September 6, 2000 (2 A.M.)

Joe grunted as he rolled over sideways off the bed to avoid the knife slashing toward his stomach. The assailant grunted as well as he went off-balance and landed on the bed, but he recovered quickly, rolled and leapt toward Joe again. Joe struggled to his feet after fighting off the blanket that had been covering him. Just as he was about to leap forward, Connor rose up like an avenging angel and leapt at the man. Connor and the man wrestled around for a minute as they both fought to gain control of the deadly blade. Joe pulled himself back to his feet and then waited for an opening so that he could make his move on the man with the knife, when another tackle from the other bed brought Eric into the fray.

Joe's roommate grunted as he landed heavily on top of Connor and the attacker. Eric had hold of the knife in about ten seconds and tossed it across the room so that it skidded under Joe's bed, while Connor tried to get a better hold on the intruder. Joe reached down and took a firm hold on the assailant's collar and hoisted him to his feet, leaving Eric and Connor to grab the attacker's feet.

"Isn't it just a little late for games?" Eric asked as he held tightly to the madly kicking assailant's feet, holding on for dear life while Connor rooted around for belts and ties to tie the bad guy up with. Joe held the intruder in a tight neck lock, leaving him just barely enough room to breathe.

"You have an interesting idea of games, Eric," Joe told his roommate. "Just don't let him go. I have reason to believe this guy put my brother in the hospital today and I'm ready to get some answers."

"Your brother is in the hospital?" Eric grunted when the guy managed to kick him in the chest but he just held on even tighter. "I've gotten kicked worse in a football game, so don't think about it."

Joe didn't answer Eric, but instead, he pulled the mask off of his assailant.

"So, what's this all about?" Joe asked as Connor returned with various ties. Joe helped pull the attacker's arms behind his back and held them as tightly as he could while Connor tied him. "Why'd you attack us?"

The man glared at him but didn't say anything. The light flashed on then and all three boys blinked several times as they were temporarily blinded. The man tried to jerk free but Joe refused to let go of him and Connor finished tying him.

"What the heck is going on now?" Michael asked from the doorway. "Can't we ever get any sleep in this dorm?"

"You'll have to ask Knife-boy here," Eric said from the floor, where he still held the bad guy's feet while Connor finished tying him.

"Knife-boy?" Michael asked, confused.

"He broke into our room and tried to attack me with a knife," Joe told Michael. "And he would have if Connor hadn't knocked him back in a flying tackle and Eric hadn't gotten the knife away from him. Of course, I just found out that Eric could sleep through World War III."

Connor grinned one of his rare grins in answer, then sobered as he finished tying a knot in the tie around the attacker's feet.

"What do we do now?" Michael asked, sighing.

"Call Campus Security, I guess," Joe said. "And have them call the cops."

As Michael went to do just that, Joe released the bad guy, now that the assailant was secured, and rooted around under his bed until he came up with the knife. He whistled as he saw it in the light of the room and held it up, his hand wrapped around one of his t-shirts, for the others to see.

"Not exactly standard issue pocket knife material," Joe said. "In fact, not exactly any kind of standard knife. In fact, this thing is just slightly illegal."

The man glared at him again, all the while struggling against the bonds that held him.

"Would you like to try again?" Connor asked in a mild tone from where he still sat on the ground, one arm propped on one knee. "Who are you and why did you attack us?"

The man glowered but said nothing. Instead, he stared straight ahead, completely refusing to acknowledge anyone in the room.

"It's no skin off our back, man," Connor told him. "I'm sure the police will enjoy their talk with you when they meet up with you. They might go easier on you if you talk now, though."

The man still said nothing and Joe pulled his chair up to sit in front of him. Joe still held the knife in one hand and he made a show of studying it, as if very interested. What he really wanted to do was to stab it through the guy's chest for what he did to Frank, but Joe remained calm and continued to make a grand show of his study.

"The police are going to be very interested in this knife," Joe said, conversationally. "And they're really going to enjoy what you have to tell them about it. Of course, it's going to add on an additional 10 years or so to whatever sentence you get for attempted murder."

"You've got nothing on me," the man growled. "Nothing at all."

"Breaking and entering," Joe commented in a slow drawl, as if thinking. "That's one, or two. Possession of an illegal weapon. That's two. Attempting to stab me with it. That's three. I think those might all just add up to make a nice, long, jail sentence. Or you could help yourself by telling me who sent you and why you're trying to kill my brother!"

The calm expression broke in an instant to be replaced by all of the fury that Joe was feeling. Joe held the knife in front of the man's face and turned it in a circle. Joe's eyes were fierce with suppressed rage, a rage that had slowly built up since first learning that Frank was blind. This man, this being, had caused that to happen and Joe wasn't going to sit by and just let it go. Not in a million years.

