The Goldan Jackal and The Silver Falcon

by The Cajun Phoenix

A/N: My thanks to Fanfictfungrl215, Kissing John Cena, faithisbeautyx, and ShortHiatusBeBackSoon for their feedback on this fanfic. Most of my files got deleted because of my uncooperative computer's processing system, so I did a rewrite and a retooling of this chapter and the ones to follow. Bless your hearts for your patience and keep on writing because I definitely will!

Knocked Down By the Smallest Wounds

Maryl groaned when she tried to move her left arm, only to notice her arm wasn't cooperating.

It had been five days since Maryl's debut match against Michelle McCool, and for the last few days Maryl's left arm had been red, swollen, painful, and hot to the touch.

Now she winced as she looked at her left arm just below her left elbow. It had swollen to almost twice its normal size, making it very difficult if not impossible for her to move. This made even the simplest tasks such as getting dressed feel like mission impossible for her.

In addition to having a hard time moving her swollen arm, Maryl hadn't been able to pick up her three-year-old brother-and-sister twins Jeremy and Jessica the way she normally would have.

"Mommy, who hurt your arm?" Jessica asked when Maryl winced after her attempt at lifting the twins ended with her left arm refusing to move. If Maryl hadn't set them onto the floor, she might have dropped them.

"Mommy's arm is gonna be okay, Jessie, " she said, using her worried daughter's nickname even as she tucked in each of the children.

"Jessie only worries 'cause she loves you, " murmured three-year-old Susanna as Maryl tucked her and her two-year-old sister Dinah into bed.

Maryl gave a wan smile as she rumpled the girl's hair.

Her deepest sorrow was that before she moved to Florida two years earlier, Marcus sustained a severe aneurysm that sent him crumpling to the floor. Maryl called 911 in a desperate effort to get her younger brother to the hospital after CPR hadn't worked to revive him. The paramedics tried everything to resuscitate Marcus but he died en route to the hospital. Maryl hadn't even told either of their parents that Marcus died, and this was because they never really thought highly of either Maryl or Marcus and they never kept any money aside for funerals. Maryl alone paid the costs for Marcus's funeral expenses, including his casket.

Neither of our parents could fucking be bothered to pay for Marcus's funeral expenses. The only way they would even be bothered to come to his funeral was so they could avoid going to jail for drug trafficking and keeping a disorderly house and even that didn't keep the two of them sober for long.

To this day, Maryl winced with bitter resentment when she thought back on that gray and stormy day of Marcus's funeral. It had cost her almost her entire savings account just to make sure Marcus's grave had a decent headstone.

Several months after Marcus died, Maryl was also granted sole custody of her younger brother's two daughters Susanna and Dinah in addition to Jeremy and Jessica. Her mouth twitched with bitterness as she recalled how Susanna and Dinah had come to her home, and this was because she never liked the girls' biological mother Lisa Bradshaw even before Lisa left behind a tearful Susanna and a diaper-clad Dinah on Maryl's doorstep without so much as a curt "Good-bye".

Making Maryl's hatred toward both Ben and Lisa burn even more fiercely was that Maryl was still coping with being a first-time mother herself when Susanna and Dinah were abandoned and Lisa was nowhere to be found.

That fucking junkie ring rat slut just dumped the girls on my doorstep like they were nothing but garbage. I thought she was gonna come back for them after she got her life together or at least got the fuck off the drugs she's shooting into her arms and everywhere else after she degrades herself just so she can get her fix. Instead, she picked the drugs and the unprotected sex over my nieces just like my worthless former boyfriend chose the ring rats over making things right between me and him.

Making matters feel even more rushed was the WWE Universe's immediate and explosive reaction to her in-ring dominance over Michelle and to how Dolph had nearly choked the life out of Maryl in the parking lot over Michelle's face being busted open during their match. Almost all the fans thought Maryl had what it takes to overthrow Michelle for the Women's title, and they were fully prepared to throw their support behind the rookie Diva if that meant Michelle dropped the Women's title and never got another shot at it for the rest of her in-ring career.

