A/N: Okay, I hope you're all still here. And that you'll be kind enough to review this chapter, because I love reading your opinions on the different plotlines. So, date night is coming up. Will Nico be able to open up to Dani a little more tonight? We'll see… But first, let's have a closer look at what that other mystery man in this story is up to.

Chapter eight

The man with the grey eyes woke up at the crack of dawn to the annoying sound of his cellphone buzzing on the nightstand. He grasped for it, but knocked the damn thing to the ground instead. Cursing, he felt around for it on the floor, managing to unlock it and bring it to his ear just before the call would have gone to voicemail. "What?" he snarled, his voice still heavy with sleep and the effects of one too many drinks the night before.

"Oh, so you are alive. We were starting to worry about you…" said a deep, heavily accented voice that made cold sweat break out on his forehead.

"Um, yes, I'm sorry I fell out of touch… I've been busy lately."

"You did not forget about our deal, did you?"

"No – no! Of course not… It's just… Well, not been going as smoothly as I'd expected… I um, I'm gonna need a little more time…"

"Chernikov will not be happy when I tell him that. Why the delay?"

"There have been some… unforeseen complications."

"Meaning?"

"People that could become a… problem."

"Well, deal with them, then. Quickly. Chernikov wants what's his, and soon. He paid you the big bucks for a reason."

"Yes, I know. Tell him I will… deal with the problems today."

"That's a good boy." The man on the other end disconnected.

He threw the phone back on the nightstand and fell back to the mattress. Dammit, it would take him at least a week to get things set up at SBG! If only Bruce hadn't been so stubborn before. But that couldn't be helped, he had her exactly where he wanted her now. So now he just had to make sure that Santino wouldn't keep her appointment with Bruce, which was scheduled for tomorrow morning… And from what he'd witnessed last night, Careles had probably spent the night at the doctor's house, so it would probably be impossible to get to her there. But maybe… He sat up and reached for his phone again.

"Yeah, it's me. I've got another job for you. But it must be taken care of today. Can you do it?"

"What's the job?" As he told the man on the other end exactly what he wanted, he smiled a humorless smile. Yes, this would keep the doctor and her boyfriend away from SBG, at least for the time being.

Dani spent the whole sunday afternoon deciding what to wear to her date with Nico. She couldn't recall ever having been this nervous about a date before. Then again, she hadn't ever had a date like this one before. In the end she decided on a sleeveless black cocktail dress with a lacy neckline and a low back. Nico hadn't specified where he would take her, but she figured this dress would work for most restaurants. She checked her watch. It was almost six, which meant that it was around eleven a.m in Barcelona. She got her laptop out of her office and Skyped Jeanette, who let out a low wolf whistle when she saw Dani's outfit. "Wow, foxy lady! So… Who's the lucky guy?"

"Um, well, you remember um, Nico, don't you?" Dani felt a blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Wait, what? Mystery Man's back? The one you just spent a whole month moping about?"

"I wasn't moping… Okay, yeah, I was – but I'm not anymore, see?" Dani smiled.

"Then what happened, Santino? Because last time I checked, you were all like I never want to see his face again and stuff! And now you're going out with him?"

Dani told her friend most of what had happened in the last few days, and she could see Jeanette getting more excited by the minute.

"I knew it!" Jeanette squealed when Dani was done with the story.

"Knew what?"

"That the two of you were going to get back together! I just knew it, and now look at you, all happy and blushing! I am so happy for you, Dani… But you tell this guy something for me, allright?" Jeanettes face went all serious suddenly.

"Uh, okay, what is it?"

"That if he ever decides to break your heart again, he better run fast, because I will come find him and kick him in the cojones!" Dani pictured that for a moment and broke out laughing. Jeanette joined her, and for a minute it felt just like old times. Then Jeanette had to go because the baby was crying. "Now have fun tonight, you hear me? And call me tomorrow. I wanna hear details!"

