m never letting go again.”

The two hear Colby calling to them in the background.

“Our tables ready dad.”

Hunter wraps an arm around his (no so) little girl, bringing her into his side with a smile.

“You good?” Hunter asks.

Cecily nods, “Yeah. I am.”

The families server for the night leads them to a private room where no one could see them. She had water already on the table but took their drink orders while she was there.

Hunter speaks first, “I don’t know about them but water is fine for tonight.”

Colby goes next, “I’ll also stick to water.”

Then Jon, “I’ll take a pale ale.”

Joe, “I guess I should be the responsible one here. I’ll take a coke.” Joe smiles.

Cecily goes after Joe, “So you just gonna make me look bad then huh?! It’s fine. I’ll take a Rose.”

Last to round out the table is Stephanie, “I’ll have a Riesling.”

Their waitress walks off and a wave of silence comes over the table. They look around at each until Cecily decided to be the proverbial glass breaker.

“Alright, look we all had a moment outside. We acknowledge that we all want this again. Us being a family but it can’t be this awkward. We have all done some terrible things in the past. But if we want this to work, we need to put all of that behind us and focus on moving forward.” Cecily finally takes a breath and leans back in her chair. The whole table looks stunned at her speech. Jon broke the silence.

“Jesus Cece, cut a promo on us why don’t you.” The whole table cracks up as their waitress comes back with their drinks. She takes the tables order then disappears again. Hunter claps his hands together and says.

“While we’re waiting, should we start the business side of this dinner?” Stephanie places a hand on her husbands shoulder.

“Actually sweetheart, I think we should save that for dessert. Right now, I wanna know everything that we’ve missed. So, what been going with you guys?” Steph looks at her children and they don’t know what to say. Cecily, Joe and Jon exchange looks.

“Jon got married.”

“Joe had twins.”

“Cecily dated two wrestlers.”

The siblings glare at each other before speaking again.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!” The three exclaim.

“Jon I can’t believe you!”

“Come on Joe!”

“You just had to open your big mouth Cece!” The three continue to bicker when Colby’s voice cuts through.

“Wait wait wait wait wait!! Cecily, you dated two wrestlers?!?!” He questions.

“That’s what I’m hung up on.” Hunter takes a sip of his drink.

“Really? Of course that’s what ya’ll are hung up on!” Cecily throws her hands in the air in exasperation.

“I’m not. I am more concerned at the fact that I am a grandmother again before forty five, Joe!” Stephanie leans forwards keeping eye contact with her oldest. He proceeds to slink back in his chair while Colby comes to the defense of his siblings.

“Mom, Dad shouldn’t we give them a second to explain before you grill them.” Hunter and Steph nod in agreement with their middle son, “So Cecily, which wrestlers were lucky enough to date my sister?” Colby, conveniently, swallows some of his water to hide his smirk. Cecily just huffs in anger at her brother.

“Yea babygirl, who dated my daughter without my permission.” Hunter puts his elbows on the table and folds his fingers together. Looking like every bit of ‘The Game” as he possibly could. Cecily glances at her brothers for help but they are (failing) to hold their laughter back. Cece’s head just drops and she mumbles something under her breath. Jon laughs at her dismay a little before prodding her.

“Umm I’m sorry but we couldn’t hear you. What did you say dear sister of mine.” Jon lifts Cecily head by the chin. Her eye cut to Jon giving him the most deathly glare she could come up with.

“I was dating Finn.” Cecily rolled her eyes right as Seth started choking on his water.

Hunter eyes narrowed, “Finn! As in Balor? As in Fergal Devitt?!?”

“Dad please, This whole family was split in half and I didn’t want anything to affect his career by dating me. Beside we ended it a while ago.” Cecily looks a little sad.

“Oh sweetie. You’re okay now, right?” Stephanie asks. In her mind, she wishes she could have been there to support her daughter during her first real relationship.

“Mom, I’m fine. I’m just glad Fergal is really cool and we’re still friends.” Cecily shakes Jon’s fingers off her face before she continues.”I also may have been with Chad Gable for a while but we broke up the night of Wrestlemania 33.” Cecily swallows more of her Rose, “ And that is all my baggage out of the way. Jonathan, your next.” Cecily smiles and Jon winces. Stephanie narrows her eyes at her youngest son.

“Yes Jon, tell your mother how she missed her son’s wedding.” Steph smiles but its not friendly.

Jon shakes his head trying to find words but grasping at straws.

Joe, seeing his bro’s distress swoops in to make the save. “Mom, it was hard for all of us. Trust me when I say, J wrestled with inviting you three and not inviting you for a long time. But in the end, the whole ceremony was done quick and to the point. Me and Cecily weren’t even there. We got a call after it was over. Also, regarding the twins, you guys can come over anytime and meet them. They been up in arms over meeting their grandma and grandpa.” The whole table smiles. A little later, Jon finds the words to say to his family.

“I really wanted you guys there. When I looked around, I thought as nice as it was for it to just be Renee and I, I wanted my family there and not just Cecily and Joe. All of you. Maybe later down the line we can have a dinner to celebrate.” Jon gives a small smile. Stephanie reaches over and takes Jonathan’s hand in her own. She just smiles, understanding completely.

“We’d love that and We’d love to meet her.” The moment is interrupted by their server. She comes back with the food they ordered. Conversation flowed much easier after that. The family never running out of stories to tell each other. Jon recounting to his mom how Renee came into his life and how she completely understood him. Joe sharing photos and videos of his baby boys. Cecily bringing up her movie. Learning that when he had time, Colby was watching all her interviews and probably watched all the movies twenty times each. Colby talking about how his school is doing. Stephanie and Hunter opening up about everything happening at NXT and how their little sisters are. After they got some dessert, the family saw that it was past eleven o’clock and they needed to be getting home. They all walked out together while Hunter took care of the bill. The group reached their cars and remembered something.

“Oh shoot! We forgot the whole reason we were here. The Shield reunion.” Stephanie pointed out.

“Mom trust me, We didn’t need a whole dinner to book a Shield reunion. Roman and Seth are some semblance of cool with each other. Damage trust’s Dean’s judgement. If Dean is ready to forgive him then she will try to do the same. Seth already beat dad to gain himself back. Now all he wants is his brothers and sister. Seth and Dean trade saves from a heel beat down until they finally bump fists in the ring. Maybe they can go for the tag team championships at Summerslam. Sheamus and Cesaro have basically beat everyone and they need new challengers.” Cecily explains how simple the story was.

