Thanks for the reveiws, guys! Sorry if this update took a long ass time. School and my job keeps me busy D:
Note: a major surprise! …which probably won't be very surprising at all if you've actually followed WWE in 2005, unlike me…
Warnings: language, name-calling and the likes. No official fighting in this chapter, but people do jump each other.
Disclaimers: I don't own WWE or anything related, but I own Lina Lavigne, her likeness and finishers.
Reviews and Critique: always welcome!

Chapter 3: comeback

"Hey, Matt. How are you doing?"

"As well as I can, I guess."

Jeff was sitting in his dressing room, feet propped up on the table. He had his brother Matt on the phone. It was a week later and even longer since he had seen him. Matt kept dodging his questions, not giving him much reason or excuse for his extended absence.

"Haven't really seen you around home lately," Jeff said.

"Yeah, I know. I've got stuff to sort out, but it should be all over and done with by next week. So I've been out and about a lot because of it."

"To any place in particular?"

"Sure have."

"And what's that?"

"Well, finding out is half the fun, isn't it? But never mind me…how are things at Raw?"

Jeff sighed, a little put off by Matt's ambiguity. He just wanted an answer to his question but ultimately decided not to push the matter. "The usual, I guess. Adam and Amy are still going about their crap, taunting Kane and making fun of you. Not much new there. Did you see the wedding last week?"

"Nope, but I heard about it. I haven't been keeping up with Raw much since I left."

"You didn't miss much. They didn't go through with it, since Kane broke it up half-way through. And then MNM is still up in my face, not much new there either."

"Those guys still? God, Jeff, aren't you going to do anything about that?"

"Who says I haven't? You'd know if you still watched Raw, or if you came home every now and then that I signed myself an intern."

Matt paused for a few seconds. "Really? I didn't think you wouldn't have time for an intern."

"But it's just that—she's going to help me deal with MNM. We had a tag match against them last week, and she really pulled through."

"Well. Good for you, then."

"There's a back-story behind how I came to sign her in the first place. It's pretty funny, I'll have to tell it to you some time. Her name's Lina Lavigne and she's doing pretty well so far. She's going to be a bit of a handful, I can tell. She's very ambitious and pretty forward, so I'll try to keep an eye on her. Haven't had much of a chance to train her lately, but she's got a lot of potential."

"She sounds like quite a character. I'll have to meet her sometime."

"I'm sure you will soon."

"Yeah. Me too."

Jeff paused, processing his brother's words. "Wait, what's that supposed to m—?"

"Oh gosh, look at the time. I'd better go."

Jeff set his jaw in frustration. "Fine. I'd better go check on her anyway."

"From the sound of things, she's a troublemaker. Just like you. So naturally you two will get along just fine."

"Thanks, Matt."

Matt laughed but otherwise didn't say anything else. They both hung up and Jeff stood up, stretching his arms above his head. A few seconds later, he exited his dressing room and started off down the hall. A couple days after Lina's debut match, a Raw Superstar by the name of Christian was abruptly drafted to Smackdown. Backstage, people were still talking about it and what it meant for Raw. Some other people were taken aback by the sudden draft decision, wondering if it could happen again to anyone. It was widely acknowledged that Christian was a talented wrestler, but the only thing Jeff said about it was, "Good for Christian."

He found Lina lingering near the wrestler's entrance to the arena, watching the matches on a TV in a nearby interview set and occasionally chatting with the people who walked by. Pinned on the wall just next to the wrestler's entrance was a lineup of all the scheduled matches for that night. As the matches progressed, they would be crossed off the list with the winner's name circled. In between a couple matches were blank spaces where Superstars could go out and give a speech. The opportunity for a speech was given to whoever wrote their name in the blank spot first, and if no one signed up, then the spot would be filled with promos, Pay-Per-View cuts, recaps, or commercial breaks. When Jeff found her, Lina was torn between watching the matches and scrutinizing the lineup. As Jeff neared her, he saw that she had a pen in her hand.

"What are you doing?" he said, snatching the pen away from her.

Lina jumped. "Christ, Jeff, don't do that!"

"Is the schedule looking a little empty to you?" he asked, turning the pen over in his hand.

"Of course not," she replied. "It's perfect the way it is."

"Because you know, if you want to do anything, you have to run it by with me first."

"Who says?" she snapped.

"Uh, your contract, and so do I because I'm your boss," Jeff said.

"My boss? You don't even pay me," Lina retorted.

Jeff nodded towards the schedule. "What are you doing?" he asked again.

Lina shifted her eyes from Jeff to the pen. "I want to call out Nitro."

