Fic: [NR] Mix of Dark Minors and Sunny Majors (Chapter 7/14)
Mix of Dark Minors and Sunny Majors
Word Count: Chapter 7: 3,776; [48,282 total]
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nico/Dani-Possibly. Eventually?
Spoilers: References something from 1x07 and 1x11.
Disclaimer: don't own. Don't profit. Don't … a lot of things
Summary: She'd be willing to bet the Nico of reality was somewhere between her good guy and his evil one but he wasn't ready to see that just yet. "Nico, I work on feelings and intuition. Of course I see the potential. You work in cold facts and realities that aren't pretty so you see the bad. In order for music to be beautiful, there has to be a mix of sunny majors with the dark, harsh minors."
Author's Note: So, you can blame or credit, jeer or cheer brokenroots & goodisrelative for this 92-page (20+ chapter) fic. Brokenroots started me thinking about NR fic (go read hers, it's better) and then they both beat me up to get more. Please note, this fic is done. finished. fin. over. ended. ... that doesn't mean there might not be a sequel. at least a "Sunday Supper at Mama C's" [you'll meet Mama C in a much later chapter]
"We will continue that discussion, Doctor Santino, but at another time. You need to get dressed and discharged then we'll fill your prescriptions and get some food before we head to the house. The doctor prescribed a sedative for tonight. You need the rest and we both know you have not been getting much the last few nights." Nico put himself back in charge.
Dani nodded and looked up at him. "Nico, can we just go home? Send someone else out for the drugs and food? I'm tired."
Nico saw the exhaustion in her eyes and nodded. "Can you get dressed or do you need help?" He could get a nurse but he was still feeling guilty about not remembering her hand and didn't want to let her out of his sight yet.
Dani smiled. "I'm tired but I'm not that tired, Nico. You go get the nurse."
Nico nodded back at her then turned and headed out of the room to find a nurse.
Dani used the alone time to swing her legs off the bed, thankful that nothing was still attached to her. She looked around the room but didn't see her clothes. She sighed and waited for the nurse: no sense pushing herself too much. She lifted her right arm: it felt weird since she could move it but not feel it.
The nurse was quick and they were in the SUV ten minutes later. It only took five minutes for Dani to fall asleep. Nico kept his voice low as he called one of his men to make three stops, detailing what he needed from the three locations, thankful the team had a preferred pharmacy that used e-scripts from the team's doctors.
This time, he didn't debate what he was doing: he eyed the approach as he parked, got out and went around to Dani's side of the vehicle and lifted her out of the SUV. Frank made sure the door was open for him as he carried her into her room and laid her down on the bed. He frowned at the cast and turned from her and the guilt. He should call Juliette, just to check in, maybe even talk with Jeanette to make sure everything was going well there. It wasn't a good idea for Juliette to be with the kids, he of all people knew she could be a worse role model than TK.
"Leave them be, Nico. People think that it's the holding on that makes one strong-sometimes it's letting go." Dani whispered. "Right now, you need to let her go. She knows you are around but right now, more than anything, she needs to learn to catch herself when she falls, allowing her to fix herself because she is strong enough. We'll check in with them in the morning, Nico. The world won't end."
Nico heard her soft words and nodded before he headed out of the room.
Dani sighed and closed her eyes again.
He woke her to take the painkiller and sedative when his man got back from the errands, about twenty minutes later. She wanted to protest that she was tired enough to just pass out, but the hardness was back in his eyes and she knew he wasn't about to take no.
-%-
Nico sat with his iPad on his lap, not reading the tweets and Facebook statuses. He didn't even read his email. Instead, he ran his mind back over when he had brought Juliette to the rehab place. He hadn't really talked with Doctor Santino that day except to get her advice about enabling and consequences. He knew no one had followed him. His phones weren't monitored. So how had Doctor Santino found out about Juliette and rehab? His men, if they even knew, would never say anything: loyalty worked both ways and he had spent years instilling that in his men.
He stilled when one thought came to him. Had Juliette called someone? But who would she call? Her father had all but washed his hands of her and Gabriella, Gabriella would be too embarrassed to have a child in rehab again. Besides, Gabriella would just laugh at her daughter and ask how much it was costing this time. No, Juliette wouldn't call either of them.
