Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Thank you: Wendylouwho10 who read over the story for me and made content suggestions, helped with the flow, and provided some spelling/grammar corrections. Typos are mine and I discover them all the time. :-)

Rating/Setting: Rating is T. Setting is blue spine-ish and AU. Timeline: Taken; Recovery; Retribution; Wild Pitch; and now this story. While you don't NEED to read the previous stories, things will be referenced and perhaps even some from my younger Hardys stories.

Author's Notes: Surprise! Yep, Vanessa has shown up in my story arc where Iola is still alive. Adds a bit of mystery to the situation as to what will happen doesn't it? ;-) This is my take on Vanessa as I haven't read any Casefiles with her in them. I've only read what I've googled and read in other fanfics. So I hope I don't get too off-base in her characterization.


Chapter Four

Joe watched as a tall beautiful blonde girl stood on the other side of the table. She had to be at least 5'9" and had long ash blonde hair and blue-grey eyes that currently seemed to twinkle.

"Well, I'm glad that my make-over wasn't as extensive as yours," Vanessa said smoothly as she came around the table to shake his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you."

"You're an operative?" Joe asked somewhat dumbly. However, he was still a little shocked that a girl that looked like her was in ORT.

"Aw, Joe, you should know that being blonde and blue-eyed with a pretty face doesn't mean you can't fight and be tough." Then she winked at him, obviously not put off by his initial reaction.

Unable to help himself, Joe returned the smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I just wasn't expecting my partner to look like you."

"What were you expecting? A girl version of Frank?" she quipped back.

Joe chuckled. "I guess so. But then, I doubt your were expecting someone looking like me," he said as he knew that his hair was very noticeable.

Vanessa gave him a once over and said, "They showed me a picture of you and Frank. I'm not sure that he would recognize you without a second glance."

"That's good," Agent Johnson said. The two teens turned to look at the agent whom they had practically forgotten was in the room. "We don't want him to be recognized or paired with Frank who still looks like himself. Now if you'd both have a seat." While Vanessa and Joe seated themselves, Johnson went to a side table and opened a drawer. He pulled three tablets from the drawer. He handed one to each of them and turned on the one he kept for himself.

When Joe turned his on, he found that it had only basic apps on the home screen. But in addition to the basics was a file labeled HURT. Joe glanced up from the tablet to Johnson. "The name of the op is HURT? Doesn't sound very promising."

Keo shrugged. "It was a random name assignment. Now if you would open the folder, you'll see that there are bios on the persons involved that are key players. Take some time to read over them but don't spend the majority of your time there. I want you to spend more time on your on covers. Look at what we have and let us know if you think we need to modify anything. The two of you will be spending the rest of the day together as well as tonight and part of tomorrow. Vanessa, when you're not with Joe tomorrow, you'll be briefed further on the technical aspects of what the op entails so that you can relay the information to Frank. Joe, you'll be going to the gym to work on holds and technique. According to your brother and your father, you're quite good."

Joe looked up from the table. "My dad said I was good?" He could understand Frank telling them that, but for his dad to say it meant even more.

Johnson nodded. "He did. He said that you're leg game was a little below standard but you could hold your own with striking. He also said, that if you got anyone down, it would be bad for them." Johnson studied the young man in front of him. "You understand that in this operation, you can't be lenient on anyone. You give them an inch and they will beat you to a pulp." Johnson held the young man's eyes. "This isn't the time for sportsmanship. Frank says that the rules are are the basics but they don't hold back at all."

Joe swallowed. "I understand."

"I hope you do." Johnson turned to Vanessa. "Have you watched any MMA?"

"Only a little," she replied honestly.

"Then you'll need to go to the gym and watch Joe practice. If you're his girlfriend you would have seen him fight at some time." Vanessa nodded and Johnson continued. "Good. Now let's go over a few things about how we'll try to get you in. The fighting organization also runs a construction business. They do minor projects. Their primary purpose is to locate young men who don't have a lot of options and usually have a record. Joe, you'll be applying for a job with them. You'll see what your background is in the file. You should fit their profile. Frank will be doing his part to make sure there is an opening for you in the group of fighters-"

"What do you mean make sure there's an opening?" Joe interrupted.

"I mean that once they have their compliment of fighters, they don't take more in unless someone is out of commission." Johnson watched the younger Hardy closely.

Joe stared back and slowly said, "And Frank will make sure that one of them is injured enough to be out of ring for awhile."

"That's correct. We'll be letting Frank know the date of your arrival and he'll take someone out around that time."

Joe drew a deep breath. "Okay." He knew that things wouldn't always be pretty in this line of work. He just didn't expect it to hit so close to home so soon.

