A/N: I've been meaning to write something like this for awhile. I love the Casey/Voight scenes and I want them to have more. The tension between those two characters is unreal. I'm hoping they have more scenes together in the upcoming seasons to come. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one-shot and let me know what you think! :)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Hank Voight leaned his back against the cold hospital wall, his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets. Jay stood across from him, his body as well leaning on the wall for support. Alvin, Ruzek, Burgess, and Atwater sat down on the seats, all of them fidgeting slightly. Sumner stood on the other side of the room, keeping her distance away from Voight, something that didn't go unnoticed by him. Erin comforted Laura by the door, trying to put her worries at ease.
Everybody was worried for Antonio. Their friend. Their brother. The guy who would do anything to save his family. He was easily one of the most respectable people any of them had ever met, no matter how long they had known him. You could have known Antonio for an hour and figure out that the guy is genuine and sincere.
"Where are the kids?," Voight heard Erin ask, and Laura takes a short breath before answering.
"They were at my mom's house, but she's bringing them here," Laura replied, wiping at a tear. She was staying reasonably calm, Voight noticed, which surprised him. Antonio had been shot before, about a year ago, so she must have hope that he'll recover again. "Gabby and her boyfriend are also on their way."
Voight moved his eyes towards Jay when he noticed him shift uncomfortably at the mention of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, and Voight couldn't help but smirk slightly. He didn't know who was now dating Antonio's sister, but did know that she used to be involved with young Peter Mills, so perhaps they were back together.
He didn't give it much thought, but then he suddenly remembered Antonio mention something about Matthew Casey saving her from the rubble during the bombing, and how he was thankful she had him in her life.
Now Voight was the one who shifted uncomfortably. He hadn't seen Casey since the day he killed Hallie Thomas' murderer, the young doctor who had a very complicated romantic past with the Lieutenant.
Hallie was somebody Voight regretted never apologizing to. Sure, he tried to make amends with her and Casey at Molly's the night he got out of jail, but he knew his apology was cocky, unintelligent, and everything in between. So ever since he learned of Hallie's death...he decided to make an honest shot at trying to apologize for real to Casey. Antonio spoke highly of the guy...so he must not be all that bad, although Voight wouldn't forget that he was the man that put he and his son in handcuffs.
Of course, Voight knew that Casey had his reasons. Good reasons, in fact. If the roles were reversed, Voight wouldn't have hesitated to react the same way Casey had. Deep down, he respected Matthew Casey, even though he probably would never admit it out loud.
"Are you all here for Antonio Dawson?," a doctor asks as he enters the room, pulling Voight out of his thoughts and causing him to stand up straight.
"I'm his wife," Laura tells the doctor, walking up quickly to him with Erin right behind her.
"We operated on him, but he's still not out of the woods yet," the doctor informs her, speaking softly. "He may need a second surgery."
"Can I see him?" Laura asks after breathing a small sigh of relief. It wasn't the greatest news, but it could have been much worse.
"Definitely," the doctor says, nodding. "He's in room 183." Laura thanks the doctor before jogging down the hall, and everybody else decides to hang back, giving her the time she needed with her husband while we processed the news.
Two more sets of footsteps enter the room a couple of minutes later, and everybody looks up again as Antonio's sister comes into view with Matthew Casey right at her side. Gabby looked worried, her eyes were red and irritated, and Casey had a concerned expression as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. "How is he?" Casey asks the room, his eyes jumping from face to face. When he meets Voight's gaze, his eyes linger, taking a deep breath as he looks at the man who wanted him killed not too long ago.
"He just got out of surgery," Burgess says, causing Casey to turn his attention to her. "He's not out of the woods yet though, he may need a second surgery."
Casey looks down at Gabby as she breathes a small sigh of relief, knowing she expected worse. "He's going to be alright, okay?" He soothes his girlfriend, and once again, Voight notices Jay awkwardly fidget. "Why don't we sit down."
"Yeah," Gabby agrees softly, and the two of them sit down in a pair of empty seats. Casey gives Voight a hateful glare from across the room before reaching for Gabby's hand, and Voight can't help but roll his eyes, knowing this wouldn't be easy, whatever he decided to do about the situation.
He moves his eyes from the couple to the floor, shuffling his feet as he tries to decide whether or not this was the right time to talk to Matt. But at the same time, he knew he may never get another chance like this one, and if he did, it also wouldn't be in a very welcoming setting.
But what was he going to say to the guy? 'Hey, sorry I wanted to kill you and your fiancé a year ago, please forgive me'? The only thing Casey did was put Justin in jail for a crime he actually committed and refused to retract his statement when Voight asked (or rather demanded,) him to.
