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Disclaimer: I own none of these characters.
Kaleidoscope
Chapter 1: Scatter
by katanashi
Note: Takes place on 5/24/01 Smackdown, TLC III. None of this really happened; I'm quite sure both Jeff and Matt got up after the match. But my little twisted mind just had to warp things around =D.
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Jeff Hardy wound the laces around his specialized boots that made his kicks a little more effective than they usually were. He wasn't normally the strongest person out there, so he he needed all the help he could get. The problem was that they were a pain in whatever part of the body to lace up. He missed a loop and groaned. He pushed back a strand of his now-purple hair back, flexed his fingers to work out the kinks, and resumed his work.
"Are we going to make this the best match of our lives?" he heard Matt say.
"Yeah, sure," Jeff mumbled, now having got his finger somehow stuck in between two of the lace-ups. He tried unsuccessfully to free them without disrupting his tedious work.
Matt came over. "Boots again?" he asked casually.
"Yeah." Jeff shrugged nochalantly.
"Need help?"
"Sure." Jeff watched silently as his big brother easily put the lacings in the right places.
Before a minute had passed, Matt had finished. He slapped Jeff's finished boot lightly before straightening. "All set, bro."
Jeff nodded. "Thanks."
* * * * *
They had been to a lot of matches as wrestlers, but this was the craziest match Jeff had seen yet. Tables, ladders, and chairs…and a whole lot of carnage. Edge and Christian were lying motionless on the ground, Benoit was out in a bad way, after that Con-chair-to on his broken ribs, Jericho was on his back, trying just to breathe…
They had all went after Jericho and Benoit first, since they were the champs, but he knew that it wouldn't be enough to take them out. Jericho was rightfully called the Lionheart and Benoit was as tough as his signature animal, the wolverine.
He and Matt had taken their share of beatings. Matt had gotten the crap kicked out of him; Jeff himself had been suplexed fifteen feet off a ladder by D-Von. Jeff winced and put a hand on his back; he could still feel the pain from the impact. He was going to be sore for days after this.
"We have to take Bubba Ray out," Matt said, next to him. They were late in the match; time was running out. Jeff nodded and winced again. Seeing the concerned look Matt shot at him, he managed to paste a smile on his face. His brother was such a worrier. It drove him crazy at times, but Jeff had to admit he wouldn't want it any other way.
"Jeff, are you up to this?"
Jeff steeled himself against the pain as he straightened up. He twisted his back cautiously, relieved to find that although it hadn't faded, the burning in his back was bearable. "Yeah, I can do this." He nodded to his brother. "Let's do this, Matt. Together."
Matt smiled tightly. "Yeah. Together."
They pulled Bubba Ray's feet out from under him and dragged him under the ropes. Jeff slugged him in chest and felt Bubba's fist connect with his jaw in return. He kept up with the punches, knowing that Matt would come soon with help. Sure enough, Matt came running over with a metal box he'd torn from the announcer's table and slammed it into Bubba's head, nearly knocking him out.
Jeff breathed in deeply, rubbing his jaw. "Thanks."
Matt nodded, then reached for a chair. Jeff grabbed his arm and shook his head. "You're not going to finish him off that way," he said. "Bubba's too tough for that."
Matt scowled, acknowledging Jeff's claim, but didn't relinquish his hold on the chair. "Well, have you got a better suggestion?"
Jeff turned towards the folded twenty-foot ladder. His eyes brightened with inspiration as he scampered almost like a little kid to set it up.
Matt tried to grab his arm, but failed. "Jeff, no!" he hissed urgently, the fright obvious in his voice. "You're not going to do something as crazy as that when you're already beat up!"
Jeff swung towards him. "Alright, Matty, then how are we gonna take him out, huh? Chair shots aren't going to work. We're not going to get those titles unless we take out Bubba. You know that." He took the ladder and set it up, struggling to ignore the persistant pain in his back. It had flared up again and was really starting to bother him. He noticed Bubba starting to stir and grimaced. There wasn't much time. Luckily, Matt noticed as well, and grabbed a chair and whacked Bubba soundly over the head, keeping him in lala land. Matt then ushered Bubba onto the now-vacated announcer's table.
"Jeff…" Matt turned back to his brother, who was digging around for another ladder, and ran a hand through his hair, obviously torn. "I don't really want you doing that."
Jeff gave him a knowing smile. "I know you don't. But I want to." He grabbed the fifteen foot ladder and set it up perpendicular to the twenty-foot one. He then climbed to the top of the shorter ladder, and took a deep breath, pausing before readying himself for the plunge.
He knew it was a dangerous, highly risky manuver. But he was Jeff Hardy, high-flying daredevil of the Federation. He was the only one who had the guts, the ability-- and the craziness-- to pull this stuff off.
