Cole wakes up, feeling the gentle vibrating feeling on the bed and tapping his arm around the mattress; searching. His hand finally falls on Orton's leg: curled up underneath his frame, sitting there to one side, sobbing quietly. He sits himself up quicker, his eyes opening instantly and the tired groggy feeling slipping away as his duties as a husband kicked in.

Orton's tears drip down his face slowly; his body convulsing; shaking violently. Waking up next to nothing after dreaming about someone you once loved for so many years was difficult. He glances down, startled at Cole's touch before looking down at the smaller, older man. Cole attempts to smile at him, forcing it as he moves closer and wraps his arms around the tan, ripped body. The Viper wasn't the only one laying there with a broken heart.

Randy sighs with relief in knowing he truly wasn't waking up to nothing - he had Michael. He always would. Cole loved him; he was his husband, as faithful and as obnoxiously proud as one could be - throwing it in everyone's face and purposely mixing himself into shit for Orton to fix.

Randy stares at the phone he tossed a few feet down the California king mattress. Cody Rhodes was destroying him; he couldn't get over himself enough to apologize to DiBiase, dumping him flat out. Orton had so many plans for revenge; seeing red every time he walked backstage and his eyes settled on Damien Sandow. If it hadn't been for "The Savior" than Cody wouldn't have taken off. The voices demand he kill Sandow; but things had not been that easy. He could loose Rhodes forever had he done it.

The young Rhodes had certainly gone out of his way to make things uneasy: he was suddenly flip flopping on his relationship with Sandow almost a year later. Cody Rhodes had this vision of himself that he wanted to live up to, to prove to himself that he could be everything he dreamed. Where Ted Jr. proved to be nothing like his extravagant father, Cody proved to be nothing like his father, the common man.

Cody wanted to be special, luxurious, to be that one trophy everyone needed, wanted; he did everything he could to feel it, from selling himself to managing to put this unbreakable addiction to his very being in the young DiBiase's heart. Sandow provided the ornate lifestyle Cody desperately sought and felt he was entitled to. Where Ted was dying to be the normal, average person, Sandow was nothing like it. Damien was symbolic of everything Cody wanted.

Cody was in over his head trying to be the person he thought he was. He knew he didn't belong in that life and it was the worst feeling in the world when reality hit. Cody was floundering in his relationship, running to Orton to fix his need for the normality he was truly accustomed to. Orton was still in love, and Cody used it to every advantage each time he came around.

"Can I see you tonight?" It started as one time."Are you busy after the show?" Then it became cheating.

"Do you miss me?" Cody was ripping his two ex's apart.

Every text was killing Orton and DiBiase… and Cole was left in the aftermath.

DiBiase was like a drone on autopilot without Rhodes; incomplete, unalive - a zombie; a slave under the influence of the alcohol he was now living for. It seemed like all Orton did was lie around, waiting for the inevitable series of texts and phone calls; trying to console a crying Cody, trying to keep himself sane in the name of helping Ted through this.

Since The Viper began dating Rhodes and DiBiase so many years ago they had become a package deal for securing Randy Orton's love and affection. He brought them into every relationship: his marriage to Batista, and now to Michael Cole. It was more than simple to get a man to go along with accepting Ted, Randy and Cody as one - no idiot would say "no" to having the entire Legacy in their bed. Convincing the two that giving the commentator a chance was the hard part and Cole worked hard for the opportunity to prove himself worthy of their protector.

The two Priceless boys cared for their Legacy mentor almost as much as they cared for one another; years after high school, OVW, and everything they had been through, they were still together. Cole truly felt a sense of entitlement to having all three. Now he was picking up the mess around DiBiase and Orton.

The phone buzzes and tattooed arms reach out to eager swipe it back up, grey eyes scanning every word. He tenses, his eyes shut and his body motionless before lashing out; pushed over the edge he goes to throw his phone at the wall, Cole jumping to grab it out of his hand and coax him into calming down a bit. He shuts the device off and tosses it onto the dresser, sighing heavily. It falls onto the ground anyway. Randy gets off the bed, but Michael chooses not to pursue him; sometimes you had to just let things go. He was still learning.

Backstage was the worst.

Cole arrived back at Orton's private locker room; Ted curled up on the couch, sick from his constant drinking and shaking in The Viper's arms as he held onto the trash can. The room had the lingering smell of smoke; it helped to empty their minds. Michael sets his folders and scripts for the night down on the table and sits beside them, making the most of their heartbreak and trying to help console DiBiase. He'd rather drive their rental car over Cody than see him hanging all over Sandow both backstage and in the ring - it had become literally sickening. Tonight the rumor at the announce table had been that the "Rhodes Scholars" pair had gotten into a fight about something backstage; their chemistry was off in the ring as well, and Cole knew he should have seen it coming.

The knock at the locker room door. Cole stands up first and one dark glare of his bright blue eyes is enough to keep Randy sitting. He hates to admit to it, but sometimes the discipline Batista had beaten into the young Orton was beneficial.

Cole opens the door slowly, stepping out quickly and slamming it shut. Nothing physical crosses his mind: his short stature, overweight body, middle age or apparent weak nature. He gets right into Cody's face, poking him in the chest and backing him away from the locker room. Michael Cole was furious and Cody should have known better. Randy was no one's leftovers, and certainly no one's whore the way Cody was.

Cole never held his breath.

Cole never backed down to anyone - unless it had been wrapped up in a backhanded tactic.

Cole always said exactly what was on his mind.

Rhodes stumbles back into the opposite wall and Cole has long since decided he likes when people look at him with fear in their eyes. It drives him over the edge.

Michael grabs onto the collars of Rhodes' black and white jacket, throwing him into the wall and not caring if he had to stand on his toes to get some added height. Cole was sick and tired of everything this useless whore was doing; and even if he still loved the young man, he cared far more for Randy. Cole yells and screams and gets an added high from the tears streaming down those sharp cheekbones. It was about time he felt the way the two men in the locker room behind him had.