"I can't believe you talked me into this," Sean Roman muttered as he closed the top button of his shirt. He looked in the mirror and undid the button, loosening the collar a little.

"You're doing me a huge favor, Roman," Jay assured. "Erin knows Intelligence so you were pretty much my only option."

"Gee, thanks." Roman sighed as he looked at his reflection. "What do college kids wear?"

"Same thing as we wear." Jay laughed. Roman was clearly overthinking this.

"When you told me Intelligence wanted me undercover, I was all for it. I didn't think it'd be babysitting his kid."

"Come on, man." Jay tried his best to get Sean in a better mood. "This is my first undercover assignment. It is what it is and I'm struggling. I need Erin onside. If she gets hurt, that's it. I'll be out of the unit. Plus she's Voight's daughter; she's one of our own."

"Fine," Roman finally agreed. He studied his outfit once again and didn't seem very satisfied. Jay had already talked him out of wearing a snapback but Roman was looking at the hat fondly. Jay grabbed the hat and placed it on Roman's head.

"Here, you can have the hat." Jay hoped it would stop Roman's complaining. "Let's go find Burgess."

Burgess was already waiting for them by the front desk. She was wearing a dark pair of jeans and a blue top with gold sequins on it. Jay had never seen her with bright red lipstick on but she looked great. Burgess was also way more confident in this mission than Roman was.

"Finally!" she exclaimed when she saw them. "You guys take forever."

"Blame Roman," Jay told her. "He couldn't decide how many buttons to do up on his shirt."

Burgess looked at Roman's outfit and chewed her lip. "Maybe undo one more button. It's a party! You don't want to look like you're at your grandma's house." She teased playfully. Even Roman couldn't help smile at her gentle ribbing.

Jay, Burgess and Roman walked up to Alison's apartment building. The party was on the second floor and they could hear the music thumping out as they approached.

"This place is insane," Burgess commented as she surveyed her surroundings. There were a few people drinking beers and loitering around the entrance to the apartment building. Jay wondered how old they were. They didn't quite look like seniors but it was too dark so he couldn't be sure.

"Keep an eye on them," Jay heard Burgess murmur to Roman. They were undercover but their inner police officers couldn't help but be wary.

The music only got louder as they reached Alison's floor. Jay didn't need to knock because the door was already open. He wondered how her neighbors hadn't complained yet.

It took a while to spot Erin. Jay saw her in the kitchen with one of the girls he'd briefly met in the bar the previous night. Her hair was swept up into a ponytail and she was wearing a leather skirt and an emerald silk blouse.

"Hey," Jay gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder. He didn't want to make her jump. She turned and grinned at him as she opened her arms slightly as if to go in for a hug. She seemed to think better of it and just patted his arm instead.

"Jason! I'm glad you made it." She said. Jay believed she was sincere, which secretly delighted him. Erin's eyes flicked to Burgess and Roman; waiting for an introduction.

"Erin, these are two of my friends – Felicity and Colin." He gestured to the two and they waved back at Erin and the friend Jay couldn't remember the name of.

"Nice to meet you." Erin passed them each beers from the fridge next to her. "I'm glad Jason finally brought you guys. He was meant to bring someone to the bar on Thursday," she nudged Jay playfully.

Jay looked sheepish. Hopefully Erin wouldn't mention Jay's solo appearance as believing it was a date; especially not in front of Roman and Burgess. Roman had a surprisingly big mouth to spread gossip around the station. The last thing Jay needed was for Voight to think he was making moves on his daughter.

"There's a lot of people here," Burgess commented as she looked around. Since they had arrived half an hour previously, the small apartment had become crowded very quickly.

"I know! I only got here like an hour ago. It was busy then too."

"Is it always like this?" Jay asked. Erin shook her head.

"No, this is way busier than usual." There was a huge crash followed by a loud cheer from somewhere outside the apartment. "Um, I should go check that out and make sure Alison isn't getting into any trouble." She made a face. "But you should enjoy the party. I'll come find you later."

They watched as she left in the direction of the noise before Jay scratched his head and turned to his colleagues. "Okay, let's split up. This party looks like it's already violating about fifteen fire codes right now. Let's do a sweep and make sure that there's nothing dangerous here. Roman, you check outside. Burgess, you and me will split up in here."

"What about Erin?" Burgess asked.

"Keep eyes on her. We've got to make sure she stays safe. Keep tabs on anyone you see around her or talking to her."

Burgess and Roman nodded and went their separate ways.

The small apartment was ridiculously loud and cramped. Moving through the apartment was more difficult than Jay imagined. There were people falling into him, spilling their drinks, and grinding up on each other. The bar earlier that week had seemed deserted compared.

