A/N: For those interested in the entire Thanksgiving chapter, most of it was handled on Back to Basics 2: Encontrar una Manera chapter 69 so please go there to read it.
To AJ's relief, Mike shakes off his disgust about Hornswoggle for the duration of Thanksgiving spent at Alberto's, allowing them all to have fun, even when Mizdow is being a spotlight hog, adding to his aggravation. After the meal and a couple of hours spent in front of the bonfire encouraged by Alicia, everyone else has gone to bed. AJ and Mike, having snuck back out, are sitting by the pond, enjoying the moment alone, staring up at the stars and moon overhead, when they hear footsteps and look over their shoulders to find John approaching. "Mind some company?"
"No," Mike drawls lazily, his midwestern accent strengthening as John smirks and settles in close to the pond, swishing his feet around in the cool water. "So someone has a girlfriend now, huh?"
"What?" he sputters and freezes, looking over at Miz. "No? If you mean Star, we just compete in the same company and I thought it'd be nice to invite her so she's not alone on a holiday. That's all." He settles back in the grass, enjoying how the dew brushes against his skin, but he's not surprised when Mike doesn't drop it.
"Whatever you say, Shaman," he comments, smirking over at AJ as she rolls her eyes at her husband. His teasing doesn't abate, especially when Star joins them, unable to fall asleep easily in the strange bed.
John and she are talking lowly, AJ watching her husband as he keeps trying to interject, wanting to get in on his best friend's conversation. She rolls her eyes and grips his jaw, bringing his attention back to her. "No, don't you dare," she tells him, shaking her head. "None of your high school level Spanish speech with her, don't you remember how far that took you with Ricardo? Come on. Leave them alone." He pouts at her but she continues to deny him until he huffs, shoulders slumping. "Come on, husband. Let's go inside and you can speak all of the faulty Spanish you want to me," she suggests, gripping his hand and trying to pull him up as she stands.
He grumbles, but concedes, observing the easy grin on Morrison's face as he finally gets to his feet and follows her inside, careful not to lock the door behind them so that John and Star can re-enter. "She seems nice, I guess," he mumbles, allowing AJ to lead him to their bedroom. The rest of the house is quiet, everyone fast asleep, and both AJ and Mike are glad to sink under the sheets, her body immediately curling up close to his as he wraps his arms around her.
"I think she is," she whispers. "Either way, he'll be alright." She squeezes Mike and presses her face into his chest as he strokes her hair. "Good night, Mike."
"Good night, sweetheart." He presses a soft kiss to her forehead before closing his eyes, their breaths quickly softening, falling into a steady rhythm as sleep overwhelms them.
Alberto wakes them up early the next morning for their flight out to Smackdown, since he and Ricardo are flying out for AAA with Sexy Star. They end up in the back seat with her and Mizdow, AJ once more keeping Mike from harassing her, his questions more antagonistic when he's sleepy and suffering caffeine withdraw, the coffee Sofia had pushed on them not enough to kickstart him just yet. Ricardo throws a relieved look at the former Divas' champion once they all arrive at the airport and are about to go their separate ways. She merely smiles at him and, after thanking Alberto for hosting, leaves to get more coffee for Mike so he'll be bearable on the flight.
"So, you've been signed to AAA, huh?" he asks Ricardo, his first sip of caffeine helping him to finally think a little more normally.
"Si," the younger man says, a small smile dawning on his face underneath some nervousness.
Mike shakes his head and hugs him, squeezing his arm. "You'll do great, man. Skype or email me when you get a minute and let me know how it all goes, yeah?"
"I will, Mike, gracias," he says, grinning up at him. "Hope Smackdown goes well for you."
"Thanks, I'm sure it'll be fine." He turns to find Mizdow once more mimicking him and tries to count the hours, raising his eyebrows. "Thirty six hours are up?"
"Yes," Mizdow says simply, raising his eyebrows as he lifts his sunglasses to look at Miz.
"Fine. Carry on then," he says, turning back to Alberto and Ricardo. "What?" he demands of the smirks on their faces.
"Nothing." Ricardo laughs faintly and claps Mike on the arm. "See you soon, alright? Hopefully before Christmas."
"Definitely, man. Bye, Alberto."
"Adios," Del Rio responds, reaching out for his best friend and turning him towards their gate, not wanting to be late. "What shall we do to give the flight attendants grief, mi amigo?"
"Oh boy," Miz mumbles, wandering off towards the shops to locate AJ. She comes out just as he's about to go in and they laugh, Mike's hands immediately gravitating towards the coffee in her hands. She grins up at him as he wraps an arm around her shoulders, the two of them walking together to the line for their flight, Mizdow following behind, drinking from thin air each time Mike sips at his.
