Frank and Joe haven't spoken since the fight they had the night Joe decided to get his social worker's degree, but that barely matters. When Frank uncovers that his job at the CIA is lying about something that could get his brother killed, he and Chet make a trip halfway across the country… desperate to stop the event before it happens.

CHAPTER ONE

Frank sighed as he took his binoculars, watching Joe in the office. "Well, I'm glad that we found him at least… that was my first concern. How did you find him, anyway?"

"I'll explain later," Chet said, not wanting to bore Frank with the process. It had been pretty easy, but he didn't really want to disclose more of Joe's information than needed until the two had at least somewhat made up. Sure, they were here for Joe's benefit, but if Joe didn't see it this way, the whole thing was pointless.

Frank shifted awkwardly. Joe had always been a point of contention behind them, and Chet was right… he did owe his brother a hell of an apology. He'd basically shut his brother out after graduation. The only time that he'd seen his brother since graduation was when his aunt died, and that was the when his brother had come home. He'd only talked to Laura, barely looked at Fenton at all, and hadn't even said hi to Frank.

That had stung, but Frank had known he'd deserved it. Now, though, Joe's life was in danger. Besides, he was old enough and able to admit that he'd been stupid, that the argeument had been entirely his fault, and … he wanted to apologize.

He just desperately hoped that Joe would accept it.

Joe stepped out to his car to find someone standing there. That part wasn't entirely surprising, sometimes people stopped by their work and were just… a little too uncomfortable about it. What was surprising was who was standing by his car, and that someone was Chet.

Chet shifted uncomfortably, offering him a smile. "Hey," he said.

A million thoughts raced down Joe's head as to why Chet could be here. His stomach flipped and he wondered -

"Chet, Frank's not dead is he?"

"What? Oh god, no," Chet said, immediately wondering if Joe had assumed that because of how he was dressed. "No, no. I'm sorry. Um - he wants to apologize to you, but this is about more than that. He's worried for your safety."

Joe shifted his papers, finally turning from his car to fully stare at Chet in shock. "He's worried about my safety?" He asked, looking Chet in the eye. He guessed he shouldn't have been surprised but he was.

"He's never stopped, really." Chet allowed a smile. "He can explain it better than I can," Chet added. "Do you mind?"

Joe shrugged. "Well… I'm intrigued, if nothing else."

They had all made it back to the hotel fairly quickly. Fenton had booked Frank under an assumed name and he was grateful for that. He was also grateful Joe didn't have to work overtime today; he wondered how often Joe did had to work overtime. That was one of the things he was jealous about on regular jobs.

"So," Joe said, looking at him thoughtfully, "What's so important that you wanted to break four years of not speaking and have Chet ambush me in the parking lot? You even brought me dinner. Did someone die?"

"I already said Frank didn't," Chet said. "His spirit might have died, but as you can see, he's very much alive."

Joe rolled his eyes. "I know, but I said someone." He sombered. "Frank?"

Frank had been quiet most of the way up, figuring out what he wanted to say. "Joe, I'm sorry for what I said. I know that's not nearly enough of an apology, but I want to get to that later. I want to tell you why you're here; you deserve that much. As of today, I have resigned from the CIA."

"But - but the CIA was your dream job." Joe stared at Frank a little bit, wondering what he was thinking. He knew that his brother had always wanted to work there. So why had Frank resigned? Was he having a mid-life crisis?

Frank's face hardened a little, much to his surprise. "That was before they decided to come after you as bait."

Joe's mouth dropped. He had thought that when he had gone out of detective work he would have been safe. After Iola died in a car accident... he'd decided he didn't want to pursue detective work. His throat was suddenly dry, and he took a sip of water. He stared at Frank, trying to determine how serious his brother was, and yet, he knew his brother wouldn't lie about something of this magnitude. "Bait?" he finally asked.

"Yes. A well-known criminal is coming after you."

"... But... I have a lot of questions but I'm guessing they don't have that much time. What happened?"

"The CIA has been trying to flush this person out for some time, and there's a valid reason for it." Frank paused, trying to figure out how he wanted to word it. "He goes after young twenty-somethings who have been cut off from their family and feel alone and afraid," he said quietly. "Then, he abducts them to work in his human trafficking ring."

"That's... there's more, isn't there?"

Frank swallowed. "I need to promise methat you won't - nevermind, what the hell. I've already quit; they may as well sue me too. Joe, if the people disobey a single one of his commands twice, no matter what it is, they die."

A chill ran over Joe's spine. "And... and he's coming after me?"

"Frank arrested his second in command," Chet explained. "We didn't know it at the time."

Joe nodded. "And... Why did the CIA want to use me as bait?"

"Their rationale was they knew you were, they suspected you were one of his targets and could come over and swoop in and get you. They figured they'd plant some people around you and get him." Frank looked at him. "Their mistake was assuming that Mendolez would have someone fall for that task, or that you wouldn't notice the detectives. I said you may have been out of detective work awhile, but you weren't an idiot."

That's not what you said all those nights ago, Joe thought, but it had been so much more than that. He didn't say anything, though. "So why not let them use me as bait? We haven't talked in years, Frank. What aren't you saying? There's more, isn't there?"

"They expected you would die at his hands before you even had the chance to become a victim," Frank said firmly. "They said it was for the good of the country. And they were still somehow surprised when I resigned the same day."

Joe's stomach flopped.

"So you really think I'm in danger?"

"We know you're in danger, Joe," Frank said gently. "They're probably not going to be happy with me when I told you things… but I couldn't just stand by and let you die."

"Why would you care? You haven't talked to me in years, Frank. Thanks for the warning, but I can handle my own." Joe brushed off the crumbs from his bread. "I can handle my own."

"Joe… please."

"You don't get to go and come like you're someone's savior, Frank. You told me you thought that my career path was stupid years ago. You don't get to come in and play hero now," Joe responded. "There are kids out there who need my help. I've got to get back to work."