A/N: So, I'm back! Sort of. I got the itch to write again and I really am trying to finish Friends with Benefits but I'm still having trouble. I haven't deleted the story because I really hope it comes back to me. While trying to find motivation by reading my previous stories I re-read Faith and remembered how much I loved it and promised I'd do a sequel so here it is! My life is a tad different so updates every single day aren't going to be possible but I'll do my best.
Disclaimer: The story is Rated M because, well duh.
Summary: Sequel to Faith. Punk is ready to keep his promise and retire and move on with his family but will he be pulled back into the fighting game? Does he even want to leave it?
Seven Years Later...
Seven years ago Punk's life had begun. Sure he was far older than that, but he didn't truly start living until he was signed by Paul Heyman and began fighting in the UFC. He also wasn't living before he approached the adorably geeky pet store clerk who worked next door to his gym. It had been six years since Punk and AJ Mendez said 'I do' in their home. It had been five years since they created a life together and had a daughter. That was the first time Punk felt unconditional love. Holding his daughter in his arms for the first time topped every moment in his life. He was truly a lucky guy. He had a perfect daughter, an amazingly beautiful wife and a career he was finally comfortable leaving behind.
Fighting wasn't going to be something he did for this long but he had taken time off after his rematch with Tommy then took a year and a half when his daughter, Lily, was born. Not only had he accomplished his goals and had a decent career which kept him and his family living very comfortably, he was getting older and his injuries were more than nagging at this point. AJ had been very supportive of his career but she was also getting concerned. She never out right asked him to retire but she had dropped hints and comments and he and his wife discussed it for a while and both agreed this was the right time. He was at peace with his career and he would still busy working at Dean's gym and helping Paul scope out new talent.
AJ's business was a success. Her pet palace did hit some bumps courtesy of her former boss Luis Cortes but she managed to overcome it. It was exactly what she dreamed of since she was a little girl and Punk loved watching her realizing her own dreams as well. It was fitting it was right across the street from the gym he still trained in from time to time.
"Why are you always the last one out?" a voice asked behind AJ as she locked up the doors at close to midnight. AJ's eyes lit up even though she was exhausted and smiled to herself as she continued to secure the door. "You'd think being the owner meant you wouldn't have to be here so late."
"Maybe I wanted to bump into you." AJ teased, turning to face her husband.
"I think there are easier ways." He said leaning down and kissing her head sweetly.
"Hi." She grinned looking up at him. The man still gave her butterflies, even after all of this time.
"Hi. Where is our daughter?" He asked teasingly.
"She's torturing Paul at home." AJ smirked as Punk took her hand into hers. "I had an emergency so Paul offered to watch her."
"An emergency at this time?" Punk asked curiously.
"A vendor tried pulling. Luis offered him more money to be exclusive to him." AJ informed him bitterly.
"All of these years later and he's still a pain in the ass." Punk scoffed. "Did you get your vendor to stay?"
"Of course I did." She scoffed smugly. "Nobody can out argue me."
"I know that for a fact." He agreed.
"Are you done at the gym?" She asked hopefully and he nodded.
"I just went in to talk to Dean and ended up helping out." He said quietly.
"Are you really ready to retire?" She asked him.
"I am." He assured her. "There's nothing left to accomplish there. I've done it all. I'll find something else to put my passion into."
"You can put it in me." She offered cutely and he arched a brow.
"Don't I put it in you every night?" he asked almost mockingly and her face lit up a bright red. "I meant work wise. I want to do more stuff with you, pick Lily up from school everyday, walk Larry-"
"We could get another dog." AJ suggested and he rolled his eyes. "There's a perfect one in the store right now Phil!" She insisted. "Nobody wants him and-"
"Please AJ, we're still trying to train Larry and he's eight." Punk scoffed.
"It would keep you busy." She pointed out.
"Larry, Lily and you will keep me busy." He said to her as they stopped at her car. "I'll see you at home." he said letting go of her hand and watched him walk around the corner to his car. Once she went to open her door she spotted a hooded male on the corner and when she caught his eye he pulled his hood down and stared her down a bit. She didn't recognize him in the slightest but she knew he was watching them, Punk in particular.
"Forgot how to drive?" Punk teased rolling down his window.
"That guy is from your gym?" AJ asked looking at him but pointing at the corner and Punk looked over.
"Who?" He asked squinting his eyes.
"There was a guy there." She said to him.
"There are a lot of strange guys wandering around this neighborhood at this time." He reminded her. "So get in the car and come home." He said nodding for her to get in the car and clearly wouldn't drive off until she did.
When Punk and AJ walked in the house the lights were all on and Paul and Lily were both sitting on the couch watching TV.
"Paul it's after midnight." Punk scolded immediately.