He couldn't find Erin. It had been almost twenty minutes and there were a lot of girls who looked similar to her. He spotted Alison making out with someone (he wasn't sure if it was the guy Erin said was her boyfriend) but Erin was nowhere in sight.

Jay tried to stay calm as his eyes scanned the room. Erin couldn't have left. She hadn't seemed likely to have left within the twenty minutes they had last spoken to each other. He decided to wait by the bathroom in case she was in there.

Burgess heard Erin's voice nearby and peeked her head into one of the bedrooms. She recognized Erin's ponytail as the figure was crouched beside someone in the corner of the room.

"You okay?" Burgess called as she approached. Erin turned back and looked at her.

"Yeah, it's fine." She looked apologetic as she gestured to the girl she was holding. "Suzanne had a little too much to drink." The other girl was throwing up into the trashcan.

"I'll go get some tissues and water." Burgess said as she turned back and made her way back to the kitchen.

Jay grabbed her arm when she walked past the bathroom.

"Hey! Erin's in that bedroom helping someone throw up." Burgess said before she pulled on Jay's jacket and beckoned him close. "I think we need to shut this place down. This is too busy."

He looked around. There was definitely a chance that cops would be coming soon. Burgess grabbed some tissues from the kitchen and picked up a bottle of water from the fridge. She undid the cap and sniffed to make sure it was water. She spotted Roman's face in the crowd and called out to him. Jay managed to get his attention and bring him where they could talk.

"There's a lot of kids downstairs, and I mean kids. Some of these people are definitely underage." Roman said. "I don't want to be that guy at a party but if the mission is to keep Erin safe, this would be the worst place. I could barely find you guys. Three of us looking out for her isn't going to be enough if we want to stay here."

"You're right." Jay agreed. "Okay, we're getting Erin out. Roman, you go downstairs and call this in five minutes. We'll be behind you. We need to get out of here before they get here in case they blow our covers."

Roman left and Jay followed Burgess back towards the bedroom. The girl that had been throwing up looked a little better now; another friend was sitting by her and helping Erin out. Erin took the water Burgess offered and gave it to the girl.

"It's getting crazy in here. You want to leave?" Jay placed a hand over Erin's shoulders and leaned in.

"Yeah, I'm kind of over this." Erin said, much to his relief. "Where are you guys going?"

Jay had hoped Erin would want to go back to her place but she didn't seem like she was ready to go home; she just wanted to get away from the party.

"There's an ice cream place on 5th," Burgess suggested. "It's open until 3am."

"I could go for some ice cream." Erin agreed.

The trio pushed through the throngs of students in the apartment and managed to head down the stairs. Jay couldn't believe how many more people had been in the hallways and outside the building. They were definitely doing the right thing calling it in.

They spotted Roman waiting at the end of the road. He gave Burgess and Jay a small nod as they got closer. As the four of them began walking down the street to Erin's car, they heard sirens approaching followed by flashes of lights. By the time they got to Erin's car, four cop cars had surrounded the apartment and the partygoers began to scramble to get away from the vacinity.

"Wow," Erin breathed a sigh of relief as she drove past the building. "Guess we left just in time."

The ice cream shop wasn't very busy so they managed to find a booth easily. Roman and Jay were ordering for them while Burgess and Erin sat in the booth. Erin seemed to have relaxed in their company and didn't seem to mind having left the party early.

"I'm glad Jason finally brought some friends." Erin told her. "I thought he would have brought people to the bar on Thursday but I think he thought it was a date."

"Well, he asked but I was working on Thursday night." Burgess covered.

"So are you and Jason close?" Erin asked. Burgess could tell that Erin was trying to sound casual. She thought that maybe Erin was the one with the tiny crush.

"We're both Business majors," Burgess said sipping on a glass of ice water. "I've known him since sophomore year. We're just friends."

"Oh," Erin played with the menu on the table. Burgess thought she glimpsed a small smile on her face.

"He's a great guy. I'd trust him with my life." Burgess wasn't sure if that laid the sentiment on too thick. Was that a weird thing for someone to say within an hour of meeting someone new?

"Yeah, he seems great." Erin agreed before changing the subject. "We were so lucky we left when we did. I'm glad I'm not Alison."

"Those parties always get so busy?" Burgess asked.

"Yeah, but never that crazy. There are a lot of students who live in that apartment block because it's only ten minutes from campus." Erin explained. "I just keep thinking how lucky it is that we cleared out of there in time."

"Scared of cops?" Roman teased as he brought back the ice cream cups. He handed one to Burgess while Jay handed Erin hers. Erin chuckled as Jay slid into the booth next to her.

