Part XXXVIII: Slap in the face
The next morning neither Punk nor AJ slept as well as they had the previous week when they were away from it all. Punk was anxiously waiting to hear back from Paul hoping he made some progress on getting Dean his job back. AJ in the mean time kept checking online to make sure Dean hadn't posted the video yet.
"Have you changed your mind yet?" Punk asked tossing his arm around AJ's waist and pulling her closer to him while he snuggled his face into the crock of her neck
"Changed my mind about what?" AJ asked placing her phone back on the table to enjoy being in Punk's arms
"Moving to Brazil with the dogs" Punk said to her "We could start a whole new life there"
"It is very tempting" AJ agreed with a sigh "So far no video"
"There better not be if he wants his job back" Punk said to her closing his eyes trying to rest
"I still don't think Vince is going to go for it" AJ said to him "From what Kaitlyn has told me the backstage buzz is Dean is a complete and total outsider"
"I'll just have to make him change his mind" Punk said to her
"It won't be easy" AJ sighed
"Nothing in life ever is" Punk retorted "Don't worry about it"
"Just know if we can't make this happen it's ok. I'm prepared" AJ promised
"Don't worry about it" Punk said to her
"The video isn't that terrible" AJ said to him causing him to stiffen slightly "I mean to you obviously because who wants to see there wife like that and obviously to me because I hate seeing myself like that but it's not like it a porno or something"
"I guess" Punk mumbled "I still don't want it out there"
"Me either" she said turning so they were now face to face "But he does get how bad he'll look in the video right? I mean how many times did I tell him to stop in it?"
"A few" Punk muttered "I heard it more than once. But unfortunately no one is really going to see it that way"
"You're right" AJ groaned "I'm still sorry you had to watch that I'd hate to see another woman taking your clothes off and touching you like that"
"Yea those images I can live with out" Punk agreed lightly kissing her lips "I don't know what's worse the fact that he had his disgusting hands on you or the fact that he can watch it whenever he wants" he muttered against her ear
"That's all he'll ever have" AJ assured him "Just a video, a video in which I was completely intoxicated and yet still rejected him. I'm sure that doesn't help his ego"
"Yea" Punk agreed "Maybe that's why he hates me so much. I can have what he can't"
"That is true" AJ agreed with a sly smile "I don't revolt when you try to touch me" she pointed and he just grinned as his hands moved on the under sheets
"No you don't" Punk whispered into her ear "You actually like it, don't you?" he asked as she couldn't respond but instead just nodded as her eyes rolled to the back of her head "That's my girl" Punk grinned kissing her nose
Later that day Punk was getting ready to take AJ for her tattoo, after jumping out of the shower he heard his phone go off and saw Vince's name appear on the screen. As soon as he answered Vince spoke.
"I have two questions for you" Vince started while Punk remained silent "First one is what kind of sick game are you playing? The second one is do you think I'm stupid?"
"Which one would you like me to answer first?" Punk asked seriously
"Feel free to pick one" Vince said simply
"Well I don't think you're stupid and I'm not playing any kind of game" Punk informed his boss
"I just spoke to Paul and he told me you want Dean back" Vince said to him "Did you not just walk out of this company and refuse to return until he was gone?"
