It was already midnight and Erin was already exhausted. She knew Jay was too, judging the way he had been yawning non-stop for the last hour. Jay never yawned, or at least he tried his best not to. So it really spoke to the state of exhaustion he was in that he didn't even bother holding back.

Erin felt like they had been in every corner of Chicago today, running around trying to find Charlie. The city was big and there were countless places for Charlie to hide. But now they were back at the house Charlie had been staying at— back to where they started.

Erin hated this house. She hated this neighborhood. She hated coming back here, period. Normal people had embarrassing and cringey memories from when they were teenagers, like a bad haircut or getting rejected by their crush. Erin had this. Reminders and memories of who she used to be and what she used to do were still standing after nearly 2 decades.

"Do you think that I can get away with wearing a blue tux for the wedding?" Jay asked out of the blue.

"You're not wearing your uniform?" Erin had just assumed that he'd be wearing his military uniform.

He shook his head. "No." His reply may have been one word but the tone of his voice held a lot more meaning than the verbal answer did.

Erin knew that his military past was still a sensitive topic for Jay. She knew it would always be, just like her childhood would be a sensitive topic for her. They were working so hard to get past it and leave the past where it belonged but it didn't mean that it wasn't hard.

"Blue?" Erin cocked her eyebrows, veering the topic away. "Not black?"

"Black is boring. Besides, blue brings out my eyes. Or so I've been told," he replied, grinning in a way that let Erin know who had told him that.

She narrowed her eyes. "Who's been saying that? The girls that hit on you?" He just pressed his mouth together, smart enough to not answer that question. Erin gave him a mock glare, pretending to get annoyed.

He knew she was just joking around, just like she knew he was. Women may hit on Jay, and really who could blame them, but Jay had never given her any reason to doubt his fidelity and loyalty to her.

"Anyway, I know I'll look good in blue." Erin just snorted. "I'm more worried about Will. I just know he's going to bitch about how his red hair would clash with the color."

"Is he serious? Red heads look awesome in blue," Erin argued. "Maybe it's more of a Will problem than a redhead's."

Jay laughed. "I did get all the looks in the family." Another snort from Erin. "Okay, it's decided. Blue tux. Who cares what Will thinks?"

"If we're going the non-traditional route, then I was thinking of wearing a black dress," Erin threw out. Jay looked horrified at the idea.

"Black as in death?"

Erin shrugged. "I'm not really the traditional white dress kind of a girl. There's no way in hell that I'm gonna wear any pastel colors. Besides, I love black. It's my favorite color."

"No, your favorite color is white," Jay pointed out, knowing the tidbit about her.

Erin rolled her eyes because he was right. "Okay, black is my favorite color in clothes. That's like 99% of my wardrobe."

Jay sucked in a breath, eyebrows furrowing as he searched for his words. "Okay, you know that I love you in whatever you wear. I mean, the less the better." She smacked him on the arm. "And I know you're not the most traditional person but a black dress for the wedding seems a little….too far."

"Uh-huh." Erin hummed. "You think it's a bad idea."

"No, no!" Jay immediately refuted. "I just….." Then he saw the look on her face. "You're just kidding."

Erin laughed. "Hey, at least you're not tired anymore." Jay made a 'pssh' sound. "Come on, jay. I may not be the girliest girl out there but a black dress? Even I'm not that depressing. Although I have to say, a bride that can pull off a black dress is pretty badass."

"Was it some type of payback for me wanting to wear a blue tux?" Jay teased.

Erin laid her hand on his forearm. "Babe, black, blue, red, green. As long as it's you waiting for me at the end of the aisle, I don't care what you wear. The less the better," she added, Jay's mouth dropping in horror at the thought of being half naked in front of all the guests.

Erin's phone went off and she took her eyes off of Jay and his expressive face to check the message. She took a sharp breath when she read the content of the message.

"What is it?" Jay asked, noticing her alarmed expression.

"It's Atwater. Um…" She turned back to Jay. "They found Charlie."

"Great," Jay exclaimed then pausing when Erin didn't look so thrilled. He touched her arm. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Uh, they found Charlie's body."

Erin had been quiet the whole ride to the morgue, the unexpected news hitting her. She wanted to find Charlie and stop him from constantly coming back into her life, into Annie and Travis' lives, and she wanted him gone. But Charlie dying?

