Mike's riding a high after they beat Priest. Yeah, the whole clothes thing was kind of a nightmare and he and Maryse were whispered and giggled about for reasons they weren't expecting- his pants shredding so thoroughly and both of them tripping over it, and... yeah. It's a little mortifying, but definitely not the worst thing he's experienced in his lengthy career in first reality TV, then wrestling.

Then the two phone calls happen. He squints at his screen, the sun reflecting off of the glass making it a little hard to read. He swipes to answer and hums, watching Sara and George play in the grass. "Hey, John," he smiles. "What's going on?"

"Just, uh, wanted to let you know, man," John says, and he sounds awkward. Upset, almost. Every protective instinct in Mike wakes up with a thrill of warning. "Since Monday, my neck's kind of been a mess. Dunno what's going on, but been in contact with WWE medical and they want me to get checked out by a specialist just to make sure I didn't re-aggravate anything. You know my history. So uh, I'm not cleared to be on this week, just as a precaution hopefully, but I won't be around to help with anything so guess you'll have to man the fort for awhile."

It's not fair. It really isn't. First John just gets cleared of his knee issue in time for Mania, and now this. Mike wants to go yell at Riddle, he wants to make Priest pay. It's absolutely ridiculous. But he tempers his anger, knowing it'll do John no good right now, and instead says as calmly as he can, "Sure, man. Is... is there anything you need from me?"

"Nah," John says, and a little of the usual sarcastic irony returns to his voice, to Mike's relief. "Taya and Presley are taking good care of me. Don't worry."

"Isn't it Franky now?" Mike teases, and it's worth it just to hear John laugh. "I want updates, as soon as you know anything."

"Absolutely," John says. "You'll be my first call."

They hang up and Mike is staring at the wall, digesting this, when his phone goes off again. He sighs heavily and hangs his head, not wanting more bad news, just to realize it's Maryse. "Hey," he greets her as cheerfully as he can. "What's up?" She hesitates to respond for a minute and he worries, almost holding his breath, that something's really wrong. "Maryse? What is it? Is Heath ok? The kids-"

"Oh, no," she finally speaks, some of the tension easing out of him. "Everyone's fine, we're all great." She exhales. "It's just I've been in contact with the USA Network and... they think part of the reason ratings held as steady as they did for the season premiere is because I was on Raw. So they're suggesting it be a more permanent thing, at least for awhile." Her voice sounds tight, a little unhappy. Mike can only imagine how Heath, still holed up after his surgery and already frustrated from not being able to wrestle, must be feeling. "So I guess I'm gonna be by your side for awhile again starting tonight!" The bravado fades from her voice. "Are you ok with that?" she asks softly.

He doesn't really see any other choice. "Yeah," he tells her. "I'm fine with it. It'll just be like before, right?" He exhales slowly. "We'll make it work, Maryse. We always do."

They hang up and Mike sits there for awhile, picking at the edge of the table, fretting so thoroughly that he's surprised he hadn't created splinters in the few minutes that have passed by while he was staring numbly ahead. I have to tell AJ, he thinks with rising dread.

Yes, she's generally accepting of anything he has to do to make his career work, keep Miz and Mrs. a success, but it's not easy on her, and now he has to make her watch him and Maryse pretend yet again to be thoroughly in love, happily married, and the kids are older, Sara understands too much, sometimes, and George has this deeply curious look in his eye towards everything, not to mention Monroe and Madison too, and... Mike almost feels ill. Please, let this just be very temporary...

At Raw, things are quiet. People glance, then look away, giggling to themselves or whoever htey're working with at the time, and Mike ignores them all, keeping his chin held high and his shoulders level. Maryse greets him at the car and they stare at each other. "How did AJ take it?" she asks.

"Graciously," he says, remembering the deep furrow of her brows as he'd explained the situation to her, and the slow way she'd nodded, shrugging as he'd wrapped her up in a hug, kissing the side of her head, whispering soothing promises to her. "How about Heath?"

"He wasn't happy," she hedges. "But I think he understands. Telling him it was temporary helped, I'm sure."

Mike struggles to smile. "I'm sure," he says softly, getting out of the car and grabbing his bag to go walk alongside her into the arena. They've always looked good together, he thinks, even if the feelings never materialized to the deep degree that he now has with AJ, and she has with Heath. Their eyes meet as he holds the door for her and they smile warily at each other before donning their perfect It Couple masks and making their way into the arena to begin the act, yet again.