Title: Winning Isn't Everything (But it Sure Feels Nice)

Author: Karen U/revivingophelia

Pairing/Character: Eve Torres, CM Punk

Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me

Rating: PG/K+

Summary: Eve figures she'll be celebrating her big win alone... Turns out she's wrong.

Spoilers: 9/3/12 RAW, Stars Earn Stripes finale

Warnings: none, really

She sat quietly on an equipment crate in the back, sending off one last tweet for the night, then slipped her phone in her bag, the diva hopping off the crate and grabbing her purse and bag. Eve smiled slightly at the stagehand that had helped her set up a television so that she could follow what had been airing on the finale of Stars Earn Stripes as she posted on Twitter and replied to fan comments, the diva accepting the man's congratulations on winning with a nod and a 'thank you'. The truth was, it had felt so good to win that final mission, to win the whole darn show, and watching her own reaction to being told she'd won, that she'd earned the grand prize and banked even more money for the USO... It had been almost like winning it all over again.

Too bad there hadn't been anyone there to celebrate with her.

It had been weird, really, coming back to the WWE after being gone for a month to do the show... Coming back to the same old attitudes and taunts that she'd been getting before. To a place where none of her coworkers were happy when she did something well. Hell, she figured that there were probably some of them that disliked her enough that they'd hoped she would get knocked out of the competition in the first mission - despite the fact that doing well and continuing on had meant more money for the USO.

Shaking her head, Eve reminded herself that it didn't matter... It didn't matter what her coworkers thought. What mattered was that she *had* won, that she had earned over a hundred thousand dollars for the USO, and that when she'd won, the people there had actually seemed happy for her, even proud of her for her accomplishments. And damn, but it had felt so good.

Sighing, the woman began making her way down the hall, frowning a little as she heard the sound that meant she'd just received a text message. Quickly, she pulled out her phone and checked it, smiling slightly as she saw that it was from Lilian Garcia... A quick congratulations for winning Stars Earn Stripes, the ring announcer telling her how well she'd done. Truthfully, Eve wasn't entirely surprised to get the message from Lilian. After all, the blonde woman considered herself to be an army brat, so she was likely happy to see all that money going to military and first responder charities. Still smiling, Eve texted back a quick 'thanks', then headed down the hallway, intending to go to the parking garage, the woman pulling the strap of her bag up a bit higher on her shoulder as she walked.

Eve kept her head down as she walked, making her way through the halls, the woman moving quickly, weaving her way through the various stagehands that were already working to get things packed away after the show. Most of her coworkers were still in the locker rooms, cleaning up after the show, probably talking about everything that had happened... From AJ's complete mental breakdown (again) to CM Punk's decision to take a 'personal day'. Honestly, that had earned a bit of a smile from Eve... She couldn't help it. And the thing was, she didn't entirely blame him for walking out like he had. After all, he was the WWE champion, had been since freaking November, and AJ had booked his match - against the world heavyweight champion, no less - to occur at the end of the first hour of an episode of RAW that was actually in Punk's hometown while John Cena had been scheduled for the true main event. Eve wasn't sure if that was just another sign that AJ Lee didn't have a clue what she was doing, or if it was just more proof that the woman still wanted to get back at Punk for not being interested in her. Whatever the case, it seemed she had made a mistake tonight.

"Whatever," Eve muttered, finally making it through the halls and to the parking garage, the woman immediately starting to head toward her car... Then stopping short as she noted the black car that was parked behind her rental. Granted, with the spot she'd parked in, she could still get out, she wasn't exactly blocked in, but it would be a pain to try to do so. Frowning slightly, Eve glanced at the driver's window, noting that it was rolled down, Paul Heyman calmly eyeing her from his position behind the wheel. But despite her surprise at seeing Paul Heyman parked behind her car, he wasn't the one that really drew her attention. No, the person that drew her attention was standing beside her rental car, leaning against it, his fingers tapping lightly against the hood as he looked at her.

The WWE champion, CM Punk.

She arched a brow at the man. "I thought you'd left... Again," Eve stated, not sure what else to say to the man. She hadn't seen him face to face or even so much as texted him in a week. They'd talked some lately, had maybe even flirted with each other a little in the days leading up to SummerSlam and even the week or so afterward, but she hadn't been at RAW the week before, when he'd ended up facing Jerry Lawler in a cage match. When she'd realized that he'd been busted open - thanks to the support beams of the cage - she'd texted him twice, asking if he was okay, and he'd responded, telling her he'd gotten staples in his head but was fine, and she hadn't heard from him since. Given that he'd been in Australia with the rest of the RAW roster and she'd been busy with various appearances and seminars, she hadn't been bothered by it, and since he'd taken off early from RAW, she hadn't expected to talk to him tonight, either, but now... Now he was standing there in front of her rental car.

He gave her a slight smile. "Well, I came back... Again," he told her, then turned attention to the black car that Paul Heyman sat behind the wheel of. Stepping forward, he leaned down to talk to the man through the window. "I've got it covered from here. Thanks for the help tonight," Punk stated as he took his title belt and a duffel bag from the front seat, and the man that had driven the getaway car for Punk tonight - both when Punk had left for his 'personal day' and when he'd come back to attack Cena and cost him the match later on - nodded slightly, then turned to look at Eve.