Hunter just shakes his head with a smile,”Remind me why you don’t work for the creative team?”

Cecily chuckles, “Because then I would be bias and only give the Shield members my best storylines. I don’t know how to be objective yet.” The whole group chuckles.

Joe checks his watch,”Shoot!” He exclaims.

Cecily looks at her brother concerned, “What’s wrong?”

“If we want to get some kind of sleep we need to leave now. Our flight is early in the morning.” The group gets their butts in gear, saying their goodbyes and wishing everyone safe travel.

Jon and Joe walk over to the car and start it up while Steph and Cecily share some words.

“We’ll have the scripts ready for you guys on Monday. Just stop by our office when you get to the arena.” Stephanie embraces her oldest daughter.

“Ok Mom. See you in Huston.” The two separate. Cecily shares one last smile with her mom then runs over the car where Joe and Jon were waiting. Hunter hugs Stephanie from behind as they watch their kids drive off into the night.

“We’ll see them on Monday. That’s three days away.” Hunter reassures the love of his life.

Stephanie pats the arm around her waist, “I know. I just already miss them.” She sighs, “Lets hit the road. Colby has to be up in the morning too.” The two get into their car and head out as well.

Chapter Text

“YOU’RE BEING RIDICULOUS!!!”

“I’M BEING RIDICULOUS?? I’M BEING YOUR MOTHER!! IF I DON”T WANT YOU OUT THERE, ITS NOT HAPPENING!! AND BECAUSE I AM YOU’RE BOSS, YOU WON’T BE GOING OUT THERE!!”

A high pitched scream traveled thru the door and the four men standing outside of the makeshift office winced at the volume. Tonight was TLC and for the members of the Shield, it was their first match. Not just any match, a TLC match. For weeks the quartet had been doing backstage segments and appearing out of nowhere to beat the crap outta everyone and anyone that got in their way. The siblings were told two weeks ago that they would have their first match on the main roster but to know that it was gonna be a TLC match on PPV sent them over the moon. They all knew they had to leave everything out in the ring.

Cecily had been yapping about all the cool things they could do in this type of match. All the spots they could do together. Saying Cecily was geeked would be an understatement. Damage, down in NXT, was know for brawling. Hitting hard, fast and with a vengeance. No one messed with Damage unless you wanted a one way ticket to pain. Cecily changed the game and she planned to keep that going with this TLC match. Which lead to the screaming match that the men of the McMahon-Levesque family were hiding from. A first draft for what creative wanted the Shield to do during the match passed across Hunter’s desk and Stephanie happened to see it. To say Stephanie was horrified would be an understatement.

Stephanie had her husband take out any spot that would put her daughter in any harm period. Hunter tried to change her mind but she was immovable. When the four siblings arrived at the arena and got the word from Road Dogg, informing them of the situation, the boys could barely keep up with their sisters steps. They got there just in time to see their dad pushed out the room and the door slammed in their faces.

More screams traveled through the door and Roman rolled his eyes

“Dad, What could Cecily possibly be mad about? It’s not like there won’t be more matches for her to participate in.” Roman mentions.

“I don’t think its the fact that she won’t be in this match. It’s what creative had signed up for her.” Hunter shook his head, “Seth was gonna be in harms way and she was gonna take chair shots for him then eat a table spot.”

“WHAT!” Seth shot up from the floor in surprise. “And you said no! Dad, Cece lived for that stuff down in NXT. Taking a couple chair shots is nothing to her!” Seth exclaimed.

“Trust me, I know and I was all for it. This is all your mom. She was appalled and put a stop to it.” Hunter held his hands up. Dean got ready to respond but the door slammed open. Cecily walked out, taking heavy breaths, looking every bit of pissed. Seth tried to say something but was cut off by Cecily’s finger. She just shakes her head.

“I’m gonna go get my make-up done because we have a segment to film. I’ll find you after.” Cecily took off towards the makeup chairs. All the men staring at the retreating figure of the female Shield member. Dean got a good look at her face and Cecily looked devastated. He could see his brothers on the verge of going after Cecily which would just end in a even bigger explosion.

Dean slapped Seth’s shoulder, “Hey let’s go get changed. We probably got some lines to memorize.” Dean leads his older brothers away and gives his dad a nod. Hunter sighs again before stepping back into the office to face the storm that is his angry wife.

Damage was arguing with her Shield brother, Seth Rollins.

“THERE IS NO WAY I’M DOING THAT!!”

“LOOK, YOU COULD GET HURT! DO YOU WANT THAT?”

“OHHH SO SUDDENLY ITS OK FOR YOU TO GET HURT!!”

“YEAH BECAUSE I’M AN ACTUAL WRESTLER!!”

“YOU MOTHER-” Before Damage could finish, the hand belonging to Dean Ambrose clamped over her mouth, muffling the words she was saying. Damage shook Dean’s hand off and went to leap at Seth but Roman interrupted. Stepping between Seth and Damage doing well to make sure his brother wasn’t hurt before the fight they had tonight. Seth and Damage were glaring daggers at each other, ignoring their fellow Shield members.

“What the hell is going on? Tonight is not the night for in fighting. We have bigger fish to fry.” Roman glances between them trying to gauge what could possibly be causing this commotion.

“Seth has ordered me to stay back stage while you guys go fight Ryback and Team Hell No. Tell HIM that’s not happening!” Dean and Roman glance at each other.

“Weeeellll??” Dean began and shrugged his shoulders. Damage turned to her brother in shock.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME DEAN!!!!! Out of all of you, you’re the one to tell me no!?” Damage shook her head in disbelief and turned to Roman pleading with him. He was her last hope of changing hers brothers minds.

“Come on, Roman! Make some sense please? I can help you guys out there.” Damage got her answer in Roman’s silence and she was taken aback.

“Wow. I guess all the times you said I’m just as much apart of the Shield as you are was a lie.” Damage, hurt by her brothers distrust, started to walk away but was grabbed by the elbow, stopping her in her tracks. Damage ripped her arms out of her brothers grip. She walked out of frame, her brothers staring in concern after her.

