Disclaimer: Don't own anybody except Thomas and unidentified goons.

Fenton Hardy slowly opened his eyes. He was lying down on something hard and staring up at a dull grey ceiling. He became aware that his head hurt, and remembered the phone call, the terrifying thought that Laura, the love of his life, was in the hospital and running out to the car… the guns. Ah, he thought ruefully. I'll try to pay better attention next time. At least the boys are in college and they've kidnapped me and not Joe.

He very slowly sat up. And that's when he noticed both Joe and Frank, seemingly asleep, on the beds next to him. He moved quickly, too quickly, to Joe's side and felt for a pulse.

"Joe!" he yelled. "Can you hear me?" Receiving no response, he used what limited medical knowledge he had to check out both Joe and Frank. Relieved that both boys were only drugged and not otherwise hurt, he ignored the pain in his head and started very slowly walking around their prison. He saw the bugs and the camera almost immediately, and continued walking around the 20X20 room to try to give the impression that he did not notice them. Most detectives would not.

He returned to the beds as both Joe's and Frank's eyes began to flutter. Putting his hands over theirs, he waited for their eyes to focus.

"Wha-" whispered Frank. "Who are…. Dad? What are you doing…" Frank tried to get up and Fenton quickly motioned for him to lay back down. Frank tried to remember what he was last doing

Joe saw the shadowy figure leaning over him. Lifting his arm, he tried to punch the person, but his father caught his fist, and Joe stopped trying to punch him. "Easy Joe," he said softly. "You've had a long day."

"What time is it?" Joe mumbled. "I never get up before noon."

Fenton snorted. "Well, I have no idea what time it is. But I think it is long after noon."

"Dad!" said Joe on the verge of a panic attack. Oh my gosh, how much did I drink last night? Did I do anything stupid?

"You two look like you have just come back from the wars. And I doubt I can even ask you what the other two other fellows look like," said Fenton using the code phrase that they had agreed on years ago – the code phrase that meant that the room was bugged by unknown people. The reference to two signified that there was both a hidden camera and a bug.

"I was in the computer lab. The one guy looked suspicious, but I took a dollar bill from the other one that must have been laced with a chemical before realizing it," said Frank in a rush as his memory came back to him. "My professor is never going to forgive me if I don't show up for my test." How did I get here? Where are we… he thought as he tried to remember more.

"Trust Frank to worry about a test after he's been kidnapped," said Joe who was trying valiantly to sit up.

"Kidnapped! It's you who is always… Oh," said Frank who was now sitting on the edge of the bed and looking around the room. "Are you working on any cases? I'm not working on anything so there is no reason for anyone to kidnap me right now."

"I just finished something a couple of days ago. But those people aren't organized enough to come after all three of us." Fenton glanced at Joe with narrowed eyes as he finished speaking. "You are reacting more severely to the drugs than I would have thought. Either they used something more powerful or… you were drinking at the time?"

"Um… ah…"

"I promise you, once we get out of here, your mother will hear about this."

As Joe opened his mouth to protest, Frank intervened.

"We can settle this later. Who would kidnap all three of us like this and why?" He very slowly began to walk around the room and stood toward the side of the door that he discovered in the wall.

"Hey there!" yelled Joe, happy for a distraction from his father. "We're awake now. You can stop hiding out there like a chicken."

Silence.

"This is the song that never ends! It goes on and on my friend! Some people started…"

Silence.

"Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall! Ninety nine bottles of beer! If one of those bottles…"

Silence.

After even Joe got tired of singing, Frank sat back down on the bed and the three men began to talk. Even though the summer wasn't too long ago, it was the first time they had seen each other since both Frank and Joe had left for college. Frank enjoyed hearing Joe talk about all the friends he was making at UCLA and quietly made comparisons between his and Joe's first semesters of college. Fenton reminded himself to enjoy the company, if not the moment. Some families go on vacation together, he thought. We get kidnapped in order to spend some quality time with each other. (see note at bottom)

"The great Fenton Hardy and his two detective-wannabe sons," said a voice from the doorway. "If you had told me 30 years ago that it would turn out like this, I never would have believed you."

As a hoard of men swarmed into the room, Frank focused his attention on the man who had spoken. He wasn't very tall – about 5'5'' but extremely thin. His black hair had hints of grey throughout his hair, but it was the eyes that Frank noticed the most. He had gone toe-to-toe with cold-blooded serial killers and criminals who were truly insane. But those emerald green eyes gleamed with a ferocious intelligence that only came from insanity with a covering of rationality.

"Thomas? But Laura said you were…"

"Dead? No, I'm very much alive I am afraid."

He approached Joe who tried to punch him but was restrained by two pairs of strong arms holding him back. "The younger Hardy," Thomas said brushing Joe's hair back. "You've inherited your father's headstrong nature." As Frank reached out to stop Thomas from touching his brother any more, he was restrained by someone whose martial arts skills were far more advanced than his. "And this is Frank. You've inherited your mother's intelligence and computer skills."

