"Cena it is two-thirty in the morning, certainly whatever it is you need to tell me can wait until daylight." His voice was hoarse from sleep, his jaw tight in annoyance at being woken up by a phone call.

"No Hunter, it can't. I need to see you. Now." John's words were urgent, his voice practically trembling.

"Cena—" Hunter began with a tired sigh, reaching up to rub his eyes with his free hand.

"It's about Randy." John growled. "He's hurt."

Hunter had fallen silent at that.

"You know the hotel we're all at. Meet me in the parking lot." John continued.

And now it was three in the morning, the blackness of the night so thick Hunter could barely make out his own feet. The hotel parking lot was dimly lit with flickering streetlights, the dark asphalt melting perfectly into the sky, making it difficult to determine where the earth ended and the atmosphere began. Hunter was leaning against his silver Challenger, his giant hulking body quivering slightly. The night air was chilly, and the swift breeze only strengthened the cold, making the King of Kings shiver despite the black leather jacket and blue jeans he was wearing. There was a scowl across his face, his thick, blonde eyebrows furrowed, the creases in his forehead making him look like he was deep in thought. He had his long hair loose and down, the shoulder-length yellow locks billowing in the hard wind. He had half a mind to tie it back to keep it out of his eyes, but the thought of that bone-chilling breeze striking his bare neck was enough to make Hunter reconsider. He had parked far from the hotel entrance, his car a lonely little island in the middle of a sea of asphalt, just as Cena had commanded. He supposed Cena thought it would be easy to find him if he parked away from the rest of the cars. Since he'd drove to the hotel Hunter had seen only two cars pass by; it seemed everyone else in the city was asleep…just like he wanted to be.

He didn't think much when he was woken from his deep slumber by a ringing telephone. He was a busy man, he was used to late night business calls. But he had been very surprised to discover that it was none other then John Cena, the Champ himself, calling. He wasn't friends with Cena, didn't know the kid very well at all, hell, he didn't even know how Cena got his number. As soon as Cena had spoken, though, he knew something was terribly wrong. And then Cena said it was Randy…to be honest, Hunter didn't know what to think about that. There was a time when he considered Randy to be like a son to him…back in their Evolution days they had been close, like a wolf teaching his pup to kill. Then Dave had to go and ruin everything…well, Hunter thought with a huff, wrapping his taut arms around his chilled body, perhaps that had been for the best. He had been going down dangerous road in Evolution, turning into a hateful, spiteful monster that was willing to crush anyone and anything that stood between him and the championship. In the end, it had taken losing Randy to make him really see what he was becoming. Oh the fights they had had when he discovered Randy was seeing Dave…he'd been ready to strangle the young Orton. He never would've thought Randy would be stupid enough to date a sleaze like Batista…for weeks he tried to convince Randy to stay away from the Animal. And who did Randy choose in the end? Not his mentor, no, he chose a man that ended up smacking him around less then six months later.

At least Randy had been smart enough to get out of that relationship once Dave started getting physical.

Damn, Hunter thought with a menacing scowl, turning his head to the side to look for Cena, just the thought of Dave hitting Randy still made him want to break something. But that was Randy, wasn't it? Always getting into trouble… Judging from what Cena had said, he was in something big now. Cena had sounded jumpy, either nervous or enraged. And he'd said Randy was hurt… Hunter tilted his head down, staring at his black boots. As much as he tried not to, he still held a soft spot for the Viper, and when Cena said he'd been hurt…Hunter had felt his heart rush, his blood freeze in his veins. What on earth could it be? He hated not knowing, hated that Cena was taking so damn long to get there. If Randy was hurt then Hunter needed to know now. Stephanie hadn't been happy when he told her he had to leave, but she nodded in understanding as soon as he mentioned Randy's name. His wife had always been very understanding of his feelings for Randy, she knew how much the kid meant to him, just like she knew how much Shawn meant to him.

"Hey."

Hunter whipped around, standing up and away from his car. Cena was on the other side of the Challenger, a grim scowl on his face, his hands stuffed into his pockets.

"About damn time. I've been freezing my ass off waiting for you." Hunter griped, turning and walking around his car, heading towards Cena.

