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

The Next Day

"Well, this is quite the surprise. To what do I owe the honor, Mark?" Stephanie rose to her feet, nodding to Mark as he entered her office. This impromptu meeting was the product of a last-minute phone call a half-hour before.

"I'm here to discuss my match at WrestleMania with Brock Lesnar." Mark said stiffly. He took one of the two seats opposite Stephanie, wanting to get right down to business. He had many other matters that needed attending to.

Stephanie sat somewhat uncomfortably, obviously taken aback by what Mark had said. "I don't understand. Is there something wrong?" And then, as if he could ever forget, "Remember, you're under contract. Backing out of the match now can lead to the loss of your job."

Mark drummed his fingers on his knee, bored. "I'm not attempting to back out of the match. Unless, of course, my warning falls on deaf ears."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "Warning?" She laughed wryly. "Mark, I don't think that you are in any position to be warning me about anything."

But Mark wasn't listening to her. "I want to make this perfectly clear. If Brock Lesnar puts his hands on my husband again, this company will be hit with a shit storm like it has never seen. By the time Lesnar can walk properly again, he'll be well past retirement -,"

"Mark -," she tried to interject, but Mark continued to talk over her.

"And rest assured that my lawyer has looked over the contract with a fine-toothed comb and located all of the loopholes. I know my way out of the match, and I know that WrestleMania will tank without it. I sincerely hope that you are wise enough not to push me there."

Having made his point, he rose to his feet and started toward the door. He really had no interest in sitting there and watching as Stephanie stumbled for a response to what he'd said. He'd made his stance quite clear. Either she would fix the problem, or she would screw over the entirety of the WWE. With the way that things had been going lately, he really didn't care one way or the other. He just wanted to make sure that his husband was safe. Even if he was soon to be his ex-husband, he'd still given him two beautiful daughters, he'd still given him a few great years...

He left the office and shut the door softly behind him, there was no need to slam it. Since Stephanie was still silent, she was still searching for a comeback, he'd made his point. He was still seething from his conversation with Randy the night before - why was he the last one to know that Brock was abusing his husband? Hunter was Brock's fucking boss, not the other way around. Brock didn't have the right to go and strike his boss, and expect that there would be no repercussions. And if Hunter wouldn't handle it, then Mark would.

He wasn't halfway down the hall when he ran into the one and only Brock Lesnar. He simply intended to move aside and allow Brock to pass, but apparently, Brock had other plans. Brock's fist slammed the wall beside Mark's head and he leaned in close to his face, almost to the point where they were sharing the same air. Their eyes met and they held each other's gaze, neither one wanting to be the first to back down. Finally, Brock's mouth stretched in an eerie grin. The hand that struck the wall moved to pat Mark's shoulder condescendingly.

"Did I catch you off guard, big man?" Brock's swollen ego would be his downfall. Mark's hands clenched and unclenched at his sides as he fought not to teach Brock a very painful lesson in keeping his hands to himself.

"I'd strongly recommend taking your hands off of me and backing away now, Lesnar, before I end up doing something that I regret immensely." Oh, but he wouldn't regret it. Actually, it would probably make his morning.

Paul Heyman laughed. "Mr. Calloway, given your current position, I think it is rather unwise to be threatening," here, he laughed again, as if Mark wasn't actually a threat to his client at all, "my client, Brock Lesnar."

Mark rolled his eyes. This was beginning to bore him. "Is there an off button on you? Seriously, learn to shut your fucking trap once in awhile."

Paul actually seemed momentarily taken aback, but he covered it well, "Reduced to petty jabs, I see. Isn't it funny how far the mighty fall when they don't have a storyline win to back them up."

That earned a deep growl from Mark, and Brock's eyes grew wide, fake fear reflected in his gaze. "Oh, I'm so scared. What're you gonna do, big man?"

Mark didn't answer. Instead, he pushed off of the wall and shoved Brock, hard. It caught Brock off-guard and sent him tumbling to the floor, where he landed on his ass. Never one to wait and see what kind of retaliation was in store once the initial shock wore off, Mark landed a swift kick to the man's side, satisfied when the resounding thwack resulted in a low groan from Brock as he grabbed his side. Mark wanted to do more. He wanted to punch and kick at the form on the ground until he was rendered unconscious, but he refrained. He recognized where to draw the line before he took things too far.

So he settled on, "Keep your hands off of my husband." It was a warning, but the threat of further ramifications should he disregard what had just transpired was there, just beneath the surface. He'd be wise to head it.

