John doesn't have a match on this week's Lucha Underground in preparation for his cage match the following week, but he still makes his way backstage to watch. Star's match is up soon against Big Ryck and he watches, barely paying much mind to Del Rio demanding a match against Texano and finally being granted it by an intimidated Cuerto. When her match starts, she puts up as good a fight as she possibly can, even getting a two count against the large man, but he is pissed off by it, about to bodyslam her brutally... but common decency, which John wasn't sure Ryck had wins out, and instead he merely lays her down on the mat and pins her down so she can't move, no matter how hard she fights to get out of the pinning predictment.
John knows she's going to be angry at the loss but he can't help feeling relief that it had ended without her getting injured... That is, until Ryck's former associates run down and beat both him and Star down, Ryck eventually regaining his footing and scaring the three cowards away. John races through the halls, nothing else around him mattering until he's sliding into the ring and his senses catch up with his mind. The grimy feel of the well-used mat, the buzz of the crowd, everything else around him as he rushes over to Star and lifts her gingerly from the canvas, cradling her close. "Star, Star, are you ok?" he whispers worriedly, pressing a kiss to the side of her face before pulling away to look at her. If not for the crowd and Ryck, he'd have taken her mask off as soon as he'd arrived, but he knows she'd never forgive him for such things.
Thankfully she stirs and reaches out for him, whimpering lightly. "John..."
"I'm here, I'm here. You're going to be ok." Ignoring everyone around him, he lifts her and carries her up the stairs carefully, settling her down on the cot in the trainer's office. As he begins to examine her, John stands nearby and watches, his eyes wide and locked on her as she struggles to answer his questions through the pain. Eventually the trainer eases up on his examination, moving aside to prepare some ice for her, so John approaches and takes her hand, lifting it to his lips. "I'm sorry, Star. I know you wanted to compete against them..."
She swallows hard and stares up at him, dark eyes brooding and fixed. "Si, I did," she sighs. "I needed revenge for mi amigos... Pimpinela and Mascarita... but I could not even defeat Ryck, so perhaps it is just as well."
John winces and leans in, forehead to forehead with her. "It may only be a small comfort but you did nearly have him with that two count... you should be proud, Star. You're a fighter, and it showed in spades with that match."
She smiles wearily up at him, resting a hand on the side of his face. "And thank you for not interfering, Johnny. I know how hard it must've been for you, watching that. Especially with your history with Ryck."
"I'd do anything to make you happy, Star," he tells her quietly, his breath tickling her palm as he kisses her fingers.
She smiles at him, about to say something when the trainer returns to tell them that she's free to go after she rests for a short while with the ice on her battered body. Morrison is content to sit with her, hold her hand, and talk quietly until the twenty minutes have passed. She protests sleepily when he lifts her up, but he murmurs to her and she gives in, burying her face in his neck as he carries her out of the building. His place is closer from the temple than hers so he drives back to his apartment and carries her upstairs, settling her gently in his bed.
He listens to her breaths as they change in pitch while he frees her from her wrestling gear, pulling one of his older merch shirts over her head and leaning back after he smoothes it down her body until it stops at her knees. She's clearly still in pain, her face pinched and breathing a little strained, and he aches for her, wishing there was a way for him to make her feel better. Unfortunately, just as she hadn't been able to do much for his actual pain the week prior, he can't do much except to try to distract her. Snapping his fingers, he gets off of the bed and rustles around in his closet before returning to her. She's opened her eyes upon sensing the lack of him nearby so he hides his surprise behind his back and settles in next to her. "Wha- Johnny..."
"I have a surprise for her," he tells her quietly. "An advance copy of..." When he pulls a box out, she gapes at it, laughing a little before her ribs spasm with fresh pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he mutters, trying to soothe her. "Star..."
She shakes her head, taking his hand. "It's fine, it's fine," she breathes. "Show me, por favor." He brings the box back out and she stares at the pictures from the movie covering it, smiling as John slits the plastic covering and pulls the flaps on either end open, freeing the stuffed dog from the thick tie that was used to keep it from shifting around inside. As he lays the small toy in her hands, her eyes widen happily and she grins. "Super can!" She hugs the dog close, nuzzling it under her chin, and John smiles affectionately at her. "Russell? Si?"
