A/N: Thank you again for the reviews, follows, and favs. From the reviews, I can tell that a lot of you are here for Rollaro. I just want to say that I appreciate you guys reading and giving these first chapters a chance. This chapter is about Nick first meeting with Maria. We had a very limited look at Maria in the show, and we only saw them towards the end of their marriage. Nick loved and married her, so I don't think it was always rocky between them. And even after they were separated, he still held onto hope that they could get back together. I'm also partly inspired by the actress who plays her, Laura Benanti. She's a Tony award winning actress, who happens to be hilarious and snarky on twitter so I brought those elements into this early version of Maria. It's a version of Maria that I can see Nick falling in love with, and I hope you die-hard Rollaro shippers (like me) can give her a chance. I hope you like it. And please, please review!

October 3, 2004

"You need to get laid."

Nick raised his brow before he emptied his scotch down to the last drop. He nearly lost his footing and dropped the glass when he felt dead weight lean against him. He was shoved against the bar, but he simply laughed it off.

"No, seriously, Nicky," his company drawled, "Jen's got really hot, single friends. Just take your pick, man."

A smirk tugged the corner of his lips. He glanced over to where his cousin, Frank, was pointing – a group of bridesmaids in pastel yellow dresses. He turned back to the groom and shook his head, "No thanks, man. I'm just not ready-"

"It's still that mystery girl, huh?" Frank asked. He raised his hand to the bartender and retrieved another two drinks for him and his cousin. There was no point trying to refuse the groom's wishes. Nick took the drink and leaned against the bar, scanning the ballroom. The Italian side of the family was out for cousin Frankie's wedding to his female counterpart. They were both extroverted aspiring actors trying to make it in New York's theatre scene. They were both also unrelenting matchmakers.

Nick was the big target that night, despite the fact that it was Frank and Jen's wedding day.

"Look, Frankie, it's your wedding night. Just enjoy it with Jen," he raised his glass towards their direction. Jen, in her big puffball of a wedding dress and surrounded by six other yellow puffballs, somehow caught his eye and raised her champagne glass to him. "I'll be fine."

"It's been months since you last heard from that girl. You gotta let it go, Nicky."

"I've let it go," he said with a lack of conviction.

"You sure?" Frank remained unconvinced. The night of the bachelor party, they drove down to Jersey to a strip club. Everyone seemed to be having fun, but Nick sat in the corner refusing lap dances. Frank knew it wasn't exactly his cousin's scene; but there was something off, something distant about him. He managed to learn a little bit about a girl Nick met while he was undercover, but details were left up in the air. Frank couldn't fill in the missing pieces, but he knew enough about his cousin that he knew Nicky had it hard for that mystery girl.

Somehow, Frank managed to convince Nick to walk with him towards the platform, where the bride and her wedding party were laughing and taking pictures. "There's someone Jen and I want you to meet."

Nick shrugged as he followed his cousin and was introduced to a pretty girl with bronzed skin and brown hair. "Nick, this is Jen's sorority sister from D.C." He extended his arm out and she shook his hand. She had a nice smile.

"Isobel," she introduced herself, "so you're the guy Jen's been going on and on about for the last couple of weeks."

He chuckled nervously, "yeah, I guess so. I hope she hasn't said anything remotely embarrassing."

"No, no… all good things," Isobel blushed.

"All right, I'm going to leave you kids alone," Frank grinned mischievously before he made his way over to his new wife.

Nick and Isobel stood awkwardly in silence for a while before he offered to get her a drink at the bar. She was pretty, smart, and successful. From the ten minutes he spent at the bar with her, he learned that she grew up in D.C., went to school in Georgetown, and naturally ended up in politics. She spoke fluent Italian and she was also taking Spanish classes on the weekends because she was working under a Hispanic senator. She's never dated a cop, but she was open to the idea of it.

Frank and Jen were right. Isobel seemed to tick all the boxes, but he just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it was that whole ordeal with Cynthia that had ruined him. After months of searching for her after the takedown, she was gone. A part of him still held onto hope that he'd run into her on the street one day.

Truthfully, he had started letting it go a while back. Unbeknownst to Frank, he'd gone out on a few dates but none of them seemed to come close to the connection he had with Cynthia. His dates were women who kept it together, women who didn't have a drug kingpin in the family, women who were great catches; but he just couldn't be present for the conversations, for the kisses, for the 'give me a call' expectations.

"Nick, so your dad and Frank's dad are brothers?" She asked, derailing him from his train of thought. "Which one is he?" she scanned the ballroom.

"Who?"

She giggled playfully, "your dad. Frank resembles his dad a lot; just wondering if you do too."

Nick shrugged and pointed to the inebriated man on the dance floor who was dipping one of the yellow puffballs. He watched as his old man whispered in her ear. The bridesmaid's eyes widened before she playfully hit him with her gloved hand.

