Author's Note: The different responses I've gotten for this fiction are incredibly interesting. I think I've caught on to which people like Nancy, which people like Frank, who likes both of them. Who likes both of them but not together and who likes both of them together.
Disclaimer: The plot is mine, the characters are not. Or so the voices in my head tell me.
Chapter 1: Travelers
Virginia, Seven days earlier:
"Olivia! Robert! Jeremy!" Frank bellowed from the base of the stairs.
His wife placed her arms around him. "Honey, relax, we are not going to miss our flight," Nancy said in a reassuring voice.
Frank sighed and enveloped her in his arms, "You obviously haven't met our kids."
Nancy laughed and kissed his chin, "Don't worry so much, I loaded the car with my suitcase and yours. All we have to do is throw their stuff back there and we're off. I even packed all of our essentials."
"Easier said that done," Frank muttered.
Nancy rolled her eyes, "Well if you're that worried why don't you go check on them?"
"Fine I will." Frank ascended the staircase and found himself at the door of his 12 year old preteen, Jeremy. He knocked on the door, "Jeremy?"
"Come in Dad."
Frank opened the door, "Are you done?"
Jeremy nodded, "I was just having a hard time fitting my laptop in with all my clothes and my videogames."
Frank couldn't help but notice that Jeremy looked exactly like his mother, from his facial features to his strawberry blonde hair. Everyone always pointed it out to him and Frank knew better than to make mention of it as it always left Jeremy feeling self conscious about looking too feminine.
"Good," Frank told him, "Now go downstairs and wait in the car."
Jeremy picked up the large suitcase with his skinny arms and left the room.
Frank's next stop was his daughter's room. The door was already open, "Olivia are you done?" He knew it was foolish to ask, her clothes and personal objects were thrown askew and she was still dressed in a bathrobe.
"Daddy don't you ever knock?" she asked angrily.
"Olivia your door was open," Frank pointed out.
"Whatever," Olivia muttered angrily.
"Don't get that tone of voice with me," Frank ordered, "Now get your stuff packed in the next five minutes or we're leaving without you."
"Good, I don't want to go anyway."
Frank felt his face start to "go narly" as his son Robert called it. "Oh no," he said in a dangerous tone, "You don't seem to understand, if I leave you here it will be under the supervision of the FBI."
"You can't do that."
"Try me," he told her before he left her room.
Olivia stood staring after her father. She put her hands on her 21 inch waist and pursed her lips. Even though their personalities clashed, she looked very much like her father. Even her eyes matched Frank's, deep and made of chocolate. According to everybody who had ever met her, she was drop dead gorgeous.
As Frank entered his son's room, Robert could hear him muttering, "Sweet sixteen my ass."
"Dad! For shame!" Robert exclaimed mockingly.
"Don't you give me the same attitude as your sister," Frank forewarned.
"Hey hey hey," Robert said indignantly, "I'm not the annoying twin, I'm the crazy one….remember?"
Frank rolled his eyes, "How could I forget."
Robert's exploits at his high school were legendary. From rigging the teachers' lounge to spying on the girls in the girls' locker room all Nancy and Frank ever received from their son's principal were unsatisfactory reports. His attitude was as reckless and wild as his frizzy blonde hair. Of course, getting out of trouble with his teachers was never any problem for him, he just flashed his megawatt smile, flirted a little and boom, he was off the hook.
"There," Robert said, "Now I'm done."
"Good," Frank told him, "Now lets go before your mother decides we have yet another item she needs to add to our arsenal of luggage."
Scene Break
Nancy sat back in her seat, "Oh this is the life."
Frank agreed, "Nice of the CIA to put us in First Class."
Nancy nodded and placed her head on his shoulder, "I love you."
He dropped a kiss on her forehead, "I love you too sweetie."
"We should take vacations more often."
"Ha," Frank said, "can you imagine the collective heart attack the FBI and CIA would have if their top agent and operative were to cut back on missions and cases?"
Nancy smiled at the thought, "Yeah, but you have to admit, being able to leave town to visit our family for Thanksgiving is awesome."
"Yeah, I can't wait to see them." He paused, "Or eat their food."
Both of them were excellent chefs, their ability to let their imaginations roam free in the land of food amazed their guests at their legendary dinner parties but finding the time to cook between missions was beginning to wear them out.
"Yeah, I just wish Hannah was still around. I miss her."
Frank placed a comforting hand on hers. "I know she was like a mother to you. If I lost my mother I don't know what I would do."
Nancy smiled softly, "Don't even think such a thing, Laura is still young, still full of life."
Frank nudged her, "Hey, don't worry so much about Carson."
"Hmm."
"I know what you were thinking, he'll be fine, you'll see."
