Author's note: I would like to thank everyone who has posted over the last week. Seeing other people write really inspired me to finish this chapter.

Disclaimer: If you think I own the Hardy characters, you are gravely mistaken.

Manipulative, Sam's voice echoed in her head. Manipulative, manipulative, manipulative. She slammed on the breaks as the light turned from yellow to red, and drummed her fingers on the steering wheel while waiting for the light to change. It would be very inconvenient to get a traffic ticket tonight. "I'm sorry officer. I need you to come with me to rescue my family. After that, you'll probably have to arrest me…

The smart thing would have been to call the cops and straighten the entire mess out later. Failing that, they could have just rescued the Hardys after Vanessa and Callie had found out where they were. But instead of that, she had to find those blasted plans and orchestrated a robbery that would have done 22 year old Laura Basden proud….

Admit it, you had fun tonight and felt better than you have in years. You didn't call the cops because I scared you. You didn't call them because you wanted to have this opportunity for yourself."

As the car jumped forward and a slow smile spread across her face, she had to concede that she had enjoyed the robbery far more than she had expected to. Her body quickly remembered both the adrenaline rush and the heightened sensation that came from relying on her wits to stay alive. Despite the considerable amount of time she had spent with Callie and Vanessa, the three of them had never felt more like sisters than when they were fleeing the scene of their crime. The proud and slightly reckless looks they had exchanged in the bank were all the proof she needed.

Right now, Callie and Vanessa were in the back seat of the car and engaged in a deep conversation. Vanessa had her arm around Callie who was struggling not to cry. "Ok, fine," she burst out. "But the next time, I'd probably just do the same thing again. I'm turning into a bad person!"

Although Callie looked slightly more relaxed as she heard Vanessa's response, Laura grimaced as she eyed them in the review mirror.

Although the two women were not as close as Frank and Joe, their skills complimented each other. Callie's clear insights into human nature and Vanessa's tendency toward action and no-nonsense attitude had done wonders for (she hoped!) the entire family. Their unshakable loyalty and willingness to take risks had been invaluable the last few days. Frank and Joe were lucky to have found two amazing, strong and smart women. If either woman got hurt tonight, she would have to answer to them. And quite frankly, she would prefer climbing in bed with a scorpion to facing two angry and devastated sons.

She was going to have enough problems explaining this to them as it was. They had spent their entire lives looking up to their father, admiring his successes and following in his footsteps. How would they judge their mother now, knowing that she was once a successful thief and had deceived them for almost 20 years? While Joe might get hot-headed, it was Frank's slow anger she was most concerned about, especially after the most recent changes in Callie.

The Callie of four days ago would never have knocked out a defenseless man with an antique lamp. That was Laura's fault and hers alone. Was she becoming as cruel as Eric? Coldly disregarding the well-being of others for her own selfish gain?

As she maneuvered past a semi, her thoughts turned to Fenton. Thomas's words repeated themselves in her head. She tried to convince herself that she was simply overreacting to a few stressful days, but deep down she knew that wasn't the whole truth. It was time to start being honest with herself.

You're never allowed to use your remarkable talents and be yourself. I'm giving you the opportunity to break free, to be who you really are."

The problem was that she was no longer sure who she was. Instead of facing who she was during these last 20 years, she had crafted an image of herself and stuck to it. That image was not entirely a false one, but she had given up more than she thought she would when she had made that deal. When she first heard her 15 and 16 year old sons discuss a mystery at dinner, she had to force herself to remain silent and display only marginal curiosity, even though she had suspected who the culprit was from the start, and was later proven right. Even harder was when Frank's interest in computers started to grow and expand, and as much as she wanted to share that part of his life with him, she couldn't.

The few times that she had helped Fenton (whose detective skills far outweighed her own), had been in an emergency and was a private matter between the two of them. Now that Thomas had shredded her external image, she would have to discover her true self. Like the Roman God Janus, her two selves were looking in opposite directions, and this could not continue. She would have to choose which way to look or forge a new face.

For most of her life, she had been Laura Hardy, largely out of fear that once she opened the door to Laura Basden, her old self would come crashing through it like an unwanted house guest. Over the last few days Laura Hardy had been alternately opening that door and morphing into Laura Basden before slamming the door shut again. There were times when she was not sure which Laura she was. Other times she was one or the other or a mixture of the two. But there was no time to mull that over now, there was Fenton to think of.

"He's been completely catatonic since he's been here. He knows that when you bring the box to me, you'll have reverted back to your old self, and he'll have lost you forever.

Fenton would never believe that she had anything to do with his kidnapping. But the problem now was that she trusted Fenton, but could not trust herself. Even if she disobeyed Thomas and rescued her husband, she wasn't sure everything would work out. After what she had done tonight and what she had allowed others to do, she didn't know if she was worthy to be the wife of such a fine man.

"You came through for your husband before. He knows you're not going to let him down now. "

With that thought, Laura Hardy opened her cell phone and dialed. No matter how this hurt her later or what she might do, there was one thing she could do to make sure this didn't escalate any further. A way to slam the door shut on Laura Basden forever. And she had to do it now before she changed her mind.

"Hello," she addressed the 911 dispatcher. "I'd like to report a kidnapping."

"Who was kidnapped?" asked the calm voice on the other end.

"Fenton, Frank and Joe Hardy," she answered. "This is Fenton's wife Laura Hardy. I've tracked the kidnappers to a warehouse in New York City." She rattled off the address.

"You what?! Stay where you are, ma'am" the female voice intoned. We're sending a squad car right away."

