The Fear Trilogy
by Ky
Disclaimer: They're mine I tell you! ALL MINE!!!! Mwahahahahahahahahaha! (note to all lawyers: this is sarcasm...look it up...i.e. I own nothing, 'k?)
Rating: PG or 12
Series: WWF
Spoilers: Everything up till around 07/10/01 (Just to be safe)
Pairing: Mwahahahahaha! Now that would be telling! ...to be honest, it won't be hard to guess!
Feedback: Is a wonderful thing...please be the wonderful people I know you all are!
Email: jeff_hardyz_gal@hotmail.com
Notes: This continues from "The Truth Hurts" which continues from "Fear is Only a Four Letter Word" and will not make any sense if you haven't read those first.
I've decided that the show they were doing in the first part was actually "No Mercy"
I'd also like to point out that I had this written before RAW and Smackdown the past week, so the thing with the Hurricane and Kane was already there! I swear it! I did, however, add in the comment about Regal after.
~x~x~x~x~x~
PART 3
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
~x~x~x~x~x~
*"You'll be fine out there."
He offered her a lopsided smile, "Promise?"
"Promise." She replied hugging him again.*
Lita gasped as she sat up, her dreams echoing through her mind. She'd promised him he'd be fine...promised that with her there, everything would be all right, and *she* had been the cause of his injury...she was the reason he was here.
She blinked back tears as she turned to the bed, finding his eyes on her. He was awake. No doubt, also, her fault.
"I'm sorry," She whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."
"I was already awake," he replied, smiling at her slightly. "What's wrong?"
"I...I..."
"Lita, what's wrong."
She choked back a sob as he pulled her up to sit on his bed, "I told you you'd be all right. I *promised* you, and then *I* made you end up here..."
"Lita, listen to me," he tilted her face to look at him, and she noticed that he was straining to sit up.
"Jeff, lie down," she whispered, no longer attempting to stop her tears. "Please."
He complied, but refused to let go of her hands, "Listen to me, what I did out there was *my* decision, okay. It was not your fault, none of it was your fault. We knew what we were getting into, we knew it was a four on two situation and, yeah, we probably should have listened to you. But hey," he smirked. "We Hardy's are not exactly known for using our common sense. We chose the opportunity to give the crowd a good match." He smiled sadly. "Lita, I made the decision to jump onto that ladder, not you."
"Why did you do it, Jeff?" she watched as he turned his head to stare at the wall, "You always did as McMahon wanted and stunned the crowd by jumping off things. But this was your choice. Why did you do it. I know you, Jeff, you're terrified of heights, why?"
He turned to look at her once more, "So you did know." She nodded. "You never said anything,"
"It wasn't my place to say anything. Matt said you were afraid when you were younger but you told him everything was cool now. It wasn't my place to say anything different."
Jeff smiled, "Yeah, well, do you honestly think my big brother would let me do half that stuff knowing I was terrified most of the time?"
"You're lucky he lets you do it anyway." Came a voice from the doorway. "Why didn't you tell me, Jeff?"
"Matt," Jeff closed his eyes as his brother walked over to them. "Because I knew you'd stop me."
Matt snorted, "Jeff, I tried to stop you even not knowing, did you ever listen?"
"I guess not." He stifled a yawn and Matt and Lita exchanged glances.
"We should leave you to get some rest. You need all you can get." The elder Hardy said sadly. Reaching out, he pulled Lita to her feet and Jeff smiled sadly at their retreating forms.
~x~x~x~x~x~
"Did you tell him?" Matt asked, gazing intently at the ajar door, watching as Jeff struggled to find a comfortable position.
"I couldn't. How could I tell him that before the operation. How could I let him know..."
"Shh, honey, it's okay." Matt pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as she finally allowed herself cry openly. "It's okay, sweetie, we'll tell him together. Tomorrow. He deserves that much."
~x~x~x~x~x~
Jeff tried to stretch, moaning as his legs moved slightly. *Damn, but that hurts like a bitch* he groaned and picked up the remote control. It was almost time for RAW and he had to watch. The sooner he got back into the swing of things the better. He had always watched when he was absent, always. He wouldn't stop now. He refused to allow himself to think of the operation he had ahead. He snorted, typical that the one thing that could have killed him, might have saved his life. If he hadn't needed that CAT scan they might not have found the tumour in time.
The tumour...he had a brain tumour. The thought sent chills down his spine. He couldn't believe it and the looks on Matt and Lita's faces had shown that he wasn't the only one. He'd shouted and called the doctors anything he could think of to make them do the scan again...to make it all be wrong. But they weren't. He had a brain tumour and he had to have it removed....he had to or he could die. Hell, he might die either way.
He brushed away a tear, knowing things would feel better when his mother arrived. Yeah, so he still needed his mom to give him a hug to make him feel like everything was okay. If that made him a mommy's boy, a sap, right now, he could care less.
