A/N: Hi everyone, last week's chapter - the amount of love and care you all had for Erin - made me feel kind of gushy lol. Thanks for the reviews and I'm so glad you guys like the story as much as I do. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Previously on "No Such Thing as Normal":
The following morning, Jay came in early to get started on paperwork. He grabbed a cup of coffee from the break room before moving back to his desk. He was about to start going over the files when he heard his name being called.
"Halstead, my office," Voight barked.
Jay stopped at the doorway and leaned against it, "What's up, Sarge?"
Hank stood up and rounded his desk, leaving a foot of space between him and his detective. He closed the door to make sure the rest of the team couldn't hear this. He then turns around and faces his detective. "Erin's off-limits."
Jay's demeanor changed nervously. He decided to play it off and see how Voight would react. "What do you mean?"
"Exactly what I just said, she's off limits. I mean it. End of discussion," he ordered.
Jay's face instantly changed. His eyebrows were pulled closer together and his lips tighten. His fists were clenched. Anger flooded his veins. He didn't even know that Voight was aware of their relationship. They had been so careful to hide it since they weren't really ready to share their relationship status with anyone else. He attempted to keep himself in check but fury twisted inside of him. He shot out of his seat and instantly got in Voight's face.
"Sarge, with all due respect, you don't get a say in me and Erin's relationship," he said.
"The hell I don't. Halstead, you work for me. What I say goes," Voight barked out.
Then a sudden realization dawned on his face, "This isn't about me, is it? It's about her, isn't it?"
Voight doesn't directly answer his question. "You're a good cop, Jay. But right now, my daughter isn't what you need. And you're not what she needs."
"She deserves to be happy. Wouldn't you agree?" Jay argued.
Voight's face softened and if Jay didn't know better, he could have sworn that Voight would have given him that point. "I'm giving you a direct order. She's off-limits."
Voight opened his office door abruptly and walked out.
Jay rubbed his forehead. Now that Voight was gone, he could release the frustration he had been holding in for the past few minutes. He slammed his fist against the wall, shaking the photo on the wall of Voight and the mayor shaking his hands. He was finally happy. Happier than he had ever been in years. He groaned. Erin. What was she going to think about all of this? He was finally starting to understand her quirks and habits and routines. Even the little things like she would tap her fingers on her legs when she was distracted. How she always sat on the left side of her couch. How her eyes always lit up when she started talking about her work. Or how every once in awhile, she would take his hand and squeeze it and let go of it while her eyes remained on the TV.
When he came into her apartment that night, to say he was distracted was an understatement. They ate dinner in silence, which Erin found a bit weird since he usually asked her about her day. But she didn't question it because they got to eat in silence for once. When they moved over to the couch, he made no effort to choose a movie. And this time was his turn too! She would glance over in his direction, finding him staring at the TV but not really focused on it. When the credits started rolling, she turned off the TV and faced him.
"Did I do something to upset you?" Erin timidly asked.
That managed to finally snap Jay out of his daze. He had not even realized that the movie had ended until her words entered his ears. "No, why would you say that?"
"You seem very different today. It was your turn to pick a movie tonight."
"Oh." Normally, they would take what felt like forever to decide on a movie since they both had very different tastes. Eventually they decided to just take turns and Jay loved it when it was his nights. He would never forget considering it was one of his favorite ways to unwind after a long day.
"Please just tell me," she pleaded. "Just tell me so I can fix it."
He sighed. He didn't know how he could give her up. She could have asked him to bury a body for her and he would have done it, no question about it. But this was his job on the line. A job that every cop in Chicago would take, if given the opportunity. "You didn't do anything wrong. It's me."
"What do you mean?"
"Voight knows about us."
"What? How?" Erin stammered.
Jay shrugged. "I don't know but he said that you and I can't happen not if I want to keep working in Intelligence." He didn't even want to tell her about the second half of their conversation. That would have broke her, he imagined.
She jumpes out of her seat and starts pacing back and forth, "I'll talk to Hank or something. That's not fair. I'll call him right now." She picks up her phone from the coffee table and gets ready to dial Hank's number until Jay takes the phone out of her hands.
"Erin, it's midnight. He's probably asleep. And this isn't your problem. I don't want you and him to argue because of me."
"And I don't want you to lose your job because of me," she says.
They both pause in their actions to think about her words. Of course Erin doesn't want him to leave but she understood that the job always came first. That's how it always was back when she was living under Hank's roof. Sure, she didn't see him all the time but Camille always reminded her that Hank was out there trying to help people. She could only imagine that it was the same for Jay. That he wanted to help people too. That Intelligence was the best place for him to help people and she wasn't sure if she could stand in the way of that.
