Joe's return to reality was a hard one. He had already thrown up several times as the pain had hit him in wave after waves almost consuming him. The only relief was the soft murmurs that came from his mother who he could feel rubbing small circles in his back and holding him firmly while he tremble.

"It's alright Joey," his mother kept saying, "You're safe, your father and I are here, you're safe…."

It took Joe sometime to realize that he was crying and that his mother wasn't just trying to ease his pain but trying to stop the tears that were falling. But Joe couldn't stop crying, and at the moment he didn't care. He hurt everywhere, he was scared, and his brother was hurt. He didn't care if he was acting like a baby, he wanted Frank. He wanted his mother and father to make all the monsters go away and make the nightmare end. He wanted to be a baby for a few minuets.

After sometime it seemed that he finally had no more tears and he was quite content to rest his throbbing head on his mother's shoulder and let her rock him. He kept his eyes closed; still not ready to face the world, until he felt a hand on his forehead.

"Joe, how do you feel?" asked a caring voice from in front of him.

"My head hurts," Joe whispered, looking up at the doctor. "How's Frank?" he asked her.

Dr. Casey gave him a soft smile and moved so he could see the bed next to him where his brother was. "He's stable Joe, he's hanging in there. He hasn't woken up yet though."

Joe's eyes were transfixed on his brother as he asked his next question, "How bad is he?" Joe felt his mother's grip on him tighten some and he felt fear flutter inside him. "How bad?" he repeated.

"He's not good," Casey said, knowing it was pointless to lie to the brothers, "But he's doing much better then when he was first brought in." Casey moved so that she was now blocking Joe's view of Frank and he had no choice but to look at her. "Joe, how are you feeling?"

"Sore, my whole body hurts, but my head's the worst and my leg…" Joe said, leaning into his mother.

"Do you think you can talk to the police? Chief Collign is here, but if you can't then I'll tell him to come back latter."

"No, I can talk to him," Joe said with a sigh.

"If you're sure…"

"I am."

Casey nodded and disappeared out of the room, moments latter booth Ezra and Fenton entered.

"Hey Joey," Fenton said with a smile, walking over to his son. He cupped Joe's face and studied him for a minuet to reassure himself that Joe was truly awake. He felt Laura take his hand in hers and he gave her hand a soft squeeze before bending down to give Joe's brow a kiss.

Ezra hung back to let the family spend a moment together. Though he desperately wanted to know what Joe had to say, he also knew that it was important for Joe to understand that his parents were there for him. He also knew that Fenton would be able to see if Joe was up for some Q and A at the moment. So he waited for Fenton to step behind his wife and son and give a nod of approval before he stepped up.

"Hello Joe," Ezra said.

"Hi Chief," was the subdued reply, and Ezra felt his hart lurch. One thing Joe Hardy was not was subdue and for him to appear so, things had to be rough.

"Joe, I want you to tell me everything that happened. I want you to take your time and we'll stop when ever you want to, but I need you to be as detailed and specific as possible," Ezra said firmly, locking eyes with the youngest Hardy.

Joe nodded and gave a sigh. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before he began, "Vanessa and I were at the Bermont Carnival, Frank and Callie had been with us but Frank got sick so Callie took him home. That was around five, five thirty I think. Vanessa and I stayed for the fireworks. No, we didn't see anybody following us. No, we didn't see anybody out of the ordinary. And no, Frank said nothing about anyone following him and Callie home when he called."

Ezra smiled, somewhat bitterly, at Joe's statements. By now booth boys knew the drill. "Go on," he urged.

"The fireworks were over by ten. We stuck around until about ten twenty then I drove Vanessa to Callie's house; her mom's out of town so she's staying with the Shaws. Then I drove home, it was about eleven. I walked right into it, there was guy waiting for me," Joe trailed off for a second then took a deep breath and continued, "He held a knife to my throat and told me to go to the kitchen. In the kitchen there were two others, a girl with brown hair and gray eyes. She was short and a red bandana covered her face. She was rummaging through the kitchen. The other guy was tall; he wore a ski mask, all black and gloves. He was the one…" again Joe drifted off as the horror from the previous night flashed before his eyes again.

Laura tightened her hold and Fenton moved closer, messaging Joe's shoulder reassuringly. Ezra allowed Joe a minuet of comfort before he pushed Joe on, "He was the one what, Joe?"

"He was the one in charge…he was the one responsible…they had already started on Frank. They had him blind folded and gagged, tide to the posts for the pot rack. The guy was a sadistic bastard…" Joe said, trying desperately to keep his emotions in check. "He's the one who bite us and burned us. He's the one who lit Frank on fire…"

The room was silent after Joe's announcement while each adult tried to comprehend what the boys had suffered. It was Ezra who finally broke the silence.

"What about the other two?"

"The guy who was waiting for me, he was the one who beat me; the girl was the one who cut me. They were following his orders…he tried to kill Frank Chief. After he burned his back…he tried to kill him. He tried to strangle him," Joe said his blue eyes flashing wildly in the light.

"Joe, look at me," Ezra ordered, crouching so that he was eye level with Joe. The youth did as he was told; his eyes wide and round like a fearful child who still had fully awaken from the nightmare, "We'll get them Joe, we'll get all three of them. I promise."