Thank you to fischgrl, Ki4pak, BooBoo33, decadenceofmysoul, kirbyschoice, JWR Cromwell, and the guest Alex for all your kind words. I love Anna and Jim together too. Thanks to everyone else who continues to read this and add it to their favorite and alert lists. That means a lot.

Contains references and scenes from episodes 2x2, 2x3, and 2x4 and a slight reference at the end to 4x11.

"Yeah, but I think after the Super Bowl win they're on a roll," Anna said to Jim and Derrek as they walked out of school on Thursday.

"Maybe," Derrek said, "But this could also be Buffalo's year. I mean think about it, you can't be terrible every year."

"Oh please, the Bills are like the Jets they haven't been good since the 90's," Jim said.

"How about those Mets?" Anna said to change the subject. All three were Mets fans and it was typically a safer topic than talking about football.

"The Mets lost this year, Anna. Like fourth place in their division, I think," Derrek said.

"Excuse me, are you Anna Reagan?" A man asked as Anna, Derrek and Jim reached the sidewalk in front of the school.

"Yeah," Anna said slowly. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Captain Derrek Elwood, NYPD. I'd like to ask you a few questions," he said.

"You have your ID?" Anna asked as Jim and Derrek looked on. The captain looked at her but pulled it from his jacket pocket and handed it over. Anna looked at it carefully. "IA?" Anna asked, handing the ID badge back to him. "What does IA want with me?"

"I have a few questions about your dad," Captain Elwood said.

"I'm not sure you should be talking to me. I'm a minor."

"Just a couple routine questions, nothing big."

"Okay. Guys, I'll be fine. I'll see you later," Anna said to Jim and Derrek. They nodded and reluctantly left her. "What kind of questions?"

"How was your dad yesterday?"

"I've seen the news, Captain, my father was not out of control, he was just a little upset."

"About what?"

"Take your pick. Late nights, cases, missing out on his kids growing up but he's a good father and great husband. He loves me and my brothers and my mom."

"So nothing out of the ordinary happened?"

"No. It was a bit tense before he left for work. He and Mom got into a disagreement about him leaving a plate on the counter and not mowing the lawn but that's everyday stuff."

"And the vase that got broken?"

Anna scrutinized the man. "Do you have kids, Captain? I have two brothers. They, and I, play sports. Baseball, lacrosse, football, hockey, basketball, plus we're rowdy kids. Things get broken. It was an accident. Dad knocked it off the counter on accident," she stressed. "Normal everyday life. It happens."

"So you're telling me your dad is the only man in the world that doesn't get angry?" Elwood asked.

"I didn't say that, sir." Anna did her best to keep her temper in check knowing that manners typically were a better response and it would be better for her dad if she did keep those in check. "Everyone's got a temper, Captain. In my family it's called the famous Reagan Temper, but my dad rarely ever shows it around his family. He doesn't bring the job home with him nor does he let it affect him when he comes home. When my dad's on the job, he gets very ... passionate and to be honest, that's the kind of detective I want on any case I'm involved in. It's not a bad thing for him to get angry because that's the kind of detective that's going to eat, sleep, and breath the case until it's solved. It's the kind of guy who gets things done. The kind of guy that never gives up. Just like I know right now, he's working this case, trying to figure it all out and you're out here harassing me about one of the best detectives on the force. I think I'm done talking to you," Anna said.

"Ms. Reagan, I'm just trying to find out the truth here," Captain Elwood answered.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are. I've told you the truth and it's not going to change. I'm leaving and if you want to talk to me again, you'll go through my parents or my lawyer," Anna said simply. She wasn't upset she just didn't like what this guy was implying about her dad or about her. She got the feeling that this guy thought she was lying or at the very least covering for her dad. "Goodbye, Captain." She turned to walk away and when he didn't say any more she left. By the time she got home she was seething mad but didn't want to take it out on anyone so she just went upstairs and did her homework.

