My brain wouldn't stop with this idea. A one-shot for now. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own or have any affiliation with Chicago PD, its characters, writers, cast or crew.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be an easy bust. In. Out. Apprehend the perps. Get the drugs and guns off of the streets. But it went sideways. As if the bad guys knew the Intelligence unit was coming the second they decided on the bust. It got out of their hands. Chaos. Shots fired. Calls into radios for back up that was too far away to get to them in time.
The team had fanned out in formation with Voight, Halstead and Lindsay at the helm. Jay stood in front with his long gun ready to fire and thigh holster tight around his upper leg with his usual pistol in place, fully loaded. Erin stood close behind him, gun in one hand and the other at Jay's shoulder, ready to pull him out of harm's way if the circumstances called for it. Voight stood to the right of Jay, his gun in hand at his side.
The others took their flanks. Dawson and Atwater went to the east side of the building, while Ruzek and Olinksy went to the west. There was no back way out; they'd already checked the blue prints of the structure. They had entered the building quick and quiet, almost too easy, until all hell broke loose.
All Erin could remember was complete pandemonium. She and Halstead got separated from Voight while they took on heavy fire. The partners had no choice, but to duck down behind a tower of wooden crates, while Voight stood level and across from them behind a concrete column. At one point Erin had bumped her head off the corner of a crate. As a result, she had a nice blue bruise coming in and a line of blood dripping down the side of her face from her forehead.
Erin looked over at Voight when she heard him call out her name. He stared at her from across the room with panic in his eyes.
"I'm fine!" She yelled out. She knew that he knew it was a lie. Her head ached, throbbing for sleep, but it was her and her team or the perps firing at them, and she knew that as well.
Erin had called out once more into her radio attached at the shoulder, praying someone was close by. "We need back up, NOW!"
"At least five minutes out, Lindsay!"
"We don't have five minutes, Burgess!"
It was true, they didn't. Erin sat on the floor, trying to save what was left of her ammo. Jay stayed beside her on his knees with his gun aimed straight ahead through a gap between the crates. He stole a quick glance at her, and then stared back out in front of him. His eyes did the talking for him.
"Jay, I'm fine. We have to finish this."
She could tell he was annoyed. "And how's that? With the cost of your life?"
She didn't say anything and Jay knew better than to argue with her any further. It certainly wasn't the time or place, but if anything serious happened to Erin on his watch he would never be able to live with himself.
He breathed out a deep sigh before he turned to his right and locked eyes with Voight. Erin followed Jay's line of vision and watched the man who was her surrogate father nod to the man she was falling in love with. She knew, in an instant, what they were doing and she would never forgive either of them for it.
Hank's eyes stayed on her for a moment before they moved back to Jay. The older man gave one last solid nod to her partner and then stepped out from behind the column.
"Hank, no! No! Don't you dare! Don't!"
Her screams and pleas were useless. She should have known he wouldn't listen. Hank stood out in the open now, gun still in hand, but his arms limp at his sides. The enemy could take him out easy.
Hank kept his eyes straight ahead of him, watching as a man with an assault rifle stepped toward him with slow, careful steps.
Eyes straight, but voice down, Hank spoke out one more time. "Halstead?"
Jay kept his gun up, ready to fire, but called back. "Sir?"
"Whatever happens, kid, you get Erin out of here. Ya hear me?"
"Sir, I-"
"It's not a request, Halstead. Did you hear me?"
Erin can tell Jay is conflicted. She hears the sigh escape his throat and watches on as he battles a war in his mind. She reaches a hand out to his arm and shakes her head at him, pleading in silence with tears in her eyes and dried blood on her skin.
Jay looks at her for just a second and his Adam's apple bobs up and down before he replies with a firm voice. "Yes, sir."
Hank steps forward, but the man in front of him threatening his life waves his rifle at him.
"No, no! You stay there. Don't move."
Hank stands still. Eyes on the perp, who yells out, pointing to the gun in Voight's hand. "Put it on the ground. Now!"
Hank hesitates, but does as told and holds his hands up in the air in surrender, palms facing out.
"We can all walk out of here alive, but you need to put that gun down."
The stranger shakes his head with a mean snicker. "My brother is already dead. You and your cops killed him. You ain't walking outta here old man."
Hank shakes his head. "Your brother killed an innocent family for a car and a couple bucks and then held a woman hostage with a knife to her throat. We didn't kill him. He killed himself."
