A/n: a quick shout out to Vinsmouse! I totally used her for Muse-ness even though she had no idea I did. so thanks,Mouse, for telling me your story so I could incorporate it into mine. this chapter is a bit longer and actually almost moves the story forward a teeny little bit. Oh, and Joe lands in hot water.
Chapter Sixteen
Joe Hardy hated wakes. Granted, he hadn't been to very many; most of the dead people in his life tended to be dead because they were the bad guys. But there were a couple that stood out as particularly painful. The first was when he was about 4, not quite old enough to understand, but old enough to know something bad had occurred. He was very confused when he saw Grandma crying, and his innocent questions about Grandpa was only made her cry harder and hug him very tightly. His parents had elected to not show him the coffin, or try to explain too much about what death was, so for months afterward he would occasionally ask when they'd see Grandpa again. It was Frank who finally, clumsily, tried to explain that Grandpa was never coming back. For a six year old, he did a lousy job that only confused the little blond boy who so resembled his grandfather. So eventually, Fenton had taken young Joey to the cemetery and showed him where Grandpa Miller was laid to rest. A year later, he was at another wake, this time for Grandma Miller. He understood by then what being dead really meant, and he was much more upset about it.
Over the next decades, he would attend a few more. Old family friends of his parents, old colleagues of his father's. These mostly just made him uncomfortable, especially when he was fussed over and strange old ladies who smelled funny exclaimed how big he was getting, or that he was going to be a heartbreaker. He'd break free as soon as he could and find a spot in the back somewhere with Frank and amuse themselves by testing each others' observational skills.
By far the worse was when he was seventeen. Iola. He was so in love with her it was disgusting. Unfortunately, he was also a horny teenaged boy who flirted with everything female so it looked like he was a insensitive lout to the casual observer. It took the combined efforts of their entire gang to get him to go to the wake and later, the funeral. Biff and Frank stayed glued to his side the entire time, tight grips on each arm. He honestly remembered almost nothing about the entire ordeal, having blocked it from his memory deliberately.
He never made it to Aunt Gertrude's. He could have requested emergency leave, and possibly justified it, claiming that Aunt G raised him, and to an extent, she had, but at the time he just wasn't ready to face his father yet. Instead, he wired a huge bouquet of her favorite flowers to the funeral home.
So here he was at yet another wake, this time for a person he honestly disliked a little, but still felt an overwhelming gratitude for as well as his deep seated need to support his fiancee'. He was content to stay in the background, with Mitch, as Bruce and Halloran made the rounds. Each paid close attention to their love, ready at a moment's notice to move in if the need arose. Overly weepy aunts, for instance. Melody's mother was a complete wreck; and her father, well, after three minutes Joe knew exactly where Melody had gotten her attitude from. He was busy blaming the Park Service , the fire department and the universe, and of absolutely no help to his grieving wife. That left Bruce to pick up the pieces. Joe rescued him when he came over, introduced himself and explained to her in a low voice what Melody had done to save his brother's life. At least he got her to stop wailing at the top of her lungs every three seconds, although that was replaced by a constant sniffling that only made him want to shove a box full of Kleenex in her hands and run away.
Halloran was faring little better, as an old family friend she was busy being interrogated by people she hadn't seen in years but apparently still remembered her vividly. It became too much when one old busybody demanded to know where her "Handsome brother was, such a nice young man!" This time, it was Mitch who was nearby and heard the exchange so he swiftly interrupted, declaring he absolutely could not finish the arrangements for the reception after the funeral tomorrow without Halloran's input and would Mrs Langley kindly let him borrow her for a minute? Without waiting for an answer, he took Hall by the upper arm and delivered her into Joe's tight embrace.
"Want to leave?" he asked her softly, feeling her trembling in his arms. She nodded, head against his chest, unable to look in his face. "You stay put, and I will go find Bruce and let him know." he shoved Halloran into a hideously floral patterned victorian arm chair that seemed to populate every funeral home in the country and went off in search of his friend.
He found him trying to talk down Melody's father. "Uncle Lee, I told you what happened, there was no conspiracy!" Bruce sounded at the end of his patience.
