Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Erin and Kelly.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Past Mpreg, Storyline-Based Character Bashing, H/c, Fluff, Spoilers for RAW 9-9-13, etc.

"Adam -,"

Adam narrowed his eyes at his husband, arms crossed over his chest in a blatant display of defiance. "I can't even begin to say how fucking ridiculous this is."

"The only thing that's 'ridiculous' was your behavior out there." Hunter jabbed his finger in the direction of the arena, where the show pushed forward toward Daniel Bryan's inevitable encounter with Dean Ambrose. "I hired you back to interview the WWE Champion, Randy Orton, not to embarrass this company with that troll, Daniel Bryan -,"

But Adam wasn't even listening to him, instead focusing on Hunter's other comments. "You think I'm a failure, huh? You think that I'm just a nobody, that I'm not a man anymore because I can't fight?" Adam was positively seething at this point, "Let me tell you - cutting your hair and wearing a suit doesn't make you a man, just a sell-out."

"Not a dictator, just a dick, right?" Hunter snapped back. The tension between them was so thick, it could be cut with a knife.

"You don't get to touch Jay." Adam hissed. It was rather difficult for Hunter to take him seriously, looking so delicious in his riled state. "I know why you did it. You just did it to hurt me, to get under my skin - you think I'm not a man because I can't physically fight you, or Randy, or the Shield. But you know what? You crossed the line this time."

Hunter sighed, plopping down into his desk chair and interlocking his fingers. "Now isn't the time, nor the place to be talking about this, Adam. We'll talk about this later." Adam opened his mouth to object, when Hunter callously held up one finger. "No. I just said that this conversation is over. I meant it. I'm not in the mood for this."

Adam's eye twitched, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. Just when Hunter returned to his work, Adam threw it all off of the desk. It landed in a messy heap on the floor, totally out-of-order. "You think that you can just say shit like that to me and get away with it? You're a jackass, Hunter."

Hunter forced a thin smile, trying not to full-out snap on the pretty blond. "I'm simply doing what's best for business, Adam."

"Oh, believe me - you're doing what's best for business, alright. What's best to run it right into the ground." Adam tossed back. "Don't come crying to me when it does."

"This conversation is over, Adam." Hunter stressed, leaning down to start picking up his files.

"This conversation isn't the only thing that's over." And just like that, he yanked his gold wedding band off his finger and tossed it onto Hunter's desk. The COO barely had a chance to catch it before it skidded off the table. "After all, you deserve a real man, right? Because real men are good for business."

"Adam -," but it was too late, as Adam had already stormed out, the door slamming closed behind him.

Dustin wandered down the hallway, feeling like more of a failure than ever. There had been so much riding on this match, this match for his baby brother, Cody's, career, and he'd failed him. The idea of disappointing his little brother stung more than the resounding pain from Randy Orton's RKO. And Stephanie's little 'pep-talk' certainly wasn't helping things. He felt lower than ever, and he was seriously wondering why he had even asked for this match in the first place. Did he enjoy having his emotions exploited by a ratings-hungry McMahon family? And what did he think would happen if he actually did win? He certainly didn't trust Hunter to uphold his end of the deal.

He didn't really know where he was walking, nor did he realize that he'd been wandering aimlessly for near fifteen minutes. He imagined that he was somewhere near the locker rooms, but wasn't too comfortable with the idea of heading in just yet. He didn't think that he could handle the sympathetic, pitying gazes of the various superstars that weren't supporting the new 'best for business' regime. None would be brave enough to actually say something to him, too afraid of being ratted out by the other stars, but the pitying gazes would tell him everything he needed to know - they never actually thought he could beat Randy, but it was a nice try.

"Uncle Dustin!" Dustin paused, drawing in a shaky breath. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse... "Uncle Dustin - wait a second!"

Unable to deny the little girl anything, he stopped, hastily rubbing at his eyes so that she would not see his tears. In the process, he smeared some of his make-up onto his hand. When a little hand grabbed his, he looked down, offering her a watery smile. "Hey, kid. What's up?"

