The WWF seemed to be slowly evolving into a new era.  Over the past six or so months, there had been rumors circulating about how things were going to change.  Amy recalled her friend Joanie Laurer having said that her ex-boyfriend, Paul Levesque, had spoken of this often.  Soon after, Joanie had known it wasn't rumors at all but fact - which she realized once the relationship had come to an end.  If anyone would know the direction the company would be taking in the future, it would be be Paul, because his current girlfriend was none other than Stephanie McMahon, the boss' daughter.

"Come on, Jeff!" Amy exclaimed, glaring impatiently at her friend.  They were in the airport, preparing for their flight to the next city for RAW.  He was lagging behind and seemed to be looking for something.

Matt, beside the redhead, turned around and faced his younger brother.  "What's wrong?"

"I can't find my cell phone," Jeff complained as he lifted his head from under the bank of plastic chairs in the airport's waiting room.  He was on his hands and knees, and it was a good thing the area was mostly deserted, because he would be annoying plenty of people.

"Well, you had it a minute ago," Amy offered.  "I remember you checking your voicemail when we first got here."

"Yeah, I did...I can't understand it," the young man said.  "Where can it be?"

"Did you take it off your person and put it in your bag?" Matt asked.

"No...I would remember that."  He stood back up and began to wheel his suitcase down the hall.

"Jeff, wait up!" the dark-haired brother called.  He turned and gestured to Amy to follow him.  She did as he instructed, sighing when she realized they were going to miss their flight.

They followed Jeff around the airport, tracing their steps.  They had gone to a small bagel stand for breakfast and stopped off at a magazine stand as well.  It took several minutes of the young man searching, but he did manage to find his phone.  Apparently, it had fallen off its clip on his belt hook.  Someone had picked it up and given it to the man behind the counter at the bagel shop for safe keeping.

After thanking the cashier and tucking his cell phone safely into his bag, Jeff thanked the man, then turned toward Amy and Matt.  "Okay, let's get out of here."

"Oh, no!" Amy cried as a voice suddenly announced the last call for their flight.  The trio began to run to their gate, but it turned out they were too late.  The plane had already taken off.

"Just great, Jeff!" Matt muttered.  "We're gonna miss the SmackDown taping now!"

"Sorry, but it's not my fault, Matt - I needed my phone!  What if someone had taken it and used it?  Can you imagine how much the company would have been charging me?"

"All you would have to do in that situation is call the company and cancel your service, dumbass!" Matt shouted.

"Well, no kidding, dumbass!" Jeff yelled back, his face a mask of anger.

"Guys, guys!" Amy said sharply as she stepped between her two friends.  "Cut it out - you're not helping our situation any, and you're making a scene...Come on, we can't do anything about missing our flight.  Let's just book another one."  She held a hand against either brother's chest to separate them before they beat each other senseless right then and there.

Matt relaxed somewhat, his anger dissipating.  "You're right, Ames...I'm sorry, Jeff."

"Yeah...me too," the rainbow-haired young man said.

Amy walked up to the nearest counter, pulling her wheeled bag behind her.  "Excuse me," she said to the woman standing there.  "My friends and I just missed our flight - number 308 to Cincinnati...we'd like to book a flight on the next available plane headed there..."

The woman was cordial and quickly booked them on the appropriate flight.  The only problem was that the next flight would not be for another three hours.

The three of them sat down in the waiting area they'd been relaxing in only moments ago, all disappointed for a variety of reasons.  Amy checked her watch after only five minutes, and Jeff pulled out a book.  Matt sighed with frustration.

"Damn, I wish Stacy had come home with me this time around..."

*

RAW, December 10, 2001

Adam lingered backstage for the majority of the night.  He had only an interview scheduled, and no match after last night's pay-per-view, Vengeance.  He'd defended the Intercontinental title against William Regal, with whom Edge had been feuding for the past few weeks.

After the interview with Jonathan Coachman, in which Edge had insulted the Englishman, who had responded by slamming him in the back of the head with his notorious brass knuckles, Adam set off to look for Amy.  He hadn't seen her all night but knew she had a match scheduled for later that night - she and Jeff would be taking on Matt in an intergender handicap match.

The storyline with Team Xtreme as of late had Matt acting jealous and suspicious of his brother and girlfriend.  It had all led to last night's match at Vengeance, in which Lita had been forced to referee a match betwen the Hardy brothers.  Adam knew this current angle, much like the breakup of Edge and Christian had been difficult for him and Jay, was difficult to the trio.

He stopped in front of the diva's locker room, knowing she was sharing with Trish and Stacy, as usual.  Just as he was about to knock, the door opened and Stacy Keibler stood in the doorway.