"I am telling you, she was led into a trap! If I ever lay eyes on that damned no good civilian I will break his legs!"
Joe got there in time to hear the whole thing. Despite the atmosphere and the solemnity due the circumstances, he couldn't help himself. "Mr. Harper." Joe seethed in a low voice so that no one else could hear. "That 'no good civilian' is my brother, a Licensed Private Investigator working on the case under the direct request of the FBI. Your daughter was the one who was where she wasn't supposed to be, in violation of her direct orders. And the only reason the Park Service and the FBI aren't making things more difficult than they already are because Melody sacrificed her life saving my brother. Frank is alive because of her, and I am damned grateful for that. But that does not, nor will it ever, change the fact that Melody disobeyed not only her bosses, but the Federal Government as well. For the sake of your wife, I left out that part when I told her of your daughter's bravery. But the fact is, Mr Harper, if she wasn't so damned stubborn, pigheaded and obstinate, she'd still be alive. My fiancee' would still have her best friend, and you'd still have a daughter. I am sorry for your loss, but don't you dare go around placing blame where it does not belong!" He turned to Bruce, ignoring the apoplectic rage that suffusing Lee Harper's face. "Hall's had enough for one day. I am taking her out of here."
Bruce nodded, pulling out his keys. "We were going to invite you to stay the night anyway. Spare bedroom is the last door on the left. Put a pot of coffee on." Bruce neatly stepped around his still purple faced uncle and walked Joe over to Halloran and then to their car. "I know we aren't supposed to speak ill of the dead, especially at their wake, but thanks for that. Uncle Lee is rather..closed minded.. about some things. Melody could do no wrong in his eyes. But even Aunt Maggie knows better. I'm glad you told her the good parts."
Once back at the ranch style house that Bruce and Mitch shared, Halloran decided to lay down for a bit, claiming stress and exhaustion had worn her out. Joe tucked her in before softly closing the door and making the coffee as ordered. He was idly flipping through channels when the men returned.
"Hey, Man, I am sorry for what I said earlier. It wasn't the time or the place." Joe tried to apologize. Bruce, however, was having none of it.
"Forget it. It was refreshing to see somebody call Uncle Lee out on his blindness. And only a perfect stranger could have gotten away with it. None of the family has been able to get him to admit a thing. Mel was the Golden Child. Drove LJ away for good after high school."
"LJ?" Joe asked, accepting a cup of coffee from Mitch with a nod of thanks.
"Lee Junior. Mel's older brother. Three sport athlete, 4.0 GPA, full ride to Johns Hopkins all the way through med school. Uncle Lee never even came to a single game. Was too busy fawning over Mel." Bruce snorted with contempt.
"Wow. Alluvasudden my dad missing a few games because he was on a case doesn't seem so bad."
"Hmpf. I loved Melody, she was family, but most of the time, I didn't like her." Bruce snorted.
"Please, can we talk about something else?!" Halloran begged as she came into the living room. "I get it, everybody hated Melody. But I didn't. And I am tired of listening to people bad mouth her." her voice was angry and full of tears. Immediately Joe felt like a heel and rushed over to her, pulling her close and apologizing. Even Bruce looked a little abashed and for the rest of the evening, the topic of Melody Harper was off limits.
Joe continued to behave the entire next three days, even apologizing to Lee Harper about his earlier comments in front of Halloran. The funeral was packed, and both he and Bruce managed to successfully curb their feelings and failed to rise to anyone's bait when it came to gossip. He kept his comments factual and refused to get sucked into any discussion of Melody's less palatable personality traits. Of course the end result was he had a constant tension headache that threatened to drive him insane. He was beyond grateful when the ordeal was over and they packed the car for the return trip. Halloran was still vaguely mad at him as well as dealing with her own headache so the drive back was nearly silent. They seldom had arguments that lasted more than a few hours, so the past couple of days of the cold shoulder was wearing on Joe's nerves. He had apologized, he had been extra nice and grovelly, he had even called his mother and asked for advice on how to best make it up to her. All to no avail. Halloran was holding a grudge, and until she was ready to forgive him, he was in the dog house. Sighing heavily, he got out of the car and went to the trunk to pull out their luggage as Halloran unlocked the front door.
