(I've been talking about adding this to my works for a while and now it's here. I hope you all enjoy the new ride that is to come~)

Rating: M-Ma

Main Pairing: Ambreigns

Content Warnings: Explicit Sex, Language, LOTS of Violence, and Character Death

Carnivore

Chapter 1: Rule of Thumb

He groaned as his head was snatched back, hissing when the overhead light beamed directly into his eyes. His head was pounding and everything was a haze as he tried to focus on the man above him. He was slapped hard, head snapping to the left as a raspy laugh bounced around in his head like a rubber ball.

"What did we tell you, Mox? Do your job and no one gets hurt! Why was that so hard? Hm?"

Who the hell…?

"Aw c'mon, you piece of shit, I know we didn't hit you hard enough to knock any memories out of you. Get the fuck up!"

He was slapped again, and this time he growled, looking up as his double vision began to merge into one. Fierce blue eyes glared into a set of half-lidded brown ones, and suddenly he remembered the face he was looking at. He remembered the annoying ass voice he'd come to know over the past few years. That dumb ass fading blonde patch and that exaggerated fake laugh.

He remembered why he was there in the first place.

/2 Days Earlier/

He wiped his mouth after taking a long swig of some drink he didn't know the name of. His target had bought it for him-the second one that night-probably assuming he'd been impressing the younger man by his display of money. Or probably to just get him drunk so he could take him to bed. With this man's track record, he wasn't surprised. He was smart enough to check the drinks first, however. Which was how the first got "accidentally" spilled on the girl beside them earlier that night.

The target in question William Regal, the CEO of some shady company. He'd been sent to gather intel and 'take care' of him. He swallowed another mouthful, slamming the glass onto the bar before looking over at the older dirty blonde, eyes hooded.

"Are you taking me upstairs or are we going to continue dancing around?' he inquired bluntly. William looked at him in surprise, brows shooting up before he purred, nodding drunkenly. "You cut no corners. I like that. I've got a room upstairs" He cooed, standing and swaying towards the stairs. He bit back the urge to roll his eyes, following him.

This would be too easy.

He wondered how long it would take the British bastard to notice that the drink he spiked and tried to give to him was switched and that he had drank it, instead. He pushed the door to the bedroom open, leading the drunken man in before closing and locking the door behind him, discarding him by simply pushing him to the floor, making his way deeper into the room.

Ugh. Rich people.

He fished through a few drawers to his left first as the man tried to crawl up and stand. He pushed past him, knocking him back down as he made a beeline straight to the computer, pulling out a fresh USB, standing back as it began to break down all security on the computer and rip all of the files out of it.

"W-Wha…? The bloody hell a-are you doing? W-What did you do to my drink?!" William squawked from the floor, grabbing onto his leg. The younger man growled, quickly getting annoyed with the older man's pestering.

"The better question is this: what did you try to do to my drink?" He shot back flatly. William's eyes widened and he began squirming around, drunkenly crying for help. He growled and pulled out a pistol, leering down at the man, a growl rumbling from his throat.

"You're annoying."

"N-No please! D-Don't kill me! I'll pay you!" He slurred. He rolled his eyes and let out an unamused snort. "There's not enough money you could give me to fix my problems, bub" He hummed, tilting his head as his hand moved to and fro, teasingly looking for the right spot to send the bullet deep into. William tried to crawl away, slurring once more as he cried for help.

"W-who are you? Why are you even doing this?!"

The man's gloved finger twitched against the trigger.

"Jon Moxley. And because I can. Isn't that the code amongst scumbags like you?"

Before the man could respond, two silenced shots were put between his eyes. Jon clicked his tongue, picking up the shells before he snatched his USB out once it had completely taken all of the data out of it, smirking to himself as he stuffed it in his pocket and opened the window, sliding out with practiced ease.

He walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, turning the corner and bumping into a tall, British man. He grunted, both of them looking at one another before the man spoke. "Did you take care of him?" He inquired. Jon cocked a brow, looking unimpressed. "Would I be standing in front of you if I didn't handle him?" He bit back. The man hummed, looking towards the booming high-end house before clicking his tongue.

