"They need to know Hank!" Erin insisted. Her conversation or rather one sided argument with Jay yesterday made her realise that keeping Sophia a secret was absurd.
"Erin." His voice was low and warning.
Jay had kept his daughter a secret for a reason and Voight wasn't about to go against that. Hank had been there for the small Halstead family since he found out about Sophia, he never questioned Jay's reasons for keeping Sophia away from his work, Voight knew if he had the same opportunity he would have kept Justin away too, it might have even saved his life.
"He's living a lie Hank! You have to see that." Erin hissed. No matter how many times she thought about it or how many times she tried to see the situation in Jay's perspective she still couldn't understand.
Erin took one last look at Voight before she left the office. Voight jumped from his chair and with long strides reached the door of his office.
"Guys. You need to know something." She declared as she stepped from Voight's office. She looked around as she wondered how Jay hadn't just wanted to tell his 'family' about his daughter
"Erin. It's not just Jay you're going to hurt." Voight warned again. He stood in the doorway office and watched Erin as she began to talk to the detectives and officers who were all conversing curiously.
Erin shook her head. They had to know.
"What is it Lindsay?" Ruzek asked from his desk where Burgess and Atwater gathered whilst Olinsky's head appeared from behind the storage cabinet.
She took a deep breath, glancing at Voight one last time. He just shook his head. It was her grave. "Jay- he - he's been hiding something from you. Something big" Thinking about her words Erin corrected herself slightly "Well- small actually." Now or Never. "Jay's got a kid."
Adam had thought it was a joke at first and immediately started to laugh but that soon stopped when he noticed the annoyed glare Voight held from his office. "You're serious?"
Erin nodded. "Yeah."
"Wha-when?" Burgess stumbled across her words. "Is he on paternity leave?" She checked, automatically assuming that the reason behind Jay's absence was in fact due to the birth of his child.
"No." Erin shook her head and lifted her cell from her back pocket. "She's 5, she's beautiful, she's so much like Jay." She smiled sincerely
"5? A little girl," Atwater cut across this time. "Man , I did not see that one coming."
Jay Halstead had hidden his daughter for 5 years, he had made friends, made enemies, he shared both the good times and the bad times with the people but the one thing he didn't share was the fact that he had a 5 year old daughter.
Scrolling through her photos Erin found the picture she had been looking for. "Here."
The picture was one of Erin's personal favorites. It was a picture of both Jay and Sophia.
"What's her name? What is she like?" Adam asked. He tried to imagine his friend's daughter, he imagined someone who rolled her eyes despite only being 5, he imagined her to have a grin that went on for even and lastly he imagined her to have the 'always right' attitude Jay possessed.
"Her name's Sophia Grace Halstead." Erin smiled.
"And you knew?" Burgess asked skeptically.
Erin shook her head frantically. "Not until the other day." Erin smiled to herself before she continued. "She's so bright!" Erin exclaimed. "She mispronounces words and mixes things up. She calls me 'Pretty lady Erin."
"I bet Jay taught her that one." Ruzek retorted earning himself a smack around the back of the head from Burgess.
Erin rolled her eyes at the officer. Her smile now faded into a straight line. "The robbery a few weeks ago? It wasn't just a robbery. The intruder, he tried to kidnap Sophia." Erin stated sadly.
"That's why Jay got so heated up on the case?" Atwater guessed.
Erin nodded.
"So where's Jay been?" Burgess asked, they all knew Jay was supposed to return to shift today but where had he been?
Erin looked to Voight but he offered no support. Her head moved back to the team. "Sophia fell from a climbing frame, broke her arm, had a concussion. I didn't know about her then." She cut across herself. "Anyway- when Jay didn't come back to work I went to his apartment and there she was calling for her daddy."
"So you had no idea?" Burgess asked. "Is her mom around?"
"I didn't have any idea. No." Erin took a breath. "As for her mom, she abandoned them when Sophia was a week old. Now. She's back on the scene and wants full custody."
Voight shook his head at the female detective. She had gone too far.
The sound of the step creaking caught Erin's attention. Her head snapped towards the stairs as she caught sight of Jay. He heard her. Every single word. And he wasn't happy.
"Jay." Erin was shocked by the abrupt appearance of her partner. She knew he didn't want the unit to know about Sophia. "They had to know, Jay."
Jay continued up the stairs, ignoring the questioning glances from his colleagues as his eyes narrowed, to Erin first and then to Voight. Jay knew Voight would never betray his trust, he was the closest thing to a grandfather Sophia had and he knew deep down Hank adored Sophia. If Jay had to bet Hank would be the first one to stand up for Sophia and protect her from harm.
"So you thought you'd tell them?" Jay whispered. His arms elevated as he indicated his co-workers who were all around him, looking serious but pale.
