Author's Note: Hi everyone! Wow, it has been a REALLY long time since I've written for this fandom and to be quite honest, I'm a little scared. Some of you may have read my older HB/ND stories, for those who haven't I'm going to give you some info on this particular one-shot. My HB/ND series is very much based off the TV series which if you go on YouTube and type in Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, you'll find it. That being said a lot of the characterizations are going to be based off that of the show, not the books but it is set up as a more modern version.
This one-shot is based off an episode called Sole Survivor, it takes place a few months after said episode. Now as stated in the summary, this is Bess/Joe one-shot, I've always been a fan of them and would have liked to see more of the two on the show, if you're not a fan of them, I suggest you not read this rather than being nasty. Enjoy!
Joe woke with a slight jolt, heart thumping against his chest in a furious rhythm.
In the midst of his panic, he tried to get a good look at his surroundings and remembered that they were on a flight to River Heights, he must have dozed off not long after they boarded.
"Joe?" He jumped again upon feeling a hand grab his shoulder.
"What?" Joe realized how worried his older brother looked. He tried to cover up the slight tremble in his voice.
"You okay?" Frank asked.
Joe blew out a breath, "Yeah. How long was I asleep?" He shifted in his seat.
"You dozed off an hour after we took off," Frank said, "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Frank, I said I'm fine."
It was a nightmare, the same one he had been having from time to time.
It had nearly been two months since the incident in Hong Kong and even though they carried on as normal, Joe still hadn't gotten over the whole thing yet.
Even though none of it had been real, Joe couldn't stop hearing those haunting words echoing in his head.
"Your father and your brother are dead, they have been for eleven months."
Every time he thought back to that moment, Joe remembered how truly devastated and alone he felt, how much he wanted for none of what he was being to be true. He wanted to close his eyes and never wake up again, anything to get rid of the unbearable pain he was experiencing right then and there.
What had really only been days in that time felt like an eternity as he tried to think of how he was meant to go on living his life without the two people who mattered more to him than anything else.
"You really didn't need to go to trouble of coming here." Nancy said.
Joe shrugged at her remark, "Oh come on, Nanc. You're one of our best friends. I'm sure you'd come to Bayport if it were Frank's birthday." He smirked cheekily at his brother only to earn a glare.
"My actual birthday isn't until tomorrow." Nancy smiled.
Truth be told, it was nice to be near a familiar face, Joe had really needed it after all that him and Frank had been through. He had a hard time keeping his mind off it when he was just sitting at home.
"So, how have things been for you lately?" Joe slung an arm around Nancy's shoulders to give her a friendly squeeze.
"I just had a case not too long ago that concerned a friend of mine, she went to high school with me." Nancy frowned.
"Is she alright?" Frank asked.
"She will be, I haven't talked to her since the case finished," Nancy replied, "I was really worried about her when I heard what happened."
Joe took that as a cue to change the subject. "Where's your dad?"
"He'll be back tomorrow, he's wrapping up a case in Seattle," Nancy said, "What about you two?"
"Things are going okay, considering . . ." Frank trailed off.
Nancy looked almost guilty for asking, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"Don't worry about it, Nanc." Joe assured her with a semi-fake smile.
Nancy nodded, pursing her lips in a thin line, "George is sick and Bess won't be here for a while, she's working. I told her we'd wait."
Bess shoved her keys inside her bag as she made her out the backdoor. It was the end of another shift that afternoon and she was heading over to Nancy's house for her birthday. She was especially excited knowing Frank and Joe would be there and it wasn't only due to the fact George was puking her guts out, hence why she wouldn't be there.
It had been partially Bess's idea to invite them; Nancy was preoccupied worrying about a case involving her dad. The last thing Bess wanted was for her best friend to be stressed during her birthday and so she decided to think up a way to make it extra special.
Even though Nancy told both her and the guys it wasn't necessary, Bess knew she was secretly happy they would be there.
"Bess!" She heard the hurried clatter of footsteps coming from behind her.
"Hey, Jenny." Bess smiled.
Jenny was a slim formed girl with wavy, long bright red hair. She started working at the store before Bess and was nice enough to lend her some tips on how to get by there.
"You forgot your jacket." Jenny held out her dark denim jean jacket.
"Thanks, I must've forgotten to grab it on my way out." Bess pulled on the jacket.
"So you got any big plans?" Jenny asked with a slight mischievous tone.
"I'm heading to a friend's house for her birthday," Bess zipped up her jacket, "A couple friends of ours are flying out here to celebrate with us."
"Oh you mean those two guys you've mentioned."
"Yeah, Frank and Joe." Bess nodded.
"That sounds like fun." Jenny grabbed her car keys from her bag and started to walk away, "By the way, which one is your boyfriend again?" She smiled cheekily.
Bess tried to ignore the slight heat rising on her face, "Very funny and to answer your question, neither one. I gotta go."
Jenny shot her a wink before getting in her car.
Bess made her way towards Nancy's front door, almost calling for Nancy when she heard a very familiar voice coming inside. She recognized that it was Joe she was hearing and started to open the door but something made her stop.
As she tuned into what Joe was saying, Bess got a feeling uneasiness.
"Nancy, thanks to these people, Frank and my dad were convinced I was dead."
Upon hearing those words, Bess froze. What was Joe talking about?
"They told them I had been in a car that crashed into the water and that the chances of my having survived were slim."
She could feel her throat beginning to constrict as she continued to listen, a slight burning in her eyes.
Bess almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Joe had come close to being killed? Maybe Nancy knew them a bit better than Bess did, but Bess still considered Frank and Joe as very good friends.
In the past couple of months, Bess stayed in touch with Joe and not once did he say anything to her about going through a near death experience and now she wished he had.
Why would Joe keep something like this from her? Coming close to dying wasn't exactly the sort of thing you kept from a person and Bess couldn't work out what reasons there were for them keeping her in the dark. She thought Joe had come to think of her as someone he could trust.
Apparently she couldn't have been more wrong.
I hope you guys enjoyed part 1, part 2 will be up soon. Please review, I love hearing what people have to say as long and I'm open to constructive criticism but please don't be too harsh, I'm only human. If you wanna talk, feel free to message me. Bye for now!
