Because it takes me awhile to get these chapters out, if anyone wants to read previous chapters, you can find them at fanfiction.net.

TITLE: The End Is The Beginning Is The End (5/10)

AUTHOR: Bellerophon

EMAIL: bellerophon_666@hotmail.com

CATEGORY: WWF

DISCLAIMER: Don't own these characters. Vince McMahon and the WWE does right now but just you wait til one day and I'm filthy rich, then we'll see who owns them.

DISTRIBUTION: Can be found on Fanfiction.net if I ever get around to posting stuff. If you want, you can have, just let me know.

RATING: R

SUMMARY: Matt finds out a little secret and leaves Jeff and Lita only to discover something else that could tear them apart forever.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I cannot believe I'm writing another Hardys fic. But I am. Once again, I've been reading Fics where Matt Hardy is the bad guy and I guess it just inspires me to write the opposite. It's set back around when they broke up.

TO FALL ASIDE

The match had been progressing fairly decently. He hadn't broken any bones with screwy landings, like he kept expecting to do. And he hadn't seriously hurt anyone else either. Hospital for a few weeks was as far as he was willing to inflict. He'd spent far too long in and out of hospital beds to put anyone else through that crap as well.

So far he'd managed to keep Vince in the dark, regarding his little problem. But how long that would last he didn't know. Soon the time would come where he would have to leave wrestling for good.

Matt pulled away from his opponent and Irish-whipped him into the corner. Helms staggered off the buckles and Matt DDT'd him. Shane felt his head ache. God, did Matt Hardy have a lot of impact or what? Maybe it was a bad idea to pick a fight with him but Shane needed some sort of revenge for Matt costing him the Euopean title the last RAW.

Matt had run in and interfered in Helms's match just for the hell of it. Helms had been annoying him for ages with that whole superhero thing anyway. Why should he get to be European champion? NO fucking reason, that was what.

Helms moaned and glared up at him. "What did I do to you? Why're you doing this?"

"I was bored," Matt sneered down at him. He decided to end the match quickly, he was getting a weird feeling in his stomach.

He hauled up Helms and was about to pull off a Neckbreaker when the room began to swim around him. Matt staggered and dropped Helms, trying in vain to stay on his feet. Soon the dizziness became to much and he stumbled and fell to the canvas.

Matt hit hard and the sudden impact stunned him. That, coupled with his overwhelming dizziness, meant when Helms pinned his shoulders he just couldn't find the strength to raise them. Even after the three count he lay there, unable to move without feeling sick. He held his breath and waited for the world to stop spinning around him. Then the EMTs arrived.

Jeff and Lita watched RAW at their home in North Carolina. They sat close together and held hands as Matt was lifted onto a stretcher.

"Jeff, something's wrong with him," Lita whispered. "I can just tell there's something going on."

"I know." Jeff squeezed her hand, his heart aching when he heard her love for Matt still evident in her voice. Would she ever get over him? "He won't return calls, he refuses to see either of us. Hopefully, he'll stop being angry soon and contact us."

"Yeah," Lita paused and Jeff waited for her to continue. She didn't disappoint. "Jeff, what happened when you and Matt were kids? Why won't you tell me?"

Jeff frowned and squeezed his eyes shut. It was hard to think of that time from Matt's perspective when he hadn't even known something was going on right until the end. The whole time Jeff had been completely clueless. "I've told you, Lita. It's not my story to tell. It was about Matt and I didn't even know about it for ages. But that's probably when he got most of his issues."

"Issues?"

"Doesn't trust a lot of people." Jeff sighed. "He didn't trust you at the start. But forget about that. Just forget I ever told you anything. Matt refuses to talk about that and he won't talk to me for a decade if he finds out I've been telling you anything."

"Fine," Lita pouted.

Jeff turned most of his attention back to the screen and watched the mini drama unfold, but part of him could never forget the slight bulge in Lita's abdomen. He unconsciously circled his hand over her stomach. Lita smiled, despite her inner anguish and covered his hand with her own.

They continued to watch the show in companiable silence.

Helms was walking up the ramp concern also evident on his face, JR and King were babbling about how Matt's quality of work had been going downhill, and the crowded audience was muted in its response. The end result of the match and how it had come about had a sobering effect on everyone,including those watching backstage.

