Although Mike's healthy enough come Wednesday, Main Event commentary goes yet again to A-Ri, Miz shrugging it off as best as he can, not willing to let himself dwell on the thoughts that had left him frozen on Monday until Alex and AJ had worked together to get him to think straight once more. He and AJ watch the show together again, both quiet as they think about the upcoming Smackdown- and the PPV beyond that, holding so many of their futures in its hand. He sighs, stroking his hands through her hair, down her back as he considers another show where he doesn't have a pre-announced match. Whatever, he finally thinks, not letting it shake his determination. It doesn't matter, I'll be there either way. He stares down at her, forcing a smile when she sits up to kiss him lightly.
And he's certain about this until he receives a text early Thursday morning saying he's not needed for Smackdown, and had been given the night off, the typical hint for a superstar to not even bother going to the arena. He stares at it, his thumbnail digging into the glass of his phone screen, before he takes a deep breath and another, closing his eyes in disgust. Of course, he knows that the fact he has no scheduled match for Battleground makes his presence unneeded at the shows, too beat down the past few weeks for anything to really be built towards, but still... He paces around his hotel room in aggravation, gingerly rotating his arm as AJ sleeps on behind him, Alex having left early after Main Event the night before to handle some business back at home. He does feel a lot better physically, and thinks he's getting there mentally... but going against HHH's orders could get him suspended or worse. He purses his lips and finally sits on the bed next to her, kissing her shoulder gently. As she stirs slightly, just to fall back into a deep sleep after a moment, he checks his twitter account.
There are the standard early morning tweets and alerts from the various accounts he follows... and then he sees a tweet about a Cleveland Browns game from good ol' JR. He also is aware that it's Morrison's birthday, noting to take some time later to call or Skype him but... Thinking about home, and perhaps dropping in on his parents, letting his mom see firsthand, at least, that he's doing a lot better than the last time he'd seen her, sounds like a good idea so he nods slowly and glances once more at his girlfriend, smiling a little. Leaning over her once more, he nuzzles against her neck and presses another kiss to her throat, grazing his teeth gently against her jaw as she grumbles and shifts, resting a hand against his head lazily. "AJ," he whispers against her skin. "I gotta ask you something."
She sighs and opens her eyes, staring at him with a mix of sleepy grumpiness and subtle affection, her nails trailing through his hair as she inches towards something resembling wakefulness. "What?"
"Been told I've been given Friday off," he tells her, watching as realization clicks with her. "And ordinarily I'd ignore it and go anyway, but if I want to be there for you on Sunday, I kinda just want to keep the drama low this week... so I was thinking while you're at Smackdown, I may go back to Ohio and visit my parents, go to a football game or something. Is that alright?"
She continues brushing her fingers through his hair before pulling him the rest of the way down to her, kissing him to breathlessness. Both of them pull away as one, breathing in deeply before resting eye to eye for a moment, the girl smiling vaguely as she licks her lips. "Fine," she mutters. "But you have to make it up to me before I let you go anywhere first."
He grins. "Oh, I will. Promise." She giggles as he resumes kissing her, sighing softly.
Later that afternoon, he departs the plane in Cleveland and, pausing only long enough to turn his phone on once more, finds his rental car, driving slowly through the streets he'd grown up on towards his parents' home. He's just outside of the house when he notices one of the missed calls he'd received an alert for while his phone was off is from Alex. He blinks and dials him back, frowning. Alex normally doesn't call him when he knows he's midflight, so he figures it must be something fairly big.
"Hey, Mike."
"Hey, kid, what's going on?" he wonders, glancing back towards his house.
"Well, uh, and please don't freak out, but I had a doctor's appointment earlier and, uh, my doctor just confirmed I'm gonna need minor shoulder surgery. It's outpatient, and everything should be fine, but just wanted you to know. It's scheduled for Saturday, I should be back on the road in time for Main Event, if not sooner. I might travel back with Ricardo for the PPV tomorrow... I mean, why not?"
Mike swallows, his mind already going a million miles an hour. "I can be there-"
"No, no," Alex cuts in quickly. "Listen, the last surgery was different- it was more intense, and I lived alone at the time. This one's simple, and Ricardo'll be here to help me. I know you were looking forward to spending the weekend with AJ, I don't want to disrupt that. I promise you, I'll be fine. You enjoy your weekend, alright? Ricardo, I'm sure, will keep you up to date on what's going on."