"Do you need me to do anything? I thought maybe I'd go see Frank." Joe tried to sound nonchalant.
"No, that's fine, I was going to spend the afternoon doing laundry and then grocery shopping." her voice was no longer frigid, so he guessed that was a start. He made to kiss her on the lips, but she turned at the last second so that he hit her cheek instead. Considering that lately she hadn't even allowed that, he wasn't going to sulk. Not in front of her at least.
"Want me to bring dinner home?" he asked, hoping his offer to save her the chore of cooking would be acceptable as a peace offering and not be misconstrued as a blatant attempt to get into her good graces. Even though it totally was.
"Hmm. Yes, please. But no Pizza or burgers." She told him. He agreed, and this time, when he went to kiss her again, she didn't move away. Baby steps.
He called his brother and asked if there was anything he wanted as long as he was on his way over. "No thanks, I got everything I need." Frowning slightly at Frank's jovial tone, he dismissed it as a by product of the morphine. However, as he entered his brother's room about twenty minutes later, he realized with a start that it had nothing whatsoever to do with being hopped up on happy pills.
"Err, am I interrupting anything?!" Joe sputtered as he beheld the scene before him.
"Actually I was just about to leave as my break is over!" Gloria smiled brightly at him as she stood up from her position on Frank's bed. And then Joe could not believe his eyes. She leaned down and kissed his brother on the lips. He stood open mouthed as the kiss was quite happily returned and barely got out of her way as Gloria left. He stood there a few moments more, staring at the door before turning around, shaking his head and muttering. "I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?!" he said, half laughing. "Oh well, at least one of us is getting some."
"Whaddya mean?" Frank asked as he rearranged himself on the bed to be a little more centered.
"Oh just that I really screwed up is all. Forgot that Mel was Hall's best friend and I let my personal feelings override my better judgement." Joe sighed as he absentmindedly grabbed a snickerdoodle from the plate on the side table and munched. "She got sick of me and Bruce focusing on Mel's bad points all the time." he shrugged as he snagged another cookie. "Not like I don't deserve it."
"Anyway, enough about me for a change. When are you escaping?" Joe tried to steer the conversation to better topics.
"Soon, I hope. Dr. Meadows is talking first of the week if I am lucky."
"Hey, that's great, Bro!" Joe was happy for his sibling.
"Tell me about it. And what's even better is I won't need a skin graft at all on my left arm!" Frank quite proudly lifted the appendage, which Joe was rather shocked to see was no longer bandaged at all. Upon closer inspection, he realized that is was very shiny and extremely pink, like it was windburned. He looked up at his brother's face in astonishment.
"There's no scarring!" he exclaimed.
"I know. Isn't it great!" Frank grinned like he was twelve again and had just won his first Science Fair.
"How the hell did you manage that?!" Joe was flabbergasted.
"Gloria." was Frank's reply.
"Say huh?!" Joe was confused.
Frank reached up, this time with his right arm, and Joe noticed it wasn't nearly as painful or stiff as before. Frank pointed at a large plant sitting on the windowsill. It was short, with fat fleshy leaves that were slightly spiky along the edge. It reminded Joe of a cactus, but only vaguely. Several of the leaves had been broken off, and there was a viscous fluid dried along the breaks.
"It's an aloe vera plant. Gloria brought it the other day, and she convinced Dr Meadow to let her try an experiment." Frank said. "She broke off a leaf, split it in half then placed the open sides along my arm and left it there for a while. Two days later, and this is the result!" Frank waved the arm around again, clearly relishing the freedom and lack off stiffness and pain.
"Wow. Pretty cool. Didn't Aunt Gertrude have one of those in her bedroom?" Joe asked, peering closer at the plant.
"I think so, yeah. Whenever we scraped ourselves up pretty badly, I think she used to soak the gauze in the gel before putting it on." Frank confirmed. " Anyway, it worked great on my legs too, but you'll forgive me if you don't prove it to you." He grinned slyly.
