With all the shit that went down the night before, Dean expected to wake up to the sounds of gunfire before he thought his phone would stir him awake. Even still, with his phone buzzing underneath his prone body, Dean patted his chest and face to make sure he wasn't bleeding out from an unseen bullet wound.
Dean sighed. He was alive... for now at least. His head ached from his ass-kicking at the hands of Cody Rhodes and his group of thugs, now sporting themselves as the "new" Bullet Club. It wasn't really clear if Cody knew who Dean was or what he was up to when he wasn't cosplaying as a dime-store Batman, but one thing was for certain: Cody now saw Dean as a threat. Given Dean's experience with people like Cody, he was half-expecting TCPD to be knocking down his door to drag him away in handcuffs. After all, Cody had power and Dean didn't think he was above doing something along the lines of "SWATTING" Titan City's protector.
Dean pulled his phone out from under his chest. "Yeah?" He answered, not bothering to check the caller ID.
"Dean?" It was Sonya. She sounded exhausted, but at least she was alive. "Did you make it home?"
Dean grunted his response. "Yeah. All peaches and cream on my end. How's the girl?"
Sonya said a few things away from her phone, most likely talking to Alexa. "We're fine. A little shaken up, but I have her hiding out at my place. We're trying to come up with a plan to get her mom out of the apartment before Cody shows up."
Dean sighed heavily. One of his main reasons for not getting into any personal relationships, on any level, was the fact that sooner or later other people were going to get hurt. It didn't matter if these other supposed "vigilantes" wanted to help destroy Cody and the Bullet Club. To Dean, it was his fault that the recon went south and now the most notorious gang on US soil was looking for them.
"Do you need help?" Dean asked, starting to look around his room for his clothes.
"No. E is going to help move Alexa's mom..." A pause came from Sonya's end. After a few heartbeats, she sighed. "Dean, what the fuck do we do now? They know who we are. There's an APB out for Moxley and anyone else that 'looks the part.'"
Dean ran his fingers through his raggedy hair, trying to think of something to buy themselves some time. "Look, kid. I told you I didn't want to get into this with you. I tried telling you this was a bad idea, and now look what's going on. Y'all better skip town and let me clean up the pieces."
"We're not going to leave you high and dry like that," Sonya snapped, personally offended that Dean would think she was ready to retreat. "You're a fucking douchebag, but I'm not letting you fight this by yourself."
Dean chuckled dryly. "Why not?"
"They'll kill you..."
The warning made a chill rush down Dean's spine. In the heat of the moment, with a gun to his head, Dean felt like he was unbreakable. But the idea that Cody was ready to murder a person in the middle of town next to the city's most popular strip club meant he wasn't afraid to get caught doing what he had to do. Cody was a fucking madman and most likely wouldn't stop until Dean was done.
Dean's next sentence came off calm but his nerves were anything but. "Good. Maybe I can get some sleep for once."
Sonya sighed. "Just keep us updated. We'll let you know when we moved Alexa's mom. Talk to you soon."
Dean let the line disconnect before he fell back into his bed. No more than two seconds after his eyes started to close again, his phone started to rumble with the pattern that told him he had an incoming call.
"Yeah?" Dean grunted into the phone once again.
"Dean? Where are you? I need you at the shop right now!" It was Zelina, speaking frantically like she'd been crying for some time.
Dean sat up. "What's going on? Are you ok?"
"Someone broke into my office last night! It's a mess! Please come down here. I know it's your day off," Zelina paused to curse in Spanish, then continued her thought. "I'll buy you lunch. Please?"
Dean was already on his feet trying to pull his jeans up. "Yeah, Z, I'm on the way. Be there in ten."
Zelina's thanks came through as Dean slipped on his word shoes. He collected his phone and keys, double-checking to make sure to lock up before he left the building. It hadn't even fazed him that something sinister was on the way, which is why the man donning dark sunglasses stood in the corner of the landing completely unnoticed.
Zelina's office was a complete mess. Papers, folders, and furniture was thrown everywhere like a tornado came through during the night. Security cameras weren't much of use since apparently the storm the night before knocked out the power to the shop.
Zelina collected the strewn about paperwork from around the room, swearing under her breath in Spanish as she attempted to make some order out of the chaos.
Dean was putting together the employee files. It didn't take long to find the vanilla folders with everyone's names on the tab, especially since they were the first thing he spotted when he arrived at the shop.
"This is ridiculous!" Zelina exclaimed, stuffing stacks of paper back into their designated spots in her file cabinet. "Who would break into my office and not try to steal from the safe? I don't understand why they would throw papers all over the place!"
Dean didn't have an answer to give his boss. Camacho's had been broken into before, but the perps usually went for the safe or tried to steal car parts from the shop. They almost never went through the office and sure as hell never left a mess. It was amateur hour, whoever it was, but it was more annoying that Dean had to spend precious time organizing papers when he could be either sleeping or coming up with a plan to take down Cody.