"I can see the resemblance," she nodded, "you have the same eyes and cheekbones. He looks a lot like fun," Isobel smiled as she watched Nicolas carry the bridesmaid and spin her around.

"Yeah, he's a blast," Nick replied sardonically before he took a generous swig of his drink.

For the next few minutes, Isobel talked and Nick listened. He was polite enough to answer when she asked a question, and he could pretend to be interested enough to engage her further into one of her rambles. She was a nice girl, but all Nick wanted to do was catch a cab and head home. He might as well start early sleeping off this impending hangover.

"Mic check, one, two…" The following sound pierced through everyone's ears. Isobel giggled amusedly and Nick smiled back before they both turned toward the stage where the newlyweds had an announcement to make. "Good evening everyone," beamed Jen, "I just want to thank you all for coming, especially those who made sure our gifts came from the Williams-Sonoma registry."

Cue laughter.

"Before Uncle Nicolas tears up the dance floor even further," started Frank. His Papi raised a champagne flute and made, what Nick could only describe as, a vulgar animalistic wail. "Jen's best friend and maid of honor has prepared a little number for us."

Jen leaned into her husband's ear, "where is she?"

"She probably just ran to the restroom."

Their supposedly hushed conversation was picked up by the mic. Jen laughed nervously, "paging Maria Grazie. Wherever you are, get your cute little tush over here."

Nick chuckled to himself. Maybe this Maria Grazie had the right idea about leaving the reception early. There was a bit of unrest on stage as Jen and Frank talked to the other members of the bride's entourage. They were in search of the maid of honor, who if this was going by tropes of the romantic comedy movie genre, would probably be sneaking off to the honeymoon suite with the best man.

Wait, Nick was the best man. Guess I got shafted.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

Nick stared back at her, brown eyes so big and so inquisitive. "Uh, no." Before he could think about Isobel possibly having the power to read minds, a new yellow puffball joined the puffballs on stage. He'd seen her at the wedding. She was all proper, in business, carefully carrying out her maid-of honor duties. Now, her hair was released from its cage of bobby pins and it fell in waves down her shoulders. She had a champagne glass in one hand and her cell phone in the other. Before she went up to the mic, she gave Jen a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey, sorry for the hold-up," she apologized. She raised her phone, "duty calls. My commanding officer couldn't wait until after my best friend's wedding to tell me I'm being shipped off to Baghdad in a week." She smiled bright and wide with just a touch of cynicism; anyone could miss it if they didn't see the glint in her eyes.

The room was in an uncomfortable state of silence except for the sole laugh that came from the man at the bar.

Maria raised her champagne glass, "well, thank you, best man whose name escapes me right now. Thank you for finding humor in my situation."

Mesmerized, Nick stood and watched as the maid of honor said lovely things about Jen and Frank. By the end of it, he couldn't really remember what she said. He knew she had taken on a more serious and more sincere tone after her attempted joke bombed with everyone in the room – everyone except him.

"Jen and I were theatre nerds in high school, and while I have deviated from the path thanks to an overbearing father in the military. Love ya, dad," she smiled at an older gentleman who was seated near Jen's parents. "Jen and I made a promise to sing at each other's weddings because that's just what normal fourteen-year-old girls do. So without further ado…."

He took a sharp breath as the band played. The piano keys and guitar strings strummed a soft and sweet melody. It wasn't like Nick was the one on stage, but his heart was beating a mile a minute because he was so strangely invested in her performance. On Maria's first breath, her first note, Nick was captivated.

February 28, 2015

"What the hell was that?" she hissed as soon as they were out of the interrogation room. She got so close to his face, that it startled him. Nick took a step back and raised his arms to surrender.

"I got a text from Liv," he pulled his phone, "Fin and Carisi are back."

Amanda stood unmoved as she watched him turn around and walk back towards the squad room as if nothing had happened. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers on her temple, feeling a migraine coming on. She thought it was from Fischer being so damn difficult to work with, but her gut was telling her it was because of Nick. Lately, it was all because of Nick.

"Claims he don't know her," was the first thing she heard when she joined their circle. Liv was standing by a whiteboard. Carisi was running over surveillance footage on the laptop. Fin was leaning casually on the chair, his fingers intertwined as Nick explained what had happened when they talked to Tom Fischer.

She nudged Carisi's shoulder, "you find anything on the tapes?"

Carisi shrugged and opened his palms towards the screen, "the two surveillance cams show a couple buildings on Seventh, but the alley's a blind spot." He turned the laptop around so they could all get a better view. He pointed to the screen, "timestamp is 8:12:27 and we see Lena Rodriguez walking down the street and passing by this convenience store. Seconds later, Tom Fischer, with his hood up, walks out. Kid doesn't look suspicious at all."

