I'm sorry for not updating this story in a while but I haven't abandoned it yet! So I hope this is worth the wait!
Chapter 34
"Well, do I not get a hug?" Erin just pursed her lips and reluctantly stepped forward, giving her mom a half-hearted hug. It was short and quick, Erin pulling away and intending to get out of there as fast as possible before Bunny can pull her into a conversation.
"Okay. I got to go."
Bunny scoffed, pulling on Erin's arms to get her to stop. "Wait a minute. That's it?"
Erin shook off Bunny's hand and crossed her arms in a defensive stance. "What else is there?"
"How about nice to see you mom, how have you been mom, I was going to call you to tell you that I'm back in town mom?" Bunny prattled on, sounding unapologetically indignant. As if she didn't know why Erin wasn't exactly thrilled to see her mother.
"How about I really don't have time to talk and it was great to see you?"
"Wait wait wait," Bunny shouted as she grabbed Erin again. "At least tell me if you're back for good? Did you move back to Chicago? How long have you been in town? What about your big fancy FBI job?"
Erin was getting a headache not even five minutes in Bunny's presence. She knew she'd eventually run into her mother but she had been having such good luck of avoiding Bunny for the past seven months that she had forgotten about the snake in the water lurking around, ready to jump out and bite her at any time. Only this snake was Bunny and her venom was far more poisonous than any viper in the world.
"I'm not back," Erin lied. There was no way in hell she was going to let Bunny know that she had moved back. "I'm just here for a quick trip."
"Well, that's disappointing. I have missed you so much, honey." Bunny's eyes landed on Erin's cart and saw the nice steaks and bottle of wine she had gotten for her romantic dinner with Jay. "Looks like you're having a nice dinner. Perhaps with Jay? Are you two back together?"
Erin moved the cart behind her to pull it out of Bunny's eyesight and shook her head. "No," she lied again. If Bunny finding out that Erin was back in Chicago was the last thing Erin wanted, then Bunny finding out that she was back with Jay would be second last thing. Bunny just had this way of injecting chaos and poison into Erin's life and her relationship with Jay was the best thing in her life and Erin was determined to fiercely protect it at all costs. Especially against Bunny's toxicity. "Really mom, I have to go."
Erin didn't want to wait to hear what else Bunny had to say and she just started to leave, pushing her cart.
"Erin, your father is back." Erin stopped in her tracks and whipped her head around.
"What?"
"Your father, he's back in the picture and I know he wants to see you again."
Erin's lips snarled in anger. "Yeah? He does? Am I going to get my baby pictures thrown back in my face when he accuses me of scamming him or is this going to go differently this time?"
"It's not Jimmy this time," Bunny explained, closing her eyes and dismissing Erin. "And I'm sorry for what happened last time with Jimmy but you know darling that I wasn't scamming him or you. I really thought Jimmy was your father!"
"And now you're sure that whoever this new guy is, he's my father?"
"Considering there were only two guys I was with when I got pregnant with you, yeah. I wanted Jimmy to be the father because well….he was the better option of the two but now that we know that Jimmy isn't your father, thank you very much Jay," Bunny said, sarcastically.
"Don't blame Jay for what you did!" Erin snapped. Erin knew Jay had his heart in the right place when he insisted on testing Jimmy's DNA. Even if Erin didn't appreciate it at the time and had unfairly lashed out at him with her hurt and disappointment. He had taken it in stride back then, her unfair treatment towards him forgotten in favor of taking care of her. She felt awful for what happened and how she treated Jay during that time when all he wanted was to protect her, to stop her from falling too far into a fantasy that wasn't real and had the worlds of potential to destroy her. Erin knew better now.
Bunny had this look in her face like she caught Erin in something. That Erin might care more about her supposedly ex-boyfriend than she was letting on. Erin schooled her face and calmed herself down, not wanting to give anything else about her current life away.
"Fine," Bunny relented. "As I was saying, now that we know Jimmy isn't the father then there is only one other option. His name is David and he came back to town last year and we've….reconciled. I told him about you Erin and he wants to see you. I would've called and told you as soon as he did but you cut me off."
Erin shook her head, her head unable to fully process everything Bunny was telling her. All she wanted to do was to get out of there and go home to her safe place. "I….I don't care," Erin said. "I'm tired, Bunny. Of everything. I'm over wanting to know who my dad is. I've done just fine for over 30 years without him and I'll be fine without him for the rest of my life."
"He's your father, Erin. He's your blood. I know that you still have that foolish notion of Hank being your father but he's not blood."
"Mom, I can't even be sure that David is my blood," Erin stated. There was no way for Erin to know if Bunny was being truthful or if it was just another one of her many lies. And at this point, Erin didn't care. She just wanted to get away. "And whether he is or not, I don't care. You don't like Hank and that's your problem. But he is the only father figure that I've known. And all the times that he had been there for me and watched out for me? That runs thicker than any blood."
Bunny scoffed, rolling her eyes. "You still have on your blinders when it comes to Voight."
"Maybe. But I sure as hell don't have them on anymore when it comes to you." Erin stared Bunny down. "I cut you off for a reason. I'm the reason why you're not in jail. Remember that? All I'm asking from you is to leave me alone. Do this for me, for once in your life Bunny."
"You're my daughter Erin!" Bunny yelled, chasing after Erin. "That's not going to change. I'm always going to be your mother."
Erin didn't bother replying, knowing that there was no point. Bunny was hard headed as they came and Erin would just be wasting her breath and her time in trying to have a decent conversation with her or expecting Bunny to put her first and respect her wish for once. She left the cart and the items she picked out for dinner in the aisle, making a quick escape.
In the end, she ended up having to go to a completely different store for the ingredients she needed for her dinner and ran back home to cook it so she'd be done before Jay got back. She was still determined to surprise him, Bunny and her unexpected run-in be damned. She rushed home and got the steaks cooking and the lava cake on stand-by. She wasn't an expert in the kitchen to say the least but she had somehow managed to pick up a few tricks from Voight— although not as much as he would've liked— to cook the steaks to just how Jay liked it.
After the dinner was cooked and the table was set, she went into the bathroom to fix herself and change into a nice dress. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and told herself not to let Bunny inside her head. Tonight was for Jay and she wouldn't let Bunny and her words mess it up. She fixed her hair and changed into a dress and she went back into the kitchen. She smiled, satisfied when she finished with preparation, the food and the table set just the way she liked it. Jay had been through a lot these past few months and he had been working so hard and he deserved this. He deserved to know just how much she loved and appreciated him and this dinner was just a small way for her to show him just how important he was to her.
Jay's sense of impeccable timing reared its head again when he got back home just as she finished lighting the candles on the table.
"Erin?" he called out her name, unsure, when he came home to find that all the lights in the place were turned off except for the soft glow coming from the candlelights. "What…" Jay was at a loss for words as he took in the romantic set-up Erin had prepared for him. Erin grinned when she saw his reaction— just what she was hoping for. "What's all this?"
"You mean you forgot our anniversary?" Erin asked, her face in a faux serious frown. Jay's eyes snapped up from the table to her and Erin almost broke out in laughter at seeing his panic at the thought of forgetting their anniversary. "I"m just kidding, Jay." She giggled, not wanting to be mean.
Jay let out an exhale of relief but the confusion quickly returned to his face. "Then what's this for?"
"I just wanted to do something nice for you," Erin replied, coming around to where he stood and brought her arms around his waist, holding him in a loose hug. "I thought you deserved something special."
"Yeah?" Jay asked, the candlelight bouncing off his eyes, making them even shinier. "What have I done to deserve something this special?"
