Author's notes: Wow! I am overwhelmed and humbled by all of the kind words, reviews, private messages and overall interest this story has generated. It means the world to me. I'm still figuring out where I will take this eventually (and I guess we will all find out more on Wednesday), but I have a pretty good idea about the next few chapters, at least. Without further ado, please enjoy chapter 2 below. As always, I greatly welcome any and all feedback. Please review!

Italics denotes thoughts.

Chapter 2

District 21 Police Department, Chicago, Illinois
15 January, 2014 - 20:41 CST

Erin was sitting at her desk, staring at the screen in front of her. She should be finishing her paperwork and get herself home, but that was not going to happen tonight. She hadn't touched the keyboard once since she had sat down. Since he left her like that.

Everybody had given her an uncomfortable look when she came back in, but she just ignored them and nobody dared saying something to her. Voight told everybody to call it a night, knowing that the news was just devastating on the team, and they all had left right after.

If you knew me, you shouldn't have to ask me that at all. His words were playing over and over in her mind. Should I know better, she questioned herself. I tried talking to him about what was going on, what was bothering him just yesterday, and he blew me off. How can I ignore that?

She looked over to Halstead's empty desk and smiled sadly when she saw the usual paper chaos that was so typical for him. Banging her fist on her desk in frustration, she turned off her monitor, grabbed her coat and started walking out of the office. Strange, she thought, looking back over her shoulder once she reached the door. This morning, this felt like a safe place. Like home away from home. But now, all this place feels like is foreign. Cold. Empty. Letting her gaze wander over to Halstead's desk one last time, she sighed and walked out.

Molly's Bar, Chicago, Illinois
15 January, 2014 - 21:02 CST

As Erin entered the bar, she felt like people around her were lowering their voices as she walked through the crowd. She saw Antonio, Adam and Alvin sitting together at a table by the bar, and when they noticed her, they stopped talking and just looked over to her.

She didn't know why, but it made her feel uncomfortable. She had figured that Jay would be ostracized while this whole investigation was going on. But now I'm starting to feel like he's not the only one. Giving her colleagues a curt nod, she turned around and started walking out of the bar again.

Erin had almost reached her car when she heard her name being called. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Antonio jogging over to her.

"Lindsay, what was that," he questioned her as he reached her.

She looked down and uncomfortably fidgeted with her keys. "I don't know, Antonio. It just feels like everyone's looking at me like I must know something about what's going on, and I just can't deal with this."

"Hey, nobody is judging you, Erin," he said.

Erin took a deep breath, gathering her courage to ask the next question. Looking directly into his face, she asked, "Do you think he did it?"

Antonio shrugged. "I don't know, Erin. I really don't. There's something I need to tell you that you may not be aware of." Despite the severity of the accusations against Halstead, Voight hadn't briefed them on any of the details, so Antonio figured that Erin may be clueless regarding some of the things he had learned. "Do you want to go back inside? We don't have to sit with the others, but it's better than being out here in the cold."

Shaking her head, Erin responded, "Do you mind if we just sit in my car and talk?"

"Not at all."

They climbed into Erin's car and Erin turned to Antonio, waiting for him to speak.

"Do you know Lonnie Rodiger, the young man who was killed," he asked her, to which she shook her head. "He was accused of killing a neighbor's eight year old son. That was seven years ago. Halstead was dating the older sister of the victim at the time and found the little boy's body. There was a lot of evidence pointing towards Lonnie, but his father gave him an alibi and he was acquitted."

Oh. My. God. Clearing her throat, Erin asked, "How do you know all of this?"

Antonio shifted in his seat, choosing his next words carefully. "Jay told me a few weeks ago. We talked after work one night. He was convinced Lonnie was guilty. Erin, he's been stalking the guy to the point where he was slapped with a restraining order. He seemed almost obsessed with bringing him to justice, so I told him to be careful. I'm not sure he was listening, though."

Erin just stared into the night through the windshield, processing what Antonio just shared with her. It made sense, in a way. It certainly explained why he made her stop in front of the Rodiger home the other day. But it also doesn't make sense. If Jay had planned to do this, why would he make himself such a target? This whole thing… "It doesn't proof anything," Erin said.

Antonio shook his head, "Maybe not, but it speaks to motive…"

"No," Erin interrupted him, speaking more loudly. "It doesn't proof anything," she said again. Giving Antonio one last look, she started the engine to the car. "I need to go." The tone in her voice made it clear that the conversation was over.

Inside Erin's car en route to Jay's apartment, Chicago, Illinois
15 January, 2014 - 21:29 CST

After three rings, she heard the call being picked up. "Voight," she heard the familiar voice over her bluetooth headset.

"Hank, it's Erin."

"How are you holding up, kiddo," he asked her concerned.

Ignoring the question, she asked, "What are we going to do about helping Jay?"

There was a brief silence before Voight answered. "There's nothing we can do. We've been ordered to stand down given that he's one of our own."

Erin laughed bitterly, "Yeah, that's right, Hank. He's one of our own. One of our own," she repeated. "Doesn't that account for something? Whatever happened to 'Innocent until proven guilty'? Whatever happened to 'We're family, and nothing is more important than family'?

"Erin," he tried to interrupt her, but she just kept going.

"Are we just going to sit back instead of finding out what happened? Is this how we take care of each other when the shit hits the fan?" She was upset, and with every word she spoke she felt more upset about and ashamed of her earlier passiveness and the behavior of her colleagues. "Is this how you wanted to handle things when Justin got in trouble, just stand down and let others take care of it?"

There was another silence on the line, but she could hear Voight's breathing being heavier than normal, and she knew him well enough to know that he was pissed.

"Erin, you don't know what Halstead did or did not do."

"You are right, I don't," she acknowledged. "But I'll be damned if I sit on my ass instead of trying to find out."

Author's Notes: Wednesday will be a tough episode to watch – saw the Linseride preview on Youtube tonight and am NOT happy at all. At least we should find out that Halstead didn't do it. My money is on Lonnie's dad killing his own son.