Chapter Text
Deirdre Shannon felt like throwing up.
She had been sitting in the driver's seat with her car on idle for the past ten minutes in the town square of Salem, Massachusetts, trying to come up with any other solution besides the one that was glaring at her in the face. Her phone sat menacingly in her lap, its obscenely bright screen taunting her with the contact page she herself had pulled up about ten minutes ago.
Nancy Drew.
Deirdre hadn't seen Nancy in years—since high school. And Deidre had every intention of keeping it that way, until this mess of a case cropped up with the perfect twist of overwhelming and overwhelmingly personal. It had only been three days since she landed in Boston and started working to clear Mei's name, but Dierdre already felt her hold on the situation slipping. The emotions and insecurities she thought she could leave behind in pursuit of an unbiased and perfectly analytical mind had caught up to her. She couldn't even bring herself to actually see Mei and Teegan Parry face to face yet. Instead, she was running around Salem like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to gather evidence while also trying to not run into her cousins who were probably wondering what the fuck her deal was.
She hadn't told Teegan yet, but she probably guessed it by now: Deirdre had gotten a hotel in Boston and was trying to spend as little as much time in Salem proper as possible.
But now any leads she might've been able to follow had just gone down the proverbial toilet. After her show at the judge's office not half an hour ago, Deidre seriously doubted she would be given any information, let alone treated like a serious investigator.
With that damning revelation, she had promptly got into her car and sobbed in frustration for a good twenty minutes, her snotty tears punctuated here and there by the occasional scream.
The temper tantrum was cathartic. It felt good. It was necessary. As embarrassing as it was, Deirdre needed to lose control a little here and there. She had been too tight since she crossed the Massachusetts border a couple days ago. Too tense. Wound up. The hysteric crying session had eased some of that.
Evidently, however, her brain was still as muddled as before because there was no way Deirdre in her right mind would be calling Nancy Drew for help.
She had probably thought about it a hundred different ways by now—looking forward, backward, from the left, diagonal, catty-corner—but still—this—was her solution?
Deirdre knew that she needed help. But did her help really have to be Nancy-fucking-Drew?
The thought of calling Nancy was both exciting and nauseating. Exciting because, well, Nancy was brilliant. And nauseating for the same reason.
Deirdre was proud to say that for the past couple of years, she had been consistently working on herself and her issues. She had a therapist, she ate well, exercised semi-regularly, showed vulnerability in close relationships, and all that jazz. Admittedly, though, Nancy Drew was one category that she was hoping to put off just a little longer. That would be maybe a little too much vulnerability and she wasn't ready for all that yet. When she pictured herself reconciling with Nancy, they were always just disgustingly old with no amount of functional frontal lobe left to really feel embarrassment anymore. Yeah, when they would both be equally humiliated to see each other. Maybe they'd both end up in the same, sad nursery home or something.
Ugh, who was Deirdre kidding? Nancy would probably be taken care of in her big, huge mansion by her dozens of kids with Ned Nickerson. Her big, huge mansion probably had an ocean view. And it was probably always sunny. Unlike stupid Salem, Massachusetts.
"Ughhhhhhhhhh," Deirdre let out an audible groan and closed her eyes. She was really going to do this.
She blindly jabbed at her phone, letting fate decide if it would be the call button she would find. She heard the faint ring indicating she was, in fact, calling Nancy Drew. Shakingly, she held the phone up to her ear.
Ring.
Ring.
Ri—
The third ring was suddenly cut off, and Deirdre heard the buzz of insects in her ear.
She didn't let herself think.
"Nancy Drew!" Oh god, did she sound excited? Tone it down. "It's Deirdre Shannon."
The last part came out as barely a whisper. Deirdre slowly pressed her forehead against her steering wheel, gritting her teeth. It had been 0.5 seconds and she was already embarrassing herself.
"Deirdre?" Bright, clear, and melodic. Nancy's voice had barely changed in the past five years. "Can I call you back? I'm in the middle of—"
"Listen!" Deirdre said, eyes still closed and impossibly tight. It had taken her ages to convince herself to even call. There was no way she would sentence herself to sit around waiting for Nancy to call back. She'd drive herself even crazier. "Listen. I know we haven't exactly been besties in the past, but I'm in the middle of something...big"—she didn't know how else to describe this thing besides big...big emotions, big implications, big mistakes—" and I—"
"Deirdre," Nancy said. "I have to call you back."
