"Inciting Incidents"

Dear Hannah,

I know you'll be back from the shops in an hour, but I'll be gone by then. I'm headed for Salem, Massachusetts. Deirdre Shannon – of all people – has called me for help. The last time she needed my help was for her grades; but now a friend of hers is in danger.

Apparently there was a fire in Hathorne House, an old building dating back to the Salem Witch Trials. Deidre's friend Mei Parris has been accused not only of arson – sound familiar? – but witchcraft.

You know me. When someone says there's something supernatural going on, I can't help proving them wrong. I'm sure this won't take long, and it'll give me a chance to catch up with Ned. I'm glad we stayed friends after the break-up, and in his last message he said he had news for me. If he calls, tell him I'll call him after the case is over.

Love,

Nancy.

Deirdre pursed her lips, trying to block out the taunts of her friends as she looked up sources for their latest assignment. Arson. It was striking a little too close to home. She remembered Nancy being framed by Brenda Carlton, sure, but that wasn't what hurt so much.

Mei wasn't in prison, which was a start. But she didn't have an alibi, and the only witness – the boy who'd been trapped in the house – was pointing the finger straight at her. It was stupid, and Deirdre told that to everyone who'd listen, and even some who wouldn't.

But because she'd been studying up on arson – for the assignment her professor had set – and because she knew Mei, Deirdre was now a suspect. So she'd done the only thing she could think of: she called Nancy Drew.

It made perfect sense! Sure, Ned was sceptical, but Deirdre was desperate. Of all the people she knew, Nancy had the most experience with solving mysteries, especially debunking crimes supposedly committed by ghosts and creepy monsters. That was the kind of person Deirdre needed right now.

And sure, if she got to rub it in Nancy's face that Ned was now dating Deirdre, that was just an added bonus.

But now… now her college friends – some friends they were – were making fun of her for needing to call in an amateur. Never mind that Nancy was the best amateur detective available, they thought it was crazy that Deirdre wasn't trying to solve the mystery herself. Weren't they all studying criminology?

Deirdre browsed through the old texts she'd exchanged with Nancy back when she started this stupid assignment. Nancy had told Deirdre everything she'd learnt about arson while trying to free herself from jail…

Hang on. Nancy had freed herself from jail even though she was under arrest and the only real suspect the police had. Why couldn't Deirdre do the same? She could be just as good as Nancy Drew. And if she proved that, maybe her parents would shut up about her for five damn minutes. Maybe they could finally be proud of Deirdre, and not keep comparing her to the teen wonder.

Deirdre was dialling the number before she could think it through. There were four rings before Nancy picked up.

"Deirdre? Is there a problem? Has something worse happened?"

"Hi, Nancy, how are you? I'm fine, thanks."

Nancy sighed. Rude.

"Hello, Deirdre. From your tone, I assume this isn't an emergency?"

"You assume correctly," Deirdre said. "I've thought it over, and I'd… prefer to tackle this myself. I'd still like… you know… maybe a hint sometimes. But no one will ever take me seriously if I just keep getting help from other people."

"Of course," Nancy said warmly. Ugh. Sincerity. "I'm happy to help in any way I can. Listen, it took me a couple of hours to drive this far. If you need me in that time, maybe send a message instead. Or if it's an emergency, call Ned. He's closer to Salem than I am." There was a loud honk in the background. "Don't worry, he wasn't honking at me. I'm pulled over at the side. A car just randomly slowed down. No, it's going again."

"Great," Deirdre said, already bored. "Is that all?"

"It's slowed down again. Some kind of van… oh. You mean the call. It's still light enough for me to head back to River Heights, so that's what I'll do. But if you change your mind, I'm only a call away. You have my home phone number, right?"

"Yes. But tell me more about the van, I'm super interested."

"It's blue, there's faded writing on the side… that was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

"Goodbye, Nancy. Thanks for… understanding. I guess."

"Anytime, Deirdre. I owe you for your help with that case in Colorado."

Technically it was quid pro quo at the time, but having Nancy Drew feeling indebted to Deirdre was a bit of a power kick. She hung up, set her phone back down, and returned to her assignment. She could do this.

She could.

Nancy placed her phone down beside her bag again. She'd learnt her lesson after being run off the road in Ireland. Fiona Malloy hadn't meant to do it, and there was no real harm done. And this road was far from empty.

She turned on her left indicator, and checked to see whether there were any vehicles coming. The van she'd mentioned to Deirdre had pulled in up ahead, and two men emerged from it. They waved their arms at her, and ran towards her car. Nancy checked the locks, and her hand hovered above her phone. Just because it was a busy road didn't mean that the street lights were powerful, and it was already dusk. One man slowed to a jog, and stopped beside her door. He looked distressed, and gestured frantically for her to lower her window.

