Nick groaned lightly. He hated being a light sleeper sometimes. Half asleep still, his hand went searching for the body next to him and found nothing but empty space. Fearing more that she went off somewhere without him than she'd simply just left, he rolled over to get off the bed. He didn't calculate just how close the edge of the bed he was, however, and wound up landing on his back on the floor, tangled in the sheets. "Smooth one Nicolas," he muttered, shaking his head lightly. If he hadn't been awake before, he sure was now.
Turning quickly, Steffani tossed the baggy shirt Nick had given her earlier over her head. "Graceful." She commented fighting not to smile.
He groaned. "Figures ya'd see that." He grabbed the shirt and sat up, putting it on over his head and trying to untangle himself from the sheets. "Looks like ya won the wearin' out contest," he continued.
"Girls kick ass." Steffani told him with a smile. "I was just looking for something to write with and on... You do stick with pencil and paper right?"
He smirked. "Paper? What's that? You're livin' in a computerized household, Darlin'," he said as he finally managed to untangle himself, standing and putting on his boxers. "No, I'm joking. Let's see if I need t' unpack some."
Steffani nodded. "Right first thing on shopping list: Paper and pens." She muttered. "And computers for idiots."
He chuckled as he moved over to her, giving her a kiss. "I'm jokin'. I just haven't unpacked many of my office supplies yet. But I know exactly where t' look for 'em."
"Cool." Steffani replied with a smile. "I'm gonna need a lot." She added.
He nodded. "I'll get ya a pad," he said as he opened the door and walked towards the living room. "Hey guys!" He said cheerfully, rubbing the two dogs heads as he passed them by.
Steffani smiled as she sat down on the bed again. Resting her head in her hands, Steffani started thinking about all the ones that wanted her dead or gone. "This is gonna be a while."
Nick opened up one of the boxes labeled 'Office supplies' and started rummaging for a pad of paper. Snatching out of the box, he ripped out the first few pages that he'd written on himself and put them back to deal with later. "Pen... pen..." He muttered, as he continued looking.
Running a hand through her hair Steffani continued to think until she noticed that Nick hadn't come back yet. Panic set in rather quickly. "Nick?" She called quickly.
"Yeah?" He called back to her. "Sorry, findin' a pen is provin' t' be harder than I thought. Oh, here we go! Geez."
Relief fell over her as Nick called back. "I thought you knew where everything was."
He walked back to the bedroom. "I knew where the box was. Just not where *in* the box it was," he said with a slight smile, handing her the pad and a couple of pens. "This good?"
"It's perfect." Steffani mumbled, not looking forward to making the list.
He sat down next to her, sensing that she was going to need some support with this. "Tell me if ya need me. Though ya sure ya won't be more comfortable at a table?"
"I'm not comfortable doing this anywhere." Steffani shot back sharply at him. "Thinking of your big bad enemies isn't the best thing to do."
He nodded. So that *was* what she was doing. "Yeah, I know. Just... well, I'm here, okay?"
Steffani let out a tight smile. "I know." She told him gently. "And that makes it bearable."
He kissed her cheek. "Good. Nothin' else, look at it this way, faster ya start, faster it's over," he said with a slight shrug.
"Right." Steffani muttered as she uncapped a pen. First on the list was Sophie. For the life of her, Steff had to admit she never knew Sophie's last name. "Think he wants a way reason?" She asked Nick.
"Umm... dunno. Doubt it though. The less details he needs t' know 'bout it, in your case, the better, right? If ya can't think of whole names though, ya might want t' list what they're associated t'..."
"Well gee maybe ' Sophie is an insane Hit woman that I literally 'screwed over' and got my ass handed to by her. And in the end she got away vowing to kill me." She told him attempting to make it sound like a good thing. "To much?"
He looked over at her, trying to keep his emotions out of his face. "Uhh, yeah. Don't think he needs t' know all that... 'Hit woman' should be fine..."
Steffani shrugged. "Right." She told him writing down a list. Tossing down Alison Brody, Quinton Huron, Steffani looked at Nick. "If you don't want to be here..." She trailed off indicating he didn't have to be if he didn't want to be.
He raised a brow. "Darlin', they're just names t' me. It's *you* I'm worried about. I ain't movin' from here 'til ya tell me to."
Steffani leaned over and kissed Nick gently. "Thanks." She told him. "So seeing a list of people willing, wanting and capable of killing the woman you love means nothing." She asked attempting to see if he was running a game on her.
"Scares the livin' daylights outta me, Steff," he admitted to her. "But it's gonna be difficult enough for ya as it is, let alone by yerself."
