Chapter 21

A/N You wonderful reviewers asked for longer chapters sooo Abracadabra! Your wish is my command. Enjoy!

Strange, suspicious, suspect. Those were just a few things that crossed Officer Cole Bennington's mind. He watched as the man slowly left the police department building and went down the steps to the parking lot. He couldn't shake the feeling that the man who had just left had known something important. Thankfully, he had an amazing memory and artistic skills. 5 minutes later and he had a perfect drawing of the man jus tin case later down the road someone needed to know.

He heard one of the officers radioing Con Riley who was out looking for Joe and telling him that th police department had been tipped that someone saw Joe going into the forest about 15 minutes away from the department and 10 minutes from the hospital. Cole knew which forest they ere talking about and he cringed. There had been a lost kid in those woods in his third year with the police department.

It had been a severely wintry night; the forest had been so dense and thick that I shut out most of the moonlight that night and by the time the kid had been found they were too late. He rested his elbows on his cluttered desk and putting his head in his hands he sighed. He liked the Hardy boys, especially Joe. It had seemed that Joe had taken a special liking to him too if the first time he had met them had any say about it.

He was sitting at his desk finishing up boring paperwork and nervously excited waiting for when his Sergeant Con Riley would tell him he could get out on the streets. He finished his paperwork stacking it neatly into a pile on his desk and leaned back in his chair with an exhausted sigh. A small hiccup startled Cole awake from a light doze into which he had fallen. He looked around bewildered for the source of the sound. Another small hiccup made Cole look down and blink in amazement at what he saw.

An exceedingly small child who had to be 1 and a half to two considering his size and how little there was of him. Cole looked around for a parent frantically looking for their toddler but not seeing anyone and felling a tug on his pant leg his gaze once more fell upon the child and he now noticed the boy's extremely beach blond hair. The child had his thumb in his mouth, and he stared up at Cole with the big sparkling blue eyes that seemed almost too big for his tiny head.

The child lifted his arms up obviously wanting Cole to pick him up. Cole who had been an only child and had never really held a kid before shook his head and looked around for the boy's parents once again. His attention was caught when the boys started to whine and when Cole looked the big blue eyes had tears that had started to brim. Figuring that a quiet child and not a screaming kid was better Cole leaned down and awkwardly picked up the kid and set him on his lap.

The tears at once vanished, and he giggled when Cole sat him on his lap. Looking up at Cole he took his thumb out of his mouth he declared happily.

"Yous big like giant. I's like you." With that said the boy plopped his thumb back in his mouth and started to play with Cole's computer's mouse on his desk. In all of his life no one had ever told him that they had liked him with such sweet innocent eyes before. Cole decided that he liked this kid and smiled every time the kid laughed or giggled in glee as he played with everything and anything that was on Cole's desk. He had made sure to put all sharp and dangerous things in his desk's drawer.

1o minutes later Fenton franticly came across Joe sitting happily in Cole's lap playing with a capped pen. Fenton smiled and apologized for Joe. Cole smiled and said that he enjoyed the little's rascals' company and to forget about it. Fenton took Joe from Cole's arms and told him to say thank you to the nice man. Cole introduced himself and told Joe that it was very nice to meet him. Fenton introduced himself, and Joe and talked for a minute with Cole about how long he had been with the department and stuff like that.

Cole asked him how old he was and when Joe held up 4 fingers he looked from Joe to Fenton and back to Joe again in amazement. Joe giggled and held out his arms for Cole. Cole took Joe and putting his small arms around Cole's neck he hugged him and said.

"You's like giant in Jack ands the beanstalk." Cole smiled and told him that yes, he guessed he was like the giant. Joe smiling brightly that he had been right went back to Fenton's arm's and before they left Joe said.

"I's love you giant! By-BY" Cole waved goodbye and a littler later he looked up and saw that Joe, and his father had apparently stopped to pick up another child. This one most certainly looked like a 5-year-old. He was skinny and had light mahogany brown hair. Cole snapped out of it when he heard that the forest needed to be searched. He at once went to the Sergeant in charge and asked to be let in on the search. The Sergeant allowed him, and Cole went back to his desk to gather some things up and then with the rest of the officers left to go search and hopefully find Joe hardy.

Frank breathed his sigh of relief quietly out through his nose as the footsteps which were surely going to haunt him inn his dreams later continued down the hall and went into what Frank guessed was Fenton's study. Frank knew that if they stayed in the house with the intruder and the intruder didn't find what he was looking for he was going to start searching the whole house. Which meant they would surely be found and that was something that Frank wasn't going to allow happen.

Being quieter than he had ever been in his life Frank slowly uncovered himself and Joe from the hidden box in the far back of Joe's closet. He picked his brother up and put him on his back piggyback style. Joe's small, dee breaths on the back of Frank's neck help alleviate some of his fears and helped strengthen his resolve to get both out of the dire situation. He went to the door shifting Joe's small weight on his back so he could open the door and hope that it didn't squeak and reveal them to the intruder.

Luck was with them though as the door was just as quiet as Frank was and slowly, he stepped out of the room and into the hallway. He heard rustling sounds coming from Fenton's study and his eyes got wide when the intruder swore aloud. Going slowly, he went down the thankfully silent stairs and finally reaching the bottom he opened the door and with Joe on his back eh slipped out the back and into their backyard.

Relieved that they were almost free and away from the danger Frank realized that his parents were going to come home, and the intruder might hurt them. There was a tree in the backyard and Frank went to it and put Joe down behind it. Joe was hidden from view of the house and anywhere else. Frank whispered.

"I'm sorry Joe." Before taking the papers out of the file and leaving them tucked under Joe's arm. He took the empty folder and straightened up. He then with his mind made up headed back in the direction of the house. He was going to make sure that when his parent got home, they wouldn't be hurt, and neither would Joe get hurt anymore. Opening the back door back up he snuck up the stairs and went to the open door of his father's study. He was a big man, pudgy and short in stature. "looking for this?" Frank asked his voice sounding small to him.

The man turned startled and his small eyes narrowed when he saw the file in Frank's hands.

"Why you little twerp!" with that the man lunged at Frank but rather than getting the file he got a face full of carpet as Frank skillfully jumped out of the way. He had been a mess before worried sick about Joe and feeling guilty, but he and Joe had, and Joe had made up and forgiven each other and Joe was safe. So then was the time for Frank to do what he hadn't been able to do when Joe had gotten hurt at the beginning of the entire mess. Protect his little brother.

"Catch me if you can sucker!" Frank ran out of the room and down the stairs the man's heavy footsteps closing in on him fast. He went out the front door and dashed down the street the pudgy man dumbly following him and getting farther and farther away from Joe and what he was after.

TBC

A/N Hope you all liked it!

"Guest: don't worry them acting like boyfriends wont ever EVER happen in my stories.