"Better make that four squad cars, and thank you!" Laura smiled as she hung up the phone.

"Why did you call the cops?" Vanessa demanded, turning her head from the window to make eye contact through the review mirror, "I don't want you to get arrested!"

"Because I don't want to have to leave a good friend unconscious on my kitchen floor again," Laura said firmly. "Here we are!" She turned around to look at Callie who was now looking a lot calmer than she was five minutes ago as she flashed Laura a congratulatory smile. Instead of arguing, Vanessa got out of the car and looked around the neighborhood.

"Two guards over there," she said. "But that shouldn't be a problem."

"Heyyyyyyy mannnn," she slurred, moving toward them. "Doo youu want to haave a gooood time?"

"Get lost lady," snapped the first guard.

"Whyy?" she said. "I juust waantt too haavve funnn."

"Don't get mad," the second one said condescendingly, "I get off in 15 minutes, then we'll have a good time!"

"But I am mad!" snapped Vanessa clearly. "You kidnapped my boyfriend and I want him back." With that, she slammed her elbow into his chin, causing his head to knock against the brick wall and he slumped to the ground. The first guard's eyes widened in surprise, but Vanessa quickly delivered an uppercut to the jaw, knocking him out cold.

"It will take a few minutes until the police get here," said Callie coming up next to her, "We'll wait until they show up."

"Would Frank and Joe wait? Besides, they could be used as hostages!" Without another word, Vanessa ran inside. Laura and Callie exchanged resigned looks and then ran after her.

The downstairs was a twisted and winding maze of hallways. They passed corridor after corridor until they had lost all sense of direction. They turned right, left and then right again, but kept feeling like continuously ended up back where they had started. They were so far underground that they could not hear any sounds from the city above.

"This is crazy," mumbled Vanessa. "At this rate, we'll be wandering around here when we're supposed to be meeting them tomorrow. Why haven't we – OH!"

She stared at the six men before her who looked even more surprised to see a stranger than she was. She could see that three of them were armed, but they seemed to have forgotten about their weapons. Laura and Callie rounded the corner behind Vanessa and stopped besides her. For a long moment, neither side moved.

Fighting was useless. Callie ran. Abandoning all caution, she spun around and blindly ran back toward the way she came.

"Frank! Joe! Fenton! Her yells echoed in the cavernous space as she continued, desperately searching for a way out. She wasn't sure why she was acting like this, but she knew that she had to find them and get help now.

"Callie!" Joe's voice rang out from far away. "Callie is that you?"

"That can't be Callie," Frank hollered. "She's at home in bed!"

"I am not, Frank Hardy!" yelled Callie. "Where are you?"

"Over here!" Joe yelled. "Locked in a room of some kind!" Callie continued to follow their voices as she drew closer to their prison.

Laura and Vanessa stood staring at the men before them and unconsciously moved closer together seeking reassurance. Just as Vanessa had had enough of this staring contest and figured that it was time to inquire as to why the job market was so bad that these men had to resort to shoddy underhand employment, Laura stood up straighter and gripped her arm.

"Thomas," she addressed the man who emerged from behind the six men. "Why so surprised to see me?"

"You ruined everything!" he spat. "Why couldn't you have just followed my instructions like you used to?"

"Because I'm not that woman anymore!" she shouted. The intensity of her rage surprised her. Their first meeting at a coffee shop, the books they both liked to read and the first job they pulled together flashed through her mind. She was surprised at how painful these emotions were. She thought that she had worked out her feelings of his betrayal but she was wrong.

Thomas grabbed a gun from the holster from one of the men and pointed it

At Vanessa.

Laura pulled out a smoke grenade from her shoulder bag and tossed it toward Thomas. She crashed into Vanessa and threw her to the ground as the entire corridor filled with smoke. She was shaking. Not from fear but from rage. This person had dared to come back into her life when she didn't want him there. And he had absolutely no right to kidnap anyone she cared about or point a gun at her son's girlfriend.

This had to end. With that thought, her mind was clear. She was furiously angry but she also had a job to do. She could be Laura Hardy and do it for her family. She could be Laura Basden and do it for herself. Either way, the final decision was the same even though she was no longer sure who was making the decision.

"Get them and get out of here," she barked in a mother-drill-sergeant-voice. "I'm going after Thomas." And she scrambled to her feet and plunged into the smoke, leaving Vanessa no choice but to obey. Offering a silent wish for Laura's wellbeing, Vanessa took off to find Callie, Fenton, Frank and Joe.

.

Callie stared depressingly at the locked door. The Hardys on the other side could speak to her but she had no way to get the padlocked door open. If she left for help, she wasn't sure she could find her way back. She jumped and turned as she heard footsteps running behind her, but it was only Vanessa. "The door's locked," she called out as Vanessa approached. "I can't get it open."

"Good thing I brought this!" Vanessa pulled out Joe's lock picking kit and started to work. But it had been almost a year since Joe had showed her how they worked and she was rusty. Even with Joe's patient guidance, five minutes later, the door was still shut.

"Aw darn, too slow!" she finally said. She stepped back and kicked the door which didn't budge.

"Hang on ," said Callie. "I think you got most of it – and that kick helped." She patiently manipulated the tools and thirty seconds later she pushed on the door, causing it to swing open.

"Laur-" Fenton burst out, and stopped abruptly.

"Where is she?" he demanded urgently.

"Back there," Vanessa answered. As fast as he could, Fenton ran down the hallway and out of sight.