Blood Brothers

by dcat8888

A rewrite of the episode, Poker Night.

The 'Original' Poker Night Synopsis:

When Mark gets a date with a woman named Debbie Pledger, Hardcastle has to find a new player for poker night. To the Judge's regret, Judge Mattie Groves, Lieutenant Frank Harper, and bailiff Charlie Masaryk, the other poker players, arrange to have Assistant District Attorney Freddie "Bummer" Bumgarner, a man Hardcastle despises, join them for the game. Meanwhile, a nearby liquor store is robbed. Needing a place to hide, robbers Tommy Kitchens, Crazy Horse and Joey Britton flee to Hardcastle's estate. Entering the judge's house, the robbers quickly take the poker players hostage. The situation worsens when they discover Frank is a cop and shoot him. Arriving at the main house to get some rum, Mark learns about the hostage situation. With some help from Frank, who was left in one of the bedrooms, Mark prepares a trap for the robbers. Thanks to an uncharacteristic heroic act on Freddie's part, Mark is able to successfully implement his plan and capture Tommy and his men.

In this A/U – Cann suggested that Mark perhaps take Milt's suggestion to go get his own bottle of rum, alas, he goes to the liquor store and runs into the three lunatics there and things proceed from there. Some events are taken from the original story, but overall the story is entirely new. I also borrowed from other people's fandom…that Frank is aware that Mark is in law school. I've proofed it myself, so if there are any glaring errors, please let me know and I'll fix them up. I don't know how to make a chlorine bomb or if you really can, but it worked for this story.

Hardcastle and McCormick and all their poker pals don't belong to me

So Cann, et al, I hope you enjoy this A/U version of Poker Night. And Cann, thank you for the original idea and for letting me 'run with it.'

OOOOO

Blood Brothers

by dcat

OOOOO

"El Pappagallo," McCormick scoffed as turned the key and started up the motor to the Coyote. Before he pulled away from the gatehouse, he checked his watch. "She's not coming for another forty-five minutes or so," he said, referring to his date for the evening, one Debbie Pledger. "I'll just run down to Martinelli's and pick up my own bottle of Rum." Saying it out loud caused him to check his wallet. He contorted his body inside the tiny interior of the car to reach into his back pocket to pull it out and looked inside. He still needed some cash for tonight's date so there was no way he could get another bottle of El Pappagallo, that would just about wipe out his stash of cash, she'd have to settle for another low-cost brand, he'd have enough cash for a less-expensive choice of rum. He shoved his wallet back into his pants and put the car in reverse and headed off down the road toward the closest liquor store.

As he got to the arched gate, Frank Harper was pulling in and they both pulled their cars up along side one another to greet each other.

"Hey Frank."

"Mark, how's it going?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "Milt toss you out already tonight?" He added an endearing smile and a chuckle.

"Not exactly," Mark grinned, "But I'm sure he wants to. He's taking my departure from the poker game tonight quite personally."

"He didn't really throw you out though?" Frank raised an eyebrow and asked, knowing the kid had a penchant for exaggeration.

"Nah, I just need to make a run to the liquor store," McCormick explained. "I'll be back in a flash. I gotta have my usual fistful of chips and dip right?"

Frank let out a chuckle, "Oh yeah, of course. I suppose the liquor store run is for one Debbie Pledger huh? I heard." McCormick was a bit surprised that Frank already knew his date's name. Harper quickly began to explain, "Word travels fast, especially when you're ditching our poker game," Frank continued. "He called me up about a half hour ago, tried to give me a lecture about ditching out on a commitment, like I needed to hear it, I had to remind him repeatedly that I'm playing tonight, and then he tried to find out who your replacement was going to be and he let it slip, he said he was playing hide and seek with you over Charlie's bottle of El Pappagallo. He said you needed a bottle of rum for your date and then he mumbled something about you only finding it over his dead body. You really got him worked up over this one, Mark."

McCormick laughed, "I only let him think he won, I'm sure I could find it in a heartbeat if I really wanted to." Mark's face broadened into another grin, "And I'm sorry you got the lecture, he gave it to me too, he must have really liked what he said enough to want to hear it again. He is big on reruns though, look how many times he's sat through John Wayne's movies. Who'd you guys get to replace me anyway?"

"Baumy Baumgarner."

"Fwedddy?" McCormick exaggerated his name and laughed. "No wonder he won't give me the El Pappagallo, he's probably inside right now drinking the whole bottle himself."

"Well, he doesn't know yet and I'm sure not the one who's going to tell him."

"And he thinks I have a mean streak in me. Who asked Baumy to play anyway?"

"That would be Mattie and I'm letting her take the rap on the fallout that this is gonna bring."

"Hardcastle's not gonna forgot this one quickly," he paused and laughed, "Not that he ever forgets anything quickly. Maybe we should call her and warn her, she might want to catch the first flight out of town and move to China tonight."

"It's too late, she's already on her way over."

"Well, I better make this a quick run then, 'cause I think I want to get back here to see how these fireworks start. Besides, I think Debbie's probably on her way too."

"She's picking you up?" Mark nodded. Frank smiled, "What a world nowadays. The chick's come chasing right after you, I'll be damned. You're one lucky man Mark."

"Don't I know it," he stated, showing a broad smile.

Frank glanced outside the car window. "You should hurry, looks like we got some rain coming, and I wouldn't want to see you and that fancy car of yours get flooded out. You better get what you need and then put your car in the garage for the night. You're a regular gigolo you know that right?"

McCormick had to laugh, "Not hardly on the gigolo and not a problem Frank, this car dodges the rain, but thanks for the concern and I'll be back before the Judge realizes that Freddy is in the house. I don't want to miss what's about to happen."

OOOOO

McCormick was lucky as he pulled up to Martinelli's. He was able to park his car right out in front of the store. As he got out, he glanced up at the ominous sky and quickened his step. Frank was right, it was about to storm. He wanted to get in and get out quick, there was no sense in chancing get caught in a downpour, especially after he'd spent a good hour getting ready for his date. He didn't relish getting all wet. As he entered he only saw two other people in the store, a couple, probably in their fifties and they were searching for the perfect bottle of wine. Mr. Martinelli was showing them the wine aisle and pointing out a few of his favorite selections when Mark walked in and gave him a wave when he recognized him. McCormick had been in the store a number of times since he'd lived at Gulls Way, so he knew the owner personally, as he'd either pick up some beer or sometimes a bottle of wine, if the Judge sent him on an errand or when he personally needed something for a date.

The store was a bit of a throwback. The linoleum on the floor was in desperate need of repair and the lighting wasn't fancy by any stretch of the imagination. But old man Martinelli knew the in's and out's of every kind of liquor that he stocked. The dude could wax poetic on the finer points and back story of any bottle in the store, from the history of the distributor, to the type of grape, the climate of any particular area in any given year and lastly, his own personal take on the quality of every bottle he carried. If the guy ever went to a party, he was sure to be surrounded by people, based on all the knowledge he had about his chosen work, McCormick was sure of that.

If the store was a throwback, Martinelli, too, was a legend when it came to knowing everything about his business.

Martinelli gave the older couple some space to shop for their wine and he walked up to Mark and stuck out his hand to shake. McCormick obliged and returned the gesture. "Don't tell me something happened to the Pappagallo already?" Martinelli asked.

Mark grinned, "No, no, Hardcastle's got that one under lock and key and all tied up with a bow. It's a gift for an old friend of his who is retiring."

"Yeah, I know, Charlie Masaryk, he told me all about it, I had to get that one special just for him," Martinelli lowered his voice and added, "And he did mention you might be by as well, once you found out he had it and you couldn't have access to it. So what exactly are you doing in the rum aisle my young friend? You usually head for the beer section."

"I, uh, need a bottle of rum for myself, for tonight," McCormick began, "I got a hot date and she told me that she enjoys a daiquiri every now and again." Mark smiled brightly.

"He wouldn't let you share the Pappagallo huh? Charlie wouldn't mind." Martinelli laughed heartily and swiped a bottle off the shelf. "Here, take the Bacardi, your date will be happy and so will your wallet."

"Thanks Mr. Martinelli," Mark said, grabbing the bottle and walking over to the counter to pay for the bottle.

"I was young once too, I know what your motives are," he gave McCormick a bit of a wink.

The door opened, with the tinkling bell that hung from the top jam and in walked three men. Before another breath could be taken, or a word spoken, a gun went off and struck Martinelli, right through the heart, he went down like a rock behind the counter.

The first blast sounded like an explosion in McCormick's ears. He had no time react as he felt another gun blast from the same gun tear into his own lower torso. At least that's what he thought happened. It was odd, but he felt the pain before he actually heard the second shot. His body was thrust forward awkwardly over the counter and he let out an exhaust-laden groan of pain and shock from both the gunshot and the collision with the unfriendly counter. He slumped momentarily against the counter and suddenly his legs felt like rubber. He had enough presence of mind to grab onto the counter with one of his hands to attempt to steady himself to avoid slipping to the cold floor. The other hand instinctively went to his back where he could feel a rush of blood already flowing through his clothing. "Oh God," he mumbled to no one in particular, as he sensed a new bolt of fear run through him.

As quickly as the two gun blasts had initially happened, now everything seemed to spin into some fuzzy sort of slo-motion. Mark struggled to stay conscious and on his feet. His breathing increased in just a matter of a few seconds and he reminded himself to try to remain calm, which under the circumstances was becoming nearly impossible. Someone was screaming hysterically in the background. Everything was a confusing noise.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the elderly couple standing near the door with frightened looks on their faces. The woman clung desperately to her husband. She had to be the one that had been screaming. Just off to the side of them, he saw three men and one of them came forward toward the counter in an attempt to get Martinelli's cash.

If he could somehow prop himself up he might be able to see Martinelli and what his condition was, but for the immediate moment he felt lucky just to be holding on to the counter for badly needed support. He readjusted his clutch on the counter and managed to straighten up a little more. His legs didn't feel quite as rubbery as they first had, but a tingling sensation ran through them. Funny, there was no real pain in his back yet, it was just sort of a warmness that seemed a little out of the ordinary. Maybe it had just been a graze that was the best case scenario. If these thieves would finish the job and leave, then just maybe, he could get a look at what they did to him and get help if need be. He briefly considered charging after them right there in the store, but the 3 to 1 odds didn't look too good. He didn't have much time to think through a plan as they began to talk and he tried to listen in.

"Get the money and let's get out of here," one of the three thieves shouted from behind him.

If he couldn't take them out, he decided to try to get a good look at the three of them for the police description. It was all a dizzying warp of time for Mark, struggling and fighting to stay on his feet and attempting to keep his eyes open and focused on just who was robbing and potentially killing people inside the usually quiet store. It all seemed to take forever, when it really had only been a couple of minutes.

He heard sirens in the distance, just seconds before the three thieves heard it. As soon as they did, they all began to panic.

"Tommy, we need to get out of here quick. The cops are coming." That was coming from one of the two men behind McCormick. One of them was named Tommy. The third man, still behind the counter, intent on emptying out the cash register, kept scooping up as much cash as he could.

As he shoveled up all the cash he glanced down at the wounded Martinelli. "This guy back here is good and dead, you should see the hole you put in his chest Tommy." And he followed it up with a sick laugh.

"Crazy Horse, come on man, the cops are coming," One of them said, with a serious tone to his voice.

Another one is Crazy Horse, Mark thought, must be some sort of nickname.

Joey poked his head out of the door to try to ascertain just how far away the police were and as he did he noticed the Coyote. He came back inside. "There's a great car out here Tommy. Can we take it?"

Tommy tried to glance through the window and he spotted it as well. "Must be our wounded customer's huh?" He walked up beside McCormick and checked over to see that Mark was still alive and clinging to the counter top. For added insult, he took the butt of his gun and poked it into the bullet hole on Mark's back. McCormick screamed out in utter agony. "Hey, did that hurt fella? Sorry 'bout that, it just slipped. Is that your fancy car? I'm sure it doesn't belong to the old folks here?" He turned and pointed his gun right at elderly couple. The woman began to scream once again as the man shook his head.

"It's not ours," the man called out, "Please don't hurt us, we don't want any trouble."

"It's my car," Mark said in a strained voice, picking up his head from the cold counter and managing to turn enough to face the two thieves. He started to stand up straight as he spoke. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt. "Let those folks go, leave them alone. You've shot enough people already."

Tommy ignored his request about leaving the elderly couple alone for a long moment and kept his gun trained on them. "It's nice to see some chivalry still exits in this world. Maybe I should have shot them and not you, bet they wouldn't have begged to save your skin," he said to Mark. "Anyway, it's too late. We don't have time to kill them, the cops are too close. We'll let them be. That means hot shot, we're taking you and your car for a ride, now let's go," Tommy said, waving his gun to motion McCormick to get moving.

Mark tried to straighten up to walk and as he did, the one named Crazy Horse came up behind him and pushed him along. McCormick stumbled and grabbed on to anything he could as he made his way outside. He began to wonder how long he could make it as a hostage.

"You folks are lucky, Tommy's done enough shooting for right now," Crazy Horse said to the couple as he shoved Mark past them, "Come on fancy car man," he gave Mark another push out of the door as he latched onto the back of Mark's sport coat, to keep him on his feet. Once he was in the doorway, he waved his gun in the faces of the elderly couple, "Enjoy your wine, it's on the house," he said to the twosome with a sadistic laugh.

The four of them were outside of the store and Joey asked, "We don't need a hostage Tommy. Just the car."

The sirens got closer. "Yeah we do, put him in that car, Joey you drive it and follow me and Crazy Horse. You understand?" He grabbed the kid by the collar until he knew Joey got the message.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll follow you, what else would I do?" Joey quickly forgot about taking a hostage, enthralled by the chance to drive a real, honest to goodness race car. Crazy Horse was making sure Mark got shoved into the Coyote as Joey quickly trotted around and slid into the driver's seat. "Gimme the keys man," he said to Mark.

"You're nuts if you think I'm handing my car over to you," Mark said. The third one's name was Joey. Now McCormick had all their first names. The longer he could stall for time, meant maybe the cops would show up.

Crazy Horse, still standing right outside the car, pulled out his gun and aimed it right at McCormick's head. "I don't think you have a choice right now slick, give him the keys. The cops ain't gonna know if you're a dead hostage or a live hostage, so make your choice now. I'll just as soon reach in and pick them off your dead carcass as alive."

Mark dug into the pocket of his pants and handed over his keys. There was no sense in getting killed over a set of keys. Being alive was being alive.

Joey fired up the engine and Crazy Horse ran ahead and jumped in the car with Tommy.

"That guy is going to be a problem. I'm not so sure you should leave him with Joey."

"Joey does what I tell him to do, 'sides, that guy has a bullet of mine riding in his backside, he's going nowhere, and with a ride like that," he nodded back to the Coyote, "maybe he'll come in handy, maybe he's got cash, maybe a ransom or something," Tommy explained. "We can always use more cash."

