Disclaimer: I do NOT own the following wrestlers, or any of the events that actually happened on camera, or anything remotely recognizable.

I respect the actual beliefs and sexualities of the following wrestlers.

Thanks for the reviews, all. I love them. And I love the speculation! Keep speculating! This chapter's dedicated to NeroAnne, my Inner in-law, who always leaves me such lovely reviews.

Warnings: Violence, lots of it, and some angst.

When we last left off, Adam was trapped in the dream world...

Chapter Thirteen: Just Close Your Eyes

Jeff pulled Mark's hair like reins, but Mark grabbed Jeff by the hair and threw him onto the ground. He looked him over and laughed. "Nothing more than a Tulpa, made by big brother's shame and pain," he said, "With Matt gone, I control this dream now. Not you, you little doll." He laughed and said, "And where did little Adam go?"

Adam was running, screaming out Matt's name. Where did he go? One second, Matt and him were next to each other, together, and the next, he was gone. What was going on here? Where was he?

Suddenly, a tree branch slithered up Adam's leg and wrapped around it. It pulled him down and he screamed. "No! Not that! Don't do it!" He shut his eyes, thinking about what happened in Evil Dead.

"Don't do what?" Mark walked up to him. He bent down to grab the little Nightstalker, but then, suddenly, he was repelled. The root withered and died, useless now. Mark angrily tried to grab him again, but, once again, he was repelled. Then, a ball of fire appeared in his hand, and he threw it at Adam. It was deflected and instead burned a spot of grass right next to him. Mark threw a few more, but they all did the same thing. "You've been protected," Mark seethed. He angrily burned a tree, to make up for the fact that he couldn't grab and kill the blond one.

"How?"

"A potion, I guess." Mark sat down. "You're trapped here, though. With me. And that potion will eventually wear off."

"What do you mean?" he asked, sitting up.

"I mean, you foolish dolt, that, without Matt to help you, you're trapped in his head." Mark looked around. "It's a lot prettier than I thought it would be. You would think it'd be twisted, by all the things he went through."

"The things you put him through!" Adam exclaimed.

An evil smirk crossed Mark's face. "I hope to put him through a lot more by the end of this little charade he's putting on."

"There's no charade!" They turned around and saw Jeff. "This is who he really is, you monster."

"You have no idea, puppet."

"I know everything," Jeff sneered, "I know what you tricked my mother and father into promising you, and I know what you're trying to do to my brother!"

"Tricked?" Mark laughed. "Oh little Pinocchio, Gilbert and Ruby willingly handed me Matt's destiny. Anything to let Ruby live, so they could have children... if it weren't for me, you wouldn't exist. You should be thanking me."

"Matt will never give in," Jeff said.

"It's in his blood, Jeffrey. Everyone before him has given in... he will be no exception."

"What is he?" Adam asked.

"He's your partner," Jeff said, "A Nightstalker. My brother."

Mark laughed. "What else is he, Jeffrey?"

"Matt doesn't have to be if he doesn't want to!" Jeff screamed.

"But he is," Mark said, "You can't change what he is, Jeffrey, no matter how much you want to. And poor Adam... you had to let Matt into your heart. He's going to hurt you, you know. He's probably going to kill you."

"Don't listen to him," Jeff said, "You know Matt! Don't let that asshole ruin your-"

Mark grabbed Jeff by the neck and quickly snapped it. Adam gasped in horror as he fell to the ground, lifeless. "The puppet was starting to bore me," Mark said.

Then, Adam saw something equally surprising. Jeff sat up, despite the angle his head was twisted, and he grabbed his head. He snapped it back into place and laughed. "I'm not yours to kill, Mark," he sneered. "How does it feel, to be unable to kill someone?"

"I was able to end your useless life before," Mark snapped, "My demon pulled your still beating heart out of your chest!"

Jeff lifted up his hand and plunged it into his chest. Adam gagged and looked away and Jeff ripped out his own heart, bloody tendrils hanging off his hand. "You mean like this?" Jeff asked, a little too innocently for someone holding their own heart. He put it back in and said, "Let me make it simple for you." His veins and arteries snapped back together, and his skin began to regrow. "I'm here so long as Matt wants me here. I'm his tulpa; only he can kill me. So burn me, stab me, dismember me... I'm not going anywhere."

