A/N I've returned with an update for you, a nice long update, 3,662 words to be exact. The plot progresses quite a bit in this chapter.

Thanks to all Reviewers (ukfan101, Miss Fenway, whitetigers, kungfukitty2006, and Cherylann Rivers!!)

Dedication: To The Silent Rumble, for all his help on this chapter, not only did he write at least three hundred words for me, he bribed me with various updates and contributed ideas, and kept me writing this chapter long after I got bored and was going to stop and finish it some other day. lol.

Disclaimer: "It is ludicrous to read the microwave directions on the boxes of food you buy, as each one will have a disclaimer: 'THIS WILL VARY WITH YOUR MICROWAVE.' Loosely translated, this means, 'You're on your own, Bernice.'"-Erma Bombeck.

"Shit." Gustafson muttered angrily as the sound of the security alarms blared through the warehouse. "It seems your older brother decided to double cross me, well he'll be sorry, let me tell you, he'll regret messing this up. Now grab the damn crate and let's go, and before you decide not to cooperate let me remind you that your brother is in trouble enough without you adding to it by refusing to do your job." Joe rolled his eyes at the man's back before striding over to one of the crates and picking it up. He could only hope that the police arrived before Gustafson managed to get them out of here. Otherwise, he didn't like the way things looked for Frank and him.

They made it to the SUV just as sirens began to reverberate through the air. The driver of the car popped open the back of the SUV and Gustafson hurriedly shoved in the crate he carried before snatching Joe's from his hands and shoving it in as well. He then grabbed Joe by the arm and shoved him into the back of the SUV before getting into the front passenger seat and directing the driver to go.

They arrived back at the building they were being held captive in quickly, or maybe it just seemed oddly fast to Frank and Joe because they were dreading their arrival. Judging by the look on Gustafson's face they were in a world of trouble. Frank could only hope that they would aim most of their anger toward him instead of his brother, as he had been the one to alert the police. However, Joe hadn't on the whole been all that cooperative, which is what had prompted Frank to disobey orders.

Gustafson and his underlings hustled the brothers down the hallways of the building quickly until they arrived in the room they had been kept in previously. Frank and Joe were treated to approximately thirty minutes of abuse before Gustafson decided that he needed to report on the state of their mission and left them alone.

Frank sat on the floor of the room that they were being kept in looking over at Joe. Tear streaks ran down Joe's face. They had managed to get out of the warehouse without detection, and were now back to the hell hole they were being held captive in.

Over the past year Frank had spent many nights praying that he would be rescued, always hoping that his family had not given up on finding him, that they didn't really believe that he was dead. Frank had always held out hope that Joe, at least, would believe that he was alive, but now that Joe was here, Frank's hopes of getting found were getting slimmer and slimmer. If they had ever needed help in their life, they needed it now. He had seen what these guys did to someone who double-crossed them and it wasn't pretty.

The terrorists had apparently decided that Frank and Joe made excellent punching bags and had taken to hitting both of them. For the moment Frank and Joe had been left alone in the room they were being held in, while Gustafson went to report to Marion about the near failure of the mission. As it was they hadn't managed to get every single crate, and therefore could not make as many bombs as they initially planned, which meant that they either had to postpone their planned attack or proceed with fewer weapons. Frank was extremely worried that Marion would decide he had no use for Joe since the blonde had not done his job. At the moment Frank was fairly certain that they wouldn't go beyond taking out their frustrations in the form of beating him, as they needed him to hack into government website. However, he was not so sure that they would hesitate to kill Joe. Frank sighed and glanced sideways at his brother. Joe was sporting a black eye and was covered with bruises of various sizes and colors, Frank was also fairly certain that he had broken or bruised several ribs judging by the way he winced whenever he shifted.

Frank wasn't looking much better then his brother, he was fairly certain that they had broken his nose judging by the ominous crack he had heard when he was punched in the face, and the twinge he felt in his ribs when he so much dared breathe seemed to indicate that he had broken several ribs. Frank reached out and grabbed Joe's shoulder squeezing it lightly to get his attention. "It'll be okay, Joey." He hadn't referred to his younger brother by that nickname in God only knows how long. He only did it when things looked particularly bad for them.

-I am a line-

"Please, tell me you guys found something, Liz and I had absolutely no luck, either no one saw anything or they just aren't talking." Chet said.