"I hope so."
"Of course," Frank insisted, "And you know Karen is taking good care of him."
"Mom!" came the whinny voice of one of their children.
Nancy turned around, "Can I help you, oh child of mine?"
Olivia rolled her eyes, "Mom, Robert keeps poking me."
"I am not!" Robert exclaimed.
"Hey," Frank hissed, "You two will behave yourselves until we get to Bayport."
"No," Nancy corrected, "You will behave until we get back to Virginia."
Olivia sat back in her seat and crossed her arms over her pink sweater. Robert slipped his headphones on and began head banging to whatever CD was in his player.
Jeremy looked at his siblings then at his parents, "Please tell me I'm adopted."
Frank, "Actually son we found Olivia and Robert on the side of a road and though it was our civic duty to raise them as our own."
"Well of course," Jeremy said, "they probably just annoyed the hell out of their former parents."
Nancy laughed.
"Hey!" Olivia exclaimed, "I can hear you you know."
Jeremy nodded, "Well that makes sense, we were speaking out loud."
Olivia rolled her eyes and pulled out her own CD player.
"Thank God for those things," Frank said.
Jeremy stretched his limbs, "How much longer till we get to New York?"
"Not much longer honey," Nancy reassured.
"Good because between Olivia's Britney Spears CD and the death metal coming from Robert's CD player, I think I might go mad."
Scene Break
"Joe Hardy will you please stop fidgeting?"
Joe sighed, "But I'm soooo bored Aunty."
Gertrude shook her head, "So watch television or something."
Joe ground his teeth, "I've already been through all 80 channels twice, not a thing on any of them."
Gertrude left the room without replying.
Joe lay down on the couch, he was very careful not to hurt his broken leg. He stared at the cast in amusement; his girlfriend had drawn a large flamingo wearing a polka dot skirt. He sighed wishing Amy would have been able to come with him to visit his parents, or at least have been able to go with her to visit her family. He looked at his cast again and remembered just why he couldn't do that.
"Joe! Good Lord, are you still on that couch?"
Joe looked at his mother, "There's nothing else to do."
"You could help out in the kitchen."
"You might as well kiss dinner goodbye," Joe laughed, "My cooking skills consist of microwave directions."
Laura shook her head, "Amy won't marry a man who can't cook. This isn't the stoneage, men need to help around the house too."
"Mom, first of all you need to get this silly notion of Amy and I getting married out of your head. Secondly, she can't cook either."
"Then it's a good thing you two aren't getting married, you'd starve."
Joe nodded in agreement, "Hey speaking of married couples, what time are Frank and Nancy arriving?"
Laura shrugged, "In an hour but you never know with all the holiday travelers, they could be late."
Scene Break
Amy Livingston sat back in her seat. She was grinning from ear to ear, her boyfriend had no idea she was coming to visit. Thinking back to the events from earlier that day she couldn't believe what she had done. She had flown to her hometown to visit her family but after a few hours of being there she had decided she couldn't put up with "those people" anymore and had told her father off. She had then hitched a ride to the airport and bought a ticket to New York.
The thought of her blonde bombshell of a boyfriend never failed to make her smile. Her smiled faltered a bit when she thought of the cast on his leg but then memories of all the time they had spent together began to flood her brain. Like the time Joe had surprised her with a dozen roses while she'd been at work, or the time they had gotten stuck in midday traffic for two hours and had found ways of keeping each other amused.
"Don't worry Joey," she murmured to herself, willing him to hear her, "I'm on my way."
Scene Break
Gertrude tapped her foot against the kitchen tile. "Where are they?"
Fenton Hardy looked up from his newspaper, "Where are who?"
"Frank and Nancy?"
Fenton shrugged. "Caught up in holiday travel?"
"Well this is ridiculous," she announced, "Carson and Karen are already here and they came on a later flight!"
Fenton smiled, amused. "You're starting to act like Joe."
"I heard my name," Joe said, hobbling into the kitchen.
"Oh for the sake of-" Gertrude frowned, "Why won't you just use your crutches?"
"Crutches?" Joe scoffed, "The mighty Detective Joe Hardy does not need crutches." He pulled a seat towards him and sat down quickly.
Fenton looked at his son and shook his head, "Joe if you don't use your crutches your leg is most likely going to heal incorrectly."
"Impossible," Joe told him.
"Really and why is that?"
"Well I thought it was about time I told you guys…" he dropped his voice to a whisper, "I'm really Superman."
Gertrude sniffed indignantly, "It is neither kind nor amusing to tease your elders."
Joe shrugged, "It's the hunger talking." On cue his stomach growled.
"Amazing son, you've trained your stomach."
