"Lizzie..." she heard Jackie say her name. In a panic of being known, she raised her head from its position shoved into the bed. She jumped a little more when she realized that Jackie was awake and looking at her, the smile on her face completely evident.
Lizzie wrestled herself out of Jackie's hold and ran into the hallway, hearing Jackie call after her. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, was she still dead? Joe had made that one very unclear. The red head clearly had her own agenda with what she did, and had Joe known about this, he probably wouldn't have let her near it.
"Kid!" Joe screamed, not sure what to call her at this point. "Come back here!" She froze at the sound of her uncle's voice. "She wants to talk to you..."
Lizzie turned back around to see her uncle staring at her with his arms crossed. She stomped over like a kid that had gotten caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. "Aren't I supposed to be dead?"
"No Reagans are supposed to be involved with this project, do you understand that? Anderson took you because you are one of them. You are going to go back to being yourself after all this is over. Jackie deserves to know that you are alive..."
"What is myself Uncle Joe? What am I supposed to go back to? My parents are dead because your lady wanted them gone! I don't fit in with the Reagans at all! They are all cops and lawyers and they're all great at what they do. What am I good at? I couldn't even save my uncle... I let Jackie get shot for me..." Joe started pushing her back down the hallway and slumped, feeling like a prisoner.
By this time they were back standing at Jackie's doorway. Lizzie stood there, frozen in her own thoughts. About her mom, uncle, Jackie...Joe gave her a slight push into the room, and Lizzie's cheeks grew pink at the smile Jackie was giving her. She looked like she wanted a hug if anything. You just couldn't wipe the smile off of Jackie's face.
"C'mon Lizzie! You Reagans are supposed to be very good at hugging from what I hear!" The both of them laughed. Lizzie slowly made her way over to Jackie, and slowly gave her a hug. It was weird, she finally had someone calling her Lizzie again, even though it had literally been about a week since she 'died'. "I'm so happy that you're alive kid. I missed you... I think you've become my favorite Reagan..."
Lizzie smiled. "Well, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I got thrown into this mess and I didn't know what I was doing. They would have gotten me if you didn't shoot them."
"I'm not the one who shot the boss though. I have never seen that look of determination in anyone's eyes except Danny. You have that same look of pride and you didn't even flinch, shooting the guy and killing him. I think you're going to make a great cop."
"Woah woah woah, who said anything about me becoming a cop?" Lizzie crossed her arms in mocked sass and raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah... I'm still angry about Jamie- wait, you killed someone?" Joe asked, still leaning against the doorway. He furrowed his eyebrows at his niece. No one had told him that his niece had shot the man in charge without a single second thought. Jackie seemed to just notice Joe just then.
"Hey... it's Reagan Initiative guy!" She said, not really knowing what a big deal it was that he was standing in front of her at that current moment.
"Jackie... this is Joseph Reagan. My uncle." She introduced, waiting for the reaction from Jackie.
"Wait.. are you the dead brother?" She asked, clearing not thinking straight. Lizzie could tell she had way too much painkiller running through her system at that current moment. It took all of her strength not to burst into laughter at the face that Jackie was making.
"Yes, I am. But can someone please tell me what happened out there!" Joe demanded gently.
"I got surrounded because they wanted to take me too after Jackie got shot and she managed to shoot all of them except one..."
"The man in charge..." Joe finished.
"Lizzie finished him off. Really good aim. Another cop for the family perhaps?" Jackie raised her eyebrows.
Lizzie rolled her eyes. "No."
"Joe... did you find Danny yet?"
"No. We wanted to make sure you were okay first. And I have no idea where to start, all of the suspected places are closed."
"So... were those guys Chicago cops or New York cops?" Lizzie asked, still a little lost.
"No way to tell." Joe shrugged.
"But they weren't in a cop car, they were in a white van." Jackie pointed out. She was about to say something else but got cut off by the sound of her cell phone ringing in the bag where her belongings were all stuffed. She pointed at it and Joe walked over and pulled her phone out. "It's the Commissioner." He declared, handing her the phone. "We are not here. We were never here."
