Well, this is it.. everyone. The epilogue.. It kinda feels like it could be another chapter on it's own. I realized there were a couple scenes with Nancy and Frank and Quinn and Joe that I still wanted to write so I put them in here amongst the bit of testimony and the tying of the loose ends.

Thank you everyone for the reviews. If you still have questions about anything feel free to ask me!

Shout out to Cherylann Rivers and CorkyBookworm1: Both are great writers and reviewers so you should totally take some time to check out their stories on here!

INT. LOS TULES - KANSAS CITY MO- 6:00PM

Day after the trial results.

Nancy slid into the booth across from Frank.

"Thanks for meeting me," He said, and she noticed a familiar twinkle in his eye.

"Is Joe on his way?" She asked, theory forming.

"He is," He answered, confirming it.

"But you told him we weren't meeting until later."

"I did," He said with some satisfaction that made her heart beat faster.

Nancy was nervous, but didn't let it show. She grinned, "You want to talk about us."

"I do."

"I'm glad."

"Me too."

The silence grew. Despite everything, they were treading softly. Then Nancy went for it.
"It's all kind of surreal you know. The thought of us being a couple."

"What are you saying?" Frank asked, feeling a sudden tightness, that was all too familiar.

"Just there's something thats always been between us. That pull. But we've never been able to explore it. Decide what it means."

"We've always been in love with someone else," Frank pointed out.

"It wouldn't have been right," Nancy told him.

"It could be now," He responded quietly.

"I know," She whispered.

The universe was pushing and pulling them. But at that moment, all she could see was him holding back.

"I'm sorry, Nancy." He exposed some of the emotion he worked so hard to hide.

"I know," Her voice caught in her throat.

Frank let out a breath and looked away, half a smile on his face, "Of course you know."

Nancy put her hand on his, "It's okay."

Frank looked at her hand, "No, it's not."

When she didn't correct him, he looked up at her, and saw a little fire had started to grow in her eyes. "I want to try. I know I keep self sabotaging this, but my feelings for you.. They're real."

Nancy thought about him taking back the three words he told her over the phone. She drew her hand back. "Are they?"

His eyes hardened. She was the one talking about their pull, their chemistry. She knew it was there. "That's not fair."

"Isn't it?" The bitterness in her tone had Frank rethinking his actions.

"Look your asked me how I could take it back, and I'll tell you."

Just then, Maude, their waitress came and took their drink order. Frank took the liberty in getting Joe's drink as well.

Nancy waited, but Frank didn't say anything more. "I'm listening," She prodded.

"You're really going to drag it out of me, huh?" Frank did not like being the one backed into a corner.

"You offered," She reminded him.

"You're right," He remembered.

Nancy licked her lips and looked over his shoulder towards the restaurants exit. "Look, Frank, you don't have to do this. I can go."

He watched her anger turn to an indifference, and knew she wouldn't hesitate to walk away.

"I'm scared." He said it fast, afraid she would leave. The rest came out, fears spilling on the table. "I'm scared I'll lose you too. I loved Callie. We had everything together. She was everything to me, and then there was you."

Nancy felt her eyes start to swim and fought the tears down. It was too close to her own story. "I understand."

"I've already lost my everything. I can't lose you too."

Nancy saw the tears in his eyes, and it hurt her heart. She slumped back into her seat as he rubbed a hand across his eyes. She noticed the bracelet was back on his wrist.

"You remember when I gave you that bracelet and you told me that you thought I didn't believe in that stuff?"

Frank gained back some composure. "I remember everything about that day."

"Well, then, you know I said that I don't. Not really."

"What are you saying?"

"That I think even if things between us didn't work out.. I don't think we could ever stop however we feel about each other."

He looked at her wondering what she meant by that. Scared to say the wrong thing.

"We're connected, you and I," She told him. "By something bigger than both of us. Something we probably will never truly understand."

He swallowed, "And we keep fighting it."

She nodded, "We do."

Frank let out a breath, and stared at Nancy like he was seeing her for the first time. This time he reached for her hand. "Let's stop fighting it."

Nancy was overwhelmed with emotion; she rippled in it.

He leaned across the booth to kiss her and-

"Do I need to get you two a room?" Joe smirked as they both jumped and broke apart.

"No," Frank said feeling his face heat, and seeing Nancy's cheeks redden too, "but you can leave and come back in ten minutes."

"What? I'm starving," Joe whined.

"Joe," Frank spoke sternly. "Go."

Joe looked from Frank to Nancy, then back to his brother. "Alright! Alright, I'm going. But I don't know what you two think you're going to get away with. This is a crowded restaurant after-"

"GO!" They both yelled at him, reddening even more, and receiving some looks from the other tables.

Joe raised one hand to hold off the assault. "Fine. Make the guy with the cane walk some more, I get it."

But he walked away.

And they surrendered.