When the next dinner with the entire family rolled around a few days later it was a somber affair over Danny's case. After Anna had talked to the captain about her father it seemed that Danny was put on modified and Anna hoped it had nothing to do with what she said to the captain. The more she thought it over, the more she realized that it wasn't and it was just procedure to make sure he was cleared and didn't do anything stupid while they were investigating whether or not his state of mind had anything to do with him shooting the officer. The dinner was somber not just because of the pending investigation but also because while her dad was on modified, he had broken the number one rule of that and had worked the street without a gun or shield. She knew that it was wrong and personally agreed with Danny being in the doghouse about it.

After dinner and everything was put away Danny was more than ready to leave and go home and Anna couldn't agree with him more. She was surprised that Frank hadn't said anything about her anger which she knew the entire family could feel rolling off of her but in reflection she knew it was best not to say anything. He probably had nothing to do with Captain Elwood's interrogation of her and if he did know about it then he had probably already expressed his disapproval. She didn't need to push him any farther.

A couple days later, after her father had been cleared and it turned out that the officer had taken a blow to the head and couldn't identify himself when encountering Danny and his partner, Anna found Captain Elwood standing outside her school again. "I have nothing to say to you," Anna said calmly as he motioned her over and she approached him.

"I don't have any questions for you. Quite the opposite really," Captain Elwood said. Anna looked at him intrigued. "I came off a bit harsh on you the other day and I overstepped. It was never my intention to paint your father in any unflattering light or change the way you see him."

"Thank you. My dad may not be my hero, but he is a very good father."

"I can see that in the way you defend him. Have a good day, Ms. Reagan."

Anna nodded and headed home. She got the feeling that maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all but hoped that that would be her last run-in with him. For the next week Anna did her best to put it out of her mind and concentrate more on looking for the best in people. That did a lot for her mood and her attitude right up until her dad walked unarmed into a hostage situation on the local news. The day had started off normally, Danny rushing off to work as the kids finished up breakfast with Linda. "Mom, Becky and her brother want me, Jack, and Sean to come over. I know you're going out with Aunt Erin today so why not? Otherwise I'll end up babysitting them here," Anna said.

"Why didn't you ask me this yesterday, Anna?" Linda asked.

"Because she only texted me this morning. She was supposed to go out with friends until their babysitter cancelled. We're out of school for meetings, her parents have to work, and she's just going to be hanging around their house watching her brother. At least this way, our brothers are entertained and not destructive. She said her mom's cool with it," Anna begged.

"Let me call her mom," Linda answered. Linda called the Stovers and Becky's mom confirmed everything Anna had just said. She was also okay with the kids coming over as long as they all stayed inside and the house was still standing at the end of the day. So Linda agreed too and drove the three kids over before she headed into Brooklyn to meet up with Erin. Anna and Becky hung out downstairs watching moving as their brothers played video games in Becky's brother's room. Anna had just gone for more juice when Becky called her back.

"Uh ... Anna! You should see this," Becky called. "I meant to hit pause, but I must have hit the input switch." Anna walked back into the living room to see a man entering what looked like a bank and the headline read 'Hostage Situation Unfolding Downtown'.

"A hostage situation? Really?" Anna asked. True, they had just been watching movies about hostage situations but she didn't like watching them in real life because she never knew if the hostages and the good guy were going to survive.

"No, I thought that your dad went into the building."

"I don't want to hear that, Becky," Anna groaned.

"Maybe I'm wrong, let's hope I'm wrong," Becky answered. They sat down on the coffee table and waited for a few moments. Then a guy in a blue shirt and dark tie walked out the door but he wasn't alone. A man in a white shirt with heavy, red, bloodstains on the right shoulder was leaning heavily on him. ESU went up to them as the camera zoomed in on the front of the bank and sure enough it was Danny.

"Dear God," Anna muttered. "Uncle Joe, keep him safe," she added under her breath. "Beck, can you get your laptop?"

"Sure, and make sure our brothers don't come down here?" Becky asked.

"Yeah," Anna nodded.

Becky went upstairs and Anna texted her mom to find out Linda was indeed watching the news and Linda was relieved to find that her boys were not. Becky returned with her laptop and handed it over. "Ty said they were texted to turn on the news but he doesn't get cable in his room and Mom flipped the last time she found him in their room. I told him I'd tell him what was going on, later."

"That's going to satisfy him?"

