I honestly liked the character of Nicole, but I'm Team Rollisi for life, so obviously, I just don't like her for Carisi. Here's my attempt to fix it. Picks up right at the end of 22x11.

"So..."

"Well..."

Nicole and Sonny started awkwardly as they separated from their as equally awkward hug.

"You first," Nicole said.

"No, no. Go ahead," Sonny replied, waving his hand in her direction.

"Do you have time to grab a coffee from the cafeteria before you go?" she asked. "Well, decaf, I suppose since it's late."

"Uh," he glanced at his watch.

"Or do you have to get back to your goddaughters?"

"I have time for a quick coffee, but then I really gotta go relieve Sienna."

The silence hung heavy between them as they approached the cafeteria and ordered their coffee. Nicole sighed as she stirred a packet of sugar into her cup. "I'm sorry I didn't trust you and Captain Benson enough and went to the media behind your backs. It almost cost me my sister's life..."

"Cases are different when it's someone you love. I get that." The anger Sonny felt when Bucci took Rollins pulsed through him as he recalled the memory of that night followed by reminders of Mia's rape case. His phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket. "It's a text from Sienna...I have to..." he trailed off as he opened the thread.

He chuckled in relief when a photo appeared of Jessie and Billie all bundled up in their winter coats playing at the park –presumably from that afternoon – with the caption: Jessie woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep until we sent you this picture. We already sent it to Amanda this afternoon, but Jessie is adamant you have it too.

Nicole leaned over and stole a glance of the adorable photo of the two little girls that obviously held such a special place in Sonny's heart. She couldn't help but to stare as he typed out a reply.

Tell her I'm glad she had a good time, and I'll come and say good night when I get there.

"They're beautiful."

Luckily Sonny caught himself before he said – yeah, just like their mother.

"It's obvious you really love them." Nicole continued.

"Of course, I do. They're my goddaughters – I love `em like I love my own nieces."

Nicole shrugged. "If that's what you tell yourself...but one thing is for sure, you don't love their mother like she's your sister..."

Sonny's eyes flew to hers and he just stared at her. He opened his mouth to speak- but for once in his life, he had no idea what to say and he closed it slowly as he tried to think of something.

"It's okay, Sonny," she chuckled, lightly. "We're over, remember?"

"I thought we decided we were on a break," he countered – even though his whole entire body was flooded with relief at her words.

"After you stood me up because your "friend's" - she made air quotes with her fingers - "Dad was in a hospital in Atlanta?" She asked, skeptical as she raised an eyebrow. "We're not on Friends. We aren't Ross and Rachel, Sonny. It was over then, and I think we both knew it. I just figured we'd have the actual break up talk when she got back to New York and you realized what you really wanted – or when she realized she wanted you in Atlanta. Whichever came first, I suppose." She shrugged.

"I'm sorry," he said lamely, unsure what else to say.

Nicole rolled the paper coffee cup around in her hands and stared down at it before she spoke again. "Sometimes I like to think that there's a reason we meet certain people. If the reason I met you was for you to introduce me to Captain Benson and have her squad take my sister's case seriously, then I can never regret that or our time together. If you needed to meet me to jumpstart things between you and …"

"Amanda," he supplied, when it was clear Nicole didn't remember her name. Involuntarily, he smiled and relaxed his shoulders at the mention of her name. There was guilt that surfaced for him, too, though. Guilt over how Nicole's sister had been abducted by a group of white supremacists, and how he felt like he couldn't even comfort her and console her properly because his mind was still so focused on how Rollins was doing in Atlanta.

"Amanda," she repeated, softly, "then so be it. Why aren't you two a thing? Now that we aren't dating, I am allowed to ask questions like that, right?" She smiled warmly at him. "Without sounding like a crazy woman?"

"Things are just...complicated between us. Timing's been a big issue, too, I suppose."

"And you guys were never a thing?" She seemed skeptical.

"No."

Nicole made a little humming sound, clicking her tongue in the process. "I may believe we always meet people for a reason, but I don't necessarily believe that everything happens at the right time. Sometimes, the right time doesn't just fall into our laps. Sometimes, we need to take matters into our own hands and make the timing right. Life's short, Sonny. Too short."

Sonny sighed, but he didn't say anything, so Nicole continued.

"I just hope she loves you half as much as you love her," she said honestly. "I really do." She finished the last sip of her coffee and stooped stood up from the table. "I better get back to Sara, and you have two little girls who are waiting for you. They probably won't fall back asleep for the night until you tuck them in yourself. Good luck, Sonny," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He placed his hand over hers, and couldn't help but to notice how he felt nothing. No spark. No pull. No desire to never let go – all the feelings he felt when he so much as brushed against Amanda with the slightest, smallest touch. "You, too, Nicole," he said, sincerely squeezing her hand gently before she walked away.

"Oh, and Sonny?" she called back towards him.

"Yeah?"

"Don't think this is the last you'll see of me. I'm going to make sure Captain Benson stays true to her word about bringing attention to all the girls like Sara who go missing and don't have someone advocating for them."

He smiled at her. "I wouldn't expect any less from you, Nicole, and Captain Benson is the best ally to have. I'll help in any way that I can, too."

"I know," she replied before she turned the corner of the corridor and disappeared from his sight.

Sonny pulled out his phone to send a text to Sienna, letting her know that we would be there soon. Then she switched to the phone app and his thumb hovered over Amanda's contact before he pressed it.

He waited patiently until her voicemail picked up.

"Hey, it's me. I hope everything's okay and you didn't answer because you're sleeping. If you're sleeping, I'm glad I didn't wake you up. Anyways, I was just calling to check in and see how things went with your dad this afternoon. It's been a day here, that's for sure. At work I mean...not with the girls. The girls are fine." He rambled. "Um, do me a favor and Facetime me when you can? We have some things to talk about and I'd rather say them to your face instead of over the phone, but I don't want to wait until you get home either. Uh, yeah." He chuckled nervously. "Talk to you soon, Amanda. And one more thing...I miss you."