"Jay, they needed to know." Erin tried to argue.
Jay wasn't having any of it as he advanced towards Erin a finger jabbing in her direction. "Not from you."
He began to walk towards the stairs and Erin tried to stop him. "Jay, don't be like this. Please."
"It wasn't your secret to tell, Erin. That was up to me. Soph's my daughter." Jay's eyes were now furious as he snapped his body around to face Erin. "I'm- I'm going to clear my head." He murmured as he headed back down towards the front desk.
Erin's face pleaded but Voight shook his head. "Let him go, Erin. You got what you wanted."
Needing to clear his head, Jay decided to talk to the principal of Sophia's school and find out the name of the kid who had hurt his daughter. It was hard to keep track of the number of criminals Jay had arrested, and any one of them could have had a son who was angry that Jay had put his father in prison. The only way a young 5 or 6 year old kid knew how to
get back at Jay was by hurting Sophia and the thought that his job had been the cause of this, of his baby girl being injured, deeply saddened Jay. Being a former ranger in the military, Jay knew full well how to control his emotions, but whenever it came to Sophia, he couldn't control himself. His daughter was the ONLY reason, the ONLY person, who without even knowing it, had been the reason Jay had been so focused on getting back from Afghanistan alive, because without her, without the knowledge that if he died, Sophia would not have a father, Jay would never have been able to make it back in one piece.
Jay got into his car, and gunned the engine to life, before driving off to Sophia's school, which was right near his apartment. He parked his car and then headed into the brown building. He knew the principal well. She was the wife of a friend of Jay's from the army, who had been killed in Afghanistan in the same explosion that had messed with Mouse's head badly.
Sandy Jacobs met Jay right outside her office door and ushered him into her office. She closed the door behind him and motioned for him to take seat in front of her desk while she sat behind her desk.
"It's been a while, Jay," Sandy smiled brightly. But in her eyes, Jay could still feel the sadness she held from losing her husband years ago.
Jay nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Yeah, I've just been super busy these last few weeks."
"I'm not surprised, seeing as you're known to be one of Chicago PD's finest cops," Sandy responded. "How's Sophia doing? I haven't seen her back here yet."
Jay sighed. "That's actually the reason for my visit here, Sandy."
Sandy Jacobs cocked her head to one side, pressing her lips together, her eyebrows raised in anticipation for Jay to continue.
"I thought Sophie was ready to come back to school, I spoke to her this morning," Jay finally went on, leaning forward slightly, his body tensing slightly at what he was about to say next.
"She didn't want to come back just yet, something, or rather someone, frightened her way too much."
Sandy looked alarmed, even sad, at the what Jay was saying. "Poor girl," Sandy sighed unhappily. "My guess is you're here to find out the name of the boy who pushed her off the climbing frame?"
Jay nodded once, his jaw clenched. "I would appreciate if you gave me a name."
Sandy remained quiet for a second before also leaning forward. "I know you, Jay. I've known you since I married to Aaron. And when he died, you were there for me. So, I owe you this, and since I care for your daughter's well-being, I'm going to violate the student-principal
confidentiality and tell you the name of the boy. However, I would caution you not to do anything that could potentially get you stripped of your badge."
"I appreciate the advice and your help, Sandy. Trust me." Jay smiled again, and Sandy nodded her head, a tiny smile appearing at the corner of her own lips.
"Lewis Benbeneck."
"You better not be messing with me," Jay said, his tone dangerously low and threatening.
"Come on, man! I've never let you down before," His CI, a guy that went by the name Iago, practically squeaked out.
Iago had been a computer analyst for one of Chicago's top companies but shortly after his employment had been terminated when he was caught supplying confidential information to the most high level and notorious criminals in Chicago.
The situation had been similar to Mouse but Jay knew Iago would never live a crime free life though he had turned a blind eye knowing the information he continued to supply him with was worth much more.
Jay sighed. It was true, Iago had been CI for Jay since he had arrived in Chicago.
Without a warning, Jay's CI scrambled. At first, it didn't alarm Jay, he knew what would happen to him if he got caught ratting on one of his own.
Jay just let out a sigh. He would have to relieve Connie's mom of her baby sitting duties soon enough. After his meeting earlier that morning with Mrs Jacobs Jay just wanted to hold his daughter tightly, to inhale her scent and ruffle her hair.
Jay decided to head back but when he turned around to head to his SUV he never expected a fist to connect with his face. Stumbling back Jay lost his bearings for a second, he was pushed into the wall before an arm wrapped around his neck.
Jay couldn't understand, usually he would have been prepared for anything but not today. As Jay's vision began to blur he could have sworn his life passed by, he remembered the time he and a group of friends jumped into Lake Michigan because they thought it was fun. He remembered the day he signed up for the military. He remembered the day he met Amanda and he remembered- the most important thing in his life, Sophia.