The word cash brought a smile to Crazy Horse's face as he understood Tommy's motives. "Yeah, the liquor store didn't have much, what's the plan now?"

Tommy drove away and checked quickly to see that Joey was following right behind, which he was. He listened and heard the police sirens too. "We need to find a spot to lay low till the cops aren't bearing down on us." Tommy's eyes tracked up and down the PCH as they drove, looking for just the right spot.

In the Coyote, Joey was enjoying driving the powerful race car, virtually lost in his own world while McCormick was cringing at the way the kid was grinding the gears of his car as well as the weird pain that was now emanating from his lower back.

"This car is sweet, is it really yours?" Joey asked him.

"Yeah," Mark gritted his teeth.

"You race it?" Joey kept at him.

"No, not anymore," Mark said with some irritation, his anger began to flare. "Look, you guys just shot me in the back and took me hostage, killed a friend of mine and robbed his store, I'm not really interested in telling you my life story right now."

"I didn't shoot you," Joey said in his own defense.

"You ever hear of accessory? Get your head out of the sand kid," he paused and added "and quit grinding my 2nd gear while you're at it."

"Yeah, I know what accessory is, I've been in jail, just petty stuff, me and Tommy and Crazy Horse just escaped. And Tommy says we ain't never going back. You guys just got in the way back there."

"Good luck with that one as your defense pal," Mark said, grimacing from the pain that was now getting worse by the second. He knew he was losing blood fast, as it felt like he was sitting in a bucket of it.

"Well, I ain't never killed no one yet."

"That's not a defense," Mark said, leaning back to put pressure on the wound. "You could have tried to stop it or not been involved at all. If you need a hobby, take up bird watching, rather than robbing liquor stores. You need to start thinking for yourself kid, instead of being led around like a lap dog."

"Are you some sort of street lawyer or something, what do you know anyway?" Joey asked him. "Tommy and Crazy Horse are my friends. They've always been there for me and they're not gonna change now. I don't know you from anyone."

"Well, I'm not a lawyer, all I know is if you don't start changing how you're living your life, you're gonna end up in a real bad place. Look at tonight, the three of you robbed a liquor store, probably killed the owner and left him for dead, shot me and took me hostage, now you're stealing my car too. What do you think it means?" McCormick didn't wait for an answer, "When the cops do catch up to you, and they will catch up to you, you'll be going away for a long time, no matter who pulled the trigger. And take my word for it, you're gonna have a long time to think about all of this."

Joey all but ignored whatever Mark was trying to tell him. "Yeah, this is a sweet ride," he said, petting the steering wheel. I gotta get me one of these someday."

McCormick was hurting too much to continue to try to reason with an imbecile. He decided to try another question. "Where are we going?"

Joey broke out of his fascination with the car long enough to give Mark an answer, "I don't know, I'm just supposed to follow Tommy, and it looks like we're going to stop somewhere up ahead."

Mark looked through the windshield, and realized they were heading down the PCH, as the drizzle was starting to fall through the open top. Great, he thought, it wasn't bad enough to be held up, shot, held hostage, have your car stolen and now he was getting wet too, something else he wanted to avoid. His irritation faded as he realized now what he was seeing. He couldn't believe his eyes, they were pulling into Gulls Way, under the familiar arch. There was both an upside and downside to this. There was no way they could know that he lived here. His wallet was still in his back pocket and he hadn't said anything about Gulls Way.

Mark was quick to notice Frank's, Mattie's, Charlie's and Freddie's car still out front parked around the circle. And there was one additional car. Debbie Pledger had arrived as well. She must be inside as she wasn't sitting out in her car. He internally groaned. He continued to feel a line of sweat breaking out on his forehead and that he was still struggling to breathe, some weakness and shock was obviously setting in on him. He still had no clue as to the damage that had been done to him. Worst of all, he could feel the strength being drained out of his body. The pain in his back was intense and sharp and he tried to shift a little in the seat but quickly realized any unnecessary movement would be ill advised. He suppressed a groan, and pursed his lips and gritted his teeth instead. There was no sense in letting this D-list criminal know just how much he was hurting.

They didn't pull right up to the house, choosing to park up the drive, probably to avoid surprising whoever was in the house. It didn't matter, McCormick knew that Hardcastle could and would hear the Coyote even this far away from the house. The powerful engine had a distinctive roar all its own and Milt was astutely tuned to hearing it. It had been that way ever since he'd moved into Gulls Way. And with Debbie Pledger inside to annoy and remind him that McCormick wasn't playing poker tonight, there was no doubt that the Judge would be anxious to hear the motor.

McCormick decided to attempt to play possum and maybe they'd leave him in the car. There was no way they knew he lived here. If they thought he was unconscious, maybe they'd leave him outside. By now, he knew the estate like he knew the back of his hand and if they left him in the car while they went inside, he could move around quickly and cautiously and maybe save the day. He closed his eyes and acted like he was unconscious, not that it was hard to do, he really wanted to close his eyes and sleep the pain away. Tommy and Crazy Horse approached the Coyote.

"Let's go into the house, what happened to him?" Tommy said, seeing Mark who appeared to be out like a light. He pushed McCormick's shoulder and saw him droop over.

"You shot him in the back Tommy," Joey said, "He probably passed out, I could hear him breathing pretty hard. He was talking for awhile, but then he got quiet. He ain't dead is he?"

"No, he ain't dead yet," Tommy jabbed at McCormick a few additional times and got no response. "Alright then, its okay, he's not going anywhere, not with one of my bullets in him, leave him there, there's no sense in hauling him around. And it doesn't matter if he's dead or alive," Tommy sneered. "We got the car anyway. If he's dead, we can always ditch his body later if we have to."

"What are we doing here?" Joey asked.

"We're lying low, what's it look like we're doing?" Crazy Horse spewed out. "Didn't you see the cops about a half mile back? Why'd we bring this doofas with us? He's just an anchor Tommy. In fact now we have two of them, and one has a bullet in his back. This ain't good." Crazy Horse turned to Joey and said, "You're a real idiot, you know that? We're letting the cops do what they gotta do and then we'll head out, right Tommy?"

Tommy looked back toward the house and nodded. "Yeah, whatever, let's go see what's inside."

OOOOO

"That sounds like the Coyote now, McCormick must be back," Milt said as he headed toward the door, past Frank who was on the phone, getting some details about a robbery that had just occurred at a nearby liquor store. The store owner was dead and two witnesses were very shook up.

Milt paused long enough to give Debbie Pledger a small, yet condescendingly pleasant smile, as he heard the engine. He didn't want to be reminded that McCormick was ditching the poker game, but there she sat in living color in his den. McCormick's date had arrived about ten minutes earlier and had first checked for Mark out in the gatehouse and when she got no response she walked over to the main house and was greeted by the Judge and invited in to wait for his return.

Now there was another knock at the door.

"Oh for crying out loud McCormick, you don't need to knock," the Judge began to say as he got to the door and opened it. Three guns were pointing at his head.

OOOOO

"I'm glad you welcomed me and my friends in," Tommy began as he spun the Judge around and pointed him toward the den and the rest of the guests. "Nice place you got here Pops. Is this everyone? Or you got more people hiding out somewhere in this mansion?"

Hardcastle didn't answer at first.

"I asked you a question Pops," Tommy reiterated by lifting up his gun.

"No, this is everyone," Milt said. "What do you want?"

Tommy ignored Milt's question for the moment and gave them all a smile. "Well, hi then everybody. Don't let me interrupt your poker game, me and my buddies here need a place to lay low for awhile. And if none of you try to do anything foolish, everything'll be just fine."

"Yeah, don't anybody do anything stupid," Crazy Horse felt the need to re-interpret.

Frank eyed the three of them up, and they matched the description he'd just been given on the phone to a tee. The desk sergeant reported four suspects had robbed Martinelli's Liquor store, just up the road from Gulls Way. Frank was piecing together a very distinct possibility that one more person was still outside and that fourth person wasn't a suspect at all, it might be a hostage. He had heard Milt state that he had heard the Coyote pull up and the fourth suspect that had been described via the phone call, could match the description of Mark McCormick. Harper knew McCormick wasn't a suspect, but there was a possibility that he was probably some sort of a hostage.

"Everyone, sit down," Tommy said. Crazy Horse walked around the room and made sure everyone took a chair.

"No sense in ya'all not being comfortable," he said as he shoved Frank, who wasn't eager to sit, into a chair, next to Milt. "Crazy Horse, you and Joey go check out the rest of the house, make sure you cut the phone lines. I'll watch them and make sure they don't go anywhere."

Joey and Crazy Horse exited the den and began to search from room to room. Tommy went and sat over on the desk, while they all sat around the poker table and chatted quietly between themselves.

"These guys just robbed Martinelli's and killed him," Frank said in a quiet tone, directed at the Judge. "That's what my phone call was about." Everyone could hear him though.

"Isn't that where Mark was heading?" Mattie asked Frank, thinking back to the conversation they had when they both had arrived, and that was right before Freddy showed up. Mark had told Frank that he was going to get a bottle of rum for his date. Harper took some pleasure in telling the group.

"I think so, but maybe he stopped off somewhere else," Harper answered, trying to quell Mattie's and Debbie's fear. He glanced over to Hardcastle who was most likely thinking the same thing.

"Yeah, he probably stopped off for a burger or a taco, McCormick never gets enough to eat," Milt added. "And then he probably ran into someone old racing buddy he knows, he's like an old woman, probably standing in a parking lot somewhere discussing the finer points of turns 3 and 4 at Saugus."

"Now that's the Mark we know," Mattie said, leaning in to Charlie to give him a smile, knowing that Milt was probably right, but they still all worried for not only themselves but for Mark as well. It wasn't like Mark to be late for a first date and he was definitely late now.

Fifteen minutes passed by and Tommy had flicked on a nearby radio to listen to the latest news reports. The information was still the same to what Frank had been told over the phone. Martinelli's was robbed, Mr. Martinelli was shot and killed and four suspects left in two cars, one of them being described as a red sports car.

Harper leaned over and whispered to Milt, "So these are the guys that just robbed Martinelli's and killed him. And I bet Mark's outside in the Coyote. He might be some sort of hostage."

"He might be hurt or dead," Hardcastle replied giving him a tiny nod, "Yeah, only he's not a suspect, he's a victim. I was thinking the same thing. I know I heard his car pull up. After three years, I could hear that car in the middle of a hurricane."

"He might be wounded or bound up somehow," Frank added.

"I know. Where's your gun?" Milt asked.

"Hey, I didn't give none of you permission to talk, just to sit, so shut up," Tommy said, pointing his gun from Frank to Milt as Joey and Crazy Horse came back into the den.

"I gotta use the john," Frank said. Hardcastle narrowed his eyes, knowing that that meant that Frank's gun had been left behind the bathroom door, like he usually did when he came over to play poker.

"Too bad, hold it," Crazy Horse said.

Frank rolled his eyes and looked to Tommy. "Just take him," Tommy said to Crazy Horse.

Harper stood up and Crazy Horse stepped in right behind him with the nozzle of his gun just millimeters from Frank's back.

Milt braced himself for the impending fallout. He knew Frank would try to take out Crazy Horse. It would be up to Milt and the rest of them to gain the upper hand on the other two. Under the table he let his left foot slide over and tap Charlie's leg. Charlie sat up a little straighter and prepared himself to spring into action if need be.

A shot echoed through the house.

Milt was the first one to his feet and he lunged at Tommy, who quickly had the gun pointed at him. Joey, in turn, swiftly trained the gun, anxiously fingering the trigger, on the others. They knew Joey had the capability of firing it, be it on purpose or even slipping accidentally. No one moved.

"That was really stupid old man," Tommy said to Milt. "And really dumb for the rest of you too. I hope you realized that we are not messing with you." Tommy called out to Crazy Horse who shouted back that he was fine.

In a few seconds, Crazy Horse appeared at the top of the stairs of the den, laughing and holding up two guns in psychopathic victory. "This dude's a cop Tommy, I just shot me a cop. You should see all the blood on the floor in that bathroom."

This time Milt headed right for the bathroom, only to run into Crazy Horse blocking his path and training the guns at him. Hardcastle stopped in his track, angry and anxious to check on Frank's condition.

Milt turned to face Tommy, "I thought you said you weren't going to hurt us? How many people do you want to kill tonight? You already killed Martinelli. Let me go check on my friend," The Judge all but pleaded.

"He's a cop, who cares?" Crazy Horse said in his own defense. "He was going for his gun. It was either me or him and today I want to win this game Pops."

"At least let me check on him," Milt again pleaded his case to Tommy.

"Let him go check on him," Tommy shouted over to Crazy Horse, "Joey, keep your eyes on these folks and if anyone moves a muscle, shoot 'em. You hear me?" Joey nodded, still holding his finger tightly on the trigger. "I hope everyone understands that."

Milt forced his way past Crazy Horse and into the nearby bathroom.

Frank was still alive, gut shot and bleeding profusely. Milt grabbed some nearby towels and put them over the wound, in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"That's good enough Pops, he's gonna die anyway, now get back to the den."

"At least let me get him upstairs to a bedroom where he can lay down?" Milt asked.

"Alright, make it fast. It's not gonna matter anyway."

OOOOO

Milt carefully helped Frank step by step up to the second floor and into his own bedroom. He took a few extra minutes to readjust the towels to form a pressure bandage over the point blank wound that Frank had.

"How ya feelin' Frank?"

"I've been better Milt."

"It's bad, but you can hang on a little while longer right?" The Judge asked him.

"This is just a skid mark," Frank intoned. Hardcastle gave him a nod of understanding.

Crazy Horse, still standing in the doorway with the gun trained at both of them began to laugh. "What's all the fuss Pops, the cop is going to die anyway. That's good enough, now get back downstairs."

"Go ahead Milt, no need to provoke them anymore," Harper pushed Hardcastle's hands away. "We'll be alright, all of us." He gave Milt a wink as a sign that meant that Frank was going to get outside and see about McCormick. "Take care of everyone downstairs."

"I will. I wish I could do something else for ya Frank. Hang in there all right?"

"You got it."

Crazy Horse came up behind Milt and jabbed the nozzle of the gun into his back forcing him out of the room and back to the den.

OOOOO

Frank Harper knew he couldn't stay in the bed, gun shot wound or not. They all heard Milt say he had heard the Coyote pull into the driveway. Beside the phone call he had received from headquarters and the radio report of four suspects that meant someone still had to be outside. Before he'd gotten shot, he and Milt had both speculated that Mark was still out in the car and chances were highly probable that he had been hurt or maybe even shot in the robbery as well.

