Title: Everything Else That Was
Author: Karen U
E-mail: revivingophelia13@yahoo.com
Catagory: BtVS/WWF
Disclaimer: BtVS/Angel characters belong to the WB, Joss Whedon, and Fox;
WWF characters belong to the WWF
Distribution: If you have Fall Along the Way, you can have this
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: WWF - through mid-Decmeber, but Edge and Christian aren't jerks;
BtVS - Post Restless; now a year and a half later, so there are some major
changes (still no Tara), and I may borrow a few season 5 spoilers
Summary: Jeff and Christian go back to LA, and chaos ensues
Notes: This is a sequel to Fall Along the Way, so it would really help if
you'd read that one first

Part One

Jeff wandered through the streets, his eyes roaming back and forth, taking
in the garish, overdone decorations that lined the streets and filled the
shop windows... And Matt had talked him out of dying his hair red and green
in recognition of the holiday season, saying it would be stupid to do so,
and it would make him look silly... Nothing could be as silly as the dancing
Santas that filled the show window of the store across the street. Sighing,
the younger Hardy brother tugged at the sleeves on his shirt, his hands lost
inside the too-long sleeves, then frowned as a crossdresser passed by him,
wearing a miniskirt, tube top, and heels, looking perfectly comfortable
given the weather, which was a balmy seventy-two degrees.

Christmas in LA... Not exactly a white Christmas. Damn, but he'd give
anything for enough snow to start a good snowball fight... He still owed
Matt back for what his older brother had done to him in Colorado a few weeks
before... Stupid ambush...

"That's enough, Jeff," he muttered to himself, not caring if people thought
he was weird for talking to himself. If they didn't think he was weird just
on the basis of his purple and green hair, then they never would. "You get
to go home in a week, and spend all of Christmas and New Year's in North
Carolina with Dad and Matt, so stop your whining... You'll get that older
sibling of yours back then."

Despite his feelings about a California Christmas, the young man had to
smile at the thought of a week off to spend the holidays with his father and
brother, and the smile widened when he remembered that they had just about
talked Lita into joining them this year. It would certainly be different
having the redhead around, but he was without a doubt looking forward to it.
Lita was like a sister to him, and he was thrilled that she would be with
them instead of alone...

Sighing again, Jeff turned the corner, ignoring the scantily dressed hookers
standing there, LA beginning to have less and less appeal to him on each
subsequent visit. The first time he'd come here, he'd loved it, but now...
It was just a little much for him.

He wondered how Willow put up with it.

Willow.

It had been months since he'd seen her... Since that August day in New York
when she and Faith had gotten on that plane and flown back to LA with that
book in their hands. He and Christian had talked about trying to get in
touch with them, maybe go see them, but nothing had come of it. They'd both
been too afraid that they'd be rejected, that Willow and Faith wouldn't want
to see them... Call them wimps, but that was the way it went.

And now here he was, back in LA after four months.

He wasn't sure what to do: look her up or leave her be. Four months was a
long time without any contact whatsoever, and he had to admit that his
greatest fear was that she had forgotten about him. Or worse yet: that she
hadn't forgotten about him, but just didn't care. Jeff didn't know what
he'd do if that happened, if he went to her, and she laughed at him, told
him that the few kisses they'd shared had meant nothing... He really didn't
think Willow was the type to do something like that, but he hadn't thought
she was the type to be doing dangerous work for a private investigator, and
he'd been pretty damn far off-base on that one.

Shaking his head a little, his hair beginning to fall out of the hastily
made ponytail he'd pulled it into that morning, he continued walking, his
hand moving to his pocket, slipping inside to touch the business card he had
inside of it. It was the same card he'd taken from Willow's purse several
months before, the same card he'd held in his hand when the plane carrying
her and Faith had taken off, leaving him and Christian behind to wonder what
might have been under other circumstances. He'd kept it in his wallet since
that day, even gotten up the courage to call the number a few times, but
he'd never asked for Willow, always hanging up when someone answered.
According to Matt, he'd tried to call the number once while he was drunk,
but Christian had managed to wrestle the phone away from him before he made
a fool out of himself.

And now here he was, contemplating the possibility of making a fool of
himself once again.

He wanted to see her, that was an obvious truth. He'd wanted to see her
again from the moment she had left. He wouldn't have taken the card if he
hadn't have been thinking of that, of the possibility of contacting her, of
trying to see her again.

But what if she didn't want to see him?

She had left him standing there in that airport, taking off, going back to
her dangerous job and leaving him behind. Granted, she'd looked so damn sad
when she had done it, but time had passed, perhaps even enough that she had
forgotten about him... Maybe she didn't even remember his name... No, that
was foolish. They'd been kidnapped for goodness sake. No matter how much
she'd had happen to her while working at Angel Investigations, he highly
doubted she'd forget being kidnapped with him. But that didn't change the
fact that there was always a chance she didn't want to see him again. And
what would happen if he did seek her out, if he found her in the midst of
this city, and she told him she just wanted to forget about him?

He didn't know how he would handle that.

