Back to Basics chapter 171

Oct 24, 2013 02:34


The week continues on, AJ leaving for home mid-Tuesday while Mike heads on to Michigan for Main Event. He kisses her lightly before they go their separate ways. "I'll see you for Smackdown," he tells her softly, glancing down at the t-shirt that's on top of his carry on. She smiles cutely at him before skipping off to join Tamina.

He takes a breath and closes his eyes, smiling mirthlessly as he turns for his own car. "Now as long as you don't say anything stupid on commentary tomorrow night, Mike," he mumbles, "this week will continue to be smooth enough..." Thankfully luck is in his favor, even with Ziggler in action, because AJ isn't mentioned once, nor any of his other friends. So he's able to walk away without inserting his foot into his mouth... again.

Which is good, because Smackdown brings along its own aggravations. He enters the arena, AJ's hand warm in his, to find that he has a match scheduled- a tag match with Kofi Kingston vs Harper and Rowan, Miz chewing on his inner cheek as he stares at the schedule board. Below that is AJ's rematch against Brie Bella. "Hm," he mutters, squeezing her fingers. "C'mon."

They walk side by side to her locker room, Tamina lurking behind them. As she settles her things by the couch, he checks his phone before going to get ready for the match, which looks to be early in the card, hers scheduled right after it. He considers the both of them being able to leave early, since it seems kind of boring and quiet tonight. "Alex and Ricardo are still in Florida?" AJ asks him when she notices him still staring at the blank screen of his phone.

"Yeah," he mumbles. "I don't blame them- Alex deserves to have some time to rest after his surgery, and Ricardo... well, he's going through a lot too, so..."

"But you miss them." She smiles sympathetically when he looks up at her, it written all over his face. She leans up and kisses him, cupping his face. "You'll see them soon, I'm sure."

He nods, kissing her back. "Yeah." Pulling away slowly, he turns and scoops his wrestling gear up, slipping into the connected bathroom to change. "I bet you're looking forward to wrestling again tonight, I know how it feels having to sit on the sidelines, how frustrating it is," he calls out to her, looking at himself in the mirror as he messes with his hair.

"Yeah," she answers, leaning against the wall and peering in at him as he pulls his wristpads on, smiling a little. "It'll be good to get back to it. And show Brie Bella what it really means to be a champion."

Finishing wrapping his hands up and stuffing his feet in his boots, he joins her back in the main room and cups her face, watching as she shivers at the rough feel of tape giving way to his soft fingers against her skin. "No one's better at that than you," he tells her softly, smirking as her eyelashes flutter. "I love you."

"Love you too," she murmurs as he kisses her. "Good luck."

"Thanks. I'll be back in a little bit." Another kiss and he leaves the room, not sure how to feel about this upcoming match. He and Kofi had spent most of the previous year feuding for the Intercontinental title, and now to be teaming with him again, especially against freaks like the Wyatts... He sighs and shakes his head, smiling mirthlessly as he joins the other man at the gorilla position. "Hey, ready for this?"

Kofi turns towards him. "Always am, man," he says. "Are you?"

"As I'll ever be," he sighs, adjusting his wristbands once more before his music is cued up, Mike walking quickly to the ring. Once Kofi joins him, they storm the ring and begin the match. Unfortunately, it doesn't go well, Mike trying to get a tag just to be grabbed from behind by Rowan and slung into the barricade wall, crumpling to the floor painfully, which allows Harper to finish off and pin Kofi. He shudders and tries to recollect himself in a hurry, not wanting to leave his tag partner high and dry, no matter what tensions they might've felt months back, but the two members of the Wyatt families are lurking around and he finds it to be even more of a struggle, just making it into the ring and kneeling protectively in front of Kingston, waiting for them to make a move when-

Bray stops them, Mike's troubled gaze flickering between the two men to their leader on the outside, still sitting comfortably in his rocking chair. Mike's body is throbbing, the past injuries caused by Orton brought back to the forefront once more, but he forces himself to listen to every word Bray is saying, trying to read between the lines, figure out what he's trying to tell him. But the last thing he says is pretty straight forward: That he's going to take it all away from him. Things go dark once more and just like that, the three men are gone, as is the chair. He pales.

