"So she's not coming back?" The puppy eyes Jay was putting on for Voight was painful. Even to the hardened lead detective.
"'Fraid not, kid," Voight walked back into his office, forcefully ending the conversation.
:::::
*2 years later*
"I'm just saying, the place on Sixth and Manchester has way better coffee than your place." Hailey scrolled through her phone.
"I'll give you that, but my place has better food." Jay insisted.
"Does not. You were complaining about your burger literally yesterday."
"The waitress messed up my order. The food still tasted good, it was just that my burger had the wrong toppings on it." Jay tilts his head at the sound of the radio.
"Whatever. Just answer that."
"This is Detective Jay Halstead. My partner and I are in the area."
"Confirmed, detective. Backup on the way." The operator chimes.
:::::
"You go 'round back. I got the front," Jay climbed up the front steps of the suburbian house on the outskirts of Chicago. He stood to the side of the door, bringing his left arm around to knock on the door while he kept his gun at the ready in his right. "Chicago PD! Open up!" No answer.
Jay started to stand back, ready to kick the door down before it swung open, hitting his foot and sending him down the steps. He quickly recovered, getting up and training his gun on the tall, thin man slowly walking out of the door with his hands up. "Chicago PD. Get on your knees."
"I can't. I have a knee injury," The man kept slowly walking towards the detective.
"Don't care. Get on your knees," Jay stepped forward, slightly jerking his gun towards the man.
After a few minutes, Hailey came back around to find the door open and Jay nowhere in sight. She entered the house, going room to room to find him. When she cleared the whole house, she went back outside, calling out to her partner. "Jay?! Jay, this isn't funny!" Before she could get out another loud remark, she noticed Jay's phone and badge left in the grass in front of the house. It didn't take a detective to figure out what had happened.
:::::
Jay slowly awoke to a disgusting smell. He looked around the empty room, seeing nothing but plastic-covered antique furniture. It appeared to be a living room that used to be really nice. The windows were boarded up and there was one working light in the room that was directly above him. The ceiling fan. Of course, it had to be one of the hottest days Chicago had ever experienced. His captors obviously wouldn't want to turn the fan on, given the fact that it'd make him too comfortable in the heat. He was covered in layers of oversized jackets and blankets, along with a heating pad. This was a torture technique he'd never experienced before. Let's just say it wasn't his favorite of them all.
"Detective Jay Halstead, member of Chicago PD's Intelligence unit, formerly the lover of Erin Lindsay, also former Army Ranger. Your older brother is Will Halstead, a doctor at Chicago Med." A man stepped out from behind a wall in the kitchen, into Jay's eyeline. "I said all that to say: I know who you are. I know all about you. So don't think you can pull one over on me, okay?"
"Well this is kinda a one sided thing, here, then. You know all about me but I don't know anything about you. How are we supposed to further the relationship if we don't get to know each other better?" Jay's quip pleased his captor.
"You're funny. I like that. My name is Eli Chaz. My brother, may he rest in peace, had a bounty on your little girlfriend, Erin's head. But she skipped town and we can't find her."
"Yeah, neither could I. You should do what I did. Forget her. Move on."
"I can't, I'm afraid. See, she's the one who got my brother arrested, which landed in the jail cell that he was ultimately killed in. He placed a bounty the day he was counted guilty by the jury. When she left, our guys lost sight of her. We took you to draw her out."
"So I'm just gonna sit here for a few days while you wait for her? Because if that's the case, I might as well just move in because she's not coming back. Ever."
"We'll see about that," Eli took the duct tape from the kitchen counter, walking over to the blue-eyed-freckled-beauty and taped a piece over his mouth, muting the detective.
:::::
"Platt? What are you doing, here?" Olinsky turned in his chair to face the woman coming up the flight of stairs.
"You know how it is when someone gets taken around here," She held up a note which had a URL scribbled across it.
"Ruzek," Voight pointed to the detective, signaling him to enter it into the computer.
"It's a live video," Ruzek pressed on the video box, opening it up to full screen. On the screen, sat Jay in a chair, presumably bound with many blankets and warming packs.
"Hello, Intelligence. My name is Eli Chaz. If you remember, my brother Leo-Tavyn Chaz was killed in prison a few years ago because of one Detective Erin Lindsay-" The unit looks around to each other then back to the screen. "- and I had a bounty on her head. Since she apparently skipped town, we have lost track of her, therefore transferring the bounty onto someone she cared about. That someone being pretty-boy Halstead, over here. She has two days to get here. To make sure you're taking my demands seriously, I have taken advantage of this record heat-wave Chicago is currently having, and I'm giving your detective heatstroke. The faster you get the bitch back to the city, the more likely this guy is to live. Tick tock, Intelligence. Time's running out." The video fades to black, allowing the unit to see their reflections in the dark screen.
