8/4/15, taping for 8/6/15 episode of WWE SmackDown…

In Sacramento, Amanda was reading over the script for the commentary segment she had during Stardust vs Zack Ryder.

"He may have made the galaxy his home but I'll pull Stardust back down to Earth…" Amanda said quietly, setting the script down. "They should have a part tonight where Cody removes the contacts and paint and ditches Stardust completely." She muttered, unaware that Cody was in the doorway.

"Oh really now? What, the same as how you think I ditched you for no reason?!" Cody responded.

"The walls have ears… yeah, I know you're growing frustrated with playing an alter ego brother to Goldust. And it doesn't feel right for you to verbally attack me, Cody." Amanda replied after turning around, Balor Club tank top tied at the back.

"No, it doesn't… and you know why we split, whether it was dead right or dead wrong. But it is frustrating… instead of having my own character, I'm a half copy of another one's fame!" Cody responded.

"Beats being the eternally young kid member of The Shield. I thought after suggesting the split of the group, I'd feel free again." Amanda muttered, Cody turning startled and Amanda looking back at him. "And let's face it, you wouldn't have stuck around if we had kids because you didn't want to." She said, Cody turning infuriated.

"You want to go there, do you?! Maybe I would have stuck around if you'd taken care of yourself, or even looked at treatments! But no, you just cried it out and gave up, and you say that I didn't care?!" Cody shouted in response.

"I did look into the treatments, you jackass! You know what happened when I tried one?! It caused my system to go haywire! Oh wait, you probably don't remember that because you were dick deep in Brandi while I was in the hospital!" Amanda yelled, Cody backhanding her.

Cody went for another blow to Amanda's face when he was grabbed from behind and tossed into the wall by Finn, who was absolutely furious at Cody putting his hands on Amanda.

"What was that, 'unfinished business' to handle?! How about you handle it with me, hey?! Go on, give me a good punch, I dare you to fucking try!" Finn growled, opening his arms out in a 'vulnerable' motion but also in such a way that his limb spread put cover in front of Amanda.

Cody stormed out, slamming the door and Finn turned to Amanda. His hands cradled her face, seeing that Cody had hit the left side of her mouth.

"No limits or respect, that man." Finn muttered as he examined the bruising jawline.

"I miss the Cody that I grew up with." Amanda said quietly as Finn checked for blood where her tooth no longer was, finding none and grabbing a gel pack from the fridge. He pressed it to Amanda's jaw with his right hand, his left hand on the back of her head and fingers running through her tousled chestnut locks to massage the scalp.

But the Cody she knew was long gone.

"I'm surprised you're out here after last night's accident but why bring Finn with you, Mandy?" Michael Cole asked as Finn was staying close to Amanda, his right arm around her.

"There was a bit of a fight earlier and I'm out here to prevent more." Finn explained as Amanda wasn't talking too much… the bruise on her jaw was hidden by concealer but her jaw and mouth still stung from Cody hitting her.

It wasn't long before Zack had control of this match but as usual, Cody reversed it… and won before turning his attention to a microphone and rambling about Stephen, who he was truly convinced was Arrow.

"It's like the stars have aligned all the way from Diablo Canyon, Colorado to the 5th Dimension!" Cody continued… before noticing Amanda and Finn. "Oh look… our Demon King and his Mistress in their human forms tonight!" He called out louder, Amanda turning to Finn.

"Where are they going with this storyline again?" Amanda whispered.

"Damned if I know, I lost track of it when he started attacking Neville." Finn responded in the same quiet tone as Cody stayed in character.

But he couldn't help but feel angry at them…

Present time, NXT TakeOver Respect…

Cody couldn't look at them as Finn and Amanda hugged and he spun her around, the small brunette squealing in delight before Finn stopped and lowered Amanda to the mat.

'You only got it because of her!' Cody thought bitterly before feeling Brandi's right hand rest on his back and turning to her, Brandi jumping back a bit… and Cody calming down. "Sorry, babe." He said.

"Too much tonight?" Brandi asked quietly, Cody nodding as they hugged and kissed.

Amanda and Finn were still holding each other and his right hand rested on her lower back, kissing her on the top of her head as Joe and Dustin got the trophy out of the ring.

"Tension's suffocating… let's go." Finn whispered, leading Amanda out of the ring and pulling the middle rope up before the two headed up the ramp… and neither of them not bothering to look back at Cody, who turned angry again.

'Who do you think you are, you really think you're in control?!' Cody thought bitterly.

In the locker room as Finn was pulling his clothes on after he had gotten cleaned off, he noticed Amanda looking at the trophy… and pulled her into his lap, Amanda smiling slightly.

"That's better… Dusty wouldn't want you to be sad, love. Neither would Roddy." Finn responded as Amanda rested her head on his left shoulder.

"This tournament took too much out of us… losing Dusty as well as Roddy did too because for as long as I can remember, they were there. But the American Dream and Hot Rod, they're never truly gone… their spirits still live on." Amanda replied as she felt Finn's arms completely wrap around her.

Stepping back from the cracked open door, Cody left to try to calm down.

But it wasn't working.