"Awww, it ain't that bad." Steffani lied. "How do you put down the mystery guest that killed your first partner?" She asked, trying to joke so it would cover up how upsetting this list was making her.
He locked eyes with her, then lowered them. "Umm... 'Unknown shooter'? But, uh..." Nick cleared his throat. God, this was going to be difficult. He needed to stay strong and somewhat objective here. "He might not have it out for you though. He's wounded you enough..."
"I don't even think he was aiming for wounding me." Steffani replied a bit bitterly. Tossing down a few more names, Steffani added Aquarius' name. The two hadn't left on best terms again. "The Russians...Nikolia and Katrina, Julie Mondie... It's surprising what a porn queen does in her spare time." Steffani muttered forget Nick was there. That was one of the cases, Steff was the least happy about... Having to nearly star in a 'dirty' movie.
Nick frowned a bit as he saw the list grow longer. From his seat just behind her, he reinforced his mental promise not to let her leave his sight.
"Not pretty is it." Steff asked tearing off page one and tossing it to the side of her.
Taking the page, he shook his head. "Nope." He got out, as he looked over the names. "Umm, thought this guy was a friend?" He asked, pointing at Aquarius' name.
Steffani looked at Nick. "He's never happy when I leave LA... And Bailey wanted everyone."
"Oh. Okay." He said simply.
"The only thing I think Aquarius would send is well maybe a house warming gift of bodyguards from an Atlanta allied tribe." Steffani replied. "Tough scary and all talk...That is of course if he's heard about this all."
Nick shook his head, forcing out a chuckle. "Guessin' he's the type that wouldn't listen if ya told him ya already had a bodyguard with ya, huh?"
"He'd want to check you out 24/7 for about three years and then maybe he'll trust ya." Steffani replied lowering the pen.
He scoffed lightly. "Figures," he said simply, his head lowered, eyes focused on the list of names in front of him.
"You know I don't even think half of those people are in Atlanta..." Steffani trailed off as she picked up the pen and wrote down a few more names. "I don't think they ever have been."
"That's... good t' know."
"Yeah." Steffani muttered tearing off another page. "I do think I'm near the end of this." She told him as she wrote down Wisdom Bailey and several irish arm dealer factions.
He took in the second sheet, shaking his head. "This is worse than findin' out about previous boyfriends," he muttered to himself.
Steffani cleared her throat. "To some of them I'm the ex." She muttered back.
He raised a brow, raising his head to look up at her. "I thought ya said ya didn't have any boyfriends?" He asked, confusion evident in his voice.
"Thought you didn't want to hear about work relations."
He opened his mouth, then shut it quickly, thinking about her words. "If they're on this list... maybe I should?"
"Maybe you should what?" Steffani asked confused.
"Maybe I should know...?"
"Know that half of theses loonies had a thing for me." Steffani replied. "Or at Least for Steffani Santini...my alter ego." She was silent. "There. Now you know."
"That ya had an alias? I was hopin' ya did, Darlin'."
"Well lets just put it this way... Steffani Holland was transferred to oblivion where as Steffani Santini was a career criminal."
He nodded, putting two and two together. "That explains why yer file was so vague."
"Yeap." Steffani agreed. "And most of the Santini stuff is sealed so unless you hack into Logan's computer well You ain't reading it." She glanced at Nick as she tossed the pad away. "I'm done for now." She muttered.
He shook his head. "I won't do that unless you want me to." He took her hand with his own, bringing it up to his lips. "Okay."
Steffani closed her eyes and kissed Nick. "Trust me I've got enough memories of it on my own...I don't need any more."
He nodded, hugging her. "I can only imagine. Let's try and build some good memories sometime, okay?"
"Didn't we do some of that today?" Steffani asked him.
He smiled. "Yeah, I do believe you're right."
"See...everything is good." Steffani told him and herself. "Everything is good."
He kissed her gently then rested his forehead against hers. "Yep." He looked into her eyes. "I love you, Steff. Know that." He wasn't expecting a response, but he wanted to be certain that she knew that the time he had said it before wasn't a fluke.
Steffani smiled as she closed eyes. "Hm....I'm sorta liking this room mate deal." She told him.
He grinned at her. "So am I, Darlin'. It's nice havin' company around again. Human or otherwise," he added with a chuckle.
Laughing, Steffani kissed Nick's nose. "We should go drop that off to Bailey." She got out after a minute.