"Do you want to break up?" she finally asks in a faint whisper.
He sighs. This is why he did not want to get into this. "Of course not, but I don't know if this is worth it." The moment he says that he wishes he could take it back. He mentally chastises himself for the slip-up.
She raised her eyebrows and takes a step back. "If this is worth it?" she asks. "I see... you mean if I'm worth it."
"That's not what I meant," he reaches for her hand but she yanks it from his reach.
She crosses her arms and takes another step back from him. "I think you should go."
"Erin, come on. You know that's not what I meant."
"Jay, please."
He sighs. He picks up his jacket and heads for the door. She follows behind him and just before he leaves, she says to him, "Don't worry about Hank."
He nods. That's not what he wanted her to say. He wanted her to tell him to stay, to let him fix this. He takes one last look at her because he doesn't know what else to say or do to convince her to let him stay.
The following day, Jay texts her to see if they could talk but Erin ignores it. She felt hurt and wasn't ready to talk about it yet. After he had left last night, she just laid in bed thinking back to what had happened earlier over and over again, wondering if she should have said something different.
Erin decided to work late that night. Though she could have pushed it off for the next day, she wanted to get it done now. Plus, she needed to distract herself. She has never been good with confrontations and argument but last night she had to stand her ground. She knew deep down Hank was just trying to protect her. He's been doing it since the day he took her in, protecting her and making sure she wasn't surrounded with the wrong people. If it wasn't him, her life could have turned out very differently. But that didn't mean he had any right to butt into her relationship with Jay.
She sighed. Her alarm on her phone then went off. It was a daily reminder for her to remember when to eat since she would sometimes get so caught up in work that she'd forget to even eat anything. Remembering that there was a Chinese takeout place down the street, she grabbed her jacket and wallet. She left the station, walking out in the cold Chicago night. When she got to the restaurant, she placed her order and waited for the employers to prepare the food. While she was waiting, her mind wandered to Jay and what he was doing. It had barely been a day but she missed him. She missed his smile and his beautiful eyes. After a few weeks together, she had a new routine, one she didn't mind. As long as she got to spend time with him, she was content. It didn't matter if all they did was watch TV or read or her finishing her schoolwork while he was on his phone. As long as he was around her, she felt safe and happy.
He had been so patient with her throughout their relationship, especially the intimate parts. Although they haven't done anything yet, whenever he touched her, it made her reality feel even more real. That he wanted her and she wanted him. It was rare to find someone like that. For so long, she had thought she was unlovable, that she wasn't worthy of it. Relationships were something she yearned for but after years of counseling with Dr. Charles, she learned that it didn't have to be at the expense of her dignity and self-respect.
After her order is ready, she walks back to the office, taking her time. She runs through her mind what was on the agenda for the rest of this week. There was nothing significant she had to deal with besides the missing evidence. She still had no idea how to figure out who could have stolen it. With the security cameras on a rotating function, all they had to do was wait til the cameras were pointed at a different angle and grab it before the cameras moved back to its original position. She still had no luck with the evidence logs or the evidence officer who didn't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary that day.
She enters the station and heads down the hallway to where her office is. That's strange, she thinks. She doesn't remember leaving her door open. And she sees light on as she approaches closer and closer to her door. She quietly pushes the door in. Near the shelves, she sees a man who is rummaging through her files. He's too focused on being a criminal to notice her. She gulps. Her first instinct is to call for help but she doesn't. Too frozen with fear and panic, she doesn't notice the door opening all the way on its own and hits the boxes of evidence placed behind the door. Uh oh.
She clears her throat, "You can't be in here."
He turns around slowly and that's when she notices the gun in his hand. She drops her bag of food and instantly lifts her hands up. He uses his gun to gesture to her to move to her chair. She is still to scared to move until in his deep voice, he yells "MOVE! Do what I say and nobody gets hurt!" She moves slowly, carefully watching where he was pointing his weapon. She sits down on her chair and places her hands down on her lap. He grabs a roll of duct tape from nearby and tapes her wrist to the arm of the chair and final piece of her mouth for good measure.
"The Jackson homicide. Where is the murder weapon?" he asks bending down to her position.
She shakes her head, "I don't know."
He hits her with the butt of the gun, "Last chance, where is the gun?"
This time, she just shakes her head.
The man's eyes dart to the door, where he could hear some chatter in the hallway. He knew better than to fire his gun in a police station. So he did the next best thing to avoid getting caught.
Erin barely recovers from the latest hit when he picks up the butt of his gun and strikes it down her face. Her vision became black and soon lost all consciousness.