Disclaimer: Well seeing as have not said this in awhile and knowing how someone ppl can get coughvincecough I will reiterate I don't own anything to do with the wwe, I just own my thoughts and the framework of this fictional story. OK ?

A/N: Well the skys open and out of the darkness I actually get an update up. LOL

I tell ya, this one took a awhile. It was th first part that really seemed to bog me down for nearly a month, can't explain why. But finally I wrestled that bad boy to the ground and was able to get this done. I hope ya'll love it.

Side note: I want to bring something up before I release you guys to the next chapter. I would like you guys to take the time to read this really off the chart fic by one of the boards best writers, Dark Kaneanite. The story is called This wasn't in the job description. The reason I bring up this story, is that it is a great story, but I seem to be the only one reviewing it and I think that is a crime. We have too many great writers out there, giveing us all such great literary efforts and to see one being read by others yet no one willing to give the writer some feedback is a shame.

Now I have said more time then I can count I do not look for reviews, and I don't. I'm no writer, I'm just someone who dabbles at it, and I am very appreciative when someone takes the time to tell me how thye feel about my efforts, there are real writers out there that really do deserve praise for their efforts and Kaneanite is one of them and her story is a master piece that should not be over-looked by anyone.

Now I understand it's not always possible to leave a review, but once in awhile, give one to the ppl who write on here. Even if it;s one word, I am sure it is appreciated. And if it means you have to not give me a review cause you hold yourselves to one review a day or week then I am happy to make the sacrifice if it lets someone else know they are appreciated.

This mini-soapbox stance is based on the loss to the writing community of one of it's best. Her writing name was Boudicca and she had the greatest wrestling slash fic website of all the net. She left when readers like us, stopped letting her know who much they cared or did not care. It was the worse lose to wrestling fanfiction I can remember, and I don't want to see it happen again. So folks, try and remember to give something back to the ppl who entertain you. Thank you for listening and I'll try and not be so preachy in the future. LOL

Anyway, on to chapter 3!

Enjoy!


A moment caught in time.

Nine souls stand at a crossroad.

A movement, or a word, the wrong or right thing done or said and the fate of the world could be Darkness, or it could retain the chance at survival.

Two security guards, 3 armed policemen, 4 professional wrestlers, and only one can tip the balance to salvation.

"What's going on…Why are you pointing guns at my brother and friends…Why am I in a hospital?" Jeff Hardy breaks the tension with three hesitant, bewildered queries. It is further broken as 3 nurses rush past the large men at the door towards Jeff's bed, quickly checking his monitors, asking him questions about how he is feeling, one rushing out, her expression one of complete and utter disbelief. The two security guards, conditioned to take their cue from the hospital staff, back out of the rooms as they see the nurses start to treat this in a medical way, deciding to wait in the hall till someone tells them what is, exactly, is going on. The three police officers are not as prone to back down or leave the room. They had received a call that someone in the hospital was being attacked by unknown assailants. Arriving at the room and being greeted with a loud animal like howling and someone blocking the door, against all their efforts to gain entrance to the room, only to have resistance disappear suddenly and, on entering, finding one man on the floor being held by another and the person they assumed was the patient sitting up in his bed unharmed. They wanted answers and were not leaving till they got them.

Matt could not take his eyes off his brother. Mark's powers always amazed him, one minute his brother was a question mark on whether he would ever wake up, and now he was sitting up in his bed, asking questions and trying to shoo the nurse away. "Resiliency, that name is Jeff." He smirks as he realizes he had spoken out loud as Jeff, the nurses and the police turn to look at him causing him to shrugs smiling sheepishly. "Well he is." was all the young man could say. Matt makes his way closer to Jeff's bed once more, as the police holster they're guns, seeing there really is no life threatening danger at the moment.

One of them walks over to the bed looking directly at Matt. "Ok, you seem to think this is funny, want to tell us what all that howling was?" Matt was no fool, the situation, though not as intense as it stated, could still get out of hand and see all three men behind bars in no time. Thinking quickly he decides on a little bit of truth might not be a bad idea as he points directly at the unconscious form of Mark on the floor still being held by his brother.

