It was eerie. Or at least that was how Joe felt and he could only imagine what Frank and his parents were going to think once they actually saw William in the flesh. The Hardy’s had stayed outside for the time being to give them some private time alone.

And then William broke into a wide grin, "Well…well little brother, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!" Joe flinched as William grabbed him a tight hug before pulling away and sitting down on the hard bench that William had just vacated.

"So…how are you doing?" Joe didn’t know what else to say as he glanced around the small room, looking anywhere but at his brother.

Undaunted William grinned as he leaned back against the desk that was just opposite to where Joe as sitting, "You know. Same old thing. But enough about me little brother. So tell me. How is life with the Hardy’s?"

Joe immediately leapt to his feet; his fists clenched tightly, "You leave them out of this!"

William pretended to be taken aback by Joe’s reaction, "Whoa easy there. I was only asking how your family was doing. A bit touchy aren’t we?"

"Cut the crap Will. What are you up to?" Joe glared at the other boy, with no pretense of friendliness.

William stared back at him for a few long moments before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one and offering the pack to his brother. Joe pushed his hand away not really surprised that his brother smoked. Disappointed…yes but not surprised.

"What am I up to? Oh sweet little brother, I’m up to nothing. And I am shocked that you would even think such. Joey…Joey…Joey, "he patronized, "I didn’t even know where you were until Mr. Casing told me last night. And little brother, I am so relieved to see how well you’re doing. You have no idea how much I have worried about you."

The smile William laid on Joe reminded him of the same look a wolf gives a lamb who has been saved from drowning. Of course the wolf is happy. He can now eat the lamb at his leisure.

"And just how did my fa…Fenton get that photo? I suppose you know nothing about that either…do you?" Joe found it difficult to refer to Fenton as his father in William’s presence. But the other teen caught the slip and raised his eyebrow questioningly, "What is this Joey? Do I detect a little guilt in that slip up? You have a Dad while I have…well you know what I have."

"I don’t feel guilty at all", Joe defended a bit too quickly and inwardly cringed as he recognized the look that passed briefly over William’s face. Nothing had changed and that terrified Joe. He didn’t know what to do.

"No of course you don’t", William said flatly as he inhaled deeply on the cigarette and scrutinized the other boy through half closed eyes. Then with a shrug, he stood up straight and before Joe even had a chance to react, William grabbed Joe’s arm and pressed the hot cigarette into the flesh.

Joe bit back the cry of pain as he wrenched his arm away from his brother, shoving him hard against the desk.

Recovering quickly, William laughed as he rubbed his back and then ground out the cigarette on the office floor, "Well little brother, looks like you’ve learned some new moves." Moving closer to Joe, he was rewarded when the other boy shrank back a step, holding his burned arm protectively.

"Some things never change… sweetie", he hissed and then pulled away from Joe as they heard a soft knock on the door.

* * *

Frank paced the hallway outside the small office while his parents sat taunt faced in hard plastic chairs. Inside that room, only a few feet away were Joe and his twin brother.

It was difficult waiting but they all agreed it was better for Joe to have his own private reunion with William first before the whole family burst in. But that did nothing to help erase some of the anxieties from the older boy.

He was having a hard time understanding why Joe hadn’t said anything about William before. And underlying his anxiety was the concern that somehow he would lose Joe. In the past 10 years, they had become so close; Frank was terrified that he would now be replaced by Joe’s real brother. A twin nevertheless!

Frank wasn’t sure how he could compete with that. Of course it did not even occur to him that he might have been competing with William’s memory already without knowing it. He just never realized what kind of competition the twin was…

Fenton took Laura’s hand in his and lifted it up to his lips in a gentle kiss before he said soft enough for only her to hear, "It’s going to be fine."

Laura nodded her head as she watched her oldest son pacing in front of them. She wanted to tell him to sit down before he wore a hole in the floor, but she didn’t have the heart. Both she and Fenton knew this was very hard on him too. He and Joe were so close…

Finally after what felt like an eternity, Frank stopped in front of his parents, "How long are we going to give them?"

