"You…what…what did you just say?" Frank finally found his voice.

"I’m breaking up with Vanessa. It’s the only way I’ll know she’s safe." Joe said stubbornly.

"You cannot be serious." Frank shook his head, still in a mild state of shock.

"Deadly serious." Joe replied.

"She’ll never go for it, Joe. She’s crazy in love with you. She’ll never let you go." Frank said, absolutely certain of himself.

"She’ll fall in love with someone else, eventually." Joe responded unable to hide the pain in his voice at the thought of it. "Look, it’s for her own good. She’s just not safe with me."

"Joe, it isn’t about you this time. It’s about her and her looney tune cousin. This would have happened whether you were a private investigator or a mechanic or a plumber! Hell, it would have happened even if she’d never even met you! You’re being ridiculous!"

"Wanting her to be safe is ridiculous?" Joe repeated angrily.

"That’s not what I meant and you know it." Frank sighed, wondering where his brother got these ideas from. "Listen, Joe. I know you love her and want her to be safe, but you can’t make that kind of unilateral decision for her. You can’t run her life."

"It’s for her own good! I don’t want her to get hurt again – by me or because of me!" Joe cried out.

"By you?" Frank repeated. "You did not hurt her in any way. It was ridiculous of me to think she could ID the person who attacked her the second she regained consciousness. It was a stupid mistake on my part. More than likely, she was just asking for you, Joe, not telling us you stabbed her."

"You don’t know that. And if I did it once, I could do it again. I did a little research on LSD. Do you know the flashbacks and hallucinations can last for months? Did you know that if I’m hallucinating and start to get paranoid, like I did that night, I could go after her with a knife again? Months from now?!" Joe said, his voice betraying the fear inside him. "I can’t take that chance, Frank. I can’t live with that hanging over my head. At least if we’re not together, I know it can’t happen."

Frank studied his brother with a mixture of admiration and disbelief. He obviously went to great lengths to get the facts, even if he did let his overactive imagination distort them way out of proportion. "And you think she’ll just sit back and let you dictate who she’s supposed to love and how she should live her life? Just try it, little brother." Frank challenged him.

"I know she won’t be happy about it at first-"

"Won’t be happy about it???" Frank exclaimed incredulous. "I’ve seen her temper on the rare occasion she wasn’t able to control it. She’ll give you the fight of your life – and she’ll win!"

"No, she won’t, because I won’t take no for an answer." Joe said stubbornly, knowing Frank was right about Vanessa putting up a fight.

Frank pursed his lips in thought, and then attacked the issue from a different perspective.

"So if she tried to pull something like that with you, that would be okay? You wouldn’t care that she was trying to run your life and you got no say in the matter whatsoever." When Joe started to reply several times, only to stop abruptly with each attempt, Frank knew he’d hit a nerve. Joe hated anyone trying to tell him what to do.

"Joe," Frank began a little more gently, "it would be different if you were breaking up with her because you didn’t love her anymore. You guys have been together since you were seventeen. She knew a long time ago what you intended to do with your life and that it would be dangerous – for you and her. And she willingly became a part of your life anyway."

Frank stopped for a moment, trying to gauge Joe’s reaction to what he was saying. Faced with nothing but silence, he continued.

"And you know that even if you break up with her, it does not mean she’ll never be hurt or injured or in danger again in her life. In fact, given what you do for a living, and knowing how protective you are about the people you love, she’s probably safer with you than anywhere else on earth." Frank sighed, seeing Joe was still convinced he was right. "Look, at least talk to her about it. Let her have a say in it. After all, it is her life you’re talking about."

Joe didn’t respond for several minutes and Frank was just about to throw in the towel when he finally spoke. "Fine. I’ll talk to her about it."

"Good." Frank smiled with relief.

"On one condition." Joe amended.

"I knew it was too good to be true." Frank mumbled. Taking a seat in the recliner, he leaned forward slightly. "Okay let’s hear it."

"We try my plan to catch Ryan. If it doesn’t work, you can come up with something else."

"I really hate your plan, you know that, don’t you." Frank said sourly.

"Uh-huh. So is it a deal?"

"If Dad agrees to it." Frank replied, certain Fenton would not allow Joe to freely put his own life in danger.

"Fine." Joe said, taking Frank by surprise, gambling that he’d be able to talk Fenton into it just as he did Frank.

"Fine." Frank responded as the two brothers glared at each other, until Frank looked away. "You still haven’t told me all the details about your grand plan other than the fact that you’re the bait. So let’s hear it. Exactly how is it supposed to work."

"Okay," Joe began excitedly, leaving Frank to wonder why Joe always seemed to think putting his life in danger was such an adventure, "when you said I was probably a target now it got me thinking."

"Oh, great, the one time you decide to think and I had to be the catalyst." Frank muttered.

"IF Ryan has wanted to make a move on me, I haven’t been very cooperative. I’ve only been alone twice since all this started and both times I stayed right here in the house. Whenever I’ve been out, I’ve always been with someone else, usually you. What I need to do is start going out alone. You know, make myself an easy target."

"Did I mention I don’t like this idea?" Frank said sarcastically at Joe’s choice of words.

"But, when I do go out, seemingly alone, you’ll be watching my back!" Joe grinned, ignoring Frank’s comment and getting more enthused the more he discussed his plan. "You can tail my tail."

"And do what? Unless Ryan tries to grab you, he hasn’t done anything wrong in the eyes of the law." Frank pointed out.

"I know that, Sherlock." Joe rolled his eyes. "I didn’t just fall off the banana boat. You have to let him grab me."

"Why did I know you were going to say that? And once he has you, then what? Should I let him torture you a while? Boil you in oil? A little tarring and feathering maybe, before I move in for the rescue?"

"Preferably not. The idea is for me to get him to confess first. THEN you can save me." Joe finished proudly.

"Uh-huh. So, you’re going to do what, say ‘Ryan, my brother is right behind us. He should have his ear up to the door by now, so could you make a little confession for us?’ Something like that?" Frank asked sardonically.

"I’m not an amateur, Frank." Joe shot back. "I think I can goad him into confessing. How many criminal types have been only too happy to brag about their accomplishments when they think their audience will never live to tell anyone about it, huh? Plenty, that’s how many."

Frank shook his head, silently admitting Joe was right about that at least.

"So whaddya think?" Joe asked, quite proud of his plan.

"I hate it."

"No, really, what do you think?"

"I really hate it. Something could go wrong, Joe. I could lose you. I could get stuck in traffic. I could… I could…"

"You could swoop in and save the day." Joe grinned. "Come on, Frank. Admit it, you can’t come up with anything better. And if my plan had YOU as the bait and me as the rescuer, you’d agree to it in a heartbeat."

Frank studied his brother and sighed. "You still have to convince Dad."

"I will. No problem."

"I still don’t like it."

"You’ve made that abundantly clear. But I trust you, Frank. Completely. Don’t worry, nothing will go wrong. "