Erin Lindsay Voight smiles sweetly at an officer as he holds the door open for her to enter. It had only been two days since the last time she step foot inside the precinct, but it felt like forever. The rush of officers, the handcuffed suspects, the constant ringing of the desk phones felt like home. The busyness of the district was peace to her. As she adjusted the bag of food, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It smelt like absolutely nothing…it was perfect. She reopened her eyes to see Sergeant Trudy Platt smirking at her, "Well, hello stranger."
"Hi Sergeant," Erin gleefully approached the front desk.
"I told you Erin. Call me Trudy."
"It's weird," Erin shrugs it off and sets the bag of food atop of the desk countertop, "That's something that'll definitely take some time getting used to."
"I've known you for basically your entire life. How long do you need?"
"…I'm 24 now. I'll at least need another 24 years."
Platt chuckles lightly at her response, "So, where've you been the last two days?" With the pen in her hand, she begins signing much needed documents as she awaits Erin's answer.
"To be honest, I locked myself in my apartment for two days mentally preparing myself for senior year of law school. This stuff," Erin bites down nervously upon her bottom lip, "it's no joke. I managed to crawl out of my hole, pick up lunch and come here," She grabs a hold of the bag she set down moments ago, "I've had to cancel lunch plans with my dad for two days…and I felt guilty so I decided to surprise him."
"He'll definitely be happy that you're here."
"I'm counting on it."
Platt lowers her hand beneath the desk, "I'll buzz you up."
The young Voight lifted the bag from atop of the countertop as she approached the gated area secluding the Intelligence Unit from the rest of the precinct. Once she heard the buzz, she used her free hand to open the gate, step through and ensure that it closed completely behind her. She's heard enough times from her father and Olinsky about the importance in making sure the gate is absolutely closed. Anyone could walk in. It was their words, not hers.
As she readjusted the bag in her arms, she ascended up the stairs. The bullpen of her father's unit wasn't usually quiet, but it wasn't noisy either. She expected to hear chatter, but the only voice she heard was Dawson. He sounded angry as his words echoed around the full room. She approached the top stair and noticed almost everyone, except her father, Ruzek and Olinsky.
"Hey Erin," Kevin, one of the newest members of Intelligence greeted her with a kind wave.
She simply nodded in his direction as she approached the desk of Jay Halstead. Erin set the bag down, and leaned against the edge of his desk, "Don't kill me."
"Please don't tell me you're canceling again?"
"I'm sorry Jay," she set her hand upon his thigh, "Classes start tomorrow and I want to study."
He was confused, "Study for what? Classes haven't started yet."
"Exactly," she sighed, lowering her voice. She didn't want for everyone else to hear, "This entire summer I didn't crack open one book. I don't want to fall behind. I need to read and review the material from last year."
"Do I have a say?"
"No…not really."
"I can't wait until you graduate."
The small smirk on her face drops at the rise of Dawson's voice. He's speaking so fast and she could only hear his side of the conversation. She pushed off of Halstead's desk and approached him even further, "What's that all about?"
"Laura wants to keep the kids for Thanksgiving."
Erin rolls her eyes, "September just started. There's plenty of time to make Thanksgiving plans."
Jay rises from his desk chair, and takes a hold of her free hands. The bag of food she brought was resting upon his semi-straightened desk. He pulls her close and wraps one arm around her lower waist, "I want to talk about us…and the next time I'll get to hang out with my girlfriend."
"How about this weekend," Her eyebrow arches as her hands fumble with the neckline of his muscle shirt, "Maybe you can come over to my apartment with some beers and we can catch a game or something."
"It's a date," he whispers.
Erin takes a quick look around. Dawson was still on the phone. Olinsky wasn't present. Atwater was on his cell phone. Mouse was on the computer. And most importantly, her father was in his office with the door shut. She used the precious seconds she had and pressed her lips against his. Voight absolutely hates public displays of affection.
"So Erin," she immediately pulls away at the sound of her name, "what's that in the bag?"
Jay irritatingly eyes Mouse for the sudden interruption as she answers, "it's food. I wanted to surprise my dad with lunch."