Jeff took a shaky breath as he pulled the card out of his pocket, looking
down at it, seeming almost as if he was trying to get it to tell him what to
do... The street name on the card jumped out at him suddenly, and he
frowned... Wasn't that the street he was already on? He stopped short at
that thought, looking up and at his surroundings, his gaze falling to a
building several spots down and across the street. Without thinking, Jeff
crossed the jaywalked across the street, stopping once he reached the
sidewalk and gazing at the sign painted in the window... Angel
Investigations. As he stood there staring, trying to figure out if this was
a sign or just fate trying to find a way to kick him when he was down, the
door to one of the offices opened, and two young women came into the lobby,
talking seriously about something or other.

And one of those women was Willow.


Part Two

"Look, Buffy, I know it’s hard-"

"No, you don’t-"

"Yes, I do," the redhead interrupted, her voice firm but gentle. "Only I
guess I was on the other end... I was the leaver, not the leavee... And I
really don’t think that’s a word," she said, sounding a bit confused, then
shrugging.

"Yeah, but you hardly even knew the guy..."

"Fine, I’ll give you that. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt to get on
that plane and leave him," Willow stated, a small frown on her face as she
thought about Jeff. She rarely spoke of him to anyone - maybe to Faith
every once in awhile - in an attempt to forget about the wrestler from North
Carolina, but she hadn’t been even close to successful. "I left knowing
that I wouldn’t see him again... And if you think about it, I’ve been on
your end as well. I’ve been left before, too. Granted, Oz cheated on me
and then the bitch he cheated on me with tried to kill me, and that was
really the worse part about it, but the actual leaving part hurt, too."

Buffy Summers sighed softly, running her hand through her bleached blonde
hair. "I know I’m being a pain in the ass, Wills," she admitted, tossing a
glance at her best friend... One of the few true friends she’d ever had.
"But I’m so tired of it... I’m always the one left behind, Willow, and it
hurts. It hurts so damn much... When I think I’ve found someone who won’t
leave... I’m just wrong, ‘cause they always do," the Slayer said, turning to
face the redhead fully, tears filling her eyes and making her look much
younger than her twenty years. "Why am I always the one left behind? First
Angel, then Parker, and now Riley... Is there something wrong with me?"

"Don’t you dare even think that," Willow told her sternly, her ‘resolve’
face taking over her expression. "That is not true. First of all, Parker
doesn’t even count, because he’s a pig, not a guy, and he was nothing more
than a user to begin with. Second, the whole Angel thing was just a bad
idea. He didn’t leave ‘cause he wanted to, he left ‘cause he had to. If
you ask me, a guy leaving town because he’s afraid you’ll make him so happy
he’ll actually lose his soul is proof positive that there is definitely
*not* something wrong with you. Got it?"

"Willow..."

"What? It’s true, and you know it, blondie. Now, on to Riley," she
continued, her voice getting serious. "Riley’s an idiot. A jealous,
annoying idiot. He was jealous of your powers, so jealous he couldn’t
handle it, and then he cheated on you. He cheated on you, which made him
feel like he had more power in the relationship, and then when you found out
and put your foot down, the wimp turned tail and ran. Probably afraid you’d
slay him or something..."

"Or that you’d turn him into a rat," Buffy put in slyly, her best friend’s
ranting on what a sucky guy Riley Finn had been improving her mood a bit.

Willow raised her brows at her friend, a small smile coming to her face.
"Buffy, have you been telling tales on me?" she asked, and the blonde Slayer
grinned.

"Not really... I mean, I may have mentioned that whole ‘thy will be done’
spell, not to mention the ‘Angel getting his soul back’ thing... And we
mustn’t forget the fine and fascinating art of floating a pencil."

"I can float a lot more than a pencil now," the redhead stated, glad to see
her friend smiling once more. When she had gotten the call from Giles about
what had happened, she had been more than a little worried for her friend,
and the sadness on the blonde’s face when she had arrived at the bus station
hadn’t helped to alleviate those fears. But now that Buffy had been here in
Los Angeles for a week - and would remain here until UC-Sunnydale’s winter
break was over - she seemed to be doing better, which was definitely a
relief to the redhead. She’d been a little bit worried about how Buffy and
Angel would interact - not to mention Faith and Buffy - but things had gone
well so far.

"Oh, you can, can you?" Buffy shot back, pretending to look considering.
"Well, I’ll just have to add that to my list of potential Willowy weapons
then."

"You do that," the redhead said with a grin, then frowned as the phone rang.
Cordelia had the day off, which meant that she and Buffy were on phone
duty. Sighing, she stepped over to the desk, picking up the phone on the
third ring. "Hello, Angel Investigations. We help the helpless," she said
perkily, turning around so she wouldn’t have to face Buffy as the other
woman mouthed the words with her, looking for all the world like a
bubbleheaded cheerleader. Since getting to LA, she had relentlessly made
fun of the slogan, nearly causing Willow to lose it once while on the phone
with a potential client... Damn it, it wasn’t her fault that Cordy had
picked such a perky, silly little slogan back a few years ago when Angel
Investigations started up.

Willow frowned as she was greeted by silence on the other end, starting to
feel a little bit uneasy. "Hello... You have reached Angel Investigations.
How may I help you?" she asked, trying to prompt the person to speak. There
was obviously someone there, she could hear them breathing, the sounds a
little creepy in her ear, and she bit her lip before trying one last time.
"Hello? Hello, is anyone there? Listen whoever you are, I can hear you
breathing..."

