~*~*~*~*~

If a person off the street were to walk onto Nancy's floor of the DIA building, they would think they'd stumbled into a newspaper's bullpen. Desks were lined up in rows across the room and along the back wall were offices where some agents had the privilege of shutting their door against the noise if they wanted.

Despite the shooting, having lunch with Joe Hardy had put her in a good mood. After giving their statements to the police, they had parted ways.

Nancy had only been with the DIA for three years but she was one of the few with an actual office. As she made her way back, she heard her name being called out.

Nancy turned and saw a young man coming towards her. Her smile faltered a little bit when she recognized him but she recovered.

"Hi Eddie. How are you?" She asked when he reached her. He grinned at her.

"I'm good. I was just wondering if you needed anything. We heard about the drive-by at the diner. Unfortunately they haven't caught the guys yet. Are you okay?"

Nancy sighed. Eddie Kirkpatrick was a new agent. His father, Robert Kirkpatrick, had been something of a legend in the DIA. Poor Eddie didn't the smoothness or intelligence that his father did.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for the update Eddie, but I don't need anything at the moment," Nancy replied, giving him the usual answer. "I have to get to work. I'll see you around okay?"

Eddie's smile was tight but he nodded.

"I'm glad you turned up okay, Miss Drew." He said, turning away stiffly.

Nancy thought about saying something else but instead turned and headed to her office.

Her mouth dropped open when she spotted the bouquet of wildflowers sitting in a beautiful teal-colored vase on her desk. She quickly walked over to them and picked the card out of the middle of the bouquet. Before opening the little card, she leaned over the flowers and inhaled.

The fragrance was relaxing and the colors were vibrant and happy. There were Snapdragons, Forget-Me-Nots, Lilies, Daisies, Violets, and Sunflowers set in front of a spray of baby's breath. Nancy smiled and opened the card.

Glad you didn't die on us Nan. Sorry about missing out on lunch this afternoon. Rain check? FH

Nancy felt her heart flutter and laughed at herself. It had been years since she'd felt so girlishly pleased by flowers. Only three men had ever made her feel like that - Ned Nickerson, Mick Devlin and Frank Hardy.

She turned the card over and noticed a number written on the back of it.

Nice touch Hardy. Nancy thought, smiling to herself as she slipped the card into her billfold in her purse.

"Lunch with a Hardy and you get shot at?"

Nancy looked up to see Cody standing in her doorway…again. She saw his eyes flick to the flowers and then back to her.

"Cody, that's enough. What do you have against the Hardy brothers?" Nancy asked, her patience running thin. Cody apparently hadn't let up on them like he said he would.

"Nancy," Cody started, sitting in a chair across from her. "You're my partner. Partners look out for each other. You're also like a sister to me. I almost lost you once and I don't want to ever go through that again."

Nancy felt her impatience melt away. When she looked at him closely, she could see he was tired and worn out. She walked around to sit at her desk.

"I appreciate the sentiment Cody. I'm sorry I had worried you. Since you're so worked up about them, I will tell you everything I know about the Hardys. That way, we can both get back to work on finding Saffron and figuring out who wanted to use the café as target practice."

Cody nodded and leaned forward.

"Frank and Joe have been good friends of mine…" Nancy started. She proceeded to tell Cody everything she knew, highlighting the times she worked with them and up until their last case in San Diego. Cody only interrupted a few times to get facts straight but otherwise kept silent. When Nancy got to the part about waking up on their dingy in the Mediterranean, Cody stopped her.

"That's the problem I'm having. Why were they on his yacht?"

"Obviously for the same reason I was – to get Saffron," Nancy said. "We have a meeting with them in a few days to start this investigation. I suggest you ask them."

Cody stood and walked to the door.

"DC police are looking into the shooting. The mud on the license plate isn't helping them any but it'll have to do. Until then, I suggest you go into a safe house. I can't be worrying about both the investigation and you."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Nancy said, standing up quickly. "You can't order me into the safe house without good cause."

"Without good cause? Being shot at in broad daylight isn't a good cause?" Cody asked. Then he took a deep breath, "That's why I said suggest Drew. I never thought for a minute you'd actually do it." With a crooked grin on his face, Cody tipped his hat and walked out leaving Nancy fuming.

~*~*~*~*~

Joe Hardy wasn't afraid. He was cautious.

As the elevator opened to his floor, he slowly peaked his head out and looked around. When the receptionist saw him, she put a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. He shot her a sideways grin and winked. She looked around her as well and motioned for him to come towards her desk.

"He's still in his office, Agent Hardy," She said when he got to her. Joe pretended to wipe sweat from his brow.

"Thanks Rose, I don't need the lecture."

Joe looked towards Frank's office and turned back Rose. Before he could say anything else, a hand clamped down hard on his shoulder.

"Good to see you have no bullet holes in you. How is it you can't survive going to lunch without getting shot at?"

Joe winced and turned to look at his brother.

"In my defense, they weren't shooting at me." Joe started but stopped when the hand squeezed painfully. "Alright!"

"Your office. Now." Frank said, letting go of Joe and walking towards his brother's office. Joe looked back at Rose with a suspicious look in his eyes but she only shrugged and smiled. Joe followed his brother, rubbing his shoulder.

After Joe entered the office, Frank shut the door and began to pace.

"This is getting serious." He said, running a hand through his hair. Joe sat in his desk chair and threw his legs up on the desk, crossing his ankles.

"You mean it wasn't when they tried to drown her? Look, we don't even really know if it's Saffron's men. We're speculating."

Frank ignored him.

"They're gutsy. They went for her in broad daylight in the middle of downtown DC."

"Or they're desperate."

Frank continued to pace. Joe could practically see the wheels turning in his brother's head.

"Saffron is close. His warehouse in Athens was raided a few hours ago and they seized everything. However, it looked abandoned. There was no personnel, no office set up, nothing. It's like he knew that's where we'd look first." Frank said, finally sitting down.

Joe let the information process – a little upset they hadn't been allowed to be on the raid squad.

"Well," Joe said, "Where would he go that we wouldn't think to look first? He's smart – he'd try to think it through like we do."

Frank frowned in thought. Where would we not bother looking? That's ridiculous. We'd look everywhere. Unless…

Frank shot up out of the chair, causing Joe to jump and almost fall over backwards out of his chair.

"Joe, you're a genius." Frank said, heading for the door. He had calls to make.

"I've been trying to tell you this for years. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic that you've finally realized this – but why?" Joe asked, resituating himself. Frank turned back.

"One time occurrence, trust me. However, where would we not bother looking first? Somewhere we thought we shut down already and wouldn't think he'd even try to return." Frank said.

Joe's eyes grew wide.

"No way," Joe said. Frank nodded.

"Cairo."

~*~*~*~*~

"Is Nancy Drew dead?" A cold, tiny voice asked.

"No sir. The gunmen missed-" Another answered, hand clutched tightly to the cell phone in his hand.

"I don't want excuses!"

"Y-yes sir."

"She's the whole reason my beloved Ark is on the bottom of the sea and my company is threatening to crumble."

"I just need a little more time. She's teaming up with the two CIA men who pulled her out of the water and blew up the ship. So far they don't have anything –"

"Find out who they are. I want them all to suffer. This is your last warning."

"Yes sir, thank you sir."

"Do not fail me again."

Before the man could reply, the line clicked…dead. Taking a deep breath to relax himself, he walked back into the DIA building.