So I'm sorry this took a while, I had to rewrite the first part quite a few times. I know some of you have been asking for some romance so I hope this satisfies you. Also for those of you that were asking about Anna and Jamie you'll get that in this chapter too.

Thank you to YaleAceBella12, decadenceofmysoul, LucifersAlleyCat, Keli0596, seleneplaysgames, Daisyangel, and the guests jordyn anderson, snowflake18540, Code, and Coco for all your reviews on the last chapter. I get what you mean about Jamie and Anna not seeming close but things happen when you go to college that you can't seem to prevent. I do have a plan, I promise and Jamie is still important to it. Also, Anna's mystery guy is not Thomas Wilder.

Makes a slight reference to season 1x8 in what Jamie said about Nicky wanting to be a cop. If you really want to know you can read it in chapter 7 of this story.

A few days after that phone call with her mom, as she continued to work and focus on the end of year exams, Anna saw that guy again. Brooke pointed him out to her. "Isn't that your mystery boy?" she asked.

Anna looked around and saw him. Sure enough, sitting at his usual table in her section looking over the menu, was that college boy. She looked at him carefully. He was definitely handsome and he seemed nice enough, "That's him. He's really cute, isn't he?" Anna answered.

"He is but like I said be careful. It could be very bad for you."

"I got it." Anna crossed the room to him. "Hey, what can I get for you?" He put in his order and when she brought it out to him he smiled up at her. "I'm Anna."

"I know. I'm Ed."

"Your day better than last time?"

"So for so good. I can't thank you enough for being so kind to me. It was a rough week and that smile really picked me up. You're always a godsend when I'm in here."

"I'm glad and I do my best. My boss believes that everyone who steps in here should feel like family or at home. It's a good way to serve people." He smiled up at her and she melted a bit. "Well, I'll leave you to your dinner. Let me know if you need anything."

"Will do."

Anna left him to his dinner and went to help some of the other patrons. When she came back to his table he was nearly finished with still more than half a glass of soda. "How's it going over here?" she asked.

"Good, if I could just get the check."

"Absolutely." Anna set the check on the table and smiled. "I'll be back in a minute." She checked on a few other customers then walked back over to Ed. "Can I get anything out of your way?"

"I want to ask you something, and please don't take this the wrong way," he said, motioning to the bench across from him. She took a seat.

"Okay."

"I've been coming in here trying to work up my courage. I want to get to know you better so I was hoping you'd go to dinner with me on Friday night," Ed said.

"I don't think dating customers is a good idea."

"Not a date, just getting to know each other."

"Isn't that what dating is? Getting to know each other and exploring what feelings may be there?"

"If it goes wrong, I promise you won't see me again."

Anna looked across the room at Becky who smiled and nodded. "Okay. But, why don't you pick me up here around 5:30 Sunday night?"

"You mean instead of at your place?"

"One can never be too careful."

"Okay. I'll see you here." Ed stood and left. Anna also stood and picked up the check which had his payment and tip but this time the receipt had his number on it. Anna smiled and went over to Becky.

"Well?"

"He asked me out. Sunday night. We're going to meet here and get dinner."

"You worried about him?"

"I worry about giving my address out to anyone I don't know," Anna said.

"Makes sense."

Sunday night, Ed showed up to the diner and found Anna waiting for him. She decided to dress semi-casually but decently enough if he decided to go somewhere upscale. He took her out to Miami Beach and a restaurant near the beach. They spent the dinner talking about their lives, or what they did for a living, schooling, and their favorites. She found out he was indeed a student at the University of Miami but he was a senior, two years older than her. He worked for a company on Miami Beach, a bartender, and he was a big sports fan but mostly basketball and hockey.

After dinner, they went walking down the beach arm in arm with Anna's heels in her free hand.

"Are you really studying Criminal Justice?" Ed asked.

"A couple classes this summer. I heard it's interesting and growing up with a Marine I wondered about it," Anna said.

"I see, but other than that, business? Accounting?"

"Business. One day, maybe, having my own and this is as good a place as any to start."

"Have you thought about what kind of business?"

"No, but I'm sure it will come to me. What about you? You're closer to graduating than I am."

"I have a business in making people happy. So far, I don't see myself doing anything different."

"I can understand that." They walked in silence for a few more minutes. "This looks like the end of the beach and it's getting late," she reluctantly said.

"As much as I don't want this night to end, it's best if it does," Ed agreed.

They walked back to his car and he took her back to the diner, where her car was parked. While it was true that she only lived on campus and it was more than safe, she was really protective of her safe space. It something about being a cop's daughter. After he drove off, she climbed into her car and went back to the dorms.

The following day, she drove down to the casino near the airport and talked her way into a poker game. She was getting ready for her third game when a man sat down next to her. "Come here often?" he asked as the dealer dealt the cards.

