A/N: Thank you to LazyPanther, max2013, Caranath, bookaholic2000, guest, FreshKicks, and VerityD for your reviews, and also to those of you who read, followed, and favorited the story. I greatly appreciate it. I hope you enjoy part two!
"Nancy!" Fenton Hardy looked up with concern when Nancy entered the hospital waiting room. "Are you sure you should be out of bed?" Frank, who'd been talking to his father, jumped out of his seat and offered her an arm to steady her, but she just shook her head.
In truth, she wasn't sure she was technically supposed to be out of bed, but she'd been too stir-crazy to stay there for long. "I just wanted to see if my father was here yet." Carson had had to return to River Heights for the bulk of the Bellamy investigation, but had bought a plane ticket back to Philadelphia upon hearing of Nancy's injuries, regardless of her insistence that she was fine.
Fenton gave her a stern look that was, indeed, very reminiscent of Carson. "I believe we told you that he would be in to see you as soon as he got here." he reminded her, letting her know that he didn't think much of her excuse for being up and about. He checked his watch. "Although, as it happens, I need to be off soon to pick him up at the airport." He looked at her expectantly. "Can I walk you back to your room?"
"Actually..." Nancy reached over and took the arm Frank had just offered her. "I was hoping I could convince Frank to take me down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee."
"I'm sure he'd be happy to bring you one." Fenton said, hiding a smile.
Nancy shook her head. "He never fixes it right unless I'm there." she accused, secretly enjoying the way Frank fought not to roll his eyes.
"We'll be quick." Frank promised his father, taking up her case. "She'll be back in her room before you get back with Mr. Drew."
Fenton nodded. "Make sure that she is. I don't want Carson thinking I'm a party to Nancy's disregarding doctors' orders." He shrugged into his jacket then, sending Nancy a smile. "Maybe you can get him to lighten up a bit, Nancy. You'd think solving a high-profile murder would put him in a better mood!"
Frank shook his head as his father left, then covered her hands with his other hand, steering them both towards the hospital cafeteria. "So how are you really feeling?" he asked.
"Sore." Nancy admitted. "All over my body. I don't remember the actual crash, but these bruises are really giving me new respect for the term 'hard water.'"
"Yeah..." Frank said softly, not elaborating. Nancy could see now what Fenton had meant by Frank being moody.
"I'm a fast healer though." she reminded him brightly. "The bruises will be gone soon enough. In fact... what say we forget the coffee and you just sneak me out of here right now?" She gave him a cheeky grin to let him know she was teasing.
"Hm, I don't know, Nan." he raised an eyebrow, teasing her back, "You might get some stares strolling around Philly in that getup."
Nancy looked down at what she was wearing: two hospital gowns, the second one worn backwards and cinched around her waist like a robe. She laughed. "I'd get a lot more stares strolling around in just one." she said. "I made Joe steal me an extra so I could walk around without flashing everybody."
Frank smiled tightly, not saying anything.
Ah. Nancy thought. She wasn't exactly surprised to find out that Joe was the source of Frank's bad-moodiness, but it was still a little worrisome.
They reached the cafeteria and grabbed a couple of cups of coffee before sitting down in a booth in the corner. Nancy nursed her cup slowly, not wanting to have to return to her room too soon. "You don't have to be so mad at Joe." she said finally. "He's punishing himself better than anyone else could."
Frank snorted. "I can't believe you're letting him off that easy."
"Who said anything about letting him off easy?" Nancy grinned. "He's bending over backwards to be nice to me. I can get him to do anything I want. I'm really enjoying it."
Frank pushed his cup of coffee aside. "Nan..."
The smile fell from her face as their eyes met across the table. Frank could always see what she was thinking; there was no use trying to deny it. "All right, I'm mad." she admitted. "No, you know what, it's not even that I'm mad. I'm freaked out."
"Of course you are. You almost died today." Frank said quietly.
"It's not that, exactly..." Nancy mused, idly tracing the patterns on the tabletop with the tip of her finger. "I've had plenty of close calls. It's just, I guess I'm not used to us making mistakes on cases—any of us. Before, we seemed invincible. We always knew what to do. Now it's like, we can make bad judgment calls and they could get us killed. And if it can happen to Joe, it can happen to me."
Frank placed his hand on top of hers, stilling her fingers. "Are you okay?"
It was a question she couldn't really answer. What did you say when your whole worldview had suddenly shifted, however slightly? When you learned that the people you trusted to catch you could let you fall? Or worse, that you could fail someone who trusted you? "I'll manage." she said finally.
