Crumbs for the Monsters...
We Have a Situation
Word Count: 2,727
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nico/Dani (eventually)
Spoilers: up to 1x07, goes AU in the middle of 1x06, though.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just break things.
Summary: She thinks he thinks everything is a situation. Trouble is, he's right. She just doesn't know it yet.
Author's Note: So the characters... and I both had some trouble remembering where they were at the time. Nico had to keep pointing it out, lol.
Chemistry
Oh, no, he didn't. He did not do this. He had damn well better not be doing this. He knew better, and she knew that he did. He was not supposed to be here. She was going to handle this. Nico's presence would only hinder her conversation with TK. She shook her head and turned back to cut him off before he could get close to the grave, stopping in the path and folding her arms over her chest. "I thought I told you I'd handle this."
He nodded in acknowledgment, but he didn't back off. She didn't like this. Whatever he was here for, it couldn't be good. She shouldn't have even noticed he was there-that was the way he worked. Okay, so he wanted to talk to her. That could be awkward, too.
"I'd have liked to let you, but this wasn't something that could wait."
Dani frowned as she looked over at Nico. Damn, he was tired. He was exhausted. It was all over him. If he didn't get some rest soon, he'd just fall over. He did not look good right now. She wished he'd listened to her, that he'd gone home and gotten some sleep.
"What couldn't wait?"
He passed her the tablet, and she read over at the document on the screen for a moment before wincing. She shook her head and looked over at TK. He was kneeling in front of his mother's grave, lost in thought. She hadn't wanted to approach him yet, and she couldn't let Nico go over there. Not now. Not with those results. "Nico, this is going to kill him."
"We don't have to tell him right away, but I am not the only one who has access to these results. Someone else will tell him, and it will not be good if he hears it from one of them. You're the one he trusts, not the coach, not Donnally and definitely not Radcliffe," Nico told her, and she nodded. She knew that TK needed to hear it from her. No one else would understand his connection to Devin and be sympathetic towards that. Matt had already made it clear that he thought TK wasn't the father and that was a good thing. Laura would want to put the whole thing in a positive light for the press, bury the stalker and the child and make it all go away. Why was it that Nico didn't want that, too? Wasn't making things disappear his job?
"Why are you doing this, Nico?"
"Informing you? That is my job, and since you mentioned problems with your phone, I figured it was best to do it in person."
"Not that, though... thank you for making sure I got the news. I mean this. With TK. You know he's not the father, and instead of using that to end everything, you're trying to help TK cope with it. Don't you think it's better if Devin isn't his son?"
"At this point, no. TK is too attached. The boy is too attached. Having some outside piece of paper decide for him is not going to help," Nico said, again impressing her with his insight. He might think that he couldn't fix people, but the truth was that his skill at observation, his intuition, and his analytical mind led him to a better understanding of people than some of the therapists she'd gone to school with. He had known where to find TK, and he knew what TK needed now. "TK needed to reach the decision to keep or let go of the boy without someone telling him that the boy isn't his. It takes a bigger man-bigger person-to accept responsibility for a child that isn't his or hers, but TK might see this as a convenient way out of the situation he's created with Devin."
"Okay, why is it that you-on no sleep, injured, and aware of dozens of other situations that I know nothing about-can pinpoint what is going on and put it in the most direct way possible while I'm still running around like a damn chicken with its head cut off?"
Nico gave her a slight smile. "I would hardly put it that way. I think the difference is that I stand in the background while you are in the forefront. You're the one dealing directly with TK and Devin, not me. I can sit back and do what I do best-observe and analyze."
She hoped it was just that. She was supposed to be better at dealing with people than this. She was a therapist, after all. She understood thought patterns and behaviors. She helped people with them every day. "Jeanette says he could surprise us. That maybe he'll want Devin anyway."
"He is the only one that's convinced that is for the best, though," Nico said, and she nodded unhappily. She closed her eyes and shook her head, leaning it against his arm. He stepped sideways, away from her. "I think it's best that you keep your displays of gratitude to a smile in the future."
