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ned-nerderson · 5 years

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MID FanFic

HERE IT IS. I don’t even know what to say here. Except that this is my MID fic featuring Nancy, Deirdre, and the Hardy Boys. It was basically 28 pages double spaced when it was in Google docs but I just copied and pasted it here so it lost that format. Hope you guys like it, I kind of rushed so my perfectionist self isn’t 100% happy with it but I just really wanted to get my idea out to you guys before Halloween, so I’d appreciate any feedback as well as spreading it out to the Clue Crew.

Nancy had finally gotten up to her hotel room. Technically it was Joe’s room but since ATAC had booked two rooms for the boys, Joe graciously offered his room up to the girls and moved his things into Frank’s room. Exhausted after a long afternoon picking pumpkins and an energetic car ride with Joe, she set her pumpkin down atop the “Explore Salem!” brochures on little wooden desk near the tv. Deirdre had been laying on her stomach on one of the queen sized beds, remote in one hand, a bowl of popcorn in the other, and a glass of whisky sitting dangerously on the bed.

“I ordered some popcorn and drinks, and now that you're finally back we can have a sleepover gossip session. I need some girly time even if it's with you, Drew. Frank and Joe can be such boys at times.” Nancy grabbed her pajamas and toothbrush and went into the bathroom to change, “Sleepover gossip session?” “High school rules, so you have to answer.” Deirdre said from the bed sipping some whiskey that she probably put on ATAC’s tab.

“What if I don't know the answer?” Nancy asked as she brushed her teeth.

Deirdre laughed, “Honestly Drew, were you ever in high school long enough to learn any social skills? I ask you personal questions, you ask me personal questions, straight answers are mandatory, we share gossip, stuff like that. So, let’s start with the burning question everyone is dying to know, what’s going on with you and Nedgur?”

Nancy was now struggling with the buttons on her pajama top, “What?”

“Practically a whole year without cases? And you never gave anyone a direct explanation about that ring you started wearing after you just up and dropped the mystery solving business, and I know it has to do with Ned, so tell me everything.” Nancy’s ring in question remained stuffed in her suitcase where it had been since she was on her way to the airport to catch her plane to Salem. All she wanted was to forget about her relationship issues before falling asleep, but she had a feeling that trying to evade Deirdre and the sacred rules of high school party games would not go well for her.

“Deirdre, I’d really rather not talk about it right now, everything is fine between us, and besides we have a long day tomorrow and I’m tired and-”

“You can't lie to me Drew, sleepover rules, no lying, no avoiding the questions. You said 'fine' and everyone knows that means you're not fine and even if you really are fine, you wouldn't use that word because of its negative social connotations. Even someone as socially inept as you knows that, so what gives?”

Nancy was suddenly tired both physically and emotionally. Deirdre sat up and glared at Nancy waiting for her to break as she walked out of the bathroom, now in her pjs and her hair up in a ponytail. Nancy knew Deirdre would be relentless in finding out the truth. It’s what made her a good detective. Not only was Deirdre good at what she did, she had the mental drive to push her beyond expectations. She also had knack for psychological analysis, something that Nancy apparently lacked. Nancy had been told many times by her friends that she could not read a room. Meanwhile, just yesterday Nancy had not only seen Deirdre read a room, she had seen her play the room so they could get access to town records. Nancy almost envied her for her social graces. She sighed and gave in before the mental torture began. “As you know a year ago I totally forgot about mine and Ned's anniversary because I was in another country on a case instead of at dinner with Ned, which I forgot to tell him until he called and asked if I was on my way to the restaurant. Well,” Nancy began to play with her sleeves and sat on the edge of her bed, “we promised we'd spend the next anniversary together, in person. When I got home after that case somehow I ended up promising Ned I'd take a year off cases so we could have some time to just be normal, you know? And it was hard at first,” she fought the lump in her throat that caught her by surprise, “Especially seeing you take up all my would be cases. I almost made it to a year, but then you called. Ned was upset when he found out that I wanted to leave to help you, he said that he thought I had really changed, that we could really be together now.” Nancy’s eyes suddenly began burning, she fought back tears by pinching her thigh. Something about physically pain made Nancy more of a fighter. “I told him I couldn't just stay here when you had asked for my help, not when there were others who needed my help. He said if I got on that plane I'd be throwing away everything, our relationship, the whole reason I stopped taking cases this past year…”

“And now you’re in Massachusetts on a modern day witch hunt and shacking up with me.” Deirdre smirked, “So, how did he react when you told him you were going to come up here instead?” As she waited for an answer she could practically see Nancy’s face grow redder. “You did tell him right?” Nancy shrugged, avoiding eye contact with Deirdre. Deirdre's eyes bulged, “You didn't tell him!?” She practically shouted.

“He seemed to make it pretty clear that if I left on the plane to Salem our relationship would be over. I didn’t tell him I was leaving, I just left in the middle of the night, caught a red eye flight here.” Nancy wiped her nose with her hand, “It’s been a few days and I haven’t talked to him since but I’m sure he’s figured out where I am by now.” She looked away.

