A/N Hello, my darling readers, I've returned with yet another update. So, read and review.
Thanks to all reviewers and to TSR for his help on this chappie!
Dedication: To Miss Fenway, whose mention that I could also write the 23rd chapter on the 23rd day of June prompted me to write this update, and also to the Silent Rumble whose bribe contributed heavily to my updating.
She was standing outside his door trying to find the courage to go in. She had spent the last year wanting nothing more then to see him; to be with him again, and now she had finally found him and she could walk into his hospital room and see him, and talk to him, but something was holding her back. Vanessa guessed that she was afraid he would reject her again, and she didn't think she could take that. And, she also didn't want to be the one to tell him that Frank was dead if he was still insisting that his brother was alive. The six of them had decided that Joe was more likely to listen to Vanessa then anyone else, and so she had been the one sent to remind him about Frank.
Finally deciding that her desire to see Joe outweighed any other concerns Vanessa grasped the handle to his hospital room and opened the door. Joe was sleeping, which Vanessa found to be sort of a relief, because she could sit by his side and hold his hand and watch his chest rise and fall and know that he was alive, and okay without having to see his world shatter all over again when he realized that he had simply been delirious and that Frank was actually dead.
"Van?" Joe asked his voice sounding groggy as he tried to sit up in the hospital bed. She gently pushed him down and pressed the button to raise the top half of the bed.
"Joe," She responded, squeezing his hand gently. "I've missed you."
"I've missed you, too, but it'll be okay, we'll get Frank back, and then we can go back to Bayport and…" Joe trailed off when Vanessa held up a hand to quiet him.
"Joe…" She started her voice gently. "Frank died, don't you remember? You guys were working on a case, and that guy, Christopher Reynolds, set of a bomb, and Frank died."
"No," Joe replied stubbornly. "I saw him, and that's why they kidnapped me, because they're using him for some scheme and they didn't want me to start people searching for him again. I swear I saw him, Van."
"Joe," She wanted to believe him, she really did, but she had seen the damage the bomb had done to the cliff and she couldn't see anyway that Frank would have lived through that.
"I want to see Callie." Joe said abruptly. "Maybe if she tells you, you'll believe me."
"Callie….can't talk right now."
"Why?" Joe asked suspiciously.
"The doctors sedated her, she was becoming hysterical; she thinks she saw Frank." Vanessa answered.
"That's because she did." Joe replied. "I want to talk to her, can you see if she's awake? Please?" Joe asked giving her a pleading look that she had always found impossible to turn down.
"I'll check if she's awake." Vanessa said reluctantly.
-I am a line-
"Have you found a solution to our little problem yet?" Marion asked.
"I was thinking that if we can't get more bombs why don't we just make it so the ones we have are extra effective?" Gustafson responded.
"What did you have in mind?" Marion asked looking interested.
"Well, I figure if instead of placing the bombs in important landmarks we place them under the buildings, specifically, I think we should attach the bombs to gas pipes. We cans till put some inside buildings but for an extra kick we can maximize the explosions using the gas pipes."
"Excellent." Marion replied. "Now, how are things going with the young mister Hardy?"
Gustafson sighed. "I don't know what to do with Frank. Ever since he saw his brother he does the bare minimum required, he screws around and he's going to mess our entire project up."
"I have an idea," Marion replied.
"What?"
"Put him under the gas pipe when we explode something. Don't put him close enough to kill him, but close enough to scare him." He continued.
"He doesn't really seem to care about himself though." Gustafson pointed out.
"Then put someone down there with him," Marion paused. "Get his girlfriend, Callie Shaw, maybe if he realizes how easily we can get to his remaining family members he'll start taking his duties seriously."
"Alright, I'll take care of this personally." Gustafson said before turning around and exiting the room.
-I am a line-
"Callie?" Vanessa asked softly as she entered the hospital room they had placed Callie in while she slept off the effects of the sedative. "Are you awake?"
"Yes," Callie said turning to face Vanessa.
"Joe wants to see you." Vanessa said.
"Okay, let's go, where's his room?" Callie asked as she got out of the bed. Vanessa led the way to Joe's room; when they arrived they found the blond sitting up in his bed staring toward the door, apparently awaiting their arrival.
"You know Frank's alive, don't you?" Joe asked Callie as soon as she entered the room.
"I know, I saw him." Callie said emphasizing saw for effect. "We need to rescue him from whoever that guy was that took him."
"He's some terrorist guy." Joe replied. "I never found out his name."
"Callie, Joe, Frank is dead, the sooner you accept that…"
"No, he's not." Joe replied.
"I have a suggestion," Callie interrupted. "We managed to find Joe didn't we? Well, why don't we do some more investigating and try to find out if Frank is alive, that way at the very least we find Joe's kidnappers, and we could maybe even find out Frank's alive, and you know how stubborn Joe and I are when we think we're right,"
"You mean when we know we're right." Joe said firmly.
"You're never going to get us to give up on Frank unless we are one hundred percent certain that he's dead, and if we find out that he is then conducting this investigation will be like a last tribute to his memory." Callie continued.
"I'm not going to get you guys to give up on this, am I?" Vanessa asked warily.
"No." Callie and Joe said simultaneously.
"Fine, we'll check into it then, but not until you've rested for a few days." Vanessa replied eyeing Joe sternly.
"Fine, but we need to work quickly, the people who kidnapped me are planning some kind of large scale attack and we need to stop it from happening." Joe replied.
At this moment the door to Joe's hospital room opened and the doctor that had treated Joe and Callie entered the room. "I thought I'd find you in here, Miss Shaw." He commented. "I've ordered that you be discharged there are some papers for you to sign at the nurses' station."
"Alright, I'll be right back." Callie said before exiting the room. She was just walking past the door to the stairwell when it opened and a hand reached out pulling her into the narrow hallway before she could so much as scream. She felt something cold jam into her side and looked down to spot a gun.
"Listen carefully, Miss Shaw, you're going to come with me, calmly, and without a sound, if you so much as scream I will not hesitate to shoot you. Understand?" Gustafson ordered.
"Yes." Callie said tersely scowling at her captor.
"Then let's go." Gustafson said indicating that Callie should start walking down the stairs. He managed to get her to his car without incident. From there he shoved her into the backseat of the car covering her eyes with a blindfold and handcuffing her wrists, he then hurriedly drove out of the parking lot eager to get back to planning the attack.
A/N Review, and guess what, this is the 23rd chapter posted on the 23rd of June. Woot!