"We are both dead." Lizzie confirmed.
"Hello sir." Jackie greeted. "What can I do for you?" Joe and Lizzie both clumped around Jackie, trying to hear what he was saying.
"Detective Curatola. Good to know that you are alright. I need to ask you though, about what happened with Detective Reagan." If you didn't know him, you would think that he was completely fine, but Joe knew he felt absolutely hopeless because he had no leads on who took his son.
"I called Ms. Baker and informed her earlier of the situation and I am afraid I do not have any more information about it. Danny and I were at the Johnsons' funeral and we were ambushed, sir. They took him and left in a white van. They appeared to be Chicago police officers."
"I am going to fly out there as soon as I can." They heard from the other side of the phone.
"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think that's a good idea. Whoever these people are wanted Danny because he was a Reagan, and you should stay together with your family to make sure that everyone, including yourself, is taken care of. Detective Reagan will be fine. We will get him out of this."
"I want to trust you, detective, I do, but I want my son to be safe. I cannot lose another son." Jackie shot a look at Joe, who glared back at her.
"Sir, Danny is my best friend. I need you to trust me. I will bring him home. I have to go sir. I will be in touch." Jackie hung up nervously.
"Why did you hang up on him?" Joe growled. "Now he's going to get suspicious of you!"
"I didn't know what else to say! We can't say anything about the Templar, about you, Lizzie. We have no idea where he is and we know who took him and what else they want."
"He seemed worried about something else as well. I just don't know..." Joe rubbed his temples.
"Jackie! Thank goodness you're okay! Who are you?" Erin stopped in the doorway. Joe and Lizzie both immediately turned around and faced the opposite direction. Joe was quicker and threw his hood over his head and put his sunglasses on.
"I'm an old friend of Jackie's.." He said in a way too deep voice. "Bye Jack," He said, dashing past Erin without making eye contact as soon as he could. Lizzie on the other hand, was not as fast as Joe. She fumbled with her glasses and threw them on. She didn't have anything else on her and was still wearing her 'lawyer' clothes. She took a deep breath before turning around.
"Hello. Lawyer in training Mary Russell." She held out her hand out nervously. Erin took it, and they both thought the same thing, that the other one's hand was extremely clammy. Was her British accent convincing? Her mother hadn't known her for that long... but then again, they say that a mother can tell if it's her child anywhere. Jackie quickly caught on to where I was going, and jumped in.
"Ms. Reagan is an assistant district attorney in New York City. And she's one of the best ones there."
"Oh! How lovely it is to meet you! I lived in New York, studied at Columbia in fact. But I wanted a change of scenery, so I took an internship in Chicago. I was just thanking Ms. Curatola here," she motioned to Jackie. "She saved my life at that funeral. I was with her, further discussing the case, when these men up and attacked her. They took her partner, I'm afraid, and they wanted to take me hostage, but Jackie saved me. I am indebted to her. I would love to stay but I have to go to an appointment. I wish the best to both of you." Lizzie shuffled out of there as soon as she could, trying to avoid eye contact with Erin as much as possible. She knew that if she looked into her mother's eyes she would start crying.
She really needed a hug.
Realizing she had absolutely no idea where she was going, Lizzie threw herself in the nearest elevator she could find and pressed the button for lower level. The doors were about to close when someone shoved their hand through and the door reopened. Lizzie rolled her eyes just a tad when she realized that it was her uncle.
"I'm hungry. Wanna go get pizza?"
"Jackie, are you okay? Like really okay?"
"Erin, I'm fine. I know you are only here because you want to help Danny. And the only way you can help him is if you go back to New York and stay with the rest of your family."
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Jackie looked away. "You know something don't you? Jackie, I'm a lawyer. I can tell when people are lying."
"Erin I can't tell you. It would put your whole family in more danger than they are already in. And I can't do that to you guys. I can't do that to Danny. I meant what I told the Commissioner, that I will bring Danny home, you just have to trust me."
