A/N: Well my computer crashed, and flat out died WHILE I was right in the middle of working on this story so needless to say it corrupted the file and I lost chapter 3, part of 4 AND the Bible of the entire story arc - that's the most frustrating one. Luckily I had chapter 2 already loaded into Fanfiction almost ready to post so that got saved but then I had to deal with getting a new computer. Not only was that a whole lot of fun right there (not really) but now, I have to rewrite it all (when I have time) and hope I remember it which sucks because I was really happy with what I had already written. For the most part I had everything else backed up its just because I was in the stupid file at the time... grrr...
Chapter 2: Chance Meetings
For a moment Jamie and Eddie just stare at Joe and Joe stares back at his Aunt and Uncle.
"HEY!" A happy male voice suddenly sounds from behind Joe inside the house "You made it!" Meretti greets as he walks up "Joey let them in!"
Shaking himself from his stunned stupor, Joe slips back into his role "You got any weapons?" he asks.
"Um it's America." Jamie lightheartedly states with the quick flash of a charming smile "Doesn't everyone?"
"I'm gonna need to pat you down." Joe tells his Uncle in a very no nonsense way.
"Okay." Jamie accepts just going with the flow so Joe pats down both Jamie and Eddie and retrieves two guns from them "You can get these back when you leave." He tells his Aunt and Uncle before turning his head back towards Meretti "All good boss."
"Isn't he great!" Meretti gushes of Joe "Best bodyguard I've ever had."
"Hmmm." Jamie muses as he plasters his smile back on his face.
"Come in! Come in!" Meretti warmly adds as he ushers his new guests further into his house.
….
"Oh my god, thank you for inviting us over!" Eddie gushes as she and Jamie head for the door with Meretti and his wife following "We had so much fun!"
"Yes we'd invite you to our place but it's nothing compared to this." Jamie tacks on.
"Then you will just have to come back here!" Meretti's wife definitively decides as Joe appears near the door and offers Jamie and Eddie their weapons back. Jamie takes his and as Eddie goes to grab hers she feels Joe hang onto the weapon a second longer then necessary as he gives her a piercing stare and that's when Eddie feels it, something sticking to the underside of her gun hidden from view between the gun and Joe's hand so being sure to keep that side hidden from view, Eddie opens her purse and just quickly slips the items safely and discreetly inside.
"We'd love too!" Eddie quips with a big bright smile as she snaps her purse closed "Right Honey?"
"Absolutely!" Jamie easily agrees.
"Well we need to be going!" Eddie quips.
"She turns into a pumpkin at midnight." Jamie jokes of his wife.
"Oh stop!" Eddie chastises causing Meretti and his wife to laugh.
"You two are so cute!" the wife gushes.
"We get that a lot." Eddie muses with a light pat of her hand on her husband's chest as she smiles at Jamie and Jamie smiles at her "On come on Prince Charming." She prompts "My glass slipper covered feet need a rest."
"Yes Dear." Jamie charmingly agrees as he and Eddie take a step towards the door and Joe immediately opens it for them.
"Again, thank you for inviting us over." Eddie states as she and Jamie walk out the door "We had a lovely time."
"Us too!" Meretti's wife returns "We'll be in touch! Bye!"
Jamie and Eddie wave goodbye as they open their car doors and get in. Jamie starts the car and drives away and it's not until they are down the driveway and out of the gate that Eddie opens her purse and pulls out the note Joe slipped her.
"What's that?" Jamie inquires as he glances over.
"Joe slipped me a note." Eddie replies as she opens it up.
"Where are we meeting him?" Jamie simply inquires.
Eddie takes a moment to read then pulls out her phone to insert the address on the paper into the search bar "Ah, it's a cemetery." Eddie reveals.
At hearing that, Jamie tilts his head slightly "Huh." He breathes out slightly impressed "Guess he can learn things."
"What does that mean?"
"I had him meet me at the family plot during my undercover stint with the human trafficking ring." Jamie explains "No one follows you into a graveyard."
Eddie thinks about that "Okay that makes sense but a graveyard is a big place…" She begins to counter when a thought hits her "Hang on…" she requests as she turns her attention back to her phone and starts to search. A minute of so later, Eddie looks up "Okay I know exactly where to meet him."
Jamie glances at his wife with a curious, raised eyebrow but then focuses his attention on the road in front of him.
…..
Eddie leads Jamie through a row of headstones as she keeps glancing at her phone and then the headstones before them as they walk "Okay and it should be right up… yup. Here we go." She announces as she stops in front of a group of headstones.