Deirdre rolled her eyes and finished her last bit of whisky like a shot. “Wow, what a buzzkill. Don’t overthink it Drew. I hate to say it but you and I both know what you need is to be out solving cases, just don’t give in and backslide on your decision Nancy.” She put her glass down on the nightstand between their beds and crawled into the sheets. “Don’t worry, I’ll help Ned forget all about you…” Her words trailed off as she fell asleep.

Nancy exhaled and emotionally composed herself. As she got into her so hotel bed, she wondered just how much of this conversation Deirdre would remember in the morning.

* * * *

Deirdre had passed out around 10:30. It was now two hours later and Nancy was still awake in bed. She was restless. She wanted sleep. Until Deirdre had brought it up, she hadn’t thought about the consequences of her actions, instead she let the adrenaline of her first case in a year carry her though till now. She just couldn't stop thinking about Ned, their relationship, if it even existed anymore and if it should still exist. Ned would always be second to her cases. Was there a chance she could apologize to Ned, as forgiving as he was, would he take her back? But is that what she wanted? Did she want Ned? Or was she too afraid of how different her life would be without him, too afraid of being alone, losing a friend? She shivered at the thought.

Quietly, she climbed out of her queen sized bed and stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Her reflection accurately represented how she felt on the inside. A mess. The overgrown layers of her titian hair was falling out of its loose ponytail, the dark circles under her eyes were getting worse, and her face gave away every sign that she had been crying. She was also cold. She had plenty of blankets in her hotel bed, but every part of her body was stiff with chill. It was almost 1 a.m. now, she needed sleep. She needed warmth. She wanted someone to hold her and tell her it was going to be ok. Frank. She wanted Frank.

Nancy hurried quietly out of her and Deirdre's hotel room to the elevator. The Hardy boys were on the floor just above them. Frank had always been soft with her, she could trust him to handle her emotions and she needed someone to pick her back up. Nancy got in the elevator and stood right behind the closed doors as it slowly crawled its way up. Nancy had no plan, no opening line, no idea how to bring up her current situation or explain her emotional state that she had been holding up inside her. Frank will know, Nancy thought, Frank always knows. The elevator doors opened and Nancy stumbled back, startled. “Where do you think you're going, Drew?” Leaning against the elevator door frame in the hallway was Deirdre. She casually ate some popcorn from the bowl tucked between her arm and hip. Nancy jumped back a bit but quickly regained her composure, “You brought the popcorn?” she said in a slightly annoyed sigh. Deirdre was practically doing a comical bit about how amused she was by Nancy’s hardships. Deirdre shrugged, “I heard you leave the room, wherever you were going at this hour, it had to be interesting. So what's going on?” “I need to talk to Frank.” Nancy stated trying not to choke on her words as she walked past Deirdre and into the hallway. Deirdre followed right behind her. “What? Why Frank? Nancy it's the middle of the night, why do you need Fr-No. You liiiikee him! Is he the reason you-”

Nancy cleared her throat, “are you still buzzed?” she shot back as she kept searching for the Hardy's room number. “You know it’s not safe to take the stairs when you’re inhibited.”

Deirdre gasped, “You DO like him don't you?” “No, I don't know, no, I just need to talk to him ok?”

“The only kind of guy a girl ever needs to talk to in the middle of the night is the kind of guy she needs to have sex with.” Nancy stopped in front of the hotel door she had been looking for. “This is a bad idea Nancy, as of right now,” Deirdre checked her phone, “1:07AM you are about to make a bad decision, think about this for a second, you can barely make a decent decision in the day.” Nancy knocked on the door. Deirdre whispered harshly, “What are you even going to tell Frank?” Nancy shook her head, “I don't know, I just need to see him.” Suddenly the door swung open. “What's up?” Joe asked holding the door wide open. He was sipping some Mountain Dew unaware that right behind him Frank had just stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel around his waist, still dripping wet from his shower. Clueless and completely visible to the girls Frank was looking around the floor for his pile of clothes. Deirdre shot a look at Nancy, “Well shit if I had known he looked that good shirtless I would have wanted him right now too.” Frank shot up straight immediately upon hearing Deirdre's voice and noticed the two standing in the doorway, “Joe, close the door! God, really?” “Just give us a minute here.” Joe smiled sweetly at the girls and closed the door. His sudden burst of laughter could be heard through the walls. “Well there you go, you got to see him. Happy now?” Deirdre tossed some popcorn in her mouth, “Cause I am.” She smirked and Nancy gave her a small shove just as Frank opened the door. “Sorry about that,” he let the girls in. He was now wearing some old grey sweatpants and a faded Panic! At the Disco shirt, however, his hair was still very wet. “Joe insists he ‘can't rest until every zombie has been taken the fuck out’ and I can't sleep with all the merciless slaughtering going on.” As if on cue a zombie exploded on the tv screen causing guts and blood to go everywhere as Joe triumphantly fist pumped. “What are you two doing up at this hour anyway? Do you have a new lead?” Frank asked hoping they'd have a break on the case to share, anything to distract from what had just happened. “Well, I'm out.” Deirdre threw her hands in the air, still carrying the popcorn bowl in one hand, and walked over to Joe who was sitting on the floor in front of the tv. It wasn't that hard to tell that Nancy was upset at this point. “Nance?” Frank looked at her for an explanation, "Is something wrong?" Nancy bit her lip, what was she supposed to say? That she broke up with Ned? “I broke up with Ned.” Well fuck, Nancy thought, Okay so maybe that wasn't the best opener but now it's all out there, basically.

