AN: Now that we know how long Ace has had feelings for Nancy, I got this idea. It takes place during season 1. The episode is The Mark of the Poisoner's Pearl. Not saying any more! I don't own Nancy Drew. Enjoy!
Edit: As I watch the scene connected to this chapter, I realize there is a moment where Ace's dad signs something and there's no subtitles to tell me what he said. I have limited ASL knowledge so I am going to be making up something that fits what I know about Ace's relationship with his dad.
Ace's POV:
Out of all the reasons I thought I'd bring Nancy to my house to meet my dad, this is not what I had in mind. I was hoping I'd introduce her to him as my girlfriend. Nancy interrupts my train of thought as we walk towards my house. "Hey, you know, what-what if we just told the cops? Your dad worked on a case in 2003 that had the same poison that killed Tiffany." I look at her for a minute as she talks.
It's not the worst idea, but then Nancy would get in even more trouble. She doesn't seem to think about the fact that she'd have to confess to a crime. "You stole Tiffany's blood to get these test results. Think admitting to that right before your arraignment's less than advisable." I shift topics as we get closer to my house. I had purposely parked a little ways down the street to give myself the chance to say this. "Now, before you meet the Captain..."
She interrupts me and I slowly turn my head to look at her. "You call your dad "the Captain"?" The look on her face is both amused and confused.
I don't answer her since we're getting closer and closer to my house. I just keep going with the speech I prepared. "Here's a few things you should know. He doesn't like people much. He lost his hearing after his accident on the force." I turn my body towards her for a second as I keep talking. "He can read your lips, but he's little self-conscious about speaking." We're right in front of the driveway now. "And fair warning: my house can be a bit of a war zone." With that, I walk ahead of Nancy and think about how different the circumstances of her meeting my dad could've been if I had the guts to ask her out sooner.
Again, her voice pulls me back to reality. "Yeah, I can tell." I smile in amusement as I keep walking. When I reach the front door, I turn around and wait for her to catch up to me before opening the door.
We both make our way inside and I turn to her. By now, we can communicate with a simple look so I wordlessly tell her to wait here. I step into the doorway of my dad's office and see him sitting at his desk. I make my way into the room and flick the light on and off to announce my presence. He looks up at me and drops the newspaper he's holding onto his lap. What? Do you need money or something?
I didn't expect a proper greeting, but it still hurts. "No." I look at Nancy as I point to her and turn back to my dad. "I wanted you to meet somebody."
He picks up his newspaper and tosses it on his desk. Come in.
I wiggle my finger at Nancy in a "come in" motion and walk further into my dad's office. I glance at Nancy as she walks through the door. "Captain Thom?" Nancy and I make eye contact for a moment as she stutters an introduction. "Uh, I'm-I'm Nancy Drew."
My dad takes his glasses off and really looks at Nancy for a moment.
He starts signing and I look at Nancy as I interpret. "The Hero of Horseshoe Bay?" I turn away from her to look at my dad. I talk out loud as I sign so Nancy isn't left out of the conversation. "Yes. The one and only." My dad slowly nods as he looks at her. "Um, she wanted to ask you something." I walk closer to my dad as I speak. I look back at Nancy before turning back to my dad. "About Liza Ainslie. It's a suicide case in 2003. Do you remember her?" Nancy and I are standing side by side in front of my dad's desk now. My dad starts signing again and I interpret again. "I found her near her car with a vial of poison. It was ruled a suicide. But I never believed that."
Nancy takes out her phone and hands it to my dad. "Tiffany Hudson was killed by the same rare poison." I look at Nancy as she keeps talking and find myself being mesmerized by her beauty. "I-I don't know who waits 15 years between kills, but..." I make myself look at my dad as she trails off and takes her phone back.
He thinks for a moment before opening his laptop and putting on his glasses. Nancy and I glance at each other and back to my dad. He types for a moment as I watch him and wait for him to need my interpretation again. He finally stops typing, looks up at us, and turns his laptop around. It looks like newspaper clippings of him with two photos attached. He starts signing. "I received an e-mail the day before Liza died. And then the next year I got another e-mail. And one more the year after that. I think they're all from the same killer."
Nancy starts talking the second I finish my interpretation. "That has to be a cipher, right?"
