After a quiet, peaceful New Years with AJ and Sara, it's weird being back on the road, but Miz has his suit, he has his title, he has Maryse on his arm. All in all, life is good. But one thing is niggling on his mind, something that he can't quite let go although AJ and Maryse had both suggested that he let tonight be it- move on, focus on something else, someone else. But it's hard, not to blame Ambrose for his losing his opportunity at the World Heavyweight Title. Not to want to burn it all down around him- his relationships, his career, his title aspirations. Make Dean feel as worthless as possible. Especially when Miz has it all, and is so very damn untouchable.
Dean is at best second to Miz- in movies, in title reigns, in significant others. But instead of swallowing the bitter truth and moving on like anyone else sane would have, he and Renee choose to take it a step further, attacking Miz physically. Renee's slap had led to this entire situation blowing up in all of their faces, Maryse agreeing to do her best to keep the lunatic away before their Intercontinental title match that night. And it does work, she keeps herself between Mike and Dean when Ambrose interrupts Mike's request for Renee to apologize for slapping him. Allows Mike to escape, to fight in a couple of hours. They hold hands and walk up the ramp, staring daggers through the man, aware of what will need to be done later in the evening.
"So," Mike says, his eyes skittering to the side as Rhyno walks by, hands empty of food and a frown on his face. "Where's Heath been tonight? The locker rooms have been awful calm and quiet."
"He was hurting a lot after wrestling last week," Maryse explains, her brows furrowing. "So I convinced him to stay home, rest. As you know, he thankfully didn't break anything, but he is quite sore, and he can barely walk much less wrestle." She worries her bottom lip with her teeth and exhales. "It was hard to watch. And you know it must be bad if he gave in and listened to me for once." She smiles mirthlessly and Mike squeezes her hand. "But you are right, it is quiet. I miss him."
"I'm glad he's alright." The week prior, she had been quietly frantic, sitting up and holding Heath's hand late into the night while Rhyno paced a few feet away. Even the trainer saying that he couldn't tell what was wrong- if anything- hadn't been a comfort because Heath was in so much pain, but a doctor's visit the next day had proven that nothing was wrong on scans, just that Heath was sore and a little bruised up. Despite it all, Heath had fought through the pain, wrestled on the holiday tour, and now... Mike sucks on his teeth thoughtfully, relieved that Heath hadn't suffered the same kind of injury Zack Ryder had a couple of weeks prior. He's not sure Maryse would handle that well at all.
They sit quietly for awhile, lost in thought, before Maryse rests her head on Mike's shoulder. "I'll be right back," she murmurs. "I have something I need to handle." She's gone before he can remind her that his match is coming up very soon- but he quickly sees what she's doing, the monitor showing everything as she confronts Renee and hits her solidly, reminding her never to touch her husband again. Mike chuckles, liking her chutzpah, but it doesn't help in his match later.
Their plan is, if things start to go south, to get Mike disqualified somehow. Something, anything to keep Ambrose from winning. But then he argues the point with the ref when Maryse slaps him, convincing the man not to throw the match via DQ but to eject her from ringside, which he does with gusto. Mike tries, he does- uses the title belt to knock Ambrose loopy, but the pin doesn't work, Dean kicks out and then... and then... Mike loses. He rampages backstage, he screams at Renee on Talking Smack, letting out all of his frustration, all of the rage that'd been building up while he'd been forced to sit and stew during 205 Live.
It doesn't make him feel better, he's still angry, disappointed, and the very fact that they had fined Maryse $5000 just for defending him has them both angry. By the time Maryse drives them back to the hotel, he's so full of rage that he's shaking, his eyes red and wet with the bitter frustration of it all going so very wrong so very early in the year. Once upstairs, he drops onto the bed and lays there, breathing in and out deeply.
Maryse pats his back a few times before finding her phone, going into the bathroom to dial Heath. Taking the hint, Mike tugs his own out and dials home, listening to it ringing in until AJ answers. She doesn't expect him to talk much, instead choosing to distract him by telling him about Sara and everything she's been up to today, going to the park to play, crawling around the living room after her nap, and eating a whole serving of pears without a problem. To his surprise, it works and, although he can't sleep well that night, Maryse seeming to have the same problem on the opposite bed, imagining his baby doing all of these things helps to give him something to hold onto as he stares into the darkness and tries not to completely lose his mind at the lack of the title belt that had meant so much to him and his career.