Harper knew he had to push the pain aside for now and figure out a way to end this nightmare. Maybe if McCormick was out there, he could help too. First Frank had to figure out a way to push the pain aside. He was a cop for crying out loud and his job was to serve and protect. This was no time to lie around and wait, bullet hole or not. One move at a time, that's what he decided, everything slow and deliberate. He'd come up with a plan as he went. Frank rolled over to his side and got out of the bed. He went over to the door to listen for any action, but none was forthcoming. He carefully opened it up a crack and didn't see anything. The coast must be clear. Still, he couldn't head back down the stairs and walk back into the fray. He glanced around the room and saw that his only real option was to go out the window and hopefully find Mark and from there, to figure out how to get the rest of his friends out of the mess they were in.

Frank managed to slip out of the upstairs window, out onto the tiny roof ledge, then down the side wall of the house to the relatively soft, mulched flower bed below. The softness didn't entirely work as the gut shot he had suffered flared up with the slightest of movements. Right now the pain felt like pure torture. He bit the inside of his cheek so much that he could now taste the blood in his mouth. Better a bloody mouth than to give away his location though. He took longer than usual once he hit the ground, to regain his balance and composure. And to make matters worse, it was now raining steadily and fairly heavy at the moment. He needed to find Mark without the three criminals inside noticing his absence or hearing him move about outside the estate. As he came around the house, he stopped and peered inside the window of the den where they all were. Things still appeared to be tense inside, but everyone was still in one piece and if they were focused on each other, and not on him or McCormick it would give him the precious time he needed to move outside.

He knew from the earlier radio report that they had escaped from the liquor store in the Coyote and in another car. The radio also said there were four suspects. Since the three inside were all okay, the next likely person was McCormick, since Frank knew he had gone down to Martinelli's to get a bottle of rum. And the phone call Frank had received indicated one of the suspects matched McCormick's description. The curly brown hair was a sure-fire give away every time. Everyone inside knew Mark had nothing to do with the hold-up, and Harper knew victims in a crime situation often could be confused by what they saw and perhaps they'd given the cops investigating the crime the wrong information. That all could get sorted out later, right now he had work to do.

Harper relied heavily onto the side of the house for support as he came toward the front door and saw the Coyote down the road and more importantly, a slightly slumped over Mark McCormick inside the cab of his car. He knew it was Mark instantly, even from a distance as he saw the full curly head of hair. He made a mental note to mention to the kid that he ought to consider a haircut so that he wouldn't be so easy to identify. Harper hoped Mark wasn't hurt too badly. He stopped for a second, and let his own ache pass through his body, while attempting to get a second wind of sorts. Clutching his side he made his way toward the sports car. He had no idea of what would happen next.

Over to the Coyote he went. Peering inside, he saw Mark, eyes closed and he was eerily still. Harper tried to compose himself and as he did he saw Mark take a shallow breath and he was relieved that he was indeed alive. Putting his hand on his shoulder, he gently gave him a shake. "Mark, hey, you with me here?"

Mark lethargically opened his eyes and turned toward the sound of the voice. "Frank?" It took McCormick a few extra seconds to clear the cobwebs out of his head and to recall where he was and what had happened. His initial intent had been to make the thieves just think he was out cold, but he really must have drifted off. Damn, he thought, how much time had he wasted? He was dripping wet from the rain and he wondered how long he'd been out for and he was surprised that Frank Harper was now outside his car. At first he was relieved, the cavalry had arrived. The Judge and Frank must have saved the day. Before he said anything else, he started wondering why Frank was out here at the car and not the Judge. "Where's Hardcastle? Frank, what happened?" He spoke out in a loud and increasingly worried voice.

"Shhhh," Frank cautioned, bringing his finger up to his lip, "He's okay for now, everyone's okay for now, but we do have a little situation inside." He glanced back toward the house and then back to Mark, who appeared pale, even in the darkness of night. Frank noticed blood on the seat, floor and door of the car. "So, why are you taking a nap out here in your car in the rain?" His lips curved up into a smile. He figured the kid was hurt bad, so he broke the ice with a little humor.

McCormick managed to offer up a partial smile. "Not exactly napping here, I got a bullet in my back. When did it start raining?" He kept speaking trying to explain what he could recall. "All I wanted was a bottle of Bacardi," he started. "They shot me at the liquor store during a hold up, killed Martinelli, I think. Guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that's nothing new. Should have forgotten about the rum and just played cards with you guys. You and Hardcase got 'em inside huh? What happened?"

"Yeah, yeah, one thing at a time, just relax for a minute, I know all about the hold-up, you don't need to explain any more, and our friends are still inside the house here. They surprised us and they're holding our poker friends hostage though."

McCormick listened carefully. "But you got 'em right."

"Not exactly Mark," he said again. Harper suddenly slumped against the car and suppressed a groan. He leaned heavily against the car while he waited for Mark to catch up to what he was saying. McCormick hadn't noticed Frank's injury yet. Harper continued to remind himself that with their injuries, they'd have to really take their time or getting everyone out safely would never happen. "You and I are going to have to be the hero's tonight, do you think you're you up for it?"

McCormick's head began to clear and he started understanding that there were more hostages inside, including the Judge. "They got you guys too? Oh God, Hardcastle's in there, and Mattie, and Debbie, Charlie, Freddie? All of them?" Mark's voice dropped off and he moved to try to get out of the car and as he did, he let out a pain-laden groan.

"Not so fast, everyone inside is still okay, and you have to be quiet, even though you're hurting Mark, we can't give away our location, understand? It's you and me that could use the medical attention, but right now, we're gonna have to wait," Harper pulled back his jacket to reveal his own wound, covered by the bloody towels.

Mark's eyes widened as he saw him pull back the bloody towel to reveal his own gun shot wound. He knew just from getting a quick look at the hole that Frank had lost a lot of blood already. "How'd that happen? They shot you too?"

Harper gave him a nod. "I tried to get to my gun, which I'd left in the bathroom like I always do, but they already knew it was in there and when I went for it, bam, one of them shot me, point blank."

"They sure don't wait and ask questions first, do they? They came into the store and just started shooting. I didn't even realize what was going on at first. It all happened in a spilt second, I know they killed Martinelli." He paused and attempted to make some sense of what was going on. "How'd you get out here then? And how'd you know I was out here?"

Harper was impressed, McCormick seemed to be getting stronger in both mind and body. Maybe it was just the adrenaline kicking in for both of them. "Well, they shot me downstairs in the bathroom and Milt talked them into letting him take me upstairs to his bedroom to rest. I waited a few minutes to make sure they had all gone back downstairs and I went out the window. Milt heard your car pull up about forty minutes ago. He can recognize the sound of this engine a couple of miles away. That must stink when you try to sneak in and out of here," Frank mustered up a smile.

"Yeah, I don't do much sneaking because of that," Mark said.

"We hoped you were out here in one piece. I guess you could say I just took a chance you'd be out here."

McCormick shook his head from realizing he knew the Judge that well that Milt would hear his car pulling up and then he thought about what Frank had done at getting out of the house. He glanced up at the upper story of the house. "From the second floor Frank? You jumped from up there, with a bullet in your gut? Frank, you're nuts."

"I can't just lay there, I'm a cop remember? I'm trained to do this stuff."

"Painfully, yes, I do." Mark continued to push himself up in an attempt to get out of the car, he continued to think as he moved, "There's a phone in his room Frank, you could have called for backup up there, and waited it out." He stopped moving as the pain in his back became unbearable. "I think I'm gonna need a hand here."

"I thought about the phone but they cut the lines on all of them. Again, I'm a cop, you keep forgetting that. I thought about going to my car too, I got an extra police radio out there, but it's too close to the window right by the den, they'd be bound to see me. Is there a separate phone line out in the gatehouse?"

"Yeah," Mark began, "But I forgot to pay my bill, so the phone company shut it off."

Frank shook his head. "We going have to do this one ourselves then Mark, I've been through this sort of thing before." Harper reminded him that he wasn't dealing with a rookie cop. "Hang on, I'll try to pull you out of there." He reached in to grasp his hand to pull him out of the cramped car to get to his feet. The blood from each of their hands mixed and they strained despite their injuries. "Take it slow, will ya?" Frank grunted as the strain sent a pain jarring through his own body.

"Guess this sort of makes us blood brothers now huh?" Mark said with a boyish smile as they both felt the blood mix on their hands, and he reached around to his own back, to try to stop his own pain. "Never had one of those before, what about you?"

"If it gets you out of this tin can of yours any faster, then, yeah, consider us blood related, though I think we'd both be better off with a transfusion about now, we're both probably down a couple of quarts. Do you think you can push up just a little more, then maybe I can pull you up?" It was taking all the energy they could both give, to get Mark out of the car. "Maybe you could think about getting a nice family sedan some day, when this is all over, you know something sensible. Something you don't need to crawl into to get in and out of." He finally was out and they both took a minute and leaned against the side of the Coyote. "We must be quite a sight. Let me take a look at what they did to you," Frank said, coming up along side of Mark to take a look at his wound. He motioned for him to turn around.

"What is this, if you show me yours, I show you mine?" McCormick cracked and Frank Harper was only slightly amused. "We don't have time for this Frank, we need some sort of a plan," McCormick tried to sidestep out of the way. "We need to get them out of there."

"Nah, we got time, and I haven't completely formulated a plan just yet, so let me take a look and see what you're dealing with, I already know how bad mine is," he gently spun Mark around so he could see the damage the gun shot had done to him. The expression on his face dimmed as he saw the wound up close. "You lost a ton of blood, brother," he said with an endearing tone to his voice, tossing the brother comment out to the previous discussion. "I don't know if the two of us can pull this off Mark, we're both liable to pass out before we can do any real damage. Damn, Mark, this is bad," he said as he looked at the wound on his back under his shirt. We need to get you to the hospital." He gently poked at the wound, causing Mark to wince and try to pull away.

"Hey, come on, I didn't go jabbing yours, that hurts Frank. Besides, I'm not going anywhere until we get everyone out of there safely. I'll be all right. It doesn't feel so bad, it's sort of warm," McCormick brushed Harper away. "Anyway, you're in the same sort of shape you said so yourself, so don't give me any of that hospital stuff. I'll go when you go."

Frank admired his fortitude and grabbed his arm to keep him from walking away, "Hang on, let me try to ball up your shirt or your jacket or something to put some pressure on that. We gotta at least try to stop the bleeding."

McCormick began to squirm away from the pain once again. "It's fine the way it is Frank. What we gotta do is come up with something Frank, those guys are trigger happy, we don't have time for this, I know we can do this, we have to."

"Would you hold still and let me get this situated? I don't want you dying on me out here. I'm gonna need your help." McCormick continued to fidget. "You know you're acting like a typical little brother right now, blood or otherwise. And if you bleed out, you won't help anyone, including Hardcastle. I know you're worried about him, and he's in there worrying about you, but we have to think of everyone in there Mark, understand?"

Mark settled down and nodded his agreement.

"Now, let me get this." McCormick forced himself to stand still and Frank kept talking. "We need a plan and until I can think of something that'll work, without killing anyone else in there, we're gonna take this slow, understand?"

"You sort of sound like the Judge right now. Since he's already the Lone Ranger, what does that make you?"

"I'm your blood brother, remember? One role at a time is enough for me."

McCormick couldn't hide the smile he kept showing when Frank referred to them as brothers. "You got a brother Frank?" He changed the subject, perhaps losing a little grip on the reality of the situation at hand.

"I got four of them, take your pick, George, Hal, Tom and Rich. I'm the oldest." Frank paused and pressed the towel he had on his own midsection.

"Wow, four brothers huh? I didn't know that. Figures you're the oldest though, you always take everything in stride, like it's nothing new, you've seen it all. Bet there's nothing they did that you hadn't already done yourself?"

Frank chuckled at the thought, "That's the truth for sure, and you never asked before, that's why I never said anything, it's not like it's a secret," Harper ripped off part of Mark's jacket and folded it over to make a makeshift pressure bandage. He tucked it inside of Mark's trousers to help hold it place. "Richie, he's the youngest, he's got a smart mouth on him just like you. That kid was pretty wild when we were younger. He did do a few things I would have never dreamed of though."

"Yeah? Did he spend any time in the joint?"

Frank chuckled as he gave thought to his youngest sibling, "Richie? Nope, he's the chief of detectives up in Bakersfield."

"That figures. Not quite my kind of wild then huh?"

"Nope, but Richie did some crazy stuff, spending some time in a cell would have done him some good, look how good you turned out. We never did think he'd make it to 18. Seems like he was always grounded. And you think Hardcastle is tough on you around here with all the chores and whatnot, my old man was worse than Milt is, when it came to dolling out punishments. You don't know what tough is. That poor kid was always doing chores around the house" he paused and smiled from the memory, "And scheming up his next antic all the while. He was imaginative, I'll give him that."

McCormick enjoyed the familial story, "So are all your brothers' cops, does it run in your family or something Frank?"

"Nope, just me, Richie, George and Hal. Tommy runs a pizzeria. He makes a great thin crust. He has a nice business." Harper finished adjusting the makeshift bandage on Mark's back. "I think that is the best I can do for you back right now Mark, how's it feel?"

Mark closed his eyes and took as deep a breath as he could and attempted to stand up as straight as possible. It still hurt like hell, but he'd never admit it out loud. "It's good, I'll be fine," he paused, not that he'd ever admit it didn't feel right. Then he asked, "Is Tommy's Pizzeria your brother, over there on 76th Street?" He wasn't ready to let go of the most recent conversation.

"Yeah, that's him," Frank smiled, "You've been there huh?"

"Sure have and you're right, great crust. I never knew that was your brother. He doesn't look at all like you."

"I know, I'm much better looking," Frank teased and Mark had to laugh. "What can I say, he got the cooking gene, I got the face. Listen Mark, we need some sort of a plan. You think you're up to this? "Cause if you are, it could just about kill us when it's all said and done."

"Every time you ask me that, you should ask yourself that," Mark began. He wasn't quite ready to drop the conversation about brothers. "It's a good thing to have a brother," he added sincerely, "And you got four, that's even better, you're very lucky Frank."

"You're forgetting I have five now! But yeah, I sure wish they were here right now, we could use their help. As for being lucky about having them, I usually feel that way, until they do something stupid and get me caught up in the middle of all some stupid caper they concocted and I had to figure out how to get out of the mess."

"Kind of like this?"

"This isn't your fault Mark. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. How'd you convince them to come here anyway?"

"I didn't, they just picked out Gulls Way out of the blue, how's that for luck? We're sure caught up in the middle of it now."

Frank grinned, "Yep, and now big brother needs a plan to get all of us out of this."

"Hardcase knows we're going to be plotting something right?" Mark started.

