Still Alive

Seth shivered as he made his way down into the dank cellar that they generously called the 'holding area'. To Seth it was more like a medieval dungeon than a 'holding area', but until today he hadn't honestly cared all that much about the conditions or the possible prisoners that were forced to stay down here. Now he most certainly did care since he knew Mox…Dean was down here.

Seth looked behind him yet again, making absolutely sure that no one knew he was coming down here. Cena had no patience for sentimentality and guilty feelings, if he knew Seth had been conversing with a prisoner without hurting him, the mayor would be most displeased not to mention suspicious. Seth, for six years in Cena's service, had managed to avoid suspicion and, for the moment, was highly regarded. But Seth knew from experience that those in Cena's service could easily fall from favor.

Seth was surprised he could see his breath as he cautiously walked further down the steps that led to the cells. At this time of the night, there should be no one down here except the prisoners in their cells and the night guards who usually were either sleeping or drinking in the guard's lounge which was located at the far end of the hallway. For Seth it would be a piece of cake to slip by them unnoticed. Just as he reached the bottom of the steps, he heard heavy footsteps coming towards him.

Seth flattened himself against the wall as a pair of guards walked by dragging a prisoner in between them. The guards were so focused on their task and prisoner that they didn't even notice him.

"How's your back feel, Ambrose," said one of the guards nastily as he slapped Dean on his back which made the outlaw let out a low grunt of pain.

Seth clenched his fists and jaw everything in his heart was screaming at him to bash those two guards on the head and take Dean with him to safety. But Seth knew he wouldn't get far if they did it that way. If he was to save Dean, Seth had to plan accordingly and wait for the perfect moment to strike.

"Not so high and mighty now, are you?" sneered the second guard as they dumped Dean's practically lifeless body on the dirty floor of his cell. They didn't bother chaining him this time. The Butcher had made sure that the outlaw wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "I don't know why the doctor even bothered patching you up, you worthless piece of scum."

"Well we can't have him dying on us now can we?" said the first guard maliciously, "Not until we've all had our fun and Cena's done humiliating him. Get some rest, Ambrose," he sneered addressing the outlaw as he kicked him in the stomach as the other guard laughed on. Dean let out a short yell and began to cough violently as he tried to curl into a fetal position in order to protect himself.

"You're gonna need it," finished the other guard as they slammed the cell door shut on Dean and strode down the hall their violent tendencies sated for the present.

Seth flattened against the wall for a second time as they passed and let out a relieved breath as they didn't choose to go up the stairway but walked in the direction towards the lounge where he had originally thought they would already be. Seth was shaking with rage at those two guards and hated himself even more as he was forced to wait in the stairwell until the bloodthirsty guards were done tormenting their captive.

However, Seth did take some comfort in the fact that Dean had gotten at least a semblance of medical attention. Something had to be better than nothing. Seth had no idea what the Butcher had done to Dean. He only knew that when the Butcher was involved, it was nothing good. Hearing the door to the guard's lounge slam shut, Seth finally deemed it clear and quietly made his way to Dean's cell.

Seth's breath caught in his throat as he gazed at the man he considered his friend. Dean had stopped coughing at this point but remained in a curled position on the floor with his back to Seth. Dean's back was shredded. Ugly, long cuts in crisscrossed patterns decorated the outlaw's back, which Seth figured had to have been caused by a whip. Seth observed that the medical attention, if it could be called that, Dean received was just a rough stitching up of some of the deeper wounds so that he wouldn't bleed to death.

Other than that though, they seemed to have just left him in pain. Logically, Seth wasn't surprised, he knew that prisoners died at the hands of the Butcher all the time but knowing that fact and seeing it especially to someone he cared about was a whole other matter.

"Dean," whispered Seth as he crouched down on the floor right outside the outlaw's cell.

For a second, Seth thought that Dean hadn't heard him but after a moment, with trembling arms Dean stiffly turned his body around and looked towards Seth.

"Have you come to gloat, Rollins?" asked Dean in a slurred pain filled voice as he just barely managed to shift his body to face Seth, "Or whatever your name is," finished Dean as he slumped back down to the floor too exhausted to hold himself up for more than a few seconds.