"HOW CAN I TRUST YOU WHEN YOU ARE WITHHOLDING INFORMATION ABOUT MY BROTHER! HE COULD BE DEAD JACKIE! WHAT WILL YOU SAY THEN, HUH? YOU DIDN'T SEE JOE'S CASKET GET LOWERED INTO THE GROUND! YOU DIDN'T SEE WHAT WAS LEFT OF MY DAUGHTER'S BODY!"
"Actually, I did Erin." Jackie suddenly felt sick, nauseous. She started coughing hysterically in a struggle to clear her airways. She did not know what came over her...
Nurses started flooding in, shooing Erin out, and they helped Jackie calm down.
Erin simply looked down at her cell phone, hoping to see some kind of text from Jamie about what was going on. She left her alive daughter alone! For this! Grunting, she started walking towards the elevator, hoping to catch a bite before going back to get that information out of Jackie.
"Nothing! We have absolutely nothing!" Frank was going crazy, to say the least. It had been almost 24 hours since his son was taken, and everyone in the NYPD was on the watch, for nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"Sir... perhaps you should go home and be with your family." The rest of the Reagans apart from Jamie had went back to Frank's after Jack and Sean had started to play catch with a ball that almost broke the infamous 1 PP windows. At that point Linda said she would go home whether or not they would come with. So they had went on their merry way, with lots of cops stationed surrounding the house.
"No Baker I can't. I need to find my son. If that means we don't sleep, then so be it!"
"Sir..."
"I SAID SO BE IT!" Frank screamed. That made Abigail jump out of her skin just a tad. She hated seeing the Commissioner like this. It just was not right.
"I will be at my desk if you need me. I have a few calls to make." She quickly dismissed herself outside to her desk. She knew she should not directly contact these people while she was in 1 PP, but she did not know what else to do. Eyeballing the sticky note stuck to her monitor, she picked up her office phone and flung it around in her hands, taking a deep breath.
"This is Detective Baker calling. I was wondering if you had an update on the situation."
"Hello detective. I am sorry we do not. Is there a particular reason you are calling?" Joe's voice boomed through the phone. There was a lot of background noise, it sounded like they were at a restaurant or something of that sort. He didn't really seemed phased by the situation, and that irritated her just a tad.
"The Commissioner... I'm very worried about him. Unlike you." She added a little bluntly.
"I am worried, but I know that Danny is safe until they get their hands on another Reagan, which will not happen because they are all safe and under police protection. Am I wrong?"
"No, sir, but what about Erin? She is wandering the streets of Chicago on her own and she won't answer the Commissioner's calls."
"We have a view on Erin. We are watching her every move. We will make sure she stays save. For now, I think you should make sure that the Commissioner remains safe."
Joe hung up his phone, throwing his phone on the table. He looked over at his niece, not even attempting to eat but staring at a picture in her hands. He grabbed the picture to see a very young Erin holding a baby girl.
"Lizzie..." He whispered.
"I don't want anything bad to happen to her..." Lizzie sniffed, starting to cry just a bit. "I know I should be strong about all of this but I am not. I am terrified. They have my uncle, they wanted me, they want my mom... everyone is at risk!"
"Hey, listen to me. I meant what I said. They are not going to touch Danny unless they have at least one more Reagan to wager over. They are just bait for the Commissioner to comply with their requests." Joe knew he shouldn't have lied, but he didn't know how else to calm his niece down.
"I know you are scared. You have every right to be. Just say the word and you can be with the rest of the Reagans in a safe place. We can tell them you were kidnapped and your captor let you go after faking your death."
"Uncle Joe, with all due respect, I cannot just sit by and watch now. I have seen too much. I need to make a difference in this case, which is why-"
"Shhh." Joe cut her off, seeing an Erin Reagan strut through the hospital, looking down at her phone. She went up to the counter, buying herself food before getting herself a table.
Lizzie simply sighed.