WOO-HOO! An update! I do have good reasons for not writing this summer/fall. Very good reasons. One of my reasons being I had sugery just two months ago. But I have wracking my brain nightly trying to figure out how to continue. I am so excited I actually finished this chapter and now am back on FanFiction. I have missed this.

Overall I'm pleased with this chapter but if you see anything that needs work or have any comments please tell me.(In a nice way) Thank you so much to everybody who has reviewed, followed, or liked Bigger Picture during my hiatus. Thanks to max2013, The Silent Whisperer, Foxy121, Baltimore Raven, GirlsWrite, Hibernia12, Elizabeth Nickerson, cryshardy, Avengers13 and you so much for still hoping I'd one day update. Which I did! Thanks to my unofficial Beta and sister Nancy Austin for all the help, she's so amazing!

In the dark of night Joe lay, his heart heavily pounding against his sore chest and his side tight with pain. He was listening and waiting until the soft footsteps overhead slowed to a stop. He had to wait for several painstaking hours. Waiting, ha! Who knew Joesph Irving Hardy had the patience to wait that long? Well I did. Joe smiled at his own inside joke before sighing ruefully, too bad no one else was here to hear how funny he was being. It was then when the severity of the situation sank in. Nobody else could hear him. Joe observed the room around him once more, his sub-conscious looking for a familiar face. Finally he slowly rose to his knees and dropped to the floor. Gasping at the reality of what he'd been through had left behind. The dull ache in his side had turned into a roaring burn and the foggy memories were now clearly playing in his brain. Although he didn't want to admit it, Joe knew everything the supposed FBI had told him was him was true, or else he wouldn't be here.

"I don't think he's coming to with the truth." Joe's ears pricked up. He couldn't see where the voice was coming from but he could tell it was underneath him. Quickly he scoured the room for the source of noise and found it. An air duct. Joe pressed his body to the floor, painfully bearing all weight on his injured side.

"Yes. He is, I saw it in his eyes." Grey finally answered. Another long moment went by. Joe was about to get up when the FBI agent spoke again, this time there was a shaky edge to her voice. Something was clearly wrong.

"...Woodard, you need to see this."

"What?"

"Just get over here-now." She breathed hard and muttered something unintelligible. Joe's gut screamed at him that something was wrong.

"Oh my..."

"Hardy's brother was shot then immediately taken to Bethesda, Norfolk half-an hour ago." For a moment Joe couldn't even move, couldn't even breathe. His heart beat so loudly in his chest that he didn't hear the next words. He didn't even want to hear what they said next.

In shock, Joe shakily stood to his feet. Frank shot, Frank shot, Frank shot...The words repeated themselves through his brain over and over. But-how? Joe crossed the room without knowing what he was doing. Then he turned and crossed the room again. All emotions he had unintentionally bottled-up were now staring to overspill. A single tear fell from his blue eyes and slid down his cheek. That tear stopped him. Joe resisted wiping it away, instead he took a deep breath. Normally cases went by fast for the Hardy's. Teamwork helped a lot, so did not going through what he already gone through. But this wasn't a case, this was personal. Unbelievable and painful. What had happened had torn their family apart. There he stood for a moment just breathing and thinking before swiftly turning around and heading downstairs.

Maybe he needed to think of this like he normally would for a case. Frank was Frank. Frank was fine.

"Calling Dr. Worbaski to ICU. Calling Dr. Worbaski." A squeaky woman's voice sounded from the speakers above. Fenton's muscles popped loudly as he stretched and stood to his feet. Laura opened her tear-stained eyes and warily glanced at her husband before closing them again.

" Fen, where are you going?" She asked softly, her small voice sounded weak and tired. Fenton sighed and took a breath.

"I'm going to see if they're taking care of Frank yet. Or if they've put their needs before his life." To anyone else he sounded powerful, angry, but Laura could hear the shake in his voice and could imagine what her husband looked like. With his shoulders bent down at an angle, his face rough with the beginnings of a beard. He was a broken man now.

"Both of them." It was a little more then a whisper but her husband heard her.

"What?"

