Title: Altered States
Chapter 14 – Paying the Reaper

"Okay. If he's not back in an hour call me," Matt replied firmly. As much as he wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt he wondered if Kelly had gone to confront Hadley.

Matt looked at the clock and felt his heart rate start to climb. It had been past an hour and he still hadn't heard from Welch. Maybe he's back and Welch just didn't call…or maybe they got called to a call or maybe…his mind spiraled as he reached for the phone and dialed Firehouse 66.

"Hey man sorry…we had a few walk-in's. Severide still isn't back. What do you think's going on?"

"Not sure. But don't cause alarm. I'll call Erin and see if she's heard from him. Maybe he had something personal with Miranda to do or…or I don't know," Matt huffed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"If you need any kind of backup…just call."

"Copy."

Matt hung up with Welch and then looked at the clock again and felt his jaw tighten. He only waited a few seconds for the bad feeling inside to strengthen before he picked up the phone and dialed Kelly's cell number. "Come on…pick up…pick up," Matt chanted in an undertone as he was only rewarded with empty rings. He hung up and then pondered for a few seconds before he dared to dial Erin's number.

"Okay…but if you're just not answering…she's scarier than I am," Matt half snickered. But behind his tone held nervous anxiety as he knew Kelly wasn't one to play games and wouldn't answer for the sake of not answering. Unless….he went to confront Hadley and if that was that case he might not want anyone interfering.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey Matt…what's going on?"

"Don't want to cause any alarms but…you heard from Kelly in the past hour?"

"No…why?" Erin paused as she looked at Jay and Kim with a perplexed expression. "Isn't Kelly at work?"

"Welch called and said that Kelly told him he needed to check on something. And that…was over an hour ago."

"Okay thanks. I'll take it from here. Hopefully…he just dropped his phone," Erin deadpanned as she hung up in a huff and then dialed her husband's number.

"What's going on?" Jay asked in haste.

"Kelly's not answering. Can we get his cell number traced?" Erin snapped as Jay and Kim traded surprised glances. "You know I'm only doing this because of his run-in with Hadley. If he's there…"

"Right…on it," Kim volunteered as she hurried back to her computer as Jay stood up and looked at Erin in concern.

"You don't think…."

"I think he's emotionally charged and wants to bait Hadley into a confession," she groaned as they both looked at Kim who tried to type a bit faster. "Antonio," she greeted as her former teammate answered his cellphone. "Any update on Jensen?"

"We might have something. Ruzek and Atwater are at a friend he went to university with. Believe it or not they're still friends. He claims he doesn't know anything about Jensen's uh…habits but said he saw him a day ago at Henderson's laundry. We are still working on video footage for the area."

"And…do you have a tail on Kevin Hadley?"

"We do. Why? Erin, what's going on?"

"None of us can reach Kelly. He uh…Welch called Matt when Kelly told him he wanted to check on something but that was over an hour and none of us can reach him."

"Okay lemme check with Timmons. He's outside Hadley's place of work. That's where he was followed from Med back to."

"Antonio's gonna check with his guy," Erin told her team as Kim stood up from her computer with a perplexed expression. "What? You found Kelly?"

"Well…I have a location for his phone but…"

"But what?"

"It's at the warehouse."

"What?"

"Erin, Timmons just said Hadley must slipped out the backdoor! And that could have been maybe an hour ago."

"What!" Erin half shouted as she heard Antonio curse. "I'm heading to the warehouse. Kelly's phone is there! I think that's where Hadley might be going!"

"We'll meet you there."

"Think he called Hadley for a showdown?" Jay asked in wonder.

"If he did, he's dead because I'm gonna kill him," Erin huffed as they all rushed outside.

XXXXXXXX

Kelly's world started to come back to him as his senses started to be assaulted with the pungent smell of gasoline but his world still remains dark. Instantly his brain told him that something was wrong and that was an understatement. His wrists were bound and pulled above his head and fastened to something that kept him hoisted in the air. His feet weren't bound but he was blindfolded with a thick black cloth wrapped around his eyes.

"What the…hell! HADLEY!" Kelly shouted as his body struggled and spun in the air in vain. "I know it's you!"

"Tsk tsk."

He heard the male voice and strained his ears to hear and confirm that the voice was from his nemesis.

"Coward!" Kelly growled as he tried to find some give in the ropes that kept him captive. "To afraid to fight me like a man!"

"Like things better like this."

"You can muffle your voice all you want but I know it's you!"

"You…you nearly killed my daughter!"

"I wanted to kill you!"

That time Hadley's voice sang loud and clear in his mind and that forced his jaw to grit.

"You…you had freedom…damn your revenge!"

"Erin and Miranda weren't supposed to be there!"

"Well they were!" Kelly huffed as his already throbbing head started to ache a bit more from the smell of gasoline and the wound from being hit. "They were…"

A few seconds of silence followed and Kelly could only hope and pray that he still had his phone and that Erin or Antonio could ping it and find where he was. They did ping his phone…only he wasn't in the same location.

"I told Erin…where I was going!" He spat; knowing that it was a lie and that his wife would probably kill him herself if he somehow survived.

"Would be helpful…if we were still THERE!"

