Disclaimer: I still own nothing but the plot line.

Notes: Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. Please keep them coming. Just a small note to say that time passes more quickly in Elsewhere than in the normal world. Hopefully it will all make sense later. That said, enjoy the next chapter. It's slightly shorter than usual, though.

Chapter 5

Maria awoke suddenly at the sound of her name being called. She sat bolt up right in the chair she was in, "What?"

Matt smiled at her, "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you … Have you been here all night?"

The redhead frowned, "What time is it?" She rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up fully.

"It's ten am."

"I guess I must have fallen asleep. Is there any change?"

Matt shook his head, "No, but the doctors are taking it as a positive sign that he made it through the night."

Maria smiled weakly at the older Hardy, "Right, I just wish he would wake up."

The black haired man nodded, "Yeah, me too."

Elsewhere …

Jeff wasn't sure that Maria had believed what he'd just told her but before he had a chance to question her about it, Randy and Melina had arrived at their hotel room. They were riding together to the Smackdown tapings and Jeff had decided he would talk to his wife about it later when they were alone again.

Once they had arrived at the arena, Maria had been told to report Stephanie's office immediately which made Jeff extremely curious as to what that was all about. His wife had only been gone about twenty minutes when she reappeared suddenly and from the look on her face she was anything but happy.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Can you say anything else but fuck?" Jeff asked, highly amused by Maria's outburst.

"Shit … Fucking asshole."

Jeff frowned, "Who me?"

Maria shook her head, "Of course not. Your fucking brother, that's who."

At the mention of Matt, Jeff began to feel anger rising inside him again, "What did he do now? He didn't hurt you did he?"

The blue haired beauty looked away and then back at her husband, "No I'm fine … He got me suspended."

"He what?"

"I've been suspended for sixty days for attacking him in the hallway last night. I've got to drop the title to Mel tonight."

"What the fuck? This can't happen. I'll come with you to Stephanie, I'll explain that you were trying to stop Matt from hurting me."

"That won't do any good, babe," Maria replied sadly.

"Why not?"

Maria looked up and down the hallway to make sure nobody else was listening, "Because Matt and Stephanie are having an affair."

"What? No way."

"She does whatever he wants her to. It makes me sick."

"But you're the Women's champion, she can't just strip you on the title."

"She already has and if I go quietly I'll still have a job to come back to," Maria explained. "Big whoop."

Jeff reached for her hand and took it into her own, "I'm so sorry … This is all my fault."

Maria shook her head, "No, babe, it's not."

"But you were just helping me. I can't believe Matt's pulled this shit."

"You better believe it. You're brother is an evil bastard and he gets his kicks from making me unhappy."

After everything that happened, Jeff still couldn't believe his brother could actually stoop that low, "There's got to be something we can do."

Maria squeezed his hand, "It's a nice thought but there isn't. That doesn't mean I'm leaving quietly though."

Jeff raised an eyebrow, "What did you have in mind?"

The soon to be former Women's champion smiled, "You'll just have to wait and find out. I'm going to get ready for my match." She kissed him soundly on the lips before walking away.

A few hours later and Jeff was standing in the gorilla position waiting for his cue to go out and rescue his fallen wife. In the storyline, she had been the victim of a sneak attack by Randy Orton before her match with Melina had even begun. One RKO later and there was a new women's champion. As the bell rang and Melina was announced the winner, Jeff sprinted down the entrance ramp before Randy and Melina could further attack his wife. Once he had chased off the heels, he collected Maria in his arms and carried her carefully back up the ramp and through the curtain. Maria played dead until they were out of sight of the fans.

She opened her eyes and smiled at him, "My hero."

Jeff smiled at her, "I don't know about that … I wish there was something we could do about your suspension."

"Don't worry about it." She leaned up and kissed him on the lips.

"Get a room, you two," Randy called out from behind them.

Maria pulled back and motioned for Jeff to put her down. Once both feet were back on the floor, she turned to face her brother, "We have a room, thank you and I plan on making full use of it later but first there is something I have to do." She turned her attention to the new Women's champion, "Congrats Mel."

Melina gave her a small smile, "Not the way I wanted to win the title back."

"I know …. Maybe when I get back I'll get a rematch ..." The blue haired beauty trailed off as she caught sight of Matt standing in the distance. "Excuse me, this will just take a second."

Jeff watched as his wife approached his brother, he had no idea what she was going to do and that made him a little nervous.

Maria was now face to face with Matt, "I suppose you think you're real clever don't you?"

Matt sneered at her, "I don't think it, I know it … Matt fact, Matt is extremely intelligent. But what are you still doing here? From what I heard, you got suspended."

"Oh, don't worry, I'm going alright but first I wanted to give you something. A little leaving gift."

Matt frowned, "What is it?"

Maria smirked at him and without further warning smacked him hard on the nose. She shook her hand, which stung from the impact, "Now that is worth getting suspended for."

The black haired man grabbed his nose which was starting to bleed, "You fucking bitch … I think you broke my nose."

Maria smiled sweetly at him, "Well good, that was the plan."

"I'm gonna get you for this."

"Bring it on. If you think I'm scared of you, you've got another thing coming. But you should probably go and put some ice on your nose, it will help with the swelling." She turned away from the elder Hardy and returned to her husband. "I'm gonna go and get changed and then I'll wait for you in the car. Stephanie is probably gonna be pissed at me when she hears about this."

Jeff just looked at her in amazement not quite believing what he'd just witnessed, "That was unbelievable, I can't believe you did that."

Maria frowned slightly, "You're not mad at me are you?"

"Hell no, it was just unexpected."

The former Women's champion smiled, "It's me … You should expect the unexpected when I'm around baby. It's one of the reasons you married me after all."

Jeff just nodded as she walked away towards the women's locker room. He waited until she was out of sight before turning his attention to his brother but before he could say a word, Matt spoke.

"Did you see what that fucking bitch did to me?"

The WWE champion made a face, "What she did to you? Are you kidding me? You got her suspended for two months and cost her the title and what for?"

Matt faked innocence, "She attacked me for no reason."

"Like fuck she did. You were fucking choking me. Stay away from me and stay away from my wife," Jeff replied slowly.

"I have no problem with that. As far as I'm concerned I no longer have a brother."

Jeff balled his hand into a fist, "Fine by me … I don't even know who you are anymore. You're not the person I thought you were." He turned away when Matt snorted in response and walked towards the locker room. He didn't have a match tonight so he was finished for the evening and right now the only thing on his mind was getting back to Maria. He wasn't even sure why he was suddenly feeling the need to spend more and more time with her.

It was a couple of hours later by the time he and Maria had returned to their hotel room. Randy and Melina had invited them for drinks in the hotel bar but Maria had turned down the offer, insisting that she was tired. However as Jeff had just discovered that had been a lie on his wife's part and she'd just wanted the two of them to spend some quality alone time together.