Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended.

Summary: Jeff Hardy has been chosen to be the human host that would allow the demon keeper of the seventh layer of hell to enter the realm of Earth. In fighting for his life Jeff has some unexpected allies. Featuring: Matt Hardy, Undertaker, Kane, Batista, Umaga, Ashley, Edge...

000

Jeff Hardy shivered as the cold of the room wrapped around him like the frigid arms of an icy bride. He curled into a protective ball as much as he could, but the sphere of warmth was not complete. His arms were bound by shackles wound around a metal pipe above his head. His wrists and forearms wore bruises from failed attempts at freedom, and his whole body ached from the torture inflicted upon him for making those attempts.

He could not remember being brought into this room, when cold stone was replaced by colder glazed ceramic tiles, when wooden doors and ancient tapestries were traded for metallic closures and leaden pipes. He guessed it was some time after the fifth time they tortured him. All Jeff did remember was the tile floor being under his back when leader activated the insignia and sent shockwaves through his body for a seventh time.

By the eighth time Jeff had gotten used to the pain and regained control of his voice from screaming and vowed revenge against them with every breath. He was tortured a ninth time in retaliation for his threats of vengeance. By the tenth time he had just gone numb and spoke no more. It was only after he stopped screaming and his eyes had gone dead that they stopped their torture. They bound him to the pipe, and just left him there.

How long they had been gone, he didn't know. When they would come back, he didn't care. He didn't care about much of anything at the moment. Even when the door to the room suddenly burst open and five men dressed in blue, armed with guns stormed into the room, Jeff paid no heed to them. He sat there starring straight ahead with lifeless eyes.

It was only when one of the men touched his shoulder to see if he was alive that he moved, only to curl tighter into his protective ball.

"Are you Jeff Hardy?" One of the men shouted at him.

Jeff made no move to answer. Suddenly that name meant no more to him than any other words the man spoke. His mind and body had been put through too much and had shut itself off to the world as a defensive measure, keeping only the primal reflexes open for survival purposes. There was only one voice he would listen to, only one that could convince him that it was safe to come out of his apathetic shell.

Only one...

000

Matt Hardy tapped his foot impatiently while he waited in the back of the police car. He watched with disdain as the vans of the news media arrived on the scene to pick up the story be it happy or ill. Either way it would get ratings for them. Still he couldn't tear his eyes away from the large warehouse outside the car window, the place where his brother was being held.

Alive I hope...

He momentarily tore his line of sight away from the building when Shannon gently kicked him in the leg.

"You're my best friend, but that tapping was really starting to piss me and these two nice police officers off," Shannon good naturedly patted his friend on the back.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous I guess." Matt let out a deep breath of air. "I'm about to find out whether Jeff is alive or not..."

Shannon opened his mouth to say something, but closed it as he realized anything he said would sound stupid or trivial in this tense situation.

Suddenly, one of the officer's walkie-talkies crackled to life. "Anderson? Have you found him yet? Over." the officer answered.

"Yeah. We think we have, he fits the pictures. Over," Anderson answered.

"Well is he alive? Over."

Matt Hardy held his breath.

"Yeah..." Anderson began

Matt Hardy exhaled and Shannon patted him on the back.

"Though he's not responding when we tried talking to him." Anderson continued. "Have you got the older brother with you? We'll need him to make the official identification. The area has been secured. Over."

"We've got him, we'll be in in a few minutes. Over and out." the officer finished, then looked back at Matt. "They think they've found him alive, you'll need to make the identification. You ready to go in?"

"Hell yeah!" Matt Hardy looked ready to bust out the window.

They were immediately bombarded by the media, with a flurry of questions and flashing cameras. The two officers and Shannon managed to shield Matt from the brunt of the media onslaught.

Once inside the warehouse they were met by the officer named Anderson. "Which one of you is Matt Hardy?"

"I am." Matt answered firmly although he was quaking with dread on the inside that they were going to tell him that Jeff was dead at any moment.

"Follow me. Jackson see if you can keep the media out of this until we're finished." Anderson turned and began walking down the hallway.

Matt looked quickly back at Shannon. "Go on man, I'll help keep the nosy newsies at bey." Shannon smirked.

Matt smirked back before turning and following Anderson.

"Your brother is alive, but in a catatonic state. He's not responding to anything." Anderson started explaining once Matt caught up with him.

"Shit..." Matt Hardy whispered. He hadn't considered this, his brother was alive, but in a really messed up state of mind.

Anderson offered some comfort. "Hopefully seeing you will snap him out of it."

"Yeah..." Matt murmured, swallowing hard as they approached a room that had several police officers, he guessed that's where Jeff was.