They were also equally disgusted with Dolph for damned near killing Maryl in the parking lot after she blew off his demand that she apologize to Michelle for splitting open her forehead. Who the fuck did Dolph think he was to demand an apology from anybody, especially from Maryl? He had stolen John Morrison's Intercontinental Championship in spite of not winning the title himself after he had challenged The Shaman of Sexy for the title four times and lost every single time, he had lost in Remy Silver's debut match against him after his mean and nasty remarks toward Maria earned him more punishment, and he was stupid enough to get himself punked out by the World Heavyweight Champion, The Undertaker himself.

Saved by The Phenom? she asked herself before shaking her head, wincing as her arm throbbed painfully from her exertion. No. That's not possible. How could it be? I don't even know who he is.

Maryl then remembered what happened when Remy caught up with her in the parking lot. She had left her black-and-gold rolling backpack in the catering hall in her haste to return home before she made it to her next show and Remy caught up with her to return her backpack to her before she left.

She thought that Remy had knocked out that womanizing cunt Dolph Ziggler. But she began to wish that he had when he said that he hadn't been the one who knocked out Dolph for trying to choke her.

She tried to piece together Remy's words to her as she filled a stainless steel teakettle with water and set the teakettle onto her gas stove's right front burner: "You did. But I'm not the one who knocked Dolph out. Mark is."

She then grabbed a faded towel, several squares of gauze, several rolls of gauze, sharpened scissors, surgical tape, and a bottle of lemon juice.

Remy said Mark was the one who cold-cocked the piss outta Dolph for trying to kill me in that parking lot. My guess is Mark is his given name that his family addresses him as in the outside world when he's not in the ring. What I know is in WCW, he was known as "Mean" Mark Calloway.

Maryl smiled wryly as she realized that sometimes the in-ring world and the outside world intersected whether she wanted them to or not.

But here in the in-ring world, he's either The Undertaker or The Deadman or The Phenom because he's also "SmackDown"'s locker room leader. And judging by CM Punk's crazed stare, he's got a reason to come after him for that World title.

Her wry smile wavered and faded since her immediate concern was how was she going to treat her left arm. A ruptured boil just below her left elbow had failed to drain completely four days ago, and it was this same boil that was causing havoc for her now.

My next match is in two days, Maryl thought, groaning as she winced at her arm. But my arm is fucking killing me now!

Exhaling, she grabbed her X-Acto knife and sterilized the blade while she turned on the pilot light underneath the teakettle she had just filled with water.

Flashback

Maryl winced as she rinsed her mouth. Of late, she'd been puking during the day even though it wasn't even cold and flu season, and she couldn't understand why this was happening to her.

After several days of this, she bought a pregnancy test, followed the directions, and finally saw the plus sign that indicated that she was not just laid low by illness.

"No," she muttered to herself as she read the results. "It's not possible."

She shook her head as she read her pregnancy test. Sure, her former boyfriend Ben Marchand had brutally raped and abused her when she dumped him after he chose to hook up with the ring rats rather than work on his relationship with her. But it had been almost four months since the rape and almost two months since she pressed charges against him.

Maryl had taken a couple of other pregnancy tests and the results were the same as the first one. Finally, she made an appointment with Dr Alice Madison and took one more pregnancy test to see if she was actually carrying her despicable former boyfriend's and her unborn child.

"You're pregnant, " said Dr Madison when Maryl shook her head blankly over the test results.

Maryl's rounded face manifested her dejection over this news.

"I take it this was an unplanned pregnancy."

Maryl's espresso eyes smoldered with rage as she was reminded of who was responsible for her pregnancy.

"Unplanned pregnancy?" she shot back. "Try the end result of a cruel and vicious rape at the hands of my ex-boyfriend!"

Maryl's angry words caused Dr Madison to take a step back for a moment.