"Then I can have the pleasure of killing you multiple times while waiting for your brother to return."

************

Matt came stumbling out of his room holding Mickie's potion bag. He ran to Adam's room and found Christian there. He told him everything he knew, and Christian sat there, waiting for him.

"Matt, come here," Christian said, holding a knife.

"What's that for?" Matt asked.

"Well... if I'm going in with you, I need to be linked to you too," he said simply.

"Christian, you can't come," Matt said.

Christian immediately got indignant. "I'm going, Matt."

"You can't. Someone has to stay out here and watch Adam and I," he said.

"So you just want me to watch your sleeping bodies while you face Mark?" Christian asked. Matt nodded. "Go to hell, Matt. I refuse to do that."

"Do it for me," Matt said, "I need you here in case something goes wrong. Now suck it up, Christian, and just understand that I need you to do this."

Christian crossed his arms. "Fine. Don't expect me to like it, though."

"Thanks," Matt said, sitting next to Adam on the bed.

"How long will you be out?" Christian asked.

"Four hours," Matt said, "If I'm not back a half an hour afterwards, wake me up. Hopefully, I'll have Adam with me."

Christian grabbed his arm. "But promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me you'll come back with Adam," he said, "Promise me you'll both come back to me in one piece."

Matt just grinned cockily. "I don't need to promise. I'm going to do this for me." He opened the potion and said, "Wait for me, and, when this is all over, I'll take you up on your offer to get Evil Dead 2."

Christian smiled. "It's a date." Matt nodded and put the potion to his lips.

"To Adam's health," Matt said. He drank it and resisted the urge to spit it back out; it was bitter. He put the bottle down and laid down, vision already becoming cloudy. He could barely see Christian anymore; just a fuzzy outline. I'm going to bring Addy back, promise.

**************

Matt opened his eyes slowly and realized that he wasn't in the dreamworld he went to whenever he dreamed of Jeff. He cursed and looked around. He was in... a nursery, of some sort. He looked around and saw the room was a light green. He had no idea where he was, or why he'd dream of this room... until he saw something.

He walked to the closet door and stared at the handles. He hadn't seen handles like this since... since Jeff hid in their own closet last year. He shut his eyes, dismissing the vision of Jeff bursting out, of Raven advancing on him, of Raven killing him...

"He and Shane are going to be the best of friends." Matt whipped around and saw the door open- and he gasped. There was his mother and father. They were young, happy looking- alive.

"Mom! Dad!" Matt said joyously. But his father walked right past him, like he wasn't even there. Then, he noticed his mother was holding a small baby, looking up at her with curious brown eyes. He had a small tuft of dark hair, and he knew... he was looking at himself.

"I've never seen Matthew so eager to play with another baby." Ruby began bouncing baby Matt in her arms, making him giggle. "Did you see them playing patty-cake?"

"Ruby, they were slapboxing," Gil said, refusing to believe his eldest son was playing patty cake.

"It was patty-cake," Ruby insisted.

"Matt slapped Shane on the forehead," Gil argued back.

"That's what you do in patty cake," Ruby said, "When you mark it with a b."

"I assure you, Matt was slapboxing," he said.

Ruby laughed and put baby Matt in his crib. "Go check on the milk, will you, Gil?"

Gil nodded and walked over to the crib, rubbing baby Matt's cheek. "Be a good boy for mommy, okay?" Matt just gurgled happily. "He's going to say da soon enough, you'll see," he said, giving Ruby a kiss before walking out.

Ruby laughed again and looked at her sweet baby boy. "Remember our promise, okay? You say ma before you say da, and Mommy'll give you a reward."

Baby Matt made a few unintelligible noises, and Ruby smiled, touching his nose lovingly. She was so happy... Matt couldn't help but smile, watching the scene. Then, the room went dark.

Matt and Ruby whipped around at the same time and saw Mark grab Ruby by the neck and slam her into the wall. She made a low, pained sound, and Matt screamed no. He ran over to help her, but he slipped through them, as if he was a ghost. Baby Matt grabbed the sides of his crib and stood up, his eyes trained on the shadow, trying to understand where his momma went.

"Please..." she gasped, trying to get air. Mark grinned and let her go.

"Relax," he said, "You don't want to alert your hapless husband to my presense, do you? And besides, I'm not here for you." He walked over to the crib and picked up the baby. "Well, look at him. Such a healthy baby. At least you're taking care of him well."