Right before the Pre show ends, a clip plays showing Damage fixing her boots. To her left, the locker room door opens with a creek. Damage stops and sits up.

“Whoever it is, I don’t want to talk.” Damage goes back to her shoes when three people walk in.

“I said I don’t want to talk,” She stands and faces her brothers, “Especially not to anyone who doesn’t trust me.” Seth rolls his eyes, already tired of his partners dramatics.

“Oh get over it Damage!! Its not about us trusting you.” Damage interrupts, enraged at her brothers response.

“NOT ABOUT TRUST!?!?! Of course it’s about trust. You don’t trust me to go out their and do anything and everything to make sure to Shield come out of TLC with a win. You don’t trust me to have chair cracked over my back. You don’t trust me to crash thru tables. You don’t trust me to take a ladder to the stomach and you guys trained me!” Damage breaths are coming out rapidly, her anger working her up. “If you expect to stand back here and watch as my brothers go to war in TLC match like any of these other good for nothing Divas,” She holds her hands up to pause, “Except for Naomi, Katilyn and AJ Lee, Natalya and Beth Phoenix.” The crowd laughs at Damage’s own interruption.

Damage’s breathing calms down. She drops onto the bench below her and crosses her arms, “I will not be made to feel invalid.”

Dean drops into the seat next to her and shakes Damage’s shoulder grabbing her attention.

“You are not invalid. You are a valued member of this brotherhood. You’re the only women we could tolerate. And trust us, none of the divas back here could pull off the Shield fare like you can.” Dean and Damage share a smile before he continues. “Now the reason we don’t want you out with us isn’t because we don’t believe you can’t take a hit. You’ve taken plenty and you’ve stood tall after. We don’t want you out their because we would have to watch you take those shots for us when you don’t have to. Seeing you do that may take our focus away from the match. And I know, for you, its important that we win. Its all you’ve been harping on for weeks leading up to tonight.” Damage laughs a little before Dean embraces her. Roman speaks up, finishing off his brothers speech.

“We gon go out there and we gonna beat the absolute crap outta Team Hell No and their little sidekick and show them why we are the Shield from injustice. Now lets do this!!” Dean stands and the boys join fists. Damage looks at all them and stands.

“You all take care of business tonight. And If anything and I mean anything happens out there no one is gonna be able to stop me. I’m running down there, chair in hand, and I’m swinging until something breaks. Its just a matter of timing if its the chair or someone’s back” All the boys nod with a smile and Damage thrusts her fist into the empty space waiting for her.

“You gonna be okay, Cece?” The boys just got the ten minute warning and they were heading up top for their entrance. Dean and Seth were already heading up but Roman stopped to check on his sister once again before leaving the locker room. Cecily hasn’t said a word since they finished filming. She hadn’t even reacted to all the matches playing out on screen. All her brothers were concerned but they had more important things to worry about. Going into a TLC match needed all their focus. Cece shrugged off all their questions. Telling them to direct their concerns on not getting hurt out there.

Cecily turned to her brother, a half hearted smile painting her face.

“Go kick some ass.” Roman nods and closes the door behind him.

Cecily continued to sit in the locker room watching the end of Kofi versus Wade Barrett when her mother walked in. Stephanie tried to speak but Cecily evacuated the space before she could get a word in. Cecily was walking thru the hallways and she ran into her Dad. He placed a hand on her shoulder as she was passing. He leaned closer to her ear and whispered.

“Hey have you spoken to mother?”

“Naw she entered the room and I left. I’m trying to find a monitor so I can watch my brothers match.” Cecily tried to exit the situation but Hunter stops her again.

“Dad, I don’t feel like doing this right now.” Cecily rolls her eyes.

Hunter drags her forward, back toward the shared locker room, “You don’t but I do.” The two reach the door. Hunter holds it open and just waits for Cecily to enter. She huffs angrily but enters the room to face her mother watching the beginning stages of her sons match in bated breath. Stephanie glances over at her daughter and her husband.

“Sweetheart, can’t this wait until after our sons match?” Stephanie proposes but Hunter cuts her off.

“No it can’t. Now Cece could you please explain to your mother why you’re mad.” Hunter hands the floor over to Cecily. Their oldest daughter looks around the room, anywhere but her mothers face.

“She doesn’t trust me.” Cecily finally blurts out and Stephanie is taken aback.

“Cece! When have I ever said I don’t trust you?” Stephanie asks.

Cecily rolls her eyes again, “You may not say it but you show it. You never let me pick my own clothes for events. I had to basically wrestle you into letting me dress like an actual Shield member and not a normal diva valet. You don’t even let me drive on the road and tonight was the last straw. I’m a trained professional wrestler, mom, and tonight you basically showed me that you don’t trust my training to be able to go out there and take a table spot and couple chairs to the back.” Cecily eyes bored into her mothers before looking away, directing her gaze back to the floor.

“Sweetheart, I didn’t know you felt that way. I only said no because its your first big match on the roster and I already have to watch my boys put their bodies thru this.” As if on que, on the tv, Seth and Dean get planted onto an awaiting ladder and everyone in the locker room winced. Stephanie points at the monitor, “I knew I was gonna have to accept this but it never crossed my mind that I would have to watch you do that.”

Cecily sighs and grabs her mothers hand, “Yes but mom think about how I would be changing the game. The divas didn’t do brawls but I did. The divas don’t fight like the boys but I do. No one expected me to be taking the same shots as the boys down in NXT but I did. Mom the people have been clamoring for a change in the divas.They want wrestlers. They want the women and men to be treated equally and I could have been the start of that, tonight. Mom this can’t happen again. I want to go out there and prove to everyone that I belong in the Shield. That I’m not just a diva but you have to trust me.” Stephanie pulled Cecily into a hug, smiling at her husband.

“I trust you Cecily. I won’t like seeing you do this but I trust you.” Stephanie and Cecily pull away with smile. Hunter smiles as well.

“Now that that’s covered I’m gonna run back to gorilla and make everything is going okay. Love you both.” And with that Hunter runs out of the room.

“Love you too.” The girls call back then they settle in their seats to watch the rest of the match.

“FUCK!!! My everything hurts!!” Dean exclaims while his mother checks on him and his brothers in the trainers room. The family was waiting for the trainers to come back. Cecily laughs at her brothers comment.

