Nicole bounced Alexa lightly, "Mommy should he here any minute princess. I know you're hungry babe, but you drank your last bottle Sweetheart." She never in a million years thought Kim would be gone for so long judging by the fact that Kim has only packed two bottles, she didn't think it would take that long either. She kept checking the clock, if Kim didn't show up soon, Alexa was going to lose her shit.

She was running out of options. She had offered her a pacifier and initially Alexa had taken it until she discovered it wasn't going to give her formula, once that discovery had been made she spit it out and glared at Nicole.

Nicole grabbed her phone, she groaned when it went straight to voicemail. "Hey. It's me. Alexa is hungry, I'm going to the store. Call me when you get this, Kim. Please."

She tossed the phone in her purse, grabbing Zoe on her way out, "Let's go. Alexa needs formula. She's pissed."

Zoe did as she was told, "Where's Aunt Kim?"

"At the doctor with PJ. I'm sure she'll be here soon. You know how the doctors office can get." She could see the worry in her eyes, Zoe had never been much of a worrier but that all changed when Nicole had been attacked. "I bet she will get here once we leave. No worries."

"Okay, but you look worried." Zoe replied.

"I'm worried because Alexa is hungry and I don't have another bottle for her. That's all." Nicole buckled the car seat, fascinated at how much they had changed since Zoe was a baby, car seats had come a long way. "Are you riding up front?"

"I wanna sit next to Alexa. She likes it when I sing to her." Zoe was an outstanding cousin, she doted on the twins and couldn't wait until she would be able to babysit them on her own. She had even taken a few babysitter courses that had been offered through the library, she knew she had to wait until they were older to do it solo, now she settled for having her mother with her.

The crime scene was unlike anything they'd ever seen before, whoever lived in the House was clearly a hoarder. The house stunk to high heaven, and it was more than just the smell of death. It was putrid and even the most veteran police officers would vomit upon arrival.

Halstead and Upton had arrived on scene first and they had started interviewing the neighbors. It wasn't turning up much, it seemed no one really took the time to get know their neighbors anymore. They were met with shoulder shrugs and a shit ton 'don't know' or 'never paid any attention'.

It was dead end after dead end.

Cases like this were frustrating, they had very little to go on. Their DOA was a middle aged man who clearly had mental issues. The state of his home was proof of that, they had to walk sideways through the house, the only clear path they had was incredibly narrow and left little room to move about. Their was dirty dishes everywhere with food in different stages of decay, it was filled with fruit flies and roaches, the small bathroom required a hazmat suit before one dare enter. The toilet overflowed with feces, it was clear the shower hadn't been used in months, the floor was rotting throughout the house and one misstep was all it would take for someone to fall through it.

Jay needed air, he had already puked once and it was the last thing he wanted to do again, he spotted Voight talking to an elderly woman.

"Sarge..it's a mess." Halstead ran his hands down his jeans desperate to get them clean, "We've got dick. No one knows anything and no one has seen anything." It was surprising that they solved as many cases as they did considering how little witnesses would give them to work with.

"You interview the neighbors yet?"

"We did. Came up empty. The house should be condemned." He looked over his shoulder towards the house of horrors, "He took one to the back of the head. Found him face down in a pile of shit. Like actual shit" He shuddered a bit.

"Alright.." he sighed, "A hazmat team is en route. We can't wait on them, so grab Ruzek and double up on the gloves. See if you can find something, anything that will give us some insight on our victim."

Halstead scanned the scene, "Ruzek isn't here."

"Looks like it's just you and Upton then." He shoved him towards the scene, "Try not breathe through your nose man." It was hard not to laugh at the way Jay's face contorted.

"And What breathe through my mouth? No thank you. I'd rather smell it than taste it." Jay grabbed a fresh pair of gloves and a mask, "Ruzek better get his ass here sooner rather than later."

Nicole grabbed the tin of formula and ripped it open , she grabbed Alexa's bottle of water from her bag and deposited the correct amount of powered formula in it. Alexa kicked her legs wildly while she waited for her aunt to finish. Her arms soon followed suit, princess was clearly hungry.

