August 4th 2015…
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 yelled, 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…
Present time, August 24th 2015…
At the hotel, Seth turned and saw them walk in… and saw how pale Amanda was, Finn helping her sit down.
"Just stay calm… you don't have to tell me if anyone else was in there, they're most likely gone. I just hope their family finds out." Finn responded as he brushed her hair back.
"One minute, I went looking for him and then…" Amanda tried to explain, Finn putting his leather Balor Club jacket on her as she was shaking and sitting down, lightly rubbing her back. "I don't know if his family knows about what happened but they should. He's gone." She responded as Finn brushed her tears away and Seth walked over to them.
"What happened?" Seth asked.
"The Barclays Centre just blew up… Marcus didn't make it out alive." Finn explained, Seth turning startled and sitting down.
"We all just worked there a few hours ago, didn't anyone notice anything odd?" Seth responded.
"No… building was checked over and cleared before the event." Amanda replied… but Seth knew she was holding back on something.
"Mandy, I think you better start telling everything!" Seth responded.
"Seth, she's traumatized, back off!" Finn replied.
"If she's holding something back, she needs to explain it!" Seth responded.
"If you hadn't locked me in the building in the first place, I wouldn't have freaked out! Did you think that was funny, throwing me into complete panic?! What sick son of a bitch does that to someone?!" Amanda yelled after slapping Seth, who was completely bewildered as Finn held Amanda back.
Finn guided Amanda to the elevator and closed the doors, cradling her face in his hands.
"You're right. It's better if no one knows but… how did you figure out that someone else was in the building?" Amanda responded once she had calmed down.
"Because I know how you are when you try to protect me from something… everything's okay now, you're okay." Finn replied before wrapping his arms around her, the two holding each other. "The thought of something taking you away from me terrifies me." He whispered as they looked at each other.
"We stick together through anything." Amanda replied before Finn kissed her on the top of her head.
When they were in their room, Amanda took her makeup off and washed her face before pulling her clothes and bra off, leaving her in her black satin hiphugger panties… and putting one of Finn's Balor Club shirts on, not bothering with pajama shorts as she climbed into the bed with Finn, who was in his black pajama pants as he pulled Amanda into his arms.
Amanda rested her head on Finn's torso, hearing his heart beating soundly under her right ear as Finn lightly stroked her hair and kissed her on the top of her head before they fell asleep.
Given that it was almost 2 in the morning, they couldn't stay up much longer.
It was when it was daylight that they heard a knock and then heard Cody.
"Hey, both of you need to wake up! What's this I keep hearing about an explosion?" Cody responded.
"Want me to make him go away?" Finn asked.
Amanda nodded, Finn standing up and walking to the door… he unlocked it and opened it, Cody looking at Amanda and then at Finn.
"We heard about it late last night, just like you. It's still early, can you let us be?" Finn replied.
"Raw's at the Manhattan Center tonight… look, if one of you knows anything-" Cody responded.
"We don't, we got back here late and crashed." Amanda replied, Cody startled by her attitude.
He was about to respond but a warning look from Finn made Cody change his mind and Cody left, Finn closing and locking the door and walking to Amanda.
"I'm surprised you didn't run away from him screaming 3 years ago, Darlin'." Finn replied after sitting down, his hands resting on her arms.
"Had I known what I was getting into with Cody, I would've." Amanda responded before they hugged.
She would just pretend that the chaos involving the walking mannequins and Martha was just a bad dream.