He rubbed his temple in frustration and moved his thoughts onto a different topic, knowing he needed more information to deal with the Doctor Santino-Juliette connection. How was he going to handle Frank's disobedience? And Doctor Santino's? He knew both had reasons, valid ones, ones they were right in following, but there still had to be consequences. He could deal with Frank now and he pushed himself off the couch and headed out the back door.
Frank kept his eyes steady on the boss's. He knew this discussion was coming: he had broken the rules and the Doc had gotten hurt because of it. It didn't matter that they had saved a scared young woman; the mission was protecting Doctor Santino and he had failed.
Nico eyed his man. "You know it was wrong."
Frank nodded. "I know, boss, but you didn't see her breaking. I didn't even know it was about Juliette when I broke the rule." Frank shook his head, breaking eye contact with Nico. "I should have been faster. It should have been me knocking that bastard out. I failed, boss."
Nico smiled. She garnered loyalty fast, from the players and now from his men. "You will learn much from Doctor Santino. The first she illustrated today: she can hustle. Ridiculously high heels or not, the woman can move when she wants. The second she illustrated is that nothing gets between her and helping someone. Not even her own safety, Frank. You did not fail her. You failed me and my orders but you did not fail her." He put a hand on the man's shoulder as he headed back inside. "But I failed her tonight." He whispered, shaking his head but unable to get the picture of TK carrying Doctor Santino out of his mind. He would remember the fear on the player's face for a long time.
Stopping in the kitchen, Nico looked at the bouquets of flowers his man had picked up: each to his specifications. He moved the two dozen Gerber daisies to the nightstand in her bedroom. The sunflowers, yellow tulips, and white daisy bunches he left in the kitchen because they fit with the sunniness of the room. He picked up the last bouquet, the two dozen red and white tulips, and moved it into the living room on the coffee table.
-%-
It was the pain that woke her up. She glanced at the clock and stared at the huge bouquet of Gerber daisies and immediately forgot about the pain radiating through her hand and up her arm. They were absolutely gorgeous! She got up and stuck her face right in them to breathe in their scent. She loved Gerbers because they were so sunny and happy. They brightened any room and she smiled. She grabbed her robe and headed into the kitchen for coffee to see about making breakfast, one-handed, for the men. It was going to be a good day, she just knew it!
She blinked at the huge bouquet of red and white tulips in the living room. She fingered them gently, idling wondering if he knew what meanings these particular tulip colors held. Then she wondered if he was suckering her in before he let the hammer drop: they still hadn't finished the Juliette conversation. Hearing something from the kitchen, she moved to the doorway. The first thing that greeted her was a third huge bouquet; this time it held sunflowers, yellow tulips, and white daisies. Then she giggled-she'd swear later it was from the painkillers-at seeing Nico cooking breakfast.
He turned to glare at her, growling, "You want any, you knock the giggling off."
Dani smiled then blinked at the dishes in the sink. "You cooked for the men?"
"No, Frank had already started when I came in here. What would you like?" Nico was honest.
"Whatever you are having is fine, Nico, as long as you move out of the way of the coffee." Dani smiled as she grabbed a mug. She waited until he turned to deal with the eggs before she put her coffee down and weighed the options. Sure, he was at the gas stove but she was going to bet on his legendary self-control as she moved in.
Nico stiffened when he felt her arms come around him and he heard her whisper, "The flowers, the dozens of flowers, are absolutely gorgeous, Nico. Thank you."
He closed his eyes but then she was letting him go. "You are welcome. Just make sure TK knows. At this point, any tweets from him about me will be held against you."
Dani chuckled. "Duly noted." She picked up her coffee and made her way to the kitchen table. "Since I know you checked in with your men at the beach house, how are all there?"
Nico smiled as he put their breakfast down on the table and brought over the orange juice. "You think you know me, do you, Doctor?"
She squinted when he used her title but let it slide for the moment. At least it wasn't her full name. "Can anyone really know all about you? I know parts. You are worried about her but you are also worried about my kids. I appreciate that. I wish I was there monitoring the situation, but right now that would make things worse." She ate a few bites then put her fork down. She wasn't sure if it was the conversation she knew was coming or the painkillers, but she wasn't that hungry right then. She watched Nico use economical movements to eat. He didn't waste energy with extra movements, the same way he fixed situations and it made her smile. She let her mind move off the man across from her and onto the next steps with Juliette. The girl really needed a stable, supportive environment. She wanted to change, she had taken that first step, but no one was willing to forget what she had been and what she had done. Not that they should, but if she was going to change, she needed something completely different. Dani sighed; she'd see how the few days at the beach house go before she considered other steps.