Voight took a deep breath and stood up straight, glancing at Erin before looking over at Casey, who was quietly soothing Gabby. Erin and Alvin were the only two who knew their history, besides Antonio. Jay had joined the unit about half a year ago, and only knew his boss served some time in prison, but he didn't know what for. Burgess and Atwater weren't tied to Voight when it all went down with Casey, and Ruzek was also a newbie.
"Hey Casey, mind if we talk in private for a minute?," Voight asks the fireman, his raspy voice filling the empty silence of the room. Everybody looks at Voight, then to Casey, all of them well aware of the tension.
"What, you wanna threaten me again?," Casey asks, and Voight was somewhat surprised at the strong reaction he received. "Or do you wanna finish the job on me?"
Voight clenches his jaw, knowing he could say a million things to make the situation worse, but deciding against it and keeping his anger in check. "I just want to talk," he says coolly. "Just you and me, in the hallway, so we can sort things out."
"After all that you've done, you want to sort things out?," Matt asks incredulously, his voice full of hostility and his expression showing nothing but anger.
"I know I've done stupid shit," Voight replies, walking a few steps closer. "But you may also want to remember that I saved your ass when you had a gun to your head."
"But a few months before that you would have gratefully taken the opportunity to blow my brains out," Casey points out, not missing a beat.
Both of their voices were rising in volume, and Ruzek now sat on the edge of his seat, painfully interested in the argument. Jay also now stood up straight, giving Erin a glance that said, 'you're definitely talking me through this one later'.
"I was also the guy that your girlfriend came to last year when Antonio was shot. I ended up saving his life, remember that?" Voight knew Casey had gotten angry at Gabby for going to him about her brother, and decided to somehow use that against him. He instantly regretted saying it though, now that he watched as Casey's expression grew more hateful.
"Fine," Casey finally told him angrily, carefully moving himself out of Gabby's touch and standing up. "Let's talk about this privately, I'd love to hear all of your excuses."
Voight bit his tongue, getting angry with the Lieutenant's words, but knowing he had a good reason to react the way he was. He gave Erin another glance before walking out of the room, Casey following him.
Voight waited until he was well down the hallway before turning towards the fireman, making sure his team couldn't hear them if they started yelling. "I want to apologize," Voight began, his eyes trained on Casey's.
"You want to apologize?" Casey retorted, raising his eyebrows. "For what, exactly? Havin' a couple of thugs beat me up? Hiring somebody to kill me? Planting drugs on me? Or are you apologizing for also threatening my fiancé when she hadn't done anything wrong?"
"I'm apologizin' for everything," Voight tells him, sighing. "I'm hoping you'll just let me explain myself."
Casey shrugs, his arms crossed, waiting for the cop to continue.
"Justin has been messed up in a lot of stupid stuff before," Voight began, not even sure if explaining himself was worth it at this point, since Matt's anger only seemed to grow every second he stood there. "And I always got him out of his messes. When a cop's kid goes to jail, the kid doesn't get treated fairly."
Casey shakes his head, and Voight stops talking, waiting for the fireman to unleash his anger. But he says nothing, not yet anyway, so he continued.
"What Justin did was a bad thing, I knew that then and I know that now. So does he. But he never meant to hurt anybody. He did stupid stuff a lot but he would never paralyze a kid on purpose. Before, when I would get him outta trouble, it would be an easy thing and we were done with it. But when you wrote that statement about Justin being drunk while driving, I was pissed. I thought I had it taken care of. So I went after you to retract that statement, and you know the rest."
Voight sighs when he sees Casey chuckle and shake his head, swallowing before he looks at the cop again. "Nothing you just said logically explains why you did what you did."
"I do things my way," Voight tells him, his voice slightly rising and his voice getting grittier. He slightly hoped it would make Casey less confident, but he remained his strong posture, staring Voight down. Even after all he had done, Casey wasn't afraid of him, and as much as Voight hated it, he also admired the guy for it. "I act on the spot and don't think about what I'm doin'," he continues. "I give people what I think they deserve and usually don't change my mind about it. I deal with things in the moment. Sometimes I'm right. Sometimes, I'm wrong. I accept that, and then I move forward, knowin' I did the best I could to protect my family and this city. I get it, you have your morals. I respect that. I really do, but I'd respect you more if you also moved passed it."
"I don't understand how I'm supposed to get passed the fact that you wanted me dead. You were hiring somebody to kill me. But you got caught," Casey says, studying the cop closely.
Voight nods, agreeing with the Lieutenant, knowing he had a point. "But when Hallie died, I was the one who got you closure. I got the guy who killed her."
Casey nods, swallowing as he remembers the day he tried to save Hallie and the few days after. It was some of the roughest few weeks of his life, but he knows if Hallie's killer had never been found, he never would have moved on with his life. He never would have explored his relationship with Gabby, meaning he never would have been as happy as he is right now, with her.
