TITN – CH14

Thanks for all the reviews I got; they make my day. Please continue to review. –Jason

I'm able to put this up only because school was canceled for teacher's conference. Yes! Although I'm sure Charlie and Joe won't be appreciative…

If you see anything like a (1) through the story, that's an author's note.

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"You going to try something funny, Charlie?" the captor asked him, staring dead strait at him. Charlie nearly flinched at the man's death glare. He had never been kidnapped before and he was scared to death. He glanced after at Joe, who gave him sort of an underhand motion, saying, "Go for it."

Joe, on the other hand, was terrified. He'd been kidnapped a thousand times before, but he'd never met Charlie. He knew Charlie was Don's brother, but what if something went wrong?

Charlie just winked at Joe. Joe's captor, thankfully, had been looking at the boss and not gotten to see it. Joe smiled, but that quickly turned into angry eyes as his captor slammed him against the wall and made a huge cut on his arm. "Don't talk," he ordered. "Say one thing, and we go bury your brother."

You can't do that! "You – he's alive – you can't bury him – that's murder – a felony –" he gasped. No! His brother was rarely terrified of anything, but the dark terrified him. He barely synced when Charlie started working. He was only aware of his brother's terrifying fear: The dark. When he was just five, they'd had a babysitter who offered to baby-sit for Fenton and Laura, but had locked the kids in the closet for the whole evening, well torturing one brother or the other. Joe shuddered at the memory. What a memory to pick up at a time like this!

"Stay still, brat!" the man said as he tightened the knife at Joe's throat. Joe could only watch and wait and watch as Charlie decrypted the data.

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Frank's eye's blinked open into an empty darkness. He moaned. He was terrified of the dark. He glanced at the window and limped to his feet as he checked the jail guards. They were evidently somewhere else and wouldn't be bothering him.

He smiled. He tested the door bolt and frowned. It was deadlocked. Great, he thought to himself.

He turned his attention to the window and looked outside. It was dark, but there was some sort of street lamp outside the building. – which could possibly mean they were in some sort of "lighted" area – possibly in public.

He knew what he had to do. He had to get help: Now.

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"Don't hurt him!" Charlie said as he heard Joe screaming. One of the men (who was wearing black jeans and a blue sweater), just forced Charlie on the ground. He looked him on the ground. "Don't you dare try and cheat us out of something, freak-show," he said. He growled and kicked Charlie in the side.

"Hey… wait a second," said one of the men. "What are we thinking? Charlie here knows how to pull tricks and stuff. All we really need is someone to type this up and decode it. Maybe Joe could type it up, so we don't have to risk Charlie pissing me off."

"Good idea, Gwen, but Joe can't type worth squat…." One of the lower men said.

Upon hearing this, Gwen glared. "I told you not to use names! Now the brat knows my name! I was offering a suggestion to Leader!"

The one who had been dubbed "Leader" smiled. "Thanks, but if he says Joe can't type I believe him. Well, Joey? Can you type?" he smiled, pulling Joe's hair back.

Joe's stomach growled and he shook his head. "No…" he whispered.

"What was that? Call me sir!" the man demanded, smacking Joe in the face.

Joe winced. "N-no sir," he whispered.

"Wait, wait – wasn't it Frank that won the essay award at his school?"

"Yeah, it was in the paper," the Leader said. "Go get him. NOW. Good thing Fenton's on our side!" he laughed.

What the hell? Was Joe's last thought as he blacked out. (1)

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Fenton growled and slammed his fist on the table as Don showed him the pictures. "If I knew where my son was, don't you think I'd yank him out by now?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Don said calmly. He was used to dealing with angry parents, so this was nothing new. "But Fenton –" he was cut off by a low growl from Fenton's throat.

"Call me Mr. Hardy," he growled. Don closed his eyes for ten seconds to regain his composure. What was wrong with Fenton?

"Mr. Hardy –" Don said. "We have reason to believe you are working with the kidnappers."

"What the hell? That's the most ridicules idea I've ever heard!" Fenton spat.

"Then what were you doing using a pay phone at three thirty in the morning?" Alan asked gently.

Don glanced up in surprise. He hadn't expected to find his father here. "Yeah, Mr. Hardy --?" he asked questioningly.

"That's none of your concern," Fenton said. "Listen, just find my boys, okay?" he said, walking towards the door. As he was about to close it, he added, "And then you can leave!"

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Yup, I know everyone's totally AU! I really don't like Fenton in this one. Please read and review.

Question: What do you think of Don's reaction towards Fenton? Was it justified?