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

Thank you: Wendylouwho10 who read over the story for me and made content suggestions, helped with the flow, and provided some spelling/grammar corrections. A big help, as always! Typos are mine and I discover them all the time. :-)

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is AU.

Chapter Ten

October brought with it the yearly trips to Hamptons' Haunted Hollows and Joe knew that things weren't perfect between him and Iola. Joe squeezed Iola closer to him as they exited the hayride that had returned them to the parking lot. She turned and smiled up at him, but it wasn't the same as it was last year… but then last year didn't hold the best memories for this time period. Feeling the distance between them and the added layer of discomfort that last year held, he dropped his arm from around her. And she let him. She didn't take his hand or put an arm around him like she would have in the spring. Things were definitely not right between them.

Iola chatted with him in the back of the van as Frank and Callie rode up front. They were taking Iola home first and Joe was actually glad of it. Her artificially bright chatter was doing nothing to help his mood and he answered her with a monotone voice.

Once Iola and Callie were dropped off, Joe moved to the front seat. He had seen the look that Callie had given Frank and knew that even without Callie's nonverbal nudge, his brother was going to probe.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Frank asked carefully as he backed the van out of the driveway.

"Would you let it go if I said I didn't?" Joe stared out the window of the van.

"Yeah, I would," Frank said as he kept his eyes directed to the rearview mirror. He shifted the van to drive and began to head back to their home.

Joe turned to look at his brother's profile. "You know, I think you would," Joe said and then continued. "Things aren't right between Iola and me."

"What do you mean?"

Joe shrugged and realized Frank couldn't see it. "Ever since I came back from the summer mission, she's been different. We've been different." His gaze went to the window again as he quietly said, "She's worried about losing me."

Frank started. "You mean losing you to your job? That you'll get too involved?"

Keeping his eyes on the window, Joe responded, "No, she's worried that I'll die." Frank was quiet. Joe knew that he had thrown his brother a curveball. "Yeah, I don't know what to say either. I mean I haven't had the best track record for staying out of the hospital the last year and a half." Joe could see his brother squirming in the driver's seat and took pity on him as he turned back to the window. "You know, maybe it's for the best. Being my girlfriend isn't a safe thing."

"Joe, I didn't realize things had gotten so bad -"

"Don't worry, Frank, I'm not going into a depressive funk. I'm just thinking about things." Joe knew that his brother was out of sorts when his comment didn't even draw a small response.

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

At the house, Frank watched Joe head up the stairs after a brief greeting to their mother. Feeling his mother's eyes on him, Frank sat on the couch. "I think he's okay… there's just some things going on."

"And you don't want to talk about them?" Laura asked as she sat on the couch beside her older son.

Shaking his head, Frank said, "No. If he thinks I'm running to you about every bump in the road, I'm afraid he might clam up again."

Laura glanced to the stairwell. "Well, we certainly don't want that."

Frank followed her gaze and asked, "Do you trust me to help him?"

This question obviously startled Laura. Turning to face her son, she reached out to lay a hand on his knee. "Of course I trust you."

Frank nodded. "Then trust me on this. He'll come to you when he's ready." He saw his mother nod and then heard her sigh as he followed his brother upstairs. They were coming up on a rough time of the year in terms of Joe's recovery and he didn't want to do anything to rock the boat. It wouldn't just be hard for him; it would be difficult for the family.

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

As the yearly Halloween party at the Mortons' approached, things between Joe and Iola hadn't improved any. They were still dating, but the closeness was gone in both their physical and emotional states.

Joe leaned casually in his brother's doorway as Callie and his mother fussed over Frank. "You admired my hair extensions from last year so much that you wanted to do it this year?"

Frank groaned and cut his eyes to his brother as Callie tugged his head back toward her. "Who knew that becoming Captain Jack Sparrow would be so difficult?" He reached up and touched his moustache and goatee. "Tony Stark was SO much easier."

"Any you looked quite handsome too," Callie said as she put in another extension. "But after seeing that you were willing to apply a little eyeliner last year, we just had to do this this year," Callie enthused.

"The two of you are going to look great," Laura gushed from the closet as she smoothed out Frank's pirate costume.

"Um, mom?" Frank said uncomfortably.

"Oh, right. I was just going… Going to get my camera ready!" Laura enthused as she exited the room.

"Why isn't she fussing over you?" Frank asked his brother.

"Because I told her I was going to be understated this year."

"You. Thor. Understated." Frank obviously didn't believe him as he cited Joe's alter ego from last year's party. "And mom knows what you're going as?"

Joe nodded. He had told his mother but no one else. "Yep. I'm going to go get ready." He looked at his watch. "Should take me about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?!" Frank exclaimed as Callie yanked his head back straight. "That's all?"