"I'm serious, I'm hungry." He told his father, "Where are those crazy people?"
Fenton rolled his eyes, "As I was just telling my dear sister, they're probably just caught up in the holiday travelers. Or their plane was delayed, or they landed already but haven't had a chance to call us." He began to read his newspaper again, "The possibilities are endless."
Joe crossed his arms, "Whatever it is, they had better have a good reason for being so late."
Scene Break
"If anyone moves I swear I'll shoot you!" A scream followed this announcement.
Frank could not believe the scene being played out in front of him. Just moments ago a man, who had been in the bathroom, had pulled a gun out of his carry on luggage and announced he was hijacking the airplane. As soon as the man had made his announcement, three others had stood up and pulled out guns of their own.
Frank was dying to turn around and check on his children but knew if he did there was a good chance the hijackers would see this and shoot him or his kids on the spot. Instead he reached for Nancy's hand and squeezed it, she squeezed back to indicate that she was okay. He could tell she was suffering the same fate as himself, wanting very much to protect their children.
The hijackers were walking the aisles carrying what Nancy identified as Blacktails. She prayed they wouldn't find it in them to actually use them on any of the passengers.
Frank didn't miss the way his wife's eyes went wide with panic. He nudged her. She looked at him then looked around, waiting for the hijackers to pass them by.
Nancy leaned into Frank and whispered, "Those guns are Blacktails, one of the most efficient handguns I've ever seen."
"How so?" he whispered.
"The one standing up front," she said, "could shoot me directly in one of my freckles if he wanted to and the bullet would pierce through the next four seats."
"Then we need to disarm them."
"Frank maybe we should wait this out, we don't want to," she stopped talking when she noticed that the hijacker patrolling their area was coming closer. As soon as he passed she finished her sentence, "We don't want to endanger any of these people."
"Honey they're not planning on letting any of us live otherwise they would be wearing masks. I doubt even they are planning on getting out of here alive. Besides we're probably the most qualified to help."
Nancy felt her pulse quicken, "What do you think we should do?"
"Do you have your gun?"
"In my handbag but it's nowhere near as powerful."
"Neither is mine but here's what we're going to do."
Scene Break
Laura rushed into the kitchen where everyone was seated, sharing stories. "Everyone into the living room! Frank and Nancy's flight has been hijacked!"
"What!" came the chorus of surprised cries.
Fenton, Carson, and Karen raced after Laura to the living room. Gertrude threw Joe's arm over her shoulder and helped him get to the television. Just as they arrived they heard the newscaster's voice:
"The plane was hijacked almost a half hour ago. Police received news of the hijacking when one passenger called in to report the hijacking."
"Oh my God!" Laura exclaimed, "Our babies are on that flight!"
Joe reached out for his mother, "It's okay, Frank and Nancy have been in worse situations. I'm sure they'll be fine."
"I hope you're right," Carson told him and Karen placed her hand in his.
Scene Break
"You!" The hijacker pointed at a brunette seated in one of the first few rows, "Come here!"
The woman stayed seated, too shocked to move.
"I SAID COME HERE!"
She whimpered and made her way up front.
The leader grabbed her arms and tied them together. He held a gun to her head, "Now if any of you try anything I'll shoot her."
"P-please don't hurt me," the woman begged.
"Shut up!" The Leader yelled.
She bit her lip, trying to keep herself from crying out loud.
Frank signaled to Nancy.
Nancy stood up and screamed, "Why can't you just leave us alone?"
The Leader signaled to one of his stooges. The stooge grabbed Nancy by her hair and threw her to the floor.
Olivia, Robert, and Jeremy looked on in shock. Olivia felt tears sting her eyes, Robert wanted to get up and hit the hijacker hurting his mother but knew it would only mean imminent death for her and the woman being held in the front of the plane. Jeremy sat back in wonder.
The Stooge picked Nancy up by the arm and she felt a tiny prick. He then dragged Nancy to the front of the plane and threw her against the wall.
The Leader looked at Nancy in amusement, "Well Honey it looks like you're going to be our little example."
The Stooge pointed his gun at down at Nancy who was doubled over in pain.
"NO! MOM!" Olivia screamed.
The passengers stared in disbelief. Half wanting to help her, the other half just wanted to block it all out.
The brunette being held up front with her arms tied looked at Nancy with pity.
Frank stood up as the Stooge released the safety on his Blacktail. He pulled out his own gun and pointed it at the Leader. "Special Agent Frank Hardy, FBI. Let them go or I will shoot."
The Leader looked at him in a poker face. Frank knew he must have learned that wherever it was he had been trained. The Stooge reacted exactly the way Nancy hoped he would. He turned his head to look at Frank. Nancy took this opportunity to come out of her position with a front kick to the Stooge's chest, throwing him off balance. He fell to the floor and Nancy pulled out her own gun.
