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: I had such a nice response to the last chapter that I decided to go ahead and post tonight! Thanks as always for the reviews. I enjoy reading them greatly. This chapter is also shorter which is another reason I decided to go ahead and post. If I get a lot of reviews, I'll go ahead and post chapter 21 tomorrow night as a reward! ;-) But don't expect a lot of quick posts like that! ;-D Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty

Fenton held his son tightly and closed his eyes. He was blessed to have both his sons alive and… he heard Joe's soft cries and knew that he was far from well. "I'm here, Joe. We'll take care of you. We love you." He whispered the words over and over and felt Joe's hold on him lessen some and then he violently pushed him away. "What?"

But then Joe leaned over and vomited a very small amount of liquid and dropped to his knees. Before Fenton could call for the medics they were there and helping Joe. In just a matter of moments, the gurney was brought over and Joe was carefully placed on it.

"Can you hear us, Joe?" the ORT EMT named Davis asked.

"Yeah, I can."

"Can you tell us anything about where you were held?" While they needed to administer medical attention, any chance of catching the Assassins before they sanitized the holding area relied on getting info from Joe at this moment.

Joe shook his head. "Never... saw daylight… until today." Joe stopped and closed his eyes.

Davis nodded seemingly unsurprised at Joe's answer. "I'm going to take some blood and then—"

Joe bolted upright on the gurney and was almost off of it when two of the medics restrained him while another rushed to get a sedative.

"Calm down, Joe. It's routine—"

"No more needles!" he yelled at Davis.

In the meantime the other medic had retrieved a syringe with the needed medication and stuck Joe before he realized it.

Joe stared at the spot where he was injected and then just laid back on the gurney. He turned beseeching eyes to his father. "Please," he begged. "Please… don't restrain… me. Please."

Before Fenton could answer, Davis said, "Until we're certain you won't hurt yourself, I'm afraid we will have to."

"Please," Joe whispered.

The muttered word tore at Fenton's heart.

Frank had moved up to the opposite side of the gurney. "We'll follow along and meet you at the facility, Joe."

Joe never turned to look at his brother but kept his eyes on his father. Fenton looked from one to the other.

"Keep him away from me." It was the clearest words that Joe had uttered and Fenton was blown away by them.

"But, Joe. We're all going. Your mom will be coming and as soon as Vanes—"

"Keep her… away too. I don't want… to see them." His eyes were closing and the gurney was now in the van.

"Joe—"

"I said, keep them the hell away!" He collapsed back on the bed as Davis moved to stand in front of Fenton.

"Sir, we need him to calm down and rest. You can talk to him at Carrington Center in just a little bit," Davis said as one of the doors closed behind him.

Fenton wasn't convinced and the quietness of his other son was concerning him as well.

"Remember, he's been through a traumatic experience. There are drugs in his system and while we think we know what they are based on the other two victims, we need to run some tests." Davis moved to the back of the ambulance and climbed in. Before closing the door, he said, "We'll see you there, sir."

Fenton watched in a daze as the ambulance pulled out.

"Let's go," Agent Crawford said as he walked in front of Fenton. "I'm driving the two of you." He looked at the bandage around Fenton's arm. One of the medics had given the wound a cleaning and then bandaged it. His gaze went back to the two men. "You both looked shell shocked. The girl that came with you can bring your car. Give me the keys." He stopped and held his hand out to Fenton.

Fenton retrieved them from his pocket and gave them to Crawford who passed them off to another agent. Then taking both Fenton and Frank by the arm, he moved them toward the government issued SUV.

Once inside the vehicle, Fenton turned to his son who was being unusually quiet, even for Frank. Fenton himself was finally getting over his initial shock. "What happened down there, Frank? Do you know why he's acting this way?" His eyes searched his son's profile for a clue to his feelings but found none and that in itself was telling.

Fenton watched Frank's chest expand with a deep breath and then he finally started talking. "It's the drugs and the brainwashing."

Fenton nodded. "Of course, but what did they do to him to make him not want to be around you and Vanessa?"

"I should have known," Frank said as he stared at the back of the driver's seat. "What would make a wife and fiancée kill their loved one?" Frank paused. "Passion."

"Passion?" Fenton queried, not quite sure what to make of Frank's answer.

"Joe didn't want me touching him and he didn't want ME to say Vanessa's name. He doesn't want her or I around." Frank turned wounded eyes to his father. "Joe thinks that Vanessa and I had an affair."

Fenton was shocked but he had to admit that it made sense with the facts they had. "But he has to know better…" His voice trailed off. "The drugs and brainwashing."

Frank nodded. "I think that Joe knows it's not real but at the moment it's not at the front of his brain with all that's been happening to him." Frank slammed a fist into the vehicle door drawing a glance from Crawford in the front. "The mission that Vanessa and I went on last year."

"The one where you posed as boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Yes."

"But how would they know?" Fenton asked.

Frank shook his head. "I don't know, dad, but I hope that maybe Joe has some answers."

Fenton agreed but even more he wanted those drugs out of Joe's system so that he would know that his brother hadn't betrayed him. Fenton stared ahead now. Joe had been planning to ask Vanessa to marry him. If the Assassins' really had found ways to get Joe to think that she had betrayed him with his brother of all people... Fenton shook his head slightly in amazement. It was only the love that Joe had for his brother and girlfriend that had kept him from following through on his mission. He closed his eyes as the realization of how close he came to losing both sons this morning hit him.