Title: Interesting Dynamics
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: Hank and Erin are forced to re-explore their complicated 'family' dynamic when an unexpected 'family emergency' causes Voight to have to deal with demons related to his wife's death, his failings in parenting, and the challenges his work has created for his family and for his ability to be the father he wants to see himself as.
Mouse stuck his head up and said very defensively, "I haven't had a chance to do it yet," as soon as Erin stepped into his little lair.
She gave him a look and shrugged. "OK," she offered and then just pointed at Ethan.
She wasn't really interested in how long Mouse was or wasn't taking to do something. And, really she was just happy Hank was having someone else do his dirty work. She didn't want to be the one responsible for setting up Ethan's phone the way Hank wanted so he could spy on his son. At this point she didn't even really know what Hank expected to spy on anyways. It sounded like Ethan's summer had pretty much be turned into some sort of prison sentence out of no real fault of his own. The sad irony in all of this was that the fight he'd gotten in in the first place that actually got him sent home was turning into a blessing. It meant that this was being caught and dealt with now. If not when would've it? She was starting to wonder. It might've been a situation of the buck getting passed and blinders being put on and Ethan putting up fronts with them when he did see them. It could've been months – maybe even a year or more – more before the fully extent of what was happening inside his body was realized. So in some weird way it was almost a good thing he'd gotten expelled. It'd gotten him sent home – and that's where he needed to be.
He glanced up at her from a chair he was slumped in, staring down at his hands. She realized he had a little plastic dinosaur in it. It made her smile. He was still such a little kid even if he was too grown up in some ways – and having to deal with things that were far too grown up.
She pulled over a chair and sat down next to him. "Who's that?" she asked.
He looked back at the toy. "Gorgosaurus," he said quietly. "Montana."
"Montana," she said teasingly. "Good name."
He gave her an annoyed look. "It's where they lived."
She smiled and nudged him a little with her shoulder. "You don't say?" she offered. "And, I just thought Montana was a cool name. Montana Jones."
He rolled his eyes. "Indiana," he said flatly.
"What dinosaurs lived there?" she asked. Not that she really cared.
He shrugged. "None," he provided. "But mastodons did."
"Those are the prehistoric elephants," she allowed.
He gave her a look like she was stupid. "Kind of," he provided. But then shook his head. "You don't really know anything about any of this stuff."
She shrugged at him. "I might need to brush up a bit," she allowed. "You can get me up to speed when we go to the museum."
"Yeah," he said dejectedly. "If dad even lets us go. Apparently I'm too sick to do anything but sit here."
Erin nodded and slouched back in her chair, looking across at the cinderblock wall that Ethan had likely be left staring at for the past couple hours.
"Yep," she agreed. "This is definitely pretty boring."
He gave a little snort at that and cast her an amused look. She nudged at the backpack between his feet with her food. "You got anything else in there?" she asked.
Ethan shrugged. "Lunch," he said flatly.
"Lunch?" she said in a fake gasp. "Don't you know that everyone in a cop shop eats out at lunch? And if you aren't going out – someone will be bringing something back. Packed lunch?" she made a pahshaw sound.
"It's even worse because we had like nothing in the fridge," he added.
Erin just made a face and shook her head. "Well, I don't think you'll be eating that."
Mouse peeked over the counter. "I'll eat it," he offered.
Ethan looked at him like he was a freak and then gave her a look that expressed just as much. The way she was looking at him must've communicated a similar sentiment because he wordlessly sunk back behind the lip of the counter out of sight again.
Erin reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of cards and tapped it against his knee.
"I found these upstairs for you," she said. He looked at them and hesitantly took them. "You remember all those card games your mom taught us when we'd go to the cabin and be bored?"
"Not really," Ethan said.
"Mmm," Erin nodded. "Well, I remember. Because you know what? Your mom and your dad loved to play cards. Your dad – still plays cards. What do you think he does at his social club?"
"Drinks beer," Ethan said flatly.
Mouse snorted a laugh at that out of sight and both her and Ethan again looked in that direction. He couldn't see them but he must've sensed the glare and he fell silent almost immediately.
