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Chapter Text

The three stood out like a sore thumb in the busy terminal. Everyone else in the airport wore heavy winter coats, winter boots, and long pants. The tallest, a man who appeared to be in his late teens to early twenties shoes had a gaping hole on the side, allowing his big toe to peek out. The stocky-built blonde beside him was trying to shift his jacket, which stretched beyond its mean to cover his broad shoulders. The third member of their party, a slim, pretty titian haired woman with them wore thread bare capris and a Hawaiian shirt, clearly dressed to be somewhere different than New York City right before Christmas.

They huddled together awkwardly clutching backpacks that were just as worn out as their clothes as several concerned busybodies pointed them out to security.

The security guard glanced at them with a frown, causing the titian-haired woman to sigh, “Someone just pointed us out to security. We are about to get asked to leave not all that politely."

The brown-haired boy sighed, shutting his eyes briefly, “We don’t have enough money to make it home,” he announced, “Prices went up. We barely have enough for train tickets. The train depot is on the other side of the city and then we’ll have to get to our house.”

“Can’t we walk?” the blonde suggested.

“In subzero temperatures? Joe, we’ll freeze to death before we get anywhere.”

“Maybe I can,” he seemed to flicker slightly.

The Titian-haired girl shook her head, grabbing his shoulder, “You can’t take us with you unless you're only teleporting five feet at a time, and it drains you," she reminded him softly.

“Nan’s right, Joe, that won’t work.”

“Well, do you have an idea of where we can go?” Joe asked.

Nancy glanced over to the right as two men dressed as security guards headed toward them, “I have an idea,” she announced, hurriedly, grabbing the two brothers and pushing them towards the taxi exit, “Aunt Elouise lives nearby, we can crash at her place for a little while, at least long enough to figure out how to get home…" she paused for a second… "I think," she finally admitted. It was hard to know for sure when they'd been gone for so long... For all she knew her aunt might have gone somewhere for the Holidays, possibly even to River Heights. She didn't have a phone to call her on and there was no payphones at this airport. 

Frank shifted, "Your aunt might be our only option, we can always let ourselves in if we have to," he closed his eyes briefly, "I ordered us an Uber, luckily there are several in the parking lot waiting to be booked, if we walk slowly we should get to the door at the same time they do."

...

Outside the air bit into them, small tiny snowflakes danced in the air. Nancy rubbed her arms hard, and stomped her sandled feet, she wished that they had given them appropriate clothing for this cold. 

They gave us several hundred dollars to get home with, Frank reminded her silently, as he opened the door to the Uber and let Nancy slide in first, as Joe appeared on the other side. Is he trying to get us caught? Frank demanded, sliding in and closing the door.

The driver gave them a weird look, but Frank rummaged through his backpack and pulled out his wallet, showing him a small wad of money, meeting the driver's eyes. There was no need for words, the meaning was clear, we can pay you. 

The driver nodded, shifted into drive and merged into the never ending traffic of New York City.

Finally after being caught in a traffic jam, they arrived at an apartment building only two blocks from Central Park. 

Once more the three young adults found themselves in the cold, teeth chattering as Nancy pushed a button for one of the apartments. There was no response.

"Great," Nancy said stomping her feet to warm them, "Aunt Eloise isn't home," she announced at the same time she glanced at the door, it was locked with a keypad. If she only knew the right password she could let themselves into the warm lobby.

Nancy looked at the keypad, tilting her head to the side.

"C..c...an y...y...you h...h...h...hurry u...u...up... It'sss frreeezzzing," Joe cried.

"J...j...just g...g...give mmmeee a mmmoommennt," Nancy forced out with her own shivering body, she closed her eyes, and placed her thumb and forefinger on the outer edge of her eyes and slowly drew them closed, across her eyelids to the bridge of her nose, she then dropped her hand and opened her eyes.

Her eyes glowed like a cat's in the dark and she could clearly see dark smudges on four of the keypad keys. She quickly punched the buttons from darkest to lightest. The light flashed green and the door clicked open. Nancy held it open blinking her eyes a couple of times to return them to their normal blue color.

The three entered the lobby, "Your eyes are creepy when you do that, you know that right?" 

Nancy shrugged, "It's useful, I got us in without having to explain why we never opened the door. "Now c'mon, let's go upstairs."

...

Nancy was leading the way from the elevator, down the long hall, towards her aunt's apartment, when a voice called out behind them.

"Nancy, is that you?"

Nancy whirled around, hands going instinctively into a protective position, she held the pose for a heartbeat before dropping it, "Mattie, hi. How have you been? Rick hasn't been receiving more death threats has he?"

