To The Shore

by EveryDayArtist

Chapter Five

Frank sighed as they pulled into the lot outside of Dodd's Auto and put the car into park. He eyed the empty area and turned to tell his brother that they were in for a bit of a wait when he noticed the younger man had drifted off to sleep. With a disgruntled grimace, Frank cut the engine and rested his forehead on the wheel. He ran the facts through his head but nothing made sense. After all, Bayport was not a large city and Jack's shop wasn't very well known or located; surely auto thieves would have a better time at some larger company? Granted, the fact that they'd been using the place to store the stolen goods could well be how they'd avoided the police up until now, it was the last place people'd expect a large car theft ring to be operating. He had to admit that the evidence piling up against Jack was looking bad, very bad; particularly when you added the Network's involvement. "And you're a lot of help." He muttered, glaring over at his napping brother before staring back out the window. "Not that there's been a lot anyone could have done, I guess, but you could at least be honest with me. I just wish that he'd called me sooner, maybe I could have gotten him out of trouble before he got nabbed." Frank sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "But hey, then again, what do I know?

"I mean, obviously I shouldn't be kept in any loops; hell no, let's keep secrets from Frank. Sounds like a plan. While we're at it, let's have a national security group investigate a series of auto theft and a kidnapping and hell, what else can we do? I'm sure someone can think of something else to do to piss me off right?"

"If you keep talking to yourself people are going to think you're crazy."

The older man jumped but turned a wry smile on his innocently 'sleeping' brother. Joe was leaning back in his seat, a 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' look on his face, but straightened and opened his eyes to blink blearily. "Sorry about nodding off."

"It's fine. Nancy hasn't arrived." Frank shrugged and checked the time on his phone.

"Good." Joe yawned and stretched as much as the cramped car-space would let him. "So, you're kinda snappy now."

"Mmm…"

"I mean," Joe was looking at him with concern. "Isn't that my thing? Don't you do the whole, good-natured friendly guy thing, with the patience and crap?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Frank relented at the look on Joe's face. "I mean, yeah, I really wanna talk about it but you asked me not to pry so whether I like it or not, I'll wait."

They sat for a moment in total silence before Joe snorted and rolled his eyes. "You are the most passive aggressive guy I've ever known."

"Shaddup."

"Seriously, you could give lessons."

"Joe. Drop it."

The blond held back with a response and just stretched his arms again. "Damn, I need caffeine. Want anything to drink? That's okay, right? If I go on my own since I'm a big boy?"

Frank shook his head and rolled his eyes as he watched his brother get out of the car to jog down the street to a nearby convenience store; when Joe reached a cross walk and performed an exaggerated 'look both ways' motion before turning to flip him off, he had to smile. Okay, so he was being pretty passive aggressive but since his little brother had the blunt and aggressive thing down he had to come up with his own methods. Although, Joe was… quieter.

In fact, Frank was impressed at how little Joe had spoken during their drive, both to Bayport and the shorter one to the shop; normally he would have been a chatterbox and probably driven him to near insanity with it. At least when they were in high school he would have; Frank really had no point of reference at what was normal for his adult brother. Six years was enough time for both of them to be out of touch with each other's lives, which was an interesting point. A lot could happen in six years, hell, Joe probably had a million questions; just like Frank sure did. As the blonde returned and settled back in his seat, a bottle of soda firmly clasped in his hands, Frank decided that he might as well get the ball rolling. He turned to speak and had to smile at the way Joe was chewing on the edge of his soda bottle, absentmindedly tapping on his leg as he stared into space, obviously getting fidgety. Some things never changed…

"Did you know that Tony took over the family business?"

Joe looked up at that and grinned. "Really? Good for him. How's he doing?"

"Pretty well, we play hoops sometimes on the weekends. You should join in, he's missed you."

He sighed and shifted, sipping from his bottle. "There's a lot of people I gotta see… Damn, I've missed a lot."

Frank smiled and leaned over to bump shoulders with him. "Alright, wanna hear about Chet?"

Joe groaned. "Oh man, what'd he do?"

"What didn't he do?" Frank laughed. "He changed his major at the community college five times. Five. Then he dropped out, took a bunch of odd jobs and helped around the farm. And, finally, after all that, he found his calling."

"Which would be?"

"Food."

Joe lurched forward and buried his head in his hands as he laughed loudly and Frank had to admit that it was very, very good to hear his brother laugh. The blond wiped at his eyes, still giggling. "I could have told you that."

