***

Title: Kiss My Soul
Author: Lizzie
E-Mail: [email protected] / [email protected]
Rating: R / NC-17
Content: Violence, death, bad language, m/m sex. Cheery cheery once again. *giggles*
Disclaimer: Don�t own �em, never will, not saying this happened. In fact, thank God it hasn�t.
Distribution: I have a very simple philosophy - want, take, have. Just let me know where it�s going.
Dedication: For Gabi who was MIA for far too long, and the fantastic people who�ve been giving me feedback lately. Love you all!!
Summary: Someone�s murdered and Raven�s somehow involved. Matt and Jeff are having Raven-related problems. Events are conspiring against and closing in on all three of them. And boy do my summaries ever suck. Sorry, Frala, it�s more Matt/Jeff!!
Notes: Started out life as my own little labour of love following a conversation I had with Gabi, turned into an evil response to Liv and Stasia's challenge, which I think I took a little too seriously. I really do think I'm in danger of losing my sanity. Where did this third-person thing come from? Oh the horror. Is there a return policy on muses? And major brownie points to anyone who spots the pointless crossover cameo :)

**Kiss My Soul
by Lizzie**

The cops were stumped. The lead detective on the case scrawled down something practically unintelligible during an interview about wondering if the guy who'd called it in was hiding something, but they were a long way from being able to prove it and he had an airtight alibi anyway. They had to let him go. Honestly, with the complete lack of evidence aside from the body itself and the completely botched job the forensics team had made of the room - officially attributed to over-zealous hotel cleaning staff - they didn't really have a case at all. Things didn't look good for them finding the woman's killer. No one had seen anything. There was absolutely nothing left behind, not even a hair or a fibre of clothing. They had nothing.

And the message left on the wall in the victim's blood had them all completely baffled. There were police psychologists trying to figure out if they really had a serial killer on their hands or if this was just a one-off masquerading as a serial. No one seemed to be able to decide one way or the other, based on so little evidence. All they could say was it must've been premeditated otherwise why would she have been in Scott Levy's room and not her own? The door hadn't been forced. Really that pointed to the killer either having the foresight to steal a key or being a member of the hotel staff. A staff of over two hundred, none of whom seemed to have any kind of motive. Every avenue of investigation that presented itself just led to yet another inevitable dead end.

The time of death established by the coroner confirmed that Scott Levy couldn't have been the murderer. He'd been out at lunch with Tommy Dreamer and Paul Heyman when it happened, all the way across town with at least a dozen witnesses. And when they brought him in for questioning, aside from a nagging and unsubstantiated sense he wasn't telling them absolutely everything, the detectives had to agree that they were pretty damn sure he hadn't done it. There wasn't even anything he could tell them about who might've had a motive for killing her. He wasn't even sure what she'd been doing in his room - they'd been spending a lot of time together but that was because of the angle they'd found themselves written into together and not because they were actually dating or anything, let alone sharing a room. All he could say was that as far as he knew she'd had no reason or means to be in his room and she didn't have any enemies, especially not any that would've wanted her dead.

Everyone working on the case had a sneaking suspicion they weren't going to find anything new and ultimately they weren't going to catch the killer. By the end of the first few days when nothing had turned up they were all already resigned to the fact that this murder would just have to go unsolved. Sometimes there just wasn't enough evidence to point out a suspect, let alone secure a conviction. So they just resigned themselves to a good few weeks or going through the motions hoping something big might turn up before they could label the case 'unsolved' and move on. There was really nothing else they could do. Unless the killer killed again.

Of course, her family and friends and employer kicked up a fuss, demanding justice or whatever. And the cops really did try, just like they always do. But the case would go unsolved and her murderer would go unpunished. So the WWF did the only thing they could do - they put on a show in her honour, played a couple of video montages and actually managed to get a whole arena to observe a full minute's silence. She was dead. Maybe she hadn't exactly been the Federation's brightest star, but no one could believe she was gone. Murdered.

***

There was blood all over the room. It was on the walls, soaked into the carpet, splashed across the nightstand and the lampshade and all over the bed sheets. Everything was red. Or at least if it wasn't read, it was next to something red. Raven had to admit he'd never seen anything like it. Not exactly what he'd been expecting when he got back to his room after lunch with the boys, that was for sure.

He sat down in the only chair that wasn't covered in blood and idly tapped the tip of his forefinger against his bottom lip as he looked around the room. Nothing had been moved or taken, just a lot had been added. The splashes all over the furniture for one. The body lying on the bed would be another. The button in its left hand. The words 'I will kill again' scrawled across the wall in blood. That was a nice touch. He couldn't help chuckling to himself when he wondered if the cops would take it seriously. They probably would.

The blood splashed across the light bulb tinged most of the room with a kind of pinky-red colour. Raven toyed with the end of one of his braids, smiling at the way it looked in the strange light, wondering if he ought to get it dyed slightly more to the plum side of red. Then he stood and crossed the room, wondering why he's even bothered to sit down in the first place. He guessed the smell of blood in the air had made him a little light-headed. It tended to have that effect on him.

He could barely believe the body lying on the bed had once been Terri Runnels. It didn't look like her at all. Her face didn't look like her own anymore. In fact, there wasn't really much of a face left for it to look like her. There were bits of it lying all around her, some set out on the nightstand, some just left on the pillow or the sheets. One of her eyes was missing and Raven found himself wondering absently where it was. Half of her hair had been hacked off and stuffed roughly into the gashes over her chest. She looked kinda like a human scarecrow, her stuffing hanging out.

Literally. Because he guessed those were her intestines he could see poking out through a particularly vicious slash in her belly. The smell was quite odd. He couldn't place exactly what it was but he guessed it came from her body gaping open like that. Not that it was wholly unpleasant or wholly unfamiliar, but it really was quite odd. He guessed the hotel staff was going to have a hell of a time trying to get it out of the room.

He sighed, brushed what was left of her hair back from what was left of her face, plucked the button from her hand and picked up the phone.

***

No one was really sure what they were supposed to say to Raven after that, and most of them kept away from him. After all, what do you say to someone who found a woman gutted, mutilated and left dead on his bed? They couldn't imagine what that must've been like, walking in and finding Terri cut up and dead, lying there, and they didn't want to. They didn't want to be reminded that it had happened, to someone they'd known. So they avoided him. Not that they'd been exactly social with him before - he was really just one of life's loners, at home in his own company, and they respected that. Well, that and he had an uncanny ability to creep out almost anyone without even trying. Except maybe he did try. They didn't really have a way of knowing.

Other than a few choruses of 'whoa, man, I'm sorry', almost no one said anything to him backstage in the week after it happened. He didn't have a problem with that. He couldn't honestly say he wanted to talk about it anyway. He'd already been through it all more times than he could count for the police back in Denver and for some reason repeating it all to everyone backstage just seemed kinda tacky. Except there were a couple of people he actually wanted to speak to. It just seemed they didn't want to talk to him. At least not at first.

"We need to talk", Matt Hardy told him, striding over in the baggiest pair of pants he'd ever seen, probably borrowed from his brother. Matt was the first person who'd talked to him about anything other than matches in a week, and Raven couldn�t help feeling warm inside as he heard his voice. He looked up from here he was sitting on the bench and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess we do", he said. "But now's not the time, Matt. Come by my room around eleven, 'kay?"

"Sure. Seeya then". And he strode away the way he came.

***

"You're late".

"I know, I'm sorry", Matt said, closing the door behind him. "Jeff wanted to talk. I had to blow him off, took more time than I thought".

