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Danny picked Anna up from school and as promised, made his way out to the shooting range in Brooklyn. Normally, they'd head up to the one in the Bronx but with him being suspended it meant that he wasn't allowed to use the NYPD facilities plus the one in Brooklyn was closer. After letting her shoot his off duty weapon for a full hour, he made her sit down and clean it then he took her for dinner at a fast food joint. They sat down in a booth and Anna stared at her food for a few minutes. Danny began eating knowing that there was a chance that if he pushed her it could backfire. Finally the silence got to him. Just as he was about to say something, she did.

"It was hard not to love Uncle Joe," she said. Her voice was soft and careful and Danny found himself leaning closer to hear her properly. She wasn't speaking so quiet that he couldn't hear her; he just wanted to make sure that he didn't misunderstand her or miss anything she had to say. "All four of us did, you know, but it wasn't the same. The boys still idolize you more than their uncles and Nicky preferred Uncle Jamie. He's closer to her age; he understands what she's going through. She and Uncle Joe just didn't have all that much in common. We all loved him though. When he died Jack was eight and Sean just turned six. Mostly they were too young to truly understand the impact of his death. You're their hero though; you were so strong so it didn't hit them in the same way. I know that his death is hard on the whole family. He was a sweetheart and he tried to make sure that he spent time with everyone. You're my dad and I will always love you and yeah, you're my hero too but Uncle Joe was ..." Anna trailed off unsure how to say it without insulting her dad.

"Go ahead," Danny prompted, reminding himself to stay gentle and not take offense to anything she said. It wouldn't do him any good.

"He always made time for me. He—even though he was busy a lot, I still got to see him and he always called and he never got mad, especially not when I'd just show up out of the blue, you know. I really loved him and I don't think that anyone had quite the same bond with him that I did," Anna rushed out, staring at her chicken nuggets.

"You two had quite the bond. He was so proud of you. Every time I went and saw him at the twelfth, the other guys would bust my chops. It was a running gag that I adopted you from him. None of those guys thought my sweet little girl, could actually be mine." Danny saw a quick flicker of a smile on her face then it was gone.

"Then he died," Anna said. "Have you ever felt so angry and yet so broken at the same time? I have. I think I still do. I kinda got lucky, he died towards the end of school so I didn't have to deal with as many pitying and sorrowful looks but there was still the whispers and the rumors. I couldn't deal with those. All anyone cared about was how it happened and what I was going to do. No one really cared about making me better. They just wanted to make sure I didn't go off on them. I could ignore the looks but the rumors ... they were terrible. And I didn't believe half of them. Then puberty hit. Dealing with the five stages of grief on top of puberty ... No one should have to deal with all that at once." Tears began to slip down Anna's face. "After school started that fall, no one seemed to care anymore. A few people still talked about it, saying crap like "stay out of the way of that eighth grader, she's nuts" and stuff like that but mostly they'd moved on. Jack, Sean and Nicky all seemed to be okay so I couldn't mention it around them, then Angie stopped coming around, and everyone else seemed to be absorbed with work and ... and ... I have never felt so alone in such a big family before." Anna did her best to keep her tears from turning in to full on waterworks, wishing more and more for Joe to be there as he always knew what to say. She knew, though, that if Joe was there, she probably wouldn't be so upset.

Danny felt the same way she did at the moment, wishing for advice from his little brother. Knowing he had to do something and hoping the same thing that worked when she was a little kid worked now, Danny got up, slid around the table onto the bench seat next to her, and wrapped his arms around her. Instead of flinching away like he thought she'd do, Anna's hand slipped around his back and she fisted his jacket in her hand. He wasn't sure what to say to her so he just rubbed her back and held her close to him until the sobs and the tears subsided. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

"Why? It's not your fault." Anna looked up at him.

"His death, I know that. It's my fault that I never checked up on you. Might be a little bit your fault too." Anna pulled back away from him sharply. Danny saw the shocked look on the tear-stained face, her big brown eyes red from crying and instantly felt bad. "I didn't mean that the way you took it. You're strong like my mom. Like I am and sometimes you bury your hurt and feelings so deep that all we saw was the strong anchor in the storm. You held your brothers up, helped you mom keep everything together, and I never saw you break." Anna laid her head back against his chest and he stroked her blonde hair. "You never shed a tear and we all took that as you were dealing with it in your own way. Your mom and Jamie were worried but I thought you'd come to us and tell us if something was wrong."

"I cried myself to sleep every night for two weeks. I didn't want the boys to know, it'd hurt them too much and you were still trying to deal with it. He was your brother, that outweighs him being my uncle."

"But I'm your father and that should come before you worrying about me. It's supposed to be the other way around."

"I know, but I thought that not only did you lose your brother in the line of duty, but you lost your little brother. A little brother you swore you'd always protect. That had to hit harder. If I lost Jack or Sean, it would kill me."