"Very well. I'll call in the cleanup crew. Hunter says to have the USB on Stephanie's desk by morning. Goodnight, Moxley" He hummed and sighed, pulling up the collar to his jacket before walking down the street, dead leaves kicking up from a small gust of wind, causing a miniature tornado to form. Jon hardly spared him a second glance as he walked the opposite way, getting into his car. It was an old Ford, and he often wondered how the tin can hadn't killed him yet. The car had damn there more issues than he did.

He put putted his way home, lazily treading up the stairs to his apartment, grumbling as he fished his keys out of his pocket. The cat lady a few doors down was shouting again about something he didn't know or care about. The single mother in the room beside him was clearly having trouble getting her teething son to calm down while the couple above him were engaged in what could only be explained as the most one sided sex he had ever heard, if the girl's exaggerated, repetitious moaning was anything to go by.

Just another night.

He strolled into his apartment, pausing in the doorway as if waiting for someone to greet him. Lazy eyes scanned the expanse of the one bedroom space and he almost snorted, kicking the door closed behind him. Of course no one was there to greet him. He toed off his boots, sliding the leather gloves off of his hands before walking to the kitchen, opening the fridge and peering inside. The contents inside included a case of beer, Chinese takeout from three days ago, and some food the girl across from him had given him as a "I'm new here, be my friend" offering. He didn't touch it, however. It looked like a block of under cooked cheese and he did his best not to push it back into her hands when he first gave it to her. With a roll of bored blue eyes, Moxley grabbed two beers out of the fridge and walked out of it, heading to the living room.

He popped the cap open by tapping the edge of it against the coffee table before plopping down onto the couch, feet finding their way to the table as he strolled through the channels.

News.

Someone dying again, three legged kitten in mittens, politicians behaving like jackasses.

Cartoons.

Nauseating colors, fart jokes, dumbass villains giving away their schemes before getting their shit kicked in.

Sports.

Wrestlers in tights so small he can practically see everyone's assholes, football players getting away with beating their significant others, more idiots screaming opinionated bullshit at one another.

Late night pay per view porn.

He could just listen to the two upstairs if he wanted to listen to two people faking it. At least he wouldn't have to pay for it.

He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes, moving to get up and go to bed. When he got up, the USB slipped from his pocket and fell to the floor, clattering loud enough to catch his attention. He looked down and a sudden wave of interest hit him.

It was against everything he'd ever been taught as a hitman. You never ask or wonder what your employer is doing. Whatever shady dealings they're up to behind the scenes is none of your concern. The only things that matter are the target and the paycheck, nothing in between.

Eh...fuck it.

He rolled his neck and walked to the dining room table, grabbing his laptop and starting it up, idly twirling the USB between his fingertips as the screen lit up. Once he was all set up, he slid the drive in, pulling up the files with mild curiosity. It only took him a minute or two into reading before his eyes grew and he nearly dropped his beer. He scanned the files thoroughly, lips parting slightly as he read more and more of the secrets The Authority were hiding from the world.

Hiding from him.

Jon slammed the laptop closed when he'd gotten to the final line of text, running a hand through his hair. His heart was pounding as he gnawed on his thumbnail, leg bouncing erratically.

"Son of a bitch" he hissed, snatching the USB out before striding to his room and throwing himself into bed. He fiddled with the USB for a while before shaking his head and stuffing it under the bed, staring at the wall across from him.

Sleep didn't come easy to him that night.

/~/

He woke up like he did every day. With an abrupt start triggered from a nightmare he had the night before. He clutched his chest, eyes wide as he took a few gasps of air to fill his lungs, he coughed and rubbed his temples when he finally settled down, eyes watery. He almost missed the sound of another being moving around in his apartment.

Without making a sound, he pulled out a pistol from beneath his pillow and made his way to the bathroom, eyes narrowed as he kicked the door open, aiming right between the eyes of the other person inside.

They hardly batted a lash, bored brown eyes looking at him in disinterest before a raspy chuckle left their lips.

"Hyahahaha. C'mon, you not happy to see me, Mox?" Seth inquired. Jon's eye twitched in annoyance as he lowered his gun, lip curling up. He contemplated shooting him in the knee or something, but remembered that he was Stephanie and Hunter's lapdog and hurting him would only make his life difficult.

"What the hell are you doing in my apartment?" He questioned flatly. Seth clicked his tongue, pulling his hair back into a bun. "I'm just here to make sure you report to Hunter and Stephanie before anything else Jonny boy." He hummed, brushing shoulders with Jon as he walked by, a low purr leaving his throat.

