Burning For You
"Holy Tightness!" Shane "Hurricane" Helms yelled at the seamstress, his voice rising an octave.
"Looks like you put on a few pounds since you last wore the tights." The wardrobe lady responded around a mouthful of pins. "Don't worry, we'll let the waist out before your next vignette."
"It's not the waist I'm worried about, holy crushed nuts!" Shane tried stretching the crotch of his tights out a little to let his boys breathe.
"Well drop the inseam a little as well, but maybe you should stop sticking a pair of socks in there." She laughed a little at her own joke.
Shane blushed. "Holy secrets! That's all Hurricane down there!"
"I'm in charge of costumes, not what you put in them. If you want more room for your junk that's fine with me." She stuck a few more pins in the tights, marking them for her eventual alterations. "Anything else, hun?"
"That's will be all, good citizen..."
"Help!" It was a very faint cry for aid, but the Hurricane heard it.
"Holy danger!" Hurricane cocked his ears, listening for it again. "Someone is in need of assistance."
"I think you're hearing things. Your mask may be too tight also."
"No Muriel, my Hurri-powers are at their peak. I definitely heard a cry for help!" He strained to hear it again and just when he thought that maybe Muriel was right and he had imagined it, it came again.
"Help!" It was a little stronger than the first plea.
"I am the Hurricane, protector of the weak. Fear not good citizen, I will return as soon as I have rescued this poor innocent bystander from whatever evil has befallen him." The Hurricane jumped from his perch and grimaced.
"Mind those pins, hun."
"Holy body piercing!"
The Hurricane's keen sense of hearing took him into the parking lot area. The shouts for assistance had been growing stronger, then they stopped suddenly.
"Fear not. I am the Hurricane and I have come to save you!"
Shane was immediately bathed in brightness.
"Holy blinded by the light... reved up like a deuce another runner in the night!" Why he chose to sing Manfred Mann at that point is a question best left for another story. "Who's there? It is I, the Hurricane..."
A deep rumble came from somewhere nearby. The bright lights prevented him from seeing who or what had summoned him.
"Holy Earthquake!" It was not a natural disaster, nor the vengeful spirit of the late John Tenta, but a stack of crates. In his haste to do good, Shane had not seen the pile until the first one struck him. He fell to the concrete and was soon covered by the wooden boxes.
"Holy set-up!" Shane struggled to extricate himself. "Good sir, could you please assist me?" A figure stood in front of the fallen superhero.
"Sure, dude."
Shane thought he was going to be freed, but then he felt a sharp pain in his arm. Originally, he thought another of Muriel's pins had stabbed him, but then it came to him that he wasn't wearing sleeves. He looked down and saw a syringe sticking out his arm. A black hand pushed the plunger and Shane went limp.
"One down, many more to go!" As a souvenir, the unknown assailant tore the mask from the unconscious Hurricane as well as leaving his own souvenir. An Ace of Spades was placed in Shane's hand.
Meanwhile, Tom had corralled Jeff. He wasn't hard to find. Tom just followed the trail of overturned benches and luggage leading into the shower. Jeff was sitting in one of the stalls, his head in his hands, his anger having changed to misery.
"Hey, kiddo." Tom sat down beside him. "Tough break, huh?"
"Fuckin' CM Punk." Jeff growled "They changed the script on me. I was supposed to win the title back!"
"Why would they do that?" Tom asked, draping his arm around his sweaty man. "I thought Teddy Long liked you."
"Apparently Vince doesn't. He changed it. At least that's what Long said. I already confronted him." Jeff rested his forehead on his forearms.
"Oh. Jesus." Tom groaned. Leave it to Vince to be vindictive
"Yeah." Jeff sniffled.
"Oh Jeffers, don't cry." Tom held Jeff close. "Things will work out. I promise you."
"I don't wanna be here no more." Jeff whined "Nobody likes me."
"I can't speak for nobody liking you, but if you don't wanna be on Smackdown, the offer is still on the table. I gotta flip Evan Bourne. There's no way I'm workin' with him. Maybe Teddy and I can work something...?"
"Can ya?" Jeff looked hopeful.
"Just don't expect any special treatment if you do come over. You'll be given the chance to prove yourself, just like everyone else. It won't be handed to you, even though you are fucking the boss." Tom looked up when he sensed another figure in the room.
"What's up, man?"
"Christ, we been looking all over for ya. We got a problem."
"Don't leave me hangin' Jay, what's going on?" Tom pushed himself off the floor.
"Outside?" Jay seemed nervous.
