Mickie woke up the next morning to find Randy gone. That didn't surprise or hurt her that much. Neither of them really wanted anyone to know what was going on between them. They weren't ashamed of anything; it was just going to be a gigantic hassle having to put up with all the whispers and the stares. The backstage atmosphere was worse than high school. So when they did spend the night together, Randy made sure to be back in his own room before Cody and Ted came a knocking.

As she got dressed, her mind drifted towards Sam. She did feel bad about being the one Randy was cheating with. But that faint feeling of guilt wasn't going to stop her any time soon. Randy did need her. Ever since he had come back from his collarbone injury, he had been on rampage that saw no end. It had only gotten worse after he had punted Vince McMahon in the head. His controlled anger and rage had gotten away from him. Almost everybody refused to believe the whole IED thing. They just thought he was evil, vindictive and psychotic. But as a former out of the box psycho herself, Mickie knew when someone was or wasn't in control of her actions. She had always been intuitive about that stuff, and spending time with Raven in TNA had helped her hone those skills. She had been in complete control when she had tormented Trish. And at one time, Randy had been in control. RKO'ing Stacy, punting everyone from John Cena's dad, Matt Hardy, RVD, Shawn Michaels--he had been in control then. But once the whole McMahon mess started, that was the point he had lost his control. She didn't know if it was IED or not, but she did know that he wasn't in control of himself half the time he was in the ring anymore. He tried to pretend he was, but she could see the lie in his eyes.

Sometimes, when somebody tries to make themselves as ruthless and as evil as possible, it creates a monster inside that person. Mickie had created her own monster once upon a time, but she had conquered it and hadn't looked back since. She was careful to always keep her control because there was only so far she wanted to go. If she had truly let herself go, she would run rampant across the likes of Beth Phoenix with no problem. But she would hurt her friends in the process and she didn't want that. She didn't want to hurt anyone she cared about and end up being alone again, like she was after she turned on Trish.

Randy didn't have the same motivation she did. He had no real friends besides Ted and Cody, and honestly, they were more like sheep than anything else. They didn't have the guts to tell him when he was going too far. Mickie did have the guts and she told him point blank how angry she was when he struck out at Stephanie. What nobody else knew was that he had really been remorseful about that. He had hidden it of course. IED or not, Randy did not want to admit out loud when he was wrong. It took a hell of a lot to even begin to push him to that point. But she could still tell. She could always tell.

She went to the restaurant across the street and met up with Melina, Kelly and Candice. "There you are," Melina said. "We were wondering where you were."

"I just got up," Mickie told her.

"We can tell," Kelly said. "You look like you just rolled out of bed and came to eat."

"Gee, thanks. That makes me feel great."

Candice studied her closely. "Mickie, are you aware that you're glowing?"

Mickie frowned. "Glowing? What do you mean by glowing?"

"I mean it looks like someone gave you a good fucking last night."

Damn Candice and her sexual intuitions. Mickie just shrugged and did her best to act like she had no idea what her friend was talking about. "I think you've finally lost it girl," she told Candice.

Melina grinned. "Actually Mickie, I think she's got a point. You do look like you just got laid."

Any further discussion on Mickie's sex life was cut off by a loud crash. Mickie looked over and groaned. A waiter carrying a whole bunch of plates had run into Randy and food had gotten all over the Legend Killer. The other wrestlers were watching him carefully. They were expecting to see a huge temper tantrum of some sort. They probably were even expecting to see the waiter get the shit kicked out of him. But what they didn't expect to see was Mickie getting up and putting herself between Randy and the waiter.

"Walk away," she said quietly so nobody else could hear. "Come on, let's walk away from this. You don't have to hurt anyone here."

Randy was absolutely seething. He really did look like he was going to punch the waiter, who was trying to apologize over and over again. But when Mickie put her hands on his chest, he calmly turned around and walked out.

Mickie sighed in relief. Maybe he didn't have that kind of restraint in the ring but at least he could have it when he wasn't. Then again, it only seemed like he had it because she had wisely interfered before he could do anything stupid. Whether she liked it or not, there was something else controlling him besides the voice and that was something was her. It was a scary and thrilling thought.

Now hopefully I can keep that control so I can help him get it back himself before it's too late…