Title: Trouble comes in Twos - Part 1
Fandom & Pairing: Nikki & Nora
Author: Silk
Disclaimers: Not Mine. Rating - M
Comments: This is the sequel to "Here Comes Trouble". This story is based on the best pilot never aired, "Nikki & Nora".

It's late. I've called Bobby to let him know I was leaving Nora and that she was doing fine. Darius has kindly dropped me off home but I can't stay there right now. All alone in that house with just my cat for company. It's pathetic and I feel the need to relieve some stress. There's only one place to go when I get like this.

I get ready. Tight, low slung jeans that hug my curves in all the right places but flare out at my best pair of boots. 4" heels, Italian leather. MMMMmmmm... Mama loves you.

The tight top is black with silver designs and sparkles all over. Almost no sleeves, and just the right amount of cleavage showing.

After a long shower, spending a good amount of time on my makeup and dressing, I'm almost ready.

I survey myself in the mirror. Pleased with how I look. I know I'm hot. But it's the smile that is hard to affect.

Damnit.

Refusing to dwell on why I'm going out just after coming home from leaving Nora alone, I grab my short leather jacket. No gun. No badge. Just my wallet and ID.

I catch the trolley and make my way to the French Quarter. This would be so much easier if I had my car...

Thrusting that thought and everything associated with it out of my head, I walk past partiers and tourists. It doesn't matter how late in the night or year here in the French Quarter, there's always a party. Not like Mardi Gras, but still... just what I need.

Walking into my favorite place I take a deep breath, smelling the people and the alcohol. The vibe tonight is full of energy. Music pumping out of a the speakers, the throb singing in my veins.

Karaoke at the Cat's Meow, the best Karaoke bar in the World! So advertised and so true.

This is my stress relief.

There's a large crowd tonight and I can't wait to dance and sing to it. I grab the bigclip board near entrance, and scan over it. I try to think of something appropriate to getting out of this mood I'm in, something I want to sing.

When the song comes to me, I try to flush it out. I don't want to sing it. I know it. I sing it well. But... Fine. I'll put on a show.

I print out my name and the song I'm requesting to sing. It's a long list and there's still 8 people before me. Enough time for two or three drinks. Time enough to lose myself in the crowd.

"Hey Nikki! What can I get you?" Art the bartender greets me. I've come here for years and I'm a homegrown local. I toss him my jacket, wordlessly asking him to take care of it under the bar for me. I don't want to be tied to it. Don't want to be tied to anything right now. I just want to sing.

"Hey, Sugah," I smile at him, my drawl out and my eyes flashing. I'm going to have fun come hell or high water. I pass him a 50 dollar bill to start off. It's enough for a couple of drinks, a nice tip for keeping my jacket, a tip for keeping the meat off me, and refusing drinks on my behalf. And a tip to make sure any drinks I get are coming only from his hand, no one elses. I take no chances when I go out alone.

"Double shot of Bookers, then an Old Forester on the rocks." I lick my lips in anticipation. Lifting the shot glass as soon as he slides it to me, I take a second to smell it, savor it. Bourbon is God's gift to mankind.

I pour it down my throat. Not slamming it, that's for amateurs. I just tilt my head back enough for it to take its long slow time going down in one shot.

Flipping the shot glass in my fingers, I set it down on the old wood bar. I give my lips another lick, long and slow, tasting the remnants of the bourbon.

"Lovely as always, Art," I tell him.

He smiles and slides the glass with the Old Forester forward. I wink at him and take it with me into the crowd.

Young, vibrant... this is what I need. No cops. No expectations.

There's a young man up at the stage right now and he's actually quite good. He's got the crowd going with an old Rick James song, Mary Jane.

.com/watch?v=AhreCLlcq3Q

I laugh as a guy screams to him, "I want to have sex with you!" The crowd around the guy and the singer laugh. Must be a group of friends enjoying themselves.

Dancing. Swaying. Drinking. I dance with a pretty blonde among the crowd standing in front of the stage. I don't bother with a table, most people that are into the karaoke don't either. Most of us mill around the front, encouraging the singers or heckling at funnier moments. Dancing together or alone. We're a giant milling group of music lovers. I find myself dancing with one guy one moment, his girlfriend the next, and yet another person minutes later. It's all casual. Unrehearsed. Fun.

I'm on my second glass of Forester's on the rocks, when my name is called.

This is the fun part. Like many a young girl, I used to sing and dance in front of the mirror. Darius used to tease me about it when I was younger and still does when he comes with me here. He finds it hilarious, but admits I'm a natural actress and singer.

When the tune starts, it takes half a second for my mind to ignore the morose feeling of the song and get to entertaining.

And entertain I do. I ignore the screen and the words going by. I know them by heart and play to my audience. Kelly Clarkson's Behind Hazel Eyes is a fun song to dance to, to sing to. It's very emotional. Passionate.

And if I happen to have a stray tear, or my voice has a slight quaver here in there, the crowd doesn't mind. It is Karaoke after all.

.com/watch?v=svxP2LjBg_4

*****

Two hours later, in the early morning.

"Mmmmmm..." she leans against me to kiss me, pressing me back against the wall. The heat of our bodies makes me shiver.

It's sweet and needy. So very good.

I lick her full lips and kiss her back, dropping my hands to her waist. Slipping my fingers just under the waistband of her jeans, touching skin, I pull her even tighter to me, her breasts nestled under mine. My fingers itch to hold them, but I resist for now, enjoying her hard nipples poking the underside of my own.

Groaning into my mouth, she entwines her hands into my hair, massaging my scalp and holds me to her as she parts her lips. I dive in, insistent... hungry... God... Finally...

We pull back only when the need to breath becomes an issue. My eyes are closed as I press my forehead against her. I'm smiling. Happy.

"Nora..." I draw out her name in a low whisper, the joy of saying it flowing through me like honey.

"Nora? Who's Nora?"

My eyes fly open and I look at the woman I was just kissing, whose is pressed so enticingly and warm in my arms.

Blonde straight hair that hangs in her green eyes so adoringly. The little cleft in her chin...

Puzzled, I look at her and blink my eyes rapidly several times. Where's the little cleft? Pushing her gently away to arm's length I wrap my mind around the vision of loveliness before me.

The vision who looks like Nora.

Somewhat.

If someone hadn't been drinking on an empty stomach. Now that I'm focusing, I see she has only a passing resemblance to my partner.

"Who's Nora?" The blonde is more insistent and sounds mad now.

Then it hits me through the fog of alcohol.

Oh my god.

My face flames and I almost stumble with her as I push her off me.

"I'm sorry," I tell her and make a run for it, only stopping at the bar to get my jacket before fleeing.

TBC