Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own any of the characters of Necessary Roughness. Its such a shame though because if I did Nico and Dani would definitely be together.

AN: Story is AU after a certain point in 1x06. ENJOY!

NPOV

'Tell me Nico, how does it feel being alone?'

What made her say such a thing? I mean I am not alone. I have people that I care about and that care about me. The fact that I choose not to bring anyone into my life is my doing. There is only one person that I would consider and she is not aware of my feelings…yet. I hear buzzing coming from my leg and I move to answer the phone, its one of the wives. Time to make a house call.

Santino Residence 1:51 am

It seems all of my jobs make me come here. Does it have to do with the fact that I want to take her in my arms and do unspeakably good things to her? Not entirely but it makes up about 60% of my reasoning. Professionally speaking, she can get the job done very effectively. Looking at Shannon and tell her to stand aside to not attract attention to herself. I knock at the door, and wait for the lovely Dani Santino to answer the door, and I am not disappointed.

"Why can none of your emergencies happen at normal times of the day?" she pulls the door open and I can get a good look at her. She is standing in a robe that is hastily tied together, with sleep shorts barely visible underneath giving me a nice view of her legs. I make a point of looking at her before answering.

"Most of the team emergencies yes. Unless it's TK emergencies then no. However, this emergency couldn't wait." I motion to Shannon to step forward. Dani tells us to come inside and being the last one in I turn to close the door. Upon turning back around I notice I am directly behind Dani. A smirk evolves on my face. I lean in close to her ear, feeling her shiver as she feels my breath. It is good to know she's affected too. "Dr. Santino, as glorious as it is to see you looking as you do. I am quite positive that you might want to put on something less enticing and more normal for the sake of your patient." As I move my head back I "accidentally" brush my lips against the junction of her neck and shoulder, which causes her to lean her back against my chest. Thankfully the unexpected patient is blissfully unaware of the exchange that just happened, as she is more concerned with looking at the furniture in the study.

Dani gets a hold of herself and steps away from me. "Excuse me for just a minute, I'm just going to get on some more decent clothes. Would you like some coffee?" She asks the both of us before walking out of the room. I look at Shannon and she is deep in thought. I turn to look at Dani as she climbs the steps.

"Coffee or something stronger?" I ask as I lean against the doorframe.

She stops just where I can still see her. "Coffee will be fine. Anything stronger and I won't be able to do my job effectively." She goes to take a step up then stops. "Nico?" I look back up at her. "We are going to have to talk."

I raise an eyebrow in response. "How about after Shannon leaves?"

"She drove herself than?" I simply nod. "Good." She continues her trek to her bedroom, and I make my way to the kitchen to start the coffee.

"Well tonight should be interesting." I whisper to myself. Yes tonight will be the start to the end of my loneliness.

Meanwhile upstairs (DPOV)

What the HELL was that? Nico just came onto me. 'And you did nothing to stop him…' I am well aware of this fact. What can I say; he is a very attractive individual who I wouldn't mind getting to know better. 'So this is what you do. Keep the tank top on, put on some pants, leave your hair down, and act natural. It is obvious that he likes you. And with the way you responded to him, I would wager you feel the same.' When did life get so complicated? And why does my conscious sound like Jeanette? I go over to my closet and grab the first pair of jeans I see, which just so happens to be the skinny jeans Jeanette bought me the other day.

"I guess this could work." I say to myself as I slide into the jeans. Taking off my robe I decide to put on a shirt over my tank top, just in case. Looking at myself in my mirror just once, I head back downstairs to the study, where I find Shannon still sitting on the couch and Nico sitting in my chair with coffee in his hands. Stopping in the doorway I observe the air around the two occupants. Shannon is nervous and fidgeting. Something has happened that is throwing her off of her normal composition, and I can relate to that. Nico on the other hand has an air of smugness around him. He smirks while taking a sip of his coffee the only sign to show that he knows he's being watched. I walk into the room, straight for my chair and take the coffee out of Nico's hands.

"Thank you for my coffee. Now if you would be so kind, I have a patient to attend to." I point towards the door and see him get up. He makes a move to take the coffee and I move it out of his reach. "There are more cups in the kitchen." He lifts an eyebrow again, and then walks out of the study closing the doors behind him. I sit down in my chair, and take a sip of coffee then look at Shannon. "So, what happened tonight?"

