Nancy sighed softly. Columbia rejecting her had stung; it hurt on an intimate level she didn't think she was capable of feeling anymore. It hurt almost as badly as Ace going on the road trip with Amanda. Not quite that level of pain but close. He had hurt her when he chose her; she had seen something on the dreamscape bluffs, something that had given her hope for their future. Then he was gone, on a trip with who was rightfully his girlfriend – as loathe as she was to admit it. She spent a lot of that summer at the cemetery, seeing both of her mom's. She knew she needed their advice, intricately woven into the seams that made up who she was. No longer did she resent Kate Drew for not being her biological mother. No longer did she resent Lucy Sable for being her biological mother. She had come to common ground with them and loved them both equally. That was the most she could ask for; the most she could hope for.
As she sat in front of Lucy's tombstone, planning on visiting Kate in a moment, she expelled another quiet sigh. She didn't know how to make it through this transitory period without either one of her mothers. It was odd, Nancy thought to herself, that she didn't know what Lucy Sable was like as a living mother. As someone who was deceased, she sure went out of her way to haunt Nancy until Nancy knew the truth. It was nice, she observed, to know someone who cared that deeply for you on an innate level. Lucy had died – but not before doing one final act to protect her daughter and that was to hand her off to the Drews and ask them to take care of her.
One.
Two.
Three.
One.
Two.
Three.
Nancy counted in sets of three as she tapped her mother's tombstone and said one more goodbye to her before standing to her feet and brushing the dirt off her jeans. Then she made her way to Kate's tombstone and sat down in front of that one, taking her time to talk to her mother there as well. She missed Kate – more than she thought possible – and she wondered if she'd see her again. Before Lucy Sable started haunting her, Nancy didn't believe in ghosts or anything of the supernatural realm. That all changed the moment she started to be haunted by Dead Lucy.
Ace had been a particularly good alley for her at that point in her life. The night she had found out that Carson Drew wasn't her dad – that Ryan Hudson was – she had fled from her house in a frenzied rush. She was too determined to get away from the walls that were suffocating her; that were closing in on her – and she ran. Just needing a desperate need for air. What she hadn't realized, at the time, was the fact that Ace was there, waiting for the other shoe to drop. He chased after her, calling her endlessly to tell her not to drive like a mad woman, for Christ's sake, but she never did pick up her phone.
Somehow, on some innate level, she knew where she had needed to go and she was pulled out of her tumultuous pain down at the bluffs by Ace – her friend and fiercest defender alike that night. He had caught up to her, yelled at her until she understood the true repercussions of driving while she was in that state. He had shouted himself hoarse – the usually laidback dishwasher scared senseless for her safety. And Nancy understood it; she hadn't been in a sensible enough mind to drive. The way Ace had yanked her back against his chest as she screamed out the poison she felt encasing her chest cavity ever since finding out her parents weren't who they claimed to be. It had hurt her, so fucking much, to know everything she had been raised on had been a fucking lie. It hurt so badly.
Nancy hadn't felt utter despair like that in a long time – not since she could remember in the first place – and she didn't know how she was supposed to make sense of her life's transformative avenue it had gone down. When suddenly everything was different for her…she didn't know what to do. Things hadn't been good. And she knew that Ace knew that. Out of all of her coworkers at The Claw, Ace was the one who understood her on an intimate level. Which is why she was sad that he had gone on the road trip with Amanda. She thought he returned the feelings. Clearly she had been wrong.
Nancy tried not to dwell on that fact – the fact that he didn't return the feelings. She was lucky to have him as a friend in the first place and he was back from the road trip already. True, she wasn't talking to him too much…what on earth could she say? I'm sorry that we left things on an awkward level but your mom is really nice? Not likely. His mom was really nice, however. She had taken her in the afternoon she had gone to his house after the dreamscape and baked with her. Nancy liked feeling like she belonged, no matter how small of an increment of measurement.
The Wraith had done a number on her. She had lost sight of who she was while it was attached to her, making decisions that only the worst of the Hudson's would have made. She didn't think Ryan would choose to kill dozens of people in the name of saving one but – it was Ace. She couldn't let him die. It was too much of a thought to bear alone; to shoulder by herself. So, she did what she had to in order to save him. And, sadly enough, she'd do it again. She didn't want to look too closely at what that said about her.