"You mean that literally?" Raven asked with a smirk. Matt rolled his eyes.

"Jealous?"

"Of you and your brother and your fucked-up relationship? Well, I guess I *would* like to have you all to myself..."

Matt smiled. "I thought so. If it's any consolation, I'd rather be here with you".

"Have a seat". Raven patted the bed beside him and watched closely as Matt strode over to him and sat down. The bed dipped and brought their shoulders together. Neither man even attempted to move apart. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Matt's arms wound tightly around Raven's waist, leaning his head against Raven's shoulder. "You know already".

"I know, but I want to hear you say it", Raven told him, smoothing strands of long black hair back from Matt's face. "Just once, that's all".

"I killed Terri".

"You're right - I knew you were going to say that". Raven smiled and kissed Matt's forehead quickly. "Let's go to bed".

***

"I just don't see what you see in him".

Matt sighed and lay back on the bed, one arm over his eyes. "I know you don't. I'd be worried if you did".

"Can't you at least try to explain it?"

"You're just jealous, Jeff. Don't make me tell you about him".

"I know I'm jealous, that's why I want you to tell me. Are you not listening to me? I want to understand what it is about him that makes you want to be with him and not me. Except you kinda are with me and I want to know what it is about him that makes you want to be with me, too. Or is it me? C'mon, Matty, just tell me. Make me understand".

Matt sighed again, dropping his arm onto the bed next to him, staring up at the ceiling.

"I don't think I can", he said.

"Maybe you just don't want to. Maybe you can't rationalise it. I know what he does to you, Matty. I know you don't like it. Why do you let him do it? He's changing you. You're just fine the way you are - I love you the way you are. You don't have to change, you know. You shouldn't have to change. If he loved you then I think he'd accept you the way you are, don't you?"

"He loves me".

"Then why can't you make me believe it?"

"Because... because I'm not sure how I'm supposed to explain what he does to me to someone who doesn't know him like I do. And you don't, Jeff, you don't. I know you think you do, but you don't. And unless you feel the same way I do about him then you couldn't understand. And that's good enough for me. Why can't it be good enough for you? I love him and he loves me and I let him do whatever he wants to me because I know he loves me. Okay? Can't you just accept that?"

"Don't you care that he's hurting you?"

"Not really, no".

"And you don't care what people think?"

"Jeff, I don't need anyone to tell me it's okay to be with him. You all tell me it's wrong like I don't already know. What you don't get is I know it's wrong and I've always known, okay? I don't care if it's wrong and I don't care if I'm gonna go to hell and I don't care what people think of me. All that matters is that he loves me".

"That's really all that matters to you? Nothing else?"

"No, no Jeff, I'm not saying you're not important. I don't care what *most* people think of me. I care what you think. And being with him isn't all that matters. You matter. You're my brother, you'll always matter. I'll always love you".

"But you can't be with me, right. You have to be with him".

"Yeah, that's about it".

"So make me understand. Make me understand and I'll let you go".

Matt swallowed, hard. He didn't like the tone of Jeff's voice - he'd heard it before, so many times. It was the way he got before he... before he went out and did something stupid. Matt didn't want that. So maybe he had to make him understand after all.

"You were with me the night I met him, right?" Jeff nodded. "Yeah, we were always together then. You remember that night? We were sitting backstage and I was feeding you carrot sticks and telling you your hair would look good purple when he walked in and we both just froze. He was fucking magnetic. I know you felt it too - I mean, I saw the look on your face and even if I hadn't I would've known you felt it 'cause your hand tightened on my wrist. But I didn't notice 'til you were gripping hard enough to bruise. And I did have a bruise, shaped like your fingers. You were kissing it better for a week. I used to love how guilty you'd feel when you hurt me 'cause I knew no one else would even bat an eyelid.

"Anyway, he walked in. He was wearing ripped jeans and the same faded Pearl Jam shirt as you, and I honestly didn't know what I was feeling. I was just frozen. You practically had to slap me to get me to talk to you. I snapped out of it, but later on I did some fishing and found out who he was. Two days later I talked to him for the first time and I knew I had to be with him. I know you don't believe in love at first sight but I do. 'Cause I do love him, Jeff. I loved him then and I still do. Maybe he didn't fall for me then but he loves me now. And he loved me when he started to hurt me. He loves me no matter what he's doing to me, you see? And I can't leave him".

"But you can leave me".

"I'm not leaving you, Jeff".

"So what do you call this? You're gonna room with him. I'm never gonna see you anymore. If that's not leaving me then what the fuck is it, huh? I fucking love you, Matt. And you're leaving me. I thought you loved me too. I guess that must've been a lie".

He didn't even give Matt a chance to respond, he just walked straight out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

***

Matt opened the door and as soon as he walked inside he wished to God he hadn't. After everything he'd just said to Jeff, too. It made his stomach lurch and he thought he was going to be sick. Because right there in front of him, in the bed they were supposed to be sharing, was Raven with Rob Van Dam.

Rob was tied to the bed by his ankles and his wrists, in what looked like Matt's restraints. Raven had bought them for him. He'd thought it was an odd present at the time and they'd never been used, but seeing Rob lying there, squirming under the man he loved wearing his restraints... it was almost too much.

He coughed loudly and Raven looked up.

"Oh, Matt", he said, turning back to Rob, unbuckling the restraints one by one. "Rob, you better get going. I'll see you around, okay?"

Rob just nodded, pulled on his jeans and scurried past Matt out of the room. Matt had to bite back the urge to trip him or hit him or fling him back at the bed and beat him senseless.

"How could you?" he hissed instead as the door closed.

Raven shrugged. "You won't let me use them on you. I had to find someone to use them on", he said, like maybe that made it okay for him to have been in bed with someone else.

"You... I can't believe... you were fucking Rob Van Dam you fucking bastard and you think that's okay?"

"Yeah, I guess I do, Matt. So if you've got such a big problem with it then why don't you just walk out, huh?"

He was almost goading him, and Matt knew it, daring him to leave. And Matt wished he could do it, he really did. Except he couldn't. He couldn't move an inch toward the door. And he knew then that he never could.

"Raven?" he said, his voice small as he stared at the floor.

"Yes, Matt?"

"Use them on me", he said.

***

Something smelled funny. Not just funny - something smelled downright awful. Like the kind of smell you might catch a whiff of driving slow with the top down on a hot summer day and you pass a dead cat in the road. It was that kinda of smell. Strong enough to make him gag and almost throw up his dinner all over his bedroom floor. Because that's where he was, where it smelled the worst. The bedroom.

They were in his hometown, and he'd just driven back from a show to his house. He hadn't been home in months and he'd been looking forward to spending the night in his own bed, with his own lover and not some casual acquaintance he'd seduced and tied up in a hotel. Okay so RVD was damn flexible, but he just wasn't Matt Hardy. And Matt hadn't seen his place yet. He was thinking of asking him to move in and his first impression was going to be of something rotten in the bedroom. It was almost ironic.

He crossed the room, his hand clamped down over his mouth as if that would have any effect on the smell. It was thick and filled the air, he was breathing it in with every single breath, taking it into him, making him feel sick. He could almost feel it in his lungs, thick and sticky and vile, tasting of decomposition. He hated that smell.

He knelt gingerly by the side of the bed and screwed his eyes shut for a second. He reached out and pulled up the edge of the bedspread, ducked his head and almost threw up all over the floor when he saw what was under the bed.