"She wouldn't go to sleep." Paul defended as Lily's eyes lit up upon seeing her parents.
"Hi!" Lily greeted with a yawn.
"She wanted to wait up for you both." Paul shrugged and Punk glared at him as he picked up his five year old daughter.
"You're smelly daddy." Lily frowned scrunching up her nose.
"I just came from the gym." He said to her. "Had you been bed , oh I don't know, four hours ago like you were supposed to be then you wouldn't have had to smell me."
"It can't be that late." Paul scoffed and looked at the time and his eyes widened.
"Thank you for watching her." AJ smiled giving Paul a kiss on the cheek.
"Me too mommy!" Lily smiled and pointed to her cheek and AJ kissed it. "Not you, you smell." She told Punk who ignored her and gave her a big kiss on her cheek. "Ew!" Lily giggled.
"Come on." AJ said holding her arms out and Punk passed her to AJ. "Time for bed."
"Good night Uncle Paul!" Lily waved and blew him a kiss he pretended to catch and place on his cheek.
"I'll be up in a minute to say goodnight." He said to Lily.
"And read me a story?" She asked hopefully.
"I thought I smelled." He frowned teasingly.
"I'll hold my nose." Lily responded honestly as AJ carried her up the stairs and laughed.
"She really makes me laugh." Paul chuckled putting on his jacket. "Did you give Dean the heads up?"
"Yea." Punk told him. "He's surprised I hung in as long as I did."
"You sound regretful." Paul remarked judgmentally.
"I thought you'd want me to keep fighting." Punk said to him.
"You have nothing left to prove to anybody." Paul told him. "You've done your time. You've one the belt, you've had classic fights, you're a household name! You're in commercials and on the cover of cereal boxes- what else do you need to prove in the cage?" he asked him seriously.
"Nothing." Punk admitted.
"You have a wife and a kid who would like you to be around for a long time." Paul pointed out. "You've made enough money to never have to work a day in your life. You can kick your feet up and relax finally." Paul told him and Punk nodded. "Why are you hesitant? This was your idea."
"I know." Punk said to him. "This is what I want to do but maybe just one more fight-"
"Don't do that." Paul said shaking his head. "Don't go out like that. Go out on top. If you have one more fight it will be one more fight after and that. Do you remember how much your daughter cried when she saw you face after your last fight?"
"Hours." Punk cringed at the memory.
"Don't give her a reason to cry." Paul said to him and Punk nodded. "Your wife has been patient as well."
"She has." Punk agreed.
"Good." Paul said patting him on his shoulder. "I'll see you in a few days."
"If this isn't what you want to do I don't want you to feel pressured." AJ announced from the top of the stairs as Punk locked the door and turned to look up at her.
"I don't." He said to her. "It's the right thing to do."
"But is it what you want to do?" she questioned. "You want one last fight?"
"I wouldn't even know who to fight." Punk admitted slowly climbing the stairs. "It's just my last fight-"
"Was very close." AJ reminded him as he came face to face with her. "And I'm not talking about winning I'm talking about the amount of damage you took in."
"Lily wouldn't even look at me." Punk sighed remembering.
"She was scared for you." She told him.
"She was scared of me." He corrected and AJ shook her head.
"No, she could never be scared of you." AJ told him. "She thought you were hurt and you were. She doesn't understand what you do she's still too young."
"What I did." he corrected.
"I have to go into work tomorrow and I was going to bring Lily, why don't you bring her to the gym with you?" AJ suggested.
"I don't know about that." He said shaking his head.
"You're not training, you're not going to get hurt." AJ insisted.
"I don't want her to see that kind of violence." He said to her. "We agreed."
"I still agree but there's just rolling that goes on there and stuff. Maybe if she had a better understanding of what you did-" AJ began.
"I don't want to fight again." Punk said abruptly. "Why aren't you as excited about this as Paul is?"
"Believe me I'd love for you to never fight again. I hate watching you getting hit or get violent like that. But more than what I want, I want you to be happy and at peace." She told him. "And I think the only reason you don't want to fight again is because of Lily. We're not even giving her a chance to try to understand what it is you do."
"I don't know-" He started.
"Daddy I've been waiting!" Lily scolded sticking her head out of her bedroom door holding a book in her hand and he smiled.
"Lil, how would you feel about going to your daddy's work tomorrow?" AJ asked as Punk glared at her.
"AJ-" Punk started.
"Really?" Lily asked anxiously jumping up and down.
"Yup." AJ smiled turning to face her. "Just remember to listen your dad and follow the rules."
"I promise daddy." Lily assured her father with an excited face.
"Or you can go to work with your mom." Punk offered nervously. "You love the pets there."
"You don't want me with you, daddy?" Lily asked with the saddest face he had ever seen.
"No of course I do." He said kneeling in front of her. "I just don't want you to be bored."