"Lena keeps walking and he's a few feet behind," Liv narrated as they continued to walk down the block. "Then she disappears from view followed by Tom. The timestamp was 8:13:05."

Carisi switched over to the next video from a different building. "Video parameters cut off just after the alley and the intersection. Watch this," he started playing the tape. 8:15:42 and no sign of Lena who was walking ahead, but Tom, with his hood down, was walking casually down the block. 8:16:16, Lena came into view and stumbled towards a no parking sign. She held onto the metal pole for support. Two unis from across the street ran up to her and she started pointing towards the intersection. 8:16:34 Tom hears her yelling, he turns his head, sees the cops, and bolts.

"So he was with her in the alley for two and a half minutes?" Nick asked, slightly confused. He turned to Fin, "she got the rape kit done at the hospital?"

Fin nodded, "It took a while but a Spanish nurse talked to her like a mother, and she changed her mind about getting it done. She's still not sure she wants to press charges though."

"And she was raped?" Carisi asked doubtfully.

"Yeah," Fin narrowed his eyes, "just because loverboy over here could only last two minutes doesn't mean they didn't find evidence of forced entry. Only problem is the test for the DNA in the semen is gonna take a while."

"Unless she decides to press charges," Liv finished. She looked at the still image of the video and saw the blurry image of a distressed Lena slumped against the pole. She glanced up at the holding room, where Lena looked calmer and, hopefully, more ready to talk. "Amanda and I will talk to the girl," she started. "Fin and Nick, go to Fordham and see if you can find a connection. Talk to their roommates and professors."

"And what about me?"

She almost forgot about the new guy but quickly saved herself, "good job with the surveillance footage, Carisi. But I need you here to fill out some paperwork."

October 3, 2004

The look Isobel gave him was pure disappointment followed by anger, but he didn't really care at that moment. As soon as the maid of honor sang her last note and did an adorable little curtsey on stage, he just had to talk to her. Nick had no idea what to say. Was he going to tell her that he liked her voice? Was he going to tell her she was funny? Was he going to tell her that she was the first woman in a while that had made him forget… forget about Cynthia?

She was standing at the bottom steps of the stage, talking to an older couple. They exchanged kisses on each cheek before she walked away, further from them and further from him. He chased after her without actually being obvious; but he could feel a pair of eyes behind him. Nick was pretty sure they belonged to a jealous Isobel.

He watched Maria take a freshly filled champagne flute from a waiter's tray before she stalked off to the balcony. It was chilly outside; no place for a woman in a sleeveless yellow puffball of a dress. He closed the French doors behind him and walked towards her. She was leaning over the balcony, watching the cars drive by below her.

"Are you stalking me, best man?"

He laughed nervously. She took a sip of her champagne before she turned around to face him. She was even more beautiful up close, especially under the pale glow of the moonlight.

"No, I, uh," he stumbled upon his words; suddenly he felt like the same clueless sixth grader who was crushing hard on the most popular girl in school, "I just wanted to say you sang good… well… you sang well."

It was Maria's turn to laugh a little. He couldn't help but give off a goofy grin. He wasn't normally this spooked around women, but there was just something about her that made her seem like she was way out of his league. Maybe it was the singing. It was definitely the singing.

"Thanks…." She trailed off, expecting him to introduce himself.

"Nick," he placed his hand out and she took it. She held him there briefly, holding onto his eyes.

"Maria."

"I know."

"And I know you didn't follow me here to compliment my singing." She took another sip of her champagne before she set the flute down on the ledge. Crossing her arms over her body, she raised her shoulders. A breeze gently blew through the soft waves of her head, and she shivered slightly. Nick felt like a dumbass.

Immediately, he shrugged off his grey suit jacket and offered it to her. Maria held her palm up and smiled, "no, it's all right."

"You're gonna catch a cold."

She laughed, "is this how you pick up girls? Pull out the gentleman card by scaring them into getting the flu?"

Maria wrapped the warm jacket around her shoulders, with his assistance. His fingertips momentarily brushed against the skin of her shoulders. It could've been static from the jacket or an old wives' tale about how their chemistry was so electric. "It never worked," he smirked, "until now."

"So, Nick," she started, wrapping herself further into his jacket. Her nostrils filled with his scent – complex but nothing too overpowering, a fresh but woodsy aftershave. "why'd you follow me?"

"Honestly," he shrugged, "to compliment your voice. Look, I don't know much about singing except two years of being a choir boy when I was in elementary school."

"How'd that go?" she laughed.

"My voice broke early so I gave it up and tried to learn piano instead. I sucked at that too so they kicked me out of choir."

"Shame," she scrunched up her nose before she gave him a dazzling smile.

"Yeah, so I can't really tell what's good or bad… unless it's really bad, which is what you'll hear out of my shower every mornin'."