"Unless you have something more...fun in mind we could do before that?" He mewled, fingers running across Jon's arm.

Quick as ever, Seth dodged the oncoming pistol whip from Jon, giggling like a madman as the older man glared at him, clearly not amused.

"That was one time and I was drunk"

"But you moaned like you enjoyed it. I know I did~ Couldn't walk straight for days-"

"Keep talking and I'll send you back to Mommy and Daddy in several garbage bags"

"Bet you wanted me to call you dadd-OW FUCK!"

Jon punched Seth in the hip and grunted as the smaller man yelped, shuffling away as the disgruntled man made his way into the bathroom to shower. He made it quick, thankful the little shit was gone when he got back into the room to dress. He grabbed the USB, the small object now seeming like it was heavier than ever as he made his way out to meet Seth in his living room.

The two toned man was grumbling as he paced around, clearly not pleased with the state of the apartment. "Why do you stay in such a bland place? We pay you enough to get you a nice seaside place or something more than...this." He commented, nose curled up. Mox shoved his hands in his pockets and headed straight for the door, cigarette dangling from his lips.

"If you don't like my place, by all means, get the hell out" He retorted. Seth eyed him for a moment before humming, following after him. He pulled the door handle closed, lips twitching upwards ever so slightly as he lingered behind just slightly.

Too bad you'll never see this bland place ever again

/~/

Stephanie hummed as Jon walked into her office with Seth trailing behind him. The former placed the USB on her desk, chewing gum quietly as he watch her pass the USB to Brad Maddox, who was standing beside her.. The small man plugged it into the laptop he was holding, ticking away at the keyboard with one hand before placing the device in front of Stephanie. She looked down at the screen, face blank as she scrolled down.

The room was quiet, everyone watching as the empress if the McMahon empire reviewed the data. She smiled after a moment before looking up at Moxley.

"Very good. I knew it was better to send you than one of the others. Regal always did have a soft spot for dirty blondes. And you're the dirtiest I know, aren't you?" She cooed, a sickeningly sweet smile on her face. Jon hardly twitched at the double-edged compliment. Stephanie was good for those, and he'd learned to brush them off-

"It's a shame. I'm going to miss you doing our dirty work"

Well. That's new.

Mox perked, looking her in the eyes and clenching his teeth as he saw her eyes narrow. Brad hummed and Seth licked his lips behind him, foot shifting slightly. Jon kept his eyes on her, but he was hyper aware of everyone else in the room. She clicked her tongue, tilting her head.

"All you had to do was mind your business and do the job we paid you to do"

He rolled his neck.

"Technically, you haven't paid me for this one yet"

Steph hissed and Jon ducked, feeling the air behind him shift as Seth took a swing. He swept his feet, rolling out of the way as Brad pulled out a concealed gun, firing at him. Stephanie hissed from her desk, fists clenched. "How about I pay you in bullets?!" She snarled. He darted out of the way, shouldering the door open before he rushed down the hall, cursing up a storm as he heard shots ringing out all around him.

"I only accept monetary payments, bitch!" He threw over his shoulder.

He ran to the end of one hall, breaking some man's arm and taking his gun before he pulled him onto the cover of the wall, listening as the several others came running his way. He counted in his head before shoving the squirming man out first, ducking as he was immediately riddled with bullets. Jon grit his teeth before poking his head out, firing at the group of startled men, hitting vital spots before he rushed down that hall, kicking open the emergency staircase doors. He looked downwards. shooting at anyone he saw coming up before bolting down them, taking two at a time.

He made it to the end of the case, looking for which way to go when a terrible shock went through his body. He screamed and fell, vision blurring as he looked up at the form of a small blonde woman. She hovered over him, head tilting to the side as he tried to focus.

"R-Renee-"

"Sorry Mox. It's either you or me" she cut him off, pulling the trigger of her taser gun. Jon convulsed and writhed on the floor in agony before passing out, body twitching a few more times even after Renee had stopped the bolts. She sighed and watched as a few of the Authority's men hefted him up, heading down the hall to the West wing with Seth leading them, a wicked smile on his face. She closed her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ear.

What mess. She had to make sure she wouldn't have to clean up whatever was left of him when this was all over

/~/

Jon groaned when his hair was wretched up, glaring at Seth with pure, unbridled rage. He was more mad at himself for getting caught than the two toned bastard for torturing him for the past couple of hours, but that didn't mean he wanted to kill him any less.

