Hey Guys! I have been working hard on this new fic. (and if you follow my other two fics Fighting the War and This Morning, I have not given up on them, I will be updating those later this week:)) But anywho... If you like Review and Follow, it makes these hot summer days so much better!

Side-note: Is it September 30th yet?!


Three Months Ago she was on Cloud Nine. She had an amazing boyfriend and partner, a kick-ass job, everything she could ask for.

Two Months Ago she found herself searching for a life-raft. She had to break-up with her boyfriend because of her boss and pseudo-father, and then her and her partner got reassigned to new partners. And then to top it off on her birthday, of all days, the girl she rescued off the streets turned best friend and roommate was killed by a cold blooded psychopath, taken off the street as she went out to get a cake for a surprise birthday party.

One Month Ago she was falling into what felt like a bottomless pit. She was sleeping around with her old 'friends', shooting-up with her dealer, and popping oxy like it was candy. She even went crawling back to her pathetic so called mother. And then she really hit rock bottom, she quit her job, she was tired of everyone asking if she was ok, she was tired of the pain she felt.


"Erin quit." Voight announced to those present before stomping away into his office in disappointment and in anger, shutting the door.

Disappointment in himself for not being there to catch her, not being able to see the signs that she was going off track. Anger at Bunny for coming back into her life and causing even more problems when he had clearly told her to stay away.

He had been sitting in his office no more than two minutes when a knock came at his door. His head in between his arms he muffled "Come In."

"Hey, Sarg-" the man asked shutting the door behind him.
"Did you know about this Halstead?" He asked looking up at the younger detective that stood in front of his desk.

"No Sir. But, what are we going to do about it?" Jay asked, looking towards her badge and gun sitting on the desk.

"I don't know. I have talked to her till I was blue in the face and then I woke up this morning, with a text message asking me to come to Bunny's bar and that where I found her and left her.. Actually Bunny kicked me out." He said leaning back in his chair, hands on the back of his head.

"Let me try." Jay told with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

Hank thought for a few minutes and reluctantly agreed.

"Well, you are her partner and you do seem to know her now better than I do. Go."

Jay stood with a look of shock on his face.

"I said go Halstead. Do I need to taser you to get you movin'?"

"No Sir." Jay said as he walked towards the door.

"Good. And Halstead? Bring her back in one piece, if Bunny becomes a problem, just reminder her that I can still put her in jail for the November 1994 incident, for child endangerment as well as whatever other bull you want to make up. Also tell Platt that I need to borrow someone for the day."

Jay smirked before walking out the door and towards his desk, grabbing the keys off the wood. He ran down the stairs, Antonio and Olinsky both staring him down.

"Where you going Halstead?" Atwater asked as him, Ruzek and Burgess entered the lobby.

"I gotta go talk to a CI about something, be back later." He said walking over to the desk sergeant. "Hey Platt, Voight said he needs someone upstairs for the day."

"Oh really? And why, Detective Chuckles couldn't he tell me this himself?" she inquired.

"Because something has come up and he asked me to tell you to take care of it." He told her giving his signature grin.

"Fine." She agreed rolling her eyes. "Hey Burgess, get your skinny little ass over here." She called over to the patrolwoman.

With that Jay went running out the front doors of the twenty-first, to the Chrysler 300, immediately pulling off the side of the street and onto the main road, in the direction of Bunny's bar.

He broke several laws and may have caused an accident to get to the bar, but he reached it in record time, pulling up in front of the rugged building in a mere ten minutes, a far cry from the normal thirty.

He jumped out of the driver side, which felt wrong to him, he loved her driving and loved to give her a hard time about always driving. He casually walked into the bar, which smelt of stale beer and cheap cigars, his eyes in search of the dirty-blonde headed woman. His eyes leading him to the woman dressed in a blue top with her head down at the bar, several shot glasses flipped upside-down in front of her. Jay quietly walks over, taking a seat on the tattered stool.

"Normally I would offer to buy you a drink, but it seems as though you have already met the quota and its only 11 o'clock in the morning." He said as he glanced at his watch.

"I was wondering when Voight would send you." Erin said, not lifting her head from the bar.

"Well, first of all he didn't send me, I came down here on my own and second of all why did you quit?" he inquired.

"Whatever Halstead, you can say what you want but I wouldn't believe you otherwise."

"Well, you going to answer my other question?" he pestered.

She knew that he would not leave her alone, not until he had an answer. She took a long pull from the beer in front of her, and turned toward him, opening her mouth to answer.

"I quit be-" she was rudely cut off.

"Detective Halstead, how can I be of assistance here?" the woman said coming up behind the couple at the bar.