"He just got his computer taken away for watching TV in Mom and Dad's room and he doesn't have a smartphone so it'll have to satisfy him," Becky said.

"He wasn't armed," Anna said.

"What?" Becky asked.

Anna had been looking at the replay of the video on Becky's laptop while Becky talked about her brother. "Look," Anna pointed to the computer screen as Becky sat down next to her. "My dad is left handed. He keeps his gun on the left side of his belt." Anna touched the picture of her dad on the screen that showed him helping the hostage out of the bank. She had taken a screen shot of it to make sure it really was her dad. Becky looked and sure enough there was no gun at the man's waist, nor a holster where it should have been. "No gun. I know that he's good, but walking into a bank unarmed with a suspect who has already shot a man, this can't be easy on my mom."

"And you?" Becky asked.

"My heart's in my throat, but he just saved that man's life. He'll probably end this thing without much more bloodshed. That's the optimist in me talking though, not the realist."

"I like optimistic Anna; she's so much nicer than realistic Anna." Anna bumped her shoulder against her friend's and then they went back to watching the news. A few minutes later a lady ran out of the bank and then ESU swarmed inside. It wasn't long before they lead the suspect out in handcuffs and her dad followed.

The next two days were a mix between heated glares, cold shoulders, and expectant looks at the Reagan home. Anna knew it would only be a matter of time before her mom blew up and hoped she and the boys wouldn't be around to see it. Thankfully the blow up happened behind closed doors at the Reagan Homestead on Sunday. Pops had brought up the case and what the new mayor had felt about the case. They talked about it for a bit and from her seat between her father and her aunt, Anna could tell the topic was upsetting her mother. She could also tell her father felt a bit uncomfortable about it. The final straw was when Linda stood up from the table muttering, "I'm so glad I married a hero." Danny and the rest of the family watched her go then Anna looked at her dad expectantly. He excused himself from the table and followed his wife into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

"It has been like that in our house for the last two days. We're hoping he's about to make it better but there's about a 25 percent chance he's about to stick his foot right in it," Anna said.

"He loves your mom, he'll make it better," Frank told her.

"I hope you're right," Anna said. Then Nicky asked Erin what she'd do if it was her in that situation. If her life hung on the line and she couldn't afford it to which Erin replied that she'd rob a bank. That lead to Henry telling the story of the time he pulled his service revolver on an EMT when Frank was 18 months old and had spiked a high fever and the ambulance crew refused to take him to Methodist hospital. "You're lucky that EMT didn't lose his job," Anna said.

"That never would have happened," Henry said.

"Second week on the job, gets a gun pulled on him and has to take a kid to a hospital out of his zone, the only reason he kept his job was because he was dating the Fire Commissioner's daughter."

"How do you know that?" Jamie asked.

"My friend Jim's great uncle was that EMT. Pops made an impression that stuck out even more when he became PC."

"Your friend Jim comes from a family of firefighters?" Erin asked. "The same Jim you went out with a few months back?"

"It is the same Jim but I never said that the Fire Commissioner was his great grandfather. I just said that his great uncle was dating the fire commissioner's daughter. It could be his grandfather's brother's father-in-law," Anna said. Actually she was unsure if the fire commissioner in question was Jim's great grandfather. Jim had never told her whether great aunt in the story was related to his grandfather or if it was the great uncle.

"Well that's rather unspecific," Frank said.

"Oh look, they're done talking," Anna said, looking towards the kitchen. Danny and Linda came back to the table and sat down assuring everyone that things were fine. Then the subject was changed to Halloween and what the kids wanted to go as.

'Anna, boy probs, call!' was the text Anna got late one afternoon from her cousin. Anna sighed but called Nicky after school. "Anna, thank god, I need your advice," Nicky said the minute she picked up. "You know how I told you that there was a group of us going into the city on Monday night? Well I asked Mom, conveniently leaving out the fact that Peter and Liam were going and she said yes. Worked just like you said it would, but then today we were getting coffee and cocoa at a food truck and Melissa texted and I told Mom to get it. Melissa told me that Peter and Liam would meet us there and that's how Mom found out about the boys. Now she's saying no even though I told her it's not a date. What do I do?" Nicky asked.

