Ned stifled a yawn as he closed the front door behind him, hearing the heavy thunk of the deadbolt as it slid home. It had been an incredibly long night, although it wasn't even over yet. The two-liter he'd had delivered with his midnight pizza had kept him buzzing for a while, but now the crash had come, and it was all he could do to stay upright.

Fog had crept over Chicago since he'd arrived, casting a haze between him and his car, parked on the curb in front of the house. It muffled his footsteps, too, muffled the jingle of his keyring as he pulled it out of his pocket. The street was dead-quiet, all but deserted in the early morning hours, and in the white noise of the stillness Ned still found himself straining for the sound of a baby's wail.

Damn, he needed sleep.

He scrubbed the heel of his hand against his stubbled jaw, and he couldn't stifle the next yawn. Curling up in the backseat of his car didn't sound like such a bad idea. He wasn't sure how he would be able to drive, especially in the fog, but the familiar mental image of his own bed nearly made him groan with longing.

The passenger side door of his car popped open. In the time it took Ned to register it, reddish-gold hair rose above it, then a very familiar face.

Ned gaped at her grin. "What...?"

"Thought you might be tired. I can drive you home?"

He gaped for a moment longer. "Uh... yeah," he finally said, shaking his head. "Sorry. I..."

She waved, dismissing his nascent explanation, and took the keys out of his hand before gesturing him to climb in. Ned obeyed, landing heavily in the passenger seat. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been a passenger in his own car.

"So. Did you ever get the baby to sleep?" Nancy asked, checking the side mirror before pulling out and heading for the main road.

Ned nodded, yawning again. "Yeah. It took... forever." His head lolled to the side, and he looked out at the blur of homes they passed without really seeing it.

Mike was Ned's best friend, and when he'd said he would do anything for him, he'd meant it. He just hadn't envisioned that it would entail taking care of Mike and Jan's three-week-old baby. They had needed to go to the hospital for an emergency, and Jan's sister had been called but couldn't get there for a few hours, so Ned had been called in.

"So did you know you can't microwave bottles?"

Nancy had an incredulous look on her face when Ned finally scraped up the strength to turn his head and glance at her. "Of course. You didn't?"

Ned shook his head, yawning again. He'd spent half the time at Mike and Jan's on the phone with his mother, who had been very patient while Ned freaked out. At first Ned had wished Nancy could come with him—she had been on a stakeout, and while she had commiserated via text, she hadn't been able to get away—but he'd eventually been glad she wasn't there to witness his complete lack of skill with babysitting.

He caught himself snoring quietly and jerked awake, Nancy's hand on his knee. "It's all right. We're almost there."

Parking at his apartment building was, as always, a nightmare. He drifted off, then jerked awake again as Nancy put his car in park and popped the locks. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hey." Ned dry-washed his face with his palms, trying to force himself to wake up, if only for long enough to make it to his bedroom.

Nancy wrapped her arm around his waist as they approached the building, and he didn't exactly lean on her, but he did trust her to lead him. He hadn't thought he was out of shape, or out of practice when it came to pulling all-nighters, but in no way had he been prepared for tonight.

"Hey, thanks," he said carefully once they were in the elevator. It was old and creaked, but the thought of climbing the stairs in his condition made him infinitely tired. Even forming coherent words was a struggle. "Don't know what I would've done without you."

She smiled and gave him a little squeeze. "Anytime, Nickerson," she said lightly. "I'm just happy to be able to help."

At his front door, he blearily patted his pockets, finally registering that Nancy still had his keyring and was unlocking the door already. "Hey," he said, standing there even as she pushed the door open and walked in, gazing at him expectantly. The sky was beginning to lighten. How was she so coherent?

She chuckled when he looked up and into her face. "I have to make sure you don't faceplant on the floor before you get to bed," she told him, her eyes dancing. She reached for his hand. "Come on..."

Ned ran a hand through his hair as she guided him in. "I'm okay," he protested belatedly, clumsily toeing out of his shoes, reaching for his fly. "You... stay here?"

Nancy raised her eyebrows, but he was pretty sure it wasn't in an accusing way, or an angry way. She was treating him like he was drunk, so maybe she didn't think he was being serious.

"Just to sleep," he clarified, although he could hear the slurring in his speech. He pulled his shirt over his head and yawned hugely as his arms fell heavily back down to his sides, the shirt still caught on them.

Nancy laughed. "Sure," she said, patting his biceps. "That, I believe."

The phone was ringing.

Nancy jerked awake, mumbling a half-formed question to no one. Sometime in the two seconds she'd had her eyes closed, the sun had risen to brilliant terrifying glory and was searing on the other side of the blinds. Her head had that muzzy feeling that meant a headache would be coming soon, and—

The phone rang again.

She tried to reach for it, but she was tangled up in the sheets and blankets, and by the time her hand made it out, the screen had stopped flashing and the phone was silent. She closed her eyes with a sigh of relief and let her head drop heavily back to the pillow.

