The Red Ornament
Rated: K+
Disc: Not my men
Main characters: Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels
Mentions of: Owen Hart, Nattie Neidhart
Summary: Shawn wants to bury the hatchet with Bret before he returns. He's hoping an old ornament might hold the key to a potential peace.
Pairing: None!
Warnings: None! …Some language, slight dealing with death.
A/N: This is a gift fic for XxShawn's Guardian AngelxX. Thank you for doing the Secret Santa Challenge, I had fun. I wanted to write something as a gift for you, and I really hope you'll like it. Thanks again, and have a happy holiday! I really had a good time.

-

"I don't want it to be awkward." Shawn frowned as he looked down at his clothing he had packed in his suitcase. "Because I know it's going to be more than just a little bit awkward. You know how much I hate that." He adjusted the cell phone so it better rested between his shoulder and ear.

"Well Shawn, what do you want to do about it? What's done is done. Hart doesn't want to move on, I wouldn't worry about it. Just avoid him."

Shawn listened closely to Hunter's answer on the other end of the line. He sighed quietly. "But that's not who I am anymore. I want to get over it, start something new. I just don't know how." He folded up a pair of jeans as he listened to Hunter continue on. He moved aside a towel in the suit case, his fingers gently grazing over something hard and plastic. Shawn blinked, grasping the object. In his hand was a small, round, red ornament. It reflected his surprised expression in the smooth surface. "…Hunter, I have to go. I have to finish packing and I need to book a new flight. I'll see you next week- have a merry Christmas." He hung up his phone, staring down at the ornament. Wordlessly, he put it into his pocket and headed out the door to the airport, suitcase in hand.

-

One long flight to Canada, and a bitter cold walk in the Calgary weather later Shawn arrived at a doorstop he'd never thought he'd come across again. He clenched his fingers into a fist, keeping the other hand around the red ornament in his pocket. He knocked on the dark wood door, sucking in a breath behind his thick scarf. His stomach turned over, a bit of sweat forming at the back of his neck despite the frigid temperatures. He danced nervously from foot to foot, trying to crush the nervousness down into the snow beneath his feet.

The door knob clicked and turned over, the door slowly opening. Nattie frowned at the stranger on her uncle's door knob. "Can I help you?"

"Nattie it's me, Shawn." He said pulling down the wool scarf a bit. "I'm here to see your uncle. We need to talk, I want to clear the air and-"

"Geez, it's not that cold out Michaels. What are you wearing- like six coats, three scarves, a set of ear muffs and a hat?" She arched an eyebrow.

Shawn defensively put his hand over his ears. "I live in a place where it never reaches below 40 degrees! It's inhuman out here! And for your information, it's two sweaters, a turtleneck, two pairs of pants, one coat, two scarves and yes… ear muffs and a hat. It's called layering, and it's smart." He shook his head. "But that's not the point! Where's your uncle, is he in?"

Nattie shifted her position, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I don't know if I should tell you. I don't know if I can trust you."

"Nattie please, I'm really here to apologize. I wouldn't have come all of this way, and be freezing my ass off on Bret's stoop if I didn't mean it." He looked at her pleadingly, trying his best to look his most honest.

Nattie sucked in a breath and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Every year Bret donates a ton of money in Owen's name to the children's hospital. At the city park during Christmas time they honor the donors by putting their names on ornaments on three different trees. He's there; making sure Owen's got an ornament. He does that every year too, for hours sometimes."

"Oh I see. Where's the-"

"Down the street a bit; you'll be able to see it as you start walking. If you go now, you'll be able to catch him." She pointed off in the right direction down the street.

"Thanks, Nattie."

She nodded to him, and shut the door over. Shawn turned around and headed down the street toward the park. After a bit of walking, he saw the city park up ahead. Behind the iron gate were three midsized pine trees adorned with countless ornaments. Shawn approached the gate, quietly watching an older man make his way meticulously around the trees.

"I know you're here somewhere."

The husky timbre of Bret's voice hadn't changed in all of those years. Shawn watched him turn over each ornament, glancing at the name, then moving on to the next one. The blonde headed over to the gate, approaching the older man from behind. He cleared his throat, catching Bret's attention.

Bret turned glancing at the stranger. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you need to look?"

"Bret, it's me."

The older man gave him a brief, confused look before it began to sink in. His expression instantly hardened. "What do you want?" He asked coolly. "How did you find me out here?"

"I want to clear the air, Bret. Please don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Bret turned his back on him. "I'm not in the mood for this; I have more important things to do." He went back to turning over ornaments, grumbling nonsensical words in the process.

Shawn stood there fidgeting. "I'm sorry for interrupting you. Can I help you find Owen's name?"

Bret looked to the blonde with a shocked look. "How did you…? …I don't care. Do what you want."

Shawn nodded, heading over to the other tree. Moments of silence passed as the two men hunted for Owen's ornament. "Maybe he's hiding it from you on purpose."

"Maybe. I wouldn't be surprised." Bret muttered.

"We'll find it." Shawn promised, digging into the second tree.

"The one year I couldn't find it. No matter how hard I searched. He hid it from me very well. Every since then, I haven't given up. I won't leave till I find it."

