18:

John struggled to make it through the next event.

He was reeling after talking to Stephanie. She was the only other person he had encountered who had come from the future, although the circumstances surrounding her transition were much different. She also seemed to share the same doubts and concerns about what kind of a butterfly effect could occur based on each decision made in the past. John found some temporary solace in knowing that he was not alone, but hearing the consequences out loud made him all the more nervous about what his future may hold.

Or if he should ever get back to it.

John met up with Randy as soon as he could. They walked to Randy's SUV in silence. Randy finally spoke when they were leaving the arena, "What's up with you?"

"I found someone else. Someone like me," John said.

Randy furrowed his brow with a sense of confusion. John clarified, "Another time traveler. Stephanie."

"Ohhhhh," Randy dragged it out like something was clicking inside his head.

"You knew?" John asked curiously.

Randy shrugged and shook his head, answering, "I didn't think she was like you, but she's been a lot different, lately."

"With Paul, you mean?" John asked.

"Yeah," Randy nodded his head.

John stared out the window for a moment while Randy maneuvered through some tricky roads to get to the main highway. It was late, but the next arena was close and it made more sense to make the drive by night.

"You having second thoughts?" Randy asked, sounding oddly forgiving.

John shook his head and let out a long sigh. He replied after putting some thought into it, "If I were told that we were meant to be together at any other time in my life, I would've brushed it off. Now, it seems like there's something between us, a connection that I can't deny, but...I know what our futures used to be like, and I don't know if I have the right to interfere with that."

"Am I happy?" Randy asked.

"Happy?" John returned the question.

"You said I get married. Am I happy?" Randy asked.

John hesitated for a moment before he answered, "The second time, yes. I think so."

Randy frowned as he asked, "So, I really didn't tell you how I felt? Not even a little bit?"

John shook his head and replied, "If you did, I wasn't aware of it."

The two men were silent for a long time before Randy asked, "Do you want to let go of me?"

John turned to face him and asked, "What do you mean?"

Randy shrugged and replied, "If you think that being together with fuck up my future, then why bother?"

John braced himself for another blow-up, but instead, Randy was thoughtful and quiet as he explained, "We haven't done that much, yet. I've fucked you once and no one even really knows about it. Batista and Paul are suspicious, but they aren't ready to throw you out, yet. If you want to break apart, I get it. You still have time to keep the future the way you remember it. Maybe, if you go back, you can talk to me. Maybe I'll remember this."

John hadn't considered the idea that future Randy may be impacted by what had already transpired in the alternate timeline. There was also the consideration that John may not return to his future, and he would live out the next ten-plus years with the same Randy sitting beside him.

"I don't know if I want to break up," John stated thickly.

Randy glanced at him and John could see tears forming in his eyes. Orton seemed afraid to ask, "What happens if you stay?"

"I don't know. It would mean that the future would change, absolutely, but I've already changed the future just by being here."

Randy nodded and asked, "You want to know what I think?"

"Please," John answered.

"I think I want you to stay, no matter the consequences," Randy answered.

:-:

Randy and John spent hours, together. They had already agreed to stay together, but it felt more like a good-bye to John than anything else. He kept looking into Randy's eyes and wondering what the other man was thinking. Would some part of him miss the daughters he never knew? Would he live to regret choosing John? Did Randy know how selfish John's decision to be with him truly was?

Orton had no memory of his potential future, which kept him blissfully unaware of the consequences. He seemed to only want John in this moment. If there was any doubt that would eventually cross his mind, John could not read it in his eyes.

Randy fell asleep, first. John contemplated while the sun rose up through the window beside him. He thought about how he would have to tell Elizabeth it was over. It seemed easy enough because he had already done it in the future, but that time had left him a broken man. They weren't married this time around, and there were a lot less fights between them. She deserved to know why, and John would have to be honest with her.

John also considered that, if his job continued with the WWE and he stayed in this timeline, he would eventually meet Nikki once more. She would have no memory of their relationship. Would she still be drawn to him? Would he still be drawn to her? Would he eventually forget everything that he knew and it wouldn't matter at all?

He closed his eyes in a state of complete uncertainty. The only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted to be with Randy, wherever that road may take him.

:-:

"John? John, can you hear me?"

Cena opened his eyes to see Randy looking over him.

He blinked a few times to register that this was not young Randy, but the older one.

"Randy?" John croaked, his mouth dry.

"Some help?!" Randy waved someone over.

John shifted his body and realized he was lying in bed. A taller man in a physician's coat and thin glasses came over and asked softly, "Are you alright, Mr. Cena?"

"Yeah, I..." John winced.

His body was in a lot of pain. He felt the old injuries from age and time that he had nearly forgotten about. The air smelled different and his eyes were under onslaught from the bright LED overhangs.

"Mr. Cena, I'm Doctor Roland. You were inebriated and suffered a terrible fall. We were unsure whether you would regain consciousness or not. How are you feeling?"

John closed his eyes and pondered his answer.

"I feel like shit," he decided.

He kept his eyes closed while the doctor explained, "You're very fortunate, Mr. Cena. Your friend, Mr. Orton, told me you called him just before your fall. He was able to find you and call for help. If it weren't for him, you may not have survived."

"What year is this?" John slowly opened his eyes.

He was looking at Randy, but the doctor interjected before Randy could speak, "You don't know what year it is?!"

The doctor sounded alarmed, so John quickly countered, "I had a dream that I was at an event back in two-thousand and two. I was better looking and in a lot less pain."