"I need your help." John said, his voice so quiet Hunter barely heard him. The Champ was wearing nothing but a loose pair of jeans and a white cotton shirt…how he managed to take the bitingly cold wind, Hunter couldn't even imagine.

"You said this was about Randy." Hunter's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"This is about Randy." John nodded solemnly, "He needs our help."

"Hate to break it to you," Hunter shook his head as he drew closer to Cena, "But I don't think the kid wants my help. We're not exactly on speaking terms."

"Doesn't matter." John shrugged, his shoulders bobbing, "He needs help."

"Why are you telling me to help him?" Hunter asked, his arms still crossed against his enormous chest, "If he needs help so badly, why isn't he asking me?"

"They hurt him." Cena hissed, pursing his lips into a mean scowl, his blue eyes flashing as he stared into Hunter's stony gaze.

"Who? The Nexus?" The blonde behemoth stiffened as he spoke, "I've seen what they've been doing to him on RAW…"

"Trust me Hunter," John's words were clipped with barely concealed fury, "It's much worse then anyone knows."

"Randy's a fighter." Hunter tilted his jaw up, his words both proud and defiant, "I don't understand how he'd let them hurt him. The Randy I knew would've crushed each and every one of them if they got in his way."

"Its not that simple." Cena replied evenly, "They gang up on him, corner him and surprise attack him. They always attack him when he's weak… Wade Barrett…he…he attacked him after their match last night."

"Barrett beat him up?" Hunter shook his head again, frowning deeply.

"He didn't just beat him." John spoke softly, his words pained.

"What do you mean?" The Game could feel his breath catching in his throat, like he was swallowing air into his stomach. He wasn't naïve…he knew exactly what men usually wanted from Randy…

"Barrett…Barrett forced him." Cena admitted quietly, breaking eye contact, choosing instead to stare at the asphalt.

They both fell silent.

"Help me make him pay. For Randy." John said, lifting his eyes.

Hunter would not meet his stare, instead clenching his jaws and staring past John, staring into the black air of nighttime.

"Barrett has been hurting him for a long time." John continued, his words slippery and persuasive, "But he's gone too far…I found Randy in the locker room. He was a mess…bleeding, crying, just about unconscious. He barely even recognized me when I walked in."

Hunter's meaty hands curled into fists.

"We can't let Barrett get away with this." John growled, his voice getting louder with each word, "He hurt Randy! He put his hands on him! He made him bleed, gave him a black eye! We can't let him just walk away from that."

Hunter was clenching his hands so tightly his nails were digging crescent-shaped pits into his fleshy palms.

"I know you care a lot about Randy." Cena continued, sensing victory, "Barrett knows how much you care about Randy…and he still hurt him. You can't let him get away with hurting someone you're so close to, someone you care so much about…can you?"

The blonde bit his bottom lip then, suppressing a snarl of rage.

"Help me punish Barrett." Cena took a step towards Hunter, "I can't take on the Nexus alone…I need your help to make sure Barrett can never hurt Randy again."

"I'll kill him." Hunter hissed past his clenched teeth.

"You say that like it's a problem." John chuckled darkly, "Come on. There's someone else who I think will want to help us."

"Do we really need his help?" Hunter mumbled in irritation as he and John stepped out of the hotel elevator. They were on the highest level of the hotel, the fifteenth floor, which seemed to have a green theme to it. As they walked down the hall, their feet strode over emerald carpet, the off-white walls lined with paintings of landscapes. Whoever decorated this level must've had a thing for fields of flowers, for every picture they passed was of paradisiacal meadows. It was an altogether pleasant effect, giving the floor a peaceful feeling to it. The room they were looking for was 1550…all the way at the south end of the hall. It had only taken a single phone call to Jason Reso to find what room they needed to go to. Thankfully, John was on good terms with Jay, and he'd been all too happy to help them.

"You and I could probably take out the Nexus ourselves." Hunter continued, walking on John's left side, "Do we really need to involve him?"

"Barrett has Gabriel, Slater, and Otunga all on his side. And maybe Harris and McGilicutty too." Cena shook his head, arms swinging as they walked on, "Me and you are good, but were only two people. It'd be two, maybe three on one if it was just me and you."

