Title: All in the Family
Summary: After family dinner, Jamie seeks out Danny and they talk about how family played a role in a very public apology, a police kidnapping and two officers butting heads. Post ep 3.01 Family Business Jamie/Danny Contains spoilers/missing scene
Disclaimer: Um you know by now write? Lol I own nothing but my hard working muse Alice.
A/N: jury's out for me on Jamie's new partner b/c I really hope the guy mellows but holy hawt damn – ANGRY JAMIE IS SEXYYYYYY lol we need to see more of that this season lol okay so another missing brotherly scene and hope you all like it.
"Words in double quotes and italic's taken directly from the eppy"
After dinner Jamie grabs his half-drunk bottle of beer and goes in search of his brother, wanting a few more details that Danny had spared his family with over dinner, especially the children. He spies his older brother on the porch watching his two boys trying to explain something to their older cousin Nikki who was busy trying to text her friend – unsuccessfully.
"Boys enough…leave her alone," Danny groans as Jamie plunks himself down beside his brother, shifting to the right a little on the stone ledge overlooking the back yard. "Hey kid…what's up?" Danny asks in a somewhat tense voice.
With this lips slightly pursed and his mind still trying to get a read on his brother's mood, Jamie just shrugs and takes a swig of his beer.
"Have a new partner."
"Vinny Cruz, just transferred from the 3-2."
"Jamie Reagan."
"Yeah I heard," Danny nods.
"You heard what?"
"Heard you two hit it off like two best friends on your first day."
"Already?"
"Not too often that two boys in blue go head to head over a matter of personal opinion in the middle of a tense situation and it's just left to no gossip."
"You can tell your buddies they can stop whispering, it's not like I don't know what they're saying," Jamie looks at his new partner Vinny with a frown.
"Yeah? What are they sayin'?"
"That my father didn't have to apologize personally? Publicly...but we did get it wrong," Jamie insists.
"Look where I come from all we got out here is each other, and if a fellow cop don't got your back, nobody does," Vinny argues back.
With that Jamie's anger surges and he turns to Vinny with a determined expression. "Let's be straight…you're not high on me and I'm not high on you but get this much clear – there is no cop that ever backed his men more than my father and if anyone says otherwise, they're gonna hafta answer to me."
"Personal?" Jamie counters with anger rising in his voice. "You're dam right it was personal."
"Hey I'm on your side," Danny offers in haste as he looks at Jamie with a heavy frown. "That's what family is about. We defend each other no matter what. I woulda done the same thing in your place," Danny nods as he takes another swig of his beer, Jamie's agitation starting to settle a little.
"Really?"
"Well maybe I woulda popped him one in the face…but yeah I woulda done the same," Danny smirks, making Jamie's face soften. "You defended dad's honor…you defended all our honor. It's all in the family and you know that. Proud of you."
"Not sure I like him."
"He's a hot head with something to prove."
"Still don't like him," Jamie huffs, making Danny slightly nod in agreement. "Can I transfer?"
"Not like a Reagan to run away from a problem."
"Can I make him disappear?" Jamie teases.
"Now that's more like it," Danny smirks as he playfully nudges his brother's shoulder. "You put a loud mouth in his place in front his friends…he'll either hate you and transfer on his own, or respect you more."
"Hope it's the first," Jamie groans. "Think Officer Blake will be okay?"
"In the long run? Hope so. Such a tough call and he's not the first and won't be the last to make a mistake like that…" Danny shakes his head as his voice dies to a soft whisper.
"Guilt is a tough thing to live with."
"If he's got a strong support system he'll make it," Danny states in truth.
"Kinda like yours?"
"Next person Danny puts away gets a plate of cookies and a note that says nothing personal," Linda comments as they all sit down to family dinner.
"Well all jokes aside, I'd like to take a moment and acknowledge someone special, because I never would have got through this if I didn't have the best partner a cop could have."