Smiling at his normally patient son’s impatience, Fenton stood up, "Why don’t I see how they’re doing?"

Stepping in front of the door, the world renowned Private Investigator, took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

William grinned at Joe as he said ominously, "Time’s up" and then stepped over to the door and opened it.

Fenton Hardy gasped in shock as for one second he wasn’t sure who had answered the door. Only his memory of what Joe had been wearing told him this boy who stood before him had to be William.

"William?" He asked, recovering quickly from the shock of seeing Joe’s twin.

Ignoring the smarting mark on his arm, Joe pushed past William, "D-Dad. Can you give us a little more time?"

"Nonsense Joseph", William cut in making sure to grab Joe’s sore arm as he pulled him away from his father, "I am dying to meet your family. Mr. Hardy isn’t it?" William stuck out his hand in greeting.

Joe grimaced as one of William’s fingers dug into the burn and he turned away quickly before his father saw the look. With shoulders slumped, he sat down on the bench and prepared for the inevitable. His family was about to meet William and he knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

William charmed his family, just as Joe knew he would. It was very unsettling when he thought about it. It had been a decade since he had seen his brother and yet he felt like they had never been apart. He wasn’t sure if it was because of their twin connection or if it was just because he remembered his brother too well.

"William I just want to tell you that we are sorry", Joe heard his mother speaking and his heart sank with every word, "when we adopted your brother, we didn’t know about you. If we had…" Laura turned to her husband who nodded in confirmation knowing what she was about to say, "well we would have adopted you as well."

Joe glanced at his twin and waited. Rolling his eyes, he was rewarded moments later when tears started to fall and then both Laura and Fenton were embracing the forgotten youth as loud sobs wracked his chest.

Feeling like he was about to be sick, Joe excused himself from the room. He needed some fresh air.

* * *

Once he got over the initial shock of seeing William, Frank kept a close eye on Joe unable to understand why the younger boy seemed peeved about this whole thing. He hadn’t really thought too much about how Joe would react to seeing William or to them meeting his twin, however this reaction was definitely not what he could have expected. And then when Joe excused himself as their parents consoled William, Frank quietly followed him. Something was amiss and he was determined to find out what.

"Joe wait up", he called out as he saw Joe quickly heading towards the elevator. The blond haired boy sighed loudly and didn’t turn around but he did stop to let Frank catch up.

"Are you okay?" Frank asked watching Joe carefully. The younger boy seemed distressed and was fiddling idly with the bottom button of the shirt he was wearing.

"Yeah", was all he got out of Joe.

"Really?" Frank continued, "because you aren’t acting like someone who is okay. What’s wrong?" Crossing his arms, he stood in front of the younger teen making it known that they weren’t going anywhere until Joe said something.

Sighing, Joe rubbed his sore arm absently and then quickly dropped both arms as he saw Frank glance down, "Look Frank. This is just a part of my life I’d already reconciled with and now…well…" Tormented blue eyes burned into the warm brown ones, "some things are better just left in the past."

Frank was shocked but before he could say anything Joe stepped around him and into the elevator that opened. He started to follow but Joe just shook his head, "I need some time…alone. Please."

Stepping back, Frank let the doors close and stood there for a few moments before turning around and going back to the room where his parents were.

* * *

Joe bolted out of the elevator and along the corridor. Although it had been a long time since he had lived here, he still remembered his way around and a few moments later he was outside in the area that the children who lived here had nicknamed "The Secret Garden."

The rumor that was handed down from resident to resident was that this garden was haunted and because of such very few of the kids ever spent any time here…unless it was late at night when they were luring some poor unsuspecting new guy out of his warm bed for some sort of an initiation rite.

And it seemed some things didn’t change as there was no one else around when Joe got there. Standing in the garden brought back a lot of memories and strangely enough some of them gave him comfort.

This was the one place that young Joey had always been able to find some peace. And that was why he ended up here now.

Sitting down in the grass, the 15-year-old pulled his knees up to his chest and rocked. The fresh burn on his arm served as a focus point as he stared at it for a long time. He wasn’t sure if he could live this way again.