The actress laughed, "I'm doing good," she said, "But what are you doing here? Your aunt Eloise is at her school's Christmas concert. How did you even get inside?"

"Aunt Eloise gave us the code to the door," Nancy lied smoothly, "Our flight's been grounded due to weather and she offered to let us stay with her."

"How lovely, but her door's locked, how can you get in?"

"Oh, I have a key to the apartment, don't worry," Nancy insisted, "she gave me one so that I can come and go as I want when I visit."

"Oh that's nice," Mattie said, "Well, I best be going to the studio. See you later Nancy."

Once they were alone in the hallway, Nancy turned to Frank, "Are there any cameras we need to worry about?"

Frank closed his eyes focusing on the electric currents surrounding him, finally he shook his head, "We aren't in range of any doorbell cameras and the only cameras in the hall are focused on the elevator and the two staircases. Joe if you'll do the honors."

Joe gave his older brother a look, "You aren't going to scold me for doing this later right."

"No, Joe," Frank promised, "as long as you do it now while the coast is clear."

Joe rolled his eyes, flickered once and then disappeared. Ten seconds later the door to the apartment opened.

Frank and Nancy stepped into the entryway and Joe closed and locked the door of the apartment again.

Nancy threw her backpack onto the floor by the couch and dropped down on it, "We should be safe here for a little bit," she announced.

"Unless your aunt thinks we broke in and calls the police," Joe pointed out as he peeled the too tight jacket off.

Nancy leaned forward, Joe had a point after all, Aunt Eloise had no idea they were there and might call the police on them. She scanned the room, if Aunt Eloise still had her landline... a cordless phone sat on the coffee table.

"Frank," she called out picking it up, "Can you make it so that if I use this phone, my cell number shows up on the other phone."

Frank nodded, "Of course, but I don't have your number memorized, you were number two on the speed dial. I'll need your number."

Nancy nodded, "Then it's a good thing that I have a photographic memory," she offered, as she pulled out a notebook and pen from her backpack. She opened the book to a blank page and then started to tap her chin thoughtfully. She stopped, wrote something down, ripped the number out of the page and handed it to Frank. She then continued to tap her chin before writing down a different phone number.

Frank took the cordless phone and focused on it, his eyes unfocused. He handed the phone to Nancy, "This is only a one time job," he admitted, "so make sure it counts."

The phone rang multiple times before Frank tapped it with a heavy sigh, "We forgot, Mattie said she was at a concert, she must have had it on do not disturb. I just turned it off. She should answer now."

...

Eloise was shocked when her phone started to ring in the middle of the concert, several students and parents turned to look at her, she was sure she had turned on Do Not Disturb before they started.

She was even more surprised when she noticed who was calling. Her niece Nancy who had disappeared in Hawaii eighteen months ago. How and why was she calling her now?

She, thankfully, had an aisle seat next to the side door. She slipped out and answered the phone.

"Hello, Nancy?"

"Aunt Eloise, it's kind of hard to explain, but we're kind of stranded and need someplace to stay here in New York."

Eloise heart quickened, "Who is we?" She asked.

"I'm with the Hardy Boys," Nancy confessed.

Nancy had been working with the Hardy Boys when all three of them disappeared.

"Where are you? Do you have money for a cab?" 

"We're actually at your building," Nancy confessed, "Mattie let us in, and I have a key to the apartment from last time I visited. I hope you don't mind that we let ourselves in?"

"No," Eloise exclaimed, "Not at all. You know where everything is, make yourself comfortable, I'll be home as soon as I can."

Eloise hung up the phone, took a deep breath, pulled her coat on, and hit the speed dial for her brother. 

...

Carson was just sitting down for supper with Hannah when his phone rung. Hannah gave him a look, wanting to hope, but not daring to. Carson and Fenton had both searched for their missing children but even Fenton had ran out of leads. It was as of the three teenagers had simply vanished. Could this phone call mean that a new Clue had emerged? 

Carson glanced at his phone, "It's Eloise," he announced, Hannah's face fell as Carson answered the phone.

"Thought you should know that Nancy just called me," Eloise explained, "She's at my apartment."

"Are you sure?" 

"It came across as her number, and she mentioned that she was with the Hardy Boys. She said Mattie let them into the building and she used her copy of my apartment key to let herself in. How many people know that Nancy had a key to my place?"

"Nancy's phone was found in their abandoned car, and her key ring, with your key on it, was found in her hotel room," Carson explained, "There is no way she could have called you or let herself into your apartment."

"She might have bought a new phone," Eloise suggested, "And it won't be the first or last time she picked a lock."

