I want to say thanks again to all of my reviewers for the last chapter the guest tennisplayer1, decadenceofmysoul, monkeybaby, and Pharmergirl. Also a big thank you to everyone who continues to read.

Contains references to and scenes from 3x11, as well as the part where Danny and little Jack are talking in his room comes from a deleted scene from that episode.

Tuesday morning, Anna bounced down the stairs to hear her parents talking about beer and underwear. "What's this about beer and underwear?" Anna asked, stopping at the kitchen table.

"Your dad's plans for tonight," Linda answered distracted. "Where are your brothers?"

"Coming. Wait, tonight?" Anna looked from her mom to her dad.

"After I get cheesecake for Sunday dinner, I plan on coming home to watch TV in my underwear and enjoy a nice cold beer or two," Danny explained.

"I don't think so," Anna said.

Both her parents looked at her when she didn't continue. "And why not?" Danny asked. "It's my house and your mom and the boys will be at a birthday party for one of your brother's friends until nine or 9:30."

Anna looked down at her blouse and skirt and felt around to make sure her body still felt solid. Once she was sure, she looked back at him. "Hi, am I invisible? Can you not see me? Is that why I'm always overlooked by you?" she asked.

"Don't you have to work?" Danny asked.

"Until seven. I'll be home before you will."

"Yeah and you'll spend most of the night in your room and I won't see you unless you get hungry."

Anna's eyes widened at the implication of the statement and perhaps the unintended meaning. It took nearly everything in her to keep her jaw from dropping. She blinked a few times then she shook her head. "I—Okay. Never mind. I—I'm going to go see what's keeping the boys. You do what you want." Anna tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice and off her face but couldn't keep it from settling in her chest. She walked back to the stairs and up them to find Sean and Jack just coming out of their room.

"Danny," Linda scolded.

"What? It's the truth," Danny said exasperatedly. It was hard enough to keep his wife happy but now his little girl was becoming harder and harder to read.

"She was asking you to spend time with her."

"What? No, she wasn't."

"Yes, she was. Don't you speak teenage girl? You should. Anyway teens never want to flat out ask something and be turned down so they hint at it and if you don't get it they'll just brush it off. It keeps the disappointment to a minimum."

"So after the bakery you want me to come home and learn teenage girl?"

"The more time you spend with her, the more you'll understand."

"I gotta go, love you," Danny told his wife kissing her.

"Love you more," Linda answered.

"Love you most," Danny pecked her on the lips again and rushed off as the kids came down the steps.

School let out for the day and that triggered the start of Anna's shift at the diner. It wasn't a long walk but it was a cold one so Anna was glad she had changed into her work pants before leaving the school. Those four hours at the diner passed slowly and Anna was more than ready to be off but going home meant doing homework and awkward tension with her dad. Not that it would be any different than normal but at least she wouldn't have to have dinner with him, she had already eaten. Things had been better between them since the talk at the hospital but being a teenage girl meant misunderstandings were common between them like the one that morning. There was no one home when she got there and her car was still in the garage so she grabbed a granola bar and went up to her room. Music flooded her ears as she put on her headphones and began her homework not knowing that in the city the night was about to change for her father.

The light on Anna's alarm clock ticked over to eight p.m. when she got a strong craving for hot cocoa and cookies and thought she heard a sound from downstairs. She paused the music and pulled off her headphones. This time she was certain she heard another sound from downstairs. She stopped and waited, almost sure it was her dad coming home from a long day. Soon she'd hear the TV click on and the fridge door open. When neither sound occurred she shook her head. Maybe she had just imagined it. Then she remembered they had no cocoa and she had a pack of cookies in her bag. She pulled out the cookies and put her headphones back on going back to her homework. The next time she pulled her headphones off, she had just glanced out the window to see headlights on the garage door which meant her mom and brothers were home. Sure enough, the front door opened after a moment. Anna shut her computer then left the room going down to find her brothers heading for the stairs and her mom shutting the door. Her brothers refused to look at her as they passed and went to bed so she looked at her mom. Anna's heart sank. Something bad had happened especially since the clock on the TV had just turned to 10 after 10. It was long after when they should have been home.