Daniel didn't pretend like he wasn't fully aware of what he was getting himself into. He knew the potential risks to his body, knew that it could put him on the shelf for quite some time... he knew that he might never be able to wrestle again. And he knew that, however small the chance might be, there was still a chance that the damage might be so severe that he wouldn't be able to hold his son. This idea hurt the most of all. His beautiful son, who hadn't even been born yet, was already having his life shaped by people he didn't even know. It was a lot to take in.

But he also recognized that this was what he needed to do. If he didn't stand up to the Authority, who would? If he didn't stand up for the underdogs, for everyone that had been put down for being considered a "b-plus player", who would? John Cena? John had never once been told that he was a subpar performer. John didn't know the sting of humiliation that came from fighting your way to get to the top, only to have all of your triumphs belittled. Daniel might have been smaller than the average superstar, but he had perseverance and will-power like none other.

That was why he knew that he had to go, regardless of what Phil said or thought. He remembered when they'd first started dating, and nobody could understand how they stayed together because all they did was fight. Daniel used to say that their relationship had been sculpted around a rollercoaster. Their peaks felt like they were soaring, and their valleys sometimes felt insurmountable. The key to making it a successful union was remembering that there would always be another peak after the valley... sometimes, you just had to wait it out and see who would crack first.

So he packed his bags while Phil was still sleeping - he'd questioned himself multiple times on whether or not that would be the best course of action, but decided that waiting until Phil woke would only cause another fight and he really wanted to avoid that if at all possible - and loaded them up into the car. He fully intended to call Phil once he was on the plane, because, by then, there was nothing that could be done to make him come back. This was what he needed to do. He could only hope that, in time, Phil would come to understand.

Phil didn't even noticed that Daniel was gone when he woke later on. He had packed his own bag late the previous night, and intended to go spend some time with his close friend, Kofi Kingston, until this mess blew over. He recognized that it would be unwise for his own health, and the baby's, if he continued to allow himself to remain in an environment where his blood pressure could skyrocket so quickly, so fast. The last thing he needed was to be put on bed rest. That would drive him absolutely insane.

He called Kofi as he was loading up the car. He lived over a day's drive away, but he wanted to ensure that he was welcome before starting on such a journey. If not, there was always AJ... Kofi answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Kofi. It's Phil. Listen, I got into a bit of a spat with Daniel and I think it's best if we both take a little bit of time and space to just breathe. Staying in such a high-stress environment can't be healthy for either of us." Phil shifted the phone to his other ear as he closed the trunk.

"Yeah, the last thing you need right now is another scare like you had a few months ago." Kofi agreed.

The 'scare' that Kofi was referencing was in the early weeks of his pregnancy, when Daniel had to rush him to the hospital after one of their fights because he was bleeding. Both were absolutely terrified that it was a miscarriage brought on by the intensity of the fighting and the stress that Phil had because of it. In reality, he just had low progesterone levels - which could have, eventually, lead to a miscarriage. But with the help of a medical supplement, they hadn't had a similar problem since. In other words, this time it wouldn't be a scare. This time, it would be the real thing.

Phil sighed. He didn't like thinking like that. "I know this is a lot to ask for, considering that you have a wife and kid to think about, but..."

"You need a place to crash and are wondering if you can use my spare room?" Kofi helpfully supplied. He was out with an injury for another month or so, maybe even more, and was able to live at home during that time. "No problem, man. You're like family around here."

"You don't know how much that means to me." Phil said appreciatively. "I'll be over tomorrow or the next day, okay?"

"Sure." Kofi said easily. "But I do have one question."

"Shoot." Phil said, opening the driver's side door and slipping behind the wheel.

Kofi was silent for a moment, and Phil was starting to become concerned about just what it was that he wanted to ask. Then, "Does Daniel know that you're doing this? I mean, if he comes downstairs and finds you missing, you're liable to give the poor man a heart attack."

"Does it really matter? Besides, I don't even know where Daniel is. He wasn't downstairs when I got ready to leave this morning." And then, before Kofi could offer a rebuttal, "I have to go, I'm behind the wheel. I'll talk to you later though, okay?"

"Okay. Talk to you later."

He felt like the way that he'd just dismissed Daniel's absence could come across as rather heartless, but he knew that Daniel had a tendency to run off steam after their spats. He was probably jogging around town somewhere. He'd come back to the cabin and find Phil gone, call him, and then Phil would tell him where he was. But Phil had absolutely no intention of calling him first. This was supposed to be a vacation of sorts, where he could relax away from the hassle of WWE and the mess that the Authority was creating. He wouldn't let Daniel ruin it.