"That did happen yes" Punk agreed
"So what the hell made you change your mind?" Vince demanded "I deserve an explanation"
"A few things" Punk said coolly "Dean really opened my eyes to a couple of things"
"You hang out with Dean Ambrose now?" Vince asked with a scuff "What the hell is going on and don't you lie to me"
"The match can be big money" Punk said to him simply
"I'm going to save you some time right now Phil, this match is not happening and Dean is not coming back" Vince told him "We are a family run and operated federation and there is no place here for him so if you're looking for an excuse to beat the guy that victimized your wife you'll have to find a way to do it on your time"
"That's not an option for me" Punk told him honestly "I need him back"
"Why?" Vince asked
"I can't get into that right now" Punk told him "I need you to trust me"
"Trust you?" Vince laughed "You walked out on me a few weeks ago because you wanted Dean gone and now he's gone"
"Well I changed my mind" Punk retorted
"What the hell is going on?" Vince demanded
"I can't get into all of that" Punk said "Just think about how huge this will be"
"This company doesn't need Dean Ambrose" Vince told him "We will continue to make money with or without him or you for that matter"
"What do you want from me?" Punk asked annoyed
"An explanation for your sudden change of heart" Vince shot back at him "I'm not stupid I know Dean was at your wedding"
"Trust me he wasn't invited" Punk muttered
"I figured as much" Vince said to him "For such a private guy I didn't think you'd let one of your guests snap a photo of your bride and post it. As a matter of fact I didn't expect Dean to be a guest"
"Look I know you deserve answers and I would give them to you if I thought it would help change your mind" Punk told him honestly "I just need you to do this for me"
"It just can't happen" Vince told him in a softer tone "I can't just let this guy run rough shot over my company"
"It's for AJ" Punk said to him and Vince remained silent
"Does he have something on AJ?" Vince questioned but Punk remained silent "What is it Phil?"
"I can't get into it" Punk told him "I just need you to do this, bring him back and call him as soon as you could if possible"
"It must be pretty bad if you're begging for his job back" Vince noted
"I can work this match with him after that he can go back to The Shield and I'll do whatever what you want" Punk said to him "We'll stay out of each other's way"
"So you want him back and want to work with him still?" Vince asked
"I want to put him over" Punk told him and he just heard Vince laugh on the other line
"This is a joke right?" Vince questioned "You want to not only wrestle him but you want to lose to him as well?"
"That's what I said" Punk managed to get out without completely losing his cool
"I won't let Dean Ambrose blackmail his way back to his job" Vince told him
"He's not blackmailing you" Punk reminded him
"Obviously he's blackmailing you" Vince retorted
"You'll get a lot of press from this" Punk said to him
"I heard this pitch already from Paul" Vince said to him "You can come out at number 29 in the Rumble and Dean can come out at number 30 and you two can eliminate each other"
"Sounds good to me" Punk shrugged "It will take some of the heat away from you handing Batista the main event at Wrestlemania"
"I need some time" Vince told him
"I don't have time" Punk shot back quickly "I need this done as soon as possible"
"I can't just make this decision on my own" Vince informed him
"You're the chairman, sure you can" Punk mocked "If Dean doesn't come back I guarantee you that you'll lose not only AJ but me as well because if she's not with the company then neither am I"
"Whatever it is that Dean is hanging over your hand causing you to jump like a dog better be worth this because you are going to owe me big time" Vince told him "And I hope you trust that whatever he has just goes away"
"I don't have any other options right now Vince" Punk huffed
"I'll bring Dean back" Vince told him "On one condition"
"Name it" Punk said anxiously
"I want you to fly out here to headquarters and I want to know exactly what he has on you or AJ I'm assuming because I not only deserve and explanation but I also have to prepare if this blows up in all of our faces" Vince said to him and it wasn't a request
"I'll fly out tomorrow" Punk promised "Just call him"
"I'll see you tomorrow" Vince simply said then hung up
Later that day AJ and Punk were in the tattoo parlor. AJ was flipping through different designs while Punk spoke to the artist.
"AJ he's going to draw something special up for you" Punk told her
"Cool" she smiled "Are you going to get one?"
"Yea I am actually" Punk said to her "I need your help for it, it's a complete original"
"Oh really?" AJ asked intrigued
"First I need you to put on lipstick" Punk said now completely confusing her
"And kiss you?" she questioned
"Not me" Punk replied then picked up a piece of paper
"The paper?" she asked with a laugh "You're getting my lips tattooed on you?"
