Joe, Frank, Nicole and Holly raced back to the mansion after leaving Robert by the parked yachts in an animated soliloquy. When Joe and Nicole first learned of the news from Maya, Celeste was already asleep in one of Queen's mansion guestrooms owing to exhaustion and tears. Maya then told them that Celeste was found wandering close to the mansion, her clothes all grimy with leaves, grass and soil. She was incoherent and tired but mentioned something about the kidnapper keeping Gavin away from the beach for his own good.

The girls, being closer to Celeste, hovered around her bed, waiting anxiously for her to stir. Maya sat on chassis by the window in between the boys, holding on to each of their hands.

"The doctor said that Celeste's all right, just a few scratches and bruises. But we don't know where Gavin is still."

"She was wandering around the mansion?" Frank asked softly, not wanting to wake Celeste up even though he knew the girls wished otherwise.

"Not around the mansion… she was stumbling on the beach near the mansion. Ted found her."

"He did?" Joe commented- it was not a question but a sarcastic barb. Frank knew what Joe was thinking of- if Robert was not the culprit, then Ted, with his protectiveness over Queen, would be the probable perpetrator.

"Yup. Carried Celeste who was already close to collapsing all the way here. Most probably, she was up the whole night."

"Where's Ted?" Frank raked his fingers through his hair, "I don't recall seeing him on our way up here."

"He doesn't stay here. He took leave today after bringing Celeste here. But I don't think he was planning to go back to the mainland since his speedboat is still anchored to the shore. Maybe he went down to the main beach or something."

"Hmm…" Joe raised an eyebrow and exchanged a look with Frank. Seeing that Celeste wasn't going to wake up anytime soon, he stood up and tapped Holly's shoulder. She turned around and smiled at him, trying to mask the troubled look in her eyes futilely.

"Yes?"

"I need to talk to you for a while. Outside?"

"Ok." She struggled up from her chair and followed him out the room. The moment they were out of sight, Holly wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest and Frank could feel her hot tears soaking through the material of his t-shirt.

"She must have been so scared, Frank. This is paradise island… we shouldn't have to worry about being mugged here… and moreover, she couldn't see. I can just imagine her fear…When she wakes, she'll sure ask about Gavin."

"Shh… it's ok… she's all right now. I need to ask you a question… do you know the area around here? You know, the forest that we tracked through to reach the other side of the island? Is there any caves or huts around?"

"Huh?" She looked up into his eyes, not comprehending his sudden question.

"Celeste was found with grass, soil and leaves on her so I assume she must have been dragged through the forest…"

"Like I said, I usually take a jet-ski to the other side. You may want to speak to Adam or AC. They trek there with Gavin all the time."

"All right. I hate to leave you now but…"

"It's ok. I'll be here with Nic and Cel. Just come back safely…" She tiptoed and nuzzled his nose with hers He held on to her just a little longer, unwilling to leave her. However, as indigestible as Gavin's personality was, he couldn't leave the poor guy in the lurch. Gavin was still a human being after all and all lives were sacred.

Disengaging himself gently from the embrace, he popped his head into the room and waved for Joe to follow him. Joe stood up, kissed Maya on the cheek before walking over to Nicole and squeezed her shoulders in a show of support. Nicole patted his hand and nodded. Frank twisted his lips a little. Though Joe seemed to be distancing himself a little from Nicole, his attraction towards the girl was still obvious. And now, in a way, Joe was burdening Frank with a secret that seemed somewhat wrong to keep from Vanessa. But he was willing to give his brother some leeway. And anyway, he had to admit that in the past, he often forced Joe to wear the pair of shoes that was pinching his toes now when they were on cases with their good friend, Nancy Drew.

"So, Sherlock. Any ideas? Shall we go bust Ted?"

"I think we should go retrieve Gavin. Let's go get Adam and AC."

***

"We should be reaching the cave soon…" Adam, leading the pack, pointed the way ahead. The brothers had found the Adam playing volleyball with some girls while AC looked on, wary of everything that he touched. They had to drag Adam out of the game but once Adam realized the seriousness of the matter, he was more than willing to help. According to him, there was a cave in the forest which was unoccupied by anything or anyone. AC tagged along in the schlep, not wanting to be far away from his twin.

