Jeff's fist hit the punching bag with so much force Shane thought it would
fly off the mounting. The younger Hardy had been constantly working out his
aggression ever since that phone call from Shannon. Shane couldn't blame
the younger man though. If something like that had happened to Matt, he
knew he'd be equally enraged. What made matters worse was that Jeff
couldn't even do anything about it. He was halfway across the country and
Rey had an unchallenged playing field.
Unchallenged except for Matt, that is. The older Hardy had taken up the cause with a vengeance, challenging Rey both in and out of the ring. The writers seemed to like the idea, too, as they'd decided to give Matt the win for the cruiserweight title. It was a bit of stretch to imagine Matt as a cruiserweight, but this should definitely get Mysterio's attention.
Shane turned his mind to his former boyfriend. He'd never pegged Billy for the stalking type. Though Shane knew Kidman wouldn't try to attack him the way Mysterio was trying to do to Shannon, it was unnerving that he was willing to work with Rey to distract Matt. It was also very disturbing that Billy held their break up against Matt. Shane hadn't mentioned his feelings for Matt or even hinted at them when he'd broken up with Billy. He'd only said that Billy was getting too serious and that Shane couldn't return the feelings to that depth. How Billy had figured his feelings out was a mystery. He'd spent very little time with the Hardy brothers on those rare occasions when Shane brought him to North Carolina. He had to talk to Billy at the pay-per-view and hopefully settle the matter.
He looked up to see Jeff punch and kick the bag again.
"Hey, Hardy boy!" Shane called. "Calm the hell down."
"Calm down?" Jeff turned a blazing green gaze onto Shane. "He almost RAPED my baby, Shane! How the hell am I supposed to ever calm down?"
"Look, I completely understand, but you have to calm down," Shane tried reasoning with him. "How is this helping? You're going to expend all of your energy before the show tonight, miss spots and get in trouble again."
"He's right."
Both men turned to the gym's doorway to observe Jay's approach. Lance and Chris brought up the rear. Phew, reinforcements, Shane thought.
"What's going on?" Jay asked when he stopped a couple feet from them.
"Nothing," Jeff growled.
"That's not helpful either," Shane admonished. "They're our friends. Maybe they can help. Or maybe they can just calm your ass down."
"Well, there's a first time for everything," Chris grinned.
"You know you can trust us, Jeff," Jay said quietly, his penetrating gaze set on the fuming Hardy. "We've been friends since we started."
"I know," Jeff said looking away.
"My ex is bothering Matt," Shane began. "He's now working with someone after Shannon to try and separate him from Matt."
"What's he planning to do to Shannon?" Lance asked. Shane knew the "serious" Canadian remembered all of Shannon's trouble back in WCW. Lance had even saved the blond from a drunken Mike Awesome one time. "I assume it's a he."
"Yeah, it's a he," Jeff grunted. "Mysterio."
Lance's eyes widened at the name. "That runt is at it again?" he asked in a disbelieving pitch. "How many times does Shannon have to tell him he's not interested?"
"Probably as often as he had to tell Karagias," Shane muttered darkly.
Jay studied the group thoughtfully then whipped out his cell phone and punched the keys quickly.
"What are you doing?" Jeff asked. Shane watched the longhaired Canadian curiously.
"Adam?" Jay said into the phone. "Yeah, it's me. Who else?" He listened for a second. "Funny. Listen, there's something I want you to do for me."
*****************************
Matt ran into the locker room as soon as his match was over. He hated when he had to go to the ring without Shannon because if the match wasn't against Mysterio, he could never be sure the blond was safe. But things weren't as bad as they were before. John Cena and Jamie Noble were always around Shannon, even when Matt wasn't at ringside. Although he hated enduring Kidman's fulminating glances, the other wrestler hadn't approached him again. Cena made the atmosphere too uncomfortable for Kidman the only time he'd tried.
