Chapter 18

Danny juggled a large and heavy foil-wrapped bundle, a thick stack of napkins and a paper cup filled to the brim with the sickly-sweet coffee he loved so much as he made his way down the sidewalk to the squad car parked along Sixth Avenue. It had been several weeks since the Bitterman ordeal, since Santana and his crew had been taken down for the attempted murder of Mayor Carter Poole and two NYPD officers, just to mention a few of the long list of charges that were pending against them. Life had returned to normal, which for Danny Reagan meant pinning down a witness in one of his many major crimes cases on a chilly fall Saturday night with his partner at his side while trying to squeeze in a missed meal whenever time allowed. And lucky for them, that time was now.

Danny placed his cup on the hood of the car and quickly unwrapped the over-loaded gyro he'd just purchased from a food truck up the block, his mouth watering and his stomach rumbling as he peeled back the foil in anticipation of his first real meal of the day. He eagerly took his first bite out of the sandwich and closed his eyes in ecstasy as he savored his late night dinner. "Hmmm, so good. Wanna bite, Jack?" he offered around a mouthful of food, holding that sandwich out in her direction.

His partner stared back at him, a little afraid that she'd have to perform the Heimlich after he swallowed the massive quantity of food in his mouth. "No thanks, I'll just stick to my pretzel," Jackie said and leaned against the side of the squad car next to Danny, picking at her own meager dinner while she kept an eye on him for possible signs of distress. "You know you're gonna smell like onions the rest of the night, right?" she complained.

Danny swallowed uncomfortably and looked back at Jackie. "I'll eat a mint," he promised.

"You're gonna need more than one. Make sure you roll the windows down on the way back to the precinct too," Jackie ordered and smirked at the eye roll her partner gave her. "What time are we supposed to meet this guy again?"

"His boss said he starts work at ten," Danny replied as he pulled on one of the many napkins wedged under his coffee cup.

"He better have something good for us," Jackie said as she turned to reach for her own cup of coffee on top of the squad car.

"You don't like being out with me on a Saturday night, Jack?" Danny asked with feigned hurt.

Jackie smiled as she observed the pedestrians across the street and the small group of people forming a line at a theater's ticket window. "As charming as you are, no," she answered. "You're not exactly my type. Plus Linda would probably hunt me down if I tried something," she said with a grimace.

"True that," Danny replied, smirking momentarily as he thought of his beautiful wife. But he didn't waste any time diving back in for a bite larger than the last.

Jackie squinted at the crowd across the street, spotting a familiar face under the theater's bright lights. "Hey, isn't that one of the new rookies from the precinct?"

"Where?" Danny asked as he twirled around.

"The blonde across the street in front of the theater in the tan coat. Looks like she's waiting on someone. I can't remember her name...," Jackie said as she pointed her finger in the theater's direction and pursed her lips in contemplation. The blonde stood in front of the box office with her hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat while she scanned the people walking up and down the block.

Danny narrowed his eyes as he located the blonde in question, trying to get a good look at the woman from this distance. "She does look familiar," he said as he tried placing her. His eyes widened a second later when it hit him. "Oh, yeah. Hardly recognized her out of uniform and with her hair down - she cleans up nice," he commented. "Jamie knows her, actually. He says she's a friend," he advised as he turned back around to finish his dinner. "Her name's Eddie Janko," Danny mumbled with another mouthful of the gyro as he reached up to wipe away the sauce that was dribbling down his chin.

Jackie kept her eyes on the rookie. "Yeah? How does he know her?" she asked, curious as to what was new with her partner's brother.

Danny kept eating as he answered. "Helped her out...while she went through the academy...or something," he replied as he swallowed another bite of food. "I don't know, the kid keeps everything a secret," he shrugged and kept eating.

After a minute or so, Jackie grinned while her eyebrows arched up into her forehead at what she now spotted going on across the street. "Oh, yeah. I'd say he probably helped her out with more than just the academy," she snorted.

"Huh?" Danny grunted.

Jackie chuckled and motioned towards the theater again. "Isn't that your brother making out with her?" she asked.

Danny's head snapped up at his partner before he spun around for a look. "What!? Where!?" he barked.

"Take a look for yourself," Jackie told him. The grin remained on her face as she continued observing the couple.

The gyro was finally forgotten as Danny's hand dropped onto the hood of the car. His eyes scanned the foot traffic across the street, finally catching a glimpse of blonde hair again as the passing pedestrians cleared the sidewalk. Once everyone was out of the way, he saw that the blonde, Eddie, was in fact being given a very friendly greeting by his brother.

Whoa.

Danny watched, unable to pull his eyes away from the scene across the street. They were kissing, arms wrapped around each other, after which Jamie pulled away and said something that made her laugh. Eddie then grabbed a hold of his hand and led him over to the ticket line where they stood closely next to each other, arm in arm, chatting as they waited. Even from across the street, Danny saw something on Jamie's face that he hadn't seen in almost two years: happiness.

Jackie looked back at her partner, amused by the shock on his face. "You look surprised, Reagan," she stated.

Danny's eyes remained glued on the young pair. "I am," he confirmed.

"Well, they look good together. It's been a while for him, huh? Getting over Sydney and everything?" Jackie asked. She turned around and leaned casually against the side of the car to nibble on her pretzel.

"Yeah," he responded dumbly with a nod.