Kofi sees the look on his face, struggling to sit up. As soon as he's halfway up, he slaps a hand against Mike's chest. "Go, man. I'm gonna be ok. Make sure your girl's ok."

Mike stares down at him, swallowing as he realizes: It hadn't exactly been a secret, his relationship with AJ, and the locker room had to have been figuring it out. Especially with a big mouth like Ziggler knowing, and Daniel too. He closes his eyes, at least helps Kofi to sit the rest of the way up before leaving him with the referee, running as quickly as he can backstage. "AJ," he repeats over and over again, worry pooling in his veins as he races past door after door, making it to her room just as she opens the door, talking quietly with Tamina. He stops short and stares at her, eyes deep and intense as she stares back at him, startled. "You're ok. You're ok," he whispers, reaching out tentatively for her.

She gapes at him and shakes her head, suddenly growing worried for him. "Mike? Are you-" Her words die away when he wraps his arms tightly around her and pulls her in close, losing himself in her. "Mike..."

"I was so worried, for a minute- I just..." He pulls away and looks down at her, frowning. "Listen, I don't care what you're doing, where you're at, you keep an eye out. If anything goes wrong, lights flicker, or- or... Anything, you run, find people. Make sure you're safe, alright?"

She sucks in a breath, gently running a hand over Mike's face. "Is this because of what Wyatt said?" she whispers, eyes filled with compassion for her visibly frenzied boyfriend. When he nods, she nods too. "Of course, Mike. I'll- I'll be ok, he won't touch me, I promise." She smiles as he pulls her in once more, digging his fingers through her hair.

"He better not," he mumbles. Finally realizing that her match is next, he hesitantly pulls away from her. "I'm coming with you, I won't go past the gorilla position but I want to be nearby, just in case. Keep an eye on things. Alright?" She stares up at him and nods, her lips twitching slightly as she leans into his warmth. "Good. Thank you." He leans in and kisses her before resting his hands on her lower back and guiding her through the halls, Tamina following them silently.

Unfortunately his luck this evening seems to pass off to her, Brie defeating her after Nikki tosses Tamina into the steel steps and AJ fails to capitalize on the distraction. The woman regains herself quickly, however, and carries the dazed divas champion backstage, Mike meeting them at the curtains and taking his girlfriend from her, looking down at her. "Are you ok?" he asks, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"Yes," she grumbles. "Never better." Burying her face in his collar, she groans. "That didn't just happen." He wisely says nothing, carrying her back to her locker room, relieved that- although she's unhappy at the loss- she's safe, Wyatt not taking the opportunity to do what he had hinted at.

"Let's get out of here," he says as soon as he rests her back on the couch, moving quickly to collect their bags and handing over AJ's street clothes. The building had started off benign enough but now it feels creepy and less than welcoming, his breath heavy in his ears as he changes as well. She thankfully seems to understand, ready almost as quickly as he is, and the three of them leave together, Tamina remaining in the backseat like a silent sentry as Mike drives them back to the hotel.

They arrive in time to watch the last hour of Smackdown and Mike is sitting quietly on the edge of the bed as Del Rio is interviewed by Josh Mathews, focusing on Cena and his Mexican heritage... until an evil glint fills his eye and he declares his intention to prove to Cena what will be coming his way at Hell in a Cell. Twisting around, he snags Josh and struggles with him, finally locking in the armbar and pulling back viciously, Mike's lips thinning as he watches. It's so similar to what had been done to Ricardo, though thankfully Del Rio hadn't bothered with a chair this time. It's still uncomfortable to watch, bringing back terrible memories for him. He can only hope that Ricardo isn't watching, AJ leaning against him as she watches too, aware of why he's glaring so viciously at the TV. "Damn him," he breathes, eyes closed. He's had a great many enemies and rivals in this business, but no one recently he'd quite felt so many strained emotions towards.

It's announced early Monday that AJ will be facing Brie Bella yet again at Hell in a Cell, adding to her frustration. "How many times do I have to prove that I'm the better diva?" she grouses as they enter the arena, shaking her head with a grimace. "I revitalized this division, and I still get no respect." Mike squeezes her hand as he pushes her locker room door open, allowing her to enter first.

