Title: Scenes

Author: ZombieJazz

Fandom: Chicago PD

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Chicago PD and its characters belong to Dick Wolf. The character of Ethan has been created and developed for the sake of this AU series.

Summary: A collection of one-shots/scenes using the characters as represented in the AU established in Interesting Dynamics. The chapters currently represent scenes happening immediately after So This is Christmas. As I continue to update, they'll just provide one-shot snap shots into the characters' lives and likely some recasts of scenes from the show. This series focuses on Voight and his family, as well as Erin Lindsay's growing relationship with Jay Halstead. This is not a linear narrative with a beginning-middle-end. It's just scenes.

SPOILER ALERT: There are MAJOR spoilers in this collection from Interesting Dynamics and So This is Christmas.

*****AUTHOR NOTE: This chapter comes before Force Awakens. I'll reorder the chapters after I've caught up with the writing of the NYE and the Jay/Ethan one-on-one. For now, check the note and hopefully don't get too confused. ******

Hank spread the folded blanket over the hood of the Escalade and then turned and thrust his hands under his kid's armpits and raised him up to set into place. Ethan gave him a weak, embarrassed smile as he settled and was released, the heels of his boots kicking against the grill.

"Don't do that," Hank rasped gently. "Don't wanna get the front-end damaged."

Magoo gave him a small look but stopped the movement, gazing down at the ground where the dog was stumbling around.

"Bear …" he said, pointing like a near toddler.

But Hank just nodded and bent to scoop up the dog too – settling him in his son's lap. The little thing seemed pretty unsure about the snow. Didn't blame it. There was a whole fucking lot of it that year for a thing that small to be trying to navigate in. Lil pup was pretty much covered and shivering by the time he picked him up. Beyond that the little fucker was probably going to have some sort of PTSD about the cold of winter after what that fucking asshole had done to that litter. The critter was lucky that someone found them and had a heart and then managed to melt a few more hearts along the way to get him set up in their home.

Hank wasn't exactly ready to pretend he was onboard with this dog thing yet. Still had his apprehensions about it. Still fucking wished that Erin had talked to him about it before arbitrary making this decision on behalf of the family. A fucking decision that was going to have a whole lot more implications for him than it was her – even if he laid down the law that she brought it into the house, she was the one who was going to be picking up Ethan's slack with caring for the damn thing. And there was going to be slack. Ethan was just a kid. He'd never had so much as a goldfish. He didn't know shit about taking care of a pet. Beyond that getting this thing out for walks and picking up its shit – Magoo was definitely at least going to need help with that in the winter. But maybe the thing could work as some motivation to get him going out more and using those muscles and legs of his. Retraining them and strengthening them – rather than the wallowing about the stumbles and fumbles that'd become part of his daily life. But it was going to be hard that winter. Whole lot of snow and ice for a little puppy and a little boy just learning how to navigate with crutches and a drooped foot. And that wasn't even getting into the mess and clean-up chores the animals was going to bring into his tidy home. It was all going to be something.

Hopefully the pay off was going to be that Magoo and this dog would create a bond. That it'd be a kind of therapy for his boy. A commitment and a responsibility – but also a friend and a bright light. Hopefully the good outweighed all the hassles. Hank was willing to take that risk. He knew his boy needed something. So they'd start with this and see how it went.

Hank leaned against the front-end of the car next to his boy and his boy's dog. Crossed his arms and gazed ahead. The fireworks were going to be some off in the distance with their location but they had a decent view of the city. He liked seeing his city lit up. Stirred something in him. Should be able to see whatever spectactle they were setting off at the big new shindig the city was hosting in the downtown. Though, he doubted the fireworks would be exploding as high as out over the water off the pier. Likely should've looked into when each of the shows were setting their pyrotechnics off. He figured midnight but he supposed it also likely didn't make much sense for both events to be shooting them into the sky at the same time.

Either way, though, he didn't think they'd missed the show. There were enough people who'd had the same idea as them. Snag a spot away from the crowds and away from the tourists. Though, not as many people as some years. But it'd been a while since they'd been out that way on New Year's.

