The Adventures of Nancy Drew (In Chronological Order) Season 1

Episode 24-A Tragedy Disguised In Happiness

The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M.

I think we all get a certain feeling when we reach the middle of a season. A feeling that comes after the hottest day in August and makes you excited about winter. A longing for summer once Christmas has passed. This feeling might be more common in children because adults are too busy to care about what season it is, but there are exceptions. 

Jack Bauer was one of them. 

Losing Nancy at the hospital trapped Jack in a terrible winter, but the ice that had been building around his heart melted once he saw her. She was alive. She was healthy. She was smiling. 

"Jack!" Nancy squealed.

She rushed toward him. He bent down and swooped her up in his arms, one hand holding her up, the other supporting her head. Nancy could feel him shaking. He hadn't felt this relieved since he had rescued his own daughter from a terrorist group.

"I am so sorry," Jack breathed, stirring Nancy's hair. "I should have stayed with you at the hospital. I knew something was wrong--"

"Jack, it's okay," Nancy giggled. "Everything's gonna be okay now that you're here."

The joy became overwhelming as the other girls emerged. 

"Jack!" Elizabeth and Destiny cried simultaneously. They crashed against him like a wave, each girl taking hold of one of his legs. Chloe hid her smile with her hand. Jack looked like a jungle gym. 

He wanted to hold onto them forever, but he nearly dropped Nancy when Sal came out. The last time he had seen her she was a lot shorter. As of now, her head reached his chin. Her dark hair had gotten darker, her face a little more mature, but her eyes were the same. Blue and kind.

"Sal, I can't believe how much you've grown," Jack said. "You look just like your mother."

The compliment was met with cool skepticism. Her sisters may have been ready for a reunion, but Sal wasn't. Not until she was sure Jack could be trusted. 

"Do you know?" she asked calmly. 

Jack set Nancy down so he could give Sal his full attention.

"Know what?"

"Do you know?" Sal repeated. "About us?"

Tony and Chloe glanced curiously at Jack. They had no idea what Sal was talking about. Ellen, on the other hand, knew everything. Sal had told her along with Sam and Dean an hour ago. It had poured out of her like a waterfall while her sisters watched, fingers crossed that they would believe them. 

And they did. How could they not with the lives they lived?

"I know you're special," Jack said carefully. He lowered himself to his knees so he could hug the girls. "I know you can do things no one else can. I know your real father wants to hurt your sisters, but there's something you need to know."

Sal stiffened as Jack came toward her. The triplets peered up at them from the floor. They hoped their big sister would trust Jack. They hoped she would let him take care of them.

Jack placed his hands on Sal's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

"I love you. I don't care that your Jackson's daughter. I don't care that you're different. I love you because you are the smartest, bravest, most selfless girl I've ever known."

Sal didn't say a word. She was too stunned.

"I was gone for a long time, but I'm here now," Jack went on. "I won't ever leave again, I promise. I'll make you a part of my family, if that's what you want. Is  that what you want?"

Sal was already picturing it. To have a complete family again... that was all she wanted. Teri could never replace her mother, but she would be a damn good guardian. Sal could finally take a break from being the oldest and see what it was like to have Kim as a big sister. It sounded perfect...

"You're forgetting something, Jack," Sal said in a low voice. "They have a father."

Sal nodded at the triplets. They were staring at her so hard she was surprised their eyes were still in their heads.

"A father that loves them more than anything. I know he misses them, and they miss him, too. Heck, I miss him and I'm not even his daughter. I never felt like I could be, but maybe I wasn't trying hard enough. I'll never know, though, if we don't go back. We need to go home. I hope you understand."

The trench that sat at the bottom of Jack's heart flooded with grief. He had been so focused on finding the girls that he hadn't stopped to think what would happen once he did. 

"Sal..." Jack trailed off. How was he supposed to tell her Carson was dead?

Fear crept into Sal's heart. She could tell something was wrong just by looking at Jack.

"What? What is it?" Sal asked. 

Nancy got to her feet. Elizabeth and Destiny followed suit, their tiny hearts hammering in their chests.

"Tony and I tried to get a hold of Carson earlier," Jack said. "We called him but he didn't respond, so we went to the police station. When nobody was looking, I went on one of their computers to see if I could find his file..."

"And?" Sal prompted. Her blue eyes were teetering between fear and hope. 

A single tear slid down Jack's cheek. He didn't cry easily, but when he did, it was heart wrenching. 

"I'm sorry. He's gone."

Whatever happiness Sal and her sisters had just been granted was stripped away from them in that moment. Sal stumbled backwards and hit the counter, knocking over a stray glass. It shattered on the floor. She looked down at the shards and saw herself in them. Broken.

Sobs came from behind Jack. He turned around, expecting to see all three girls crying, but it was only Elizabeth and Destiny who shed tears. Nancy's face was completely blank. Whether it was from shock or she simply didn't believe him, Jack didn't know, but it was unsettling. What if he had broken her?

Sam and Dean charged into the room. They hadn't wanted to come out earlier because the girls had asked for privacy. Then they heard crying and, thinking Sal's father had finally found them, bounded out there with guns at the ready.

"Who are you?" Dean barked, aiming his pistol at Jack.

To his surprise, Jack whipped out two guns and pointed one at each brother.

"I could ask you the same thing."

The air was thick with tension. Ellen stepped between Jack and the Winchesters, demanding they lower their guns. Chloe tried to comfort the triplets, but Nancy couldn't take it. She shoved her away and ran for the front door.

What Nancy had said about herself, how she saw herself as a self destruct button, turned out to be true. Sal's world fell apart when Nancy left the roadhouse. She screamed in anguish for her to come back, but she didn't. Nancy ran down that road as fast as she could, not bothering to choose a direction. She had no idea if she was going towards LA or further into Santa Carla. It didn't matter. 

Her father was dead. 

She was an orphan. 

Jackson had won.