Mike hates it, he does, but Alex does have Ricardo, and his house is calling to him, not to mention a weekend with his girlfriend... He sighs and shakes his head. "Fine, kid, but if you need anything, you let me know, got it?"
"I will," he vows. "Now go say hi to your mom for me."
Mike sighs and agrees, hanging up with no lack of reluctance. His mom greets him enthusiastically, visibly relieved to find that he looks stronger than he had weeks ago, and a part of him is glad to see his father isn't anywhere nearby as they sit and talk easily about a number of things- his career, how his recovery is going, and, last but not least, AJ. His mom had been understandably uncertain about the girl at first, aware of her from the times she'd seen her on MizTV segments while watching her son, but she'd observed her enough while they were all at the hospital with Mike to like what she'd seen, finding the girl a good deal more stable in real life than she appeared on TV most times.
Finally he realizes time is getting away from him, the football game starting within the next hour, so he kisses her goodbye and leaves, relieved that she seems comforted after seeing him, and more so that she approves of AJ; not that he'd needed her to, but he loves his mom so to have her seal of approval means a lot to him. His good mood, however, fades away when he arrives at the game and recognizes a familiar bleach blond head of hair sitting in the stands nearby, pursing his lips in annoyance as he finds his seat and tries to ignore Dolph Ziggler, stuck on what luck it is that they're both here. Of course, they both originate from Cleveland, though Ziggler lives in Arizona now, and he in LA, so he imagines it had to have happened some day- but today? Really? Really?
And of course it quickly goes around the stadium that the WWE superstars are there- along with, to Mike's growing discomfort, JR and Jerry Lawler. Which explains why JR had been tweeting about it that morning, but geez. I try to get away from work and look what happens, he thinks with a mirthless little smirk as all four of them are invited to tour the stadium, meet some of the team, and other things of that nature. He and Dolph even come face to face a time or two but Miz merely nods at him before continuing on his way. He's pretty sure they'll never get along well, if at all, but Ziggler had been dumb enough to throw AJ away, which had brought her to Mike with time, and he has many more important things to worry about than being stuck in the same building with Ziggler for a few hours. Besides, Ziggler also is against the whole HHH regime so it seems, and he knows they may eventually end up needing the other, so he bites his tongue as best as he can.
Which goes fine until his phone rings and he excuses himself, unsurprised to find that it's AJ. "Hey," he greets her softly. "How's it going?"
"I miss you," she offers after a moment. "Things are boring without you."
"Well of course," he says, smirking when she lets out a soft, huffing kind of laugh. "I'll come back early Saturday, I just think my mother needs a little more one-on-one time with me, after everything. Like I promised, we can spend the whole weekend together until your match, and then I'll be waiting to celebrate your title retention with you."
"Sounds good," she says, smile audible in her voice. "I love you, Mike."
"I love you too, AJ." After a quick goodbye, he hangs up and turns to re-enter the room just to find Ziggler leaning against the doorway, sneering at him. He closes his eyes, knowing immediately what the look on his face means: he'd heard enough of the short phone call to understand what was going on. "What do you want, Ziggler?"
"So you're the next one in AJ's long list of victims," he says with a smirk. "I figured after everything she'd put you through, all you've seen her do to a number of other guys the past year, that you'd know better."
Mike's eyes darken as he approaches the other man. "Watch it, this hasn't been a great few weeks for me, and she's been one of the few bright spots. So either shut up and go back in there, or-"
"Or what?" Ziggler wonders, standing up straighter as they stare at each other. "Do you really think she's worth all of this?"
"Yes I do," Miz says simply, glowering at him. "And more."
"How touching," he tells him. "I used to think so too. I would've done anything for that girl. But she became desperate and clingy and cost me my dream of being World Heavyweight Champion. How long until she does the same for you too?"
Mike rolls his eyes. "Well, thankfully, I'm not you." He leans closer and smirks at Dolph. "I'd never begin to ignore her to the point that she'd feel the need to cost me anything. Maybe if you were a better boyfriend, you'd still be champion. But thankfully you're not, and pretty much everything is as it should be finally. I'll make sure she's happier, and stays that way, than you were ever capable of doing." He sneers and walks inside to join back up with JR and Jerry, leaving Ziggler behind to snarl at the door.
