Once A Marine, Always A Marine.
Danny Reagan tossed and turned in his king size bed; as he heard his children and his wife down stairs, talking about school.
He heard Jack yelling to his wife, "Good-bye."
He heard his wife's footsteps coming up the stairs and into their bedroom. "Danny." She said. "Are you awake?"
"Yes." Danny sighed. He's been trying to sleep all morning, but had trouble getting and staying asleep.
Linda slipped into their bed, squeezing herself beside her husband. "Are you enjoying your day off?"
"Now I am…" He smirked, putting his arm around his wife.
"Good." She smiled, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you. Go back to sleep, babe; you need it."
Danny smiled back at her when he felt Linda put her head on his chest. Now, he felt relaxed and at peace.
Danny groaned when he heard his cell phone ring, an hour after he fell asleep. He reached to his night stand; grabbing his Blackberry, pressing talk without opening his eyes. He perfected this skill over the many years of late calls because of the job.
"Reagan." He answered, forgetting he needs to yawn and wake up. He was hoping the phone call was just his brother or sister, and he could call them back later.
"Danny, its Samantha."
Danny quickly sat up from his bed, "Samantha?" This is someone he didn't expect to hear from. Samantha Florence, a sister to one of his best friends from childhood, Neal Florence. Samantha never called him unless something bad happened.
"Samantha? What happened?" Danny asked, trying to hide panic in his voice. He felt his heart race faster.
"Neal's dead." Samantha told him, no emotion in her voice. Danny guessed that she was in shock.
"What?" Danny asked; he must have heard her wrong. He had to have heard her wrong.
"Neal's dead. He was killed." Samantha sighed. "Murdered."
"I'm coming." Danny replied, getting up from his bed when he remembered about his goddaughter. "Where's Esabel?"
Samantha sighed again, "She's still at the crime scene. She refuses to leave."
"At their house?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah…" She said almost breathlessly.
"I'll go get her." He hung up and quickly got dressed. As soon as he was at the door and into his car, he pulled out the phone and called his father. The only person he knew who could help him at the moment.
"Danny?" His dad answered on the third ring. "Everything alright?"
"Neal's dead." He started his car, pulling out of the drive-way quickly and onto the street.
"Neal Florence?" Frank asked. He barely got a mumbled of a yes out of his son; knowing he wouldn't get much out of Danny, he went on. "I'm sorry, son. Is there anything I can do?"
"See who has the case." Danny said hopefully. "His daughter is still there with him. I'm on my way to go get her. She shouldn't be there with him and she shouldn't be by herself. I think…I know she needs to be with family. He wanted his god daughter with to be with him, and he hoped his father understood why he felt this way.
"I'll call you back, as soon as I know something." He promised his son.
It took Danny all of twenty minutes to get from his house to Neal's house. Danny was greeted at Neal's house by a Detective Jim Brown. "Detective Reagan, you're here for the daughter right?" Detective Brown asked.
"Yeah." Danny replied. "Where is she?"
"In the living room. She's still with him." He answered Danny.
"Why didn't you get her out of there?" Danny screamed at the younger Detective.
"She screamed, and hit us when we tried to bring her out." Brown quickly explained.
"I'll go talk to her." Danny walked into Neal's house, and he stepped back when he saw the blood on the walls. "What the hell happened here?" He asked him, and no one that was around him to answer.
That's when he saw Esabel, sitting on the living room floor holding her father's hand tightly, crying. "Esabel." He said breathlessly, trying not to scare the already frightened girl.
She looked up and said, "Danny." She looked surprised to see him here, but at the same time she knew she shouldn't be because he was family.
He slowly walked by her and sat on the floor. "Are you okay?"
"He's dead." She replied, not really listing to his question. "Danny…" she sounded so young, Danny thought. "…he's dead."
"I know, honey." Danny told her. He reached out his hand, and grabbed her shoulder. "Why are you still sitting here?"
"He can't be left alone. Not everything he's been through…" She told him, innocently.
"Esabel, I need you to come with me." Danny said, firmly. He understood why she wanted to stay here because it was part of the code her father taught her. But Danny knew it wasn't healthy for her to be here anymore.
"But…" She began to say.
"Esabel, they need to come in here to figure out what happened to him. They want to figure out who did this to him, okay?" He waited to start talking until she looked at him. When she did, he counted to talk. "Please, come with me, Esabel. I promise someone will be with him."
"I love you, papa." Esabel said, before getting up. All she wanted was her father, and it was the one person she couldn't have anymore.
As soon as Danny got up, he took the seventeen year's old hand and dragged her out of the house. He waited for a second before Esabel started to cry, he pulled her into a tight hug.
Esabel looked up at Danny with wide eyes, when she asked, "Why would someone kill him?" It was a question Danny couldn't answer.
Neal didn't have family. He had Samantha and Esabel; that's all.
Samantha wasn't that great of a sister, she either wanted money from Neal to buy drugs or wasn't talking to him because he wouldn't give her money.
Danny was family.
The Reagan's took Neal and Esabel in as family. Since Danny and Neal were childhood friends, and one of the only friends Danny really trusted. When Neal went overseas, either Frank or Danny took Esabel into their home.
And they were grateful for the seventeen years old because she was so unique and so different. She was a good edition to the family; just like Neal was when he first was welcomed in.
So, when Danny brought Esabel to the house, Frank was more than welcome to have her in his home. "I'm sorry, Esabel." He hugged her tightly, before letting her go.
She said nothing. Danny guessed she was still in shock and denial.
Henry smiled when he saw her. He adored her. "Esabel? How about we get something to eat, okay?" Again, nothing came from her mouth; but she shook her head yes and followed him into the kitchen.
Frank turned to Danny, his face was full of worry for both people that just came in. "Are you okay?" He asked.
Danny sighed, "I need a drink." He slid his hand through his hair, a nervous habit he picked up over the years.
"Any clue on what happened over there yet?" Frank asked his son, as they went to the liquor cabinet.
"I did get some things from her but she's in shock and denial. So, it doesn't really make much sense." Danny explained to his father. "She found the body…I know that much."
"Oh." Frank said, surprised. "How about Samantha?"
"Drugged up, like always." Danny replied, feeling the anger rise up inside him. Esabel was left without a dad. "No family…" he started to mumbled. "She has no family. They left her without a dad." He slammed his hand against the wall.
"Danny!" Frank screamed at Danny. "She's been a part of our family for years. And this won't change it. She always has a place here." Danny smiled, ay his dad, thanks.
Danny and Esabel were the first at the funeral home, three days later. Esabel was staying with Frank, and his father told him that she is going through the seven stages of grief right now. Danny wondered if she as in the depression stage at the moment. Esabel was still quiet, refusing to say a word to anybody; Danny was a bit frustrated that he couldn't get a word out of her.
It was about twenty minutes before the funeral was supposed to start; when she spoke up, "What kind of funeral is he having, Danny?"
"Military." He quickly answered her question.
"At least he gets what he wants." Esabel said, sounding like she was almost laughing.
"What's that?" He was confused.
"To be buried as a Marine." She said, with a tear falling down her face. She quickly wiped it, and Danny understood what she was doing. She was being strong, her father friends were going to be here and she needed to be strong for them.
"He was happy being in the Military." Danny replied to Esabel's statement. "He was a good…a great Marine. But there was one more thing he enjoyed more than being in the Military."
"What's that?" She looked to him.
"He loved being your father. He loved being in your life." Danny looked at her, smiling. "Your dad loved you, Esabel. No doubt about that."
"I'm going to miss him."
"I miss him, too."