"This whole case sucked."
"Yeah, it did." Nancy agreed, withdrawing her hand. She took a sip of hot coffee, hiding her smile behind her cup as she said, "I liked my last undercover job a lot better."
Frank smiled, for real this time, and a warmth bloomed in Nancy's stomach that had nothing to do with the coffee. "Me too." he said. She had just enough time to blush before he continued, "This isn't how I thought things would be, between us, after that."
Nancy didn't know what to say. As they'd wrapped up their last case, in Egypt, undercover as a married couple, she and Frank had mutually agreed that things wouldn't change between them, that they would remain nothing more than close friends despite the romantic tension they'd both felt simmering under the surface. "What did you think would be different?"
He shrugged. "I didn't think we'd be working against each other. I didn't think we'd all be at each other's throats. I never thought Joe would do something like this..." He ran a hand through his hair, the way he always did when he was deep in thought. "I was kind of nervous about working with you again."
"Why?" Nancy asked, almost shyly.
"I guess I was worried that I'd screw up with you again, cross a line, do something unprofessional." Frank said, staring into his coffee. "Shouldn't have worried. Joe took care of that for the both of us."
"What?" Nancy frowned. "First of all, I don't lump you and Joe together like that. And second, Joe's sabotaging this investigation is nothing like what happened in Egypt."
"It might be connected, though... Joe was acting a little jealous since you came on the scene of the Bellamy case. I figured he just felt left out because you and I worked so well together. I really never guessed he'd get Brenda involved just to mess things up for you." Frank said. "That first morning on the case, you told Buff you were lucky you had two guys in the city you could rely on." he continued guiltily. "I can't stop thinking about that."
"That hasn't changed." Nancy said with a soft smile. "Of course I still trust you both. You would never hurt me intentionally, and I know Joe wouldn't either. Heck, you proved today for the hundredth time that I can trust you with my life. I don't blame Joe for what happened, and I certainly don't blame you."
"I blame him." Frank said seriously, so quietly that Nancy might not have heard him if he hadn't had her complete attention.
She stared at him. It was not the kind of thing she'd ever expected to hear Frank Hardy say about his brother. "What?"
"I know you're right, that he made a dumb mistake, and that the fact that it happened to put you in danger was just bad luck and lousy timing. But when I saw the flaming wreckage of that boat, I thought... If you had died, Nan, how could I have ever forgiven him? I would have lost you both."
"Frank..."
"I know it's the big elephant in the room, the one we're not supposed to talk about, but you're special to me, Nancy."
He was right; he wasn't supposed to say things like that, not now, not to her, despite that they both knew they were true. Slowly, Nancy put down her coffee and scooted out of the booth, coming around to the other side of the table to slide in beside him. Her abused body protested the movements, but she needed to be closer to him. "I'm alive."
Frank reached over and pushed a few strands of hair off her face before running his thumb over her cheekbone, tracing the outline of her black eye. "You weren't breathing."
She was having a hard time breathing now, too, and it had nothing to do with her injuries or the near-drowning. "I'm alive." she repeated, ignoring the little shiver that went through her. "You and Joe saved me... although I'm trying really hard not to think about him doing CPR on me." she joked weakly.
He didn't smile.
"Hey... we'll get past this, Frank. It will just take a little time." She had managed to smooth things over so easily with Joe, and she wished she could do the same to ease Frank's mind. "Joe's not ever going to do anything like this again, and you guys will go right back to normal. And you and I..." she trailed off and shrugged.
Finally, his expression softened. "Will go right back to normal." he finished with a half-smile.
"Exactly." she agreed, nudging him with her shoulder and regretting it when it set her arm throbbing.
He noticed; of course he did. "We'd better get you back to your room. Let's go, Drew."
Nancy complied, scooting out of the booth regretfully. "But it's so boring..."
"Get Joe to get you a crossword puzzle or something." Frank said, leading her out of the cafeteria with a gentle hand on the small of her back.
Nancy laughed. "That's the spirit. But you're thinking too small. I bet I can get him to put on a puppet show."
Frank couldn't bite back a smile of his own at the thought. "Doubtful."
"You're on." Nancy shot back with a grin. It would be worth making the request just to see the look on Joe's face... and Frank's.
The looming shock of her near-death experience was beginning to fade, as it always did, and there was no doubt in Nancy's mind that she'd been right when she told Frank that they would be back to normal by the time the next case rolled around.
They always were.