Jeff gave that cocky smile one last time before placing his hands on the top ladder in front of him, and leaping. For a few seconds, he was flying, feeling that sense of complete freedom, with the air rushing past his fingers, combing his hair with its soft breeze, singing in its breathy whisper in his ear.
The ethereal atmosphere was broke abruptly as he felt himself hit the table with tremendous impact. His lower legs hit Bubba with all the force he had hoped to have, effectively knocking Bubba out entirely. He felt the table breaking and crashing to the ground, his lower back exploding in white-hot pain, and his vision blackening at an alarming rate.
He rolled over from the force of the impact, staying on his side as he struggled desperately to breath. His body felt like it had been broken in half and set on fire-- there was pain everywhere, tangible even through the dark haze that was surrounding him. He half-groaned, not aware of anything anymore. He was out; he knew it. He was vaguely aware of Tazz yelling that he was out cold, or maybe Tazz was talking about Bubba. All he knew was, he was going to need all the Advil he could get.
"Jeff!"
Jeff groaned as his dazed mind was pulled back and became a little more clear. Unfortunately, that meant the pain was back, too. He forced his eyes open and saw Matt staring at him, pure terror in his eyes. He had never seen his brother so frightened. With a start, he realized Matt was worried sick about him, as usual. Forget him! He'd done this for a reason! He caught his brother's eye and motioned slightly towards the ring. "Matt, get the belts!" he mouthed. He might have said it aloud, but he wasn't sure. Matt wouldn't have been able to hear him anyway, not over the bedlam that the crowd and announcers were making.
Whether it had come out or not, Matt got the picture. After reassuring himself that Jeff wasn't dead, he headed towards the ladder.
Jeff watched through half-lidded eyes, fighting to stay conscious. He knew Matt would take some stupid risk now, just because he had. Maybe doing that drop wasn't such a good idea after all…
Matt and D-Von Dudley battled it out on the ladders. Jeff could see Matt exchanging blows in the face with D-Von. 'Go, Matt!' he silently cheered, urging his brother on with all the willpower he could muster. He really wished he had ESP now, or telekinesis. That would be cool. He could lift up D-Von's ladder and toss him outside the ring, without moving an inch.
The blows continued relentlessly from either side. Jeff knew somebody had to take the upper hand. Otherwise, the fight would continue on until someone fell asleep on the ladder. He just hoped it was Matt.
Jeff's breath caught as Matt finally managed to punch D-Von in the gut and wrapped his left arm around D-Von's neck. Matt couldn't do this. He would hurt himself, bad. Twist of Fate wasn't meant to be off a fifteen foot ladder…
'Don't, Matt!'
But Matt only extended his right arm, looked out the crowd, and pulled D-Von off in a Twist of Fate. The sound of the impact made Jeff's stomach turn over. D-Von was knocked out cold, but Matt was hurt too. He was writhing in pain on the ground, trying desperately to get to the ladders, but failing to even get to his feet. Jeff wished he was there to help his brother up, but he was barely able to move himself. Somehow, Matt got to his feet, hoisted the ladder up, and made his way slowly up the ladder, wincing with every step that he took.
All the while, Jeff urged his brother on silently. 'Go, Matt, go!'
That was when Chris Jericho made his way into the ring with a chair. Jeff cursed under his breath at Jericho's inability to stay down. Matt managed to counter Jericho's rather off-beat chair swings, but then Jericho used the momentum he gained off the ropes to push Matt's ladder over.
Jeff's mouth formed a 'O' in a soundless scream of horror as he watched Matt's ladder tip over, his body bouncing off the ropes and finally hitting the mat, where he lay in an unmoving heap.
Jeff finally managed to get his voice working. "Matt! Matt!" he shouted hoarsely, praying, begging, hoping desperately to see his brother get up, to move his arm, to shift his head, to do anything but lay there. "Come on, Matt! Matt!"
But Matt didn't move.
With a superhuman effort, powered only through sheer guts and his love for his brother, Jeff shifted his battered body into an upright position. Using the railing as support, he forced himself to his feet and struggled to find his way through the debris that he'd caused. Bubba was still out cold, he noted with a certain sense of satisfaction-- his nearly thirty foot leg drop had done its work. But now, Bubba-- and the titles-- had all but faded into obscurity, as he limped his way towards Matt.
'Please, God, don't let Matty be hurt too bad…' he begged with all his heart. He couldn't bear it if Matt was killed or hurt badly.
He finally made it to Matt's side. "Matty! Matt! Wake up!" he said urgently, tugging at his brother's arm. "Matty!" He was whining, and he knew it, but he didn't give a care in the world. If whining would wake Matt up, then he would whine until the end of the world.
He heard the bell, the cheers, the groans of pain behind him, but they all mixed into one unimportant roar that he shoved behind him. What was important was right in front of him, lying in an unconscious heap.
