Title: Before the Fall
Author: Karen U/revivingophelia
Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me
Rating: PG/K+
Spoilers: August 13, 2012 RAW
Characters/Pairing: Eve Torres, mentions of CM Punk
Prompt: #21, weakness
Summary: pride goes before the fall (or, every man has a weakness)
Warnings: very mild language.
Notes: part of my project365 claim
She nodded slightly, more or less satisfied with her work for the night. Granted, she and Beth had lost their match - and that was annoying - but at least she hadn't been the one to get pinned. Kaitlyn had gotten lucky on that one. But what did it matter? AJ and Booker T didn't seem inclined to make Layla ever defend the damned divas' title, so it wasn't like wins and losses mattered that much at the moment anyway. Wins and losses only really mattered when something was on the line, and nothing had been on the line tonight. So no, she wasn't worried about the loss. But that wasn't what had her feeling satisfied about tonight.
No, what had her feeling satisfied tonight was her encounter with none other than the WWE champion CM Punk. She'd sought him out, of course. Just like she had back in July. She'd had a purpose then, just like she'd had one tonight. To be the little birdy in Punk's ear, planting those little seeds... She hadn't been sure how to approach him at first. In all honesty, she'd wanted to approach him before she'd taken about a month off for other projects, but she'd held herself back then, knowing that it wasn't the time. Knowing that she had to find the perfect approach. The best way to go about talking to him. The best way to get into his head a little. It had taken a bit of thinking, she had to admit. She wasn't going to pull the damsel in distress or crazy chick thing like AJ had done. Eve just didn't go for acting like a nut job, and the damsel in distress thing had worn painfully thin for her when she'd been running from Kane week after week back in January and February. *That* was not an experience that she wanted to repeat. Besides that, to be a damsel in distress, she'd have to get someone to attack her. And even then? There was no way to guarantee that he'd be the one to help her out.
So no. Just not going to happen. She'd needed something else. And she'd found it. Because every man had a weakness.
And CM Punk was no different. He was just like every other man in the world. And CM Punk's weakness? Was his pride.
"Seven deadly sins, Punk. Pride is one of them," Eve whispered, smiling slightly as she shook her head. Yes, CM Punk's weakness was most definitely his pride. Which was fine with her. It was more interesting than some of the other weaknesses she'd exploited in the past. Zack Ryder's weakness was nothing more than a pretty face. It had made it so easy... And flirting with him had made her feel... Desperately in need of a shower. She hadn't even let Zack so much as touch her - all he'd ever gotten was one kiss, the same with John Cena - but still, the way he'd looked at her. She shuddered at that, making a face, the woman telling herself that she was glad that Punk's weakness had more to do with his own sense of self-worth than it did her cleavage. Not that he'd seemed to mind checking that out, either, but in truth, she hadn't minded. CM Punk was, at least, attractive, and he was also complicated enough to be interesting. And she desperately needed to be around a man that was actually interesting.
And so she had made those first steps. Figured out his weakness, then approached him the night of the mixed tag match - what a nice surprise to actually be included, making it less surprising that she would approach him that first time - and she'd planted those seeds. Poked at his pride. Reminded him that, despite being the WWE champion for seven months - she'd made sure he knew that she was aware of the length of his title reign - he hadn't been the focal point. He'd been overshadowed repeatedly. By Cena. By Lesnar. By Triple H and Big Show. And then, she'd gotten in the final jab. She'd told him he was being overshadowed by AJ. Something he probably already knew deep down, but it had to have hurt his pride to have it pointed out to him, especially by someone like her. She'd even tossed in a line about it being 'emasculating'. Low blow, she knew.
But it had worked.
She knew it had. Eve knew - she was absolutely certain - that at least part of the reason he'd attacked the Rock two weeks later at RAW 1000 was because the things she'd said to him had been festering inside him, rolling around in his head. He'd snapped, first leaving Cena to Big Show, and then attacking the Rock when the man had come out there to help John. And all his spiel since then? Talking about respect? If that wasn't a draw on her words about his being overshadowed, then she didn't know what it was. Yes. Whether CM Punk wanted to admit it yet or not, he'd listened to her that night, and the things she'd said had ended up having the desired effect.
And then there had been tonight. She'd gone up to him again, actually enjoying the sight of him stretching for a moment before drawing his attention to her. And then she'd planted more seeds, calling him the 'new CM Punk', then telling him that no one bought it when he said he was the same guy he'd always been, fighting for respect... Making sure to mention Cena specifically, of course, hopefully implying that maybe John didn't respect him. Pushing at that pride again. Pushing him in the direction she wanted him to go.
And slowly but surely, he was getting there. A few more weeks? He'd probably be exactly where she wanted him.
Eve knew, of course, that a lot of people would call her horrible names for what she was doing. But those people were idiots. She wasn't hurting CM Punk, had no desire to do so. She actually wanted him to remain the champion. But if he didn't change, then sooner or later, he would lose that title. He'd become too much of a nice guy. The company man. And CM Punk was not born to be the company man. So she'd just... Pushed him back in the direction he'd been in several times before. The direction that he'd been in the year before, when he'd declared himself the 'voice of the voiceless'. What Punk didn't seem to realize was, during the course of his title reign - now hitting nine months, actually - *he'd* become the voiceless. He'd just gone with the flow. Winning his title defenses, yes, but letting other people be the ones that were talked about, and it was just sad. That was not who CM Punk should be. He had too much pride for that.
She'd just had to remind him of it.
And she would continue to remind him of it until she had him right where she wanted him. Until he was on top of the WWE again - not just as the champion but as the person that everyone stopped to watch and listen to - and she would be at his side when he was there. Because while he was on top of the world, he was going to need her.
She'd make sure of it.
The End