"Yeah, Jackie's getting…" Linda starts only to be interrupted by her husband.
"I was talkin' about you," Danny looks right at her with a tender smile before they kiss.
"I got the best there is. Seriously if Linda hadn't relayed that message to Erin and then Jackie…she didn't dismiss it...she acted and that...she saved my life," Danny stops, casting his glance to his boys and feeling his throat having difficulty swallowing the last swig of beer. "I mean I got Benjamin's…speaking of family…ah damn it," Danny huffs as his fingers curl tightly around the sweaty body of the beer bottle.
"What is it?" Jamie asks in haste.
"Nothin'," Danny huffs.
"What did he say to you Danny? I heard about the um….the grave…damn can't believe he got you to dig your own grave."
"I might not have gotten…okay obviously I didn't agree with his actions at all…but I understood his motivation. Family…it was all he had and was taken from him and…and he blamed me and wanted inner peace. But in that moment I gotta tell ya…it was only my family I was thinking about. Linda…Jack…Sean…I didn't want to lose them," Danny pauses as his mind flashes back to when he was in the shallow grave moments before Jackie showed up, his cuffed wrists raised, begging Benjamin to rethink his current actions. "His family..."
"My son Kenny…seven years old…never even got to meet his father."
Jamie looks at Danny's face and then at his fingers as they tighten even harder around the cool bottle, turning his knuckles a paler shade of white. "Danny?"
"Nothin'."
"Something he said to you right? About why he was doing it? Was it more than revenge for you putting him away? His family leave him or something?"
"Who are they Benjamin?"
"Her maiden name was Disilvo," Benjamin informs him, the same last name as his. "She changed it after I was put away."
"It was personal Jamie that's…"
"Personal but…"
"PERSONAL!" Danny hisses, making his boys look up in wonder and Jamie to back down a little. "Sorry," Danny mumbles as he nods to the boys that he's okay.
"It's okay," Jamie whispers with a thick swallow and nod of his head. "Alright then." But just as he gets up to leave and give Danny his silent request for space, Danny's hand reaches out and grabs his, pulling him back down to a seated position beside him.
"No…it's not okay. I have put bad guys away before but…but it was personal…and yeah it was something he told me. It was about his family."
"Where are they Benjamin? What happened to them?"
"It was a home invasion…couplea junkies right. Lookin' in the apartment…turned the whole place upside down. He killed them both…killed them both."
"It's not your fault Benjamin."
"What? They were mad at you sending him to jail?" Jamie lightly presses.
"His wife and son were killed in a botched home invasion and he…he never met his boy but…but blamed me."
"Oh. And obviously reasoning with him didn't work," Jamie frowns.
"Not for lack of trying," Danny huffs.
"You suffered a lot Benjamin…you did but you haven't done anything yet that you can't come back from. You don't have to suffer anymore. Just…let me help you. You just give me the gun and we can walk away from this."
"But he…he wasn't listening…he'd given up on hope. He was there for revenge alone. That's why he brought me to their gravestones specifically. He…he coulda taken me anywhere…he wanted me there."
"I'm not giving you your gun…but I am giving you this," Benjamin sneers as he tosses Danny the shovel. "You start digging. You put them there…now it's your turn."
"He wanted me to feel the same pain and fear…the same hopelessness he did that night and every night since. He wanted me to pay."
"But you didn't kill them."
"In his eyes I did."
"But he said they were junkies. Did you let them out or something?"
"No. I put him away…I kept him from being with them…from protecting them. As a father…it's your moral obligation to protect your family and Benjamin…for whatever other faults he had…he loved his family and wanted to protect them. Some bastards don't give a damn but he…he did. He…he wanted me there to feel his pain. As a father…he wanted me to feel it. To know he was taking me away and leaving my family vulnerable. Feel his pain…"
"And did you?" Jaime wonders.
"I tried...part of me did."
"Part only?"