And Mysterio had to ogle Shannon from afar now. Adam Copeland kept him too busy training for their new tag team matches to get anywhere near the young blond. Matt suspected Jay had something to do with that. Jeff had told him that he and Shane spoke to the Raw Canadians about their quandary in the gym. When Jeff almost lost it at the pay-per-view and went after Rey, Matt thought his brother would be fired. It didn't even seem like Jeff cared about that it either, which scared Matt. He'd never seen his brother so apathetic about his career before.
Shannon sat on a bench in the room talking to Jamie about a match the other wrestler was going to have with Tajiri, who also stood nearby. Cena was standing in the corner talking to Lesnar but keeping his eye on the bench where Shannon sat. Matt smiled at Cena and walked back to the showers. He now knew how difficult it was to keep Shannon safe and wondered how Shane had managed it by himself in WCW. But then he wasn't alone there. He'd had the Steiners and Stasiak. Sadly, Stasiak was let go from WWE and Scott Steiner was restricted to Raw programming, so Matt was very thankful for Shannon's OVW contacts.
He stripped himself and jumped into the shower, lathering himself up quickly. While he was rinsing the conditioner from his hair the shower curtain opened and he found himself looking into the irritated eyes of Billy Kidman.
"Why can't you just leave it alone?" he asked Billy angrily.
"Because I can't," Billy stated. "Why does Shane love you and not me?"
"Didn't you ask him at the pay-per-view, like I told you to?"
"Yes," Billy hissed. "But he only said that he wasn't in love with me. He says he is in love with you and I want to know why."
"Yeah, Matt," Rey said moving into view. "Why?"
Matt wasn't scared for his own safety. He would fight them if he had to and he knew he would win if only for the pure rage he was presently feeling.
"Look, you two pervs," he ground out. "I'm trying to shower. Why don't you go back into the locker room and we can continue the discussion when I'm done?"
Rey smirked evilly at him.
"Like your friends would really let us talk to you," Billy replied. "No, we'll have the discussion here."
"Get the!"
Matt's voice was cut off by Billy's hand. Rey moved in and held the Hardy boy's arms. Matt struggled and kicked out at Billy while the other two wrestlers pulled him to the floor of the shower and held him there.
"He looks good wet, Billy," he heard Rey say as the small Latino sat on his back to keep him down. "If you can't have Shane, maybe you should settle for his punta."
"I want Shane and he won't take me back if I hurt Matt."
"He won't take you back anyway," Shannon's voice cut through the air.
Suddenly Matt felt Rey's weight being forcefully removed from his back. Billy had been pulled back as well and Cena helped Matt to his feet. Shannon turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around Matt's waist. Matt looked up to see Rey being held in check by Lesnar and Billy was standing warily between Tajiri and Jamie.
"I don't want to have to warn you two again to stay away from them," Lesnar ground out. "I'm sick of watching you stalk them. Kidman, get over Helms. He's moved on. Mysterio, for God's sakes, you're a married man! Leave Shannon alone."
The two angry wrestlers didn't acknowledge Brock's warning. Rey just pulled away, glared at Shannon for a minute and walked away, dragging Kidman behind him.
"We're all here for you," Brock said to Matt as he pushed away from the wall he leaned against and left the room.
*****************************
"You want to talk about it?" Shannon asked quietly in the hotel room later on.
He was worried because Matt had hardly said two words on the ride back from the arena. It was difficult to watch his normally tough, proud friend sink into this dark melancholia.
"How do you do it?" Matt finally asked, surprising Shannon, as he hadn't really expected an answer.
"Do what?"
"Deal with guys like Rey day in and day out."
"Well, I guess because I've always had to," Shannon reasoned sitting on the bed next to Matt. "It's common to be picked on when you're this small. Though it's usually a bigger man that does the picking."
"I thought I could take them both," Matt said sadly. "I thought I had nothing to worry about."
"If push came to shove, my money would have been on you," Shannon smiled. "I've seen you mad."
"I couldn't move."
"You would have found a way if they really tried something," Shannon argued. "Look, even Evan and Juvi knew they had to drug ME to get what they wanted, so I KNOW you could have taken on Billy and Rey if you had to, Matt."
"But."
"No buts," Shannon said sternly. "We ain't no pussies."
"Still, if Lesnar hadn't stopped them."
