A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! It's hard to believe that the end is almost here. It's even harder to believe that it's been two years since I first started writing this story! I have to say, it's been quite the ride, and I can't thank everyone enough for sticking with me and this story for so long. You guys are the best! And, of course, a very special and heartfelt thanks goes out to my betas as well, who continue to challenge me to write my best and have always been nothing but supportive.

This is the last chapter in the story, but it will be followed by a short epilogue. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter!

Disclaimer:

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the fandom

Not a creature was stirring, not even Venice's Phantom

The stories were posted, reviews written with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there

The writers dreamt dreams of owning Nancy, George, and Bess

But St. Nicholas chuckled and said, "No, no, they're all owned by S&S!"

What can I say, I'm just totally feeling the holiday spirit!

----------------------------

When Nancy returned to the waiting room, she was surprised to see Assistant Director Burr speaking with Joe and Fenton in a quiet corner of the otherwise empty room. It had been almost seven years since she had last seen Burr, but he looked almost exactly the same. He had been a Special Agent back then, and he had asked her to go undercover as a student in one of his training classes in order to identify a stalker who had been harassing one of his high-profile students. In the end, Nancy, with the help of the Hardys, had proven that the student herself was posing as the stalker in order to provide a diversion for a murder that her father had committed. Burr had been grateful for the three teens' help, and he had left them an open-ended offer to join the FBI when they were old enough. She hadn't taken him up on that offer, but Frank and Joe had, and apparently in the time that had passed, Burr had been promoted to Assistant Director, and was now Frank and Joe's supervisor.

Burr caught sight of Nancy and beckoned her over to join them. As she reached the group, Joe turned to her, his face strained.

"How is he?"

Nancy hesitated. "He's still unconscious," she told him reluctantly, hating the way his face fell. "But he looked like he had a little more color," she added, and was rewarded by a small, hopeful look from Joe. She mentally crossed her fingers, telling herself that the little fib was worth it to ease some of the strain on her friend. A.D. Burr interrupted her silent debate with her conscience in a gruff voice.

"Glad to hear that, Nancy. I'd say it's a pleasure to see you again, but the current situation certainly leaves something to be desired."

Nancy inclined her head in acknowledgement. "I'd have to agree, sir. Still, it is good to see you. Congratulations on your promotion."

Burr nodded his thanks as Fenton turned to Nancy.

"You came at a good time, Nancy. Assistant Director Burr was just about to tell us what he learned from his interrogation of Jack Lerner this morning."

Burr dragged a hand tiredly through his hair, an uncharacteristic show of stress from him. Joe caught the gesture and felt a stir of sympathy for his superior -- the man had clearly had a rough few days himself, and had probably risen at the crack of dawn to fly out to Montana and interrogate the prisoner. No matter how annoyed A. D. Burr might be at him and his brother for handling this situation on their own, he knew Burr to be a man who looked out for his agents. Frank's injury was personal for him too, and Joe had no doubt that Burr had overridden Agent Pennington's authority entirely when he flew out to interrogate Lerner himself.

"I'll start at the beginning," Burr stated, interrupting Joe's train of thought. "John Krieger escaped from an Egyptian jail cell roughly four weeks ago. According to Lerner, he used his network of contacts in Egypt to escape the country immediately, returning to the U.S. under an alias."

"Was Lerner involved in his return to the States?" Nancy asked.

Burr shook his head. "No. Apparently Lerner and Krieger had never laid eyes on each other until a chance meeting in a bar in San Francisco. After a few drinks, they discovered that they did, in fact, have something in common: a mutual hatred towards Nancy Drew and the Hardy brothers."

Joe scowled. "You're telling me that all of this started because two random criminals from our past got drunk together in a bar?"

"It just takes one small spark to start a fire, Joe," Fenton said quietly. Burr nodded his assent. "Lerner already had intentions of seeking revenge on you three once he got out on parole, but his joining up with Krieger is what really set the wheels in motion. With Lerner's financial resources and Krieger's connections, they were able to quickly set up a plan to reel the three of you in."

"Lerner's financial resources?" Nancy repeated. "How is that possible? He had just been released from jail, and I don't think he was very rich when he went in. If anything, Krieger was the one with all of the financial assets."

"Krieger's assets were frozen when he was taken into custody in Egypt, so he couldn't access them. As for Lerner's resources, he was pretty vague on that part, no matter how much I pushed him," Burr admitted. "We're looking into his financial records now, but we haven't turned up anything yet, except that he seemed to have come into a large sum of money shortly after he was released from jail. In the interrogation, all he said to me was that it was thanks to a diamond, and that you three would understand."