The two men continued to dig in the cold weather, crunching over snow and pine needles in the process. Noise from their boots broke the quiet concentration as minutes ticked by. Shawn grabbed up a gold ornament with a red glittered writing on the surface. It spelt out Owen Hart in big letters. "I found it."

"You're kidding me." Bret made his way over, taking the ornament from Shawn's hand. "So you did. You found him." He put the ornament on the tree right out in the front for all to see, and then turned to stare at Shawn a bit awkwardly. "Thanks."

Shawn shoved his hands into his pockets, looking down at the ground. "You're welcome."

"Why are you really here?"

Bret's blunt words hit him over the head like a club. He coughed into his hand. "I don't want it to be awkward when you come back. I want your return to be fun. I want what happened to be over with. I um… I brought you something as a good faith gift." He pulled out the red ornament, and held it out to Bret.

"…You came all this way to give me a cheap plastic ornament? …Worse yet as a good faith gesture?"

"Wait Bret, let me finish. Thirteen years ago…"

-

1996

-

Shawn stood off alone by the huge WWF Christmas tree. He sipped slowly at his rum spiked egg nog, wanting no more than to sink into the branches of the tree and vanish out of sight. Hunter wasn't there, leaving him all alone at the company party. He sat his nog down on the table, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

"No way is HBK a wall flower." Owen came up to Shawn with a big smile on his face. "I stole some of the petit fours before Bret nabbed them all up. I figured you might like one, as they are good."

Shawn gave him a half smile, picking one of them up off the plate. "Thanks Owen, I do like these. Anyway, HBK isn't a wall flower but Shawn Michaels is, especially at a big party like this. My friends are all you know... M.I.A. I shouldn't have come."

"Don't talk like that." Owen sat the plate down on the table by Shawn's discarded egg nog. "I'm your friend, aren't?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"I know, I know. I'm not big nose but… Wait." He eyed a red plastic ornament on the tree and pulled it off. It reflected their reflections back at them in distorted way. "Check this out." He tilted his head back, increasing the size of his nose in the image reflected back in the ornament. "My nose is huge now. So you got a blonde guy with a big nose talkin' to ya. Are you feeling more at home now or what?"

Shawn burst out laughing. "Oh come on Owen, that's not very nice."

"Yeah, but you're laughing so that makes you and I both not very nice people." Owen winked at him and slapped his back. "Now stop trying to hide over here in the corner and come join the party. You can hang out with me." He held the ornament up to his face. "I'll be your pseudo Hunter for the day. I got the nose for it; at least in the ornament."

"Alright, alright. You talked me into it." Shawn shook his head. "You're too much Owen, you're a funny guy."

"Hey, I'm funny when it counts." He passed Shawn the ornament. "Merry Christmas."

"And just what am I supposed to do with this?" He made a face at the ornament. "I can't just take it."

"Sure you can. Put an earring hook through it and wear it for all I care. The company won't miss one ornament."

-

"So I kept it." Shawn murmured looking at the ornament. "It's been with me ever since. I figured that if I came here and gave you this, you know I'd be sincere when I say that I just want the ugliness to be over. Please take it."

Bret stared at Shawn's protected face, and then down to the ornament in his outstretched, gloved hand. He reached out and closed Shawn's fingers around the rounded shape. "I can't take that. That's a beautiful memory of Owen, and one you should always have. It'd be wrong of me to take it, and he'd be mad at me for it. But I appreciate you telling me, and finding him on the tree. For that I… I know you're serious about getting on with things. I really, really appreciate you coming to do this. You really have changed, Shawn Michaels. However, you do know that no matter what we do, we'll have to do a story line on it, right?"

Shawn shifted a little, putting the ornament back into his pocket. "I know."

A silence fell over them as the wind whipped up, shaking the trees and blowing up snow from the ground in elegant swirls around the two men. Bret suddenly frowned as a new noise entered the calm of the park. "What the hell's that tapping sound?"

"You mean the chattering?"

"Yeah, where the hell is that coming from?" He asked glancing around.

"Me. It's my teeth. I'm freezing my ass off out here." Shawn grumbled.

Bret gave him a rare smile. "You are such a wimp; it's not that cold out. Come on, I'll buy you a hot chocolate or something. We can talk more about this then."

The two men headed side by side toward the gate of the park. Bret turned to look at him, eyeing the younger man with some level of scrutiny. "Did you gain weight?"

"No!" He said hotly. "It's layers! I'm wearing multiple layers to prevent my ass from freezing out here! Not everyone can withstand these temperatures, you know."

"Yeah, we're not wimps like you Shawn." Bret laughed. "You just don't want to admit it."

"I am not a wimp. Who is the one who starts getting sluggish when the temperature rises past seventy degrees? You're calling me a wimp." He scoffed but had a big smirk on his face. "Come on Hart, I want that hot chocolate- otherwise you're gonna have to thaw me out."

"Alright, relax HBK-cicle. I won't let you freeze over before we have our big showdown." The two men said nothing more as a comfortable peace fell over them both. Snowflakes fell gently down, covering the ornaments on the trees in a glistening white as Owen's now revealed ornament proudly stood out amongst the others.

FIN

-I hope you liked it XxShawn's Guardian AngelxX! And for the rest of you reading it, I hope you enjoyed it too. Happy Holidays everyone!