Author's Note: Again, I apologise for my absence. I appreciate everyone still sticking with this story and being patient with me. I love reading your reviews; they make me smile. In honor of Chicago PD returning this past week for not only one, but TWO episodes, here is the next chapter! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a happy new year!

CHAPTER 13

Erin's head rested against her chest, her mind in a drug-induced stupor. Marcus hadn't been happy that she had wasted a perfectly good dose of heroin. He took out his frustrations on her. Her body ached from the beating she had endured. Her captor had jabbed another needle into her arm. Despite resisting the undeniable urge to take the drug herself, it had still entered her body. Nevertheless, it was a small victory for Erin: she still had refused to take it by choice.

"You're more stubborn than I thought," Marcus's voice said loudly, standing in front of her. How long had he been standing there? Erin hadn't even noticed he'd come back. "I guess it's time we up the ante a little." He pulled out a knife from his pocket, placing the tip along her collar bone. He slowly dragged the blade down, slicing her shirt vertically down the middle, pressing hard enough to draw blood, leaving a trail from her chest to her stomach. Erin's heart sped up, wondering what his intentions were next but fearing she may already know. He despised her too much to actually consider raping her, didn't he? Thankfully the knife didn't slice through her bra, leaving the undergarment intact, but that didn't stop him from gripping her breasts hard, squeezing them painfully through the fabric. Erin winced, but showed no other reaction. He removed his hands, using one of them to lift her chin up as he moved his face mere inches from her own. He laughed, "I can smell the fear rolling off of you in waves." He relished knowing the kind of effect he was having on the woman who had made his life a living hell. "Don't worry sweetheart, you're not worth it. Besides, who knows what kind of STDs you got after all those years living on the streets, whoring yourself out for drugs and money." His nails dug into her skin. "It doesn't matter what you do or how far you run, you're still no different than the rest of us."

Marcus pulled out another syringe, Erin's eyes glued to it. He waved it back and forth in front of her face, watching as she followed it. He chuckled, repeating, "just like the rest of us." Drugs had the same effect on everybody, it didn't matter if you were rich, poor, black, white, a criminal or a cop. "Oh how the mighty have fallen," he smiled. "Just tell me what you need Lindsay, and it's yours."

Erin's breath hitched, trying to keep her body and mind from asking, pleading, begging for the drug. But it was a losing battle. "I need..."

"That's it," Marcus encouraged, enjoying watching her break before his eyes.

"I need..." Erin bit her lip, breaking the skin from the pressure. She couldn't give voice to her inner demons, she couldn't let them out, couldn't let them win. In a flash of pure defiance, she uttered with all the malice she could muster, "I need you to go fuck yourself."

Marcus roared with anger, drawing back his knife. Erin closed her eyes, ready for her nightmare to be over, but the final blow never came. The blade had stopped just before plunging into her heart. Her captor's chest heaved with the effort of restraining himself from killing the detective right then and there. "No," he said calmer than he looked. "That would be too quick, too easy for you. You need to suffer like I have all these years." He walked around to the back of her chair, roughly holding onto her wrist. "What if we start chopping you up, piece by piece, and sending them to District 21? How do you think the almighty Hank Voight would react to seeing his precious charity case's fingers mailed to him in a box?" he sneered in her ear. The sharp metal rested just above the knuckle of her index finger, ready to fufill his promise.

Erin held her breath, waiting for the pain that was sure to come. Her heart ached, knowing how much something like this would affect Hank. He was the toughest of tough guys, but when it came to her, he was all heart. Marcus was going to hurt her and all those around her in order to exact his revenge. Hank was getting twisted up in this psycho's plan and now they were just all along for the ride. "Leave them out of this," she whispered. She already knew how much her disappearance must be eating Hank up inside, but being sent her finger, her hand, a foot...her head? That would break him in ways no one would dare imagine. Not to mention the fact that Jay would see Marcus' 'special delivery' as well.