Nancy and Joe turned to look at each other simultaneously, matching expressions of shock on their faces.

"The Comstock diamond?" Nancy asked incredulously.

"Can't be." Joe shook his head adamantly. "I watched that thing go over the edge of the bluff myself, when I knocked it out of that lunatic's hand. It went to the bottom of the bay."

"Did you see it land in the water?" Burr asked.

"Well, no," Joe admitted.

Nancy looked at Burr. "So there's a chance that it never went into the water at all, and Lerner went looking for it as soon as he got out of jail."

Burr nodded. "Looks that way. We'll have to check out the area to be sure, but I'd imagine there was probably an area of beach down there that's inaccessible to the public. Since Lerner knew where it went over, he must have gone back to look for it and gotten lucky. That would certainly explain the large amount of money that mysteriously appeared in his bank account."

"But it doesn't explain how Lerner and Krieger knew so much about us -- where to find our fathers, our friends. My history with Iola. They knew some of the most intimate details of our lives," Joe said, frustrated. "How did they get all of that information?"

"According to Lerner, it was, unfortunately, all too easy. The Internet provided plenty of background information on all three of you, with all of the news articles that you've appeared in over the years. Iola's death and her grieving brother who also happened to be one of your closest friends, the case you three solved in Memphis, Bess and George's involvement in most of Nancy's investigations, and Nancy's mother's death and the impact on her life -- it was all there. Your fathers weren't hard to find, with their own businesses advertised online. White pages listings provided addresses on your friends." Burr shook his head in resignation. "It seems that any and all information is available on the Internet these days, if you know where to look for it," he finished.

"And these men obviously did," Fenton remarked dryly.

"Yes, they did," Burr agreed. "After that, it was a matter of getting all of the details in order. They made false phone calls to each of your offices, telling you that your children were injured in order to lure you out. Lerner attacked Carson Drew, and Krieger came after you," Burr said, directing his words to Fenton. "They drugged both of you, and Lerner used a chartered flight to get Carson to New York, where they took both of you to that warehouse. We were able to trace ownership of the warehouse back to the Aquarius Group, Krieger's former company. It was purchased by one of their subsidiaries years ago, and Krieger had figured it would work well with their plans. They had the whole thing rigged before they even kidnapped Carson and Fenton, and they were ready for you three when you arrived."

"Boy, were they ever," Joe muttered, recalling the explosion in the warehouse.

Nancy nodded in full agreement, remembering her own injuries and the sheer terror that had run through her when that bomb had gone off.

"I remember the bomb," Fenton said, his voice strained with the recollection. "I was drugged at the time and pretty out of it, but the explosion was so loud that it actually registered. But I couldn't stay conscious, and the next thing I knew, we were in a motel room."

"Chicago," Burr confirmed, although they had gathered that much from the recounting of Carson's story earlier. "They had chartered another flight out there, set up the clue on Nancy's mother's grave, and then Krieger had gone the next morning to set up the bomb at Nancy's friends' apartment while Lerner made his next travel arrangements. Krieger was the one who flew out to Memphis to set up the bomb at the Peabody, since he was the explosives expert between the two, while Lerner stayed behind with you in Chicago."

"He kept us drugged the whole time," Fenton told them. "The next time I came to, we were in another hotel room, and one of the men told Carson that Nancy had died in an explosion. I suppose he was referring to the Peabody explosion," Fenton queried, looking at Burr. But Nancy was the one to answer.

"I was supposed to be at the Peabody when that bomb went off. The only reason I wasn't was because Frank and Joe kept me from going. They suspected that it might be a trap."

Fenton gave Joe a look of approval. "Good thinking, son."

"But my not going is what resulted in Lerner and Krieger attacking you," Nancy said, distressed. "Dad told us what happened to both of you."

"We would rather have been attacked than the alternative, Nancy," Fenton told her firmly. "It's a small price to pay for your life."

Nancy felt her throat tighten. There was absolutely nothing she could say to argue with that, so instead, she simply squeezed Fenton's hand in thanks. Joe nodded his agreement with his father's sentiment, as much as he hated the fact that his father and Carson had been tortured over it. He cleared his throat before directing his next question at Burr.

"One thing's been bothering me, sir," Joe said. "How did Lerner and Krieger find out that Nancy didn't die in the explosion?"

