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 Note: The last two chapters (21 & 22) are on the shorter side, but we're in the wrapping up stage. I hope that even though they're short, that they won't disappoint.


Chapter Twenty-One

Once they were showered and changed, the three teens were taken to separate rooms to debrief. When Frank was seated in his room with an agent, he said, "I'd like to speak with Agent Johnson before we begin."

The agent assigned to debrief him didn't seem surprised or concerned about the request. He just stood and went to the door and said something to one of the agents in the hall. Frank couldn't hear the words, but he heard the door close and the agent returned to his seat.

"I'm Agent Handrick," the man said as he seated himself. "Would you mind doing a few preliminaries until Agent Johnson arrives?"

"No, not at all," Frank responded. The agent then asked a series of basic information questions that Frank was able to easily answer. Then the door clicked open behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Agent Johnson enter the room. Agent Handrick stood and nodded to the senior agent and then left the room. Johnson easily moved around the table to take Handrick's spot. The chair scrapped against the floor as he pulled the seat underneath him.

"You wanted to speak with me, Agent Hardy?" Johnson asked.

"Yes, sir. I just had a few questions I wanted to ask."

"And they couldn't wait until after the debriefing?"

Frank thought for a moment. "No, sir. I wanted to have my answers before I go back to the hotel with my brother."

Johnson sat back in the chair and looked at Frank thoughtfully. "Is this about your brother?"

"Yes it is."

Johnson gestured with his hands and said, "Ask away, Frank."

"Why did you send him and not another agent? Joe hasn't had any training."

"Do you think that another agent could have done what the two of you did in that amount of time?"

"You're not answering me," Frank responded.

"And you're not answering me either." Johnson sat forward. "Who would you trust more in that situation? And besides that, putting in another 'older' agent would have taken months. We didn't have anyone else in your age range trained as well as you in MMA. You had made comments to Agent Overman during your training about your brother and Overman knew that you had been showing Joe the moves."

"I had."

Johnson crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward keeping eye contact with Frank. "He was our best option and our only one if we were to have a chance to get this data in a timely matter. This wasn't an operation we could let run indefinitely as we put in more agents." He paused and then added, "Add to that that Joe was willing to come even if he wasn't up to the MMA standard we were looking for because he wanted to be there for you."

Frank didn't speak but stared into the older man's eyes. An unspoken question was there.

"No, Frank. We wouldn't have sent him if we didn't feel that he could do it, no matter how much he would have wanted to go and no matter how much we needed him."

Frank only read truth in the agent's eyes, but there was some part of him that said that ORT would have used Joe even if he hadn't met the standard. After all, Johnson had already said that Joe was their only option. But Frank understood the position ORT was in and Joe had been the best person for the job and he had done it with flying colors. He nodded at Johnson.

"Anything else, Agent Hardy?"

"How much can we tell our family and friends?"

"You can tell your father everything as the mission is complete and he's under the confidentiality agreement with us. As for other family members and your friends, you can tell them you were on an uncover assignment and that's all," Johnson said. "You were told this when you signed up."

"I know, but I'm pretty certain that Joe didn't get all the formal ORT bureaucracy training that I did going in," Frank said with a touch of sarcasm remembering what seemed likes days of being informed of dos and don'ts.

Johnson laughed. "No, he didn't. So, I understand you wanting to clarify things so that you can help your brother understand what can and cannot be done."

"Exactly." Frank stopped and drew a breath and let it out. "You must know my brother well enough to know that he'll badger me for details about what he can talk about."

Johnson chuckled again. "I know enough about him to know he's persistent in anything he sets his mind to. It's one of the qualities that we admire in him."

Frank stared at the agent and then carefully asked. "How long have you admired his persistence?"

For a moment, it looked like the agent was going to attempt to divert the conversation but then seemed to change his mind. "We've admired you both for the last year."

"Since his abduction." It was a statement, not a question.

"Not so much his abduction as his recovery."

"The FBI reports?"

Johnson nodded. "It shouldn't surprise you; we told your father that we found both of you to be good candidates based on the reports from the FBI. He did tell you didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Then why the questions?"

"Did the reports mention how fiercely protective I am of my brother?" Frank asked.

A spark lit in Johnson's eye. "It did actually."

"Then you should know why I'm asking questions."

With a smile, Johnson responded. "I do. Is there anything else?"

"You plan on recruiting my brother next year?"

"Would it do me any good to deny it?" Johnson asked with the same smile.

Finally, Frank let his protectiveness drop. He sensed no duplicity in the other agent. Yes, Joe was young, but then so was he but both of them had done their jobs and done them well. He couldn't fault ORT for how they had run the operation so he decided to lighten the mood. "Would it do you any good to try and keep him out?"

"I think we know the answer to both our questions. It's 'no.' ORT does want to recruit your brother just as we recruited you. And yes, I know that even if we don't, he'll find a way to get involved because it's what the two of you do. You protect each other."

Knowing that Johnson did understand his relationship with Joe, Frank nodded. He was satisfied with the agent's answers. "I think that's all the questions I have for now."

Johnson stood. "Then I'll bring Agent Handrick back in and you can get your debriefing done for the night."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome, Agent Hardy."

Frank heard the door open and then close.

"Ready, Agent Hardy?" Handrick asked as he returned to his seat.

"Whenever you are," Frank responded as he sat up straighter in the chair.

.**********.

At two in the morning, Frank, Joe, and Vanessa put their duffle bags in the back of an SUV and climbed inside. All three were exhausted from the debriefing, but were glad to have it behind them. Agents Williams and Johnson had said that they would look over the information and would get any final information the next morning… which was now the current morning. The ride to the hotel was quiet and when they arrived, they only exchanged a couple of words before going to their rooms. Frank and Joe had elected to share a room though they had been offered separate ones. The only strange thing, for Frank anyway, was when Joe went to follow Vanessa into her room and he had to grab his arm.

"Oh," Joe had mumbled with a confused glance at Vanessa's back and then to Frank. "Almost forgot."

Once inside the room, the boys tossed their bags onto the two double beds. Joe kicked off his shoes and pulled off his shorts while Frank went to his suitcase. Agents must have already been to the apartment because both boys' suitcases were now in the room. Joe went over to his and pulled out his toiletry bag. Finding the bottle of his anti-depressants, he opened it and popped one in his mouth without a thought. Swallowing it, he turned toward the bed. Thoughts of the mission were overshadowed by his need for sleep.

Frank on the other hand, carefully removed his clothing leaving just his boxers on and pulled a different tee shirt from his duffle bag. He had stopped what he was doing as he watched his brother look through his suitcase. He had forgotten that his brother was still on medication for depression. His eyes followed Joe as he climbed into bed with a muffled, "Night, Frank." "Night, Joe," he replied.

The summer had been more dramatic than he had expected and the last month since his brother had arrived had only heightened the drama. Seeing his brother but not interacting with him as a brother had been hard at times. As Frank finished pulling on his tee shirt he looked over at Joe and thought about the difference a year made.

Lying down in the bed, he realized that things were only going to keep changing as he headed off to college and Joe started his senior year. He gave a quick prayer that Joe would have a great senior year and that the drama would be behind him.