Disclaimer: I do not own the Hardy Boys or any of the book characters.

Beta: Thanks again for WendyLouWho10 for once again reading to catch the big errors and for flow!

Rating/Setting: Part of my "Taken" story arc. Rating is T. Setting is AU but I was thinking about a cross between Casefiles and Blue Spines when I started writing the series. Boys are F19/J18.

Author's Notes: There's been a notification glitch for over a week. If you think you missed a chapter, go back and catch up! Just a final shout out to those of you who reviewed! Thanks for reviewing and reading! Barb, Caranath, Cherylann Rivers, curlingduck, guest, Joe's fan, JoeNeal, KDesai, max2013, nicolelylewis, Rose61393, and SleuthCK. Thanks! Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out!

I think about 9 chapters into the next story and expect it to be about 20 chapters maybe. We'll see how it turns out. :-) I hope to start posting by early June so check back then!

Chapter Thirteen

As he exited from the secure section of the Bayport airport, Joe opened his arms and Vanessa practically jumped into them. He smiled at his brother through her hair which had streamed across his face. "I guess I don't have to ask if you're glad to see me."

She squeezed him tightly. "You know we're glad to have you back." She let go her hold on him and stepped back so that Frank could slap him on the shoulder.

"Back just in time to start football practice," Frank said with a smile.

Joe shrugged and his smile faltered, "It worked out. Let's grab my bags and go." He moved toward the small carousel for luggage. He had only had to stay in Chesapeake for two days after ORT busted Newman. The files in the drawer contained all the information ORT needed for suppliers and buyers. With Newman in custody, he didn't really have anything else to share or do, so he was sent home. Kristen had refused to speak to him, so he left her a note that Agent Williams promised to deliver. However, he didn't feel much better about it.

"Do you want to go home first or would you like to get something to eat?" Frank asked and then added at Joe's surprised look, "Mom said it was okay. She knew that the three of us would want to talk and she thought you might want to get it out of the way."

Joe looked to the luggage that was now slowly moving out onto the conveyor. "Yeah, I think I would."

"I'll send her a text," Frank said.

"Prito's?" Vanessa asked.

Joe grunted as he pulled a suitcase off the belt and sat it heavily on the floor. "No. Somewhere quiet where we won't see many people we know."

Vanessa nodded. "Carlson's Café?"

A large grin lit Joe's face. "Perfect."

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

After placing their orders, the three teens looked at each other and Frank laughed as he said, "Okay, so who wants to go first."

Vanessa was squirming as she said, "Let's go first. I want to go ahead and get it out in the open." She pulled her phone out and pulled up the photo app and handed it to Joe. "ORT had us take these over several days and some while we were in Boston."

Joe braced himself as he took the phone. ORT had had him take pictures with Agent Williams once they were both in Chesapeake and they photo-shopped some pictures of him with his mom so that Agent Williams was in it instead of Laura. They had left pictures of him and Vanessa and their friends as long as there was no identifying information to Bayport. It would have been odd for him to not have any pictures on his phone if anyone had looked. So he knew that he was going to see pictures of Vanessa and Frank. What he didn't expect was to see pictures of Frank and Vanessa where they had photo-shopped Frank's head on Joe's body. He stared at a picture for a moment.

"The pictures of me kissing Vanessa on the cheek or her kissing me just didn't look right. It was obvious that we couldn't fake it so we did a lot of casual ones and they photo-shopped just a few to show us kissing." Frank said with just a little concern.

Joe handed the phone back and gave them both a rueful smile. "Listen, it's no problem. I knew that would happen." He nodded at Vanessa and added, "But since that's your personal phone, why don't you go ahead and delete those so that our friends don't get the wrong idea about the three of us." He knew that ORT would keep the originals on file in case they needed to use them for a future cover.