Last couple years he'd actually taken Ethan out to the pier. Bit of a mea culpa about boarding school. Show him a bit of a good time while he was home for the holidays. Take him out to Winterfest. Whip around the skating rink a few times. Let him bounce his beans out on the jumping castles. Do a round of fucking mini golf with him before the inevitably ended up at the Children's Museum waiting out the fireworks and Magoo would sit in the fucking sandpit doing the fake dinosaur excavation. They'd started taking him to that when he was still in diapers and it hadn't been until that year that he'd finally expressed he was too old for the Children's Museum. Had graduated to bigger and better things. Though, Hank had mostly been letting Erin manage those outings. But looking around the site right now, he'd realized they hadn't got his boy to the planetarium yet and it might be something he was maturing into taking something out of at that point.

Hank figured that some of the usual types that'd stake out a spot over here on New Year's had likely decided to check out what the big to-do was in this whole trying to be Times Square bullshit they had going on downtown. Others had likely just come to the conclusion that it was way to fucking cold that New Year's to be standing around outside for a fucking firework show that paled in comparison to what the city put on for the Fourth of July. They were staying up near the row of parked cars along the street behind the planetarium and there was still enough of a wind coming off the water. Some chilled looking parents had scrambled down the hill with their kids to get closer to the lakeshore. But Hank wasn't convinced that gave a better view. Just send your balls crawling farther inside you is all.

"You warm enough?" he asked Ethan.

Ethan nodded. "Yea …" he muttered.

Looked like he was more focused on trying to warm up the puppy than he was concerned about his own core temperature. But Hank had fucking bundled him up. Had him in the heated hoodie and socks. The long johns on. Thermals. Lined jeans. And then all his winter gear on top of it. Technically, his boy was just about a walking sauna. Not that Ethan's body ever seemed to register that anymore.

Still, Hank rounded back to the driver's door and popped it open, leaning across the seat to retrieve the thermos of hot cocoa. Literal hot cocoa. It was fucking dutch-oven baking cocoa – not dark chocolate – and almond milk. It didn't much taste like hot cocoa to Hank. He doubted it did to Ethan either – but he seemed to drink it. And Hank had learned the best way to get Magoo to eat or drink anything these days was just to pretend that it tasted fine and that this fucking diet was completely normal and not a fucking hassle at all.

He poured out a cup and handed it to his boy and then poured his own – even though he'd pretty much prefer an Irish Coffee or Hot Toddy or pretty much anything other than this hot beverage. Then he just went back to leaning against the SUV as they both clutched at their mugs, heating their hands and taking slow sips while they waited out the countdown to midnight.

"Hear your brother was adding new words to your vocabulary," Hank broached after they sat in silence for a few minutes. The pup exploring the hood and nuzzling into Hank's elbow. Ethan gave him a confused look. "Fuck buddies," he put to him flatly.

"Oh …" Ethan said and looked away.

Hank settled against the hood a bit more, watching his boy. "Halstead told me you were asking some about what that meant."

Ethan gave a little shrug. "He told me," he said. "Sorta. And I looked it up."

"Hmm …" Hank grunted and stood for a minute. "You got more to say or ask 'bout that?"

Ethan gave him a glance. "Not really."

Hank gave a small nod. "Don't think Jay and Erin much like you thinking of them on those terms. I don't either."

Ethan looked at him. "But it's kinda what they are."

Hank shook his head. "It's not, kiddo. You don't go and get engaged to a fuck buddy."

"OK … but maybe they like used to be …" Ethan suggested.

Hank let out a sigh and looked back at the cityscape for a long beat. "Maybe," he conceded. "But that really ain't none of our business. And they aren't fuck buddies anymore. They're gonna be man and wife. So, I don't think any of us want to hear you talking about them that way again."

"You said the same thing basically," Ethan interjected and Hank's eyes moved to his son. "That Jay's violating her."

Hank gave him a steely stare and let that sit with him for a long moment. He then rubbed at his temple and looked down at his heavy boots that definitely weren't made for standing in his kind of snow. Steel toes and Chicago winters weren't made for each other – no matter how much of a man you were. He finally made himself look at Ethan again, letting out a bit of a repressed sigh.

"You know how we talk about part of being a man is fessing up to your mistakes?" he put to his boy.

"Yeah …" Ethan allowed carefully.

