He really didn’t think things could get any worst but they did.

* * *

"Where’s your brother?" Laura asked after she hung up the phone and saw Frank trotting back into the house. It was getting dark and she wondered why he was outside.

"I don’t know", Frank said honestly, "He got kind of upset and took off."

Laura groaned. How could she have been so insensitive! She never even stopped to ask him how he was feeling about all this…even after she had resolved to take more notice of how Joe was doing.

Glancing down at her watch, she let out a sigh of frustration. She volunteered at a local 24-animal shelter/vet clinic and she was supposed to be leaving in an hour to go to work.

Frank knew what she was thinking, "Don’t worry about it Mom. I’ll look for him." Reaching for his father’s car keys he saw his mother frown at him. He hadn’t had his license very long and knew she didn’t like him driving in the dark.

"I don’t know…" she said hesitantly her mind already thinking about the call she would receive from the hospital after Frank had his car accident. Of course, she knew he was a conscientious driver but that did nothing to alleviate her thinking the worst case scenario, "Why don’t you just wait here? It’s getting dark and Joe doesn’t like being out after dark."

Frank shrugged and put the keys back down inwardly disappointed that he wasn’t going to be going in search of his brother, "What do you want me to do if he doesn’t come back soon?"

Laura bit her lip as she thought about this. It would have been easier if Fenton was home…but he wasn’t so there was no use fretting over that. Throwing her hands up in resignation she gave in, "Then you can and look for him. But I want you to take Biff with you!"

Although Biff had also only just gotten his license she figured with the two of them in the car, Frank could concentrate on driving while Biff could do the looking. The blond haired beefy teen only lived a couple of blocks away and Laura was certain Frank could get that far without having an accident.

"Okay", Frank said happy that his mother was at least going to let him go out. He secretly hoped that Joe would be just late enough for him to be allowed to go look, but not far enough away that he wouldn’t be found easily.

* * *

It was getting dark and the sound of thunder gave Joe about two minutes warning before the rain started. Groaning, he bent over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He had run quite a distance and knew that he had two choices, go home on foot and get soaked, or call his mom for a ride and be lectured about running so far he needed a ride home.

And he didn’t have a jacket.

Oh great…neither solution was very enticing.

* * *

"Biff is Joe there?" Frank asked an hour later after his mother had left and his brother had still not returned or called.

"No I haven’t seen him since school", Biff admitted throwing a ball down the hallway for Sherlock to catch, "Why is he missing or something?"

"Or something", Frank said starting to get worried. Joe had a perchance for taking off when he needed some space or thinking to do, but he usually returned back within an hour or so, the adrenaline doing the job of purging his system of whatever was bothering him, "We found out that Dad’s bringing William home tomorrow and Joe didn’t take it very well."

"Oh no", Biff said with feeling thinking of how dejected and miserable Joe had been over all this.

"And I don’t think it helped when Mom told him that she was getting bunk beds and he and William were going to be sharing his room", Frank finished thinking about the queer look on his brother’s face moments before he bolted.

"Do you want me to help you look?" Biff offered thinking about his best friend and getting worried. He almost told Frank about what Joe confided in him about William killing their mother, but he didn’t. A promise was a promise.

"That would be great. Mom said I could use Dad’s car as long as someone came with me to do the searching. I guess she figures I can’t drive and look at the same time", Frank said already putting his jacket on, "I’ll pick you up in 5."

"I’ll be ready", Biff said before hanging up the phone, leading Sherlock to his kennel and going outside to wait. His Dad was working the night shift and his mother was playing bridge at their neighbors and he didn’t like to leave the pup unsupervised in the house.

Sherlock howled for a moment but then settled down as he heard Biff close the front door. Tucking his big paws underneath him, the dog dozed until his master returned to let him out again.

* * *

Joe was now cold, shivering and thinking how stupid he was. He should have called home for a ride but then his stubborn pride kicked back in and he decided that since he was already wet, it would make no difference if he got a little wetter on the walk home.

But as he walked along side the road, he decided that he had never before realized just how much wetter he could get. In fact, he doubted there was a nook or crevice anywhere on his body that wasn’t drenched.

Thunder crashed and a lighting strike into the nearby trees shook the teen up and he started running again. His legs, already tired, felt like rubber but he pushed himself forward knowing that with each step he was one more step closer to home.

A few cars passed him and he quickly scrambled off the side of the road as they splashed him. Wiping the water off his face after a semi-trailer drenched him; Joe decided his pride had gone far enough. He was calling Frank.

Looking at the time, he knew his mother would be gone to work and just hoped Frank wouldn’t mind driving in this inclement weather to pick him up.

* * *

It took Frank all of 5 minutes to decide he hated the rain…or at least driving it. This wasn’t the normal rain that the windshield wipers easily flicked out of the way, no, of course not. This was the kind of rain that snuck up underneath the wipes to forever obscure his vision out the front windshield. It was blurry at best.

His heart was hammering as he pulled in front of Biff’s house and he wondered if maybe he should just call his Mom or something. Maybe there was some way she could get off and search for Joe. He did not want to drive in this storm.