"Yeah, he knows." Frank shrugged the affirmative. "That evens up the odds, three to three. Charlie'll be ready too, being a bailiff and all. That tips the odds to our favor. And we have the element of surprise on our side too. They don't know what we know. The only downside is that you and I together don't make up one man right now. Look at us, if we didn't have this car to lean against, we'd both be drowning out here." Frank glanced skyward as a rumble of thunder peeled and the voracity of the rain increased.

"We got the thunder on our side. It'll cover up any noise we make. And we can count on Freddy, Mattie and Debbie too. Hardcastle will have them ready. I'm telling you Frank, we got the element of surprise on our side."

"And just how are we supposed to surprise them. We don't have any guns Mark. And you and I don't have the strength to go rushing in there under the guise of force."

Mark pursed his lips. "I knew a guy in the joint who said there was more stuff around a house that you could use to make bombs and weapons and all kinds of stuff with, you know just everyday type of stuff."

"You learned that in prison?"

Mark smiled, "I had to learn something right? And you just said being in prison did me good."

"I think they'd rather have you learn a trade or skill for some sort of job on the outside, bomb and weapon building isn't exactly the type of career they hope you gain. But I am glad to hear that you learned something while you were in prison. And I said you turned out good, not that prison did you good," Frank said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Unfortunately we're not inside the house, we're stuck out here in the pouring rain. What kind of bomb or weapon can we make out of rain?"

"Let's try to get around back by the pool. There's a shed out there with some pool chemicals and some garden tools, and who knows what else. Maybe we can find what we're looking for out there."

"Lead the way," Frank said, putting his hand on Mark's shoulder to steady himself. Mark held up and waited for him and slid his hand around Harper's waist.

"And I think you're wrong Frank, the two of us together are a force to be reckoned with."

OOOOO

"So, we got us a cop, two judges, a bailiff and a DA huh?" Tommy began as he had them all empty their pockets and they began to look at the names and occupations of those around the table. "Too bad for all of you that we picked this house."

"It's not too bad for us, but it will be for you," Charlie spoke up, he was fed up with the three of them running rough-shod over Milt's house.

"Yeah, what are you going to do about it?" Crazy Horse took his gun and thrust it in Charlie's face.

Mattie and Debbie each let out a frightened sound. "That doesn't scare me punk," Charlie continued. "You don't think I've had a gun shoved in my face before?"

Tommy stepped over to the table and said, "Well, it ought to scare you old man, we're not playing hopscotch here."

"You guys are nothing but trash. You'll be back behind bars soon enough," Charlie spoke up again.

Tommy wasn't in the mood to listen to the bailiff any more and he moved to club him in the back of the head, until Hardcastle spoke up. "Hey, you don't need anymore assault charges do you?"

Tommy backed off. "I don't want to hear any of your nonsense any more, from any of you. You mucky-muck's don't know squat. Sitting here in your fancy homes, with your fancy cars outside. You don't know anything about the world we live in."

"Why don't you enlighten us then?" Mattie suggested.

"Like a bunch of law enforcement officials would want to understand."

"You do realize that every second you let pass, you're just digging yourself in deeper and deeper, if you give up now, they'll go easier on you," Milt began. "The radio said there are four of you, where's the other one?"

Joey chimed in, "There's only three of us, that other guy…." Tommy had gone over to shut him up.

"Don't worry about the fourth guy or the cop," Tommy said, knowing that the beans had already been spilled. What Tommy didn't know was that they all knew the fourth man was McCormick.

OOOOO

It took the two of them nearly fifteen minutes to get around back of the house to the pool shed, taking breaks along the way because they both were in danger of going into shock or bleeding out at any given moment.

Frank fell to a knee and Mark stopped to help him get back to his feet. "You gonna make it Frank?"

Harper nodded the affirmative as he grabbed onto Mark's forearm and helped get himself back to his feet. "Wish this rain would stop, I just slipped in the grass, that's all."

McCormick stopped dead in his tracks and looked Harper straight in the eye, "Yeah, it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact you got shot and that you're running around with a bullet inside you now would it? It's easier to blame my grass."

Frank wasn't about to admit to anything. "When's the last time you cut this lawn anyway?"

"A couple of days ago Frank, so don't even think of blaming it on me and my lawn care. This lawn is at optimum height right now, I'll have you know. It's exactly maintained at specific American Lawn Professional standards." He watched to see that Frank wasn't really paying attention to his small attempt at humor. "Listen, we can take a break right, slow and methodical, that's our plan, anyway, we both sure can use it." Mark leaned over, and reached around to his back to press the cloth against the wound in an effort to relieve some of the intense pain he was in and once again tried to take a few deep breaths.

"How's your back?" Frank asked over a crack of thunder, noticing him lean over.

"It's still there," he said with a growing irritation in his voice. "Listen Frank, we need to come up with something. If we can create some sort of bomb, how do we pull this off so we don't blow up everyone inside?"

"I don't know the answer to that yet Mark, first we need a look at the ingredients" he stopped talking and slipped down into the wet grass again.

"Frank?" Mark turned to see him lying on the wet ground. He went down to knee beside Harper, who had briefly passed out. He pulled up his shirt and saw that his wound had started to bleed again. Frank came to as Mark applied pressure.

"What the hell?" Frank was surprised that he had fallen down again. "Jus' lemme up, I'm okay."

"Take it easy, you just passed out, you got a right you know, you still have a bullet in ya."

Harper grabbed onto Mark's arm again and got himself to a sitting position and put his hand on the back of Mark's head, rather than his back, as he didn't want to hurt him. "How are we ever gonna do this Mark, we can't hardly walk, look at the two of us."

"I'm not quitting Frank and neither are you, if we're going down, we're taking those three losers with us. We're almost to the shed, we'll just take a break here, enjoy the lightening show and then we'll make it the rest of the way, together." He gave Frank a grin.

"You even are starting to sound like Richie right now. I remember this one time, he convinced me and George to help him out with some neighborhood delinquents. There was a group of bully's that were picking on him. Me and George told him to fight his own battle, like we had done in our own time, but Richie he's pleading with us that we had each other, me and George are barely a year apart in age, and Hal and Tommy were away college at the time. Me and George, we tried to explain to him that we were adults and if we got caught beating up kids, we could get arrested. Richie, he wouldn't accept that. He kept telling us we owe him 'cause we're his brothers."

"What did you do?"

"We went and beat the crap out of the guys, he was right, we were his brothers, we couldn't let him down." Harper took a couple of deep breaths, "Let' go see what we can find in that shed."

The two of them slowly got to their feet and continued on.

OOOOO

McCormick and Harper both nearly collapsed as they entered the pool shed. Thankful to be out of the pouring rain and both aching from head to toe, they both deposited their tired and ravaged bodies onto the nearest container or broken lawn chair they could find. Their combined labored breathing was the only sound coming from inside the tiny shed.

Mark got a second wind first and he trudged over to the nearby shelving unit and began to look over the prospective chemicals and containers that were available to the two of them. He kept wiping the dripping rain out of his eyes and read over the contents on a couple of different plastic bottles right in front of him. "I think we hit the jackpot here Frank. These two aren't even supposed to be stored in the same room."

"Maybe I should give Milt a citation for that?" Frank quipped.

That got a laugh from McCormick. "You might have to do something to calm him down once when he sees what we're going to do his house."

"Hey, we're not talking about making an atomic bomb Mark."

"It's still gonna be a bomb Frank, you understand the concept here right? We mix something volatile together, light it up and boom, there's a big mess." Mark pulled the two plastic jugs off the shelves and set them on the bench across the way. Then he started to look for something to use to contain his bomb.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Frank couldn't help but ask him as McCormick moved from shelf to bench. "Mixing chemicals is tricky, even for a smart, ex-con like you."

Mark stopped cold and turned his head toward where Frank sat and merely gave him a look. "I never said I was an expert on this Frank. Hell, I don't know if it's gonna even work."

Frank decided to get up to his feet. "Let me take a look at what you got."

"I'm gonna take this chlorine and mix it with this," Mark pointed to another container. "I can't even pronounce that stuff, but according to the label, you shouldn't put the two of them together."

"This stuff," and Frank wasn't about to pronounce the name either, "And chlorine will take Gulls Way off the map, if you mix it half and half. I think if we use 1 part chlorine and maybe 1/2000th part of this, we might get the result we need. Just a nice diversion," Frank busied himself by reading and re-reading the labels on the containers.

"Are you sure Frank? I mean if it's too combustible, we could hurt everyone inside."

"I majored in Criminal Justice Mark but I minored in Chemistry. 1/2000th will do exactly what we need it to do. Do you trust me?"

"Hey, you're my blood brother, it's pretty much a given," McCormick grinned.

OOOOO

"How long are we going to sit here?" Mattie said to Tommy.

"As long as I want," he fired back. "You got a hot date or something sweetheart?" he laughed at her as he stepped over toward her and began to run his hand through her hair. "I can take care of anything you might need," he added suggestfully.

Mattie was quick to brush him away and noticed that Charlie, Milt and Freddie were also ready to step in if need be. "Keep your dirty hands off me," she added, which only served to get another sadistic laugh.

"Tommy, we need to get out of here," Joey began, "Before anyone else gets killed."

"We'll go when I think it's ready."

"Can I take that car?" Joey's mind was only focused on one thing.

"We have to dump that body," Tommy said, "You wanna do that?"

"I will if I have to, if it means taking the car, yeah, whatever you want Tommy," Joey offered.

"He might not actually be dead yet Joey, you think you can take care of killing him and dumping him?" Tommy kept after him.

"I, uh, I just want the car Tommy, that's all."

"Well, you ain't getting the car unless you do exactly what I tell you, do you understand that?"

Joey gave him a shrug.

"You'd never be able to kill anyone kid," Milt tossed out, he figured the more they started to in-fight, the better chance he and his friends would have to get out of this situation.

"Shut up Pops," Crazy Horse said.

"This is my house and no one tells me what to say or not to say in my house," Milt was getting riled up. The concern for McCormick and his condition began to weigh heavily on his mind. And to hear them talking about killing him and dumping his body was hitting him a little too close to home, given what had occurred over the last few months.

"Look, everyone shut up," Tommy shouted. "We'll go when we're ready to go, maybe in an hour or so," he directed his comments to Joey and Crazy Horse. "And the rest of you don't have anything to worry about, we'll take care of everything before we leave. You guys get over here and let them think about that for awhile."

Crazy Horse, Tommy and Joey gathered up by the Judge's desk, leaving Milt, Freddie, Charlie, Mattie and Debbie to talk among themselves.

"So we've got an hour?" Debbie asked. "They're going to kill us all, aren't they?"

"They're not going to kill us," Milt said with an edge to his voice. "I'll be damned if there's any more blood shed in my house tonight."

"Maybe we should try to take them?" Charlie said to Milt.

Milt ever so slightly shook his head no, "Frank and McCormick are out there, I can feel it. We know Frank's got a bullet in him, we don't know about McCormick, but we need to sit tight and see how this goes down. We need to be ready, that's what we need to do."

"Forgive me for asking Judge Hardcastle, but Frank could still be upstairs bleeding to death right now. And we don't know that Mark is even outside," Baumgarner said.

"That's not a question Freddie," Mattie pointed out.

"Freddie's right, we can't wait, we need to do something now," Debbie insisted.

"I'm with Milt, we can always defend ourselves when the time comes. But if Mark and Frank are out there plotting something, we have to let it happen. We'll have the element of surprise on our side," Charlie explained.

Just then Tommy shouted over to them. "That's enough talking over there, I don't need you all plotting anything. Sit there and shut up. All I want to hear is the clock ticking."

OOOOO

Frank and Mark made their way out of the pool shed and over to the vicinity of the house. They each carefully carried one homemade bomb, even though Frank had explained to Mark that they would not ignite until they were lit.

"I hope this works Frank."

"So do I," Frank responded. "Here, let's set them down over here."

"Set 'em down?" Mark questioned.

"Yeah, set 'em down. Glad your ears still work. We still need a plan, remember?"

"We have a plan Frank, we're gonna throw the bombs we just cooked up here into the house."

"No, that's not the plan, that's just the weapon we're gonna use."

"Well, what's the plan then?" Mark asked him.

"I got an idea, but we need to take a closer look at what's going on inside before we do anything." They slowly snuck up to the window of the den and peered inside. Frank was pleased as he saw that the three criminals were all still in the den, along with Milt, Mattie, Charlie, Freddie and Debbie. "This is good," Harper whispered to Mark.

"Yeah, why's that?"

"See how the three of them are huddled together?"

McCormick nodded.

"I'm gonna go in the front door, make a little commotion and one of them is going to come check out what it is. While I'm doing that, you're going to toss your bomb through the window right at the other two, and then once the explosion takes place, come in through the open window. The bombs won't kill anyone, so you might have to deck someone. As long as those guys stay put as the bomb goes off, Milt and Mattie and everyone else will be fine."

"You're sure going through the front door is such a great idea?"

"Let's just say I'm taking a page out of my brother's former playbook. Richie had a knack for doing things you wouldn't ever suspect, things that appeared rather normal. I figure coming in through the front door with a bomb is brilliant. With any luck, they'll be thinking I'm trying to come down the stairs to get out, or that you're trying to come in from the outside. When I surprise them with a bomb to their face coming in the front door, well, now that's downright inspired."

"It's a big risk Frank, I hope Richie's ideas work," Mark was quick to add.

"It's a chance we're gonna have to take Mark." Frank winced and started to double over.

"Frank, you okay?" Mark whispered, as he went to help Harper out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But we gotta do this quick Mark, I don't know how much time either one of us has or everyone inside either. You're ready?"

Mark nodded, "Maybe I should go in the door?"

"Mark, there's no way I can climb in the window. I gotta do the door."

"All right then, you want me to walk over to the front with you?"

"Nah, I'll make it, I know I have to. You need to stay put right here and be ready to go just as soon as you see one of them come to the entry, you got it?"

"Yeah, I got it Frank." Harper went and picked up his bomb. "Be careful."

"Remember, don't light it until you're ready to toss it," Harper reminded him.

Slowly Frank made his way around to the front door. His plan was going to be to open the door, and wait momentarily for someone to come check out the noise. Once he heard the person, he'd light his bomb and toss it into the entry way.

The plan worked to perfection. Everyone heard the commotion at the front door and Tommy told Crazy Horse to go check out the noise and to make sure that 'the cop wasn't trying to escape.'

When Crazy Horse stepped into the entry way, Frank lit the makeshift bomb and heaved it up toward the stairs. Crazy Horse was blown to the ground as the explosion rocked the small space.

Mark heard the bomb, peered in the window and spotted Tommy and Joey still standing by Hardcastle's desk. He pulled out a lighter and ignited his bomb and tossed it into the den, shattering the window and exploding right at Joey's feet.

