They were soundly sleeping when the power went out… and no matter how many times it had happened and how many stormy nights it had happened in, it would always startle Amanda.
She sat up after readjusting the Balor Club shirt she was wearing, checking her phone and seeing that it was almost five in the morning… it was seconds after she was fully awake that she felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Finn.
"Hell of a storm, huh?" Amanda responded, trying to stay calm.
"It is… haven't been caught up in one of these in a long time." Finn answered.
"Same here… last one worse than this that I was caught in was the storm of the century back in 1993… doesn't mean I didn't panic while trying to check on my family during Superstorm Sandy." Amanda said once she had activated the flashlight app on her phone and Finn pulled the covers closer to themselves. "If that was a sea rescue chopper, I hope they're holding up alright out there." She said as Finn rubbed his hand up and down her back.
"I'm sure they will be. Those guys there are strapped to the teeth for these times." Finn replied, glancing out of the dark window.
Amanda leaned against him, stretching her legs out a bit.
"The candles and lighter, they're still where we left them, right?" Amanda questioned.
"Should be…" Finn answered as they stood up, Amanda grabbing her phone as they headed down the darkened hallway of the apartment and found what they needed… but after Finn headed back into the room, Amanda pointed the flashlight in the darkened area downstairs, screaming in fright when she saw someone with blood on them.
Finn ran to her and pulled her behind him, a baseball bat gripped in one hand… only to lower it when Sami raised his arms up.
"Damn it, Sami, what happened?!" Finn responded.
"Easy, it's not mine!" Sami said as he headed upstairs.
"Then whose is it?!" Amanda asked.
"Someone I tried to help… only for him to freak out and punch me in the face, then run off in this damn storm and screaming for someone named Juno." Sami answered.
"Could be his wife or daughter stranded out there." Amanda said as Sami dried himself off.
"Could be… either way, someone he cares about." Sami replied, dropping the towel to a table after drying his hair roughly for a few moments.
Amanda deactivated her flashlight once some more candles were lit, seeing the broken windows across the street.
"This ain't like storms before it…" Sami said.
"It… still freaks me out, especially after how quiet last hurricane season was…" Amanda responded before seeing a bright blue light across the street wedged in an oak tree. "What the hell?" She muttered, Finn and Sami seeing it as well.
"That looks like a laser sword…" Finn said, Sami looking closer.
"Did he tell you what his name was, Sami?" Amanda asked.
"I'm not sure about his name exactly, but… he asked if this Juno had been seen looking for someone called Starkiller, if that might be him." Sami answered.
"That sword could belong to her, she might not have gotten too far from here." Amanda said as the storm started to weaken enough… checking his signal, Sami saw that it was strong enough and answered Bayley's call.
"Sami, you okay wherever you are?" Bayley asked.
"Yeah. Hey, did you find anyone named Juno?" Sami responded.
"You know… I did find a woman. Blonde hair, light brown jacket… very frantic and worried." Bayley answered.
"Someone named Starkiller is looking for her." Sami said, Bayley putting the phone in Juno's hand.
"Starkiller… did you find him?" Juno asked, her voice either English or very neutral accented American.
"Yes but he freaked out, hit me and took off." Sami answered as Amanda headed upstairs… and was knocked down to the floor, hazel eyes wide with terror as a hand clamped over her mouth and Starkiller putting his finger to his mouth in a 'shh' motion.
"You're not Juno…" Starkiller said quietly once he realised that Amanda's hair wasn't blonde.
"My friend Bayley found her." Amanda said though it was muffled, Starkiller jumping back as he saw the aluminum bat being swung at him before Finn pulled Amanda up and kept his arm around her.
"Easy, I wasn't looking to hurt her." Starkiller said.
"Could've fooled me when I heard that crash!" Finn responded.
"If I was going to harm anyone…" Starkiller said before taking a long device into each of his hands. From the left one shot out a glowing blue blade and from the right, a pulsating orange one.
"Put them down!" Amanda said, Starkiller deactivating them.
"Just an example…" Starkiller replied, clipping the two lightsabers back to his belt, one above each of his hips. "Why the candles?"
"Power went out a few minutes ago." Amanda answered as her phone rang and she saw who it was. "Shove it, Prince Pretty." She muttered as she let it go to voicemail, Starkiller snickering slightly.
"Ex boyfriend?" Starkiller asked.
"Co-worker I got into a fight with earlier. Wasn't the first time, won't be the last." Amanda responded.
"It never is…" Starkiller replied, glancing down at his hands where the tips of his fingers were still burnt from his final encounter with the Sith lord who trained him and then kidnapped Juno.
When the storm had let up enough, Bayley and Juno reached the apartment.
"I really hope he didn't hurt anyone in here." Juno said quietly.
"Has he attacked anyone before?" Bayley asked.
"Starkiller was… taken as a boy and raised to be nothing short of a killing machine, an assassin. When he cares about someone, he's… ruthlessly protective." Juno answered.
The two headed into the apartment and Juno and Starkiller hugged.
"You had me scared to death!" Starkiller said as they let go, Juno turning and seeing Amanda, who had yoga pants on under the shirt.
"Everything okay here?" Juno asked.
"Yeah, just a bit of mistaken identity at first." Amanda answered as Finn, now dressed, walked downstairs and handed some extra clothes to Sami, who headed upstairs.
"Well you're very similarly shaped from a distance…" Starkiller replied, glancing between the two.
Amanda nodded, her and Juno around the same height and build. She slipped her raincoat and rain boots on and checked the brakers, switching them off and then on after a few minutes.
"How's it in there?!" Amanda asked as the power flipped back on.
"It's back on, lass, now get back in here before you get struck by lightning!" Finn responded, Amanda heading back into the apartment and leaving the coat and boots in the garage.
"I can give them a buzz if they stop again, trust me." Starkiller said after Amanda returned to the room.
Amanda nodded and checked the weather report, seeing that the storm was weakening… but then she saw a text from Hunter.
'How you two holding up?'
'Power's back on… but there's a lot that should be explained in person.' Amanda replied.
Juno picked up a promotional photo from NXT TakeOver Rival and then glanced at Finn and Amanda and then back to them in the photo, seeing the paint clearly.
'Hmm… where exactly have we ended up?' Juno thought.