Back from the Dead!
A man is sitting in a conference room with a group of men and women, all looking at him like he is crazy. This man is about 35 years old and has dark brown hair and green eyes. He wears a set of dog tags and a cross around his neck. He speaks again, "I want to go home." When the woman at the end of the table asks why, he thinks about this and answers, "I want my family back." This man's name is Joseph Conor Reagan. He has been working undercover for the CIA for 7 years. He started working for them when he was working for NYPD in the Warrants office. Joe had been investigating the Blue Templar. They were a group of cops that were originally put in place to clean up the department, but has since been seen as a group of dirty cops that were lining their pockets with drugs and money from raids. Joe had been trying to expose them and rid the department of them all, going all the way up to the top dogs in 1PP. Now that the Blue Templar had reclaimed their original glory, Joe was free to work on any case that he wanted. He decided that now that everything had settled down, he wanted to go back to be a detective in New York. He wanted his family back.
He missed them terribly. He missed Pops and his bad jokes and crazy stories from his days as a beat cop. He missed Danny and how he always gave Joe a hard time for becoming a cop in the first place. He missed Erin and Nicky because they were the only women, along with Linda, that had his heart. Erin was his older sister by three years but she was his soul mate. They were equals on everything. He missed Jack and Sean because they were Danny's pride and joy. He wanted to be able to spoil them some more. He missed Frank and all of that fatherly advice and wisdom that only he could give. Lastly, he missed his baby brother, Jamie because they were the closest of all the Reagan siblings. He felt like he did Jamie the biggest wrong in all of this. Jamie was finishing up law school and was on his way to being a great lawyer someday. Then, this case came to a critical point and the circumstances changed because of Sonny Malevsky. Joe knew that Jamie was going to become a cop but his 'death' sealed the deal. He needed to go home and apologize to everyone.
After the meeting with the CIA brass, he was cleared to leave Albany and return to New York City. The first person he had to see was Dad. He wanted to surprise him because he knew some of what happened to him, but not all of the details. He called a cab and told the driver to get as close to One Police Plaza that he could. Joe could use the walk after sitting in an office for the last 3 years.
Once Joe got to the Commissioner's level, he asked Baker, "Is he in?" She looked up and gasped. Baker had been around when Joe had 'died.' She nodded yes and went to inform the commissioner that he had a visitor. When she came back out, Joe walked in, seeing Frank sitting at his desk, looking down. "Good morning, Commissioner," Joe said. Frank's head whipped up and, for the first time in 7 years, Frank cried, asking, "Joseph…is t-that…you?" Frank stood up and walked over to Joe. Joe hugged Frank, saying, "Yes, Dad. It's me." Frank squeezed Joe to his chest even more. The two men stood there for a few minutes before Frank released his son. "Who else knows?" Frank asked. "You're the first, Dad, but I was planning on Erin being next," Joe answered. Frank called Garrett and Abigail in and said that he had some family business to take care of and would be out for the rest of the day. They were only to call in case of emergency. When Garrett asked, "What's going on, Frank?" Frank answered, "My son is home, Garrett. Joseph Conor Reagan has returned to New York." Garrett stood there in disbelief until Joe came out from behind Garrett and said, "Garrett, you really need to get out more." Garrett jumped and looked at Joe like he was a ghost. Abigail said, "I will clear your schedule, sir. I will let you know if anything comes up." "Thank you, Baker. Garrett, could you find out if Erin is in court or not?" Frank asked. Garrett nodded his reply and left. Frank and Joe sit and talk for five minutes before Garrett returns saying, "She is in her office waiting for you, Frank." Frank rose from his seat on the couch and said, "Thank you, Garrett. Please let my detail know that we are leaving in five minutes." Garrett leaves as father and son get ready to surprise Erin at work.
