A/N: This fic was set around BtB's fifth birthday, but things happened and I became way behind in writing the bonus stories for my series fics. Sorry about that. I'm trying to get caught up now. So around June 2015 is when this is set. This also, consequently, will be Alex Riley's last appearance in anything I write.
Alicia Fox is beautiful. Alex knew it from the moment he saw her, but he'd never imagined she'd see him the same way. He was just plain, stubborn, slightly obnoxious A-Ri who only made it so far in the WWE as Miz's righthand man before injuries and a lack of backstage support caught up with him. He traces his fingers down her arm, thinking.
She stirs and snuggles closer to him as his eyes trail down to his leg, still braced to keep his recent surgically repaired muscles from failing. He'd had so many plans but Kevin Owens had taken that all away, worsening his knee injuries until he'd had no choice, his back also mangled from his constant attacks. To finally get off of commentary and back into the ring for this to happen... He closes his eyes and listens to Alicia's soft breathing, trying not to cry.
She's so deeply intune with him that the quietest of hitched breaths from him wakes her up, her fingers brushing again his chest as she sits up and cups his face. "What's wrong, A-Ri? Hmm? Are you in pain?" Her free hand moves down to his knee, grazing it when he stops her, squeezing her fingers.
"No, I'm not in pain," he murmurs, voice thick with the damnable unshed tears. "I mean, not really."
"Then what is it?"
"Just thinking... all of the momentum I was slowly gaining by being back in the ring... squandered all over again..." His hands are warm on her back when she settles against him, tangling her fingers in his sun-kissed hair.
"I'm sorry," she whispers against his neck. "But you're healing on time, and before you know it, you'll be back in the ring, kicking butt and barely able to remember this time of frustration." She brushes her nose against his with a soft smile. "I promise."
"I know," he sighs. "You're right. It's just hard." He strokes her hair and kisses her on the mouth as she hovers in front of him, careful when she moves to not put weight on his legs. "I want to be back now."
"I understand that," she says, tracing her fingers along his abs and pecs. "And you will be, in no time. But you have to be patient too, you know? There's no point in pushing it and injurying yourself all over again. I don't want to have to sit through another surgery, you know?" He nods as she kisses him deeper this time, her lips parting to tease him as his hands press against her lower back, holding her in place. "I love you, A-Ri. So much."
"I love you too, Foxy," he sighs, closing his eyes as she settles against him.
-x
He tries to keep his head up, work out to his rehab specialist's recommendations, but it's hard. Especially when Owens goes from being NXT champion to wrestling on the main roster against John Cena and the like, almost winning the US title, while he continues to sit and languish, impatient and desperate. Alicia tries to help, soothing him over the phone and in person when she can, but there's little to be done for him. He's close to his breaking point.
Works himself to the bone, goes home, follows things on Twitter and on TV that only serves to annoy him further before getting a few hours of sleep and returning to rehab. Because of this, the wear and tear build up again and he's told he needs another surgery which will inevitably delay his return even further. But, they promise him, this time it'll do it- his knee will be 100% once more, and they can focus on strength and getting him up and going. And he trusts them, though it serves to only make his impatience worse.
He can see- Ricardo has found success as a trainer and on the indys, Del Rio is all over the place, Morrison has found a home in Lucha Underground and AJ is happy at home upon retiring. He stares on as all of this cycles through his mind, wondering what he would do if he'd leave WWE. Where he'd go, what he would do.
The only thing that stills his hand is Alicia, how easy it is when they work in the same company to see her, sometimes go to events and sleep in the same bed with her at night. It's just the lonely hours of rest that his still recovering body needs sometimes that eats at him, tears at his sanity. There are so many like him, backstage hoping for a chance, some sort of opportunity that they're never given. He's not sure how they tolerate it without entirely breaking apart, or doing what Ricardo had done.
He rubs at his eyes and yawns, sitting up in bed to his and Alicia's empty apartment. It's a dismal, lonely life. He hates it sometimes, but he trudges out of bed anyway and gets ready for the daily training session. Somewhere along the time, he loses track of everything. Sweeps the feet of the trainer out from under him and presses his forearm against the man's throat, choking him slowly. It takes a third man to get him off, get him up, let Alex's trainer catch his breath. Alex comes back to himself, horrified at what he'd done, and they quickly end the session.
