After what had happened at the gym, John hadn't allowed Randy out of his sight for the rest of the week. So, on the following Monday—when John received a called from Barrett, asking him to come in to RAW early—Randy straight up told John that he wouldn't go with him. He said he needed a break, needed some alone time since John had been smothering him all week, and in the end, John had to give in. He was quickly finding that, as they grew closer and closer, it was growing more and more difficult to say no to Randy. And, to make matters even worse, Randy was beginning to figure that out—all he had to do was give John those wide, pale eyes…and Randy could convince John to go rob a bank if he wanted to. The whole week they hadn't really done much other then sit around the room, watching movies and getting into silly arguments about everything imaginable. It'd been nice to just relax, but by Saturday he could tell Randy was getting claustrophobic. That was another reason he agreed to let Randy have a little time to himself when he left for RAW early; Randy was, in many ways, like a brooding predator: he didn't like to be caged in. John had been adamant about keeping an eye on Randy, and at first he could tell that Randy was loving all the attention…then he got bored. But John wouldn't budge at first; he was so sure that Barrett was going to strike again, he wasn't willing to risk letting Orton get cornered again.

And so now John found himself walking backstage of the arena, passing by mere stagehands. He had yet to see any of his fellow Superstars or Divas; then again, he was quite a bit early, even by their standards. Why Barrett wanted him to show up so early just to have a 'talk', Cena didn't know. But Wade had said that he wanted to speak one on one, so John could guess that it probably had something to do with Randy… Well, whatever it was, John was going to let Barrett know that he knew all about his attempt to assault Randy…and that he wasn't going to stand for it. All week he had been itching to hunt Barrett down, to put that bastard in his place, but Randy had asked—and eventually, begged—him to just let it be. Again, John had been unable to deny the Legend Killer, and—for the time being—he agreed not to find Barrett and beat his face into the ground. Now that Cena was about to have some one on one time with the leader of the Nexus, however, he wasn't so sure he could keep his word to Randy. Why the younger man had asked him to stay away from Barrett, he had no idea…he would've thought Randy would've wanted some revenge. When John had questioned him about it, Randy had mumbled something about not wanting to cause waves, but Cena didn't believe that for a second. He was sure it had more to do with the fact that Randy didn't want Barrett thinking Cena had to fight his battles for him…but he kept his opinion to himself.

John walked down the hallway in silence, his gym bag full of his wrestling gear clutched in his left hand. He passed a few maintenance guys, giving them a small nod of recognition, and then he finally approached the Nexus locker room. Sighing deeply, John halted in front of the door, his heart pounding in his chest. Gritting his teeth, he reached out, his hand gripping on the door handle, slowly pushing the door open and stepping in. It was a simple locker room with a green theme to it. Like most of the other locker rooms, it had showers, benches, and tall metal lockers for the wrestlers to put their gear in. Striding into the room, John's blue eyes gazed around, narrowed in suspicion, his whole body tense and ready for action. Barely a half a second after walking into the room, John scowled deeply, his eyes settling on the sole person sitting on the bench in the middle of the room.

Barrett.

The English man was wearing a black tee and jeans, looking up at John with dark eyes. He wore an arrogant, sickening grin, staring up at John with a mixture of cockiness and excitement. John's grip on his gym bag tightened as he locked eyes with the man who had attacked his boyfriend—wait, Randy wasn't really his boyfriend, was he? Well…whatever, Wade had attacked the man who John wanted to be his boyfriend, and that was almost the same thing. Either way, John had to take a deep breath to stop himself from leaping across the room and wrapping his fingers around Barrett's neck and squeezing as hard as he could. Wade was sneering at John, his eyes scanning him up and down, like he was trying to size up a rival. The thought of Wade seeing him as a rival for Randy's affection only made John even angrier; dropping his bag to the ground, John crossed his bulging arms over his chest. Barrett seemed to take that as a threat, for he stood up, his hands clenching into fists at his side, eyes darkening considerably. He took a few steps forward, stopping when he was about four or five feet away from Cena, glaring down at the shorter man with hatred.