"Yup" Punk said to her "Putting them right here" he said pointing to a small empty spot on his wrist
"I feel like I should get your lips tattooed on me as well" she smirked
"That's ok" Punk smirked "Take it easy for your first tattoo but if you do decide to do that I know the perfect spot for it"
"Yea? Where?" she asked and he reached his hand behind her and squeezed her butt
"Right there" Punk laughed
"You are bad" AJ laughed "Maybe you should get my lips there as well"
"Ok but I kind of wanted to show it off" Punk said seriously
"I'm kidding" She giggled
"Look I'm flying out to meet with Vince tomorrow" Punk informed her "I spoke to him earlier and he's going to hire Dean back but Vince wants some kind of an explanation and I owe it to him"
"Ok" AJ nodded "You want me to come with you?"
"Nah" Punk said with a wave of his hand "I'll only be there a few hours you stay home"
"Ok" AJ nodded
"I know when we go back working with him isn't going to be easy" Punk started off "Which is why I don't want you around him. I don't want you at ringside as a matter of fact until this match is over I think it would be for the best that you not come back"
"Oh" AJ said with a small frown
"It's nothing against you" Punk told her quickly reading her mind "I just don't want you around him because that's clearly what he wants. If he wants his job back that's fine but I will be damned if I give him a clear path to you"
"Whatever you want" she forced out, she clearly didn't like the idea much but she understood it
"After the match you can come back and we can work together" Punk promised
"Ok" she nodded
"I'm sorry" Punk said to her "But I think it's for the best and I'm sure Vince will agree"
"You're right" AJ agreed "I don't like it but you're not wrong and I don't want to be a distraction to you"
"Thank you" Punk said to her kissing the top of her head
The next day Punk arrived at headquarters and was lead into Vince's office. He was surprised to see Hunter also in the office waiting for him.
"I hope you don't mind but I bought Hunter in on this" Vince said to him but Punk just nodded
"Did you get in touch with Dean?" Punk asked taking a seat, seemingly not caring that Hunter was there
"No" Vince told him and Punk just groaned "Not until I get this explanation and know what the hell I'm signing up for"
"You're wasting time" Punk said to him "You need to call him"
"And I will" Hunter said to him "Personally as soon as we hear what we have to hear"
"He was in Chicago during my wedding obviously" Punk started off "He left a gift for me in my room and it was a box filled with some of AJ's personal belongings" he told them as both listened intently "When I got back from my honeymoon he called me and demanded to see me I met up with him and he informed me he had a video of AJ"
"What kind of video?" Hunter asked
"A personal one" Punk said to him "One that I don't want to even think about let alone talk about"
"I need a little more than that" Vince said to him "Is it uh..a sexual video?"
"It's from that night he took her up to his room" Punk told him "AJ wasn't in her right mind and no they don't have sex in the video but it's not flattering"
"I'm assuming you've seen this video and aren't just going on his word alone?" Hunter questioned
"I have a copy of it" Punk told him
"He can be arrested for this" Vince told him seriously
"He doesn't care, if he doesn't have this job he feels he has nothing" Punk told him "The video might even cause him more damage then AJ but it's a chance I can't take. I don't want people to see her like that"
"So his demands were to get job back?" Hunter asked and Punk nodded
"Along with me putting him over" Punk told him "Which I'll do no problem"
"You can understand why I don't want someone like Dean in my company right?" Vince asked
"I don't want Dean in the company" Punk snapped "But I don't have a choice here. Once this match is done like I told you I don't want to work with him anymore and you can do whatever you want with him as long as I kept my end of the bargain it should be fine"
"What if it's not enough?" Hunter asked
"He knows I can only do so much" Punk said to him "But you can't let him know I told you guys or he'll use it as leverage over you I'm sure"
"Our big concern here is your physical safety" Hunter told him bluntly "We don't trust him in a match with you"
"He wants to be prove he's the best in this industry and he's going to do it the right way" Punk told him "And besides that I'll worry about my own physical safety"
"What about AJ's safety?" Vince questioned "Clearly he has some sort of vendetta against her"
"I want her to stay home until this match with Dean is over" Punk told him "I don't want her around him while we're working"
