THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK TO KEEPER OF OZ, KEPOUROS, TAMMY, HEERAH34, KANE09LISA, & BITWPUNKGIRL FOR YOUR AWESOME REVIEWERS! I'M SO GLAD YOU GIRLS(& GUYS) ARE LOVING THIS STORY!

Author's Note: I was thinking of starting a Facebook page for Wrestling fanfiction. Where we can talk about stories and get advice and such. Does that sound like a good idea? Would anyone be interested? Just wondering...

Chapter Ten
The Heat Is On & The Nail Polish Too

Monday Night Raw – July 15, 2013

Thirteen fucking staples to the head. That would be the result of last night's attack on me by Paul Heyman. I wanted answers so instead of being in Chicago and at the hospital with Ashley, I was here in Brooklyn, New York waiting for answers to so many questions that I couldn't think of them all. It didn't matter that Ashley wouldn't have a clue who was there by her side, I just wanted to be there. The feeling was completely foreign to me and I hated the change it brought in me. But once again, I focused my attention on my surroundings and the answers I wanted.

My surroundings were thousands of fans around a squared circle. The answers I wanted, only Paul Heyman knew. So I put the microphone to work and called him out.

"I know Paul Heyman is in the building. And I know Brock Lesnar is in the building. And I know I'm not waiting any more. So come out boys." I spoke calmly into the microphone, but I was feeling anything but calm.

I didn't have to wait long for Paul Heyman to show his ugly bull dog face. He came walking out like he hadn't a care in the world. What I wanted to do to that ugly face… too cruel and ugly to share.

"You know what I'm looking at right now…" He droned. "I'm looking at an empty ring because in my world, you don't exist."

I didn't speak. Not yet. There wasn't any reason to.

"Try this one on for size. Am I lying? In 2005, WWE had no vision for you. CM Punk was a figment of Paul Heyman's imagination. And what did I do? I took you in. I befriended you. I taught you. I trained you. I mardered my entire career for you. And then we reached the Holy Grail together. We were the raining defending WWE champion for four hundred and thirty-four days. We were the longest raining WWE champion of the past twenty-five years. We came within an inch of breaking the Undertaker's streak at Wrestlemania. We, CM Punk, we were the… best… in the world. And here's part of equalization that you seem to forget about, without me, there is no we. Without Paul Heyman, CM Punk, you're not the best in the world."

At that statement the audience booed.

"See you can boo that all you want. Because everyone has been stopping me asking me the same question. Paul Heyman, what happened here? Why, Paul Heyman, why did you betray CM Punk? Paul Heyman, you are a Judas. Here is the truth because I'll tell ya why I had such an aversion to the truth because the truth is a lot harder to pill to swallow, Mr. Straight Edge, then a spin on things."

Fuckin' A, he's fucking delusional.

"The truth is you failed us when you couldn't defeat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. And when you went home, you found yourself and CM Punk comes back to the WWE and you think you're better than me."

He laughed but he was right. I was damn better than him.

"CM Punk better than Paul Heyman." He was speaking the truth but he didn't believe it. "So I lied to you. I manipulated you. I played you because you can never claim that CM Punk dumped Paul Heyman. No, history is going to write that Paul Heyman dumped CM Punk."

Is that what this was about? How fucking childish is this adult?

"You didn't want a business relationship with me, you wanted to keep it personal. So I made it as personal as I could possibly make it. Oh come on, you know this to be true. Here's the truth… you have no family. You're estranged from your own mother and father. You have no wife. You have no children. All you have is them." He pointed out into the audience and of course the audience cheered.

"All you have in the WWE universe, all you have is their aberration, all you have is their respect, all you have is their aggravation. Listen to them."

And I did. But I still didn't say anything. I knew he wasn't finished. However I still thought he was delusional.

"All you crave, all you need in your life is the WWE championship. You took my best friend away from me and I took your chance at the WWE title away from you and each and every one of them."

All I craved? All I needed? Shows what he knew.

"You're gonna find out as bad as reputation as I have in business. I'm a whole lot worst personally."

Am I now? He's gonna find out what it's like to piss me off.

