"It's so dumb," Mike grumbles, flexing his fists and trying to shake off that feeling of losing to the Usos. He had been so fixated on that that being told they'd be defending their titles for the first time in the Elimination Chamber in less than a week had gone right over his head. "This isn't fair at all."

AJ lays next to him, George curled up against her arm, restless in his sleep, and she sighs, lightly rubbing his back. "I know, husband," she says soothingly. "They really are throwing you both into the deep end with this."

John had clammed up after the announcement, gritting his teeth and staring blankly ahead the entire flight home. Mike had barely gotten a word out of him, which only ups his anxiety and worry about how things are going to shake out come the PPV. On some level, Mike understands, because first his Royal Rumble showing had fallen apart, and now this, but still. They need to talk, they need to plan, because if they go in there absolutely blind, they have no chance at all of besting the other teams.

"I don't know what to do," he sighs, trying so hard to let go of some of the tension in his shoulders. "No idea..." Resting his head on her shoulder, Mike strokes a hand down George's back as he breathes steadily. "If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears," he jokes feebly and AJ kisses the top of his head.

She hums, continues snuggling both of her boys to try to sooth them. "Win by whatever means neccessary, Mike," she tells him, a familiar gleam in her gaze that makes him smirk a bit, recognizing AJ's old fire as a competitor lurking deep down within her.

"Alright," he says. "I will." He's not sure how, exactly, but there's really no other choice.

-x

They meet up a few days later, awkward and quiet on the beach, and John exhales breathily, watching seagulls poke around in the sand. "So what are we going to do?" he finally asks and Mike claps him on the back.

"What we always do," he says, AJ's words echoing in his mind. "Win by any means neccessary."

John quirks an eyebrow at him and Mike smirks. "Oh yeah? How's that?"

"It won't be as hard as we're thinking," Mike says. "Heavy Machinery might be more difficult because we've never faced them before, but Otis is distracted by this deal with Ziggler, that'll be to our benefit. Lucha House Party, eh, they're highflyer risk takers, that's nothing. Usos, we can beat them, we were just jetlagged last week. New Day, we know our chances against them. I can beat Ziggler in my sleep. Now one thing I might suggest is we don't bust our ass in the match we're in on Friday." John looks at him curiously and Mike taps his chin. "See, if we overdo in that match and get worn out, or hurt, whatever, it lessens our chances on Sunday. Let those guys tire each other out, we'll just sit back and wait to see what happens and take it from there."

"Ok," John nods. "It's a wise strategy. I like it."

Mike reaches out and kneads John's neck and shoulders. "We'll win, man. We're too good not to."

"Yeah," John says, leaning back into his touch. "I just don't wanna mess up and feel like even more of a flop on my return."

"John Morrison, the Guru of Greatness, the Shaman of Sexy, feeling like a flop? Never," Mike says, waving his hand dismissively. "You're fine, man. It's been a long road, of course it's just taking time to get your feet under you again."

"Yeah, I guess," John murmurs. "At least I have you to help me navigate stuff, huh."

Mike nudges him. "Always, John. Always."

In the end, Mike's plan works- they get eliminated early in the match on Smackdown, watching closely from the back as Ziggler and Roode win, partly in due to how long and how hard Heavy Machinery had fought in the match. Then they parlay that into victory at Elimination Chamber, outlasting all of the other teams and taking advantage of Otis and Tucker's very personal issues with Ziggler and Roode bleeding into the match itself.

Neither man realize that that's going to be the last normal match they compete in for quite awhile, the general cacophony of the crowd a constant soundtrack to the moves, the soreness, the worry of losing. All gone just like that.