Today was a slow day for Erin. She didn't have any cases in court. She didn't have any witnesses to depose or track down. She had to finish up her paperwork on the Matheson case but that wouldn't take longer than five minutes. So, she was glad that Garrett called saying that her father would be there to see her. She wondered what he wanted to talk about, because, to her knowledge, neither Danny nor Jamie had gotten themselves into any legal trouble. She was always worrying about Danny because his hot temper could get him into a lot of trouble. Jamie was a much more patient person but she still worried about him because he was her baby brother. And even though he's gone, she still worries about her younger brother, Joe. He was the closest to Erin. He was her soul mate because they just got each other. Yes, Jack had been her husband, but even he knew that the bond between Erin and Joe was special. He never once tried to change that. She is taken out of her daydream by her father knocking on her door. "Come in, Dad," Erin responds before standing up from her desk. As the door opens, her father isn't the person on the other side of the door. Erin sees the one person that she had just been thinking about. "Hey, sis," Joe smiles and opens his arms to her. Erin stops and stares at him, screaming, "Oh my God! J-J-Joey…is that you?" He walks up to her and whispers in her ear, "Yes, Erin. Andrea would be proud of you." She breaks down crying, realizing that the only other person in her family that knew that about her was Joe. "Welcome home, my loving brother." Frank is watching the siblings interact. He was so happy that his son was home. Frank doesn't want to end the happy reunion but there are other people who need to be told. As Frank is thinking about this, Erin asks, "Who else have you told?" Joe responds, "Just you and Dad. I was planning on telling Danny, Linda and the boys next or is Nicky around?" Erin answers, "Nicky is with her dad visiting NYU today, but we are all having dinner together to discuss how it went." Joe asks, "Does she still want to be a cop?" Erin sighs, "Yes, she wants to be the first female Reagan to be a cop." Frank grimaces, "We still haven't had any luck changing her mind." All of the sudden, there is a knock at the door and Nicky and Jack walk in. Nicky stops short, "Hey Grand… (She sees Joe.) Uncle Joe?" Nicky starts crying and runs over to Joe. Erin walks around her desk and into Jack's arms, crying. Jack is trying to process everything but he can't. He turns to Erin and asks, "Is it really him, Erin?" She nods into his chest and she whispers, "He knew about Andrea." Jack lets a tear fall as he shakes Joe's hand. Erin and Nicky are still crying when Frank looks at Erin. "I will tell you later, Dad," she tells him. Frank leaves it alone for now. "Well, since Nicky and Jack are here, I can go find Danny," Joe says. Frank calls Lt. Carver and gets Danny's location. He and Baez are sitting in a café near St. Victor's where Linda is working. Frank tells Danny to get Linda because they need to talk. Thirty minutes later, Frank, Erin, Nicky, and Jack walk into the café, with Joe behind them all, and find Danny, Linda and Maria sitting in the back at a big table. Danny sees them all and stands up. "What's up, Dad?" Linda and Maria look at Frank as well. Erin and Jack move to reveal Joe. Linda and Maria gasp. Danny stares at Joe for a minute before it registers. "What is the nickname I gave you in when you were in 5th grade?" Danny asked, skeptically. "Twinkle-toes. I had started dancing because it helped me get in shape for football and soccer." Joe responded immediately. Danny waited for Nicky to get out of the way before he tackled his brother. "What the hell..?" Maria asks. Joe hears her voice break. He remembers right before he left, they had been dating for six months. He never told her anything. He looks over Danny's shoulder and sees Linda hugging Maria. After Danny releases him, he hugs Linda and finally walks over to Maria, and gets down on one knee. Erin, Nicky and Linda gasp. Maria starts crying even harder. "Mariana Rosalyn Baez-Torero, will you marry me?" Joe asks, as he pulls this gorgeous princess-cut diamond ring out of his pocket. She stares at the ring for a minute before she nods her head ever so slightly. "Yes, Joseph Conor Reagan, I will marry you!" He stands up, puts the ring on her finger and they kiss, while the whole café goes crazy around them. Frank shakes Joe's hand before pulling Maria in for a hug. Erin and Linda hug Joe so tight that he can barely breathe, while Danny and Jack are hugging Maria. Danny says, "Congratulations, partner." Joe hears this and turns around, saying, "What? You, two, are partners? (They nod.) I'm sorry, 'Ria. I hope he doesn't give you too much crap." "Joe, it's nothing that I can't handle. Besides, I'm marrying you, aren't I?" Maria pipes back. The others are saying things like, "Ouch" and "Burn" and high-fiving Maria and wishing her luck. After everything has settled down, Henry is calling Frank. "Yeah, Pop?" Frank asks. "Do you want to tell me why everyone is gathered at this café and no one thought to turn around and include me?" Henry