Disclaimer: I STILL don't own Digimon.

A/N: PLEASE don't hate me if I didn't pick the character you wanted me to!

Joe walked down the streets of Odaiba trying to find the perfect six-month anniversary gift for his girlfriend Sakura. 'I sure wish Mimi were here, she knows more about this than I do. But she moved right after TK disappeared.'

It had been exactly eight months since that day and the digidestined had attempted to move on. Matt and Sora had hooked up, and Tai and Mimi had a long distance relationship. Both Izzy and Kari had gone through many rocky relationships and were both single. Then there was Joe. Joe had met Sakura two months after TK disappeared and they had been going steady ever since.

Joe sighed. Anyone who looked at the situation would think that Matt and Kari were the only ones still really suffering. No one would think Joe was too. It might not have been obvious, but Joe and TK had a special little brother-to-little brother bond. However, whenever someone brought up TK it was Joe, not Matt, who hid his feelings.

Joe looked up and muttered an apology as he ran into someone. 'I can't dwell on this now, I have to find a present and meet Sakura for a date. .. I bet TK would never stop teasing me about having a girlfriend. I wonder what he's doing right now...if he's even still alive.'

In fact, at that very moment, TK was in Odaiba Park waiting to deliver his latest steal. As he stood he thought about his old life. 'I wonder what all my old friends are doing. They probably think I'm dead; just as well, that's better then them knowing the truth and not being able to do anything about it. They'd probably be ashamed of me if they knew the truth anyway. I hope I don't run into any of them. I haven't changed that much, and my blonde hair and blue eyes make me easily recognizable. Ijin would probably kidnap and/or kill them if they saw me; he wouldn't want them spreading the word that I was alive.'

TK was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the other boy in the park until he, literally, ran into him.

Joe had decided to cut though the park seeing as he had spent so much time looking for a present and was almost late. He started jogging and only stopped because he collided with something, or rather, someone.

The impact sent both boys to the ground. They both turned to apologize, but froze when they saw each other.

"T-T-TK?" Joe stuttered, utterly shocked.

TK gaped for a minute 'Oh shit! Oh shit!' but he soon recovered. "Yeah Joe, it's me." He said just above a whisper.

"OH MY GOD! I can't believe it! Where have you been?! Are you Okay?! We have to get you home! We---"

TK cut Joe off. "No, I can't go home."

"..What?! ..I mean, don't you want to go home."

"It's not that I don't want to go home, I want that more than anything, it's that I can't go home."

"..Okay. I'm confused. Please explain."

At that moment TK noticed Ijin and a couple of his men coming their way. 'Oh no! If they see me talking to Joe they'll take him too! I can't let that happen."

"Joe," TK said aloud, "I want you to leave now, and tell NO ONE that you saw me."

"I'm NOT leaving." Joe replied stubbornly, "And why can't I tell anyone I saw you?"

"Because you're in danger!! Now leave before---"

TK was cut off by Ijin.

"Who are you?!" he demanded of Joe.

"My name is Joe, I'm an old friend of TK's."

"Old friend, huh?" Ijin mused. "Well he didn't happen to accidentally mention anything about the last 8 months, did he?"

"No," replied a very confused and somewhat worried Joe, "he didn't say anything."

"That very well may be." Ijin said, "But I'm not one to take unnecessary chances."

With that he snapped his fingers and two of his goons descended on Joe, one with a hypodermic needle.

"Wha--. TK! HELP!" he cried, but TK just stood there as if he was frozen in place.

TK watched as Joe was knocked out and thrown in the back of the car that Ijin had ridden up in. Once that was taken care of, Ijin turned his attention to TK.

"Looks like I've got much closer leverage over you now." He sneered before forcing TK into the car too and signaling the driver to drive back to headquarters.

When they reached the headquarters TK was thrown into his room with Joe right behind him. After they were locked in TK sat down on his bed and ate while he waited for Joe to wake up.

When Joe came around he found himself in a room with bunkbeds in it. He noticed that TK was sitting on one of the beds.

"Wh-What happened?" Joe asked him as he groggily sat up.

"Ijin had his men grab you because he didn't want you to tell anyone that I was alive." he answered. "By the way, here's some food they left for you."

"Thanks." Joe muttered as he accepted the bread, orange, and water. "But why am I not allowed to tell anyone you're alive? And no avoiding the question this time."

"It's a long story and you look tired, so why don't I tell you later?" TK said, desperately trying to sidestep the question.

Joe saw right through him. "Oh no you don't. We've got time, and I just slept so you're going to tell me everything NOW!"

"Okay, okay." TK said, defeated. He took in a deep breath and began to tell Joe everything about the last 8 months of his life.