April 2nd, 2012 – Monday Night RAW
In the two months between Royal Rumble and WrestleMania a lot had happened on camera and behind the scenes. In amongst all of the drama, they had forgotten to celebrate Mary's birthday, but she shrugged it off. She knew they would get to it when things calmed down. The week after Mary had put herself into harm's way by getting in the face of Kane, John had a scripted kiss with Eve Torres. Mary knew it had been coming, but it had looked like one of the most real, passionate kisses she had seen in her life. After that they went from having an unspoken affair to just simply not speaking to one another. After Elimination Chamber, Mary and Cody received notice that their on-screen relationship would be ending soon. Which was just as well, with as long as they had been together, it was either break up or get married in the cycle of on-screen relationships in the WWE. They spent the next five weeks screaming at one another every time that they were on camera together, leading up to Mary taking Cody's championship belt from him after a match on SmackDown and "knocking him out" with it in the middle of the ring. After dropping the belt on his chest, she simply walked out of the ring, receiving a thunderous applause from the crowd on hand. That also served as the precursor to Cody losing the title to The Big Show at WrestleMania.
Unfortunately, Mary's wasn't the only on-screen relationship that had taken a turn for the worse. It was that night when Daniel Bryan was supposed to begin treating AJ poorly, accusing her of holding him back and blamed her for losing the World's Heavyweight Championship to Sheamus in merely eighteen seconds. However, no one knew where this was leading quite yet. All Mary knew was that she didn't like it. AJ was young and naïve when it came to relationships. If they were to have her go through something similar to what she just had, it was possible that it could be damaging to the young Diva's psyche.
The only good thing to come out of those two months was that Mary came out with her story to the world the day before WrestleMania in a press conference. She had been receiving a mixed reaction to her story, many wondering if it was just a storyline or gimmick, even after revealing Marcus to the world. It didn't matter, though. The truth was out, and Mary was prepared to face whatever was to come because of it. She was even prepared for whatever was to come from Daniel, who had just found out that he had a son along with the rest of the world, nearly fifteen years after the fact.
It was the night after the biggest wrestling event of the year and the entire show was basically dealing with the aftermath of everything that had occurred. During a promo where Daniel Bryan began ridiculing AJ, Mary watched on a monitor in back, cringing as CM Punk walked up beside her.
"Certain things are still rough, even when we know it's fake, huh?" the WWE Champion patted the Diva's shoulder.
She nodded with a sigh, "I hated doing what I did to Cody last week on SmackDown, but it was in the script, and he insisted I stick to it. And now there's this..." she motioned to the screen where Bryan was continuing to talk down to her friend.
"She needs a real man," the Chicago native mumbled.
Mary couldn't help but smirk, "maybe a white knight? You do know that I'm friends with Stephanie, right? I can make it happen. It would be a sure fire way for you to get to know her."
"That obvious, huh?" he chuckled softly.
The now thirty year-old Diva giggled, "trust me, I'm sure that I'm just as obvious about who I want to be with."
"You mean John boy?" He smirked, running his finger along his lip piercing.
"See?" she giggled. "How did you know, anyway?"
He took a deep breath, "I saw you after his little scene with Eve. You were crushed. We aren't exactly close, so it didn't feel right to comfort you. Plus, I think that 'The Million Dollar Brat' had swooped in, or something."
Mary rolled her eyes at his nickname for Ted. "It's almost scary how one of those three can be always be there whenever I need someone."
"You can't deny that it's good to have that stability, though," Phil nudged his new friend.
She nodded with a smile as her phone went off. She looked to see a notification for more hate mail, she rolled her eyes. "You'd think that a victim, like myself, would be getting a little more respect for coming forward with her story. I mean, why would I make something like this up? It's a horrible thing to happen to a young girl. Definitely not to be taken lightly."
"It'll die off," he assured her. "The good thing being is that now you don't have to worry about hiding it from anyone. It's just out there now. It's fact. They can either deal with it, or not. It's not really your problem if they don't believe you."
"I'm just still waiting to hear from family members, or you know... him," she still didn't like saying Daniel's name, but it was obvious whom she was referring to.
"Your family doesn't know?" he was genuinely shocked.
She shrugged, "I was an unwed, pregnant teenager. The circumstances didn't really matter after that fact. Some of my cousins already knew, but that's it."
"Can I ask you something that you probably don't want to think about?" he hesitated, but he had a feeling she hadn't thought about what he was about to ask her.
She took a deep breath, nodding. "Go ahead."
"You don't have to answer me, but... What if he wants to be in Marcus's life?"
Mary sighed, hanging her head. "A lot of things can change in fifteen years. I guess that I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it."
…
Later on in the show, Mary walked up to AJ with a grin. "He likes you."
The younger Diva blinked, not knowing what her friend was talking about. "Who does?"
