Well, this is the epilogue. I know it will seem like an abrupt ending, but this is the way it was written. Hope I tied up all necessary loose ends. Thanks for sticking with me on my first full fanfic!

-:-

EPILOGUE

ONE MONTH LATER

The laughs of Joe, Frank, and their friends reverberated through the Hardys' living room, and all their parents looking on with shared happiness. It was good for the teens to be all together again, and so relaxed. It was a surprise birthday party for both Frank and Joe, since neither of theirs had been celebrated officially yet. It was also a congratulatory party for Joe, who, despite his absence, had been able to get accepted into New York University, where Frank would also be attending his courses a second year.

Joe was sitting on the couch next to Vanessa, Frank with Callie on his other side, and was surrounded by their other friends, telling a joke that they all guffawed to. The eighteen-year-old's intense blue eyes sparkled as his laughter died down and he took a drink of soda from his cup. He felt completely at ease and content, right here with his family and friends.

He peered over at Frank, whose exuberant expression mirrored his own. The brothers had both been working hard every day to regain their muscle mass. They went running every morning to build up their endurance and lifted weights at the gym.

After Joe's return, Frank had suddenly felt hunger again and he and Joe had been eating huge meals every day in order to keep up with their workout regimen. Joe was almost back to his normal appearance, and though Frank was still a bit thinner than he had been, he looked and felt infinitely better. And it wasn't just the food that made Frank feel whole again. Despite that, still usually stuck on disbelief, Frank always had a need to make sure that this wasn't all a dream, that Joe really was back, for good.

A while later the only people who remained in the living room were Joe, Vanessa, and Frank. Their other friends had needed to go home or to work, the Hardy boys' parents were in the kitchen cleaning up, and the three on the couch were calmly conversing. A little while later Frank excused himself and went into the kitchen to see if his parents needed help.

Joe moved his arm from around Vanessa's shoulders to quickly brush aside his newly cut hair from his eyes before circling his arm around his girlfriend. He smiled warmly at her as she leaned back into his arm casually. He thought back to the day a month ago when he had called her for the first time since he had gotten home. He remembered her utter astonishment and elation at learning of his return, followed by the identical reactions from each one of his friends. Every single one had dropped all they were doing and were at the Hardy house within the hour. Their reunion had been joyous and tear-filled, all of them finding it hard to believe that Joe was really alive. Meanwhile, Fenton had called Ezra Collig and Con Riley, as well as his friend and former partner Sam Radley, to report about Joe, his abduction, and his homecoming. They, too, had expressed fervent cheer in Joe's apparent non-death.

Joe felt blessed to have so many friends who cared about him. He didn't know many people who had as many close friends as he and his brother had. They all stuck by them, even when the occasional time came that they were dragged into one of the Hardy brothers' cases.

Joe had been profoundly happy to learn that Vanessa had not moved on from him while he was gone. This made him feel a slight twinge of guilt, aware that he almost crossed the line of selfishness. He had told himself he would not blame Vanessa if she'd lost her feelings for him or found someone else, and it was true. That didn't change how relieved he was to see her delighted face when they reunited.

His reverie was broken as he felt his girlfriend shift under his arm and say his name. "Joe, I'm really sorry, but I have to go now. I have to be at work in an hour."

He put on a pouty face. "Aw, already, Van? Can't you be a little late?"

She laughed and slapped him lightly on the arm. "What do you mean 'already'? It's already four o'clock!"

Joe blinked in surprise as he saw that she was right from a glance at the clock on the wall. "Wow, this afternoon went so fast." Turning back to her he smiled crookedly. "Well, can't keep your oh-so-important job waiting." He leaned in for a light kiss before Vanessa heaved herself off the couch and Joe sat upright. With a little wave Vanessa flashed one last warm smile before leaving her boyfriend alone in the living room.

Joe still had a wide grin plastered on his face a few minutes later when his brother returned. Frank snorted. "Hey, bro, you keep that up and your face is going to get stuck like that."

The younger brother shot Frank a mock-sour look before he shrugged, beaming again. "Ah, whatever, give me a break. Today was probably the best birthday ever, belated though it was." He reclined back against the head of the couch, folded his arms, and closed his eyes contentedly.

Frank agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah, it was." He took in the sight of his brother so carefree and relaxed with a satisfied feeling. It just felt so right to see his little brother, back and the same as before. Well, almost. He had gotten much better, but he had a little ways to go yet.

