A/N: eyyyy! chapter 6! a little bit of a long wait.. (sorry melle...;)) but here it is and.. DRUM ROLL... DRAMAMAMAMAMAM. :D please comment/kudos/favourite/review! it really makes my day and i wanna know whether you're Team Roman or Team Randy? also, go check out my new rolleigns fic, Rejects! - georgia xx
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John Cena pulls his car into the vacated parking lot of an old warehouse opposite Vince's bar. Sitting in the passenger seat of his truck is his newest recruit, Randy. He hadn't known him that long; they'd been introduced by a friend of a friend. They had common interests; football, alcohol, things of the like. They saw each other a few nights a week at Paul's bar, but other than that they didn't have all that much to do with each other.
Randy became a recruit the moment he found out that he was Seth's boyfriend, thus becoming important when he consequently found out that Roman Reigns got out of prison. Which is why tonight, they're at Vince's. Hunter's inside waiting for them, ready and waiting to give orders on what they should do about Reigns.
Roman owes them a lot of money and has for the last few years while he was away. Hunter has been quiet about the money for a while; he hasn't even mentioned it for a good year. John thought he'd forgotten about it, or just didn't care enough to get it back. Turns out, Hunter was waiting for the right moment and the right person to get it back for him. Randy seems to be that person, he's got ants in his pants due to Roman being Seth's ex boyfriend and that makes him much more easily manipulated into doing Hunter's dirty work.
The two of them step out of the car into the warm evening air and silently make their way over to the bar. It's busy for a Thursday night, but then again, Vince's is always busy. For some unknown reason, the crooks of the city use Vince's bar in the week, sheltering themselves from the police before hitting up Paul's bar on the weekends. Personally, John prefers Paul's, but seeing as Hunter is Vince's son in law, business is always conducted in the backroom of Vince's.
Upon entering, John spots his latest girlfriend Nikki in the middle of the bar with her friends. He grins and winks at her before ushering Randy through the main area and into the staff only area. The staff don't bother them, they know who John is, they've long sine stopped telling John he's in an unauthorised area.
As usual, Hunter is sat behind Vince's desk, checking numbers on the computer. The smartly dressed man looks up at them and he beams brightly. John resists the urge to laugh; he knows Hunter's bright and happy attitude is all an act for the new guy Randy. He's known Hunter long enough to have a slight idea of what the older man is planning to use Randy for. He'll be the fall guy, the guy that ultimately takes the heat for whatever his boss has planned for Roman Reigns.
"Boys, nice to see you, take a seat, please." Although Hunter's tone is light and friendly, he can sense that Randy is anxious, suspicious almost of Hunter; maybe the kids smarter than he first thought. But still, he knows he's gunning for a chance to give Reigns a piece of his mind and keep him away from his boy, so he'll most likely let his emotions get the better of him and do whatever Hunter asks him to do.
"So, a little birdie told me that Roman Reigns is out of prison, is this true?" Both Randy and John nod in unison and Hunter smiles darkly at them.
"And there have been actual sightings? I really don't want a repeat of last time." John fishes out his mobile and pulls up a photo that Nikki had taken for him upon his request. It clearly showed Roman working alongside Seth at Paul's.
Hunter hums approvingly, "Good. Well, as you know John, Roman owes us a lot of money. Randy, to give you the short story, Roman had been working with us for a while before he got sent to prison. He was dealing our stuff in order for a cut of the profits. The business relationship was going well, until the money we received from the sales was short on numerous occasions. We cut business ties and intended to get the stolen money back from him. Then, he went into prison. Now, we won't our money back once and for all, and the two of you are going to get that back." The two nod in understanding, prompting Hunter to continue.
"We don't want the guy getting scared and running off, so we've got to go about this in the right way. Randy, that's where you come in, the guy has no idea you're one of us so how about you rough him up just a little bit before we target him directly. Just shake him up enough to have him on edge, but not scared out of his wits. Think you can do that?" John looks at Randy from the corner of his eye, and can see the guy's jealously bubbling up beneath his tattooed skin. Randy sets him mouth in a hard line.
"Yeah," He says gruffly, nodding his head for good measure, "I can do that." Hunter beams gratefully and John suppresses a laugh, sometimes Hunter is so fake.
"Good, well, I think that's it for now. We'll talk soon about what's in store for Reigns, go and enjoy your night boys." The two get up, John not at all shocked at the length of his talk, though Randy's face tells him that he is.
"Oh John, hold fire I've got something for you." Randy silently nods to John, heading out the door without being asked to leave them alone for a moment. John looks to Hunter, whose whole demeanour has changed within a matter of seconds.
"We can trust him?"
John shrugs, "I'd say so. He's hot headed and out for Roman's blood seeing as he's seemingly only back in town because of Seth. He'll do whatever you want as long as it gets the son of a bitch away from his boy, then when all the evidence is stacked against him if Reigns goes to the police; none of our boys get sent down."
