I'm going to warn you know, I'm just winging the flow here. If it seems really fucked up, I'm sorry. There's way too much to do with this plotline. Ted and Punk must've been gone for almost two weeks there, if my count is correct.

Remember Phil and Jeff's rivalry at the start of the story? Let's resolve that, shall we?


As soon as Jeff was sure the masters had left, he snuck up the stairs to Phil's room. He knew he should let his in-ring rival sleep, but he knew the guilt in his heart wouldn't ease until he at least talked to him. He stood outside the door for several minutes, contemplating what he was going to say to him.

"What? Huh, what?! Do something, C-U-M! I dare you!"

//That was one of the last things I said to him// Jeff brushed his fingers across the knob, heart beating roughly against the inside of his chest. For a moment, he was sure his feet were going to bail him out of there, but his heart told him that this was right. He pushed the door open, letting himself inside.

"Phil?" Jeff called softly, hoping he hadn't woken the punk up.

The younger man was lain out on the bed, face half-buried in his arms. The bandage along his back was visible, hiding the severe burns underneath. Olive eyes were fluttering open at the sound of his name, looking for the source. Jeff offered a small smile, closing the door behind him. He made his way over to the bed, shuffling his bare feet against the carpet in hope that Phil would take the extra seconds and kick him out. He probably wasn't even welcome…

Phil's pierced lips turned up in a smile, "Hey Jeff."

"Hey, man" Jeff drawled, dropping to his knees beside the bed. He rested his hand on the bed, his chin on his hand, simply watching as the other shook off his meds. "I didn't mean 'ta wake you up. I'll leave?""No, it's fine" Phil cleared his throat, propping his head up a little to look at the other properly. Jeff couldn't help himself, his tattooed fingers coming up to brush back loose strands of the man's raven hair. There was a rather dark bruise along his cheekbone, showing that he'd been smacked around.

"Fuck, man" Jeff sighed, regret like lead in his heart "I didn't mean what I said, all that shit I put you through-"

"Shut up, Hardy" Phil scoffed, shutting the man up "Don't feed me bullshit, okay? I'm fine, you're fine…we're all going to heal. Don't pull this 'death bed' shit with me."

Jeff shook his head, starting to deny it, "I'm not-"

"We never got along before" Phil stated, cutting off the other easily "Why is now any different?"

Jeff didn't know what to say, he dropped his eyes in shame. He was surprised when a warm hand blanketed his own, enough ink between them to open an art gallery. He looked to him, finding a rather stony expression on Phil's face. The punk's thumb brushed over the bandages on his wrist, matching the one's he and some of the other subs had.

"Are you okay, Jeff?" Phil asked softly, looking the blonde over for wounds as Jeff had done to him "Kane told me something about you being whipped…is it true?"

Instead of responding, Jeff pushed off the bed and got to his feet. He shed his hoody with little difficulty, though his shirt was a little more difficult. He carefully peeled it away, face scrunching up and a hiss escaping his lips as he put a strain on his wounds. He turned, showing off the bandage along his back and the lesser welts spidering from beneath it. He heard Phil suck in a sharp breath, obviously shocked to have what that monster had told him be true.

"There's some on my thighs too" Jeff added "They're…they're not so bad."

"How can you walk?" Phil implored, taking the Hardy's hand again and pulling him to the bed "Lay down."

"I shouldn't" Jeff began, easing himself back onto the bed at the man's request.

"You're hurt."

"So are you" Jeff countered easily "You said it, it's not like we're friends or anything."

"Would you quit being so fucking difficult?!" Phil barked, ready to tear the other's colored hair out of his scalp "I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't fucking want you here!"

"Why?" Jeff shot back defensively "Why the hell are we pretending to be nice? We've never liked each other."

"Is it such a big fucking deal that I want to make sure you're okay?" Phil lashed out, grabbing the Hardy by his necklace to pull him closer "Maybe I was worried about your stupid ass, did you think of that?! Maybe I set there in that God-forsaken cellar thinking about what an ass I've been to you! How I've been hard on you! How I've got no fucking right to judge you! Fuck me for thinking that the good in all this shit is that maybe it would help us get through all that petty in-ring shit and be friends!"

Jeff was stunned by this admission, emerald eyes wide as the punk caught his breath. Phil's cheeks were flushed, and though he didn't look it was he was shocked that all of that had come out like it did. He had a lot of time to think about his life down in that hell-pit, about his friends, about Jeff. He was just so tired of all this in-court fighting, of always butting heads with the younger Hardy. It was bullshit, and he regretted every time he had picked a fight. The violent rivalry was mostly his fault, and he hated that he had pushed Jeff to jumping off ladders and whatever else he could think of to prove he was better.

Jeff raked his teeth over his lower lip, rasping out, "Fuck us for wasting all this time."

Phil's flare of anger faded away, "Seriously?"

Jeff nodded, both relieved as they felt their rivalry physically melt off their shoulders. The blonde scooted closer, clasping their hands more firmly.

