Seventeen-year old Joe Hardy glanced at the number that showed on the call display of his cell phone. Although it was an out-of-country number, he knew it by heart, and he was already grinning when he spoke into the receiver.

“Hey Pharaoh!  How’s it going?” he asked his surrogate brother.  Joe already had an older brother, Frank, and now due to recent events, he also had Pharaoh.

Pharaoh and Joe had lived for two months as brothers, after a car accident had left Joe amnesic; and the Gray Man had used the opportunity to send Joe so deep undercover to bring down a slavery ring, that Joe actually thought he was Remus Plyth – Pharaoh’s real brother; and the Hardys thought Joe was dead.

Now, although Joe was back at home with his real family, and the case had been closed, he and Pharaoh had remained close.  Something that he knew bothered his real brother a little bit.  Joe was not really sure why, so he tried to keep his relationship with Pharaoh as low key as possible.  But they still talked every day.

In fact, the cell phone that Joe was using was a gift from Pharaoh, and it was good thing that Joe’s new brother was rich, because he didn’t even want to fathom a guess at how much this phone must be costing Pharaoh… even with good long-distance rates!

“Not bad – are you ready to go to school?”  Pharaoh asked the younger Hardy.  It was Joe’s first day back at Bayport High, and he had confided in Pharaoh that he was actually very nervous. 

His parents had already had a meeting with the school and his teachers, to explain to them what had happened, as everyone had thought that Joe Hardy was dead. 

Needless to say, they were shocked and relieved.  The Hardy brothers were very well liked at the school by teachers and other students alike, and Joe had been missed by everyone.  The football coach was easily the most ecstatic, as Joe was his star quarterback and the team had been suffering terribly since his death!

“When is he coming back?” he had demanded, secretly hoping it would be very soon.

“Well,” said Fenton Hardy, a very well known private investigator, “We only got back this weekend and we” – indicating both himself and his pretty, petite, blond haired wife, Laura – “want him to take it easy for a week or so before he comes back.  We’re still trying to get used to having him back, ourselves!“

“Understandable,” nodded the principal, smiling in spite of himself at the coach’s enthusiasm.  “We will do everything we can to help him make the return transition as smooth as possible.”

Fenton thanked them and continued, “We realize that Joe is far behind in his school work – but I think it would be much more difficult on him if he were held back a year…. So, I was hoping that we could get an outline from each of his classes regarding the information he’s missed, and see if he can catch up.  Frank is extremely anxious to help him with this homework.”

This brought a knowing little smile from the teachers, as the older boy’s concern for his younger brother was well known.  The two brothers shared a unique connection that many people envied, and Frank’s own schoolwork had been slipping since Joe’s “death.”

“Of course I hope this means that Frank will start to get back to his own studies as well?” hinted the vice-principal, who was also Frank’s physics teacher.  He had watched his A student quickly slip to C’s. 

Glancing around the room at the other teachers he continued, “Have Frank come by the office after school tomorrow – we’ll have some stuff for Joe by then.”   With that, the meeting started to break down as the teachers headed out for their morning classes, still shaking their heads in disbelief.  It was not every day that someone came back from the dead!

As the coach headed out the door, Fenton caught his arm. “Coach… about football—“

“Don’t worry! I’ll be easy on him for the first while or so,” smiled the coach, but it quickly faded when he saw the couple shaking their heads.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” started Fenton, “He won’t be able to play football, not for a while anyway.”

“What?  Why not?” demanded the coach as worry flashed across his face.

“Joe has a broken arm,” answered Laura as she came to stand beside her 6’2 husband.  “He was involved in another car accident.  He’s fine,”  she quickly added, as she heard him gasp, “but he can’t play football for another 5 to 6 weeks, at least.”

“Oh, for a second, I thought it was something permanent!  No problem.  I’d still like it if he could come to practice, though, if that’s okay with you – he could be the morale boost the team needs!”

“I’m sure Joe would like that!”  The Hardys agreed without any hesitation, even as Fenton hoped that Joe would actually stay off the field.  His younger son was an avid sports enthusiast and was not going to like just being a spectator!

The next day, after school, Frank arrived home with an armload of homework for Joe, and grinned as he saw his brother balk at the tower of books.  “Don’t worry, kiddo – I’ll give you a hand!”

And now a week later, on a bright and beautiful Monday morning, Joe Hardy shook his head as he replied to the voice on the phone.

 “Not really – but no use putting it off any longer”.

“Will you be okay?”  Pharaoh wished he could be there to help him out, but Frank was, and he didn’t want the other boy to feel like he was trying to take his place. 