"No, seriously. He's been going to a cooking academy. Wants to open his own restaurant." Frank accepted the offered soda and opened the bottle as he thought. "He's dating a girl he met in class, her name's Hannah; I've met her once or twice and she's sweet. I really hope it works out for them, because a couple of his past girlfriends have ended kind of badly."

Joe grinned and flopped his head back. "Okay, what about Tony? How's he doin' on the romance angle?"

"Tony's not seeing anyone at the moment, says that the business is keeping him too busy but I think he's got a thing for someone but is too afraid to admit it. Phil moved to California to work on special effects and married while he was out there. Wedding was last July." He hummed and thought. "What else… Ah, now, Auntie; there's a story." He grinned. "She joined that community theater, the one near the high school; hasn't stopped talking about it since. I'm amazed you've been home for as long as you have without her showing you the photos."

Joe grinned. "I look forward to one of her shows. I bet she's great."

Frank hesitated then shrugged. "Yeah, I guess, not really my thing. Anyway, she's been off and on again seeing one of her co-stars." They smiled quietly for a moment, before Frank looked at his brother again. "What about you? I know you can't talk about the job, but outside of that, how are you? Seeing anyone I should know about?"

"Ah, no. The spy game doesn't leave a lot of room for dating." He laughed. "Other than that I'm… Good." Joe leaned back and smiled at the windshield. "I know it may not really seem like it, but I've been good for a while now. And," His smile turned teasing. "I think I've gotten to be a better detective than you. So there."

"Really." Frank smiled back. "So any ideas why the Network is getting involved in a car theft ring?"

"It'll have to be more than it seems in order for Art to get personally involved." Joe said, finally looking away from the window. "My guess is it's either a front or someone involved is on one of our terrorist watch lists. Either way, things are bound to get worse before they get better."

Ignoring the pinch in his chest that the word 'our' caused, Frank agreed. "What's it like? Working with Gray?"

Joe grinned. "It's… normal now, but I guess in the beginning it was bizarre. But he's the only reason I made it through training."

"You're seriously friends?" The older man looked bewildered. "I mean, seriously?"

Joe laughed again, swishing his drink absent-mindedly. "Frank, come on, be nice. Art's not the most… demonstrative human being but he's, he's a good guy." The smile turned fond. "I really owe him a lot."

"Hardy!"

Joe looked up as he hopped out of the bus, raising an eyebrow from behind his sunglasses at the sight of Gray leaning against a wall. The man's trench coat was doubled over his arm and his muted clothes looked a little better maintained than usual. Calmly he straightened and smiled at the nervous teenager. "Plane doesn't leave until three. Coffee?"

Joe shifted his backpack a little higher and shook his head. "Didn't expect you to be the one to meet me."

"What can I say, you're my new pet project."

"Well that's a horrifying thought." Joe hefted his duffle bag and nodded at the entrance to the airport. "Lead on."

Gray eyed the teenager carefully; Joe had shown up in a non-descript sweatshirt and jeans, sunglasses and only two medium sized bags. The kid knew what he was doing.

As they settled at a table in the lobby's Starbucks, Joe removed the glasses and took a deep breath. "So when we get wherever the hell we're going, what exactly happens then?"

"You'll begin training." Gray sipped his drink. "You've got a bit of a head start on most of our trainees so it shouldn't be long before you've reached full agent status. Then it's time to put you to work."

"On this super secret case you won't tell me about." Joe stared at his latte and drummed his hands on the table.

Gray bit back a sigh and then smiled. "There'll be less red tape the further in you get."

Joe finally looked up at that. "How stupid do you think I am?"

Laughing, Gray cupped his hands. "Alright, fair enough. What did you tell your parents?"

The blond looked pained at the question and Gray's eyes widened. "…You did tell them something. Hardy?"

"I couldn't think of something." Joe rubbed at his eyes. "No excuse or lie or truth sounded good… I mean if any of them knew they'd try to stop me." He looked pale. "So instead I've essentially run away and oh HELL…" He groaned and put his head down. "Oh man Dad's gonna freak…"

"Alright." Gray said firmly, moving to the seat right next to the teen and putting an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, Hardy, come on."

"What do I do?" He asked, rubbing at his eyes. "I'm so screwed. They're gonna freak but if I tell them, they'll try to make me come home. Oh my gosh, Frank's gonna kill me."

"Just… Let them know you're safe. None of the details. Just that you'll be fine."