When they arrive, they take a minute to examine the match board and AJ sighs, having no match listed. He hugs her and kisses her, his own eyes locked on his MizTV being set to start the show off with Big Show as a guest. She squeezes him tighter and mumbles into his chest, "Please be careful, Mike."
He remembers then with a flash, how she had been bowled over by Big Show during a match against Daniel Bryan and left needing a neck brace for a long time afterwards. "I'll be fine," he promises her. "I'll try not to be so annoying... he won't touch me. I promise, sweetheart."
She nods grimly and looks up as he walks them towards the tag team champions' locker room. "I'll be holding you to that, Mike," she sighs. When he does go out, Mizdow by his side, he can feel her eyes on him through the monitor, and he does what he told her he'd do. Telling Big Show he should've never joined Team Cena, but before much else can be said from either one of them, Daniel Bryan's music interrupts and he watches blankly as his former NXT rookie comes out, apparently being named the temporary Smackdown general manager as well.
He makes a 20 man battle royal for the US title and Miz and Mizdow compete for it, but Miz gets eliminated barely halfway through it and he watches from the barricade wall as Mizdow grips himself by the neck and eliminates himself, Mike biting his lip not to laugh as Mizdow slumps next to him, the two of them grousing to each other over it all. They trudge backstage and AJ meets him, gripping his face and searching his expression before leaning up on her tippy toes to kiss him. "I told you I'd be ok."
"Thank you for keeping to your promise," she murmurs. She squeezes his hand and they go back to the tag team locker room, half-watching the show until Nikki Bella's match against Emma begins, AJ sitting forward on the couch to watch closely. She wins, AJ grimacing, but then Nikki takes a microphone and begins to talk, insulting AJ and saying that she's always had things handed to her, Nikki's always worked harder, and that AJ's still just the pathetic girl from New Jersey. Before Mike can say or do anything, AJ's out of the room and he watches, eyes narrowed, as she rushes to the ring and tries to attack Nikki, Brie blocking her until Nikki's free and clear, Brie quickly escaping as well.
Mike watches closely as AJ stands at the ring ropes, a devastated look on her face. His heart sinks as he walks in a daze towards the gorilla position, passing the Bellas by as he goes. They sneer at him as he glares at them, hatred for them almost overwhelming him, but then AJ is walking through the curtain and he forgets all about them, his arms wrapping around her as she hurls herself at him. She's shaking and miserable, so he quietly scoops her up and walks her back to the locker room only long enough to grab their things and then continue walking to the car, eager to get her away from prying eyes and gossiping idiots. Mizdow even is quiet during the drive, AJ leaning into Mike. It takes him a minute to realize she's mumbling something but, as soon as he does, he leans closer. "What are you saying, sweetheart?"
"I'm not that pathetic girl... I'm not..." She grips his shirt and tugs helplessly, tears filling her eyes.
"You were never pathetic," he whispers, kissing her hair. "You always worked hard to help your family, to better yourself... to make it here. The Bellas are the pathetic ones who always had everything handed to them." He rubs her back soothingly as she nods against his neck, sniffing slightly. "I love you, AJ."
"I love you, too," she murmurs. He's not sure which of them are more pleased to see the hotel out of the three of them, but he knows he's glad to help wrap her up snug in the sheets and blankets once she's ready for bed, holding her close and brushing his fingers through her hair as she stares up into the dimly lit room. "Thank you, Mike," she whispers, clearly in no hurry to fall asleep any time soon.
He nods against her and presses a soft kiss to her lips. "My pleasure, sweetheart. Just try to go to sleep, ok?" He continues to sit up, comfortingly stroking her face until she closes her eyes and sinks into him, not entirely asleep but close enough that he feels better about settling in next to her and closing his eyes as well, certain that he'll be able to hear and wake back up if she needs him.
Thankfully, they both sleep through the night and, when he wakes up, he finds his wife has slept off the comments Nikki had said against her and is once more determined to show those Bellas what she's really capable of come Monday, to his relief. Which is good because come Raw, he's back to worrying about what the Anon GM might do. She tries to comfort him the way he'd comforted her over the weekend but it doesn't help. As they sit backstage and watch the start of Raw, Mike twitches every time that obnoxious sounder goes off, even Cena's influence not enough to keep him quiet the entire time.
She sighs and strokes his shoulder until the show goes back to commercial. "I have to take a walk," he mumbles. "I'll be back in a little bit, sweetheart."
She frowns but he's already walking out of the door with Mizdow following behind him. "Dammit," she breathes. "Well, I think I know a way to fix this." She walks to the door as well and peers left to right, relieved to see Miz is out of sight. Slipping outside, she wanders down the hallway, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Eventually she spots a cord running into a nearby closet and stops short outside of it, smirking to herself. "Aha," she mumbles, gripping the doorknob and pulling it open roughly.
