Hi, I'm back. I want to thank those who responded to two my summaries from chapter 24. I couldn't believe the response I got. You guys are awesome and it encourages to continue writing. As it stands there are 7 votes for Aftermath and 6 for A brother's revenge. And I had a few who liked both which I have to agree because I like them both. I might consider doing both if all goes will. Although with Aftermath I don't know a lot of court stuff but it might be fun to do. :) Either way poor Joe. I have two chapter left then I will start writing the sequel .

Here is my new chapter hope you like. Please let me know what you think :)

Pressure chapter 25

Utilizing his quick reflexes, Joe threw his arms up in order to protect his face and head as the tray hit, sending food all over him. The tray fell to the floor with a loud crash! What the hell? He stood there dumbfounded as he tried to process what had just happened, breaking into a cold sweat as his breathing began to speed up.… as another memory of Hayden flashed in his head….

Please be there! Please be there…" Joe pleaded as he ran down the hallway to his teacher's classroom. He'd just come from football practice when he remembered his paper. He skidded to a halt in front of the open door that led to Mr. Hayden's classroom. Yes! He cheered when he spotted the burly teacher at his desk grading papers.

"Mr. Hayden, here's my paper." He said in between breaths as he approached the teacher's desk. He held out his assignment to Mr. Hayden.

"What day is it, Mr. Hardy?" Mr. Hayden grumbled as he ignored the boy's outstretched hand in order to go on grading the next paper.

"Sir?" Joe asked as he laid his paper on the desk.

Mr. Hayden clicked his tongue out of annoyance as he stopped his grading and finally looked up at Joe. "What day is it?" He asked growling.

"It's Tuesday sir."

"When did I hand out the assignment?"

"Look I know it's a day late." Joe answered with a sigh. "But I have a good reason...my brother and I were helping our father out with a cas… a…something and we didn't get home until late."

"Well perhaps instead of playing detective you should be more attentive to your school work."

Anger flared up inside Joe at the teacher's remark. "I do sir. My brother and I both take school very seriously. Like I told you, I was helping my father out with something and we got home late. Frank, he helped me with my paper; it was two o'clock in the morning when we finished. Then Henry Jacobs needed help with his paper when I got to school this morning..."

"You were helping who?" Mr. Hayden cut in narrowing his eyes at Joe.

Joe could see the anger in the man's dark eyes. He didn't know why the teacher was getting so worked up over a late paper. "I said I was helping Henry with his…"

"No excuses! Now get OUT!" Mr. Hayden fired back, his face red with anger, he picked up a book off of his desk and threw it at the younger Hardy's face.

With quick reflexes Joe threw his arms up to block his face as the book as it landed at his feet. The tray fell to the floor with a loud crash! What the hell? He stood dumbfounded trying to process of what just happened and broke into a cold sweat and started breathing heavily…

"Joe!" Frank was at his brother's side in an instant.

"Get out!" Henry clutched at his chest, gasping. "I can't breathe… I can't breathe!"

"Henry, you're having a panic attack. Take slow and steady breaths. Calm down." Dr. Reese said while consoling her patient. "You're okay. You're safe."

All of a sudden Joe grabbed at his chest, also gasping for air. "I... can't... breathe!"

"Frank, take your brother outside." The doctor instructed. Without hesitation Frank escorted Joe back out into the hallway. The younger Hardy whirled around to see Frank and Con's concerned faces.

Joe couldn't catch his breath. "Joe, look at me." Frank said firmly, keeping a steady hand on his brother's trembling shoulder. "Take slow, even breaths. Calm down". He began wiping the splattered food off of Joe's face and shirt, talking all the while. Joe did as instructed all the while listening to his brother's calm voice.

"That's it, Joe; listen to Frank." Con encouraged his young friend while standing next to the elder brother. "Just take slow and steady breaths. You're going to be okay." Con said handing Joe a cup of water. "Here take a couple of sips."

After a few minutes, Joe's breathing was back to normal. "Thank you." He managed to say, before taking the cup Con offered and taking a couple sips of water.

