Frank Hardy awoke quite suddenly when his five-year-old daughter took a running swan dive right next to him on the double bed. He yelled in surprise and instinctively rolled off the bed, taking cover over the side. Getting his bearings, his heart slowed down and he managed a tired laugh as he got back in bed and took Annie in his arms.

"Now I don't need an alarm clock or a cup of coffee!" the 34-year-old teased as he began to tickle. He made a mental note to speak to her about this sometime; with his type of job and training, his startle response might be more dangerous than a typical father's. But he kind of enjoyed this, too.

It was Annie's turn to be the victim, and she giggled involuntarily while frantically trying to escape his arms and fingers. Finally she broke free and held her sides, catching her breath and looking at him warily.

Frank gave her an "I'm watching you" look as he ran a hand through unruly hair. He frowned. "Where's your mom?" he asked, getting out of bed and stretching. "She usually wakes me up."

"There's a note on your dresser," Annie said helpfully.

"Thanks, sweetie." Annie handed it to him and watched as he read. A shadow crossed his face, then his eyes narrowed like he was very angry, then his forehead crinkled up like it did when he was worried.

"What is it, Daddy?" Annie asked quietly. "Where's Mommy?"

He turned widened eyes on hers, and sucked in a breath through his nostrils. Nancy obviously hadn't meant for their daughter to be present as he read this note, but he resented her for putting him in this situation nonetheless. "Annie…" how could he comfort her when he needed comfort himself? "Cupcake, you remember those few talks that Mommy and I have had with you, about the kinds of jobs that we have?"

"Dangerous," Annie said, echoing her parents' word. "Like you could get hurt one day. Is Mommy hurt?"

"No, I don't think so." Frank took her on his lap. "But Mommy has gone to work on one of her dangerous detective cases. She didn't tell us about it because she wants us to be safe even if she can't be."

Annie blinked. She was too young to understand, and wouldn't feel the emotions that Frank did right now. "Well…when is she going to come back?" she asked slowly.

"I don't know, honey." Frank gave her a hug. He turned her around. "But Annie, I'm going to go try to find her and help her with what she's doing. You know how we always tell you that people who love each other try to help each other."

"But then it will be dangerous for you, too," Annie said.

Looking into her tiny brown eyes, Frank almost changed his plan. Almost. "Yes, it will be. But you know that the bad guys haven't beaten us yet, and Mommy and I have been doing this for many years."

"So when will you be coming home?" Annie repeated.

"I don't know that, either. But you're going to be staying with Grandma and Grandpop for a while. Your mom and I love you so, so much…" Frank's voice broke.

"But I love you, so I should help you and come with you," Annie reasoned.

"No!" Frank said sharply, and regretted it when she flinched. "The best thing you can do now is love Grandma and Grandpop like they were your own parents." He fervently wished that this would be a temporary situation. He hugged her until she gasped for breath. "Let's pack both of our bags together," he said.

Two hours later he paced in front of his brother's desk at the Hardy Detective Agency. Their father had retired early last year, and Nancy continued with her freelance detective work, refusing a job offer with him or any other established firm. "You're my better half, Frank, but I can't be the wife living in her husband's shadow," he remembered her saying.

Joe read slowly out loud. "Frank, I love you and Annie with every cell of my body. Revenant has resurfaced, and I have been called back to Scotland until this crisis has been dealt with. I am leaving you this note out of respect, and please, please don't do something rash and make me regret it. Believe me that I saw no other alternative than to do this. I love you both very much and I hope very much to see you two again soon. Love always, Nancy." Joe could see the small wrinkled circles where Nancy's tears had fallen. He let the note drop onto his desk and looked up, searching Frank's face. He let the silence settle until Frank decided to break it.

Frank's pacing had only increased in tempo. "I can't believe she would do this," he repeated. "Now I know why she was so restless and distracted the past few days."

Joe stood up and walked around his desk, leaning behind it. He didn't dare put a comforting hand on Frank in this current mood. "I'm assuming you dropped off Annie's at Mom and Dad's," he said gently.

"A half hour ago." Frank again yanked his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture. "What does she expect me to do, how does she expect me to live with myself if something happens? She would never sit here and do nothing if our places were reversed."

"Frank," Joe said, leaning forward. "What are you planning, bro?"

"I'm going to go after her, of course."

Joe sighed loudly and shook his head, earning him Frank's wrath. Frank turned sharply to face him. "Joe, we both know what I'm going to say, and what you're going to say, and what I'm going to say again, so why don't we save ourselves forty-five minutes and you can at least give me some kind of advice without sending me out there blind?"

"You know that I gave up my terrorism prevention work when Vanessa had our first child," Joe said firmly. "I have nothing to contribute to this conversation."

"You've got to call your connections, please," Frank pleaded, coming closer and putting a hand on each of Joe's shoulders. "Call in favors, whatever—all I need is information to get started."

"Never would they ever give me that kind of information when I'm not on the active list, and there would be quite a few hoops to jump through to get back on the active list, which I don't want to do anyway. And there's an infinitely smaller chance that they would give information to a frantic husband who would be absolutely no help, and be a potential hostage if he got in the way. Then what kind of corner would Nancy be backed into? She'll have to worry about you and forget about the mission, when you're supposed to be saving her. From my experience, this sounds like the kind of job where she'll use her connections to infiltrate their plan, end it quickly, and be back in a few days."

"If all goes well." Joe said nothing to that. Frank returned to pacing, this time throwing a pen up and down distractedly. "Joe, you know I'm going to do this with or without your help. But without it will be much more difficult."

"You don't have the luxury of that choice anymore, Mr. Hardy," Joe said vehemently, not moving from his position. "You've got a daughter. How would you like her to have no parents instead of one?"

This was exactly the blow that he knew would hit Frank the hardest. Frank stopped and bent over as if he were in pain, gripping his knees and squeezing his eyes tightly shut. Several moments passed.

Then Frank stood up and turned around, with a look that Joe always referred to as "the calm after the storm." Joe felt a chill. "I'll tell you what I wouldn't like," Frank said, carefully choosing his words. "I wouldn't like to see an exact repeat of what happened to Carson Drew thirty years ago. He was in this same scenario, did nothing in the name of his daughter, and had nightmares about it until the day he died of colon cancer several years ago."

Joe said nothing. He looked weary. "Let me go instead of you," he tried, and Frank rolled his eyes in disgust. Joe grunted and rubbed his cheek, once more approaching his brother, although this time without hope. "Frank," he said in a low voice. "I think this is the stupidest, most egotistical thing you will ever do in your life. Nancy has information and resources that you don't. She doesn't need a knight in shining armor."

Frank closed his eyes. "So you won't help me, then?"

"I couldn't even if I wanted to," Joe answered. "I'm out of that game." He looked at Frank meaningfully. "But we both know who might."

Frank suddenly looked and felt ten years older. "Oh, God," he breathed and slumped into the nearest chair.

"Here's the phone." Joe handed it to him. "Good luck." He patted his brother twice on the back before giving him his privacy.

Frank stared listlessly into the air until he heard the dial tone replaced by a series of rapid beeps. Then he forced himself to focus, quickly looking up a phone number in his databases on the internet. He rolled his shoulders back twice, sat up straight, and hesitatingly forced himself to dial the area code plus seven digits.

"Hello," he croaked when a voice picked up, and cleared his throat. "Hello, is this Ned?"

"Who is this?" a suspicious, gruff voice questioned, probably expecting a telemarketer.

"Ned, this is Frank Hardy." Frank hurried on, afraid that Ned would hang up. "Nancy's in trouble. She needs your help."