Title: The Templar Falls

Summary: After the takedown of the Templar the Reagan family has some peae. But is this all really over? For good? Or is this just a break for now? Post ep 1.22 'Blue Templar'

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Blue Bloods.

A/N: AHHHHH Okay they so have to renew for next season; seriously awesome hour but I can't believe no more new eppies until the fall! And awww how sweet was that kiss for our boy Jamie *sigh* but ooh the chief? Oh so called it! Lol

"Words in italics and double quotes – directly from the eppy."

He didn't have to look at his brother, father or grandfather to know that all eyes were on him. The tension in the small room was thick, stifling him in an invisible way. He didn't have to hear them say it – he just knew; they were disappointed in him. Especially his father. Jamie finally looks up and sees his father watching him intently.

"After I broke off contact with the FBI…death of Detective Gonsalves…investigate on my own…'

His voice seemed to ramble endlessly; filling in the silent gaps that the three men standing around him were forcing him to feel. Jamie kept telling himself over and over that the more the explained the better it would be; he was young, could he be faulted for not really knowing how to deal with all this right away? For not having the insight or experienced to have done it right from the start?

But it was the disappointed sigh that accompanies his father's next question that forces his heart to sink and his mind to rethink everything he was about to continue with.

"Why didn't you come to us when all this started?"

"Because Joe hid it from you…thought he left behind for me to carry on…wanted to honor my brother."

By mistrusting your father?

Oh his father didn't utter those words, but as Jamie slightly bows his head, his fists curl he can feel those very words being hurled from his father's lips; he had failed the man who helped give him life. But he was lost and stuck and needing help.

"Now I'm in over my head…I mean who the hell are these guys?"

Frank turns and looks at his son with a deep frown; his mind still racing in heated circles at the thought that he nearly lost his youngest son to the same faceless villain. FBI told me to keep quiet. Joe was murdered…in over my head. Frank looks at the torment on Jamie's face and feels his frustration starting to soften. He couldn't fault Jamie for wanting to protect the integrity of a brother, who even in death, he still looks up to. But it was the way Jamie had handled it so far. If he had been taken out; shot in the line of duty as Joe's death was set up to look like, he never would have known and his faceless villain would be walking around, laughing in front of his face. That was unacceptable.

This had to end.

Jamie listens to his grandfathers and then is brother's explanations about their knowledge and involvement in the Blue Templar arrangement. However, his blue eyes continue to watch the tension filled stance of his father. Would he ever regain that lost favor?

"You should have come to me right away son."

Frank's voice was thick with internal angst and emotional frustration as he looks directly at his youngest, his heart racing probably as fast as Jamie's. But it wasn't the time for him to lecture Jamie on the value of coming to not only your father but also your boss with potentially reputation and departmental damaging information. He watches Jamie just nod his head; trying to hold back tears in front of the two other elder Reagan's and feels his own eyes wanting to water. Jaime was still young and vulnerable when it came to his knowledge of things around him. But he couldn't fault his son for that; he loves him too much.

Danny takes a call; politely excusing himself to go and see Jackie on what would turn out to be the first solid lead in the takedown of the elusive Blue Templar. Jamie watches him leave without a word and now wonders if his brother will ever trust him?

"I'll um…I'll get some coffee," Henry mentions, his eyes lingering on Jamie a bit longer before he takes his leave and it's just Frank and Jamie left in the room.

"I'm sorry," Jamie finally utters. "I thought I could do it on my own and…"

"Joe thought that and was killed for it," Frank states firmly; his eyes still resting on the coffee table between them. He looks up to see the anguished expression on his youngest's face and sighs. "If they would have gotten you too…"

"Dad I know and I'm sorry. I'm just…sorry," Jamie sighs as he quickly swallows, not wanting to show weakness at the moment. "I need to make this right."

"Right now we are going to do nothing."

"But…" Jamie tries to protest.

Frank looks up, immediately stopping his son's protest. "Nothing. Tomorrow I'll start looking into this a bit further. But for now…" he slowly stands up, "I want you to go home and get some rest, if you can. I'll talk to you in the morning."

Jamie looks at his father and feels the lump in his throat starting to grow again. "Okay um…well goodnight then." He turns to leave, stopping only when he feels his father's hand on his arm and turns around only to be pulled into his father's embrace. "Dad I'm sorry," he softly laments as he holds on.

"I know son," Frank closes his eyes, his head resting atop Jamie's. "I know."