Hardcastle and Charlie sprang to their feet. Milt went after Crazy Horse in the entry way while Charlie went straight for Tommy. Freddie was quick to pick up one of the guns and hold it on Joey and Tommy. Mattie and Debbie jumped into action, Mattie grabbed a nearby lamp and cracked Tommy over the head with it and Debbie picked up another gun off the floor. Debbie held the gun on Joey and Tommy, while Freddie moved toward the den to check on Milt and Crazy Horse.

And it was a good thing he did, as Crazy Horse was attempting to wrestle the gun away from Milt. Frank Harper was passed out right at the front door. Freddie aimed his gun and called for Crazy Horse to drop it. Crazy Horse wasn't quick to give up and he yanked at the gun one last time, forcing Freddie to fire a warning shot that zipped right past his head. Milt finally pulled the gun away once and for all.

McCormick heaved himself through the window and saw that the good guys had prevailed and that Frank's plan had worked to perfection. Milt was dragging a bloodied Crazy Horse back into the smoky den, while Freddie was quick to round up Joey and Tommy. Charlie quickly moved in to make sure they weren't going to hurt anyone else.

As McCormick came around the desk, all the exertion and injury quickly came to a head and he at first dropped to a knee on the floor, followed by a brief loss of consciousness as he completely succumbed to the body damaged he had endured.

OOOOO

Amid the debris and smoke, Debbie Pledger made her way out of the house and to her car. She handed the gun she held to Charlie as she left. As she headed out, she shouted to everyone in the room, "I'm going next door to call the police and the paramedics." Hardcastle acknowledged her with a wave of his hand as he headed straight over to tend to the injured McCormick.

Freddy and Charlie held the guns on Tommy, Joey and Crazy Horse, while Mattie went to Frank's side while Milt went to help Mark.

"Hang on Frank," Mattie began as she grabbed his hand. He tried to wake up as he heard her voice. "I don't know what the two of you were thinking with a crazy plan like that. Using bombs? They could have killed us all. I'm so glad you and Mark saved us."

"Wanted to put an end to this, did it work?" Frank managed to choke out. "Is the house on fire?"

"Yes, it worked, and no the house is not on fire anymore, just a lot of smoke right now, rest easy, help is on its way," Mattie said.

"How's my little brother?" Harper asked, referring to Mark, who was inside the den being attended to by Milt after crashing through the window.

Mattie didn't quite understand what he was talking about and she thought he was delusional as she didn't understand what had happened between Mark and Frank. "Everyone's just fine Frank, we'll call Claudia too and have her meet us at the hospital." Frank attempted to sit up, but Mattie wouldn't allow it.

"Want to see how he is," Frank tried to say.

"We're all fine Frank. There's no need for you to worry. I promise. You're all right too, Frank, but you've got a gun shot wound, so we need you to stay put." Frank sank back down to the floor as Mattie kept a tight grip on his hand.

Meanwhile over on the other side of the room where Mark had come crashing through the window right behind the second bomb, Milt took a knee beside his young charge. "McCormick, you still with me here?" Hardcastle asked him. "We got an ambulance coming right away."

"Frank?" Mark choked out as he came to once again, coughing from the smoke that still hung in the air. He reached up and grabbed hold of the Judge's shirt, nearly sitting up in an effort to quell the coughing jag he was having.

"Frank's okay too, Mattie's with him right now, you need to relax." Milt tried to get him to release the grasp he had on his shirt and as Mark's coughing subsided, so too did the grip. He started to fall back to the floor, as he was coming in and out of consciousness but Milt quickly slid his arms around him to prevent that from happening. Hardcastle sat back on the floor and let Mark rest against him in his lap.

McCormick rested momentarily, obviously gathering up a new head of steam. "He's shot Judge, got a bad wound," Mark continued. "Said they hit him point blank."

"We know, we're gonna get the two of you to the hospital right away, help is on its way."

"What about?" Mark's voice trailed off as he was trying to think of everyone else who was inside the house. Milt could see him searching for names in his own head. "Bombs didn't hurt anyone?"

"Everyone else is fine, including the three thieves, though they're gonna be spending some serious time in jail. Attempted murder on a cop is a long sentence. Plus a second count on you, murder one for Martinelli and seven counts of taking hostages, they'll never see the light of day again."

"They stole my car too," Mark added. "That's at least 2-5 more right?" He was fighting to stay awake.

Milt smiled, "At least kiddo. Listen don't worry about any of that now. We got it all under control, thanks to you and Frank."

"Can you make sure my car gets out of the rain?" He relaxed a little in the arms of Milt. "Don't want the inside to be waterlogged."

"Sure kiddo, don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

"We're gonna need some more chlorine too, I spilled a bunch of it out in the shed," he sheepishly admitted.

"Not a problem, I'll deduct it from you next paycheck," Hardcastle teased him. "What were you doing out in the pool shed?"

"Needed it to make the bombs," he explained.

"Since when did you know how to make a bomb?" Milt was surprised.

"I didn't, but Frank did. He took chemistry in college. My idea though," he began to boast, "See in the joint, I knew a guy, that was his specialty, said you could make a bomb from just about anything." Another round of coughing overtook him. Hardcastle felt his entire body shake from it.

"Listen, you can tell me all about your little escapade with Frank after we get both of you to the hospital. You should save your strength right now."

"For what?"

"I think you're gonna need some surgery McCormick."

Mark closed his eyes slowly and Milt thought he had dropped off, but he kept talking. "Oh yeah, got shot in the back, almost forgot. There's blood in my car too. It's a real mess. Can you clean that up too?"

"I'll get it okay? Would you quit worrying about that stuff right now," the Judge added, giving him a fatherly pat on his shoulder.

He paused for a second and added, "My legs are feeling sorta numb right now Judge."

Hardcastle felt a wave of fear rush through him, good thing the kid had his eyes closed. He knew the bullet was still floating around inside Mark's back somewhere, as he hadn't spotted an exit wound on him. He hoped it hadn't lodged onto his spine. McCormick must have sensed the Judge was worried.

McCormick opened up his eyes, saw Milt's reaction and said, "Don't worry Judge, the doctor's will fix me up. 'Sides I can still wiggle my toes, watch."

Milt glanced down at the kid's feet and didn't see anything. "I can't see anything, you still got shoes on for crying out loud."

"Trust me then, they're moving. I'm not paralyzed, it's not the same kind of feeling. I can't really explain it." He moved both of his feet and even his legs ever so slightly so that Hardcastle could breathe a sigh of relief. "See! Now quit worrying will ya?"

"I'm supposed to be the one telling you not to worry," Milt said, his voice filled with some relief.

"Ah, see, that's the downside to being friends Judge, you get a side order of worry with it every time, no matter if you want it or not. You were in here worrying about me and Frank and we were out there, wondering if you guys were all right."

"The two of you were nuts for trying something so volatile. Chlorine bombs? How'd you come up with that? You're both crazy!"

"Yeah, I can't imagine where we'd think of doing something crazy from," Mark managed a tiny eye roll meant just for the Judge.

"When have you ever seen me make a bomb McCormick?"

"Let's not debate crazy right now Judge, I think you'd win."

"Because I'm crazier?"

"No, 'cause I don't have the strength to debate you at this very moment, come on Judge."

The paramedics had arrived and they first went to work on Frank, who was closer to the door. Mattie stepped aside for them to treat him and went over to Milt and Mark. She knelt down on the other side of Mark.

"How you feeling there handsome?" she asked, running her hand over his forehead and through his curly hair.

He smiled at her and drank in the affection she gave him. "I don't think I'm up for our usual twirl and dip, but I'm okay," he added a tiny nod.

"Well, you're as good-looking as ever." She leaned down and gave him a kiss. "We'll save the dance for another day."

"How's Frank doing?" he asked her, knowing that she'd been at Harper's side.

Mattie glanced over to Milt first and Hardcastle knew from the look in her eyes that Harper wasn't in good shape. She looked back down at Mark and said, "The paramedics are getting him ready to go," she answered in a soft tone. "Then they'll come and take a look at you. You both will be oogling the ER nurses in no time."

"Ah, see, you're wrong there, I only have eyes for you Mattie and as for Frank, well, he's a married man."

"Sure, sweet talk me now, but you'll be singing a different song with all the attention you'll be getting in the hospital."

"Not me." He stopped and took a deep breath. Both Mattie and the Judge could see that he was fading too. "Tell Frank I'll see him at the hospital okay?"

"I will, now you be good and do everything the paramedics tell you to do," Mattie said, giving him another kiss on his forehead, then rising to her feet. She reached out and touched Milt's shoulder to both give and receive some strength for whatever was going to happen. She told Milt she'd ride in the ambulance with Frank.

Another set of paramedics came in and began to treat Mark, so Milt stood up and let them get to work. He walked over to the gurney where Frank was and saw that he was as pale as a ghost and now in a coma. Mattie stood next to him.

"They need to get him to the hospital in a hurry. They say he's critical and he's lost so much blood, they hope they can save him." She paused and added, "I hope you don't mind they started on Frank first," she offered the explanation to Milt, knowing how much he cared for McCormick and both of them were hurt bad.

"Nah, not at all, you did the right thing Mattie, the kid is tough and he's conscious right now, Frank got shot point blank, he needs to get to the hospital," Hardcastle responded. "Don't worry about it, they'll both get the care they need. Did Frank say anything?"

"Not really, just asked if everyone was okay. Asked if his brother was okay and then he sort of drifted off. I'm not sure which brother he meant, I'll have to ask Claudia." Milt shrugged, not knowing which brother Frank was wondering about either. Mattie reached out and took hold of Milt's arm. "They'll both be okay, won't they Milt?"

"I'm counting on it Mattie. We have to believe that."

One of the paramedics working on McCormick came over to Milt. "Excuse me sir, he's asking for you again." He pointed back to Mark.

"I'll see you at the hospital Mattie." Mattie reached over and kissed his cheek before he walked away. "Take care of Mark."

Milt walked back over to the other side of the room. McCormick was already on the gurney. "How you doing kiddo?"

"Judge, you coming with? Or do you have to stay here?"

"Of course I'm coming with you. I wouldn't have it any other way. There's no need for me to stick around here, the police already took them away. They can finish up the investigation later, the house isn't going anywhere, it'll all keep."

"You're gonna talk to the doctor?"

"Sure, if you want me to."

"Don't let 'em cut anything off."

"McCormick, there not going to amputate anything, you got a slug in your backside. They're going to take you into the operating room and take it out and sew you right up, you'll be good as new before you even know it." He made eye contact with McCormick who didn't say anything. "Okay, I won't let them cut anything off," he said, just to satisfy the kid.

The other paramedic stepped in, "We should get going, he's stabilized enough to make the trip."

"Yep, no problem, he's ready," Hardcastle said. "I'll ride along with you, okay?" Hardcastle formed the question but it came out sounding more like a statement.

The paramedic nodded his approval and he began to gather up his equipment.

"Judge?" Mark tossed out his name in another questioning tone.

"What is it now kiddo?" He looked down at him to hear his question.

""Judge," he started again, and took a deep breath and his voice got softer, "I'm afraid if I close my eyes, I'll never wake up. I, uh, I don't feel right, I don't know, I don't know how else to explain it. I feel kind of shaky."

The Judge got suddenly tight-lipped and couldn't think of anything to say. Instead he reached down with his hand and took hold of McCormick's and gave it a squeeze.

"We really need to get going," the paramedic came closer and repeated, he must have heard McCormick's explanation.

Milt cleared his throat, "Yeah, we're ready, let's go." He leaned down a little to McCormick and said, "We're gonna get you to the hospital right away kiddo, you just hang on, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you."

The paramedics began to roll the gurney out of the house.

The Judge continued to keep the grasp on Mark's hand. As they lifted the stretcher into the ambulance and Hardcastle climbed up right along side of him. "Listen McCormick, you just keep your eyes open and you keep talking to me, 'cause nothin's gonna happen to you, understand?"

Mark gave him a nod. "Frank's in bad shape too, huh? I saw how Mattie looked at you." McCormick finally admitted.

Hardcastle wasn't one to sugarcoat a direct question, even in a dire situation. "He lost a lot of blood kiddo, that's the biggest concern with him right now."

"Blood brothers," Mark admitted out loud and a partial smile formed on his face.

"What?" The Judge didn't quite understand.

"Yeah, you know, when you're kids and you mix your blood with a friend, blood brothers, Frank and I are blood brothers," he tried to explain.

"Oh yeah, I heard of that. You and Frank did that tonight huh?"

"Well, sort of," Mark began to explain, "We didn't actually cut ourselves like you're supposed to do, it happened when he was helping me out of the Coyote and we both had bloody hands from our wounds. I mentioned it to Frank and he said okay."

"Frank's a good man to have as a brother," Milt said matter of fact, validating Mark's choice of sibling.

"He's got four already, did you know that?" McCormick stated, with a quiet, impressed tone.

"Yeah, I did, they're all cops except for Tommy, and he makes a great pizza."

McCormick let the disappointment was over his face. It figured that the Judge would know about Frank's family. They'd known each other a lot longer than McCormick did. "Did you ever have a blood brother?"

"Me? No, I just have Gerald."

Mark smiled again, "Gerald's a good brother Milt, you should give him a chance. Lucky to have him."

"Lucky? Are you kidding me McCormick, I keep giving him chances, and he keeps throwing 'em away on horses and cards and whatever else he can find to gamble away." McCormick suddenly gripped at the Judge's hand and his body got suddenly stiff. He closed his eyes instantly. "McCormick?"

The pain caught in Mark's throat and he still held on tightly to the Judge's hand. "'Mmmokay, pain," he choked out, "Just a sec…" he said. His voice cut off and his eyes still shut tightly in an effort to quell the pain. The Judge looked him up and down and noticed his breathing suddenly seemed more strained. McCormick gradually reduced the intense grip he had on the Judge's hand and his eyes remained closed. His lips continued to move as if he was trying to speak, but no sound was coming from his voice. Suddenly the lines on his face softened up and finally his hand went slack around the Judge's.

"McCormick?" the Judge said in a quieter, yet more demanding tone. There was no response. The paramedic who was riding along inside with them, moved in closer and checked Mark's vital signs. He got on his radio and called into the hospital to tell them that Mark's BP had suddenly gone up and that his respiration was rapid and shallow. He was instructed to put him on O2 and to administer another medication into the IV to keep the BP in check. "What's happening to him?" Milt asked the paramedic.

"Just a fluctuation in his BP, it happens a lot when someone looses a lot of blood. I'm giving him something to restabilize it. Basically his body is trying to over-compensate for the injury and until the doctors can get in there and repair the damage, we have to try to trick out his body by using medications to regulate everything. There's no need to worry, I've seen this happen quite a bit. This will do the trick until we get him to the ER."

"He's unconscious right now?" He looked down at the McCormick's still body and calm, expressionless face.

"Yes sir, his body is trying to find all the available blood flow it can, so it's shutting down some areas, and the brain is one of those areas."