A dead rat.

"What is it?" Matt called from downstairs. Raven swallowed and took a few shaky steps back to the doorway, frowning.

"You should go stay with your brother tonight", he called. "I'll take care of this. I'll see you tomorrow".

"But..."

"No buts Matt. You don't want to know".

So Matt left. He heard the door slamming shut as he left the house, the screech of the tyres on the rental car as he pulled away from the kerb. Raven bit down on his lip and started to clean up.

***

"You know you shouldn't be leading him on like that".

Jeff shrugged. "Why not? Not like I've got anyone now, is it. Might as well have a little fun".

Matt sighed and went back to unlacing his boots. "But Jericho?"

"What's the matter, Matty? Jealous?" Matt just about managed to roll his eyes. "Yeah, I know, I know, you're not. Not exactly my type, is he. Prefer me to be flirting with Stevie? Or Raven, maybe?"

Jeff smirked and stood, pulling on his sneakers and striding across the room as Raven walked in and towards Matt. He ran one fingertip down Raven's bare chest with that same little smirk on his face, stopping him in is tracks, then sauntered over to the bench lining the other side of the room with a seductive swing to his hips. And as he sat down between Hunter and Kurt and started twisting strands of Hunter's hair around his fingers, Matt just stared. Raven almost had to yell at him to get his attention.

"I think there's something going on between him and Hunter".

"Hunter's with Kurt", Raven pointed out, leaning back against the wall, pulling one knee up to his chest, leaning his elbow on it as he looked sideways at Matt.

"I know, but I still think it. Do you think I'm just paranoid or is there something going on?"

"I think Jeff would have to be nuts to get between those two".

Matt had to choke a burst of inappropriate giggles. Raven raised his eyebrows.

"And I think Hunter would have to be nuts to leave Kurt for Jeff".

"You're not wrong there", Matt murmured.

"So, you're coming back to my place, right?" Raven asked, rubbing unconsciously at the spot on his chest where Jeff had touched him.

Matt nodded, still not meeting Raven's gaze. Not that Raven was looking at him - they were both staring across the room where Jeff was practically sitting in Hunter's lap, Kurt looking rather pouty beside them. It didn't, however, look like Hunter was complaining.

"Yeah, let's make a move".

They stood and they left, grabbing their bags and walking out to Raven's car. He drove, Matt sitting silently in the passenger side just staring at him as he drove. It was dark outside and dark inside, so really he couldn't see much, but every now and again they'd pass a streetlight and Raven's face would be lit up in profile, giving Matt a quick glimpse. He looked tired. In fact, he looked exhausted. Like he hadn't slept. Matt guessed maybe he hadn't, with that smell in his house... and wondered if it was gone because he didn't think he'd be able to stomach it.

They left the car in the driveway, grabbed their stuff and made their way to the door. Raven froze and Matt stepped straight into his back, cursing, before he looked over Raven's shoulder and immediately understood.

There was a bird nailed to the front door. A raven.

***

Matt didn't mind clearing the bird away. Raven really should've known, knowing what Matt was capable of. He knew exactly what he was capable of. He'd spent enough time watching him before they'd got together to know.

He pried out the nails, put the bird in a bag and threw it in the trash, scrubbed the door clean, all without so much as a word of complaint. Then they went inside and Matt ordered a pizza while Raven sat at the kitchen table and rested his head in his hands. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to be angry or upset or scared, or all of the above. He knew who was doing it, who'd left the rat under his bed and who'd nailed the bird to his door. He thought Matt did, too, judging from his silence.

"I want you to do something for me".

Matt froze at the table, pizza raised before his mouth. He didn't take a bite, but after a couple of seconds he put it back down in the box.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Leave him".

"I already left him".

"I mean *leave* him, Matt. Leave him. Never see him again. I don't care if it's hard and I don't care if you don't want to or if he doesn't want you to, I don't want you to have anything to do with him ever again. Are you listening to me?"

Matt nodded. "Yes, I'm listening".

"Then you'll do it?"

"Yes, you know I will".

"Then phone him and tell him".

"What, now?"

"Now, Matt. What, you want to wait 'til the morning when he's expecting you to turn up at the hotel and drive to the airport? Yes, Matt, now. Phone him now. Here, use my cell phone. You don't even have to leave the table. And don't tell me you don't know his number because I know you do".

Matt nodded slowly and took the phone, flipped it open and dialled Jeff's number. There was a huge lump in his throat and he didn't think he'd be able to speak. But he had to. Raven had asked him to and he knew he had to because he'd do anything for him. Absolutely anything.

"Hello?"

"Jeff? Jeff, it's Matt". He had to choke out the words as he heard his brother's voice. It felt terrible, like someone had reached into his chest and was squeezing on his heart. All he knew was he had to do it. He had to.

"Hey Matty. Where are you? I thought we were going out tonight".

"Look, Jeff, I won't be there tonight. I won't... I won't be there ever again, okay? I can't see you again. You know it's just impossible. And Vince is splitting us up anyway. I..."

"Matty, what are you saying?"

"I can't see you again. Ever".

"Raven put you up to this".

"Of course he did".

"And you couldn't say no?"

"No, Jeff, I couldn't".

"You'd really rather be with someone who doesn't want you to see your own brother than with me, huh?"

'Yes, I would. I love him, Jeff. This is hard for me, but I love him. I wish you could understand that".

"Fuck you, Matt, I don't need to understand. Just... just fuck you. I hope you're happy together. I know you won't be".

Jeff hung up. Matt stared at the phone for a second feeling like someone had just torn out his whole heart and held it in front of his face. Then he looked at Raven. He was smiling.

"I love you, you know", Raven said.

Matt nodded. "I know", he said.

***

"I just don't understand what he sees in him", Jeff said, throwing himself down on the bed. "He's arrogant and self-centred and he makes him do things he doesn't want to do. He's not even that good looking! He wears a kilt in the ring for crying out loud! I can't believe Matt's still with him. I can't believe he's agreed to this ridiculous thing where he's not allowed to see me. I'm his brother. I need him! What am I supposed to do now?"

Strong hands lifted his shoulders, eased him into strong arms and back against a broad chest. Jeff's head lolled back on his shoulder, rolled to one side to nuzzle the warm skin of his lover's neck. He turned and lay his head on his chest, letting fingers run through his hair, an arm go about his waist.

"I mean, I wouldn't mind so much but I really do need him. And I've done everything to deserve him. What's Raven ever done? He makes him miserable. He says he makes him happy but... you've seen them together, you know. I think he's depressed. He just keeps asking him to do all these things and he wants to do them because they make Raven happy, but they don't come naturally to him. He shouldn't ask. He's trying to change him. I've tried to tell him that he doesn't need to change, 'cause he's perfect the way he is, but he doesn't listen. Don't you think that if Raven loved him he'd love him the way he is? But Matt doesn't see that. He wants to be with Raven so he's letting him change him. I just don't get it!"

His arms tightened around his lover's waist, a tear escaping the corner of his eye. The soft pad of one thumb slipped over his skin, brushing it away.

"Like today. Matt didn't want to call me. Raven made him do it, I know he did. He didn't want to agree to that but Raven made him feel like he had to. He's jealous of us, you see, of what we've got. 'Cause we're so close. He can't stand it and he's trying to tear us apart. And Matt's letting him. He thinks he loves him. I don't think he does - he can't 'cause Raven's not even a good person. He's never done anything to deserve him. Never. And I need him. He takes care of me. I don't think I can do this on my own, I really don't. What am I supposed to do? He's left me. I don't think I can get away with it much longer. Like tonight. I didn't know what to do. I'm so scared. I think maybe I'm going to have to stop and I don't think I can".

