Chapter Text
Without question, the worst part of being an FBI agent was getting woken from a dead sleep and being expected to immediately go work an urgent case.
Well technically, the whole getting shot- or at least shot at- part would probably be considered the worst, but the getting woken up at any hour of the night thing was almost universally awarded second place.
A ranking that Scola currently agreed with as he was awoken at four something by the incessant buzzing of his phone on his nightstand.
He hoped beyond reason that it somehow was just a telemarketer with terribly inconsiderate timing, someone he could send to voicemail before immediately going back to sleep. But as he glanced at the screen with sleep-blurred vision, he was just able to make out the word Agent followed by a name he wasn’t awake enough to process, so he reluctantly reached for the phone. Normally he might’ve let it ring a few more times, but he didn’t want the noise to wake Nina who was dead asleep beside him. He knew she’d been up with Doug a couple hours earlier, so it was the least he could do to not accidentally wake her.
“Hello?”
“Um, is this Nina Chase’s phone?” The voice on the other end of the line sounded very confused and only somewhat more awake than he was.
“Uh,” he replied, pulling the phone away from his ear to look at it. As he did, he saw the other identical phone that was also charging on his nightstand. He tapped the screen on that one and recognized his lock screen. Which meant the phone he was currently speaking on was not his own.
Returning the phone to his ear, he answered, “Yeah, apparently it is.”
He tried to remember why Nina’s phone had even been within his reach in the first place. It took a few moments of confusion before he pieced together some vague recollection of the outlet on her side of the bed no longer working and them scheduling an electrician to stop by some time later that week.
Hana seemed to have worked through her own confusion much quicker than he had.
“I’m assuming this is Scola?”
“Yeah.” He glanced beside him to where Nina was still out cold before stating a question he already knew the answer to. “And I’m assuming you guys have a case.”
“Yeah. Is Nina there?”
“Give me a sec to wake her.”
Turning to face his girlfriend’s direction, he lightly nudged her shoulder. “Nina.”
When she didn’t react, he repeated the motion, saying with a little more force, “Nina, wake up.”
She groaned in her sleep, fighting against consciousness as she tried to burrow deeper under the covers. He didn’t blame her, especially knowing how much trouble she’d been having sleeping since having Doug.
He returned his attention to the agent on the other end of the phone. “This is probably gonna take a minute. Do you need to talk to her yourself or do you just want me to relay the message?”
“Message is good. Just tell her we’ve got a child abduction case crossing into Connecticut. We’ll leave as soon as everyone gets in, and I’ll text her more details in the meantime.”
“Great, thanks Hana. I’ll let her know and she’ll be in ASAP.”
He hung up the phone and placed it back on the nightstand, carefully trying not to make too much noise out of habit. He paused for a moment as he considered the best approach to waking Nina.
As it happened, he didn’t have to decide how to wake her because no sooner had he turned her direction again than the sound of Doug crying came through the monitor. He froze, waiting to see if that had succeeded in rousing Nina to consciousness.
If the colorful string of curses she muttered into her pillow were any indication, she was now at least partially awake.
“Nina,” he started.
“No. It’s your turn to deal with him.”
“I know,” he reassured her. “I’ve got him, but you’ve got a case.”
She groaned, pulling her pillow over her head in a futile attempt to both muffle the overwhelming sound of Doug crying and to block out her responsibilities.
“What’s the case? And why didn’t I get a call?” she asked finally.
“Child abduction. Hana’s texting you more details. And you did get a call, I just accidentally answered it thinking it was mine.”
Before either of them could say anything else, Doug’s crying, which had momentarily softened, resumed even louder.
“Oh my gosh, this kid is going to be the death of me.”
“I’m going, I’m going. But hey, c’mere.”
Nina finally removed the pillow from over her face and propped herself up on her elbows so she was sitting partially upright. “What?”
“You’re doing great,” he reminded her, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. As he headed out of their bedroom towards the nursery, he called over his shoulder, “Get up.”
Already having flopped back down on the bed, she rolled her eyes before getting out from under the covers to go get dressed.
Fifteen minutes later, she found herself standing in the doorway to Doug’s nursery, her bag slung over her shoulder. She was getting good at throwing on an easy outfit, quickly putting on the bare minimum amount of makeup to still look professional, and double checking that her go bag still had everything she might need, all in under half an hour.
It was like they said: practice makes perfect, the routine getting easier with each case.
Somehow though, practice didn’t seem to be making this parenting thing any easier.
Scola looked over from where he was standing over Doug’s crib. “Hey, I just got him down. You leaving?”
“Yeah. I just gotta grab some coffee and then I’ll be out of here.”
“It’s already made. I put it in your mug near the toaster.”
She shook her head as she entered the room, her appreciation unspoken but understood between the two of them.
“Seriously, how are you so good at this?”
“You’re good at this too.”
She stopped at Doug’s crib, briefly resting a hand on his chest as he slept, the gesture her silent little goodbye.
“Is it ever gonna start feeling like it?”
“You know what the doctor said.”
She turned back to face Scola, her arms unconsciously crossing in front of her in annoyance. Not at him, just at the situation.
“I know. I know , but it just sucks.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “It does. But you’re a great mom and you’re doing a great job.”
“You keep telling me that, but I still don’t know how to believe you.”
“I know. That’s why I keep telling you.”
She offered him a sad smile in response, before changing the subject. “Alright, I should probably head out.”
“You got this.”
She stepped closer to give him a kiss goodbye, but before she did, she paused, teasingly asking, “How come you never remind me that I’m a good agent?”
“Because I know everyone, including you, knows you’re a good agent.”
She shrugged, a facetious smile tugging at her lips. “Doesn’t hurt to hear it from time to time.”
He shook his head with a smile of his own. “Alright. Nina Chase, you are the best agent the FBI has ever seen and the Fugitive Task Force is lucky to have you.”
She laughed. “A bit over the top, but I’ll take it. Thank you.”
She leaned in and kissed him before switching to a hug.
He could sense her hesitance to let go, and it just confirmed what he already suspected, that her momentary show of happiness was more of a facade than anything else.
“I love you,” she whispered after a moment.
“I love you, too,” he returned, pressing a kiss to her curls. He held her tight for another moment before saying what they both knew. “Alright, you’ve got a case. Go take down the bad guys.”
“I’m on it,” she said, wiping away a couple tears as she separated from him. He had felt her breathing turn uneven as they’d hugged and already knew she was fighting off tears. Although what specifically was stressing her out, he wasn’t quite sure, and he knew she most likely couldn’t pinpoint it either. Lately it could be anything or everything or nothing, and for someone who hated to cry in front of anyone- although he was mostly excluded from that by now- it was driving Nina crazy.
Readjusting the strap of her bag, she started to leave, only pausing in the doorway.
“See you after this case?”
To anyone else, it might’ve seemed a weird goodbye, but for them it was their way of saying so much in hardly any words. They were the kind of couple that saved I love you only for important moments or when one of them really needed to hear or say it, but the sentiment was there in those five words. Most importantly though, it was a promise each time that they would both make it home alive.
“See you then.”