Disclaimer: I don't own any recognizable people/characters, only the few OC's that will appear.

A/N: So here you go- the sequel to Time Withers All. A bit more of a mystery this time, but still (hopefully) good. I won't update for another week because I'm going to be on vacation, but after that I'll try to update semi-regularly. Also, this takes place pre-draft (like Time Withers All), so everyone is where they were before then and McMahon hasn't had that bizarre accident that no one knows anything about because they aren't doing anything with it. Finally, information about origin of the series and where I got the title from can be found on my profile.

"Man, I can't wait to wrestle again!" Jeff said for about the millionth time that night. About nine months ago he had injured his back in a match against Randy Orton. His injury had worsened until it reached the point where he couldn't even walk. He had then gone through surgery and months of painful therapy until finally last week he returned to attack Orton, with the help of Matt and Shawn. Now he was just waiting to go out to the ring to do a promo that would set up for a match later that night- his first match since his return.

Matt laughed. "I can't wait either, but seriously, stop saying that!" Matt could understand his brother's enthusiasm; after all he hadn't wrestled in nine months either, since he was looking after his brother while he was injured. Still, as much as he loved his brother, he could only listen to him repeat himself for so long before it really started to annoy him.

"Sorry, Matt," Jeff chuckled. "It's just…" His voice trailed off. How was Jeff supposed to describe what he was feeling? There was a time when he didn't even think he would be able to walk again, let alone wrestle, and here he was, about to set up his first match in months. There weren't words that could describe how he felt.

Matt just grinned at him. "I know," he said quietly. And he did. He was there with his brother throughout the whole ordeal; he knew how Jeff was feeling right now, since it was extremely similar to what he was feeling.

"Matt, Jeff, you two are going out in five," one of the stagehands said, interrupting their conversation.

"Thanks," Jeff called to her as she walked away. He stood up and stretched slightly. "Guess we should head over there then."

The two of them made their way over to the gorilla position. To their surprise, Shawn was already waiting there. "Hey, Shawn," Matt said as they walked up. "Are you going out there with us?"

"Yeah, Creative wants me out there tonight for the end of our feud with Orton, since they're going to put you two into that new storyline," he explained.

Jeff frowned. "What new storyline?" He asked. "I thought the two of us were just going to feud with Orton for a bit until they figured out where they were going to take this."

"I don't know, I assumed you two knew about this," Shawn said. "All I was told was that the three of us were going to stop things with Orton tonight, since I've feuded with him for long enough and you two were moving on to something else."

"Guess we'll find out when we go out there, then," Jeff said. "And we'll just bluff our way through everything tonight if we have to."

The three of them got the cue that they were going to be heading out in a matter of seconds. "Well, no time to worry about it now," Matt said as Jeff's music started up and the two of them ran out.

They took their time getting down to the ring, taking in the sounds of the arena chanting for them for the first time in months and just enjoying the feeling of finally being able to return to the business that they both loved. When they finally reached the ring they climbed onto the turnbuckles, playing up to the crowd and getting them going even more than they already were. After they climbed down they grabbed microphones and just stood in the center of the ring for a few seconds, listening to the "Hardy! Hardy!" chant that had started up, both of them grinning madly.

"Man, it feels good to be back!" Jeff said. The crowd started cheering madly again, but Jeff couldn't afford to waste anymore time waiting for them to calm down. "At first I never thought I was going to be here again, since my back was only getting worse and worse. Finally, when it reached the point where my legs couldn't support my weight and I was told I needed surgery and would never wrestle again." He laughed. "Obviously, that didn't happen. Thank you to my doctor for fixing me up, thank you to whoever in the locker room sent me the rainbow bear, since I got a good laugh out of it, and thank you to my awesome brother for just being there for me through all of this. Because of all of this, I am finally back!"

Matt laughed and picked up where Jeff left off. "Don't let my brother fool you; I was just there for moral support," he joked. "Seriously though, Jeff's thanked the people who've helped us outside the WWE, but there was someone here on Raw who kept fighting for us when we weren't here to fight for ourselves. So get out here, Shawn, so we can thank you properly!"

Shawn didn't come out right away; it was a few seconds before he finally appeared and unlike Matt and Jeff he didn't take his time coming down to the ring, though he tried his best not to act rushed. He walked right over to them after he climbed into the ring, acting like he was just glad to see two of his friends after so long and said quietly, "There's been a change of plans."

Jeff resisted the urge to roll his eyes; he couldn't break out of character or go off script in front of the crowd. "Does this have anything to do with the new storyline?"