"Here's the kicker to it all. Best friend, brother, business son, man who wouldn't be my client, you made me swear on my children, but it was my children who made me see this so clear. Daddy, why doesn't Punk listen to you like Brock listens to you? Daddy, is Brock going to hurt Punk? Daddy, can Punk beat Brock Lesnar? And if you wanna know why I double crossed you, why I betrayed you, why I cost you your opportunity to cash in Money In the Bank and go for the WWE title is the harshest truth of them all. I betrayed you because CM Punk, you can't beat Brock Lesnar."

Are you fucking serious? That's the reason why he turned his back on me at Money In the Bank? Could it be that simple? He always wanted to be behind the winner, the champion. If he believed Lesnar could kick my ass in the squared circle then I might just actually believe his reason for betraying me. Then could it have been Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar behind the attack on Ashley? Or did she have another enemy no one was aware of?

Now that he had his say, it was time for mine.

"Are you done?" I asked and he gave me his crazy ass smile. "You want to talk about the truth. I saw firsthand last night that the truth does hurt. And maybe I should have seen it coming, but damn it Paul, I trusted you. And all I have to show for it now is these thirteen staples in my head. Another truth is that you know me better than anybody and you know when I'm lying and you know when I'm telling the truth. And you know when I want something bad enough I'm the most relentless man on the planet. And I will not stop until I get it."

I was getting heated. I could practically feel my blood boiling beneath the surface of my skin. I wasn't even able to talk myself in to calming down I was so pissed off. Something told me this man and his client had something to do with attack on Ashley and it was eating me alive. I couldn't bring it up on live television because according to the police, Brock had an alibi. And it wouldn't be fair to Ashley.

"The truth is, Paul… I'm gonna get you. This time I swear on your children that I am gonna to get you. And I will get everyone that conspired against me, every single one of your associates, everybody who profited from it, everybody who had knowledge of it, anybody who enjoyed it, your friends, your clients, your family. Anybody in between by the time I get my hands on you and now that steps in between you and I and opens their eyes at me, I will get my hands on and I will rip apart and I will hurt."

Hurt… like the hurt that they put Ashley in.

"The truth is you don't have a future. I'm gonna burn down everything around you until you're the last man standing. I'm gonna keep you alive just long enough to look you in the eye and hurt you worst of all. So tell me, you son of a bitch…"

The WWE fans went crazy so I waited until I made sure that Paul Heyman could me. I wanted to make sure he heard every word I said.

"Am I lying?" I asked.

I waited to see if he had anything more to say because I wanted to hear it. The crowd begins to chant my name and I couldn't help but feel a little pride in hearing my name over and over being echoed throughout the large arena.

"No." He finally decided to speak. "No, you're not lying."

Of course I wasn't lying.

"And since you wanna tip your hand and tell me I have a lack of a future, let me spell your immediate future out for you."

What the hell is talking about? He is fucking delusional.

When he dropped to his knees I wanted to roll my eyes. Does he not understand the seriousness of the situation? He then drew a large circle on the floor before touching a finger to his watch.

"It's clobbering time!" He screamed out. Then Brock Lesnar's music started to play. Oh good, it was fucking playtime. I wanted to play. I wanted to fight. And I was going to fight dirty because I wasn't in any mood for anything else.

I waited for Brock Lesnar to get into the ring. I was so damned focus on Brock that I completely missed Paul Heyman coming up behind me with a blind side. The fight was on.

Tuesday Morning July 16, 2013

"You gave as good as you got, Brooks." Terry stated as soon as I entered Ashley's ICU hospital room.

I nodded and shrugged. "He caught me aware." I replied as I placed the brown paper bag in my hand on the rolling table.

Terry nodded towards the bag. "What's in the bag?"

I sat down in the blue chair next to him. "Why don't you go home and take a nap…" I gave a slight sniff. "Or a shower even." I replied ignoring his question.

Terry laughed. "I do stink, I know, but I didn't want to leave her side."

"I'm here now."

Nothing else needed to be said. Terry got to his feet and gathered his duffel bag. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Take your time." I told him as he walked out the door.

I waited a few minutes –just to make sure he was really gone– before getting to my feet. I took two steps toward the brown paper bag I brought with me when Ashley's hospital room door opened and Nurse Hatchet Face stepped in.

