"I don’t know, Frank", Biff said hesitantly as he carefully maneuvered into the driveway. Since their accident, the blond haired boy was even more cautious in his driving, "Joe usually hangs with me and I haven’t seen Peter or his cronies anywhere near him. Are you sure?"

"Well no", Frank admitted undoing his seatbelt and getting out of the car, "but it’s the only thing I can think of. Especially considering what Joe told the doctor."

Opening the front door, Biff was still skeptical, "Why would they be giving Joe a hard time? It doesn’t make sense. He’s got too many friends, someone would see something. Now if it was Phil…" He grinned as he said the last part thinking of their nerdy quiet friend.

Stifling a grin, Frank knew the other boy was right and sighed in exasperation, "I know…I know… but I just don’t know what else to think. Why else would Ramon be giving my brothers a ride home? It just doesn’t make sense."

"Why don’t we just ask Will what happened?" Biff wondered as Sherlock, his year old bloodhound puppy, came barreling out of the backroom and jumped on the boys, very happy to see them.

"Hey Sher", Biff said affectionately as he rubbed the large framed black and tan hound, "What’cha doing?"

Frank smiled as the dog slobbered over Biff and then turned his attention on the dark haired visitor. Sherlock was the friendliest dog Frank had ever known, "I suppose I should but I just don’t want Will to think I am using him to spy on Joe…or vice versa. Can you imagine what Joe would say if he knew I was asking Will about him?" He rubbed the big dog that was now on his belly for additional attention as he spoke.

Before Biff could answer, Georgia Hooper can out of the kitchen and into the hall as she heard their voices, "Oh boys! I was just getting worried about you," and then noticing only the two of them she continued, "where are the twins? I was hoping they would come with you. Biff?" her voice held a warning note, "I thought I told you to do whatever it takes to get Joe and William here."

Frank laughed and held up his hands to stave off the start of a Hooper war as he answered for Biff, "It’s not his fault, Mrs. H. Will took Joe home before lunch time but Mom’s going to drop Will off on her way to work."

Instantly Mrs. Hooper’s tone changed to one of concern, "Is Joe all right?"

"I’m sure it’s nothing major", Frank said although he really had no idea and discovered that he was rather uncomfortable not knowing. It was a very alien feeling as he had always known what was going on with his younger brother, "but he had a bad cough and Mom was going to keep him home this morning anyway."

"See it’s like I am always telling Biff", who rolled his eyes as he heard the start of his mother’s lecture; "you should listen to the warning signs of your body. There is nothing heroic about going to school when you’re sick. Now look, poor William has missed most of his first day of school because of that!"

"Like anyone would mind that", Biff realized he had made his comment out loud a second too late and immediately headed for high ground, "anyway Mom, supper smells delicious, come on Frank, I want to show you my new computer game!"

Watching the boys, and dog, disappear upstairs, Mrs. Hooper just shook her head before going back into the kitchen. Boys will be boys, she thought and then made a mental note to make sure Frank and Will took home an extra plate of food for Joe.

* * *

"Have a great time son", Laura Hardy said as she stopped in front of the Hooper house. William shot her an award winning smile before walking up the little pathway to the front door of the house.

Knocking softly, he was just unzipping his jacket when a blond haired woman opened the door. Immediately her hand flew over her mouth as she saw the boy standing in front of her, "Oh my!"

Will smiled as if a woman reacting to him like this was normal, "I’m Will, Frank’s brother."

"Oh my", was all Georgia could repeat for another moment before her manners kicked in and she opened up the screen door to invite him in, "I’m so sorry Will. It’s just amazing how much you look like Joe…I can’t believe it!"

"So, I’ve been told", Will said jovially as he stepped into the front hall and took off his jacket, "Thank you for having me. This is all still pretty new to me…homemade cooking and all." His eyes appraised the warm house approvingly, "You have a nice home Mrs. Hooper."

Georgia gushed, "Oh thank you William. You’ve such nice manners, but then again I wouldn’t expect anything less from Joe’s brother, "taking his jacket, she opened the small coat closet and hung it up for the teen as she continued, "I know it isn’t much but we do try and make due with what we have."

Will grabbed the woman’s hand and held it for a moment until he caught her eye and said softly, "Never sell yourself short, Mrs. Hooper. Any boy would be glad to have this for his home."

And then letting go of her hand, he smiled as she blushed and called out to her son, "Biff! William is here."

* * *

Biff and Frank were still looking at the new game on Biff’s PC when they heard his mother call out.

Sherlock was already at the door, having heard the sound of another boy in the house and Biff opened his room door and followed the dog down the hall, "Will, we’re…" Biff’s words were cut off by a loud growl and then before anyone could react, Sherlock leapt at William with a blood curdling snarl.

"Wha!" yelled Will as leapt back from the snarling jaws and Biff managed to snag Sherlock’s collar before the dog could recoil for a second attack.

Barking and snapping, the big dog lunged against the boy who was hollering at him and straining to keep the dog at bay. Frank helped grab Sherlock as Will opened the door behind him and scurried back out of the house.

"I don’t understand it," Biff muttered under his breath as he and Frank manhandled the large dog back into his kennel with Sherlock fighting them every step of the way," he’s never behaved like this before…never!"

Frank would have answered him but he was too busy trying to help shove the reluctant pooch in while Biff secured the latch. And then before Biff could say anything else, Frank was on his way down the hall to make sure Will was ok.

"You all right?" Frank asked breathlessly as he opened the screen door and saw Will standing halfway down the sidewalk. The younger boy nodded his head although he did not look all right. His face was pale and his breathing hurried. It was obvious the dog had given him a bad fright as his hands shook slightly and he shoved them in his jeans pockets to hide it.

