SPECIAL THANKS TO OCEAN, MY SISTER IN CRIME.

"Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" Joe looked up for the first time since he sat in the witness stand. Frank was amazed to see how calm Joe looked, but knowing Joe, who was never one to be cool under pressure, knew the turmoil going on beneath the cool façade.

"I do."

The prosecution started off with some easy questions, Joe's family, school, childhood...things fairly mild compared to what was about to come next.

"On the night of 29th June 2002, you were kidnapped from your hospital room while you were recuperating from arsenic poisoning, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"Can you identify who kidnapped you?" Joe's eyes darted nervously toward the defense.

"Yes. It was the defendant."

Hall nodded, eyes flicking quickly to the side. The jury looked absorbed with whatever Joe was saying. That's good, he thought.

"I know this is going to be very difficult for you, Joe, but it is very important that you answer my next question, alright, Joe?"

Joe swallowed hard, his throat constricting . It's happening, he thought. Millions of people are watching this, millions of people are going to know what this creep did to me. His heart pounded against his chest as he nodded, his body tense with dreaded anticipation.

"Can you tell us what happened next?" Joe's head jerked up sharply. Everyone's staring at me, he thought frantically. What am I going to say? Joe's mouth went dry and desperately he swept his eyes across the room, at last resting on his family. His father was nodding, go on, he seemed to say. Joe saw him giving his mother's hand a squeeze and his mother offered him a supportive smile. Thanks, Mom, Joe thought, smiling a little. What the hell. Might as well tell them what they want to know. I don't exactly have anything more to lose, he thought bitterly.

As Joe recounted every gory, horrid details of the painful experience, he could feel the tension leaving him with every word he uttered, as if with every word that came out from his mouth the memories were releasing him from their painful clutches.

"And you did not remember anything then? Not until you have been snapped out of your tranced state by your brother?" Hall asked sympathetically.

"No," Joe stated calmly, his chin thrust forward bravely. He could sense the veil of sympathy and remorse that had befallen the whole courtroom but he didn't want sympathy. Hall kept quiet for a few seconds, looking at Joe intensely.

This is it, Joe thought. He's going to say it.

"Did you know that Haydin was HIV-positive, Joe?" The question seemed to hang heavily in the air like moisture after a heavy rain. Joe tensed visibly and a few seconds later, his lips curled up into a tiny, humorless when at last, he heard a loud gasp. He'd expected that. Even without looking, he knew who it was.

Frank's blood had drained from his face, his face a mask of horror. Joe seriously doubted Frank'd bleed if he took a blade and cut his face, it was that white.

"No, not then."

"But you do now."

"Yes."

"And after the attack, did you take a blood test, Joe?"

"Yes, I took one last week after I found out about him."

"And you've been diagnosed as HIV-positive."

"Yes, I have." There. It's out. Now everyone knows, Joe thought. Several of the jury gasped, and a low but shrill cry came from somewhere in the benches. Joe didn't dare to look at Frank. He didn't dare to look at anyone.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Joe." Joe nodded numbly. What the hell, he thought. As if on impulse, he lifted his head.

Joe looked straight at Frank. Frank's eyes had gone blank and even though he was looking straight at Joe, he doubted that Frank was seeing anything. Poor Frank, he thought. Well, Frank, you know now. At least I don't have to hide it from you anymore.

"Your Honor, I would like to go back to the night of the poisoning. The defendant had coerced his daughter to administer a very high dose of arsenic into Frank Hardy's food, mistakenly consumed by our witness here. Joe," Hall said, turning back to Joe. "Would you please tell the court the reason why you made a medical check-up once again at the Bayport General on the 28th of August 2002?"

Joe bit his lips. Frank is not ready for this, he thought in misery. He wished his father would take Frank out of there. He didn't want him to listen to this. Not now after the shock he just had. In fact, not ever.

"I've been experiencing excruciating stomach pains and severe bouts of vomiting for quite a while and-" Joe sighed, "at first I thought it was just a post-trauma kind of thing, but then it turned out to-be..." Joe's voice faltered.

No, Frank thought numbly. Nopleasenopleasenotagain-

"Joe?" Hall asked gently.