She extended her arms, her request clear. Even if he was starting to stiffen up from his match, he reached down and picked her up. "I just wanted to tell you that you did really great in your match." She said, giving him a toothy smile. The smile faded quickly, however, when she noticed the tears in his eyes. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know what was so great about it." He said, carefully shifting the little girl so as not to drop her. "I lost. Badly."

"Winning isn't always about 'winning'." She said. "Sometimes, it's how you handle losing. You may have lost, but Uncle Randy was a sore winner. So he's the real loser."

His smile was a little warmer this time, and he ruffled her dirty blonde locks affectionately. "You know, kid, your Mommy must've taught you real well. That kind of thinking will get you far in life." That adorable toothy grin returned, and Dustin couldn't help but laugh.

As if summoned, Adam suddenly appeared, storming down the hallway like the hounds of hell were biting at his heels. Upon seeing Dustin, he skidded to a halt, "Oh, hey man. I just wanted to tell you that I'm so sorry about what happened with Stephanie. You didn't deserve that." And then, to the little girl, "I've been looking all over for you."

"Mommy!" She cheered happily, but remained latched onto Dustin.

"Erin, loosen up a bit! You don't want to choke him to death!" Erin giggled cutely, but did relinquish her hold a little bit. "I was looking for her because she wanted to say how proud she was of you, but I see that she's already done that." Adam smiled, patting his daughter on the head.

"She certainly made me feel better." Dustin affirmed.

"Hey, would you mind taking Erin down to catering for some ice cream? I have some personal business that I need to attend to, and I'm sure she'd love to spend some more time with you. Wouldn't you, Erin?" The little girl nodded enthusiastically, almost screaming when Dustin said 'sure'. "Thanks. I owe you one. Give Mommy love, sweetie."

Erin gave Adam a sloppy, wet kiss on the cheek, before she and Dustin wandered off in the direction of catering. Adam smiled, watching his little girl disappear around the corner. She was so perfect, sometimes he wondered how and why she had come into their lives. Inheriting her dark blonde hair from her father, Triple H, she had loose blonde waves which fell down to the middle of her back. But her eyes were identical to Adam's - swirling, benevolent emerald orbs that could be read like an open book. Sweet freckles dotted her rosy little cheeks, with a cute little nose and an even cuter mouth. She was the perfect blend of himself and Hunter.

Silently, Adam wondered how she would handle the news of their recent break-up. Before tonight, Adam would've never even considered walking out on Hunter in such a reckless and ill thought-out manner. But tonight, Hunter had shown an entirely different side of himself, a side that Adam wasn't particularly fond of. Hunter had shown his true colors and made it clear exactly what Adam meant to him... and that was okay, because Adam was just happy that he'd found out about it sooner rather than later. Hunter was always a man that stood by his word, so what he had said about Adam... Adam's career... their relationship... he had to have meant all of it.

After several moments, Adam turned and made his way downstairs, easily locating the trainer's room. He'd promised to come and visit Jay during some point in the night, and while he felt bad for just finding the time now, his early evening had been otherwise - unfortunately - occupied. He knocked on the door, which was opened by the trainer. Receiving a warm smile from the older man, he was welcomed inside and shown to where Jay was resting. According to what the trainer had to say, Jay hadn't sustained any serious injuries - but he'd certainly be sore for quite a bit of time.

"Hey, bro," Adam clapped a hand onto his friend's shoulder, before plopping down onto the seat beside Jay's bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Like a tractor-trailer ran me down." Jay said, completely serious. "I hope that they realize that they just incapacitated their babysitter for a good two weeks." Now, Adam was able to detect a hint of sarcasm in his friend's tone, and snickered. "But enough about me. You look like hell. What happened?"

Adam showed his best friend his left hand, recently bereft of his wedding band. "I gave Hunter back the ring. I'm leaving him."

Jay looked shocked, and blinked several times, staring at Adam's hand and not comprehending what he was seeing. "Just for what he said tonight?"

"Well... yes and no. Yes, tonight was the final straw. He knows how much you mean to me, and the fact that he unleashed the hounds on you is unacceptable. If I was medically cleared, I'm almost certain he would've done the same to me." Adam said sadly. "And no... this dates back to the origins of what's 'good for business'."

