I had to split the last chapter up so this is pretty short.

xxxxxxx

AL

Voight and I are on one end of the alley, Erin and Dawson the other. Adam and Kevin are camped out to the north on Parker and Jay's in the alley for the meet. Most of the time we would meet our CI's on our own but Clark had called two more times and is scared shitless, so we all went incase Jay needed back up. The real reason was he shouldn't be in the field and Voight bitched the whole way about it. I didn't necessarily like him being out in the field either but I thought it might help Jay with the emotional stuff he's got going on. Give him one more crumb of normalcy and maybe it would help him get his head on straight and stop beating himself up about Darnoldson's brother. Hell, I don't know. We've gotta do something for the kid. What we have been doing isn't working.

xxxxxxx

Jay is leaning against his truck, checking his watch for the third time.

"Something feels off."

"Just sit tight. We'll give him a few more minutes."

Not a minute later Jay perks up and starts walking to the opposite side of the alley.

"He's here. Next to the green garage. You got eyes?"

"Got a visual Jay."

"Clark what the hell? What's going on man?"

"Jay, this is so fucked up…"

"Calm down Clark. Whatever it is we'll work it out. Now what's going on."

Clark looks like he wants to cry and then looks like he makes a decision.

"Shit he's gunna rabbit…"

"Motherfucker! He's running…cutting through the yard towards Jackson."

The calmness in Jay's voice and the ease in which he takes off sprinting after Clark, relieves some on the anxiety I felt with Jay being out in the field, some of the anxiety.

Jay continues to give us updates of where they are; cutting through yards, they're way ahead of us. It's frustrating. One of us will go ahead a few streets to cut them off and they don't come out where we think they're going to be. Then a minute later we'll see them vaulting over a fence in a totally different direction. I hate this rats nest of a neighborhood. Too many alleys and dead ends.

"Shit, Goddammit Clark, stop!"

"Halstead! Where are you?"

"No idea…hold on… lost him, shit… … …got him…I'm in an alley of alleys…still heading south though."

It's almost laughable that Jay, for the last 10 minutes, has been running flat out, jumping fences and basically parkouring all over this damn neighborhood, giving us a play by play and doesn't sound the least bit winded.

"Halstead update…"

"Hold on Sarge…just turning onto…oomph…"

Voight and I look at each other, "Shit."

"Halstead! Halstead status."

"Jay, Jay!" Erin is practically screeching into the coms, "Does anyone have eyes on him?

"Last I saw them, they were crossing Brand…Jay was almost on him."

"Halstead….GOD DAMMIT! … It's a set up. Everyone head towards Brand. Erin, Dawson - go down Franklin, Adam, Atwater, down Junction. Al and I will cover the alleys. We're on Peck."

xxxxxxx

Jay had just passed Brand and jumped a back fence, following Clark through another yard. He thought they would come out on another street but they came out on another alley. What the hell. He was just getting ready to update the team, thinking he was finally turning onto a real street, when he was clotheslined coming around a corner.

He could hear the team asking for his status through his coms but he hadn't gotten his wind back yet. Shit. He was just sitting up, not quite able to draw in a full breath yet, when a foot stomped on his chest holding him down. A gun was shoved in his face and he resigned himself to the fact that he might have already taken his last breath.

"Lt. Halstead."

Darnoldson. All Jay could do is stare. It was a trap. He stared at Clark in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Jay, I'm sorry. I had to."

Darnoldson acknowledged Clark with a 'thank you for your help' and a bullet through the brain.

Jay was reaching for his coms when the foot left his chest and pinned his wrist to the ground, gun now pointing at him. Darnoldson ripped the coms from his ear and threw it over the fence.

"No. Your team isn't going to save you this time. You deserve to die for what you did to my brother." Still trying to catch his breath, Jay is flip flopping between believing what Darnoldson is saying and trying to convince himself otherwise. All the work he did with Dr. Charles to allay his guilt, was out the window in a heart beat. He's jolted out of his stupor with a strike to the temple. Darnoldson's gun. "You are a murderer and you can't tell me any different."

xxxxxxx

The team hears a muted "Lt. Halstead" through the coms and the exchange that follows, ending with the gunshot, which throws them all into a panic. They are all yelling for Jay, blowing each others ears out, when a high pitched whistle shuts them all up.

Voight calmly speaks, "Halstead…Halstead…okay, grid search. Al and I will go east to west. The rest of you north and south."

"Copy that."

Voight puts a stop to any and all verbalization of our panic, "Stay off coms. Location updates only."

"Copy that."

"Got it Boss."

Al is calling in for reinforcements to set up a perimeter when they hear Voight, "Got a visual." Shit Darnoldson's beating the crap out of the kid. "First alley south of Carth. Come in from the east, Al and I have west. It's a long alley. Go fast but silent, don't want to spook him."

xxxxxxx

He can feel the blood dripping down his temple and into his hair. Right now he is seeing two of Darnoldson when one is more than enough.

