Tulips
As usual, the Aces arrived early for the live event. It had not been a particularly good week for the team. In the ring, it was business as usual, beating down anyone who had dared get in their path, regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or brand affiliation, but outside the ring, the return of Evan Bourne was weighing heavily on the minds of more than one member of the squad.
Tom and Jeff were trying desperately to get their game faces on, but every time they heard footsteps go past their locker room, their eyes automatically went to the door. Even Randy was starting to get concerned.
"You two gotta relax. You and Matt have a match against DX tonight" Randy addressed Jeff. "and if you don't get your head in the game against Priceless, there's gonna be trouble." He glared at Tom.
"Don't worry about my in-ring, Orton." Tom retorted
"I better not."
If one word could be used to describe Randy Orton, it was intense. (The words asshole, motherfucker, nimrod, and jerkoff also come to mind, but that's for another time!) Outside the ring, he could be kind, gentle, sweet, and all those other mushy sentiments, but get him in his gear and he was all business.
Matt seemed to be the only one not overly concerned with the Evan thing. He sat in his corner, lacing up his boots, then pulling his jeans up over top.
"You're unusually quiet today." Tom pulled on his red tee and leaned back against the lockers.
"Not much to say I guess." Matt shook out his jacket and put it on, feeling it hug his torso comfortingly. He was as shook up as his brothers by the Evan news, but there really was nothing anyone could do about it.
"Five minutes." The stage manager went from locker room to locker room, banging on all the doors. "Five minutes to air."
...
"Are you ready?"
The fans exploded with the opening of the DX theme. It built to a crescendo until the words "Break it down!" and then the arena went ballistic.
HHH and HBK entering, playing off the fans. Once in the ring, it was down to business.
"Are you ready?" HHH shouted
The fans cheered that they were, in fact, ready.
"No! I said: are... you... READY!"
Anyone who wasn't ready was now.
"Then, for the thousands in attendance, and the millions watching at home, lllllllllllllllllet's get ready to suck it!"
"And if you're not down with that, then we've got two words for ya..."
"SUCK IT!" The entire crowd chanted as one.
DX waited for their opponents.
"And their opponents... accompanied to the ring by Tom Baker. From Cameron, North Carolina, at a combined weight of four hundred fifty-seven pounds, Four Aces members Matt and Jeff... The Hardy Boys!"
There was still the odd person who cheered for team Extreme, but that was overwhelmingly drowned out by 99 point 9 percent of the fans.
Matt and Jeff drank in the boos. Jeff was still a little nervous about this new gimmick. Every other member of the Aces had been both heel and face in the WWE, but Jeff was pure face all the way and he still had to remind himself to turn off the charisma. The Four Aces were non-emotional; fuelled purely by the will to succeed.
Backstage, Randy was watching the match from the privacy of the Aces' locker room when he heard a familiar voice.
"So, Tyler, did you ever think that you'd get a chance to get back at your ex like this?" Evan said
"After what I did to him, he'll be begging for mercy."
"If Tommy decides to play hero again, he'll be the one begging." Evan replied "I have plans for my dearest."
Randy clenched his fists angrily. He wanted to wipe the floor with them, but he wasn't stupid. With no backup nearby, he wasn't going to jump two people, both of whom he knew had personal issues with his running buddies. What better way to get Jeff and Tom's attention than to hurt one of their friends again?
"Hey, why don't we start right now... let's trash their locker room!" Evan suggested
Randy's eyes widened. Did they know that he was in there by himself? He crept to the wall nearest the door and waited, praying that they would have a changing of their minds.
"I love it... we'll show them." Tyler answered
"Yeah, we'll show those assholes that no one messes with Evan Bourne and Jack Tyler and gets away with it."
Randy swallowed nervously when he saw the handle of the door turn. He had one chance to not get eradicated and that was to attack first and hard. As soon as the first shadow crossed into his line of sight, he swung hard and hoped for the best.
...
