We Have a Situation
Word Count: 3,232
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Nico/Dani
Spoilers: References something from 1x10, but goes AU in the middle of 1x06.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just break things.
Summary: She thinks he thinks everything is a situation. Trouble is, he's right. She just doesn't know it yet.
Author's Note: So I looked, but Jeanette doesn't have a last name that I could find anywhere. I went ahead and gave her one because it didn't feel right to have Nico call her Jeanette.

A Division

Nico walked away, and Dani stared after him, struggling to breathe. She should have known. She should have expected this. It shouldn't have blindsided her, and it shouldn't hurt so much. She blinked and realized that she was about to cry again.

"I'm gonna kill him," TK said, and Dani had to reach out and grab his arm to stop him.

"Kill who, TK?" Devin asked, and TK winced when he looked down at the boy. They'd all kind of forgotten that Devin was there, since he'd been playing instead of standing with them.

"No one. Really. I don't kill people. I just... got angry," TK admitted. He shook his head. "I'm still angry. I ought to go and—"

"Terrence," Dani interrupted, trying to keep him from saying something else he shouldn't in front of Devin. She took a deep breath. "I actually... don't think he meant it. I hate to sound like one of those women, but... Nico had a rough day, whether he admits it or not. He's had to deal with a lot of his past today and then there was a hostage situation, and I think he just got pushed too far. The way he was—I can't tell you all that he told me, but I think that silly man is trying to push me away in a misguided attempt to protect me. The two of us need to talk, again, where there's less pressure and less tension and where Nico isn't already defensive because he's talking about his past."

"Still, Doctor D, he hurt you. Bad."

She nodded. "Yeah, TK, he did. It hurts that he pushed me away and it hurts that he doesn't seem to trust me. Still, underneath all of Nico's layers is a man who cares very deeply and protects the people he cares about, even if it means protecting them from himself. He's convinced that he'll hurt me more later, so he's trying to stop that by hurting me now."

TK shook his head. "That's messed. He likes you. He should be taking care of you. Flowers, chocolates, love..."

Dani sighed. "Let's go back to the hospital. We need to talk to Cherise, and I know where to find Nico. He needs some time to cool off without me, and then I'm going to kick his as—butt."

"Sure thing, Doctor D. Let me know if you need back up, though. I'm there," TK told her, picking up Devin, who squealed and started running for the car when TK put him back down. Dani smiled slightly, but she was still trying to cope with her fight with Nico. She knew that he was reacting defensively, that wounded animal backed into a corner. The wounds from his childhood had never healed, and the bandages had been ripped off. Nico needed time to regroup, to figuratively lick his wounds, and once he'd had a chance to put that armor of his back, then he'd be able to talk again. Some people would push harder, breaking through that armor, but she wasn't like that. She wasn't out to break him. She didn't break any of her patients, not even for the sake of building them back up. That was not her. She wanted trust. She based everything on that.

Nico needed to be able to see that he could trust her.

She got in the car with TK and Devin, settling into the back seat. She wasn't sure how she was going to handle this. If she knew that, it would never have gotten to this point. She would have handled it perfectly and not gotten to the point where he'd broken up with her in front of a witness. Damn it, if that was what he thought, if he thought that doing it in front of TK made it as permanent and out in the open as TK's little tweet had done, then he was mistaken. He'd been hurt with all the talk about his past, and she'd been hurt by him. It was a cycle, but that cycle was going to end.

They would confront this, they would talk, and if this ended, then it was damn well going to be a mutual decision after they'd actually talked without a damn situation interrupting them and making everything tense. She wanted a break. He needed a break. In the quiet, things were perfect. They needed to be able to handle both the quiet and the chaos.

She took out her phone and sent a text to Jeanette. How much did you spend? Did you buy the whole store?

Always. Got you something. But you're going to need a very special occasion to wear it.

Dani groaned. TK looked over at her. She shook her head. "Just Jeanette. I'm fine."

She had a feeling that she wouldn't be. When she saw whatever Jeanette had found, she would probably have one thought on her mind—wearing it around Nico. That was just painful right now. She needed to think about something—anything that wasn't Nico. Her phone beeped again.

Remember my friend with the beach house?

Dani frowned. What did the beach house matter?

I asked. You can have it for as long as you like. I say you take dark and mysterious there, but... someone else could stay there instead.

Juliette. Dani smiled a little. Jeanette had found a place for Juliette to clean up and put her life in order. Her friend was amazing. She smiled and sent a text back to thank her before closing her eyes and trying to get some rest on the way back.

"Shh," the blond said, holding a finger to her lips as she opened the door for Nico. He frowned at her, and she looked like she was going to giggle as she "snuck" over into the other room. He followed without the exaggerated movements or sound and saw Juliette asleep on the couch, her arms wrapped around a pillow. Santino's friend turned back to him. "She tired herself out there. So sweet. So sad, though."

