(A/N: Waiting for the new episode and some inspiration. Reviews and ideas are more than welcome!)
Danny and Baez didn't get anything to go with, so they left the hospital empty-handed. Shortly after they were back at their desks, trying to connect the dots in Duncan Miller's past. Maybe they could find an old place he would still visit. At the same time, they were casing his known associates and friends that might know where he could be.
"You got anything, Baez?" Danny asked his partner, without looking up from the files he was reading. She hummed slightly and shook her head.
"Nothing, yet," she said, deeply concentrated on the computer screen in front of her.
"How hard can it be to find a giant in New York?" Danny asked rhetorically. Duncan Miller's height was unavoidable, he was even a bit taller than the commissioner, he thought.
"Wait, I might have something. Come look at this," Baez said and read the passage again to be sure. "It says here, that he's been in and out of jail, bunking with a bunch of different guys, one of them was a member of the Black Spades, from Greenpoint," she said, and made room for Danny to look at the screen. "Jim Parson, thirty-four, was released a month ago, maybe they were tight?" Baez asked, looking for a hint in Danny's face.
"The Black Spades hire giants for muscle," Danny said and walked back to his desk. "Let's go check out their known locations," Danny said and holstered his gun to his belt.
"Here," Jamie said and handed Eddie another cup of the terrible coffee and a sandwich from the canteen a few floors down. It was half past five in the morning, their 12-hour shift ended in half an hour. He was a little bit drowsy, and his head had started to pound away. He sunk down in the chair next to Eddie and she looked at him.
"How's your head?" she asked and took a bite of the sandwich. She knew him to well, Jamie thought and took a sip from his coffee.
"It's not too bad," he said, avoiding her glance and looking around instead. She didn't answer him.
"If it was bad, would tell me?" she asked and he looked at her for a second, not answering. "I could go get a doctor for you and get your head checked out again," she threatened between to bites. She was still surprising him with her appetite.
"I'm fine, Eddie," he said and yawned. "Just exhausted," he admitted and leaned his head back to the wall. Eddie looked at him for a while and then finished her sandwich.
"I'll drive you home, when we get out, then," she said and ended the conversation like that. She had that there-is-nothing-you-can-do-about-it-tone in her voice so he just went with it. He did have to walk a bit slow back from the canteen, not only because he had to balance two cups of coffee but also because his head was spinning a bit. He had felt fine until he started sitting still. A couple of cops from their precinct arrived at six to relieve them. Jamie and Eddie walked them through the night, even though they already knew, and soon after they were back in the car. They had gone to the hospital in Eddie's car, and now they were headed to Jamie's apartment.
"We're on duty again tonight," Eddie said as she parked at his building. Jamie had tilted his head back and closed his eyes, somewhere along the road.
"What?" he asked a bit slurred and looked around for a second. He glanced at the building next to him. He was home, he thought, and looked at Eddie again.
"You okay, Reagan?" she asked with concern in her face.
"Yeah, I'm just… tired," he said and opened the door and climbed out. He stood still for a second when everything around him moved a little. Eddie saw him wobble, still holding on the door and she exited as well.
"Just tired?" she said and walked around the car to help him. He squinted of the bright sunshine and closed the door he had hung on to.
"I'm fine, Eddie," he insisted and closed his eyes.
"Yeah, I'll bet you are," she said and placed his arm around her shoulders while trying to hold him upright with her arm around his waist. They staggered forward a step and Eddie sighed under his weight. "Jeez, Reagan, you weigh more than you look," she moaned as they reached the main entrance. She silently willed him to put some kind of effort in as they reached his floor.
"Thanks, Eddie," Jamie said and caught the keys in his pocket.
"Sure thing, Reagan," she said when he opened the door. "Let's get you inside," she said and a few seconds later she almost dropped and hurled him on his bed. That had gone from bad to worse in just the few minutes it took them to drive back here, she though as she sat down on the bed to catch her breath. "Sit tight, I'll get you some water," she said and patted him on his shin. She yawned when she walked to the kitchen. Linda had warned them about the possibility of a mild concussion and how it should be treated. Jamie had waved it aside with his usual 'I'm fine', so Linda had mostly talked to Eddie. It looked like she had half a day of looking out for Jamie in front of her. She carried a glass of water back to the bedroom and found Jamie already fast asleep. She put the glass on the bedside table and managed to get his jacket and shoes of. She pulled the curtains, closed the door and fell asleep on the couch with the alarm set for three hours.
