More, Because It's Already Written
Never a Small Favor
Word Count: 2,930
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Nico/Dani (eventually); Dani/Matt (doesn't last); Mike/Fi
Spoilers: up to 1x12 of Necessary Roughness and up to... uh, 4x01 of Burn Notice, I think.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just break things.
Summary: Even with old friends, favors are never small and always have a price.
Author's Note: I really enjoy the way that the two shows were able to connect and the interaction between all the characters. That's what makes crossovers fun. :)
Initial Contact
Dani looked up at the hospital and sighed. She'd gone outside to make the call, but leaving TK's side for even a minute seemed wrong. She knew that there was really nothing that she could do to help him, but she felt a need to be there. Everyone else had come and gone, even Vivica had been persuaded to go home at last, but Dani couldn't make herself leave.
She'd called the kids to tell them to stay with their father and go to school. Ray Jay was really worried about TK, and he'd come by after school, with Lindsay, but Dani had forced them both to go back to their father's after they'd spent some time with TK. She had stayed. She kept staying, even though she knew that she should go home. She remembered the way that TK had described himself in the beginning of their relationship, how it echoed what Ray had said about her, and she knew that she couldn't abandon him. She had to be there, at the hospital, by his side.
That was half the reason she was making the call. Someone's absence was more than a little glaring, in the light of the past forty-eight hours and in the wake of something she'd accidentally overheard at TK's side. At first it had been easy to assume that Nico was just gone making sure all of the details were in order to make sure that TK's shooter was put away, but now, given what she knew of the personal distress Nico had been under and what she'd heard, she wasn't so sure about that anymore.
The impossible happened. No, not TK getting shot; that was bound to happen. I'm talking about Nico. Pittman fired him.
She pushed the button determinedly. It rang twice before he picked up.
"What?"
She could have said any number of things, but she'd settled on a simple enough question-one she still figured he wouldn't answer. "Nico, where are you?"
She had to hold the phone away from her ear as someone shouted. "Is that Pittman? I want to give him a piece of my mind. Listen to me, you rotten, no good, selfish, arrogant rich bastard, you can go to hell. You twist around a man's life and loyalty, and you let your wife-"
She heard sounds of a scuffle and then Nico apparently gained control of his phone again. "You have my apologies, Dr. Santino. That man was under the impression I was talking to someone else."
Yeah, she'd gathered that much. "Marshall Pittman, maybe?"
"Is there something you need?"
"Where are you?" she asked again. She could hear things in the background and she would swear, if it was anyone other than Nico... She shook her head. No way. Not him. " That sounds like... a beach. Never mind. That's not-oh, hell, Nico, did Pittman really fire you?"
"If you're asking if that is the reason why I am not present at the hospital with TK, the answer is no," Nico said, and she noticed that he did not really answer the question. "I told you before. I am looking into another angle."
She made a face. "What other angle could you possibly be investigating at a beach?"
"I am not on a beach."
"Right. And you're not standing there talking to someone who hates Marshall Pittman, either," she muttered. Damn the man, he was infuriating most of the time. "Nico, honestly. I am your friend. And your colleague. I think. That's if you didn't get fired because you didn't actually answer that question or tell me where you are, and I guess that's because you're trying not to lie like you pride yourself on, but if something is going on, you can talk to me. I know you said you couldn't compromise yourself, but after TK's shooting, you never said how that worked out for you. I heard someone say that Pittman let you go, and no one knows why. Except, I guess, for me, if what they're saying is true."
"I assure you, Dr. Santino, TK's shooting is my priority right now," Nico began. "Whatever it takes to resolve that issue, it will be done. This is what I do, not sit around at someone's bedside. That is your department. Let me know if anything changes with Terrence or if there are further developments regarding Bobby Caldwell's car accident."
"Wouldn't you already know them?" she demanded. Her only answer was a dial tone. She looked down at her phone and cursed it in every way she knew how, even in a few she hadn't known she knew. Then she cursed the man who'd been on the other end of the line.
By the time she was done, everyone around her was looking at her, and security was on their way over. She shook her head. The next time she saw Nico, she was going to kill him.
"You sure you know what you need to do?"
"I understand your hesitation in trusting your 'mission' to someone you don't know, but no amount of assurances from me or repetitions from you would change what you're feeling now," Nico said, and Micheal reluctantly agreed with him. He knew that Sam vouched for the man, and sometimes that was a good thing-sometimes it was not. Sam's friends could be dicey.
"Fine. Sam?"
"Got your transmitter right here, Nico," Sam said, holding up a small device. He moved close to Nico, trying to put the transmitter on him. The other man shook his head immediately.