Nico had spent a few hours checking out SBG, but hadn't been able to find anything suspicious yet. In his experience though, that didn't mean that there was nothing to find. He would just have to dig a little deeper. There were, of course, legal ways of doing that, but he'd found that those ways weren't always the fastest ones. So right before he left home to pick Dani up, he called Stanzi Palmer and asked him to hack into SBG's personnel and client files. It was gonna be a hell of a job to do background checks on each person that was working there, but Nico figured he'd start with Abby Bruce herself. Her story may have checked out, but that didn't mean miss Bruce didn't have anything else to hide. Palmer promised him hacking into the files would be a piece of cake and that he would have results in just a few hours.
That settled, Nico got into his car. As he drove over to Dani's house, he found himself thinking about the night before, more specifically about the conversation they'd had in her office. You can tell me anything, you don't have to hide. If only it were that easy. But there was a darkness inside him that she didn't know about, that she wouldn't, couldn't, understand. He'd locked that part of himself away the day he'd left the SEALs, but it was still there. It always would be. And it was dangerous. That part of him, he would never tell her about. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't tell her a bit more about his life, he figured. And so he spent the rest of the drive mentally listing the things he could tell her about himself.

When she opened the door, he mentally cursed at the sight of her tight black dress. How the hell was he supposed to keep his hands off her when she looked like this? Eyes up, Careles, he scolded himself, and snapped them back to hers. "Hi," he managed, right before she went up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss.

"Hi yourself," she said with a nervous smile, then stepped outside and locked the door behind her.

"You look amazing." That earned him another smile.

"Thanks, you don't look too bad yourself… So, where are we going?" She raised a hand, as if she was going to fidget with her hair, then seemed to catch herself in the act and dropped the hand again.

"You'll just have to wait and see, doctor." Nico managed to sound less like a nervous schoolboy and more like himself this time. He took her hand, bracing himself when he once again felt the electricity shoot through him as soon as he touched her, and led her to his car. Okay. He could do this… But he prayed to God that this taking-it-slow thing wasn't gonna take too long. Because never in his life had he wanted a woman more than he wanted this one right now.

"So, how are you enjoying our first date so far, doctor?" Dani saw Nico look at her with a soft smile on his face, and couldn't help smiling brightly in return. They had just finished their entrees and were now waiting for the main course.

"Well, I gotta hand it to ya, you really know how to impress a girl…" She let her gaze roam around the elegantly decorated white tablecloth restaurant filled with fancy looking people. She was glad she'd opted for this dress, as it fit in well with what other women in the restaurant were wearing.

"My sisters taught me well, then." Dani snapped her eyes back to Nico when he said that, pleasantly surprised that he had actually volunteered some information about himself.

"You have a sister?"

"More than one, actually. I'm the eldest of six. Three sisters, two brothers."

"Wow… So are you still close with all of them?"

"I used to be. Now? Not really." Nico looked like he was going to say more, but then he just shook his head and dropped his eyes to the table for a moment. Dani hesitated, then decided to take a chance. After all, he had once said that all she had to do was ask…

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking?"

"I joined the Navy when I was 22. Got shipped off to Iraq. After that, I did some… other things. Classified things," he added when he saw her curiosity. "When I got out, things were… Different between us." He shrugged.

"I'm sorry." Dani reached out and put her hand on one of his.

"Don't be. I'm used to it by now. How's your mother doing, by the way?" He turned over his hand and linked his fingers with hers. After a moment's hesitation she decided to go with his less-than-subtle attempt to change the subject. As she told him about her mother's latest adventures, however, a part of her mind kept wondering. Had he been the one to shut his family out or had it been the other way around? And did he think that the gap between them could ever again be bridged?

Halfway through the main course, Dani heard her phone buzz in her purse. Not wanting to be rude, she chose to let the call go to voicemail. But when it started buzzing again immediately, she reluctantly got it out and looked at the display. The call was from a blocked number. It could be one of her patients.
"Do you mind?" she asked Nico, but he was already motioning for her to go ahead. "Hello?" she said into the phone.

"Is this Doctor Santino?" A woman asked.

"Yes, who's this?"

