Thanks my lone reviewer Decadenceofmysoul. Thanks to all of you who are still reading.

Contains scenes from 1X22.

Anna thought about it as Jamie rubbed her back. Starting with everything she knew concrete from her uncle would help them put it all together. She could feel her dad beside her, but couldn't look at him. He was already too upset she was there in the first place, so she kept her eyes on the fireplace behind Frank's and Henry's chairs, with her chin on her knees, her gaze unfocused as her mind went back more than two years ago. "I guess it all started about 26 months ago. Two months before Uncle Joe ... At least my involvement. It was early March. I didn't have baseball because of the snow and Uncle Joe picked me up from school and took me to the range before he made me lasagna at his place. I used to love lasagna but now I never look at it the same. Uncle Joe only ever cooked when he needed to get his thoughts straight. I knew something was up. It wasn't until dinner was over and we were on the couch that I dared to ask. He scoffed. "Know the best way to keep a secret, kid?" he asked me. "Don't tell anyone, but if you can't keep it to yourself, tell someone no one expects." That was just like Uncle Joe. Always giving me the moral before the story."

"Sounds just like him," Frank said.

"Yeah," Anna gave a humorless laugh. "He told me what he was about to tell me could never leave the house. That I could never, ever tell another living soul and if I was ever asked, I was to lie. That was the only time he ever ordered me to lie about something. I mean he encouraged white lies but this, this was big. "A lie of omission isn't really a lie, Banana, especially if no one's really asking about it. Also any lie that makes someone feel better is okay unless ultimately they'll be hurt by it. That's why they call it a white lie." Anyway, I could feel how big this was just by the way he leveled with me. I asked him if he was sure that he wanted to tell me and he flat out said no but he felt like someone had to know. He needed to know he was doing the right thing. I'm still not sure I'm doing the right thing but you've always said that this family doesn't keep secrets. If it'll help you take them down, get the men who killed my uncle and tried to kill my other uncle then ..." Anna looked up at the ceiling, "Uncle Joe, please forgive me."

"I'm sure he will," Henry said.

"He told me he couldn't tell me everything, not because it was dangerous, but because it could blow the entire operation. He didn't want to jinx it, but now the more I'm putting together, the more I think he didn't want to tell me because it was dangerous. He said he'd been tapped by a fraternal organization inside the PD and that he had been contacted by his handler about bringing said organization down. He'd been undercover for four months. He was working towards the inner circle of this organization. When I asked why these guys were so bad, he told me they were doing everything they were founded to prevent and it was personal. I pushed a little harder. He was hesitant to get into what they were actually doing, but said they were like Robin Hood except they weren't giving to those in need. They were stealing from really bad guys to ..." Anna swallowed, "to line their own pockets. When I asked him what the rest of the family knew and if his handler was inside the department, he wouldn't look at me. I should have known then that the guy wasn't. Turns out he wasn't sure if any of the family was involved. I just figured he was working for IA. Now, I know he wasn't."

"He told you that?" Frank asked.

Anna focused her gaze on him and shook her head. She looked back towards the fireplace and let her focus wander. "No, that's what I thought. When I pushed harder, he told me the man he was looking into this for wasn't with the department, but he wouldn't tell me anymore. Not about his handler. So I changed topics and asked why he didn't ask Grampa about dirty cops and this organization. He told me his handler wasn't sure how infected the department was or how high up it went. I was astounded this guy could think that Grampa was involved with dirty cops. Uncle Joe told me, personally, he didn't believe it for a second, he just had no way to prove it to his contact because the contact had no prior history with the family and didn't know the kind of person Grampa was. Then Uncle Joe told me to think about the one reason, besides them being dirty cops, that Grampa wasn't involved. It took a while but I got it."

"But if all you knew was that these guys were stealing from terrible guys and nothing else, how would you know that Francis hadn't crossed that line, besides the obvious? Stealing from bad guys isn't the worst thing a cop can do," Henry said.

"Pop," Frank said, looking at his father astounded.

"It's a sin, Francis, but it's not something that would instantly tip her off that you were leading a group of crooked cops," Henry answered.

"You weren't being spoiled rotten. None of us were living above our means," Danny said, after a moment.

"If I was leading a ring of dirty cops inside the NYPD, as commissioner I couldn't be directly involved so I'd turn Danny. Of him and Joe, he'd have the stomach for it. Mostly. My grandkids would benefit from that," Frank said, looking back at Anna.