"Bunny. Why don't you go crawl back into the hole you came out of and leave us alone." Jay said looking at Erin. He was astounded at how much the woman beside him had changed in the short amount of time since he had last seen her, that being when she had a bounty placed on her forehead and was jumped in her apartment with her boy-toy and drug dealer Landon. She seemed skinnier, fragile, almost as if he was to touch her, she would crumble underneath his fingertips. Her skin was pale, almost a jaundice color, from the lack of sun. The person sitting before him looked and sounded like the woman he loved but the way she spoke and acted it was like a different person before him.

"Excuse Me? I think that you need to leave before I call the cops!"

"Seriously? Are you stupid enough to call the cops on a cop, you really think they will do anything?"

"Fine, I won't call the cops. Yet. But leave my daughter alone, she is no longer employed under your reigning superior."
"I am just sitting here having a conversation with my partner. I have no reason to leave."

"Can't you see she doesn't want to talk? What part of that don't you understand?"

"November 1994. Bunny."

"What? How'd you-?"

"Leave Bunny. Or would you rather walk out of here in handcuffs?" he threatened unclipping the metal from his belt loop.

The older haphazard woman went stomping out the front door, huffing and puffing, about to blow the roof off the bar.

"Why'd you do that Jay? Everything she said was true, maybe I don't want to talk." She told him, rebuilding the walls that he had carefully brought down.

He ignored her question, the way that she had ignored his earlier.

"So, how are you?"

"Peachy. I suppose I am supposed to care enough to ask you how you are?" she said, rolling her eyes taking the last swig of her beer, raising her hand to the bartender for another one.

"Yes, you are supposed to care and somewhere inside that thick pig-headed skull of yours, you do care. I am worried, Er." He spated at her.

"You? Worried? Please, the only thing you worry about is One: whether or not the take-out will arrive warm, and Two: whether or not the Blackhawks are going to win the Stanley Cup or not." She laughed, picking at the label on her new bottle of beer.

"Wrong. The take-out thing only happened once, and it did arrive warm, thank you very much. Two, the Blackhawks are going all the way and you know it, you are just as big of a fan as I am. But you forgot number three."

"Oh? And what's that? The safety of Will and the mad house at PD?" she said taking a sip of brew.

"No, You." His comment caused her to spit her beer out, knocking over the bottle in the process.

"Me?" she said wiping up the mess.

"Yes you. Do you know how many sleepless nights I have because of you?"

"No, you shouldn't be losing sleep over me Halstead. I was a pathetic cop and a lousy friend. Pathetic because I actually had hope that she would be found alive, you know? I had helped her turn her life around, get her off the streets and clean. Only to be disappointed when we found her raped, tortured and then murdered, her glazed over brown eyes looking up into the grey skies of New York. I often ask myself 'What was her last thought? What did she see last? Did she die slow and painfully or was it quick? Where would she be today?' and then I remember that it is my fault that she died. All because of my imprudent birthday. You know, she would have graduated from the academy yesterday?"

Jay has no words, words were not needed, as this was probably the first time she got all of this off her chest. Instead, he did what he felt was needed at the time, a small gesture of compassion and comfort. He took her left hand into his, holding it, rubbing circles on her skin as she opened up to him.

"I am a lousy friend. Nad- She would always come into the apartment with tales of what they had learned that day, and it brought memories back from my time at the academy and how much I have changed since then. I'm worthless to Hank, look at all the hard work he had put into getting me clean almost sixteen years ago, only for me to throw it all away in one night. I don't deserve to be a cop at this point, I mean I can't even pass a simple drug test at this point. And I most certainly don't deserve you, I haven't been your back-up in weeks, our 'one day' got thrown over the fence like a grand slam at Wrigley Field..."

"You cannot sit here and say that you are pathetic and lousy. You know as well as I do that Yates, would have killed someone else, if it had not been for Nadia. Your head was on that chopping block too Erin, he could have just as easily gone after you. Your birthday had nothing to do with her dying, he would have just grabbed her from another place and on another day. And Hank? He still loves you, when I walked into his office this morning, I was looking at a man that is concerned about his daughter, and his only care right now is for your safety. And Me, Er? You have been there when others weren't, I would be willing to take a bullet for you if it meant saving you. Our 'one day' will always be there, waiting for both of us when we are both ready to get caught and face Voight's wrath. I Love you, Erin Lindsay. Don't you forget that." He said before placing a kiss on her forehead.

After a few minutes of silence, Jay thought that she had fenced herself in her thoughts again and got up to leave.

"What part of your body would you sacrifice?" she asked staring straight ahead towards the wall of liquor. The question captured his attention, causing him to slowly sit back down.

"Hmmm… Shoulder? Or the fleshy part of the thigh?" he laughed.

"S,P, A, or G?" she questioned, this time looking towards him.

"You really are enjoying yourself aren't you?" he pestered. "Shoulders. Please."

"Nope sorry, G. And last question, for $1000 is, what does retiring to Northern Wisconsin entail?"

