Title: Being the Hero
Summary: Frank is not at all happy with Danny after he decides to play hero by walking into that bank. Tag to episode 2.03 Critical Condition. Just a short one shot/missing scene I couldn't get out of my head.
WARNING: This story DOES contain the non-sexual spanking of an adult. If you don't like this, please don't bother reading or reviewing.
Disclaimer: Don't own, never will.
Danny Reagan paced about the kitchen, drying a dish that had been dry for at least ten minutes. His heart was pounding, his palms were sweating, and a familiar feeling of anticipation and anxiety was settling uncomfortably in his stomach. Boy did he ever feel like a kid again.
It was just after Sunday dinner and everyone was gone now. Every member of the Reagan clan had headed to their respective homes except for Danny. His father's stern "we'll talk after dinner" had kept him at the house he'd grown up in, finding excuses like helping out with the dishes to keep his wife from catching on to what he knew he was really waiting for.
He was in trouble. Big trouble if he could judge by the way his father had looked at him when he'd told him to stay. And he was pretty positive he knew why. It had been the hot topic at the Reagan dinner table that afternoon, Danny's walking right into a hostage situation knowing full well his father would not approve.
Danny sighed, putting away the dish in his hands, knowing it was time to stop stalling and pay the piper.
Frank Reagan, for his part, had spent the past half hour watching his oldest stall; taking his time to wash, dry, and put away each dish. He had not stepped in and demanded his son stop stalling for a number of reasons. One, if Danny needed to take some time to reflect on what he had done and why he was about to get punished for it, he was not going to stand in his way. Two, he wanted his son to come to him when he was ready to accept responsibility for what he had done, after all, he was an adult. And three, he was still taking some time to calm down, as every time he thought about Danny walking into that bank with absolutely no regards for his safety, he became furious with his child all over again.
Father and son made eye contact as Danny walked out of the kitchen, the younger man quickly breaking it as he couldn't take the disappointment he saw in his father's eyes.
"My room," Frank spoke softly but firmly. His son nodded and wordlessly did as he was instructed, almost wanting to laugh at how nervous he felt.
Once inside the room, Danny sat down on the bed and waited for what Frank would do next. The older man closed the door and took a few minutes to just stand and stare at his son, trying to, again, find the words he wanted to say. He'd had a lecture, of course, prepared in his mind, but every time he thought he knew were to start he was at a loss. Finally he spoke the question that had been laying heavily on his mind since the day all of this had occurred:
"What the hell were you thinking, son?"
Danny sighed, having known he would probably have to answer this question eventually.
"I don't know, Dad," He said quietly in what he hoped was a repentant tone of voice. "I just didn't want anyone to die, that's all."
"And you wanted to play the hero," Frank grunted, shaking his head. His son remained silent, knowing he couldn't deny the statement. There were a few tense seconds before Frank continued.
"Well, I'll tell you what you weren't thinking then," he said. "You were not thinking about Linda and your children. Do you have any idea what it would have done to them if your little stunt had ended badly?"
Danny cringed at his words, recalling the conversation his wife had had with him just today. What's gonna happen to our kids the next time you swagger into one of those buildings, and then you don't come out? He absolutely hated that his father, and his wife for that matter, had a good point. What would have happened to his family if he had died? The thought was enough to bring tears to his eyes, and he had to fight the impulse to pull out his phone and apologize to Linda all over again.
"Let's go over a few things that you did wrong, Daniel." Frank continued. "I had good people in charge at that bank, I even told you it was Jack's show. But you, knowing I would not approve, decided to do as you pleased anyway. Once you got the injured hostage out, you should have taken yourself out of the situation, but instead, you went back in. You blocked the shot. And above all else, you completely and utterly disregarded any thought for your own safety."
"What was I supposed to do, Dad?" Danny spoke up, finally raising his eyes to look at his father. "I didn't want the guy to die."
"Nobody wants those things, Danny," Frank replied. "But there are some things you need to learn: one, you cannot save everybody."
"I know that, Dad, it's just-" Frank held up a hand, silencing his son.
"And two: you cannot be the hero every time the opportunity arises. Especially when you have a family that would be devastated if something happened to you. You are more important to everyone in this family than some case. You have got to get that in your head, son. Because I do not want this to happen again. Stand up."
Heart thumping in his chest, Danny rose as his father began to unbuckle his belt. He knew that this had been coming, but now that the moment was here he felt overwhelmed with childlike fear.
"Bend over the bed, son." Frank spoke gently, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy for his child. Taking a deep, shaking breath, Danny did as he was told.
Without warning, the belt landed hard on his well presented backside with a loud crack. Danny stayed still and silent. The second stroke fell just below the first and with slightly more force. The third just below that and even harder than the last. Now Danny ground his teeth in an effort not to make any noise. He was a grown man, he could take his punishment stoically. He knew he could.
"I want you to know that as a father, seeing you on that screen putting your life directly into harm's way was horrifying," Frank told his son, not letting up on the strokes that continued to slam down onto his backside. "I do not want to have to go through that experience again, Daniel Reagan."
Danny gasped as a particularly hard stroke landed on his upper thigh, and nodded his head to show he understood what his father was saying.
"You will stop being so reckless with your life," Frank continued. "Am I making myself clear, young man?"
Under any other circumstance, Danny would have laughed at being called "young man," but now he just nodded again, yelping and on the verge of tears as the belt kept hitting its target.
After a few long, painful minutes, it was over. Danny felt his body slump in relief and had to fight to keep himself from collapsing straight onto the bed in tears. Immediately Frank tossed the belt away and guided his oldest into a standing position, pulling him into an embrace.
Danny wrapped his arms around his father, and let himself cry into his shoulder. The comfort, he realized in that moment, was something he would never outgrow.
"You're my boy, Danny," Frank said softly, rubbing circles into his son's back. "I can't let anything happen to you. I cannot handle losing another son."
Danny nodded against his father, knowing that if it were Jack or Sean he'd feel the same way.
"I'm sorry," He muttered, his tears subsiding.
"I know, son," Frank replied. "It's all alright now."
Soon, father and son broke their embrace, and Danny was sent to bed to rest for a while before he could go home. As he started to fall asleep in his father's bed, he thought about his two sons and about heroes. He thought about how his father was, had been, and always would be his hero. And finally he realized that playing the hero was worth nothing if it meant he wouldn't be able to be the most important hero of them all: a dad.
A/N: Cheesy endings ftw