30 minutes later

"So, I have to know," Nancy started and she noticed the shield that came up around Joe when she addressed him. "Did you know Quinn was going to that?"

"I told you there, I didn't know what she was going to do. I wanted her to do the right thing."

"Joe," Nancy pressed.

"Look, maybe if the prosecutor had asked her what they practiced, he was suppose to protect her and he blindsided her with her personal life instead."

"How do you know he blindsided her?"

Quinn's testimony had started okay, but had quickly gone down hill fast.

"And what do you do for a living?"

"Why does that matter?"

"We're trying to establish repertoire for the jury. And from now on, please let me ask the questions, Ms. Holmes. You just answer them."

"Whatever."

"What do you do for a living?"

"This again?" Quinn looked around the room for help. "This wasn't one of the questions we practiced."

The prosecutor had faltered a bit, and the jury noticed.

The judge prompted Quinn. "Ms. Holmes, answer the question."

"Nothing," She relented. "I do nothing."

It wasn't the answer the prosecutor had wanted.

"But isn't it true you average 40+ hours a week at different charities, organizations and retirement homes?"

"Voluntarily."

"And why do you do that?"

She looked away from him. "I didn't come here to explain myself, I came here to testify."

"Did you?" He asked her. "Because some would say you came here, because you didn't have a choice. Some would say you spent your time volunteering, because you were paying penance for your father's crimes."

"Objection!" Defense rose. "Council is testifying for the witness, your honor."

"Sustained."

It was asked for the prosecutor's last words to be struck.

They watched Max Miller get up from another row and rush out of the court room.

It only got worse.

"Did you know your father was involved with illegal gun trafficking?"

"You tell me."

"Didn't you tell us before that you've witnessed your father doing gun trades several times."

"Isn't that for the jury to decide?"

It had made Joe sick. Everything he had gone through for the past two weeks felt like a waste. He had stopped listening when his brother had put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I don't want to be here," Joe told him. "I can't listen to her do this to herself."

"There is good and bad in everyone, and maybe loving my dad makes me bad," Quinn said in her cross. "As much as I would love to be the hero, save your streets from a monster, putting my Dad away isn't going to stop the monster, but it will sever everything I've ever known."

"Weren't you listening to her testimony? She basically spelled it out," Joe shot back.

"She got him acquitted, Joe. And you're defending her?" Frank asked surprised.

"I'm not defending her. I'm saying her lawyer messed up. Besides Max found enough evidence from the warehouse to charge him for the murder of his niece. He'll go down for that."

"And that's good enough?" Frank sounded appalled.

"It's gonna have to be."

"You still going to go see her?" Frank wanted to know.

"Frank." They had talked about this after the trial. Frank didn't think it was a good idea. He felt Quinn had changed his brother's views of the black and white world to shades of grey.

Joe reflected that maybe she had. He had always been so driven to catch the bad guys. Now bad guys had families. Had daughters, were daughters. They were regular men and women driven by things he could now understand. Suddenly they weren't monsters, they were human. Just like him.

"Joe, please," Frank pleaded. His brother's new views scared him. In their line of work, they couldn't afford to think like that. Joe was already driven by emotion and if he started to throw empathy in the mix..

Joe exhaled loudly, "Whatever. Just don't say I never do anything for you."

Frank visibly relaxed.

Nancy came to the rescue. "So, let's wrap up these loose ends."

Frank grinned at her, "Yes, ma'am." He looked at his brother. "How'd you get my bracelet? The truck?" Frank lifted his wrist to show it was back where it belong.

"When they tried to, well convinced me that you were dead, they brought in an icebox. In the icebox was a hand. It had the bracelet on it. He told me it was you, and I grabbed the bracelet without realizing what I did.. They were talking about how he was their disposer, it looked like he blew your arm off, and I just did it."

Frank felt as sick as Joe looked. "But it wasn't me. It does say those guys were pretty attentive to detail."

"And I think it solves something else," Nancy put in.

"What?" Joe asked.

"Well, I still don't think Quinn's dad was the one who rigged the plane to blow," Nancy said. "But maybe it was this disposer guy."

"He wouldn't have known that Bache was going to be there," Frank agreed.

"And when I was in the plane with Bache he told me he recognized the bomb," Nancy remembered.

"What else did he tell you?" Frank questioned her, this was new information he hadn't heard before.

"Not much," She shrugged. Nancy had conflicted feelings about Bache. He had hurt the Hardy's, Quinn, and countless people she didn't know, but he had died shoving her out of the plane. Bache had saved her life. She had saved his.

"What about Colby?" Joe asked quietly, thinking of the other man who had ultimately come to his death at the airport.

"I checked into that," Frank told him. "Not only did Holmes's buy his parents company, Colby's family is in a lot of debt. One thing just added up to the next."

Joe shook his head. "He could've been a good agent."

"He wasn't," Frank said pointedly.

Maude stopped by and dropped off their check. Frank pulled out his wallet.

