Desperation
Jeff wandered through the house in a trance. Up until three days ago, it had been one of the few places he had felt safe and secure in. Now, it only brought back painful memories of what might have been. One week ago, Eric Stryker, his protector, and the love of his life, had died due to a massive stroke while recovering in the burn ward. The police were treating it as an accident, but Jeff, as well as those around him, knew better.
In true WWE style, Vince offered to dedicate the following week's RAW to Eric, but Jeff declined, opting for a simple two minute tribute at the start. Eric had not been an active wrestler for very long or very recently was Jeff's logic. That had been his only contact with the outside world since he'd found out. He locked himself in Eric's house, spending hours a day looking through photos, and crying until he felt that there wasn't a tear left inside him. He usually slept curled up with one of Eric's shirts, and when we woke up, he'd start the whole sorry affair all over again.
Today was gonna be different...
Again curled up in Eric's favorite chair looking at one of the last photos he had of him, Jeff heard footsteps on the porch. But, instead of hearing the familiar sound of mail being shoved through the slot, there was an anxious banging on the door. Jeff ignored it until...
"Jeffro! Open the damn door before I kick it in!" It was Matt, whom Jeff hadn't seen or talked to since the day Eric died.
"Be cool." Jeff told himself. He did open the door, but "Hi, Matty..." was all he was able to say before the tears started flowing again.
Without having to be invited, Matt stepped into the hallway and took Jeff into his arms.
"I'm here, little bro." He whispered softly, his own dark eyes beginning to fill with his own tears..
It felt good for Jeff to have someone to cry to, or with. Matt held him, in much the same way Jeff had held Eric only a short time ago, and let him get the bawl du jour out of his system.
"Why, Matty, why?" Jeff wailed into Matt's chest.
"Jeff, I dunno." Matt was dealing with his own feelings of guilt and abandonment. His last conversation with Eric was an argument which ending with Matt being thrown out of Eric's hospital room. If only he'd handled it differently, if only he hadn't lost his temper... if only... if only... if only...
"I want him back! Matty, bring him back pleeeeeeease!" Jeff cried even harder.
"Jeffro, I wish I could..." Matt was speechless. "but Eric's gone. Nobody can bring him back. They tried, remember?"
Flashback
Jeff had a whale of a time trying to get his Skittles from the candy machine. It just wouldn't take his dollar bill. But he was not going to give up on his favorite bite-size candy.
"Having problems, hun?" An older matron came over to him.
"Machine doesn't like me." Jeff sulked
"It can be a little temperamental sometime." She took the bill from Jeff and slid it into the slot. It accepted it first try. "There you go!"
Jeff pounded the button and was rewarded with a bag of the treats. He was happy, skipping back to Eric's room when he heard the bell.
"Code blue... code blue... trauma team to room 222... stat... code blue!"
Jeff dropped the candy. It went everywhere, but Jeff just stared at the door as doctors rushed into the room he'd vacated only moments ago. Jeff followed. It was a madhouse. People were everywhere, shouting.
"I can't get a pulse..."
"He's stroking out!"
"Charge to three-sixty... clear!"
"Nothing.... no rhythm..."
"Again... clear... dammit!"
"He's flatlining..."
"One amp of epi... charging three-sixty!"
"Epi in..."
"Clear!"
...
"Clear!"
"Nothing..."
"How long has been down?"
"Thirty-seven minutes, doctor."
"How much Epi?"
"Two amps. Should I give him another?"
"No... time of death nine-oh-seven... is the family here?"
"His boyfriend is waiting in the hall."
"This is the part of the job that I hate."
Flash forward
Matt had been sitting on the couch with Jeff for almost two hours, trying anything to soothe him. Not even his trusty bunny had been able to console him, and Matt was out of ideas. How one person could have that much anguish inside him after all this time... Jeff hadn't been upset for this long when their mom passed away.
"Jeff, I know it's hard, but we are gonna get through this. Somehow." Matt whispered the last words when he heard Jeff sigh. He'd finally drifted off.
"This is my fault, Jeffro. And I'm gonna make it up to you if it's the last thing I do." He stroked Jeff's hair, much like he'd done when they were growing up and Jeff would have a nightmare or during a storm. This time, it was not to calm Jeff, but to soothe his own nerves. He soon dozed off as well.
"Dammit, what the hell is going on here!" Vince slammed his fist into the table. "You're supposed to be the best private investigators money can buy and yet, you can't even come up with a shred of evidence! What am I paying you for!"
