"Yes, Fenton, I didn’t alert any of the press. There’s no way that could be Social Services. And, even if it was Social Services, they wouldn’t hear stuff like that from the press." Collig explained. Fenton rubbed his face tiredly. He had managed to put Jason down, and was now clutching his hand.

"Well, what do you want to do?" he asked the chief.

"Just play along with me. I’ll take care of all of this. Just, hold Jason tightly, just in case this lady gets some weird ideas." Fenton nodded, and picked Jason up again. They all walked back into the waiting room, and Fenton went to stand next to Laura. Chief Collig went up to the lady, who was just standing there.

"Ma’am, may I see your credentials?" The lady nodded, and reached into her suit pocket to take out a small black pouch that had a badge in it, that had her name and "Social Services" written on it. Collig looked at it, and then looked at the lady, drawing himself up to his full, 6’2 height. He towered over the lady, and saw, with a hint of a smile to himself, that she was getting scared. "Ma’am, you said Social Services heard about this from the news?" he asked.

"Yes, that’s correct," she said, wondering where this was going.

"Well, Ma’am, the press hasn’t been alerted…they know nothing of what’s going on…" The lady’s eyes widened as she realized she had been found out, and she started to run, but Gertrude and Matt were standing closer to the door, and Matt, who had been listening to the confrontation, quickly grabbed the lady as she tried to run out the door. She called him names, and tried to gauge his fingernails into his face in an effort to get free. All of a sudden, Gertrude stepped forward, and with an angry growl, slapped her so hard, the lady bit her tongue. That subdued her long enough for Gertrude to start a tirade of remarks to the lady.

"You and your stupid gang. You hurt my family so much! How could you kidnap an innocent little boy?! And, as if that wasn’t enough, you shot Frank! Now he may not live!" During her tirade, Collig came up and cuffed her so that she couldn’t get away. Then she held her and turned to Fenton and Laura, who were staring at the scene in wonder. Joe, still lost in his own misery, didn’t look to have even noticed something had happened.

"Well, I’ll take her down to the station, I guess," he told the Hardys. Fenton shook himself out of his reverie, and said,

"I’d better come with you and drop Jason off at the station and call Social Services to take him," he gulped as he said the words, and Laura was about to start crying again. Just then, Con Riley walked in, and stopped dead at the scene in front him.

"Whoa…" he said. "What’s going on here?"

"Oh, Riley, you came at the perfect time!" Collig announced.

"I did?" Con asked, confusion in his voice.

"Yes. Now, I’m going to take this lady to the station, and book her for attempted kidnapping. Seems like she’s one of the gang. I also understand you have a young son at home, right?" Con nodded, wondering where this was going.

"Okay!" Collig turned so that Fenton was involved in the conversation. "How about Riley takes Jason over, and we can contact Social Services to take him from there. I know you’re worried about how Frank’s doing, and Joe doesn’t look too good…you should stay with him," Collig said as he glanced at Joe. He then turned to Riley. "Is it okay with you? I thought it would be good, since you have a young son, and know how to handle little kids…" Riley nodded.

"Yeah, I’ll be glad to do it," Riley replied. "But, how is Frank?" Fenton sighed.

"Not good…the last time the doctor came out, he said Frank was going through a blood transfusion, because he had lost a lot of blood. Also, the doctor said the bullet had gone in deep, and might have caused some internal damage, and internal bleeding. He said-he said that Frank may not make it!" Con’s eyes widened, and surprisingly, tears uncharacteristically came to his eyes. He quickly wiped them away, and said softly,

"I’m sorry…Frank and Joe have become like little brothers to me…always following me around, and getting me in trouble!" he gave a small smile. "I hope to God Frank will be okay. Ever since Nick was born, I realized what being a Dad really is…and how hard it is when your kids may not be okay…I know how you feel, Fenton. I hope Frank’s okay," he said softly, thinking about his two year old son. He also remembered when, a year ago, Nick had been diagnosed with a chronic sickness, and how they weren’t sure if he would make it. He, and his wife, Kasey, had gone through hell then, and he could imagine what the Hardys were going through. He looked past Fenton then, and saw the desolate look on Joe’s face. He walked over to Joe, and knelt in front of him.