"He likely does that too," Erin said. "But he's been known to play a hand or two." That wasn't exactly all Hank did there but that wasn't exactly something you got into with a twelve-year-old.
"I don't have anyone to play with," Ethan said.
Erin shrugged. "That's OK. I can teach you solitaire." He gave her a look. "It's a game you can play by yourself."
"That sounds stupid," he said.
"Mmm," she shrugged. "It's not as stupid as it sounds."
Ethan just made an unimpressed sound but he did open the deck and slowly look through it like he was looking through some of his baseball cards and not just a standard deck of playing cards.
Erin watched him for a minute. He looked so tired and the chairs they were sitting on where so uncomfortable. Considering that the mandated lack of activity was because of the procedures they'd done on his spine this seemed like a pretty piss poor seating arrangement. More likely to cause back problems than sooth any discomfort he was having.
"How you feeling, Eth?" she asked. He just shrugged and she gave him a frown, reaching and running her hand through his hair until he leaned into it a bit and gave her a glance. "Your dad said he didn't think you slept much last night." He just shrugged again and she frowned at him deeper. "Was your back bothering you? Or your tummy? The medicine?"
Another shrug but this time he added quietly. "It's just real hot," he said.
She gave a little nod and scrubbed at his hair one last time before dropping her hand away. "Yeah, it's kind of gross right now," she agreed. "But it will be nice for the long weekend, right?"
Another shrug. "I likely won't be allowed to do anything then either."
She gave him a little smile and tried to light up her eyes for me. "Are you kidding me?" she said. "Justin and Olive are going to be home. You know how excited Olive is to get to meet you?" Another little shrug. "So excited," Erin provided him. "And Justin? He definitely wants to hang out with you. Your dad – he's going to cook up that whole menu you organized." Ethan gave her a little glance at that and she gave him a little nudge. "Hamburgers. 'Wurst. Corn-on-the-cob. Potato salad. Strawberry shortcake. Watermelon. It sounds like a feast to me."
Ethan eyed her suspiciously. "Are we going to the fireworks?" he asked cautiously.
"Are we going to the fireworks?" she put back to him like it was about the stupidest question ever. "Do you even have to ask? You know your dad knows all the best spots to see the fireworks – and the exact time to get there so we have the absolute best, unbeatable view."
"Now you're just being stupid," he said.
She shrugged. "OK," she said. "But it sounds like a pretty good Fourth of July to me. I'm excited."
"You are not," Ethan contended.
"I am too," Erin said and nudged him more.
He just sighed at her and went back to gazing at the cards, slowly sorting through them. "You're trying to be nice because you feel sorry for me about the hospital stuff," he muttered.
She sighed and watched him for a moment, giving the counter another glance. She knew Mouse was still there and likely still listening. She didn't really like that.
"Hey, Mouse," she called and his head popped up again. "Can you give us a few?"
He looked at her – clearly a little unimpressed – but he let out a small huff and the rolling chair rattled and he rose and wandered further into the back. She waited until she heard the sound of the storage cage clatter shut – suitably assured he was likely out of earshot by then unless he really wanted to eavesdrop and she didn't think that was quite Mouse's still even if he was a bit of a wiretap and technology hacking expert.
"Has your dad talked to you about how things are going to be the next while?" she asked as she turned her attention back to Ethan.
He gave a little shrug. "I guess."
Erin allowed a nod. "OK? So he told you that I'm going to come stay with you guys for a while?"
"Yea," Ethan said hesitantly and then slowly brought concerned eyes up to her. "Are you guys going to be fighting all the time?"
She gave him a sad smile at that. "No," she said evenly. "But, Eth, me and your dad – sometimes we fight. Just like you get upset with him or frustrated or don't like something he has to say – I do too. Same with Justin. We all argue sometimes. All families do."
"But now you're fighting about me," he said quietly.
She gave him a thin smile and a little nod. "A bit," she agreed. "But that's only because we both care about you and we want to make sure things work out the best they can."
"The best they can is I get to go to baseball and boxing and summer camp," Ethan said with some force.
