"Some birds fly better solo," That was the answer Nico had given Dr. Santino for why his marriage had failed. He sincerely believed it was true…most of the time.
There were moments of doubt, for instance when Juliette had asked him if it was so great having no one. It was a strange thing to accuse him of, having no one. Nico had plenty of people. He had people who called when they needed something, and people he called on their behalf. Yet among all of the people he "had" there was no one in his life who was there unconditionally. No one he could call on without them demanding something in return.
Some times the price was easy to pay. He had a few female companions who were happy to keep him company on the rare nights he had to himself and asked for nothing more than a nice dinner and a few hours of his undivided attention. Sometimes the cost was steeper. There were a few numbers he prayed he never had to dial because if he did, repayment would be… extremely unpleasant. Most costs ranged somewhere in between.
Everything and everyone has price. It was a truth he made his living proving. It didn't bother him, it was just the way of the world. Every so often though, he'd catch a glimpse of something that made him question his way of thinking. Most recently it was Dr. Santino.
He'd had his doubts when Matt Donnelly had suggested turning over Pitman's multimillion dollar investment to his one night stand. How could a Long Island housewife with a home based therapy practice possibly be able to succeed where so many others, including himself had failed? Nico had frankly expected her to quit after TK's first session. She hadn't. Following TK's disappearance when Coach Purnell, who made his living scaring 300 pound professional athletics, had leaned on her she hadn't caved. She was not a woman who could be bullied or bought. Dr. Santino was tough, tenacious, and effective. A pit bull masquerading as poodle. It was that stubbornness matched with a strong sense of professional ethics that Nico privately feared would cost Dr. Santino her place with the Hawks.
One day Pitman might ask her for something she couldn't or wouldn't give him and then it would be up Nico to fix it. He could almost hear Pitman's voice in his ear, "I want her gone. Make it happen," God, he hoped that day never came.
Even though he'd only known her a few months Nico had gotten…used to her. Used to showing up at her doorstep, used to hearing her voice on the phone, and used to her face. It had all quickly become…familiar. That he had allowed it to was probably a mistake given who he was; the problem-solver for whom no job was too dirty. The man who lives in shadows, appearing only when needed then fading back into the darkness so the rest of the world can live in the light. Most days he could live with that. You could learn a lot watching from the shadows and sometimes using that knowledge could be very fulfilling.
When Matt had mentioned Dr. Santino had started seeing someone, it has been Nico's job to investigate. Those close to the team's assets could create major problems for the team, as Matt's friend had proven quite recently. JD Aldridge's background check had come back squeaky clean. His finances were in good order, he was a Fulbright scholar with dual PHDs, a world traveler, and a published author.
The fact the man had such an impressive resume irked Nico for some reason. He couldn't resist tracking down a copy of this Dr. Aldridge's book and reading it in one night. Nico's conclusion was that it was drivel. Nico had come to respect Dr. Santino's brand of therapy. She understood people and knew how to help them. She fixed the things that Nico was powerless to fix. He admired her for that. Nico doubted JD's work helped anyone at all. His studies were academic at best and ridiculous at worst. Nico couldn't decide if Dr. Aldridge was a pretentious scholar or just a flake. Either way Nico didn't think this man was a good fit for Dr. Santino. Not, of course, that that was any of his business.
Dr. Santino never disappointed, reaction-wise, whenever Nico caught her off guard. The jump, the scowl, the squinting, and then the accusations. It was a routine between them and it never got old. For this reason Nico liked to, now and then, indulge his less mature impulses and rile Dr. Santino up a bit. The easiest way to do it was to mention something he knew about her life that she didn't think he should know about. JD fell directly under that heading. She really was cute when she was sputtering. And when she was calling him names. Their conversation left him, as most of his interactions with Dr. Santino did, with a smile on his face.
The dinner later that night had been an unexpected bonus. Nico had been honest with Dr. Santino when he had said the restaurant was his Tuesday night restaurant. He did neglect to mention that he had spotted Dr. Santino's car out in the parking lot, and made the logical assumption the she out on a date with Dr. Discovery Channel. He could have altered his plans for the evening, and avoided an encounter that would, in light of their earlier conversation, make Dr. Santino even more suspicious of him than she already was. Obliviously he hadn't. His reasoning was three-fold. One, he liked keeping Dr. Santino on her toes. Two, he wanted to see if the assumptions he had made about Dr. Aldridge were correct. Three, he wanted to be sure that this JD knew that he was being watched, in the event his intentions towards Dr. Santino were less than honorable. By the end of their short encounter Nico felt satisfied on all three counts. Divorce explained by male jaguars? Nico was forced to make a hasty exit before either Dr. Santino's facial expressions or Aldridge's ridiculous remarks caused him to burst out into a bout of irrepressible laughter.
Despite Dr. Santino questionable taste in men she once again proved her value by breaking the Kirkman Curse both for the team and Kirkman himself. It was during a conversation they were having, following this success that she had asked him about his marriage. Nico had actually been surprised that that had been her question. He had assumed when he had invited her to speak she was going to ask him about JD, whether it had really been a coincidence he had crashed their date or whether he'd had any hand in JD's upcoming trip to the Congo (he didn't, but he wasn't exactly broken up about). Instead she had asked him about himself. She never ceased to amaze.
There were a number of people; Donnelly, Coach Purnell, Pitman; who he'd known for years and not one of them had the slightest interest in his past or present, so long as they got what they wanted from him. Dr. Santino was different. For some reason it mattered to her that he was born in Pittsburgh, that he was a SEAL, that he served salads, and that he was once married. He had any number of theories as to why this was. At first he thought it was a matter of wanting to get on more equal footing, knowledge being power, so on and so forth. Later he'd thought that as a therapist, it was second nature for her to try to draw people out. Now he wondered if the real reason was the most obvious one, or at least the most obvious if he'd been anyone else, but who he was. Maybe she asked because she was genuinely interested. Maybe she asked because she actually cared.
Looking into Dr. Santino's eyes as she'd asked him why he'd mentioned his marriage in front of JD, he could see it really bothered her that he'd shared something with her boyfriend that he hadn't with her. Nico could have pointed out that when he'd spoken she was sitting right there, and that his comment had actually been in response to something she had said. That comment was obliviously intended for her, because honestly why would he share anything about himself with Dr. Jaguar? The bigger question and the one he was grateful she hadn't thought to ask was why had he disclosed that particular piece information at that particular place and time. He hadn't needed to. He didn't consciously plan to. It had had just popped out, and that never happened to him.
If he was his own therapist he might remark that on some level he wanted Dr. Santino to know he had been married. And why Nico, would you say that is? Why would this sudden desire arise while she was out on a date with another man? Perhaps you wanted her to see you in another light? As something other than the Marshall Pitman's pit bull? As someone actually capable of long term romantic commitment? Nico may never lie, but sometimes it was safer not to answer questions, even questions he asks himself.
"Some birds fly better solo," that was the answer he'd given her. He sincerely believed it was true…most of the time.