Zelina's sun-kissed arms broke Ambrose from his thoughts. Her lips met his cheek, then just below his jawline. "What would you like for lunch, papi? I can order whatever you feel like."
Dean flipped through each employee file, setting them back in the file cabinet in alphabetical order. With Zelina cooing sweet nothings in his ear, Dean narrowly missed something key: Between "Almas" and "Anderson", where his name was supposed to be, there was no folder with his information... which meant it was stolen. Dean's personal information, such as his banking info, his emergency contacts, and where he lived was no longer where it was supposed to be.
Dean inhaled to speak. "Uh, how about I meet you back at your place for dinner?" He suggested, trying to keep as calm as possible. "I don't think it's fair that we've only seen my place. Maybe we should switch it up."
Zelina seemed to buy Dean's deflection. She beamed a smile, nodding her head. "I like that idea. How about you get home and rest for a while..." The tiny minx leaned into her employee's person, bringing her lips to his. "...then you're all mine. How's that?"
Dean nodded. "I like it. I'll see you tonight."
Dean was out the door without another word. Zelina took that as eagerness for a night of fun, but Dean was mentally preparing himself for the worst when he returned to his apartment.
Renee Young loved her job. Taking pictures of everyday life was a hobby of hers since she was a little girl; Her mother bought her her first camera when she was six and accidentally created a sort of addiction for her daughter. But now Renee got paid for her passion, and she couldn't be happier with her career choice.
Her daily excursion around the city brought her to the comforting slums of Kickout Valley. Renee's boss assigned her to get a few snippets of the "real side of Titan City", putting extra emphasis on her desire to document the worst the city had to offer. Renee figured her boss meant photos of homeless people sleeping under bridges and working girls walking the streets, but Renee didn't see the Valley that way.
Through the eye of her camera lens, Renee took snapshots of children drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, old men helping their wives cross the street, and a street peddler cutting a down-on-his-luck guy a break with a free pair of sneakers. Obviously, there were some of the darker themes Renee's boss wanted to be photographed, but she ignored the shadows for a look into the sunlight.
Renee waited by a bus stop, flipping through the photos on her memory card. She smiled at some and deleted others, trying to decide on a few decent enough to show her boss.
An approaching figure out of the corner of her eye brought Renee's attention to the boy she'd been seeing for some weeks. She raised the camera to her eye and snapped a shot of Dean Ambrose, who looked very confused for a few seconds until her laughter brought him back to reality.
"Fancy seeing you here, stranger," Renee said, leaning into the gruff young man for a side hug. "What are you up to?"
Dean seemed taken aback by the question at first. "Uh, just coming back from work," he explained, pointing back in the direction of Camacho's. "What are you up to?"
Renee raised her camera. "Boss wants an expo about the shady shit that goes down in Kickout Valley. So far, I've got kids playing jump-rope and a street peddler giving away shoes."
"That's some scary shit," Dean sarcastically commented, baiting a giggle from the blonde.
Renee looked over her possible flame. "You know you still owe me for bailing the other day, right? I had to finish my burger alone and fend off a few of the regulars."
Dean shrugged. "I know. I'm sorry. I've been stupidly busy and barely have time to sleep anymore."
"What are you doing now?" Renee asked, prepared to do whatever it took to spend some time with Dean. She found herself thinking about him a lot in her downtime. If that meant that she felt a connection to him, then she wasn't going to fight it.
Dean exhaled sharply. "Uh, just gonna head up and take a shower," he gestured at the building they were standing in front of. "I live here. I might just order in Chinese or something. Maybe pizza."
Renee smirked. "Would you like some company?"
The red tint that shaded Dean's cheeks made Renee giggle. He seemed to struggle with an answer, but he eventually nodded his head. Renee snapped a quick photo of Dean while he was still blushing, to which Ambrose rolled his eyes and walked away with Renee laughing and hurrying to follow him.
Dean hoped to God that the missing file was nothing more than a scare tactic. If he were alone, he could take on whoever the Bullet Club sent to take him out. But now that he had a blonde photographer no more than ten feet behind him, Dean didn't want to know what was waiting for him on the other side of the door.
"Shit, my phone," Renee hissed, stopping a moment to pick up her phone.
Dean stepped onto the landing. His worst fears came to fruition at the sight of a bowie knife stuck in his front door; the signature calling card of the Bullet Club that marked the tenet of said private domicile for death. Dean checked his surroundings carefully, trying to pick up on any tiny details that were different from the last time he was there.
Renee's quick apology made Dean act quickly and rip the knife out of his door and hide it behind his back. Renee flashed him a smile and switched her eyes to the black numbers nailed to the wood.
"This your place?" Renee cooed with a grin.
Dean shrugged with the arm that was gripping the knife. "From time to time. Usually when I'm not out spending cash on cute reporters."
Renee waved her camera. "Photographer."
