"Don't worry, baby. You're not going anywhere. I don't care what that damn draft thing said. We'll go talk to Vince after we're off air and work something out. Fuck that shit." Mike said, trying to comfort his best friend, and longtime lover, Paul.

"But baby, I have to fight Eddie in the main event tonight for their title! What am I going to do? I can't throw the match, or Eddie will know, but Vince will not let me vacate their title, either." Paul cried.

"We'll think of something. Don't we always? If all else fails, I'll make Eric trade me over there, too." Mike comforted.

"But, baby. She's there. You know how she is. She would never let us be together. She would always try to be up my ass. And I do not mean in the fun way!" Paul cried.

"Levesque, you're on in five." A voice called through the door.

"Well, baby, here goes nothing. I love you. Wish me luck." Paul told him. And with that, Jean-Paul Levesque was gone, and standing in his place, was Hunter Hurst Healmsley, the Game. All traces of love, caring, compassion, or even niceness were gone. In their place were cockiness, hate, and raw power. He looked at Mike emotionlessly for a moment, before turning and stalking out the door to the edge of the exit ramp.

Damn, I hate when he does that, Mike thought. He knew that the game was a part of Paul, hell, all good gimmicks were a part of the wrestler's personality, but usually Paul was very careful to not show that side to Mike, except in the ring. Tonight, however, he had changed right in front of him. That just goes to show how upset he is, I guess. So now what do I do? I can't let Stephanie win. Damnit, she got that damn ring on her finger, that's all she gets. He's mine. He was mine first, and he'll always be mine!

Mike finished getting dressed in regular clothes, and sat down to watch the monitor, trying to figure out how to get Paul back on Raw. Suddenly he had a brilliant idea. First things first, time to go cost Paul the title. Then he'd take Paul with him and go talk to Vince.

"Hey babe, want to go to dinner before we head back to the room?" Paul hollered from the showers.

"We can if you want to, but first we got to go talk to Vince. You know what you want to say?" Mike asked him.

"Yeah, that if he moves me to Smackdown I'll divorce that bitch that he calls a daughter!" Paul told him angrily.

"Uhg, baby, I don't think that would be the best thing to say. I mean, we want to get him on our side, not piss him off." Mike replied.

"Well, what would you suggest then?" Paul asked sarcastically as he came back into the locker room, drying himself off with a towel.

Mike looked up as Paul walked into the room and felt his mouth go dry. He cleared his throat, wet his lips and deliberately looked away from Paul as he dropped the towel and reached for his clothes. Damn, he looked good. Almost made him say forget it, we'll talk to Vince in the morning, but then, he knew if they waited, it would be harder to talk him around to their way of thinking. He just hoped that they wouldn't have to resort to threats. He glanced back over to Paul to see if he was almost ready, and saw that he was still naked and digging around in his bag. Damn, is he trying to kill me? Doesn't he realize what he does to me? But then Mike knew that Paul was still innocent in that way. He truly did not understand just what it was that he did to Mike. Shit, better distract myself before I attack him right here and we miss Vince.

"Any day now, babe. We do want to catch Vince before he leaves." Mike told him, standing up and walking over to his bags, checking to make sure everything was there, he pulled out his cell phone and put it in his pocket before zipping up the bag.

"Okay, I guess this will do. Let's go." Paul told him, picking up his bag. He reached over and took Mike's bag from him and put it in his hand with his own, throwing them both over one shoulder, he reached out and took Mike's hand in his own before leaving the locker room.

He knew people would stare at them, because the two were very careful to not be physical in public. They figured what they did behind closed doors was their own business, and as far as most people were concerned, they were just really good friends. Right now he just needed the reassurance he always felt when he was holding Mike. People would get over it.

Okay, so there had been some talk about them during the D-X days, but then they HAD flamed pretty bad back then. And maybe kissing in the ring in front of millions of fans had been a bad idea, but it had just fit with the way the script was running at the time. Besides, most people never noticed Mike's tongue going down his throat, and they managed to pull away from each other and play it off, so…besides, even at that time, they had been very careful to not touch each other backstage unless the cameras were on or they were alone. So what if they were all over each other while the cameras were on. So were most of the other tag teams at that time. They managed to just pull it off as a kliq thing. Hell, they hadn't been anywhere near as bad as Kev and Scotty were acting over in WCW at the time. The good thing was they all had the influence needed to pull it off.

"Hey guys, wait up!" Adam called, running up behind them, dragging Jason along with him. Jason was smiling happily now that Adam was back, and neither one of them had let go of the other since Adam had walked into the door of the arena tonight. Hell, you should have seen the way they had acted when one of them had had to be on camera. They had to be physically pulled apart just to do their skits.

"What's up?" Mike asked them, noticing that they were also still holding hands, as if to make sure that the other didn't disappear again.

"Well, we were wondering if there was anything we could do. You know, with you guys being separated and all." Jason replied quietly, trying to make sure that he was not overheard.

"We are not being separated. I'm not going anywhere." Paul told them angrily, not even trying to keep his voice down, nor noticing the crowd they were drawing.

"Oh, well that's good. Hey, what are you two doing tonight?" Adam asked, trying to change the subject to something safer so the crowd would disperse.

"Don't know yet. Why?" Mike asked, realizing what Adam was doing, and going along with it for Paul's sake. The last thing Paul needed was to have this get back to Stephanie. Much as he did not care right now, he knew that Paul would be upset if she found out about them, and the last thing Mike wanted was to make Paul choose yet. He needed to wait till the baby was born first, or he'd lose. Hell, he might lose anyway, but that was not something he would think about until the time came.

"Want to go catch something to eat with us? You know, celebrate my return and all?" Adam asked.

