The morning sun poured through the tall windows as it rose for a new day. Detective Daniel Reagan lay in bed, opening his eyes to the brightness of the sun. A smile spread across his face as he stretched out his still sleeping muscles. The night before had been a happy one and something that he hadn't experienced in months. Not since the death of his beloved wife. Not a day went by where he didn't think about her, what she would say and what they would do if she were still here. Definitely things would be different if she were still here, and he himself had changed since her sad and sudden passing. He thought for sure that he would be alone; that he would never be able to love someone as much as he did his wife, or even move on from it to a new relationship. But things had most definitely changed. He still loved her that was something that would never change. He still missed her and thought about her, but he was definitely not alone; at least not anymore. He pulled his phone off the bedside table, and checked any messages he had received. His kids had been sleeping over at their friends' homes and now according to his messages, they were safe and on their way to school. He smiled at the screen before him and he turned to his side and watched as his nighttime guest walked back into the bedroom.
"You were out of bed early," he teased as she climbed back into bed with him. She approached with a smile on her face and two takeout cups of coffee in her hand.
"What can I say I'm an early riser," she said smoothly before moving one of the cups in his directions, "Your coffee Detective Reagan. Just the way you like it." He took the cup with a thankful smile and moved in giving her a sweet kiss on the lips.
"Why thank you Miss Rivers," he whispered to her with a smile on his face. She smiled back and returned the sweet kiss that he gave her. They sat together sweetly until Danny's phone buzzed on the bedside table next to him. He sighed at the disruption and turned away from her to pick up the cell vibrating on the small table. He looked down at the lit screen to see a text message from work, and from the look she received from him, she already knew what it was.
"Duty calls huh Superman?" she teased looking into his eyes.
"I've got a case," he said sadly. He wished he could stay with her a little while longer; after all she was the source of all his newfound happiness. But he couldn't very well just say no.
"It's okay Danny," Miss Rivers told him, "People need you. Call me when you can okay?"
"Okay," Danny for fitted, "So what does your day look like?"
"Hospital today, office tomorrow," she informed, "Guess neither one of us could stay in bed even if we wanted to."
"Guess so," he moved in close, "Wish me luck?"
"Darling I may not have known you forever but I know you don't need it," she said slyly, before planting a kiss on his lips once more. Right after, he got out of bed and threw on a suit, ready to head off to work. He grabbed some toast for a quick breakfast and the two secret lovers shared a final kiss before parting ways. While Miss Rivers got in her car and drove off to the hospital, Danny got in his car and drove to the scene of the crime that was sent to his phone. The drive was a seemingly short one and a fairly peaceful one. He was in a particularly good mood that day and had been for a while. It didn't seem like anything would bring him down, no matter how bad. And that was the first time he had ever felt this happy since he lost the only person he ever thought would ever make him that happy. Soon he arrived to the scene of the crime; outside an apartment complex, which was already surrounded by countless squad cars and officers. He parked near the scene and walked right over ducking under the yellow tape.
"Hey," he greeted his partner, Detective Maria Baez, as he walked right up to her.
"Morning Reagan," she greeted as she led him over to the scene.
"What'd we got?" Danny asked.
"You know the current Jeremy Williams case?" she explained, "Well apparently after trial today someone decided to go ahead to take out the lead attorney, Lauren Barkley."
"How was the trial going?" Danny asked as he bent down next to the body of the middle-aged woman lying dead on the ground.
"What'd ya mean?" she asked, trying to understand his thinking.
"Which direction was the trial going?" Danny clarified, "You know if Jeremy was losing, someone could've offed her to derail the case."
"Maybe," Maria said, still throwing out other possibilities, "But she was a criminal attorney. The list of enemies would be pretty long."
"True," he stated, "But the only motive that we have in this case is the current one she was involved in. How'd she die do we know?"
"Nah," she told him, "We gonna have to wait on the M.E for that."
"Alright," Danny gave in. Just then, he looked up from the scene to see his sister Erin's investigator Detective Anthony Abatemarco walking towards them. He turned and looked at Baez in question and she seemed to be just as out of the loop as he was.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Danny asked forwardly as he stopped in front of them.
