A/N: well, this has been a while in the making, but I've finally gotten around to updating it. Please continue to let me know what you think. I really enjoy getting feedback!
He took a deep breath and gave one last look at the home he had carved out for himself and his friends after everything had gone to shit. A home he was now being banished from by one of those he would have counted as one of his closest advisors. He supposed Seth may have been playing him from the get go - a notion that frustrated him more than he would let on. So, his former friend, and now enemy, would take over where he left off in a coup that surprised even him. Seth made it abundantly clear that he wanted to sever ties completely. Not that he minded at this point, but he knew Seth would not be able to do this alone. It took Dean a year to build the small network of friends and supporters before the city adopted him as their savior. And how they had turned on him. They would turn on Seth too if he wasn't careful.
So, where did that leave him now?
"Dean, let's go." Roman said somberly at his side. He nodded to his friend, the only one he would trust at this point. He and Roman now shared a common trauma and that wasn't something that broke a bond quite as easily.
He shouldered his small bag of belongings and winced as it brushed against his back. The pain would remind him of Paige. She took the time, albeit short, to treat his mangled back. She comforted him when he drank himself into a stupor. She stayed with him while he felt sorry for himself. Now he was going to leave her without so much as a goodbye.
He followed Roman into the sewer that would lead to the street. The pair walked in silence for what felt like an eternity, each contemplating their own future at this new turn of events. There was no sound between them except the sloshing of their feet and their own breathing.
He wondered what he would say to Roman anyway. 'Hey man, sorry I almost got you killed and I'm really sorry I got us banished' didn't seem like it would cut it. But, to his credit, Roman took it all with the stoic acceptance he had come to expect from his friend. But, deep down, he knew Roman blamed him for everything even if he wouldn't admit it. How could he not?
Maybe he should have died at the hand of the viper. Maybe that was what he deserved.
"Stop." He heard at his side and glanced up at Roman as the man looked him in the eye. Even in the dark of the sewer, Dean could see the determination on Roman's face. "Stop beating yourself up over something you had no control of."
He sighed and continued walking, ignoring the statement. He didn't need a pep talk. He didn't need to look in his friend's eyes and see the accusations and building blame. But Roman wasn't going to let him sulk away. He grabbed his shoulder and turned him to face him, even as Dean yelled at the fresh pain spreading through his injured body. No, Roman made him look at him. "You will not do this to yourself, or me."
"Do what?" He asked with a defeated sigh, knowing what his friend meant but to tired of everything to acknowledge any of it.
He heard Roman growl but couldn't bring himself to care how angry he made the large Samoan. "Dean, this is not the time to give up and that is exactly what you are doing."
"So what if I am?" He said angrily and took a few steps away. "So what if I decide I'm done with everything? Huh? So what if we're about to spend the rest of our short lives being hunted like animals by the Authority? So what if Seth has abandoned us to suffer alone as we're picked off? Give me a reason to care!"
He was hysterically shouting by the time he finished his rant but didn't care. He was done. He was done with all of it.
Roman closed the gap between them and scowled at him. "You want a reason?" He said through clenched teeth. "Fine. How about all those people who still look for you to help them? How about the friends who are still loyal to you? How about me?"
He looked down at his feet covered to the ankle in muck and grime. He didn't want to look Roman in the eye anymore because he knew he could never live up to the standards he was given. "Look, I almost got you killed."
"But I'm still here, yelling at you like always."
Dean shoved Roman back and he stumbled a few paces in shock. "You don't understand, if I would have died in that cage, you were next. You know they weren't going to let us live. We were fucked!"
"We were fucked as soon as they called you out and you know it!"
"Yes, they called ME out." he snapped.
Roman laughed and shook his head in disbelief, "It's funny how you think this is just about you."
That took him aback and he straightened up in surprise. Roman didn't say anymore. He walked past Dean in the dark, leaving him open mouthed and staring at the empty space his friend formerly occupied.
"Are you coming?" Roman called back at him and a part of him wanted to say no and run screaming in the opposite direction. But the other part, the much larger part, swallowed his anxiety and shifted the bag on his shoulder with a wince before turning to follow his friend.
They didn't really know where they were going, but Dean was thankful that he at least wasn't alone. Despite his misgivings about his own place in the fucked up world, Roman stayed by his side- his conscience and compass.
It was an hour later before they emerged into the street above. The hustle and bustle of the city masked their presence, but Dean still lifted the hood over his head and shifted deeper into his leather jacket. Roman, on the other hand, stood tall, almost daring someone to recognize them. A quick nudge from Dean and the older man quickly donned a knit cap and sunglasses. They had decided in the sewer that they would make their way to Romans cousins. The twins, Jimmy and Jey, would hopefully be able to hide them until they could figure out their next move.
The pair entered the crowd and were thankfully unrecognized as they moved through the streets toward the small open market. In the early morning hours, the place would be bustling with those looking to gather what little food would be available for purchase at exorbitant prices. That couldn't be helped and Dean knew that, but it never ceases to amaze him just how bad things had become.
A small garrison of Hunters men were patrolling the market, pulling people aside and questioning them only to push them away forcefully when they gave them no information of worth. One was headed directly toward them and Dean gave Roman the signal to split up. Though he seemed ready to protest, the Samoan gave a curt nod and walked off in the opposite direction. It was silently understood at this point that they would meet at the twins place once they were through the market.
