I was going to post this last night but my internet went down so you get it today. Thanks to Love Fanficiton, decadenceofmysoul, YaleAceBella12, and the guests Shadow and Coco for you reviews of the last chapter. Just a question, how does everyone feel about Ed? Do you like him, hate him, not care at all?

Also major thank you to Love Fanficiton for having the 500th review. That's almost 2 and a half time the number of reviews on any other story I've ever written.

References to 5x21 and 5x22.

"Anna, table three and don't forget more coffee at the counter," her boss, Mr. Phillips called. They were short-handed so he was helping out clearing tables and seating people.

"I got it," Anna answered. Ever since the weather had broken and warmed up, they had been getting more and more of an influx of people. Anna filled the coffee cups at the counter and checked on a few other customers before stopping by the corner table where her books were. She studied a moment or two then went to grab the order from table three who were now ready. She dropped it in the kitchen and looked around before looking back at her books. The end of the year exams were coming up and she was a bit nervous about it.

"Order up," the cook called. Anna got back up and took the order to the older couple. Just as she sat down the last plate, she was struck by a really bad feeling. She wasn't sure what it was but something wasn't sitting right in her stomach.

"Are you alright?" the older woman asked.

"I—" Anna swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just nerves for a history test tomorrow." She smiled and the woman nodded. "If everything looks good, I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you. It looks great," they answered.

The following day, after her history exam, she was walking towards the dorms with her friend. "When are you headed home?" Liv asked. They had met in the history class and kinda bonded over overprotective fathers. She was going for a teaching degree in history.

"Tomorrow after our last final. I managed to wrangle that day through the following Monday off. It's great, I miss my mom and my brothers."

"What about your dad?"

"Maybe a little bit. The dad I used to know. The one who wasn't angry that I moved over a thousand miles away."

"I'm sure he's just worried about not being able to protect you."

"You think?"

"I'm only two miles from my parents but my mom calls every night to make sure I'm okay. I can't imagine being a thousand miles away."

"I guess."

"Try to go easy on him. He's your dad and not only are you his oldest but you're his only girl. There's bound to be some mistakes for that reason."

"I guess. You got plans for the night?" Anna asked.

"Home, a good book, and my bubble bath."

"Lucky you."

"You're working again?"

"College doesn't pay for itself," Anna answered.

"Later," Liv said.

Anna had just finished clearing a table that night when pain shot straight through her heart. The glass in her slipped and shattered on the ground. She knew she was too young for a heart attack so she wasn't sure what was going on.

"Anna," Mr. Phillips said, appearing behind her with a hand on her shoulder. "Anna." He guided her into a seat and snapped at another waitress to bring a glass of water. "Anna, talk to me."

Anna blinked several times as though she just stepped into the bright sunlight but accepted the glass of water. "I—I—" She took several deep breaths and rubbed at her sternum. She couldn't figure out what to say. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong."

"Could it be your family? Friends maybe?"

"No. I can't ... I don't think so. I'm sorry, I'll get back to work." Anna said, setting the glass back on the table. She moved to push herself up but her boss kept her seated.

"Tell me what's going on." he demanded.

"I don't know, my heart just hurts. The last time it felt like this my dad had been shot." Anna looked up at the clock and saw it was edging towards 8 pm.

"Your father okay?"

"Yeah, eventually he was, but now, I don't know. Something feels wrong. I'm overreacting again. I'm sure it's nothing. The time before that my mom had just dropped a glass and cut her finger. It could be nothing." Anna shook her head. "I'm sure if it's something, they'd call me." Anna shook her head. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I'll be okay. Sorry about the glass, I'll clean it up."

"Don't worry about it. Kev will get it. Call your folks, make sure everything's okay."

"I'm sure it's fine. It can wait."

"Okay," he reluctantly agreed.

10 minutes later, she sat down for a break and Jane, the other waitress on duty brought her a piece of peach pie. "Boss's orders. Eat up then call your folks, better safe than sorry, Sugar."

"Yeah, I guess." Anna ate the pie as slowly as she could as out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mr. Phillips behind the register but eventually the pie was gone. As she tried to get up from the table, her boss shot her that look. The one that told her to do what he said. Anna sighed but called both cell phones. Neither parent picked up. That was strange. Her father always answered unless he was in the middle of chasing a bad guy. So, she called the house phone. No answer there either. Maybe they had gone out to a movie.

"Well?" Jane asked. Despite only being a year older than Anna, she had been working at the diner since she was 15 and knew most everyone who came in.

"They're not answering. They must be at a movie or something."

"On a Tuesday night?"

"I mean, it's possible. I'll try back in half an hour."

"Anna."

"Besides, like I said if something was wrong, they'd call. Since they didn't, I'm sure it's fine. The soonest I can be there is three hours anyway."

