Big thank yous to Donnie88 and jlmayer for the reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying it. also thanks to the rest for reading the last chapter and those still adding this story to their favorite and alert lists.

This chapter contains references to and scenes from episodes 1X6 and 1X7.

"Sit," Danny said the moment Anna walked inside after school one day in late October. He motioned to the couch opposite him and Anna reluctantly sat down. She hated these talks. It was usually because she was in trouble which she questioned once she was on the couch.

"Am I in trouble?" Anna asked. "I don't think I've done anything lately to land me in trouble. If Jack and Sean are blaming something on me—"

"You're not in trouble. Not yet. What do they have on you?"

"Trying to figure that out. What's going on?" Anna asked.

"How easy is it for you to get your hands on drugs?" Danny asked.

Anna stared at him in shocked disbelief. She couldn't believe her father wanted to know that. It hit her that he was probably only asking because of whatever case he was working. "Oh, you're serious? Dad, I took D.A.R.E. when I was in the fifth grade, I'm the daughter of an NYPD detective, the granddaughter of the PC. I know drugs are bad."

"Just answer the question."

"I don't know. Stuff like Oxy, Vicodin, Percocet, and sleeping pills are pretty easy to get. I could probably throw a rock in my cafeteria and hit someone who knows someone who is taking them or someone who has them in a medicine cabinet at home. Most homes medicine cabinets are easy to get into and I'm sure parents aren't going to miss them. The harder drugs, heroine, coke, meth, I wouldn't even know who to talk to." Anna sighed and rolled her eyes. "Dad, I'm not a bad kid, these things are illegal for a reason and if I ever needed to let off steam, I have a fence in the backyard I can throw a baseball at. You know, I don't get invited to half of the parties Derrek does because people think my dad is a Marine. Those parties usually have beer, loud music and smoking. The parties I do get invited to would disappear in a heartbeat if people find out I'm a cop's kid. CKs they call them at school. The goodie two-shoes you have to stay away from. Just trust me okay? I like making you angry but I'm not stupid. Besides school policy is to drug test every athlete at least once a season. You get caught with drugs in your system; you're benched for the rest of the season. And you get your parents called. They smell alcohol on you and it's an immediate suspension."

"Have you ever tried alcohol?"

"Once. A little bit of beer. It was Christmas and I said I didn't understand the point. Grossest thing I have ever tried to include fish."

"Who in their right mind would let you—Joe." Danny shook his head slightly smirking. Of course his brother would have. He was the only one who would have crossed that line without talking to him.

"It was Christmas Eve. I was 12. We were in the kitchen while everyone else was watching some football game and I asked him why adults had wine with dinner and beer during the game. What was so great about it? He let me try some. Didn't like it for a second. He told me it might come, it might not. Different people like different things and as long as people controlled their drinking it wasn't a big deal. Maybe he's right, but either way drugs do bad things to good people," Anna said.

"Oh yeah?"

"I've heard about it. Seen photos. I know it's wrong. Dad, you can trust me. If I ever need that kind of high, I'll just play cards." Danny nodded finally believing her. "Can I go now? I have homework."

"Go ahead," Danny said as Anna scrutinized him for a moment but then she stood up and went up to her room. Of course at the weekly dinner Anna found out for certain why it was such a big deal to her dad and why he was asking her about it. It was part of a case he was working. While talking about it, Henry brought up a tactic he had used on Joe and Danny when they were kids so they would stay away from drugs and out of trouble. He had taken the boys to the Tombs and locked them up. Frank had done the same to Jamie when he was 11. Sean and Jack stared at their uncle in disbelief. That's when Frank asked how old Jack was.

"Ten," Jack answered.

"Uh-oh," Anna said. All the adults laughed but Danny shut down what they were all thinking.

"He is not going in the Tombs," Danny said.

"But you're willing to consider the option Uncle Joe used on me?" Anna asked. "I always wondered where he got that idea from."

"What do you mean?" Sean asked.

"Unlike Dad and Uncle Jamie, I was ten. Tell me you knew about that?" Anna said, directing the last part at her grandfather. He nodded.

"I heard about that. He actually locked you up?" Jamie asked.

"In a holding cell, at his precinct, for four hours," Danny said impatiently.

"For what?" Jamie asked.

"Wasn't that why you were mad at him for like a month?" Jack asked.

"It gave me nightmares for a week." Anna shook her head. "My friend Beth is from divorced parents. They've been divorced since second grade I think. Anyway her dad lives in Manhattan and we were over there playing in a park, jumping off the swings to see who could jump farther. Her dad had just yelled at us, worried we were going to get hurt. We jumped off one last time when I spotted Uncle Joe leaning against an RMP. He and two uni's walked up and next thing I know, I'm handcuffed in the back of the car. I was terrified. They took me down to the precinct and put me in a holding cell with 6 of the biggest, scariest guys I had ever met."

