January 02, 2002 Tampa, Florida

The rest of the night had been a blur. It took hours to finally track down where Nick had been taken to and when they finally got to the right precinct he had been taken to be arraigned at the courthouse. Tina was exhausted and starting to feel hung-over. It was now close to 6 in the morning, and she was getting anxious to just be at home and in bed. She just hoped that Nick would be able to leave once he got in front of a judge.

"Here, I got you some water."

Tina looked up and smiled at Max's reassuring face, taking the bottle of water out of her hand. She was so grateful for the other woman. She had only known her for a couple of months but Max came to her rescue when she needed her most, no questions asked. She was the only person that Tina could think to call that would have any inclination of what to do. Her kids were old enough to look after themselves so Max had gone down to the club and picked Tina up then took the initiative in finding out where Nick had been booked and what the process was after that.

"How am I ever going to repay you for all of this?" Tina asked with a sigh as Max sat down in the chair next to her.

The older woman reached out and rubbed Tina's back quickly, "I'm sure some day I'll need a favour from you and you will be more than helpful."

"I don't know how helpful I could be. I'm pretty useless," Tina said quietly, picking at a hangnail on her thumb.

Max didn't say anything, only sighed and sat back in her seat, eyeing the younger woman carefully. She was continually astounded by how little Tina thought of herself. She was pretty sure it was partial due to a lot of negative reinforcement from Nick, but she knew that it went a lot deeper than that. From the stories she heard about Tina's parents Max knew that her mother's control issues were also a contributing factor. Nick and Lynn seemed to be more alike than either of them would probably ever admit.

Every time they heard the buzzer sound to open the door to the back portion of the precinct Tina would look up anxiously only to be disappointed. So far it had been other cops, or random people getting released but no Nick. They hadn't heard from him at all so they weren't even certain that he was going to be coming out the door any time in the near future but with how often Tina had been bugged the desk Sergeant they were probably anxious to get him out.

The door buzzed again and a familiar blond head came out the door, looking a bit worse for wear. Nick gave a glance around the waiting area finally spotting Tina who was now standing and waving him over.

Nick looked angry as he crossed the waiting room but both women figured that considering the circumstances a little anger was too be expected.

"Are you okay?" Tina asked with a sigh of relief, her hands reaching out for him.

He said nothing and bypassed her embrace; instead he went around her, picking up her purse off the chair. Tina protested as he opened it up and started rummaging through the pockets until he pulled out her cell phone.

He held it in front of her face condescendingly, “You know how they always talk about your ‘one phone call’? Well they aren’t kidding when they say you only get one. It probably would have been really great if you’d had your fucking cell phone on so I didn’t get your voicemail. How many times have I told you to make sure it’s turned on?”

Tina gasped, shaking her head slightly as she tried to think of when she would have turned the phone off. She was terrible for making sure that she had the phone with her, and even worse at making sure it was actually on but she was sure that after she’d called Max she’d simply put it back in her purse.

“The battery must have died,” she admitted regrettably, “I’m sorry.”

Nick tossed the phone back into her purse and pushed it into her arms, “You’re sorry? You’re not the one who thought you were going to be spending the day in jail. You didn’t think I would try to get a hold of you? You’re so stupid sometimes.”

Max couldn’t tolerate listening to him berate the poor girl anymore and she stood up, glaring at Nick, “Hey,” she said with a warning tone, “Don’t you realize what she has been through tonight too? Finding you wasn’t easy and waiting in this room for hours not knowing when you or if you could leave wasn’t exactly a walk in the park either. You’re the one who got arrested, it’s not her fault.”

Nick sighed and ran his hands through his hair. As much has he would never want to admit it, Max was right. It wasn’t Tina’s fault he ended up in the position he did.

“You’re right,” he said to the shock of both women, “I’m sorry,” he directed to Tina, pulling her into a hug. Her body shook slightly in his arms from a combination of exhaustion and emotion and he tucked her head under his chin, “I’m sorry,” he repeated with a kiss to her forehead.

The lack of sleep and drama of the night bubbled over and Tina bit back a sob, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” he assured her, tightening his arms around her, “I just want to go home. Can we go home?”

“I’ll bring the car around,” Max told them, wanting to give them a moment alone.

They both watched the older woman walk out the front door to the precinct and Tina let out a sigh of relief. She leaned up slightly and dropped a kiss to his unshaven chin, “So is everything taken care of now? Did you have to pay a fine or something?”

With a shake of his head Nick pulled away, keeping one arm around her shoulders as they walked side-by-side towards the door.

“No,” he answered bitterly, “They let me go on my own recognizance or whatever but I’m still being charged. I have a court date at the end of next month. I need to get a lawyer...”

“What are they charging you with?!” Tina asked wide-eyed. She couldn’t really figure out what Nick had done wrong beyond just plain old ignorance. There were so many people getting away with serious crimes out there so she expected the only reason there were actually following through with charges was just to make an example out a celebrity.

“Resisting or opposing the law and resisting arrest,” Nick explained, “I wasn’t resisting arrest! When the guy pulled out the cuffs I was more than agreeable but he says I was fighting him.”

Tina reached up and grabbed his hand which was hanging off her shoulder, “You were though... you were trying to turn around. He probably took that as you trying to get away or something. So what does that mean?”

Nick sighed and kissed her temple as they stopped at the curb to wait for Max, “I have no idea,” he admitted, “I have to talk to a lawyer soon though because I’m supposed to film that MTV appearance in two weeks and I can’t leave the state.”

Tina was still frowning when the car pulled up. She wasn’t sure what was more shocking; the fact that Nick could be in serious trouble over a few minutes of stupidity or the fact that he had never mentioned that he had to go to New York.

She was surprised when he pulled her into the backseat with him. As soon as she was sitting he laid down, using her lap as a pillow. Her thoughts continued to run as she ran her hands through his hair, watching the city pass them by as they made their way towards the suburbs.

“Thank you,” Nick whispered after a few moments of silence in the car, squeezing her knee quickly, “for rescuing me.”

“I had to,” she replied. Inside she was thinking the real reason, that she wouldn’t know what to do without him, “you’re too pretty for prison,” she teased, keeping the truth to herself.