"Do you!" Jeff said, with mock surprise. "Well I sure would be a lousy boss if I didn't give you the opportunity to defend and prove yourself every now and then, huh? What with you being an up-and-coming Superstar and all…"

Lina watched him tap his chin with the pen in concentration. "Deep thinking?"

"I know I should give you this opportunity—it'll be good for your development," he replied. "I'm just wondering how to do it without you causing too much trouble."

"Trouble? Me?" Lina said, placing a hand on her chest. "Jeff, I would never."

"My brother just called you a troublemaker and he doesn't even know you," Jeff said. "People are already telling each other to look out for you. That's the kind of reputation you've got going right now."

"It could be argued that it's remarkable that I've managed to make such an impact already," she retorted.

"You'd think so, but no," said Jeff.

Lina sighed. "Jeff, let me ask you a question," she said. "When you introduced me to the WWE Universe, did you hear what Nitro said to us? What he said about me?"

"Why yes I did, actually," Jeff answered, "but if I remember correctly, most of his speech was directed towards me."

"He called me a piece of meat," she said. "Let me call him out, Jeff. I promise I won't challenge him to a match. I just want to make it clear what he's got coming to him, since I'm such a…troublemaker." She grinned.

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "And what a troublemaker you are." He uncapped the pen and scribbled her name down on a blank spot set for later in the night. "I will be out there with you," he said, pointing the pen at her.

"I would have insisted," Lina said, smiling.

.xXx.

Word spread quickly that Lina Lavigne had put her name in one of the blank spots. The general feeling going around the locker rooms was that she just wanted to brag about her win over MNM, while others supposed that her speech was going to have something to do with Johnny Nitro. Most people wanted to watch her speech; the lure of partnering up a high-name Superstar like Jeff Hardy with an up-and-coming Diva was somewhat promising. The Superstars wanted to see where Jeff would take her and how her sudden feud with Nitro would play out. The Divas, however, were less welcoming of her partnership with Jeff.

Lina hadn't seen Jeff since he signed her up for a speech. He left when he was suddenly summoned to the General Manager's office. Whatever Bischoff needed to talk to Jeff about, it must have been urgent. Jeff told her that he would catch up with her later, so in the meantime she decided to head out to the wrestler's entrance and wait for him there.

She was going to call out Nitro. She had a general idea of what she wanted to say to him, but the details eluded her. Johnny Nitro had called her a piece of meat and a wannabe Diva intern. She burned with the urge to fight him one-on-one, but she had to mind Jeff's words. Maybe she would get her chance. In the meantime, calling him out would have to do.

A man walking quickly out of an adjacent hallway nearly tripped over her in his haste. He dropped the briefcase he was holding after stopping short to avoid knocking her over.

"Hey, watch it!" he said, bending down to retrieve the briefcase.

"Sorry about that—," Lina started, also kneeling. Her hands were on the briefcase before she recognized it. She had seen it on TV before in the possession of a man Jeff Hardy very much did not like. She looked up, finding herself eye-level with Edge as he picked up his Money in the Bank briefcase.

"I didn't see you back there, but I can handle this mysel—," he paused. "Hey, you're Lina Lavigne, aren't you?"

"Yes," she answered, apprehensively. "Am I supposed to be familiar with you?"

"Well, allow me to introduce myself," Edge said, brushing his long blond hair out of his face. "I'm about to make your dreams come true."

He was a little closer to her now, both of their hands still on the briefcase. Lina could have sworn Jeff said he was involved with a woman named Lita. But then again, Edge was quite a character.

"What, you're going to let me yell at you till you bleed?" she asked.

"Ooo, caustic," Edge said, grinning. "You're Jeff Hardy's girl, right? I've heard about you." He stood up. Lina broke out of her daze when she felt the briefcase leave her hands and she stood up also. "You've got quite a reputation around here already, you know."

"So I've been told," she replied, keeping her composure.

"I kind of like that," he said. "You're only what, three weeks old and already everyone knows your name? You could be pretty useful."

Lina was taken aback. "Useful?"

"I'm about to ask you something. Brace yourself."

"You're telling me to brace myself?" Lina said, completely deterred.

From several yards away, Jeff turned a corner with the intent of meeting up with Lina by the wrestler's entrance. What he didn't expect was to encounter her in the middle of the hallway quite far from where she was supposed to be, and much less that she would be with Edge.

"What the hell…?"

She looked uncomfortable. Edge looked like he was up to his old scheming ways, and Jeff would be damned if he tried to pull anything off on Lina. In seconds, he was upon them, arms around Lina and pulling her away from Edge.

"Hey, get away from her!" he yelled.

"Jeff?" Lina managed, stunned.