Jeff looked up to see medics running down with a stretcher. Three of them began attending to Matt while a fourth pulled Jeff away.
Despite his sub-par condition, Jeff fought back. "Let me go! That's my brother!"
The medic gently but firmly restrained him. "Mr. Hardy, I understand that's your brother, but you're going to have to leave him to us now. We'll take care of him."
"But…I…" The strain finally got the best of Jeff and he slumped to the ground, exhausted. The medic fussed over him, scolding him for pushing his body too hard and calling for another medic so they could help him up the ramp. Jeff was vaguely aware of his arms being slung around two other peoples' shoulders, but his eyes and mind were focused on Matt's still-motionless body that was now being carried up the ramp ahead of him to a waiting ambulance.
The medic's words rang in his head. Leave him…leave him…leave him…
Matt had never left Jeff behind, even when it had cost Matt big-time.
Memories flashed before him…a seven-year old Matt sighing as he tried to pull a toddling Jeff along with one hand while holding onto their mother's with the other…Matt trying to hide his fond smile as Jeff attacked his Christmas presents…
Jeff would have smiled if he hadn't been so worried, as he remembered one in particular. It involved Matt, Jeff, Matt's then-girlfriend…and a lollipop.
"Lollipops," he murmered in a wry, but fond tone.
"What?"
He looked up, noticing for the first time that he was sitting backstage with Amy, who was unwrapping a roll of gauze. The medics had left. And so had Matt.
He jumped to his feet. "Matt! How is he?"
Amy shoved him back down in the chair. "They took him to the hospital, dummy. You just saw him a minute ago."
"How is he?"
"Jeff, they're probably not even at the hospital yet. But I'm sure Matt will be fine." Jeff didn't miss the flicker of worry that passed over Amy's eyes. She turned away quickly and fumbled for some Neosporin.
He watched numbly as she medicated a small cut on his arm. She finished it with a flourish as she stuck a colorful bandaid on it. Jeff peered at it.
"Power Rangers?" The mix of curiosity and incredulousness brought a flush to Amy's face.
"I thought the first red ranger was cute," she muttered. "My little cousins made me watch it all the time, and I saw these on sale, so I bought them."
Jeff nodded. "Uh huh. Suuuurrree--"
Amy whacked him lightly. As he ouched and rubbed his already sore arm, her gaze softened somewhat.
"I'm sorry, Jeff," she said honestly. "I'm just a little uptight about Matt. I mean, he took a really hard fall out there."
"He hit his head," Jeff said. "And he didn't wake up." His troubled green gaze met hers, begging for reassurance.
Amy sighed. "Oh, Jeff, I don't think he's hurt that bad. He's not going to die." Sometimes she wondered about this younger Hardy brother. Jeff tried to act mature most of the time, but there were spots of childishness that seemed to mark him as more half-kid and half-adult. There were other things too-- his curiousity, his lack of fear, and most of all, his occassional vulnerability. Amy could tell that Jeff loved Matt more than anything, having grown up with only his big brother to look out for him, and was dependant on Matt for his support even if Jeff wouldn't admit it. It had taken time for Jeff to be able to compete in singles matches effectively; before, only Matt's presence outside the ring had enabled Jeff to concentrate. Amy sighed again and and toyed with her hair absently.
"I'm worried, Amy. He had to have had at least a concussion," Jeff said quietly.
Amy looked up quickly, not missing the tremor of fear in Jeff's voice. "Jeff, I'm sure he'll be alright. Worst of worst, he won't be able to wrestle for awhile, but Matt will be fine." She deftly pulled his shirt off.
Jeff was caught by surprise and instinctively tried to stop her. "H-hey! What are you doing?" he spluttered.
Amy stopped and barely held back a laugh. "I'm not trying to make a move on you, silly. I'm going to tape up your ribs."
Jeff pulled his knees up to his chest stubbornly, shivering. "I'm fine." Catching Amy's dubious glance, he scowled and turned away. "I just want to see Matt," he muttered mournfully.
Amy stepped back and regarded him thoughtfully. "Then let's go see Matt," she said suddenly. She threw her stuff together in a disorganized pile and tossed them in a duffel bag. "Come on, Jeff. Get your stuff."
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Author's Notes: Well, thanks to I Hear Voices In My Head, I am now liberally switching back and forth between Amy/Lita, but I think I'm going to stick with Amy =D. I hope this will be a sort of heart-to-heart fic between all the Xtreme members, but I have no idea what I'm going to do w/ it as of yet, so I'm definetely open to any ideas. Did I make Jeff too childish?
Chapter 2 is almost ready to go...just need an ending...grr..
Comments and feedback always appreciated ^^.
Ja ne! ~katanashi
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