"The howling was him officer." He sees Glen's eyes nearly pop out of his head as Matt fingers his brother in front of him, knowing if he was not holding Mark at the very moment the big man would be choking the life out of him right now. The officer looks down at Mark and frowns as his partner bends down to look the motionless man over, followed by a nurse now that they are assured Jeff was ok. Both policemen look back at Matt to explain himself. "My friend is into alternative…um…medicines…and spiritual stuff like that." He looks back to his brother, somewhat for effect, somewhat to assure himself that Jeff is still sitting up in bed hail and hearty. "I'm his brother and I would do anything to see him well, so I agree to let him do his thing. Which pretty much was nothing but him screaming at the top of his lungs." He smirks as if disregarding Mark's alleged actions on Jeff's behalf. "All I care about is my brother is awake." He looks to the nurse still removing most of the wires from his brother, leaving only one needle in his arm, but disconnecting it from the fluid that was originally dripping slowly into it. "People come out of comas all the time I've heard, is that what happened nurse?" Another nurse, an older black woman who had just walked in, answers his question. "That has happened before sir, but till a doctor has seen him we really can't say what is happening with your brother."

She looks around and motions to the nurse looking over Mark, "Get him down to emergency." It becomes clear to the rest of the individuals in the room that this older woman was clearly in charge as she begins to bark orders at the other nursing staff in the room, as well as the orderly wheeling in the gurney for Mark. "Sir you're going to have to let us see to your friend." This is said to Glen who has, so far, only allowed the staff to check his brother over but has glared at anyone that, even, looked like that would try and remove him from his embrace. The nurse looks to Matt for help, obviously knowing strong arming him with security was not the way to go. Matt seeing her look nods, gives Jeff an encouraging look then walks over to Glen, kneeling down near him. "Hey big guy, they need to take Mark to a doctor to look him over," he puts a hand on his arm drawing his attention, looking the larger man directly in his eyes, "Trust me Mark's fine, they just have to find that out for themselves. He'll be up and about in no time. But for now, let them check him out. Ok?" he sees the question in the bald man's eyes and shakes his head. This is not the time for Glen's questions. Luckily Glen does not push and gently releases his brother head to the floor as he stands up and backs away.

While all is transpiring around Mark, Jeff watches on greatly bewildered. The last the young man can remember he was in the match with Glen and had just gotten sucker punched by Randy. Why he was in a hospital was a mystery to him. An even bigger mystery was the presence of his brother and Mark; both of whom, he knew, should be miles away finding the first key, or whatever it was Paul had them out searching for. His eyes drift to his brother and he is hit by the fact that Matt looked wrong, something was out of place about him; besides the outlandish cloths he and Mark were wearing. A few more seconds and he realized that it was Matt's face, or more the point the filled in beard that adorned his chin and jaw line. Now Matt was known for quick facial growth, but that still took a few weeks to a month to get to the state it was in now; not the few hours that the quartet had been separated.

He is distracted from his musings as one of the hospitals doctors walks in the room, looking quizzically as Mark is wheeled out on a gurney. "Am I here for him?" He asks the head nurse who nods affirmation to his question. "Ok, give me his vitals…." His voice trails off as he follows quickly behind the orderly and Mark with Glen close on their heels. Jeff turns his attention to his brother who has retaken his place at the side of Jeff's bed.

"Matt?" His look expresses more then a long string of questioning words could convey at this time. Nothing made sense and he knew only his brother could change that situation. The sigh that escapes Matt is not even close to reassuring, to the bedridden young man. "Don't just sigh, tell me what's going on, damnit. Why am I in a hospital room, what's wrong with Mark and why where there cops in here?"

Matt bit his lip, trying to formulate an answer he could give to his younger brother that would not upset him, or the nurses still in the room; who are clearly listening in on their conversation. "Calm down bro. You got hurt, I'm not sure how, so far no one's been nice enough to fill me. As for Mark, he, uh, over taxed himself is all, he'll be ok…don't worry about it." He says the last with an assertion he hopes Jeff picks up on, like with Kane he wants Jeff to hold off looking for explanations till one can be given, away from unwanted ears. As it is Glen will not be happy with what Mark has just done and he will have to deal with that when the time comes. For now he is happy to see his brother get the message and settle back in his bed, a glance over to the police still in the room gives him a momentary pause till one walks over, tells him they are leaving as there does not seem to be anything wrong now and the patient ok. His sigh of relief is mostly internal.

