Ali stood up, pursed his lips.
"Did you always know this?" A man dressed in black seemed to be claiming Ali.
"Not really. But I think this is a good thing." Ali explained.
A woman approached them. "Of course you think so. You were always a fan of him and besides, he had his tongue down your throat."
Roman stood up and dropped the fabric he had used to cover his face. He gave both boys a long look, visibly annoyed at their audacity in interrupting him. And boy, did the Samoan's gaze reflect contempt, as if these guys didn't deserve his attention.
Ali sighed, he didn't like the way things were unfolding.
"Listen," Ali was talking to Roman, "They are my partners. They are helping me with this operation." Ali pointed at the girl. "She is Mia."
The girl returned Roman's arrogant gaze. "You shouldn't look at us as if you're better, after all, we're the ones who have been trying to clean up your reputation as a city-destroying assassin."
But Roman continued to look at them with contempt, and did not even speak to them.
"He's…" Ali wanted to continue introducing his partners.
"He doesn't seem interested in knowing who we are." The other man said.
Roman smirked, indicating that indeed, he has no interest.
At that moment, they realized that Finn was coming towards them, followed by another man dressed in the same way as the other two before.
"I guess the cat is already out of the bag." Finn indicated. "They are Retribution, the people I have been in contact with."
The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Finn sighed, Roman had the magnetism to make people love him to the point of obsession: like it happened to AJ and Dean; or make them hate him deeply: as it happened with Randy. There were no middle ground when it came to the Samoan, no one was indifferent to him. In any case, they no longer had time for musings.
"The operation must start right now." Finn ignored the way they all glared at eachother.
"T, Mia, Ali." The last of the retribution indicated. "We must infiltrate now. The fighters from the show and the personnel who are fixing the venue of the event are about to enter. This is our best chance."
T approached Finn, visibly annoyed. "You owe us a huge explanation as to why the dead supersoldier is alive."
With that said, the three retribution members started walking towards a waiting vehicle.
Ali watched Roman doe eyed. "I will talk with them."
"Then we continue with what we left pending." Roman looked at him with such intensity.
Whatever was heppening between both guys, was happening so fast, that was impossibe to hide. And Balor noticed.
Ali smiled back, even blushed. "Sure, I'm very interested in that."
That said, the young man went after his team mates.
"Retribution didn't like you." Finn said the obvious.
"I've never seen a bigger group of losers." Roman said arrogantly. "This operation is going to be a failure if we depend on them."
"You don't even know them." Finn rolled his eyes. "Besides, you don't seem to think Ali is a loser."
"That's right. I don't understand how he's associated with those morons." Roman raised an eyebrow.
"And here I wonder why Retribution didn't like you." Finn sighed.
"The only one of them that I care to be liked, already likes me." Roman was watching the object of his desire as he climbed on the car.
Finn squinted his eyes. "You flirt with everyone. This is the first time you are really interested in someone."
"I like Ali, he's smart, sensitive and hot af. Plus, he doesn't see me the way you all do: like the dead supersoldier. Even those losers called me that." Roman indicated and started to walk towards the vehicle in which the retributions arrived.
"Mox!" Becky ran after him.
Mox looked almost lunatically. He had run after the man, but the crowd of people celebrating in the streets had blocked his way. He would have wanted to throw them away to make his way, but he couldn't do such a thing.
He now he was standing under the tree, but there was no one there anymore.
"Where is the?" Mox kept looking around.
"What's happening with you?" Becky finally caught up with him.
"I saw him Becky!" Mox looked desperate, scared even.
Something that Becky had never witnessed.
"Who did you see?"
"Roman."
Becky was gaping. "Mox, Roman is dead."
"That's what they said in America. I fainted and I could never see what they did with his body." Mox began to hesitate. "When I woke up, ten days had passed and I wasn't even in America."
"But you said yourself that Seth Rollins made sure he was dead, otherwise he would have finished his job and killed him anyway." Becky insisted. "Also if he was alive, he would have looked for a way to contact you. You guys loved each other."
"For Roman our love was cursed." Mox said desperately.
Mox started biting his knuckles. He closed his eyes trying not to lose his mind at that moment. Because he was freaking out, he had to calm down so he could focus on whatever was happening, and on finding that man. Then he saw the fabric Roman had covered his face with.
Mox picked it up...
"Are you totally sure it was Roman?" Becky was concerned to see Mox so desperate.
"The only difference was his eyes, they looked blue maybe gray." Mox had the fabric in his hands.
"Jon!" Cesaro finally caught up with them. "Why did you run away?"
"I thought I saw someone." Mox answered bluntly, this was not the time to deal with Tony's questions.