"Mighta been more convincing if it had been dad you know? He lost Joe…he woulda felt that pain…maybe connected better…I don't know. But I do know this," Danny pauses as he looks at his sons once more. "If anything ever happened to them…I know I'd want revenge," he utters in a tormented tone, quickly swallowing back a lump of emotion and looking at Jamie with a tight frown. "I would. In the end…no amount of reasoning would work," Danny concludes. "Nothing. I tried but I knew it wouldn't work."
"It's over Benjamin…nothing's gonna bring your girl and your kid back."
"Yeah but you got him with the shovel," Jamie reminds his oldest brother how the armed hostage standoff ended.
"I could tell in his words…see it on his face…he was at the end…he didn't care, he didn't care if he lived or died, he just wanted to take me with him. Without them…he had nothing to go back to. Me…I have too much to live for…I took a chance. At that range and knowing that Jackie and those snipers had my back…I had to act. I had to. I didn't want to die."
"Well I'm not sorry he's dead," Jamie utters, making Danny look at him sideways once more.
"It was a sad situation and it never shoulda gotten that far…but he's at peace now…that's the only consolation from all this," Danny answers with a sad tone. "He lost everything…his family…his son whom he never met. When you lose that…nothing else matters…there was no life without them. He came back to nothing. I'd…I'd be the same way."
"Yeah."
Danny hears a sour note in Jamie's voice and gently nudges his shoulder, making Jamie's warm blue-grey eyes turn in his direction. "What? I felt sorry for him…that's not wrong."
"I know."
"So what then?" Danny presses with an irate tone.
"I have…never mind. You want another beer?"
"Sit here and tell me," Danny insists.
"I have no one okay? Linda…she…she did the right thing and…you know…never mind," Jamie huffs as he looks down at the bottle in his grasp, absently staring at it. "I think you two are great."
"Not yet."
"What?"
"You haven't found the right one yet."
"Right. Maybe I'm done looking."
"Yeah because you're too old right?" Danny retorts in sarcasm. "You'll find her. Hey maybe you know, your new partner has a sister or something'," Danny chuckles.
"Think I'd rather end up in the shallow grave," Jamie groans, making Danny smile.
"Well you know if you want some practice digging…" Danny teases as he nods toward the garden with his head.
"Funny," Jamie deadpans. "Think what's his name will show up for shift tomorrow?"
"Maybe officer scarypants scared him away."
"Hey I'm not scared of him."
"I didn't say that," Danny counters firmly. "What's the matter, you need a new hearing aid or somethin'?"
"Uncle Jamie you have a hearing aid? Like grandpa?" Sean asks with a wondering glance, Danny chuckling as he slaps Jamie on the back.
"Grandpa does not wear a hearing aid," Danny corrects.
"Uncle Jamie does?" Sean asks in confusion, making Danny laugh.
"I do not and I didn't say that," Jamie insists.
"I don't know boys…maybe Uncle Jamie here is getting hard of hearing in his old age. Maybe weaker too."
"Huh?"
"Why don't we…" Danny smiles as he grabs Jamie's wrists and yanks them into the air. "Tickle attack!"
"H-hhey!" Jamie tries to pull himself free of Danny's strong grasp as Jack and Sean converge on their helpless Uncle, Jamie vowing revenge between laughs and Danny telling his boys where Jamie's really ticklish spots are. Danny finally pulls back and then looks up to see his father watching and smiles; Jamie still on his back and trying to wrestle away his two nephews.
Danny gets a nod from his father and feels a surge of paternal emotion welling inside. Today his family had faced more than one attack; his father, a personal attack from the city; his brother, a verbal attack from a fellow officer and himself a physical attack from a distraught ex-con and all had come out stronger than before.
Each member had played their role perfectly, and had proven that - pride, loyalty, determination and legacy were all in the family.
THE END!
A/N: yay the eppy one shots are back! Such a great start to the season and hope you liked this. Please do review and let me know if you want more of these and thanks so much!
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