Down the hall in the room given to Mark, the young doctor is speaking to the three nurses as they check his blood pressure, prepare to take blood and run an EKG. Glen is standing in the door watching the hustle and bustle around Mark with more then a little concern. Something had happened with his brother and Matt since the four men had separated a day ago. He was not too sure before in Jeff's room but now seeing Mark laid out on the bed, his 'shirt' removed the changes where beyond obvious. The last time he saw his brother, his physique was rock solid and tone with a fair amount of upper body detail. That was no longer the case.

Years ago, the older man, seeing the change in wrestling fan's likes and dislikes, and not wanting to be looked at like many older wrestlers who let themselves go as they got to the top of the ladder, he started taking care of himself and working out more. Sara was a big help in that department, Mark would always say. There were periods where he would slip a bit, but never backslid to the point anyone could tell. His brother with his chest uncovered had the appearance of a rock hard bear. Glad stifled the laugh that wanted to rise as he thought about the big man's gut, which would never be confused with a 6-pack unless one were talking about a 6-pack of beer, but it was not one of those that made a man's shirt stick out past his toes; it too was rock hard and made of muscle, mostly.

And Mark would spend hours maintaining his body, foregoing a lot of fun to do it, for the most part. It was not like he completely denied himself having fun, or drinking with the boys; he just did so in moderation. A long way from the party animal he once was, At least with his friends, this not the case now with his brother at the moment as he lay on the bed. It was not like he had blown up, it was just much of the muscles in his shoulders and arms were gone. His gut was smaller; something Glen never thought was possible and his chest lacked the definition of only a day ago. Mark would have had to change his workout procedure at least a year ago for him to look the way he does now. "He's leaner, if that is possible, but the muscles are not as prominent." Thinks Glen. "And his gut a bit smaller. Yeah those two have a lot of explaining to do." He's drawn out of his thoughts as he hears his brother's voice from the bed.

"What…. what's going on?" Mark is accompanying his question with a, weak, attempt to rise from the bed. This is met with firm female hands attempting to impede his success.

"Please Mr. Calaway, you need to lay back so we can get a clear reading." The nurses voice is strained as she finds her attempts to push Mark back to the bed are gaining her no positive results. The sight brings out a chuckle from Glen in the doorway, which draws Mark's questioning eyes to him.

"Hey big guy lay back so they can check you out ok." He walks over after a nod from the doctor who sees they are going to need help keeping the large man in the bed quiet enough to do the test they need. Glen smirks down at his brother once he gets near him, pushing him back with no small effort on his part. "I said lay back, ok?" Glen gets the impression his brother is about to panic, something he rarely does and it never ends up good cause a panicked Mark is one that tends to react violently. Taking a shot in the dark at what might be getting him worked up applies more pressure to keep in the bed. "Mark Jeff's fine, he's sitting up and talking and Matt's with him." Upon hearing those words Mark gives Glen a searching look, obviously excepting his brother's words he lays back with no more fuss, even taking a deep breath to calm himself. One mirrored by glen. Glen steps back to allow the doctor and nurses to return to dealing with, a now, calmer Mark. A lot of question are still floating around in his head about the oddness of how Mark and Matt look, but beyond that, the situation that had just settled itself has raised even more perplexing questions. Question about his brother and himself.

"I've never seen him like this about anyone that was not family." Glen muses to himself. "He was on the verge of going off, and all because of a kid, he barely paid much attention too outside of work." Leaning against the wall, absently watching the activity in the room, the massive man can't help but shake his head as his thoughts follow a very unsettling track. "…And it's not just Mark, with the kid, it's me as well. I nearly killed Dave and Randy because they were hurting Jeff." His mind plays back the incident in the ring, he can, again, feel the burning anger at both men, when he saw Jeff go down to Randy's sucker punch. He comes to the realization that if it had been Mark, himself, getting such a savage beating, he would not have been anymore enraged. "Is it the kid? Is something going on with me and Mark?" He unconsciously grinds his teeth, "Is it something to do with that slime of a father of mine, or is something else going on?" Grunting in frustration, he moves off the wall, taking one last look to make sure his brother will not be giving the nursing staff anymore trouble he walks out and heads back to Jeff's room. It's time he got some explanations around here, and right now the only one that can give it is Matt.