But then he dismissed the idea. If his Mom could leave to look for Joe, she would not be very pleased about it. And when she did find Joe…Frank shuddered and rejected the idea right away. He hated to see his brother in trouble and he hated it even more if it was him that got him in trouble.

So he would look. And Biff would help him.

"What a night!" Biff said as he quickly hoped into the car and closed the door, "Joe does know how to pick them doesn’t he?"

"He wouldn’t Joe otherwise", Frank muttered carefully backing the car out of the Hooper’s driveway, "Any ideas where to look?"

"Did you call the gang to see if they’d seen him?" Biff asked having no clue where to start. While Joe, ever dramatic, had pelted before he had always come home within an hour or so.

"I called them before I called you", Frank admitted leaning forward to get a better visual out the window, "No one’s seen hide nor hair of him."

Biff sighed and then jumped as an especially loud crack of thunder startled him, "Well let’s head down towards the beach…it’s a good quiet spot to go if you wanted to think."

"Yeah but only at this time of year," Frank added thinking of the beach that was a couple of kilometers away. It was a fair distance but thinking about Joe’s departure he knew it wasn’t inconceivable to think the younger Hardy would have gotten that far. He was making a fair pace.

* * *

Joe waited in the phone booth and listened as one…two…three…four rings and then the answering machine picked it up.

Frank, where are you? He thought surprised that his brother wasn’t answering the phone. And then he hung up and slumped back against the side of the booth, of course he’s not home… stupid…he’s probably looking for you!

"Shut up William", Joe muttered. Whenever his inner voice was self incriminating or damning, he referred to it as "William" as its similarity to the real thing was frightening. However nothing was as terrifying as the real thing.

The real thing that was going to be sleeping in the top bunk come tomorrow night.

Joe wasn’t delusional. He knew the politics of bunk beds. He who slept on the top was the top…so Joe knew he’d be sleeping on the bottom.

With that realization he found himself wondering if going home was really the answer. Maybe he should just turn around and not look back. If they wanted William so badly, they could have him. Why should he have to put up with it?

But then an image flashed through his mind and he started shivering from more then the cold.

Joe pulled himself away from the image and lurched out of the phone booth and back into the cold rain outside.

His parents…Frank. He couldn’t abandon them to that monster.

He would go home.

For them.

* * *

"When we find him, remind me I need to throttle him for this!" Frank hissed as he felt the car shimmy when it hit a particularly deep puddle. The rain was coming down even harder and the boys were expecting to see hail at any time.

"You’ll need to get in line", Biff said grimly as his eyes strained to find any signs of his friend. It was now totally black and searching was becoming impossible.

If they didn’t find him soon, they would be forced to go home and call the police.

* * *

Laura Hardy heard the answering machine come on and started to worry. It was getting late and the storm was intensifying. Surely Joe had come home by now.

"Is everything okay?" one of her fellow volunteers asked as she saw a perplexed look cross the other woman’s face.

The pretty blond turned and looked at her friend as she said unable to keep the worry out of her voice, "I hope so…I really hope so."

* * *

"So how alike are they?" Biff asked as they continued searching for Joe. They had checked the beach and every side road between there and the house but still no sign of the missing teen.

"Who?" Frank asked alternating the wipers between high and medium to try and figure out which one worked best. Groaning in frustration he decided they worked equally bad, "Joe and William?"

"Yeah? I can’t imagine it. A twin, " Biff sneezed and hoped he wasn’t coming down with a cold. Even in the car with its heater on, there was an autumn dampness that just permeated the soul.

"I know", Frank admitted sighing, "when I saw William all I could think of was that Joe was standing in front of a mirror. If they were dressed alike, I swear to God Biff, I don’t know if I’d been able to tell them apart. Well except now Joe has a burn on his arm…so I guess that’ll help a bit. Until it heals anyway."

"A burn?" Biff glanced over at Frank for a moment before peering back out the window again, "What kind of burn?"

"That’s the thing. I don’t know", Frank was frustrated, "he wouldn’t let me look at and was very vague about where he got it. In fact come to think about it, he didn’t say at all where he got it. It was small and circular though. That much I did see."

A flash of lighting illuminated a figure running alongside the road and Biff shouted, "Stop! I think I see something!"

Startled by Biff’s yell, Frank slammed on the brakes and realized with horror that instead of slowing down the car kept going – it was hydroplaning!!

* * *

Joe saw headlights coming towards him and started to slow down.

Recognizing his father’s car, he let out a big sigh of relief, ‘Thank goodness’ and he started to wave his hands and move towards the vehicle.

And then with mounting alarm, Joe realized that not only wasn’t the car slowing down but it was heading right towards him.

For one long moment, the blond haired boy was paralyzed in the headlights before he broke out of his shock and tried to jump out of the way.

He was quick but not quick enough.

* * *

Frank closed his eyes as heard the sound of Biff screaming and then the sickening sound of the car hitting something.

He knew what that something was and as the car careened into the bushes and came to a halt, the airbags deployed and the last thing Frank remembered before passing out was seeing the still, crumpled body of his brother lying on the side of the road.