"Luckily, we had a bit more luck." Vanessa said the ghost of a smile lighting up her face.

"Really, what'd you guys find?" Liz asked leaning forward across the table toward the other woman.

"We should probably wait for Biff and Callie before we go over what we found." Tony suggested.

"That way we don't have to waste time repeating things." Phil continued. They were rewarded when seconds later Callie and Biff burst through the door looking excited.

"I take it you guys found something?" Tony queried.

"Yup!" Callie said happily.

"How about you guys?" Biff asked.

"Chet and I didn't find anything." Liz spoke up.

"We found the motel where the people who took Joe were staying, and we talked to the clerk." Phil replied.

"What did the clerk say?" Callie questioned.

"He said that he saw three men walk up to Joe, have a short conversation and then drag him to their car. He said he thought Joe maybe had some kind of gambling debt or something and the people were bookies, so he didn't think much of it." Tony supplied.

"Joe, a gambling addict?" Callie asked incredulously.

"I know it seems laughable to us, but it's not like the guy knows Joe." Phil pointed out.

"What else did you find out?" Liz asked.

"Well, we got a general physical description of the men Joe spoke to. There were three not counting whoever drove the car." Vanessa mentioned. "One was about 5'11 with light brown hair, one was about 6'2 or 6'3 with black hair, sort of bulky, and one was 6'1 on the slender side, with dark brown hair." She glanced reflexively at Callie when she mentioned the last description. It went without saying that the last description matched Frank. Vanessa's heart went out to her friend, being apart from Joe for a year was hell, but at least she had known Joe was alive, unlike Callie who had spent the last year with the knowledge that her boyfriend was dead, that she would never see him again. Callie had looked down for a few moments after hearing the description before looking up and responding briskly.

"Anything else?" Callie asked her face showing no sign that she had noticed the similarities to Frank.

"Well, he told us we're looking for a dark colored SUV." Phil responded after exchanging a worried glance with Vanessa over Callie's response or lack thereof.

"Is that everything?" Chet asked.

"Yes." Tony replied.

"Did you guys find anything?" Vanessa said turning to Callie and Biff.

"Well, I didn't, but Callie struck gold with some old florist." Biff answered.

"Really, what'd you find out?" Vanessa asked excitedly.

"Well, she told me…" Callie hesitated. "She told me a couple things actually; she said Joe saw some guy…who looked like, like…" Callie hesitated and trailed off.

"She saw some guy who looked like Frank." Biff supplied softly when it became apparent that Callie wasn't going to continue.

"Callie…" Vanessa started only to be interrupted.

"I know, I know he's dead, okay? I know he's never coming back, and I get that, but I just, I miss him…" Her voice cracked slightly when she said this and she looked determinedly away from her friends. Vanessa considered trying to comfort her friend but Callie's rigid posture told her that any further mention of Frank was not wanted.

"What else did you find?" Vanessa said skillfully changing the subject.

"She got a license plate number!" Biff exclaimed.

"The lady said they ran over her azaleas, so she wrote it down." Callie said in a quiet tone. "It's S89-4648. I figured that Phil could probably hack into the DMV database and find out who the car is registered to, and what address as well, I mean, it's kind of a long shot that the address will be right, but maybe we'll get lucky." The tone of Callie's voice indicated that she seriously doubted they were going to get lucky. It seemed like all the luck in the world was against them; they had lost so much in the past year.

"No, it's a great lead." Phil interrupted. "And even if the address is wrong we can at least work on tracing the person the car's registered to. Besides, judging by what we know these guys didn't plan to kidnap Joe, I'm betting he saw something he shouldn't have so they took him with them, which means that they probably wouldn't have gone to the trouble of making sure their car was untraceable." He continued logically.

"I guess." Callie replied.

"All right then, let's get to work." Phil said cheerfully. "Luckily, I have my laptop in my car, but we're going to need to go somewhere with WiFi, because I'm thinking Joe doesn't have a computer."

"I saw a cyber café a few blocks down." Liz offered. "Chet and I passed it up on our way here."

"That would work." Phil replied. "Let's go then."

-I am a line-

"Let me get this straight," Marion paused, his dark eyes glinting dangerously in the dim light of the study. "I give you one assignment, just one, and you fail?"

