TITLE: All My Love.
AUTHOR: Cathie McMath.
EMAIL: penrithpanther_03@yahoo.com.au
RATING: Possibly at PG 15 +
CONTENT: Swearing (naughty words!), sexual themes, and violence. All the things that make a good fic!
SUMMARY: Lita gets a secret admirer... That turns out to be more than a little creepy. Lita/Jeff pairing.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone or anything related to the WWE. Vince McMahon does, and I'm very, very jealous.
DISTRIBUTION: Just email me first and let me know if you want it.
FEEDBACK: Reviews for the review whore! Come on people, it won't cost ya nothing! I'm cheap! Just give me the reviews!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know. This chapter is WAAAAAYYY overdue. That's why it's nice and long, and I worked really extra hard on it. So I hope it was worth the wait. Oooh! Can't you just feel the tension building? Now go and read! Don't forget the reviews!
-~-~-~-~-~-
So tired.
Tired, and aching, and shallow breaths, and burning muscles, and sweat soaked hair and pain. That's all Jeff could think about. All he could concentrate on. His thoughts were erratic and he was unable to focus. He was hurting but he just wanted to sleep. Falling harshly to the ring mat, Jeff thought about how comfortable it was, and he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Sleep would be so nice...
But then there were hands in his hair. Rough, strong hands that fiercely grabbed his damp and stringy hair and jerked him back up onto his feet. Jeff's eyes were barely opened, the weight of his eyelids suddenly feeling too great to even hold them open anymore. Hoping that Triple H would knock him down once more so that he could fall asleep on the ring mat again, Jeff was slightly aware that he was moving. Then he felt his bruised and tender body hit the ropes. He'd been whipped towards the ropes, and now he could feel his feet moving, as if out of instinct. He was moving towards Hunter.
Jeff didn't know exactly what would be coming. A clothesline, a body slam, a backbreaker. He didn't know. All he knew that it would be something hard, something painful, and something that would send him to the ground. That's why as he kept moving towards Triple H, he didn't even try to counter the attack. The bigger man picked Jeff up easily, turning around and slamming his back hard onto the mat in a shattering spine buster.
His body involuntarily convulsed at the waves of pain that coursed through his flesh. Then, with a defeated breath, the shaking stopped and the Hardy's body was still once again, the rapid rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still alive.
It was then that the ever present, demanding pull of hands upon his hair hoisted him back to his feet. Breathing heavily, cringing at the pain throbbing in his neck as Hunter tangled his fingers in his hair, Jeff heard something outside of the ring. A sound that was so incredibly familiar, yet at the same time unrecognisable and unclear. There was a fog surrounding Jeff's brain and it was so hard to push through it...
Gasping sharply as Triple H pulled on Jeff's hair, he struggled to lift his eyelids and open his eyes. He found the strength, and as his sight began to focus clearly, he realised what that familiar sound was. Through bleary eyes, he caught sight of Lita outside of the cell. Her hands were gripping the bars, and she was shouting... something. His eyes narrowed harshly, Jeff's vision began to clear. He could see Lita shouting for him to fight back. Shouting for him to beat Hunter. She was shouting... for him.
Jeff's eyes fluttered shut once more as Hunter pulled Jeff into a choking sleeper hold. He could feel the bigger man's arms wrap around his chin and neck, and he could feel that he was getting less and less air into his already burning lungs. But all he could hear was Lita's voice. The voice which had said a few hours ago - or was it minutes? He had lost track of time - that she loved him. The voice that made his heart soar with joy every time she spoke his name.
"You're pathetic."
Suddenly, another voice filled Jeff's ears. A voice that sent chills down his spine, and made his stomach turn inside him. Hunter's deep, throaty growl. He grumbled in Jeff's ear as he applied more pressure to his head, causing Jeff to cry out involuntarily.
"I actually thought you were going to give me a challenge in here, Hardy. I believed that I would have to be at my very best to top you tonight. But you know what? You proved me wrong. Here we are, and you're almost unconscious in my arms while I'm still standing." A sadistic smirk slid onto Hunter's lips as he spoke to the man in his grip. "I've hardly broken out into a sweat beating your ass down."