"As I recall, you were playing and winning five card draw when I picked you up," Danny said.

"Yeah, well if I was going to sit there, I was going to have something to do. As scary as it was, I knew Uncle Joe wouldn't let any one of them hurt me. After about an hour of sitting there scared and wanting to pee my pants, I convinced the guard at the door to give me a deck of cards. After a week of nightmares, Dad finally told me they were detectives and I was in absolutely no danger but he hoped I had learned my lesson. I had but I still didn't talk to Uncle Joe for the next three weeks until he took me to the gun range and let me shoot a shotgun for the first time," Anna said.

"I was not happy about any of that," Linda said.

"At least it worked," Danny said.

"You know, a lot of people think drugs should be made legal," Nicky said, turning the topic more serious and back to what they had been talking about.

"Yeah, a lot of crazy people," Frank answered.

"People also think there shouldn't be speed limits on the highway, but doesn't make it true," Anna said.

"Medical marijuana is legal in California," Nicky insisted, ignoring her cousin.

"Yeah, well, that's California, what do you expect?" Linda put in.

"Well, it's not legal here," Frank said.

"And for good reason," Danny added.

"Drugs make your teeth fall out," Sean said. Anna tried not to laugh.

"I'm just saying, there's no scientific proof that some drugs are more harmful say alcohol," Nicky stated.

Anna rolled her eyes and stared hard at her potatoes. It wasn't her fight and she was going to stay out of it until she couldn't. Nicky was suddenly fighting with her mom then she got up and stormed off. Anna looked up to see her mom giving Erin a sympathetic look. Anna sighed. "DVDs, guns, tobacco, prescription painkillers," Anna said softly.

"What?" Jamie asked, looking at her.

"They're all legal but still bootlegged on the black market. Making things legal doesn't put all criminals out of business any more than putting lipstick on a pig makes it pretty," Anna explained. "People find ways to make money off legal stuff all the time, especially illegally."

Frank stood and went after his younger granddaughter and Sean asked if he could have Nicky's chicken. The tension was broken at the table but Linda refused to give Nicky's chicken to Sean.

As they drove home later that night, it was awfully quiet in the backseat of his Jeep. Danny glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure everything was alright and saw that Sean was asleep against Anna's shoulder, she was busy playing something on her iPod, and Jack was staring out his window. As they returned to their neighborhood Jack turned his attention to his father. "Dad, would you really lock me up?" Jack asked.

"Were you planning on doing something bad, Sport?" Danny asked.

"Like you did to Anna," Jack corrected.

"That was your uncle's idea."

"But would you?"

"Of course not, unless, like I said, you do something really wrong," Danny comforted his eldest son. Jack fell silent and went back to staring out the window. By the time Danny put the car in park in front of the house, all three kids looked on the verge of sleep. He silently cheered knowing that it was going to be a quiet night with just him and his wife curled up on the couch.

"Danny, I've been thinking," his beautiful wife said the minute they were curled up on the couch together with all their kids in bed. The radio was on low and it was his favorite kind of night. "After last week with the bomb threat and this week's overdoses ... Anna's 14 now and when I was her age I was out my girlfriends every weekend and starting to get interested in boys. It's only a matter of time before she starts dating."

"She's not allowed to date until she's 50," Danny argued.

"Danny, I'm not even 50 and I have three kids. She's growing up and I shudder to think of all the things that can happen to her when we're not there."

"She's not going anywhere by herself anytime soon."

"Really? How exactly did she meet your new CO?"

"That was one time."

"Danny, in a few years, she'll be driving, not to mention all the babysitting she does in the neighborhood. I'm not asking you to do anything about it now, I'm just asking you to consider getting her her own phone."

"She's got a phone, Linda."

"Cell phone. Just for emergencies. At the very least it will give the family another option if they can't get ahold of me. Plus we'll worry about her less."

"She's 14, Linda."

"I know that. That's why I'm not suggesting a brand new smartphone or anything like that, just something simple."

"I'll think about it," Danny finally agreed. Part of him wondered if it was a good idea and part of him wondered if it was even affordable but he knew his wife wouldn't have suggested it if she didn't believe in it. Maybe it was a good idea. Granted there was no way they could afford something like a brand new smartphone or blackberry, the two phones they had were tough enough, but something like Linda's phone wouldn't be too much of a stretch. He thought about it for a few more moments then put it out of his mind and focused more on enjoying his wife while he had the chance.