"Joe? Hey, pal, chin up. Frank’ll be all right, okay?" Joe just looked up and stared at Con, right into his eyes. His eyes seemed to say, ‘You can’t promise that…’ and Con looked away. With a small sigh, he got up, and went to Fenton to get Jason.

"Hey, kiddo, come here! Come to Uncle Con!" But Jason just clutched Fenton tighter, giving Con a scary look. Con tried again. "Come here, Jase! Come on!" he smiled at the young boy, and this time, Fenton chimed in.

"Go on, Son, go to Con!" But Jason shook his head, biting his lip and hanging on to Fenton. Fenton tried to give Jason to Con, but Jason clutched him, and they got tangled in each other.

"NO!" Jason cried. "I don’t want to leave here! Leave me alone!" he pushed against Con, and then turned to Fenton. "Daddy!" he whimpered softly. Fenton’s heart dropped, but he knew Jason had to go.

"Jason, sweetheart, go with Con. Please? Do it for me, for Mommy. Please?" he said as Jason stubbornly shook his head. "Man, looks like he has the same stubbornness Joe and Laura have! I bet it runs in the family!" A small smile played across his lips at the thought, but Jason’s whimpering brought him back to the present. "Jason, sweetie, please!" But Jason just kept crying. But, then, Con said,

"If you come with me, I’ll get you an ice cream cone!" he smiled at Jason, a mischievous look in his eyes. He leaned in secretly. "I’ll even get sprinkles on it!" Jason stopped struggling with Fenton and looked at Con with mild interest. Fenton smiled at Con, then said to Jason,

"Ohhh, ice cream! Can I have some too?" he asked, with a smile. Suddenly, Jason grinned and shook his head.

"My ice cream!" he said, giggling. Fenton managed another smile, as Con whispered,

"Bribery. Always works!" Con held out his hands, and Jason went to him. But, then, he stopped, and stared at Joe. Then, he turned to Con, and asked,

"Can I say bye to everyone first?" he asked, his eyes back on Joe, who was sitting with his head in his hands. Con immediately put him down, and he went back to Fenton.

"Bye Daddy!" he said, giving him a hug. Fenton hugged him tightly, but knowing that he wasn’t going to cry, let him go. Next he went to Laura. "Bye Mommy!" Laura clutched at him for a moment, burying her head in his hair as she cried.

"Bye sweetie pie, love you," she whispered. She put him down, gave him a kiss…and then, turned and buried her head into Fenton’s chest. Next, Jason went to Gertrude. Even though he had hardly seen her before, he gave her a quick kiss. Then, he went to Uncle Matt. "Bye Uncle Matt! See you soon!" he said, giving him a bear hug. Matt hugged him back, and released him without a word, fearful of the lump in his throat. Last, Jason went to Joe. Here, he was on familiar ground. He went to Joe, and stood in front of him. Slowly, Joe looked into his eyes. Jason immediately saw the tears in his eyes, and the compassion of a little kid, still innocent of the world’s faults came out in Jason. "Joey! Don’t cry!" he carefully wiped away Joe’s tears and gave him a huge smile. A shudder went through Joe as he tried to control his crying, but it didn’t work. Jason’s smile wavered as he thought of what to say, but then turned back on full force. He leaned in conspiringly towards Joe. "I’ll give you some of my ice cream if you want! I’m going to get Chocolate with sprinkles!" Finally, Joe managed a smile and he caught his younger brother in a huge hug.

"Bye Jason!" he whispered. "Behave yourself, okay? Remember: I love you!" Jason hugged Joe back tightly, and said,

"I love you too…bye!" Then, he pulled away, and went to grab Con’s hand. "Will I really get sprinkles?" he asked. Con smiled at him, and then turned to Fenton. With his other hand, he squeezed Fenton’s hand, and whispered,

"Hang in there, Buddy!" Fenton nodded his thanks, and then went to pull out his wallet, saying,

"Let me give you some money for the cone…" But, Con shook his head.

