John sat at a local diner, drinking his coffee, and thinking deeply about his relationship with Stephanie. They had been dating for a little over two months, and he was serious about it. He had never felt so much love for Stephanie in his life; she was truly something. But he never intended to get fired from his dream job either. While he wasn't broke, he was no longer a working member of the WWE. Raw had already gone two weeks without him and the title was still up in the air. Randy had called him a couple of times and gave John the scoop on what was going on and that the show wasn't the same without him or Stephanie, but John remained unconvinced. Catching his attention he looked outside as Stephanie pulled up to the diner. He smiled as he watched her get out and walk in to find him.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey."

"You look good."

She raised her eyebrow. "We just saw each other last night."

John frowned. "So?"

"So…why are you sounding like that?"

"Like what?"

"That," she said. "Weird."

"I'm not sounding weird."

Stephanie nodded. "Yes you are."

John shrugged. "Probably being unemployed."

Stephanie rolled her eyes and leaned back in the booth. "Yeah…that'll drive you crazy."

"How's the case going?"

"Slow."

"How come you're not bringing out the big guns and getting this over with?" he asked.

"Because when I blast Heyman," she replied. "I want it to hurt. The more I drag it out and make it look like he's winning, the better it'll go for me."

"I don't understand exactly what this'll do."

"Get our jobs back for one."

"You mean yours?"

"No," she said, shaking her head, "I mean ours. I'm not going back without you."

John sighed. "Stephanie, there's no way your father will ever let me back. He feels like I betrayed his trust because we never told him about us."

Stephanie waved him off. "It's just my father."

"Ju-just your father," he said, shocked. "Steph, the guy went Scarface on me!"

"John, Heyman started all of this. It's repairable."

He raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?" She nodded. "When was the last time that he called you?"

"Who?"

"Your father?" She bit her lip. "That's what I thought," he said, as he got up and walked out. A few moments later, rolling her eyes and groaning inwardly, Stephanie did the same.

"John…"

Standing by his car, he turned around and shot her a look. "Steph, I'm getting sick of this shit."

"What're you talking about?"

"You!" he yelled. "You're practically hot and cold! Don't know if I'm coming or going."

"Where is this coming from?" she demanded.

"Hell if I know! I'm just getting sick of sitting at home when all I do is think!"

"This is Heyman," Stephanie reasoned. "He knows exactly where to hit…"

"Bull's-eye!" Stephanie raised her eyebrow. "I feel like this whole relationship has been one-sided!"

"It hasn't!" she shouted in defensive.

"Well, sure feels like it," he shot back, getting in his car.

"You know what?" He glared at her as he started his sports car. "Fuck you, John."

"No, fuck you," he snapped, pulling out of the driveway and turning on the road. Groaning, Stephanie got in her car, slamming the door, and started the engine. Adjusting her mirror, she saw a black Vic sitting across the street, the driver watching her closely. Cautiously, she backed out, and went down the same path as John, heading home.

Vince watched a rerun of ECW when he heard the doorbell ring. Ignoring it, he focused on watching Angle and Show compete, trying to figure the best opponent to fight them for the upcoming PPV.

"Vince?" Linda called.

"In here." Linda walked in and cleared her throat. Vince paused the television and turned around, narrowing his eyes from the sight of John. "What is this?"

John held up his hands. "I only want to talk to you."

Vince growled and Linda rolled her eyes. "Just hear him out, Vince. It can't hurt."

He stared at Cena then finally nodded as Linda took a seat next to him. "Remember when you asked if Steph and I slept together?" He nodded. "Well…I lied to you…not intentionally," he added quickly, sensing Vince's anger. "Just…you know."

"So you did."

John nodded. "Yes. I few times…in her office." He groaned and shook his head. "But…it just happened."

"So…you two are an item?" Linda asked slowly.

John nodded. "But, I gotta tell you, Heyman really has it in for her."

Vince frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well think about it. First, the chase; then the setup, and then telling the whole world that she slept with me. He knew it would cause it rift with you two and now he's working on us."

Linda raised her eyebrow. "Working…what do you mean?"

"He followed us," John said simply. "He's been watching me and Stephanie for the past week. I know he's planning something big, but I don't know what."

"Besides the company take over?" Vince shot, standing up.

John shook his head. "Nah, see…he's coming at it from different angles, and he's making sure that he's covering his tracks…" John smiled and pulled out a tape, throwing it at Vince, who caught it in mid air and looked at it. "But not all of it."

"What's this?" he asked.

"That's what's going to blow Stephanie's case wide open," John said proudly. "You never told me how much of a schemer your daughter is, Vince."

Four days later, Vince was sitting in the back, watching the screen eagerly. If WWE won this match between ECW, it could prove to be the beginning of the downfall of ECW…again. But so far, things weren't looking too good. Levesque knocked Show out of the ring earlier, leaving him and Randy to take on Kurt. But once Show came back, he took out both WWE stars within ten seconds. The match had been going on for a good twenty minutes and the superstars were starting to tire. "Come on, come on, come on," he whispered as Kurt began to climb the top rope. Then his eyes widened when he saw John came running from the back towards the ring. "What the-?" John jumped onto the ring and pushed Kurt off. He fell off the top ring post and hit the barrier. This gave Paul enough time to his Show then Randy to land his RKO. Paul covered the giant and WWE got the win. Not realizing what happened, John jumped off the ring and watched them celebrate as he jumped in the crowd and disappeared.

As John walked out of the building, had a feeling that he was being watched. Looking behind him, he saw a few of the ECW stars slowly following him. He turned back around and looked around, searching for his options. Realizing he didn't have many, he took off sprinting, the ECW guys close behind. He hoped over the fence and hit the pavement and took off running faster, but the ECW men were closing in. As fast as John was, they seemed to be faster. As he reached the intersection of the road, he came to a stop when he realized he didn't have the light to cross over, and traffic was blocking his way. He turned just as the guys caught up, and heard a car's engine behind him. Running again, he took the chance and darted across the street as a Mercedes came speeding past him and screeched to a halt on the sidewalk, the passenger door opening. The ECW men watched as John jumped in the car and it took off. They stopped and cursed to themselves as they turned around and headed back to the arena.

Stephanie glanced over at John who was panting. "You alright?"

"Yeah," he said. "I just haven't ran in awhile."

She giggled and grabbed his hand with, squeezing it. He looked at her and smiled as she pulled onto the highway. "You realize that we won't be able to see much of each other now, right?"

John nodded as he put on his seatbelt. "I know."

Stephanie glanced at him. "Are you okay with that?"

"Honestly?" She nodded. "No. I'm not comfortable with this plan at all but I know it won't change anything."

"It won't," she agreed. "It has to be done." He nodded and looked out the window. "I don't need you to worry about me, John. I've done this before."

"It's different now."

"How?"

"Because I'm your boyfriend," he said. "Not Levesque, not Andrew…whatever his name was…"

Stephanie laughed and John shot her a look. "Everything will be fine. All you have to do is play your part…"

"Yeah…"

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Trust me, okay?"

He looked at her. "That's what scares me the most," he whispered, looking away. "Trusting you McMahon's."