A/n: Caranath's handy dandy Babelfish comes in handy every so often: Capo Crimini: Big Boss Man. Capo regime: BBM's #2. Piccioto: BBM's hired muscle. Just in case anyone was curious and doesn't speak Italian...

Now, without further ado, da Boyz

Chapter One

"Frank!" Joe Hardy shouted up the stairs of their childhood home. "Come on, Frank, we're going to be late!" he groused again before pacing nervously down the hall and back again several more times before his brother came thumping down the stairs. "Sheesh." he huffed, annoyed, "What took you so long?!"

Frank Hardy, at six foot one barely taller than his year younger brother, used that scant inch to full advantage as he loftily assumed a superior expression and headed down the hall, forcing Joe to scramble after him in a most ungainly manner. "Are you coming, or what?" He tossed back over his shoulder with a smirk as he headed out the side door and into the driveway.

Joe stood there, gaping in disbelief, for a solid three seconds before regaining his composure and barreling after, nearly knocking his mother over as she came up from the basement. "Sorry, Mom!" he shouted without even slowing down.

Laura Hardy barely managed to stay upright as her youngest flew by. Fenton came lightly down the stairs and steadied her. "What happened?" amusement coloring his voice at her indignant look.

"Hurricane Joseph is is what happened!" she replied tartly. Fenton let loose with a deep laugh at that comment, causing Laura to glare at him. "Don't you laugh, Fenton Joseph Hardy! This is all your fault anyway!"

Fenton stopped laughing with a choke. "What do you mean, all my fault?" he asked with mock indignation. His eyes were still crinkled with laugh lines. Laura's own eyes sparkled with mirth as she accepted his crooked arm and led her onto the deck.

"There was a reason Gertrude insisted we name our second child after you!" she responded. "Right from the start she just knew he'd be a handful, just like you were."

"Ah, if we are placing blame, then maybe you should look in the mirror, my Love!" he grinned. "after all, you were the one that insisted we have a second child so soon after Frank was born. I believe your exact words were 'He's such a good baby, let's have another!'"

"Sounds like the real culprit is Frank!" Gloria's voice startled the parents as she stepped onto the deck with a smile. "He gave you a false sense of security." she accepted a quick hug from Fenton, and a kiss on the cheek from Laura before settling down in one of the Adirondack style chairs.

"You just missed Frank, dear." Laura said. "They were running a little behind schedule."

"Yeah, I waved to them as we passed each other on the road. But I wasn't looking for him anyway. I really wanted to talk to you." she replied.

"Oh?" Laura asked, cocking her head quizzically. "About what?"

"The Bachelorette Party."

At that pronouncement, Fenton hastily got up and said "Well you certainly don't need me for that. I'll be in my study!" and he beat a rapid retreat, chased by the giggles of the women. Gloria pulled out the folder she had assembled and soon the two ladies were poring over Pinterest suggestions regarding décor, favors and other details.

Meanwhile, Frank and Joe were on the road, and despite Joe's not so subtle hinting, at the speed limit. "I cannot be late, Frank! Do you have any idea what it will look like if I am not there on time!" Joe pleaded with a whine.

"Then maybe next time you won't spring something like this on me at the last second!" Frank refused to be swayed.

"How as I supposed to know the Impala was going to decide to spew oil everywhere on the interstate yesterday afternoon!" Joe pointed out in what he thought was a reasonable tone of voice. "I didn't exactly plan for it, you know. And Hall's car is at the airport" Halloran and Phil Cohen, her Chief Operations officer, were in Washington DC presenting a bid for a new DoD contract.

Frank worked very hard to keep the smile from creeping across his features. In an ironic reversal, for once Joe was the one who was insisting on being somewhere on time. Growing up, Joe was always the one who never really managed to be anywhere on schedule, including school. Tony once called it 'Hardy Standard Time." if you wanted Joe to be somewhere at noon, you told him to be there at 11 and if you were lucky, he'd get there by 1230. "You are just lucky Gloria and I didn't have any big plans for the day, Little Brother. She's been so busy with her Clinicals and studying for her NCLEXs that we haven't had a moment to ourselves in months!"

"Gloria likes me. She'll forgive me if I have to borrow you for an afternoon. Besides I did promise I was bringing dinner over afterward."

"Your idea of dinner is an extra large supreme pizza from Tony's. You do remember she's a vegetarian, right?!" Frank pointed out.

"I am slowly wearing her down to the delights of the carnivorous lifestyle, bro." Joe was supremely smug as he sat back in the seat. "Couldn't you at least go a few miles over?!" he begged. "No cop pulls anyone over doing 62 in a 55 as long as you are keeping up with traffic and not weaving in and out."