“Yeah, I’m actually more nervous about facing everyone than the schoolwork, to be honest.  I just don’t know if I’m ready for all that attention… the staring!” confessed Joe as he tried to tuck in his shirt. The task was made all the more difficult by the sling and cast on his one arm, and the phone in the hand of the other. 

Pharaoh, hearing Joe struggling, was concerned, “What’s wrong?”

Joe laughed.  “Nothing. I’m just getting a workout here, trying to put on my shirt while talking on the phone!”

“I’d better go, then.  I don’t want you to have a heart attack when you try and put on your trousers!  Call me later – I’ll be home!”  Joe heard Pharaoh laughing as he hung up the phone. 

He couldn’t help but shake his head; who uses the word ‘trousers’ anymore??

* * *

Frank, in his own room, had heard Joe’s cell phone ring and, looking at the clock, guessed it was Pharaoh.  With the time difference, it was more towards the end of the day for the other boy so he usually called Joe first thing in the morning. 

Joe never told him that, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out.

He’d already gotten dressed and was just getting ready to see if his brother needed any help when the phone rang, so he sat down at his computer and quickly checked his email.  He would give them five minutes and then tell Joe it was time for breakfast.

Frank felt a little resentful when he heard Joe laughing in his room, but quickly chastised himself.  He knew that he shouldn’t feel this way, but he was a bit jealous of the relationship they had. 

It had not started out that way.  In the beginning, he had felt relieved when he saw how close Joe and Pharaoh had become, and was grateful that Pharaoh had killed his own mother to protect Joe from her.  But then in the days that followed, Joe still didn’t remember who he was, and it was Pharaoh that he turned to for comfort. 

It was only after they had been involved in another car accident while on their way to meet Frank and Fenton for dinner that Joe finally recovered from the amnesia and remembered Frank.

Frank sighed as he remembered the relief that had swept over him when his younger brother opened up his vivid blue eyes and said, “Frank”…and then shortly afterwards Pharaoh was moved into his room….

Joe did return to Bayport with them, but ever since they had come home, Pharaoh was still a constant presence, even if Joe tried his best to keep it from Frank.  And that also bothered Frank.

He and Joe had always had a very open relationship and talked about everything – but for some reason, Joe didn’t talk to Frank about Pharaoh.  And actually when he thought about it, Joe had not really told him much about what had happened while he was living life as Remus Plyth.  He just claimed that he had not seen anything of interest until the last couple of days….

And one other thing really irked him – and Frank knew this was extremely petty but he couldn’t help it! It was how much Joe and Pharaoh physically looked alike, although Pharaoh was almost three years older than Joe.

Blond hair, blue eyes, muscular; while Frank himself, taking after his dad, had dark hair, dark eyes and was a bit leaner, although a full inch taller than his six-foot brother.  People never figured them for brothers, but the few places Frank had gone with Joe and Pharaoh, people assumed they were the brothers! Even being mistaken for twins on one occasion!  And that’s when Frank started to be bothered.

* * *

Five minutes had passed, so he logged off the computer and knocked briefly on his brother’s door before going in.  He was mildly surprised to see that Joe was no longer on the phone – his early morning calls tended to go on for a long time.  They usually started just after the brothers ate breakfast, and he knew that Joe was still on the phone even after Frank had left for school!

But instead of talking on the phone, Joe was trying to finish buttoning up the shirt that was mostly tucked into his pants, with his left hand – without much success.

“Why didn’t you just put on a t-shirt?” asked Frank as he stepped in front of Joe, buttoned up his shirt for him and then finished tucking it into his pants.

Joe smiled. “Oh yeah – you think this is bad, you want to see me trying to get a t-shirt over my head and this thing!”  He indicated his cast, and Frank had to laugh as he had already managed to imagine what that spectacle would look like. 

“Well come on, breakfast will be cold!’ said Frank as they started out of Joe’s room. “Are you feeling up to this?”

Joe paused briefly before answering, “Sure, piece of cake!”

Frank was in front, and never noticed the brief look of concern that flickered across Joe’s face before he answered.  He had thought about telling Frank how he really felt, but decided not to because he didn’t want him to worry.

His big brother had been through so much over the past couple of months, because of him, and Joe hated to bother Frank with anything else. 

He had had amnesia, making him blessed with not having the knowledge of who he had left behind, while Frank went through hell – he thought his brother was buried under six feet of dirt!

Joe shuddered at that thought – if anything ever happened to Frank, he didn’t know how he’d handle it.

Probably not as good as Frank did, he decided, and then gave a quick prayer that he’d never have to know what it felt like to lose a brother.

Never.