11

Monday Night Raw

The Diva's locker room was always abuzz with frenetic activity before a show and the Monday after Money in the Bank was no exception. From outside A.J. could hear the women laughing and chattering to each other, but as soon as she walked in the talking stopped, dissolving into an awkward silence.

The other girls stared at her in surprise and shot surreptitious glances at each other. She heard under the breath mutterings and was positive she even heard someone hiss the word slut.

A.J. ignored them. She didn't care much for her fellow WWE Divas anyway. There was a particular clique, one she liked to think of as 'the mean girls', who resented her sudden rise in popularity without paying her perceived 'dues' and did everything they could to make her life difficult. She could give a rat's ass. She didn't owe her success to caring what they thought of her and most of them were just jealous bitches that would never rise above being gratuitous T & A anyway.

She opened her locker and pulled out her boots.

Finally, Kelly Kelly, broke the stony silence.

Hi, A.J.!" she said trying to sound cheerful, "We weren't sure we'd see you today."

A.J. started to calmly lace up her boots. Kelly Kelly was a bubble headed blond who completely lived up to the stereotype. She never seemed to have an original thought and was always eager to just go along with the popular consensus, but she lacked any real malice was also one of the few women in the WWE who had been genuinely nice to her.

"And why wouldn't I be here today?" she asked mildly, as if nothing unusual had happened last night.

"Well," Kelly Kelly, hesitated, "Last night, you know…Kane, grrrr?"she made a mock scowly face and formed a claw out of her right hand.

A.J. paused and fixed Kelly Kelly with a direct stare, "What about Kane?" she asked patiently, refusing to rise to the bait.

"Uhm, well, you know…he's…he's Kane.." Kelly Kelly laughed nervously. "And after you…uh…kissed him and he carried you out of the arena last night, we weren't sure you'd be…" Kelly Kelly broke off and bit her lip.

A.J. sighed, "Stop beating around the bush, Kelly," she said irritably. "If there's something you want to ask me, why don't you just come out ask me?"

Kelly Kelly glanced uneasily at the other women who were avidly listening. "A.J., I guess I just don't understand why you did what you did to C.M. Punk. You made him lose the WWE title match to Daniel Bryan and then you…you went off with Kane. I mean, no offense but, he's like, a monster."

A.J. felt a hot ball of anger kindle behind her eyeballs at that word. It was becoming as offensive to her when applied to Kane as any other cruel slur she had ever heard of.

"Not that it's any of your business," she said, trying to control her temper. She knew Kelly Kelly was just a parrot, repeating what she'd heard others say. "But he is not a monster. You guys treat him like he's inhuman and you don't even know him. I love him and he loves me."

"Is that what you tell yourself?" A voice said sarcastically from behind her. She turned to face the speaker. It was Beth Phoenix, the virtual leader of the 'mean girls'. She was a statuesque blond who looked and wrestled like an Amazon.

"Really, A.J.," she continued, not bothering to disguise the contempt in her voice," I didn't think even you would stoop this low."

A.J. narrowed her eyes, "And just exactly how low am I stooping, Beth?" she asked quietly.

Beth smirked, "Well, first Daniel Bryan, then C.M. Punk and now…Kane? Really? "

A.J. got to her feet. She didn't care if Beth was almost twice her size. She'd already learned that in the WWE, backing down, even once, meant you'd be backpedaling for the rest of your career.

"Just exactly what are you implying, Beth?" She said evenly.

Beth Phoenix put her hands on her hips thrust her face right into A.J's. "Oh honey, I'm not implying anything. I'm saying it right to your face. You are a disgrace to the Diva's division. You know how hard it is to actually get respect as a woman around here? Some of us actually work hard in the ring to get to where we're at, but you, "

She looked A.J. pointedly up and down. "You just seem to do all your work on your back."

A.J. jumped at her and managed to get one good punch in before the other divas jumped in and pulled them apart.

"Admit it A.J!" Beth shouted furiously, struggling as Layla and Kelly Kelly grabbed her arms. Her face was already bruising where A.J. had hit her.

"You're a whore! You whore yourself out to whoever has a title belt! We do know Kane. He put John Cena in coma last night! Chris Jericho may never walk again and you want us to believe he's some poor, misunderstood bastard who just needs a good woman to settle him down? You may have Kane fooled, but we're not stupid. As soon as he loses that title, you're gonna move on to the next notch on your bed post! Who's it gonna be? Sheamus? Orton? Cena?"

"You bitch!" A.J. screamed lunging at her again. The women holding her back pushed her to the floor, she felt boots thud into her ribs as someone kicked her, felt her hair being pulled and her top ripped. They dragged her kicking and screaming across the floor and shoved her out the door.

She rolled to her feet and kicked the locker room door as hard as she could. Unfortunately, she forgot she only had one boot on and kicked it with her bare foot and spent the next 30 seconds hopping around and yelling curses that would make any sailor proud.

