Title: Searching For Friends
Rating: M, for Mature
Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
Summary: Everyone is gone…

-Rivals-

Huff… pant… wheeze…

They'd been running down what seemed like a citadel of twists and turns, every corner they turned leading into another hallway—and then the next looking exactly as the one before. Randy's mind wouldn't release the thought of Rhoda staying behind with that Bram guy—this is probably another one of her plans… she'll be okay. Blank stepped quickly in front of him, always checking carefully around corners to see if the coast was cleared. This wasn't the way he had come in from and since Bram decided to show up and block the only path he knew out, he was going to have to detour and find another exit route.

A overwhelming feeling of exhaustion fell over Blank; he slowed suddenly; stopped; then bent over a bit to catch his breath. "These halls all look exactly the same…" he grieved miserably. He noticed a concerned expression on the face of his companion as the words fell out of his mouth. "Hey," he called to him, with a grin in attempt to lift his spirits. "This place ain't that big… we'll find our way out of here in no time, just you see."

"What about… Rhoda?" Randy asked between breaths, wiping the sweat away from his forehead. "Why did we just leave her alone with that guy?"

Blank shook his head. "Don't worry about her, man. She's a lot more capable of taking care of herself than you might think."

"But that guy was huge…!" he protested. "What if he really hurts her?"

"Yeah," Blank said in return. "But, he won't lay a finger on her—you just got to trust me on this one. Rhoda and Bram have a strange past together… so when they encounter one another it's kind of a unspoken truce between them. If it was an ambush, the other Suits would've been on us already. All she's doing right now is trying to squeeze as much information out of him as she can. That'll be helpful to us in trying to figure out why Gebler wants you dead and how you ended up here in the first place."

A strange past? What did he mean by that? He had to stop comparing this woman to the Lita he knew. They were two completely different people, and he'd have to let go of that feeling for a while. That is, until he knew more. "I know you still have a lot of questions," Blank started again, now leaning up against the wall of the corridor. "Once we get back to our hideout we'll fill you in on as much as we can… For now though, we have to get out of here…"

Randy slowly nodded, a slight bit of determination beginning to surface in his expression. "Alright, let's get moving, then."

Meanwhile…

Bram removed his dusky-colored shades, placing them in his left coat pocket, his dark eyes meeting with the redhead's hazel orbs. He'd started off as her ally before betraying her and becoming the leader of Gebler's so called Secret Police, the Suits. Their truce was based solely on the fact that they both acknowledged from the past an underlying feeling of love. Yes, deep down inside her gut, she still had feelings for him and vice versa. However, they would set aside those feelings without hesitation if the situation called for it.

"I believe you have something of mine," she finally said, expressionless. She tried her best not to show any signs of weakness to him. It was hard, but she could manage it if she tried hard enough, which in this case she was trying really hard.

"Is that any way to say hello to a old friend?" he asked, a rather smug look on his face.

"An old friend?" Rhoda replied, disbelief coating her voice. "You back-stabbed me to join Gebler and you still have the nerve to say that? Go to hell, Bram…"

The man chuckled softly. "Oh, come on… we're still friends."

"I believe you have something of mine," the redhead repeated, this time her tone more forceful. She was growing impatient with him—Bram never failed to try and find a way to annoy her.

He rolled his eyes before reaching behind his back and pulling out the dagger she'd forfeited back in the alleyway. He extended it to her, a playful smile broadening ear-to-ear. "Go ahead, take it."

Rhoda instinctively stepped forward and reached for it—she could feel it almost in her grasp.

Bram quickly pulled back, the dagger retreating from her grasp. "Not so fast…" he said, the same smile playing on his face. "What do you say…?"

The redhead sighed, her frustrations beginning to boil. He was playing with her and she absolutely abhorred him for that. "I'm not saying thank you or please, so cut your crap and hand it over…" If anyone knew how to get under her skin, it was him. The redhead was growing more and more impatient by the second. When he didn't do as she requested immediately she yelled, "Right now, Bram!"

"Catch," he replied, tossing the dagger at her lightly.

She caught it and hastily put it away. "…Thanks."

Bram only stood there and smiled. "Your welcome. Now get out of—."

"Wait," she said abruptly, cutting him off. "What does Gebler want with him? Why do you want him dead?"

"I can't say," Bram responded, reaching back into his pocket and covering his dark eyes with his sunglasses. "That was all Domino. If you want to find out more, you'd have to go ask him yourself… and that would mean…"

"I get the point," Rhoda said, already turning her back on him and walking away. "We'll see each other again soon, then."

Final Notes: Sorry this one took so long, I've been super busy with stupid things! Urgh. Lol. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Oh, and how about Stacy Keibler kissing Randy Orton on RAW this week! Lol. Anyway, toodles!