Chapter 3

Hunter's question hung in the air as Randy stared back at him in disbelief. Where did the blonde man get off questioning him about this? It was not like he had a reason to. Randy had never lied to him before and, actually, he wasn't lying to him now, only omitting a certain piece of information. In fact, Randy had never been unfaithful to Hunter before tonight so the man should really give him the benefit of the doubt, shouldn't he?

At Randy's silence, Hunter turned his gaze on Dave next, eyes bright at the scent if victory. "So...where did you find our wayward boy?"

The large thug shrugged as he continued to lean against the wall. "At the hot tub."

Randy mentally thanked Dave but did not dare glance at the other man. It would make Hunter more suspicious than he already was.

The older man's voice was deceptively soft, sending an unpleasant shiver down Randy's spine. "And are you sure he was in there all that time?"

Again, Dave shrugged. "How'm I supposed t'know something like that? I'm not his keeper."

"Hunter," Everyone's attention was focused on Randy but he could not care at the moment. He was getting annoyed at this treatment. What was he, a little kid? "Why are you acting like this? When have I ever given you the slightest reason to be so suspicious of me? I was at the hot tub. Why don't you trust me?"

Hunter immediately turned to him and drew him into a tight embrace. "It's not you I don't trust, baby, it's all those others. I'm just trying to protect you. There's a lot of guys out there who would hurt you to get to me or even just for their own amusement. Guys who would act like they like you and try to seduce you. You're too innocent to understand and protect yourself and that's all I'm trying to do is protect you."

The words were sweet to Randy's ears and he lay his head on Hunter's broad shoulder.

"I just don't want to see you getting hurt. I don't want some pretty boy with a good body and a smooth line stealing you away from me." Gripping Randy's chin, the blonde man forced Randy to meet his eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing's going to happen. We're Evolution. No one's gonna fuck with us."

Hunter smiled at Randy's response and immediately claimed his mouth for a hard, demanding kiss.

Later that night, as Randy slept on his side, his back to the Game, he pondered what had happened tonight. Hunter's words could easily describe what had happened with Rob but Randy did not believe for a minute that Rob had been playing with him. It was not just that Rob did not seem the type, it was the small things. The things a person could not fake. There had been more gentleness, more caring in Rob's touch than he had ever felt from Hunter. If only he weren't in a relationship with Hunter. If only the blonde did not have the power to destroy both him and Rob. If only...

Randy closed his eyes and imagined Rob's touch again, turned his head into the pillow, remembering Rob's scent, his taste.

If only Rob were right and Randy didn't need Evolution.

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RAW 01-19-2004

Randy was sitting in the dressing room getting ready for his match later that night under the watchful eye of Hunter and Dave. This last week had been annoying to say the least. His lover had become even more possessive and overprotective than ever before. It had gotten to the point that Randy had not even been allowed to go to the workout room alone. The young man would almost think Dave had told Hunter something except the older man never accused him of anything. In fact, he was going out of his way to spoil Randy, buying him gifts, giving him compliments. If it weren't for the whole watching him like a hawk bit, Randy would have enjoyed it. As it was the constant attention was getting irritating.

Not as irritating, however, as their time in private had become. The large blonde had taken to fucking him at least once a night and it was fucking, not love making, not what Randy wanted, not what Rob had tried to give him. Maybe that was the problem. He had tasted Rob's gentleness which made Hunter's roughness just seem worse. However, it was becoming a problem. Randy had a match tonight but by previous day, Hunter had left him so overused and sore, he had to put his foot down. He had had to tell the older man that he needed a night off if he was going to be able to rest and his lover had not liked hearing that.

In fact, he had been furious. He had accused Randy of wanting someone else, which Randy had to, of course, deny. Then, he had decided to take it as a compliment, that he was just so big and such a great lover that he had worn Randy out. The third generation wrestler had decided to let Hunter believe that and that was that...almost.

Two other things had happened that Randy could not get off his mind. The first was when he had told Hunter no. The man had become furious so furious he had shoved the lighter man into a wall and Randy had actually feared Hunter would hit him, truly feared it. His lover had immediately been apologetic, holding Randy in a tender embrace as he apologized. In fact that was when Hunter had stopped accusing Randy and decided it was because he was just 'that damn good in bed' but the event still left Randy shaken.

The second thing had nothing to do with Hunter. Randy had walked out of their room this morning to find Dave in the sitting room, an open bottle of whiskey at his side, staring into a shot glass. It was not unusual to find an Evolution member drinking, it was not even unusual to find one passed out on the couch. What was unusual was the fact Dave was not drinking. The bottle had one shot missing and that shot was in Dave's hand. When Randy had greeted him, Dave had actually looked surprised to see that it was morning. As far as Randy could figure, Dave had sat there nursing that one shot most of the night.