He watches Smackdown with his mother the next night, the two of them watching as first RVD wins via DQ to Fandango, hitting a van terminator with some assistance from Ricardo after that, Mike bursting out laughing when the shredded trash can is presented to Alberto Del Rio later on, the man throwing it aside before storming out for his match against Dolph. Mike's lips twist into a sneer as he watches the two men batter each other down, Del Rio finally cinching victory with another armbar.
He doesn't see AJ until later in the show, Brie Bella's match against Aksana ending with a victory for the Total Divas' star, just for the divas champion to come out and speak her mind. As soon as she's done and a commercial takes over, Mike clears his throat awkwardly and glances at his mom, who also looks a bit thrown by what the girl had just said. He laughs weakly, the little boy in him wanting nothing more than to crawl under his bed and hide but the man in him waiting to see what she'd say first. Then maybe he'd slink off to his room and do so...
Finally she clears her throat and looks at him, eyes softening when she notices the look on his face. "Well... she's quite spirited, isn't she?"
Just like that, the tension disappears and he releases a deep, almost painful breath before laughing, sincerely this time. "Ah, yeah, that she is, Mom." He smiles affectionately, shaking his head at the luck that the one time he watches with his mom, his girlfriend would have to say such eyebrow raising things to her opponent. Oh well, it's part of the reason I love her. You never know what she's going to say or do... sounds kind of familiar...
Mid-Saturday, Alex wakes up, still feeling the affects of the topical numbing agents they'd used on him for the minor shoulder surgery, not to mention the painkillers. He blinks a time or two before focusing on the dark haired younger man by his side. "Ric... ardo," he slurs out, smiling when the ring announcer looks up at him, face lighting up. "Hey, man."
"Hola, Alex. How do you feel?"
"Floaty," he mutters, the ring announcer laughing softly at this, which causes him to grin. "You don't laugh enough, man." Before Ricardo can react, a nurse comes in to examine him, leaves behind a pile of paperwork that Ricardo helps him to sign one handed and bring to its rightful places so he can get released.
"Come, Alex, let's get you home." He agrees readily, Ricardo's hand warm and steadying against his back as he leads him to the car, where he dozes the whole ride back to their apartment. Alex is too tired to say or do much, merely nodding thankfully as the ring announcer leads him inside and sits him down on the couch, ensuring he's stable there before running back out to the car to collect his papers and other small things.
As he settles the items on the coffee table in front of the couch, Alex stares at it, blinking rapidly like it's a puzzle he has to figure out. "Hey, Ricardo... thanks, man. For everything. Miz is busy, and Morrison has some standup comedy stuff this week, so I really didn't wanna bug either one of them, and... I'm glad you're here," he mutters. "It sucks goin' through this kinda stuff alone."
Ricardo stares at him, unable to really think of one time when he'd been truly alone and injured or in pain. When younger, he'd had his mom, then Alberto and Sofia, and now he has Mike, Alex and Rob... He knows, despite all of the hardships, he really is rather lucky. "I'm glad I'm here too, Alex," he says softly. Resting a hand on Alex's good arm once more, he tries to help him up from the couch. "Come on, let's get you to bed, so you can sleep comfortably for awhile. I'll wake you up later for supper."
Alex is close to Alberto's height and for a few, wild moments, it reminds Ricardo of the many times he'd had to help the Mexican aristocrat to bed after one of his injuries or just a really, really rough day. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, still not sure what he's going to do the following night thanks to all of these memories and conflicted feelings. Time's running out, he thinks brokenly, pulling sheets up around Alex carefully, making sure not to jostle his tender arm. Why does everything have to be so complicated right now...?
Mike keeping his turmultous thoughts to himself works out in the end- he has no match, but he is allowed on the roundtable to watch the show and share his thoughts with Titus O'Neil and Tensai, which is fine with him. He's still sore sometimes if he moves wrong, although his doctor assures him he's recovering well, considering. So he's content to watch from above as the show carries on, sneering to himself when he sees Ziggler come out, remembering their conversation from Thursday, but he soon stops caring when it's announced that RVD vs Del Rio will begin as soon as this match concludes. He swallows, alternatively worried and relieved that it'll all be over soon, putting a lot of their worries to rest. Though Ricardo seems better since telling Rob everything, he's still visibly conflicted and it shows in a tweet he sends out before the show begins. Mike feels for him, he does, but in the end it's his decision; all Mike can do is support him, along with Alex and RVD.