"Both of them, we've lost both of them Fenton." Fenton stood for a moment wondering how to respond, or even if he should. Finally he brought a hand up to his face and rested his face in his palm. This was all his fault. All his fault. If he hadn't-and if just had...no. He had enough of ifs, he was going to do something. Fenton looked back at his wife one last time before crossing over the threshold and heading down the hall. Laura knew he was gone. She wiped her face with the tissue she had found in her bag and curled up.

"Laura." Surprised she raised her head and once more opened her eyes. Chief Ezra Colig stood in front her looking at her with sympathy written on his face. "We need to talk, where's Fenton.?"

"Um, he-he went to check on Frank." She couldn't help the small crack in her voice, it was either that or completely break down. Colig sighed.

"I need him Laura, we gotta discuss some stuff." Laura sat up and gave him a look.

"He needs to do this Ezra." Colig nodded. It wasn't that he was trying to be insensitive, Laura knew that. Colig had questions that needed answers that only Fenton could provide. Yes, Frank was in the hospital getting medical help for a life-threatening injury, but fixing him was something only the doctors could do.

Laura watched a flicker of emotions cross over his face.

"Colig, please tell me what this is all about. You've already taken custody of Aziz, what more do-" She sopped mid sentence realizing why Colig was here. Fenton had lied to her, he was hiding something. It was true, she did know about Desert Storm and that somehow Fenton knew the terrorist. But was that all? She was exhausted with thinking, with trying to be strong. Laura let out a sob. It was a second before Colig knew what to say. He was responsible for both protecting Laura and keeping her hopes up when Fenton was away. It wasn't just his duty as Fenton's friend it was his duty as Laura's.

"Laura- listen. Please. Frank will be okay. You and I both know your sons. One day they're in the hospital and the next day they've convinced you to let them follow another lead. Frank and Joe may get themselves into a—heap load of trouble, but they're strong, persistent, they never give up. They're Frank and Joe Hardy." He wasn't sure if he said the right thing but he knew when Laura took a breath and slowed her tears.

" You're right Ezra. Thank you." It was still hard to keep it together, you couldn't have told her not to cry. But she had hope.

"Family for Frank Hardy?" Both heads turned in the same direction. A young blond nurse stood in the doorway wearing mint green scrubs. Fearful at the possible outcome of her son Laura raised a tentative hand before asking:

"Is he going to be okay?" Surprising the nurse smiled. Laura's hand came down and clutched at her heart, her eyes wide. On the inside she was chanting yes over and over to herself to keep from listening to doubt.

"Yes, we're cautiously optimistic Frank will make a full recovery." Laura breathed and let her clenched fists fall at her sides. "Now for his condition; the bullet did hit an artery and of course that explains the major blood loss we're dealing with. Lack of blood flow to the body unfortunately also means his organs couldn't function properly and began to shut down which is why he stopped breathing, but our skilled staff was quickly able to him patch up to stop any further damage from happening." It was over, all along she had trying to prepare herself for this and now he'd be alright. Laura whispered a small prayer of thanks. But inside she felt the worst was yet to come.

"Can I help you?" Fenton nearly jumped out of his skin.

" Uhh, yes I need to find Dr. Worbaski. It's urgent." He sounded tense. If he hadn't mentioned it was urgent the nurse could have guessed by his tone. The frumpy looking nurse regarded him with a beady eye.

"The doctor is busy with a patient." She replied flatly.

"Which patient, may I ask." He was being way more polite then he actually intended to.

"No, you may not ask." She answered with a frown. "Sir you need you to leave. We have a policy-"

"I don't care about your policy!" Fenton erupted all traces of being polite gone. Silence. A phone went off somewhere in the background. The nurse furrowed her eyebrows. Silence. The nurse started to get up. Fenton breathed. Weren't nurses supposed to have never ending patience?

"Silver shot! Oh man it's you!" A loud voice cut through the tension. Fenton slowly turned and gasped.

I know it seems very Franky right now but soon you shall see. I have great plans for Joe. *laughs evilly*

Please, please review. All your reviews are both encouraging and inspiring. I may still be a rookie but I want to know if I'm doing this right.