"Just be careful, it might be a trap, call her back and ask for her safe code, just to be on the safe side."

Eloise sighed, several people might think she was the younger sibling instead of the older the way that Carson protected her.

"Okay I'll do it."

...

Eloise tried calling Nancy's phone but it went straight to voicemail. This didn't really confused Eloise though, her niece was horrible about plugging her phone in. She then called her landline, the phone was answered on the second ring by Nancy.

"Hey, Aunt Eloise," she said, "What's up?"

"Your father wants me to ask you what your safe code was."

"Mr. Woogle Wogle," Nancy said quickly, "My phone is died, tell Dad I said hi."

...

Carson glanced at his phone as it chimed, "Nancy said Mr. Woogle Wogle and Hi."

"What's going on?" Hannah asked.

"Nancy and the boys just showed up in New York. They asked to stay with Eloise."

"Wha... How?" Hannah demanded.

"I don't know," Carson admitted, "I'll call Fenton and have him check in on them."

Chapter Text

Gertrude Hardy gave her brother a cold look as his phone went off at the dinner table.

"Honestly Fenton," she scolded as he pulled it out of his pocket, "You should treasure the time you have with what little family you have left."

Fenton ignored her, standing up from the table, "I'll be right back," he insisted, kissing Laura quickly before leaving the dining room.

As soon as he was secured in his study, he answered the phone, "Carson? What's happened?"

"Nancy contacted Eloise just minutes ago. They're apparently in New York and she was wondering if they could stay with her."

"They, as in...?"

"Nancy's claiming that your sons are with her. Eloise agreed to let them stay with her until they could make arrangements to head home."

Fenton glanced at his watch, "If I leave now, I can catch the train to New York. Can you text me the address and let your sister know that I'm on my way. I don't think I'll believe you unless I see it with my own two eyes."

"To be fair, I'm not sure I believe it yet. Unfortunately, I'm tied up in a case and can't fly out until next week at least. I'm just going to have to rely on you to finish wrapping up this case."

"This is one case I'll be happy to wrap up," Fenton announced, "I'll call you tomorrow."

Fenton rushed back downstairs to find his sister and wife waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. Ever since a possible body had caused the women grief, he always took any calls about the case in private. Only when he confirms the lead would Gertrude and Laura learn about it.

"Have they found something new?" Laura asked.

"I bet they found their bodies washed ashore somewhere," Gertrude grumbled, "I knew that this sleuthing was going to catch up with the boys eventually."

"No bodies have been found," Fenton insisted, "However, there is a new lead that I need to follow-up on," he grabbed his wife by the shoulders.

"What lead?" Laura asked.

"I can't tell you until after I follow up on it," Fenton insisted, "It's for the boys, and Nancy's safety."

"Just bring those poor children home safe," Gertrude ordered, "Laura and I will get their rooms put in order for their return."

...

Nancy hang the phone up, turning to look at her friends, "We need to get a phone for me or Aunt Eloise is going to be confused. We should have thought of that before we called... I'd like some warmer clothes as well."

"Since we don't need the rest of that money we were given to get home, perhaps we should invest in a new change of clothes for all of us," Frank suggested, "Nan, you know shopping here in New York better than Joe and I, where is the best place to buy clothes and a cheap cell phone?"

"There's a cheap second hand store just down the block, Bess and I will shop there for stuff to up cycle. They also sale used electronics so you might be able to get a phone there as well..."

"Great, Joe, take the money and teleport over to the store, be careful not to get caught, you remember what will happen to us if someone catches us using our abilities."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know." Joe grumbled, accepting the money, "We just have a little bit under a hundred dollars here," he announced, "Hopefully that will be enough."

"That's still thirty dollars a piece," Nancy pointed out, "At the second hand store that should be enough to get us all an appropriate outfit," she grabbed her bag, pulling out a notebook, where she wrote done a list of things to get, "The main thing we need to get is the cell phone to cover up our powers."

"We need a lot more than that," Frank insisted, "We've been gone for over a year and I know that Dad is going to question us."

"As long as we don't give them too much details on what happened on the island between the time we washed ashore and we were rescued by the Coast Guard we should be fine," Nancy insisted, "The problem is hitting that balance of information and withholding information. Hold back too much and our dads will know that we're withholding information, give them too much information and they'll realize that there's missing information as well."

"That's probably going to be the hardest part," Joe insisted, "Dad's great at interrogating suspects."

