Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, other than Brielle.
Rated: M (Mature)
Warning(s): Slash, Het, Strippers, Exotic Dancing, etc.

Adam frowned. It had been two days since he had taken John's offer and now Brielle was set to have her operation in two hours. He had wanted to be there for her, but the doctor had said if he didn't rest himself, he would be sedated. Adam sat in the booth in a 24-hour café, a coffee in hand. Slowly, he stirred the brown liquid to make sure that all of the creamer and sweetener dissolved. He really wasn't all that interested in his drink.

The beautiful blond barely even noticed when Randy walked into the café and came over to his booth. The tattooed man slid into Adam's booth and, for a moment, stared at him. Adam drank some of his coffee, before he set it aside and slowly allowed his eyes to travel over Randy's finely muscled body. He studied Randy, unsure of what to make of him. And then, he cracked a small smile.

"I think that this is the first time that we've met in a place outside of the club." Aside from that one time where Adam was tackled by Randy's mutt, however. "Is there a reason why you're still awake at 3:00 AM?"

"Actually, there is. John told me that I could find you here. He said that the doctor threatened to sedate you if you didn't head home for some rest. I didn't know that you're daughter was sick." Randy said to him.

Adam shrugged. He stared down at his coffee sadly. "Not many do. I don't like to publicize it. Brielle's been the target of a lot of heat for awhile, I don't want her to have to endure anymore."

"You haven't been at the club lately." Randy continued. "Did you quit?"

Adam shook his head. "No. I just took a few days off so that I can make sure that Brielle is okay."

"That makes sense." Randy said. He called the waitress over and ordered some coffee as well.

Suddenly, a question came to Adam's mind. "You said that John told you that you could find me here. How do you know John? Do you work with him?"

Randy chuckled. "Yeah. You could say that." The waitress came back with his coffee and Randy thanked her with a charming smile. "I'm his boss, actually. I'm also Phil and Mike's boss."

Adam smiled wistfully. "It must be fun to be at the top of the food chain."

"Sometimes." Randy confessed. "Other times, it feels like shit rolls up hill."

Adam chuckled. Why hadn't he realized that Randy was so funny before now? Maybe it was because they hadn't actually had any time to spend with one another before. Adam had always been busy with work and Brielle and Randy had his own life that he had to worry about. He had a beautiful little girl and he most likely had a wife, but he never mentioned her and Adam never asked.

Slowly, Adam turned his attention back to his coffee. He could feel that knot of tension form in his stomach. One hour and forty-five minutes now. And then there would be several hours of surgery… and then his little baby would finally be okay. He knew that he shouldn't be so stressed out. After all, Brielle was in the best hands at the moment. But he couldn't help it. Brielle was all that he had left.

"Where do you work?" Adam asked all of a sudden. He wanted to know more about Randy.

"I work for All World Promotions. It's a modeling agency that has a hand in different promotional companies all over the world. John Cena is a model. Phil and Mike are managers." Randy explained.

"How did you come to work for a modeling agency? That doesn't really seem like your style." Adam said.

Randy's smile fell a little bit. "My wife, Sam, was a model. She was one of the first models that AW ever hired. That was, of course, until she was killed in a head-on collision less than a month later."

Adam looked down, embarrassed. He didn't mean to make Randy relive that. "I'm very sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have asked…"

Randy shook his head. "It's not your fault. You didn't know."

A comfortable silence fell over them. One hour and thirty-five minutes. That was all that was left. That was all that stood between his daughter and her future as a healthy child. Randy looked down at his hand and his ice-cold blue eyes focused in on the ring that was still on his finger. It must've looked a little odd, he reasoned. After all, he had just confessed that his wife had died.

Actually, the real reason that he still wore the ring was because it was his last connection that he had to his wife. Well, the last connection that he had that wasn't Alannah. It was well-known that Randy absolutely adored his baby, but he knew that she wasn't her mother. Hell, he even knew that wearing that ring every minute of every day would never bring her back. It was just a comfort for him to do so.

For the third time in the course of twenty minutes, Adam checked his watch. Normally, Randy would be insulted. However, he knew that Adam was worried about his baby and he wouldn't rest until he was sure that she was okay. Randy knew that, if it where him in that situation, he would feel the exact same way. It was just an instinct. It was that primal need to protect those close to you. Randy understood that.

The waitress came back over to the table. "Will that be all for the two of you?" Both men nodded. "Would you like separate bills?" Adam was about to nod, but Randy shook his head.

"No. I'll take the bill this time." The waitress hesitated for only a moment, before she scribbled down the amount and passed it to him. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Adam watched him uncertainly as Randy flipped out a few bills and left them on the table. "You didn't have to do that. I can afford one little cup of coffee."

"Don't worry about it." Randy shook his head. He slid out of the booth and held out his hand. "Let me drive you home. I don't want you out alone in the dark."

Adam hesitated for only a moment, before he took the outstretched hand. "Okay."

The loud screech of the heart monitor filled the silence of the room. Almost immediately, a doctor and several nurses entered the room with a crash kit. Hunter lay on the bed, his head off to one side. His bare chest was exposed and the dressing on his gunshot wound was extremely bloody. The nurse put on a fresh pair of gloves and carefully peeled it away. Underneath, the wound was a fierce red color and there was blood smeared everywhere.

One of the nurses took out fresh gauze and wet it with saline, before she started to clean off the blood all over Hunter's chest. Meanwhile, the doctor took out a small pair of scissors and cut up the mangled stitches that had been torn when Hunter tried to jerk his body away from Chris. He sterilized a new needle and started to stitch up the gunshot wound. He pinched the skin together and made sure that it was bound securely.

Once he was finished, another nurse sterilized the stitches and covered it with a fresh, dry sheet of gauze. After that was done, they set up a new tube of IV and put a fresh bag of morphine on the hook. When the line was attached, it took a few seconds, but his heart rate slowly started to decline. Soon, the steady beat of his heart calmed down and the tension released for a body. For the moment, he was back to stability.

Jeff stood outside of Phil's bedroom. He was truly at a loss for what to do. He knew that what he had said to Phil was extremely hurtful, but it had been a defense mechanism. He didn't know how to handle what he felt, so he had lashed out at Phil. Jeff looked down, embarrassed. But he shook it off and walked over to Phil's bedside. The ravenette was asleep and stretched out on his side.

"Phil… please don't be mad at me. I'm sorry that I said what I did. I was just scared, that's all. Please, tell me that you believe me." Jeff said softly, even if he knew that Phil couldn't hear him.

When Jeff didn't receive an answer, he sighed. Slowly, he went down on the floor and stretched out on the hard wood. Curling his hands underneath his head, he closed his eyes and started to count backwards from ten. Within a few seconds, he was asleep…