Dark Saviour

Chapter 36 - The Day the Dead Didn't Rise.

….

Jeff sat in the locker room, massaging his arm as he tried to release some of the tension and stiffness that had built up after his match. As he leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, he tried to force himself to relax, silently willing the pain in his joints to fade away. However, the pain seemed to be incredibly stubborn this time and he refused to resort to using pills to make himself feel better. Jeff had made a promise to himself after seeing the hurt in Undertaker's gaze when he was suspended from SmackDown, to not resort to pills every time he hurt. He owed Taker too much to allow history to repeat itself . . . again.

Jeff tried to think of anything that would help distract him from his pain. Unfortunately, the only thought that came to him didn't help him in the slightest. Though he had not personally seen the Deadman after his last match, seeing the footage of that night being constantly replayed made his blood run cold.

Hell, it still makes me shiver at the mere thought of it . . .

Rubbing his face roughly, Jeff brought his knees up to his chest so that he could rest his head upon them and stare blankly at the far wall. He could still hear Undertaker's words ringing in his ears from the night before. He just couldn't fathom what the bigger man was telling him.

"Why wouldn't you want to come back, Mark?" Jeff whispered aloud to himself. "Why would you want to leave me?"

"Who's leaving who now?"

Jeff jumped slightly, startled by the sudden intrusion. Looking up, he was surprised to see Jericho standing just inside the doorway, giving Jeff the once over.

"Geez, you look like shit," Jericho chuckled softly, shaking his head as he moved over to his locker space.

Jeff snorted. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Well, I can't technically congratulate you on a match well won, now can I?" Jericho smiled as he turned to face the smaller man.

"Yeah, I guess," Jeff shrugged before he stretched his back.

"So?" Jericho asked expectantly as he took up a spot across from Jeff.

"So what?"

"Are you going to tell me the juicy gossip of whose leaving who now?"

Jeff smiled. "I'm not privy to that information."

Jericho pouted. "Then what were you talking about?"

"Nothing really. Just talking to myself."

"Are you answering yourself too?"

"What?" Jeff asked as he looked up at Jericho.

Jericho shrugged. "Well, you said that you're talking to yourself."

"And?"

"Well, since you had asked yourself a question, I was wondering if you had answered back."

"Oh," Jeff smiled. "No, I haven't answered myself."

"Why not?" Jericho pouted.

Jeff shrugged as he shook his head slightly. "I don't have an answer yet."

"What's the question then?"

"Just some personal stuff," Jeff shook his head. "Really boring actually."

"Oh come on. What's on your mind?" Jericho asked as he watched Jeff intently.

"It's nothing really," Jeff insisted. "Just wondering about some of the things that have happened recently."

"Like what?"

Before Jeff could answer, the door opened again to admit both Rey and Shawn. The two men seemed deep in conversation and completely oblivious of Jericho and Jeff sitting in the room. Shawn stopped suddenly when his gaze moved from the smaller man next to him to the two men sitting on the nearby bench. He quickly nudged Rey's side and nodded in the direction of the other men.

"Oh, hey guys. How are you?" Rey asked, looking between Jeff and Jericho distractedly.

"We're fine," Jericho answered. "Although, Jeff was about to tell me what he was thinking about."

"Oh?" Shawn smiled. "What were you thinking about?"

Jeff sighed as he lowered his gaze and shrugged. "I was thinking about Mark," he admitted finally.

"Has something happened to him?" Shawn inquired.

"No."

"What did he say to you last night?" Rey asked as he probed Jeff's face for a reaction.

"How did you know I talked to him last night?"

Rey dropped his gaze from Jeff's face as if embarrassed. "Um . . . I . . . uh."

"Spit it out, Rey," Jericho said, shaking his head. "It's as though a cat has got your tongue."

"Don't talk to him like that," Shawn retorted, glaring at Jericho.

"Relax Shawn," Rey chided softly, as he put a hand on the other man's shoulder, he turned to face Jeff. "I knew that he was in your room last night because I talked to him before hand."

"You did?" Jeff and Jericho asked in unison.

Rey looked down at the floor, his face turning a pale shade of red. "Yeah, I called him after the show yesterday."

"Why?" Jeff asked, his face a mirror of confusion.

To Jeff's surprise, Rey's face turned a darker shade of red. "I was, uh, I was just wondering how retirement was treating him."

"Rey," Shawn said, raising an eyebrow at the smaller man. "Tell us the truth."

