Uh oh, so there is quite a bit of tension in this one. Will Dean forgive Roman? Will Roman be able to explain? So many questions so lets get into it. Popcorn at the ready?
Hayley1001, Yep, poor Dean is going to have multiple bombshells dropped on him in this story. But then Roman is having a hard time too, so at least I am spreading the hurt out evenly and not favouring either boy. But yeah…Dean is going to be happy at all!
Skovko, Yeah, sorry, but I felt I had to acknowledge that Hunter has been a good guy in at least one of my stories, even though he plays a much better villain! Don't talk to me about heat either! It's been 34 degrees centigrade here. I straightened my hair the other night and almost collapsed!
Daisysakura, Yep, poor Roman. The guy has been playing it cautious and tiptoeing around so much he forgot to do it when it counted the most. Don't expect Dean to be too forgiving though or understanding because…hey, we need some drama right? Well, good news because here it comes!
Squeegee Beckinhime, Well solitary will certainly be coming up at some point, but I'm going to be mean and not say when, how or why *waves hands to create air of mystery* Yep, our poor boy had to find out eventually but the fallout is going to be pretty big!
Guest, Piling on the drama for you, including in this chapter where the boys get to have a talk…or more like an argument but that's kind of the same thing!
Cheryl24, I'm not sure who I feel more sorry for in this situation, Roman or Dean. Both boys are going to have it tough in the next few chapters. But it had to be done. Roman's secret couldn't stay buried forever even though he wishes it had!
Mandy, Aww, thank you. But would you believe me if I told you that I often struggle with the endings of stories and chapters more than anything else? So thank you for complimenting that part of my writing *hugs*. But yeah, lots of drama coming for our boys now and lots of hurt too!
Stingerette1975, Suffice to say that Dean feels a lot of hurt in this chapter. His brother/best friend/buddy/safe place lied to him, so there are going to be a lot of emotions. Plus there is even more drama coming up in the fallout…but you'll have to stay tuned for that!
Wolfgirl2013, Many thanks! Getting into the serious drama now (not that there wasn't drama before but now there is going to be even more of it!)
SkittlezLvr79, Yep, no sunshine and lollipops in this one and maybe even the next one too? Well Bray will certainly be making an appearance pretty soon but I'm not going to reveal the capacity yet, so you'll just have to see if Dean is willing or not when we get there…
Minnie1015, Well, I felt like there hadn't been a proper cliffhanger in my work for a while and it kind of seemed like as good a time as any! Suffice to say that our poor Dean is going to be very hurt by the lies, so I can't promise anything about working together *walks of whistling*…
Yippi-kay yay motherfucker, Nope. I'm really putting Dean through it in this one. His best friend has died (not that he knows it yet) and his new best friend has lied to him from the start. Roman is going to have a lot of making up to do. A WHOLE lot!
KyanaM, Hey, nice to have you back. Don't worry, I know how crazy life can be. Glad you're still liking it including the addition of mad Mick Foley! Dean being protective of Roman was cute, but we're going to flip that in a little while and bring protective Roman back to the front!
Gonna be some hurt here…
Not Your Brother
Because he doesn't know which way the copper blonde has headed, Roman takes a chance and takes the steps back to their room, bursting through the threshold then blowing a heavy sigh out at the person stood in front of him.
"Uce, thank god, listen man – ,"
Blue eyes flash,
"To what? You gonna lie again? Play me for a fool for another fuckin' month?"
He is pretty much as angry as the bigger man has seen him and not without good reason given what he must have heard and which is likely the reason that his body is vibrating like he is readying for take off or else is possibly about to burst. His fists are balled up tight beside his hip bones and he looks like he is seconds from maybe throwing a right hook but which is stifled only by his haphazard pacing as he turns himself in circles in the gap between their beds.
Roman keeps his voice as low as he can manage it,
"I never meant to play you."
"Oh is that fuckin' right? So that's why you spun me a whole load of bullshit about havin' your laptop taken an' fuckin' punchin' a guy out? I mean – fuck – you must 'a thought I was some real fuckin' idiot to swallow that shit without a single damn word an' I guess you were right because I fuckin' did believe you – ,"
He breaks off suddenly with a dispirited sounding laugh or like someone has told a joke he shouldn't laugh at but he can't help himself because it's funny as hell.