“That’s what happens when you have a TLC match, Dean. But other than the obvious pain you’re all in, How was it?” Cecily asks.

“It was awesome!!”

“That crowd was electric.”

“They couldn’t get enough of us.” Cecily smiled.

“Yeah I bet they couldn’t! Seth that table spot towards the end was SICK!!” The sibling continued to talk and harp on about all the cool stuff they did in the match.The boys wishing Cecily would have been out there with them. Cecily recounting all the things they did like it didn’t just happen. Stephanie and Hunter watched the scene in amusement.

“How did you deal with seeing Cece do all those brawls in NXT?” Stephanie asked.

“Oh I didn’t. Most of the time, I had someone else watch them to make sure no one got hurt.” The two parents laugh. Hunter shook his head in amusement, “You know I was terrified for Cecily when she brought up her and Saraya having a real brawl backstage. But I saw the look in Cece’s eyes. It was the same look my parents tell me I had when I told them I wanted to be wrestler. She believed this was her path and I gave her the ball to run with, no matter how much I didn’t want to see her do that stuff.”

Stephanie grabs her husbands hand and kisses it.

“Then I guess we’ll suffer together?”

“You bet we will.” They both smile again before joining in on the conversation their oldest kids were having. The family sharing this moment together.

Chapter Text

Joe and Cecily were enjoying a nice night in at Cece’s chi-town apartment. The two had live shows coming up in the Midwest so it made sense to post up in Chicago and head out early to the venue. They had been in the house all day, vegging out and catching up on the shows they had missed. 

Joe had noticed his sister’s attention was on her cell phone almost every 2 minutes and he knew exactly why. Colby had brought this unusual attachment to her phone to his attention last week after the two had lunch. His younger brother brought up a plan to figure out who was texting their sister nonstop. Joe had tried to stop his younger brother from snooping but being across the country didn’t help the delivery of his threat. 

Kyle O’Reilly. The Marital Artist. One fourth of the Undisputed Era. Apparently, Kyle had his eye on Cece since she walked through the doors at the PC. That information is according to dad. Hunter had mentioned someone having Cece’s undivided attention and her not knowing in the slightest. The person with the real scoop was Jon. Cece always confided in Jon about everything but when it came to boys Jon and his brothers had a pact. Any information about guys that are on their sisters radar was traded in a private three-way group chat. 

Kyle and Cece had meet when she came to the PC to be a guest coach with the female trainees. The girls were learning a lot from her but Cecily was able to catch up with some old friends. One of those friends was Adam Cole. Adam and Cecily had met backstage at a ROH show and hit it off. Cece was pretty stoked when Adam came to NXT along with Kyle and Bobby. The four were regularly seen hanging out with the other talent in the PC. 

Jon didn’t know how or when the relationship between Cece and Kyle changed but Renee seems to think it was the night of Halloween. The two were apart of a whole crew of wrestlers going to Horror nights to celebrate the holiday. The two split off from the group when they all wanted to go into a house that Cece wasn’t feeling. She was gonna check out the Academy of Villains show by herself but Kyle offered to go with her. When they met up with the group again, the air between the two changed. 

As Cecily’s phones went off again, Joe shook his head at how fast she grabbed it. After sending a response back, Cecily turned to her brother, smile almost permanently etched on her face.

“We should probably eat some real food.” Cecily got up and walked towards the kitchen. 

“That’s probably a good idea.” Joe stood and stretched, loosening muscles after sitting for so long. Joe made a move to follow Cecily but the door bell ringing stopped him. 

“Could You Get That!!!” Cece hollered from the kitchen. 

“Sure!” Joe yelled back. He approached the door and before opening he heard the voices of multiple men standing on the other side. Joe looked thru the peephole and the sight on the other side made him smirk. As he opened the door, he was greeted by the Undisputed Era. Joe went to welcome them in but was silenced by Roderick Strong. Joe nodded in acknowledgement of their plans and let them in. All five boys brought in their bags of luggage as quietly as they possibly could. Somehow, Cecily didn’t come over to see who was at the door. This gave the boys of the undisputed era a chance to sneak behind her and give her a surprise. 

“Joe! Who was at the door?” Cecily rummaged thru her refrigerator, looking for ingredients to make some type of food for them both. The house went quiet when Joe answered the door and Cece was a bit worried. 

“I may have the things we need to make some tacos tonight if that’s what yo— OH MY GOD!!!!!” Cecily turned away from the fridge to the sight of unexpected guests. There, in her kitchen, stood Adam, Roddy, Bobby and Kyle. The undisputed era of NXT. Cecily was so stunned, the means to make words weren’t connecting in her brain. Adam smirks at the sight of his friend absolutely speechless. 

“Well boys, we’ve done the impossible! We managed to shock Cecily into speechlessness.” All the boys begin to laugh and Cecily finally regains her composure. She rushes over and wraps Adam in a huge hug. 

“What are you guys doing here!!! Kyle told me you guys were headed to your next live show.” Cecily pulled the other three boys into hugs of their own, staying in Kyle’s arms longer than the others. 

“We are. We just never told you the city. The live show is here the day after tomorrow. We just flew out early to surprise you.” Bobby explained. 

Cecily shook her head, “Well I guess I have to order some food now cause I have five wrestlers to feed. While I order, you guys can take your bags to the other guest room. Joe, could you bring out my air mattress and just set it out in the living room.” It was like a switch flicked because suddenly Cecily was in house guest mode. Taking care of everyone and making sure everyone was comfortable. Cecily spent almost fifty dollars on tacos and side dishes for everyone to enjoy from her favorite Mexican spot. The conversation at the dinner table flowed easily. From stories about their first times hitting the mat, to favorite old PPV’s, to whose the best competitions. After dinner, the six settled down to watch The Fast and The Furious on Netflix. For Joe, it was strange how well they all got along together but then again being a wrestler gives you a strange camaraderie with anyone else who has stepped thru the ropes and taken a bump. 

As the movie wrapped up, Cecily went upstairs to take a shower and change into her pajamas and the boys were left in silence. Joe could tell the other three members of UDE giving urging looks to Kyle. Joe noticed the levels of panic crossing Kyle’s face as he glanced between his brothers in arms and Joe. Joe smirked and decided the push the conversation along. 

