Thanks again for all of your feedback! Well, except for the latest one which, when I read it, I had to laugh and I thought to myself, "That sounds like it's coming from a 14 year old girl." So, out of curiosity, I looked at the profile and I smiled- dead on! In that regard, I shall say no more, other than to note that I do have a while to go as a writer since that Carolyn Keene wrote so many books. Geez! She and Franklin W. Dixon --- how CAN they find the time to write so much? (LOL-- wink). Anyway, hope ya all enjoy the story. We'll have to see if Jenna and Dave are what they seem, eh?!

Capital Pursuits

Chapter 9

That night, as Joe and Frank traveled on the Metro to meet up with Jenna, Joe couldn't help but to notice how quiet his brother was. Clearly, something was on his mind. The last time Joe had seen Frank actually speak was when he had said good-bye to Callie, and he had seen Callie slip a piece of paper into Frank's hand. He hadn't spoken since, apparently lost in thought. Although Joe was perturbed by his brother's behavior most recently at dinner, his heart went out to him. If there was one thing he couldn't stand to see, it was his brother hurting.

Having only a few minutes to go before they were to meet up with Jenna, Joe decided to speak up.

"Frank? Are you okay?" he asked.

Frank turned to him and nodded quietly.

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Joe questioned again. When Frank didn't answer, Joe put a hand on his arm. "Frank," he said again. "Seriously, talk to me. I promise I'll listen and I won't butt in. We'll never make any progress tonight if you're still acting like this. I'm your brother. I'll zip the lip- promise." Joe pulled an imaginary zipper across his mouth and pretended to lock it and throw away the key. He looked at his brother with big blue eyes.

Frank finally cracked a smile. "You're so silly," he said at last.

"I know," Joe said, returning the smile. "But it's only because I care. Besides, I'll deny any mention of this if you try to bring it up again," he joked.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Thanks," he said to Joe. "I'll remember that."

"So?" Joe prodded. "We only have a few minutes till we meet Jenna. What's up?"

Finally Frank spoke, obviously troubled. "I'm worried about Callie, I guess," he said at last. "She found Jenna's phone number. Something about the way she said "have fun" tonight really disturbed me, as if she thought that was the purpose of this. I think that she thinks I'm interested in Jenna."

"Are you?" Joe asked, pointedly.

Frank met his eyes, and then sighed. "I don't know, Joe. I mean, no, not really. Callie's the most wonderful girl I've ever met. I really do love her- a lot. I can't imagine being without her."

"So, what's the problem then?" Joe asked, trying to listen instead of speak. Somehow, he had a feeling Frank needed that at the moment.

Sensing Joe wasn't about to give him a lecture, Frank finally relented. "I don't know. I mean, Jenna is – well, she's great. She's smart and funny and, well,…"

"And gorgeous," Joe cut in.

"Yeah, she is," Frank said, feeling terrible. "I can't help being attracted to her. I just wonder what it would be like to just…" Frank blushed as he said it. "To just kiss her, you know? Oh, never mind. I can't believe I just told you that. I even TOLD her I wasn't interested."

Joe tried to mask his shock. This was more serious than he had thought. Joe took a moment, and then chose his words carefully. "I guess I always thought this might happen," he said, slowly. "It just never seemed like it actually would."

Frank was surprised. "You thought WHAT might happen?" he asked.

Joe let out a slow breath before he spoke. "That you would ultimately want to see what's out there. You and Callie have been together forever, Frank. You started dating when you were- what?- 14 or something? I mean, look at you. Look at her. You're both going off to college. You grew up to be- well, almost as good looking as me," Joe said, trying to make light of it, although he found he couldn't. "And Callie- well, she's really beautiful, too. Again, don't tell her I said that," Joe said with a small smile. "College will offer a lot of temptations for you both. How often do high school romances last?" he finished, sadly.