Nico watched her eyes lose focus and he wondered what she was thinking so hard about. Was she regretting sending Juliette with her kids? As much as he didn't like it, it was a perfect place for Juliette to get on her feet.
Dani shook herself out of her thoughts and decided while Nico did the dishes, it would be a good time for her to take a quick shower. She sighed, not liking that she was going to have to lean on Nico for something else. Best to just get it over with: "Nico, can you put my hair up and bag the cast so I can shower?"
Nico looked up and nodded.
"After that, we need to finish our discussion." Dani stated as she got up to get a garbage bag, medical tape, and a hair scrunchie. "You can just throw it up in a ponytail." She said as she sat back in her seat a moment later.
Nico nodded and got up to stand behind her. "Would not a bun be better to keep your hair out of the way and not get wet?" He frowned. If his men heard the next question he asked, they would demand to know who the imposter is and where the hell the real Nico Careles is. The question would probably make TK catatonic. He shrugged, she just needed a bit of help and there was no one else here to help her. "Would you like me to brush it before I pull it back?"
Dani's eyes widened, not believing he asked that. "I can get-." Dani cut herself off, Really, what was the big deal? He was offering. It wasn't like this could get more awkward: could it? "Sure. Let me get my brush."
She had forgotten how hypnotic it was to have someone else brush your hair. Not that Ma had done it very often or Ray had done it at all. Lindsay, when she was younger, had loved to brush her hair. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Nico struggled to remember the last time Juliette had let him brush her hair. She must have been ten or so, declaring she was old enough to do it herself. He smiled at the memory of the curious, independent young girl, before life and bad choices had turned her into something else. She would get some of that independence back working with Doctor Santino. Bringing himself back to the present, he put the brush down and twisted up the bun and secured it with the scrunchie. Then he moved to wrap her cast with the garbage bag and tape.
"Thanks, Nico. I'll be back in twenty minutes."
-%-
Nico glanced at the clock again and sighed. It had been almost an hour since Dani had headed for her shower. He was debating on knocking on her door when he heard it open.
Dani growled at the cast. "This is going to be a pain in the ass, Nico. And I am warning you now: my temper is going to be shorter because of it annoying the crap out of me."
Nico nodded. Usually one of her outbursts like that would make him smile, but he had spent the time thinking about how to get the information of who had told her about Juliette out of her. He had plotted options, thought of questions to use, and even thought of intimidation, knowing it wouldn't really work on her.
Dani studied him and knew her reprieve was over. She settled herself on the couch, absently picking at her cast. "Nico, you can ask your questions, try intimidation, go back and forth between nice and scary, but I won't tell you." She looked up at him frowning down at her. "I can't tell you."
He studied her. She was using her patient-therapist protection. That was interesting in itself. "Very well. I will let that go." For the moment was implied in his pause. "But I need to know the Pittmans will not find out. That the one who informed you will not also inform them."
Dani kept her eyes on him, she borrowed his words. "I promise the one who informed me would never inform either Mr. or Mrs. Pittman. You have my word and I will take responsibility for the one who informed me." She needed him settled on this, couldn't have it keep coming back up: her nerves couldn't handle this.
Nico sighed: he'd take her word because he trusted her and he knew she'd protect Juliette. "But let us discuss how you knew Juliette was in danger. Why did you not just call me? Why did you make one of my men break the rules for you?"
Dani blinked and when the implication hit her, she pushed herself off the couch and swore in pain when she used her right hand. "What did you do to Frank?! He only broke the stupid rule because I was freaking out and making my way out of the stadium with or without him."
Another time, he would have found it interesting that she got more upset about the threat to one of his men than the threat to herself. He stepped closer to her. "Stupid rule? Oh, you mean that little rule that keeps you in a secure area so that I do not lie to your children when I said I would keep you safe? The stupid rule that says you do not leave the stadium without me so that Rat Bastard does not attack you like he has your house? Like he has threatened Lindsay? That stupid rule?"
Dani stood on her toes, her finger waving in his face. Damn I wish I was taller! "I wouldn't have had to break the rules if you had been at the stadium. Oh, wait, you had another situation to deal with, an unrelated situation, a super-secret-squirrel situation. One no one else can know about. You talk about what you promised my daughter but what you seem to forget is that you promised it. You promised Lindsay you would take care of her mother. How to you expect to do that on some super-secret mission?" Dani didn't bother keeping voice low.