"Of course it did, Anna." Danny lifted her chin so she'd look up at him. "But no matter what happens, I want you to always be able to come to me. I know losing your uncle Joe was hard and sometimes you feel like you're alone but you're not. There will always be someone you can talk to. Don't hold it in. We are here for you."

"Thanks, Dad." Anna let go of her dad and wiped her eyes.

"Do the kids at school still ask?"

"No, not anymore. I'd tell you if they did." Anna looked back at her food and began eating. On the way home Anna fell asleep and when Danny carried her up to bed, Linda was noticeably worried. Danny explained everything they had talked about which calmed his wife down and she mentioned how glad she was it was off her daughter's chest.

"But I don't know how much I helped her, Lin. Do you remember the last time she flat out cried?" Danny asked concerned as he took his wife's hand. They were both sitting on the couch after putting their boys to bed as well.

"After Joe died. Cried herself to sleep every night that week when she was sure the boys were in bed and you weren't going to check on her," Linda said.

"Two weeks. I had almost forgotten how heart wrenching her in tears is and not just because she's my little girl and her tears mean I failed at something."

"She's strong, Danny, just like you are. Sometimes, too strong."

"What do I do if she's not okay? I mean going through puberty and losing a loved one at the same time, I have no idea how she handled it."

"She knows we're all here for her. The next couple of months are going to be tough but we're here for her. That's all you have to remember. That and something I learned the first time I ever took first aid. Throw, don't go."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"When someone is drowning, throw them a lifeline, don't get out there and drown with them. If you go, they'll end up pulling you under with them. You have to stand on the shore and throw them a lifeline and let them reach out for help themselves. It goes against every instinct we have as parents but sometimes the best way to help them is by being that steady hand on the shoreline. They'll come to you, when they need you the most. Now, about you taking her to the range—"

"I know you don't like it, Linda, but it's something she only did with Joe. I know she's supposed to be grounded and that money's already tight enough, but I think it did her some good. She seemed more open than she was before I took her," Danny told her.

"I hope so, Danny." Linda shook her head then leaned into her husband as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Linda told me you had a talk with Anna," Frank said Sunday after dinner as he and Jamie joined Danny in front living room. The kids were watching some kind of cartoon in the sunroom as Henry, Erin, and Linda cleaned up the kitchen. Danny looked towards the sunroom and partially closed the doors between the living room and dining room.

"I took her to the gun range the other day," Danny said, accepting the glass of scotch his brother had brought him. "She said it was the only way she'd tell me. It's about Joe. I should have realized it always has been."

"She was closer to him than the rest of us were and it's only been a year. We all knew it would hit her harder," Jamie said, hoping he wasn't overstepping.

"Did any of us ever check up on her though?" Danny asked.

"People grieve in different ways, son," Frank said.

"She told me she felt alone. Alone, angry, and broken all at the same time," Danny explained.

"When it happened or now?" Jamie asked.

"Both. I made sure she knows she's not alone but I don't know if it got through," Danny said.

"I'm sure it did. Even just hearing it is good for her," Frank told him.

Meanwhile in the other room Anna looked towards the Reagan men who had just been joined by Henry. "What do you think they're talking about?" Anna asked, training her eyes on the living room.

"Don't know, but if you don't stop you're going to put me to sleep," Sean answered, pushing her hand away from where she had been mindlessly stroking his hair as he lay with his head in her lap. She muttered an apology and went back to watching whatever cartoon her brothers had settled on knowing that she probably wouldn't find out what the Reagan men were talking about.

"Anna, your grandfather would like to speak to you," Danny said, entering the sunroom several long minutes later.

"Am I in trou—No, never mind. He's the cool grandpa. He lets you punish me so I'm almost never in trouble with him," Anna said, prodding her brother up.

"You're not in trouble, he just wants to talk to you," Danny said.

Anna nodded and went out to her grandfather also taking note that Henry was in his chair. "Dad said you wanted to talk to me?" Anna said, sitting down on the middle couch cushion.

"You're not in trouble, we just want to know how you're doing," Frank said. "If you wanted to talk about anything."

"What would I—of course he told you. I'm fine. I don't need to talk about anything."

"He's worried about you, Anna," Henry said.

"And that means everyone else is too?"

"Of course we are," Frank said gently. "Of the four of you, maybe even your dad, Jamie, and Erin too, Joe's death hit you the hardest and now that your Uncle Jamie is a cop too, at the same precinct, it's bound to bring up some old feelings. You can talk to us."

"We just want to make sure you didn't get lost in the shuffle," Henry said.

"That's what Dad said too. I know I can talk to you and you'll try to listen, but sometimes I'm just all talked out and you can't fix it," Anna said, staring down at her lap.

"Are you really?" Henry asked.

