Late October always seemed to take a toll on the Chicago Intelligence Unit. Drugs moved rapidly in the disguise of bags of candy from dealer to patron. Each case the Unit had a unique twist that kept the members on edge. Adam Ruzek, whose favorite holiday was Halloween, cursed this time of year. Ruzek's wife, Kim Burgess, swore her children would never take part in the holiday. Kevin Atwater just wanted to get back to his siblings for the annual Halloween party he threw for their friends. Antonio Dawson, who was recently divorced, wanted to get back to see his kids go trick or treating. Hank Voight, the leader of the fearless team, disappeared every day after work and Halloween was no different. Alvin Olinsky the only member in the team where Halloween was just another day of the year. Jay Halstead, on the other hand, needed the case to be over. He was celebrating his five year anniversary with his fiancee. He had already pushed the reservation back three times that night and he wasn't sure who was going to kill him first; his wife or the restaurant staff.
"Are we done for the night, boss?" Ruzek asked for the umpteenth time. He was the youngest of the group and the most impatient. "I would like to squeeze in one more haunted house before the end of the night." He leaned over to his best friend, Atwater. He high fived Atwater before turning his attention back to his boss. "Are we?" He asked again when the first time went unanswered.
"Sure, I've got to go." Voight looked at the watch on his left hand. The team watched him scratch his chin and walk back into his office.
"Where do you think he goes?" It was Atwater who asked the question that was on the tip of everyone's tongue.
"Yeah, Al, you are his best friend. Where does he go when he isn't here?" Dawson looked over at Ruzek. He clearly knew not to ask Al about Voight's after work plans.
"Why don't you ask him?" Al flicked his hand at the other members. "Hey hank! These kids want to know what you do in your free time." Al threw them under the bus and stood from his seat. He couldn't be bothered by unnecessary questions. He just wanted to go have a drink or two.
"It's none of your concern." Hank walked out of his office. "Come on, Al, I'll give you a ride home. Oh, and since you all have nothing better to do other than worry about my social life, stay until paper work is finished." With that, Hank left the bullpen.
"Is he serious?" Ruzek asked the others in the room.
"Do you really want to find out?" Jay retorted. He slammed his hand down on the desk and picked up the phone. "You couldn't have kept your mouth shut." Jay glared at Atwater. He quickly dialed the number to the restaurant to change his reservation yet again.
"What crawled up his ass?" Atwater whispered to Ruzek.
"No, you don't understand, I made this reservation nearly six months ago!" Jay yelled into the receiver. It was ridiculous to him that they couldn't push it back another hour. Sure, it was three hours from the time he originally said, but he couldn't see how another hour would hurt. "Fine, I'll keep it." He wasn't happy that he had lost the battle with the host of the restaurant.
"Good luck, man." Antonio told him. "It's a mountain of paperwork tonight." The team had each fired a weapon the night before meaning each team member had paperwork on the bullets now useless to the police department.
"Thanks." Jay grumbled and sat down at his desk. He needed to hurry if he wanted to make it to the restaurant in the next forty minutes. Jay ignored the rest of the questions being thrown out in regards to the paperwork. He cursed himself when he noticed he only had three minutes to make it to the restaurant in time.
"Hey, Jay, isn't your cruiser in the shop?" Burgess reminded Jay when he began to look for his keys.
"Shit, you're right. Ruzek, give me your keys. You can just ride home with your wife." Jay held his hand up to catch the keys. He never understood why the couple took separate cars to work, but today? Today he wasn't going to question it.
"Sorry man, mine went into for routine maintenance today. Looks like you are going to have to take the bus. The cabs are down with it being Halloween." Ruzek shrugged. "Speaking of which, it leaves in two minutes."
Jay glared at the laughing before bolting to the door. He would get them back eventually. Jay ran down the stairs two at a time and out of the district. He didn't care about the shouts behind him to slow down. He relationship was already on the rocks and he couldn't afford to make it worse. He sighed out in relief when he noticed the bus coming down the street. "Thank God!" Jay said to noone in particular.
"Hello, sir." Jay heard from the opened bus doors. He felt his breath hitch at the sight of the woman in front of him. He took in her golden brown hair curled around her face. He stared at her mesmerizing hazel eyes. He noticed her perfect jaw line and dazzling smile. "It's three dollars." It was only then that Jay noticed she had been speaking to him while he stared at her.
"Oh, right." Jay searched in his pockets for cash. "Shit," He said under his breath. He never carried cash. Why would he when he had a debit card for everything? "I'm so sorry, I don't have cash on me. I just have a card, but I need to get somewhere and I can pay you tomorrow..."
"Woah, calm down. There is no one else on the bus so as long as you can keep a secret." She winked at him. "This ride is on the house. Where to?" She asked and reached for the handle to shut the doors.
"First and Park." Jay didn't want to tell the woman he was going to meet his fiancee there.
"Alright, have a seat." The woman told him and put the bus back into gear. "What's your name, sir?" She asked after a minute. Jay was grateful, he didn't want the awkward silence to continue.
"Uh, Jay, ma'am, yours?" Jay echoed her question back.
"Erin. Erin Lindsay. Can I tell you a story, Jay?"
I've had this idea for a while now, I just wasn't sure how I wanted to go about it. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you do!