A/N 1: I'm still blushing because of some of the compliments I got on chapter 1. And very glad to see that I'm not the only one who thought that the network and the writers left us hanging and that there was more to explore (although I am also grateful that they provided us with more of an ending than some other shows have gotten). Thank you for your encouragement! My intention with this story is to write sort of an unofficial 4th season for this great show. So 10 chapters at least, hopefully even more (there were, after all, 16 episodes in season 2 and 38 episodes in total). Ambitious? Yes, and I'm not sure if I can do it. But if I can't, I will at least provide closure on the situation between Dani & Nico, I can promise you that!

Chapter two

One month later

Weird how everything always seemed to look the same, yet somehow different when you came back home after a vacation, Dani pondered as she looked around her kitchen while eating the last pieces of her breakfast. She had arrived home last night, exhausted after the long flight that followed her month of fun and Spanish sun with Jeannette. She put her fork down, stretched and sighed. Yes, the vacation had been just what the doctor ordered. She felt… not happy, but at least better than she had in… Well, a little over a month. Her eyes darted to the stairs, and she remembered the last time she'd been really happy.

"I wanted to make sure that, you know, that last night wasn't a dream…"

"Would this refresh your memory?" He closed the distance between them and kissed her tenderly…

Whoa, hold it right there! She was not gonna go there. That was in the past now. She had put it behind her, thanks to long talks with Jeanette and a little help from Augustos well-stocked wine cellar. She glared at the staircase, reminding herself of the dangers of euphoric recall.

"You know what kind of man I am…"

Shut up already, she ordered the voice in her head. She had other things to think about, important things. Such as her career. When she had been in Barcelona, the story about V3 and Connor MacLane had broken worldwide. And, as a certain person had predicted, it had become one of the biggest sports scandals in history. As a result, V3 had been shut down. And so Dani was now officially out of a job. She sould be talking to her contacts, putting feelers out to sports teams and talent agencies… Anything but sitting around moping about happier times! So, who to call first?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of someone coming down the stairs. She looked up to find a sleepy-looking Lindsay smiling at her.

"Hi mom, did you save me some breakfast?"

"Morning, Linds. I'll cook you something up while you hit the shower."

"Thanks mom!" Lindsay started to go back upstairs, but then came back. "So, ah… How about having a girl's night this friday?"

Dani smiled, pleasantly surprised. She had thought Lindsay, as usual, would want to spend her friday night with friends. "Sure, honey, that'd be great!"

"Yeah, well, we have a lot of catching up to do, right?"

"That we do. Now hurry up, or there won't be time for breakfast!"

Dani's phone buzzed insistently, and she huffed. Of course she had her arms full of groceries, and of course she would be too late to pick the darn phone up. She put the bags down on the counter and reached for the phone. 'Blocked', read the display, and she frowned, feeling an uncomfortable sense of déja vu… Before she could decide whether or not to pick up, the buzzing stopped and the call went to voicemail. Just as well, she thought, and went to pick up the groceries. But then the phone buzzed again, this time signaling a text. She sighed and looked at the display again. Apparently there was a new voicemail message. It would have to wait, there were groceries to put away.

This has got to stop, Santino, she scolded herself while she began putting away groceries. Just because the number was blocked, doesn't mean it was him! After all, why would he call? You made it very clear that you didn't want him to. And he seems to be fine with that so far… The phone buzzed again, to remind her that she had ignored the incoming text. "Oh, allright already!" she muttered. She picked up the phone and dialed voicemail. She held her breath until a pleasant, but unfamiliar voice sounded in her ear.

"Dr. Santino, this is Naomi Perkins at SBG Management. I'm calling on behalf of Miss Abigail Bruce, who would like to set up an appointment with you. Would you please get back to me as soon as you possibly can? Thank you in advance!" The woman rattled off a phone number, but Dani was too dumbfounded at first to write it down. Abby Bruce? What could she possibly want? Dani hadn't seen or spoken to her since the day that Connor had announced that V3 had taken over SBG Management. And she'd had questions ever since, especially on the subject of Abby's loyalties. And now the woman was calling her to set up some kind of appointment? Dani replayed the message, this time with pen and paper ready to jot down the phone number. There was only one way to find out what Abby wanted, and she had to admit her curiosity was piqued.