Nicole groaned when her phone rang, "Zo, grab that will you?"

"Fuck..." Jay dry heaved as he lifted the lid off a tub, finding nothing but decaying rats in it, "this is fucking nasty..who lives like this?"

"Quit whining Halstead." Upton shouted, "You are quite the delicate flower, aren't you?"

"That he is" Adam chimed in, "He's a pretty boy. He doesn't like to get dirty." He tossed aside some old magazines aside, "This is stupid, we aren't going to find anything here. It's a waste of time."

"It might be, but until Voight says otherwise this is what we need to do" Upton informed them. She had become the 'goodie two shoes' of the unit and worked tirelessly to keep the guys on task. It didn't take much for them to go off on a tangent of some sort.

"Yes mother" Adam replied, his smirk evident beneath the mask he wore.

"Shut up" Upton rolled her eyes. "If you two would quit whining we'd already be done. Just get to work, Alright?"

Kim had panicked when she first pulled up to her sister's house and found it empty, she had been stuck at the pharmacy and the entire time she was worried about Alexa and how she was doing.

She was relieved when she spoke with Zoe and learned of their whereabouts and that they were on their way home. Kim decided to take advantage of the situation and hang out for a bit, she was excited at the thought that she could take a nap and let Nicole and Zoe tend to the twins.

The smell of burning rubber and flesh had taken hold of the scene, it was a scent that clung to everything. Your skin, your clothes, and it was horrid.

"Boss.." a patrol officer called out, "Look." He held up the evidence bag, in it was three small empty bottles, the label a bit tattered but still legible, "Vodka."

"Fuck." He took the bag from him, "Still no sign of the driver?"

"No" he replied, "We've got multiple patrol units searching, they couldn't have gotten far, I imagine the driver is injured. There's no way they're not."

The senior officer ran his hand across his brow, "Based on witness accounts it's a white female, mid twenties early thirties. Still waiting on information on the VIN. Once we've got that it's just a matter of time. She can run..but she can't hide. Not forever. In the meantime check in with all of the local hospitals and urgent cares, she's gotta be hurt.

Voight took a deep breath, he knew he was about to pull the rug out from Adam and he wasn't looking forward to it. He knew just how much Adam loved the kid, he was willing to toss his career in the shitter for the kid, and Voight hated it. He had to respect it though, he couldn't say with a hundred percent certainty that he wouldn't have done the exact same thing if the roles had been reversed.

They had returned the district about an hour ago, Ruzek and Halstead both had headed for the showers.

Adam had just slipped the shirt over his head when Voight came in, "Don't tell me we gotta head back to that shit hole." Adam begged. He knew Voight was pissed, he feared something at the scene had been found or perhaps they had missed something and he was about to get his ass chewed out.

"Sarge" Adam rested his hands on his hips, "What's up?"

Hank looked at the floor briefly before looking back up at Adam, "There's been an accident, Adam.."

"Kim?" Adam blurted out, "No..."

Hank placed his hand on Adam's chest, "No. Not Kim. Deacon. It was an MVA. He's been transported to Med."

"My half-sister?"

"Don't know. Adam, the driver fled." Voight explained, "They found empty bottles of alcohol in the car."

"I will kill her! That fucking bitch, I will kill her!" Adam roared as he punched the locker.

"Calm down. Olinsky will take you to the hospital." Hank grabbed him by the shoulders, "You need to get Kim and go." They had been fortunate that House 51 had responded to the call, Deacon was recognized immediately.

Kim was near hysterics, her heart had dropped the second Adam spoke, she was trying to keep it together while she waited for him to pick her up. Both PJ and Alexa were sleeping peacefully and she had only just closed her eyes when the phone rang.

"Try and calm down, honey" Nicole rubbed her back as she stood in the doorway waiting for Adam to arrive.

