My first fanfic!

In between 8 + 9!

Chapter One:

"DAN! Hey where are you?" Nellie shouted through the terminal. Dan was AWOL. Again.

"You know every once in awhile he disappears somewhere we wouldn't expect him to be." Amy pointed to a bookstore. Just inside the doorway was Dan, and he was reading. "Oh my God, I have to see how this happened." Nellie was just as stunned as Amy.

"Hey guys! Come look at this!" As soon as she heard that, Amy sprinted across the terminal. Nellie had to admire the girl's speed when it came to the clue hunt. Put her in a race with an Olympic runner, and put a clue or a lead at the end of the race, she was going to beat anyone to the finish line.

Dan must have found a lead. There was no way he could be that excited, and not have found one. Her boss would be pleased with him. He was beginning to discover his real talents in the clue hunt. Nellie ran after Amy; she was just as eager to see the lead as Amy was.

When she got there Amy was shaking her head. "All of these books for you to choose and you waste your time with a stupid comic book?" Dan looked indignant. "It is NOT stupid! You have disgraced the comic book name. These characters are NINJAS! N-I-N-J-A-S!" She heard Amy's voice snapping back at him, " Dan, you are the BIGGEST DWEEB on the face of the Earth!"

"Oh great. Thing One and Thing Two are fighting again." Nellie strolled quietly away. She might as well look at the pirate selection before Amy and Dan got thrown out. Especially Amy, She was their best researcher and lead finder.

The library had an unbelievable selection on Pirates. Five huge bookshelves were crammed with books about famous pirates. She had to go back and get Amy. This was too much for one undercover au pair.

"Miss Gomez?" The raspy voice was enough to make her jump ten feet into the air. He'd been standing so still she hadn't noticed him before. He was sneaky, and had huge connections. He'd gotten Amy and Dan in a helicopter to the summit of the world only two days earlier.

"Yes?" She answered back carefully. "I trust that they got the Janus serum?" She'd been dreading that question for the last two days. "Not exactly." His face darkened. "What happened?" He asked. "Well, Amy had the vial and they were in the helicopter about to takeoff from the summit, when the Holt dad grabbed the helicopter and pulled it back down. He got the serum from Amy and then backed off. But 4 Sherpas grabbed him while Ian Kabra wrenched the serum from his hands, and then something happened to the helicopter, anyway it swung around. And Amy fell out and the tail of the helicopter hit Ian and he fell off the summit," "What?" The man in black was completely startled. "Let me finish." Nellie said, holding up her hand so he wouldn't ask any more questions until the end. " Ian grabbed the side of the summit and Amy grabbed the vial and would have left with the vial probably, if the ice hadn't crumbled. So Ian started to fall off again. And Amy grabs his hand but drops the serum to do it. And they pull him back up, but Amy and Dan lost the serum."

"That is unfortunate. Although I'm proud of Amy for doing the right thing. She will be great like her grandmother was."

"Yeah she's great. Listen I kinda have to get Amy to sort through all this…" She gestured to the bookshelves. "So can you email me later?" He considered it for a moment. "Alright." He finally said.

Meanwhile, behind one of the bookshelves, Amy and Dan were eavesdropping on their au pair and her friend. They couldn't look to see who it was because they were certain that whoever it was would see them.

Amy nudged Dan with her elbow. Come on, Nellie will go back to the Comic Books soon. There were deeper emotions there, under her eyes. Although he didn't want to, he read them like a book. How can we trust anyone, she was part of our family! If this is who Nellie really is, then how much has she given away? Our clues? Our leads? Where we're going? How does our competition always find us, and know about where we've been and what we discovered there?

She suddenly looked worn out and beat. He had noticed earlier how she couldn't sleep at night, how she wouldn't eat much at meal times. She hardly ever read anymore. He was scared of what part of his sister he would lose next. He realized that she had been flicking glances at Nellie ever since the Helicopter ride. She had already been suspicious. He'd also noticed that if he got ten feet out of her sight, that she would start screaming for him.