"Paul?" Vince said looking over to him
"I hate giving into a guy like Ambrose but if this leaks it not only will hurt AJ it will hurt our image as well" Hunter said to him "I think we should play ball with him" Hunter said to him "He comes back has a match- Punk kept up his end and what we do with him after that is on us"
"Alright" Vince said to him "Make the call"
"I owe you" Punk said to his boss
"You do" Vince agreed as Hunter pulled out his phone and dialed Dean's number "Moxley it's Paul we want to set something up with you. We want to try to work this out with you….yea next Monday come to Raw and we'll sit down and go over some things…ok great" with that said Hunter hung up "It's done"
"I owe you both big time" Punk said feeling relief rushing through his veins
"I'm surprised at you Phil" Vince said in a disappointed voice "If this was last year you'd never bend at will for a guy like Dean"
"Last year I didn't have AJ" Punk reminded him "This is for her not me"
"I don't know if I find this to be admirable or just plain stupid" Vince told him honestly
"She's my wife" Punk clarified "You get it I'm sure?" he asked glancing over to Hunter
"I do" Hunter agreed
"You do huh?" Vince questioned
"I do if it was Stephanie I'd do anything to protect her image" Hunter said to Vince "I think you would too"
"I just think you two haven't looked hard enough for another solution" Vince said standing up "I've got two more meetings. I'll see you at the Rumble Phil" he then left the office. Clearly Vince wasn't pleased with any of this and Punk wasn't surprised, he didn't expect Vince to back flips and celebrate.
"I went to bat for you here" Hunter informed Punk "Don't screw this up"
"I can't afford to" Punk retorted "There's too much on the line"
While Punk was meeting with Vince and Hunter she stayed home and hung out with Darla and Logan and attempted to train them. The doorbell ringing caught her attention and she peeked threw to see who it was and once she saw Dean on the other end she wasn't sure she should open the door but before she could even think about it she swung the door open.
"Hey AJ" Dean smiled stepping into the house looking around "Don't worry I'm here to see Punk not you"
"He's not here at the moment" AJ informed him
"Pity" Dean sighed "I needed to follow up with him about our latest discussion"
"You mean your blackmail threat?" AJ shot at him folding her arms glaring at him in the process
"He told you about that, huh?" Dean snorted but simply shrugged "It's a good test to see how much he truly loves you"
"What you're doing to him isn't fair" AJ said to him
"What he did to you wasn't fair" Dean shot back "Did you see the video?"
"I did" AJ said to him "There's something really wrong with you, you know that right?"
"I'm passionate" Dean shrugged simply "I want my job back"
"And this was the best way to go about it?" AJ mocked "Blackmailing Punk- this has nothing to do with him!"
"It has everything to do with him!" Dean shouted back causing the dogs to bark "You know what? I don't think Punk is going to pull this off maybe I'll just post this video now"
"Go ahead" AJ challenged
"You don't mean that" Dean laughed
"I do" AJ said taking a step forward "I'm sick of you harassing Punk over something I did! Just do it!"
"And live in shame for the rest of your life?" Dean chuckled "You have no idea the world of hurt you're going to be in for"
"I may be living in shame but at least I won't be alone" AJ smirked "Which is more than I could say for you"
"You think he'll stick around after all of this?" Dean asked
"Yea I do" AJ said confidently "So go ahead I can take it"
"It's your funeral darling" Dean said pulling out his phone, as he was doing it the phone began to ring "Looks like your boy may have come through" he laughed showing her Hunter's number on his phone "Yea?….ok I'll be there…thanks" he placed the phone back into his pocket
"You've gotten a reprieve" Dean informed her "I hope you realize how good you have it with him most men would have turned their back on your trashy ways a long time ago"
"He is a good man" AJ informed him proudly "That's two things he has over you"
"Two things?" Dean asked
"Being a good person and a man" AJ smirked knowing that would sting instead of a cold response which is what she expected she received a hard slap to her face surprising her
"Watch your mouth AJ" Dean warned as she held onto her cheek "Don't make all this hard work Punk has put into this be for nothing"
"Get out of my house" AJ said still holding her cheek "Don't come back either because if you do I will kill you"
"See you at the Rumble AJ" was all Dean said before walking out of the house.
