hardy boys fan fiction

SAVE THE WORLD
 hardy boys nancy drew fan fiction
by

PiperMerlyn

Chapter 3

 hardy boys fan fiction

THE CHAPTERS

INTRO

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

Joe Hardy opened his eyes and groaned. Whatever he was lying on was cold and hard. It seemed to take forever for him to roll over and get up on his hands and knees.

He blinked hard, trying to wake up. Whatever Artemis had drugged him with had been powerful. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton and his head was throbbing. Maybe that's why it took him nearly a minute to realize it was daytime.

Joe glared at the ground and then finally managed to get to his feet. What the hell was going on? And where the hell was he? Joe blinked and looked around. He was in a clearing in the middle of what looked to be a jungle. The sudden raucous call of a bird added to the image.

There was a rustle of leaves behind him and he turned around. Artemis Thorne was clad in a short linen chiton and buskins. Her long black hair was done in a braid and twisted up into a chignon. A quiver full of arrows hung on her back and in her hand was a formidable looking bow.

Despite the fact his head was killing him he managed a smile. "I'm afraid I didn't realize it was a costume party."

Artemis frowned. "Run."

"Excuse me?" Joe said, not because he didn't hear her but to stall for time.

Artemis raised the bow and reached back and pulled an arrow from the quiver. She notched it and aimed it in his direction. "Run--or I bring you down now."

Joe scowled. "You must be joking."

She pulled the bow taut. "No." She pulled her arm back even further but before she could release the arrow, there was a gunshot. The arrow snapped in half. Artemis let out a scream of frustration and looked around. "No!"

Joe didn't wait for her to grab another arrow. He took off down the nearest path. He was glad Felix had insisted on following him. He'd have to buy the man dinner for this--and maybe even dessert.

He glanced over his shoulder as he plunged into the trees and collided full tilt with someone. He snapped his head around and his eyes went wide. "You!"

They fell in a heap and Joe rolled over and stood up. "Are you okay?" he asked, breathless.

"I'm fine." India Sloan pushed herself to her feet with one hand, keeping a firm grip on the gun in her other hand. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Usually, a gentleman returns something not his."

Joe remembered the flipfone. "I'm sorry. I was a little distracted."

India glanced over his shoulder. "No, really?"

Joe grunted. "There's really no need for the sarcasm." He looked around. "Where are we?"

"The Thorne Estate. Artemis is her father's only child and pampered. When she couldn't get enough of the zoo as a child, her father built her one of her own."

Joe stared at India and then looked around again, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. "A zoo? As in lions, tigers--?"

"--and bears, oh my." India finished the old quote with a great deal of sarcasm in her voice.

"Didn't I just say there's no need for sarcasm?" said Joe, just as he heard a low growl. "Tell me that was your stomach."

India gave him a withering look.  "Are you able to run?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?"

"We have to get out of here and it won't be through the front gate."

Joe grunted. "I think I kind of figured that out already."

"Then come on." India took off at a run down the path.

Joe just groaned and followed her. By the time they reached the wall, he was breathless and his head was killing him. He gestured to the wall and then the barbed wire. "There's no back gate."

"How nice of you to notice."

Joe frowned. "You must have a twin sister who's a lot nicer than you are."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "I'm an only child." She shrugged. "I could always leave you here."

"Idle threats. I can always just rescue myself."

India let out a soft whistle and a rope flopped over the wall. She grabbed it with both hands and started to walk up the wall. "Well, I must say you're doing a bang up job. Have a nice life."

Joe heaved a sigh. "Hey, wait for me." He followed her over the wall and found Felix scowling up at him. "What?"

"I told you this was a trap."

"And I told you--" Joe broke off as he felt something whiz past him. He glanced back and saw Artemis running toward the wall. "Oh shit." He grabbed the rope the second India was clear of it, and slid down, wincing as the rough rope scraped the skin of his palms. "Let's go."

Felix looked like he wanted to say something but shook his head. "Car's that way."

Joe nodded as he and India followed Felix to the car. He got in the backseat and heaved a sigh.

"We need to get you taken care of."

Joe frowned over at India who had joined him in the back seat. "I'm fine."

"Of course you are."

Joe opened his mouth to say something but caught Felix grinning at him. He snapped his mouth shut and grunted. "What a hell of a way to wake up."

India tossed her hair behind her shoulder. "You're welcome."

Joe closed his eyes and counted to ten--and wished he could go back to sleep, so he could wake up on the right side of the bed. Of course at this moment, he would have just been glad for the bed.

                                                ***

"You've been compromised," said Felix Leiter, three hours later.

