Chapter 7
Author's Note: Hey everyone! Welcome back to Past Lives! I know it's been a while since I've updated but I have been working on other fics I have no updated in almost a year like a total jerk due to writer's block. This does take place immediately following the previous chapter.
Grant Park
Antonio froze almost immediately. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn't just give into this. He was supposed to be protecting Halstead, not this.
"Agree, Antonio." Hank's voice came into the radio that was hidden within the depths of his ear. If Hank was agreeing that means he came up with a plan. He had to trust Voight's judgement. Hank has never stirred him wrong.
Antonio looked back to Marshal and held out his hand. "You got a deal." He stated, masking any of the concern or anger he had in his voice. "I do gotta ask though, what is the interest with a detective?"
Marshal's face broke out into a sadistic grin. "Well, lets just say my boss has some interest in Detective Halstead. You want in, get me that address and you get leverage in half of Chicago." He took a step forward, clearly trying to intimidate Dawson. When it didn't work, he simply laughed and shook the extended hand. "I'll meet you tomorrow here back at this spot and you better have it." Without another word, Marshal walked off in the opposite direction leaving Antonio standing almost motionless.
Jay was not going to be happy.
Intelligence Unit Bullpen
Jay and Evan Halstead
Halstead was sitting at his desk, catching up on paper work that he had put off doing. Evan was sound asleep on the couch with Jay's jacket draped across his body to keep him warm. It hadn't been long since the team left that Evan had dozed off and Jay decided to take advantage of his time.
He looked up as the team came back into the bullpen. He instantly knew something was up just from the look plastered acrossed Antonio's features. Voight was the last to get back to the bullpen and his eyes instantly fell on Jay. "Halstead, my office. Now." He looked over to Erin and she just motioned, her face also square. Something was definitely wrong.
Halstead closed the door behind him as he entered the office. Hank was worked up to the point that he didn't even sit down. "Sarge, what's going on?" Voight slipped his hands into his pockets as he took a deep breathe.
"To get the deal with Marshal, there was one stipulation. Antonio has to give them your address." The color drained from the younger man's face. This couldn't be happening. Jay ran his hand over his jaw. "I told Antonio to agree to it."
Anger flared through Jay. "You have got to be kidding me, Hank?! You don't know this man like I do! He will stop at nothing to get me back and now that he knows about Evan, my son is in danger!" He yelled, no longer able to keep it bottled in. He was beyond angry at this point. "Please tell me you at least have a plan." The look on Voight's face said it all. Of course, Voight was three steps ahead of every one else. Hank was one of those people who thought of every possibility.
Voight placed his hands on Jay's shoulders, rubbing small circles with his thumbs. Jay melted into the touch and slowly began to calm down. "Jay, we are going to give him the address to one of our safe houses." He stopped to watch the look on the detective's face. "You and Evan are going to stay with me until this is over. I told you I would protect you and Evan and I can do that best if you are with me at all times. I'm putting protective details on your father and brother. We will keep you safe."
Jay sighed. This wasn't going to work completely. Chris was smart. He had always been smarter than what people gave him credit for. "Sarge, you gotta give him my actual address. He would figure it out instantly. Not unless the safe house was decorated completely like my home. He has to of been following me. If he wants Antonio to give the address, I would bet you that he already knows that it's a set up." The younger man stated. He wasn't scared for himself but he was definitely scared for his son.
"Only if you agree to come stay with me than I will give Antonio the okay. You know it is a huge risk to use your address and not the safe house. You gotta be smart about it." Hank added firmly. He was not about to let Jay be completely reckless in this situation. He couldn't allow it.
Halstead sighed in defeat. "I'll stay with you. Just until Chris is behind bars."
"Daddy?" Neither man had noticed that the door had opened. Evan was now standing at the door now wearing the jacket that the detective had placed on him. "I had a bad dream." Jay's expression automatically changed and he stepped away from Hank and brought his son into his arms.
"It's okay, Ev. Do you want to tell me about it?" The older Halstead asked. He had stayed in his kneeling position as he pulled away. Evan shook his head. The fear controlled him from his dreams. "Okay, buddy. Let us finish up here than we have to go home and pack. We are going to be away from home for a little bit." Evan nodded his head, his curls falling into his eyes.
Hank kneeled down next to Jay and got Evan's attention. "You don't need to be scared anymore, Evan. You and your daddy are staying with me for a while. So if anything scares you, you can tell me. I vow to you Evan Halstead that I will protect you with my life." Evan peered up at him and he leaned over and wrapped his small arms around Hank. Hank was taken back from the sudden reaction from the boy. He had seemed so shy when they first met.
"You will protect me from the bad man?" Evan whispered into Hank's ear. Voight nodded as his response, not letting the child go until Evan decided that he wanted to let go. "He is the one I keep dreaming about. He's really scary. Something is wrong with his face."
Jay looked at his son with wide eyes than looked back at Hank before looking back at Evan. "What did you just say?" he asked, this was the first time Evan had ever spoken about his nightmares. "Baby, what do you mean about the man's face?" His son looked over at him, still holding onto Hank as if his life depended on it.
"The scary man, he has a scar above his eye and his smile is creepy. He is always standing in the corner of my room. It's a nightmare right, daddy?" Evan explained. Jay felt as if he couldn't breathe. It wasn't nightmares that Evan was having. He probably had no idea that there was actually a man standing in his room and that man was Chris Winters.
Later that Day
Jay had taken him and Evan back to their home to pack for their extended stay at Voight's house. He hadn't said much since Evan finally said what had been the source of his fear. Chris Winters already knew where he lived and there was nothing he could do. He knew he had made the right choice about allowing Voight to use his actual address.
