A Different Taste

Disclaimer: I don't own Blue Bloods: not the show or the ideas or the characters or the scenery or... I'm just borrowing things for a little while.

A/N: I got this little idea based on the second season episode "Moonlighting" when Jamie's at the dinner table all black and blue and his family's making fun of him. Starts out as a kid-fic (yes, again... I like the idea of them as kids, what can I say? LOL) and rounds out to a missing moment.

The jury seems to still be out on the birth order of the siblings - the show's never been clear, but after watching "Mother's Day" I feel more strongly about Joe being the middle boy, but I'm still guessing on the number of years between them. Until those who actually know (i.e. the creators/writers/producers) decide to actually tell us, I'm keeping Joe where I've always had him - the middle boy, and a year behind Erin. ;)

Enjoy, and let me know what you think. :)

The Reagan family could be seen rushing around their home, packing last minute items. It was the middle of summer, and they were going on a very rare family vacation to Hawaii. They needed to be at the airport in less than an hour and everyone was starting to panic.

"Mom! Where did you put my shorts? The jean ones?" Thirteen year old Joe hollered down the stairs.

"In the laundry!" Mary yelled back.

"I checked! They're not there!" Joe huffed. "They're my favourite ones!"

"You mean those old ones with the holes in them?" Sixteen year old Danny asked, passing by with his suitcase in hand.

"Yes, those ones! Have you seen them?"

"Sorry, honey. I threw those ones out." Mary called from the bottom of the stairs, watching her sons.

"Mo-om!"

"I'd have to patch them, Joe. Do you really want multi-coloured patches with patterns…"

"Never mind," Joe grumbled. "I'll do without them."

"Dad, I can't find my house key!" Fourteen year old Erin shouted from her room.

"You're supposed to put it on your key ring, sweetheart." Frank called back.

"I was going to." Erin defended herself, flouncing down the stairs.

"Everyone else has keys, Erin." Danny grumbled. "Don't worry about it."

"Sorry if I wanted to be independent." Erin shot back.

"Stop it you two." Mary said, pushing her children towards the door.

"Everything is in the car," Frank announced. "Let's get moving."

"Do we have everything?" Mary asked. Everyone nodded, stepping out into the sunshine. Danny suddenly turned back, causing Joe to run into him.

"Jamie!"

Frank's hand froze on the door handle. "I thought he was with you?"

"He was! He must have wandered off," Danny grumbled. "I'll get the little brat…"

"Danny…" Frank sighed, letting his son back into the house.

"Sorry, Dad." Danny smirked, hurrying to the stairs. He quickly climbed them, taking two at a time. He stopped in front of his brother's door, shaking his head. Jamie was sitting on the floor, innocently playing with his Legos. It looked like he was building a tower of some sort. "Jamie, let's go."

"But I'm not done yet." Jamie glowered at his brother.

"You have no concept of time." Danny sighed, striding forward. He grabbed Jamie around the waist, hauling him up and flopping him over his shoulder. Jamie squealed.

"I'm not done!" he yelled. "Put me down!"

"We need to go," Danny grumbled back. "You're going to make us all late." He trudged back down the stairs. He walked past his amused father to the van where everyone else had climbed in and buckled up. He dropped Jamie into his seat and climbed in beside Erin. Joe smiled at Jamie, who had a half-stunned, half-annoyed look on his face and helped him buckle up.

Frank climbed into the driver's seat. "All in?"

"Yes." came the chorus of voices.

"I wasn't done with my Legos…" a small voice mumbled.

"Get over it, Jamie." Danny grumbled. "They'll still be here when we get back."

Joe glanced over at Jamie, smirking. His little brother had his arms crossed tightly across his chest. He was staring out the window, absentmindedly kicking one foot. Even at age six, Jamie couldn't stand leaving something unfinished.

The car slowed as they reached the airport. Frank pulled into the lot where he would leave the car for the week while they were gone. They hurried out, grabbing suitcases and bags – Danny constantly double-checking that his baby brother was still there – and hurried inside the building. Frank paid for parking the car as they hurried to check their baggage. Then they hurried over to security.

Frank walked through the gate first, Mary close behind. Erin hurried through, with Danny following lazily behind her. Jamie stepped up…

Several heads turned as the machine beeped. Jamie looked up, confused. He couldn't tell if he had made the noise or not. He turned quickly to Joe, who shrugged. He was waiting impatiently, the last of the Reagan's to go through the gate. Jamie turned back towards the rest of his family, only to find the security guard descending upon him with a strange looking machine in his hand. Jamie squeaked, quickly backing up and bumping into Joe. Joe put an arm around him comfortingly.