It took Jay all his strength but he managed to pull himself free from the choke hold and lunged at the man, pushing him to the very same wall he himself had been thrown against before.
The attacker was tall, really tall. His hair was dark. His face like a fist as his features crumbled.
This man was far too strong, stronger than Jay had been trained to fight. This man was definitely not a mugger. He was tall and broadly built, Jay was fairly tall and muscular too but nothing compared to this man. This man was more a beast than a man.
Jay's fists seemed to move automatically as he punched the dark haired man.
But, he was still too strong.
It was only when the dark haired attacker swung for Jay he noticed the standard military tattoo. This time Jay had managed to duck out of the way. Shaking his head Jay cleared his head and kicked the man, knocking him to his knees. The attacker now catching his breath as his hands and knees stuck to the floor Jay kicked him in the ribs.
"What do you want?" Jay groaned in pain.
The attacker didn't respond as he pushed himself up from the floor, his face angry. Jay and his attacker stood face to face, Jay's body was heavy as the last few days of exhaustion began to take a toll on him.
The attacker didn't stop there, he curled up his fists and with a leaning posture his boot lifted and knocked Jay straight in the chest making him double over in pain. If Jay's head hadn't been throbbing madly and bleeding, he could have sworn he heard the faint cracking of ribs when the attacker's boot had hit him in the chest. The pain that radiated instantly confirmed his suspicions, as he dropped to the ground, weakly trying to wrap his arm around his injured chest.
The man now stood above the CPD detective and young father and instead of walking away, he decided to take another go and slammed his foot to the side of Jay's already cut and concussed head. The force of the kick had thrown Jay into the wall and the strength with which he hit the wall jarred his broken ribs more, causing him to collapse once again, his body burning with intense pain. Jay coughed up blood as he tried to move. That surely was NOT a good sign, he hoped he wasn't bleeding internally, but with the brute force and power that the man had kicked him with, anything was possible.
Jay was slowly losing consciousness and he tried his best to shield his bruised and battered body from the blows, but he was too weak due to sufficient blood loss. His natural instinct would be to get up off the floor and fight back but the blow to the chest had been too much, even for him.
Thoughts ran through his mind at lightning speed. He thought of his brother, of his team, of Erin. He thought of his daughter, Sophia, he thought of her smile and her giggle as his heart raced and then slowed, as he tried to hold onto consciousness. But it wasn't long before the darkness slowly overtook him. But not before he heard his attacker's menacing threat.
"Not gonna be able to protect your angel for long, Halstead."
With one last vicious kick to Jay's ribs and head, the attacker departed. And Jay let the darkness envelop him into its sinister embrace.
Erin had dropped Sophia to Connie's house on her way to work whilst Jay went to solve the problem of Sophia's accident. She had agreed to head straight to work to prevent confusion, Jay had encouraged the idea but to Erin it felt too soon and Jay respected that. Since Jay had heard her telling the unit he had been dodging her calls.
She was now sat filling the long overdue paperwork at her desk. She looked towards the empty desk, it was supposed to be Jay's first shift back today after his three week leave of absence.
When Jay left the unit she assumed he would go straight to Sophia's school to talk to the principal but that was 3 hours ago now. Something wasn't right and she intended to find out what.
"Hey Lindsay. Is Halstead coming back?." Ruzek asked innocently earning a slap around the back of the head from Burgess.
Erin took no notice of the comments and instead picked up her cell and called the familiar number. The dial tone continued and continued until it reached voicemail. "Jay Halstead, sorry I can't get to the phone right now. Leave a message and I'll see if I wanna get back to you." BEEP.
Now she was certain, something was really wrong. Fear and apprehension clouded her mind.
Hank had just returned back to his office from the break room when Erin decided to see if he knew where Jay had gotten to. Jumping from her desk Erin practically barged into the Sergeant's office not bothering to knock, she ignored the questioning looks her colleagues sent her way and closed the door behind her.
"Come in," the gruff voice said sarcastically but Erin didn't care for the satire. Knowing Jay's whereabouts were much more important than Hank's sarcasm now.
"Hey Hank. Have you heard from Jay since he left? I mean, he was going to meet someone but that was 3 hours ago-" Erin asked, her voice was panicky.
Hank remembered back to a few weeks ago when Erin had been in his office with curiosity in her eyes but now he could see that it wasn't the case this time as concern laced the detective's features. "No, I don't know where Halstead is, Erin. " He shook his head, but the fear and concern for her partner was evident on Erin's face and in her eyes.
"But-"
The ringing phone on Hank's desk interrupted the pair. Hank gestured for Erin to leave but she didn't and remained stood with arms crossing her chest.
"Voight." He answered gruffly whilst staring at his detective who remained stood in the bullpen office.