"So…we've all talked about what happened to us" Jeff admitted, laying down on his stomach beside the ravenette "We were all together at the hospital for a while, so we had time to let it all out. If, I dunno…"

Jeff turned his head, an understanding look on his face, "I know it's still fresh, I know you probably don't wanna, but…if you wanna talk about it, I'm here."

Tears began to spill down Phil's smooth cheeks, fingers trembling beneath the Hardy's hand. Jeff panicked, getting closer and putting his free hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Punk, man, what's wrong?" Jeff inquired in a whisper, hoping he hadn't upset the man.

"I could've died down there…it could've been all over right there" Punk murmured, olive eyes going dull as he flipped through those gruesome memories "He could've done anything he wanted. He could've…chopped me up or…" he winced suddenly "I was chained tight, he could've brought anyone down there and I wouldn't have been able to fight them off. Phil was trembling now, goosebumps blooming up and down his arms.

"Mark would've found me dead…" the pure horror in his voice broke the Hardy's heart.

Phil buried his face in the pillow, tears continuing to spill down his cheeks as he silently let out his grief. The whole of the situation hit him all at once, shocking his nerves to the core. He felt Jeff's paint-smoothed fingers stroked his arms, his hands, his hair, all in an effort to soothe him.

Jeff stayed with the younger man, letting him pour out all his sorrow at once so he could get passed it.

They all had to.

xXxXxXx

Next Morning In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Kurt Angle awoke like he did every morning, hungry. So, matching his routine, he rolled out of bed and pulled on some clothes. With a yawn, he padded barefoot out of his bedroom with a mind to get to the kitchen. He needed to get something in his belly. He'd barely gotten any sleep last night, he'd flipped to the news at dinner only to find a story on the smoldering remains of JBL's limo.

And JBL.

At first, he'd called Scott to see what the hell was up. Raven told him quite frankly to quit being a pussy and hung up, but that did nothing but heighten his nerves. So he'd called AJ next, hoping his other TNA employee would shed some light on what was going on. AJ told him to get out of the country, apparently he was getting on a plane in a few hours to get the hell out of Dodge. Or America, as the case would be.

Angle planned on following that plan as well.

Kurt shuffled into the kitchen, knowing there was a protein shake waiting for him inside the fridge. He hadn't gotten a few feet from the stainless steel appliance when he heard a slurp. It startled him so badly he had to turn and glare at the thing that made the sound, finding it to be a man.

Adam fucking Copeland was stretched out on his couch. In his living room. In his house.

The blonde bomb-shell wiggled his fingers at him in greeting, a water bottle to his lips.

"What the fuck are you doing here?!" Kurt barked, voice still raspy from sleep.

"Nothing" Adam shrugged, crossing his legs across the cushions. The mud from his boots rubbed off on the couch, he couldn't seem to care less about it though.

"How did…?" Kurt's eyes darted around the room, there wasn't a trace of anyone else in his home. A smirk started to form on his face, some of his arrogance returning to him.

"You're all alone, aren't you?" Kurt couldn't stop the low, mocking chuckle from escaping him "You've always been an idiot, Adam. Without the rest of Undertaker's Court, you're just a man. You'd like to keep everyone thinking that you're some god, that you have special powers…but you live and bleed like everyone else."

Edge tilted his head, not once breaking the connection of their eyes, "That's what you think."

"You don't scare me, Copeland, you never have" Kurt outright lied, swinging open the fridge door.

"You took something that was not rightfully yours" Edge spat, sitting up rather gracefully and leaning against the arm of the couch "You thought you could just get away with it? Did any of you really think we'd be so stupid and meek just to let you walk away?"

"You're not going to kill me" Kurt stated rather smugly "You don't have the balls."

Edge quirked a brow, "Don't I?"

Kurt hesitated to reply, instead snagging his protein shake-filled thermos.

The blonde sighed dramatically, tossing aside the water bottle before folding his hands on his stomach, "You're right! As always, asshole. I'm not going to kill you."

"Damn right" Kurt grumbled, screwing off the top of the thermos before putting it to his lips.

Edge watched intently, a grin curling up his lips. Angle didn't get a chance to open his eyes before the first strike hit his cheek, screaming insanely as the second one got his forehead. The blowhard stumbled backward, still holding the thermos as he smacked into the kitchen counter. One last strike caught him in the jaw before he tossed the cup aside, giving an animalistic cry of rage.

A grey-scaled snake hissed and spit from within the thermos, coiling tightly inside once the cup hit the floor. It snapped it's inky mouth once before settling.

Adam couldn't stop the hysterical laugh that escaped him, nor the next one. He caught into a horrible fit of boisterous laughter, gripping his sides as the Olympian writhed around on the floor in pain. The venom was quick to burn his veins, bursting vessels and constricting others. Kurt trembled violently, muscles starting to constrict from the almost 500 mg of venom searing through his veins.

"Fuck! I can't believe you fell for that!" Adam roared, completely lost in his amusement "Haven't you ever seen Kill Bill you fucking dumbass?! Oh fuck…"

Adam gasped for breath, wiping the moisture from his eyes, "I can't believe you actually opened it. Shawn bet ten bucks that you weren't that stupid, but I was rooting for you, Angle. God, you never fail to disappoint."

