The following chapter is dedicated to DeadliestPriestess, as I know the wait has been painful for you, my dear. Thanks for sticking around and prodding me every week or so, lol.
Hard to Handle
Part 12
Smackdown - After the Show
Backstage
Now
Angrily shrugging off doctors trying to check on his own condition, Punk stared at the makeshift medical facility's door, tense and worried as he and the others awaited word on Sheamus's condition.
A panicked Kaitlyn was freaking out, asking the EMTs that entered in and out of the room every few minutes for an update on Sheamus's condition, only to be told minimal information was available. The moment that the bloodied Sheamus was helped through the back by Punk, AJ and several officials, a frantic Kaitlyn was the first one by his side, hurriedly asking him if he was okay. The sight of the blood pouring freely from the wound in his head, crimson stains standing in stark contrast to his lucid skin, while a random slur of dazed words tumbled incoherently out of his mouth, shocked her into near-hysterics.
The last guy who fed her the "We're doing everything we can, miss, but you have to let us work" line found himself on the receiving end of a brutal tongue-lashing by an upset Kaitlyn—worried sick after she saw what happened to Sheamus after the match—and was only spared by Layla and Kofi both pulling her aside and attempting to calm her down.
As she assured Kaitlyn that Sheamus would be okay, Layla found herself wishing that John Cena was here; he always had a way of calming her, of knowing what to say in these kinds of situations. Instead, she gratefully settled for Kofi's firm grip on her shoulders, as she awaited word on their injured friend.
AJ offered her boyfriend comfort as she rested her palms on Punk's stressed shoulders while he sat in a chair gripping her hand in anxiousness, despite a mess of emotions and thoughts in her own head; thoughts that volleyed between worrying about one of her closest friends in Sheamus…and wondering about the rest of what happened just a half-hour ago that had her mind spinning…
The match - earlier
Punk smiled grimly to himself as he felt his boot connect into the side of Ziggler's head midway through the match, creating much needed separation between them as both grapplers collapsed to the floor.
The match had been fast paced and intense; though Jericho and Ziggler didn't take long before using underhanded tactics like distracting the referee to double team either Punk or Sheamus while the coast was clear, the two champions had battled back to make things interesting in the match, keeping their two blonde foes at bay.
Despite his earlier reservations, the match had going pretty well thus far. To his pride, AJ had given Vickie more than she could handle earlier in the match, pouncing on the so-called Cougar with furious fists and feet, the older woman finding her self overmatched by the better trained and more experienced AJ.
Punk tagged in Sheamus and the Irish powerhouse exploded all over the ring, his deceptively quick and powerful 6-foot-6, 275-pound frame creating all manner of havoc in the ring with a series of clotheslines, boots, shoulder blocks and fists that tore up Ziggler and Jericho.
After AJ caught Vickie distracting the referee, the brunette spitfire—not willing to brook any of that—tackled Vickie and began slapping and pounding away at the screeching manager, and all hell broke loose from there. Jericho had attempted to sneak in and blindside Sheamus—too busy hammering away on Ziggler—but Punk had pounced on him, the two bitter rivals spilling to the outside as they battled.
With pleasure, Punk was teeing off on Jericho with a concussive series of fists to the Canadian ring legend's head, when suddenly, he felt a sharp pain cracking him in the head from behind. That was on account of Drew McIntyre—still bitter after that bar room brawl earlier in the week—coming out of nowhere and blindsiding him.
Stunned, Punk fell to the floor, clutching his skull while Drew continued a series of quick hard stomps into his ribs and head. And the Scottish brawler held nothing back in his assault; he had come to the conclusion that if he wanted to make a name for himself and get back the momentum behind his career that he lost two years ago, he had to start at the top, and the WWE Champion was the perfect place to begin.