"Hank Voight. This is Caroline Parker, Connie's mom. Uh Jay told me to call you if there was ever any problem? " A soft female spoke unsurely as if debating whether or not her call had been a mistake.
Voight was instantly alarmed and Erin, who was watching carefully had instantly known something was wrong. "Is everything okay? Is Sophia okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah. Sophia's perfectly fine- well she's being an angel really but Jay mentioned he'd be picking her up to take to her Uncle Toni I think?" She spoke unsure if the information she had received from Sophia's father was correct. "Anyway he said he'd be here two hours ago..."
"It's not a problem, though. I just wanted to make sure everything's okay - usually he'll call to warn me if-" The woman reassured that Jay's late, or very late arrival hadn't been trouble to her.
"No..No… I'll get one of my colleagues to pick Soph up." Voight offered before he set the phone down and leant back in his chair. His rough hands ran across his face as he let out a deep and thoughtful sigh.
"Where's Jay?" Erin's voice shook. Hank remained silent, and that was all Erin needed to confirm what she had been dreading the most this morning.
Jay Halstead was missing.
"Hi ma'am, I'm Kim. This is Ruzek. Voight sent us to pick Sophia up?" Burgess offered, she hadn't really been sure what their Sergeant had told the woman.
"Oh yes of course. Come in." The woman greeted as she ushered the two officers into her home. Looking back across her shoulder she called. "Sophia?"
The sound of tiny feet hitting the wooden floor caught the pair's attention. Looking passed Caroline Parker, Ruzek and Kim caught sight of the young girl. Ruzek smiled at the young girl, she was the mirror of Jay. The bright blue eyes were unmistakable though he noticed how they glimmered in green against the light. The light brown hair bright, the shade only slightly lighter to Jay's, though hers had been tied up in two ponytails and her bangs were spread carelessly across her forehead.
The young girl stopped behind Caroline, her head peaking from behind the woman's legs.
"Hey dude. I'm Ruzek." Adam smiled as he crouched down to Sophia's level. She had both a questioning look and a look of deepest concern as her inquisitive eyes fixed on the officer in front of her.
Thinking Adam had scared the child who continued to stare at him, Kim butted him out of the way and resumed the position he held only moments okay. "Hi sweetie, I'm Kim Burgess."
"I'm Sophia Grace Halstead." Sophia introduced herself proudly. Her eyes narrowed for a second. "Who is you?"
"We work with your daddy. We've come to pick you up and go to your daddy's work." Ruzek offered this time as he stood up from his crouched position, Burgess following in suit.
Sophia bounced up and down with a giggle. She had never seen where her daddy worked so she was quite excited. Her smile was beautiful and it never seemed to end. She had a toothy grin too which made Burgess chuckle. Her bouncing suddenly stopped. "Where's my daddy?" Sophia asked, her head tilted to the side as her ponytails flicked with the motion.
Ruzek and Burgess both shared a look. Kim made a face, she wasn't sure how to answer the kid that stood in front of her. Caroline Parker offered a sympathetic look as she handed Sophia's backpack to Burgess. Ruzek with his free hand he scratched the back of his neck whilst he used his other hand to guide Sophia to their car.
"Why don't you say thank you to the nice lady for looking after you?" He tried instead.
Sophie nodded and turned back. "Thank you, Miss Carrie." The young girl thanked, Caroline had been too hard for the 5-year-old to pronounce so she, in typical Sophia Grace Halstead fashion, pronounced it her way.
"What happened to your arm, dude?" Ruzek asked the young girl as he unlocked the car.
Sophia looked to her arm. The cast had become part of Sophia's day to day life for the past three weeks so it didn't bother her often. "I falled off the playing frame."
"That's not good." Burgess spoke up this time, ruffling the girl's hair.
"Burger?" Sophia asked as Kim helped her into the back seat of the car. "Is Pretty Lady Erin at my daddy's work?"
"Uh? Um" Kim stammered across her words, looking to Ruzek she hoped he could offer some form of advice but he hadn't and instead laughed.
"Burger?" Adam mouthed to Kim who just shook her head. "Pretty lady Erin?" He mouthed again. "How about we get some food?" Ruzek offered.
"Okay" Sophia's toothy grin appeared. They had been driving for a few minutes when suddenly Sophia spoke up. "Roozie? How many ages are you? I'm-" Sophia stopped for a second and used her casted hand and used her fingers to work out her age. "5 ages."
It was Burgess' turn to mock Ruzek.
Erin called his cell for what seemed like the tenth time that day. But the outcome remained the same: The line was dead. Questions ran through her head a million miles a minute; Where was Jay? Why wasn't he answering? What happened to him?
She turned back and her eyes caught a glimpse of the alleyway that was shadowed with dumpsters. Her eyes began to focus, but it was too far away, stepping closer she removed her shades. Jay.
