That Wednesday, John and Star walk in to the temple hand in hand, each lost in thought about their individual agendas. He has a match against King Cuerno and she has a meeting with Dario Cuerto to discuss the week prior's happenings. He has his wrestling gear on already, slacks and a nice shirt and shoes in his bag, and she has her hair curled, make up done nicely under her mask. Her own clothes, a simple but beautiful red dress, are in a dress bag slung over her shoulder. As they go their separate ways, he takes the bag from her and leans in to kiss her. "See you later," he whispers to her, grinning as she strokes her fingers down his jaw before knocking and entering Dario's office.
He hesitates outside for a moment before releasing a breath, understanding that she needs to do this on her own, and making his way to the locker room to prepare for his match. Watching the meeting in Dario's office leaves him on edge, still not trusting the promoter as far as he can throw him, and his ire grows when Dario's answer to Star's demands is to put her in a match against Big Ryck the following week, his eyes flashing as he thinks about Star alone in a ring against the monster. "Son of a bitch," he hisses out, staring absently at her dress hanging tantalizingly on the wall across from him.
He senses her before he sees her, her footsteps clear as she approaches him, her arms slinking around his neck. Lips warm against his throat and neck, he closes his eyes and leans into her body, fingers clasping her wrist. She gasps softly and murmurs in Spanish as he spins her around and settles her in his lap, staring into her eyes. They're alone in the locker room, everyone off training, watching the on-going match, or whatever else, so he leans up and undoes her mask carefully. Cupping her face and teasing her lips with his fingertips, he stares into her eyes and winces. "Star..."
She immediately tenses up, glaring at him. "Don't, John. Do not be another one like them. I can handle myself against Ryck. I need no man to protect me."
"I know you don't!" he exclaims, holding onto her and burying his face in her soft ringlets. "But listen, Star. I've wrestled Ryck, I've been injured in matches against Ryck. I'm not basing this on your gender, I know you're tough, I know you can kick ass as easily as I can. It's not that, I'm not trying to underestimate you! It's just..." He sighs and pulls away, once more locking eyes with her. "I care about you, and the thought of you hurting as badly as I did after our match kills me."
She stares at him, softening. "I understand, Johnny, I have to endure similar things whenever you are in matches as well... but por favor, trust me. I will be alright. I do not want you interfering."
He grimaces and nods. "Fine. Fine. I won't... but please, take care of yourself." She nods and leans in, kissing him softly before reaching up to re-attach her mask. Once she's done with that, he gently pushes her onto the bench next to him and gets up to finish getting ready for his match, stretching and limbering up as best as he can. After a moment he glances over at her and grins, Star's bright red lips quirking up into a smile of her own. "See you in a little bit," he tells her quietly, leaving the room.
His match against Cuerno would've been brutal even if his knee had been at a hundred percent before he'd walked into it. But it's not and that makes the brutality that much worse, but even so, he's the first to his feet after the final bump they take, through a chain link partition that gives way and leaves them both sprawled out, in pain and stuck to its unforgiving steel. There are medical staff, referees, Striker and Vampiro, a few wrestlers scattered around, but he only has eyes for Star as she stares at him, lips pressed tightly together. One trainer and a referee helps him out of the carnage to the backstage and she follows them quietly to the room assigned for post-match check ups.
His body is one, all-encompassing throb, and she grimaces as even her soft touch on his shoulder makes him wince away. "Lo siento, lo siento," she breathes, moving away from him and knealing down to look him in the eye. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," he murmurs, reaching out for her. She's more careful this time, curling up against him and listening to his breathing as he clings to her. "Star, I'm so sorry, I know we were gonna go out tonight, but I can barely stand to sit here, it hurts so bad. Can we take a raincheck? Do you mind?"
"Of course not," she sighs. "I don't want you sitting in agony the entire time..." She presses a whisper of a kiss against his cheek. "May I come home with you, though? Make sure you're alright?"
He smiles. "I'd like that."
Her lips part into a smile of her own as she kisses him, her touch soothing against his jaw. Once the trainer agrees that he can go, as long as he ices his knee, his ribs, and his back, she drives them back to his apartment and supports him when his energy starts to wan halfway up the stairs. "Almost there, almost there," she whispers, leading him down the hall towards his door. When he hands her the key, she unlocks the door and squeezes his side, easing him inside. He sinks down onto his bed with a sigh as she rustles around the kitchen, finding as much ice as she possibly can, immediately filling the trays with fresh water to freeze more. He has a few ice packs in his freezer already- any wrestler worth their salt does, considering- but she wants to make sure they have enough, just in case.
He's on his side when she returns to him and she whispers apologies when he jerks awake at the first touch of the ice against his skin, but he understands and sits still as she uses ace bandages to tie the packs into place against his ribs and bruising that's already forming on his back so they won't shift while he sleeps. But sleep seems to be the furthest thing on his mind as he wraps an arm around her waist and lays his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Star."
