and Lies
Author's Note: Right now I should be reading Huck Finn. Everyone wants a continuation so here it is…
Disclaimer: The author of this story (me) does not own the respective characters. She intends no copyright infringement.
-NDHB-
The sky was gray overcast but the coast was clear.
For two years Nancy Drew had worked her way up the ladder; she was now in the top position at her field office. Even though she technically did not have a field office.
When she finished Specialized Training with the Network, she had started her job at the Chicago Tribune. After a major injury in the line of duty, performing her job as a Network agent, she quit that position at the newspaper. Five months later she was working at the New York Times and living in New York.
Nancy was silently creeping up a hill in northern California. Her job for this mission was to break into the house and plant bugs-the spying kind. They would be spying on no one: in reality, this was all an elaborate training exercise.
It still had to go off without a hitch; after all, if the practice is perfect, the real mission will be perfect too. Nancy picked her lock-picking kit out of her belt. Within two minutes, she was inside.
"No alarms were tripped," she heard through her earpiece. Nancy knew it was Adam Hornpipper on the other end. He had drawn surveillance this time around and was not happy about it. Nancy Drew did not particularly like him.
She had fought against having him placed on her team because she felt he was a risk. He only gave his best when he was the one in the field and resented anyone who was placed there when he was not.
Nancy quickly planted the first bug in the kitchen and moved down the hall. She stopped in the study to plant two more-one on the phone and one with a view of the computer. If Intel was to be believed, the house was clear. Nancy was not going to trust them, and knew the house was more than likely not empty.
She was proven correct when she rounded a corner to the living room.
-NDHB-
Frank and Joe Hardy were both terrorists. Or they were for the day anyway.
They had been asked to help another team on a training mission. Both together held the top position at their field office in Albany. When they were not working there, they lived in Bayport and worked at their detective agency: Hardy Bros. Detective Agency. Joe had gone through Specialized Training with the CIA a year after Frank finished his with the FBI. Both at the top of their class.
Frank had not mentioned Nancy to Joe when they met up after Frank finished his training. Nancy and Frank had trained together. So, it was a surprise to Joe when Nancy Drew rounded the corner of the living room. He was a second too slow and his vest went off.
The vests he, Frank, and Nancy wore were wired to go off when you were "shot" with the fake weapons. Joe had been shot dead center in his chest.
Frank spun at the sound off a weapon discharging. His gun was already up and he squeezed off a shot hitting Nancy in the arm. Nancy also fired again, hitting Frank in the leg. She ducked back behind the wall and took off for the kitchen. "I was made," she talked into the mike.
"Okay," Adam talked back. "What do you want me to do?"
Nancy took the stairs in the kitchen to the second story. "I want," she replied exasperated, "to get my backup in here!" She stopped at the door to the bedroom. "I'm coming out of the master bedroom balcony."
Nancy planted the final bug in the bedroom and opened the door to the balcony. Behind her, she heard Frank opening the guest room door. Nancy quickly flipped herself off the balcony and lowered herself to the ground, a story below.
Her team met her there.
Upstairs, Frank had opened the door to the master bedroom. He saw the open door to the balcony, raised his weapon, and walked onto the balcony. Below he saw four men; taking a sniper's position, he shot two in the head.
The rest of the men on the ground reacted and started firing up at him.
That was when the call came through the earpieces they all wore, "Penguin." It sounded stupid, but it was the end word for the game. After all, why would someone say "penguin" on a normal mission?
All firing stopped. Frank went down the stairs to the kitchen where Nancy, Joe, and the rest of Nancy's team were gathered. They seemed as surprised as he was at the interruption.
The Gray Man joined them before Nancy or Frank could greet each other. "Agents," he addressed. "Sorry to break up your little training mission. We have a real world situation. It seems someone has assassinated the White Man. He had already announced his successors, so I was sent to retrieve you."
Glances were exchanged between all of the agents present. None of them seemed to know who the successor was. Some of them probably did not even know who the White Man was. Nancy, Frank, and Joe had each met him on several occasions. In fact…
"So, if Agents Hardy and Agent Drew would come with me," the Gray Man continued, "We need to get to Washington DC."
-NDHB-
The Gray Man left them to board the private jet that would take them to Washington DC. Joe was the first to break the silence. "So, Nancy, when did you join the Network?" he questioned.
Nancy glanced at Frank. "I have been with the Network for about two years officially," she explained. Why didn't Frank mention training with me? Nancy was now staring at Frank. She was trying to decide why he would not have told Joe.
Joe was oblivious to the stares. "Really? That was when Frank joined officially too. Isn't that a coincidence?"
Frank could tell Nancy was trying to decide why he had not mentioned training with her. I don't know why, he told her silently. Would you like to tell him? Frank caught Nancy's "yes" and knew she wanted him to tell Joe. "Actually, Joe," he admitted, "Nancy and I trained together."
Joe sat down in the seat facing Frank and Nancy. "Why didn't you mention that earlier?"
Frank shrugged his shoulders. Turning to Nancy he questioned, "How are Bess and George?"
Nancy knew Frank did not want to discuss his reasons for not telling Joe so she went with the conversation change. "Bess is in a soap opera now. She still does jobs Off-Broadway. George just finished her residency. She's getting married to Ross in the summer sometime."
Frank and Nancy continued to share small talk, but Joe tuned them out.
Why wouldn't Frank mention seeing and training with Nancy to me? Maybe they had a huge fight? Looking at them, however, convinced Joe they had not fought. Neither let grudges go easily. They talked like they had when they were younger. Only maybe there is some understanding there, Joe decided. Something you get when you love someone and both parties know it.
Joe knew Frank had always liked Nancy he had suspected the same of Nancy. Because Nancy and Frank were both seeing other people, they never tested their feelings.
When they would have gone to Specialized Training, they were not seeing anyone else. "What happened between you two?" he blurted.
Frank and Nancy both looked up from their conversation, surprise written on their faces. They glanced at each other, and Joe could see the conversation they were having through their eyes. He did not understand a word of it, of course. Frank took the lead, "What do you mean?"
"When you were at the FBI Academy for training. What happened?" he clarified.
"Nothing," Nancy answered. She turned back to Frank and they continued their discussion about her father's recent heart attack.
Joe did not believe them for five seconds; then he decided that "nothing" made sense. They always did need a push.
-NDHB-
Two days later, Frank and Nancy sat on the deck of their new home.
Joe, Frank, and Nancy were now sharing this home as the head of the Network. It had happened so fast. They had a lot of catching up to do, which was why they had agreed to meet for breakfast instead of just rushing off to their respective offices to settle business.
They had to move in here and sell their apartments.
Frank and Joe had to close their detective agency, with a lot of explaining to their parents.
Nancy had to hand in her letter of resignation to the New York Times.
"Joe isn't going to show up," Nancy decided.
"No," Frank agreed. "He wants us to settle this."
Nancy laughed, "He doesn't realize it is settled."
Frank smiled and leaned over to kiss Nancy. "So when do you think he will discover it?"
Nancy kissed him back, and moved onto his lap. "You'd think with him being this great detective he would already know."
-NDHB-
A/N: I hope you liked it. Did it live up to your hopes?
~ladybug1115