He's watching tensely as Alberto tries to lock in the armbar, Ricardo taking advantage of the Hardcore rules to slip in with, of all things, a bucket and slam it across Del Rio's back. The Mexican aristocrat twitches, arching away from the weapon, before throwing Rob out of the ring and turning on Ricardo. Mike can't see what they're saying, but it looks like Ricardo is about to hand over the bucket to his former employer when- he instead kicks the older man in the abdomen and begins hitting him with the bucket repeatedly, getting some form of payback for what he'd endured two months prior almost to the day. Mike swallows, however, when the volley quickly comes to an end, Alberto throwing Ricardo to the outside and screaming at him before kicking him viciously, leaving him slumped against the barricade wall, motionless.
Mike bites his lip, hope for this match ending with neither men being harmed fading away as RVD reappears, gets him away from Ricardo and even manages some offense on him outside and in the ring, but it all goes sideways after Del Rio catches RVD's arm in a chair and prises it back viciously in the armbar, Rob having no choice but to tap. Ricardo is still down on the outside, and Mike regrets being up here, unable to go check on them as the next round of match discussions begin between the three of them.
He struggles through the rest of the night to focus on what's going on in the ring, worried still about Ricardo, if he's ok, although they'd seen him come to and be helped up the ramp by the trainer and a couple of referees, RVD holding his arm close to his side as he follows them up with a referee of his own staying nearby just in case. But Mike's night isn't completely over as AJ's match comes up, his eyes locked on her as she comes out, Tamina at her side. She looks incredible, and he catches her glimpsing over at the skybox he's in, Miz grinning slightly as he pretends to listen to Titus and Tensai discussing the match.
The match is straightforward enough, though there's a time or two where he worries that Brie may almost have it. Finally, Tamina seems to be growing worried as well because she grabs Nikki and chokes her out, distracting Brie just long enough for AJ to slip behind her and catch her in a roll up, retaining the Divas title. As the twins watch on, Nikki gripping her throat and struggling to take down a full breath again, AJ stares at them from the ramp, kissing her belt in relief as Tamina supports her.
Mike grins, relieved that at least one thing has gone right tonight, turning back to his job. The rest of the evening goes by quickly, all of them on the roundtable happy for the Rhodes when they successfully defeat The Shield to get their jobs back. When the lights go out just before the WWE title match, they all sit tensely and glance around, wondering what the Wyatts are up to now, but everything begins to work again within a few minutes and Mike breathes a little easier. However, the pay per view ends unsatisfactorily as Big Show comes out and knocks everyone in the match involved out- ref, Daniel and Orton, no one's safe from his rampage. He grimaces and rolls his eyes, picking at his suit jacket as they all walk backstage, subdued.
Despite what he'd expected, AJ isn't waiting for him but Tamina is standing nearby, eyeing him suspiciously, and he walks over to her. "Where's AJ?" he asks, not liking the look on her face. "What's wrong?" She grimaces and begins to walk back down the hall, leaving him to follow her, which he does. "Hey, tell me-"
"She's in the trainer's office," the tall woman says. "Trainer is examining her, she hit her head."
"She seemed fine earlier though!" he exclaims, wincing back when Tamina stops short and looks over her shoulder at him, quickly losing patience with him. He holds his hands up, shaking his head as she slowly begins walking again. He keeps his mouth shut until they've arrived back at the office, inching inside behind her. AJ is laying on a cot, holding her title close against her chest as the trainer checks her pupils. Her face lights up when she spots Mike approaching, teeth flashing as she reaches out for him. "Hey," he whispers, taking her hand and kneeling down on the cot. Both are relieved when the trainer finishes and wanders off, giving them some space. "Congrats. Are you ok?"
"The trainer wants to keep an eye on me for awhile. I was getting a little dizzy on my way back here, and... some things are a bit of a blur," she says, dark brown hair raining down around them as she leans over to kiss him, the ridges of the title belt digging into both of their arms not distracting them from each other. Until, that is-
"Mike!" Alex calls out, running into the room with a worried look in his dark eyes, waving his cell phone around with his good arm. He'd decided to travel to the PPV after all, his shoulder wrapped carefully under his shirt. "It's Ricardo-"
Breaking the kiss sharply at the desperate tone of his voice, Mike looks up at the phone being held in front of his face, blinking a time or two until the words sprawling across the screen register with him, a tweet Ricardo had sent out only a few moments earlier. He stares at his former rookie and shakes his head, eyes wide and dark with worry. "Have you seen him?"