"We still have to do a full exam but the cause of death seems to be an overdose," the coroner relayed to them when Erin and Jay arrived at the medical examiner office. Kevin and Hailey were already there but they had stepped aside to let Erin and Jay take the lead on the case.

Erin looked down at the still body of Charlie— the greasy hair, the age lines that were much deeper than they should've been for a man his age that were the direct result of the lifestyle he led, the track marks on his arm— and she didn't know how to feel.

Charlie wasn't a good man, she knew that. But she'd be lying if she said that her feelings for the man weren't conflicted. Jay had made it clear that he thought Charlie raped her. He did. After all, statutory rape was rape, no matter if Erin saw it that way at the time or not. But she had been weirdly loyal to Charlie. At one point in her life, he had been the only one who gave a damn whether she was alive or not.

"We're gonna need the report as soon as you're done," Jay told the coroner, taking the lead so Erin could have a moment to herself. The coroner nodded and left the room.

Erin felt Jay come up behind her, not touching but close enough so she could feel his presence. So she could feel the silent support he gave her.

"We're gonna go back to the bullpen and let everyone know," Hailey said, excusing her and Kevin, leaving them alone.

"He's really gone," Erin whispered.

"Yeah, he is." Jay rested a hand on her shoulder. "How are you doing?"

She looked at Jay. "I don't really know how to feel." He turned her body around so they were facing each other. "I never wanted Charlie dead. Even when Hank wanted to kill him for what he did to me, I begged for his life, for him to get another chance. Then he got another and another but he never changed. He was still the same guy, doing the same thing."

"His chances ran out, Erin."

She nodded. "Yeah. I guess it did." She sighed. "I don't even know how I'm going to tell Annie and Travis about this." She knew Annie would be relieved that the boogeyman in her life was finally gone for good. That she wouldn't need to keep looking over her shoulders.

But Travis. Travis who had grown attached to his father, who had gotten used by Charlie. He was going to be devastated.

"You don't have to do it alone," Jay offered. Erin gave him a small smile. Jay didn't even have to say it, she already knew that he would let her do this alone. But as much as she wanted Jay there with her, she thought it would be better for her to break the news alone to Annie and Travis.

"I just think that I should tell them by myself." Jay's forehead creased. "It's not that I don't want you there. I do. But Travis is going to take this hard and he's going to lash out. I just want him to be able to do that in a safe space. The less people the better."

"No, I get it." Jay squeezed her arm. "Anything you need, babe."

Jay checked his phone for new messages and grunted in annoyance when none came. Erin had been over at Annie's for a couple of hours now but he hadn't heard from her yet. Jay knew he could be overprotective of Erin and he was trying to reel himself back in before he ended up pissing Erin off.

Giving Erin space and time whenever she was dealing with something was a good idea and Jay was trying. Really. But after the events of the past couple of days— finding Travis in that situation and Erin taking him to Charlie's house that she used to live in— he was just worried about his fiance.

Erin had clammed up after finding out that Charlie had overdosed and died. Jay understood that her feelings regarding the guy were complicated and she was worried about how Travis was going to take the news of his father's death more than anything. But Jay's feelings about Charlie were simple.

He hated the guy.

Despised him, actually. Jay had no problem admitting that. He had never been a fan of the phrase 'don't speak ill of the dead'. A person's death didn't erase all the bad things he had done in life. Charlie's overdose didn't change the fact that he was a predator, a rapist, a drug dealer and a shitty father to boot.

"Halstead, are you gonna help them clean up or are you just gonna look at your phone all day?" Voights' voice snapped Jay out of his thoughts and he cleared his throat.

"Helping." He got up from his chair and walked over to the blackboard. Since Charlie was dead, the case was pretty much closed. Uniforms were already at the house, clearing out the drugs and the stash of money Charlie had hidden away. As soon as Jay cleared out the blackboard, it would be over. Charlie would finally be out of their lives for good.

Good.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and he knew right away that it was Erin. He dropped the box on her desk and made a beeline for her.

"Hey."

Erin greeted him with a small but tired smile.

"How did it go?" Jay asked.

