Jamie sighed as he looked sleeplessly at the ceiling of his bedroom. He was glad he was finally back in his own place and not constantly surrounded by nurses. He was happy to be home, he really was, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be alone. Being alone meant him being left to his thoughts, and those had been pretty dark of late. Sleep didn't help; in fact it made things worse. When he slept, he dreamt, when he dreamt, he saw him.

Jamie turned restlessly on to his side and stared at the red numbers on his bedside table, softly proclaiming that it was 3:36 in the morning. Jamie closed his eyes, in an attempt to sleep, but they shot open moments later when he heard a soft knock at his front door. Jamie slowly made his way to the door and was only a little surprised to see Danny on the other side.

Jamie stared quietly at his brother before saying, "What are you doing here? You do realize it's after 3:30 in the morning?"

Danny raised his eyebrow at the younger Reagan, "Yeah, and you answered the door less than a minute after I knocked so don't try to guilt me into leaving by making me think I woke you up." Jamie opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by his older brother pushing his way in to the apartment. Jamie sighed inwardly as he turned to follow his brother farther into the apartment.

Danny sat on the couch and motioned for Jamie to sit next to him. Jamie reluctantly sat down next to Danny and was surprised when Danny pulled him in close. Danny felt his younger brother tense in his arms but continued to carefully arrange the young cop so he was lying up against his big brother and could sleep comfortably.

When Jamie finally realized Danny wasn't letting him go, he allowed himself to slowly relax. The two stayed silent as Jamie drifted closer to sleep, pushed slowly closer by Danny's fingers running comfortingly through his hair.

Danny smiled as Jamie's eyes finally slipped shut and his breathing evened out, the kid obviously hadn't been sleeping well and needed all the sleep he could get. Danny's smile slipped off his face as he caught sight of a yellowing bruise circling his baby brother's neck, reminding him why it was that Jamie hadn't been sleeping well. Danny pushed those thoughts away and allowed himself to fall into a restless sleep.

x.X. BB .X.x

Danny was roughly awakened by Jamie thrashing and yelling in his arms. Danny noticed his brother was still asleep and tried desperately to wake the younger man. Eventually, Jamie's eye's flew open and the younger Reagan immediately turned and buried his face in his brother's chest, searching for any safety he could find there. Danny rubbed his hand in circles on Jamie's back and made low, comforting noises to calm him down.

After a few minutes of frantic clutching at the thin fabric of Danny's shirt, Jamie calmed slightly and made a move to pull away. Danny tightened his arms around his kid brother, "Don't even think about getting up. You don't have to tell me what just happened but I'm not letting you ignore it."

Jamie nodded and hesitantly returned his head to his brother's chest, wrapping his arms around Danny at the same time. Danny smiled at the action, remembering the countless times he had caught Jamie wrapped like this around Joe when they were younger and Jamie had been upset. Danny paused at the thought of Joe and, not for the first time, wished that he was still there. Joe would know what to do to help Jamie, and Danny had no idea how to help his baby brother.

Jamie heard Danny's sigh and looked up to meet his brother's eyes, knowing what the older man was thinking, "I'm glad it's you here. Joe would baby me and mother hen me into oblivion but you are just… there. Strong and steady, and exactly what I need right now."

Jamie's words were whispered, but Danny heard them clear as a bell. A small, teary smile spread across Danny's face, "And that's exactly what I'll be for as long as you need it baby brother." Jamie mirrored Danny's smile and turned his cheek in, to press against Danny's shoulder, a small tear wetting the fabric touching it. Jamie's arms squeezed tighter around his brother and Danny smiled as they softly talked until they slept a dreamless sleep.

A/N- well, I think that's where I'm going to end it. thank you to all of you that have stuck this fic through to the end, even though I took a bit of a break in the middle of writing it. thanks for all the reviews and keep your eyes peeled for more fics from me in the future.