Nico felt his heart start to pound rapidly as Dani's eyes went wide and all the blood drained away from her face while she listened to the person on the other end. From her short, stammered replies he soon figured out it was a medical emergency. Her mother, maybe? He seemed to recall that she'd had a heart attack before… He reached across the table to grab Dani's free hand and glared at an elderly couple at the next table, who were rudely trying to listen in on the phonecall. They looked at him nervously, then dropped their eyes to their plates. When Nico looked at Dani again, he saw that she had ended the call and was now staring at the table. "Dani?" No response. He squeezed her hand, startling her. "Dani, look at me. Tell me what happened."

"I've got to get to the hospital."

"Is it your mother?" Nico asked. But when he saw the look in her eyes, he knew it wasn't.

"No… it's Lindsay, they said she was hit by a car and… Oh God, my baby's hurt!"
Nico wasted no time in getting her outside and then into the car, ignoring the waiter that ran after them to stop them from leaving without paying. "Which hospital?" he asked as he got behind the wheel. She gave him the name of the hospital and he pulled out of the parking lot, his stomach clenching at the sight of Dani hugging herself while staring through the windshield.

Making her way across the hospital parking lot, Dani had a vague notion that this had to be a nightmare, because she was running and yet the entrance to the ER didn't seem to get any closer. Then, suddenly, she was there. Breathing hard, she came to a stop in front of the nurses station. Before she could catch her breath, she heard Nico's terse voice give the nurse Lindsay's name. She felt his arm slide around her and gratefully leaned against him. "The doctor is in with her now. You can wait over there by the coffee machine," the nurse said.

"Will she be allright?" Dani asked.

"I don't know, Mrs. Santino. You'll have to wait for the doctor. I'm sorry."

Ten minutes went by in silence while they sat in the waiting area, Nico's arm around her shoulders offering quiet support. Dani kept repeating the same phrases in her head over and over again as she watched the minutes on the clock tick away ever so slowly. She'll be okay. Lindsay's strong, she'll be okay… Another fifteen minutes passed, and Dani couldn't just sit there anymore. She got up and started pacing. Then a door opened and a doctor came out. "Who's here for Lindsay Santino?" he asked, and Dani froze, suddenly afraid to respond to his question, terrified of what he might say. She sensed Nico coming up behind her, and then he pulled her against him. She turned around and hid her face against his chest as the doctor approached.
"Mrs. Santino? Your daughter is going to be just fine, I promise." For a moment, she couldn't grasp what he was saying to her. Then relief flooded her as she heard him continue. It seemed that Lindsay had a concussion, some broken ribs and a broken leg, but that she'd been lucky overall. "She must have seen the car coming and tried to get out of the way. It could have been a lot worse," he said. He wanted to keep her here for observation though, to make sure that no internal damage was done.

When she walked into her daughter's room, Dani felt her throat close up and her stomach sink as she took in the sight of Lindsay's bruised face and the bandage around her head. "Lindsay? Honey? Can you hear me?" she whispered as she took her daughter's hand in her own.

"Mom?" Lindsay opened her eyes and Dani felt like laughing and crying at the same time.

"Yes sweetie, it's me, I'm here…" She watched as her daughter took in the room with a slightly confused look in her eyes. Then her gaze seemed to catch on something behind Dani, and a small smile appeared on her face.

"Mom?" she whispered again, and Dani leaned closer to hear what she had to say. "That… him?" Dani frowned in confusion. "Date…" Lindsay managed, and Dani released a surprised chuckle as she realized that her daughter was looking at Nico, who stood in the doorway.

"Yes, honey, Nico's my date." Lindsay squeezed her hand and smiled again, and then Dani saw her eyes close, her face relaxing into sleep.

Nico breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the girl smiling at him. Dani kissed her forehead and then stood up and turned to him. She looked tired, and his heart twisted. He walked over to her and took her in his arms. She leaned against him heavily, and he heard her release a shaky sigh. "Let's get you home," he whispered, and she tensed.

"I can't leave her like this," she whispered back.

"Sure you can. They will take good care of her." He tried to lead her out of the room, but she resisted. "Dani, you need to get some rest, okay? You can come back first thing tomorrow, sweetheart." When she nodded, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and led her out of the room.