"That saying is absolutely ridiculous. It makes me sick." Jay spat out. "He wouldn't know what was good for business if it hit him across the face."

"I think it's tried to a couple of times." Adam offered blandly. Neither man laughed at the joke.

Jay's eyes fell onto Adam's finger again, "Are you really sure that you want to do this? I mean, it looked like you and Hunter were so happy together. Especially after Erin was born. It's like her birth made your family complete."

"There's no use second-guessing myself now. I already gave him back... well, kinda threw, if you wanna look at it that way... the ring, and I don't want to head back there now." There was a brief pause, then, "It's better this way. It has to be better this way, right?"

They continued chatting for a little while. It was much more fulfilling to be chatting in person, instead of their weekly Skype messages. Conflicting schedules, mixed with hectic personal lives (Heath getting ready to have their first child, Adam attempting to travel with Hunter, whilst homeschooling a rambunctious five-year-old, etc.) made it difficult for them to have much time to be together as friends. It didn't help that Hunter didn't like Jay and didn't approve of his friendship with Adam - in fact, he never had - but he'd never done anything to hurt him until now. Now, he'd crossed that invisible line. And Adam wouldn't stand for it.

"Yes, I made the right decision. It might hurt right now... but it's better in the long run, for me and for Erin." Adam nodded firmly, as if trying to convince himself that this was the truth. "So, how are you and Heath doing?"

Two Weeks Later

To be honest, Hunter hadn't thought Adam's threat was serious. Thinking he'd said what he had in the heat of the moment, he'd expected Adam to be waiting in the hotel room, where they could resolve things in a somewhat calmer environment. Much to his surprise, however, he'd come back to the hotel room and found out that both Adam and their daughter had checked out earlier that night. The idea was incredibly distressing, because, since they'd been married, they'd always spent nights together, and ever since Erin was born, she'd never been apart from her parents for any extended period of time.

He had tried everything, from calling Adam to attempting to find out where he was from Jay. Adam was flat-out avoiding him, and Hunter was man enough to admit that that hurt; that hurt like Hell. Watching Adam blatantly avoid him at the various arenas and not being able to hold him at night were two things that Hunter found near unbearable, but he had to keep up appearances. He had to keep the stony face of the COO of the WWE, the man who was leading the company into a new era under WWE Champion Randy Orton - the man who had been hand-picked for the position by WWE management. Now, he wasn't really feeling it, though.

"...Hunter, are you listening to me at all?" Stephanie trailed, offering the old man a distressed, pissed-off look. Hunter, snapping to attention, offered her an apologetic glance. "Look, I know that you're having a hard time dealing with the whole Adam situation, but we have an even bigger mess on our hands."

"Oh, I'm glad that my marriage falling apart is so important to you." Hunter snapped. "I doubt that whatever happened is more important than that."

"Adam was hit by a car." She stated simply.

The pencil that Hunter had been drumming fell from his hand, and his eyes slowly rose to Stephanie's face. "What?"

"Security reviewed some footage from two weeks ago, when Adam was on RAW. As it turned out, he got into a confrontation with a fan in the parking lot. Nobody intervened. The camera caught the plate, and matched it to the one that ran him down less than twenty-four hours ago."

"How bad is the damage?" Hunter was almost afraid to ask.

Stephanie shrugged. "Better than it could be, I suppose. It's still pretty bad, though. He broke his arm in three places, has three cracked ribs, seventy-three stitches in his foot, and his neck was badly rattled. To make matters worse, we're at least fifty percent liable."

"Is that the only thing you care about? Money?" Hunter was positively seething, thinking of the pain his soon-to-be ex-husband must be in, and all Stephanie bothered to think about was a possible monetary loss. "That's just sick."

"Need I remind you that you were the one who fired most of security, because they were rebellious against the Shield - you said it was what's 'best for business'. Adam got hurt because of your stupid decision, Hunter. I'm just looking at the possible reprocussions of your idiotic move."

