"What the hell just happened? He didn't even raise his hand to her, not that we could see!" Amanda responded once she and Finn were alone.
"Or… remember." Finn replied, thinking out loud. "Maybe I listen too much but earlier… I could swear I heard them say something about 'rewinding time'."
"Are they time travellers like Cal and Livi?" Amanda asked.
"I don't think so, they're both way too this century to have come from elsewhere. If I had to guess… I'd say there was some sort of superhero action happening with them, or at least with Max." Finn answered.
"True." Amanda responded as Finn rubbed her back. "And Max is right, we shouldn't ever let Baron around the baby." She replied as Max walked in.
"You okay?" Finn asked.
"I had a feeling you'd be… figuring things out." Max replied while holding the cold soaked tissue to the side of her head, soothing the bruise.
"We would… and I've felt how you're feeling right now, my ex was an asshole." Amanda responded.
"Have you ever been drugged and kidnapped?" Max questioned without thinking. Any other time she would have reversed time after saying something she didn't mean to but right now her head hurt too much to try it. "Sorry… this puts me off." She added quickly, motioning to the bruise.
"It's okay." Amanda responded as she found a warm compress and gently held it to Max's face… and Max saw scars on her hands and fingers.
"Your ex broke your fingers?" Max asked.
"He had lost a match… I tried to calm him down and he grabbed my index and middle fingers on my right hand, bending them back before I could even blink. The other scars are from me defending myself from his fists." Amanda explained.
"16…" Max replied.
"You know?" Amanda asked, a bit startled.
"Those scars are aged a long time. It's a good thing you finally found true love." Max responded, Amanda calming down.
In a separate hallway, Baron was hiding when Corey walked by.
"You look rattled. What happened?" Corey replied after he stopped, Baron looking at him.
"You know Bayley's friends, Max and Chloe?" Baron asked.
"Yes, sweet people. They have their quirks but who doesn't?" Corey replied.
"I got into an argument with them and then this bruise appeared on Max's face, I didn't even raise my hands to her." Baron explained, Corey turning startled.
"You apologize?" Corey asked.
"I tried but I think Mandy flashed back to how she claims she was abused over a decade ago." Baron explained, Corey completely startled.
"Mandy saw this incident?!" Corey questioned.
"And Finn looked like he wanted to kill me." Baron answered before he looked right at Corey. "In all honesty, I never bought the sob story that Amanda had told me about Randy abusing her. I know she was suicidal at one point so who would really believe her?" He replied.
And after hearing that, Corey punched Baron… and Baron stumbled back, his nose bleeding and bent.
"How dare you use the one time she slashed her hand when she was grieving after losing three people who treated her like family?! You know damn well that she was abused by Randy and that she walked away from him well before she acted without thinking straight, would you act normally if you lost anyone close to you?!" Corey shouted, Baron completely taken aback. "I don't blame Finn for guiding her away from you, given the hell that she's been through! You need to think before you act next time!" He retorted before he walked away.
And once the shock of Corey's outburst wore off, Baron rolled his eyes and reset his nose.
"That bitch has lied too many times and everyone always believes her!" Baron growled.
In the locker room, Finn helped Amanda lie down as a tired yawn escaped her mouth and Finn covered her with a blanket.
"You rest. Max went to find Chloe, they'll be back soon." Finn responded before they kissed and he stretched out, holding her.
Amanda closed her eyes and Finn kissed her forehead.
She didn't know where she was, or who exactly was there. The only thing she could see clearly was Max at the end of the room, everything else seemed to be out of focus. However she could make out that Max was in a chair with her wrists and ankles bound to it with duct tape, blood was trailing from her nose over her lips and she was looking helplessly terrified.
There was someone else in the room. Being out of focus the man looked like a reflection in frosted glass, he was heading towards a table. She couldn't see what was on it but she could hear that he was handling something while wearing sterile gloves.
"Please…" Max begged, her voice seeming to hold a dozen tears in its tone. "Don't do this!"
The man kept fidgeting before he turned around and started heading back towards Max. While it was all out of focus, one thing Amanda knew how to see clearly was she could recognise by the way that he was holding his hand up that he had a needle.
"I promise." The man spoke in a voice soft enough he could have almost sounded like a doctor or a caring teacher. "This final dose won't hurt." His hand pushed Max's head to one side, the needle lining up with the veins to the left of her neck. Then it went in, and he gently slid the top down.
Whatever was in the syringe caused Max to instantly start feeling tired, the wrestler could see that. Her breath became heavy, her arms slightly shaky.
"Just let it take you. Go to sleep, Maxine." The man spoke, hand lightly resting on her cheek for a moment. Max looked at him, her eyes trying to say something where she no longer had the strength to speak it.
Then her head slowly fell down and her eyes slowly drifted shut. Maybe it was painless but it certainly wasn't peaceful.
The breathing stopped…
Amanda's eyes snapped open and Finn held her closer to him, Amanda wrapping her arms around him.
"Where are they?" Amanda questioned as she looked around, Finn getting her to look at him.
"Your mind went right to a nightmare…" Finn responded.
"Max was in this room, unable to protect herself… and someone just kept drugging her, saying it wouldn't hurt. She stopped breathing..." Amanda explained, Finn brushing her tears away.
"Bloody hell… that doesn't even sound like something you'd imagine. Maybe give yourself a few to calm down and wake up properly, then we can go talk to her about it. She said she and Chloe had headed for a 'house o' coffee' about a half hour ago." Finn responded, his right hand resting on her left one before he pulled her into his arms and they held each other.
Amanda nodded as she rested her head on his right shoulder, the door quietly opening and Aestrid walking in.
"You look so tired…" Aestrid replied.
"Before I fell asleep, I was trying to figure out how to tell Vince and the higher ups about…" Amanda responded, Finn entwining his left hand with her right one. "Ace… you're gonna be an aunt." She replied, Aestrid turning shocked… and then immediately hugging them one at a time.
'I have a feeling it's a boy.' Aestrid thought.
And she knew to trust that feeling.