Okay so big drama in this one which is going to set us up for the next few chapters. Try not to throw too many things at me okay? Pretty please?

Hayley1001, Hmmm, I kind of imagine Dean getting the hell out of dodge if a riot happened. Like heading back to his cell and hunkering down rather than hanging around ready to be picked on. Glad you like protective Mama Dean but there is also Protective Mama Roman coming up too! Plus more Wyatt stuff like you expected. But first…

Skovko, Haha, not sure lockpicking would count as a positive course for prison inmates, but I bet Dean would be a great teacher. He would probably hand out stickers as well and take it super seriously and grade them and everything. And next door Mick Foley could be teaching people how to headbutt things without killing themselves!

Cheryl24, Um, yep, sorry very wishful thinking on the Bray front. Because the guy and his hairy henchmen are like bad pennies in this story so they are totally going to pop up again and even hopefully when you least expect them! But first I'm giving Roman another problem to handle because hey, I figure two isn't enough!

Mandy, Aww, glad you're excited, but this one might be a little bit cruel, especially where I end it. Either way we're moving into a new part of the story now so from here on out things are going to be different for our boys and maybe their friendship as well *cruelly dangles these hints in front of you then snatches them away*

Wolfgirl2013, Thank you so much. Hope you like this one because it's going to be a biggie in terms of where we go from here!

SkittlezLvr79, Well, as usually you are totally right on both fronts. Dean actually does have lockpicking skills in this story (although god only knows where he picked them up from). And as for Bray? Yep, he's around and his absence does not make the heart grow fonder. He'll pop up again soon enough. You have been warned!

Cherry619, Oooh, hopefully this chapter will catch you by surprise then. But I'm going to pile on the drama from here! Life as we know it is about the change for our boys. Or at least certain parts of it will *throws head back and laughs evilly*

Daisysakura, No, I don't think anyone wants to imagine Mick streaming snot and coughing etc. Ewww! Roman sure has lots on his plates, so I'm going to throw something extra onto his crap pile in this chapter, but hey, it had to be done right? But on the plus side there is one thing that he won't have to worry about anymore…

Yippi-kay yay motherfucker, In the next few chapters there are a lot of things that are going to change so more information is going to come out about what is happening etc (I'm trying not to give too much away at this point) especially after this chapter. Glad you're still enjoying it because we're going to get into the business end of things from here!

Minnie1015, I'm sure there are lots of less than legal things that Dean could teach Roman while they're inside, but luckily Roman is too law abiding to want to learn! I especially feel for Mick reading it back while I was busy hacking up my lungs. Luckily Mick didn't have whooping cough but if I had written the chapter while I had it then he might have done!

Stingerette1975, Lockpicking will definitely come up again and Bischoff is going to have more prominence in this second half of the story too, so there is lots of potential for Roman to be busted even though he is trying his best to keep low. This chapter might change things a bit too. Poor Roman, I'm really putting him through it in this!

Brace yourselves…


Dean Knows

By some stroke of the fortune the phone room is empty when he pushes his way in there the second he gets back, which means he can basically take his pick of the call booths and then thankfully speak freely as his gruff toned boss picks up.

"Helmsley – ,"

Roman barely lets the man haul a breath in before he cuts across the opening in a borderline snap. His free hand is palming the wooden shelf in front of him and subconsciously flexing and then loosening into a fist as his brainstem whirs with a sudden sense of purpose that he wants to get resolved since the case is at stake.

He chooses not to offer any form of preamble,

"I need a favor."

"How can I help?"

"I need you to put my roommate on cleaning."

His boss coughs roughly then pauses for a second as he evidently tries to wrap his head around the thing but comes up short and generally bewildered which then carries in his bewildered sounding tones,

"What do you mean?"

Heaving out a sigh which briefly quells his fractiousness the bigger man swipes his tense face with a hand, then rakes it through the short spiky strands of his facial hair like the abrasion of its harshness might help to calm him down.

He tries again with added additions this time,

"I managed to get a look inside the warden's office, but the drawers I need to get into are locked tight."

Hunter grunts at him,

"How did you get in there?"

"Guy that usually takes the lead on cleaning it was sick and they didn't have anybody else who could do it."

He hears a long sigh and then the creak of the chair as his boss leans back and compiles the information in the meticulous and calculated way that he has and which has served him well enough throughout his long police stint to have risen him to the captaincy without a blot on his copy book.

Hunter grunts,

"Do you know what we want is in there?"

"No, but I'm guessing it damn well has to be since he isn't putting anything like that in the archives."

He knows that for a fact because he has already looked, on top of which it seems pretty hugely improbable that a man who is using and abusing his own prison would leave the evidence in the file room for the world to see and so really the locked drawers are a total no-brainer and luckily the police captain seems to think agree.

Partly at least –

"So why do you need your roommate?"

"Dean has experience when it comes to busting locks."

He chooses not to mention his other main reason for wanting to keep the scruffy headed copper blonde close or the fact the pair of them are being stalked around the corridors and periodically beaten up by a crazy cult leader and his friends.

Hunter clears his throat,

"Does he know your identity?"

Roman blinks,

"You mean that I'm a cop?"