Reluctantly, Nancy cranked the window down. She'd turned off the engine before answering her phone, and was regretting that now.

"Can I help you?" she asked through the three-inch crack between the window and the top of the door.

"Please," the man said. "We are… how you say… foreigners? We need help. A problem with our car." He gestured to the van, as if Nancy could miss it. "You have a number for help, yes? A…" He made another gesture, like a game of tug-of-war. "To pull?"

"A tow truck?"

"Yes, miss."

"Not for this area. I'm only passing through. Uh, I'm on my way elsewhere."

"You know a number, yes?"

"I'm not from here. I was just headed home. But if you want, I can give you the number for directory inquiries? They can give you a number for a towing service."

The man cupped a hand around his ear, and leaned closer.

"A number, yes?" he said, nodding. Nancy peered at him suspiciously.

"I'm afraid I can't help you," she said, loudly and clearly.

There was a loud knock against the passenger side window, and her head swivelled that way. Another man was looking in that side, and Nancy squinted, trying to work out why he was familiar to her. His eyes were dark and hard, and the scruff around his jaw-line was thick. And his hair looked bare, like something else should've been on… no, in it. Like leaves…

"Thanos!" she gasped.

"And guess who?" the first man said. Nancy looked back, and a fake, bushy moustache was removed. The sharp cheekbones… the wicked gleam in his eyes… the straight, dark hair peeking out beneath his hat…

Nancy opened her mouth to guess, and instead choked on something he sprayed directly into the car. She coughed, and her mind began to feel fuzzy.

"Sit down if you don't want to wake up with a concussion."

But I'm already sitting, Zoe, Nancy thought. She registered a clicking sound, the door swinging open, the pressure of her seatbelt disappearing, and arms grasping her. She tried to reach for her phone, tried to grab hold of the steering wheel, but the weakness which had overtaken her brain spread quickly through her limbs. She blinked blearily up at the man hauling her from the front seat.

"Darcy?" she said. "Didn't you drown?"

"It's Dwayne, you imbecile—"

Nancy decided that was the best moment to lose consciousness.

Hannah was clearing up after dinner, listening to Carson rambling on about a case he was handling. After clearing Alexei Markovic's name, he'd worked with the man going through old cases – in between worrying about Nancy – to see if the police had missed anything in cases Alexei might've been able to solve. Right now Carson was trying to get a man out of jail who'd been wrongly convicted of grand theft. The case had taken place one of the times Kate had been summoned to Scotland by Cathedral, and Carson and Nancy had gone with her. It might not have changed anything, but Carson still felt guilty any time an innocent person went to jail. Any miscarriage of justice, for that matter. As a lawyer, he wished the law could do better.

"I'll get the phone," he said, noticing the soap dripping from Hannah's hands. He strode into the living room and picked up the receiver. "Drew residence, Carson Drew speaking."

"Carson? It's Chief McGinnis. We just got a call at the station. Your phone's turned off?"

"House rules," Carson said. "When work is over, the phone goes off. Nancy's just gone on to a new case, but she can't have gotten into trouble this quickly, not even… Why are you calling?"

The chief cleared his throat, and worry swelled up inside Carson. Hannah was drying her hands, worried eyes on him.

"Since there's a River Heights sticker on her car, they called us when they couldn't get you on your cell," McGinnis said.

"Oh God. What's happened to her?"

"It wasn't an accident. As far as they know, she's not hurt."

"What do you mean, 'as far as they know'?" Carson demanded.

"Nancy's car was found by the side of the road. Most of the traffic is pretty fast along there, just coming off the highway. She wasn't in the car, Carson. There were fresh scratches on the driver's side car lock, but no signs of a struggle. A bitter smell in the air, so it's possible she was gassed, since the window was open. Her purse, her phone, everything seemed to be there. It's just Nancy who's missing."

"They were after her," Carson said, dazed, and he sank onto the sofa. Hannah sat in the armchair opposite him, her hands clasped together.

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" McGinnis asked.

Carson laughed bitterly.

"Don't you know how many enemies she's made?" he said. "It could be anyone she's put behind bars, or friends or relatives of anyone she's put behind bars."

"Her last call was to Deirdre Shannon. We'll be calling her next. Can you tell us why she wasn't in River Heights?"

"H-Hannah, can you get the note from Nancy?" Carson requested. Hannah picked it up from the mantel over the fireplace, and handed it over. "She said she was going to Salem. A case. A young woman has been framed for arson, a friend of Deirdre Shannon. Nancy was going to help…" He swallowed. "Why was she at the side of the road?"

"It's around the time the phone call to Shannon ended. Let's hope she can enlighten us. I'll call you back after we've talked to her."

