~ Backstage, 2004 ~

"Hey, where's Shawn?"

It wasn't a hard question. Really. It should be incredibly easy to answer. The man stood out in a crowd at a thousand paces, after all.

So why couldn't anyone tell him?

_"Dunno, H, but we need to talk about our match Friday night."_

_"Shawn? Haven't seen him since lunchtime."_

_"If you find him, let him know I need him to come in and try on his new ring gear, would you?"_

_"Why? You gonna beat him up again?"_

It was like a damned conspiracy, Hunter mused as he stood in the doorway of Shawn's locker room. Shawn's _empty_ locker room. CJ finally kicked some courage into him, and now the man he was almost desperate to find was hiding, as far as he could tell. But why would Shawn be hiding from him? It'd be more in character for him to be sitting defiantly in the middle of the hallway glaring at Hunter... and why would he be avoiding him now, of all times? How the hell would he know that Hunter wanted to talk to him? Jericho wouldn't have told him; he'd been too busy running off to find Benoit. Not that Hunter could really blame him; the draw of being reunited with someone you loved after years apart was something that he understood all too well.

Not that he was that optimistic; hoping for a reunion was beyond him, at this point. He and Shawn had just done too much to each other for too long for it to be that easy, after all. Regardless of what CJ said, Hunter just couldn't believe that his feelings were returned. There had never been any sign of it, no hint... just a friendship that meant more to him than life itself and a friend that was closer to him than any brother ever could be. His mouth twisted a little at that; every time he heard J.R. say that, he couldn't help but wonder just how close "closer than brothers" really was. The only thing that came to mind had never applied to him and Shawn, no matter how often he'd wished otherwise.

"God _damn_ it!" he snarled as he turned away, kicking the door shut behind him. If he couldn't find Shawn now, he didn't know if he'd have the courage to try this later. Confronting Shawn with his feelings, finally telling the man that he loved him after nearly a decade... Hunt just wasn't sure if he could go through with it. Every other time he'd tried to say those words, he'd choked. That phone call still haunted him. He wondered if Shawn had ever realized who it was that had called him at that indecent hour. He almost hoped not. It was just inconceivable that Jericho was _right_... but if he was...

Lost in the confused jumble of reluctant hope and fearful disbelief, he didn't realize that he'd stopped in the middle of the hall and was staring blankly at a crate against the wall until a voice near his ear nearly made him jump.

"Lookin' for Shawn?"

He spun around, his eyes narrow as he glared at Jay, Ty lurking behind the smaller man. Reso and he had never really gotten along. The younger man's sense of humor had always rubbed Hunt the wrong way, and the oddly arrogant stance that he had just didn't sit right with him. The frown on Tyson's face didn't escape him, but he could care less at the moment. If Jay was just going to fuck with him, he wasn't going to take it. The little smirk on the little bastard's face didn't help his mood, and his fingers clenched at his sides.

"Why do you care?" It came out as a growl, and Reso's smirk only widened. Damn him.

"Well... if you're not just looking for him to beat the shit out of him again... I saw him heading down that side hallway by the office about half an hour ago. Looked kinda upset, too."

Hunter's heart clenched a little as he fought back his initial reaction to Jay's words. Shawn was upset? What the hell was going on around here today? Nodding his thanks even as he wondered why in the hell Reso had told him, he pushed his way past the two and headed in the direction Jay had indicated, not noticing the looks he was getting from the other guys at his unusually quick pace. He had to find Shawn, and he had to find him before he lost his nerve. There was just too much between them for this to be as easy as Jericho had suggested it would be, and laying himself open to the man who'd ripped his heart out and stomped on it more than once over the last decade wasn't something he was particularly looking forward to.

"Hunter! Hey! Hunter, damnit, wait!"

Not now, he groaned to himself, halting reluctantly as he turned to look at Bischoff. The man looked apologetic, but that obviously wasn't going to keep him from demanding his time _right now_.

"Sorry, Hunter, but we don't have much time before we hit the air, and I need to talk to you about your spot tonight."

Taking a deep breath, Hunter's eyes flickered closed for an instant, his hopes of tracking Shawn down _now_ fading away. Fate was obviously against him tonight. Cursing silently, he just hoped that he'd be able to find his one-time friend after the show. And that he'd have the balls to say what he needed to say. His eyes opening again, he met Eric's gaze, outwardly calmer, and nodded.

"Fine. Let's get this done." With one last glance down the hallway in front of him, he followed Eric into his office and shut the door behind them.

Read chapter Two of Six of Strength