"No way. You know I won't do that."
Sam tried to persuade him, and Nico backed up, falling into a defensive stance. "Come on. This is state of the art. No one's going to know you're wearing one of these. Most importantly, your target isn't going to know."
"I'd know. No, Sam. You know how I feel about those things."
"You're making this more difficult-"
"Sam, it's fine," Micheal said, looking over at Fi. She was smiling again, but then she seemed to enjoy seeing Sam squirm. "We can monitor the conversation from here, and we already know that this guy doesn't trust easily. Your friend's paranoia may help convince Hayes. That's what we want. We need him to agree to this so that we can get the information we need to stop him."
"Then we'll just have to make sure-" Sam let out a curse when he saw his friend was gone. "I hate when he does that."
Micheal smiled. He'd figured the man would steal away first chance he got, and he'd been right. Fiona laughed, reaching for her binoculars, trying to spot Careles again. Sam looked at her. "Sure, laugh now, but when we can't hear what he's telling Hayes because Nico carries a signal jammer with him constantly, you won't find it that funny."
Micheal looked at him. Sam should have mentioned that before now. Micheal didn't like it, but they'd have to adjust. They could make it work. They had to. Still, he almost felt like this confirmed his feeling about including Careles in this thing. He turned to Fi. "Get eyes on Hayes. We won't see Careles again until he does."
"If Hayes sees him at all," Sam agreed. Micheal looked over at him. "What? The guy is that good. Frustrating, but good."
"Do we have anything, Fi?"
She passed him the scope and the headphones. Micheal looked through, watching Hayes as he walked through the crowd, a phone up to his ear. He ended the call and stopped to look to the side. Micheal frowned. It was to Careles' credit that not even they could see him from where he was-the meeting would never be proven by anyone, but at the same time, Micheal didn't like being unable to see his asset.
Sam's phone rang, and he answered it. Micheal gave him a look, motioning for him to move further away. They were getting little enough from Careles' conversation with Hayes-just Hayes' expression, and that didn't tell him much.
"What?" Sam demanded loudly, and Micheal shoved Fi toward him. She was going to have to take him away from here so that he wasn't distracting everyone. Without sound or visual, they were trusting everything on what Sam knew of the other man, and the longer this went on, the more Micheal was convinced that it wasn't going to work.
Of course, that was before he saw Hayes crack a smile at whatever Careles had just told him. He frowned. Maybe it was working. Maybe it wasn't. It was hard to say. He couldn't be sure. He'd ask Fi to get a second angle on this, but they'd picked the best location for observing Hayes before Careles went in. Most of the others would be too close, too open, too likely to get them spotted by Hayes or someone on his security staff and blow the whole meet.
"Oh, hell, Mike, we gotta pull him out of there," Sam said, coming back. Micheal looked at Fi, and she shrugged helplessly. He knew she could have stopped Sam if she'd really wanted to, but she hadn't. Whatever Sam was worried about, she apparently agreed with him.
"I think he might actually have pulled it off," Micheal said. "Now is the worst possible time to pull him out."
"We might have to scrap the whole thing," Sam said, looking to Fi. Micheal watched them, waiting for an answer. Someone had better have a good explanation for that one. This wasn't just some job they'd accidentally taken on or been blackmailed into or were getting paid for. This was much larger than them and could even be connected to his burn notice. They had a lot riding on it, and he was not about to back down.
"Why?" Micheal demanded. "If that meeting went well, then there's no reason to pull out."
"Not for us, Mike, but I know this guy. There's no way he's going to stay when he hears this."
"Hears what?"
Nico made his way down and through the crowd to the location he'd already spotted before Westen asked his question. He trusted one source on intel when he went into a meeting like this, and it was his own. He knew Sam, more or less trusted him, but this involved staking his name, his life, and his reputation on it. It meant mortgaging the name of a man who had saved his life against potential criminal activity. He knew that Marshall was not always an honorable man, but the things that Sam had mentioned about Hayes were things that Nico would never have supported, no matter what Marshall had done for him. He was not involved in any of them.
He settled in his alcove and waited. Sam had probably informed the others about his signal jammer by now, and Nico was a bit disappointed that he'd missed their reactions, but he didn't need to see it every time.
He watched Hayes approach, arguing with someone on the end of the phone. Nico smiled a little. "You know, you really should have those conversations in private. You never know who's listening."
"Just deal with it," Hayes snapped, ending the call. He turned to Nico. "You have any idea who you're talking to?"
"A man who fails to take proper precautions despite his reputation. Your security detail lags too far behind you and you do not carry one of these," Nico said, holding up the signal jammer. "As I said, you never know who's listening."