"You're you." Jay grinned and bent his head down to give her a thank you kiss. "Come on, let's eat before the food gets cold."
After Jay washed up, he joined her at the table, his mouth salivating when he saw the juicy steak waiting for him. "This looks so good, Erin." Erin looked pleased and sat down next to him, pouring him a glass of wine. Jay held up the glass, waiting for Erin's toast. "What are we drinking to?"
"To you," Erin voiced. "For being the most awesome person I know. For being strong and kind and for being the man I love." Jay's eyes lit up even more and he clinked his glass with hers.
"How about to us?" Jay asked, holding his glass out once more.
"To us."
They dug into the dinner and Erin beamed with happiness when Jay moaned out loud at the food. She wasn't super confident in her cooking skills so she was relieved when the food was not only edible but he actually seemed to enjoy it.
"Seriously, this is so good!" Jay groaned out in happiness as he happily chewed on his steak. "I've missed this. You always cooked the best steaks." Steaks were only some of the few things she had ever cooked for Jay. Usually he took care of dinner— either by ordering out or cooking— but once in a while, she would display her limited culinary skills, knowing that Jay was an ardent carnivorous. Actually, he was just a foodie in general. A big one.
"You should thank Voight for that," Erin said. "He was the one who tried to impart his wisdom on how to cook the perfect steak to me and Justin. I mean, we weren't really paying attention but he'd go on and on about it," Erin explained with a roll of her eyes but they both knew it was done out of fondness more than anything. "Maybe next time, we can go for a dinner at Hank's house. If you think my steak is good, wait til you taste his." Erin was just teasing, of course, and she got the reaction she wanted when Jay's eyes bulged out at the thought of dinner with Voight. She laughed, shaking her head. "I can't believe you're still scared of Voight."
Jay coughed and took a large sip of the wine. "I'm not scared of him," Jay refuted. "I'm just not at the whole 'dinner with my boss' stage."
"How about 'dinner with my girlfriend's dad' stage?" Erin shot back. She faltered a bit when she thought about the topic of father, Bunny's words about her real dad wanting to meet her coming to mind. She tried to push it out of her mind and not let it distract from her dinner. She gave Jay a small laugh at his retort despite not having really heard it.
"You alright?" Jay asked, softly stroking her hand with his thumb. "Where'd you go?"
Erin shook her head, smiling back at Jay. "Yeah I'm fine." He studied her for a while, gauging her expression. She pushed down her inner turmoil about the encounter with her mother earlier and her feelings of possibly meeting her dad and gave Jay a more reassuring smile. Jay just held her hands and laced their fingers together. She was glad that he wasn't pushing further because she wanted tonight to be about him. Nothing else.
After Jay had quickly polished off the food, she took out the lava cake that was warming in the oven. Jay's eyes brightened with excitement when he saw the chocolatey dream and he was pretty much salivating. "You got me a cake too?" Jay asked in awe. "Damn! This is better than my birthday."
Erin just hummed off-handedly while she went back for ice-cream. "I'd figure if we're going to break our diet, we might as well go all the way," Erin said as she scooped out the ice-cream for Jay, the frozen treat melting immediately when it touched the hot cake. "Who cares about getting a fat ass right?"
"I promise you Erin, I'd love you just as much if your ass gets bigger," Jay grinned as he squeezed her backside. Erin rolled her eyes, sarcastically mumbling under her breath about what a big sacrifice it was for him. Jay's chest rumbled with laughter and he stood up, catching Erin off guard when he lifted her up and carried her over the couch. Erin squealed with surprise as she was dropped on the couch and watched Jay walk back over to the table to grab their dessert plates and join her on the couch, plopping himself down next to her.
"Now, this is better," Jay commented as Erin leaned into his open arms. She balanced her plate on her lap as best she could, considering that her body was nestled perfectly in Jay's side, his own plate on the coffee table. Erin placed a bite of the cake and ice-cream and brought the spoon up to Jay to feed him. That was the least she could do seeing as how his arms were currently occupied, embracing her in his hold. Jay closed his eyes in happiness when he tasted his favorite dessert. That was how they finished both plates of the cake, Erin alternating between feeding Jay and taking a bite for herself.
After the plates were completely cleared, she placed them on the coffee table and returned to Jay's waiting arms. He lightly kissed the top of her head and she burrowed herself into his sides more, enjoying the way he was softly stroking her hips. They didn't bother turning on the t.v, no background noises were around. It was just the two of them, encased in the small light that the candles on the dining table were emitting, just enjoying each other's company.
"So about that dinner with Voight," Jay began, breaking the peaceful silence.
"Yeah, what about it?" Erin mumbled, her voice stifled by his chest.
"It doesn't sound so bad." Erin looked up, raising her eyebrows at his comment. Jay shrugged when he caught her look. "I mean I think Voight has lightened up about us a lot over the years. I think he might even like me for you now."
Erin chuckled. "That's what you think," she joked. "I mean I can't promise he won't pull his shotgun on you when we go over to his house for dinner. Are you prepared to deal with that?"
He bent his head down to look at her, his hand coming up to brush her hair away. "For you? Definitely," he said, his face breaking out into that boyish grin she loved so much. "I can't avoid him for the rest of my life and that's how long I'm planning on spending with you."
Erin's own face broke out into a soft smile at his words. She brought her head up to kiss his jaw, her heart full at the thought of spending the rest of her life with Jay. He moved his head away enough to find her lips and capture them in a firm kiss, his hand coming around the back of her head to pull her in closer. The kiss grew more passionate, Erin's arms coming around his neck and pulling Jay onto her as she laid back on the couch. She moaned, tossing her head back, as Jay's lips traveled from her mouth to her neck, sucking on the skin. Her toes curled at feeling his lips, her fingers clawing his back. Jay pulled his head and looked down at her, eyes locked on each other.
"Thank you for tonight," Jay whispered, their breaths mingling. "I loved it." She smiled, nodding at him. He bent down to capture her lips again, both of them getting lost in each other. Erin felt herself being lifted up as Jay carried her to the bedroom, her heart racing with anticipation as she waited for him to join her. He crawled onto the bed and hovered over her, his hand softly cupping her face. "You're so beautiful," he voiced, his head shaking like he couldn't actually believe that she was there and she was his. Erin understood exactly what he was feeling because there were times where she couldn't actually believe that they were together and that someone as amazing and caring and considerate as Jay could actually love her.
"I love you," she told him, needing him to know just how much her heart beat for him. He smiled, his fingers brushing against her lips before his lips joined in, the two of them ready to spend the night letting each other know just how much they loved each other, words no longer needed.
Jay found himself lost in the memory of last night, Voight's voice droning on and on in the background. It was an amazing night and he was entirely surprised at what Erin had done for him. He had been tired and his heart weighed heavy when he left his support group but as soon as he returned home and saw her, he immediately felt lighter and happier. She did that for him. No one else.
He looked across the bullpen to her desk and found her with her arms crossed. He frowned a little bit when he noticed the far-off expression on her face, different from the one that she'd get when she was lost in a good memory or when Voight was on one of his usual rants that most of them tuned out. This one was usually reserved for whenever she had something heavy on her mind and his concern grew. He could read her so well and the troubled expression on his girl's face made him uneasy. She probably felt his eyes on her because she looked up and caught his eyes. He lifted his eyebrows, asking her with his eyes if she was okay and she just returned a small smile, not entirely believable. But there was nothing he could do right now as they listened to Voight's rant about the Ivory Tower and how they had to focus on paper works for right now. All Jay could do was hope that she was okay and if there was something bothering her, she'd open up to him until he could talk to her.