"What are you apologizing for?" she whispers.
"You would've looked amazing in that dress."
"The dress will be here for when we reschedule our date," she tells him with a small smile. "I'm just... glad you're ok... I was so scared he was going to send you both over the railing, or through the glass..." He shifts up with a grimace and she turns to look at him. "You're supposed to be asleep."
"I don't want to sleep right now," he explains, lips twitching up into a charming smile.
She stares at him, eyes dark, as he reaches out and once more undoes her mask, laying it reverently next to her on the bed. "What are you doing, John? You're hurt."
"A little, but not as bad as Cuerno is right now, I imagine," he says, drawing her closer to him. "I'm not going to let your entire evening be a waste." She stares down at him and shakes her head, in disbelief that he'd still have any kind of energy after the war he'd just been in. "Trust me, Star. I trust you to know what you're doing with next week... trust me with this?"
She melts, seeing that he's entirely sincere: Despite how worried he is for her, he will let her do what she feels she needs to against Big Ryck next week. "Alright," she concedes, her soft blonde hair cascading around him as he draws her in for a kiss. It's cold when the ice packs shift between them, but it stops mattering to either of them pretty quickly.
-x
Miz has a match towards the start of Smackdown that week, pacing back and forth in front of the gorilla position while he waits for his cue. Mizdow is nowhere to be seen and he expects him to arrive before the bell rings, but no. He heads out to face Ambrose, glancing behind him to look for his personal assistant but there's no sign of him so he squares his shoulders and enters the ring, staring at the man currently in possession of the Intercontinental title. They exchange offense until he lands hard on the mat, grimacing and struggling to regroup before Ambrose could do something else, when he spots movement out of the corner of his eye.
Wade Barrett is there, grabbing his title belt, but Ambrose also had spotted him, racing him around the ring. Wade gets away and Mike tries to take advantage of the moment but Dean wriggles free and defeats Mike with Dirty Deeds, leaving him glaring into the mat. "Where the hell WERE you, Mizdow?!" he mutters, struggling to peel himself up from the mat once more. "Dammit..."
He continues to ask backstage, glaring various techs down until one speaks up timidly, pointing Mike in the right direction. He immediately storms off in that direction, growing even angrier as he digests what he'd been told. Mizdow had ducked out of his prior commitment to film this ridiculous commercial, which really, who in their right mind would sign a former stunt double, current personal assistant to such a lucatrive thing? Mike is close to exploding when he finds the set, immediately cutting into the shoot. His ire growing at being abandoned for this, he 'shows' Mizdow all of the ways he'd been doing the commercial wrong, before laying into the director for not coming to him first with the role. Not caring what it's for, or anything else about the product, he takes the commercial right from under Mizdow and begins demanding makeup, certain that he'll do the job much more justice than Mizdow ever could've, with his flighty ways.
As soon as they finish filming, he leaves the set and turns to stare Mizdow down. "Get my bags, now," he tells him. As Mizdow walks off, he follows him. "I don't know what I've done to deserve this disrespect, I expected you to accompany me to ringside and where were you? Back here, filming this commercial. You are here to ensure I am comfortable and taken care of. Does this seem like you're upholding any of that?"
"I'm sorry," he attempts but Miz holds his hand up dismissively, waving him on towards the luggage, so Damien releases a sigh, collecting his bags quietly so they can leave the arena.
After a tense weekend, Mike stands outside of the hotel, staring up at the sky. It's been nonstop snow since they'd arrived, on the ground and more coming from the sky, and he hates every second of it. Misses being in California, on the beach, examining the soft blue of the sky and ocean meeting. He'd be inside, huddled in the slightly warmer hotel room, but- A slamming car door cuts into his ruminations and... his lips part into a wide grin as he holds his arms out as a dark blur races into him, Mike laughing as he spins AJ around and holds her close, her legs tangled around his waist. "Took you long enough, sweetheart," he murmurs into her hair.
She pulls back to pout at him. "My taxi driver apparently thought I was dumb and tried driving me in circles until I told him where to go." When he raises his eyebrows at her, she smirks. "Politely. I think. Maybe." She laughs and leans into him, kissing him long and deep. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too," he hums against her lips before settling her down on the ground, resting his forehead against hers. "I have not missed New Jersey weather, though."
"Why do you think I moved to California with you?" She giggles before glancing around. "Dear God, the snow is taller than I am."
"I know." He tucks her in close to him and lifts her luggage. "Don't worry, I won't let you get lost in a snow drift, sweetheart. Just stay close." She curls an arm under his coat, hugging him around the waist and follows him into the hotel. "Are you glad to be back on the road?"
"I think," she nods, unfurling from him once they're at their door so he can unlock it. "Ask me again in a couple of hours after I've seen The Authority."
