Last chapter! A few days late...
I don't own the Hardy Boys
Enjoy!

~Frank

"You done making the list, bro?" Joe asked from my doorway.

"Yeah." I picked up the paper I had been writing on all morning, and handed it to my brother. "I don't think the psychologist is gonna be happy with it."

"Is it really that bad?"

"Forty plus names, including Dad, Chet, and Biff."

"Great… Well, I'm not on the list, right?"

"I'm talking to you, aren't I? You saw my episode with Dad. Anyone on that list, I can't even freakin' look at!" I shook my head. "It's not gonna be a good winter break…"

"Well, you got me and Phil. Callie and Ivy are going tomorrow."

"Going?"

"Oh, right. I didn't tell you yet."

"Then you might want to tell me now!"

"Okay, okay!" Joe threw up his hands as we descended down the stairs. "ATAC asked if we knew any good detectives because they needed new agents. So I decided after all of this…"

"You did not…"

Joe smiled. "Last time we'll see Agent Ivy or Agent Callie for a while."

"Joe! You're dragging them into… well, this!" I shook my head. "Did you forget what happened to me?!"

"We had a nice talk about it. They're up for it. Besides, they won't be full time agents. Just once in a while, when ATAC has a shortage of hands." Joe shrugged. "And chances of us going against someone like Stacy again are very slim."

"But still…"

"Come on, Frank. They aren't damsels in distress. I still have the bruises Callie left on my arm from last Saturday!" Joe got to the bottom of the stairs first, and waited for me. "They'll be fine."

"I'm still not so sure…"

"Of course you're not." Joe sighed. "Let's just wish them luck, okay? They're going to train for the next week, so the least you can do is help me send them off."

"Fine." We grabbed our coats, and Joe got to the keys of Dad's car. I was still "unfit to drive" after the incident with Stacy.

We sat in the car in silence, Joe behind the wheel. I tried to look out the window, when I saw Biff walking down the sidewalk.

It hurts… He's coming after me…

I curled up in the seat, trying not to shake.

"Frank?"

I didn't look up. He's there. He wants me gone. There's blood everywhere…

"Frank!" The car stopped. Joe was leaning over next to me, an expression of worry plastered to his face. "Are you okay?"

"It hurts…"

"Frank, it's in your mind. No one's here to hurt you." My brother put a hand on my back, trying to comfort me. "It's only me."

I wanted to look up, to say "It's nothing." But I couldn't. All I could do was cower like a child, scared to look around.

-------------

"Are you sure you're okay, Frank?" Callie asked.

"Yeah, I think…" It had taken several minutes before Joe considered that I was well enough for him to drive again. It was only to Phil's house, but it was a living Hell for me.

"What did the psychologist say about it?" Ivy asked from her spot on the couch.

"She said he's gonna be doing this until he can 'mentally overcome the problem'." Joe made quotation marks in the air. "Then she tried to say as nicely as she could that it might take a billion years."

"What about your dad?"

"Frank can't stay in the same room as him. Mom banished him to his study for now," Joe said, watching to see if I had a reaction. When it was clear that mentioning my father didn't lead to a breakdown, he continued. "Frank cannot look or hear any of the people on the list, unless we all want him to have a breakdown." He handed the list to Ivy.

"Chet, Biff… Diana? She got on the list?"

"I don't know. Last night, I had a nightmare…" I explained. "Diana was there, and she… she…"

"It's okay." Ivy handed the list to Callie. "If it makes you feel better, Kate called me last night. She asked about you."

I gave a weak laugh. "How's that suppose to help?"

"She broke up with Diana."

"What?" I was upset with Diana, I'll admit, but I didn't want them to break up…

Phil came into the room, holding a bag of chips. "She called me, too. I got to listen to an hour of reasoning of why she broke their relationship."

"Why?"

"Something along the lines that it wasn't the first time Diana was along the lines of being a jerk. Apparently, she tried to ignore you the past week as a way to say it wasn't real. She actually forbid Kate from having any contact with you."

"Sounds like the beginnings of an abusive relationship," Callie said, finally sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.

"Was the beginnings," Phil corrected. "And our friend Diana has to go back to anger management, since she smashed another window with a can of paint when Kate broke up with her."

"I knew that chick was still a little off," Joe said.

"That's not even the big news. According to a little birdie that I happen to know, Diana never completed her anger management courses a few years ago. She just happened to appear all in self control, when really she took her anger out in disguised ways. That's why she does all the modern art stuff. The things that look like messes were actually created from her anger."

"I would say healthy way to release anger, except she went and smashed a window." Joe grabbed for the chips.

"Only through art, though? It doesn't seem like she would release all of her anger through that," Callie said.

"She did other stuff too. She even destroyed some rooms in school, but made it seem like someone else did."

