Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE, not even a single share, though I am considering buying one so I own one half of one half of one half of one millimeter of Punk.

A Hazy Shade of Winter

November 26, 2011

Punk and John had enjoyed their few days off in Tampa where it was still warm despite the fact that it was winter. They spent most of their time either by the pool or in the bed upstairs. John's morose mood had completely lifted in the time away from work and his usual lighthearted disposition was back. They were sunning themselves by the pool when John's cell phone started to ring. John looked at the incoming number and stared with confusion at the phone, finally answering the call.

"Hello…yeah, you too…Yeah, Punk's here with me…You want to what? That doesn't sound like a good idea in the slightest…You must be really bored if you're relying on Punk and I to entertain you…Okay, fine. What's the address?...Yeah, we'll bring them...We'll come over in an hour…Bye."

"What was that about?"

"It was Adam."

"Copeland?"

"Yeah. Apparently he's bored and figured we might both in town and he invited us over for a Bar-B-Q at his place."

"I take it that this is the first request of this kind?"

"Yeah. He sounded so down on the phone and you know what a pushover I am. We'll stay for a few hours tops. We're probably the only people in Tampa that he can probably stomach."

"Fine. At least Adam's not boring which is more than I can say for some of the people you choose to associate with," Punk smiling faintly.

"What's that look for?"

"Nothing, nothing. Let's go grab a shower and get dressed and then we'll go over."

They eventually dressed and grabbed their swimsuits and went over to Adam's. When John knocked on the door it was opened by Christian who seemed shocked to find them on the doorstep.

"What the fuck!" John yelled.

"Give us a second," and Punk pulled John a little ways down the sidewalk while he could hear Christian yelling for Adam who apparently didn't bother to tell any of his guests who would be in attendance. "Listen, I forgave Christian a while ago for what happened, there's no need to get all worked up. He's back with Adam now and there's nothing to worry about."

"You don't seem surprised by this in the slightest."

"I knew they were back together and when you said Adam invited us over I just assumed Christian would be here as well. Do we need to leave?"

"Do you really want to stay?" John asked hoping for a negative response.

"Come on, they are some of the few people that know about us and they definitely won't judge us or go running off their mouths. It might be fun."

"If Christian steps over the line…"

"Yeah, yeah, you're going to go all possessive boyfriend on him."

They walked back to the front door where Adam was waiting with Christian looking at John over Adam's shoulder.

"Listen, John, you and Christian can go onto the patio and make peace or fight it out or whatever. Punk and I will be in the kitchen," Adam said escorting them to the door and pushing both men out.

Punk looked at Adam and shook his head, "If they both end up bloody it's all on you."

John stared stonily at Christian who seemed to be getting more uncomfortable as the silence wore on. Obviously it got to him when he started talking hurriedly.

"I know what I did was fucked up but Adam had broken up with me and I was so upset and I just wanted to make him jealous."

John just nodded.

"Not that I want to get attacked again or anything but Punk's…"

"Highly irresistible, which I am well aware of. I'm willing to let it go this once because the list of people Punk and I can be ourselves around is a very short and Punk considers you a friend but you step one toe out of line..."

"I get the message, thank you John. Let's get back inside so that Adam and Punk can stop attempting to read our lips. Adam's probably got a glass against the window trying to hear what we're saying," and they went back inside.

"Good. Now that the macho posturing is all finished let's go outside and have some fun," Adam said leading them all out to the backyard.

John actually found himself having a pretty good time. They horsed around in the pool and the food was good and he and Punk didn't have to hide their relationship. There was only one moment when John caught Adam eyeing Punk but he couldn't really blame the guy and held himself in check.

Eventually the sun went down and they moved inside to watch the last UFC pay per view that Adam had DVR'd. Adam and Christian left John and Punk in the living room while they went to get drinks from the kitchen and were in there for quite a while. When they finally came back Christian dimmed the lights, sitting next to John with Adam next to him.

They were watching the fights for a while when John felt fingers skim over the back of this neck. He looked over at Punk who was slouched in his seat with his hands crossed over his chest, engrossed in what was happening on the TV. John just passed it off as an accident. Adam got up and went into the kitchen and when he returned he moved to the other side of the sofa next to Punk.

John was momentarily confused when Christian moved closer to him on the sofa, their bodies pressed together. John was shocked when Christian's hand found his way to his knee and he nuzzled the side of John's neck. John looked over at Punk who was staring at John with wide eyes, Adam's hand sliding over Punk's chest.

John jumped up, grabbing Punk's hand and pulling him up off the sofa.

"We really need to get going. We had a great time; we'll do it again sometime."

John dragged Punk with him to the door and hustled him into the car. They had maybe gone a couple of hundred feet when Punk burst out laughing.