When he arrives at the room he is relieved to see no one is there save Jeff and his brother. Closing the door as he steps in he can't help by smile a little as he listens to Matt and Jeff talking. "I am never letting you out of my sight again. I'll tie a chain to you if I have to." Matt grumbles as he stands at the foot of his brother's bed. He can see Jeff is doing all he can to stifle the grin that is playing at the corners of his mouth. Glen is very used to this reaction to being scolded by an older sibling. Once he and Mark had stopped being enemies and moved into the realm of accepting each other as brothers, Mark, early on, had starting bossing him around when he, Mark, thought Glen was doing something wrong. Glen will never forget the night his annoying brother took it on himself to show up in his room. The one he planned on spending the night in with a young female wrestling fan. Suffice it to say, his yelling about "Burning in Hell" and "Taking her Soul for transgressing with the brother of the Devil", that sort of thing. It was enough to have the poor girl running down the hall while trying to get her arms back in her blouse. "Like he never spent a night or two with someone sharing his bed. My brother can be such a hypocrite at times." The big man thinks to himself.

"Ok Matt, I think he got the message, you were worried." Glen walks over and puts an arm over the smaller man's shoulder gently guiding him to a chair and insistently making him sit. "Time to move on to more important topics, like what the hell did my brother do to cure Jeff, Dave and Randy?" He saw the look Jeff shot him as well as the one from Matt. "Yeah, on the way in here one of the nurses stopped me to tell me both were ok now. Sporting a few bruises, but other then that they were in near perfect health; just like Jeff here." He can tell by the surprised look on the older Hardy's face that this was news to him; which confuses Glen even more.

"Ok," Jeff chimes in, "Matt told me I was in a coma or something and that Mark healed me. I get that. But what happened to Randy and Dave?" Glen runs his hand over the top head, having dreaded revealing to the young man what had happened in the ring. Nor was he happy to relay his action once Jeff was down. He weighted only telling him part of what occurred, but thought better of it; he deserved the disgusted, even frightened look he would get. He was disgusted with himself for allowing his anger to get so out of control he nearly killed to men. He was also afraid of what would have happened if he had lost control of more then just his temper; what if he had lost control enough to use his powers on them. He closes his eyes not wanting to even imagine what that would mean, what that would lead to. As it is he can already imagine how the opinion of the rest of the WWE must have changed after his rampage in the ring. By now everyone that had supported him and Mark where probably ready to see them both gone from the company; all because he could not control himself.

A touch on his arm nearly makes him jump shaking him out of his self-loathing introspecting. "Hey big guy, you ok? You zoned out on us there." Matt looks up into Glen's anguished mismatched eyes, and wonders what had gripped the man to make him look so lost. He knew the look; he'd seen it enough in Mark's eyes over the last year. In fact he was struck, for the very first time, just how much the two men seem to be different sides of the same coin, and he wonders why it was no one actually ever saw the resemblance to they held. It was like the truth was screaming at everyone, be they all blithely ignored it. His mind flashed back to the time of the American Baddass days of Mark, when the Brother's of Destruction were born. He could see the two men walking down the ramp side-by-side and now it was impossible to not see that it was not just a gimmick, it was the truth. "How could we have been fooled so easily? How could we have been so blind?" He wonders to himself. He can't help but wonder what would have come if the truth had been revealed at that time. What if the truth had been revealed at a time when Mark was not faced with the murder of his family and the highjacking of Glen's and his life by their former mentor? Would he and Jeff have gotten this close to them? Would they have been willing to see the men past the powers? Would they have been like the others, fearful of what effect this revelation would have on their spots in the company? Would it have required a devastation event like what has happened to get them to see Mark and Glen as human and not 'freaks'? Matt sighs, inwardly, as he has no answer and that, in itself, makes him feel ashamed. "I guess we all like to think we are far more noble then we truly are" he thinks to himself.

