Pacing his office, Erik was not looking forward to that night's show... why?, you might ask. Because he was stuck at a Smackdown taping, having to watch his superstars make PG-fools of themselves to hype up Bragging rights.

"Do we really need to be here?" He asked Alexx. "I mean, they won't even let you referee a match."

Alexx shrugged "Just stare at the hot bods and go with the flow."

"Easy for you to say." Erik retorted, watching his crew come backstage. "I wish we had Kofi instead of Santino on our team... hey Morrison!"

"Yo, Erik, what's up!" John greeted his boss with a handshake. "Other than the ratings?"

"If I have to cowtow to political correctness once more, the ratings may drop faster than... well, you know." Erik sighed

"Not much you can do about that." John ran his fingers through his hair.

"As people keep telling me!" Erik stated "I hear you're not happy about being on the same team as the Miz."

"I guess I was wrong." John sighed "Everyone HAS heard about our break-up."

"It's a small family." Erik replied "Teddy has given me ten minutes for a RAW-based segment and, other than the team, there isn't much talent available. Can you do a live version of "The Palace of Wisdom"?"

"Sure, I guess. But who do I... I get it." John smiled

"Good man." Erik also smiled

...

"Good evening, Edmonton!" John greeted the typically loud Canadian crowd. "I'm John Morrison and I know why the hockey hall of fame is in Toronto... so Leafs fans can be close to the cup!"

The fans laughed.

"Prepare to open your minds while I drop some knowledge onto your brains. As you all know, Bragging Rights is this Sunday and if you recall, last year I lost to the Miz. That was bad... I'm sure you're asking yourselves what could be worse than that. Well, other than Big Show with a case of foot fungus, not much..."

John waited for the second wave of laughter to die down before continuing.

"... except being on the same team as the Miz this year. I know you all read the dirt sheets and know that Miz and I were a couple. The key word being 'were'. But I am not here to waste air time airing my personal story for you all, even though that would be much more entertaining. I am here to give a warning. Alex Riley, would you please join me in the Palace."

Backstage, Alex and the Miz were having a difference of opinion about whether or not the "Associate" should go out.

"This is Smackdown, he's not going to do anything stupid Mike." Alex said

"I know John. He's got something planned." Miz protested

"Don't worry about it. If he gets fresh, this Varsity Villain will put him in his place in a heartbeat." Alex nodded before heading out to the ring.

"Ahh, Alex. So good of you to join me in the Palace of Wisdom." John welcomed him. "You may wonder why I called you out here."

"You said you wanted to give me a warning." Alex answered "So let's hear it."

"I am going to take you on a ride into the past. Back to 2006... back when we were all young and free..." John waxed philosophical "Back in a time when men were men, women were women, and Mike Mizanin was not one-fifth of the man he claims to be..."

"You're delusional!" Riley interrupted, "You're just jealous 'coz Mike dropped you."

"Now who's deluding themselves? I don't know what he told you but I was the one who left him." Morrison shouted "He was too busy trying to convince everyone that he really was a 'chick magnet' to see what was right in front of his face. I got so sick of his pretending and his awesomeness that I left and now that I see what I've been replaced with, I'm glad I got out when I did."

"Number one... Mike and I are not, nor have we ever been, a couple. He was my mentor and I was his rookie. That was it. Period. End of story." Riley shouted

"Is that what he told you to say before or after he starting groping you in the backseat of his rental car? When he was whispering that it was all right to give in... that he could give pleasure like no one else." Morrison was screaming at the top of his lungs. "That he was" John's voice suddenly cracked "awesome."

Riley had a witty comeback all ready, but the words vanished from his memory. John had repeated, verbatim, the first encounter between himself and the Miz.. "But Miz said he loves me." He repeated "He told me so."

"That's a lie." Morrison answered "Just like everything else about him. He'll promise you the world, but you'll end up in the gutter. Take my advice and leave him before he leaves you."

"Awesome..." The music of the Miz interrupted this scene.

"Great, just great." Mike applauded against his MITB briefcase. "Now if you two are done spreading lies to the WWE universe, let me set the record straight..."

"Nice choice of words, Miz." John laughed. Even Alex cracked a smile.