"Yeah, laugh it up, I should have known something was up by the way Adam was looking at you and you're not the one who had Christian all over you."

"Well, I'm sure you told Christian not to touch me, you brought that all on yourself," and Punk starting laughing hysterically.

"Will you stop your cackling, E&C just tried to seduce us. We're never going over there again."

"We'll just tell them that as flattered as we are we just don't swing that way. Wait, who am I kidding, of course they'll try again, they're them. You could have just let the poor things watch," Punk said jokingly.

"I do not share!"

Punk just kept laughing.

November 28, 2011

Monday Night Raw

John and Punk entered the arena in Columbia. For once Punk knew who he would be facing without Laurinaitis scheduling him for some on the spot match. Del Rio would be getting his rematch and most definitely walking out with nothing. John however was not scheduled for a match but Roddy Piper had asked for his presence on a special Piper's Pit that night. Punk was well schooled in Piper's volatility because he himself shared the same trait. They made their way to the locker room, John just watching Punk changed into his gear and then pulling on his street clothes over them because he was booked for the main event and the end of the show.

Punk watched John leave for the ring with trepidation. He took a seat in the monitor bay between Melina and Randy. Randy had been uncommunicative lately, it was obvious his mind was somewhere else, probably on Wade Barrett who seemed to have Randy's number.

Punk turned to Melina who also looked particularly grim.

"What's wrong? Who do I need to go choke out in an abandoned hallway?"

"Laurinaitis. I've been released. Well, I guess you could say that I've been "Future Endeavored."

"You're kidding me. You're one of the most skilled Divas we have."

"No matter how skilled I am I haven't had a match in months. They're done with me, so John is done with the WWE."

"What!"

"This is his last match for the WWE. After that we'll just have to see what happens."

"Is he considering another promotion?"

"Not right now. I think he just wants to take some time to get his body back to 100% and then maybe try acting or something. Of course I feel guilty as hell. I'm basically the reason he's leaving. He's giving up his dream because the WWE finds me useless. I know for sure now that he loves me and would do anything for me, that's something at least."

"I'm going to miss the hell out of you woman."

"There's always the phone, I need my updates on the state of you and John's relationship, and I'm sure if I pester you enough you're going to give up the juicy details eventually."

Punk leaned over and kissed Melina on the temple, Melina looked up at Punk with a strained smile and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Not to be mushy or anything because I know it's neither one of our speeds, but I want to thank you for giving me a chance. Everyone else wrote me off but you still wanted to be my friend," Melina said quietly so that no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"I've never been one to follow the crowd. I have no idea who I'm supposed to mock our co-workers with now. John can only take so much of that before his boy scout side makes an appearance," Punk grabbed Melina's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He was going to miss that crazy bitch.

Punk turned to face the monitor in an even worse mood than he had been in before. Laurinaitis was taking away his best friend and Morrison was leaving with her. That was two members of his close knit group of people he considered to be his true friends. He would still have John, of course, and Randy, but these days Randy seemed to be trapped in that place in his head that Punk knew he was better off knowing as little as possible.

The three of them turned to the monitor as the signature began to run on the screen. The show opened with Piper making his way to the ring. Piper started talking about how the fans made him what he was. Punk could see the train wreck coming from a mile away, this was going to be ten times worse than This is Your Life. John eventually made his way into the arena and Punk was thankful that the crowd seemed to be split down the middle in their opinion of John so it was unlikely that he was going to let Piper get the better of him.

Piper introduced John as someone that didn't care what the fans though of him which John took exception to. Punk knew that the fans were highly important to him, even the ones that would like to see him jump off a bridge. As the show went on Punk could see that John was upset but trying to smile through the horrid situation he found himself in. Punk found himself agreeing with Piper that John needed to tell all those fans that booed him exactly what he thought of them. John started going down the list of some of the most brutal crowds he had ever faced, one being Chicago at Money in the Bank.

Piper started to praise John and that's when Punk knew that Piper had something up his sleeve that John wouldn't like one bit. Piper went so far as to call John a future Hall of Famer and Piper handed John his Hall of Fame ring and then just as quickly Piper cocked his hand back and slapped John across the face, the sound reverberating through the building. Punk saw red and was ready to go out there and GTS Piper but Randy restrained him and Punk watched as John struggled not to give Piper the same slap he had given him and just walked away back up the ramp.

Punk jumped up from his seat and rushed to the arena entrance, making it there just in time as John was making his way through the curtains. John grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down the hallway where he found an empty room and locked the door behind them. Punk could see the livid handprint across John's cheek. John dropped Punk's wrist and slid down the door, his legs tucked into his chest and his head resting on them. This wasn't the angry John he had seen periodically the last few weeks, this John was completely despondent.

