Notes: This is a Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossover. It is also non-graphic slash.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Hardys, the Drews, their friends, or anything else recognizable.

A/N: Do not expect updates this frequently. I'm on vacation from work, so I have some time on my hands that I normally wouldn't.

Myra – Hopefully Nancy and Frank's conversation won't be too anticlimactic for you ;)

TanukiImbreed – Well, this update wasn't as fast as the others, but I hope you like it as much :)

Tati1 – Well, um, you'll just have to wait and see ;) Though I can say that my current intention is not for this to be a short fic. As for how the attackers would know, if this is the case, well…

Katie Janeway – But who will it be more awkward for, is the question?

Angry penguin – Get it over with, hmm? Okay :-P

Red Hardy – lol! As for Frank being afraid to talk to his parents and Joe… there's a reason, I promise.

Julzprice – Questions are good. I like questions. It means I have you thinking ;) And glad to hear about chem.

Lady Emily – Hopefully it lives up to your expectations. I'm not really sure I like how it went, though, so… :crosses fingers:

Belladonna – That is the reason indeed...

Valin – Yes, I'll bet you are :-P

Wilwarin Breila – ooh, you'll have to link me to your fic :-D

Nancy Nickerson – Glad I surprised someone ;) And as for Ned, well, I promise I'll write him in just for you.

Nikki – I'm such a stickler about grammar and formatting it isn't funny, so you don't have to worry about that ;) And I'm glad I've got you so interested.

Rutu – She was staring up because Frank is upstairs and she's trying to figure out how to talk to him. :)

Drewnhardy – I love that kind of reaction. Here's your update

A/N: This is shorter than the others, I think, but I wanted to give you something.

Chapter 4

Nancy knocked lightly on Frank's bedroom door. "Can I come in?"

"Door's open."

Pushing on it, she walked in slowly, then turned to close it behind her. Still facing the door, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before turning back around. "I just spoke with Con Riley."

"Oh?" Frank didn't look at her and she could tell from the tone of his voice that he was trying to appear disinterested, though he wasn't quite succeeding.

"He had some interesting information. He found a connection between the other two victims."

Frank froze in the process of sitting up. "What?" He barely managed to say the word.

"They're both gay."

She was quiet for a while after that, allowing the words to hang in the air in the hopes of getting some sort of reaction out of Frank. It took a while, but he didn't disappoint her.

He didn't speak, didn't do much at all. But he blinked and before he turned away, she could see the expression on his face change. She walked toward his desk, pulling out the chair and sitting on it backwards. "Con doesn't have any proof linking your attack to the others, but if you don't talk to him soon and tell him what's going on, he's going to have to go to your parents with what he knows."

"He doesn't know anything."

"He thinks he does," she said quietly. "So do I."

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Frank stared at Nancy. Even if he'd wanted to speak, he didn't think he'd have been able to. He blinked suddenly at the tears that sprang to his eyes, angry at himself for how much he'd been letting his emotions control him in the last few days.

He swallowed and forced himself to look over at her. "Do you?"

"Frank, don't do this; there's no point. We both know each other better than that, and I can see right through you. Don't do this," she said again.

He looked away; this was why he hadn't wanted to see her, why he'd tried to push her away. It wasn't that Nancy knew him better than Joe did; she didn't, not really. But Joe wouldn't push the way Nancy would. He was more willing to back off if Frank asked him to, which meant Joe was safer.

"You know what Con thinks, Frank. And what I think. Is it true?"

Typical Nancy, right to the point and better able than anyone to make him feel guilty if he lied. Not to mention, she would know in a second, just as Joe would. He loved being so close to his brother and he valued his friendship with Nancy, but sometimes…

"Frank, please. It's me, and Joe. It's your parents. You have nothing to be afraid of, Frank."

"No," he finally managed to say. "Don't tell mom and dad, please."

"Tell them what, Frank?"

He glared at her, knowing exactly what she was doing and unwillingly to go along with her. "You know what."

He could tell from the look in her eyes that she wanted to continue playing coy, but for the same reasons he hadn't lied to her, he knew she wouldn't pursue it. And, she didn't. Instead, she just nodded and said softly, "I don't understand why you felt the need to hide it from me, from Joe – and from your parents even still."

The expression on Nancy's face was so full of concern that no matter how much he wanted to tell her to back off, that it wasn't her business and he had nothing more to say, he couldn't. "I have my reasons."

Her frown deepened at that and for a moment Frank wondered if he was reading her right. She looked some combination of scared… and guilty. "Is it… is it something I said? Something I did?"

Frank cocked his head to one side, studying her face while he tried to understand what she was asking. But his head still hurt too much and he really didn't feel up to even having this conversation – let alone thinking too hard while trying to decipher what was going on inside this woman's mind. "What are you talking about?"

