Some new developments in this chapter then as the case becomes deeper and Roman finds out something that will weigh on him pretty heavily. But what is it hmmm?!

KyanaM, Haha, that's okay I like that I'm still able to throw in some surprises that stick even though poor Truth is very much only a cameo in this one (sorry). The guards are all pretty much nameless shapeless entities in this story but I guess Strowman would make a pretty good one!

Wolfgirl2013, Aww, thank you, I'll totally take that compliment, back to the nitty gritty in this instalment but still time for a little bit of Dean being Dean too!

Mandy, Bless you, I certainly try to explain everything in detail (I've tried not to but I can't help it, kinda must be my thing) so I'm glad that all my wordiness actually helps in the end! I think you'll like this one because the case moves on a bit...but only a little bit, still plenty to come!

Cheryl24, Warden Bischoff will be along shortly in the next couple of chapters (I think, I can't remember precisely which is why I'm being vague). But he certainly shows his face pretty soon though. First there is something else Roman has to find out…

Cherry619, Oooh, nice guess and thanks for the kudos on the Truth/Truth thing it started out as a happy coincidence before I realized what I had done and then decided to ramp it up a little more. Plenty of less than savoury happenings in that prison as the boys will find out and so will you!

Ohana1337, Of course you can hug him...but which one do you mean? Dean or Roman? Maybe Truth? How about all of them? I can give you the visiting hours so you can go see them? Kidding. But Roman might need a big hug after this one and so for that matter will poor old Dean too…

SkittlezLvr79, Uh oh, there you go with your secretive little guesses again! Well, time to see if you're right (bet you are) about what Roman finds out in this one. Oh and as for Truth? Well, let's just say that his name comes up again a little later on…

Minnie1015, Haha, yeah pretty sure in spite of Dean's best efforts that the oatmeal is probably little more than lukewarm! Plenty of drama coming up for your viewing pleasure and especially after the next few chapters when the slow burn is over and we get into things for real!

Skovko, Truth is back...but uh, yeah, unfortunately he's then gone again. Truth being so truthful was not a good thing for him! I'm afraid I'm not as nice to him in this one as in the Little Brother series. Here my cameos are a little more...transient?!

Hayley1001, Aww yay, I actually love this chapter so I hope you do too. We learn a little more and Dean is adorable which is always pretty much my favorite thing in the world. But this one is going to set up some future drama, because there will always be drama!

Daisysakura, Dean in a hairnet would be the scruffiest thing ever, with bits poking out and not being covered at all. So it's whump you want huh? Well you might have to wait for it but let's just say that you will not be disappointed when the story is over (well, I mean I hope).

Time for more news...


Don't Mention It Son

"So you knew that guy?"

"What guy?"

Dean pushes between the swing doors and then props one open with the tip of an elbow to allow his cellmate to follow him through. Roman is wearing a frowning expression and it turns his whole face pretty thoughtfully dark.

Blue eyes blink back at him cluelessly,

"That guy – the one who just got his ass hauled away."

"Truth?"

"Yeah."

Breakfast is over and the kitchen shift with it and so the two of them are heading back out into the prison to attempt to find something to do with their day, which quite honestly Roman feels is going to be impossible because other than reading or pumping iron what is there? No wonder people like that poor guy go crazy –

Unless he hadn't been saying crazy things?

Dean shrugs idly,

"I know him a little, an' aside from all 'a that shit he's a pretty cool guy."

"He – uh – said his cellmate went missing?"

Roman hikes his low tones into something intrigued but not even halfway as probing as he would like to be, which makes his long time policeman instincts go half wild. In many ways he can almost see the answers there in front of him but he can't just lean forward and pluck them out of the air, or at least not without blowing his cover pretty royally which he sadly can in no way afford to do yet.

"Road Dogg – oh yeah man – he had his ass hauled out for somethin' exactly the same way Sami did. He got dragged down to the hole an' then shipped away afterwards because that's just the way things go around here."

Roman nods slowly,

"So you don't believe the murder thing?"

Dean snorts loudly and then shakes his head,

"No man, c' mon, it's prison not the predator."

Roman smiles thinly –

He sure hopes to god he's right.