Frank shook his head as he stood up, "Unless you think your aunt will object, I'm going to cook something. We haven't eaten all day and it will be so nice to cook on an actual stove instead of of over a fire for once."
...
Eloise smiled as she sat down at the dining room table, "Well, I'll have to admit, it's not very often that I come home to dinner on the table."

"I hope it's okay that we helped ourselves," Nancy offered, sitting down next to her, "We haven't eaten since yesterday."

"Since Yesterday!" Eloise exclaimed in alarm, "The three of you must be starving."

"Eh, it's not that bad," Joe insisted, dishing himself a plate full of spaghetti and meatballs, "When we first escaped, we were adrift for almost a month with very little food or water."

Eloise's eyes went wide, "Oh," she said softly, "The past few months must have been horrible for you."

"It has," Nancy confessed, "I'm glad that it's over. We were worried that we would never make it to safety. There were so many close calls."

Eloise felt her heart go out to her niece and her friends, "What exactly happened."

"We were at the wrong place at the wrong time," Frank confessed, "They jumped us from behind."

"Yeah and they kept us locked up in this tiny closet and I'm pretty sure they tortured Nancy. They took her out for hours and she came back all bloody, and she refused to tell us what happened," Joe confessed.

"Knock it off Joe!" Frank snapped, reaching out and grabbing Nancy's hand, "you know that bringing that up only upsets Nancy," he turned his attention to Nancy, "It's okay, you're safe now, no one is ever going to hurt you again. I won't let them."

Nancy managed to give Frank a small smile, "I know," she said simply.

Joe snorted, "What gave it away, the fact that he singlehandedly took out like two dozen people to help us escape after that, or was it some private moment you left me locked out in the rain for two hours while you were busy in bed?"

"Nancy!" Eloise exclaimed, she always thought that her niece had a good head in her shoulders, but to get so carried away with a boy, "What will your father say about that?"

Nancy shrugged, "He's opinion doesn't matter, I'm almost twenty, and Frank and I have been together for over a year now. He makes me happy."

Eloise frowned, "But what happened to Ned?" She asked, "I thought you were dating him."

"We had a big argument right before I left for Hawaii," Nancy confessed, "I assumed he would have met someone else by now."

Eloise shook her head, "No he's been worried about you since you disappeared. I believe he took a semester off to look for you in Hawaii."

"Oh my," Nancy exclaimed, glancing at Frank, "He told me that he thought it would be best if we saw other people... This is after I caught him at Scoops with another girl and he accused me of having an affair. We were pretty angry at each other...and with me being gone so long... I just assumed... I don't want to hurt Ned... I never meant to hurt Ned," she sighed, "He was important to me. He was a good friend, but there were so many times that I felt like he wanted me to choose between him and my cases. He drove me crazy sometimes. He just didn't understand."

"Can we please change the topic away from Nancy's love life?" Joe pleaded.

"Excellent idea," Eloise announced, "Nancy, your father wants you to call him before it gets too late. I'm sure he has questions."

"We got back as soon as we could," Nancy insisted, grabbing her aunt's hand from across the table, "I promise... I'm sorry it took so long."

"It's okay dear," Eloise insisted, patting her hand, "The important thing is that you are safe now. You escaped."

...

Eloise sat back in her favorite armchair, as she watched Frank and Nancy snuggle next to each other in the couch. She had surrendered the remote and complete control over her TV to them. After all, after what they'd been through... They deserved to relax and enjoy themselves. Joe came into the room a little while later, after insisting that he do the dishes up for them and plopped down next to them, saying something that Eloise didn't understand, maybe it was code or maybe it was some other language, she didn't know and honestly, she didn't care. As long as they were safe.

Her phone dinged alerting her that she had a text message from Carson informing her that Fenton Hardy was on his way to her place, having caught the late train to New York.

The teens argued between themselves in that code language, before selecting a Marvel Movie.

Eloise didn't really care about the Marvel movies, but it was good to see them enjoy themselves, after all, it was pretty obvious that they hadn't had a chance to relax since they had been kidnapped. She wondered how bad it got. Joe mentioned that Nancy had been tortured, but Nancy hadn't mentioned anything about it, and Eloise couldn't help but worry that as bad of things had been hinted at things might have been even worse than what they said.

If that was the case she ached for the children. They might be legal adults but they were still just children in her eyes.

...

Nancy shifted, the loud snap of a door shutting just outside of the building pulling her out of the light doze she had entered halfway through the movie. She tilted her head as the crunch of footsteps approached the building.

What's wrong Frank asked sleepily.

I don't know yet, Nancy confessed, Someone just arrived at the building. I don't know who yet.

The buzz of the doorbell shattered the quiet. Joe jumped up in alarm, "What was that!" He demanded.