"Well, when you're going understated, it doesn't take long," he said cryptically as he left. As he turned toward his own room, he heard Callie say that she was finished and was going to get ready downstairs. It gave Joe a sad feeling. Last year, Iola was downstairs getting ready to go to the party as Lady Sif. The female counterpart to his Thor….

About ten minutes later, he heard a knock at the bathroom door that connected his room to his brother's. "Yeah?" he called.

"Are you ready? Because if you are, then I could use some help with this sash, it's driving me cra-"

Joe opened the door to see a stunned Frank/Jack Sparrow standing before him. "Sure I'll help you."

Frank frowned.

"You shouldn't do that," Joe teased. "It might mess up your make-up. You know, create frown lines, smudge your eyeliner…" Joe pulled and tugged on the sash until it was in place. "There. All done."

Frank pointed at his brother and asked, "You're wearing a tuxedo to the Halloween party?"

Joe smiled at him and straightened the sleek fitted tuxedo jacket. He hadn't spared on the cost but got a nice one… with an addition. "Looks nice doesn't it?"

He watched his brother as Frank took in his slicked back hair and the shiny shoes. "What gives?" Frank asked.

Joe pulled back the left side of his jacket and showed the shoulder holster with the fake gun. Joe moved his shoulders as he buttoned the jacket in the front as his brother looked at him.

"007."

"Precisely," Joe said seriously.

"Joe-"

Joe turned from his brother and headed for his door with his brother following behind. Before he could open his door into the hall, Frank pushed against the door keeping it closed. Joe dropped his hand from the knob and carefully crossed his arms in front of him knowing that Frank was going to lecture him.

"Joe. Think about whether you want to do this."

"Do what?" Joe asked with fake innocence.

"I'm not even going to point out that you're throwing Iola's fear in her face with that costume."

Joe frowned at his brother. "So glad you're not going to point that out to me. And I think you know that Bond has lived at the end of every movie and if she can't handle a spy costume she definitely can't handle me being an agent for ORT." He reached the knob and Frank removed his hand from the door letting his brother leave.

Knowing Frank would be downstairs in a few moments, Joe headed to the first floor. He knew that Callie would take the costume the same way as his brother. Thankfully his mother didn't know of the problems that he and Iola were having. At least she didn't know the extent of them or what they were over.

"Oh, Joe. You're so handsome!" Laura said as she moved over to straighten Joe's bow tie.

As she was smoothing the shoulders of his jacket, Joe looked over her shoulder at Callie and saw that his brother's girlfriend was frowning.

"There," Laura said as she stepped back. She glanced up the stairs and said, "Frank should be down in a minute…." She pulled her camera out of her pant pocket and turned to Callie. "Why are you frowning?"

"Oh!" Callie said as she was caught frowning at Joe. "I was just trying to figure out who he was going as."

Laughing lightly, Laura said, "007 of course."

Joe didn't even crack a smile as he winked at Callie and she frowned back at him. But he didn't have worry with her as Frank came down the stairs and Callie's attention was drawn to Frank. Joe couldn't help but roll his eyes as the women gushed over his brother. Now he knew how his brother felt last year. In just a few moments they were posing for their mom. Joe enjoyed taking the toy gun out and getting into a dramatic pose.

As the trio headed out to the vehicles, Callie smacked Joe with her free hand as her other hand was holding up her long gown. "Now I see why you wanted to drive separately. You knew I'd be fussing," she said with some irritation.

"Then it looks like I made the right choice," Joe said with a smile as he climbed into the van. Before shutting the door he called out, "See you there!"

In all honesty, he wasn't driving separately because of Callie; he was driving separately because he had a feeling that he'd be leaving the party early. Joe's hands shifted with agitation on the steering wheel. He was tired of dancing around the problem and he had figured it out. Iola couldn't handle his detective work and possibly becoming an undercover agent. It was part of him and who he wanted to be… and while he loved Iola, giving up this dream would only lead to animosity between them as the years went by. To be honest, he wanted the girl and the job, he just wasn't sure how to get both.

When he finally arrived at the Mortons' he was resigned to what was happening. He didn't want to break up. He hoped they wouldn't break up. But he couldn't deny that something was wrong between them and it had to do with his love of detective work. Closing the door, he pocketed the keys and headed in the direction of the bonfire in the back. He had managed to get to the Mortons' far enough in front of his brother that he didn't have to contend with them on top of his own feelings.

Even as he acknowledged the greetings of friends, his eyes searched the crowd for Iola's familiar face. Finally he spotted her… Katniss Everdeen. He walked over to join the group of friends that she was with and saw her stiffen as she realized his costume. Their friends all thought it was a great costume. Then after a few minutes, he took her elbow and excused them from the group moving off to the side.

He picked the long dark brown braid up off her shoulder. Wearing dark outdoor clothing and carrying a bow and quiver, Iola looked very much like the main character described in the Hunger Games. "This look suits you," Joe said softly.