Friday after school, Anna's friend Jim pulled her aside, away from the rest of their friends. "Hi there," Anna said, smiling up at the older boy.

"Hey, a bunch of the guys are getting together at my place to have sorta a movie marathon. We wanted to know if you wanted to come," Jim said.

"Yeah? An all guy party? Pass. Especially if my dad finds out," Anna said.

"It's not all guys. Most of the guys are from the ball team so your parents know them, plus Mary and Kristy and Beth and Jenny will all be there."

"So it's one of those pretense parties. One that you call a movie marathon but really it's an excuse for you to have the guys over with their girlfriends so they can make out or whatever and the only adult home is your brother. You and I will hang out in the kitchen for about half an hour before I get uncomfortable and go home. Pass."

"No." Jim insisted. Anna narrowed her eyes at him not believing him for a second. He held his hands up, surrendering. "My mom's going to be there and I swear it's just movies."

"I don't know, Jim," Anna backed down. "I don't think my dad's going to be okay with that either. Let me think about that and I'll call you."

"Starts at two tomorrow. Just ... let me know," Jim said. He smiled and walked off. Anna nodded and headed for the crosswalk in the opposite direction.

"Anna! Hey, Anna!" a female voice called as she turned away.

Anna looked around and spotted Angie, Joe's former girlfriend, next to her truck on the curb. Anna turned and walked down to her. "Angie, how are you?" Anna asked as she hugged the woman.

"I'm great thanks," Angie answered. She hugged Anna back then gave her a sympathetic smile as she crossed her arms over her chest. In Angie's arms, Anna spotted a dark colored sweatshirt. "I was headed back to Portland but I wanted to see you first."

"Portland's the opposite direction of me," Anna said. She spotted the boxes in the back of the truck and hoped it was just a short trip, taking some stuff home that she didn't want around the apartment any more.

"I know. I know this is going to be hard on you, but I'm moving back home. This city—" Angie glanced towards Manhattan and then shook her head. "I loved Joe," she said as her eyes focused back on Anna, "Part of me always will. It's been more than a year and I gotta move on. Joe wouldn't want me, either one of us, to wallow in the past. I was packing and I found a box of Joe's old things in the closet. His old iPod, manual to his car, a few clothes, movies, baseball glove." Angie shook her head as she looked at Anna hoping to get through to the girl. "I gave most of it to Jamie when he stopped by the other night but this, this I think he would have wanted you to have." Angie handed over the sweatshirt and Anna held it up by the shoulders. It was Joe's old NYPD hoodie. Dark blue with yellow letters and a NYPD patch on the front. His name, Reagan, was in the same yellow across the back. Anna had seen a similar one in her dad's closet but she was sure that one was a different color.

"Angie, you should keep this," Anna said, trying to give it back.

Angie put her hand over Anna's. "I have a lot of stuff that reminds me of Joe. T-shirts, cards, movie ticket stubs, photos ... I think—No, I know that Joe would want you to have this hoodie. Remind yourself of his warm hugs." Anna smiled; Joe did always have the warmest hugs. "When I saw Jamie last night, he asked me something. About Joe. He seemed more than curious about Joe's last night. I know the relationship isn't the same between you and Jamie as it was between you and Joe, but do you know why he'd be asking about it? Now, after all this time?"

"Time passes; we remember things we didn't before. What did he ask?"

"Just if Joe seemed worried about anything. I didn't really talk to him that day though. He called to tell me he loved me like he always did before a raid but he didn't sound any different than he normally did. I'm sorry, kid, I didn't mean to bring that up," Angie said when she saw how nervous and curious Anna was.

"It's okay. I'm sure it's just Uncle Jamie's nerves about joining the 12th," Anna said. She smiled to comfort Angie. "You know Uncle Joe was going to marry you one day."

"I know. And I would have loved to marry him. Guess it just wasn't in the cards," Angie said.

Anna looked down and noticed something sticking out of the pocket of the hoodie. "What's this?" Anna asked, pulling the slip of paper out of the pocket. "Anderson? Do you know an Anderson?"

"I remember finding this in his jeans pocket once. He told me not to worry about it. Said it was an FBI agent who wanted his help but he wasn't right for the job they offered him," Angie said, looking at the paper.

Anna nodded and tucked the paper in her pocket. "Thank you, Angie. This means a lot. I know you have to get on the road but remember that if you need anything all you have to do is call. Just because Joe died doesn't mean we don't care about you anymore."

"If you're ever in Portland, I'll return the favor." The women hugged again and went their separate ways.

