Title: Brothers
Summary: One gunned down in the line of duty on the street; the other because of the duty to the street. But in the end blood is always thicker than water. Post-Ep 1.07 'Brothers' Danny/Linda & Danny/Jamie
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Blue Bloods.
A/N: Okay so Ava is back as Danny's partner! Lol I like her also but really wish they'd pick one and leave it. But another great eppy as usual
"He was my brother, between us that came first. Anyone who has a brother knows…I don't have to explain."
"Why don't you at least go out and help him," Linda suggests as she turns to face Danny with a small frown.
"He cleans that damn thing like it's gonna rust if it gets one piece of damn dirt on it," Danny grumbles as he turns and looks at his brother still fiddling in the truck of the Chevelle SS that used to belong to their brother Joe.
"He stays with it until dinner because he's afraid to face another lecture from you."
"The case is over," Danny huffs. "Erin won and the center got funding from the city's soon to be golden boy," Danny shrugs. "What is there to lecture him about now?"
"You told me when you came home from the court yesterday how you could see how much this street guy Estoban made it clear how solid he was with his brother who is now dead. Jamie is not trying to replace Joe…"
"Yeah? Then why the hell did he become a cop?"
"Selfish thing to say if that's what he wanted to do," Linda mentions lightly.
"Selfish?" Danny guffaws. "Hardly. It's because…"
"You care," she acknowledges softly. "I know you do."
"I always worried about Joe. How could I not? When Jamie went off to Harvard…I was glad; one less Reagan on the streets to look after. Now that Jamie's on the streets…so young and inexperienced. Damn it now I have another brother to look after."
"Joe was killed in a street chase, two perps – shot four times."
"How can I not worry after what happened to Joe? And Joe wasn't even a damn rookie."
"Worrying for Jamie like that is your father's job," Linda says tenderly as she touches his hand and forces his tormented gaze to lock with her warm one.
"You should have seen him after he saw the dead body. I mean you could read it all over his face," Danny remembers the discussion he had with his brother, father and grandfather just before Jamie called him on his callous attitude toward him. "And the street gangs and…"
"So you think if you are hard on him that he'll change his mind and up and quit? Yeah quitting is a real big trait that runs in the Reagan family," Linda retorts in sarcasm.
"He just doesn't get it," Danny says, shaking his head as he again remembers Jamie getting mad at him.
"Problem with me when I'm a dumb rookie and problem when I'm not? Why is that?"
"Maybe you should be telling him some of this huh. Instead of always riding his ass for no reason and then complaining to me only."
"Now you sound like dad," Danny sighs as he leans against the sink, looking out into the backyard, frowning as he watches Jamie still fishing around in the trunk.
"Supper won't be ready for about half hour. Go make peace with you Jamie," Linda tells him. "That's an order Detective," she smirks.
"You pullin' rank?" Danny challenges.
"I can," Linda replies firmly. "How about I pull rank on you later?"
"Like the sound of that," Danny grins as he leans in closer, kissing on the lips. "Can we skip dinner and just have dessert right now?"
"Make peace with your brother first," she warns with a smile as she kisses him back.
"Right," Danny sighs as he regretabblly pulls himself away from her, tosses the damp tea towel toward the counter and heads for the back. It was a celebratory dinner for the center and Erin's case; Linda offering to take some of the pressure off Henry after the burnt duck fiasco.
With his hands shoved in his pockets to show his brother a non-confrontational stance, Danny slowly heads toward the back of the car, frowning that Jamie hasn't heard him yet.
"Hey I …"
"Whoa man," Jamie states nervously as he fumbles with the precious item in his hands, quickly dropping it into the box and then slamming the lid shut just as Danny rounds the back of the car. "I uh…didn't hear you," he stammers as he steps back with a nervous expression.
"Yeah sorry about that. Linda gets after me also. You'd think with the size of these feet that you'd all hear me comin' a mile away," Danny smirks. But when Jamie only offers a frown in return Danny takes a deep breath and tries again; feeling Linda's smile of assurance on his back as she watches from the kitchen. "Guess they're only good for stickin' in my mouth."
"So what's up?" Jamie asks with a frown, prompting Danny to look up, matching his brother's frown.
"I uh…look man I'm sorry I'm always riding your ass."
"Are you really sorry or just saying that?" Jamie quickly counters.
"Nice come back counselor," Danny retorts and Jamie's face breaks into a half smile. "Guess I kinda deserved that."
"I think I'm a pretty damn good cop," Jamie mentions softly.
"Hafta be, look at your legacy," Danny mentions offhandedly.
"I think I have pretty good street smarts and…"
"You don't hafta justify yourself to me," Danny offers a heavy sigh as he leans against the side of the car, offering his brother a sheepish glance. "You got in by your own merits."
"Then what is it? Do you want to see me fail? Because I don't get it. One day you are giving me an extra set of gold shields and then next you are laughing because I got sick after spending a few hours with a rotting corpse," Jamie lightly growls.
"I uh…I don't want to lose another brother," Danny finally confesses in a tone so soft it could be a whisper.
Jamie looks at Danny in surprise, folding his arms and slightly hanging his head. "Dad hasn't lost you."
Danny twists himself around to face Jamie, nodding his head in agreement. "He's not going to lose either one of us."
"You know by you always shakin' me down isn't helping my confidence either," Jamie tells him in truth. "What is it? You gotta maintain your macho cop image all the time?"
