A/N So sorry! I really am. Between the holidays and craziness of my home life, finding writing time was getting a little hard. Then I had the issue of this bit. I had to rewrite it three times. Why? Because twice I didn't like the way it was flowing. Then I finally had something going and my PC locked up on me. Now normally that wouldn't be a problem. I can just recover what I had lost. I did that, and then before I could save it, my PC locked up again! So I started from scratch. I'm still not happy with it, but I can edit when I go to post this as a real fully edited story at the chapter breaks.  Now I can't seem to post this on the night I want to.

A/N Woe is me. My Beta, Cairisrin, is working twelve plus hours until inventory time is over. I have no one to do comma patrol! So, I have done all the editing. If there are any mistakes they are mine and I apologize. And I will do a shameless plug for you to go and read Enemy of the State! It's Cairisrin's experiment story. Quite excellent! I love the twist and turns.

Okay, so I had a long authors note. Now on with the show…

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Joe opened his eyes, wondering what had woken him. His room was pitch black except for the red glow of the alarm clock. There was an eerie silence blanketing the cabin. Joe listened hard, still trying to find the noise that had awoken him. Then he realized what it was. This almost deafening silence was what woke him.

When he had gone to bed there was a snowstorm raging outside. While snow itself is quiet, the wind wiping through the trees and battering against the cabin was anything but. The storm must finally be over.

Joe closed his eyes again. He had identified what had taken him from his sleep, and now hoped to return. After a few minutes of lying perfectly still, willing himself to sleep, he opened his eyes again. Maybe, rolling over? Joe rolled over, trying to find a comfortable position. Then he made the mistake of glancing at the clock. It read five seventeen a.m. Damn! He squeezed his eyes shut. Shaking his head a few times he rolled over to his other side.

His eyes opened of their own accord. He lay, staring into the blackness of the room. It didn't take long for his thoughts to wander to the conversation of the night before. He was a little frustrated with himself for admitting some things to Frank, but in a way he felt a better about it. Now that part of the secret was 'out of the bag' he felt a little lighter and a little less lonely.

This vacation with Frank was a great thing. They had spent so much time apart the last few years, that it was nice to reconnect, to share some of his hidden fears. He vowed that the rest of the vacation would be more time to reconnect with his brother. He wanted to know a few of Frank's hidden fears as well.

With and audible sigh, Joe rolled over to look at the clock again. He was a little shocked to see that now it read five forty three. He had spent almost a half an hour lost in his thoughts. Maybe I can go back to sleep. But he knew that he was just trying to convince himself. There would be no more sleep for him today.

With a moments preparation he sat up in bed. He was grateful that there was no wave of dizziness, and only a slight discomfort from the scab on the back of his head. He threw back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He gingerly rotated his injured ankle a few times. His faced scrunched with the pain of the stiffness. He set to work tracing out the whole alphabet with his toes, to help return the range of motion in the ankle.

After that was done, he gently stood up and tested putting weight on it. So far, so good. He took a few steps in a circle near the bed. When it seemed like the residual pain was all that he would have to deal with, he turned on the bedside lamp and judged the space around the bed. Seems to be enough.

Joe did a few cursory stretches and then proceeded to do a morning work out. When he was done, he grabbed some fresh clothes and quietly opened his door. Peering out he noticed that the door to Frank's room was open. Stealthily, he snuck into the bathroom and placed his clothes on the counter, then he creped to Frank's door and eased it closed.

Once he was back into the bathroom, he took a nice, long, hot shower. Letting the heat ease some of the tension he was holding onto. While the talk had been good last night, Joe decided he didn't want to reveal too much to Frank. He didn't want to let on how much Iola's death had affected him. He imagined the water washing it all away. When he felt that he had sufficiently locked those emotions away, he turned his thoughts on the mystery of his brother.

It was with a smile, that Joe emerged from the bathroom. He had a plan to do some truth digging into what Frank had been doing while he was at Stanford.