Six

"Seth Freakin' Rollins?" Roman repeated. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I can help you with that, Roman," Joe said. "I can help you destroy him. Seth will regret messing with one of my own… just like he had before."

"What do you mean? You guys know one another?"

"I last saw him about more than half a year ago in Samoa."

"But I thought he was in Lakeview-"

"No, no, no, Roman. We're not going to begin the story there. We're going to move it back a little bit all the way to seven months ago when the King Slayer came to slay and slayed nothing. He merely escaped. And the next thing I heard, he's now ruling over some kingdom below. That is not how things work. You see, Seth, now lives his life on my terms. IT IS OVER WHEN I SAY IT'S OVER! And I am not through with Seth Rollins. In fact, I'm about to jack up the volume. He will hear every ligament POP and he will hear joint BREAK and you will hear every bone CREAK when I get my hands on him because his life is about to get really loud."

Seemed like Joe had bad blood with Seth after all.

"Uce," Jimmy asked Joe walking in with a mug of tea for Roman. He had followed the sorcerer here. "Your family-"

"Escaped. They hid away while Seth tore our village and captured a few of our men. I haven't been able to go down there due to my father's orders but if Roman wants that coward destroyed, I'll be by his side."

"So will the rest of the family. It's obvious he wants to be the first one to bring Dean to his kingdom."

Roman stood up, fists clenched. "He's not getting Dean. I'll spear his ass straight through hell."

"You won't need to," Joe announced. "I'm going to make him pay first."

The door opened then; Dean was back from his run. "What's going on here-" His eyes widened at Roman's arm. Immediately he was by his boyfriend's side. "What happened to you?"

"The goat butted me…" Roman answered, wincing a little when he moved due to the shooting pain. "But Joe's paste should help."

"Fuck!" Dean cursed. "What the hell- where is this goat?"

"It's Seth," Joe sneered, pounding his fists. "And he's going to be destroyed by my hands."

"Hold on a second. Seth's a goat?"

"He was merely shape shifting. Probably trying to freak Roman out. Obviously that didn't work. Each time there's a change in you - whether it's your attitude or behavior - he moves a little closer. Until the transformation is complete. That's when he'll come to collect."

"Collect? He wants to collect me?"

"Wants to bring you down to his kingdom."

"To rule with him."

"Exactly."

Roman felt helpless at that moment. "Is there no way for Dean to stop this transformation?"

"I'm going to have to dig a little deeper," Joe allowed. "Keep holding on."

"What happened to the goat?" Dean wanted to know.

"It dashed back into the forest."

"Then shouldn't we try to find the goat, Roman? And slaughter it?"

The English teacher raised an eyebrow. "Dean, didn't you just heard what Joe said? The goat is Seth."

"Precisely. Slaughter the goat and we'll kill Seth!"

"It's never that simple, Dean."

Joe nodded. "Roman's right. It's more complicated than that. Your father - you real father - probably made a deal with Hunter about you. Seth is likely here to collect you because he's supposedly your intended."

"Fuck no!" Dean snapped. "That's just… I'm not going to marry that crossfit freak! I don't do marriage to anyone or anything!"

Jimmy chortled. "Anything like a goat?"

"You…"

Seemed like Joe had insider's information. "How did you know about the deal?" Roman asked.

"It's a well known fact in Samoa," Joe told him. "We've been expecting a war on Lakeview's grounds. Certainly not on our own island. Your father was warned by mine many times before .Your uncle Afa filled me in on what he did. He got greedy along the way, I guess. "

"So your family knew about Mark?"

"We knew about the whole damn thing. Your father was our main contact and he wouldn't allow us to get involved from the start despite our repeated offers to assist you all. As for your father, Dean, he's trying to go against destiny. He's asking for trouble by doing that. Same went for Hunter."

"But he was the one who tried to convince us to stay together!" Dean burst out. "I can't believe that man!"

"Don't you have people who were supposed to guard you?" Joe quizzed.

"We cut ties with almost everyone in Lakeview when we moved here."

Roman held his boyfriend's hand while staring at Joe. "So what happens now?"

"I am not marrying Seth Freakin' Rollins!" Dean declared. "I'll kick his ass all over this town to Lakeview if it's what I have to do."

There was the booming of thunder then. More rain.

"We need to rest first before we put our heads together to figure out the next step," Joe instructed. "Trust me. You're going to need us now more than ever. Along with some allies of ours."

"Allies?" Roman repeated. This whole thing was really becoming a full scale war. "What allies?"

"The Irish, of course. You're living in King Sheamus' town, you know."


Thirteen year old Dean could not stop staring down at Jackson Fox, one of their classmates, chatting to Roman. Stop it, he chided himself. He's not yours! Still what would it take for Roman to consider him as someone worthy to stand by his side as more than friends?

There was no way Roman was interested in him that way… right?

"You okay?" Roman asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Was he asking you out?" Dean queried instead.

"No. He just wanted to know how I did on the test last week."

"Oh."

"I doubt anyone will ask me out."