"When they set up the bomb in the bank, they linked into the wireless feed from the security cameras. Evidently in addition to being an explosives expert, Krieger was also quite the computer whiz. They watched the whole thing from a parking lot two blocks away. That's how they knew Nancy was still alive -- they saw her in the bank."

Nancy shook her head in self-disgust. "I should have listened to Frank and stayed back at the ranch."

"It wouldn't have made much of a difference, Nancy," Burr told her flatly. "All along, their plan had been to hijack a train and blow it up, your fathers along with it, and lure you three out there to witness the whole thing. Once they had you where they wanted you, they wouldn't have spared your lives either. Finding out you were alive gave them an excuse not to leave you a last clue, but they knew you three well enough to know that you would figure it out anyways. The train itself was Lerner's idea -- it was his twisted sense of poetic justice to have your acquaintance end the way it started -- with a train. Because Lerner was the one providing the financial backing, Krieger had no choice but to go along with his hare-brained ideas, even though he would rather have just killed you in the beginning and been done with it. But, of course, they hadn't counted on your fathers escaping the explosion, or the spare weapon that you carry, Joe. Despite all of their planning, you were able to take them down in the end."

"By killing a man," Joe said flatly. And just like that, he had voiced the thing that had been eating away at him, that had not left his mind despite his overwhelming worry for his older brother. He saw the look of sympathy cross Nancy's face and averted his eyes.

"Joe," she began softly.

"Drop it, Nan," he told her, unable to keep the harshness from his voice. Disgusted with himself, and everything in general, he stalked out of the waiting room, leaving everyone staring wordlessly after him. Nancy made a slight, hesitant move to follow, but Fenton stopped her.

"I'll go, Nancy," he told her quietly. At the same instant, Burr spoke. "Actually, Nancy, I'd like to speak with you privately for a few minutes." Nancy nodded, torn, as she watched Fenton follow after Joe.

----------------------------

Fenton Hardy found his younger son sitting on a wooden bench at the rear of the hospital, his elbows propped on his knees and his blond head cradled in his hands. The old bench creaked as Fenton sat down, and for a moment, he was afraid that it wouldn't hold his weight. But it remained motionless, as did Joe, who did not acknowledge his presence. Fenton used that silent moment to gather his thoughts, gazing at the serenely cascading fountain of water in the center of the small garden without really focusing on it.

"You know, Joe, I still remember the first man I killed in the line of duty," he finally began, looking over at his son's bowed head. He got no response, not that he expected one, really. He continued.

"It was my second year on the job. It was supposed to be a routine call -- alarm set off at one of those Manhattan electronics stores, attempted burglary. My partner and I responded to the call. The perps were still in the store -- they had more greed than sense, apparently. Didn't run when they heard the alarm go off -- figured they had some time to grab their loot. I guess they didn't count on us being in the neighborhood and being able to respond to the call so quickly. When we got there, they were just about to clear out. My partner and I told them to stop, to drop the goods and put their hands up in the air. I never even saw the gun. Next thing I knew, my partner was shot, and one of the men had taken off running. And the one with the gun was aiming at me next. I didn't think, just fired. Three times. They said he died on the scene. My partner lived, I lived, and he died."

Joe remained silent, unnaturally still, but Fenton could see the stiffness in his son's shoulders. Finally, Joe spoke, his voice muffled by his hands.

"What happened to the other guy?"

"They picked him up two blocks away. Apparently he didn't even know that his buddy was carrying a gun. He was crying like a baby when they took him in and he found out that his friend had been killed."

Fenton felt his chest tighten with the memories. Even though it had all taken place years and years ago, there were still times that he thought he could feel the report of the gun in his hands, see the burglar jolt as the bullets slammed into him, watch his limp, lifeless body fall to the ground. There had been many other times that he had fired his weapon in the line of duty, and there had been other deaths, but none of them had ever haunted him the way his first one had. And that was why he thought that he had some idea of how his son was feeling just then.

"You never really get over the guilt of it," Fenton told Joe quietly. "Even though you know you had no choice, that you did it to protect your own life or that of another, it still eats away at you. The ending of a life, whether innocent or not, takes its toll. And a part of you always wonders if you could have done something differently to spare that life."

"But that's just it, Dad." Joe finally looked at his father, his gaze tormented. "I don't know if I feel guilty, even though I know that I should. But there's a part of me that's still so angry, so enraged at what they did to you, to Frank. To everyone. And that part of me knows that if I had to go back and do it all over again, I'd still shoot Krieger. I'd still want him dead. So what kind of a person does that make me?" he finished, almost desperately.