In the ring, Matt and Jeff were having a seesaw battle with DX. They would gain the advantage against Shawn, only to have him somehow tag in Triple H and lose all their momentum. Even Tom's not-so-subtle interference wasn't doing much. Things didn't get much better when Matt was Pedigreed into the canvas. Only a perfectly-placed swanton broke up the three count. Then Shawn joined the party and it was all four men in the ring at once.
The referee was quickly losing control of his match. He separated Shawn and Jeff, and herded Jeff toward his own corner, allowing HBK the chance to Superkick Matt. With his back turned, the referee didn't see any of the illegalities. With Matt ripe for a pin, Tom had to think fast. He rooted around under the ring until he found what he was looking for.
"Hey, Paul.. catch!"Tom tossed HHH his sledgehammer. Instinctively he caught it, but at the worst possible time. The ref turned around, saw the Game with the tool, Matt almost unconscious, and came to an erroneous conclusion and then signaled for the bell. He jumped out of the ring and whispered to the ring announcer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the winners of the bout as a result of a disqualification, the Four Aces."
The crowd roared their disapproval. The Aces stood in mid-ring, basking in the crowd's reaction, when a voice was heard over the jeers.
"Hey!"
Matt, Jeff, and Tom looked around, wondering where it was coming from. Jeff first noticed the two figures on the Titantron. His eyes bulged, and his mouth opened but no sound came forth. He grabbed Tom's sleeve and pointed frantically.
"What is it?" Tom demanded. Then he saw what was on the screen.
"Now that we have your attention." The camera tilted back to reveal the unconscious form of Randy on the floor in front of them. "There's some unfinished business between us."
Randy moaned loudly.
"Shut up you!" Evan punctuated this with several sharp kicks to Randy's ribs. With each blow, Matt's face went whiter until he looked like he was going to throw up.
"What do you want?" Matt yelled
"Revenge, pure and simple." Jack answered "It's about time you realized that you're not as powerful as you think you are. You can't just walk all over people because you don't like them."
"Walk all over people? You gotta be shittin' us." Jeff screamed
"We're dead serious." Evan replied
Randy groaned again. Tyler reared back and kicked him in the side hard enough to send him sprawling. Matt cringed.
"Please don't hurt him!" Matt begged, his voice cracking with emotion.
"You have our attention." Tom focused on the screen in front of him, knowing that if he dared to look at Matt he'd lose all control. "If you want revenge, we're standing right here."
"That would be too easy." Tyler interjected "This time, you are not calling the shots. We will have our revenge, but on our terms."
"And what exactly would those be?" Tom leaned against the near ropes and stared at the screen.
"Not yet... we'll see you at Smackdown." Evan answered "Don't even try to find us or Randy will not make it."
It took every ounce of Jeff's strength to keep Matt from running from the ring. The screen suddenly went back to the RAW logo.
A little shell-shocked, the trio left the ring. Upon their return to the dressing room, they saw that Randy wasn't the only one who'd been damaged. Their sanctum had been trashed as well.
"I wonder if this is what Linda had in mind when she agreed to let them return." Tom muttered aloud
"No, I did not!"
Tom whirled around at the sound of his boss. "Sorry... I didn't mean to imply..." He suddenly found his ring boots fascinating to look at.
"I understand completely." Linda sounded apologetic. "We will do whatever we can to help you get Randy back."
"Thanks for the kindness, but this is something we have to do." Jeff came over from where he'd been trying to talk soothingly to Matt, who was leaning against the lockers with his head in his hands.
"Mrs. McMahon," One of the sound engineers ran up to them, outta breath. "just wanted to let you know that we had nothing to do with this... they intercepted the feed."
"Great! Those idiots could be hiding almost anywhere!" Tom exclaimed
"You know how I feel about vigilantism." Linda huffed
"Don't worry about a thing. The Hardys will take care of this." Jeff promised.
Shaking her head in resignation, Linda left the ruins of the Aces' locker room. "Regardless, your match with Priceless will take place." She said
"How?" Tom queried "My partner is missing!"
"I'm sure you can get someone to fill-in. If not, you'll just have to forfeit."