"Were you expecting a visitor Aunt Eloise?" Nancy asked nervously, as Frank moved slightly to where their coats were.

They were about ready to flee... Eloise noted with alarm, as she moved to the intercom to buzz the boys' father in, "I am," she assured them, pressing the button, "Yes?"

"Miss Drew, this is Fenton Hardy. Your brother told me that my sons are with you."

Frank and Joe looked at each other before jumping up off the couch, "Dad!"

Chapter Text

Fenton hugged his sons tightly, "Frank, Joe, thank goodness you're alive!"

Nancy watched as Frank and Joe greeted their father, battling back a twinge of jealousy that they were reunited with their family first. It wasn't their fault that they arrived only a four hour train away from home.

Just then her phone started to vibrate, she frowned, glancing down at the caller ID, debating whether or not to answer it. What if it's a trap?

The caller ID announced that it was her father, but they could easily trick her just like she had tricked Aunt Eloise into thinking she was calling from her cellphone and not her landline.

If she answered the phone and it was them they would be able to trace the call, leading them not only to them but to Aunt Eloise as well...

...

Frank pulled away from his father, "Something's wrong with Nancy," he announced, before rushing down the hall.

Fenton gave his younger son a confused look. Joe shrugged, "I don't understand how he does it, but he's always been over protective when it comes to Nancy and I'm pretty sure he got worse after they..." He trailed off, shuddering, "I'm just glad we managed to escape."

"What exactly happened?" Fenton asked.

Joe shrugged, "I'm still trying to figure that out, I guess we were at the wrong place at the wrong time," he shuddered, "We just went out for a hike. You know, maintaining our cover as tourists. We parked by the trail head, and was almost to the overlook when Nancy saw something just off the path. Whatever it was there were people nearby who didn't want us to see what it was. We were completely out numbered, and there was nothing we could do. We tried everything in the book and several things outside the book to escape but..." Joe pushed his long bangs out of his eyes, sighing, "They knew what they were doing. Then they... They hurt Nancy and Frank went berserk. He probably killed that one man, it was defense," Joe quickly assured his father, "They were hurting Nancy after all, and we managed to force our way out... It probably wasn't our best move, we had no supplies, middle of the ocean... We didn't know what to do. We washed ashore on a desert island.

"Luckily Frank and Nancy knew a bit about edible plants and clean water. We stayed there for a while before an archeologist team found us. They took us to the nearest inhabited island, and after we recovered, we started scrapping together money to make it back to the States. We had a few scared were we thought we saw our kidnappers.

"Frank decided that it was too dangerous for Nancy to travel by herself so we came here."

"How did you even get on the plane without your IDs and passports?"

Joe grimaced, "We didn't have any other option, there was no embassy or anything to get a new passport, so we... Paid someone to forge them for us... I'm sorry, we knew it was wrong but we were desperate."

"I understand," Fenton reassured him, placing a hand on his son's shoulder, wondering if it had been that broad when they last saw each other.

...

Frank entered the guest bedroom where Nancy was sitting on the bottom, King size bed of the bunk bed, gasping for air, her phone ringing next to her.

What's wrong?

What if they're tricking me into answering the phone so they can track us down? They aren't going to stop trying to get their hands on our gems.

But we've been promised that they won't be able to get to us here. They have to be careful just like that, and we were able to fake our deaths. I don't think they'll come after us anymore. Why don't we ignore the call and then call your father back.I'll make sure that no one can trace the call.

Nancy nodded, "Yeah, that works," she agreed, hitting the ignore button before hitting redial.

...

Carson was a little concern when Nancy didn't call him, so he decided to call her seeing as she had managed to contact his sister by using her phone. Only the phone just kept ringing, and ringing before it just stopped. It didn't even go to voicemail.

He glanced at the phone in concern, as it lit up again, Nancy's name flashing across the screen. Maybe she just missed the call and didn't have voicemail set up.

He quickly pressed the accept button, pressing the phone to his ear, "Hello?" He asked tentatively hoping that it was Nancy.

"Dad?" Nancy's voice filtered through the phone, sounding small and uncertain, "Umm," she paused, "Can you give me the safe code, just to be safe?"

"I don't see why you need it but it's 'Riverside News Review.'"

Static crackled through the speaker as Nancy released a sigh of relief, "Just needed to make sure that you really were you and not someone else."

"I see," Carson said softly, "Are you okay?"

"I'm... Working on it," Nancy confessed, "It's been tough."

"I bet, what even happened?"