spoke into the phone. Frank turns around and scans the crowd until he sees his dad. Frank and Joe walk over to him. "Hi, Grandpa," Joe almost whispers to Henry. As Henry is looking at Frank, he is hugging Joe, saying, "Welcome home Joe." Frank looks at Henry with a look of disbelief, "Pop, did you know?" Henry shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I had my suspicions. I may be old but I know when something shady is going on." Everyone is looking at Frank, waiting for him to mention the last person that needs to be told. Danny finally says, "I think it's high time that we find Harvard and let him know. He's gonna freak out." Joe and Erin nod their heads in agreement. Erin says, "I was supposed to meet him for lunch in front of the courthouse in 20 minutes so we should get going." They all leave the café and head to the courthouse. When they get there, Jamie and Eddie are arguing about something. Eddie, suddenly, stops talking and puts her hands on her mouth. Jamie asks her, "Eddie, what's wrong?" She doesn't answer, but everyone is coming up behind him. Joe sneaks up behind him, saying, "I hope nothing's wrong with my baby brother." Jamie stops and spins around, shocked into silence. Looking a little bit closer, Joe sees tears forming in his eyes. Joe pulls Jamie into a fierce hug that has been a long time coming. Erin and Danny join in for a Reagan sibling moment. Frank has Linda take a picture of them. After a few minutes, all of the Reagan children are crying softly into each other's arms. The others are starting to tear up as well. Frank pulls Linda to his side while Henry watches as Eddie and Maria are wiping their tears away. As the Reagan siblings pull away, Joe hugs Maria and extends his hand to Eddie. "You probably have heard a lot about me. I am Joseph Reagan. Nice to meet you, Officer Janko," Joe says, earning weird looks from Jamie and Eddie. Joe continues on, saying, "Erin told me your name." Eddie says, "Nice to meet you, Joe. Jamie has told me some things about you. You are a great cop and welcome back and congratulations." Jamie asks, "What is the congratulations for?" "I asked Maria to marry me. She said yes," Joe said as Maria puts her hand out to Jamie and Eddie. "Congratulations, big brother," Jamie adds. After everything dies down, Frank invites everyone, including Eddie and Maria to the Reagan home for dinner. They all go their separate ways, with Joe going to the 12th to surprise Renzulli. As soon as Jamie, Eddie and Joe walked in the door, everyone stopped and stared. No one could believe what they were seeing. Officer Reynolds walked up to Joe and asked, "Joe Reagan? Is that you?" Joe nodded to Reynolds and shook his hand, saying, "In the flesh. I know that I have been playing dead for the last 7 years but it was for the good of the department and my family." Renzulli heard the exchange and stopped in his doorway, "What the hell is going on here? Do my eyes deceive me or is Joseph Reagan back at the 12th?" Joe walked up to Renzulli and shook his hand, saying, "I know, Chief. I'm back and here to stay." As Joe walked into Renzulli's office, Jamie and Eddie sit down at their desks. "Eddie, I can't believe this! My prayers have been answered," Jamie says. Eddie looks at Jamie and replies, "Jamie, you realize that one of you is going to be transferred out right?" Jamie looked at Renzulli and back at Eddie. He said, "The only way that will work is if Joe doesn't get promoted. He was set to be up for detective before he 'died.' Renzulli was pissed when they told him Joe had died." After Renzulli got his licks in about his favorite cop being gone, he sent a promotion up the chain and got Joe a detective shield. "You deserve it, Joe. You were my best cop and even though you were working for the feds, you're still one of my best," Renzulli remarked. Joe responded, "One of your best?" Renzulli pointed out to Jamie and Eddie, "They have been working here for 2 years together and they have already changed the department for the better. You remember Cara Walsh? She testified against Cutter because he was being a jerk and got into some trouble. Everyone thought she was a snitch. Not Jamie. He rode with her for a few tours and got Reynolds back on track after he failed to respond. Your brother is a damn good cop. We may even see him as a future PC." Joe turned back to Renzulli, "No way. Jamie doesn't want that life. He wants to make his mark on the streets of New York like Danny and me. We are hard-headed and stubborn, but we get the job done right. If we cross a few lines to save a life, we had a good day. We also don't expect special treatment just because our father is at 1PP." Renzulli looks at Joe then to Jamie, saying, "I want to promote him already but I can't because he has to have at least one more partner to be considered a full cop." Joe cocked his head to the side, "When do you suppose that will happen?" Renzulli replied, "When those two come to me and say they're dating, which should be any day now." Joe and Renzulli watched Jamie and Eddie interact for a while before Joe decided to head up to level 6 of the building to meet his new team and to begin his life again.
THE END!