Then there was the fact that she had dated Amanda's twin brother, Gil Bobbsey, and he had obsessive tendencies. The Wraith had made her think he was good for her but he had been toxic in ways she wasn't quite used to dealing with. Ace had showed his support for her when she ended things with Gil and she still wasn't sure what she had done to deserve that – but she thought…maybe it meant he saw her too. She wasn't sure. Hadn't had a clue for hoping to know, either. What she did know? Ace thought Gil was a dick. And that, in turn, made Nancy think he was a dick. It was simple enough.
Now, today she was meeting the agent at the precinct, Agent Park. She didn't know his first name but she knew he was the new detective on the case. And that she would learn his name. That he was coming to Horseshoe Bay with some extensive background knowledge on field work. He was a special agent with the FBI and she was supposed to work alongside him. She didn't know what that would bring but she'd do it. She needed a change of pace.
Eventually, she decided to leave the cemetery, having spent enough time with both of her mother's and she headed out. She'd be back to see them soon; she always was. As her feet carried her the familiar path out and away from the cemetery, she reached where she parked her car and got in; she had the police station to get to.
XXX
Once there, she spotted Agent Park for the first time. He was a man at least ten years her junior but he was good looking in the rough-around-the-edges kind've way. He was nice to her as well, which was endearing. She nodded and bobbed her head along to his wishes and instructions and then wrote down everything he needed her to do for him. It would be an interesting assignment, definitely. When she was through talking to Nelson Park, she left him at the police station, going home for the evening.
When she got to her house, she was surprised to see someone sitting on her front porch steps. A closer look told her It was Ace and she stumbled in her walking for a moment, before hitching her patented smile into place. "Hey, Ace. Didn't think I'd see you here."
"You're not answering your phone," came his reply as he stood to his feet. Nancy sighed; he was right. He had called her a couple of times since being back from his trip but she hadn't answered. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say to him.
"Sorry about that," she admitted sheepishly. "Been busy."
"Everything okay?" Ace asked in concern and he was so good. Always wanting to help where he could. She smiled at him as much as her broken heart would allow her.
"Everything is fine," she said. "I just have a new job I'm working on."
"At the coroner's, right?" Ace asked.
"Actually, its at the precinct with an FBI agent named Nelson Park," she replied, dropping eye contact when she said Nelson's name. She wasn't sure why she did that; she had nothing to be worried about. But she did it all the same and could feel Ace's eyes on her curiously.
"Is he a nice guy?" Ace asked and there was a hint of…something in his voice that betrayed his true emotions with how he felt about asking the question. She decided to look past it in favor of not calling him out and she nodded her head.
"He is nice," she agreed. "Seemed like someone I could see myself working well with. How – how was your road trip?" Nancy stuttered over her words and she hated herself for that. Could she be anymore awkward?
"It was good," he admitted and that was not the answer she wanted to hear, and then she chastised herself for that. Just because she was lonely without Ace this summer, didn't mean he was lonely without her. He deserved to have a good time – with his girlfriend, who he was dating. So, she could smile and be happy for him.
"That's great," she smiled. "I'm happy for you guys. I'm glad you got to go on the trip after all of the craziness with the Wraith.
"How is that going?" Ace asked, his protective side surfacing to the top and overflowing.
She shrugged a shoulder. "No harm, no foul."
He stared at her like she was crazy. "But you were harmed, Nance. The Wraith fed off you; leeched onto your happiness and sucked you dry of your life just about. I say it deserves the biggest foul."
She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unsure of what to say, before finally settling on, "I'm safe, aren't I?"
Ace looked like he wanted to argue the point and then thought better of it, which was a relief to Nancy. She couldn't stomach them getting into one more disagreement. That's what all of the last year consisted of, thanks to the Wraith. And she remembered the pain she felt from that. On both ends. She was in no huge rush to feel it again. "This is true. Which, I'm glad you are safe, Nance."
His voice was nothing more than a low murmur that settled around her like a warm blanket and her heart pitter-pattered inside of her chest cavity. She smiled at him. "Its good to have you back, Ace."
"Its good to be back," he smiled at her and she returned it.
They didn't talk anymore.
But they didn't have to.
Author's note: Season three AU. No Temperance but Nelson Park isn't who he seems. Have had this idea tossing around in my mind for a while and I thought with Drew Crew getting renewed for season four, I may as well write it. I hope some of you read it and review and all of you come back for the second chapter! Thank you! Xx