Johnson moved on when Joe didn't say anything else. "The two of you are high school dropouts who have been dating for about a year. The two of you can settle on the specifics. You'll be staying at a cheap hotel until Joe gets taken in by the organization. The fight group goes by the name Zendel's. When you're taken on as a fighter, they'll move you into an apartment complex that the group owns. They like to keep an eye on their fighters. Can't have any of you getting into trouble with the law and possibly informing on the group."

"Sounds like they have it all figured out," Vanessa said as she put down her tablet. Her fingers made nervous circles on the table as she asked, "When you say we'll be staying at the hotel together…."

"I mean together," Johnson said as he looked from one of them to the other. "You have to appear in every way as boyfriend and girlfriend. You'll hug, kiss, and share a bed." As both the boy and girl turned red, he sighed and said, "I'm not saying for you to have sex, but if someone comes into your room, you can't have pillows and sheets on the couch. If that happens, your cover is blown."

Johnson didn't have to say anything else as silence descended on the room.

Joe looked at Vanessa who nodded. Turning back to Johnson, Joe said, "We understand."

"Good. You'll get to practice tonight as you'll share a room here. You need to work out some things before you're thrown into them during the operation."

Vanessa had turned her red face back to the tablet and was looking at her description. She looked up at Johnson and asked, "It says here that I'm taking birth control and antidepressants. I understand the birth control, but why the antidepressants?"

"They're for me," Joe said as he looked at his tablet. "I'll explain it all to you later. You deserve to know as you'll be in this with me." He drew a deep breath and let it out. "I guess in this line of work, it's hard to keep your past in the past."

Johnson stood up. "I think now is just as good a time as any, Joe. Let me show you where your room will be for tonight. The two of you can talk and look over the information." He moved to the door and headed out without waiting to see if the two teens were following.

They were soon in an elevator and headed to the eighth floor that looked remarkably like a floor of a hotel. As Joe looked around he wouldn't have been surprised to learn that not only was it used to house agents on occasion, but also used as a training ground for agents who might have to work in a hotel. He was admiring the multicolored patterned carpet that was unlike the industrial carpet of the other floors when they stopped in front of a door. Beside it was placard that read 803 and had a non-smoking sign beneath it. Yep, training area, Joe thought. Johnson unlocked the door and handed Vanessa the key.

"Your luggage is inside along with suitcases that have the clothing and accessories that you will actually take with you. If you need me for anything, dial 0 and ask for me. Any questions?" Johnson asked. When they shook their heads no, he said, "I'll see you here at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow."

"Yes, sir," they both replied.

With a nod he left them and returned to the elevator. Joe and Vanessa both looked into the room and stood where they were.

"I guess we might as well go in," Joe said and gestured for Vanessa to go in first. Joe looked around. "Well, this is gonna be awkward." The only furniture in the room was a queen size bed, two nightstands with lights and two long benches that had their real luggage and their 'cover' luggage. Then there was a console table with a tv on top and a mini-fridge and microwave underneath. Doors opening into a closet and a bathroom were at the front of the room where they were standing. It really was like a hotel room.

Vanessa laughed. "Well, it could be worse; it could be a twin bed."

Joe couldn't help but laugh. Vanessa was funny and she didn't seem to take things too seriously. Hopefully, things wouldn't get too strained and uncomfortable but he knew that by tonight and in the morning, there were definitely going to be embarrassing times. Joe closed the door and looked at the room. "I could put the suitcases on the bed and we could sit on the benches."

Vanessa eyed the hard wooden benches. "I think we'd just end up feeling sore. And let's be honest. We're going to be in that bed together later to sleep. If we can't bring ourselves to just sit on it now, then we're in trouble."

"You're right," Joe agreed. "Which side do you want?"

"Do you snore?"

Joe chuckled. "A little according to my brother."

"How about according to your girlfriend?" she asked further.

"Um," Joe couldn't help it as his faced flushed. "She doesn't- I mean we don't sleep together." He watched as Vanessa seemed to visibly relax.

"Oh, okay."

"How about you? Does your boyfriend say you snore?" he inquired thinking that turnabout was fair game.

This time, he watched a red blush spread from her chest and up her neck to her face as she answered, "I don't have a boyfriend and if I did, we wouldn't be sleeping together."

Joe nodded. "So… the birth control pills are just a part of our cover?"

"Well, no. I do take them but it's not for birth control but to help regulate my period." Her red blush continued.

This time all Joe could say was, "Oh, okay." He and Iola sometimes talked about her cycle, but it wasn't a normal topic of conversation and it still wasn't the most comfortable. It was a natural thing for a woman but it was unnatural for a teenage boy to talk about.

"I'll take the side next to the window. The AC unit is there and if you snore, the sound of the unit will help cover it up." She walked over to the unit and made an adjustment to the thermostat and in a moment the unit came on. Its light hum was a soothing sound to the two occupants of the room. Vanessa then moved to the bed and moved the pillows so that that they were up against the wall-mounted headboard. She sat down and leaned back up against the pillows that were covered in the standard white casings. Patting the other side of the bed, she said, "Might as well come have a seat."