"Will do." He allows her to enter first, dropping her bag at the floor of the bed before cupping her face and kissing her. "I'm glad you're here, at any rate." She nods and leads him backwards before her legs hit the edge of the bed and she falls backwards onto the mattress, peering up at him and quirking a finger at him. He smirks and shrugs his coat off before joining her, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Yeah, about that..." AJ muses, staring into his eyes. "Would you be very disappointed if I said... I had some unfinished business with the Bellas and Sara will have to wait a little longer to be a real part of our lives?"
His heart sinks as his vision of their little girl replays in his mind, but he smiles at AJ, all too aware of how much thought she'd put into this over the past few weeks, how badly she needs this. "I thought you'd say that," he tells her softly. "You hide it well, but I know you couldn't just let everything with the twins rest. So yeah, I'm ok with it. When we have her, I want the timing to be perfect for you. I don't want you to regret a thing when we decide to take that step."
She wraps her arms around his neck and stares into his eyes, hers drowning in love and devotion for him. "Thank you," she tells him softly. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm ridiculously thankful for it." As his arms support her, warm and strong against her lower back, she hums and kisses him, eyes fluttering when Mike's hands shift, drift up her body to cup her face, thumbs parting her lips as he kisses her in return. "I love you."
"I love you too, sweetheart." His grin is sharp and a little smug as he lifts her up and switches their positions, laying her against the pillows, causing her to gasp aloud as he nuzzles into her throat, pressing open-mouthed kisses against her skin.
-x
AJ doesn't want anyone to know she's there, so Mike takes her to a side entrance and sneaks her inside, keeping an eye out for people. Mizdow had been sent ahead, but he doesn't trust him to do his job properly, so Mike stays with her until she's safely outside The Authority's locker room. "Here," he whispers to her, passing her the keys to the rental car so she can stay there. "I'll text you when I see the Bellas heading for the ring."
"Thanks, husband," she murmurs, kissing him quickly before knocking. Stephanie's voice calls out for her to enter and Mike watches as she squares her shoulders before opening the door and going inside to handle the fall out of her tweets and the details of her return.
He wishes he can stay but he has the commercial that he'd filmed in hand, eager to show it off to the locker room as a whole, so he peers into catering and into the main locker room, dragging out as many people as he possibly can to a spare monitor. Ignoring Mizdow's warnings, he plays the tape with the full version on it. It takes a minute for the words to register with him, but when he realizes just what it's for, he flushes hotly and glares Mizdow down. His anger boiling over, he slaps his personal assistant and nearly falters when Mizdow flares back, close to attacking him. But cooler heads prevail, mainly his own, and he reminds Mizdow coolly that he'd be nothing without Miz, that Miz had pulled him out of a dead end career. Mizdow wisely backs down, apologizing, and Miz glares at the others before leaving in a huff.
He considers going out to the rental car to hide but remembers then that AJ has the keys and that he's promised to keep an eye out for the Bellas for her. Putting his sunglasses back on, he wanders around the arena, relieved that it's not hard to hear the entrance themes from any place in the building, making it easier to avoid the other competitors. He buries his hands in his pockets and sighs, wondering why everything keeps going wrong- every time he wants to teach Mizdow a lesson, reign in his atrocious attitude, something goes wrong... Paige's entrance, followed by the Bellas, brings him out of these thoughts as he finds his phone and texts AJ to alert her that it's time.
He then slips into the catering room and stares at the monitor, ignoring the whispers and giggles around him. When Brie costs Paige the title match by DQ after getting kicked in the face and attacking her with Nikki's help and AJ comes out, it distracts everyone from him, their whispers turning to her and the tweets she'd sent Stephanie the week prior. Paige looks confused and surprised as the Bellas retreat, Mike relieved to see her return had gone well again. He leaves catering and lurks around the hallway until AJ comes through, her eyes lighting up when she sees him. They're stopped from going to each other, however, when Renee catches AJ and begins to interview her about her return. Paige interrupts and questions their enemy-frienemy-friends status before AJ grins at her and the two of them go their separate ways, Paige nodding at Mike before ducking into the divas locker room.
AJ skips up to her husband and wraps her arms around him, tilting her head curiously. "So, you're an advocate for Niagara now, huh?" Tracing a finger down his chest, she smirks. "I have to say, I never remember seeing any blue pills around the house..."
"It was Mizdow's commercial," he pouts at her. "I didn't realize what it was for, I just knew he was doing it wrong and I wanted to fix it... his failures reflect poorly on me, you know."
She laughs and kisses him. "I know, I know, husband." Stroking his chin, trying to sooth him, she nuzzles her nose against his. "So what'd you think of my big return?"
"It was great to see you out there, getting some revenge on the Bellas." He brushes his fingers through her hair. "I know you must've enjoyed it." She nods underneath his hand and he smiles at her. "Come on, let's get out of here, go back to the hotel... By the way, how did that meeting with The Authority go?"
"Oh, you know, it was fantastic," she says drily, taking his hand and looping his arm lazily around her shoulders as they walk side by side down the hall, both eager to leave, continue making up for lost time together.