(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 10

"Is T.K. okay?" asked Lindsay, as she appeared in the living room.

Nico was sat on the couch with his head in his hands, and honestly hadn't known the teen was there until she spoke. It had been a long day all in all, starting from almost twenty four hours ago to now.

"Yes, T.K. is fine," Nico forced a smile when he looked up and answered her. "I mean, he will be, with your Mom's help."

Lindsay shifted awkwardly, hugging herself. She liked T.K. a lot, he was a good guy, kind of like an older brother. Of course, she had Ray Jay for that, and despite appearances sometimes she and her real brother did get along. That didn't mean either of them cared any less for Terrence King, who often felt like an extension of the family somehow.

"Are you okay, Lindsay?" Nico checked, wondering if he should really ask.

Teenage girls had all kinds of problems that he had no business delving into. Still, if Nico was going to be living here, playing a step-father type role, it would be wrong not to at least try to take an interest. Lindsay looked through to the closed door of Dani's office beyond the kitchen. She opened her mouth and closed it again, looking ever more thoughtful, then finally, she spoke.

"This house kind of feels like Grand Central station today," she shrugged. "I'm not even sure I know what's been going on. First Olivia shows up and Juliette Pittman is here. Now T.K... Is it my home or is it everybody else's hangout?" she asked, presumably rhetorically, raising her hands as if they were a pair of scales and she was weighing up the options.

Nico felt bad. Lindsay must feel like she was being completely ignored in amongst the drama of all their lives. She didn't seem to have anything of her own right now, nothing in her life that was a big deal. It was a good thing that she was lacking a crisis or drama, but she had to be feeling like a spare wheel. Nico knew that feeling well, and he recalled it wasn't ever a nice place to be.

"I'm sorry," he said, getting her full attention. "Really, Lindsay, I am sorry. You must feel like your whole world has been turned upside down lately, first when your parents broke up, and when your Mom got her new job. Now I've come busting into your home..."

"I really don't mind you being here," she cut in, feeling a little silly when she realised she interrupted so sharply. "I mean, you love Mom, and you're not trying to be our Dad or anything," she considered aloud. "It's just... I don't understand why Juliette Pittman was here, or what happened today with T.K. It's like I'm on the edge of some big deal that I'm not allowed to know about."

"I'm sorry you're feeling pushed out, by anything," Nico told her, getting up and walking over to her. "You should never feel that way in your own home or your own family. Now, I can't tell you exactly what happened with T.K. You know things between him and your Mom have to be confidential," he reminded her. "As for Juliette, she just needed a place to stay last night, and I guess I've always been the one to look out for her."

"I get that," Lindsay nodded. "You seem pretty good at looking out for just about everybody," she smiled a little.

"It's what I do," he shrugged it off as if it was nothing. "But I want you to know that you're right there on my list of people to look out for, Lindsay. You and your brother, you both mean so much to your mother, and you've made me feel so welcome here. I appreciate that," he told her with a kind smile, his hand briefly at her shoulder.

"You're welcome," she told him, almost blushing.

It hadn't seemed like such a big deal to help Nico out when he was injured, and when he wanted to move in properly, it was okay. He would never be her Dad, they were both aware of that. There was no replacing Ray, not least because he was still very much alive, very much here in town still. Nico could be Lindsay's friend though, and honestly, she could use that right now.

"I just think it's really sad that you didn't have anybody until Mom and us," she admitted then. "I mean, you're a nice guy, and... well, you must've been so lonely."

"I suppose, but I wasn't completely alone..." he admitted, whispering his confession to her.

Lindsay giggled when she heard the ridiculous truth that was not at all what she was expecting. It made her feel better about being left out of the loop so much already today. Now she knew something nobody else did, even if it was something as simple as Nico having a pet cat named Onyx.

"This divorce is gonna break up more than just a marriage if the Pittmans carry on this way," said Coach, clearly both angry and frustrated buy the whole thing. "This team is bein' dangled over a cliff by those two, and that could mean all our asses are on the line!

No-one in the room could argue with him. Not a one felt any more confident about their situation than Coach Parnell did. Everything had just gotten so crazy lately, and didn't seem ready to settle any time sign. Dani had been so happy when Nico brought T.K. home last night and she got a chance to talk things through with him. One hurdle leapt over, there always seemed to be another. Lo and behold, they arrived at the training ground this morning to an angry Coach who felt he was standing on the edge of a precipice since even more staff from the office had been 'let go' before he even got there today.

