Getting Back Up

A few days into training and AJ hadn't slowed down one bit. She was still outshining the men in her group who were slowly starting to hate her more and more each day. Jim wasn't a fan of AJ and she didn't really let it bother her since she didn't need him to like her she just needed to learn from him. Jim was mostly running her training classes and Punk would show up once a day for an hour to show them a few different techniques.

AJ walked into her locker room where only two other girls used since most had dropped out. The girls training there were built like monsters and didn't really reach out or try to talk to AJ much except for an occasional head nod or smile. She noticed the lock on her locker had been broken and she pulled out her bag and nearly screamed when she saw shit- literally shit- inside of her bag.

"Ugh." She groaned quickly closing the bag.

"The boys here are immature." The wrestling in training Meredith informed her. "At least they left your clothes in the bag."

"Doesn't matter it's not like I'll ever wear this stuff again." AJ said with a sigh. It annoyed her but she wouldn't let it damped her mood. "They're just threatened by you."

"I don't know why. Jim hates me." AJ noted zipping the bag up.

"He hates all women." Meredith laughed. "I came in with an all girl group and I was the only survivor. Colt's the softy."

"It's fine I can handle it." AJ said simply.

"I hope so." Meredith said eyeing her. "Don't let juvenile pranks cost you this awesome opportunity because it's only going to get worse. The guys coming in here feel that wrestling is a man's world."

"Well they're in a for a rude awakening." AJ said smugly.

AJ stepped out of the locker room with her gym bag and stuffed the entire thing into the garbage.

"What a waste." Brandon noted walking over to her.

"I needed a new bag anyway." AJ shrugged.

"You could have just had it cleaned you know." Brandon laughed.

"Like I said I needed a new one." She said turning to face him. "Is that the best you've got?"

"What makes you think that was me?" Brandon asked amused.

"Just an assumption." AJ shrugged innocently.

"They don't like you here." Brandon told her bluntly. "Not one guy here wants you here. It could have been one of the fifty others here."

"I'm not here for friends." AJ replied. "I'm here to train with the best and become the best."

"It could be lonely without someone to talk to and judging by your accent you're not from Chicago are you? New Jersey I'd guess?" He asked.

"Maybe." She said to him and he grinned.

"You're out of your element here." Brandon told her.

"You've been here as long as I have been." AJ reminded him. "I don't think you have the right to speak for every single person in this school."

"I make friends quick and friends talk." Brandon said simply. "And let's be real you're what 25? Who's going to sign you in a few years when you're 30?"

"I'll be signed somewhere long before that and way before you." She shot at him casually.

"You really think you'll be a Diva?" Brandon asked her amused.

"No. I'm going to be a pro-wrestler." She said confidently. "I have no interest in the hair, makeup or clothes I want to be in the ring."

"Well the attention in your physical appearance is obvious and again I hate to break it to you but you won't get signed looking the way you do." Brandon chuckled. "You have the body of a 13 year old boy. You should have taken all of the money you put into this school and put it towards implants."

"I don't need to change my body to get noticed I just have to work hard." She said to him. "And what makes you the authority on wrestling and what promotions are looking for?"

"I just know." Brandon said to her. "I'm a fan and I see the girls on TV every week and you are not like them."

"That's exactly what I was going for actually." AJ grinned smugly. "You'll be the same cardboard cut out beefed up wrestler and people won't be able to tell you apart from John Doe but I will be different, I will stand out and that's what's going to make me successful."

"Go fuck yourself." Brandon muttered then walked past her. Clearly she had beaten him at his own game and that perked her up.

AJ grabbed her jacket which she was thankfully they didn't ruin since it was snowing outside and zipped it up. As she walked to the door she passed Punk who had a grin on his face and held his fist out for her to pound as she passed by. He clearly overheard the conversation and was proud of the way she handled herself.