Tom flinched at the word. Forfeiture was almost as bad as failure and that was unacceptable in the Aces' book.
"Fine... I'll find a partner. You two stay right here."
"But what about Randy?" Matt looked up, a horrified expression in his eyes.
"There is nothing we can do right now." Jeff crouched down, staring into Matt's dark eyes.
"Matty, listen to Jeffro for a change. They said Randy's as good as dead if we try anything. I don't necessarily believe them, but I do think they have some people here who would love to rat us out." Tom added "Now after the show, that's another story." He ran out of the locker room, desperately looking for a partner. But would anyone be willing to help? Since the three shows hadn't merged yet, there was no way he could get a hold of the one person he thought might be willing to partner with him: Jay.
...
Randy slowly opened his eyes, well, eye. One was swollen shut so he did the best he could. It didn't really matter either way since there was no light whatsoever wherever he was. He tried to sit up but he was unable to. His arms and legs had been tied together like a pig and he was helpless to move.
Eventually, he rolled over onto his side and that brought a little bit of feeling back into his tightly-bound extremities, but not enough to make him feel comfortable. Randy tried to take his mind off the pain by focusing on other things, like what the fuck had happened and where was he and how was he going to get out of this mess. Regrettably, he did not have an answer to any of those three questions.
He struggled until the pain in his arms became too much for him. He'd rubbed his wrists raw and was sure that the moisture he'd felt trickle across his palms was blood not sweat. Randy lay back and waited. Answers, rescue, whatever, he didn't care. All he knew is that he did not want to die here... alone, in this darkness that was now his home.
...
"Here are your winners... the team of Priceless!"
Being unable to find a partner, and not wanting to drag either Matt or Jeff back into the ring, Tom had gone out a fought a valiant handicap match against Randy's former stablemates. Alas, one man can not stand up to the combined talents of the two multi-generational stars, and like many before him, he fell. As he was being counted down, Tom realized that he didn't really care about this match. He wanted to get back to the people who needed him most. The second he was off-camera, he sprinted into the ruins of their locker room. Matt was still sitting in a corner, forlornly looking at a photo. Jeff was... well, what had happened to Tom's man? He did not want to think about the alternatives and hoped to God Jeff had gone for Skittles.
"Where's Jeff?" Tom voiced the question that only part of him wanted the answer to.
"Dunno." Matt continued to look at his picture. "Out." He justified.
Still in his sweat-soaked ring attire, Tom shoved an overturned bench out of the way and sat down beside Matt. Peering over his shoulder, he confirmed his suspicions about the photo before pulling Matt to rest against his body.
"Matt, I know it hurts, but there is nothing you can do for the next twenty-four hours. Until we find out what Evan and Jack want, we're helpless. I know it's not a feeling you like, and I sure as hell don't like it, but face it it's what we are right now." Tom stroked Matt's midnight hair, hoping some solace would be brought in his words.
"But why Tommy? Please tell me that?"
"Matty, you know how they operate. Remember last time... you, Shane, Shannon, Jay. Adam, fuck even Amy felt the wrath of these two. Maybe the thought of a new target was too much for them to resist." Tom held Matt tightly. The more Matt hurt, the angrier Tom got.
"Hey, stay away from my brother!"
Tom looked up at Jeff, brandishing Skittles at them.
"Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Jeffers?" Tom glared
"Oh, Tommy, sorry... I didn't recognize you." Jeff's bottom lip trembled and in that moment, Tom realized exactly how much this was affecting the youngest Hardy. "Imma got Skittles." He showed them the red packages as if that would make things all better.
"How could you not recognize me?" Tom demanded
"Guys, please don't argue." Matt begged, raising his red eyes to face them both. "I can't take much more of anything."
Jeff quickly curled up on the other side of Matt. Now being held between his brothers, Matt started to feel a little better. But that was until he looked at the picture of his missing loved one.
Tom quickly stood up, locked the door and turned off the lights. The brothers spent the rest of the night in each others arms, trying desperately to come to grips with the pile of shit that fate had dealt them. The arena was completely deserted by the time they finally decided to leave, partially due to Matt needing to have a good long cry to get back under control and partially due to Tom falling asleep.