He takes a slow step forward, hands still up. "You don't have to die like him. Put the gun down."
Halstead and Lindsay stay as still as statues until a flurry of movement catches Jay's eye. He looks to the far right and sees Antonio making a move toward the perp who still has his gun pointed at Hank. Dawson is too constricted with machinery and won't be able to get a clear shot, but Jay notices a stack of cardboard boxes off to the side of Hank and the perp.
He turns back to face Erin, who sits in silent tears. He grabs her hand, squeezes it tight and leans his face in towards hers to speak a whisper.
"Stay here."
She raises her eyes to his, curiosity embedded in them. She opens her mouth to speak, but he shakes his head and keeps her quiet with a quick kiss to the lips. When he pulls away she swears she hears him say he loves her.
And then it happens in an instant, but reels in slow motion like a scene out of a movie. Jay is off his knees, squatting on his feet now, and then he's standing before Erin can protest. He yells out, "Tony, NOW!" and dives for Voight. Two loud booms sound out through a crash and grunts follow, and then there's nothing until Antonio's voice sounds out through the silence.
All Erin hears is "Suspect down!" and then she is on her feet and running despite the painful throbbing pulsing against the side of her head. She sees Voight first, kneeling from the ground and she blows out a sigh of relief to see him unharmed. She thinks all is well until she realizes what he's kneeling over and she's by his side.
All Erin sees is red. It's the color of Jay's blood staining her hands. It's the shade of his face as he struggles to breathe, but the bullet hole in the left side of his neck makes it difficult. It's the anger she feels inside her at the two men she loves most for acting so carelessly and her heart beating out of her chest as she tries to keep pressure on Jay's wound.
She hears Voight's rigid voice speak broken words through the radio – "Ambo…now…bleeding out." She notices the rest of the team surround her, some shaking their heads, running their hands over their faces in disbelief. She sees the tears in Kim's eyes and the way Adam wraps his arms around the patrol woman's shoulders. She sees Jay on his back and dying in front of her. There is so much blood. She hovers over him, one hand over the other pressing down against his neck, trying to keep the pressure, but there is just so much blood. It oozes between her fingers and Jay's eyes stagger between staying open and closing again.
Erin leans her head down just above his, more pleas from her lips as she struggles to breathe herself through her cries. "Stay with me, Jay. The ambulance is coming. Just stay with me."
His eyes are drooping, heavier and sleepier, and then he's coughing and blood spurts from his mouth.
"Please, Jay. Just hold on. Help is coming. I just need you to hold on. Just hold on a little bit longer."
Erin begs him and presses harder. She sees his mouth open as he attempts to speak, but she shakes her head and stops him.
"Don't talk. You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be just fine." She presses her tear laced lips to his forehead several times and then speaks. "I love you. Stay with me. Please, stay. We'll go to that stupid cabin in Wisconsin and I'll let the Mosquitos eat me alive. We'll go and we'll fish and watch those stupid bald eagles flying around. Just please don't leave me. Please. Not yet."
It's another blur then and all consumes her is the flashing red of ambulance lights and the sound of shrieking sirens.
Her face and hair are caked with her own dried blood and her hands are stained with his. Her fingers tremble on her shaky knees, but she can't bring herself to leave. She needs to know how Jay is.
Mills had told her he flat lined twice in the ambulance, was as white as printer paper, but he held on. They rushed him into surgery to remove the bullet and now was time for the waiting game.
Antonio sat on one side of her whole Kim was on the other. Adam was next to Kim, and so on and so forth around the room was Olinsky, Atwater and Roman. She could see Voight leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and head down. His hands now cleaned of the blood of his detective that covered him hours ago. She hadn't said one word to him and Hank hadn't tried to with her.
She is so angry with him. He had to be the tough guy and Jay had to be the hero. All she can think of is the conversation Jay told her about that played out just days before.
Erin and Jay were in the break room - a spot quickly becoming their own private haven, and they're laughing about something stupid Ruzek had said just an hour earlier.
When their laughter subsides, it's a comfortable silence between them as they both sip from their coffee mugs.
Erin sets hers down, looks to the door, then back at Jay with a warm smile on her face. She reaches her free hand out, her fingers stroking Jay's on top of the table.
"So, you bring the pizza tonight and I'll supply the beer?"
