Hi everyone :) I hope you are enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 4,

Back in the break room, Haley, Jamie, and Erin were sitting down at the table. Haley was telling Erin the same things she had previously told Hank, and Brooke listened intently.

"Ok, Hales, listen. I'm going to go brief the rest of my team and we are going to come up with a game plan. I want you and Jamie to stay in here. Have some coffee, take a deep breath." Erin said, reaching and placing her hand over Haley's. "I will come in here and keep you updated. Have you called anyone else?"

"Yeah. I called Lucas and Peyton. Lydia is with them, and I need my daughter right now. They are on their way to Chicago." Haley said. She wasn't sure how long Nathan would be missing, It was almost 3 pm at this point. She didn't know what was going to happen. But for right now, she needed all of her family together. Being here with Brooke was already making her feel more calm and in control. If anyone could find Nathan, it was Brooke and Hank.

"Okay, good. I'll be back soon, okay?" Erin said as she got up from her chair.

"Just find him, Brooke. Please, please find him." Haley said, a single tear falling down her face. She didn't know how it was possible that she had any tears left at this point.

Erin stepped over to Haley and put her hand on her shoulders and squeezed. "We will."

Erin walked out of the break room and closed the door quietly behind her. She walked over to the board and took another look at Nathan's picture. She knew everyone was staring at her, and she wasn't exactly sure what to do next.

Always in control of the situation, Hank stepped in beside her. He took her hand and squeezed it, and she smiled at him gratefully. "Okay, everyone," Hank began. "Let me, first, make sure everyone understands what's going to go on here."

Jay looked at Hank feeling hopeful. He was beyond ready for an explanation. The last twenty minutes in the bullpen had been tense, and he just wanted to understand what was going on. Was this just a continuation of the undercover mission Erin had been a part of? Was it unrelated? And if Erin was undercover as "Brooke", how did this woman find her? How did they know where she worked? How long ago was this undercover mission? It must have been recent enough that the blonde kid remembered Erin well, but not in the past two years Jay had known her.

"There will be no personal questions right now. It's not the time. Pertinent questions about the case are the only ones that's will be tolerated. Do I make myself clear?" Hank finished. He looked at Jay first, and and then around to the rest of the team. He wanted to make it clear to each individual standing in that room that he meant business. Erin's past was not up for discussion right now, especially when someone's life hung in the balance.

Jay could tell that Erin was relieved by Hank's statement. He wasn't thrilled, but the look of relief on Erin's face made it a little better. Erin looked terrible; just thirty minutes ago they were flirting over coffee, and now she looked like a wreck. So if this would make her feel better, then he would focus on the case. Plenty of time to talk later. "What do we know?" He said, looking over at Erin.

"Nathan Scott left his hotel room at 6:45 am. Haley said he called the Uber from the hotel room, and went downstairs when it was 2 minutes away." Erin said.

"Mouse, check his phone records. See if he was picked up by an uber. Check his credit card statement to see the charge and route. See who the driver was. Let's start there," suggested Antonio.

"Does he have any enemies? Jay mentioned that maybe his father killed someone?" Ruzek asked Erin.

Jay noticed that at the mention of Nathan's father, Erin visibly flinched. "His father, Dan Scott, murdered his own brother. He was released from prison two years ago."

"Even if the murder was of a personal nature, he could have made some enemies inside. I'll start there." Ruzek said, moving quickly to his computer to look Dan Scott up further.

"Okay, let's start there." Hank said to the team. He turned to Erin and said more quietly, "Erin, I'm going to fill in Haley. Take a minute in my office, take a break."

Erin wanted to go with Hank to talk to Haley and Jamie, but Hank was right. She needed a minute to compose herself. Instead of going to Hank's office, she walked down to the locker room to splash some cold water on her face. She looked in the mirror at her pale face, and when she looked up she noticed Jay standing behind her. She turned around to face him.

"So, um..." She started. She wasn't sure what to say to Jay. She had planned on telling him everything, she had even worked out how and what she would say. But she had planned to ease into it, and she couldn't exactly do that now. He had met Haley, and he had even mentioned Lucas's book. He may have already made the connection. "I, uh..."