Hunter opened his mouth to offer some form of snappy, intelligent comeback. Instead, he simply allowed his mouth to fall closed very slowly. Everything that she had said was absolutely correct. As far as Adam was concerned, he'd been an absolute bastard as of late. The fact that there was no security, which should have been there to protect him, was entirely Hunter's doing. In trying to protect the Shield, he could've killed the one person he loved more than life itself. It wasn't fair that Adam had to get mowed down by a car in the parking lot because there simply weren't enough people around to stick up for him. Adam was probably scared out of his mind right now, and Hunter was probably the last person on his mind.

"What are we going to do?" Stephanie asked, sounding incredibly frazzled.

"About the possible monetary fall-out, or about Adam?" Hunter asked, sensing that he already knew the answer.

"The money, of course! Think about how much money he could squeeze out of us, going into a courtroom and preaching some sort of crap about how we knew it would happen and didn't do anything because we never thought he was much of a star anyhow! He'll be a fucking millionaire!"

Hunter growled, the sound low and gutteral in the back of his throat. "Get out of my office."

"Excuse me?" Stephanie had the gumption to actually look affronted.

"I said get the fuck out of my office." Hunter repeated firmly, rising out of his chair and pointing toward the door. "I didn't think that you were hard of hearing."

Stephanie stormed out of Hunter's office, slamming the door closed behind her. Once she had left his sight, Hunter crumpled. Adam had been hit by a car, and even if he hadn't been there, he felt as if he had been the driver. He felt personally responsible for what had happened to Adam, feeling like, if he'd held Adam back, if he hadn't let him walk out that door... Adam wouldn't be in that hospital room. Feeling another wave of remorse wash over him, he reached out for the telephone. His hand hovered above the phone for several seconds, before he picked it up and held it with his shoulder.

He knew that he needed to call someone... reach out and get help... because he knew it would be a lost cause, trying to get into contact with Adam. Not only had Adam been completely ignoring him ever since their confrontation in Hunter's office two weeks ago, but Hunter didn't know the number for the room that Adam was in, and he sincerely doubted his phone had any power left anyhow. His fingers hesitated over the numbers, ready to call anyone. And then, an idea came to him. Quickly, he dialed the number and let his hand fall down onto the desk, fingers drumming on his desk as he waited for the man on the other end to pick up.

"Hello?" A tired, groggy voice answered.

"Matt - just the person I was hoping to reach." Hunter said, pulling out a pad of sticky-notes and clicking his pen in a most efficient manner. "I was wondering if Adam had reached out to you as a possible babysitter for Erin after he was hurt."

Matt Cardona, better known as Zack Ryder, had been close to Adam ever since his days in the Rated-R Entourage. Ever since Erin's birth, he'd doubled as their babysitter (and had earned quite a handsome wage for it). "Yeah, he called me." Matt confirmed. "Said he was pretty badly off. I told him Erin could stay with us for a little while."

Us. That meant that that idiot, Brian Myers - better known as Curt Hawkins - would be there. Great. "He happen to mention what hospital he was at?"

"You mean he didn't tell you?" Matt seemed surprised. "Because I think that sort of information should come from him. I mean, if he didn't tell you, there has to be a reason why, right?" He took a deep breath. "Haven't you been in contact with him?"

"Let's not focus on that right now." Hunter was engraving patterns onto his desk with his pen. "Can you just tell me the name of the hospital? I can take it from there."

"I'm not sure..." Matt trailed off.

"Okay. Then, let's let this be the deciding factor. Either tell me what hospital he's in, or you're fired."

There was a pained moment of silence, where Hunter was seriously considering making good on his threat and firing the poor boy's scrawny ass. And then, coming out as more of a squeak than anything else, "Grace Mercy Suburban."

"You've been a great help." Matt was still talking when Hunter hung-up the phone.

Tearing off the sticky note and attaching it to his desk, he quickly turned his attention back to his laptop. Going to Google, he typed in the name of the hospital and hit 'search'. Immediately, all the information that he ever needed to know - plus a whole mess of stuff that he didn't even care about - flooded the screen. Scribbling down the number for the main desk, he turned off his laptop and turned back to the phone. Now, it was time for the moment of truth. Calling and finding out where Adam's room was, showing up at the hospital, and finding out if their marriage was actually salvageable after all.

