Vanessa’s soothing voice came into his ears. "Joe, you don’t know that it’s the same people. It could just be someone’s idea of a sick joke." There was silence on the line as Joe thought briefly about that.

"It’s possible," he finally conceded, reluctantly. "Although my instincts tell me it’s for real. I think Frank’s kind of ignoring it right now. But then I probably would too."

Vanessa smiled to herself. The bond that Frank and Joe shared was so special. It was unbreakable. There were times when Vanessa found herself slightly envious, as she was an only child. But those times were few and far between. Joe loved her and the rest of his family was wonderful, and usually included her in family gatherings.

Then Joe’s voice interrupted her thoughts. "Van, you wouldn’t happen to know what’s up with Callie, would you? She’s been weirder than usual lately. Even though I don’t like her, Frank’s really torn up about it and I hate seeing him hurt."

"I don’t know, Joe. She’s not really talking to me, and when she does, she seems very distracted and pre-occupied."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. And-" Joe’s voice broke off suddenly. "Van, I’ll call you back later." He punched the ‘off’ button on the phone and stared at the bushes along the back fence. He laid the phone down on the table and walked across the back yard. He’d seen something reflect the sunlight.

Joe carefully crawled behind the bushes, having no idea what he was looking for. He finally pinpointed the location and crawled into a space he and Frank had turned into a GI Joe fort as kids. Joe had dozens of wonderful memories from playing in that fort.

Then he saw it. A camera lens, and an expensive one at that. He backed out of the bushes and heard Frank yell at him. Joe turned and saw Frank leaning out the window of Aunt Gertrude’s room. "What are you doing?"

"I found something, Frank. Bring a pillowcase or a towel and get down here."

Frank grabbed a pillowcase off the bed and went outside to Joe. He handed the sheet to his brother and watched as Joe crawled back inside the bushes. A minute later he handed the pillowcase out to Frank. Frank opened it and his eyes widened. "This is one expensive lens, Joe."

Joe stood and brushed the dirt from his jeans. "I know. I found it in our fort. The sun was shining on it. What say we dust it for prints and run the serial number?"

Frank nodded, wrapped the pillowcase around the lens and followed Joe to their lab over the garage. He copied the serial number and went back inside to his computer. Joe could lift the prints by himself, Frank was just too tired to stay in the lab. He put the numbers in, then lay down to rest as the computer searched.

Seven years earlier,

Eleven-year-old Frank Hardy raced down the back stairs and into the breakfast room. Fenton looked at Frank over the newspaper. "How many times have you been told not to run in the house?"

Frank shrugged as he sat down and started eating. Fenton shook his head and folded the newspaper up as Joe came in. He did not look happy, quite the opposite of Frank, who was very excited about starting sixth grade. In fact, Joe was mad. And Frank knew it, but didn’t know what to do about it.

Frank ate quickly, then went upstairs to get his backpack and shoes. He sat down on the bed and bent over to tie his shoes. His eyes became wide as saucers as drops of blood appeared on his brand new sneakers. He straightened up and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on his nightstand. "Mom!"

Laura heard a slight note of panic in her son’s voice. Fenton looked up and his gaze met Laura’s. They both rushed up the stairs to Frank’s room. Laura sat down next to him. "Frank, what’s wrong? Did you hit your head?" Her voice was filled with worry. Frank had had several dizzy spells in the last few weeks and had hit his head once already when he’d fallen.

"No," Frank answered his voice slightly muffled from the tissues he was holding. "I bent over to tie my shoes and my nose started bleeding."

Fenton gently pulled Frank’s hand away. The bleeding was beginning to stop. "Son, how many times has this happened in the last week?"

"Uhmm." Frank thought for a minute. "Four."

Fenton and Laura exchanged knowing glances. It was time for Frank to go see the doctor, and they told him so.

"Aww, Mom!" Frank protested. "He’ll just give me a shot!"

Laura frowned. "Tough. There are too many unexplained things happening to you to not go."

