"Come on, come on…" Joe whispered over and over again as he, Biff, and Phil dug franticly to clear off the box below them. "Come on!"

Time had slowed down, as each armful of dirt seemed like it took a thousand of days to move. Fear, guilt, and concern ate away at the teens as they dug. Finally they had cleared enough dirt off the lid for it to be open. There was no hesitation on Joe's part as he started to pry off the lid. It was hard, as it had been nailed closed, but nothing had ever been able to hinder Joe Hardy for very long, and in seconds he had the lid off.

Though the boys were eager to get Frank out of his prison, they were not expecting what they saw. Frank's hand was swollen and discolored, his shirt was splattered with blood, and his face was bruised and swollen just like his hand only it was stand with blood. He was pale, like clouds, and completely motionless. Gingerly, Joe put his hands in the coffin and touched his bother's neck and chest.

"He has a pulse, but he's not breathing…."

Fenton watched as the EMTs took Mike away on a gurney, disappointment all over his face.

Sam was off in the background somewhere trying to smooth things over with Ezra. Fenton didn't really care if Ezra arrested him or not, Fenton had a sense of failure now. That he had failed Frank.

"Fenton! What the hell were you thinking? I told you to stay put!" Ezra's voice boomed over the parking lot as officers were practically jumping out of his way.

Fenton sighed, "There was a man down at the door, I heard shoots fired. I went in…."

"Without a gun, without back up, without permission, or any idea of what was going on! What the hell were you thinking!"

"That those men in there took my son! My child! Beat him, forced him to make his own ransom note! That those people buried my baby alive!" Fenton explode.

There was a silence as Ezra took in the words. Fenton rarely lost his temper or showed signs of stress when on a case, so Ezra didn't know how badly shock up he was. "We'll get to him Fenton. We have two of them, we'll find him…"

"They're not going to wake up in time! It's too late!"

"Fenton? What are you talking about?"

"His times up Ezra…He ran out of time twenty minuets ago…" Fenton chocked out.

Laura quickly headed for Fenton's office, making sure that as she entered she left the door undisturbed. After dialing Fenton's cell phone on speaker, she crawled under his desk, hiding herself from view and waited.

Though Laura had set the volume as low as she could, the rings from the phone were deafening. Finally, after what seemed like forever she heard Fenton's voice. His voice sounded horsed, chocked, like he was upset, but Laura didn't have time to ponder why.

"What?" she heard him snap.

"Fenton…" Laura said as loud as she dared.

"Laura? Is that you? I can barely hear you…."

"I know, I know. I need you to listen, just listen…there are two men in the house that aren't welcomed…" Laura paused, she could hear the two men enter the hallway and opening doors.

"Fenton, listen to me, I think that they're trying to get me, and I don't have much time…I'm hidden as best as I can be, I need you to get here as soon as possible."

"I'll break the speed barrier, just stay down and be careful," Fenton said, sounding more frantic.

"And Fenton…" Laura said quickly before Fenton could hang up.

"Yes?"

"I love you…."

A hush fell over the boys as they took in what Joe said. The world seemed to slow to a crawl, and zoom out so all they saw was in blurry patches. Then the moment passed and the world went into over drive. The one thing that they all cared about was getting Frank back.

Joe and Biff dragged Frank as gently as they could out of the box and laid him next to the grave.

"Hey! Did you find him? Is he all right? How is?" Joe heard Chet calling from where he guarded the two men.

"Yeah Chet, we got him, but he's not breathing…" Joe heard call back, but he didn't hear Chet's reply.

The blood around Frank's noise and mouth were bothering Joe, and he opened his mouth.

"What is it?" Biff asked anxiously.

"I think his airway's blocked…I got to clean before I start CPR…" Joe said as he placed two fingers in Frank's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Biff asked.

"His throat's blocked by blood…I'm trying to make him…" before Joe could finish Frank started to gag, and in seconds he was vomiting. Joe and Biff quickly turned him on his side so he couldn't swallow the mucus and blood. "Vomit to clear the airway," Joe finished as he waited for Frank to stop.

The second Frank was done Joe felt his chest, "He's still not breathing, help me turn him over."

Biff helped roll Frank back over and pushed Frank's head back so Joe had a clear shot at his air way. Joe started the rescue breathing, keeping the rhyme steady. Fifth teen breaths, check for life, fifth teen again…finally after the fourth round Frank started to cough and move.

"Frank! Frank! Open your eyes Frank! Open your eyes!" Joe said as he started to shake Frank gently.

Slowly, painfully slowly, Frank started to open his eyes, instantly shutting them with a groan as the sun hit his eyes. "Joe…" he said weakly, his voice raw and sore from screaming and lack of water.

"Yeah, it's me…how you doing? Huh? You ok?" Joe spat out fast.

"Sss…slow down…ca…can't…understand…."

Joe laughed nervously, "Sorry…here let's get you up so we can…"

"Kill you."

Thank god for pain killers...