He sighed and turned back to the TV. He only hoped they didn't show too many replays of his fall. He wasn't sure he could take that.
"Knock, knock. Mind if I join you?"
Jeff turned to the door, looking rather startled, "er...yeah, sure." The man nodded and entered the room, staring up at the screen as he took his seat.
"Hasn't started yet, then?"
"No." The room went silent for a moment, neither man sure what to say. "So...er...how are you?"
"Well, a ladder and an insane Hardy dropped me on my ass, how do you think I'm doing?" Buh-Buh replied with a smirk and Jeff smiled back. "Seriously? Few bruised ribs and a broken nose...and a twisted ankle, hence the crutches...and a sore arm, bit of a concussion last night..."
"Okay, I get the point." Jeff stopped him and turned back to the TV. Buh-Buh didn't ask him the same question and Jeff knew that someone must have told him. He was only thankful the Dudley wasn't sending him pity glances. After a few moments, he continued, "I'm sorry...but I wasn't about to let you hurt Lita."
"Do you honestly think I'd hurt, Red?" the Dudley asked and Jeff could hear that he was hurt by the insinuation. He also noted fondly, the endearment that he himself had started amongst their friends...friends, now that was something he missed.
"Honestly?" he turned to face the larger man. "I don't know anything any more. This alliance thing has screwed everything up. It all became real and I don't know anymore."
"Well, that makes two of us. I know Stephanie has something planned, but, unfortunately, so does Heyman."
"Well, did you warn her?" Jeff asked, alarmed.
"Where do you think D-Von and Spike are headed, right now."
~x~x~x~x~x~
Spike clutched the edge of his seat harder. Sure, he had missed his brothers, and he was glad they seemed to be making a start at sorting everything out. However, one thing he had not missed was D-Von's driving. He inhaled sharply as they swerved around another corner.
He looked ahead, longing to see the large building that housed most of the WWF superstars, minus his other brother and Jeff Hardy. He knew that Jeff had insisted (almost to the point of having Security remove them) that Lita and Matt appear for their match tonight against Stacey and Polumbo. So that meant that only he and D-Von had yet to arrive...and he only hoped they arrived in time...for Stephanie's sake
~x~x~x~x~x~
"Hello everyone, I'm joined here tonight by Michael Cole, in the absence of Paul Heyman, who appears to be in conference with Stone Cold Steve Austin."
"Hey JR. Well, tonight's matches seem to be a little rusty. We know that Matt and Lita are scheduled to face Stacy Keebler and Chuck Polumbo. We also know that The Dudley's were all set to face the APA tonight. However, due to last night's events, we can't really be sure of anything."
"I agree, Michael. Things are definitely up in the air."
"For those of you that were unable to join us last night, let me fill you in. It all happened during the triple threat tag team match for the WWF titles."
"Triple threat? It was four on two Michael, plain and simple. Whatever allowed the Commissioner to make this match, I don't know, but I'm sure he's having a hard time living with that decision."
"I'm sure he is, JR. Well, here you can see Lita trying to help her boyfriend, Matt Hardy. However, Buh-Buh Ray Dudley doesn't seem to take that very well. He chased Lita to the ramp and here, if we can get the film, yes, here you can see, Jeff Hardy knows what's happening and...well, he tried to help her. We promise to continue to update you on Jeff and Buh-Buh Ray's conditions. Both men's brothers will make statements later on tonight. What makes me wonder though, JR, is RVD. He had fully recovered and did nothing, He didn't attack Jeff, instead, he let the younger Hardy save Lita. Why do you think that is?"
"I have no idea, Michael. But I believe Stephanie is on her way to ringside, so perhaps we'll find out soon enough."
~x~x~x~x~x~
Jeff cringed at the audible gasp running through the crowd. They had shown the replay three times, directly after each other, as if somehow under the impression that different camera angles would change something. He felt pain echoing through his legs as he watched them twisting violently on the screen.
He hadn't noticed the silence before. Granted, as he was falling, he wasn't exactly paying much attention to the crowd, but now, seeing the replay (again) he felt a chill run down his spine. The collective hush that had overtaken the crowd was eerie.
"Damn, you really are insane."
Jeff turned to Buh-Buh, who was still staring at the screen in shear horror, "I guess it does look bad."
"You guess? My God, you're insane, you could have killed yourself!"
"I know," he said softly. "But I wasn't going to let you hurt her...and I had no way of knowing that you had no intention of doing that."
"My God...does Matt know?"
Jeff frowned and turned to face the man, "Does Matt know what?"
"Does he know that you're completely and utterly in love with his girlfriend?"
~x~x~x~x~x~
Stephanie took a deep breath, steadying herself as she waited for the opening strands of her "husband's" old music. She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and turned to give RVD a smile. He was walking out with her, he'd make sure that everything went according to plan...she knew it.
