"It is time. You have known it was coming from the moment you stepped foot on this island and now it has arrived. Make your choice."

Joe sat in a small circle in the conference room of this gigantic house of Melanie's that a quarter of the island's population lived in. Around him were the eight others from the Lady of Shadows, Melanie, Shane, and Raun. And they were here to hear his decision.

The only problem was, Joe hadn't decided yet. The island, on the whole wasn't such a bad place to be. It was like a large family, really. There wasn't money on the island, although somewhere in the house Melanie used it in her relations with the outside world. It was like utopia, where every lived in equality and helped one another, specializing in their unique trade so they could best help their fellow citizens.

And then there were those who worked to make the rest of the world just like it. He knew from some investigation that there was an extensive intelligence system around the world that kept tabs on world leaders and serial murders, taking out anyone who treated to take the utopia farther from the world's grasp. There were also agents helping those in need, recruiting more to the cause, and being an smashing individual. Joe figured the island community was either proof the Melanie that such a feat could be accomplished, or a way of living and a place to go for those who had nothing left in the world. Maybe it was both.

The problem Joe faced was he wasn't sure he could, in all honesty, agree to this life. He had given up all pretenses as joining as if he were investigating. The vow was too strong and his time on the island had come to mean too much to him as to simply cast it away as another case. He was leaving behind so much, this he knew. Besides, he wasn't sure he could deal with some of the rougher parts of it, taking out those 'evil' people. That could be justified though, that was just like taking out criminals in his father's cases. The problem was he wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of it. Suddenly it was too late.

Shane stood behind the first of the group and placed his hands upon the man's shoulders. "What is your choice, James?"

The man called James looked up at him, closed his eyes, and then said, "I will stay."

Smiling, Shane said, "Welcome."

A woman was next, a woman called Kate, perhaps one of the only one of the group that Joe hadn't gotten to know well over the past month. "I also will stay."

The next two men, Andy and Steve, also elected to stay, and each time, Shane smiled and welcomed them, just as he had with James. Nothing more. Nothing less.

And then there was a refusal. To Joe's surprise it was Robert. He took a deep breath, looked Shane squarely in the eye and said, "I cannot remain here."

Shane nodded gravely. "I am sorry then, for the loss of such a fine young man."

Suddenly, Shane's hands were upon Joe's shoulders. He could feel his heart beat so loud he could swear that everyone within the next mile could hear it. Did he really want to die now? He had once vowed he would die before giving into a captor of his, but was this any different? Were Melanie and Shane really his captors? Yes, they are. Nice ones, but still captors. But suddenly, faced with the possibility of dying today, he simply couldn't hold his vow. It suddenly seemed impossible to repeat Robert's fate. So knowing that he was going back on his word, he said softly, "I, too, will stay."

He scarcely heard his welcome. He didn't know hear everyone else in the room join, and he didn't see Robert leave for the last time. He had chosen to be a traitor over death. As the afternoon wore on, as he swore several new vows, vows to Melanie, vows the the world, the weak and the helpless, he didn't even realize what he was saying. Although he would live on another day, something in him had died something that made him Joe Hardy.

And so when he walked out of the room, supposedly to rest for tomorrow's decision on where he would work in this operation, he realized that it wasn't Joe Hardy who held the door for the other seven group members. No, Joe Hardy he was not. Today, he had truly become Ned Brenden.

A/N: This ends the first part of the story. After this it leaves the usual Hardy cookie cutter case so be prepared. Keep reviewing, please. I really want to know what you think!