"It's time for her bath and I'm afraid you need to leave." She ordered.

I nodded. "I'll be back." I told her before grabbing that brown paper bag and heading out the door. I made my way to the cafeteria. I ordered a salad with a bottle of water and sat down at the first deserted table. I ate in silence thinking of next week's Raw. Okay, my mind was actually on Paul Heyman and whether or not he could do or even order someone else to hurt Ashley as bad as her attacker did. I seriously didn't think so because Paul had kids and a wife and other family. Family that believed he was a good and kind man. A lot of people acted different while at work and Paul was just one of those men. Right? I just couldn't make up my mind.

I finished my salad and water and headed back to Ashley's room. The nurse was gone and Ashley looked like a sleeping porcelain doll. Her brown baby fine hair had been washed and then blow dried and framed her heart shaped face in soft curls. Her face was clean and of course, it was devoid of make-up. She had on a cotton candy pink nightgown with pale blue stripes. I was pretty sure it was a Victoria's Secret special. She had a lot of those in her closet. I was pretty sure Terry had went through her closet and brought a few of her pajamas to make her more comfortable. I didn't like the possessive feeling that came over me or the soft rage that sent my blood boiling at the thought of Terry pawing through her night things. It was a stupid feeling that I shook off.

I pulled one of the blue chairs up close to the bed so I was sitting at the foot of Ashley's bed. Luckily for me the bed was low and I was tall enough. I flipped back the ultra-white blanket just enough to reveal Ashley's small dainty feet. I pulled out the nail polish remover I had bought along with the bag of cotton balls and I set to removing the old nail polish from Ashley's little toes. It didn't long as her feet were pretty damn small. Since she was wearing a pink night shirt, I pulled out the hot pink polish from the brown bag and was just about to set to work when the hospital room door opened and in walked Terry. He cocked an eyebrow as he walked towards the empty chair.

"Pedicure, huh?" He questioned as he pulled out a crossword puzzle book.

I shrugged. "She would have wanted them to match."

He nodded in agreement. "Did she ever tell you the reason why she paints her toe nails religiously?" He asked casually, working his crossword puzzle.

I shook my head.

He chuckled. "I'm surprised she hasn't. She was pretty proud of that."

"Well, I'm listening." I told him as I continued to slowly paint Ashley's nails a hot pink. I really sucked at this shit.

"A few years ago, she was on a work and witness trip in Arkansas. She hated the way she looked. According to her, she had no body and she looked like a boy."

"I find that hard to believe." I interrupted.

"She's always been a little bit of thing, but she has never looked like a boy past seventeen. She kind of grew up about that time… but anyway. While working she always wore boots and hardhats and jeans. She kind of looked like a boy then, but when the guys started calling her kid, sport, and one older man called her a polite young man, it kind of made her mad. And to be honest, I think it hurt her feelings. So ridiculous as it sounds, she started painting her finger and toe nails."

"What kind of work was she doing?"

"Construction… mostly painting and holding large panels of sheet rock in place while someone else nailed it to the wall."

"Wasn't it kind of pointless to paint her nails?" I questioned.

Terry smiled. "I asked her the same question when she told me and her response was that what counted was that she knew her nails were painted and they made her feel feminine while working with a bunch of guys."

I stopped mid-swipe and glanced over at Terry. "Something tells me that isn't the end of the story." I commented before returning to my nail painting.

"It isn't… So a few days after she started painting her nails this guy named Lionel asked her out. She said he was an average size guy around five foot nine or so but he had a kind face she said. She said she felt a little uncomfortable around him and she hated it when he touched her, but she chalked it up to her past and went out with him anyway. They went out on two dates and everything went okay. She said he could tell that he made her uncomfortable and she was afraid it was pissing him off… my words not hers, but anyway.."

"Wait…" I interrupted again, stopping once more to glance over at Terry.

Terry stopped all his actions and looked over me. "What?"

"She felt uncomfortable with this douche even after two dates with him but she continued to go out with him?" I didn't understand her reasoning and I wanted to shake her.

Terry nodded and returned to his puzzle. "She blamed it on her past and she was certain she would eventually get over it."

"That's bizarre and crazy." I stated returning back to Ashley's petite nails.