Jeff helplessly kicked his leg onto the ring mat, using any strength he could find within himself to try and force himself out of Triple H's hold. He sucked in a breath as he felt The Game's arm squeeze tighter around his neck, blocking off more of his air supply and sending him further to sleep and to the darkness. Jeff opened his strained eyes again, searching for Lita's form. He couldn't black out. Couldn't give up. Needed to do it for her. Her encouraging screams filled his head once more, and he almost cried at the pure emotion he could hear in her voice. And it was all for him.
Hunter noticed that Jeff had willed his eyes open, and that his bleary gaze had locked onto Lita. He chuckled slightly as he watched the redheaded diva shout for the Hardy, and then he brought his mouth beside Jeff's ear once again. "You hear that, Jeff? You hear how she's screaming your name? Full of passion and intensity and desperation and pure, raw emotion?"
He waited until he got a reaction from the smaller man in his grip before continuing. Jeff winced just loud enough for Hunter to know he had heard and understood him. "After I finish ending your life in this cell, that's how that bitch will be screaming my name as I fuck her so hard she won't even be able to walk anymore."
Forcing his eyes shut tightly, wishing he could shut Hunter's voice out, Jeff struggled as much as he could against his grip. Fighting against Triple H's stronger force, the younger man let out a pained cry as he fought.
"That's it. Struggle. Cry if you like. We both know that after I'm done here, I will have Lita. I will have that piece of meat that you want so much, and I will do whatever the fuck I want with it. And you can't stop me."
With the tears of pain, and rage, and frustration, and exhaustion and hatred forming behind his eyelids, and Hunter's sinister laugh filling his head, images began to flash before Jeff in the desperate darkness that blurred his vision. Lita falling asleep crying in his arms in her hotel room, standing in this very ring as Bubba and D'von rushed towards him and Matt as he waited for Hunter - then realising that Lita was missing and so was he, breaking the locker room door down to find Hunter standing over a bruised and battered Lita, seeing her lying lifelessly in the medical room, watching her cry in anger when she found out about the hell in a cell match, avoiding her for weeks, seeing her being attacked by Hunter yet again - and not fighting back, watching the tears fall from her eyes as she stood outside the cell and told him she loved him... the images flooded beneath his eyelids and suffocated his thoughts.
He was still being attacked by memories and vivid images as he felt his shoulders hit the ring mat, and Hunter hold him down, pinning him for the three count. He felt Earl Hebner hit the floor beside them, and slam his hand down for the first count.
No! This wouldn't end this way.
Bam! He felt Earl slam his hand down for the second count.
Damn it, NO! He wouldn't let Hunter win! Jeff gathered his strength, forcing his hands and shoulders to work as he fought against Triple H's weight. He would NOT be pinned! Not tonight! Not in front of her...
He felt his upper body rise from the mat, and for the first time that night he heard the arena crowd in astonishing clarity. He heard the intense, resounding jeers and boos emanate from the crowd, and it was then that he realised that he hadn't fought his way out of that pin. He didn't kick out. Hunter had lifted his shoulders off the ground before the three count.
He wasn't finished with him.
"Oh, come on Hardy. You didn't honestly think I was going to finish it there, did you?" The Cerebral Assassin laughed menacingly as he lifted Jeff to his feet once again. "I admit, I am anxious to have my way with that fiesty redhead of yours. But I am nowhere near through with you yet."
Feeling his heart race with adrenaline as the air rushed in and out of his lungs, Jeff glanced at Triple H from under heavy, strained eyelids. He saw him pull his fist back, and that's when Jeff struck. Grabbing the top of Triple H's head as fast and as strong as he could, he fell to the floor and applied a hard jaw breaker to the bigger man. Triple H flew backwards from the impact, hitting the ground as Jeff collapsed onto his back.
Both men down on the ring floor, Jeff gulped the air down and clutched at his chest, trying desperately to slow the frantic beating of his heart. He searched his body for every ounce of strength left, building it up to try and stand before Hunter could. His head spinning as he looked up at the arena ceiling, Jeff could hear the crowd screaming and cheering for him, chanting his name, willing him to stand. But above that roar, he could hear Lita's cries coming from outside the cell.