Santino happened to be walking by and stopped to stare at her, shocked at the language pouring from her mouth.

"What are you looking at?" she demanded rudely and started to stomp away.

"A.J., please wait!" Someone called.

A.J. spun around, still fuming.

It was Kelly Kelly, looking close to tears. "I'm really sorry A.J. I shouldn't have said anything back there." she tried to apologize.

A.J. felt her hand curl into a fist, but then took a deep breath and forced herself to relax.

"It's not your fault, Kelly." she said wearily. "You were just saying what everyone else was thinking."

"No," Kelly Kelly said miserably. "It was. I just don't stop to think sometimes!"

A.J. heartily agreed but she kept her opinion to herself.

"Do you really…like…Kane?" Kelly Kelly asked.

A.J. looked at her for a moment, gauging her sincerity, but couldn't help but smile as she thought about the way Kane treated her, like something rare and precious...and the way he kissed her.

"I do,"she said a tad dreamily.

Kelly Kelly looked concerned,"A.J., I know I'm not the best judge of men, God knows I've picked some losers in the past, but are you sure about him? I mean you've only spent one night with him and I don't know what he did to you but it seems like you've fallen awfully hard, awfully quick. Not that I'm trying to to pry." she added hastily, "Whatever you did with him is none of my business."

A.J. laughed, "It's not what you think. We just talked...mostly. Well I did most of the talking and he did most of the listening. But... "She paused trying to figure out a way to explain it.

"Oh Kelly, "she finally sighed. "If you had a man look at you the way he looks at me, you'd understand." Her expression fell a little."It just seems like no one wants to see us together. I know I didn't go about it the way I should have but...I think he's my soul mate."

"Wow, you two are just like Romeo and Juliet, "Kelly Kelly gushed wistfully. She paused, her forehead wrinkling in thought, "well, if Romeo was all evil and burned and scary and...well you know what I mean, No offense."

A.J. smiled, amused at the comparison. But then her smile died as she remembered that Romeo and Juliet didn't end up living happily ever after.

A.J. wandered around the hallway looking for someone from wardrobe. She didn't think she was going to get back into the Diva's locker room anytime tonight and she needed shoes. Luckily she didn't have a match tonight so it wasn't crucial to have her broken-in ring boots, but she couldn't appear on Raw barefoot.

That's when she saw a very familiar head of oily, slicked back hair.

Oh crap! Punk!

If there was one dark spot in her happiness it was C.M. Punk. She knew she had completely blindsided him, betrayed him and she felt horrible about it. But she had done her best to spare him from being the one destroyed by Kane.

She turned away quickly, briefly considered running around the corner to hide but he'd already seen her.

"A.J.?"

Well, she would have to face him someday, might as well get it over with.

She turned back around and looked at him and her eyes widened in surprise. "You shaved!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah," he smiled ruefully and rubbed his bare chin."You were always hinting that you'd like me to shave the beard. I should have taken your advice sooner."

She stared at him in delight. She'd always thought he was a cutie but without the scruffy beard hiding half his face he was….well he was gorgeous. She started to reach out her hand to touch his smooth cheek before she remembered she didn't really have that right anymore.

"A.J." he said, "About what happened last night..."

She winced, "I'm so sorry Punk." She said. "I was trying to spare you. I knew Kane was coming for the winner of the title match. I didn't want it to be you."

Punk nodded, "I kind of figured that out when you pretty much served Daniel Bryan up to him on a silver platter. But, right now, I don't care about that, AJ. I care about you!"

A.J. looked at him skeptically, remembering how cavalierly he had treated their relationship.

"Do you, Punk?" She asked. "Do you really?"

"A.J., I am not a perfect man, I never claimed to be." he said reasonably, "But, yes, I care about you very much and I'm worried about what you've gotten yourself into."

A.J. thought about Kane and the kiss they'd shared last night after he won the title. That memory alone sent delicious shivers up her spine. Oh god, if he could only understand. If they could all just understand!

"You don't have to worry about me, Punk," she said. "I'm sorry about cheating you out of the WWE Title, but I'm not sorry about being with Kane."

"Oh, and so now you're telling me you're in love with that thing?" He said bitterly.

A.J. held his eyes, "Kane is very nice to me." She said defensively.

"Don't lie to yourself sweetheart. You and I both know that Kane is a dangerous man. He will end up hurting you. Come back to me. A.J.," He seemed to hesitate but then plunged on. "I never told you this before because I never found the time was right, but I have to say it now…I love you. "

A.J.'s eyes widened,"What?" she gasped.

"I love you." He repeated doggedly. "And I don't care about last night, I don't care about that freak. I just want you to come back to me and I will spend the rest of my life proving it to you. "

She stared at him "Come back to you," she repeated," And what about Kane?"

