Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Twenty-Three

Rage in the cage.

It was what Theodore Long was calling it, the tag team match being held inside of a steel cage that was going to serve as the main event for that night's episode of SmackDown. Just another attempt to impress Vince McMahon, something the SmackDown General Manager needed to do since he'd currently been put on probation by the chairman of the board. He didn't care about the health of his competitors - or the fact that there was a pay per view in just two days. Long just wanted to keep his job. The match would be Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio versus Edge and Chris Jericho, and to add even more excitement to things, there was even a special guest referee... The world heavyweight champion, CM Punk. It didn't matter that he'd already had a match earlier that night; he was now expected to play the referee for a cage match. Yeah, Teddy Long was an idiot. After all, what good would it do to impress McMahon with the SmackDown main event if it ended up costing pay per view matches due to injuries or something?

"I feel stupid."

Eve smirked slightly at that, the diva shaking her head as she stood in the supply closet, her back pressed against the door, her gaze on the man in front of her. "You look very official," she told him, and Punk rolled his eyes.

"I am not a referee. This is just..."

"It's Theodore Long desperately trying to hang onto his job. That's what happens when Vince McMahon threatens to fire you if you don't live up to expectations. Until he knows his job is safe, he's going to keep messing with things. Changing matches last minute... Making bigger, more dangerous matches for SmackDown." The woman shook her head. "I'm personally surprised that he didn't stick some kind of stipulation on your match against Jeff this weekend at The Bash," Eve said, and Punk snorted.

"The Bash. What the hell kind of pay per view name is that?" Punk wanted to know, the man shaking his head as he continued to fidget with the striped referee's shirt he was currently wearing, the man still a bit sweaty from his match despite the fact that it had been early in the show to give him time to prepare to be the referee later on.

"It was better last year, when they still called it the Great American Bash. Shortening it just made it sound ridiculous," Eve replied. "Maybe they were worried that, with the name Great American Bash, there would be a problem if they ever wanted to have it in Canada," she said, and he rolled his eyes, smiling slightly.

"They should have worried about that when it actually became a problem then. Because right now? The name sounds stupid," he said, continuing to mess with the shirt he was wearing, and Eve shook her head at him, stepping forward and smoothing her hands over the material.

"Stop messing with it. You'll just wrinkle it. And even if you feel ridiculous, you look very official and adorable."

"I am not adorable," he told her, and Eve nodded solemnly.

"Of course not. You're totally bad-ass. Always."

"Don't patronize me."

"Never."

He smirked at her, reaching out to wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her even closer to him and starting to lean down for a kiss... Arching a brow when Eve shook her head and stepped back. "What?"

"You'll get all wrinkled. And on top of that, you're officiating a match tonight in which someone that I'm managing is a competitor," the diva stated, ignoring the look that came across Punk's face at the reference to Jeff Hardy. "If I kiss you, it would be completely inappropriate. It could be seen as me trying to get you to call the match in a certain way."

He rolled his eyes, though he was smiling at her. "Well, if it makes you feel better, I fully intend to call the match down the middle... Unless, of course, I find a way to give Edge and Jericho the upper hand because, even if I don't like them, they're still better than the asshole that you manage," he told her, and Eve nodded.

"Well, as long as we're clear," she told him, stepping forward and rising up on her toes to kiss him... Though she kept the kiss brief, the diva barely doing more than brushing her mouth over his before stepping back. She smiled at the look on his face, reaching out to smooth his shirt again. "I'll wrinkle you."

"I really don't care."

"And then you would mess up my hair or my makeup or wrinkle me and then people would wonder what I was up to. I have to be out there tonight, Punk. And as much as I'd like to make-out in the closet with you, it's not a good idea to take the chance that I'd walk out there looking like I'm up to something." She arched a brow at him, pointing to her throat. "I already had to cover a hickey from earlier, thank you very much."

He winced at that. "Sorry. I didn't realize that I..."

"Well, I enjoyed it at the time," Eve told him, then pressed her lips together. "We need to be careful, though. At least until... Until we figure things out and I finally turn against him. Which obviously won't happen tonight since it's a cage match and nothing's on the line anyway."