He finally got the opportunity he was looking for when he caught her alone in the break room, absentmindedly stirring her coffee. He entered the room, tossing his head back to see if anyone was paying attention. But everyone was engrossed in their own paperwork, giving them the time alone. Jay knew it was something bad when she didn't even notice him coming in. Usually she was so good at sensing his presence. He sidled up to her, his back leaning against the sink and tried to catch her attention.
"You okay?" he asked, cautiously, not wanting to startle Erin. She tensed up when she finally noticed that she was no longer alone but she continued stirring her coffee, just barely giving him a nod in return. All of a sudden, the moment had Jay flashing back to years ago when he tried to approach the topic of Justin's murderer and how Voight dealt with it. He tried to push that out of his mind, reminding himself that they had come far from that time when Erin had been closed off— either out of protectiveness or just because she had trouble letting him in— and they were stronger today. He knew some habits were hard to break and for Erin, it was her automatic instincts to protect herself, honed by years of being let down by the people in her life growing up. He'd just hope that this time would be different.
Erin sighed and finally stopped her stirring. She turned her body around to face him. He could see the beginnings of a storm starting in her eyes and he waited, as patiently as he could, for her to open up to him. She reached for him and gave his arms a light squeeze.
"I'm really okay," she said with a tight smile. Her eyes darted out of the breakroom and turned back to him. "I...I ran into Bunny yesterday."
Jay's eyes narrowed at her words and he turned to face her completely. "What? Where?" He knew that whatever was bothering her that it was bad and for Erin, Bunny was as bad as it came. He never made his dislike for Erin's mom a secret. Sure, he had tried to be civil to her for Erin's sake but he hated the woman and the sleazy ways she tried to worm into Erin's life and mess it up like a tornado.
"At the store yesterday," Erin revealed, her eyes showing him just how much the interaction had affected her. He held her arms, concerned.
"Are you okay? What did she say?"
Erin nodded, giving him a small smile at his protectiveness. "I'm fine. I tried to get out of there as fast as I could. She asked me if I was back for good."
"Did you tell her?" Erin shook her head and Jay was relieved by her answer. The last thing he wanted was for Bunny to know that Erin was back.
"She asked about you too." Jay's eyebrows rose. Bunny was certainly not a fan of him either, always trying to set Erin up with other guys like Landon. Guys that cared more about having a good time and trying to pull Erin back into that life than about her. "I didn't tell her about us, either."
"Good," he stated. "She doesn't deserve to know about your life, Erin. Not after everything she has done."
"Yeah, I know," Erin said. Jay watched Erin and the way her shoulders were hunched over slightly, like there was something more weighing heavily on her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, as if to ask her what else happened. Erin took in a breath and pursed her lips. "Umm, she also told me that my father was back in town and wants to see me."
Jay sucked in his breath at what she said. He knew the topic of Erin's father was a sensitive one, especially after what had happened the last time with Jimmy. He could still vividly recall the way Erin had broken down after their fight. He had waited for her to come home and when she finally did, she fell apart in his arms as she told him how cruelly Jimmy had thrown her baby pictures in her face and spat nasty words about Erin being like Bunny and scamming him. His anger boiled when he heard what had happened and he had the urge to track down Jimmy if only to kick his ass for the way he treated Erin and for actually thinking that she was capable of something like that. But he just held Erin as she cried, mumbling between tears about how perhaps leaving Chicago behind was the best thing but how Jay was the only thing keeping her there. He had wiped her tears away, soothed her hurt with kisses and held her tightly as she tried to sleep, all the while thinking in his head how Jimmy didn't deserve someone like Erin to be his daughter.
"You're kidding," Jay scoffed, his hatred for Bunny growing. Erin just shrugged, agreeing with his reaction. "What did she say about this guy?"
"Not much," Erin replied. "Just that he had been back for a year and how he was the only other possibility to be my father. She also said she tried to reach out to me to tell me but I had cut her off. Just her usual b.s."
"What are you thinking?" Jay asked with a comforting hand on her arms so she'd know that whatever she was thinking about doing, he was there to support her. Erin dropped her eyes and sighed. He kept his touch on her, giving her time that she seemed to have needed. "You know whatever you want to do, I'll be right there next to you."
Erin nodded. When she finally looked back up and met his eyes, she seemed resolved and resolute. "I honestly don't care at this point, Jay." Her answer took him by surprise a little but he just nodded. "That's what I told her. How I've done just fine all these years without him and I don't need to get to know him. With my luck, he'd be just like Bunny or even worse."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Erin replied, coming to meet his hands. "My life is great right now. I'm back where I belong, the job is going great." She took a step closer to him and held his gaze. "We're amazing. I'm happy. I don't need him in my life."
Jay turned his head back to check his team one more time and he turned back around and caught Erin's lips in a quick kiss. "Okay," Jay told her. "I'm proud of you, you know?" She gave him a questioning look. "You're amazing and it's all you. You did that. Not Bunny and not your father." Erin gave him a smile, holding his hands in a show of affection that she usually held back from in the workplace. "You know that I'll always be here for you, right?"
"I know."
"Whatever happens with Bunny and this guy, anything at all, I'm not going anywhere."
"I know, Jay. Thank you."
Over the next week, he tried to watch over Erin as best he could, just in case she was having second thoughts about her decision to not meet her father. He wanted to be there for her, knowing that the topic of Erin's family always played a toll on her, whether she wanted it to or not. But Erin seemed perfectly fine and after their conversation in the break room where she had let him in on the situation, she seemed to return back to normal. She was laughing, smiling, eating and sleeping the same and Jay's worry had eased as the week went on. He was almost ready to let his guard down when it came to Bunny.
But he should've known better and he should've known that Bunny never left things well enough alone. So he shouldn't have been surprised when he saw her right outside the precinct when he walked down the steps. She looked like she was waiting for someone, her arms crossed and when she spotted him, she immediately made her way to him. Jay was just glad that it was him that she had run into and not Erin, who was currently out on an assignment with Kim.
"Bunny," he greeted her, not wanting to be rude when she approached him. He tried to side-step her, deciding that it was best not to engage at all. But she stepped in front of him, stopping him. "If you have something to say, go inside and talk to a uniform."
"I came to see you, Jay," Bunny said, her voice sounding perfectly sweet that anyone who didn't know her would be fooled by her act. But Jay knew better and knew that underneath her fake exterior, there was nothing but manipulation and lies.
"What do you need Bunny?" he asked her, voice stern and cold. "We don't have any business and if you're here to report a crime or if you need a cop, then go inside."
"I'm here to talk to you about Erin." Jay tried to keep his expression neutral, not wanting to give off any hint to Bunny.
"What about Erin? Last I heard she was in New York."
"Well, apparently not because I saw her the other day. I thought you might've known if she was back permanently or not."
Jay sighed annoyed. "And why would I know that?"
"I thought you guys might be back together or something. After all, I saw her buy some ingredients for what it looked like a very romantic dinner the other day. I thought it was for you." Jay saw right through Bunny's attempts to fish for a reaction out of him with the whole spiel about the romantic dinner. She was hoping to catch Jay off balance by letting him know that Erin was cooking a romantic dinner, either hoping to find out if he and Erin were back together or if she was with someone else.
"No it wasn't," Jay replied. "I didn't even know that she was in town." Bunny's eyes narrowed, studying his expressions. "So if we're done here then I have to go Bunny."