Nancy looked at the the two young men. She realized they wanted to talk, and not with her. She excused herself to the restroom.

Frank watched her leave.

"You really think you handle Nancy Drew?" Joe asked him.

Frank smiled. "I think the real question is can Nancy Drew handle me?"

Joe tsked. "That's a no brainer."

"Hey, now," Frank laughed and Joe smiled.

"No, really," Joe's grin grew. "I happy for you, Bro. Seriously. I've been trying to get a girl to give you a chance for months."

"Oh yeah? But no girl will talk to you?"

"Nah, they fall in love with me before I even have a chance to tell 'em about you," He winked.

Frank made a face, "That's rough, Bro."

"Actually, it's pretty smooth. If you know what I mean."

Frank rolled his eyes. Things were going to be just fine.

EXT. LIBERTY MEMORIAL TOWER - DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY MO- 9:00PM

Joe leaned against the railing looking out at the skyline of Kansas City. It was raining softly, almost a mist, and it felt good against his aching body.

He was outside of the Liberty Memorial Tower on the grounds of National World War I Museum and Memorial. The inscription on the tower read: In honor of those who served in the World War in defense of liberty and our country.

Joe was turning over his own thoughts of liberty and justice when Quinn silently leaned on the railing beside him. When she spoke it started him.

"You know, star gazing is normally more fulfilling in the country," She told him.

It bothered Joe that she had gotten so close without him knowing. Forgetting that he had once said something similar to her, he replied flatly, "I was just looking at this great city of yours."

She studied him for a minute gaging his mood. "Maybe not my city for much longer."

He looked at her then, and could hear the hope in his own voice, "Your leaving?"

"Yeah," She answered automatically, then shrugged, "Well, I want too. I got fined for perjury and I have to take care of that before I split. Don't really need a warrant out for my arrest."

"You shouldn't have lied on the stand," He told her.

Now, she was sullen. "I didn't lie."

Joe wasn't about to let her off. "Whatever. You still purposely lead the jury to believe something that wasn't true."

"No," She argued, "I told my perspective of things. It just happened not to align with the perspective they wanted me to tell. And now I'm being punished for it."

"How much?" Joe wanted to know.

"How much for what?" She asked, even though she knew.

"The fine," He answered anyway, used to pulling teeth when it came to her.

"It doesn't matter," She shook her head. "I'll pay it. Somehow. Joe, I," She paused like she was trying to finalize her thoughts. "I would do it again the same way." She continued when he stared at her blankly. "Testify, I mean. I don't want to be the reason why my father has to spend the rest of his life in jail. Not when he never did anything wrong by me. And honestly, I don't want to make a name for myself as a snitch."

She didn't know why she told him and knew she had spoke too much when she registered the look of appalled horror on Joe's face. She knew Joe was thinking of the people who had died from her father's involvement in the gun smuggling ring. Like Max Miller's young niece.

"Why? Cause it's your fault your father smuggles and sales guns or is it because you're a budding criminal?" He asked harshly.

"It's the life I know," She said simply, and Joe felt his anger defusing to pity.

They both stared out at the city for awhile.

"Joe?"

"Quinn?"

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow after my doctor's appointment."

"Oh." She looked at him without turning her head. "Are you still in a lot of pain?"

"No," He lied. "Not really."

She nodded.

The wind picked up a bit and Joe and Quinn unconsciously moved closer together.

"I'm letting you go, my love. Pick anywhere and be free," Joe recited the note from memory. "Where were you going to choose?"

"Egypt."

Not only did the answer surprise him, but that she had answered almost instantly after he asked.

"Can I ask why?" He really was curious.

"Their culture and history has always interested me," She explained.

"You okay?" He asked her.

"Why? Cause I'm intrigued by Egyptian culture?"

"No, cause you answered two questions in a row without a fight."

She laughed and then looked behind her at the tower. "You know the view of the city is much better from up there."

"It's closed," He said.

"Oh my," She said. "If I let that stop me, I wouldn't be much of a budding criminal now would I?"

She winked at him and Joe let her lead him to the tower.

He was completely exhausted by the time they made it to the top. The elevator had only went so far.

It had been worth it.

They stood and looked out at the breathtaking view of the city even at night. Fire-like lights at the top of the tower, he would later learn were called "The Flame of Inspiration", illuminated them and reflected the misty rain.

Joe knew after tonight he wouldn't see Quinn again. He hoped she would leave the life she knew in exchange for a new beginning. He was able to make peace with the belief that she would. He knew when he embarked on his new adventures and met new people, Quinn's choices would slowly become extraneous to him. As he eventually would be to her. His heart recognized the loss and ached.

The two of them stayed up there for a half hour, reflecting on what they had endured and overcome in the last weeks. Each coming to their own conclusions.

They didn't talk, touch, or even try to make up for the kiss that had been interrupted outside the courtroom.

They were content.

In those moments, it was the best they could be.