"The cabin that my grandfather built and moved, a relaxing summer retreat, and bald-eagles flying around."

"Wrong again! It has snowmobiling, ice fishing and meth labs." She responded, playfully punching his arm.

"Ok, Ok, Ok. What do you say we leave this place before it leaves a permanent mark on your skin?" he asked, his hand still holding hers.

"I don't know Jay…"

"Come On Erin. Let's get out of here." He told her, hoping Bunny wouldn't return.

She slowly yet hesitantly agreed, paying for her drinks before stumbling out the door. Had it not been for Jay, she would have fallen over, his hand holding a death grip on her waist. They had made it out the front doors, Jay thinking he was clear of her psychotic mother.

"And just where do you think you are going with my daughter, detective?" he heard the voice question from against the bar of the bar.

"Away. Away from you. Away from Work. Away from Chicago." He spat in her face.

"You can't do that!' she yelled 'and here are the people to make sure you won't!"

He turned himself and Erin around, seeing a patrol car pulling up.

"I told you I would call the cops. Now, if you let her go, I will say that all this is just a big misunderstanding." She quietly yelled.

The officers got out of the vehicle, approaching the scene.

"Detective." One of the young officers stated, hands on his duty belt.

"Roman."

"Do we have a problem here?" the young patrolman asked.

"Nope, I was just helping my intoxicated friend here to my car, but this woman seems to think that I am taking her daughter away."

"Ma'am. Your daughter is a grown woman, meaning she is old enough to make her own decisions, therefore, I am unable to interfere unless I see a presence of danger, which I do not."

"Roman." Jay nodded his head, thanking the young patrolman, who was well aware of the situation.

"Detective." Sean nodded back as Jay walked towards his car.

Jay and Erin made it to the car, Jay safely buckling her in on the passenger side. No more than a mile down the road and she was sound asleep, her head resting on the window. Jay quickly pulled out his phone, calling the person that allowed him to go after her in the first place. The phone call ended as quickly as it began.

Twenty minutes later, Jay pulled up in front of the two story house, running around to the passenger side, slowly opening the door. He carefully unbuckled her and picked her up, carrying her to the front door. He was about to gently kick the glass, when the door flew open.

"Bring her in here, you can lay her down on the couch." The gruff voice told him.

"Her last drink was about thirty minutes ago, I can't tell you when her last shoot-up was but it was recent judging by the trac marks on her arm."

"Thanks Halstead."

"Voight, what are we going to do?" he asked turning towards his superior.

Voight was about to answer when they heard a whine coming from the couch.

"Ugh, I seriously need to stop drinking so much." She said laughing at the foolish thought, placing a hand on her forehead.

Jay and Voight both walked over to the couch, exchanging glances as they realized she had no idea where she was.

She slowly opened up her eyes, blinking away the little sleep that had formed in the crests, only to have two sets of eyes staring down at her.

"What the Hell?" she thought aloud.

"Well hello to you too." Voight smarted off.

"How did I get here? Because I am certain that it was not by my own free will. And what are you doing here? What are you now, Voights lap dog?" she spated, sitting up on the couch, nausea threatening to take over her body, it took every nerve in her body to control it.

"Well first of all you agreed to come, on your own free will. Second of all, I am the one that found you in that dump and brought you here. And lastly, Voight has graciously allowed you to be here, so I would treat him with some respect." Jay mouthed off right back to her.

She could have sworn that this was all a dream, that Jay would definitely not treat her like that. She quickly stood, the room spinning around like a merry-go-round. She quickly found moving to be a mistake, the nausea taking over her, she drunkenly bolted, hardly making it to the bathroom, dragging herself along the ceramic tile as she emptied the contents of her stomach. She quickly found a hand on her back, another one holding her hair. She used to be a strong and courageous woman, now she felt small and pathetic. She eventually felt well enough to be able to stand, shoving the muscular man off her shoulders, she slowly walked over to the sink, splashing water on her face, running a cup full of water rinsing out her mouth.

She looked up into the reversible glass, only for mere seconds unable to look at the person she has become, anger and heartache quickly began tugging at the strings of her heart. She felt vulnerable, unable to control her grief, the tears began to dwell in her eyes, quickly making their way down her cheek. She immediately felt the muscular arms engulf her, wrapping around her shoulders. She instantly tried to pull back, but his hold only grew tighter.

As she was pressed into his chest, her sense of smell became engulfed in the musky aroma of Old Spice and gunpowder, taking her back to one of the last times she felt his arms wrapped around her. The cold April morning that she wished was just a bad dream, they had found Nadia's body strewn in a pile of sand like she was yesterday's garbage, her skin was pale and bruised. She had seen many corpses in her career, but her emotions got the best of her, she felt herself breaking at the sight of the tattered body in front of her, that was when she felt his tall stature with his arms around her overpowering her petite figure, breaking down in his arms. She was broken then and he was there to pick her up. She is broken still and here he is again. Prepared to be her knight in shining Kevlar as always.