Voight gave a little nod. "I spoke outta place saying that, Eth. I should've never said that out loud and I definitely shouldn't have said it in front of you. I fucked up. And I really regret using those words and that's not the way I want you thinking about their relationship either."

Ethan looked at him with such little boy eyes but such a young man behind them too. A processing and absorbing. Really taking in that that had been put out there.

"But why'd you say it then?" Ethan asked timidly.

Hank let out a sigh and shrugged, shaking his head. "You know, a lot of the times when I look at your sister, I still see my little girl. Just like when I look at you I still see my baby boy. Erin's my daughter. You're my youngest. It just is what it is. But Erin ain't a little girl anymore and you ain't a baby. And as protective as I feel about you guys – I need to let you grow up and make your own decisions and your own mistakes. I was being overly protective of my little girl instead of being respectful of my grown daughter. And that was wrong."

Ethan kept watching him, processing more, before adding quietly, "But I don't really like Jay doing that stuff to her either."

Voight let out a little repressed laugh and shook his head in his amusement, going back to looking at his feet and kicking around the snow to try to create a clear patch to stand in.

"Well, Magoo, reality is that sex is a part of relationships. And, in relationships – the right kind of ones – their ain't no violation going on. Erin's an active participant. Jay's not doing anything to her that she's not consenting to."

"I still don't like it," Ethan said.

Hank cast him a little smile. "Don't have to like it," he said. "Just need to accept that it's a fact of life and beyond that it ain't none of our business."

"But it is if Erin has a baby," Ethan provided.

Hank let out a snort. "Well, that'd be a bit of a confirmation that they're sleeping together. But pretty sure we already know that and don't think it makes it anymore of our business."

Ethan let a small huff and looked across the water. "I still don't like it," he reaffirmed, reaching to pull Bear away from Hank and into his own lap.

"You like Halstead, right?" Hank put to him.

"I guess," Ethan muttered.

"I think you more than guess," he said. "You trust him?" His son just shrugged at him, so Voight joined him in staring at the black lake for a moment. "I trust him," he muttered and felt his boy look at him. He caught his eyes. "It's why I've got him partnered up with your sister on the job. I trust him to watch my daughter's back. To get her home safe to us every night. That's a pretty big responsibility, Magoo. An important job. And, I think if I can trust him with that, I can trust him with my girl in the rest of it. To be kind to her and gentle with her and take care of her and her heart – and any little nieces or nephews they bring home for you one day. And that's my little girl and I'm trusting him. So I think you can trust him with your big sister."

Ethan watched him. Those eyes. Camille's eyes. Sitting there on him. Like she was hearing the admission. Him letting go a bit. Loosening his grip. Letting Erin grow up more. Trusting her. All things Camille would approve of. But he wasn't sure Ethan approved in quite the same way. He was struggling to wrap his pre-teen head around it all – Hank could tell.

"Erin says that her and Jay love each other like you and Mom," Ethan provided quietly.

Voight allowed a thin smile at that and gave a little shrug. "I hope so," he allowed.

"But … like … they haven't known each other super long like you and Mom. And Justin and Olive knew each other in high school like you and Mom but I don't think they love each other like you and Mom," Ethan sputtered out.

"Mmm …" Hank grunted and gave up his worries about his ass denting the hood, putting his heel against the fender and propelling himself to sit next to his boy. "Well, sometimes love and family and relationships are kinda complicated and a lot of times after there's kids involved – if you're a real man, a good man – you'll do what you need to do to make the best of the situation and to make sure your family is taken care of."

"So you don't think Justin and Olive love each other like you and Mom?" Ethan asked, gazing at him.

He turned to meet his son's eyes. "I think your brother and Olive are still getting to know each other but they're trying real hard to do right by Henry and doing that together is going to bring them closer together and make make them a real strong family with time."

That gaze settled on him again. He kept it. Let his boy think and try to understand. Grown up things for a kid who'd already been forced to grow up before his time in a lot of ways.

"Michelle asked if you and Erin are like her and Uncle Alvin," Ethan said quietly.

Hank grunted acknowledgement of that statement but he felt his chin involuntarily elongate as he prickled. "What'd you say?"