“Is there something you need to ask me?” Joe, purposely making his voice sound deeper, took a sip of his corona before setting the bottle on the table. Kyle looked spooked while his friends all tried to contain their laughter. And how could they, Their friend was entering the lions den in front of their faces. Joe stood and took a seat in the arm chair facing Kyle. 

“I–Well, I w-was wondering-” Kyle started but Joe interrupted. 

“Let me stop you right there, boy, cause I got questions for you.” Joe leaned back and crossed his arms. Kyle took a visible deep breath. He should have known this wasn’t gonna be easy. He was trying to date a girl with three huge older brothers, Two parents who both happen to own the business he works for, and a roster full of men ready to defend her at any time. If Kyle made one wrong move and upset Cecily, he was a goner. Kyle braced himself for the verbal lashing he was gonna receive. 

“What is the best outfit you have ever seen her in?” Joe asked. 

wait….what?

“Wait, That’s your question?” Kyle was officially baffled. 

“Naw man, that’s not my question. Its Colby’s. During the movie I texted them and the three of us came up with three questions that will prove if you are good enough for our sister. Since they can’t be here in person, it was decided that I’ll as for them. So, Kyle, What is the best outfit you have ever seen my sister in?” Joe asked once again, waiting patiently the answer. 

Kyle sat dumbfounded on the couch. He couldn’t believe that was the question Colby chose to ask. His brain automatically ran through the outfits Cecily had worn around him, the boys or her friends. His brain settled on a memory that still brings a small smile to his face. 

Kyle faced Joe and spoke up, “One night, Cece showed up at an NXT taping and she was helping out her dad. I think we all know, when it comes to a show day, Cecily is showing up as comfortable as she can unlike some of the other women. She was wearing the leggings with Joker laugh printed on them, a purple sports bra and a off the shoulder sweater.” Kyle let out a little laugh as the memory replayed in his head, “It was the first time I’ve ever seen a girl and instantly stopped everything I was doing to take in how beautiful she looked.” Kyle glanced back at Joe to see his jaw clenching before taking a look at his phone. Joe sent a message out then looked at Kyle again. 

“Next question, How would you react should Cecily want to leave WWE to pursue acting full time?” Joe stared at Kyle without blinking. The stare was freaking Kyle out. 

Not more so than the thought of not seeing Cecily around the WWE again. He knew how important acting, singing and dancing was to Cece. It was her bread and butter. He knew all about Jon bringing her into the family business and training his sister personally to catch her up. The turn around for her training to being in ring ready was remarkable. Picturing a time where he was watching Raw and not seeing her was disconcerting. 

Kyle took a deep breath before answering, “I won’t lie. I don’t want her to leave. I wanna go out to the ring, know she’s watching me and for her to know that I do the same every time she’s out there. But Cece is her own women and I know Hollywood was her first love. I guess I’ll have to get used to being on flights more often in order to see her on my days off.” Kyle nodded his head, agreeing with his answer. Joe nodded back, trying to hold off on looking impressed until the end. 

Joe cracked his knuckles and spoke, “Last question, Tell me five things you know about her that I might not know about my sister.” Joe leaned forward once again putting Kyle in the spotlight. Kyle looked incredibly shaken. How could he know anything that Cecily’s own older brother didn’t know. His head told him it was time to throw in the towel but his heart told him to give the question a shot. He looked at his friends. They all shared amused looks at what was unfolding in front of them. Kyle cracked his neck before answering. 

“She doesn’t drink coffee, she’s just naturally that energized in the morning. Once she’s up, she’s up for the day. She carries a fidget cube around with her because she’s always had a problem with fidgeting since she was a kid. She loves the smell of coconut but not the taste. She won’t touch anything with baked fruit.” Kyle took a pause before his last point. 

Kyle had one more but he didn’t know if it should be said. Cecily told him this during one of her rare low moments, remembering the past. Kyle wrestled back and forth before finally speaking, “Sometimes, she wonders why Colby and not herself. Why wasn’t she chosen to be the bad guy. Was it because of her size or did her parents not want her around. I always try to tell her that all that happened for a reason. Without it, Dean and Damage wouldn’t have been the standard bearers on Smackdown during the brand split.” Kyle didn’t want to look up at Joe after that but he did. Kyle glanced at Joe’s eyes and saw disbelief. Joe was stunned. All was quiet for a moment as Joe took the information in. 

“S-she told you that?” Joe demanded an answer without saying. Kyle nodded not wanting to make any sudden moves. Joe shook his head, typed something on his phone and stood up. He approached Kyle and the latter stood up, hoping to defend himself a little, but all that was held out to him was a hand. Kyle did a double take between the hand and Joe face before finally returning the gesture. 

Joe gave a genuine smile, “You’re the only one we’ve met whose given the answers we’re looking for. Myself and my brothers can’t guarantee how our dad will react but you got our approval. Just don’t hurt my sister.” Kyle shook his head quickly. 

“I would never.” Joe smiled again. He grabbed his half empty beer and walked toward the stairs, “I’m gonna head to bed. If you need anything just come get me. Cecily can’t stay awake after a shower no matter how hard she tries. See you in the morning boys.” Joe walked up the stairs leaving the UDE alone. Adam was the first to clap a hand on Kyle’s shoulder and shake him. 

“Congrats you passed the big brother test! How do you feel, O’Reilly?” Adam jokingly asked. 

“Man I don’t know how I’m gonna make it thru her dad. Like, if Jon and Colby were here too, I would have passed out no joke.” The other three boys laugh at Kyle’s response. The sound fading as Joe went upstairs.

Joe went to check on his sister to see if she was sleep. Cecily was half laying under the covers and the other half completely exposed to the cold air. Joe adjusted her and tucked her in. Before leaving, Joe placed a kiss on her forehead. Joe was almost out the door when his name was called. He turned to see Cece blearily looking in his direction. Cecily was smiling at him. 

“I love you tuagane*.” Joe smiled, an understanding passing thru the siblings. 

“Love you too tuafafine**. Get some sleep.” Joe winked and closed the door behind him. 

If the next day he noticed Kyle sitting a little closer to his sister than yesterday, well the brothers only promised to keep their mouths shut until they became official. As soon as Cece got the girlfriend title, all bets were off and may the heckling begin. 