"I’m watching you," the voice rasped out, and Willow’s frown deepened.

"Look, this isn’t funny-"

"You and you’re little blonde friend. You look quite good in green, little
girl," the voice said, and Willow immediately looked down at herself, taking
in the green tank top she was wearing.

"Who is this? Where the hell are you-?" she began as she went to the
window, searching for signs of someone on the phone, then swearing when she
heard the click that meant she was being hung up on. She slammed the phone
down, then took off out the door, Buffy at her heals, the blonde not even
having to ask what was going on. This was their third such call since
yesterday... Probably at least their tenth since she had arrived in LA.

Quickly, Willow went out into the street, shoving through the crowd as she
headed towards the pay phones on the corner, looking around her for any
signs of someone on a cell phone. As she was going, she shoved past someone
who seemed familiar, something pricking in her memory as she pushed past the
young man, then skidded to a stop in front of the pay phones.

"Damn it!" she swore, hating the fact that they had lost their chance at
catching him, the prick of memory that had hit her earlier starting to take
shape.

"Don’t worry, Wills, we’ll get him," Buffy assured her, but Willow didn’t
answer.

Slowly, her eyes widening, the redhead turned around, the memory coming to
her completely then, the vague recognition that she had felt when she’d
blindly bumped into the man blooming full force, and as she turned around,
her eyes fell on him immediately, green eyes locking with green eyes once
again, as they had so many months ago.

It was Jeff Hardy...

Jeff Hardy was back in LA.


Part Three

Jeff looked at Willow, seeing the recognition in her eyes, the stunned shock
at seeing him again. She was entirely focused on him. Clearly whatever she
had come out here to search for was long forgotten, her big green eyes
growing about twice their normal size as she stared at him. After a moment,
not sure if she was shocked-happy or shocked-upset, Jeff took a tentative
step towards her, wondering if this was the right thing to do.

Apparently it was.

The movement seemed to un-freeze the pretty redhead standing about twenty
feet away from him, and she stepped forward as well, though she moved so
quickly that he almost didn’t register it, he just suddenly found himself
with his arms full of Willow. Not the he minded in the least... It was, if
he had to comment, an incredibly pleasant feeling. One he’d like to
continue to have for awhile.

Not really caring that the streets were milling with people trying to get to
and from dozens of places that Jeff didn’t want to know about, the younger
Hardy leaned in towards her, not allowing himself to stop and reconsider his
actions as he captured her lips in a kiss... Her mouth was even sweeter than
he remembered.

Without thinking about the prying eyes that were around to see them, Willow
wrapped her arms around Jeff’s neck, her hands trailing up into his hair,
pulling it down from its haphazard ponytail and instead running her fingers
through the long locks. She vaguely thought that maybe she should pinch
herself, make sure this wasn’t a dream, but then quickly decided against it.

If this was a dream, she sure as hell didn’t want to wake up.

Buffy stared at the couple kissing in the middle of the sidewalk, some
vague, nasty little part of her mind wondering how long it would take for
them to go from kissing to actual groping. She was pretty sure she didn’t
want to know... She was also pretty sure this was the most decidedly
un-Willowy behavior she’d seen her best friend engage in since she’d
mistaken that vampire version of Wills for the real thing back during their
senior year of high school. Maybe... maybe that’s what this was. Some
döppleganger version of Willow, and she just hadn’t noticed the difference
until now... Nah. She had better observational skills than that... Didn’t
she?

As the kiss continued, Buffy finally realized that her mouth had dropped
open in shock, and she quickly closed it, not wanting to stand there and
just start catching flies or something. She shifted from foot to foot,
slightly embarrassed, not sure what to do. It wasn’t every day that your
best friend just starts kissing a guy in the middle of the sidewalk... Well,
it isn’t if you’re Buffy Summers and your best friend is Willow Rosenberg...

Sighing, the bleached blonde shook her head, making a face at a guy who
passed by. He was so busy staring at Wills and the mystery guy that he
almost tripped over the curb, and the Slayer had to stifle a laugh before
turning back to her friend...

And just who in the hell was this mystery guy, anyway?

He didn’t seem to be Willow’s normal type at all... Not that he was
necessarily Wills’s type at all. He could just be some random guy she’d
decided to jump in the middle of LA... Yeah, right. Buffy had seen the look
on Willow’s face when she’d spotted the guy, and his face had shown much the
same expression, which meant that they definitely knew each other.

But how?

Buffy’s eyes traveled back over to the guy, taking in the lean but still
muscular body, the unshaven face that seemed to have the remnants of stripes
or something shaved into it, the brightly colored hair...

"Oh, my God," Buffy whispered, her eyes widening, shaking her head a little.
No way... It couldn’t be. Wills had basically said that this guy had no
idea how to find her, that she would never see him again... But then again,
how many guys wandered around with a head of hair like that?

It had to be him.

Stepping slightly closer to the pair, the Slayer shifted from foot to foot,
not really wanting to separate the two, but knowing that she and Willow
needed to go back inside the office and go find Angel, tell him what was
going on. He needed to know about the phone call they’d just gotten. If
Wills still remembered that there had even been a phone call, that is.