He could hear the newly regained hope, the determination, the fierceness, and most of all the love in her calls. Every time he heard her call his name he felt another shred of power grow inside of him. He placed his hands down flat on the mat, and pushed himself up until he was sitting halfway up. Struggling to move his feet, he turned and saw Hunter already up and moving towards him. Then he felt him grab his arm, and drag him upright roughly. With an enraged growl, Triple H whipped Jeff into the ropes, preparing for another clothesline.
As Jeff ran towards the ropes, he felt a surge of energy and adrenaline course through his veins as he hit them, and turned back towards Triple H. He felt his body moving closer towards the bigger man and at the right moment, he lowered his body, increased his speed, and tackled Hunter with a killer spear. Grunting from the effort and pain that shot through his shoulder, Jeff plowed into the other man's body and sent him flying through the ropes, down to the concrete floor outside the ring.
Noticing that Hunter's head had hit the bars of the cell on the way down to the floor, Jeff didn't waste any time in making his way towards the man, and pulling him back up to his feet. Dazed, Hunter swung at Jeff, but the Hardy brother ducked, and used his momentum to send Triple H flying towards the steel steps. He barged into them with a loud crash, letting out a muffled groan as his hands flew to his head, which had connected harshly with the steel.
Not wasting any time, or any of the numbing adrenaline which flowed through his veins, Jeff reached down to grab Hunter, and threw him back into the ring, still clutching his head. Bending over quickly, the smaller man lifted the apron skirt and searched under the ring for something before pulling out a garbage can. He threw it into the ring, before climbing in himself.
Hunter slowly stood up, shaking his head and trying to focus again, but he was immediately met with Jeff slamming the trash can onto his head, denting it and causing him to fall flat on his back. Blinking his eyes, shaking the exhaustion and pain out of his mind, Jeff sent a quick look towards Lita, who was still standing outside of the cell with Kurt and Matt on either side.
He could see the look of guarded joy and relief sweep over her face, and her eyes begin to shine with moisture. He knew she was waiting for him to pin Hunter and finish the match, now. Stumbling slightly as the pain returned in his legs, he made his way across the ring, down to the floor to the door of the cell. Picking the forgotten sledgehammer off the floor, he ripped apart the lock and chain that held the door closed in one swift, movement.
Lita broke from beside Kurt and Matt, and rushed to the cell door, tears of utter relief threatening to spill from her eyes. She made her way to the door just as Jeff swung it open, and there was nothing standing between them any more.
She stood in front of him, her breaths coming hard and fast as her vision grew blurry due to the tears in her eyes. Yet she felt a thankful smile make it's way onto her lips as she looked at Jeff standing before her. Bruised, limping, sweaty, bloody, and exhausted - but standing. "Jeff." She whispered, the charged cry slipping past her lips even though she didn't mean to say anything.
Jeff forced himself to stand tall and stand straight before Lita, not wanting to show exactly how much he was hurting inside. For the first time that night, he let himself fall in her eyes. The hazel swirls enveloped him, melting him inside. And at that exact moment, he felt his resolve slip. He thought about marching back into that ring, pinning Hunter for 1-2-3, and ending this match right then and there. Then he could take Lita in his arms, and they could go home.
Then, as he lost himself in her eyes, a voice crashed into his head. It echoed through his brain, hurting him each time it repeated itself. He shook as the words resounded through his mind.
"I will have that piece of meat that you want so much, and I will do whatever the fuck I want with it. And you can't stop me."
The youngest Hardy brother forced his gaze away from Lita's eyes, and he glanced over his shoulder at Hunter. He was getting up from the mat, and staring at Jeff with a heavy frown. Jeff turned his attention back to the redhead, and she threw her arms on his chest.
"Jeff, you have to go back in there. You can't win this match by escape. You have to get the pinfall."
Holding his breath, trying to keep from falling apart, Jeff placed his hands on Lita's, rubbing his thumbs over her soft skin. He looked down, and noticed that his own hands were shaking fiercely. Before he could lose his nerve, he grabbed her hands in his, and pulled them away from his body. He looked up at her, and saw the look of confusion sitting on her features. He swallowed.