"Ms. Torres," he said in acknowledgment, and Eve nodded slightly in return, watching as he drove away before turning back to CM Punk. Taking a deep breath, the diva started to walk toward him, her gaze moving over him, taking in the shorter haircut that she hadn't seen in person until now. It suited him, she thought... Not that she figured he cared what she thought or anything.

The man cleared his throat. "Congratulations," he told her and, for a moment, Eve's spirits rose as she thought that he was congratulating her for her win on Stars Earn Stripes, but then she realized that it was highly unlikely that he'd seen anything about that. Odds were that he'd followed the RAW results to check out what was going on and had seen that she'd beaten Kaitlyn earlier in the night.

She shrugged her shoulders. "It was just one match, and it was just against Kaitlyn," Eve said though, in truth, it had felt good to pick up the win. It always felt good to pick up a win... Especially against someone that was currently the number one contender. Of course, despite her kind words toward the young diva lately, Eve thought that Kaitlyn being the number one contender was nothing more than a fluke...

Punk gave her a slow smile. "That wasn't actually what I was talking about. I mean, you won, what... A hundred grand for the USO? Plus whatever you'd gotten from the previous missions?" he questioned, shrugging when she just stood there, no doubt looking very surprised. "I DVR'd it. Haven't watched the finale yet, but I was bad. I went online and spoiled myself. Heard you kicked some ass."

"I almost got eliminated in the surprise shoot-out when my gun jammed."

"Yeah, but you didn't. Then you came back to win it all." He smirked at her, stepped a little closer. "Felt good, didn't it? Winning it all."

She couldn't help but smile back. "It felt amazing. For me and... It was a lot of money. The USO's a good cause," she said, and Punk nodded.

"Can't deny that. Although I'm still stuck on loving the fact that you kicked the ass of all the guys you were competing against. You even beat Superman. Or at least one of the guys that used to play Superman."

"Hey, I wasn't the only woman in the finals. Picabo Street came in second. So, you know... Girl power and all of that," she said with a smile, then grew more serious again, tucking some hair behind her ear as she looked up at the WWE champion. "I still don't understand why you came back. Cena's got to be gunning for you, AJ is completely off her rocker tonight-"

"I'm not worried about the child-size General Manager. And Cena's probably still in with the trainers," he replied, then shrugged. "Besides, I'd think since I'm standing here, it's got to be kind of obvious why I came back."

"Just to tell me congratulations?"

"And to take you out to celebrate," Punk told her, watching as she blinked in surprise. "You won a lot of money for a good cause. The rest of the people in the company should be lining up to congratulate you. But I don't see a line."

"Lilian sent me a text. Which totally counts because she's not here tonight so she couldn't really come up and say anything. And if no one else cares what I did, then... Whatever. I don't care what they think. They don't matter to me."

"And they shouldn't," he said, then reached out, putting his hands on her shoulders as he looked down at her. "You did good."

Unable to stop herself, Eve smirked up at him, the diva digging out the keys to her rental car even as she did so. "I think you did pretty darn good tonight, too. You walked out on AJ - which was hilarious - and then came back and cost Cena his match... It was beautiful."

"Wasn't it, though?" he said with a laugh, then shook his head. "Come on. I'll take you out for some authentic Chicago-style pizza. I'm told that it has no fat or calories for people that have just won big bucks for charity on a reality show."

"Well, I guess I'm in luck then," Eve replied, the woman smiling up at him... Her smile fading a bit when she saw the look in Punk's eyes, realized that his face seemed to be coming closer and closer to her... And then he was kissing her, his mouth on hers, not seeming to push her for anything more than a simple kiss, though it felt like there was nothing simple about it. She blinked in surprise as he pulled away, his eyes on hers, and then he stepped back, taking her things from her and heading for the trunk of the car. It wasn't until he actually popped the trunk that she realized that he'd managed to take the keys from her while he'd been kissing her, the woman putting her hands on her hips as she looked at him. "Did you seriously just kiss me just to take my keys?"

"No. I kissed you because I wanted to. And I still want to kiss you, so... Fair warning. But taking your keys was just a small side benefit of the kiss."

"It's my rental car, you know."

"I know. I also know that I grew up in Chicago and know my way around a lot better than you do. So come on. We'll grab some pizza, then maybe get some ice cream and head back to watch your amazing victory on my DVR."

"You don't have to-"

"But I want to," Punk told her, coming around to where she stood again, leaning down for another quick kiss, the man grinning at her. "I do have one request, though."

"And what's that?" she asked, trying not to look as suspicious as she suddenly felt, but the knowing look Punk gave her kind of made her think she wasn't all that successful.

"Nothing much. I watched the earlier episodes that I'd recorded, so I've seen how you can shoot."

"And?"

"And next time I play laser tag or paintball or anything like that? I'm so making you be my partner," he told her, and Eve couldn't help but smile.

"I think I can live with that."

The End