Chapter 67: Police Work is Messy

In a hurry, Mia and Rosa are headed for the subway pay station. Mia drops her money in and enters through the turn style before looking back at her Mother to see her rummaging through her purse "Where is my wallet?" Rosa mutters in frustration.

"Come on Mom!" Mia presses "Hurry up or we aren't going to make it!"

"I'm coming!" Rosa tosses back as she finds change at the bottom of her purse. She quickly drops the money in and goes to walk through but the bars don't move. "Oh come on!" Rosa cries in annoyance.

"Mom!" Mia urgently calls "I see the train!"

Suddenly a group of kid around Mia's age come running towards the turn styles and they all sneak under the bars without paying at the same time two uniformed officers on patrol happen by and see. They spring into action to try to grab the kids and in the process one of the officers mistakenly grabs Mia.

"Hey!" Rosa calls as she tries to get the turn style to work "Let's go of her! She's my daughter! She paid!" but the turn style still won't work so without thinking, Rosa ducks underneath it as well trying to get to Mia.

"Well that was dumb lady." One of the officers states as he grabs her too "Now you're both under arrest."

"What?" Rosa cries in alarm.

"Hey!" Mia defends as she struggles to break free "Let go of her! She paid too! The turn style just jammed!"

"Mia stop." Rosa pleads in panic but in the struggle Mia starts to lose her balance and has to quickly step hard with her foot to regain it - unfortunately her foot lands right on the officer's foot.

"OW!" he cries in pain "You're gonna wish you never did that kid!"

"Did what?" Mia bites back "I lost my footing!"

"Please!" Rosa begs "Before this gets anymore out of control, I have a NYPD courtesy card in my wallet – Lieutenant Jameson Reagan. He works out of the 5-4, please…"

"Right." One officer laughs "You have the Police Commissioner's son's courtesy card."

"And Sergeant Edit Reagan and Detective Daniel Reagan…" Mia begins to list.

"Wow look at this one listing off the whole family like she knows them." That same officer laughs.

"I do!" Mia tosses back.

"Um Parks..." the second officer hesitates "…maybe we should check…"

"Sure, Sure, let's check." Officer Parks cajoles as he opens Rosa's purse and starts looking "Ma'am you don't even have a wallet in here."

Rosa squeezes her eyes shut and cringes "It's on the kitchen counter." She suddenly remembers.

"Wow. Shocking, No card." Parks counters.

Mia narrows her eyes at the officer "Are you saying you don't believe us?"

"Mia hush." Rosa chides.

"No." Mia defiantly states "I will not hush. This is wrong. We know them, they are my Uncle and my Aunt! I'm their God Daughter!"

"Right kid and I'm the Easter Bunny." Parks sneers back causing Rosa to cringe and squeeze her eyes shut knowing at this point, it's best to say nothing.

"Wait I have my cards in my backpack!" Mia remembers.

"Okay quit stalling already, let's go you two." Parks decides as the officers begin to guide them towards the exit not even bothering to look.

"But we're telling the truth!" Mia insists as she and her Mother are led away…

…..

Mia and Rosa are escorted into the 12th precinct and up to the desk sergeant.

"One purse – no ID." Parks states as he hands over Rosa's purse "And one backpack." He adds as he hands over Mia's backpack.

"Names?" The Sergeant asks.

Rosa sighs "Rosa Ruiz. This is my daughter Milagro Ruiz."

Mia looks at the officer before her "Sergeant Simms." She addresses noting his stripes and name badge which immediately gets the Sergeant's attention "In my backpack are NYPD courtesy cards for…"

"Yeah, yeah the Reagans. We know." Parks finishes for her "This kid." He tells his Sergeant with a chuckle "They already tried that one. We looked, they don't have them. It's just a stall tactic."

"It's not a stall tactic!" Mia insists "I demand my phone call! Let me call my Uncle Jamie!"

"Mia!" Rosa hisses out.