"What?" she asked, looking up at him. She'd stumbled a bit when he moved, and she didn't like it. "Why?"
"That kiss? It may have been on the cheek, but under the circumstances, it was highly inappropriate and provocative."
She smiled a little. "Can't stand the heat?"
Nico shook his head. "I assure you that I could withstand anything you came up with, but I am referring to your friend Donnally."
Matt. He had been standing there when she did it. She'd almost forgotten. It wasn't like she'd meant to or anything. There was TK and then she'd gone to the stadium not sure what she'd find, and Nico had been there. She'd been so focused on the latest situation with TK that Matt's presence was actually more of an hindrance than a help. She just needed to find TK, that had been all that she'd cared about. Nico could help. Matt had no idea. Of course, she should have known, but that wasn't the point.
A part of her-still stung and hurt by how quickly Matt had moved on without her, even if he deserved to have a life of his own-wanted to say that it didn't matter what Matt thought. He'd given up any right to have a say in her life-not that he really had one to begin with because that was her business and her decision-when he hooked up with Laura. Who was he to say who Dani could and could not be with? If she wanted to give Nico a kiss-on the cheek or otherwise-it did not concern him.
Then again, she had been the one to draw the line, to want a professional relationship once she got involved with the Hawks. She had put the bread stick between them, not him. If she felt that she had to keep things professional with Matt, then why should Nico be any different? Why could she have an unprofessional relationship with Nico and not with Matt?
She couldn't answer that. She knew that it was a double standard. She couldn't do it.
"You're right. It won't happen again."
Nico turned to leave, and she caught his arm. He stopped and looked at her. "I thought we just agreed that-"
"We have so many things to talk about, things that have nothing to do with TK and everything to do with how we go forward from this point, and if we don't talk about them soon-the fact is, it's not going to go away with me promising not to kiss you in public. What next, I can't touch you?"
"There seems to be a strong reaction to physical contact at this point."
"And we've done the ignoring thing, and that's not exactly working, is it?"
"You were in a hurry to get to TK."
"Nico, damn it, stop trying to change the subject. This thing between us has been getting between us working together for a while now."
"A day."
She sighed. "It's actually two now."
"This is hardly the time or place for this discussion," Nico began, looking over toward TK and the graves. Dani didn't like doing this here, either, but she didn't know when they'd have another chance. They didn't seem to have much time alone-too much sometimes and not enough at others. How was she supposed to tell him everything, to explain what she was thinking and feeling and the conflict she had? She wanted to tell him how close she was to crossing that professional boundary, and she didn't even understand that because she was still trying to deny this thing between them only a day ago. She was so confused. She wanted more but had to stop at less. She wanted to talk it out, get rid of this confusion and the tension.
"When is?" she finally asked, and he looked down at the ground for a moment. "We need to settle this."
"How? We've established that ignoring it is not an option. You want to... let the physical attraction run its course?"
She put a hand to her head. "That has got to be the worst possible way of saying it. Where's the romance in that, Nico?"
"Again, not the time or the place."
She laughed a little. It wasn't really that funny, but she needed to laugh. It wasn't like she expected to yank him down onto the nearest burial plot and have her way with him, but she definitely didn't want to make it into something so cold and... clinical. It would be like... donating sperm or something, and that image made her cringe.
She shook her head. "No, but you can do better than that, right?"
"If I couldn't, things would be simpler," he said, amused. She rolled her eyes. He almost touched her, but he stopped himself. "I should go. Let me know if you need any help with TK."
She nodded, watching him leave. She didn't want him to go, but if he stayed, they would do something they shouldn't in a highly inappropriate place. She couldn't believe this. They were rational people. It should be simple to take care of a physical attraction. She winced. That sounded wrong as well. She had been able to get by on dreams of Matt-and she could hear Jeanette saying something about a vibrator. That would have to be enough. If they succumbed to the physical attraction, it would most likely end with things between them so awkward that they couldn't work together anymore.
