Mike walks into the arena for Smackdown, Del Rio and Paige behind him, not expecting much. He'd been emailed to be at the show a bit early and he expects it to either be for media or MizTV, but when he walks up to the board, it's to find they all have matches tonight. He will be facing Dolph Ziggler in a trick or treat street fight, Alberto against R-Truth, and Paige vs Natalya. He ruminates over the board for a moment before turning to the other two, raising an eyebrow at them. "Well, isn't that something."
Alberto seems far from pleased but Paige has a glint in her eye like she's eager to once more prove herself against Natalya. Mike's not sure what to think about his match, but there's little to do about it now. He's about to head to the main locker room when Del Rio snags his sleeve. "Come to my room, it's quieter there."
"Won't Colter have something to say about that?" Mike asks with a smirk on his face, following Alberto anyway. Paige is loitering behind them but, after a glance from Alberto, she tags along as well.
"I don't care," Del Rio sighs. "Things are too quiet, I have nothing to say to him. You two may as well fill some of that silence."
"Alright," Mike shrugs. "Whatever, man." It is weird, the group of them in the locker room, preparing for their matches while Zeb watches them beadily, but he keeps his thought to himself, even though technically Paige doesn't count as an American or Mexican, and thus has no place in their strange MexiAmerica. Thankfully Zeb keeps to himself, stays in a corner in his little motorized scooter, and takes it all in.
It's a relief to leave, to walk to the ring for his match against Ziggler. The ring is surrounded by pumpkins carved in numerous ways, skeletons hanging from the posts, and a tub full of apples. Mike eyes it all with apprehension, not surprised when it all gets used against him one way or another. His jaw is aching after the superkick through the pumpkin, anger pulsing through him as he targets Dolph's knee which he'd tweaked a little earlier. It doesn't help though, Dolph somehow slipping through to pin him with a rollup.
Mike sees red as he leaves the ring, allowing Tyler Breeze to brutalize his knee even more. His jaw is still throbbing as he makes it backstage and he's sure there's pumpkin in his hair. As he returns to Alberto's locker room, slumping down in a chair, Paige wanders up to him. "Are you alright?" she wonders, picking the slivers of pumpkin out of his hair.
"Fine," he huffs, closing his eyes. When he bursts out in anger and slams a fist against the chair arm, neither she nor Alberto seem that surprised. "I'm fine."
"My match is next," Paige says softly. "I'll be back in a little bit."
"Good luck," Mike responds as she's half out of the door already. He and Alberto watch the monitor as she walks to the ring, faces off with Natalya, and beats her after Team Bad interrupt and insult Natalya, Sasha at the forefront. "Welp," he sighs, realizing Alberto's eyes are on him. "What?"
"She's not doing very well, is she?"
"No. She's not." It's an easy enough question to answer. Of course she's not. "Maybe your presence will help, somehow."
"I hope," Alberto mumbles, seeming to really mean it. His match is next and thankfully he takes Zeb with him, Paige and Mike settling in on the cushy couch to watch his match against Truth.
Miz smirks as his former tag partner gets taken apart by Del Rio, clearly having no chance against him. He may have been the only one of the three of them to lose tonight, but he doesn't really mind it. Zeb leaves not long after Del Rio's match, leaving the three of them to return to the hotel room in peace. "Does he ever notice you look like you're smelling something rotten when you're around him?"
Alberto hesitates for a moment at the car, looking across at Mike while Paige laughs at the apt description. "No, not yet. Hopefully he doesn't."
"Yeah," Mike sighs, getting in the car. "Hopefully."
After a leisurely shower and a quick call to AJ- who is already half-asleep by the sounds of it- Mike's relieved to sink into bed, all of the pumpkin and stagnant apple water washed from his skin. Del Rio has his own room- the penthouse, Mike's sure- but Paige chooses to stay with Mike, since they've grown accustomed to traveling together. He rolls over towards her and thinks about his conversation with Alberto earlier. "Paige?"
"Mm hmm?" she asks softly.
"I know this isn't easy on you, Ricardo being so far away for so long... if you ever need anything, you know to come to me, right?"
She rolls over and stares at him through the darkness, nodding against her pillow. "Yeah, Mike. I do. Thanks."
This only makes him feel moderately better.
-x
Mike goes home for the weekend. There are UK events for the next two weeks that he'll be on, along with all of the media events and autograph signings that comes with such things. AJ greets him at the airport and he hugs her, pulling away just enough to kiss her. "I'm going to miss you," she pouts, already thinking about the weeks to come.