"Yes, sir, but…" Gustafson replied, his gruff nature evaporating into a cooperative one around his boss.

"I don't want to hear any excuses." Marion replied harshly. "I want to hear solutions. What are you going to do to fix this? I need those materials, all of the materials, if I'm going to launch a successful attack."

"Sir, I understand that, but it was the Hardy boy, everything was going according to plan when he set off the alarms on his laptop."

"Which Hardy?" Marion asked softly.

"The elder one, Frank, but the younger one wasn't behaving all that well before hand, in fact, I'm willing to bet that the older brat set off the alarm in order to deflect attention from his brother. He also, probably thought his brother would be able to get away."

"Well, it seems that we will have to teach those two a lesson about what is and is not acceptable. I'm sure they'll be quite a bit more cooperative afterward. Although, I'm beginning to think that young Joseph is not worth the trouble he poses." Marion pressed his fingertips together as he thought. "Make an example of them." He said finally. "Don't kill either one; I will make a final decision regarding Joseph soon, before we move to our final location."

"Yes, sir."

"And, Gustafson…"

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't screw up again; you're lucky I don't have time to train someone else to take your place." Marion replied. "One last thing, I expect you to figure out a solution to our problem, we're leaving in two hours and I need everything perfect when we move to the lab. Got it?"

-I am a line-

"I found it!" Phil exclaimed. They had been seated at the café crowded around Phil's laptop for the last thirty minutes while he hacked into the DMV data base and searched for the license plate number. "It's registered to a shipping company by the name of Marion and Associates, specifically to a warehouse of theirs. I've got the address." Phil scribbled the address onto a notepad and pulled up Map Quest and selected 'get directions.' He wrote down the directions on the notepad as well.

"I know that area." Tony put in. "It's relatively deserted, it would certainly be the perfect place to hide someone, I think it's at least worth checking out, and it's not like we have any other leads at the moment."

"All right, let's go then." Callie replied.

-I am a line-

"It's time the both of you learned what happens when you refuse to do your job." Gustafson said his voice soft and deadly. "I promise you two things, one this will hurt and two you won't dare forget your place again."

Gustafson hadn't lied. By the time he finished his torment Frank didn't even dare contemplate stepping out of line again, and he had certainly lived up to his promise of pain. Frank turned his head to the side and squinted at his brother, Joe was breathing harshly and appeared to be unconscious, and a small puddle of blood was forming on the ground by him. Frank fought the urge to throw up. He was finally distracted from his morose thoughts when the door opened and Gustafson walked in accompanied by another man.

"Marion said leave the blond in one of the cells in the basement." The man, who Frank recognized as Bruno, said.

"Alive?" Gustafson inquired.

"Yes."

"Marion also said he wants to speak with Frank briefly before we leave. He said for us to grab the files and other stuff we're bringing with to the next location and head out. He'll follow with Frank. He said something about wanting to make sure a message sunk in."

Gustafson shrugged in response and bent down to pick up Joe's prone body off the ground. He exited the room with Joe in tow leaving behind one extremely horrified Frank Hardy.

-I am a line- (The place where Frank and Joe are being kept one hour after the events of the previous section.)

"We're here." Tony pulled his car to a stop; it had a second back seat and so was large enough to fit all of them.

"We're going to need proceed with caution." Phil warned.

"I don't know…this place looks pretty deserted to me." Vanessa commented feeling her excitement build as she realized she was quite possibly seconds away from seeing Joe again.

"Nevertheless, let's be careful, shall we?" Biff questioned. The place was less of a warehouse and more of a huge house type structure or maybe an office building. They first canvassed the building and found only one car was present. From there they decided to split into two groups, each of them entering through a different door, that way they would have whoever was inside cornered.

-I am a line-

"We've decided your punishment. We can see no use for Joe. However, rather then kill him ourselves, we'll leave him here to starve and dehydrate to death. The police should find him in about, oh, three years." Marion was forced to support the majority of Frank's weight as he forced him to look at his battered brother lying on the cold, hard ground of the cell he was being kept in. Marion had the basement divided into numerous small jail cell type rooms. It was in one such room that Joe was to be left. "Do not forget your place again, Frank, because I won't be so generous next time, be glad that it is only your brother's death that will be on your conscious, next time I may take out every surviving family member you have as well as your friends, and maybe even your precious Callie." Marion paused drinking in the look of horror that crossed Frank's face. "Oh, yes, I know all about them, I know where they live, where they work, where they buy their groceries, and if you dare disobey an order again I guarantee they won't live another day."

