*deep breath in* *deep breath out* I'll admit it. This actually felt like one of the hardest things I've ever written. Not because it was difficut, but because of the subject matter. For those that probably haven't heard, WWE Legend and Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes passed away yesterday. Now, I honestly didn't know this for all that long. Wi-fi at my house was down, so imagine my reaction when I get it turned back on, I open my e-mail inbox, and I see the headlines on a wrestling newsletter I'm subscribed to that Dusty passed on. ...I'll save everyone the guessing and just say that I cried a little bit...thankfully I had one of my teddy bears nearby, but it still didn't help that my heart was hurting like crazy. ='( So, to help channel some of the sadness that my muses and I have been feeling after learning this unfortunate news, I'm going to write a two-shot on how Cody Rhodes, Goldust (although, this is Dustin...not Goldust), my OC Alex Hardy, and another OC that makes frequent appearances in my fics, Mary Williams have all been taking and handling the news. So, expect some character grief and sadness coming.

Disclaimer: I own no one used in this story. They are the property of themselves and the WWE. I only own my OC Alex Hardy. Mary Williams is the property of foldintothenight and is being used with permission (not to mention the fact that she's been taking the news pretty hard too...both Mary and foldintothenight). Now that the note's out of the way, I hope you all enjoy this. (Caution: Have tissues on hand if needed.)

It was still a huge shock to everyone that heard the news. At the prime age of 69 years old, WWE and wrestling Legend, NXT trainer, and Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes had passed away. The news had spread through the wrestling and sports worlds like wildfire and, to those that heard, it was some of the hardest news that they've had to stomach in recent memory. Just the fact one of the pro wrestling greats had so suddenly passed was such a shock to everyone. And, while everyone seemed to be taking and coping with the news in their own ways, the people that seemed to take the news the hardest were the members of the WWE and NXT rosters; and out of both of these sets of wrestlers, no one was taking it harder than his sons, Dustin, better known as Goldust, and Cody Rhodes, who was going through a bit of gimmick stasis in his new gimmick, Stardust, and two women on the WWE roster that were two of the closest people to them, Alex Hardy and Mary Williams. Among this quartet, emotions ranged from just trying to keep it together in Dustin and Cody's cases and just outright crying in the cases of Mary and Alex, Mary more than the younger Diva.

"I still can't believe this," Alex said, wiping at her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "It seems like it was just yesterday when Dusty and Dustin came to Cameron and Dusty held Izzy for the first time. And now…now he's…" Alex couldn't even finish her sentence before collapsed into another sobbing mess and she buried her head in her hands.

"No one can believe it, sweetheart," Cody said, rubbing his girlfriend's back before he pulled the younger woman into his arms as they sat on one of the couches in the living room of Alex's house. The news of his father's death was something that had rocked him to the core of his very being when he had first found out. The thing that made Cody feel the worst about it went back to when he and Dustin were in the middle of their short-lived Goldust vs Stardust feud. On the night of the episode of RAW when Dusty had been tapped to appear on the show, Stardust had to accept Dusty's words that he and Goldust get back to working together as a cohesive team, and he did…until their tag match against New Day where they lost and Stardust hit Dark Matter on Goldust after the match was over; the worst part of this segment came when Dusty tried to reason with the cosmic Superstar and Stardust all but snapped and hissed out "As far as I'm concerned, my father is dead!" Even though it was all just a part of what was scripted for that segment, it still hurt Cody deeply to say something like that to his own dad. And every time Cody had apologized to the elder member of the Rhodes family, Dusty's answer was always the same.

"Cody, you don't have to apologize for doing your job. If I was in your shoes, I'd probably do the same thing. After all, we have to make sure everything we do comes across as convincingly as possible to the fans."

These had to be some of the most encouraging words Cody ever got from his dad; the most encouraging words came from when Cody had first told his dad that he and Alex were now the parents of a happy and healthy baby girl.

"I'm so proud of you, Cody. You're going to make a great dad and Alex is going to make a great mom. Now, you promise to me that you and Miss Alexis are going to take good care of that baby girl."

Just the fact that his dad was so supportive of his and Alex having their first child-and the child being born out of wedlock, at that-had Cody feeling confident about taking his first real steps as a dad. Adding on when Dusty came with Dustin to North Carolina to meet Cody and Alex's daughter, Isabelle, and Cody was feeling as high on cloud nine as he had felt in a long time. So, getting the news about his father's unfortunate death had rocked Cody to the very core of his being.

Surprisingly, Dustin, the older of the two Rhodes men, had been taking the news fairly well; if not for his sake, it was for the sake of his wife Terri and their daughter Dakota. After all, someone had to be the rock for everyone else that was grieving.