"You think I don't know what you're up to?" Jeff said. "You're always up to something! I recognized the look you gave her a mile away! You think people don't notice when you give seductive and manipulative looks to every woman you encounter?"

"Oh now come on, Jeff, we were just having a conversation," Edge started.

"Oh shut the hell up, you horny bastard," Jeff snapped. "I don't think she was enjoying whatever 'conversation' you two were having."

"Horny bastard? Why Jeffrey, you slash me with your words," Edge said.

"Look, just stay away from her," Jeff said. "You have a less then respectable reputation with the women I'm friends with."

"Don't think for a second that Matt wasn't to blame as much as Amy or I were—."

"Don't you dare try to blame that on my brother!" Jeff snapped, jabbing a finger at Edge.

"Your lack of trust in me cuts me deep," Edge said. "It was one girl, Jeff!"

"It was one too many," Jeff replied, starting to steer Lina away from him. "Stay away from Lina, Adam. I'm not going to let you do to her what you did to Matt and Amy."

"You say my name, baby?"

A woman with brown hair suddenly appeared and latched herself affectionately onto Edge's arm. Lina had seen her before; the last time she was on TV, she was wearing a wedding dress and she was standing in the ring with a suited-up Edge. But this was the first time she had ever encountered Lita in person.

Lita turned towards them, her face immediately contorting at the sight of Jeff and Lina. "What are you doing wasting your time with him?" she asked.

"Naw, babe, it's nothing," Edge said, wrapping his fingers around her hands.

"And who's she?" Lita continued. "That cocky Diva's Search girl I've been hearing about? Shorter than I thought."

She scoffed. Lina bristled at her words, but Jeff, arm still wrapped around her, gave her shoulders a squeeze to tell her to stay silent.

"Come on, baby, let's go. You don't need them," Lita said. With one more smoldering glare, the two of them turned on foot and left. As they watched them walk away, Jeff held his tight grip on Lina's shoulders, seething silently to himself.

A few terse seconds passed before they were joined by yet another person. It was a man about the same height as Jeff, with long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. Lina looked up at him, and he and Jeff were both watching Edge and Lita walk away with the same rage in their eyes. He looked a little bit like Jeff…

He and Jeff glanced at each other once, and they seemed to understand each other immediately.

"Get him," Jeff said.

"Way ahead of you," the man replied, and in seconds he was running after them.

Jeff continued to stare down the hallway, even long after the man disappeared. Lina wanted to do something, but Jeff stood there with her, his arm still tight around her.

"Jeff, what are we—?"

"Shh," he whispered. "Wait."

It wasn't a minute later before, from somewhere not too far off, a woman started shrieking. A man cried out and there was a lot of noise. Several security guards suddenly dashed by them towards the noise and the woman was still screaming.

"Jeff, was that Lita screaming back there?" Lina asked.

"One can only hope," Jeff replied.

"Okay, please explain to me what just happened, because I have no idea," she said.

Jeff didn't answer her right away. "The couple you saw back there were Edge and Lita, as I'm sure you already know. Don't pay any attention to Edge; he'll hit on anything that so much as looks at him. And that guy I was talking to?" Jeff looked down at her. "He's the reason I had to go see Eric just now."

"Was that…your brother?"

Jeff grinned. "He's been in talks with the company for some time now about coming back, as I just found out. He wouldn't tell me though, wanted to surprise me. Good thing he showed up when he did, huh? I have a feeling he's about to surprise a whole lot more people, and probably already has."

"So what happened?"

"Good question," he answered. "Hold on…"

The Talent Relations director was running over to them, looking frantic, clutching a clipboard and speaking rapidly into a headset. He spotted Jeff and quickly made his way over to him.

"Jeff, have you seen Matt?"

"Matt?" Jeff replied, looking confused. "What, you mean he's back?"

The director was looking exasperated. "He just ran by here a minute ago!"

"Well no one told me he was back, but I—gosh, are you serious?" Jeff exclaimed. "What happened?"

The director was staring in disbelief at Jeff, but Jeff looked genuinely confused. "Matt just jumped Edge in the hall. He was on his way to the ring when Matt blindsighted him…I think he was going to go for Lita, but then security showed up and he bolted. Really, Jeff, your own brother didn't say a word?"

"I haven't heard anything from anyone and I haven't seen or heard from Matt in weeks," Jeff answered. "I just haven't had time to keep up with much anything lately; I've just been with my intern—."

"Oh, never mind!" the director cried, running off down the hall again.

Jeff watched him leave, an amused smile on his face. "And that's what happened," he said, looking down at Lina. "Sorry I had to lie to him; I don't want the executives thinking I had a part in this. Now, depending on how fast Edge recovers, his match may or may not be before your speech. But let's get you down to the ring and see where things stand."