"Sure. We have to go see Vince first, though. Meet ya'll at the exit in like a half hour." Mike told them before dragging Paul off towards Vince's office yet again.

"Hey, Debbie. Is Vince in?" Paul asked as they walked into the outer office, headed into Vince's office without even waiting to see what she had to say.

"Uh, Let…" She started to say before noticing that they had already walked into Vince's inner office and were shutting the door behind them.

"Alright, Vince. What's the deal with sending me over to SmackDown?" Paul demanded, ignoring protocol, which demanded that he wait for Vince to acknowledge them, then make small talk for a few minutes before getting down to business.

"Well, Paul, first off, don't you think that this is a private conversation?" Vince asked, looking pointedly at Mike, before noticing that Mike and Paul's hands were entwined.

"Yes, it is. That's why I closed your door. Now, would you care to answer my question?" Paul demanded once again.

"Paul, settle down. Let Vince have a chance to tell us what's going on before you get so aggressive." Mike soothed comfortingly, wrapping his arm around Paul's waist and drawing him closer.

Paul unthinkingly wrapped his arm around Mike's shoulder and laid a kiss on the top of his head before turning back to Vince expectantly.

Vince watched the scene unfolding before him with a growing sense of dread. He had felt that this pair of men were closer than they let on before, but they had never been open about it, and with Paul and his daughter dating, then finally getting married he had put those doubts behind him. Now, it looked like he had been right after all. So why had Paul married Stephanie then? He acted like he cared about her, but then at present it was obvious that he cared about Mike. So much so, that he was showing the entire locker room how he felt. Obviously, he wasn't thinking properly. Time to find out what he wants more, I guess Vince thought.

"Paul, if you go to Smackdown, not only will you get the WWE World title, you will also get to spend more time with Stephanie. If you stay on Raw, you don't get a title. As a matter of fact, Chris is slated to keep it for the next three months. We were thinking of letting Mike take it after that." Vince told him, offering him everything he should have wanted, more time with his wife, a world title for himself, and the other one for his best friend. The only inducement he had to stay at this point was to be with Mike.

Paul looked at Mike briefly, as if questioning if he wanted another title run, before looking back at Vince, resolved. Paul's head dropped for a second, before looking back at Vince. He was back in Game mode. Stiff posture, muscles rippling, hands fisted at his sides, determined glint in his eyes, lips snarled, forehead furrowed.

Damn, he looks hot Mike thought briefly before turning to Vince. Vince, he noticed also looked determined. He appeared to be willing to give Paul whatever he wanted to get him to go to SmackDown, and Stephanie. Okay, we can try to barter. See what he is willing to offer us.

"Fine. I go with him!" Mike stated, stepping in front of Paul, who immediately wrapped his arms possessively around Mike, leaning down to nuzzle his neck affectionately. Why did I not like this aspect of his personality again? Mike asked himself.

"No! You're needed on Raw. Benoit's feud cannot be ended by both of you leaving at once. Then what will we do with him. You stay. But, if it will help, you will definitely get the title within three months." Vince countered.

"Not enough. We stay together, or I walk. Game over." Paul told him, glaring at Vince.

"You would walk out of your contract? What would your wife say?" Vince demanded.

"Well, considering you are trying to make me choose between your family, and mine, all I can say is MY family comes first. Always has. The bitch knew the kliq came first when I married her. Either she'll accept it, or she'll walk out the door. Her choice." Paul told him indifferently.

"Small detail here, Paul. This isn't the kliq coming first. If that was all you wanted, you would go to SmackDown and give Mike his title reign. This is something totally different. This is you choosing Mike over your own wife." Vince hissed.

"Details, details." Paul smirked.

"Fine, we'll try it this way, if you agree to go to SmackDown, we'll give in to your buddy Nash's demands, and rehire him and Hall. That incentive enough?" Vince asked.

Paul looked down at Mike questioningly. They shared an uncomfortable look, shocked that Vince would offer so much just to get Paul sent to SmackDown.

"I'll tell you what. I'll give you twenty minutes to decide. I'll step out and make a few phone calls, then come back in twenty minutes. Just remember, Paul. This isn't the first time you have defied me. Remember what happens when you do so. Think carefully, boys." Vince told them before walking out of the room.

"He really wants to send you to SmackDown, darlin'. Kevin and Scott. Wow." Mike stated quietly, shaking his head.

"What do you want me to do, baby?" Paul asked, looking insecure.

"It's your call. You have to do what you feel is right." Mike told him, trying to keep his emotions in check. He thought he knew the decision Paul would make, and he couldn't really blame him. To choose Mike would basically mean turning his back on everything, and that wasn't fair of him to ask.

"Are you sure, baby?" Paul questioned again.

"You have to decide this one for yourself. I will support either decision you make." Mike responded.

Paul sat down to think, waiting for Vince to come back. He didn't have long of a wait, because Vince was back within mere minutes.

"Well, what have you decided?" Vince asked, walking into the room, Stephanie right behind him. He was evidently trying to use everything he had to get his way.

Paul stood up, he looked from Stephanie to Mike, and back again. Looking straight into Stephanie's eyes, he walked over to her, leaning down he kissed her softly on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart." He whispered, looking at her apologetically.

Vince watched with a smile on his face. Mike's heart was in his eyes, thinking he had lost, in more ways than one. Stephanie looked triumphant, grinning happily. Paul's face was sad, as he turned away from Stephanie and walked over to Mike.

Taking Mike's hand in his own, he turned and walked towards the door, letting that tell everyone his decision.

"You walk out that door, and you are fired." Vince threatened

"Sorry Vince. Looks like you lose. Guess he's still mine." Mike threw over his shoulder, smirking.

End