"Hah hah." Mike sneered "There was never an 'us', John. I carried you when we were tag team champions and it was you who tried to make something more out of it. It was you who wanted to take our friendship to a place I have never, nor will never, go."

Alex's expression altered drastically when Miz said those words.

"Mike... but you said if I became your apprentice then we'd..."

"What I said was if you did what I told you, then maybe there would be a place for you in my inner circle. What have you done... you lose NXT, you cost me the U.S. Title, you've embarrassed me in front of all my Miz-fits. Just how do you figure you're even worth my time?" Miz waved the briefcase in front of Alex. "This is what it's worth because any time I want, any place I want, I will become the World Champion because I'm the Miz and I'm" a long pause "Awe-some!"

"You may be the Miz, but you're an idiot!" Morrison rapped Mike on the head with the mic. The briefcase went one way, the attitude the other, and the Miz ended up on his stomach with Morrison punching the holy hell out of him.

"Alex, help me!" Miz screamed, trying desperately to cover up.

"Help yourself." Alex, to everyone's shock, left the ring. This got him a few cheers. He didn't even stop to watch the beating John was administering to his former tag-team partner. He didn't care. All he wanted to do was find a dark corner and forget the name Mike Mizanin.

...

"Why is everyone staring at us?" Alexx asked Erik.

Erik looked to his right and to his left. "I think some people were thinking that this interview segment was going in a different direction." He waved to the various producers, none of whom looked real happy. "What? Did I cross some other line?"

Erik rolled his eyes. "Y'know, the only reason I'm doing this talent exchange is because some of my guys are a little shy. As soon as my pay-per-view deal comes through, I will serious reconsider it. By the way guys, my ratings for last week were 9.2." Triumphantly, he left the backstage area and headed for his limo, his very attractive referee right at his heels.

...

Beating the Miz to within an inch of his life was not as satisfying as John would've hoped. He had gone out with a plan, but that wasn't it. He wanted Mike back, and was originally going to take Riley out of the picture, but things hadn't gone as planned. He walked into the smaller locker room alloted to the RAW wrestlers, thankfully empty at the moment, and started to pack. At least he thought it was empty.

"Stupid Miz and his stupid catch phrases." John stared at his swollen hands. "Betcha don't feel so awesome now..."

A loud bang from the shower area started John and made him realize that he wasn't as alone to gloat as he thought.

"Someone there?" He shouted, hoping that maybe it was just the pipes settling or something else. The Arena was rather old, after all.

Another loud sound from the same area told him that it wasn't a plumbing problem. There was someone or something else in the room. His curiosity kicking in, John went back to investigate and found Alex Riley punching holes in the wall.

"I like what you've done with the place, but shouldn't you get a plumbing contractor to do that?" John tried to make a joke, especially when he saw how distraught Alex looked.

"I loved him, Johnny." Alex dropped to his knees, bringing his also-swollen hands up to rub his eyes. They were wet, and probably not from the faucet. "And I thought he loved me."

"We both got screwed, Riley. You got stuck with one of the worst mentors and I got stuck with one of the worst rookies. Eli Cottonwood, come on. Every time he opened his mouth, I had to keep reminding him that we already had one Undertaker and that was enough. The man had the size, but that was it."

"So how about a little more wisdom, oh Great Guru. What do I do now?" Alex did look totally shattered

"You find someone who you can be with." John replied "And believe me, you don't have to look far."

It took Alex a few minutes to realize what Morrison was saying. "You mean... you?"

"I've been watching you since the day you arrived... hell, I begged and pleaded to get you as my rookie." John scratched the back of his neck. "Do you know how hard it was not to, pardon the expression, be jealous when I heard the Miz had somehow grabbed you. But he's out of both of our lives and, well, if you're interested, I'd like to see where this goes."

"I'd like that." Alex answered "But we may find we're totally incompatible..."

"...complete opposites..."

"...we like entirely different things..."

"...nothing in common..."

"...for sure..."

"My room or yours?" John asked

"I thought you'd never ask." Alex answered "Yours."

...