"No, not- not since-" Alex stares at the text again, rereading where Ricardo's tweet says that loyalty to ADR had failed, and loyalty to RVD had backfired, and that he guessed that was it. "What- what's it? What's going on?" he demands, visibly worried for his roommate.
"I don't know, but don't worry," Mike says, trying to seem braver than he's actually feeling. "We'll find him, he can't have gone too far... it'll- it'll work out. He'll be fine." He stares at AJ for a long moment, weighing what to do as he strokes the hair out of her eyes with a small smile, before reaching out and squeezing Alex's good shoulder. "I have to stay here with AJ, the trainer's checking her out. You go and look for him, if you can't find him, let me know and I'll come and help as soon as I'm sure she's ok, alright?"
AJ watches the two men with a frown before motioning to Tamina, the enforcer walking up to her side. "Go with Alex, help look for him," she tells the taller woman. She may not like Ricardo most of the time, but she knows that Mike likes the ring announcer, and what hurts Mike has begun to hurt her too, seeing him so worried and anxious over that tweet, warring with his need to stay with her and make sure she's ok too, eating at her. Tamina nods and AJ smiles at her, holding her title closer. "Thanks."
Mike turns to Alex, trying not to laugh at the look of fear in the man's eyes as he stares at Tamina, clearly unsettled at having to be alone with the woman for however long it takes to find the wayward younger man, but he is distracted when Mike taps his arm. "Look, it's gonna be ok. Just... stay calm, alright? Call me when you find him."
"I will," he promises, nodding quickly at AJ before leaving the room, Tamina following closely behind him.
Mike watches them go before turning back to his girlfriend, kissing her gently. "Thank you," he breathes against her lips, brushing his fingers through her hair, remembering with some horror how Ziggler's concussion had gone, stories of his retrograde amnesia, losing the title because of it, and everything else. Please, please... let AJ be ok... and let Ricardo be alright, too.
Alex and Tamina had searched around the arena, finding nothing or no one who had seen Ricardo- even RVD had been clueless, staring at Alex with a deep frown. "I... it's my fault," he confesses, still holding an ice pack to his own arm. Alex stares at him quizzically as he explains lowly. "I told him a little bit ago that I'd decided to take some time off if I didn't- I didn't win this match, walk out World Heavyweight Champion tonight. He, uh..." He swallows. "He ran out of here, pretty upset. I tried catching him, but he's a fast guy. I don't even know which way he went." He stares at Alex, as troubled as the younger man feels, and releases a soft breath. "When you find him... please tell him, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Alex covers his face with a hand, groaning. "Yeah, well, that doesn't do him much good now, but I'll tell him," he mutters, growing more and more unhappy with the easygoing highflyer before him. "Now I have to go find my roommate and make sure that he's not completely falling apart. Again. Excuse me." He brushes past Tamina, uncaring as she stares at Rob with dark, hard eyes before following him out of the room.
They're about to go look outside, just in case he's in the parking lot, when Alex's phone beeps. They both come to a stop as he pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the text waiting for him, hoping it's from Ricardo. He frowns at it, shaking his head. "It's a blocked number," he mutters. "A text message." Glancing at her, he shrugs. "That's a new one..." He reads it a time or two, wondering who it is from before the words comprising it clicks with him, renewing his hope in one flourish. "Come on." He unlocks the car and stands awkwardly as she takes the keys from him without a word spoken, since he can't drive as well one handed, and lets herself in on the driver's side. Alex stands awkwardly by, unsure if he should do the gentlemanly thing and open the door for her, but ultimately lets the moment pass, figuring she'd be the kind of woman who would knee him in the groin for even thinking about it.
The drive is a short one, though it feels like an hour long due to the awkward, tense silence between the two of them. She follows
silently as he walks through the hotel lobby, waiting anxiously as the elevator takes them to the fourth floor, then down the corridor to the room he, Mike and AJ had booked. Sure enough, as the text had said, the slumped form of Ricardo Rodriguez is sitting in front of the door, his knees hugged to his chest as he buries his face against them, arms shaking as Alex hesitantly approaches, Tamina thankfully staying far back. "Ricardo," Alex whispers, heart aching for the younger man as he looks up, eyes red rimmed and face wet with fresh tears. "Aw, man," he breathes, wishing not for the first time that Miz is here. "It's gonna be ok."
"How?" he chokes out. "How? I spent so long... not knowing what to do... and then Rob-... but it only lasted a couple of months? I can't go through it again, Alex. I- I can't..." He groans out a sob as his roommate sits down next to him and pulls him closer, resting his chin on top of his head, not sure what to say or do that would help, if anything could.