"You don’t look to all right to me", Frank said gently as he left the house and walked towards Will, "Come on little brother, let’s go inside. Sherlock’s locked up."

Will looked at him in surprise. It was the first time Frank had used that affectionate with him and he was pleasantly pleased by the warm flush that the endearment gave him.

Giving Frank a shy smile Will nodded and let the older boy guide him back into the house. He paused at the front door giving Frank the same wide eyed expression that had been making his heart tug for years. It was a classic Joe Hardy puppy dog look as he said, "Are you sure it’s okay now…with the dog…I mean." Will put just the right amount of infliction and vulnerability in his voice and he saw it worked as Frank’s brown eyes gazed at him protectively, bidding him to trust him, "Yeah I’m positive. Come on, I’m sure that once you try some of Mrs. Hooper’s home cooking, you’ll find the reward worth the risk."

Will smiled and entered the Hooper house confident that no matter what happened Frank would protect him…and he really liked that feeling.

* * *

The rest of the evening was rather uneventful except for the smattering of growling and an occasional growl from Sherlock’s kennel, that is. And Will had to admit, Mrs. Hooper made a killer southern friend chicken and mashed potatoes and he had to undo the top button of his jeans before leaving the table – the ultimate compliment as far as Georgia was concerned.

Upstairs, they hung out and took turns playing Biff’s new game and grousing about school. Although it was only the beginning of October, the boys had grown school weary already.

"Good luck", Biff wished Will as they traded places at the computer so that Will could now try and beat Frank in the computer game, "I don’t think Frank ever loses!"

"Never?" Will challenged, his blue eyes hiding a darkness behind the forced mirth.

"Well not at computer games, anyway", Frank conceded as he laughed and then waited for Will to pick an alias before they began. Frank always played as "FRANKENSTEIN", Joe was, "GI JOE", so he was curious to see what pseudonym his new brother would use.

Without even a thought, Will typed in "IRON WILL" and pressed START to begin the game.

"Cool name", conceded Frank and Will shot him a familiar grin, "Thanks" and they prepared to battle.

All too soon it was time to go home. The boys would have loved to stay longer but it was a school night, they had homework and Frank was quite anxious to check on Joe. He had tried to call the house a couple of times but got no answer.

He was a bit worried but knew if Joe had taken any of the pain killers the ER doctor had prescribed he might not hear the phone.

Curiously enough, or so Frank thought, not only didn’t Will seem concerned about Joe but he always found a way to change the topic whenever anything about Joe came up.

Even when Biff tried to tell him about some of the hilarious predicaments his twin had gotten into over the years, quite good blackmail material actually, Will was disinterested and quickly found something to distract them.

Shrugging it off, Frank figured that Will was probably a bit jealous of Joe and the life he had gotten to lead while he, himself, was still in the orphanage, and decided to call the guys later and ask them to back off on the Joe stories for a while. If Will asked they would tell him but until then they weren’t to assume that he wanted to know about everything he missed.

Leaving the house, the two boys flipped up their jacket collars to protect their necks from the autumn wind. A few leaves blew around them as they made their ways down the darkened streets. That was the worst thing about the fall, it got dark early and there was always an underlying chilliness to the air.

For a while they walked in silence, each lost in their thoughts until Frank finally decided this might be the best chance he would have to spend some time alone with Will, "How are you doing?" he asked and his question seemed to have caught the blond haired youth by surprise because Will stopped and looked at him with a weird look on his face.

"Excuse me?" Will finally asked and Frank grinned, "I was just wondering how you’re really doing with this and all? I know it must be a little overwhelming at times…a new family…new school…new friends. Heck, even a new brother."

"Fine", Will said shrugging his shoulders before continuing. He knew that he had to be careful around Frank. The older boy wasn’t a fool so Will needed to tread lightly with him. Part of him wanted to shove him in a closet, like Joe, but Will wasn’t stupid. The secret of his success was knowing who he could control and who he couldn’t.

And five minutes with Frank had told him that he couldn’t control him…however, manipulation was another story.

Frank loved his brother very deeply and Will knew how to use that to his advantage. It was the only advantage he saw to Joe being his twin; he could easily wear the shoes that Joe had already broken in, "well actually I’m not fine."

If Frank was surprised he didn’t show it but he just nodded to indicate that William continue, "Well it’s really hard. Harder then I thought it was going to be. When we were little it was easy. Everyone knew us as William and Joseph and they knew both of us. But here, everyone…it seems", he couldn’t help but put the dig in, "everyone knows Joe. And so of course when they see me, they stare. Well its okay the first couple of hundred of times but now I’m beginning to feel like an alien with six heads or something. And you know the funny thing…although we look alike, it’s not Joe they’re staring at…it’s me. William."

The younger boy let out a shuttering sigh as he finished his tirade and he looked so helpless and tired, Frank felt his heart ache for him. Poor kid.

"I’m sorry", Frank said as he laid a comforting arm across Will’s shoulder, "I don’t know what else to say except that people will get tired of looking and pointing. Especially once they get to know William. Maybe then it’ll be Joe that they’re staring at. And trust me little brother, that’s one thing your twin never gets tired of. He’s loves attention."

"Particularly from one young brunette? Or so I’ve noticed", Will smiled shyly back as he tried to lighten the mood and it worked.

Frank laughed, "Iola Morton. You’ve noticed then?"

"Well it’s hard not to as she practically faints whenever he’s around!" Will was laughing and then he became serious, "So is the Casanova twin hot on her or what?"

Frank chucked as he envisioned the ‘Casanova twin’ as Will had dubbed him, if he could hear their conversation right now. Little brother, he thought, your ears must be a burning.

And as Frank went on to fill Will in on the romantic life of one Joe Hardy and Iola Morton, the younger boy ate in every word. Not once did he try to change the topic or look disinterested.

No, this interested him very much.