45 minutes later

Shannon has left, and I am even more puzzled about what could be bothering her. I will have to wait to figure it out. Somehow I feel as though she is hiding something from me, a common theme it seems tonight. I pick up my now empty coffee mug and go to the kitchen. I am not surprised to see two glasses of wine set out on the island with Nico standing right behind it. He looks up at me as I enter the kitchen.

"Time to talk?" He asks before grabbing a bottle of Chardonnay and pouring a generous amount into each glass.

"I did say after Shannon left. When did you get so comfortable with my kitchen?" He stops and just gives me a look. "Right, moving on. What was going through your mind when you pulled that little stunt?" I reach across the island and grab one of the glasses, taking an indulgent sip.

He comes around the island to stand in front of me. "Were my actions not clear enough?"

I put my glass down with some force onto the island. "Damnit Nico. Stop with the vague answers and just tell me."

Nico finishes the rest of his wine and walks to the sink to clean his glass. His shoulders are tense while washing the glass, but then relax when he turns back to me. He walks back to me and stops. "You really don't know?" He asks. I shake my head. "Foolish doctor." He whispers then reaches one hand up and cups my cheek, while the other wraps around my waist to draw me closer to him. I meet his eyes and notice the softer quality in them. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, right now I see passion, honesty, loyalty, and…. love? He lowers his head bringing his lips dangerously close to mine stopping with very little space between our lips, giving me the opportunity to back out. In response to his unspoken question, I put my arms around his neck and close the small distance between us. It began as a soft, gentle kiss conveying the feelings of belonging and acceptance of new feelings, then evolved into one of passion as he licks my bottom lip. I open my mouth in response and a battle of tongues commences. My hands fly into his hair and his are running lines up and down my sides before taking permanent residence on my hips to bring us even closer together. When air becomes an issue I pull away, and Nico trails kisses down my neck, causing me to moan. I put my hands on his chest and push him away just a little.

"Dani I'm sorry…"

"Don't apologize I am definitely not complaining." Not at all that man can kiss. "When did this start?"

He tightens his grip on my hips and brings me back towards his chest. "I want to say the day I met you. But they really evolved when the whole Matt/Laura fiasco happened. I knew that there had been something between you and Matt but I did not want to come between it. I would have been content with you being happy, even if it wasn't with me." He shifted us so he was leaning against the island with me standing between his legs. "However something happened tonight that made me think to take a chance." I lean up against his chest, placing my head on his shoulder, and he begins running a hand up and down my back. "Mr. Pittman's daughter asked me what it feels like to be alone. All I could think about is how I want that feeling to end. I wasn't planning on coming here tonight, but when Shannon called me I knew that this would be my chance. Hopefully that explains my actions. I am not very good at the whole talking business, that's your job. But I have been told that actions speak louder than words."

I laugh at his last statement. "Actions are more powerful in saying what you mean. And if I would have known how you felt, this could have happened awhile ago."

"Really?" I could hear the unasked question in his voice.

"You cannot honestly tell me that you are an unattractive man who appeals to every woman's idea of a bad boy? Seriously it like oozes off of you like pheromones. That being said, the first night you showed up at my house you caught my attention. And even though there was the whole me and Matt dynamic you still intrigued me greatly. I am glad you waited though." He wraps his arms around me holding me to him.

"Why is that?" He lays his cheek against the top of my head.

"Because now I am free to be whoever I want. No Matt, no Ray…just Dani." I turn my head to look at the time on the microwave. "Nico, you realize it is three o'clock in the morning right?"

He sighs and loosens his hold around me. I look up at him and he places a chaste kiss on my forehead. "I should get going." He pulls away and I groan at the loss of contact, causing Nico to smile. "You'll see me in a few hours at work." He grabs my hand and brings me with him to the front door. Pulling me in close to him he gives me a gentle yet passionate kiss, before taking the keys out of his pocket and opening the door. "Goodnight Dani, I'll see you in the morning." I smile at him and am rewarded with another quick kiss.

"Goodnight Nico." I stay by the door while he gets into his car and drives away. Still smiling I close the door and lock up the house for the night. I can't help but think that tonight was a great night, hopefully tomorrow will be even better now that I have something to look forward to.

AN: I have to say that I really like Nico. He has that whole "I don't care what you think attitude" and that works for him...or maybe its just that Scott Cohen is a god among men. Either way, I hope you enjoyed it. Leave me a review, flames are welcomed too (and will be used to fuel my chemistry projects).