The five minute car ride seemed to take ten times that. Small talk was useless, and the pheromones were off the chart. Somehow, they managed to get into John's room before kissing each other like prisoners on a conjugal. John was surprised how quickly Alex became the dominant one. If he had been with the Miz, and by now John had no reason to believe that he hadn't, then Mike would've the one to instigate everything.

He felt his shirt being unbuttoned roughly and a little gasp coming out of Alex with each piece of revealed flesh, which surprised John. It was like he'd never been seen without his shirt on in his entire life.

"You see something you like?" John smiled, tracing along his abs. Alex swallowed nervously, nodding his head.

"Now it's your turn." John removed Alex's shirt and ran his fingers along his chest. "Not bad for someone who actually took the Miz's advice. It proves you have half a brain at least." He pulled Riley down for another deep kiss. With their bodies pressed against each other, each man was aware of how badly the other one wanted this.

"Okay, Varsity-boy, how do you want to do this?" John winked seductively. "I know how Miz was probably on top, but that doesn't seem to be your style."

"How'd you guess." Alex replied, then started patting his pockets. "I don't have any lube."

"And that's why God created mouths." John answered, tugging Riley's jeans and underwear to his ankles. One quick swipe across the tip was all it took for Morrison to fall in love with the taste of him. "Lie back and have fun."

Alex knew what was going to happen, but it still took him by surprise the speed with which Morrison was able to bring him to the edge.

"John, please, I can't take much more of this... oh fuck, man, I'm..." Like he was 14 again, Riley filled Morrison's mouth within seconds. John was a bit surprised by how fast he'd come, but that didn't stop him from draining every drop from it.

"Damn Alex... you must've needed that." John wiped his lips with the back of his hand.

"More than you know." Alex gasped, "Mike wasn't exactly that big on reciprocation."

"You're telling me. He's big on the fuck 'em and forget 'em." John replied "I hope you're not like that."

Alex looked down at the salami that was showing through John's jeans. "Fuck, no. If anything, I'm better..."

While John tried to figure out what that meant, Alex went to work on John's clothes, removing the rest of them and spreading his legs open so he could slid between them. The moment his dick was captured in the soft but slightly calloused hands of his younger lover, John knew exactly what he was referring to. The touch was unlike any other he'd felt in his entire life, including Melina, a few drunken fumbles with Joe Mercury, and especially Mizanin.

John opened his eyes just in time to see Alex engulf him in the same manner. The heat of his mouth and the softness of his tongue combined to overpower his senses right from the first suck. John fought to find his Zen place before he pulled a Riley and finished before it was just beginning. Who knew when, or if, this would repeat itself.

Alex had the same ideas. "Don't worry. You saw how fast I finished." A little muffled by the cock in his mouth, but John had no problems making out the meaning.

Alex could feel John's orgasm approaching with the increased breaths, the swelling in his dick, his balls tightening, but he was still a little surprised at how fast John did come. Even as John's cock continued to shoot, Alex was pulling away.

"Sorry." John looked down. "I guess we both needed that."

"Uh-huh." Alex answered sheepishly.

Neither man spoke for several tense moments afterward; both trying to process what had just happened. Neither considered themselves the kind of guy to jump into a relationship, much less a one-night stand like this.

"I'm going to grab a shower. I'll be right back." John stated

"Cool." Alex sprawled out on the bed. "I'll be waiting."

I hope you will.

While he was in the shower, John heard the sounds of Alex's phone ringing and by the few words he could hear over the roaring water, it wasn't someone Alex wanted to talk to.

"Better take care of this..." Even though he was still wet, John draped a towel around his waist and stepped into the main room just in time to hear: "...yeah? Well, I would rather be his whore than your boyfriend, Mike... goodbye!"

Alex turned around. "Oh shit!" He swore. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough." John replied "But hell, if you think being my whore is better than being Mizzy's boyfriend, then I'm all for it."

"You're not mad?"

"Nah. I just came out to find my shampoo." John smiled "You wanna clean up?"

"But you're not done..."

"Exactly." John laughed "I don't know what Miz was talkin' about. For a rookie, you do catch on quick."

Up next... Batista/? for firefoxsilver9... keep the suggestions coming!