"You hurt him and you die!" Ruby screamed, advancing on the demon master. He held baby Matt with one hand and froze Ruby with the other.

"Relax woman; I'm not going to hurt him. And your taunts have no effect on me." Mark bounced baby Matt, who gargled back. Matt looked on with silent fury, wanting to rip Mark's face off for holding him, when he was so young and vulnerable. He chuckled and said, "Hello, sweet boy." He turned to Ruby, who he addressed with utter disdain. "You fed him yet, bitch?"

"That's none of your business!" She snapped, looking worried.

"Woman, I have no further need for you, so you best not get on my bad side. Did you feed him yet?"

"No."

"Good. I've got something better for him than mother's milk." With that, Mark pulled a bottle out of his pocket, but the thing in it was a black color that scared Ruby immensly.

"Don't..." She begged, "Please, he's just a baby!"

"Let me go," Matt yelled, "You hear me, you sick bastard, let me go..." But Mark didn't hear him. Matt was only here to see what already happened; not to stop it.

"I know. That's the only reason I don't bring him home now. I have to wait a little until the boy can take his rightful place." Mark held the bottle up, offering it to baby Matt. The infant eagerly took the top in his hands, thinking it was his normal milk, and brought it to his lips with Mark's help.

"Stop, please," Ruby begged, as baby Matt's small mouth clamped around the bottle.

"Shut up." Matt began to drink, and Mark tilted it up, making it easier. Matt drank it all and, as soon as he did, the bottle disappeared. "I'll know when he's ready to come home. Until then, you and Gilbert can delude yourselves into thinking this is a normal baby." He put baby Matt into Ruby's arms, and he disappeared.

Ruby collapsed onto a chair and rocked her baby. "Matthew, it's okay. Gil and I will find a way to protect you from him, I promise." She wept openly. "Just close your eyes and go to sleep, Matthew. It'll all be okay, I promise. Just close your eyes."

Matt squeezed his eyes shut; even though it wasn't directed at him, he still closed his eyes, wanting to believe that what he saw didn't happen, but he knew it did. Mark put something in him, but it didn't make him like this... something else happened to make him so coveted by the Demon Master. Something before.

And when he opened his eyes, he was in the dreamworld he met Jeff in.

************

Christian looked at the clock anxiously. Four hours was done. He looked at Matt, wondering if dreamtime and worldtime worked at the same pace. Did Matt find Adam? Would he wake up? Oh God, Christian was afraid.

He looked at Matt's sleeping face, and smoothed down his hair. "You know, there's so many things I need to tell you, Matt," he said, "So many secrets I've kept. You've got to come back so I can tell you everything."

He bit his lip. "So many times I was close to telling you, but I never did. And you never asked me again what I wanted to tell you before I threw up. A blessing, in some ways, because I don't know how to say this. I don't know how to make this right, how to fix this situation..."

He swallowed. "I guess it started your first day here. You were all bruised and battered, a victim of mine and Adam's tutelege. To see you so beaten... it made me want to cry. I would've done anything to heal every cut, get rid of every bruise... but I didn't know what it was. I had no idea, because I've never felt this before. I never met someone who could make me happy just by being in the same room with me, or make me so upset when he was sad even in the smallest of ways."

"And then, Vickie told me. Her warning for me... do you know what it was, Matt?" Christian felt a tear fall down his cheek. "Don't fall in love." He wiped the tear, and he said, "But it was too late, I knew it as soon as she said it. I was yours completely. I would do anything for you. I... I fell in love with you."

He laughed hollowly. "Sick, huh? Another guy wanting you. And the fact that, if things ever go the way I want them to, Adam would have no place with us. Vickie wouldn't have warned me against it either if it wasn't important. But I can't help it. You had me that first day, when you said you'd do anything to avenge your family's death.

"I tried to make it not true. I tried to just be your friend. I tried to find out that these feelings weren't... weren't love. But nothing worked. And now, I'm afraid that, if I tell you... it'll ruin everything. You won't like me anymore. Our team would crumble. All because I want to do this..."

Christian bent down and lightly brushed his lips against Matt's. He moved up, and said, "Come back to me. I'm willing to ignore these feelings, but... I can't live without you. Please come back to me."

