Vince McMahon paced back and forth in his office, unsure of what plan to put into action.
On one side, he was ecstatic to find that Jessica had taken the title. On the other hand, the jewel of the Corporation had fallen into the wrong hands.
He reached for the door and entered the hallway, running his fingers through his salt and pepper hair as he made his way towards the black curtain, signaling the sound crew to start playing his music.
His usual strut to the ring was not nearly as proud and boasting as it usually was, his ego bruised by his champion's defeat.
Vince ripped the mic away from the bellman and cleared his throat.
"Tonight, before I make my announcement," he began, but was quickly cut off by a loud chorus of boos. "I SAID," he repeated himself, his voice rising to a dangerous level, "Before I make my announcement tonight, I'd like to call the three other members of the Corporation to the ring."
A few moments passed and finally, Shane McMahon, the Rock, and Jessica McMahon passed through the curtains and down to the ring. The Women's Champ entered first, followed by her brother, and then the recently dethroned champion.
"To begin with," Vince looked towards his daughter, "I'd first like to congratulate Jessica on winning the Women's Championship."
A few boos could be heard, but her win was cheered, for the most part.
"And because of her, three titles, the WWF Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the Women's Championship, were held by the Corporation for a few glorious moments."
The crowd booed and hissed at this notion, only to be silenced, yet again, by the booming voice of Vince McMahon.
"But while Shane retained his title and Jessica won hers, the crown jewel was lost to Stone Cold Steve Austin."
A loud pop came from the crowd, eliciting a scowl from the face of Vincent Kennedy McMahon, as the Rock stood motionless, but attentive a few feet away.
"A champion," Vince continued, "Is supposed to be strong and fierce, cunning and wise, yet would do ANYTHING to protect the gold he… or she… values most."
He turned towards the Rock and smiled.
"And while I have no doubt in my mind, Rock, that you will one day win the title back, you must forgive me for having a backup plan," he smirked.
All of a sudden, the Rock was hit from the side and crashed hard towards the mat. He was pummeled relentlessly by fists and forearms to the point where the crowd disappeared into a creamy blur.
It wasn't until Shane and the mystery man pulled him to his feet, he caught sight of his attacker.
Long hair, goatee, and a sneer on his face.
Triple H.
Jessica stood back, silent and frozen still, as she watched her father leer over at the Rock. Surely, this wasn't because of one title. Her father couldn't possibly expect him to hold the title forever… could he?
If so, would he hold her to the same expectation?
"Like I said, Rock. I need a champion and you're no longer it," he seethed. "You and I had a deal, one which you broke, and now," he strutted over towards the announcer's side of the ring and waved his hand.
Within seconds, a steel chair had been slid underneath the bottom rope and into the ring.
Vince landed a few shots to the Rock's ribs, causing him to fall hard to his knees. Still, Triple H's and Shane's grasp on him remained tight, even after he stomped him twice.
He palmed the chair and smiled wickedly, "This is what happens when you mess with Mr. McMahon.
As he brought up the chair, however, he hesitated and smirked at his former champ.
"You know what?" he laughed sinisterly, "I could swing this at you and do minimal damage, but send you down… OR… we could break you," Vince added and craned his neck towards his daughter, which was then followed by the rest of his body, and then his outstretched, steel-baring hand. "And Jessica could do it on our behalf."
Jessica was overwhelmed by the angry crowd, who had obviously now switched their allegiance from Triple H to the Rock.
She shook her head and waved her hands, one baring a microphone.
"Jessica," he glared at her, "Make him pay."
"Dad," she replied weakly, and Vince cringed at the informality, "I can't."
"You can… and you will!" he responded, advancing towards her. "Jessica Juliette McMahon, I brought you into this world and I sure as HELL can take you out of it!"
"But, Dad…"
"No! Take the damn chair, Jessica!"
"Fine," she yelled back spitefully and ripped the chair from his grip.
The Women's Champion undid her belt and laid it upon the turnbuckle, steel chair still in hand. Then she turned towards the Rock.
In the last year, the Rock had become her one and only friend in the WWF. He had also been the one to convince her father to let her wrestle. If it wasn't for him, she might never have experienced the taste of gold.
But Vince McMahon was her father and she owed him a lot, yet he asked this of her.
How could she possibly do this to the Rock?
Jessica stepped forward, only a few feet before him and raised the mic to her lips, "I'm sorry."
She dropped the microphone and raised the chair high into the air with her right hand, earning jeers from the audience.
Then, Jessica brought the chair down and grabbed onto it with her left hand, as well. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and brought the chair backwards.
The chair then swung through the air… over the head of the Rock and into the face of Shane McMahon.
The crowd went wild as Jessica then landed a shot on Triple H and the Rock was finally let go of. She jabbed the chair into his midsection and then repeated the same move on her brother.
Hearing footsteps coming towards her, Jessica did a 180, only to find that the Rock had intercepted, and rock-bottomed, Triple H.
Triple H rolled out of the ring and Shane was pulled out by her father, who glared at her as he backed up the ramp, a maniacal stare in his eyes.
The Rock walked over to Jessica, an incredulous look on his face, and wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders, pulling her sideways into his chest. After he released her, he grabbed onto her wrist and raised her hand high into the air, as she dropped the chair to the mat with a loud thud.
They then parted ways to opposite turnbuckles and the Rock raised his arms to his people, while Jessica lifted her title above her head, as Raw went off the air.
The simple answer was… she couldn't.
Jessica's title reign lasted another month, until Vince made her run the gauntlet, which saw interference from her sister and cost her the title.