Joe breathed in deeply. He didn't realize he was trembling but his hand was visibly shaking. I'm sorry, Frank, he thought. "Terminal stomach cancer," he whispered shakily.

"What?" Frank gasped out, scrambling up to his feet. Quickly, Fenton pulled him down."Calm down, son."

Frank shook off his father's restraining hand. Everyone had turned to look but he didn't care. Joe, look at me, he pleaded telepathically but Joe kept his eyes down on the floor. He couldn't believe what he just heard. No, I must have heard wrong, he thought desperately. "Dad, did he just say-" he started to whisper fiercely.

"Yes, he did." Once again, the blood drained from Frank's face. Pain, grief, and shock mingled together, contorting his features as Frank struggled to speak. Betrayal flashed on his face at once. "And you knew-" Frank closed his mouth and for one second, he looked so angry Fenton expected to see his son's fist flying to his face.

Instead, Frank jumped to his feet and ran out.

Joe watched sadly as Frank fled from the courtroom. I'm sorry, Frank, he thought.I know I should have told you but I just couldn't.

"Ladies and gentlemen, not only has Joe been a victim of an unspeakable act of sexual violence, committed by the defendant, not only has he been diagnosed as HIV-positive but because of him-" Hall pointed his finger toward the defense, "Joe Hardy is now suffering from cancer."

"Cancer." Hall's voice had dropped to a whisper and once again, Joe could feel all eyes on him, sending deeply unsettling auras of sympathy from every corner. "According to the medical report, the high dosage of arsenic had aggravated the stomach cancer and accelerated the growth of the cancerous cells-" Urgh, Joe thought. I don't need this. I don't need this guy disecting my body and displaying it for everyone to see like something on the Discovery Channel.

"He was just a normal teenage boy. He has a family, friends...Joe Hardy has once had a life, ladies and gentlemen. But in one split second, everything has been taken away from him. Why?"

Hall walked over to the defendant. "Because this man here is an animal. A despicable, hateful creature who preys on the young, the helpless-" But Joe was no longer listening as Hall droned on and on. Suddenly he felt very tired. I've had enough of this, he thought wearily. I want all this to be over.

Then it was the defense's turn.

"You're a handsome young man, do you know that, Mr. Hardy?" Joe's eyes narrowed. This Fish guy is really a fish, slimy, icky and slippery. Joe didn't like him even one bit.

"You don't have to answer that. I'm sure you know perfectly well you are," Fish said hurriedly when he saw Hall open his mouth to object.

Get to the point, you idiot, Joe thought angrily. He had to find Frank and he had to find him fast.

"Tell me something, Joe. You liked being touched, don't you?" The question hit Joe out of the blue, leaving him breathless with a sudden burst of rage.

"Objection!!!!"

"Mr. Fish." The Judge said in a warning voice.

"How did it feel, Joe? You liked it when he touched you, you said so yourself."

"You think I brought this on myself, don't you?" Joe hissed angrily. "You think I wanted this to happen!"

Fish shrugged and leaned against the defense table, a leery smile on his face.

"Objection, Your Honor!"

"Sustained. Mr. Fish, this is your final warning."

The jurors were all staring at him. Joe swallowed hard. He could feel his face going red and hot as he burned with humiliation. How dare he-

"I don't want sympathy. I don't want sympathy from any of you. But what I want is justice. He took something from me, and though impossible as it may seem, I want it back. And if he can't give it to me-" Joe's voice caught in his throat. Shit, I'm not gonna cry now, he thought, brushing a stray tear angrily. "All I want is justice." The whole room had gone so quiet that this last whisper was carried until the back of the room, and a hush of silence fell suddenly for the next few seconds.

"No further questions, Your Honor," Fish said and the defense rested their case for the day.

As Joe stepped down and walked out of the courtroom, he could feel eyes boring into his back, burning through his suit like laser beams. It was painful, the whole testifying thing, but it couldn't compare to the pain he was feeling in his heart. And Joe was aware of every throbbing pulsation of tension coursing through his every nerve as he set out to find his brother.

Pain R