Part Nine

Jeff and Matt walked silently through the night, oblivious to the group of people behind them. Normally Jeff was as sharp as a fox when it came to moving around at night and nothing escaped his keen hearing, but tonight, he was preoccupied with worrying about his friends.

Keeping their distance, but staying close enough not to lose sight of the brothers, were Stone Cold Steve Austin, D-Von, Bubba and Spike Dudley, Hurricane Helms and Jackie. The six of them talked quietly as they walked.

"Shhh…" Austin stopped suddenly, causing everyone to crash into the person in front of them. It would have been humorous under other circumstances. "They’ve stopped."

"This must be where they’re meeting Mick." Jackie stood up and looked around. "Spike, what’s the time?"

Spike pressed a button and held up his watch. "Another five minutes."

~~~~

"You okay Jeff?" asked Matt, looking at his little brother carefully. Jeff nodded distractedly. "I’m just worried about the others. I hope Jericho gets back safely, I hope DX get Chyna back. And I really hope Lita’s okay."

"Lita’s tough." shrugged Matt. "She’ll pull through."

Jeff nodded, pacing restlessly. "Something doesn’t feel right."

"You’re paranoid."

"One of us has to be."

~~~~

Bubba stifled a yawn. "How much longer?"

"Shut up!" hissed Hurricane. "I can’t hear them."

"Guys…" breathed Jackie. "Be quiet. I think I just saw something."

"You’re hallucinating."

"No, I saw it too." Replied Austin. "I’m gonna go for a closer look."

"Steve, don’t." hissed Devon, but it was too late. Stone Cold was already creeping towards the others. He got as close as he dared, then turned around to wave to the others. Spike noticed first. "Oh fuck."

It happened simultaneously. Someone leapt forwards and grabbed Austin, as Matt took two steps towards Jeff. In slow motion, the others watched as the black clad figure drew a knife and sliced Austin across the throat with it as Matt used his gun to club his little brother in the back of the head.

Instantly Hurricane grabbed Jackie, one arm around her waist, his free hand over her mouth to stifle the scream he knew was building in her throat. "It’s only me. Don’t move okay?"

She nodded as Bubba turned to Devon. "We gotta do something!"

"We can’t!" Spike replied swiftly. "We don’t know how many more of them there are."

Four more black clad figures came out of darkness. Slowly their faces were revealed. "Regal. Buchanon. Kidman. Venis. Richards."

Spike and Bubba exchanged a look. Even from where they were, they could see the maniacal gleam in Steven Richards’ eyes. It still hadn’t sunk in fully. Austin was dead and Matt had turned on them. In horror, they watched as Richards patted Matt on the shoulder and congratulated him.

"I’m gonna be sick." Muttered Bubba. Something occurred to Jackie and she bit Hurricane’s hand gently, hiding a small smirk as he winced and moved his hand. "We have to get back."

"We can’t leave until they do." Pointed out Devon. "We’ll make too much noise."

"We have to let the others know what’s happened!" She replied insistently. "Can you imagine if Matt goes back to Mother Lils? We’re fucked."

"I’ll go." Whispered Spike. "I’m the smallest and I can move without making much noise."

"Go." Nodded Devon. "Be careful little brother." Bubba added. Spike smiled and nodded, and then was gone.

It seemed like hours, but it was barely minutes as they discussed Austin, why he’d been there and what to do with his body. "Maybe he was with some of the others?"

"No." Matt spoke up for the first time. "Everyone was too beat up, too disheartened. Chances are that Austin heard about the bust and decided to wander over and see what happened. He’s a rogue, if he doesn’t show, he won’t be worried about."

Steven Richards stared at Matt for a long minute, then nodded. Buchanon bent down and picked up Jeff, throwing the smaller man over his shoulder. ‘Careful.’ Thought Hurricane. ‘He’s just a little guy after all.’

"Let’s get out of here." The words drifted up to their hiding spot as the RTC and Matt started to head off. "Hardy, come with us. We’ll debrief you, then send you back in."

"Like hell." Muttered Hurricane under his breath as their enemies disappeared into the night. The noises quickly faded and it wasn’t until the usual night noises resumed that they felt it was safe enough to move. Even then, they were reluctant to leave Austin’s corpse.

Eventually Jackie sighed. "I better get back to Lita. If she’s heard the news she’ll be hysterical."

"We’ll come back for Austin tomorrow." Promised Bubba. "It wouldn’t be right to leave him here."

Slowly, the four of them walked off into the night, never noticing a pair of eyes that had witnessed the whole scene.