Looking over Jamie sees the name 'REAGAN' on them – Peter and Aileen on one and Thomas and Kathleen the other.
"If he meant any other location..." Eddie tells her husband "...I'll eat my hat."
"Huh." Jamie breathes out impressed "I'd have to agree." He admits "That's some pretty good Detective work there Officer." He commends with a proud smile before again looking at the headstones.
Following his eyes, Eddie curiously inquires "Any relation?"
Jamie shrugs "Not as far as I know."
"Well…" Eddie notes "Clearly there is a Reagan family branch out this way too."
"Hey." Joe's voice suddenly sounds.
Turning, Jamie and Eddie see Joe standing before them.
For a moment they all just stare at one another.
"So you found the place." Joe then notes as he walks forward to stand beside Eddie as the trio form a slight semi circle – Joe, then Eddie, then Jamie.
"Eddie figured it out." Jamie admits "Interesting choice of venue." He tells his nephew across from him.
Joe shrugs "Learnt it from this really great cop I know."
"What the hell are you doing here Joe?" Jamie just out of the blue demands of his nephew.
"Don't say hell in a graveyard." Eddie mutters to her husband.
"ME?" Joe spits back in agitation "What are YOU doing here?"
Eddie shifts her gaze from her husband to Joe and sighs knowing the butting heads has begun "We are on assignment." Eddie answers.
"No, I'M on assignment." Joe corrects causing Jamie to place both of his hands on his head and begins to pace a few steps in frustration.
"Great." Jamie grumbles out "Just great."
"So…" Eddie slowly deduces in realization "We're all working the same case?"
"Looks like." Joe agrees.
"Yeah because this isn't going to complicate things at all!" Jamie spits out in frustration at his nephew.
"Jamie calm down." Eddie tries to sooth as she stands in the middle trying to play peacemaker.
"Don't tell me to calm down Eddie!" Jamie barks out "He did it again!" he begins to rant like Joe isn't even there "He inserted himself into my case!"
"Our case." Eddie corrects.
"Hey!" Joe defends "This is my case – has been for weeks now!"
Jamie looks at his nephew "How did you even get yourself into the position you are?"
"You mean as Meretti's body guard?" Joe queries before nonchalantly shrugging "I saved his life."
"That I'm sure you put in danger in the first place right?" Jamie challenges.
Again Joe shrugs "Details. And it worked did it."
"Unbelievable." Jamie mutters "Which branch are you working for?"
"Joint op with ATF." Joe replies "You?"
"FBI." Jamie replies.
Eddie looks back and forth between the men "There is clearly a crack in the cement over at the NYPD that your Dad needs to fill in." She tells her husband "How is it the NYPD doesn't know they have officers working this from two different sides?"
Jamie looks at Joe "You didn't run it through safety net first did you?"
"ME?" Joe counters "Maybe YOU should have run it through safety net!" He tosses back "I was here first!"
"Look arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." Eddie points out in an attempt to smooth things over "Can't we all just work together? At least we know there is someone else on the inside we can trust."
In hearing that Jamie and Joe both turn their heads to stare at Eddie.
"Oh don't look at me like that." She chastises both of them "You know I'm right." She points out "No matter what issues you two might have you are family and this family sticks together now shake hands or hug or something and get over it because like it or not we are now all in this together!"
"Yeah we are not hugging." Joe scoffs out in rejection but when Eddie crosses her arms, shifts her weight to one foot and glares at Joe, Joe on instinct reaches out and pats his Uncle on the shoulder as a compromise.
"There, all good." He promises his Aunt hoping that satisfies her because in truth he was a little afraid of her right now and if she pressed the issue he would indeed hug his Uncle purely out of fear of her.
Eddie eyes Joe "I will accept that." She decides before one of her index fingers springs out and points at him "This time." She warns "But don't make me have to do that again capisce?"
"Yes ma'am." Joe immediately accepts causing Jamie to snicker so Eddie whips her head in her husband's direction silently telling him to shut it.
Jamie's snicker immediately dies away "Sorry." He apologizes.
"You're scary." Joe realizes out loud of his Aunt.
A satisfied look appears on Eddie's face "And don't you forget it."
"I can see what Uncle Jamie sees in you." Joe admits causing Jamie to turn his head to glare at his nephew "Hey!" He warns "That is your Aunt you are talking about!"
"Okay I didn't mean it like that." Joe emphasizes "It was a compliment how um…" he hesitates trying to find the right words.
"How kick ass she is?" Jamie helpfully and a bit proudly offers.