OOOOO

"Let's get him into Trauma 2," the ER doctor called out as they wheeled in the gurney from the ambulance into the hospital. Hardcastle walked right alongside right up until they pushed open the doors of the trauma room and one of the nurses would not allow him in. Milt let out an exhaustive breath as the doors swung closed. Mattie, who was sitting in a nearby waiting area called out to him.

"Milt?"

Hardcastle spun around to see her and went over to take the seat next to her.

"They took Frank straight to the operating room," she began. "Charlie went to pick up Claudia, Fred was going to go down to the police station to give them his report right after he followed Debbie home to make sure she was safe and sound. I guess she was fairly shaken up by the whole thing."

"Yeah, that and she was already making moon eyes at Baumgarner before everything went to hell. Good thing her and McCormick were just having a first date. I'd hate to have to tell him his girl friend dumped him for Baumgarner."

"How's Mark?"

"Unconscious right now, it really scared me when he just faded in the ambulance like that," Hardcastle admitted. He leaned back in the chair and didn't make eye contact with her.

"All this over a game of poker," Mattie leaned back as well. "You sure know how to throw a party Milt. She smiled briefly and then got serious. "They'll both pull through, we just need to have faith."

Milt glanced over to her and said, "I found out about the brother comment Frank made, seems him and the kid became blood brothers tonight. McCormick's got a tendency to get a little sentimental over that sort of thing," he explained, letting a smile pass over his face as he let the very thought of McCormick invade his head. "I got a sneaking suspicion that McCormick didn't get to enjoy too much of his childhood, so stuff like that carries extra weight for him."

Mattie smiled too, "I bet Frank loved it too, he's a big softie for that type of thing. And now it makes perfect sense." She reached over and patted Milt's leg. "Can't imagine why you two guys have to try to make the rest of think you're all gruff and rough all the time, we all know you're not."

"Oh no huh?"

"No, you're not and you're terrible bluffer's, why do you think Charlie and I have played poker with you two for all these years? You're easier to read than Mother Goose fairy tales. Playing poker with you and Frank is a sure fire way to put a few extra dollars in my purse, you've financed a lot of shopping sprees," She paused and added, "We know you think of Mark like your own son, he does too."

The Judge nodded his understanding, "He's got a whole family, you and Charlie, Frank, all of us"

"He knows Milt, it's nice for him to hear it every once and awhile."

"Maybe so," The Judge scratched the side of his head.

A nurse walked out of the trauma room and came up to the two of them. Hardcastle quickly got to his feet.

"We're going to take him up to the OR in just a few minutes. He's stable enough for the surgery. The doctor is waiting on the films before he goes up."

"Is he conscious?"

"No, I'm afraid not," she stopped and added, "But if you'd like to see him before we take him up, I can check with the doctor."

"No, that's all right, I just thought if he was awake," Milt's voice trailed off.

"Go on Milt, family remember?" Mattie gave him a little extra push.

"Yeah, maybe so," The Judge agreed.

OOOOO

Milt went over to the kid and saw that he was still unconscious. Looking down, he grabbed McCormick's right hand into his own and gave it a squeeze. Bending down ever so slowly, he whispered, "Look kiddo, we're all here for you. You don't have anything to worry about. You're whole family is here, all of us, including me. We won't let anything happen to you, so you just hang in there and stay strong." The Judge set his hand back down and left the room.

OOOOO

It was onto the surgical floor waiting room. McCormick was out of surgery first and the doctor came out to speak to Milt personally. They walked over to a private area to speak.

"How's he doing doc?" Hardcastle said, shaking the doctor's hand.

"Right now he's in good shape, we got the bullet out and I'm confident we got all the fragments as well. The bullet itself did some damage, all muscular, no organs and he should heal up good as new from that. The paramedics mentioned that he was experiencing some numbness in his legs and back and he also talked about a 'warm' feeling or sensation he was having." Hardcastle nodded his agreement as the doctor continued. "There were a few rather large bullet fragments that latched onto the main nerve in his back and the pictures we got in the trauma room confirmed it. That said, we took some extra time in the OR to remove those and check for any additional fragments we might have missed on the film, but I'm confident we got them all. Now, my best guess is that he'll recover fully. The nerve damage was minimal and because we were able to repair it rather quickly, it should be able to regenerate itself and heal within normally 3-6 weeks. I'll get some new films probably in the next couple of days and get a better idea of where we're at. We have to wait for some swelling to go down. And we'll set up some physical therapy for him. He's headed into recovery right now. I'd say the next 24-48 hours will be somewhat miserable for him. We'll keep him medicated for pain and probable infection. I'll have the nurse come and get you when you can see him. Do you have any questions?"

"How long do you think he'll be laid up here in the hospital?"

"Maybe four or five days, we'll see how he responds to the surgery and just take it a day at a time. He's young and strong, so that's on his side."

"Thanks Doc," Hardcastle held out his hand to shake once again.

"My pleasure," the doctor said as he headed back into the surgical area.

Milt took a deep breath and turned to head back over to where Mattie, Claudia and Charlie sat waiting. "The Doc thinks he's gonna be fine," he said as he took his seat once again. "The doc said they got out the bullet and some fragments that were on a nerve. He'll probably be here maybe a week or so and then some physical therapy."

Smiles lit up on all their faces.

"That's some great news Milt," Charlie said. "I'm sure we'll get the same thing about Frank shortly," he added as he turned toward a worried Claudia.

Mattie reached over and gave her a hug. "Frank's probably in there telling one of his famous cop stories. The doctors and nurses are probably too busy laughing then to come out here and tell us he's okay."

"He's been in there a long time, he knows I hate this sort of waiting," Claudia began. "He's always quick to say it comes with the job and I'm quick to add that his wife doesn't come with his job and which would he prefer in the long run."

"We'll get some news real soon Claudia," Milt tossed out.

"I was so glad when he took the promotion. I thought that it meant this sort of thing wouldn't happen, that I wouldn't have to worry about him so much," Claudia said, starting to break down. "He was playing poker for heavens sake, who would have thought?" Mattie hugged her even tighter.

"Let me go see if the nurse can get us an update," Charlie popped up from his chair and headed to the reception area. He came back in a few minutes with some good news. "She said the doctor's are starting to close him up and they'll be out soon to talk with you Claudia."

"Hey, that's great news huh Claudia?" Milt added.

Claudia shook her head in agreement. She was quiet for an extra moment before she spoke up, "He's just lucky that the doctors are fixing him up, because I'd like to kill him myself right now."

They settled in to quietly talk among themselves as they waited for news about Frank. The surgeon came out to see Claudia about an hour later. He began by telling her that Frank was still in critical condition. The gunshot at point blank range had done extensive damage to several of Frank's internal organs, including his small and large intestines, his ascending colon, his liver and several arteries. The doctor explained how the bullet had bounced around Frank's insides like a ping pong ball. During the long operation they had managed to repair all the damage, but the blood loss had been extensive and the probability of infection was inevitable. He was in recovery and Claudia would be taken to be with him just as soon as he was settled in. The worst news of all was that the doctor was giving Harper 50-50 odds at survival. The first 24 hours would be critical.

Hardcastle only heard part of the explanation as a nurse had come out to bring him back to McCormick's room. He was torn between going to see McCormick and staying with Claudia. She herself convinced him to go see to Mark, that Frank would want it that way and so off he went reluctantly.

The nurse began to explain Mark's situation as they walked down the hall. "He's very groggy right now and he's not making any sort of sense, but he does keep asking for you Judge. We normally would like to give him a little more time to rest, but he's being insistent on seeing you. The doctor said I should come and get you. We're hoping once he talks to you he'll allow himself to rest."

Hardcastle shook his head as he heard about McCormick's stubbornness. "I'm sorry to hear that he's putting you to all this trouble. I'll try to get him to sleep."

"We took the breathing tube out right before he was going to pull it out himself. It's almost as if he's anxious to rush his recovery." They were right outside of Mark's room in the ICU unit. Milt peered inside and it appeared that McCormick was sleeping. "I'll give you some privacy," the nurse said to Milt as she pushed open the door for him and let him pass by her, and then let the door close as she remained outside.

The room was neither dark nor quiet. An eerily looking florescent light was attempting to brighten up the rather stark room. The normal quiet of 'a bedroom setting' was pierced by various machines keeping time and checking on every one of McCormick's critical life functions.

Milt walked over and knew right away that McCormick was awake, just like the nurse had told him, even though his eyes were closed. Hardcastle wasn't about to take it easy on his friend. "I hear you're giving the doctors and nurse's a hard time kiddo? What's that about?"

McCormick's blue eyes fluttered open sluggishly as he recognized Hardcastle's voice immediately and he tried to grin but failed miserably. "Wanted to see you. I didn't really forget to put that mulch down yesterday, I jus' didn't do it," he said admitting to something Milt didn't have the foggiest idea about.

"Yeah, well, they want you to get some sleep, what's the big idea?" Milt replied back in a calmer tone, trying to get the kid to rest. "Whatever you need to say to me can wait. I told you in the ambulance to listen to whatever they told you to do."

He shut his eyes for a prolonged length of time, perhaps gathering up a head of steam and trying to clear his thoughts, "No, gotta talk, my head is dizzy or something, jus' gimme a sec."

"Mark, this can all wait, the doctors want you to sleep." Hardcastle hoped by using his first name, the kid would seriously listen to him. It didn't do any good.

"My legs," he started, "still numb." Then he opened up his eyes again and he made sure he locked in on Hardcastle.

"The doctor says you're fine. He's very happy with everything."

"But…."

"But nothing McCormick. I don't know if right now is the best time to be discussing all this. You got all sorts of drugs in ya, and you're sure as hell not thinking clearly right now." Hardcastle saw by the look in his eyes that McCormick was not satisfied. "Look kiddo, they got the slug out and then they had to clean up a few fragments that were on one of your nerves in your back. That's what's causing the numbness, but the doctor said you'll recover fully."

"How long?" McCormick took a deep, labored breath as he asked.

"Could be about a month or so, you're gonna have to do some physical therapy."

"Hospital?" He was growing weaker by the minute. "How long here?"

"You might be here about a week," The Judge paused and felt the need to add, "But the longer you put off resting means the longer you'll have to stay here." McCormick wasn't amused.

"Frank?"

"You know, this can all wait, you're asking too many questions."

He took several more labored breaths and asked again, "Jus' tell me Hardcase."

"They were just bringing him out of surgery when I came in here, that's all I know right now."

"Alive?"

"Of course he's alive, but I don't know much more about his condition. And right now you need to get some shut eye. That's the best thing for ya."

"Can you find out?"

"Yes I will, and I'll let you know how he is in the morning."

"You going home?" McCormick asked and Milt got the message loud and clear that Mark expected him to stay.

Milt did not disappoint and let his hand rest on the kid's forearm, where he gave it quick but gentle pat. "Nah, I'm not going home, I'm gonna see how Frank is doing, then I'm coming back to sit in here, but you'll be sleeping by then and you won't even know I'm here, so I'll talk with you in the morning. But I'll be close by, so no funny business and no disobeying the doctors and nurses anymore. Get some sleep, will ya."

McCormick got a contented look on his face and this time, when he closed his eyes, Hardcastle knew he would soon be sleeping. He waited a few minutes just to make sure, but he knew the kid had drifted off as he saw some of the numbers on the nearby monitors come down. The nurse came back into the room, went over to Milt and said, "Friends, they're better than any drug man will ever find. Looks like you did the trick, thank you Judge. We'll take good care of him, I promise."

"If he gives you anymore problems, let me know. I'm gonna go check on my other friend, and then I'll be back to sit with him, if that's all right."

"That'll be just fine Judge."

OOOOO

Over the next 24 hours, McCormick began to show small signs of improvement, though the doctors were having a difficult time controlling an infection that had set in from the bullet fragments. Frank Harper on the other hand, was still in a coma and his doctors were still holding out hope that he'd come out of it. Claudia was at his bedside continuously.

Both of them remained in ICU, separated by a glass wall with a curtain pulled to give each of them some privacy. McCormick understood that Frank was right in the room next door, as he'd have Claudia peek in to check on him and remind him that she was planning on 'fattening' him up once he got home. He'd ask her about Frank and would watch as the sadness engulfed her features. He knew it wasn't good, even though she and Hardcastle kept telling him that he was 'improving.'

And Hardcastle spent the day and night there, going between rooms, checking on both men and keeping his eye on Claudia and making sure she was being taken care of.

It was late the following evening and Milt finally convinced Claudia that she needed to go home, take a shower, change her clothes, and maybe even rest a little and grab something to eat. He offered to drive her and after much prodding she reluctantly accepted the offer. Both Mark and Frank were getting the care they needed to get. So off the two of them went off.

Mark woke up several hours later and pushed the button for the nurse to come when he saw that Hardcastle wasn't in his room. He wanted to check on Frank. She came in and asked him what he needed and he responded that he wanted to know if there was any change in Frank's condition. She went to check and came back to tell him that there was no change in Harper's condition. He asked what exactly that meant and she told him she couldn't give him any more details than that, as he wasn't immediate family and she asked if he needed anything else, to which McCormick replied he did not. No change, just how bad was Frank doing, Mark began to wonder.

He remained awake and began to worry and wonder about him. He had lost all track of time and didn't realize that he was still suffering the effects of an infection. McCormick didn't know how much time had passed as he lay awake and let his mind take over his every thought. Rather than continue to think the worst, he decided to see about Frank for himself and he slowly and agonizingly got himself out of his bed, he disconnected some of the leads that were connected to him that monitored some vital signs and then grabbing the nearby IV pole along with himself and he began to shakily make his way over to the glass wall that divided his room from Frank's. He let out a couple of exhaustive breaths as he reached out his free hand to brace himself on the glass so that he would not fall over. He pulled the curtain back ever so slightly to take a look at Frank. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him there and he appeared to be resting comfortably but he noticed that Claudia wasn't nearby keeping vigil. Where had she and Hardcastle gone off to?

He decided since he was already up that he'd make his way all the distance over to Frank's room and sit with him until someone returned. It took him a few minutes to gather up some reserve strength and then he methodically began to take tiny steps out of his own room and into Harper's, stopping only when the pain in his back became unbearable. He winced and pursed his lips with every painful step. He had to stifle himself from groaning out loud several times, reaching back to the bandaged area on his lower torso, hoping that the warmth from his own hand would draw out some of the ache.

Once inside Frank's room, he breathed a sigh of relief as he spotted a chair close by to where he stood and close to Frank's bed. He managed to get himself settled into it without rustling up too much more pain. He could feel his heart beating fast and felt the sweat form on his face from the tiny exertion he had endured to get from his own bed to Frank's bedside and tried to sit quietly for a moment or two to quell the racing heart beat and cool down. He was amazed at how exhausted he was from the short walk. He reached over and put his hand on top of Frank's and let it rest there.