"Rise and shine, dimples~"

No, quite the contrary. He definitely wanted to kill the bastard.

"What the hell are you guys planning on doing with that information?" He spat, trying to snatch his head out of Seth's grip. The younger man only tightened his hold,. tsking quietly. "Aw how cute. You think I'm going to give away our big plan to you? This isn't a movie. You're going to die soon anyway, you won't even be alive for what's about to happen to the world" He chirped, looking absolutely giddy. Jon glared at him, slightly twisting his wrists to and fro in their bindings.

"Fine. How about you tell me how you found out how you knew I looked at the USB" he growled, feeling blood start to run down into his eyes. Seth had hit him with a blunt object about an hour ago and that was the reason behind him fading in and out of consciousness. Seth sent him a Cheshire-worthy grin.

"You didn't honestly think we wouldn't have your shitty apartment monitored 24/7, did you?" He almost snorted. Jon leered at him, clenching his fists over and over before relaxing them, feeling the ropes give ever so slightly. Seth lifted his chin and shook his head.

"It's too bad. I looked forward to playing with you again some day" he pouted. Jon's eyes narrowed and he swung his head forward, headbutting him as hard as he could. Seth yelped in pain and Jon ripped his arms free, grabbing a handful of Seth's hair and slamming him hard onto the table in front of him before yanking the key to the door off of the table, rushing out before anyone could check the source of the scuffle.

Stephanie watched from her office as the man stumbled out of the building, stealing a car and making his way out of the parking lot, driving erratically. Brad peered over her shoulder, brows knitted up in worry.

"You're just going to let him go?" He inquired. Stephanie chuckled and clicked her tongue, eyes half lidded.

"Please. As if he can run from an empire as big as mine. The man is good, but he isn't that good" She responded, cutting the feed.

"Let him run and build his false confidence that he can escape. It'll only make it more fun when I crush him like the bug he's always been. He brought this on himself"

/~/

Jon ditched the car after driving out of town, coughing weakly as his vision began to blur again. He had managed to clean up most of his own blood with some tissues in the glove compartment of the car and he stole a hat to cover his injured head, but he was at a loss as to what to do.

Knees wobbly, Jon stumbled into an alleyway, intending to rest himself so he could focus, but he lost his footing and slipped, hitting the ground hard before his vision faded to black.

/*/

"Alright class, you're dismissed for the winter. Have a great break and I'll see you when the new year comes around!" a low voice boomed over a rowdy classroom of elementary school students just as the final bell rang for the day. The fifth graders cheered, some making a break for the door and rushing out into the snow while some lingered behind to thrust small, brightly colored bags into his face.

"Mr. Reigns, I got you a mug!"

"Mr. Reigns, my mommy baked you some cookies!"

"Mr. Reigns, I'm giving you my WWE action figure! It's my favorite, so take care of it!"

The Samoan teacher smiled fondly at the students, graciously accepting the gifts and sending the children off with a smile and a wave. He stayed behind to get his desk in order before standing, pushing his glasses up on his nose as he grabbed his satchel, carefully putting each gift inside before heading out of the room. He waved at his fellow teachers as he walked by, getting various "See you next year, Roman!"s and "Merry Christmas, Roman~"s. He nodded at them, huffing when his glasses slid down on his nose a bit more before he got outside.

He shivered and walked over to his car, unlocking it before moving around to his trunk to set his satchel and some of the larger gift bags inside. As he closed it and looked up, he noticed shoes protruding from an alley across the street from the faculty parking lot. He squinted, pushing his glasses up more before grey eyes grew, a gasp leaving his lips when he realized those shoes were attached to someone. He looked both ways before rushing across the street, kneeling down beside the fallen person, praying that he hadn't stumbled on a dead body.

He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the person's chest rising and falling just barely. He gently shook the man to see if he could rouse him, but to no avail. Roman shook his head, and despite his better judgement, grabbed the smaller man by the arm, picking him up. He could see that his head was bleeding somewhere, as the hat he was wearing was starting to change color from soaking up the copper liquid. Roman looked both ways once more and shuffled back across the street, helping the man into his car before he shuffled to the driver's side, pulling off in a hurry.