"Wait!" She felt desperate. "Wait, don't hang up on me!"
Beep, beep, beep.
Deirdre finally opened her eyes at the telltale dial tone. She stared at her phone in shock.
"Did Nancy Drew just hang up on me?" she wondered aloud.
That was unexpected. More than unexpected, that was completely out of character. Granted, they had never really gotten along—and Deirdre could be credited for a large part of that, but also Nancy was pretty unbearably perfect back in school, so really, Deirdre could be generous and say it was 50/50—but Nancy had always been pretty nice to her. A real turn the other cheek kind of girl. Even with that god-awful case for Deirdre's criminology class, Nancy had never gone so far as to just hang up on her.
Deirdre acted on impulse. She hit the call button before she could really think about it.
Ring—beep.
Deirdre pulled her phone away from her ear and just...stared.
The curiosity she had felt at the unexpectedness of it all had suddenly morphed into anger. A friend—acquaintance, whatever—from high school calls you out of the blue and you just hang up on them without an explanation? Twice?
Of course, Nancy would think she's too good to give an explanation to Deirdre. She was probably on some case in a remote island that was taking up all her attention. She was probably neglecting her friends and boyfriend, head buried deep in dusty old cabinet files, rifling through people's private possessions...actually making headway on a case...unlike Deirdre.
Another frustrated sound for good measure, and Deirdre was calling Nancy for the third time in the past couple of minutes.
She wouldn't lose so easily.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
The line clicked on. "Yes, Deirdre," came Nancy's voice from the phone. She sounded slightly miffed, but Deirdre had just bawled her eyes out and almost threw up over calling her, so Nancy could stand to be a little miffed as far as she was concerned. It'd do her some good to be miffed. "What is it?" Nancy asked.
"You know where I am right now?" Deirdre asked, pulling all the haughtiness she could to bait Drew in. "Salem."
"Salem?" Nancy asked, sounding genuinely curious. "As in 'witch trail' Salem?"
"Obvi," Deirdre deadpanned. "Come on, Drew." What other poor wretched Salem would Deirdre find herself in? "My cousin has..." Fuck, how does she even explain this without sounding like a total loser? "Well, she's gotten into some trouble here and I thought I could help her out...but it turns out the situation is much more complicated than I anticipated so I'm calling you to ask for some..."—could the earth just swallow Deirdre up already?—"...guidance."
Nancy made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. "You want my help?" she asked.
"Ugh, yes, don't make this more painful!" Deirdre scowled. "I could use your 'professional opinion,' ok?"
Nancy considered this for a moment. Then: "Well, it so happens that the case I'm on is connected to Boston, which is just nearby Salem."
Deirdre rolled her eyes. Of course, she was on a case. What else would she be doing? Deirdre couldn't figure out who was more pathetic: Nancy who was always working, or Deirdre who knew she was always working?
"I've never been a big believer in coincidences," Nancy continued. "Looks like I'll be taking the red-eye to Boston. A couple of nights in Salem wouldn't put me back too far."
"Oh," Deirdre said, intelligently. Oh. Her brain was short-circuiting. Nancy was going to come here? All Deirdre had meant for with this call was maybe a little whodunnit sesh over the phone, maybe followed up by a couple more phone calls, depending on just how stuck Deirdre proved to be. Oh, she thought again. "Are you sure?" she asked.
"I'd love to," Nancy said, any trace of her previous annoyance gone.
"Seriously?" Deirdre's brain was desperately trying to kick back into gear.
"I thought I had reached a dead-end, but it looks like I have to go to Massachusetts anyway," Nancy said, headless of Deirdre's back-firing brain. "In any case, a fresh perspective would do me good."
Deirdre was horrified to feel a smile growing on her face. "Ugh, you're annoying me and you're not even here yet," she said, alarmed at how she heard her grin bleed into her words.
Nancy laughed. Wait, could she hear Deirdre's smile too? "You're welcome?" Nancy said. "I think it might even be fun."
"Oh, this is so the worst idea I've ever had," Deirdre muttered. "I'll pick you up from the airport. Text me your flight details when you have them."