If he could live with William again.

* * *

"It was very hard after Joey left", William was saying quietly to Fenton and Laura when Frank slipped back into the room. His father raised his eyebrows questioningly when he saw his son had returned alone.

"He’ll be back in a few moments", Frank lied hoping it was true but he didn’t have another answer for his parents right now. Joe’s cryptic tirade wouldn’t have gone over well right now.

Sitting down he listened as William continued speaking, "That’s the hardest thing about being a twin. Up to that point I had never been…alone…" overcome with emotion, the boy had to pause to compose himself and then continued after Laura gave him a supportive pat on the hand, "but I just kept telling myself that at least Joey got out of this place. He’s my baby brother…you know that?" he looked straight at Frank when he said that.

"No we didn’t", Fenton answered.

"Well he is", William nodded emphatically, "he’s a whole half hour younger then me. Apparently after our mother had me, she had trouble delivering Joey and they almost lost him." His face glazed over for a moment and then he continued, "so I always tried to take care of him…I mean that’s what big brothers do, right?" Again he directed his comment to Frank who just nodded in agreement knowing what William was talking about. Frank had always felt protective towards Joey since the day he came home.

"So I was just happy he got out. This place…it isn’t too bad…now. It’s gotten a lot better but there are still some mean kids here. I mean there’s mean kids everywhere. But some of these kids, they really prey off the smaller kids….the weaker ones. Me, I can look after myself, but Joey. He wasn’t so tough and I was always afraid of what would happen to him…especially once the lights went out", William said the last part so softly that it sent chills down Frank’s spine as his worst nightmares popped to his imagination at this ominous comment.

Laura actually gasped and covered her mouth, looking at her husband in horror, "Oh Fenton."

Fenton squeezed her hand supportively, his mind already made up about all this. And if there was any question of what they would do, it was erased with William’s final comment, "So I didn’t mind it too bad, when he left me here."

* * *

Joe was exhausted. Stretching out on the grass, he closed his eyes and let the sounds fill his ears with familiarity. It had been a long time since he had been here and while he did not miss the orphanage, he did sometimes miss this place.

* * *

"William, " Fenton looked at the brilliant blue eyes and felt his heart break at what this kid must have went through…and then being abandoned by his twin, "we feel horrible about what has happened to you…about your being left behind. There is nothing we can do to ever make up for that but both myself and Laura…if it’s okay with you, would like to offer you a place with us… with your brother…as part of our family. I know this is sudden but we feel very strongly that families should never be split up…that’s wrong."

The blond haired boy sniffed loudly as he tried to keep his emotions in check and then he turned to look at Frank who was watching all this noncommittally, "What about you Frank? Do you think you can handle another brother in your house? I mean I wouldn’t want to intrude or anything."

Frank felt his parent’s eyes on him as he thought about it for a few moments, although there really wasn’t much to think about. As anxious as he was that this person would replace him in Joe’s life, he couldn’t turn his back on him. And the fact that William and Joe were identical was making it hard for him to keep his perspective.

Finally he nodded his head, "It’s going to be weird though…you and Joe, you just look too much alike."

This made everyone laugh as William concurred, "Don’t worry though…we might look alike, but trust me. We are nothing alike."

Turning to Fenton and Laura, William smiled shyly, "Then Mr. and Mrs. Hardy I would love nothing more then to be a part of your family…with my brother again."

Immediately the senior Hardy’s engulfed the child that would become their third son warmly as tears were shed. It was going to be a long trail of paperwork and legalities but Fenton already knew that the adoption wouldn’t take as long as when they adopted Joey, because of the fact that they already had his biological brother.

Frank watched and found himself grinning at the obvious joy that William was feeling about becoming a Hardy although a small part of him wondered how Joe was going to feel about this.

He wasn’t naive. He suspected Joe wasn’t going to react too well at all.

In the Secret Garden Joe was dreaming…

Bolting up from his sleep, Joe took great gulps of air as he looked around wildly. The dream was so vivid…so real. It took him a few moments to realize where he was and that the dream was not a dream.