"What the hell is all this about?" Frank’s ire, normally slow to rise had him bristling as he fought to keep from throttling this Joe-look alike.

"I was just kidding around", William said still laughing.

"You think this is funny?" Frank was shaking, he was so angry, "That me almost killing Joe is a joke…something to kid around about…have a few good laughs?"

Holding up his hands to ward the angry teen off, William stopped laughing, becoming serious, "No actually I don’t." And then without saying anything else, William started to walk away.

Frank chased after him to find out what was going on. But then a voice called out from behind him, "Well…well…well. What do we have here? If it isn’t psycho Hardy and his big brother…"

The voice sent a chill down Frank’s spine. He knew that voice. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that voice never traveled alone.

And sure enough three figures stepped out of the darkness from behind him; the spark of a lighter preceded the glow of their cigarette ends

Peter Bristol, Todd Russell and Ramon Thierry.

"Oh great", Frank mumbled, his anger with William deflating into irritation at the interruption and then he asked loudly, "What do you want?"

Peter laughed and came closer. Frank instinctively took a step closer to William putting himself between the bullies and the twin, "A pound of flesh for a pound of flesh I think would pay the price."

Frank kept his emotions in check as he remembered that these guys were the ones harassing Joe…hell they had burned him. And although a part of him wanted to fly into them, his logical side told him the odds were stacked against them.

And quite honestly Frank did not like physical confrontations. Neither did Joe, if the truth be told.

Just because you were good at something didn’t mean you had to like it, Frank thought wryly as the three bigger boys closed in on them.

While he had been in altercations with Joe and knew his kid brother could handle himself in a fight, Frank really had no frame of reference for William. Yes, he looked like Joe, but could he handle himself, if it came down to it?

"What are you talking about?" Frank asked hoping to buy time. Until what he had no idea.

Todd scoffed, "As if you don’t know."

"This has nothing to do with you Frank", Ramon said. In truth he liked Frank. They had a couple of classes together and he admired the oldest Hardy for his ability to remember things that no one should have to, "It’s between us and him." He indicated William with the hand holding the light cigarette.

"This isn’t Joe", Frank clarified still thinking they were after Joe, "but even if it was, do you honestly think I would stand by and let you just have him?"

"Joe?" Peter said confused, "Why the hell would we want Joe? Its psycho twin I’m after. We have some unfinished business." He held up his hand so they could see the crooked finger. The bone had healed but the finger would forever be crooked.

He and the boys were cruising around when luck would have it they saw the Hardy’s in the darkened street. Pulling over quickly, they parked and then hurried to catch up with them thinking now was a time to teach the young pup to respect his elders.

"Cut the crap. I know you guys have been bullying Joe and I want it stopped, "Frank confronted. Behind him William was watching what was transpiring with a barely concealed look of amusement on his face.

Peter started to say something but the stopped and just asked, "Or what Hardy?" he was curious what the dark haired teen would do.

"You know our school has a no tolerance policy on bullying, "Frank reminded them and then to his complete shock Peter looked at his friends and they burst out laughing.

Finally Peter said, "You think we’re picking on Joe?" He doubled over laughing again as Ramon managed to get out, "Do we…look stupid?"

Todd finished it for him, "No kidding, have you seen his friend Biff? Not touching that with a ten foot pole!"

Slowly a strange look filtered across Frank’s face and he turned to look at William even as he addressed Peter, "Then what is this about?"

Peter finally got his mirth under control and tilted his head towards the twin, "Its about me and him. He broke something of mine and now its payback time."

Understanding dawned on the older Hardy and he felt the blood drain from his face.

…Your brother is a dead man Hardy…a…Dead…man… it wasn’t Joe that Peter was talking about.

And then as he saw Peter absently rub his twisted finger Frank felt his mouth go dry.

William had been the one.

William had broken Peter Bristol’s finger. Not some roaming thugs…not some big large burly boys…No.

* * *

"How’s your headache?" Fenton Hardy stood in the kitchen watching his youngest son pick up a fry and start to nibble on it.

Joe started to ask him what he was talking about when he remembered, "Much better now. I took a couple aspirin." At least he wasn’t lying. After he had recovered from his accident on the stairs, Joe had had to take aspirin for an actual headache, "Where’s Frank and Will?"

He was surprised that they hadn’t come in the kitchen yet.

"They wanted to be let out a couple blocks from Biff’s place. Something about overeating and needing the exercise," Fenton grinned inwardly very pleased that Will and Frank were getting this time to spend alone. It helped him feel that the adoption was a good thing when he saw his oldest eager to spend time with his new brother.