"Get out of here."
"What?"
He took in a breath, coughing at the pain it caused his lungs. "Go with Matt and Kurt, and all of you go to the back."
Scowling in disbelief, Lita threw her hands on Jeff once again. "I'm not leaving!"
"I said GET OUT OF HERE!!" Nostrils flaring, Jeff thrust his hands forward and pushed Lita away from him, almost sending her tumbling to the floor. He sent her one last look before turning to face Triple H, who was making his way towards Jeff.
Matt and Kurt rushed to Lita's side, grabbing her arms and helping her steady herself.
"Lita, let's go." Matt whispered, his eyes never leaving his baby brother's form as Triple H neared him.
A tear fell from her eye, and Lita struggled to say something. Instead a sorrowful cry escaped her lips as she watched Triple H throw a punch at Jeff, and Jeff return the blow as the two men began to brawl near the door of the cell.
Kurt turned to look at Matt, both holding onto Lita, and nodded. Without saying a word, they pulled Lita away from the ring and the cell, and up towards the stage, towards the back. She didn't fight them, her eyes trained onto Jeff still fighting in the cell. She stayed quiet, only the quiet sobs leaving her lips, until she spoke softly. "Why isn't Jeff pinning him?"
Matt and Kurt, still holding onto the diva gently, didn't say a word as they made their way up the ramp. They could hear Jeff and Hunter fighting behind them, and every now and then they exchanged glances as they heard Lita let out a whimper. As they reached the entrance stage, ready to go through to the back, they suddenly heard Lita let out an painful cry. The two men whipped around to see what had happened.
The oldest Hardy felt his heart stop. Kurt Angle felt his insides roll around and twist inside of his stomach. And Lita fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking with each harsh sob.
Down the ramp, just outside of the ring, just outside of the cell, the three friends saw Hunter climbing the cell bars, looking up intently...
... going after Jeff Hardy, who had already reached his destination.
The roof of the cell.
AUTHOR: Cathie McMath.
EMAIL: penrithpanther_03@yahoo.com.au
RATING: Possibly at PG 15 +
CONTENT: Swearing (naughty words!), sexual themes, and violence. All the things that make a good fic!
SUMMARY: Lita gets a secret admirer... That turns out to be more than a little creepy. Lita/Jeff pairing.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anyone or anything related to the WWE. Vince McMahon does, and I'm very, very jealous.
DISTRIBUTION: Just email me first and let me know if you want it.
FEEDBACK: Reviews for the review whore! Come on people, it won't cost ya nothing! I'm cheap! Just give me the reviews!
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know, I know. This chapter is WAAAAAYYY overdue. That's why it's nice and long, and I worked really extra hard on it. So I hope it was worth the wait. Oooh! Can't you just feel the tension building? Now go and read! Don't forget the reviews!
-~-~-~-~-~-
So tired.
Tired, and aching, and shallow breaths, and burning muscles, and sweat soaked hair and pain. That's all Jeff could think about. All he could concentrate on. His thoughts were erratic and he was unable to focus. He was hurting but he just wanted to sleep. Falling harshly to the ring mat, Jeff thought about how comfortable it was, and he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Sleep would be so nice...
But then there were hands in his hair. Rough, strong hands that fiercely grabbed his damp and stringy hair and jerked him back up onto his feet. Jeff's eyes were barely opened, the weight of his eyelids suddenly feeling too great to even hold them open anymore. Hoping that Triple H would knock him down once more so that he could fall asleep on the ring mat again, Jeff was slightly aware that he was moving. Then he felt his bruised and tender body hit the ropes. He'd been whipped towards the ropes, and now he could feel his feet moving, as if out of instinct. He was moving towards Hunter.
Jeff didn't know exactly what would be coming. A clothesline, a body slam, a backbreaker. He didn't know. All he knew that it would be something hard, something painful, and something that would send him to the ground. That's why as he kept moving towards Triple H, he didn't even try to counter the attack. The bigger man picked Jeff up easily, turning around and slamming his back hard onto the mat in a shattering spine buster.