Jay was lying on the floor, and in that moment she was sure she forgot how to breathe as she ran straight towards him. "JAY!" Tears rolled down her cheeks as she kneeled beside her boyfriend, checking for his pulse immediately.
Voight had heard her cries and with a raised gun he moved cautiously towards the alley Erin herself had ventured down. "Erin." The gruff voice called as he proceeded carefully, his radio at his side ready to call for backup if necessary. "Get back. Get back Erin." Voight persisted dropping to his knees as he pulled Erin's body away from Jay's body.
"No. No...Not without Jay." Erin tried to push past Voight's arms that were currently pushing the detective back. But Voight proved to be stronger.
"He's okay. He's okay." Voight breathed a sigh of relief as Jay Halstead let out a groan. Thank God, he thought, Jay was alive.
"I'm-I'm okay." Jay breathed heavily as he used his arms to push himself up. But nearly collapsed from the pain that burned his chest. "But I think I've got some broken ribs in here somewhere." He tried to joke, but he gasped in pain and began to cough. His cough had been violent enough to let blood pour from the corner of his lips.
"Jay." Erin sobbed with relief. Her makeup now completely smeared, her mascara ran from the corner of her eyes. She scrambled from Voight to reach Jay.
Voight helped lift Jay's body from the floor so he was now leaning against the wall. He took this as his opportunity to check for injuries, a clear laceration on his head with a notable concussion no doubt to form within the next few hours, his hands tucked protectively around his ribs, broken. Jay had to keep himself from wincing in pain every time he breathed.
He was groggy and in a vast amount of pain but that didn't stop him from noticing how his girlfriend's body racked with sobs. "Erin, look at me. I'm okay, I'm alive." Jay tried to reassure as he shifted himself on the pavement. The words as he spoke were painful.
"You're okay." Erin countered, gently placing her hands on his face, as if to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, that he really was alive and not a ghost.
As if suddenly a thought crossed his mind Jay tried to get up from the floor but this time Voight had been the one to push him back down. "Don't move, Halstead. An ambulance is on its way."
"No ambulance." Jay shook his head, his now slowly swelling eye blurred his vision slightly but it didn't stop him from jabbing his finger in the direction of both Erin and Voight. "So-Sophia." He groaned in pain as he thought about his daughter. He didn't know what time it was, he needed to know his daughter was safe. His attacker's threat kept replaying in his head.
" Not gonna be able to protect your angel for long, Halstead."
"She's with Burgess and Ruzek. Don't worry, she's safe." Voight reassured his detective.
"Hey, Muffin," Erin said as she entered Sophia's room and found the 5 year old sitting quietly, looking sad. She was usually so chirpy and sassy, but right now, she was silent, which worried Erin. Ever since Burgess had brought Sophia back to the apartment, and Sophia had seen her injured father, she had become unusually quiet, not even inquiring like she tended to do very often.
Both Jay and Erin were worried, so Erin had decided that she would take a go at figuring out the problem, while Jay rested. Will had shown up a while ago to patch his brother up, and announced that Jay's ribs had been broken, but thankfully, none of them had pierced any major organs. He did not really need to go to a hospital, but the moment he needed to, Will had made Erin promise that she would call him immediately. She had willingly agreed. She cared about more than she had ever thought herself capable of doing, and seeing him hurt now, not long after the Derek Keyes incident, made her all the more determined to find the man responsible, and she knew that once they did, he was never going to see the light of day again, and Voight would make sure of that.
Though he and Erin did not always see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, where Jay was concerned, she definitely agreed with whatever Voight decided. After all, when she had returned from her sabbatical to save Jay, she had done what was necessary to save him.
Sophia looked up as Erin crouched in front of youngest Halstead. "Soph, is everything okay?" Erin inquired softly, taking Sophia's small hands in her own.
"Can we have food, Pretty Lady Erin?" Sophia asked, not answering Erin's question.
Erin nodded. "Sure. How about you and I go out to get some food? We can bring some home for Daddy too."
"Yeah, Daddy loves Indian food," Sophia commented.
Erin scrunched her eyebrows together in a thoughtful manner, she couldn't remember having any Indian food in the not too distant past. "Do you mean, Chinese food like we had last time?"
"No, Pretty Lady Erin, it was Indian food," Sophia argued back positively. "We eated chicken."
Erin laughed. "Oh, Muffin. I think you mean Chinese food. " She ruffled Sophia's hair gently.
Sophia frowned in concentration, shoving her hair from her face as per her usual manner. "Chimees?"
Erin couldn't stop herself from laughing at Sophia's cuteness. She was the most precious little girl and Erin knew Jay was lucky to have her.
"Come on, Soph," Erin declared, pulling the little girl to her feet. "We'll get you dressed and go get some Chinese food."