Nothing had panned out for Danny and Baez and they both beaded home for a nap before they would start over. Danny parked outside Jamie's building to check up on him. He took the stairs in three steps at the time and opened the door without knocking. He used his own key to the door, and closed it behind him. He stopped for a second when he saw Eddie sprawled on the couch, under a blanket, snoring slightly. As if she sensed him, she opened her eyes and looked around until she realized where she was and her eyes fell on Danny.
"Detective," she said and stood up, realizing the awkwardness displayed in his face. Danny just raised a hand as to stop her
"I'm just checking up on my kid brother," he said and she relaxed a bit.
"He's been better, to be honest," she said and walked past him to the kitchen. "The hit must have been worse than he thought," she said when she grabbed a glass of water. Danny looked at Eddie and the way she looked like she belonged. Even Danny didn't know where to find the glasses. "I figured I could just stay on the couch and wake him up when it was time," she said and sipped the water.
"Thank you for looking after him, Janko," Danny said and trailed off to the bedroom. He opened the door a bit and saw his brother fully clothed on the covers, sleeping as if nothing could harm him.
"How's the case going?" Eddie asked quietly behind him as he closed the door again.
"Let's just say that you'll be the first to know, if we get anywhere," he sighed. He knew that not every case was a slick stream of leads, witnesses and confessions. Far from it, actually. He and Baez had worked the know locations for the Black Spades for hours, without seeing or talking to anybody he knew anything about Duncan Miller.
"We'll be back on the detail tonight," Eddie said, leaning on the side of the couch. "Hopefully, you'll have something by then," she continued and took a sip of the water. She was still tired, it was just past eight in the morning and Danny caught her glance at her watch.
"I'll get going, I need some sleep myself," he said and walked to the door. "You're a good partner, looking out for him, Janko. Tell my kid brother I stopped by and to call me later," he said and walked out the door. He closed it behind him, not moving for a second, thinking of Jamie and his partner. Someday, he thought, as he started down the stairs to his car. Danny smiled to himself, someday they had to realize how great they were for each other. He had never seen Jamie happier, than after a tour with Janko, he thought as he drove down the street in the rush hour morning traffic.
Eddie stared at the door for a couple of minutes, put the glass down on the table and fell back on the couch, legs up on the armrest. She fell asleep inside five minutes.
Later, her alarm buzzed her awake and she walked to the bedroom door, thinking about what Danny would have thought when he walked in. She just stayed in case his speech or memory got slurred and foggy. She knocked vaguely and opened it. Without turning on the lights, she walked in to the dark, searched for the bed and bended over Jamie's contours for a second.
"Jamie?" she asked carefully. No response. She put a hand on his shoulder, surprised at the heat she felt, and tucked it a bit. He must have slept uneasily, she thought. He groaned and rolled to the side. Eddie sat on the edge and yawned. As her eyes got used to the dark, she could sense the glass of water she had left earlier. Just for the fun of it, she dipped her finger in it and dripped it on Jamies face. He huffed, lifted his head and opened his eyes for a second.
"Eddie?" he sounded muffled and sleepy. "What's going on? Did I miss a tour?" he asked and sat up, confused at the situation. Clearly he wasn't as slurred as earlier.
"Easy there, tiger," Eddie said with care and a smile in her voice, gently pushing his shoulders back down. "You hit your head, remember? You have a mild concussion and I'm just checking up on you, all right?" Eddie explained. She was surprised when he said her name, he could see her just as much as she could see his face, which meant not at all. She felt his shoulder relax under her hand and he breathed out heavily.
"I guess… thanks, partner," he said and moved a hand to his sore head. Eddie reached for the glass of water and she found his hand in the dark.
"Here, drink some water," she said and let his fingers grab the glass. He swallowed half of the water and Eddie set the glass back at the table. He hold on to her hand for a second more than was necessary and Eddie gave his hand a squeeze before she let it go. "You should go back to sleep, I'll wake you up later," she said and looked back at the door.
"Are you staying here?" Jamie asked in the dark, a bit confused, and she turned to look at the outline of his face again.
"On the couch," she said and nodded. When he didn't respond right away, she stood up and moved to the door. She heard him move behind her.
"Eddie?" he said when she reached the door. She turned again, waiting for him to say something. "Will you stay here?" he asked, a bit hesitant. Eddie looked at him, thankful for the dark, and nodded. She closed the door and felt her way back to the bed, where Jamie had moved a bit to make room for her. She leaned back, made herself comfortable and looked into the dark at Jamie.
"How's your head?" she asked in the dark.
"Not bad… thank you for staying," he replied. And he didn't sound bad, she thought.