"Calm down?" Kim scoffed, "My nephew has been in a car accident. I don't know if he's okay, my husband is ready to kill his half sister" she exploded, it was the first time she had referred to Mia as Adam's 'half sister' she had always referred to her as his sister. She had forged a friendship with her since Deacon had moved back in with her, she was pretty sure that had all been shot to shit now.

"I will tell you this.." Kim took a slow steady breath, "Adam will have to get in line behind me, I will kill her with my bare hands if Deacon isn't okay."

What the fuck had she done? What kind of monster was she? She abandoned those boys, her own son. She never looked back to see if they were okay, her first instinct was to save her own ass.

She wiped the blow from her brow and hobbled along as she did her best to not put weight on her injured leg, she had fucked everything up and there was no way out of this mess.

Adam raced inside the emergency room, "Hey! I need to see my nephew. He was just brought in my an ambulance."

The receptionist looked up at him, "Name?"

"Deacon." Adam pulled his badge out, "Where is he? I need to see him."

Kim finally caught up to him and placed her hand on his back, "Is he okay?" She rested her cheek against Adam's arm, "We need to see him. Now. We need to see him now."

"You can't. He's currently having a CT scan, as soon as that's finished you can go back and see him. Until then have a seat."

Kim bit her lip stifling the sob that raced from the pit of her stomach, she grabbed Adam's hand and led him to the row of uncomfortable chairs.

Adam had his face buried in his hands and her voice cut through him like nails on a chalk board, "What the fuck?" His head snapped up.

Mia came tearing through the automatic doors, "Where's my son? Someone tell me where my little boy is?" Her cheeks tear stained.

"Mia!" Kim charged after her, "You bitch! How could you!"

Adam grabbed a hold of his wife, "Kim.."

"No..no...no" Mia stuttered a bit, "I didn't. I left Deacon with Kate. I needed to go into work, they called me in. Kate said she'd keep Deacon. They were supposed to go the movies that to Kate's. I was going to pick Deacon up in the morning."

"Kate was three sheets, Mia." Adam explained, "She fled. The other driver died. The other car burst into flames..." he watched as Mia's knees buckled and he caught her. Her hands grabbing handfuls of his shirt, he held her tightly as she sobbed against his chest. "Shh...don't cry..."

For the first time in decades Adam held his little sister in his arms, his eyes filled with tears as her tears soaked his shirt. He wasn't sure how long they embraced for but it felt like an eternity, the voice of the doctor was what ultimately pulled them apart.

"My son? Is he okay?" Mia grabbed a hold of the doctor's arm, "please tell me my baby is okay." She had never felt fear so scared in her life. Deacon was her entire world, her reason for living. He was the one thing she had gotten right in life, he was her heart and her pride and joy. Despite all of her faults and mistakes, despite her past crimes he still loved her, he always saw the good in her, he had to be okay.

"He is." The doctor told them, "He's shaken up and will be sore in the morning, but he's okay, we did a CT scan of his head and neck to rule out a serious head and neck injury. His chief complaint was a headache and some neck pain, but all came back clear. No fractures, no intracranial bleeding. I'd like to admit him overnight for observation but it's just precautionary. Your son has a concussion and some bruising along his chest from the seatbelt. He's a lucky young man."

Kim finally felt herself take a breath, she grabbed Adam's hand and gave it a good squeeze, the fact that Adam still had hold of Mia's hand didn't go unnoticed.

"Can we see him?" Mia asked.

"Absolutely. He's already been moved to a room on the pediatrics floor, let's head on up."

Adam turned to Kim and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her neck. He was overcome with emotion, he was struggling to hold it together. He had been unbelievably scared for Deacon and angry with Mia. His anger had been replaced with a fair bit of guilt. He was all too quick to play judge jury and executioner in regards to his half sister and her hand in the accident.

She had to sit down, she found a secluded spot off the beaten path and closed her eyes. The pain was beginning to fight its way through her drunken haze, she wanted to sleep and never wake up.

Kim and Adam both kissed Deacon as he drifted off to sleep and asked Mia to call them first thing in the morning to update them on how he felt. They were certain he'd be in pain for the next few days.

