Chapter Thirty Nine

Note: Chapter 40 is the Epilogue…Meaning the END XD But of course there's an alternate ending that you can find on live journal. Sorry but you have get an account and I'll have to add you as a friend before you can read it. Too many people just zip right on by those warnings! I also post fics there that I don't post here so feel free to take a look around XD

*This chapter happens pretty quick but the Epilogue will answer all questions and tie up loose ends*

It hurt being shot. To Randy it felt like a searing hot tiny piece of jagged metal tearing its way through his body; cutting and severing muscle and tissue that bleed profusely as they gave way in places where they really shouldn't. It hit him in the chest, he'd felt it piece inward and lost it somewhere midway through. But Randy was strong, so very strong; and he'd fired off two more rounds that he saw hit both Alex and Michael before he went down. Cody was behind him somehow saved from the bullets but not Randy's body that knocked him over as he crashed to the ground, crushing him as he sprawled out in agony.

He couldn't help it! His chest just hurt so fucking bad!-! "Orton!" Hunter suddenly screamed standing over him with hands in his hair; eyes panicked and wide with absolute fear, "Randy! Oh god fuck… FUCK!-!-!-!" He dove down but Randy couldn't see where he went, he couldn't even try; his head was just too heavy! Oh god and his chest fucking HURT! "Hang on baby," He heard Cody plea, his voice exhausted and so horribly frightened. "Just hang on!"

He blinked rapidly but couldn't really feel himself doing it. Was there something in his eyes? Hang on to what?-? Fuck he was so confused. "Can we go home now?" That's all he wanted; to go home and be happy and safe with Cody like they were meant to be! "Is-Is it safe?"

"We're okay Randy, we're okay."

"Is Michael dead?"

"They're all dead baby," Cody answered him quickly each time but he couldn't even see him now. In fact he couldn't see anything but a bright, blinding white light shining mercilessly from somewhere above. No it wasn't God, just the lights…He hoped. Where was he again? "Cody?-!" He called the only name that would bring him comfort, reaching out blindly. Or at least he thought he was but after a few moments he realized his hands had never left the floor and tried harder to bring them up, gasping as he found them unresponsive until suddenly they jerked back to life and sprang into the air. "Cody!" Oh god FUCK this was so fucking bad!-!

"Who are you?-! Get away from him!"

"It's aright Mr. Rhodes I'm agent Bourne," Agent who?-! That name was so NOT familiar! "I'm FBI. Sorry it took me so long but I've got a live feed to my team who are set up just down the street. They've already called for back-up." FBI?-! Since when had those uptight assholes join in on the Mizanin game?-! Fuck that would have been nice to know!-! "You're premed right?"

"Yeah but I never finished my last rotation! I-I can't help him!"

Help who?-! Him?-! Fuck he wished he could see what the fuck was going on! That way he could sit up and tell that FBI son of a bitch that they could have saved all of them from this! They could have saved Cody from Michael and spared him having ever been put on Christopher's fucking table! And God damn it not to mention the fact that they could have told him he had "back-up" fucking weeks ago!-! "Where the FUCK have you guys been?-!" He heard his partner steal the words right out of his mouth in hiss from somewhere below his neck line. "You've known he was in trouble for weeks and you didn't do anything about it?-! What the fuck if wrong with you people?-!…You son of a bitch if he dies this is on you!..." Wait. If who dies?-! Oh god and why did Hunter seem so far away?-! He jerked his head up desperately trying to see and in the same instant fell into darkness. At least that's what it felt like; like he was falling but he couldn't see the direction, or where he was, or where he was falling too…

Until suddenly it stopped and there was the distinct sound of his heart beating too quickly and his labored breaths filling in his ears, silencing all else and, a long humming bright white light above…and then another…and another. What the fuck?-!

"I'm right here baby," He heard Cody say but his voice was so faint, so distant and muffled and-and scared. "I'm right here you're going to be okay," Then why didn't his voice sound like it? Why did it sound like he was fucking terrified?-! "I love you." Oh god! "Cody?-!" His whole body jerked upwards with his cry as the world exploded over his eyes and revealed the awful green coloring of the Las Vegas hospital's emergency room he'd only ever stepped foot in once before. It was only for a few minutes to drop off a perp who'd run from him and taken a nasty spill but he'd never forgotten those ugly green walls. They were hideous and at the time wondered if maybe they sometimes made the people there sicker to look at when they were fighting for their lives? Sure green was a good color to promote health and wellness but, not THAT ugly shade of puke green! And now he knew it was true; seeing those ugly green walls made his stomach churn and something hot well upwards from his gut to his throat. Or maybe he was just so out of it now that even the walls were his enemy?