Joe kicked off his shoes and gingerly sat on what was his side of the bed. She had been joking about a twin bed being worse, but even this queen size felt a little odd and he knew they would probably only have a full-size bed wherever they were on the mission. He looked at his hands in his lap as he asked, "So how much do you know about what happened to me?"

"They gave me some FBI reports to read once you said yes to the mission. I know about what happened last summer and what happened in March." She continued to look at his profile. "But I have a feeling there was a lot that happened in between."

"Yeah, you could say that." Joe then described what had happened with Camille Montoya and his bout of guilt and depression around the holidays. He didn't spare himself as he described his ill-fated plan to get the truth from Camille and his return stint to the hospital.

"I take it that your family wasn't thrilled with your decision to go it alone."

"Not in the least," Joe replied. "I took a lot of well-deserved flack from that. When I was pushed off the cliff, it was something that was out of my control. Taking on Camille alone when I was injured was my choice." Joe smiled momentarily. "My family is very protective of me, so yeah, putting myself in that kind of danger didn't go over well."

"And that's why you're taking anti-depressants."

"It's not so much what happened with Camille as it was the stress of the holidays and thinking about Morgan's family going through all of that without him."

Vanessa's voice softened. "And because you felt you could have saved him."

Joe looked over to the girl beside him and saw compassion in her eyes and not pity. "I eventually realized that Morgan's life wasn't something that I was responsible for. Dominic Laird killed him and not even dying myself could have changed that."

Vanessa's brow furrowed. "And the anniversary of his death just passed."

Joe looked away from her. "Yeah. That's one of the reasons I'm still on the anti-depressants. My therapist wanted me to stay on a low-dosage through the summer at least."

"What's the other reason you're still on them?"

Smiling slightly, Joe said, "Frank." When she was silent, he added, "The stress of the anniversary plus having my brother, who's my best friend, out of contact for an indeterminate amount of time… well, you can see it was a double concern."

"The two of you are really close aren't you?" There was a wistful tone to her voice.

Joe's gaze returned to her as he shifted on the bed to face her a little more. "We're only a year and three months apart."

"But being close in age doesn't make you close friends," she countered.

Shrugging, Joe responded, "I just know he's been my best friend since I can remember. He's always had time for me; always been there for me."

"And you do the same for him," Vanessa countered.

Joe gave her a big smile. "What else are brothers for?" He had noted her wistfulness earlier. "With my dad's line of work, it isn't a surprise that Frank and I are interested in this type of work. But what about you? I haven't had a chance to read anything about you yet."

Vanessa gave him a quirky smile. "There's nothing of great interest in my life. My father passed away when I was just a baby. My mom never remarried and right now we're living in Manhattan but my mom is looking to move out in the country somewhere."

"Really? What would draw city girls out to the country?" Joe asked with another smile.

"My mom does high-end computer animation cartoons similar in style to anime. She would like to expand her studio and to be honest, space in Manhattan isn't cheap."

Joe laughed. "I'm sure it's not."

"So I've been around computers all my life but I'm not interested in the artistic side of it. I'm interested in the source code for the programs as well as the hardware involved." Vanessa shifted on the bed so that she was sitting with her legs crossed Indian-style and facing Joe. "My dad had been in the Air Force and a friend of his, Brett Cooper, works in cyber surety for the Air Force."

"What? Cyber-what?"

Vanessa laughed. "I know. I hadn't heard of it either until he told me about it. Cyber surety works to detect and defend against cyber attacks to the government and military." She shrugged. "My mom told him about my interest. I call him Uncle Brett, but he's no relation. He's just a close family friend." She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders as she continued. "I took the ASVAB and some other tests he suggested and the Air Force took notice. He would send me sample scenarios they use for training and it seems that I did as well as many of the incoming recruits that have had the training."

Joe whistled. "Wow. No wonder ORT took notice. But what made you want to join?"

"Would it be cheesy to say I want to serve my country?"

"No, but I'm sure there's more."

Vanessa smiled. "Yeah, I love doing this kind of stuff." Her smile turned to a frown. "I wish that I could have gone in already but the Zendel's group doesn't take teenage women unless they're with the fighters." She shrugged and winked at him. "You're my ticket in."

Joe couldn't help but laugh. Undoubtedly, she would be more critical to the mission than he was. He could use a computer with ease and was good at the physical networking part, but code and all that was beyond him at this point. "I guess you're the brains and I'm the brawn."

"Oh, I don't know about that," she said as she stood up to retrieve his tablet. "I read that you're really good at math and math is a key component of computers."

"Still," Joe said, "I'll let you and big brother handle the computer end."

"Deal," Vanessa said as she sat down once again on the bed. The awkwardness was dissipating quickly and both were glad of it. "How about we review this together?"

"Great idea," Joe said.