Vanessa’s eyes grew wide. "You mean we were right?" she asked, excitedly. "Where? At the Smithsonian Museum of American History? Were you there? Were you hurt?" Vanessa couldn’t wait to find out all of the information.

Callie gave a small smile in spite of herself. "Shhh, Van," she said, gently. "Let Joe finish his story. He’s here, so he’s fine."

"Oh, yeah," Vanessa said, embarrassed.

"Yeah, that’s where it was," Frank said to Vanessa, being careful to avoid looking Callie in the eyes. "Joe almost … well, he got in a little bit of trouble, but that’s normal for him." Frank decided against telling Vanessa about Joe almost getting shot, seeing no reason to upset her.

"What was taken?" Callie asked Joe directly, equally avoiding Frank’s eyes.

Joe, watching the whole exchange between Frank and Callie take place, tried not to comment, and to concentrate on the case at hand. "Well, here’s the thing," he said to her. "At first, it LOOKED like a painting was stolen, entitled "Swiss Alps- Escape." We thought that was appropriate based on your theory that everything stolen had to do with that theme of escape in some way."

"But it wasn’t stolen?" Vanessa asked, confused.

"No!" Frank said, shaking his head in amazement. "That’s the incredible part! Joe had figured out that the cases in which that item, along with the other ‘stolen’ items, were located in, were fakes! They were hollow- nothing was actually stolen! Somehow, they were rigged, so that there was a pre-shattered case with the hidden message on the envelopes inside. That one would rise, and the real item, whatever it happened to be, would simply fall harmlessly into the hollow stand."

"What?!" Callie cried, perplexed. "So nothing was taken? I don’t understand!"

"Neither do I," Joe admitted. "Quite frankly, I don’t even know if we have a case now."

"But that means that whomever did this was trying to give someone a message on those envelopes, which must mean that the message was pretty important. Still, what a risk to take!" Callie said in wonder.

"Exactly," Joe replied. "Go figure."

"And someone MUST be working an inside angle, if Frank was hit," Vanessa surmised.

"Yup," Frank replied. "There are a whole lot of unanswered questions."

Callie sighed. "I know we’ve done this already," she pointed out, "but let’s take out that list of facts again. Maybe something new will hit us, and we can concentrate on the envelope messages. Clearly, the slogan "So Defendants Will Prevail" means something, and so does "AGIB." I have a feeling that all of those supposedly stolen items having to do with escape means something too, although I’ll be darned if I have any clue about it," she finished, honestly.

"I agree," Vanessa replied, and asked Joe to get out the list, which he did, adding to the list.

1) The National Air and Space Museum- Green envelope

3) The International Gallery- Blue envelope

4) The National Museum of American History- Pink envelope

1) Original plane designs

"Okay," Joe said, looking at the list. "Here we go. The question is, where do we begin?"

Vanessa smiled. "Well," she said, "Maybe me and you could try to figure out what the slogans mean, and Frank and Callie could work on looking at the Museums and the colors." Vanessa was trying to discreetly get Frank and Callie talking to each other. Her plan backfired.

"I… I don’t think so!" Frank said, more forcefully than he intended to.

Callie looked shocked, but remained silent. So it’s true, she thought numbly. He really did cheat on me with Jenna. She had no idea what to do.

"Why not?" Vanessa asked, pressing the issue. She fully intended to put Frank on the spot and end this now.

"Because maybe Frank has another angle," Joe cut in, trying to stop Vanessa. If there was one thing he knew, it was that Frank hated being put on the spot. He’d always talk and listen, but he needed time to sort things through first.

"Yeah," Frank muttered, feeling the color creep into his face. The fact that Callie hadn’t even questioned his refusal verified his worst fears, and now he couldn’t help but to wonder how long Callie and Dave had been together. He felt sick.

"Fine," Callie replied, softly. "Maybe you’ll do better without me, then," she managed to get out, and tried to leave.

Vanessa blocked the door. "Oh, no you don’t!" she said forcefully.

"Vanessa, move," Callie said directly, struggling for control. She couldn’t believe that Vanessa was doing this to her. She felt a headache begin to form and tried to calm down, remembering her doctor’s instructions to take it easy and avoid stress. Right.

"No," Frank responded, surprised at Callie. "I’ll go. Try to figure things out with Joe."

Finally, Joe had enough. "Knock it off!" he shouted, and everyone turned to stare at him.

"Vanessa, go outside," he ordered.

"But…"

"Now," he responded again, more firmly.

Knowing Joe meant it, Vanessa did as she was told, closing the door behind her. Joe followed her, but turned around before he left the room. "Look, you two," he said, addressing Frank and Callie. "Enough is enough. You have to talk- now! We have a very serious case to work on, and until you can put whatever personal issues you have aside, nothing is getting done. You have a half an hour- I’m totally serious. Then, if nothing is resolved, why don’t you both go back to Bayport?! I’ll stay here and solve the case with Vanessa. I’m tired of all these games!" With that, he walked out and slammed the door shut behind him, leaving Frank and Callie staring after him, shocked.

Left alone, the two looked at each other warily, neither one knowing what the other was thinking.

Finally, Callie broke the silence. "Is there something you want to tell me?" she asked at last, dreading the answer.

"Shouldn’t I be asking YOU that?" Frank replied, equally hostile.

Callie stared at him, mouth open. What on earth was he talking about?! Finally, it hit her. Jenna must have told him about her visit. Struggling to breathe easier, she said, simply, "No. I assume Jenna told you."