"That Erin's my sister," Ethan said flatly and Hank gave a small nod of acceptance at the kid's response. "But Dad, sometimes you say that Erin coming home was making best of a bad situation and that it was making things right."

He grunted and looked across the lake. "What you think about all that?"

He felt his boy shrugged and heard his gloved hands stroking restlessly at the pup's coat. "People say me and Erin look alike," Ethan said quietly. "Sometimes they even think she's my mom."

Another grunt. "And, you look like your mom, Magoo. So what's that say?"

"People say I look like you too," he said.

Voight looked back – examining his boy in his own attempt to see himself in him. Sometimes he had so much trouble seeing that. Or maybe he just didn't want to.

"Eth," he said firmly. "I never stepped out on your Ma. Not before. Not now. Erin had a real messy childhood. That wasn't a place to be growing up. It wasn't safe. And she needed somewhere safe. She needed a family. And our family needed her too, Magoo. So she came home. That was the best solution and the right thing to do."

His boy's eyes stayed on him in that continued measure. "Justin says no one just has sex with one person," Ethan put shyly but bluntly.

Hank snorted out some amused disgust at that and squeezed the bridge of his nose as he again gazed at the ground. "That so?" he muttered.

"Yes …" Ethan provided unsurely.

Voight shook his head and looked at his boy. "Ethan, your brother and him thinking with the wrong head got him into some trouble, didn't it?"

"You say Henry isn't a mistake," Ethan put back to him.

"He's not a mistake," Hank agreed. "But he is unplanned and if your brother had been taking a bit more care, Henry becoming a member of this wouldn't have been quite as messy as it was."

"So you think Justin has too much sex?" Ethan's brow creased.

Hank snorted at that and again shook his head and gazed at his city. "I think you shouldn't be getting sex or relationship advice from your brother," he muttered.

"But he's my brother …" Ethan said weakly. "He knows stuff."

Voight grunted. "Well, I'm your father, and as someone who's been around the sun a few more times than J, I'm telling you that, yeah, sex feels good and it's fun. But it's going to feel better and be more fun if it's someone you really know and really care about."

"So you think people only have sex with one person?" Ethan squinted.

Voight flared his nostrils. "No, Magoo. Most people are going to have more than one partner in their lifetime. But that don't mean you gotta be sticking your dick everywhere just because you're horny. Save it for people you trust. People who mean something to you."

Ethan sat there. His heels kicking against the grill again. "I think J thinks that you've only been with Mom and that that's boring and that you guys were all … 'melodramatic' …"

Voight grunted at that and crossed his arms again, shoving his hands deeper into his armpits. Leather coat only kept you so warm in this weather but did a good job breaking the wind. Too bad it didn't do as good as job at breaking a twelve-year-old's line of questioning.

"Well, your brother can think what he wants about me," Hank said. Justin sure as hell did anyways and Voight was at the point in his life that he'd pretty much accepted there wasn't any changing that. He'd only have to hope with age and time, their relationship would continue to develop and change. That Justin wouldn't be as critical of his failings as a father and instead just accept him for the human being he was and the man he'd done his best to be for his family. "But, I'll tell you what, Magoo, your mom was the first woman I was with and she was the last one I was with – and that means something to me. It matters. And anything in between – beyond me and your mom making a home for three great kids – ain't no one's business but our own."

Ethan sat staring at him. Hank could feel it. But he just looked at his city. Eyed it. It was about the only other thing he'd had a love affair with besides his wife. But he was sure she'd likely felt cheated on because of it at certain points in their relationship anyways.

"I don't think Justin likes that you talk to me about stuff," Ethan said quietly after a long gaze.

Hank slowly brought his eyes back to his boy and reached to give his shoulder a little squeeze while his son examined his puppy.

"I like talking to you about stuff, Ethan," he said more gently. "I likely didn't talk to your brother about enough stuff and look where that got him. All of us."

Ethan's eyes apprehensively came up to him. "I think he thinks you like me and Erin more than him."

Voight gave a little shrug. He knew that. Justin threw it in his face all the time. All his failings as a father. How he'd turned his attention to Erin when she came home. How she was his golden girl and he was just the prodigal son. How he was raising Ethan completely differently than he'd treated his eldest son. And there was some truth to all those statements. But there also wasn't.

