Author's note: I don't own 'em, I just take them out to play a little ;) Murphy's Law (known as 'Sod's Law' in the UK) states "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" and this does seem to be the case for the Reagan family quite often ;)

Was gonna start in Season 2 but it'll now be based after Season 3 so it may yet end up being A/U depending on where the writers go in Season 4 lol

1. Valentine's Snow

The first flakes of new snow started to fall on the thirteenth day of February, making Jamie Reagan sigh in exasperation as he stared out of the window in his loft. This would be the fourth year that he would spend Valentine's Day alone but as he was working undercover, he couldn't even take a tour that night to distract him from his bachelor woes. What he hadn't planned on was that the snow, which had started to melt by mid-January, would be back again in earnest to make an already difficult job that little bit harder. After recent events, especially the current undercover assignment, he would have preferred a nice, quiet night with the family but it seemed God was not going to be on his side this time. Shaking his head, he placed his laptop back onto the table and finished his drink, putting his empty glass in the kitchen on his way to bed. As he turned out the light beside his bed, he closed his eyes and offered a small prayer that tomorrow would go quickly and quietly.

)()()()()()()()()(

February 14th, commonly known as Valentine's Day, dawned clear and bright in New York. A thick blanket of snow covered the ground, broken here and there by pedestrian tracks and the odd bicycle, but largely untouched in many parts of the city. Jamie looked out of the window and smiled ruefully, loving the sight of fresh snow, before the city workers cleared the pavements and destroyed a little of the magic that snow had always held for the youngest of the adult Reagans. While a few years ago he had been engaged, albeit not always happily, he had found he'd never had any real issues with women. But now, staring at his fourth Valentine's Day alone, he wondered again whether he had let the best thing that had ever happened to him walk out of his life. With an ironic laugh, he moved towards the shower, wanting to go for an early morning run before the snow became too disturbed by people walking through it.

)()()()()()()()()(

The cold air tasted clean and fresh as Jamie drew in long breaths during his run, smiling at the crunch of snow beneath his sneakers and the barest warmth from the sun on his skin as it rose high into the clear blue sky. When he ran on his own, he felt he was free from the worries of the job, his bachelor lifestyle, his grief for the brother and the partner whose murders he would never fully get over and his jealousy towards the brother who seemed to have everything. His mind on other things, he took little notice of where he was heading until a scream pulled him from his introspection. With a start he realised he had unintentionally headed towards a seedier part of town, somewhere he had been spending a lot of time recently with his undercover assignment. Pushing the memories of some of the things he had done while undercover, he switched into his 'cop head' and followed the now muffled screams coming from nearby. Carefully peeking around a corner, he spotted two men hitting someone hidden from Jamie's view. With a curse, he realised he had gotten so into his undercover persona that he had stopped carrying his off-duty piece. Taking a deep breath, he decided to play the scene in his Jackson character, hoping that the reputations of his new 'friends' preceded him. Breaking into a lopping jog, he rounded the corner and headed towards the men, making no attempt to hide his approach. A few feet from the men he stopped, clearing his throat in a way that sounded as menacing as he could. The two men rounded on him, hands placed on pistols in their belts and ready to draw them if their inspection of him proved him to be a liability. Several tense, silent moments passed as the men studied him before one of them suddenly recognised him. With a whispered few words to his partner in crime, the larger of the two backed off slightly, moving his hand from his gun and raising it a short way into the air.

"Sorry man, didn't know you was gonna be down this way," the larger one apologised, tugging at the sleeve of his partner to move away.

"What ya doing?" Jamie asked, his stance arrogant and his tone bored.

"Boss wanted us to take care of this bitch," the second man answered, finally getting his partner's hints and backing away.

"What'd the bitch do?" the young Reagan asked, sounding like he really couldn't care less.

"Been skimmin' off the profits from the new bar," the first answered, grabbing the figure they'd been hitting and throwing her to the ground between them and Jamie. It took all of his strength to remain still and not rush to the woman's aid, but he had a cover to maintain.

"Really? Well then, she has some payin' back to do," he leered, hating himself for every word out of his mouth.

"You wanna get a little bit a action?" the second leered, raising his eyebrows suggestively as he looked at the woman cowering in the snow before him.

"Reckon I do," Jamie agreed, moving towards the woman. Grabbing her arm, he hauled her roughly to her feet and looked over at the two men. "But I'll be doing it alone," he warned, dismissing them with a nod of his head. As he dragged the woman over to the side of the alley, clamping a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming, he heard the men muttering as they left with one saying clearly "Heard he's a sadistic son of a bitch, she ain't gonna be a problem no more" and both laughing cruelly as they got into their car and roared away.

Taking a deep breath to swallow back the bile in his throat, Jamie turned to the woman he held against the cold stone wall.

"I'm going to remove my hand if you promise not to scream?" he asked softly, his normal tone and accent restored. When the woman nodded her head, he slowly removed his hand and released his grip on her arm.

"What are you gonna do to me?" she asked timidly, her accent surprising him.

"Are you a tourist?" he wanted to know, the unspoken question of her immigration status clear in his voice.

"No," she shook her head, pressing back against the wall away from him. "And I'm not here illegally either," she told him, answering his unspoken question.

"Really?" his tone doubting.

"Yes, Officer," she confirmed, shaking her head slowly.

"What makes you say that?" he demanded, his breath hitching in his throat at the thought he might have been caught out.

"Because it's obvious you're a cop," she muttered, drawing in a pained breath. "Look, don't worry, I'm not gonna blow your cover. If I was, I'd have done it months ago when you showed up at Maggie's Bar that first night."

"You've known that long?" he asked, incredulous.

"Yea, thought that night that maybe you were just there for a drink but when you started turning up at family events, I knew you were undercover, investigating the family," she confessed with a shrug.

"You say family as if they're your family?" he started, leaving the question unspoken.

"They are," she said, confirming his suspicions. "Eoin Moran, known to most as 'Uncle Owen', is actually my flesh and blood uncle."

"Who are you?" Jamie demanded, his throat dry and his heart pounding with fear.

"I'm Eleanor Moran and my father, Joseph Moran was brother to the leader of one of New York's largest and most brutal crime families."

"Your father was Joe Moran?" Jamie gasped, his legs weak as he realised just who stood before him and how much trouble he now found himself in, the kind of trouble that could get him killed...