"I was born Seth Rollins," explained Seth feeling guiltier by the second, "When I became one of Cena's men he renamed me Tyler Black so that I would forget about my past and who I once was. He says we should consider ourselves reborn once we enter into a contract agreement with him because from that moment on he owns us."

"Whatever. Don't care," whispered Dean as he shut his eyes as the pain in his back only seemed to increase.

"I didn't come here to gloat, Dean…"

"Don't call me that!" snarled Dean as he opened his eyes, raised his head slightly and fixed Seth with a heated glare, "Acting as if you're my friend while you're one of Cena's right hand men. You disgust me! You treacherous, rat-faced bastard!"

I deserved that, Seth thought as he tried to think of how he could persuade Dean that he hadn't meant for this to happen. "Fine…Mox?" Seth cautiously called Dean waiting to see if Dean was going to bite his head off for using that name. When Dean said nothing but only flinched when he heard Seth call him by his alias, Seth figured it was alright to proceed. "Since I've met you, I've never had any intention of betraying you personally."

Dean scoffed but didn't say anything.

"I didn't! I also had no idea what the Merry Men actually were. I was told they were just a terrorist cell masquerading as the saviors of the city and while I know that Cena is a thug and a criminal as his spy I've stopped even more terrible people from doing horrific things such as blowing up a shopping mall or the destruction of whole neighborhoods by violent gangs. I've done the best I could in my situation."

"Well, la di da, Rollins, good for you," said Dean sarcastically, "Doesn't change the fact that you still betrayed us even after you realized that we weren't the bad guys."

"I didn't have a choice!" whispered Seth harshly trying to defend his actions, "the plan was already in motion and I had no idea that you were Dean Ambrose!"

"That was kind of the point," stated Dean, grimacing as he tried to lift his head up again but stopped as that motion sent pain shooting down his back, "and you always have a choice, Rollins, don't try to sell me that bullshit! If you were truly torn about your position as a spy you could have come to me and explained the situation before you sold me out."

"Would you have even listened to me before you killed me?" asked Seth wryly.

"I wouldn't have killed you," whispered Dean as he tried to wet his cracked and bleeding lips, "I would have been pissed off and mad as hell but we could have figured out a way out of the situation and eventually I would have forgiven you," finished Dean truthfully.

Seth's eyes widened in concern as Dean squeezed his eyes shut and couldn't stop from moaning out loud as the pain now seemed to engulf his entire body.

"Scoot closer to me so I can reach your back," said Seth as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small tin of ointment that he had brought with him.

Dean trembled as pain racked his entire body, "Hell no, Rollins," stuttered Dean still defiant through the haze of pain, "If you think I'm voluntarily letting you lay a hand on me than you've got another thing coming."

"It's just ointment, Mox, not acid," said Seth unscrewing the lid of the tin to show Dean, "It'll numb the pain for awhile and let you get some sleep. I've used it on myself numerous times. Trust me. It really does help manage the pain."

"Don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth, you two-faced liar," breathed Dean as he looked warily at the tin that Seth held in his hand.

"Quit being so stubborn, Mox!" whispered Seth furiously as he glanced anxiously back towards the guard's lounge, "I can't afford to be down here much longer."

"Then don't. See if I care," mumbled Dean as he clenched his fists and groaned again.

Seth grinded his teeth in frustration and rolled his eyes at the outlaw. Putting the tin down on the ground beside him, Seth with one hand reached forward in between the bars of the cell, barely managed to grab one of the belt loops on Dean's jeans and with a harsh tug brought the stubborn man right up to the bars so that he could treat the multiple wounds on his back.

"Aaghhhhh," yelled Dean as he was caught by surprise at the sudden motion which only aggravated his injuries further. Dread coiled within Dean's stomach as he realized that he was now well within Rollins' reach and the slimy bastard could now do whatever he wanted with him and Dean was now limp with exhaustion to the point where he couldn't even lift a hand to defend himself. Dean began to shiver uncontrollably. Why couldn't they just leave him alone for a bit? He couldn't handle any more pain. Not right now. It was too much.

Seth sucked in a breath as he got a good look at Dean's back, it was even worse than he had originally thought. Some of the cuts were so deep that he could see right to the bone. It looked like an animal had mauled him.

"It's going to sting at first but after that the pain should start to diminish almost immediately," said Seth gently as he dabbed his fingers with the ointment and began to apply it as carefully as he could starting with the nastiest cuts first.