Roman wets his lips,
"How much did you hear babe?"
Dean spins towards him then stalks across the room and the bigger man braces for a fist to hit his temple only to find that the blow never lands but turns instead into an angry pointer.
"Don't fuckin' call me that."
Dean physically spits the word out but still doesn't swing which is a marginally good sign, although he obviously feels like his world has been broken and not without good reason since he has no one left now and it makes the bigger man wince on pure instinct because it would have been kinder to have stabbed him through the heart. He tries again though because he needs to hear the answer as his eyes watch the copper blonde turning lost circles on the ground.
"How much did you hear?"
"Is that all you fuckin' care about?"
Roman blows a breath out,
"Come on, you know it's not."
Dean snorts back and the noise is pretty cutting because the copper blonde is going in no holds barred style and landing each comment and barb like a hammer blow which judders through the both of them but still doesn't ease up.
Dean boots his locker,
"You think I'm gonna tell the guards, huh? Let 'em know they got one of their own guys locked up? Pretendin' to be a no good freakin' scumbag or a no hope fuckin' asshole just like the rest of us?"
Roman frowns swiftly,
"That ain't how I see you."
Dean plucks his prison issue shirt with a grunt and then throws his hands wide like there isn't any recourse left open to the big man but to see him like that and to which he then tacks on a grumbled little question that it clearly hurts to ask.
"So you're a detective or what?"
Roman pauses –
He could always deny it or laugh it off like the copper blonde has maybe gone insane, or tell him that the boss he was talking on the phone to was some mafia kingpin and not his precinct captain at all but which wouldn't be able to fill the many gaps in or even be fair.
Does he know your identity?
You mean that I'm a cop?
Frankly there is no damn recovering from that line and so he blows a heavy breath out and then looks up into the gaze, finding out the waiting and shimmering blue irises and trying hard to ignore the bruised emotions they contain. Because while on the outside the copper blonde is fuming and likely an inch from hitting him or anything, on the inside he is hurt and so damn wounded which is the hardest part of all of it.
Roman won't lie to him again.
"Yeah uce, I am."
Dean flinches at the nickname but thankfully doesn't blow up in his face, which is probably because he is too busy working stuff out but could also be the fact that he likes being claimed and has spent the last few weeks being somebody's brother and isn't prepared to instantly give that up again.
He nods back slowly, still trembling with anger,
"Why the fuck are you in here?"
"We got a tip-off about some stuff."
Roman holds back from spelling it out too blatantly because the full truth is liable to set his rampant fury off again but means that he is then caught on a knife edge between not wanting to draw attention and not wanting to break his friend.
Because that's what is happening.
Dean is slowly breaking and it is his god damn actions that have taken them there and ripped away the solid foundations they have fostered and made the younger man feel betrayed and alone again.
"Uce – ,"
Roman puts out a broad hand on instinct in a subconscious attempt to rub it fondly through the hair but is met with total and utter resistance as the copper blonde growls and then swiftly backs away. Roman is still stood blocking the doorway so he knows that his brother can't bolt and charge off but it has the downside of making the leaner figure feel cornered, not to mention snappy as hell.
"Touch me again an' I'll break it off."
"Easy uce, I'm sorry okay?"
"M' not your brother."
"Yes you are, that ain't changing ever you hear me?"
It is a point on which the bigger man isn't prepared to argue because regardless of the truth of why he is locked in with him, nothing else that has happened between them has been faked and highlighting their bond is his way of trying to prove that and for a second it makes the blue orbs flicker up a bit.
"Can't fuckin' trust you."
Roman blows a breath out,
"I know uce, I know it probably feels like that, but don't think for a second that I didn't want to tell you."
"Yeah right."
"I couldn't tell you, not if I wanted to keep us safe."
Dean snorts again but some of the fight has slipped away from him and in response his shoulders dip back to their usual shrugging height and he turns his face to study the concrete flooring as he sucks a long hit of air in,
"Callihan is wrapped up in this whole thing, right?"
Roman blinks,
"What?"
Dean waves a hand bleakly but refuses to lift his pointedly averted gaze like maybe the blue eyes are teary or reddened which the bigger man gets glimpses of but can't outright see.