Nico blew out a breath. "My men knew how to reach me for important things."
It clicked, right then, and Dani's eyes narrowed. "Where exactly where you, Nico?"
Nico knew from her tone she wasn't about to let this one go. "I was handling a situation for the Hawks. You do not get to know everything I handle for the Hawks. Think of it as my client-fixer protections."
"You want to know why I didn't just call you to handle the Juliette situation? You would have seen it as important and had someone watching the place but you would have missed the urgency of the situation. As for how I knew, I don't know. I was anxious and edgy at 1030, like I knew we had forgotten something or someone. I knew we had the two women locked down; my family and Jeanette were safe so it couldn't be anyone of them. Why did Juliette come to me right then? I don't know. Her name just popped into my head right then and I suddenly I knew why it felt like the lull before the storm. I crashed into Frank and he saw the fear and panic in my eyes." She moved her eyes back up to Nico's face and whispered, "I should have thought of her days ago. I should have said something to protect her."
Nico blinked at the tears he saw falling on her face. She felt guilty about not protecting Juliette?! He hadn't seen that coming. "Why do you feel guilty? You don't know her, Dani."
Dani took a ragged breath. She knew using her first name was a slip for him, and it told her how confused and on edge he was. "Because she's important to you, Nico. You risked your job, your place with the team, your life to help her when she finally asked. You came to me with a veiled and vague question on how to help her. Because she's collateral damage in her parents' lives. Because she needs help."
Nico closed his eyes and whispered, "Mother Santino."
Dani glared at him but kept the words she wanted to snap at him about that name locked inside. "Yes, part of my wanting to help others comes from being a nurturing mother. That doesn't make my motives suspicious nor does it make me a bad person."
Nico looked down at her. "It makes you, you. It isn't a bad thing, you just have this mama bear dogged protection thing: with your kids, with your clients, and with your friends. Lord knows Juliette needs that protection right now: your unwavering protection. She'll slip up but she won't slide back so far now."
"You know it won't do for everyone to keep reminding her of her failures, right?" Dani asked softly, not sure how the heated argument changed so much. "Yes, she needs to remember them to know how far she's come but you can't waive them in front of her every time something happens. All that will accomplish is sending her back to where she is trying to crawl out of. People keep telling you only bad stuff, you start to believe it and it erodes your confidence and strength. It's hard to get either back." Dani reached out to put her good hand on his arm. "I won't let her fail, Nico. Not this time. I don't know what relationship she and I will have, but I won't let her get lost again."
Nico nodded and lifted his gaze away from hers. He couldn't let her see how much that meant to him, how much her promising to take care of Juliette meant to him. His eyes fell to her phone and the picture text came back to him and he stiffened. "You swear you don't know why you thought of Juliette right then and why it was suddenly so urgent to get to her. Yet you do not mention the picture text."
Dani stepped back at the violence radiating off him again. How can he change gears so quickly? "Picture text? What are you talking about, Nico?"
He grabbed her phone and showed her the damning evidence. "He sent you this!"
Dani focused on the image on her screen. It was a picture of another phone with a text coming in from Juliette that said 9-1-1. Dani blinked. He thought she was keeping this from him? "What was in your coffee this morning? Did you get into my painkillers? Because you had to take something if you think I would not tell you if I had gotten a text like this. You are out of your ever loving mind, Nico!" She took the phone and squinted, then she tapped the picture to make it larger and shook her head. Then she looked at the time stamp and wondered. She looked in her call log and blinked. "Shit." She looked up at Nico. "He sent that exactly one minute after I called you that morning for Juliette's address. One minute after, Nico." She handed him back the phone and winced. She had forgotten to take the painkiller during breakfast. "Nico, it was a faked photo. Look at the lower left corner of the phone in the picture. There's a small chip out of the screen." Then she moved into the kitchen to swallow painkillers. Had it been last night when she thought it funny that she could move the arm but not feel it? She voted to go back to that lack of feeling over the pain radiating through her hand and up her arm almost to her elbow.
Nico stared at the picture again and spotted the imperfection. How had he missed that? Easy: you were focused on the implication of the message, not the details. How had he gotten so wrapped up in the people and emotions that he forgot to pay attention to the information? He sighed: Juliette.