Joe had carried over and was still affected by a slight aversion to basements—and jail cells. And being alone for long periods of time. The blond-haired youth felt the most comfortable being with his brother or parents or one of their friends at any time. And Frank still woke up every now and then to see Joe sleeping in his room on the floor with a blanket and pillow, having suffered another nightmare. He'd almost stepped on him more than once.

It had helped boundlessly with Joe's settling back in quickly when the Hardys had received a call late the morning following his return. It was Chief Collig with the news that Reggie and Garth Crowe and many of their men had been caught.

Apparently, during Joe's impromptu escapade an employee from the gas station had run out to see what all the commotion and gunshots were about, recognized one of the Crowe brothers from the news, and had called the police right away. The cops had chased down the criminals who were trying to lose them, and managed to corner them sometime just after dawn. They were apprehended and taken to jail, where they awaited their trial for their previous crimes, in addition to the kidnapping of Joe. And that put some of Joe's fear at ease.

As for himself, Frank could recall how thoroughly relieved he also had been to learn that his brother's captors would soon be behind bars for life and couldn't hurt him or their family anymore, though it had seemed a bit anticlimactic. He couldn't help but retain a feeling of anxiety, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop, or for it all to turn out to be an illusion and come crashing down. But Joe was still here, and they were all still safe.

Despite the three-month separation, the brothers were now closer than ever, what with Frank's constant protective hovering—often to Joe's annoyance, though he knew Frank meant well and secretly appreciated it more than he let on—and the fact that the younger Hardy regularly confided in his older brother about his time spent locked in that cell.

The dark-haired teen could safely say that within no time Joe would be completely and totally back to his happy-go-lucky and impetuous self, and in a few years the two would work together, solving investigations of their own professionally.

Speaking of which...

With a double click of his fingers to get Joe's attention Frank leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his knees. "Hey, Joe?"

Joe peeked open his eyes. "Yeah, what's up, Frank?"

"You think you're up for a case soon? You gotta be itchin' to get back in the game by now."

Joe smirked and stretched dramatically. "Why, you getting impatient, big brother?" He chortled good-naturedly with a wink. "Don't let me hold you back."

Frank smiled and shook his head. "You know I won't start a case without you there to back me up." It was true. Though it had been months since he'd worked a case and in normal circumstances he'd have been going crazy with boredom by this point, he'd felt no urge to even look at a potential job, not even since Joe's homecoming. Not until he was sure his brother was ready. To be honest with himself though, he would be hesitant even if Joe were raring to go. He couldn't help but constantly think about what had happened on the last case they undertook... But he had to get back in the saddle, right? Even though he felt he didn't wholly deserve his brother's trust anymore.

Joe snorted in disagreement and smirked. "Yeah, sure, bro. You and I both know you could solve a mystery on your own, no problem."

Frank rolled his eyes in exasperation at his brother's total faith in Frank's abilities. "You don't give yourself enough credit, little bro. As 'you and I both know', you've solved a case and saved my butt a time or two," he retorted sardonically. And that's an understatement, he added to himself, then continued more seriously. "No, really, Joe. I won't even touch a case file until you're ready."

The younger boy smiled sincerely. "Well, now that you mention it, I've probably gotten a little rusty. It's been a while, you know. I might even be worse than you!" he winked again. Then he watched warily as Frank got up, walked over to stand in front of him, and reached over to whack the blond in the back of the head playfully. "Hey!" the young Hardy exclaimed in mock irritation.

Frank laughed and acted like he hadn't done anything. "Then we'll start off easy for you, little brother." Still standing, he offered Joe a hand up off the couch.

Accepting it, Joe vaulted up as he pretended to sound miffed. "Who me? I'm waiting on you, big brother. Come on, old man, we'll get a little missing dog case for you to start with. Baby steps, eh?" He dodged a half-hearted swipe from his brother.

Frank looked his brother in the face with an earnest expression, making serious of the situation again. "Whatever it is, you know I got your back, right?" He hoped he hadn't lost Joe's trust beyond finding. He didn't seem to know how wrong he was.

Without hesitation, Joe replied as he clapped Frank on the shoulder and held his hand there for a heartfelt moment. "I've never doubted it, bro."

THE END

-:-

I know this was a bit of a shallow story with some holes in it, but if anyone is at all interested in delving deeper into some parts of the story, go right ahead! (Just tell me of course.) But I'm sure you all have your own story lines to focus on, so this is probably the end of this fic. Again, thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed, I really appreciate it!

Sorry, I really never plan to write a) more on this story or b) any other story in the future. Like my SPN tags, I might spontaneously write stuff like that, but otherwise I don't see myself writing another full length story. But I guess we'll see. :) It all depends on inspiration/time/motivation.

~ MMShadowWolf