"You should be happy for him," she suggested.

Danny shrugged and shook his head. "I am, but like you said, it's just a surprise. Everyone's been trying to get him to date again. I kinda suspected she was more than a friend, but I had no idea he was actually dating anyone," he explained. Jamie was a serial monogamist by nature and Danny knew that what he was witnessing wouldn't be a casual fling for his bother, especially after all that he went through with Sydney. Danny was still facing the theater but went back to absentmindedly eating the rest of his dinner.

Jackie huffed out a short laugh. "Well, maybe he just needed to do it on his own terms. There's nothing worse than having your whole family involved in your love life. No offense, I'm sure you all mean well, but you Reagans are an intimidating bunch." Jackie took another glance at the couple over her shoulder. "Good for him."

"Yeah," Danny agreed. His shock then turned into a wide, toothy and devious smile.

Jackie eyed him suspiciously. "What's with the look, Dr. Evil?"

Danny wiggled his brows as he turned back around and went in for more food. "Dinner's going to be fun tomorrow," he declared.

Jackie shook her head and sighed. "Poor kid. I should have kept my mouth shut," she lamented.

Danny wrapped what little was left of the gyro in its wrapper. "Come on. Let's go find this joker," he said as he took one last peek at his little brother.

Danny followed Linda and the kids into the kitchen of his father's house and flung a bag of groceries carelessly onto the counter.

"Careful! There are eggs in there!" Linda admonished as she checked on the carton, rolling her eyes at her overly eager husband.

"Is the kid here?" Danny whispered instead of greeting his father, grandfather and sister who were already working hard on dinner. He stood at the kitchen island and looked behind him to peak into the sunroom and then turned to glance into the dining room in search of Jamie.

"No," Henry whispered back and looked up from the pot he was stirring to glance curiously at his oldest grandson.

"Good," Danny proclaimed loudly as a smug smile appeared on his face.

Linda smirked at his expression, already knowing where he was going. Danny had filled her in as soon as he'd woken up that morning on what he saw the night before.

"Why's that good?" Frank asked.

"I needed to fill you in on what I saw last night," he started.

Erin grinned. Something good was coming because her brother seemed ready to burst. "What'd you see?"

"Jamie and that Eddie rookie," Danny revealed.

Erin dropped the knife in her hand and directed her complete attention to Danny. "Shut up! Really?! Where?" she asked first.

"Out in front of the IFC Center," he advised.

"So?" Frank asked as he walked to the cupboard.

"So? So, they were looking pretty cozy," Danny hinted with raised eyebrows.

"Cozy as in..." Erin prompted.

"As in sucking face," Danny stated crassly.

"Get out!" Erin exclaimed.

Frank grimaced at his son's description, but then couldn't help smiling at the irony. He was sure that Jamie never would have expected to get caught being affectionate with a woman on a busy Manhattan sidewalk while another family member observed from a distance, like he'd done that night he spotted him with Kelly. "I'm sure it wasn't as crude as you're describing," he said as he walked back to the island.

"It's true! Ask Jackie. She saw it too," Danny swore.

"No kidding? Good for Jamie," Henry said and turned back to the stove.

"I can't wait until he gets here," Danny said with a mischievous grin.

Frank dropped the utensils in his hand and looked at his kids. "Now, hold up. No one will bring this up when he gets here," he ordered, feeling protective of Jamie and this alleged romance with his friend, if Danny was right about what he saw that is.

Danny frowned at his father. "What?! Why not?!" he shouted.

"Because, if it's not something he's ready to share with us yet, it's probably new and he's feeling things out," Frank reasoned. He spoke from experience.

"He was certainly feeling her out," Danny mumbled under his breath which caused Erin to snort.

"Danny," Linda warned lightly.

Frank gave his son a pointed glare. "I mean it."

"He's right," Henry chimed in. He wanted to see Jamie happy again, was seeing it, actually, now that he thought about it. Jamie had been different over the past several months and he wouldn't want anything to get in the way of his happiness, even if it was just a little good-natured ribbing from the family. But god knew that with this bunch, even that could be a little much sometimes.

"That's the whole reason I was looking forward to this dinner," Danny whined as he threw his arms up in the air in frustration.

"The only reason?" Erin fired back with mock insult.

Just then, the kitchen door opened and Jamie stepped through. "Hey," he greeted the group.

"Hey, Jamie," Henry replied.

Frank, Erin and Linda gave him warm smiles as Danny scowled.

Jamie frowned at his brother as he pulled off his jacket. "What's wrong with you?" he asked as he came to a stop in front of him.

"Nothing. Your father's a killjoy," he grumbled. If Danny was honest with himself, he could admit that he agreed with what his father was saying. He knew how hard losing Sydney had been on Jamie and would have given anything to ease his grief. Danny couldn't blame him for being a little gun-shy with a new relationship or even wanting to keep it under wraps for a while. But it didn't mean he was happy to pass on an opportunity to torment his kid brother.

Jamie turned to his father with a questioning look.

"Ignore him," Frank said. "You know how he gets when he doesn't get his way."

"Like a petulant two-year old?" Jamie chortled.

"Yeah, like that," Erin snickered, secretly pleased for her little brother. She resumed her kitchen duties, peaking over at Jamie with a small smile.

"I need a beer," Danny muttered in disappointment and walked away from the group.