AJ had rented out the motel for another week mostly because it wasn't too far from the gym and she was growing kind of fond of it. Of course the loud noise outside late at night from rowdy people were annoying but she would just put her headphones in and drift off to sleep. The only thing bringing her down was the fact that she missed her parents. She did talk to them everyday. They were truly the best parents who supported this crazy move for her. Her parents weren't loaded with money, which is why it took so long to save up for the classes. She didn't want to take a penny from them even though they offered to help.

A few days later at training AJ was again having a great day. She even finally got into a ring and practiced drills. Taking bumps didn't come as natural to her as the fitness aspect had come to her and the boys loved it. The great AJ had a weak spot. It really pained her because taking bumps and running the rumps were the most important parts of wrestling.

"It's 5 so you all are done enjoy your weekend boys." Jim said to the small group. "Mendez you were the weakest link today so you know what that means right?"

"Yea I'm on towel duty." She sighed accepting the fair punishment. The weakest group member in the 'freshmen' class was in charge of washing towels for the entire gym. That would take hours but it was only fair.

"Make sure you dry them too. Don't just leave them in the washer." Jim warned her and she nodded.

"I'm sure she's used to washing things." Brandon laughed as he walked towards AJ. He grabbed the towel around his neck and whipped it into her ass causing her to jerk forward and grab her butt.

She wanted nothing more than to run up to him and beat him senseless for his sexist comments and rude behavior but she bit her tongue because she was feeling low enough as it was.

"Here you go Mendez." Chet laughed tossing his disgusting sweaty towel over her face and soon enough everyone else followed in his steps and it only stopped when she was completely covered.

Punk watched as he spotted someone on the weight bench and glared towards the sexist team. It wasn't Punk's place to jump and defend the girl because she did have to learn how to handle herself but he hated small minded guys like this and he couldn't wait to rat on them to Colt. Also it wasn't his gym so he didn't have much say in the behavior of the gym. He looked towards AJ who seemed so defeated as she collected the rest of the towels then saw something surprising. AJ glanced towards the ring and got a gleam in her eye. He knew what she was up to….

The gym was cleared out as AJ shoved all of the towels into the washer and instead of showering or getting ready to leave AJ slipped into the ring and began to run the ropes.

"You're a determined little thing I'll give you that." Punk smirked stepping out of Colt's office where he was hiding out.

"I'm sorry I know I'm not supposed to be in the ring without a coach or use anything without permission-" she started nervously.

"Consider permission granted." Punk said walking towards the ring. "I would be doing the same thing you're doing right now."

"I fucked up today." She said to him and he was surprised by her use of a curse.

"We all fuck up." Punk shrugged. "It's getting back up and working your ass off that counts."

"I'm trying." She said slightly out of breath.

"I can tell. You really want this and it shows. That's why everyone gives you such a hard time." Punk said to her. "It's not that they don't think you can't make it it's that they know you will."

"You really think so?" she asked him.

"I don't think you need validating or an ego boost because you know you're good." Punk teased. "But yea I have no doubt in my mind." She smiled at the comment because coming from such a huge star and one of her personal heroes it was the best thing she's ever heard. "So are you going to run ropes all night or are you going to work on those bumps?" he asked her.

"I need a partner for bumps." She said to him.

"Or just a coach." He shrugged stepping in-between the ropes.

"Really? You'll help me?" she asked him.

"Yea why not?" Punk shrugged. "Jimmy boy is too busy pointing out what everyone is doing wrong and not correcting it. You deserve a fair chance. Just don't mention it to him or he'll try to sucker you into paying him more money."

"I won't say a word." She said trying to contain her excitement.

Punk and AJ trained for almost four hours straight and then he helped her finish up the towels so she wouldn't be stuck there all night.

"Thanks again for everything." She said to him.

"No sweat." He said with ease. "It kept me busy. So where's your car?" he asked her.

"I walk here. I'm like ten minutes away." Which wasn't the truth but she didn't want him to walk her home.

"You want me to walk you home?" he offered because he was at heart pure gentleman.

"Nope I'm good." She assured him.

"Alright I'll see you tomorrow." Punk said to her with a tight smile.

