Taken

"I'll uh… I'll just stay back and let you do the talking." Dean said to AJ as they arrived at her home after their flight back to Chicago. AJ was nervous to confront Ben. They hadn't really had much confrontations before, and if they did was relatively basic over every-day life things. This was a little different, "But if he… if he gets me mad, I ain't promising nothing." Dean warned her as AJ just shook her head.

"Just stay out of it if you can, ok?" AJ said, putting her key in the door and walking into the house, sighing to herself as it no longer felt like a home anymore. She truly thought that she'd be with Ben forever. She wouldn't have married him if she didn't… but then again, at one point in her life she thought it would be her and Punk together forever. She knew things changed, she just wished it didn't have to be like this.

"April?" Ben called from upstairs as Dean already had to bite his tongue from erupting. This man had hurt two people he loved very much. That wasn't ok. Ever.

"Uh yeah, it's me." AJ called up, "Come down." She said, making her way into the living room as Dean followed, looking around the house and nodding to himself.

"Nice place." Dean said, staring over at a picture frame beside the TV of both AJ and Ben. He of course knew this wasn't easy for AJ, not like it was for him and Punk to just write him off. This was her husband who she loved. He had to understand that.

"Hey. I was just out the shower." Ben smiled, walking into the living room, "Hey, what's up, Dean?" He smiled to Dean who just stared at him, standing over in the corner and folding his arms as Ben turned to AJ who looked almost the same. Pissed and angry, "Uh, what's up, AJ?" Ben asked curiously.

"I know." AJ said as Ben looked at her.

"Know what?" He asked slowly.

"I know that you were the one that made the phone call that got Phil arrested." AJ said, watching the blank look of shock appear on his face, which told her only one thing… he was guilty. She was secretly hoping it had been a misunderstanding, even though it didn't seem possible.

"W-What?" Ben shook his head and gulped.

"I saw the email." AJ said, "You… you helped a drug leader and a murderer? To frame an innocent man for a crime he didn't commit… a man you knew that I cared about." She said, "Why? I deserve to know that before I go to the police."

"April… wait… c'mon." Ben shook his head, flustered and worried as Dean enjoyed watching him crumble apart, "I-"

"You have no excuse. You did it. I wanna know why?" AJ asked him.

"I was… I was in a difficult position." Ben said, running his hand through his hair, "How did you even see the email?"

"I…" Dean put his hand up, "I had a ton of foster family, ones I didn't trust… I remember passwords." He nodded as Ben glared across at him, "What? What are you gonna do about it?" Dean teased.

"I'm not speaking to you unless he's gone." Ben placed his hands on his hips as AJ turned to Dean.

"Just go to the kitchen for now." AJ nodded to him as Dean nodded, glaring at Ben as he left the living room.

"April, I was… I was feeling scared and… and I thought that you didn't love me." Ben said as AJ raised a brow.

"That's your excuse?" AJ asked him, "You thought I didn't love you so… you helped imprison an innocent man and put him on death row? What… How does that add up?" She asked him.

"Well do you think it was easy?" Ben spat, "Knowing that when you looked at me, you wished you saw him-"

"Don't." AJ said, "Don't go there."

"It's true." Ben said, "You dream about him. Sometimes you still call me by his name." Ben said, "Do you have any idea how small that makes me feel?"

"Ben, I was with Phil for a long, long time." AJ said, "I grew up with him. I went to school with him. I was around him a lot so… yeah, maybe an odd dream happens or I accidentally call you by his name… that doesn't mean I don't love you." AJ made clear, "Do you think I would marry you, and buy a home with you if I was still desperate to get with him? If I want something, I go get it. You know that. So trust me, if I wanted him, I would have left." She said.

"It still doesn't make it ok." Ben said, "I knew I was always gonna be second best for you-"

"So you decided to get in on killing him? As well as the murder of two young girls? That man has sexually abused children, for crying out loud, Ben." AJ shook her head, "There's no forgiving this. Not one bit."

"My head wasn't in a good place." Ben gulped. He never thought she would have found out, so therefore he hadn't prepared for this at all. He had no excuse ready, "Alberto put me through law school." He said as AJ looked across at him, "It's a thing now with drug businesses. They put people through law school in the case that they draw an unlucky straw… there's someone there to give them advice and help." He nodded, "I left home when I was young, you know that… and I started getting involved with Del Rio. He took me in. He saw potential in me and he offered to put me through law school and give me a good career, as long as I… helped him out." Ben said as AJ shook her head.

"You're disgusting." AJ spat. It scared her how much she didn't know her own husband.

"April, please." Ben sighed, "When I heard about what he was up to-"

"You what? Gave him advice on how to do it? How to get away with it?" AJ spat as Ben ran his hand through his hair, "I thought I knew you."

"You do know me." Ben said, "This isn't all my fault." He hissed, starting to get mad, "You… I knew you still loved him and I… I wanted you to love me." He said twistedly as AJ just shook her head, not believing words like that were actually coming from him.

"This isn't a high school love triangle, Ben!" AJ yelled, "This was someone's life you were happy to take in order to make yourself feel better about being with me." She said, "I loved you. I cared about Phil, and I told you that honestly. What me and him had was special but… I thought what we had was special too." She shook her head.

