Just Ask
By Shaz
Disclaimer- as usual none of the recognised characters belong to me, sadly I will return them all including Danny at the end of this fic. This is a one shot that came to me after I recently rewatched the series one boxset.
Just Ask
Detective Danny Reagan sat his eyes glued to the television in front of him, yet the images just danced across the screen and the sounds of it merely swept over him. In his hand he clutched a bottle of beer, two empties beside him. The house was in darkness as he sat alone in his thoughts. The last week had been hell, he had been a detective for many years, he had been a patrolman before that, and a marine that had seen active service in a warzone- but this last week had matched all of that. He had seen things that most men in their thirties had never seen and brushed them off with experience only someone such as him could, yet this week the situation had got to him as much as anything else ever had. He flexed his hand, the knuckles bruised and aching where his anger had led him into punching a wall just the day before. He rubbed his face tiredly, his eyes dry and gritty due to lack of sleep and stress. He was still wearing his shirt and suit trousers from his day at work, his gun still holstered on his belt and his badge attached at his waist. He blinked as memories of the week overwhelmed him, he sighed to himself as he took another swig of beer from the bottle he held. He wished that his wife was there, he wished that he could lie back into her arms and for her to tell him that everything would be all right. He knew that he couldn't have them, his wife wasn't there. She was in Manhattan with an old friend at a baby shower- the boys with her parents, both of which were rare occasions. He closed his eyes and rested his pounding head back against the sofa. Eyes still closed he blindly reached towards the coffee table, grasping his blackberry in his hand he hit the speed dial that he knew all too well.
"Reagan" the familiar deep voice answered within the first two rings.
"Dad" Danny greeted, his voice wavering as he almost regretted making the call.
"Danny?" the police commissioner replied, his voice instantly filled with concern at the sound of his eldest child's voice. "Son, what's wrong?" he asked as he stepped away from his daughter to speak to the clearly distressed man on the other end of the line.
"Linda's not home" Danny replied softly, "so I called you" he continued, sighing as the words escaped him.
"What's happened?" the police commissioner asked, pleased that his son had called him, but worried that he had felt the need. Danny was not one of life's talkers when it came to what was bothering him. He had always been more of a doer, and hated to show any form of weakness.
"I remember you once saying to me that if I ever found myself on my third beer staring at the TV then I was to find Linda and the boys. They're not here" Danny replied, his voice heavy with emotion. Frank nodded to himself remembering the conversation that his son was talking about. Frank had been concerned when Danny had not attended the weekly family dinner a few days earlier- Linda had explained that he was in the midst of a couple of pretty heavy cases and couldn't spare the time. She had not provided any further details than that and Frank hadn't pushed, preferring instead to look into exactly what cases his son was allocated. His concern had escalated when he had discovered that Danny's current caseload included a murder of a sex worker, a child murder, and a spate of robberies. A heavy caseload by anyone's standards but when they were all handed to a detective that literally put his heart and soul into his work it was even worse. Frank wasn't aware of the outcome of any of the cases; he simply knew that Danny's partner who also usually served as his confidante was currently on sick leave due to being injured on an arrest attempt. Knowing his son he would also partly blame himself for that incident, despite it being completely out of his control.
"I'm glad that you called son, I will be round within the hour" Frank finally replied, turning around he saw Erin's appraising glance. "Your brother has had a bit of a rough week, are you ok to eat with pops?" Frank asked. Erin nodded without hesitation.
"Is Danny ok Dad?" she asked softly, now worried herself about her elder brother. She had not missed the fact that he had been absent for most of the week and as yet had not returned her calls.
"I hope so Erin, I really hope so" Frank replied shrugging on his coat and heading out of the door to head to his son. A mere few moments after he left Jamie arrived, a box of beer under his arm ready to watch the game with the Reagan men.
"I just saw Dad leave, is he not watching the game?" Jamie asked his sister in confusion.
"He has gone to Danny's place" Erin answered softly, Jamie nodded in reply. He was not surprised that their father had gone to check on his first born, they had all been worried. Wordlessly he twisted the cap from a bottle of beer and handed it to his sister before repeating the action for himself.
BB-BB-BB-BB-BB-BB-BB
Frank let himself into his son's house, knocking only briefly to pre warn his son that it was him- he was a highly trained cop with a gun after all.
"Danny?" he called out softly as he headed into the darkened lounge.
"Hey Dad" he replied tiredly. Frank sighed sadly at seeing his son looking so forlorn and lost. "Thanks for coming" he continued quietly handing his father a beer from at his feet, and opening another for himself.
"Are you sure that's wise son?" Frank asked softly, taking a sip from the bottle nonetheless. Danny snorted at the question.
"I don't know Dad, I don't know anything anymore" he replied.
"I'm glad that you called son- I didn't think you were listening when I told you that" Frank commented sitting down beside his son.
"I always listen, I just don't always take notice" Danny replied with a small smile.
"That's your stubborn streak- must get it from your mother" Frank replied with a small smile. Danny managed a small smile too in reply, before the two men sat back in silence.
"Thank you for coming dad" Danny repeated softly, feeling better already for having the older man beside him.
"Any time son" Frank replied, meaning it. He raised his arm and carefully placed it around his son's shoulders, feeling the tension radiating from him. He tightened his embrace and pulled the younger man towards him, holding him as he felt the tension and rigid muscles relax and his son's head rested against his shoulder. After a few moments he heard the smaller man's breathing steady out, and carefully he took the bottle from his son's hand placing it on the coffee table. Being careful to not wake the clearly exhausted detective he laid him out on the sofa. Gently removing the sidearm from its holster he unloaded it and headed upstairs to the safe, where he locked it away. He grabbed the duvet from the bed and tenderly placed it over his now sleeping son, caressing his pale face as he did so. He sat in the armchair and flicked the television onto the sports channel to watch the game. "All you had to do was ask Danny" he whispered as he settled back to watch his son sleep.
The End
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