"I won't be I promise." Lily assured him.
"Ok." Punk said putting on a smile.
"Read to me?" She asked hopefully passing him her book.
"Of course." he said standing up with the book.
"It will be good for her." AJ told him. "Just don't let her see any practice fights or whatever is you call them." she gave Punk a kiss then walking across the hall into their bedroom.
The next day Punk walked into the gym in a way he never thought he would, hand in hand with his daughter. This was where he started out and he thought he would just grow old in this gym, alone.
"Woah." Dean remarked seeing them walk through the front door. "I don't think you meet my age requirement." he said kneeling down in front of Lily.
"Are you going to kick me out, Uncle Dean?" Lily asked sadly.
"Give me one good reason not to." Dean teased and she gave him a hug. "Good enough reason." He laughed.
"AJ thinks it would be a good idea if Lily could get an idea of what I do." Punk said to Dean who stood up.
"I agree." Dean said to him and Punk rolled his eyes. "What is your problem?" He asked Punk. "Hey, Lils- there's some cookies in my office." he said pointing and she already ran straight towards it.
"I don't want her to see people fighting." Punk said to Dean.
"No you just don't want her to see you lose." Dean laughed and Punk looked away. "I know you, man!" he laughed. "You should have bought Lily here ages ago. You also have to teach her losing is part of life."
"I don't want her to see me hurt again. Last time she wouldn't talk or look at me." Punk said to him.
"Well its a good thing you're about to retire." Dean noted.
"Why is everyone so anxious for me to retire?" Punk snapped.
"Because it's time." Dean said bluntly. "Your body can't take those kind of hits anymore and you know it. You want to live long enough to scare away her first boyfriend?"
"Of course." Punk said looking down towards the open office where Lily was sitting in Dean's chair munching on cookies.
"You want to live long enough to have more kids?" Dean asked. "Or long enough to enjoy AJ?"
"Why does everyone think if I have one more fight I'll die?" Punk asked. "Everyone but AJ believes that."
"What do you believe?" Dean asked.
"I-" Punk stopped when he saw Lily was now talking to someone he couldn't see in the office and she was laughing. He practically raced into the office and was annoyed by the person he saw.
"Cookie, daddy?" Lily offered.
"No. And didn't we talk about not talking to strangers?" He asked lifting Lily up in his arms.
"It's Uncle Tommy." Lily giggled thinking her dad was teasing her.
"Yea, Punk." Tommy grinned.
"He's not your uncle." Punk whispered annoyed to Lily.
"Are the rumors true?" Tommy asked following them out of the office.
"Rumors are always true." Punk remarked sarcastically.
"Are you really retiring?" Tommy questioned.
"What does that mean?" Lily asked Punk.
"Can you not?" Punk asked Tommy annoyed.
"Relax." Tommy laughed.
"Alright boys." Dean announced walking over to them.
"What do we do first dad?" Lily asked her father.
"I have to get changed." Punk said then realized Lily couldn't go into the boys locker room.
"I'll watch her." Tommy offered.
"I'll watch her." Dean said taking Lily. "I'll show her the workout room." He said to Punk.
"She's a little young to be here, no?" Tommy asked Punk.
"My wife thinks it's a good idea." Punk remarked emphasizing on the word wife smugly.
"If you're worried about her watching you fight and getting your ass kicked, you can just let her watch me fight." Tommy grinned.
"How about I let her watch me kick the shit out of her Uncle Tommy?" Punk suggested.
"I'd love to have a third fight." Tommy grinned. "We each have one win against each other." he reminded him. "I think if you're anything like me you'd be itching for a last fight."
"Been there with you already." Punk remarked. "Doesn't matter even if I wanted one more, it's over. I'm not going to put my family through another fight."
"Honorable." Tommy nodded. "But not exactly what you want. It's what Paul wants and even Dean because they think you've gotten too old. Too fragile for another fight."
"Fuck off." Punk snapped walking into the locker room but Tommy followed.
"Why do you think Paul is so anxious for you to announce this?" Tommy asked. "You won your last fight but it was barely and everyone knows you can't go toe to toe with young blood anymore. They don't believe in you anymore."
"Get the fuck out of here." Punk warned him turning around to go nose to nose with him.
"You know it too." Tommy said finally then turned around and left.
Later in the day AJ skipped out of work and decided to check in on Punk and Lily. She crossed the street and saw the same man she had seen the night before peering in the gyms window. The area had a high amount of homeless but this man did not appear to be homeless. He was always clean shaven, in different clean clothing and seemed built and well fed.
"Hello." AJ greeted fearlessly. The man turned around to look at her and gave her a smirk. "I've seen you around here-"
"Mrs. Brooks." Another voice greeted stepping out of a car. AJ didn't recognize the older gray haired man. "Wait in the car." The older man said to the snooper. The younger man nodded and got into the backseat of a dark car. "It's a pleasure to meet you." he said sticking his hand out to AJ.