She hung up as fast as she could. One more twinkling laugh from Drew and Deirdre was going to scream. Or cry. Or both.
She searched her contacts and found who she was looking for.
Ring—
"Deirdre," Teegan picked up almost immediately. "It's good to hear from you. When are you—"
"Teegan, I'm calling in someone for help on Mei's case," Deirdre said, wanting to avoid any other confrontation.
"Oh," Teegan said, stunned by the expert bulldozing only Deirdre was capable of.
"She's flying in tomorrow morning," she said.
"Ok," Teegan replied. "I'll make up the extra bed in Mei's room and your friend can have the guest room. Are you sure—"
Deirdre didn't bother to correct her on the friend thing. "I'll see you and Mei tomorrow," she said. "Bye."
"Deirdre—" Deirdre hung up.
She nodded to herself, satisfied. Karmic balance had been restored to the universe. Hanging up on people was a Deirdre thing, not a Nancy one, thank you very much.
"Thanks for picking me up, Deirdre," Nancy said, bright and cheerful in Deirdre's passenger seat the next morning.
"I appreciate you coming here, Drew," Deirdre acquiesced. It came out a bit forced and decidedly mortifying, but exchanging pleasantries had never been Deirdre's forte, ok?
She was inwardly bracing for the awkwardness of meeting a high school acquaintance for the first time in years. Maybe next, Nancy would comment on the overcast sky and Deirdre would say something to the effect of its appropriateness for Halloween. Then maybe they'd move on to asking after parents, followed by very loud and present silence during which they would both separately but simultaneously conclude that this wasn't the brightest idea.
"I'm just glad you didn't change your mind and leave me at the airport," was what Nancy said instead of the dull weather comment Deirdre had cooked up in her mind.
Deirdre couldn't help but whip her head in surprise, at least to see Nancy's expression. But the detective was resolutely looking outside the window, blocking any hint that might've given Deirdre some social cues on how to navigate this conversation. Her strawberry blonde hair, however, was pulled into a ponytail high enough that Deirdre swore she saw the telltale pull of her cheek into a smirk.
"Might have crossed my mind," Deirdre said, lightly. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't for the reasons Nancy was thinking of right now. Deirdre had seen Nancy—adult, mature, very intimidatingly pretty Nancy—walk up to her convertible with the green suitcase in tow and might have, in a fit of panic, considered putting the car into drive and flooring it. For some reason, on the phone and in the small talk scenarios that bored Deirdre to death, she had pictured high school Nancy, who, frankly, was annoying as shit, but easy to handle. Deirdre was unfamiliar with this version of Nancy. She seemed put-together, professional, and even more omnipotent than her high school version, which was saying something. She seemed... un-handable.
Instead of saying all that, Deirdre simply said: "Keep the excessive cheeriness under control and we'll be fine."
There, not suspicious at all. No repressed romantic feelings here. Just a normal Nancy and Deirdre conversation.
Nancy, still infuriatingly turned away from Deirdre, hummed noncommittally. "No promises."
Deirdre cleared her throat to stop herself from smiling at that. "Where were you, by the way?" She changed the subject before she could do something stupid, like admit that Nancy's cheerfulness was cute, or that her smile was nice, or that maybe avoiding Nancy after high school had had the opposite effect of what Deirdre had originally been going for and that seeing Nancy now had kind of, sort of, a lot derailed her plan to bury whatever she had felt for Nancy as a hormone-ridden, angsty teen and move on because the girl was practically married to her boyfriend—
"Austria," came Nancy's reply.
And that would be the boyfriend. Speak of the devil. "Did I interrupt a vacation with Ned?" Deirdre tried—she really did—to keep the hopeful lilt out of her voice but she'd had a couple of emotionally brutal days. So she wasn't at the top of her game. Sue her.
Nancy caught onto it. Of course, she did. She was nice and cheerful, not naive. "Didn't you bring me here to help with a case?" she asked.
Deirdre nodded. Business, she could do. Better to avoid this personal talk. She could already feel a swell in her emotions from the tiny glimpse into Nancy's personal life so far.
"Yes, I did," she said. "And that's it."
She could survive a couple of days with Nancy if they just stuck to the case and didn't touch the mess of feelings that Deirdre was just barely suppressing. Just get Mei's name cleared and then back to the original plan of ignoring Nancy Drew and the feelings she incites until her dying breath and even possibly beyond that.