"Would they call? Really?" Jane asked.

"I'm sure they would. The only final I have is Math tomorrow. That's it."

Half an hour later there was still no response, the same was true of the next hour. Now she knew they couldn't be in a movie so she tried Jack. Despite it being close to 9:30, she knew he wouldn't be asleep yet. His phone rang and rang and rang before going to voicemail. She sighed and tried again. The third time she tried and got the same answer, she hung up angrily and tried her uncle Jamie. His phone went instantly to voicemail.

"Everything ok?" Mr. Phillips asked, putting the stack of dishes in the sink. She leaned back against the kitchen counter.

"Nobody's answering. It's weird. I just ... something has to be going on. I wish I could leave sooner but flights are so expensive."

"And there's your math final."

"That too."

"Well. If they're not calling you and letting you, then they clearly want you to focus and come home when you can."

"But it feels terrible inside. Something bad happened and I can't—"

"I know, but flights are expensive."

"Yeah, you're right."

She got home late that night but couldn't sleep. So, she went for a long drive. She found herself in a park on the water and wasn't surprised at all when a cop walked up to her. "Let me see your hands," he said.

"How about you have a seat and I'll tell you why it's one in the morning and I can't sleep before the biggest math test of my life," Anna said, recognizing the voice. She continued to rub her thumbs over each other not looking up. She was leaning forward, resting her arms on her legs.

"Anna Reagan."

"Mike Johansen," she answered. He sat down next to her and looked at the water. "Something's wrong. Something's very wrong and I have no idea what it is."

"What do you mean?" he asked. Anna pulled her phone from her pocket and opened Twitter. She scrolled down and pulled up the tweet then handed her phone to him. He read it aloud. "The NYPD mourns the loss of Chief Donald Kent and his wife." There was a link to the story but Mike didn't click on the link. "Did you know him?"

"For the longest time. Picnics and barbeques, he was a friend of the family. It's horrible to lose someone like that and I'm sure it's part of what's bugging me but there's something else." Anna took her phone back. "I told you about my uncle Joe. He died when I was 13 in 2009. Ever since then I haven't really been Catholic like I was when I was a kid but sometimes ... I get these feelings in my gut and in my chest. You could probably call it indigestion but I feel like he's still with me, you know. Every time something bad happens to my family I feel it, my dad gets hurt on the job, my grandpa gets hurt on the job, things happen, I get that feeling. I'm feeling it right now. Then to top it off no one's answering me. My parents or any of my family. Phone calls go straight to voicemail, texts go unanswered, Facebook and Twitter direct messages, nothing. I get nothing from my family and I've been trying for the past four hours. This is not right."

"I know you're scared but it looks like there's nothing you can do about it."

Anna sat up and looked at him. Then she collapsed into him. Mike, though shocked, instantly wrapped his arms around her. "Something bad is going on. I know it is and they won't tell me," she cried.

"I'm sure they would if they could. They don't want to scare you so maybe they're waiting for you to get home, then they're going to tell you everything."

"If someone was hurt, if they were in serious condition, they'd tell me, right?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, Anna. I'm a father and while all three of my kids live in Florida, the oldest lives over three hours away. If something were to happen to me or her mom, I would let her know to come home but I wouldn't tell her over the phone. From what I've seen from you, you read people really good and if any of your family were to get on the phone, you'd work it out in a heartbeat. They probably don't want to scare you and they know you're coming home so if they can push it off until you get there, then it's better because they can be there for you in person and help you through it." Mike's heart was breaking for the girl as he stroked the back of her head.

"What if they're not ok? What if I have to go through the entire day tomorrow and they're not ok? If they're gone, how can I—" Anna cried against him and Mike had no idea what to say to her. So, he just held her and stroked her hair like he would if it was his daughter having a breakdown. Slowly she calmed down and rested her head on his shoulder. He kept one arm draped around her and let the other one fall to his lap as she wiped away tears. She took a couple deep breaths. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Don't ever be sorry for caring or getting so upset. Our emotions make us human and we all need that. I can't guarantee that your parents will call in the morning and tell you what's wrong or that waiting for news will ever get easier but I can tell you that if they are keeping something from you it's for what they believe is a good reason. Your parents love you very much, yes, even your father, and they don't like telling you things that will break your heart if they're not there to provide back up for you and catch you if you fall."

"Thank you." She sniffed and then ran her hands along her pants. "How'd you know I was here?" she asked.

"You see those houses over there?" Mike motioned to the houses to their left that she could just barely see across the small inlet and through the trees. "They called the cops. It is 1:30 in the morning."

"Will you walk me back to my car?"

"Sure."

