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Thirty-six hours later

Phoenix, Arizona

Dolph Ziggler rolled his eyes for the hundredth time, wondering when the hell he was going to get out of this shithole. Ever since the attempt on his life a couple of weeks ago, he'd been hidden away in a bunker in an elusive Courthouse in Phoenix, where he would remain in custody until his process into the Witness Protection Program was completed. Unlike the lavish comfort of the hotel suite at the MGM Arena in Las Vegas, this place felt like a dumpster. There were no distractions for Dolph to indulge in. He was under watch twenty-four hours a day and he felt like a prisoner. Why the fuck was it taking weeks to move him into the Program anyway? Especially if they knew his life was in grave danger?

Outside, his door was manned by four FBI Agents, all of whom were lounging and reading newspapers. A fifth rounded the corner with two boxes of pepperoni pizza in his arms. "About fucking time, I'm starving," one of the agents said, throwing aside his newspaper and opening one of the boxes his colleague set down on the table.

The sound of an alarm suddenly rang all around the Courthouse, interrupting their meal. The Agents instantly dropped their pizza and jumped to their feet, hands reaching for the guns in their holsters. Suddenly, one dropped to the ground, unconscious, a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his neck. The other Agents raised their weapons to attack, but how did one aim at an unseen target? Left with this disadvantage, another fell. And another. And another. Within seconds all five men were down, out cold and not to stir for another three hours.

Dolph shot to his feet as he heard sounds of a scuffle outside his door. Suddenly it burst open and a Courthouse guard ran up to him, looking harassed. "Follow me Sir," the man said with a heavy Southern accent. "I've got orders to get you outta here."

Dolph's eyes narrowed. He'd never seen this man before. Actually he had, but not in the Courthouse. "D'you think I'm a fucking idiot?"

The guard rolled his brown eyes, his accent transforming instantly. "Why do they always want to do it the hard way?"

As he spoke, the guard whipped out his gun, the butt of the weapon cracking over Dolph's head and knocking him out where he stood. "Fucking arrogant piece of shit," the guard murmured, dragging the prone body of Ziggler through a vent grill in the corner, but not before pitching a grenade back into the room. A gift for the Feds, if you will.

Several FBI Agents had arrived at the scene, and they took their command positions outside Dolph Ziggler's bedroom. The Team Leader raised his hand in a signal to lead the charge into the room. They threw open the door, rushing in when they saw a small object roll towards them. They felt the impact of the explosion before they could decipher what it was. All of them fell to the floor, stunned and temporarily blinded by the percussive grenade, but alive. Barely.

Lily spoke into her earpiece, worried. "Blonde to Skunk, I heard an explosion. Where are you?"

"Why do I have to be called Skunk?"

"We don't have time for this! Where are you?"

A heavy sigh followed. "Fine. Skunk to Blonde. The cargo is in my possession," was Seth's reply, "We move now."

Lily quickly shut the titanium suitcase containing the laptop and communications kit and moved over to the driver's seat. Seth emerged through the rolling smoke, Ziggler slumped and unconscious over his shoulder. "Well, that was a mess," Lily smirked.

Seth rolled his eyes. "It worked, didn't it?" He dumped Ziggler in the back seat, sitting him upright so he would look like he was asleep. Seth jumped into the passenger seat. "Go."

She revved the engine and they drove off.

Dolph slowly opened his eyes and was met with yet another fist in his face. Seth and Lily had taken him into a small, obscure motel room to interrogate him. They had been in there for a while and so far, he wasn't saying a word, and it was pissing Seth off.

"Seth, what are you doing?" Lily watched as he laid into Dolph again, the man's platinum blond hair flying as his head snapped back.

"I'm working." Another punch.

"You're going to kill him."

"That was my left hand, sweetheart. Take a seat. We'll be done in a minute."

Lily sighed out loud. She knew she was bearing witness to another episode of the two tone-haired man at his most blood-thirsty, but now was not the time to be reckless. "Seth, stop."

He ignored her. He squatted in front of Dolph and roughly patted his cheek. "Hey! Ziggler, look at me."

Dolph didn't seem to have heard him. Instead he was staring at Lily, his battered gaze travelling up and down the length of her delectable body. Seth raised his eyebrow, incredulous. Is this shithead eyeballing my girl?! "Ziggler! I said look at me! Are you going to tell us why both our Bosses want you dead or not?"

Dolph finally turned his attention to Seth. His hands were tied tightly behind his back, as were his legs, and was at the mercy of two deadly assassins. But he remained as defiant as ever, almost as if despite the position he was in, he still had the upper hand. Spitting out the blood from his mouth to the side, he glared at Seth. "You kill me, you got nothing," he taunted.

"Oh, nothing would give me more pleasure than blowing your brains out." Seth stood back up and shook his head, losing patience. Lily checked her nails lazily as she spoke. "He does have a point, Seth."

Seth levelled his girlfriend with a glare. "You think you can do better?" he challenged, thrusting his gun at her and making an exaggerated sweeping gesture with his free arm. "Go ahead."

