“Are you ready to get started?” Fenton Hardy asked.

Joe just shrugged.  “Don’t have much choice, I guess.”

“I’ll go get Frank and Andrew.”  Fenton stood and walked to the door then turned to look back at Joe.  He had laid his arms on the table and was resting his head on his arms, eyes closed.  With a heavy heart, Fenton wondered if he would ever see his carefree, wisecracking son again.

As Fenton entered Andrew’s office, he saw Frank glance at him and then do a double take.

“What’s wrong?  Didn’t it go well with Joe?”

“It went fine.”

“Then what’s wrong?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”  Frank was becoming uneasy.

“Not me.  Joe.  He’s starting to dream about the time Tilghman had him.  Apparently in very vivid detail.  It’s really shaken him up.”

Frank was on his feet instantly.  “I’ll go talk to him.”

“Don’t let on that you know about the dreams.”

“Dad, I’m tired of lying to him!” Frank snapped.

“I just mean don’t tell him I told you.  See if you can get him to tell you about the dreams himself.  It was extremely difficult for him to tell me.  Maybe he’ll open up to you a little easier.”

Frank nodded and left, his concern for Joe increasing with each passing second.  Entering the conference room, he stopped for a moment and studied his younger brother, Joe unaware he was being watched.

“Hey, little brother.”

Joe smiled and looked up at the sound of Frank’s voice. “Hey, big brother.”

“How are you doing today?”

“I’m ok.”

“How’s Vanessa? Does she know about the article yet?”

Joe’s smile vanished.  “Yeah.  She saw it last night on the Internet.”  His eyes started to water.  “Can you believe she didn’t tell me because she didn’t know I had seen it and she didn’t want to upset me?”

“How did you find out?”

“I heard her crying this morning.”  He shook his head, anger suddenly blazing in his blue eyes.  “If I ever see Jennifer Gregg I’ll…”

“Don’t say it, Joe!” Frank warned.  “Threatening to kill people is one of the things that got you here in the first place.” He said, half-joking.

“Don’t remind me.  How come I got all the ‘temper’ in the family and you didn’t get any?” Joe asked, sourly.

“It’s just a matter of learning how to control it.” Frank replied, smiling his infuriating big brother smile, annoying Joe to no end.  Turning serious again he continued, “So how did she take it?”

Joe squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the scene from that morning. Vanessa had been extremely upset by the article, not only because everyone who read it would now know she had been raped, but also because of the way it had portrayed Joe.  When Joe finally got her to tell him what had her so upset, she broke down and sobbed.  She also cancelled the plans she had with Laura to go visit Shauna Campbell; something they had been doing since Shauna was released from the hospital.  Joe was heartsick that all the progress Vanessa had made in the past week seemed to be wiped out by one insensitive, careless individual.

“Not too good, I take it?”  Frank squeezed Joe’s shoulder.

"Not good at all.”

“Listen, Joe.  It’s inevitable that she’s going to have some setbacks along the way, but she’s tough.  And so are you.  You’re both going to come out of this stronger than ever, you’ll see.”

“Thanks.”  Joe said gratefully.

“So how are you really doing?  You look tired.  Are you getting enough sleep?”

“I’m fine, Mom.” Joe teased.  “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

“You look more than a little tired to me.”  Frank peered closely at him, ignoring the ‘Mom’ jab.  “Just how much sleep have you been getting? And why are you having trouble sleeping?  Normally, you could sleep through World War Three.”

Joe smiled at his brothers over protectiveness, but hesitated before answering him.  Once again, he debated whether or not to tell Frank about the dreams.

“I’ve just been having some…strange…dreams lately.  No big deal.”

Frank pulled up a chair next to Joe.  “Would it help to talk about it?”

Joe studied his brother carefully.  They had just gotten their close relationship back and he didn’t want to do or say anything to endanger it again.  What would Frank think of him if he knew about these hideous dreams?