Frank sighed. His mother was right, as usual. There were a lot of unexplained things happening to him. And he hadn’t even told them about the bruise that had appeared after the baseball game Saturday. "OK."

Just then Joe walked in, oblivious to what had just taken place. "Dad."

Fenton looked at his youngest son. He was about to start growing again. "Yes, Joe."

"Are you still going to pick us up after school?"

Fenton nodded. "I wouldn’t miss it for the world." Joe smiled, then both boys raced downstairs as the Joe’s bus pulled up. Frank left ten minutes later.

Frank was very thankful that he made it through the day without his nose bleeding again. He stood off by himself as he waited for his father. When Fenton’s car came into view, he saw Joe’s blond head already in the front seat. Frank climbed in the back when Fenton stopped. "Let’s go, Dad. I’m hungry!"

"Me too!" Joe echoed.

Fenton laughed as he drove in the direction of The Ice Cream Shoppe. On Frank’s first day of school, Joe had been so distraught about him leaving, that Fenton had taken both boys for ice cream at the end of the day. It was now tradition for the three Hardy’s to go for ice cream on the first and last day of school. It was a tradition that Fenton hoped would continue until both boys graduated high school.

Present,

Joe looked up from his lunch and saw Frank’s eyes following a certain someone across the cafeteria. "She won’t talk to you, Frank."

"I know. I just wish I could figure what’s going on with her."

Just then, the object of their conversation, Callie Shaw, looked at them. Frank couldn’t read her face this time, something he hadn’t been able to do in months now. Callie stared at him for a minute, then kept going.

Frank looked down at his half-eaten lunch, and suddenly he wasn’t hungry anymore. He stood and left the room, leaving his friends with puzzled looks on their faces.

Ten minutes later Joe found Frank coming out of the bathroom. "You OK?"

Frank nodded. "I am now." The bell rang and Joe followed Frank to his next class, then raced for his own. He barely made it.

Vanessa gave him a puzzled look.

Joe knew she was wondering about Frank. Later, he mouthed to her.

Vanessa nodded and turned to the test in front of her.

Fenton picked the boys up after school and noticed that Frank was little pale. He watched closely as his son got in the backseat and laid down. "Frank, would you rather go home?"

"No, Frank answered. "I want things to be as normal as possible, remember?"

Fenton nodded and put the car in gear. "I remember."

Twenty minutes later they arrived at The Ice Cream Shoppe. It seemed like every time they went, Joe managed to eat more. Fenton watched as Joe consumed a huge banana split. "Where do you put it, Joe"

Joe grinned. "It turns to muscle, Dad. Didn’t you know that?"

Fenton just shook his head and smiled back. He savored every moment, wondering if it would be the last time he took both his sons out for ice cream. The boys sensed their father’s mood and tried to keep things light, throwing out one-liners and playful insults. Fenton finally had to laugh as the conversation became completely ridiculous.

Forty-five minutes later they headed home. Fenton noticed that Joe kept looking in the side mirror. "Something wrong, Joe?"

"We’re being followed," he stated matter-of-factly. "A black POS two cars back."

Frank choked on a laugh. Joe had been dying to use that line from "Men in Black" for quite some time now.

"I’m serious, Frank,"

"I know. But is it really a plain-old sedan?"

"Yes." Joe kept his gaze on the mirror as Fenton proceeded to lose their tail. After taking a very round about way back to Elm Street, Fenton pulled into the Hardy garage. He put an arm around Frank to steady him and the three went inside.

Laura was in the kitchen. She kissed Fenton, then felt Frank’s forehead. "The boys have something to tell you," she said as she found some Tylenol for Frank’s fever. Aspirin was not allowed right now as it increased his chances of bleeding.

"Can we sit down first?" Frank asked. Fenton nodded and they went into the living room. Frank lay down on the couch and Laura spread an afghan over him.

Fenton sat down in his recliner. "Let me guess. It probably has something to do with the car that was following us."