"Willow," Buffy called softly, trying to get her friend’s attention, feeling
a bit guilty about breaking up this little reunion... Not that they’d even
spoken to one another yet. All they’d done so far was play some tonsil
hockey.

Someone was calling her name.

Not wanting to leave this incredibly happy place that she was currently
inhabiting, Willow struggled to ignore it, instead concentrating on the feel
of Jeff’s arms wrapped around her, his lips pressed against hers... Yes,
this was a much happier place than reality could ever be...

"Willow..."

Damn it, someone was saying her name... Probably that blonde girl that she’d
walked out here with... They’d seemed awfully serious when they had come out
of the office, which probably meant that they’d been doing something
important... Of course, this was pretty damn important, too.

"Wills..."

And there it came again. Taking not to make a sound of disappointment, Jeff
finally lifted his mouth from Willow’s looking down into her eyes as they
both tried to catch their breath. As she stared up at him, the redhead
lifted her hand to run it over his cheek, and Jeff turned his head, kissing
her palm, causing her to smile in response.

"Um, guys," Buffy said a bit uncomfortably, clearing her throat a bit when
they turned to look at her. "I really hate to interrupt this free show
you’re giving out here," she continued, causing Willow to blush, "but this
really isn’t the place for this, and I’m going for the fact that it probably
isn’t the time for it, either."

Willow saw the pointed look her best friend was giving her, and the phone
call she’d received just minutes ago trickled back into her memory, though
it wasn’t really enough to dim the feeling of seeing Jeff again. She didn’t
know how it had happened, what he was doing here, but she could find that
out later... But now that he was here, the least she could do was introduce
him to her best friend, wasn’t it?

"Um, Jeff, this is my best friend Buffy Summers," she began, and Jeff smiled
at the blonde, though he didn’t release Willow. "And Buffs, this is..."

"I’m guessing Jeff Hardy," the blonde replied with a small smile.
"Otherwise, you’ve got some explaining to do."

"Does this mean-"

"Oh, you’re still explaining later."

"Damn."


Part Four

Willow looked over at Jeff, not sure what to say. It had been so much
easier when they were just standing there and kissing... But they couldn’t
do that forever. Well, they could try, but somehow she didn’t think that
would really work out too well. Might be fun, though.

Sighing, the redhead went over to the door and pulled down the blinds that
hung over the glass of the door to her personal office area, effectively
shutting out the curious stares of Buffy and Wesley, who were waiting for
Angel to come up from his apartment so they could tell the vampire the
latest on their stalker-phone guy.

And speaking of Angel... Willow was really not looking forward to
introducing Jeff to Angel. Angel was almost as bad as Xander when it came
to Willow’s love life. According to them, she shouldn’t have one.

Stupid overprotective men.

"I, um, guess you’re surprised to see me," Jeff said awkwardly after a
moment, suddenly wondering if maybe the redhead’s first reaction was just a
fluke, that he’d imagined it, and that this more distant version of her was
the reality. But no, he thought, looking up at her from his position seated
in one of the office chairs, he hadn’t imagined that kiss. There was no way
he had imagined that kiss.

"You could say that," Willow said after a moment, coming around her desk and
leaning against it, now just a few feet from Jeff. "It would be an
understatement, but you could say it."

"Listen, Willow-"

"How did you find me, Jeff?" she interrupted, her head cocked to the side as
she gazed down at him. "How... You didn’t even know..."

"This," Jeff said softly, reaching into his pocket to pull out the worn
business card he had with him. Willow frowned a little, then reached for
it, her frown deepening when she saw what it was.

"How... How did you get this?" she asked, her green eyes snapping to his
face, and he had the grace to look embarrassed.

"I... I, um, I took it. Out of your purse before you and Faith left New
York."

"You took this? Jeff-"

"What was I supposed to do?" the younger Hardy asked as he stood up, looking
down into her eyes. "You were walking away, Willow. No I’ll miss you, no
I’ll see you later... you were just leaving. I couldn’t... I didn’t want to
deal with the reality that I would never see you again. I took this card so
I would know."

"Know what? Where I worked?"

"Where I could contact you. So I would have something real, something I
could reach out and grasp... Something that would tell me that it wasn’t a
dream... That you were real, that I hadn’t imagined you."

"Jeff..."

"Look, Willow, you can be pissed at me if you want-"

"Shut up," she told him, reaching up and covering his lips with her hand.
At Jeff’s confused look, she lowered her hand and looked away, turning to
gaze at the window looking out onto the street, though she wasn’t really
seeing anything.

"Willow?"

"You shouldn’t have come here," she said softly, refusing to look at him not
wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. "You should go... Forget about
me, Jeff."

"No!" he replied, his voice forceful as he stepped towards her, wincing when
she shied away. "Damn it, Willow, you’re not going to stand there and tell
me that you don’t care about me-"

"Well, maybe I don’t!" she shot at him, giving in and whirling around.
"Maybe I want you gone... Maybe I don’t give a damn about you!"

"That’s bull!"