Nevertheless, Maryl had an ultrasound done just to see how her pregnancy progressed and whether or not there were complications that would make her pregnancy hazardous to her own health. Since Ben hadn't cared about Maryl enough to put on a condom before he raped her, a pregnancy could be the least of her concerns if he was infected with a sexually transmitted infection, including HIV and hepatitis, from all the times he injected himself with steroids and slept with the many ring rats he'd put above her.

Maryl waited for the ultrasound film to be developed as she emptied her bladder.

"Let's see what your ultrasound shows."

Maryl muttered miserably, "How far along am I?"

Dr Madison gave Maryl the ultrasound. "You're almost three months pregnant."

Maryl sighed in disgust as she looked at her ultrasound. The news that her pregnancy was close to the end of its first trimester left her with a myriad of emotions whipping through her mind.

On the one hand, she wasn't so sure she wanted to carry a fetus that had been created after Ben had already beaten her up before he viciously raped her. Ben had done nothing to deserve to be called the father of her child let alone anything else in his empty, selfish life. The very thought of that steroid-shooting thug going for visitations let alone custody of her unborn fetus was even more sickening in Maryl's mind than the rape had been.

On the other hand, she also considered her unborn fetus to be more hers than her ex's and if he wasn't going to make things right for her child, she could and would sue him for child support. And if that didn't scare Ben into changing his despicable behavior, she would not think twice about having Ben sent to prison for child abandonment and a slew of other crimes besides the rape. Either way, she would make sure she retained sole custody because if she couldn't trust Ben to not violate her, she had no reason to trust him to not violate her unborn fetus.

End of Flashback

Maryl was shaken out of her flashback when the teakettle's whistle began to whine and hiss, reminding her to shut off the pilot light. She poured some of the water into a small bowl and added lemon juice to the water.

Maryl winced as she saw the blood and pus that lay in the sink after she made the incision. As revolting as it was for her to look at what had caused her arm so much pain that she might be forced to sit out at least three matches while her incision sealed up, her heart felt the same way when she and Ben had broken up on the ugliest terms she thought a break-up could ever happen.

She soaked several squares of gauze into the boiling water and lemon juice before she packed the gauze into the incision she had just made into her arm. This was one of those times she wished Marcus was still here because she knew he would have helped her to bandage her arm after he tucked in the children.

Flashback

"You're pregnant, big sister?" Marcus asked as Maryl rinsed out her mouth after she had been doubled over by yet another bout of morning sickness.

"Yeah, " she said, her voice barely above a hoarse rasp.

Marcus's facial expression was barely readable as Maryl broke the news to him. But he had to process the news that her pregnancy had been a possibility, especially since Ben hadn't bothered to use a condom when he raped her.

Nevertheless, he asked, "Are you gonna tell him?"

Maryl stared at her younger brother as though he had just asked her to clean a leaky, filthy toilet with her toothbrush and then use that same toothbrush in her mouth.

"Tell that scumfucker what?"

"About your pregnancy."

"What am I gonna say to him? "Thanks for knocking me up after you raped me, you disgusting scumfucker"?"

Marcus pushed back a tendril of damp hair away from Maryl's face.

"Nobody said it was gonna be easy to tell him he's gonna be a father and he's gotta pay child support no matter how things ended, big sister, " he said, pressing a damp cloth to his haggard sister's forehead.

Maryl smiled wanly as her younger brother wiped her face. As much as she hated to accept it, her younger brother had been right. She was going to have to tell Ben he had gotten her pregnant when he raped her. What happened next would depend on whether or not Ben chose to make things right for her child if not for her.

End of Flashback

Maryl winced over the memory of how Jeremy and Jessica came to be even as she laid out the roll of gauze that would be tied around her arm. This was because that worthless scumfucker she once called her boyfriend had doubled his brutality when she had broken the news that not only did he rape her, he also got her pregnant with two of those sweet innocent children she had just tucked into bed.

"What's even more fucked-up is my ultrasound only showed I was pregnant, " she mused sardonically. "It didn't show I was pregnant with twins until I was almost six months pregnant."

Flashback

"You're making this up."

Maryl slapped Ben across his face. "I'm not making up puking my guts out during the day, you sick and pathetic rapist!"