He dialed the number, and shortly thereafter, a woman's chipper voice came over the line, "Hello, you've reached the front desk at Grace Mercy Suburban Hospital. My name is Mary-Kate, how can I help you today?" She seemed way too excited, considering what time it was.

"Hello, Mary-Kate. I'm just calling for some information on one of the patient's there, by the name of Adam Copeland-Helmsley." Hunter said, tapping his pen agitatedly.

"What would you like to know?" She asked sweetly, eager to help.

"Would you be able to tell me what room he's in, and what the telephone number for that room would be?" Hunter asked.

"He's in room K-239." He could hear her fingers rapidly flying over the computer keys. "And here is the phone number to reach that room." She read off a series of ten numbers.

"Thank you so much. You've been a great help." He hung up before she could say something further.

There was a brief pause as he stared at the sticky note before him, unsure about whether or not this was the best course of action. Maybe it would be better, healthier, for Adam if he just cut ties completely - if he didn't even try to salvage whatever it was that they had left. But the idea of letting Adam walk out with things so... unfinished between them... it didn't sit right with Hunter. The last two weeks had been like a living hell, attempting to endure without the pretty blond there to be the pillar of support and love that he had always been. Before this, he'd heard stories about Adam not taking care of himself properly, not eating or drinking right... In the end, he finally decided to go and see Adam. Because, in the end, he had to be sure.

He arrived with flowers. In his experience, it was always better to arrive ready to apologize and make up - as shown by the peace offering of the flowers - than to go in and perpetuate the argument by refusing to see reason. He couldn't bear to think of hurting Adam like that, especially after he had been so wounded by that car accident. After a minor mishap at the front desk over visiting hours, he was escorted to Adam's room. He awkwardly hovered outside of the door, suddenly feeling incredibly uncomfortable and unsure of himself. He could hear the dull drone of the television and Adam's soft bass as he talked on the telephone, so he knew his husband was awake.

Finally, gathering in a deep breath, he knocked on the door. Adam gave a long-suffering sigh as he ended the call, before inviting him inside. Convinced it was just another nurse or aide, come to give him his medicine or take away his tray of food, he didn't even grant Hunter a glance. That was, of course, until Hunter set the flowers down on Adam's bedside table and entered into the pretty blond's field of vision. There was a moment of tense, uncomfortable silence. After several painful seconds, Adam finally reached for the remote and turned off the television. And then, turning to Hunter, he immediately tore in with:

"Why the hell are you here?"

Hunter forced a small, somewhat awkward smile. He had known that this wouldn't be easy. "I'm here because I heard what happened, and I am so, so sorry. I feel personally responsible, because I should've taken better care of you. I should've made you stay. God, Adam, you could've died! Do you realize that?"

"Yeah, I do." He groaned a little as he shifted on the bed. "Almost wish that I had. The pain is practically unbearable." Gingerly, he ran his uncovered fingers over his bruised rib cage. "And if you care so much and feel so personally responsible, why didn't you come sooner? I've been in here for three days."

Hunter's heart sank further, and he was ashamed to admit, "I never got a call from the hospital. I had to find out from Stephanie, and she... never mind."

"You never answered my question." Adam said, cutting Hunter off when he was about to retort, "You can't just be here because I'm a little beat up. I know that much."

"I don't always have an ulterior motive, you know." Hunter tried to laugh a little bit, but it came out strained and so, so fake. "But your right, this time at least. I do have another reason for coming." He motioned to the flowers. "To apologize for being a dictator... and a dick."

Adam was hardly moved. "Words mean nothing, especially after all that you've done in the name of business."

Hunter swallowed hard, but nodded nonetheless. "I know that this is hard to believe, but I really do love you, Adam. And I care about what is best for you." He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, trying to look anywhere but at Adam's face. "That's why I gave Jay a month off, with pay. So that he could heal, and take care of Heath."

Adam blinked slowly, eyes widening as Hunter's words sunk in. "Really?"

"Yeah." The bulkier star nodded. "I also called Trish. She'll be staying with you while you recuperate from the crash, and help out with Erin."

"And where will you be?" Adam asked.

"I'll be staying at our beach house... where I can't hurt you anymore."