Frank looked like he was just slapped across the face. He felt like it too. “WHAT?” Frank so desperately wanted to yell but could only find enough air to wheeze in a form of a whisper.

“Well, at least I think I did. I could have.”

“You think?” he shook his head slightly confused and taken aback. The slight shaking caused little beads of water from his dark wet hair to trickle down his neck. Joe was too busy with his game to hear what Nancy had just said, but if he had he would already be on the phone with Ned trying to get the two to work things out.

Frank led Nancy into the hotel room’s walk in closet, which unfortunately was the most private place they could talk at the moment. He pulled the string that hung down in the middle of the room and after a second’s delay a warm light illuminated them.

“What’s going on Nancy?” She was visibly distressed; it killed Frank when she looked this way. “What is it you really want to tell me? What happened with you and Ned?”

“I need some advice, or just help me figure out my life, I guess.” She sniffled, sitting down on the floor of the closet in front of Frank, he did the same. Then she told Frank everything she told Deirdre and then some. About the ring Ned gave her that he practically considered an engagement ring and that she barely wanted to consider it a promise ring, about all her doubts about a future with Ned, how awful a girlfriend she must be, about how she doesn't want to be alone but also would rather be solving cases rather than being tied down, and about how she spent another anniversary on a case instead of with Ned, but this time she had done it on purpose, and how she was worried she had made a mistake.

Once she was done spilling her emotions she held her breath looking up at Frank to see his reaction to it all. He sighed and brought her in close, hugging her firmly.

“Nancy, I’m not really sure what you want me to say, I’m still trying to process everything you just told me.”

“Honestly I think I’m just starting to process it all too, and I’m only kind of starting to freak out because I didn’t let myself think about it earlier and-” her voice hitched and Frank could feel through his shirt a small wet spot form on his shoulder from her sudden tears.

She breathed in, taking a few moments to compose herself “Well, you've alway helped me with Ned before. Remember that one time I was in Germany after Ned and I had a huge fight? You were a big help then, you always know what I need to hear, Frank.” Nancy took a deep breath in, “Should I try to fix things with Ned?”

Frank analyzed every point she brought up and calculated every possible ways to say ‘Hey, if you're not happy, with Ned anymore, your long time boyfriend, the only one you've had for years, one of your best and closest friends, you should break up with him for your sake, which you seemingly already did.’ but he couldn't think of any eloquent way of putting it. Because the fact that they had shared numerous moments between each other in the past that could be interpreted as as flirtatious, and some dangerously flirtatious, he didn’t want his opinion to sound biased.

Nancy was the kind of person that always knew what they wanted, even if they weren't aware of it. Anyone could see that in her. However, this was a bit different and more serious than other choices Nancy had made. Outside of solving mysteries, she always took the safe bet. She made reasonable purchases, always wore modest clothes, sensible shoes. Everytime she went out to get ice cream her friends all knew she'd take about 4 minutes to decide, ultimately getting the same chocolate ice cream in a sugar cone. She would always say that next time she'd try Scoop’s newest flavor, or venture into the world of toppings, but she never does. Ned was her chocolate ice cream in a sugar cone. Content enough with her decision, but always wanting something different later. And by far Frank could see that was her biggest mistake, content but never happy. In her personal life, Nancy wasn't much of a risk taker, and Ned wasn't much of a risk.

There was something different about Nancy this time though, Nancy had never spoke about the possibility of breaking up with her boyfriend of what seemed like an eternity to Frank, even when she had returned the flirtatious qupis that accidentally slipped out of his mouth now and then. “She must be tired of going in circles with Ned like this.” He thought. She pulled her head up off his shoulder and looked up at him, something in her tired red eyes begged for help.

“You don’t think I should call him, do you?”

“I-I didn’t say anything.” Frank said as if he were defending himself.

“I know that face that you were making. Besides, you didn’t tell me right away to stay with Ned, so it’s kind obvious what you think, I might not be able to read a lot of people, but I know you Frank.”

Frank rubbed the back of his neck wondering if Nancy remembered the time he almost confessed his feelings for her over a voicemail, “I guess I can’t hide anything from you, detective. But hey, you came to that conclusion, not me. Just, don't tell Joe, he'll think I-”

“Oh I won't tell Joe. But..” She paused.

“What, Nance?”