"I'm still waiting for you to tell me who you are."
"You never asked, and you could have simply moved on," Nico reminded him. "Since you seem to be asking now... My name is Nico Careles. I represent someone who may be interested in a business partnership."
"Careles, huh? Never heard of you."
"Of course not. If you had, I couldn't do the job that I do, now could I?"
Hayes smiled at that. Nico had no doubt that the man actually had heard his name before. That was half the reason that he had drawn into this-the other half being his prior connection to Sam Axe-the fact that his name could open doors not available to Westen or any of his companions. "What are you offering?"
"You're the one who has been making discreet inquiries into the purchase of certain transportation companies. You do realize that in this particular market, it would be a considerable loss of money. Then again, you don't intend to make your money carrying the standard freight, now do you?"
"And how would you know so much?"
"It's my business to know a great many things," Nico said with a shrug. "Someone I know might be interested in an arrangement. However, I've taken enough of your time for now."
"That's it? You're not going to make any offers?"
"You're the one that will make the offer," Nico told him, turning to leave. He knew it was time to walk away. He had baited the hook, but it would be Hayes' choice to come back to him. That was the only way for this to happen. Hayes had to believe he had a choice, had to take the time to verify that Nico was who he said he was and weigh in Marshall Pittman's erratic nature in an attempt to be sure that Nico wasn't trying to trap him.
If Nico was lucky, Hayes wouldn't figure out that he really was. He walked away, circling around, making sure that he had not been spotted by the criminal's security detail before he returned to Axe, Westen, and Glenanne. They were still where he had left them, but they were clearly agitated.
Sam was speaking when Nico drew close. "... There's no way he's going to stay when he hears this."
"Hears what?" Nico asked, coming up to them. They turned and looked at him. They should have heard him coming. He was good, but the fact that he kept slipping past the notice of a former SEAL, a spy, and IRA terrorist was not as comforting as it should have been. He was not infallible. They should have heard something, been alert to his presence. "I should tell you that I think he bought it. He'll be in touch."
Westen folded his arms over his chest. "Really?"
"I can't guarantee that he'll call, no. I can give you impression of the conversation, and as I said, I think he is interested and believes at least part of what I told him. I have upheld my part of the bargain. Now, what are you keeping from me?"
Sam looked very guilty. Glenanne elbowed him. He sighed. "Okay, okay. Damn, you're a violent woman. Thing is, I got a call from a buddy of mine-doesn't matter who, don't ask for the name-and they told me there's a list. Two names have been crossed off."
"Terrence King and Bobby Caldwell," Nico agreed immediately. He would have expected those names to be there. "You're still not telling me anything I don't know."
"Yeah, but there's another name on the list. One... I heard you mention a couple of times now."
Nico looked at him coldly. This had better not be what he thought it was. No matter which way this went, it wouldn't be good. "You're not just saying that because it's the only name you've overheard?"
"Nico, I know you're paranoid, but if you think back, you never once said that the doctor's name was Danielle Santino. You never said she had two kids-"
"So help me, Sam, if you looked her up just to-"
"The threat is real," Sam interrupted, looking to Glenanne, who nodded. "You can go back to New York, make sure she's safe. I mean it, buddy. Go. This can wait. She's got kids."
Nico nodded, starting to leave. He had to get someone on protecting Santino and her children immediately. There was no other option.
"Or you could make her another target," Westen called after him. He stopped to look back at him. Glenanne and Sam had turned to him as well. "Hayes is going to look into who you are and what you've said, and going to her could put her in further danger. You leaving now, when you've spoken to him, when you've baited him... He could choose to retaliate, and if he does, she could be a target."
"So I stay here," Nico began, thinking aloud. He shook his head. "If someone is close enough to get to more than one of my people, my organization has been compromised. I cannot trust my own staff to protect her. Staying here is not an option."
"I'll go," Glenanne said immediately. The others looked at her. "Relax. I won't blow anything up, but I'm more likely to be the one that a woman would trust. Micheal can't leave Miami without attracting a lot of unwanted attention. Sam... Well, he'd try one pick up like on her and end up blowing any chance of protecting her because he's... Sam."
"Hey, I resent that. Lots of women find me very attractive."
"Santino would not only see past your bullshit, she'd make you pay for it," Nico said. He looked Glenanne over. She wasn't an ideal choice, certainly not his first, but he knew how dangerous she could be. "I'm going to regret this, but... go. Get her and her children out of New York. And you, Sam, you are going to give me the name of that source. Now."
Chapter Three