Title: The Longest Day
Chapter 1 – A New Day Dawns

Summary: AU For Officer Danny Reagan what started out as a rather mundane assignment turns out to be a day he, and the rest of his family, will never forget – if they survive.

Disclaimer: Everything from Blue Bloods belongs to CBS and well not me lol I only own my muse (Alice love her!) and the ideas and any OCs that might pop up (which in name are only coincidence if they match anyone reading and not intentional!) PLEASE NOTE: no real names of anyone associated with the 9/11 events have been used (have researched) HOWEVER, if there any name resemblance to anyone associated with 9/11 that I have missed it was not my intent to offend and coincidental.

A/N: We're back! with a new little angsty ficlet! So I wanted to do an AU piece based on 9/11 but b/c it's so personal and emotional for so many of us I wasn't able until now. This will be AU and Danny centric and I want him to be a relatively young officer and the other major characters in this will be Frank who I think would have been a precinct Chief at the time with Henry as the Commissioner. Kinda nervous about this but hope you like it a little.


Monday, September 10th

"STOP RIGHT THERE! I SAID…" he growled as he raced after the fleeing perp; slowly gaining ground. With a huffed cursed, he flung himself at the middle of the portly man's frame and within a few seconds the two of them tumbled to the ground. "I said…" he started as he tried to wrestle himself free and get his suspect under control.

But just as he thought he had gotten the upper hand, he heard his name being called which forced his attention to be turned and that allowed his suspect to crack him in the jaw with his elbow; snapping his head back.

"Damn!" He cursed as a faint taste of coppery sludge swirled around in his mouth before he spat it back out a few seconds later and then twisted his suspects arm up a bit higher behind his back. "I said…STOP!"

"You got him…Reagan…you got him."

Danny Reagan looked up at the somewhat cross expression of his temporary partner and then pulled his cuffs. "I'll be with you in a sec."

"Right," Officer Anthony 'Tony' Renzulli groaned as he shoved his piece back into its holster and then called in the arrest.

"Get your…ass up!" Danny growled as he staggered upright, leaving the suspect on his belly, cuffed and cursing. A few seconds later he grabbed the angry man by the scruff of his jacket and hauled him up onto his feet. "Told you he was our guy," Danny added cheekily as dragged their suspect to the waiting police car and shoved him inside and slammed the back door.

Renzulli shook his head as Danny turned and headed back to him with a grin. "You can stop patting yourself on the back Reagan. Wouldn't want that delicate wrist to get sore."

"I called it. He was our guy."

"Want a medal?"

"When's Robertson back?"

"Nice try. You're stuck with me for the whole week. Thought you got rid me of your rookie year?"

"Thought so…you were a hell of a TO though."

"Was?" Renzulli chortled. "You've only been on the job two years."

"Practically got that detective badge," Danny grinned as he brushed off a bit of dirt that had lodged itself on the dark blue fabric.

"Without pulling rank?"

"Hey…not fair. Just because my old man's the Police Chief doesn't mean he'll pull strings for me," Danny gently admitted with a small hiss.

"As it should. Every officer should have to gain every stripe in this organization no matter their last name or the color of their blood. Yours is blue right?" Renzulli winked as Danny's lips pursed. "Let's go."

Danny slid into the passenger seat of the police cruiser and looked at his fat lip in the mirror.

"Don't worry Cinderella, that'll be gone by the time you hafta go to the ball."

"Nice try wiseass I was…tonight was gonna be the night."

"You finally got the ring?"

"Yeah a few days ago," Danny smiled as he recalled the day the jeweler called him about the engagement ring. "Just hope she likes it."

"Oh trust me…Linda's gonna say yes."

Hope so…Danny's mind pondered as they reached the police station.

"Think you can remember how to process a collar?"

"Yeah yeah," Danny chirped as he yanked the protesting perp from the back of the cruiser and dragged him toward the booking desk. He couldn't wait to get his this guy booked and then go over his plans one more time. Tonight…ah this better work.

XXXXXXXX

"How many are you sending?"

"Just a few but I am going to assign Danny and Renzulli there."

"Danny? This is a babysitting mission Francis."

Chief Frank Reagan looked at his father with a small frown and then nodded. "We're short and his TO told me that Danny's…"

"Danny's what?" NYPD Police Commissioner Henry Reagan urged his son.

"Figured it's a routine job and maybe it'll help calm his temper and attitude a bit."

Henry offered a small smirk and shook his head.

"He needs this."

"He wants to be a detective."

"He's been on the street just under two years. He needs a few more years under his belt," Frank huffed. "He'll make detective. He's pushing for it already."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"No. But having Danny do a few lesser tasks, as he puts it, will show that I'm fair to all. And in turn you're fair to all."

"Ah," Henry smiled. "He's gonna be bored."

"He can take it. All officers have to do some of the mundane tasks and Danny has to also. I feel sorrier for his partner than Danny," Frank chortled as he pulled back to leave. "I'll check in on them mid-morning."

Henry watched his son take his leave and then looked down at a picture of his beloved grandson on his police academy graduation day. "He's gonna be bored."

XXXXXXXX

Danny pulled his locker open and then stared at the little black box perched atop his casual shirt and then stopped as his heart started to race a bit faster. He had picked it up on Saturday but didn't tell his family the night before that he was going to pop the question to his girlfriend. Normally she would have been there but she had to work at the hospital and wasn't able to swap her shift.