“Do you think Ned... do you think he'll be okay? Will he hate me? What about our friends? What about you and Joe?”

“Ned, well, it'd be hard to lose someone like you definitely, but he'll move on eventually, you said he wants to be married one day? That's what he'll do then. And well, you'll keep Bess and George, obviously. Joe, he'd probably be crushed too but do his best to maintain both friendships. It'll be ok Nancy, if that's what you want to do.”

“What about you?”

“Nancy,” Frank's chest nearly exploded, I’ve been in love with you for years, he thought I’m not going anywhere. “I'm sitting on the floor in a closet in Massachusetts holding you as you cry into my arms hoping that I didn't just help you make one of the biggest mistakes of your life. I'm not going anywhere.” He tucked a loose strand of Nancy’s hair behind her ear, “And what about you Nance, will you be ok?”

Nancy wiped her tears away and cupped her face in her own hands. She breathed in “Yeah. Yeah I think I’ll be ok now. I just, it’s like I jumped off a plane and I didn’t realize it until now and kind of panicked and it’s a little late to panic now.”

“Hey, you can still panic if you want, especially if it helps.” Watching Nancy suddenly look down away from him to continue to wipe away tears pained him. “Personally I like to panic at a disco.”

A strangled laugh came from Nancy’s throat as she looked from the chest of his shirt and up to his face. “You did not just..”

“Yeah, I did just.”

Nancy shook her head at him fondly, “You’re really just a dork aren’t you? All those muscles are very misleading.” She teased. She always liked to make fun of how nerdy he really was when they were together.

“And you really just need some sleep now, don’t you?” He joked with her and motioned his head toward the closet door. “You ready?” She nodded. He helped Nancy stand up but her leg gave out from sitting on it for too long. Frank saw her lose balance and leaned over to catch her. Despite Frank catching her hand, Nancy fell against the closet wall with Frank falling almost completely against her, their heads hit each other just enough to hurt.

“Ouch!”

“Ah!” Frank hissed in pain, “I’m sorry, are you ok?”

“You’re such a clutz.” Nancy laughed lightly before feeling a pain in her head.

“Hey, you’re the one who always gets knocked out during a case, Drew.” Frank retorted, he missed hanging out with her, joking with her. He smiled looking down at Nancy, she returned the smile looking up at him. She was exhausted, her face was red and puffy, her eyes glassy, her hair a total mess, but god she’s beautiful, Frank thought.

They stayed that way for a moment in silence.

“Um, Frank?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re kind of pinning one of my arms to the wall.”

“Oh, sorry.” Quickly, he stood up properly, away from Nancy. He stood there rubbing the back of his neck feeling a bit awkward and nervous as Nancy stood up in front of him.

“You ready now?” Frank walked over to the closet door and reached for the door handle. Nancy nodded, putting her hand on top of his, and pushing on the handle.

They walked out of the closet and made eye contact almost instantly with Deirdre and Joe across the room. Deirdre was sitting at the foot of Joe’s bed while Joe, standing in front of the bed shirtless, had paused mid flex.

“What? She wanted to know if abs ran in the family,” Joe stated defensively as he changed poses, “I couldn't let you upstage me, bro.”

Deirdre stood up and made her way to the door, “Well it's been quite a pleasure, Joseph,” she nodded to Joe and then to Frank, “Franklin. But it is pretty late and if we’re going to a Halloween ragger and catch the perp tomorrow night, then I need sleep.” She gave a wave of her hand and walked out the door. Nancy smiled at Frank as she walked out the door.

***

Nancy plopped down on the hotel floor spreading old newspaper around her in a circle. She placed a few pumpkins around her on top of the newspapers as if they were a clock face and she was the center. Teegan had put the girls in charge of setting up the decorations for the town halloween party later that night.

“Come on Deirdre, I can’t carve all these pumpkins by myself by 5!” Nancy pleaded with her groggy roommate who was slowly gathering her things for a shower.

“Nancy. It is 11:30 in the morning. I am barely awake,” she mumbled slipping into the bathroom and closing the door, “bring me Starbucks.”

Nancy sighed and began to pour her focus into carving the pumpkins around her. She began with a systematic process: she gutted the pumpkin in front of her and then adjusted herself to face the next pumpkin. Moving clockwise in her circle she placed the insides of the pumpkins into a plastic shopping bag. She was almost done with this process when her phone began to buzz on her hotel bed. It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” Nancy answered cautiously.

The voice on the other end was harsh with some kind of American east coast accent. “So first of all I’m going to pretend like I’m not offended that you didn’t invite me to this big halloween bash in Salem, second-”

“Who is this?” she demanded.

“What’s the matter Nancy?” The voice dropped its false accent, “You don’t recognize my melodious voice?”

Nancy gasped, ‘Sonny? Is that you?’

“Bingo.”

“But I have your number, and why did you sound so… weird?”

“I have a new job in Washington and I’m on a burner phone, that’s all I can really say right now.”

“Another Sonny Joon adventure?”

“Always another Sonny Joon adventure.”