"Too bad," Bunny said, sounding sad but Jay knew she was faking it. "I was really hoping you two worked things out but it seemed as though Erin had moved on to someone else."
"Sure," Jay said, dismissing her and not falling into her trap. "Goodbye, Bunny," he just said, leaving her by the steps of the precinct.
"That bitch!" Erin spat, her anger growing as she listened to Jay's account of Bunny coming to talk to him. "So that's her plan. I don't fall for her shit and welcome her with open arms so she comes looking for you?"
Jay tried to calm Erin down but she was too worked up. Jay handed Erin a bottle of water for her to drink but she just gripped the bottle in her hands.
"Oh she thinks she's so slick," Erin continued to rant. "She just happened to let it slip that she saw me buying things for a romantic dinner. To what? Make you jealous? To let you know that I'm with someone else?"
"Who knows what Bunny was planning?" Jay retorted. "The important thing is that we both didn't let on that we're together to her." He hugged Erin, holding her tighter when he felt her body still tense in his arms. He ran his hand on her hair, trying to calm her down. Finally, she eased into the hug. "We're good, Erin," he murmured into her hair. "We're good."
"Yeah," Erin sighed, her breath tickling his neck. "I just...I can't believe her sometimes." He pulled her back so he could look at her face and he saw the sad frown on her lips. "She doesn't get what she wants so her plan is to hurt me. She knows how important you are to me, even after we broke up. She knew that I still had feelings for you so she seeks you out to try to destroy any chance we might have left by letting you think that I've moved on and had some other guy? God, I can't believe her."
He held her face in his hand, comforting her. Erin huffed, still worked up by her mother. He just continued to stroke her face softly, trying to dispel her anger and after a few minutes, Erin exhaled, finally calming down. She met his eyes and gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry you had to put up with that."
Jay waved away her apology, knowing there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for Erin.
"'I'm serious, Jay," Erin protested. "You always have to deal with my drama and I'm…" He cut her apology off with a firm kiss. He kissed her until the unneeded apology hanging from her lips fell away. She didn't need to apologize to him for anything.
"I don't deal with anything, Erin," Jay whispered to her after they broke the kiss and their noses remained grazing against each other. "It's just life. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, whatever comes our way. Even Bunny." His eyes remained locked on hers, letting her know that he was all in. It wasn't as though he didn't have baggage and drama of his own. The important thing was that they were there for each other, helping to carry each other's load. Bunny-shaped ones and all.
August brought about a heatwave in Chicago and Jay was sure he was melting. The crappy old conditioner in the bullpen wasn't working properly and everyone was pretty much shoving each other out of the way to get some quality time by the opened freezer door. He groaned happily when he placed the frozen water bottle against his neck, the cold feeling heavenly against his sweaty skin. He so envied Erin right now in her sleeveless shirt, wishing that he could wear his muscle tee without getting ribbed on by his team about how he looked like he belonged on a break dancing crew. It seemed as though it was too hot even for the criminals and they were having a lull in between cases. At least they didn't have to spend a lot of time chasing leads in the sweltering sun so Jay was glad for that. If bullpen was considered hot then the outside was pretty much hell.
"Hey," they all turned when Platt came up the stairs, lethargically. Jay wondered just how the Sergeant could deal with the uniform she had to wear daily when he was dying in his thin cotton tee shirt. "There's someone who insisted on talking to you guys."
Voight came out of his office and motioned for Platt to bring the person up. Erin stood up from her seat when a scared looking Melody— the person who helped them catch Sweet Lou, Lissa's murderer— came up, her hand clenching a note.
"Melody," Erin immediately went over to the woman. "Are you okay?"
"No," Melody replied, fear so obvious in her voice as her shaky hand brought the note to Erin's face. "I need your help!"
Erin nodded, trying to calm her down. "Okay. What's going on? What's this?" Erin gently grabbed the paper out of her hand and read it over. Jay stood up and they all gathered around the newcomer.
"What is it?"
"Melody and her daughter are being threatened."
"So someone isn't happy that Melody helped bring Lou down and freeing all of his girls," Kevin said when they gathered in the middle after Melody had shown them the threatening notes she had received, warning her that she'd get what was coming to her for narcing the whole operation to the police and for helping them. Erin had tried to calm the woman down, promising her that they'd do everything to protect Melody and her daughter. Melody was then sent home and a uniform was sitting on them, watching for any threats.
"Pretty much," Erin sighed. "Apparently Lou was just a step in the ladder. He answered to someone higher on the chain and whoever's the leader is, he's not happy about getting his money cut off when Lou died."
"Listen to this, guys!" Adam called out from his computer and played the audio of the sting operation they set up to bring Lou down a few months ago. Over the speakers, they heard Lou's shouts of how he didn't get to keep the whole cut from the girl played. "So how did we miss this? There is someone else that Lou answered to."
"And whoever it is, he's the one threatening Melody and her daughter," Kim stated.
"So the question is, how do we find this guy?"
"I see someone approaching," Erin spoke into her hidden mic as she stood in line at the market. "Three o' clock."
"Got it," Jay's voice came over the mic and Erin shifted her body so the hidden camera would catch who Erin was talking about. "Got the visual."
After deciding that the best method of catching whoever in charge of the prostitution ring was to go undercover, the team had split into groups and each of the three women in Intelligence were now playing the role of a struggling single mother who were having money trouble. Erin had pushed the shopping cart around the store, trying to play the role and making conversations with strangers, talking loudly about her money problems. She was hoping that whoever that was a part of the prostitution ring who preyed on struggling women would approach her since most of the women that fell victim to the ring were preyed upon in grocery stores. Like the guy that was walking over to her right now.
She tried to make small talks with the woman behind her in checkout line, making sure the guy overheard her talk about how she was a single mother who needed money and couldn't afford her groceries. She watched him with the side of her eyes, waiting to see if he'd approach her but he veered to the left, not being the guy. She sighed, dejected, and just pretended as though she forgot to grab an item and left the line.
"No good," she spoke into her mic, letting Jay who was waiting outside, know that it wasn't a guy they were waiting for. She'd hope that they could at least get a lead on who was in charge of the prositution ring today. The whole reason why Melody and her daughter were even being threatened right now was because of them, because Melody had helped them when she didn't need to. Erin would be devastated if they had gotten hurt because Melody had decided to do the right thing.
"Erin," Jay's voice came over the mic again. "We got to go. Kevin called and they caught one."
Erin watched through the glass in the observation room as Antonio and Voight interrogated the guy that had approached Hailey with the offer to become a working girl. It was clear by the way the guy was scared out of his mind and didn't look like he knew what 2+2 was that he wasn't the brains of the operation nor was he the leader they were looking for. But she had hoped that they could use his stupidity to their advantage and he'd start singing like a canary and take them straight to their leader.
"I'm giving you one more chance here Ernesto," Antonio told him, playing the good cop while Voight leered over the guy like a bad cop. "Tell us who your boss is and we'll let you walk."
Ernesto looked at Antonio, not believing him. "I can't."
"Oh come on!" Antonio shouted. "We know you're not in charge of the whole thing. We know you give whoever this person is a large cut of the money. Does that sound fair to you? I mean you're the one out there recruiting the girls, you're the one working them, pimping them out and that guy, he just gets to sit back and rake in the money you worked hard for."
"Sounds like a shit deal to me," Voight commented, still staring Ernesto down, who wouldn't even meet Voight's eyes.
"So tell us who the leader is and you get to leave, go back to your life and do whatever you did before you decided to become a low-level pimp and prey on vulnerable women."
"I can't!" Ernesto said again, clenching his hands together, trembling. "If I do, he's going to kill me!"