Frank swallowed hard as the implication of Joe's words hit him. Something about them just struck him as wrong, though, somehow. "I hear you," he said, surprised at himself for having a heart-to-heart with his brother out of the blue. Normally, Callie was the one subject he wanted to keep private, but he really longed for Joe's advice now. After all, his brother was the more experienced one in the romance area. "But I can't agree," he went on, turning to his brother. "You don't understand. I… KNOW that I want to be with Callie. Am I a complete idiot?! I know this is gonna sound strange, but…" he hesitated.

"But?" Joe asked.

"But I know, with as much certainty as I have ever known anything in my life, that…" Frank felt the color rise to his cheeks as he revealed this to Joe, "that I'm going to marry her. I have no doubt in my mind. Not now; not till we finish college. And, I know that things might come between us- people, places, unforeseen circumstances- but I KNOW it, Joe. That's why I feel so horrible that I'm even thinking about anyone else."

Joe didn't laugh at his brother. He didn't feel a need to make fun of him or to tell him that he was wrong. If there was one thing he did know, it was that Frank never said anything unless he sincerely meant it, or felt it. He was the most genuine person he knew. "Okay, then," Joe said with a nod.

Frank, embarrassed, finally looked at him again.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Joe said with a smile. "You know, Frank, I somehow believe you."

"You do?" Frank asked, in disbelief. He had been waiting for Joe to tear into him.

Joe nodded. He replied, "I DO know what you mean. I don't know if you'll date anyone else; part of me thinks that you should. But I can't see anyone ever treating you better than Callie, or you feeling any stronger towards anyone. I guess a lot of people think you'll get married, but they don't say anything. But, that's a long way off," Joe reminded his brother. "And in the meantime, if you want to part ways, you better tell Callie that first. Anything else would be awful, and I won't let you do it," Joe said evenly. "Callie doesn't deserve that."

Frank nodded, hanging onto Joe's every word. It was a difficult position, that of advice-giver, for Joe to be in. But, he felt good, because he knew he could help his brother.

He continued. "Look, Frank, Callie is a great girl. I'm not telling you NOT to get with Jenna, although I really don't like her," he said, honestly. "I think you're distracted by a pretty face and a great body. But Jenna is like any other girl you're gonna meet when you're way from Callie. So, before you throw away a really rock solid relationship, just think about what you're doing. Because I have a strong feeling that Callie is not the type of girl who will forgive easily, if at all, when you hurt her. She's giving you all the room in the world," he went on, knowing his words were hurting his brother, but that someone had to tell him, "and if you don't see that Callie knows you're into Jenna, you're blind."

Joe watched his brother get noticeably upset, but he didn't try to comfort him, yet.

"She does?" Frank whispered.

"Yeah, Frank, obviously," Joe said. "Why do you think Vanessa and I are on your case so much about it? Don't be foolish," Joe said, completing his thought. "'Cause I'm telling you, big brother, YOU may want to marry her somewhere down the line, but don't expect HER to be available. You may have noticed that Callie already has men lining up to take your place," he finished, referring to Dave.

Frank rubbed his forehead, a million thoughts swimming through his mind. He felt tears spring to his eyes, which he quickly wiped away. The thought of hurting the person he loved most was unfathomable to him. Joe was right- he WAS being stupid. He sighed heavily.

Joe put an arm around Frank's shoulders and gave him a hug. "I'm glad you talked to me, Frank," Joe said sincerely to his brother. "I'll ALWAYS stand behind you, but I'm not going to tiptoe around a problem. If you want honesty, I'll give it to you."

Frank looked up, the stress showing on his face. "I honestly don't know what to do," he said, realizing his hands were shaking.

"You will," Joe said directly. "Listen to your gut, Frank. Your heart. Trust me, wherever it leads you, it won't be the wrong decision. You'll figure it out. Just don't hurt Callie along the way. She deserves better than that."

"I know," Frank whispered, and the train came to a stop.