He had been sort of relieved at first, that she had missed him while he was gone in China, he'd been terrified that she wouldn't. But he'd noticed how it had sort of undone what little freedom she gave him. She followed him around everywhere.

It was easy enough to realize that Amy needed a huge break from the clue hunt. But how much of a break would it be if they had to start working double time afterwards to make up for it?

Amy was reading his emotions too. Don't worry Dan, I'm fine. Just a little tired. I'll sleep on the plane okay? Dan wasn't sure about that. Promise? He asked her. Yes. He would have to give her that. It really stank to not be able to relax once in a while.

"Now where did those brats go?" Amy's eyes widened in fear. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Her eyes said. Calm down, He told her. Just relax. We can get out the back way. Amy was making it hard to be soothing. I can't calm down Dan! Remember the propeller? She is EVIL! Dan fought the urge to yell at her, "JUST GO OUT THE DOOR!" Instead he told her with his eyes, Well, if you don't want to meet Isabel and her demon children, lets find Nellie and GET THE HECK OUT OF HERE!

Amy nodded. She couldn't just freeze and leave Dan on his own. She was his older sister. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Better. She turned around and stood up a little. She wasn't exactly on the floor now, but she could see better. Right now she had to focus on finding Nellie.

If she hadn't been at about knee height, she never would have noticed it. A yellow and blue book was just in front of her. She read the binding. Anne Bonny!

She grabbed the book and kept going. Dan looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. She just shook her head. She peered carefully around the corner. Nellie was sitting down in the aisle, right next to the aisle the Kabras were on. She was making a small hole in-between the books so she could see the Kabras. She looked astonished.

Amy tried waving her arms at Nellie. She tried quietly snapping her fingers at her. Dan shook his head at her and dug around in his pocket for some quarters he had. He was going to spend these to get some candy, but this was a better cause. Amy reached for them but Dan shook his head again. He started to bring his arm back.

Oh no, no! She tried reaching for his arm again but it was too late, he had launched the quarter in the air. He has terrible aim! Just as she was thinking this the quarter hit the back of Natalie's head.

Chapter 2

"Ow! What in the name of the Queen just hit my head?" Natalie said. Isabel, Ian, and a man Dan couldn't place turned around. Ian bent over and picked up the quarter. "American money." He said.

At this moment Nellie looked over. It was easy to tell what she was thinking. Amy pointed at Dan. Dan pointed at Amy. "Get out!" She mouthed to them, jerking her thumb towards the entrance. Amy held up a finger. "What?" Nellie mouthed. Amy motioned to the book. Nellie looked exasperated but she nodded. "Give me one minute, then go." Nellie mouthed again. Both Cahills nodded. "Um actually that is a quarter." Nellie stepped out. All Kabras looked up at her. Dan held his breath. At that moment, Nellie reached out and snatched the quarter back. "And Amy and Dan will want this back." She said. "Are they really that poor?" Ian asked his mother.

"I'M TELLING AMY YOU SAID THAT JERK!" Nellie did in a crystal clear imitation of Dan. Dan looked at Amy with a grin on his face. Where was she when I needed someone to imitate Aunt Beatrice for that English assignment? Amy rolled her eyes. She looked back over to see Ian, Natalie, Isabel, and the man running out the door without a backwards glance. Amy got up to her feet.

She headed for the counter where a young librarian stood. He took in their western features and spoke to them in heavily accented English. "What are you doing with that book?" He asked Amy. "I'd like to buy it." He shook his said. "I'm sorry, but it is priceless. It was written by someone very famous." Amy looked at the author. "James Joyce?" She asked. "Who's James Joyce?" He asked in a bored voice. Amy looked at him with the evil eye. "James Joyce was a famous author from Ireland." She said through gritted teeth.

