PART 9

BACKLASH- 2002

Britney sighed as she made her way through the arena where Backlash was being held was being held.  She was searching the hallways for the locker room where Jeff Hardy was dressing.  She wanted to speak to him about the match he was having later that night with Brock Lesnar.  After roaming the halls for awhile, she bumped into Shane McMahon, who hadn't been at a WWE event in months.

"Hey!" Britney said cheerily, smiling as her cousin kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey kid.  Why you looking so lost?" he asked curiously.

"Cause I am… I'm searching for my colorfully haired friend," she said, laughing softly.

"Ah, Hardy's locker room's that way," Shane replied, pointing down the hallway.

Laughing once more, Britney thanked him, "Great, thanks Shane.  Maybe now I'll get to him before the show starts."  She started to walk past him, but the older man grabbed her by the shoulder.

Tilting her chin up so she was looking at him, he questioned her, "This conversation wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the match Jeff has with Brock tonight, would it?"

She shook her head, but Shane knew better.  "Look Brit, Jeff can handle himself.  Don't get too worried, okay?" he said, putting his arm around her shoulder as they walked down the hall.

"I… I can't help it Shane," Britney told him.  Frowning, he stopped walking as his cell phone rang.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Alright, I'll be right there."  Turning to face her, Shane placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Duty calls, kid.  I'll have a word with the bastard in a little, though.  I haven't been around in awhile, but I've heard plenty," he told her, and Britney's eyes widened.  She had never told Shane that she had gotten back together with Brock, mainly because she knew how he would react.

"Look Shane, I'm sorry I didn't tell y-" she started, but he put a finger to her lips, silencing her.

"Don't worry about it… you know I couldn't get mad at you for it.  Not that I understand how you could be with that dick, but… well, you know how I feel.  And I know that you probably don't want to talk about it, so I'm just going to accept that and be grateful that it's over now," he told her.  Britney was surprised, and wondered what had gotten into him that made him back off so quickly about a topic that he had a VERY strong opinion on.

"Um, are you feeling okay?  I was kinda preparing for the third degree," she said, and he laughed.

"Yeah, I feel fine.  I just… I don't think I could stress how much I think he's the biggest fucking bastard to ever live anymore.  I'm not going to let him come between us again.  You're my baby cousin, and I love you like I love my sister.  There's no way I'm going to let that punk ruin something like that," he said seriously.

Britney raised an eyebrow at him, "Um, thanks… I think."

He smiled, "See, now I've gone and confused us both.  Look, I'll make sure nothing happens tonight, alright?  I promise."  Britney smiled as Shane glanced at her confidently.  She knew that Shane would take care of Brock, as her cousin could be quite the motivational speaker when necessary.  "Now, you go find Rainbow… I'll see you later kid," he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead.

"Bye, Shane," she said, walking past him in the direction of Jeff's locker room.

Lips forming into an almost evil smile as he watched her disappear around the corner, Shane said to himself, "Oh yeah, Mr. Lesnar and I will DEFINITELY be having a chat before the night's out."  As he turned to head for his father's office, the smile left his face at the thought of that man.  And I'd BETTER like what I hear.  NO ONE messes with my baby cousin, I don't give a damn how big he is.

DOWN THE HALL

Britney finally found the locker room she was looking for, thanks to Shane's help, as well as the help of Matt Hardy, whom she had seen on her way.  Stepping up and knocking on the door, her fingers played with the necklace on her neck as she awaited a response.  After a moment, the door slowly opened, and the head of Chris Irvine popped out from behind it.

"Oh, hey cutie.  What can I do yah for?" he said, still partially hiding behind the door.  Noticing his damp hair, she realized he must have just stepped out of the shower.

"If you're naked, put some clothes on, cause I need to come in and see Jeff," she stated plainly.

"Well, I'm not naked," he said, stepping out and showing her the towel wrapped around his waist.  "But if you want, it could easily be arranged!"  Trying her best not to laugh, she pushed past him into the room, waving to some of the guys sitting around.

"Aren't you supposed to be married you horny old man?" she asked playfully.

Pushing her hair aside, he whispered, "Shh… don't tell.  Besides, I could never get with you."

Britney laughed, "Why not?  Suddenly deciding to be loyal to your wife?"  Chris laughed as he thought of a comment to answer that.  He was really happy be seeing her like this again--- so happy.  Adam had really done a good job taking care of her.  Aha, there we go.

"Actually, it's a blonde Canadian rule… number 47 to be exact," he said, referring to a joke that he and Britney had.  Chris always told her that she could have any man in the world if she wanted, but especially the blonde Canadians.  "That rule states," he continued, "that one blonde Canadian shall never EEEEVER touch another blonde Canadian's woman."