"Shhh baby, it's okay", Hunter whispered as Jeff cried softly in his arms. "You've got me now".

Jeff looked up at him through tear-filled eyes and smiled.

***

Kurt was crying in the locker room when Matt walked in. He was just sitting there on the bench in all his gear, head in his hands, sobbing, shoulders shaking. Edge was trying to comfort him but he just kept shrugging off his hand, ignoring him as he tried to talk. That was when Matt knew that Hunter had left Kurt. For Jeff. He had absolutely no doubt in his mind that Hunter had left Kurt for Jeff.

He knew his brother was manipulative, but he hadn't dreamed he'd be able to get between Hunter and Kurt - the two had been together for months, maybe a year or more, and it had always seemed there was nothing in the world that could part them. What they'd had was so strong and so passionate; he hadn't exactly talked to them about it but really all he'd had to do was look at them and he'd known what it was like for them. They were in love. Completely. Heart and mind, body and soul, they belonged to each other. At least they had until Jeff had decided he wanted Hunter.

And the worst thing was that Jeff probably only wanted him to make Matt jealous. He couldn't possibly feel anything real for him - Hunter just wasn't his type. Unless of course he didn't know his brother as well as he'd thought. But then again, maybe, just maybe, Jeff wanted Hunter because he was with Kurt. He'd always loved a challenge, even if evidently Hunter hadn't proved to be much of one. And he was good looking, he was strong, he had money... maybe he was Jeff's type after all. Or maybe there was a side to Hunter that Matt had never seen.

Or maybe Jeff had taken Hunter as a substitute for his brother. Maybe he'd replaced him.

The thought made him shudder, sitting there watching Kurt cry.

"Where the hell is Jericho?" Vince McMahon burst into the locker room with a scowl on his face. Matt looked up for a second and felt instantly sorry for Chris Jericho - that was definitely angry-Vince face, all red and twisted and distinctly unhappy. "Tell him to get his sorry ass to my office the second he gets here or he'll find his sorry ass out of a job".

"Wonder where he is", Christian said to no one in particular across the room, sitting next to Edge who was still trying unsuccessfully to comfort Kurt. "It's not like him to be late..."

"No, it's not", Jeff said, wandering across the room, and Matt's stomach turned. Suddenly he felt even worse for Chris Jericho.

But then Raven's hand was on his thigh and all of a sudden that simple touch was his whole world.

***

"You know what I heard today?" Raven asked, lounging on their hotel room bed, head resting on his hands as he looked over at Matt. He shrugged, staring out of the window. "Hunter and Kurt were both cheating on each other. I know you know Hunter's with Jeff, that's obvious. But Kurt... he'd been messing around too. With Jericho".

"Jericho? How do you know?"

"Oh, I don't know, one of the guys mentioned something. Tommy or Lance or someone. Why does it matter? Kurt was cheating on Hunter. I don't know why he's so surprised they split up".

"Seen Rob lately?"

"Grow up, Matt".

Matt bit his lip and closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. He was getting cold but he didn't want to move from the window. He wasn't sure why he was standing there, what he was waiting for, but he couldn't turn his back and walk over to Raven, undress and get into bed. He wanted to. But he couldn't.

He sighed and rested his head forward against the glass as Raven rolled over and picked up a magazine, something he'd probably 'borrowed' from one of the guys. And as he stared out into the night, Matt realised what he was looking for.

A car pulled up at the kerb, a taxi, and out stepped Hunter Hearst Helmsley with his Matt's own little brother. They were all over each other, hanging off each other, hands everywhere as they walked into the hotel below him. Now Matt felt even colder. He turned away from the window and walked toward the bed, pulling off his shirt, wriggling out of his jeans and crawling into bed, into Raven's waiting arms.

"Glad you decided to join me", he said with a smile and a quick kiss. Matt smiled and curled up next to him. But somehow he wasn't sure he was going to be able to get warm.

***

"I just can't believe it", Rob Van Dam was saying, sitting in the catering area with Edge and Christian. "You mean they just found him like that, in his room? No one heard anything?"

"Yup, sounds like it", Edge told him. "Apparently he'd been there for a couple of days. He was starting to smell and everything. And no one heard a thing".

Rob frowned, setting down his soda on the table and rubbing his temple. "I just can't believe someone could get in there and screw him to the headboard with an electric drill without anyone hearing a thing".

Edge shrugged. Christian crossed his legs and leant forward.

"He had a blindfold on, too. Except they think it was put on afterwards".

"How the hell do you guys know all this? A guy could get paranoid hanging around you two".

"Friends in high places", Christian said with a small grin and a shrug.

It was about then that Rob turned and noticed Raven standing in the doorway. He grinned and waved him over - Raven strode across the room and took a sip from Rob's soda can, looking down at Edge and Christian.

"Hey, Rob. Who are you talking about?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" Edge asked incredulously. "Wow, I thought everyone'd heard. Jericho. The maid walked into his room this morning and found him dead on his bed. From what I've heard he was cut up pretty bad. Kinda like..." Christian elbowed him in the ribs. "Hey, ow! What the hell did you do that... oh. Sorry, Raven... Wasn't thinking". Raven frowned. "Y'know, Terri and all..."

"Oh, yeah. It's okay. Look, I've gotta get going. I'll, I'll see you around".

He turned on his heel and stalked out of the room, leaving the blondes staring awkwardly after him.

***

Matt didn't like what he was hearing one bit. Not only that, but sitting there listening to it was making him more uncomfortable than he thought he could sensibly cope with. But he couldn't think of a way out. He was stuck there feeling bad and nonsensically guilty until either it was over or he just bolted. Right then bolting was looking like the preferable option.

Kurt had trapped him in the locker room about ten minutes before, and before he could find an excuse not to be there, he'd started talking. Okay, more like ranting. And it didn't seem that the end was in sight. What exactly he thought Matt had to do with it was completely beyond him. Actually, that was the problem. Matt had nothing to do with it and yet there Kurt was ranting on, spilling out all the details of his failed relationship with Hunter and how devastated he was now because not only had he lost him but he'd just found out that Jericho was dead and Hunter wouldn't even talk to him and he wasn't sure how he was going to get through it. He looked like he was ready to burst into tears any second and although Matt couldn't really say he'd blame him, he wasn't sure what Kurt was expecting him to do about it.

"It's just that I love Hunter and I didn't mean for all this to happen with Chris... I want him back but he won't return my calls and he's spending all his time with Jeff... I just want to talk to him! If I could just talk to him I could make him see that he's got to come back to me because I don't think I can get through this without him. So do you think you might be able to talk to Jeff? I just want to talk to Hunter for ten minutes. That's all I need. Maybe you could make Jeff see that Hunter really should be with me... I don't know, but you could talk to him, couldn't you? Please? Matt?"

Matt sighed. So that was what Kurt wanted.

"Y'know, Kurt, I don't really talk to Jeff anymore".

"But he's your brother! Surely you could just..."

"Kurt, I don't talk to him anymore. We've got nothing to do with each other. I wish I could help you, really I do, but there's nothing I can do. I'm sorry, Kurt. I can't help".

And then Kurt cried. He didn't sob and he didn't wail, but tears slid silently down his face and Matt wasn't sure what he could do. He didn't know Kurt. But all he could think was what he must be going through, to have someone he obviously loved leave him, then find out his lover was dead...