Turning away from Frank's puzzled look, Thomas addressed Fenton. "But of course he has no idea. He's never known the real Laura Hardy."

"Yes he has," said Fenton. "More than he knows. Your quarrel is with me. Let my sons go."

"But Dad…"

"Quiet, Joe."

"Your sons should have been mine."

"You were always very possessive. No man could be prouder of his sons."

"I would only be prouder if they were mine. Mine and Laura's…"

"After what you did to her, you still think she would have stayed with you regardless of if I entered the picture or not! You're more arrogant than I remember." Fenton had forgotten all of his professionalism as he stared unflinchingly at Thomas. It had been a long time since he had felt this angry.

"Laura Basden was mine until you came along. We had our lives planned out together. We just had to do that one last job and then we would have been home free, gotten married and have had two kids." He turned around and jammed his finger against Fenton's chest. "Your kids should have been mine and your wife was mine."

"She was never yours. Nor was she ever mine," said Fenton with a fire in his eyes. "Laura made her own choices. It's your fault that you lost her."

Joe never saw the hand moving. He only heard the crack as Thomas's hand connected with Fenton's nose and saw his father sag to only be held up by the two thugs on either side of him. Desperate to get to his father, Joe turned to grapple with the two goons who were holding him, but to no avail. Goon number one stunned him by slamming him up against the wall. Goon two then turned Joe around and forced him to watch the beating. Joe desperately wanted to look away, but he couldn't.

Frank was engaged in a martial arts fight, and he was losing. His karate black belt was no match for the two martial arts experts who blocked his best attempts like he was a little kid. He was pushed up against the opposite wall from Joe and made to stay there. His blood boiled as he saw his father get kicked repeatedly by Thomas out of the corner of his eye, and his own helplessness made it worse.

Fenton Hardy couldn't see. His right eye was blurry and his left eye was rapidly swelling. His entire left side hurt and his breath came out in short gasps. As he was less able to stand up straight and the two thugs beside him stopped holding him up, he thought he was able to get a few punches in before he was forced to put his arms up to shield his head. Each moment brought a fresh pain somewhere unexpected, and Fenton prayed for it to stop and that this crazy man would not start on either Frank or Joe.

"That felt good," said Thomas after what felt like hours but was only minutes. "You got what you deserved."

Thomas nodded to the men holding both Frank and Joe. One punched Frank in the head while another punched Joe in the gut. Leaving both boys gasping on the floor, the goons moved toward the door.

"It will go like this. Laura needs to do the last job that the two of you foiled for me. If she does it, Frank and Joe go home. Fenton however,… we'll have to have a little chat. If you will give Laura up, you'll live. If you won't, then you'll die."

The door slammed, leaving all three Hardys in various positions on the floor.

"Dad…" said Joe moving toward Fenton. "Did you break anything?"

Fenton slowly moved all of his body parts and gingerly touched his nose. He then shook his head, thankful he had not broken any ribs. He moved over to the bed and sat on it with his head between his knees. After he no longer felt like he was going to pass out, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

Frank joined Joe and closely looked over Fenton. "Nothing is broken," he said softly. "But there's plenty of bruising and I don't know about internal injuries. We need some ice or something, now."

He turned his attention to Joe and was satisfied that Joe had only superficial cuts that would be fine.

"How about you?" asked Joe worriedly.

"No, they knew what they were doing. Their goal was to stop me from hurting them rather than to hurt me. It was Dad they really wanted to hurt."

"But why?" asked Joe turning back to Fenton. "This doesn't make…" Joe stopped frozen. Fenton didn't look like himself. His eyes were staring fixedly into the distance. It was as if he was somewhere else not here…

Despite the distance that separated them over the past two years, their relationship as brothers was as strong as ever, and they could still tell in a glance what each other was thinking. And they were both afraid. Very afraid.

All three of them had been kidnapped on numerous occasions, with Joe winning the "most kidnapped person of the year" award. While that did not mean that each kidnapping was not serious and frightening, despite Thomas's rage, this had certainly not been the worse situation the Hardys had ever been in. But although they were past the age where they viewed their father as invincible, their father was always levelheaded and strong, no matter what the circumstances were. This time, it looked like he had completely fallen apart.

It did not seem to be the physical violence, but rather the emotional trauma that caused Fenton to draw into himself. Both boys were baffled as to who Thomas was. And how did their mother fit into this? As Frank and Joe exchanged worried glances, they could only wait silently until Fenton decided to speak.

Note: This is a modified quote from Alias: Season Two The Passage Part II. The actual saying by Sydney Bristow is: "Some families play miniature golf. We go to India to look for nukes."