As Jericho joined in on Drew's fun— attacking Punk with a few hard stomps of his own—a wounded Punk realized that he couldn't fight both men off at the same time in this current predicament. They had him at a disadvantage and Punk couldn't even get to his feet to defend himself.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait much longer, as Sheamus, spotting the two men jumping his friend, clotheslined Ziggler over the top rope before leaping outside to land a solid punch to the side of Drew's face before trading blows with Jericho, who crumbled under the Irishman's furious onslaught. At that point, Ziggler had recovered and jumped the Great White from behind, and it looked like the numbers game was about to catch up to Sheamus…
…until Punk, the needed break giving him new life, threw Ziggler aside and leapt onto Drew in a Lou Thesz Press, hammering away at the former "Chosen One" with aggression and anger. Nobody jumped Punk from behind and didn't end up with some major bruising in the morning.
Amid the chaos, neither Punk nor Sheamus saw Jericho slip to the side, where he grabbed a chair…and slide back into the ring, where AJ, oblivious to the carnage on the outside, was still pounding away on Vickie.
However, AJ somehow sensed Jericho's presence and looked up to see the cruel smile on the blonde Canadian's face as he clutched the steel chair firmly in his grip, slowly advancing towards her. Stumbling off Vickie in fright, AJ tried to run out of the ring, only for Jericho to shadow her, moving to the ropes as quickly as she did. She tried again to run to the other side,, but Jericho was right there, cutting off her exit.
Panic began to set in as AJ found herself being backed into a corner turnbuckle. She was strong for her petite size, she knew that, but against a man who had a good 8 inch height advantage and an extra 120 pounds on her, there wasn't much she could do. And she knew Jericho's reputation, had seen it herself while growing up a wrestling fan—she knew that he had no problems before attacking women. Stephanie Mcmahon, Lita, Trish Stratus, Stacy Keibler, even Shawn Michaels's wife, Rebecca; all of them were brutally assaulted by Jericho.
Now, those malicious blue eyes of his were locked in on her like a cat cornering a field mouse. And despite the feminist part of her protesting, right now, a terrified AJ really, really wished Punk was here.
"Not so brave now, are you, sweet cheeks?" Jericho taunted her menacingly as he inched closer to her, steel chair raised overhead as she held her hands protectively in front of her face. "Did you really think I was gonna let you get away with hitting me in the face with a serving tray at that club? Huh? Where's your boyfriend to protect you now? You're going to learn your place around me! Do you understand what I'm saying to you right-OOOF!"
The dull thud-like sound of boot meeting skull resonated from behind Jericho as he crumpled to the ground after a solid kick connected with the back of his head, cold cocking him. The flicker of relief she felt as Jericho's body hit the ground morphed abruptly into surprise when her savior came into view. For it was not Punk she saw standing triumphantly over Jericho's prone form…
…but that of Daniel Bryan.
He stared down at his championship rival's fallen body for a moment, a satisfied smirk on his face, before he turned his sights on AJ. To her further shock, a look of what appeared to be concern appeared on his face.
"Are you okay?" he asked in what AJ registered to sound like…sincerity? "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
But his presence did nothing to calm AJ. In fact, his proximity to her in this environment only served to panic her even further. As bad as Jericho was…Daniel was far, far worse. That, she knew from experience. And now, here she was, backed into a corner, with Daniel standing opposite from her, completely and totally at the mercy of whatever it was that he intended to do…
Thankfully, she didn't have to wait and see just what was on Daniel's mind, as Punk, already having dispatched Drew with a hard roundhouse kick to the head outside, bolted into the ring and gave Daniel a rough shove away from AJ, creating needed space between them as he put his body squarely between his girlfriend and her ex-.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing out here?" snapped a scowling Punk, fists balled into punching formation. "You stay the fuck away from her, you understand me?"
Punk hadn't seen Jericho menacing AJ before…not that it would have mattered. In his mind, when it came to AJ, Daniel was a far bigger threat than Jericho could be, for a multitude of reasons that AJ had confided in him.
It looked as if the two men were about to trade blows when Sheamus, having taken care of Ziggler outside, slid into the ring and backed Punk up. The Irishman knew Punk could handle himself, but he figured an extra hand wouldn't hurt.
"Run along, now, Frodo," Sheamus smiled, though the undertone of it was more intimidating than friendly. "We already reached the hero quota 'round this main event. I doubt you'd make the height limit fer it, anyway, fella."
While placing his hands up defensively, muttering, "Okay, okay," Daniel had to fight to keep from smirking. It was just the moment he was waiting for.