Instead of reply to him immediately however the police captain instead pauses to suck in another breath, like he is waiting for the younger man to offer him reassurance and underline that his cover has by no means been blown.

Roman grumbles heatedly in response,

"You think I've told him?"

"I think you're under a lot pressure in there certainly so if you have then I would understand – ,"

"Dean doesn't know."

He spits out the sentence with no small amount of warning because they are moving into something that has no place in the call and which pretty much serves as a glaring reminder that he has been lying to his cellmate and friend all along.

Hunter sighs,

"I'm not sure I can help you."

For a second it isn't clear what he's talking about but then becomes apparent that he is back on the transfer and the slim hopes of getting their lockpick on board.

Roman frowns,

"Can't you do what you did the first time?"

In other words when they somehow got his ass on the cleaning crew and therefore in a prime location to investigate and which therefore they can surely manufacture this time too. Hunter huffs in response to the assumption and then makes a point of flapping some papers on his desk which is either an attempt to actually find something or else a form of transferring his frustrations somewhere else.

"You know how I got you onto cleaning in the first place?"

Roman stays quiet in an unspoken reply.

No.

"We had to damn well hack into the records and put your name in place of someone else, which got through because back then you guys were all newbies so nobody had worked out who was best suited where. But if we try that stunt now you guys are all settled and just up and start moving everyone about, we run the risk of some asshole asking questions and blowing this shit open before we've even begun."

Hunter slams down something that makes a loud clinking and then swallows what is likely a huge gulp of from his coffee mug that has been probably been sitting untouched since the morning getting progressively less appealing and more cold.

Roman rubs his brow line,

"So what are my orders?"

He figures it might be best if his boss gets to decide since frankly their options are becoming ever more limited and there is only so much that can be done from the inside.

He is met by a pause,

"Keep trying to get in there, maybe we get lucky and he forgets to take the key?"

It seems unlikely but not totally improbable and so the bigger man blows out a sigh and nods his head, which is a gesture of assent that goes completely unnoticed since they are talking on payphones and not chattering over skype.

Roman offers it verbally,

"Whatever you say boss."

But he knows that it is going to be pretty much impossible to stand back and carry on reconnaissance work when the proof that they need is likely locked in the desk drawer and therefore a fingertip from being discovered in a move that will undoubtedly signal his release.

Home, his parents.

Holy hell he misses it and it sends him into an immediate funk as he pictures his bedroom and his kitchen and his living room with its big comfy couch seats and his flatscreen.

"Reigns?"

"Hmm?"

"Is there anything else you've found out being in there that we can maybe look into in the meantime?"

Roman blinks –

Hell yeah there is and his newfound memory of it makes him sit up a little straighter again and sucks the homesick feeling back out of him as the instinctive police senses start buzzing in his veins.

"I need you look into a man called Ron Killings."

Pen sounds scratch back at him as it gets scribbled down,

"Who's he?"

"He was an inmate I saw hauled off to solitary but according to the records he hanged himself last week. His roommate was one of the other guys who had gone missing and he was yelling himself hoarse about it in the chow hall the other day – ,"

Hunter butts in suddenly,

"Chow hall?"

"Cafeteria."

Hunter keeps on scribbling but grumbles back at him,

"I see."

"He was shouting about how his cellmate had been murdered and how everyone should be trying to figure out the truth, so if I were a crooked guard trying to play the system then he is definitely a guy that I would want to see shut up."

By which he essentially means shut up forever instead of in the more fleeting teach a lesson sense and his boss seems to agree with those sentiments entirely since he blows a sharp breath out which then turns into a heated growl.

"The asshole sure is pushing his luck here."

Bischoff –

Roman knows in an instant that's who he means and which isn't a surprise since the leather toting prison chief has to be involved in what's happening somewhere, or else is totally innocent in the matter but is an absolute moron for not seeing something wrong and sitting up pretty and well paid in his office while his inmates are hauled out in body bags one by one.

Hunter sighs,

"Alright, leave it with me – both of those things you asked for, okay?"

"Sure thing boss."

"Take care of yourself in there."

It is the last thing he says before the older man hangs up and then no doubt grinds his fists into the hardwood and mutters a few choice swear words out and the image of which is so reassuring that Roman can't help but sort of smile a little bit. Speaking with the boss man is like touching base with life again and acts as a reminder that the world is still there and hasn't blown up or broken down in his absence and is patiently waiting for him to come home again.

Damn.

He grunts and hangs up the receiver before stretching out his limbs and turning around, with the intention of heading on back to his cell room to make sure his adopted prison brother is okay and hasn't somehow managed to find trouble of ended up with more blood messages smeared across the walls.

He gets two steps before he notices the figure –

Frozen by the doorway and glaring into the room with big blue eyes that look fixated in bewilderment and a million other feelings including fury and pure hurt.

Roman gapes back,

"Uce – ,"

But Dean is already moving and fumbling to throw open the heavy phone room door in a sudden turn of pace that beats the big man easily and leaves his heart pounding.

Oh shit.

Dean knows.


Oops, but I said you wouldn't want to miss this one. Or the next one because there is a whole lot of hurt. Roman has a lot of explaining to do but will Dean want to listen? Find out next time.