Title: Ultimatum (2/?)

Rating: M

Content (in this and future chapters): sex, violence, swearing, misogyny

Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters mentioned herein and no infringement or offence intended.

Distribution: my livejournal, FFN – anywhere else please ask

Summary: Laura had it all, but an ultimatum made her realise it could so easily be lost. Would she be able to get past her biggest challenge?

A/N: Thank you so much for all the kind reviews and story alerts! Appreciated more than you can know.

After an early start and a long day of travelling, the superstars barely had time to drop their bags at their hotels before heading for the arena. They were all working Smackdown tapings as well as Raw, at the behest of the General Manager, and everyone was on edge, being very unsure about what to expect from the power hungry man.

Laura was somewhat cautious of Laurinaitis, trying to avoid being on her own anywhere near to him until she had worked out what she was going to do. Fortunately, both Punk and Cena were also at Smackdown and happy to keep her company.

"You could just tell me why you're avoiding him, then I can kick his ass and we can get back to normal," Punk offered. "It's not like I particularly need an excuse to want to kick him in the head, but having one is an added bonus."

Laura couldn't help but laugh, "I'm sure it is, but you don't want to be giving him an excuse to think up any more increasingly lame ideas for matches involving you versus the entire roster. Leave him to me, I'll deal with it."

"I know you're more than capable of sorting it but I wish you'd talk to me," he stretched his legs, leaning his back against the wall as he sat on a bench in the locker room he was sharing with Cena, Kofi, Truth and Evan.

"I will tell you, when it's done," she smiled at him in the hope that it might reassure him. Truth be told, she still didn't know what she was supposed to do, although her head and heart were both telling her there was only one option. It was a risk, but she didn't see that she had any other choice. She snapped out of her contemplation as John Cena entered the room, looking every bit as miserable and conflicted as Laura felt.

"You ok man?" Punk asked carefully. Laura had told him in confidence about John's divorce: he and John were good friends despite their on screen difficulties, and Punk was mostly of the same opinion as Laura when it came to Cena's wife.

"Laura told you?" Punk nodded. "I'm... I'm getting there. Papers have been filed today so expect it to hit the media sooner rather than later. I'm so looking forward to that shitstorm."

"Where are you staying John, has she left your place?" Laura asked softly.

"I'm holing up in a hotel for a few weeks until we can decide what to do," he replied. "I'm the one asking for a divorce, the last thing I want to do is kick her out of her own home... and the last thing I wanna do is go back there," he added regretfully.

Laura could see that John was struggling with the idea of divorce far more than he had previously let on. Although everyone and their mother could see that it was for the best, that didn't make it any easier to cope with for him. She looked at Punk and he could see what she was thinking and nodded in agreement. "Come and stay with me for a while," she offered. Laura had her own place in Chicago; she spent the majority of her time at Punk's place, but she liked her own space at times as well.

"I couldn't intrude on your downtime L," John replied, although the longing for company in his eyes was clear.

"Of course you can," she grinned and knew she would win this battle, "come on John, I'll even cook for you." That made both Punk and John laugh: Laura was well known for burning toast, never mind cooking anything resembling food. "OK, so I'll order us a gourmet takeout every night."

"You're sure?" Both Laura and Punk nodded. "Thanks, I really appreciate it." He stumbled backwards as Laura threw herself at him excitedly, embracing her in his large arms.

Punk and John locked eyes and John nodded over Laura's shoulder. They'd talked and Punk knew that his girlfriend was highly unlikely to confide in him about what was going on with Laurinaitis, she had this weird notion about not wanting to appear weak in front of him. However, she did confide in John when things got bad, and Punk hoped that the same would happen here, and that John would help her work through whatever it was. Most guys would get jealous about their girl talking to someone else about such things, but Punk knew her reasons and respected that.

Reluctantly, Laura released John from her epic hug. "Guys, I'm just gonna go sort some stuff out, I'll meet you back here in about an hour, yeah?" She could clearly see how a long, drawn out divorce was going to play havoc on John's emotions, and realised that the longer she left this issue with the general manager, the more she'd suffer and struggle. Sure, the answer she was going to give could rock the foundations of her world, but it was her only option and the sooner he knew that, the better.

Punk nodded, motioning for her to come over to him. She knelt down in front of him, stealing a kiss or two, and forced a smile.

"Before you ask, I'll be fine, and I'll be back before long, ok?"

He sighed, loving and cursing her independent streak in the same breath. "Go get him tiger." He pulled her close for a second, feeling her heart racing and knowing that wasn't just because she was with him. He hated that fact.

She walked to the general manager's office with purpose and reason. For some reason, a burst of confidence had come over her, and she felt ready to deal with whatever was thrown at her. She had realised that even if Laurinaitis went through with his ultimatum, she still had everything else that was important to her. His threat wouldn't kill her.

The brunette knocked on the door firmly, she heard movement inside and opened it without further introduction. Laurinaitis was sat at his desk, smug grin in place.

"Come in Laura. I trust you're here to discuss my proposal."

She rolled her eyes, "proposal my ass, ultimatum you mean."

"Mere semantics," he waved off her anger, "I hope you have come to a decision that will be mutually fulfilling and agreeable to the both of us."

"Well I've come to a decision," she stood firmly, not wanting to betray an inch of doubt, "and the answer's no."

His fixed smile barely even flinched for a second, "well that's a very disappointing response, Laura. You fail to realise, perhaps, that as general manager I can do what I want and I get what I want."

"So do your worst, clown shoes," she couldn't help the ironic smile that touched her lips with that insult, her boyfriend would have been proud, "fire me."

He laughed, sitting back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face, "oh no, dear, I don't intend to fire you."

"So what are you gonna do, you said if I didn't do as you wanted I'd be gone from the WWE." She was disconcerted and worried, this man had proved to be a gameplayer just to get the GM role, she suddenly had no idea what he was capable of doing to get his own way.

"I won't be firing you, but you'll wish I did."

Her skin started to crawl, his words delivered in such a calm, psychotic manner sent shivers down her spine, "so what are you going to do?"

"I will take what I want. You had the choice of agreeing to my ultimatum, unlike so many others, you have disappointed me. I will take that disappointment and pay it back tenfold. You will understand the meaning of the word regret. Now get out of my office."

Smart words and retorts left her and she felt her body stiffen up in fear. She closed her eyes for a second and gathered her strength, spitting a venomous, "fuck you," as she slammed the door behind her. The growing knot of worry in the pit of her stomach told her things were about to get very, very nasty.