A/N: I should apologise for posting this but I've been rambling about this for far too long on tumblr, so, here we are. This is the first installment of what will hopefully be a 10 part series. This will include lots and LOTS of violence, muder/death and mentions of rape/non con, so if you don't like that, please do not read on. now I'd like to say a big thank you to phoenixstein (houndsheart) on tumblr for her absolutely amazing mob roman work which ultimately made me feel things and start my own. THANK YOU. Also thank you to Kirsty for listening to me word vomit about this all the time. Title and chapter titles taken from Noel Gallagher and the High Flying Birds', Everybody's On The Run. Now, without further ado, enjoy!

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It's a relatively little job, one that he, Jimmy and Jey should be able to handle without having the call in for backup. Jey swings the car around a corner harshly and his brother grumbles from beside Roman.

"Uce, watch yourself we're trying to do stuff back here." Jimmy punctuates his words with the snap of the magazine being pushed back into the 9mm pistol. Jey shoots a quick sorry that doesn't sound genuine before throwing them around another bend. It would normally be Roman driving, seeing as he was actually the best at it out of the three of them, but tonight he's been relegated to the back in order to plan with Jimmy.

Roman isn't really one for plans, never has been in his whole time in charge of the Empire, but his cousin is a meticulous man and he can't deny that some of their best jobs have been because Jimmy has scrutinised the whole thing to the very last full stop.

If he's completely honest with himself, the twins - mainly Jimmy but he'll never tell Jey that - are one of the main reasons the Empire is so successful. Just because they're his cousins, his blood, doesn't mean they have to be as loyal to him as they are. But they are, and Roman is eternally grateful to have them in his corner and fighting on his side because at the end of the day, what are kings with no regiment?

After inheriting the family business from his father after he died, the future of the Empire rested on his shoulders. He'd watched his father since he was little, sitting at his big mahogany desk while Roman played with his cars and trucks on the floor, giving orders for people to be dealt with and making arrangements for the places to become his. Even when Roman had been a teenager and he'd had to help more with his father becoming so frail, he'd never really understood the whole appeal of being the man in charge, he much preferred being handed a gun and letting his finger squeeze the trigger as bodied feel around him.

Though he'd gotten his first taste for power when his father put him in charge of a big job in the next state over and he'd watched as men fell around him - fell because of him, because he'd told them that it was their time to die - and he'd understood, then. So when his father passed away, Roman took charge of the Empire without hesitation. He's always been more hands on than his father ever was, but it's just the way he prefers to do things. He's never liked the idea of sending his men out into the line of fire and not being right there with them.

Tonight's job is simple, The Ascension are already half disbanded, one half of their leadership already taken out so tonight is just about getting rid of the other and seizing their land, then the whole of the east side of town will belong to the Empire.

Jey pulls the car up to the back of the estate, mindful of where the cameras are on the sides of the gate and shuts the engine off quickly. Jimmy has planned it all out, even down to the very last moment. This side of the east isn't as nice as theirs, and Roman wouldn't care for having the land of it wasn't for it being a good safety buffer for the Empire.

He hands a pistol to Jey and the three of them slip out of the car silently. Roman's pistol is secured nicely in his holster, hidden under his suave midnight black suit jacket and he presses the crook of his arm into it slightly just to feel reassured that it's there. Many of The Ascension's man have already been disposed of - Jimmy had named them to him earlier but Roman didn't care for names - so there isn't really much danger, and they're coming in blind so really, Roman should have no need for his gun, but it's just in case.

Jimmy leads them around the back of the large house and towards a window that is just big enough to fit one of them through. It's open, surprisingly.

"Did you know it was going to be open?" Jey whispers quietly to Jimmy and his brother rolls his eyes in reply.

"Yeah numb nuts, Wednesday is laundry day and they gotta keep the window open for the dryer or some shit."

Jey eyes his brother weirdly, "And you know that because?"

Jimmy shoves him roughly towards the window, "Ain't no time for talking, get in and open the second door on your left, then unlock the back door so we can get in."

It makes Roman smile fondly, the way his cousins work so well together; Jimmy helping Jey slip through the window easily and silently. For men with such power, so many weapons, sneaking through a window seems like such an amateur move; but Roman prefers to enter silently so they can ambush their targets and honestly, there's no better way of a surprise visit than practically walking through the front door.

Within seconds Jey is opening the back door for them and Roman leads the way inside. Using their trusty hand signals, Jimmy directs Roman to where The Ascension's base office is located. Several corridors later, the three of them find themselves in a large room that has two desks in and a large array of paperwork attached to the walls.

The room is empty, which makes this all the more easier and Roman takes a seat behind one of the desks.