"Really?" Joe said slowly as he thoughtfully munched his fry.

"Yeah really, "Fenton repeated as Laura finished making a pot of coffee and poured one for herself and her husband, "it was Will’s idea."

Joe almost choked on a french fry, "Will’s idea?"

"Yes…Joe honey what’s wrong?" Laura asked alarmed at how red Joe turned as he coughed up the bit of fry that had stuck in his throat.

"Uh huh", he nodded taking a large sip of water before smiling at his parents, "Bad fry. Maybe I should go and meet them." Joe was halfway to the kitchen door when his father stopped him.

"Actually Joe…why don’t you let them walk home… alone. I know you probably don’t want to let William out of your sight for very long now that you’ve just gotten him back. But I think it’s good for him and Frank to spend some time alone…without you, "Fenton spoke gently so that his son wouldn’t feel left out, but he felt strongly that the boys needed some alone time together. Just William and Frank.

"Okay", Joe gave in and then grabbed the food and headed for the stairs, "I’ve got a lot of homework to do so I think I’ll eat this upstairs."

Laura smiled as she watched her handsome young son leave the kitchen and then she turned to her husband, "They’re growing up so fast. We are truly blessed."

Fenton also watched his son leave but the look on his face was a little more troubled. Then kissing the top of his wife’s head he murmured, "Yes we truly are." And then picking up his cup of coffee, he headed towards his office to see if there were any messages on his machine.

* * *

Joe promptly went up to his room, put the food on the desk, climbed on top of his bed, opened the window, shimmed onto the ledge and along to the drain pipe...down the drainpipe and into the dark night.

In his mind was one burning thought…Frank couldn’t be left alone with William.

* * *

Fenton had just sat down in his chair when the phone rang. Although it was after 9:00, it wasn’t unheard of for him to get calls at unusual times so he picked it up on the second ring.

"Hardy Investigations" Fenton said taking a quick sip of the hot coffee.

[Hello Mr. Hardy it’s Con Riley, do you have a few moments?]

"Sure Con, what’s up?" Fenton had meant the rookie a couple years ago when he first joined the force. Con, an avid Fenton Hardy fan club member, had been awed to meet the legend and had since then build up a relationship with his idol based on mutual respect.

[Well I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this before but when I have time, I help out with the Kids Helpline]

"I didn’t know that", Fenton admitted, his admiration for the younger man going up a notch. He wondered if the kid’s superior officer, Ezra Collig, knew that and he made a mental note to ask his long time friend about it later.

[Yeah I’ve been doing it for the last year and it’s been great. And that’s kind of what I’m calling you about]

"I appreciate your consideration but honestly Con I don’t have time to do anything like that now. I don’t spend nearly enough time at home as it is," Fenton smiled thinking of Laura’s reaction if he said he was going to volunteer for something like that.

Oh she would be proud as she was a strong advocate for volunteering however she wouldn’t be pleased to have extra competition for what little time he had now.

[It’s not that Mr. Hardy although I do think you would make a wonderful asset]

Fenton winced at himself for making assumptions without letting Con finish. He was always reminding his son to not do that, "Sorry Con. And please call me Fenton. You’ve known me long enough. Heck you’ve even house sat for us."

[Oh no Mr. Hardy…I couldn’t do that. Anyway, I received a call tonight from a teen that’s left me in a quandary]

This time the detective couldn’t help but smile, only Con used words like ‘quandary’ in everyday speech, "Go on".

[Now as this is a Kids Helpline, you expect to hear some pretty disturbing stuff. And believe me you do. But there was something perplexingly different about this call]

"And what was that?" Fenton asked taking another sip of his coffee.

[Well the caller sounded very familiar…I think I recognized his voice]

"His voice?" Fenton repeated not realizing it was a boy that had riled Riley up.

[Yes…a teenaged boy. He wouldn’t tell me his real name…they never do, but I was very disturbed by the picture he painted for me and I want to try and find out who he is….whoever he is, he really needs help.]

"Okay", Fenton said and then pulled a pen and paper from his top drawer, "why don’t you tell me what you know and I’ll see what I can do. Now you said you recognized the voice. It’s a place to start but honestly Con, you’re a police officer. Do you have any idea of how many ‘voices’ you’ve dealt with in the past couple of years?"

[I know. I thought the same thing. But Mr. Hardy, I really want to help this kid. There was just something in his voice, and I mean more then its familiarity, it was just something. I need to find him…to help him.]