"We can't exactly hand her over, can we?" Ruzek spoke up.
"Let's call her, at least, and let her know what's going on," Antonio grabbed his phone, dialing up the ex unit member.
"Send the link down to the geeks, figure out where this guy has Halstead," Voight looked straight at Atwater.
"Yes, sir." Kevin grabbed Adam's laptop, heading down the staircase.
"He doesn't have much time. Heatstroke will act fast in his case," Hailey crossed her arms, watching Alvin make the perp-victim whiteboard up. "You know what heatstroke does to people? That can't happen to Jay."
"We'll find him. We always do." Voight's perpetually horse voice brought comfort to Hailey, even if only a little bit.
:::::
Jay struggled in his restraints, once left alone. His wrists started to bleed but before he could get any further in his efforts, Eli came back into the room, carrying a plate of food.
"Here. I got chicken for you, it's all I got," He picked the meat up, holding it up close to Jay's mouth, making the detective jerk his head backwards. "Really? You gonna starve yourself, too?"
"She's not coming back. Not even to get me out of this," Jay looked back at Eli with a defiant stare.
"How you know that?"
"Trust me. I just know."
:::::
"And what'd she say," Ruzek leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms.
"Same thing she told Voight and Alvin. She doesn't think it's a good idea to come back," Kevin put his phone in his back pocket, pacing the room with his arms crossed. "We can't just leave Halstead out to dry."
"We've got tech going over the footage and the code signatures to try and find where he is," Voight looked through the whiteboard, before hearing frantic footsteps coming up the stairs.
:::::::
Jay groaned at his throbbing headache, making him light-headed. His eyes were unfocused, bringing a smile to Eli's face. "Your team has one day left for my deadline but it looks like you ain't got one day left."
"I-I'll be fine," Jay squeezed his eyes shut against the nausea, before opening them as wide as possible, crying out in pain at the cramp seizing his thigh.
"Damn. Yeah, you don't got much time."
"I said… I'm… I…" before Jay could get a full sentence out, his stomach evacuated its contents all over Eli's shoes. The detective groaned against the pain taking hold of his body and ravaging his mind. He was starting to lose consciousness and he knew it.
::::::
"You found him?! Where is he," Haley came towards the tech.
"He's actually not too far away," Kevin took the tablet from the tech's hands with a silent thank you. "He's gotta be in the basement of the building."
"Alright, let's go get our guy," Voight quickly went back into his office, grabbed his jacket and led the other detectives out of the room and down the stairs.
:::::
"You don't look so good, man," Eli knelt down next to Jay, looking at the man's face. Not a drop of sweat graced his skin with its presence. Eli brought a hand up to Jay's neck, feeling the dry heat against the rapid, weak heartbeat. "You don't got much time. Looks like you were right. Bitch ain't comin'. Guess I gotta send another message to your people, huh?" Jay's lack of response was a response in-and-of-itself. He looked around the room, eyes unfocused, dazed. When he looked like he was going to vomit again, Eli quickly brought over a trash can. He needed it.
"Just let… me go… She's n-not, s'not c-ming," Jay's eyes began to roll back into his head, but he kept strong and awake.
"Can't let you go, but we'll make another vid-" The door bursts open with a loud bang, Intelligence running in, guns trained on Eli.
"Chicago PD! Get down on the ground, hands on your head, interlock your fingers and cross your legs," Haley moved in closer, eyeing her partner.
"Jay," Adam holstered his gun, kneeling behind Jay, shoving the blankets and heating pads off, and beginning to untie the ropes on the detective's wrists.
"Guys?" Jay's voice was weak but heard.
"It's gonna be okay, buddy. We gotcha."
:::::
"We've got incoming! Straight to Baghdad!" Maggie's voice was heard throughout the ED.
"Severe heatstroke! He's crashing!" The paramedics roll Jay into Baghdad, calling out terminologies, terrifying Will with every word.
"Jay!" He looked through the doorway to his dying baby brother. "Oh my-"
"Will, you need to go to the lounge. You don't need to see this and you know he'll be in good hands," Maggie took a tight grip to Will's arm. "Come on."
"Let go. I have to see my brother," Will fought the grip, getting his arm free. He rushed into the room, grabbing Jay's hand and standing next to the bed. "I'm right here, buddy." Jay's eyes cracked, slightly. Will watched the ragged, rapid and short breaths fog up his brother's oxygen mask with every huff.