Frank growled lowly. "I knew Henry couldn't be trusted. Like father, like son." He couldn't stop the rage building inside of him as he thought of Henry throwing his tray at Joe.

"No, Frank, it was my fault." Joe said calmly taking a breath. Joe kept his voice as he said, "I forgot that we have to be careful how we approach him." He pointed at himself. "I shouldn't have walked into the room as I did. As usual, I was loud and impulsive and it scared Henry."

"I need to go and apologize to him and make sure he's okay." With that, he handed Con back the cup of water and started to leave.

Frank objected to the idea. "No, you're not. We're going home." He was glad that Joe wasn't seriously hurt. It could've been a lot worse than just getting food thrown all over him. And next time… well, there wasn't going to be a next time because, he wasn't going to let Joe anywhere near Henry.

"I have to see Henry first." Joe argued then turned to go back to the room.

"Stay away from him!" Frank demanded. He realized it'd come out a little more forcefully than he'd intended as Joe stopped in his tracks, whirling around to face him.

"Was that an order?" Joe looked straight at asked, "You're ordering me... to stay away from Henry?" Con saw a flash of anger ignite in the younger brother's eyes as he directed them at Frank.

Pressing his lips together, Frank swallowed back the anger that threatened to come out. "Joe I…"

"You tell me I have to figure out things for myself, yet you won't me. You can't have it both ways Frank." Joe cut him off, "And, you've got to stop comparing Henry to Hayden. That's not fair. Henry didn't mean to hit me with that tray. I scared him and that's why he reacted the way he did."

He couldn't believe how defensive Joe was getting over Henry. "Are you kidding me?!" Frank couldn't hold back his anger any longer. The words just rolled off his tongue, "Didn't you hear a single word that was said in Dr. Reese's office? Then again maybe you did, you just chose not to. I think maybe you're still in denial."

"Yes, I was listening and no, I'm not in denial. I choose to believe that Henry will overcome his abusive behavior and he won't turn into his father." Joe countered back. "I'm beginning to understand something about you". He didn't know why he was being confrontational with his brother. He just felt this need to defend his friend.

He felt as if he was stuck on roller coaster of emotions. Maybe it had to do with his PTSD, he wasn't sure, but all he knew was that Princeton was taking his brother away from him and he still had the aftermath of Hayden and now Henry's abuse in his head. He just wanted to get off this ride.

Frank narrowed his eyes at his brother. "What's that?" He asked defensively.

Joe couldn't help himself, "You hate Henry." He balled his hands into fists. "Maybe, Hayden was right after all, maybe you are just like him."

As quick as a flash of lightning, Frank grabbed Joe by the front of his shirt and pulled him forward so they were inches apart, and in each other's faces. "Don't you ever say that to me again!" he snarled. His brown eyes were blazing hot as he directed them at Joe.

"Guys!" Con shouted. "Hey, guys come on break it up!"

Once again Con was completely stunned by the boys' actions; they were both so out of character. It was understandable given what they'd been through, although he'd never thought the brothers would ever take their hurt out on each other. The police officer cursed Hayden under his breath for all the pain he'd caused.

"Why don't we wait and see what Dr. Reese has to say, first?" Con stepped between the brothers before the situation escalated even more than it already did. "Besides, and I'm sure your parents will agree with me when I say that with the way you're both acting, neither one of you should be going into that room. Henry doesn't need this right now."

When he saw that the brothers were not going to comply he decided to defuse the situation himself. "At least take a moment to cool off." Con suggested. "Frank, go take a walk. And Joe, you go wash the food off of your face."

"Fine by me, it's not like he listens to me anyway." Frank whirled around kicking over a chair as he walked away from Joe.

"The same goes for me." Joe crossed his arms across his chest as he walked away towards the restrooms.