"Well, we're working on that," she allowed, "and maybe soon you'll be doing all that again."
Ethan huffed and looked back down again.
"Listen," she said, "things are going to get easier. We just have to figure out how all this works."
"What works?" he asked giving her a quizzing look.
"How this IV stuff works," she said. "How long it's going to take and how you're going to feel after it."
"I feel fine," he muttered.
"Mmm," Erin allowed a little patronizingly. "Because you seem a little tired and a little grumpy to me."
He shot her daggers. "I'm grumpy because dad sucks—"
"Don't say that about your dad," she told him sternly.
He just glared and didn't respond. "And, I'm tired because the house is stupid hot."
"We're going to work on that tonight," she said. "We're going to stop on the way home and see about getting a couple more fans. Fancy pants ones. No wind tunnels for us."
"We need air conditioning," Ethan said harshly. "Who doesn't have air conditioning? He doesn't have air conditioning. He doesn't have a laptop. He doesn't have a dishwasher and he doesn't have a videogame console. It's like he's a dinosaur."
"You should really like him then," Erin teased – but said it with an edge.
Ethan didn't like the joke and looked away from her again.
"Your dad is actually going to go check out a window unit," she provided. "He doesn't want you being so hot. You need your sleep. And, I'm sure the eight-month pregnant lady coming to visit on the weekend will appreciate it too."
Ethan examined her and let out a slow, exaggerated breath before muttering, "He'll probably put it in his room."
Erin shrugged. "Does it matter?" she asked. "Open door policy, Ethan," she teased. "And the upstairs isn't that big."
He just sighed. She gave his shoulder a squeeze.
"So your dad is going to take you over to the hospital today," she told him. "Since it's the first time. Then we'll kind rotate. I'll take you tomorrow."
"Whatever," he provided.
"Hey," she said, giving him a firm tap in the knee. "You better be a little cooler about all this."
"It sucks," Ethan provided. "Balls."
"Oh, it sucks balls?" she put back to him, pressing her hand into his forehead until it tilted back and his eyes met hers. "You have a lot of experience in that area to be making that comparison?"
He jerked away. "No!" he spat. "Do you?"
She snorted at him. "Don't talk like that, Ethan," she put flatly without getting into it. "And behave while you're at the hospital. Don't give your dad or the staff attitude."
"Why not?" he said. "They all suck."
"Well, for one do you know what's four blocks from here?"
"Lots of stuff," Ethan said with clearly put on attitude now.
"Lots of stuff," Erin intoned back to him with just as much tone and he rolled his eyes and looked away. "Timeless Collectibles," she pressed. "And I have it on good authority that if you aren't a little brat while you're at the hospital you'll be getting to stop there on the way back here."
Ethan gazed at her – processing that – and then looked away. "That just makes me know that more is going on he's not saying," he said.
Erin looked at him sadly. She wanted to confirm that and deny it all at the same time. To sit with him and try to explain to him. To hug him and reassure him. But that wasn't her place - not right now. She'd get to do that on Wednesday. Though, making him wait until Wednesday to understand what was happening to him seemed unfair in a way. He wasn't a little boy who was completely oblivious. When he was a little boy he wasn't even completely oblivious. Kids know when something is wrong. They aren't stupid. Ethan didn't need to hear the words or diagnosis to know that there was a shift - a label - that had changed his situation. He just hadn't been told what it was yet. Erin wasn't sure having that label would make things any easier for him.
"Or because someone really liked getting to look at those baseball cards with you yesterday," she said instead of addressing everything else.
"No he didn't," Ethan said flatly.
"Your dad isn't quite the unfeeling robot that you want to think of him as, Eth," she said. "Don't be so hard on him. He's your dad and he can be a hard person. I know. He is who he is - and what he is. But he's trying his best. This isn't an easy situation for any of us."
"It's not fair," Ethan muttered.
"No, it's not," Erin agreed. "But your dad is trying really hard to make this as easy and as fair as possible. And that's a pretty hard thing to do. So cut him some slack."
He looked at her a moment – blinking – and then went back to shuffling insistently through his cards.