Kim hugged Mia, "Try and get some sleep."

She had a balled up tissue in her hand, "Not so sure sleep will be possible tonight. I really don't want to take my eyes off him."

"I know" Kim rubbed Deacon's foot, "We are lucky, so very lucky."

Braden hadn't been quite so lucky, he had suffered a serious chest injury and was currently in critical condition and in the PICU.

Adam embraced his sister once more, "Deacon's tough. I bet he's up and running first thing tomorrow morning." He pulled back, "You think once he's discharged..do you think maybe you and me..we could talk? Maybe grab dinner or something..just us?"

Kim covered her mouth with her hand, her husband would never cease to amaze her.

"I'd like that. I'd like it a lot." Mia hugged him, "Deacon would like that too."

NINE MONTHS LATER

PJ did his best to pick the soccer ball up, his arms not quite big enough to accomplish the task, Deacon laughed hysterically when his cousin fell on his diapered bottom.

"Ball" PJ smacked at it, "Ball!"

"Yes, PJ. It's a ball. It's a soccer ball buddy. You're not supposed to touch it with your hands. Except for tenders they can use their hands. You wanna be a tender?"

"No he doesn't" Kim laughed, "My baby will not be jumping in front of balls, thank you very much"

"He should be a striker. Like me. We score all the goals PJ. That's the best position" Deacon explained. "Alexa too."

Kim smiled, "As long as you promise to teach them the game, they'd love it."

Deacon absolutely adored his cousins the feeling was mutual. The twins faces would light up whenever Deacon was near, they loved when he would get on the floor and play with them.

"We need to head home. It's getting late and you've got school in the morning, plus I'm sure your mom and Uncle Adam are waiting for us." Kim gathered up the kids toys and tossed them in the tote bag.

"Okay. Can we do this again next week? Maybe Mom and Uncle Adam can come with?"

"Of course, I know the twins will love it. Uncle Adam too." Kim tousled his hair, "Maybe Uncle Adam can take you for a hair cut, this hair is a mess. Just like Uncle Adam's."

Deacon laughed, "Nah, can't cut my flow." He smirked.

"We will see about that." Kim laughed.

In the nine months since the car accident a lot had changed.

The twins had turned one, Kim had thrown an epic first birthday party, at least that was how Deacon had described it. She had to agree with him, it was pretty epic. The twins loved it and they were both spoiled with numerous gifts and thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention, just like their daddy.

The biggest change though had been Adam and Mia's relationship, they had become as close as siblings should be. They made sure to get together at least once a month just the two of them, they'd grab a quick dinner and just catch up. They recently included Bob in the mix, a few weeks back he had suffered a heart attack, albeit a minor one. Which Bob was quick to point out that it was only a minor heart attack when it wasn't your heart.

The twins had morphed into these adorable little people, Alexa had started walking and PJ wasn't far behind. They knew their life would never be the same once those two were up and running. They had to baby proof their entire house and yet the twins seemed to always be into something and making a mess wherever they went.

Kim was back at work but working at a desk, her hours were more traditional and it was the best decision she had ever made. She loved being home by five every day and having weekends off was the icing on the cake.

Deacon had suffered no ill effects from the car accident, sadly the same couldn't be said for Braden while he had recovered from his injuries his had been a rough recovery and he had lost his mother. The accident had been one of many DUIs Kate had to her name and she was currently serving a multi year prison term. Braden now lived with his dad on the west coast, his parents divorced just a few weeks after the accident.

Mia had unleashed on Kate when she visited her in the hospital, she had suffered a broken leg and a few facial lacerations. It had taken two hospital orderlies and a security guard to get Mia off of Kate.

It was an ugly beat down but well deserved.

Kim looked on as Deacon talked to the twins, she couldn't hear what was being said but she could hear the giggles from her babies and it warmed her heart.

Her heart was bursting with love, she had two perfect children, an amazing nephew and a husband whom she adored.

Life couldn't get any better, sure it could get chaotic and things never went as planned but she wouldn't change it for the world.