Dani fell asleep as soon as Nico pulled out of the hospital parking lot, and didn't wake up again until he parked in her driveway. The nap hadn't done much to take away her fatigue, but at least she felt less numb now. She took off her seatbelt and felt Nico's hand closing over hers. "You allright?" he asked. She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat closed up and at the same time his face became all blurry as the tears she'd been holding in all night finally started to fall. She covered her face with her hands and was only vaguely aware of him opening the door on his side and getting out of the car. Then the door on her side opened and he was there, pulling her into his embrace. She held on tight to him while letting go of her bottled up emotions.
When she finally looked up again, Dani found Nico looking at her with such tenderness and compassion that she just couldn't stop herself from dropping a soft kiss on his lips. It was over in a heartbeat, but it made her feel better. And in that moment she knew she didn't want to be alone tonight, tossing and turning in her bed while trying to deal with her emotions all by herself for the umpteenth time in her life. She'd be strong again tomorrow. Tonight, she just wanted him to hold her. As if he'd read her mind he wiped a tear from her cheek and whispered, "What do you need from me?" She wanted to tell him, but then hesitated. Could she ask that of him? After telling him – had that really been only yesterday? – that she wanted to take it slow, did she have the right to ask him to spend the night with her, even if it was just to hold her? Then he spoke again, "Don't overthink. Tell me what you need, Dani." She dropped her eyes from his and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Please stay with me tonight?" she whispered, relieved when he nodded almost immediately.

They went inside the house, and Dani went into the family room to call her son, her mother and her ex-husband, while Nico stayed in the kitchen to make a phonecall of his own. He felt the need to know exactly what had happened to Lindsay and what was being done about it, so he called an old friend at the NYPD. What he learned, pissed him off. Lindsay had apparently been hit when she'd been walking back home from a friend's house and a speeding car had somehow swerved in her direction. According to a neighbour, who'd seen the accident happen, the car hadn't even slowed down after it had hit Lindsay. The driver had just swerved back onto the road and kept driving, probably too drunk to even notice he'd hit someone. Unfortunately, the neighbour hadn't been able to get a good look at the car and could only describe it as a 'dark sedan', which didn't exactly narrow things down. The police didn't hold out much hope for catching the guy, and neither did Nico. He thanked the cop and ended the call, then proceeded to make Dani a cup of strong tea. He could hear her talking in the family room, the hint of irritation in her voice telling him she was now talking to her ex. He searched the kitchen cabinets while he waited for her to end the call, looking for scotch and a glass, but came up emptyhanded. So tea it is, he thought with a wry smile as he poured himself a cup.

When Nico walked into the family room, he found Dani sitting on the couch leaning forward while massaging her temples. He put the steaming cups on the coffee table, and she looked up with a weary smile. "Thanks." He sat down next to her and put his hand on her tense shoulder.

"Turn," he said, and gently tugged at her shoulder until her back was to him. He started massaging her shoulders. She let out a sigh and bent her head forward to give him better access. Gradually, he felt her tense muscles loosen up and relax.
When the tension was almost completely gone, Nico let his hands slide down Dani's arms and around her waist, pulling her onto his lap so she could rest her head on his chest while his hand rubbed her back in a purely comforting way. That seemed to relax her even more and it made him glad he could do this for her. Then she let out a soft moan and raised her eyes to his. He became acutely aware of the feel of her body pressed against his in all the right places. "This feels so good," she whispered, voicing his exact thoughts.
"Want to feel even better?" he whispered back without thinking. Her eyes widened and she bit her bottom lip, hesitating. Then she dropped her eyes and nodded slowly.

Dani had expected Nico to lean in and kiss her then, so she let out a surprised gasp as he gathered her in his arms and stood up from the couch. "Relax," he whispered, and she felt her body obey, even as her mind was anxiously awaiting his next move. Was this really a good idea? Should she tell him to put her down? That she hadn't meant for him to do anything other than kiss her? Somehow, she couldn't get the words out. And she realized that it might not be a good idea, but she really wanted to go with it nonetheless.

