Title: Good People Gone Bad
Summary: second part of the Michael Fitzgerald/Nicole Malone series. Jack got custody of the girls, and Nicole got custody of Mike Fitzgerald's heart. Will Michael and Nicole's relationship advance, or will someone make sure that it stops?
Disclaimer: I own none of the Without a Trace Characters, but I do own Nicole Malone and Michael Fitzgerald, and should I end up creating more characters, I will own them also.
A/N: as with many of my other stories, I'm making a lot of things up as I go along. I'm a high school student with very little money. Please don't sue.
A/N: I know that this chapter is short, and I don't know if it is going to have a lot of Jack, or Mike, but the chapters to come are going to be showing the characters a lot of love.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two months, about eight weeks, sixty days. That's how long we've been back in New York. I'll be the first to admit that no one was really sure of how the deposition was going to go. Mom's lawyer was handing some low blows to dad, and for awhile, I'm sure that dad had his doubts about getting us back. Eventually though, mom took this first step in doing the right thing and gave dad full custody, citing her career as the reason for doing so. Hannah, Kate, and I had all of our things packed up, and sent back up here, where we'd now be living. Sure, dad was still working long hours, but he was making a real effort to make things up to us girls. If he was going to be late, he'd call and let us know, he'd take all of us to school when he said he would; in all, dad was being the best dad ever. Things had gotten even better for me. Not only had I turned eighteen, a huge milestone in a person's life, but I had started dating the greatest guy, Michael Fitzgerald. Mike had been a huge help to me when everything was going on. After all, he had known me for less than a full day and Mike stepped in to be my best friend, my support system, my shoulder to cry on. I had never really met anyone before where I felt that I could just be myself and not have to worry about the consequences. Yes, Mike was 21, while I had just turned 18, but age didn't matter to us. Dad seemed to trust him, which just put icing on our happiness cake. I was taking classes through New York University, and Michael, who had just graduated, had joined up with the FBI and did their whole training program. If you were someone who passed the two of us on the street, we'd seem like the all-American dream couple, without knowing the past that either of us has had to go through.
"Hey, Nicki are you home?"
"In my bedroom, Mike."
I was living in an apartment with Michael was I was going to school. He had found a great apartment, but it was too big for just him and also a little too much for him to try to pay for himself. Thus, our living arrangement. Mike and I split all of the rent and utilities, making it a lot easier to pay for. We knew that moving in together may have been a little too soon in our relationship, so I've opted to sleep in a separate room, just to make sure that things do not advance too fast.
"Hey beautiful."
I hear Mike's voice, and see a beautiful bouquet of flowers appear in front of my face.
"For me? Why, thank you Mr. Fitzgerald."
"You're welcome, Miss Malone."
I get up, walking into the kitchen, to get a vase to put the flowers in.
"You spent the night at the office, didn't you?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"Shift ends at 4:00 pm, and right now, it's only noon. Dad must've sent you home."
"He said I was overworking myself, and if I didn't learn to let the case go, I would never make it. I still can't quit thinking about the girl, though."
"Do you want to go grab some lunch or something? It'll help take your mind off of it, trust me."
"If it'll work, I'm all for it."
I put my shoes and jacket on, and together, Mike and I leave, heading down the street to the best restaurant in the world. If either of us had seen the car tailing us, we would've seriously rethought that decision.