It rang again.

"Argh," she muttered, clearing her throat as she reached for it. She yanked it toward her face before she registered that it was tethered by the too-short charger cord, and muttered a curse as she disconnected it.

"Hello?" she answered, sounding oddly congested. No one answered. "Hello?" she tried again, and coughed.

"Nancy?"

Suddenly Nancy was completely, painfully awake, her eyes wide, shock temporarily paralyzing her. She'd answered Ned's cell phone, and she should have known better, but she hadn't been thinking straight. She mentally let out a string of curse words. "Good morning," she said to Ned's mother, trying to keep her voice calm, glancing belatedly at Ned's alarm clock to see if it even was morning anymore.

Then a wave of startling rage swept over her. What other women had been answering Ned's cell phone?

"Good morning," Edith replied, and her voice had changed slightly. "Is Ned nearby?"

Nancy flushed scarlet, and a parade of excuses started running through her head. He was in the shower? That sounded bad. He was in the middle of something? Also bad. I just came over to fix Ned breakfast and... Too desperate. "Um, yes—I can ask him to call you back," she settled on. Maybe avoiding directly answering would sound bad, but everything else sounded infinitely worse.

"Good. I just wanted to make sure he made it home all right. I asked him to call me back to do it, but I guess he fell asleep and didn't remember."

That was exactly what had happened. Nancy had barely remembered to plug Ned's phone in before she had collapsed to the bed beside him. As soon as he had started snoring, a belated wave of exhaustion had swept over her too. "I guess so," she stammered. "He's fine."

"Glad to hear it. And, Nancy, while I'm talking to you—do you have any plans for next weekend? Jim and I would like to invite you to dinner."

Nancy covered her eyes with her palm. "That sounds great, Mrs. Nickerson," she said, feeling how hot her face was against the heel of her hand. "Just let me know."

As soon as she hung up the phone, Nancy heard a deep, almost guttural chuckle behind her. She turned onto her other side to see Ned cracking up, his hair somehow both tousled and sexy, the shadow of stubble on his cheeks.

"Oh my God! How could you let me..."

Ned was still laughing as he blocked the mostly playful punch she directed at his shoulder. "You think it would've been better if I'd grabbed the phone? 'Sorry, Mom, Nancy and I decided to sleep in...'"

"Well, not if you'd said that." She raked her hair back. "Shit."

"We weren't doing anything," Ned pointed out mildly.

"Yeah, but now... shit. Why the hell did I pick it up?" she mumbled to herself, flipping the blankets up and diving beneath them.

Ned chuckled again, then moved under the covers too. "It's no big deal."

"And the dinner invitation is no big deal?"

"Well... they'll probably ask if you're going to make an honest man out of me."

Nancy punched him again, and this time her fist connected, though she'd put barely any force behind it. "Just for that," she muttered, but trailed off.

"Just for that, what?" Ned asked. She could still hear laughter in his voice. "You don't want to make an honest man out of me?"

"You know that's not how it works," she replied. "Besides, you've always been honest."

"True." He tentatively slid an arm around her, and when she didn't shove him away, he pulled her close. "I'm honestly crazy about you. I like waking up to find you in my bed. Slightly embarrassing phone calls and all."

"'Slightly.'" Nancy scoffed. Then she stiffened a little. "Oh God, at least she didn't get so panicked that she decided to drop by."

"See? Way to look for the positive," Ned said, and kissed the crown of her head. "Now, we need to either go back to sleep before my stomach starts growling or eat breakfast. Brunch. Something involving a stack of pancakes, anyway."

"Hmm. There's always a third option," Nancy suggested, her voice half-muffled against his collarbone. Her cheeks were flushed again.

"Why, Miss Drew. Surely you aren't trying to seduce me. Taking advantage of me in my weakened, groggy state..."

Nancy laughed. In a swift move he had her on her back with his knees between her legs.

She kissed her fingertip and touched it to his lips. "Bathroom, brush teeth, then... resume."

"Mmm-hmm." He lowered himself to her, sliding his hand over her. The feel of his stubble against her neck made her shiver.

"Now, Nickerson."

"I thought you'd never ask," he said, and she laughed as he nuzzled against her.

"All right, all right."

He pushed himself back up and kissed her cheek. "Five minutes."

She nodded, flipping down the covers, and they both squinted against the bright sunlight. "Five minutes," she agreed, and pushed herself up to kiss his cheek before scrambling out from under him, adjusting her clothes as she went.

"Thanks," he said, when she was at his bedroom door. She turned around to look at him, eyebrow raised questioningly.

"For being you. For coming to get me last night even though you had to be dead on your feet, too."

She gave him a slow, genuine grin. "You're welcome. Use the next few minutes to think of a way to thank me properly."

Ned laughed. "Trust me, there won't be anything proper about it."