"I like you all the same," Voight said flatly. "I love all of you. But I treat you all differently. Erin's the oldest. She's my daughter. You're my youngest and I'm a single parent now. Justin's my oldest boy and he got a childhood with a mom and a dad. You're all your own people. You all shaped this family in different ways. And I treat you like and love you as the individuals you are. And that's something your brother has always had difficult understanding and accepting."

Ethan slumped against him at that, the puppy in his lap, and Hank wrapped his arm around him, putting a light kiss against the top of his beanie. He'd pulled on the Cubs on that night – not the Blackhawks. Hank had noticed.

"Did you like the rover I made Bear, Dad?" he asked, apparently tired of their heavy talk. But that was OK. Hank was tired of it too. For now.

"Yea …" Voight allowed of his son's latest circuitry project.

He was just glad he'd picked something that was a hit with his boy. Money had only gone so far that year with the extra medical expenses and what hadn't been covered for his son and helping Justin and Olive out with setting up home and the baby. Then there'd been having to adjust the Christmas budget to make sure his grandson and Olive had some surprises in their stockings too and under the tree. Normally, he still likely would've had two gifts under the tree for Magoo. But he'd gotten a heftier stocking than usual and he seemed pleased with everything he'd got – even now a week out from the big day. That was Magoo, though. He wasn't much of a complainer. He rolled with things and just kept rolling. He was proud of him that way. His son was a fighter in his own special way.

Ethan rolled his head against Hank's chest a bit. "There's a robotics club at school," his son said quietly. "They get to make like Mindstorms and robots and do circuitry and learn coding and work in the STEM labs. They even go to competitions. And if they win the competitions they can even go to like state and nationals and internationals. Like a real team."

Hank looked down at his boy. "Sounds pretty interesting," he rasped.

Ethan nodded. "But you have to be smart to join. They only let thirty-five people be on the team."

Hank rubbed at his bicep. "There tryouts?" he asked. "Can you take in your robot? Or get Mouse to help you out with one of those computer programs?"

His son shrugged. "I think most of it's based on your grades and my report card wasn't so good."

Hank put his mouth against the top of his boy's head again. "You're on an IEP, Kiddo," he mumbled. "You did just fine."

"I don't think I'll get picked …"

Hank sighed and rested his cheekbone against his son's crown. "You want me to talk to Father Caruso?"

Truth was even if Ethan said no, he likely was going to now. This was the first thing his boy had expressed an interest in joining – an effort to be a part of something, to interact with other kids – since he'd gotten diagnosed with the M.S. Everything else he'd retreated from. Baseball. Boxing. Even summer camp. He'd gone into hiding and a near depression. A real depression, actually. Just keeping it at bay with even more medication and counseling. For whatever good either of those things were doing for a little boy.

But Ethan didn't give a response either way, just shrugging into him more. "I just kinda want to be part of something again," he said quietly. "I miss that."

"Yea …" Hank agreed.

He missed his son having that too. Missed the baseball games. Missed going up to the boarding school to watch a tournament. Missed the Little League showdowns. Taking his boy out to the batting cage. Lobbing balls at him in an abandoned diamond. Or tossing the ball around with him out back in the evenings. Missed his son having something to work at and strive for. To be good at and excited about. But it seemed like maybe this circuitry stuff could be that for him too. Maybe. Wasn't sports. But it was something and it was something that might have a more long-term future for him than baseball. And he'd just as happily go out and watch whatever science fair robot thing his boy had if he got into this club and into this team as he would've any of his baseball games.

"I've been kinda thinking that maybe I could use my allowance to buy either a tablet or a Wii or something," Ethan said quietly. "If you think that's OK …"

"Mmm..." Hank grunted. "Why you thinking that?"

Ethan petted at the dog, staring at him intently. "You can get apps to learn how to code and stuff for a tablet and there's like games where you can make your own games sorta and like build things and program and stuff if I got a Wii … " he said carefully.

"Mmm …" Hank grunted again and kept a grip on his son. "Can't do any of that stuff on the computer?"

Ethan made a small sound and sunk against him a bit. "I find the computer kinda hard, Dad," he admitted with a weaver in his voice. "Sometimes it's hard to type or mouse the mouse or trackpad if my hand's shaking. And there's so much reading. It's … frustrating."