"I can't say blame him. If I was covered in blood, chained in a bathroom that looks like a replica of "SAW" I'd be catatonic too." Anderson grimaced.

Matt felt his heart stop for a moment. Covered in blood?

"JEFF!" Matt bolted away from Anderson, toward the room.

Jeff lifted his head as a voice pierced the impermeable darkness that had cloistered him inside his own body. He listened carefully, yearning to hear it again, praying that it was indeed the one voice that could pull him from the darkness.

"Jeff!"

Yes. He had come.

Jeff suddenly became aware of the man who was trying to unlock the shackles around his wrists. The room he was in eerily reminded him of the bathroom in the movie "SAW". He looked around anxiously for the source of the voice he had hoped would be there when he came out of the darkness.

"Matt...?" He whispered.

As if on cue Matt Hardy appeared in the doorway. Jeff automatically went to lunge at his brother and embrace him, however the shackles held fast. The metal bonds compressed in on his already bruised wrists causing him to gasp and double up again in pain.

"Jeff!" On seeing his brother in pain Matt tried to bridge the three feet between them, but was held back by the officers. "What the hell man? Jeff's hurt!"

The two brothers locked eyes, each longing to comfort the other's pain. The agonizingly short distance between them brought up terrible memories of the match when Raven handcuffed Jeff to the turnbuckle then pinned Matt down and forced him to watch as The Undertaker beat the living daylights out of a helpless Jeff.

"Let him go, he's the victim's brother," Anderson ordered, then turned on his walkie-talkie. "Jackson, we have a positive identification. It is Jeff Hardy."

The instant he was set free, Matt closed the three foot distance and wrapped his arms around his little brother. "Jeff. Jeff, you okay Bro?"

"Matt...You came..." Jeff rasped and smiled weakly. For a moment all the weight of the suffering and terror he had endured seemed to lift off his shoulders and he was at peace just leaning into his brother's embrace. And then as quickly as it had come, the moment was gone, and the weight came crashing down upon him.

"Oh God, Matt..." Jeff's voice became more broken, and the tears of pain, fear and relief all came out at once on to Matt's shoulder. "I saw things...They did things..."

"Sshh. Sshh. It's okay, it's okay." Matt soothed, trying his best to keep his voice steady. Meanwhile his own heart was still pounding from all of the varied emotions that gone through him in the last two minutes. With one arm still firmly around his little brother's shoulders, he reached up with the other hand to gently stroke Jeff's hair.

The locksmith finally freed Jeff's arms from the metal that bound them. Immediately the younger Hardy's arms wrapped around his brother's waist, and he continued to cry softly.

With his brother now secure in his arms, Matt took a moment to look around the room they were in. The officer had been right, it did look like that bathroom from the movie "SAW". It was dank and dirty and there were red stains everywhere, most notably stains formed into words on the wall above where Jeff had been sitting.

"The seventh gate of hell..." Matt read the message quietly, then turned to the officer next to them. "What does that mean?"

The officer shrugged. "You're guess is as good as ours at the moment. We're thinking it's some kind of cult."

"A cult?" Matt's eyes widen in surprise. "What would they want with Jeff?"

When the officer gave him a helpless 'I don't know shit' look, Matt turned his attentions back to Jeff. "What did they do to you Jeff?"

"It hurt...It hurt so much Matt..." Jeff said huskily between sobs.

"Hurt?" Matt stopped stroking the multi-colored braids, and held his brother at an arm's length. "You're hurt? Where does it hurt?" Matt looked down at the blood stains splattered across his brother's white tank top, making it look like some grotesque tie-dye job. "Oh my God, you're bleeding!" Matt's head snapped around to face the police officers. "Someone help him, he's bleeding!"

"The paramedics are on their way up." Anderson answered calmly.

Matt nodded, and looked back at Jeff. "It's okay man, you're gonna be okay." Matt rasped, trying keep his voice calm in an effort to keep Jeff calm, but it seemed Jeff was calmer than Matt was.

"Calm down Bro, I'm okay, I'm not bleeding." Jeff smiled again tiredly and patted his brother's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm just a little cold."

"Yeah, you feel cold." Matt rubbed Jeff's arms to create some heat, before pulling off his coat and wrapping it around Jeff's shoulders. Matt hugged his brother again while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.

000

Poor Jeff...He's been through a lot, luckily Matt's there to comfort him and play protective big brother.

Though just a note there is no intended Hardycest in this story, it is meant to be innocent brotherly love. However, if you are a fan of Hardycest and want to imagine it that way, I won't stop you.

I promise, Taker and Kane will be appearing soon in this story.