Not going to say too much about this chapter, so let's just get straight into it shall we?

Cheryl24, Bray has been significantly cowed for the time being, even though he is probably licking his wounds and trying to come up with Plan B somewhere. But right now we are moving onto bigger and badder villains (or at least bigger and badder in this story anyway!)

Mandy, Oh no, I'm sorry, harsh feedback on something you put your time into is the worst. But then maybe the problem is with the person who gave the feedback, they might be in a bad place too. Either way, keep your chin up babe (I'm channelling my inner Roman) Hope this chapter makes you smile (well, parts of it at least).

Guest, Aww, thank you and thanks for reading.

Wolfgirl2013, Many thanks, got plenty of drama from here on out (I know, I know, I've been promising it for a while, but now we're all systems go!

Yippi-kay yay motherfucker, Hmmm, well, wait until the end of this chapter and then tell me whether you think it counts as dramatic or not (I'm being super coy about not giving anything away here…or trying to be anyway!) But yeah, Bray is done *happy dance* Bischoff is not *sad dance instead*

Minnie1015, Haha, well, you know me, stringing that suspense out for as long as I possibly can! But the tipping point has to come sometime soon. Will it be this chapter? Next chapter? Who know?! (Okay, so I know obviously but that's not the point!)

SkittlezLvr79, Well, maybe I'll give the boys time to revel in their victory a tiny bit…but only a really, really tiny bit because we've got villains to see and things to do here! But yep, thought Dean deserved to get himself a little retribution from ol' swamp whiskers (you're welcome Dean!)

Stingerette1975, Awww, poor Harper and Rowan having all these collective terms (tree trunks being one of the best obviously!) But then again, if they will hang out with Bray…*shrugs*. Ohhhh yes, plenty of trouble coming in this one, maybe too much!

Skovko, Having Roman there and having the purpose of getting Bischoff has really lit a fire under Deano in this story. Besides, he has bigger things to worry about than swamp brethren now so he figured, what the hell and then went in for the kill. I mean, people in there called him lunatic for a reason!

Martha, Agreed, big burly alpha male Roman feeling comfortable enough to call Dean (only Dean though, have you noticed that?) babe is legit one of the best things ever, so naturally it pops up in ALL of my Roman/Dean stories. Sorry school is so exhausting, but hopefully this chapter can help!

Daisysakura, Aww, I'm so glad you got that from this story, that Dean feels empowered by having Roman there and by having a purpose (namely: get Bischoff). Things are going to get a little tight for the boys coming up, but I know you love them worrying about each other, so…

Jjramz, Hey there, thank you so much! I love when new people jump aboard my stories. Never too late to join this crazy ride and the good news (or bad news depending on how you feel after this chapter) is that you've joined us just in time for the drama!

Without further ado…


The Prison Blues

Roman spends the remainder of the walk back to their cell room crowing like a parent whose son has made the team and chuckling in between blowing relieved breaths out as he falls back on the best word in his retinue,

"Damn."

Dean grins in response,

"Pretty fuckin' cool, right?"

Roman puts out a typically tousling hand, which cards through the copper blonde scruff with pure fondness and then slips down to knead proudly at the tense shoulder joint. He lets loose a chuckle,

"You had him on the ropes babe."

Dean nods,

"Uh huh, I mean he swung his fist at me an' I – like – totally ducked it an' just locked in a hold."

He goes through the move set with his arms as he replays it, throwing a karate kick into the mix, that Roman is ninety nine percent sure never happened but which makes him smile anyway because Dean thinks it did. He then mimes the choke hold.

"Like this see? Real tight man – can't let him get out of it."

Roman turns the corner towards the mezzanine stairs and then fights back the urge to straight up laugh at him, managing instead to tail it back into a throat clear which may or may not contain a little chuckle thrown in as well.

"Uh huh."

Beneath their feet which move in time with one another, the metal staircase clonks with a tinny tonal sound, that could almost be the backbeat of a melodious rhythm or the soundtrack to the plain walls that wail out the prison blues. Dean tips his newly sobered gaze around suddenly and then lowers his voice about as far as he can, that renders it little more than a rough sort of grumble since he is usually low-timbred anyway.

"So? What'd he say?"

Roman doesn't need ask who the whispered he is, since the person in question can really only be his boss and the man the copper blonde was guarding the phone room door for and had been doing pretty well until the swamp men had come along.

Roman nods,

"He thinks we might have something, but he needs to get the district attorney on board first."

"But he's comin' – like – with the whole fuckin' cavalry an' everythin'?"

"Two days max."

Dean blinks a little.

"Wow."

He seems completely thrown off by the announcement, like he cannot believe the incoming police bust is thanks at least in part to something he has done, or maybe like he isn't sure what will happen after, which he then makes very clear is exactly what it is. He sighs and shrugs his shoulders,

"So then this'll be over?"

Roman moves a hand between them,

"This won't uce, but the case will be – or the investigation part anyway."

Dean replies by nodding his head but his body has tensed and his shoulders have risen up and he tries to hunker into his shell like a turtle at the thought of his cellmate leaving and the looming prospect of that loss. Roman returns his grip,

"Hey, I'll come visit every week babe and I'll put a good word in with the parole board for your ass."

"Uce – ,"

"Figure you should get at least a couple months knocked off for aiding the investigation."

Dean snorts,

"How 'bout a medal?"

"Don't push your luck."