By the time Anna got home all ideas of Jim's party were gone from her mind and she was solely focused on figuring out why Jamie was worried about Joe's last night and who Anderson was. It didn't help know that Anderson was with the FBI and that Joe might have lied to his girlfriend about this person. Anna sat down at the family laptop and tried searching for the name in combination with FBI but it turned up too many hits to help her, so she ran a reverse phone look up on the number on the paper. All that came back with was the fact that it was a cell phone number based out of D.C. She would have to pay to find out any more about the number. Anna sighed and drummed her fingers on the table trying to think of another way to find out more about this Anderson person. Hearing a car pull up outside, Anna deleted her search history and quickly pulled a book out of her backpack. She tucked the scrap of paper between the pages and pretended to be reading as her mom and brothers came inside.

"Boys, homework," Linda told them as they rushed for the couch. "Anna, is your homework done?"

"Mom, it's Friday night. I have all weekend."

"Homework now or that's all you'll be doing this weekend." Anna sighed and set down the novel then got started on her homework.

Saturday morning. The one day of the week Anna and her brothers didn't mind getting up early. After breakfast some weeks it was hanging out with their dad but most of the time right after everything was cleaned up the three of them camped out on the couch for the rest of the day. When she made it to the table that particular Saturday she noticed her dad's car was already gone from the curb.

"Mom," Sean said, sitting down next to Anna. "How come Anna gets an NYPD hoodie?"

"What?" Linda asked, entering the dining room with a stack of French Toast. Sean motioned to Anna who was wearing the dark blue hoodie and a pair of thick PJ pants. "Have you been in your dad's closet again?"

"No, Dad's is grey with black words. This one belonged to Uncle Joe," Anna said. "Angie stopped by the school yesterday and said Uncle Joe would've wanted me to have it. She was headed back to Portland."

"I see," Linda said gently. Sean became very interested in drowning his French Toast in syrup. They both knew Joe was a very sore subject for Anna.

"Moving on, do you have any plans for today, Mom?" Anna asked.

"Laundry and cleaning house. If you want to help you can clean your room. That goes for you too, boys. Before video games both of you are cleaning your room," Linda said, as Jack pulled out his chair at the table. Both boys nodded. "Why do you ask?" Linda turned back to her daughter.

"My friend Jim, you remember him? First base on the baseball team, he's having a get together with a bunch of kids but I wasn't sure I wanted to go."

"Well, get your room cleaned anyway that way if you decide to go, you can," Linda told her.

"Or you could hang out with us," Jack suggested.

Anna shrugged. Maybe she would. It had been a while since she had hung out with her brothers aside from the obligated Sunday dinners. After cleaning and vacuuming her room, Anna joined Sean and Jack in their room. Both rooms were spotless when Linda came up to check on them at noon. After lunch, Anna called Jim and turned his party down then spent the rest of her day hanging out with her brothers.

That week's case of the week was one about the Webster Avenue Boys. A teacher trying to help the community was going to testify against his brother, the head of the Webster Avenue Boys. Shortly after the teacher had testified in front of a Grand Jury, his brother had been killed. Not long after that, the gang had come after the teacher. Danny, who had caught the case, and an ESU team had stopped that attack. That resulted in arrests for the entire upper level of the gang. Unfortunately without the donations from the gang and the teacher's brother, the learning center the teacher worked at had to close. As Anna pondered the case and what she would have done in the teacher's position, she heard things get loud between her dad and her uncle. In truth she knew her uncle was right, the use of a blackjack was no longer acceptable, but she also knew that there were better ways for Jamie to show his disapproval than throwing IA in Danny's face. Soon, Jamie stood up from the table and walked outside. Frank followed as the rest of the family sat in shocked silence.

Anna looked around and saw no one looked like they knew what to say. Then her eyes landed on her own brothers who looked worried. "I know you're just trying to look out for him," Anna said softly to her dad, "in the way you think you failed Uncle Joe. Being tough on him might make him stronger. Spare the rod, spoil the child and all but Uncle Jamie isn't Uncle Joe and while you are very good at your job, you're not very good at weighing the consequences before you rush into something. No one is that bullet proof, not even you."

Danny's jaw tightened and his look hardened. For a brief second Anna wondered if she had gone too far but knew that not only would it have been something Joe would have said, though maybe not that harshly, but also that backing down now would have been bad for her point. "You think your uncle is right?" Danny pushed.

Looks like he wasn't going to let her back down. "Maybe," Anna answered. "Then again, what do I know about having a little brother and wanting to protect him? After all, I'm only 14. One thing I do know about being 14 is that people tend to overlook you and you pick up on a lot more than people realize." Anna stared down her father.

"Well—" Danny started. Linda touched his arm and Danny sighed, letting it go. Soon Jamie and Frank rejoined the table and dinner was finished in relative silence.