Disclaimer: I do not own WWE or any of its storylines.

Wassup? Welcome back to the Fanfic where anyone who has a good idea gets it stolen and used by me. In our last chapter we had the first round of the 'Deadly Games' number one contender tournament. Jason beat Kurt Angle, John beat Rey Rey, Shawn beat Benoit and 'Taker' beat Christian. We're not quite at the semi finals yet so bear with me, this chapter ain't totally pointless.

Here We Go!

Brotherly Hate-Chapter Twenty Four-Dreams, Flashbacks & Realities

-Begin Dream-

Jason Cena stood on the aisleway of the Boston arena the No Mercy main event take place, he had no idea how long he had been standing there, just that he'd been watching JBL beat the hell out of his challenger for what seemed like forever, the crowd was trying to will the challenger back into it and it seemed to be working as he tried to fight his way back to his feet, he turned towards Jason for the first time and Jason noticed that his whole face was covered in blood, it was almost impossible to tell who it was. The match continued on and somehow the challenger emerged victorious, Jason found himself in the ring about to congratulate this guy, whoever he was, when he heard his music being played, he looked around in confusion and suddenly heard the ring announcer making the announcement to the Boston crowd.

"Here is your winner and the NEW WWE champion… JASON CENA!"

Jason was severely confused, Jason Cena? He was Jason Cena, wasn't he? Mara was in the ring as well hugging this other guy, Jason went to ask what the hell was going on when the guy turned to him, the two looked right at each other and Jason realised it WAS him! He stared himself down while the other Jason celebrated with the title as if he wasn't there. John was in the ring now hugging the other Jason, Shawn was there, Spanky, Miz, Birchill… the other Jason turned to him again, they looked right into each others eyes and the other Jason raised the title above his head…

-End Dream-

… Jason woke with a start, he was panting and sweating as though he'd run a marathon, it took a while for him to realise where he was, his hotel room in Baltimore. What the hell was that? A dream? It seemed so real, as though he was actually there, watching himself win the title. He rubbed his eyes and reached over to turn the lamp on the bedside table, he jumped when the light came on itself and someone touched him on the shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry, it's me" said Mara. "I was going to wake you, you were muttering and whimpering in your sleep, bad dream?"

"Yeah, no, I dunno" he said.

"So it was a bad dream and it wasn't?"

"It was kinda weird, it was No Mercy and I saw myself beat JBL for the title".

"That's a bad dream?"

"No, but I got confused cause I was watching myself win, like an out of body experience you know?"

There was a silence between the two for a few moments.

"So why are you up?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep, mind if I come in with you for a while?"

"Course not, there's enough room for both of us".

Jason moved over and allowed Mara to slip under the covers with him, when he reached across to turn off the light he saw a pair of crutches leaning against the wall, for a moment he wondered why they were there, then remembered that they were his. The trainer had given them to him at the end of last weeks show as a precaution saying he wouldn't need them so long as he didn't put stress on his ankle, Jason had planned on spending the week lying on the sofa watching TV or playing computer games, that plan had lasted all of three seconds as he got out of the car, carrying the crutches over his shoulders to show John that he didn't need them, he saw a soccer ball lying on the lawn just asking to be kicked, he granted its request and… well, lets just say it was lucky he had those crutches. He was supposed to use them right up until his match with Shawn the next night, but he'd be damned if he let anyone, especially Shawn, know he wasn't at one hundred percent. He noted the ankle brace next to the light, he'd be wearing that during his match, he just hoped no-one would notice it. Mara broke up his thoughts.

"You gonna turn out the light or stay there staring at the crutches all night?"

Jason flipped out the light and tried to get comfortable again, he winced as a sharp pain shot through his ankle, Mara noticed.

"It hurting again?"

"Yeah".

"But nothing I say is gonna stop you competing tomorrow, right?"

"I've already told you, I'm not forfeiting this tournament, anyway, the trainer said it'll be fine by next week".

"That's only if you don't put pressure on it until then, and a match with Shawn Michaels isn't gonna help you!"

"Did you just come here to try and talk me out of it, again?"

"No, I am trying to make you see sense though, why are you so willing to risk injuring yourself like that?"

"Cause I wanna prove all those people who said I can't do it wrong".

"Jason, you beat JBL and you took Shawn Michaels to the limit and you haven't even been here six months, you've proved them wrong already".

"Maybe…" muttered Jason, in truth there was only one person who he wanted to prove wrong, a person who had made it clear what he thought about him, and practically forced Jason not to take the offer TNA had made him shortly before he joined WWE, Mara's brother, The 'Fallen Angel' Christopher Daniels…

-Begin Flashback-

Jason walked through the backstage area of soundstage 21 in Orlando Florida, this was it, his big shot at the big time, a non-televised match just before iMPACT, TNA's number one show, if he impressed then he would probably be given one TV match to see how he handled the pressure, then maybe a full time contract. It all swung on how he did in this match, he didn't have to win, just impress TNA Management enough that they felt he would be a good addition to the roster. The fact that he didn't have to win helped, especially considering who his opponent was, Sonny Siaki, a former X-Division champ and a TNA mainstay since its inception in 2002, few people knew the six-sided ring (and Jason wasn't too keen on competing in first match in that ring against Siaki) better than he did. Mara was there too but she was almost certainly in TNA already, Christopher had pushed hard to earn her a call up and all she had to do was sign the dotted line, the only thing stopping her was Jason, she had made it clear to Christopher, management and Jason that if he wasn't offered a contract she wasn't signing, and this was with Jason telling her to as well.

