"Woah! That was intense!" was Nicky's reaction to the first half of the Phantom of the Opera.
Lizzie laughed. "Wait until you see the second half! It's even more intense!" She chuckled.
"How many times have you seen this show?" Linda asked, the chandelier falling clearly catching her off guard. She had always wanted to see the Phantom of the Opera, she knew it was a love story, but she didn't know it was also an episode of Life with The Reagans with all of those people dying.
"I saw it once live in Chicago. But I watched the taped version so many times I could recite it in my sleep. Always remember the 25th anniversary is a hell of a lot better than the movie. Sierra and Ramin are soulmates, I swear. Rierra for the win!"
"Okay." Linda agreed, not sure what was going on. How could it be that there was a Reagan who was nothing at all like the others? There was a decedent from that family who had no interest in becoming a cop or lawyer and would rather be involved in the arts?
It made her think of how much Erin resented the fact that Nicky wanted to become a cop. She didn't want her daughter going out there and risking her life everyday. She was literally planning to have her and Linda take Nicky to as many art shows and museums as she could, so that hopefully Nicky would go into the arts instead of crime science.
Well, she only had one out of the two to worry about. Jack and Sean were a whole other story.
"My mom said the New York cast wasn't good, but this was incredible!" Lizzie squealed happily. Linda smiled, at least she had gotten her to relax a little bit. The tensity of her shoulders had dropped and she looked more cheerful. That was enough for Linda to know that this trip was worth it.
"How many musicals have you seen?" Nicky asked, impressed at her sister's choice of being such a hardcore thespian. Nicky had her eyes on following the family tradition and become a cop, despite her mother's wishes against it. She had never even consideredthe arts. Granted, she used to be in choir, until she dropped out in the seventh grade to join the soccer team instead.
"Well, I saw Phantom with my parents, I saw American in Paris while I was in New York on a school trip, and my mom loved Beauty and the Beast, and Evita, and Carousel and the Sound of Music..."
"Woah, okay. I was never much for musicals... but I love this! Please tell me you'll take me to see more!"
"We are in the heart of Broadway!" Lizzie smiled. "Of course I'll take you!" She said, deciding to leave the part out about the possibility she might never come back to New York after the trip to Chicago that no one knew about. Except Jackie. She took a deep breath.
Life was full of shit... and all that jazz.
"Wait, so you're saying that Ian Smith never left Chicago... and there is no way he was in New York..." Erin stared at the information laid out in front of her. Cameras showed the person of interest walking into a barber shop that morning. What was even worse was that the Chicago PD didn't seem phased about this perp walking around because they had never gotten a statement themselves from Lizzie.
"So he's just walking around the streets of Chicago and no one gives a damn that he killed two people!" Erin cried out in frustration. Danny put his hands on Erin's shoulders, giving them a squeeze.
"We've talked to the Chicago PD. They don't seem to think that it's important. There are apparently more important things to them."
"Put me on the phone with the Police Commissioner there." Frank grunted in his usual tone of voice when he meant business. "I'll make him see the importance of getting this man off the streets."
"And then?" Henry asked from his quiet corner where he was listening to the conversation without giving much input. The boys were upstairs, assumingly playing video games because that is what the Reagans put them to do when they didn't want them around.
"Then we get him put back in jail." Danny declared in the voice that meant he meant business.
"What evidence do we have? There was no evidence at the crime scene. We know he was after Lizzie. Lizzie's identifying him might not be enough."
"Then you will just have to get up there on the witness stand yourself." Danny stated. Erin looked from her brother to her father to her grandfather and sighed. He was right.
"So... how is the situation of hooking me for transport to the Windy City?" Lizzie said after dialing Jackie. The threesome had finished their musical and now Lizzie was sitting on the ground in the middle of the Reagan bathroom.
Erin left her there again, claiming that she had work in the morning and Nicky had school and it would just be easier. She had hugged her briefly, almost robotically, lingering her chin on Lizzie's hair before walking out the door with Nicky, who smiled back at Lizzie.
She looked happy at the aspect of having an older sister at this point. Oh well, they were probably going to have a dumb argument at some point, like Stephanie and DJ always did on Full House and then have a feep talk abojt life and hug it out. (That might sound cheesy, but it was Lizzie's only approach on what having a sister was like).
Jamie had planned to stay there as well, but apparently the PC had told him to go home because Jamie had the early shift the next morning and couldn't switch it out. She couldn't understand why the PC couldn't just use his authority to have Jamie change shifts, but what did Lizzie know anyways.
"Did you ask your family to take you back to Chicago?" Jackie asked. She was debating whether or not to tell Danny what his niece was planning, because she knew Danny would be overprotective, like all the Reagans were over each other.
"No, I told you, I want to do this on my own... were you not listening? Clearly you're just like all of them. You think I can't do anything for myself... because I can! I just wanted your help because you said you were not a Reagan and that I could trust you!" Lizzie screamed, throwing the phone across the bathroom. Lizzie could still hearing Jackie on the line, trying to get Lizzie to listen to her. Lizzie simply hung up.
"Is everything all right in there?" She heard her Uncle Danny call from in the kitchen.
"Yeah, everything is fine!" Lizzie said, giving the toilet a flush and letting the sink run for a minute before joining her uncle, who was scarfing down ice cream in the kitchen.
"I thought I heard screaming. Who were you talking to?"
