Uh, guys, Sorry. I've been sick. This chapter is kind of short…

"Hey, John!"

The voice stopped him in his tracks and he turned, a smile already forming on his face. "Hey, man," he said as Hunter made his way over. The halls of the arena were pretty deserted this early in the day. He'd told Randy he'd meet him there.

"How you feeling?" John asked when Hunter stopped in front of him, a note of concern entering his voice. The injury that had put the older man out of action had required surgery, he knew.

"Better, thanks. You? I saw what those rookies did."

John shrugged. "I'm good now." It had been a few weeks.

"Good." He reached forward and patted John on the shoulder. Neither of them noticed the other person until Randy was beside them. John had a moment to smile before surprise took over when Randy grabbed Hunter's arm and forcefully pushed him away from John, smoothly stepping in between the two men.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked, rage in his voice and dancing in his eyes.

"Randy…" John started, a sigh escaping him. He knew that Randy and Hunter had hated each other for years and, as personal as he and Randy's feuds had gotten, they were nothing compared to Randy and Hunters.

"Just visiting," Hunter answered Randy, the same hatred warring with something else, something John couldn't decipher, in his eyes as he stared at Randy.

"And here I was hoping you'd never be back."

"Don't be a dick," John spoke up softly, watching Randy, irritated at his attitude. "We were just talking."

"Right." And John didn't miss the actual look of hurt in Randy's gray eyes at John's words. "Fine." He turned after a moment, walking away from them both.

John stared after him, a little stunned. He wondered if that was how it went every time Hunter and Randy bumped into each other in the halls.

"You and Orton?" Hunter asked with a raised eyebrow.

John shrugged but didn't deny it. Everyone already knew. Morrison wasn't the only one who had seen their first kiss and even if no one had seen it, the rumors were still running wild.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Randy sat on a bench in the locker room, lacing up his boots. His movements were quick and jerky, his mouth was pressed into a thin line. His entire body was practically vibrating. He was angry…he was fucking pissed and it wasn't the cold, almost detached anger he had gotten used to feeling over the past several years.

His relationship with John had perpetuated a change in him that went down to the very core of his being. He hadn't felt so much in such a long time, since before…

His hands were shaking when he brought them up to his head. He took a few deep breathes, trying to calm himself down. He'd been angry before at what had happened to John. He'd also been worried and terrified...

The NXT rookies, Nexus they'd dubbed themselves after the first week, had attacked a few other people, tried with John again and Randy was angry about that and he was constantly worried about them succeeding.

He hadn't worried about anyone, even himself, in such a long time that it left him feeling a bit out of control. It sent him reeling and he had no idea what to do with it.

Maybe that was why, when he'd made his way down the hall of the arena for RAW, and he'd seen John talking to him it had affected him so much. John, as usual had been speaking animatedly, using his hands and he had reached over, placed one hand on John's shoulders and Randy had nearly lost it then and there.

Hunter. God, Randy had wanted to walk over to them and smash Hunter's face into the brick wall for touching John, the flashbacks from years before haunting him.

Fuck, he had enough to worry about without adding Hunter to that list again.

"What's the matter with you?" John's voice came from the doorway and Randy jerked his head up. John was leaning against the frame, arms crossed, studying him.

"Nothing." His tone was clipped.

"Right. Look, I know you don't like Hunter-"

"I fucking hate him," Randy interrupted, every bit of that feeling in his voice.

"Don't you think enough is enough, Randy?" John asked, frustration leaking into his tone. "You went after the guy's family the last time you fought. His wife. What the hell happened to make you hate him this much…for this long?"

Randy opened his mouth, even considered, for just a second, telling John the truth, if only to keep John away from Hunter because he wouldn't admit it but it had terrified him as much as it had angered him, seeing the two of them in the hall together.

"Please don't tell me this is about Evolution," John said after a moment. Randy tensed at the reminder of the group that had started his career, the group that had set him down a track that John had finally derailed. And it had only taken six years.

"That was years ago, Randy. So, he kicked you out of the group, and cost you the title. It was a long time ago. You should be over that by now."

Randy stilled completely at the words. The rational part, and that was a small part because Randy was rarely rational, knew that John was only saying it because he didn't know. He had no idea what had happened back then. No one did, except for Randy, Hunter, and Batista. Hell, Ric hadn't even known and he'd been in the group.

The bigger part of him, however, the part of him that had been fighting to gain control of emotions he wasn't used to feeling, was even angrier. Without knowing it, John had just trivialized the very worst year of Randy's life.

The tenuous control Randy had managed to obtain on his emotions since seeing Hunter and John in the hall snapped. He stood and started towards the door.

"Fuck. Off." He growled before shoving past John.

Xxxxxxxx

As soon as the words had left John's mouth, and he'd seen Randy's expression shift, he knew that he'd said something wrong. John ran a hand over his face after Randy left. Randy hadn't directed that kind of anger on John in a while.

John sat down where Randy had just been and rested his elbows on his knees. Things had been going so well. John had been seeing such a different side of Randy since they'd gotten together that sometimes he almost forgot that there was another side.

They hadn't taken things much further after what Randy had initiated after John got out of the hospital but John had been happy enough with how things stood.

Now, though…John had to think this behavior was odd. Randy hadn't even shown the same kind of raging hatred for Rhodes and DiBiase and that had happened not too long ago. When he'd seen the look on Randy's face after he'd suggested that he should have been over what had happened with Evolution, he'd known he was missing something.

Randy had been vindictive and downright cruel with Hunter during their feuds, more so than with anybody else he'd fought.

And John did think that there had to be something that had turned Randy from a, yes arrogant, but essentially happy young man into what he'd been over the last few years. John hadn't been on RAW back when Randy was in Evolution but he had watched it and, while Randy might have been a bit of a dick back then, he had at least smiled at times.

Then John thought about the nightmares. He'd never said anything to Randy but he did know about them. Randy had slept in his bed pretty much every night. It was impossible to not know that he had nightmares. He'd just been hoping that once they knew each other better, Randy would tell him without John having to press him.

Guilt settled into John's gut. What if whatever was causing the nightmares had happened while Randy was in Evolution?

If he was right, he had just unintentionally made light of something that had to of been pretty damn awful for Randy to still be affected by it after six years.

John got to his feet and started out of the room, unwilling to let some stupid misunderstanding ruin what had developed between him and Randy.