"I can take the hostile crowds, people yelling at me on the street, but now I'm getting smacked around by Hall of Famers! When the fuck is this going to end? I would have AA'd the bastard if I thought I wouldn't break a WWE legend in half. I can't tell the fans what I think of their hatred of me but I damn well wanted to tell Piper exactly what I thought of him."

"Maybe he's right. Maybe you would feel better if you just let loose on the fans. I can tell you from personal experience that it's quite a relief to get that stuff off your chest. This Rise Above Hate stuff is only going to make you feel a little bit worse every day until you just can't take it anymore and you're going to go off one thousand times worse than if you just calmly relayed to the fans that they could kiss your ass."

"My career has been on the fast track to hell since Money in the Bank, no offense; I don't know what else could possibly happen to make this worse."

"Could you please try not to jinx yourself. WrestleMania is a long time from now, and even then, when you beat the Rock, it's going to get even worse," Punk said, crouching down so that he could see John's face and not the back of his head. John looked up at Punk, and then pulled him down until he was sitting between John's spread legs, his back resting against John's chest. John dropped a kiss onto Punk's neck and then buried his face in Punk's neck.

They stayed that way for a while, until Punk spoke up. "I really don't want to break this up but I need to get back to the monitor bay for Melina."

"What's wrong?"

"Morrison and Melina are leaving the WWE, its John's last match tonight against the Miz."

"Let's go then," and Punk stood up dragging John up after him.

They made their way to the monitor bay where Melina was practically in tears.

"What happened?" Punk asked soothingly.

"Miz attacked John with a lead pipe while he was making his way toward the ring. John's wrestling on one leg but he still seems to be getting the better of Miz. John and Punk looked up at the monitor seeing Miz crawling away from the ring and up the ramp, John pursuing him. Miz had obviously been luring John in when he jumped up and threw John into part of the set. Melina's hands flew over her mouth. They watched as Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale on John on the grating of the ramp. John wasn't moving. Melina jumped out of her seat and took off to the arena entrance at a run. Punk and John kept watching as the paramedics strapped John to a board and wheeled him out. If this was how the night was starting out Punk began to despair over his Championship match later in the show.

Punk watched as Laurinaitus came on the screen with Otunga in Laurinaitis' office. Punk got up from his seat, knowing this was a conversation he should be in on, and he had spent some time preparing a new round of insults inspired by the WWE's sudden obsession with the internet. He had to do something to get his brain out of the dark state of mind he currently found himself the victim of. By the time he made it to Laurinaitis' office Laurinaitis had also been joined by del Rio and Rodriguez. Punk thought this couldn't work out any better, the more people to mock the better he would feel.

"156,000 is the amount of hits you get when you type in Laurinaitis and spineless into Google search. 918,000, that's the number of hits you get when you type in Alberto del Rio and boring. Congratulations Berto, you are somehow 9 times more boring that Johnny here is spineless. Otunga, I typed your name in too but all I got was a bunch of hits about someone named Jennifer Hudson."

Punk went on to rub it in that there was no way he wasn't leaving as Champion and he walked out the door. When he arrived back in the monitor bay he saw John watching the hallway. When John caught sight of him, he joined him in the hallway, leading him a little ways away from the rest of the roster.

"Not that we need anything else to go wrong tonight but after you left Laurinaitis decided that if you get yourself intentionally disqualified you will lose your Championship."

"Well, it's been awhile since I've gotten myself intentionally disqualified, and I wasn't planning on doing that tonight, but it wasn't so long ago that Rodriguez got me disqualified by beating Mark Henry with a shoe. I'm just going to have to keep my eyes open if I don't want to be screwed because that's never happened before," Punk said sarcastically.

They settled down to watch the rest of the show, but it was obvious that Punk's mind was on his Championship match and not what was on the screen. The watched as Randy lost to Ziggler due to interference from Barrett. It would be only a matter of time before Randy went totally crazy on someone. John didn't even try to talk to Randy when he took his place in the monitor bay, he wasn't suicidal.

Punk got even more wound up when Daniel Bryan came to the ring for an interview with that jackass Michael Cole. So what if Bryan decided to cash in early instead of at WrestleMania. A lot of people, including him, may have had grand ideas for their briefcase but when the perfect opportunity presented itself you took it. Bryan was an old friend from their indie days but as he knew all too well the WWE wasn't exactly kind to wrestlers that had found fame outside the WWE before joining the company. He wondered if Cole knew how close he was to "getting his fucking head kicked in" as they used to chant in ROH.

The only really strange thing to happen last night, which was saying something in the WWE, was when Evan suddenly yelled from a few seats down from him, "What the hell was that?"

Evan immediately whipped his phone out and started typing quickly. Before long he had a large group of his co-workers clustered around him staring at the tiny screen on his phone. Punk and John waited for the crowd to clear out. His co-workers had assembled in groups around the room talking furiously about whatever they had just seen. Punk and John leaned over Evan's shoulder, watching the clip that had set the room abuzz. It turned out that the link had briefly shown on the screen and Evan, who was considered one of the most tech savvy guys in the back had caught it.

