Summary:
He didn't know he would be gone for Christmas. No one did. Three shot

Answers to the reviews:

Penlew: Aww, I'm sorry...I really can't decide...to make this a book or just a threeshot...shrug...Thank you for reviewing!
Candylou: I know, I really made Fenton a jerk in this one. Oh well. Iola is so sweet! Thank you for reviewing!
Sophia: That's okay. :) Aw thank you so much! Don't hyperventilate! Cuz I was just doing that awhile ago when I was reading my second part. Hahaha. Yes..Their fight was horrible! I'm still figuring out what I should do... Kill Joe not Kill Joe. Kill Joe and kill the family by guilt. Not kill Joe and kill the family by guilt/regret. What do you think? Thank you for reviewing!
Hardy boys fan: I don't know...I might have to kill him...But we'll see in this chapter!Thank you for reviewing! :)

I changed the plot two times and hopefully ya'll like it but...Joe still dies... sorry. :(
Thank you so much for reviewing, ya'll! Thanks to HNB FJRAY for the help.

Warning! - major character death, angst, tragedy...

I'll Be Gone for Christmas -Part Three- by VintageRoseTaylor

"I'll be gone for Christmas, you can count on meee..." Joe began to sing again with a even weaker, pain filled voice. Iola tried her best not to start crying again after he had told her that she should be sorry...He would die with her. Nooo! "...I'll be gone for Christmas... Please have snow and mistletoe and presents by my grave..." Iola started to sob as he sang. He stopped for a second and looked at her with glazed eyes.

"What's wrong, Iola?"

"You...you keep saying you're gonna die...I don't want you to!" Iola whimpered as Joe squeezed her hand.

"Aw, baby, it's gonna be okay,"

"I don't know if I can live without you, Joe," Iola shook her head, looking away as she pressed down a little on the bandage. "What about Frank?" Joe's face hardened a little and he glanced away.

"He doesn't care, Iola,"

"What? Yes he does,"

"No, he told me. He doesn't want me to be around him anymore. He doesn't care."

"W-what? Is this why you're letting yourself die?!" Joe's eyes flashed bright angry blue.

"NO!" He exclaimed surprising Iola for a second. "I love you, Iola. I just don't know if I can handle this anymore...if I loose anymore blood, I'll go unconscious..and I'll never say goodbye..."

"Joseph Hardy!" She scolded through uncontrollable sobs.

"Please let me sing," Iola nodded and shrugged.

"But no improvising," Joe gave her a mock pout but agreed. "I'll sing with you."

"I'll be home for Christmas. You can count on on me." Joe began, nodding towards her. Iola cleared her throat.

"Please have snow and mistletoe and presents by the tree."

"Christmas Eve will find me, where the love light gleams...I'll be home for Christmas...If only in my dreams...I'll be home for Christmas...Christmas eve will find me...Where the love light gleams...I'll be home for Christmas..If only in my dreams...I'll be home for Christmas...If only in my dreams..." The couple sang until suddenly Joe's hand went limp in Iola's hand. She looked down at him, surprise and shock covered her entire being.

"JOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEE!" Joe opened his eyes, they were wide and scared.

"What's wrong?" He whispered.

"You nearly frightened me to death! Don't do that to me! You have to keep awake!"

"Aw, c'mon, Iola, I didn't mean to scare you,"

"Well, you're scaring me! Please, if its the last moments I have with you, I want you to be awake and not dozing off." Joe let out a small quiet sigh as Iola brushed his hair out of his face. He was sweaty like he had just ran a marathon.

"Oh, Joe...What if you have a fever? You could be sick." Iola looked around her and noticed that none of the shoppers were there anymore. Where had they gone? She looked where the robber had been tied up...he was gone. Her eyes widened as she gently put Joe's head on the ground.

"I'll be all right." Joe said as she told him to stay put. Iola shrugged and cautiously looked around her surroundings. She needed to protect Joe. She needed to be with him...if he died... She didn't want him to die alone. She rounded the corner to slam into a hard wall, she looked up to see the guy with the ski mask glaring down at her.

"How did you get out?" She asked swallowing. He gave a low laugh and smiled.

"How's your boyfriend?" She felt anger rising inside of her.

"He's dying."

"That's nice...You're coming with me!" Iola shrieked as criminal grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into one of the aisles.

Was that Iola shrieking? Joe thought. He couldn't even think clearly. He had a horrible headache..and he was bleeding. He needed someone to stay with him. He couldn't be the brave, reckless kid right now. He needed medical help...now. I'll live right? Yeah, I'll live. For Iola, Mom, and Auntie G. He did not want to think about Frank or Dad right now. He just wanted to think of peaceful, happy things. Like right now Auntie G was probably saying bad things about Hot chocolate. Yum...hot chocolate sounded good right now.

Joe glanced out the automatic doors and saw snowflakes coming down. Oh no. He lifted his arm to look at his watch. It was almost 1 am. Usually Walmart was closed by now. Was Frank even freaking out yet? He closed his eyes, resting them for a few minutes.

"Joe!" It's just my imagination. I'm delirious. Joe laughed at the thought of that. "Joe! Is that you?"

