Trouble

SIXTEEN

SIXTEEN

Three weeks later, Abigail and I found a new place to live. Neither of us liked living in our house without Emily, so we moved into a new one to make new memories. Right after this, TNA resumed filming. It was the first taping since Emily had died. As hard as it was, life was moving on, and we had to let it.

Nelson and Brandon had both run for their lives. That's what happens when you betray Team Baddie. Nelson, however, made it quite clear that while MVP had indeed come back stronger, so had he, and he wasn't about to let MVP hurt anyone. He was available if we needed him.

With Low-Ki and Homicide no longer on the TNA roster, the BDC was as good as over. What killed it was not the battle between good and evil, but a contract breech that involved a lot of lying and some bad decisions. All of the footage featuring Hernandez had to be cut, and that pissed MVP off more than anything else ever had. He quit right after it was announced that this had happened, tweeting "The BDC is dead."

Right after that, Kenny King quit, too. He cited the end of the BDC as his reason, but I suspected he was running as far from Team Baddie as he could get. He hadn't officially quit their team, but this was his way of passively doing just that.

When I saw Storm, he nodded at me subtly in acknowledgement. He'd also announced he was leaving TNA soon, but not because he was running. Chaos simply wanted to move him somewhere else to fight the battle. Storm was his top man. He needed him now more than ever.

At the same time, Jeff Jarrett was back and bringing Global Force Wrestling to TNA. Jarrett had joined up with Team Baddie and I knew we'd be facing another huge battle soon, but that is a whole other story. My main concern was rescuing Carlos before he ended up stuck in the middle of that mess.

After the first night of tapings concluded, I decided it was time for the rescue mission. Jeff had taken Abigail for the night because he was teaching her how to paint like him. I knew she was safe. I was ready to go after Carlos. I nearly made it to my car before James came jogging after me and sternly told me, "Not alone."

"Did you just read my mind?" I asked.

"You're thinking too loud." He smirked at me.

"Wow. So that's how that feels."

"Seriously, though, MichaeL, I know you. We're back in Florida, at the Impact Zone, our home. This is where we're strongest, and since Carlos lives here, he's stronger here as well. If we have any chance of saving him, it's here. And you are not doing it alone."

"James, it's too dangerous. I can't risk them hurting you again."

He looked at me seriously. "Michael, it's been long enough. I've stayed as far from danger as I could, with the exception of the day we rescued you and Abigail. I go home every night and do you know what I do? I read, I watch television, I sit on bloody YouTube watching videos of people's cats doing tricks, but do you know what I don't do? I don't sleep. At all. I'm so bloody terrified all the time, I can't do it. Every time I sleep, I see them. I see what they did to me... I keep replaying it, all of it, and it won't bloody stop. I see Emily, and what happened to her... I see you, so broken I was afraid we'd never get you back... I see every bloody horrible second of it, over and over and over again. I'm stuck there, Michael."

"It's called PTSD, James. It's normal. It sucks, but we can help you-"

"Talking won't help. I don't have the words. I feel like I am what they insisted I was, just a pathetic joke who needs to be rescued and isn't worth a bloody thing. Do you want to know what will help me? Proving them wrong. I need to help, Michael. I need to fight. I need to know that I can contribute something good. Stop protecting me and let me fight."