The rest of the car ride was spent in silence until they exited the highway to Salem. The still-smoldering Hathorne House came into view, and Nancy, clever as always, took note.
"A fire?" she asked. "Was anyone hurt?"
"Happened in the middle of the night," Deirdre told her. "No one was there, thankfully. The house wasn't completely destroyed, but the person who lived there had to move out."
Nancy nodded thoughtfully. Deirdre could practically see her brain chugging away, sifting through the information.
Well, it was as good a time as any to practice setting boundaries, right?
"Just so we're clear, this is my case," Deirdre said. "I know you're a detective and everything, but this is personal. It's family." Deirdre thought guiltily about how she hadn't even seen said family yet. "Well, extended, and from my father's side, but whatever. That's not the point. It's personal. You take my lead, ok?"
"Of course," Nancy said, carefully. Deirdre saw in her peripheral Nancy finally turn away from the scenery and properly face Deirdre.
Deirdre could hear the unspoken complaint in the clipped words. "But?" she prompted, keeping her eyes on the road.
Nancy sighed. "I've done this a couple of times, Deirdre," she said. "In my experience, we can cover twice as much ground if we work side by side."
And risk losing complete control of the case and consequently the personal details entangled in it? No fucking way would Deirdre allow that to happen.
"I, you know, respect your experience and whatever, but family trumps experience," Deirdre insisted. "It's sensitive, and I don't want you messing it up by being too..." She searched for the right word to describe Nancy's brand of well-intentioned inquisitivity.
"Too what?" Nancy prompted, back angled against the window and attention fully on Deirdre now. Her eyes were practically searing holes into Deirdre's face.
"Too you!" Deirdre said. The last thing she needed was Nancy accidentally uncovering everything about her personal life and inward struggles while trying to solve this case. Nancy had a knack for figuring out things that you didn't want figured out, and Deirdre wanted to stay as far away from that as possible. So, the less probing, the better. Especially around Teegan and Mei. "You're a question machine. This requires gentle handling. Delicate!"
Nancy scoffed. "And that's been your approach?"
"Well!" Deirdre huffed. "Like I say, I need help."
For once, their dynamic seemed to be flipped, with Nancy doing the baiting and Deirdre refusing to take it. Deirdre didn't like it. It made her feel even more out of control and out of her depth. She didn't know how to deal with the Nancy Drew who reflected Deirdre's stubbornness right back.
Deirdre almost turned the stereo on to drown out the uncomfortable thoughts, but Nancy beat her to the punch.
"So, can I ask some questions?"
She said it like an inside joke, quietly laughing at herself along with Deirdre. But her tone was earnest, and Deirdre felt the weight of her full attention really settle on her, instead of flitting between the landscape and the details of the car.
Deirdre did her best not to squirm under the attention. "Like anyone could stop you," she said. At least she would have the last word in their non-argument.
So Nancy asked questions, and Deirdre did her best to answer helpfully and honestly. Deirdre was scared to death about what Nancy being here in Salem could potentially unravel in her, but she was relieved to see her take the case seriously. When it came down to it, Deirdre probably would've sacrificed a lot to see Mei not go to jail—her pride included. So if she had to embarrass herself a little in front of Nancy by showing some vulnerability, so be it.
As they rounded the corner of the quiet little residential neighborhood of the Parry's, Nancy, had, unsurprisingly, unearthed some of the details of the case that were causing Deirdre grief. In her seemingly inane questioning of the Hathorne House fire, with Deirdre's similarly inane answers, Nancy had managed to put her finger on the pulse of Deirdre's fear: the supposed ghosts of the Hathorne House.
"Well, that's why you're here," Deirdre said, turning off the car and climbing out of the driver's seat. "The Hathorne House is haunted."
She closed the door and walked around the front of the car towards the Parry house. God, she hadn't been here since Mei's accident. She felt her jaw tighten.
Deirdre looked back, expecting to see Nancy right behind her, but instead, she had one foot out the car, gaping at Deirdre through the passenger window, seemingly frozen.
"What do you mean, 'haunted'?" Nancy asked.
"Exactly that," Deirdre said. "There's ghosts."