Chapter Text

Joe looked over at his sister while she jumped out the nerves before her match. His phone buzzed and on the screen he saw a text from Kyle O Reilly, his sisters boyfriend. He was asking if Cece had safely arrived at the venue. Roman knew Cecily sent a text at every show to let Kyle know she made it ok. She must have forgotten by accident.

Joe tapped Cecily shoulder, “Hey, did you forget to check in with Kyle? He asked me if you were okay.” Cecily looked surprised for a split second then schooled her face to look indifferent. “Oh! I must have forgot. Just tell him I’m fine.” Cecily rolled her shoulders as the beginning notes of her entrance music played in the arena. Cecily asked her brother to wish her luck before she walked out into the screaming fans. Joe sighed then typed out a message to Kyle in response.

Yeah, dude, she’s fine. Don’t know why she wouldn’t text you

Thanks for letting me know. I’ll call later and see what’s up…..

—————————-

Joe and Cecily were in the car that night on the way to the hotel where everyone was staying. The next day, Cecily and Joe were flying out to Florida. Joe going to see his family and Cece visiting Kyle. During the ride, Cecily’s phone kept going off. Call after call coming thru but she never answered. After the fifteenth call, Joe finally had enough.

“Aren’t you gonna answer that?” Joe glanced at Cece who looking anywhere but at his face.

“Oh its just one of those unknown numbers, like a robot call. I’ll just turn it off so it won’t bother you.” Cecily turned her phone off just as another call came thru.

Joe had a feeling the caller wasn’t a robot.

—————————-

Joe was waiting at the terminal for both his and his sister’s flight but she still wasn’t there. Joe knew he should have waited for Cece at the hotel so she wouldn’t be late but it wasn’t like his sister to be late for a flight. Jon yes but Cecily, Never. It wasn’t in her programming to be late. Joe texted her multiple times, telling Cece to hurry up or she was gonna miss her plane. The flight attendants gave their final call and Joe gave up. He walked over to the terminal for his flight and sent one last text to his sister.

They just gave word for last call. You know I can’t miss my flight so just let me know what you do.

Joe put his phone on airplane mode and settled down for his short trip wondering whats going on with his sister.

Hours later, after Joe had landed and managed to rent a car, he turned on his phone to see a text. It was from Cece.

Hey Joe. I forgot to tell you Pam invited me to a girls weekend and I offered my house as the main base. Sorry if I worried you. Have fun with your family and tell Galina and Jojo I said Hey!

Joe shook his head, more confused than ever about what was going on with his sister.

——————-

Kyle frowned looking at the message on his phone from Joe,

Sorry man but Cece bailed last minute. Call her and see what happened.

Kyle was lucky his workout was done because his mood did a complete one eighty. His friend and trainer, Marcus, walked over and slapped his shoulder, “Dude! You just finished a killer workout! What has you so down?”

Kyle locked his phone and started putting his things up, “Nothing major, just found out my girl isn’t coming this weekend before she goes back to work.” Kyle and Marcus made their way out of the gym and into the nighttime air.

“We’re talking about Cecily here right, The girl who I still haven’t had the privilege to meet yet. The one who freaking Thomas has met before me!” Kyle laughed at his friends antics. He unlocked his car and threw his bag into the backseat. “Trust me, if she was coming, I was gonna introduce you. She hasn’t meet any of my friends and its about time she does.”

Marcus shrugged, “There’s always next time right.” Kyle nodded and the two said their goodbyes. Kyle, on the way home, couldn’t help but think about all the messages he left on Cece’s phone. He knew her phone wasn’t off so why was she missing his calls.

——————-

Becky was riding in the car with Seth on the way back home from dinner when she got a text from Cece. Becky figured her best friend would be having a very lovely time in the arms of her boyfriend but she didn’t question it much……..until she read the text for the second time.

If anyone asks, I’m in Chicago with Mercedes and Pam

Becky was thrown for a loop. What the hell was she talking about???

Let me guess…you’re not in Chicago with Cedes and Pam.

Not in the slightest but they already said they would cover for me. I know getting you to lie for me will cost so just name your price….

The price is telling me what the hell is going on Cece

I’ll tell you on Monday. Thank You, Becks

“Hey, who’s that?” Seth asked.

Becky contemplated just telling Seth the truth but she knew as well as anyone that if she told Seth outright, somethings wrong with Cecily, He and his brothers would be on the next train smoking to wherever their sister was.

“She was just bragging about how much fun Her, Cedes and Pam were having at their girls night.” Becky said.

“What girls night?! I thought she was going to Florida to spend time with Kyle.” Seth questioned as the pair pulled into the driveway at Seth’s house.

“I don’t know but they look like their having fun.”

And she better have a real good explanation for this at Raw. Becky thought as she and Seth entered the house for the night.

————————

“Why not just call him?” Mizuki asked her friend.

Mizuki is Cecily best friend since middle school. the aforementioned women was confused when she opened her front door to see her best friend standing in the entrance. Mizuki knew her friend was supposed to be on the next plane to Florida way before now. Cecily should have already been there. She could see something was bothering her friend and didn’t question what happened. Mizuki just let her in. This leads to the present, where Cecily is sitting on her friends couch clutching her phone.

Cecily shut her phone down and finally faced Mizuki, “Because I just need a second before I talk to him, Alright?” Mizuki shook her head but decided to leave the subject alone.

———————–

Two weeks had passed and one thing became clear to Colby. His sisters actions were not normal. Cecily was avoiding Kyle for some reason beyond his knowledge. He didn’t know why or how but he planned to find out.

———————–

“Hey Cecily, Have you talked to Kyle today?” Colby asked, out of the blue.

Cecily looked up from the TV displaying Raw, a smile was on her face but it didn’t reach her eyes, “Yeah I spoke to him earlier. He wished you good luck in your match tonight.” Cecily focused her attention to the screen once again.

That was a bold faced lie. Colby had called the man in question earlier that day to see if the two had talked. The couple hadn’t spoken to each other in almost three weeks.

“Why do you ask?” Cecily questioned.

“Hmm. Oh, no reason.” Colby went back to picking between the two gears he brought to the show that night. His mind on already on the next phase of his plan.