Matt, Nico, and Dani all looked at each other wondering who was going to speak next, or what they could possibly think of to say that would help. Everything was out of their hands right now.

"Has anyone actually talked to Marshall Pittman?" asked Dani eventually. "I mean, I know his marital status is not really something we can have an opinion on..."

"He hasn't talked to anyone for weeks now," Nico shook his head. "From what Juliette told me, he really isn't doing much apart from fighting with Gabrielle."

The way he could not hold her gaze when he explained it made Dani feel bad. The Pittmans were always going to be an awkward topic, especially with the definite possibility of Gabrielle and Nico's affair being made public in this divorce case. If Juliette knew, then Marshall must too, and that could mean very bad things, more so than just Nico or any of them losing their jobs with the Hawks.

"Well, if you had a wife like mine, you'd fight with her too!"

Dani sat bolt upright at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and the sight of a man she had never seen before in her life. Still, she instinctively knew who it was - Marshall Pittman. This was proven true as the three men all greeted him, shaking his hand. Nico didn't flinch but there was a look that passed between himself and Marshall. Oh yes, he knew very well what his old friend had done with his wife, and there would be repercussions, just not in front of company.

"Er, Marshall, this is Dr Danielle Santino," said Nico then, making proper introductions. "Dani, this is..."

"Marshall Pittman," the man himself said as he took her hand and raised it to his lips. "Owner of the New York Hawks, and as of this moment, the new General Manager," he said with a grin.

Dani reacted with evident surprise, as did every other member of the assembled group. It was the last thing they had been expecting. Coach started to ask what had happened to the previous GM, but Dani barely heard the answer. She was looking only at Nico as he shifted as if to disappear into the background. He was good at that, but this time around Dani knew it wasn't a necessity, just a very definite want to not be here.

Above being his boss, Marshall had been his best friend, perhaps still was in a way. There had been a betrayal, an affair, and that particular bird was now coming home to roost. At some point there was going to be a confrontation between Marshall and Nico, and there wouldn't be a damn thing Dani could do to help.

"I'm sure you all have a lot of questions, and I'm sure I can answer them all in due course," Marshall said then, waving his arms as if to literally push aside whatever Coach and Matt had been saying. "For right now, I plan to go settle into my new office. Nico?" he called over his shoulder, then turned to look the fixer in the eye. "Your assistance please?"

Now was the moment, and both Dani and Nico knew it. He glanced her way and she mouthed 'good luck' knowing it was not going to be any fun for him. Coach muttered something indecipherable and possibly profane as he walked out of the meeting room, leaving Dani and Matt alone.

"Well, this is just... Did you know he was coming here like this? That he was planning to be the GM?" asked Matt all in a rush.

Dani literally backed up a step when he turned to her, her hands raised is mock-surrender.

"Hey, I didn't know any more than you, and neither did Nico," she threw in the last part for good measure, her eyes narrowing against any further accusation the trainer might want to make. "Marshall Pittman is, from what I've heard and from what I've just seen, a law unto himself."

"Ain't that the truth?" sighed Matt, sitting down on the edge of the table then.

This was going to be a headache for everyone and they all knew it. Marshall was causing enough problems at arms length. Now he was here, right in the middle of everything. More than anything, Dani was worried about Nico being alone with the man whose wife he had been sleeping with in the not too distant past. Her fingers lacing and unlacing in front of her body drew Matt's attention.

"I may not be the brain expert in the room" he said, meeting her eyes. "But you're clearly way more worried about this than anyone else. Nico and Marshall go way back, right? If anything, shouldn't that mean his job, and by association, your job, are the safest ones here?"

Dani opened her mouth to answer that and closed it again fast. She couldn't tell Matt the truth and would rather say nothing than lie instead. Nico and Gabrielle's affair was something she refused to speak of to anyone, even if she wanted to, and honestly, she really, really didn't. Marshall could ruin Nico out of revenge, and she might be dragged down with him. That didn't mean she wouldn't stand by her man.

"Why do you do that?" she asked Matt, needing a subject change and knowing this was an easy one even if it was a little unfair. "Whenever you refer to the relationship between me and Nico, you get this... this twitchy, scowly look on your face" she said, making a gesture in front of her own face as she tried to recreate the look.