"Just sign it and get it over with" he said. "So what if I don't make it? I'll get another shot".

"Yeah but who knows when that'll be?"

Jason smirked as he warmed up, he had to give it to Mara, she was loyal, she had stuck by him so many times since they had begun running the Indies together, she had even stood up to her brother for him, it was no secret, Christopher HATED him, but he felt he was slowly winning him over, he had taken to calling Jason by his first name rather than his last, even if it was usually followed by an insult. He looked up as Mara and her brother approached.

"Ready Jason?" She asked.

"Ready to get turned down, that is" said her brother.

"Ready as I'll ever be, just keep that X-title warm for me Chris, I just might be your next challenger if Dixie decides to give me a contract".

Mara looked nervously, between her brother and her boyfriend, Christopher had hated Jason from the moment he had laid eyes on him, it had gotten worse when he found out what Jason's last name was, John Cena was a hated guy in TNA. To his credit Jason had tried to get on with Christopher, it was starting to work, but the two would never be best friends.

"At least you have confidence there's no denying that" said Christopher. "Mara, go make sure that Dixie watches this match, I want her to see just how much of a joke this boy would be in TNA".

Mara walked off looking nervously over her shoulder, she hated leaving the two alone, they had never fought, but you just couldn't be sure.

"Now she's gone I can talk to you" Christopher said suddenly.

"You wanna talk to me? What about?"

"THIS!"

Jason suddenly found himself pinned to the wall be his throat, he struggled against the grip that Christopher had on his neck, but couldn't get loose.

"What the Hell are you doing?" he managed to get out. Christopher moved his face inches from the teens.

"Now you listen to me, you low-life piece of shit!" He hissed. "For the last six months I've watched you put your hands on my sister and I haven't said anything about it".

"Are you kidding me? You always put me down in front of her! And I just took it because I thought you were trying to protect her".

"I am trying to protect her!"

"You're trying to control her! Telling her who to go out with, what to wear, that's not protection that's manipulation!"

"Listen thug, for the last six months I've put up with it solely because I know she's young and that she doesn't know what's best for her!"

"Oh, and you do?"

"Yeah, I do, and you're not, now she may not listen to me, there's nothing I can do about that. But what I can do is make your life a living hell if you take that contract!"

"You'd do that?"

"There's nothing I wouldn't do to keep you away from her, take now for instance, I could just snap your neck like a twig if I felt like it, but I won't, because I wouldn't get away with it and because I don't think your mother deserves to lose a son, but, If you take the contract you better hope you never face me because, if you do, you will never WALK again, let alone wrestle!"

For the first time fear crossed Jason's face.

"Why? Why do this?"

"To protect my sister, face it Jason, you're never going to amount to anything as a wrestler, you'll never make it to the top, but, you'll amount to even less as a person, I know your type, hanging out on the street, causing trouble ,doing drugs. If Mara knew she wouldn't be seen DEAD with you!"

"She does know, she knows almost everything I did, including how I got out of that lifestyle, and for the record, I may have grew up on the street but I NEVER did drugs!"

"And for that I'll give you credit" Christopher noticed Mara coming and took his had off Jason's neck. "Now, remember what I said and good luck out there" he laughed walking off leaving Jason standing there in shock…

-End Flashback-

Jason sighed, he remembered that night well, he thought about it a lot, Christopher's threat had worked on him, the match he with Siaki was good but not anything special, Dixie had come to Jason with a contract ready for him to sign, Jason turned it down saying he wasn't ready to go on TV just yet, a lame excuse, but Dixie bought it. Mara had been pissed but forgave him in time, he never told her about the confrontation, he never told anyone. "I'd love to meet him now" he thought. "I'd teach him a lesson in respect!" He had sworn that day that he would make a name for himself, that he would go down in history as one of the greatest champions in history, just so he could go back and throw it in Daniels' face and say he'd done it.

"Are you alright?" Asked Mara. "You've been quiet a long time".

"I was just thinking, Mara?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you believe in destiny?"

"Kinda, why?"

"Well it's just that dream seemed so real, maybe it will happen, maybe I'll win the tournament and the title".

"Jason you're starting to sound like Orton".

"Oh Christ! I better shut up then!"

Mara laughed. "C'mon Jason, it was just a dream".

"Yeah, besides my dream had No Mercy in Boston, really it's being held in New Orleans".

"See? Now, let's get some sleep, you have a big match with Shawn tomorrow".

"Yeah, goodnight Mara".

She reached up to kiss him. "Goodnight… champ".

She settled in Jason's arms and as asleep in minutes, Jason was up a little longer, his final thoughts before dropping off were…

"Jason Cena… WWE Champion!"

End of Chapter.

Y'know, looking back on this chapter it seems rather bad, oh well, if it is my excuse is I'm upset because my football team lost the Champions League Final last night. Anyway, will Jason beat Shawn? Will John beat Undertaker? Will Jason's ankle hold up? Find out next time!

R&R

HOO-RAH!