"You thought you saw someone on this remote island, where we can't understand the local language." Tony didn't believe that at all.
"Exactly." Mox said in a final way. It was obvious that he wasn't going to give Tony any explanation.
The doctor looked at Becky and she just shrugged. Tony just sighed in resignation, Mox never revealed his secrets, it would be no different in this place.
Becky's cell phone rang. "It's Chris, we must go back to the hotel, we must go to the arena."
Jon just kicked the tree, trying to control his strength or Tony was going to realize. But he was to no avail because he left the tree cracked, and when Tony and Becky started following Mox, the tree ended up breaking. Tony looked at what happened in astonishment. Becky just ran after Moxley, this was getting out of control fast.
"These are the leader's personal army uniforms?" Roman said mockingly. "They are identical to the hideous costumes you guys wear."
"That's the idea, Einstein." T answered in the same way. "This is how we are going to infiltrate."
"I guess your idea is to look like complete clowns." Roman did not get along with T at all and did not hesitate to show his contempt for him.
"Let's go over the plan." Ali interrupted them trying to soften the atmosphere.
"We are going to split up." T indicated still glaring at Roman. "Balor will go with Mia and Shane. Roman will go with Ali and me. During the main event, the leaders will be very close to the cage. It's just them, the regular buyers and the star of the show: McIntyre."
"Seth isn't here?" Finn couldn't help the question.
"He he is still in Utopia." Ali explained. "From what we could investigate, he hasn't left America. He appears to have sent Drew on his own."
"In fact, there is nothing involving him. We will have to get that information out of McIntyre. Then we will expose them all and set this island free." Mia indicated.
"Once we take the leaders hostage, the royal guard is going to wreak havoc. But the people are ready. There is an equally armed crowd in the streets, they are just waiting for the signal." T continued.
"Are you going to kill innocent people in your revolution?" Roman arched an eyebrow.
"When we give the signal, all those who are not going to be part of this, will seek refuge. Only the men and women who are going to be part of the revolution will remain in the streets." T explained and added sarcastically. "Plus we should win now that we have a powerful super soldier on our side."
Roman was about to answer, but Ali put his hand on Roman's arm as if to reassure him.
"The goal is the briefcase that McIntyre is carrying, there is his computer and documents of what they plan to create, with that we can expose him to federal justice." Ali explained. "Also with this we can finish proving your innocence by exposing Seth Rollins."
The Retributions left thplace, followed by Finn. Mustafa walked only a couple of steps but Roman grabbed his arm. Ali smiled.
Shortly afterwards they were both passionately kissing. And boy was Roman wild because he pushed him against the nearest wall and the younger boy grabbed onto the Samoan's neck, wrapping his legs around his waist.
They kissed like there was no tomorrow, until someone coughed near them. Roman gently put the other man on the floor.
"This is urgent you know..." Finn giggled.
Mustafa turned very red and followed his friends.
"I know that I have insisted a lot with the Roman issue and, well, his previous life. But seeing you with Ali, I think you are right. You have a new life and I like that you start to enjoy it."
And for the first time Roman smiled kindly at Finn. For a moment the samoan reminded him of his pre-serum version.
"You have no idea how much I like him. I know this is going very fast but, I don't know. After all, I was dead, I suppose I should take advantage of the time I have available." Roman went after Mustafa.
Finn just nodded and followed them.
"You must calm down or you're going to lose your mind and hurt someone. Tony realized what you did to that tree." Becky was trying to get Mox to reason.
"I know what I saw, and that guy was identical to Roman." Mox continued.
"Okay, let's pretend that guy is Roman." Becky said angrily. "You have been living like a zombie, planning revenge on his behalf for a whole year. You have been despising someone who really loves you for clinging to his memory. What are you going to do if you find out that it was all a lie? If as you say , Roman never died and he just gave up on you."
Mox looked at Becky, his eyes were almost red, from so many mixed feelings. Part of him wanted to cry and part of him wanted to destroy everything. And yet another part wanted to hit that man, and the last one just wanted to throw himself into that man's arms and believe whatever he says, or Mox would go completely crazy.
"I know we met a year ago, but I really appreciate you, you are my friend and it is horrible to see that this is your life. All of that is Roman's fault and the damn memory of a supposedly honest and honorable man who loved you. What if it's a lie, if he never died, it would be the most horrible thing anyone ever did to you." Becky was very angry and she stood up clenching her fists. "Maybe the best thing is that Roman is still dead, and you've just mistaken that man."
"How can you say that the best thing is that he is dead!" Mox no longer knew if he should hate or love Roman, or if that man he saw was Roman. His mind was a mess and he didn't know what to say.
