Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Lily and Madison.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Storyline Fanfic, Past Mpreg, etc.

After the show, Randy returned the little girls to their hotel room. Once Hunter opened the door, Lily slithered out of his arms, clutched the dolly to her chest, and went to go put on her pajamas. Randy handed over Madison, and Hunter slipped her into her swing, selecting her favorite music track that always seemed to lull her to sleep. She grinned brightly, clapping her hands and laughing.

"Thank you again for watching them." Hunter said. He looked like shit. Obviously, he hadn't listened to Shawn's desire for him to 'take it easy', and Randy worried that he'd pushed it too far.

"My pleasure." Randy shrugged. "They were really well behaved, especially Lily. We had a good time."

This seemed to remind Hunter of something he'd seen in Lily's arms as they came in. "Where'd the doll come from?" He wouldn't call his tone accusatory, but it was definitely suspicious.

Randy shrugged again, and lied. It was perhaps a bit easier than it really should have been. "I bought it for her. There was a little consignment shop next to the restaurant and it was in the window."

"Oh." And he seemed to accept this as the truth. "Well, thank you. She really seems to like it."

"Oh, yeah. She and that doll are attached at the hip." Randy grinned. Just like that, the tension dissipated.

There was a moment of silence, then, "Would you, um… like to come in for some coffee or something? I just… I'd really like to do something for you to thank you for all that you're doing."

Randy grinned. "A cup of coffee would be great."

There was a half-pot of coffee still sitting in the brewer, and Randy thought that he'd been drinking it for awhile. The end credits of an exercise video playing in the background was evidence to that. Hunter was just going to push his body until he simply couldn't take it anymore. Randy wanted to say something about it, but knew better than to bring it up. Although he was a friend, Hunter was still his boss.

Hunter fixed him a cup of coffee the way that he liked it, and set it down on the small table, ushering him to take a seat. The music on Madison's swing had stopped and she was now sleeping peacefully in the distance. Lily had not returned from putting on her pajamas, so he figured that she was in playing with her dolly. And that was good, because it meant that she still had that connection to Mark and would ease off of Hunter.

They sat in silence for several moments, before Hunter confessed, "I talked to Steph tonight. She thinks that it would be 'best for business' if, after WrestleMania, there is a return of Evolution to end the Shield."

"Do you think that that is a good idea? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a great opportunity, but…" Randy sipped at his coffee. "Are you sure that WWE is ready to handle the fallout of the fall of the Shield?"

Hunter smirked. "The WWE Universe will get over it. It might take them a little while, but they always do."

"Their relationship is already on the rocks." Randy confessed. He'd seen it for himself. This might just be enough to send them over the edge. "They're good for each other. You really want to mess with that?"

Hunter laughed, and Randy wondered if there was something a little bit stronger in his coffee. "If I'm miserable, then everyone else is damn well going to suffer right along with me."

That seemed like a rather petulant excuse. Randy, wisely, didn't say so. "Is there anything else I can do?"

Hunter went silent, thinking. Right about now, there was a whole hell of a lot that he wanted Randy to do, to be. He'd love if Randy could be everything that he needed right then, but he understood that that was expecting a lot and it was also looking for something to replace his misery - not looking for love, but something more temporary, fleeting. He wasn't looking for love. He didn't think he believed in it anymore.

Instead of answering Randy's question, he admitted softly, "Brock slapped me across the face."

"What?" Randy's eyes widened and the earlier conversation was totally forgotten. "Holy shit, Hunter, why didn't you say something sooner? Why the hell is he still breathing?"

Because Mark doesn't know, and if Hunter continued to have his way, he wouldn't know. "Because this match at WrestleMania is going to rake in a whole hell of a lot of publicity for WWE. We need it. I can't do a thing."

"You need to be more careful, Hunter." Randy said gently.

"That's why I'm really glad that you're watching the girls for me. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to them. Really, it's the most that I can do right now." He said.

Randy was already thinking about going back to Mark and telling him everything, because he deserved to know. Who knows, maybe it would fuel his anger and make him perform better in his match at WrestleMania? But at the very least, it would protect Hunter against a similar attack. But Randy schooled his features carefully, making sure that Hunter couldn't read his intention in his eyes.

"Would you…" Hunter looked sheepish, now. Randy looked up, preparing himself for the question that would inevitably follow. "Would you mind… staying the night?" And then, hurriedly, "It'll make the girls feel better."