Vanessa nervously fiddled with the phone and Joe reached across the table and said, "Hey. Stop worrying. I KNOW that you and Frank didn't do anything." He kept her hand as he said, "Let's see. He held your hand. He put his arm around your waist or shoulders. Maybe danced with you when you went out; kissed your cheek." He tilted his head to the side. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, I think that covers it," Vanessa said with a genuine smile and looked to Frank. "Can you think of anything else?"

"Well, you did whisper in my ear once," he deadpanned.

Joe burst into laughter. "Well, that could be crossing the line."

Frank smiled and said, "Other than making comments that implied a more serious relationship, that was the extent of the PDA."

The drinks were delivered and when the waitress left, Joe played with the straw in front of him as he stared at it. "I feel like such a hypocrite," he said softly. "I was so concerned about what the two of you would be doing when I KNEW that nothing would happen."

"Joe?" Vanessa asked in concern. "What happened?"

"Kristen Newman. Like I told you, it was expected that she would flirt with me." Joe glanced up to see Vanessa's frown.

"So what happened?" Vanessa asked again. She wasn't angry; she was just trying to figure out why Joe was acting the way he was.

"Her father was a primary suspect and I went out with her in order to get info on her dad. We were often at her house alone but nothing besides kissing ever happened," Joe said hurriedly.

Vanessa's tone was deceptively soft and Joe had a bad feeling as she said, "How much kissing?"

Joe stared into his girlfriend's eyes and he could feel the discomfort coming from his brother.

"Maybe I should leave the two of you alone for a few minutes," Frank said as he stood from the table.

Joe didn't take his eyes off of Vanessa. "More than I wanted."

"How much?"

"I can't give you the number, Vanessa. It was a lot and they weren't all just a peck on the cheek," Joe replied honestly. He watched as she sat back and crossed her arms over her chest in a protective manner. "I'm sorry. I felt awful doing it. I felt like a jerk kissing her with no feelings for her." He looked away. "I felt even worse when she realized I had been using her to get information on her father." He leaned forward with his elbows on the table and put his head in his hands. "If you need some time—" He stopped when he felt her hand on his arm.

"Listen, Joe. I'm not going to break up with you over this. You were doing your job just like I was doing mine. Am I happy you did it? Of course not." She gave him a small smile as she tightened her grip. "I'm a little possessive of you the same way you are of me. I would love to punch the girl who kissed you, but she didn't know about us and you would have never kissed her if you weren't on a job." She tugged until his arm lay across the table and she took his hand. "I plan to make sure you remember that I'm your girl."

The look in her eyes made Joe's heart beat faster. He was so caught up in what Vanessa said, that he didn't even hear Frank return.

"Looks like it's safe for me to return," Frank said as he sat down. Further conversation stopped as their food was delivered.

"Yeah, things are okay," Vanessa said. "But I have to say that I'm glad that they aren't going to send us on missions that require romantic pairings."

Frank gave them a grim smile. "I'm glad I told them the same thing. I don't want to go off and be kissing on other girls. Especially since I can't talk to Callie like the two of you can talk."

"Good idea, Frank. I can tell you from my own experience, it eats at you. I can't imagine doing what I did and then coming back to Vanessa and not telling her," Joe said as he cut into his food.

The trio continued on with their meal. Frank thinking about what his brother said while Joe and Vanessa thought about finally sharing a kiss after so many weeks.

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

Frank walked into the house carrying one of Joe's bags. Laura came in the room and asked, "Where's Joe?"

"He's driving Vanessa back to her house."

Laura looked at her watch. "Well, he'll be home in just a bit then."

Frank couldn't help the smile that formed on his face. "He might be just a bit longer, mom. He and Vanessa have a little more catching up to do."

Laura frowned and then her eyes widened, "Oh. Well, I suppose they do." She turned and left the room with her cheeks flushed.

Frank just continued smiling and carried the bag upstairs.

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

Joe and Vanessa sat in the porch swing at her house, arms wrapped around each other and their lips pressed together. Neither one had thoughts of missions or college on their minds. They were focused on one thing: each other.