He feels bad for her, but he's more worried about the Wyatts- even though they're in a whole other city, he can still feel their presence, a dark sort of creepiness lingering around, waiting, watching. He's relieved that AJ has her own locker room, with locks and privacy so he can keep a close eye on things, make sure she's safe. Except that she has a tag team match so this isn't a permanent fix, Mike unable to do anything but watch as she and Tamina head for the ring.

He stays by the gorilla position, tugging on his lip thoughtfully as he watches the match from a monitor, still anxious after Bray Wyatt's warning, feeling like he's being watched even now. Which is stupid, because there are dozens of people around, it could be any one of them, but still... his paranoia is at an all time high. He's conflicted when AJ and Tamina eventually lose again- feeling bad for her, but relieved that it's over, the two of them finding their way backstage. After Renee catches them for an interview, AJ sitting on the floor, bemoaning her loss until Tamina picks her back up and carries her down the hall, he rests his hand on her back as Tamina heads towards the personal locker room. "I'm sorry, AJ," he says softly, stroking her hair.

She grimaces and leans into his touch, her wet eyes flashing with anger and disappointment. "I'm not giving up," she grouses, trying to put on a brave face in his presence. "I'll fix it all on Sunday. This isn't the way it's going to continue to be."

"Damn straight," he tells her, kissing her as he follows them back to the relative safety of her locker room. The two of them are sitting on the couch, AJ staring at the title that's always meant so much to her, when Mike realizes that his tag match is coming up. He instinctively checks his phone before going to change into his wrestling gear, spotting a tweet from Ricardo about going to learn how to wrestle at the Performance Center in Florida. He stares at it for a minute, lips twitching into a wry smile as he resolves again to check in on him when they're down his way this weekend.

Unfortunately, his and Kofi's rematch against the Wyatts go about as poorly as it had on Smackdown- he gets taken out of the match and Kofi is left yet again to eat the loss, this time Bray egging on his family members when they corner Kofi. Mike is still a bit out of it when he scrambles into the ring, wanting to help the other man. But he fails, the two large men too much for him. He lays, beaten down, on the mat, watching helplessly as Bray enters the ring, laughing at him as his 'family' drags Mike to his feet and tangle his arms up in the rope, leaving him trapped as they hold his head back so he can't do anything but watch Bray Wyatt as he approaches, talking about the wars he'd been in, and a myriad of other things that Mike can barely hear over the blood rushing in his ears as their fingers dig painfully into his flesh, stretching his features as he struggles.

When they finally leave, he's stuck hanging there limply, trying to work through the riddles that Wyatt speaks in, his chest rising and falling unevenly as referees arrive and begin to free his arms from the tight hold. When he can finally move again, no longer held back by the hard wires, he falls forward and grunts, eyes closed even as he tries to rub the discomfort out of his biceps. Kofi had already been helped backstage so he walks on his own up the ramp, ignoring the referees as they try to assist him, finding his way to AJ's locker room and staring at her as she stands, joining him.

"Oh," she whispers, cupping his face and looking at the faint marks Harper and Rowan's hands had left on his flesh, wincing. Leaning up, she gently kisses his cheek and around his eyes, trying to sooth him. Her fingers trailing across the faint bruises already spreading along his arms, she leads him to the couch and curls up close to him, resting her face against his chest as he tries to decompress from all of the bizarreness that is the Wyatt family.

However, it all goes to hell again when they both freeze, the monitor behind them droning on as Cole announces that Smackdown will have an edition of MizTV with Orton as its guest- again. AJ releases a deep breath and clings to him tighter, shaking her head. "Not again," she mumbles, looking up at him worriedly. "Mike-"

He shakes his head and presses a kiss to her forehead. "It'll be ok, sweetheart. I'll be fine. I always am, right?" She frowns at him and he revises it, "Eventually."

She groans. "Stupid Authority," she mumbles petulantly, trailing her nails up and down his chest. "It's not bad enough Stephanie has to keep throwing Brie in my way, now they keep putting you in Orton's path... I don't get it."

"A good many of us aren't getting what's going on with this company anymore," he sighs. "But don't worry, everything'll work out. I promise." Despite his strong words, his eyes gleam with uncertainty as he hopes he hadn't just made a promise that he ultimately won't be able to keep...

back to basics, tamina snuka, the miz, aj lee

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