"And you are?" AJ asked skeptically shaking his hand.
"Eric Bischoff." He said to her with a cheesy smile. "I am an agent."
"What kind of agent?" AJ asked curiously.
"We're outside a fighting gym, what do you think?" Eric teased. "I've tried to get in touch with your business partner Mr. Heyman for some time now and he's been avoiding my calls."
"He must have a good reason as to why." AJ noted. "Is there something I can do for you or are you going to continue following my family around?"
"Not your family." Eric told her with a nervous laugh. "Just your husband."
"He is my family. And he's inside with our daughter at the moment, they're a package deal." AJ siad to him.
"The rumors of your husband getting ready to announce his retirement are everywhere. We just want a fight." Eric shrugged. "My client really, really wants this fight actually."
"I don't get involved with my husbands career. I suggest you try a little harder to contact Paul." AJ told him.
"You know, when most guys choose to retire it's the wife." Eric laughed as AJ narrowed her eyes. "They are sick and tired of seeing their husbands or significant others get into a cage and fight."
"My husband makes his own decisions." AJ said with a simple shrug.
"If that's the case than your husband is a chicken." Eric stated boldly.
"My husband is a lot of things, chicken isn't one." AJ informed him coldly. "And this isn't how you go about getting him a fight. This would piss him off actually."
"Isn't that how all great fights are started?" Eric asked innocently. "Fighting is great but it's even better with a story. My fighter is a young and hungry up and comer. I would have thought Punk of all people would respect that."
"I'm sure my husband has no idea who you or your fighter are." AJ said to him.
"Then he hasn't been paying close enough attention." Eric said to her then shook her hand again. "It was wonderful to meet you Mrs. Brooks, I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other again real soon."
"Everything ok?" Dean asked stepping outside as the car pulled away.
"Yea." AJ said brushing it off. "How's my baby?"
"I'm alright, a little tired to be honest." Dean teased and AJ laughed and slapped his arm. "Seriously, Lily is having a blast. She's beating everyone up."
"That's something a mother always wants to hear." AJ remarked as Dean followed her inside.
AJ watched from the door as Lily ran around the gym chasing Punk. She had on a little ninja like outfit. She was giggling and laughing and having a great time.
"Go get mommy." Punk said out of breath to Lily who turned to see her mother and raced towards her but AJ scooped her up in her arms.
"Having fun?" AJ asked her happy daughter.
"Yes!" She cheered. "I want to come back everyday!"
"What about the pet store?" AJ asked her.
"I like that too!" She shouted confused.
"You can take turns." Punk smirked as AJ put her down and she ran off to Dean.
"I met a guy outside." AJ told him and he laughed.
"That's my favorite way to start a conversation with my wife." Punk teased.
"Not like that." She laughed. "His name was Eric Bischoff." She told him and Punk gave her a blank look. "I think he's an agent and wants his fighter to fight to you."
"Never heard of him." Punk shrugged.
"No interest?" She asked.
"Nah." He said keeping his eyes on Lily. "I think a part of me will always have that itch though but this is my job now. Being a good father and husband."
"You already are." AJ reminded him.
"Why is it that you're the only one who believes me?" He asked her and she frowned.
"That's not true. Everyone believes in you." She said to him.
"I feel like Paul and Dean think I can't hack it anymore and I think that's the only reason I've been hesitant to officially retire." He admitted.
"They're worried about you." AJ said to him. "I worry too. But I think they think it's what me and Lily want and all we want is for you to be happy."
"I am happy." He said to her. "There are a lot of things I can do now."
"Such as?" She asked.
"I can help train some of the younger guys, we can take some of those trips we've discussed." He said to her. "Only a few weeks left in the summer and I want to travel like we always planned. We can't exactly travel the entire world in these few weeks but we can do something."
"We have Vegas in a few days." She reminded him.
"Yea." He said to her. "But let's go somewhere right after that. We can go anywhere."
"Disney." She grinned and he laughed. "Lily wants to go."
"Lily or you?" He laughed.
"Both of us. Both of your girls want to go." She said grabbing his hands and leaning into him. "Please?"
"Ok." He said kissing the top of her head.
"You can pick the next place." She said to him.
"Yea? You're ok with this?" He asked.
"Sure. I don't have to be in work I can do everything over the phone and I do want to spend quality time before Lily starts back at school." She told him.
"I want some quality time with you as well." he said kissing her lips.
"I think that can be arranged." She said to him blushing as he went to kiss her again.
"Ew gross!" Lily yelled.
"Gross is right." Punk agreed. "Yucky cooties." he said teasingly pushing AJ away who let out a snorted laugh.