However, Dean was now curious about what exactly they were trying to get info about. Again adjusting the hood on his head, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked toward the small band of guards, stopping short at an apple stand and making a show of studying the meager selection of sickly looking fruit. From here, he could hear them talking amongst themselves.
"Hunter is not going to be happy if we come back empty handed again." One said in a thick Irish brogue. "He's going to cut out rations down like he always does."
He heard another man hit the Irishman lightly, "Stop worrying about Hunter right now. Let's just do what we came here to do."
The pair moved to just behind Dean and he tensed up automatically. Directly to his left they pulled a woman who had been inspecting an apple and made her turn to face them with a yelp of surprise. For a split second, Dean almost made a move to help her but stopped himself from interfering. Rather he turned his hooded head slightly away so his face was more concealed.
"Have you seen the outlaws Dean Ambrose or Seth Rollins?" The Irishman asked harshly.
"N-no!" She stammered, frightened. "I-I haven't!"
Dean growled low in his throat louder than he had anticipated and had to cover it with a cough. He could almost feel the eyes shift to him and he cursed himself silently.
"What about you?" The other asked, obviously directing the question at him.
Thinking quickly, Dean answered, changing the pitch of his voice and adding a slight southern accent. "I ain't seen those sons of bitches! The pair of 'em deserve everything coming their way!"
"You're damn right they do!" The Irishman added. They pushed the poor woman back against the cart and moved away.
That's when Dean looked at her. Her eyes met his and widened as recognition set it. He pushed a finger against his lips for her to stay quiet and grinned before handing her what little money he had left. It wasn't much, but maybe she could provide for her family something better than feeble, half rotten apples. She took it with gratitude and moved off with a small thank you.
So, the Authority had added Seth to their list of public enemies. Well, the list only consisted of two people. But that didn't bother Dean. What bothered him was the fact that Seth was now more prominently on their radar. Despite their current situation, no one was going to hurt Seth other than Dean. He still held some sick sense of loyalty to the man and he almost hated himself for it.
Paige hated him. She hated him and she had feelings for the lunatic, a realization she had come to not long after she realized he was gone. Figure that one out. He just left. He said nothing to anyone, nothing to her. That's what bothered her more than anything. He just left her here to deal with Seth's increasingly power hungry speeches.
"We should hit them hard." He said to his small group of men that included Dolph and others she did not recognize. "Take them out at the source."
"That's not what Dean would do." She found herself saying aloud and not caring who looked at her in surprise. She held Seth's gaze, knowing he was the one she meant to direct that statement.
A small grin lifted the corners of his mouth, "Dean isn't here, is he? He left us all to fend for himself like the coward he is."
She knew he was lying, trying to get his men to move away from Dean and view him as the de facto leader of their small uprising. They held each other's gaze for a long time, daring each other to speak. When she didn't move to say anything else, he turned his attention back to his rebellion.
She couldn't listen to him anymore and, with a noise of disgust, she stood and loudly knocked her chair over, again forcing all eyes to shift to her. But she moved away before anyone could say anything.
She couldn't be around Seth anymore and immediately went to her small space and pulled a backpack from under her makeshift bed before throwing her meager belongings into it. She would go find Dean.
"Where are you going?" She heard him ask from the doorway. "You can't leave."
She rounded on him and forced a mocking smile onto her face, "And why not, Seth?"
He looked down and his feet and shuffled them a bit, "Because we need you...I need you."
The laugh left her lips before she could stop it. She made a move to say something back to him, but he closed the gap between them in three long strides and took her face in his hands only to press his lips forcefully against hers.
She managed to push him away and stared in disbelief at him. "You do not get to kiss me."
"Paige, please stay with me." He said softly and took her hands in his softly. "I've had feeling for you for a long time. Which Dean gone I -"
"That's right." She interrupted and pulled her hands free. "Dean's gone. You banished him. I'm going to find him."
It was as if a sudden realization hit him and he made an 'oh' sort of sound when he finally figured it out. "You love him, don't you?"
She crossed her arms over her chest and glared daggers at the man who was now growing angrier by the second. She didn't have to answer him. He already knew what she was going to say and she didn't have to justify her feeling to Seth Rollins.
He snarled at her and she found herself taking a few steps back. He grabbed the closest object he could, the small radio she stole, and threw it against the far wall. The object shattered into a thousand pieces of black plastic and silver electronics as it connected, but she never took her eyes off of the fuming man in front of her.
"Why does he get everything?!" He shouted at her. "He get the fame, the glory...the girl! What does that leave me?! Huh?"
"You're pathetic." She scoffed at him and pushed past his fuming form and He grabbed her arm.
"Don't go."
She pulled her arm free and straightened out her jacket. "You know, Seth, he loved you like a brother. Maybe, just maybe, for the briefest of seconds, I loved you too. Now? Now you're nothing but a jealous dirtbag."
He chuckled at her, "Me? Jealous of Dean Ambrose?"
"You said it yourself, Seth." She said, voice no higher than a whisper. "He gets everything. But he also gives everything. He gave himself up for Becky, he risks his life every day to give back to the people who need him. What do you give?"
"Get out." He seethed. "Go be his groupie like you so desperately want. Go give yourself to him like the who-"
The crack of her hand hitting his face filled the space and his hand instantly flew to the stinging red mark forming quickly. Neither said a word. She had drawn her line in the sand and so had he.
She shouldered her bag and, with one last disgusted look, she left him seething behind her.