The Hardy Boys Brothers Undercover and Nancy Drew Girl Detective

Author's note: Helloooo everyone I'm just pointing out that while I love the characters I'm not really good at mystery writing myself (suggestions are welcome)! Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon do.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?! DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Joe roared from his post - a bright purple beanbag chair on the floor amidst a smashed together collection of shelves and paperwork. "Quiet down, Joe…" Frank said warily, putting a hand to his temples. "Just because you don't have any sense of pop culture doesn't mean I can't!" Joe retorted.

"Whoah, whoah, whoah! Steady… steady- come on!" he urged his remote. Frank sighed and swung his legs off his stool by the kitchen table. Padding over to the fridge in his socks, he swung open the door and pulled out a carton of orange juice.

"Count me in!" Joe said with a nod aimed at the orange liquid swishing around in its container. Frank poured some into two tall glasses and handed one to his younger brother.

"Refreshing!" Joe commented, pausing his game briefly to slurp the juice through a straw. Frank finished his more slowly, his eyes focusing on the window next to him, his mind wandering.

"Bam- bam! Aha! Got you!" Joe's loud voice sliced into his thoughts like a knife on a watermelon. Gritting his teeth, Frank spun around. "Lower the volume." He growled.

"What? No way!" Joe shot back. "That's it!" Frank stood, seized the remote from Joe's hands, and clicked the TV off forcefully. "Sheesh, dude. What's got you all tied up?" Joe demanded, obviously annoyed.

"We're on a mission, Joe." Frank reminded him. "Yeah. I know. So?" Joe asked. "So," Frank continued. "We're supposed to be on alert. Ready for action. Not obsessively immersed in some kid game!"

"Or slumped over homework…" Joe pointed out with a significant glance at Frank's open laptop on the counter.

"And it's not a kid game, for your information, snooty pants. It's a rated teen game. So there. Go do some more homework so Ms. River will be all over you with joy. 'Look at Frankie, boys and girls, he does all his homework!'" Joe sniggered. Flushing, Frank flicked his brother's ear. "Shut up."

"Hey- did you- did you hear that?" Joe wondered quietly. Frank's head snapped sideways, ears straining for a source of the noise. CRASH! Joe sat bolt upright.

"Uh oh…" he murmured. "Uh oh is right! Quick! Let's go see what's going on…" Frank said. Both boys cautiously made their way over to where a gushing noise seemed to be coming.

"Here." Frank mouthed. "The bathroom?" Joe mouthed back incredulously. Frank rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, bro." Joe snickered softly.

He pushed open the door a crack. Instantly, he was thrown off of his feet by a strong current of water. Sopping wet and spluttering, Joe picked himself up. "What the heck was that?" he asked.

Frank's eyes shone with laughter but he didn't dare grin. He was a mature older brother, and he prided himself for that. It took every bit of strength in him to keep from chuckling at the sight of the disheveled Joe, but he would manage.

A mop held high above his head, ready to strike any attacker, he made his way inside the bathroom, water sloshing at his ankles. From outside the room, he could hear Joe's hoarse coughs.

"Who's there?" he demanded in what he considered to be his most menacing voice. There was no answer. "Come out and fight!" Joe shouted, appearing at Frank's shoulder armed only with his short blond, wet hair.

"Don't sound so eager, he or she might not take us too seriously." Frank reprimanded under his breath. "Why would anyone take a sopping wet guy seriously?" Joe asked, eyebrows raised. Frank cleared his throat. He would not laugh. "Doesn't seem like anyone's here." Joe concluded at last.

"Yeah, guess not…" Frank said sheepishly. "I bet it's a pipe problem- we should probably call a plumber…" Joe suggested. "Yep." Frank said, blushing for the second time that day.

"Man. I guess we… overreacted." Joe said once they had both had long, warm showers.

"We're too used to noises like that not being a plumber issue." Frank said with a nod. "Yeah! I mean, did you hear the crack that thing made? Sounded like a bb gun backfiring to me!" Joe burst. Frank hummed his agreement, lost in thought.

"What are you thinking?" Joe asked in a low tone. "That… that- maybe this wasn't a mistake." Frank mused. Joe scoffed. "And here I thought you were the fast learner! Haven't you caught on? It was just a toilet gurgling!" he said.

"That could have killed you!" Frank exclaimed, livid. "Nah, the great Joe Hardy isn't going to get mauled by some toilet puking up water, ok?" Joe grinned. "Joe," Frank said tensely. "Don't be an idiot. The toilet wasn't wired to blast whoever opens the door down. Say a chunk of metal was in the water and hit you in the head- or you were knocked off your feet and had a bad landing. I don't know! But this definitely doesn't seem to be just a problem with our hotel's sewer system- I feel it." "Hm… I honestly don't think so, but… you're- you. So keep thinking. In the meantime…" Joe snuck a devious look at the big, dark screened TV.