Passing back through the starkly whitewashed cell floor on their way to the library which Roman hasn't explored yet, they swing through the general vicinity of the phone room and it makes the bigger man grind to a halt.

"Uh, you go ahead uce, I'm gonna make a quick call first."

Because he figures it is time to check in with the boss and particularly in light of what has just happened and the new information that his brain buzzing with. His instinct to pass it on is making him twitchy and he can feel his fingers starting with pulse, which is a far less obvious tick than Dean's tapping but burns fierce within him nevertheless.

He has one hand on the door before he's even done talking and it makes his copper blonde cellmate pause, but only for approximately one and a half seconds before he grins and nods back,

"Okay man, I'll come with you."

"What?"

It isn't the answer that the bigger man had bet on and to be honest it kind of knocks him back a bit because his new comrade's need to stay close is unexpected and also manages to break his freaking heart. Dean is hardly a god damn baby and yet there the guy is like an actual puppy dog.

Loose shoulders shrug at him, almost like he knows it.

"I mean – like – if that's cool an' everythin'? An' if you're plannin' on callin' your girl or whatever then I totally promise I won't listen in – like – I'll probably just go and hang out in the corner, nothin' too weird man, m' not into that shit."

Roman isn't sure what shit he means exactly but decides pretty rapidly it's best not to ask, which then leaves him with the simple dilemma of how in the world to turn the man down. After all, it isn't like he can actually have Dean in there, because if that happens then he won't have the freedom to put in the call, but at the same he's not sure he can stand the reaction of shaking his head or shooing his cellmate off.

Either way, standing blinking blankly isn't helping and so Roman lifts a hand to scratch at his neck, his usual eloquence up and cutting out on him as he searches for an answer to diffuse the thing,

"Uh, listen – ,"

Dean's face falls a country mile and it's like someone has stabbed him right in the heart, his big blue eyes flooding with a wash of embarrassment as he starts to wave his hands like somehow his intentions have been misunderstood.

"No man, c' mon, I mean it's fine an' whatever – I'll just go and hang out somewhere else for a while. Like, I got a whole ton of people I can stop by an' chill with so it isn't a thing – ,"

He is still sort of blathering on like a psychopath and refusing to make eye contact when Roman reaches out and throws him a smile as he drags him through the doorway by the shoulder of the bright and unforgiving orange prison suit.

"Come on uce."

"Yeah?"

Dean's smile makes it worth it, even as the bigger man is kicking himself and trying to figure out how he is going to keep his cover, but he's grinning as well because he's made the right choice.

Luckily, the copper blonde is as good as his word though, because Dean falls right down into one of the seats and then props his feet up, leaning back lazily and trying to keep busy by pickings his nails. Roman blows a breath out –

Here goes nothing.

He picks up the payphone, swipes his card and then dials.

Hunter answers not three rings later but he seems to know instantly who the call must be from, because his voice is gruff but no less clued into things as he rumbles the familiar real world surname loose,

"Reigns?"

"Hey mom, how's everything going?"

Roman has to practically force the words out and his boss' responding silence, while reasonable, is like torture because he has literally just called the guy that pays his bills mom.

Hunter clears his throat,

"Is there someone there with you?"

"Uh huh, I'm hanging out with my roommate – it's all cool."

Dean lifts up his scruffy head at the mention and then throws the bigger man a chirpy little grin, like he is thrilled at having a part in the conversation and which gives over the impression that he is more often forgotten about.

Damn.

Hunter blows a steadying breath out and more than likely rubs his eyes again, but he manages to take back control pretty quickly in a way that underlines why he is the department captain.

"Okay, so I'll do most of the talking which is fine because there's plenty to fill you in on – ,"

Roman nods back,

"Go ahead mom, I'm listening."

Dean tips his chair back on the far side of the room, like a naughty kid in class that is ignoring the lesson and then almost pays the price when it overextends. He lets out a curse and then scrabbles for the counter which he manages to grab at the critical point and then hauls the seat back down onto four legs again before gazing across with a rueful looking grin.

Roman snorts.

Idiot.

"Reigns, you still there?"

"Yeah sorry mom, I got a little distracted, what were you saying?"

"Sami Callihan is dead."

"What?"

His barked response is a hiss of amazement which is accompanied by an actual shiver through his bones and Dean cocks his head to one side and frowns across at him before mouthing two words in concern,

You alright?