"CIA Operative Nancy Drew-Hardy at your service," she announced, gun trained on the Stooge.
Her children breathed a sigh of relief.
"Robert," Nancy ordered her son, "Pick up that gun."
In losing his balance, the Stooge had dropped his Blacktail. Robert rushed forward to pick up the gun and held it with expertise.
The other hijacker who had been patrolling the aisles in coach came into the first class area and immediately pointed his gun at Robert.
"Bad idea," Frank told him, "You see the woman holding the gun? That's the kid's mother."
The hijacker faltered. Robert pointed his gun at the hijacker with ease. Frank noticed this with pride. The passengers were completely silent.
The Leader looked around and chuckled, "Looks like we've got ourselves a little Mexican standoff here." His face sobered, "But you're forgetting one thing, we still have one more in the cockpit."
Scene Break
"There has been no more news of what has gone on inside the plane but should we receive anymore news-"
Fenton changed the channel.
"It is not clear what is-"
He changed the channel again.
"No more news is coming in-"
"Forget it Dad," Joe told him, "None of them have any news."
"What are we going to do?" Gertrude asked.
"There's nothing we can do except watch this play out," Carson told her sadly.
"Oh those poor children," Karen whispered.
Laura shut her eyes in despair.
Scene Break
Nancy stood her ground as the hijacker who had been piloting the plane came out of the cockpit and placed his gun to her head.
"Put your gun down," he ordered in a gruff voice.
She bent down slowly to place her gun on the floor. Halfway to the ground she swept her leg around and tripped the man. He fell to the floor and she retrieved his gun.
"Well it looks like you're out of luck," Frank told the Leader as Nancy took a step back in order to get a clear shot at either one of the Stooges.
"No," the Leader told him, "I'm not."
Frank watched in horror as the Leader released the safety on his gun and pointed it at Nancy. Olivia closed her eyes when she heard the gun shot. She felt tears falling down her cheeks.
End Chapter
So what do you think? Is the story worthwhile?
Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the first chapter. I love hearing feedback (even negative feedback), it helps me grow as a writer.
REVIEWERS ROCK!
Merry: I hope I still have your attention. Review Soon!
Hardy Fan: I don't know what happened with my italics. I always put thoughts in italics but it didn't take this time around. I'll have to look into that.
nancy drew: Actually I'm really not sure if I am demented or not. I hope I don't disappoint you but I'm glad I got some reaction out of you!
katie janeway: Yup, back to writing my dearly beloved fan fictions. I was so totally blocked on my other story I had to start a new one just to get my creative juices flowing. I'm glad the story interests you thus far.
Slshadowfox: You probably don't understand yet why Nancy wants to kill Frank but you will, I promise you.
Lady Emily: Yes, the mistress of suspense, that would be me. LOL, just kidding around. But seriously, I'm glad the prologue has you interested.
Lisa: How I wish I could say that Nancy was only joking. Unfortunately she was completely serious. I understand that you don't want them to get in a fight but considering she's trying to kill him that might be inevitable. As for getting a divorce, there's no need to get a divorce once someone's dead. Ah, Miss Lisa you'll just have to stick around and see how this plays out.P.S-I really love your enthusiasm.
msnancydrew: I hope I updated soon enough for you. I probably didn't, I'm really bad at updating within a reasonable amount of time. I hope this chapter interested you as well and maybe I'll get to see you again on the review pages!
Kjja: Hey I like your penname, its interesting. Is there a story behind it or something? Anyway, How can Nancy kill Frank? Well I can think of a few different ways :P I can't divulge any information right now but please keep reading and maybe your questions will be answered.
Ragna ICE(land): I take it you're not a fan of Nancy Drew? I'm glad you like this story anyway. Don't worry, I don't think anyone else has a clue what this is about either.
Stella Night: Okay so you're either extremely anti Frank/Nancy or very pro Ned/Nancy. Or maybe you would rather see Nancy with someone else. Are any of those correct? But hey look at it this way, if Nancy is going to kill Frank then by the end of this fiction they won't be married. How's that for looking on the bright side?
TesubCalle: I'm not quiet sure this is an AU story because it doesn't exactly take place anywhere else but in the future. Then again, considering the original authors probably had no intention of having Frank and Nancy marry maybe it is.
I wish I could give you more information on the story but that would defeat the purpose of posting it. As for the thoughts being italicized, I did put them in italics originally but something happened with the formatting when I uploaded. I'll have to figure it out.
WHEW! I love answering reviews. I wonder if that makes me an attention whore.