Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thank you! To Wendylouwho10 as usual for reading for flow and content. Typos are mine and I find them all the time!

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Started as kinda blue spine with a touch of Casefiles but is now completely AU. Frank is 20 and Joe is 19.

Author's Notes: If you read Heart and Soul I hope you enjoyed the short story. Now back to this one!

Chapter Fourteen

Joe lay curled on his side facing the wall. There was no privacy in this place; he knew he was monitored 24/7 and the lights were never off. His eyes were closed but he knew the moment they walked into his room. They had called for him to return to his chair to be restrained but he was tired of being the good captive. Weeks of doing this and the drugs they fed him had only added to his natural tendency to be oppositional when pushed. And lord knew he'd been pushed plenty. The hands grabbed him and drug him to the chair. He didn't try to stop them but he didn't assist them in any way. As the restraints were tightened, he finally opened his eyes. The woman and the man weren't there and the men who had restrained him were leaving. Joe closed his eyes unwilling to indulge in any shouting or questions.

The room was in silence for many seconds. Joe not caring and his captors willing to let the time stretch forth perhaps portending something…

"We have brought you something," the woman said.

He could hear their movements but he did not open his eyes. "I have no wish to see-" he broke off his words. He was about to say that he didn't want to see any more of their lies. And lies they are, Joe said emphatically to himself. Willing himself NOT to believe what he had seen in pictures and in audio. But they needed to think that he believed them if he were to have a chance at escape. "I don't want to see anymore."

"We know it's painful-"

Joe's eyes flew open at this and locked onto the woman's. "YOU DON'T ABOUT MY PAIN!" Joe yelled loudly as he strained against his bonds. His breathing suddenly became heavy and he shut his eyes quickly. The drugs had more influence over him than he thought.

"Nevertheless," the man said, "we have brought you a video."

Hell no, Joe thought to himself. No way is any video going to do anything positive to me. His breathing quickened as he realized what HAD to be on that video. He heard their steps exiting and then he heard voices… Frank and Vanessa's voices and almost against his will, he opened his eyes. In front of him was a small table with a screen set upon it. It was a 20" monitor and he could clearly see the people in the bed and what they were doing. Their words were similar to the audio except there was a lot more moaning. He blinked rapidly. No. Actors. Lies. He blinked again. No. But… No. The words played over and over in his head. He glanced at the screen and saw Vanessa's long blonde hair falling like a curtain around his brother's waist. Frank's hands grasping at her head as he moaned in pleasure. Joe shook his head vigorously as his breathing because rapid and shallow. This is supposed to push me over the edge.This is supposed to make me want to kill Vanessa. His eyes closed but they opened again to stare at the screen. What if it's true? What if they…. Joe let out a strangled sob. All he wanted to do now was die. The Assassins had succeeded in that. He wasn't sure he wouldn't kill himself if given a gun at the moment.

His body ached from his daily beat down. He noticed that his tormentors didn't try to hurt his right arm. If possible, they took shots at him from the back or left side. They were being careful of his right hand. Damage his hand and his ability to shoot accurately could be affected. They wanted him to kill Vanessa and he had to let them believe he was willing to do it if he were to get away. But could he do that without falling over the edge? Was he capable of killing the woman he loved? He squeezed his eyes shut. To save himself and her, he had to make them believe he had fallen over the edge.

"Turn it off! TURN! IT! OFF!" he yelled loudly.

.*********.

Joe wasn't sure how long he had listened to and sometimes watched the two people on the monitor having sex. He had screamed several times for them to turn it off but they had ignored his pleas. Not that he expected them to stop. They wanted to drive him crazy. In fact they were counting on it.

He sat breathing heavily after yelling once again. The voices were beginning to get into his head now and he couldn't shut them out.

Then suddenly, he heard Callie's voice in his head. It was a conversation of almost a year ago when she found a picture ORT had fixed for Vanessa and Frank's mission.

"How can I trust her? How can I trust, Frank? How can I not wonder what he's doing when he goes off on these assignments?" Her voice had been beaten and weak.

"You can trust him because I do," Joe said with all the conviction that he felt. Callie looked up. "I learned about their mission right after I got back from my training out west." Joe smiled at the memory. "I was ticked off to say the least, so I know where you're coming from. But you have to know that they didn't enjoy it."

"Just how far did they go?" Callie asked with a hint of fear in her eyes.