"The cave is pretty dirty." AC warned the Hardys. Joe threw a hand across AC's shoulders heavily and the young man jumped.

"Sorry, I'm really not used to contact with other people besides my brother and my girlfriend." AC muttered grumpily.

AC has a girlfriend? Well… whaddaya know.

"But you can't live your life in a bubble right?" Joe commented, grinning good-naturedly. When they saw a few pairs of faded footprints on the dirt track earlier on, with one pair much smaller than the others, hopes of finding Gavin were raised, "Besides, do you know your immune system actually strengthens if you exposed yourself to more dirt and grime?"

"Really?" AC asked Joe, seemingly surprised. Adam chuckled from the front and looked over his shoulders.

"I've been telling you that all your life, my odd clone." He teased his brother who rolled his eyes.

"Right but throwing me in a puddle of mud wasn't exactly the right idea."

"I'm sorry about that… it was so long ago. And I had the best intentions… if only you'll just leave your bottle of disinfection alone for a day."

Frank, completely uninvolved in the conversation, suddenly broke into a slow jog ahead of Adam. "I see the cave now. Hurry guys!"

The boys ran towards the cave and Joe almost stumbled over a small rock jutting out from the ground. Embarrassed by his clumsiness, he was pretty glad that no one noticed. Before they reached the cave, Frank placed a finger on his lips and slowed down, approaching the cave sneakily and slowly, making as little noise as he could.

"HEY! WHY ARE YOU GUYS SLOWING DOWN? HURRY UP AND UNTIE ME, OAFS! I CAN HEAR YOU A MILE AWAY!" Gavin yelled from the cave. Suddenly, Joe didn't feel like rescuing Gavin anymore. He felt so unappreciated.

He gathered Frank, AC and Adam felt the same way. Adam actually pretended to approach the mouth of the small cave in slow motion.

"We….are….hurrying….as…."Adam spoke tediously, no doubt to flame Gavin's ire.

"SHUT UP! THE BASTARD TOOK CEL AWAY! QUICK! WE NEED TO FIND HER!"

"Relax, she's fine." Joe hunched down as he entered the cave first. The opening was not conducive for people over 5 feet 9 and, with a heart bigger than what Gavin deserved probably, he took out his Swiss army knife from his board shorts' pocket and cut the ropes bounding Gavin's hands and legs. The angry man quickly shook himself free of the ropes and stood up, staggering slightly owing to numbed limbs.

"Crazy man. He whacked me on the head just as I left my hut to accompany Celeste back to her hut… damn, I have the most terrible headache."

"We'll give you some ice for it later and have it check for signs of concussion." Frank supported Gavin before the guy tripped over his own legs again. "You all right? Why would he want to kidnap you?"

"How would I know?!" Gavin retorted too quickly and defensively. "Ted has always been weird and full of crazy suspicious ideas! The freaking *******"

Adam rolled his eyes. "How I wish he had gagged you too. Or at least give us some Listerine to wash your mouth with."

"Yah, yah. Whatever. He's probably coming back soon. I dropped the wat… , I mean, something along the way here and told him. He's off to find it…"

"And I have found it." Ted suddenly appeared a few steps away the cave, holding on to a pocket watch as he glared at the boys. He strode into the cave, an ugly twist on his lips. "And I won't let you boys take this jerk away. Don't worry, I won't hurt him. I just couldn't buy a ticket to get him out of Thailand as the flights were all full for this week. But come next Monday, he's out of here and on his way back to the States."

"I don't need to get out of Thailand! You were trying to kill me! Where have you taken Celeste?" Gavin was about to lung for Ted when Frank and Joe pulled him back.

"I think we should let Ted explain why he took you away… and in front of Queen." Frank spoke with authority. Ted shook his head and swung the pocket watch in front of the boys.

"No, I can't do that. He was going to hurt Queen. He's been stealing Queen's stuff and vandalizing her compound. I happen to catch him in the act. I'm not going to let him harass Queen again."

"You know what you did can amount to a kidnap charge…" Frank reminded Ted calmly, "But we can settle this amiably. Besides, we haven't heard Gavin's side of the story."

"There's nothing to hear! Queen's a witch!" Gavin spat, trying to reach for the watch. "And that's rightfully mine! He would want me to have it!"

"Why?" Joe challenged, "The watch belongs to Peter McHeart, Queen's late husband."