Britney smiled, "I wish Jerky.  But it's okay cause…" she lowered her voice to a whisper to match his, "I could never get with you either."

It was Jericho's turn to smile, "Why?  Too loyal to Adam, even though you SWEAR there's nothing there?"

Shaking her head, she pitifully patted his shoulder, "No, it's just, you're too… short."  Chris, who wasn't very tall to begin with, was actually shorter than Britney by a few inches in the heels she was wearing.

After he pretended to stab himself in the chest, rather dramatically at that, he called into the room, "JEFF!  There's a hott blonde here to see you!"  They waited a moment, and Britney smiled when she heard the Southern drawl that could only belong to Jeff Hardy.

"Chris, I'm flattered you like me so much, I really am.  But, man, you're just not my type… hey honey!" he said, turning at the door to see Britney standing with him.  Britney's cheeks reddened slightly at his comment.  All the guys usually called her, Steph, and Amy stuff like "honey" and "cutie"… but Jeff was just so damn cute when he did it.

"All the nice names I'm being called today!  Hey yourself, hottie!" she said happily.

"Damn," Chris interrupted, "she called you hottie.  First thing she said to me was put your clothes on!"

Britney laughed as she gave Jeff a quick hug, "Sorry Chris, it's the accent.  You know I love you, too."  Triumphantly sticking his tongue out at the young Hardy, he turned and left them, mumbling something about calling the wife he was so loyal to.

"So, what's up?" Jeff asked, leading her out of the locker room and closing the door.  As she went to answer, the daredevil suddenly jumped, diving on to an equipment crate.  Still jumpy around people who moved to fast, Jeff's sudden action nearly gave Britney a heart attack.  Christ, this kid will be the death of me tonight.  When she stared at him, still catching her breath from her scare, he answered her question before she could even ask it.

"Don't worry, mom.  I'll be careful when I'm out there tonight," he assured her, reading her mind.

"Extra careful, Jeff.  I don't trust Brock, and I know he'd do something stupid to you to get to me, so I want you to be extra EXTRA careful, okay?"  Jeff gently placed a hand on her shoulder, once again moving too fast and making her jump.  Damn, I gotta learn to slow down a notch or two.

"I promise Brit.  I'll be really careful--- I'm more worried about Amy though.  She's liable to kick his ass.  You know how she is with protecting and getting revenge for her friends," he said, instantly regretting what he said.

"AMY'S GOING OUT THERE?!" Britney cried, totally shocked.  It never occurred to her that Lita would be accompanying Jeff to the ring.

"Oh, shit.  I knew I shouldn't have said that.  Look, you know I'd never let anything happen to her," he said.  Britney studied him for a moment as he rubbed a towel over his damp and now green hair.

"Yeah, I know.  I… I guess it just helps to actually hear it from you," she admitted.

Jeff smiled, "Good, so that's settled.  Anyway, how's loverboy doing?"

Britney laughed, "I assume you mean Adam.  Well, nothing's going on with him, at least not with me and him.  I mean, he's still being the sweetest and most helpful man in the world, but that's about all for now.  Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be."

Jeff looked at his friend, almost sadly.  He thought for sure that the two would have been together by now.  I mean, damn, they been sharing a hotel room for weeks.  I guess Adam was right when he said these things take time.

Suddenly, a stagehand approached them, "Jeff?  Mr. Bischoff wants to see you."  Jeff nodded as the man walked away.

"Uh oh.  Guess I'll see you later.  Bye, darlin'," he said, laughing at the way her cheeks reddened again.  "Bye Rainbow," she said, watching his figure disappear.  Please, God, she prayed silently, take care of him tonight.

IN SHANE MCMAHON'S OFFICE

"Alright, thanks… bye," Shane said as he ended a phone call with one of the executive producers for the show.  Just as he placed the phone on the receiver, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said, looking at the door.  He gave a satisfied smile when he watched Brock Lesnar push the door open and walk in.  Shane was very grateful that he was able to keep composure around the scum, because seeing his face made him want to kill the bastard even more.

"Hey Shano.  What did you want to see me for?" he asked calmly, taking a seat in a chair at the head of Shane's desk.

"Well, Brock, I want to talk to you about your-"

"Match tonight with Jeff Hardy?  What did Steph go whining to you already?  Tell her I'll leave the freak alone," Lesnar interrupted, angering Shane.

"Actually," he responded, "I decided to do this by myself--- but I'm doing it for Britney, not Steph.  And you WILL leave Jeff alone, because if he comes out of that match more banged up than usual, your ass will be in hot water, pal."

Brock raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah?  Well, in case you've forgotten, since you haven't been around and all, this is my first real match.  I'm BOUND to mess up once or twice."

