Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that I am using to create this work of fiction, the series that they are from, or any pop culture references that I may chose to include.

Author’s notes: Thank you reviewers! And since I lied and it did take a while for me to update, welcome to the world of the double update.

---

I Like to Think of Myself as a Powerful Executive in Fantasyland

Nancy sighed as Frank frowned. Saying his real name had been a bit of a giveaway, she knew. She ran a hand through her hair that was starting to get stringy with water. “You don’t have to pretend that you’re Francis and I’m Natasha anymore. I should have told you this sooner…but I’m back.” She shrugged a little, knowing that she was about to be in for it.

Frank turned away. He was happy, sure. Nancy was back which meant that everything could go back to normal and they could solve mysteries and she could see her father again. But he was also starting to realize how Joe might have been right. He had been with her, thinking that he was with “Natasha”, and he had kissed her. Clearly he had been falling for her; he couldn’t believe that he had missed that. Now that she was gone he could still feel his heart sinking a little, even though he knew he should just resign to being happy that Nancy was back.

And then it hit him. She just told him that she should have told him sooner. She had been better for a while. He turned back. “For how long?” He questioned her, surprised at how quickly his mouth had gotten cotton dry.

Nancy bit her lip briefly. “I guess since about two days after I woke up.”

“Wait…wait…” Frank held up a hand. “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve been faking this…amnesia thing for a week?”

“Well…yeah. But you have to understand, I really didn’t want for it to go on this long.” She sat done on the curb, somewhat dejectedly, not seeming to notice the way that the water was soaking through what dry clothing was left on her. “When I woke up, I realized I was in the hospital, and everyone was calling me Natasha. After a little bit with the doctor I realized that everyone thought that I thought I was this Natasha Darling singer from the 1930s.”

“And you knew about the singer?” Frank took neutral territory when it came to asking the questions.

“I worked a case involving her a couple months ago. I’ll explain it later.” She looked down to her hands and then back to him. “When he left I was still disoriented so he thought I was still out of it. I figured that I would tell the next person who came in, which happened to be you.”

“But you didn’t.”

“I was going to. But you came in and you were acting like you were Francis. And I realized that if you knew I was back then we would just go back to the mystery business, but I realized that I could probably keep up the act for another day. So I decided to.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to feel like a normal person for a while…not the superhuman teenage detective.”

“No one thinks of you like that.”

“I know. But I do feel like it once in a while which people seem to forget. And I sort of just fell in love with the way that we were hanging out with each other.” She shook her head. “It’s so stupid I know. But then each day you would come and I would somehow forget to tell you that I wasn’t Natasha , because you would say something ant it would make me…”

“Fall a bit more for you.” Frank finished for Nancy, sitting down next to her.

“How did you know?”

“Because you did the same thing to me. Of course I thought I was falling for some fictional character…”

“You weren’t. Well, not exactly. I’m so sorry Frank. I should have been honest with you from the beginning.”

“It’s all right. I mean, you shouldn’t have done it, but I understand why you did it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Everyone deserves a break once in a while… But how about next time you just tell us that you want a break? The whole gaping head wound amnesia thing was way too much stress for me.”

“All right.” She leaned in and kissed him quickly as a car drove up.

The window rolled down and Joe’s grinning face looked out. “You two cats looking to go somewhere?”

Nancy smirked, grabbing Frank’s hand and standing. “Let’s go pick up my dad.”

“But I thought that…”

“Guess who’s back?”

---

And that is the end.

A little short I know, but it went where I wanted it to go. Any questions, comments, or overall feedback? Please review and let me know.