Chapter 6
Word Count: Chapter 7: 3,776; [48,282 total]
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nico/Dani-Possibly. Eventually?
Spoilers: References something from 1x07 and 1x11.
Disclaimer: don't own. Don't profit. Don't … a lot of things
Summary: She'd be willing to bet the Nico of reality was somewhere between her good guy and his evil one but he wasn't ready to see that just yet. "Nico, I work on feelings and intuition. Of course I see the potential. You work in cold facts and realities that aren't pretty so you see the bad. In order for music to be beautiful, there has to be a mix of sunny majors with the dark, harsh minors."
Author's Note: So, you can blame or credit, jeer or cheer brokenroots & goodisrelative for this 92-page (20+ chapter) fic. Brokenroots started me thinking about NR fic (go read hers, it's better) and then they both beat me up to get more. Please note, this fic is done. finished. fin. over. ended. ... that doesn't mean there might not be a sequel. at least a "Sunday Supper at Mama C's" [you'll meet Mama C in a much later chapter]
"We will continue that discussion, Doctor Santino, but at another time. You need to get dressed and discharged then we'll fill your prescriptions and get some food before we head to the house. The doctor prescribed a sedative for tonight. You need the rest and we both know you have not been getting much the last few nights." Nico put himself back in charge.
Dani nodded and looked up at him. "Nico, can we just go home? Send someone else out for the drugs and food? I'm tired."
Nico saw the exhaustion in her eyes and nodded. "Can you get dressed or do you need help?" He could get a nurse but he was still feeling guilty about not remembering her hand and didn't want to let her out of his sight yet.
Dani smiled. "I'm tired but I'm not that tired, Nico. You go get the nurse."
Nico nodded back at her then turned and headed out of the room to find a nurse.
Dani used the alone time to swing her legs off the bed, thankful that nothing was still attached to her. She looked around the room but didn't see her clothes. She sighed and waited for the nurse: no sense pushing herself too much. She lifted her right arm: it felt weird since she could move it but not feel it.
The nurse was quick and they were in the SUV ten minutes later. It only took five minutes for Dani to fall asleep. Nico kept his voice low as he called one of his men to make three stops, detailing what he needed from the three locations, thankful the team had a preferred pharmacy that used e-scripts from the team's doctors.
This time, he didn't debate what he was doing: he eyed the approach as he parked, got out and went around to Dani's side of the vehicle and lifted her out of the SUV. Frank made sure the door was open for him as he carried her into her room and laid her down on the bed. He frowned at the cast and turned from her and the guilt. He should call Juliette, just to check in, maybe even talk with Jeanette to make sure everything was going well there. It wasn't a good idea for Juliette to be with the kids, he of all people knew she could be a worse role model than TK.
"Leave them be, Nico. People think that it's the holding on that makes one strong-sometimes it's letting go." Dani whispered. "Right now, you need to let her go. She knows you are around but right now, more than anything, she needs to learn to catch herself when she falls, allowing her to fix herself because she is strong enough. We'll check in with them in the morning, Nico. The world won't end."
Nico heard her soft words and nodded before he headed out of the room.
Dani sighed and closed her eyes again.
He woke her to take the painkiller and sedative when his man got back from the errands, about twenty minutes later. She wanted to protest that she was tired enough to just pass out, but the hardness was back in his eyes and she knew he wasn't about to take no.
-%-
Nico sat with his iPad on his lap, not reading the tweets and Facebook statuses. He didn't even read his email. Instead, he ran his mind back over when he had brought Juliette to the rehab place. He hadn't really talked with Doctor Santino that day except to get her advice about enabling and consequences. He knew no one had followed him. His phones weren't monitored. So how had Doctor Santino found out about Juliette and rehab? His men, if they even knew, would never say anything: loyalty worked both ways and he had spent years instilling that in his men.
He stilled when one thought came to him. Had Juliette called someone? But who would she call? Her father had all but washed his hands of her and Gabriella, Gabriella would be too embarrassed to have a child in rehab again. Besides, Gabriella would just laugh at her daughter and ask how much it was costing this time. No, Juliette wouldn't call either of them.
He rubbed his temple in frustration and moved his thoughts onto a different topic, knowing he needed more information to deal with the Doctor Santino-Juliette connection. How was he going to handle Frank's disobedience? And Doctor Santino's? He knew both had reasons, valid ones, ones they were right in following, but there still had to be consequences. He could deal with Frank now and he pushed himself off the couch and headed out the back door.