"A normal one," Fenton answered without hesitation. "After what you've been through, what our families have been through, no one could blame you for feeling the way that you do, Joe. And even though you may be questioning yourself right now, I know that you killed Krieger because you had no other choice. I was there, Joe. I saw him aim for you. If you hadn't fired your weapon when you had, your mother and I might have nearly lost two sons today. You did what you had to do, and I couldn't be more grateful or more proud."

Moisture glinted in Joe's eyes as he struggled for words. In the end, he settled for wrapping his arms around his father's shoulders and squeezing tightly. He pulled away after a moment, finally feeling a sense of calm start to descend over him that he hadn't felt since this whole ordeal had begun.

"You know, Dad, earlier I was kind of jealous that Nancy had gone to see Lerner. She seemed so…settled…after she had talked to him, almost as if she had gotten some sort of closure or answer that she had been looking for. I wished that I had thought of it first, or that she had at least asked me to go with her. But now I realize that would have been a really bad idea. Partly because of my state of mind at the time, and partly because, after talking to you, I realize that I don't need to make my peace with Lerner. I need to make my peace with myself."

"I always knew there was a wise person in there," Fenton teased him lightly, ruffling Joe's curly hair, even as he felt the weight on his own heart lift.

"You mean 'wise-ass', right?" Joe teased back, smiling his first real smile in days.

Fenton chuckled. "You said it, son, not me." Then his smile slowly faded as he started to go back over everything Joe had said.

"Joe?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you say that Nancy had gone to see Lerner?"

Joe mentally kicked himself. "Umm…"

"How exactly did she get in to see him?"

"Well…"

"Joe." Fenton's voice held a note of warning, clearly telling him not to lie.

Not like he had much of a choice, given how astute his father was. "Well, she kind of took my badge and pretended to be an FBI agent so that the guard would let her in to see Lerner," Joe explained in one quick rush of breath.

"That's not good," Fenton murmured.

"I had no idea, Dad!" Joe defended himself. "She left while I was asleep and took my badge. But I don't want her to get into trouble for it, either. Luckily, the guard on duty had no idea, so I think we're both in the clear."

"Joe, before I came out here, Burr asked to speak to Nancy in private."

Joe's expression now matched his father's equally apprehensive one.

"That's definitely not good," Joe muttered.

----------------------------

Fenton and Joe wasted no time heading back into the hospital, fully intent on coming to Nancy's defense. When they arrived back in the waiting room, they weren't surprised to see Nancy and Burr standing in the far corner of the room, voices lowered and expressions serious. Aside from them, the room was still empty -- Carson had left earlier to get some air, with Bess and George accompanying him, Laura had gone to freshen up, and Chet was apparently still visiting with Frank. None of them had returned yet, leaving Nancy and Burr to his requested privacy. Joe walked ahead of Fenton, determined not to let Nancy bear the brunt of Burr's full wrath, even though he had absolutely no idea what he would say to prevent that. But before he could figure it out, Chet came running down the hallway and into the waiting room, slightly out of breath.

"He's awake!" he shouted, his face ruddy from the exertion and his excitement.

Everything seemed to happen all at once. Laura came out of the restroom, just as Carson and the girls exited from the elevator. They were all just in time to hear Chet's repeated shout of his news, and pandemonium broke loose. Everyone gathered around Chet, firing out questions, and Joe actually turned to run down the hall that Chet had come from before his friend grabbed his arm.

"Can't go in there right now," Chet told him, slightly breathless, but keeping his grip firm. He looked at the group around him, at their frantic faces, and shifted in his cowboy boots. "I was sitting with him, talking to him just like they say to do." Now an embarrassed flush crept up his face. "Just mundane stuff -- scrapes we got into as kids, hanging out at Mr. Pizza, all our old friends. Next thing I know, his eyes are open, and he's looking at me, right at me. I called for the nurse right away." Chet broke into a broad grin. "They shooed me out so the doctor could look him over, but not before one of the nurses -- Angela, I think -- told me that my friend was going to be just fine."

"That I did," spoke a female voice behind him. Everyone turned to see a pretty brunette nurse approaching, Dr. Warner at her side. Both were smiling.

"I've evaluated Frank's condition. His vitals appear to be normal and his condition's stabilized." Dr. Warner paused as cheers erupted from the small group. "But," he continued, raising his voice slightly to be heard, "it's important not to forget that he sustained a life-threatening injury and underwent major surgery. He's going to have a lengthy recovery period, and it's going to be a while before he has his full strength back."