The following morning at seven a.m., she called the adults in her family to include Nicky. Each and every single one went to voicemail or in her great-grandpa's case, the house phone went to the answering machine. That gut wrenching feeling spiked in her stomach again. She gave it half an hour more before trying again and getting the same result. Deciding she couldn't sit through her math exam with this feeling gnawing at her like a dog with a bone, she called the one person she really hoped wouldn't ignore her. Sure enough, the man picked up the phone.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Lieutenant Gormley," she said gently. She needed to be careful about how she took this conversation. If she pushed too hard, he'd shut her down real quick and would never answer her or help her again, but if she didn't push hard enough, she'd never get an answer and her stomach would be in knots all day.

"Anna? Is everything ok?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. I understand that there are things you can't tell me over the phone or even in person. I understand that most bad news should come from my grandfather and you don't want to cross a line and get in trouble but most importantly I understand that there is some news that no matter how bad you want to say it, even given the go ahead, you just can't tell me over the phone. There are six adults in my family besides me, seven if you include Nicky. It's one thing when my aunt's in court and my dad and my uncle are chasing down leads or on duty. I can understand that my mom works really hard and answering her phone at the ER is not an easy thing to do. What I can't understand is when over the course of almost 12 hours, I cannot get ahold of any adult in my family. Not my parents, not my aunt and uncle, not Nicky, neither of my grandfathers, no one. Not even Jack, my kid brother, is answering me. I find it very hard to believe that a teenage girl or boy whose cell phone is usually glued to their hand wouldn't answer a text, so I'm going to ask one time, Lieutenant, what is going on? I know about Chief Kent's death, saw that on Twitter, and maybe that would explain my dad and my grandpa being unreachable, but not the rest of them. Please, I have to know," Anna nearly begged.

"I don't know why your parents aren't talking to you." He stopped and didn't say any more.

"I know that I'm coming home later today but this gut-wrenching feeling, it's not going away."

"They probably want to tell you in person."

"Lieutenant, please. I have to know. It could probably wait but I'm scared and I don't like it."

Gormley sighed. It really wasn't his place to tell her anything but he knew if his son was in the same position, he'd want someone to tell him. "Yesterday afternoon, Chief Don Kent and his wife were killed in a drive-by shooting. One other person was injured and rushed to St. Victor's hospital. He witnessed the event. Last night, that witness was murdered in his hospital bed. What they didn't realize at the time was that—" Gormley took a deep breath. "Are you sure you want to hear this and not wait until you get home?"

"Injured, I can take over the phone, I don't need details, but if someone I care about was killed, don't tell me. Figure something else to say but don't tell me over the phone that someone I love was killed."

"Your mother was rushed into surgery and from what I hear is in stable condition. That is all I can tell you."

Anna sat down hard on her bed and pressed a hand to her lips. Her dad had the dangerous job, her mom was supposed to be safe at a hospital. This never should have happened. She was supposed to be safe. Anna tamped down on her feelings as she could tell the Lieutenant was worried about her. "Thank you, sir. I shouldn't pull favors from 1PP but no one is answering me. My flight gets in at about 2:30. My mom was supposed to pick me up, but now if she's still in the hospital, I don't know how I'm getting home. Could you check with my dad and Grampa? See if one of them is coming to pick me up or something? I appreciate it."

"Are you alright?"

"I will be. My mom's ok, and I'm going to see her today, or at the very least my grandfather so I'm ok. Or I will be until I get home. Again, thank you for being nice enough to answer my call and make sure I'm ok. God knows what would have happened if something was wrong with me and I couldn't get ahold of anyone. I need to go, I have an exam so, I'll call you later and if you get an answer to who's picking me, you can just text."

"I will do that. Please don't worry, Anna, I'm sure she's going to be just fine."

"Thank you."

Anna hung up the phone and allowed herself a good cry before getting ready for the day. On one hand she was still upset that no one in her family had bothered calling but on the other, she could understand why they hadn't. She was also still scared for her mom and hoped the Lieutenant was right, that her mom was going to be okay, but was grateful her mom was stable, or at least hoped that hadn't been a lie from the Lieutenant in order to spare her feelings. She washed her face then got ready for her exam.

When she got back from her exam that morning, there was a man in a Miami Dolphins t-shirt standing by the door to the dorm building. "Should I be worried you know where my dorm is?" she asked.

"No, you've mentioned it, several times. You look better than you did earlier," Mike said.

"I finally got ahold of a family friend. My mom was—he never actually said what happened but from what I inferred, my mom shot on duty last night and is now in stable condition after being rushed into surgery."

"Your mom's a cop too?"

"No, my mom is head ER charge nurse at a hospital in Brooklyn. She was tending to a patient when something happened and she must have gotten shot in the crossfire."

"So, you're headed home now?"

"Give me 15, then I could use a lift to the airport if you don't mind. I was going to take a taxi, but you're here so, why not?"

"Okay. I'll wait."

So what do you think? Did I go too far?