"Dr. Santino, I'm so glad you could make it on such short notice," Abby Bruce looked composed and stylish as always, as she came walking towards Dani with a warm smile on her face.

"Hello, Miss Bruce." Dani's own smile was more of the polite than of the warm variety.

"Please, call me Abby. Shall we go to my office?"

"Sure, lead the way."

As she followed Abby, Dani looked around and couldn't help but notice that SBG Management had taken quite a different approach than V3, at least where office decoration was concerned. Instead of shiny epoxy floors and lots of chrome and glass, there were lush carpets and hardwood doors. The hallways had been softly lit and the walls were decorated with colorful, sports-themed photographs that contrasted with the nature colours of the overall decor. In the reception area there were stylish soft couches instead of designer chairs. The resulting atmosphere was elegant and classy, yet cozy and warm.

Dani was surprised to find she actually felt… at home in this office building, a feeling she had never once had at V3. Abby opened a door at the end of the hallway and motioned for Dani to enter a roomy, light office with pale blue walls much like the ones in Dani's own home office. She offered Dani a seat at a small conference table in the corner. "Would you like tea? Coffee?"

"Um, coffee, please."

Abby walked over to her desk and picked up the phone. "Naomi? Could you get us two coffee in here? Thank you! Coming right up," she said to Dani.

"Great. So, Abby, how can I help you?"

"Ah, you don't like to chitchat, do you, Dr. Santino?"

"Oh, I like to chitchat just fine. But, you know, last time I was invited to a talent agency for a 'chat' with the owner – well, let's just say it didn't work out so well in the end. As you are well aware."

"Yes, I certainly am aware of that. Very well then, the reason I have invited you here, doctor…" Abby was interrupted by a discrete knock on the door. A pretty brunette walked in and placed a tray loaded with two cups of coffee and a plate of cookies on the conference table. "Thanks, Naomi. Oh – how's your mom doing, by the way?"

"She's getting better every day, actually. Who do you think made the cookies?" the brunette said, and smiled.

"Well, that's good to hear. And tell her thanks. Dr. Santino, you have to try these. Naomi's mom makes the best chocolate chip cookies you have ever tasted." Abby offered her the plate as Naomi walked out the door again.

Dani accepted the treat and took a bite. "Oh, yes, these are delicious." She finished the cookie and looked at Abby expectantly. "So? Why am I here today, Abby?"

Abby cleared her throat. "Yes. Well, as you might know, SBG Management was, till recently, just a small boutique agency. Now that V3 has closed up shop, we have taken on a lot of their clients. So many, in fact, that we have had to double our staff to be able to give all our clients the high level of personal attention that has always been our trademark."

"Well, good for you and congratulations, I suppose, but what's any of that gotta do with me?" Dani asked, although she was beginning to see where Abby might be going with this.

"One of our new clients is Terrence King. And he's… Well, struggling. So, his agent suggested that you might be able to help him out."

"TK's agent, huh? Isn't he in jail?"

"Oh, excuse me, I didn't mean Connor. I was talking about TK's new agent, Paloma Madsen. She's…"

"Whoa, hold on a minute there – did you say Paloma? You mean the Paloma Madsen that used to be my assistant at V3?"

"One and the same," Abby smiled.

"Wow, I did not see that one coming. But not, you know, not because I don't think she can do it. Because I'm sure she makes a great agent."

"She certainly does. Anyway, Paloma was the one that suggested TK could use your help with his issues, and that's why I called you. So, what do you say?"

"Well, of course I'll help TK – if I can. What I still don't understand is why you are the one asking me for my help. I mean, TK knows he can always call me, and he has my phone number, so…"

Abby looked a little uncomfortable suddenly. "Yes, well, there's more to it than just TK…"

Dani crossed her arms. "Aaannnd the other shoe drops," she muttered.