"I don't know. Someone just caught me on my way out and told me that we need to hurry things up," Shawn said. Matt tried to cover up a laugh; the words didn't quite seem to fit with the smile Shawn was wearing in an attempt to act like nothing was out of the ordinary. "Vince is coming out instead of Orton, though."

"Why is-?" Matt started to ask, but Shawn cut him off.

"I don't know, but we can't waste anymore time. Just start off like we were going to, then follow my lead." Shawn walked over to the side to grab a microphone before rejoining them in the center of the ring.

"Shawn we just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for us while we were out," Jeff said after Shawn was ready. "You have no idea how great it was to know that there was someone back here holding down the fort for us, so to speak."

"Though I have to admit, when we saw you coming out here that first week we were a bit confused. After all, why would you be sticking up for us? But still, like Jeff said, it was just nice to see someone defending us back here," Matt continued where Jeff had left off.

Shawn chuckled. "Well, like I kept telling Orton week after week I always knew you were coming back," he explained. "I'm a bit touchy about people saying that no one can return from a back injury. Besides, it's not like it was too much work fighting him."

The crowd laughed and even Matt and Jeff grinned, though mostly to keep in character. They knew that they were quickly approaching the time when Vince was supposed to come out, but they had no idea what would happen once they reached that point.

"Now Shawn, we know that you're supposed to have a match against Orton tonight but see, you aren't the only one with a score to settle against him," Jeff said. "And we know you've been having problems with Jericho as well."

"The real reason we wanted you out here was to ask if you would let us take care of things tonight," Matt continued. "We were thinking a tag team match- the Hardyz against Orton and Jericho, maybe?" The crowd went wild, excited at the prospect of seeing a match like that, but the people in the ring had to force grins. They knew that, chances were, that match wasn't going to happen and it didn't sit well with any of them.

"You know you don't have to do anything to pay me back," Shawn said. "But if you really want to fight them… why not?"

The audience's cheers were drowned out by the start of Vince McMahon's music. Most people wouldn't notice anything different about the chairman but the three men in the ring tell that he was worried about something, which in turn made them worried. Was he concerned about how well this would go when Matt and Jeff didn't know what was going on or was he worried about how well they would receive the news of their storyline, if that was why he was out there?

"Now, first off I want to congratulate you, Jeff, on your recovery," he began. Jeff nodded slightly to acknowledge what he said, but said nothing. "I'll admit that when I first heard about your injury I didn't think I'd ever see you wrestle again. Unfortunately, tonight you will not be wrestling. In fact, neither you nor your brother will be in matches tonight."

Even with his microphone Jeff was barely heard above the boos of the crowd. "And why the hell not?" he yelled. Matt didn't say anything, but he was still furious. They had both expected to have a match that night, their first in over nine months. Why weren't they fighting?

Shawn touched Jeff and Matt gently on the shoulder. "Calm down you two," he said quietly. "There's going to be a good explanation for this. Just finish what we're out here for and figure things out later."

"Well, see, this mainly has to do with you, Jeff," Mr. McMahon said. "There have been some concerns about whether or not your back can handle the strain of wrestling in a match."

"So you're saying that I'm not going to be allowed to wrestle anymore?" Jeff asked. He was beyond just being angry. This was not the grand return he had envisioned during his months of recovery.

"No, that's not what I'm saying. You can still wrestle, you just won't have a match tonight," Mr. McMahon corrected. "No, the health concerns are more about how your back will handle some of your signature moves, mainly the Swanton Bomb, the Whisper in the Wind, and the Twist of Fate. So it was suggested that you be forbidden from doing these moves- and any other high risk maneuvers- until we could figure out how much damage they could cause."

Jeff was stunned. They couldn't stop him from doing his moves, they couldn't do that. Those moves defined who he was as a wrestler. They couldn't stop him. "And what if I don't intend to listen to you?" He asked.

"Well, if you do perform one of those moves, then you're fired!"

Oh. That was a good way to stop him from doing them, since now that the threat had been made they would have to follow through with it if he did do one of those moves. They had thought of everything and had him cornered. He finally asked the one question that was on his mind. "Why? Why the hell would you come up with something like this?" It might not have been strictly in character, but at that point he didn't care. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

"Oh, I didn't come up with this." Vince said smugly.

"What do you mean you didn't come up with this?" Matt asked.

"Just what I said- this wasn't my idea. I didn't come up with this."