"Oh...hey, Adam," she said with a smile as she stepped out into the hallway.

"Hey, Stacy."

"Looking for Amy?"

"Yeah...she in there?" Adam asked.

"No, not at the moment...she, Matt and Jeff were called in to Mr. McMahon's office," the leggy blonde explained.

"Oh...really?  What for?"  Adam frowned at this information, for he knew intuitively that it couldn't be good.

"I don't know," Stacy admitted.  "Though it might have something to do with them showing up late for shows lately...you know, they missed the SmackDown taping last week."

"I know - because Jeff misplaced his cell phone."

"Right...I've got to find out what happened from Matt later," she said with concern.  "Anyway, I was just stepping out to get some food...you can wait in there for Amy if you want."

"Thanks, Stacy...I think I will," Adam replied.  He entered the room as the tall woman walked down the hall in search of the buffet room.

*

"But Mr. McMahon," Jeff protested as he looked the boss directly in the eye, "I told you, I lost my cell phone and I had to go back to find it."

"I understand all that, Jeff," Vince said in a patronizing tone.  "But you three missed the taping last week.  Do you realize the sort of problems you caused due to your absence?  A scheduled match had to be scrapped, and an impromptu one had to be set up at the last minute.  Now, this is the third time something like this has happened in the last four weeks...Believe me, this won't go unpunished."

"Wait a minute," Matt interjected.  "That's not fair - Jeff didn't mean to cause any harm!"

"This doesn't concern you, young man."

"Like hell it doesn't!" the elder Hardy cried.  Amy winced at her friend's words and tone of voice.  Damn it, Matt's temper was going to get them all into trouble - she just knew it.

"Listen, Matt - I have no patience for people wasting my time - and that is exactly what your brother did," Vince stated firmly.

"Mr. McMahon," Amy finally spoke up.  She gave Matt a look that told him to shut his mouth, then turned back to the billionaire.  "Please - won't you give us another chance?  It won't happen again."  She gave him an innocent look she suspected not too much different from those Torrie Wilson usually employed to get something she wanted.  She felt incredibly stupid doing this, but at this point, she felt she had no choice.  Their asses were on the line.

Vince seemed to consider it for a moment as he eyed the redhead.  Finally, he spoke.  "You know what?  I appreciate your efforts, Miss Dumas - but no...no, that's not going to work."

Amy, Jeff and Matt all eyed the man incredulously, and the older Hardy's expression quickly changed from disbelief to anger.

"You three are going to be punished."  The boss began to pace around the room as he continued.  "If you aren't punished, you'll think you can get away with this sort of behavior.  No, it's not going to happen that way...before Christmas, you three will be on a suspension of sorts..."

"What...what do you mean?" Amy managed to ask.  A cold knot had formed in her belly.

"Simple - number one, you will be split up as planned," Vince began, pointing at them.  "Number two, you will not be on TV..."

"What?!" Matt cried angrily.

"...You will not be on TV," the man reiterated.  "You will be back on once I feel you've learned your lesson, and not until then.  We'll set something up so that it will look like the three of you are injured and cannot compete on RAW or SmackDown."

The redhead stared, incredulous at her boss.  She couldn't believe what she was hearing.  All of this just because they were late to three shows in the last month?  And each time, something beyond their control had happened.  She swallowed and turned her head away, realizing she couldn't look at McMahon at the very moment.  Like Matt, she found herself getting increasingly incensed.

"All right," Vince barked, an unpleasant expression on his face as he regarded them.  "I want the three of you out of my office.  And don't screw up out there tonight.  I'm warning you..."

They stared at their boss, an extra edge in Matt's glare, but the dark-haired man didn't dare speak against Vince out of fear of them having to suffer an even worse fate.

*

Amy was furious as she stepped through the door to her locker room.  She muttered some curses under her breath and slammed the door, suddenly realizing she had company.

"Adam..."

"Hi, Amy," he said softly, almost bashfully as he looked up at her from where he sat on the small leather couch in the room.  "Stacy told me I could wait for you in here."  After a beat, he studied her intently.  "What's the matter?"

"Our asshole of a boss, that's what's the matter," she spat.  She ran her hand through her long red hair and came over to sit near him on the couch.  "We're all officially suspended."

"What?!"  The tall blond man leaned forward, arching an eyebrow in surprise.

"Well, not until right before Christmas, but we're going to be taken off the TV shows."  She let out an exasperated sigh.

"God...that...that sucks, Ames."  Adam winced at the expression on the redhead's face.  She looked so upset, and he just wanted to comfort her.

"Tell me about it," she said.  "Nothing would change his mind - not Jeff explaining what happened to his cell phone, not Matt protesting in anger, not even me giving him innocent eyes."