Terry sighed. "Yea… But it was their third date that changed everything. Ashley decided to wear a pair of her favorite sandals which showed off her pretty painted toe nails. Ashley said they went out to dinner and then decided to go for a walk, getting ice cream on the way. They sat down at this bench and Ash said she didn't know what caught his eye, but his attention went to her red toe nails and he went ballistic. He told her his mother told him that only whores and sluts painted their toe nails. Fingernails were just fine, but not toe nails. He told her that he would no longer be 'seeing' her because she was a whore and he didn't do whores."

"What the fuck?" I muttered. "What an asshole."

Terry made a sound of agreement. "Ashley stood up, looked him straight in the eye, and called him a no account momma's boy and then dumped the ice cream on his head. Ashley said he called her another not so nice name so she punched him."

I almost dropped the nail brush. "She what?"

Terry laughed and nodded. "She told she couldn't believe she did it either, but before she knew it her fist was in his face and blood was everywhere."

I laughed and for the first time in days, I felt damn good. I felt almost content. I looked towards Ashley and sighed. It would be even better once Ashley woke up.

"She always keeps her toe nails painted now because it reminds her of that time when she was strong and stood up for herself. She said she never wants to forget that."

I grinned and went back to her toe nails which were just about finished. "And the matching?"

"I think she does that because she's a girl and she likes to match."

I chuckled softly. "How come she doesn't paint her nails too?"

"She said she could never get them the way she wanted them. That she would always mess them up so she gave up doing her fingernails and just stuck with her toenails."

I nodded in reply.

We sat in silence for a few moments as I finished Ashley's nails. When I finished I put the polish, the remover, and the cotton balls back in the brown bag and pulled my chair back next to Terry's. I almost returned the blanket to cover her feet but I wanted the polish to dry first so I sat down and let out a sigh.

"When I was sixteen, I asked out this girl." Terry spoke, his eyes on his puzzle, but I was pretty sure his mind was somewhere else and it wasn't on whatever he was going to tell me. "I was sixteen and Ashley wasn't quite yet thirteen, but she was full of that pre-teen spunk. Now this girl I had asked out was the most popular girl in my class and I told myself that I was in love with this girl."

I grinned. "Were you?"

He snorted. "Hell no. I was sure I was going to get laid and that's what I was in love with."

I gave a bark of laughter and shook my head.

"It was a Friday night and I had the house to myself. My parents were out doing what parents do on date night."

"You mean you didn't give a shit what they were doing that night." I stated.

Terry nodded. "Exactly. So this girl…Kimber was her name… and I were in my room getting hot and heavy. All of a sudden, Ashley jumps out of my closet and screams boo at the top of her lungs. It scared the holy shit out of me and I fell off Kimber and onto the floor, screaming like a girl."

I laughed.

"Kimber was screaming too, but when she realized it was just Ashley, she jumped up mad as hell, ranting and raving about little sisters and something about fucking jocks. I'm not sure really. I was too busy laughing my ass off."

"So you weren't mad at Ashley?" I asked still laughing.

Terry shook his head. "Oh no I wasn't mad. I wanted to be, but I brought it on myself. I'm all the time scaring the shit out of Ashley. One time I scared her so bad, she pissed her pants so she had every right to scare me just as badly as I did her. However after that I vowed to make her dating life a living hell."

"And did you?"

He nodded. "Oh I did. Sometimes I felt bad because she only had a few dates. She was afraid to get close to any guy. But I think me hanging around when the guy came to pick her up made him more scared to get to close to her. Which might be why she's just now coming out of her shell."

"She's not as fragile as you believe." I said slowly as if not to rock the boat. Although I wasn't sure why I cared.

"I think I'm coming to learn that. I still can't believe she picked a wrestler to have sex with."

"What's wrong with us?" I asked feeling offensive for more reasons than I cared to fathom.

Terry chuckled. "Nothing is wrong with y'all, I love wrestling, but little Ashley with a big bad scary wrestler. Just hard to picture."

"I painted her toe nails. How bad and scary can I be?"

"You make a valid point."

"Yea…" I agreed. "And if you tell anyone I was painting toe nails, I'll put you to sleep." I added without a second thought.

Terry laughed. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Just making sure."