"Then who did?" Matt asked. "Shane? The new GM you've been talking about? Stephanie?" He tacked Mr. McMahon's daughter onto the end. She hadn't been publicly involved with the business recently, but he knew that she was in charge of the creative end of things. He was hoping that this would just be the new storyline they were talking about, in which case they could complain to her in hopes of having her change it.

"No, it wasn't any of their ideas either," Mr. McMahon said. "No, this idea was suggested by one of your coworkers, a WWE wrestler!"

Matt and Jeff stared at each other. One of their coworkers? He had to be kidding. They couldn't think of anyone who hated them enough to suggest this as a plot. Sure, people would do crazy things to get ahead in the company, but that was usually behind the scenes. No one would come up with an entire storyline to try to ruin Jeff's career.

"Who exactly came up with this?" It was Shawn who spoke, the only one among them who could still talk in character and without blowing up at their boss.

"I'm not going to tell you," Vince said. "But I'll make you an offer- I'll give you two months to try to figure it out, Jeff. Have Matt help you if you want, though his moves aren't banned. In two months, at Wrestlemania, if you can tell me who suggested this I'll give you a shot at any title you want."

The crowd was cheering; for the first time that night they liked what Mr. McMahon was saying. Jeff, on the other hand, was more reserved. "And what if I don't figure it out?" He asked cautiously.

Vince grinned evilly. "Well, if you can't figure it out, then the ban on your moves will become permanent!"

XXXXX

"What the hell was that!?" Jeff yelled once they were backstage. "Please, tell me that none of that was true! Tell me that that wasn't the new storyline I'm being put in!"

"Jeff, you have to calm down," Matt said.

"Calm down? Calm down!? Did you not just hear what Vince said out there? How the hell am I supposed to be calm after that?" Jeff didn't know what to think anymore. He was still shocked, completely reeling from the ultimatum that Mr. McMahon had given him. Two months to figure everything out and he couldn't use any of his moves during that time?

"Just because you weren't told about this ahead of time doesn't mean that there aren't more plans for this storyline than what they told you out there," Shawn reminded him.

"Jeff, Vince wants to talk to you-" Jeff was walking away before he had even heard the entire message, fully intent on getting all the information he could on what he had been told out there. He was planning on marching into Mr. McMahon's office and demanding to know what was going on.

He wrenched open the door to Vince's office and stopped. The room was in a state of semi-chaos. He recognized several writers in the room, as well as Stephanie McMahon and the WWE's trainer. He stood in the doorway for a few seconds, just staring at the scene. It wasn't until Matt and Shawn showed up and pushed him inside the room that Vince even noticed him.

"Ah, Jeff, come in, sit down," he said, motioning to an empty chair. Jeff sat down as Mr. McMahon continued talking. "I'm sorry everything's so chaotic right now, but we have a bit of a problem on our hands."

Jeff tried to act calm; after all, the problem wasn't necessarily connected to his storyline. "A problem, sir?

"Yes. You see, your new storyline was a last minute decision, which is why you weren't informed about it ahead of time," Vince began. "The idea was brought to my attention a bit late, but we decided to go ahead with it anyway. Unfortunately, no one is admitting to having come up with the idea. The only thing we know about it is what I told you out there tonight, all of which was true, including the part about a coworker inspiring it- or at least that's what it said on the paper it was written on.

"So you have a couple of options now. Your first option is to stick this through all the way and we'll have someone write out a full storyline for you to follow. Option two is to cut this off before Wrestlemania. Some of the writers think we can pull off having you do a Swanton, then getting half the roster to threaten to quit if I fire you. I'm not completely sold on the idea though, so I would like to avoid that route as much as possible."

"What would you suggest doing then?" Matt asked before Jeff could say something. He knew that his brother wasn't thinking straight and he understood that, but he didn't know how well Mr. McMahon would handle Jeff yelling at him outside the ring.

"I would suggest playing this out without a script," Mr. McMahon said. "Having Jeff and you actually try to see if you can figure out who suggested the storyline. I'll be looking into it as well, of course. If you figure out who it is then we'll write out a new storyline so you can feud with them. Worst case scenario we get someone to agree to have this pinned on them so we won't have to permanently ban your signature moves. Of course you wouldn't be able to use those moves for the next two months, but I was serious about giving you a title shot if you lasted that long."

Jeff thought about it for a moment. He didn't like the idea of not being able to do any of his moves, and consequently loosing quite a few matches in the next month, but it would be interesting to see how this played out and to work without the confines of a finished storyline. He also desperately wanted to find out who was actually behind everything and this was the only way he would be able to do that. Finally, he nodded. "Alright," he said. "We'll do it your way."