Her laugh filled his ears, and he just wanted to hear more of that melodious sound drifting through the channels into his brain straight into the memory banks. Record it and save it for a rough day.

"But you were really good."

She smirked, "thank you. For that, and for laughing at my joke."

"The thing about Baghdad?" his brows furrowed.

"Yup," she accentuated the last letter of the word, before she took one last sip of her drink.

"So what do you do over there?" The conversation suddenly got serious, and Maria wasn't sure if she liked where it was going. She liked talking to Nick and pretending that this conversation would lead to future promises of more conversations and more laughs, over drinks and over dinner. Maybe she'd be lucky for him to see her in something other than this hideous dress and the requisite silver glitter eyeshadow on her lids. The bride was her best friend, but Maria questioned if Jen had sabotaged the bridal party so she could be the most photogenic in the party. Bridezillas, she thought to herself.

He waited for her response but she seemed to be looking past him through the windows. The DJ had turned the ballroom of the ritzy hotel into a dance club. The bride and groom were tearing it up; and he spotted his Papi twirling a young, twenty-something in the middle of it all.

"I work in propaganda; winning hearts and minds," she smiled brightly. But there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice, like she knew how important that job was but she was also well aware of how ridiculous it could be. It wasn't always well-received, and some of the stuff they wrote about freedom and democracy was flowery and verbose; but it was necessary work. "I worked in PR over in D.C. for a while, before my dad pulled some strings and got me this job. It paid more and got me away from a bad ex, so I took it." She cocked her head to the side and pointed to the room, "see the hardass in the General's uniform who's refusing to dance with his begging wife?"

Nick nodded.

"Yeah, that's my dad," she laughed.

"Looks like a fun guy."

"You should see him at my niece's birthday party," she gave him a smug, but playful look. Maria looked back at Nick, who had his eyes at the party. Her cheeks were warm in spite of the cool autumn air. He turned around and their eyes met, staying that way for much longer than appropriate for two strangers. "Look, Nick, it was really nice meeting you but I think my friends are looking for me." She began to remove the jacket but he stopped her.

"Maria," he licked his lips, unsure of what he was supposed to say. He could handle himself in interrogation rooms in front of drug traffickers in his precinct, even in front of suspected terrorists in Iraq. He had been there after 9/11, and even if he laughed at her self-deprecating snipe about her C.O. calling her for duty, he knew that once she was there it was no joke. Nick had only just met Maria, but he was already concerned for her safety over there. He already missed her.

"I know we just met, and you said you're leaving in a week."

"Five days, actually," she admitted, her head held down. "I didn't want my mom to freak out because I'd be missing Sunday dinner."

He gave her a weak smile. Nick shook his head, subconsciously shaking the nerves from what he was about to ask her, "would you want to have dinner with me tomorrow?"

She gave him a skeptical yet intrigued look. "I'm leaving."

"I know, but—"

"—but this feels like something you can't just leave behind. Right?" she was hesitant to say it and she hated the air of expectation that hung from the question. The moment he laughed at her joke, made a sincere compliment, and made her laugh more times than she could count, she knew there was something special about this man.

"Right," he smiled.

She felt weak in the knees. "And if tomorrow's dinner goes well? Will there be a second date?"

"And a third, and a fourth until you have to get on that plane," he smiled.

She craned her neck and raised her face to the sky. Maria couldn't believe she was doing this five days from her deployment. But the way he looked at her and the way her heart was beating so much faster around him was so new and exciting. It wasn't anything she felt in any of her past relationships, and she had just met him.

Relationships?

Hold on there, sister. Getting ahead of yourself?

Nick inched closer to her and lowered his eyes to meet her gaze, "so what do you say? I pick you up tomorrow at seven?"

Maria nodded slowly, smiling up at him. She unwrapped her arms from around her body, debating whether to rest them on her sides or to plant it on the crisp, white cotton of his shirt. Nick sensed her reluctance. He quit listening to that voice of doubt in his head, and pushed himself to make a move. He rested his arms on her hips and looked into her pale green eyes.

"Since we're skipping certain dating formalities and doing this faster than most people," she started breathlessly, "I think you should kiss the maid of honor, best man."

Nick pressed his lips together to keep himself from smiling like an idiot, but it was too late. He was grinning from ear to ear, and Maria was charmed. "Only if you promise to sing for me."

Before she could protest out of feigned modesty, he bent his head down to capture her lips. The kiss was soft and sensual. Her body fell and melted into his as she craned her neck and allowed him to deepen their contact. Down below, sirens were wailing. Meters away, music was blasting. But they could only listen to the quiet, raspy breaths between kisses. Maria's hands wrapped around his neck and ruffled his hair. She kissed him harder, moaning his name into the kiss. In his mind, in his memory - it was the promised song.