"Are you sure that wasn't the tv in the living room you heard? There's lot of yelling in Westerns from what I've heard..." It was then that Lizzie realized the tv was not on, and the two elder detectives were already upstairs sleeping. She chuckled neevously.
"Elizabeth I am a detective. I know when someone's lying. Now tell me who you were yelling at. Was it your mom?"
"No." Lizzie let out a deep breath. "It was Nicky. I think she wanted to stay here too but Erin wouldn't let her because Erin is so heartbroken only getting to take one daughter home with her. She started yelling at me about how I was the favorite sibling and get all the attention, yada yada yada." Lizzie babbled, pretty sure her uncle wouldn't believe her.
"You haven't even been to the apartment yet... and it is your home." Danny reasoned, realizing that Erin seemed way too detached from her daughter. He would need to ask why. She looked more stressed, and she only wanted to work on the case. Yes this was personal, very personal, but Erin was tough and this was breaking her. He needed to find out why. Lizzie on the other hand, was shocked her uncle actually believed her lie about Nicky. She hoped Nick would not get busted out for it. She would just have to cover that too.
"Well I like it here better where I know I am safe from Ian Smith, and my mother is hopefully safe from him too because I am not with her and there are cops with guns in this house and my grandfather's massive detail probably making loops around the block as we speak."
"How do you know about Ian Smith?" Danny asked, surprised that Lizzie knew the name of the man that he and his father and sister were trying desperately to catch and put behind bars as soon as possible.
"I read the file. I am not stupid Uncle Danny. He's my father, the man who raped my mother, and the man who killed my parents. I deserve to know his name."
"What is that supposed to mean? Because if you are planning some weird revenge, you have to know that revenge is never the answer. It never solves anything."
"I'm not planning revenge. I just want to put that man behind bars. And after he's behind bars, I'll be able to look him in the eye and tell him to go to hell. And then I'll feel better."
Danny nodded, furrowing his eyebrows. His niece sure was acting strange, he'd give her that. He was about to pull her over to the couch so they could talk about it, when his phone rang. Seeing that Jackie was calling him at eleven at night, he assumed that they had gotten a case and that Lizzie would have to just hang out with the couch and TV for the night.
"Hey Jack-" Danny started. Lizzie started panicking, knowing that Jackie was going to tell him everything. She walked out of the kitchen into the living room, feeling her heart rate accelerate massively. She felt like she was going to pass out.
Her uncle looked at her with a weird face from through the doorway in the kitchen. She smiled at him before walking through the front door. It reminded her of a dream she used to have when she was a kid, that she was running from a bad guy and had to drive herself away, but she always ended up getting caught and dying at the end. How had her uncle suddenly become her enemy?
Because he wanted to stop her from leaving New York, burying her parents, and catching the guy.
She had no car, and no way to disappear into the dusk. She looked at Danny's car, that old green Jeep Cherokee, happily sitting against the curb in front of the house. There was no police detail around, which possibly meant that Frank thought that they were safe and had sent them home. Lucky her.
She debated her limited options, walking towards the Jeep. It was not like the keys were just happily sitting in the ignition waiting for her. She put her head against the window, leaning in to see her options. It was then she noticed that the key was in the ignition. Weird.
Lizzie slowly opened the driver's door, debating whether or not to take the dumb way out when Danny opened the front door. "HEY!" He screamed, running towards her. She swooped into the seat, locked the doors, seeing Danny bang on them. She put her foot down on the gas, leaving her blowing down the street. She had no idea what she was doing. Who knew what her uncle was going to do now? He was now her enemy in a way. She felt trapped and scared and depressed and frustrated and-
She pulled out the card Agent Anderson had given her earlier that day. "I need help. My family is onto the fact that I want to leave New York and they'll probably be trailing me. I want to do it. I want to go to Chicago and catch the guy. I just don't know how to lose them." Lizzie sped down the streets of New York, not really sure where she was going. The tears fell down her face freely. She held the phone to her ear, waiting for the woman to respond.
She truly felt alone in that moment.
"Lizzie, are you sure you want to do this?" The agent said on the other line, sounding slightly concerned. The girl was untrained, barely legal, and reeling from the loss of her parents. She was not stable enough to do this. But she could not risk the Reagans finding out about them. She now had to do it, otherwise they would have to kill her.
"I want to bury my parents and catch this guy and if that helps bring down the people that killed my uncle, then more power to you." She sobbed, tears streaming down her face. She felt so weak- how was she supposed to be strong and hard like her mother and uncles and grandfather?
"Alright, drive to my office. We can give you a new identity so that your family won't be hot on your trail. Credit cards, passports, licenses. This might seem like a lot, but trained agents do these kinds of things everyday. Just like your Uncle Joe. You are going to be absolutely fine."
"They're too smart. They'll find me. They always find me. I just want to protect them. Do this myself. I am a Reagan. I was born into a family of cops, and in the short time I've known them they have changed my life. They are amazing people and I want to make them pr-"
It was then that two cars coming from both directions of the intersection head on crashed into Lizzie's car, one impacting the front, one the driver's side.
Lizzie swerved before she shot down the brake. Glass exploded everywhere, Lizzie flopping to the back and then side, immediately knocked unconscious. A woman with red hair sat in the passenger's seat of the side impact car, which didn't render a scratch.
"Grab her. Throw her in the back."