Joe was feeling better with a shower, breakfast and a short nap. He was sprawled in one of the chairs in his suite, still wrapped in the robe furnished by the hotel. His bare feet were propped up on the arm of the sofa next to the chair. "I wonder how?"

Felix lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Could be any number of things, someone at Customs alerted Thorne or--"

"There was no leak from the home office." Joe put his feet on the floor and sat straighter in the chair. "What about Sloan?"

"India? She's with MI6, Joe. Deep cover for nearly a year now."

Joe frowned, not liking being out of the information loop. "How do you know and I don't?"

"Because she told me." Leiter frowned at Joe. "You should be used to need-to-know by now, Joe. We live our lives like that."

Joe heaved a sigh just as someone knocked on the door. Felix went to open it and India walked in. She glanced over at Joe. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, I am. Thanks for the rescue."

"Wow, gratitude like that makes it all worthwhile."

Joe gave her a startled look and then sighed again. "I apologize for being cranky. Being drugged and chased does that to me."

"Really? I never would have guessed."

Joe decided not to say another word to her. He turned to Felix. "What else do you know?"

"Only that you getting away pissed off Thorne and his daughter."

"Don't tell me she thinks she's the Greek goddess reincarnated or something."

"Your brain's working better too," said India. She sat down on the sofa and smiled. "Sorry, I couldn't resist."

"Actually, you've got it in one, Joe. Bernard Thorne is obsessed with Greek mythology. Story goes he married a Greek woman and had her legally change her name to Hera. When she gave him only one daughter, it's said he had her killed."

India's smile faded. "Why he wants to be like Zeus I can't imagine."

Felix looked over at her. "Zeus was the leader, the ruler of all he surveyed. He had his pick of everything, including mortal women." Felix shrugged. "Thorne apparently wants to be like a god."

"Heaven save us from megalomaniacs," muttered Joe. Suddenly he jumped to his feet. "My car."

Felix's lips twitched but he didn't smile outright. "I'm afraid it got left behind."

"Oh no, I'm getting my car back."

"Don't be ridiculous," said India. "It's just a car."

Felix started laughing. "Oh boy, I think I'll leave now."

Joe turned to glare at her. "Just a car? That is, mind you, a 1962 Aston-Martin DBG. That is not just a car."

India looked at him as if surprised by his anger. "You get that excited over a car?"

Felix sobered. "Joe, it's too risky to try and get the car back. You'll just have to deal with it."

"Oh no. I'm getting that car."

India frowned. "You'd risk your bloody life over a stupid car?"

Joe suddenly smiled. "I'm not risking anything." He walked over to the telephone and dialed the reception desk. "Chen, I need a favor. I left my car at a friend's house last night and I'm not feeling well. I was wondering if you could retrieve the car for me." Joe nodded and gave the address. "Thank you." He hung up the phone and grinned at Felix. "See?"

India still didn't look happy. "Now you're risking someone else's life over a stupid car."

"It's not a stupid car."

Felix sighed, having had this conversation countless times. "Look, what works, works. I think we need to deal with Thorne now."

"So do I," said Joe in a calmer tone, pointedly not looking at India. "And I have a plan."

India arched a telling eyebrow but didn't say a word.

Joe ignored her. "Obviously, this proves that they already know why I'm here. They may be on to you too, Felix, but then again maybe not. They made a preemptive strike, now it's our turn."

"I follow so far," said Felix. "What preemptive strike are we making?"

"Most billion-dollar transactions are made electronically these days. Suppose a company makes a bid for buying satellites right out from under Thorne's nose?"

Felix frowned. "Okay, so what company? Thorne's not going to buy some fledgling company would have the clout or money to buy satellites, he'd suspect a trap."

Joe sighed. "Damn."

"I have an even better idea. We go for the daughter. Something tells me she's not Daddy's little girl by any stretch of the imagination," said India.

Joe frowned over at her. "You make it sound like it's Artemis behind the satellite buy-outs."

When India didn't reply, both he and Felix shared a look and then turned back to her. Joe shook his head. "No way. She's behind it?"

"Are you saying that because she's a girl?" asked India.

"No." Joe cleared his throat. "Of course not. I have nothing against girls--women." He grunted. "No."

India nodded to Felix. "As you said, Bernard had his wife killed when she was unable to produce a male heir. For years, Artemis attended every European boarding school on the continent. I think she's trying to prove her worthiness to her father by doing this."

Felix glanced at Joe. "What are you scheming?"

Joe grinned. "I think it's time Artemis got a silent partner."

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