'Seriously? You did that…? Sounds like Danny. Danny…are you with us?'

Danny paused in his dinner as he felt all eyes on him and looked up at his sister and then his mother.

'You've been distracted all night. Trust me I think Renzulli is more worried about having you back as his partner than you are having him back as your TO.' Frank smirked.

'Partner. Nice try,' Danny retorted. 'No I uh…yeah no worries. What happened with Robertson anyways?'

'Administrative leave,' Henry piped up.

'What'd he do wrong?' Joe inquired in wonder.

'Pissed off the wrong guy.'

'Daniel. That language around the table,' Mary Reagan lightly scolded as Danny's lips pursed and he looked over at his nine year old brother Jamie and frowned. 'Hey kid plug your ears,' Danny instructed and then chuckled when Jamie listened.

'Don't…listen,' Joe groaned as he pulled Jamie's fingers out of his ears. 'Any exciting takedowns today?'

Danny was about to start when he heard his mother softly clear her throat and looked up and then frowned. 'Ah routine day. What about you? High school is pretty scary.'

'I wanna hear about it.'

'Ask Erin…university is pretty scary.'

'She wants to be a lawyer. What's scary about that?' Joe huffed as Frank offered his middle son a sympathetic smile.

'Elementary is scary, right Jamie?'

And the conversation softened after that. However, Danny's mind was still distracted and his mother was the one to call him on it afterward.

'I uh…I planned to ask Linda to marry me tomorrow tonight. But I'm uh…I'm nervous.'

'She's going to say yes Daniel. You two are going to have a long and happy marriage. Now…the real question is, will you be able to concentrate on your shift tomorrow?' His mother asked with a smile. 'I'm proud of you. We all love Linda.'

A small shuffle forced Danny back to reality and he quickly shoved the little black box into his inner jacket pocket and slammed his locker shut and headed for the exit doors to go outside. His current girlfriend was just about to finish her during day shift and he didn't want to wait any longer.

She was off tomorrow so they could stay out a bit later and when he told her that he was taking her out to a nice restaurant for dinner, she said she'd be showered and dressed in something a bit more special than hospital scrubs.

'I still think you're hot in your scrubs.'

'Because you think I'm gonna give you a full physical.'

He simply wagged his brows and grinned widely.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey…wow…" Danny greeted Linda as he waited by the side of the car for her. "For me?"

"No I dressed like this for my other boyfriend," she deadpanned as she neared.

"Ha ha," he retorted dryly as she planted a kiss on his lips. "Mmm smell good too. Wanna skip dinner and get a hotel room?"

"Daniel Reagan, what would your mother say?"

"Turn down the comforter," he mocked in his mother's voice as Linda swatted his shoulder before they both got into his car.

On the way to the restaurant, they each talked about their day, Danny wanting to keep it very casual in the hopes of her not catching wind of what was coming. He had told himself, she'd probably suspect it on the weekend or even a Friday night if she didn't have the night shift, but that was too cliché and he wanted it to be different.

"That was a great meal," Linda whispered as they left the restaurant and started to walk toward the small boardwalk along the river; both enjoying the warm late summer night air.

"Yeah it was," Danny agreed as his hand clasped hers and pulled her in closer to his frame. "Been thinking about us…lately."

"Uh oh…that can be dangerous," Linda replied lightly as his lips gently tugged upward. "Danny?"

"Going to war...it changed a few things for me and…okay whatever…" he stammered as they reached a small grassy spot with some benches and then stopped by the railing. He looked away for a few seconds and then back at her with a soft frown as a nervous chuckle escaped his lips for a few seconds. "I…I had something really great planned but…but right now I just…love you. I do…I…" he paused as he noticed her expression change from happy to wonder to…anxiety? "Ah hell…" he huffed as he pulled the small box from his pocket and dropped to one knee.

"Danny…" Linda whispered in shock as an instant smile spread upon her lips.

"I'm not good at this stuff but…I love you. I love you with all my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"

She paused for a few seconds as her eyes welled and her heart started to race with unexpected happiness; his heart rate racing to catch up.

"Yes," she replied after a few seconds as he plucked the modest ring from its little velvet perch and slid it up her slightly shaking fourth finger. "I love you too Danny Reagan."

With that he took her in his arms and planted a warm kiss on her waiting lips as they remained locked in each other's embrace for what seemed like an eternity. After that they continued on the boardwalk, hand in hand until sun had fully dipped and the inky night was now dotted with the twinkling cityscape.

"Think I'll start planning…tomorrow," Linda teased as they started to head back to his car.

"Tomorrow?"

"What else am I gonna do with my day off?" She shot back as he shrugged.

He couldn't agree or come up with another idea. But as the two of them walked back toward his car, neither of them could image how their lives were about to change in the blink of an eye. Would they get their happily ever after? Or was she about to lose Danny forever?


A/N: alright my dear peeps…thoughts? Veryyyy nervous about this idea & if anyone will like/support it. So since this is AU I tried to keep the age gaps between the Reagan kids from what I figured on the show. So would love your thoughts on this happy chappy and how this will affect Danny and Linda and of course Frank and Henry going forward. Please do review before you go and thanks so much!