"Tommy, wake up!" Jeff whispered into his husband's ear. "It's almost three a.m."
"So?" Tom groaned
"We have to get going before people start wondering about us." Jeff stated
"Just lemme sleep." Tom answered "I need it."
"We have a seven hour flight that leaves in three hours, and you smell like a rotting corpse." Jeff stood up, put his hands on his hips, and stared disapprovingly at Tom. It was like being back in grade school and being lectured by his teachers.
Tom sniffed himself and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Maybe he should've at least stripped out of his ring clothes before he fell asleep, but things had just been so physically and mentally taxing that his appearance wasn't high on his priority list. As his eyes accustomed themselves to the almost pitch blackness, he became aware that Jeff was holding out a clean pair of pants and a shirt for him. Tom graciously accepted them and quickly stripped.
"Pass me a towel."
"Shhh!" Jeff whispered "Matty's still asleep."
"Shouldn't we wake him up too?" Tom questioned.
"Not until we're ready to go." Jeff seemed to have everything under control because no sooner was Tom totally naked then he felt a warm towel rub across his skin, removing most of the sweat and oil that was still on him.
"Sheesh, I can dry myself." Tom tried to remove the towel, but Jeff shushed him.
"Relax, Tommy, this will get done faster if you stop squirming."
Tom noticed that while Jeff was drying him off, he seemed a little more interested in rubbing the towel across Tom's groin area.
"Jeff, what are you...?" Tom swallowed. Of all the times to get kinky, why now?
"I said shush!" Jeff crossed Tom's lips with his finger, continuing to rub down south. Before you could say 'inappropriate', Tom was throbbing with need. His genitals were now free of sweat, but Tom soon felt another wetness on them.
"Are you gonna be quiet while I do this or do you want to explain to Matty when you wake him up?"
Tom looked over his shoulder at the dozing form of his bro.
"I thought so." Jeff quickly swallowed Tom's length, taking him right down to his balls.
"Damn!" Tom mouthed, quickly latching on to Jeff's shoulders to prevent falling over.
Jeff's lips and tongue worked their magic over Tom's shaft and head, even dipping down to lick at his nutsack. Tom wanted to get this over with real fast, not that he was complaining, but because he didn't want to explain why now to Matt. Jeff seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to this and every time Tom felt his orgasm approach, Jeff would either slow down or stop completely.
"Jeffers, just finish me off!" Tom growled in a low voice.
"Patience, Tommers." Jeff licked the bulging vein down the back of Tom's cock and smiled sweetly."Imma gonna finish you, but not yet."
Matt suddenly moaned. Fearful that he was on the verge of waking up, Tom grabbed Jeff's head and brutally face-fucked him as hard as he could. After a few brief struggles, Jeff relented, allowing Tom to be rough with him for a change. Seeing Jeff surrender to him was all Tom needed to bring him to orgasm and he filled Jeff's mouth with his seed. Jeff continued to swallow until Tom had given it all to him.
Releasing his death grip from Jeff's shoulders, Tom pulled him into a tender kiss, tasting a little bit of himself.
"Tommy, dress." Jeff pulled away a little too quickly. "We have to get moving."
Tommy quickly threw on the jeans and shirt Jeff had gotten out for him (no underwear) and slipped his Aces jacket and shoes back on.
"Matty, we gotta go." Jeff gently shook his brother. "Matty?"
...
Matt mumbled softly, his frame tensing. "Please don't hurt him." He whispered
Jeff frowned. "I'm not hurting anyone... Matty, wake up!"
Matt's body tightened even further." Please... I love him." Even in his sleep, tears started to fall from his eyes.
Tom walked over, wondering what was taking Jeff so long and caught the last thing Matt said. His brow also furrowed, confusion as to what to do evident. He'd also been taught never to wake someone up during a nightmare.
"Tommy, what do I do?" Matt seemed to be having the same night terrors that had plagued Jeff once before.
"Hold him." Tom responded "You didn't bring Bunny with you?"