"Please," Hunter snorted, "I could snap Gabriel and Slater in half…at the same time. And Otunga probably won't stick around for a fight…everyone knows he hates taking orders from Barrett. I just don't think we need to involve someone else."

"Is there some other reason you don't want him to help us?" Cena's blue eyes shifted, staring at the blonde as they passed door after door, "You seem pretty against asking him for help."

"Let's just say we've never exactly seen eye to eye." Hunter replied curtly, "Then again, I guess I've never really gotten along with anyone Randy's dated. He's got a serious problem with picking guys that are all wrong for him."

"Right." John nodded stiffly, turning away from Hunter

"This is it." Hunter said as they came to a halt in front of room 1550. Raising his fist, Hunter reached out, banging on the door loudly. Cena winced as the King of Kings practically busted the door in two with his knocking, but he remained silent, reminding himself that he needed to keep the hulking blonde on his side. Especially if he was going to have any luck convincing Randy's ex to help them…

The door swung open, and immediately Adam Copeland was standing before them.

The Rated R Superstar must not have been sleeping, despite the fact that it was three-thirty in the morning. He was wearing dark, ripped jeans that were far too smooth to have been slept in. The black t-shirt he wore, too, was unwrinkled, though it looked like he'd just slipped it on. His hazel eyes were wide and questioning as he looked at John, but as his gaze traveled to the left, his eyes quickly narrowed with suspicion. A lazy smirk crossed Adam's face as he met Hunter's glare, one of his slender hands reaching up and running through his wavy blonde locks.

"Cena. Hunter." Adam rolled his eyes, "What a pleasure."

"Cut the attitude Copeland," Hunter spat, "We're not here to play silly little games with you."

"Nice to see you're as warm and fuzzy as ever." Adam chuckled drily, turning away from Hunter so that he was looking into Cena's pale eyes, "Can I ask what the hell you're doing here? Blondie here I'm guessing just enjoys my company so much he couldn't stay away…but what do you want?"

Hunter opened his mouth to angrily retort back, but John beat him to it, shooting Hunter a warning look.

"We've got something important to talk about. Mind if we come in?" Cena said quickly, hoping to keep as much peace as possible between the two blondes.

"By all means…" Adam stepped back from the door, holding out his arm in a mock welcoming.

John and Hunter walked in, heading toward the center of the room, feet shuffling across a dull, beige carpet. The room was a bit cluttered; clothes were scattered across the floor and the bed was completely undone with blankets and sheets thrown haphazardly across the mattress. A bright light was shining from the center of the ceiling, its rays strong enough to make both Hunter and Cena grimace with displeasure. Adam didn't seem to care, however, as he strode in normal as ever, his eyes still focused on the two men before him.

"Can we make this quick?" Copeland reached up, rubbing at the blonde scruff on his chin, "I don't know if you two realize this, but it's pushing four-o'clock in the morning, and my bed's looking quite inviting right about now."

"We need to talk to you about something serious." John said slowly, folding his muscular arms across his chest.

"Let me guess…Randy's got himself in some sort of trouble, hasn't he?" Adam sighed, reaching up and running his hand through his hair again, "What a fucking surprise."

"How did you know?" Cena cocked his head to the side in surprise.

"The only time Hunter can ever stomach my presence is because of Randy." Copeland shrugged, shooting the Game a sly grin, "So what's he done now? Oh wait, I know! He's got some asshole giving him trouble, doesn't he?"

"Something like that." Cena nodded, surprised that Adam was catching on so quickly. How long had he and Randy dated again? A year…maybe more? For some reason John was now suddenly feeling on edge, wondering why on earth he had to go to one of Randy's ex's—of all people—for help.

"You know, that was something you were right about, Hunter." Copeland continued, leaning against the drywall of his hotel room, "Randy always did attract the jerks… I like to think that I was one of the better ones, but I guess that's Randy's judgment, isn't it?"

"You didn't smack him around, I'll give you that, Copeland." Hunter admitted begrudgingly, spitting out those words as if it physically hurt to say them.

"Huh, guess I deserve a fucking medal." Adam laughed, though his eyes remained dark, "But really, how bad is it?"