"Deirdre..."
Deirdre felt her cheeks heat up. She quickly spun on her heel towards the house.
"I don't believe it either, Drew!" she huffed. "But, I can't explain it. Everyone seems to think they exist. With so many sightings, even if it isn't real ghosts, something is definitely going on. I thought maybe you can disprove them."
Nancy was still sitting in that damn car when she turned around in her explanation. Deirdre couldn't take this attention. Nancy was staring at her like some kind of puzzle that she was trying to solve. Deirdre couldn't exactly blame her. She felt like she barely understood herself at this point. But with the amount of shit going on in this case, and now the fact that Nancy Drew was here in the flesh, in Salem, giving her that look—
"Would you please get out of my car and come inside?" Deirdre asked, willing her blush to fade.
She started towards the Parry house again. She heard Nancy close the car door behind her and the patter of footsteps as she caught up.
"If we're going to work side by side," Deirdre said, throwing that damned phrase right back at her as she climbed the porch steps, "then you'd better learn to keep up with me."
Deirdre didn't wait for Nancy's reaction. She rapped on the green door almost frantically, wanting this encounter to be over as soon as possible. She couldn't worry about Nancy now, she had to focus on getting on Teegan's good side after not stopping by for like three days.
The door swung open way too fast for Deirdre's liking and she panicked when she saw Teegan.
"Hey, Tee," she said, fumbling slightly as she tried to casually lean against the door frame.
Teegan, looking a little confused at Deirdre almost falling over, gave a small smile. "Hey, Dee Dee."
She heard Nancy snort behind her.
Deirdre's face was just going to be permanently red today, wasn't it?
Luckily, Teegan's attention was caught by the giggles Nancy was unsuccessfully trying to stifle. She immediately shifted into the role of gracious host and not confused and possibly hurt cousin.
"You must be Nancy," she said, opening the door fully and ushering them inside. "Thank you so much for coming."
Nancy opened her mouth to say something grossly polite like "Thank you for letting me stay here," but apparently the situation had shaken up Teegan more than Deirdre expected because she immediately began rambling.
"You know, you live in the same neighborhood for twenty years and you'd expect your neighbors to be a little more understanding when your family is falsely accused of a horrific crime—"
Deirdre's surprise must've shown on her face because Teegan suddenly stopped.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "How are you, Deirdre?"
"I'm good," Deirdre said, awkwardly. "Thanks..." She trailed off, not wanting to give any more information than necessary.
There was a dense silence before Deirdre and Teegan looked back to Nancy to relieve the tension.
"Teegan Parry," Teegan got back on track with being polite and accommodating. "Welcome to my home. Well, our home, although right now my parents are literally on safari in Namibia so while their daughter is being convicted of a crime she didn't commit, I'm taking care of things around here. They'll be home soon, hopefully. A very expensive courier is tracking them down in the bush. Top-notch, I found him on the Internet."
Wow, maybe Deirdre should've shown up sooner. Teegan seemed to be just barely keeping it together.
Nancy, ever nice, simply nodded along to the information dump.
"Deirdre tells me you'll be assisting her in clearing my sister's name?" Teegan asked, addressing Nancy again.
At this, Nancy laughed. "Assisting? Yeah..."
Teegan either ignored the laugh or simply didn't notice it. "She's innocent," she said, referring to Mei. "I don't know why she won't help herself! She's got a...difficult reputation. Well, you know, Deirdre, what people here can be like. She doesn't trust easily, not since..."
Teegan looked to Deirdre but trailed off. Ok, so it seemed the Nancy as a buffer for awkwardness wasn't really working.
Teegan cleared her throat and looked back to Nancy. "I'm sorry, are you hungry?" she asked. "There's clam chowder, homemade. A little taste of New England! I made up the guest room for you, Nancy. Deirdre, sorry, you'll be bunking with Mei. Make yourselves at home."
I will not be sleeping here, Deirdre thought privately. If all went well, Teegan would never even notice.
"Oh, I almost forgot," Teegan continued to talk while searching the front drawer for keys. "After you girls get comfortable, you should swing by the museum! Might as well take in some history while you're here, right? Just don't get suckered into that walking witches tour. Olivia Ravencroft is not a witch. She would have you believing all kinds of nonsense about the town being full of ghosts."