"Nice," Mouse nods.
"Where are Burgess and Ruzek?" Erin realizes that they're not in the bullpen. If Burgess was, she would have been greeted and approached her.
"Ruzek took her out to lunch." Atwater answers her question since no one else knew.
The 24 year old pulls out of her boyfriend's arms, grips the bag by the folded top and proceeds to her father's closed office. Her fist lightly raps at the door before she opens it right up. He's signing some type of document. And without looking up, she notices the straight-lined expression plastered against his face. An obvious stress wrinkle protruding on his forehead. He hears her walk in, "What did I tell you all about-"
"Hi dad," she interrupts him with a greeting.
Originally, he didn't know it was her. The smile that instantly pulled at his lips was an indicator that now –even though he still wasn't looking up- he knew who was present.
"Not that I'm complaining," he sits the pen down and leans back in his desk chair, "but what do I owe this surprise visit? You're not in trouble, are you?"
"Gosh dad no," her eyes roll as she sets the bag of food down in front of him, "I wanted to surprise you with lunch. I brought your favorite. I picked it up on the way here." Once her hands are free, she quietly closes his office door.
"What do you want?"
"I'm insulted," she chuckles, "All I wanted was to spend some time with my dad."
He eyes her suspiciously with the smile still remaining on his face, "You don't want any money?" She shakes her head, "You don't need me to get you out of trouble?" She shakes it again, "You're not dropping out of school, are you?"
"Nope," she opens the bag and pulls out a Styrofoam container of food, "You know dad if I wasn't so excited to see you, I would be very insulted right now." She pops open the container, "This one is yours."
He takes a hold of the container, "This," he inhales the scent, "I love you kiddo."
"If the guys out there knew just how mushy you are capable of getting they wouldn't believe it." Her voice sounds serious, but she's smiling. Erin pulls a seat up to his desk before she takes out her food, "And I love you too."
A few seconds of silence falls between them as they take their first savoring bites. It was like a bite out of heaven. The pleasure of the food against his taste buds pushed Voight into a good mood. He swallowed his second bite before looking up at his daughter, "I want to start Sunday dinners again."
She swallowed hard, "We haven't had a Sunday dinner since mom died three years ago."
"I know," his next bite is smaller, "I just figured she would want us to start those again. It's been three years. I miss them…and I truly believe it's something she would want us to continue."
"O…okay," her voice wavers in hesitance as she reluctantly agrees.
"And you can tell me all about your first week. You're a senior now." Voight reaches into the bag Erin brought and pulls out a water bottle, "I can't wait until you graduate. College campuses are not safe and I'll be happy and content once you are far away from one."
"Oh dad please," she shrugs him off with indifference, "I've made it this far."
"Just be careful and watch your back." She recognizes his words. Those are the exact words he tells her at the start of school every single year. Voight takes a sip of water and continues, "With a pretty face like yours," she begins mouthing the words along with him, "guys only want one thing and they're not getting it from you. Don't walk around campus by yourself and if you need to I want you to call someone…anyone when you are walking alone on campus at night. At parties, matter of fact, anywhere in public, never leave your drink unattended and if you do, dispose of it right away. Do you still have the pepper spray I gave you?"
"Yes I do. And I have the stun gun and the emergency kit you stored in my hallway closet. We really do not have to go over all of this again. You have drilled this into my head. Please, it wouldn't hurt to skip the rest just this one time."
He considers it…briefly. Hank wants to do her a favor and skip, but every other part of him disagrees with it. It's like an itch he must scratch. She's his only family left. He couldn't fathom the idea of anything happening to her. With a quick wave of his hand, waving her words away, he continues. Voight gives her the normal talk involving domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, parties, home invasions, and robberies, etc. It felt like it was never ending. He managed to squeeze in bites of his food with every new topic. The only thing that got Erin through it was the reminder that it's her senior year and it's the last time she'll have to hear it.
"You're not listening to me, are you?"
She blinks out of her unfocused state, "What?"
"Erin, this is serious."