His body involuntarily convulsed at the waves of pain that coursed through his flesh. Then, with a defeated breath, the shaking stopped and the Hardy's body was still once again, the rapid rise and fall of his chest the only sign that he was still alive.
It was then that the ever present, demanding pull of hands upon his hair hoisted him back to his feet. Breathing heavily, cringing at the pain throbbing in his neck as Hunter tangled his fingers in his hair, Jeff heard something outside of the ring. A sound that was so incredibly familiar, yet at the same time unrecognisable and unclear. There was a fog surrounding Jeff's brain and it was so hard to push through it...
Gasping sharply as Triple H pulled on Jeff's hair, he struggled to lift his eyelids and open his eyes. He found the strength, and as his sight began to focus clearly, he realised what that familiar sound was. Through bleary eyes, he caught sight of Lita outside of the cell. Her hands were gripping the bars, and she was shouting... something. His eyes narrowed harshly, Jeff's vision began to clear. He could see Lita shouting for him to fight back. Shouting for him to beat Hunter. She was shouting... for him.
Jeff's eyes fluttered shut once more as Hunter pulled Jeff into a choking sleeper hold. He could feel the bigger man's arms wrap around his chin and neck, and he could feel that he was getting less and less air into his already burning lungs. But all he could hear was Lita's voice. The voice which had said a few hours ago - or was it minutes? He had lost track of time - that she loved him. The voice that made his heart soar with joy every time she spoke his name.
"You're pathetic."
Suddenly, another voice filled Jeff's ears. A voice that sent chills down his spine, and made his stomach turn inside him. Hunter's deep, throaty growl. He grumbled in Jeff's ear as he applied more pressure to his head, causing Jeff to cry out involuntarily.
"I actually thought you were going to give me a challenge in here, Hardy. I believed that I would have to be at my very best to top you tonight. But you know what? You proved me wrong. Here we are, and you're almost unconscious in my arms while I'm still standing." A sadistic smirk slid onto Hunter's lips as he spoke to the man in his grip. "I've hardly broken out into a sweat beating your ass down."
Jeff helplessly kicked his leg onto the ring mat, using any strength he could find within himself to try and force himself out of Triple H's hold. He sucked in a breath as he felt The Game's arm squeeze tighter around his neck, blocking off more of his air supply and sending him further to sleep and to the darkness. Jeff opened his strained eyes again, searching for Lita's form. He couldn't black out. Couldn't give up. Needed to do it for her. Her encouraging screams filled his head once more, and he almost cried at the pure emotion he could hear in her voice. And it was all for him.
Hunter noticed that Jeff had willed his eyes open, and that his bleary gaze had locked onto Lita. He chuckled slightly as he watched the redheaded diva shout for the Hardy, and then he brought his mouth beside Jeff's ear once again. "You hear that, Jeff? You hear how she's screaming your name? Full of passion and intensity and desperation and pure, raw emotion?"
He waited until he got a reaction from the smaller man in his grip before continuing. Jeff winced just loud enough for Hunter to know he had heard and understood him. "After I finish ending your life in this cell, that's how that bitch will be screaming my name as I fuck her so hard she won't even be able to walk anymore."
Forcing his eyes shut tightly, wishing he could shut Hunter's voice out, Jeff struggled as much as he could against his grip. Fighting against Triple H's stronger force, the younger man let out a pained cry as he fought.
"That's it. Struggle. Cry if you like. We both know that after I'm done here, I will have Lita. I will have that piece of meat that you want so much, and I will do whatever the fuck I want with it. And you can't stop me."
With the tears of pain, and rage, and frustration, and exhaustion and hatred forming behind his eyelids, and Hunter's sinister laugh filling his head, images began to flash before Jeff in the desperate darkness that blurred his vision. Lita falling asleep crying in his arms in her hotel room, standing in this very ring as Bubba and D'von rushed towards him and Matt as he waited for Hunter - then realising that Lita was missing and so was he, breaking the locker room door down to find Hunter standing over a bruised and battered Lita, seeing her lying lifelessly in the medical room, watching her cry in anger when she found out about the hell in a cell match, avoiding her for weeks, seeing her being attacked by Hunter yet again - and not fighting back, watching the tears fall from her eyes as she stood outside the cell and told him she loved him... the images flooded beneath his eyelids and suffocated his thoughts.