Not one moment later, as Daniel pretended to inch towards the ropes, he took two steps in front of the men…and brought his right hand had across Sheamus's face in a hard slap.
As Punk and AJ stared in shock, the Great White's stunned pale face literally turned red as a look of pure and utter rage twisted his ruggedly handsome Irish features.
"Oh, damn," muttered Punk, knowing Sheamus well enough to know what was about to happen next.
Surely enough, the World Heavyweight Champion lunged for Bryan, but the smaller man was just a step two quick as he ducked out of Sheamus's grasp and under the ropes, ducking under and bolting back up the ramp way. But Sheamus was in hot pursuit, snarling as he sniffed at the heels of the former World Champion.
Just as Punk, staring after them, was about to turn to AJ and check on her, he found himself ducking under an attempted clothesline from Drew, now back on his feet, and trading blows with him while AJ ducked out of the ring to get out of Punk's way.
Neither of them turned back to the ramp where they would have seen Daniel run through the backstage curtain, with Sheamus closing in fast…
…only to be caught full in the face with a steel chair shot that sent him staggering to the ground, seeing stars and split open at the forehead because of the brute force of that chair...
…wielded by a sneering Alberto Del Rio.
From there, the Mexican Aristocrat, Ricardo by his side, rained down a series of chair shots all over Sheamus's body, catching him in the ribs, shoulders and face. The Irish grappler winced and cried out in pain with each shot, unable to defend himself as Del Rio doled out the punishment.
"This is where you belong, Sheamus—under my feet like the peasant that you are!" Del Rio taunted him,, delivering another chair shot to Sheamus's sore back. "I am the real World Heavyweight Champion, not you, perro asqueroso! ME!"
Gritting his teeth as he winced through the pain, Sheamus managed to hiss out defiantly, "Yeah…real champion like…'Berti…sneak attacking with…a chair…yer as…yellow as…yer girly tights…"
A stiff kick to the head from Del Rio was his reward, making him see stars. But as Ricardo dragged him to his feet for more punishment, Sheamus's Irish fighting spirit kicked in, tossing Ricardo aside and trading blows with Del Rio, hammering the Mexican submission guru with stiff, powerful blows—despite the blood pouring into his eyes and down his face—that had Del Rio reeling.
But Ricardo jumped on leg, providing enough of a distraction for Del Rio to land a solid roundhouse kick to Sheamus's head, knocking him for a loop as he slid off the stage. Del Rio grabbed hold of his arm, however…
…and twisted it into his patented Cross Armbreaker, using the stage for leverage. Feeling the tendons and ligaments inside his arm bend and twist unnaturally, Sheamus howled in pain, unable to counter and free himself as Del Rio tugged and pulled with all his might.
However, he didn't have much longer to continue his torture of Sheamus's wounded arm as he spied Punk—who knocked out Drew with a GTS only moments before when a frantic AJ pointed to the stage where Sheamus laid in pain— charge up the ramp with a steel chair in hand, swinging wildly but missing Del Rio by inches, driving Del Rio and Ricardo away to the back.
But the damage was already done, Punk realized. As he and AJ checked on their injured friend, the scene soon crawling with backstage personnel and EMTs, Punk spied John Laurinaitis on his scooter in the background, flashing that phony smile of his as Eve and Otunga smirked alongside him.
Scowling poisonously at them—though AJ was far too worried about Sheamus to pay them any mind as she frantically tended to her Irish friend—Punk realized that this round may have just gone to them…
Punk's tense shoulders shifting beneath her grasp caught her attention as she snapped out of her flashback.
"Hey," she prodded softly. "You okay? You haven't said a word since we got back here."
Rubbing his face in frustration, Punk looked away. "I should've seen that coming. I knew something was wrong as soon as Daniel showed his ugly face out there, but I got so caught up in fighting off Drew that I didn't see—"
"Punk, don't," she said gently. "Nobody's blaming you for this. It's not your fault about what happened. That was Del Rio's fault."
"I was sloppy, AJ," Punk shook his head, taking no solace in her comforting words. "Sheamus had my back when I needed it tonight, and when the tables were switched and he needed my help, I didn't come through."
