A/N: I wrote this maybe three or four weeks before Morrison's release was official- before we knew R-Truth was suspended. It became unusable at that point, for obvious reasons, but I decided to post it as a cut scene, so it has no connection to the actual storyline. It's set on the night following Morrison's final match, when I had no idea what WWE was going to do, so it's kind of open about what happened before and after. Enjoy.
November 28th, after Raw
Miz can barely focus on Truth's exciteable rambles, Laurinaitis' ruthless announcement of Morrison's firing ringing in his ears, the look on John's face burnt into his retinas. He roughly stabs the keycard into the hotel room door, almost pulling the doorknob off as he barges into the room, dropping immediately onto the nearest bed, his duffel forgotten on the floor.
Amazingly, Truth isn't completely dense and, taking Mike's stony silence as his cue, begins his nightly rituals, just coming out of the bathroom fifteen minutes later when there's a knock at the door.
Mike huffs when his tag partner doesn't move towards the door, finally getting up himself when the knocks grow louder, more forceful. "What?" he snaps, stopping short as he realizes it's Morrison standing in the doorway. "Son of a bitch," he mutters, not caring in the slightest that Truth is staring harshly at them from across the room. He steps forward and wraps his arms tightly around John. "This sucks ass," he mumbles against John's shoulder.
Morrison nods, his arms instinctively reaching up to return the hug. "Yeah, no kidding." They finally step away from each other as John peers over Mike's shoulder at an incredulously glaring Truth. "I don't have a lot of time, Mike. They're 'escorting' me out of the hotel, too... But Alex wants to go somewhere. probably to eat. Do you want to come along?"
"Oh, hell yes," Mike says decisively, relieved for the excuse to get a break from Truth. After the last few hours, he has no patience left for his current tag partner. He almost trips over his own duffel in his haste to reclaim the jacket that he had left on the end of his bed, cursing colorfully before regaining his composure. "Come on, let's go."
John hesitates, holding onto the door as Miz pauses in the hallway, waiting to see what the hold up is. "You go on ahead, I have some... unfinished business here."
It's at this moment that Mike realizes John hasn't looked away from Truth once. "John..."
"Just gonna discuss something, Mike. I swear."
He groans, rolling his eyes so hard it looks almost painful. "You have five minutes. I'll be waiting by the elevators." At John's tense nod, he reluctantly leaves them behind, the door clicking shut behind him echoing ominously through the hallway.
John's lips twitch into a ridiculous, little grin as he saunters slowly over to Truth, who's been frozen between the second bed and opposing wall this whole time. "Ah, Ron, Ron, Ron," he murmurs, quickly encroaching on the other man's personal space.
"Don't call me that," he snaps, his eyes widening as Morrison moves in a blink of an eye, successfully cornering him. "What the hell you doin'?"
"Like I told Mike, talking. That's all." He only remains near enough to ensure that the other man can't easily get away. "You know, I've seen first hand what you do to tag partners... and supposed friends alike. Hell, what you do to them are much worse than what you do to enemies." He pauses, carelessly flicking at Truth's dreads, chuckling when his hand gets swatted away.
"I'll admit, I let my ego get in the way over the #1 contendership thing. Probably deserved a punch or two for it... but everything? The many cheap attacks, the injury... no, I don't think so I deserved all of that. Somewhere deep down, I bet you don't think I did, either. But that's all in the past now. I'm not a WWE competitor anymore and yet you remain, as Mike's tag partner." With each word, he inches a little closer until finally taking a deep breath, his hand now pressed flat against the wall next to Truth's head.
"See, I'm gonna have a lot of free time for awhile. I'll be watching, listening... I get an inkling of anything you're doing that hits just a little close to home, maybe I'll find some time to head over to the Carolinas and see what's really up." Smirking at the troubled look on his former partner's face, he thuds his palm against the wall before pulling away and heading for the door, the threat lingering in the air.
"Why do you care?" Truth finally manages to ask before Morrison opens the door. "I thought y'all hated each other."
John shrugs, turning to look at him one last time. "I guess that's the difference between us. Even when Miz pissed me off the most, I never completely stopped considering him a friend, deserving of another chance." He raises an eyebrow at Truth before leaving the room, slamming the door behind him.
As promised, Mike is waiting by the elevators, tension easing out of his shoulders as he sees no visible injuries on John. "He still standing?"
"Last I checked," John nods grimly as they enter the elevator side by side. All the more relieved, Mike presses the button to take them to the lobby to meet up with Alex.