"Sure thing," she said and smiled to herself. "Get some sleep, now. I'll wake you later, just to be safe," she said and forced her eyes shut.
"Yes, ma'am," he whispered and chuckled. Eddie smiled and breathed out like Jamie and they fell asleep.
Danny was back at the 5-4, reading files and thinking about where to go. Baez was sitting in front of him, researching as well, when Danny's cell phone buzzed.
He answered and put the pen down. "Hey, Dad," he said, letting out an impatient breath.
"How's the case going?" Frank's deep voice filled the earpiece and was, as always, calming Danny's nerves.
"Not good, it's like he's disappeared from the face of the Earth," Danny admitted and looked at Baez for a second. "Maybe he'll get sloppy and make a mistake or maybe he'll even try again," he said. They had learned, that Miller had threatened Ms. Kramer a while back, if the police ever got involved.
"Okay… let me know, if you found anything, the mayor is pressing for progress," Frank said and breathed out. "How's Jamie?" he asked and Danny thought about his kid brother.
"I guess he's still sleeping. He hasn't called me yet. Janko stayed at his place, to keep an eye on his head," Danny said and looked at his watch. It was nearly three in the afternoon, he realized.
"She's good to him, I noticed," Frank commented. Danny smiled to himself.
"He's been happier, since they partnered up," Danny said, thinking about what had happened just before they had met. Losing a partner, like Jamie had, was hard, but Eddie had managed to get him out on the right side of that, he thought. She's one tough cookie, he recalled Linda saying.
Hours later Eddie woke up, she wondered for a second about where she was until she remembered. She looked to the side, couldn't see Jamie and couldn't hear his breathing either. She fell back against the pillows and sighed. The door to the bathroom opened, lights spilled out with a wave of steam and Jamie stood in the doorway with only a towel around his hips. Eddie's eyes blinked as they got used to the lights and when she realized what she was looking at, she looked away and sat up.
"I'm sorry if I woke you up," Jamie said, and closed the door, so the room went dark again, avoiding the awkward moment. He went to the dresser, to find fresh clothes in the dark.
"It's okay. I just woke up, anyway" she said and stood up, hastily retrieving to the door. When she closed the door behind her, she realized how long she had slept. It was almost half past three as she grabbed the glass and walked to the kitchen. She filled the glass and tried to straighten out the curls and folds on her grey shirt. No luck. She had to go home anyway, she thought and gulped down all the water before going to the couch, where she folded the blanket and collected her phone and purse. The door opened and she lifted her eyes to see Jamie, freshly shaved and damp hair.
"Are you leaving?" he asked, when he saw the purse in her hand.
"Yeah, how's your head? You look better than this morning," she said and he did. He'd got some color in his face again. He nodded and walked to the kitchen.
"It's good, I'm fine," he said. Did he have a slight trace of disappointment in his voice, Eddie wondered.
"I have to get going… You want me to pick you up on the way?" she asked and stopped at the door with a hand on the handle. Jamie looked at her for a second, and remembered where his car was.
"Yeah, that would be great," he said. Eddie turned and opened the door.
"Oh," she said and turned towards him again. "Your brother wants you to call him," she said, almost forgetting it in her haste.
"Danny? When did he call?" Jamie asked curiously. He hadn't noticed.
"He didn't… he stopped by to check on you this morning…" Eddie replied. Jamie couldn't stop thinking about how all his family now knew that Eddie had slept at his place. And they were all going to let him know they knew, next time they saw him. He sighed with a tiny smile on his face.
"Thanks for staying, Eddie," he said and caught her eyes. The glance between them said more than words could ever do. She nodded and left. Jamie found his phone in the jacket Eddie had pulled of him. Danny answered after the second ring.
"Hey, kid brother, how are you feeling?" Danny asked right away with a cheerful voice.
"Just a light headache," he answered and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I guess Janko took good care of you, then?" Jamie could almost hear the smirk on his brother's face.
"You wanted me to call you?" Jamie just said, ignoring his brother's question.
"Yeah, I just got a call from the hospital that Elizabeth Kramer is being discharges from the hospital. The officers, Mulholland and Perez, are taking her to a motel where she'll stay until this blows over. Also, I think Linda, Erin and Nicky wants to know when you're bringing that partner of yours home for a Sunday Dinner?" Jamie could literally hear the smile now and he couldn't stop smiling himself.
"Goodbye, Danny," he said, trying to speak clear and annoyed.
"I'll see you later, kid," Danny laughed and Jamie cut the connection.
(A/N: Stay tuned!)