"Is this really necessary?" Danny asked from behind the security guard.

"Procedure," the guard said, waving Jamie forwards. Jamie turned to look up at Joe. Joe gave him a gentle push.

"Go, Jamie." he said gently. "Can I come through?" he asked the guard.

"That's fine." The guard responded. The machine beeped again as Jamie went through for a second time. Joe followed silently. He stood behind Jamie, a hand on his shoulder. The guard brought the wand closer to Jamie, who whined and pressed himself into Joe. Joe knelt down next to him.

"It won't hurt, Jamie. He's just checking you over." Joe told him. He glared at the guard. "This is ridiculous…"

"It's procedure." the guard sighed.

"He's only six. What's he going to do?" Danny defended, walking to stand beside his brothers.

"You're scaring him." Joe added as the guard waved the wand over Jamie.

"Easy, boys…" Frank called. "Let him do his job." He was a little annoyed at the guard himself. Jamie's face was reddening as tears started to fill his eyes. He watched as Jamie turned his face to his brothers.

"I didn't do anything wrong." he mumbled tearfully.

"We know you didn't, kiddo," Danny said, touching the top of Jamie's head. "But you're beeping and they want to check that out."

The guard waved the wand over him, stopping when the beeping occurred again around his torso. He put the wand down, reaching towards Jamie with his hand.

Jamie whined again, practically crawling over Joe to get away. He had no idea why he was in trouble, or why this man kept going after him. Joe grabbed him as Danny quickly knelt down next to them both, trying to help Joe keep Jamie still.

"This is insane!" Danny shot out. "He only six, he's not hiding anything!"

"All you're doing is scaring him!" Joe added, glaring again at the guard. Frank stepped forward to intervene.

"Jamie," he asked his youngest. "Did you wear anything metal today?"

"No." Jamie mumbled, wiping his eyes.

"Then you have nothing to hide, son. Just let him do a quick check and we'll be on our way." He told him gently, shooting a look towards the guard. "Can you do that, Jamie?"

Jamie nodded, pulling away from his brothers, both of whom were still glaring at the guard. The guard quickly patted him down.

"There's nothing. Not even a belt buckle."

"We could have told you that." Danny grumbled.

"Thank you." Frank told the guard. "Come on, boys. Let's go. We don't want to be late." He looked towards his wife, who shook her head, looking annoyed.

"This is why we don't fly," she mumbled. "It's a zoo."

They rounded up two angry teenage boys, one sniffling child, and one haughty teenage girl and made their way towards their gate. Jamie walked between his brothers, clutching their hands. They got there just in time to board the plane. The female attendant standing at the gate smiled at the frustrated looking family as she took their tickets.

"Enjoy the flight." she called as they made their way to the plane.

"Thanks." Frank answered, giving her a smile back. He waved his children forward, placing an arm around Erin. "On a positive note… I think we found your house key."

Erin turned to give Jamie a disgusted glare. "I don't think I want it back." she grumbled as the others started to laugh.

~~BB~~

Jamie sat on the hospital bed, feeling sick. The bruises were starting to show on his face and his ribs were on fire. A snort from the door caught his attention.

Danny's heart squeezed in sympathy as he took in his morose looking brother sitting on the bed, bruised and battered. He had volunteered to pick him up after his brief stay in the hospital. He'd wanted to go find and beat Tesla instead, but knew that that wouldn't go over very well for anyone.

"I had hoped you'd gotten over your odd tastes in items that most don't consider food."

"Shut up, Danny." Jamie mumbled.

"The flash drive still work?"

"I guess."

"Good thing it wasn't any bigger." Danny grinned. Jamie looked at him then, cracking a smile.

"And it's a good thing I swallowed it when I did… if it had been found, we'd be telling a very different story right now."

Danny sobered, sitting on the bed next to his brother. "That was some quick thinking there, kid."

"I have my moments." Jamie smirked.

"Except that someone always has to clean up after you." Danny laughed. "All I know is that I'm glad I'm not the one who has to do it."

Jamie laughed with him, immediately grabbing at his middle. "Ouch… don't Danny. That hurts…"

"Sorry, Jamie." Danny smiled sympathetically. "Ready to go?"

"Definitely." Jamie responded, getting up slowly. Danny slung an arm around his shoulder as he led him out of the room.

"So what's on the menu next, kid? You want to try pennies?"

Jamie groaned, pulling away from his brother and hurrying down the hallway. Danny's laughter followed him as he pushed out the door, hurrying into the sunlight. He shook his head.

He never did understand why he thought some objects had an appealing taste.

~~END~~