"I seem to remember you swinging the hell out of a steel chair that drove that skeevy Del Rio asshole away that says otherwise," she offered, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "It wasn't your fault, baby. People get hurt in our line of work sometimes. You know that, and so does Sheamo."
He reached up and gently squeezed one of her soft hands, trying to take comfort in her presence, in her scent and understanding words. Trying not to think about how his friend's face was a crimson mask of blood, or how he clutched his arm so tenderly to him, as if something inside was broken. Trying not to focus on how he should have chased after Daniel himself instead of going punch-for-punch with Drew so that…
Wait a minute, Punk scowled as flashed back to Daniel popping up out of nowhere. By this time, AJ had managed to tell him about Jericho's near-attack, and Daniel's "save." But why? He and Daniel hadn't really crossed paths since Punk beat him at Over the Limit. Was he somehow in on what happened to Sheamus? And why set up Sheamus at all? Why not go after Punk? It was the WWE Title that the "Yes Man" had been craving these days, so why go after a guy that Punk knew Daniel had no chance of beating one-on-one? And more importantly…why bother to save AJ? The same woman that his old buddy had dumped and humiliated publicly time after time before Punk got together with her? Who had nothing but bad things to say about Daniel as of late?
What the hell is he up to? Punk wondered, as he debated the possible reasoning behind his ex-friend's cryptic actions tonight.
He didn't have long to muse on that, as one of the trainers came out of the training room.
"How is he?" a worried Kaitlyn was the first to speak, wringing her hands nervously.
The trainer smiled. "Don't worry. As far as we can tell, there isn't any immediate evidence of any breaks or tears, and he's not showing any symptoms as such. But he'd still be better off going for an MRI and an X-Ray tomorrow, just to make sure."
"So, he's going to be okay?" AJ asked, hopeful.
"As far as we can tell, yes," the male trainer confirmed.
A collective sigh of relief came from the group of friends, AJ squeezing Punk's hand reassuringly, while Layla rubbed small circles on Kaitlyn's back, the two-toned blonde closing her eyes, a little calmer now.
"Can we see him now?" Punk asked.
"We're just stitching him up right now," the trainer replied. "Give us a minute or two to get him cleaned up, and you can come in. But it might be good if he has someone to help him get back to his hotel room."
"I'll do it," Kaitlyn piped up immediately. Blushing as she saw all the stares directed her way, she tried to shrug it off. "Uh…I mean, I'm not doing anything tonight anyway, and…we're in the same hotel, so…yeah."
"Fair enough," the trainer simply shrugged. "I'll be out in a minute to let you know when you can come in." With that, he disappeared back into the small room to check on Sheamus.
"You sure about taking care of the big man yourself, Kaitie?" Kofi asked, concerned.
The Houston blonde-brunette nodded. "I think I'd feel better if I did."
At that moment, a tall, muscular presence slowly encroached on the circle of worried friends.
"Yo, guys," came the low, mellow tone of John Cena as he greeted them.
None of the group saw how Layla's brown eyes brightened momentarily when they met John's piercing blue-eyed gaze, nor the way how John's eyes lingered for a moment on Layla before he addressed Punk.
"Saw what happened," John explained, his tone somewhat apologetic. "Just wanted to check if Sheamo's doin' alright."
To say Punk was surprised to see Cena there was an understatement. The WWE Champion and the Massachusetts-born megastar hadn't seen eye-to-eye over many things in recent years, especially the last year; they weren't close, never had been. So to see him, of all people, here right now was quite strange.
Punk folded his arms as he regarded Cena skeptically. "I wasn't aware that you and the Big Guy were all buddy-buddy, given the history between you two."
"He's fine, John," AJ cut in, not wanting there to be an unnecessary fight between the two men after all of the carnage tonight. "They're gonna let us see him pretty soon…thanks for asking."
Cena nodded, tipping his cap towards the tiny Diva, slightly grateful. "No prob. Sheamus and I have our history, true, but I've found that the guy's not so bad when you give him a chance." He looked at Punk with a raised eyebrow. "Funny how things work out with people like that, sometimes."
