Compromised Affairs || Nicole, Catherine

It wasn't a very nice day in Las Vegas. It had been raining almost all morning and now, at about 3 PM it was still cloudy and quite cool outside.
Danny was standing in a back alley behind a Night Club, wearing a dark pair of jeans, running shoes and a grey hoodie. He was waiting for his 'supplier' to show up and hand him his new dealer pack of Meth that he was supposed to sell on the streets. It was an undercover assignment that Danny had been working on for months now. He was close to finally meeting the guy behind the curtain, the one who really pulled the strings in this organization. Just a little bit longer and he would be able to shut another drug dealing ring down.
He heard the door to the club being opened and turned around. His supplier came up to him, with the bag of drugs he was supposed to sell. Daniel handed the guy his share of the money he made last time and received the new bag. He put it into his pocket and spoke a few more words with the guy.

While he did Daniel had no idea that someone he knew was watching the whole scene. Someone who didn't know about him being an FBI Agent, someone who might get the wrong impression....

Nicole was heading to her studio at the same time. She pulled her rain coat around her as she walked. She was meeting up with group of LVPD officers today. Nicole soon came to the street that her studio was on and smiled a bit. Almost there she said to herself as she waited for the signal to cross. When it was time, Nicole stepped off the sidewalk and headed across the street. Once on the other side, Nicole would see something that stopped her dead in her tracks. What the.....? she said to herself when she saw Daniel.

Daniel nodded a little in reply to what the guy said to him.
"Thanks man." he said and then the guy gently slapped Danny's shoulder. He returned the guesture, keeping up his act just like he was used to, then Daniel started to head down the alley, away from where Nicole was. The guy walked back inside the club, not noticing Nicole. Neither did Danny.

Nicole was stunned when she saw Danny do that. "YOU SLIMEBAG!" she shouted at Danny as she stood there. It was clear that she was pissed about what she saw. She didn't know that this was part of Danny's job. Nicole turned and walked to her studio. Once inside, she went into the office and sat down, trying to calm herself at the same time.

Daniel turned around when he hear Nicole's voice. She looked pissed and he could only imagine what she must be thinking about him now. She didn't know that he was an FBI Agent, she had no idea that this was an undercover job. Seeing that the guy he talked to was already inside again, he thought about what he should do.
"Nicole, WAIT!" he called out when she turned and walk away, but it didn't work. Should he follow her, explain things to her now?
He looked at the watch on his wrist and sighed. He had to meet one of the main buyers now. He had no time to walk back and talk to her.

And he couldn't call her now, because he didn't have his real phone on him, just the one for the undercover job. He turned around to continue his way. He realized that he screwed up and he needed to get in touch with her. Danny had his phone in his car parked down the block where he was going. He would stop there for a minute.
Damn it!

Nicole sat in her office, shaking a bit at the same time. Her assistant Lexi saw her, but didn't go in. She knew that Nicole needed her space for the time being and would talk about it when she felt up to it.

How could Danny be like that? she asked herself. I knew I should not have trusted him Nicole added. After a few moments, she got up and met up with Lexi.

Danny walked up to his borrowed black Bureau Mercedes. His undercover car for the job. After all, he was supposed to look like a successful drug dealer. Not shabby like most of those small kids, but a little higher up the rank. His undercover name: Rodrigo Alvarez aka Dodgy R.

He unlocked the car and got in. He had to drive about 5 minutes to meet his buyer, but he had enough time to write a text message to Nicole. He figured that she wouldn't pick up the phone if he called her. He was pissed that she saw him. That wasn't supposed to happen. He had no idea why she was even close to that ally. He sighed and took his phone out of the glove box and wrote:
"It's not what you think, Nicole. I'm sorry you saw that today and understand if you don't wanna see me again, but please let me explain. Meet me at that bar we first met. Tonight 8 PM. Please? Danny"

Danny sent the message and put his phone back into the glove box, started the engine and went to his undercover meeting.

Nicole was talking with Lexi when her phone buzzed. She checked the message and saw that it was from Danny. "He wants to meet with me." she said to her co worker. Lexi watched her as she said that. "You should" she replied. "Why should I talk with a bloke who sells drugs and puts people in danger?" Nicole asked. Lexi knew she had a point. Nicole sighed a bit, then put her phone back and went to meet with the people that had arrived.

While driving to his meeting Danny thought about the scene Nicole saw and he began to wonder if she had seen all of it, or just part of it. Why had she been angry at him and not even waited to hear his side of story? He began to wonder if Nicole would really come to the bar tonight and hear what he had to say or if she would simply trust what she saw and never speak to him again.
She was army woman, she would have sensed if he had been lying to her the first time they met, right? But she talked to him. She even had him walk her home, so maybe she would give him a chance to explain. And besides, with her army background he was sure Nicole had friends who could check his background for her if she asked. A woman like that probably had tons of friends back there.
If she's really not going to come and hear me out, guess she wasn't even worth the try... he thought as he parked close to his meeting point. He would walk the rest to the place. I really thought she was different.

Danny pushed his thoughts away for now and went back into his role as Rodrigo... selling drugs to a little more wealthy clients...

Nicole forgot about what she saw while working with the group. Lexi could tell that Nicole was pissed as they worked. After the class was over, Nicole went back to her office and sat down. Should I go? she asked herself. Nicole thought about that for a moment. "Your father would tell you to go." she said out loud, Nicole made up her mind on the spot. After her and Lexi finished for the day, Nicole headed back to her apartment and changed, then went to the bar.

Daniel finished his undercover business late in the afternoon. He had gone back to the office and reported the latest turns of events and then was sent home for the day. On his way home he made a little detour to get some groceries and then headed home.
He showered and changed into a dark blue dress shirt and a pair of dark pants. Nicely, but not too formal. Then he grapped his leather jacket and headed out the door to the bar around 7.