"Hi ya Frank," he said in a whisper. "I wanted to come by sooner, but they wouldn't let me and now I had to sort of sneak in here. Hopefully no one'll come in here and shag me away too soon. And Hardcase will kill me if he finds out I'm in here. Everyone says you're doing good, and you look pretty good Frank. Claudia said you were in surgery about twice as long as I was. I guess the time doesn't really matter as long as they did everything in there that they had to huh? The Judge, he's still mad about the bombs we made and he makes it a point to tell me every time he visits with me. I bet he won't even mention it to you, he thinks it was all my idea. I tried to tell him about your Chemistry degree and I don't think he knows the actual idea came from one of your brother's. I'm not sure what the inside of the house looks like, but I have a feeling I'll have lots of chores to do when I do get checked out of here. Don't worry though, Hardcase won't make you do any work." He stopped talking momentarily and watched the rise and fall of his friend's chest. "No one is telling me how you're really doing Frank. But judging by people's faces around here, I'm betting that they just don't want to tell me the truth. They told me they couldn't give me more information because I wasn't immediate family. I wanted to tell them we were blood brothers, but I honestly don't think that would have mattered to these folks. They don't get it. I'm taking that seriously though Frank." He reached up with his free hand and wiped away the perspiration from his face. He paused again and waited, hoping to hear some sort of a response from Harper, but none came, except for the sound of all the gadgets and doodad's that were hooked up to him. "Maybe we shouldn't have gone with the bomb scenario." He stopped talking, exhausted from the little bit of activity he had undertaken. McCormick put his head back against the chair and felt himself drifting off to sleep. "I'll be right here Frank if you feel like talking," he murmured. "You gotta get better, you hear me? I'm feeling a little tired myself right now, but I'm right here," McCormick said closing his eyes and giving in to the sleep that he fought so hard to avoid.

It was just a short amount of time before several nurses came in and found McCormick in Frank Harper's room. One of them went to call for some orderlies to come and give them a hand, while the other stayed and quickly checked Mark's pulse and respiration and to confirm that his IV was still in place.

Mark woke up as she began to attend to him. "No," he said, trying to stop her. "Leave me alone, I wanna stay here."

"Mr. McCormick, you shouldn't be out of bed. Now just sit still, we've got some staff to come and help get you back settled in your room. The doctor doesn't want you up and moving around like this. We'll have to check the sutures once we get you back to bed."

"Wanna stay with Frank," he sluggishly repeated.

She felt his forehead and he still had a fever, in fact he felt even warmer now. "No, that's not possible Mr. McCormick, you need to be monitored as well, but don't worry, your friend is being well cared for, he's doing just fine. The best place for you right now is in your own bed."

"They said, no change," he groggily added, nodding toward his friend.

"He's still in a coma, but his vital signs are all stable," the nurse tried to reassure him. "You need to let him rest too."

"Where's his wife, Claudia?"

"I believe she went home for a little break. Really Mr. McCormick, there's no need to worry. He's receiving the best possible care."

The orderlies came back with a wheel chair and though Mark wanted to protest and stay put, he didn't have the strength or endurance to put up any sort of a struggle. He told them he didn't need a wheel chair, so they carefully got him to his feet and then back to his own room, where they gently assisted him back into his own bed. The nurses checked the sutures, which miraculously had stayed put, even with all the movement he had made. Then they hooked back up all the leads for the monitors he had removed and settled him back to sleep.

Or so they thought. Within another forty-five minutes McCormick was awake again and he went through the same routine and wound up once more time sitting in Frank's room.

"Hey, I'm back," McCormick started to talk. "I don't know where Claudia and Hardcastle are, but I want you know that I'm here Frank, and you're not alone. I guess you still feel like sleeping and that's okay. You do know you can't do that forever right, but you can do it for awhile, you earned a long rest." He paused to smile, "I wish I could have seen you let go of that first bomb, I heard it, but I can only imagine it going off. I don't think the one I had was nearly as powerful. We'll have to work on getting the ingredients measured up a little more accurately if we try something like that again. I might need to take Chemistry myself, that stuff is good to know." He was quiet for a few moments. "Frank, I wish I knew a way to help ya out here. The nurse, she seems pretty confident that you're getting better." His eyes scanned the room and all the medical equipment and then back to Harper. "There's gotta be something I can do for ya Frank."

In the meantime, the nurse had once again been alerted to the 'jail break' of Mark McCormick, when the alarms from his monitors began to go off again in the nurse's station. She knew he had gone back to sit with his friend. This time, instead of shagging him back to his own room, she picked up the phone and placed a call to Judge Hardcastle and explained to him what was going on. He agreed to come back to the hospital right away.

McCormick was bent over and resting his head on the edge of Frank's bed when Milt returned. The nurse came up alongside of Hardcastle and said, "We're afraid if we continue to bring him back to his own room that he'll continue to go back to Mr. Harper's bed side. And if that continues, he could wind up reinjuring himself. I'm sorry that we had to call you, but perhaps if you're in his room, he'll stay put. Would you mind terribly?"

Milt scowled up his face as he looked upon the two of his friends, both stubbornly heroic to a fault and both in desperate need of healing and rest. "Nah, I don't mind at all. I'm glad you called. I can take care of this. Is it okay to walk him back or do you folks need to give him a hand? He might take it better if I try to shag him back by myself."

"I think he'll be all right if you take it slow and easy with him, we'll check the sutures again and get everything hooked back up once you get him settled."

Hardcastle took a deep breath, "Okay, let me talk with him for a minute and I promise I'll get him back to his own bed." She nodded her understanding and gave his arm a gentle pat.

Milt slowly went into the room and touched the back of Mark's shoulder. The kid didn't even stir. He had obviously fallen to sleep. "This ought to be fun," Hardcastle said aloud, but soft that the kid wouldn't hear it. This time he left his hand remain on McCormick's shoulder and he leaned down and said into the kid's ear, "McCormick, hey, come on, wake up, we need to let Frank get some rest. And you need to get back to bed yourself, where you can heal up properly." McCormick gradually began to pick up his head from the bed and winced as he tried to straighten up. "Easy going there sport. Don't rush yourself." Hardcastle stood right beside him to give him a hand. "You want to tell me what's the big idea disobeying the nurses kiddo?" Milt asked him, letting him attempt to wake up before he helped get him to his feet. "That's not really like you."

Mark's eyes were focused on Frank. "He shouldn't be alone Judge."

"He's not alone McCormick. Claudia just needed to get some rest, she'll be back in a couple of hours."

"Where's the rest of his family? All his brothers?"

"Tommy was here earlier while you were out cold, the rest of his brothers are coming in from all over. They don't live in town. It takes awhile to get here."

McCormick turned his head to look at Milt, "Tell me the truth, is he gonna die Judge?"

"Not if we all can help it. The doctors are doing everything they can for him. And we're all keeping good thoughts. That's the truth."

McCormick turned his attention back to the unconscious Frank Harper. "I've never been someone's brother before, and something inside is telling me I need to be here with him. I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to do," Mark admitted. "I don't think he should be alone and I gotta try to help. "I just keep praying that he'll be okay."

"Sometimes that's all you can do McCormick, and most of the time, it's what works the best. But you can't stay here, you're not in the best shape yourself. You won't do anyone any good if you take a turn for the worse. Now we gotta get you back to your own room. The nurses need to come in here and take care of Frank and you need some rest of your own. You think you're ready to try getting back to your own room?"

Mark reached over and patted Frank's hand once more, "I'll keep praying Frank."

"Come on, we need to get you back and let Frank recuperate," Hardcastle said, helping to hoist McCormick to a standing position. "Just take it slow now and lean on me as much as you need to."

"Don't I always?" Mark asked with a twinge of sarcasm in his voice. "I am Tonto remember?"

"Cute McCormick." Hardcastle internally cringed as he felt McCormick's weight indeed lean against him heavily for support. He really wasn't expecting it. "How the hell did you manage to get over here on your own twice?" Milt had to ask him.

McCormick smiled tiredly and responded, "You know, you surprise yourself when you find out what you can do when you don't think you can."

"I'm gonna remember that the next time I give you something to do around the house," Hardcastle groused.

"Hold it, hold on," Mark suddenly cried out, firmly closing his eyes and putting his hand up to grasp at the nearby wall for extra support. The Judge felt McCormick's left hand grip onto his shoulder even tighter.

"What's wrong? What's the matter?"

Mark's arm reached around to his back, "I think I pulled out the stitches," he said. "I felt something pop back there."

"We're almost there, whatta you say we try to make it to the bed. Can you make it?" Milt said, as they were standing inside the door of Mark's room. "Let's get you over to the bed and I'll get a nurse to come and have a look at you."

"Yeah, okay, let's do it," Mark said as he let the Judge lead him along.

"Does it hurt bad?"

"Not too much, I can make it as long as you keep holding on to me. I think it's bleeding though. Still got that numb feeling in my legs."

Milt nearly was dragging him to the bed, as McCormick was having a tough time lifting his feet to take steps. Mark groaned and winced with every movement. Hardcastle noticed it right away, as well as the sheen of sweat that coated the kid's face and bed clothing. As much as he wanted to harp on the kid's disobedience, right now wasn't the right time. "Here's the bed, I'm just gonna spin around with you and sort of set you back to sit down. Once we get that far, then we'll figure out how to get you settled in."

McCormick let out some exhaustive breaths and managed to nod as he let the Judge do all the work. Once he was sitting on the bed, Hardcastle helped him ease back and then picked up his legs and swung them onto the bed.

"Now stay put while I go get some help," Hardcastle said.

"Not a problem Judge. I don't have anymore gas left in the tank right now."

"McCormick, I've seen you do things on fumes too many times, you don't need gas in your tank. But I am serious, you stay put, you hear me? I don't want them to have to use restraints on you."

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya."

OOOOO

Milt came back with several nurses and as they got to work on McCormick, he stepped outside of his room. After several minutes, one of the nurses came out and told him that he did pull out several of the sutures and she was going to page a resident to repair the damage. It would be about a half hour before Milt could go back in and sit with him.

Hardcastle decided to go in by Frank. Milt sat down and began to talk to his friend. "The two of you are plain old nuts, building bombs out in the pool shed while you're standing there bleeding to death in the pouring rain. I expect that sort of thing from McCormick Frank, but you should know better, you're cop for crying out loud. All this over a stupid poker game and a bottle of rum. You know Claudia is worried sick about you Frank. And Mattie, Charlie and even Freddie. Hell, McCormick thinks he's really your brother over all this. And I sure as heck know what sort of responsibility it takes to be a brother, I hope you know what you got yourself into with him over mixing your blood together. He's never gonna forget any of that, I can guarantee you that. I'm having a hard time keeping him in his hospital bed because of it. He keeps running in here to see if you're okay." Milt shook his head in despair. "I guess what I'm trying to say Frank is this, you need to get better, and soon, for all of us. You have to know how much we all care about you." Hardcastle was done talking, he'd said all that he needed to say. Now it would be up to Frank. He slouched back in the chair and waited.

Only a few seconds of silence had passed and Harper blearily spoke. "Can't a guy get some sleep even in the hospital? First it's been non-stop Claudia, then Mark, now you Hardcastle?"

"Frank?" Hardcastle sat up straight in the chair.

"Of course it's me, who the hell would you think it would be?" Harper still hadn't opened his eyes. "Did you get Mark back to his own room?"

Milt sported a smile. "Yeah, the doctor's in there right now, he pulled out some of his stitches walking over here. He's gonna be fine though."

"I was worried about him, getting shot in the back like that. He kept complaining about his legs."

"He's on the mend. And he's worried about you too Frank."

"I know, I heard 'him. I've heard all of you. I'm so damn tired. I just wanna sleep. I thought I'd get some shut eye once you convinced Claudia to take a break, I wasn't betting on McCormick being such a nag, or even you. Don't you guys ever shut up?" Harper finally managed to push open the heavy lids of his eyes.

"Tell you what Frank, I'm gonna get a nurse, just so she can see you're conscious. Then I'm gonna call Claudia and tell her to stay put at home for awhile so you can sleep. And finally, I'm gonna go make sure McCormick stays put and stays out of your hair. How's that sound?"

"If you can make that happen Milt, I'd be in your debt eternally." Harper raised his hand up off the bed to shake Milt's and Hardcastle spotted it immediately and clasped his own two hands around it.

"It's good to see you back Frank."

"Tell me that again tomorrow when I might give a damn."

OOOOO

McCormick's wound had been re-stitched, and all the monitors hooked back into place. The resident had increased the amount of antibiotic into McCormick's IV as Mark's temperature had now spiked to 104. He looked drained, pale and thoroughly exhausted when Milt came back into the room intent on making sure he stayed right where he was. The Judge knew the news he had to tell him would be sure to keep him in bed too. His eyes were closed and Milt wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not.

"You awake McCormick?"

"Yeah, jus' conserving my strength, or lack thereof."

"Great news for ya kiddo," The Judge began, as he lightly patted the kid's shoulder, just before he took the chair beside his bed.

Mark forced his fatigued eyes open, "Yeah? What's that? They figured I didn't need restraints, because I don't think I could move even if this bed caught on fire. I guess I did a stupid thing by getting out of bed, I am wiped out. I honestly can't move."

He didn't need to admit that out loud, Hardcastle could see and hear the weariness in his voice, face and body language. "No one was ever gonna restrain you, but yes I've got even better news than that."

"Hmm, let's see, you're gonna wait at least another day before you yell at me?"

"Glad to see you haven't lost the smart mouth through all this, and no I'm not gonna yell at you, I'm chalking all this up to delirium." Milt waved his arm around. "I know you're usually not this out of control. Now do you want to hear what I'm going to tell you or not?"

"Shoot Kemosabe." He closed his drowsy eyes and waited to hear whatever was coming next.

"Harper just came out of the coma. The doctor's in there right now, but things are looking good for him. He's talking and everything."

Now McCormick's eyes flew wide open, "Seriously? You're not just telling me a story to keep me under house arrest?"

"Oh you're not under house arrest and yes I'm serious about Frank. I talked with him myself. He wanted to know that you're okay." Milt watched as McCormick finally relaxed and his eyes slowly drifted close one more time. "You are okay, aren't you?" Hardcastle couldn't resist tossing out the question.

"Me? Yeah, of course I am."

"The nurse said your fever spiked."

He closed his eyes again, "Yeah, they gave me something to get it back down," he half-raised up his arm that had the IV in that. "I just over did it, they said, next time I'll listen."

"Somehow I doubt that," Milt let the tone of his voice rise. "Getting shot in the back and running all over the front lawn in a torrential downpour while tossing bombs into the house, that's not overdoing anything is it?"

"I think they meant tonight, here in the hospital, I overdid things tonight, getting up out of bed and all. And you just said you weren't going to yell at me," McCormick reminded him. "This sounds like yelling."