"Not so much. You come to the same casino too often, you get the same players and they learn your tells."

"The same is also true the other way around, you learn to read them."

"Maybe," Anna said. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. It was the lawyer she had seen there a few times. "Hello, Mr. Warsaw."

"Ms. Anna. Staying out of trouble?"

"As much as possible."

"The way you said that tells me that you're not very good at staying out of trouble."

"My mama always says if it wasn't for the Reagan Luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. I'm in," she answered, tossing more chips in the pot. Game play went on and she watched him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed like a decent dude, especially for being a defense lawyer with what she figured was at least 10 year on the job, but there was something she just couldn't figure out about him. She wasn't sure what it was but she figured it would come to her or she'd just put it out of her mind until she ran into him again. Right now, she had to put it out of her mind to win the game, which is exactly what happened. She walked away that afternoon with over $300 and an invite to a bigger game later. One she wasn't sure she should attend. As she walked out of the casino, Oscar caught up to her.

"Anna, hey. Wait up a sec," he called.

Anna watched him carefully. "What can I do for you, Mr. Warsaw?" Anna asked.

"I am not trying to butt into your life or come off like some kind of creepy stalker. I like talking to you and I think getting to know you could be good for both of us."

"Because I come off as some kind of kid needing a dad?"

"No. Like I said, I like talking to you and it could be beneficial for you to have a high powered lawyer on call."

"A defense lawyer."

"If you don't want to that's fine. I'll stick with getting to know you when I see you at poker games. Like perhaps the game in two days where the stakes are higher than normal."

Anna watched him carefully. Sure, it would be weird for her to have drinks or dinner with someone her father's age, but like he said it could be useful for her to have a lawyer on call, especially one who had knowledge of Florida law. She also knew what her Uncle Joe would have said. Trust people, it makes things work out for the best. It never hurts to see what people want and though it's good to be skeptical, you also need friends. So she shrugged. "Ok, I hear this casino's got a bar."

"You're not old enough to drink."

"They sell soda water and regular soda."

They walked back in the casino and took seats at the bar. "So tell me a little about your family," Oscar said. They talked for the next hour or so getting to know each other. When Anna walked out of that casino, the sun was going down and though she was still suspicious of the lawyer, she was grateful to have met him.

Ed brought her flowers before every date they went on over the next two weeks which included to the movies, to dinners, a picnic in the nearby park, and even to a fishing hole. She was really surprised when on that fishing date, they sat in silence for a decent amount of the time.

"You know, I'm surprised at you. I would have thought you'd go the route of most city boys when they go fishing. Use it as an excuse to get the girl in their arms."

"You already know how to fish and I'm sure if I suggested helping you, I'd have soured the mood. If I really wanted to get you in my arms, I'd borrow my friend's pick up and take you stargazing."

"I wouldn't say no to that." He smiled as though considering the idea.

Sure enough, a few days later, he took her on a romantic, candle-lit dinner then through the woods to a clearing to watch the sunset and stargaze for a couple of hours.

"I'm telling you, Nick," she said on the phone later that night, "it was the most romantic date I've been on. Probably ever."

"I'm glad you're happy."

"Should I be a little suspicious of him?"

"Why? ls he too perfect?

"I'm starting to think so. I've known him for three weeks, been on several dates, and I haven't seen any flaws. Guy that hot, that perfect, has to be hiding something."

"Now you're starting to sound like Uncle Danny. Some people really are that great."

"Expect the best, look for the worst."

"That's always terrible, Anna, but if you have to protect your heart, ok. Still, give him a chance to prove you wrong through."

"Let's hope he does." To be sure, after Anna hung up she called her uncle Jamie. "Hey, you got time to talk?" she asked.

"Always for you," Jamie said.

"Not always, sometimes you're on the job and you don't have the time though you wish you did."

"Okay, but really, I was just watching basketball, so what's up?"

"I just got back from one of the most romantic dates I have ever been on. He picked me up from the diner in his friend's pick up. He took me to this little place for a candle-lit dinner where the music was soft and sweet and they had the most amazing spaghetti. After dinner, we drove through the woods to this little overlook. We spent a few hours talking and stargazing in the bed of the truck. It's everything that you read about in those stupid romance novels that my mom and Nicky like to read. It felt so romantic," Anna said.

"And now your little mind is spinning like your dad's would."

"Can you blame me?"

"No, but perhaps you should enjoy it while it lasts."

"What if I'm wrong? What if he's a really good guy and I chase him away?"

Jamie went silent on the other end of the phone. She wondered what he was thinking. "Then he's not right for you."

"What are you saying?" Anna asked.

"I think you should let this guy in, a little bit, if you choose to. However, there is nothing wrong with questioning his motives. It's scary when you first start dating someone. Especially if you don't know the lay of the land very well and you're the daughter of a cop. Take your time, you don't have to rush anything, not with anyone. What's that saying? Trust but verify?"