A short chuckle came from the doctor as he replied with a sense of relief, "Right, well, it's two-thousand and nineteen. The pain you're feeling should subside in a few days."

"What about the looks, Doc?" John joked dryly.

Randy snorted and rolled his eyes from the end of the bed. John made an airy chuckle. The doctor tried to be more serious as he explained, "I'm keeping you another night for observation. Rest as much as you can, and call the nurse if you need anything."

Dr. Roland pointed to a dry erase board on the far wall that had a list of the nurses and other staff working that particular shift. John noticed a clock above the board that told him it was the early afternoon.

When he looked back, Dr. Roland was gone.

John looked at Randy and opened his mouth to say something, but the door burst open and John's entire family came rushing through. His mother was hugging him and his brothers were trying to outdo one another with quick-witted jokes about John not being able to hold his liquor.

He wasn't really listening, though. He was watching Randy quietly leave the room.

:-:

John's family stayed until visiting hours were over. Randy didn't come back.

Cena tried gathering bits and pieces from his family without being overly obvious. He asked simple questions and listened to the various answers he received. He learned that he was still wresting with WWE, but he was semi-retired because he was supposed to be filming another movie, soon. He learned that Nikki Bella was dating a guy named, "Artem Chig-vint-something-or-what-not," Sean said when he tried to read the name from his phone.

John could not ask outright if he dated Nikki or not, but his family didn't seem to react much to questions about her. He assumed that he hadn't dated her in this timeline because it was the breakup with her that caused him to go out and drink, and his mother would've given him a long lecture about not being more responsible.

The new reason for his drinking did not come up in conversation, though something was mentioned about Randy's daughter, Alanna.

John swallowed hard. Matt brought up Alanna's name in passing when Momma Carol said something about Randy's family going to an event the following month. John noticed that nothing was said about Randy's current wife, Kimberly Kessler. In fact, Randy's name was tossed around between John's family several times, but nothing was said about Samantha or Kimberly.

"Randy came all this way to see me?" John whispered to Carol while his father and brothers worked to get the TV on a sports channel.

"Of course he did, dear! Why wouldn't he?" Carol looked at John as if it were strange to ask.

John nodded and replied, "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm just really tired."

With that, Carol rounded up the others and told them to leave. She stayed behind to help John order dinner from the hospital menu and she made sure he was comfortable before Carol took her leave.

John watched the TV for a while. The sports channel was showing a basketball game and it gave John some relief to see that it was in high definition with modern statistics and replays.

He was back in the year that he left, and everything seemed to look the same.

John started crying at some point. He didn't really know what was provoking the quiet tears to fall, but he let his emotions determine how long they would continue. He was alone save for a nurse walking in every half hour or so to check on him. After about four times of this, they turned out the light to his room and John closed his eyes to sleep.

:-:

John woke up to the sound of soft rustling.

He was still in the hospital room. A light was on in the corner and John saw Randy leaning over a chair that had a duffle bag on it. Randy was rifling through the bag when he glanced over at John.

"I brought something for you," Randy said.

John glanced at the clock. It was the early morning hours and the dawn was only just peeking in through the windows. Randy calmly made his way over and handed John a blue notebook. John took it and Randy found a chair to sit down by John's bed.

John put the notebook in his lap. He used his dominant left hand to open it and he read the first page. It was a list of dates and notes written in Randy's handwriting that began in 2002.

Randy took John's right hand and held it. John read a few pages before he fully understood what the contents of the notebook were meant to tell him.

"You filled in the gaps," John said.

He looked at Randy. He saw the love in the other man's eyes just like before, only it had grown and matured over time. Randy kissed the back of John's hand and told him softly, "I was with you that last night years ago, when you said you wanted to be with me. When I woke up the next morning, you were gone. I found you, but you were back to the way you used to be. You were the other John."

John choked back tears while Randy continued, "You weren't completely the same, though. You and I became close. You broke it off with Elizabeth. I waited for a few years. I kept thinking you might remember, but you didn't. I found Sam and we had Alanna. She divorced me. You told me I would be married again, but I didn't want to be. I was still waiting for you."

John had already established from his family that he never dated Nikki, so he had to ask, "Did I find someone else?"

"Nothing serious," Randy shook his head.

John let out a sigh of relief. Randy chuckled and went on, "I kept a journal of all the things I thought might be important to you, should you ever come back to me. I wasn't sure if you ever would. I told your mom how I felt about you. She didn't understand, but Stephanie did."

"Is Steph back from the past?" John asked.

Randy shook his head and replied, "I can't say for sure. You'll have to ask her."

"Is she still with Paul?" John asked.

"Yeah," Randy nodded.

"And Test died of an overdose?" John asked.

Randy shook his head and replied, "No. He died in a car accident around two thousand five."

"What happened that landed me in the hospital?" John asked.

Randy cleared his throat and explained, "You were planning on retiring from wrestling. I wasn't going to see you so much. I came to tell you how I felt and you didn't take it so well, I guess."

John replied with a shrug, "Well, I got drunk and fell down. I didn't punch you in the face, so that's a pretty good outcome."

Randy shook his head while he laughed. He went quiet for a moment, then his eyes drifted back up to John's.

"What if I lose you, again?" Randy asked thickly.

"I don't think you will. Not this time," John reassured him.

Tears formed in Randy's eyes. He freed John's hand and buried his face against the bed to hide his emotions. John stroked the back of Randy's head with his fingertips while Randy sobbed quietly beside him.

THE END