"Dad, trust me," she closes her partially empty food container and sets it down upon his desk, "I know and understand how serious all of this is, but I'll be fine. No one's stupid enough to mess with me. Every criminal knows who you are. I'll be fine. Okay? I'll be fine." She stands and walks around her father's desk. The young Voight gave her dad a quick, sideways hug, "And if anyone even thinks of messing with me, I'll send them to you and you can put them in the cage."
"Yeah, I just hope it never gets to that."
"It won't," she pecks her father's head, "Now can we talk about something that's much happier and lighter? This topic is too depressing."
"Yeah," he agrees and leans back in his seat, "How are you and Halstead?"
"…we're so not talking about that." Her raspy voice chuckles as she heads back to her previous seat, "We can talk about any and everything else but my boyfriend."
"Is he treating you good?"
"Dad-"
"What?" The rasp in his voice is even higher, "A dad gets to ask especially when the dad is the boss of the boyfriend."
"He was my boyfriend before you were his boss. You can't hold that over me."
"Is he treating you good?" Voight doesn't respond to her. He simply asks his question again.
"…of course. You know I won't be with someone who didn't. You raised me to be strong and not tolerate bullshit. You and mom set an example on what I want in a relationship…and I think Jay is it."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. You're 24 and Jay is a year older. You both have time."
"You and mom married when you were younger than me and Jay."
"Well times were different back then…" Voight's eyebrow suspiciously raises, "Wait. Erin, did Jay propose to you?"
Erin grabs her food container and reopens it. Her meal was still warm. She adjusted herself in the uncomfortable seat, and crossed her legs, "No dad, he didn't propose. We're not ready for that step yet, but I can see myself being with him. I know that he'll be the guy I marry...eventually."
"You're right," Voight takes a final bite, "Let's talk about something other than your boyfriend."
She picks through her food. The amount of food she was given exceeded the space in her small stomach. Erin takes one last bite before closing the box, "Where's Al?"
"He's following up on a lead."
"Is it a bad case?"
Voight breaks eye contact, "They're all bad cases."
"You know what I mean…"
"I'll just be happy when it's solved." As the words left his mouth, his cell phone started ringing. He sent his daughter an apologetic frown as he answered it, "Hello."
The youngest Voight notices the look on her father's face. Whatever someone was telling him wasn't good. Her dad muttered a profane word and slammed his hand down upon his desk. She knew…lunch was over. It would have to be cut short today. Erin rises to her feet, opens the empty food bag and begins cleaning up the mess they made on his desk. He sends her another apologetic look as he watches her clean up their lunch.
Erin didn't mind. She was used to it. On most nights it would just be her and her mom. Other nights when he did join them, he was usually called away in the middle of whatever they were doing. Her mother didn't mind. She would always tell Erin that everyone wasn't born like them. There are actually bad people out in the world. The Voights never tried to hide their daughter from the truth. This world was filled with good and bad people. She heard her father hang up his phone and stand up, "Sorry kid, I got to-"
"It's okay," she nods.
Hank still feels bad. He pats her cheek, "I'll make it up to you at Sunday dinner."
"Dad, it's completely fine. It really is okay." She gives him a dimpled grin, "You're just doing your job and you're making a difference. You're putting the bad people away. You never have to apologize for being called away for a case. I have to go to the library anyway."
Hank loved that little girl of his. He pressed a kiss against her forehead, grabbed his leather jacket draped around the back of the chair and departed from his office. He closed the door behind him, leaving Erin to clean up the remainder of their lunch. The young Voight opened her father's mini-fridge and placed her leftovers inside. He'll probably have a long night since he's now officially working two cases. He could have her food since he seemed to enjoy it way more than she did. The young law student collected the remainder of the trash, opened her father's office door and noticed the silence of the bullpen. She only saw Mouse and he was speedily typing away on his work computer. Without bothering him, she walked pass him, down the stairs, out of the gate and through the congestion of the precinct. Erin discarded the trash into the outside trashcan.