Nancy threw a pointed look towards Deirdre, eyebrows raised and everything. Deirdre refused to acknowledge it. "I thought you two were friends," Deirdre instead said to Teegan.
"That was a long time ago," Teegan said.
Huh.
"Look, I'm sorry, I gotta get going," Teegan said, throwing the found keys into a purse and grabbing a raincoat. "Running late to an appointment."
"Thanks, Teegan," Nancy said. "I appreciate you letting us stay here. Before you go, do you have time for a quick question?"
"Nancy," Deirdre whispered. "We just got here." She wasn't sure how much more awkwardness she could take.
"Sorry," Nancy said, not sounding apologetic at all, and certainly not apologizing to Deirdre. "I know you're in a rush. It would really help."
"Of course," Teegan said. "I have time for one question, if it'll help."
"What can you tell me about where the fire happened?" Nancy asked.
Sharpshooter, as always. Why did Deirdre suddenly have the urge to smile? It was gross.
Teegan's expression instantly darkened. Deirdre understood Nancy was asking about the Hathorne House, but Teegan...
"What have you heard about it?" she asked. Then, she shook her head. "Look, I appreciate you want to help, but I don't want you dragging all that up and upsetting Mei." She looked to Deirdre accusingly. "You told me she would be able to reach her, that's not the—"
"That's not what Nancy is asking about," Deirdre said quickly before Teegan could accidentally let slip anything else Deirdre had told her about Nancy on the phone that morning.
"Oh," Teegan said, awkwardly.
This was unbearable. Deirdre slipped off into the kitchen to escape as Teegan gave Nancy a quick history lesson on the Hathorne House before rushing out the door.
As Deirdre started hunting for the clam chowder, she heard footsteps coming up behind her. "Do me a favor, Drew, and get two bowls from the cabinet to the right of—"
"You jerk."
Oh. That was not Nancy.
Deirdre turned around to see Mei in bright pink leggings and a lopsided grin on her face. Her dyed blonde hair was draped across the left side of her face, partially obscuring the scarring from that fateful day. It had only been what, two Christmases, since she had seen Mei, but Deirdre felt dwarfed by her.
"Teegan said you've been in town for days, but you haven't come by," Mei said. Her tone was playful, but Deirdre swore there was a hint of accusation and hurt in those eyes.
"I know, I know, I know," Deirdre's voice went up several octaves. She mistakenly thought she was in the clear after Teegan had dashed out the door. "I had to check in with your case at the uhhhhh..." wait, that would lead to questions on her success, which she had not had. Different approach. "Look, I didn't want to bother you. How you holding up?"
"Eh, I've been accused of worse".
"No, you haven't." Was Mei not taking this seriously?
Mei simply shrugged. "Hey, at least it got you to get off your butt and finally come visit me."
Well, maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that Mei wasn't letting this get to her—
Nancy cleared her throat from behind Deirdre. When had she snuck into the kitchen?
"Oh," Deirdre said. "This is the girl I was telling you about. Nancy Drew." Deirdre put as much warning into her voice as possible without sacrificing subtlety. She hadn't told Mei anything particularly condemning, but Mei had a way of simply knowing things.
"Nice to meet you," Nancy said, pleasantly.
Mei didn't even spare her a glance before walking off to the living room in the opposite direction. Deirdre breathed a sigh of relief. The less Mei could observe her around Nancy, the better her chances of coming out of this unexposed.
Nancy, however, was not as thrilled. "She really doesn't want to talk," she said, worrying her lower lip. "This could be difficult. Any advice?"
Deirdre hummed, suddenly finding her nails incredibly fascinating. "Do better?"
Nancy gaped. Deirdre brushed past her to get a bowl for the clam chowder. Nancy could handle herself. Deirdre knew that somehow, someway, she would be able to get Mei to open up like she managed to do with everyone else. It was simply a matter of time. Nancy would talk to Mei, get her alibi, and maybe bust some ghosts while she's at it. It would be a cinch for Drew.
Deirdre, on the other hand, needed to get a fucking grip. Because out of all the little revelations about Nancy that Deirdre had discovered since picking her up from the airport this morning, this one had to be the most devastating: Nancy Drew still did that damned lip-biting thing from high school.