"How can you-"

"I was there, Willow. That kiss out there, the way you reacted when you saw
me... That was you. That was what you feel. This... I don’t know what this
is. But it isn’t you. It isn’t the truth. This is you playing some role,
and I don’t like it."

"Leave, damn you."

"No. Not until you tell me what’s going on."

"You... you can’t be here!" she exclaimed, her voice starting to shake.
"Don’t you see? Don’t you understand?"

"No, Willow, I don’t. Why don’t you explain it to me?"

"I left for a reason," the redhead told him, speaking as forcefully as she
could, emotion weighing heavily in her voice.

"Did you want to leave?"

"What would you say if I told you I did?"

Jeff thought for a moment, then shrugged, looking her directly in the eyes.
"I’d call you a liar. Why did you leave me, Willow? And why don’t you want
me here?"

"Because... I care, Jeff."

"That makes no sense."

"Yes, it does. And if you really knew the details of my world, then you
would understand why it does... But that’s just the point, I guess. I don’t
want you to know my world, Jeff. I don’t want my world to destroy you. I
don’t want to destroy you."

The younger Hardy gazed hard at her, taking in her expression. the stark
emotion on her face. He could tell this was hard for her, this telling him
to turn around and go, and that she was only doing so out of some desperate
sense of duty.

But he wasn’t going to listen. He wasn’t going to let her throw him out
this time, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to be the one to walk away.

He didn’t know why she was so desperate about this, what it was about her
world that made her feel the need to push him out of it... To protect him.
He didn’t know what it was, and the part of him that still freaked out about
what had happened that summer was terrified of finding out, but that part
wasn’t strong enough to make him turn away.

"Isn’t that my choice?" he asked.

"It takes two to make things work, Jeff."

"I can be pretty persistent. I have no problem with difficult odds."

"And if it turns out that these are impossible odds?"

"I’ll just have to find that out for myself."

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Faith and Gunn wandered back into the office, fresh from offing some demon
or another, the Slayer tossing her crossbow on the couch before noticing
that Willow’s door was shut, the blinds pulled.

"Where’s Red?" she asked, and Buffy and Wesley exchanged a glance, playing
one of those ‘you tell her; no you tell her’ games with their eyes before
Wesley sighed, opening his mouth to speak...

Only to be interrupted by the sound of Willow’s door opening.

Gunn looked up as the redhead entered, a frown crossing his face as he saw
she wasn’t alone. "Hey, who’s Rainbow Boy?"

Rainbow Boy?

Faith spun around, her eyes widening as they landed on the unmistakable form
of Jeff Hardy, and then the brunette Slayer did something that was very
un-Faithlike.

She fainted.


Part Five

"What in the hell did you do to her?!?"

"Uh, nothing," Willow shot back at Angel, glaring up at the vampire as he
entered the room. "She just fainted, okay?"

"Why?"

"I’m going with ‘from shock,’" Buffy put in, giving her ex her best ‘I’m
helpful’ look, then sticking out her tongue at Wesley, who was giving her
his best reprimanding glare.

"And who in the hell is this guy?" Angel demanded as he spotted Jeff, who
was standing off towards the side, watching as the others fussed over Faith
and feeling guilty, though he wasn’t entirely sure why he felt that way. It
wasn’t like he’d *meant* for her to pass out...

"He would be the shock," Wesley informed him, and Angel went from hovering
over Faith on the couch to glaring at Jeff.

"And just what did he do? Damn it, if you’re someone from Faith’s past-"

"Shut up, Angel," Willow snapped out, stepping in front of her boss. "We
don’t need you coming in here on your high horse and jumping to
conclusions."

"But-"

"It’s not helping anything. And he is not from Faith’s past, as you put it.
Not in the way you mean. He’s from mine."

"What?" Angel asked, his gaze going from Willow to Jeff, then back again.
"What do you mean?"

"This is Jeff Hardy."

"He’s Jeff Hardy?" the ensouled vampire questioned, his voice a bit
incredulous as he looked the young man up and down. He recognized the name,
sure, but the man before him certainly didn’t seem to be the redhead’s type.

"Yeah, I am."

"Hey, she’s coming around," Gunn interrupted suddenly, and they all turned
to hover over Faith again, waiting as her eyes opened.

"What in the hell happened?" she asked, mentally running through a check of
all her body parts. Yeah, they were all there, and none of them seemed to
be hanging or bleeding, which meant that she hadn’t gotten the crap kicked
out of her by a bad guy...

"You fainted," Wesley told her helpfully, then winced as she reached out and
grabbed him, using the Englishman as leverage to help her sit up.

"I do not faint. I’m the frickin’-"

"Well you did today," Willow told her, cutting her off before she could
finish with the words ‘Vampire Slayer.’ Yeah, she really wanted to spend
the rest of the day explaining that one to Jeff. He probably knew too much
as it was; he didn’t need the whole ‘one girl in all the world’ speech...
And the Watcher’s council really needed to change that spiel not that there
were two Slayers.

Faith caught sight of the look in Willow’s eyes and frowned. "Well you
don’t have to be so- You..." she said suddenly, interrupting herself, her
eyes going wide with shock as she took in the sight of Jeff Hardy standing
over in the corner.

"Oh, dear," Wesley muttered.