Leaving her behind to go so far away is excruciating, but she will have Star, John. Still, he is loath to do anything but stay in bed with her, committing the steady changes to her body as the pregnancy progresses to memory. "I love you, sweetheart," he murmurs, taking her hand and leading her to the car so they can begin to do just that for the next couple of days until he has to leave for Raw.
She rests her head against his shoulder and nods. "I love you too, husband. Especially since you don't smell like pumpkin."
He makes a face at her as she giggles and clings to him, kissing his warm skin under his tank top.
Later, after a picnic and some soft kisses in the yard, he leads her inside to pack. It's a lot of time to prepare for, never sure just what to bring. Clothes and necessities, and AJ watches him from the bed, a pout on her lips. He rids her of it now and again with gentle kisses and subtle caresses, her eyes dark and fixed on him as he wanders around and packs with a renewed determination to get it done to waste less of their time together.
She tilts her head as he zips up the bags and turns back towards the bed, a finger crooked to beckon him towards her. He follows willingly and she giggles as he lays down next to her and sprawls his hand along her stomach. "You both take good care of each other," he murmurs, watching as she nods quietly.
"We will," she promises, resting her hand over his and sighing as he leans in and kisses her. "But you better Skype us every day."
"I will," he sighs, nuzzling into her. "I promise."
"Then that's all I need," she murmurs.
"Oh really?" he asks teasingly, pulling away from her. When she refuses to let him go, he laughs and holds her close, pressing open mouthed kisses to her throat and neck.
-x
Miz freezes at the Raw match listing and looks over his shoulder. "Am I hallucinating? Or do I have another match listed? Really?"
"Yes, you have a match," Alberto says, his displeasure visible. He has another rematch against R-Truth. "I come back and they treat me no better than they did prior," he mumbles. "Perros..."
"At least the money's good, right?" Mike says, recoiling when Alberto turns his heated stare towards him. "Hey, don't get mad at me. This was all your choice, you have to live with it now."
Alberto closes his eyes and huffs, walking away. Mike rolls his eyes but follows, relieved when Alberto lets him into the locker room with no argument or protest. Ricardo's influence is still felt, even from so far away, so they all work to at least tolerate each other, no matter what. Mike's match is the first, of the three of them, so he gets ready quickly and heads out to face Cesaro. Even with Stardust and The Ascension at ringside, mocking Cesaro, he's forced to tap out, his leg aching too much to hold on.
He's just made it backstage when he sees Paige sitting outside of Alberto's locker room, a troubled look on her pale face. She holds a hand up to him, shushing him, and he raises an eyebrow at her before sitting down next to her. They can just hear what's going on inside from here, Zeb's rough voice followed by Swagger's lisping, annoying speech. When Alberto's heavily accent joins theirs, Mike sits up straighter and focuses as Alberto warns Swagger away from Zeb, tilting his head at this turn of events.
He can't help but wonder if it's the start of Alberto's plan to finally get the proper revenge he'd invisioned at Wrestlemania on Swagger and Colter. There's little point to watching Del Rio compete against Truth so instead he takes a shower, even using Alberto's expensive body wash that he'd left in there. It feels silky smooth against his skin and he considers buying a bottle or two for AJ, sighing as he melts beneath the warm spray of water. "Mmm..."
He gets out just in time to hear Paige's music thrumming through the arena, wrapping up in a towel and going out to the main part of the locker room, unabashed as Alberto raises an eyebrow at him. He can smell the body wash on his skin, certain that Del Rio can too, but he keeps it to himself, humming as he pulls on some clean clothes. They both watch the divas match to the end, when Paige wins her #1 contendership in a brutal fatal 4-Way.
She's laughing and a little breathless as she re-joins them a few minutes later, her eyes shining as Mike hugs her. "Congratulations, Paige. I know you've worked hard for this..."
She nods and turns to Alberto, who eyes her for a moment before hugging her almost awkwardly. "Ricardo will be so proud of you when he hears this news," he tells her.
She grins and nods, staring at him. "Thank you, Alberto. I hope so."
"I know so," he tells her with a small smile. "Come, I am tired and we all need sleep before flying to the UK tomorrow."
"This is true," Mike sighs, lifting up his bag. The sooner we leave, the sooner I will be home... the sooner I can see AJ...