“Joe, no matter what you dream about, it doesn’t change who you are.  And it certainly can’t change what I think of you.”  Frank said encouragingly.

Joe looked down at his hands and then back up into his brothers concerned face, still not quite sure.

“You can tell me anything, little brother.  You know that.”

Joe took a deep breath and was just about to speak when the door opened and Fenton and Andrew came in.  Frank turned and glared at his father, who realized he hadn’t given Frank enough time.

“Good morning, Joe.”  Andrew greeted him.

“Hi, Mr. Worth.”

“Shall we start?”

“No!”  Frank said angrily. 

Jumping up, he grabbed Joe by the arm, dragging him past a stunned Fenton and Andrew, out of the conference room and down the hall to Andrew’s office where he slammed the door so hard Joe jumped.  Turning to his brother, Frank let loose.

“I’ve had enough, Joe!  I’m tired of you thinking you can handle everything all by yourself.  Why do you always have to be such a tough guy, anyway?  I want to help you but I can’t if you won’t open up to me!”

Joe simply stared at Frank, astounded by his outburst.  Frank never lost his cool like that.  Joe wasn’t quite sure how to react.  Unfortunately, Frank mistook his silence for stubbornness and continued his tirade.

“It’s me, Joe.  Your brother.  I know you; sometimes better than you know yourself.  Whatever it is that’s bothering you is going to tear you apart if you don’t talk about it.  If the situation were reversed would you just stand by and watch me suffer?”

Joe shook his head no, still somewhat intimidated by the shocking change in his brother.

“And is there anything I could ever tell you that would make you think less of me or stop loving me?”

“No.” He said quietly understanding what Frank meant.  Realizing that was exactly what he had been waiting to hear, everything suddenly came out in a rush. 

He told Frank about that first dream he had the night he spent in jail; how the little boy would not leave him alone; how the dreams got progressively worse culminating in the horrible dream he’d had the previous night and the unspeakable images he could not get out of his head.  He told his brother it had gotten so bad that he was afraid to close his eyes and was lucky if he got two hours sleep a night before the children and their abusers reappeared once again.

Frank hadn’t grasped how bad the dreams really were when his father mentioned them and tried to hide his distress. One thought was nagging at him and even though he knew it could be the catalyst for Joe to suddenly remember everything, he had to know.

“This little boy – is he in all your dreams?”  Frank asked, cautiously.

“Every one.” Joe replied.

“What does he look like?”  It was obvious to Frank that the little boy was Joe.  If the dreams were so vivid and real, and the little boy appeared in every one, Frank couldn’t figure out why Joe hadn’t recognized himself.

Joe opened his mouth to answer and realized he couldn’t.

“I don’t know.” He said, surprised.

“Don’t you see him?  You see all the other children.”

“No.  I never realized it before but I’ve never actually seen him.  I can see what he sees, like I’m looking through his eyes.  And I can feel what he feels.”  Again, Joe put a hand to his cheek, completely unaware he had done so.  “But I’ve never actually seen him.”  He looked at Frank questioningly.

“That’s kind of odd, but not unheard of.”  Frank said.  ‘No wonder he doesn’t recognize himself!’

“Frank, does this mean… I’m going crazy?” Joe asked fearfully.

“You can’t be going crazy.  You’re already there; have been for years.”  Frank said trying to lighten the mood.

Joe smiled for a moment before turning serious again.

“I just can’t believe this is happening to me.  Last month I was trying to come up with creative excuses to avoid having to look at china patterns at Macy’s.” he laughed nervously, trying to cover his increasing anxiety.  “You don’t know what I’d give to be looking at those stupid patterns right now.”  He met his brother’s eyes.  "Frank, I don't want to go to prison."  He whispered.

Frank put his hand on Joe’s shoulder, reassuringly.  “You won’t, baby brother.  Not if I have anything to say about it.”

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without expressed permission of the authors.