"Why you didn't tell me, why you wouldn't talk to me in the hospital, why you didn't want to admit it even just now. Did I say or do something to make you feel like you couldn't talk to me?" He could almost see her mind working, trying to figure out what she might have done.

He shook his head quickly. "It wasn't you, and it wasn't Joe. Just… something my dad said…" he trailed off. "I was afraid that if anyone knew, then they'd find out and I wasn't ready to deal with that. I'm still not."

There were both relief and confusion in her eyes. "I can tell." She paused. "What… what happened with your father? If you don't mind my asking?"

He was silent for a few minutes, trying to decide what to say – if he chose to answer her at all. "A kid – son of a friend of dad's – was beaten to death in his high school locker room because he was gay. A couple of his teammates from the basketball team ended up being charged. We were watching the news and the story came on and dad told me how he'd talked to his friend and the guy hadn't known about his son and as upset as he was about the kid being killed he couldn't get past him being gay."

"Frank, you aren't holding how your dad's friend feels against your dad, are you?"

He shook his head. "You know me better than that." He sighed, leaning back to rest his head on the pillows; it was pounding again and he had at least another hour until he could take anything more for it. "When the story changed he looked at me and said, 'I'm glad neither of you boys is like that; I couldn't imagine having to deal with what Nathan is.'" He quoted his father back to her word-for-word, the comment burned into his memory.

Nancy sat quietly for a few seconds before saying, "Frank, I'm sure—"

He didn't give her the chance to finish, knowing what she planned to say before she could say it. "Those were his exact words, Nan." With his eyes, he pleaded with her to understand.

Before either of them said another word, the front door downstairs opened and closed and Frank heard Joe sing out, "Honey, I'm home!"

Frank closed his eyes. "Nan—"

"I won't tell him." She paused. "You will."

His eyes flew open and he jerked up in bed, wincing at the dizziness that washed over him as a result of the sudden movement. "What? Nancy—"

"Frank, you said yourself that what you're afraid of is your dad finding out. If you don't go to the police, he's going to, which means you have to talk to Con Riley. Are you really comfortable with the idea of talking to Riley about something that even Joe doesn't know?" She paused. "How do you think he'd react if he found out?"

He sagged back down against his pillows and shook his head. "It's not just dad."

"Frank, Joe is one of the most tolerant and accepting people I know. You can't seriously be afraid he'll judge you over something like this. You could kill someone and that kid would stand by you, no matter what happened."

"I know. And that's why I don't want to tell him."

Confusion was written all over her face. "Frank, are you feeling okay?"

"No," he replied shortly. "But I'm being serious. I know Joe looks up to me and I don't want to let him down."

Nancy stared at him. "If you weren't already concussed, I'd slap you upside the head."

He started. "What?"

"I'm going to repeat myself here once and once only, so listen up. 'You could kill someone and that kid would stand by you,'" she quoted to him. "Joe won't care, except maybe to be hurt that you didn't talk to him first. He's a lot more sensitive – and mature – than you give him credit for, Frank. I don't think he'd feel let down and I don't think he'd judge you. I think he'd just want you to be happy. Which you obviously aren't at this point in time."

"Nancy, please."

"How are you going to tell the police something you can't tell your own brother?" Her voice was level and not quite accusatory, but not entirely sympathetic either.

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Joe hung his jacket up and frowned, glancing up the stairs. Maybe everyone was asleep. "No," he corrected himself aloud. "Frank's light was on."

Shrugging, he decided they hadn't heard him and headed into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator and a couple of cookies from the tray on the counter before returning to the front hall. He mounted the stairs slowly, tucking the bottle under his arm to unscrew the cap, and at the top of the steps saw light coming from under his brother's closed door.

Using his elbow, he knocked on the door. "Anybody home?"

There was a moment of silence and then he heard Frank's muffled voice. "Yeah, come in."

Joe pushed the door open, pausing when he saw Nancy sitting in Frank's desk chair. "You guys having a party without me?" he asked lightly, affecting a wounded expression.

"Not exactly," Nancy replied, sliding backwards and standing up. "I'll leave you two alone."

"You don't have to go, Nan," Joe told her. "I'm just going to head to bed in a few minutes anyway."

"Yes, I do." Joe frowned, not missing the look she shot in Frank's direction. Something was up. Nancy took a step toward the bed, reaching for Frank's hand and giving it a light squeeze before stepping back and heading in Joe's direction. "Good night, boys."

"Night, Nancy," Frank said, and Joe echoed his brother.

Once she was gone, Joe took the seat she'd vacated and studied Frank's face. Something was definitely up.