Now it is his turn to jump as he is shaken from his own introspecting. "Am I ok? Are you ok?" this from Glen, who is gripping Matt's shoulders, not sure why the young man is just staring at him. Matt gives him a weak smile and nods.

"I'm ok, just lost in thought is all," The older Hardy looks back to his, obviously, confused brother and smirks, "Hey don't give me that look, or do I need to remind you how many times you'll go off on your own just to day dream about something you want to draw, or jump?"

Jeff throws up his hands grinning. "Hey just waiting on an explanation." Matt nods then looks back at Glen.

"You wanted one too, right. Well sit and I'll tell as much as I can here," he looks towards the door, "Most of it will have to wait till we're all out of here and alone. The two other man give each other looks then nod, as Glen, move to the other chair in the room and settles down. "Ok, making this short and sweet. Mark used his connection with certain "powers' to heal you three." He frowns a bit before going on, "Actually, he was only supposed to heal Jeff, not really sure how he reached out to Randy and Dave. I've never seen him heal more then one person at a time before…" He is interrupted when Glen launches himself from his chair.

"How the hell do you know what my brother and can and cannot do, and when the hell did you ever see him use his powers?" The suspicion in Glen's eyes gives Matt a moment of pause as his stomach tightens with dread. Luckily it is clear the big man has no intention of doing the younger man any harm as he continues to talk, but makes no other physical move, for now. "The way you talk, you've seen Mark do stuff more then once, like it was an everyday thing." Glen frowns a bit, "And what's up with the cloth and that beard?"

Now Glen is interrupted as Jeff joins in, "Yeah, I've been wondering the same thing. How'd your hair get longer in only a day or, for that matter, you look thinner." Jeff leans forward looking into his older brother's eyes, "What they hell happened to the two of you when we left?"

"We became friends." All three men's eyes are drawn to the door when a new voice fills the room. "For now that is all you two get, till we get the hell out of here."

As Glen and Jeff digesting Mark's revelation, a few miles away in a large hotel suite, several World Wrestling Entertainment wrestlers are sitting around having a very serious discussion. The feeling in the room can be called charged and intense. There are differing outlooks held by each man and women in this room. The talk has been heated at times, and others subdued. Opinions have flown back and forth, and more then a few times, violence nearly clawed its way to the surface threatening to dismantle the meeting and render its intent a loss cause. But such must be expected in a situation of this nature. No one in this room can claim to have experienced in their lives what has been revealed to them in just the last two days, or what they saw occur in the ring, a few hours ago. Each of them has much to consider, their lives, their families, their very livelihoods. All of which many feel are threatened by the men they look on as friends in some form or other. Do they make their voices heard in support or in opposition to those men? Do they back Paul in his judgment that Mark and Glen pose a threat to the company and the industry as a whole and if not that, at the very least, the men and women they work with?

Other's have join his cry to have them suspended for a time, if not out and out fired, after they saw the carnage rendered by Glen in the ring on Randy and Dave. They ignore the reasonings given by others that it was the men themselves that brought down Glen's wrath when they nearly killed Jeff, arguing that the two men would never have done that, it was Glen who over reacted, putting both men in comas they might not wake up from. Those behind Glen and Mark, could not believe that others could not have seen that Randy's sneak attack from behind knocked Jeff out on contact and he had to have known it, yet he continued the attack. Others were more willing to defend Batista and less willing to back Orton, while other would defend Mark, who was not there, and less supportive of Glen's actions.

These battles of words raged on for hours, as off to the side the master manipulator, the man that set this meeting up in hopes of just this very result gives a look to his young friend, sharing a knowing glance. So far, he was still the voice in their ears they did not suspect, the person pushing opinions in the direction of his choosing. Only the young man sitting in with the others knew his role in the rumors of the last few days, and even he did not realize there was more he did not know about this man, and his agenda; which was, as he wanted it. As the debates raged the man stands, giving one last look to the gathering he makes his way out of the suite, he has other things to see to, and all seemed to be proceeding as he wish with the wrestlers. The outcome of their meeting was not important. The sowing of the seed of distrust and disunity was his goal and it was well planted from his point of view. He does have a slight twinge of disquiet amidst his sense of accomplishment. He knows he is playing with fire, so to speak, by using Mark and Glen to bring his plan to fruition. He was never very big on Mark, and seeing him gone would be a cherry on the top of seeing his endeavors succeed. But he knew if either man found out his part in their down fall, he doubted he would see the other side of daylight.