Anna's head jerked up, her eyes narrowing at her great-grandfather. Frank had seen that same fire in his son's eyes too many times before and, then, like now, he knew he had to defuse the situation before his father could make it worse. Anna really was just like her father. "What Pops means is that talking is therapeutic and can make you feel better. Even if we can't bring Joe back, we can help bring you closure. Closure we all need," Frank soothed.

"I feel like I'm okay most of the time, but sometimes I feel like I'm so angry and so broken inside." Anna took a deep breath and slowly let it out as she went back to staring at her lap. "It's—It's like when you break a vase and use regular glue to put it back together. It seems strong and like the cracks aren't there, but if you pour in too much water, the cracks start to show and there will come a day where it'll fall apart again. I feel like that day is coming and something's going to shatter my world and there isn't going to be enough superglue in the world to put me back together," Anna admitted.

Henry and Frank shared a look. Neither of them quite knew what to say to that. "You ever feel like that, you come to us. No matter what's going on, even if I'm in a meeting with say ... the president of the United States, you come to me and you make me understand," Frank stressed.

Anna nodded. "And don't do anything stupid," Henry added, agreeing with his son.

"I won't," Anna said. She looked up at them. "I mean, I won't do anything stupid not that I won't come to you. I will come to you. I trust you guys and I'm sure you're probably able to help." Anna smiled then got up and hugged both her grandfathers. She looked out the front window and saw her uncle headed for his car. "Be back." She bolted after him reaching the curb just as he opened the car door. "Uncle Jamie!" Anna caught his attention.

"Uh, Anna." Jamie looked up shocked.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I was wondering something though," Anna said, looking at him then briefly glancing down as he rested his forearms against the roof of the car.

"Anna," he said gently.

"I know that you're busy with Syd and being a rookie, training with Renzulli is no cakewalk but he'll make you the best cop you can be." Anna looked down at her shoes trying to decide if this had been a bad idea or not. She was starting to get the feeling that she was overstepping and asking too much from him. Much more than she had ever asked before.

Jamie shut the door to his car then walked around the car, sliding between it and Anna and leaning back, watching her carefully. He realized that she was on the verge of tears and quickly wondered what Joe would do. Then it hit him. "Anything you need, Anna," Jamie said softly. Anna looked up and tears spilled down her face.

"He used to do that." Jamie didn't have to ask to know she meant Joe. "Lean back against his car and look at me like he had all the answers in the world and all I had to do was ask." Jamie instantly pushed away from his car and softened his look. "It was kinda comforting. Anyway, I know you're busy and the last thing you need is a kid who can't stand on her own two feet—" Anna stopped when Jamie pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a business card and flipped it over writing two numbers on the back then he pulled out a courtesy card. Then he handed them both to Anna.

"On the front is the precinct number. You probably have that memorized. Call and give them my shield number and they can get ahold of me. On the back, my cell and Renzulli's. One of us will answer. If not keep calling. In the most dire of emergencies, walk into any precinct in New York and hand the courtesy card to any desk sergeant and they can get ahold of me. Your dad probably told you that though," Jamie explained.

"Yeah, told me never to use it unless there was no other option," Anna said. "I try to be nice and get what I want."

"I mean it, Anna. Day or night, you need something, I'm here. I may not be as close to you as Joe was, but I want that to change. I want you to know that you can talk to me no matter what," Jamie said.

"Thanks Uncle Jamie," Anna said, sliding them both into her back pocket.

"The same goes for your aunt. Even if it's just to talk because you can't sleep." Anna nodded. Jamie pulled her into a hug and after a moment, he could feel her entire body relax. He held on to her until he felt her pull away. "I mean it, Anna. Call. Even if you think it's stupid or you think you shouldn't bother me with it. Sydney will understand," he said, finally letting her go.

"I get it, I will. I promise," Anna said.

A few days later the investigation cleared Danny and Anna overheard her parents talking late one night. "Major Cases?" Linda asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I thought after the thing with IA, it'd be the motor pool or out here for sure, but its major cases. I read the paperwork three times to be sure but that's what it said. 5-4 out of lower Manhattan. It'll be a shorter commute so there's that," Danny asked.

"Are you going to tell the kids?" Linda asked.

"Why me?" Danny asked.

"Your job."

"At breakfast. Maybe I should tell Anna first."

"If she's not sitting at the top of the stairs already listening. And just remember you did solve a Florida cold case from New York and you saved a little girl's life in 24 hours. I'm sure the bosses just saw what we see in you. A dedicated cop."

"Yeah and I'm sure Anna's in bed, where she's supposed to be." Anna could hear the warning clear in her father's voice. If she wasn't in bed she should be and he'd give her a few moments to get there before he came to check. Anna stood up silently and made her way to bed. Sitting on the top step was how she overheard all the best stuff. She couldn't be seen from the living room and as long as she didn't make any noise she wouldn't be heard either.

Sure enough the next morning, Danny pulled her aside before the boys came down stairs and told her about the new job. Anna only shrugged and wished him good luck before going into the kitchen for breakfast.