Thank you for all your support throughout this story (and my other stories as well). This is it, now – I'm sorry it's so short, and I hope you still like it.

Where had all the time gone? Danny shook his head as he drove through the busy streets.
Sleep hadn't returned to him after the nightmare of losing his brother – a nightmare he had had more than once in the past two years. Joe had haunted him at night, accusing Danny of being alive while he was dead and rotting in wet earth. Soon, Erin and Jamie had joined this nightmare, supporting Joe in his complaint, siblings as well as lawyers. Then Jamie had announced his wish to be a cop, and soon Danny had also seen him die in his dreams, falling right next to Joe.
He had tried to quit sleeping and keep those dreams from Linda as much as possible, but once he had fallen asleep at his desk, there had been no other choice but to tell her, and go see the department shrink twice a week for three months. Danny had hated every minute of every session, but it was still better than having Gormley telling his father about it – that was the deal between the sergeant and the detective. It took days for Danny to realize that by agreeing to it, he had definitely crossed the line of rules and protocol. He was now a corrupt cop, and his boss as well.
And at that time, he couldn't care less.

"Danny, over there! Danny!" Linda pointed at a space in the row of parking cars, shaking her head impatiently. "Listen, if you want to come late, fine, but let us go!"
"Let us go?" Danny frowned. Obviously, Linda was as nervous about this as he was. After all, she knew Jamie more than half his life. She had seen him grow up almost as much as Danny had, and she loved him as if he was her own brother.
That little baby he had just held in his arms, eyes wide open, curious, innocent. Pulling into the next parking place, Danny couldn't help but smile at the memory.

A heartbeat. That was all it took for Daniel Henry Reagan to forget math and school and his parents. All it took to raise a sense of protection in him, stronger than with Joe. Stronger than even with Erin. When they were born, Danny hadn't been able to do much to protect them.
Now it was different. He would be an adult when Jamie would go to school. He was old enough now to protect his baby brother – and he would.
A heartbeat to be charmed by Jamie's big brown eyes. Eyes that looked like his own, he realized, just somewhat better.

Danny didn't smile at Jamie as he held him. But he prayed, silently. He prayed for Jamie to be happy and healthy, no matter what he'd have to do for it.

Where had all the time gone?

"There's aunt Erin!" Jack jumped out of the car, waving. "Hey! We're here!"
"I'm pretty sure she's seen us" Linda calmed her son down as she opened the door, smiling. Danny stayed in his seat, trying to call himself back to the present.
"You're coming?" Linda looked through the window, Jack and Sean next to her.
"I'll be there in a minute."
The love of his life smiled understandingly, blew him a kiss and then walked towards her family.

Danny closed his eyes, hoping the pictures of last night wouldn't return.
This was it. Jamie's big day. In about twenty minutes, his baby brother would make a decision that change his life completely; he'd swear an oath to bind his life and death to New York City, to the people living and walking here, to every fellow cop. An oath to serve and protect, to bear being yelled and spat at, to get hurt and killed. He hadn't expected Jamie ever to take the easy way in anything, but the life he was choosing now certainly was one of the hardest paths possible – Jamie didn't know that yet, but Danny did.
Of course, it was still the only way of life he could imagine.

As Danny got out of the car – after watching his entire family already filing into the hall, Henry with a smirk on his face when he saw his eldest grandson hiding behind the steering wheel – he tried to put a controlled smile onto his face. He was supposed to be happy for his brother to choose this dangerous, demanding, sometimes lonely way, wasn't he? Yes, he was.
Yes, he was.

He was indeed. Without really noticing it, Danny's steps became faster, until he almost ran towards the hall. Erin grinned mischievously as her big brother squeezed into the row but when Danny grimaced playfully, her smile softened. Suddenly, she moved forward and hugged him, and Danny saw tears in her eyes.
"Tell me he'll be okay" she whispered, so low nobody else could hear it.
To his great surprise, Danny felt a certain calmness rise inside him – maybe a gift from heaven, sent by his mother and brother, maybe just the good feeling of not being the only one worrying. Whatever it was – Danny knew Jamie was going to be okay. He was going to be who was meant to be.
"Of course he will", he murmured, gently patting his sister's back. "He's clever. Cleverer than both of us. And for the things he can't do, that's what we're here for. We'll take care of him." He leant out of the embrace to look into her eyes. "Like we've always done."
Tears rolling down her cheeks, Erin smiled. "Okay."
Danny winked, then looked at his father who was watching his children, beaming with pride and love, but before either of the men could say a word, the music started, and Frank stood up to take his place at the stage, waiting to address the new police officers who now came walking in, feet moving in unison, arms swinging in a collective move.

Danny's eyes filled with tears. Fifteen years ago, he had walked here. Ten years ago it had been Joe.
Now he saw Jamie marching in, one cop amongst almost two hundred others, beaming, almost glowing with pride and happiness.
Officer Jamie Reagan. Danny said the words, tonelessly, and realized how hard it was to form words - his jaw was already hurting from smiling.
He had feared he would have to fake being happy or proud of his little brother, but when the ceremony had begun he had found himself beaming like a complete idiot, smiling through every minute of it.
He was proud of Jamie. He was proud that the kid was headstrong enough to follow his own mind, and that he had chosen the NYPD over lawyering. He was proud to see the boy he had once hummed to sleep being an adult now, looking handsome in his brand-new uniform.
His baby brother. Where had all the time gone?

But time or age, in the end, didn't matter. When the first tears of joy found their way down Danny's cheeks he remembered the promise he had made on the day of Jamie's birth, and realized that nothing had changed.

Jamie would always be his little brother, and Danny would always look after him.
He would teach him, protect him, laugh and cry with him.
He would fight and die for him.

Always.