"Just look what he's doing to you! You know what? Roman was right, that love of yours is cursed. He does nothing but provoke hatred and revenge." Becky explained. "If that guy you saw is Roman, I don't see how you can forgive him this year of your life that he destroyed by making you believe that he was dead. There is no good reason to have caused you this damage."
Becky tried to calm herself when she saw Tony coming into the makeshift dressing room, followed by the other wrestlers. Even though they tried to hide it, Tony realized that something was seriously wrong, and after the show, he was determined to confront both of them about it.
The Show had already started. Two fighters were in the cage, beating each other mercilessly. Roman watched both guys drenched in blood, suddenly one with long hair was thrown on the one that was more bloody and it was a carnage. In the end they took one of them unconscious and the other was cheered on by the select attendees of that show.
Near the cage was a covered area surrounded by guards, there was a huge table with extremely expensive snacks and liquors. Where the millionaires who were associating with the leader of the Island and then there was Drew McIntyre.
Roman and Ali were in one corner of the cage, weapons in hand, pretending to be part of the bodyguards. Several of them indicated things to them, to which Ali responded since Roman did not understand the language. Soon they were at a point very close to the head table.
"Something is wrong here. This has all been too easy." Roman muttered to Ali, who stood by him to make sure he wasn't caught for not understanding the language. "They're practically letting us pass."
"It is because we have been infiltrated here for a year now. I have hacked the map of all the facilities, we have worked very hard to get to this point." Ali muttered back, "I'm glad to have a super soldier on our side, things can always get complicated, and if that happens you have to get that briefcase, that's the priority. You are our best card now and the one who has the best chance of surviving."
"I'll make sure that you survive with me." Roman was firm in what he said. "This is not the best moment but I really really like you."
Ali nodded slightly. "Then I'll hold you on that promise. Because even if I agree that is no the best moment. I have liked you for a long time. We can make this work."
"I believe that." Roman smiled. It was so easy for him to do that with Ali. The Samoan, then focused back on the mission and watched at the table. "Who is that guy? The Leader?"
"Ric Flair. We finally meet." Drew was having a glass of wine. "I didn't think you would like these shows."
"My associates love them, if they didn't like violence, they wouldn't be my clients." The man smirked.
"Yeah well, while they are distracted, let's talk business."
"The boss wants the complete blueprints. We will deliver the metals to you and in exchange you will manufacture the weapons."
"How can they prove that this alloy is as powerful as they say?" Drew was suspicious.
"For that we asked you to bring us the super soldier." Ric grinned wickedly.
"If your plan doesn't work, that bastard is going to kill us. He's not the same as before." Drew insisted.
"It will work and his downfall will be the proof of our power." Ric said very sure of himself.
"And when Seth sees that supersoldiers are not indestructible, he's going to panic. He feels so sure of his power." Drew smiled.
"When he sees that the power that serum gave them, is of no use against the weapons we are going to build. He will either join us or die trying to stop us." Ric said confidently. "I like the second option better, but something tells me that you, Mr. McIntyre, would like the first one."
Drew decided to divert the topic. "Well, I already told you where the super soldier is. Go get him and let's not waste any more time."
"I must attend to my other buyers, when this league's show is over, we will have a main event with the defeat of our special guest."
Drew nodded and finally looked up at the show.
"The next and last fight will be between Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston."
"These guys want to see blood." Eddie indicated. "So let's give them a bloody show. I want that hundred thousand."
The fight started and Mox decided that he wanted to get this over with quickly, so it didn't care if neither of them got the money.
Eddie began to attack him, with blows that he had to sell since they did not really hurt him.
Mox began to look out at the audience. It was then that he saw Drew McIntyre, sitting next to the guy everyone called the leader. Mox knew well that Drew and Seth were close. So maybe Seth was here too.
Eddie slammed Mox's face into the cage bars, hitting him repeatedly. Mox took the opportunity to look around him and that was when his gaze met the blue-gray eyes of the man he saw amid the celebration. That hair was unmistakable, that guy couldn't not be Roman.
"Who is he?" Roman asked Ali.
"Jon Moxley. The star of this show. He endures all kinds of abuse and whenever one of his rivals tries to remove that patch, the guy finishes them and wins his fights."
Eddie tried to remove Mox's eye patch, and the auburn haired man released the grip on his hair and now he was holding Eddie.
He took him right to the corner where the object of his obsession was and started hitting him right there.
Roman and Mox continued to look at each other and now the samoan held his gaze. It was kind of surreal, although Mox was there hitting a guy and Roman was wearing a mask that covered his mouth and nose, they both seemed to recognize each other.