The girls, huh? But Randy nodded nonetheless, sipping his coffee once more. "Sure. No problem."

Daniel didn't know how to approach the topic of the message on the answering machine with Phil. He was back in the nursery, up to his elbows in paint, with Phil in the hallway, lazily flipping through the pages of his comic book. He knew that Phil wouldn't be happy about it. He'd claim that Hunter was stringing him along and that Daniel was allowing himself to be played.

It had started out that they were playing the game by Daniel Bryan's rules, by Daniel's standards. But now that he'd hit the ball into Hunter's court, it seemed like all of the rules were getting changed around. He had a nasty feeling in the pit of his stomach, a sinking feeling that all of this was going to end badly. And he really didn't need any unrest in his relationship with Phil right now. Not when things were becoming normal again.

Phil wouldn't be pleased when he added that he was actually considering accepting the challenge. He needed this, this vindication, danger be damned. He'd been put down as the underdog for too long. He'd been brutalized, used, abused, and underappreciated for too long. This could be the only chance that he had to achieve that vindication. He couldn't just let that go, and he hoped that Phil would be able to understand.

Daniel turned to Phil and said, "I got a call from Hunter's secretary. She said that Hunter wants me to make an appearance on RAW this upcoming Monday so that he can formally accept my WrestleMania challenge."

Phil paused, seemingly frozen in place. A series of unidentifiable emotions flickered across his face. "When do you leave?"

Daniel frowned. "I didn't even tell you that I was going to go."

"I figure that you wouldn't say anything if you weren't planning on going." Phil said, matter-of-fact.

There was a moment of silence, then, "I want to go, but I want to make sure that we're both okay with me going. I don't want this to turn into another spat… one that we can't come back from."

"I'm not okay with you going." Phil said honestly. He closed the comic book and stared at the cover uncertainly. "But if it is what you need to do… I can't hold you back. I've never been able to."

But that certainly couldn't be it, could it? "Are we going to be okay if that is what I decide to do?"

"I don't know." Phil shrugged noncommittally.

Daniel didn't like how nonchalant he was being about this. It made him less than comfortable, not being able to tell what was going through Phil's mind. Wiping his hands clean on a spare t-shirt that he had lying around the nursery. The room was almost completely painted now, and once it dried he'd be able to hang the curtain rod and put up the curtains. That was, of course, if Phil didn't lock him out of the house first.

"What exactly does that mean?" Daniel asked.

"It means that I don't know if we're going to be okay. It's your decision, I can't take it from you. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't like it, or believe in it. And it'll take me some time to come around to it."

"Phil -," but Phil cut him off.

"I don't think you understand that it is much more than your reputation at stake here, Daniel. The Authority has hurt so many people. They've destroyed careers. He'll hurt you. He'll hurt you bad, Daniel."

Daniel sucked in a deep breath, before countering, "It's a risk that I need to take."

"Are you willing to risk not being able to lift up our son? Not being able to hold him in your arms?" He asked.

That nonchalant tone was gone. Now, his tone was hard, almost accusatory. And Daniel didn't like it. He didn't like it because it seemed like Phil had no faith in him at all, didn't like that Phil was so sure that he was going to get steamrolled by the Authority. But most of all, he didn't like it because he had a sinking feeling that Phil was absolutely right. And he hated to be proven wrong.

Phil struggled to his feet and Daniel rushed over to help him, but Phil shrugged him off. "I can do it myself."

"Phil -," but Phil cut him off once more.

"I just really need to be alone right now, okay? Just… Just for a little while." Phil finally got his feet underneath him and walked off, entering their bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

Daniel gave him time. He went back downstairs and he called Hunter's secretary back, confirming that he would be there on RAW for the meeting between himself and Hunter. He ate lunch alone, leaving the left-overs in a tupperware container in the fridge for when Phil finally came downstairs and decided he wanted to eat. He even managed to watch some television, but without Phil, it quickly lost appeal.

Three hours went by and Daniel finally decided that he'd waited long enough. Heading back upstairs, he entered the hallway and made his way down to the bedroom that he shared with Phil. He knocked on the door, not really expecting an answer. Just as he expected, there was none. Upon trying the doorknob, he realized that it was unlocked. So he opened the door and went inside.

"Phil? Phil, where are you?" The lights were off, but the window was open. Daniel quickly turned the lights on and found, much to his horror, a dark red smear of blood on the windowsill. "Phil!"

Phil was gone.