(OOOOOOOOOOOOOO)

Grabbing some paper towels out of the dispenser, he quickly stepped up to the bathroom sink. Turning on the water he began to wipe the food off of his face, all while being careful not to get the bandage on his lip wet. Stopping suddenly, Joe gasped at the figure staring back at him in the mirror. He hardly recognized himself; what the hell had happened? Touching his bandaged lip he probed it a bit before starting to gently peel it off his bottom lip.

The swelling had gone down, but he saw the stitches as an ugly reminder of what Hayden did to him. How had he allowed this to happen? He'd never forget the taste of the metal knife, the pain of the blade as it sliced his mouth. Touching the bandages on his arms, he shivered at the thought of the rats.

Joe began to tear up as he thought about the awful things he'd said and done to his brother. He hadn't meant to hurt him. He'd been trying to do the right thing in helping Henry. Instead, he'd ended up hurting the one person who meant the world to him, his best friend, and his big brother. He'd hit and viciously insulted him by comparing him to that son of a bitch, Hayden. How could he do that to him? Frank was going through hell himself. He'd been going to take the belt for me.

Being the big brother as always, Frank had been just trying to protect me, and really, it would probably never change, no matter where life took them.

Sliding down the wall, Joe sat on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs. The strong and fearless Joe Hardy, who'd always been ready to kick ass, was gone. In his place was this scared, weak, stupid, broken person; he'd never felt so lost.

I'm sorry Frank, I'm so sorry.

(OOOOOOOOOOOOOO)

Sam was at the front desk talking to Officer Baker when he saw his friend walk through the front doors of the precinct.

"Fenton, how are the boys?" Sam asked with concern.

He still couldn't wrap his head around the image of Frank, tied to that dirty old bed as he, Fenton as well as the police had burst into that basement and found Hayden standing over him, ready to beat him with that belt. As for what the bastard had done to Joe...Anger ripped through Sam as he thought of Joe shut in that rat infested closet. Sam would have strangled the life out of Hayden, right along with Fenton had it not been for their jobs and needing to do things by the book. Sam couldn't help the way he felt; the Hardys were the closest thing he had to a family. And nobody hurt his family and got away with it.

Fenton joined Sam and Baker at the front desk. "Physically, they're going to be fine." He answered rubbing his tired eyes. "As for everything else, it'll take time and counseling to help them through this."

"Counseling, how did you get the boys to agree to that?" Sam raised an eyebrow at hearing this.

"I have my ways." Fenton nodded. He'd promised Laura that he'd keep everyone safe, which he was determined to do. He quickly explained his plan of action in getting his sons to talk to Dr. Reese about everything they'd endured to his friends. Having left the hospital a few hours ago, Fenton was confident the boys were in good hands.

"Dr. Reese is going to have her work cut out for her with those two." Sam replied thinking of the boys. "Since neither one of your boys would willingly open up and talk about their own experiences. I'm even more surprised you're letting them visit Henry, after what you told me about his abusive behavior towards the kids."

"To be honest with you, Sam," Fenton said in response. "I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea myself, especially with Joe. He's become friends with the kid. But, Dr. Reese assured me that she could handle them. Plus, Con's there as well to keep an eye on things so I'm going to trust that everything's okay." Though he had said he'd trust them, Fenton really couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on with the boys.

As his thoughts changed directions and his mood darkened, Fenton growled. "Right now, I want some answers. Straight from Hayden." He caught Sam exchanging looks with Officer Baker. There was a look on his friend's face that told him something was going on.

"What? Sam, what is it?"

"Baker, would you go inform the Chief that Fenton is here?" Sam asked the officer.

Baker nodded okay before leaving.

"Sam, what the hell is going on?"

Sam sighed wearily. "Fenton, I was about to call you."

"Why?" Fenton asked slowly. He didn't like the sound of this. "The Chief said to make your way to his office." Officer Baker announced as he re-entered the front room, saving Sam from having to say anything as he came back before Sam had time to say anything.

Entering Chief Collig's office with Sam right behind him, the first thing Fenton noticed was that Carl was already sitting in one of the chairs in front of the Chief's desk. The next thing he noticed was that Carl was mopping his forehead with a handkerchief, while the Chief wore a pissed off look. Something was definitely up; the tension in the room was building.