Whatever was in his stomach came up in a hurry and spewed from his lips as he turned and gagged, fighting like hell to block out the pain burning in his chest; his body tightening painfully and convulsing as he wretched. God damn it the bullet was small but fuck it felt like a whole fucking brick had gone threw him from one side to the other! Even his back fucking hurt!

He stopped retching after what felt like eternity and fell limp into the waiting hands of the nurses and doctors rapidly fussing over his body. What they were doing he wasn't sure but he couldn't look even if he wanted to. And he couldn't feel them either. All he felt now was pure agony and searing hot pain that shook his entire body in a fit of violent trembles as he fought like hell not to panic. "Mr. Orton you need to be still!" Someone, a woman, said above him, her face appearing over him and gracefully blocking out the blinding lights above; and those ugly green walls too. "Mr. Orton can you hear me?" She was older, probably mid-forties to early fifties with brown and slighted gray peppered short hair that came down to just above his shoulder. She looked mean, like she'd slap the hell out of him if he didn't comply and he wasn't about to test her! Besides she was only trying to help!

He nodded slowly, taking a shaky deep breath and rolled his head and looked for Cody; he'd only just heard his voice but a minute go! "Cody?" He tried to call but heard his voice muffled, discovering a clear mask strapped over his mouth. He pulled it down, "Cody?-?-?" Fuck he didn't see him! Oh god how could that be?-! He'd just heard him say he was with him! Oh god he was just right fucking there wasn't he?-! "Mr. Orton you need to leave that on." The nurse was quick to scold and put the mask back into place. He ignored her and did it again, his eyes rolling and threatening to close on their own accord; but he fought it, tearing them open, "Cody!" Oh god where was he?-! Why wasn't he answering?-! Had he been shot too? Had the bullet gone threw him and hit Cody?-! "CODY PLEASE!" Answer him!-!-!

"Nurse open those doors!"

"But we're almost finished-"

"Just do it!"

"Cody!-!"

"Mr. Orton LOOK!-!" A deeper voice shouted and his head was pushed to the side, a hand pointing along with the nurse above his head towards another room just a few feet away, a set swinging stainless steel doors now propped open wide; and there was Cody.

Cody was sitting up on a gurney; his body splattered and stained with blood but his front was soaked with it so much that the jumpsuit clung to his chest and legs. He looked scared, eyes wide and face pale beneath the blood; shaking and pushing everyone away that came near him. "I'm fine!" But he wasn't, even Randy could see that.

He tried to calm down as he watched the doctors and nurses rush around Cody who tried to keep them at bay; their hands quickly thwarting his attempts and tending to his cuts and something else that looked worse than the rest, although it wasn't bleeding as badly as the others. He looked weak, pale, and terrifyingly defeated, all of which made Randal want to leap out of bed and rush to his side. But of course he didn't, he couldn't, he tried! But while he'd been calm they'd strapped him down to the fucking table! He tried bringing his hands up, nothing. He tried moving his legs, they barely budged. He went to sit up, and that was just impossible.

Fucking HELL! They DIDN'T have to do that! If they were trying to keep him from panicking they were going about it the wrong way!

With a deep grunt he tried reaching for Cody against the tight leather he felt biting into his skin around his wrists; but that only earned him even tighter strapping from the nurse that just wouldn't go the fuck away. He gave her a nasty glare and cursed her until she backed away and held up her hands in retreat. Stupid bitch! She wasn't helping anything! She was only making it worse!

He squirmed against the straps as he watched a tall doctor with short dark hair lower Cody's bed, laying him down quickly as if something were wrong. "Cody?" He murmured; lifting his head to see only to have the same rude nurse in charge of his straps forced him back down. "Mr. Orton please stop!" She asked as he took hold of his bound hand, "We're trying to help you!" Bullshit! They were trying to keep them apart! "Mr. Orton PLEASE!-!"

"Randy?-?" He heard Cody call; jerking towards him and it made his head spin. Shit. "Cody?-?" He blinked, feeling himself starting to fall into a dizzying haze. "Baby?-!" Cody mouthed to him, eyes wide with such fear and concern. "Nurse, get those straps off now! We have to move him!" What? Move who?-! "Me?-!" Shit shit shit! "Where are you taking me?-!" He finally looked towards the men and women over him but could only see sheer determination and confidence on their angry faces; and yet, he couldn't hear them. Their mouths were moving but there was no sound, not a fucking peep! Oh god!-! Was he… dying?-!