By the time they hit the top of the metal staircase and turn the last corner in the direction of their cell, both men are beaming and chuckling loosely at the back and forth teasing that has become a hallmark of who they are and which has grown to underpin their brotherly friendship since neither of them really do heartfelt very well. It is also what spurs the bigger man to employ a sudden head lock that he snaps on without warning right out of the blue and which the copper blonde chuckles at but then tries to bat off again with mild but flailing arms,

"Get off me you goof."

Roman is still laughing as they tussle across the threshold but he stops himself dead as his eyes travel up and then land on the figure stood in between their two bed frames and glowering at them.

Eric Bischoff.

"What in the hell?"

He lets go of his cellmate in a hasty untangling and the scruffy head pops up and then lets out a baffled huh which is probably as coherent as can really be expected since the warden of the prison is holding court in their room. More than that though. He has clearly been searching it since their meagre belongings are in total disarray, with their pile of books tossed and trampled on the concrete, their lockers wide open and sheets torn from the beds. Even the mattresses have been pulled from the framework and sit at odd looking angles and –

Dean's mattress.

Holy shit.

Roman blinks in a measure of panic and times it to perfection with the notebook being held aloft, as Bischoff extracts it from the pocket of his jacket and then glares across the space.

"Look what I found."

His cold gaze is fixed on the copper blonde entirely and in response to it the bigger man feels his cellmate haul in a breath and then pull his frame up to its full, lean potential which outstrips the glaring prison boss by several inches at least. Behind them several frowning guards materialize in the doorway but Dean either misses that or else straight up doesn't care since his blue eye are centred on his latest brutal nemesis and the man who is potentially the biggest villain of them all.

He smirks back unflinchingly,

"Oh yeah, the notebook, found it on the floor, been meanin' to give it back."

"So that's why it's under your bed?"

"Can't be too careful man, lotta people in here who kinda like to steal shit."

Dean snorts wryly and it is borderline impressive that even when the brown stuff is hitting the fan totally that his breezy façade isn't altered one bit and actually seems to grow in its brashness, which Roman figures must be something his cellmate learnt from the streets.

Bischoff tenses his jaw and then nearly shatters it,

"You came in my office and you broke into my desk – ,"

Dean grins,

"Careful man, I hope you got proof for that."

Bischoff waves the notebook like a baton above his head and then turns several shades of utterly livid at the continued display and the lack of respect.

"You son of a bitch."

He storms in towards them looking suspiciously like he might be building to a strike and which, thanks to the body of guards stood behind them, they cannot hold back if he chooses to lash out. Dean braces stiffly and the thought of his taking it and him having to watch is more than Roman can bear, which is why he suddenly puts a hand between them and yells across the space,

"It was my idea."

"What?"

He isn't too sure if the baffled sounding answer comes from the stalled prison warden or his aghast looking friend, who is throwing him daggers that scream shut up man but which he roundly and protectively chooses to ignore.

"I was the one who sent him in there."

Roman knows he's blowing the case, but at the same time he can't stand back and say basically nothing if Dean is going to be landed with all the blame and possibly even get a beating because of it. He still has the god damn welt on his forehead from where Wyatt had thrown him into the brickwork and the policeman won't let him take any more knocks on top of that, not for him and not from anyone.

Bischoff scoffs at him,

"Your idea huh?"

"Yep, sure was, because I'm a cop."

Dean gapes across the space and then shakes his head minutely like he's made the wrong decision but which gets lost in the warden's bark.

"Excuse me?"

Roman opens his mouth to make it clearer and to end the whole thing once and for all, but is beaten to the punch by his copper blonde cellmate who snorts out loudly and then waves a hand around,

"An' you wonder why I took the fuckin' notebook? M' tired of bein' locked up with crazy men."

"Uce – ,"

Dean points back at him in exaggerated fury,

"I mean, listen to this. You know what uce means? He thinks we're fuckin' brothers or some shit."

Bischoff lifts a brow,

"So you were going to blackmail me?"

"Thought I could maybe get a single room out of it – like – can't blame a guy for tryin' am I right?"

For a second there is nothing in the cell but eerie silence and had they owned a pin to drop, its landing would have seemed loud. Nobody moves but then the warden hums a little, like he is thinking things through. He finishes with a grin,

"Well then Ambrose, I've got good news for you, looks like a single opened up after all."

Roman shivers because the look that flashes with it is twisted and bitter and hugely unkind and is timed with a wave towards the guards in the doorway which releases them abruptly from their frozen statue stop. Five of them swarm into the room like piranhas and position themselves two behind each of the men, with the final one hovering in close behind the lawman, since they clearly think he might need an extra restricting hand. Dean has been throwing daggers across the room at the warden and so when hands seize up his biceps he reacts with alarm,

"Hey – ,"

Bischoff leans in closer until he is almost brushing nose tips and then bellows in his face,

"Take him to solitary."

No.

Roman struggles and then tries to surge forward but the three on one guard hold means he cannot break loose and so is forced to watch as his cellmate is hauled backwards with a look of genuine terror on his face.

Roman bellows,

"It was me, I'm telling you – ,"

But the shouting doesn't stop his brother being dragged off, with his fists clenched fiercely in insubordination and his lips sealed so tightly they are beginning to turn white. Bischoff stops and turns briefly in the doorway as he watches the bigger man fighting the hold, before sneering at the prison guards in a flash of pure anger,

"Keep this one on lockdown until he cools off."

Then he's gone.


Aww, plus Dean trying to take all the blame on this one. But hey, I told you things would happen, huh? Yep. It just got real folks, because we all know what goes on down in solitary...see you three days! *Walks off whistling with hands behind back*