Joe calmed down as Gray sat there, a hand on his shoulder. He wiped at his eyes and then straightened. "Yeah, yeah okay."

Gray stood and muttered something about checking the departure times, leaving to give the teen some privacy. Joe thought hard for a long moment before finally putting pen to paper.

Dear Mom and Dad,

First of all, DON'T FREAK! Take a deep breath Mom and just try not to get too worried.

I know I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth, but I'm fine. I should have told you I was leaving but this was something I had to decide for myself. I took a job but it's kinda far away and I won't be home for a while and can't tell you too much about it either. It's legal, I promise, although I hope I don't have to reassure you on that point. Don't call the cops or whatever because no, I have not been kidnapped or whatever, and sorry that this note wasn't there when I left. I promise to write all the time to make sure you know I'm okay, but I have to figure some things out.

-Joe

PS. Don't let Frank do anything stupid when he finds out, okay?

The teen stared down at the paper for a long moment and breathed out slowly. "This isn't nearly enough."

And it wasn't; his parents deserved so much more but Joe was never as good with words as Frank and this was as much as the stressed out teen could come up with.

And, oh hell, Frank…

"Feel better?" Gray set a stamped envelope down as he rejoined him.

"…Yeah, a lot. Thanks." He offered over the letter. "Wanna read it?"

"Nah, I trust you."

"Again, horrifying."

Gray hid a smile as he watched Joe address the envelope. "Do you understand what you're getting into?"

"Yeah." The teen took at deep breath and nodded. "I'm fine. I mean, this may turn out to be a mistake but at least it's my decision and I'm going to see it through."

Gray smirked as he stood. "Just keep reminding yourself that kid, just keep reminding yourself that."

"She's here."

Nancy's car pulled up as the boys exited their own. She slid out from behind the driver's seat and grinned at them both. "Fancy seeing you boys here."

"Coincidences abound." Frank hugged her quickly before stepping back so his brother could sweep her up in a bear hug. "Everything cool?"

"I'd guess I have about an hour before my partner calls wondering where the hell I am so let's hurry."

Despite her words, the three friends stood in the parking lot for a moment, grinning at each other. Joe spread his arms. "Well, if we're going to meddle, let's meddle. I can pick the lock."

Nancy held up a lanyard. "Or I can use the key."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Frank made for the computer right away, while Nancy walked over to the file cabinet in the corner and began to flip through the records. Joe wandered around, running his hands over the windowpane and eyeing the pictures on the walls with a kind of far away look on his face, lingering here and there.

Nancy made a little frustrated noise, "Most of what we received from the local police before was files on various clients and jobs. We were hoping for more on the business itself and the employees."

"Like what's-his-face." Joe offered.

Frank snorted, not looking up from the computer screen. "Slagel. Joe, you gotta pay more attention."

"Hmmm." Joe was still staring at a snapshot of several men working on a truck. "This him?"

Nancy peered over his shoulder and nodded. "How'd you know?"

Staring harder at the messy haired, scruffy cheeked man in his mid thirties, Joe shrugged. "Dunno. He looks familiar for some reason."

"Found something." Frank's dark eyes scanned the screen rapidly as they joined him. "Some of the cars that have been stolen over the last couple of months, I think Jack and his guys did do work on them." He pointed at the spreadsheet in front of him and then at the opened file Nancy had given him. "There's a few matches; too many to be a coincidence and a lot more than the police initially thought. Let me copy some of these files, I can analyze them at home."

"That… doesn't look good."

Frank looked irritated. "If Slagel is involved he could have been bringing in the cars without Jack knowing. It doesn't mean he's part of this."

"Down boy." Joe mumbled flipping through some photos on a side table. "We're on your side, remember? Nance is just playing devil's advocate because it's her job."

"To be honest, I'm having a hard time believing his innocence." Nancy admitted. "I know he's your friend Frank but…"

The man pushed away from the computer and avoided eye contact as he stood to put away his flash drive. "Think what you want but he didn't do it."

Joe was gathering up some of the photos on the coffee table and both older detectives gave him a look; which he shrugged off and just deposited the objects into his bag. "Worth a shot."

"Just make sure to give them all back when you're done." Nancy turned to Frank. "And I'll turn a blind eye on the files as long as I get a copy to take back. I have to at least pretend that I'm following the rules here."

"No problem." The older Hardy checked his watch. "We should go. What are you going to tell your partner?"

"The truth, that I came down here to snoop around, I'll just leave the part where I let you two tag along out."