"Okay." Sophia allowed Erin to dress her and then put her shoes on, before Erin tied the young girl's hair into two little pony tails that swung back and forth when Sophia bounced out of the room.
Erin followed behind her, grabbing her car keys and coat. The two of them headed out. Erin drove towards the nearest Chinese restaurant so that they could order to food. Their order would take 30 minutes to get prepared so Erin and Sophia sat down and waited.
Sophia swung her legs back and forth, biting her lower lip. She looked inquisitively
at Erin before finally speaking up. "Pretty Lady Erin?"
"Yeah, Muffin?" Erin answered.
"Did that meany lady hurted Daddy?" Sophia inquired, her big blue eyes wide with worry and sadness too. She didn't like seeing her superhero daddy hurt or sad.
Erin's chest tightened, her mind whirring on how she could answer this perceptive child, who clearly had her father's genes when it came to deduction and perception. Curse Jay Halstead and his brains at his point. Erin let out a sigh and held Sophia's hand. "Listen to me, Sophia. Your mommy wants you to stay with her. That does not mean that she hurt your daddy okay? I know you don't like her, but I also need you to understand that this doesn't mean she hurt Daddy."
Sophia nodded timidly. "I umpderstand."
Erin rubbed her thumb over Sophia's hand. "Your daddy is gonna be okay, Muffin. He's strong and brave, isn't he?"
Sophia's eyes lit up instantly, and started bouncing up and down in her seat. Her ponytails started bobbing up and down along with her. "Yeah, my daddy is a superhero. Superheroes is brave and strong, like my daddy is."
Erin smiled brightly, enjoying how much Sophia admired and looked up to her father.
Jay had really brought her up well, and Erin understood, now more than ever,
that Sophia needed to remain in Jay's custody, because she could see
just how much this little girl loved her daddy, and Erin would rather die than
watch Sophia be torn away from Jay.
"Pretty Lady Erin, do you think my daddy is brave and strong too?" Sophia
continued.
"Of course I do!" Erin agreed truthfully. "Your daddy has saved me so many
times."
"And you save Daddy too."
Erin hadn't even realised that Sophia had made a statement, and had not asked a
question this time. She was just stunned at how clever Jay's daughter really
was. And that was when she realised that indeed, Sophia had just made a
statement. Erin had no idea how to answer that, and her heart picked up its
pace. Her leg bounced nervously as she tried to figure a way to answer the
clever child.
But Sophia was not finished just yet. "Uncle Will said Daddy broked his ribs..What are ribs?"
Erin scratched her chin thoughtfully. "It's part of the body, Sophie." She
leaned forward. taking Sophia's hands and pressing them to her chest, where her
ribs were. "Feel those bones?" When Sophia nodded, Erin stated, "Those are ribs. And yes, your daddy has broken ribs, but bones can mend themselves. Daddy's gonna be fine, I promise."
"Is it my fault Daddy is owie?" Sophia asked, suddenly, catching Erin completely
off guard. That was an unexpected question, but from the tears that had
formed in Sophia's eyes, Erin figured out that this was what had been bothering
Sophia at home, something she had been unable or unwilling to ask in front of
Jay.
Erin scooted her chair forward and enveloped a now crying Sophia into her arms.
"Hey," Erin started, rubbing soothing circles into Sophia's back. "No, Soph, it's not because of you that your daddy's hurt. You know he would say the same thing, Muffin."
Sophia hiccupped but didn't do anything but nod into Erin's chest. Erin continued to rub her back, the way she had seen Jay do many times whenever Sophia was crying or feeling sad. It seemed to work on her even though it wasn't Jay performing the
action. Sophia kept her face hidden in Erin's body but she stopped crying. Erin
heard her sniff slightly.
"Look here, baby." Erin slowly held Sophia face and kept her hand under her chin
so that Sophia was making eye-contact with Erin. "Sometimes, people do bad things. They hurt other people. You know how the boy in your school hurt you?" Sophia nodded. Erin stroked the young girl's cheek. "The same way, somebody hurt Daddy. But, Grumpy Voight will find the person who hurt your daddy. You don't need to worry, okay? It's not your fault."
Sophia nodded again, rubbing her now red nose. Erin kissed her on the head and gently tapped her red nose. "You look like Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Muffin."
Sophia giggled, wiggling her nose. "It it shiny too!?"
Erin laughed. "Yeah, it's shiny, like a diamond."
Sophia laughed harder, though she was still sitting in Erin's lap. When the food
arrived in take-away bags, Erin stood up and took the bags in one hand and grabbed Sophia's hand in the other. It was time to head back to Jay. As Erin buckled Sophia in the backseat, Sophia asked something that was even more unexpected than the last one.
"Pretty Lady Erin, do you love my daddy?
