Someone to Listen
Word Count: 344
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nico/Dani (friendship)
Spoilers: up to 1x11
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just break things.
Summary: It's not who she expects when she opens the door.
Author's Note: I have this brief alternate ending as a part of... "therapy" for the last episode. I needed it. I think we all do...
Someone to Listen
Dani looked at the door and found herself smiling. Of course, he'd forgotten something. It was so like him to forget, especially after they'd had as much to drink as they had. Tonight had been fun. Very fun. She was glad she'd spent her anniversary this way.
"What did you forget?" she called as she opened the door. Then she blinked in surprise. Okay, that was a twist. She had fully expected to a man, yes, a good-looking one, yes, but somehow that message got mixed up—perhaps that was the alcohol, though.
"I assume you addressed that question to Donnally. He did seem like he might have wanted to return, but he chose not to when he saw me," Nico explained. He frowned for a moment. "If I interrupted something—"
"Oh, no, he was going. Really. But... If this is about some kind of therapy crisis, I don't know that I'm in the best state to handle it, Nico. I... drank. A lot."
"I should have called," he said, turning to leave. She blinked in confusion. He was leaving, just like that? This was Nico. Nico worked for a man that didn't take no for an answer, and he generally didn't take no for an answer himself.
"Nico, wait!" she called, running after him a bit. "What is it? If you felt it couldn't wait until the morning, then it had to be pretty important, and I am sorry I might not be at my best, but—you could at least tell me what's going on."
"I can't."
"What?"
He sighed. "The situation is complicated. I've made it worse. I was... weak."
"This is a personal crisis?" she asked, floored. Nico had come to her for help with one of his problems? This was huge. She took his arm. "Come inside. I'll get some coffee—and no lecturing me on how that won't help; I'll use the placebo effect. You can talk to me. Sometimes, Nico, all we really need is someone to listen."