Sofia impresses Ricardo. Despite the early hour he'd woke her up, she stays awake for the entire seven hour drive, not even complaining about the volume of some of his music. Halfway there, they stop at a park and Ricardo carries a cooler full of food, helping her to set it up on a picnic table. It's quiet and peaceful, rejuvenating as they sit across from each other and eat chicken and beef sandwiches, drinking bottled water.

Offering him another sandwich, Sofia smiles when Ricardo takes it from her. "Muchas gracias for inviting me, Ricardo. This is fun. I can't remember the last road trip I took."

He smiles back at her. "Perhaps I'll have to invite you along more often then. We used to spend a lot of time together, when Alberto and I were still in WWE. Now everything is so busy..."

She nods, patting at her lips with a napkin. "Si, I know. But you are much happier, I can tell. Being champion, and having Paige living with us now, is good for you. It's as if a lot of weight is off of your shoulders."

He nods. "I am a lot more comfortable with things... I haven't felt this good in a long time, Sofia." She reaches over and squeezes his fingers, the two of them sitting quietly like that as a warm wind tickles their skin and hair. Time slipping away, he checks his clock before standing and collecting their trash, dumping it in a nearby bin. "Let's go for a walk around the park, and then we'll continue driving. It should only be a couple more hours."

"Sounds fine, Ricardo," she tells him, wrapping an arm around him and walking side by side with him around a tennis court, a volleyball net, and around a golf course. "This is a big park," she murmurs, resting her head on his shoulder as he nods, imagining the fun he and Alberto could have here. Sofia's not much for sports, and they're running low on time, so he leads them back towards the car and smiles when Sofia hugs him quickly before putting the cooler away and returning to the passenger's seat so they can finish the trip.

Once they arrive, Ricardo checks in and hands Sofia the second hotel keycard before leading her to the elevator. Their room is on floor five, which takes awhile to get to because a lot of people are coming and going on the elevator, but finally they're heading down the hallway towards it, Ricardo relieved to finally have somewhere to rest after such a lengthy drive. He drops face first onto his bed, listening as Sofia wanders around and puts things away, emptying the contents of the cooler into the fridge.

This done, she approaches him and starts to massage between his shoulder blades. "I'm going to shower, unless you want to."

"No, it's fine," he murmurs into the pillow. "Go ahead. I'm just going to doze for awhile, when you're done in there, prod me awake and we'll go explore, or get something to eat. Whatever you want."

"Alright, mi hijo," she tells him softly, stroking his hair as his eyes close and he releases a breath, sinking into the hotel bed.

She's not surprised when she comes out of the bathroom, changed into a comfortable pair of pajama pants and a white shirt, to find that he's still asleep, so deeply out of it that he doesn't even stir when she leans over and kisses him on the back of the head. Nodding, she finds her book and settles in to her own bed to read for awhile until she feels like sleeping herself. He suffers from insomnia often so she would never even think to disrupt the rest he does find.

When he does wake up, she's asleep sitting up, her book resting in her lap as she dozes at an awkward angle. He blinks and gets to his feet, stumbling sleepily over to her. Careful to mark her place in the book, he lays it down on the table and pulls her down to lay more comfortably against her pillows, tugging the sheets up over her body. "Good night, Sofia," he murmurs to her before returning to his own bed to get a couple hours more of sleep.

After a couple hours the next morning, looking at various museums and gardens dotting the city, Ricardo and Sofia arrive at the venue for the wrestling event, Sofia talking cheerfully about how much she likes small towns. He introduces her around to the few people there already, the housekeeper immediately charming the various wrestlers who had arrived early.

She's sitting in the front row that night, grinning at Ricardo when he debuts his personal ring announcer, Zane Riley, which leads to Ricardo effectively wrestling and beating his opponent, BJ Hancock. He claps hands with Zane, grinning at him, before rushing out of the ring and finding Sofia in the crowd, the housekeeper ignoring his post-match sweatiness and hugging him happily. "Congratulations, mi hijo," she tells him with a smile.

"Gracias," he responds, eyes gleaming as the crowd shifts, people clapping him on the shoulders and back until he pulls away from her, leaving to rejoin Zane so they can watch the rest of the card backstage. Once the show is over, he makes his way through the quickly dissipating crowd and finds Sofia waiting by the barricade, turning to greet him with a smile. "You're getting quite a winning streak going, mi hijo. I'm so happy for you." She cups his face and smiles at him.

He presses his forehead against hers and beams at her. "Gracias, Sofia. Come, we have to get on the road early tomorrow since I have training... we should get something to eat and then get some sleep."

She nods easily, following him through the backstage area as he says goodbye to everyone. When they head back towards the hotel, she releases a soft little breath, looking forward to relaxing and kicking her shoes off for a few hours. She's just settled into bed when he rolls over to face her side of the room, eyes barely open as sleep claims him. "Thank you for inviting me, Ricardo," she whispers to him, leaning over to shut the lamp off.

"Hmm," he sighs. "No, Sofia, thank you for coming. It's been a great weekend... we should do this again sometime."

"Si, I would like that," she murmurs, smiling as he falls asleep.

-x

John Morrison is still limping after the week prior, trying to keep a brave face as he makes his way through the halls, preparing for his match against Son of Havok. He tries to protect his injured leg just to end up tweaking his neck in the process of the match, but he still successfully defeats the man. It reminds him of the last few months he spent in WWE, when he was still trying to recover from his neck injury and subsequent nerve damage, and also were suffering knee issues. But this isn't WWE, the touring schedule is a lot less stenuous and he has no doubt he'll have time to regroup.

Everything is worsened when King Cuerno comes out and dismantles him just a little further. He breathes heavily on his way back up the steps, shrugging the referees off as he struggles to walk down the hall. Every step hurts, his leg sending sharp pain up his stops short when Alberto turns the corner and stares at him, observing his limp. "Do you need anything?" he wonders, hands twitching at his side as he clearly ponders the best action to take right now- continue on his way to the ring to introduce himself to the Lucha Underground crowd, or help John.

It's weird being in the same business with him again, considering before John was one of Alberto's regular targets, and possibly one of the reasons his neck issues were so slow to heal thanks to him constantly tugging on his arm in an attempt to injure him But many things have changed since then so he shakes his head. "I'm alright, you should go prepare for your big debut, man."

Alberto nods, claps him carefully on the back, and continues on his way down the hall. He's just sat down when Alberto is announced, eager eyes locked on the screen as Alberto begins to talk.

His debuting promo gets a good reception from the crowd, especially when he speaks in Spanish, but everything hits the fan when El Texano Jr. attacks him. Whips him down with a bullwhip and announces that the AAA title belongs to him. Alberto is still motionless when the show goes off of the air so John struggles back to his feet, staring at El Texano quietly as he leaves the temple. Alberto struggles through on his own two feet a few minutes later, all but collapsing when John grips his arms. "Morrison," he grouses. "What are you doing here?"

"Returning the favor," John tells him simply, tugging his arm carefully over his shoulder. Between the two of them, they're weak and exhausted, but they have enough strength remaining to work together and help each other out of the building, where John calls a taxi. "Let's go home, Del Rio. Get some rest... everything will feel better in the morning."

"I hope so," the Mexican aristocrat grouses, yawning slightly. For the first time in his existence, seeing a taxi is one of the most beautiful things he's ever seen. He would normally not be thrilled to be staying at John's apartment, but he feels like collapsing so he'll take it. I miss Ricardo...