"You're not alone," he tells him finally, eyes closed as Ricardo trembles against him. "Mike and I, we'll help you through this, alright? Everything'll be ok, just give it some time." He opens his eyes when the ring announcer nods, looking up to find Tamina typing out a text message on her cell phone, probably to AJ to tell her that they'd found the younger man. He smiles at her in thanks before turning his attention back to Ricardo. "Come on, let's get inside, huh? This floor isn't comfortable at all." He doubts that Ricardo cares one way or another now, but it makes him feel better as they stand, allowing him to unlock the door and guide him inside, Tamina shutting the door with a quiet click behind them.
"I can't sleep," Ricardo mutters pitifully as Alex tries to lead him to the bed. "Besides, there's only two beds and you've had surgery recently... I'll just... take the couch." Alex sighs and follows him over there and, after he thoughtlessly kicks his shoes off, urges him to rest.
"If you're sure... even if you can't sleep, just lay down, get comfortable, and relax," he says quietly. "After the night you've had, you deserve it."
Ricardo grunts softly as sheets and blankets are dropped on top of him, Alex doing all he can to make him feel better, even if just physically. "I don't know what I deserve anymore," he mutters, rolling onto his side away from their gazes.
AJ and Mike return an hour later, the girl still clearly off, her eyes barely focused as she walks slowly into the room, Mike assisting her every step of the way. "Whoa," he whispers, making sure she doesn't run into the side of the bed. "There you go." He eases her onto the bed and carefully pulls her shoes off before kissing her hand, smiling up at her. "Things'll be ok." He makes sure she's settled and comfortable, her eyes immediately slipping closed, before joining Alex in the middle of the room, examining Ricardo and AJ with a growing feeling of dread in his stomach. "Some night, huh?" he mutters, reaching out and patting the unresponsive ring announcer's foot through the sheets, frown growing when he doesn't even twitch.
"Yeah, no kidding." Alex sighs.
"Looks like. Maybe we can get Tamina to stay to keep you company?" he offers with a small smirk, trying desperately to bring some levity into the situation.
"Oh hell no!" Alex chokes out, still unsure how he'd made it through the last couple of hours alone with her.
Mike laughs at him before shrugging. "Just a suggestion." Dodging A-Ri's swipe expertly, he walks quickly over to the second bed and, scooping AJ's sleeping form up in his arms, settles in next to her, murmuring to her when she stirs, disoriented and confused. "It's gonna be alright. Go back to sleep," he tells her sofly, wanting nothing more than to fall asleep himself and leave this evening behind them.
Raw the next night is bad from the start. They all arrive early, as is standard, but the trainer is immediately drawn to AJ, seeing what Mike sees- she's pale, seems shaky, and the only reason Miz had let her come was to let the trainer get a look at her, deduce what's going on. Which, unfortunately, is what Mike fears- she's having memory issues still, and headaches, among other things, so it's pretty easy to guess that it's a concussion. "We'll run IMPACT tests on her at a later date," the man explains to Mike as he examines her. "But she can't compete this way. I'd advise her to return home, get some rest."
It sounds right to Mike, but he can't leave. He has a request to make with whoever he can find in control of things later on, be it Maddox or the McMahon Helmsleys, so he looks around, spotting Tamina nearby, her arms crossed over her chest as she stares back at him. He swallows, suddenly understanding why Alex had reacted to her the way that he had the night before, before squaring his shoulders and approaching her. "Trainer wants AJ to get some rest. Can you take her back to the hotel and stay with her, make sure she's alright? I have some business to attend to tonight, but I'll be back there as soon as I can."
She sneers for a moment before nodding briskly, turning to walk into the trainer's office with nothing else said. He frowns and follows her in, wondering how AJ and she gets along. "Come on," she says, helping AJ up from the cot. "Trainer says you can't compete tonight, he wants you to rest."
AJ's just opened her mouth to complain, try to talk her way out of it, when she spots Mike, pulling away from Tamina and walking towards him. "Mike, I-"
"You need to do it," he tells her softly. "It's gonna be ok, you're allowed to miss a night here and there." Brushing his fingers through her hair, he smiles. "Don't worry about it. Just take care of yourself, alright?" He leans down and kisses her, smirking as her attempt at speaking is muffled against his lips, finally fading away into nothing. He pulls back and runs his fingers along her face. "I can't come with you to the hotel, but you're gonna be ok. And I'll be back as soon as I can, yeah?"