Maybe, just maybe, Chris was using Jay as leverage to see how far Intelligence would go to get him. Jay had no doubt in his mind that Chris knew who Antonio was. If Marshal knew, he didn't have a clue. He never met Marshal or Rogers. If he knew anything about Chris, he knew that the man would keep what he knew to himself until it showed convient to him to reveal the truth.
He knew that all to well. He was lost in his thoughts as he finished up with the bags and had them placed by the door. Arms wrapped around his leg and he looked down to see Evan latched on his leg. "Hey little monkey."
"Daddy, do you like Hank?" Jay smiled.
"Of course I do. He's my boss and a friend." The older man replied. He picked up a couple of the bags to take out to the car. He got an uneasy feeling at the smile on Evan's face. "What?"
"I mean like.. like." Halstead had almost dropped the bags he was carrying at that moment. He could feel his face getting redder by the second. "You totally do! You like-like Hank!" The small child exclaimed, practically bouncing up and down in his spot.
"Okay, you little goblin, enough of my love life. Let's get in the car and get going. We can't stay here right now." Jay stated, wrangling up the energetic child and leaving the apartment. He locked the door behind him and got to his car.
"Daddy likes Hank! Daddy likes Hank!" Evan practically sang the whole drive from their apartment to Hank's home. Jay could still feel the redness on his face. His child was one day going to be the death of him. Either embarassment or a heart attack. He had no idea.
"Could you do me a solid, Evan and not say that in front of Hank?" He could practically feel the pout that had come to his son's face as he pulled off the street and parked behind Voight's car. He got out and went to the side that Evan was on and released his little goblin to reck havoc on whatever he could find. He grabbed their bags from the car and went towards the door with the sugar filled child following behind him. He knew it had been a bad idea to get his son ice cream before they went home. "Evan, now this not our house so you do need to treat his home with respect."
"Okay, daddy." Evan replied, smiling as they entered the house. Jay had placed his bags down by the door and Hank came around the corner and instantly Evan ran over to him. The child proudly screamed out, "Daddy like-likes you!"
Hank looked over to Jay with a smirk on his face. Halstead could feel his skin get hot again. "Is that so?" Evan nodded happily as Jay screamed internally. "Well, it just so happens that I like your daddy to. Now, so my detective does pass out at my door. I have dinner ready. Go sit at the table and we will be in the room in a minute." Hank stated, smiling down at the child. Evan didn't say another word as he ran by the Sargeant and disappeared around the corner.
Jay immediately began apologizing. "I'm so sorry, sarge. He is..." He had no idea what to say. He was completely embarassed now that Hank definitely knew that Jay had feelings for him.
"Trying to set his father up?"
Halstead's face heated up again. "I suppose." Hank walked over to Jay and placed a hand against the man's cheek. "Sarge?" He could feel Voight's thumb against his bottom lip. His heart pounding hard against his chest.
"I'm not Sarge here, Jay. I'm Hank. I want you to feel as if this is home while you and Evan are here." The older man muttered, leaning in closer towards the detective. Jay's breath hitched. He could hear his heart beating in his ears at this point. It was racing as his stomach tied up in knots. "I have my reasons for asking you to come here instead of going to a safe house. I just have this protective instinct over you that I can't explain. More than a Sargeant should have over their detectives."
Jay placed his hand against Voight's chest, their lips barely a centimeter apart. "Hank.." Before he knew it, Voight surged forward and captured the younger man's lips with his own. It only took a second before Jay was kissing back and wrapping his arms around Voight's neck. The kiss had been brief before Hank pulled away. "Evan is waiting on us. We better go in there."
The two walked into the dining room in silence, three plates full of food sitting on the table. The plate that Evan had was one of the plastic plates for children. Both of the grown men took their seats at the table and began eating in silence.
Evan was the first to break the silence. "Is this about my other daddy? Why we have to leave our house and come here?" He asked, picking at the chicken on his plate. Hank put down his fork and looked between the two Halsteads.
"Evan, there is a lot-" Hank was cut off by Jay saying his name. A look fixated on him from the young detective. "Jay, he is going to find out anyway. So you need to say something before anything else can happen." Jay sighed, putting his silverware down and folding his arms on the edge of the table.
"You're right." The detective muttered. He looked to his son. "Yes, this is about your other father. There was a lot of stuff that took place before you were born that you are not old enough to understand but he is back in town. For our safety, we are staying here with Hank until he is caught." Jay explained, his voice not wavering as he spoke. Evan looked down at his plate.
"Is he a bad guy?"
Hank placed his hand on Evan's shoulder and the child looked up at him. "Yes he is. Like I told you at the precinct. I will protect you with my life. Nothing is going to harm you. Not while I'm around. Not while your daddy is around."
The rest of dinner went by without another word. Jay helped Hank clean up while Evan was taking a bath and getting ready for bed. Jay washed the dishes while Hank dried them and put them away. Every so often, he could feel the ghosting of Hank's touch.
Once the dishes were done, Hank showed the two Halstead's to their respective rooms. Evan would be in Justin's room and ironically Jay was shacked up in Erin's childhood room. Jay quietly tucked his son into bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Sweet dreams, buddy."
"Good night, daddy." Evan whispered with a yawn, hugging his teddy bear close and burrowing himself into the comforter. Jay smiled as he turned off the light and closed the door behind him. He walked down to the room he was in and grabbed his bag. He changed out of his day clothes and switched to some pajamas.
He took a seat on the bed and took a deep breath. He just wanted all this to be over. Frustrated, he got up and left the room. The only light left on in the house was coming from the living room. Hank was sitting on the couch nursing a glass of bourbon.
Jay sat down next to him and Voight silently handed him a glass that had been sitting beside his own. "Thank you." He took a quick drink before leaning against Voight. Hank wrapped his arm over the younger man's shoulder and pulled him close.
"Everything will be okay."
