"I'm headed out," Bobby told Austin. "There's this giant toy store in town and I want to see if they have anything my kids might like. Feel like coming with me?"

Austin looked at his watch. "Might as well. Sure beats hanging around this wasteland. Have you seen the gyms around here?"

"No."

"Exactly."

"Get moving, Austin. I don't have all day."

"Raccoon crawl up your ass again?"

"Is that what you're calling yourself these days?"

"If I crawled up your ass, you wouldn't be walking around and mouthing off to me."

"As usual," Bobby said, swiping his car keys off the nightstand, "you are the poster child for wrong. Come on. We'll get lunch, too."

They walked out of the hotel into a cold sunny day. The sun was merciless, and Austin whipped on a pair of sunglasses before the exit door swung shut. Bobby pulled up his hood and was glad he'd left his sunglasses in the car instead of upstairs. They piled into the rental and Bobby took off. Austin fumbled around for Bobby's sunglasses and found them in the glove compartment, handing them to him without a word.

Austin stretched out. "Not bad. This is much better than the compact we had to get last time."

"Yep."

"Bad mood?"

"Not really."

"You'll be in one in a minute."

"Why?"

"I heard something about you and AJ."

Bobby's hands tightened on the steering wheel and his whole body quivered. "Yeah," he said, his voice gone sharp, "so what is it?"

"You sure you want to hear it?" Silence from Bobby. Austin sighed. "Alright, well, I'm not going to give my source away, but they're reliable, and I have a feeling it's true. So last night AJ was talking to Daniels about you." Austin cut his eyes over to see Bobby's reaction. Bobby seemed to be listening with every nerve and pore in his body. His whole body seemed glued together at the joints. Austin made a moue and kept talking. "Basically, he said when you are just being yourself you're a lot of fun, you're sweet, and all that, but lately every time he sees you you drop some kind of feelings bomb on him and he wishes you would lighten up. He said you were being ridiculous."

More silence from Bobby. His jaw unhinged and he chewed on his lower lip once, twice, three times. "Ridiculous," he finally said.

"Yeah. And you do act funny. I mean I wasn't around for every time you hang out with AJ but from what you've told me, you get up on the soapbox at him a lot. Maybe...uh...never mind."

"Say it," Bobby hissed.

Austin looked at Bobby. His eyes were unreadable behind his lenses. "Maybe that's why he picked James over you."

The silence that fell this time was painful. Bobby focused on driving and pressed his lips together until they were white and almost invisible. Austin turned back to the road, took his phone from his pocket, and played around with it. They drove in silence all the way to the toy warehouse, which was as huge as advertised and loomed over the surrounding area like a giant testing out his new shoes. Bobby parked and left the car at top speed, walking furiously. Austin caught up and tried to find something funny to say. "Hey Bobby - "

"SHUT. UP." Bobby yelled over his shoulder.

"No wonder AJ won't date you, you drama loving ass," muttered Austin under his breath. He trotted after Bobby, who was hampered a little by all the cars and people in the road, and caught up to him just outside the store. They walked in with a clot of people and traveled down to the action figures. Bobby was still walking at a hundred miles a minute. Austin could tell from the stiff way he was holding himself that he was hurt. He couldn't figure Bobby out sometimes. Here he was, cool and confident in every other area of his life, but when it came to AJ he acted like a 13 year old. Was it any surprise, he thought, that AJ had opted for someone with a little more sense? Maybe he could try to talk some sense into Bobby over lunch. After all, wasn't it a little silly to be carrying a torch for someone for 10 years?

Austin's train of thought was interrupted when he slammed into Bobby's back. It was like hitting the side of a passenger train. He stumbled back; a toy helicopter clipped him on the knee and he went reeling and spinning across the aisle clutching at himself until he bounced off a stack of Furbys. Slowly, he got himself under control and laughed, looking for Bobby and expecting him to be laughing at him, too, but Bobby hadn't turned around. Austin craned his neck and saw James and Kurt Angle in the aisle looking at the Skylanders figures. Neither had caught sight of Bobby yet. Bobby stood at the end of the aisle, and Austin bet he was deciding on whether to leave or go in and act like an asshole and the asshole part was winning. He jumped up and went to grab Bobby's arm but the same helicopter came swooping back, followed by a six year old giggling with delight and by the time Austin was level with Bobby he and James were already locked into a showdown. Kurt looked bewildered and looked at the three of them like they had extra heads.

"Guys," Kurt said, "what's going on?"

"Not a damn thing," said James. "Bobby and Austin were just leaving."

"We're not going anywhere," Bobby said.

"Actually, I think Bobby's looking for something in the next aisle, aren't you?" Austin said. Bobby raised his hand and punched Austin in the side, a little less playfully than he intended and a lot more painfully than he should have. Austin's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Then again, maybe this is what he was looking for," he said, rubbing his suddenly sore spot.

Bobby and James stepped towards each other. Kurt, now alarmed, stepped in front of James and pulled at his shoulder. "James," he said, "what the hell is going on? You're not seriously going to fight with all these kids around, are you?"