"Sad?"

"Yeah," the woman began. "She... I guess you just had to be there to see her face when the clothes didn't fit. I don't think she had any idea how thin she is now. She's like a rail. Everything was two sizes too big, and nothing was flattering."

Nico looked back at his niece. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Not long. And you're not waking her. I don't care who you are or what you can do. Well, okay, I do, but you shouldn't wake her."

He wasn't sure how long he could reasonably afford to give Juliette, not that he liked the idea of waking her. A part of him said that he should take her away from here right now. It would take Santino longer to get back to the city, to deal with TK, and to come here, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that he would avoid her for long. She used the word conversation like a threat, and it was one she always followed through with.

"My niece—"

"Is a bit of a klepto. Yeah, I saw the look, but I also saw that she didn't take anything," Balzarini answered. "I... I've done it. I know what it's like. I know a lot of the tricks. She didn't do any of them. You are a very paranoid man. Do you ever think of anything besides the worst case scenario?"

Nico shook his head. "Nothing less than the worst can prepare you for what's coming."

"Honey," Balzarini said, touching his arm. "You can't prepare for everything, and you can't enjoy the good if you're always worrying about the bad. Man, between you and Dani... You both could stand to lighten up. A lot."

He looked down at the hand on his arm and back at her. She took it off, jumping back a little. "Jeez. You should market that stare. It's... like a weapon."

Nico sighed. "I should go. I should also take Juliette with me. Thank you for spending time with her today, Ms. Balzarini."

"Jeanette. It was a pleasure, and no."

"No?"

"Stop it. The stare is scary, but no, I will not give in and I will not let you take her and I haven't even told you about the beach house idea and if you want my advice, you will take Dani there and get away for a while."

Nico almost smiled. He could see why this woman was such a big part of Santino's life. "If I decided to take my niece, there would be nothing you could do to stop me. I did not ask for your advice, and I do not agree with it. What would be best for your friend is if I was no part of her life at all. And if she had no involvement with my family at all."

He walked past Balzarini and over to the couch, kneeling next to it. Juliette's eyelids fluttered, and he smiled. "I knew you were faking."

"Jeanette's sweet, but she's kind of loud," Juliette admitted, opening her eyes. She sat up and looked at him. She reached out to touch his hair and then his cheek. "You look tired. How was the emergency?"

"All of the hostages and the man who took them hostage are fine," Nico told her. Her eyes got wide, and she frowned for a minute, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. She should know better, but she didn't trust him anymore. "I was only supposed to tell them about my security measures—"

"Like anyone could crack what you did. The police were probably clueless about how to get in as much as the people inside didn't know how to get out. So... did you tell them all your secrets?"

"No."

"I knew it!" she cried, laughing. "Sneaky, sneaky uncle of mine. I was telling Jeanette that there was no playing hide-n-seek with you. You always found me in seconds, but that time I tried to find you... I actually thought you must have left."

"Whereas I thought I was being easy on you and making an obvious choice."

She smiled. "Only for you. Your brain is so freaking warped, Nico."

He shrugged. "Are you ready to go?"

Juliette folded her arms over her chest. "Did you break up with Dani?"

He heard Balzarini make a noise that sounded a little like she was choking and a bit like she'd snorted. He looked at her, and she faked a cough. "It's nothing. I'm fine. Answer the question."

"Doctor Santino has not had her final say yet," Nico told his niece. Juliette frowned again. That was all the answer she needed, though. All the answer either of them needed. This was not their concern since it was between him and Danielle.

"She better say you're an idiot and not listen to whatever excuse you gave her," Juliette said, shaking her head. "Come on. I saw that kiss. More than one. You want her. Why can't you just be with her? You always say that I don't have to be Mom or Dad, but aren't you kind of letting what your mom and dad did make your decisions for you?"

"Juliette, do you remember when I fired that gardener?"

Her face lost some of its color. "I thought we weren't—"

"That is the man I am," Nico reminded her. "Don't forget that. You know what I am capable of."

"But that was because he was a total creep. You don't go hurting people for no reason," Juliette insisted. He saw tears in her eyes. He shouldn't have brought that up, knowing the pain it would cause her, but she had always carried a bit of hero worship for him that he did not deserve. "You don't."

"Then explain to me why I twisted a police officer's arm today."

"You did?"

He nodded. "I did. I nearly broke it. I lost control, and it has to stop."

"Your girlfriend is a therapist. She could help with that."

"Not only is that a violation that could cost her her license, she can't help because she's a part of the problem, of the loss of control," Nico explained. "I was alone for a reason. I should stay alone for the same reason."

"Are you planning on leaving now?"