"You would have," Shannon said confidently. "I know you would have."
*****************************
NOTE: Shannon gets to save Matt for a change! I'm moving it towards Jeff's WWE departure, but you already knew that. I hope it's still holding interest.
Unchallenged except for Matt, that is. The older Hardy had taken up the cause with a vengeance, challenging Rey both in and out of the ring. The writers seemed to like the idea, too, as they'd decided to give Matt the win for the cruiserweight title. It was a bit of stretch to imagine Matt as a cruiserweight, but this should definitely get Mysterio's attention.
Shane turned his mind to his former boyfriend. He'd never pegged Billy for the stalking type. Though Shane knew Kidman wouldn't try to attack him the way Mysterio was trying to do to Shannon, it was unnerving that he was willing to work with Rey to distract Matt. It was also very disturbing that Billy held their break up against Matt. Shane hadn't mentioned his feelings for Matt or even hinted at them when he'd broken up with Billy. He'd only said that Billy was getting too serious and that Shane couldn't return the feelings to that depth. How Billy had figured his feelings out was a mystery. He'd spent very little time with the Hardy brothers on those rare occasions when Shane brought him to North Carolina. He had to talk to Billy at the pay-per-view and hopefully settle the matter.
He looked up to see Jeff punch and kick the bag again.
"Hey, Hardy boy!" Shane called. "Calm the hell down."
"Calm down?" Jeff turned a blazing green gaze onto Shane. "He almost RAPED my baby, Shane! How the hell am I supposed to ever calm down?"
"Look, I completely understand, but you have to calm down," Shane tried reasoning with him. "How is this helping? You're going to expend all of your energy before the show tonight, miss spots and get in trouble again."
"He's right."
Both men turned to the gym's doorway to observe Jay's approach. Lance and Chris brought up the rear. Phew, reinforcements, Shane thought.
"What's going on?" Jay asked when he stopped a couple feet from them.
"Nothing," Jeff growled.
"That's not helpful either," Shane admonished. "They're our friends. Maybe they can help. Or maybe they can just calm your ass down."
"Well, there's a first time for everything," Chris grinned.
"You know you can trust us, Jeff," Jay said quietly, his penetrating gaze set on the fuming Hardy. "We've been friends since we started."
"I know," Jeff said looking away.
"My ex is bothering Matt," Shane began. "He's now working with someone after Shannon to try and separate him from Matt."
"What's he planning to do to Shannon?" Lance asked. Shane knew the "serious" Canadian remembered all of Shannon's trouble back in WCW. Lance had even saved the blond from a drunken Mike Awesome one time. "I assume it's a he."
"Yeah, it's a he," Jeff grunted. "Mysterio."
Lance's eyes widened at the name. "That runt is at it again?" he asked in a disbelieving pitch. "How many times does Shannon have to tell him he's not interested?"
"Probably as often as he had to tell Karagias," Shane muttered darkly.
Jay studied the group thoughtfully then whipped out his cell phone and punched the keys quickly.
"What are you doing?" Jeff asked. Shane watched the longhaired Canadian curiously.
"Adam?" Jay said into the phone. "Yeah, it's me. Who else?" He listened for a second. "Funny. Listen, there's something I want you to do for me."
*****************************
Matt ran into the locker room as soon as his match was over. He hated when he had to go to the ring without Shannon because if the match wasn't against Mysterio, he could never be sure the blond was safe. But things weren't as bad as they were before. John Cena and Jamie Noble were always around Shannon, even when Matt wasn't at ringside. Although he hated enduring Kidman's fulminating glances, the other wrestler hadn't approached him again. Cena made the atmosphere too uncomfortable for Kidman the only time he'd tried.
And Mysterio had to ogle Shannon from afar now. Adam Copeland kept him too busy training for their new tag team matches to get anywhere near the young blond. Matt suspected Jay had something to do with that. Jeff had told him that he and Shane spoke to the Raw Canadians about their quandary in the gym. When Jeff almost lost it at the pay-per-view and went after Rey, Matt thought his brother would be fired. It didn't even seem like Jeff cared about that it either, which scared Matt. He'd never seen his brother so apathetic about his career before.