"I... Don't want to talk about it," Nancy insisted, "It's... Not... Something to talk about over the phone... You understand... Right?"

"I'm not going to force you to talk to me about it if you don't want to," Carson offered, "I can understand that the past year and a half have been tough for you."

"Thanks Dad," Nancy said, "I... Appreciate it," she sighed, "Mr. Hardy showed up here at Aunt Eloise."

"I know," Carson admitted, "I called him after Eloise told me you contacted her. We've been keeping each other informed about any leads we get to your location."

"I wanted to call you multiple times, but... We didn't dare... We weren't sure if they were watching us or not."

"But you felt comfortable calling Aunt Eloise?" Carson asked, "Why didn't you call me?"

"I don't know," Nancy confessed, "It's been a year and half, I guess I was scared. I kind of broke my promise to keep in contact with you while I was in Hawaii."

Carson chuckled lightly, "I forgive you," he said, "Now... I've looked at flights from New York to Chicago, but the only one I could find before the New Year was a red eye tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night? I'll have to travel alone?"

"You'll be fine, Aunt Eloise will go with you to the airport and I'll be there to pick you up, and Hannah will have your favorite breakfast ready when we get home."

"French toast with raspberry whip cream?" Nancy asked.

"With bacon," Carson assured her.

"Sounds great," Nancy said, before pausing for a moment, "You haven't told anyone that I'm back yet have you?"

"Only Hannah and that is because I was with her when Eloise called. I take it that you don't want me to tell your friends that you've been found."

"At least not yet," Nancy insisted, "I don't want to be bombard with Bess and George first thing. Just give me a chance to decompress, okay."

"I won't do anything to upset you," Carson insisted, "You take the time you need before you reconnect."

"Thanks Dad," Nancy said.

...

Fenton slowly knocked on the guest bedroom, "Frank?" He called out, "Are you and Nancy alright?"

The door creaked open, Frank peering out, "Dad," he said sounding sheepish, "Hi."

"Hi," Fenton said, "What are you and Nancy up to?" He asked, giving his son a concern look. From what Joe told him, it was obvious that Nancy and Frank were together, and while he wasn't all that surprised, it had been obvious that there was chemistry between the two from the time they first met, he was concerned. He didn't want Frank and Nancy to make any rash decisions in the heat of the moment. He definitely didn't want Frank to get hurt if this relationship ends.

"Oh, we were just talking to Mr. Drew, he's got Nancy a flight tomorrow night."

"Well that's good," Fenton said, "Eloise invited me to spend the night, and we'll head home in the morning."

"We're leaving tomorrow morning?" Frank asked, glancing into the room, "I thought we'd at least wait until Nancy left for the airport."

Fenton shook his head, "No," he insisted, "You know that I don't like leaving your mother and aunt alone for longer than I absolutely have to. Besides I thought you would be happy to get home?"

"I guess," Frank muttered, glancing into the room that Fenton was sure Nancy was in.

"You don't want to leave Nancy, do you?" Fenton asked.

Frank face turned bright red, but he nodded, "I can't let something else happen to her, Dad, not again. Seeing them hurt her like that..." He trailed off with shudder, "I never been angrier or more upset in my life... Nancy... Nancy's special Dad. She gets me. She gets me as much or more than Joe does. More than Callie ever did, that's for sure. She knows when to hold me back or push me forward."

"You love her," Fenton figured.

"You know that I've had feelings for her for a while before this whole thing... Nancy had a huge fight with Ned and they broke up... I was planning to ask Nancy out after we finished our case, but well things didn't work out like that."

"No doubt," Fenton agreed, "You've been with Nancy for twenty-four seven for the past eighteen months, and from what little your brother told me, it was a rough eighteen months. It's understandable that you and Nancy developed strong feelings for each other."

"Thanks Dad," Frank said, "I really think she's the one."

"I understand that, but I think you should wait a little while before you do anything more with it. You've been alone with her for a long time and it was a stressful situation. Give the two of you time to decompress from your ordeal before you take your relationship any further than it already has."

"We will, Dad, don't worry," Frank promised, "Nancy needs to figure out what's going to happen with Ned. Ms. Drew told us that Ned took Nancy's disappearance hard. She doesn't want to hurt him more than she already has."

Chapter Text

Nancy was backed up in a corner, curled up as small as she could, five large men towering over her.

"Just give me the gem and we can let you go," one man growled, his eyes glowing red.

"I don't know what you are talking about about," Nancy protested, "I don't have any gems, please just let us go!"

The man chuckled, reaching out with a hand that was consumed with fire and grabbed Nancy bare shoulder.