"Mr. McMahon, we're doing our best, but unless we can get some subpoenas, the doctors aren't talking a whole lot and no one else seems to have seen anything out of the ordinary!"
"That's not good enough!" Vince bellowed "I want answers and fast! I am not going to sit here while someone gets away with murder!"
"Sir, there is no proof that this was anything but a stroke!"
Vince's face turned dark red. He looked like he was going to burst a bllod vessel. "I'll believe that when my ass becomes drummer for Motley Crue! Eric went into the hospital for treatment for burns... tell me how does he suddenly suffer a fatal stroke? An act of God! Get out there and find me some answers or I will hire some people who can!"
The investigators filed out of the office. Vince took several deep breaths, slowly calming down. Having his own fatal attack wasn't going to help Eric. Once his blood pressure had dropped below 300, he dialed one of his old friends who was now a circuit judge.
"May I speak to Judge Hat please... it's Vince McMahon... Yes, I'll hold."
"Toppum? It's Vince... I need a favour..."
...
"What the fuck... you can't do this to me! I'll fuckin' sue all of you!" Adam shouted as he was literally being carried to a waiting police car. Thanks to Vince's connection, he'd finagled one of his friends into signing warrants and material witness orders for the on-call staff that night as well as all their notes and Eric's medical records. This had enabled his crack investigative team to quickly piece together what had happened and days later, a warrant was issued for Adam's arrest, as well as that of his aunt.
The one thing Vince hated was that the police showed up to arrest Adam during a taping of Smackdown! Why they couldn't have either waited until after the show was done or taken care of it before the cameras started rolling was something that even the All-Powerful Vincent Kennedy McMahon could not control.
"The people are gonna think this is a part of the show!" Vince grumbled when confronted with the arrest papers.
"We have no control over that! Now where is Mr. Copeland?"
Vince pointed to a monitor. "He's in the middle of a match right now."
"We can wait until he returned to the backstage area if you wish, but that is the best we can do... we are taking him into custody tonight."
"If you can wait until he finishes his match I would appreciate it. I'm already taking heat over this whole situation."
"Understood."
Poor Adam. First he loses a match to the Big Show, then he's arrested the second he gets off-camera.
"Adam Copeland?"
"Yeah, who wants to know?" Edge gasped, winded from being thrown around by Show.
"Sergeant Claude Lavelle. I have a warrant for your arrest in the murder of Eric Stryker... you have the right to remain silent. If you give up that right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand your rights as read?"
"What the hell? Is this your doing Vince?" Adam shouted at the Chairman, who had left his office to witness this. In all his years running the company, he'd never had one of his guys legitimately taken away.
"You brought this on yourself." Vince said
"I'll get you! I'll get all of you! You haven't heard the last from me!" Adam continued his rants as he was cuffed, patted down, and stuffed into the back of the car. It was almost kind of funny, especially when the officer frisking Edge asked him if he had anything sharp on him.
"Where would I hide it?" Adam retorted
"Could you strip search him here?" Ashley giggled
"Sorry ma'am." The officer even cracked a smile. Adam looked less than pleased.
"Very funny, you slut!" Adam lunged for the diva, but was rudely yanked bank by the officer.
Once Adam was taken away, Vince called a meeting with the entire roster and explained the situation in great detail to everyone, glossing over some of the less-than-necessary graphic details.
"Adam did what?" Was one of the more repeated comments. Everyone did know about Adam's infatuation with Jeff, but murder was something that very few figured Adam would stoop to.
"The police may want to talk to many of you. I expect your full cooperation!" Vince concluded "That's it... we're done."
The wrestlers filed out, many of them disturbed by what they just heard.
"Fuck, I really screwed up." John was slamming himself.
"You psychic all of a sudden? How were you supposed to know what was gonna go down?." Triple H replied "Adam would've found a way, even if you had stuck around."
"Thanks H, but I let 'em all down." John answered "I promised, remember."
"We all did. It's no more your fault, then it is mine, or anyone else's. C'mon, I know someone who needs a drink."
...
"Jeff, you look fine." Matt stood behind his brother, who kept reknotting his tie.
"I don't wanna do this, Matty!"
"None of us do."
With Adam's incarceration fresh on everyone's mind, WWE personnel turned their attention to a much more somber affair: Eric's funeral. The investigation had necessitated a delay in burying the late superstar, but today was the day the entire company was going to finally get a chance to say goodbye to him.
Matt drove them to the church. Normally the most outgoing person on the roster, Jeff had been on a downward spiral into himself since Eric's death. He was a shell of his former persona. Gone was the many coloured hair, the flamboyant personality, the outrageous fashion. It was as if the canvas that was Jeff Hardy had been wiped clean and it was being repainted, almost on a daily basis.