Nancy could practically hear him winking. “So, did you look into Jenna Ravencraft for me?”

“Course I did Nancy, you know I always deliver,” digital beeping noises could be heard from Sonny’s line, “Her alibi checks out.”

“How’d you find that out? She said she was out in the middle of the woods in the dead of night when the house caught on fire.”

Sonny sighed, “Let’s just say I have some friends in Salem, some of which keep tabs on particular parts of the woods.”

“Okay... so, that ruins my working theory.” She huffed.

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Oh, and Nancy? Take it from an experienced Salem tour guide, you’re going to want to stay away from those woods. They’re… not safe.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Nancy said skeptically before they said goodbye.

Nancy returned her attention to the pumpkins before she drifted off thinking about the case again. Sonny had just crossed out her only working theory and now she felt stuck. She thought about calling Bess and George but she didn’t want to distract them from their Halloween party prep. Maybe call Ned? Oh right… Ned. At that thought she began to block out the world and pour herself into the mystery at hand as she carved generic jack o'lanterns as if on autopilot.

Whoever the perpetrator was they had been leaving behind cryptic notes for Deirdre and now for Nancy to decipher in hopes that the girls would lead them to whatever valuable thing was that the notes hinted at. They were difficult to understand and still very cryptic once deciphered but with the help of Sonny and ATAC resources they were starting to make some headway. The crew was beginning to suspect that whoever was causing the strange events was hoping to let the girls do all the work leading them to the whatever treasure might be so they could swoop in and take it for themselves.

Just then Deirdre came out of the bathroom looking effortlessly perfect as usual. “Where’s my coffee?” she whined.

“Oh, I forgot I was thinking about the case.”

“Uggghhh,” fine I’ll get it myself.” Deirdre grabbed her phone and made a phone call on speaker. She carefully placed her phone on the little wooden table with the Salem brochures next to where Nancy sat on the floor. Above the table was a mirror on the wall, she began to comb out her wet hair.

“Hey Deirdre what do you want my brother for this time?” Frank’s voice suddenly filling the room through the phone caught Nancy off guard making her jump a little.

“Hey Hardy, I need coffee, bring me some.” Deirdre snarked.

“Is that Deirdre? Hi Deirdre! Is Nancy there too? HI NAN oh shi-” Joe’s distant voice was followed by a shuffle and clatter. “Oops, my bad.”

Nancy giggled, “Hi Joe.”

“Joe pay attention to what you’re doing, please.” Frank pleaded with his brother who had just dropped a few boxes of decorations on the floor. “Well, you’re in luck because we were just about to take a much needed midday coffee break. What do you want us to bring you?”

Deirdre’s tone instantly became warm and cheery, “a venti skinny vanilla latte please!” she said with a smile.

Joe took over the phone, “Consider us on our way. Oh and when we get there we’re going to go ver the plan for tonight, Frank thinks he’s onto something.”

“Great see you then, bye!” Deirdre hung up in a rush and looked over at Nancy, “since you were so busy thinking about the case, did you make any breakthroughs?”

“Well Sonny called and he said that he looked into it and Jenna Ravencraft’s alibi checks out. She was in the woods during the fire after all.”

“What was she doing in the woods?”

“Honestly I don’t know but I trust Sonny.” Nancy sighed as she leaned back looking at one of her jack o'lanterns, “hey, does this look scary to you?”

Deirdre rolled her eyes, “Oh honestly Nancy, you need to make the mouth’s more pointy, here, let me do it.”

The two girls carved jack o’lanterns in an almost comfortable silence and had just finished them up when there was a knock at the door.

“We brought pizza!” Joe’s voice sang from the other side of the door.

Deirdre got up and walked over to the door, “Did you bring coffee?” She insisted.

There was a small silence, “Yes.” Joe answered. Deirdre opened the door. “I thought we could have lunch together and go over our plan for tonight” Joe grinned and stepped inside the room. Frank followed him inside holding two Starbucks drink trays. Deirdre picked hers out and began drinking it right away.

Frank sighed, “Coffee and pizza, a weird combination, we know. But we needed to have lunch and Joe wanted to pitch his plan for tonight.” He sat down on the floor with his back leaning against the foot of one of the beds and placed the coffee trays next to him and Nancy sat down on the other side of the coffee trays.

“What’s with all the coffee?” Nancy asked Frank.

“Oh, I didn’t know if you wanted anything so I was going to bring you some but while I was ordering I realized that I don’t actually know how you like your coffee, so I got three different kinds. I can just drink whatever you don’t want anyway.” Nancy smiled and Frank began identifying what was in each coffee cup. Joe set the pizza boxes on the bed and Deirdre sat down next to them. Joe stood in front of all of them with a slice of pizza in each hand, he began to explain his plan for catching the culprit tonight.

“So,” Joe said in between bites, “Frank deciphered one of the notes that was left for Deirdre.”

