A/N Hello, my lovely readers. I have returned with an update.
Thanks for all the reviews! Specifically thanks to, kungfukitty2006, Valadan, Red Hardy, bhar, and ShinigmixGirl!
Disclaimer: I own nada, zero, zip, zilch.
Joe strained his ears for the sound of voices hoping to catch some snippet of conversation that would indicate where his brother was and whether he was okay. Frank had been gone for over two hours now according to his watch which they hadn't bothered to take from him, probably because it couldn't possibly help him escape. He was grateful that they had left him with it. Besides giving him a sense of time, being kidnapped and having no idea of whether it was day or night was ten times worse then just being kidnapped, it also held sentimental value for him. Vanessa had given it to him for their one year anniversary and he had hardly taken it off since, excluding a few times when he broke his wrist and therefore couldn't wear it. Joe sighed and squeezed his eyes shut as an onslaught of memories hit him. He wished more then anything that he hadn't hurt Vanessa the way he did when he left. Deep down he knew Vanessa would always forgive him, he just wasn't sure if he could forgive himself.
The day he left Bayport had been one of the darkest days of his life, preceded only by Iola's death, Frank's "death," and the trial of Frank's murderer. When Frank's murderer came to trial Joe had gone to the trial and sat in the back of the courtroom behind a crowd of vaguely familiar people. His family and friends were near the front. The trial had been in New York City, as the defense attorney had gotten a change of venue on the grounds that everyone in Bayport was biased against her client.
Joe had needed justice; he needed to know that his brother's death would be avenged. If he had gotten that he thought he could move on with his life. But of course, that is not what occurred. The defense attorney was one of the best in the business, looking back on it now Joe realized that the Assassins had probable hired her to make sure that Reynolds didn't take a plea bargain and blow their plans. She argued that Reynolds was out of his mind and he had gotten sent to an asylum, not that this was particularly difficult to do, no one wanted to believe that another human being could commit the atrocities Reynolds had.
Joe knew the truth though; Reynolds was far from mentally incompetent. Because, while no one in his family had seen him sitting there in the back of the courtroom Reynolds had. And the man had the nerve to flash Joe a triumphant grin and wink in his direction as the police led him away. Joe saw red. The only thing that kept him from attacking the man was his desire to keep his presence secret. And, so, he quickly fled the courtroom in a crowd of people, managing to get passed the crowd of reporters waiting to ambush the Hardys and their friends. Joe shuddered to think what one of those vultures would have done to get an interview with him. The news of his leaving had made headlines for weeks. That was part of the reason why he had chosen such a low key place to live and work, not a big part, the main reason was that he had no real will to live after Frank's "death".
"Joe? Are you okay?" Joe's eyes snapped open abruptly and he looked into the worried face of his older brother. The blond furrowed his eyebrows and tried to remember hearing Frank enter the room. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it.
"I'm fine." Joe replied taking in the sight of his brother. "But, you're not…what happened?" Joe said noticing that his brother now sported a nice, shiny black eye.
"I wasn't fast enough for them." Frank said dryly.
"What were they having you do?" Joe questioned.
"Transfer files, just the usual stuff I have to do, but I think something's changed, they seemed more anxious. Whatever they have planned is probably getting closer." Frank answered. "I wish I knew what they were doing…"
"There's no hint in the files?" Joe asked.
"Not really, I mean it's mostly money transfers from bank account to bank account, but today I heard them talking about buying some kind of chemicals, I think they're planning a chemical attack somewhere. It's probably a big city…" Frank trailed off. "It's probably in New York! It all makes sense…before this we were in some small town, I'm not sure where but then the guy who was driving the car, I don't know his name, got a call and suddenly they were all excited. And we were getting on a plane headed to NYC. They have chemicals, and if someone's going to plan a chemical attack New York City is the ideal location, it's the biggest city in the country, and therefore they'd reach the most people." Frank said steadily paling at the thought of what they could be doing.
"We've got to stop this," Joe decided. He never thought he'd be trying to stop criminals again, he had given up on this sort of thing when Frank "died", and the blond had lost faith in the whole justice system.
"You've got that right, little brother."
A/N Review, I'll update in the next couple of days, (ie. whatever day(s) I have the least hmwrk.)