Once I Was You
Author's note: Can you believe it? This is the last chapter! I am so excited! However, I am even more excited about the note of the end of this chapter. It is about a new story of mine that will be posted sometime during my life (hopefully). I am gonna post it when it is done, you see, and on one knows when that will be. However, I am working on chapter six, and… well, everything else you need to know (and probably a tiny bit more) is written at the end of this amazing last chapter. So until then; enjoy!
T4swp: Thank you so much! I am glad you liked it! :)
ErinJordan: Aw, thanks! I am so glad such an AMAZING writer as you like my stories! :)
Sofia: As always: Thank you so much for your review! You have no idea how much it means! Hopefully, you will get all your answers answered (that was badly worded, wasn't it?) at the end of this chapter.
I can't believe you also read Shakespeare! I love Shakespeare! All his plays are amazing. Oh, and you should most definitely check out his sonnet's too if you haven't. Especially 116, it is a beautiful love-poem ;) The national day went very well indeed! OF COURSE, there was vanilla! I think I ate six ice-creams. Not as many as last year, but still a lot, I think. You can call me whatever you want; HNB or Anna, which ever you prefer. I really hope you can go outside too, soon!
HappyReadingGirl: XD Lol, thanks a lot!
Hardy boys fan: Thanks a lot, glad you liked it! As for Benny… well, we will see…
Chapter nine – Once I Was You but Not any Longer
The shrill siren of an ambulance made Joe sigh with relief. He doubted Con Riley or his brother would kill him with witnesses present. He wasn't entirely sure, though. That glimpse in the old police officer's eyes wasn't one he ever wanted to see again.
"Officer Riley?" One of the EMTs rushed towards the crime scene. "Who is hurt?"
"No one. In the least not seriously." Even if no one else could, Joe did hear the muttered word that followed, "unfortunately."
Stepping forward, Joe took charge of the situation. "We have a prisoner," he announced, gesturing towards a glum looking David. "He kidnapped my brother and threatened to kill me."
Con Riley, who had now somewhat reentered "professional-mode", turned to the younger Hardy. "Why did he do that?" he asked.
"I ate Aunt Gertrude's cookies." Joe let the cryptic message hang in the air. When he was met by a raised eyebrow from the officer, he made a dismissive gesture with one hand. "His little angel, Benny, has a celiac disease. Anyway, it is a long story. Perhaps we should discuss this at the station instead of out here in the open?"
Joe was right; it really was a long story. Only after three hours, thirty statements and 300 threats from an increasingly angry David were the brother's allowed to leave the station.
"I was starting to wonder if they were going to lock us up too," Joe muttered as he slid out of the driver's seat of his black mustang. They had just reached Mr. Pizza where Biff was waiting for them.
"Yeah," Frank agreed. "It took so much time, and yet, you didn't even tell the truth."
"What?" Joe's head snapped around; blue eyes boring into his brother. "Whaddya mean? I would never lie in a statement."
"Uh-oh," Frank answered. "You didn't tell them how you defeated that kidnapper."
"Sure I did!" Joe said. "I told them I entered the building, screamed at him to freeze and then…"
"I heard all of that," Frank replied. "I was thinking more along the lines of "I am a yeti! Yetis eat kidnappers; lock, stock and barrel!" It was part of your strategy, you know. They might want to have it in their archive for future officers to read. Perhaps Arthur Grey himself might want to take a look."
"Frank!" The exasperated yell didn't sound too impressed. "You know that is a secret. You promised not to tell anyone, remember? You have never broken a promise to me before. I know you don't want to start now."
"Are you sure I promised?" Frank asked, dead serious. "If I remember correctly, I never actually promised. I just said I understood you. That is something different altogether. Of course, I might be wrong, but I doubt it…"
"I know you promised! You did!" When he was met by nothing but silence, Joe's voice got a note of desperation. "Tell me you are teasing me! You are teasing me, ain't you?" A moment of silence. "Frank?!"
"Any problems, guys?" Biff stepped outside just in time to see his best friend screaming at his older brother. Joe looked like he was on the verge of tears.
"No, we are having a great time!" Frank beamed at the mountain of a boxer. "Don't you agree, Joe?" The look in his eyes didn't leave any room for argument, so Joe gave a halfhearted, "immensely" in reply.
"Well… that's, uhm, great!" Biff gave an awkward smile. "I am glad to have you back in Bayport, Joe," he added.
"Of course you are!" Joe replied with a lopsided grin. "Who wouldn't be glad to have me back?"
"Wait…" Frank held up one finger, and expression of intense concentration etched to his face. "You are actually home, Joe?"
"Well, uhm, yes. A matter of fact, I am. I can't believe you already noticed me!" Joe sounded somewhere between amused and offended. "Any special reason why you asked?"
Frank didn't answer. "Biff? Did you hear what I just heard?"