"No, Joe!" Frank said, throwing up his hands. Joe made a pouty face and groaned, flopping back onto his bed. "You know…" he began. Frank looked up from the book cover he had been examining. "You know… I think we should call in Nancy."

"Are you kidding?" Frank demanded. "Nope. Let's do it." Joe grabbed his phone. "You're ego let you?" Frank asked, amused. "Oh ha ha!" Joe said sarcastically. He punched in his password and dialed their friend. "Hello?" a sleepy voice asked. "Hey- is this Nancy?" Joe asked into his cellphone.

"Nuh uh- I'm Benny… uh, just a kid she's babysitting." The voice said. "Oh. Ok. Hey- Benny, think you could pass the phone to her?" Joe wondered. "Uh- sure! Nancy! Hey! Nancy!" they heard the boy scream. "Coming, coming…" a distant female voice replied. A door slammed and then they heard her.

"What's going on, Ben?" she asked. "Nuthin. Just some dudes who called." Benny replied. "Hm… I wasn't expecting a call. Ok. I left some carrot sticks out on the table, go eat those, ok?" Nancy pressed her charge.

"Uh huh." And Benny took off. "Hello?" Nancy pressed the phone to her ear. "Yo Nance! I called, like, a month ago! Nice of you to finally drop by!" Joe said. Frank elbowed him in the ribs.

Nancy laughed from the other end. "Sorry- gardening, you know. So what's up?" she asked them. "Not much." Joe started. "Uh… where's Frank? He's not kidnapped is he?" Nancy inquired, concerned. "Maybe…" Joe said lightly.

"Give me that!" Frank lunged for the Apple device. "No! Get your own!" Joe protested, wrestling for his phone. "Joe? Are you ok? You sound like you're being mugged… where are you? I can head over now if you like." Nancy said.

"Yeah…" Joe said, yanking his phone away from his brother. "Fine." "Not kidnapped!" Frank grunted into the phone, pinning the struggling Joe down. "Get off!" Joe got the upper hand and in two seconds Franks head collided with the coffee table and then with the hard wood floor. "JOE!" Frank roared.

"Are you boys alright?" Nancy demanded, sounding alarmingly close to calling the police. "Yes," Frank said, snatching the phone back. "Everything is fine- was fine until Joe decided to be a jerk."

"Hey Frank!" Nancy said cheerfully, completely ignoring the scuffle between the brothers. Joe and Frank grinned. That was just one of the things of what they liked about her. She seemed to understand their need to fight once in a while, and never bothered to scold them or try to correct them about it like other people did. "Hey…" Frank greeted back.

"Put it on speaker, then!" Joe panted, sweaty. "Gross, man. You literally just took a shower." Frank told him. "Yeah, but then you thought it was ok to tackle me and steal my phone." Joe shot back.

"Point taken." Frank said with a shrug. He pressed the speaker button and Nancy's voice filled the room. "So… do you need help on a case?" she asked slyly.

"How did you guess?" Joe asked at the same time as Frank said, "I know, we're pathetic." "I'd be happy to help! And it's fine to need some! I've asked you guys a couple of times." Nancy said. "We know, Frank's just got a big pride, poor guy…" Joe replied.

"Joe we will talk after this." Frank said in a stern whisper. "Sure thing, Frank." Joe said, with every bit of bravado he normally used, but his eyes were lowered in a sort of meek apprehension. "Anyway…" Frank said, running his hands through his hair.

"So where should I get plane tickets to?" Nancy asked excitedly. "Uh…" Frank whipped around to Joe. "Hm…" "Where are we again?" "Let me see…" "Hey Siri!" "One sec, Nance…" "Oh yeah! Some far-off cottage in Chinkotage. It's in the middle of nowhere. Shouldn't be hard to spot." Joe answered after a moment of squinting at a jumble of lengthy articles on Wikipedia.

"Gotcha. Should I be going now or…" Nancy pressed. "Yup. We're here now. Thanks so much, Nancy…" Frank said. "No, thank you guys! I've been bored out of my mind at home these past months… no mysteries!" Nancy remarked. The three burst out laughing.

"See you soon!" Joe told her. Then they ended the call. "Presto! We've got help. And that, that is how you do it!" Joe exclaimed, slamming a fist down on the table. "True." Frank said softly. "Now can I?" Joe glanced hungrily at the green remote lying discarded on the rug.

"Sure, go ahead. You deserve it buddy. Tomorrow? It's gonna be tough." Frank foretold. "Hey- how do you know?" Joe asked, settling down with a big box of popcorn. "Don't ask." Frank said with a small smile. Joe wasn't listening anymore, though. His eyes were glued on the screen as he brought a handful of popcorn to his mouth.

Shaking his head, Frank made his way back to his computer.