Almost two months later... Well, when you get stuck, you get stuck. Anyway. Major shout out to patrickpopp for being the 700th posted and signed review. I never expected so many reviews on this story and I appreciate every single one. To be honest it was probably several before that because I've gotten multiple unsigned guest reviews that I don't approve for posting, but I digress. Thanks to LucifersAlleyCat, patrickpopp, YaleAceBella12, decadenceofmysoul, Zeagles15, Pharmergirl, McFaddenFan, Maritza92, Paige Parmenter, and the two guests Lalalla76849 and Pineapplepurple6 for all your reviews on the last chapter. Again I appreciate them all.

References to 7x16.

About halfway into February, Anna got a call that on one hand she shouldn't have answered but on the other she would have felt bad about not answering. "Hello?" she answered, muting the TV.

"Anna, my favorite niece. How are you doing this bright and beautiful morning?"

Anna hung her head. There was no way this was just a social call. The tone of his voice was just too bright and airy. She leaned a bit and looked out the front window. Even if it was a social call, she wasn't sure she had anything to talk about with an uncle who caused nothing but trouble. She'd try not to think too hard about it if it was a social call. Maybe he was turning over a new leaf and wanted to be more involved in his nieces' and nephews' lives. She just had to wait and see what he'd do with the latitude she gave him. "It's currently overcast and raining. Also, we both know that I am not your favorite niece, Uncle Jimmy. What's going on? You never call me up out of the blue just to chat."

"Well, maybe I should fix that. You know family is important to your mom," Jimmy answered.

Maybe he really was turning over a new leaf. The second she had that thought; she remembered her dad's saying. 'Press it twice then let it go. They could be up to something but usually twice is enough to make them fold.' "Uncle Jimmy," Anna said plainly.

"Ok. God, you're so much like your dad."

"Not sure how that's a bad thing seeing as how he was your best friend in high school."

"You think he'd help me out?"

There it was. Him folding like a house of cards. Now, she just needed to figure out how much trouble he was bringing into their lives. "He always did love a lost cause."

"Ouch. Come on, Anna, show a little love," Jimmy insisted.

"You're right, I'm sorry. How can I help?"

"I'm in a bit of trouble and I want to be sure now is the right time to ask—present your dad with such a great opportunity."

"An opportunity to help you out of trouble?" she asked skeptically.

"To hang out with his favorite brother-in-law."

Must be big or dangerous if he wasn't straight out telling her what it was. It also wasn't worth it to point out Jimmy was his only brother-in-law. "So, you're hoping that I'll call him up and … what exactly?"

"Just talk to him. Judge what kind of mood he's in so I can present this right time."

"Before I do this, give it to me straight, what'd you do?"

"It's not what I did—"

"Uncle Jimmy." Tough love often worked with Jimmy even if she wasn't really sure how much she wanted to know what it was he had done.

"It was a misunderstanding. I was seeing this girl and turns out I wasn't the only one she was seeing."

"You need Dad's help with that?" Anna asked. "This girl is cheating on her guy with you or cheating on you with this guy, either way, sounds like you two have the same problem. Maybe you two could talk it out and both came to the conclusion you're better off without her."

"But she is smo—"

"Uncle Jimmy," Anna snapped, cutting him off. She definitely didn't need to hear about that. "Your niece doesn't really want to hear about your ... intimate life."

"Right. Anyway, we already tried talking, but that didn't work so much. He's too angry for that. I should just come by, right? Danny won't be so mad at me if you're there."

"If I'm—Uncle Jimmy, I'm in Florida. Didn't Mom or Sofie tell you that?"

"No, what are you doing in Florida?"

"Went for school, stayed for the job. Look, I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind helping you out of this if this does get really angry and out of hand. Having a cop on your side just in case could be helpful, heck, I'd do it if you were in Miami, but just ask Dad, ok?"

"You're a cop? Huh. I always knew you'd take after your dad. Despite looking more like my baby sister, you never had the kind of compassion she does. Not that it's a bad thing."

Anna smacked her forehead with her palm. She also cursed herself for saying anything about being a cop. She sighed. She couldn't take it back so the best thing to do was to move on and focus on the other part of the sentence. The part where he said she wasn't compassionate like her mother. If she was telling the truth, it hurt that he didn't think she was compassionate like her mom. He may not think it was a bad thing, but she knew someone without compassion was a very bad thing. Then she got a text from Nate. There was a game she needed to get ready for. She sighed again. She didn't want to hang up on Jimmy when he really sounded like he was desperate and holding on to the edge of his rope, but she had to get to the poker game. Not because she wanted to but rather because it was set up for another sting. "Uncle Jimmy, I gotta go. I have an appointment. Just talk to Dad, ok? There's no way he can get angry and he's going to help. It's what family does."

"Ok. Thanks, Anna." She hung up. It didn't take very long for that conversation to come back and bite her in the butt.

"Your Uncle Jimmy was here," Danny said without much of a preamble when he called shortly after Presidents' Day. It had been maybe a week since she had spoken with Jimmy.

