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Fortunately for Adam, his nose didn't seem to be broken. It was tender, but thanks to Amy, the blood had stopped. They had also made a quick stop at the trainer's room for an icepack, which the tall blond man now held to his aching jaw.
"I'm going now," he announced as they headed back out into the arena hallway. "Getting this over with," he muttered, his green eyes glittering with rage. He thought about all the things he wanted to do to that pitiful piece of shit Matt Hardy.
"I'm coming with you."
"No," the Canadian said emphatically. He lowered the icepack and faced her seriously. "This is between me and him."
Amy started to stubbornly protest, but he silenced her with two fingers to her lips.
"I'm going alone," he insisted. "I don't know that it's not going to get volatile in there. Ames, you're pregnant - and even if you weren't, I'm not going to put you in any danger. Please, baby..."
She pressed her lips together and merely eyed him silently.
"Please," he continued. "Go to Jay and Trish. Stay with them for the time being, and I'll come and get you when this is over."
The redhead gazed somberly up into his eyes. For a moment, Adam wasn't sure she was going to protest again and insist on going with him. But then, finally, she nodded with resignation.
"Okay. I'll go to Jay and Trish..." She bit her lip, again appearing on the verge of tears. "... I love you, Adam."
The blond man managed a small smile for his fiancee's benefit.
"I love you, too." With that, he turned and headed down the hall to Shane McMahon's office. He knew Amy would be worrying terribly as she waited for him, and he felt badly for that. At the same time, and as he reached the office, he didn't feel the least bit of remorse for what he'd done. Matt deserved everything he'd given him - every blow - and so much more. When he thought of all the nerve the man had for everything he'd said and done to Amy, it made it worth having beaten the shit out of him. Adam actually wished he'd put Matt in the hospital. He wanted to make that bastard cry as *he'd* done to the redhead.
As he stepped into Shane's office, a sneer came to his face, and he stiffened. Matt was already there, standing in wait. The blond man briefly lowered his icepack and openly glared at the other man.
"All right now," the boss' son spoke, moving over to the door and closing it. He came back around to face both men. "Matt... Adam... This hatred between the two of you has gone on long enough. It's not funny, and it's not amusing to me, to your co-workers, or to Vince."
Adam perked up a bit at the mention of Shane's father and chairman of the company. If Vince McMahon himself was aware of this situation, it couldn't be a good thing.
"The question now is... What do we do about this?" Shane said as he began to pace the small length of the floor. "Let's see... We could... turn it into an angle for TV."
Adam frowned at such a ludicrous suggestion. It *was* very much like the WWE to do such a thing, but he disliked the idea.
"Or... You two could put your differences aside and call a truce." The young man didn't fail to notice the slight scowl that came to Matt Hardy's face at his words. He also took not of the developing shiner under the man's left eye.
"Or... We could release one of you."
That last suggestion knocked the breath out of Adam, and he blinked, trying to keep as composed as possible. If he lost his job, his career, over this bullshit with this bastard...
Shane spoke again.
"We could do that... Getting rid of *both* of you would not be a good idea. As my father would say, it would not be good for business." He stopped pacing and turned to look over both men standing in his office. Neither looked happy at all, and he didn't blame them. "In any case, one out of two of those three options is going to happen. But for now, you two need to stay away from each other," Shane said firmly, his dark eyes traveling from Matt to Adam and then back on Matt, where they lingered. "And *you* need to stay away from Amy Dumas as well," he stressed, addressing the dark-haired man.
Neither of the two spoke, but the Canadian somehow managed to keep his temper in check.