Chapter Thirteen: At the Supershow

Dave sat alone in the Evolution locker room. His thoughts were far away from his match that night. He was thinking about Kali. After they had kissed, she had become very distant, almost as if she were avoiding him. The only time he ever really saw her was when they were training, and she barely spoke to him or Trish. And what really killed him, she continued seeing Randy Orton. He didn't understand it, he couldn't.

Dave looked up when he heard the door open, expecting to see Ric or Hunter. But he didn't. Randy Orton walked in with his signature cocky grin. 'Speak of the devil,' Dave thought, and sighed.

"Oh, hey Dave," Randy greeted, "I was looking for Kali, have you seen her?" He had a smug look on his face while he said this.

"No, no I haven't," Dave answered, "She's probably not here yet."

"Must not be back from her mom's house. Well, if you see her before I do, let her know I'm looking for her," Randy said, and then turned to walk away. Dave stood up and grabbed his arm, stopping him. Randy turned back, and looked questioningly at Dave. They were quiet for a moment. "What?" Randy asked, breaking the silence.

"You don't deserve her," Dave said, his voice low and menacing.

"And what? You think you do?" Randy returned, "Listen, Man, I know you've got like a little crush on my girlfriend or whatever, but let it go. She's with me, she doesn't want you." Dave glared. "Maybe you're jealous," Randy continued.

"Oh really?" Dave asked, "Of what?"

"That I'll get to nail her first," Randy replied, the comment absolutely dripping with arrogance.

Dave smiled to himself at that. "No, you know Randy, some how I don't think that's the case." Randy's eyes grew wide at that statement. Dave could tell he had touched a nerve.

"What the fuck does that mean?" he demanded, "Are you saying you slept with her? Did you fucking sleep with my girlfriend!" Dave smirked in reply. And then, Randy hit him. He punched him in the face, sending him stumbling backward. Dave regained his balance and jumped at Randy. They both flew into the locker room door, bursting it open and slamming into the adjacent wall. He punched Randy and then grabbed him by the front of his shirt and threw him against the wall again. Randy smacked his head on the concrete and slid to floor with a groan.

"Hey!" called a security guard from down the hall, "What's going on?" Dave could hear him calling for help to stop the fight.

"Like I said," Dave said, crouching down next to Randy. "You don't deserve her. But you do have her. And if you do anything, anything, to hurt her, all of this is going to feel like nothing next to what I'll do to you." With that, he got up and walked back into the locker room, slamming the door shut. He was feeling somewhat better.

xxxxx

'Now what?' Dave thought when there was a knock on the door a little while later. He opened up and looked out a young girl in a headset. "Can I help you?" he asked, not really feeling up to conversation..

"Mr. Batista?" she asked meekly.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Mr. McMahon is here and he sent me to find you." she told him.

"Okay, what for?" Dave asked.

"He sent me to find you because he would like to see you in his office, immediately," she said, and then left. Dave was momentarily stunned.

'Uh oh,' he thought, 'This can't be good.'

xxxxx

Dave took a deep breath before knocking on Mr. McMahon's door. "Come in!" called the booming voice of the company's CEO. Dave opened the door and stepped into the locker room turned office. Vince McMahon was seat behind a commanding mahogany desk. "Dave," He said, looking at him grimly, "Please, take a seat."

"If it's alright with you, Mr. McMahon, I'd rather stand," Dave replied. Vince nodded in response.

"I just heard about your little… incident with Randy Orton earlier this evening-" He began.

"Let me explain about-" David interrupted, but Vince stopped him.

"I heard about your fight with Randy, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed in both of you, but that's not why I called you in here," He said he got up from his seat, walked around to the front of the desk and leaned back against it. Dave looked confused.

"Okay, why did you call me in here, sir?" he asked.

"When was the last time you went home, Dave?" Vince asked.

"I don't know," Dave shrugged, "It's been a while." He thought about his daughters, and how he had forgotten his youngest girl's birthday. She had since forgiven him, and said that she wanted to see him, but he hadn't forgiven himself.

"Well, I want you to go home," Vince said.

"Excuse me?" Dave asked.

"I'm giving you two weeks off starting tonight, paid of course, to go home and relax. Spend time with your children and just relax," Vince said, holding out an envelope. Dave took it, and saw it was a plane ticket. "It leaves in an hour, so I suggest you go now."