"He'll be in prison to do anything to you!"
Ernesto shook his head vigorously. "No. He might go to prison but you don't know this guy. He's not scared of prison. He spent most of his life there and he has all these connections. Even if he's put away, then he'd just send the woman after me and she's even crazier than he is."
Erin frowned. A woman? There were more than one leader? Antonio asked Ernesto the questions Erin had on her mind.
"Yeah! His girlfriend or wife or something," Ernesto replied. "I don't know but they're always together whenever I drop off their cuts. The guy stays in the background so I just deal with the woman. She counts the money and uh...she breaks the new girls down so they'd be ready."
Erin's lips curled in disgust. How could a woman do something so terrible to other women? Just for money? It was sick.
"Ernesto," Antonio dropped his elbows on the table to get Ernesto's attention. "Hey look at me! Look at me!" Ernesto finally met Antonio's eyes. "Just talk and give us both of their names. They'll both go away."
"What's the damn woman's name?" Voight barked, his anger bursting.
Ernesto cowered when he felt Voight's roar in his ears. "Bunny!" he finally shouted, revealing who the woman was. "She called herself Bunny!"
And Erin's world shattered once again.
Erin couldn't breathe after hearing what Ernesto said. There was no way he was telling the truth. It had to be a lie. There was no way Bunny was involved in this. She knew her mother wasn't a saint. She knew Bunny had done things— horrible things but as a half of a duo that was in charge of a prostitution ring that preyed on vulnerable women when they were down by pimping them out? There was no possible way.
"He's lying," she muttered, her voice shaking. Jay who was standing next to her tried to reach out but she took a step back. "There's no way."
She stormed out of the observation room, ignoring Jay's shouting her name, and she headed to the interrogation room, slamming the door open.
"Describe how she looks!" she ordered Ernesto as Antonio and Voight exchanged looks with each other at her suddenly barging in on the interrogation. "What does this Bunny look like?"
"Uh….white, good looking, in her 50's, has blonde hair," Ernesto replied, stammering when Erin got in his face. "I mean there's no distinctive features. She just looks normal."
She took out her phone and pulled up a picture of Bunny and shoved it in Ernesto's face. "Is this her? Look at it!" Erin shouted. "Is this who you were talking about? Bunny?"
Ernesto studied the picture and nodded. "Yeah, that's Bunny. She's the one who always took the money. She's the one who's in charge. Her and her boyfriend."
Erin's mouth parted in disbelief and she stormed out of the interrogation room. Jay had been waiting for her right outside and pulled her into his arms, stopping her from getting further. She tried to fight him off, needing to get away, but he held her tightly in place. Finally she stopped and broke down in his arms. Jay was holding her up when her body felt too heavy, her heart breaking at finding this out about her mother.
"I can't believe her," she muttered in his arms. "I can't believe she did this!"
"It's okay," he shushed her, his hand stroking her head. "Erin, it's going to be okay."
Usually just having Jay there would calm her down but after finding out something like this about her mother, Erin knew there would be nothing that would make it okay. She pushed herself away from Jay, muttering about how she needed to get away, and headed straight for the locker room. She headed for the sink as soon as she reached the empty room and she almost threw up, her stomach in turmoil at the fact that her mother had actually done something like this. She dry heaved, feeling sick to her stomach. She shouldn't have been surprised when she began to feel the hands on her back, running up and down in an attempt to comfort her. She should've known that Jay would follow her. She washed her mouth and splashed water over her face, hoping that doing so would wake her up from her nightmare. But it wasn't a nightmare, it was reality. Her mother had fallen so far that she was no longer only hurting herself with her lifestyle of booze and drugs but now she was hurting many others. So many innocent women.
Jay closed the water and patted her face gently with paper towels before pulling her to sit down on the bench. She hunched over, unable to meet his eyes right now. He sat down next to her, his legs straddling the bench, and he pulled her into his arms, his head resting on top of hers. Erin didn't know how long they sat there in that position, Jay's hands continuing to brush her back.
"I can't believe her," Erin finally spoke. "I knew...I knew that she wasn't a good person and whatever happened with Johnny that she wasn't completely innocent. I knew yet I still tried to help her out, I'm the one that got her off scots-free. Maybe if I hadn't then she'd be in prison right now where she belongs and maybe all those women wouldn't have to go through what they did."
"You did what you thought was right at the time, Erin," Jay replied. "You were trying to help your mother. There's no way you could've known that she was capable of doing something like this. Hell, I hate her and even I never thought that she'd be a part of this."
"How could she do this?" Erin asked in a small voice that broke Jay's heart and he just held her closer to him, dropping a kiss on her head. "She knew how hard it was for us, not having money for food, scraping together loose change to keep the heat on. She knew and she still chose to take advantage of those women who were struggling. 'Break the new girls down'" Erin repeated what Ernesto had revealed. "God, I can't even let myself think what that means." Despite not wanting to voice what 'breaking the new girls down' meant, Erin knew in her head what it actually involved. Her time on the streets, soliciting for Charlie and his friends, meant she knew entirely what those women that Bunny broke in had to go through and she even suspected they suffered through worse than she did.
"She's not going to get away with this," Jay said, sounding adamant. "She's going to pay for what she did. Both her and her boyfriend."
"Her boyfri…" Erin whispered, remembering who else was involved and that Bunny wasn't operating alone. "Oh god, it's him isn't it? The boyfriend, the leader of the ring. He's my father." The way Jay had tensed at her realization let her know that he had put the pieces together already and had been waiting for her. She let out a mirthless laugh.
"He doesn't deserve to be your father," Jay stressed, his hold on her tightening. "Besides you don't know if Bunny was even telling the truth about him. All we know, he could just be a random guy that Bunny had gotten involved with."
She finally brought her head up to look at Jay. "Come on, Jay. We both know that with my luck, he's my dad." Erin wanted to laugh at the new information. Of course, he had to be her dad. The possibility of her father being a half-way decent guy never existed in the first place because look who her mother was. Bunny went for chaos and craved destruction. It only made sense that whoever she chose to have a child with would only be the same.
Erin was tired of the chaos and destruction. She was tired of just aiding and abetting Bunny and letting her wreck havoc wherever she went just because she was Erin's mother.
"No more, Jay." She pulled away from Jay's arms and sat up straight, determined. Jay frowned at her moving away and looked at her, worried. She wiped away the last remnants of tears from her face and set her eyes on Jay. "I can't do this anymore."
"Do what anymore, Erin?" Jay asked, reaching for her hand. He looked worried and Erin didn't know if it was because of her sudden change in demeanor or because he thought she was talking about them. Possibly both.
"I'm not going to let her away with anything anymore," Erin clarified. "I told myself when I was in New York that I was done with Bunny and I'm keeping to that. Her and her boyfriend need to be brought down."
"We'll get her," Jay promised, holding her hands. "We're going to get both of them."
Erin nodded, feeling better after seeing the same resolve in Jay's eyes as it was in hers. She was done covering for Bunny and bailing her out. Bunny had gone too far this time and she was going to pay for what she did.
Erin let out a soft chuckle and Jay looked at her, wondering what got her chuckling. Erin shook her head. "I'm just amazed at my gene pool. A drug addict for a mom and a pimp for a father." She scoffed at her lineage. It was a wonder she wasn't in prison or her life wasn't in the gutters, considering who her parents were. She didn't even want to imagine passing her genes off to her kids or having to explain to them just who their grandparents were and why they would never be around for birthdays and holidays like other normal grandparents. She looked at Jay and she couldn't help but think what she had always thought. He deserved better than this. "Are you sure you don't want to back out now? I wouldn't blame you if you did."