"Why do you care so much?" she asked into his chest.

"What?" he asked, taken back by her question.

"Why do you care, about me, about my life? Why do you feel the need to be involved in the life of a relapsed drug addict and alcoholic? Which would be me, Erin Lindsay. And don't say because of 'one day' I want to hear something other than 'one day'."

They stood for a few minutes, while Jay collected his thoughts. Why did she think that he did not care?

"You're my partner, and I Love you. I care because maybe if your problems became my problems then we could both work them out, together. I don't care about the past Lindsay, hell, I've done that crap too. And maybe, your problems are worse, compared to my prior PTSD but I found help, and I got better, and I think that it's your turn." He told her, sloppily kissing her forehead.

"So this is an intervention?" she asked.

"Well No. Yes. Maybe?" he said, unsure of how to answer.

She retracted from his arms. "I need to go." She said making her way down the hall.

"Where?" he questioned followed her every footstep.

"Just.. leave me alone." She demanded, he quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"No, you are not leaving, and if you try, Voight has a unit sitting outside."

"Controlling much?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. He quickly pinned her up against the wall, throwing her hands in a cuff-lock above her head, their bodies pinned up next to one another.

"You may have control over me at work Lindsay, but I happen to know that you have a fetish for when I take control in let's just say extra-curricular activities." He said whispering in her ear.

He pulled back studying her face, chuckling at the hugh of redness in her cheeks.

"You want some water?" he said, knowing he left her in a hot mess.

"Umm, y.. yeah. That would be nice."

He left the room, for no longer than two minutes, by the time he returned, he was shocked at the sight in front of him.

"What the hell?!" he yelled, dropping the glass of water.

"I just need a line. One more line and I will stop." She said as she lined up the white powder on the glass table.

He ran over, grabbing her by the wrists, jerking her up off the couch.

"NO, Erin. I mean… where did you even get the stuff from, I was gone for like two minutes?" he spated in her face.

"You know for a detective, sometimes you are not all that smart.. You should have checked my jacket." She informed him.

He ran a hand over his face, settling it over his jaw as he replayed and studied the events that just transpired.

"You are leaving in two days. Two Days. For rehab. You know yes, this is partially my fault as it cannot be Voights since he is at the precinct, but it is also your fault. You have a problem Erin! How much did you take?"

"None." She said staring at the floor like a child.

"Look at me." He demanded, taking his hand, lifting up her chin.

"I didn't take any! I swear!"

"Ok." He told her as he walked over to the glass table, putting the white powder back into the bag, grabbing the credit card off the table. He walked towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" she questioned.

"I am taking care of the problem Er." He said as he emptied the contents in the baggie into the latrine. "You want the honors, or me?"

She turned her back to him, silently voicing her answer. Flush. She let out a sigh, a sigh of relief, walking back into the living room.

"Ok. So I have a slight problem."

"Yes, you do."

"I will go to rehab. Under one condition." She declared sternly.

"And what would that be.."

"When I return, I will think about us getting more than 'one day'." She said with hope.

"Deal. Now I would kiss you, but we are in Voights house.." he laughed.

The next two days flew by like the days of summer, Jay spent his days at Voights house, comforting Erin as she went through her withdraw, keeping an eye on her that she did not go for more or leave the house and at night Voight would come in and take over.

As Erin's last day of so called 'freedom' rolled around, she packed the few things she had at Voights, Halstead grabbing the rest of her things from her apartment as Hank kept a watchful eye on her.

"Ok, so you sure you have everything?" Jay asked as he shut the hatch on Voights SUV.

"Yes, for the millionth time, yes." She said rolling her eyes.

"Good. Well I guess this is goodbye." He said with his hands in his pockets, standing on the heel of his shoes.

"It's not forever Halstead. Just don't forget our promise."

"And what would that be?" Voight asked as he walked up to the vehicle.

"Oh, Jay here promised me that one, he wouldn't get used to driving; two, he wouldn't break in the new guy, and three was.."

"Three was for her to get better and get back so I can prove that I am a better shot and because I don't trust Ruzek with my back. Kidding, just kidding boss."

"Good. Lets Go." Said the sergeant.

"Bye Er." He told her pulling her into a hug, not caring that Voight was there.

"Bye Jay." She said, tears dwelling in her eyes at the thought of leaving him, but she knew she had to go and recover, get better. He helped her into the car, shutting the door like a gentleman.

As the SUV pulled away, Jay couldn't help but look towards the foreseen future, the one with Mrs. Erin Halstead. 'Has a nice ring to it.' He thought, laughing to himself.