James blinked and reined himself in just a bit. A touch of contempt crept into the look on his face. He backed up one step and that might have been the end of it, until AJ and Daniels appeared at the other end of the lane. Bobby's eyes shot straight to AJ; his face fell apart in slow motion. James looked back over his shoulder and the same sadness rippled across his face. It was Bobby's turn to take a step back. James and Bobby looked at each other again and their shared sadness made the wall between them tremble. James tried on a weak smile and Bobby answered it with one of his own. A significant look passed between them and the waves of anger receded.

That might have been the end of it, until AJ said, "Hi, guys. Hi Bobby," and the warm emphasis in AJ's voice made James' body flare hot with the self-righteous jealousy of the rejected. He stepped in between AJ and Bobby quite deliberately and Bobby's face went back to his default smirk. Austin looked down and saw Bobby's fingers were clutched tightly, betraying his real inner mood. A cloud seemed to be growing over the aisle, and its darkness sharpened and deformed the angles of the former tag team partners' faces. James seemed to be swelling, and blood pressed against his cheeks. Bobby's cheekbones strained against his skin.

Kurt turned in anxious circles, torn between trying to stop an inevitable fight and trying to stay the hell out of it. Austin had already given up. He sat down on the floor and waited for it all to be over. AJ and Daniels were huddled together and Daniels was whispering in AJ's ear at roughly one mile per minute. AJ was nodding, but his eyes were wide and glued to the two men in the center.

James brought his hands up and motioned to Bobby. "Come on motherfucker," he panted, "I've been waiting for the chance to kick your ass."

Bobby said, "Too bad you're not going to get it."

"Let's see," James said, and charged. Bobby sidestepped him, but James spun on his heel and grabbed Bobby by the left arm. Bobby tried to get a hand up. James' fist came looping around and crunched into Bobby's nose. Blood spurted in a short jet and Bobby staggered back, holding his face. A few drops splattered to the floor. James looked down at them and his face wrinkled with satisfaction.

"There," he said. "That'll show you."

All conscious thought left Bobby's brain. He dropped his hands with lightning speed and his blood covered fist slammed into James' chest. James leaned back, grabbing at himself, and Bobby grabbed two great fistfuls of James' hair and whirled him hard into the steel stacks that held the toys. Boxes rocked and crashed down around them in a toy torrent as Bobby brutally pounded James' face again and again. After five or six hard blows James managed to lift a knee into Bobby's crotch and Bobby cried out, his head dropping forward to bounce off one of the stacks. He sank down in pain. James took a second to catch his breath and wipe the sweat from his swollen face before grabbing Bobby's shirt and throwing him through the barricade. Their fight has knocked most of the boxes willy nilly and Bobby flew through to the next aisle into a LEGO display of Hogwarts, sending little blocks raining out in a furious outburst. Bobby crawfished in agony as he tried to roll away from the hard plastic nubs. "Ah FUCK! Fucking hell!" he cursed, over and over again, and for three aisles parents covered their kids' ears and hurried them away as quick as they could. James came stomping through the barricade, ready for more, but a fleet of seasoned employees came thundering around the corner and swarmed over the two of them and the ruined castle. Three employees pulled James back with an effort. Kurt ducked through the denuded barricade and helped them out, standing between James and Bobby and whispering to James that it was over, it wasn't worth it, to let it go until next time. James' eyes never left Bobby, who was surrounded by his own phalanx of employees helping him up. Bobby's nose was still leaking and blood was dribbling onto his shirt.

AJ, Austin and Daniels came through the barricade. The ends of the aisle were now flooded with employees and rubberneckers, so they couldn't do anything else. Austin looked around and noticed a few people taking pictures with their phone and saying the wrestlers' names to each other, and he knew this was going to be all over the internet in a few hours. He sighed. He grabbed AJ and Daniels and said as much in their ears. The two of them looked at each other and AJ rubbed his mouth. After a few minutes they turned and left for the relative safety of the parking lot.

Bobby managed to stand and the blood from his nose had just about dried up. He shook a few LEGOs from his pants and a few hangers on from his arms and strode from the scene. Someone from the crowd called after him, "Hey Bobby, is Gryffindor Tower stuck up your butt?" and the crowd broke up with laughter. Bobby paid them no attention. Austin turned and trotted after him, reflecting that this day had surely gone from bad to worse. Right outside the door Bobby caught sight of AJ and Daniels, who were talking to each other in hushed, urgent tones. AJ looked at Bobby and seemed to be steeling himself for something, but Bobby only said, "Tell them it wasn't Gryffindor stuck up my ass, it was Ravenclaw," and kept walking, albeit gingerly. AJ stared after him, a smile breaking out on his face.

Inside, Kurt had gotten James calmed all the way down and had both arms locked around his waist to prevent him from running after Bobby again. The employees were working on crowd control and were trying to cordon off the aisle for cleanup. One guy looked mournfully at the shattered LEGO display. "Looks worse than when Voldemort showed up." Kurt gave the guy a look and went back to soothing James. James was still livid with anger and promising under his breath to get Bobby for good next time. Kurt was nodding and hoping that a beer or two would calm James down when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Excuse me," an employee said. "Can I get your autograph?"