Dean would and he wanted to tell Roman this so bad. It was on the tip of his tongue…

"Uce!" Jimmy hollered, fist bumping Roman. "We still on tonight?"

"I don't know, Jimmy," Roman answered. "Dean and I have something planned."

"But it's Lloyd's birthday. We can't let a brother down."

Right. Because Dean was no one. Aloud he told Roman, "Go ahead, babe. It's far more important."

Shit. He called Roman babe. He hoped he didn't noticed it.

"See?" Jimmy said to his cousin, backing away with a huge smile. "So I'll see you at seven. Don't be late!"

Roman waved at him before turning to Dean. "But Tuesday nights are Monopoly nights."

"Nothing we can't play another time. Besides, family is more important."

Dean shone the torchlight as he walked through the forest in the rain after having sneaked out of the house an hour later.

"Seth, baby," he said out loud, "You're playing a very dangerous game here with me."

"Oh I don't think so."

The auburn haired man stopped in his tracks upon the sound of the voice. It was a voice he had recognised most of his life. Turning around, he found the man he used to call brother, standing behind him in a black shirt and pants.

"You son of a bitch," Dean bit out.

"Oh come on," the brunette replied. "Is that the way you treat me after all we've been through? We were close, remember?"

"Yeah before you nailed my boyfriend in the back! You were my brother, Seth! I loved you!"

"Dean, you put too much stock into feelings. You were just a business partner to me. Even when we marry, it'll be a business proceeding to me. That's all."

"Let's get one thing straight: I don't do marriage. Never have. Never will. And even if by some miracle I change my mind, it sure as hell won't be to a weasel like you!"

"But you will change your mind." There was coldness in Seth's voice. "Once that red moon comes about, you will change your mind, Dean and you'll be mine. And you and I will destroy the Samoans once you get Roman's blood. We'll rule, Dean. You and me."

"When I become evil, I won't be living inside that kingdom of yours, Seth. I'll be too busy trying to conquer everything without your help."

Seth frowned at him. "We'll see, won't we, Dean? That self restraint you have right now will eventually slip. Your precious soulmate won't be safe from you."

"Never going to happen."

"Oh it will. And I'd hide if I were you. I don't take too kindly to people who don't take heed of my warnings."

"Not going anywhere, Sethie. I'm standing right here."

As his former brother disappeared, Dean found himself wondering what it would really be like when he turned evil.

Would he really be out for Roman's blood?


Thirteen year old Roman had never done anything bad in his life.

Never.

He had overheard their Math teacher, Mr Grisham telling Dean that if he didn't do well in his finals, he'd have to repeat seventh grade.

Roman's heart went out to his best friend.

"Studied already?" Kevin Owens asked them both.

Dean shrugged.

Roman could tell he was resigning himself to repeating seventh grade. "Enough," he lied.

He knew that Dean had not been studying because of the all shouting and screaming at home.

So during the test, Roman did the unthinkable: he swapped his test papers with Dean, pleading silently with Jey to distract Mr Grisham at the end of class.

His cousin came through for him. Tama Tonga joined in for laughs.

Roman carefully changed the names and student number on the optical answer sheet before leaving class unnoticed.

When they got their results back, Mr Grisham handed Dean the paper with a smile. "Guess I won't be seeing you next year, Mr Ambrose."

Dean had frowned slightly before his eyes flew to the marks and widened in surprise.

Mr Grisham gave Roman a look when handing him his paper.

Maybe he knew.

Either way, Dean was safe; he was coming to eighth grade with Roman.

Was Dean safe now though? That was the first thought that came to Roman's head when he woke up from his nap to the sounds of bickering.

On top of that Dean was not beside him in bed. Now he was worried. Dean had to be safe because he didn't feel anything unusual but still… where was he?

Then he heard his boyfriend's voice.

"What's going on?" Roman asked when he stepped out of the room, only to find Dean and Jimmy staring one another down. "Dean?"

"I've been charged with something that I was not proven to be at the scene of," Dean said, a twisted smile on his face.

Jimmy's jaw dropped. "I saw you walking from that forest."

"Dean…" Roman repeated again.

His boyfriend averted his gaze immediately.

"You went to the forest? What did I tell you?"

"I was fine, Roman." Then he heard Dean mumble, "I saw Seth."

"Seth!"

"Yeah. He was there. Waiting for me."

"And you went to him? Dean-"

"Don't worry. He's shared stuff that Joe's already said. Nothing new."

Somehow Roman had a hard time believing that.


Dean found himself tossing and turning in bed that night, his body drenched in sweat.

Images of blood running down the corridors of what appeared to be a school kept coming to him.

He had no idea where these were coming from. Was it genuinely from the darkest place in his mind or just something random? And if it was random, that was one creepy imagination to have.

Pushing himself off the bed, he walked towards the window and drew back a curtain.

The owl was at the window sill, watching him silently.

Dean stared back.

"Baby boy, what are you doing all the way over there?" Roman yawned. "Come back to bed."

Reluctantly, Dean tore his eyes away from the nocturnal creature to answer his boyfriend, "In a moment."

When he looked back, the owl was gone. Where did it go?

