3rd person pov

Two years had passed, and the family had gathered in full to celebrate Nicky graduating from the Academy, another Reagan in the NYPD ranks. Congratulations went around multiple times, until the newly-minted officer asked

"Who's my TO?"

Smiling, Peter spoke up

"That would be me. I'm so excited for it!"

Nicky smiled, playful tone in her voice

"Because you're spending time with me, or because you're my younger brother and now get to tell me what to do?"

Without missing a beat, the younger Reagan- Kavinsky nodded

"Yes."

That sent a wave of laughter across the room, until the family went to rest for the night. Well, all except for Joe, who had been assigned a night shift alongside his current partner, Detective Logan Adkins, who had transferred from the LAPD. With that, and his initials, the nickname L.A. had stuck to him like glue.

Joe's pov

When I got to the precinct, my partner was already there. I smiled

"L.A., hey!"

He grinned back

"Hey, J. What do we got for tonight?"

I smiled

"As in stakeout and bust, or leftovers for said stakeout?"

He gave me a playful side-eye

"Food first, obviously"

I grinned

"Pop's lasagna and LJ's cupcakes."

Turning into a child, he made grabby hands at the containers

"OOH! Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

As I chuckled at his antics, we got into the ConElectric van and booted up surveillance, then began to eat and talk. We were assisting the DEA in a drug bust. Mexican cartel, which is how they pulled me into it, the language fluency aspect. LA was my age, planning to propose to his girlfriend the following night. Aimee was actually a runway model, they had been together since middle school, despite their careers being worlds away from one another. A few hours into the sting, it was time to move in. But first we went through our usual routine. We'd vest up and check our guns, then check each other's vests and guns, along with ammo. Better to have two sets of eyes on our safety.

We got into the building and started the sweep, quiet as mice. But, as it had turned out, the head of the cartel had bribed the bellhop of the hotel this was going on at. Thankfully, all the other guests had been evacuated and moved to another hotel. The bellhop had swapped clothes with Raul Vargas, our target, so we realized we were following the bellhop instead. Then, I saw something in one of the mirrors in the hallway

"LA, DUCK!"

But the warning came too little, too late. Vargas put a slug above the vest, hitting LA in the neck. I shot him dead as he drew his weapon to shoot me, then applied pressure on LA's neck while calling a bus. But it was no use. I lost my partner and one of my best friends as he slowly died in my arms. I felt numb. I was covered in blood, HIS blood. I could not move, speak, think, cry... I somewhat registered EMTs wrapping me in a shock blanket and taking both of us to St. Victor's, seeing Uncle Will and my Cousins Jack and Mia. But at the same time, it was all a blur. I wanted to scream. At anything or anyone. Just to let out all the pain. Then suddenly, there were arms around me. Laurie. Mom. I heard Laurie say Sargent Renzulli, now my step-dad, had our kids with him. Knowing everyone else was safe, I allowed myself to finally cry, for hours on end, until I had no more energy, falling into a void-like un-awakeness. Not even sure it could be called proper sleep. I still felt numb. Not hungry, not sleepy, not thirsty... Just... nothing.