He was still being attacked by memories and vivid images as he felt his shoulders hit the ring mat, and Hunter hold him down, pinning him for the three count. He felt Earl Hebner hit the floor beside them, and slam his hand down for the first count.
No! This wouldn't end this way.
Bam! He felt Earl slam his hand down for the second count.
Damn it, NO! He wouldn't let Hunter win! Jeff gathered his strength, forcing his hands and shoulders to work as he fought against Triple H's weight. He would NOT be pinned! Not tonight! Not in front of her...
He felt his upper body rise from the mat, and for the first time that night he heard the arena crowd in astonishing clarity. He heard the intense, resounding jeers and boos emanate from the crowd, and it was then that he realised that he hadn't fought his way out of that pin. He didn't kick out. Hunter had lifted his shoulders off the ground before the three count.
He wasn't finished with him.
"Oh, come on Hardy. You didn't honestly think I was going to finish it there, did you?" The Cerebral Assassin laughed menacingly as he lifted Jeff to his feet once again. "I admit, I am anxious to have my way with that fiesty redhead of yours. But I am nowhere near through with you yet."
Feeling his heart race with adrenaline as the air rushed in and out of his lungs, Jeff glanced at Triple H from under heavy, strained eyelids. He saw him pull his fist back, and that's when Jeff struck. Grabbing the top of Triple H's head as fast and as strong as he could, he fell to the floor and applied a hard jaw breaker to the bigger man. Triple H flew backwards from the impact, hitting the ground as Jeff collapsed onto his back.
Both men down on the ring floor, Jeff gulped the air down and clutched at his chest, trying desperately to slow the frantic beating of his heart. He searched his body for every ounce of strength left, building it up to try and stand before Hunter could. His head spinning as he looked up at the arena ceiling, Jeff could hear the crowd screaming and cheering for him, chanting his name, willing him to stand. But above that roar, he could hear Lita's cries coming from outside the cell.
He could hear the newly regained hope, the determination, the fierceness, and most of all the love in her calls. Every time he heard her call his name he felt another shred of power grow inside of him. He placed his hands down flat on the mat, and pushed himself up until he was sitting halfway up. Struggling to move his feet, he turned and saw Hunter already up and moving towards him. Then he felt him grab his arm, and drag him upright roughly. With an enraged growl, Triple H whipped Jeff into the ropes, preparing for another clothesline.
As Jeff ran towards the ropes, he felt a surge of energy and adrenaline course through his veins as he hit them, and turned back towards Triple H. He felt his body moving closer towards the bigger man and at the right moment, he lowered his body, increased his speed, and tackled Hunter with a killer spear. Grunting from the effort and pain that shot through his shoulder, Jeff plowed into the other man's body and sent him flying through the ropes, down to the concrete floor outside the ring.
Noticing that Hunter's head had hit the bars of the cell on the way down to the floor, Jeff didn't waste any time in making his way towards the man, and pulling him back up to his feet. Dazed, Hunter swung at Jeff, but the Hardy brother ducked, and used his momentum to send Triple H flying towards the steel steps. He barged into them with a loud crash, letting out a muffled groan as his hands flew to his head, which had connected harshly with the steel.
Not wasting any time, or any of the numbing adrenaline which flowed through his veins, Jeff reached down to grab Hunter, and threw him back into the ring, still clutching his head. Bending over quickly, the smaller man lifted the apron skirt and searched under the ring for something before pulling out a garbage can. He threw it into the ring, before climbing in himself.
Hunter slowly stood up, shaking his head and trying to focus again, but he was immediately met with Jeff slamming the trash can onto his head, denting it and causing him to fall flat on his back. Blinking his eyes, shaking the exhaustion and pain out of his mind, Jeff sent a quick look towards Lita, who was still standing outside of the cell with Kurt and Matt on either side.