"Dad's working late? Caught up in some big case or something?" Anna asked. "Wasn't he supposed to be home before you?"

"Anna, sit down," Linda said softly. Anna's confusion grew but still, she sat down. Linda took a few deep breaths and sat down next to Anna on the couch. "Sweetheart," Linda started but Anna's phone went off with Nicky's text tone.

"That's Nicky," Anna said her hand moving to her phone in her back pocket.

"Anna," Linda took her hand before she could reach her phone. "There's no easy way to say this but it is very serious."

"Mom," Anna said.

"Your dad has been arrested."

"What?"

"I'm not kidding," Linda said as gently as she could. "He was driving home from the bakery when he was pulled over. They searched the jeep and found two kilos of cocaine."

"Drugs? My dad? I just—What?" Anna asked stunned. She shook her head unable to believe the words coming out of her mother's mouth.

"I'm sorry, Anna." Linda said. She refused to look directly in Anna's eyes but the straight face was Anna's biggest clue that she wasn't being lied to.

"How did ... Dad? I mean ..." Anna swallowed hard, her brain feeling like a hamster on a wheel, gaining no traction. It didn't make sense. "I know I've always said that of the Reagans, Dad's always been the one who could easily cross that line but I never believed he actually would. I mean—this is Dad we're talking about. I just ..." Anna took a couple deep breaths but it still wasn't clicking. "What are they—do they think he was dealing or something? Two kilos? That's a lot. And if he was dealing—if he was, how come you two are worried about which bill to pay. I mean ... this doesn't make sense, Mama."

"I know, baby. We'll figure this out."

"This happened in Manhattan right? That means Aunt Erin's boss. The family, do they know? Are they looking into it?"

Linda sighed. "They know, but they say they can't touch it."

"Can't? Uncle Jamie kills someone and Dad basically takes over the case. They get a new lead for Uncle Joe's death and they chase it like a dog after a ball, Grampa gets shot, Pops gets robbed, but now, Dad's arrested and they can't touch it? The one time Dad needs help and the family abandons him. Family first, right? What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, sweetheart," Linda answered, pulling her daughter into her arms. She knew the girl was shaken and upset and very worried so as a mother she had to calm her down.

"Can we see him?"

"Not until after the arraignment. You can see him when he comes home."

"Mom, if you're tapped out by bills every month, how can we afford a lawyer for Dad? Maybe—I can put off college—"

"No," Linda cut her off. "I will figure it out. I promise, don't worry."

"Do the boys know?"

"Your grandfather insisted they know."

Anna pulled back sharply, her eyes going as dark as unburnt coal. "That was not his decision."

Linda sighed as her hands slid down Anna's arms. Linda glanced at the front door then looked back at her daughter. "I know, but they, and you, will probably hear all about it at school. He just wanted them to be ready for it."

"If you say so. Does this mean they're going to search the house?"

"If they do, it'll be during school."

Anna nodded. She thought it over. If it was a plot to one of the action shows she was watching, she wondered how it would turn out. Then it hit her. "What if Dad's being framed?"

"They'll figure it out."

"Dad's partner?"

"If she is allowed near it, I'm sure she'll steer it in the right direction."

"You know, if it was anyone else, Dad would be all over it no matter what."

"I know."

"But you don't think Dad had anything to do with this do you?"

"I've been married to your dad for 17 years. He's bent the line, much like a certain blonde I know," she flashed a quick smile, "but he's never broken it. School's going to be tough for you in the morning. Even if people don't know he's your dad, they're still going to talk about it and it'll upset you so when you come home tomorrow, we'll talk and go from there. Now it's late and you have a long day. Up to bed." Linda pulled her daughter back to her and kissed the top of her head. Anna nodded against her mom relishing the hug for a moment and went back upstairs.

Walking into school that Wednesday morning was the most nervous Anna had been in recent memory. Sure, she had been nervous to find out what had happened to Sean but this could be possibly more devastating. She took a deep breath and made her way to her locker. She could hear whispers behind her but no one said anything to her. She closed her locker and turned to go to class when Derrek stepped up. "I don't believe everything I read. Something more is going on and no matter what happens in this, I'm with you. It's going to be hard but I'm here. You need anything, you let me know," Derrek said.

