Law Dogs

Author's note: There is violence and swearing ahead.

Seth was in the paddock getting the horses saddled and ready to go. Harper was nearby, handcuffed to one of the fence posts. He had yet to talk and Seth wondered if he actually could. He had just finished tightening the girth on the Dean's saddle when a gunshot announces the presence of incoming riders. Soon a "Hello in the camp!" drew him out of the paddock, walking towards the riders. He watched with his hand near his revolver but not drawing as three horses and riders trotted into camp. The man in the lead was huge, bigger than Rowan or even Mark. Seth recognized Glenn Jacobs, court bailiff and didn't even bother trying to hide a sneer of contempt.

They had crossed paths with Glenn on occasion; the man was an arrogant and overbearing prick who liked to make prisoners' lives miserable and short. And when there were no prisoners to torment, he would sometimes targeted the deputies. There where whispers of midnight beatings and murders associated with Glenn. It was an unspoken fact Glenn was Hunter's personal hit man. Other deputies tried hard not to be noticed by this man, but Seth, Dean and Roman, cocky in their own right, enjoyed going out of their way to aggravate him at any given opportunity. However, they weren't stupid. The trio always made sure they stuck together and were never alone in his presence.

"Hi Glenn," he greeted with a marked lack of enthusiasm as they rode up to the paddock.

"That's Bailiff Jacobs to you, Deputy Marshal Rollins," he corrected Seth, his voice sounding like crushed gravel, yet his words were precisely enunciated. "Do I need to educate you on respect?" He looked around, taking in the shack and the number of horses in the paddock. "Where's your friends?" he asked, making the word friends sound like an insult.

Seth's eyes narrowed, Glenn was as dangerous as they come and used any perceived slight, no matter how small as an excuse to 'discipline' violently. Still, showing any fear only made him worse. "They're around," he answered, standing as tall as he could. "Why are you here?"

Glenn dismounted. He towered a full eleven inches over Seth. "We're here to check up on you guys. Hunter thought you might need a hand." And by 'we', Glenn gestured to his two companions, both whom Seth recognized only by sight: Billy Gunn and a guy who liked to call himself Road Dogg, neither was a court officer as far as he knew. He had never interacted with them before, but if they were riding with Glenn, it could only mean they were bad news. He ignored them.

Of course what Glenn was saying was total bullshit. They had gone after dangerous outlaws before and Hunter hadn't bothered to send back-up. And even if he did, bailiffs had no business in Marshals' affairs. Suspicious, Seth wasn't going to let on that he thought that, though. "Nope, actually we're good. We have one of the Wyatts in custody already," he gestured at Harper, "and we'll bring in the others today."

"What about the money?" Glenn asked. He stepped within a few feet of Seth who refused to step back.

"We'll find it, don't worry," Seth assured him. His hand was never far away from his gun. He didn't trust Glenn any further than he could throw the man. The other two had dismounted and were flanking Glenn, both with jackal grins on their faces at Seth's show of bravado.

"Be sure that you do. Well, if you don't need our help, I guess we'll be on our way." Glenn made a show of turning around. Then he stopped at looked back at Seth. "Oh! I almost forgot. Did you three stop at the relay station on the way here?" Glenn asked, trying to sound casual but failing. His gaze on Seth was razor sharp.

Something about Glenn's demeanor put Seth's hackles up. His mind painted a new picture of the situation. This picture was not the Wyatts leaving the bloody badge as a taunt. No, this picture consisted of the bloody badge with Roman's name on it left as incriminating evidence. Cold sweat broke out across his back at the thought of Glenn finding it. Then another thought flashed across his mind. What if it wasn't the Wyatts that had killed the caretaker?

With his poker face in place he was just opening his mouth to deny it when Glenn attention was drawn by Dean and Roman walking side by side towards them from the direction of the stream. Roman's wet shirt clung to him and his hair was slicked back with water. He looked much better than last night. Dean must have cleaned up too, because his hair was dripping wet over his forehead into his eyes.