He looked into her eyes. "Ya sure yer ready t' visit the Command Center? George alone is gonna be concerned 'bout ya... Yer gonna get alot of 'Are you okay?' and 'I'm sorry's'," he said, trying to prepare her.
"He said ASAP.." She muttered. "And I just want this list out of here."
He nodded. "Okay. Let me get dressed again. Don't want anyone t' think... well, you know what I'm sayin'." He said with a smirk.
"Oh and I'm just going to arrive wearing your shirt." Steffani replied. "That would raise a red flag."
He started to laugh, standing up and removing his shirt, looking for the dress shirt they had discharged earlier in the day. "I don't think anyone would notice that."
"It hangs down to my knees." Steffani commented grabbing her shirt. "Why don't you wear a tee-shirt or something... or are you planning to stay all day?" She asked attempting to find her leather pants.
He found the dress shirt and started to put it on. "Darlin', as much as I'd like t' do that, I'm not supposed t' have been at home. Think 'bout it. I helped move ya out. I kept ya company as we found a temporary place for ya, helped ya unpack. Managed t' convince ya t' eat somethin', then helped ya make this list." He went looking for his pants. "I wouldn't have had time, reason, nor opportunity t' change into anythin' else."
"Oh...yeah." She muttered. "Cover up the secret with more secrets." She sighed. "Better then lies right?" Steffani asked changing into the tie back shirt.
He looked over at her, putting on his dress pants again. "Do ya want t' tell people 'bout us?" He asked, realizing they actually hadn't discussed this yet.
"No.. I mean why should we." Steffani asked. "It's not their business."
Nick nodded. "Exactly. So... unfortunately, yeah... we gotta compound this secret with more secrets." Tucking his shirt into his pants, he looked around. "Darlin' where in heaven's name did ya throw my tie?"
Pointing to the open closet door, Steffani's eye trailed up took at the tie hanging over it. "I hate those things." She told him as she changed into her leather pants and tied up the front of them.
Looking to where she was pointing, he started to laugh. He grabbed it and moved to the mirror on the bureau. "I'll ease outta 'em eventually. I doubt I like 'em anymore than ya do. After all, I'm the one that needs t' wear 'em."
"Hey.. I'm sure A gal would wear one if she wanted too." She told him going over to her bag to a black crochet duster to cover her tattoo.
He chuckled, rolling up his sleeves when he finished with his tie. "I've seen it before. Hell, Liv used t' wear 'em all the time." He shrugged slightly, grabbing his shoes and socks.
"See." Steffani told him as she continued to look for the duster. "But I don't see how we women would want to wear one."
"Well, you can ask her if ya want. I gotta admit I never really thought 'bout it."
Glancing over at Nick, Steffani smiled. "Could you find my shoes." She asked him as she started to search another one of her bags.
"Uhhh, same one's as before? The black dress sandal things?"
"Yeah...The ones that need better balancing skills then mine."
He chuckled, bending down to find her shoes. "And I don't understand why women insist on torturin' their feet with high heels."
"Neither do I...Give me tennis shoes anyday." She told him finding her duster and putting it one over the tie back shirt before lifting her hair to make sure it hid her tattoo.
"Here they are!" He said, holding them up and handing them to her before standing.
Turning, Steffani let her hair fall. "Thanks." She told him with a kiss on the cheek, tossing them to the floor, Steffani slid her feet into them. Glancing at the list of four pages on the bed, Steffani grabbed it and folded it in half. "Shall we."
"Sure," he responded, grabbing his jacket. "Oh, gotta grab somethin' before we go," he said as he lead her out of the bedroom.
"Like what?" Steffani asked confused.
Once they reached the living room, he moved over to his safe, setting the combination and getting his gun and badge out of it, putting them in their appropriate spots. He held hers in his hand. "Ya want me t' carry it still?"
"No." Steffani told him after a few minutes of silence. "I'm good."
He shut the safe then handed the weapon to her, handle first. "And I trust ya t' be a good judge of that," he said, giving her a kiss. "Okay, I'm set. Am I drivin' again? 'Cause we need t' bring back yer other car when we leave."
"Take Bullit to the FBI? Please.. do you know how many people would want to take that car?"
He chuckled, nudging her towards the door. "True. Okay, my lousy Prius it is then."
"We can go for a spin in Bullit later." Steffani told him with a raised eyebrow.
Nick laughed. "Oh, that should be fun," he said as he opened the door for her.
"I plan on it being fun." She told Nick with a grin leaving the place. "Boys behave!" She called to her dogs.
Locking the door behind him, he followed her to the elevator. "With you there? I'm sure it will be."