She took a deep breath and walked over to TK.
"Took you long enough to get over here, Doctor D."
Dani shrugged. She knelt down next to TK's side, looking at the dates for Leona King again. Beloved mother. Would that lie be on her tombstone, too? What had Leona really done for her son? Sure, underneath all that anger, TK still loved his mother, but calling her beloved was a stretch. "I haven't been sleeping very well lately, and that tends to affect my judgment. It took me a while-and someone else to tell me-that I already knew where you were."
"Nico?" TK asked, looking around the cemetery. She didn't see him, either, but that was no surprise. He should be heading home, and even if he didn't, she didn't think that he'd be anywhere where they'd notice him. "You two been getting pretty close, huh?"
"TK, now is really not the time for that," she began, and he gave her a look. She sighed. "Look, the situation with me and Nico... It's complicated. And it's not going to go anywhere, so you can just drop it."
"Dude, is this more of your boundaries crap? Is that it?" TK asked with a frown. He shook his head. "You know, I don't get you. Sure, patients, that's one thing, but you and the big N? Why you gotta have rules about that? You both should have some. Hell, that man needs to get laid. Bad."
"What Nico needs right now is probably about a day's worth of sleep, antibiotics, and someone to make sure that his cell phone is off and no one can interrupt him so that he actually rests for a change. We're not here to talk about Nico. We're here because of you, because of what's going on with you and Devin."
"Big D? He's good." The tone of TK's voice suggested otherwise, though Dani knew that Devin was safe back at her home. Jeanette would have told her if anything was wrong. The person who wasn't good-that was TK. "Come on, Doctor D, how about some equality? You share; I share. You been telling me all about your kids. They the reason that you don't want to get involved with Nico?"
"Therapy is not about equality, TK. I am not the friend that you talk to. I have to be separate. I can't be your friend. A friend gives this a completely different dynamic, one that is not going to let you make progress. I need to be the doctor and you need to be the patient. Being the patient doesn't mean you're crazy. We all need help. We all have issues to face. We talk to our friends, but our friends-we expect them to agree with us, to take our side. A therapist is not supposed to take sides."
"That's why you never do, right?"
Dani sighed. "I'm not perfect. I've taken more sides with you than I ever should have. I have not been at my best with you, and that's on me. That is something that I will work on."
"I'll forget all about it if you tell me about you and Nico."
"There's nothing to tell. Nothing has happened. Even if it had, I would not tell you. This is a classic attempt at deflection, and it almost worked. But it's not going to, not this time," she insisted. TK sighed and reached over to touched his mother's grave. "You came here because you needed to think, didn't you? What were you thinking?"
"About my moms. About how she OD'd and left me. About my dad. About how he didn't want me. I thought-am I like my dad, Doctor D? If I decide I don't want Devin, I'm doing what he did, right? Throwing him away like my dad threw me away?" TK asked. He hit his hand on the top of the grave. "I don't want to be like him. I can be better than him. I have to be better than him."
"I know that you can be better. You will be better. That does not mean that you have to take care of Devin just because of your father," she began, and he gave her an incredulous look. She touched his hand. "When a woman gets pregnant, she has options. It is her choice, but if she knows that she cannot take care of the baby, the best choice is not keeping it. That baby can have a chance at a better life if she lets it go. There is a chance that we do more good by holding onto something than if we let it go."
"But he's my kid. And Cherise needed help before she got in that accident. I'm supposed to walk away from all of that? How the hell do I live with myself? I can help him. I'm not perfect, but he could do worse than having the Terrence King for his father."
Dani took a deep breath. Now was the time. He had opened it up for her to say it. She had to give him the results. She took TK's hands in hers. "There is something that I need to tell you, TK, and this is not easy. The paternity tests came back."
"And I'm Devin's father. Yeah, I knew that, Doctor D."
She shook her head. "No, TK, you're not. I'm sorry."
Chapter Fourteen