"Cena." Barrett growled, his voice low and gravelly.

"Just hurry up and tell me what the fuck you want with me." John hissed, taking a threatening step forward.

"In due time, Cena…in due time." Wade's lips curled into an evil, toothy smile, "First…how is Randy doing?"

"You sick fuck!" John snarled, charging forward, grabbing a fistful of the front of Barrett's shirt, "You're lucky he asked me not to touch you, or I'd fucking beat the shit out of you right now—"

"It would be in your best interest to release me, Cena." Wade snapped, remaining still in John's grasp, "Do I need to remind you that I can fire you at any moment?"

"If you fire me," Cena spat, leaning in, growling right in Barrett's face, "Then you'll be fucked for Survivor Series, because you know if I'm not the ref then you have no chance of winning that match!"

"Oh, I don't know about that, Cena." Wade smirked, his voice taking a taunting tone, "I didn't have much trouble pinning him down last week, did I?"

"Fucking bastard!" John roared, shoving his hands against Barrett's chest, sending the taller man stumbling backwards. Barrett hit his back on the wall with a loud thump, laughing loudly despite the shooting pain along his spine, looking at Cena with an almost psychotic grin.

"Does that bother you, Cena?" Wade chuckled, a dark, hollow sound, "Does it bother you to know that I put my hands all over your precious little Viper? Or maybe it bothers you that he liked it—"

"Liked it? Liked it?" John howled in rage, his hands curling into furious fists, "You're fucking crazy if you think that—even for a second—Randy liked it! He fucking hates you!"

"You know John, I'm surprised you're behaving this way considering…well, considering everything." Barrett shrugged lightly, his eyes flashing knowingly.

"What are you talking about?" Cena huffed, placing his hands on his hips, irritation flowing through his veins.

"You mean he didn't tell you?" Barrett chuckled at that, taking a step towards Cena, his shoes sliding across the pale tile floor, "Well, I'm surprised…Randy isn't quite as selfish as I thought…"

"If you've got something to say just fucking say it." John spat, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. He didn't know what he would do if he had to stay in there much longer…god knows, he didn't want to get fired because he lost his cool and beat the shit out of the leader of the Nexus.

"Randy didn't tell you why I decided to play around with him at the gym?" Wade raised his eyebrows, giving John a surprised, mocking look.

John went quiet at that, raising his jaw in suspicion, clenching his teeth so hard it hurt.

"The only reason I even attacked Randy at the gym," Wade's smile dropped into a frightening, crooked smile, "Was because you decided to defy me at Bragging Rights."

Randy sat on a bench in his locker room, elbows planted on his thighs, his chin resting on one of his closed fists. John had left early to come to RAW—both because Barrett had demanded him to and because he was scheduled to have one of the first matches of the night. After he left, Randy had taken a boiling hot shower, wasting almost half an hour in the water. After getting out he'd looked at his phone, panicking as he saw the time. Dressing in record speed, he hailed a cab and quickly made his way to the arena. He bumped into Morrison backstage, wasting a few minutes to allow the Shaman of Sexy to baby him, examining him up and down to make sure that Barrett hadn't left any lasting damage. After Morrison, Randy had bumped into Ted—to his surprise, they managed to have a civil conversation. Ted gleefully informed him that he was back to seeing Cody (they had separated, and Ted had rebounded with Maryse, a disaster if there ever was one), and Randy managed to swallow back any snide or sarcastic comments he would've normally made. He forced himself to smile and congratulate him, and in the end he was glad that he did that, for Ted left by slapping him on the shoulder and saying that the three of them should get together sometime. It had been so long since he'd spent time with Ted and Cody—two boys that he used to be very close to—and the thought of rekindling their friendship had actually made Randy smile.