"Okay, leave it with me. Go process them." The Sergeant decides with a sigh not wanting a scene created in his lobby "I'll log this stuff."

Nodding, the uniforms lead Rosa and Mia away.

Shaking his head, the Sergeant opens Rosa's purse and logs the contents before bagging it. He then moves to Mia's backpack but his desk phone rings. "12th." He greets "Okay yeah, yeah let me get that." He quickly states as he puts Mia's backpack aside and begins to deal with something else.

It's about 30 minutes later that Simms finally picks up Mia's backpack again. He goes through the main compartment and finally opens the small zipper on the side. He reaches his hand in and pulls out a collection of cards "Crap." He mutters when he sees not one but three Reagan courtesy cards. He immediately moves out from behind his desk heading down the hall "PARKS!" He bellows in frustration.

…..

"And that is the last of the reports!" Jamie happily exclaims as he shuts a file folder on his desk.

"Yeah that I completed." Eddie points out from her desk "All you had to do was sign them."

"Still a lot of wrist action involved in that." Jamie cheekily points out as his cellphone begins to ring. He digs it out of his pocket and sees an old familiar number flash across the screen – the desk sergeant at the 12th… "Reagan." He answers before listening a moment "Yes, I know them." He tentatively states "Why?" but then his face scrunches up as he listens to the reply "What do you mean they got arrested? For what?"

Eddie looks over in concern.

Again Jamie listens "Okay I'm sure this is just a simple misunderstanding that we can easily clear up." He calmly promises "Where are they now?"

But then Jamie's jaw unhappily clenches "What do you mean in holding? You've already processed them?" He questions is disbelief "They have my courtesy card – that means you're supposed to call me first! You know what? Never mind – where did this happen?" he demands before reaching for a pen. He scribbles something on a notepad "I'm on my way." He adds before hanging up.

"What?" Eddie presses "What happened?"

Jamie rips the paper off the pad "Rosa AND Mia both got arrested."

Eddie's eyes go wide "WHAT?!"

"Come on." Jamie prompts as he stands and Eddie immediately follows.

"What happened?" Eddie presses as she and Jamie walk out into the bullpen.

"Here." Jamie states as he holds the paper out to Danny at his desk "We need the video footage from the last hour at this subway entrance."

Danny takes the paper "Why?"

"Because that's where Rosa and Mia got arrested for jumping the turn style and assaulting a police officer."

Danny looks at his brother in bewilderment "Oh you're kidding me right?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Jamie seriously bites back "And to top it all off, they are already processed and in the system so…"

"Oh god…" Eddie immediately breathes out in alarm "…that means CPS has been notified."

"You got it." Jamie unhappily confirms.

"Go." Danny insists "I'll let you know what I find!" He adds as he gets to work and Jamie and Eddie head for the exit.

…..

Rosa nervously paces back and forth in a holding cell but her head snaps up when she hears Eddie call her name

"ROSA!"

Rosa immediately moves to the bar "Oh thank god. Where's Mia?" Rosa cries in a panic "They took her, I don't know where she is."

"It's okay Rosa, calm down." Eddie calmly soothes "Jamie's dealing with that right now."

Rosa let's out a breath of air in relief.

"What happened?" Eddie queries.

"Ugh." Rosa groans "It all just got so blown out of proportion!"

"Take a deep breath." Eddie instructs "And start at the beginning."

….

Mia sits in a room all by herself, unhappy and waiting.

Suddenly the door opens and a woman Mia doesn't know enters. She smiles at Mia, then closes the door and moves to sit across from her at the table.

"Hi Milagro is it?" The woman inquires.

"It's Mia." Mia flatly corrects.

"Alright Mia." The woman greets "Nice to meet you. My name is Rachel and I'll be your social worker."

"My what?" Mia questions "Look I don't know what's going on here but I want to know where my Mom is. Where did they take her? Don't I get a phone call or something?"