Joe threw an arm around her shoulders. "Why don't you come have dinner with us?"

"Us being who exactly?" Frank raised an eyebrow but repeated the offer. "Callie had suggested you coming over. She said something about needing back up against the testosterone increase." He grinned, trying to offer an olive branch after his snappish attitude moments earlier. "You mind letting us feed you?"

"Not at all." She grinned back.

It took some doing getting Joe to share the large cherry pie but after some half-hearted wrestling, finally the young people were able to just relax around the kitchen table and watch with some amusement as Matthew attempted to herd his little sister around the room. Callie looked at Nancy over the table and grinned. "So, any cute FBI agents caught your attention?"

The redhead laughed. "Unfortunately not. It's not the best field for flirting, to be honest."

"Feel free to hit me if I'm butting into something I shouldn't, but what happened between you and Ned?" Joe accepted a cup of coffee from his brother as Frank made his way back to his seat. "Kinda surprised me with your single status, Drew."

Nancy shrugged. "Nothing really happened. I joined the FBI, he took a job on the other side of the country and we just decided to see other people. I guess we just drifted apart." She smiled wryly. "Well, sort of. We email each other quite a lot."

Frank grinned. "Want to share the sordid details of your online affair with us?"

"Let me think on it… No."

They were still laughing when Joe moved to put some of the dishes into the sink and stiffened, staring out the window that faced out towards the driveway of his brother's home. Callie noticed first and was just asking what was wrong when the younger man darted for the door, dashing out before Frank and Nancy could even start to get up. They chased after the blond and watched as he charged at a shadowy figure bent over the trunk of Nancy's car; the woman sped up, raising her voice. "Freeze, FBI!"

The man, predictably, bolted.

Joe was fast on his heels though and chased the man into the street; he lunged and managed to tackle the back of the man's legs. Both went down and the man managed to clip the side of Joe's head with his foot as he struggled to stand but the younger man was determined and followed after only a moment of hesitation. The figure scowled and cursed loudly in a heavily accented voice, "Пошол нахуй!"

Joe faltered.

A car came out of the darkness without warning before jerking to a stop inches in front of the intruder with a loud honk and screech of tires. The headlights momentarily lit up the features of the man and Joe looked at the dark skin, hard eyes, wide forehead, receding hair and cruel mouth and paled sharply. His momentary lapse was all it took and the man dashed off into the darkness.

As Nancy tried to calm the distraught driver Frank caught up to his brother and grabbed his shoulder. "You okay?"

"No."

The answer caught Frank off guard and he stared at his brother as Joe began to shake, going tense under his hand and looking far too pale to be healthy. "No. I am nowhere near alright." He pulled away sharply and yanked out his phone, punching in a number and holding the phone in a shaking hand.

Nancy reached them, looking from one man to the other. "What's going o-"

"You SON OF A BITCH!" Joe's voice was raw and they whirled to stare at him as he vented into the phone. "How could you not tell me they were in the US? NO, I don't give a damn about this being none of my business—One of his men is in my hometown and he was just outside of my brother's house! There are children inside—No, damn it no!" Joe's breathing was getting shakier and shakier. "Like hell! If you think for one second I'm going to sit this one out-…NO! Dammit, Art, no. One way or another I am getting involved so you have until morning to decide if you're going to continue to treat me like a broken toy you don't want to play with anymore or if you're going to tell me what the - is going on!"

He hung up, chucked the phone as far as he could and bent almost double trying to right his breathing. Frank grabbed at his shoulders again, trying to look at his face.

"Joe, hey! Hey, heyheyhey, come on buddy; breathe! What's wrong?"

He looked up.

Eye's wide, breathing erratic, Joe was crying. He choked back a sob and Frank felt his stomach plummet and his grip tighten as his mind went blank at the pure terror in his little brother's eyes. Joe was quickly descending into a full blown panic attack and he was barely aware of moving his brother to the sidewalk and sitting with him as Joe tried to calm down.

Whatever Frank had thought had happened to his brother, it was obviously much worse.

I could make apologies about the lateness but that will get old very fast. I am just not in a place in my life where I can get this done with any regularity but I promise to finish this. Also, as of 4/22/15 the first few chapters have been altered slightly. Nothing major but if you want to re-read, it's not a bad idea.

Also, many of you will be happy to see that we're going to be seeing a little into what Joe's been up to. I'll try to not drag it out too much but I just love secrets… And this is a much higher level of cursing than I normally use; I try to evaluate if the level of stress calls for it or not and this did.