JANUS! He was a Janus! We need to get that book! Clearly Amy saw that things were starting to click for him. "Are you sure it's priceless?" Amy asked. The librarian looked at her with his gray eyes. "It's an original." Amy's shoulders sank. "Can I read it?" She asked, nodding to the nearby table. "No, you're not even supposed to have it." He started to reach out to the book, but Amy put it behind her back. "No." She said simply. The librarian narrowed his eyes. "Then what exactly do you plan to do with it?" He asked her. Was it Dan's imagination, or were the dude's eyes kinda amused?

"Well, what if I skim through the pages and copy the ones I need?" Amy asked. "Or we could buy the book." Dan felt a shudder go down through his back. Isabel. He turned. Ian and some old guy who looked just like him were standing on either side of a sad/mad Nellie. Nellie would glare at both of them for a few seconds then turn with a tragic expression to Amy and Dan. Amy looked like she wanted to hit something, with Isabel's head. The librarian had to give his boring lecture again.

"Sorry, it's not for sale. It's a priceless original by James Joyce." The Kabra children looked confused, and Dan recognized a golden opportunity to look smarter than them so he echoed his sister.

"You know, the author from Ireland? The one who was really famous?" Natalie looked annoyed and Ian looked angry until the librarian said: "Isn't that what your sister said earlier? Wow, you have a really good memory!" Amy lit up like a firecracker. "Okay, so would you consider letting Dan read it? No copies needed! Please?" "OH!" Nellie shouted. "DARN IT AMY, YOU'RE BRILLIANT!" Dan was proud of his sister too. MY PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY! YEAH! HE JUST HAS TO LET ME READ IT AND I'LL HAVE IT MEMORIZED!

The best thing of all was the Cobras' confused faces. They didn't know if the Cahills were joking or not. The librarian didn't know what to make of Nellie's outburst, but he shrugged. "As long as you don't need to make a copy." Dan took the book from Amy's hands and set it down on the table. He opened it up and looked at each page. Although there must have been at least 250 pages, it took Dan only two minutes to memorize each and every page. The Cobras kept trying to shuffle forward, but the librarian held them back.

"Two at a time please!" He said. When Dan was finished with the book, Amy gave it back to the librarian. "Thank-you!" she said. She looked at her watch. "Come on Nellie." She grabbed Nellie's arm and started pulling her away. Dan didn't need to see her eyes to know what she was thinking. She's hoping the Cobras will be torn between the book, and torturing us. Dan saw his chance to see which they would do and went to get a drink from the water fountain. There beside it was a mirror that reflected the library. Dan bent down and started doing surveillance on the library.

Uh oh. The Kabras were going out of the library and were searching the crowd. He looked toward the bench where he had seen Nellie taking something out of her shoulder bag. They weren't there. He looked back toward the Kabras, they didn't have them.

"Dan." He looked up because it was Amy's voice, but she shoved his head back down. "I don't want them to see you. Go into the men's bathroom and put these on." Dan took the bundle and hurried inside the men's room.

When he came out dressed in a camo t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and that Beatnik disguise he'd gotten from NRR he saw that Amy and Nellie had on disguises too. Amy was now in a cherry colored blouse with beige colored pants and the black wig and glasses that was her gift from NRR. Nellie was wearing a trench coat over her normal clothes. Except she had taken out her nose ring and now had on a dirty blonde, longhaired wig.

"Now here are your tickets, passports, and Ids. We can't all leave at the same time or it will look suspicious. So Amy goes first, then you," she said pointing to Dan, "And then your ever faithful au pair goes last." "Okay. I won't question you right now." Amy said. She took off through the crowd toward the terminal Dan held his breath when she ran by the Kabras, but they didn't notice anything.

"You're turn dude, only don't go as fast as your sister did and don't go the same way." Dan nodded. "See you on the other side." He said to Nellie. He started speed walking to the terminal. When he got to the gate and handed his passport and ticket to the man, the official looked at it and said, "You don't look anything like Amy Cahill." He thought fast. "She's my… wife." He said. EEEWWWW! He thought. It was a miracle the man didn't notice the EW emotion on his face. He just nodded, gave Dan his passport, and let him pass. Dan went through the tube like thing that connected the plane to the building thinking that if Nellie and Amy had been there, Nellie would have laughed, and Amy would have thrown up. He decided to tell Amy so she would get in trouble on the airplane.