Within a few weeks, however, Jessica McMahon had become one of the most popular superstars, let alone female superstars, in the history of the World Wrestling Federation. Even though she was close with the Rock, she also often associated herself with the Hardy Boys, Lita, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had apparently forgiven her stunt a year back and even grown to respect her.
She was anti-authority, rebellious, and a daredevil, the anti-quintessential McMahon. No woman had even done some of the things that Jessica had. Corkscrew 450's, standing shooting star presses, and inverted STF's were just a few of the tricks that she had up her sleeve.
But that was purely on-screen. Off of WWF television, Jessica had found success, as well. Despite her better judgment, she had begun to date a fellow wrestler.
Jessica's philosophy was that relationships and business should never mix and should always be kept separate. That notion, however, didn't last too long. When she found neon pink and orange flowers in her room, Jessica couldn't help but say yes to Jeff Hardy. Plus, for the first time in a while, she was happy.
Her and her mother were still as close as ever, her and her father were still mending old wounds, Shane was still her favorite family member, and Stephanie was still a bitch, but was slowly coming around.
She still kept in touch with her other family, though. John Sr. was still living in the family house where Sean, Matt, and Dan still lived. Dan was attending the Peabody Police Academy and Steve had recently gotten a job with the Boston Police Department. Carol was no longer living with her sister, of course, and had gotten a small apartment in the neighboring town of Merrimac.
Diana McMahon was still living in the yellow house with forest green shutters. The garden had expanded in the last year or so and Diana was staying busy, keeping up with her garden and watching her granddaughter wrestle.
The last Jessica had heard of John Cena, he had taken a job at a local gym after being fired from his job as a chauffer. It didn't really surprise her; the kid could never give directions. Her last update had come from Carol, who had said that he and Liz had also gotten engaged over Christmas.
She couldn't really feel anything when it came to the news. She wasn't entirely sure what she should feel. Jessica just wanted him to be happy, even after everything that had occurred.
It was eight o'clock on a Tuesday morning when Jessica awoke to find a letter from Jeff had been slipped underneath her door.
Jess-
I'm sorry I had to fly out like that on Saturday, but I've got something special planned for us tonight.
Wear that purple dress of yours!
-Jeff
Jessica couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend's note. Jeff had always said that he'd liked that dress because it matched her hair, even though they argued over whether the dress was technically purple or pink, and apparently, he was still convinced the answer was purple.
Since becoming the Women's Champ and leaving the Corporation, she'd dyed the bottom tips of her hair, about three inches from the end, from blonde to fuchsia. It had fit as a part of her rebellious character, but she had to admit that she did like it. A little anti-authoritative piece of her always wanted to do something like that, but it never really fit her personality in high school. A valedictorian with fire-engine red hair would certainly not have gone over well in West Newbury.
But her mind continued to drift back to the beginning of the week.
On Saturday night, his cousin had given birth to twins and he had promised to fly out immediately and visit. She took a plane from Texas to Boston and Jeff took one from Texas to Raleigh, but said he'd come see her when he flew in for the next show. She guessed he'd flown in early.
Her apartment in Boston was absolutely perfect for her. There was a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and two bedrooms, both of which had a bathroom.
She sat down at her kitchen table with her newly-filled bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and twirled her spoon around in her fingers. Leisurely, Jessica flipped open her newspaper and turned the pages.
"Ugh!" she frowned in disgust. "I'd love to see Boston actually beat the Yankees once in my lifetime!"
After bringing the last of her Cheerios to her mouth, the spoon fell into her white dish with a loud clank.
Just as she placed her bowl and spoon in the sink, the phone rang.
She moved to answer it, her fuchsia-tipped, bright blonde hair swaying behind her.
"Hello?"
"Jessica…" Jeff cooed into the silent apartment as he slowly closed the door behind him.
He'd been looking forward to this day all weekend. Sure, the newest members of the Hardy family were adorable, but he missed being with his girlfriend.
The last girlfriend he'd been with lived back in North Carolina and it was hard enough to get home, let alone home to see her. Seeing Jess was easy, though, and time spent with her was never few or far-between.
"Jess…" he called again to the quiet apartment, half-expecting to find her sleeping.
As he approached her bedroom door, however, he heard what sounded like stifled noises as his daisies-holding right hand opened her door.
The white door easily gave way to the pressure of his hand and the flowers in Jeff's hand slipped through his fingers and fell onto the light blue carpet.
"Jesus Christ, Jess," he sighed concernedly as he looked her over.
She was huddled in the corner of her room by the window, still clutching the cordless phone to her chest. Her fuchsia dipped tresses were matted to her face by tears and heavy sobs racked her body.
"What happened?" Jess put a hand on her shoulder.
"She… she… she…" she hiccupped, trying to breathe as she continued to cry.
"Who, Jess?" he continued asking, pulling her to his chest.
"She's gone," Jessica managed to choke out.
"Who's gone, Jessica? You need to tell me… please," Jeff plead with his girlfriend.
For nearly an entire minute, Jessica sat there, her eyes glazed over by tears threatening to fall.
"Grandma," her head dropped even lower as the teardrops scraped away at her porcelain skin. "Grandma's gone."
A/N: So that was the big event, my friends. I hope that it met your expectations.
It's going to be a little difficult for me to write without Diana in the story, as she was always the levelheaded one who brought Jessica back to her senses in the end.
But what you may not realize is that this is going to affect Jessica more than just losing her, it's going to lead to another event in the next chapter.
And for all of you who were wondering where John went... don't worry, he'll reappear... with a BANG.
I know that was screwed up as of late, so I'll excuse the lack of reviewing, however, I still recognize:
writethisdown4you (LAUREN!!!), Adrian Jade, dj-ssdd, and PlasticCandy.
This chapter is for all of you!
Danielle