Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys- when in Rome

Chapter 1- Off, Off and Away!

The plane was uncomfortable, sandwiched between Frank and Joe Hardy, wasn't the most ideal situation.

Joe was a plane sleeper and snorer.
And Frank was afraid of heights and had a huge phobia of planes.

So over the string of profanity's and snores, Nancy was bound to crack.

"This is why they give complimentary earbuds." Nancy muttered under her breath, digging around in the pocket in front of her seat.
She couldn't find them, and started pulling out stuff.
The case file, a book, the food menu, a phone, a notebook and pencil. But no earbuds.

Nancy sighed leaning against her chair, trying to stretch as much as she could.
Wearing a skirt to the airport was not the greatest idea, all Nancy wanted were her leggings and a good pair of sneakers.

Instead she wanted to make a good impression.
She sighed once again, looking over to Frank. He was tense. Eyes searching around erratically, poised for a chance to run, jaw tightened.

"Frank." Nancy said softly, trying to snap him out of his daze. But to no avail he stayed persistent, ready to strike.

"Frank."

Nothing.
"Franklin."
He blinked a few times, coming back to reality.
His jaw loosened as he gazed over to Nancy.

"Yeah?" The brunette boy said, somehow he was calmer when paying his attention to Nancy.
"You alright?" She questioned placing her hand on his forearm. "You've been watching the plane like a jungle cat."

Frank chuckled giving Nancy a tight smile.
"Planes freak me out. Any heights in general f-"

"Freak you out, I know. That's all you've talked about the past 3 hours. But you seem extra tense. Like even more freaked from the last time we flew."
Frank smiled at the memory.
Nancy and Joe on both sides of him, snoring like a bear. While he had their hands trapped in his. Poor joe was bruised for a week. While Nancy stayed indestructible.

"Yeah, I think it's cause I was holding your-"
He stopped himself. Ears tinged red.

"My hand?" Nancy finished, a teasing smile on her features, her red hair bouncing as her head tilted back and forth.

"Yeah, I guess." Frank flushed even deeper, embarrassment creeping down his neck.
"If you want...I can oblige to doing it again. Only if you want." It was now Nancy's turn to flush. Her cheeks and nose turning a sloshed pink.

"Only if you're okay with it." Frank said, seeming to approve Nancy's statement.
"C'Mere Franklin." Nancy held out her hand, while frank groaned in response of the use of his name.
...,
They were engaged in the case file, looking over potential suspects. Hands still intertwined, though frank had calmed down an hour or two ago.

"So you're saying she was poisoned?"

Nancy nodded, adding in.
"Potentially. She was found splayed across the first floor of the- of the-" Nancy squinted down at a word. Heavily Italian

"San Lorenzo Fuori Le Mura." Frank finished giving a dazzling smile down to Nancy.

"Yeah that, well it's one of the many cathedrals in Rome. They say she fell from the second floor, and that is what seemed to kill her. Except later they found traces of deadly nightshade. Which is highly common in Rome. But they call it Atropa Belladonna."

"I don't know if this is a murder Nance...Nightshade could also mean suicide."
Frank questioned, Nancy deadpanned and shushed him.
"I'm not done. She was a tourist to Rome and according to my dad was in some pretty messy stuff. Gangs, drug cartels and whatnot. How could it possibly be a suicide Frank."

Frank rolled his eyes, his thumb dragging against Nancy's hand.
"Again Nance. Nightshade is extremely dangerous and I'm guessing very hard to force feed, and in a famous cathedral like that, there would have been witnesses to someone shoving a pill down a girl's throat.

Nancy's eyes glistened and an excited smile spread across her features.
"And what if it's not? What if it all dives much, much deeper than that? What if this case is about the Italian mafia or some sort of nazi organization?! Can you just imagine!"
Frank smiled, Nancy always loved cases. Like no sane person would. It was her morphine. The reason she breathed.

Just then Joe woke up, snorting himself awake.

He yawned, stretching himself as much as he could against the confines of the plane.
"Hi Nance, hey frank." He mumbled still in a sleepy state.

"Hi." Nancy said, both hyper-aware of their still intertwined fingers.

"Yeah hi." Joe turned over to his best friend and older brother, gazing down to the case file.

"So, what's the plan nan?" Joe yawned again, grabbing the case file, unveiling Nancy's and Frank's hands.

He blinked once, then twice. Then smirked.

"Ohhhh I get it, wait for Joe to fall asleep then the hormones begin."

Nancy deadpanned. While Frank turned a deep scarlet.
"No, Joe it's not like that." Nancy shrugged it off moving her hand away from Frank's.
"We're just friends, he was getting tense, Y'know like last time."

Joe made a face.
"Last time my hand was bruised for a week, Frank's not delicate with me like he is with you Nance."
Frank sent joe a warning look, Joes smirk then changed into a full grin. He had the upper hand over his older brother now.
"Say, Nance. What is the case details?"

Nancy immediately lit up. And started rambling on, giving key details but adding a few of her ideas into the mix.
"And they found traces of nightshade in her system. Speaking of nightshade ... did you know that you body reacts to it like a drug, well adding on the foaming our the mouth part. But things like bloodshot eyes and loss of brain function that kills off the cells. But of course you'd be dead before it happened..."
Nancy continued on, telling Joe and filling Frank in on her newfound theory's.

They had just landed and were waiting for others to lift down their luggage from the upper hand carrier. The three were chatting, Joe talking about all the food places they could go to in the next week and all the sightseeing, while Nancy rambled on about the case, Frank just listened this time, letting himself relax now that they weren't thousands of feet in in the air.

Nancy was in the middle of telling about another theory connecting the nightshade to a cult from the 70s when a letter was slipped into Frank's lap.

The envelope was dark black with even darker writing, on the front there was a black wax stamp of a lily with words around the edges in what looked to be Italian.
"guerra per soldi."

The letter was addressed to 'The Infamous Nancy Drew'.