Joe snaps his fingers and points at his Uncle in agreement "That."
"Yeah. Uh huh." Eddie notes as she eyes the two blood related men before her causing Joe to lean slightly towards his Uncle
"Um why is she looking at us like that?"
"She's plotting our punishment if we step out of line again." Jamie simply explains.
Joe's eye go wide in slight fear causing Eddie to let out a hearty laugh "Oh relax he's kidding. …kind of…" she then admits.
Now Jamie leans slightly towards his nephew "Told you."
"Oh stop." Eddie chastises "I'm just playing with you – I mean we're stuck here a year right? Might as well make the most of it."
Joe blows out a breath of air "A year." He repeats "To be honest I'm not sure I can survive a year with you two."
Eddie plasters a bright smile on her face "Sure you can! This gives us all – but especially you two - some great bonding time to really work out your differences!"
Matching frowns appear on both Jamie and Joe's faces "Great." Both men unconvincingly mutter out.
"SEE!" Eddie happily quips "You're tuning into one another already because you just looked and sounded like twins when you did that."
A look of total rejection appears on Jamie's face "We did not!"
"You did." Eddie confirms "It was very cute."
"Okay she did NOT just call us cute!" Joe rejects.
"So super duper cute!" Eddie needles just to get even more of a rise out of him to which Jamie heavily sighs "Stop encouraging her." he instructs his nephew "Because she'll keep going as long as you keep getting riled up."
"I'm going to need a user's manual." Joe mutters.
"HEY!" Eddie protests.
Finding his nephew's words a bit funny, Jamie runs with it "Let me know if you find one." He chimes in to his nephew "Because I never have."
"HEEEEEEEY!" Eddie immediately warns.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Jamie soothingly promises his wife as he plasters his 'you know I love you with all my heart' look on his face to which Eddie scowls at him in return.
"I was gonna say." Joe admits "Because you at least have the cliff notes version."
Jamie and Eddie both turn to look questioningly at Joe.
"Stop encouraging her." Joe repeats to his Uncle echoing his earlier words "Because she'll keep going as long as you keep getting riled up."
"Alright." Jamie relents as he tries not to smile "I have the user manual."
As payback, Eddie backhands her husband on the chest – hard.
"Ow!" Jamie protests as he on instinct leans forward into the hit.
"And she knows how to get past your defenses." Joe impressively notes.
"I have the key." Eddie boasts.
"Clearly." Joe agrees.
"Clearly." Jamie deadpans.
"Maybe you should change the locks." Joe jokes to his Uncle.
"Oh he tried for a long time." Eddie a bit pompously admits "But turns out my key is a master key that gets past anything."
Jamie sighs in the ultimate defeat "It is." He agrees.
"That's cute." Joe relents.
"And I'm not kidding." Eddie seriously states.
Jamie shakes his head from side to side "She's not kidding." He agrees.
"Are you two always like this?" Joe queries.
Jamie and Eddie both shrug in deflection "You sit side by side in an RPM for five years…"
"...and spend as much time as possible off duty with one another…" Jamie chimes in.
"…you learn to read each other like a book." Eddie finishes.
"That's right." Joe remembers "You two were partners first. I've never had that – a partner I can rely on like that."
"Really?" Eddie states in true surprise. Partner relationships were the cornerstone of police work. "Never?"
"Are we seriously going to do this?" Joe suddenly just inquires in deflection "Three Reagans working together on an undercover assignment – isn't that against the rules or something?"
"No." Jamie and Eddie both say in unison.
"No written rules at all." Jamie adds.
"Trust us." Eddie jumps in "We've been over all the books looking."
Joe looks at his Aunt and Uncle in thought "I suppose you would have. Okay." He then accepts "I'm in."
Eddie turns to look at her husband "Jamie?" She prompts.
Jamie heavily sighs "Well we already made contact – if we back out now the entire operation is a bust."
"And we would not want that." Eddie agrees "Okay then I guess we are all on an extended Reagan family 'vacation'." She air quotes.
"Um excuse me?" A female voice suddenly interrupts "Did you just say Reagan?"
Surprised, Jamie, Eddie and Joe look over to see a young woman standing there with two bouquets of flowers in her hands.
Now kicking herself for saying their real name out loud, Eddie lets out a dismissive little chuckle "Who wants to know?"
The woman looks at the three people before her and raises her hand to her shoulder in a "hi" gesture as she half introduces herself "Reagan." She greets.
Jamie, Eddie and Joe stare at the woman in shock.
...