Dean's breath hitched at first at the stinging pain in his back and for a brief second, Dean thought wildly that perhaps Seth really was putting acid on him. Pretty soon though, true to Seth's word, the pain ebbed and Dean couldn't stop from letting out a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying my best not to hurt you," muttered Seth as he continued to soothe Dean's wounds with the salve.

Dean didn't reply but for the moment lay still as Seth continued to apply the ointment all over his back. Dean really wished he could read minds as he looked at Seth's face as he lay on his stomach. Seth's eyes weren't cold and empty like they were back in the mayor's office. Right now they were sincere and worried and it was messing with Dean's head. Seth had proved himself to be a back-stabbing coward. Dean would be insane if he even entertained the notion of trusting Seth again. There must be a reason for why Seth was doing this but Dean just couldn't figure out his motive.

"So…if you didn't come here to gloat. Why the hell are you here, Rollins?" asked the outlaw brusquely wincing as Seth touched a particularly sensitive wound.

"Sorry," mumbled Seth wishing he had brought more ointment with him because he was quickly running out and he hadn't even covered half of Dean's back yet. "I came," Seth paused wondering how to phrase his thinking but then just settled on telling the simple truth, "to apologize and to let you know that I'm getting you out of here."

"Great. Let's go now," deadpanned Dean not believing Seth.

"We can't go now…"

"Of course we can't, guys like you always have an excuse," said Dean bitterly. "Quit playing me Rollins and just tell me upfront what you want."

"I'm not playing you, Mox. You have no idea how desperately I want to get you out of here but we would never make it if we left right now. You can't even stand on your own. I have no one helping me, not to mention the security in this place is extremely tight. We're going to have to wait until Cena brings you out in the open. I'm sorry, you're going to have to hang on until then." Seth sighed as he used up the last of the ointment. He hadn't been able to put it on every wound but at least it would provide some relief to Dean.

"What's your plan then," said Dean skeptically as he continued to study Seth's face trying to read him.

"Well first, I need to know how I can get in touch with one of your men so they can help me bust you out of here," began Seth.

"Oh no!" said Dean as viciously as he could as he raised himself up on his elbows, "How stupid do you think I am, Rollins?! You might have fooled me once, but don't even think for a second that you can just waltz in here after what you've done and try to sweet talk me again just so you can turn around and betray me and my men. No! Nice try, I admit but no fucking way in hell!"

Seth bit his tongue at Dean's outburst. He should have known. It was naïve of him to think that Dean would all of a sudden place his trust in him after what he had done. Well, Seth thought, guess I'm just going to have to find them the old fashioned way.

"I have to go," said Seth sadly as he stood, "I would give you a blanket but that would look very suspicious," Seth explained as he noted how violently Dean was shivering. "I understand that you can't trust me, Mox, but whether you trust me or not, I swear I will get you out of here."

"We'll see," whispered Dean at Seth's retreating back. Dean didn't trust Seth as far as he could throw him. However Dean allowed for a tiny part of him to hope that Seth was in fact telling the truth.

As Seth cautiously made his way back up the stairwell and Dean curled up into a ball and tried to get some rest, neither man noticed a camera with a small red light indicating that it was on and pointed at Dean's cell which was located in a small niche that was situated directly opposite from Dean's cell.

"What do you make of that, Sheriff?" asked the mayor as both men witnessed the exchange between Seth and Dean in the holding area.

"Was Black following your orders, sir?" asked the sheriff who was extremely puzzled as to why Seth was tending to the outlaw's wounds.

"No," admitted Cena as he put both his hands behind his head in deep thought. While the camera sent a live feed to the mayor's computer of footage outside Dean's cell, there was no audio. "I would have been curious to hear what was said between the two," stated Cena as he rubbed his chin.

"Would you like me to arrest Mr. Black for you, sir?" asked Sheriff Kane cautiously, unable to fathom why Seth would have gone against the mayor's orders.

"No," said Cena quietly as he stared at the outlaw who was now alone again and visibly struggling to get comfortable on the hard floor of his cell, "Give Mr. Black no indication that we know he is harboring sympathetic feelings towards the enemy. Have someone follow his every move and report back to us his whereabouts. That boy is hiding something."

