When Doug opened the trunk, he never knew what hit him. Joe had managed to coil up and he sprang at his abductor and hit him squarely in the chest, knocking them both to the ground.  He had been originally planning on pretending he was still out cold and then overpowering Doug at the first opportunity, but the discovery of the knife changed the plan.  

Doug hit the ground hard with Joe on top of him, and deftly the younger boy pulled up the knife and pressed the tip into the soft part of his assailant’s neck.  

“Not such a nice feeling now, is it?” he asked, his blue eyes blazing vibrantly in anger – this guy was going to give him to William!  

Swallowing hard, Doug recognized the look on Joe’s face. It was one he knew well, so he didn’t move; not even so much as a muscle.  

“Where is he?” Joe hissed, “Where’s William?”  

When Doug didn’t say anything, Joe pressed the tip of the knife in just a bit deeper; being careful not to cut the other boy, but definitely bringing it home just how serious Joe was about this.  

Managing words through his dry mouth, Doug said softly, “Y-your house.”  

Joe regarded the bigger teen coldly, his face not registering the impact of the words. Inside he felt as if the very knife he was holding had been driven straight into his stomach.  Fighting back the bile in his throat, Joe slowly lowered the knife and stood up.  

“Get up,” he said, and when Doug just continued to lie there he repeated himself, this time a bit louder, “Get up! NOW!”  

Immediately Doug scrambled to his feet.  

“Where are the car keys?”  Joe needed to get back to his house and he needed to do it quickly, before William could hurt anyone.  

“What are you going to do with me?” Doug asked, even as he slowly bent down to pick the keys up from the ground where they had fallen when Joe overpowered him.  

“Nothing…if you co-operate,” Joe said menacingly.  He suspected, correctly, that like anyone else in William’s life, this kid was helping him because he was afraid of him. So as hard as it was for him to do, Joe put enough menace in his voice to play off his fear.  

In all honesty, he had no idea what he would do if Doug didn’t cooperate, but he continued anyway, “Get in the driver’s seat.”  

“Where are we going?” Doug demanded, even as he did as he was told. Joe was right about the fear….  

“To my house,” Joe said grimly.  “There’s someone there I really need to talk to….”

* * *

“Frank,” Fenton pulled his older son aside as ‘Joe’ finished packing.  “I need you to do something for me.”  

“What?” the dark-haired teen wanted to know as he watched his father carefully.  

“While I’m dropping Joe off at the station, I need you to drive your mother to the airport. Jack is waiting there for her.”  He explained himself before Frank could ask the obvious question.  “She’s going to stay with Gertrude for a couple of days.  With the threat of William hanging over us, I’d prefer to have her out of Bayport….I’d send you too, if I thought I could actually get you on the plane.”  

Fenton gave his son a wry smile even as Frank asserted, “I’m not going anywhere!”  And then he added, “Dad, can I drop Joe off though, and you take Mom? Please.”  

The pleading note in his son’s voice just about broke Fenton’s heart. He knew how hard it was on Frank not to be able to go with Joe…so although he did want to see this through himself, he relented.  

Nodding his head, he gave his son’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze.  “Okay, Frank. I think Joe’d like that as well.”  There was no one that Fenton trusted Joe with more than Frank, and he knew his older son would see to it that the younger boy made it safely into Con’s custody – no matter what.  

Giving his father a grateful smile, Frank went back into the room to tell ‘Joe.’

* * *

As they drove away from the grounds of Foundling Hall, Joe closed his eyes for a moment and swallowed hard. Now that the adrenaline rush was leaving his system, he realized just how bad he felt.  

He blinked rapidly to get rid of his double vision, as his aching head screamed at him to get some rest. But he couldn’t, and shook his head gingerly to try and push that request away.  

Joe knew he couldn’t trust this kid for a moment, and he needed to keep his guard up.  It was only now that he felt the stinging pain in his neck and he reached up tentatively with his fingers, his eyes widening with shock when he looked down at them and saw blood.  

He couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his voice as he said to the teen, “You cut me?”  

Doug blanched as he glanced across at the William’s twin.  “It was an accident….But it’s not bad.”  

Joe flipped down the passenger’s visor to take a look for himself and grimaced as he lifted his head to get a better look and it pulled on the cut. But Doug was right. It was bleeding, but not really much worse than if he had nicked himself shaving…okay, a little bit longer than a nick, but not any deeper.  

Sighing, he lifted part of his black t-shirt up and pressed it against his neck to try and stop the bleeding.  

“There are tissues in the glove compartment,” Doug said quietly.  

Joe looked at him warily before he opened it and took one out, all the while keeping a sharp eye on the other kid.  

“What’s your name?” Joe asked as he pressed the tissue against his neck.  

Doug didn’t say anything for a moment and the weary teenager suppressed a sigh as he said, “Well, I can make one up for you, but trust me, in my current frame of mind it probably wouldn’t be too flattering.”  