"You’re not going to faint again, are you?" Gunn questioned helpfully, only
to receive a slap to the chest. "Hey, that hurts! Remember you’ve got-"

"What are you doing here?" Faith asked, standing up and walking over to
Jeff.

"I came to see Willow," he replied uncertainly forgoing mentioning the fact
that he’d really just been wandering around and had come upon the place, at
least for now.

"Is Christian here?" she demanded.

"Well, not here, per se, but in the city? Well, yeah. The whole WWF is;
we’ve got a show..."

"Does he know you came here?"

"I was going to tell him-"

"No!" Faith burst out, shaking her head a bit frantically, backing away from
him. "No, you can’t... He can’t know... I’ve got to go."

Willow watched as her friend turned and fled, then turned to Jeff. "I’ve
got to go talk to her. I don’t know... Just stay here, okay? We still need
to talk, and..." Sighing the redhead turned to the others, her gaze settling
on Buffy, the only one she really trusted not to try and scare Jeff off.
"Be nice to him, okay?"

Buffy nodded, then watched as her friend took off in pursuit of the other
woman. A year ago, she probably would have been jealous or something of the
friendship her best friend had forged with the other Slayer, but now she was
just worried about the brunette.

Sighing softly, Willow headed toward the park, where she knew Faith would
most likely be. As she wound through the path, she caught sight of a flash
of dark hair, and she came to a stop behind the bench Faith was sitting on,
staring out at the water.

"What was that all about?" Willow asked softly.

"What do you mean?" the brunette asked dully, not taking her eyes off the
water.

"You know exactly what I mean. You see Jeff, you freak out and faint. You
mention Christian, then run off. What gives?"

"Leave it alone, Willow," Faith said, her voice a bit desperate.

"No, I won’t. Faith, what is going on?" the redhead demanded, coming around
to stand in front of her friend, staring down at her, her arms crossed over
her chest.

"I can’t see him."

"I got that much from the whole turning tail and running thing. Damn it,
Faith, you’re the Slayer. You’ve faced down countless demons. Hell, you’ve
faced down death before and won. What in the hell is so scary about a
wrestler?" Willow questioned as she sat down beside the other woman.

"I just... I can’t see Christian. I get all lost when he’s around. It’s
like he knows me, Willow," Faith said her brow furrowing as she tried to
explain. "No one else... When he looked at me, it was like he knew about
me, even without me ever telling him. He knew me, and he didn’t turn away.
He accepted me. I can’t hide from him, Willow."

"And is that so bad? Aren’t you sick of hiding, Faith? Haven’t you told me
that before? And haven’t you said before how well I know you?"

"Yeah, but that’s different."

"How?"

"It’s... I can’t..."

"Explain it to me, Faith. I’m listening."

"You’re not dangerous to me. At least, not any more."

Dangerous... What an odd choice of words. Willow cocked her head as she
looked over at her friend, taking in the lost and somewhat frightened
expression on her face, the emotions swirling in the girl’s eyes, and all of
a sudden realization hit her.

"You’re afraid you’ll fall in love with him. That’s why he’s dangerous.
You’re afraid you’ll lose your heart."

Faith sighed, putting her head in her hands. "I’ve never really thought of
guys as people. It used to be get some, get gone. Angel and Wes and Gunn?
They’re not even guys to me. They’re friends... But Christian isn’t just a
friend. I... I liked him almost immediately. But I... All I ever did was
kiss Christian... Just once. And... I didn’t want to get gone. I can’t
forget about him, Willow."

"Then why won’t you at least see him again?"

"Because I don’t know if I’d have the strength inside to say goodbye again."

Faith wiped at the tears that fell from her eyes, her mind wandering. It
wasn’t the first time she had been afraid of something, not by a long shot.
But it was the first time she had been afraid of something that she couldn’t
fight.

Herself.


Part Six

Jeff could feel Buffy’s eyes on him as they tried to pass the time in
Willow’s office, the blonde setting the coffee to percolating while she
studied him. As soon as she had the coffee going with that irritating
continuous dripping sound, she crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back
against the wall as she looked at the young man.

"So you’re Jeff Hardy," she said, a considering look on her face, and Jeff
met her eyes unflinchingly.

"Geez, you’re a fast one. Most people wouldn’t have been able to guess so
quickly, what with the fact that my name’s only been said half a dozen
times," he replied dryly, and the blonde Slayer’s half-hearted glare faded
away, melting into a grin.

"Well, you’re quite the charmer. Girls must be falling at your feet."

"Only when Lita knocks them down," he said with a smirk, and Buffy’s brows
furrowed in confusion.

"What?"

"It’s nothing," Jeff said, shaking his head, waving off his previous
comment. "Don’t worry about it."

Buffy glanced over to check on the coffee, then looked back to the
rainbow-haired young man seated on the couch. "Normally I wouldn’t worry
about it, but you see, Willow’s my best friend. We’ve been best friends
since we were fifteen."

"So you’re checking me out for her? Making sure I’m not evil or whatever?"
Jeff asked, one eyebrow arched. "You going to base your judgments on my
appearance, ‘cause if you are, I may as well leave right now... But just
because I leave this place, it doesn’t mean I’m going to let anyone shove me
out of Willow’s life."