He smiles a lopsided grin at her and strokes her fingers with the back of his. "Sounds good to me. I should probably go finish that profile paperwork though or I'll never get out of here."
She shakes her head. "Always slacking off."
He smirks at her. "Well, maybe I wouldn't be slacking off so much if someone wasn't so distracting all the time."
Erin rolls her eyes. "Don't blame me for your laziness, Halstead."
He chuckles and then squeezes her fingers before he stands, coffee mug in hand.
He walks out of the break room, that boyish grin on his face and then he hears Voight's voice calling him into his office.
He turns around. "Yeah, Sarg?"
Hank waves him in to his office, and Jay obliges, closing the door behind him.
"What's up, Sarg?"
Hank shrugs, arms now crossed as he leans back into his chair with a firm look in his eyes. "What's up? You tell me what's up."
Jay raises an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, am I supposed to know what's going on here?"
Hank leans forward then. "What's going on is that I specifically remember telling you that Erin was off limits. The two of you seem to be spending an awful lot of time cozied up together in the break room when you think no one is paying attention."
"That's not-"
"Don't try to lie to me, Halstead. You know the rules. Unless one of you wants to go out there and get shot for an exception to those rules, keep your hands to yourselves. In and out of the pen."
Erin comes to when she hears a voice by her side. She turns at the sound of it. Kim has a small smile on her face and a soft hand on her arm. "Erin, let's get you cleaned up. Come on, sweetie."
The two women stand, Erin on still-shaky legs and Kim with her arm around the older detective's waist. They head off in the direction of the bathrooms.
When Erin and Kim return to the waiting room, her hands are free of the blood of her partner. It reminds her of Jules all over again. Her brain doesn't rest on the thought too long though, because when Erin looks up, she sees Voight standing in front of a doctor.
It's been hours since Jay was brought in and rushed into surgery and Erin just wants something that will keep her hope alive.
She walks faster, Kim falling behind her, and makes her way to Voight.
"What did the doctor say?"
His eyes immediately widen at the sight of her. He finally is able to get a good look at her and sees the golf ball sized bruise over the top of her right eye and the cut that imprinted in her skin.
He lets out a deep sigh or worry. "Erin, you should have really gotten that checked out. You could have a concussion."
She shakes her head. "I'm fine. What did the doctor say?"
"Erin, please-"
"Tell me. Now."
"They just brought him out of surgery. He's down the hall in the ICU. They got the bullet out and were able to stop the bleeding. They say he should make a full recovery, but it's gonna be tough."
Erin nods, staying silent, but hears the sighs of relief and the 'thank God's' from her colleagues. It's the best news possible that they could have been given and right now she just wants to see him. She tries to side step around Hank, but he blocks her.
"Erin, he's resting. You should get yourself checked out now. He's gonna be okay."
Hank reaches an arm out to her shoulder, Erin shrugs him off. "Get out of my way."
She tries to step around him again, but he stops her, wrapping a hand around her wrist.
"Erin, you know they won't let you back there. It's family only. He's resting and you need to-"
She snaps then and all eyes are on her as she pulls her arm out of his grasp. "I am his family! He took your damn bullet. Get the hell out of my way, Hank."
Erin can feel all eyes on her, but hers stay on the man standing before her – her boss, her father, her confidant. But she doesn't back down. The only sound audible is of fast beating hearts. Then a sigh comes from Hank, it is one of surrender, and he steps to the side as Erin shoves past him.
She finds his room easily enough with the flash of her badge and within minutes she is in a chair at Jay's bedside.
They have him in a half-up, half-down position in the bed. The nurse told her it was for better blood flow. He's got an IV in one arm, another in his hand, and is heavily bandaged in gauze and tape around his neck and part of his shoulder.
He is still pale, but not like death, and it sends a chill through her veins. A strangled cry falls from her lips as she realizes then just how close she came to actually losing him. Tears slip from her eyes and she reaches out a trembling hand to his. She just needs to feel his skin against hers.
His hand is warm. He may be alive, and he may be alright now, but it doesn't make her cries cease. She leans forward, lifts his hand slow and kisses each of his fingers.
She knows he is sleeping, he needs his rest, but she still mutters out her words because she needs to say them again. "I love you, Jay."
She gives a light squeeze to his hand, being cautious. She kisses his palm and then another whisper. "I love you."