"I'm not saying anything," the man said. "I could go to jail for a long time. Fine. But I'm not saying anything. I'm much more scared of squealing than jail. You'll just have to figure it all out by yourself!"

"Oh, not a good answer!" Eric said. "Not a good answer at all. Joe looks like he's about ready to stab you once or twice with that knife, all by himself. Go ahead, Joe, see if a few pokes opens his mouth."

Joe glared over at his roommate and Eric stepped back, hands raised in surrender. "Just trying to help, geez, sorry!"

Joe turned back to his attacker but, no matter what he threatened or did, the man refused to give an inch. Campus Security, with the police this time, arrived a few minutes later and handcuffed the attacker before they took off the belts and ties used to bind him up.

"Joe, what happened?" Con Riley, a detective with the Bayport PD, sat down in Joe's chair.

Joe explained in curt, yet curiously polite, tones just what had happened, including the attack on Frank the day before and that Frank was now blind. Con, who had known the Hardys since they were quite young, looked stunned to hear that bit of news. He kept shaking his head back and forth in disbelief. His hands had gone rigid at his sides and he glanced out the door, somewhat happy that the prisoner wasn't within easy kicking distance.

"I'm sorry, Joe," Con said, sincerely. "That's... well, that's the last thing I ever expected to hear. How are your parents? Coping OK?"

Joe shrugged. He definitely didn't want to talk about this anymore. Every time he did, it felt like someone had driven a spike into his stomach. Every time he thought about his brother, about Frank being blind, he wanted to hit someone, to hit something, as hard as he could swing and to keep on hitting until the pain he already felt was replaced by another pain. Anything had to be better than what he felt now.

"Well," Con said a moment later. "I'll be going now. Let me know if you come up with anything else, Joe. I know telling you to leave this to us is a moot point, so I'll just say, be careful. One seriously injured Hardy brother at a time is a lot more than I can handle. Two of you will send me over the edge."

Joe nodded, still not saying anything, his rage still evident on his face. Connor walked Con out then came back to the bed.

"Let's get some sleep, Joe. We'll look at all of this again in the morning."

Joe nodded somewhat curtly and lay down on his bed.

Sleep, however, didn't come again that night. He tossed and turned all night, seeing Frank, seeing the man with the knife and the rage simmered at a low point within him all night. Sleep was not going to be possible. Sleep was meant for someone whose brother wasn't in the hospital. He lay long into the night before he finally did manage to drop off to sleep, between one heartbeat and the next and allowed the night to claim him.

 

The next morning, after a grueling session with the police at the Campus Security office in which he, Connor and Chet went over and over the events of the day before so many times that Joe was yelling them at the end, Joe and Connor met-up with Vanessa and Mandy. Mandy looked as tired as Joe felt and she was quick to drag her twin to one side and speak to him, not only in a low tone but with the connection that they felt.

"You kept me up all night," she whispered to him in a frenzied tone. "I felt you, you were so angry. Did something else happen?"

Joe nodded and told her. For a moment, neither of them said anything, at least not with words. But it was obvious to anyone who knew them that they were communicating and it took several minutes before they hugged each other again and they were able to separate to go to their respective boyfriend/girlfriend. Connor took Mandy's hand as Joe took Vanessa's.

"What first?" Vanessa asked in a soft voice as she tucked a lock of her chestnut hair behind an ear. "I looked into those components you wanted me to. I have three searches going and my mom is doing three at the house. I'll let you know as soon as we get an idea what we're looking for."

"And Sam's going to go see Professor Tylange," Mandy said. "After she gets back from the hospital."

"She's going to what?" Joe demanded. "What if he remembers she was there yesterday? He could..."

"Joe..." Mandy said and for another few minutes there was that strange silence between them that spoke very loudly to Vanessa and Connor. Finally, Joe slumped his shoulders and put his arm around Vanessa's shoulders again.

"I'm heading over to the lab to do those tests," Connor said. "And I'll talk to Doctor Rich, too. Even if we don't know what it is, he might have an idea where to start looking."

"I have class," Joe mumbled. "And then I'm going over to see Frank. I'll be back in time for football practice. Can you all meet me in the Snack Bar after practice?"

They all agreed and, after Connor kissed Mandy and Joe kissed Vanessa, they all went their separate ways.

 

Joe was still at the hospital with Frank when he got word from a nurse that he had a phone call he could take at the nurse's desk. He told Frank he'd be back when he went out to take it.

"Joe, this is Connor," Connor told Joe in a voice filled with anxiety. "You'd better get back to the campus right away. Mandy was just attacked!"

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. I've only borrowed them to play with for a while but I promise to return them whenever I've finished with them.  (I make no promises as to condition, that's entirely up to them).  I promise, I'm only writing for fun and I'm not making a single dime off of this (unless you count personal fulfillment).