“Doug,” the other teen finally said as he glanced across at his passenger and turned the windshield wipers on regular interval – the rain was really starting to come down now. He had originally toyed with the idea of running them off the road in an attempt to get the upper hand. But that had too many uncalculated risks for him, so instead he opted for Plan B. Joe wanted to go home, then Doug would take him there….  

“Now see, that wasn’t too hard, “Joe commented. He supposed he shouldn’t be talking too much to Doug, but in all honesty he needed this conversation to keep himself from passing out, and that made him ask, “Doug…just exactly what did you hit me with?”  

Grimacing, Doug looked at his passenger with something akin to apology on his face.  “Wooden chopping block. Seemed like a good idea at the time.”  

“Oh – yeah, I suppose so.”  Joe knew exactly which one he’d used and he couldn’t help but add, “My aunt once commented that it made a wonderful hammer—”  He paused as he felt the lump on the back of his head.  “—guess she was right.”  

“Sorry,” Doug found himself saying, even as he wondered at the bizarreness of this conversation.  

“That’s okay,” Joe answered. “I probably would have done the same if it had been me.”  

“You have a concussion?” Doug asked aloud, but Joe ignored his question and said instead,  

“Why are you doing this? And I don’t mean driving the car, but why are you helping William? Don’t you think kidnapping someone is a bit over the top?”  

Doug didn’t answer for a moment and when he did respond, his voice reflected the same weariness that Joe was feeling. ”You’re his twin. Do you really need to ask?”  

Now it was Joe’s turn not to say anything, and they finished the rest of the trip in silence with the only sound being the steady swishing of the wipers and the irregular hum of the engine.

* * *

Frank cast a concerned glance at his brother as they pulled into the police station parking lot. “You okay?” he asked as he put the van in Park. “You’re awfully quiet.”  

“Sorry,” ‘Joe’ said, smiling sheepishly, “Just thinking. I hope Mom’s going to be okay, she seemed pretty upset when we left.” And he was right, it had been a very tearful parting when they left, as Fenton and Laura chose the same time to leave as well – although that was NOT what was on William’s mind….He needed to get to Usher Hall….  

Laura had tried to be strong but in the end, she had just held on to her younger son and whispered through her tears, “I love you baby…just remember that.” And Fenton, standing behind her, had given him a quick hug that left him gasping for air by its intensity.  “Stay safe, Joseph.  And remember…you go nowhere without Con!  And I mean it!”  

And then he too had pulled away, and they stood and watched as Frank and ‘Joe’ left in the van.  

“It’ll be okay,” Frank said, and then added as they sat together in the van, “I was just afraid you were thinking about what happened last night. You know, with that cop and all.”  

William had no idea what Frank was talking about. So again he chose his words to be vague and careful. It was going to be difficult in the beginning being Joe, until enough time had passed for his actions to be all they remembered. “Well it isn’t….So don’t worry about it, okay, Frank?”  

The older boy grinned and reached across to ruffle ‘Joe’s’ hair, mindful of his bruised face and bandaged temple.  “You know that isn’t going to happen, little brother.”  And then he looked away and out the window as a large lump caught in his throat.  

How long would it be before he and Joe could just sit together in their van again and just chat?  How long would it be before they could finally get out from under the threat of William?  

When would Joe come home?  

‘Joe’ reached across and touched Frank’s arm. When he caught the other boy’s attention he said quietly, already opening his door, “Come on Frank, this isn’t going to get any easier. Let’s just do it, okay?”  

Blinking back his emotion, Frank nodded and then followed his brother out of the van. He shook his head at the irony – usually it would have been Joe following him…Joe stalling the inevitable, and grasping onto every last second he could have until it was time to leave….  

But then again, where William was concerned, nothing was ever the way it should be.

* * *

The small blue car pulled up outside the two-story house on the corner of Elm and High Streets, but the occupants didn’t get out right away.  

“Okay,” Joe said finally, a bit disturbed not to see either his father’s car or his and Frank’s van in the driveway.  “We’re going to get out of the car and walk up to the front door, slowly. Don’t try anything, Doug. I’d really hate to have to hurt you.” Joe knew he was bluffing, but the other boy had no way of knowing.  

Nodding his head, Doug turned off the car and then waited while Joe got out and came around to his side.  Glancing around, he quickly saw what he had been looking for, and before Joe knew what he was going to do, Doug laid on the horn and then dived for the passenger seat and out of the car even as he started screaming, “HELP! HELP!”  

As he hit the wet ground he could already see the two men who had been watching the house, running towards him. One of the men shouted even as he drew his weapon when he saw the knife that Joe still held in his hand, “POLICE! DROP THE WEAPON OR WE WILL SHOOT!”  

Joe stood like a deer in the headlights for only a second. He panicked and ran, with Officer Mackoff’s words echoing in his mind…I can still shoot you and get away with it you know…. 

They think I’m William….  

And then he heard the shot.