With an exaggerated sigh, Frank fiddled with the cruise control panel until the SUV hit 62. Joe's face took on a slightly less panicked expression although his right foot was pressed to the floor in unconscious entreaty. Traffic was light for a Saturday afternoon so in spite of all Joe's dire predictions, they arrived at the destination with a good five minutes to spare.

Biff met them in the parking lot, panic all over his face. "What the hell, man!" he practically screeched as he ripped open the passenger side door. "I needed you here an hour ago!"

"Relax, Dude, I got it allll under control!" Joe drawled as he slipped out and met Frank at the back and started hauling bags of equipment out. You would never know that not five minutes earlier he was freaking out worse than Biff Hooper.

"Under control?! Likely story, Hardy." Biff growled and signaled to a passel of anxiously waiting boys over by the field. They were soon accosted by about a dozen or so 12-14 year olds chomping at the bit to play their final summer intra league baseball game. Frank, Joe and Biff started handing out bats, balls and helmets from the giant sacks that had been pulled from the SUV.

Joe took the time to give Danny Frisk an affectionate tousle of his sandy brown hair and said "Ready, Slugger?' as they walked to the dug out together. He grabbed a spare glove and started tossing balls to the shortstop while Biff hurriedly got everyone else situated. Frank wandered over to the bleacher seating and made himself comfortable.

Frank really didn't pay much attention the the game at all. He had always preferred solitary efforts, like Tennis, and Cross Country. Joe was always the team player, usually in the thick of it. Frank would be jerked back to the game when a particularly amazing play caused the crowd of parents and friends to roar in either approval or dismay, disrupting his daydream. But for the most part, Frank's eye wandered around the crowd. He chuckled when he noticed one pair of adults sneak away from their respective partners to meet up over by the hot dog cart for a very intimate rendezvous. He smirked when he noticed that the guy's wife saw the whole thing and stalked over to the unsuspecting pair, who ended up with mustard in their faces. He watched with a soft smile the two lovebirds who payed even less attention to the game than he did. His eyes narrowed at the pimply teenager who slipped dime bags of weed into some of the other kids' hands( and even a parent or two). That one he pulled out his notebook and started writing things down, to include the kid's license plat number from his motorcycle. But for all his observatory skills, he completely missed the slouched figure at the far end of the field with the telephoto lens.

A final roar jerked Frank back into the here and now and he looked away from his notebook to see the game had gotten its' final out. He fervently hoped no one would ask him what the final score was, or even who won, as he had no clue. He sheepishly added his cheer a little later than everyone else as he started making his way back to the dugout. Danny Frisk ran up to him, all excited. "Didya see me throw that last guy out! It was awesome!" but before Frank could respond, Danny had run off to his father and sister and was giving them a play by play.

Joe came up, breathless and somehow covered in grass stains. "Pretty cool game, huh, Bro!" he grinned. Frank smiled back and made a vague comment in reply. Joe's grin got even wider. "You have no clue, do you?! Heheheheh" Joe clapped a heavy arm across his brother's back before rejoining the kids who were still milling about the field. Frank blushed and went to help Biff load all the equipment back into the bags and into the SUV. They made short work of it and turned down Biff's offer to join the rest of the team for ice cream at the old fashioned soda fountain downtown.

Before too long, they were back in the SUV headed to their parents' house. Frank had gotten a hold of Gloria, who was still there and passed on the suggestion from Laura that they all have dinner there. They swung by a Chinese take out place and ordered enough food to feed an army. Joe's excuse was he was alone and had no one to cook for him every night so he needed leftovers to sustain him for the week. Frank just shook his head and made a mental note of which container held the Muu Shu Pork. Last time he never got any...

Fenton met them as they pulled into the driveway and adroitly reached into the back seat and grabbed several paper sacks full of food. Only Frank noticed he surreptitiously checked to see which one had the egg rolls first. The three men chatted lightly as they made their way through the front door and into the kitchen, where Laura and Gloria had already set out plates, forks and napkins. Both Frank and Gloria opted for chopsticks, though.

Since the night was still pleasant, everyone ate out on the deck. Joe sprawled on the steps, Gloria sat in Frank's lap on the swing, and Laura and Fenton held dominion in the chairs. When Laura asked how the game had gone, Joe got a wicked gleam in his eye and gleefully said "Ask Frank."

Laura expectantly looked at her eldest and said "So, who won, Dear?" Frank hastily took a large bite out of the egg roll he was holding and took a very long time to chew, all the while giving Joe a glare, who couldn't contain himself and burst out laughing.