Still it was a risk he had to take. He had a job to do and he would see it down and let what comes come.

As the man, whose had was directing the events in the WWE, moved down the hall of the hotel with a destination only he knows, in another large suite two generation of McMahons are having their own meeting.

"Dad, you can't blame Glen! You saw what Randy did!" Stephanie was beside her self, she could feel she was alone in her defense of Glen's action, he mother said nothing, her face the usual impassible and unreadable mask she has cultivated over years of board meetings and contract negotiations, while her older bother, sits back unwilling to make eye contact. She knows he would like to support her and the two brothers, but it's hard to look past what happened in the ring, especially since fans witnessed part of it.

"Look Steph my hands are tied. He nearly killed those boys in there, and the fans saw it." Vince understands his daughter's distress, but he knows he has to do something, he either tries to convince the fans that witnessed Glen's rampage first hand that it was all a work, or he suspends Glen for wellness, and leave his detractors ammo to claim 'Riod' rage. Or he lets him go based on his actions in the ring, still leaving the door open for steroid abuse accusations, but at least he can make the point that there was no evidence of it, but that as a responsible company they had to let him go out of concern for the other employees. He could try and direct thoughts to the Nowinski people and the possibility of brain damage from untreated concussions, that would remove the talk of steroids and alieve any pressure on the company. He sighs heavily. No matter what he does now, this was a public relations nightmare. And then there was the issue of Mark.

Suddenly his wife breaks in on his thoughts, "Vince, looking at this from all sides, we are really boxed in here." She sighs looking to her two children and husband, "We let him go, we look bad somehow, someway, we don't we look bad still to some, and others just might buy it being a very realistic work. No matter what we do, we will end up looking back to someone." She leans back as she drapes one leg over the other, folding her hands in her lap. "So we need to see who matters most in the long run. I think, in this instance, it's the workers. If they start to think we really don't give a damn about their safety, the fact we are the biggest wrestling company in the world will not matter. We could lose some and others might pass us up and take their chances with Jarret. Loyalty matter once, but we made that null and void. The kids we have now, don't care about being loyal they care about getting ahead and if that means also staying alive they will chose that." She looks sadly over to her daughter, "I'm sorry Steph, but if the boys decide they want Glen and Mark gone I say we do just that." She stands and walks over to her daughter taking her hand, "I care for Mark as much as you dear, but we run a business and this could be the straw we have been afraid of for five years and you know that."

Stephanie can't look in her mother's eyes, because she knows her mother is right, she just doesn't want anyone to see the truth of it in her eyes. She takes her hand back from her mother sighing sadly, "So when do we do this?"

Vince smiles sadly at his daughter before clearing his voice and standing. He walks over to the table in the room looking over some schedules. "We have a meeting before the PPV. We get the talent's vote then. Then we make the decision." He returns to his seat again, seeing that Linda has done the same. "It's a no win scenario. No matter how this goes, we are going to lose something. Steph make sure you have story lines in place to deal with Mark and Glen's departure if it comes to that." He watches his daughter nod curtly. "Ok, I think we all need to get some sleep. We have a long few weeks ahead of us." With that the children depart wordlessly as Vince and Linda continue to sit in silence.

Somewhere in Peru, in a small village no one even knows exists save the 20 people that call it home a baby has been crying. The child has been crying for close to a day now. There is a hush in this small village. No other children play outside, the women do not venture far from their grass huts to gather roots and water and the men spend hours around the main fire speaking in a hushed clicking tongue. Every so often someone will glance at the hut of the crying child, then to the sky, and then to the large structure that has existed near this village for as far back as memory can tell. It can't be seen from the sky, nor stumbled on by accident. Like the village you would have to know where you were going to reach either. And if you did, by some unlucky chance, come on it before this day, you would have never left. These people have a purpose set down to them for generations untold. It is etched on the stone tablet set in the middle of the primitive village.

"The Spirit House is ours to protect"

"We end undeserved eyes"

"He comes with the wailing."

"We end with his completion and the Darkness is all"