Roman didn't understand why, but, he couldn't stop looking at this man.
A woman approached the cage, breaking the spell.
"Mox! You are going to kill him!" Becky was screaming.
It was then that Mox realized that his partner was bloody and unconscious.
Mox released him and Tony ran to check on Eddie. While the spectators of his show applauded standing.
"He is alive, I must attend to him." Tony looked at Mox in horror. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
When the attendees sat down, Ali and Roman realized that Ric and Drew were looking at a laptop that was the content of that portfolio.
T gave the signal, Ali looked at Roman and nodded. The Samoan pounced on the other bodyguards, pushing them like ragdolls, rushing toward their targets. The remaining guards were about to fire, but other guards pointed their weapons at them. There was more people infiltrated.
From the cage, Becky and Mox watched everything. Tony had taken Eddie to the dressing room so it was just the two of them there.
"They are going to stage a coup. We must get out of here." Becky said scared and left the cage.
But Mox didn't follow her.
Roman pointed his gun at the leader.
Drew smirked. "My part of the deal is here."
Roman fired the gun, but it had no effect. Roman was about to use his fists, but the Retributions approached and T pointed his at Ali's head.
"What are you doing?" Ali claimed.
The guards all returned to their places, including the alleged infiltrators. It was all staged.
"If you try something, your new love interest will die. And not just him." T screamed loudly and jerked his head toward the cage.
One by one the fighters, Chris and Tony were pointed with guns to their heads as hostages.
Outside the cage, another guy had Becky with a gun pointed to her head.
"It was all a trap." Roman said angrily.
"It took us six months to execute everything. To fool this deluded." T pointed at Ali. "to also fool Finn Balor and you. And I must say I love to see that arrogant smirk fading from your face."
"Everybody take off those masks." Ric ordered and looked at Roman. "Especially you."
And before the impassive eyes of all those present. Roman revealed his identity.
Mox was in awe.
"The coup will not take place." Mia arrived with a gagged Finn Balor.
Becky and Mox recognized the journalist.
"What do you want?" Roman said angrily.
"Show me your hands." Ric indicated.
Roman grunted and didn't move. T grabbed Ali's hair tightly and pulled the trigger just a little.
Ali pointed at the computer with a glance. In a clear sign that Roman sould continue with the mission.
But Roman knew they would kill Ali. He cpuldn't and all the people around noticed that Roman really cared about Ali. The samoan just pursed his lips, his anger was obvious, and finally he put his hands forward.
Ric put some strange handcuffs on his wrists and reached down and placed others on the Samoan's ankles.
"If that doesn't work this guy is going to murder us all." Drew closed his laptop and put it in his briefcase.
"We still have his new boyfriend." T explained. "And his best friend, Balor."
Mox was about to intervene, but Becky glanced at Tony. He was beaten because he surely wanted to help and also the doctor had a gun pointed at his head.
"You all stand back, I'm going to prove to Mr. McIntyre, how powerful the metal alloy is." Ric walked in front of Roman, "Come get me."
Roman tried to move, but those objects kept him immobile, he made a greater effort and grunted and the only thing he managed was to fall to the floor.
"Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar couldn't beat you. But we'll do it." Ric indicated.
Drew smirked. "We have a deal." He handed the briefcase to Ric. "I want that shipment leaving today. I don't want to stay here. You can entertain yourself with the super soldier. This is the most powerful of them. If you defeat him, the other two will know what to expect."
One of the soldiers had Mox aimed at his head, believing that he could stop him. Mox knew that he must not make a riot, that many lives were at risk. But realizing that Roman was alive and that everything he had lived was a lie, had him sedated.
"Your case is so sad, Roman. Your first love story ended in tragedy." T indicated. "Your second, will end before it even started."
T pointed his gun at Ali and fired. Throwing the wounded guy right next to Roman.
"Bastard!" Roman tried to move with all his might, to no avail.
"Take him all to the cells." Ric indicated. "Let's be merciful and put Roman next to his dying boyfriend."
Becky was looking at Mox pleadingly. They both were now together. "You can't keep ruining Tony for Roman. Tony is hurt don't do anything stupid."
Mox had to put up with the anger he felt. He was carried away as a prisoner by the leader's army. Always keeping Becky and Tony on his line of sight.
They were all taken to a facility near the main palace. They were distributed in various cells. In one of them, they threw Becky and Finn along with two of the fighters. Tony, Ali, Roman and Mox were thrown into the front cell.
Becky looked at Finn in total surprise. Finn just sighed and looked at her apologetically. They both averted their gaze to the front cell. There was Mox, staring at Roman.