"I trust you." Joe grinned back. "What about the other arm?" He pointed to the arm that was still heavily bandaged.
"One more debridement session, tomorrow, and then Dr Meadows will decide whether we go for a full graft, or let the plant work it's Mojo." Frank's happy go lucky demeanor faded a little at the mention of debridement. Joe grimaced in sympathy.
"That bad?" he asked
"You have no idea. I was ready to beg to be put in a medically induced coma the first time." Frank shuddered. "I was never so grateful a nurse ignored my wishes and doped me to high heaven. And I still needed to be knocked out afterward. Apparently I was completely loopy for hours afterward. Or so Dad says."
"Well, I am sure he took pics to embarrass you with at the next family reunion. Let me have another cookie and I'll find 'em and delete all records." Joe reached for another cookie. Frank laughed and pulled the plate away. "Get your own. Gloria made these for me!"
"Do I detect a bit of starlight in your eyes, Big Brother?!" Joe feigned astonishment. "I haven't seen you kiss anyone like that who wasn't a relation in years!" To his shock, the teasing failed to produce even the slightest blush on his brother's cheeks.
"I like her, Joe." was all he said as he shrugged his shoulders. "She's uncomplicated, undemanding, has a great sense of humor and she's smart as hell, too. What's not to like?"
"Well I'll be damned." Joe smiled, this time genuinely. "It's about time, Bro. You deserve it." Joe was happy for his brother. Too often over the years Frank had put his own feelings and desires on hold; it was time he was a little selfish. They spent an hour or so catching up, with Joe relating the family dynamic of the Harper Clan to the amusement and shock of his brother, and Frank detailed in all too gory specifics his adventures in debridement. "TMI, Bro." Joe shuddered. Frank just glared at him.
"Hey, at least you didn't have to be flayed alive." He pointed out.
"Umm, actually, Been There Done That. And might I remind you you had the benefit of really good pain killers. Me, not so much." Joe retorted with a laugh. It was easy to joke about it now. Frank just blew out an exasperated breath that was half laugh, half snort of derision. "Ugh" Joe groaned as he glanced at his watch. "I promised Halloran I'd bring dinner home. And I have no idea what to get, since she specifically banned my two favorite food groups."
"Pizza and beer?" Frank chuckled.
"Well Pizza at least. She also forbade Burgers." Joe sighed.
"So just get Italian. Tony's lasagna is decent."
"I am pasta'd out. Half the casseroles that were brought to share were some sort of pasta dish.. hot and cold. Maybe chicken..." Joe pondered.
"Chicken sounds good. Beats what I had for dinner. If it weren't for the daily supply of snickerdoodles, I'd have starved long ago." Frank sighed dramatically.
"As if Mom would let you starve." Joe scoffed. "But yeah, I really gotta go. Think I will spend all day in the office tomorrow too. Call if you need anything." he stood up and glided out of the room just as the nurse was coming in for a check.
On the drive home, he initially headed towards Popeye's but at the last second pulled into an adjoining shopping center and grabbed Boston Market instead. He was pulling into the driveway just as the street lights were flickering on. "Hey, babe. Rotisserie okay? Didn't really want fried. I got your favorite garlic spinach and my favorite sweet potato casserole." he called out as he entered the kitchen, depositing his purchase neatly on the table.
"Only if you didn't forget the cornbread..." Halloran chided as she pulled out glasses and cutlery.
"My sense of self preservation is very well developed, Dear. I may be an idiot sometimes, but I am never suicidal." This time she not only let him kiss her, she returned it as well. (Hmm, maybe I won't have to sleep on the couch after all). Over dinner he told her all about Frank's remarkable recovery as well as the shocking announcement that he had apparently also gotten himself a girlfriend in the last few days. And when it came time for bed he was indeed welcomed into the King with open arms.