"BASTARD! Fight me like a man…or half of one…because that's all you ARE!" Kelly shouted in angry frustration. However, his captor showed that he wasn't to be fooled with and a few seconds later, Kelly's mid-section was struck with something hard which made his body buckle and his lips utter an angry curse. "Cow..ard!" Kelly wheezed as Hadley struck him again.

Come on Erin…you gotta figure out where I am!

XXXXXXXX

Erin hardly stopped the car as they got to the warehouse as her, Jay and Kim jumped out, guns trained and ready; Antonio and his team arrived a few minutes later. She rushed toward the entrance, not caring about Antonio when he called out to her to wait.

"Erin!" Antonio hissed as he reached her side. "We have to play this smart!"

She looked at him and although she wanted to just barge in, she knew he was right. "Okay…call it…"

"Just…watch it in there. This place isn't exactly stable."

Half the team headed around to the back while the rest went into through the front. Since the area was only occupied by squatters and there was no electricity, it's not like they could just flip on the lights and flush out whoever was hiding inside.

"CPD…we need you to just remain where you are."

"CPD have you seen either of these men?"

"CPD have you…"

"CPD we need…"

Erin slowly made her way toward the area she figured Kelly and Kevin Hadley might be – the middle of the structure, the spot where Lesley Shay had died.

"Kelly! Hadley!" Erin shouted as she neared the area and didn't see her husband or his chief nemesis. "Where the hell…" growled as she paused, Kim Ruzek at her side and then looked around. "Did you see…"

"No."

"Nothing," Jay added as Antonio neared them with a perplexed expression.

"Nothing out back."

"No one upstairs."

"I'm assuming Kevin Hadley's phone was checked also?"

Erin heard Voight's voice and turned to watch him near the teams. "Hank," she stated as he neared and gave them a nod.

"Yeah…both phones are here," Kim replied with a groan.

"So…both met here, there was a struggle and…" Voight started as he looked at Erin with a heavy frown.

"Kelly lost," she admitted weakly as Voight held her worried gaze.

"If Kelly was dead, he'd leave the body here…where he helped kill Lesley Shay," Jay added as Erin's lips pursed.

"No…you're right. He…where'd he take him."

"These guys are creatures of habit right?" Antonio mused as he reached for his phone and called Matt. "Hey buddy…need some help."

"Sure…what's going on? It this about…Kelly?"

"Yeah…and it's not good."

"Okay…what do you need?" Matt asked in haste.

While Antonio talked to Matt about Hadley's history, Erin looked at Voight and the others in despair.

"We'll find them. We can't be that far behind right?"

"He only needs a few minutes," she uttered softly as she turned to see a figure move toward them from the shadows.

"Whoa…hey there…wait…a minute…" the man stammered as he approached the team who instantly turned and raised their guns; his hands up a few seconds later. "Please…don't kill me."

"What do you know?" Voight asked in authority as the rest of the guns lowered.

"That one fella…he came in here…just wanting to look around and the other…he came up behind him…hit him with something and then carried him out."

"The first man…did he um….look like this?" Erin inquired as she showed him a picture of Kelly.

"Saw him from the side but yeah…looks like him."

"And the other…did he look like this?" Jay asked as he held up a picture of Kevin Hadley.

"Yeah…all scarred up…he carried the other one out."

"Did you see where?"

"Out back…heard a car start up."

"Car? Damn it!"

"Did you get a look at it?" Adam Ruzek asked in haste.

"Yeah…it was um…a car."

"Thanks," Atwater groaned. "Color?"

"Dark. Don't know the brand but he dumped the dead guy…well I think he was dead, he wasn't moving and got hit on the head pretty hard…"

"What?" Erin interjected with a gasp.

"Sorry," the homeless man huffed. "Well he put em in the backseat and then took off. Turned right and then was gone. Don't know where too sorry."

"Okay but if we don't know what kind of car he went in…we can't track it," Kim piped up as Antonio looked at them with a panicked expression.

"What is it?" Voight asked in haste.

"Casey said that Hadley could have taken him to…what? Casey, say again?"

"What is it!" Erin demanded hastily.

"Casey said that he thinks the address Hadley took Kelly to…what? It's on fire!"

"WHAT?"

"Let's go!"

Erin bolted for the door as Antonio told Matt he'd meet them there. "Hurry Kelly…just hold on…" she chanted as she glanced over at Jay who looked at her nervously.

"We'll make it!"

"Matt said it's already on fire!"

The ride to the building seemed to take forever but when they got there Erin's anxiety could only explode as the intrepid CPD teams got out and looked at the burning structure before them with shocked expressions.

Sirens filled the air behind them just as the trucks from Firehouse 51 and 66 arrived; Matt had called Welch the second he figured out what the significance of the address.

"Oh God…" Erin whispered as she watched the flames grow higher. But just as Matt shouted to his teams to get ready to enter, the front of the structure exploded into angry, dark flames.

"KELLY!"

A/N: duh duhhh duhhhh! Oh come on you all know I love my dangerous showdowns hehe. Will the teams get there in time? Will Hadley get his final revenge or will Kelly turn the tables on his nemesis? But at what cost? Please do review before you go and thanks so much!