"I wasn't gonna be with a woman who had her eyes on someone else." Ben told her bluntly as AJ shook her head and laughed a little.

"Ben, I wasn't even in contact with Phil until he was arrested and put in prison, and I didn't plan to have contact with him either."

"But then you did, and not but just a few weeks you're kissing him and you're losing sleep trying to save his life."

"I thought he was going to die you bastard." AJ spat, "And now I know it was partly because of you. You're just another piece to the puzzle. And it sucks, because I never thought you'd be on the same level as murderers, and rapists… I thought I knew who you were." She shook her head as Ben just rubbed his forehead.

"You do know me, April. You know I love you." Ben said.

"If you loved me you wouldn't have done this." AJ shook her head, "There's no going back from this. You can't… you can't expect me to even understand any of it." She said, "You're just as good as a murderer… and you've fucking hurt me." She spat.

"I bet you love this." Ben smiled to her as AJ glared across at him. She was starting to get extremely angry.

"What?" AJ gritted her teeth.

"I bet this worked out perfectly for you." Ben nodded, "Now you don't have to feel guilty for going back to him."

"Oh, and that's what you think I'm gonna do?" AJ laughed.

"It's fairly obvious." Ben said.

"Well at least I'll be with someone who doesn't lie to me." AJ spat, inching closer to him, "You're right." AJ hissed, watching as his nostrils flare, "Because you didn't deserve my love anyway. All of this life was just a massive lie." She said, "But you don't you dare forget that I did love you. You were the one who ruined this."

"No. You ruined it a long time ago." Ben said, "I was your rebound. I gave you everything I could and you still wanted him more."

"No. I didn't." AJ said, "I do now." She whispered to him, "Because he's never hurt me this way." She told him, "And he's a good man, and you're not." She told him, "And we kissed again." She said, her catty side starting to show, "We kissed in the hotel a few nights ago." She said as his nostrils flared, "And the part of me that still loved you told me that I was the one who didn't deserve you. And that I couldn't be that woman who makes a mistake and cheats on her husband… but now…" She whispered, seeing him angrier and angrier, "Now I wish I had." She spat, "Now I wish I'd got naked with him and let him touch me-"

She couldn't say much more to get under his skin due to the fist he flew in her direction, knocking her off her feet as she fell to the ground beneath him, tasting blood in her mouth and shaking her head. Maybe she was making things worse, but nothing could be worse than what he had done to her.

Dean immediately walked into the living room, and when he saw AJ on the ground, holding her bloody mouth, all hell broke loose.

Punk opened his eyes after being dragged out of the hotel, into a car and dragged back into a place he didn't know of. His hands were severely taped and the black bag remained over his head. But he was no fool.

The bag was lifted from his head as he looked around. He was in a run-down motel by the looks of things, and he immediately recognised the face of Dennis, and could only assume that the Mexican man standing beside him was Alberto.

"I'm glad we could finally meet." Punk spat, looking across at Del Rio who just smiled, "Long time no see." He looked to Dennis who leaned against the wall in the corner, glaring at Punk.

"Seconds away, I hear." Alberto said, "Seconds away from death. You're quite the survivor. Hadn't it been for my wife, this would have all… worked out." He nodded.

"Your wife… who you beat and hurt and scare? Her?" Punk asked, "Yeah, she's had enough of your bullshit. And rightly so." Punk said, "So… forgive me, but I don't see why I'm here? Everyone knows you two did it." He smiled to them.

"We can still kill you." Dennis remarked in the corner as Punk looked across at him.

"I feel sick just being in the same room as you." Punk spat as Dennis just nodded and smiled, "Bit stupid that you're both here, where the cops are swarming trying to look for you." Punk said, "You'd think that you'd stay gone. Just common sense."

"You die no matter what." Dennis said, "If it wasn't for that… attorney of yours, we wouldn't be here. So she's next after you."

"If you think that you are going to go anywhere near her, you have mistakenly underestimated me." Punk nodded, "Your plan failed, alright? This is your karma." He said, "And this is your death now. Not mine." He said, "Now you're lucky that you'll be in solitary confinement when you go to prison because prisoners, they don't take too kindly to paedophiles, and rapists." He said, looking across at Dennis, "Because that's what you are."

"I'm not going to prison." Dennis said calmly. Punk knew men like him were completely unchangeable and were evil. Pure evil. With no remorse.

"This is all over what? You being bitter because you found two kids who wouldn't let you touch them?" Punk asked, "You should thank your lucky stars you didn't try to… because I would have killed you… and if you touched my little brother I would have cut you into little pieces."

"And you think I'm the psychopath?" Dennis laughed.

"Yeah, I do." Punk said, "Soon enough, people are gonna know who you are… what you are… and all those kids you hurt and abused, they're gonna get their justice." Punk nodded.

"You think?" Dennis asked as Punk nodded.

"I know." Punk said.

"Silence." Alberto put his hand up, "Your time is up, my friend." Alberto said, "You don't get to go free." He said, walking over to Punk who was sat on a chair in the centre of the dusty room, "You're going to wish they stuck that injection in you." He nodded, crouching down in front of Punk.

A/N: Let me know what you think!