"Not everything you read? Why's that important?" Anna asked.

"Front page of the times," Derrek said as the paper appeared in front of her face.

'Commissioner's Son Busted!' read the headline for the biggest story. Anna took the paper and continued to read. The article went on to slander Danny and basically call him out on being a dirty cop with little facts as to what actually happened. Anna sighed.

"You want to talk, I'm here, you don't want to talk to me, try to talk to him, okay?" Derrek said. Anna lowered the paper to look at him confused and he turned her head towards the boy who gave her the paper.

"Hi, Jim," Anna said softly.

"Wouldn't be such a big deal if he wasn't the commissioner's son," Jim said.

"I know. Has everyone seen this?"

"I think so. You're going to hear a lot of dirty things today about him. Even if they do mean it, they don't matter. They don't really know your dad and they don't know he's being framed."

"You don't really know my dad either."

Jim leaned in close so he could keep his voice down. "I know he's a Reagan cop and Reagan cops don't do that."

Anna nodded and turned back to Derrek. "How'd you know my dad was the commissioner's son?" she asked quietly.

"Because last year you told me you call the PC grandpa, your last name is Reagan, and they're Catholic. Your mom changed her last name when she got married per tradition. All that means your dad is the Reagan. However nothing I said to you today indicated that I knew the man in the paper was your father. I said that I didn't believe everything that I read and that I was here for you. I would have said the same thing if I thought that man was your cousin or uncle."

"Oh ... Okay then." Anna shook her head and handed the paper back to Jim. "We should go to class." Anna worked both that afternoon and the next but when she did come home on Thursday night she found her dad talking to Jack Boyle. "Dad? Uncle Jack? Has there been a progression in the case? They find out who's framing you?"

"A progression, yes, but not in the right direction," Jack answered.

"It got worse? How?" Anna asked.

Jack and Danny shared a look. "Anna," Danny started.

"I know, stay out of it, let the adults figure it out. The great white shark, supposed to be the toughest shark in the ocean. It's only natural predator is the killer whale. You're telling me that there's someone out there smarter than you? That would make you like a bull shark, dangerous to most but out-smarted by another shark."

"It would make sense," Jack said.

"I'm going to bed," Anna huffed. She pulled off her jacket, hung it in the coat closet at the foot of the stairs and as she closed the door, Jack called to her.

"Anna, do you always do that?" Jack asked. Anna turned to her uncle.

"Go to bed when I come home? No—"

"Hang your coat in that closet?"

"I didn't used to. I used to leave it on the bottom post of the banister until I lost my phone for three weeks because of it. Now, I have to do it every night."

"Every night, without fail? Including Tuesday night?"

"The night my dad was arrested? Yeah. I hung it up and then I checked the shelf for the lock box and then I checked the box for the gun and ammo."

"You checked the lock box? You know where the keys are?" Danny asked.

"In the credenza next to the dining room table. What's all this got to do with my jacket? I don't like being home alone without that gun."

"Was the box there Wednesday morning?"

"I don't know. I don't check that when Mom's home. And I think she was home all day yesterday. I had to work last night so Mom let me drive the boys to school." Anna opened the closet door and scanned the shelf for the box. It wasn't there. "Why is the box gone?"

"You're 100% sure it was there Tuesday night?"

"Yes, 100%. It was in my hands and everything. But I'm only 65% sure it was there Wednesday morning."

"Did you hear anything Tuesday night?" Danny asked.

"Dad, what's going on? Why are you asking about it?" Anna asked, looking between the two men.

"Just answer the question, Anna," Jack said.

"Maybe but I could have imagined it." They waited for her to continue. "It was about eight when I got a craving for cocoa. I took my headphones off and paused the music. I thought I heard someone out front or opening the door so I waited. When no one yelled at me or came up the steps, I remembered we didn't have any cocoa so I went back to studying, thinking I had imagined the whole thing. Did I not?" Anna asked.