"Doc," Joe said, a wide grin splitting his face. "You just said he's going to live, right?"

Dr. Warner nodded.

Joe clapped the older man on the shoulder, nearly knocking him forward in his enthusiasm. "Then that's all that matters. My brother's strong -- he's going to make a full recovery, and quicker than you think."

As Joe's friends and family all nodded in enthusiastic agreement, Dr. Warner gave them all a bemused look. "I don't suppose it's going to do much good to tell you that you all are only supposed to go in to see him one at a time."

"No good at all, Doc," Joe reassured him, his grin growing even wider, if that were possible.

----------------------------

They found Frank awake, propped up by the back of his bed raised at a tilted angle. Nancy trailed behind Bess and George at the rear of the group. It wasn't that she wasn't eager to see Frank; she was, almost overwhelmingly so. But the thought of seeing him awake for the first time, amongst so many people, amongst their families, especially after what he had done to save her life… She didn't know what to say to him, how to thank him for what he had done, but also how to let him know how angry she was about him risking his own life. And she was especially reluctant to say any of it in front of everyone. But she knew there was no way she was going to get to spend time alone with Frank anytime soon, given how eager and anxious everyone was to see him. Nor could she begrudge him his time with his family, given what they had all been through. As it was, she couldn't wait to see his reaction when he finally saw his father, alive and well. That thought was what had her finally crossing the threshold into his room, eagerness winning out over her anxiety.

Frank gave them all a wide smile as he watched them file into the room, his eyes seeking out Joe's and giving him a reassuring nod. Joe returned the nod, relief and happiness etched into his features. His mother headed straight for Frank, placing the back of her hand against his forehead, just as she had when he was a kid.

"How are you feeling?" Laura asked him worriedly, not missing the pain that was shadowing his eyes, despite the bright smile on his face. Frank grasped her hand, pulling it down from his forehead to his lips to drop a quick kiss on the back of it.

"I'm fine, Mom," he reassured her, but she still didn't look convinced. "I asked them to hold off on the pain medication for now," he confessed reluctantly. "I wanted to be alert when I saw everyone." Before Laura could argue, his eyes lifted to Fenton's, who had come to stand beside his wife at Frank's bedside.

"Dad." There was a wealth of emotion behind that one word, and Frank couldn't stop the moisture that came to his eyes. Fenton's own eyes were damp as he grasped his son's hand tightly and squeezed, his throat too choked for words.

"You're okay?" Frank asked him anxiously. Fenton nodded, looking at Joe and Nancy standing on the other side of Frank's bedside, then back down at Frank. "Yes," he answered softly. "Thanks to the three of you."

Frank looked up at Carson, who was at the foot of the bed. "You too, Mr. Drew?" Carson nodded reassuringly. "We're fine, Frank. You all showed up just in time. I'm just sorry that you were hurt in the process."

"Speaking of which," Nancy interrupted, unable to stem the surge of words and emotions overwhelming her now that she was here with him. She tried to keep her voice stern, but it wavered anyway. "What were you thinking, Frank Hardy, getting in front of that bullet that way?"

Frank met her upset look with his steady one. "That I wasn't ready to lose you," he answered without hesitation, his brown eyes solemn. "That's all I could think of, Nan."

Nancy couldn't hold back the tears that filled her eyes as she looked down at him, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was watching them silently. "So you made me nearly lose you instead. That's not very fair of you, Frank."

He could find nothing to say in response. His mother thankfully gave him a reprieve by trying to lighten the tension in the room.

"There's no use arguing with him, Nancy," Laura told her, drawing Nancy's intent gaze away from Frank and up towards her. She glanced at her husband out of the corner of her eye, then gave Nancy a conspiratorial wink. "The Hardy men have a certain tendency to want to protect 'their women'."

Nancy felt herself blush, slowly becoming aware that all eyes in the room were on her. She avoided meeting anyone's gaze, certain that at the very least, Joe, Bess, and George would be wearing identically smug and knowing expressions. Nancy was torn between the embarrassment of the implication that she was Frank's "woman", and the indignation of the idea that she needed to be protected. Part of her already regretted confronting Frank while everyone was there. But then Frank reached out and grasped her fingers tightly in his, drawing her attention back to him. He gave her a small wink of his own, and the smile on his face and the warmth in his brown eyes made every thought of hers fade away until there was no one else in the room but them. There was so much to be said between them, but they both knew that there would be time for that later. For now, they were both alive, and their loved ones were alive and well around them.

That was all that mattered.

----------------------------