Roman blinks but keeps his face steady as he throws his cellmate a succinct little nod, like he is simply reacting to some family type drama and not the expiration of the other man's best friend.

Hunter continues gravely,

"He never made it out of there, had an allergic reaction according to the records."

"From what?"

Roman keeps his eyes glued tight to Dean the whole time, like he is worried the copper blonde might potentially overhear or possibly infer it through some sort of prison osmosis or else the mildly shaken look on the bigger man's face.

Fortunately though Dean is back to being idle and is busying himself by twisting one of the phone cords round and round, seemingly trying to tangle the thing completely or else make some bizarre sort of shape from the coil.

Hunter is flapping through pages in the background and leafing through what is likely the death papers he thinks and it makes the bigger man shut his eyes briefly and imagine the moment he has the share that news out.

Dean will be crushed.

"Looks to be some sort of sleep medication, they think he mixed it with something else."

"Which we know isn't true from what I already told you."

"The fact that they were holding the meds back?"

"Uh huh."

In response to the firm and unflinching affirmation, the police captain blows out a weary sounding breath, which is followed by the noise of his leather back chair creaking as he leans against it and makes it shift beneath his weight.

"His name never came up when we were going through the records because we were only looking at the suicide list but maybe we need to cast the net wider and pull out all deaths, by hanging or not."

Roman lets his gaze slide over to his cellmate who is still busy tangling the phone cords about and is trying to figure how tight he can make one before it cuts the blood to his thumb tip completely off. It probably isn't a sensible experiment but at the very least it means that his attentions are drawn, so Roman leans himself into the receiver and hisses out a sentence,

"We might have another one."

Hunter growls,

"Do you have a name?"

"Nickname, he went by Road Dogg."

"I'll see what I can do."

Roman pinches his eyelids in the silence and then listens to his captain scribble the new lead down, before likely pitching the thing out through the doorway and towards the officers working beyond. It's a visual that makes him softly snort in amusement and the grunted noise draws the sharp blue eyes of Dean, who looks up quickly then lets the phone cord snap back again in a violent little manoeuvre that twangs across the little shelf. Evidently he is starting to get a little bored by the waiting which he then further underlines by starting to tap-tap in the absent little gesture he doesn't realize he's doing but which draws a look of absolute murder from an inmate who is stationed at a payphone two booths down.

Roman winces –

He probably needs to hurry and so clears his throat and tries to sound bright, remembering he is pretending to be talking to his mother and that a low sort of muttering is probably not quite right. Besides which there is one more thing that needs addressing and that the bigger man has been busily thinking about. He isn't even sure if what he wants is even possible but if he doesn't ask his boss then he knows he won't find out.

"No mom, I still haven't been given my job yet, but I'm hoping for something like cleaning I guess. Maybe in the offices where the staff and the warden work – might be good to get out of here for a little bit."

Not to mention that it might be perfect in terms of what he is supposed to find out, because what better way to strike right at the heart of it than by having a real reason to be where the files are?

Hunter responds quickly,

"Reigns, I'll get right on it, see if I can't quietly pull a few strings."

"Thanks mom, I really appreciate you trying."

His boss sounds amused,

"Don't mention it son."

Luckily it is the older man that chooses to hang the phone up, which is a blessing because it means that Roman can sit there for a while and gather his senses while still pretending to be listening since his head is spinning wildly with a bunch of new stuff and not least of which is the information about Callihan, which he knows he will have to reveal at some point.

In the future though, way off in the future.

But nevertheless –

"Hey, you done?"

Dean springs to his feet like some sort of bunny, positively itching to be on the move again and holding himself a little too tightly and which is something that he does when they're not in their cell. In many ways it's like he's waiting to be set on which Roman figures is a brutal life lesson that his chirpy new friend has learnt the hard way at some point and it makes the bigger man flood with defensiveness and much more inherent sort of brotherly vibes.

He nods,

"All good uce."

Except for the fact it isn't and possibly might not ever be again, because not only is he deep undercover in prison but he is carrying another secret.

Your best friend is dead.


Next chapter Dean pulls out all the stops to celebrate Roman's first week inside, although his efforts bring some interesting results!