His lover was dead. Dead. Chris Jericho had been murdered.

It was terrible. He felt so awkward with Kurt standing there grieving over this loss when he knew... when he could have... when he was partly... no, he couldn't start that.

He couldn't help thinking maybe Kurt should've stayed home, not come in to work with all that emotional baggage. As if seeing Hunter with Jeff wasn't enough, everywhere he looked he'd be reminded of Chris. God, that had to be hell.

Matt stood. When Raven walked into the room, he had Kurt wrapped sobbing in his arms, crying on his shoulder.

***

The scene of the murder was perhaps the ugliest the local police department had ever seen, all soaked in blood and reeking of rotting flesh, even after the body had been taken away. It had still been there when the lead detective arrived - the body of the man they'd identified somehow as WWF wrestler Chris Jericho had been lying on the bed, blonde hair hacked off roughly and strewn blood-soaked to the floor, chest ripped open and oozing, blindfold tied around the bruised, bloody, slightly swollen face. His arms were stretched out above him, stretched out, screwed to the headboard of the bed through the wrists. The report said he'd been alive then, felt the steel being drilled through his flesh and bone and into the wood. It wasn't a pretty sight.

And neither was the scene itself. It seemed almost every surface had been painted with blood, now dull red-brown and almost the consistency of dust. And then there was the note. On the wall, above the bed. 'Other friends have flown before'. No one was entirely sure what to make of it, but everyone on scene agreed it seemed to mean this wasn't an isolated incident. Then someone remembered something about another murder, out in Denver. Terri Runnels' murder.

There were striking similarities when the cases were compared. Suddenly all the theories about Terri Runnels' murder being the work of a serial killer looked to be correct.

When a little checking was done, a sickening fact was found; these were not the only reported murders with matching characteristics. There were others dotted about the country, from New York to Seattle to LA to Miami, all with distressingly similar scenes. The new head of the case, FBI Agent Cooper, could hardly believe no one had noticed these cases before. It was a shocking oversight. One he intended to correct. He boarded the first plane from Washington, heading out to Texas. His first port of call would be with the World Wrestling Federation.

***

Matt winced as he cleaned the blood from his face. Raven hadn't been happy to find him hugging Kurt, and he hadn't wanted to head excuses, he just got Matt home and beat the hell out of him. Matt guessed he deserved it in a way, but there seemed to be something else on Raven's mind and he was taking it out on him on some level. Not that he minded all that much - it didn't seem to make sense, but Raven beating him meant Raven was with him, and for some reason that did make sense. Jeff didn't get it. All he wanted was to be with him, whatever it took.

But he had limits. He didn't mind being beaten, he didn't mind being hurt, he didn't mind buying him things or making him dinner or going out to the store or any of that stuff. Telling Jeff he couldn't see him anymore, though - that had been hard. Harder than when Raven had asked him to get into the ring and make his opponent bleed. He'd done it, made him bleed, phoned Jeff and told him Raven didn't want him to see him ever again. It hurt like hell but he could do it. Sometimes he wondered why, when Raven treated him the way he did, acted like it was okay for him to walk in and find him fucking Rob Van Dam in their bed.

And there were some things he just couldn't do. Some things he had to think about, sit down and ask himself if he could really go through with it, wonder if it was really worth the risk or whatever just because Raven wanted him to do it. Sometimes there were things like that. Things like Terri.

He couldn't believe it the night Raven asked him to kill her. He'd stared at him, asked him what the hell he was talking about, laughed nervously when he thought he was joking then paled when he realised he was serious. Raven had told him that he had to do it. Because Matt had been jealous of all the time he'd had to spend with her, and Raven said the only way it would stop was if she were dead. Matt had to kill her. To prove his love. He'd given him two weeks, told him he'd leave after that if she was still alive, because he'd know then that Matt didn't love him like he said.

Matt had left the room and gone back to the room he was sharing with Jeff, lain down in bed with his brother and held him close, wondering if he could really go through with it just because Raven asked him to. He didn't want to lose him. But what would killing Terri mean? He'd be taking a life, and surely that was wrong. He'd always know it was wrong, since it started. And he didn't want to do it. He didn't want to kill her. She'd done nothing wrong, she didn't deserve to die. It was just unquestionably wrong to kill her. But he couldn't lose Raven, so what choice did he have?

A little over a week later, Terri was dead. Raven didn't leave him. Uneasy as it made him to know that Raven was happy, he was glad. Because he knew he couldn't lose him. He was just sorry that Terri had got in the way.

And now Jericho was dead too. He couldn't think of any reason why he'd had to die, either, but that didn't change the fact that he was dead. It made him sad to think about it, sad like he wanted him alive, sad like maybe he should go check if Jeff was okay. Because he missed his brother and needed to know that he was coping without him. It didn't seem right for them to be apart, even if he knew they had to be. Raven wanted it that way.

He cleaned the blood from his face and walked back into the bedroom where Raven was waiting for him. He smiled and Raven smiled back, patted the bed beside him. He knew it was worth it then. All the guilt and the helplessness, the separation. Because they were together. As Raven kissed him, made love to him he knew it. For a moment it all almost made sense.

***

"I love you".

"I know". Jeff brushed back the hair from Hunter's face, smiling softly as he pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"I really love you".

"I know".

"But you love him".

"Yeah, I do. He completes me".

"And you don't love me?"

"No, Hunter, I don't".

"Do you think you might?"

"No, Hunter, I don't".

"I love you".

"I know".

"Will you let me prove it?"

"You don't need to; I know".

"But I want to".

Jeff sighed, settling into Hunter's arms. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Let me kill him for you".

"No".

"Why not? It's not like you've never..."

"Just because. C'mon, go to sleep. You can fuck me in the morning and show me that way, okay?"

"Mmhmm".

Hunter pulled him in closer, so tight Jeff almost couldn't breathe, and closed his eyes.

"Jeff?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you".

"I know".

***

"This is Special Agent Dale Cooper - he's with the FBI. I want you all to give him your full cooperation". Vince paused and turned to Agent Cooper. "We'll do everything we can to help with the investigation. All you have to do is ask. No one will be happier than us when you find Chris and Terri's killer".

Cooper nodded and turned to the wrestlers assembled there in the locker room, casting his eyes quickly over each of them. "I'd like you to think carefully about the last month or so", he said. "Anything out of the ordinary - no matter how small or insignificant it may seem - may be the key to this case. I'll be interviewing you all, and any information will be handled in the strictest confidence. Thank you".

Raven took a sideways glance at Matt as Cooper left the room with Vince. Matt wasn't looking so good. He was pale and drawn and Raven knew he hadn't got much sleep or eaten that morning. He wasn't sure what was getting to him - maybe he was scared of letting something incriminating slip. But he knew he wouldn't. He couldn't. He'd had years of practice and he still got nervous. Raven almost couldn't understand that. Almost. Really that just meant that even after years and years of this stuff, Matt still wasn't the person he wanted him to be.

The younger Hardy was sitting almost directly opposite them, resting his head on Hunter's shoulder, looking almost serene. Raven's eyes locked on him and a minute later he was still staring. Jeff looked up and gave him a small smile and a lick of his lips that made Raven's whole body tingle in a really odd way. Jeff's smiles always did that to him. He wasn't sure what it was about them, but he'd never not felt that way. He tried to smile back and failed miserably, bit his lip hard and turned back to Matt.

"Make him bleed in your match tonight", he whispered, his mouth right beside his ear.

