After Shine [despues de brillar]

Danika July 4 - San Diego, California

Dominik had apparently driven himself to the arena since they were in San Diego, so she'd offered to ride back with him - Aalyah and Buddy were flying out to the next NXT show, so they took an Uber, Angie and Rey offered to take Rosa and Nico on back to the family house if Dominik and Danika would pick up some groceries on the way home. "Do you have a light?" Dominik asked as they headed out the back entrance of the arena, he had his cigarettes - not that Rey needed to know he was smoking currently - but he didn't have a lighter, Danika fished one out of her clutch and lit it for him. "Thanks, querido." He kissed her cheek, "Want to wait for me here, I'll jog over and get the car, so you don't have to do anymore hectic walking." He suggested, as he pressed the palm of his hand against her midsection, she was due in early September.

"Sure, querido." She shot back at him, unamused, he was supposed to be working on quitting smoking, she'd quit after all. He wrapped her up in a thin jacket, before he hurried off in a jog, she'd been leaning against the wall for all of five minutes when a tall dark figure approached from the darkened side of the building. Footsteps echoing off the pavement in an almost menacing symphony.

"Got a light?" He asked, the deep baritone of his voice rushing down her spine like warm caramel.

"You know, asking a pregnant woman is probably a dick move." She snarked back, eyeing the man who went by Damian Priest, "Luis Martínez, right?" She ventured, as she once more dug the lighter out of her clutch, "And it is beyond creepy that you hide in the shadows stalking people."

"I was curious, querido." He parroted the word to her, patronizingly. "You clearly belong to the Mysterios, but I don't recognize you." That made her snort, "So I wanted to know more."

"No, you had an assumption." She countered, irritated by the man's bold statement that he didn't recognize her - she supposed it was fair, it felt like a lifetime to her too, "You assumed that I was dating Dominik, or worse you assumed that I was Rey's love child, I have heard both so many times it's frankly annoying." The man before her looked her up and down, "Oh, I know how it looks, but Dom and I are best friends." She offered, "Have been since middle school."

"You are not what I expected." Damian admitted, "Want to sit down?" He motioned to the steps, hauling his hoodie over his head, and stretching it out for her to sit on, "Don't want you to get dirty, and you are wrong on both accounts." He added as she moved to sit, he sank down next to her, his long legs reaching three steps down, comfortably, to bend at his knees. "I heard you, at the barrier." He took another drag, "You called those babies Dominik's, which to me means you aren't his girlfriend, you're his secret."

"Legally, I can't agree or disagree with you." She hummed, "But I can tell you that you're barking up a dangerous tree even asking, and it wouldn't be me coming after you." She watched as he flicked his gaze over her again, clearly thinking about it. "Dom says you're a good one, you work with him in the ring, call the moves, help him." She flicked her gaze over his long form, "Thank you."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, softly.

"I've watched him and Rey workout, Rey just... doesn't tell him things. The ebb and flow thing, you know?" He nodded his head, "You gave him ebb and he flowed with you. He needs someone to teach him that isn't so..." She paused, "I shouldn't have said any of that to you." She admitted, "Look, Martinez you're smart, you'll figure it out the more you target Dom, but leave me and those kids out of it, I refuse to allow them to be used like Rey and Eddie used Dom, when he was eight." The anger and aggression in her voice made the tall man in leather shrink away slightly, "My children are not going to be some kayfabe storyline."

"Hm." He mused.

"We've met before." She offered him, as she looked over to gaze him up and down, "Four, almost five years ago, when I worked for Danny Cage." His eyes widened as he looked her over again, "It's easy to forget the face of a little girl, huh?" She found herself teasing, his face had slimmed up, and his body had gotten more muscular, but his smile and his eyes were still the same in her opinion, the same as the man who'd knocked and Englishman out in Tokyo for getting too handsy with her when she was eighteen and touring with Ring of Honor on Danny Cage's orders, when she was still cutting her teeth in the Influencer business, when she was still impressionable, and wanted to marry someone who could protect her and adored her like Rey did for Angie. Before she had kids, before she became the Mysterio no one talked about. Damian Martinez was Luis Martinez was Damian Priest, and his eyes still pinned her down in a way that made her feel alive and uncomfortable, but now she recognized it for what it was. Hunger. She wanted this man to always look at her, hell even back then when she was eighteen she'd wanted his attention, she just didn't know how to explain it.

Lights flickered into view, "You're ride?" He hummed, eyes still tracking her, like he could pin down specific memories, but those had been dark times for him, even with him winning - she could remember how often women and booze had been his retreat, how often she'd been the one packing his luggage in a hurry while they were rushing to get him together and on the next plane, she could remember doing his hair, when he'd managed to run off one too many hairdressers with his violent and at times largely Spanish rants. She'd been the one to clean his cuts more than once, and she'd been the one to stitch his ring gear up. She wondered if he could remember how even with her slight fear of him, she'd never bowed away when he'd asked her for something, yet he'd never given her anything in return. She'd begged him to let her interview him, he'd broken the window of the hotel in response. She'd begged him to just take a picture with her, her phone had to be replaced because he'd tossed it out the window of the bus. He'd tormented her back then, but she'd been a child in his eyes, and largely an insolent one she'd be willing to bet - because Cage always told her to stay away from him, yet she was always the first to volunteer to help him.

She nodded, then stood, she moved to pull his hoodie up but only caught sight of his retreating form slinking back into the shadows. She looked down at the SAMCRO hoodie, rolling her eyes as she wrapped it around her, maybe Dominik could return it - Luis Martinez was a giant, especially compared to her tiny stature. Dominik hurried to open the door for her, she climbed in, just as he gazed at the hoodie, "Isn't that Priest's?"

"Yeah, he kept me company while you were getting the car." She offered.

"Really?" Dominik shut the door, and rounded the front, "He was nice, right, I don't need to... like, call him out?"

"I think he'd break you if you tried." Danika smarted back, "He was asking questions."

"About us?" Dominik could read the apprehension she supposed.

"About us." She confirmed, "But he backed off, I think he and I have an understanding." She offered, as she cuddled into the hoodie she had draped around herself, "Do you think you can manage to return this without it getting awkward or caught on camera?"

"Should be able to, do you have the list for Mami's house?" Danika shot him a look, "Of course you do, are you sure about going on the road with me until August? I know how much you hate traveling while pregnant." He felt her take his hand on the gear shift.

"Dom, we are familia, even if we aren't dating. Rosa and Nico love you so much, and right now they can be on the road with you without school getting in the way." She offered, "Plus I can work from anywhere, and I don't have familia except for you and yours." She squeezed his hand, "And I know you're excited about the rental bus instead of flying. Even Rey is stoked." That was because they were going to spend all this time traveling together before his big scheduled heel turn, not that Danika was supposed to know that. "What store are we going to?" She asked, curiously.

"Uh, probably Wal-Mart, that seems the easiest and maybe no one will notice me." He shrugged.

She grinned mischievously, "You could wear the hoodie." She motioned to the one on her lap. She openly giggled when he shot her a mortified look. "He's nice." Danika breathed out, "He's nice, Damian, Luis, whatever you call him. He seemed concerned, there is something about him, Dom, he's... I can't explain it." She decided on, when Dominik gave her a long look, "Just, he's good, and I think you should trust him." There was a weight to the statement, Danika hadn't understood why he'd wanted Rey to train him, she'd felt like he needed a different first trainer, someone who wasn't so integral to his confidence, she hoped he understood.