Joe kept his gaze locked on Callie. "Hand-holding. Dancing. Kiss on the cheek. Hugs. Nothing more. Even if they had kissed, and they didn't, it would have only been as part of the job. They would have hated it."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because Frank's my brother and he would never betray me with Vanessa and she would never betray me with Frank. You have to know that." Joe watched her head dip down as she played with the tissue. "You do know that don't you? One photo-shopped picture can't change what you and Frank have had for years, can it?"

Joe focused on that conversation and the words he said to Callie. Photo-shopped pictures and actors can't change what Vanessa and I have can it? It can't change what I've had with Frank for all my life?Can it? Then with resolve he thought, I WON'T let it. I'll let them think they've done it and when I'm free they'll be the ones hurting.

Keeping his eyes closed, Joe yelled again asking for them to turn off the recording. He would love for them to do so but he doubted they would. Now he just needed to convince them that he was ready to kill Vanessa.

.**********.

Two days later…

Hassan and Maya looked at the young man in the room. He had become increasingly agitated and loud since they had begun showing the video clips. They subjected him to videos several times a day for hours at a time while he was strapped into the chair. The drug cocktail he was on now was one that would keep him angrily aggressive and the side effects for discontinuation would be depression.

Maya moved to the laptop in the room and used the mouse and keyboard to make some adjustments. In just a few key strokes the sounds of the couple in the video were muted and the mutterings of the boy strapped in the chair were amplified.

"I'd like to kill her. I'd like to kill them both," Joe was muttering over and over with his eyes closed.

Maya moved back to stand beside Hassan and look through the two-way glass. "I think we should offer Mr. Hardy a chance to fulfill his wishes."

"Do you want to do it or would you like me to present the plan to him?"

Maya's eyes narrowed. "I'll do it. I want to look into his eyes when we tell him to kill his brother."

.**********.

A short while later…

All noise stopped in the room and Joe heard the door's soft hiss. Opening his eyes, he saw that the video feed had been cut and he said a silent thank you for that. He didn't turn toward the door but kept his eyes on the floor in front of him. The leather restraint around his neck bit into his flesh as his head hung down. He had to appear beaten. Broken. Crushed. And the truth was he wasn't far from it. The words he had remembered came back to him again as he saw the shoes of his captors come into his view. Because Frank's my brother and he would never betray me with Vanessa and she would never betray me with Frank. It was his lifeline. It was his mental mantra now. He might say he wanted to kill them but it was far from the truth but the truth in this room couldn't be spoken or they would continue to wear him down and he didn't like to think about what would happen if they continued.

"Joe," the woman spoke.

"Just let me die," he whispered not looking up.

"Death is in your future but first we want to offer you the chance for revenge on those that have wronged you," the man spoke.

"Just let me die," he whispered again.

"Joe, look at me," the woman's lilting voice came again. When he didn't comply, she stepped forward and put her hand under his chin and lifted his head so that his face was turned up. She removed her hand and he kept his head up. "We're offering you a chance at revenge before you die."

"How?" he asked.

"Vanessa has been taken off and we can't find her."

Joe closed his eyes. Relieved and confused at the same time.

"Open your eyes, Joe," the woman said again and this time he complied. "We're offering you the chance to kill Frank."

It took everything in Joe's drug-fogged brain not to react; he had expected them to say Vanessa.

"You've heard the recordings. He convinced Vanessa to betray you. Your brother did that. He deserves to pay even more than she does. We offer you this before you die." The woman moved closer. "What do you think, Joe? Can you do it? Can you kill Frank and then yourself so that you don't have to live with the memories?"

Joe stared at her mouth as she spoke. He blinked. "Frank." His voice was raspy.

"Yes. You don't find him innocent do you?" the man asked curiously. "Is it too hard to kill the brother that betrayed you?"

Joe frowned and turned his gaze to the man. "I could kill them both," he said angrily. He let the anger drop from his voice as he said, "I was going to ask her to marry me. Frank was going to be my best man." His eyes closed as the pain from all that he endured hit him. Frank wouldn't. He shook his head. If Frank slept… No.He didn't. A tear rolled unbidden down his check. "He's no longer my brother." He kept his head down; he could imagine the looks the two would be exchanging.

"Then let us tell you of our plan," the woman said.

Joe opened his eyes and raised his head. It was the beginning of the end. Either I'll pull this off and live… or I'll die. But one thing for certain, there's no way I'm killing Frank. Even if he… I can't be thinking that. No, there's no way I'd kill Frank.I'd rather die first. With those thoughts in his head, he listened to their plan.