She shrugged. "As good as it could be, I guess. They knew what was coming when I showed up at their door at 2 in the morning." She glanced over at the rest of the bullpen and immediately, the rest of them got back to what they were doing, pretending as though they weren't listening. "Um.. Travis took it pretty hard but Annie is just relieved."

"It can't be easy for the kid." Jay knew something about complicated father-son relationships.

Erin nodded at Jay stating the obvious. "I think he'll be okay. Annie is there for him and he knows that I am too." She looked over his shoulder at Voight's office. "Actually, I need to talk to Hank real quick. After that, we'll leave?"

"Okay." He stepped aside so she could go. Jay watched her as she headed to the office, checking to make sure she was good and solid. She seemed to be doing fine. A little tired but they all were. He just needed to get some food into his girl and for them to spend the next several hours in bed.

Erin didn't even bother knocking and made her way inside Hank's office before sitting down in front of him. His eyes trailed her face, checking her over.

"Did you talk to Annie?" Erin nodded. "Travis? How is he?"

"Shaken up. Heartbroken. He just lost his dad, Hank," Erin replied. "You know I've never seen Travis cry since he was like 5 years old. He has always been a quiet kid that keeps everything inside. But tonight, he just cried. Bawled his eyes out at Charlie being gone."

"Sometimes it's better to let it out."

Erin agreed but it didn't mean it was easy to just stand by and watch someone she loved be hurting so much, knowing there wasn't anything she could do about it. She couldn't bring Charlie back to life. Even if he was still alive, he would've been thrown in jail. She was just sad for Travis. Sad for a kid that wanted nothing more than his father in his life, a father to hang out with, to spend time with, but would now never have a chance.

"Travis, he just wants a father figure in his life," Erin spoke. "I know that Annie made sure that he never grew up without, she worked her ass off to make sure that he would never be in the situation that we were in. She tried to be everything for Travis but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't be his father. She couldn't be that male figure in his life that he wanted."

"Frankly, Erin, I don't think Charlie is the male figure Travis needs in his life."

Voight was blunt but he was right. "I know. We needed to protect Travis from Charlie." Erin knew and believed with everything she had that she and Annie made the right decision to keep Charlie out of Travis' life. If they had any doubt before, just the fact that Travis had become a drug dealer in the short time Charlie had snuck back into his life had proven them right.

But being right had never felt so fucking shitty before.

"Not everyone's meant to be a parent," Voight added, giving her a pointed stare.

Erin just snorted. That was the understatement of the year, considering she came from two people that should be at the top of 'not meant to be a parent' list. But luckily, she had people in her life who were.

"I'm really thankful for you, you know," Erin began, completely earnest. "I didn't have any parental figure in my life but you and Camille stepped up for me." She felt her eyes starting to glisten, just like they did whenever she thought of Camille. "You two are my parents. My family."

Voight just nodded, like him speaking would break the dam that was holding his emotions back.

"I know I don't really need to even ask this," Erin continued. "But I want to. I want to make sure you know just how important you are to me. Hank, will you walk me down the aisle?"

Voight ran his tongue over his lips, overcome with emotions at Erin's request. He had his fingers laced together as he leaned his elbows on the armrest of his chair. "You know nothing would make me happier and prouder."

Erin smiled, standing up to pull him into a hug. She patted his back. "Thank you."

"Just tell me when and where and I'll be there," Hank promised.

Erin chuckled, squeezing his shoulder one last time before opening his office door. Jay was waiting for her on the other side. She gave one glance back to Hank, who nodded proudly at her, before she turned back around and walked toward her future.

Jay had decided to drive them home after seeing the dark circles under Erin's eyes. Erin just handed the keys over to him and slumped down in the passenger seat. She didn't have it in her to fight for the keys and she didn't think she could stay awake the whole way there anyway. Besides, it was nice once in a while to just sit in the passenger seat and go along for the ride.

She knew Jay had more questions for her and he was just waiting for the right time to ask. She didn't want to keep him waiting so she reached over and poked him in his side. He was not expecting her to do that. "What's up?" she asked, giving him the opening he was looking for.

Jay jumped on it. "Is everything okay? It looked like a pretty intense conversation between you and Voight."

Erin lolled her head so she could watch Jay as he drove. "Fine." She knew Jay wanted more than that from her. "I just asked him to walk me down the aisle."