“If I understand it correctly then the thing the culprit is after is a first hand account of the witch trials that historians have never found, it’s hidden somewhere on the Hathorne property.” Frank handed Nancy the cup of blonde roast espresso that she had decided on.

“And we all know the culprit is trying to use Deirdre and Nancy to find this old notebook for them, so if we can just pretend that we know where it is, we can lure the culprit into a trap during the party tonight.” Joe took another bite of his pizza.

“So what, we just spread the word that we found the book and wait for someone to knock us out?” Deirdre huffed.

“Here’s my plan, we start spreading the word that Deirdre knows where the old records are that the perpetrator is after. It’s highly likely that the perp will be at the party tonight since it’s on Hathorne property too, let’s say Deirdre goes off to get the records-”

“Then I knock out any creep who follows me.” Deirdre interjected.

Joe turned to Deirdre, “Don’t worry we’ll all be there as backup,” he motioned to himself and Frank and Nancy. “Frank and I are testing out these new smart watches for ATAC.” Joe lifted his wrist to show his watch, Frank did the same to show Nancy.

She lightly grabbed Frank by his hand and forearm to get a better look. “Oh, cool!” They looked similar to an apple watch with a touch screen face, she wondered what kind of special features ATAC equipped it with.

“We only have two so I’ll trail Deirdre around the party and Nancy can stick by Frank that way we can keep tabs on everyone. Plus we’ll all be there in costume, complete disguises, so we can be on the lookout for both you and the perp without them recognizing us. We’ll blend in perfectly at the party.”

Nancy broke away from her side conversation with Frank, “But I don’t have a costume.”

“Don’t worry Nan, I called in a little favor and your costume is actually waiting for you to pick it up down in the lobby.”

Frank looked at his brother as if he were already dreading what Joe had in mind for him, “And what about me, Joe?”

Joe grinned at his brother, “Don’t worry man, I brought you a costume too.” Frank internally started to get concerned at whatever crazy scheme his brother was pulling at his expense. “And Deirdre as for your costume-”

Deirdre smiled and winked at Joe, “Oh I brought a costume.”

“Alright then, so we’re all set for tonight? We’ll all go into the party separately and meet up inside? I’ll have Deirdre’s back, Nancy and Frank you can keep an eye out on all our suspects?”

“It’s worth a shot.” Nancy chimed in.

“Great, we’ll leave you girls to get ready, Frank and I still have some decorations to put and we promised Mrs. Hathorne we’d have everything set up by 5. Did you guys finish the jack o’lanterns?”

“You bet!” Nancy grinned. She pointed out to Frank which one was her favorite that she had carved.

“I’ll try not to drop it then.” He said almost as if he wasn’t joking. Nancy laughed and lightly hit his shoulder causing him to break out into a grin. “I brought you three coffees remember?” He laughed trying to cover himself with his arms and bringing his knees toward his chest.

“Well then you better take these pumpkins out of here so I can start getting ready.” Deirdre stood up to hand Joe a jack o’lantern who quickly shoved his last bit of pizza in his mouth.

****

Nancy had helped the boys take some of the carved pumpkins down to their car and topped by the lobby to pick up the package Joe had mentioned. She now sat on her hotel bed, legs crossed with the package in front of her. It was almost time to leave for the party, Deirdre was sitting on the sink counter busy finishing her hair and makeup. Nancy opened the package and black material slipped out onto a pile on the bed along with a little handwritten note. Nancy picked up the piece of paper.

Don’t have too much fun without us!

Love, Bess & George

“Oh no.” Nancy groaned, realizing exactly what all the black fabric was. She picked it up and held it out in front of her. It was the black cat suit that Nancy had brought back from a case she had in Italy. Bess and George thought it was the funniest thing that Nancy had to dance in a cat suit to get extra money while on a case once and they never let her hear the end of it. Nancy sighed and got dressed, the suit was a little tighter than she remembered but it had been a few years since she had even touched it.

Deirdre walked into the room “Oh wow Drew, I didn’t think you were this into the Halloween spirit.”

“Um, it’s a long story, Bess and George sent it.” Confused, Nancy looked at Deirdre who was in underwear and a silk robe that was tied closed. “Where’s your costume?”

“Oh, your right.” Deirdre grabbed a pair of white wings out of the hotel closet. “There, now I’m ready to go.” She could see that Nancy was still confused. “I’m an Angel, you know, a Victoria’s Secret model?”

“Oh.” Nancy nodded.

About fifteen minutes later, still feeling awkward in her suit Nancy got into a cab to take her to the Hathorne house. Deirdre had left a little earlier and it was time for Nancy to slip into the party and look out for anything suspicious. Upon arrival getting dropped off at the party Nancy stood on the roadside admiring how beautiful the old house looked. There was the faint sound of music from the distant party and the warm light pouring from the windows, but the way it glowed in the moonlight around the trees was chilling. Nancy almost hated that the the city decided to throw a town party in a place with so much history, granted the party wasn’t supposed to get out of hand, but still.