"Wow," I said, amazed. Diana never really seemed like that type of girl. Then again, I really had no good readings on the people this case was about. Too much focusing on my issues, I guess.

"Speaking of which, I found out more about Stacy's case. She lost all of her bargaining chips with that stupid stunt she pulled," Ivy announced. "She also happened to destroy some rooms at school to disguise her getaway. That's why the police failed to come up with anything for a while."

"How did you guys find me, anyways?" I asked.

"Good question. Phil was the one who figured out the location." We all stared at Phil, who had a grin on his face.

"It took a while, but I managed to get the signal on the tracker I got on you to actually work. I think your banging it around while getting kidnapped messed it up."

"Tracker?" I racked through my memories. Since when did Phil give me a tracker?

"Your necklace. I gave it to you a while ago, remember?"

I fingered the pendant "You put a tracker in my necklace?"

Phil shrugged. "I was worried, considering I was still getting over the fact that my boyfriend is a secret agent and all."

"Well, thanks." I had a feeling that the beginnings of a blush were working its way to my face. "Anything else that should be added?"

"Besides the fact that you're blushing?" I reached over and smacked my brother in the leg. "Ow!"

"Mr. Robins is beyond pissed about Stacy and the prop guns. He didn't get on my case, considering I had asked and didn't use real bullets. But now he's convinced that the guns should be locked up in a bank until we work on filming in the spring."

"That's good, I think. Unless you were gonna take the prop guns and scare the crap out of people."

"It's good. Besides, I got other things to worry about. Like Rachel leaving GSACA, and putting me in charge." Ivy gave a dramatic sigh. "And then the whole ATAC thing now…"

"It's not too late to back out," I reminded her.

"Are you kidding? This is gonna be awesome!"

Callie nodded her head in agreement. "A week or torment coming up, but it'll be worth it. Besides, someone needs to watch your backs, considering you're all boys and all."

"And what does that mean?" Joe asked.

"Oh, nothing… ."

"Hey! For your information, Frank and I solved plenty of cases by ourselves!" Joe crossed his hands. "Show some respect to your elders!"

"You shouldn't have said that…" I told my brother, as Callie and Ivy shared an evil grin.

"No, it's perfectly fine, Frank. We should have helped you crossed the street all of those times…"

"And helped you cut your food."

"And get the door."

"Shut up." Joe slumped in his seat. "I get the point. Maybe I should have said 'superiors.'"

"Except then you would actually have to be good at something."

"I am good at some things!"

"Only in knowledge of celebrity gossip. And that's always important to know," Callie said, rolling her eyes.

"We had plenty of cases involving celebrities."

"But you probably had way more involving the little people."

"Are you two gonna argue about this? I want the heads up to leave if you are," Ivy said, getting up from her seat.

"Might as well leave for a while," Phil said, following suit. He held out a hand to me. "Coming?"

"Yeah." I took his hand, got up, and was lead to the kitchen. Ivy smiled to me before grabbing her coat to disappear outside for a bit.

"You okay?" Phil asked as he began to go through the pantries.

"Yep." Nope.

"You're lying."

"Yep." I shook my head. "I can't believe Stacy got to me. I mean, now that I look back, I probably should have nailed her-"

"But she's a psycho, and those are the hardest people to read." He took out a bag of my favorite chips. "And you'll get over this. You have the strongest mental mind out of everyone in Bayport. If anyone can beat this… mental game, if you would, it's you."

"But what if I can't get over it? What if Stacy's hypnotism drives me so mad-"

"Calm down." Phil gave me a hug, which I couldn't help but leaned into it. "A day at a time, Frank. You'll get over it, because you have a strong mentality and you got crazy friends who are loyal."

"You forgot the crazy brother and boyfriend."

"That too." He handed me a chip. "We'll be here, and you're gonna be fine. Just in time for the exchange group to come, too."

"Exchange group?"

"You forgot? The exchange group from River Heights?"

I blinked as the memories slowly came back. "Oh yeah! Nancy Drew is supposed to be with them!"

"You know a girl from the group? Should I be worried?" Phil asked, chuckling.

"Depends if another mystery comes up or not," I said. "A great friend, but a competitive detective..."

There will be a sequel, I thinks... Called "Playing Death"

I also want to explain something that I did not mention in the plot. The reason Frank's torture is, essentially, turning into a little kid, is because the torture wasn't exactly meant for him. The torture was for his family and friends. That was Stacy's way of assuring a way to get a lighter sentence if it was needed. She had already tortured Frank, but this was to torture everyone who knew Frank in an emotional way.

Thanks to Lusy611 for pointing this out as a bad source of torture for Frank. I'm glad I was able to clear this up, enen though this is still a bit lame...