AJ waved then walked off in the opposite direction and he frowned because she was heading towards the worse part of town. Punk just shook his head and walked towards the train station because the last thing he needed was to get too invested in a woman.

The next day they started with the running of the ropes and AJ had improved greatly. Even Jim was forced to compliment her. The boys in her group were less than thrilled to see AJ already pass over them in this department.

"Hey assholes I'm back!" Colt Cabana greeted walking through the doors.

AJ looked over as Jim grinned and jogged towards his friend. She was so excited to work with Colt finally and the less Jim the better as far as she was concerned. She had assumed Colt was more like Punk and took the time out to explain things rather than scold and move on.

Inside his office Punk joined Colt so they could talk about his short tour and the new recruits to the gym.

"So how are they?" Colt asked.

"Jim doesn't really need my help." Punk smirked. "But I've kept an eye on them. They're not bad."

"That's it? That's all you've got for me?" Colt laughed.

"Well the girl is the best one." Punk said to him and Colt nodded. "She's got the most passion and drive. She's also the most physical fit."

"Do you know this personally?" Colt asked nervously.

"I haven't touched her." Punk defended. "Anyway the guys could use an attitude adjustment."

"Literally or the Cena finisher?" Colt asked seriously and Punk rolled his eyes.

"Brandon is a prick." He said pointing through the window. "Arrogant, sexist and just down right annoying. He has nothing to brag about to come across so cocky."

"And I'm sure Jim will tell me he's the best we've got." Colt laughed.

"He loves him I don't get it." Punk said to him annoyed.

"So the girl is the best one and Brandon is the worst?" Colt asked.

"He's not the worst he's second best. His attitude is the worst." Punk corrected.

"You need attitude in this business." Colt reminded him.

"Not like that you fucking don't." Punk scoffed. "I will bet you $200 that he'll piss you off so bad you'll throw him out of the gym before the month is up."

"That's three weeks." Colt pointed out.

"I'm that confidant." Punk said smugly.

"You're on." Colt said shaking his hand.

Friday night rolled around and Punk was halfway to the train station when he realized he left his phone back at the gym. He was so pissed off as he stomped all of the way back to the gym battling the bitter cold. When he came inside he heard someone in the gym and peeked in to see AJ. He had to laugh to himself because clearly this girl didn't have a turn-off switch. Tonight she was working weights and building muscle.

"Do you go home ever?" Punk asked causing her to jerk her head behind and see him standing there.

"I could ask you the same thing." She smirked. "I got towel duty again today." She shrugged.

"Really?" he asked surprised. "You weren't slacking today though."

"No and Colt gave it to Chet who challenged me to a race and I lost." She said annoyed. "He so cheated."

"I'm sure he did." Punk said stepping further inside. "Working on weights?"

"Jim says I need to work on my strength because I am physically the weakest on the team." AJ said to him and Punk rolled his eyes.

"Do you even know how to use the weights?" Punk asked her.

"Duh." She laughed using a five-pound weight to curl her elbow. Her posture was terrible and the weight wasn't even enough.

"I'd say you're going to hurt yourself with the way you're standing but it's only five-pounds." He teased. "Mind if I show you?"

"Not at all coach." She said to him and he just let out a small chuckle and removed his jacket then walked over to her.

"First of all something heavier." He said reaching for a ten-pound weight. "You're not that weak."

"Ok." She said taking it in her hand.

"Next is posture." He said coming behind her and pressing his arm against hers then wrapped his fingers around hers holding the weight. "Stand like this then curl only so far. Take your time it's not race either." He mimicked the maneuver for her and then let go once she caught on. "Can you feel it?"

"Yes." She said concentrating on doing everything he said exactly.

"You really have to be careful with weights because it's so easy to pull something and you won't even feel it right away." He warned her and she nodded.

"Thanks a lot Punk." She said happily.

"Do you know how to use any of the machines? The leg press? Anything?" he questioned and she shook her head no. "I'll show you." He offered.

"I don't want to keep you from your life." AJ said to him.

"You're not." Punk assured her. As a matter of fact the time he spent at the gym was proving to be the distraction he needed.