Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Rated: T
Dedication: This is for 123.
Warning(s): Slash

Steve stared at the screen in disbelief. He didn't want to believe that 'Aces and Eights' could be so underhanded as to attack a man while his back was turned. It killed him inside to see Brooke kneel beside her father, who could barely answer her cries as she tried to ask him where he had been hurt. That had been the distraction. Now that he was able to look back on it, the fact that that scene had been caught on camera wasn't an accident. It was intentional.

His eyes were still fixed on the screen, even as he heard screams come from the crowd around him. At that time, he was certain that the crowd was upset about the attack on Hulk. He didn't realize the threat to his own safety until it was too late. A meaty hand clubbed him in the back of the neck and he saw stars. The floor went out from underneath him and he fell forward, only to be surrounded by several men seconds later.

Fists beat down onto him. Time after time, he was struck. On the head, on the arms, on the sides… anywhere that the thugs could reach, they would hit him. The pain overwhelmed him and within seconds, he was too weak to defend himself. It wasn't really fair. Where were all of the wrestlers that had said that they would have his back? It seemed like they were all talk and no action.

When they were done with him, he was battered and bloodied. Dark, purple bruises discolored his skin. He felt much older than his fifty-three years. He felt like an old, decrepit man that couldn't take care of himself anymore. Steve coughed as he rolled onto his back. Each breath was difficult and extremely painful. Black swirled around in his vision and he saw stars, dizziness overwhelmed him, and for the first time, he could say that he was truly scared.

"Sting." The medical technician knelt down beside him and put a hand on his head. Steve flinched away, but not before he felt a flash of pain behind his eyes. "On a scale of one to ten, how much does it hurt?"

"An s-seven." Steve mumbled. It was hard to breathe and even more difficult to form words. "Please, d-don't touch me the-there. That hurts."

"Okay." The medical technician didn't listen to a word that he said and started to feel each of his bruises.

Steve narrowed his eyes at the man. "I s-said that that hurts!"

"You most likely have a few broken ribs. However, we'll have to take some x-rays to be sure. We also want to make sure that you don't have any internal bleeding." The medical technician said.

"Just… stop… touching… me." Steve wheezed. His eyes fell closed and he wheezed.

And then, Steve had a disturbing thought. What if 'Aces and Eights' went after Jeff? It would no longer be just random attacks anymore. Those bastards would make it personal. If they so much as touched one hair on his rainbow-colored head, Steve would tear them in two. Jeff was his precious baby, even if Jeff didn't need anyone to take care of him. Steve needed to heal fast so that he could be back and protect Jeff.

The stretcher was rolled down the ramp and around this time a few wrestlers had started to hover around the scene as well. Steve wanted to tell them that it was a little late, that 'Aces and Eights' had already attacked, but it was useless. He could barely keep his eyes open. Two medical technicians lifted him onto the stretcher and started to buckle him on. That was when Steve noticed James Storm. He needed to have words with him.

"James." Steve called out to The Cowboy. Immediately, the Tennessee native was at his side.

"What do you need, Steve?" James asked him. "I can't believe that those bastards attacked you. This is the second time, too. I swear, when I find out who they are…"

Steve weakly raised one hand. "I know that. I trust you to have my back, James. But that's not what I need at the moment. Right now, I need you to tell Jeff what happened."

"You mean he doesn't already know?" It seemed a little odd that someone wouldn't know about 'Aces and Eights'.

"I want him to be safe. He can't be safe if he doesn't know." Steve said.

James nodded and patted Steve on the shoulder. Steve didn't even comment about the flare of pain that his action caused. "I can do that for you, Steve. Nothing will happen to Jeff."

Steve nodded and closed his eyes. "Thank you." And then, he allowed them to roll him away.

James knocked on the door to Jeff's locker room. It had been awhile since the two had had a one-on-one conversation, especially since he had only recently returned from his impromptu vacation. And he wasn't sure how well Jeff would react to the news of the attack on his boyfriend. Oh, to hell with that. He knew that Jeff would be extremely upset about it and he wasn't sure what to say to make it better.

After a moment, Jeff answered the door. He had a fluffy white towel around his waist and his multicolored hair was dripping with water from his recent shower. He looked totally exhausted from his match earlier, but he had a satisfied look on his face as well. After all, he had been the victor of a difficult match with RVD with a close call for the pin. Anyone would be satisfied with that kind of win.

