Whew. I was afraid everyone would hate it. Just so you know, I don't hate New York. Charlie is claustrophobic of New York because the last time he was there he got shot.

Thanks for the reviews, and please continue to review. I promise this next chapter will be longer.

The Silent Rumble

For all disclaimers: See my profile, its on there.

On another side note, the shooting wasn't in the LA office. Anything you're confused about should be explained here. Except about Alan meeting Fenton. That'll be in a flashback on the next chapter.

Thanks to Roth for explaining some things to me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe was scared. Terrified. The man seemed to have no eyes. It was as if he was blind, Joe thought. Maybe he was blind?

The hopes quickly diminished when the man grabbed Frank, stepping through boxes, and yanked him by the arm. "Come upstairs," he growled.

"But I –" Frank said, glancing a helpless look at Joe.

"I said come upstairs, damn it! Didn't your father teach you how to obey orders?" he spat, yanking Frank's sleeve and nearly tearing it in half.

"Ouch! I'm coming," Frank said. His face showed his pained expression.

"Good," said the man, growling at nothing as he yanked Frank upstairs. "I have him." He shoved him on the floor.

The lead kidnapper, or at least he looked like the leader, smiled. "Good." He looked at Frank and said, "Do you quite realize who I am and why I want you?"

Frank shook his head. "No… n-no sir, I don't." It was a trick his father had taught him. Call the kidnappers sir; it'd catch them off guard. It seemed to work somewhat, but not enough for him to try running.

"I'm your older brother," he said sarcastically, yanking off his mask. "Want to know why I only want you?" he growled.

Frank paled in terror. He remembered the day very well. He'd caught his "older brother" lying. Laura had thought she had had a miscarriage, but had been led by this man to somehow believe that he was their son for some reason. Frank forgot what exactly. But he was very, very manipulative. The whole case hadn't made since to Frank, but his mother and father had been naive about it.

"But, you want to know something?" he asked, his breath hot on Frank's back, not waiting for him to answer. "I'm wanted for a lot more now. I broke out of prison. I'm wanted for murder. Rape. Blackmail. Theft. Arson. You name it; I've probably done it. And now I'll have Fenton's little baby boy, my accuser, with me for the rest of my life."

"Then why did you kidnap Joe? If you don't want him. To keep him," Frank asked.

"Oh, he's going back to Fenton Hardy," assured the man. "After watching you go through hell."

"Goody," Frank muttered.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FOUR DAYS MISSING

Charlie shook his head and yawned. It was about 12:00 at night and everyone was tired. "I don't get it. What do you mean? Who is this guy?"

Fenton sighed. "A few years ago – twenty five to be exact -, Laura had a miscarriage. She apparently had it well sleeping or something. The guy told us he was our son… I should have remembered it before now. Damn it!" he kicked the wall and Charlie winced.

Don didn't even flinch. He was used to seeing betrayed families and hiding his emotion well. "What happened? How did you find out?"

"Well, we ordered a DNA test. He was upset, found the results before us and trashed them. He said we could just trust him but I felt it wasn't that way. Then Frank followed him one day after he left the pizzeria and caught him and his 'buddies' laughing about how they'd manipulated the Hardy family. They caught Frank eavesdropping."

"That would explain why they don't want Joe, just Frank. Frank betrayed them," Don said. "That would make since to a criminal's point of view."

"Yeah, it would. Damn it. I knew something looked familiar… Wait!" he rummaged through his papers and smiled. "Got it."

"Got what?" Don asked. He looked at the wall and glanced back at Fenton.

"The location of his current property," Fenton said a minute later.

"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Don said with a smile. "Let's go!"

"We don't know if he'll be there," Fenton reminded him as Don and Charlie got out of the car.

"Nope. But we can explore. Look around. For clues and stuff," Don said.

"Yeah, what's the word?" Charlie asked. "Investigate."

"Yeah, that's it."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few hours later

The man tossed Frank down to the floor and carefully cut his arm. Joe winced as his brother screamed in pain. He struggled to help him but couldn't break free of the men holding him.

"Let me go!" Joe screamed. His face turned a flush red color. Frank could tell he was upset about being held in that way.

"Shut him up," growled the kidnapper. "I can't concentrate."

"What are you trying to do, boss?" asked the first man who was holding Frank down asked.

"Carve my name into his arm," he said, making a "J" mark. Frank screamed and the second kidnapper shifted his weight.

Silently, the kidnapper made an "o" mark, seeming to take enjoyment from seeing Frank in pain. He made the H crookedly, and by the time he got to the N, Frank had stopped and silent tears streamed down his face.

"Now," John said, covering it up with a bandage, so it wouldn't get infected, "we have to leave."

"But –" Frank said. He knew if they left, it would be like covering up his last link to his parents.

"And Joe is staying. Staying here. To explain to Fenton why we only want his oldest child, not you."

Joe's jaw dropped to the ground. What the hell was going on?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next chapter will explain how Alan and Fenton met and a few flashbacks. Once again, thanks to Roth.