"Frank, we need to get bandages! Where are the police?!" Another familiar voice said. Joe opened his sleepy eyes and realized that Frank and his Dad were standing right there.

"Hey, Dad, hey Frank. How's it going?" He greeted with a crooked grin.

"Joseph, are you all right?" Dad said with a scolding tone. "Where's Iola?"

"I'm doing just fine.. How 'bout you? Man, this is just a nice dream." Joe laughed and saw forms moving behind Frank and Fenton. Delirious. I'm insane...and dying. Joe Hardy was honestly thinking...no, believing that he wouldn't be home for Christmas. He had to face the truth. He was going to die.

Frank grabbed more bandages and held them to Joe's gunshot wound. "Hey Joe," He whispered to the half conscious kid.

"Uh huh."

"I'm sorry,"

"It's okay,"

"No, it's not... I'm sorry I called you stupid."

"That's all right... I wanna go to sleep now." Joe waved him off. Frank gulped, sighing. He felt awful. He was such a dumb brother.

"Well, well, well, more hostages for me?" Frank whirled around to see a strong guy in ski mask, holding a kitchen knife to Iola's neck. She was a hostage...duh.

"Iola!" Fenton exclaimed. "Don't hurt her!"

"I'm in charge, remember?" The bad guy smiled thinly and looked down at the victim...Frank's brother...His dying brother. His dying little bro. "Sorry about that. I didn't know he was gonna die." Frank wanted to curse... Where was the police!? It was as if time just stopped completely.

"Well, have a nice night!" The masked criminal shoved Iola towards the Hardy men and ran out the automatic doors. Frank wanted to go after him...wanted justice for his little bro but he couldn't...he needed to stay.

Seconds ticked by. Minutes...Hours it felt like to Fenton. All he wanted to do was kill the robber who had hurt his son and left him to die.. Anger, frustration...That's what was bothering him. He didn't even speak to his own family, he was exhausted. He hadn't even been saying goodbye, hello or goodnight to his own son. He was just plain tired of this.

"Please let me sleep, please," Joe mumbled.

"No, Joe," Iola said softly as she cleaned his hands from the blood with a wet paper towel. Frank jumped to his feet and shouted, "The police is here!"

"Their late." Fenton grumbled, before glancing at his younger son's girlfriend who still had puffy red cheeks that just paled even worse. He patted Iola's shoulder gently. She gave him a weak smile before taking care of Joe. Fenton walked outside, into the steadily falling snowflakes. Shock was numbing his insides, and his heart. He walked like a robot towards the police car and the ambulance, ignoring the snowflakes on his eyelashes. His sixteen year old boy was suffering from a gunshot wound.

"Where is the robber?" Con Riley asked as he slammed the car door shut.

"He escaped," Fenton answered running his hand through his hair worriedly. "I just want Joe to get some medical help."

"Yeah, of course, Joe needs help. How bad is he?" Con asked as he followed the EMTs and Fenton into the Walmart building.

"See for yourself," Con glanced at the private detective, as he pointed at Joe's body laying on the floor. Con gasped and wanted to instantly look away from the scene.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Was that the sound of a heart-rate monitor?

"...Iola?"

"I'm here, Joe."

"Where am I?"

"You're at the Walmart still." Joe tried to open his eyes but Iola gently covered them with her hand.

"You need to rest."

"Am I gonna die?"

"...I, I... Don't know..."

"Oh." Joe swallowed, his throat parched. "Could i have some water?" He was laying on a medical bed.

"The snow...it's turning into a winter storm." Iola whispered as she gave him water through a straw. Joe could hear a frown in her voice.

"Aw, Iola, it's snow for Pete's sake! We love snow." He said trying his best to lighten the mood.

"But we can't get through the snow, Joe,"

"So? Let's make it a merry Christmas anyway."

"I don't know," Uncertainty laced her voice. Joe sighed felt himself drifting off into deep sleep. "Joe?"

"Yeah?" He tried to shake himself from the drowsiness.

"Don't die while you're asleep, please."

"Okay," Joe nodded, his heart aching of what his family was going through.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"I never said hello or good morning to him, Frank," Fenton shook his head sitting beside his son. The EMTs had said that the snow was falling too fast to drive to the hospital while speeding. They didn't want to risk it. Darn it, it was all his fault that his son was in this mess.

"You were busy, Dad,"

"With a case! And I have never let a case get in the way of my relationship with my family."

"Its okay, Dad."

"It's NOT okay! My boy - my child - is DYING right in front of me! All those times... should have been great moments for him and I...but nooo, I just think that he's invincible. That we have all the time in the world! But we do not...Frank... If he dies, I'll never forgive myself."

"But Dad - "

"...And Laura! What is she gonna say?! I have to call her and let her know."

"Maybe you should do FaceTime with her." Fenton licked his lips and tried to calm himself. If this was the last moments he had with his son then he better share it with Laura too.

"You're right, I should."

To Be Continued in "I'll Be Gone for Christmas -Epilogue-"

Thank you soooo much everyone! I have loved writing this story so much... Get ready for a great tearjerker in the epilogue chapter! Please review, it would me soo much to me! ~VRT