They remain locked in a father/son embrace for a few more moments before it was time for Jamie to head home and Frank to spend the night talking with his father about their next move. Jamie reaches his quiet apartment, sucking back a sniffle and then just resting against the door in the dimly lit room. He had failed his family; of that he was sure. Would he ever be able to get back to the place in the beginning when he had only their respect and admiration to keep him company at night; not the tormented thoughts that his father now feels like he had failed because his son didn't trust him enough with such a crucial secret?

"Dad I'm sorry," Jamie whispers once more as he slowly lays down on his bed; his eyes finally releasing the tears they had been holding back. Sleep wasn't to be found for any of them that night.

XXXXXXXX

The next day it was business as usual; Jamie actually thankful for the day off, letting his father and Danny worry about some new details about the Templar, the family finally regathering at their father's later that night to discuss the next steps in the takedown of this elusive traitor.

"Can't handle this on your own…"

"I'm not. I have you…and Danny…Detective Curatola…"

"What about me?" Jamie had to ask.

"I know this will be hard for you Jamie, but you gotta go about your business like it's any other day."

To him his father's words felt like an excuse. All he could do was sit there and pretend he was okay with the fact that he was now being put on the sidelines with the excuse that it might be dangerous for him. He was already targeted and threatened; he was the one that carried this on from Joe and now he was to be sidelined. He looks up at his father, noticing that for the first time in a long time, his father was trying to avert his gaze. He doesn't trust me, Jamie laments inside; suddenly feeling like an outsider looking in on the plan of a tight knit clan and wishing he could somehow be a part of it.

"Operation stays in house…in this house."

Once again Jamie waits for the rest of his family to leave before approaching his father. "I don't mind helping in some way," Jamie mentions in a soft tone, pulling his father's gaze back to him. Frank turns to his youngest with a heavy sigh.

"It's not personal Jamie, you know that right?"

"Right…of course," he nods, hoping the disappointment in his voice wasn't evident.

"You think I'm slighting you because you didn't come to me sooner?"

"Feels a little like that. I mean um…well Danny was kinda cold to me today; like he's changed now from all this."

"Danny's a bit of a hot head at times," Frank tries to assure his son. "He does things differently from you."

"Meaning he would have come to you and I didn't," Jamie lightly growls.

"I didn't mean it like that," Frank quickly insists. "He's got his head wrapped in this case. He might not have had the close bond that you and Joe had but he's just as anxious to as you…as are we all to find this guy and get our hands on him."

"Right…of course," Jamie offers his father a weak smile. Erin comes back into the room, breaking the tense conversation and forcing Frank to watch Jamie softly excuse himself and disappear into another room.

"Is he okay?" Erin asks in concern.

"He will be," Frank replies with a smile. "When this is all over, we'll all be okay again."

"Will we?" Erin counters.

"Well at least we'll have a bit more peace of mind. Now what's up?"

XXXXXXXX

The next day was filled with a new kind of excitement that Jamie hadn't been anticipating, especially nothing like Laura Peck coming into his life. Despite the fact that the beautiful woman had made an instant impact; searing his brain with a promised kiss, his mind was still focused on the takedown of the Templar; it was too big for him to just shelve in favor of his own nonexistent love life. He had suspected the right guy of the kidnapping but was once again reprimanded for not coming forth sooner to the right people with crucial information.

"You playing Detective, rookie?"

"And when you checked with me is when you shoulda said somethin'."

But it was over, that's all that mattered. Laura was safe. Besides, he kept telling himself; she was taking a job in Abu Daubi of all places, no sense in getting his heart pulled out in favor of a one night stand.

Then it was back to business; finding and arresting the men responsible for the corruption inside the department and revealing the identity of the man who had in cold blood murdered his brother. For the whole lead up to the finding of the dirty cops he had been left out; and maybe with good reason, he was young and his instincts still needed fine tuning, especially when dealing with the level of the likes of Sonny Malvesky. The attempted kidnapping of Laura Peck was one thing but this was something else entirely.

But it wasn't until he had gotten the call from his father after Laura's kidnappers were taken away that he finally felt part of the tight knit police family once again.

"Hey dad…"

'We found him son…we found the team responsible for killing Joe and I want you there with Danny and I when we take him down.'

'I'll be right there.'

Jamie hangs up with his father and feels his confidence finally starting to rise; it was one thing to prove his instincts to nameless strangers around him; but it was something else entirely to prove himself to his father. It was a matter of professional and family pride. That's why telling Laura, "my family needs me," was so satisfying.

He had started this whole Blue Templar mess, well took it one step further than Joe and he would be there to see it end; it was the only reward he needed. So as tempting as it was to have stayed with Laura a few more hours, merely to satisfy his own romantic urges; he couldn't pass up the chance to reap the rewards of his hard work. He owed it to Joe.

