Nothing but Trouble || Andy, Nicole

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Till you put me down oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in

Danny was in his office, frozen in place, looking at the woman standing in front of him. She was a little smaller than he was, average build with long, curly blond hair and brown eyes. She was about his age and looking at him rather serious. It was obvious to Danny that she was upset. He knew her very well... her name: Anna Steinberg.
"Why the hell did you arrest him?!" Anna asked him in an angry tone. "You still not over me, are you? You're trying to ruin my life now, too? Just because you can't move on?!"

As soon as he heard that, Danny's demeanor changed. He was upset now and it showed on his face and in his voice.
"I arrested him because he is a criminal scum bag, smuggling drugs and dealing to kids." he defended himself.

"You don't know him! He's innocent!" Anna raised her voice, glaring at Danny.

"Oh, really? How come we found quite huge amounds of illegal drugs in the apartment? How come he's been seen with other drug dealers and how come there were so many teenagers ID-ing him as their dealer?" Danny asked, looking at Anna. "He is not the man you thought he was. But then again... you've always had it in for the bad boys."

Anna glared at Danny, not knowing what to reply now. "You'll regret this, Daniel. He's not a drug dealer. You got it all wrong! Move on with your life and leave me alone!"

"You came to me, Anna. And I have moved on." he told her in a calmer tone. "I'm sorry he's not the man you thought he was."

"No, you're not!" she exclaimed and stormed out of the office, leaving Danny behind, obviously confused about this conversation. He had no idea what this was all about. Why did she even come here?


Outside in the pen, Andy wondered about that, too. He knew Anna was Danny's ex-fiancée and he knew that they had no contact whatsoever before, just now after they arrested this drug dealer. What was that all about? Looking through the pen office, Andy saw Nicole coming and smiled a little at her.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole smiled back at Andy as she walked up, the visitor tag bouncing off her shirt as she walked. She didn't know about the visitor that Danny had. "Hello Agent Clemens, is Danny around?" she asked, her Australian accent noticeable as she spoke to him. As she said that, Nicole had no idea of the woman she would soon meet and the trouble she would cause for her and Danny.

[Andy Clemens]

Andy, an always happy kind of guy, greeted Nicole with a big smile on his face. He had met her when they were protecting her against that Polish guy from the human trafficking ring and then seen her around sometimes. He knew that she was dating Danny and he was happy for his partner. He was a whole different person ever since he met her, Andy knew that.
"Sure. He's in his office." Andy replied politely. "But he's got..."

He stopped, because Anna was actually standing beside them now. She looked at Nicole and then at Andy. Anna had heard Nicole asking about Danny and assumed, correctly so, that she was his new girlfriend.
"So you're his new girl, huh." she said, her voice indicating that nothing friendly was to come. It was a good thing that Danny wasn't in the pen that moment. "Careful with trusting what he says..."

Andy watched Anna, speechless for a moment. He feared that more was to come, if he didn't intervene, but how? Was he even supposed to? He decided to just watch for a while and intervene if things got too ugly.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole looked over to Anna when she said that, hearing the tone in her voice. "Yes, I'm Danny's gal, is that wrong?....and why should I not trust him?" she asked, keeping her voice calm, but mentally prepared herself just in case.

[Andy Clemens]

Anna laughed a little, looking at Nicole. "So you don't know?" she said, shaking her head. "He's been quite the playboy... might just be playing you, too. Who knows if he's serious about you."

That's when Andy's heard enough. He knew about that image of Danny's but he also knew the reason for it. He knew that that wasn't the man his partner was.
"Enough, Anna." the usually so quiet and calm agent said, slightly raising his voice. "You don't get to come back into his life and talk trash about him, just because you picked the wrong guy to cheat on and with."

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole didn't take her eyes off Anna as she said that to her. "Unlike yourself, I can tell when someone as changed their ways." she said to her firmly while standing there.

[Andy Clemens]

"Oh, can you now? What makes you so sure that he doesn't lie to you?" Anna asked, clearly upset. "He's ever told you how many women he's been with before you? Not a single one was serious for him."

Anna didn't know that Danny had come out of his office by that time and heard her last comment. But Andy knew, he saw him and the look on his face. And he's never seen Danny so upset before.

"I told you to shut your mouth, Anna. Leave." Andy repeated only to be yelled at.
"Don't you tell me what to do!" Anna yelled, but then she was grabbed by her arm and pulled away firmly. It was Danny who pulled her away from Nicole and Andy. Just a little bit, but with enough force to almost knock her off her feet. "Hey?! Let go!"

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole didn't say anything as she watched Danny pull Anna away from where her and Andy were standing. touchy isn't she? she said to herself while watching Danny do that to her. It was clear that Nicole wasn't rattled by what had happened just now.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

"What the hell are you doing?" Danny asked Anna, his voice now sounding really angry and it was obvious that Anna was a slight bit scared now. He's never spoken in a voice like that before, not even Andy had ever heard him this angry before.
"As if you breaking up with me two years ago wasn't bad enough. Do you really have to ruin everything else for me, too? How do you know all that anyway?"

Anna looked at Danny, a little frightening first, but then pushed him away. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Maybe because one of these women was a friend of mine, which you would've noticed if you actually cared about my life!" she growled. "She's watched you for a while. And I'm glad I'm not married to you!"