Matt closed his eyes for a second then nodded slowly. His match was with Jeff.

***

Murders. Corpses. Blood. Blindfolds, missing eyes, messages on walls. They had a serial killer. One who'd probably been killing for a long, long time, according to the FBI psychologists. Messages that made no sense. A signature that had seemingly no significance. Virtually unconnected victims. And the only lead they had was that two of them had worked for the World Wrestling Federation.

Cooper interviewed each and every one of the WWF employees over the following three days, from the technicians to the production assistants to the wrestlers themselves. Nothing at all came to light apart from a couple of the women had been acting fairly strangely (understandable since one of their own had been murdered), that Kurt Angle had been having an affair with Chris Jericho, and that maybe Edge and Christian knew a little too much about Jericho�s death than they technically should have. He got the reason for that out of them soon enough, though - apparently Christian had talked to a couple of girls who worked for the hotel and they�d talked to the girl who�d found Jericho, and the whole story got passed on that way. The girls at the hotel confirmed it. It seemed Edge and Christian had nothing more to connect them to the deaths than everyone else in the Federation.

Except for Kurt Angle, Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Raven. Kurt because of the affair, Hunter because of his lover�s involvement in an affair and Raven simply because it was his room in which Terri had been found. They were fairly tenuous links - Raven, it had already been established, couldn�t have killed Terri. Kurt seemed genuinely devastated about Jericho�s death and hadn�t had anything whatsoever to do with Terri. Hunter seemed oddly nonplussed but didn�t exactly seem the murderous type. And with the disturbing lack of evidence, it didn�t seem like they were getting anywhere fast. They weren�t.

But Cooper had his suspicions.

***

�I think you might need stitches�, Hunter said, hovering at Jeff�s shoulder as he leant over the sink, pressing a washcloth to his forehead with a frustrated expression on his face. �It�s pretty deep. I could take you to the hospital if you�d like. The doctor really should�ve given you stitches�.

�I�ll be fine, it�s just a scratch�, Jeff told him, looking up at him in the mirror. �I�ve had worse�.

�I know, but it�s pretty bad. I can�t believe he did that to you. He didn�t have to. It wasn�t scripted�.

Jeff sighed and dropped the bloody cloth into the basin. �I know�. He turned and took a step closer to Hunter, resting his head on his chest, slipping his arms around his waist. �I wish he hadn�t. He�ll be beating himself up over that for weeks. He hates hurting me�.

�You think Raven made him do it?�

Jeff nodded against Hunter�s chest. �Yeah, I think he did�, he said sadly. Hunter held him tighter. �I can�t stand it when he�s like this. Matt shouldn�t be doing these things. It�s not like him. It�s more like� it�s more like me. He�s trying to change him and make him like me, I know it. Because I said no to him. And Matt can�t see that. It�s just not fair. He�s taking him away from me because he couldn�t have me�.

�Baby, you shouldn�t let it get to you. That�s just what he wants�.

�I know, but it�s so hard. He�s taken Matt away from me and he�s making him different. And now I�m on my own and I don�t have Matt to look after me anymore. I know you�ll try to help me, but Matt�s different �cause he knows me. He�s always been there for me before. I don�t know what I�m going to do without him. And now there�s this FBI guy. He�s going to want to know what happened. Maybe he�ll find out. I don�t want him to find out, Hunter. He can�t. I don�t want to go to jail. I don�t want to die. Matt always knew what to do to make it better. I wish he was here. He�d make it go away�.

Hunter just brushed the tears from his lover�s face and held him tighter.

***

Matt was crying. The same way he�d seen Kurt cry, that stunned kind of crying without any real sounds or movements other than tears rolling down his cheeks. Because he was stunned. Absolutely. He couldn�t believe what he�d just heard.

�For fuck�s sake, Matt, say something�.

But he couldn�t. He wasn�t sure what he�d say if he could. What could he possibly say? Raven had just come into the room and told him he couldn�t be with him anymore. He�d told him he was leaving. Now he understood how Kurt must have felt. Absolutely devastated.

�You can�t tell me you weren�t expecting this�, Raven said, pacing back and forth across the room as Matt sat there on the bed. �After you walked in on me with Rob. No, I�m not leaving you for Rob. But you�ve got to see that this isn�t working out. You do see that, right?�

�But I�ve done everything you�ve asked me to do!�

�That�s not exactly true, now is it�, Raven said, stopping and facing him, his hands on his hips. �But that�s beside the point. It�s not working out, Matt. I was stupid to think it could. I�m sorry, but I can�t see you anymore�.

�I can�t believe you�re leaving me. After everything I�ve done� I�ve done so much for you. Everything you asked. I�ve hurt people. I�ve hurt myself. I�ve even stopped seeing my brother for you, just because you asked me to. I did everything you wanted! And now you�re telling me it�s not working out? How isn�t it? I�ve done everything you�ve ever asked me to do. What more could I have done?�

Raven smiled sadly. �You see, that�s the problem�, he said. �I had to tell you. I�ve been kidding myself. I�ve been trying to change you. Because I don�t want you the way you are, Matt. I wanted to change you, make you into someone else. But I realise now that I can�t. I can�t be with you. I hope you can understand�.

�But I did everything��

�No, Matt, you didn�t�.

�But I��

�Next time you have Jeff kill someone, tell him to make sure he doesn�t leave a button behind in the dead woman�s hand�.

All Matt could do was stare as Raven walked past him and out of the room.

***

�That was incredible. I�ve never seen anything like that�.

Jeff shrugged. �It wasn�t anything special. It should�ve been better. Next time it will be. It has to be. It has to be perfect. You�re going to have to help me with this. I can�t carry it by myself�.

�Sure. I�ll take his feet�.

***

The homeless guy was found about six am by fishermen. When the body had been fished out of the river, the police department immediately got on the phone to the FBI and half an hour later Agent Cooper was on the scene. It was the same killer, he was sure. Maybe the body hadn�t been found in a room, almost disembowelled and with a message on the wall, but this was the same killer. Beneath the blindfold one eye was missing, and there was a message carved into the torso.

�On the morrow he will leave me�. Cooper read the words from the man�s body, obviously carved into it whilst he was still alive. Was that a threat? Someone else was going to die? He wasn�t sure. The psychologists were convinced that was what it meant. The killer would kill again.

As Cooper went over the evidence again and again, one thing bothered him. The message from the scene of Terri Runnels� murder. It didn�t seem to fit. The rest were� more poetic somehow. Poetic. Like they were from a poem. �Other friends have flown before�. �On the morrow he will leave me�. Others, from other scenes, �unmerciful Disaster followed fast�, �grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt and ominous�. None of them resembled the message from Terri�s death at all, that crude line �I will kill again�. It just didn�t fit. Except it had to be the same killer. It just had to be. The other marks were all the same - partial evisceration, missing eye, hacked-off hair, facial disfiguration� It was the same killer. But there was something that bothered him. He just wished he could figure out what it meant.

The lines, though. The poetic lines, the ones not including Terri�s. He knew them. There were more. He lay them out on his desk, played with the arrangement, pushed them around, read them over and over until they were dancing in his brain and in front of his eyes. He knew them. He *knew* them. They were so familiar. A poem he knew. They were from a poem. Maybe it meant something. He just had to figure out what.

***

Raven sat on the bed, turning the note over and over in his hands. He wasn�t sure what to make of it, whether he was supposed to be scared and take it as a threat or pissed and take it as a plea. If it was even from the person he thought it was from, because that was by no means certain. He could be completely wrong. Not he was wrong often, but there was always the possibility.