"Looks like he's looking for who killed Konnor, all this shit is like evidence." Jey says, standing in front of the wall that has all of the paperwork pinned to it.

Roman muses over the thought while opening some of the draws to the desk. Most of them contain yet more paperwork but the bottom one harbours a rather impressive hand knife and Roman slips that into his holster. "Who's the evidence pointing to?"

"Not you, that's for sure." Roman grins, good.

The door to the office swings open and Viktor, the remaining head honcho of The Ascension steps inside, completely engrossed in - yet more - papers in his hand, not noticing the three men who have made themselves at home in his room.

"You're not a very observant man, are you Viktor?" Viktor's head snaps up quickly, the colour draining from his face when his eyes land on Roman whose leaning back comfortably in his chair.

"How did you get in here?"

"You know, I'd have thought with Konnor's death you'd have made this place much more secure. We all but walked in, Viktor. That's no way to live, is it?"

"What do you want, Reigns?" Viktor still hasn't moved and he looks more worn out than anything. This should be easier than he thought.

"Surrender your land to me, Viktor. Easy as that."

Viktor growls, "No way. It's all I have left."

"What about your men?"

"Disbanded them, I have no need for them anymore, they can't help me." Viktor has a maniacal glint in his eyes that's quite unsettling but it doesn't phase Roman who simply leans further forward in the chair and flicks his eyes towards Jimmy and Jey who are stood side by side, hands clasped together identically.

"If I send my boys to do a check, they won't find any of your men here, will they?"

Viktor shakes his head, "No. I told you, they're all gone. It's just me now."

Roman dismisses the twins with a nod, knowing that they're both more than capable of looking after themselves if they do come up against anything.

"Why don't we talk this out, Viktor? I'm sure we can come up with a deal. Take a seat." Roman motions to the desk next to him which ignites something inside of Viktor and he's suddenly snarling and growling, launching himself over the desk at Roman. It's a pathetic attempt really, Roman easily catches him with a hand around the scruff of his shirt, slamming his head down onto the mahogany wood of the desk. Roman's blood thrums with adrenalin, that rush of power coursing through him while Viktor struggles in his grasp.

"Viktor, Viktor, Viktor. This could have been so easy. We could have worked a deal out, gone into business together. You could have kept your land and I'd have got what I wanted too, but this disgusting attitude simply won't do." Roman grinds Viktor's face into the desk, relishing in the grunts of pain coming from the man in his hands.

"Now you have a choice," His voice drops dangerously low as he manoeuvres himself around the desk without letting go of Viktor. Roman brings his face to his ear, hands wrapped tightly around his head, "You can surrender your estate to me and I'll let you walk out of this place with nothing more than a black eye for the trouble you've caused me or you can be a stubborn asshole. But I'll warn you, the second option won't end nicely for you."

There's a beat of silence, a breath and then Viktor is spitting, "Fuck you."

Roman huffs out a harsh laugh, hands tightening around Viktor's head. "Have it your way then." With a quick, strong twist of his hands, Roman hears the glorious snap of Viktor's neck and feels the satisfaction of a body going limp in his arms. He lets the body drop to the floor and he takes a moment to admire his own work. It's a clean break, the guy wouldn't have felt a thing. He wouldn't have felt a thing with a bullet to the back of his head, but this is much cleaner for Roman - he's ruined too many nice white shirts with blood and brain matter - and for his clean up team.

He fishes a hand into his pocket and calls them, letting them know the details: one boy, broken neck and no blood. Most likely no other bodies but to be prepared just in case. Xavier as always is a sassy motherfucker, explicitly moaning about having to come all the way out for one freaking body.

"Can't you just dump him in the backyard or something?" Despite the words, Roman can hear Xavier and the others moving around the room and getting their gear ready.

"You know the rules, Woods, every body has to be properly disposed of regardless of quantity or size."

Xavier huffs, "Speaking of size, you better be giving us a bonus for getting rid of Show, that was one large motherfucker."

"You will, don't worry."

"Good," He drawls happily, "Be right over boss." Roman hangs up and glances back down at Viktor's body slumped at his feet. It's sick really, but he's glad that now Viktor can be with Konnor once again.

Roman steps over him, hand slipping into his holster instinctively as he leaves the office. He hasn't heard any commotion from his cousins so he assumes that Viktor was telling the truth when he said he was the only one here, but it never hurts to be prepared.

The house is pretty big, well furnished too, but it's nothing compared to the Empire mansion. He doesn't necessarily want the house, or any of the other houses The Ascension owned, but they come with the area so they're his now anyway. He'll find something do with them, maybe rent them out as an investment, maybe knock them down and build new.