Glenn's expression of superior contempt changed to sheer disgust. "Still can't keep your hands off each other?" he asked. He refused to believe that friends could have a close relationship without it involving sex. Especially since the three of them always hung out together and backed each other up around Glenn, in his mind that meant they were 'fags'.

Roman scowled but Dean swaggered right up into Glenn's face, looking up at him through mocking eyes and a smug grin. "Hmm..For someone who is supposedly disgusted by gays, Glenn," he drawled each letter of the name, "You sure do spend a lot of time thinking about it. Jealous?" He was goading Glenn like a mongoose with a cobra.

Face dark with rage, Glenn glared at Dean. Roman rubbed his bandaged wrist as he made a fist against his chest, wanting nothing more than to punch Glenn's face. But Glenn was an officer of the court. Laying a hand on him would be a felony. Plus, Billy and Road Dogg Christ what a stupid name he thought, were looking like they were aching for a fight. Roman wasn't sure he was up for brawl just yet, but he wasn't going to let Glenn bully them either. He could feel Mark's presence hovering close right over his shoulder.

Kid, he's a demon. Mark said.

"What?" Roman asked aloud.

He's a demon. Mark repeated patiently. Look closely and you can see it.

Before, Glenn had always looked human, albeit giant. But now Roman could see underneath Glenn's human skin were red scales, a twisted deformity and pure hate. He froze, telling himself that he had to be hallucinating again. Maybe he hadn't completely shaken off the drug's effects. There was no place for that in the rational world. He closed his eyes to shut out the wrongness of what he was seeing.

Look, kid, I told you, you are not hallucinating so stop fighting me. A demon is standing in front of you. This one is a bad one if he is who I think it is. Mark sounded exasperated.

Seth shot Roman a worried look. He had gone pale again and was talking to himself. Seth knew if Glenn noticed that Roman was weak, they would all be in trouble. Roman's strength had been a major deterrent of Glenn's abuse in the past. Luckily, Dean was still goading Glenn, much to Billy and Road Dogg's cruel amusement, keeping their attention off of Roman for now. Seth knew he had to take control of the situation before things got completely out of hand. He stepped between Dean and Glenn, bringing the focus back to himself. "Look, Glenn. You know Hunter can count on us to bring in the Wyatts and recover the money. After all, we will always do what's best for business." He deliberately used Hunter's name and favorite phrases, trying to determine Glenn's reaction. If Hunter had sent him then they were in trouble. If Hunter hadn't, then Glenn was out here without orders and might back down from a full-blown confrontation.

Dean must have caught on. "That's right, Glenn. We're just doing our jobs. You know, bringing in bad guys." he leaned in with a sneer of arrogance that Glenn really seemed to hate. "What's your job again?"

Seth elbowed him. Antagonizing Glenn was not making them go away any faster. Dean stepped back giving Glenn a vicious look.

Roman saw Seth step forward towards that thing that was Glenn, within arm's reach. His mind still struggled to accept what he was seeing, but he refused to let Seth take a beating. Knowing that Seth was in terrible danger, he started to reach for his knife.

You can't hurt him with that.

"Then how?" Roman growled under his breath. Seth was still trying to reason with Glenn, to get him and his posse to leave peacefully when suddenly Glenn reached out and grabbed Seth by the throat, lifting him off his feet. Rage flooded through Roman. He tried to move to help Seth, to kill Glenn, but suddenly Mark put a hand on his shoulder and he was unable to move a muscle.

Do you trust me?

"No!" Roman shouted, his rage now directed at Mark for preventing him from helping Seth.

Too bad, cause if you did, this wouldn't hurt quite so much. And Roman felt Mark step forward into him. And he wasn't kidding; it hurt like nothing he had ever felt before.

Seth was furious that Glenn had put his hands on him. He pulled at the iron grip around his neck in vain. Dean lunged forward, prompting Billy and Road Dogg to reach for their guns. The situation had gone to straight to hell, and there was no turning back now. Someone was going to die.

