Inspiration For A Viper

Warnings: Bo Dallas and swearing, because Randy.

By the next day when Randy arrived at the Amway Center in Orlando for the Smackdown taping, he had forgotten about Bo Dallas.

Big mistake.

The kid was waiting outside the locker room, talking at some backstage hands, giving them encouragement and completely oblivious to the looks of rage and horror he was getting. Randy spotted him first and promptly turned in the other direction, striding away in his usual slow swagger. 'Act casual, act casual,' he told himself. If he hurried away, it would attract attention and he did not want anyone to think he was running from the kid, even if that was exactly what he was doing. He was nearly to the corner when he heard that dreaded voice behind him call out "Randy! Wait!"

Shit!

He made it around the corner and luck must have smiled on him because no one was in sight. There was a closed door next to him. It looked like a janitor's closet. He tried the knob and it turned. Breathing a 'thank you' to whatever gods were watching out for him, he slipped through the door and shut it behind him, leaning against it in relief. The closet was pitch dark, and as Randy listened for Bo's footsteps, he became aware of breathing, not his own nearby.

Swallowing nervously, he reached out along the wall, feeling for a light switch. 'Please don't be Golddust,' he prayed. 'Please don't be Golddust.' He hardened hisexpression into the famous scowl of the Viper and flipped the light on. He gasped in shock. "Rollins?"

Seth was frantically waving a finger in front of his lips. "Not so loud!" His eyes were wide and nervous. The Money in the Bank briefcase clutched in his hand like a weapon as he pressed his back against the back wall, next to the mops.

"What are you doing in here?" Randy demanded in a loud whisper.

Seth looked shifty. "Nothing, I just wanted to get away from everyone for a while...to, uh, think," he added defensively.

Randy wasn't fooled for a second. "In the dark? You're hiding from Ambrose, aren't you?"

"No!" Seth denied, then seeing he wasn't fooling Randy at all, he sighed, "Okay maybe. But Ambrose is always there, lurking. Waiting to attack. I can't turn around without getting jumped. The guy's a lunatic."

Considering what Seth had done, Randy felt no sympathy for Rollins. But he had to admit that he would have done exactly the same thing in Rollins' shoes. So it was a wash and Randy decided he didn't exactly care about Rollins' problems anyway. He had his own to deal with.

"Why are you in here?" Seth asked, with a look of suspicion.

"I just wanted to get away from everyone for a while...to, uh, think," Randy answered, daring Seth to say anything. Then he froze.

"Randy? Where did you go?" Bo's voice came through the door.

Randy stared at Seth, not daring to move a muscle. He was completely at Seth's mercy. If he wanted, Seth could give him away and there was nothing he could do about it. Then Bo's footsteps moved on and Randy couldn't help the a sigh of relief.

"You poor bastard," Seth whispered. "How long?"

"Since last night," Randy admitted.

"I think I'd rather deal with Ambrose," Seth said.

Nodding fervently in agreement, Randy opened the door slightly, trying to peak out and see of Bo was truly gone. The hallway was empty. He turned back to Seth. "Want me to turn the light off?" he asked. He owed the guy a turn since Seth could have outed Randy, but didn't.

Seth nodded and disappeared back into the dark as Randy slipped out of the closet and hurried away.

There were surprisingly few places to hide in the Amway Center, which is surprising considering the size of the building. But Kane had already staked out the boiler room, which was a bad idea in Randy's mind since the guy could summon fire whenever the hell he felt like it. Shadowy halls were infested with Wyatts, Golddust and Stardust (seriously Cody, what the fuck?). Randy also avoided secluded nooks since Ambrose tended lurk in those and the gorilla position was right out since that was where Kevin Dunn hung out and Randy couldn't stand the guy.

That left Hunter's office. He told himself he wasn't hiding from Bo, per se, but hanging out with his old friend. Hunter was on the phone but would occasionally shoot Randy a quizzical look. Finally, Hunter hung up the phone and asked "What do you want Randy?" He was busy and Randy's presence was distracting.