There was a large crowd gathered around the wrestler's entrance to the arena, mainly comprised of anxious Superstars and Divas. When Jeff and Lina got closer, it seemed that the crowd was anticipating a second appearance from Matt Hardy during Edge's match. As soon as Jeff was spotted, the crowd swarmed him for news. Jeff again feigned innocence, claiming he had only just heard about Matt's reappearance. Edge's match was being pushed back till later in the show, and Lina's speech had been moved up.

And once again, she was standing in the ring. Jeff's music was still playing around them. The crowd had greeted her much more warmly than before, now that she had begun to establish herself as a competent fighter. Between the time Jeff wrote her name down on the night's schedule and now, she had been running through in her head what she wanted to say. She didn't really want to call out Johnny Nitro, per se, since Jeff wasn't going to allow her to fight him just yet. It was more like she just wanted to dispel any doubts he had about her capabilities.

"It might be too early to start trying to intimidate Johnny Nitro," Lina said, a mic in her hand. "I only competed in my first WWE match a week ago, and if you'll recall, I didn't do a whole lot of fighting." The fans cheered supportively. "And what prompted the match was what Nitro said about me during my introduction. He called me a piece of meat, said I was essentially useless, and that I was nothing more than a wannabe Diva."

She shifted her weight and looked around at Jeff. He was standing several feet away from her, arms crossed in silence. Prior to arriving in the ring, he had told her that he was going to let her say whatever she wanted to Nitro, under the condition that she didn't issue any more challenges. He just wanted to be there for support and to help clear house, should MNM decide to join them.

"But you know?" she continued. "Nitro was only mostly wrong. He was wrong about the first two things he said. I'm not a piece of meat, I'm Lina Lavigne and I'm a fighter. I'm not useless, Nitro, I helped kick your ass last week. When that bell rang and Jeff and I were standing victorious in the middle of this ring, he himself told me he knew he didn't sign me for nothing.

"But there's one thing that Nitro…almost got right. I don't have to be a wannabe Diva; I am a Diva, as sure as the sky is blue and Nitro is one of the most underhanded cheats I've ever met. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be something more than just a Diva. Being in the WWE is something I've waited and worked my whole life for, and damnit, I'm going to make the most of it. I'm going to get all I can out of this, and I'm going to start with MNM."

Jeff cocked his head curiously at her.

"I promise you all this: by the time I'm through here, I'll have had my share of the top tier Superstars, too. You'll be seeing me a lot more on Raw, dealing with the Diva's Division as I am able. And when all is said and done, then Nitro, I'm coming for you."

The fans were buzzing; most of them were cheering her. Lina went to drop the microphone, but instead handed it off to Jeff who started to take a few steps towards her.

"You know, I've got to be honest here—I had no idea what Lina wanted to say when she told me she wanted to give a speech tonight," he said, addressing the crowd. "It's a little much, I wasn't expecting that. But now that I know what it is you intend to do, Lina, I have a few words for Johnny Nitro myself." He took a couple steps towards the edge of the ring and stared straight into the TV camera. "Nitro, this woman is my intern, and I have faith in her. She has made a promise and I have every intent on helping her keep it. So to Nitro and the rest of you, you best watch yourselves from now on, les we shut you up for good."

He tossed the microphone and went to escort Lina out of the ring. As he neared her, he gave her a quick look. As brief as it was, she was able to read it. She had held up her end of the deal and did not issue a challenge to Nitro…not yet, at least. Jeff had known that she wanted to fight Nitro, but she could tell from that look he gave her that he didn't think she would be so bold so soon.

"Hey, I said I was going to help you beat up Nitro, right?" Jeff said once they were backstage. "You're a handful, Lina, but I already knew that. I didn't know what to expect from you when you went out there to give your speech, but I didn't expect much good from it. But you're right—you're a fighter, and if you want to tangle with the big dogs, then I'm going to do what I can to help you get there. I have faith in you."

Lina hugged him. "Thanks, Jeff."

After a few seconds, he released her. "Come on, let's go find my brother."

Edge was scheduled to fight Kane that night. Shortly after Lina's speech, the two men made their way down to the ring to have their match. Lita accompanied Edge, standing ringside throughout the match. Towards the end of the match, she jumped into the ring to try and interfere, and the match ended in disqualification when Kane got his hand around her throat and Gene Snitsky ran down to the ring and attacked him. Dealing with this new distraction, Kane brawled with Gene out of the ring, over the fan barrier and disappeared through the crowd. Edge was recovering inside the ring when Matt Hardy suddenly jumped over the fan barrier and attacked him.