Of course, Dave had been acting strange all week. The big man was always hovering near Randy. The only escape he had from the big man's supervision was when he went into his bedroom with Hunter and the only escape he had from Hunter was the bathroom. The strange thing was that Dave did not seem angry or menacing, he was just always there, always watching but he seemed to be watching Hunter more than Randy. The one time Randy had escaped Hunter's scrutiny long enough to ask Dave about it, the big man had shrugged his shoulders and claimed that it was nothing, that it was just coincidence, that the younger man was imagining things. Randy, though, was sure it was no coincidence and the constant double presences were beginning to drive him crazy.

Speaking of the hovering presences, Dave came to stand next to him and spoke in a low voice, "Rob won."

Randy nodded, not trusting himself to say anything and the big man did not seem to need a response. Standing up, he picked up a copy of the newest Raw, curious about the article on Evolution and to introduce a distraction from what Dave obviously knew. At least Dave had kept his part of the bargain, not telling Hunter about what he had seen, not even mentioning it again as far Randy knew, which left a certain tension hanging in the air. What was Dave going to want in return? With all the other questions hanging around, Randy did not need any further stress so he asked quietly while flipping through the pages of the magazine, "What do you want from me, Dave?"

"Doesn't look like this guy thinks Evolution'll stick 'round too long. What d'you think about that?"

Randy was about to point out that Dave was avoiding the question when he heard the door open and immediately answered Dave with the appropriately arrogant response. Ric Flair walked up shortly after that and the conversation turned to more important topics, like the match tonight, the Royal Rumble, and, most importantly, what would happen if Randy managed to win the right to challenge for the Heavyweight Championship belt. He was not lying when he said that it would be an honor to contend for the title. In fact, if he won it, beat Hunter, maybe then he would not need Evolution any longer and, if he did not need them...

The time for his match came and he left the room to get in position, waiting for his music in the dark, isolated area. It took him a few moments before he realized he was not alone.

Rob stepped out of the shadows to the side and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Randy. I'll see you in the ring later." Raising up, he pressed a light kiss to Randy's lips and strolled off.

Randy was too surprised to respond before Rob was gone and he had a hard time believing what had just happened. He had thought Rob would be mad at him or at least not interested in talking to him right now. Never in a million years would he have predicted what had just happened. He was so caught up in what had just happened that he was actually startled when his music hit. However, he recovered quickly, determined to prove Rob right and see him later in the ring.

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Randy was not in a good mood when he left the arena. After all that hard work, he had managed to be thrown over the rope. Worse, the man who had thrown him over the rope had been Goldberg, a man Hunter hated intensely. He just knew the older man was not going to be happy about that and he was not looking forward to facing him at the hotel.

Hunter had missed the taping of Raw tonight, saying he had something to do but he had apparently watched it because he called Ric while Randy was getting dressed and told them he would meet them at the hotel. It was not a good sign that he had called Ric like that and Randy really wished Hunter's business, whatever it had been, would have kept his lover away a little longer. Maybe then, the blonde would have been distracted from what happened or at least would have had time to calm down.

Unfortunately, Randy's luck was running very true to form and Hunter was waiting for him right now to 'discuss' what had happened tonight. The limo was silent as it moved through the dark streets which suited Randy fine, he did not feel in the mood for idle chit chat and the others seemed to pick up on it.

Once they arrived at the hotel, Ric split off to go to the bar in order to 'drown his sorrows'. Randy bet the veteran would find someone to help him 'forget his troubles'. Ric never seemed at a loss for agreeable company and Randy shook his head in slight envy.

The Nature Boy urged his tag team partner to join him in the hunt for fun but the big man shook his head, claiming to be tired which made both men raise an eyebrow. Dave had no wrestled tonight, so why was he tired? However, Randy was not in the mood to argue and Ric was hearing the call of the bar too strongly to really care, so he left the two youngest members to ride the elevator up to the suite alone and in silence.

Hunter was waiting for them as they walked in the door and he glared at Dave, obviously not having expected the other man to be there. Walking over, Hunter grabbed Randy's wrist. "I wanna talk to you in private." He never even gave Randy a chance to explain as he drug the young man into their bedroom, his grip tight and harsh. Once inside, the large blonde shoved Randy towards the center of the room and slammed the door while Randy looked on fearfully, rubbing his already bruising arm. "Just what the hell was that tonight?"

"Hunter, I didn't..."

"That's right! You didn't." Hunter's tone was filled with disdain. "You didn't win. You didn't succeed. You didn't do anything but get beat like the little bitch you are."