"Jay, come on." Tom urged.
"Tom, outside, please?" Jay begged
"BRB, Jeff."
Tom and Jay headed for the door. "Do your job." Tom said to JTG and Shad as he passed.
"So what was so important that I had to come out here?" Tom asked. Emergency workers were running past, carrying a stretcher and cutting tools.
"Dude, there's been an accident. Hurricane's down!" Jay whispered
"What?" Now Tom understood why Jay hadn't wanted to say anything in front of Jeff.
"Yeah. Someone heard a crash in the parking area and they found him out cold under a stack of crates."
Tom took off, Jay hot on his heels.
Shane had just been loaded onto a stretcher when Tom and Jay got there. Tom looked around at the crates, some intact, but many had been cut apart to free Shane.
"What the fuck?" Tom shouted
"Step back please." Helms was pushed into a waiting ambulance.
"Would someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Tom ran his fingers through his hair angrily.
"We don't know. Couple of the production crew heard the crash and found him buried. That's all we know. It doesn't look too serious, though."
"Thank God for small miracles." Tom responded, scratching his head. Something bothered him, and it wasn't just the fact that one of his superstars had been put on the shelf.
While he walked back to the locker room, Tom kept thinking. What had he missed? He passed several other wrestlers in the hall. Word had travelled fast, apparently, and they all looked concerned. Jericho, Edge, Mysterio had all worried expressions on their faces... well, all except for Rey. Tom couldn't tell what the Luchador was thinking because of the mask he wore.
"Fuck!" Tom hauled ass back to the parking garage. The ambulance was gone, but several of the in-house medical staff remained as well as the cleaning crew who were gathering up the debris.
"Forget something, Mister Hardy?"
"Who found Shane?" Tom asked
"It was me." Some tekkie came over.
"Something's got me confused. When you found him, was he wearing his mask?"
"His mask? No, I don't think so."
"Thanks." Tom ran back to his office. "Anybody seen Jeff?" He asked a group standing by catering.
"He just left, I think." Edge was standing exactly where Tom had last seen him talking to Jericho and Rey.
"Shit." Tom cursed
"Can I ask what's goin' on?"
"I dunno, Adam." Tom smiled an obviously phony one. "Maybe it was just an accident but I got a feeling that this was revenge, plain and simple."
"Revenge, huh?" Adam was the WWE's resident expert on the subject.
"Yeah. I think someone's trying to get back at Jeff." Tom cracked his neck.
"Or you through him." Adam suggested
"Could be. I've probably made a few enemies since I got promoted."
"Two assclowns come to mind." Jericho was leaning against a wall, chugging Gatorade as fast as he could.
"Wouldn't surprise me if either or both of them had something to do with it." Tom answered "That's why I gotta find Jeff."
"You lookin' for me?"
"Oh, thank God. Adam thought you'd left." Relieved that he wasn't gonna be chasing around the city, Tom quickly embraced his Jeffykins.
"Nah, I just needed some air." Jeff answered "Thanks for talkin' me down. I needed that."
"What are boyfriends for?"
"Fucking?" Adam responded
"We can't be doing that twenty-four seven. I'm not as young as I used to be." Tom laughed. "Did you hear?" he asked Jeff.
"Hear what?" Jeff answered, looking a little anxious once more.
"Okay. We gotta talk. Adam, watch your back. If this is what I think it is, you're a target." Tom took Jeff back into his office.
"Jeffers, first of all, do you wanna come to ECW with me? Yes or no?"
"Yes." Jeff answered almost immediately.
"Okay. Until I can officially finalize it, Cryme Time is gonna be watching your back."
"Why?" Jeff traced a pattern on Tom's desk.
"I got an uneasy feeling." Tom sat on the edge of his desk. "I'm not saying Evan had anything to do with it..."
"Even though he prolly did whatever it is we're talkin' 'bout, right?" Jeff interrupted
"I wouldn't put it past the little man." Tom answered "But, seriously, there was an accident in the parking area. Someone dropped a pile of crates on top of Shane."
Jeff's eyes bugged out. "Helms?" he swallowed loudly.
"Yes. It might just be a sick fan out for souvenirs. Whoever it was, did take his mask, but I'm not betting the farm on it." Tom sighed.
"Why would he hurt Shane?" Jeff demanded
"If Evan's trying to get back at me, he could be doing it by hurting you. You're the number one person in my life right now. And how to hurt you is by hurting the people that mean most." Tom answered
"He's an asshole." Jeff muttered "And he has a small dick."
