Mike bites his lower lip, shuffling things around and trying to focus on packing. It's been so long, he thinks. So long. His gear is packed, some clothes, his toiletries. It's not going to be a long trip, necessarily, but he can't help feeling like he's forgotten something. In a short couple of days, he and John will be in the ring, wrestling New Day for the tag titles like the last ten years hadn't happened. He scrubs at his face, massaging some of the exhaustion out of his eyes, and looks up as AJ pads into the room, a soft smile on her face as she tucks up behind him. "Hey," he says quietly.
"Hey." She sprawls her hand over his abs and rubs lowly. "Everything ok? I could hear you thinking as soon as I walked into the room."
He chuckles weakly and leans back into her, staring down at his suitcase. "I think so, packing just isn't going very well right now."
She hums and stares down into his bag, cataloging his things with her eyes. She hums and pulls away, reaching into the closet and pulling out the pair of boots that he'd selected to match with his gear, adding them to the pile with a giggle.
He stares down at the luggage once more and groans softly. "What would I do without you?" he wonders, turning to hug her tightly to him. "Thank you so much, sweetheart."
She hugs him back, breathing him in for a minute. "Please be safe," she says, muffled against his chest. "Please."
"I'll be fine," he promises. "I swear. Nothing bad's going to happen." With everything going on, and how the previous Saudi trip had gone for so many of the wrestlers, he doesn't blame her for being anxious. Gently tilting her face up to look into her eyes, he smiles gently down at her. "I'll be back with you and the babies before you know it. With John and my tag belts in tow as well."
"You'd better," she says, lacing her fingers behind his neck and easing up to kiss him. "I might not let you back in the house if you go all that way to come back empty handed."
He gasps, faux offended, and leans back to pout at her. She smiles up at him and trails her fingers over his skull, causing him to shiver. "AJ..."
"Yeah?" she whispers, not terribly surprised when he hoists her up, wrapping her legs around him. She doesn't even wait for him to ask, just presses closer and mumbles against his lips, "Yeah. Yeah, Mike."
He exhales, relieved. He's been busy and she's been healing, and moments together have been rare and in-between, so walking her over to their bed and laying her down gently before joining her, fingers trailing over familiar spots and lips drawing out soft sounds from her leaves him more resolute than ever to hold his promise. To her, to John. To himself.
He will be champion once more.
-x
Saudi is warm, but not excessively so. John looks incredible even in this lighting, after such a lengthy flight, and Mike can't help dwelling on how perpetually unfair it is. But then John looks over at him and that brief, dazed flash of jealousy that is just common when one's constantly in John's presence fades away. "I'm glad you're with me for this," he admits.
John's teeth flash as he grins, reaching out to clap Mike on the shoulder. "Me too," he says, casting one more, quick glance around. "Very much so."
They tour, a little bit, looking around the arena as people bustle all over, trying to finalize last minute things before the show starts. They have a bit of a wait before their match, so they sit and watch, making adjustments to their gear as needed, sometimes discussing strategy, but mostly just sitting in silence, trying not to let nerves get the best of them. "This feels like my actual debut," John says suddenly and Mike looks over at him. "Forget the singles matches, forget the Rumble. This is the important one. This is where I prove myself."
Mike smiles at him. "Yeah. I'll do my best to hold my end of things up."
John glances at him. "Oh, I have no doubt you will, Mike. I'm not concerned about your end of things at all. I never have been."
It's so simple, John's steady belief in Mike, despite everything they've been through over the years. It's almost breathtaking, really, and it takes until one of the techs come to tell them they're up next for Mike to realize he's still gaping at John in pleased disbelief. Forcing his mouth closed, and trying to calm his gaze, he clears his throat, and stands. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be," John hums, shrugging into his jacket and following Mike out.
They hit their groove quickly. New Day has no real chance against them. Yeah, it's a fight, they come close to losing a couple times, because Kofi and Big E are just that good, but in the end, John and Mike pull through- Mike stumbles over and hugs John tightly and both are crying under the bright lights overhead, neither quite able to believe that, after all of this time, they're actually here- they've successfully done it. They're tag team champions once more.
Mike's upheld his promise to everyone.
With the rise comes the fall and they find themselves losing to the Usos on Smackdown the next night, and it's frustrating to them both, but... but it doesn't change the fact they have gold around their waists, it doesn't change the fact that Mike gets to work with his best friend once more, it doesn't change the fact that, for everything going wrong in the world, there is, at least, this one good, solid thing for them both to hang onto.