"Fenton, how are..." Chief Collig managed to ask calmly before getting abruptly cut off.

"The boys are going to be fine." Fenton answered. "Now, what the hell is going on?" He asked, getting right to the point. He wasn't in the mood for guessing games. And if it concerned his boys he wanted to know.

Chief Collig let out a breath as he glanced over at the nervous lawyer. "Carl, you want to tell him your good news first?"

"What good news?"

"The charges against Joe have been dropped." Carl sighed as he placed his handkerchief in the pocket of his jacket.

"The charges have been dropped, how?" Fenton nearly gasped at his shocking words. It wasn't that he wasn't grateful, but still, Fenton had to know the reason why.

"It's due to extenuating circumstances surrounding Hayden's case." The Chief broke into the conversation, cursing under his breath.

"What extenuating circumstances?"

Fenton turned to Sam who nodded at the silent question before starting to explain. "The Chief and I questioned him together. We asked him about his attempt to hit Frank with the belt and locking Joe in that rat infested closet and all the abuse he'd inflicted on Henry." Sam's voice grew in anger as he spoke. "At first he was quiet and refused to talk and of course his lawyer was in there advising him on what to say. Hayden kept rubbing his hands together like he was nervous. "

"Then out of the blue Hayden broke down acting like some distraught crazy person. He was crying about how much he loved his son. He admitted that yes, he wasn't a perfect father but he was doing the best he could to both raise Henry and overcome the shadows of his own father. He claimed that he was out of his mind and didn't know why he did what he did".

Chief Collig cut in. "Hayden said it was something his father used to do to him and his brother. Apparently, their father loved to play mind games with them by testing out their manhood by beating them with a belts or locking them in a closet. He was embarrassed by the fact that his sons' were slow learners like Henry. They were always getting beat up by classmates in school. No sons of his were going to be weak and stupid."

"Hayden, claims to not know why he did what he did?" Fenton repeated, "Then how do you explain the deranged tutoring sessions?" He challenged, he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Hayden encouraged other students to beat up and otherwise bully his own son. He planned it".

"No sane person would…" He stopped in mid sentence as the realization hit him; he knew where this was going. Damn!

Sam added to the story. "We believe Hayden is playing the victim here. Even having studied the man's face closely while questioning at the same time, we're unsure if he's playing the victim or not. He's very convincing; I mean, there were actual tears running down his face, he went so far as to even talk about committing suicide. His lawyer's currently working on getting a court order to get his client to undergo a mental evaluation."

"Who's his lawyer?" Fenton asked finally finding his voice. He could feel his temper rising.

"Daniel Bartend a young hotshot defense attorney from New York and he is good, he plays to win." Carl spoke up. "He's pushing for an insanity defense. He might get it, too. That would mean Hayden could get a lighter sentence, or even no jail time at all. Instead the judge could end up sending him to a mental health facility for treatment. Not only that, but Bartend is also trying to get the attempted murder charge dropped; he's determined to prove his client is incompetent to stand trial."

"Bartend is also representing Hayden's younger brother Ryan. As a school official who failed to report that his students were being abused, Ryan could face jail time ranging anywhere from 30 days to 5 years with the possibility of fines ranging from $300 to $10,000. Or he could get both, the time plus the fine."

"A hearing is set to be held in two weeks. The judge will determine if there's enough evidence for Jack Hayden to go to trial."

"So, basically Ryan could get just a slap on the wrist." Fenton said heatedly.

"Yeah, it looks the way." Chief Collig grumbled. "But right now our main focus is Jack Hayden."

"I've been retained as crown prosecutor." Carl spoke up again. "If the case does go to trial Hayden could be looking at a 25 year prison sentence for multiple counts of child abuse as well as the attempted murder of his son. I have enough evidence to build a case against him." He ticked the points off his fingers. "The statements the police took from students here as well as over at Southport. The bloody knife. The belt. The pictures the hospital took of Henry's injuries."