After getting the address, the drive to the bar seemed to be the shortest and longest trip of his life. He could hardly wait to get there but at the same time knew if he arrived before anyone, the last thing he could do was charge in there without waiting for backup. If he did tip off the dirty cops inside the bar and they scattered, he would never forgive himself for basically flushing all his family's hard work down the drain. This time he wouldn't be doing anything on his own; he would wait.

As soon as the music had stopped and his father started questioning one of the insiders, Jamie could feel the tension race upward. The controlled anger in his father's voice something to be feared and praised at the same time. He was standing in the room of the same men that had murdered his brother. Would anything ever justify their reasons? The answer was no.

"Before I take your shields, there is a question I want answered – which one of you killed my son?"

At first none of them dared to look up; none having the courage to look their commander and chief in the eye and offer up some petty excuse for the betrayal they were about to be arrested for. They had failed their oath; they had failed him. Jamie watches his father hit the glass, allowing the silence to fill the room; it was the only anger outlet he was allowed in public, knowing that he couldn't sink to any lower level in front of his sons and the men he commanded. But his anger was felt; and his question would not be denied a second time.

"I'll ask again."

The silence grows thicker and Jamie can feel his father's anger and agitation growing stronger. But something had to break. And it did. Someone they had suspected but to hear him actually confess was a torment that they weren't really read for. They say the truth hurts; in that moment it stabbed them all to the heart; piercing them through and through a million times over.

"Who shot my boy?"

"Just so you know…it's not like he wasn't warned," the smug voice of Sonny Malvesky finally pipes up; forcing Jamie's stomach to instantly tighten. "Just like the rookie over here." Further tightening. He was warned, just like Joe. Why hadn't Joe said anything before? Why hadn't he?

"Again and again…but you people just don't take a hint do ya?"

"Not from you we don't," Jamie pipes up; unable to stand the sickening glares that Sonny was eyeing him with. He had to show, in that room full of men, his brother and his father that he wasn't about to shrink back; Sonny Malvesky was a coward and a bully and he was done being afraid of him.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry. It was nothin' personal against Joe."

"Oh it was personal to us you scumbag," Danny adds, the anger in his voice in even control.

Jamie then watches as his father, who had watched in silence as his boys each said their piece, come forward and Sonny draw his weapon and place it under his chin, a visible threat for anyone to come closer and he'd take his life; his last cowardly act.

"We all die Sonny… it's just a question of when."

But that's all that was needed; the world then sped up as Sonny pulls the trigger, ends his life; his worthless corpse falling to the ground – dead. It was indeed over. Joe had been avenged and the department now cleansed of some bad fruit that had threatened to spoil the rest of the crop.

But was it really over? For them it was; at least for now. Now it was time for their family dinner, a time to gather with those that mattered most and then a trip to a special place for one last goodbye. The tension between Danny and Jamie had subsided; both brothers working side by side to help bring their other brother's killer to justice was the invisible cement needed to patch what would have been a growing chasm. Things would be better from now on, Jamie could sense that and that brought him comfort. It felt good to be accepted by Danny once again.

As the six of them stand in the cemetery; Jamie looks at his father and smiles; he felt loved and valued again. It was a hard lesson to learn but an important one; one that he tells himself he'll never repeat again.

"I'd like to think Joe was with us last night…I know he's with me all the time."

It was all that was needed to be said in closing, he was with them all – all of the time. Jamie feels his brother's unseen smile of approval on him as he lingers a bit longer in front of Joe's gravesite and then hurries after his family, smiling when Danny puts his arm around his shoulders and gives them a small squeeze.

"Come on kid…lets go home."

Jamie gives him a nod as they head for their cars. He had learned so much over the past few months of dealing with this; some hard life lessons that taught him more than mere police procedures. He learned about himself and the value of family trust and that in the end, nothing else really compares. He wasn't sure this really was the end of the crooked organization inside the NYPD, but as they near Danny's car, Jamie knows one thing for sure; if there is a next time and the come up against a family foe – it will be all of them together.

THE END!

A/N: Okay again there was so much I could have choosen but will leave Jamie and his new lady for now b/c I really want to finish off my Templar arch from this season. So hope that's okay but watch for new stories and OS's coming during the summer! (they might be on a break but Alice and I will be busy writing for you all :D) Remember to visit my Bluebloods forum to discuss eppy and then I'll be back with a new forum for season 2 :D

So please review before you go and let me know if you'd like some more of these next season (yes I am that hopeful) and thanks so much!

PS: Retribution will update on Monday.