At that moment the door opens and Jamie walks into the entrance.

"Oh thank god." Mia breathes out in relief "Uncle Jamie a little help here please! I don't know where they took Mom!"

Rachel turns towards the door and looks of shock appear on both hers and Jamie's faces.

"Witten?" Jamie questions.

"Sarge?" Witten returns.

"It's Lieutenant." Mia flatly corrects.

Witten glances at Mia then looks back at Jamie "You made Lieutenant?"

Jamie nods "And I take it you're in social work now?"

Witten nods.

Jamie blows out a breath of air "Okay well we can forgo the pleasantries now and get right to it. Mia meet Rachel Witten, she used to be your Aunt Eddie's partner back at the 2-9 and I was her boss. Rachel Witten meet Mia Ruiz – Eddie and I are her godparents."

Witten can't help but huff out a laugh "Seriously?"

"No joke." Jamie confirms "And trust me – child services is NOT required in this case."

Witten looks at the file in her hand "Except according to the report I received she jumped a turn style and assaulted a police officer."

"I did neither!" Mia insists.

"Officers say different." Witten points out.

"I accidentally stepped on his foot." Mia corrects "It's not my fault he's a baby – aren't police supposed to wear steeled toed boots or something?"

"Mia not another word okay." Jamie very seriously and immediately advises.

"Right." Mia mumbles.

Rachel chuckles "They are called duty boots." She admits "And while not all pairs have that toe protection – mine did."

"SEE!" Mia points out "You're smart! Officer Parks – not so much."

"Mia." Jamie warns again "Mouth. Shut. Do not make me say that again."

Mia rolls her eyes "Fine." She adds before miming zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key.

"Thank you." Jamie accepts.

Witten can't help but look back and forth between Jamie and Mia in amusement at their interactions "So god parent huh?"

At that moment Jamie's cellphone rings "Yeah you've missed a lot." Jamie tells Witten as he digs his phone out to see its Danny "Hey what have you got?" he answers.

"Okay I got the video." Danny states as he sits at his desk cradling the phone to his ear "Want me to send it to you?"

"Yes please."

"On it's way." Danny states before he hangs up, lifts his finger and hits enter on the keyboard in front of him. He then replays the video himself and watches. He notices what looks like Rosa putting money in the turn style but its hard to tell for sure so he pauses the video, grabs some paper and a pen, writes something down then picks up his phone to send a text to Jamie

Heading to subway to investigate turn style he types before grabbing the paper and heading out.

….

Jamie receives two messages back to back on his cell. He reads the text from Danny then opens the video to watch it. After watching it, he immediately understands the meaning of Danny's second message…

Suddenly Mia raises her hand in the air like she's in school waiting to be called on by the teacher.

Jamie lets out a sigh "What?"

Mia lowers her hand "You didn't answer my question. Where's Mom?"

"Your Aunt Eddie is with her." Jamie explains before looking at Witten "Oh be prepared when you see her – she's pregnant."

"GET OUT!" Witten exclaims in excitement.

Jamie nods his head up and down as he types out a text on his phone

Mia's SW is here – brace yourself it's Witten! LOL We're in box 2.

"Yup, very soon I'll have my very own one of these." Jamie adds as he gestures to Mia.

"Love you too Uncle Jamie." Mia tosses back.

Jamie looks over at Mia in a bit of shock and surprise at her words but Mia doesn't even seem to think anything of it as she gives him a confused "what?" look in return.

Witten laughs as she looks at Mia "I like you." so Mia turns her attention to Rachel.

"Does that mean I'm free to go?" She hopefully inquires.

"Um no." Witten counters.

Mia impatiently looks up at Jamie "Can't you pull rank or something?"

"No, we're going to do this the right way." Jamie counters.

Witten mimics an impression of Jamie "By the book." She seriously states before grinning in amusement.

Mia looks at Witten "Hey that was pretty good!"