———————–

Colby saw Mercedes and Pam hanging around in the corridor and hoped that catching them off guard would lead to some progress in his master plan. He walked over and causally talked to them about whats new in their lives before bringing the (metaphorical) hammer down.

“So how was the girls weekend thing? I know Becky was bummed she missed it.” Colby pried causally.

“What girls we-AH” Pam winced at the sharp elbow to her side from Sasha. The boss fixed Pam with a look. The hugger realized what was happening and quickly recovered

“OHHH that girls weekend. Oh yeah it was complete blast. A full two days of nothing but anime all day” Pam said.

Colby feigned confusion, “Anime? Becks mentioned something about Fast and Furious?”

“The anime was after Becky talked to us. We watched the fast franchise before that. Next time, we’ll tell becks so she can get out there with us.” Mercedes covered up the cracks.

“Well, its good to know you guys had fun. I’ll see you around.” As Colby walked away, he heard Mercedes hit Pamela again.

“OW! Cedes, that hurt.” Pam rubbed her bicep.

“It’s supposed to! You almost blew Cece’s cover. You know she doesn’t want to talk to her brothers about whats going on yet.” Cedes and Pam get off the crate they were sitting on and started walking in the opposite direction of Colby. Colby frowned before setting his sights on one last person.

————————

Becky looked up to see Colby in her locker room door, “Hey babe! What’s–”

“I know somethings going on with Cece and I know you, Mercedes and Pam are covering. I’m asking you as her brother to tell me what you know so I can help.” Colby was determined to get answers and Becky couldn’t deny that she loved when Colby got protective. Becky sighed and thought, Forgive me Cecily.

“I don’t know what’s going on either but if you hide in the bathroom, you’ll be able to hear what she has to say. You just gotta stay quiet, alright?” Becky gestured to the bathroom behind them and Colby winked at her. As Colby passed, he gave Becky a peck on the lips. Colby closed the door to the bathroom just a knock rang though the room.

“Come in!” Becky shouted.

Cecily entered the room, frown on her face. When she saw Becky, her face perked up just a little. The two shared a hug before taking a seat on the bench in the middle of the room.

Becky started unwinding the tape off her wrists, “So you finally want to tell me why I needed to lie to your brother and my boyfriend?”

Cece gave an exasperated huff in reply before speaking, “There’s not really anything going on, It’s just me being stupid.”

Becky threw the used tape in the trash can then gave one of her best friends her undivided attention, “Care to elaborate? I can’t give sufficient advice without a full break down.”

Cecily rolled her eyes, “It happened three weeks ago. You know how I told you that Kyle was gonna start introducing me to his friends outside of the business,” Becky nodded, “Well that started with his best friend, Thomas, from his days playing lacrosse. Thomas was over at his house and I was getting my bags ready for my flight to the live shows that week. When I came down, I heard them talking.” Cecily, in her nervousness started to play with her fidget cube.

Cecily took another deep breath before continuing, “Ky was telling Thomas about how we met and why he couldn’t just let me slide thru his fingers without shooting his shot and then Kyle said and I quote, ‘Yeah I love her, and this is between you and me, but she can be so childish’. I didn’t stay to hear the rest. I crept back upstairs, grabbed my bad, rushed back downstairs and luckily, it was time for me to head to the airport. I haven’t talked to him since. That’s what happened.” Cecily flipped the switch on her cube one last time then looked at Becky who hadn’t spoken for a couple seconds. Becky got up and continued to change into more comfortable clothes.

“So whats really going thru that head of yours.” Becky pulled out two shirts contemplating which one was the cleanest. Cecily laid back on the bench, “It’s not so much that he called me childish, I’ve dealt with that my entire life. The problem is I don’t want to lose him because of who I am and what I like. I don’t want to learn about space in a book. I want learn about it while discussing if Mario can survive on the planets in Super Mario Galaxy. I wanna go to comic con and cosplay as my favorite characters. I wanna finally go to Disney World.” Cecily stood up from the bench and started to pace.

“That’s why I’ve been avoiding him for weeks. I don’t want to pick up the phone and I don’t want to talk to him because I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want to lose him because I lo-” Cecily stopped in her tracks before her those words came out. Becky started smirking behind her back, now knowing exactly what was going on with her friend.

“Scuse’ me, dear friend of mine, you wanna finish that sentence?” Becky grabbed Cecily’s shoulders and Cece head dropped into her chest.

“Your gonna make me say it, aren’t you?” Cecily mumbled.

“If you could for the class.” Becky’s smile widened.

“UHHHH!!! I don’t want to lose him because………Because I’m in love with him.” Cecily laughed a little. Becky shrieked in excitement before tugging Cecily into a fierce embrace. The two hugged for a little while longer, Cecily feeling like a weights had been lifted off of her shoulders.

“Come on out Colby. You’re not very quiet you know.” Cecily and Becky separated and looked at the entrance to the bathroom where a sheepish looking Colby entered the room. Cecily just shook her head at him, diving into his arms for a hug.

“Oh my God, my sister is in love.” the brother and sister separating as Becky joins them on the other side of the room.

“Yeah and this sister is also pissed that you,” Cecily hit Colby on the left shoulder, “Were,” right shoulder, “Spying,” left, “On,” right, “Me!” one last hit to the right shoulder, for good measure.

“OW! Jesus Cece that hurt.” Colby rubbed his shoulder to remove some of the sting.

“It was supposed to.” Cecily turned her attention back to Becky, “So what should I do. I haven’t spoken to Kyle in weeks.” Cecily desperately looked on as Becky walked over and grabbed Cecily’s cell phone. As Becky handed the phone over, the front screen flashed to show a picture of Kyle and herself.

The photo was taken during the couples first date. Kyle had taken Cecily to a showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 with a live orchestra. Cecily had talked endlessly about going to the one show that was showing in Florida. So, Kyle went and got tickets but didn’t tell Cecily. Kyle knew if she was told, Cecily would over plan every little detail and he wanted to make an impression. By forcing her to live spontaneously. I guess you could say it worked.

The picture is after the concert at a small restaurant where the two spent hours just talking about everything yet nothing at all. Before the night was over, Cecily wanted a picture and was able to get one. The lighting is horrible but the kind waiter captured the perfect moment. The two in an embrace, Cecily hugging Kyle’s waist and Kyle’s left arm around her shoulders. The couples eyes locked on each other, loving smiles plastered on their faces.