"Hey, James. What're you doin' here?" Jeff asked. His accent was thick from the utter exhaustion that he felt. "Sorry 'bout my current state of dress. I just got out of the shower and…"

James shook his head. "Its fine, Jeff. Don't worry about it." James ran a hand over his face, worry etched into his features. "Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but…"

The expression on Jeff's face shifted to one of worry as well. "What, James? You can tell me."

"You remember when Steve was attacked when he came out to accept his entry into the Hall of Fame?" Jeff nodded. "Well, the men who attacked him are back. They attacked him and Hulk."

"What?" Jeff's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What happened? Are they okay?"

James shook his head. "No. Well, they're not sure. Steve is on his way to the hospital."

Jeff looked like he was about to pass out. It was a combination of the fear that he felt as well as the worry that he felt for Steve. "Have they hurt anyone else?"

"There have been threats, but so far, they haven't acted on them. I think that they made the statement that they wanted to make when they attacked Hulk and Steve." James said.

Honestly, Jeff couldn't believe it. He found it difficult to believe that someone would just come out of the blue and attack the GM and Sting like that… it just didn't make sense. Maybe it was someone from either of their pasts that had a score to settle. That made more sense than someone with absolutely no connection at all. Jeff shook his head. It certainly was crazy around here.

But Jeff was also afraid for himself, just like every other wrestler in the arena. He didn't know when the next attack would be, or if there would even be another attack at all. Jeff looked down at the floor and wandered back into his locker room. James followed him inside and shut the door behind him. Jeff took out some jeans and a t-shirt and wandered back into the bathroom to dress himself.

"I want to head down to the hospital." Jeff said firmly. "I need to see him. I need to make sure that he is okay."

James shook his head, even if Jeff couldn't see it. "I can't let you do that. I promised Steve that I would take care of you and I can't let you get hurt."

Jeff popped out of the bathroom, the shirt half on his body. "Then you can drive me down to the hospital. I need to see him, James. It's not a question. It's a demand."

James narrowed his eyes at Jeff. "You're lucky you're so damn pretty, kid. Otherwise, we would have real problems."

Jeff looked at him oddly. "Ain't I older than you?"

"Let's not focus on the technicalities, okay?" James rolled his eyes and watched as Jeff continued to dress himself. "When you're ready, I'll drive you down there. It's after hours, but I'm sure they'll let you in."

Jeff smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Whatever."

Just like James had anticipated, it hadn't taken very long to convince the pretty blond behind the front desk to let him see his boyfriend. All he had to say was that he had been attacked and he really, really wanted to see if he was okay. She had started to spew all of this nonsense about true love and what not, before she told him that Steve was in room 202, down the hall and to the left. Jeff had smiled and winked as he thanked her.

But nothing could have prepared Jeff for what he saw when he entered into that room. Steve was on the bed in a medically induced coma. The nurse said that it was because he was in a considerable amount of pain and didn't want to take his pain medication. Jeff shook his head. Steve had always been so stubborn, even to the point where it was unhealthy. It was a trait that he both admired and hated in his boyfriend.

Jeff slid into the seat beside the bed and reached out, gently taking hold of the older man's hand. All of the veins were popping out and the stark difference in color between the veins and the hand made it look like they were breaking the surface of the skin. Jeff shook his head as he traced a hand over the fine webs of the veins. It scared him to see Steve in such a state. This was nothing like the strong man that he was used to.

And then he remembered what James had told him. These men, 'Aces and Eights' as they were called, had attacked Steve out of nowhere and hurt him so terribly. Jeff couldn't believe it. And the more that he thought about it, the harder it was to try and come up with someone who could be behind 'Aces and Eights'. The most logical explanation was Bobby Roode, but that just seemed too obvious.

But Jeff didn't want to think about that anymore. He couldn't focus on finding out the identities behind 'Aces and Eights' when he was too concerned about Steve's welfare. Jeff would focus on making Steve better, and in turn, that would be his own way of sticking it to 'Aces and Eights'. But as soon as their identities were revealed, he would tear into them so fast that they would never see it coming. It would almost be comical how fast they fell.

"When I get my hands on those idiots, Steve, I promise that they will pay. Nobody will take this business away from us. And nobody will take you away from me…"