"Here? Where? When?" She nearly dropped the phone into the pot of soup she was making.

"Here at the house, a few days ago." Anna relaxed understanding he meant their house in Staten Island and not in Florida. "He said it was all your idea too."

Anna's heart sank in her stomach and her stomach tightened. Of course he'd throw her under the bus to keep himself out of more trouble with her folks. Then she got angry. This is the thanks she got for trying to help Jimmy out. "Hold up," she demanded so he'd hear her out. "When he called asking for help with his problem or opportunity, whatever he wanted to call it, I don't recall ever telling him to "drop by" or "go talk". If I remember right, I told him to talk to you and ask you for help. There was no movement stated or implied."

"Seems he didn't get that message." Danny didn't sound too angry about it though and since she was super used to having Danny's anger directed at her, she'd be able to tell.

"To be honest, I should have seen that coming as he did ask if he should just come by. Did he cause you a lot of trouble?" Even if Danny wasn't angry at her, she felt guilty that she hadn't told him about it.

"No more than normal. And before you ask, no, it's not your fault Jimmy showed up out of the blue and dropped this mess in our laps. It's what Jimmy does."

"But—"

"Nope. Trouble follows Jimmy like ravens follow wolves after a fresh kill. I would have liked a little heads up this was coming but it's not your fault."

She let out a breath and relaxed again. He wasn't angry at her and she appreciated the change but she still felt the need to apologize. "I'm sorry. You're right. Even if I was just expecting him to call, I should have warned you. I should have known you would have wanted to know that Uncle Jimmy reached out. Not that I expected him to or anything." She spooned the soup into a bowl and turned the burner off, putting the lid on the pot.

"Anna, despite how I came off about the whole Florida thing, I want you to know that I do care about what's going on in your life. Not just the big things either. Maybe I don't give you the same feedback your mom does when you talk about boys or fads or TV shows, but I do like knowing your life isn't all just work and bad stuff."

He did sound like he cared and there was no ulterior motive to that. "I know, Dad. And it's not. Sometimes it's bowling or batting cages or dinner on the town with my girlfriend Riley." She walked over to her couch and sat down to enjoy her soup and finish the conversation with her father.

"Girlfriend as in ..." Danny trailed off. She let the sentence hang there for a few moments. She wondered what he would say if she told him that Riley was more than just a friend. Not that she was more than a friend but it was a thought to let him think that she might have been. She was pretty sure as long as Riley wasn't a firefighter for FDNY or someone who was abusing his little girl, Danny couldn't care less about what, or who, Anna did in her spare time. So, she relented.

"Best friend who is a girl. Anyway, as I said, I didn't really expect Jimmy to just drop in. Was Mom mad?"

"About him dropping in? Not until he had the boys up past their bedtime on a school night playing poker." Anna couldn't figure out why that would make her mom mad until he finished the rest of his sentence. "And drinking beer."

"You really think both of them were drinking?"

"Maybe. I don't really know. Jimmy says they weren't but there were at least five open beer bottles on the table and Jimmy wasn't nearly that drunk."

"Hmm." She'd have to ask her brothers the next time she talked to them.

"Did he tell you what his problem was when he called you? Or was it all about getting my help?" There was a hint of suspension in his voice and maybe even fear. She wondered how bad it really was.

"He told me he was seeing this girl who was seeing someone else. That the other guy was too angry to talk it out."

"He didn't tell you she was married or to whom?"

"No. That didn't come up. Is that why he needed your help?"

"More the who part and what he did to the guy during their first confrontation," Danny said exasperatedly.

"Is he alright? Uncle Jimmy ... and this other guy too but mostly Uncle Jimmy?"

"He's going to be fine. Both of them are."

"Going to be?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"Four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a concussion but the CAT scan came back clear so not all bad."

"Yeah, but it probably didn't teach him a lesson."

"Who knows."

"Is Mom pissed?"

"A little but she'll get over it. She knows Jimmy wouldn't be Jimmy if he wasn't causing trouble."

"I guess."

What Danny should have done next was warn her of what Jimmy had revealed while he had been there. Instead, he made small talk, asking about the weather and her life outside of work until Anna's phone beeped with an incoming call. By that time, she had finished her bowl of soup and set the bowl aside trying to decide if she wanted more. Her mom had always told her to wait about 15 minutes between servings to see if she was actually still hungry or if she was just eating because there was food in front of her.

"That's Nicky. I should go. Love you, Dad."

"Love you too, kid. Tell Nicky I say hi."

"Will do." Anna switched over the call. "Hey, what's up?"

"You're not busy, are you?" Nicky asked.

"No. What's going on?"

"I don't like real life. It sucks and it's messy." Her cousin sounded sad and like she had been pouting.

"Yeah, it is," Anna said plainly. Then she softened her tone a little. Nicky hadn't grown up the same way she had, she still expected the best out of life, as her mom had chosen to shelter her more from the harsh realities where as Anna had practically begged for cop stories as bed time stories. "What happened though?"

"You know that class I've been taking? The one with the really long title?"

"Yeah. The legal gender, religion class."