A crooked smirk appeared on Marcus' lips at the defeat lacing her words. "You won't beg for your own life, but you will for theirs? How noble of you. A cop til the end, a protector. But tell me detective, how will you help them when you can't even save yourself?" He walked back into her line of sight. "Even if you make it out of here alive, do you think you'll be saved? You'll still crave heroin as much at home as you do here, and it'll never go away. It never really has, has it? You were so quick to fall back into your addiction after your little friend died. You did that all on your own, nobody forced you to. That was all you. You can run, but you can't hide. Your addiction, your past, it'll always be there, waiting for you to fuck up again. I'll always be there, to give you that small push back towards your true self, showing you who you really are. There's no escape Erin Lindsay, no way to escape from yourself."

Erin shook her head, "no," she murmured, her eyes becoming misty. "I-"

Marcus cut her off before she could protest further. "You are just a street kid looking for her next score, and that's all you'll ever be. A burden to society, a burden to your friends, and a burden to your so-called family."

Jay popped three ibuprofen into his mouth, swallowing them dry. He hoped the medicine would help ease the pounding in his head. The stress of not knowing what was happening to Erin or where she was these past few days was getting to him. She could be laying in a pool of her own blood and they wouldn't even know it. What if Marcus was torturing her like he had been tortured by Derek Keyes and his men, being brutally beaten? What if they were already too late...?

His fist reared back, slamming into his locker, followed by a few swift kicks and another punch. The sound of metal colliding with something solid echoed throughout the room. Jay leaned his head against the offending blue locker, taking deep unsteady breaths.

Antonio pursed his lips, examining the dented locker. "Looks like you're going to need a new locker. But don't think you're getting mine."

Jay sighed, knowing Antonio was trying to help but not liking his private time being intruded upon. "What do you want Antonio?"

"I want to make sure you're not in here dwelling on things that are out of your control," he said seriously. "I also wanted to make sure it wasn't my locker that pissed you off," he joked.

Jay ignored his friend's attempts to make him smile. "We've hit a roadblock, we have nothing else to go on. And while we're sitting here twiddling our thumbs, Erin is going through God only knows what with an escaped convict who tried to kill her once before and has even more motive to do so now." The love of his life was in danger and there was nothing he could do about it.

"We'll find her." Antonio gripped his shoulder in reassurance.

"Yeah, but in what condition?" Jay admitted one of his worst fears.

Dawson looked him straight in the eyes, "she's still alive Jay. You have to believe that until we have proof otherwise. Erin is very resourceful and has been in tough spots before. Look at what she did to get you back."

"And I can't even do the same for her."

"Yes you can, and you will. We all will. You know none of us will rest until she's back home, especially Voight."

"I just," Jay shook his head. "I feel like I'm going crazy man, not knowing where she is or what she's going through. And knowing who has her..." He turned to rest his weight against his locker. "I'm her partner, I told her I'd always have her back and I can't even do that. I can't protect her when she needs me the most."

"You've gotta stop beating yourself up like this Jay. It's not going to help you, and it's definitely not going to help Erin. I know you want to save her, and not just because she's your partner. It goes further than that," Antonio hinted. Jay's head snapped up at that. "Yes, I know Jay. I've known you for a long time man, did you really think you could hide something like that from me of all people? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Who knows what Voight would do to you if he found out you were dating Erin."

Jay chuckled humorlessly, "he already knows."

Antonio looked shock, "and you're still alive? Damn."

"Trust me, I'm as shocked as you are. Although I think he's waiting until I help him get Erin back before he takes me out to the silos," Jay cringed slightly.

"You'll survive," Antonio patted the other detective on the back. "Hank might be the toughest guy around, but even he wouldn't risk Erin's wrath," the older man smirked. "Come on, lets get our asses back in gear and find your girl." Antonio kept his hand on Jay's back, guiding him back into the bullpen with the others, just in time to see Adam hanging up the phone and immediately yelling out Voight's name.