At the time Danny told Nicole to meet him there, he sat at a table in the back. He decided that the bar was not the right place to discuss it. And today was a quiet day at the club. Danny had a beer standing on the table, but had barely touched it. He began to wonder if Nicole would come. He could only hope that he believed her if she came to hear what he had to say.

Nicole soon walked into the bar and looked around. Seeing Daniel, she walked over and sat across from him. "Daniel" she said in a low tone, the anger still present as she said that to him. She ordered a drink, then looked at him. "How long have you been a bloody crook?" Nicole asked, fighting the urge to really scream at him. The bartender set Nicole's drink down, then walked off. Nicole took a small sip, then looked back at Daniel, waiting for his reply.

Danny had been watching the door from his table and he was relieved when he saw Nicole entering. But the look on her face told him that he would have a hard time explaining. He could tell that she was angry, but then again, Daniel had nothing to apologize for in this case. She never asked him what he was doing, but he knew that if they had talked about it, Nicole wouldn't have jumped to the conclusion she now had to jump to.
He looked straight at her, he always did when he was being serious and honest.
"I've never been a crook and I ain't one now." he said calmly. Daniel watched her reaction to what he just said. He wanted to know if she was really listening to what he said and believed him before he would continue.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~
btw... I think she would call him Daniel if she was angry. Especially since he introduced himself as Daniel to her in the bar topic.

"Daniel, stop acting like your off your rocker and tell me the truth." Nicole said to him after he said that to her. As she said that, the bar tender looked over to them. He could tell that Nicole was pissed. Nicole continued to watch Danny after she said that. "Well?" she asked as she sat there and watched him.

~~~~~~
True

The bartender knew Daniel for many years already. He knew about his line of work and he figured it was about that exact thing his new lady-friend was so pissed about. Sighing a little to himself, the bartender got back to work.
"Let me ask you something first. What exactly did you see when you saw me this morning?" he asked her. It was important to him that he knew what she saw, before he told her anything. Especially since he wasn't supposed to talk about it at all. But it was a fresh friendship at stake and he figured Nicole wouldn't go around and tell everybody.

"I saw you passing drugs Daniel." Nicole said to him rather quickly. "Have you become a dag?" she asked. Nicole looked him in the eye as she said that to him. It was clear that Nicole didn't fully understand what she saw. Daniel, when I first met you, you were a rather charming bloke.....now I see you pushing drugs like your a chemist?......when did you become such a sleaze?" she asked, anger and pain in her voice as she said that to him.

So she had seen it all. Well, that didn't make it easier for him and the way she asked those questions made it clear to him that she didn't quite listen to what he said earlier, or that she didn't understand what he was saying.
He sighed, thinking of a way how to answer her questions. He needed quite a bit of strength to remain this calm, though. After all, she was questioning him and that was something that mostly would piss him off.
"Listen, I said I wasn't a sleazer already." he said, his voice serious, yet as calm as he possibly could. "What you saw this morning was an undercover job, which you would have known if you wouldn't have walked off like you did."

Nicole watched Danny as she said that to her. Undercover?.....really? she asked himself after he said that. Nicole sat there for a moment, then looked back to him. "What are you.....some kind of walloper?" she asked while watching him.

Danny watched Nicole as she was silent for a little bit. That was a lot to take in, considering that she didn't know he was an FBI Agent. He wondered what she was thinking right now. He knew that she was pissed for what she saw this morning, but he began to wonder if that changed now. If they could work past that somehow and fix things. He didn't want it end because they never spoke about their jobs when they met.
"Wall-what?" he asked a slight bit confused. He had no idea what she meant with that word.



~ ~ ~ ~ ~
and neither do I... what's a walloper? Couldn't find it in a dictionary...

Nicole noticed the look on Danny's face when he said that to her. "Police" she replied, her cheeks turning a bit red at the same time. "Now whos going off her rocker." she added as she looked away from Danny. It was clear she was a bit embarrassed about what had just happened.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its slang for police

Danny noticed that on her face, as he was watching her. Well, he couldn't know everything right? He had to know enough already. But she was kinda cute when she blushed.
However, Daniel knew that now wasn't the right time to think about that.
"Somethin' like that." he replied. "FBI."

Nicole looked back at Danny when he said that, composing her self at the same time. "No kidding?" she asked, leaning in a bit as she said that. It was clear she was calmer then a few seconds ago. At the same time, Nicole looked Danny in the eye.

Danny looked straight back at her. He was being honest and he was being serious. He had nothing to fear, so he could look her into the eyes and tell her that he was an FBI Agent. He wasn't lying.
"Why would I be kidding about something like that?" he asked. "Especially when you're already mad at me."

Nah, he wasn't that stupid. Although it wasn't really his fault that she was mad at him now. He couldn't have known that she would walk past that ally when he was working undercover and she never really asked what he was doing. They didn't talk about work and back then it hadn't been a problem for Danny.

Nicole nodded a bit in reply when Danny said that to her. "Point taken Daniel." she replied. Nicole finished off her drink, then set the glass down and looked back at Danny. She was still upset about what happened and it showed in her eyes. At the same time, she was also mad at herself for calling Danny what she did.

Danny watched her, taking a sip from his beer and set the glass back down. He could tell that she was still upset. Maybe understandable so, but he still wondered why she was still upset and if she was still mad at him. From his point of view it wasn't his fault that she jumped to the wrong conclusion. Danny had hoped that she had the right instincts about him when they met and she would trust those. After all... wasn't there a thing called femal intuition?
"What are you still mad about?" he finally dared to ask, a slight bit worried about the answer he would get.