She's not surprised at all by who she sees sitting on the floor, a laptop held in their lap. "HEY GET OUT!" Hornswoggle yells at her, his eyes wide. She smirks down at him, walking inside and shutting the door behind her, and he yelps. "Hey! What are you doing! No, no, stop- HEY! That's my-!" After a short scuffle in the dark, she opens the door once more and smooths her hair down, humming as she walks back down the hallway towards Mike's locker room. She enters with a wide smile, hoping her husband comes back soon, but she doesn't see him for almost an hour, until the Usos become #1 contender for the tag title.
Only able to imagine how he must feel about that, she grows more and more anxious, about to go out once more to look for him, when she hears his voice on the monitor and turns sharply to watch as Miz approaches Naomi and compliments her music video, encouraging her to call the number on the card he hands her to an agent. Her eyes narrow and she considers, for a moment, to go lock Mike in the closet with Hornswoggle, but outside of the compliments, he doesn't really do anything, simply leaving Naomi behind as soon as she has the card and appears to be considering it.
Of course, he chooses then to return and AJ studiously ignores him, watching the TV as he approaches her and kisses her shoulder softly. She doesn't move, doesn't stop him, merely pretends he's not there, or how his soft touches are affecting her and he grimaces. "AJ... C'mon, sweetheart, I was just trying to get under the Usos' skin to distract them from our titles... It didn't mean anything."
She huffs vaguely and he sighs, leaning into her. "What were you saying about voting for my tag partner?" she mumbles after a moment, his fingers on her tanned stomach close to making her shiver.
"It's an app poll, sweetheart. You're getting a tag partner for a match against the Bellas," he tells her, faintly kissing his way up her neck to her jaw. "Tell me what I can do to make it up to you... Want me to actually vote for Alicia? I will... just tell me. I only told Naomi that because I needed an excuse to annoy the Usos..."
She sighs softly and leans into him. "Fine, vote for Naomi, it doesn't really matter," she whispers, turning and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'll steamroll those Bellas no matter who my partner is." He smiles down at her, eyes gleaming and she strokes his face. "But you're not allowed to look at anyone like that but me."
"Of course, who else would I look at like this? No one compares to you."
"Don't start to sing," she teases him, leaning up to kiss him.
He grimaces and hugs her, nodding faintly. "I have to go soon, I have to do commentary on Mizdow's match. I'll be back before the tag match."
"Alright." She wipes some of her lipgloss off of his lips and smiles up at him as he reluctantly pulls away, pushing Mizdow out of the room so they can go out for his match. AJ watches as Miz discusses Naomi and the Usos and whatever else on commentary, Mizdow eventually succeeding against Fernando. Miz has barely had a moment to react when Jimmy Uso storms to ringside, yells at him to stay away from his wife, and slugs him so hard that he crashes to the floor and gapes up in shock, eyes wide with terror at the force of the strike.
When he returns, he's raging about the status of his moneymaker and AJ cups his face, carefully examining his cheekbones as Mizdow bustles around them and tries to press ice to the growing discoloration. "I hate everything right now," Miz grouses.
AJ tsks at him and lightly kisses his face, pursing her lips at him as he winces. "I've got to go kick some Bella ass, I'll be back in a minute... try not to get punched while I'm gone, ok?" He makes a face at her and she smiles innocently, drawing away from him and walking out to the ring to see who her tag partner will be. Of course it's Naomi, and AJ ignores her as well as she can, working together when they need to but otherwise taking on as much of the offense against the Bellas as she can. They win after a bit of back and forth and AJ smirks as she skips up the ramp and returns to her husband, holding his hand. He looks a bit more appeased now that he has a match against Jimmy announced for Main Event the following night, but she thinks she knows a better way to cheer him up. "Come with me, husband," she tells him, holding his hand and drawing him out of the locker room.
"Where are we going, sweetheart?" he asks, frowning as she leads him down hallways until they stop outside of a closet where there's a muffled thudding sound repeating at random intervals inside. "Uh, AJ, wait-" Before he can stop her, she's gripped the door and pulled it open, stepping back as Hornswoggle rolls out, wrapped up in the laptop cord and looking thoroughly disgruntled around the ducttape pressed to his lips. He kicks and struggles when he sees Mike and AJ staring down at him, muffled screams coming from behind it.
AJ beams as her husband laughs so hard that his cheek aches, his hand resting against the bruised skin caused by Jimmy Uso's earlier assault. She smiles sadly and leans up, kissing him. "Come on, let's get out of here. Someone will probably find him eventually..."
He follows her a couple of steps before turning back around and kneeling by Hornswoggle. "I'll probably never know if you were really the one who did all of that crap to me a few years ago, but either way... I'd say I succeeded and you failed... because of everything you did, I have my best friend back, I'm a multi-time champion, and everyone hates you. So congrats, Hornswoggle. I hope it was worth it." As the short man glares up at him, Mike smirks and stands, wrapping an arm around his wife and leading her down the hall.