"Why does he have to tell you?" Jericho asked. "Don't you know why he called Mark?"

Shawn shrugged. "Rey told me that he had called him, but he hasn't gotten around to telling me why though."

"All right then," Jericho nodded. "So you can just tell us the truth all at once," he smiled, turning his attention back to Rey.

"I am telling you the truth," Rey retorted.

"Rey, if Shawn can tell you're lying to us, then that means the rest of us sure as hell can too," Jericho replied, raising a brow at the smaller man.

"But if you don't want to tell us," Jeff didn't finish his sentence, but instead, let it hang in the air.

Rey sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what you expect me to say."

"We just want to know how you knew Jeff got a visit last night," Jericho answered before turning to look at Jeff. "And we would like to know what happened during said visit."

Rey looked at Jeff, uncertainty in his gaze as he cleared his throat slightly. "Let's just say that I thought that he could use a friendly face last night."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shawn asked, confused by Rey's slightly cryptic answer.

Rey shook his head. "That is all I'm going to say on the matter."

"Why?" Shawn whined.

Rey shook his head again. "Because the exact specific's for my reasoning is of no consequence," he said as he turned to meet Jeff's gaze again. "Besides, as long as Jeff knows what I'm talking about, that is all that matters."

Both Shawn and Jericho turned to look at Jeff expectantly. "Well?"

Jeff chewed on his lower lip for a minute before shrugging. "We just talked about his match tonight . . . or what was supposed to be his match tonight."

"You mean he's not going to show up for his own match? The match he was going to return to the WWE with?" Jericho sputtered, his hands flinging wildly.

Jeff shook his head slowly. "He said he's never coming back."

"Wow," Rey muttered in disbelief, causing all three men to turn and look at him.

"What's the matter, Rey?" Shawn asked in concern, putting an arm around the smaller man's waist.

Rey shook his head. "I wasn't expecting him to permanently leave the WWE."

"What were you expecting then?" Jeff asked.

"I don't know," Rey said, closing his eyes. "Not this."

"Well, you had to be expecting something to happen if you sent him to see Jeff," Jericho stated matter-of-factly as he rolled his eyes.

"I didn't send him to Jeff," Rey retorted.

"Yes, you did," Jericho replied.

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did," Jericho said, shaking his head. "You said that you figured Jeff needed to see a friendly face last night and then you talked to Mark. Logically, that would mean that you sent Mark to him."

"He has a point there, Rey," Shawn agreed reluctantly.

"So what if I sent Mark to see Jeff?" Rey snapped. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No," Jericho replied, holding his hands up in defeat. "We would just like to know why."

"That's between Jeff and Mark," Rey shook his head. "They know the reason why."

"Guess that means we'll have to get you to tell us," Jericho sighed as he turned to face Jeff.

"Why me?" Jeff asked.

"Because you're the only one left that can tell us why you needed a friendly face," Jericho explained.

Jeff merely shrugged. "I was having a bad night."

"And only Rey noticed this?" Jericho chuckled. "I find that hard to believe."

Jeff shrugged again. "I wasn't exactly advertising it."

"You should have come to me," Jericho smiled, putting an arm around Jeff's shoulders. "I would have cheered you up."

"I don't think he needed that kind of cheering up," Rey replied, glaring slightly at Jericho.

"Must you always think that I have dirty thoughts on my mind?" Jericho asked, feigning hurt.

"I don't think, Chris. I know," Rey answered, smiling.

"Either way," Jeff said, as he stretched out his back. "I'm going to the hotel so that I can get some sleep."

"Aw, is Jeff tired?" Shawn pouted. "I thought we were going out to party tonight?"

"You guys go ahead," Jeff replied. "I'm too tired to go out tonight. I just want a hot shower and to hit the hay."

"What did the hay ever do to you?" Jericho asked as he laughed at his own joke.

"Bad pun, Jericho. Bad pun," Shawn shook his head.

Rey smiled. "And if he's saying that to you, then it's definitely a bad pun."

Jericho pouted. "It wasn't that bad."

"Oh it was," Jeff said as he opened the door. "See you guys later."

"Jeff, wait!" Rey called before following the bigger man out.

"What is it, Rey?"

Rey paused, thinking of what to say. "I just . . ."

"What?"

"I just wanted to apologize."

"For what?"

"For sending Mark to you," Rey sighed. "I over stepped my bounds."

"It's okay, Rey," Jeff smiled. "I appreciate what you did."

