Mike has just landed for Raw when his phone rings. He sighs and answers it, squinting out at the snow-soaked ground. "Hey, Maryse, what's up?"
"We were greenlit! USA Network is going to to air our reality show later this year!"
He exhales, trying to smile. It had been more her project than his, same as landing roles in Total Divas had been- and now they'd be bonded further by this show, eliminating Heath and AJ from their lives and... Yeah. It's a lot to think about, but he has a lot of things on his plate so he decides to weigh all of that later and just let her have this moment. "That's great, Maryse." He hesitates. "Have you told Heath yet?"
Here she pauses as well. Sounds a little weak when she finally speaks again. "Not really. We've been really busy. But I will. Please, Mike, don't say anything to him about it- I swear to you, I will soon, just... not right now."
He sighs. "Alright. But he's going to find out, Maryse. You know WWE will be releasing something about it sooner rather than later. Why keep him in the dark when you know it'll only hurt him more to learn you knew and kept it from him?"
She doesn't say anything for a long moment and then, "I'll call him." She sounds tired, and Mike wonders, not for the first time, how long they're supposed to keep this secret going. She's stable financially now, he thinks, but it's still kind of tenuous, especially since she's just gotten a new house and everything else that comes with that. Not to mention the baby on the way that she'll want to provide for, and...
He closes his eyes. "Alright, let me know how it goes."
"I will. Bye." She hangs up, sounding exactly opposite of how she did when she called, and he feels bad for weighing her down with his worries, but it had to be done.
He turns his focus onto AJ and calls her while getting into the car. "Hey, sweetheart," he says to her voicemail after it beeps for him to leave a message. "You're probably busy with Sara, I just wanted to let you know that that show Maryse and I filmed for awhile ago's been greenlit and I expect WWE will announce it sooner rather than later." He tries to sound cheerful once he's finished relaying that news. "Anyway, I hope you and Sara will be watching my grand return to Raw. I love you, sweetheart. Talk to you later."
He drives quietly from the airport to the arena. Parks and stares up at the building. "Home sweet home," he murmurs. "Time to reclaim what's mine." Getting out of the car, he turns and smirks as Bo and Axel come out to greet him. "Gentlemen." They look good, he thinks. Considering how much they've gotten beat down in his absense. "Nice to see you without the neck brace, Curtis," he says, nodding at the man, who looks pleased just to be noticed.
"I like your hair, Miz," Bo pipes up, his voice highpitched and surprising as always. "The haircut, it suits you."
He smirks. "Thanks, Bo. Your hair is really growing out, isn't it?" Facial, as well, Mike thinks, staring at him and cataloguing all of the differences in the last few weeks.
Bo laughs, not minding Mike's lack of a compliment towards it. "Yes. I've been trying for so long." They walk side by side into the building and Mike relaxes immediately. London had been nice, the USO tour was rewarding, time off in California with his wife and daughter was perfect, but there's just something about returning to WWE after any amount of time off... makes him feel awake, alive, ready to take on anyone who looks at him wrong.
So he makes his intensions clear. Pay Roman back, get his Intercontinental title back around his waist where it belongs, and dominate the world as best as he can between Miz & The Mrs., and Marine 6, and whatever else the world decides to throw at him. Which talk is fine, but in the end, he needs to do something to prove himself. So he, Bo, and Axel do just that and end the show by taking out Roman. It's just rewards for what was done to Miz before he'd gone to film his movie, and it feels oh so sweet.
His good mood lasts until he returns to his locker room to find his phone lit up. Checking it, he sees a missed called by Maryse and dials her back. "Hey. What's up?" There's a muffled noise like a sob and he pales. "Maryse?"
"Heath..." she forces out. "He didn't take it well. Mike, I..."
He gives her a moment. "What?" he finally asks, worried for her as she continues crying.
"I think he broke up with me," she finally spits out, her voice trembling. "He hates me, and oh God, I can't blame him, it's been so-" She devolves into French that he can barely follow, much less understand.
"Maryse! Look, I'll find him, ok? I'll talk to him. It... it'll work out," he promises her. Eyes Bo and Axel for a moment before putting his phone down. "Stay here, pack up. I'll be back in a little bit." He leaves before they can ask questions, walking purposely down one hall and the next, looking for the telltale orange hair, or listening for the thick southern accent that always hints to where Heath's at.
In the end, it's not Heath's voice that gives him away, but Rhyno's, as they walk away from the trainer's office, a tightness around Heath's eyes as he looks over at Rhyno. He doesn't notice Mike, but Rhyno does, and after a moment's thought, reaches out to stop Heath's forward momentum, causing him to notice Mike in their path.
They all stand there awkwardly before Mike steps forward. "Hey, Heath, I need to talk to you-" The words have barely left his mouth when Heath shifts- there's a sharp pain along Mike's jaw- and all he can do is gape as Heath stretches his fingers out, shakes his hand, and then glowers at Mike for a few more moments before turning to Rhyno. "Come on, let's get out of here."
For the first time in his life, Mike is completely speechless as he watches them turn and leave him standing there, pain radiating out from where Heath punched him.