Title: Interesting Dynamics

Author: ZombieJazz

Fandom: Chicago PD

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Chicago PD and its characters belong to Dick Wolf. The character of Ethan has been created and developed for the sake of this AU series.

Summary: Hank and Erin are forced to re-explore their complicated 'family' dynamic when an unexpected 'family emergency' causes Voight to have to deal with demons related to his wife's death, his failings in parenting, and the challenges his work has created for his family and for his ability to be the father he wants to see himself as.

Erin popped the tab on the soda and set it down on the table next to Ethan. He glanced up at her.

"That's it?"

She raised her eyebrow at him. "You said you didn't want breakfast. So, yeah, you're going to have to wait until lunch - and hopefully there will be a lull and I can take you out or go grab you something."

"I could go get something myself, you know," he muttered.

She shook her head. "You know that's not going to happen."

He just slumped on table, very purposely pushing the Coke out of his reach. She gave him a disapproving look but also thought it was probably best he wasn't downing a Coke at 10 a.m. anyways – or at all.

"I meant Dad, anyways," he muttered.

Erin let out a little sigh and sat down at the table. "Did you really expect something other than this?"

He gave he a small glance. "He didn't even say anything," he whispered.

"Eth, what do you want him to say? Here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Something."

She shook her head. "He's not going to say anything here," she put to him.

"Then why am I even here," he lamented and flopped his head the opposite direction so he wasn't even looking at her.

"Where do you think you should be?"

"Home," he muttered.

Erin slumped back in her chair and gazed at him. "Home? So you can watch TV and –"

"He probably doesn't even have TV anymore. And he doesn't even have wifi. Who doesn't have the internet?"

"Hmm," Erin allowed. She wasn't going to argue with him about it. Get into any sort of discussion with the kid about why Hank was or wasn't the way he was. Hank just was. "He wants me to get your phone too."

Ethan's head slowly shifted back to her and he eyed her. There was an anger there – an accusation. She was taking Hank's side the look said. He wanted her on his side – not Hank's.

"Did you think he was going to let you sit in here playing on it all day?" she put to him.

He glared at her but didn't bother to verbalize any argument. He didn't really need to. His eyes said it all. She'd just gone on his shit list. She didn't really want to be there. She thought she was likely his best chance at escaping this mostly unscathed. But try explaining that to a 12 year old.

He shoved his hand into his hoodie pocket and smacked the phone harshly on the table. If he'd been trying to break it – he really needed to try harder. She didn't comment on the display of aggression and just reached to take it.

"Thanks," she allowed.

"That's likely pretty stupid of him," Ethan mumbled. "Now he's not going to have any way to violate my rights and track me when I get out of here."

She smiled at the 'violating my rights' line can gave him a purposefully condescending look. "I don't think he's got to worry about that, because you aren't going to be stupid enough to make any of this worse by running off, are you?"

He glared at her and then looked away, flopping his head back onto his crossed arms.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Ethan," she said. "I'm pretty mad at you too."

"I don't care," he muttered.

"You should care," she put to him. "And, I think you do care. It's why you're putting on his tough guy act."

He rocked in his chair to inch it away from her. She put her hand out to stop the movement.

"You want to do that now – with me – fine," she said. "But with both know what it's not going to fly with your dad."

He tried to rock the chair under the weight of her hand. But it just proved that he was still a runt of a kid. The strength of her one arm was enough to keep him in place. He looked on her in pure frustration and more fully propelled his body in the seat to drag the chair away from her.

"I don't care!" he shouted at her. She knew it was loud enough that others outside the door likely heard. She hoped it wasn't loud enough that Voight heard – because that meant that he'd either be in their in a split second and ripping into Ethan or when she went out there he'd be ripping into her for letting Ethan talk to her that way. "I DIDN'T LIKE THAT FUCKING SCHOOL ANYWAYS! IT SUCKED BALLS! I DON'T CARE I GOT KICKED OUT! FUCK THEM!"

She just eyed him. His face was bright red with his anger but his eyes were glassing too.

"You done?" she put to him as the yelling stopped.

He huffed at her and slumped onto the table again. The juvenile temper tantrum more than apparent.

"You should care," she said.

"They were always making fun of me," he whispered.

She leaned down to get into his face more. "And you think I never got teased? Never got bullied?"

He just shrugged. She pushed at his arm until he looked at her and she drilled her eyes into him.

"I did," she pressed. "St. Ignatius wasn't exactly a walk in the park, Ethan. And you know the deal I had with your dad? If I got in a fight – if I got expelled –"

"He wouldn't have cared if it was Justin," Ethan muttered and looked away again.

She pushed at his arm again. "Hey, look at me," she demanded. He reluctantly looked back at her. "Justin would've been in just as much trouble."

"Dad would've bailed him out," Ethan mumbled at her.

"Oh. So you wanted your dad to get the school you hate to keep you there?"

"Better then being here," he spat at her.

She sighed at him and just shook her head. She didn't know what to say to him. She didn't know what the fuck to do with him. What the fuck was Hank going to do with him?

"He's just going to send me away again anyways," Ethan said. "Just like Justin."

"He didn't send Justin away," Erin sighed.

"He let him go to jail," Ethan said.

"Justin got himself sent to jail," Erin said sternly, getting down on the table so she was right in his face again. "And, if you aren't careful, if you keep … lashing out at people, using your fists—"

"He started it," Ethan muttered.

She gave him a look. She wasn't sure she believed him. And that upset her. She wanted to believe him. "So you're expelled and the other guy started it? I don't think so, Ethan."

He glared at her. "See, you don't know what it's like. You—"

She held up her hand. "Ethan, just … stop it. It doesn't even matter what happened."

"But—"

"You were expelled, Ethan!" she raised her voice at him. "You got in a fight – and you were expelled. It doesn't matter who throw the first punch. It doesn't matter that he was teasing you. What matters right now is that you were kicked out of that school – and you were kicked out for the one thing that Hank has explicitly told all of us he doesn't tolerate. Explaining that to him is the one thing you should be thinking about – worrying about."

"It doesn't even matter. He doesn't care about any of it either," he seethed at her.

She gave him a sad look. "Ethan, he does care."

Ethan shook his head and looked away from her. "No, he doesn't. You're perfect so you don't get it. You're so perfect you're the only one he keeps around. He just wants to get rid of me and Justin."

"Ethan, that's not true," she pressed back and put a hand on his back.

He likely didn't realize just how untrue it was. She'd managed to keep her past fairly hidden from Ethan. It wasn't anything that the little boy needed to know. It was something that she'd been in a period of trying to forget – trying to move beyond – while he was growing up. She still was. And she knew the whole reason she got the opportunity to move on – to be someone else, to have a life and a job and a future, and a family – was because of Hank Voight. He knew all her imperfections. All the messy details of it. She didn't have many secrets with Hank. That hadn't been allowed. And in many ways it still wasn't.

But Ethan was too young to know that and too young to really understand it – to appreciate all the dynamics of it. So instead he pulled away from her. "Yes, it is. Look around. You're here. Not me. Not Justin. Just you."