"Dude! Wait up!" He turned around. Nellie was right behind him. When she caught up he told her about the official incident. His hunch was correct. Nellie burst out laughing.

"Hey Amy, why are you just standing in the middle of the door?" Dan asked when his sister finally came into view. "STOP DAN! TURN AROUND AND RUN!" Amy shrieked. She had turned around enough to see him and was screaming at the top of her voice. Beyond her shoulder Dan saw the Lucian crest on the wall of the plane. He saw Ian jump out from behind her, put his hand over her mouth and started dragging her back into the plane. Amy bit his hand and got one word out before the dart hit his arm. "DAAAANNNNN!"

Chapter 3

Amy woke up in a cold, wet place. She had no idea where she was. What had happened?

Then it came back to her. She'd gotten on the plane only to find the Kabras smiling and shaking their heads. She'd started to backup when Natalie pulled out her dart gun. Then Dan and Nellie had come through the tube.

And she'd watched Dan fall and she didn't even see Natalie point the dart gun at her. And everything went black. What had happened to Dan? She'd tried so hard to protect him since the China incident.

She sat up. Where was she, and where were Dan and Nellie? "Dan?"

"Right here!" Dan called back to her. She stood up and walked to the sound. "Where are we?" "Well, if I knew I would have told you." Well, at least Dan was functioning enough to be annoying. "Where's Nellie?" Amy asked. "Over there, asleep." He jerked his thumb towards a middle sized black lump.

"How did she get us fake Ids'? And how did she know where our disguises and fake passports were?" "Once again, if I knew I'd tell you. I only know one thing, I didn't tell her." Amy raised her eyebrows. "Well neither did I." She said. He smiled. "Sure you didn't."

Amy looked around. It was useless of course; she couldn't see 10 feet in front of her. And the room was huge. She walked forward three feet, and hit a wall. "Who put dat there?" Dan said in a bad imitation of Scooby Doo.

"Um… Dan, come here, I hit something all gross and slimy with my hand. I want you to pick it up so we can take a closer look at it." Amy could tell Dan was annoyed. "Why is it that when you find something unpleasant-ish, I have to get it? I. Will. Not. Touch. It!" Dan said angrily. Amy thought hard. Who's his biggest role model? Amy thought. She smiled.

"I bet those ninjas would grab it. I guess you're not ready to be a ninja lord…" She heard Dan's sharp intake of breath. "You. Did. Not. Just. Go. There." Amy's smile grew wider. "Or those super heroes in your comics." She said evilly. "FINE…" Dan said. Mwa ha ha!

Just as Dan was moving toward the suspicious gross thing, He heard a voice come from it. Chuckling. But it was off. Like the person who was chuckling hardly ever laughed. And when he did, it was for the wrong reason. Picture the villain in your nightmares, or dreams if you were that kind of person, laughing at some joke you had told your friends.

Ian Kabra. I've gone insane. He thought. And Amy has too. He added soon after. He could see her face now. It was bone white.

"Why exactly do you want him to pick this up, Love?" The jerk. "1. D-d-do n-not call m-me that! My n-name is Amy! A.M.Y!" She screamed. "M-maybe you c-can stop l-looking in a mirror to k-k-know that!" Dan was impressed. That was a good burn for his sister. She must really be mad at Ian. "2. I t-thought there was something w-weird about it! And I w-was right, it h-has a jerk's voice!"

"Amy, please do not disturb my parents. They'll torture you worse than I will. I promise." "Why w-would I t-take you're word f-f-for it? Remember t-the c-cave in Korea?" Dan thought Ian sounded amused by Amy's shouting.