The sight of the picture brought a smile to Cecily’s face. Becky tapped the side of the phone, “I think you know what you need to do.” Cecily nodded and walked out the locker room to grab her bags and head out for the night, sending a long awaited message.

Hey, I’m sorry for being AWOL. I’m catching a flight out to Florida and If you wanna meet me somewhere…….just let me know….

————————

Cecily was heading over to baggage claim after her long flight. She sent a message out to her brothers,

HEY YOU GUYS!!! I made it to Florida. I’m gonna rent a car then head over to the house.

Only one reply came thru from Colby,

Trust me I don’t think you’ll need a rental car…..Have Fun!!

Cecily was confused by her brothers text at first but then the same sentiment came from her two other brothers. That’s when she knew something was up. She tried to ignore the anxious thoughts creeping into her mind of what her brothers may have done. Before she could spiral further, Cece spotted her bags.

Cecily started to make her way over but arms around her waist stopped her. A backhand was about to be unleashed on the stranger until Cecily heard a voice whisper in her ear. That voice that could simultaneously calm her and excite her, sending shivers down her spine.

“Hey, let me get that for you.” Kyle pecked her check and walked over to grab her huge suitcase. Cecily was frozen in place. Kyle walked back over, her suitcase rolling behind him, with a smile on his face.

“How much did you pack, women! Aren’t you only here a week?” Kyle asked.

The question knocked Cecily out of her trance, “Actually I was able to get time off until the rumble. They injured me at the last-”

“Last Raw. I know I was watching, like always.” Kyle grabbed her hand, “Come on, the cars in the parking lot.” The two were half way out of the airport before Cecily asked a question.

“Wait, Are you dropping of at my dad’s house? That’s where I was planning to stay. Plus my dad wanted me to take care of some things from him their while I’m here.” Cecily and Kyle finally stepped outside the airport and headed toward Kyle’s vehicle.

“You’ll just stay with me and you know wherever you need to go I’ll just drive you. Besides, Your brothers let me know that we need to talk. A suggestion was sent to my phone yesterday about heading to the airport around this time. They figured that you would take the chance to stay somewhere else and avoid me for as long as you can.” Kyle put her bag in the truck and unlocked the rest of the car. “Let’s get going, shall we?” Kyle opened the passenger door for Cecily with a smirk. Cecily held back a smile and shook her head.

Brothers

——————-

Cecily finished freshening up before going downstairs to face Kyle. She tried to practice what she was going to say to him but that lead to more anxiety filling her person. Cecily entered the living room and paused, watching Kyle relax on the couch, hoping to buy herself more time to calm down. And, of course, that didn’t happen.

“Why don’t you join me, Sly?” Both wrestlers smiled at the mention of Cecily’s nickname, given because of her Harry Potter house preference. Cecily walked over and sat on the far end of the couch, bringing her knee to her chests and wrapping her arms underneath her thighs.

Kyle stared at Cecily but she was looking anywhere but at his face.

“You wanna tell me what’s-” “I heard you two weeks ago!” Cecily interrupted Kyle’s question. He was taken aback, what was Cecily talking about?

“I’m sorry what?” Kyle shifted to face her completely.

Cecily rolled her eyes, “When Thomas was in Florida a couple of weeks ago, I heard you call me childish to him.” Cece started tapping her fingers against her thighs, “I know I’ve told you that I’ve been made fun of because of what I like. What you said didn’t bother me a lot. It just made me realize how much I care about you. So I wanna know why you called me childish.” Cecily felt the tension in her shoulders melt after saying what she felt.

Kyle was silent for some time. He reached over and grabbed Cecily hand and pulled it so she would face him, “I’m not gonna lie to you, yes, I called you childish. But you didn’t hear what I said afterward. I told Tommy that yes, you are childish. And that is exactly what I love about you. You are so invested in everything you care about. You could spend week doing a deep dive into a new topic and come out the other side an expert on it. I love it when you freak out over new music. I can’t help but smile when you watch wrestling as a fan and lose it over near falls.” Kyle moved over and wraps his arm around Cece’s shoulders, “I’ve dated girls who tried to fake smart way too many times. You don’t care about any of that. You are wholeheartedly yourself at all times and I love you for that.” Kyle kissed her forehead. Cecily turned her head and caught Kyle lips.

“I love you too.” The two share a smile then leaned in again.

The two kissed for a while, Cecily ending up in her boyfriends lap. The two broke apart when the need for air became too much. The happy couple smiled and laughed, the feeling of being in love filling them with euphoria. Kyle tightened is grip on Cece waist.

“Why don’t you head upstairs babe?” Kyle kissed her collarbone.

Cecily giggled, “Why’s that?”

“Cause I don’t want the neighbors to hear you scream that much.” Kyle whispered in her ear, nibbling at the lobe. And there goes the shivers again.

——————–

That night Kyle posted three videos and a picture on his Instagram.

The first video is of Cecily behind the wheel, dancing and rapping in her seat to Power by Little Mix. The second video is Cecily doing a dance with Mizuki to Crybaby by Melanie Martinez. The third video is of Cecily crying while watching Rent on dvd.

The picture is of Cecily. She’s lying on a couch in a massive hoodie that’s basically a dress. She has no make up on and her hair is wrapped up in a scarf.

Kyle’s caption reads:

I met this girl a couple weeks after I came to NXT and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was (and still is) cool, confident and strong. But as I got to know her I saw the other sides of her. Her unabashed love for singing, acting and dancing. Her extensive amount of music. Her dedication and love our craft.

So one day, she told me that she would never date a wrestler again and I asked this girl to let me change her mind. I guess I did managed because a month later we finally became boyfriend and girlfriend. And now a year and two months later, I can proudly say I have never felt this way about anyone before. I love Cecily Perrin and She loves me.

The post had over 1500 comments and growing..

romanreigns - 4 outta 4 shield members approve…

wwerollins - Better treat our sister right, Mr. O’Reilly

beckylynchwwe - I’m so happy for you two!!

sashabankswwe - Looks like the girls are just waiting for Charlotte to get herself a man….

itsmebayley - You too are so cute!!!

charlottewwe - Absolutely Undisputed

candicelerae - We need an double date ASAP!!!!