"Yo boss, you might wanna' come and take a look at this." Jey shouts from somewhere across the house. Roman follows his voice, the hand knife taken from Viktor's desk held firmly in his hands as he approaches the back of the house.

Jimmy and Jey are at the bottom of a short flight of stairs leading to what seems to be the basement. Roman steps down quickly, peering over their shoulders when he reaches the bottom. The sight that reaches Roman's eyes makes him want to vomit, that mixed with the smell of sweat and sex and blood.

On the floor seated on a pathetic excuse for a mattress are two guys curled together. One is leaning up against the wall while the other is somewhat situated in his lap, huddled close in what looks like an attempt at protecting himself. Both men are dressed in worn out clothes that have seen better days and were probably once clean of various types of bodily fluids. They have their hands bound with rope and they're both seemingly out of it, though the one leaning up against the wall seems to have more about him than the other.

"What the fuck is this?"

Roman feels the anger swell inside of him as he slips past the twins and steps into the room. "Looks like they were sex slaves." Roman is many things, a murder, a sadist, an asshole, but he's never been a rapist. The most heinous of crimes in Roman's mind and the sight in front of him, two men broken so completely by what he can only guess is day after day of torture.

Roman drops to his hunches slowly, watching as the more alert of the two watches his warily through half closed eyes. His dark brown hair is pulled into a messy, matted bun at the nape of his neck, a lot of it has escaped and is sticking to his sweat covered face. He half whimpers, arms curling around the man in his lap and attempting to shuffle away from Roman.

"Hey, hey it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." Which, that probably doesn't help much gathering their condition and the fact that he has a knife in his hand. He reaches forward slowly, making no sudden movements and gently curls a hand around the ties that are binding the guys hands together. The rope is so worn and threaded that it doesn't take much for the knife to cut through and release him.

His hands are bright red from rope burn, bloody in places but the guy doesn't have enough energy to do anything other than let out a weak hiss as Roman discards the rope. The man in his lap, however, is a different story. The rope wrapped around his wrists is much tighter, cutting deep into his skin, his eyes are closed but his chest is still rising and falling softly and that calms Roman slightly.

With a bit more work, he releases the blonde haired, more worse for ware guys hands and discards the rope across the room.

"What are we going to do?" Jey speaks up, breaking the eerie silence that has settled over the room.

"Take them home, what do you think?"

"Is that such a good idea? They obviously belong to The Ascension."

Roman shrugs his suit jacket from himself and wraps it around the blonde's shoulders. "Well The Ascension are dead and this estate belongs to me, that means they belong to me too. We're taking them home."

Jimmy shrugs his jacket off too, passing it to Roman to wrap around the brunette. "Get them in the car and then i'll call Naomi and tell her to get her stuff ready, they're going to need the heavy stuff." He says, slowly and carefully slipping his arms underneath the brunett. Roman does the same with the blonde, lifting him out of his friends lap. He's so light in his arms and Roman can feel his already burning rage intensify as the man lets out a hoarse, scared whimper from his arms.

"Jey, you stay here and wait for Woods and the team, check everywhere twice in case there's anyone else."

Jey salutes him, "Yes boss, I'll call and let you know if there's anything else."

Roman and Jimmy carry the two men through the house and out to the car. It's difficult to maneuver them into positions that will hurt them the least because both of their bodies are beat to hell and littered with open wounds and cuts and bruises.

"What do you think happened to them?" Jimmy asks as Roman pulls the car out from where it's parked.

"Like I said, probably sex slaves or prostitutes or something. Whatever it was, it wasn't nice."

"Think it was Konnor and Viktor?"

"Most likely, the other guys were assholes but I don't think they had torturing someone in them. Plus, makes sense doesn't it? One for Konnor and one for Viktor."

Jimmy grimaces and slides his phone out to call his wife to get ready for their arrival. Naomi, who is not only Jimmy's wife, is also their in house nurse. Her medical degree from before she met Jimmy meant that she could perform pretty much every surgery that they needed and Roman knew that they were incredibly lucky to have someone like her as part of the Empire.

While driving, Roman checks behind him constantly to check on the two, making sure that they're still breathing and are mostly comfortable. The brunette one seems to try and come around a few times, but exhaustion always wins in the end.

Naomi is waiting for them by the gates of the estate when they arrive, opening them manually because its much quicker than automatic and Roman pulls the car close to the front steps.

"What are you thinking?" Naomi asks as she holds the door open to let Roman and Jimmy through with the men in their arms.

"Most likely raped, most definitely dehydrated and malnourished, this one doesn't seem like he's got much left in him."