"My dad's a cop. He's with CPD." She told them. Roman and Burgess did their best to look surprised.

"Wow, that must be… fun." Burgess offered taking a bite of her ice cream. Erin rolled her eyes.

"It's no picnic." She replied before frowning. "Sorry, I've only just met you guys and already you've seen me with my friend's head in the toilet and now I'm complaining about my family. You should be telling me all about you guys." She said.

Burgess and Roman glanced at each other and then Jay. They had offered to step in as "Jason's friends" just to help him look good to Erin but they hadn't really expanded on their backstories beyond their majors and how long they'd known "Jason".

"I'm actually going to get this ice cream to go." Burgess pretended to stifle a yawn. "I'm so tired."

"Yeah, me too. I'll walk you home." Roman offered.

"Oh, I can drive you guys." Erin said.

"That's okay," Burgess shook her head. "You guys stay here. We live close by anyway." She told them. Erin watched with interest as the two gathered their things and said their goodbyes. Once they had exited the store, Erin turned to Jay with a glint in her eye.

"Are they together?" She asked excitedly. Jay shook his head.

"Them?!" He said. "No, no way. They're just friends."

"Well, she seemed awfully eager to leave and he was very keen on walking her home. We barely even got the ice cream before they cleared out of here. Come on, you can tell me." Erin nudged Jay. "They'd be cute."

"I swear." Jay held his hands up. "Just friends."

"Oh," Erin said, clearing her throat. "So maybe they made a hasty exit so that we'd be left alone?"

"Uh…" Jay looked down at his melting ice cream. "So were you really scared of getting arrested?"

Erin's smile faltered. "I don't know. I guess. My dad would have been completely pissed at me. I try and stay out of trouble."

"Have you ever been arrested?" Jay asked, genuinely curious. Voight was a pretty scary dude, even as a boss. Jay could understand that being a cop's kid would probably mean a lot more pressure on staying in line. "Especially with your dad being a cop and all."

"No, but I try to make sure people don't really know that about me." Erin said. "Lindsay is actually my middle name. Erin Lindsay Voight. My dad works undercover a lot." She whispered the word 'undercover' even though the place was basically empty. "Some of the people he puts away hold grudges and threaten my dad through me. After my mom died, my dad got kind of protective. When I was in high school, sometimes my dad would assign protective detail on me if he got worried. It didn't really get me many friends."

Jay hadn't expected Erin to reveal that information. "He was just trying to keep you safe."

Erin sighed. "Yeah, well, people don't really want to hang out with a girl who has police officers following her every move."

"When did you drop the Voight?"

"After high school I decided I wanted to go by my middle name. Dad thought it would be a good idea too. It's harder to find me, I guess. Plus people used to call me 'Voight's girl' all the time and it got kind of old. I used to go to parties and some people started calling me a narc, which didn't really go down well. Eventually, I stopped going to the parties and eventually I stopped being invited. I guess nobody wanted a girl whose dad was an overprotective cop at their underage parties."

Jay put his arm around Erin's shoulders. She seemed to have gone through a lot just by being Voight's daughter. He now understood why she had refused police protection and gotten angry when she discovered Atwater following her.

Erin rested her head on Jay's shoulders briefly before sitting back up and looking at him. She squinted and looked at his face studiously.

"So… when are you going to ask me out?" She asked him. Jay's eyes widened.

"Uh, what?" He replied dumbly.

"Isn't this what's happening? You came the party tonight and the bar on Thursday. You introduced me to your friends. We're talking about my family." She pointed out. When Jay didn't say anything, she sat up properly. "That's what you intended to do, right?"

Jay didn't know how to respond. His assignment was to befriend Erin; not date her. Voight had been extremely clear about that. He had worried that maybe he had been coming across strong and giving mixed signals, but Erin had appeared to be keeping him at arm's length. He had tried hard to spend time with her so she could trust him enough to be friends but now he seemed to have tried too hard.

"I, uh…" Jay faltered and he saw Erin's smile drop. She slid a few inches away from him and picked up her jacket.

"Never mind," she said as she gathered her things. "I got the message."

Jay wasn't sure if he had to get up and follow her but she was already halfway out of the door before he'd even realized it. He had no idea how to fix this situation. He had strict instructions from Voight about what kind of relationship was appropriate with Erin, but now he ran the risk of losing her and the assignment altogether. How was he going to tell Voight about this?

He heard Erin's car drive past the ice cream shop and he sighed. Jay picked his things up and walked out of the door. He flicked through his phone contacts and pressed 'call'. The phone picked up on the fourth ring.

"Hey, Alvin? It's me. I need your help."