Suddenly the music started and she took another breath, stepping onto the ramp. It was time. Unfortunately, she didn't hear her name being called before Spike and D-Von were pulled into a room.
~x~x~x~x~x~
Jeff watched the screen, trying not to think about the bad news he'd received...trying not to think about what Buh-Buh had just said about him being in love with Lita. Suddenly he heard Stephanie's music and both he and Buh-Buh sat up straighter, both hissing in pain at the act.
"Man, we make a pitiful pair," Buh-Buh laughed.
"Speak for yourself." Jeff grinned, before sobering up. "I hope your brothers got to her in time."
"You and me both."
~x~x~x~x~x~
Stephanie picked up the microphone, trying to ignore the "slut" chants echoing around her. It seemed that even though the younger Hardy and Buh-Buh Ray were seriously injured, the crowd knew just how to make her feel worse.
*You brought this on yourself, McMahon* she thought *You'll just have to live with it. Right now it's time to make things right for everyone else*
"I guess you're all wondering why I'm out here." She knew they were expecting her to play to them, to say it was because she was wonderful and could do whatever the hell she wanted...but she didn't. "By now you all know what happened last night at No Mercy and I'm sure I know how you feel. Because it makes me sick." She spat out the last word facing the ramp.
"Yeah, I know you all expect me to have some ulterior motive for saying that. That I'm about to lapse into some Alliance mind frame, but I'm not. I watched Jeff Hardy, someone I'd once thought of as a good friend almost kill himself just to save Lita. And why did he have to do that? Because of the Alliance. Because somewhere along the line, everything got more serious than ever before. We've had tragedy in the WWF before and I'm sure you all remember what that was like. Jeff may get through this, but we need to stop this before someone else gets hurt...someone who may not recover.
"I've had a plan in action for a week or so now. You may have noticed Rob, not *helping* as such, but not doing anything to stop what happened either last night, or in his last few matches. That's because I decided a few weeks ago that this had to stop, now, I'm making sure that it does. It's time to disband the "Stone Cold Steve Austin" fan club."
Stephanie paused at the uproar of the crowd, smiling as they cheered and yelled at her. She'd forgotten what that felt like, the thrill of having hundreds of people cheering you.
She continued, "I know Shane may not be on my side, in fact, if Heyman and Austin have anything to do with it, he'll be dead against it. But I'm asking all Alliance members to make a stand. To come out to the ring and agree to put a stop to this. I'm asking you to join the ECW/WWF Alliance."
Suddenly the opening strands of "No Chance" awoke the speakers and after a few moments a voice rumbled around them, "Wow, that was some speech, Stephanie." Vince's face loomed over his daughter from the large screen.
"Thanks, daddy."
Vince smiled, "I made this recording for one reason, and that is simply to assure all members of the *Old* Alliance that should they choose to side with Stephanie, they will have jobs with us. This isn't just one of my daughter's hair brained plans, this is a decision that we've had in the works for a while. I'd also like to send my best wishes to Jeff Hardy and Buh-Buh Ray Dudley."
As Vince's face faded from the screen, the crowd began to mumble amongst themselves until finally Rhyno's music blared throughout the auditorium. Stephanie stared at the ramp as the Man Beast made his way down to the ring, closely followed by Chuck Polumbo, The Hurricane, Sean Stasiac, Kanyon and Mike Awesome.
The strange collection of men made their way into the ring and stopped directly in front of Stephanie. She was ill at ease as they stared her down, unsure of whether they were here to support her decision or to beat the crap out of her for turning her back on the Alliance.
Rhyno grabbed her microphone and Stephanie couldn't help but jump a little, "We're in."
~x~x~x~x~x~
"All right!" Jeff attempted to punch the air before groaning in pain.
"Easy there, tiger." Buh-Buh teased and the younger Hardy glared at him.
Jeff watched as each of the men took the microphone and explained their reason for leaving the, newly dubbed, "Stone Cold" fan club. As the Hurricane explained that "Mighty Molly" had decided to stay with that "Dastardly villain, The Storm", he vaguely wondered what The Hurricane would say if he ever became stupid enough to challenge the brothers of destruction, besides Citizen Kane...he laughed then instantly regretted it. Man, he needed to get out more.
"Oh, crap!"
At Buh-Buh's curse, Jeff looked up at the screen again, watching as Shane, Austin, Heyman and the rest of the Old Alliance made their way to ringside...with none other than HHH.
~x~x~x~x~x~
END OF PART 3
~x~x~x~x~x~
I had planned for this to be a Trilogy...oh, well, my plans rarely go as...well, planned! I'm working on the final part now, and yes, you'll finally get to find out the "secret" that Lita has is! ...promise! ;)
Ky
~x~