Hank could hear his frustration and embarrassment. He allowed a small grunt of acknowledgement. He felt Ethan's frustration too – in his own way. He participated in the struggle as he helped him with his homework and tried to help him relearn and rewire his brain. To get things to connect and function in a way that worked for him. But it was a process. It wasn't going to be some switch that was just eventually going to get flipped.

"Tablets are more visual …" Ethan said quietly. "Wii too …"

Voight grunted. That was a phrase that got used a whole lot as his cognitive therapy. At his academic assistance program too. It was something that got focused on. Turning his boy into a visual learn. Getting him to concentrate and process enough to see and learn and absorb and retain that way.

"You look into how much any of these things cost?" he asked.

Ethan's head rotated a bit, gazing up at him with some hopefulness. "If I just got a Mini, they're both like three-Cs."

Hank grunted again and gazed at the water. He could see the lights of more boats gathering in proximity to the pier. Show was likely going to start soon.

"This Wii thing … it the thing Mouse got his nephews?" he asked.

"Yea …" Ethan allowed with some deflation in his voice.

"So it's another video game thing?"

"Yea …" Ethan said quietly. "But you'd like it better than Xbox and Playstation cuz it's like made for kids."

"Mmm …" Hank grunted. "That mean you going to outgrow it soon?" Ethan shrugged against him. "The Xbox got any of these games?"

"Sort of," Ethan said. "Different ones. It has Minecraft and like stuff you can download."

"But you don't like those games?" Hank asked, giving him a look.

Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. But the Xbox is the old one, Dad. Lots of stuff doesn't work on it anymore because there's a new one now."

He grunted. Justin had been going on about that for his entire visit. Hank had mostly tuned it out. He'd had to do a lot of tuning out of Justin that visit after they'd gotten through Christmas day. Focused his ears and attention on his grandson and not the static coming out of his son's mouth.

"So you get the new one, will you be able to get the games you need to learn this stuff?"

"I guess," Ethan said. "But I think maybe I want the Wii."

Hank looked down at him. "You think you'll still want it a year from now? Because you seem to like this Xbox commotion and I heard a whole lot from you about the PlayStation thing when you first came home."

Ethan let out a slow breath. "They put out different games on all of them to try to make you get them all," he said.

Hank let out his own sound and smiled, reaching to rub at the side of his boy's cold cheek. "Glad you get that, Magoo. So I think you need to think a bit more about which one you actually want before you drop that kinda dough."

"Yea …" Ethan said with a small huff of defeat.

Hank shook at his shoulder, though. "I'll tell you what, you think on that. But assuming you get through the next week without putting on much of a show about having to go back to school and you show me how you're going to be stepping up to take care of this dog, when my next pay day rolls around, we can go take a look at the iPads."

Ethan's eyes shot up to him – gleaning with hopefulness again. But Voight held up a finger before he got too far ahead of himself.

"But, it's gonna be a tool for school," he said. "We'll treat it like the computer. There will be rules. It ain't gonna be full of games and you aren't going to be buried in it all night."

"OK," Ethan nodded.

"And you'll be helping pay for it," Hank said firmly. "I'll subsidize. But it's something you want and it's a privilege you've earned – so we're gonna take a look at what you've got saved and work out an agreement on how we'll handle the cost."

Ethan put his good ear back against Hank's shoulder and nodded again. For as hard as Ethan was in some ways, in other his son was easy. Just like any other kid.

He rubbed at his arm and shook at his shoulder. Just held his son, who for the moment was still a little boy and who still took his support and affection. Still wanted and needed it. Still didn't put up a fight about it every step of the way even if he did put up fronts and attitudes.

And as he held him, the first booms of the fireworks started, as off in the distance the smoke and steam of the pyrotechnics jetted across the sky and colors exploded high above. The smoke of the explosions hanging there and lighting up again the next color, long after the first had dimmed.

"Happy New Year, Dad," Ethan whispered, his eyes looking upward.

But Hank's eyes were all on his son and his head again rested against his child's.

"Happy New Year, Magoo…"

AUTHOR NOTE: Just a note that the readership counts indicate that a lot of you might've missed Chapter 24 - Smokehouse. Just in case you did and want to go back.