"Exactly. I pushed again asking him why he didn't take this to Grampa and finally he told me that he wasn't sure how involved Dad was, that Pops was retired and couldn't do anything about it, and even if Grampa wasn't involved, he wouldn't believe Uncle Joe without rock solid proof. He couldn't afford to. Plus there was a line in the sand and Uncle Joe couldn't take the chance of Grampa inadvertently tipping off IA. That was most of what Uncle Joe told me. At least that night. I met with him just before he died and pushed almost as hard as I dared to. He finally told me and I quote "We suspect the Temp—I mean these cops of some of the most heinous crimes one can commit." When I asked what he meant by heinous, he was hesitant to say but finally told me that they were stealing drugs, guns, and money from career criminals as well as beating down anyone that opposed them. I knew it was bad, but I wasn't completely sure if it involved killing. I wondered when it would be over and who he suspected and when I mentioned the latter, he told me that he couldn't say without jeopardizing the case, but he did suspect some of the guys he worked with." Anna pressed her forehead to her knees and let out a long, slow breath. Then a phone rang and Anna glanced at her father out of the corner of her eye. He was speaking low and soft but Anna could tell he had just caught a case.

"Anna, did he tell you anything else?" Frank asked, gently.

Anna sighed then lifted her head and stretched out her legs, her eyes resting on Frank. "Only that he thought he was in. Anything else I know is what I've put together over the last two years," Anna said.

"I have to go, I got a case. If I'm not back in an hour, make sure she gets home, okay, Kid?" Danny asked Jamie.

"Of course," Jamie answered.

"You and I," Danny stood and lifted Anna's chin so she'd look up at him, "are not even close to done talking about this."

Anna swallowed but nodded and Danny kissed the top of her head before leaving. "Am I in trouble?" Anna asked.

"Why would you be?" Frank asked.

"Because I didn't come to you about this. Either before or after he died."

"No, Joe made you promise not to tell anyone and you didn't want to break that. If he felt he was any great danger, he would have come us. And we're not mad at Joe either. Especially not your dad. For as long as he lives, your dad is going to try to protect you from the bad things that come along with his job. The same way he tries to protect his brothers," Henry said.

"Danny's just worried," Frank said. "Why don't you tell us what else you know about the investigation?"

"I found out that he was working with the FBI. That phone number ... um, I found a phone number in Joe's hoodie that just said Anderson and a phone number. I tried looking it up. All I got was it was out of DC so I asked Uncle Jamie. He looked it up for me and he told me she was FBI. Told me they had ambushed him on the street. That's when it clicked. His contact outside NYPD. Still don't know why they were looking into it or what tipped them off. Um ... the Blue Templar. I ... He kinda let that slip. A week before he died he kinda told me when he told me about what they were suspected of. As for his death ... I've always been suspicious of it." Anna leaned against her uncle and sighed.

"Why?" Frank asked.

"Do you have the article that was released in the uh ... The Daily News after Uncle Joe died?"

"Somewhere, why?" Frank asked.

"Well, that article stated there were three perps. When I got Pops to tell me what happened just over a year and a half ago, he told me there two. You told me that he was serving a warrant to appear and these guys were bad guys. Typically if it wasn't a search warrant, he wore his vest. It's a shock that he wasn't wearing it that night. That's what doesn't make sense. According to the article, if I remember correctly, he was serving a warrant to a convicted felon who had to appear in court for ..." She sat back up and ran her hands through her hair, trying to remember the article.

"Strong-armed robbery. It's without a weapon," Jamie explained softly.

"I just ..." Anna pulled her hands from her hair and sighed, aggravated. She clenched and unclenched her hands. "It. Doesn't. Make. Sense. The guy's already been convicted of a felony and is now being brought up on robbery charges. I mean even if this guy has no history of weapons ... Do you get it?"

"Of course we do," Frank said gently. "Though what you've pointed out about his death is thin, if you add in what you knew about the Blue Templar, his death would be a little suspicious."

"Maybe more than a little," Jamie said.

"You said Joe told you because no one expected him to," Henry prompted.

"Who would expect a 12 year old to know about the Blue Templar and dirty cops? Maybe he was concerned about them coming after him and no one knowing, maybe it was his way of figuring things out, maybe he wanted a different perspective? I don't know," Anna said.

"Why didn't he come to one of us?" Henry asked.

"I pretty much already said that. You're retired Pops, and yeah, you have connections but you'd want him to take it up with Grampa. Grampa couldn't take it without proof, he'd trust him because it's his son but as PC you need the proof. Aunt Erin and Dad have kids and Uncle Jamie was at Harvard." Anna leaned back against her uncle and he stroked her hair. "Uncle Joe just wanted everything in order before he took it up to all of you." The stroking was definitely putting Anna to sleep and it was long before she was stretched out on the couch with her head in Jamie's lap as he continued to stroke her hair. That's when Frank's cell phone rang. He took the call keeping his voice low and soon he hung up.