Voight studies his reactions, thinking maybe, just maybe, he was finally getting somewhere with this guy.
"I appreciate what you did to find Hallie's killer, hell, I even thank you for it," Casey says after a few seconds of silence. "But that doesn't cover up what happened before that. When I put Justin in jail, it was so that teenage boy and his family could find at least some light in that situation. But you spiraled out of control. You wanted me to 'learn my lesson'. You were going to have me killed if you got the chance, and I can't forgive you for that."
Voight nods again, he had never been expecting forgiveness from the Lieutenant, but he was glad he was making at least some progress. "I understand that. And I'm happy to say that going to prison really put things in perspective for Justin. He joined the Army, he's makin' something of himself now. And I guess I have you to thank for that."
"But what did going to prison do for you, Voight?" Casey asks, studying the cop closely. "Are you still trying to have innocent people killed just because something didn't go 'your way'?"
"No," Voight tells him simply, clenching his jaw again. "I learned my lesson on that one. I know now that you and Hallie didn't deserve what I gave to you. And once again, I sincerely apologize for it. I'm not expectin' you to forgive me or whatever, but it needed to be said that I am sorry for what I put you through."
Casey nods a little, still studying the older man. "Look, I said I'm not going to forgive you, and I mean that. But Gabby and I are together now, and we are serious. I plan on being with her a long time because I'm in love with her. The two of us have already been through so much and I don't plan on ever letting her go. So that means I'll be around Antonio a lot, which means I'll also be seeing you around more often." He pauses, sighing a little before he continues. "I'm willing to move past what happened. You apologized, you seem sincere, and I appreciate that. Antonio seems to have moved past it, he seems to respect you now, and I know he must have a reason for it. Like I already said, I ain't forgiving you, not anytime soon at least. But I also realize you have done a lot of good for this city. So, maybe one day, I'll accept your apology."
He hesitantly extends his hand, and Voight looks down at it before shaking the fireman's hand with his own. "That's all I was askin' for, man," Voight tells him, nodding.
Matt just nods before pulling his hand back, looking at Voight again. "If you do anything to hurt Gabby like you hurt Hallie, there won't even be a conversation next time, got it?"
Voight manages a small smile, putting his hand back in his pocket as he nods. "I didn't plan on it. I don't think I'd want to face Antonio afterwards."
Casey doesn't smile at his attempt at joking, instead he gives him a hard, cold look. Voight nods at him, his smile dropping as he understands what Casey is trying to tell him. "Trust me, man, I ain't gonna do anything to you or Gabby ever again. You have my word."
Casey nods, sighing a little. He wasn't going to put all of his trust in Voight. Hell, not even a little, but he saved Antonio's ass last year and also saved Diego, two people who were extremely close to Gabby and her family. He wasn't going to forgive Voight, he didn't know if he ever would be able to forgive him, but for now, he would work on getting past everything.
"Let's head back, see if they have any more news on Antonio," Voight suggests, motioning back down the hallway. Casey nods, agreeing with Voight as he starts to walk with him towards the waiting room again.
Casey thought a lot about his conversation with Voight as they walked back. He now understood slightly how his mind worked and why he did what he did, although it definitely didn't excuse him for what happened. But he seemed sincere in his apology, and Casey knew that it took a lot for a man like him to apologize like that.
His thoughts were interrupted when he walked into the waiting room and saw Diego and Eva sitting in a couple of chairs, both of their eyes lighting up when they caught sight of their aunt's boyfriend. "Matt!" They exclaim happily, running up to him.
"Hey guys!," Casey smiled, wrapping his arms around the two kids. He kneeled down to their height, ruffling Diego's already messy hair.
"Did you see our dad?" Eva asks him, and Casey shakes his head in reply, smiling a little to reassure the both of them.
"Not yet, but your dad is going to get through this, alright? I promise. With you two by his side, there is no way he's going to leave you."
The two kids both smile and embrace Matt, and Voight watches the interaction as he sits down next to Erin.
"Those kids have always run up to me when they see me," he states quietly to her, and she chuckles softly.
"Looks like you have met your competition," she says, looking over and smiling at Voight. Her expression then grows more serious, however, when she changes the topic of their conversation. "How'd the talk go between you two?"
"To be honest, better than I expected," Voight tells her, nodding a little. Erin nods in response, then moves her eyes towards Antonio's kids and Casey again.
After another short conversation with Matt, the two young children made their way back to their grandparents and Casey took his seat next to Gabby again, instantly taking her hand in his and softly kissing her temple. She smiles warmly and leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Casey's eyes meet Voight's, and after a few seconds of studying each other, they both offer each other a short nod.