Randy's eyes opened wide at the harsh diatribe. "I didn't lose everything. I beat Hurricane and..."

Hunter did not let him finish. "Yeah, you beat a cruiser weight loser, you must be so proud!" Brown eyes shown with contempt. "How can you expect to win the Royal Rumble when you can't even beat five other men? Or were you planning on winning another way?"

"Hey, just 'cause I lost one match..." Randy's fear was turning into anger. Where did Hunter get off talking to him like that. It wasn't like the big blonde was undefeated. However, Hunter cut him off once again.

"You lost an important match! Of course I should be glad, I guess. This proves you won't be able to win the Rumble next Sunday so I won't have to listen to you whine, beg me to let you have my title."

The words slapped across Randy's pride. "I don't have to beg for that title. All I need is a shot, Hunter, you're not the only wrestler around here and I'm sick of you acting like I can't do anything on my own! I don't need you!"

He never even saw it coming. One minute the two of them were yelling at each other, the next, Randy was lying on the floor, staring up in shock and cradling his aching jaw. Hunter had hit him. Hunter had actually hit him and the blonde did not seem to be done yet either.

"Don't you ever fucking talk back to me like that again. I'm the Game! I am the Champion!" Hunter's boot impacted Randy's side, knocking him backwards. "I took you in! I made you a champion and this is how you repay me?" Hunter twisted his fist in Randy's shirt and yanked him up, then back fisted him hard enough to send him crashing back to the floor. "You fucking talk back to me? You fucking loser!"

Randy held up his hands, trying to fend off the next blow when he heard the door open and Dave call out Hunter's name. The Heavyweight champion looked over and Randy immediately took advantage of the distraction. He did not know why Dave had interrupted and he did not care. All he could think of was to put as much distance between him and the raging blonde as he could. Stumbling to his feet, he ran past the Evolution enforcer and out of the suite, a small part of him surprised that Dave had not stopped him. However, the greater part of him was just concerned with getting away, expecting to feel Hunter's rough hands on him, pulling him back to the room at any second as he hit the button for the elevator. He did not even dare to glance back, afraid of what he might see and he practically dove inside as the elevator arrived, turning and punching the door closed button. Once safely inside, Randy began to shake as his mind raced. Where could he go? He didn't have any friends outside of Evolution, no one who would help him except...maybe...Hitting the button to the lobby, Randy prayed he was right. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to look composed as he approached the front desk and asked for Rob's room number. Luckily the clerk happened to be a wrestling fan and recognized them both as wrestlers so it was easy for Randy to convince her to give him the information.

Smiling as best he could around his aching jaw, Randy thanked her and quickly returned to the elevator. The wait for the doors to open was agony as he kept imagining that they would open to reveal a very angry Hunter and he almost collapsed in relief when he saw the elevator was empty. Stumbling inside once again, he hit the button for Rob's floor, grateful that it was not the same as the one Evolution was on. Finally reaching Rob's door, Randy knocked, praying Rob would not turn him away, not knowing what he would do if that happened.

It took several minutes for the door to open and reveal Rob, shirtless and obviously just waking up. "Randy, hi." The smaller man's welcoming smile quickly turned to a frown and Randy guessed he probably looked really bad. Before he could even explain, however, or ask for help, Rob was holding a hand out to him stepping out of the door way. "Come on inside and sit down. You look like you're about to fall over."

Randy felt as if he was falling and the shaky feeling from earlier returned with a vengeance. He just wanted to curl up and die, humiliation and emotional pain blending with the physical pain to make him lose what little strength he had left and he wrapped his arms around himself to try to still the shaking, not even able to look at Rob. What must the man think of him?

"Randy, c'mon. Come inside and lay down. No one's gonna hurt you." Rob placed a gentle hand on his arm and Randy grabbed it like a drowning man grabbing a life line. Rob's other arm wrapped around his waist, gentle and non-threatening and Randy let himself be led inside, leaning on the shorter man.

Rob paused as he led Randy inside and the younger man assumed he was shutting the door because he heard the reassuring sound of a lock clicking. The shorter man was gentle as he led Randy across the room to the couch, rubbing Randy's back lightly as he murmured reassurance and encouragement to him. When they finally reached their destination, Randy curled up in Rob's lap, still clinging to the older man as if he would disappear and he was grateful when Rob did not object. Instead, the martial artist held him gently but firmly, stroking his back, and pressing light, comforting kisses on his temple, murmuring against his short hair. Randy could not understand what the brunette was saying but right now it did not matter. All that mattered was Rob's freely given comfort.

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Read Chapter Four of Catch Me