"That was Danny. Looks like his case might be related. He's going to be there for a while. Why don't you go ahead and take her home?" Frank suggested. "Tomorrow, we'll talk some more about this and loop Erin in." Jamie nodded and he and Anna went out to Staten Island.

The following day, Linda picked Anna and the boys up from school and dropped Anna off at Frank's before taking the boys to run a few errands. Anna had finished her homework and they had dinner before Erin, Jamie, and Danny arrived. Erin had been filled in while they waited for Danny to show up. After he came in, he explained how they had found a Kevlar, police-issued glove at the crime scene and how it was possible for someone to drop it. As he walked over to the far end of the couch, he explained his theory about four perps, two through the window and two through the front door.

"You talking to IA?" Henry asked from his chair, looking up at Frank as the younger patriarch stood next to his father. Anna, Jamie, and Erin were on the couch in that order with Erin closest to Frank. Anna had her computer on her lap and was looking through the notes in front of her.

"Uh-uh," Frank shook his head.

"Not even Bello?" Henry asked. Anna looked up sharply at her grandfather. There was that name again. She wondered why it kept coming up. "Why not?"

"I trust Alex, but he won't know if the Templar has eyes and ears over there," Frank explained.

"Unless ..." Anna said slowly.

"Don't say it Anna," Jamie warned.

"You think Bello's in on this?" Frank asked.

Anna was hesitant to respond. She bit her lip not sure what to say. "What's with the computer, Kid?" Danny asked.

Anna tapped the flash drive sticking out of it. "Everything I know about the investigation is on this USB. I never let it out of my sight and I never access it while connected to the internet. I think there's a chance IA is involved with the Templar." Anna stared down at the computer not sure how much to let them in on. Even though Jamie had convinced her to tell them everything she knew the night before, she wasn't sure that the facts she was putting together now were actual facts and not just supposition.

"Why?" Frank asked.

"Well ..." Anna paused still not sure. "Uncle Jamie told me that he used a police computer to look into Lydia Gonsalves' file, but it came back restricted. I know that files can be restricted for a lot of reasons and that it's not necessarily a bad thing but IA is one of the few departments that can restrict a file. They can also tell who has been trying to access a file."

"Right," Frank said.

"And I know after every shooting it's standard procedure for IA to look into it. Didn't Bello ... wasn't he one of the IA investigators that looked into Uncle Joe's shooting?" Frank nodded. Anna looked at Jamie. "I'm sorry, Uncle Jamie," Anna said softly.

"Go on," Jamie said.

"I find it a little odd that the same IA investigator that looked into Uncle Joe's death, looked into Uncle Jamie after the incident in Chinatown and into him after his weapon went missing." Suddenly all eyes turned to Jamie. "Sorry," Anna said again. "Being investigated by the same IA cop twice could be coincidence but when he sounds like he's trying to make Jamie into the bad guy ... It doesn't sit well. Plus with Uncle Jamie's gun going missing just after a run in with Sonny Malevsky and Malevsky warning him twice about watching his back then the breaks go out on his car ... These things all added together do not make for coincidences."

"Anna," Jamie started.

"I'm sorry," she apologized again, "but I'd rather have you mad at me rather than dead. Enough with the secrets."

"Your breaks went out?" Danny asked concerned.

"Sunday night. After leaving that party for my class. Crashed it into a cement barrier because that was better than the East River," Jamie admitted reluctantly.

"That's smart," Danny muttered.

"You can't handle this all on your own, Dad," Erin said, looking back up at her father.

"I'm not going to. I have you, and Danny. Can we trust Detective Curatola?" Frank asked.

"She's solid," Danny said nodding.

"What about me?" Jamie asked.

Frank sighed. "I know this is going to be hard for you, Jamie, but they do have eyes and ears on you, so for now, you got to go about your business like it's any other day."

Jamie nodded and looked down. He didn't like that he had done all the hard work and was now being shoved to the side. "So we have five, six," Erin counted, "Anna?"

"No!" Danny said forcefully. "This is where I draw the line. My kid already knows too much. She's 14."

"Part of me wants to know everything and watch it go down. The person or people killed two decorated and seasoned detectives and how many others? Tried to kill Jamie. They have to pay." Anna ignored her father for a moment as she looked at Frank. "But I know that if I do find out who ... I know that I won't sleep for a while. My conscience will always be wondering why alarm bells weren't going off in my head, why I didn't see it and how they blindsided me. I think after tonight Dad's right. All I need to know is when it's done, that you got them and why they did it. You make them pay for Uncle Joe whether that means legally," Anna looked at her aunt then turned to her dad, "or otherwise. You get this SOB and you make him pay for messing with our family," Anna said.

"So six and we're looking for a few out of what? 35,000? Isn't there anyone else you can trust?" Erin looked up at her father.