For a moment, she thought her former boyfriend was just as likely to kick her in her stomach as speak to her.

"So you're not making this up, " snarled Ben, though his black eyes continued to bore holes through the ashen-faced Maryl, who was still holding Neveah.

"Yeah, that's right, " Maryl said, her dark brown eyes glaring back at Ben. "And when you raped me, you also created this unborn child I'm carrying!"

Maryl spat out every word as though she spat out something vile and disgusting in Ben's face.

"I'm not paying child support, you pathetic cunt!"

Maryl couldn't believe what she just heard out of Ben's mouth. Once her child was born, she was filing for child support and there would be nothing Ben could do to stop her.

"I never said I was gonna have an abortion, " she said coldly, snaking her left arm around her still-flat abdomen as though she were in harm's way.

Ben's face blanched as Maryl's "I never said I was gonna have an abortion" all but dangled over his head but his sneer had not changed.

"The fuck you say!"

Maryl glared at Ben as if to say "Don't even fucking bring up your disgusting selfishness again because I don't want to hear it."

"We agreed we wouldn't-"

But Maryl refused to let Ben finish his sentence.

"No, Ben, YOU decided you didn't wanna work on what we had." Maryl realized Ben wasn't going to support her child even though he was the father. "I never agreed to any of those terms you set for me and as of now I'm changing the terms."

Ben's sneer faded when he saw the hatred and contempt in Maryl's eyes.

"What the fuck are you saying?"

"I'm not having an abortion and I'm not putting up my baby for adoption!"

"You can't fucking mean that-"

But Maryl merely shook her head somberly and refused to reconsider her decision to keep and bring up her baby she was carrying. It was all she could do to not want to puke all over that miserable and ungrateful scumfucker she once called her boyfriend.

"I meant everything I just said, Ben, and I'm not changing my mind!"

Ben's face blanched as it sunk in for him that Maryl was not fucking kidding when she said she was not going to have an abortion and she was not going to give up her parental claims either.

"So that's it, you ungrateful cunt? You're just gonna fuck up my life because you're too selfish to-?"

Maryl saw the bitter emptiness in her former boyfriend's eyes and would have laughed at him if she wasn't still bitter and resentful over the cold and callous way that Ben had thrown away their relationship because he chose to bed the ring rats rather than make the effort to be a better boyfriend for her.

"That's what I'm doing, you useless deadbeat scumfucker, " she said, her voice cracking as she realized Ben had no intentions of ever being a dad for her baby.

"Even if it means having that brat and losing me, " her former boyfriend spat hatefully as he turned on his heel to indicate that he not only refused to support Maryl's unborn child but that he also refused to make amends for his hateful treatment of her.

"Losing you?" she asked, all but dropping Neveah to the ground in shock, rage, and hurt. "YOU abandoned ME, Ben, not the other way around!"

But Ben didn't give a shit what Maryl said. He had the chance to make amends and he chose to throw away their relationship like it was nothing but garbage on the streets.

Maryl's rounded face crumpled and as she watched her former boyfriend all but leave her on her face, her heart shattered as the reality of Ben's cruel betrayal sunk in for her.

"I'll still sue your self-righteous ass for child support after my baby is born, you sick and pathetic scumfucker, " she said, though her voice sounded so weak only Neveah could hear her. Ben hadn't even bothered to stop and listen to her declaration that not only was she keeping her unborn child but that she was going to make sure Ben never lived down the shame and disgrace he brought on himself for raping her and again for abandoning her.

Neveah had to wait a few minutes for her owner to regain her bearings before she nestled into her owner's arms.

End of Flashback

Maryl wrapped another roll of gauze around her arm and tried to get some sleep, though she knew it would be harder for her to perform with her left arm bandaged. Nevertheless, she packed her things and readied herself for her next appearance even if her next match ended up delayed.

We used to fight through unbearable pain, she thought. Nowadays the trainers get squeamish if any of us gets so much as a paper cut on our faces.

A/N: As always, your feedback is always appreciated.