"Thanks," Carson said, and hung up.

"What happened?" Hannah asked, her voice trembling.

"Nancy's been kidnapped."

Deirdre pressed the end call button, and stared at her unfinished assignment, numb with the shock. A lump grew in her throat, and she rushed to the fridge in her dorm room to grab a bottle of water. She downed a quarter of it quickly, and wiped her mouth dry after she recapped the bottle. Something sat in her stomach like lead, but she didn't want to analyse it. She… she needed to call someone. Who?

The first person who leapt to her mind was the most obvious choice, and he'd definitely want to know that Nancy was missing. But should Deirdre be the one to tell him? And what if he realised that he'd never really let go of his feelings for Nancy if he knew that she was in danger right now? Usually Ned didn't know about the danger Nancy was in until the case was over. This was different.

And… what if he blamed Deirdre?

But she had to think of Ned's feelings. That was the kind of things girlfriends were supposed to do, and he was sweet enough to deserve it. So she dialled his number, knowing it by heart, and tried to work out how she was going to break the news.

"Deirdre, hi," he said. "Aren't you supposed to be working on an assignment?"

"Ned…"

"What is it?"

She hiccuped, and covered her mouth. It passed quickly, but it was enough for Ned to sound more frantic when he asked what was wrong.

"I just… I just had a call from home," she said. "River Heights."

"Has something happened to one of your parents?" Ned asked.

"N-no. I'd asked Nancy to help Mei. Remember I told you about—?"

"Yes, I remember. Has something worse happened?"

Deirdre remembered that Nancy had asked that exact same question.

"No," she said. "I mean, not to Mei. Not yet. It's Nancy. She… she'd pulled over because I called her, and before she could t-turn around, she was abducted. Straight from her car."

"Nancy's gone?"

"She was targeted. Her stuff wasn't taken, her car was left alone. They just wanted her, Ned. And it could be anyone she's annoyed over the years. God knows there are a lot of them."

"Oh my God. Are you okay? Why did they call you?" he said.

"Because I was the last call to her phone. Ned, she would've still been driving if I hadn't called her!" Deirdre bit her bottom lip, and the hand holding her cell phone began to shake uncontrollably.

"Hey, wait," Ned said. There was a strain in his voice. "If whoever kidnapped her tried to run her off the road instead, she could've ended up injured. Was she hurt?"

"No signs of a struggle, but they'll be taking her car in for testing." Deirdre rubbed her eyes. "Ned, they questioned me for an hour. Wanted every detail of our phone call. I didn't think to record it. I didn't even know I'd have to record it! They're gonna try to get something from her phone, but I don't… I can't… this just feels like it's my fault."

"It's not, Deirdre. If someone was determined to do this, they would've found another way to do it. If anything else, you may've made it a lot less painful for Nancy in the long run."

"How can you be so calm? You used to date her! For years!"

"Because I know Nancy," he said calmly. "It's okay, Deirdre. She gets herself into these kinds of situations, and gets herself out of them. Until we have a clearer idea of who might've taken her, I'm not gonna get myself worked up. Especially if there's a chance she'd not injured. Nancy's resourceful. Unless the kidnappers are even more resourceful than her, she'll get out in no time. I think the longest time she's been held captive was probably about an hour or two."

"Ned, it's been three hours already," she said.

"Deirdre, you have to keep a cool head. Why did you call Nancy?"

"T-to call her off this case. I want to solve it myself."

"Then Mei will need you to be thinking clearly. Okay?"

Deirdre realised this was part of the reason Nancy and Ned were together for a long time. He kept his cool in a crisis, just what every crime-solver needed in a partner.

"Thanks," she said softly. "I'll call you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay. And don't worry. I'm sure by tomorrow morning we'll have news that Nancy's fine, and has cracked a case none of us even knew about."

So my plan is to set up the story in such a way that there are a number of potential 'suitors' from past games who Nancy might end up with. There'll be HEAPS of cameo appearances and references, although not much about MID, seeing as how we have no idea whether the game will even be released. I'm basing the mentions of it on what we know of the game, which… isn't much, and I'm not planning to predict a villain for it or anything.

Now I haven't been posting on ffnet for good reason, which you'd read about on my profile page. And yes, I haven't deleted all of my old stories like I'd promised, which I really have to get on with. Feels like cutting out a part of myself, but that's life.

Anyway, the reason this is listed as complete is because I only want to post the first chapter here. If you want to read the rest of the story as it's posted, go to AO3, where the first four chapters are already up. I don't think I have it blocked from people who aren't members of the site, but I really recommend joining the site anyway. It's really the only place I post fan fiction now, aside from the occasional stuff on Tumblr.