"Anyway, I had to do a field study for it and Grandpa agreed to let me do a ride along. When I found out I'd be riding with Uncle Jamie and his partner, I was pissed."

"Why? Eddie's a great cop and you love Uncle Jamie."

"Yeah, but Uncle Jamie's known me since I was a kid and still sees me that way. At least, I thought so when I brought it up to Grandpa, but he told me that everyone else would only see me as the P.C.'s granddaughter and it wouldn't be the real thing. Uncle Jamie on the other hand knows me so he'd know how far he could take it."

"Ok, but that doesn't sound messy." She kicked her feet up onto the couch and leaned back trying to get comfortable. Maybe she wasn't as hungry as she thought. She'd let Nicky tell her what happened before she got up for another bowl of soup. Then she'd know for sure.

"The worst call of the day was a noise complaint."

"Sounds boring, not messy."

"Let me finish," Nicky said impatiently.

"Sorry, go ahead." Anna held her tongue.

"Turned into a domestic situation. I may have overstepped." Nicky explained what she had done and what had happened after to include her trying to help the woman which resulted in her husband beating on her. Granted he had waited until Nicky and the two cops had left to do it so there would be no actual crime committed in front of the police. The woman's son had jumped in to defend his mother during one of the beatings, sending his father to the hospital.

"Well, that is terrible that it happened. However, the way I see it, the only thing you are responsible for is giving that boy the courage to defend his mother. In New York, what he did could be considered defense of a third person and he would walk. What's more is you said he was 12, right?"

"Yeah."

"At 12, they can't charge you as an adult. You have to be at least 16. Until then you're a minor and the most he'd face is a juvenile facility until then."

"If I hadn't been there, he wouldn't have had to do it at all."

Anna could hear how upset her cousin was getting. She tried to calm her down. "So maybe the dad wouldn't have hurt her over your interference had you not been there, but there's nothing saying that something else wouldn't have happened to cause him to. Maybe dinner was late, maybe the kids were yelling at each other, maybe the sky was too blue. And as far as the boy goes, sometimes enough becomes enough. You gave him the courage to do what he had to do to protect his mom and sister. In my book, that's a good thing. You know who you should talk to? Not that I'm trying to get you off the phone or anything, your dad. He's a great defense attorney. He'd know what is most likely to happen next. Nicky, you were doing the right thing, even if you can't save every puppy."

"I just don't like this. It feels like it's all my fault and now, she doesn't have her son—"

She cut her off. "But he still has a mom and if the worst does happen, she can still visit him. Maybe this will give her the courage to leave him and file a complaint. If not, unfortunately, then you'll just have to move on. You tried. That's something to be proud of. Encouraging others to stand up and do the right thing, making the world a little better one person at a time. That's all we can hope for in life. I can't save every puppy; I can hope that I encouraged enough people to jump in and help out to things get a little less bad for all the puppies in the world. Change starts with one person saying 'Why not?'. If I can be that one person for somebody, then down the line maybe it'll start an avalanche. You never know what you'll change but helping one person."

"Thanks. Is this why you expect the worst out of everyone? Because of how terrible people are? Because Uncle Danny didn't shelter you from the horrible things in life?"

"Not everyone."

"Anna."

"Ok, yeah, mostly but it means when people turn out better than I expected, I'm pleasantly surprised. And you would not believe the things Dad did shelter me from. Just because I've been hearing Dad's cop stories from the cradle doesn't mean that he told me everything. There are still some things I've experienced on my own that I'm stunned by the depravity of humanity. Things that not even my favorite cop shows go in to detail about. That and some things, to know how bad they are, you just have to be there in person and stories don't do them justice."

"I do suppose that it's a good thing that people can turn out better than you hope."

"I promise, Nicky, not all the world is doom and gloom even if you feel like it is most days. Just search good things that happened this week."

"I know, thanks, Anna."

"Anytime, Nicky, I mean that."

"Ok." By the end of the phone call, she sounded happier than she had been at the beginning of the call. Anna texted with her Uncle Jack shortly after hanging up with Nicky and soon had him convinced to talk to his daughter as she put the rest of the soup into a storage container for the next day or sometime in the future. She hadn't quite been as hungry as she had thought. Nicky texted her a few days later to tell her that things felt better about the whole case and Jack had reassured her that the boy wouldn't face the worst.

She also spoke with Sean who was the more likely of the two of her brothers to tell her the truth and he explained that yes, he and Jack had both touched one bottle of beer, but neither had drunk more than half the bottle and that Jack had drunk more than he had. It had taken some prodding and pulling to get it out of Sean but luckily, she was more than persuasive enough when it came to her baby brother, even if he didn't want to admit it. She also didn't tell her dad, even if she could have, knowing Danny wouldn't have been too mad about it. Danny hadn't really been upset about Jack drinking earlier in the year, he had just been pissed about him skipping school and posting it online. Besides there was no way her hadn't had his first beer long before he was 21. She had only been 12 when Joe had let her have her first taste of beer and it had been gross. Maybe that's why she didn't drink now. She shrugged off that thought.