Except for one person who was sitting in his office. Anger and frustration made him kick over his chair and snarl out his next words. "Tell Matthew Hardy that when he's done fighting my authority and screwing up matches to get his ass in my office. That boy has had this coming for a long time."

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

Matt struggled as the doctor on hand tried to examine him. "I'm fine now, I just had a headspin." He snapped at the doctor and sat up slowly to avoid anymore falling down incidents. He pushed away the hands of the EMTs who were trying to restrain him.

A stage hand approached him. "Excuse me, Mr Hardy. Mr McMahon would like to see you in his office as soon as possible."

Matt stood up off the stretcher and rubbed the back of his head where it still ached slightly. "I bet those weren't his exact words."

"Not exactly, Mr Hardy."

Matt pushed the orderlies away. "Back off," he growled, getting seriously irritated by their overbearing presence. They stepped back as one, intimidated by his dark eyed glare. He smirked at that. It was still amusing that people were afraid of him.

He left the First Aid room and walked carefully to his locker room. He dropped in quickly and picked up a folder. He conceded that finally it was time to tell Vince the truth. It was time to let wrestling go. God, it was easy to think that but wrestling was what had been keeping him sane. It had stopped him from completely losing control. And now it was time to move on.

Matt forced his legs to walk to Vince's office. It was one of the hardest things he ever did. He gripped the folder containing all his catscans and doctor's notes. It would tell Vince all he needed to know. He arrived at the office all too soon and summoned the courage to knock on his bosses door.

"Come in," Vince's voice boomed out.

Matt breathed in and out and walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Ah, Matthew, good of you to come so quickly. Now, I saw that little incident with Hurricane Helms and quite frankly, I will not put up with such unproffessional behavior in the future. Furthermore..." Vince was about to really get into his lecture, so Matt decided to intervene. It was now or never.

"Vince, before you continue I think there's something you should know." Matt sat down in a chair across from Vince and slid the folder in his hand across the desk. "All the information is in there, if you'd just read it."

Vince opened it and an unhappy frown settled over his face as he saw all the medical documents it contained.

"I want to apologise for the way I've been acting lately." Matt said slowly. He couldn't help but think about Jeff and Lita then. He wondered if they'd been watching his behaviour. He wondered if Jeff still wanted them to reconcile. Jeff had been gone for about three weeks now, leaving a week after their little confrontation to be with Lita. Matt still missed him sometimes, even though he tried not to feel it.

"Okay, Matthew, okay," Vince said, distracted as he looked at one MRI.

Matt watched as Vince skimmed over one letter as the connotations of the folder's contents became clear. "The doctors say I have about two months now."

Vince looked up from the folder in shock. "Matthew, I had, I had no idea." He stuttered out the words.

"No one does, Vince. Except..." Matt trailed off. Vince didn't know Stephanie had been seeing him. Maybe it would be better to leave that little tidbit out. "I guess I just didn't want to tell anyone."

"Well, I don't know quite what to say," Vince was clearly at a loss for words.

Matt cleared his throat and began speaking. "Vince, you don't have to say anything. It's time for me to stop wrestling. It's too dangerous now for both me and anyone else in the ring with me."

"Yes, well, I apologise for what I said earlier." Vince gathered his thoughts. "Of course, you're released from your contract. Are you organised with health care and insurance and the like?"

Matt smiled as he thought of Stephanie. "Yeah. I have someone good taking care of me."

"It's been an honor to have you working for this company, Matthew. I realise things must've been difficult the last few months but I have a very high opinion of you and the WWF will keep you in is memory of great performers." Vince smiled wickedly. "You were one hell of a heel lately, even if it did annoy the hell out of me."

Matt swallowed. "Thank you. It means a lot coming from you, Vince. And I want to thank you for not letting me quit when I wanted to. Wrestling has been very important to me lately."

Vince closed the folder and handed it back to Matt. He held out his hand to Matt. Matt smiled at him and shook hs hand. "Its been an honor." Matt let go and stood up quickly, feeling a huge part of his life slip away from him. He walked to the door and looked back.

"Goodbye, Matthew. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need anything." Vince nodded to him.

"I won't, Vince. Goodbye and thanks for everything." He felt the stinging in his eyes and knew it was time to leave.