"He has no idea, Mom. He never watched the game at all. I bet if I looked, the notebook in his back pocket would have plenty of new entries about Mr Stackwell and Mrs Bristoe and their attempt to be sneaky." Joe grinned as he winked at his brother. "We really should send a bill along with the evidence to their spouses to use in the divorce proceedings."

"You knew?!" Frank had managed to swallow the egg roll without choking too badly.

"Dude, I was the third base coach all summer. I saw every person that left the bleachers." Joe responded. "And to answer your question, Mom, the other team won by one run."

"What about the dealer, Smart Boy?!" Frank retorted.

"Oh, you mean Officer Rokeach?" Joe asked innocently before spitting out his beer in laughter at Frank's look of disbelief. "He's selling dime bags of Marjoram. So far only one parent has come back demanding a refund. He got a night in lockup. " Joe chuckled evilly. "The kids are none the wiser, for the most part, and after about the third or fourth buy he scares 'em straight. Collig says the program has cut drug incidents in the neighborhood by almost a third in the past six months."

Over the general laughter from the rest of the family, Frank threw up his hands in resignation. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Joe shrugged. "You never came to the Youth Center on your own, so I figured you didn't need to know the inside scoop. Biff and the other Counselors know all the undercover cops, including Rokeach and one of the girls who passes for like 16. Honestly, most of these kids are just poor, they aren't bad or have crappy home lives. It's just an added measure of security. The longer they go before starting, the more likely they are to get out of the neighborhood unscathed. One of the girls who graduated this year ended up with a nice partial scholarship to one of the SUNY's upstate. Potsdam or Cortland, I think."

Laura spoke up then. "Plus with people like Daniel Frisk getting involved and letting his own kids participate, the other kids are learning they don't have to feel stigmatized for being less well off than other families. And on the flip side, Danny and his sister can see how the other half has to live sometimes. Keeps them grounded too."

Frank was quiet the rest of the evening, which actually did not last much longer. When Laura stood up and declared she was done in, Gloria followed suit, saying she wanted to get a decent night's sleep for a change. So the whole gang gathered up the dirty dishes and did a quick clean up, with Joe magnanimously letting Gloria have the leftover vegetable fried rice for her lunch the next day.

After good night kisses to mothers and girlfriends, and manly handshakes to fathers, the two brothers were once again in the SUV headed toward's Joe's house. Frank was still quiet, and eventually Joe noticed that it wasn't his brother's usual quiet, but more of a troubled one. "What's bugging you, Bro?" he asked as they pulled in to the driveway.

Frank shrugged as he stepped out and flipped open the back door to unload the equipment into Joe's garage. "I guess I never realized how important the Center was, is all."

"Dude. It's no big deal. Like I said, you never seemed all that interested. And that's okay. But if you are looking to get involved more, they want to start up a tutoring and after school study group once the year begins again. Be more your speed. Lots of these kids are plenty smart, but the school doesn't have any resources for much beyond the basics. Infotech is gonna donate a bunch of refurbished computers. Talk to Phil when he gets back, I think he was thinking about offering workshops and stuff too."

"I'll think about it." Frank considered the offer as he dragged bags of equipment into the garage, avoiding the Impala as it sat there, a large tarp under the chassis keeping the oil mostly contained. "Do you need a ride anywhere tomorrow?" he asked.

"Nah. Picked up the stuff I needed to repair her; I'll work on it all day. Should be up and running before work on Monday. Go enjoy the day with Gloria. I have it on good authority she gets off early."

"Oh?"

Joe smiled. "Yup. She told me in no uncertain terms that I was not to bug you for anything short of Armageddon tomorrow afternoon. And even then I had to call Sam and Joanna first, Dad second, and Greg third. Although she hinted that I should really leave Dad for last." He gave his brother a friendly punch. "Don't make any plans beyond taking a shower and dressing semi decently. You have been warned."

Frank chuckled softly and found his mood had lightened considerably. "So I'll see you Monday. Remember we have that meeting at 9. Try to be on time for a change."

"You would keel over in a dead faint if I did. I would never inflict all the paperwork on myself on purpose. But I'll see what I can do." and with a final smirk he said goodnight to his his brother and set the alarm before heading upstairs to call his fiance to wish her a good night.

A/n: so, as I sit here and cut and past my way through each chapter, I came to realize that the Chapters centered around the boys will be more my usual length, while the ones focusing on the Villains will be shorter and less.. exciting. I also came to the conclusion that this won't be nearly as cliff hangery as ay of my other ones. yes, ladies and gentlemen, this time you the reader are Omnipotent and know what is coming! or at least if you pay attention you will. Are you paying attention?!