"Adam, I'm going to make your life miserable!" Matt shouted, having gotten a hold of a microphone. "Lita, you whore, I'm going to make your life miserable too!"

Within minutes, Matt was tackled by security and hauled off in handcuffs, shouting to the camera that the WWE could kiss his ass.

Jeff caught up with security once they arrived backstage with Lina close on his heels. Matt was still in handcuffs and the chairman Vince McMahon was arriving on the scene. Jeff exchanged words with Vince, but not much was being resolved. As security started to walk away with Matt and Jeff became more frantic, Lina suddenly asked Vince to let Matt tag team with her in lieu of punishment. Everyone fell silent, eyes moving from Lina in disbelief of what she just said, to Vince in anticipation of his decision.

"Fine," Vince said, finally. "But you two had better win."

.xXx.

Word started going around that Lina Lavigne was in over her head. She was barely a month into her stay as a WWE Diva, and already she was calling out Superstars and making matches left and right. How convenient it was that she had such a high ranking Superstar like Jeff Hardy to fall back on and carry her mistakes. Some people were saying that she purposely chose Jeff to mentor her and that she was doing nothing more than manipulating him to work her way to the top. The general consensus was that if Lina didn't have Jeff backing her every move, she wouldn't last more than a few months.

"Come on, don't worry about it," Jeff said.

They were both in his dressing room. She was sitting on the couch, doubled-over with her face in her hands. Jeff was sitting on the couch arm next to her with a hand on her back.

"No, they're right," Lina muttered. "I'm feeling way too secure about my standings in the WWE, and I really shouldn't be."

"You know what you have to do now?" he said. "What you have to do now is take all their criticism and turn it into an opportunity. They're jealous, and they're afraid. They don't think you had to work at all to get to where you are because you're working with someone who's already a well-established Superstar, but that's what an internship is. They don't know what this will do for their current standings in the WWE, but if you play your cards right, they won't have to feel threatened. They're nervous right now, but don't let it get to you, okay?"

Lina shook her head. "I'm trying to do too much, too soon. I shouldn't have to rely on you to cover me."

"I'm the one relying on you, remember?" Jeff said. "I signed you to help me with MNM. You only got involved with Matt's feud with Edge because I tried to get involved. You saved my brother from punishment at the hands of the company chairman. Vince doesn't like me, and whatever he wanted to do to Matt, it probably wouldn't have been good. Thanks for your help, Lina. So have your match with him, and then we'll go back to beating up MNM. Deal?"

Lina straightened up and sighed. She took a few seconds to breathe deeply and compose herself. "Deal," she said finally.

He still had his hand on her back. There were a few moments of silence, where Lina took a few more deep breaths and Jeff rubbed her back gently.

"Now, you and Matt are fighting Edge and Lita next week," he said. "Vince told you that you'd better win, but I'm telling you that you have to win. Our beef with Edge runs deep."

Lina looked up at him curiously.

Jeff paused. "Matt and Lita dated for four years," he started. "Earlier this year it was revealed that she and Edge had been having an affair for several months. For whatever reason, the company released Matt instead of Edge or Lita. There was no remorse, there was no regret, no apologies or explanations. Instead, the two of them have been rubbing it in everyone's face that they ruined my brother's life with their antics—teaming up with each other, attacking Kane, trying to get married…you know; you've been watching it unfold."

She stared up at him, mouth agape. She knew something had happened between Matt and Edge, and Jeff had finally told her.

"I didn't know," she managed finally.

"We were really good friends with both of them before the scandal got out, too," Jeff said. "It's personal. Matt really wants a piece of Edge and it looks like you helped him do it. You and Matt have to win next week."

"I know," Lina said.

"I mean, no pressure or anything," Jeff said with a laugh. "Just…do your best."

"Of course I will," Lina grinned. "I'm fighting for more than one reason next week."

And that was the truth. She didn't feel pressured; she was fighting and training with the two members of one of the greatest tag teams in history. This was more than she deserved, but she wasn't about to let any of her critics try and take it away from her. What would Nitro say if she failed?

She wanted Matt Hardy's comeback to be a great one. She wanted Lita to eat her words and she wanted Edge to regret ever crossing her. But more than anything, she wanted Jeff to be proud of her. And this fight was a great opportunity to do it.

End Chapter 3

Omggg I'm so sorry this took so long to upload. If you haven't given up on me yet, you're officially my favorite.
Lina's development is coming across as a little strong and very interesting. I wasn't counting on making her this forward, so I'm sorry if it seems like she's totally cocky and arrogant. But I am super stoked for her match with Matt in the next chapter.
Reviews, please!