When AJ fell asleep she was alone but when she woke up she felt Punk lying next to her.
"You awake?" she heard Punk ask so she rolled onto her back and smiled
"Yes" She said to him "I didn't hear you come in"
"That was the plan" Punk smirked "He went for it, Dean is back"
"I know" AJ said looking towards him but saw he frowned slightly
"What's that?" Punk asked running his hand over her left cheek "Did you get hit?" he asked confused. AJ placed her hand over her cheek and frowned slightly
"Slapped" AJ muttered "I guess the sunburn I got in Brazil didn't help it"
"Who the hell hit you?" Punk demanded examining the side of her face more
"Dean came by yesterday looking for you" AJ told him
"He hit you?" Punk asked slowly
"We got into an argument" AJ sighed "It looks worse than it feels trust me"
"So of a bitch" Punk muttered getting out of the bed
"Phil" AJ sighed sitting up but he was long gone.
Punk went downstairs and dialed Dean's number and of course he didn't answer. He kept trying to call it but to no avail. He wish he knew where Dean was staying.
"Phil it's fine" AJ said approaching him down stairs
"It's not though AJ" Punk said rather harshly "I've given in to absolutely every single one of his demands, he got his damn job back! And this is how he repays me! It's unacceptable!"
"I said something that pissed him off-" AJ started
"Don't make excuses for him" Punk warned "You're start to sound like a battered woman" he stepped closer to her and looked at her face again "Why did you let him in?"
"I didn't I just opened the door and he walked in" AJ sighed "Please just leave it alone"
"Leave it alone?" Punk mocked "Leave it alone? He slapped you AJ! You're my wife!"
"What can you even do?" AJ asked "He has so much over me as it is" she was right, he couldn't do much and he had zero control which drove him crazy
"I'll figure it out" Punk said to her bitterly
"He's not going to answer your calls, you're not even going to get to see him until the Rumble" AJ informed him "Let it go"
"I can't" Punk said in a low voice
"I've been hit harder" AJ reminded him
"By women" Punk laughed out "Not a man. I- I can't even think clearly right now"
"It's ok" AJ said walking over to him looking up at him
"It' really isn't" Punk said trying to calm down "I'm going to hurt him the next time I see him" he promised
"The next time you see him will be in the ring and you're not going sacrifice your entire career to prove a point" AJ warned
"I took vows AJ less than a week ago to love, honor and protect you" he reminded her
"And you've been doing that long before we even got married" AJ promised "You have gone above and beyond and a little scrap to my face is something I can handle"
"I can't" Punk bit back shaking his head slightly. "Look at your face" he said running his hand over her cheek but AJ instead gently took his hand into her own and kissed it lightly
"It's ok" she said with almost a laugh, she knew the only way to calm him down, one that worked every time for him
"AJ no" Punk said shaking his head "I can't push this feeling out of me"
"Yes you can" She kissing his chin then the corner of his mouth "You can't do anything with your anger right now" she whispered to him "Except for one thing"
"AJ" he sighed but stopped when she pulled his face to meet hers
"I can make it better for you" she soothed and he lifted her up so her legs were wrapped his waist "Let me help you" she said leaving quick kisses on his lips. He pushed her up against the wall and AJ could see the fire in his eyes "That's it" she encouraged as Punk began to leave rough kisses down her neck.