"Sami – my former cellmate – he's involved in this shit isn't he?"
Roman nods back solemnly,
"Yeah uce, he is."
"This about the fact that he didn't get his brain meds?"
"Partly but not entirely babe."
Dean seems to see the writing on the wall somehow and so lowers his head further like he is waiting for the body blow and then clenches his fists tightly as he bites the bitter words out knowing the answer fully.
"Never made it out of here did he?"
"No."
"Fuck it."
Dean spins away from him quickly and with such sudden fury that it seems some piece of furniture or the room will earn a kick but instead he simply stands with his head lightly bobbing and his shoulders straight up trembling like he's trying not to cry.
Roman steps towards him,
"Uce – ,"
"Fuck."
It comes out a second time but is totally devoid of the earlier punch and then swiftly tapers off beneath a sad little head shake which is followed by the leaner man sliding down into a sit and bouncing heavily on the unforgiving mattress as he struggles to grasp the full limits of his loss.
Roman watches balefully,
"I'm sorry babe, I mean that."
"Which fucker was it?"
Dean is eager to place the blame and looks up sharply for the first time since the news broke through eyes that are intense but suspiciously red rimmed.
"We don't know yet."
"Fuckin' bullshit."
"I'm not lying uce, if we had all the facts then they wouldn't have needed to send me in."
In terms of general answers it seems to be the right one because instead of keep on pressing him or tossing out cuss words, the copper blonde blinks and then turns back again, breaking the contact to peer down at his fingers which are interwoven tightly but clicking and moving all the same.
His gruff tones are even more raspy than usual,
"You got any ideas yet?"
"I'm working on it babe."
"Sami isn't the only one who didn't make it is he?"
It isn't a question but instead more of a fact and so rather than try to lessen or sugar coat it, Roman simply breathes out heavily and nods his big head,
"No he isn't."
"How many?"
"We're still counting."
"Do you know why?"
He asks it with a hitch and practically has to force the final word out because it's doubtful that he can find a way to make it all stick or an angle from which it isn't completely crazy and which the policeman knows well since he's been doing the same for weeks. Roman takes a chance in the quiet that follows and crosses over to his own bunk before parking loosely on the edge, so that he and his roommate are almost directly opposite but far enough away for Dean to have some precious space.
He sucks a breath in,
"We're still kinda trying to figure it but it might have something to do with selling on drugs."
Dean laughs bitterly,
"That's the only reason?"
"Plus the fact that he can pocket the costs."
It is something that the undercover man has been considering since the moment he clapped eyes on the car magazines, because in theory if the warden was bumping off his inmates but pretending to the state that he was still fully stocked, then he would keep on getting paid a fee to maintain things which he could then siphon into his own convertible fund while keeping standards low and inmate numbers limited to make sure that he could oversee and monitor everyone.
Dean blinks up again rapidly and sharply,
"You said he."
Roman nods slowly in reply,
"I did."
"You mean the warden?"
Dean is almost ridiculously knowing to which end there is no point in spinning him a tale because it is more than likely that he won't believe it anyway and besides which he straight up deserves to hear the truth.
"Yeah, I mean the warden."
"That's why you wanted in on cleaning, so you could get into the asshole's office I'm guessin' right?"
Dean snorts but it isn't an amused or understanding sound and is instead pointed and blunt like he is admonishing himself, like maybe he should have pieced things together sometime sooner and not have let himself get completely blindsided the way he has.
Roman takes a chance,
"I could kinda use your help babe."
He figures that maybe they are over the worst but then finds that small hope fading as the cell doors start buzzing then slide themselves shut, locking them in as the blue eyed glare flickers over and then holds the undercover man in a wave of contempt which shivers through his body and lets him know he's not forgiven and that it is probably going to be a very long night.
Dean lies down heavily and then turns his back on him,
"Fuck you man, you an' me are fuckin' done."
He evidently isn't kidding on that point either since the rest of their evening is spend horribly mute with the exception of the nightmare the copper blonde gets caught in somewhere around the break of a pale dawn and from which there seems to be no hope of salvation.
Roman has lost his best friend for good.
*Ducks* Remember, I said no throwing things!
Next chapter there is a whole bunch of drama and some of our new friends pop up, but I won't say who or why or where because...well...I'll see you next time!