Frank felt his face pale a bit. "So you admit it?" he said, disgusted and hurt. Then, he added nastily, "Well, it’d be pretty hard to deny, I guess."

"WHAT are you talking about, and how DARE you raise your voice to ME, when you’re the … the…" words failed her. Finally, she added, emphatically, "JERK!"

"Me?!" Frank asked, shocked.

"Yeah, you!" Callie shouted back. She felt herself react totally differently than what she had expected. She thought she would have broken down in tears, because Frank really had broken her heart and betrayed her trust. She thought she might have, in a moment of weakness, forgiven him. What she didn’t expect, though, was all her anger and hurt to come flashing out at him. Strangely, it felt cathartic. If he would hurt her that badly after all she’d done for him, she wanted to do the same, and found she couldn’t stop her feelings from raging through her.

"Right in front of me, you hit on Jenna! Good, old loyal Callie, though, lets you do it! I thought I could trust you!" Her voice was getting louder. "If you wanted to do it, why didn’t you TELL me?! Why did you string me along?! What happened to ‘I LOVE YOU’ and ‘I’d NEVER cheat on you’, huh?" She felt tears slip down her cheeks in fury and her body shaking. She couldn’t remember EVER fighting with Frank before, much less anything of this caliber.

Frank felt the breath sucked from him, and it took him a minute to recover. Then, he shouted back at her, "Oh, you better not make this about ME, Callie! That’s pretty devious, don’t you think, when YOU’RE the one at fault! I TOLD you I didn’t want Jenna, but obviously you didn’t trust me." In anger, he spoke without thinking. "I should have gone for her, though, since you were the one acting like a little SL.."

"Shut up!" Callie cried. Frank had never seen that look on her face before- she looked totally STUNG and utterly devastated, even though he hadn’t gotten the word out. It took him a minute, but he realized that he didn’t feel good about what he’d just said, no matter how angry he was. As a matter of fact, he couldn’t remember ever feeling so remorseful in his life. Callie wasn’t promiscuous- it simply wasn’t true. To imply anything otherwise would be unfair.

He watched as she sat on the edge of the bed, and buried her face in her hands, starting to cry. And, as much as he wanted to hate her, to make her pay for doing this to him, he couldn’t do it. He still loved her; he’d never stopped. That was why the pain cut so deeply. Slowly, he walked over and sat down next to her, and, with hesitation, put his hand on her back.

"I’m sorry," he whispered, swallowing his pride. And he was. He really was. "I didn’t mean that."

"Don’t touch me!" Callie managed, standing up at once. She had her arms wrapped around herself, as if trying to protect herself somehow. She was trembling, and looked weak.

Frank realized he had crossed a line that he hadn’t ever once supposed existed, and, despite everything, he longed to make it right.

"Oh, Callie," Frank sighed, feeling his own eyes brim with tears which fell over unto his cheeks. He really didn’t care, and he didn’t try to wipe them away.

Callie felt light-headed as she stared at Frank, surprised he was crying. Frank was equally surprised to see Callie give in to her emotions. By nature, both were reserved. She went to take step back, but found her legs beginning to give out. The stress from everything had given her a massive headache, and her vision blurred slightly, as it did on occasion. She didn’t know if it was from the headache or the tears.

The next thing she knew, she felt Frank reach out to her to keep her from falling. He helped her to the floor, where she sat, head down, rubbing her forehead. Knowing she was in pain, he reached into her purse, which happened to be next to him, and handed her the glasses she occasionally wore. Weakly, she took them and put them on, her vision instantly getting clearer. Then, he put his arms around her and pulled her into his tight embrace. She didn’t resist as she leaned back against him.

As he held her, Frank realized suddenly that Dave from Georgetown was unimportant. Jenna from the Museum didn’t matter much, either. He knew they’d eventually have to talk about it, but this fight had uncovered some deeper issues that they’d have to explore. Still, he knew with absolute certainty that he loved Callie enough to fight for her and that he’d accept his responsibility in whatever it was that drove her to someone else. In the grand scheme of things, nothing else really mattered as much as the fact that he loved her.

He kissed the top of her head, and mumbled, "Well, this sucks."

Callie couldn’t help it as a laugh escaped her lips. "Yup," she sighed. That was NOT what she had been expecting.

"I can’t deal with this right now," she said softly, resting her head against his chest.

"I know," he answered, rubbing her back.

"I’m still mad and I still think you’re a complete idiot," she said seriously, closing her eyes.

Frank sighed. "Yup, I know that, too, although I don’t know why."

Callie went to look up at him in disbelief, but he gently pulled her back again towards him. "We’ll talk about everything later, okay?" he said at last. "When we’re calmer and we can think rationally."

Callie held back tears and she instinctively moved closer to him, as she had for so many years. Frank hugged her.

"I don’t forgive you," she managed, wiping back a tear.

"Me, either," he replied.

Finally, she pulled away from him, knowing her eyes were red and her face was probably blotchy. Frank didn’t look a heck of a lot better.

Knowing they had reached the end of whatever they could talk about now, but somehow knowing they would each try for the other, Callie relented. "Temporary truce?" she asked quietly.

Frank managed to smile. "Temporary truce," he replied.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Joe was back. Standing up, Frank helped Callie to her feet and they went to greet him, both willing to concentrate on the case seriously, instead of fighting.

As she opened the door, Callie felt Frank gently squeeze her hand.

Despite herself, she smiled….

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