"A few days to clear my own head is in everyone's best interest," he agreed. He saw the look on her face. She had never understood when he took time off—it was rare enough that people believed that he never did—and had no idea where he went or what he did on these trips. No one did. "Would you like to come with me? We'd have to make sure we got that drug therapy in place first."

"You'd take me?"

He nodded.

"Do I get to be carried like a monkey?"

Nico heard Balzarini laughing her head off, and he smiled slightly. "I have stitches, so no. Later, after they're gone, maybe."

"I don't believe you. You just don't want to let me do it."

He pulled out his shirt and took off the bandage. Juliette winced. "Gross, Uncle Nico. I swear, that has to be infected. Doesn't it hurt?"

"Now it does, a little."

"A little. God, you are such a freak," Juliette said. "Fine. Doctor. Now."

Dani stood outside the hospital room again. She'd lost track of how many times she'd been in this spot, and she really didn't know that she wanted to know. She just hoped that it would very soon be the last time. TK looked like he was doing okay with Cherise and Devin. Cherise hadn't cried, just nodded, when she'd heard about her mother, and Devin had seemed more confused than anything else. Still, TK's choice was going to see them through this. The mother's death cut one of their remaining ties to Chicago, and moving would probably have more appeal now.

Dani's phone beeped, and she took it out, checking the text. 911. Your man went AWOL with his niece.

She called Jeanette immediately. "What was that text?"

"Tall, dark, and scary was here earlier. He and I talked for a bit, and then he noticed his niece was awake, spoke to her, they had this really odd conversation that was full of stuff that I wanted to find cute but had this whole undertone to it that was more on the tragic side and then she asked him point blank if he broke up with you."

Dani found the nearest wall and leaned against it. "He certainly did his best to."

"Yeah, he said you hadn't had your final say. Did he really twist a police officer's arm today?"

"I didn't see it, but he told me he did, yes," Dani agreed, letting out a breath. "He is such a mess, Jeanette. I want to help him—maybe he's right and I just want him because I think I can fix him."

"Honey, I saw you kiss him. It is not about fixing him, okay? You're attracted to him. You want him bad. And it goes beyond wanting him. When you care about someone, you don't want to see them hurting. That man, sweetie, he's hurting. I'm not talking about that cut on his side, either."

Dani knew what she meant. TK had only seen Nico get cold and push her away like an insensitive bastard. He hadn't seen Nico get angry in the car. He hadn't seen the way the subject of Nico's mother nearly unglued him. Dani had. She'd also seen him with Juliette. She'd heard him talk about being an alcoholic and what that had done to him. The fact that so much of Nico's past had come out in about half a day was like someone ripping the bandage off and taking his stitches with it. He had put those memories and the past away in some place where he didn't think about it, some place where he could ignore it, maybe even pretend that it didn't happen. He'd compartmentalized it, right? Boxed it up and set it somewhere out of reach. Now all of that rearranging and blocking and compartmentalizing had come undone, and it was taking its toll.

"I know, Jeanette. I know. I think it was just too much—Juliette and everything that happened after that. He opened up, but he doesn't know how to cope with what he let out any more now than he did before. His instinct is to put it all away again, and I didn't let him do it because I kept bringing it back up."

"Okay..."

"I can't tell you. It's private."

"Dani, he twisted a guy's arm today and is desperately afraid of becoming a man who does far worse, judging from that look on his niece's face when he talked about what he'd done to some gardener. I guess the guy got what was coming to him, but your man is running scared of whatever that was that he did."

Dani ran a hand through her hair. "Nico has SEAL training, remember?"

"You think he killed the gardener for whatever that guy did to his niece?"

Dani frowned. She hadn't quite gone there, didn't want to go there. She didn't want to think of Nico as a killer, though she knew that he might have killed someone when he was in the Navy. "I don't know. I know he has a lot of issues with control, a real need to feel in control, and right now I know that he doesn't. It... scares him, though he'd never admit that."

"He almost did," Jeanette said. "Honey, that man—you have to go find him, wherever he is. Smack him upside the head and tell him that you're not scared. You could never be scared of him. For him, yeah, but of him, no, and tell him that he needs to accept that you're going to be there whether he likes it or not. Then tie him to a bed for a few days."

Dani laughed. She couldn't help it. "Thanks for that."

"Hey, you need to smile. So does he," Jeanette told her. "Finding him could be hard, though, if he's got that SEAL training..."

"Yeah," Dani muttered. She thought for a moment about where the hell Nico might go to ground and knew she had no idea. Pittsburgh was the only place she could think of, and she doubted that Nico would go anywhere near there. Then she remembered. "Nico took Juliette with him, right?"

"He did. And that's probably not a good thing."

"It is if you think about it. She has a phone. And both our numbers. I just have to wait for the call, and I'll know exactly where he is."