Shane merely shook his head, "I've given you fair warning Brock.  If Jeff, or ESPECIALLY Amy, gets hurt tonight, your ass will pay.  Now, I've got work to do, get the hell out."

Brock nodded, glaring at the Boy Wonder all the way.  Shane cringed as he heard Brock mutter, "God, you hit the bitch around a little and you get the whole fucking family on your ass," before closing the door.

LATE THAT NIGHT

"The look on your face when Amy came into the locker room was priceless!" Adam said, laughing.

"Well, I didn't quite see the humor YOU people saw in it," Britney replied, sending him a pout that Adam found absolutely adorable.

Adam laughed heartily at the incident that had occurred earlier as he leaned back on the couch.  The two had been up for awhile, talking, as they had done many nights since they started rooming together.  Thinking back to earlier that night, he recalled, Shane McMahon, whom Adam hadn't seen in awhile, approached him, bringing Jeff and Amy with him.  They knew Britney had completely refused to watch Jeff's match with Brock Lesnar, as she told the girls in the locker room that she would spend the whole match throwing her guts up if she saw what was going on.  The ever-devious Shane had decided it would be a good night to play a little trick on his baby cousin.  After the match, Amy feigned a serious injury, and got some trainers to go along with her.  They took her into one of the locker rooms, where Adam was instructed to keep Britney.  The trainers brought Amy in, saying it was an emergency and they needed to work on her right then and there.  As Amy moaned in pain, Jeff kept screaming something like, "HE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO TOUCH HER!"  Well, the look on Britney's face when Amy jumped up and Shane, Adam, Amy, and Jeff all yelled, "GOTCHA!" was definitely priceless, even if she didn't think so.  Adam was grateful that she had such a good sense of humor, otherwise he could've been in for a serious ass-kicking.

"Aw, don't pout.  I'm sorry," Adam said, widening his eyes innocently.  Britney WANTED to be mean and blow him off, but he just looked so damn cute making that puppy dog face at her.

"Oh, fine.  I suppose I could forgive you, since it was Shane's idea and all," she said, bursting into a fit of giggles.

Taking advantage of how she had let her guard down, the Canadian grabbed her by the stomach, tickling her.  Ever since they had started sharing a hotel room, they had gotten into many a tickling match, especially late at night.  They would crash around the whole hotel room, and they managed to break a few things along the way, all the while laughing so hard that their sides hurt.  As his hand reached her stomach, she instantly jumped and fought to defend herself.

"Ah!  Adam… stop it!  I… ooh!" she cried, falling backward.

Adam gave a satisfied smile as she tumbled backwards off the couch, but his eyes widened in shock as she gripped him tightly, pulling him down with her.  They laughed uncontrollably, both fighting a losing battle to catch their breaths.  After a few moments of gasping for air, they finally managed to control their breathing.  Adam gazed down at her, hovering over her on the floor.  He just couldn't get over how beautiful the blonde diva underneath him was, and discovered that his control was dropping dangerously.  What harm could it do if I leaned down and just  kissed her?  He lowered his head a little, and then stopped and withdrew.  Britney gazed at him wonderingly, as he seemed to be deep in thought.  Adam thought of the stress Britney had already been through and opted against kissing her, for now at least.  The more time he spent thinking about it and putting it off, the more he thought that maybe kissing her wouldn't be a good idea at all.  After all, what could she, the niece of Vince McMahon, who could anything or anyone she imagined, possibly see in him other than friendship?  Sure, he'd taken her under his wing when this whole mess with Brock happened, but it seemed to him that she thought of it as him just being a nice guy.  And as much as she knew about his past, he knew nothing of hers.  He's opened up to her about stuff like his relationship with Alanah, Jay, his mother, and his most sensitive issue of all… his father… and she had listened to it all.  But after all this time, she had yet to really tell him anything, except that her parents were never really there for her, which was why she was so close to Shane, Stephanie, and their parents.  Judging by the fact that Brock Lesnar played a big role in that past, he assumed that she didn't exactly LIKE to talk about it.  Shifting his body so that he was laying next to her on the floor, he rested his chin on the top of her head.  Adam thought deeply of where he could go to find out more.  He'd already spoken to Stephanie, and she wasn't much of a help, even though Adam suspected that she knew more that she let on.  Linda McMahon was miles away at the WWE headquarters, and Adam knew that Vince would be of no help to him, either.

"Adam?" Britney asked, suddenly interrupting his thoughts.  "What are you thinking about?"  Adam smiled as she looked up at him, wrinkling her nose slightly as she waited for him to answer.

"Nothing Brit.  Nothing at all," he lied, still transfixed in the thought.

Then, out of nowhere, it hit him.  There was one person who he hadn't who HAD to know about her past… who would also tell it to him straight-up.  I need to talk to Shane McMahon.