The next day dawned bright, although the weather forecast called for rain later. They tripped over each other trying to get ready for their respective jobs, with Hall just beating Joe into the shower with a laugh as she darted under his attempt to block her with a muscular arm. While she was showering, he made coffee and pancakes, studiously following the package directions. Halloran ate a couple, out of politeness, but it was obvious that Joe Hardy lacked the Pancake gene altogether and not even a 'just add water' mix could help. "Your talents lie in other things, Dear." she tried to console him as she scraped the tough doughy pucks into the garbage and grabbed a granola bar out of the pantry.
Joe admitted defeat and promised to never attempt pancakes again. "My digestive system thanks you." she teased as she grabbed her keys and headed out. Joe finished loading the dishwasher then headed upstairs to take his own shower. Dressing quickly he was out the door less than 20 minutes after Halloran.
Joe arrived at the office, and was dismayed at the huge pile of mail on his desk. He groaned as he dived in, hoping against hope there was enough coffee in the office to get him through the day. It took all morning to divvy it up into categories. He didn't even take a lunch, instead he had some subs delivered from the deli downtown. He spent the day paying bills, making phone calls, some to his brother to get some input, and generally doing all the detested and loathed business crap his brother was not only so much better at, but actually didn't mind. "I swear to gawd, when Frank is back at his desk I am taking two weeks off." he groused out loud to no one in particular.
Mid afternoon, Sam stopped by so Joe took a much needed break and got caught up with the status of the current cases the Agency was working on. When he discovered that all but one were pretty much done with any investigation, and just needed final reports written, he told Sam to take next week off. "I don't want to accept any more clients until Frank is at least back in the office, so you might as well relax while you can. Take Ethel on a trip or something." When asked about getting the reports written, Joe just got a glint in his eye.
"Your notes are as disgustingly detailed as Frank's are so he can earn his keep and write them up. Besides, he loves that new software thingy Phil ginned up for him." he assured the older man. "It'll give him something to do that won't tax his recovery. And best part is I won't have to do them!" Sam was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and Ethel had been hinting she wanted to visit her sister down in Florida. He gave a token show of resistance but capitulated very quickly. Joe laughingly shooed him out of the office with mock stern instructions to not return until the following Monday. "And you better have a tan!" he shouted at the retreating back.
The response was a laugh and backward wave as Sam left. Joe also chuckled to himself as he began piling all the notes and file folders into one stack before transferring them into his briefcase. Before he left the office, he called Halloran and told her he was going to the hospital to drop a few things off before heading home. Just as he was heading out, Special Agent Connely and his partner Agent Mayweather showed up.
"You guys really need to work on your timing." Joe grinned. "I was just on my way to see Frank."
"Then we timed it perfectly. We have news. Would be easier to tell you both at once." Connely was a model of innocence.
"Fine, then follow me to the Hospital." Joe ushered the men back out and locked the door behind him. He led the way to the hospital, repeating his earlier trick of pulling into the back lot and using the de facto employee entrance. As they arrived on the Burn unit ward, they were stopped by the Nurse at the desk.
"You'll have to wait a few minutes, I'm afraid. Dr. Meadows is running a little behind today so she is still in there." So Joe decided to head down to the cafeteria and get some coffee. Mayweather joined him and after killing some time, they were allowed into Frank's room. Immediately, Joe noticed that Frank was not nearly as relaxed as he had been the day before. His brother's face was pale, and a light sheen of sweat glistened on his brow. As he rushed closer, he also noted that Frank's arm was trembling.
"Frank?!" Joe cried, nearly bumping into the bed. Frank opened his eyes and Joe was shocked at the pain in them.
"Hey." He rasped out quietly. "I'll be fine, just give me a minute." Frank reached over and grasped his brother's hand and held on tightly for a minute before gradually releasing the tension. "See, it's started to kick in. All nice and mellow." he smiled, then for the first time noticed the two Federal Agents standing inconspicuously in the corner. Frank immediately let go, and tried to sit up straighter, attempting to hide his discomfort.
"We won't stay long, Frank, I know you need your rest." Connely spoke up. "But I thought you may want to be updated." He and his partner came closer, Mayweather pulling out a few sheets of paper from the briefcase he was carrying.