"No!!!" Nancy's screamed, throwing herself up in the bed. She panted, gasping for breath as she tried to make sense of her surroundings.

She was alone, Frank wasn't right next to her. Where was he? He always was by her at night... It was the only way to avoid the nightmares. Where was Frank, and Joe? Why was she alone? Being alone was bad. When she was alone was when the pain happened.

...

The ear-splitting scream pulled Fenton out of a deep sleep. He sat up, confused for a moment before he remembered where he was, the trundle bed in Eloise Drew's guestroom.

"Nancy?" A deep voice called out next to him, as somebody stepped onto the trundle from the king size bed that made up the bottom portion of the bunk bed.

"What's going on?" Fenton demanded.

"Nancy had a nightmare," another voice announced through the darkness, "And then she woke up by herself. That's why the three of us slept together all the time. As long as we were together we knew we were safe."

Fenton frowned, watching as Frank climbed up to the top bunk, calling out to Nancy in some sort of code.

...

The next morning dawned bright and cold, after a warm hearty breakfast, the Hardys bid their farewells to the Drews.

Nancy threw herself into Frank's arms, "I don't know how I'm going to handle being by myself," she confessed,"I've gotten use to having you by my side."

"It's only for a little while," Frank promised, "As soon as we can convince our parents, I'll come visit. I promise."

Nancy pressed her lips against his, "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too," Frank responded, "I promise, soon we'll be together again."

Joe suddenly nudged Frank, almost sending him sprawling, before hugging Nancy himself, "If you ever get and trouble and need help, just let us know," he insisted, "I don't know about Frank's telepathy, but as long as I'm not carrying anything I can teleport just about anywhere in the world."

"We haven't really had a chance to test how far a range we have," Nancy confessed, "We only can communicate with each other, and its not like we went far from each other."

Fenton glanced at his sons, and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry boys," he said, "but the taxi is waiting. We need to go."

Frank and Joe sighed, gave Nancy a look and slowly walked away.

...

Eloise watched as the door shut behind the Hardys and her niece dropped down on the couch, her bottom lip sticking out in a pout.

"So, we have several hours before your flight," she offered, "What do you want to do? Is there any sightseeing you want to do? Or shopping Christmas is coming up."

Nancy shook her head, "I don't have any money," she confessed, "and I don't feel comfortable in a large crowd."

"Then I guess we'll have to find something to do here then."

...

Carson straightened his tie and turned to Hannah, "Nancy's flight will be getting in about three am tomorrow morning. I'm sure she'll be tired after traveling all night, can you make sure that her room is ready for her."

"Yes, of course Mr. Drew," Hannah said, "I'm going to run to the store and pick up some things. I'm going to make all of her favorites," Hannah smiled broadly, "Is there anything specific you want me to pick up?"

Carson shook his head, "No," he insisted, "I'll let you know if I think of something." He turned to leave, only to pause, "Oh, Hannah," he called out, "Nancy doesn't really want news that she's back getting around, okay? Just for the first little bit while she's recovering."

"I understand," Hannah insisted as she grabbed her heavy winter coat, I'll keep quiet."

...

Gertrude looked up from her stacks of pancakes at her sister in law, "When do you think we can expect my brother home again?" She asked, "Normally he'll at least give us a time frame."

"He texted me just a little bit earlier, he's on his way home now..." Laura trailed off, looking troubled, "He says he's going to pick up pizza on the way home and he has some news... About the boys." She buried her head in her arms, "Gertrude, he wouldn't tell me what the news is, which means it's bad news."

"You think he found bodies or something?" Gertrude asked.

"Probably," he won't even give me a hint."

...

Hannah was scrolling through the shopping list on her phone, double checking it against the items in her cart, when she heard someone call her name. She looked up sharply in time to see the Minister's wife waving at her.

"Hannah Gruen, I thought that was you. Why my husband and I were just discussing you and poor Mr. Drew. We were wondering if there was anyway we could bring a little Christmas Joy to you and Mr. Drew?"

Hannah nodded, thinking slightly, "Well, I don't really know..." She admitted slowly, "Now, I suppose I can tell you, but we need to keep it quiet. We don't want to cause an uproar, but... Nancy's been found. She showed up at her aunt's apartment last night. Beyond that I don't know anything, except the fact that she wants to be left alone for the first little while once she gets here. She asked us not to even tell her friends that she's back."

"I see, honestly I can understand, knowing the way people can be... It seemed like there was a revolving door at the Drew residence when news got out that Nancy was actually missing. I'm sure there will be a repeat of all the well wishers when they find out she's back."