Jay cut her off and enveloped her into a hug. "Shh, it's okay." He soothed. "We can talk later. For now, let's find your friend."

With those words, the tears that had been threatening to fall unleashed and she cried on Jay's shoulder. He squeezed her tight and held her upright while she allowed herself to just fall apart completely. After a few minutes, she pulled back and looked up at him. He was looking at her with such compassion and understanding, and she held his gaze. His fingers still rested on her waist, and he let out a small, reassuring smile. "Everything is going to be okay." He said.

Erin couldn't speak, and she just continued to look at Jay. Erin had always loved his smile. This one was completely different than the flirty smile he had given her less than an hour in the break room; that one had stirred her insides, made her want. This smile was reassuring; it had a calming effect on her. Completely opposite reactions… kinda. Because both smiles just made her want to kiss him.

Jesus, Erin, get a grip. Her friend's world was falling apart, and all she wanted to do was reach out and kiss Jay. She wanted to bury herself in him. Jay could've been upset with her, and he could've asked about Brooke. But he didn't. He just held her, those strong arms wrapping around her making her feel safe and loved. God, she loved his arms. His green eyes were still locked on hers, but then his eyes slowly moved from her eyes to her lips, and then back to her eyes. She realized, in that moment, that he wanted to kiss her too, and she knew all she had to do was lean in ever so slightly to give him permission. All she had to do was lean in. She wanted too so badly, but…

Jay sensed Erin's hesitation, and so he reluctantly removed his hands from her waist and backed up an inch. This wasn't the right time, she was upset and needed a friend. He couldn't take advantage of the situation like that. But still, his gaze remained locked on hers, the tension building and building.

Suddenly the door the locker room opened and Ruzek walked in. "Um.. sorry guys. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Erin blushed deeply, and Jay just shrugged. Jay then noticed right behind Ruzek was a tall, very thin blonde woman dressed in skinny high heels and tight jeans. "Well, I'm not sorry I interrupted." She said with a huge smile, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Jay watched as she looked at Erin, then him, then back to Erin, taking in the scene.

"P. Sawyer!" Erin said excitedly, her mood lifting for a moment.

"B. Davis! Get the hell over here and give me a hug!" The tall, thin girl said to Erin, with a huge smile on her face.

Erin moved away from Jay and started walking towards the tall, thin girl. "God, I missed your skinny ass." Erin said, before she threw her arms around her and enveloped her in a tight hug.

Jay just stared at them. Could this day get any stranger? Since when did Erin hug people? I mean, sure, she and Jay hugged occasionally. And she let Voight hug her, and kiss her on the forehead during really stressful times. But no one else. And not like this. Not these tight, long, almost intimate hugs, where it looked like he wouldn't have been able to separate them if he tried.

Ruzek watched the way Jay started at Erin and Peyton intently, and he sensed that Jay was starting to feel uncomfortable. He coughed slightly, trying to remind Erin of her surroundings. Erin released the blonde woman from the tight hug, and turned towards Jay.

"Jay, this is Peyton Sawyer." She said to Jay, a little awkwardly.

"Peyton Sawyer Scott." Peyton corrected, as she leaned out her hand to shake Jay's. Peyton cocked her head sideways, "So you're Jay?" Then she turned to face Erin and raised her eyebrows, and Erin glared at her.

"Umm.. yeah. Hi, I'm Jay Halstead. I am Erin's partner." Jay said, shifting uncomfortably. Why did that name sound familiar? Peyton Sawyer Scott. Had he heard that name before?

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you!" Peyton said to Jay. Erin started to glare at Peyton, giving her a look that said shut up, now, or I will kill you! Peyton just shrugged it off.

"I've heard a lot about you, too" Jay lied. He didn't know why he said that.

Now he knew he was missing something. If this was an undercover mission from long ago, this Peyton woman wouldn't have heard of him, wouldn't have said"It's nice to finally meet you". And aside from that, Erin and Peyton were looking at each other like old friends. Like old, best friends. He knew those looks that they were sharing were conveying full thoughts and sentences, expressed to each other without even uttering a word. He thought only he and Erin shared that… that ability to just look at each other and know exactly what each other were thinking... what they needed. Apparently not.