The tenderness in his tone was mirrored in hers as she said, "And the tux suits you as well, although it does bother me."

Joe let the braid fall back to her shoulder. "You don't approve of me doing undercover work."

Iola reached out to grab his hand and hold it in hers. "I'm just afraid, Joe. We've… you've been through so much. I don't even know the half of it and I saw what it did to you physically and emotionally-"

"I came back fine this summer. I didn't have any problems!"

"This time. What about next time? What about if some other nut job decides to come after you or finds out that you brought down his organization? What happens then?"

Joe took her shoulders and pulled her against him. "Then we get through it together, just like we did before." He heard her stilted breathing as if she were holding back tears.

Iola pushed away from him and saw there were several inquisitive eyes directed toward them. Taking Joe's hand, she took him to the porch and walked around to the far side- the side with the swing.

Joe had taken this side of the house into aversion after their last conversation here. Light from inside the house spilled out on the porch from the two windows on this side. The light was more than enough to see the emotions playing across Iola's face.

"How many times?" Iola asked softly as she hugged her arms across her chest.

"What?" Joe asked as the topic seemed to change on him.

"How many times do we have to 'get through it together'? How many?" Her voice was still soft, but this time, it was pleading as the question stretched into the night. The sounds of the party drifted to them but it didn't distract them from what they were discussing.

"You want me to put a number on it?" Joe asked, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice. "What are you saying? You can only go through this with me 'X' amount of times and then you're done?"

Iola dropped her arms and moved closer to Joe. "Don't twist my words."

"I'm not; I'm trying to figure out how you really feel!" Joe put a hand to his head and then waved it in the air. "Back in January, I told you that being my girlfriend hadn't been a safe thing for you. Do you remember what you told me?" He saw that she blushed and looked to the side. "You said you knew what was being involved in being my girlfriend. So what's changed? What's different?" His tone had turned angry and his questions were spoken in a quick clipped fashion that he spit out at her.

Iola turned angry eyes back to Joe. "Back then, your concern was all for me and how I might be injured or killed. Don't you see? That's not what I'm worried about. Dating you isn't dangerous for me. It's not about that and it never was." Iola grabbed her head and groaned.

"Then enlighten me."

Dropping her hands from her hair, she looked him in the eye. "This about you and what you do. It's about what happens to you BECAUSE of what you do!"

"Are you giving me an ultimatum? Are you saying I have to choose between detective work and you?"

"Yes. No." Iola groaned again. "I'm not giving you an ultimatum." She paused and gathered a breath. "I'm just not sure that I can handle being the girlfriend or… wife of a detective."

Joe frowned as he said angrily, "So you're giving me the whole 'it's not you, it's me' break-up routine? Is that it? Because that's what I'm hearing from you."

Anger crept into Iola's voice as she responded. "It's NOT a routine for me, Joe. It's your LIFE I'm talking about. I can't handle losing you!"

"Then what do you call this?" Joe replied with an equal amount of heat. "We break up and I get killed later. Are you saying that it will be easier to lose me as a friend than a boyfriend?"

"Of course not, Joe. I'd be devastated if something happened to you. I just don't know if I can live with that fear in my face every day. I don't know that I'm that strong." Iola's voice showed the strain of her emotions as her voice broke.

Joe turned his back on her and moved to lean his forehead against one of the porch posts. He had had a feeling this was going to happen. Had even spurred it on with his costume selection but it didn't make the moment hurt any less. He heard her soft steps come up behind him.

"It wouldn't be fair of me to ask you to choose between me and your work. Not when I've always known you've loved it. If you chose me, you'd end up resenting me for making you choose." Iola's voice was soft and soothing. All the heat of earlier was gone. "So I'm not going to make you choose."

Joe turned to face her.

"Maybe things will change… Maybe I will change but I just don't know and this isn't fair to you." She gave him a rueful smile before continuing. "I'm breaking up with you, Joe. It's for the best." Iola stepped forward and put her hand up on Joe's cheek and rubbed her thumb across his skin. "You'll always be my first love."

Joe reached up to capture to her hand and pulled it to his chest. "You know I would die for you." His voice was thick with emotion as he gazed into her eyes.

Iola's eyes welled with tears as she responded quietly. "I know you would. The problem is… your dying would kill me too." She pulled her hand away and walked off the porch in the direction of the party.

He watched her walk away and then sank onto the porch swing. It was over. Was it permanent? He wasn't sure but he did know that the problem between them was a large one and not easily overcome. The sounds of the party became more pronounced and he was in no mood to join in the festivities. Making jokes and pretending to have fun weren't on his to-do list for the night. All I want to do is forget, he thought to himself. As he stood from the swing it moved forward to bump the back of his leg as the chains that it hung from clinked together. This wasn't a party that would help him forget but he knew where one was. Pulling his keys from his pocket, they jangled as he made his way to the van.