"I do not!" he actually laughed as he denied it, making Dani all the more sure she was right.

Maybe it was unfair to call him on such a thing. Matt probably thought it was pretty bad that Dani came here and got this job off the back of their own 'acquaintance' only for her to go back on her own 'no mixing business with pleasure' rule and jumping into a relationship with Nico. It wasn't an example of her best behaviour, Dr Santino was all aware of that, but sometimes life just worked out in the strangest of ways.

"I'm sorry," she said then, shaking her head. "I'm sorry for taking out my worries on you, and for... for not feeling what I should have for you?"

It was an odd thing to say and they both knew it. Matt squirmed at the way they had both managed to make the other feel so uncomfortable. It really wasn't helping anyone or anything.

"Look, Dani, I'm not gonna lie," her trainer friend told her. "Yeah, when you came here, I was thinking one day there would be more between us," he admitted. "But if you don't have those feelings for me? I'm an adult, I can handle that. Just know that I'm here for you, okay? If you need anything," he said, patting her arm.

Matt walked away then and Dani watched him go, wondering how to take his words. It was almost as if he was implying that should she ever find herself at the end of her relationship with Nico, he was waiting for her. Dani didn't want that. She didn't like the fact that her supposed friend would be so crass as to suggest her new romance might end in disaster before so long, allowing Matt himself to swoop in and take over. At the same time, Dani supposed it was nice to know she was wanted in more than one quarter.

Shaking her head free of such thoughts, she went right back to worrying about Nico and Marshall. She wouldn't know what happened with them until much later when Nico had a chance to tell her. In the meantime, she had people to see and appointments to keep, not to mention catching up with her kids. One was turning vegan, and according to Nico, the other was feeling very much out of the loop. Dani just felt like she had one too many balls in the air right now. The fear of dropping just one was almost too much, and for the first time since they started dating, Nico being a big part of her life was not the comfort it should've been to Dani.

"Marshall, I'm not going to have this fight with you," said Nico as calmly as he'd ever said anything. "I am sorry that what happened between me and Gabrielle has hurt you, but you already know that," he shook his head. "We either put it behind us or we don't, but I want to make one thing very clear - you leave Dani out of this."

There had been no real suggestion that Marshall would drag Nico's latest romance into the situation, and yet he had made it plain at the start of the conversation that he knew about the recent co-habiting. Nico knew how Marshall's mind worked. After so many years of being close friends, he certainly ought to. If there was a little leverage he could use, a way to get back at Nico for the 'crime' he had committed, Marshall would try it, unless quite definitely warned against. Even then it was a long shot.

"That's rich coming from you, Nico," his old friend chuckled as he leant back in the GM's chair, scotch glass balanced expertly between his fingers. "Warning me off your little girlfriend, when you never could keep your hands off my wife," he emphasised harshly, though his smile remained.

"I haven't seen Gabrielle in months. It's been years since anything happened between us," said Nico definitely. "I'm glad to say I haven't made a lot of mistakes in my life, Marshall, but we can wax lyrical on yours if you'd like," he said coolly.

It was true enough that they both had flaws that could be thrown in each others face, but what had to matter more was the friendship running deep between them. Before Dani, before the Hawks, before Juliette or even Gabrielle, there had been Marshall Pittman and Nico Careles, having each others back.

"It's good to be here again," said Marshall then, looking around the office as if nostalgic though this had never been his personal space until now. "Just like the old days, Nico, you and me against the world," he smiled a slightly scary smile, as he reached out his glass to clink against the one on the desk.

Nico picked his drink up for the first time and nodded once before downing the shot. A bumpy ride was ahead, he was more sure of that now than even before Marshall walked through the door and announced himself GM. He was not looking forward to what came next.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Now, here comes the bad news. This story is going on a mini-hiatus for the duration of December and will return in the new year. I do this every year with the work in progress fics because I write & post a lot of Christmas-related, exchange, and gift fics in December, plus I have RL stuff going on. I'm sorry to anyone this disappoints, but I will be back in the new year and this fic will continue and ultimately be finished eventually. In the meantime, there will be an unrelated Christmas one-shot of the Dani/Nico persuasion posted sometime in December, so look out for that. Catch ya all in 2014! :)