"I'm an Ace. I don't need Bunny with me!" Jeff protested with an exaggerated indignance that almost made Tom burst out laughing.
"Fortunately, I'm not as emotionally stable as you are." Tom stumbled over to his bag and pulled out Lizard. "Here."
Lizard made a short flight over to Hardy International, where he landed face-up for a change.
"Should I wake him?" Jeff asked
"Nuh-uh... let him either calm down or wake up on his own. Although it would be better if we woke him up, we're not supposed to. It could scare him even worse." Tom folded his arms and waited for a resolution.
Jeff tucked Lizard into the nape of Matt's neck and waited. No sooner had the soft toy touched Matt's skin, then Matt's entire frame jerked wildly. It was eerily similar to what Tom had witnessed not so long ago. His hands folded into claws and Tom thought that he was going to tear poor Lizard to shreds, but he didn't. Lizard found himself being held softly as Matt slowly woke up.
"Jeffro... Tommy? Where am I?" Disorientation was a common side effect of night terrors.
"In our locker room."
"R-R-Randy?" Matt looked at them with eyes that hoped.
Tom shook his head. "He's gone, Matty."
Matt's face fell. "It was terrible... there was blood and killing and hurting..." He rambled on for a while.
"We know." Tom whispered softly. "But there's nothing we can do right now. We'll get answers tomorrow at the SD taping. Right now, we have a flight to catch."
...
Tyler and Bourne arrived at the arena for the Smackdown tapings much earlier than even the Aces. Trying not to look out of place, they wheeled in a large trunk, similar to the ones used by production, but this one carried human cargo as opposed to mechanical.
"Explain to me again how this is going to work?" Tyler asked
"It's simple... we're just finishing what we started and that is telling the whole world that no one screws with Evan Bourne and gets away with it." Evan banged on the lid. "Right Randy?"
A muffled shout, sounding like the words "Let me out!", emanated from within.
"Oh we will... " Bourne teased "When the moment is right, everyone, especially those fuckin' Hardys, will see just what we are capable of."
They wheeled the case into a disused bathroom and waited.
Sleep on the plane flight in hadn't been an option since Matt was afraid to close his eyes lest the nightmares return. Tom and Jeff had stayed awake with him the entire time, except for maybe a ten minute snooze. The hotel hadn't been much of a diversion either. Matt moped around the room, alternating between anger and tears while Jeff (and Bunny and Lizard) tried to console him. Even Tom, who usually had the most control over his emotions, couldn't take his brother's swings. He sought out a private place to gather his thoughts.
The only place where he could even find peace was the hotel's laundry facilities. So he spent his time washing the Aces' ring gear and trying to come up with an idea for retribution. Two hours, and two loads later, he still had nothing. It was worse than having writer's block while trying to finalize his dissertation in college.
Folding Matt's jeans, he found a scrap of paper in the back pocket. Tom hoped it wasn't anything important since it had been freshly washed and dried. On it was a name and a phone number.
"Why didn't we think of this?" Tom raced back upstairs. Matt and Jeff were just as he'd left them: Matt bawling his eyes out on the bed and Jeff trying to be the strong one.
Jeff looked over, his eyes clearly demanding what had taken Tom so long.
Tom winked, then walked into the bathroom, beckoning for Jeff to follow.
"Be right back, Matty." Jeff patted his brother's back and joined his husband. "I hope you don't want a quickie."
"I need information." Tom answered "Specifically, what's your read on Eric?"
"Eric?" Jeff asked
"Matt's neighbor. Y'know... the ex-Navy SEAL." Tom explained
"I dunno. He seemed nice enough." Jeff replied "Why... wait a minute... are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"
"It's better if you don't think." Tom stated "That way, you can't get into trouble if this doesn't work."
"Imma gonna check on Matty." Jeff said; it was his way of saying "do what ya hafta do."
Using several deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Tom dialed the number on the sheet and waited for a response.
"Eric...? It's Tom Hardy. I got a job for you..."
TBC
My original role for Eric is finally gonna get used... can he help the Hardys?