Hunter nods in understanding and pats John on the back. "Good work John, just keep him in check, don't let him do anything too stupid before we get our money back, alright?" John nods, sliding out of Hunter's grip and heading towards the door. With a final nod to Hunter, John steps out of the office and back into the bar. Randy is standing talking to the barman, Dolph, so John heads over to them.
"Gonna' shoot off, meeting Seth at Paul's, talk to you later alright?" John nods, smiling at him and ordering himself a drink. He watches as Randy slinks his way through the crowd and out of the door. He does feel bad for the guy, he has no idea what he's getting himself into, not idea what sort of trouble he could land himself in if he's not careful. But, he wants revenge on Roman Reigns just as much as Hunter does, so why should he care who he hurts in the process as long as it's not himself? The only person he promised not to hurt was Seth, and he gets that because the guy wasn't grass and had saved Jamie and Joey's ass when they broke in. But he has no qualms about hurting anyone else in order to get his money back.
John takes a sip of his beer, eyes scanning the crowd of people. They land on Nikki and he grins as their eyes meet. He takes another sip and starts to head over to her, time for some fun.
xXx
"No, no, no, Roman we agreed that story would not be told ever again." Seth whines and Roman can't help but grin at his little pouty face, oh God how he's missed that.
Roman holds up his hands in mock defence, "Alright princess, I'm sorry." Seth glares at him, but there's no heat in it.
He makes a cross over his heart and says, "I cross my heart I won't do it again." The smallest of smiles creeps onto Seth's face as he sticks his tongue and heads down into the basement to get more beers.
Dean's sitting at the bar (again) and there's a great big smile on his face, Roman can't help but grin back at him.
"You two seem to be getting along like old times." Dean says, tipping his beer bottle back against his lips.
Roman looks back to where Seth had descended the stairs only moment ago, "Yeah we are. I just know that he's still holding himself back, won't come to close or even touch me. I wanna' get back to that, y'know?"
Dean nods, "I understand, but it'll come, don't worry. Seth's gotta' learn to trust you again. Remember you told him nothing would ever happen to you? Look what happened, he needs to learn to let you back in and that's going to take time. You've just got to be patient and keep on being Roman; he'll let you back in eventually."
"You're right."
Dean smirks, "Always am." Roman scoffs and shoves him, wiping down the counter. It's not very busy for a Thursday night, though Roman's come to find that it never is on a weekday. He likes it like that, though. He loves the time he gets to spend with Seth when there are only a few people around. He loves having Dean sit at the bar all night, alternating between a beer and water. He loves watching Seth talk to the regulars and charm them into drinking even more beer than they normally do. And he especially loves it when Archie comes bursting in and the four of them are like a family again.
Seth comes back up from the basement a moment later, and Roman quickly scurries over to help him with the crate. Seth tells him to stop fussing and that he can do it himself, but Roman doesn't miss the little blush that creeps onto Seth's cheeks when their hands touch slightly.
Dean leaves after another beer and lets them both finish their shifts in peace. The bar gets a little busier, but not busy enough for them to be rushed off their feet. Roman gets to catch a glimpse of his Seth for brief periods before Seth shrinks back in on himself. But Roman takes those moments as small wins, because it means that Seth is slowly and surely becoming more comfortable around him.
Roman finishes his shift at midnight and offers to walk Seth home (he may not have been here to look after Seth for the past few years, but that didn't mean he was going to stop now) but Seth (rather awkwardly) tells him that Randy is coming to pick him up. He's not entirely happy letting Seth go home with him, but it is his boyfriend and he can't really do much about it.
He grabs his jacket and shucks it on as he's heading out the door. There's a cool breeze outside which has him pulling his jacket around him tighter and his hands digging into the pockets. He feels around for his cigarettes and his lighter before unwillingly pulling his hands out back into the cold air.
Seth always hated him smoking, and he'd mostly quit before he went into prison. But, being on the inside meant a lot of spare time and lots of restless energy. Plus, Freddie, one of his only friends on the inside could get his hands on them all the time, so he picked the habit back up.
He fumbles with the lighter, the stupid flint going out every time he runs his finger down. He tries one more time, and ends up dropping it onto the floor. Roman sighs loudly before dropping down onto his knees (and cringing when they crack loudly). Just as his fingers clasp around the cold, blue plastic, there's something very hard and rough smashing into the side of his head. The pain surges through it, can feel his brain rattling around inside of his skull.
Roman has no time to react before the boot that kicked him in the head begins to stamp repeatedly on his head and his face, he tries to protect himself using his arms, but the kicks are much too quick. Finally, whoever it is stops the attack, grabbing onto his collar and pulling him slightly off the ground.
Roman forces his eyes open, even though it physically pains him to do so, they're almost swollen shut, and the face that he makes out in the dark makes his blood run cold.
"You made a big mistake coming back to this town, buddy." He throws Roman back to the ground and scurries in the direction of the bar. Roman sits up, putting a hand to the back of his and feeling for any cuts or gashes. He touches his face, which is definitely covered in blood and stares after the vanished attacker. Looking at his hand when he pulls it away from his face is like something from a horror show.
Roman growls, "Bad move Orton."