Punk merely snorted, which made AJ elbow him to keep him at least halfway-behaved. She didn't really know John outside the ring, but from what she saw of the guy, he didn't seem so bad. In fact, he seemed like a pretty nice guy. Honestly, she didn't have a clue as to why Punk still had such distaste for him, even after coming out on the better end of their feud last year that shook the company to its core and made Punk a bonafide megastar in the business.
Kofi, who had always liked Cena, shook John's hand. "Thanks for checking up, John. I'm sure Sheamus will appreciate it."
"Uh, would you like to…come in and say 'hi?'" Kaitlyn, who was something of a fan of his, offered. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind the company."
Off those words, Layla looked like she wanted to say something, but kept quiet. She knew how suspicious it would be to invite John in herself. But as her eyes and his met, he read the silent, hopeful plea in her eyes all too easily.
To her disappointment, he shook his head. After catching Punk roll his eyes, the Cenation Leader realized that his presence would only serve as an awkward distraction, and he didn't think any wounded wrestler would be in the mood for that while being mended.
"Sorry, but I've got somewhere I've gotta be right now," John politely declined, looking at Layla more than anyone else. "Personal stuff. But…tell Sheamus that I hope he heals alright."
Sighing in some annoyance, Punk managed to give Cena a nod at AJ's silent urging. "Thanks, Cena," he said, almost through his teeth. "That's…very nice of you."
John merely chuckled. "I know it probably killed you to say that."
"Many times over," Punk agreed, earning another elbow from AJ. "But, still…thanks."
"Cool," he shrugged, his eyes lingering on Layla for a brief moment before he said his goodbyes. "See ya later."
And again, no one saw how Layla's eyes fell briefly as she watched John round the corner and disappear.
"Well, that was…nice of him, I've gotta say," AJ noted, impressed.
"Yes. Yes, it was," Layla agreed, fighting to keep down a smile.
"Well, Cena's cool when you get to know him. Real nice guy," Kofi shrugged.
Punk felt another snort leave his nose. "Ever the Boy Scout," he replied, dismissively.
This time, Layla beat AJ to the punch, elbowing him in the side. "Ow! What, what'd I do?"
As Layla rolled her eyes at him, AJ merely shook her head. She loved Punk to death, but he could be a real jerk sometimes.
The trainer popped out at that moment. "He's all cleaned up. You can go see him now."
That was all Kaitlyn needed to hear, darting into the room at quick speed to check on the wounded Great White. As the others shuffled in, Punk abruptly wondered aloud, "Seriously, what'd I do?"
AJ only smiled and rolled her eyes. Being in love with a jerk was hard work…
TBC…
Next: Hearts grow closer, enemies grow bolder, Number 1 contenders are named and Punk's quest to keep his WWE Championship grows more treacherous thanks to an offer that NO one can refuse…
Special thanks to all that reviewed. (Well, unless they're that small faction of anonymous people that was popping up every now and then to annoy me, but whatever.) The next chap should be up soon! And please read "Keeping Them Apart" by PikaSixJoy and "World Tour" byRonRon10, part of the "Core 4" Series, of which this story is part of. (Core 4 is a mystery, Pulling strings that no one sees, God makes a fool of history…)
Sorry for the long wait, guys, but well, I've been doing some real life stuff. Bills and rent don't pay for themselves. I'll try to find some time to update every now and then. Oh, and DemonicXaliv, don't fret, I'm putting you into this story next chapter for winning my contest last month, promise!
In the meantime, I would highly recommend that you guys read these Punk/AJ fics:
End of Heartache, by MyChaosTheory
Fix You, by sweetbellesammy
Caught You Like a Cold, by AnRevival
Not Weak, Just Stronger, by RunninOnCrazy
Bleeding Hearts, by Trisskins
(no offense to anyone I left out, you all rock out there in TeamPunkAJ Nation!)
By the way, people, what are your Top 5 Punk/AJ moments? Thought it'd be a fair question given everything that's happened between them of late. More on the way, soon, and if you're not down with that…we've got two words for ya!...(Please review!) lol And like me on Facebook (Jean-theGuardian)! Even fanfic authors need friends on the BookFace! ;)
#TeamPunkAJ4Life
#KaitmusFTW
#BringBackAW
#IDigCrazyGMs
Later!
-Jean-theGuardian