"Don’t worry!" he said with a laugh. "I still got the money from the donuts!" he laughed at the expression on Fenton’s face, as he walked out, followed by Collig.

********************

Another three hours went by as the family waited for word on Frank. It was almost six in the evening when the doctor came out. He walked out with no expression on his face, but when he reached the Hardy family, his face broke out into a grin.

"I’m extremely happy to inform you that Frank will be okay! We took him into surgery, and it was successful. There was some internal bleeding, but we got it stopped on time. Luckily, there was no damage to his organs. He will be okay. It will take him close to a month to recover…but he will make a full recovery."

"Thank God!" Laura whispered as she once again fell into Fenton’s arms. Fenton hugged her back tightly. Matt and Gertrude were hugging each other tightly as well, and Matt couldn’t stop grinning. Joe softly cried, but this time, they were tears of joy.

"Can we see him?" he asked the doctor.

"Well, he’s asleep, and will be for some time. He’s been heavily drugged so he won’t feel too much pain. But, I suppose I can let you go take a quick peek. But, only one person can stay with him tonight." Everyone agreed, and the doctor led them into Frank’s room. Frank was laying on the bed, hooked up to an IV, and an oxygen mask to help his tired lungs breathe. His eyes were closed, and he seemed to be peacefully sleeping. Because of the hospital gown, they couldn’t see his wound, but, they didn’t want to see it. It was just too painful of a memory. Everyone went up and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, Joe being the last one. Still holding Frank’s hand, Joe turned to his parents, and said,

"I’m staying with him!" his blue eyes shot fire, daring anyone to defy him. Fenton sighed, but nodded his head. As they left the room, he turned to Matt and said,

"I’m telling you…stubbornness runs on Laura’s side of the family!" earning him a smack from Laura.

********************

It was perhaps fifteen hours later, when Joe woke up to hearing a low moan. He had kept a vigil on Frank for almost three hours before giving in to his exhaustion, and falling asleep on his chair. He stretched his sore muscles, and then heard the low moan again. With a start, he looked down at his brother, and saw his chocolate colored eyes were open!

"Frank!" he shouted. He pressed the call button for the nurse, and then looked at his brother. Frank wanted to take the oxygen mask off, but Joe shook his head, grinning inanely. "Sit still, big brother." The doctor walked just then, and grinned when he saw Frank awake.

"Glad you could join the party!" he joked. He quickly took Frank’s vitals, and then, when he was sure Frank was okay, he took the oxygen mask off. "I’ll come back with soon, okay? Are you hungry?" Frank shook his head, and the doctor left. Joe poured his brother a glass of water, and after Frank drank some, he looked up at his younger brother.

"Whoa!" he whispered hoarsely. "You look half-dead!" Joe’s eyes widened, and then he gave his brother a look.

"I look better than you!" he taunted right back. Both brothers burst out laughing, but, soon, Frank heard Joe’s laugh turn into sobs.

"Joe? Baby brother? Hey, don’t cry! Come on," he said, comforting his brother. Joe then gave his brother a big hug, crying into his shoulder, though he was careful not to cause his brother more pain.

"I almost lost you, Frank…you don’t know how that feels…" Frank slowly lifted Joe’s face, and said, with a small smile,

"Brat, look at me. I’m right here, and I’ll be okay. I promise!" Joe nodded, but still sniffled.

"Still…" he whispered. "God, Frank, when the doctor said you might not make it, a part of me died, right then, and there. I don’t know if I can go on without you." Frank smiled, and wiped Joe’s tears away.

"Brat, I’m not going anywhere. If I did, who would be here to call you ‘brat’ and ‘baby brother’? It’s too much fun to tease you!" he gave Joe a mischievous smile. Joe let out a smile, and then slugged his brother lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, watch it! You’re dealing with an injured man here!" Frank protested. Joe just laughed, and hugged his brother tightly again. Frank ruffled his hair, and hugged him back. To Joe, at that moment, nothing else mattered; not Max, not Jason, not Social Services, nothing. All that mattered was his big brother was okay. And he was coming home.