Dave headed for the door of Evolution's locker room, a look of disgust etched on his face. He couldn't believe those two men he called leaders.
First, Triple H had bragged to him about scaring Stacy Keibler. Tiny, little, 110 pound Stacy Keibler. Then, when Dave asked them what happened when Randy Orton interfered, they changed the topic of discussion. They were cowards. Even with the odds in their favor, they ran away.
The more he thought about it, the more his discussion with Trish a week earlier made sense. He heard the blonde woman's voice in his head, questioning him over and over again as to why he was still a member of Evolution. He was beginning to wonder that himself.
What aggravated him the most was that he couldn't put a finger on what compelled him to stay. He couldn't stand being part of the 'Triple H Club,' and he had the sinking feeling that Hunter and Ric were talking shit on him every time he left the room.
And yet he remained; fighting beside them, doing their dirty work for them, embracing the name of the 'Animal' of Evolution. He sure felt like an animal... some type of caged lion, dying to break free.
Dave sighed as he stepped out of the locker room, closing the door behind him. He got maybe two steps from the door, when he smacked into someone. He glanced down and found himself nose to nose with Randy Orton.
The two men hadn't spoken a word to each other since... well, since Randy had been unceremoniously booted from Evolution. They went from being the absolute best of friends, to nothing. No teaming up, no hanging out, no talking... not even a hello in the hallway. Dave couldn't blame Randy for being so cold with him. After all, he had betrayed him. It was Dave who hoisted Randy onto his shoulders on the night following his big title win, only to drop him on his head and right out of Evolution. Words couldn't express the feelings of guilt that plagued him for weeks after the attack. He wanted nothing to do with it. If anything, he wanted to congratulate his best friend for his unprecedented accomplishment.
Of course, Triple H had other plans. He insisted Dave start the assault, because doing so would hurt Randy's psyche the worst, making him vulnerable to lose the title to Hunter at the next pay-per-view. He was absolutely right, and Randy hadn't spoken a word to him since. Which was why Dave found it so odd for Randy to be in his face.
"Uh, can I help you?" he asked, eyeing the young man curiously.
Randy simply stared, seething at his former best friend. It took every ounce of his self control not to lunge at Batista and take his head off.
"Not unless you're going to ring your own neck," Randy snapped, his eyes filled with fire.
Dave raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" he asked slowly.
"You heard me," Randy muttered, his voice practically engulfed in a growl. "I really should ring your neck right now, just to get it over with."
As he moved forward, Dave threw his hand up. He placed it on Randy's chest and held him back, eyeing him with a puzzled look.
"Woah, chill out," he said, keeping a good distance between himself and the obviously distraught Superstar. "What's your problem?"
"Don't play that stupid shit," Randy warned, forcing himself forward. "You know your buddies planned on beating up my girlfriend."
Dave sighed. Time to put on the Evolution face. Going against his heart, he smirked.
"Well, in case you didn't noitce, I was not out there," he said in a slightly arrogant tone.
"I know you weren't out there, asshole. Otherwise I would have chased you out of the ring, too," he said. The emotion in his voice caused Dave to lose the smirk. "But Hunter and Ric had to find out somehow..."
"Now wait a minute," Dave cut him off, throwing his hands in the air. He knew exactly where this was headed. "If you're going to insinuate that I told them about you and Stacy, you're dead wrong."
"Who else would have told?" Randy challenged.
"Guess you'll have to ask around," Dave replied passively.
He tore his gaze away, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep up the attitude for very long. Randy took a much more aggressive action, grabbing Dave by his forearms and shoving him into the wall.
"Don't play with me," he said through gritted teeth. "You're the only person in the goddamn company that talks to them!"
"They saw you together!" Dave blurted, even though he wasn't supposed to tell. "Last week, they saw you in the hallway with her. If I had known they were plotting something like this, I would have..."
"What, told me?" he laughed ruefully. "You were just as in on it as they were."
"No, I wasn't," Dave said truthfully. "What do I have to gain from hurting you?"
Randy shrugged, "What did you have to gain in August?"
Dave's stomach dropped at the mention of that particular Raw. He still felt pangs of guilt every now and then for what he had done.
He and Randy came into the business together, and together they had become the future of Evolution. In a few short years, they had become like brothers. And Dave threw all of it away, all because Triple H barked an order at him. No wonder people thought he was nothing but Hunter's pet.
"Randy, you know I never wanted anything to do with that," he said, lowering his head in shame. "I had no choice."
"Please," Randy snorted. "You're six-and-a-half feet tall, and you weigh over 300 pounds. Don't tell me you didn't have a choice."
"You know what I mean..."
Randy paused, eyeing Dave in silence for a moment. He sighed, backing off of him and allowing him to come off of the wall. He did know what he meant. In fact, if he hadn't been thrown out of Evolution, he'd probably be in Dave's position, taking orders from those two ingrates. There was a part of him that still cared about Dave, and the part that did wanted him to get out. He recalled overhearing Batista speaking to Eric Bischoff not long ago.
"Are you taking the qualifying match for the Rumble?" he asked, all of a sudden.
Dave did a double take. He certainly hadn't expected that to come from Orton.
"Yeah," he said after a brief pause. "Actually, my match is pretty soon. Bischoff's got me taking on La Resistance in a handicapped match for the spot. Why do you ask?"
Randy shrugged, turning his back to him. He slowly began to walk away, pausing only once to turn back to Dave.
"You've got a good mind, Dave," he said. "Please, don't let Hunter keep you from using it."