"Yes, and I'll bring them in a the right time, but right now, we don't know how high up or how deeply this infection has spread, so for now, this operation stays in-house. In this house." Frank looked at each of them, convinced he was doing the right thing. The rest nodded, agreeing with him.

Anna left the flash drive with her grandfather then Danny took her home. As they drove back to Staten Island, Danny looked at her several times but didn't start the conversation. Finally Anna turned to Danny. "I know you're upset that Uncle Joe brought me in on this when I was 12 and that Uncle Jamie told me instead of coming to you. You're also worried that because I do know so much, it could put me in danger, but my dad is an awesome cop and a seasoned detective. I know he can protect me. Outside the family, no one knows I know anything and no one expects me to."

"You're my daughter, Anna," Danny said.

"I know and I know this makes it hard on you but I'll be okay and maybe if you do find these dirty cops and get the man responsible for killing my uncle, I won't feel as guilty as I do. I keep thinking there was something I could have done, something I could have said to prevent it from happening."

"Anna—" Danny started.

"From everything I can find it was Malevsky in that alleyway with Uncle Joe. If it was him—"

This time Danny cut her off. "Anna, stop. There is nothing down that road. Your uncle was 19 years older than you. You were just a kid. There was nothing you could have said or done to change what happened. We will get these guys and we will make them pay for what they did," Danny said.

"Promise?"

"I promise." Danny agreed.

Saturday night found Danny coming in just past 10:30. He kissed his wife then asked for his daughter. "She should be in bed, church tomorrow." Linda answered. As Danny climbed the stairs the phone rang. "Hello?" Linda asked.

"Linda, sweetie, I'm sorry to call so late, this is Mrs. Oscar, your back door neighbor."

"Of course, Mrs. Oscar, what have you found in your yard now?" Linda asked. Typically anytime her boys played in the backyard something made it over the back fence then rolled across the alleyway into the Oscars' backyard.

"Now that you mention it, Ralf did find a football and two Frisbees which we'll return in the morning, but tonight he was taking out the trash and caught sight of someone sitting on your back roof. We thought about calling the cops but wanted to see if Danny was home first. They've just been sitting there for the past few minutes and the light is on in Anna's room."

"Linda, Anna's not in her room!" Danny called.

Linda covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "Check the roof," Linda called back.

"Found her!" Danny said, peeking out the window.

"Thank you, Mrs. Oscar. Danny just checked and it's Anna. Sometimes she can't sleep so she goes out there to watch the stars. Danny will be joining her in a moment," Linda told her.

"Of course, doll. We wouldn't want anyone trying to break in." They hung up as Danny crawled out the window and sat down next to Anna.

"Nice night." Danny said after a moment.

"A bit chilly," Anna answered. "I know I'm not supposed to be out here, but I couldn't sleep. I'm sorry, Dad."

"It's okay, kid." Danny said. "When I was your age, I used to do this too. Sit on the roof and watch the sky. Couldn't see anything for the smog and the lights but ..."

"It's comforting seeing the headlights. It feels like home," Anna said, pulling her blanket closer around her legs. Danny shifted closer and wrapped an arm around Anna and she leaned against him.

"It does," He said softly. They sat in the quiet for a while, watching as lights went out in the houses around them. Everyone was going to bed. "We got 'em," Danny said. It took a full 30 seconds to understand what her father said and when Anna did, she turned to look up at him.

"You—You did?" She asked nervously.

"Yep," Danny answered.

"Do I want to know?"

"No matter what name or names I tell you, you're going to blame yourself. You're too smart for that. There was nothing you could have done differently. It wouldn't have made a difference. Don't go down that road, Anna. I told you before, it's a dead end. Would telling your grandfather that there were dirty cops inside the Blue Templar make you feel better two years ago? Yes. Would it have stopped Joe from dying? Probably not. Dad probably would have sat Joe down and talked to him but Joe would have convinced Dad he could handle it and then he would have cut you from the investigation completely. I'm not going to tell you who because you won't be able to sleep. Just know that the Blue Templar will never be able to hurt another cop again. Not from inside. Everyone involved lost their shields."

"Oh."

"And Anna, avoid the news for the next couple of days."

"You don't want me to hear about it?" she asked.

"You said all you wanted to know was when it was done. It's done."

"That's not what I said."

"I made them pay, it's done and you know why they killed Joe and Lydia. They knew too much." Anna nodded. They sat on the roof a bit long before Danny pulled away from Anna. "Try to get some sleep, okay?"

Anna nodded again. "I love you," Anna said softly.

"Love you too, kiddo," Danny answered.

I hope everyone enjoyed that nice long chapter explaining everything that Anna knew about the Blue Templar.