"Bad." Cena replied quietly, forcing himself to look the taller man in the eye.

Adam turned to Hunter, his eyes asking a silent question. Hunter didn't say anything, merely giving a single, short, jerking nod of his head, his lips twisting into a scowl. Copeland turned back to Cena then, his jaws tightening like he was grinding his teeth together.

"That bad?" Adam asked, his voice low and suddenly sounding very, very tired.

"As bad as it could be." Cena answered slowly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Copeland snapped, straightening up as he leaned away from the wall, his eyes darting back and forth between Hunter and John.

"Wade Barrett forced Randy into sex after Survivor Series." Hunter snarled, his eyes dropping to the floor as he verbalized the very thing that had been crushing his mind ever since he and John had left the parking lot.

The whole room went silent.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Adam looked back and forth, his eyes swinging from John to Hunter and then back again, "You're fucking joking…right?"

Silence. Hunter was still staring at the carpet, and John seemed to be looking at nothing, for his eyes were glazed over and distant.

"Well…that was unexpected." Copeland said quietly, his words slow and careful.

He turned and struck out his fist with a growl like an animal, his hand going straight through the drywall of his hotel room, his arm burying itself up to the elbow in the wall. The sudden scream of rage had shocked both Hunter and John, making them jump in surprise as Adam took out his fury on the wall. The sudden uncontrolled anger was so unexpected that Hunter and John exchanged worried looks, blue eyes meeting brown, both unsure of how to react. It had happened so fast, the impact so loud and so strong…neither one of them had been prepared for it.

"I'll fucking kill him." Adam hissed as he yanked his arm out of the wall, bits of paint and drywall stuck to his shirt sleeve, "How did you guys find out about it?"

"I found him in his locker room after our match." Cena answered, "It was maybe twenty minutes after—"

"Wait, why were you going to his locker room after your match?" Adam whirled on John, glaring at him with suspicion.

"I…uh…" Cena stammered, unable to come up with a quick response. To his horror, Hunter, too, turned on him, the blonde suddenly looking at him as if seeing him for the first time. Great…this was not what he needed right now.

"Oh, that's just great." Adam laughed sarcastically, "You're fucking him, aren't you?"

"I…wouldn't say it like that." Cena reached up, rubbing the back of his head, his cheeks flaming bright red.

"Funny, you neglected to mention this to me." Hunter sneered.

"Does it make a difference?" Cena huffed impatiently, "So what if me and Randy have been seeing each other? Are you two going to help me crush Barrett or not?"

"Of course I'm still going to end the Nexus." Hunter nodded eagerly, "But after that you and I need to have a talk."

"Well, I enjoy hurting people…especially people who have hurt my Randy." Adam gave a cruel smirk, "So count me in."

"You're Randy?" Cena scowled deeply in displeasure.

"He was mine way before he was ever yours." Adam replied testily.

"You haven't even seen him in months!" John scoffed, turning and facing Adam head on, "Besides, I'm pretty sure its me he's been staying with—"

"Both of you seem to forget that I have been close with Randy for five times as long as either of you." Hunter snapped, "Now quit this pissing contest. Adam, you know you and Randy haven't been anything for years now, so quit antagonizing his newest fuck buddy."

"We're not just fuck buddies." Cena grumbled.

"Like I care." Hunter rolled his eyes, "Just remember if you hurt him I'll cut your balls off."

"Don't worry, he's all talk." Adam said, patting John on his thick shoulder, "Now, are we going to rip Barrett into pieces or not"

"Right." John nodded, turning and heading for the door, "Let's go find the Nexus."

"You know, this could actually be a good bonding activity for the three of us." Adam grinned.

"Shut up Copeland." Hunter spat as he followed Cena to the door, "When this is all said and done I'm still going to hate you."

"What if I break Barrett's jaw?" Adam smiled, revealing white teeth, "Would you still hate me then?"

Hunter paused for a moment, considering the question.

"I suppose if you broke his face I'd hate you a little less then I do now." Hunter admitted with a sadistic smirk.

"Somehow I think the three of us are going to have a lot of fun beating the shit out of the Nexus." Adam replied.

"You have no idea." Cena hissed, his hand wrapping around the doorknob and pushing the door open.