My dad signs some more. "Yeah, but I never cracked it. But if the killer is back..." He shakes his head and starts to turn his computer around.
Nancy reaches out a hand as if she wants to stop him. "Um...can we try decoding it?" Once again, I get hypnotized by her perseverance. It's the reason I ended up catching feelings for her. I slowly look away from her to see my dad's reaction. "Together?"
My dad signs one thing in response. Okay. With that, he turns the computer towards her so she can take it.
A few hours later, we're no closer to cracking the cipher. We've readjusted our positions several times. Now, I'm standing between the coffee table and my dad's desk. Nancy and my dad are sitting on the couch. I look at Nancy as she sighs in frustration. She's looking at the newspaper clippings on my dad's computer. "Oh, we've been trying to crack this cipher for hours." She looks up at me. "Ace, did you learn anything from the obits?"
I look back at the papers in my hand. "Yeah. Life's short."
I look at Nancy again and see my dad lift up his hands. I turn my attention to him. Just focus on the 30 and under obits. When Nancy realizes that he's signing something, she looks over at him. Deaths ruled natural causes.
I start signing back with my good arm. "I know. That's what I'm doing."
As I talk, Nancy studies the pictures on my dad's computer. "Why did they pick these pictures? The photo quality is terrible." I look over at her as she finishes talking and see the gears in her head turning. I see her hands moving on the computer. When she's done, I see her hands lift up slightly. "Oh, my God." She picks up the computer and leans forward to put it on the coffee table. She turns toward my dad and puts her hand on his arm to get his attention. "Thom, you couldn't crack the cipher because there isn't one." I lean over slightly to see what Nancy found. I WILL KILL LIZA YOU HAVE 12 HOURS is written within the photos. My dad leans forward slightly as Nancy keeps talking. "Not in the text, anyway." He puts down the papers he was holding and looks at the computer.
I kneel down next to Nancy to gage his reaction. "Dad, are you okay?" His eyes stay glued to his computer. "Hey." I tap his knee to get his full attention. When I have it, I sign my question so he doesn't need to read my lips. "You okay?"
He looks shocked and hurt. A name? I could have worked off a name. I could have saved her...I... He looks between Nancy and I as he signs frantically.
I briefly look back at the computer as I respond with what I hope is reassurance. "They never wanted you to figure out the name." I look at the computer briefly again as I motion to it. "They wanted you to focus on the bogus cipher. That's not your fault."
As I say the last part, my dad holds up his hands and stands up. Enough! Get the hell out. Both of you.
Nancy doesn't give up though. She doesn't falter under his silent anger. "You didn't figure it out then. But we figured it out now. There's time to make it right."
My dad starts signing again. "All we have are three e-mails from over a decade ago- we don't know the names or even if they're connected."
Nancy responds immediately. "Well, maybe they are connected. Before Liza died, you were in the press. They called you a hero. That's why the killer engaged with you." Nancy pauses and turns to me. "I'm in the press now." As she keeps talking, she leans down and grabs her phone out of her bag. "Guess it's time for a Hail Mary." She does something on her phone. "Here. Record this."
She hands her phone to me and I'm not sure I like where this is going. "Record what?"
She doesn't answer. "Just record me. I'm gonna upload this to my fan page." I sigh and raise her phone up to her face. I know I'm not going to like what she says. "I believe there is a serial poisoner operating in our town, and I have a message for them."
I want to stop recording. I want to tell her not to do this. My dad holds up his hands and we both look at him. Don't do this.
I know Nancy understood him, but she keeps talking. I slowly realize what she's about to do. I'm frozen in place and all I can do is keep recording. "I cracked your cipher." Her voice brings my attention back to her. "You want to play a game? Fine, let's play. But I'm changing the rules." My eyes widen for a moment as my worst fear is confirmed. She's about to use herself as bait to catch a killer. "I'm giving you the name of your next victim. Nancy Drew. So...prove to me you're as good as you think you are. Come and get me." Nancy stops talking, but I don't stop recording. I'm in too much shock. She grabs her phone from my hand and starts to upload it onto her fan page.
That unfreezes me. "Nance, wait!" I know I'm too late when I hear a chime on my phone. It indicates that she's posted it on her page. My dad and I just stare at each other in shock.
