Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thank you: Wendylouwho10 as always for being my sounding board and flow checker. ;-D Typos and grammar errors are mine.

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Continues my "Taken" series. This one comes after "Mission Parameters." Setting started out as kinda blue spine with a touch of Casefiles and is now very AU. F/19 J/18.

Author's Notes: Surprise! An early chapter! Questions posed by Cherylann in the last story led me to write this section of the story that carries over through a few chapters. ;-D Thanks for the questions Cherylann!


Chapter Three

Early November…

Callie flopped onto the lower bunkbed in the dorm room she shared with Vanessa. Callie had claimed the lower one citing her shorter legs as the best reason for her to have it. Vanessa had laughingly agreed. The room was decorated in the girls' favorite colors: purple for Vanessa and navy blue for Callie. Callie rolled to her stomach and pulled up a picture on her phone and used one of the filters from a popular photo app to distort the picture. Her laughter continued as she looked at moustache that had been added to Frank's face. "I'm telling you Vanessa, you just have to try it!"

Vanessa looked over at Callie from her spot at the desk. "Okay," she unlocked her phone and then signed into the app download site. Tossing her phone over to Callie, she said, "Here. Download the app for me."

Callie picked up the phone, found the app, and started the download. "I'm telling you it's fun!"

Vanessa didn't look away from her laptop but Callie could hear the smile in her voice as she said in what would have been a condescending tone, if she weren't joking, "Sure it is. I'm sure everyone is doing it."

Callie laughed some more and threw a small stuffed animal at Vanessa's back. Vanessa just laughed and kept typing on her report.

"It just seems way too early in the semester to have a report due and really, who needs to do another report on ancient Egypt?" Vanessa murmured as she worked.

"Egypt, huh? Then I think we should find something that adds an Egyptian headdress and maybe that beard thing," Callie joked. "Let me find that picture of you and Joe from Frank's graduation—" Callie's voice suddenly cut off. She stared at the image on the phone. It was Frank and Vanessa… and they were kissing.

"Hey, why did you—?" Vanessa began and then stopped.

Callie could see her moving toward her and she looked up but pulled Vanessa's phone close to her chest. Hurt and betrayal reflected in her eyes. "Just a mission together. Nothing big you said. We're just working together Frank said." Her eyes went back to the picture and her eyes blurred from the tears gathering there. She saw Vanessa sit down on the end of the bed.

"I promise there wasn't any kissing. That's a photo-shopped picture. Frank and I we didn't—" Her hand waved at the picture. "I was supposed to delete that—"

"And that makes it all better?" Callie asked angrily. Her blood was heating up now. One of her best friends and her boyfriend had lied about their cover on the mission, or at the very least left a lot out. What if they weren't telling her everything? Callie looked at the image on the screen one more time and then she tossed the phone to Vanessa. "I need to talk to Frank," she said hurriedly and then added with some sarcasm, "Would you mind leaving so I can talk to my boyfriend?"

"Sure. No problem," Vanessa said hurriedly and left the room.

Callie stared at her phone blindly as tears spilled over her cheeks. Words she's said almost a year ago came back to her as she remembered joking with Frank that she was glad that Vanessa had been more of Joe's partner than his. She had thought nothing of letting her boyfriend and good friend go off to assist the government. Nothing would happen. Not with Frank. She cried some more and grabbed a tissue to blow her nose. Picking the phone back up, she called Frank.

.**********.

Vanessa leaned against the wall outside the dorm room. She could hear Callie's raised voice. Vanessa moved a couple of steps down the corridor and called Joe. She put a hand to her head as she closed her eyes. Joe picked up and she said, "We've got a problem."

.**********.

Fifteen minutes later Joe was standing outside of Callie and Vanessa's dorm room. "Good luck," Vanessa said as she moved down the hall to wait.

Joe knocked on the door.

"Go away, Vanessa, I'm not ready for you to come back in yet." Then he heard movement inside. "But then there's no use delaying the inevi—" Callie stopped as she opened the door to see Joe, not Vanessa.

"Hi," he said softly. "Can I come in?"

Callie appeared to be struck mute as she backed out of the way and let Joe in. She closed the door behind him while he went to the desk and seated himself there facing her.

"Vanessa called you?" Callie said defensively as she crossed her arms in front of her.

"Yeah, she did. She thought that I might be able to defuse the situation where she couldn't." He paused and added, "I talked to Frank." He watched Callie turn away to get a tissue.

"Yeah?"

"Vanessa showed me the picture you saw. You know it was photo-shopped?"

Callie turned back to him in anger. "So what if it was? You have to know that to have a picture like that, it was because their cover was more than just friends." She spat the last word out and then sank on her bed. "How can I trust her? How can I trust, Frank? How can I not wonder what he's doing when he goes off on these assignments?" Her voice was now beaten and weak.

"You can trust him because I do," Joe said with all the conviction that he felt. Callie looked up. "I learned about their mission right after I got back from my training out west." Joe smiled at the memory. "I was ticked off to say the least, so I know where you're coming from. But you have to know that they didn't enjoy it."

"Just how far did they go?" Callie asked with a hint of fear in her eyes.

Joe kept his gaze locked on Callie. "Hand-holding. Dancing. Kiss on the cheek. Hugs. Nothing more. Even if they had kissed, and they didn't, it would have only been as part of the job. They would have hated it."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because Frank's my brother and he would never betray me with Vanessa and she would never betray me with Frank. You have to know that." Joe watched her head dip down as she played with the tissue. "You do know that don't you? One photo-shopped picture can't change what you and Frank have had for years, can it?"

He watched Callie as her shoulders heaved out a sigh. "I was angry. I just came across that photo out of nowhere and then all I could think about was them being alone together on a mission." She shrugged but kept her eyes down. "I remember last December thinking that you and Vanessa were more than casual friends on your mission… and my imagination took hold." She looked up at him, "Especially since they didn't tell me anything about it."

"Because there wasn't anything to tell and nothing they were allowed to tell. You have to remember that from last summer." She nodded and he continued, "Frank and Vanessa didn't do anything to violate either of our relationships."

Callie looked steadily at him and nodded. "You know what their mission was?" He nodded. "You have no doubts about them?"

"None."

Callie started crying and Joe was at a loss, he thought he had gotten through to her. "Callie…"

"Oh, Joe. I said some horrible things to Frank. I said horrible things about Vanessa to him. How am I going-?"

"Callie, he loves you. Just give him a chance. He's waiting outside with Vanessa."

Callie laughed through a sob and said, "It would serve them right to come in here and find us kissing."

Joe's eyes widened in horror as he stood and backed up.

Laughter filled the room as Callie said through her tears, "Just kidding, Joe."

He sighed with relief and opened the door. Frank and Vanessa were waiting down the hall and he waved them over.

"Thanks, Joe," Frank said with genuine gratitude. "I don't think Vanessa or I would have been able to get through to her."

Joe glanced in at Callie who was wringing a tissue so that pieces were falling off onto the floor. "Well, I didn't react too well the first time I learned of it either. I understand where she's coming from." He looked to his brother. "But she and I both know that you and Vanessa would never betray us like that."

"Never," Frank said.

Joe took Vanessa's arm. "Let's give them some space. The van's right outside."

Vanessa leaned into his arm as they walked out.