Jay noticed that Peyton had raised her eyebrow at his comment, giving Erin a look that said she knew he was lying, that Jay didn't know anything about her.

Erin was his best friend. Or she was supposed to be. It felt weird that this person he had never met before, had never even heard of, knew about him… and knew he didn't know about her. Clearly Erin was closer with this girl than she was with him. He felt a wave of sadness at that thought, but he pushed it away.

"Erin, Jay, I came to grab you because Mouse looked up Nathan's uber account and we have a lead." Ruzek said. He wanted to break up some of the tension in the locker room, and bring them back to reality. Right now, they needed to address the case, not the elephant in the room.

"Great, let's go." Jay said quickly, and walked towards the door. Ruzek, Erin, and Peyton followed him out of the locker room and into the bullpen.

"Just take a seat at my desk, and I'll bring you into the break room in a second." Erin whispered to Peyton as they entered the bullpen.

Peyton sat down in Erin's chair, and Erin leaned against the front of her desk. "Okay," she said. "What do we know?"

Mouse got up from his desk and began pacing in front of the board. "We know that Nathan's uber driver was a man named Steve Flint. He began the meter at 6:48 am and, according to the uber map and the GPS on Steve Flint's phone, he dropped off Nathan at the gym at 6:56 am. Steve Flint is active as an Uber driver right now, and I am able to track his GPS, he's currently on Michigan Ave and we can go pick him up now."

"Ruzek, Atwater. Go pick him up," instructed Hank.

As Ruzek and Atwater stood from their seats, the door to the break room opened and Lucas Scott walked out. Erin quickly stood and addressed Lucas. "Luke," she said quietly, and motioned him to come over to her desk. She was hoping Lucas and Peyton would take Haley and Jamie back to her apartment. They didn't need to sit around all day in the break room waiting for news. And if she was being honest, Jay's look from the locker room was weighing on her mind. He appeared confused at first, but the minute Peyton mentioned she had heard of Jay, she watched his mood shift from confused to upset, and maybe even annoyed. She just wanted everyone to leave so she could find Nathan without distractions, and maybe even salvage her relationship with Jay in the process.

She wanted Lucas to walk over quietly and not make a scene. No such luck.

"Brooke," he yelled, not moving from where he stood. He raised his voice louder with each word, "You need to arrest Dan. You know this is his fault. He did this, or he hired someone to do it, or one of his enemies did it. Whatever the hell is going on, it's Dan's fault, and you need to arrest him now." He was shouting at this point. All the conversations and activities in the bullpen ceased, and everyone was starting at Lucas and Erin, watching the heated exchange.

"Luke," Erin started, "We are looking into Dan's enemies. We have this, okay? I promise." She spoke, her words calm, but stern.

"Baby, come sit down." Peyton said to Lucas. "Brooke is going to do everything she can."

"Luke, Peyton, why don't you go into the break room with Hales and Jamie, and I'll be right there." Erin said, turning to Peyton and giving her a pleading look.

Lucas Scott. Peyton Sawyer. Haley James Scott. Nathan Scott. All of a sudden, he knew. Jay knew where he had heard the name Peyton Sawyer before. From Lucas Scott's book, the unkindness of book that Erin loved so much. The book she had three copies of: one was a hard copy, two were paperbacks. All three were worn out, as if she had read them hundreds of times.

He had pulled one of the books off the shelves one night when he couldn't sleep, back when they had been together. At the time, he just wanted to know what all the fuss was about. It had been an autobiography, written by Lucas Scott. He usually didn't love autobiographies, but he had enjoyed this book. It had caught his attention in a way books rarely did, and had read it all in one sitting. It talked about his life… Basketball, cheerleaders, his best friend, just normal high school stuff. It also talked about his single mom, losing his uncle, and his evolving relationship with his half-brother. It had been a while ago, and he didn't remember everything. But now, thinking back… now, he remembered a lot. With all of the high school drama, it had a large focus on love: the love he had for his friends, and the love he had for two main people. Peyton Sawyer.

And Brooke Davis.

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