Frank kept his eyes steady on the boss's. He knew this discussion was coming: he had broken the rules and the Doc had gotten hurt because of it. It didn't matter that they had saved a scared young woman; the mission was protecting Doctor Santino and he had failed.
Nico eyed his man. "You know it was wrong."
Frank nodded. "I know, boss, but you didn't see her breaking. I didn't even know it was about Juliette when I broke the rule." Frank shook his head, breaking eye contact with Nico. "I should have been faster. It should have been me knocking that bastard out. I failed, boss."
Nico smiled. She garnered loyalty fast, from the players and now from his men. "You will learn much from Doctor Santino. The first she illustrated today: she can hustle. Ridiculously high heels or not, the woman can move when she wants. The second she illustrated is that nothing gets between her and helping someone. Not even her own safety, Frank. You did not fail her. You failed me and my orders but you did not fail her." He put a hand on the man's shoulder as he headed back inside. "But I failed her tonight." He whispered, shaking his head but unable to get the picture of TK carrying Doctor Santino out of his mind. He would remember the fear on the player's face for a long time.
Stopping in the kitchen, Nico looked at the bouquets of flowers his man had picked up: each to his specifications. He moved the two dozen Gerber daisies to the nightstand in her bedroom. The sunflowers, yellow tulips, and white daisy bunches he left in the kitchen because they fit with the sunniness of the room. He picked up the last bouquet, the two dozen red and white tulips, and moved it into the living room on the coffee table.
-%-
It was the pain that woke her up. She glanced at the clock and stared at the huge bouquet of Gerber daisies and immediately forgot about the pain radiating through her hand and up her arm. They were absolutely gorgeous! She got up and stuck her face right in them to breathe in their scent. She loved Gerbers because they were so sunny and happy. They brightened any room and she smiled. She grabbed her robe and headed into the kitchen for coffee to see about making breakfast, one-handed, for the men. It was going to be a good day, she just knew it!
She blinked at the huge bouquet of red and white tulips in the living room. She fingered them gently, idling wondering if he knew what meanings these particular tulip colors held. Then she wondered if he was suckering her in before he let the hammer drop: they still hadn't finished the Juliette conversation. Hearing something from the kitchen, she moved to the doorway. The first thing that greeted her was a third huge bouquet; this time it held sunflowers, yellow tulips, and white daisies. Then she giggled-she'd swear later it was from the painkillers-at seeing Nico cooking breakfast.
He turned to glare at her, growling, "You want any, you knock the giggling off."
Dani smiled then blinked at the dishes in the sink. "You cooked for the men?"
"No, Frank had already started when I came in here. What would you like?" Nico was honest.
"Whatever you are having is fine, Nico, as long as you move out of the way of the coffee." Dani smiled as she grabbed a mug. She waited until he turned to deal with the eggs before she put her coffee down and weighed the options. Sure, he was at the gas stove but she was going to bet on his legendary self-control as she moved in.
Nico stiffened when he felt her arms come around him and he heard her whisper, "The flowers, the dozens of flowers, are absolutely gorgeous, Nico. Thank you."
He closed his eyes but then she was letting him go. "You are welcome. Just make sure TK knows. At this point, any tweets from him about me will be held against you."
Dani chuckled. "Duly noted." She picked up her coffee and made her way to the kitchen table. "Since I know you checked in with your men at the beach house, how are all there?"
Nico smiled as he put their breakfast down on the table and brought over the orange juice. "You think you know me, do you, Doctor?"
She squinted when he used her title but let it slide for the moment. At least it wasn't her full name. "Can anyone really know all about you? I know parts. You are worried about her but you are also worried about my kids. I appreciate that. I wish I was there monitoring the situation, but right now that would make things worse." She ate a few bites then put her fork down. She wasn't sure if it was the conversation she knew was coming or the painkillers, but she wasn't that hungry right then. She watched Nico use economical movements to eat. He didn't waste energy with extra movements, the same way he fixed situations and it made her smile. She let her mind move off the man across from her and onto the next steps with Juliette. The girl really needed a stable, supportive environment. She wanted to change, she had taken that first step, but no one was willing to forget what she had been and what she had done. Not that they should, but if she was going to change, she needed something completely different. Dani sighed; she'd see how the few days at the beach house go before she considered other steps.
