Author's Note: Nancy surprises Scott in the middle of the night and suddenly realizes how often she's not home.

Disclaimer: I don't own Nancy Drew.

Rating: T – cursing and sex references

Scott wakes with a start. He strains in the darkness waiting on the disturbed silence; he pulls himself from the bed and slaps at the night stand. His fingers grasp onto lenses, and he squints into them.

"Holy shit!" Scott buckles as a foot kicks out his knee. A hand clutches his top before jerking him up.

"Scott!"

The hand releases, and he lands with a thud. Scott groans and blinks through the haze. A familiar face floods his vision. "Nancy?"

She grins. "Falling all over the place for me?"

Scott moans. "I'm too old for this. Why the hell did you tackle me?"

"Because of these," Nancy nudges his glasses. "I thought you were someone else. When did you get glasses?"

"Had them three months now," Scott grunts, lifting from the ground.

"Huh, must have missed them the last time."

Scott shakes his head. "Nope, you haven't been here since I got them."

Nancy flushes. "It's been that long?"

"Longer," Scott begins but pauses when he sees her face. "But, uh, I've been busy with, um, work and uh, other stuff. It's not like I noticed." His words are tumbling, and he knows Nancy doesn't believe a word.

"You've never been good with words," Nancy manages a smile. "I'm sorry, Scott. I never meant to be gone this long."

"At least you're here now." Nancy's silent, and that's all Scott needs to know. "You're not staying."

Nancy looks down. "I have a flight to San Diego tomorrow."

Scott glances at the clock, and the 1:30 a.m. shining. "Guess we shouldn't waste time then?"

Nancy grabs him, and he's caught in her kiss. Tongues and limbs dance until she's pinned beneath him. Scott nips her jaw and smothers kisses down her chest.

"You're bleeding!"

Nancy props herself up and looks at the blood stained top. "Not again," she groans.

"Again?" Scott doesn't bother to hide his horror. He pulls up her shirt to analyze her wound.

Nancy waves off his concern. "I'm fine. The bullet missed major organs."

"You were shot?"

Nancy shrugs. "So?"

Scott's jaw drops. "Nancy, most people react differently when they're shot."

"This isn't the first time I've been shot," Nancy rolls her eyes when Scott reacts. "You're sweet for worrying, but it's really no big deal."

"It looks like some of your stiches have pulled out," Scott dabs at the blood. "I can't believe they let you out in this condition."

Nancy clenches her teeth. "They didn't."

Scott stops. "What?"

"They were going to hold me for a few days, and I had a case to work."

"You're going to hurt yourself one of these days," Scott mutters.

"Says the storm chaser," Nancy smirks.

Scott can't help but grin. "Shut up."

"Now come over here and get back to business."

Scott snorts. "No way."

"Seriously?"

"Nancy, I'm not gonna fuck you when you're bleeding to death."

"I'm not dying!" Nancy protests.

"You're hurt, and you're gonna rest. End of discussion."

Nancy flops back. "You are so stubborn."

"And this surprises you?"

Nancy laughs. "Shut up, jerk."

Scott lays next to her. She's got a catch in her breathing, and he wonders how he didn't notice that sooner.

Nancy notices his stare. "What?"

"Your breathing," he begins. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Nancy manages then coughs. "Okay, so I'm not good, but I'm not dying. I promise you, Scott. I didn't sneak out of a hospital just to die during sex. Not exactly the way I want to go out."

"Why didn't you call me? I would have come."

Nancy smiles. "I know you would have. That's why I didn't call you. Scott, you know I love you, and I've always appreciated your blind support of my career. But it's better if you don't know everything or rather anything. You'll only worry."

Scott shakes his head. "How many times have you been in the hospital since you left?"

"Uh," Nancy looks away then shrugs. "No idea. A lot probably but as I said, it's no big deal. I'm a detective, Scott. Things like this happen all the time."

"You get shot all the time?" Scott feels horrified.

"Of course not," Nancy protests. "I'm not that careless. This was, uh, well, a rather difficult case, but again, I wasn't seriously hurt. In a couple of weeks, I'll be totally fine."

Scott nods and turns away.

Silence consumes them seconds later, and they sit in the stillness of the moment. Nancy glances over at him and frowns. "I never realized how long I'm gone."

Scott waves her off. "You're a detective, and my job keeps me in Oklahoma. There's not much we can do about it."

"But it's not good for us to be apart most of the year."

"Probably not," Scott agrees. "But I can't give up my job, and I doubt you want to stop being a detective. Canute doesn't have that much crime so you're forced elsewhere. It's fine, Nancy. I just wish you were home a little more."

Sadness gathers across her face. "Maybe I can give up detective work. For at least a little bit anyway. I'm not saying it'll be permanent, but I could use the break."

"What about San Diego?"

Nancy offers a tight smile. "It can wait."

Scott grins then pulls her into a kiss. It's quick, bittersweet, and full of the lies he knows she's uttered. In the morning as he turns in bed, his hand lands on open space. His eyes fling open, and they search the sun soaked room. The house is silent, and Scott knows she's gone.

Several minutes later he finds a note scrawled out on her favorite stationary.

Scott,

I'm sorry, darling, but I can't stay. I'm needed in San Diego, and while I want to stay home with you, there are people who are dying. I can't abandon them. I promise to write and call. See you soon.

Nancy

Pretty, pretty lies, that's all the words are, but Scott can't help but smile. She's the woman he fell in love with. She brushes past like a wild tornado with a kiss and a promise to return. And someday? She will again. Until then, his watch begins.