Hardy Boys Fan Fiction at the HDA - Brain Child

Fenton let go of Joe and grunted when Joe’s fist connected with his jaw. “Good thing he was asleep, I’m sure he hits harder when he’s awake,” Fenton thought as he rubbed the sore spot on his jaw. Laura entered the backseat through the other door and sat next to Joe.

Joe started to wake up when he realized his hand was hurting. Laura kept talking to him softly until he seemed fully awake. “Well son, I never really understood what Frank meant when he said waking you can be hazardous to his health, until now. You pack quite a punch – even when you’re sleeping,” Fenton said.

“Did I hit you?! I am so sorry! I had no idea,” Joe was truly upset. This was getting out of hand. He had to get better control over his emotions.

Fenton chuckled, “Joe, don’t worry about it. It was my own fault for getting in your way. You weren’t awake.”

“Let’s get you inside honey. I’ll go get you something to eat,” Laura said, concern etched in her face.

After a good lunch, and a several hour nap that was not riddled with nightmares, Joe felt much better though his head still hurt some. “What a day,” he thought “and Frank and I were supposed to take Vanessa and Callie out tonight. For some reason, I have a feeling that is not going to happen.”

Joe was right. His mom and dad said that he had to stay in, so Frank rescheduled with the girls for the weekend. “You didn’t have to change your date because of me. Don’t let me ruin all of your plans. You deserve to have some fun,” Joe told Frank when he came into his room and sat on the edge of his bed.

“I am going to have fun - with you tonight. Then we’ll both have fun with the girls when you are feeling better. You should be in good shape by this weekend,” Frank told him.

After an uneventful evening on the couch watching movies and eating, Joe spent an uneventful day in bed the next day while Frank went to school. Joe thought about all of the make-up work that he should be working on, but had no desire to gather his supplies and try any of it.

Joe had had a few nightmares through out the day, but him mom would always come in and talk soothingly to him to get him to wake up. Fenton was still a little leery of trying it after what had happened the day before. Since his mom was there, watching over him, he couldn’t do what he normally would do in the middle of the night and get out of bed and pace to stay awake. So despite the nightmares, he was getting some sleep. He looked somewhat better for it.

When Frank came home that afternoon with more make-up work for Joe, Joe was just happy to realize it was Friday and he didn’t have to go back to school for two more days. “I have time to work on that homework later. No need to jump back into school work,” he thought.

He dragged himself out of bed, he still felt tired and embarrassed about the nightmares. Frank knew about them, but he had never shared any of it with his parents. So he didn’t like the idea that his mom was the one who kept waking him. He headed off to the kitchen.

After Frank had dropped off Joe’s work in the dumping zone Joe called his room, he went downstairs for a snack. His parents were at the kitchen table. “Frank, please sit down honey,” Laura said. Frank joined them with an apple in his hand. Laura continued, “Joe had several nightmares yesterday and today but he didn’t want to talk about them. Does he have these often?”

Frank explained, as he ran his hand through his hair, that they were frequent after Iola died, but had become much less frequent over the last few months, until the last two weeks or so. Laura said, “If you can, see if you can get Joe to talk about them to you. If that doesn’t seem to help, I will have to make an appointment with a counselor. I’m very concerned about his mental health.”

At that precise moment, the kitchen door swung open and Joe’s sarcastic question about being done with his “house arrest” died on his lips. “I am NOT crazy. I’m just fine. I have dreams. That’s all,” he was getting very upset and didn’t want to loose his cool and make thing worse.

“Joe honey, you are having reoccurring nightmares. They are keeping you from sleeping which is compromising your health,” Laura said soothingly.

“We don’t think you’re crazy Joe, just talk to one of us – or all of us, and let us help you,” Fenton added.

“So I guess this means that I can’t go out tonight either?” Joe asked with a sigh.

“I don’t really want you to. One more night’s sleep and you can go do something tomorrow,” Laura said.

As the boys went upstairs, Fenton turned to Laura, “I think we need to get Joe’s mind off of Iola. I have a stakeout that I need done tomorrow for a case I’m working on.” Laura’s eyes grew wide and it looked like she was going to cut him off with a tirade, so Fenton quickly resumed “It is during the daytime hours, at a restaurant where there will be plenty of people. There is very little risk, but something for a change of pace.”

“Well, compared to their normal activity, this is probably one of the safest things Frank and Joe can do,” she thought. To Fenton, she said, “All right Fenton, but this better be safe. I want it to help him, not set him back.”

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The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The Hardy Boys Fan Fiction authors of the Hardy Detective Agency have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.