Nico watched her eyes lose focus and he wondered what she was thinking so hard about. Was she regretting sending Juliette with her kids? As much as he didn't like it, it was a perfect place for Juliette to get on her feet.
Dani shook herself out of her thoughts and decided while Nico did the dishes, it would be a good time for her to take a quick shower. She sighed, not liking that she was going to have to lean on Nico for something else. Best to just get it over with: "Nico, can you put my hair up and bag the cast so I can shower?"
Nico looked up and nodded.
"After that, we need to finish our discussion." Dani stated as she got up to get a garbage bag, medical tape, and a hair scrunchie. "You can just throw it up in a ponytail." She said as she sat back in her seat a moment later.
Nico nodded and got up to stand behind her. "Would not a bun be better to keep your hair out of the way and not get wet?" He frowned. If his men heard the next question he asked, they would demand to know who the imposter is and where the hell the real Nico Careles is. The question would probably make TK catatonic. He shrugged, she just needed a bit of help and there was no one else here to help her. "Would you like me to brush it before I pull it back?"
Dani's eyes widened, not believing he asked that. "I can get-." Dani cut herself off, Really, what was the big deal? He was offering. It wasn't like this could get more awkward: could it? "Sure. Let me get my brush."
She had forgotten how hypnotic it was to have someone else brush your hair. Not that Ma had done it very often or Ray had done it at all. Lindsay, when she was younger, had loved to brush her hair. She closed her eyes and sighed.
Nico struggled to remember the last time Juliette had let him brush her hair. She must have been ten or so, declaring she was old enough to do it herself. He smiled at the memory of the curious, independent young girl, before life and bad choices had turned her into something else. She would get some of that independence back working with Doctor Santino. Bringing himself back to the present, he put the brush down and twisted up the bun and secured it with the scrunchie. Then he moved to wrap her cast with the garbage bag and tape.
"Thanks, Nico. I'll be back in twenty minutes."
-%-
Nico glanced at the clock again and sighed. It had been almost an hour since Dani had headed for her shower. He was debating on knocking on her door when he heard it open.
Dani growled at the cast. "This is going to be a pain in the ass, Nico. And I am warning you now: my temper is going to be shorter because of it annoying the crap out of me."
Nico nodded. Usually one of her outbursts like that would make him smile, but he had spent the time thinking about how to get the information of who had told her about Juliette out of her. He had plotted options, thought of questions to use, and even thought of intimidation, knowing it wouldn't really work on her.
Dani studied him and knew her reprieve was over. She settled herself on the couch, absently picking at her cast. "Nico, you can ask your questions, try intimidation, go back and forth between nice and scary, but I won't tell you." She looked up at him frowning down at her. "I can't tell you."
He studied her. She was using her patient-therapist protection. That was interesting in itself. "Very well. I will let that go." For the moment was implied in his pause. "But I need to know the Pittmans will not find out. That the one who informed you will not also inform them."
Dani kept her eyes on him, she borrowed his words. "I promise the one who informed me would never inform either Mr. or Mrs. Pittman. You have my word and I will take responsibility for the one who informed me." She needed him settled on this, couldn't have it keep coming back up: her nerves couldn't handle this.
Nico sighed: he'd take her word because he trusted her and he knew she'd protect Juliette. "But let us discuss how you knew Juliette was in danger. Why did you not just call me? Why did you make one of my men break the rules for you?"
Dani blinked and when the implication hit her, she pushed herself off the couch and swore in pain when she used her right hand. "What did you do to Frank?! He only broke the stupid rule because I was freaking out and making my way out of the stadium with or without him."
Another time, he would have found it interesting that she got more upset about the threat to one of his men than the threat to herself. He stepped closer to her. "Stupid rule? Oh, you mean that little rule that keeps you in a secure area so that I do not lie to your children when I said I would keep you safe? The stupid rule that says you do not leave the stadium without me so that Rat Bastard does not attack you like he has your house? Like he has threatened Lindsay? That stupid rule?"
Dani stood on her toes, her finger waving in his face. Damn I wish I was taller! "I wouldn't have had to break the rules if you had been at the stadium. Oh, wait, you had another situation to deal with, an unrelated situation, a super-secret-squirrel situation. One no one else can know about. You talk about what you promised my daughter but what you seem to forget is that you promised it. You promised Lindsay you would take care of her mother. How to you expect to do that on some super-secret mission?" Dani didn't bother keeping voice low.