"That depends on what you heard. I doubt it, though. I don't think I heard anything special. You sure everything's still all right?" Biff looked a little uncomfortable.
"All right? All right?!" Frank stared at his friend in disbelief. "How can you even ask? I'm… I'm… I'm in heaven!"
The brown-haired man raised his eyes and let his gaze rest at the azure skies. The whispered speech was directed more at himself than any of the widemouthed listeners. "Never more staying up late in the evening. Never more waking up after five a.m. I can settle with the usual six kidnappings a year instead of this weekly routine. Never more being accused of eating cookies. No more pillow wars. Never more crying my eyes out because of a nonexistent death. Angles with celiac disease – never again. I am free!"
A rather embarrassed second hand moved half a round before the watch's owner got his voice back. "What on earth was that supposed to mean?"
The older brother turned to stare at Joe, a big grin covering his face. "Should we tell him, Biff?" he asked, still eyeing his brother. "I mean, it is kind of a long story. Besides, he might get a heart attack."
"Tell me what?" Joe asked. He looked from a giggling Biff to a painfully serious Frank with growing confusion. When no one answered, he found himself loosing patience. "Spill. I won't leave this place before you tell me."
One look at his brother, and Frank knew he meant it seriously. And so he told him. Everything. From the moment in the restaurant to the pillow war and kidnapping. Through the whole story, Joe didn't utter a word. His face, however, went from an expression of mild surprise to utter shock. And then, it turned into a grin. A small snicker. Full-blown laugher. Soon, the younger Hardy was on the ground, clutching his stomach, tears streaming down his face, begging for mercy. "Stop! Please, stop!" he cried between fists of laugher. "I… can't… breath!"
"Right," Frank said slowly, enjoying the sight of his sibling. "That leads me to the final question: How come you aren't dead? I don't think I would have survived another day as you."
Sitting up, albeit still breathing hard, Joe wiped at his eyes. "It's talent," he replied. "Pure talent."
Raising an eyebrow in mock challenge, Frank sent his brother a piercing stare. A defiant sigh escaped Joe before he answered. "You are right. It's more than just talent. It's something deep inside me, Frank. I can't explain it."
"Really?" Frank raised his eyebrow one impossible centimeter higher. His last resistance crumbling, Joe huffed out a breath. "All right then," he said. "It's the yeti, I admit it. It's within me, forcing me to defeat every kidnapper I see. So whatever I do that you don't like, it is not my fault. It's the always the yeti. Never Joe Hardy. Those two are separate beings forced into one."
It was then, and only then, that Joe Hardy, the yeti, noticed Biff was still there. As soon as his sapphire's locked on the paler pair of eyes, his face reddened. "Did I really say that?" he whispered. "Biff, please, it was a joke. All of it. I've never been a yeti. Never! I am just… Joe."
The other boy, however, didn't listen. "I can't wait to tell the whole school I am friend with a yeti!" Biff was floating on a pink sky. "Think about the headlines! "Alan Hooper, the first human ever to have befriended a yeti!" It's gonna be s…"
What the stout man was supposed to say next I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. No one really knows what prevented him from saying it, either. Some think it was the yeti within the blond-haired man in front of him that made a sudden appearance. Other believes the whole incident to be nothing but a bad accident. Whatever the reason was, it is known for a fact that Joe's fist shot out, connecting solidly with Biff Alan Hooper's jaw. It is also common knowledge that Joe neither said or looked sorry after the incident, but only handed his friend a pack of ice and said, "that was a nice uppercut, wasn't it?". Lastly, it is generally accepted that despite Biff's answer being "I am gonna skin you alive, Hardy!" the two of them are still best friends and in the habit of having pillow wars. The older brother, however, usually stays at home during such occasions, perfectly content with a game of chess and going to bed early.
And thus, all was once again well in the Hardy world. Well, that is after a long, awkward, but highly entertaining trial concerning David, the dangerous kidnapper and his angel Benny with a celiac disease finally ended. But that is a different story altogether…
Done! Yay! I hope you liked the last chapter of this iNtErEsTiNg, totally unserious and very weird story of mine. Before I leave you, though, I wanted to inform y'all that I am writing on a new story which is very different from this one. As I said, I am writing on chapter six right now, and I won't post the story until it is completely done.
The story is a full-length one, and I have chosen to have the boys older; twenty-one and twenty-two respectively. It is gonna be a little bit of a darker story, but totally not as overly dramatic as Dead Serious was. Ok, so I really can't promise that… I have a bad habit of always writing overly dramatic. One thing I can promise you, though, is that it will contain a secret mission, an island in the Pacific, a civil war and drama. Lots and lots of drama.
Hope to see you then! But for now: Big, big thank to those of you that has read and reviewed! You are awesome!
Au revoir!
HNB FJRAY