Shannon sat on a bench in the room talking to Jamie about a match the other wrestler was going to have with Tajiri, who also stood nearby. Cena was standing in the corner talking to Lesnar but keeping his eye on the bench where Shannon sat. Matt smiled at Cena and walked back to the showers. He now knew how difficult it was to keep Shannon safe and wondered how Shane had managed it by himself in WCW. But then he wasn't alone there. He'd had the Steiners and Stasiak. Sadly, Stasiak was let go from WWE and Scott Steiner was restricted to Raw programming, so Matt was very thankful for Shannon's OVW contacts.
He stripped himself and jumped into the shower, lathering himself up quickly. While he was rinsing the conditioner from his hair the shower curtain opened and he found himself looking into the irritated eyes of Billy Kidman.
"Why can't you just leave it alone?" he asked Billy angrily.
"Because I can't," Billy stated. "Why does Shane love you and not me?"
"Didn't you ask him at the pay-per-view, like I told you to?"
"Yes," Billy hissed. "But he only said that he wasn't in love with me. He says he is in love with you and I want to know why."
"Yeah, Matt," Rey said moving into view. "Why?"
Matt wasn't scared for his own safety. He would fight them if he had to and he knew he would win if only for the pure rage he was presently feeling.
"Look, you two pervs," he ground out. "I'm trying to shower. Why don't you go back into the locker room and we can continue the discussion when I'm done?"
Rey smirked evilly at him.
"Like your friends would really let us talk to you," Billy replied. "No, we'll have the discussion here."
"Get the!"
Matt's voice was cut off by Billy's hand. Rey moved in and held the Hardy boy's arms. Matt struggled and kicked out at Billy while the other two wrestlers pulled him to the floor of the shower and held him there.
"He looks good wet, Billy," he heard Rey say as the small Latino sat on his back to keep him down. "If you can't have Shane, maybe you should settle for his punta."
"I want Shane and he won't take me back if I hurt Matt."
"He won't take you back anyway," Shannon's voice cut through the air.
Suddenly Matt felt Rey's weight being forcefully removed from his back. Billy had been pulled back as well and Cena helped Matt to his feet. Shannon turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around Matt's waist. Matt looked up to see Rey being held in check by Lesnar and Billy was standing warily between Tajiri and Jamie.
"I don't want to have to warn you two again to stay away from them," Lesnar ground out. "I'm sick of watching you stalk them. Kidman, get over Helms. He's moved on. Mysterio, for God's sakes, you're a married man! Leave Shannon alone."
The two angry wrestlers didn't acknowledge Brock's warning. Rey just pulled away, glared at Shannon for a minute and walked away, dragging Kidman behind him.
"We're all here for you," Brock said to Matt as he pushed away from the wall he leaned against and left the room.
*****************************
"You want to talk about it?" Shannon asked quietly in the hotel room later on.
He was worried because Matt had hardly said two words on the ride back from the arena. It was difficult to watch his normally tough, proud friend sink into this dark melancholia.
"How do you do it?" Matt finally asked, surprising Shannon, as he hadn't really expected an answer.
"Do what?"
"Deal with guys like Rey day in and day out."
"Well, I guess because I've always had to," Shannon reasoned sitting on the bed next to Matt. "It's common to be picked on when you're this small. Though it's usually a bigger man that does the picking."
"I thought I could take them both," Matt said sadly. "I thought I had nothing to worry about."
"If push came to shove, my money would have been on you," Shannon smiled. "I've seen you mad."
"I couldn't move."
"You would have found a way if they really tried something," Shannon argued. "Look, even Evan and Juvi knew they had to drug ME to get what they wanted, so I KNOW you could have taken on Billy and Rey if you had to, Matt."
"But."
"No buts," Shannon said sternly. "We ain't no pussies."
"Still, if Lesnar hadn't stopped them."
"You would have," Shannon said confidently. "I know you would have."
*****************************
NOTE: Shannon gets to save Matt for a change! I'm moving it towards Jeff's WWE departure, but you already knew that. I hope it's still holding interest.