A/N: Once again, thank you to all who are reading:-)

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Chapter 7

After showing his I.D. to a security guard, Fenton pulled onto the small airstrip, dodging debris from a mangled gate. He easily located the hangar where the standoff was in progress by the multitude of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances parked outside it. Speeding down the narrow strip of road, he squealed to a stop and jumped out of the car, Frank right on his heels. They stopped next to Ezra Collig, who had a cell phone pressed to his ear and was listening intently, his eyes hard.

"Release one of the hostages and we'll talk," he snapped.

Fenton looked at Frank and raised his eyebrows. The thieves had already made contact! Shifting his gaze back to Collig, Fenton saw a muscle in the man's jaw twitch – apparently things weren't going well.

"Fine, then let me send a medic on board to check on the injured hostage."

Fenton held his breath. It was a long shot, but he could hope. Before he could even get his hopes up they were dashed by a flash of anger in Collig's eyes and a shake of his head.

"Well, at least let me speak to him so I know he's still alive."

Collig listened for a moment, then swore under his breath and flipped the cell phone shut. He exhaled loudly. "They want us to load the money bags from the armored truck into the baggage compartment of the plane. From the position of the truck and the plane, they can clearly see if we don't comply. They also want a pilot to fly them to Canada. They said once they are safely on the ground in Canada, they'll release Joe, Vanessa and the pilot."

"Both of the thieves are in there?" Fenton asked, glancing inside the hangar. His heart ached knowing his injured son was only a few yards away, yet there was nothing he could do for him.

"Mm-hmm," Collig nodded, following Fenton's gaze. "My sniper has a clear shot at the one sitting in the cockpit but the other one…we haven't been able to get a visual on him yet."

"What about Joe and Vanessa?" Frank asked, worriedly. "Can you see them?"

"At first we only saw Vanessa. Joe must have been on the floor or the seat…we finally saw him sit up a moment ago," Collig replied.

"How does he look? Is he okay?" Fenton asked, the concern in his eyes and his voice a stark contrast to the outward calm he projected.

Collig hesitated a moment. Truth was Joe looked terrible. The right side of his jacket was covered with blood and at first glance Collig hadn't even been sure he was still alive; not until Joe had turned and looked at Vanessa. "He looks pale, shaky, but he was conscious," Collig answered. He then signaled to Detective Riley, who had been seated in a police van, apparently listening to Collig's conversation on a headset. "We'll start loading the money now but that plane isn't going to be leaving anytime soon."

"Why not?" Frank demanded.

"I don't have a licensed pilot in my department. I've requested one from Southport but it'll take a few hours for him to get here."

Frank was already shaking his head no. "No good, Chief. They'll never agree to wait that long."

"It's Christmas Eve, Frank! They have a skeleton staff on tonight – everyone is home with their families!"

"And I'd like to be home with my brother!" Frank snapped angrily. "Preferably alive and in one piece!"

"Frank," Fenton said quietly, putting a hand on his son's shoulder. Frank could remain calm and cool under the most trying of circumstances – except when his brother was involved. Then all bets were off; Frank would do anything for Joe and would allow no one – the chief of police included – to get in his way.

Collig sighed heavily, his anger dissipating around him. Knowing how close the Hardy brothers were, he couldn't imagine how difficult this was for Frank. "I can't ask a civilian pilot to risk their life flying two armed men and two hostages out of the country," he explained. "And you know as well as I do, Frank, that the object isn't to meet their demands, it's to find a way to infiltrate and get the upper hand."

"And we can do that without wasting two hours, or putting Joe and Vanessa in any more danger than they're already in." Frank replied pleadingly. He glanced at Fenton and for a moment, Fenton wasn't sure he was reading Frank correctly. But when Frank's eyes hardened, Fenton knew what Frank was going to suggest – and that he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Frank wants to be the pilot," Fenton said, directing his statement to Collig but never taking his eyes off his son.

"What?!" Collig bellowed. "NO! Absolutely not!" He stopped and stared at Fenton, disbelief all over his face. "Fenton, they already have Joe! Hell, they shot him! And now you're willing to hand your other son over to them on a silver platter?"

Fenton held Frank's gaze for a long moment, seeing the unconditional love Frank held for his younger brother welling up from somewhere deep in his soul. It wouldn't matter how Fenton replied to Collig's question. Frank wasn't going to let anyone stand in the way of him getting his brother off that plane.

"He's already made his decision," Fenton said quietly, silently nodding his assent to Frank.

"Well, it's not his decision to make!" Collig fired back. "It's mine and I am NOT putting another innocent civilian on that plane!"

Frank turned to face the chief. Fenton watched silently, wondering how Frank was going to change the man's mind. He had no doubts Frank would end up on that plane one way or another…

"Chief," Frank began calmly. "You yourself said it would take a few hours – minimum – to get an officer here who knows how to fly. You also said the objective is to turn the tables on these guys; capture them without putting Joe and Vanessa in any further danger."

Collig nodding grudgingly, but remained silent.

"We're at an airport, Chief. Do you honestly think these guys are going to believe it'll take over two hours to find a pilot at an airport? They were smart enough to pull off this heist. If you try and stall them too long, they're going to know you're planning something."

As if on cue, Collig's cell phone rang. Snapping it open he lifted it to his ear. "Collig," he said simply. "No, first you need to release one of the hostages-" Apparently cut off, he listened for a moment and then snapped the cell phone shut, returning it to his pocket. He stared out at the bright lights of the runway as he spoke. "If we don't have a pilot on the plane in five minutes, they're going to kill one of the hostages."