It was a chilly day. Erin jogged towards her car. She still had around half an hour left on the meter. She hopped into her car, rubbed her cold hands together to create heated friction, before buckling her seat belt. It was Sunday. She was going to spend a few hours in the library, head home to prepare for the first day of classes tomorrow and then hope the week won't be as busy and crazy as she predicts it to be. This Saturday she has date night with Jay and Sunday she has dinner with her dad. She plans on keeping her word with them. Regardless of how much work she's assigned, she won't be cancelling on them.
As she pulls out of her parallel parking spot, and merged into the light traffic, she increased the volume of the radio. Lindsay's fingers drummed lightly against her steering wheel to the beat of the song. She abided by every traffic law, paused briefly at stop signs, slowed down at yellow lights and maintained the speed limit. Her dad drilled all of that into her head when she was young. After her rebellious teenage phase, involving bad company –Annie, Landon and Charlie- and bad deeds –skipping school, drugs and alcohol-, her parents had decided to tighten the rules of the house and the privileges she was given. When she first started driving her dad had told her that if she got into one accident or received a speeding ticket, he would revoke her driving privileges. If she received bad grades in school, her phone privileges would be taken away. It quickly got her on the path. For every bad deed there was a bad consequence and the same vice versa for every good deed. It whipped her right into shape and now she was in the habit of abiding by traffic laws and maintaining good grades.
There are plenty of empty parking spaces in the lot. Not many people had the idea to go out and study in preparation for school tomorrow. The first space she arrived to, she parked, shut off her ignition and unbuckled her seatbelt. Erin reached over to the passenger seat, grabbed her backpack and stepped out. Fortunately it was the afternoon; the parking lot was poorly lit at night so she tried to always get her studying in during the day. She pressed down upon the button on her key chain several times to ensure that her car doors were locked. After wiggling the handle, she began heading towards the crosswalk. With a protective father like Voight, a pseudo uncle like Olinsky, and knowing most of the district's cops since she was a kid, safety measures were drilled into her head at a young age.
When the lighted sign turned to walk, she gripped her backpack strap tighter and began crossing. The light only gave pedestrians ten measly seconds to cross a two way street. It was ridiculous. No one could walk that in the allotted time. Erin managed to make it pass each car lane before the light turned green, but as her foot stepped down into the bicycle lane, she felt an arm tug her forwards. She loses her footing. She stumbles into the open arms of a waiting man. As she looks back, she sees a man wave his head in apology as he bicycled pass.
"Asshole," she mutters under her breath.
The arms that caught and straightened Erin's balance was still wrapped around her. He steadied her…and the moment she looked up, she was met with a bright toothy grin that stretched up to his brown eyes. He pulls her gently onto the sidewalk before releasing her from his arms. She readjusts her backpack strap over her shoulder, "My hero," she grins genuinely, "Thank you."
"It was my um," he scratches the back of his head, "my pleasure."
"You have pretty quick reflexes."
"I uh…I went um…to a lot of uh…little league baseball games as an um… child."
She can tell he's flustered, "I'm Erin Voight," she extends her hand, but he doesn't extend his in return, "And you are?"
"Oh," he nervously reaches out and gives her a dead fish handshake, "Tucker Rhodes. I'm new here." He swallows his fear and confidently speaks, "It's my last year of law school. I officially start tomorrow."
Erin is kind. She's smiling as their hands separate, "This is my last year too. I can't wait to graduate. Where are you from Tucker?"
"Indiana," he murmurs his response, "I'm 27. I took a few years off."
"There's nothing wrong with that." She was curious as to why but the two just met. It wasn't any of her business. As a silence fell between the two, Erin chooses to speak, "I should go. I need to get a start on studying. Maybe we'll see each other around…"
"I hope," he whispers as he watches her turn and continue towards the library.
Tucker stands silently on the sidewalk, hands stuffed into his pocket as he rocks back and forth on his feet. He watches her walk away and the only time he loses sight of her is when she enters the campus library. Leaving his small town in Indiana was a big step, especially when he decided to move to Chicago, a much bigger city. She was the first person he met in person since his arrival today. She didn't shun him. She wasn't mean to him. She looked him in his eyes, smiled at him occasionally and even referred to him as her hero. Living in Chicago was definitely looking to be permanent. He was someone's hero. He was her hero.