"You heading back to work tomorrow?" he asked, lying down beside Roman.

"Yeah," Roman replied, pulling him in. "My arm feels fine. Besides, I miss my kids."

Every time Roman spoke about his students, Dean would feel his heart melt.

Roman was good with kids. The blue eyed man would even go so far as to say - if anyone asked him - that his boyfriend would make a good dad.

Not Dean though; he knew he'd be horrible at that. "I'm sure they missed you too."

"I think so. One of the parents sent me a WhatsApp message: Edward says get well soon. Hope to see you tomorrow."

Definitely father material. "That's cute."

"What did Seth say?"

The change in topic didn't faze Dean. "The same stuff as Joe: he seems to think I will marry him and rule with him in his kingdom. Asshole even called me his business partner. Well, I'm going to shut down the Seth Rollins business."

"What an odd thing to refer you as. A business partner?"

"It's not about love to him, babe. It's about power. And he needs me to do the work for him. I can see his plans a mile away."

"Can you?"

"Yeah."

"Can you see yourself turning evil?"

Dean knew the answer to that; he could feel it in his gut. "Maybe," he half admitted.


The goat or Seth was a step closer than yesterday.

Which according to Joe meant that Dean was changing in some ways. So far, Roman had been unable to detect anything unusual from him.

The only thing unusual that happened that Thursday afternoon was not to his boyfriend but to one of his kids.

The second last session happened to be silent reading so the class had brought their own books to read while Roman graded their homework that had been assigned to them by the relief teacher yesterday.

It had been a good day so far.

Roman was especially moved by the way the kids cheered - well most of them - when they started to enter the classroom before the bell rang.

Kenny had been too busy dragging Edward in via headlock. Roman was going to have to speak to his parents about him doing these dangerous stunts in class.

"Mr Reigns?" Jake Black called out, raising his hand. "May I be excused to the bathroom?"

"Sure, Jake,"

The dark haired boy ran out of class quickly.

"Do you have any kids, Mr Reigns?" Charlie asked suddenly.

Roman smiled softly. "This is silent reading, Charlie."

The auburn haired boy pouted. Gosh he reminded Roman of Dean. Except his boyfriend wouldn't have pouted. Roman would wager that he'd make some smart ass comment.

"But to answer your question, no. I don't have kids," Roman added.

Just wasn't his boyfriend's kind of thing.

Roman remembered about two years ago, they had to babysit for a neighbor's kid when they were living in New York. The kid wanted some attention so Roman sat down and played with the boy some games and watched TV and fixed him something to eat that was preapproved by his parents.

After the boy had been picked up by his parents, upon closing the door, Dean had remarked, "Am I glad we don't have kids."

Roman remembered being surprised. "You don't like them?"

"Never cared for them; don't want them." As if he had sensed the Samoan man's crestfallen mood, he then asked, "You don't want any… right?"

"No," came the lie.

"Oh that's a relief. It's just that I'd be a horrible dad, you know."

"You won't know though. Maybe we'd both be good parents."

"Nope. I doubt it. Well not you. You're a teacher; you'd be amazing at it."

And that was the first and only time the topic had been discussed. Roman dropped the idea immediately.

It had been tough to let that dream go.

Unlike marriage which he never really thought about, kids were something that he wanted but since Dean wasn't keen on them, he decided to concentrate on other things.

Whatever Dean was comfortable with.

"I thought that if you had kids, we could play with them," Charlie said.

"Maybe someday," Roman replied.

Jake returned back to class, his face stoic. He approached Roman then whimpering. "Mr.. Mr Reigns."

"What's the matter, Jake?"

"Can… can I talk to you outside?"

Roman nodded to the boy before following him out of the classroom where he nodded to him to continue.

"I saw… I saw something in the bathroom," Jake confided.

"What did you see?"

"You're not going to believe this."

"Why not?"

"Because, Mr Reigns, I saw a goat."


Roman had never sped so fast in his entire life after school.

There was no way that Jake had to be imagining that.

A fucking black goat.

What was it even doing in school? Was Seth so damn petty he had to come down all the way to there to spook Roman? When his car stopped at traffic, the grey eyed man tried calling Dean but to no avail.

Fuck! He had forgotten that Dean would be out of town for a couple hours with… shit.

With Drake.

Upon reaching home, the English teacher found that damn goat standing there, eyes focused on him.

"So you're trying to scare kids now?!" Roman growled. "Why the fuck don't you man up, Seth? Face me one to one like a man or are you too much of fucking chicken to do that?"

Suddenly, there was a gush of strong wind surrounding them.

Oh no he didn't; it wasn't going down like that.

Roman would stand his ground on this.

"You're not taking Dean away from me, do you understand? You want him? Well, you're going to have to come through me!"

No sooner than Roman had said those words, kids no older than the ones he was teaching, started coming out from the forest, all dressed in white with wild flower crowns on their heads.

What the fuck was going on here?

"You cannot stop the inevitable," a blonde girl said. "Brother Dean will be coming home."

A/N Thank you for the kind reviews. I truly appreciate them; it helps motivate me too :-)