He could see the look of guarded joy and relief sweep over her face, and her eyes begin to shine with moisture. He knew she was waiting for him to pin Hunter and finish the match, now. Stumbling slightly as the pain returned in his legs, he made his way across the ring, down to the floor to the door of the cell. Picking the forgotten sledgehammer off the floor, he ripped apart the lock and chain that held the door closed in one swift, movement.
Lita broke from beside Kurt and Matt, and rushed to the cell door, tears of utter relief threatening to spill from her eyes. She made her way to the door just as Jeff swung it open, and there was nothing standing between them any more.
She stood in front of him, her breaths coming hard and fast as her vision grew blurry due to the tears in her eyes. Yet she felt a thankful smile make it's way onto her lips as she looked at Jeff standing before her. Bruised, limping, sweaty, bloody, and exhausted - but standing. "Jeff." She whispered, the charged cry slipping past her lips even though she didn't mean to say anything.
Jeff forced himself to stand tall and stand straight before Lita, not wanting to show exactly how much he was hurting inside. For the first time that night, he let himself fall in her eyes. The hazel swirls enveloped him, melting him inside. And at that exact moment, he felt his resolve slip. He thought about marching back into that ring, pinning Hunter for 1-2-3, and ending this match right then and there. Then he could take Lita in his arms, and they could go home.
Then, as he lost himself in her eyes, a voice crashed into his head. It echoed through his brain, hurting him each time it repeated itself. He shook as the words resounded through his mind.
"I will have that piece of meat that you want so much, and I will do whatever the fuck I want with it. And you can't stop me."
The youngest Hardy brother forced his gaze away from Lita's eyes, and he glanced over his shoulder at Hunter. He was getting up from the mat, and staring at Jeff with a heavy frown. Jeff turned his attention back to the redhead, and she threw her arms on his chest.
"Jeff, you have to go back in there. You can't win this match by escape. You have to get the pinfall."
Holding his breath, trying to keep from falling apart, Jeff placed his hands on Lita's, rubbing his thumbs over her soft skin. He looked down, and noticed that his own hands were shaking fiercely. Before he could lose his nerve, he grabbed her hands in his, and pulled them away from his body. He looked up at her, and saw the look of confusion sitting on her features. He swallowed.
"Get out of here."
"What?"
He took in a breath, coughing at the pain it caused his lungs. "Go with Matt and Kurt, and all of you go to the back."
Scowling in disbelief, Lita threw her hands on Jeff once again. "I'm not leaving!"
"I said GET OUT OF HERE!!" Nostrils flaring, Jeff thrust his hands forward and pushed Lita away from him, almost sending her tumbling to the floor. He sent her one last look before turning to face Triple H, who was making his way towards Jeff.
Matt and Kurt rushed to Lita's side, grabbing her arms and helping her steady herself.
"Lita, let's go." Matt whispered, his eyes never leaving his baby brother's form as Triple H neared him.
A tear fell from her eye, and Lita struggled to say something. Instead a sorrowful cry escaped her lips as she watched Triple H throw a punch at Jeff, and Jeff return the blow as the two men began to brawl near the door of the cell.
Kurt turned to look at Matt, both holding onto Lita, and nodded. Without saying a word, they pulled Lita away from the ring and the cell, and up towards the stage, towards the back. She didn't fight them, her eyes trained onto Jeff still fighting in the cell. She stayed quiet, only the quiet sobs leaving her lips, until she spoke softly. "Why isn't Jeff pinning him?"
Matt and Kurt, still holding onto the diva gently, didn't say a word as they made their way up the ramp. They could hear Jeff and Hunter fighting behind them, and every now and then they exchanged glances as they heard Lita let out a whimper. As they reached the entrance stage, ready to go through to the back, they suddenly heard Lita let out an painful cry. The two men whipped around to see what had happened.
The oldest Hardy felt his heart stop. Kurt Angle felt his insides roll around and twist inside of his stomach. And Lita fell to her knees, her shoulders shaking with each harsh sob.
Down the ramp, just outside of the ring, just outside of the cell, the three friends saw Hunter climbing the cell bars, looking up intently...
... going after Jeff Hardy, who had already reached his destination.
The roof of the cell.