"I don't need to explain my actions to you, dumb blond!" Gavin sneered at Joe and without cause or reason, stormed Joe's foot. He yowled, holding on to his injured leg.

"HEY! THAT'S UNCALLED FOR!"

Frank quickly locked Gavin's arms behind him, pulling him away from everyone before he could do more damage, giving Joe a quick glance. Joe suppressed his wince and nodded, indicating that he was all right, just sore in the stomach with antagonism.

"Let's tie him up again." Adam suggested, "This time, let's tie him to a tree and just leave him there."

"I'm so tempted to." AC chimed in, picking up the fallen ropes from the ground. "Shall we?"

"Fine! Tie me up! Feed me to the wild! I don't care anyway! Nobody cares about me but Celeste! If you hurt her, you piece of crap, I'll personally skin you alive!" Gavin threatened as he thrashed his legs, hitting nothing but air molecules. Ted stood just out of Gavin's reach, folded his muscular tanned arms, and yawned.

"You can try. But I think you are right, Frank… it is Frank, right? I think let's bring him back to Queen. I admit what I did was wrong and I didn't mean to take the poor girl but I thought she was in cahoots. I'll let Queen decide on what to do. If she wants to report me, I won't try defending myself… too much."

"Ted, I believe you're doing this to protect Queen and you didn't hurt Gavin either. But like I said, let's have Queen settle this since she is the most apparent victim of all that have happened. Gavin probably has a story that should be told as well." Frank jerked at Gavin's hands and the raging young man growled under his breath, "Right?"

"Over my dead body will you know anything!"

"We'll see. Bring me the ropes. We'll tie his arms and yours too, Ted. It's for our protection. I hope you understand."

"No problem." Ted tucked the watch into his pocket and stretched his hands out. Adam approached Ted cautiously with Joe next to him and they tied up the big guy's hands before helping a struggling AC and Frank with Gavin. With plenty of luck, they managed to drag Gavin all the way through the forest trail and back to the beach and suffered through many amused and curious pairs of eyes on their long walk across the beach towards Queen's mansion.

***

"Ted, you have overstepped the line this time!" Queen huffed after listening to the boys' account of what had happened. Right then, they were in Queen's sitting room with Maya and Clown. Maya had the look of a chastising mother on her face as Clown looked on in amusement, hooting and laughing when Ted interjected several times to explain himself. Queen, obviously bias towards Gavin, was sitting down next to the furious boy who shuffled away from her at intermittence when she came too close, too angry to speak.

"Really, Queen. I just wanted him to be away from you! I made booking for the next available flight back to the United States for him. He tried to hurt you and he stole your stuff! Who knows, he might actually harm you physically next!"

"WAS NOT!" Gavin shot back, tiny droplets of spittle spewed forth from his mouth. Joe was rather afraid that Gavin might just blow apart like a machine with a screw loose . "LIAR! I WON'T HURT HER PHYSICALLY! I JUST WANTED…" He growled, speechless with aggravation that sprung from a source which nobody in the room could recognize.

"What did you want?" Queen asked Gavin gently, a hand on his lap. Gavin roughly shifted the affected limb away and folded his untied hands.

"Nothing. I'm sorry, ok? I'm an angry psychopath. I'll return everything and clean up the mess I made. And I'll never step foot here again."

"No… you're always welcome here… please… I apologize on Ted's behalf."

"There's no need. He's right. I'm sorry I stole your stuff. You can have it all back and more. You can take my shirts, pants, my only twenty bucks, whatever. I don't care! I just want to leave… I don't mean any harm." Gavin stood up but Queen tugged at his hand and he froze, not sitting back down but not moving away either.

"You can keep them. But can you please tell me why you're doing all these? I just want to know… because… you do look so much like him…"

"My brother looks more like your husband." Gavin spoke softly and by his unexpected admission, the whole room descended into a silence that was heavy with anticipation of truth. "Mikey wanted to come here ever since he knew who he was but he died before his dreams could be realized."

"What are you saying?" Queen stood up, her voice breaking. "Whose Mikey? Who was he?"

Gavin bit his lips and clenched his hands into tight fists. When the answer was squeezed from out of his chest next, Joe could hear the hurt interlaced with each word.

"Mikey was my brother. And he was actually your son."