Once inside Nancy quickly realized she had no idea how to find Joe or Frank because she didn’t know what they were wearing and she had left her phone at the hotel since her costume had no pockets. Great, she thought, now what? She saw people dressed as werewolves, cartoon characters, vampires, Star Wars characters, people dressed as foods, some creative costumes, and a few “sexy” variations of things Nancy couldn’t identify. After awhile of looking around she spotted Deirdre talking to Mei Parris near the tables of food and candy. Nancy walked over to one of the nearby candy tables to see what they had. She saw Moon Chunks, Auntie’s Acorns, Licky Loo lollipops, finally in s bowl at the end she saw fun sized versions of her favorite candy, Koko Kringle bars. She peeled her mask up just above her lips and ate one of the candies. Whew! She thought. It’s so much easier to breathe with the mask this way.

She walked past Deirdre who made eye contact with her and then quickly glanced across the room. Nancy followed her gaze to catch a glimpse of Teegan Parris slipping into a separate room. Nancy decided to cut through the dance floor in pursuit. A slower paced song came on and she had to squeeze through a group of girls in tutus walking off the dance floor and shove past the cast of Twilight. She nearly tripped over Jacob’s werewolf tail but was caught by someone in a Spider-man suit. Not only did he catch her, he brought her into a ballroom dancing position, and began dancing the box step with her? Nancy looked up and was about to protest against the mysterious menace.

“Watch your step Miss LaRue, you might get knocked out.” The Spider-man’s words were muffled through his mask.

Nancy quickly relaxed and fell into step with his dancing. “Frank?” she gasped. Frank was the only person who knew the name that was given to her dancer black cat suit persona in Italy. She would have told Bess and George but she knew they would just make fun of her even more. Sure Frank might make fun of it, but at least he’d keep it a secret.

He used one hand to lift his mask up from his neck just enough to show his mouth and the tip of his nose. “Hey you.” he grinned. She could recognize those lips anywhere.

“Frank!” Nancy smiled, relieved that she wasn’t so alone anymore. “Oh but Teegan Paris just went into that room, I have to go-”

“Don’t worry, Joe was already following her.” Frank continued to lead their dance.

“So, I didn’t expect you to be in such a...” Nancy hesitated to find the right word, “fitting costume.” The suit was just like the kinds you see in the movies, no fake muscle padding, just the stretchy breathable material fitting just right in all places, making him look taller and his shoulders broader. It reminded her just how muscular he actually was.

“Yeah well, apparently Joe bought it for me when he saw how I was really into the new Spider-man PS4 game. And it is Halloween so, why not. It is kind of fun.” He spun her. “As for you, I guess I am a little surprised to see you dawning the infamous cat suit that you swore you’d never wear again.”

Nancy was pulled back in close to Frank after the spin. “I guess Joe asked Bess and George to send up one of my old costumes for the party,” she sighed, “I’m going to kill them when I get home.”

“You don’t look bad.” Frank offered. What he wanted to say was that she looked good because she did, but he didn’t want it to come across the wrong way.

“Thanks,” Nancy felt her ears get a little red under her mask, “You don’t look to bad yourself, tiger.”

The song changed to a slightly more upbeat one to which Frank adjusted his lead to. “Remember that case we had in Michigan when we could have won that state dancing competition.” He remarked as he looked around the room behind her.

“If only we were actually from Michigan.” Nancy knew he was recalling how during the case they had a system for watching their suspects while they seemed to rehearse their dance routines, and they did get surprisingly good at dancing too. She surveyed the room and saw Deirdre looking over her shoulder as she quickly went downstairs toward the basement. Lauren Corey seemed to sneak down the stairs shortly after her, giving Nancy a bad feeling.

Nancy leaned closer into Frank, “At your six, a target spotted in pursuit headed down the west stairs.” She would have said something normal like ‘Behind you I saw Lauren following Deirdre down to the basement’ but she remembered how Joe’s love for ‘making things sound cool while on a case’ had rubbed off on Frank.

He led them into a spin so that he could look in the direction she had noted.

“Over there.” She said quietly looking at the stairs. They both saw someone in a Stormtrooper costume walk down the stairs.

Frank chuckled a bit and his watch buzzed once, “Looks like Joe is on it.” Frank brought Nancy in even more, closing up the space between them as they danced, “But I love it when you talk espionage to me.” he said hushly to her, their cheeks touching.

Nancy playfully lifted her right leg and hooked it around Frank’s left leg like a dramatic salsa dancer, “How could I forget?” The tip of her nose touched his, she could just barely see his green eyes through the mask lenses. Their lips had come dangerously close to touching… It was as if the world slowed down, almost standing still.

They were interrupted by a Frank’s watch that was violently buzzing and flashing. He pulled away from Nancy. He sounded breathless, “Joe needs help.” He wiped his head around toward the staircase to the basement. Just then a high pitched screeching rang throughout the whole house. Nancy and Frank both flinched, bracing themselves from the auditory impact. Sounding almost like a banshee screaming it causing the party goers to scream and rush the exits in a panic. Nancy watched as Frank grabbed the back of his mask and pull it off in one swift motion. She did the same.