Jay frowned at her words. He scooted even closer to her and turned her body around so she was facing him. He cupped her face and held it in his hands, tightly so she couldn't look away as his eyes bored into hers, wanting her to see how much he meant every words that he was about to say.
"I'm not going anywhere. Not now. Not ever. I don't care who your parents are, Erin. Nothing's going to send me running." She exhaled, closing her eyes at his reassurance. She just felt so guilty and she was tired of her drama always invading their lives whenever things were going well. "Hey, look at me," Jay ordered, waiting for her to meet his eyes again. "I'm in. Always."
She held his gaze as she closed the distance between them, laying a soft yet firm kiss on his lips. It was a thank-you, a promise and a 'I love you for being you' all rolled into one.
Erin was grateful for her team because they were all acting like this was just another case. She didn't know if Voight or Jay had said anything to them but they weren't giving her pity looks or worried glances every few minutes just because of her parents were involved with the case. Erin didn't think she could've dealt with it if they had. This whole acting like the suspects were just strangers was working for Erin. The distancing herself emotionally from the case was what got her through three long days of surveillance, the team gathering evidence and information on Bunny and David before busting them.
Erin tried to remain professional as she watched the footage of Bunny berating a few women who were new to the prostitution game, slapping them around and pulling on their hair like they weren't human. Erin tried to hold her disgust and anger in as she watched her supposed father laugh maniacally as he groped a girl who barely looked like she was in her 20's, all while Bunny counted their stacks of money in the background. How could she be related to people like these? So heartless and callous.
"We're going to get them," Erin vowed, her hands in tight fists. They would no longer be able to hurt anyone else. She felt Atwater squeezed her shoulders and she returned a thank-you smile. Her team had been a rock for her through this case, supportive but not smothering.
"Alright, let's suit up!" Voight ordered and the team headed down to the roll-up to prepare for the raid.
After they had put on their vests, they gathered in the middle of the roll-up for one last briefing before heading out on the raid.
"Remember, their whole set-up is on the third floor of the building. There is only one way in and one way out," Voight said, his hands grabbing his vest in a football stance. "From the surveillance footage we got from the other building, we know that they usually keep the cash in the backroom. Whatever paper trail they were stupid enough to keep will probably be in there too. Now this guy, David Mitchell," Voight eyed Erin as he started talking about her father. "He did 3 dimes in Leavenworth for murder, assault, rape. He's as violent as they come and he's considered armed and dangerous. As for Bunny Fletcher, his accomplice, she's unpredictable. There's no telling what she'll do to get out and get away so we have to be on our toes."
They all nodded, listening to Voight's briefing. He sucked in his cheeks and looked around his team. He scratched his nose and nodded. "Alright, let's go." Erin headed to the car with Kim but Voight called her back. "Lindsay, you're riding with me." The two women exchanged looks but Voight merely raised his eyebrows, daring them to ask questions. Kim just gave Erin's arm a squeeze before heading to her car. Erin sighed and walked over to where he was standing.
"You don't have to babysit me, you know," Erin admonished, annoyed. The two walked over to his truck and he started driving. "I'm okay really."
"I know you are," Voight just returned, his eyes on the road. "You've been doing good about this whole thing since we found out about it."
"Yeah, I have Jay to thank for it. And the team." Erin played with her fingers as they continued to the building where Bunny and David were. "Everyone has been really great about this. I could almost forget the fact that my family is a freakshow."
"Hey," Voight called out, reaching over to hold her hands. "Bunny and David, they're not your family. Blood doesn't make a family."
Erin nodded, squeezing Voight's hand as a thank-you. "Yeah, I'm finding that out."
A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the building where Bunny and David were staying, the two completely in the dark about the raid that was about to happen. Erin tightened her hold on her gun and hoped that the raid would be over quickly. Just in and out. Grab Bunny and David and bring them back to the station where they could be booked and charged for human trafficking. The team waited for Kim and Al's signal from the other building that Bunny and David were inside. After getting the go-ahead from Kim, the rest of the team entered the building quietly, climbing up the stairs that creaked with every step, the state of them matching the worn-out building.
They were half-way to the second floor when they heard whimpers coming from downstairs, all of them halting at the noise. Voight ordered Kevin and Hailey to check the noise out and the two left, returning downstairs. The remaining members stood with their guns out, waiting to see what was the source of the noise. A few minutes later, Kevin's voice came over the radio.
"Guys, we have a situation here." Erin and Jay exchanged a look with each other as they waited for Kevin to elaborate. "The noise is coming from the basement and we think there are girls kept down there. We can't get the door open. There's an alarm on it." Erin sucked in her breath after hearing what Kevin said. After everything that Bunny had done, Erin should've known that nothing would be too depraved for them.
"We have an alarm decoder in the car," Adam said, offering to get it and help Kevin out since he had been taught by Mouse how to work the electronic device. Voight nodded and allowed Adam to go help, leaving just the four of them as they advanced towards the third floor. They cautiously made their way up, about to reach the third floor landing when a harsh whisper came through the radio.
"Fuck!" They heard Adam's voice over the radio. And just seconds later, Erin found out just why Adam had cursed when the alarm started blaring loudly. Obviously, something had gone wrong with opening the basement door and the alarm continued its loud wails. They stood in place, debating among themselves whether to continue now that their presence in the building had been made. The four of them headed up, continuing on with the raid even though the surprise element was now gone. But before they even reached the third floor, Bunny came running out the door, having heard the alarm, and she shouted when she saw the police and Erin standing there.
"Erin!" Bunny gasped, seeing her there in Chicago. Then just as quickly, Bunny recovered and she tried to get away. "Cops!" Bunny shouted, warning David of their arrival before she turned around and took off in a run to the other side of the hallway. Voight and Antonio, who were in front of the group, began to chase after her.
"Get the guy!" Voight ordered Jay and Erin, pointing to the room where Bunny had just come out of as he ran after Bunny. Jay and Erin quickly made their way into the room and saw David who ran for the backroom as soon as he saw them. They followed him and Jay got there just in time and stopped the door from closing with his body and he pushed his way inside, Erin following behind. The backroom was the size of a closet and the only source of light was coming from a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. Out of the corner of her eyes, Erin noticed the large stacks of money that was on the table in the back wall and there were pictures posted up on the wall of women— the women that Bunny and David had working for them.
"You're under arrest!" Jay shouted, pointing his gun at David. "Don't move David!"
David stood against the back wall and for the first time, Erin came face to face with the man who Bunny said was her father. She tried to not search for any resemblance between them but she couldn't ignore the shape of his eyes and the bridge of his nose that resembled her own. There was no denying to herself that they shared some features but as she continued to look at the man, she felt nothing. No kinship, no sense of connection that she thought she might've felt when meeting her father for the first time. All she saw was a despicable person looking back at her. She was pointing her gun at him, just daring him to try something.
"Lindsay." David spotted her name tag on her vest and put things together. "Erin," he called out her name. "You're Erin Lindsay."
Erin gritted her teeth and didn't reply.
"You're my daughter!" David laughed. "I thought your mom said you were in New York. Now are you really going to shoot your father?" David asked, looking confident like he could play Erin.
"Only if you move even an inch," Erin replied, keeping her voice unattached. "I don't care who you are. You're going to pay for what you did."
David laughed again, shaking his hand. "I don't think so," he retorted. "I have no intentions of going back to prison."
"That's not going to be up to you," Jay snapped back. "Now turn around and place your hands against the wall!"