Abby took a deep breath. "Dr. Santino, I know that you are currently unemployed. And, well, to be honest, SBG could really use someone like you…"

"…So you want to make me an offer I can't refuse. Is that it? Well, let me think… And while I'm thinking, maybe you could tell me this: if I do choose to refuse the offer, what happens to TK?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the last time I was offered a job, part of the deal was that I would work exclusively for V3 clients – or should I say clients that V3 saw fit for me to work with? Anyway, if you're suggesting that TK can only be my client again if I come work for SBG? My answer's gonna be thanks, but no thanks."

"Oh! No, Dr. Santino, believe me, SBG is very different from V3. And so is this offer. It's more like the deal you had with the New York Hawks: we will pay you to be at our disposal, and we will send our clients your way. But you would still have your own practice, and you would still be able to refuse or accept our clients as you choose."

Dani simply didn't know what to say. She did need new clients, and she did have bills to pay. But Abby Bruce and SBG Management had definitely not been at the top of her to-call-list. The last thing she needed in her life was another drama like the one at V3. And SBG was too closely associated with her former employer for comfort. When she opened her mouth to voice her thoughts, Abby held up her hand and smiled apologetically.

"Look, Dr. Santino… I understand your hesitation, after what happened with Connor and V3. But let me ask you this: do you know how the FBI found out about the things that were going on at V3?"

Dani answered carefully: "Well, as I understand, they had an… informant… inside V3." Memories of Nico tried to flood her mind, but she refused to acknowledge them.

"Yes, they did… But who tipped them off that they even needed an informant?"

"Oh. Well, wild guess then – that was you?"

"Bingo. After that, they wanted me to bond with Troy, get him to talk. And in the end, when their informant couldn't deliver? They asked me to try and get the dirt on Connor. Which I was very close to doing when they told me it was no longer necessary. Apparently by then one of the athletes had already provided them with enough evidence to bring down the entire organization. And of course they also had Troy's confession, so…"

"Whoa, time out! Information overload here! So you are saying that… what, that you were part of the whole FBI sting, and that was the only reason you reassociated with Connor and V3?"

"Exactly," Abby's face took on a disgusted expression. "If it had been up to me, I would never have set foot near V3 or that sleazebag C-Mac again after the way he screwed me over."

"Wait, so it wasn't the other way around? You didn't… screw over… Connor while he was sitting with his father on his deathbed?"

Abby laughed incredulously. "That's what he told you? Wow, that's low, even for Connor. No, that's not what happened at all. In fact, I think his father is still alive today – though I'm not entirely sure. But anyway, Dr. Santino, what I was trying to say is this: if you accept my offer, you won't have to worry about getting into a situation like the one at V3."

"Yeah… Gee, Abby, I just don't know…" Dani tried to create order in the chaos that used to be her mind.

"Okay… Tell you what," Abby interrupted her thoughts. "You don't have to take my word for it. You take on TK as a client, send the bill to SBG. See how it goes. Talk to Paloma or Jasmine, or, you know, you can even call agent Bennett and ask if he can vouch for us, I think I still have his business card around here somewhere… Anyway, so you think about everything. Then you get back to me. If you still don't want to work with us, we just go our separate ways. No hard feelings, I promise."

"Well, if you put it that way… Allright. Have TK call me to set up an appointment."

"Thanks, Dr. Santino, you won't regret it, I promise!" Abby's face lit up in a broad smile.

"I'm not so sure about that… And just so we're clear: I'm not saying I'm accepting your job offer. I'm saying that I'll think about it."

"Of course, I understand. I'll have TK call you as soon as possible."

Dani left the SBG building in a daze, still trying to figure out what to think of Abby's story. She never noticed the man leaning against a fence across the street. But he was watching her intently, with a cold look in his grey eyes. Well, well, well, look who we have here, he thought. It seemed that the good doctor was about to become a… problem… once again.

A/N 2: Well, Abby's story was a bit of a surprise… And I don't know if I trust her. What are your thoughts on her and on her story? And should Dani accept her offer? Also: yes, I know, no Nico in this chapter. Stay tuned for chapter three, in which I hope to fix that problem ;)