One Revelation
Danny stood fidgeting with nervousness as he watched the numbers on the elevator climb. Moments later he stepped out onto the top floor of 1PP, across the room he saw Detective Abigail Baker sitting at her desk outside the commissioners office and walked over.
"Detective Baker." He greeted her with the required formality.
"Detective Reagan." She smiled back at him.
"I need to talk to the Commissioner." He informed her.
"He's in a meeting but he should be finished soon, take a seat." She told him and gestured to two small sofas several feet away. He nodded and crossed the room to the sofas, he had only just sat down and was taking out his phone when the door to the commissioners office opened. He watched as a vaguely familiar older man exited the office followed by Lieutenant Gormley, DCPI Moore and the Commissioner.
"Thank you so much for your time." The vaguely familiar man said as he shook each of the other three men's hands.
"You're welcome." Frank replied politely. Frank and Sid watched as Garrett led the man back to the elevator, as they did so they noticed Danny sitting on one of the sofas.
"Hey Danny." Sid greeted him warmly.
"Lieutenant." Danny replied as he stood and pocketed his phone.
"Come on in." Frank smiled as he headed back to his office. Danny followed him, making sure to close the door behind himself once he was inside. Frank noticed as he rounded his desk and it made him wonder what had brought his son to his office.
"I need to tell you something." Danny started as he took a seat in front of Frank's desk.
"Go ahead." Frank encouraged him.
"I wanted you to hear it from me." Danny added looking at his hands. Given Danny's posture and his last statement Frank became concerned, he remained silent and waited for Danny to continue.
"I'm going to be getting a new partner." He informed him.
"A new partner? Why?" Frank asked surprised, not aware of any issues with Detective Baez. Danny didn't answer, he shifted in his seat and kept his eyes downcast.
"Danny." Frank urged. He stared at his son, trying to deduce from his body language what was going on, he was unsuccessful but he could see Danny was readying himself to say something.
"We've been seeing each other romantically, and we got caught." Danny confessed. He finally looked up and saw the shock, anger and disappointment written all over his fathers face.
"You've been dating your partner?" Frank asked stunned, wanting to make sure he had heard right.
"Yeah…" Danny quietly admitted.
"Look, I know what you're going to say. There are rules against partners becoming romantically involved and those rules exist for a reason." He began, preempting his father.
"You're right, and there's no excuse…."
"It's not the same for me." Danny interrupted.
"Don't tell me, because you're a Reagan?" Frank asked, angry Danny would use being a member of their family as an excuse.
"Yeah!" He replied defiantly. He calmed himself down when he saw his fathers stern expression.
"If any other cop wanted to date his partner he or she could just request a new one and only his or her captain would know the real reason. Sure, there'd be talk around the precinct but it would just be rumours until he or she confirmed it. If I had put in a request when Baez and I first realised there was something between us, it would have got back to you inside a day. Jamie would have heard about it, hell, it probably would've gotten back to Erin too. It had only been eight months since Linda died, I wasn't sure if I was ready to date. I needed time to figure that out without people judging me." Danny explained, lowering his eyes back down to his hands.
The room fell silent and Frank stared at his son. He realised that despite no one having known about it, the relationship had been being judged, Danny had been judging himself. Frank knew he should be angry at his detective for breaking the rules but found himself feeling only sympathy for his son. He was clearly struggling to let himself be happy. As he continued to stare at Danny he recalled the loss of his beloved wife Mary and the conflicting emotions he felt when he began dating again. He remembered the feelings of guilt anytime he was truly happy, his inability to actually let anyone in for fear for losing them too and his intense desire for the relationship to remain a secret for fear of what people would say. He had been where Danny was and he hoped that, unlike himself, Danny would work through the the feelings he was struggling with and allow himself to find love again.
"Linda would want you to be happy." He finally said, unable to maintain his anger. Danny looked up, surprised by his father's response.
"I know." He conceded.
"I assume your captain has appropriately disciplined you and has started the paperwork to assign you each new partners." said Frank slipping back into commissioner mode.
"Yeah, we're each getting a formal reprimand on our files and we're on modified assignment at our desks until we get new partners." Danny informed him.
"Good…have you told the boys yet?" He asked switching back to his fatherly role.
"No, I'm going to sit them down tonight after work. I'll tell everyone else at dinner on Sunday." He told him and Frank nodded.
"I should get back to work." Danny suggested breaking the uncomfortable silence that had fallen between them.
"So should I." Frank agreed with a tight smile. Danny stood and walked over to the door when he got there he reached out and turned the handle.
"Danny." Frank called across the office. He let go of the handle and turned to face his father.
"Yeah?"
"Moving on doesn't mean you forget. It just means you accept what happened and continue living."