"Do it!" Erin shouted, her eyes blazing. Maybe David had thought that Erin would hesitate because of who he was but Erin was set on bringing down David, dead or alive. He scoffed, slowly beginning to turn but he had other plans, no intentions of going down that easily. After Jay had cuffed David, they headed out of the room, ready to escort the guy back to the station.
"Suspect down," Jay spoke into the radio, holding onto David with one hand while Erin followed behind. They were just about to reach the door when David took the short distraction of Jay talking on the radio to throw his whole weight onto him, Jay stumbling back from the sudden attack. Erin stepped forward to grab hold of David but he was faster, heading to the table that was in the room and before Erin and Jay could get their bearings, a flashing light went off.
"Flashbang!" Jay shouted as they both hit the ground, the blinding and deafening effect of the grenade filled the room. Erin grimaced and shouted out in pain, completely losing her orientation of the situation.
"Fuck!" she cussed, the ringing in her ears too loud to hear what was going on in the room. She stumbled around blind, on her hands and knees, searching for Jay.
"Are you okay?" She heard him ask but he sounded muted and far away. He made contact with her and helped her onto her feet and they tried to reorient themselves. When they both managed to get their orientation back somewhat, they realized that David had used the distraction to get away and now they were locked in the room.
"Yeah," Erin replied back, searching around for her gun but unable to find it. "My gun's gone. David took it!"
"Shit!" Jay shouted as he tried to open the door so they could get out but no luck. "Voight!" Jay barked into the radio, calling for help. "We're trapped on the third floor and David got away!"
Erin heard scratchy noises coming from the radio and Voight's voice breaking up, leaving them unable to fully comprehend what was being said. Erin looked around the small room, trying to find something to get the door open but she didn't find anything useful. Jay tried to pry the door open again but they both knew it was useless. They knew from the surveillance they gathered that the backroom door locked from the outside since it was where Bunny and David had kept their money. The only thing to do was to wait for the team to help.
Jay tried to radio again but the small room was preventing them to get a good enough signal. Erin cocked her hands on her hips and shook her head, angry that David had gotten them away. And that Bunny's warning of them arriving had given David enough of a heads-up to ambush them with a stun grenade.
"Halstead...Hal…" they finally heard the radio working again and Erin walked over to Jay, trying to get a better listen. "F….fire…" They exchanged confused looks with one another, trying to decipher what Voight was saying on the radio. "Need...location…"
"Voight!" Jay shouted into the radio, telling him their location. "What's this about fire?"
"Building...fire…" Jay's worried eyes met hers and they both held their breaths, hoping that Voight wasn't saying what they thought he was. Because it sounded like Voight was telling them that the building that they were in was on fire and they had no way of getting out of the building without help.
"Voight!" Erin tried to get the Sergeant back on the line but the line kept breaking in and out. Their radio to dispatch was acting the same, Jay kicking the table in anger at the situation they were in. Her heart was racing at the thought of being trapped in a burning building and she hoped and prayed with all she had that she was wrong about what was happening.
But she knew she wasn't when the smoke began coming in through the door, the fire spreading through the building. She walked over to where Jay was standing and he stood in front of her as though he could protect her from the fire. The room quickly filling up with smoke and Erin coughed, her lungs starting to burn. She was still feeling the effect of the flashbang and the smoke wasn't helping her feel any better. She grabbed Jay's arms as she bent over, coughing, and Jay patted her back, trying to help her.
"It's ok, Erin." She knew Jay was trying to sound calm but he couldn't fully hide the panic. She clenched her eyes shut as Jay was doing everything he could to get the door open. Finally, she spotted Jay's gun in his holster and she chided herself for not thinking of it sooner.
"Jay!" she shouted to get his attention. "Your gun! Shoot it!" Jay understood what she meant and he pointed the gun at where he thought the lock outside would be and shot it several times. Then he slammed the door with his shoulders, the door slightly giving way on one side, just enough room for them to squeeze through and get out.
"Here!" Jay pulled her. "Go first!" Jay pushed Erin through the small opening and she squeezed her way through, barely able to fit her tiny body through the door. Her eyes bulged in fear when flames met her on the other side, the fire spreading through the room quickly. As soon as she was able to stand on stable ground on the other side, she reached for Jay to help him out, knowing that he would need help to fit his bigger body through the hole. Just as she felt Jay's hand in her, the weakened structure from the fire collapsed, a structural beam almost falling on top of Erin if not for Jay pushing her back as much as he could. The same beam that almost hit her was now effectively blocking the small hole, trapping Jay inside.
"Shit!" Erin tried to lift the beam as much as she could but it was far too heavy for her. "Just hold on Jay!" she shouted through the tiny opening that was left.
"Erin! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine! Just hold on Jay! I'll get you out!" She tried to lift it again, budging it slightly but not enough.
"No, you have to get out of here, Erin!" Jay yelled from the other side. "Go! Before the building collapse further!"
Erin ignored him. There was no way she was going to just leave him here, trapped on the other side.
"No!" she shouted back. "I'm not leaving! Not until we're both out!"
She grunted and yelled loudly as she put all of her strength to move the beam. It budged a little bit more but it still wasn't enough.
"Erin please! Just go!" Jay was screaming now from the other side, his voice drowning out in the roaring fire. Erin coughed, the smoke getting in her lungs. "Get the fuck out of here Erin!"
"Shut up!" Erin shouted back through coughing fits. "I told you I'm not leaving. Not until I get you out too!"
She ignored Jay practically begging her to get out, him shouting at her to just leave him behind. He should know that she wasn't going anywhere.
"I'm begging you, Erin. If you love me then just go. Before we both die in here!" She wiped away her tears, biting on her tongue before she yelled at him for being unfair and using the fact that she loved him against her. Even if it was to save her life. "Please," he continued, his voice breaking. "I love you and I'm begging you to get out before it's too late!"
Erin focused on the beam, the ends of the wooden beam starting to burn. Her head whipped around when she heard faint shouts coming from outside.
"CFD! If anyone's there, call out!"
Erin almost cried in happiness when she heard a firefighter. She screamed to get their attention and a few seconds later, Severide came through the door.
"Kelly!" she shouted in relief at seeing the firefighter.
"Erin!" Severide quickly came over to help. "Voight told us that you and Jay were here."
"Yeah, Jay's on the other side. Please!" Kelly helped her try to move the beam. "Come on!"
They both tried to move it as much as they could. "Hold on Jay!" Severide yelled out.
"Kelly! Get Erin out of here first!" Jay demanded. Erin shook her head vigorously. "Get her out of here!"
"I already said I'm not leaving so shut up!" Erin screamed back and subsequently started coughing, the smoke getting to her. Severide looked torn, caught between staying to help Jay or getting Erin out of there as Jay wanted. "Come on, let's do this!" Erin said, focusing on the beam again.
"Severide, I swear to fucking god if you don't get Erin out of here right now, I will kill you." Jay warned from the other side. "Please man, just get her to safety. Please."
Severide's heart went out to them, at hearing how desperate and weak Jay sounded, knowing that all Jay wanted was Erin safe. He looked over at Erin who was getting weaker by the second, running out of air. He made his decision in that moment.
"Hold on Halstead," Kelly told Jay. "I'll get her out and I'll be back!"
"What? No," Erin tried to protest but Kelly just shoved the extra mask he had on her face and lifted her up, Erin too weak to fight him off. "No, damn it Kelly! Put me down!"
"Can't do that, Erin." Kelly carried her over his shoulders and made his way out of the room. "Don't fight me on this okay? The sooner we get you out, the sooner I can go back in and help Jay."