"I can't go through with this. Don't make me!" Jeff leaned back in the seat, fresh tears starting to fall.
How one person could have that much anguish inside him made Matt realize how tight their connection had been.
"And I tried to break that up! How fucking stupid was I?" It seemed like everyone was blaming themselves in some way for the tragedy of the past week.
"Jeffro, you've got to be strong. We all do." Matt hugged his brother tightly. At first, Jeff seemed to shun the contact, but once Matt persisted, Jeff didn't want to leave his brother's arms.
Matt stayed by his brother's side through the entire ceremony, even Jeff's eulogy. Matt's hand never left Jeff's shoulder while he spoke, quite eloquently about his relationship with Eric. He lost his composure a couple times, but on both occasions Matt was there, holding him.
After Jeff, many others spoke of Eric's loyalty, friendship, selflessness, and his willingness to put those he cared about first. Noticeable by his absence, though, was John Cena. For all his macho-ness, is that a word?, he just couldn't do it. He could not face anyone. The drinks with Triple H had done nothing to lessen his guilty feelings. His plan was to arrive just before the ceremony, take a seat at the back, and get it over with as quickly as feasible. His feet just refused to cooperate, so he stood outside, pacing like a nervous groom.
By the time the church door opened, John's feet had finally started to work, and he commanded them to take him to the nearest watering hole, where he spent the rest of the day getting bombed.
ECW Television Taping...
The locker room much more crowded than usual. At the request of the District Attorney, Vince kept as much of his roster together as possible, to make it easier to interview them rather than trying to find different wrestlers in different cities. Cena had just finished a gruelling chat with one of the lead detectives and looked forward to getting back to his hotel. As he passed catering, he saw Matt and Jeff talking. They both gave him a funny look as he passed. Yes, he'd been avoiding them, but since they all worked for the same organization, it was impossible not to run into either of them at some point.
"Hey, Cena, you got a second?" Matt called after him.
"Hey dude. I'm exhausted. I just get back to my hotel and crash." It was a lame excuse, since he wasn't scheduled to appear on that particular show.
"This won't take long." He was approached by both Matt and Jeff.
"We didn't see you at Eric's funeral."
"Yeah, well.." John knew they knew about his no-show, but that didn't make it any easier to talk about. He kept looking nervously around, shuffling from one foot to another.
"C'mon." Each taking an arm, Matt and Jeff led John into an empty storage room.
Matt leaned against a disused filing cabinet while Jeff sat on some old boxes. John hoped this wasn't gonna turn into something.
"Better? We know how private you are, Cena."
"Damn skippy."
"But we didn't see you at the church." Jeff interjected. Since the funeral, Jeff's emotional state had stabilized a little. He was still very introverted, but was less likely to break down at the smallest thing.
"Y'know, guys, don't take this the wrong way, but I just couldn't do it..." John's voice faded when he looked into the Hardys' faces. He expected anger, resentment, disappointment, but all he saw was compassion, friendship, and understanding.
"John, we're not blaming you for anything..."
Upon hearing that, and for the first time in years, Cena's iron facade cracked. "Yeah, well I am!" It sounded like he was cutting a promo. "I made a promise to you and Eric and I let the both of you down!" He looked down.
Matt looked at Jeff, who nodded slightly. Matt took the cue to walk over to Cena and take his face in his hands.
"It was no one person's fault... we can all take the blame if we want to play that game. Jeff for the Skittles, me for letting Eric throw me out of his room, or you for leaving. We're a family John, remember that... you hurt, we hurt."
John suddenly found himself in the midst of a double hug from both Hardy brothers.
"Feel better?" Jeff asked
"Not really." John answered. Matt's words hadn't done a whole lot to ease his conscience.
"How about this then?" Jeff gently kissed him. It was nothing big, just a small peck on the cheek. "We love you and we hate seeing you like this."
John was perplexed. Jeff's lips felt so soft on his cheek, like velvet, but he was a guy after all. John had never kissed, or been kissed, by another guy since he was ten. Why did part of him enjoy the brief contact?
He rubbed where he'd been kissed.
"Johnny, you're blushing." Matt smirked
"I think he liked it." Jeff added
"No, it's not that... is it hot in here?" John felt his face go red.
"It's gettin' hot in here... so take off all our clothes..." For some reason those lyrics popped into John's mind, making him blush an ever deeper shade of red.