"I guess if I tell you…I don't know," Danny huffs as he pushes himself away from the car, walking a few feet behind and then turning and looking at Jamie with a deep frown. "Dad's not on the streets anymore; if something were to happen…I'd get the first call and…" he stops, running his hands over his rough face, short hair and then clasping behind his neck.
"When I got the call that day…"
'10-13; I repeat code 10-13, officer down. Officer down!'
"Damn it Jamie why the hell didn't you just stay with the bar?"
"I wanted to do this; to be like you and Joe," Jamie states firmly. "Yeah I thought at one time it would be cool for Syd and I have to be in the same field; working cases together; you know the golden couple of District and Assistant District Attorney," Jamie chuckles a bit at his own words. "But I guess hearing all the stories that you, dad, Grandpa and of course Joe would tell me…well it sounded a lot more exciting that what…"
"Erin does?"
"She's good at what she does because she enjoys it," Jamie argues in return. "And that's why I wanted to become a cop. I guess…well I guess I could just do with a little less…"
"Scolding?" Danny snickers.
"Yeah. I get it enough from my partner. You coming down on me like the big bad Wolfe isn't helping. I will be a detective like you and dad was. And when dad retires you'll be police chief and the commissioner and I'll be…"
"Damn legacy," Danny shakes his head. "Who can we blame for that?"
"Erin?" Jamie smirks.
"Well she is our sister," Danny adds.
"So it's only natural since mom's not here," Jamie smiles.
"Dad could really kick our ass," Danny finishes.
Both of them finish offering a small, innocent laugh at their sister's expense before some silence starts to grow.
"So uh…what's in the trunk that has had you so occupied for the last half hour?"
"Part of it was to avoid coming into the house until dinner."
"That's what Linda said," Danny smirks as he looks back at the kitchen window where his wife used to be standing.
"She knows you pretty well," Jamie mentions. "Think Syd and | will ever have that?"
"Probably better," Danny answers, making Jamie smile once more. Inside he knew that Syd was as opposite from Linda as possible, but inside he also knew he wanted his brother to be happy and if he did love Sydney then that was one area he would have to force himself to step back from; at least until she forced either of them to draw sides against the other.
"So what's in that box?" Danny asks, wanting to change the subject away from relationships for a bit.
"It's uh…" Jamie replies softly as he slowly opens the lid and shows Danny what's inside.
"That's Joe's handbook to…and his jeans…what is…where did you get this stuff Jamie? It's all Joe's?"
"Angela. Dad told me he ran into her a few days ago and that she's moving back to Portland to be with her family."
"You went to see her?" Danny queries in surprise.
"Yeah I uh…I guess just to say goodbye one last time. Well I mean we won't see her again right?"
"Right, sure."
"Think it was the wrong thing to do?"
"Nah, it didn't hurt."
"Well then she said she found a box of Joe's things and said I could have it. I uh…well I figured it just kinda goes with the car."
"Yeah he loved this car. I so wanted to kick his ass when dad gave him this car," Danny jokes. "Suited him better. I mean with Jack and Sean…I guess I'm more of a…"
"Mini-van kinda guy?" Jamie teases.
"Them's fightin words. Linda gets the van, not me," Danny insists as he eyes a few more things in the contents of the box, his eyes then resting on the iPod. "His iPod also? What's on it?"
"Yeah just some tunes and such," Jamie shrugs, not wanting to tell Danny just yet about what Joe's findings about the Templar's were; especially after he had mentioned 'another IAB investigation' around the dinner table. The tension between them had just eased and he wasn't about to start it back up.
"Okay so what else so we have in here?" Danny mumbles as he starts to fish through the box, pulling out an item and then laughing. "Oh my...god."
"What?"
"Did Joe ever tell you where he got this?" Danny holds up a small dancing hula girl that would normally sit on the car's interior dashboard.
"No, but with that smirk you gotta tell me now," Jamie urges.
"Okay so dad had told us about this bar that he went to as a rookie; forbidding us to ever go there."
"What bar?"
"You better swear you won't tell…" Danny starts.
Linda slowly heads back to the kitchen window and looks out, her heart warming at the sight she now sees. When she was called away from her vantage point she had been forced to witness a tense showdown between two headstrong but passionate men. But upon returning she finally sees to loving brothers, sharing a funny anecdote, frowns gone and smiles on full force.
"I love you Danny," Linda whispers, her heart warming as she watches Danny relating something, Jamie looking at him with pride and admiration. Inside she knows that Danny wouldn't hesitate for a second to die for his brother but hopes that after today will also start to live for him, offering him guidance but also affection and emotional support when needed. It was an unspoken pact between brothers, a code of honor, duty and loyalty that transcended even the chains of death.
"Okay you are not doing it right," she hears Jack tell Sean, forcing her eyes to turn to another set of Reagan brothers. "This is the way it works."
"Brothers," Linda mentions as her ears pick up two sets of laughter on either side of her. She closes her eyes for but a second; remembering something that Danny had mentioned to her that Escobar had said on the stand the day before about his brother.
"He was my brother, between us that came first. Anyone who has a brother knows…I don't have to explain…"
THE END!
A/N: Another great eppy with so much muse potential but we picked one aspect and hope you liked it. Please review before you leave; that is the only way we know you liked it and to keep writing more. Thanks in advance! :D
PS: Will try to update 'Hostage' this week. And remember to stop by the forum to discuss this great eppy.