"There's just one thing."

"What's that?" Fenton asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I have to prove that Jack Hayden is competent to stand trial. I would have to subpoena the students who reported being abused by Hayden, to testify." Carl cleared his throat before answering. "And I'm sure, Frank and Joe would be willing to testify against him." The lawyer paused to collect his thoughts. "I have to tell you Fenton; Joe is a very perceptive young man. He asked me the other day if Henry would have to testify against his father."

"I wasn't sure at the time, but considering Cindy Hayden' has refused to press charges against her husband it looks like it might just come to that." Carl said honestly. "Henry Jacobs would be my key witness."

Fenton began to rub at his temple, willing his headache to go away. It was a few minutes before anyone spoke. Fenton took a calming breath and said, "I know. In fact Joe's been right about this case all along. I think we were all coming to the same conclusion; he just had the guts to speak up first." He rubbed a hand over his chin and covered his mouth as he grinned proudly thinking of his youngest.

"Henry's the one this case is centered around. Really though, I don't know if that kid is even remotely close to ready for something like this. He's still recovering after all".

"Dr. Reese, his therapist, has told me that Henry won't talk about what he's been through and avoids the subject of his father completely. He's terrified of his father, with good reason. It'd be cruel to put Henry through a trial. I know that Frank and Joe would agree to testify, but I'm not sure if they're ready to, considering they just got out of the hospital themselves."

He added another point, "It's possible that Hayden knows exactly what he's doing. Abusers know how to manipulate people in order to get what they want. That's why Hayden's never been charged with a crime until now. That's why Cindy Hayden refuses to press charges; he's always gotten away with it. And now it looks as though he may be trying to manipulate his way through the court system."

"You know, I think Hayden may be showing the classic signs of being a sociopath." Sam continued on Fenton's train of thought. "He's manipulative and cunning, and shows no empathy. He believes himself to be all-powerful and all-knowing, entitled to his every wish. He has no sense of personal boundaries. He's playing the victim to avoid prosecution".

Fenton nodded in agreement. "Joe predicted that Hayden might get off on a technicality. If it's proven that Hayden is mentally unstable." Fenton finished his thoughts. "Then I fear that Joe may be right. If that happens a lot of lives will be danger, including, Frank, Joe and Henry."

"Where is Hayden right now?"

"He's in his cell. I'm not taking any chances. Having threatened suicide, he has to be heavily guarded." Chief Collig replied. "I agree, Henry might be our only chance in getting Hayden convicted. That's one of the reasons I have Con Riley guarding Henry's room." He sat back in his chair and asked, "Fenton, are you still taking care of arrangements to place Henry?"

"Yes, the arrangements have already been made." Fenton replied to the chief of police. "The person he's going to be staying with will be meeting me at the hospital, when we pick up Henry."

"Well, I'm intrigued to know who this person is." Chief Collig said, raising an eyebrow.

"If everything goes well, I'll let you know." Fenton changed the subject. "What's the latest word on the disappearances of Carolyn Matthews and Cindy Hayden?"

"So far we've had zip". The Chief said in disgust. "It's like the ladies disappeared off the face of the earth."

"Well sooner or later, they're going to have to resurface again. As Laura would say, 'a mother can never ignore her maternal instincts when it comes to her children.' Cindy Hayden loves her son, I'm sure. After all, she was very adamant about wanting him back". Fenton pointed out. "I'm sure we haven't heard the last of them".

A few minutes later, Fenton and Sam stepped out of the chief's office as soon as the meeting was over. "Sam I want you to do some digging. Find out all you can on Cindy Jacobs Hayden, Carolyn Matthews, Jack and Ryan Hayden.'

"You got it." Sam asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I want to see Hayden for myself before I go back to the hospital." Fenton replied, he still couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on with the boys. "I need to explain what's going on to Joe. We'll have to get past Joe first, if we even want to talk to Henry Jacobs about testifying against Hayden".