That seemed to have worked as Erin deflated and stopped fighting him. He carefully navigated them out of the burning building and as soon as they reached outside, he dropped her on the ground carefully. He lifted up the mask and found Erin in tears, sobbing.
"I'm going to do whatever it takes to get Jay out," Severide promised her but Erin was too incoherent to fully take in his promise. Voight and Kim rushed over to her and a paramedic joined them, helping her up to access her. After making sure that she was in good hands, Severide grabbed a crowbar out of the fire truck and he and Casey made their way back inside, hoping that Halstead was still holding on.
Erin was in a daze, unable to feel and understand whatever that was going on around her. She knew there was a couple of medics poking her, shoving masks in her face, checking her over but she didn't feel any of it. She didn't know if it was the leftover effect of the flashbang or if she had just inhaled too much smoke but the only thing she knew was that she couldn't breath. Even as the oxygen mask remained on her face, she still couldn't get a full breath in.
It was like she was floating, unable to find stable ground. She felt like something was missing. Her heart. Her heart was with Jay who was still trapped inside. She pulled the mask to let out a sharp cry, her body folding in on itself.
"Erin! What's wrong?" Kim asked her, worried about the sudden outburst. "Are you okay?"
Erin shook her head as she couldn't speak. She couldn't get a full sentence out. "...Jay…" was all she could mutter.
"He's going to be okay," Kim replied, her hand coming to rest on Erin's back. "They'll get him out."
Erin wanted to scream and yell at her because Kim didn't know that. No one could guarantee that Jay would be fine. He had been trapped in the room for far too long and even if he did make it out, who knew what the fire had done to his body. She pushed Kim's hands off of her and started pacing.
"Erin, you need to put on your mask," the medic said but Erin refused. What good was the oxygen mask? She wouldn't be able to breath no matter what if Jay didn't make it. The mask might as well be useless. She was like a lion in a cage, pacing back and forth, others not daring to step into her space. She kept her eyes on the entrance of the building, trying to keep her eyes off of the smoke coming out from the rooftop. She just needed to see one person. She just needed to see Jay.
Finally, Voight decided she was wearing herself out and he stepped forward to stop her from pacing, holding her arm. She tried to fight him off but he wasn't moving. Erin gave in, too tired to keep up the fight and they stood, waiting and praying for Jay to come out.
Finally, the constriction around Erin's heart eased a bit when she spotted Jay coming out, leaning on both Severide and Casey. He looked terrible for the wear, his face and body covered with char and soot but to Erin, it was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. She shook off Voight's hand and broke out in a run, as fast as her tired legs would take her.
She almost knocked Jay over when she reached him, the two firefighters holding them up. But neither her or Jay cared. Their arms wound around each other and they held each other in a suffocating hug, like they couldn't get close enough no matter how much they were holding each other. Her head was buried in his neck, her hands keeping his body close as his fingers tangled themselves in her hair.
"You're okay, you're okay," Erin breathed out, like she couldn't believe that he was in her arms, alive.
"God Erin!" Jay sounded broken himself. "What the fuck were you thinking? You should've left! You should've gone when I told you to." He pulled back to hold her face in a tight grip, their foreheads pressing hard against each other. He let out a broken sob, clenching his eyes shut.
"I wasn't going to leave you. Not if I can help it!" Erin replied back. "I couldn't leave you."
He broke the hold and leaned his head back to look at her in the eyes, both of their eyes glistening with tears— filled with fear, relief and happiness. He bent his head down to kiss her— hard and bruising— letting his relief known with the kiss.
"I love you," he muttered brokenly, returning his forehead to hers. Erin just nodded, just relishing in the feeling of holding Jay in her arms again.
As hard as it was, like pulling off two magnets, eventually they were both carted off in separate ambulances to the hospitals and admitted overnight for observation. Jay tried not to look annoyed as Will fussed over him, fixing his blanket every few minutes as they waited for his test results.
"Will you stop that!?" Jay finally snapped, adjusting his hospital gown after Will had accidentally moved it in his attempt to make Jay more comfortable.
"Sorry," Will grimaced and sat back down. "You almost died, can you blame me for worrying?"
"I'm fine."
"Yeah? Until we get the test results back to actually confirm it, let me fuss over my big brother." Jay rolled his eyes but let it go.
"Can you find out how Erin is?" Jay asked Will. The last he saw Erin, she was still being checked out by the medics when he was driven away in his bus. From what he had heard from her, she was fine but he still wanted to make sure. Will just nodded, promising to check in on Erin as soon as they got Jay's results back.
Jay tried not to gloat when the results showed that Jay would be fine, a little worse for the wear but would make the full recovery. Will had left him alone in peace then, promising to come back with an update on Erin. but only if Jay promised to get some rest.
But it was easier said than done because Jay hated hospitals and even if he was left in peace in the E.D room, he was still unable to fall asleep. His mind drifted off to events of the day and the close call he and Erin went through. He tried to temper his worry down about her and how she was doing. He had been expecting for her to barge through the hospital room door to check up on him and he was growing concern when he didn't see her.
He was about to nod off to sleep when the door opened and Jay lifted his head up, anticipating seeing the love of his life. His face fell when instead of seeing Erin, he was met with Voight.
"Voight?" he tried to sit up in bed and took off his mask. "Where's Erin? Is she okay?"
Voight approached and stopped next to his bed, holding his hand up to calm Jay down. "She's fine."
"Where is she?" Jay asked again, wanting to see her. "She's really okay?"
"Yeah, she's just a couple of doors down." Voight already saw Jay's upcoming question of why Erin was admitted coming so he prempted him. "And before you ask and work yourself up, it's just for precaution. She's okay. A little smoke inhalation and a mild concussion from the flashbang but she's fine. Kim just got her to rest a couple of minutes ago."
Jay nodded, relieved that Erin was fine and he settled back down. "So you're here to check up on me?"
Voight shrugged. "I have to give Erin an update." Jay chuckled. "So rest up so I can report back to her that you're fine."
"I am."
Voight exhaled, scratching the tip of his nose like he always did whenever he had something to say. Jay waited, wondering what was on his Sergeant's mind.
"I heard you guys over the radio," Voight began, not meeting Jay's eyes. "I didn't hear everything but I heard enough." Jay's eyes narrowed in confusion, waiting for Voight to continue. "I heard you beg Erin to get out and leave you behind."
"Yeah," Jay replied. "I meant it."
Voight sucked in his cheeks. "I know you did." He licked his lips. "I know I haven't always been a huge supporter of you two but there is one thing I never doubted and it's that you love her like she deserves."
Jay just nodded again, not knowing what to say back. All he wanted when he was trapped in that room was for Erin to be safe. He begged her to leave him behind, wanting her to get out of there before they both burned to death. He was fine with dying, as long as he knew Erin was safe.
Voight's chuckle took him out of his thoughts and he looked up at his Sergeant, wondering what got him laughing. "You really don't have life preservation instincts. Do you, Halstead?"
"Erin's my life and my only instinct is to protect her," Jay replied, stating the truth. Voight remained quiet for a second, accessing Jay's eyes, before nodding.
"Well get some rest. I'm sure Erin will be here first thing in the morning to check up on you so try not to look so terrible."
Jay chuckled, knowing that it was the furthest Voight was going to be as far as being sentimental.
"Okay Serge. Good night."
Jay watched as Voight left the room and slowly drifted off to a much needed rest.
Woo! That was long but I wanted to make it up to you guys for the late update. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