Frank was only half listening; trapped between the horror of the slow death his brother was facing and his desire to keep his remaining friends and family safe. "Kill me." Frank said finally. "Please. Just kill me."

"No." Marion said a small smile crossing his face. "I don't believe I will. You're of use to me Frank Hardy, and you will remain alive as long as you are of use." He paused for a moment. "Whether you like it or not." Marion's head snapped toward the door at the top of the stairs as the faint sound of voices carried down to them. He saw the shocked face of a young woman staring back at him before he heard more talking louder, more frantic this time. "Say goodbye to baby brother, Franklin." Marion said finally before half dragging, half carrying Frank to the back exit from the basement. He could hear people struggling to open the door at the top of the stairs. Doubtless, they had no idea about the second door from the basement. Frank seemed to be in a semi-catatonic state, too caught up in worrying about Joe to notice the people trying to get into the basement, or if he did notice he thought they were Marion's underlings who had yet to vacate the premises.

Marion dumped Frank in the backseat of his car before getting in the driver's side and driving out of the parking lot at top speed.

-I am a line-

Biff, Tony, and Chet finally managed to break the door down after several minutes of trying. Their entire group had gathered behind the door, while they attempted to break it down. As soon as the door was open they raced down the stairs to look for Joe, all except Callie who seemed to be in a state of shock. She stood there for a few moments before following after the others down the stairs. When she arrived she found them crowded outside a cell, Vanessa had produced the key to the small room and was working on unlocking the door. It was difficult to see in the dim light but Callie could tell that the figure lying on the ground was none other then Joe Hardy. And, judging by the frantic way Vanessa was jabbing the key into the lock, the other girl knew as well. Vanessa finally managed to quell the shaking in her hands enough to unlock the door; she immediately ran inside and knelt next to Joe.

"Joe, oh, Joe." She ran a hand through his hair paying no notice to the blood that began to stain her clothes as she sat there. "Joe," she said, her mouth hanging open, "What the hell did they do to you?" She asked as she stared down at him happiness at finding him alive mingling with horror at his appearance.

Joe seemed barley awake, but he was able to grunt out words that shocked everyone. "I didn't want to help them..." he paused to take a breath. "I knew…knew it was bad…I was going to say know…but Frank…Frank didn't want me to get in trouble…Frank didn't do what they wanted…they were mad…so mad…"

"Oh, baby." Vanessa dropped to her knees. "Baby, baby... Frank died, honey... He died over a year ago..."

"I saw him," Callie said softly. "Right before I screamed for you guys to come break the door down, I saw Frank, he's alive, some guy dragged him away, I saw him." Callie seemed desperate to convince them that she had really seen Frank.

Before he lost consciousness once more Joe turned his head toward Callie and said, "Frank misses you, he's not dead…I know you believe me…not dead…all lies…"

As Joe lapsed into unconsciousness once more Vanessa turned to the others, "I think we need to call an ambulance."

"I'm already on it." Phil replied, in fact, he already had the phone to his ear waiting for an operator to pick up.

"I saw him, he's alive, I swear I did, I know Frank, I know what he looks like, and he's alive, and he's hurt!" Callie insisted her hysteria increasing with every word.

"Cal, listen to me," Biff said gently. "Frank. Is. Dead. He died over a year ago, I don't know who or what you saw but it was not Frank."

"Yes, it was! I'm not seeing things, Biff, I saw Frank." Callie insisted. "Joe said he saw him, too."

"Callie," Vanessa said waiting for her friend's gaze to settle on her before continuing. "You did not see Frank, Joe is feverish, he's hallucinating, Joe's statement combined with the stress of the last few days and the description of one of Joe's kidnappers looking like Frank is making you think that Frank is alive. But, he's dead, Joe saw him die, there's no way he could've lived through that explosion." Vanessa spoke frankly hoping that it would get her friend to accept the truth.

"No, Frank's alive. I saw him." Callie said stubbornly. "I saw him." She repeated a single tear trailing down her cheek.

A/N Review, and I will update.