He lay back, switching on the lamp on the nightstand as he did. The room was bathed in soft orange light, and he closed his eyes, pressing the note to his chest above his heart, sighing. He missed Matt already. He wasn�t supposed to. He was supposed to be relieved that he didn�t have to spend any more time or effort on trying to change him. But that wasn�t quite the way he felt. He missed him. Not enough to go crawling back on his hands and knees to bed his forgiveness, but he missed him all the same. The note only made him feel worse.

For a few minutes he felt that way, at least. Until he thought about it a little more, a little deeper. In context he knew it wasn�t good, but this note was completely out of context so maybe the meaning was a little different� the words could have a different meaning, maybe they weren�t supposed to be menacing or pleading after all. Perhaps he was grasping at straws, but maybe, just maybe, if he read it the right way�

�Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door�.

His heart. He was in his heart? Against his will, certainly, but in his heart nevertheless? Perhaps. The thought brought a smile to his lips. He was in his heart.

The knock at the door startled him; the smile dropped and his heart beat a little faster in his chest as he crossed the room and opened the door.

�You should come in�, he said.

�I was going to anyway�, he replied.

***

Hunter lay on the bed he was supposed to be sharing with Jeff, alone, the phone receiver in his hand, tears in his eyes. Kurt was on the other end, crying, trying to talk to him. Kurt. Kurt, the man he loved. Had loved. Had, not did. He couldn�t love him anymore, he was with Jeff. Jeff Hardy. He loved Jeff Hardy. Kurt had betrayed him, with Jericho of all people, and now Jericho was dead. But he loved Kurt. And he loved Jeff. And he was so confused it hurt inside.

Kurt was safe and warm and happy, Kurt loved him with a passion he�d never known before. Jeff didn�t love him but Jeff was� Jeff was Jeff. He was vibrant and alive and so daring, so different� everything Hunter had ever wanted. Hunter saw both sides of him, both personalities, the beautiful, confident outside and the scared and vulnerable inside. It was amazing; he felt so privileged to see both sides. And now Matt was gone, Jeff needed him. He had to be there for him, he knew, because Jeff was scared without him. He couldn�t cope on his own. But could Kurt? He�d have to.

But where was Jeff? He�d gone out and left him alone. He did that too often. But when they were together Hunter felt so good. He didn�t quite understand why, especially when Jeff scared him the way he did. He just had to look into his lover�s eyes and he�d shiver. Sometimes it was with fear, sometimes with anticipation. Because Jeff showed him things he would never have seen with Kurt. Maybe sometimes they were things he knew he shouldn�t see, but they were things he wanted to see. They were things he wanted to do. And with Jeff he got to do them.

There was just one problem. With Jeff he never felt like he was in control. He felt like everything was the way Jeff wanted, and he had no control over anything, even himself. He did what Jeff wanted him to all the time, unquestioningly, because he knew that was what Jeff wanted. It was odd. He had no control over events in his own life. And the longer he was with Jeff the worse it got because Jeff was in control of him but he wasn�t in control of himself.

Things were spiralling out of control, and Jeff wanted Hunter to help him but he wasn�t sure he could because all he knew how to do was do what Jeff told him to. He couldn�t make everything okay the way Jeff wanted him to. Now everything was going wrong and it felt like he was falling apart. He�d never felt that with Kurt. And much as he wanted to be with Jeff, to love Jeff, to make everything okay, he knew he couldn�t and he wanted his old life back. Jeff was dangerous, out of control. He was going down and if he wasn�t careful, Hunter was going with him.

So maybe it was time to get out. Maybe Kurt would have him back.

He wiped away his tears and tried to make a decision. Did he go with Kurt and reclaim his old life, or did he stick with Jeff to the very end? Jeff wasn�t there. That made the decision very easy.

***

�Was the note from you?� Raven asked, walking over to the table, picking up his drink and finishing it in one.

�Who else would be sending you notes?�

�That�s what I thought. So, why are you here?�

�Fate, Destiny and Pain, Raven. I�m here to end it�.

�You know I left Matt?�

�It doesn�t matter. I�m glad he�s not here, but it doesn�t matter. I�ve had this planned for too long�.

�You have? Had what planned?�

�You�ll see�.

�You know I�ve been watching you�.

�Raven, you�ve been watching me since the day we met. Remember that day? That�s the day Matt fell in love with you, the day I knew you were going to take him away from me. And that was the day you started to watch me�.

�I remember. We were wearing the same shirt. I thought it was fate�.

�I think it was. Just not the way you think�.

�And Matt - you know I was just using him to get to you�.

�Yeah, I know. I hope you know how much you�ve hurt him. I�m going to make you pay for that�.

�Please do�.

�I hate you for what you�ve done to him. You�ve been trying to change him. Was it to get to me or did you just want him to be like me?�

�Both, maybe. Maybe I was jealous. I hated that you refused me because you loved him. You know how wrong that is, right? He�s your brother�.

�And what you do isn�t wrong? I know you hurt people too�.

�That�s different�.

�And everything else I do isn�t wrong?�

�That�s different too�.

�So loving my brother�s wrong but having Hunter cheat on Kurt wasn�t? Nailing a bird to your door wasn�t? Eviscerating Chris wasn�t?�

�Something like that�.

�You�re just jealous�.

Raven nodded. �Yeah, I am. Do you have any idea how much I wish I could be him? Just for a second, I wish I could be everything to you that he is. Do you know how painful it is to love someone who just doesn�t love you? Unrequited love is the worst kind. It�s messy and it�s painful and it�s ugly and it can twist you so bad that you don�t recognise yourself anymore. I wanted to be him. Just to be close to you�.

�He�s the other half of my soul. He completes me. You�re nothing like him�. Jeff took a step forward. �You�re not my blood�. Another step. �You are not my blood - though you stir it�.

The kiss was hard and fast, a tangle of lips and teeth and tongues, leaving both of them gasping. Jeff drew back and licked the blood from his lips. Raven cocked his head and did the same. Then their eyes locked and they did it over again, this time with hands grasping clothing, pulling, ripping, staggering backwards, falling to the bed, turning, clawing� Clothes were shed into a pile on the floor. Lube was fumbled for in the top drawer. Forty-five seconds from their first kiss Jeff was thrusting into Raven with all the force he had in him.

Jeff braced himself against the bed, leaning down over Raven, his teeth on the back of his neck, biting softly not quite hard enough to break the skin. Raven moaned into the pillow, hands grasping at the sheets, rocking back to meet Jeff�s thrusts. He could hardly breathe but he didn�t care - all that mattered was that Jeff was inside him, filling him completely, thrusting into him, sucking and biting at his neck, nails scratching at the backs of his wrists. He wanted to hurt, to feel him, and he did. It was perfect.

The heat from Jeff�s skin on his was incredible, the feel even better. He concentrated on it, on the feel of Jeff�s hair falling on the back of his neck, the feel of his teeth, his fingers, his cock thrusting deep inside him. Jeff moaned and tensed and came inside him, hard, shuddering, and Raven came too, feeling Jeff�s near collapse above him, over him. It was pure pleasure, what he�d been waiting for for months. It was so much more than it ever had been with Matt. Matt, his poor, used, substitute Jeff. The Jeff he now had. That had him.

�I love you�, Raven whispered as Jeff rolled off to his side, took the space beside him on the bed. Jeff reached forward and tucked a stray braid back behind Raven�s ear.