"Punk, silly. He wants me to talk to Steph about putting you two in a storyline, so you can get to know each other," she licked her lips as she saw John walking down the hall in their direction. She smiled, taking a deep breath. She knew that he had finally talked to Liz about everything, despite the fact that John didn't have the time to go home in the past few months, but neither had filed for a divorce quite yet. Liz was attempting to desperately hold on for the money while John was just waiting for a chance to go home and do it.
"Well, I would definitely be into that. There's just... something about him." She turned to see John merely feet away from them and smiled. "That looked like it hurt," she pouted sympathetically, referring to the "F5" that he had recently received from the returning Brock Lesnar.
John nodded, stopping to talk to the Divas as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not sure I like where this line is going."
"Hey, you could bring out your old chain out," Mary batted her eyelashes with a hopeful smile.
"But Mare, if he went that route, it could lead to baby making in the ring. This is a PG show," the younger girl teased her friend.
John coughed as Mary's eyes went wide. "Mary... what is she talking about?"
Without answering John, Mary pointed in the opposite direction that she had intended going into. "Go," she told her friend sternly.
AJ pouted, "sorry. I just get so happy seeing you together. I got carried away."
"I know, sweetie. It's just not the best timing," she sighed, giving John a pleading look.
"My dressing room," he took her hand, leading her further down the hall in the direction he had just been heading into.
Mary nodded as AJ retreated in the other direction.
Once in their room, John locked the door and sighed heavily. "Mary, I still haven't filed for a divorce."
She swallowed hard, sitting down on the couch in the room. "So I guess we're finally talking about this?"
He knelt in front of her, taking her hands into his. "I heard what you said the night we had that confrontation with Kane in the ring."
She bit her lip, "John, I..."
He quickly shook his head, "no, you're right, Mare. I'm still legally married. You deserve so much more than just being the other woman. Not to mention, you mean a hell of a lot more to me than that."
She took a deep breath, "there's no hurry, John. I'm not going anywhere. You have my heart."
He nodded, biting his lip as he looked down for a moment. "Now... onto what AJ said..."
"Well..." she licked her lips with a chuckle, "I may as well not keep it from you. I'm a 'Chain Gang' girl," she shrugged. "As much as I respect the whole 'Cenation' thing, there was just something about your early days here."
He grinned, getting up and sitting next to her. "I've actually been working on a new character angle where I somewhat go back to that. Like not repeating it, but fans of it will definitely like it."
She nodded, "maybe someday we can be a heel power couple, or something."
He laughed, bringing an arm around around her shoulders. "Only if they'd allow that. I'm actually getting a little sick of my face being everywhere."
She nodded, "it really has gotten old. It's time for them to move on."
He smiled, leaning in a little, but hesitating, looking into her eyes.
"You can kiss me, John," she stated in a hushed tone. "Not much more, though. You know what the stipulation for more is," she wet her lips in anticipation.
He nodded, closing the gap between them. He pressed her lips to hers, just wanting to linger in the moment. It was simple, yet passionate. It was their first real kiss in years, and they both wanted to hold on as long as they could. Not wanting to pull away from her, he eventually pressed into it. They continued kissing, letting the moment get lost between them until there was a knock on the door. They broke away, frowning. "Yeah?" he called out, not even noticing that his hand had slid up her shirt in the process.
"John, it's Celeste," a voice from the other side of the door squeaked.
With a sigh, John got up, walking over to the door and unlocking it. He opened it to see the two-toned haired, "Hybrid Diva" on the other side. "Well hello there," he chuckled. He stepped aside, letting her in.
Celeste blushed slightly as she walked inside to see her friend on the couch, who looking slightly disheveled. "Did I um... interrupt something?"
Mary nodded, "you did, but it's probably for the best." She got up, walking across the room to slip her arm around John's waist.
"Right," the younger girl awkwardly gestured. "So um... I just ran into AJ..."
"Crap, that's right. I should probably go talk to her," Mary slapped her forehead.
Celeste quickly shook her head, "if you two want to continue, I can go tell her that everything is okay."
Mary shook her head, "he's still legally married. He doesn't get this yet."
John sighed, nodding. "Cold shower tonight."
Mary smirked, leaning in to kiss him once more with a longing passion. "You'll live, baby." She turned to take Celeste's hand, pulling the other girl out of the room.
…
April 3rd, 2012 – SmackDown Tapings.
When Mary arrived at the venue that night, she was handed her scripts. She read them over as she made her way to the Divas locker room, getting ready for the night. She was happy to see that her suggestion had been taken. A number of the mid-card level Superstars were in need of a good push, and she found a way to give that to some of them. After getting into her ring gear, she headed back out looking for her first victim. She barely made it five feet down the hall when she ran into just that man.
"Hey Broski," she smirked, stepping back a little.
Zack shook his head, licking his lips. "Are you serious, little Diva?"
She laughed, nodding. "It was my idea."