"What?"  Adam would have laughed at the last thing Amy had said if the situation wasn't so dire.

"I...tried a really dumb routine on Vince," she explained, embarrassed.  "Something more along the lines of one Torrie Wilson."

Adam studied her wordlessly for a moment.  Then, an idea came to him.  "Listen, Ames...if you want, I can go talk to him for you - maybe if one or more of your friends speaks up against this, it can be overturned."

"It wouldn't work," she said as she swung her hazel eyes his way.  She shook her head.  "I know the way this guy operates.  It's his way or the highway."

The blond held his green gaze on her intensely for a long moment, a myriad of emotion swirling through him.  She was upset, which upset him, and he was angry for what she and the Hardys were going to have to endure - who knew how long they would be off the TV shows?

"Damn it," Amy swore, her brow creasing into a frown.  "I just hate this...it hasn't even happened yet, and I hate it!"

"Come here," Adam said softly, holding his arms out to her.

The redhead quickly obliged, sliding over on the couch to be drawn into his embrace, putting her arms around the Canadian as well.  She closed her eyes and rested her head against his strong shoulder, unable to help the feeling that this was where she belonged - in his arms.

*

Later, Adam sat in his locker room with Jay as he watched the scene unfold between Matt and Lita.  The couple were in their locker room, the redhead profusely apologizing to her boyfriend for the mishap on last night's pay-per-view.  Lita, whom of course had served as special referee in Matt's match against his baby brother, had not seen the darker Hardy's foot on the bottom rope.  In the process, she'd counted the three for Jeff, giving him the win and leaving Matt angry and humiliated.

Adam took in the sadness on Amy's face and knew it wasn't all just acting on her part.  She was upset about what would happen to her and the Hardys at the hands of Vince McMahon.  Just seeing the unhappiness on her face was enough to make the tall blond want to smash the boss' face in.  But if he went that far, surely he would suffer a much worse fate than Amy and the Hardys.

Then, it was over - that is, Matt and Lita's relationship, as the man had shouted, "Just like the Hardy Boyz, Lita - we're breaking up!"  Afterward, he shoved her out the door, slamming it behind her.

Adam felt a tug at his heart as the redhead began to cry.  He felt badly about the situation and rotten for Amy, knowing how much she enjoyed the whole Team Xtreme thing.  And while the Matt-Lita romance angle had initially bothered him, Adam hadn't minded it after awhile.  He realized that all Amy and Matt had between them was friendship.  Besides, that was all he and Amy would ever have, anyway.  He tried to push those last, frustrating thoughts from his mind as he focused on the TV monitor.  Jeff was now tending to Lita.  The younger Hardy, whose hair was currently blue with slight traces of purple and green, hugged his friend as she cried into his chest.

"Man, that just reeks," Jay said as RAW cut to a commercial break.  "Those three have always worked so well together."

"I know," Adam said with a sigh.  "This does absolutely suck."

"You know, you should really be the one to comfort her," Jay said.

"Oh?"  Adam arched an eyebrow as he turned to his lifelong friend.

"I don't mean Lita - I mean Amy."

"Well, there's not much I can do, Jay...I offered to talk to McMahon in protest of what's going to happen to them, but she didn't want me to."

"Oh."  Jay sat quietly for a moment, turning back to the monitor.  "Adam?"

"What?"

"Are you still in denial?"

The tall blond knew exactly what his friend meant.  Letting out a sigh, he admitted, "No - I'm not."

Jay turned to face the other man, surprise registering in his eyes.  A slow grin spread across his face.  "Wow...so, are you gonna tell her?"

Adam shifted his eyes as he raked a hand through his long hair.  "No, Jay..."

"But why not?"

"Because that woman means more to me than anything," he replied candidly.  "I don't want to lose what we already have.  And damn it, if that's all I can ever have with her, that's fine."

"I'm not following you," Jay stated, a perplexed look on his face.

Adam proceeded to tell him about the whole Amy-Shane Helms thing, and about what he'd come to think of as 'the statement': "...he is my friend, and that's all he'll ever be...

"Adam, she was talking about Shane - not about you!"

"You don't get it, man...she was talking about all her male friends."

"Bullshit!  At the moment she said that to you, was she or was she not talking about Shane Helms?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"No buts, Adam...if you don't talk to Amy, you're nothing but a gutless wuss!  You're going to regret not telling her how you truly feel - what if she meets someone else and you miss your chance?  You'll never know what her response would have been!  Do you really want to go through that?"  Jay knew he was being harsh and even a bit mean to his best friend, but damn it - Adam was in love with Amy, and he needed a good kick in the ass for being so stubborn.

The other man just sat there with his head in his hands, torn between Jay's words and what he firmly believed with his head and his heart...