"You saw ECW too?"
"Someone filmed it for Youtube. I had to full-screen it just to get a good view." Jeff laughed, momentarily forgetting about his troubles.
"Yeah, I definitely traded up. Even little Jeffy is bigger than big Evan." Tom replied
Jeff blushed at the compliment. (Or was it flirting?)
"If this is Evan's plan, you should start talking to people. I've already sorta warned Adam, and I'll be seeing Jay in a couple days. You might want to get a hold of Shanny and Matt."
"He won't hurt my Matty, will he?" Jeff sniffled again.
"Not if I get to him first." Tom said, his teeth clenching involuntarily.
"Or me, bro. Remember, I've killed too." Jeff added
"Shhh... Morrison's case is still open. You don't want the wrong person to hear that." Panic in his eyes, Tom quickly looked toward the door. It was closed.
"Sorry." Jeff stared at his hands, something he always did when he was being lectured.
"Don't sweat it Nero." Tom caressed the side of Jeff's face, holding his chin with his thumbs, forcing him to look him squarely. "Things will work out. Stay here. If you wanna use my computer, go for it."
"Where are you going?" Suddenly nervous, Jeff didn't want to be left alone.
"I'll just be down the hall. I'm going to talk to Teddy Long. The sooner we can get this job done, the better we will both feel."
"I'm gonna call Shanny."
"Good. I'll be right back." Two doors down was the Smackdown GM's office and he was still in.
"Hey, playa, what's up?" Teddy stood when Tom came in.
"Mr. Long." Tom shook hands with his fellow General Manager.
"Have a seat... I've been told that you wanna discuss a trade."
"Word travels fast." Tom answered "I'm sure you've heard enough stories, so I'll cut to the chase, given what happened here earlier. I need Jeff on ECW to keep an eye on him. It's not that I don't trust your guys..."
"Say no more, playa." Long replied "Ya know I got McMahon breathing down my back."
"I'm sure we can come up with somethin' that even Vince will like." Tom leaned "My only problem is I don't have a lot of extra talent, and now that I lost Greg Helms for who knows how long, I'm even tighter."
"I'm aware of that, but ya gotta know, Jeff Hardy is one of my top playa's, playa."
"I understand that, Mr. Long. Make me an offer?"
"I know ya wanna get rid of Evan Bourne."
"It's that obvious, is it?" Tom laughed "By the way, thanks for the use of Mark for that one night. For an old guy, he sure can choke slam."
"Any time. How about you give me Evan, Matt Striker, and a pick in next year's draft."
"What if I only have one pick? That's hardly fair." Tom answered
"Counter me."
"Evan, Striker, and a pick in the draft if I have two or more. If I only have one, I'll give you one person off my roster, except whomever my draft choice was. How's that?"
"Lemme get this straight. If you only have one draft pick, I can take anyone off your pre-draft roster?" Teddy clarified.
"Except my ECW champion." Tom quickly added.
Teddy thought about it for a few seconds.
"You gotta deal."
"Thanks, Mr. Long." Tom shook hands again. "How soon?"
"How soon what?"
"How soon can I have Jeff on ECW?"
"He'll be there next week." Teddy promised "Have your guys to the Smackdown show this Friday."
"It will be my pleasure." Tom stood and shook hands once again. "Thanks for the help."
"No problem, playa. You're a lot nicer than Estrada, that's for sure."
Tom saluted, then went back to his office. The PPV was finished and guys were starting to get their stuff together to either go back to their hotels or to hit the bars. The Raw roster had their weekly show in the same arena the following night, so most of their guys were sticking around. Smackdown had a house show in Boise, so they were flying out.
In the infamous meet-and-greet meeting with his staff, Tom had explained his managerial style was 'no style at all". His exact words were: "I'm not your father. As long as you make your commitments, I don't care what you do on your off-time. Having said that, I will also not bail you out of jail, lie to your spouses, or advance you coke-and-whore money. We may be Extreme, but we are adults."
Outside his office, three of the five participants in the Championship Scramble Match were waiting, all in street wear.
"What can I do for you?" Tom asked
"You meant it right when you said that you didn't care what we did on our own time?" Jay asked
"Yeah."
"Awesome. Dreamer, Swagger, and I are going out to get really fucking drunk. Wanna come with?"
"Fuck yeah." Tom answered. "As long as you aren't trying to kiss my ass." Nobody had ever offered to get drunk with him while he was on the roster as a wrestler, but now that he was in charge, everyone had time for him. "Can I bring Jeff?"