Jamie looks at Witten "When did you get so…snarky?" He wonders.

Witten chuckles "I've always been snarky just ask your wife but you were my boss before so I reigned it in around you. Now you're not!"

"Ah." Jamie accepts.

Silence.

"So what exactly are you waiting for?" Witten curiously inquires.

"The evidence I need to prove this is all a misunderstanding." Jamie explains.

"And how are you getting that?" Witten inquires.

Jamie looks at Mia "Your Uncle Danny is on it." He promises.

Mia ponders that "So what like another 5 minutes or so?"

Jamie cracks a small smile "Could be some traffic so let's give him 10." He counters.

Mia shrugs "Sure got nowhere else to be…" She sarcastically states "Already missed the opening act."

"Opening act?" Witten questions.

"Mom and I were on our way to see a Broadway show." Mia huffs out in a pout.

"Oh." Witten states in a bit of surprise "Gotta admit, don't get many cases where the parents take the child to Broadway shows… in fact this is probably the first."

"Because they aren't the kind of family that needs a social worker." Jamie reiterates "Rosa is a great Mom."

Suddenly the room door whips open and Eddie appears "Witten!"

"Eddie!" Witten greets as she stands and the former partners hug "Girl look at you!" Rachel adds as she steps back to look at Eddie's growing belly.

"I know right." Eddie laughs "I'm as big as a house."

"You looking stunning!" Witten counters.

"See!" Jamie interjects to his wife with a pointed look "Alright I'm tagging out here…"

"Where are you going?" Mia questions.

"If she's here with you..." Jamie explains as he points at Eddie "I'm heading to your Mom."

"Oh. Good." Mia accepts as they all watch Jamie disappear out the door.

"Alright." Eddie begins as she moves to sit at the table and look at Mia "You okay?"

Mia nods.

"Good." Eddie accepts before looking at Witten "I'm not letting you put her in the system."

"Eddie…" Witten sighs as she also moves to sit.

"No, you listen to me." Eddie interrupts "Her and her Mom have been through hell and back this past year. This is a simply misunderstanding that's all."

"Eddie…" Witten tries again.

"No. No! NO!" Eddie insists "I'm pregnant. Don't mess with me."

"I wouldn't mess with you before you were pregnant." Rachel points out "What makes you think I want to mess with you now? I mean come on, do you think I have a death wish?" she laughs.

"So you're not going to…?" Eddie slowly begins.

"Look if you and Jamie can prove this is all a misunderstanding..." Witten interrupts "I've got no qualms about backing off. I have a back log of real cases that actually do need my attention because if she's got you and the Reagan clan she certainly doesn't need me."

"She does." Eddie insists with a slight pout "She really, really does."

Mia leans forward and crosses her arms on the table as she looks between Eddie and Rachel "So two female cops as partners huh?"

"Yup." Eddie boasts "We were one of only about 100 female partnerships in the NYPD."

"100?" Mia thinks "That's a lot."

Eddie and Rachel exchange an amused look.

"Not when you compare it to the over 8000 male partnerships there are." Eddie adds.

Mia's mouth falls open "Wow. Well when Sally and I team up it will be 101!"

Eddie proudly smiles "Mia wants to wear NYPD blue when she grows up. Oh! And you'll never believe this…" Eddie chuckles "The Sally that Mia just mentioned is Mia's friend from school – she's McNichols daughter."

Witten's mouth falls open "Shut up!"

"No it's true." Eddie insists "In fact thanks to this one over here…" Eddie adds as she knocks her thumb towards Mia "Sarge – AKA Paula and I are now on a first name basis."

Witten looks at Mia "Wow, you're a miracle worker."

Mia shrugs "Well it is my name."

Witten looks at Mia confused.

"Milagro." Eddie quickly explains "It means miracle." She adds before looking up in thought…

….

Jamie stands just inside the entrance of the 12th waiting.