"Calm down, Amy. It was for the clue hunt. Now would you like to tell me what that business with the book was about? I know it was written about Anne Bonny and the author was Janus agent James Joyce, but…" Dan sighed. "Just get on with it Cobra." He said tiredly. "It's Kabra." Ian said. "I know that, but Amy and I call you that." Dan said. It took Ian awhile to answer. Dan had thought he'd fallen asleep.

"Humph." Ian sounded really offended. It was Amy who broke the silence. "Where are we?"

/-/-/

Ian couldn't imagine what was worse. Having a mother who tried to kill your crush, or having your crush call you a snake. I don't mean to do the things I do to her. And I don't mean the insults. What if he needed to change for Amy? He shook his head.

"You're in the Kabra dungeon…Amy." He had meant it when he called her love. It wasn't a joke or anything. "Um, just a quick question, why did you have Daniel read the book?" "Not telling." Dan said. "I wasn't asking you." Ian said. Both boys waited for Amy's reply. "Hey, H-how a-are we t-talking to y-you?" She asked. Well that was a start. "It's a bug." Ian said. "Gross." Dan said. "No, Dan. A listening bug. It is only wet and slimy because it is good camouflage for the high tech device." Ian said.

"WHOA! IAN KABRA JUST CALLED ME DAN! IT'S UN-FORMAL! HIS MOM WILL GET HIM!" Dan shouted. Ian grit his teeth. If he doesn't shut up soon, I will personally throw him into the viper pit… "In-formal." Amy corrected.

"Shut up Amy! No one cares!" Dan said. "Watch it Daniel. It's not her fault your grammar is horrible." Ian said. He smirked. A/N: I know it's not a great insult, but I want to keep it simple for my first fic.

/-/-/

"Now back to the question before, why did you let Daniel read the book?" Dan couldn't believe that Ian had just stood up for his sister. Obviously something was going on here. He had a feeling he knew what. He shook his head. That would be a living nightmare. Dan thought about different escape possibilities while trying to push the thought away.

"Let me see my laptop." He said urgently. "Or a pencil and paper or really anything that I can write on." He could hear Ian calling to someone for a pencil and paper.

"Ohhhh…" Nellie groaned from the corner. "Are you half awake now?" Amy asked. "Or close?" Dan muttered. "I'd go with Dan's suggestion." Nellie let out a huge yawn and stretched. "Where are we?" She asked. "Kabra Dungeon." Amy answered. "Uh oh, are they gonna eat us?" What made it funnier was Nellie looked really worried.

"Why do you want a piece of paper?" Asked the man that was at the airport with the Kabras. They'd been too busy talking to Nellie to notice the Kabras silently come in.

"We'll answer that when we get the paper, and when you tell us who you are." Amy said in a strong voice. Dan looked over at her with surprise. That wasn't like Amy.

"Fine. I'm Vikram Kabra. I'm Ian and Natalie's father." He gestured to his children. "And you will tell me now why you want the piece of paper."

"We don't have to use the paper you know. I happen to have a photographic memory. No need for paper or pencil. That was just out of convenience." Dan said. The man only smiled.

"Then how will you tell Amy where you think you should go? She can't read the piece of paper, and you can't tell her without us hearing." The man's smile grew wider.

Amy and Dan just laughed. How can we talk to each other? Is he serious? They looked up at Nellie. Both stopped laughing immediately. "They don't know, you guys." She said. Amy and Dan looked at the Cobras with surprise. "You really don't know?" Amy asked.

"AMY! DAN! RUN NOW!" A voice from the top of the stairs shouted at them. A section of the wall fell away as the man in black shoved a button. Dan was temporarily stunned.

Amy didn't waist any time. She grabbed at Dan, pulled him up, and raced to the wall that fell away. The Kabra children weren't moving; they just stared at the man in black. The adults were a different story. Vikram very nearly caught Amy, but she slid under his arms and kept running to the hole in the wall. Once they were both clear and running to the wall that fell away, Nellie risked a quick glance to the man in black. He nodded. She smiled and ran to the hidden tunnel, ready for anything that might be there. After all, that was part of her training.