The person that seemed to be taking this the worst was Mary Williams. The brunette Diva had always looked up to Dusty as one of her main mentors as far as getting into the wrestling business went; it was all thanks to her and Cody's dads wrestling matches against each other often that she had met the American Dream when she was a kid, and after years of watching the older man in action, it helped sway Mary towards wanting to become a pro wrestler herself. Whenever Mary needed the advice of a wrestler outside of her dad, Dusty was always who the brunette Diva mainly went to when she needed advice on something. Dusty and Mary had become so close that she had affectionately let her own two kids, Marcus and Annaleigh, call Dusty "Grandpa". Because of Mary's closeness to the Rhodes family, she had often found herself siding with the Rhodes men when the time arose for the Rhodes family to go to war, in a sense; no call to arms being more rousing and needed than during the early stages of the Authority's rule over the WWE. It was one thing for Cody to get fired, and it was another entirely for Dustin to get fired; but when Dusty got dragged into the middle of it all when he tried to get his sons their jobs back and ended up taking a WMD from Big Show, that more than lit the flame in Mary to join her boys in their war against the corrupt campaign of the Authority. But, as it would turn out, Mary's help wasn't needed as Cody and Dustin were able to get their jobs back when they won their PayBack match against two members of the Shield in Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns; Dusty even intervened to keep the match fair when Dean Ambrose tried to interfere in the match by whipping the younger man back with his belt and, much to the surprise of everyone, delivering quite the impressive Bionic Elbow to the then United States Champion. That night had to be one of the best nights of Mary's life. So, when Dustin told Mary the news that Dusty had passed away, Mary didn't want to believe it; mostly because she had wanted to believe that Dusty was doing just fine, in spite of the elder Rhodes man not looking so great the past few weeks. But, after Dustin was finally able to talk Mary out of her constant denial, Mary collapsed in a broken heap of sobs and tears as the full force of one of her mentors passing away hit her and fully settled in her. She had Dustin and Cody and Alex there to help ease her through it all, but it just didn't help things that it just all hurt so much.

Rubbing Mary's back as he did his best to console the woman he had mentored while she sobbed, Dustin looked around the room at the other three and saw that the full force acknowledgement of his and Cody's dad's passing had affected mostly everyone in the usual ways with he and Cody surprisingly being the ones to be Alex and Mary's rocks through it all. His hand still running up and down Mary's back as he shared a look with his younger brother, Dustin finally sighed and said "OK. Mary, Alex…I think this is enough."

"Enough?" Alex asked around a hiccup of a sob. "What do you mean, Dustin?"

"I mean, all of this mourning you and Mare are doing, Alex," Dustin said, trying to be firm. Seeing Mary look up and over at him, Dustin said "Look. I know this is really hard for you guys to process, but we…we have to be strong here. Everyone's going to be looking to us come Monday to be strong when they have the memorial stuff for dad on RAW. And, I feel that we at least owe it to them to try to be strong. Even if you and Mary break down during the show, that'll be OK. It'll just mean that this has been particularly hard on us to really tough through."

Still rubbing Alex's back, Cody said "Mare, Alex. Dustin's right. This news has been…it's been really hard for all of us to really process, but…we have to be strong. If not for our sakes, then for the sakes of Terri and Dakota and everyone on the rosters. They're going to need strong people in the wake of this, so…it has to be us."

Wiping her eyes as she sniffled, Alex said "I guess you both are right. I just…I just don't think I'll even make it through the eulogy stuff for Dusty Monday."

Smiling a comforting smile over at his younger brother's girlfriend, Dustin rested a hand on Alex's shoulder as he said "That's why you and Mary are going to have me and Cody there. After all, someone's going to have to be there for you two during RAW."

Smiling a bit, Alex said "Thanks, Dustin" before she hugged Dustin.

Seeing and hearing that Dustin had pretty much promised to have her and Alex's backs during RAW Monday had Mary feeling a bit better. While she had yet to really get all of the crying out of her system over losing one of her nearest and dearest friends, mentors, and father figures, Mary just knew that she had to at least try to be strong for those on the rosters come the memorial-like tributes the WWE tended to have for wrestlers that worked for the company. 'Besides. It's not like Dusty would want me whining and crying like a baby during a time when I have to be strong for everyone,' Mary thought. Wiping her face, Mary finally piped up and said "OK, Dustin."

Looking over at his former student, Dustin asked "Are you sure you're going to be up for all of this stuff come Monday?"

"To be totally honest, Dustin, no. I don't think I will, nor will I ever, be truly ready to face the reality of saying goodbye to Dusty. But…I know that he wouldn't want me to just mope and cry about this forever," Mary said. A smirk that she was known for having crossing her face, Mary then added "Besides, if Cody breaks down, someone's going to have to help you deal with both him and Alex."

"Oh, very funny, Mare," Alex said, reaching past Dustin to hit Mary on the shoulder as she laughed at what Mary said.

As Mary and Alex shared laughs and they began to talk about what they were going to have to brace for come Monday, Dustin and Cody shared a look as smiles crossed the face of both Rhodes men. Yes, they just knew that this coming episode of RAW was going to quite possibly be one of the hardest episodes they would ever have to go through, but just from reassuring the two women with them, they just knew that they had to be strong; if not for Alex, Mary, the WWE rosters, and everyone watching, they had to do it for themselves to show their dad the lasting effects he had on them.

This really does feel like one of the hardest things I've ever written. But, it's helping me with my grieving through the loss of the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, who is one of my all-time fave wrestlers...so I feel it's working. This has all felt like a very tough pill to swallow down, but I'm coping through as best I can. And, like the girls, I too am not feeling all that ready for RAW come Monday. Mostly because I just know that when they do the memorial type stuff for Dusty, I'm going to lose it and cry like a baby...thus alarming my family members about what's wrong with me. ...I'm rambling a bit here. Sorry... Anyway! Stay tuned for part 2 of this as we see how Cody, Dustin, Mary, and Alex hold up when RAW comes and they're with the roster. Don't forget to R&R please. =)