"This isn't yelling kiddo, this is merely pointing out the facts."

McCormick mustered up a chuckle. "Fine, call it whatever you want to call it Judge, but honestly can't it wait?" He tried to adjust his tired and sore body in the bed without much success.

"I thought you'd be dancing a jig in here when I told you about Frank."

McCormick turned his head toward Milt. "I am, really. I'm happy to hear that, but jig dancing is out of the question. I'm just so wiped out all of a sudden, I can't hardly keep my eyes open."

"Alright, I gotcha," Milt began, "Just close 'em up and sleep. I'll be right here to make sure you stay put."

"I'm not going anywhere Hardcase," he said lethargically, 'Just wanna sleep, it's all over now." He started to yawn but was sleeping before he could get it all out.

OOOOO

Mark was released from the hospital four days later and was under strict orders to go directly home, no chores, no cases and no driving until his physical therapy was completed to the doctor's satisfaction.

Before Hardcastle came to take him home, he had a therapy session that left him winded and heated up and when he got back to his room, the Judge still hadn't arrived. Since Milt wasn't waiting, Mark decided to visit with Frank, who'd finally gotten released from ICU and was now in a regular room just down the hall.

Mark knocked on the door and went in. "Hiya Frank, I thought I'd stop in and say hi, before I checked out of here. As soon as the Judge gets here, I'm going home." His face lit up with an ear to ear grin.

Frank situated himself in his bed to a more upright position as Mark came in. "Sure, rub it in Mark." McCormick's grin turned into a bit of a frown.

Claudia was sitting off in a chair, one eye on the TV, where an afternoon soap was playing. "Oh cut it out Frank, he's not rubbing anything in. Mark deserves to go home and get some real rest. Five days in the hospital is way too long."

McCormick went over to her and gave her a hug and a kiss. "Hi Claudia, how are you this afternoon?"

"I'm fine dear, thanks for asking. Listen, I dropped off a bunch of Tupperware full of all sorts of food for you and Milt just this morning. Lasagne, casseroles, stuffed peppers, some of that meat loaf you like so much, and some other little special meals too. I hope you like everything. I've been cooking all week for you boys and I expect you to eat every last morsel. No cooking, no work for either one of you this way. Don't forget that you can drop all those containers in the dishwasher. No fuss, no muss," Claudia didn't let him out of the hug until she completed explaining the food situation.

"Thanks Claudia, some good cooking is what I need. I'll be sure to gain some of the weight I've lost." Mark straightened up and tapped his gut. "I get a little tired of the Judge's grilled cheese sandwiches after a few days."

"Hey, let's not talk about food, remember, I'm the guy who can't eat any solids for at least another week," Frank interrupted.

"That's exactly why I have to cook for someone Frank. I can't just sit at home all night and not do anything. You know I like to cook. Don't take it out on Mark."

"Claudia," Frank was exasperated.

Mark shrugged it off and stepped over toward the hospital bed. "You'll be home in no time Frank, getting spoiled rotten, eating every good thing Claudia can dish up for you. It's just a matter of time. And I'll be back to the grilled cheese."

"And in the meantime, I eat through a tube. That's not much of a trade-off. I'm hungry now." Harper paused, "But hey, they checked you out huh? Where's Milt?"

"I don't know," Mark checked his watch, "He was supposed to be here about a half hour ago."

"He'll be here Mark, no need to get all worked up about it," Frank joked about Mark being in dressed in sweats.

"I just had therapy. They gave me this new thing called a TENS unit to use." Mark pulled out the unit out of his pocket. "It's supposed to help with the pain I'm having in my back, I told the therapist I was going to stick it on Hardcastle and turn it on, since he's an even bigger pain. He didn't think it would work that way."

The three of them got a laugh out of that.

"You'll be back to normal in no time," Frank said. "You already got your color back."

"I'm thinking of taking a Chemistry class next semester. Whatta ya think?"

"Now that's a great idea," Claudia said.

"But you've already got your undergrad degree Mark, you just started law school, how are you going to find time to do that? It's not something you need to be a lawyer."

"Nah, I know, but I'll make time. I can still take undergraduate credits. I really think Chemistry is something I should know. Hey, you'll never know when it'll come in handy down the road. I might need to make another chlorine bomb some day and you might not be around to measure up the ingredients." He mused.

"Let's hope not," Frank said. "You have more important things to do than make bombs."

"I'll agree with that," Hardcastle chimed in from the doorway. Mark hoped he hadn't heard the part about law school, and the Judge didn't say anything, so maybe he hadn't. His secret was still safe. "The two of you need to retire from bomb building."

"Milt, would you get this kid out of here, he's still driving me crazy," Frank said.

"That's why I'm here. Are you set to go kiddo?"

"Yeah, my bag's down in the other room, but it's all packed up. I've been waiting on you Hardcase."

"You said you had therapy until 3:30?"

"That's pm Judge, not am. You're ten minutes late," Mark chided him. "I'll go get my stuff, be right back," he said, squeezing Hardcastle's arm as he went out of the room.

"Hi Claudia," Milt said, and then to Frank he added, "How ya feeling today Frank?"

"Getting a little stronger each day," Frank said. "I'm hoping to get home myself before too long."

"That's not going to happen unless you try to eat something," Claudia added.

Frank tilted his head off to the side. "I don't like the crud they're giving me, I need something more substantive. It's some awful type of gruel."

"And you're not going to get anything else, until you can hold down what they give you. How many times does the doctor need to explain that to you?"

"Claudia, I'm not eating something that looks and smells like the inside of my shoes."

Hardcastle stood off to the side and laughed.

"Do you see how spoiled he is Milton?" she asked.

"Milt, take care of Mark okay? Remember no chores for him," Frank said.

"What are you, his big brother?" Hardcastle teased.

That brought a smile to Frank's face. "He told ya huh? Well, as a matter of fact, yeah, we are."

"Don't worry, I've got a nice soft bed all ready for him," the Judge replied.

McCormick came back in the room. "I'm not staying inside. I'll be down by the pool working on my tan. Forget that Hardcase."

"Hey, the doctor said rest, kiddo."

"I can rest out in the sun."

"Those chaise lounges aren't exactly great for a back sport."

"Hardcastle you worry way too much. Look, I already have a big brother looking out for me, I don't need an old maid too." He gave a wink over to Frank.

"See the respect I get Frank?" Milt asked.

"Mark, he's not really an old maid, more like a middle-aged maid," Frank quipped.

McCormick nodded. "Well, if I can hitch a ride with the middle-aged maid here, I'll be back to visit you Frank." Mark walked over to shake his friend's hand.

"I'm counting on that."

"I'll bring him by, if he follows orders," Milt added, giving a wave to Frank and Claudia.

OOOOO

They got into the truck and began the drive from the hospital back to Gulls Way. The happy go-lucky banter from inside the hospital quickly vanished.

"You're pretty quiet all of a sudden, you feel okay?" Milt began.

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. It feels good to get out of there."

"Yeah, so why so silent, that's not like you at all?"

"I'm just thinking, maybe we could have a party for everyone when Frank gets out of the hospital. Whatta think?"

"Sure, we can do it. That's a great idea!"

"Is the house still a mess?" Mark timidly asked.

"Nope, everything's cleaned up, including your car, I had it completely detailed, inside and out for you. I had Benny check everything out too, no water damage to the engine or any of the electrical work. I don't think it was out in the rain too long."

"Really, you had it detailed?"

"Of course really, I told you I'd take care of it for you," Hardcastle asked in mocking tone.

"Yeah, but full detail? That's a few bucks Judge, you're gonna spoil me if you keep doing stuff like this," McCormick joked.

The Judge kept his eyes focused on the road, but after a moment he said, "Well, I don't always say stuff, you know." He danced around the explanation and left it just as simply as he had stated it.

McCormick watched him for any sign of a look in his direction, but nothing ever came as the Judge stared straight ahead. The 'non-look' was a perfect partner to his comment.

"Believe me Judge, you say and do a lot, and it's never un-noticed by me," he paused and added, "Thank you." He watched Hardcastle again and he this time he was sure he saw the tiniest hint of a smile on his lips.

OOOOO

Three weeks later Gulls Way began to hum. It was time for the poker players to get together. Frank Harper had been at home for a week and according to Claudia, he was climbing the walls in anticipation of 'getting back into the swing of life.'

Mark got up relatively early and began to roll in the poker table from closet it was stored in only to have Milt bust into the den and ask him, "McCormick, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting the poker table out, isn't it kind of obvious?" He stopped dead in his tracks and let his hand do a 'Vanna White' on the table.

"I'm talking about your back, no chores remember. The doctor and the therapist haven't cleared you yet."

"Judge, I'm not lifting, I'm rolling. They didn't say anything about rolling."

"Well, when you wind up in traction, don't come crying to me. I thought you were going to make your famous dip?"

"I already did, it's chilling in the fridge as we speak. I tell ya Judge, I think I'm way more excited about this than Frank is. You know I should have listened to you last time. Poker night should always take precedence."

"So you're not upset that Debbie Pledger is dating Baumgarner?"

"Nah, you can't miss what you never had right?"

Milt walked over assisted him in turning over the table and opening up the sturdy legs and setting it upright. "And you're okay with her coming with him tonight?"

"Yep. I have my own date coming," he raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"Really? When have you had time to meet someone new?"

"It's another person from school. Remember I've had class twice this week, which you were gracious enough to drive me to and from."

"Maybe you ought to set your sights on some older women, rather than the coed's McCormick."

Mark carefully slid his arm around the Judge's shoulder. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised tonight Hardcase. She's not a student, she's a teacher."

Milt gave him a sideways look, "McCormick, you're not supposed to date your teachers, it's a conflict of interest."

"She's not my teacher, she's A teacher." Mark looked around the room. "You don't think we're doing this too soon do you?"

"No, Frank will love it."

"I guess we can start bringing the food in, people are going to start arriving any time now."

OOOOO

Mattie was the first one to arrive, and she brought in a party platter of cold cuts and cheeses, along with a boxful of freshly baked hard rolls. "I hope I brought enough," she said, standing in the doorway. Mark tried to grab the food, but she slapped at his hand. "No carrying for you just yet, and besides, I know my way around the place, handsome." She leaned in and gave him a kiss which he accepted and returned.

Before he could close the door, Charlie pulled up and brought in every sort of bag of chip or cracker known to man.

Debbie and Freddie were next bringing in multiple dessert items, including a specially made cake for both Mark and Frank.

Hardcastle was supplying the liquor.

Once everyone had spread out their food on the table, Frank and Claudia were at the door and Milt went to welcome them inside.

"Got all the smoke out, huh Milt?" Frank said, limping his way slowly into the house.

"Oh yeah, cleaned it up right away, come on in, just about everyone is here I think."

When Frank entered the den, they all came up to him to hug him and wish him well. "Okay, okay everybody, easy, go easy on me. The spirit is willing but the flesh is still a mess," Frank said as everyone gathered around him. "I'm just happy to be here. Thanks everyone, for everything and every prayer and good wish."

"Same goes for me," Mark added, standing off from the group.

There was another knock at the door. "I'll get it, it's probably my date," Mark grinned.

"I thought I was your date?" Mattie teased. "You're dumping me already?"

"Nope, just two-timing," Mark fired back. He leapt up the stairs and got to the door in a flash. When he opened it up, he saw eight unfamiliar faces, four men and four women. "Uh, hello, can I help you?" he asked with surprise in his voice.

"We're looking for Frank Harper, is he here? We thought we had the right address."

"Um, yeah, he's here, come on in," McCormick turned back towards the den. "Hey Frank, you have some visitors."

Frank offered up a smile and some raised eyebrows to the folks in the den and made his way to the entry way, "Excuse me for a second." As he climbed the stairs, Mark was ushering the people from the door. Frank spotted the people and went to greet them. "Hey, you all made it, come on down." McCormick followed behind them, still completely in the dark. "I got lots of people for you guys to meet." As they entered the den, Frank was busy shaking hands or hugging all of them, laughing and smiling broadly.

Mark came down behind them and Frank instantly grabbed him by the arm and brought him close. "Here's the first one right here," he moved his arm around Mark's shoulders. "Mark, I want you to meet my family, these are my brothers, the ones I told you about, I thought maybe you'd like to meet the family. This one is George and his wife Teresa, and that's Hal and his wife Roberta, then there's Tommy, you know him from the pizza parlor and his wife Helen, and I told you all about Richie, and that's his wife Cheryl. I didn't think you guys were going to get here. This is so great. This is the guy I've been telling you about, this is Mark McCormick." Mark started the succession of hand shakes and smiled at each one of the Harper brothers.

When he got to Richie, Richie pulled him into a hug and said, "Welcome to the family Mark, we understand you and Frank are blood brothers. We're here to warn you what you're in for."

Mark gave him a nod. "Well I think he's a good one to have, but you guys already know that, right?"

"Here, here," George shouted from down on the end of the introduction line.

"Glad to meet you Mark, we're glad to make you an official Harper.

"Yeah, anyone that can save one of sorry asses, sure has my vote into the family," Hal chimed in.

Frank took his brothers around to meet everyone else and a few minutes after their arrival Mark's date also showed up.

McCormick took her over to meet the Judge and Frank who were pleasantly chatting. Judge, Frank, I'd like you to meet my date for the evening. This is Melanie Becker. Melanie, this is Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Lieutenant Frank Harper."

Melanie greeted each of them happily. "It's a pleasure to meet you both. Mark's told me about what happened and about each of you. I feel as though I know you."

"Yeah, he's told us a little about you too. You're a teacher huh?" Milt asked her.

"Yes, a lecturer actually, but I'm working on my PhD, in order to become a faculty member and eventually get tenure."

Frank was impressed, "What subject do you teach?"

"Chemistry," she answered.

Harper was quick to suppress a laugh, he merely turned and gave Mark a look to let him know he couldn't believe he'd landed a date with a Chemistry teacher. He got the message loud and clear.

"I understand you have a minor in Chemistry Lieutenant?" she was asking him.

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago," Frank said.

"Well the chlorine bomb was a brilliant idea. You made them perfectly!"

They continued to chat for a few minutes until Harper excused himself to go talk with Claudia and he asked her for the package, she went over to the her where she had set down her purse and coat and picked up a tall, wrapped package and gave it to Frank.

"Mark, hey Mark, come on over here," he called out across the room. "I got something for you."

Mark walked over and Frank handed him the package. "Here you go, a gift from me to you, sort of my personal welcome to the family."

"Frank, you didn't have to get me anything."

"Aw, I know that, but I wanted to, just open it will ya."

McCormick tore into the wrapping and opened up the box to find a bottle of Bacardi. He held it up for the rest of the room to see. "Looks like its daiquiri's for everyone, courtesy of me and my brother."

The End