A/N: I, again, would like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing this, at best, subpar story. I apologize for the grammatical errors, but thank you immensely for continuing to read.


CHAPTER 29

WHEN Rafferty had returned to work, Shay had been missing for an additional four days. Her time off on medical leave had been spent at the Chicago Precinct, and she had become familiar with Officer Trudy Platt who worked the front desk. Although Officer Platt had been sympathetic, she had also grown tired of Rafferty's continuous presence and made it clear that if there were any news at all, she'd be the first to know.

Rafferty was grateful to be back at work even though she was both physically and mentally exhausted. There was not a second that went by when she didn't think about Shay, and that made it almost impossible for her to sleep. When she did sleep, her dreams revolved around Shay being home, unharmed, and alive—three things that were an uncertainty in reality.

Rafferty walked over to Ambulance 61. It was her first time seeing it since they had both gone missing. It felt weird to have anyone but Shay be her partner on 61, but Dawson had been a great support for Rafferty these last few days. It was almost ironic. When she and Dawson first met, there had been a palpable tension, and their dominant personalities had clashed on a call Dawson was never supposed to be on. In spite of that, over the next hours of a black out, they had worked together to save an elderly woman's life and had found common ground with each other. It was nice to have Dawson as a friendly acquaintance after that, but that's all she thought they would ever be.

Until this happened.

Dawson had gone above and beyond for her. Dawson had brought dinner for her when she knew she was not eating. She even recalled a particular night, a day after she was released from the hospital when Dawson invited her over for dinner, and didn't take no for an answer.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Rafferty had asked Dawson over the dinner table.

"It's what friends do," Dawson had replied.

"Shay told you…about us…didn't she," Rafferty had said a minute later.

"Yes," Dawson had finally answered. "But in Shay's defense, she is terrible at keeping secrets from me."

Rafferty shook that memory from her mind. Of course she knew it was a possibility that Shay would have told Dawson or Severide, maybe even both. She couldn't expect Shay not too. But Dawson had also said that even though she was doing this in part for Shay, Rafferty was a member of House 51 now, and at 51 they were all family, and that's what family does. It was good for her because she really needed family at a time like this.


THE kitchen area was mostly empty. Mouch was in his usual spot on the couch, eating his breakfast, with Maury Povich airing on the T.V. From what Rafferty could tell, it was another episode of 'Are you the Daddy,' and Mouch looked pretty into the episode.

"Not this garbage again," Herrmann said as he entered the kitchen, recognizing Maury's voice from the T.V. He turned to look at Rafferty who was also looking at the T.V. "Hey, Rafferty. Good to see you back."

"Thanks, Herrmann," Rafferty said which caused Mouch to look up from the T.V. and greet Rafferty with a warm smile.

"Can you put something else on?" Herrmann asked. "This show is so stupid."

"That's the point," Mouch said. "Which is why it is so good."

Without even thinking Herrmann said, "No one likes it. The only people who like this are you and Shay."

Rafferty froze at the mention of Shay's name. She could tell by the look on Herrmann's face that he thought he had done something wrong.

"Sorry, Rafferty," Herrmann began to say. "I didn't mean to bring up"—

"It's fine, Herrmann," Rafferty interrupted. "Shay will be back soon. I know it."


SHAY leaned her head against the glass window of Allister's car. She looked sick, tired, and as if all the fight had left her body.

Allister, on the other hand, was smiling as he carefully navigated his car through the busy city traffic of Chicago. He was talking about the new life they were going to start together, and that once he could trust her, he would undo the zip ties on her hands.

Shay, of course, was not listening to anything he was saying. Her tired mind kept focusing on her family at 51, on Severide and Dawson, and most importantly on Rafferty. Even if she could escape from Allister, the thought of going back to retrieve Rafferty's body had destroyed her soul. She loved Rafferty, more than Rafferty probably knew, and she couldn't bear never holding or kissing her again.

Allister's hand on her knee brought her out of her thoughts. She turned over to him, her now pale blue eyes staring back at his vibrant hazel eyes.

"Cheer up, honey," He said. "We'll be out of this city soon."

Shay diverted her eyes and leaned her head against the window. She had completely given up hope that she would ever be rescued, and she found herself wishing that when Allister had killed Rafferty, he had killed her too.


ATWATER gently pressed the brakes on the patrol car as he approached a red light at an intersection, waiting to turn left. Burgess, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was talking about Platt, and how she had come around and assigned them better patrol cars.

"You're growing on her, Burgess," Atwater joked as he quickly looked at his partner.

"Yeah. Until I inevitably say something stupid in front of her and we end up getting cars that smell like they have been transporting decomposed bodies."

Atwater chuckled, while Burgess looked out the window as a black Honda pulled up beside them. At first glance, Burgess didn't notice anything odd about the vehicle, or the people in it. But then she recognized the driver of the vehicle as James Allister, and she caught a glimpse of the blonde woman in the passenger seat who was no doubt Leslie Shay.

"Atwater," Burgess said in a low voice. "I think I found Leslie Shay. Black Honda."

Atwater wasted no time and quickly turned on the police sirens, while Burgess radioed dispatch.

"It's definitely him, alright," Atwater said once the Black Honda went through the red light. Atwater carefully maneuvered the patrol car through traffic, and was close on Allister's tail. The police had been looking for this man for four days, and now that they had finally found him, Atwater did not want to lose him.

"We are in pursuit," Burgess said to dispatch, giving them their exact location.

"What is this guy doing," Atwater asked, as he quickly yanked the steering wheel to his left to avoid smashing into a vehicle. "Where is he even going?"

"It looks like he is heading toward the Navy Pier," Burgess said in a panicked voice. The Navy Pier was full of pedestrians. If he was going to drive his car through there, he risked severely injuring everyone who got in his way.

Both Atwater and Burgess silently prayed that he wouldn't go toward the Pier, and when he turned in, they both cursed out loud.

Atwater carefully followed the Black Honda toward the Pier. Sirens and horns were blaring as people quickly jumped out of the way. It was a miracle that no one had gotten hurt.

"We're going to get him. It's a dead end here. There is nowhere else he can go," Atwater said.

Burgess could see them approaching the end of the Pier, where some of the tour boats were docked. Burgess could feel herself holding her breath. It didn't look like he was slowing down.

Burgess saw Shay briefly turn around and look out the back window. There was a horrified look on her face, and Burgess wanted so badly to help and get her out of there.

Atwater quickly slammed on the breaks of the patrol car once the Black Honda pummeled through the barrier. They both watched as the black car briefly soared in the air, in what felt like slow motion, before it crashed right into Lake Michigan.