Naomi nods and then motions up the stairs, "I've set up some IV drips in the room next to your office, sooner they get some fluids inside of them the sooner we can see the real extent of the damage."

Hurriedly they carry them upstairs, trying their best to be quick while trying not to hurt them. The brunette attempts to wriggle in Jimmy's arms a little, like he's trying to protest but he just doesn't have enough strength and Jimmy manages to keep a strong grip on him until they make it to the bedroom.

Naomi has already set up the two IV drips and is already snapping on a pair of latex gloves while Roman and Jimmy place the two men on the bed. Roman takes a step back as Naomi sets to work, gently pinching their skin and watching is it didn't fall back into place quickly and grimacing.

"It looks like any longer and this one wouldn't have made it, severe dehydration. The other one is on the verge but he's not as bad." Naomi hooks them up quickly but gently before beginning to examine the rest of their bodies.

The room is very quiet, Jimmy is silently helping his wife work, passing her cotton pads and antiseptic and bandages without much of a need to be instructed by her. With the minutes slowly ticking by, the anger and rage Roman had felt earlier slowly turns in worry for the two. Their seemingly lifeless bodies are spread out in front of him, battered and bruised all because worthless scum like The Ascension wanted to get their rocks off.

Roman will never hide the fact that he has many dealings with prostitutes and hookers, hell he owns many of the establishments within a ten mile radius of the house but he prides himself on owning respectful and law abiding clubs. And he's satisfied an urge or two, too, but at the end of it he's always paid them in full with a generous tip and paid for a safe cab to take them right home. Because that's just what you do. The thought of someone doing anything but angers Roman right down to his very core.

It takes Naomi nearly two hours to clean the two men from head to toe with antiseptic, bathing every cute and bite mark on their delicate skin. Fortunately, when all the dirt and grime is gone, their injuries don't look too bad. It still makes Roman's blood boil at the mere sight of them, but it's not as bad as they'd fired.

There's a knock at the bedroom door shortly after Naomi has finished tending to them and Roman gets up from his chair and crosses the room to the door.

"Hey boss, Viktor's been taken care of and Jey wanted me to let you know that everything else was clear."

Roman nods and then steps aside to let Xavier into the room.

"What happened?" His friend asks, stepping towards the bed.

"The twins and I found them in the basement of The Ascension." Roman says simply as he studies Xavier's face. The man looks confused for a minute before realisation dawns on his face.

"Mox and Tyler."

"What, you know them? Is that their names?"

"No, no, that's their stage names, I don't know what they're really called."

"Stage names?"

"They used to work for your club, uh, FCW, I think? The one that Enzo and Cass run. They were there when E and I were scoping out the Vaude's for you. They were a customer favourite but then one day a couple of months ago they just weren't there. Everyone assumed they'd moved onto greener pastures."

Roman tries to swallow the bitter information. They worked for him. In his club. And he couldn't keep them safe. "Clearly not."

"They look so different to what I remember."

"Yeah?"

Xavier nods, motioning towards the blonde. "Mox was, God he was so cocky. Customers loved him, he'd serve you a drink with a smirk and a wink but wouldn't give you so much as second glance. Then he'd get up on stage and set the whole club alight with his routine. Tyler was much the same, the older men especially loved Tyler. Flirtatious as hell, very hands on. Sometimes the two of them worked together and that would really get the crowd going. The regulars were pretty bummed when they suddenly stopped turning up." Xavier looks up at Roman with a sad smile, "Now they look so broken."

"They'll be okay, Roman. You got to them in time, they'll pull through." Naomi says softly, removing her gloves. She's cleared away all of the supplies she's used, leaving only the IV drips and fresh bandages out. Naomi squeezes his arm tenderly, "I'll come and check on them in an hour." She leaves him alone with Xavier and Roman lets out a long sigh, eyes transfixed on the two guys - Mox and Tyler until he can find out their real names.

"I wish I'd have kept Viktor alive so that I could kill him again for this."

"You saved them, that's all that matters, boss." Roman wants to say no, he should never have allowed someone who he employed to be exploited like this, but he doesn't. Xavier has already done enough for him tonight, he doesn't need to burden him with his self criticism so instead he just squeezes Xavier's shoulder in thanks. Woods takes it as his cue to leave and does so with a nod of his head and a quiet, "G'night boss." before Roman is alone in the room besides Mox and Tyler.

He takes a seat opposite the bed, mind whizzing over the night's events. He decides that tomorrow he will go to see Enzo and Cass, try and find out more about the two and how they managed to just disappear from the Empire and end up in the hands of The Ascension.

Roman bares witness to Naomi changing their bandages twice before the sounds of Mox and Tyler's soft, even breathing lulls him to sleep.