"Really?"

Jeff nodded. "I did need a friendly face last night."

"You want to talk about it?"

Jeff shook his head. "No."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Jeff smiled. "Thanks for your concern though."

"Listen, if you ever need to talk . . ."

"I know I can come to you," Jeff smiled.

"With or without Shawn."

Jeff chuckled. "Thanks, Rey."

"No problem."

"See you later," Jeff said as he turned and walked away.

Rey stood for a while, watching as Jeff left the building. He told himself that he did it in case Jeff changed his mind. But in truth, he wanted to see if anyone would follow the Rainbow Haired Warrior out of the arena. Once he was sure that Jeff was not in any immediate harm, he walked back into the locker room, happy to see that both Shawn and Jericho were in too deep of a discussion to have noticed his disappearance.

….

Jeff sighed softly as he opened the door to his hotel room. Closing the door gently behind him, he threw his duffel bag into a corner and made his way to the bed where he flopped down into a heap and buried his face into the pillow.

I really should get up and take a shower, Jeff thought to himself as he hugged the pillow closer to his chest. "Maybe tomorrow . . ."

Just as Jeff was about to drift off to sleep, he was woken by the telltale sound of his room phone buzzing. With a muffled groan, Jeff rolled onto his back and fumbled around the nightstand blindly until his hand finally made contact with the blasted contraption. He slowly brought the phone to his ear.

"Hello?"

Hey, buddy, how are you?

Jeff rolled his eyes at the cheerfulness in his brother's voice. "Hey, Matt. I'm fine."

"You sure about that? You sound tired."

"No shit."

"Watch the language."

"Sorry, bro, but did you honestly think that I'd still be awake after my match today?"

"Oh, right," Matt chuckled nervously. "I forgot you had a match tonight."

"Yeah, lucky for me you remember it after I tell you."

"Geez, grumpy much?"

"Matt, I'm exhausted and sore. Give me a break."

"Okay, okay, okay," Matt sighed. "Sorry I called."

"No, it's okay," Jeff yawned. "Just take it easy before you decide to yell at me."

"Do I have a reason to yell at you?"

"No, not yet anyway."

"Then why would I yell at you?"

Jeff shrugged as he rubbed his face with his free hand. "Because it's fun?"

Matt sighed heavily. "Can't I just call my brother to see how he's doing?"

"I guess you can."

"Thanks."

"What?"

"Never mind. How was Mark's match? I didn't catch it."

"You didn't hear?"

"Didn't hear what?"

"He didn't come back."

"What?"

"Mark didn't make his return," Jeff repeated.

"Why not?"

"How the hell should I know? He doesn't tell me what he's thinking. I'm not his mother."

"Sorry," Matt apologized. "How are you dealing with that?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? It's not like I had a stake in his return."

"But you are close to him, aren't you?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Jeff demanded, starting to get annoyed. "There was, and is, nothing going on between Mark and me. We talked. We roomed together to save money. That's it, that's all."

"If you say so," Matt sighed.

"I do say so," Jeff insisted.

"All right then," Matt replied, unable to hide the smile from his voice. "So, how'd your match go then?"

"It was fine, Matt," Jeff sighed. "I lost as I was supposed to."

"Aw, darn. Too bad."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you're sorry."

"I am," Matt said sincerely. "You know I'd rather hear that you're winning."

"Yeah, well. Can't win all the time."

"Yeah," Matt replied. "So, do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"About Mark's departure from the WWE?"

"Good night, Matt," Jeff smiled, shaking his head.

"Aw, why not?"

"Good night."

"Fine then, be a downer," Matt sniffed. "Last time I try to talk about stuff with you."

Jeff shook his head again. "Good bye, Matt."

"Okay, good night, Jeff. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Yeah, all right."

"Bye."

"Bye."

With that, both men hung up the phone, with Jeff trying to stifle another yawn. "Damn that guy for talking too much."

With a stretch and another yawn, Jeff rolled back onto his stomach before burying his face into the pillow again. Just as he was about to fall asleep for the second time, there came a knock at his door. Groaning, Jeff shifted just enough so that he could yell, "Go away!"

Silence followed for a few seconds before the knocking returned. Groaning again, Jeff rolled off the bed, nearly falling to the floor in the process before making his way to the door.

"Don't you understand the meaning of go away?" Jeff snapped as he opened the door.

"No, I don't," Cena smiled.

"Aw, crap."