"Cody!-!" He looking to him and found him struggling to be held in place, his hand stretched out in a frantic gesture and his mouth open wide, tears streaming, his eyes wide and utterly terrified.

Oh god oh god Oh god, please!-! Save them!-! "Cody!-!" He let out a loud, roar of his lovers name before he pushed through the haze with everything he had and reached hard towards Cody frantically trying to get to him from the other room; finally breaking free and almost fell off the bed. He just wanted to be close to him; feel his love that he thought would make everything alright!

It didn't. He was too weak and no matter how hard he tried to get up and get to Cody he just couldn't reach him. He stood and moved and so did everything else, including those ugly green walls that oddly seemed much dimmer now. He took another step and it was like the room itself kept moving away and didn't stop until he lost his strength and fell.

He hit the ground hard, the room growing eerily silent as he panted and struggled for strength against the cold, unforgiving tile.

"RANDY!" Cody's scream throbbed in his ears as he stood up, only this time he was facing the other way and almost dropped instantly. Because there, still on the table and still tightly trapped there beneath heavy straps, was him. Not Cody but Randy, still on the gurney, only now a big tube had replaced the mask he'd fought to remove. And he wasn't moving.

His body was pale in the small spaces that it wasn't smeared with red; even his face was a deathly white that told him just how much blood he'd lost from the hole in his chest just below his right nipple…

Shit.

He gulped and turned to find Cody but found only darkness behind him and more eerie silence and suddenly felt so very afraid. This just couldn't be real; he had to be hallucinating because he was not starring at himself on that fucking gurney! He was not watching himself fucking die!

He blinked rapidly as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing, unknowingly moving closer to his body laying lifeless there without him. His heart should have been racing but the space there felt oddly hollow instead and as he gave his last hard blink he realized, he wasn't coming out of this just because he wanted to. This, ALL of this, was entirely out of his hands.

A weird sense of calm washed over him, settling his fears and worries and drawing him closer and closer to his body until he was leaning over it and smiling. "Wake up you dumb bastard, Mizanin's not taking us out like this." He spoke with his hysterical smile, the sense of calming turning to overwhelming joy as he reached down and touched his own blood stained face, "It's time to go home!" He didn't know why he was doing this, he just felt compelled to; like he needed to or he might not ever get back home! Fuck he was so delusional right now it was a wonder as to where he actually was!

He drew back on light feet, his smile jerking from his lips as he felt something start stinging in his chest, and something filling and readying to burst. Fuck now what?-! He started to panic as the calmness and joy left with a cold snap as his feet took him back a little further, the world starting to shake and fall to pieces; leaving only the bright light hanging above and his lifeless body laying prone on the gurney. And he ran to it, grabbing hold of the railing and held on as tight as he could. Something told him he should or he would crumble too! He would fall to bits and fade away just like everything else!

Fuck this was happening so fast! Just like everything else! God please just give him a minute to breathe! Show some fucking MERCY! He gripped tighter, leaning over his body and almost collided with a solid set of arms pressed at the hands against his bloody chest. His head snapped up, eyes growing wide upon seeing the tall doctor from Cody's room now standing over his own lifeless body, his arms stretched and flexed hard as they pumped, administering CPR, and failing to revive him.

Note: Hey everyone thanks again for reading this massive beast XD Sorry these last parts took so long but RL called and some other personal issues came up and then the whole falling out with the people I wrote this fic for…Lol I seriously think this fic is cursed and I'm not the superstitious type! I am SO glad it is OVER and please PLEASE do NOT ask for a sequel! I would but for those of you who read Cody Rhodes, The Outlaw In Black Tights, I'm redoing it XD Also hoping to get a sequel out at some point but we'll see. I've got other fics in the works so one thing at a time. BUT a BIG, no HUGE thanks goes out to my friends Kayleigh who helped with the faking Hunters death idea! And Cat who spends so much time typing this stuff up for me as well as helping me get passed the whole falling out thing. She really is awesome…Although often she does misplace her hands XD (inside joke) And, even though I don't speak with any of them anymore I should thank the people who inspired this story even if they never read it or gave it the time of day. Which sucks that they'd be so callus but I'd never have written this if it wasn't for them so, thanks Vyvrik, Jane, Tara, Vel and Cat. I may not get along with them (besides Cat)but I'll always give credit where credit should be given.