"I'm getting a little overheated myself." Matt answered, tugging at the neckline of his t-shirt.
"Me too." Jeff went a little farther, pulling his wifebeater off and tossing it to parts (of the room) unknown.
"Whoa, guys, I'm not..." John could see what was going to happen. In spite of his earlier enjoyment, he was not ready to become the filling in a meatball sandwich.
"We know. Just think of this as the two of us telling you how much we care." Matt's shirt had also come off.
John backed away until he felt the cold steel of the door against him. He was boxed in, with two hungry shirtless men getting closer by the second.
"Matt... Jeff... "
"Sometimes you just gotta go with what feels good." Matt said and then they were both on him, gently nipping at his face, his ears, his neck, and any other parts that were exposed.
They pulled him to the floor, where the gentle torture continued. John hated himself for giving in, but Matt was right. This actually felt damn good.
"Why does he still have all his clothes on?" Jeff asked innocently.
"I dunno, bro. He's usually the first one naked after the show..." Matt responded
"Yeah." Jeff laughed "And the last one dressed."
Without another word, Matt and Jeff continued their assault on Cena, who found what little resolve he had gone in seconds, not to mention his clothes.
"Thanks for the offer guys, but I really can't do this." John scrambled away.
"Well, that's a first." Matt replied "You're always doing nice stuff for the rest of us when we're down, but you won't let us do the same for you when you're feeling bad."
"There's a difference, dogs. I don't try to get with them!" John hastily threw his gear back on and was out the door without another word. Although he was mildly uncomfortable with what they'd obviously wanted to do, part of him was glad that they cared enough to try to help him that way.
"Matty, can we stay here a bit?" Jeff crawled into his brother's arms, a position he often found himself in now that Eric was gone.
"We could, but we don't want to get locked in, bro. Besides, if we don't get back to the hotel, Bunny is gonna worry!"
At the mention of bunny, Jeff's eyes lit up. "Yay! Bunny!" He ran out of the storage area, still shirtless. At least Matt put his shirt on before he left.
...
Adam paced nervously in his holding cell. Hey, he'd seen every episode of "OZ". He knew that pretty boys like him didn't last too long without being claimed as someone's bitch, so he stayed put as much as he could; only going out for meals and occasional exercise period.
One of the C.O.'s banged on the door. "You've got a visitor!"
This was unusual. The only person who had come to see Adam was his attorney and they weren't scheduled to meet until later that day. The guard escorted Adam to the room. He waited, hoping this wasn't a set-up. To his knowledge, no one had ever been attacked here, but who knew?
The door to outside finally opened and a familiar face entered.
"Jay!" Adam sighed, picking up the phone.
"Hey, bro, how they treating you in here?" Jay demanded
"Like a criminal." Adam answered. It was meant to be a joke, but failed.
"You are, dude." Jay stated the obvious.
"That reeks." Adam replied
"Yeah." It seemed like Jay was very uncomfortable in his surroundings.
"What's new on the outside?" Adam was just grateful for the companionship. "Anything?"
"Not a whole lot. Work is a mess right now. Police are crawling all over us, trying to make this case against you."
"So I've been told." Adam tried to sound like he wasn't worried, but from conversations with his lawyer, he knew that the case against him was strong.
"Just wanted to let you know I'm still on your side, dude." Jay said "No matter what happens."
"Thanks. Friends rule!"
"So totally!" Their regression to E & C valley boy days brought a smile to Adam's face, something that had been lacking since being taken away.
"Anyway, dude, I gotta get going. Vince doesn't know I'm here and I don't think he'd like it too much if he found out."
"Your secret is safe." Adam replied
"Awesome. I will see you later." Jay left and not two minutes later, his lawyer walked in.
"Okay, Mr, Copeland... I'll make this short. We go to trial on Monday!"
"Monday? That fast?" Adam gulped
"The District Attorney has made a good case. I'm not going to coat it. We're in for a fight, especially if I can't suppress some of the medical records they're looking to introduce."
"Are you trying to scare me?"
"No. I deal in facts, Mr. Copeland. Be prepared for the worst because anything less will fuck us both up. I'll be back later today for our regular meeting."
With that, he too departed. Adam sat, staring at the phone in disbelief. Until now, it had all seemed like a bad dream, one that he could wake up from. But now, and as Monday loomed ominously, he seemed like he might never see the light of day again.
That one word: Monday...
TO BE CONTINUED
In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups... the police who investigate crimes and the District Attorneys who prosecute the offenders. This is their story.. boom boom
Sorry, fans, I didn't want to, but I had to!