Cody was tired. He had been called out to the explosion and tried figuring out what the hell had happened. Nothing made sense. The cops guarding the place swore up and down that no one had come in or out of the house. Cody had taken it upon himself to look at the footage but there were no movements from anyone but the cops. Eventually he had given up and decided to go home and sleep on it. Tomorrow he and others would look through the footage again and go even further back. Back to Saturday when they went there to begin with.

"Finally home," he said.

He turned off the engine, got out of the car, and walked up to his front door. He unlocked it and stepped inside. He took off his boots and nearly jumped when his phone started ringing. A phone call this late couldn't be anything good. He looked at the display and saw Brock's name on it. He hit the green button and put the phone on speaker.

"What is it, Brock?" Cody asked.
"Erick Rowan is dead," Brock said.
"Of course he is," Cody sighed. "Roman got to him. Classic Roman."
"No, it was a suicide. Someone told him Roman's name and he did a quick google search, I suppose. He left a note saying he was scared of what Roman might do to him so he would rather take his own life. He blew his brains out," Brock said.

Cody sighed and looked down the long hallway. He wanted his bed so bad.

"Cody? What do you want me to do?" Brock asked.
"Make the note disappear. We can still pin it on Roman," Cody said.
"Got it," Brock said. "Goodnight."

Cody hung up, sighed again, and moved towards the bedroom. He hit the light switch and then felt a sharp pain when a fist connected with his nose. He dropped his phone and placed his hands over his face. He felt blood pouring out of his nose. He reached for his gun but someone was faster than him. He spun around and got the air knocked out of him by a fist from Roman.

"I got your gun," Sera teased.
"Trista," Cody tried.
"Sera!" Sera screamed. "My name is Sera Reigns!"
"She's my wife!" Roman growled.
"She's about to be your dead wife," Cody threatened.

Roman knocked the air out of Cody again and held him up against the wall. Cody felt Sera grab his wrist and stretch out his arm. He howled in pain when he felt a knife go through his hand and into the wall. He turned his head to the side and saw one of his big kitchen knives holding his hand in place.

"And now the other," Sera said.
"No!" Cody yelled.

Cody tried fighting his way free but was met with another fist to his stomach. Roman grabbed Cody's other arm and held it out for Sera. Cody howled in pain when that hand was pinned to the wall too. Roman and Sera took a step back and studied her work. Roman chuckled, placed an arm around Sera's shoulders, and kissed the top of her head.

"You still got it," Roman said.
"What do you want?" Cody cried.
"Her wedding ring," Roman held up his hand with his wedding ring. "We have matching rings. You must know that. I know you took it."
"Fuck you!" Cody spat.
"Cody," Sera grabbed Cody's jaw. "You got two options here. Live or die. That's it. You got nothing to bargain with. Give me back my ring and you will live. Granted, we will leave you in this position and you will have to figure out how to get free on your own, but you will live."
"You're lying," Cody said.
"Or you can keep saying shit like that and I will end your life," Sera said. "Your choice."

Cody stared from person to person. He had a hard time believing anything coming out of their mouths.

"You got no reason to keep me alive," Cody said.
"True, but I owe you one. You've been good to me for an entire year. I kinda grew to like you, you know. I'll let you go this once but once I'm out of here, we're going back to the old chase. There won't be a second chance if you come too close to us again," Sera said.

Cody gritted his teeth and nodded.

"It's in my closet," Cody nodded towards his wardrobe. "There's a box on the top shelf. It's in there."

Roman walked over to the wardrobe and grabbed the box. He opened it and found a small plastic bag with the ring inside. He broke out in a wide smile, took the ring out of the bag, and slid it back on Sera's finger.

"Back where it belongs," Roman said.
"I love you so much," Sera said.
"I love you too," Roman said. "Cody?"
"What about me?" Cody asked.

Roman and Sera both smirked at Cody. Sera showed Cody her favorite knife.

"What are you doing? You said I would get to live," Cody said.
"She lied," Roman laughed.
"You put a bullet in my head," Sera said. "You tried to kill me and you failed. You tried to turn me against Roman and you failed. You tried to make me fall for you and you failed."
"As if she would ever fuck you," Roman said.
"She would have! With time she would!" Cody snarled. "I took your pretty, little princess and had her hunt you down for a year. A whole fucking year, Roman. When I get my hands on her again, I'm gonna do much worse."
"Oh, shut up," Sera said.
"It's not nice of you to pin Erick's suicide on me but since I was planning on eventually killing him, I'll let it slide," Roman said.
"The only thing sliding here will be my knife," Sera said.

Roman placed his hand over Cody's face and held it back against the wall while Sera slit Cody's throat. They both stepped back and watched Cody bleed out and the light leaving his eyes.

"Fuck, that was hot," Roman kissed Sera's temple. "They'll find him tomorrow."
"Take me home, please," she said.
"Your wish is my command, princess," he said.
"You did use to call me that, didn't you?" She laughed. "And you're my prince."

He chuckled and took her hand. They left Cody's house and drove to their other home. She looked at the surroundings as they drove into the area. It was the same as the old house. Fenced in and heavily monitored. No one would get in without them knowing about it. They walked inside the house and she nodded.

"I remember this place," she said. "It's good to finally be home."
"It's good to finally have you home," he said.
"Let's enjoy the sunrise before we go to bed," she said.
"Like the good, old days," he said.

They walked out on the terrace and sat down on a bench. He placed an arm around her and she leaned up against him. The sun slowly started rising and they enjoyed the early sunrays.

"The villain of the year left this world, and once again the heroes were villainized. Through the night they traveled, sheltered by the darkness, awaiting the anger rising with the morning sun. The line of people ready to throw stones to provide a river of blood is waiting. Eyes closed for an eternity, refusing to see what's right in front of them. The darkness hides all secrets. The sun washes away all the sins. This place is built on the blood of the wicked. The blood of the innocent will never be shared," she said.

He sighed happily and kissed the top of her head.

"I love it when you get poetic," he said. "Write it down in your book. It's still in the living room where you left it. I've read your poems countless times over the last year. They kept me close to you."

She turned her head and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you for finding me," she said.
"I always will," he said.