"So you're going to taunt me, and then your brother is going to come up and challenge me to a match?" He wanted to make sure he knew what exactly was going on with this new gimmick.
"Yup!" She grinned as Alex walked up. "Well, basically anyway. Speaking of, it's time you meet him," she nodded to the man behind her friend.
Zack turned to see the man who he had seen in the ring a bit, but he hadn't faced yet personally. "Ah yes, Billy Alexander."
"You can call me Alex," the other man chuckled, holding out his hand.
"Ah, right," Zack nodded, shaking his future competitor's hand. "I guess they didn't like the name Alex Williams."
"Yeah," Mary rolled her eyes. "I guess one Alex on the current roster is more than enough."
"Lord forbid we confuse the fans," Zack agreed. "Shall we get ready then?"
The siblings nodded and made their down the hall with Zack Ryder, getting ready for their backstage segment.
…
Randy shook his head as he watched Mary's exchange with Zack on a monitor with Cody and Ted. "I still say she's going to end up getting herself hurt."
"You know how much that would screw everything up in the storylines if she did?" Ted smirked.
The older man nodded, "yeah, if Mary found herself face to face with someone that didn't care that she's a woman, and she couldn't handle him, there would be so many of us on the scene without a second thought."
"Right now, I think that Alex is the only one that she has in storyline now," Cody sighed, hanging his head.
"Hey, did you want a kayfabe marriage? You know that was the only other option by that point," Randy shrugged. "They seem to think that the fans all have pea-sized attention spans."
"Well yeah, but it means less time with her," Cody pouted.
"We all have less time with her now because she's with John now," Ted shrugged, not noticing the look on his friend's face.
Randy looked over to Cody, blinking. "You've got to be fucking kidding me, Runnels. You do know that she was never really yours, right?"
The youngest member of what used to be known as The Legacy shrugged. "We spent a lot of time together off camera, too. We really bonded."
Ted shook his head, "and so did we. As I remember, we were supporting her in her quest to fix things with John."
Cody shrugged, "I can't help how I feel guys."
…
Feeling it wasn't best to start out Billy with a hot winning streak, due to him to being an average sized wrestler, the first match of the Williams sibling's new gimmick was a loss. Though, it was via disqualification. Mary had tried to step in and help her brother, but she was caught by the official, who ended the match after she gave Zack a hard forearm to the side of his face. If she wasn't considered a heel while she was dating Cody, she had definitely made that turn with that action. After the match, Mary met Zack backstage, who was rubbing his face where she had struck him, causing her to wince.
"No wonder the other Divas have been afraid of you lately," he laughed softly, shaking his head.
Mary pouted, "Sorry Zackster, sometimes I don't know my own strength."
Zack shrugged, "I get worse hits from the guys. I just didn't expect that kind of power from one of you Divas."
She smirked as she saw Randy and Ted walking up behind Zack. "You better not let Beth or Nattie hear you say that."
Zack thought for a moment and nodded, "I bet Kaitlyn could pack a punch, too. This almost makes me want to know what you're like in bed."
She laughed, "well, you can't ask John. He wouldn't know."
Zack shrugged, "I could always ask Randy."
"You could," Randy's deep voice loudly pierced Zack's ear, causing the smaller man to jump, "but I wouldn't give that sort of information about a girl I care about."
Mary laughed as Randy and Ted each walked over to either side of her. "I guess you'll never know, Zacky," she shrugged, then pointed to the locker room. "Go! You too, Alex."
Without questioning, her brother and friend both disappeared into the locker room.
Ted blinked, watching the whole thing in disbelief. "Damn, you're demanding."
She shrugged, smirking. "It comes with being a mother. Plus, I can tell by the looks on your faces that there is something you need to talk to me about."
Randy nodded, bringing an arm around his best female friend as he began walking down the hall with Ted close behind. "It's about Cody..."
Mary sighed as she nodded, looking down. "I think I know."
"So I guess it's time to fill us in then?" the older man sighed.
She nodded, "you remember the night when we were having fun in the dressing room after I was almost assaulted by Kane?"
Both of her friends nodded in acknowledgment, despite Ted not actually being present for the occasion, then Randy wiped his face. "Shit. That was the night I jokingly suggest that you two fuck for real and killed the mood."
Mary nodded, biting her lip. "After everyone else left he practically quoted Shakespeare when he told me why he couldn't go for something casual with me. But I'm not too worried."
"Are you sure, Mare? We all know how Cody can be," Randy rubbed her shoulder.
She took a deep breath, "I don't think he's actually falling for me. It's almost as if he only thinks that he is."
"If you say so," the older man sighed heavily.
As you can tell, I'm keeping major PPV stuff, title changes, and some existing storylines in tact. This is because I'm merely adding a couple of new people into the mix. There will be some significant changes a little down the road, though. Especially when it comes to some certain recent events. Thanks for reading! Please review!