The blonde Slayer’s gaze narrowed for a moment as she looked Jeff over. She
was normally the kind of girl that went for more of the classically handsome
categories: ‘boy next door’ like Riley, or ‘tall, dark, and handsome’ like
Angel. But even she had to admit that, despite his odd hair color and
penchant for shaving stripes on his face - or maybe partly because of it -
there was something very appealing about the guy. He was, in an
unconventional way, extremely attractive...

"Are you done staring at me yet?" Jeff queried, a look of annoyance
beginning to come to his face.

"I’m not sure... But I will tell you this, Jeff. I learned a long time ago
that appearances can be deceiving. Wills once told one of the guys I dated
that there was usually a liar behind an honest face, and you know what? She
was right, and not just about him... In general, it’s what I’ve found."
Sighing, the Slayer turned to the coffee, which was now done, then pulled
out a couple of mugs before glancing over her shoulder at Jeff. "How do you
take your coffee?"

"Strong and black," he replied as he stood up and went over to her accepting
the mug she offered. He took a sip, judging the taste of it, then nodded.
"She’s a wrestler."

"What?" Buffy asked, confusion coming to her face as she added sugar and a
touch of milk to her own coffee.

"Lita," the younger Hardy brother clarified as he leaned against the table
that held the coffee pot and other various things, calmly drinking his
coffee. "She’s a wrestler... A friend of mine and Matt’s... Matt’s my
brother. She’s pretty kick-ass. It’s fun to watch her toss some of the
other women around during intergender tag matches."

"Thus the women falling on your feet," Buffy said with a nod, understanding
his offhand comment from a few minutes before.

"Yeah, Terri practically ate my boot one time," Jeff replied with a laugh,
then grinned at Buffy’s distasteful look. "It’s funny if you were there...
And if you’ve ever met Terri. She likes to interfere in matches, but sure
as hell isn’t willing to pay for it. Lita’s not that way."

"Sounds lovely."

"And you sound like a snob."

"Excuse me?"

"You’ve got this whole condescending thing going on ever since I started
talking about wrestlers, especially female wrestlers like Lita. We’re not
trailer trash, we’re not stupid, and we don’t necessarily thrive on
violence, despite what you might think."

"Then what do you thrive on?"

"The thrill," Jeff replied. "I explained it to Willow, and she... She may
not have understood, but she accepted it. I love the crowds, love to
perform for them, love that feeling when I take that leap off the top rope.
For just an instant, I can fly, and sometimes, it feels like I ain’t ever
going to land. There’s no rush like that."

Buffy watched him as he spoke, the glint in his eyes as he talked about
doing what he loved, and she suddenly found herself rooting for Jeff. She
knew that Willow would be too self-sacrificing, too damn noble, to do
anything but try to keep Jeff at arms length... Buffy knew that her best
friend would try to keep him safe by pushing him away, but the blonde
suddenly didn’t want her friend to do that. This guy was so unlike Oz had
been that it wasn’t even funny... He actually spoke in something bordering a
short monologue rather than a one word sentence, he wasn’t afraid to show
that he cared about something, he had a sense of humor... In Buffy’s mind,
it was exactly what Willow needed.

But she still wasn’t sure she completely trusted him.

"You love it," she said, her voice quiet, and carrying a degree of respect
this time.

"I live for it. Maybe it isn’t what y’all do, maybe I’m not helping people
out, but the fans... If nothing else, they’re getting entertained for three
hours."

Buffy nodded, then sighed, biting her lip. After a moment, she looked back
up at Jeff. "She’ll push you away, you know."

"What?"

"Willow... I know the whole kidnapping thing that happened back in New York.
I know it was hard for her to leave New York, to leave you, and... She’s
noble. I guess that’s the word for it. She won’t leave Angel
Investigations, not when there is work to be done... And she won’t want you
to be put at risk again because of her. She’s going to try to shove you out
of her life. Not because she doesn’t care, because I can tell you right now
that she does. And that’s why she’ll do it."

"She already told me to leave."

"Oh, really? And what did you say?"

"I said she’d have to do better than that. You see, Buffy, I don’t mind
playing against the odds. Matt and I were always told that we were too
small for wrestling, that we’d never make it to the WWF. But here we are...
We’ve even been tag champs. So it doesn’t really matter if the odds are
stacked against me, ‘cause I really don’t care. I give it everything I’ve
got and them some, and I generally make it out on top."

"Good. Just one more thing then," Buffy said as she went to the window,
looking outside to the street. "Willow once told one of my boyfriends that
if he hurt me, then she’d beat him to death with a shovel."

Jeff smiled a little. "That sounds like her."

"Yeah, well, I’m a little different than she is," Buffy replied, glancing
over her shoulder.

"That so?"

"That’s so. ‘Cause you see, if you hurt Willow, I won’t beat you with a
shovel. I’ll kill you with my bare hands."


Part Seven

Lita frowned as she made her way up the back stairs of the hotel, trying to
keep from stomping her feet as she walked, but having more than a little bit
of difficulty doing so. She hated it when people were late. It was a pet
peeve of hers, really, and most people knew about it. And in this case,
Jeff Hardy was more than just late. He simply hadn’t showed. If she could
round him up and get her hands on him, she may very well strangle him.
Releasing a small sound of exasperation, the redhead opened the door to the
floor she’d been heading towards, stalking down the hall, stopping when she
reached the door she was looking for and pounding her fist against it.