"I'm not here to bust balls alright? I'm here to lend a hand," Anthony said, "Erin told me to ride shotgun. She was one of ours. And I know everything to know about the Jeremy Williams case. I was the lead investigator."
"Maybe he could help," Baez said to him, knowing very well how Danny felt about people jumping in during their investigations. But much to their surprise, Danny didn't seem as bothered as they both expected.
"Great," he agreed with a smile, "The more the merrier." And with that he turned and walked over to the other officers at the scene for more, leaving a confused Baez and Anthony behind.
"Well that never happens," she said.
"That was sincere?" Anthony questioned.
"Apparently so," Baez said as they followed the path Danny had once walked.
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Time had passed with the three detectives questioning family and friends of the victim and thinking more about who it could possibly be. They dove deep into the current case she was connected to and seemed to find more and more as they continued. Danny had been working swiftly with the two to put pieces together, and in a way that was catching the eyes of Baez and Anthony. Danny and Anthony never seemed to get along, even when Anthony tried to be reasonable with him. Danny always seemed to be easily agitated by Anthony's presence and by him inserting himself in their cases, no matter how good the intensions. But now, things seemed to be noticeably different in terms of behaviour. The normally dismissive and agitated party was open and accepting of the new presence in the precinct, and it was starting to seem a bit more suspicious than Anthony preferred. He even asked Danny what was going on with him, pointing out his unusually chipper attitude, but Danny just brushed it off as one of his good days. Something neither party seemed to believe. Now they were finishing up at a location getting more info on their case, and had been discussing further possibilities, before Baez stepped in with a proposition.
"Great we'll talk more over something to eat I'm starving," Baez announced and it was met with agreements from both men.
"Should I call Erin so she could join us?" Anthony proposed, "So we can fill her in?"
"Nah I'll go get her," Danny said, "I have to make a stop somewhere anyway. You guys go ahead I'll meet you there." And with that Baez and Anthony headed one way and Danny headed another. But not before she happened to get an unexpected visit by someone that raised her suspicions about her brother.
Meanwhile at the New York District Attorney's office, Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan sat working away in her office, when she felt a knock on her door. She looked up from her papers to see an unfamiliar face peek through a crack in her office door. She wore a smile on her nicely painted lips as her black hair fell onto her shoulders. The office light left a glare on the glasses she wore, but it was still clear to see her brown eyes through the glass. She pushed the door further open and slowly waltzed in dressed in scrubs and a clearly designer purse sitting nicely on her arm. It was the same girl Danny had spent his time with the night before. Miss Rivers.
"Hi sorry to interrupt," Miss Rivers said nicely, "Um you're Erin Reagan right? Danny Reagan's sister?"
"That's what it says on the door," Erin responded, "And you are?"
"Claudia," the black haired woman revealed, "Claudia Rivers."
"How do you know my brother?"
"Well the two of us have gotten...pretty close recently," Claudia said causing Erin to grow even more curious.
"Really," Erin said, taking note of her ambiguous descriptions and nervous energy.
"Anyway we were um...hanging out the other night," she stuttered, "And uh....I know he needs this so...if you see him today, could you give this to him?" She dove into her bag and pulled out an Epi Pen with Danny's name on the doctor's label. She stretched out her hand with the medical item facing Erin.
"Um yeah," Erin said taking the Epi Pen from her hand, "Thanks."
"Have a good day," Claudia said with a smile as she turned and waltzed back out of her office. She watched as the mysterious woman in question walked away and a million thoughts starting running through her head. Who was she? How did Danny know her? How did she know Danny? And what did she mean by they have been close recently? There was a part of her that thought maybe they had been seeing each other. She knew it had been over a year since Linda died, and she had the conversation with Danny about his decision to date. He told her that as much as he didn't like being alone, he didn't feel comfortable getting into something else. That it felt like he was just throwing away 28 years with the love of his life. But he also said if he did try to find love again, it would have to be right. Something told her that he must've found it in Miss Claudia Rivers or else they would never have been that close. Just then, her phone buzzed on her desk and she picked it up to see a message from her brother.
DANNY: I'm here to take you to lunch :)
She rolled her eyes with a smile on her face at the offer, before grabbing her things and leaving her office to join him.