Effortlessly, Nico carried her up the stairs and to her bedroom, where he laid her down on the bed gently. He lay down next to her, leaning on his elbow and pulling her close again. And then he did kiss her, and Dani stopped thinking. As soon as his lips touched hers, she let her arms slide around his neck, trying to pull him even closer to her, but he resisted. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, and she opened them, allowing him access to her mouth. But when she tried to deepen the kiss, she felt him resisting again. He pulled back slightly and she opened her eyes to look at him. "Let's take this slow," he whispered, before closing the distance between them again. She closed her eyes and let the sensation of him kissing her take over her mind.
She shivered as his lips traced a path across her cheek and his tongue lightly touched her earlobe, then moaned as he kissed his way down the side of her neck and across her collarbone to the hollow at the base of her throat. His hand, that had been resting on the side of her ribcage, slowly moved to the underside of her breast, cupping it gently through her dress. Because of the low back she wasn't wearing a bra, and his touch seemed to burn right through the thin fabric. Her nipples hardened in anticipation and she arched her back, but then she felt his hand slide down across her stomach and to her hip. Her moan of disappointment became one of pleasure when Nico pulled up the hem of the dress, caressing her skin as he did it. His hand cupped her breast again, and again she arched into it. She gasped his name as his fingers finally found her nipple, sending what felt like a bolt of lightning straight to her core.
"I want you out of this dress," she heard him whisper then, and she totally agreed with that sentiment. So she sat up a little and helped him remove the dress, shivering a little as cool air touched her heated skin. Then she shuddered as Nico bent his head and sealed his lips to hers again while his hand resumed caressing her breasts. She had just brought her hand up to his chest, trying to open the top buttons of his shirt, when suddenly he pulled her body flush against his, rolled her to her back and broke their kiss. But before she could protest, he leaned on his elbows and bent his head. She felt his tongue lightly circling her nipple and all protests were wiped out of her mind as she tangled her fingers in his hair to pull him closer. He obliged, sucking gently and then turning his attention to her other breast.
Dani got lost in sensations for a while as she gave herself up to Nico's gentle strokes, licks and caresses. He seemed to know exactly where to touch her to make her shiver and moan and move restlessly, but he took his sweet time in moving his hand to where she wanted it most. He touched her stomach, making the muscles jump, but then let his hand slide to the side of her hip, while his lips and tongue followed the path it had taken. Dani wanted to scream in frustration yet enjoyed the anticipation too much to have it end to soon, and he seemed to understand that perfectly.
Then, at last, his hand moved between her legs, stroking her lightly through the lacy fabric of her panties. Her hips bucked violently in an effort to intensify the contact and she was dimly aware of him groaning softly, right before he pulled her panties down and slid a finger inside of her. "Yesss," she heard herself hiss as her hips bucked off the bed again. His mouth came down on hers again and his hand started moving in a slow, tantalizing rhythm that had her on the edge in no time – but didn't push her over. She started moving frantically, trying to get him to pick up speed or increase the friction, or both. But he kept on teasing her, until she felt like she was going to explode. "Nico, please…" she managed to gasp. And then she flew apart, scattering into a million pieces when he finally pressed the button that sent her over the edge in a free fall that seemed to go on for years.

Nico had never seen anything more beautiful than Dani coming apart in his arms. It was even worth not doing anything about his own need to have her… He kept caressing her until the last waves of pleasure died down and she relaxed completely, a smile on her face. When she opened her eyes he gave her a smile in return. "Feel better now?" he whispered, and she nodded.
"Much," she said. Then she yawned. Nico lay down on his back and took her with him, so she was lying with her head on his chest. He pulled the covers up so she wouldn't get cold. When he felt her hand go to the buttons of his shirt, he stopped it by placing his own hand over hers.
"Tonight was just for you, sweetheart," he said, hushing her when she wanted to protest. Then he kissed the top of her head. "Try to get some sleep now." For a moment she seemed to hesitate, but then she yawned again and relaxed against him. Nico closed his eyes, simply savoring this moment with her as he, too, started drifting off into sleep.

A/N: Well, we have a new record, people! This chapter is well over 4,000 words long. But I just couldn't find it in my heart to leave you hanging yet again ;) Please tell me what you think! I was reluctant to write a love scene at first, beacuse I had never done it before. Also, I started out with this story trying to be as true to the original show as possible, and love scenes were never played out on screen. But then I figured, this isn't the original show and there has to be a first time for everything. The scene you just (hopefully) enjoyed was the result of that line of thought.