"Meet Carl Jackson, Bobby Masters and Gerald Maines." Mayweather handed over the mug shots. "Maines is the guy we have been after for months. The other two are the ones you saw leaving the Sawmill." Joe briefly looked at each picture before passing it to his brother, who nodded his head.
"Yeap. Those are definitely the two I saw exiting the sawmill before going in." He handed the pictures back. "Tell me you got them."
"Jackson and Masters, yes. Picked them up day before yesterday as they tried to sneak out of the Bed n Breakfast. Maines is still on the loose., but we have his face plastered everywhere. He won't take long to grab." Connely sat down in the single chair. "Frankly, we never would have gotten an ID if it weren't for you two. He's been in the shadows, literally and figuratively. But the fingerprints we pulled off that bill was the break we needed."
"Good. I'll let the waitress know she was instrumental in breaking the case wide open. She'll love that." Joe said, without his trademark sarcasm. He knew that Bernice really would bask in the knowledge that she helped catch a criminal.
The two Agents didn't stay much longer, but before they left they filled in a few details and promised to keep the brothers informed of any developments. After they left, Joe sat down in the recently vacated chair and looked his brother over with a critical eye. "I was going to make you do paperwork, but now I am not so sure." he said thoughtfully.
"What kind of paperwork?" Frank asked.
"Typing up Sam's reports and a few other small things. I paid all the bills today and sent out a bunch of invoices. All the time sensitive stuff." Joe still regarded his brother somberly. "But I think you need a nap more."
"Probably. But I'll be up all night anyway since I will have napped all afternoon. Might as well leave it, give me something to do in the middle of the night." Frank shrugged his shoulders. So Joe handed over the briefcase full of notes, going over each case quickly before taking the hint that was delivered in the form of successive yawns.
"If you have any questions, wait until the sun comes up before you call. Preferably way up." Joe snarked as he left. Frank was already nodding off and made no acknowledgement at all.
Since he got home before Halloran did, a rarity most days, he decided he would start on dinner. He quickly tossed a few frozen steaks in a bath of warm water to thaw them out before dehusking a few ears of corn and seasoning them before wrapping in foil. Then he took two huge baking potatoes, and cut into slices, but without going all the way through the bottom. In between each slice he tucked a sliver of onion and a bit of butter before sprinkling salt and pepper over the whole thing and wrapping them in foil as well. He called Infotech and got an approximate time when his future wife was planning on leaving, and then timed the heating of the charcoal grill accordingly. He whipped up a light marinade for the steaks and soaked them until Halloran arrived, as they were only going to take about ten minutes to cook. They both liked their dead cow flesh a little on the rare side.
While he was fussing over the grill, Halloran made a quick apple cobbler that could bake while they ate dinner, and yet would still be warm when they were ready for dessert. They were sitting on the couch watching TV together when the sudden chiming of the doorbell shook them.
"What the hell?! It's after ten!" Joe exclaimed as he jumped up and headed to the door. "Who the hell could it be?!" he threw open the door, expecting maybe Greg Herndon, or his father. Not the flushed and excited face of Bruce Hathaway. Bruce was laden down with a large cardboard box which he shoved at Joe, who took it by reflex. Bruce pushed past the shocked blond, asking "Where's Hall?" without waiting for an answer. Joe was still standing stock still when Mitch also came huffing up the stairs carrying his own box. He just nodded, and swept past Joe, still standing there like an idiot.
He finally shook himself, kicked the door closed with a foot and followed the two men into the living room. He plopped the rather heavy box unceremoniously on the floor with a loud bang. Before he could say a word, Bruce grabbed Halloran by the shoulders and gently shoved her back into a seated position. He fell back into a chair with a dramatic flourish and looked up at Joe, who by now was starting to feel his temper.
"You are never going to believe what I just found out!" Bruce cried out, sounding incredulous.
A/n: Different kind of cliffie, don't you agree? Why on earth would Bruce have driven a couple of hours at that hour of the night, and what is in those boxes?! Well I ain'ttelling. at least not until the next chapter...