"We were hopin' it would just be an ECW night." Swagger answered
"In that case, I'll tell you now. Effective five minutes ago, I traded Evan Bourne, Matt Striker, and a wrestler to be named later to Smackdown for Jeff." Tom smiled "I had an idea for an extreme elimination chamber match on TV this week. You five plus Jeff for the title, but I have to see what Heyman wants to do."
"Fine, I guess." Jay stated
"I dunno if Enigma changed yet. Where're we goin'?" Tom asked
"Crow's nest bar and grill."
"You three go ahead. I'll meet you there."
"Sure, boss." Dreamer responded
"You don't have to call me 'boss', Tommy." Tom laughed at the excessive formality.
"Sorry, Mr, Hardy." Dreamer mock-apologized.
"How about 'Tom'?" Tom raised both his eyebrows. "That is my name."
"Hey! That's my name too!" Dreamer exclaimed, prompting everyone else to roll their eyes in annoyance.
"See you at the bar. If you two decide to kill him and dump his body in a ditch somewhere, I won't say anything." Tom quickly stepped inside, leaving Christian and Swagger to decide on their own if that was meant as a joke or not.
"Hey you." Jeff was hunched over the computer, like Tom expected. "Swagger, Dreamer, and Christian are going for an ECW night at a bar. Wanna come with?"
"You goin'?" Jeff asked, his attention not even diverting from the screen.
"Yeah... it's an ECW night." Tom answered "Someone's gotta keep an eye on these jokers."
"Then why are you inviting me?" Jeff looked up. Tom winked.
"Tommy, tell me." Jeff said, "What's goin' on?" He needed to hear it from Tom's mouth.
"Effective ten minutes ago, I sent Evan Bourne, Matt Striker, and a wrestler to be named later to Smackdown. In exchange I got one Jeffrey Nero Hardy." Tom answered
With every word, Jeff's eyes got larger and larger until they almost as big as saucers. "You mean..."
"Welcome to ECW, little bro."
"Oh, Tommy thankyouthankyouthankyou." His computer game forgotten, Jeff jumped him, peppering his face with kisses.
"Now, remember what I said. Don't expect any special treatment. You'll have to earn your shots just like everyone else." When he was finally able to get a word in around Jeff's passionate kissing, Tom figured he better set the record straight.
"I know. You don't know how much this means to me." Jeff finally let go of Tom and danced around the room with joy.
"So. ECW night with the guys. We're meeting the boys at the Crow's nest..."
"I know where that is." Jeff exclaimed
"Good. You're driving." Tom answered "How long until you're presentable?"
"I'm good. I borrowed your shower while you were in the meeting."
"And you didn't invite me. I'm hurt." Tom pouted
"Maybe tomorrow?" Jeff traced Tom's jawline.
"Maybe." Tom chuckled. Jeff could be so cute sometimes. "Grab your gear."
The backstage area was almost empty by the time they left for the short drive to the bar.
"Tommy, thank you again so much." Jeff snuggled against Tom while they walked to the parking area.
"Jeffers, now you know why it hurt me so badly when you said that I should've let you die." Tom leaned his head against the top of Jeff's.
"I know and I'm sorry." That was the first time Jeff had apologized for any of the hateful comments he'd made that fateful day. "I'll never hurt you again."
"I believe you." Tom replied, steering Jeff away from the spot where the Hurricane's body had been found only minutes ago. The mess was gone, only a few splinters remained of the mess that had injured one of Jeff's closest friends.
"Did you get a hold of Matt and Shannon?" Tom asked
"I talked to Matty and he didn't seem too worried about it." Jeff answered "I couldn't reach Shanny either at home or the shop. I left him a message on his cell, and at work."
"I hope Shannon gets the message before something happens." Tom responded. If it was revenge the attacker had on his or her mind, then there were a lot of people who needed to be on the lookout. Tom reminded himself to have a word with Jay before they got too wasted.
"Shanny can take care of himself." Jeff tried to reassure Tom with limited success.
"I know he can." Tom answered "But so could Shane. C'mon, let's go have some fun with the boys."
Their car was watched as it drove away. The figure quickly looked around to make sure that no one else was in the area before he got into his own car. He pulled an often-folded piece of paper from his pocket and looked at it. Seven names were on the list, and taking a pen, he crossed one of them off.
"It's time to play my game." He said
TBC
Being sick is no fun, that's for sure. Chapters will be coming fast and furious now that I had two days in bed! Thanks for your get-well wishes!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the ride and remember to keep your hands inside the car at all times!