He met her eyes and she saw his eyebrows lift up in surprise. "I thought you were always planning on him walking you down the aisle."

"I was but after everything he's done for me, it's just nice to ask him instead of just assuming that he'll do it."

He nodded, lacing his fingers with hers. "Oh tell me he shed a tear when you asked," Jay teased.

Erin tossed her head back and laughed. She was glad that Jay was making light of the situation. They've had enough sad and heavy conversations for one day and now that everything was over, it was nice to just laugh out loud. It was a good reminder that she had good things in her life and that no matter the many hardships they go through on the job and in their daily lives, at the end of the day they still had each other to make each other laugh and bring levity they both needed in their lives.

"I don't think I can remember the last time I actually saw Hank cry." She paused, pretended to be in thought. "Wait, never mind. I think it was when I told him that we were dating."

Jay gasped in mocked offense, giving her a mock glare. "Tears of happiness," he claimed, thinking quickly on his feet. "He must've been so thrilled when he found out that you somehow managed to bag me."

"Uh-huh. That must be it," Erin muttered, unable to keep the grin off her face. "Such a prize, Jay Halstead."

His eyes crinkled with laughter, just like Erin loved. His eyes shifted back on the road and there was a comfortable silence as they rounded the street, almost home.

"You know I've been thinking," Jay began, catching Erin's attention.

"About what?"

"I didn't have a good relationship with my dad and I remember feeling lost when I was Travis' age. Maybe if I had a good relationship with my father or at least, a father figure in my life, I wouldn't have felt that way. Felt the need to run off to war."

"Some people are not so lucky when it comes to parents."

"Yeah but if I've learned anything from being with you and loving you for the past 6 years, it's that it just takes one person to step up and how one person can make a huge impact in someone's life. Hank did it for you and I want to do the same for Travis."

Erin sat up in her seat, her eyes glued on him. "What do you mean?"

"I was thinking that when everything settles down, I can give Travis a call. We can talk or I can take him to a game. Just hang out. Let him know that there is someone that cares about him. Someone that he can talk to, he can turn to about things he can't to his mom or to you."

She was amazed once again by the capacity of Jay's heart. He had only talked to Travis a handful of times but yet Jay cared enough about him to step up because Travis needed someone. Just like Jay did for Ethan and just like he did for Ellie and for countless others he helped everyday.

"Yeah. I think he'd like that." She held his hand. "I mean, it won't be easy," she warned him. Travis wouldn't open up easily to Jay and it would be an uphill battle. "But I know he'd really appreciate it. So will Annie. I appreciate it."

He kissed her hand. "I know. It'll be hard but I think it'll be fun too. Besides you told me that he's a White Sox fan too. Poor guy, a White Sox fan surrounded by all the Cubs fans."

She scoffed. "Are you complaining?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, dear," he retorted. "We can go to a White Sox game. I mean, no one else will go with me."

"I love you Jay but I don't know if I love you enough to wear a White Sox jersey," she joked. Jay rolled his eyes, fondness all over his face. She held his hand and pulled their joined hands on her lap. "Thank you."

He just nodded, not moving his hand away. Erin watched him as he turned onto the last stretch before they reached home. All Erin could think was that even though she and Jay didn't luck out in the father department, Erin knew that her children would be because they'd have Jay. He was the best father she could give them.

"We're home," Jay announced as he pulled into their spot and turned off the engine.

Erin pulled his face to her and kissed him gently, Jay deepening the kiss, burying his fingers in her hair. She pulled her face away and gazed into his eyes, love and affection for the man in front of her practically pouring out of her.

Because Jay had just given her yet another reminder.

"I've been home," she whispered before connecting their lips once again.

AN: Just a very short chapter for this update. I just wanted to wrap up the Charlie story before we continue.

It's bittersweet to say that this story is winding down, guys! Just a couple of chapters left and they'll be mostly focused on planning the wedding and actual wedding. There will be a case here and there, of course. But we're getting to the end.

My goal is to finish by October before the 2 year anniversary of the story but we'll see. I'm such a mood writer that it just really depends on my mood and what I'm feeling and inspired by when it comes to writing.

But thank you everyone for being patient with me and for all the support and sweet reviews that you guys leave. You know it motivates me to update and finish my fics.