4/1/16, NXT: TakeOver: Dallas, just after the Balor/Joe match…

"Would you… hold still, damn it? You got hurt out there!" Amanda says, trying to patch Joe up but he was more worried about her being out there while Finn had walked down to the ring with a chainsaw.

"You could've gotten hurt too, Mandy… what the hell was he thinking?!" Joe says.

"The chainsaw? Joe, he never once swung at me with it. It was all for theatrics, that's half of the damn show!" Amanda says, Joe seeing Demon Mistress painted on Amanda's right wrist.

"Is this theatrics or are you getting too much into your current persona?" Joe asks sarcastically, pointing out the red paint.

Amanda gave him a rough shove and left, shaking her head… and nearby, Finn had seen the aggravated look on her face and walked over.

"Joe's a fucking asshole when he loses." Amanda mutters, Finn resting his right hand on her lower back.

At the same time, Joe had stopped a few feet away… before walking over.

"What did you say to piss her off, Joe?" Finn asks, Joe knowing that he was in for it now if he didn't think of anything to say.

"I didn't mean it how I asked her, I got a bit ticked… sorry, Mandy." Joe says.

"It's okay." Amanda says.

But Joe knew that she was still mad and knew why… it reminded her of all the times that Seth had flipped out on her.

Present time…

"There are times… that she represses too much." Joe says.

"You'd hate me then." Heather says, Joe turning back to her.

"What happened?" Joe asks.

"A lot… I lost someone. They turned around and made me lose a lot more people… then I had to make myself lose him… and now whenever we meet, it's life or death and I think that… one day… it'll kill me." Heather says.

"Losses are the worst part of life… we've been through a lot. Recently, Mandy lost someone who had been like a sister to her. But one of the worst was a child " Joe says, startling Heather. "No, not like that… this little boy had been like a little brother to her. She was just… for a while, it was like she was slowly dying after he died." He says.

Absentmindedly running her left hand along the ring ropes, Amanda looked at the yellow and black colors… and thought back, remembering the Halloween that a 4 year old Daniel had dressed up as Charlie Brown. Amanda looked over her right shoulder after feeling a hand on her back, seeing Finn.

"Sorry… spaced out for a bit." Amanda says, leaning against Finn. "If you had known me back then, I think you would've ran… I was a real mess, Finn." She says, his hand lightly gripping hers.

"I know… and I've put together comparisons with you back then and… Heather." Finn says.

"No one ever sees it until it's too late… the signs aren't there, maybe we just ignore them. I didn't want to see my family suffering… I hate what Chris did but I still love him. That's not fair to Nancy and Daniel." Amanda says, tears spilling over as the two hugged.

Heather looked at her wristband, seeing a greenish grey in place of the red.

"Stormy…" Joe says, seeing the color.

"Means exactly what it is." Heather says, lowering her arm again.

"Emotions stir up when we remember things… painful things." Joe says, glancing over his shoulder at Amanda in concern… before the raging storm knocked the power out.

"Aw, fuck!" Seth mutters, turning his phone flashlight on. "Everyone okay?" He asks.

"Yeah. Mandy, Finn, you alright?" Joe says.

"Yeah…" Amanda says, brushing her remaining tears away as her phone rang. "Hey, Hunter." She says after answering it, Hunter noticing the signal was slightly staticy.

"What's going on?" Hunter asks.

"Power outage… that's Florida in late August, damn storms." Amanda says.

"Are you all at the Performance Centre?" Hunter asks.

"Yes… the generator must not be working properly." Amanda says, Hunter turning concerned as he knew that it was just fixed up too. "Yes, I'll go check it." She says, the two hanging up.

Once split into groups, it was Finn, Amanda and Dean who found the generator. Amanda tried to flip the switch but Finn stopped her, Dean flipping the switch on as Amanda couldn't bend her broken fingers.

The power back on, the three returned to the others… and saw Heather and Seth in the ring.

"See? Not as intimidating as it looks on Tv." Seth says.

"All the lights and smoke just scare the hell out of me… ever since…" Heather says, trailing off and sitting down on the steps.

"I incidentally got blinded once…" Amanda says, Heather looking at her. "One of our other friends uses too many lights when he walks down to the ring, it's disorienting." She says, thinking back.

4/6/16, NXT taping…

"Turn that back off, please?" Finn heard after turning the light on, seeing Amanda's eyes closed.

"Was it all too much, walking out there with Nakamura?" Finn asks, closing the door.

"Yeah… my vision's still blurred and I feel like I'm gonna be sick." Amanda says, Finn turning the light off and walking over to her, helping her sit up and leaning her against some pillows as Sami walked in, reaching for the light switch.

"Don't, Sami." Finn says, Sami turning worried when he saw Amanda's half open eyes.

Present time, Finn's perspective…

"I couldn't see properly for about a day after that… thought I was losing my sight." Mandy says after she and I reached the apartment, finding my parents there as Seth had taken Heather to go look around after the storm had lessened up.

"Everything okay, kids? You didn't leave a note." Ma says.

We explain what had happened, my parents turning worried.

"It didn't work calling the cops." I say.

"Still, it was the logical thing to do… she could've attacked both of you if you approached her yourselves." Ma says.

I look at Mandy, who's still got that worried look… but it's worry for Heather and I don't blame her.

I hope Heather does find some sort of stability… I do see similarities between the girls.

Thing is, Mandy's used to hiding her past… I didn't really know it until I got her to open up about what had happened to her.