"Will, you need to leave." Natalie tried to reason with him.
"He's my brother! I can't just leave him," Will held Jay's hand tighter.
"I know, doctor, but you've got to let Choi and Natalie do what they can. Jay's gonna be fine," Maggie pulled the doctor out of the room, pushing him to the lounge. "You're gonna hate me for this when everything's back to normal, but I promise he'll be fine. Just give him time. He'll be okay, Will."
"I need to know what the hell happened to my brother. I need to know why Jay is in Baghdad right now," Will crossed his arms and paced the room.
"I'll talk to his partners, but Will, You've got to stay here. You know what happens when people get in the way."
"I know. I know. I just-"
"I get it. Believe me. I'm gonna get back to work. I'll send Haley in and I'll check in on you, later."
"Thanks, Maggie."
:::::
"Hey, Jay's out of surgery," Maggie laughed when she saw Will flinch out of his sleep. "He's in a room. And he's fine, like I told you he would be. Room C137."
"Thanks, Mag," Will tapped her shoulder as he quickly exited the lounge, running straight for Jay's room. He apologized frequently, while he ran through people, pushing them aside, papers flying and tools dropping to the floor, loudly.
"Hey!" A nurse yells out.
"Sorry!" Will yells over his shoulder, keeping his pace. When he finally gets to C137, he practically skids to a stop, gently grabbing onto the door handle with a fantastic, strong grip. He opened the door to see his brother sleeping. No vent. Not even an oxygen mask. He had a nose cannula. "Hey, man." His voice a whisper. He sat down, quietly in the recliner next to Jay's bed, smiling at the sight of a near-fully-healed baby brother. He waited to see those beautiful blue-green eyes. Damn things always changing color, it seemed.
::::::
"Oh you really think you're a better shot? Hilarious," Jay dribbled the ball, juking around his older brother.
"I'm a way better shot! Hand me the ball and I could show you," Will grabbed at the basketball before Jay pulled it back towards himself.
"No way! I give you the ball and it ends up in New York after you try to shoot," Jay laughed. Will dove for the ball, falling to the ground while the younger Halstead ran around him, jumping up and dunking the ball with a victorious hollar.
"Get up, Will." A stern voice was heard.
"The hell," Jay looked around the gym. He'd thought it was just him and his brother. "Ay, man, you hear that?"
"Get up, you pussy. You get up and you get it right, this time!" The voice, again. "You tellin' me you let your little brother beat you?!"
"That voice…" Jay nearly caved in on himself. The feeling nearly made the detective collapse.
Will stood, looking to the stands, seeing him sitting there on the front seat. "Dad."
"Congratulations. Basic identification. Now get your ass in shape and take the shot!" The senior Halstead's voice warped in Jay's ears. Will turned around to face his younger brother.
"W-Will, what are you doing? Why do-" Jay froze at the sight of the gun in his big brother's hand, pointed straight at him. "Will, what're you doing?"
"I gotta take the shot, Jay," Will tilted his head, slightly, his father now standing behind him looking over his shoulder.
"Will…"
"Sorry, Jay."
"Will!" Jay stumbled backwards, running for the double doors under the basketball hoop before he felt it. The pain. He'd heard the shot, he knew what happened. The familiar wetness of his blood flowed down his stomach, turning his white t-shirt red. It stuck to his skin, making him shiver. He'd never gotten used to that feeling. He turned and faced the males of his family, tears in his eyes.
:::::::
Jay jolted upright in his bed, hyperventilating, waking Will up. The eldest stood, grabbing Jay's forearm. "Hey, man, it's okay. You're okay." Jay flinched, shuffling back in the bed. "Woah, woah. Jay, hey, man, what's going on?"
"Where's dad?" Jay looked around the room. "Where is the bastard?"
"Dad?" Will sat back down, crossing his arms. "I dunno. He's probably in some drunken stupor in some state, God knows where. Why? Jay, what happened?"
"It-nothing. It's fine. It was just a dream, it's okay."
"That looked anything but okay."
"Well it is. Don't worry about it."
Will sighed. "Whatever. You wanna talk about what happened?"
"Things went sideways. It happens, Will. It happened last year with Ruzek. Two and a half with Atwater. Guess it was my turn."
"Dammit, dude. Well you owe me a beer. Maybe the entire stock room at Molly's, I don't know. All this shit you've made me go through…"
"Careful, Will!"
"What?!"
"Sounds like you got dangerously close to sounding like you care."
"I do, but geez, I don't wanna sound it." The brothers laughed before Jay yawned. It was obvious the detective still needed rest. "I get it. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."