The video was creepy as hell and apparently was announcing the return of someone on January 2, 2012. Punk thought back over the recent additions to the WWE roster and not a single one of them had turned out particularly well for either him or John. He had no idea what "It Begins" was supposed to mean but he had a feeling that whatever ominous thing this promo was predicting, it would no doubt come to bite him in the ass.

The theories around the room seemed to center on the Undertaker and Chris Jericho. He wasn't really concerned about the Undertaker but if it was Jericho then it was definitely something he needed to be worrying about.

The disturbing promo trend continued when they showed a clip that was obviously predicting the return of Kane. Raw was quickly turning into an episode of Tales from the Crypt.

It was finally time for Punk's match, John walking him to the arena entrance, pausing briefly in the hallway for Josh Mathews to get a sound bite from Punk on his way to the match. John stood out of frame as Punk told Mathews that Laurinaitis could kiss his ass. They resumed their walk to the arena entrance.

"Kiss your ass? Isn't that a little out of the realm of our PG rating?" John asked even though he was still chuckling from Punk's outburst.

"You can disarm the censors so that we keep our rating while I sneak in foul language if I want to. Anyway, the kiddies are probably tucked into bed by now."

They passed the side entrance to the ring just as del Rio's car was pulling into the arena. Both men just looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They stood in front of the arena entrance and John placed his hands on Punk's shoulders, lightly massaging them. John touched his forehead to Punk's and started speaking softly.

"You've beat del Rio a handful of times, tonight shouldn't be any different, just don't get yourself intentionally disqualified, you're going to have to be on your toes because I'm sure del Rio or that sneaky bastard Rodriguez are going to be looking for any opportunity to frame you for something you didn't do."

Punk just nodded his head as his music cued up. John gave Punk's shoulders one last squeeze and sent him out into the arena. John decided to wait by the entrance for Punk and watched as Punk made his way to the ring on the monitor he could see over the shoulder of the production tech.

John watched as del Rio was in full control of the offense. Del Rio might be pretentious as all hell but the man was an adept wrestler. The match had been going on for ten minutes without any sign of shady behavior from del Rio or Rodriguez. The crowd may hate him but they were fully behind Punk and he couldn't fault their taste in that.

The matched veered away from fairness when del Rio started to unlace the padding on one of the turnbuckles while the official was checking on Punk. The official turned around in time to catch del Rio in the act and stop him from completing his actions. While the official was fixing the turnbuckle Rodriguez threw a chair into the ring and what happened next was a move taken directly from the Eddie Guererro playbook. Del Rio banged the chair on the mat to simulate contact and threw the chair to Punk. Punk looked at the chair and then threw it back to del Rio and Punk threw himself down on the canvas. While Punk was playing nice with the other kids these days his nefarious mindset was still functioning.

The official turned around just in time to see del Rio throw the chair away and then saw Punk laid out on the mat. The official moved to disqualify del Rio but he was doing anything in this power to prevent the official from doing so. Punk tried to sneak a roll up pin while del Rio was distracted but del Rio kicked out. Rodriguez got up onto the apron, distracting the official while del Rio fully exposed the turnbuckle. He tried to slam Punk's head into the metal but Punk fought out and GTS'd del Rio with his head striking the steel instead of Punk's knee like usual. Punk got the pin.

Rodriguez immediately got into an argument with the official trying to explain what Punk had pulled but if the official didn't see it then it didn't happen. Punk entered the conversation obviously denying everything. He must have gotten bored because he GTS'd Rodriguez leaving both del Rio and his stooge out of it.

After celebrating his win Punk made his way backstage and met John who was smiling slightly.

"I see your sense of fair play isn't entirely intact."

"I played as fair as he did. Anyway, it's what he gets for screwing up my shoulder once again. At least this should end things between del Rio and me. He had his rematch and he botched the job. There's probably a line of people who think they're number one contender forming outside Laurinaitis' office as we speak."

"Come on. Let's get you back to the hotel room so you can begin your ritual of Icy Hot and ice packs. That's one thing I won't miss because there's nothing sexy about that smell, it reminds me of my grandfather which is a cockblock of ultimate proportions."

AN: Hope everyone had a good holiday. I want to send a shout out to all of you who have put out fic lately, you've made me a very happy girl cause you can never have enough Cena/Punk stories. I wrote this while watching Impact for the first time in my life and I have deduced that WWE is not in any sort of trouble because we're not selling advertising space on the turnbuckles just yet. Hope you enjoy the new fic. BTW, sorry for dangling the group sex at you and then jerking it back but my John just isn't down with sharing unfortunately for us all.