Dean stuck his key into the lock. He slowly pushed the door open, peering over Renee's shoulder into the apartment. Strangely enough, there wasn't a small army waiting for him on the other side. In fact, the place looked about as dead as Murphy's on a Tuesday. Still, Dean kept his attention sharp just in case any shit went down.
Renee dropped her purse and her camera on the kitchen counter. "Snazzy," she commented, looking around the rather planish apartment. "Could use some decorations, but it's cozy."
Dean waited for Renee to turn her back, then stuffed the bowie knife behind the couch cushions. "Yeah, well, it's home and I'm not that complicated."
Renee returned to the living room. Her attention went to the CD player and tower of Dean's music collection. With her back turned to Dean, she didn't notice his front closet creek open. Dean, however, noticed immediately and silently grabbed for the bowie knife hidden in the couch.
"Ah, dude, you got Hendrix on vinyl?" Renee asked over her shoulder.
"I sure do," as the words left Dean's lips, he whipped the knife across the room. The blade stuck between the intruder's eyes and slammed him into the back wall of the closet.
The sudden thud made Renee jump. "The hell was that?"
Dean gestured at his closet. "The, uh, shelf in my closet falls all the time. I'll fix it later."
Renee nodded, seemingly accepting that answer. When she turned back to the stack of records and CDs, Dean noticed a second intruder attempting to slide open the window to the fire escape. Dean kicked off his shoe directly into the man's face, making him stumble back and trip over the railing outside his window. Dean stared off in the direction of screeching sounds of tires as cars below attempted to doge the man that just fell five stories.
Dean slipped off his other shoe and pulled off his jacket, attempting to appear like he was getting comfortable. Renee took his lead, sliding her sneakers off and laying her leather jacket across the back of the couch.
Renee stepped directly in front of Dean, lifting herself on her toes to give her a better angle to bring their lips together. Dean grunted into the kiss, mentally reminding himself that Renee was the best kisser in his mini trio of girls all yearning for his affection. She wasn't the sexual beast that Zelina was and she wasn't timid and shy like Bayley. Renee was her own breed, and Dean found it harder and harder to say no to her whenever they were together.
Dean broke the kiss. "You wanna see my bedroom?"
Renee licked her lips with a giggle. "Wouldn't be a tour without seeing where you sleep."
Dean picked up on Renee's signal. She wanted him, or at least wanted to fool around a little. Which Dean was perfectly fine with; He just murdered two people without a second thought, he needed to blow off some steam. Ambrose led the way to the back room of his apartment, showing Renee the last bit she hadn't already seen.
"Is this a king?" Renee asked, letting herself plop backward onto the mattress.
Dean nodded. "Yeah. Rent is cheap, so why not get the best bed?"
Renee giggled, her eyes shut tight. "I'm taking a nap. Wake me up when the food gets here."
Dean noticed a shadow move away from the bathroom door. "Yeah? Good. I'm gonna take a piss quick."
Renee nodded, but Dean was already stepping up to the bathroom door. He shut the door, then took a few steps like he was heading for the toilet, but then lunged at the shower curtain. His arms wrapped around the body of a third intruder, this one slightly bulkier than the other two. Dean threw all of his weight forward, then pulled the man out of the tub. The thug wore a mask, peering at Dean through two eye holes. Dean dodged a knife swipe, then grabbed the man's wrist with both hands. With leverage in his favor and the man pinned against the wall, Dean shoved himself into the man's arm, which sent his blade right into his neck.
A hot burst of crimson covered Dean's face. The man choked out his last breath, gurgling in his own blood, then slumped to the floor.
"Fucking Christ..." Dean muttered.
"You almost done?" Renee called out.
Dean looked himself in the mirror. His piercing blue gaze contrasted against the dark red splattered across his tired face. The stench of copper filled the room, to which Dean flipped on the fan to hopefully keep the smell from escaping into his bedroom.
Dean took a moment to wash his face and his hands. He figured there would be no one else hiding around his apartment since, one, there was nowhere else to hide, and two, there wasn't a chance that Cody took him as seriously as he should've and send more men. But Dean pushed the thought away, deciding to do whatever Renee wanted until it was all clear to get rid of the two men in his apartment.
When Dean stepped out of the bathroom, he realized two things: One, he was starving. And two, the blonde who was fully clothed a moment ago was leaning back on her elbows, clad only in a pair of briefs, watching him closely with the hungriest "come hither" eyes Dean had ever seen.
"Hey..." Renee cooed, her pink lips pulled back into a smile.
Dean felt his jeans fit a little tighter the longer he stared at Renee's chest. "H-hey..."
Much to Renee's delight, Dean wasted little time stripping down to his underwear and crawling over her. The two young lovers embrace on the lips, moaning into each other's mouths with the full intention to take their relationship to the next level.
Dean knew he had a long night of work ahead of him, but for now, he was going to enjoy the perky blonde moaning and giggling underneath him.