Lily uncrossed her ankles and pushed off the wall with a smile. Both men's eyes were on her. "I'm not going to need that," she waved Seth's gun away, and looked over at Dolph with narrow, seductive eyes and an even more seductive smile.

Seth's dark eyes were wide as he realized her plan, and he felt his blood boil and his fingers itch. "Lily, can I talk to you for a second?" Without waiting for her to respond, he pulled her away from Dolph and led her to a corner. Seth rounded on her, his face like thunder. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he hissed loudly. "You're going to seduce him? In front of me?"

"Calm down!" Lily hissed back. "Now is not the time to be jealous!"

"What? I should just stand there and watch while you shove your tits in his face? Is that what happens every time you've got to take out a guy? Fuck him before you ice him?" Seth was livid. How many other men had put their hands on her, before and while they were together? How many had she allowed?

"Listen to me!" Lily snapped through gritted teeth. He was being exasperating. "I know you're tense right now and want answers, but do not take it out on me. Now take a break and let me handle this. I know what I'm doing."

"Somehow I doubt that," Seth muttered under his breath, and he regretted the words as soon as he said them. Yes, it was silly and immature of him, but they were wasting time. He just couldn't shake off the inkling in the pit of his gut that there was more to this situation they were facing. Ziggler was being too calm, too confident for Seth's liking.

Lily glared at her boyfriend, unable to hide her hurt. She shut her eyes, calming, centering herself, and when she opened them again, she was cool, professional again, but there was an edge to her tone as she replied. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," she told him curtly. They stood close, the air between them heated, tense. "I'm going back to talk to the hostage. When you're certain you're not going to make an arse of yourself, come back in." She turned her back on him before she knocked his fucking lights out for disrespecting her like that. He wasn't the biggest person she had encountered before, not by a mile.

Dolph smirked when Lily came back into his view. "Trouble in paradise?"

Lily's smile was gorgeous. "Forgive my partner over there. He's a bit...assertive." She reached up and pulled out the band holding her hair, letting the fair tresses fall around her shoulders. Dolph's eyes widened, and for the first time since his abduction, he looked a little nervous. The blonde woman slowly approached him, her hair down, slender, beautiful fingers on the buttons of her blouse. She looked absolutely ravishing.

"Dolph..." she said his name softly, "Dolph, we don't want to hurt you."

"We don't?" grumbled Seth.

"Seth, behave. We just want to ask a few questions, Dolph."

She moved behind him, her hand lazily trailing the chair, fingertips brushing his shoulder. She heard his breath catch as her fingers traced his chin, then his cheek. "We know you're a controversial journalist. You've stepped on a few toes...pissed off some people. We understand that. All we want to know is why our Bosses want to kill you, for such a high price for that matter."

She was close. She knew by the way Dolph's jaw clenched. He was struggling to hold tight, to remain stubborn. Seth was struggling as well. He gripped his gun tighter, his finger on the trigger.

Lily leaned down behind Dolph and let her slender hands slide down his chest, her face close to his ear, "That's all we want to know, Dolph. If you cooperate, all of this will be over. You have my word."

She waited for a response, then her eyes narrowed when she heard a chuckling sound, which she realized was coming from Dolph. Standing upright, she looked at him and saw his head thrown back, laughing his head off. Lily and Seth glanced at each other. Something was wrong.

"Do you really think I'm going to fall for the tacky burlesque moves?" Dolph said, still laughing, but his eyes held a knowing, dangerous glint. "You're hot as hell, but not that hot, Lily...or is it Tatiana?"

Lily froze, staring at him.

"You tell me, Lily," Dolph went on. "Why would The Authority and F.L.O.R.A. come after little old me?" His grin spread at their widened eyes. "Of course you wouldn't know. Let me ask you another question; did you think your companies didn't know who each of you were? Did you think they appreciated this little romance you've got going on, hmm? Did you really, Lily? Rollins?"

Seth crossed his arms and glared at Dolph. Alarm bells were ringing in his head. But he couldn't quite point out why, and it unnerved him. "I knew you recognized me at the Courthouse," he said quietly. His hands were burning now. Aching for a kill.

"But how?" asked Lily, completely puzzled, "He's never seen you before!"

"Oh, but I have. They showed me your photo when they brought me in for this job." Dolph continued talking, sounding braver by the second. "You two are worrying about the wrong person. I'm not the one your companies are collaborating to take out."

Lily went pale. "Collaborating?"

Seth felt a chill course through his spine. The pieces were slowly coming together. "The hit in Las Vegas was a set-up," he said, turning to a stunned Lily. "This is a set-up. It was never about Ziggler, Lil. It was about us."

"Right you are, Rollins! Fifty points to Gryffindor! I'm not the target here. I never was. You are. Both of you. The Authority and F.L.O.R.A. have been working together for months, trying to eliminate you both. And thanks to me, they're going to succeed and I'm getting the payday of a lifetime." He grinned evilly at the two assassins. "I hope you've made peace with your Maker because you, my friends, are about to die."

Whoa boy. Thoughts?