"Right, his name is Russell," he confirms, beaming at her. Once she seems as comfortable as she possibly can be with her injuries, he settles in next to her and wraps an arm around her, stroking her hair as she examines the dog through heavy eyes. She's quickly fading so he reaches around and unhooks her mask once more, laying it down on the bedside table before leaning over to kiss her. "Good night, Star."
"Night, Johnny," she sighs, the dog held protectively in her arms as she sinks into the pillows, fast asleep.
He watches her sleep with a small smile, finding himself looking forward to seeing Big Ryck destroy The Crew.
-x
After a few days traveling around, it's time for Smackdown and Miz is almost relieved, even though it means he's stuck in a building full of his coworkers and the people he'd bragged to the most regarding his commercial. But fans had been worse on Twitter and in airports and everywhere else he'd been recognized, mocking him over his so-called limitations. AJ had seemed sympathetic each time, but he could see the humor in her eyes. Mizdow was the worst, however, continually oblivious to what he'd done. Mike shakes his head, ruminating on everything as he walks around the arena, trying to clear his mind enough to prepare for the tag match later on. It's not ideal, far from what he wants on the road to Wrestlemania, but he'll enter the Andre the Giant battle royal, destroy everyone, and take that trophy to add it to his wall of achievements.
And Mizdow won't be involved in the match, so that's always a plus.
Resigning himself to his fate for this night, at least, he returns to the locker room and stares around, ignoring the whispers and muffled laughter as he makes a beeline for his bag. He's just finished putting his gear on when Mizdow arrives, holding a bottle of water. Huffing, he snatches it out of the man's hands and downs it like he's been walking through the Sahara for a year. Ignoring Mizdow's sputters, he begins to wrap his wrists up with tape and stares blankly at the wall. "No matter what I tell you to do out there, you do it," he says simply, voice low and commanding. "Do not question me, do not embarrass me, and most importantly, do not grandstand. You are my personal assistant who they are forcing me to tag team with. The spotlight is to be on me, where it belongs." Mizdow looks less than pleased with this, but keeps his thoughts to himself, so Miz finishes getting ready for their match, gives Mizdow the once over and heads out.
Afterwards, Mike is left fuming, more laughter and murmurs greeting him because this time, Mizdow had cost them the match. Stepped up against Mike, questioning him on a tag, and then, upon Mike ordering him off of the turnbuckle, distracted Mike to the point that he ended up getting pinned. His demands for an answer falls on deaf ears, Mizdow all but ignoring him as they walk towards the locker room. Thankfully, Mizdow ducks into catering to do... whatever, and Mike heads to the diva's locker room. He glares at Summer Rae as she points and laughs at him, relieved when AJ finally looks up and, spotting him in the mirror, pushes her aside and joins him out in the hall. "This sucks," he tells her glumly. She hugs him and kisses him and he sighs into her hair, shaking his head. "Why'd it have to happen so soon to the release of Marine 4? If this effects DVD sales..."
"Don't worry about it," she soothes him, stroking his hair. "Your fans won't let something so ridiculous keep them from buying your movie. Besides, it was Mizdow's gaffe." She smiles at him as he nods, clinging to the hope she's instilling in him. "Everything will be fine. I promise." She has a match against Brie soon so she has to leave him sooner than either of them would like, but he keeps a brave face on until she leaves, Mike's eyes locked on the monitor throughout the match. Brie and Nikki attempt to double team her like they'd done Paige on Monday, but thankfully Ricardo's girlfriend is at ringside and puts a stop to it, allowing AJ to defeat Brie. It's her first match back since she'd returned and, although he'd been worried for her, especially when she'd grabbed for her neck, he's happy for her.
"Congrats. I love you," he tells her once she returns and skips up to him.
She looks happy as she cups his face and kisses him solidly. "Let's get out of here, husband. You look like you could use some stress relief."
"Yes," he sighs, allowing her to pull him away all too readily.