Now he was waiting in his locker room for John. The older man had told him that—as soon as he was done with Barrett—he'd rejoin him. Randy knew he should change into his gear, but for some reason he hesitated, deciding to instead sit down on the wooden bench and just take a deep breath. The week had been dull…well, that wasn't entirely true. He loved spending everyday with John; Cena was one of the few people he could spend a long time with and not get bored. He only wished John hadn't insisted on staying confined to the hotel room…they were in New York City, there would've been plenty to do. Damn Wade Barrett…just thinking about him made Randy want to rip the hair out of his scalp. He wasn't scheduled for a match tonight, but Randy was hoping that someone from the Nexus would try to pull something on him. He had some anger issues he needed to deal with, and he could think of no better way to do that then to beat the shit out of some Nexus punk in the ring. He doubted Barrett would challenge him; most likely Wade wouldn't want to risk exerting himself too much before Survivor Series. Now there was something else he didn't want to think about: Survivor Series. Sitting on the wood bench, wearing jeans and a silvery gray shirt, Randy sighed deeply as he thought about the upcoming pay-per-view He and John still hadn't discussed what they were going to do about that…it was a topic they had skirted all week long.

Suddenly the door to Randy's locker room opened, and in stepped Cena, changed into his purple and yellow ring gear. The Champ was wearing a small, sad frown, his mouth tight around the corners, his ocean colored eyes darkened like stormy waters. He walked in silently, dropping his gym bag onto the tile floor, frown deepening as he met Randy's icy stare. They remained silent for a few moments, John's darker eyes staring deep into Randy's much paler gaze. Randy's lips soon curled into a concerned frown as he sensed that something was very, very wrong. John was looking at him with such sadness Randy couldn't help but begin to panic, wondering what on earth Wade could've told Cena to make him so upset. His thoughts churning in his brain, Randy quickly tried to come up with something that would bother Cena so much…but he couldn't think of anything…

"What's wrong?" Randy asked quietly, wide eyes looking up at John, a small amount of fear in them.

Cena remained silent, eyes glaring at Randy. He almost looked…angry, Randy realized.

"John, what's wrong?" Randy repeated, his voice turning sharp.

"Why didn't you tell me that Wade attacked you because of me? Because of what I did?" Cena's voice was quiet, though it held barely controlled rage.

"I…I didn't think that mattered." Randy replied, standing up, shrugging his tattooed arms.

"Didn't matter? Didn't matter?" John hissed, his voice growing louder with every word, "Randy, the only fucking reason he attacked you was because of me! Because I didn't listen to him! You think that doesn't matter? What happened at the gym…it might've never fucking happened if I had just listened to him—"

"Johnny," Randy's voice took on a pleading tone, "You can't listen to him. You know he would've used any excuse to hurt me, deep down it probably really didn't have anything to do with you."

John scowled, knowing that Randy was calling him Johnny because he knew that always made John go soft.

"Wade ordered me to attack you tonight." John snapped, "And he said…he said if I didn't do it, he would."

"What…what did you tell him?" Randy asked, tilting his head to the side, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"What the hell do you think, Randy?" John sighed, clenching his eyes shut as he bowed his head, "I told him…I told him I could never hurt you…"

John reached out, his fingers grabbing onto the front of Randy's black shirt. Fingertips tugging on the black fabric, he pulled Randy against him, wrapping his thick arms around Randy's leaner frame. He was still squeezing his eyes shut as he held Orton tightly against him, their torsos pressed against each other—even when they were both wearing cotton shirts, he could feel Randy's tight stomach muscles pressed up against him. Tilting his head to the side, John pressed his lips against Randy's in a searing kiss, and then he pulled away, his eyes meeting Randy's questioning stare.

"I…I'm not done talking about this, but I have a match." John muttered, "I've got to go. Promise me you'll stay here, in your locker room?"

"Yeah, sure." Randy nodded, turning and heading back towards the bench.

"I mean it Randy." John growled, placing his hands on his hips, "Please, promise me you'll stay here."

"Yeah, I promise." Orton sighed, tilting his head down so that he was staring at the tile floor.