Joe nodded, then launched into the story with very little input from Frank this time. He finished up with what he’d found in the backyard. "I dusted it and lifted a few prints. Frank ran the serial number, but didn’t find anything, so we dropped it off at the station on our way in this morning. Con said he’d bring the results by when he got off duty."

Fenton leaned back in his chair to think. He was now officially worried. He had no proof that the black sedan was tied to the Tigers in any way, but his instincts screamed to him that it was. And he couldn’t ignore the fact that he’d seen a black sedan hanging around the neighborhood the last week. He hadn’t mentioned it for fear of frightening Laura. He glanced over at Frank, who was now sound asleep, then looked at his watch. "Well, Con should be here any minute."

The doorbell rang just as Fenton finished speaking. Laura went to the door and came back with Con. He sat down in the chair Joe had just vacated and glanced over at Frank. "I didn’t think Frank took naps anymore."

Joe closed his eyes and tried not to listen as Fenton quietly told Con about Frank’s leukemia being back. "Fenton, I’m so sorry," Con said softly.

Fenton winced inwardly and nodded. He was not looking forward to hearing those comments again, so he changed the subject. "What did you find?"

Con opened the file in his hands. "The lens was stolen from a camera shop in Brooklyn about six weeks ago. They never caught the thief. The prints belong to a Greg James. He’s got several arrests for petty larceny and possession, but hasn’t served any time. He’s seventeen and is suspected to be connected with the Tigers."

Joe’s face paled and he sucked in a deep breath. "They’re after us, Dad. If they find out about Frank-" he broke off and bit his lip, then looked at his brother. Frank was still sleeping, oblivious to the conversation. Joe was glad. He didn’t want Frank to know how truly afraid he was.

"What do you mean they’re after you, Joe?" Con questioned.

"We tangled with them in New York. Their leader was killed and his little brother vowed revenge."

Con nodded then looked at Fenton. "I know what you’re going to ask. We can’t do anything until they actually make contact with the boys."

"I know."

"I can tell the chief what’s going on and get patrols stepped up." Con stood. "You keep me posted and I’ll keep you posted." Fenton nodded but made no move to get up, so Con left the Hardy home and went to his own, still in shock about Frank.

A little while later, Laura announced dinner was ready. Fenton and Joe left the room to wash up while Laura gently woke Frank. He slowly opened his eyes. "Dinner’s ready, son."

"I’m not hungry, Mom. Lunch didn’t stay down," he whispered. "Just wake me up for Farscape."

Laura smoothed his hair back. "Alright." She tucked the afghan around him a little tighter, the left the room.

*****

"Frank has what?" Fenton asked, his voice going up unintentionally.

"Leukemia," Dr. Sanders repeated. "And we need to start treatment immediately."

Fenton and Laura looked at each other in disbelief. The doctor had to be lying. There was no way their Frank could have leukemia.

Three days later Frank received his first treatment. He clung to his parents, eyes closed, wishing Joe was with him. But Joe was at Claire’s house and Frank also found himself wishing that he was there too instead of the hospital.

Fenton and Laura watched helplessly as the chemotherapy and leukemia slowly took their son away. Joe didn’t understand why he couldn’t stay with Frank. Frank needed him!

One afternoon when Frank felt particularly bad, he lay in bed trying to think of another argument to convince his parents that he needed Joe with him. He had tried everything he could think of so far without success, and he was so lonely for his brother. He closed his eyes as he heard the school bus drop Joe off, then Joe came upstairs and went in his room.

Fenton quietly walked in to check on Frank, and saw a single tear slide down his face. Fenton sat down and placed a hand on Frank. "What’s wrong, son?"

"I need Joe," Frank whispered. He felt his bed move ad Fenton stood, then just a few minutes later, Joe was in bed with Frank. Frank focused on little brother completely, shutting out the pain and exhaustion, and listened as Joe told him all about fifth grade, and Iola Morton.

Fenton and Laura stood in the doorway, wrapped in each others arms and listened to Frank laugh. "We can’t keep them apart anymore, Fenton."

"I was thinking the exact same thing." With that said, the closed the door and left the brothers alone.