"The good thing about it being a cage match is that at least you'll be safe out there. Even if I am rooting for Jericho and Edge out there, I can't be sure they wouldn't go after you," Punk said, then frowned. "Jericho, anyway. After Monday, I don't think Edge would try anything. I don't trust Jericho at all."

"Honestly? Neither do I. But I trust you, and I don't think Rey would ever hurt me, and oddly enough, I do think I'm safe around Edge. He didn't have to help me on Monday. He could have walked away. He could have just let security break it up or... Whatever. But he didn't. So at least of the five of you out there tonight, I think I'm safe enough with three of you," the diva said, then pressed her lips together, and Punk frowned.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I just... I worry about Kelly. Especially now that it's clear that she knows what he did and that she believes me and not him. I just... I think that it would be best to get this all over with, you know? Out in the open. Not tonight, because there's not a huge amount I could do to interfere in a cage match besides slam the door on someone or try to give someone a weapon and... I'd hate it if the wrong person got the weapon and ended up hitting you or Rey or even Edge with it. Besides that, I want to turn against Jeff in a match that really means something. Because even though he knows that I can't stand him, somehow he thinks - at least right now - that I still need him. That I need to be his manager. Or maybe he thinks I'm too afraid to do something. That I don't have the guts. That... I'm too afraid of being the bad girl. Or afraid that he'll come after me and that no one would help me. Even knowing that Kelly knows the truth, even thinking that someone might have helped me that one day... He's not worried about Kelly, and he probably figures that whoever helped me then can't really help me, either, or else I would have left by now."

"Eve-"

"I didn't mean... You took the title from him. Yeah, it meant you got the title, but I know you at least partly picked that spot because it was him that you were taking it from. And you're offering me help. You've been there for me. You're letting me do what I need to do instead of trying to take control. You know, except for that time that you got me banned from ringside."

The man winced slightly at that, having the decency to look a bit ashamed of his somewhat high-handed behavior... The one and only time he'd done anything like that. He'd gotten slapped for his troubles that night and everything. Of course, he'd gotten slapped more for something he'd said than for what he'd done. And he still felt a bit bad about both what he'd said and what he'd done. He shook his head a little. "I'm not going to live that one down for awhile, am I?"

"Probably not. And while it bothered me, I will tell you this: I understand that you did it because you wanted to help me out. A warning would have been nice, though."

"I just didn't want you to have to be out there. I don't want you to have to be out there tonight. I hate that you have to pretend you want him to win when I know what you really want to do is bring him to his knees... Which is no less than what he deserves," CM Punk said, reaching out to Eve again, this time running his hands up and down her arms as he looked down at her. "You going to be okay tonight?"

"I'll be fine. I'll be standing at ringside, pretending to cheer for Rey and Jeff when in reality I'm hoping that Edge and Jericho win... And, of course, I'll be admiring how you look in that referee shirt," she informed him, and he rolled his eyes.

"And this shirt is another thing I'm not going to live down, isn't it?" he muttered, shaking his head. "You know, if I'd had more warning about the referee gig, I'd have been able to do something about the shirt. Maybe make my own like Mick Foley does."

"I think you look very dignified. And cute."

"Again with the patronizing," he said, shaking his head, and Eve grinned up at him for a moment before her expression grew sober once more... CM Punk frowning as he took in her change in mood. The wrestler leaned a little closer to her. "What is it?" he asked, once again sliding his hands up and down her arms in what was meant to be a soothing gesture. Eve dragged her teeth over her bottom lip, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"You said before... You want this to be... Once I turn against Jeff, you don't want to hide it anymore, right? This thing with us?"

"I did say that. And I meant it. I want you with me. Whenever you're ready," he told her, and Eve reached up to mess with the collar of his referee's shirt.

"What if... What if it was sooner, rather than later?" the diva wanted to know, and Punk arched a brow at her.

"How soon do you mean?" he questioned, reaching up to catch her hand before she could twist his collar too much.

"Like, maybe... This Sunday at the Bash?" she replied, her tone making the words seem like a question, and Punk answered her question with a smile as he pulled her in for a kiss.

Eve was pretty sure that meant he was okay with it.