I'm back with another chapter! I hope everyone is doing okay. Don't forget to spoil yourselves when it's tough x

And don't forget to review, follow, and favorite this story if it's ticking your boxes. I'm starting to think of ideas for my next story, but I know I know I'm going to start a Chuck fanfiction soon, so keep your eyes peeled if that aPEELs to you (sorry!)

**I do not own the rights to the ND, HB, or ND/HB books. This is a fanfiction story and was not approved by the publisher who owns these characters**

Nancy opened her eyes to the light when she heard frantic pounding on her hotel room door.

She groaned and rolled over, glancing at her reflection on her dark phone screen. Her hair was disheveled from her tossing and turning. She'd evidently lost her battle with sleep because she couldn't remember getting any rest. She'd been thinking too much, running through the case when she should have been sleeping. Now she'd have to pay the price. Her head was aching and she felt withered and unnourished.

Nancy told herself to quit the pity party, threw on some jeans and a blouse, and tried to tame her hair as she went to the door.

FBI agent Finn McNamara was standing before her. His reddish hair was cut short and his skin was a little ruddy from sunburn, hiding some of the freckles thrown across his broad, friendly face. He was dressed in civilian clothes and was holding two coffee cups out like an olive branch. His smile faded slightly as he took in her appearance. "Oh," he said simply.

"Give me that!" Nancy snatched her drink from him and took a deep swig, as he joined her in the small room. She finished her coffee as he walked around the room, taking in the view and the furnishings.

"I forget how well anti-terror treats agents get treated by the feds. You've got a sweet room," he observed.

"It's an upgrade." Nancy didn't tell him why. She didn't feel well, and it was making her tired and mean.

Finn noticed her tone. "My, aren't we a ray of sunshine today?"

"I need a shower. Can you give me five?"

"Sure. You've got cable, right?"

Nancy let herself cry a little, as she stood under the running water. She was glad Finn was there, but she felt like her world was coming down around her. She'd have to work with the task force, try to salvage her case. And, at the same time, she'd have to find the time to patch things up with Frank. She'd have to be Wonder Woman to make it work.

Finn seemed to detect that her mood wasn't just low, due to insufficient caffeine intake, because he gave her the searching look FBI agents reserved for especially difficult to crack criminals. Then, he folded her into a warm hug.

"It's Chircop, isn't it? Seeing your boss go down like that must be the shittiest thing."

"It's more than that, Finn. It's my whole life." Nancy wasn't going to drag him into it, but his big, round face was so open and honest. She gave him the brief, trying to keep things succinct. She was grateful for the friendship they'd fostered over the last six months. It had the right amount of give and take. And it did help to let it all out.

"God, what a mess. Well, what do you want to do?"

"I want to focus on this case. Let's prepare for this meeting. Here, Frank and I took some photos of the crime scene."

"What's this?" Finn pointed at a photo of a scrap of paper.

"Probably rubbish. We didn't know if we'd be allowed to go back, so we cataloged everything. That scrap is in my folder. Do you want to see it?"

Finn shook his head. "You're right, there were a lot of people there. Someone might have dropped it." He scratched his head. "I mean, you guys were certainly thorough but I don't really see anything in here to help. The police must have gone through everything, anyway. Let's hope they have something."

"They haven't spoken to me. I hope the task force makes them more cooperative."

Finn set down the laptop and stretched out his well built shoulders. "Well, we can take these photos with us and see what the team thinks. Speaking of giving people stuff, I didn't come empty-handed. I've got Chircop's autopsy results here. I know it's not as friendly as a cup of coffee, but do you want to have a look, before we meet the team?"

Nancy sucked in a breath. "Let's."

He squeezed her hand in his, and they sat on the sofa and looked over the images and text, together in a puddle of watery sunlight.

When Joe woke up, Frank was sitting in the sunlight, poring over handwritten notes. He was surrounded by discarded pages and empty coffee cups. And he'd been pushing his glasses up his nose all night. Joe could tell because there were ink smears and grooves on his nose, where the frames had pressed into the flesh.

"I've got a plan," Frank said, without giving Joe time to speak. "I've been thinking, and I think that woman, Ms. Rhodes… her son Jerry might be the key to finding dad. So, why don't we go to the trail where he was found? Then, when we get back, we can find Karen Chircop, see what she has to say. And that brings me to Nancy's case. I want to see if we can read through witness reports from the conference, see if we can find anything. That room was full of people, someone must have-"

"Whoa, slow down! It all sounds good, but bro, you need to calm down. Have a glass of water or something. And maybe have a shower? You've got panda eyes."

"I know, I didn't sleep-"

"No, like," Joe illustrated with his hands circling under his eyes, "with a pen. It looks like you drew them on, like a kid. You need to clean up. You've got the whole crazy scientist thing going on and well, you've always pulled the "nerd thing" off, but this is… a bit much."

As Frank cleared up his things, Joe said tentatively, "did you speak to Nan?"

"Yes. We texted."

"Oh, right. So, no. You didn't talk."

"She'll reach out when she's cooled off."

"Frank, you're not at her beck and call. If you need to-"

"I don't tell you how to act with Bess, so can we leave it? My life. Yours. Anyway, I'm going to have a shower. If you try and fight me, I'll use all the warm water."

After the two guys had showered and dressed, they took the hire car out to the industrial area where Ms. Rhodes had said her son's body was found.

As she'd described, the location was a trail. Although, it wasn't in a tranquil forest-like Joe had imagined. It was a straggly backlot, between two abandoned warehouse-type buildings. The "trail" was a dash of mud, bordered on either side by high, uncut grass and discarded trash. There were puddles of who knows what, because it had only drizzled half-heartedly in the early morning.

Frank gingerly stepped over a suspicious-looking garbage bag. Of course, he'd worn loafers.

Joe was about to say something about his brother's fashion choices, when Frank spoke up, voice uncharacteristically sharp.

"Joe!"

"What is it?"

"These warehouses are abandoned, right?"

"Right. They look like it."

"Cool, well, then, why is there CCTV?"

"I don't know, maybe it's old."

"No, it's not. Look, see that flashing light? It's recording!" Frank pointed at a camera that was turned towards them on the trail. As he looked, he could see another two lenses, winking, as the light caught them and showed them off.

"I mean, some places are still secure," Joe said uncertainly. "I know security has to keep an eye on them, you know, keep the homeless out, stuff like that." But even as he spoke, he knew this was different. He and his dad did a lot of work on private security, and those cameras were top of the line. Law enforcement caliber.

"Right. But these cameras are the real deal. They're DL18- Z Series. They haven't been released to the public, yet." Frank was chomping at the bit, talking about some new tech like it was some Victoria's Secret model. He loved his old, dusty tomes and fountain pens, but he also loved the newest, state of the art gadgets. He knew what he was talking about.

"What do you want to do?" Joe asked.

"Come back later and sneak in," Frank said. "I don't need an invitation, do you?"