Punk shrugged "What about him? Kane will go back to whatever he was doing before. He'll go and murder a few babies and old ladies and he feel better. He'll get over you. I never will."

Punk's expression suddenly changed, hardened as his eyes shifted to something above and behind her. She turned. Kane was standing there. Silent, impassive. God, he could move quietly for a seven foot tall man.

She felt an electric jolt run through her as her eyes met his. She turned back to Punk as Kane laid a gentle hand on her shoulder where it met her neck. She clasped her hand around his index and middle finger and gave him a squeeze of solidarity. She felt the gentle pressure on her shoulder as he returned her silent gesture.

"I'm sorry Punk. I love him." She said simply. Kane gave him a final menacing glare from behind his mask and they turned and walked away.

C.M. Punk watched them go shaking his head. He knew she was crazy. Hell, he accepted it. But he'd never realized just how crazy until now. He headed toward the men's locker room.

"That three timing bitch," angry, hoarse voice growled from behind him.

He stiffened, turned and found himself face to face with Daniel Bryan.

Bryan looked terrible. His entire face was one big bruise, his head immobilized by a huge neck brace. He couldn't turn his head and so he had to turn his entire torso to watch Kane and A.J. go. It made for a faintly comical effect that in different circumstances would have made Punk laugh.

C.M. Punk said nothing, just looked at him until Bryan became uncomfortable with the silence.

"What?"He finally said.

"What do you want, Bryan?" Punk asked.

"What do you think I want? You are I are on the same side now, Punk. We've got a common enemy. I wanna know what you plan to do about that backstabbing bitch A.J. "

Punk shook his head, "Nothing, man. I'm not going to do anything to her."

"What? Are you going soft on me, Punk?" Bryan yelled. "She didn't just screw me, Punk, she screwed us BOTH! And for what, that...that FREAK?"

Punk put his forearm against Bryan's throat and shoved him hard against the wall and held him there, grinding his arm against Bryan's neck brace. Bryan flailed and made a horrible, guttural barking noise.

"Do I have to remind you, Bryan, that you are at least partly responsible for A.J.'s state of mind?" Punk said through gritted teeth. "You are the one who made her the way she is. She's not in her right state of mind and as long as she is with that psychopath, I am not doing anything to further endanger her."

He gave Bryan's neckbrace an extra thump to push his point home and then let him go and opened the locker room door.

Bryan grabbed his throat, "You're a goddamned idiot, Punk!" He croaked. "You're letting that little whore play you! Well, I hope you know that she and that mutant freak are laughing their asses off at you! Do you hear me?"

Punk didn't seem to hear him. His face was frozen, staring at something inside the locker room. Bryan stared at him

"Are you listening to me Punk?"

Punk, blinked and looked at him with a dazed expression, as if suddenly remembering Bryan was there.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Punk?" Bryan demanded. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Punk silently pointed through the doorway. Bryan walked over looked, "Oh…" he said said in suddenly small voice.

"No one told us you were coming back."

Kane was happy. Or at least as happy as the Devil's favorite Demon could be. In one night he had won both the WWE Title and the heart of a woman who saw him as something other than a monster. He still couldn't believe she was his, but it must be true for here she was, still with him as he prepared to make his first appearance on Raw as the new WWE Champion.

She was playing with his hair, fussing with it. He had let her comb it back out away from his face, even though he didn't really understand why it mattered. His usual hair care routine consisted solely of flipping it back out of the way when it hung in his face but it seemed to make her happy so he indulged her.

When she was done she picked up the title belt, tottering slightly on her new shoes. The Divas had thrown her out of the locker room barefoot and so she had found some ridiculously tall platform boots that added almost 7 inches to her height. And he still he over topped her by about a foot. She gave him a wink and a kiss on the cheek and then turned toward the arena entrance, waiting for their cue.

She was so, what was the word..?

Cute.

The familiar knell of his entrance theme broke the air and he strode out onto the familiar stage. A.J. preceded him with the title belt held high over her head. He made sure to match his pace to hers as they made their way to the ring where Michael Cole waited to interview the new WWE Champion. He helped A.J. up the steel steps and into the ring.

Half of the crowd cheered while the other half jeered. Half of the crowd angry at A.J's betrayal of C.M. Punk, the other half glad that weasel Daniel Bryan had gotten his comeuppance.

Kane stood in the center of the ring, slowly raised his arms, ready to summon his ring pyro when he felt his skin prickling as a preternatural premonition struck him.

The lights dropped again, throwing the arena into pitch blackness. The crowd noise fell to a murmuring hush in confused anticipation. What was happening?

Then, a deep bell pealed out and an eerie blue light lit the arena as fog rolled out of the entranceway. The crowd screamed in ecstasy as they recognized the music.

The Undertaker had returned.