Joe's pov
The kids were with my Mom for the night, given that both Laurie and I had night shifts, and she was spoiling them, if I knew her. I had been working on an undercover sting without the rest of the team consisting of my family members, which on this articular night was both good and bad. It was the anniversary of my Dad's passing, and while I wanted to have my own time and way of processing, I could not help but wonder if me going on an undercover op without any family backup did not send some dreadful deja vu down the spines of my family members on this particular date. At least I was not dealing with other cops, just drug lords. Gearing up with the hidden guns, microscopic surveillance mics and cameras; I lastly put on my trusty black leather jacket, the same that had once been my Dad's. The same that kept him close to me, that helped me navigate the years of sleepless nights. Knowing there was no way he could hear me, much less reply, I nevertheless whispered
"Let's do this, Dad."
And with that, I set off to the meeting with the Muerte Roja cartel. I'm assigned to Latin American and Spaniard crime cartel ops a lot due to my fluency in the language, along as my other skills as a Detective. The Red Death cartel. Red death, last time I heard that term was in the DC Comics... Shaking myself out of my musings, I got into mission mode after leaving a recorded message for m family as I tended to do during every op, letting them know I love them. With that, I walked into the central nervous system of this cartel. The main guy in charge, Jose Chavez smiled my way
"Finalmente llegaste, mi gemelo de nombre!"
Always the same greeting. On the rare occasion that I beat him to a meet, I always return it. You finally arrived, my name twin. After all, Jose was the language equal to Joseph, and I operated under the alias Jose Gomez. I decided to keep a version of my real name to facilitate undercover acclimation, and to give us something in common to bond over, because it sure was not going to be drugs. I man-hugged him, careful that he would not be made aware of the surveillance on me and replied
"Las calles estan llenas de autos, fue pura suerte llegar solamente dos minutos despues de tu."
Fed him a line about how the streets are full of cars and how it was pure luck I got there only two minutes after he did. In reality I had been gearing up to get there and had taken a chopper. Not that I was gonna tell him that. He laughed
"Esta noche Muerte Roja va a empezar su reinado en Nova York, traendo muerte a todos. Ponerla en el reservatorio de agua fue una idea genial."
I was feeding the audio to one of my contacts, who was also fluent. Chavez had just said that tonight Muerte Roja, which was the name of the cartel and their own patented drug, was going to begin their reign in New York, bringing death to all. He also admitted that the drug had been dispensed in the water reservoirs, calling it a genius idea. I heard a double tap come into my earpiece, a signal that they received my intel and the NYPD, the Health Department and the Mayor, my Mother were working on reversing it, his confession already officially translated, and admissible in court. Chavez never spoke in English during his hits or meetings, thinking that way he was safe from cops discovering and foiling his plans. Not today. He walked closer to me
"Usted es la primera y unica persona a saber de mi plan. Quien esta me oindo por intermedio de usted?"
Had I been made? He said I was the first and only person to know of his plan, then asked who was listening through me. Wheels were turning like crazy in my head, trying to salvage myself and the mission, even though the merchandise was long confiscated, the water treated. At least that had been resolved. I opened my mouth
"Nadie estan escuchando. Paranoia no es algo bueno para ti."
Despite the fact that I had just said that no one was listening and paranoia was not something good for him, he still beat me to it. He drew his gun before i could mine, and then everything went black.
3rd person pov
No sooner had Chavez shot Detective Hill, had the NYPD barged in, hot and heavy. They had captured every member of the cartel, and to Chavez's surprise, read him and his crew's rights in perfect Spanish. So much for his secrecy plan after all. They also told him of his empire's demise. By now, Detective Hill had been airlifted and sped over to St. Victor's Hospital, under the care of his Uncle Will. Three bullets had been fired, aiming for his lungs and heart. His ribs had taken the fall for his lungs, though that caused a case of double pneumothorax, when the lungs are punctured. As for the bullet meant for his heart, it had been deflected by a shark-tooth shaped locket, with a picture of his Dad inside. Without the necklace, he would have been DOA.
He had been quickly whisked away for surgery, while Jack and Mia took care of alerting their family members, who gathered at the hospital lobby not long after, even Joe's maternal grandfather George Hill, visiting again. One surprising appearance was Sargent Anthony Renzulli. He was in good standing with the Reagan family, sure, having been the Training Officer for Danny, Joe Senior and Jamie, but what stuck out was that he had arrived with Paula Hill, and she had not let go of him for anything. The Reagans looked at the pair in confusion as Laurie kept herself busy with her children, trying to keep them from realizing just how bad things were right now. Paula was the one who broke the awkward silence with a sniffle
"Anthony and I met a few months ago, on the two year anniversary of his wife's passing. A few months after that, we were best friends. Two months later, we began dating. We were going to tell Joey tomorrow."
That made for a bit of stupor, until the family was able to regain composure and properly congratulate the new-ish couple. At least they knew Renzulli was a stand-up guy, much better than the man who had terrorized Paula and Joe in the past. The silence was again broken by Will coming over, and the family gave him their full attention. He spoke
"He's stable, but, he fell into a coma state. It's his body's way of protecting itself as he heals from the stress on his organisms. We don't expect it to take long for him to wake up. As of now, there's no reason for him to not be up by the day after tomorrow."
The family let out a collective sigh of relief and thanked Will, Paula laying her head on Renzulli's shoulder as he squeezed her hand. Stan Rourke, Laurie's father, hugged his daughter close to him, hiding her tears and his own from the children present, especially Joe and Laurie's own. He was going to be ok.
Joe's pov
Out of nowhere, I felt myself going from a quiet darkness to a brightness accentuated by steady beeping, muffled voices, a strong smell of cleaning products and a slight pinching sensation on my hands. IVs. Hospital. Muerte Roja. Gunshots. It all came flooding back, and I tried to lift my heavy eyelids, squinting upon direct contact with a bright light.
"Ow... That's bright."
My family immediately spoke in one voice
"Joe!"
I smiled
"Hey. Did we get them?"
My boss and grandfather smiled
"Yes, you did. Congratulations. Great to see you, you were in a two-day coma."
Taking in that information, I hugged my wife and kids close, then my mother and other family members, only to notice my Mom was standing with Sargent Anthony Renzulli. He had been Uncle Danny, Dad, AND Uncle Jamie's TO. But, groggy as I was, my Detective brain still said he was here for my Mom more than for anyone else. I smiled
"Mom, Sarge... You two dating?"
Renzulli laughed
"Observant like his father. A Sweetheart like him too, from what I've heard. Yes, we are, if that's ok with you. And I can tell you about your Dad's first days out of the Academy."
I nodded, truly happy for my Mom
"I'm glad you two found each other. Thanks for keeping my Mom safe and happy. And I'd love to hear the stories, if you wouldn't mind."
He began regaling us with my Dad's early days out of the Academy, making me feel even more connected to him, though I would never truly know him. Not really. But I had his family and friends to fill in most gaps, and that was proving to be great. I laughed at one point of the stories
"He got pulled over for speeding during a chase? Didn't people realize he was a cop?"
Renzulli shook his head in amusement
"Knucklehead forgot to put the lights and sirens on the unmarked car. Luckily, the Detective who stopped him saw who it was and rescinded the ticket."
Uncle Danny, the one who had stopped my Dad then set him free, spoke up
"But I DID bust his chops about it. For years."
The laughter that followed, though great for my soul, was not as appreciated by my ribs and chest, so I soon had to rest, leaving most of our family no choice but to leave to return at a later time. Right before I fell asleep, I grabbed the jacket I rarely parted with, spreading it over me to fall asleep, and my sleep was restful.