"So trust him a little?"

"Your dad would say give a man enough rope to either hang himself or save himself."

"But you still have to give him the rope. I guess that describes all my interactions at this point."

"With this guy?"

"His name's Ed, but no. I've been playing some poker occasionally and met this lawyer. Oscar. He seems like a decent guy and everything but he is a defense lawyer."

"If I remember correctly, you have a way with defense lawyers."

"Jack is my uncle, it's easy when he's built-in to care but this guy ... I don't know, it just seems odd. Then there's the cop."

"Of course you'd meet a cop."

"Mike Johansen. He reminds me of Dad. Caring, passionate about his job, and really protective of those he cares about," Anna told him.

"I feel like telling you to be careful is really redundant."

"I know that bonding with older men is dangerous, especially when they could turn out to be very bad guys. I just ... I think sometimes I have to learn to trust a few more people and sometimes its good to have people you can trust when your family is so far away. Even if they're older men."

"As your family, we worry about you. As a cop, I see the value in having a cop and a lawyer as friends. Most importantly, as a person who has spent a lot of time away from home in college, enjoy your time but never forget where you come from. And, Anna, I know you're smart but playing poker can get you in a lot of trouble and I don't want to see that for you."

"I don't play often and when I do it's completely legal in a poker room, I promise. Besides it's not the kind where I can lose real money and there's something else I can do if I need that kind of rush."

"What else is there?"

"I—" Anna stopped. She didn't want to talk about that so she changed the subject. "I don't want to offend you but I've had this question for years. Why did you become a cop?"

"It wasn't just because Joe died. We talked about me becoming a cop before he died. After I graduated college, when I was interning at a law firm, I didn't feel like I was doing enough to help people. Now that I've been on the job for five years, it kinda feels like this is where I'm meant to be. On the front lines, working directly with the public. And all the cool stories I get to tell."

"That's just a bonus though."

"Anna," he said softly. He wasn't going to push her but he was sure she'd be willing to open up to him the most. "How are things down there?"

"Everything's good, Uncle Jamie. I like college, enough. I have a good job. I'll be taking summer classes and ..." Anna stopped. She crossed her dorm room and stared at the picture of them on the day he graduated the police academy from five years ago. "Uncle Jamie, if I told you something, would you not tell anyone?"

"You can tell me anything. You know that."

"Even if you're disappointed in me and think I'm making a big mistake, will you please not turn this into a fight and make me doubt myself?"

Jamie realized this must be something huge so he had to sooth her fears in order to get her to go on and let him judge how he was going to react. "I will listen to anything you have to say. I will do my best to make you never doubt yourself, and I will make sure if I have any doubts about what you're doing, I'll try to put it in a way that you bring them up and you make a decision that helps you."

"I—Ok." Anna swallowed. While this may not be the hardest thing she had ever done, facing her uncle's death and making a statement against that sub in high school definitely topped the list, this was definitely high up there. "I applied for the Miami PD academy."

Jamie was silent for the longest time on the other end. So long in fact Anna pulled the phone away from her ear to make sure they hadn't lost connection. When she saw the time still ticking up, she put the phone back to her ear to wait for his response. Jamie wasn't sure what to say to his niece. Sure, he could tell her everything he had said to Nicky when she mentioned she wanted to be a cop all those years ago, but he was sure that she wouldn't take that very well.

"You don't have to say anything, just don't tell the family," Anna said eventually.

"No, I want to say something. To you, not your dad. Of all my nieces and nephews, I think you would be the best suited to be a cop. I have no doubt the rest could do it if they put their mind to it but you'd be the best at it."

"So you think I can do this?"

"I think you're going to try no matter what I tell you. So good luck."

"You're really not going to question me? Ask me, "what are you thinking? You're only 19, you don't need to spend the next six to eight months training to get shot at on the job." You're not going to tell me I'm making the biggest mistake of my life?"

"I don't think it's a mistake. I hear the same passion and fire in your voice that I heard in my own when I defended my decision to Joe. You want to do this. You think you can do this. And you have to try to do this. Do I wish you would slow down and talk this over with your dad and your grandpa first? Absolutely, but I think no matter how many conversations you have about this job, you are going to go for it. So I'll withhold my skepticism and doubts and tell you good luck. I am always here if you have questions or need someone to talk to."

"Thanks, Uncle Jamie."

"Anytime, Anna."

I have this memory of Jamie saying he had spoken with Joe about wanting to join the NYPD. I don't know if it's actually cannon from an episode or if it just stands out from a story I read. It's probably the latter but I don't know. I do know that several people have asked Jamie why he became a cop especially after losing Joe and he mentions a few of the things he said above.