Whatever progress she makes drains away when he finds water bottles with a Niagara label waiting for them. He seethes as she watches on helplessly, Mike pacing back and forth angrily. "Mizdow did this, I know he did this. That loser, I rescue him from being a nobody and he thinks it's FUNNY to mock me, and, and... and..."
He's so angry, he's speechless, and she sighs, once more taking over. "Come with me, husband," she urges him, drawing him towards the window. "Take this." She hands him a couple of the bottles, holding the rest in hand. He watches her, perplexed, as she pushes the window open and peers down towards the snowy ground. "On a count of three..." She holds fingers up to count down, then once she folds all three in to her palm, sends the bottles flying out of the window where they crash into the ground, exploding and freezing in a slushy mess.
Mike's mind races with ways that they could get in trouble for this but he takes one look at her impish, beautiful face, and gives in, throwing the other bottles over to join hers. They watch as they arch through the air before slamming into the sidewalk, leaving nothing but pieces of plastic and frozen water all over. He holds his breath and, when nothing horrible happens, releases a sharp laugh as AJ throws herself into his arms, kissing him. "Thank you, sweetheart," he tells her, resting his forehead against hers.
She smirks at him and nuzzles closer to him, reaching out to close the window as the cold air becomes more noticeable. She shivers in his arms and he makes a sympathetic clicking sound, carrying her to the bed with the prime objective to warm her back up.
-x
After a quiet weekend spent avoiding as many social activities as is possible, Mike and AJ arrive at Raw once more hand in hand, just to learn that a tag match of AJ and Paige vs the Bellas is now officially made for Wrestlemania. They exchange glances but AJ seems nonplussed by the news. By now Miz has gotten used to Mizdow being who knows -or cares- where, so he merely kisses his wife and goes off to handle his business. Tonight, Wiz Khalifa is all that anyone's talking about, so Miz decides to welcome him personally. It takes a long time just to find him, then even longer to get a minute with him, so the show's third of a way through by the time he actually suggests to him that they become a duo, The Miz and the Wiz- which, of course, sounds like a great idea to him. Obviously, who wouldn't want the biggest movie star and the biggest hiphop star involved in something together? It'd be an unbeatable duo...
But all of his creative ideas are killed flat when Wiz explains that he'd already met an A-lister. Dreading that he might mean John Cena or someone else as obnoxious, Miz is disgusted when Mizdow appears, dressed like some cheap wanna-be rapper, spitting out some rap that basically is his pathetic, heavyhanded way of announcing he too is going to be in the Andre the Giant battle royal. All Mike can do is stare before making a disgusted sound and storming away from the two deluded fakers behind him. "Hell no," he mutters again and again. "I'm winning the battle royal, not that idiot. I will not allow him to upstage me again, especially not on the biggest stage of them all!"
He paces around angrily until his wife's match against Summer Rae, hating the fact that Cameron and Eva Marie are out there as well. Thankfully Paige's presence seems to temper their urge to do something to harm AJ, and the Bellas stay where they belong in their ridiculous Flintstone inspired gear, and so she wins successfully, and with no visible sign of distress due to her neck. His lips twitch in a reluctant smile before he goes to meet her and Paige at the gorilla position, staring down the other divas as they walk backstage, muttering cattily to each other about the former divas' champions. As soon as AJ makes her way through the curtain, he hugs her and stares over her shoulder at Paige. "Thank you for having her back," he tells her quietly.
Adjusting her jacket, Paige nods. "Any time." Waving over her shoulder at them, she continues on her way down the hallway.
Mike strokes AJ's neck and stares down at her as she pulls back and looks up at him. "I'm ok, Mike. I wouldn't have come back if I wasn't ready."
"I know," he sighs. "I was just scared."
"Now you know how I felt when your knee was injured," she smiles faintly.
"A knee injury is a lot less worrisome than a neck injury, sweetheart," he tells her. "Or an eye injury, for that matter."
"I guess." She strokes his face tenderly, searching his eyes, and sighs. "I'm sorry, Mike. I should've told you from the start... and I promise, again, that, if I'm ever injured, I will never put you through that and tell you right away."
"Good," he tells her simply, smiling a little as he leans in and teases her by hovering in front of her until she groans, his grin growing as he finally bridges the gap between them and kisses her warmly.