As the brothers got out, they were instantly greeted by Jenna. "Hey, boys!" she chirped happily to them. She gave them both quick hugs. Joe noticed that Frank didn't seem as enthusiastic to see her as he had last time.

"Is something the matter?" she asked Frank, as they walked along.

"No," he said quietly. "It's just been a long day."

"Well, how did your girlfriend like her trip to Georgetown today?" Jenna questioned.

Frank was surprised, having forgotten he had told her that Callie was going there. "She had a nice time," he replied.

"I hear there are lots of hot guys over there," she cooed.

Joe winced, feeling he had to cut this off. "Hey Jenna?" he asked her. "Where exactly are we going? There are tons of museums around and, although the Chief told us we could get in where we wanted, it might be nice to think of somewhere to go."

Jenna paused. "Well," she said at last. "I'm not sure. We know that so far three museums have been hit; The National Air and Space Museum, which left behind a green envelope; The International Gallery, which left behind a blue envelope; and The Babe Ruth Museum, which left behind an orange envelope. Maybe we can try to figure out why that's important, along with what "AGIB" and "So Defendants Will Prevail" means."

Joe tried not to be impatient. "Yeah, I know that Jenna," he replied. "But where do you want to go to do this?"

"I think any basement facility should be pretty much constructed the same," Frank cut in.

"Not necessarily, Frank, although that's a good idea," Jenna said with a bright smile.

Joe choked back his anger watching Jenna flirt with Frank. Oh, well, he thought. It's in Frank's court now. I told him what I think.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Frank asked her.

"Actually," she replied, "I was thinking that since we're staring off, we might check out D.C.'s most popular museum, the National Museum of American History. It's so awesome- they have everything there from Dorothy's ruby shoes in the Wizard of Oz, to Archie Bunker's chair from All in the Family. I mean, I have no idea where the next strike will be, but there's got to be a good chance that this museum will eventually get hit- the items there are incredibly valuable, and popular as well."

Joe nodded in agreement. That, at last, was a pretty good idea.

When they reached the Museum, Jenna was able to gain access for them through the museum officials unto the basement floor. She introduced the Hardys as her new friends who were starting up as tour guides soon. Joe was surprised that they passed by virtually un-noticed, although he was pretty certain that there were undercover FBI agents milling around, just in case.

Unfortunately, the basement of the Museum was extremely large, making it virtually impossible to patrol all areas at all times. Sometimes staying together, and sometimes splitting up, Jenna, Frank, and Joe circled the huge basement, along with the occasional FBI agent and police officers. As of 3:00 a.m., nothing had happened, and they were all getting tired. They decided to rest for a while in a remote corner, each taking watch at intervals.

When Joe dozed off, Frank fully expected Jenna to be sleeping as well. Much to his surprise, she came up next to him, cuddling into his shoulder. Frank suddenly felt ill at ease.

"Hey," he said quietly to her, "You should try and get some sleep. We might be here awhile."

Jenna looked up at him, pushing her long, dark hair back from her face. "I don't know," she said softly, meeting his eyes. "I'm pretty comfortable right here, if it's okay with you." She continued to look up into his eyes, and tilted her face up to his.

Frank froze, taken by how beautiful she looked under the soft lights. He felt his heart start pounding in his chest. It would be so easy, so easy, to take her in his arms and kiss her, right then and there. Clearly, from the look in her eyes, that was not only what she wanted, but what she expected.

"Frank?" she whispered softly, reaching up to touch his face.

Frank closed his eyes, and heard Joe's voice in the back of his mind. "Listen to your gut, Frank. Your heart. Trust me, wherever it leads you, it won't be the wrong decision. You'll figure it out."

And then, Frank knew, as a calmness passed over him.

He leaned in to tell Jenna his decision.

And then…. Frank heard it.

The screaming.

The scuffles.

The broken glass.

He saw it…..

The lights going out.

He felt it…

Jenna clinging to him.

A sudden, blinding pain as something very hard came in contact with his head.

And then….

There was nothing.