�I know�, he said. �I don�t love you�.

�I know. You still love him�.

�Of course I do. I�m never going to stop�.

�So why do this?� He didn�t say it angrily. He was almost surprised at himself.

�Because I hate you. I hate you so much. And I want you so much. It�s driving me insane. Because I know what you�ve done to my brother and I still want you. I hate you for making me want you. I hate you for what you�ve done to Matt. He�s not the same anymore. You�ve made him different�.

�Not so different�.

�No, he�s changed�.

�Well, he didn�t kill Terri. He got you to do it�.

Jeff just smirked and left the bed.

***

�Hello?�

�Hunter?�

�Uh, Matt?�

�Yeah. Look, is Jeff there? I need to speak to him�.

�No, sorry, he went out. Haven�t seen him in hours. Do you want me to give him a message?�

�If he�s there then I really need to talk to him�.

�He�s not here. Can I take a message? He shouldn�t be long�.

�No, no, it�s okay. Thanks anyway�.

Matt hung up and took a shaky breath, looked around the room. He knew where Jeff would be. It was time. But it was too early. Matt wasn�t ready. He wouldn�t be in time to stop him. And when he was truthful with himself, he wasn�t sure he wanted to. The thought made him feel lousy, but there it was. He wasn�t sure he wanted to go.

But he knew he had to. He left the bed, took his things from the closet and left the room.

***

�That? Oh, that�s from that one by Edgar Allan whatshisname. You know, that one about the bird�.

Cooper�s breath caught in his throat. �Edgar Allan Poe�, he said. �Of course. It�s from �The Raven�. Thank you, officer. You�ve been a great help�.

He couldn�t believe he hadn�t remembered before. He�d read the poem a couple of times, years before, maybe seen it in cartoon form or something. On an episode of The Simpsons, he realised. The Raven. Raven. Oh. That couldn�t be a coincidence.

***

�What the fuck are you doing?�

Jeff smiled and fastened the other cuff to the bedpost. �Like I said - Fate, Destiny and Pain�.

�What the hell do you mean by that?�

�I thought you of all people would know that, Raven. But since you�re so intent on playing innocent, let me explain. Fate. . It�s your fate to die. Destiny. It�s my destiny to kill you. And Pain, well, I think even you can work that one out�.

There was a knock at the door. Raven frowned as Jeff smiled.

�Yes? Who is it?�

�Jeff, it�s me. Can I come in?�

�Door�s open, Matty�.

�Matt? Matt, get me out of here! He�s� oh fuck�.

Matt stepped into the room; Jeff left the bed and walked over to him, throwing his arms around him, smiling into his neck. And Matt hugged back, dropping everything he was carrying and twining his arms around his brother�s waist, pulling him in close. Raven looked on, horrified.

�Let�s do it�, Matt whispered into Jeff�s hair.

As Jeff moved towards the bed, Matt picked up his things. They moved together, they began to work.

They gagged him so he couldn�t scream. They tied him so he couldn�t move. Then Jeff pulled out his knife, the rest of his tools. Raven stared over at him, the fear clear in his eyes. He looked to Matt and saw in that second that he wouldn�t interfere. In fact, he was going to be right there alongside his brother, killing him. And suddenly he knew.

�Take that gag off. I think he has something to say�. Matt nodded and pulled the gag from Raven�s mouth.

�You killed Terri. Both of you�.

Matt nodded. �Maybe you should remember that we wear each other�s clothes before you jump to any conclusions about us�.

�I really did change you?�

Jeff smiled, hauling Raven off the bed and dragging him roughly to the other side of the room. �You changed him�, he said. �I didn�t want you to. But I didn�t say I didn�t like how he changed�.

Matt drew a hammer from his bag. Jeff found his drill. They replaced the gag. Raven tried to scream as they drilled through his wrists, hammered nails through his feet, bound him to the homemade cross, crucified him, but no one heard. There was no one there to hear the scream of the drill, to hear him scream as he died. No one but his killers.

***

The brothers stood together beneath the bloody, dripping, dying, crucified body of their lover. They joined hands and together they dipped their fingers in his blood as his eyes fluttered shut for the last time. And they wrote. They reached up to the wall and they wrote in one single hand.

Then they moved to the bed, Jeff�s bloody hands pulling at Matt�s bloody clothing. They couldn�t be close enough, clawing at each other�s skin, all lips and tongues and hands, skin on skin until they could be no closer and Matt was buried in his brother to the hilt, holding him close, tasting him, feeling him, loving him. They were one. Perfect together, eyes locked as Matt moved inside him, Jeff reaching up to touch him, pull him in closer. It was hard, brutal, almost feverish. Something they both needed. Something beautiful. A kiss to their souls.

A sigh escaped Jeff�s lips as he gazed up into Matt�s eyes. His fingertips brushed his brother�s face, his almost burning flesh. And Matt came inside him, Jeff following soon after. They were together again, as it was always meant to be. Jeff knew it. He�d always known it. And Matt had strayed, but now he knew it too. It was their fate, their destiny, their pain. They would love each other �til the very end.

Jeff had known how it would end when Matt called him, on his cell phone in Raven�s room the day of Terri�s murder. He�d left Hunter in the room he was supposed to be sharing with Kurt and gone to Raven�s room. He�d been there with Matt through the whole thing, offered to do it for him and been stunned when he just asked for his help. He wanted Jeff there just so he could go through with it himself. Jeff had watched as Matt scrawled message on the wall - his only one since usually that was Jeff�s grotesquely poetic little area - marking it a Hardy Brothers death.

And they�d been together the rest of the afternoon, washing the blood from each other�s bodies as Jeff had continued to plan Raven�s death. Matt knew what he was planning. He�d been at it for months, since they�d got together. He�d never told him no, just told him not yet. Jeff had known they�d be together again. He�d just known it. More than ever before, despite all those years Matt had stood by him, nursed him through his problems, been there to protect him through every new death, since they�d been kids, right from the start.

But when Jeff looked into Matt�s eyes that night, he saw the anguish. He saw the love, but he saw the anguish too. In his heart he knew that Matt wasn�t so very different - at heart his brother was the same as he had ever been. What they�d done had hurt him, deeply. So he knew what they had to do. It terrified him, but as long as he knew he was loved, he could do anything. Love was all he had ever wanted. Now he had it he was strong. Now he had it he could stop. And Matt could stop blaming himself, have the punishment he knew he deserved for all the years of blood and hasty cover-ups as an accessory to murder. Finally.

But they still had one last night together. They�d make the most of it. It would have to last them the rest of their lives.

***

When Dale Cooper and a team of agents stormed into Scott Levy�s home the following morning, they found the brothers sleeping in each other�s arms in the bedroom, beneath the cross. They woke, and they didn�t even attempt to resist arrest. They dressed and allowed themselves to be placed in handcuffs and escorted to the nearest police station.

�I love you�, Matt told his brother over the noise and commotion as they were marched inside.

�I know�, Jeff replied with a smile. �I love you too�.

The next morning, the story was all over the papers. One carried an exclusive, source undisclosed. Above the body, above the cross, painted onto the wall by the hands of the killers, were the words �quoth the Raven, nevermore�.

***
End
***

Note: You can find the poem �The Raven� by Edgar Allan Poe on http://www.bartleby.com on their search engine. And for those who don�t know, Agent Dale Cooper of the FBI is one of the main characters in one of my all-time favourite shows, Twin Peaks. He, too, is used here without permission.