Series - WWE

Rating - PG 14

Warnings - None.

Disclaimer - I own nothing and no one.

Summary - Eric stumbles upon RVD backstage and pauses to reflect on his life.

Author's Notes - With RVD making a comeback at the Money In The Bank PPV, I wanted to write a story with him in it. Not a slash story but could be read as such if you look too far into things.

Word Count -

It had been a long day and he was just glad to be going home. The whole day had been one disaster after the other and all he really wanted to do was to go back to his hotel and curl up for the night and pretend that today had never even happened. It was a feeling he had been experiencing more and more of as of late and the pressure was beginning to take its toll on him, whether he wanted to admit that fact to himself or not, he could no longer escape the fact that he was not a spring chicken by anyone's standards anymore, including his own.

Making his way down yet another corridor lit in the same dismal grey color that perfectly coincided with his overcast mood, he passed the doors of the various locker rooms in the back of the same generic arena he must have inhabited a thousand times before without a second thought. That is until he passed by the open dressing room door of one Rob Van Dam.

"Yo! Rob, we gotta go, they're closing up the arena, man." Eric said, pressing a palm against the door, wedging it further open as he let himself in. Rob was resting peacefully upon a padded trainer's table, clearly zenned out. After a moments pause, Eric moved closer beside the table and could see that Rob was completely asleep and had not heard a single word he had said.

With a short, disbelieving puff of breath through nose, followed in short order by a tiny smirk and a brief raise of his eyebrows, Eric simply stood there and watched the other man as he lay there. He was quiet and still, except for his breathing and the steady rise and fall of his chest. It reminded Eric of how he used to be before he had gotten himself into the mess he was in now, back in happier times.

Rob Van Dam had his life all cut out for him. His martial arts lifestyle was something to be envied. It was the kind of life that Eric enjoyed when he found precious time off away from everyone and everything else. Karate, Taekwondo and even the occasional meditation session all served to help him achieve badly needed balance in his hectic life, but those were things he found less and less time for these days.

A few of the guys in the back had come up to him over the years, on occasion, to inquire about his martial arts background, but he never found much in common with any of them, except for Rob. He had understood what it was really all about, the chase for that elusive inner peace that remained ever fleeting, always just beyond reach.

There had been times on the road, when he would pull over to the side in one part of the world or another and just get out of his car and stare off into the distance of some unknown mountain side. While that had nothing to do with the martial arts, it certainly helped him to center himself. On one such occasion, Rob just so happened to have been following along behind, unbeknownst to him, and had pull over along side him. At first, he thought Rob probably believed he was having car trouble, but as he approached, Rob didn't say a word, he only stood along side him, back leaned up against yet another nameless rental car as he joined him in looking at the scenery. For a time, they stayed like that, a comfortable silence, just them and their view off the edge of the world and it was nice. After awhile, they both got back into their cars and got back onto the road. Both cruising along the same stretch of road, yet on totally different paths in life.

Every once in a while, Eric wished that their paths would join up again, just so he could enjoy the same peace that Rob seemed to enjoy year round.

It didn't seem like he was going to find his way back anytime soon, as he heard himself being called out to from somewhere behind him.

"Is there a problem here?" Eric heard as he turned around to find Shawn Michaels leaning in the door frame, blocking his only route of escape. The heartbreak kid did not look happy, and why should he? Eric had spent the last few months making his life a living hell in one fashion or another. As he watched Shawn cross his arms and give him that Texan glare he did so well, he knew that he better think of something to explain his presence in Van Dam's locker room, and quick.

"I was just leaving." Eric began, not really sure of what to say, trying to brush past Shawn and make his way out to the parking lot before being stopped by a palm across his chest, making it clear that he wasn't going anywhere in short order.

"You," Eric listened, as Shawn gave him a tight smile and pointed an index finger at him. "are not going anywhere until you explain to me what you were doing here just now."

Feeling the palm on his chest clinch into a fist, bunching the front of his shirt into a bundle, Eric inhaled sharply, feeling the unvoiced threat down to his toes with certain clarity. "I was trying to wake Rob up, I was walking past and I saw he was asleep. The arena is closing so..." Eric's voice trailed off as he saw Shawn shake his head at him, his shoulder length trimmed hair flairing beneath his black beret as he did so.

"Don't lie to me Eric, I've been standing here awhile and you didn't so much as move to shake him since I've been here. Now, I'm not going to ask you again, what were you doing here?" Eric looked on as Shawn shook him lightly where he stood, the situation escalating quickly out of control.

"It's cool, HBK." Came Rob's voice as the man yawned and stretched his limbs out in a rather cat like fashion as he hopped off the bench. "He was trying to wake me up but I wasn't sleeping, I was just meditating is all."

"Is that so?" Shawn said as he released his hold on Eric's shirt, his eyes darting between RVD and Eric, suspiciously.

"Yeah, it's like I told you." Eric said, looking back over at Rob as he was grabbing his gym bag. He waited nervously, for a moment, not sure if he should try to leave yet and not really wanting to provoke Shawn further. Then, with a nod of his head, Shawn signaled that he could go and with that, Eric headed out of the arena just as fast as his feet could carry him.

Not bothering to look back over his shoulder, Eric reached his car. If he was lucky, maybe he could find himself a new, yet familiar stretch of road to look out upon before the night was over.