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Soon the two Reagan siblings had joined the others at the diner and they took their seats and ordered their food. As they waited for their meals to arrive they sat conversing about the route the case was taking and who their most likely suspect seemed to be.
"All signs point straight towards Jeremy ordering the hit," Anthony further detailed.
"So the real reason he ordered the hit?" Erin questioned.
"He knew it would result in a mistrial," Danny continued, "And with him in custody, I guess he didn't think people would suspect him given he had an alibi."
"That makes sense given the facts," Erin agreed satisfied with the end result of the investigation. Just then conversation stopped momentarily as their food had finally arrived.
"All we need is the warrant," Danny told her after taking a bite out of his pizza.
"Well with what you have there's a pretty good chance you'll get it," she answered honestly, raising everyone else's spirits.
"Well that was easy," Baez said happily.
"Guess you really can be reasonable," Danny teased which received an unamused look from his sister, "I'm kidding." He put a loving arm around him rubbing her shoulder, with his response receiving an eye roll and a smile from his younger sister. Things settled down and normal conversation started up again, but that's when Danny felt a small tingling sensation in his throat and mouth. He took a sip of his water thinking it would help, but it didn't. As a matter of fact it only got worse, and the tingling in his mouth turned into a burning sensation. He knew this feeling; he'd experienced it before but hadn't for some time. It was an allergic reaction. He squeezed his sister's hand trying to grab her attention while struggling to breathe air into his lungs. She moved her attention towards her brother and her own panic began to rise at the sight of the hives appearing on his neck. He began to cough continuously and almost violently and now was the center of attention at the table.
"You good Reagan?" Anthony asked but received only a coughing fit from the panicked detective in return.
"I...I think there's...black pepper on this," he chocked out in between coughing fits before he felt his air supply start to suffer. It was becoming harder to breathe and he knew very well it was because of the small spice sprinkled on top of his pizza.
"You're allergic?" Baez asked Erin in shock as she watched the A.D.A rummaged through her purse as Danny struggled to breathe in air next to her.
"Very allergic," Erin said as she pulled out Danny's Epi Pen from her bag, pulled off the blue cap on the top and jammed the needle right into his leg. While Erin tried to comfort her brother in anyway possible, Baez screamed at the waitress and manager, calling for an ambulance. Erin prepared the second dose just in case his symptoms returned, while trying to keep Danny's eyes from falling shut. He could feel the Epi Pen beginning to work, but his dizziness did not disappear. Soon the ambulance pulled up outside and an oxygen mask was placed over his face before he was whisked off to the nearest hospital.
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Moments later, Baez, Anthony and Erin were joining Danny in his hospital bed at St. Victor's hospital. He had received the proper medical treatment and was now resting comfortably in the hospital with his sister sitting at the edge of his bed.
"Seriously guys I'm fine," Danny said groggily, "Really it's okay."
"I thought you said they knew your regular order?" Erin continued, still fussing over Danny, "That they're not supposed to put it on your pizza."
"The waiter was new," he continued, "It's not his fault. Seriously it's okay. I'm okay."
"Okay," she gave in. Just then, they all turned at the sound of a slight knocking on the door to find casual E.R. nurse Claudia Rivers standing in the doorway holding Danny's charts.
"Sorry to interrupt," Claudia stepped in, "I just came to check on the patient."
"You're the nurse taking care of him?" Baez asked nicely.
"Yeah I am," she responded with a smile.
"Well I'm sure you'll make him feel much better," Erin commented with a sly smile and Danny tried to avoid eye contact as his cheeks turned bright red.
"We should head back," Erin said sweetly, "I'll check back with you later." Danny smiled as the others said goodbye to him and left him alone with the middle-aged nurse. Well, almost all of them.
"We gotta stop meeting like this," Claudia said with a smile when the others left the room.
"Why?" Danny asked smoothly as she approached him, "I like you in your scrubs." She smiled slyly and the two shared a lovely kiss, and Erin stood outside watching with a smile on her face at how happy her brother was.
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*This is the first of many short stories, and I decided to play with the idea of Danny starting to date someone else after being without Linda for some time (about a year or so). But there will still probably be stories with Danny and Linda as well. Hope you enjoyed this.*