She groans and sighs, finally giving in, swayed by his ministrations. "Fine, fine." He watches with a small smile as Tamina guides her out of the arena, AJ looking over her shoulder at him once more. After waving at her, he turns his attention to other things.
Mainly, Ricardo. The ring announcer had been quiet most of the morning, only speaking a word here and there, and he and Alex had tried to give him space to think, but Mike is growing weary of it. He settles down next to the younger man once he finds him in the locker room, resting his hand on his shoulder. "Hey."
"Hola."
"You ok?" Ricardo shrugs vaguely and Miz releases a soft breath. "You're gonna be, man. You will, I promise. Just give yourself time, alright? It's been a shaky few months for you, but things'll turn around."
"I guess," he mutters, pressing his hands together anxiously. He's still wearing RVD's pink merch shirt, Mike staring down at the garish colors, which somehow looks alright on the younger man, although all of the pink in the locker room the past ten days had been giving Miz headaches. But it's for a good cause, so he doesn't complain. They're still sitting there in silence when a familiar voice comes from a nearby monitor, Ricardo tensing as he looks up to find Alberto Del Rio flirting with Vickie Guerrero, even going so far as to put his scarf around her neck and kiss her cheek.
Mike is staring at him, missing how the woman's face quickly turns from smitten to angry, remembering how, last winter, it had been Del Rio wrapping a similar scarf around Ricardo's neck, calling him his hermano, before he'd gone out to compete against Big Show for the World Title, urging him to do it in style. How quickly things change, he thinks grimly, sighing slightly. Commercials haven't even finished airing when a tech comes in, urging Ricardo to follow him. Mike shrugs when he glances over at him uncertaintly, watching with no lack of discomfort as they leave the room.
Alex rejoins him a minute later, carrying a large plate of food from catering awkwardly, looking around. "Hey, where's Ricardo?"
"I'm not sure, a tech came and said he was needed for something." Miz has just reached to snag some chicken from the plate when Vickie addresses Alberto, announcing his opponent- Ricardo. Alex and Mke both turn sharply then, the food forgotten as the younger man hesitantly comes out, swallowing tensely. He tries again to talk to her but she motions him on so he walks towards the ring, looking ill. It had been bad enough when RVD had had his back, this time he's all alone... Mike begins to truly hate Vickie Guerrero, icy blue eyes glaring at the screen.
Except that, as soon as Ricardo's in the ring, the bell alerting them to the match starting, she speaks up again, announcing that it will be Del Rio vs a returning Cena at Hell in a Cell. Alberto is incensed, yelling at her from the ring, and Ricardo takes the opportunity, dropkicking his former employer into the ring ropes before pinning him. "Holy shit," Mike mutters, eyes widening. "Did that- that really happen?" They watch, floored, as the younger man dashes out of the ring, Alberto all but frothing as he screams at a laughing Vickie.
Mike shakes his head, laughing slightly, before he realizes that Ricardo had remained at ringside, climbing up onto the announcer's desk to celebrate the moment, take in the crowd reacting to everything that they'd just heard and seen. He frowns, not putting it past Alberto to try something... "Ricardo, get out of there, man-" Before he can even finish saying it, there's a tanned blur as Del Rio rushes past and sweeps the younger man's legs out from under him, sending him crashing harshly against the table. "Dammit!" he exclaims, unable to do anything but watch, frozen, as Alberto kicks the ring announcer in the skull, throwing him into the steel steps before then wrapping a steel chair around his arm and stomping it over and over, punctuating it all with the damn armbar.
Alex grabs him by the shirt one handed, pushing him roughly towards the door. "Go, go!" he snaps, the two of them rushing through the halls, arriving just as the ring announcer is being helped up the ramp, his head held low. They pause in front of him, staring at the trainer and referees, who all look grim. "Ricardo?" he whispers, wincing when the ring announcer merely whimpers, not reacting in any other fashion.
"Dammit all to hell," Mike grunts, watching as the referees continue leading him backstage, the two of them following slowly. As soon as Ricardo is settled in the trainer's office, his arm being examined carefully while Alex settles in the chair next to him, squeezing his hand in an attempt at comforting him, Miz storms out of the room, wishing he could run into Del Rio right now, pay him back for everything... but the hallway is empty, dark. He swallows and closes his eyes, taking deep, shaky breaths. Ricardo doesn't need me losing it right now... but God, I don't know what to do anymore. Does everything have to suck at once? He shakes his head, closes his eyes, and instinctively grabs his phone, needing to hear AJ's voice right now.