"Do you know where Jeff is?" she asked as soon as the door swung open, an
annoyed look on her face, and the man who had answered the door shrugged.

"Since when am I Jeff’s keeper?" Edge asked, taking in the angry look in
Lita’s eyes and vaguely wondering if maybe he should help the redhead look
for the younger of the two Hardy brothers. It might be fun to watch her
yell at him when she found him.

"You’re not... It’s just..." Lita sighed harshly, her arms crossed over her
chest. Edge stepped to the side as he stared down at her, gesturing for her
to enter with a cock of his head.

"Come on in, Red," he said with a sigh, and she did so, going over to plop
down on one of the two beds in the room, looking up when the bathroom door
opened and Christian stuck his head out.

"Hey, Lita."

"Hey, Christian."

"What’s up?"

"Jeff’s dead meat."

"And why would that be?" Christian asked as he stepped out of the bathroom,
the fact that his hair was damp and he was still buttoning his shirt letting
her know that he had probably just come from the shower.

"He was supposed to meet me to workout a couple of hours ago," the redhead
replied. "I was at the gym, he never showed up. And he isn’t in his room.
I checked."

"Did you ask Matt where he is?"

Lita shrugged. "He doesn’t know, either. He and Jericho headed off to talk
strategy about some upcoming matches, and Jeff’s pretty much nowhere to be
found. I tried calling his cell phone, and low and behold, his bag started
to ring. You know, I adore Jeff, but his lack of punctuality can be really
annoying."

"Plus, you’re starting to worry about him," Christian put in, his voice
matter-of-fact, and the redhead made a face at the blonde man.

"And if I am?"

"Then I get to say, ‘aw, that’s so sweet. Lita’s starting to treat Jeff
like she thinks he’s her little brother.’"

"And after you say that, do I get to put you in a headlock?" the woman
questioned, and Christian scowled while his older brother smirked.

"I’d like to see you try," Christian retorted, and Edge snorted.

"Actually, so would I," he said, and both the redhead and his brother turned
to glare at him.

"Shut up, Edge."

After a moment, Lita turned her gaze back to Christian. "So you two haven’t
seen him or heard from him?"

"Nope, sorry," the shorter of the two blonde men said with a shrug, pushing
his damp hair over his shoulder as he sat down next to the woman. "Haven’t
seen him since we got in last night."

"Well, that sucks," Lita said with a sigh, flopping back on the bed and
staring up at the ceiling. "I know I’m being paranoid or whatever, but I
don’t like not knowing where he is... I don’t like not being able to get in
touch with him..."

"Especially after what happened last summer," Christian finished for her
when the woman trailed off. "That was in New York, you know."

"And those people were going to kill him... and Willow. If Faith hadn’t-"
Lita cut herself off when she saw the curtain fall over Christian’s
features, his expression becoming carefully guarded just at the mention of
the brunette’s name. Seeing this, Lita sighed and sat up, reaching over to
put her hand on top of his. "Christian, I’m sorry. I know you don’t like
to talk about her-"

"They live here, you know. In LA," he said quietly, shrugging off the
redhead’s concern for the most part, though he did turn his hand over so
that he could take hold of hers, letting her know without words that her
apology was accepted.

"You don’t think Jeff would-"

"I don’t know. He might try to go and see her."

"Would he even know where to find her?"

Christian smiled, just a tiny curve of his lips. "Well, he did take that
business card from her purse... He may not know exactly where she lives, but
he can find where she works."

"Do you think he’d go there?" Lita asked, biting her lip. She knew how
messed up Jeff had been over this girl, and part of her wanted to take the
young woman apart for hurting Jeff that way. The rest of her realized that
the young woman was just trying to keep Jeff safe in her own way, and Lita
respected Willow for that. However, knowing the power that this girl had
over Jeff, she didn’t really want him to face her alone.

"He might... You never know what Jeff Hardy is going to do. I learned that
one a long time ago."

The redhead next to him snorted. "So did I. Which I guess means... Where
can I find this place?"

"Excuse me?"

"I figure you should know, too, and I don’t want him over there alone."

Christian sighed and released Lita’s hand, reaching over for the phone book,
flipping through until he found the ads for private investigators, his eyes
instantly falling on the one for Angel Investigations... Where they would
find Willow.

Where he could find Faith.

With another sigh - he seemed to be doing that a lot lately - he tore the
page out, vaguely registering that the address to the place had already been
circled by someone at some other time, then held it out to Lita, who took it
gingerly.

Lita bit her lip as she studied the address, trying to dredge up everything
she knew about the layout of Los Angeles. She’d been there several times,
and knew the city fairly well. "I think I can find that," she said after a
moment, standing up and heading to the door, only to be called back by the
sound of Christian’s voice.

"Wait."

"What is it?" she asked as she stopped, turning to look at him. He was
looking at the floor an, uncertain expression on his face, but after a
moment, he nodded sharply, as if making some sort of decision, and then
looked up at her.

"I’m going with you."