Angle was screaming loads of things, but none of them made any sense as his body started swelling a good bit.

"Dude, I'd tell you all about the black mamba, but I'd like to think that you've seen the movie" Edge got to his feet, grinning like anything "And to be fair - I'm not kill you, the venom is."

The blonde snagged a towel off the table, walking over to the man who'd attacked his younger brother. He tossed the cloth over thermos that held the snake, hoping the little guy got away before police came. He'd like to think that the snake understood, he'd talk to him all the way here (even with Shawn giving him funny looks.) The pheromones had really done the trick, for usually this type of snake wasn't so aggressive.

And he'd admit it, he stole his idea from Kill Bill. But it was a good concept!

Also, it was something Jay had said to him

"You're going to kill someone because I was stupid enough to get caught off guard."

Deep down, he knew Jay didn't want him to kill anyone. His brother had always been a better person than him, that's why he never told him when he had to deal with an asshole who was trying to ruin what they had.

Angle was clawing at his own throat with fat fingers, shaking his head violently as the toxin started to settle deeply into his chest.

"And you thought I didn't have the balls" Edge faux-cooed, tisking "I'm an opportunist, Angle…it's kind of what I do. Leave it to you to forget that."

Edge turned his back on the gasping man, he had no more business here. But just as he was about to pass the boundary of the kitchen, he couldn't help but stop and utter one last thing.

"I bet you enjoyed my brother, he's the sweetest fuck you'll ever have and I hope you crave another taste in your final thoughts" Edge murmured solemnly, slipping on his shades "And these breaths will be even sweeter…because they're your last on this earth."

xXxXxXx

Back in Cameron…

Ted snuffled softly, still half-asleep as a hand drifted over his arm. The firm caress was welcome, warm, and he couldn't help but savor it. He had no idea who it was, but he couldn't care. It felt safe to him, and with the knowledge that Dave was dead.

Gold spun lashes fluttered open, revealing their blurry cerulean treasures. He was buried under a thick comforter, he shifted a bit to get some comfort. He winced, a tightness on his skin revealing the fact that he was bandaged. There was a coldness against his skin, his lover's dog tags. He blinked a few times, clearing his vision, finding another set of cerulean eyes peering back at him.

"Cody?" he breathed, finding none other than his best friend laying there on the bed next to him.

The younger man had a pillow tucked beneath his head, a dreamy look on his face. Sweat pants swallowed his legs, a hoody covering his torso. He looked so tired, but rather content to just lay there with him. Ted tugged down the blanket a bit, the cooled air skimming his bare flesh. He reached out, cupping his best friend's cheek rather tenderly.

"There's my Coddies" Ted murmured, eyelids drooping a bit.

"Damn, it's good to see you, Teddy" the brunette replied, shadowing the hand on his face "Do you feel any better?"

"Much better than I was" the honest reply nearly broke the other's heart "I thought…there for a while…that I wouldn't see you guys again. Batista had me really freaked out."

"You're home now" Cody reassured him, chasing the glimmer of hopelessness out of his friend's eyes with a kiss to his palm "Soon, John will be back…and then we'll all just sleep this off…we can just forget it all."

Ted sighed heavily, "I'll never forget."

Cody's smile was almost woeful, "I'm afraid I won't either."

The blonde took a moment to gather his thoughts, eyes fluttering open completely to take in all of his friend. He sat up a bit, brow creased.

"What happened to you, Codes?"

Cody bit his lower lip, rolling onto his back. He carefully raised his hoody up, revealing the bandaged flesh of his stomach. He couldn't see the staples that held him back together, nor the mars that looked akin to a C-section. Cody took the other's hand, ears pinned back on his head as he laid his hand atop the bandages. They'd always had a bond, between their cat genetics and their rapidly growing friendship, they were inseparable. So that strong bond pulsed as they touched…telling Ted that the younger man had been hurt beyond words.

"I was pregnant" Cody rasped, a small smile still on his face "I-I had Randy's baby inside me…"

"Who?" was all Ted could choke out, stretching out beside his best friend and rubbing his cheek along his shoulder.

"Hunter."

A thousand insults ran through Ted's mind, and he had an excuse to use every single one of them. But the longer he laid there, taking in Cody's sadness and blending it with his own, he knew this wasn't the time for any more anger. This was a time for healing, love, friendship.

"I love you so much, Cody" Ted dropped a kiss on his cloth-covered shoulder.

"It would've been so beautiful" Cody couldn't help but whisper.

"Yeah, it would've" Ted replied with a smile "Can you try again?"

"Yeah."

"You guys will make amazing parents" Ted pulled the hoody down his friend's stomach, still letting his hand rest lightly atop it "Are you gonna stay with me?"

"Hell yeah" Cody chuckled lightly, nosing at the older man's blonde hair "I missed my best friend too much to leave you up here by yourself."

Ted nodded gratefully, both slowly curling around each other. They took in the familiar scent, the feel of the other, knowing that even their masters could never know them so well. They loved their masters, but their special mutation linked them to each other like no one else. Not quite like Jeff and Jay, but close enough.

Wrapped up in each other, they fell asleep.