A/N: As you can tell I'm not overly fond of excessive dialogue, or indeed any dialogue at all. I prefer to let the story do the telling, or at least, that's the method I've been favoring in these one-shots. This means it may sometimes take you a little while to figure out what's going on. It's something of an acquired taste, I hope it's to your liking all the same.

She was never quite sure when it started, not really.

She knew it wasn't during her first two years in the WWF. When she and Matt made their debuts in 1999 as the Hardy's, the Undertaker had been running his Ministry and dabbling in the occult. Then he disappeared and when he returned, he did so a changed man. The darkness was still palpable in the man from the dark side but everything else had changed. The way he walked, the way he talked, the way he dressed, even the way he wrestled.

Looking back, she supposed it started in 2001.

Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin had attacked Team Extreme for reasons that still weren't entirely clear to Jess, beating them down and then attacking them with chairs. Jess remembered being laid out on the mat in the center of the ring, having just been stunnered by Austin. Her head was spinning and she couldn't move, and she could see a grinning Helmsley standing over her about to bring a steel chair down on her. Suddenly the crowd started cheering and she heard Austin swear loudly. There was a scuffle and then their assailants were gone, replaced by two even bigger men.

Jess remembered being pulled to her feet and finding herself face to chest with the Undertaker. He ran a quick hand over her rainbow-colored hair, gruffly asking 'You alright, kid?'. She had managed a nod and 'Taker and his brother, Kane, had left, leaving Jess to pick up her brother and his girlfriend.

She had thought nothing of it at the time. Looking back put it in perspective.

He had only helped her to her feet, not Matt, not Lita. He in fact never even looked at either of them. Then there was him touching her hair… He didn't ruffle it, he just touched it. Perhaps it only seemed suspicious in light of what happened later but she couldn't help but feel there was something off even then.

Then the Alliance had come along, forcing everyone in the WWF to work together. Team Extreme found themselves working with people they never thought they'd work with. Like Trish Stratus, which was awkward in the beginning as Lita still wanted to rip her head off for putting her hands on Matt. And Edge. Jess still resented the blond man for kissing her halfway through a match a year prior. He claimed he had only done it to distract her – it worked, they lost the match – but Jess distinctly remembered feeling tongue.

The Brothers of Destruction were also among those the Hardy's allied with, in several instances tagging with them. Prior to these eight-man tag matches, the two teams would meet backstage to discuss match strategy. During these meetings there would be little things. A hand on her shoulder or the small of her back. On several occasions, the Phenom would put an elbow on her shoulder and lean on her.

Again, she had thought nothing of it. During one of these meetings, 'Taker's wife, Sara, had been with them and 'Taker had leaned on her anyway. Sara didn't seem to care. During one of their matches, he had been stepping past her and he had placed both of his hands on Jess' hips while doing so. After the match, Sara hadn't said a word about it nor had she seemed angry.

It didn't register because in Jess' mind it couldn't mean anything. Not with his wife there to see, not with thousands of people in attendance and millions of people watching at home.

Matt had been worried about it and Lita had expressed concern as well but Jess had told them both to relax, that it was nothing. Now she felt like a fool for not listening, not seeing. The warning signs had all been there, clear as day.

This had continued for most of 2001, with no alarmbells ringing on Jess' part whatsoever, which hardly seemed possible later on since she couldn't so much as hear his name mentioned without going into full-on defensive mode.

It wasn't until the end of 2001 that Jess actually started worrying. 'Taker's mood seemed to change, taking a turn for the worst if his assault on Jim Ross was anything to go by. He started showing up for her matches. It started out with him simply watching, but during the fourth or fifth match, he got involved.

He had blatantly knocked down her opponent, Lance Storm, and had gotten her disqualified. She had been confused at the time, not yet connecting the dots but she had known his presence wasn't a sign of good things to come. She was right.

He would continue to turn up for most of her matches, sometimes causing her to be disqualified, sometimes getting her opponent disqualified. The latter was usually done by tripping her, though one time he shoved her off the top rope – and wasn't that hand on her backside while he did so something to think about?

More than once he caused her to be counted out, simply by blocking her from the ring, his sheer bulk more than enough to get it done.

All the while this was going on, he paid no attention to her questioning of him. She wanted to know what he was doing, why her and no one else, what was he hoping to gain. He ignored her demands for answers.

The violence against her opponents escalated, with several wrestlers refusing to face her again because they didn't want to get their asses handed to them by the Undertaker.

When the rumors began and the accusations that she was sleeping with him started flying, she'd had enough. She had stormed into his lockerroom and demanded that he stop whatever it was he was doing.

"Do you know what people are saying?" she had demanded of him as he sat on the bench in front of her, not even bothering to look up at her. "That I'm sleeping with you, that that's why you've been turning up for my matches. This has to stop, 'Taker. I don't know what you're hoping to gain from all of this but I'm getting sick of hearing all these bogus rumors, and I'm getting sick of all of my matches being ruined because of you."

He didn't respond, didn't even seem to hear her but she found out that he was in fact paying attention when she had made the mistake of mentioning Sara, saying she couldn't be too happy about his behavior. He had suddenly gotten up, towering over her. He had backed her into the door, which she had apparently slammed shut during her dramatic entrance. He placed one massive arm on either side of her, completely boxing her in and then had told her in a cold voice to never mention his wife again. He then turned away from her and told her to get out. She'd had no choice but to comply, still no closer to getting him to leave her alone.