"That's why we agreed not to tell Bess and George yet," Hannah admitted, "Well I better get home and get these raspberries in sugar. Nancy's requested my French toast."

...

Joe lifted the top of the pizza box off and inhale deeply, "Real authentic American Pizza," he exclaimed, reaching for a piece.

"Wait until we get home," Fenton insisted.

"But Dad, do you know how often I dreamed of a hot slice of pepperoni pizza these past eighteen months?"

"You've gone without pizza for eighteen months, you can wait another fifteen minutes for us to get home."

"I don't know that I'm strong enough to resist for that long," Joe whined, "It's calling my name!"

Fenton glanced at his youngest through the rearview mirror, shaking his head, his eyes twinkling in amusement, "You know son, sometimes you just need to think about something else."

"Like what?" Joe demanded.

"Like surprising your aunt and mother," Fenton announced, "I told them I had some news. I did not tell them that I was bringing you home."

"Why Dad," Frank exclaimed from his position in the passenger seat, "That's almost cruel! You know how Auntie Gertrude is, she'll think you have bad news."

"Yeah Dad, and she'll upset Mother as well," Joe added, "She'll make up all these horrible scenarios on how Frank and I died or something like that."

"So what's the action plan?" Frank asked, "I mean are we just going to walk in like we own the place, or are we going to wait for a signal and sneak up behind them."

"I kind of want to do that last one," Joe insisted, "Just to make Aunt Gertrude scream."

"Well then, I guess we have to come up with a plan," Fenton insisted.

...

Laura and Gertrude were trying to distract themselves with the television when they heard the tell tale sound of the garage door opening. They exchanged looks, and Gertrude offered her sister in law her hand.

"Gert, Laura!" Fenton's voice called out, "I'm home."

"I guess we better get this over with." Laura sighed, standing up, "We're in the living room!"

Fenton entered the living room, swept Laura into a hug and gave her a kiss before turning to Gertrude, "Let's sit down to talk before we eat," he offered, "It will only take a minute."

"Do you have news about the boys?" Laura asked.

Fenton nodded.

"Oh they're dead aren't they, that's why you wouldn't tell us anything last night."

"Last night, Carson called me with a possible lead to where the boys were," Fenton explained.

"What lead?" Laura demanded to know.

"Nancy contacted her Aunt Eloise," Fenton explained, "At the time Carson called, they'd confirmed that it was Nancy who called, but hadn't confirmed if the boys were with her."

"That's why you wouldn't tell us anything last night," Gertrude guessed.

"Exactly, not until I knew for sure that Frank and Joe were safe."

"Well," Laura asked, a gleam in her eyes that Fenton hadn't seen in a long time, "Where are my boys?" She pleaded.

Just then there was a noise from the kitchen and Frank appeared in the living room, "You better come get your pizza quick before Joe eats it all," he insisted.

Joe appeared next to him eating a slice of pizza, "Honestly Frank is exaggerating," he held up the slice, "This is my first slice."

"And why aren't you using a plate Joseph?" Gertrude demanded giving him a look, "A year and a half away and you've forgotten all your manners."

Joe took a bite of the pizza before saying, with his mouth full, "I missed you too, Auntie."

"Oh," Gertrude grunted holding her arms open, "Come here," she ordered.

Joe grinned as he hugged his aunt.

"It's good to see you again," he announced, hugging her back.

By now Laura had made her way to them, hugging Frank tightly, before tugging Joe away from Gertrude.

Once free of Joe, Gertrude pulled Frank into a hug. She then frowned, "Frank, you're basically skin and bones!" She exclaimed, "Let's get you something to eat."

Fenton smiled as he draped his arm around his wife, who beamed up at him, "This was a wonderful surprise," she admitted, "It's so good to have the boys home."

"Yes, it is."

...

Nancy glanced around the terminal, forcing herself to take even breathing. Her Aunt Eloise had dropped her off at the airport an hour ago, and now she was just waiting for her flight, and trying not to panic as well.

Frank can you here me, you awake?

For a second there was nothing, then there was a sleepy response, Nancy?

Sorry did I wake you up?

It's one in the morning what do you expect?

I'm sorry, I didn't think about that.

It's fine. What's wrong?

Just trying to not have a panic attack before getting on the plane.

Have you started boarding yet?

They just started priority boarding. Should be on the plane soon.

I'll stay with you until you're on the plane.

I'd rather have you here physically. Nancy confessed, but this will work.

Are you excited to get home?

A little, but I'm nervous too. I know that I've changed a lot the past eighteen months. What if people notice?

People aren't going to notice. Nobody is going to suspect that you have powers.