*************

Matt ran over, frightened, seeing Mark and Jeff fighting, and Adam trying to help, just to be pushed away when he came within a foot of Mark. Mark threw Jeff into a tree and a tree branch quickly sliced his neck, right over his juglar. Adam tried to attack Mark again, but he was repelled, hitting the floor with a thud. Jeff's neck healed and he grabbed the branch, flipping off the tree into Mark's body. Jeff fell on top of him, and Mark quickly switched their positions, wrapping his hands around Jeff's neck. "Jeff!" Matt screamed.

Fire appeared on Mark's hands, but he ignored them. Matt screamed and ran over, tackling the demon master off his brother. "Matt, no!" Jeff yelled. "He can't hurt me... oh God, but he can hurt you..."

"What do you mean?" Matt asked, trying to help his brother up. Jeff was too busy trying to warn Matt to stop the next thing from coming. A telekinetic blast pushed the brothers apart, making Jeff fall next to Adam's body and pushing Matt into the same tree Jeff was just on.

Jeff stood up and began shaking Adam. "We have to save him!" he screamed, "God, Matt doesn't want me hurt... he doesn't want me to fight Mark... it's making me weaker!"

"I don't understand..." Adam said.

"I'm a tulpa," Jeff said, "A manifestation of what Matt wishes were here. So I have to follow his wishes, even if he doesn't want me to follow his wishes. I can't tell him more than he really wants to know. I can't help him more than he really wants me to."

"You mean, what Matt wants deep down?" Adam asked.

"Yes, and he doesn't want me hurt. Come on, Adam, we have to stop him!"

Matt struggled against the force pushing him against the tree. Mark walked over and grabbed his arm, looking at the triquetra. "I think I can make it better," Mark said. Suddenly, Matt's skin seared with pain. His skin was cut, making him bleed and destroying the triquetra. If you looked past the cuts... you'd see the shape the monster from the future made with the dead bodies.

Mark laughed and rubbed Matt's cheek before slapping it playfully. "You've put up a good fight, but it's over. Just give in."

"Matt!" Matt looked up at Adam. "You can beat him."

"This is your dream!" Jeff screamed, "Control it!"

"Shut up!" Mark yelled.

"Matt," Jeff said, "What do you really want?"

Matt bit his lip. "I want to take Adam and myself out of here."

"And what do you need to accomplish that?" Jeff said, "Say it out loud! Say you want it... and then let yourself have it!"

"I want him to let me go!" Matt yelled. Then, the force was gone, and Matt was off the tree. "I want him to hurt," Matt said. The tree then began to attack him, but Mark let out fire, burning branches before they could hurt him. But it was enough of a distraction for Matt to run over and grab Adam.

"What now, Jeff?" Matt asked.

Jeff smiled weakly. "You have to wish this dreamworld away. It'll make it harder for Mark to use the connection if you wish your dreams away... because he can't visit your dreams if you don't have any."

"But what will that mean for you?" Matt asked.

Jeff grabbed his brother and hugged him. "This is the last time you'll ever see me," Jeff said, "But don't be afraid. I'm not really leaving you. I'll always be with you, Matt."

"I don't want you to go," Matt said.

"I don't want to go either. But I have to." Jeff kissed his cheek. "Always remember who you are. You are the son of Ruby Moore and Gilbert Hardy. You are Jeffrey Nero Hardy's brother. You are Matthew Moore Hardy, and nothing anyone says can change that."

"Hurry!" Adam yelled, seeing the tree begin to lose the fight.

"I love you," Jeff said, "Now, wish this world gone. Wish for no more dreams. Wish to get up... and you will. Just close your eyes, Mattie. Close them... and when you open them, you'll be back."

"I love you too, Jeff," Matt said sadly. And then he closed his eyes, trying to etch into his mind his brother... taking in what Jeff looked like for the final time.

And then he woke up.

*********

Adam stirred first. Christian let out a victory cry, jumping on his surrogate brother. "Addy-dick!" he said happily. "Shit, I just went through hell, relax!" Adam said.

Matt woke up next, and Christian wrapped an arm around him too, making one big group hug. "Oh, I'm so glad..." he said. Christian thought about everything he said, and decided that it was best to keep the secret like he promised. As for Matt, all he could think about was his lost brother, his Jeff.

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