“The fire alarm!” Nancy shouted over to Frank.

“We need to find Joe and Deirdre!” Frank shouted back to her. He fought through the crowds of people trying to go the opposite direction. He used one arm to shove past people and the other arm he kept behind him against his back so that Nancy could hold and follow behind him. Once they got to the stairs they were able to run freely. Nancy reached the door at the bottom of the stairs first. She grabbed the door handle letting out a yelp and quickly drawing her hand back. The door handle was hot but it wasn’t locked. They both rushed inside.

“Don’t let the door close!” Deirdre’s voice yelled over the crackling fire. Frank and Nancy turned around but it was too late to catch the door. Nancy tried to open the door but it was locked on this side.

“Deirdre?” Nancy shouted, “Where are you?”

“Over here!” Deirdre’s voice came to the left corner of the room near the door. She was kneeling on the floor next to Joe. She had taken his helmet off and was using it to elevate his legs. “Lauren figured out our plan! And this idiot got knocked out.” Although she sounded like she was starting to panic, Deirdre seemed to still be annoyed despite the situation.

“Did she get the journal?” Nancy asked, kneeling down next to Joe and Deirdre.

“Not on my life.” Deirdre reached behind her and pulled a small old notebook that she had kept tucked under the back of her bra strap. “Lauren took a fake.”

Nancy looked around the room. As the fire spread up the right side she noticed rope on the floor next to Deirdre and the fresh red bruises around her arms and legs. It didn’t look too good, how well could Deirdre walk after that?

Joe started to gain consciousness. “Joe!” Relieved, Frank started helping his brother stand up.

Joe instinctively grabbed his helmet. “Did I miss something?” Joe mumbled.

Deirdre stood up, using the wall to lean against. Nancy walked over and put Deirdre’s arm around her shoulders to help her walk.

Frank had helped Joe walk toward the door in hopes of knocking the door down but the fire had caught onto the door. Frank’s eyes darted around the room. He spotted a window near the top of the left wall, it’d be a tight fit for Joe and his costume but they could fit, if they made it in time.

“Over there!” Frank coughed as he pointed to the window. They all walked over to the wall. Frank let go of his brother.

“Up you go.” He said to Nancy as he knelt down against the wall cupping his hands together. Nancy quickly understood and put one foot up into his hands as he pushed her up toward the window. Nancy struggled to move the latch but she finally got it and slipped through the window. Frank hoisted Deirdre up next, she shimmied through the window and Nancy helped pull her through. Next was Joe. Frank helped his brother up to the window in the same fashion but also had to help push him through the window as the girls pulled him due to the bulkiness of Joe’s costume.

Now for Frank to get out the window. He hadn’t thought this far. He looked around for something to help him.

“Get the rope!” Nancy coughed pointing at it on the floor.

Frank ran over to it. The rope was laying dangerously close to the fire. The heat was strong and it felt like he burned himself trying to grab it, but at least it wasn't on fire. He ran over to the wall and threw the rope up to Nancy. Joe and Deirdre grabbed some of the slack behind Nancy to be an anchor while Frank started to climb his way up the rope. The others pulled. He made it through the window. They all collapsed on the grass next to each other.

***

Although it felt longer, the fire department and an ambulance arrived moments later. Deirdre had a blanket around her and was explaining what happened to the police. Joe was laying in a gurney outside of the ambulance getting checked out by nurses. Frank and Nancy sat shoulder to shoulder on the grass under a tree nearby waiting to give their statements to the police. They were sharing a blanket they had gotten from the EMTs.

“Are you sure you’re ok? I could go ask for an oxygen mask for you.” Frank put a hand on Nancy’s back as she coughed.

“No, no. I’m fine.” Nancy managed to say though her coughs.

“You know,” Frank sighed “it’s kind of funny how this is our first shared near death experience.”

“Yeah, it’s kind of nice not to face death alone for once.” Nancy had stopped coughing.

“We could do it again sometime if you want.”

“You sure know how to show a girl a good time.” Nancy joked sarcastically, shoving him with her shoulder. “Hey Frank?” Nancy looked up at him. He had ash smeared on his face and his hair was messy and standing up a bit from his mask. “Speaking of near death experiences,” Nancy said lightly, “What was it that you wanted to tell me?”

“What are you talking about?” Frank looked puzzled.

“You know, when I was in Colorado, you and Joe left me a voicemail,”

Oh no.

“You said there was something you always wanted to tell me?”

Frank’s heart rate increased suddenly. “Um-” He laughed nervously. “I-”

Nancy leaned her head against his shoulder and snuggled closer to him. “It’s ok, you can tell me. Joe told Bess and Bess told me.”

Maybe she could solve mysteries without having to be alone.

Nancy grabbed one of Frank's hands and held it in hers.

“I just want to hear you say it.” She closed her eyes and felt the tension leave Frank’s body as his chest let out a sigh of relief

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