Jay looked to the clock, it was now 5:00PM, Erin and Sophia should be returning soon. He had been left sat on the sofa with cushions wrapped around his body to protect him from the majority of pain any movement would cause his ribs.
He was watching the highlights from the Bears game that afternoon as well as texting Will to rub the sore spot the game would have cause. His brother didn't support the Bears so it was always fun when his brother's team lost.
Will had given Jay some pretty strong painkillers so he was fading in and out of a light sleep though he had really intended on rubbing the Bears win even more. Jay jumped with a sudden pained gasp as he heard a sound from the front of the apartment.
"Erin?" Jay called from behind his water bottle, he had been on strict instructions from Will not to drink alcohol whilst on this pain medication, so here he was listening to the doctor's orders for once.. "Soph? Are you home?"
Nothing. No reply.
He was certain he heard the door open and close but maybe these painkillers were just messing with his head. Deciding to go and see who it was Jay managed to pull himself up off the sofa, painfully. Holding onto anything he could Jay managed to move to the hallway. There she stood. Amanda.
Jay stumbled back, not sure if he was just delusional. "Mandy?"
"Jay! Oh my- What happened? Are you okay? Sit down. Sit down." Amanda fussed. If Jay hadn't been beaten he would've seriously questioned his ex-partner's demeanor.
"I'm fine, Amanda," he assured her, his harsh tone not disappearing from his lips. "What are you doing here?"
"Jay please. Sit down." Her tone was pleading, Jay didn't buy it for one second, Amanda didn't know kindness when it knocked her square in the face.
"Stop messing around. What do you want?" Jay demanded. His hand wrapped around his ribs protectively as he leant against the wall. "How did you get in here?" Jay suddenly asked. He had picked this apartment building because of the security, granted the intruder had snuck in somehow but Jay was certain Voight had made sure the building's security had been re-evaluated.
"Where is she?" Amanda demanded simply ignoring Jay's concerns. Her tone steady and even. "Where's my daughter?"
Jay scoffed. "Your daughter? She's out." Jay shrugged. He wasn't about to let Amanda play mom.
"With the pretty lady I suppose." Amanda rolled her eyes.
That was it. Jay could only take so much of Amanda, it had always been the same. "You need to step away from Sophia. You revoked your rights to a life with her the day you pushed our baby girl out of your life."
"Don't twist the story!" Amanda spat, her face disgusted.
"What story?" Jay's eyebrows raised. He had been watching Amanda carefully, something about her was different. She spoke strongly but her stance was nervous. She clutched onto her bag tightly and she looked lost half of the time. She seemed to fly through emotions, concerned, sad, happy, angry.
"You took her away from me!" Amanda declared. She began to jab her finger towards Jay angrily.
Amanda stepped forward and her now clenched fist began to hit Jay. He was sore and in pain and the blows were making his world spin, as Sophia would say.
Jay didn't speak, only gritted his teeth to block out the pain. Using his free arm he caught Amanda's wrist before she could hit his chest again, everything was burning inside of him, his ribs were now on fire.
Jay watched as the woman he once loved collapsed to the floor, her body wracking with sobs.
Gritting his teeth, Jay carefully and cautiously lowered himself to the floor, an arm still tucked around his ribs he sat beside Amanda.
Amanda's tear stained face looked up from her hands. Her line of sight not moving from the framed photo that rested on the side board, it was a photo of Jay and Sophia, she remembered it. The photo had been taken shortly after Sophia was born, Amanda's lip curled slightly, she recalled Jay being too scared to hold their newborn daughter.
"She changed my life that day." Jay noted, watching Amanda's gaze. "You both did." Jay took a deep breath before he continued. "What's going on Mandy?" His voice was now soft and slightly comforting.
"Jay. There's something I need to tell you," Amanda started slowly.
Jay looked at Amanda expectedly, though not interrupting. He just waited for her to continue, knowing she would open up to him eventually.
"When- when you and Sophia left- I went back to work, like nothing happened." She took a deep breath. "I was working front line medic, I was deployed. I met this guy" She smiled. "He was nice, handsome, dark hair, dark eyes. His name was Callum Stone, he was so funny, so smart."
Jay persisted in his silence, he really didn't want Sophia to have to come home to see her mother like this. Granted, Jay despised Amanda for abandoning her daughter but that didn't mean he didn't care for the woman, the mother of his child.
"But it would have been messy, just like you and me. If we both stayed, you gotta believe me, I wasn't trying to hurt you, Jay."
