Under the moonlit sky, three tall and broad figures braced themselves against the blustery wind. Standing in the middle of the trio, Dean Ambrose puffed on his newly lit cigarette and stuffed a hand inside his pocket.

"You know the boss doesn't like it when you smoke, Dean."

The smooth voice came from a strikingly attractive man with grey eyes. His gaze stared at the cigarette in disgust before flitting back to the open water in anticipation.

"Yeah well the boss ain't here is he?"

Roman Reigns absently flexed his taut arms under his jacket in response. In the distance he spied a faint light on the river. "They're coming."

A clicking sound disappeared into the brisk night air. Seth Rollins cocked his gun and stared at the two men next to him. They had done this a million times but the rush never went away. What if the deal went sour? What if somebody tried to start something? All wistful what ifs. The simple fact was, nothing ever went wrong because they were too damn good at this. That's why they were who they were, and why they worked for who they worked for.

"Saddle up boys," Ambrose muttered after stomping the now finished cigarette into the ground. Puffs of air disappeared behind him and the sound of another gun being cocked rang around the harbour.

The light in the distance drew closer until a small speed boat pulled into dock. City lights twinkled, casting an ironically scenic backdrop to the events that were about to occur.

Four men stepped off the docked boat while one remained. Reigns fingered the trigger of the gun in his steady hand and stared at the men as they approached. He tried not to snarl as a slow recognition registered in his mind. He knew these guys. They were the same fucks who thought it wise to rob one of their clubs. The knowing looks he received from his two companions only confirmed his suspicions. "I say we take 'em."

"Fuckers hit up our club and killed one of the girls. You're damn fucking right we're gonna take 'em," Ambrose rattled off, his heels starting to bounce up and down off the ground.

Rollins glanced between the unstable Ambrose and collected Reigns and nodded. "But not until we secure the product." It was a cautionary statement he didn't have to make but he said it anyway. Their boss wasn't great with excuses and they all knew that. In fact the man didn't deal very well with failure at all as Seth had come to learn over the years. Luckily he'd never had the misfortune of disappointing him and he wasn't about to start now.

The air was thick with tension as the two groups faced off. A stocky man from the boat took a step forward and held out a black gym bag. "Here. Now pay us and let's get this shit over with, huh?" His beady eyes drew together in confusion when his comment was met with laughter.

"Can you guys believe it? This cocksucker thinks he's getting paid." Ambrose laughed heartily. It was part genuine part distraction.

"What's so funny, tough guy?"

"You." In the blink of an eye Dean shot the man square in the face. Three more shots rang out in quick succession until four bodies lay on the ground in a quickly forming pool of blood.

Reigns rolled his eyes when Dean shot each man one more time. The guy had a flair for the dramatic that was for sure.

"What? The chick they killed at the club was a great fuck. I liked her." Ambrose shrugged his shoulders and set his eyes upon the speedboat flying down the river. "What about him?"

"Leave him," Rollins replied. "Sends a message, as if it'll do these idiots any good. I swear every year there's at least one guy out there stupid enough to think they can take us down. If they come back again after this we'll kill him then, and the rest of them." He grabbed the gym bag and peeked inside. Twenty five airtight packages of white powder currency stared back. It was small time but necessary after what these guys had done. Rollins looked to the silent Reigns, already reading his mind. "I say we leave the bodies too, big guy. Let's everybody know we got nothing to hide."

Roman nodded and put his gun back into the leather holster tucked under his thick arm. "Less work for me. Let's bring this shit back to the boss and head home."

The three men stepped over the bodies at their feet and calmly walked towards the blacked out SUV parked on the other side of the harbour. Four kills in four seconds. Their work for the night was done.

In the comforting warmth of her apartment, Stephanie McMahon sipped absently at a cup of coffee while her bright blue eyes scanned the various documents spread all over the bed. The newsreaders voice muttered dimly in the background and the TV cast a bluish twinge throughout the room.

Frustrating.

That's what this whole damn thing was; one big giant ball of frustration that she just didn't seem capable of letting go.

She looked at the old picture in the paper of herself and the Mayor. That had been over three months ago. At the time Stephanie had considered it a major coup…until her list of questions had been censored to the point that her article turned into a fucking fluff piece. The whole interaction rubbed her the wrong way. Something had been so off about him, off enough that she had taken it upon herself to dig deeper. But digging deeper only brought closed doors and eventually a warning from her editor to stop asking questions. What the fuck even was that anyway? They were supposed to be seeking truth. The memory cast a frown across her pretty face.

"Morons," she muttered under breath and got to her feet in search of more caffeine. At least another story of hers had broken national news around the same time. Dirty cops were always a winner. It was her ticket out of that dump and into a more reputable news company, a company with the sole purpose of uncovering the truth and putting it out there for the world to see. Now that was her cup of tea. She'd been working her new job not even two weeks before her renewed interest in the Mayor had started to pay dividends.

Stephanie returned to the bedroom with a fresh mug of coffee and once again stared at the mass of documents on the bed. Scattered across the paper trail were numerous red circles where she had marked common occurrences; names, places, people. It had all started with the Mayor. The guy was a fucking creep; she knew it before he even opened his mouth and Stephanie knew he was dirty. She wanted to bring him down. Upon digging deeper the connections started to show and brought forward the other major player in this little puzzle of hers, the other key name that kept popping up albeit much more inconspicuously as the others. Call it a hunch but she knew there was more to this guy than met the eye and he was first on her list. Tomorrow morning she was pitching the story to her editor and tomorrow afternoon she was paying a certain somebody a much needed visit.

This is completely AU and will involve an ensemble cast. I'll slowly introduce more characters as the story progresses. If you have any questions or requests just ask.

Please review :)