The door opens and Danny enters with a file in his hands. He sees his brother "Got it!" he calls as he holds the file up and walks towards him.

"Took you long enough." Jamie counters as Jamie turns and they both begin walking down the hall together.

Danny shrugs "There was traffic." he adds as the brothers turn a corner and head for the desk sergeant.

"Hey Simms." Jamie calls "A moment please?" he requests.

Nodding, Simms moves out from behind the desk and meets them.

"We've got the video from the subway…" Jamie begins "…that shows Mia paid the fare and went through. It also shows Rosa paying but the turn style malfunctioned."

"Well maybe she didn't put in enough money." Simms counters.

Danny holds the file in his hand out to Simms "Report from maintenance of the MTA – turn style was indeed malfunctioning. It is now currently out of service awaiting a part."

"Both Mia and Rosa paid." Jamie concludes "As I said, this is just a simple misunderstanding."

"Still the issue of assaulting a police officer." Simms points out.

Jamie pulls out his phone and plays the video for Simms "Does that look like Mia stepped on Park's foot on purpose with intent to harm?"

Simms sighs "No."

"Well then?" Jamie prompts.

"Fine, I'll have them both released." Simms relents.

"Thank you." Jamie accepts.

….

"Alright." Parks sighs as he moves towards Rosa's holding cell with Jamie following behind "You're free to go." He adds as he opens the door.

Absolute relief washes over Rosa as she steps out of the cell.

"And um... sorry." The officer mumbles.

Rosa eyes the officer a moment but doesn't say anything to him before turning her attention to Jamie "Where's Mia?"

Jamie knocks his head down the hall "This way."

….

Mia sits at the table across from Eddie and Rachel listening in awe as they regale her with the good tales of their time on the streets together "Wow, that sounds so cool!"

Suddenly the door opens, Jamie walks in and then steps aside allowing Rosa to enter.

"Mom!" Mia immediately greets in relief as she stands.

"Oh thank god you're okay." Rosa breathes out as she moves to hug her.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?" Mia presses in concern.

"All good." Rosa promises with a smile as she breaks away from her daughter.

"Charges have been dropped." Jamie announces "Everyone is free to go."

"Once again Uncle Jamie to the rescue!" Mia quips in pride.

"Um no." Danny counters as he also steps into the room with Rosa's purse and Mia's backpack "I got the video and proved the turn style was malfunctioning - just saying." He adds as he hands each one their belongings "What I don't understand though is how did things progress as far as they did?"

Rosa sighs "I accidentally left my wallet at home so they didn't believe me when I said I had your card."

"Yeah and then they wouldn't even look when I told them I had them too!" Mia adds on "And that Parks, I don't like him! He pretty much laughed in my face when I said you were my god parents."

Eddie narrows her eyes at Mia "What do you mean? What did he say?"

"He said 'yeah and I'm the Easter Bunny' or something." Mia offers.

Eddie looks at Rosa.

Rosa nods in confirmation.

Without warning, Eddie turns and stocks out of the room.

"Oh watch out for the pregnant lady." Witten chuckles.

"Eddie!" Jamie calls as he heads after her.

Eddie makes a beeline for her old bullpen and the second she enters she looks around "Which one of you is Parks?" she demands.

"Um here?" Parks replies.

Looking over at the sound, Eddie's head tilts slightly to the side when she sees the guy sitting at her old desk. Her eyes narrow "You." she addresses with a point of her finger as she stocks over "Why didn't you believe her?"

"Huh?" Park questions as Jamie silently walks over to stand just behind his wife watching while Mia, Rosa, Danny and Rachel all hang back in the bullpen entrance way.

"She said we were her god parents right?" Eddie challenges.

"And you are?" Parks challenges.

Eddie pulls out her shield "Sergeant Eddie Reagan, Officer Parks."

"Oh." Parks mutters as he straights up a bit more.

"Well?" Eddie demands "Answer the questions then! She said we were her god parents right?"