"My gun was stolen Tuesday night."

Anna walked over to the couch and sat down on it. "You mean someone was in this house while I was home alone? They went through here and I—what if we had cocoa? I could—" Anna trailed off processing what could have happened. She could have walked downstairs right into him and it could have gone unfavorably for her ending in perhaps a shootout or maybe even—she didn't even want to think about that.

"Nothing happened," Jack stressed. "You're safe and we'll figure out who did this. You didn't have any cocoa so you stayed in your room and he never made it that far. Be glad for that."

Anna looked down at her feet as she tried to imagine what could have happened. Her dad's voice stopped her in her tracks. "You're okay, that's what matters here." Danny crouched in front of his daughter so her eyes would meet his. "We're having this conversation in the living room and not in a hospital or worse, not having it at all. Go upstairs, do your homework. I'll be up later to check on you."

"Yes, sir," she answered, "Bye, Uncle Jack."

"See you, kiddo," Jack answered. Anna went upstairs and found Sean alone in his room.

"Hey, kid," Anna said.

"Hey," he answered.

"Everything okay?"

"The kids at school were a little mean the last two days."

"Because of Dad?"

"Yeah. They say he's a dirty cop. That he's going to get convicted and go to jail, then we won't be better than anyone."

"How are you handling that?"

"It hurts." Sean looked down at his hands and away from his sister. Anna really wanted to do something to help him but wasn't sure how. "I usually ignore them like Mom says. Jack's usually good at it too. Are they right though?"

"Of course not. He's being framed and Uncle Jack is going to figure it out and prove it and everything is going to be fine."

"Okay." Sean nodded. "Anna, what would you do if the kids at school don't stop?'

"You gotta keep ignoring them. People talk, it's what they do. You know what happened and you love Dad, that's what really matters."

"Sean, your turn," Jack said, walking into the room looking freshly showered.

Sean looked from his sister to his brother and then back. He motioned to Jack with his eyes then grabbed his pjs and went to shower. Anna observed her brother then sighed at his black eye and scrapped knuckles. "Run into a door there, Jack?" Anna asked casually.

"Locker, after hockey practice. Coach said it was fine," Jack answered as he dumped his clothes in the hamper and began to put his pads and things in his hockey bag.

"You punch it too?"

"Yeah," Jack said. He wasn't looking at his sister but she could tell that he was trying to avoid telling her the truth.

"You're a terrible liar." Anna stared at him.

Jack stopped putting his stuff away but didn't look at her. Anna waited, leaning against Sean's bed post. Finally he came clean. "It was Larry Donovan. He's a real jerk; kept talking about how Dad's going back to jail. That he's a dirty cop."

"It's not true," Anna pacified.

"Anna, homework," Linda said from the doorway. Anna smiled at her brother then went to her room. A few minutes later she overheard her dad talking to her brother.

"Nuh-uh, come on. What really happened?" Danny asked. The shower cut off and Anna could hear better. "This doesn't look like a hockey accident." Anna stood from her bed and moved to the doorway to hear him better. Jack went on to tell Danny exactly what he told her. "Jack, you can't go around punching people because you don't like what they say." Danny sighed. "Just ask your sister. You don't see her getting into fights."

"I know. I'm sorry." Then he mentioned that he still wanted to be a cop like Danny. Anna's heart swelled with pride and she was pretty sure Danny's had too, even if it didn't show on his face.

"Okay, but no more fights. Ignore these boys, Jack. It's the right thing to do." As Anna fell asleep that night, she found herself standing at the top of the stairs with a craving for a cocoa. She walked down the stairs and got a cup then heard noises coming from the laundry room. She set the mug down and looked towards the living room to see a man coming around the corner. Feeling scared, she slipped into the dining room and grabbed the keys to the lockbox from the top drawer of the credenza then there was a gun in her hand and 911 on the phone as she hid in the closet at the bottom of the stairs. The door opened and a faceless man stared down at her. She stood up ordering him out of the house but he kept trying to convince her to hand over the revolver. He grabbed the gun and the bang startled Anna out of her dream.

So what do you think?