For having wrestled such a short amount of time, Mike has never felt this exhausted. He'd lasted two minutes against Daniel Bryan. Take away Maryse, take away outside weapons, and he'd just... gotten taken out by a small package. He's seething so hard the entire flight back to the States. Smackdown itself is fresh hell, it feels like everyone is pointing and laughing at him as he paces the halls, preparing for MizTV.
It's really tempting to throw things. Scream into his mic. But he is a professional. He grits his teeth and gives AJ and Daniel their time, only leaving the ring when it seems like they want to attack him. One thing the jetlag and stark disappointment had brought him is a brief bit of sympathy from Paige- she'd taken one good, long look at him and wavered, granting him the match he'd requested- Shelton Benjamin against AJ Styles. "Just because I think the fans would like it," she'd told him, but he's pretty sure there's a lot more to it than that.
Not that it matters to him now, as he sits at ringside and commentates with Daniel Bryan sitting on the other side, needling him at every opportunity. How he makes it through, Mike isn't sure but he finally makes it backstage in one piece, gritting his teeth as he turns back to the curtain to stare Daniel down. "By the by," he says, "my two minutes have nothing on your previous 18 seconds. So maybe stop being such a smug hypocrite." He doesn't even bother to register Daniel's reaction to this, turning to walk away.
Sleep doesn't come easy and he lays in bed, staring up at the ceiling until it's time to get up and go to the airport for his flight home. When he finally makes his way through California traffic and inches the car into their driveway, AJ is sitting on the patio, Sara running around in the grass nearby. As he gets out of the car, she changes course and dashes right into his arms, Mike laughing and hoisting her up, spinning her around. He suddenly feels happier, more awake, than he has in dance. He kisses her cheek and holds her close as AJ dusts herself off and joins him. "Hello, sweetheart," he greats her.
"Hi." She kisses him softly and crinkles her nose sympathetically, brushing some of the stress lines off of his face. "I'm sorry about Australia."
He shrugs, exhaling roughly. "It is what it is. I'm not about to give up." As she smiles at him, he leans in and kisses her slowly.
"I'm glad," she says. "So... do you need sleep, or food, or?"
"All of the above," he says, groaning wearily as he follows her inside.
She chuckles softly and presses another kiss to his lips. "Go lay down, I'll make some sandwiches and bring them in to you."
He nods at her, resting his forehead against hers before heading down the hall to the bedroom, Sara pressing her face into his chest. He lays her down on the bed and toes his shoes off, unbuttoning his suits and lays down next to her. She crawls up and sprawls out over his chest as he kisses the top of her head and closes his eyes, relaxing to the soft sound of her breathing.
When AJ peeks in about ten minutes later, a stack of sandwiches on a plate in her hand, she smiles softly upon finding her husband and daughter fast asleep. Settling the plate down on the table next to the bed, she cuddles up next to them and kisses Mike's cheek and Sara's nose before closing her eyes and settling in for a nap as well. "If you can't beat them," she mumbles to herself with a soft chuckle.