Title: Nothing Worth
Author: GG Bayley <dredarin@aol.com>
Rating: R, implied m/m, domestic violence, language
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, not saying they did this; actually, I really hope they've never done this!
Summary: Is sleeping your way to a push really worth it?
Note: This is a horrible little really angsty thing...don't ask me where it came from. I think my Austin muse is mad that I never use him.

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"What the fuck are you crying for?" Steve Austin screamed into the face of a shivering Lance Storm. "I didn't hit you that fucking hard! You shut the fuck up and stop being such a whiny bitch. If you don't stop crying, I'm gonna call Vince 'n tell him I was wrong, ya shouldn't be gettin' the push I told him to give ya!"

"I'm sorry," Lance whispered, wiping at his tears. He stared down at the floor, not daring to look up into the eyes of his angry lover.

"Ya should be." Austin backed off a bit, plopping down on the locker room's couch and flipped on the small portable tv he traveled with, proceeding to completely ignore his lover. After a few minutes had passed, his blazing eyes rose, narrowing as the Rattlesnake glared at his smaller boyfriend. "What the fuck ya think you're doing just standing around?" he hissed dangerously. "Get your ass into gear and do something useful! Get your slut ass over to makeup and get your face fixed, you look like shit." With that he turned back to the tv, paying more attention to his beer than his lover.

Lance quickly shuffled out of the room, keeping his head low as he walked through the hallways so no one could see the black eye he was sporting from the previous night. He sniffed, willing himself not to start crying again. There was nothing Austin hated more then him crying, and whenever he did break down and cry, it only made the Rattlesnake madder. He wondered for a moment why he put up with the way Austin treated him, sighed when he remember the older man's threat about his push. Austin had seen to it that Lance was one of the first Alliance members back, and that he got put in matches against big talents. If he wanted the push to last, he had no choice but to stay with the abusive Southern, as hellish as his life had become. Austin had Vince's ear, and it didn't look like that would be changing any time soon.

Lost in his thoughts, Lance didn't even notice the figure ahead of him until he bumped right into a strong shoulder. He glanced up, finding himself being glared at through a curtain of blue hair. "Watch where you're fucking going!" Jeff Hardy spat.

"Sorry," Lance muttered, lowering his head and trying to move past the young Hardy brother.

Jeff stuck out his arm, halting the other man's progress. "You better watch yourself, whore," Jeff hissed. "It's not a good idea for a pathetic little bitch to be walking around without his master!" He glanced at Lance with hateful eyes. "You're nothing but a whore you know. A disgusting whore. Do you know how many times some filthy old man has hit on me, promising me the push of my dream? Hell, I'd be a fucking millionaire if I had a dollar for every sleezy come on and stolen grope! But the difference between you and me is, I never took any of them up on their offers! Because I didn't want to get a push from being a fucking slut. Instead, I worked my god damn ass off for every little thing I got! Then you fucking waltz in here and start fucking the boss' little pet wrestler and get a push that should've gone to someone who worked for it! You make me sick."

Jeff spun on his heel and quickly strode away, not once looking back at Lance, whose eyes were threatening to overflow with tears. He sniffed and quickly wiped away his tears with the back of his hand, about to set off again for makeup when a hand wrapped around his neck from behind. He found himself slammed against the wall, the angry blue eyes of the Rattlesnake only inches from his own.

"What the fuck are you doing standing here like a moron?" Austin snarled. "Did I tell ya to stop and chat with yer little friends? What?" he yelled when Lance opened his mouth to speak. "No!" he screamed in the smaller man's face. "I fucking told you to go to makeup and fix your fucking face! Now git your ass there, and you'd better be back in ten minutes! If I hear about you lounging around again yer gonna be sorry, ya got that?" He shook Lance, slapping him hard across the face before shoving him down the hall. "Ten minutes! I mean it!" he yelled, turning and storming back to his room.

Lance bit his lip, feeling humiliation wash over him as he realized that at least a dozen wrestlers were standing nearby, having witnessed the entire scene. He lowered his head even further, walking briskly to makeup, trying to ignore the whispered comments of those he passed. He could hear some of what they were saying, most sharing Jeff's sentiment. Even those who had at first welcomed him to the fed now looked on him with disgust.

Lance paused a few doors down from makeup, not able to take it anymore. He ducked unnoticed into a closet, curling up into a little ball in the corner and sobbing his eyes out. He had given up his friends, and his integrity, and for what? To be Steve Austin's punching bag? To be Austin's whore? Was his push really worth being a pariah among his fellow wrestlers? They hated him for what he had done, the same way they hated anyone who slept their way into a push. Many men who had made the same foolish mistake as he had been driven out of the company from the abuse of their fellow wrestlers.

Lance swallowed and dried his tears, standing up and puffing out his chest. "I'm not going to do it anymore!" he stated. "I'm not gonna let him hit me anymore, and I'm not gonna be his slave again! And if he tries to put his cock in my mouth one more time, I'm going to bite it off!" He nodded, standing tall, filled with resolve.

Then, he heard the hollering voice outside the closet. "Lance! Where are you ya little bitch? I've been waiting 15 minutes for ya! I know yer here somewhere. Yer gonna be sorry when I find ya!"

Lance shivered, shrinking back against the wall, his courage suddenly gone. No push could be worth this.

THE END