Chapter 23:

"Hey, don't cry," Frank whispered against her hair. He desperately wished he could hold her and comfort her, but his hands were bound tightly behind him. He gave her hand another squeeze, restraining the urge to kiss her golden head. There was no time for that. "I need you to pull yourself together," he said, desperately tugging at the knots on her wrists. "We need to get out of here."

The younger girl swallowed. Frank's calm voice had been soothing, snapping her out of her shock. At the slight tug of her hand earlier, she had broken down and sobbed onto Frank's strong, sturdy shoulder. Now, at Frank's urgent whisper, her sobs had quickly subsided, and she gave a brave nod.

"Good," Frank replied, approvingly. "I'm going to untie your hands," But even as he tugged at the knots that bound her wrists, the door burst open again, startling them both.

Instantly, Katie jerked herself away from Frank and snapped herself upright. Frank felt his muscles grow taut again as Shane dragged Callie into the room and pushed her towards where they were sitting.

The dark haired Hardy found his voice first. "Callie!" he cried in a hoarse whisper. Callie lost her balance as she stumbled over Katie's feet, and fell down beside them. Shane lifted his gun.

"I don't care if you're Steve's girlfriend or not. I hate busybodies," Shane snapped in a most dangerous tone, aiming the weapon straight at Callie.

"Nooooo!" cried Joe, suddenly rushing into the room. He was just outside the door as Shane was speaking. He leapt onto Shane, smacking the gun out of his hands and shoving him to the floor, just as a shot rang out. The girls screamed. Joe struggled with Shane on the floor, pinning him down. Suddenly, Shane managed to wrench free and arm and swung wildly towards his head. Joe dodged, and grabbed hold of Shane's hand as it came near, twisting it all the way until the bone snapped. He was about to deliver a blow to knock Shane unconscious when an urgent voice stopped his heart cold.

"Frank!" Callie's voice was frantic. "Frank, please tell me you're alright," she pleaded, bending over him.

Frank had, on instinctive reaction, slammed his side against the two girls, shoving them a little to the side when the gun went off, but he had not managed to get out of the way himself. The bullet had hit him somewhere below the collarbone near the shoulder. The dark haired teen slumped back onto the wall as a burning pain seared through him.

"See if you can untie Katie's hands," Frank whispered to her, fighting the grogginess that was beginning to wave over him. "Get her out of here."

"Yours…"

Frank shook his head, groaning as even the slightest movement brought him unbearable pain. "Don't move me… hurts too much…" he managed to say, before the darkness took him over completely.

Frank… He got hit… Joe realized, as he caught sight at he bloodstain on his brother's shirt. Even as he stared, the stain was growing rapidly, and he noticed that Frank's eyes were shut. Though he badly wanted to rush to his brother's side, he somehow managed to get a grip and ordered himself to stay calm. There's no time for that, he told himself; or we'll be all dead.

"Joeeeee!" Callie screamed suddenly. Joe looked up, just in time to see Shane taking a swipe at him. The guy had gotten up from the floor in that split second Joe shifted his attention to his brother. Hurriedly, he sprang to the side, ducking the blow.

Before he could even plan on his next move, he heard a click. Turning, he saw that Shane had retrieved the pistol from the floor with his good arm, and was now waving it menacingly at Joe.

Gun pointing forward, he motioned for Joe to move, backing him up against the wall. Silently, Joe held his palms up in obedience.

The two boys locked gazes for an instance. Joe's fiery blue eyes met Shane's cold, hard glare. Clenching his fists, Joe braced himself to leap aside as Shane took aim.

There is a chance that he might miss, he thought hopefully, not taking his eyes off Shane and his gun. Shane was handling the pistol with his left hand, as his dominant arm – his right arm – was injured. Shane lifted the gun a little higher, now aiming it at Joe's chest.

"Right," a voice spoke from the doorway. "Shoot."