My dad holds up his hands. He starts signing. Don't interpret this. It's only for you. I know you're worried about her. Whatever you do, don't let her out of your sight.
I sign back to him. I won't. I already hacked her phone so that I could keep an eye on her. Surprisingly enough, this isn't the first time she's put her life at risk. I turn to Nancy. "Meet me at Florence. I will pack the obits into your bag." She doesn't argue and walks to the front door. I hear it open and close.
I run my hands through my hair. My dad puts his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. He starts signing. I know what you're thinking. Need a bag to put the obits in? I can grab you one of the cloth bags that we use. You can tell Nancy I gave you some books. I nod and he jumps into action. I zip up Nancy's bag to make sure it's not obvious that the obits aren't in there.
Moments later, I'm loading the bag with the obits into my back seat. I glance at Nancy, but she's preoccupied by her phone. I close the back door and open her door. "Here's your bag."
I hold it out for her and she takes it. "Thanks, Ace."
The drive to Nancy's house is quiet. I know I'm going to have my hands full today to keep her out of trouble. This will definitely require everyone's help.
That night, we're all at Nancy's house after solving the case. The killer ended up posing as the victim. Nancy was nearly killed, but George and Nick figured out what the antidote was. I had the pleasure of handing the killer over to the police. All in all, it was a successful day. I just wish I wasn't currently watching Bess drape a blanket over a weakened Nancy.
"Stop! Stop!" Or at least trying to. "Stop fussing, please. I'm fine."
Nancy pushes herself up as Bess sits on the arm of the couch. "Uh, fine?" Nancy sighs as she slowly moves herself into a sitting position. "Hey, you came back from the dead, okay?"
Nancy finally manages to sit up fully. "Why do you guys always show up? When I very explicitly ask you not to? I mean, somebody could have gotten seriously hurt."
I speak up first. "Because that's what friends do- we show up." I wish I didn't have to use that term when it comes to Nancy. I want more, but she deserves better than a Shaggy-like dishwasher. I distract myself by cracking a joke. "Except for Bess."
She chimes in the way I thought she would. "Hey! You know, I was dealing with a delicate family situation."
I watch Nancy put her hand on Bess' hand. "Nancy, I might still be in a coma if it weren't for you." I hear George talking, but I can't focus on her words. All I can focus on is Nancy. I think about the day she started working at The Claw. I think about how fast my feelings for her came back. I was going to ask her out, but then Nick showed up. They broke up, but I feel like I'd be breaking bro code if I went after Nancy. Plus, if I told Nancy how I feel, it would change everything. Now that I know her better, I don't want to lose that connection and friendship.
Nancy's voice breaks my train of thought. "But I've hurt you." She throws her hands up as she keeps talking. "I've hurt all of you. And...f-for what?" Nancy looks like she might cry. I wish I could hold her in my arms.
Bess interrupts her wallowing. "Okay. Ease up on the guilt, Nancy." She puts her hand on Nancy's shoulder as she keeps talking. "Okay? We all hurt people we love." She rubs Nancy's shoulder as she looks at us for a second. "But we all forgive the people we love, too." She gives George a pointed look. "Right, George?"
George responds nonchalantly. After a few more minutes of talking, George points out how tired Nancy looks and says we should leave. None of us argue as we stand up one by one and get ready to leave. If I want to ask Nancy out, this is my chance. I don't think Nick would hold it against me. George and Bess leave.
I slow my pace to let Nancy catch up. "So, she definitely wasn't Tiffany's killer?"
I mentally kick myself for chickening out. "No. We're getting close, though." I turn to face her as we reach the front door. Even when she's nearly died, she's still the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Right now, she's completely focused on what we've discovered. "We know that it's the same poison that killed Tiffany. We now know that it's very hard to make. And there's an antidote."
I nod my head and see Nick coming up behind Nancy. I can't ask her out right now no matter how much I want to. "Good night."
I look at Nancy one more time before walking out the door. "Good night, Ace." I close the door to the main entrance behind me and take a deep breath. I feel a slight tug on my heart, but I ignore it as I get in Florence and drive away.
AN: I know last week's episode was a tough pill to swallow. I haven't watched this week's episode yet. Have to wait for iTunes to release it. Hopefully, this throwback to season one helps. Did anyone get my Scooby-Doo reference? Read and review please!