Jay nodded, he understood. Military protocol prevented romantic relationship between officers, if they had been caught then both Jay and Amanda risked their careers. To Jay, he knew he had a responsibility but deep down he knew Amanda needed her job, she needed to work, the things she had seen, the things they had seen were enough to ruin anyone's future. From the day she was born Sophia Grace Halstead was his lifeline, the nickname 'angel' had been associated with his baby girl ever since the day he suffered a major PTSD attack. Jay had moved back to Chicago, his whole life had been tipped upside down but one word lifted him up at an instant. "Daddy?" He remembered the day clearly, he knew from that moment on he needed nothing more than his daughter by his side. His saving grace, his angel.
"So why now?" Jay questioned. "5 years Amanda, 5 years." Jay shook his head sadly.
"He found out about us. Callum. He found out about Sophia. It was misconduct, Jay, I could've lost my job," Amanda cried out frantically.
Jay was confused. "What did you do?" His voice rising with every word.
Amanda ignored Jay's questioning glance and instead continued. "The IED Jay. He survived."
"Who?" Jay was now even more unsure about who or what Amanda was rambling on about. He had pushed that to the back of his mind, it was 6 years ago now.
"Callum, Jay. He survived." Her tears continued to roll down her cheeks freely.
Jay shook his head. "No one survived, Mandy. You were there, it was just me and Mouse." He argued. It had been the deployment where he met Amanda. No one survived apart from himself and Mouse. It would have been impossible.
"He wants revenge, Jay. He wants you."
This was impossible. The IED killed eight of his men. It ruined their lives, Mouse more than his but he still struggled, he couldn't just forget.
After Amanda had finished sobbing, and confessing to Jay why she was really here, Jay found himself thoroughly shocked and confused. Callum Stone couldn't be alive. He had died in that IED explosion that had killed Mrs. Jacobs's husband, and messed with Mouse's head. Jay had also been affected, but he had found a way to look past what had happened, though he still suffered from survivor's guilt from time to time.
"You're sure...that Callum Stone is alive?" Jay asked Amanda, his voice cracking slightly.
The way his voice cracked didn't go unnoticed by Amanda. She nodded, placing a hand on Jay's muscular arm. The same arms that had once enveloped her with so much passion, the very same arms that had held her when she cried, that had held her when she had found out she was pregnant with Sophia, the same arms that had held his weight above her whenever they made love. Amanda found herself wishing that she had never abandoned the sexy man in front of her. She longed in many ways to lean and kiss him, but she held herself back, instead choosing to squeeze his bicep gently.
I thought he had died too," Amanda revealed. "So when he told me he was alive, I was shocked...He doesn't look like the Callum we knew. He had to undergo plastic surgery to rebuild his face, he'd been badly burned in the explosion. He blames you, Jay. He says the unit wouldn't have died if he had been in command. But since you were the senior officer, they had to follow your orders. He said you wanted those men to die."
Jay found himself clenching his jaw in anger. He had done EVERYTHING in his power that day, to try and make sure each and every single one of those men would come home alive. He couldn't have possibly anticipated an attack on his unit's humvee. He had always blamed himself for those mens' deaths, even till today. They had been his brothers. He would never have deliberately sent them to their deaths.
"Jay, don't blame yourself anymore," Amanda advised gently, moving her hand up to his chiselled jaw. "I know the truth."
Jay just let out a deep sigh. He was tired. Of everything. But especially from the lack of sleep he'd been getting and from the day's events. He needed some rest. His body hurt, his head hurt, his ribs hurt...He was hurting, even breaking on the inside, but his expression on the exterior and the way he held himself despite the revelation proved otherwise. He just wanted to see his daughter and have her cheer him up as she always managed to do.
Amanda finally stood up, grasping Jay's arm, and slowly helping him to his feet, careful not to further jar his ribs more than she already had when she had hit him. She felt bad for hitting him, but all her emotions had just piled up on her and she had let it out, lashing out at him in the process, for which she wanted to apologise. But she was not given the chance to say sorry.
It was at that moment, Jay's front door was slammed open, and in strode the big man from the alleyway. Callum Stone.
Jay's body stiffened when he saw Callum shove Erin, who had a bruise forming on her cheek and chin, down onto her knees in front of him, her hands tied behind her back. Her eyes blazed defiantly. She was doing one hell of a job keeping herself together. Callum finally pulled Sophia from behind Erin, and Jay froze, his body rigid, his chest tightening as he kept his gaze locked on his frightened and sobbing daughter. Sophia looked up and saw her daddy.
"Daddy-," Sophia began.
Jay's blood boiled when he saw Callum strike Sophia, causing her to cry again. "Shut up kid!" Callum growled.
Jay was about to lunge at the former marine, despite his broken ribs and tired body. But Callum never gave him the chance. Amanda's eyes widened in fear when she saw Callum pull out two guns and held one to the back of Erin's head and one to Sophia's temple.
"You get one choice, Halstead," Callum smirked cruelly, his eyes never once leaving Jay. "So, who will you save? Your daughter or your girlfriend?"