But although her lockerroom visit did nothing to stop him, it did change things. He would still lay waste to her opponents if they got in his way but he no longer focused on them. He focused on Jess instead and the violence against her escalated. Pulling her from the ring and sending her sprawling to the floor if she was lucky. Chokeslams and Last Rides if she wasn't. And he seemed to like clotheslining her, turning her nearly inside out while doing so.

The rumors had also changed. Most were saying there had been an affaire but that she had ended it and 'Taker was taking it badly. Others insisted there was never an affaire. She had rejected him and he was taking it badly. That at least everyone agreed on. Whatever had happened, 'Taker was taking it very badly.

Jess tried to ignore the rumors. She didn't need to know what everyone thought, she had enough trouble dealing with the truth. That 'Taker was obsessed with her and it wasn't going to end well for her. J.R. apparently agreed, saying 'Jess Hardy is up a creek, and not a paddle in sight'. Thank you, J.R., that helps.

It was shortly before the Royal Rumble of 2002 when Jess finally managed to one-up the Undertaker, sort of. He grabbed her by the throat to chokeslam and she kicked him in the balls. While he bent over, cupping said balls, she had dropkicked him twice, sending him from the ring with the second move.

Her victory was to be short-lived.

At the actual Royal Rumble, Jess – through the magic of random numbers – found herself in the ring with 'Taker. Alone. He demolished her, as expected but didn't eliminate her when he easily could have. Instead he seemed intent on inflicting as much pain as possible. The next entry – also through the magic of random numbers – was Matt but even with the two of them, or three once Lita got involved, they couldn't quite eliminate the Phenom. He tossed them both out after beating them down and waited for the next entry. Maven. The rookie gave it his best shot but couldn't budge the big man until Matt and Jess got involved again. One well-placed dropkick from Maven later and the Undertaker was out.

They should have left right then and there, should have run for the hills while they still could, at least give him time to cool off. As it was, they were still there when 'Taker snapped out of his shock. He went straight for Jess, walking through Matt and Lita to get to her. The actual beating that followed was largely a blur for Jess, she remembered only bruising hands and pain, lots of it.

She had watched the footage later, after the hospital finally released her, which was only after she had managed to convince the doctors and nurses she was a wrestler, and not an abuse victim. The former was true anyway. The footage she had seen made her glad she couldn't remember much of it. He had beaten her up the ramp and into the back – most likely leaving several imprints of her skull on the steel ramp, wrecking several tables by picking her up and throwing her through them and making her very well acquainted with the lobby popcorn machine – finally ending up in the parking lot. After slamming her into several cars, one of them her own rental car, he finally stopped, staring down at her for a long moment before he left, his hands, arms and chest covered in her blood.

The footage made her sick but she was rather proud to call Matt her brother. Though he was unable to stop 'Taker, he must have tried at least a dozen times, receiving more than a few injuries himself and, while doctors were working on Jess at the hospital, he too had been seen to by a nurse, needing multiple stitches.

Things didn't improve for Jess after this. If anything things got worse. Most nights it seemed the American Badass took her mere existence as a personal insult, an insult he did his best to remedy.

The tone of his assaults changed as well. There had always been a sexual undercurrent there anyway as he would hold her body up against his for just a little longer than necessary, or he would press himself flush up against her in the corner while choking her or yelling down at her. But after the Royal Rumble, it became more obvious. He would run a hand through her hair as he held her in place for a chokeslam or he would rub his cheek against hers, his beard scratching her skin and turning it red, and this right in the middle of the ring for everyone to see.

Then there were the things only she saw, things only she could feel. When he attacked her in the back after a match one night, he pressed himself up against her and she could feel something hard press into her stomach, her heart sinking when she realized what it was. She had choked out, 'What do you want?' and his grin had turned positively lecherous, confirming what she had already feared.

She was scared, there was no denying that. If he wanted to sexually assault her, he only needed to attack her when no one was around. There was no fighting him, not for her.

Jess wondered what Sara thought of her husband's actions but she had no intention of ever trying to find out. If 'Taker found out she went anywhere near his wife, he may well do the very thing his name suggested. Put her in the ground.

As it was, he was getting close to killing her anyway and Jess knew something had to give, she couldn't last much longer. Not only was he ruining all of her matches, he was causing her body to deteriorate as well. Injuries weren't healing, bruises weren't fading and if something wasn't done soon, she was heading for tragedy.

She couldn't stop him herself. Lord knew she'd tried.

Matt couldn't stop him, he too had tried and she wished he wouldn't anymore. He was her brother, she didn't want him to be hurt.

In the end, salvation came in a form she had never expected. The Big Show. The Big Show had no interest in saving the female half of the Hardy's from anything, but his newly-found feud with the Undertaker was a godsend all the same.

She supposed it should bother her that he only turned his attention away from her because he was given no choice, but it didn't. She was too relieved to care that she hadn't been able to make him stop herself.

With any luck, by the time his issues with the Big Show were resolved, he'd no longer be interested in stalking – and assaulting – her. Matt was sceptical and Lita outright didn't believe it but Jess was optimistic. He would be occupied for some time and his obsession would burn itself out.

She was sure of it.

A/N: Now I know that at some point during this entire one-shot, Jess and Matt should have been fighting. My take on that is that their relationship being brother-sister instead of brother-brother, things would be different. Matt wouldn't be suspicious of anything going on between Jess and Lita and that would – could – make all the difference. Besides, brothers don't fight with their sisters nearly as much as they do with their brothers. I should know, I got three brothers.

As for the story itself, it feels a bit choppy to me but I didn't want to keep hacking at it, or I'd wind up deleting it and I didn't want that to happen.