"Um yes." Parks reluctantly answers.

"So I want to know why you didn't believe her." Eddie presses "Or at least try to confirm what she was saying was true. Why did you just dismiss her and automatically assume she was lying?"

"Well um… she's um…"

"She's what?" Eddie growls.

"Look I don't need to answer these questions." Parks deflects.

"Actually, Officer Parks…" Jamie decides as he takes a step up to move to his wife's side "…you do because not only is she a Sergeant but I'm a Lieutenant and I'm asking too."

Parks gulps a little at two superior officers glaring down at him.

Danny leans over to Rachel "Power couple." He explains in a whisper.

"Well?" Jamie demands.

Silence as Parks tries to figure out how to reply.

"Now Parks!" Eddie forcefully commands.

"She's Hispanic okay?" Parks finally blurts out "I mean come on! What are the odds what she was saying would be true!"

The look of disbelief on Eddie's face just say it all "Well guess what?" She seethes out "The odds were pretty damn good!" She adds before turning to look at her husband "I can't believe that jerk is sitting at my desk!"

"It was a mistake okay!" Parks tosses at Eddie "Charges have been dropped so what's the problem?"

"The problem is you were racial profiling!" Eddie tosses back.

"Eddie…" Jamie warns "Not here…"

"If not here then where?" Eddie challenges "It's guys like him that give the rest of us a bad name!"

"I made a call okay?" Parks spits out as he stands to square off with Eddie "That's it. I profiled nothing!"

"Like hell you didn't!" Eddie bites back.

"ENOUGH BOTH OF YOU!" Jamie demands as the ranking officer "NOT HERE! Now you sit down and get back to work." Jamie commands of Parks "And you…" he adds as he looks at his wife "…we're leaving."

"But…" Eddie tries to protest.

"Sergeant…" Jamie warns…

Eddie takes a deep unhappy breath "Fine." She growls before pushing past her husband to exit but the second she does she stops short when she sees Mia, Rosa, Danny and Rachel all standing there watching and her eyes zero on her god daughter "Mia…" She begins but her voice trails off as she watches Mia make a beeline for her but then step past her and up to Parks.

"I told you they were my god parents. I told you I had their cards." Mia begins "That's on you that you are too narrowed minded to accept that and when I become a police officer I promise I will NEVER treat people the way you treated me and my Mom. You suck!"

"I was just doing my job." Parks defends before looking up at Jamie "I followed all the guidelines and if you don't like it, take it up with The Commissioner."

"Maybe I will!" Mia defiantly decides "Because in case you haven't figured it out yet – I DO KNOW HIM!" She reiterates before letting out a scoff of disgust "Jerk." She tosses out at Parks before turning to walk away.

"The mouth on that kid is going to get her into real trouble one day…" Parks warns before moving to sit down at his desk "…trouble not even you two can get her out of."

"She's a good kid." Eddie defends as Parks tries to open his drawer but it sticks "So I doubt it. You just don't like it that she stands up for yourself so like she said – that's on you, not her."

"This damn drawer." Parks grumbles under his breath.

Without saying anything, Eddie walks up to her old desk. She grabs the handle of the problem drawer, gives it a subtle lift and twist and the drawer pops open with ease.

Parks eyes go wide in amazement "How did you do that?" he asks in awe.

"Because I pay attention to detail and take the time to figure stuff out." Eddie tosses back before pushing the drawer shut again, turning and heading for the exit "Let's go."

Parks looks at Jamie "How did she know that?" he asks again.

Jamie shrugs "Used to be her desk – and by the way, she figured that out her first day. How long have you been here now?" He queries but instead of waiting for an answer he simply turns and also walks away.

Witten watches as Eddie then Mia and Rosa, Jamie and Danny all file out and move towards the exit before turning her attention back to Parks "Don't mess with the pregnant lady." She shrugs in amusement before turning to follow.

...