He leaves without a word spoken to anyone and for once he's relieved that Alicia is far away, traveling with the WWE. Can't see the broken man he's slowly becoming. He stares at his hands, at the bruises caused earlier by the man fighting to breathe. Can't sit still any longer, jerks to his feet and grabs the nearest sheet of paper. Starts to make a list. The longer it grows, the more agitated he becomes. When he collapses into bed later, instead of sleeping, he lays there and plans. Plots. Prepares. Getting up is torture, he's dead exhausted, but he knows what he has to do.
Events are in Florida the following week so he tags along with Alicia. Greets old friends, talks with Mike for awhile, then makes his excuses and leaves. He pretends like he's going to catering but, as soon as he catches sight of someone out of the corner of his eye, he turns and follows them.
Fernando and Diego are chattering in Spanish to each other, clearly mocking something or someone, when Alex clubs them over the head, grips them by the collar and slams them face first into the nearest wall. They're dazed but he's far from done, gripping both of them and banging their heads against the floor. His leg is starting to throb from supporting this half-crouch, but he can't stop. "Why would you let your careers be ruined like this?! Why don't you quit?!" he screams into their faces, the masks slipping and revealing their frightened, half-conscious gazes. Releasing them with disgust, he turns and storms off, biting his lip roughly. Although he feels out of sorts, he also feels proud. Maybe if someone knocks some sense into these guys, they'll get self-respect! They'll stop sitting around and do something! Anything...
Alicia is in the ring with Brie and Nikki later on, trash talking Team Bad, when Alex spots another person he had put on his list. Stalks after Adam Rose with a determined look on his face, grabbing him by his stupid ponytail and whipping his head back, snapping him over his good knee. Adam yells out and rolls away, grabbing at the middle of his back until Alex starts kicking him again and again, not minding how much pain he's in right now.
He laughs and kneels down, forcing Adam to look at him. "I guess I just ended your party." Releasing him, he watches with a sneer as Adam's head clunks against the floor and he lays very still. Alex struggles upright once more and goes back to the locker room to wait for Alicia. By the time she comes, frowning over a loss to Sasha, he's stiff. Can barely walk. She coos over him, immediately forgetting her troubles, and helps him back to the car. To the hotel, where she eases him to their bed and rushes to get ice for his knee. As he shivers against the coolness, she envelopes him with her warm body and quickly makes him forget all of the discomfort, and his plans for the rest of the week.
Right now, all that matters is her, her soft brown eyes, the feel of her and the sounds coming from her as he trails sloppy kisses along her glistening skin. "I love you," he breathes, unable to fully shake the oddness of all of the brutality he had done earlier, just to lead into this beautiful, intimate moment with the woman of his dreams.
She smiles down at him, presses a little tighter against him, and breathes against his parted lips as he moans in response, "I love you too, A-Ri."
By Friday, he's better and accompanies her to the Smackdown taping, putting on a calm, happy face in front of Mike and the others, talking about his progress in rehab and everything else. As soon as he's left alone for a few minutes, however, he sneaks out of the locker room and wanders around, keeping an eye out. Jack Swagger is the first person he sees, cracking a stool that he'd grabbed nearby over his head. Watching him go down eases a shiver of satisfaction down Alex's back and he smirks, repeating the action until there's nothing but shards of wood on the floor around him. Content, he leaves him lying and returns to Mike's locker room, not wanting to get caught when he still has so much left to do.
Mike is busy all night with interviews and Alicia has business with the Bellas so Alex finds himself alone more than he'd like, but it allows him to strike again, this time snagging Sandow and sending him face first into the wall, elbowing him hard in the mouth until he slumps to the ground, all but motionless. "You're supposed to be the smart one," he tells him. "It should be easy for you to figure out a way to get what you want in this business. Why are you so pathetic?" Slaps Damien upside the head before getting up and walking off.
His knee feels better, Alicia doesn't notice anything off when she returns and kisses him. He breathes a little easier, more pieces of his plan falling into place. It's up to the guys he targets to then take the 'encouragement' he gives them and use it as fuel to feed their desire, get them moving, heading on the right track again, but he has no doubt that it has to click with someone. So he keeps trying, relieved when the next set of tapings are in the Carolinas, so his flying out with Alicia isn't that curious.