Chapter 4

The door closed behind them with a thud.

Amy was hyperventilating. Nellie wished she had a paper bag.

"Quiet, Amy." Nellie said harshly. Really how hard is it to not hyperventilate? Amy looked at her, hurt. Dan was staring at her too.

"Sorry." She was actually. She didn't mean to say it to her like that. "I'm just a little… spooked." Nellie said. Amy stopped hyperventilating. Well, harsh but apparently effective. Nellie thought.

"We all are." Amy said. But Amy wouldn't meet her eyes. Oh no, what have they found out? They already know that wasn't my uncle on the phone in China. Everything's falling apart. They don't have one serum and they're way behind. The contest winners will be the ones who hit the hardest. But what if Amy and Dan aren't the strongest team? And they're stronger than most but those Kabras…

"How much can you do, Nellie?" Dan asked. Nellie thought about that. I'm capable of really anything. 5 languages, flying a plane, lip reading, persuasion, picking a lock, keeping cool under fire…

"Almost nothing." Nellie said. Amy looked like she wanted to say something extremely un-age appropriate. But she swallowed it. Nellie looked around.

"I bet this place hasn't been used for years. Gross…" She said to a rat in the corner. Amy slightly lifted her foot away from the corner slowly, as if she were afraid that any sudden movements would send it running right across her shoes.

"Come on." Dan said. He started to walk forward but was immediately hindered by the complete darkness ahead of him.

"Here." Amy said handing a flashlight she had just found in their backpacks. Dan nodded. He switched it on and sent it flying around the tunnel. Finally he focused it on the floor. Nellie gasped.

Right where the floor should be, there was a huge river. It was too deep to see the bottom of the river and swift enough to carry every one of the Holts away. Nellie looked at Amy's face. Dan would get in, but what about Amy? As if answering her thoughts Amy spoke one sentence.

"T-t-that c-current means there's a w-w-waterfall at t-the end." She stuttered. Dan sent the beam of light to the end of the underground river. Sure enough, there at the end there was a waterfall. There was a grunt behind Nellie and she whirled around. There was the man in black, and he was desperately trying to shove the door back into place. Apparently, one of the Kabra kiddos had pushed the button again. She could see Ian franticly pushing at the man in black, trying to get in.

"Get OUT!" The man in black yelled at them. Nellie didn't waste any time she saw Amy was momentarily fixated on the drawing of a map of the river on the wall. Wish she'd noticed that earlier. Nellie thought. She grabbed at Amy's shoulders and pushed just as the door burst open. Amy fell into the river with a splash. She franticly grabbed onto the stone floor where it dropped off. Even while grabbing the floor the current was still winning. Water rushed into her nose and mouth. Nellie saw her fingers loosen on the floor.

"AMY! LET GO!" Nellie yelled. Amy loosened her fingers a little more. Vikram grabbed Dan and started dragging him away. The man in black ran over to Vikram and hit him in the jaw. Vikram let go of Dan as a reflex. Dan ran to the water and jumped in. Amy immediately let go of the wall. Nellie ran in to the water soon after.

But Amy was still behind them. Isabel reached into the water and grabbed Amy's wrist. Amy struggled violently, but it was no use. Isabel bent back her index finger and a small needle protruded from it.

"Something I learned from Irina." She purred.

Amy pulled against Isabel's iron grip. But even with the current, it was no use. Isabel lowered her hand and Amy looked away. She cried out in pain when she felt the tear in her skin and immediately felt woozy. Her body went limp, and it was hard just to look at her arm. When she did she saw a narrow red line on her arm that was bleeding very badly. Isabel let go of her arm and Amy was whisked into the river. She wouldn't last long like this.

"HAVE FUN SWIMMING!" Isabel shouted and then she cackled. She saw Ian shouting and being restrained by his father, and Natalie was deathly pale.

The last thought Amy had as she drifted into a deep dark sleep was

I wish they had more courage.