"Can't this wait until tomorrow? Then Uncle Jamie will back you up."

"You're taking Mom's side?" Nicky asked.

"I'm not taking anyone's side. I want to stay out of this. I don't want to get involved because there's a real chance that it'll lead to another fight about what my dad did to me when I went out with friends," Anna said.

"Help me, come on," Nicky said.

"I don't know, Nicky. Part of me wants to say throw your dad in her face but I don't know for certain that's a good idea and another part says that most kids your age would probably sneak out but the responsible part, the part that sounds suspiciously like Uncle Joe, tells me that you should remind her that she knows these kids, you've never broken any line they've set for you and you're the good kid. That's gotta count for something coming from you instead of me, right?"

"Back me up with that at dinner?"

"Yeah," Anna said agreed reluctantly. Things were going good between her and her dad and she really didn't want to start another fight but she and Nicky were growing up and their parents needed to trust them enough to let them go out with friends. When it came up Sunday at dinner, Anna held quiet at first. The dinner started out the way every other one did, grace and food passing around. They talked about Erin's case and mentioned Danny's until Anna changed the subject. "Can we talk about something besides death and rape at dinner?" Anna asked. Danny was investigating a case of three kids killed in a park and Erin had been handed a case of the wrong man imprisoned for a rape he didn't commit 18 years prior.

"Like what?" Danny asked.

"What do normal families talk about at dinner?" Anna asked.

"Boys?" Sean suggested.

"Eat your chicken," Anna answered.

"How about some advice?" Nicky asked. "I'm trying to get my mom to let me go into the city on my own."

"On the subway?" Linda asked.

"At night," Erin added.

"Thank God we live in Staten Island," Linda said.

"Until next year," Anna said.

"We moving?" Danny asked.

"No, but I'll be sixteen and licensed to drive. Anyway, Nicky thinks her mom is being overprotective. She's just going out with friends. It's not like it's a date. I mean my parents let me go out with friends," Anna said, looking down the table at her aunt.

"After this week, there isn't a person at this table who thinks they could ever be too overprotective," Danny said. Anna and Nicky looked around to see that everyone agreed with him; even Jamie.

"Come on Uncle Jamie, you're supposed to be the cool uncle," Anna said.

"Coming from you, Anna, that's not much of a challenge, I am your only uncle," Jamie said, "and Nicky, we all know I'm cooler than Danny."

"Hey!" Danny protested.

"But they're still right. I've been on the job for 16 months and some of the stuff I see out there makes me want to wrap my two beautiful, 15 year old nieces in bubble wrap. I understand why he's protective of you," Jamie said.

"But growing up in this family, you learn to be tough. I'm starting to get the feeling that they don't trust us," Anna said, looking at her cousin.

"Of course they trust us," Nicky answered. "I mean it's not like we've ever nudged the line—I take that back, I've never gone that far, I'm the good kid, all my friends' parents want them to be like me. You on the other hand, I can see why Uncle Danny doesn't trust you," Nicky told her.

"That's not fair. I'm a teenager; I'm supposed to test boundaries. How do you know where the line is if you don't push it? Besides, I'm my father's daughter." Anna stopped there biting down on her tongue to keep from saying anything else.

"Who told you that?" Danny asked. Anna motioned to him and then to Frank. "I've never told you that."

"Pretty sure you have. Especially when I'm angry. Aside from that you really think I'm nothing like you?"

"I never got into as much trouble as you do." Jamie and Erin both turned their laughter into not so subtle coughing when Danny gave them the stink eye.

"You gave me more gray hair than your brothers and sister combined and that was only the stuff I knew about," Frank said.

"I wasn't that bad," Danny protested.

"Compared to other kids at your school probably not but I can't think of a semester that went by where I wasn't called to your school at least three times because you were in trouble," Frank said.

"Still wasn't that much," Danny answered. Frank shrugged and dinner went on.

Monday morning Anna got a text from Nicky saying that her mom was letting her go. Anna replied that she wanted all the details when Nicky got back. Tuesday she got a slew of texts from Nicky explaining everything that had happened the night before. Anna loved reading all about it and was happy for her cousin that she had a good time.