"Alright. I'm going to try to make it quick…I don't want to leave you alone for too long…" John turned heading towards the door, an angry scowl on his face. His meaty hand gripping the handle, he yanked it open and quickly disappeared.

Randy collapsed back onto the bench, burying his face into his hands. He had purposefully kept that little piece of information away from John…he knew as soon as John found out that Barrett supposedly attacked Randy because of Bragging Rights that John would begin to blame himself for everything. That was the problem with John: he had this hero complex, and Randy knew that the knowledge that he might've caused Randy pain was probably killing him from the inside out. But Randy really did believe what he told John: Barrett would've used any excuse to attack him, the only reason he was blaming it on John was because he knew how much it would hurt John to think that all of it was his fault. Sighing deeply, Randy closed his eyes, taking a few slow breaths. He really hoped John didn't think he would need to start obeying Wade…because that was downright ridiculous. Randy would rather take ten punches to the face then watch Cena bow down to that asshole…but there was no way in hell John would allow that to happen. Slowly opening his eyes, Randy stared at the tile floor, wondering how John's match was going. He was supposed to face Otunga, and Randy was sure John could beat that goon with his eyes closed…but, since he was from the Nexus, it was pretty likely one of Barrett's bitches would run out and try to interfere.

Maybe he should call Hunter…Randy thought, chewing on his bottom lip nervously. Maybe it would be for the best if he just swallowed his pride and asked his mentor for help… If there was one thing he knew about Hunter, it was that he was notorious for being extremely protective of those he cared about—Randy had seen that first hand when Hunter attacked him and forced him out of Evolution. Back then, Hunter had been willing to sever his connection with Randy just to put some distance between him and Dave…and Randy had hated him for it. He hated that Hunter thought he could interfere with his life like that, hated that Hunter was willing to give up their relationship just to protect him…but most of all, he hated that Hunter had been right. He warned Randy, demanded that he break it off with Dave, told him that Batista was no good for him, and of course Orton ignored him. Then, a few months later, Dave slapped him across the face after accusing him of sleeping around. Randy had been stupid enough to take that, but after a few weeks the slaps turned to punches, and then the punches turned to all-out beatings. Adam had been the one to help him get out of that vicious relationship, and not long after that they began seeing each other… He'd always hoped to rekindle his relationship with Hunter, but it had never really happened. He had no idea if Hunter would come to his aid, should he ask him to… But this thing with the Nexus was getting worse, both for him and John…maybe it was time to get Hunter involved…and who knew? Maybe this could be his opportunity to fix things with The Game.

Really, Randy thought, his eyes tracing the lines of the tile, he did miss what he used to have with Hunter—

There was a knocking on his door, a loud booming sound of a fist knocking on wood.

Raising himself up with a grumble, Randy strode over to the door, figuring that Cena had forgotten something…or maybe Otunga had pussed out of their match… Placing his hand on the handle, Randy opened the door in silence.

He was immediately struck in the face, sending him flying backwards, landing on his side. Crying out in pain, he rolled onto his back, his hand clutching up at his cheek. He could already feel the flesh swelling beneath his fingertips…fuck, he was going to have a black eye like a mother fucker… Sitting up, Randy's eyes traveled upwards, his heart pounding in his chest as he looked to discover who it was that hit him in the face.

Barrett. And he wasn't alone…

The leader of the Nexus walked in, a sadistic smirk on his face. At his side was Justin Gabriel, the younger man wearing a cocky grin, his hands on his hips as he glared down at Randy. Wade walked in, Justin close behind him. Reaching out, Barrett placed a hand on the door, slamming it shut. Fear began to pulse through Randy's body as he narrowed his eyes, staring upward at the two men standing above him. They drew closer, taking slow, careful steps, and then they stopped, Wade taking the left side of Randy and Justin taking the right. They were staring down at him like two dogs would stare at an injured cat, surrounding them like predators surrounding their prey…

"Mmm…hello, Randy." Barrett purred, "Miss me?"