Nico blew out a breath. "My men knew how to reach me for important things."
It clicked, right then, and Dani's eyes narrowed. "Where exactly where you, Nico?"
Nico knew from her tone she wasn't about to let this one go. "I was handling a situation for the Hawks. You do not get to know everything I handle for the Hawks. Think of it as my client-fixer protections."
"You want to know why I didn't just call you to handle the Juliette situation? You would have seen it as important and had someone watching the place but you would have missed the urgency of the situation. As for how I knew, I don't know. I was anxious and edgy at 1030, like I knew we had forgotten something or someone. I knew we had the two women locked down; my family and Jeanette were safe so it couldn't be anyone of them. Why did Juliette come to me right then? I don't know. Her name just popped into my head right then and I suddenly I knew why it felt like the lull before the storm. I crashed into Frank and he saw the fear and panic in my eyes." She moved her eyes back up to Nico's face and whispered, "I should have thought of her days ago. I should have said something to protect her."
Nico blinked at the tears he saw falling on her face. She felt guilty about not protecting Juliette?! He hadn't seen that coming. "Why do you feel guilty? You don't know her, Dani."
Dani took a ragged breath. She knew using her first name was a slip for him, and it told her how confused and on edge he was. "Because she's important to you, Nico. You risked your job, your place with the team, your life to help her when she finally asked. You came to me with a veiled and vague question on how to help her. Because she's collateral damage in her parents' lives. Because she needs help."
Nico closed his eyes and whispered, "Mother Santino."
Dani glared at him but kept the words she wanted to snap at him about that name locked inside. "Yes, part of my wanting to help others comes from being a nurturing mother. That doesn't make my motives suspicious nor does it make me a bad person."
Nico looked down at her. "It makes you, you. It isn't a bad thing, you just have this mama bear dogged protection thing: with your kids, with your clients, and with your friends. Lord knows Juliette needs that protection right now: your unwavering protection. She'll slip up but she won't slide back so far now."
"You know it won't do for everyone to keep reminding her of her failures, right?" Dani asked softly, not sure how the heated argument changed so much. "Yes, she needs to remember them to know how far she's come but you can't waive them in front of her every time something happens. All that will accomplish is sending her back to where she is trying to crawl out of. People keep telling you only bad stuff, you start to believe it and it erodes your confidence and strength. It's hard to get either back." Dani reached out to put her good hand on his arm. "I won't let her fail, Nico. Not this time. I don't know what relationship she and I will have, but I won't let her get lost again."
Nico nodded and lifted his gaze away from hers. He couldn't let her see how much that meant to him, how much her promising to take care of Juliette meant to him. His eyes fell to her phone and the picture text came back to him and he stiffened. "You swear you don't know why you thought of Juliette right then and why it was suddenly so urgent to get to her. Yet you do not mention the picture text."
Dani stepped back at the violence radiating off him again. How can he change gears so quickly? "Picture text? What are you talking about, Nico?"
He grabbed her phone and showed her the damning evidence. "He sent you this!"
Dani focused on the image on her screen. It was a picture of another phone with a text coming in from Juliette that said 9-1-1. Dani blinked. He thought she was keeping this from him? "What was in your coffee this morning? Did you get into my painkillers? Because you had to take something if you think I would not tell you if I had gotten a text like this. You are out of your ever loving mind, Nico!" She took the phone and squinted, then she tapped the picture to make it larger and shook her head. Then she looked at the time stamp and wondered. She looked in her call log and blinked. "Shit." She looked up at Nico. "He sent that exactly one minute after I called you that morning for Juliette's address. One minute after, Nico." She handed him back the phone and winced. She had forgotten to take the painkiller during breakfast. "Nico, it was a faked photo. Look at the lower left corner of the phone in the picture. There's a small chip out of the screen." Then she moved into the kitchen to swallow painkillers. Had it been last night when she thought it funny that she could move the arm but not feel it? She voted to go back to that lack of feeling over the pain radiating through her hand and up her arm almost to her elbow.
Nico stared at the picture again and spotted the imperfection. How had he missed that? Easy: you were focused on the implication of the message, not the details. How had he gotten so wrapped up in the people and emotions that he forgot to pay attention to the information? He sighed: Juliette.
Chapter 6