"KANE!" growled a voice that seemed to spit hell and ghosts and cobwebs into their ears. The horses pinned their ears back and tossed their heads, pawing the ground in agitation. Still caught in Glenn's grip, Seth tried to look around, wondering what made that terrible noise. For a second, everyone froze and then all of them realized it was Roman that spoke. Roman's voice was usually a smooth baritone, not this crawling, grinding sound. His eyes had gone from gray the pale green.

Glenn stared at Roman, dropping Seth to the ground, who scrambled away rubbing his throat. "What did you call me?" Glenn asked almost cautiously.

"Isn't that your name?" Roman stepped forward right into Glenn's personal space, "Kane." He was only two inches taller than Seth, but at that moment he was able to easily look Kane dead in the eyes. His weight was distributed evenly over the balls of his feet as he raised his chin in a familiar gesture of defiance. The two men stared at each other, not noticing anyone else. Dean and Seth quickly positioned themselves to either side of Roman, Road Dogg and Billy were slightly behind Glenn.

The arrogant superiority was erased from Glenn's face, replaced by uncertainty. He ignored Dean and Seth, focusing his eyes on solely Roman, his hand on the butt of his gun. "Who are you?" he asked. Seth and Dean glanced at Roman in confusion. Glenn had tangled with Roman in the past, but now he was acting like he was seeing him for the first time.

Still cuffed to the fence, unnoticed by them, Harper looked terrified.

"Leave," Roman ordered. The horses whinnied in terror. Seth had a hard time not clamping his hands over his ears.

Kane tried to show bravado, "Do you know who I am?" he demanded.

"You're the Devil's favorite demon. Too bad I killed the Devil on my way out." Roman growled as he stood stock still, his hands near the two revolvers strapped to his thighs in a classic crossed gunfighter rig. "And too bad for you that I destroy any demon that gets in my way," Roman said, each word a deliberate warning.

Kane shook his head, but backed away, his hands at his sides. Looking a bit uncertain themselves, Billy and Road Dogg followed his example. No one had ever seen Glenn scared before. After a few steps, Kane seemed to recover his anger and outrage. "Do you really think you can kill me?"

Roman didn't answer and his hands didn't move. At his shoulders, Seth and Dean glared at Kane and his crew, their hands on their revolvers.

Kane must have realized that he was up against something he couldn't threaten or intimidate. Holding his hands up in surrender, "Okay, we're leaving," he announced. He made to get back on his horse, when he abruptly turned back. "Don't think this is over yet," he threatened.

Roman drew. The motion was so fast; they only saw the blur. The two guns were in his hands and aimed at Glenn. "Leave." He took a single step towards Kane and his two enforcers.

Glenn turned white and mounted up, the other two scrambling onto their mounts as Glenn, or Kane as he was known as in the circles of hell, set his spurs into the sides of his mount and galloped away.

Roman didn't move until they were out of sight. Then he lowered the revolvers and holstered them.

"Holy shit! Are those Colt Walkers?" Dean asked, both jealous and amazed. He knew revolvers and Colt Walkers were most powerful revolver ever made, not to mention those guns were very rare. He knew for a fact that Roman didn't own that pair.

"Those guns," Harper muttered to himself, his eyes wild.

"Roman?" Seth asked quietly, his eyes huge with the events that had taken place. He immediately regretting getting Roman's attention. Roman turned and looked at him, his face stony and expressionless. Then his eyes returned to their usual gray. The Colts disappeared as if they had never existed and he collapsed to his hands and knees and puked his guts out.

Author's note: You might have noticed the switch from Adventure to Supernatural. When I first started Law Dogs, it was supposed to be a straight-up western, a sort of funhouse mirror of events of WWE as they happened, so to speak. But the WWE Universe is comfortable with the existence of demons, walking dead men and other supernatural elements. And now it seems they are working themselves into the story. If that bothers you, I apologize.

Like what you are reading? Please let me know! ~ Belle