Danny looked at Anna, not surprised to hear that one of the women was a friend of hers. He knew that, when he met her, but she wouldn't back off and he had been drunk. But watching him? Why would she do that?
But hearing her last comment did hurt. And it showed on his face, even though he tried to hide it.
"Yeah well, me too." he said obviously hurt, turned around and walked back to his office, loudly closing the door behind him. He was just glad, that besides Andy and Danny nobody else was in the pen. Just his boss was in his office. The rest were out for lunch.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole watched that happen, then walked over to Danny's office and knocked on the door. "Danny" she called out to him, hoping that he heard her voice and would let her in.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Never in his life did Danny imagine that a simple line like that would still hurt him so much... and that in front of Nicole. He leaned his back against the door and covered his face with his hands, trying to swallow those emotions. His heart was beating fast and he felt like he was out of breath without even running. He knew what would happen if he didn't control himself again. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and he blinked a few times. But when he heard Nicole's voice and the knock on the door, he quickly wiped his face with his hands, not wanting her to see him like that.
Danny closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he stepped away from the door, opened it for her and walked to his chair, letting himself fall into it.

Meanwhile Anna realized that she had crossed the line. For some reason she was especially mean to Danny today and she didn't really know why. But it didn't matter anymore, he would never forgive what she just said. Or so she thought. She turned on her heel and stormed out of the office, leaving Andy standing in the pen, a worried glance to his friend's office.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole watched Danny after he opened the door, then walked in and sat across from him. She didn't say anything as she figured he was still upset about what had happened just now. Nicole kept her eyes on Danny, as if she was waiting for him to speak up.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Danny looked at Nicole for a moment, then rested his ellbows on his desk and covered his face with his hands again. What was he supposed to say now? He had never told Nicole about any other women, about that time when he wouldn't say no to a woman who offered to take him home. And there was a reason for that: she didn't need to know... because he wasn't proud of it and it wasn't the man he was, nor wanted to be. He rubbed his face, thinking and trying to not to look too hurt in front of her.
"Sorry 'bout that." he said quietly, sighed heavily and removed his hands from his face.

[Nicole Byrne]

"No worries Danny" Nicole said to him gently while watching him. "Want to head out for a bit if your not busy?" she asked, getting back to the reason she came over in the first place.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Danny sighed a little, still not really sure what just happened and why it happened. To be honest, he was a little confused about all of this. Maybe he should've told Nicole about it, he figured she might be upset, yet she wasn't showing any sign of it. But maybe she was? He knew she was good at keeping it together if she had to.
"Sure... was going to head to lunch anyway." he replied, getting up from the chair and grabbing his suit jacked off the back rest.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole nodded, then stood up, her anger at Anna still there, but she didn't let it show on her face while watching Danny. "Ace" she said while watching him get his jacket on. Nicole hoped that they didn't see Anna again this day, but she had a feeling that might not happen. Discipline Nicole she said to herself while waiting for Danny to finish getting ready.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

He put his jacket on and walked to the door, then let Nicole walk out first, like he always did. He led her out of the pen, while a few agents returned from their break.
Danny had his phone with him of course, needing to be available at all times, something could always happen that needed his immediate attention.
Out of the office, Danny led Nicole to the elevator and pushed the down button. They had to wait for the next one.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole glanced over to Danny as the waited. "Why was Anna being a drongo to you?" she said, her anger at Anna showing as she asked him that while watching the floor display change numbers.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Danny sighed a little. Although he didn't know what exactly a 'drongo' was, he had a pretty good idea what it meant. He shrugged in reply, though hearing the anger in her voice. Surprisingly she didn't seem to be angry at him though.
"I don't know." he replied. "Probably because I had to arrest her boyfriend this morning."

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole listened to Danny tell her that. "I see" she replied. "So you arrest her bloke and she comes charging up here and yelling at you like dill, then tells me that I should be careful around you?" she asked, trying to keep her cool.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Danny sighed quietly. He understood that she was angry and he was upset about it, too. But he was too much of a gentleman to react differently from the way he did. And grabbing Anna by the arm like he did, was something he usually never did to a woman. It reminded him of his father way too much.
"She did have a temper back then." he replied quietly. "She thinks he's innocent and I just want to ruin her life because I'm not over her... or so she thinks. She was angry when she met you. How come she even told you those things?"

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole looked over to Danny when he asked that. "I don't know Danny." she said in reply while looking back to him. Nicole sighed a bit, then composed herself. "Forgive me Danny" she said gently.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Danny nodded a little. He would ask Andy later how that happened. Right now he was upset because that whole scene got Nicole upset and pulled in the middle of it. He didn't want that to happen.
"Why, Nicole? You've got every right to be upset." Danny told her. She didn't need to ask for forgiveness, he understood her anger.

He then looked down to the ground and sighed a little. Anna had been right about some things. He never spoke about that year after Anna left him and the women he's been with, they hadn't been serious. Maybe he had to tell Nicole about it. But part of him feared that that might ruin things for them.
Have to be honest to her... he thought.

"She was right about some parts though." he then said in a quiet tone, obviously not very proud of it.

[Nicole Byrne]

Nicole looked at Danny when he said that, then nodded a bit. "Point taken.....what was she honest about?" she asked gently as the elevator doors opened up on them.

[Agent Daniel Cooper]

Danny stepped onto the elevator, when the doors opened, not looking at Nicole. What he was thinking about right now, about what Anna said in the pen earlier was something he wasn't proud of. Something he didn't tell her, because he figured it would only make things more complicated. And he was having trouble coming out of his shell already, he didn't need Nicole to start being distrustful of what he said.
"Well... I have been with a quite a few women the year after she left... she was right about that... they weren't anyone serious." Daniel answered her question. "But that was when I was trying to be myself again. Trying to find myself again."

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