Reyan Jones wakes from another restless sleep in another stiff hospital chair. She groans as she sits up, blinking the remnants of sleep from her eyes. Her gaze lands first on Eddie - still silent and unconscious in her bed - then on the shadow that looms from the doorway. The shadow, it turns out, is attached to a rather tall man with a badge on his hip. He leans casually on the door frame; watching, waiting. He looks familiar somehow, but Reyan can't quite put a name to the face.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," the nameless man laughs, pushing himself off the door frame and into the room.
"And who might you be?" Reyan asks defensively, confusion evident on her face as she continues to search for a reason for this man's familiarity.
"Detective Daniel Reagan, out of the 5-4. This-" he gestures widely toward Eddie, "is my case."
"Danny?" she says in her tired voice.
"That's what they call me," he says, "That or 'You bastard, I'll kill you.' It really depends on how well you know me, y'know."
"I'm Reyan Jones, FBI, out of California. Rey if you want. And you... you are absolutely nothing like Jamie."
"Jamie? Where is that kid anyways? I figured he wouldn't've left her side."
"I... I don't think he really wanted to. But he, uh, he blames himself for all of this happening apparently, and he sort of ran off shortly after we got to see her. I haven't seen him since."
"The kid has some guilt issues. He's really not working on it. I'm sure he's here somewhere though. He wouldn't really leave his beloved partner," Danny smirked.
Rey smiles, "Oh, you wouldn't believe all the stories I've heard from Eddie about the two of them. I imagine the versions I hear are far more detailed than yours. Sometimes she says things that make me wish I could fly all the way out here in the middle of the night just so I could shake her and ask her what the hell she thinks she's doing."
"I swear, those two are the worst kept secret in NYPD history. And the only people who are oblivious to it are them. We've got a pool going, y'know? Over when they'll finally get together. Half the department's probably in on it by now, including some of my dad's people," he shakes his head, laughing.
"You think I could place my bet?"
"Sure, kid. I've gotta change mine since all this happened anyway. What you got?"
"Fifty bucks says they're together - officially - within two weeks of Eddie getting out of here."
"Oh, we'll have to see about that, Jones. I've got fifty for within a week of this date. My partner, Baez's got thirty if it's by Valentine's day."
"Maybe we should consult the man himself..."
"Jamie? Nah, he keeps his mouth shut. Unless it's one of us Reagans askin', then he just gets pissed off."
"Well if you can find him, you ask him for me, yeah? I've got a few phones calls I should have made by now," Reyan says with a glance at her watch. She walks out of the room, dialing as she does, leaving Danny and Eddie with only the noise of the machines for company.
Danny stood uncomfortably next to Eddie's bed for a few moments more, then sighed and turned to walk out of the room. It was far past time to figure out where Jamie'd disappeared to. He passed Rey on his way down the hall. She was still on the phone, but raised one eyebrow at him questioningly as he passed by.
"Jamie," he mouthed to her. She nodded, gave him a thumbs up, and returned her full attention to her call. he returned the gesture with a slight smile that looked more like a grimace. This was gonna be fun.
His first stop was the hospital cafeteria, thinking that maybe Jamie had eventually gotten hungry in the hours he'd been MIA. That was a bust. The cafe was full of doctors and seemingly unworried visitors. No sign of Jamie.
Next stop, the small courtyard outside. Open air, and plenty of quiet for thinking. No one would disturb you there - unless, of course, you happened to be Jamie Reagan. Much to Danny's disappointment, not a single person was to be found in the courtyard, least of all Jamie.
Danny stopped in the center of the open space, scanning it one final time. Here it was silent, undisturbed by the constant movement and nervous energy of the hospital. Why wouldn't Jamie have retreated here? He groaned inwardly. Sometimes he thought the kid was more trouble than he was worth. Now was a prime example of that feeling.
As he began his defeated walk back to the ICU, a small sign on the path caught his eye.
'Chapel,' the sign read, with a small arrow pointing him to the left of the fork in the path.
Of course, he thought.
The path led him right to the small chapel, it's main entrance disconnected from the hospital itself. Danny had been in here what felt like a thousand times. How could he have forgotten? He pushed open the door, and stepped quietly inside.
He walked down the center aisle as quietly as he could, glancing into every pew. He found what he was looking for in the sixth pew on the right. There in the half light was his littlest brother, curled up and fast asleep on the wooden bench. It was a sight, really.
"Jamie..." Danny said, sitting down next to his feet. "Hey, kid, wake up," he shook him gently.
"Hmmm?" Jamie murmured, stirring.
"Time to get up, genius. Its almost three in the afternoon."
"What?" Jamie asks, sitting up slowly. His movements are stiff after the nap on his makeshift wooden bed. "I was just lyin' down for a second..."
"Couple hundred seconds, more like," Danny laughs. "What'd you think you were doing running off out here like that, anyways? I think you mighta scared Eddie's little friend with that trick."
"I dunno, Danny. I just couldn't do it anymore. Couldn't be in there. Not knowing that I was right there with her and I didn't see anything wrong; didn't do anything to protect her."
"Kid, I honestly don't think you could have done a thing if you tried. Neither one of you saw it comin', she wasn't wearing a vest. She's just lucky you were there at all. You probably saved her life, Jamie. You understand that?"
"She shouldn't have gotten shot in the first place! Being a cop doesn't mean risking your life every second of every day. It doesn't mean spending your entire life watching the shadows, looking around every corner, protecting yourself from something that may or may not exist. We shouldn't have to consider our own safety a luxury. But we do. I do. Eddie probably will for the rest of her life."
"If Eddie hadn't been a cop she might've still ended up here. Except in that universe, you weren't right there with her. In another universe, she's lying in the morgue right now instead of a bed in the ICU, alive. Which do you prefer?"
"Why would she have still gotten shot?" Jamie pauses, searching his brother's face. It's not necessarily an odd thing to say, but something feels off in the way he said it.
"Jamie... Baez and I have been able to do a little searching for possible suspects of what little information we have. So far, our suspect pool comes from two areas. First, we have to consider that that Serbian trafficking ring has resurfaced and come after her. But we also think that this could have something to do with her father's business dealings."
"Great!" Jamie exclaims, "You want to tell me that some guy was hurt by Armin Janko and his excuse for a Pozi scheme, so years later he tries takin' it out on the guy's only kid. What a brilliant idea!"
"With Armin in jail, Eddie may be the first available target for our guy. She's been in the papers 'cause of the job; it'd be pretty easy to put the name to the crime. Our guy figures this out, goes after our girl. From what we know, Eddie's mom, Iskra, moved herself back to the suburbs after the trial and doesn't have much to do with either Armin or Eddie. We think she's safe. But Jamie, right now we think that this angle is the most likely explanation for everything."
"This is crazy... Absolutely crazy, you know that?" Jamie asks, shaking his head. Its a lot to take in all at once.
"I know, kid. Believe me, I know."
AN: This is the longest chapter I've written yet, so here's to that! Uploads for this story might continue to get more spaced out as I get back into school, and as I figure out how to write all of this. Right here is where I stopped my planning of what to write. That's a mistake I'll probably regret later.
As always, reviews are appreciated. I'll see you next time. Until then, -whenthedark