Matt walked out, his courage failing him and he couldn't stop the tears escaping his eyes. He surreptiously wiped them away and stumbled down the hallway, vision still blurry. He felt the dizziness rise before he could find his balance and as the hallway tilted, he collapsed against the wall. Everything went black as he slid to the floor.

Chris Jericho turned into the hallway from one of its many corners and immediately saw the surly man pressed against the floor. He frowned and considered the siuation. Matt Hardy was an asshole. He treated everyone like crap, he beat people up for no reason, he refused to take part in work events. He was a total loser who no one wanted to work with anymore.

But he used to be a good guy and one of Chris's closest friends. He used to be friendly and funny and loyal. And it had been a tough year. Chris couldn't imagine what it was like to lose the girl that most people thought was the love of your life to your brother, who was also your travel buddy, work mate and best friend. It was all pretty fucked up.

"Matt?" Chris didn't touch him, but he could see there was something wrong. Matt's eyes were closed tightly and his hands gripped the ground. "Matt, it's Chris."

Matt peered out at him, the world still spining around him. "No shit, sherlock. The fuck do you want?"

"You look like shit, Matt. I just thought you might need a hand."

"No thanks, Y2J, don't need anyone's help, especially yours," Matt ground out. His pride forced him to stand unsteadily. He tried to storm away but his legs gave out and Matt felt his facade of bravado crack as Chris caught him.

"Looks to me like you need help, Junior," Chris said as he set Matt back on his feet.

"Not from you," Matt tried to walk away but Chris held his arm and walked with him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm not going to be held responsible when the caretakers find you huddled up in a corner, puking your guts out which is what it looks like you're about to do." Chris stated, realising how much Matt really did look like crap. He was thin, pale, sickly. Something had to be going on. Matt normally looked great, taking great care of himself.

"Gee thanks Chris. Just don't expect too much gratitude," Matt muttered.

Chris huffed jokingly. "Jeez, Matt. Get over yourself for just one second. Lets try to remember I'm pretty much the only person you haven't completely alienated here." He had to admit, his curiosity was piqued. Matt really wasn't the sort to accept help no matter how he was acting.

Matt rolled his eyes. It didn't matter for shit anymore whether the people in the WWF did or didn't like him. They walked together slowly like that until they reached Matt's room.

Chris supported Matt with one arm and opened the door to his locker room with the other. He helped him inside and sat him down.

"What's going on, Matt?" Chris asked, determined to find out the truth.

"None of your business, Jericho," Matt muttered. He would've put a lot more venom in his voice but his head was pounding. He really didn't feel up to having a verbal fight with Chris Jericho at the moment.

"Well, I'm making it my business." Chris huffed. "You used to be an alright guy. Okay, what happened with Jeff and Lita, I don't want to know about that. But you've obvously got something wrong with you. You look majorly sick and I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on."

Matt rolled his eyes. He was about to start to really mouth off to Chris, get him so pissed off that he'd just leave, but something interrupted him.

The bathroom door burst open and Stephanie McMahon came running out. "Surprise, Nucklehead!" She squealed. "I saw what happened and I think it's time you finally stopped..." She gradually stopped talking as it sunk in that Chris Jericho was in the room as well. "Uh..."

Chris gaped. "What is she doing here?"

Matt smled weakly at Stephanie. "Wasn't expecting you till next week."

"Yeah," she said distractedly, "Hunter's being an ass so I decided to come and visit. What is he doing here?"

Matt eyed them both. Stephanie McMahon and Chris Jericho in an enclosed space. This was potentially a very bad situation for his headache.

"Uh, Chris was just helping me carry some stuff here. Stephanie is, uh, she's my new sponsor?" Matt tried to come up with reasons, one not to worry Stephanie and the other so he wouldn't have to explain the actual reason to Chris.

They both looked at him like he was an idiot. Matt smiled humourlessly. "Fine. Here's what's going on."

And he explained to them both about what had happened in his fight and why he was leaving the WWF.

***********

Sorry to everyone about the delay in getting my chapters out. I seriously have about five more sitting around waiting to be typed up and I just don't have enough time to do it. Except in about two weeks, I've got time off school (woo-hoo!) so there should be a bucketload for you people, my adoring fans, to read.

Until then…