"Nothing to say for yourself Lieutenant?" Darnoldson partially lifts Jay up by the shirt and slams him back onto the ground. "What do you have to say you fucking murderer?" Another hit to Jay's face with the gun, this time to his cheek, snaps his head to the right. Darnoldson tucks the gun into the back of his pants. He wouldn't let Halstead off that easy. "They tortured him. Did you know that?" A punch to Jay's jaw, snaps his head back to the left. "Of course you did."

Both of Darnoldson's hands are free now, so he punctuates every statement with a punch or a kick. Jay wants to fight back. God, he wants to but for whatever reason he can't do it. Is he stunned by the blows to the head? He would like to think so but that thought is fleeting, he is too locked into Darnoldson's pain and what he's yelling. Jay takes in every word, repeats it to himself until the next thing is spewed at him, until the next blow lands, all of his conversations with Dr. Charles forgotten.

"You're a fucking murderer!" Punch. Wince.

"You should rot in hell!" Punch.

"You're a worthless piece of shit." Kick. Grunt.

"Murderer!" Kick. Grunt

"You're a disgrace to your country!" Kick. Grunt.

"You murdered my little brother! Kick. Grunt. Kick. Kick. Kick.

Jay takes it with a clenched jaw. Never trying to convince Darnoldson of his innocence, only half heartedly trying to block the punches and kicks, never fighting back. Jay takes every punch or kick silently, never crying out. Even though there is that small part of him that feels he deserves this, another part of him might be starting to believe that he doesn't. So just incase that is true, he wasn't going to give Darnoldson the satisfaction of crying out. Maybe Dr. Charles was getting through that thick skull of his after all.

Frustrated, Darnoldson grabs his gun again and jams it into Halstead's shoulder.

"WHY AREN'T YOU FIGHTING BACK!"

Jay can only lay there, staring at Darnoldson through unfocused eyes, trying not to pass out.

"SAY SOMETHING! Fight back you bastard!" He pulls the trigger and sends a bullet through Halstead's shoulder.

Jay cries out in pain and rolls slightly which triggers another kick to the gut, then a kick to the back when Halstead rolls. He pulls Halstead back and punches him right where he just shot him, which elicit's the scream he's wanted from Halstead all along.

xxxxxxx

Darnoldson didn't hear the car until it was almost too late, times up, "I knew I was probably going to die today Lieutenant, but I'm going to take you with me. See ya in hell."

Jay closes his eyes as soon as the muzzle touches his forehead. There are no cliches that come with his impending death; his life doesn't flash before his eyes, a calm doesn't settle over him and he doesn't think about the loved ones he'll leave behind.

His only thought before he hears the gunshot is, I should have done better.

xxxxxxx

Voight is the first one to Jay's side. The kid's conscious but not with it, bringing an uncoordinated hand to wipe the blood from his nose, then letting it flop back down beside him.

Voight puts a hand on the side of Jay's face, bringing Jay's attention to him. Jay blinks a few times but that's all Voight gets. He feels under Jay's shoulder, "Through and through." He puts pressure on it, causing Jay to weakly try to push his hand away. "Hold still."

With his other hand Voight lifts up the kid's shirt, wincing at the redness and bruising he sees there. He leaves that alone and puts more pressure on the shoulder with both hands, eliciting a groan from Jay. "Shhh. You're gunna be alright kid. You're gunna be alright." The pressure causes more pain and he arches his back and tries to get away from it.

"Stay still."

All Jay can manage is another groan, then shuts his mouth and clenches his jaw, closing his eyes to the pain, concentrating on breathing through his nose…in…out…in…out…

Erin arrives on Jay's other side, "Ambo's on the way. Jay…"

In…out…in…out… He opens his eyes and looks at Erin…in…out…in…out…and gives her a sleepy smile then closes his eyes again.

" Er…"

Erin looks over to wear Darnoldson lays, a halo of blood surrounding his head, or what's left of it. Headshot. Brass is probably going to give Voight some grief over that.

"Hank? What happened."

He shrugs, "He was going to shoot Jay, I shot him."

Al chips in, "From a moving car…Hank, I got med on the line. What do we got?"

"Through and through to left shoulder, definitely a concussion, maybe internal injuries. He took quite a few kicks to the stomach."

Got it." Al walks away and relays the information.

Jay has since turned his head and can't take his eyes off of Darnoldson.

"Jay…Jay…"

He still doesn't look at her. He's locked in on Darnoldson's body.

She leans down, getting in his line of sight. "Jay…"

His focus shifts to her.

She puts a hand on his cheek, "Hi."

He blinks his eyes and winces…in…out…"Hi."

xxxxxxx

Last chapter coming soon…wrapping things up with some comfort for Jay