Mike isn't booked tonight, busy with media events, so it's just Alex and Alicia, which gives him more of an opportunity to do what needs to be done. She's in and out, getting her hair done and makeup, leaving him behind with a kiss, and he takes the opportunity to slip out when the show starts. He's down by catering when he spots Curtis Axel. He wants to be inventive, but with his knee, there's only so much he can do still. So he slips into the storage room when no one's looking and takes a spare tray that's clean, slipping out to track Axel down again. He hasn't gotten far thankfully so Alex catches him at a quiet corner of the hallway, slamming the tray into his legs and sending him down with a hissed yell of pain. "You're Mr. Perfect's son! You're really going to allow yourself to be used so poorly! Come on, man!" All but growling out his anger, Alex continues brutalizing him, leaving Axel laying with the tray dented across his back.
Mike is back for Smackdown and Alex greets him cheerfully, eating a couple of strawberry pasteries that Alicia had brought him from catering. "How's it going, man?"
"Ah, it's going alright," Alex sighs, sitting up straighter and clapping Mike's hand as he settles down next to him. "How's life treating you?"
"Well. You look better than last week."
"Yeah, thanks. I feel better." Alex grins, looking up as Alicia leans over and kisses him. "I have a good nurse." They sit and visit for awhile, discussing Morrison's success in Lucha Underground and various other things when a tech peeks in and tells Mike he's needed. Alicia leaves a few minutes later to meet up with Nikki and Brie and again, Alex finds himself all alone. Deciding it's time to move, he gets up and makes his way outside. It's quiet, peaceful... but Heath Slater and Zack Ryder are loitering around, talking and laughing and it annoys him just to see them. Long-term competitors for the WWE, but never making it higher than the tag team titles or a brief US title reign.
Using no weapons this time, just his body, Alex sends first Heath down by tripping him, then sweeps Zack's legs out from under him as well. "Are you serious, bro?" Zack demands, rolling over just to get a boot to the face. He grunts, then falls still as Heath meets much a similar fate. It feels good to punch someone again, just get down and let out all of his frustration from the last year. The fact that it's two for one, also... He almost feels delirious over it all.
"I am very serious," he tells them as he takes turns pummelling first one then the other until his fists are bruised and bleeding, at which point he sits up and stares down at them. "You both have so much potential but you just nod and take it as WWE disrespects you again and again and again." He shakes his head. "Maybe this will wake you up, make you see that you deserve more-" He's swung back to land another punch when the door squeaks open.
"Hey, kid, I found some of that-" Whatever Dolph Ziggler had found meets an uncermonious end on the pavement as he drops it and comes running. "What the hell?!" Alex scrambles, gets up just before Dolph can grab him. "What the hell are you doing?" Then his eyes narrow. "You're the one who's been attacking people. Sandow, and Axel, the Los Matadores... what's your problem?" He lightly pats Zack's face, then nudges Heath a few times, just to get little or no reaction from either of them. Alex is shocked when he realizes that Dolph has his phone, his plan going up in smoke as Dolph places a call. "Get outside, now. Your boy needs some serious help," Dolph snaps into the phone, barely paying attention to Alex as he hangs up and resumes trying to revive Zack and Heath.
The others had been fine, back to action in a couple of weeks, Alex isn't sure why Ziggler's acting like it's the end of the world but then, before he can figure out what to do, Mike bursts outside, takes one look around and the dawning horror crossing his face as the pieces fall into place for him makes Alex see that it's not all as straight forward to everyone else as it is to him. He grabs Alex by the arm and all but shakes him. "What did you do? Are you trying to get yourself fired?"
This snaps something in Alex and he rears back to hit Mike... just to get struck by something himself, immediately going down. It doesn't knock him unconscious, he's still aware of what's going on around him as a heavy boot steps over him. "What the bloody hell is going on out here?" Wade Barrett demands, apparently approaching his former Nexus teammate.
"I think Alex has lost it," Mike mumbles. "Someone call Alicia."
He's sitting up, groggy and confused, when his wife joins them, looks uncertain and fearful even as she sits down next to him, struggling to be strong when he hugs her. "It's ok," he tells her. "Really, it is. I'll be better, I won't get caught again."
His rage clearly scares them, they don't understand what he's trying to accomplish while Heath and Zack get examined for concussions a few feet away, Wade and Dolph hovering nearby. "We'll get you help," Alicia promises, kissing his forehead.
He nods. Listens as they discuss him as if he's not there, the WWE medical staff recommending various therapists in the Miami area. He considers it all, biting his lip. Aware that he'll have to do his best kind of acting just to get through this. Because, no, he's far from completing his mission. Far from making all of these people see just what they're missing out on. But first, finish repairing his knee... and then he'll be back on NXT and they won't be able to stop him or his message.
Yeah. This'll work.