On the drive to the hospital, Hunter had come to the conclusion that it would be best if they separated - at least, for a little while. If Adam was still interested in divorce at that point, then so be it. Hunter refused to be the one to stand between Adam and what Adam wanted. But he also wouldn't stick around and be the cause of his husband's pain, either. Adam was so beautiful, so radiant... he just made everyone around him a little bit happier. He deserved to be with someone who made him happy, and if Hunter couldn't be that person, he wouldn't force Adam to stay with him. That just wouldn't be fair. And just like that, he was broken from his reverie by a slight sniffle.

"Adam?" Hunter looked down, surprised to find his husband with tears streaking down his pretty face.

"You think that just leaving me alone won't hurt me?" Adam choked back a sob, rubbing frantically at his eyes. "It'll hurt me more than all those inconsiderate things you said about me, my career, my best friend... If you walk out on me right now, don't think that you could ever come back - for me, or for Erin."

Hunter was shocked to find tears streaming down his own face, nearly identical to those on Adam's cheeks. "You... don't want me to leave?"

Adam shook his head. "I never did." Another sniffle, followed by, "I-I only... I only acted the way that I did because... I was scared and hurt and upset. You made me look like I was meaningless out there... and I felt like maybe I was meaningless to you too. I thought maybe you wouldn't care if I left... then, you didn't show at the hospital..."

Not wasting anymore time, Hunter closed the distance between them, drawing Adam in to a gentle, but firm, hug. "I'm so sorry, baby. I never wanted this to happen."

"S-So you're no-not going to leave me?" Adam forced out in-between sobs, his tears soaking into Hunter's dress shirt.

"Not as long as you'll have me." Hunter patted Adam's hair softly, gently rocking him back and forth - but not so much so as to disturb the delicate array of wires stationed all around. "In fact, I have something that I think you might want..."

Pulling away from his husband for only a moment, Hunter reached into the little bundle of items that he had brought along with him and pulled out Adam's wedding ring - the same one that Adam had thrown at him in his office two weeks earlier. Adam's eyes lit up at the mere sight of it, the stone shimmering in the dull fluorescent light of the hospital room. Offering Hunter his hand, the larger man slid the ring back onto it's proper place, before gently kissing the back of Adam's hand. Adam fell back into his arms easily, resting his head on Hunter's broad chest and allowing his eyes to fall closed. Life was good... and much better than it had been two weeks ago.

"I love you." Adam muttered, yawning as exhaustion came over him. Going through such a dynamic range of emotions so quickly was hell on the nerves.

"I love you too." Hunter gently assured, before carefully leading Adam back onto the bed and tucking him in. "Now, go to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake-up in the morning."

Two Days Later

"Daddy! Daddy!" Hunter's excited five-year-old bounded over to him, ecstatic to see him for the first time in over two and a half weeks. "Guess what? Uncle Brian taught me how to pop a wheelie!" And she was sporting the proper array of Band-Aids to prove it.

Hunter mentally rolled his eyes, but offered the little girl a big smile anyhow. "That's great, sweetie. Now, say goodbye to Uncle Matt and Uncle Brian."

Erin waved, screaming "Bye-Bye!" at the top of her lungs.

Hunter carried Erin back over to the car, where he loaded her into her car seat. He packed her bicycle, as well as the rest of her belongings, into the trunk. Walking around to the driver's side, he opened the door to hear Adam and Erin in the middle of a rather heated debate - it sounded as if they were discussing the dreaded RAW from several weeks earlier. Trying to ignore it and stay out of the conversation as much as possible, he started the car and slowly turned out of the parking lot, pulling out onto the street. Ignorance was bliss until about fifteen seconds later, when Erin turned to him and asked -

"Daddy, if Mommy isn't a real man, why doesn't he have boobies like Aunt Stephanie?"

There was a moment of awkward silence, before Adam bust out laughing. Hunter simply rolled his eyes. The road to recovery might be long, but it was what was best for business - the family business.

A/N: Based off of RAW 9-9-13. Also, written for JoMoFan-spot, with whom I brainstormed the basic idea for this story. Without her brilliance, this story would not be possible. Thank you.