"Sir?" questioned the sheriff.

"There was a hole in the boy's story. Didn't you catch it, you imbecile," snarled Cena as turned around to face his idiotic second-in-command, "He said he couldn't tell me the entrance to the Merry Men's hideout because they blindfolded him when they first brought him in."

"Yes," said the sheriff thoroughly confused.

"But then the boy reported to you twice by escaping his room without the guards knowing and exited the hideout and reentered it at two different times and he still can't remember where the entrance is?" asked Cena sarcastically as he spelled it out for the sheriff.

"Oh, so the boy was lying," said Sheriff Kane as the light bulb went off in his head.

"Unless Mr. Black suffers from short-term memory loss, you're correct sheriff," spit out Cena nastily as he turned back to the screen reveling in the suffering of Dean who was still shivering on the floor of his cell. "Mr. Black appears to have more of a conscience than I'd originally thought."

Seth breathed in the harsh night air as he put his hood up and moved quietly and silently through the streets of the city. Seth knew he couldn't just waltz into the Merry Men's hideout to explain himself. One, Little Rome would surely kill him before he would be able to get a word in edgewise. Two, they had probably already moved the location of the hideout. And three, Randy would then kill him again after Little Rome had his way with him.

Seth figured he should start around 12th Street and hope to run into one of the Merry Men. Granted it was a terrible plan, but it was the only one Seth had.

After about two hours of wandering around aimlessly, Seth was no where near to finding someone that could help him. Seth checked his watch, it was just after three in the morning and he desperately needed some shut eye. I guess I'll just have to try again tomorrow night, thought Seth as he turned in the direction towards C Tower; I'm no use to Dean if I collapse from exhaustion.

Just as Seth rounded a bend in the street, a hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck pulling him into the darkness of an alley. Seth let out a grunt as his attacker skillfully twisted one of his arms roughly behind his back and pinned him against the brick wall of the alley.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mr. Black," sneered Seth's attacker. Seth wasn't given time to reply as his unknown assailant quickly dragged him from the wall and threw him through a door and into what seemed like to Seth an abandoned car factory.

Gathering his wits about him, Seth quickly spun around and was met with the furious face of Friar Punk. "Punk!" said Seth joyfully; happy to have last found one of the Merry Men but instantly stopped his celebrating when Punk's fist met his jaw with a resounding crack.

"You know what I hate most in this world, Tyler Black?" asked Punk viciously, spitting out Seth's name like it was a disease as he pinned Seth to the floor who had been caught off guard by the punch to his face. "I despise dirty, lying, cheating bastards who would sell their soul for a quick buck."

"Wait…Punk," Seth grounded out trying to reason with the angry man on top of him. "Dean…"

"Don't you dare say his name," snarled Punk as he punched Seth again in the face this time splitting his lip. "Dean is probably dead already because of you and I'm going to make sure that you are going to pay for your crimes," stated Punk coldly as he raised his fist again.

Seeing that he was getting nowhere with this approach, Seth grabbed Punk's fist as it headed towards his face, twisted it and at the same time threw the raging man off of him as he pinned Punk face down on the floor reversing their roles. "Listen to me, Punk!" shouted Seth, "Dean's not dead!"

Punk stopped struggling at Seth's reveal, his body instantly stilling.

"I need your help," said Seth as calmly as he could, "I don't want to work for Cena anymore and you are going to help me get Dean away from the mayor's clutches."

"Nice speech," said Punk dryly, "doesn't change the fact that C Tower is an almost impenetrable fortress that makes in near impossible to rescue someone."

"That's why we're not going to stage the rescue there," explained Seth slowly as he eased up on his hold of Punk's wrist, "You've heard of the Annual Benefit that the mayor hosts, right?" asked Seth.

"Yeah, it's tomorrow night, isn't it. It's the biggest collection of the cities most notorious and ruthless criminals dressed up as businessmen and entrepreneurs," said Punk not sure where Seth was going with this.

"As the main entertainment for the night, Cena plans on showcasing Dean Ambrose," explained Seth, "everyone is eager to see the once legendary outlaw brought low."

"And let me guess, you plan on rescuing him right under the nose of Cena and all those criminals?" asked Punk incredulously.

"I do," said Seth as he let Punk go and stood up. "Are you with me?"

And the plot thickens...

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