Now, Roman was by no means a reckless or naive man. But perhaps it was the cold and the holiday season that clouded his better judgement and muted the reasonable side of his conscious to just take him to the hospital or call the cops.

Instead, they were at his home in no time, and the larger man managed to heft the comatose man into his house without a neighbor seeing and questioning the incredibly odd situation. He placed him down on the couch, pulling up a chair after fetching his first aid kit and easing the hat off of the man's head. He cringed at the gash in his head and began cleaning the wound, pausing every time the unknown man's body twitched or jerked in response to the sting of the alcohol or the pain of him sewing the wound closed. Roman let out a sigh when he was done an hour later, looking over his work with a small nod of approval. It wasn't professional (he'd learned how to patch people up from watching medics at the football games he was in back in high school and college), but it would do and the man wouldn't get an infection now.

Roman was worried about the smaller man having concussion, however.

Before he could finish that thought, the smaller man roused from his comatose state rather abruptly, nearly headbutting him as he shot up, blue eyes wild and unfocused.

"Woah! Take it easy!" He yelped, backing up just in time. The smaller man looked around before his eyes landed on Roman, narrowing instantly. He looked him up and down, sizing him up before looking around them, fingers twitching by his sides. He ground his teeth before looking at him once more.

"Where am I? Who are you?" He questioned, voice rough and cracking. Roman noticed the disgruntled look on his face after hearing his own voice and he stood, turning to head to the kitchen to grab him a water bottle. "My name is Roman Reigns. I'm a school teacher. I found you unconscious in an alley a little ways from the school" He responded, keeping his voice low so he wouldn't further startle the man.

Jon's eyes narrowed on the taller man as soon as he stood and turned his back on him. If he was some kind of assassin, he was shit. You never turn your back on another assassin-wait, school teacher?

"So...you found me unconscious in an alley and you bring me to your house?" He inquired carefully, watching his every move. He didn't seem to be grabbing any weapons. Instead, he was bringing him a water bottle? Jon tilted his head as the raven-haired man sat down in front of him again.

"Yeah...that's about right" He affirmed, scratching his head bashfully, a few hairs coming loose from his bun. Jon squinted, carefully taking a sip of the water. He deemed it okay, taking a larger sip as he watched the other man for a moment before speaking.

"Do you normally bring unconscious people you find on the street into your home?" He inquired flatly. He realized how rude he was coming off to the man that quite literally saved his life, but he needed to be sure this wasn't some set up Stephanie put in place and that he wasn't two seconds away from a fight in this fancy ass living room. Truth be told, he had no energy left for a fight and the larger man could easily overpower him in his current state.

Roman took it in stride, however, pushing his glasses up before sitting back. "Actually, no. I'm not sure why I didn't just bring you to a hospital. You don't appear to be on drugs, and you haven't tried to slit my throat yet, so that's a good sign. Do you want me to drive you home?" He inquired, head tilting to the side. Jon stared at him before blinking owlishly.

This man was definitely not one of Stephanie's assassins. He knew all of the other hitmen and he was sure none of the underlings were competent enough to appear this...genuine.

"I don't have a home. I was evicted today and I got mugged on the street and passed out. That's why you found me like that" He lies smoothly, looking down at his feet for added effect. Roman frowned and sat up a bit straighter.

"Do you have anyone to stay with?"

"Nope. Mom's been dead 12 years and my "father" might as well be Waldo because I sure as fuck haven't been able to find him all my life"

Roman's frown deepened and he tapped his chin. "I'm so sorry...Well, you're already here, do you want to stay here until you get up on your feet?" He inquired. Jon cocked a brow.

"Letting a stranger stay in your home? How have you kept yourself alive this long?"

"What's your name?" Roman ignored his comment and hummed, looking him in the eyes. Jon blinked.

"Wha?"

"If you tell me your name, we won't be strangers. So, what's your name?"

Jon paused. The older man seemed to be genuine about his offer and he swallowed another gulp of water, gears turning. He couldn't tell him his real name, just in case Stephanie pulled some strings and had his name out there for people to watch out for. He surely couldn't go anywhere near his old home. He was certain there was someone there at all times just in case he made the incredibly idiotic decision to go back. Instead, he cleared his throat and looked Roman dead in the eye, a small, tired smile on his face.

"Dean. My name is Dean Ambrose"

(Something a little different for the soul.

Please review, and until next time, happy holidays and I love you~

-Scarlet)