"Nothing," Randy said, trying for nonchalance and failing miserably. "I just came to see how Steph is doing. Jail sucks." Of course he was speaking from experience. The Marines had no sense of humor about some things.

"She's recovering," Hunter told him, now openly suspicious. Randy had never shown interest in anyone's health or welfare in the past.

There was an expectant silence as Hunter waited for Randy to either leave or tell him what was going on. It became a contest to see who would break first. There was no way in hell Randy would tell Hunter that he was hiding from Bo, but he couldn't think of another plausible explanation for his hanging around. Finally Hunter said, rather pointedly, "Shouldn't you be preparing for your match?"

Randy shrugged. "Its with Kane. I can beat him in my sleep."

"I see," Hunter replied. The tense silence resumed, until Hunter's phone rang again. With relief, Hunter picked up the phone, answered it, then raised his chin to address Randy. "Excuse me, but I need to take this call."

Randy nodded and waved a hand indicating to go ahead, he was fine with that.

Now seriously annoyed, Hunter gritted his teeth and said, "Privately."

Knowing he had pushed too far and was getting kicked out, Randy left the office, closing the door behind him, turned around and ran right into Bo Dallas. He resisted the urge to run back into Hunter's office and hide under the desk. Instead, he scowled hard and reminded himself that he was the Apex Predator, not Kofi Kingston.

"Randy! Hey buddy!" Bo greeted him with a huge smile. It seemed that Randy's warning last night had not deterred him in the slightest. "I heard you have a match tonight with Kane. You need to remember that if you try, you're already a winner! Unlike your match with Kane and Roman where you didn't try and walked out."

"Not your buddy, Bo," Randy growled back, his face flushing was anger. He crossed his arms over his chest, hoping he looked intimidating and not defensive. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from me?" he asked.

Bo just shrugged and said with a sunny grin, "But I want to help you, Randy. In the confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins..."

"Wait, what?" Randy interrupted, not understanding the drivel Bo was spouting, but catching the a familiar name all the same. "The Rock is coming back? Dammit, I should have known! He has a movie to promote and now I suppose he will get a shot at the title too. First Bastista and now him. That sucks!" he turned and kicked Hunter's door, causing Hunter to come storming out to chew ass.

He paused when he saw Randy and Bo, his eyes flicking between the two. Randy was looking like he'd love to be anywhere but where he was, and Bo was looking like Bo. Suddenly, everything became clear. "What's going on?" he asked, a gleam of humor in his eyes.

"Hi, Hunter!" Bo spoke before Randy could. "I was just telling my buddy Randy here that even though he blew his shot at the title, and walked out on his tag team partner, he shouldn't give up! He isn't that old and there is still time for him to realize his dreams."

"Your buddy?" Hunter asked. He better understood why Randy was in a snit and Hunter was enjoying this immensely.

"No, you said the Rock was coming back," Randy accused Bo. "And I'm not your buddy," he added.

"The Rock isn't coming back," Hunter reassured Randy. "Bo, what did you tell Randy?"

"I said 'In the confrontation between the river and the rock, the river always wins. Not through strength but by perseverance'." Bo grinned that wide, terrifying smile and Randy did not takea step back. He only shifted his weight away from Bo, he told himself.

Hunter noticed that too, because Randy could see the exact moment the idea came to Hunter, who had been looking back and forth between the two of them. An unholy gleam shone in his eyes and now Randy did take a step back because he knew, he just knew, that something bad was going to happen, and it was payback for annoying Hunter earlier.

"Randy, why don't you go get ready for your match. I need to talk to your buddy for bit about something." Hunter grinned a grin born of pure evil and put his arm around Bo's shoulders.

Eying Hunter and Bo, Randy tried to keep his unease hidden behind an expression of bored indifference until he was out of sight. He told himself he was not worrying about Hunter and Bo.

He wasn't.

God dammit.

TBC