A/N the words in bold are from the episode, and thanks to everyone for their reviews! They help me continue writing this and getting through my writers block! *hugs to everyone who has reviewed*
Danny was sat on the sofa in his living room with his head in his hands, well that Sunday's dinner hadn't exactly gone well.
"What did you say?" Danny said glaring across the table at Jamie,
"You heard me" replied Jamie, his own stare at Danny unwavering,
"No I didn't say it again"
"Jamie he's just trying to get a rise out of you" Sydney said just trying to diffuse the tension that had risen, Linda sent her a grateful look, Linda didn't want the boys to see their dad and uncle fighting.
"Yeah well he got one" Jamie said slightly calmer, but his voice still held annoyance.
"Listen to your girlfriend Jamie, take it easy" Danny said, Danny was now kicking himself for having to put his foot in it again, just when things were calming down.
"Yeah I will Danny when you get off my back ok?" Jamie said almost desperate, he wanted Danny to see that he was capable of looking after himself,
"I'm not on your back" Danny said annoyed,
"You've been riding me since I got out of Academy"
"You know when I start riding you you'll know about it"
"I'm sick of this" huffed Jamie as he stood up and began to leave the table,
"Where you going? Sit down"
"You wanna talk about it I'll be outside Danny"
"Sit down Harvard"
"I'll be outside Danny" Jamie hated it when Danny used that nickname and stormed out of the house,
"I'll go talk to him" sighed Danny,
"No I'll talk to him" Frank said firmly, this was one occasion when he really missed Joe, Joe would have been able to calm them down and the family could have continued the dinner in peace.
Despite his grandfather's looks Danny got up and followed Jamie and Frank, Danny stayed just inside the doorway when he heard his father and Jamie talking.
Danny's heart plummeted when he heard Jamie say, "I'm sorry, but its rookie this and rookie that I mean I can't do anything right anymore! He's-"
"I think he's desperate to teach you everything he knows" Frank said, and Danny smiled because he wasn't surprised his father had got right to the truth, it was what Danny was trying to do, in a round about way.
"By tearing me down every chance that he gets?" Danny's smile then disappeared, Jamie sounded desperate and upset, but there was a strain in his voice suggesting that he was trying to keep his emotions in check.
"That's your brother, if he's tough on you it means he wants to make you bulletproof" again Frank stated the truth,
"I give directions to tourists in Times Square; it's not exactly Fort Apache in the 70's" Danny closed his eyes and sighed, that's exactly the same attitude he had when he first started as a rookie on the beat, and look what happened there, he lost count the number of times trouble arose while he was walking a beat, that was why he was hard on Jamie. He wanted to drum into his younger brother that when you wear the uniform, you aren't always safe, whether you're giving directions or busting down a suspect's door.
"Every tour you work, do this job like there's trouble around every corner, because one day there will be." Danny walked away back to the table, he would try and back off from Jamie, because Danny put himself in Jamie's shoes and knew it couldn't be easy for the youngest Reagan with their family's legacy and the fact that Danny was pushing him to get better, without making his intentions clear. As Danny walked away he missed the last thing Frank said which summed up why Danny was pushing Jamie, "Danny couldn't handle losing another brother".
So Danny was sat at home wondering what he was going to do, because talking about feelings was never his kind of thing, he relied on reading people's body language and that was how he had always communicated with his siblings. The proof of this was shown by the way he and Jamie made up after their fight, they sat next to each other in the court room watching Erin and just looked at each other and nodded. This was how they always made up and Danny told Linda this after coming home and telling her not to worry about him and Jamie, they had made up and Linda turned around and said "for how long Danny?"
Danny was stumped, he wasn't prepared for that question, he just figured that he and Jamie would always argue and make up and that was fine, as that was what they had always done. Linda put a spanner in the works for that theory to.
"Yes Danny, I know that is what happened while you both were growing up, but Danny, that was one of your worst fights over something as trivial as that, what if each time you fight and it gets worse, will you put your pride aside to talk to Jamie, or just for the sake of your pride will you let your relationship with Jamie slide? What's more important Danny? Your pride or your brother"
So Danny was considering Linda's words, of course Jamie was more important than his pride, no doubt, but was Danny showing this to Jamie? Probably not. So sat on his sofa at ten o'clock at night Danny resolved to try and patch things up with Jamie, because he didn't want to lose Jamie just because of his pride.