She answers immediately and barely waits for him to say anything. "Are you alright?"
Tears fill his eyes as he chokes out a bitter laugh, thinking about how backwards it is that she's the one downed with a possible concussion, and Ricardo's the one in the room behind him with a possibly broken arm, while he sits out in this hallway and feels sorry for himself, his girlfriend asking if he's alright. "I'm ok," he breathes. "I... yeah."
"Is he ok?"
"I don't know," he chokes out. "I don't know." Neither know what to say, finding some comfort anyway as they stay on the phone, listening to the others' breaths. "AJ... I want to come back to New Jersey with you tomorrow," he says. "I... don't want to leave you alone, and... I love you," he finally mutters, none of the words coming out in a sensible fashion, adding to his frustration. He hopes she understands what he means
"Of course," she whispers back. "I don't know what we can do... but I'd be happy to have you there. I love you too."
He's distracted when he hears a familiar voice, fingers tensing around case of his cell phone. "I have to go," he tells her softly. "See you soon."
"See you."
He stands and walks down the hall, finding Vickie Guerrero standing there, looking resolute as she continues handling whatever business she has at Raw. "You did it again," he tells her, smirking darkly as she jerks, turning towards him instinctively. "Didn't we have this conversation already? Did all of that look like it was best for business?"
She stands her ground, dark eyes narrowing as she stares up at him. "Yes, it was. It was the perfect opportunity to announce Cena's return."
"Tell that to the man with a possibly broken arm back in the trainer's office," he tells her.
She glowers up at him, shaking her head. "What do you want from me? He's not employed by anyone as a ring announcer, he shouldn't complain that I tried to find a place for him on tonight's show."
Miz rolls his eyes at her, growing angrier with her by the second. "What I want from you is pretty simple- stop putting him in positions where you know he's going to get injured. Put your personal biases behind you and be a decent general manager for once, do the right thing." Feeling everything boiling up within him, he leans closer to her. "And you can do one thing for me, right here, right now."
As soon as she agrees to what he wants- what he wanted the whole damn show, and only now's finally had the chance to achieve it- he leaves, still far from pleased as he makes his way to the ring, having only a little bit of time for a MizTV segment before the main event begins. He wants no guests, he just wants time to talk- and what better place to do it than his own show? He smiles a little, standing out there in the ring, remembering how annoyed he'd been when AJ had first given him it. He'd hated it at the time, finding it to be a consolation prize for what he'd really wanted at the time, but now he loves it, even though he ends up getting beat up 75% of the time during it because of his big mouth. But he doesn't get the opportunity he wants to speak his mind about what's been going on lately- Vickie, Ricardo, HHH, Orton, Daniel, Big Show and everything in between weighing on him- because he's barely welcomed people to MizTV when all of the lights go out.
His hair stands on end and he swallows, watching as the titantron glows with a faint light coming from Bray Wyatt's lantern until he blows it out, heralding his arrival. But Miz isn't all that surprised when the lights blaze back to life and he turns to find Harper and Rowan behind him, quickly slipping away and running up the ramp just to come face to face with Bray himself. He swallows and then fights, determined not to allow anything bad to happen to him. AJ is counting on him, Ricardo needs him, and he won't let either of them down, not now. Not tonight. He manages to throw Bray out of his way, turning in time to see Harper and Rowan catch him, the bizarre man hanging backwards off of them and laughing at him until Miz slowly backs away, shaking his head. Little early for the Halloween crap, isn't it?
He tries to clear his mind of that, making his way back to the trainer's office, where Ricardo is still where he'd left him, Alex looking up at him. Not liking what he sees on his face, he walks over to the younger man and squeezes his good arm, staring down at him. Ricardo swallows but says nothing, looking away all too quickly. As the trainer continues to wander around, he finally locks eyes with Alex. "Where's my phone?" he asks, voice faint and weary. After the phone is pressed into his good hand, he types something one handed and sends it in, Alex and Mike's phones both beeping a minute later. They automatically find their phones and read the tweet he'd sent, glancing over at each other with equally pained looks on their faces, not sure what he means by what's said in the small message.
Neither feeling that now's the time to grill him for information, they merely put their phones down and resume silently supporting him, waiting for the trainer's verdict...