A/N: I just want to clarify that I am NOT an expert on the topic of autism or the ASD spectrum. However, I do do my research and try to make sure that it's accurate as much as possible. If you think something should be edited or fixed, please do PM me.

This is just a story that I want to throw out here for a couple days and see if I should continue it. So please do review and lmk what you think of it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Chicago PD or its characters.

Erin has always been an independent person, despite being on the autism spectrum. Even after moving in with the Voights, she never let Hank or Camille treated her as if she was fragile being. She was perfectly fine with taking care of herself, but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate their efforts. It was because of them she finally received a little bit of closure knowing that she wasn't crazy. That she had a mental disorder and wasn't just crazy or weird, no matter what everyone else at school said.

Hank had first met her, answering a domestic abuse call from the house next door. He had saw her sitting on the steps of her front porch and walked over to where she was sitting to see if she saw anything. She didn't answer him. Instead, she looked down at the sketchpad she held in her lap. He took a quick peek over it and saw her rendition of what looked like to be the Sears Tower.

"So you liked the Sears Tower huh?" he asked in his deep raspy voice.

She didn't respond.

"Hey kid, my name's Hank. Do you know what happened next door?" he asked gently.

Still no answer.

"I promise you're not going to get in trouble if you tell me," he prodded again.

Still no answer. Instead, her eyes remained on the sketchpad.

He breathed in deeply before turning around and leaving after his failed attempts. But he stopped his tracks as soon as he heard her whisper out something. It was so quiet he thought he might have misheard. "What did you say?"

"He went to the bar," she quietly said, still not making eye contact with him.

Hank took a few steps closer to her, "Where?"

This time, instead of speaking, she chose to use her finger to point in the direction of the bar down the street.

He nodded and took out his card in his wallet. He placed it on her sketchpad, "If you ever need anything, kid, give me a call."

Assuming that she wouldn't say anything else, he turned around and left.

After their first encounter, he had taken a liking to her, knowing that Bunny was never going to be enough for her. He brought her home and the rest was history. Camille, being an elementary school teacher, recognized the signs of a student being on the spectrum and scheduled an appointment for Erin to be officially diagnosed. Afterwards, they made weekly appointments for her to attend, working with a professional that could help her harness her emotions and recognize situations that could cause her to have a meltdown.

It wasn't easy. The first couple months required not only Erin but also Hank, Camille, and Justin, to adjust to a new routine that fitted everyone's needs. They spent a lot of time, learning her quirks and habits and forming routines around that. Hank was able to pull some strings and get her into a private school that could give her the one-on-one interactions that she needed.

Though she never said it, she was grateful for the Voights. She finally found a place where she could fit in, even if she kept to herself most of the time. Sunday dinners were a perfect example of that. Although she hated being asked questions like "how's school going?" when the answer was always the same, she didn't mind it. It made her feel included. Especially it was just her and Hank in the living room, enjoying their chess game with the Bears game playing on mute.

She truly believed that this was what a family looked like. Calm. Peaceful. Supportive. It wasn't at all what she was expecting when Hank first offered her to come live with them. She just thought anything was better than Bunny. And she was right. It was so much more than she expected, being able to barely keep her excitement in, even if her face didn't show it.

When Camille passed, Hank made a promise to her that they would still hold Sunday dinners together to keep some semblance of a routine in place. After Justin enlisted in the Army, it became just the two of them. Although Hank wasn't much of a talker, he still tried to engage in conversation with Erin as best as he could. She, too, did try as well, practicing some of the conversation topics that her therapist gave her as way to "socialize" with others. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it led to a still in their conversation. Like last Sunday for example...

"How's school going?" Hank asked over their spaghetti dinner.

"It's okay," Erin said. She was currently getting her masters in forensic science. From a young age, she had always been fascinated with this sort of stuff and it only grew as she was taken in by a cop and his family. In an effort to keep the conversation going, she blurted out "How's work?"

Hank smiled at her effort, "Good. A new cop transferred in yesterday."

"Is he good?" Erin asked. Asking questions was a technique her therapist recommended to try to learn more about the people she considered important in her life. Hank was important.

"I'm not sure. A little green but I think he'll fit right in."

They ate in silence for the next couple of minutes.

"Next week is the annual CPD picnic," Hank brings up after the both of them finish their plates. "What do you think?"

Erin hands him her plate and brings the beer bottles to the recycling bin. "Will it be like last time?"

Hank shook his head, not that Erin could see, "I've already talked to them. If anything goes wrong, we'll just go home. So what do you say?"

Erin didn't really like picnics, or more specifically, interacting with people. They were of different shapes and forms. The last time she went, one guy was droning on and on for twenty minutes about this new taser he was issued. But she knew that socializing was a key part of "fitting in" and being "normal", the opposite of who she was. "Okay," she finally said.

Erin slowly dreaded the picnic as the days went by. She now regretted saying "yes" to Hank. Even though she knew it would have been okay for her to stay home and for him to go by himself, she still felt like she'd be disappointing him, letting him down once again. She would have much preferred staying home and watching the latest true crime documentary that came out. Or maybe heading into work and catching up on the paperwork. She was currently a part-time forensics analyst for the CPD. It was a good job. She always did her work in a timely manner and never got in trouble. Nobody ever really bothered her, except the tech guy upstairs, Mouse. He was always in a cheery mood and often liked to make conversation with her. Erin being Erin, she would just nod along to his jokes. And on a good day, she would have tried to banter with him, assuming she got the joke in time to make a good comeback. All in all, she was grateful that Hank got her the job. She knew he wanted her close by and she didn't mind. It was the perfect amount of closeness where she didn't affect his job performance and he didn't with hers. They pretty much kept in their own lanes and would only see each other when it was time to go home.

She sat pateintly in Hank's living room before getting ready to ride with Hank to the picnic. The drive to the park was silent. The radio played in the background as she tapped her fingers on her leg, practicing Morse code. The stimming (a form of self-stimulation behavior) kept her calm and her anxiety at bay. Once they arrived at the park, she got out of the car, keeping her hands in her pockets.

They walked towards the benches where everyone was gathering. She followed Hank, watching him shake hands with every other cop they encountered. Eventually, she was greeted with the one woman who treated her like everybody with her attitude.

"Hi Sarge," Erin greeted her.

"Erin, I've already told you. Off-duty, you can call me Trudy," she said. Trudy smiled at the young woman before her. She remembered when Hank first told her that he was going to be adopting Erin. She was shocked more than anything else, but she knew they would do right by that little girl. And they did. 16 years later, Erin was working in the same building as her, doing her job and making Hank very proud of his daughter. "What would you like, darling? Burger or hot dog?"

"Hot dog, please."

"There ya go," Trudy handed her the plate. They walked towards a nearby bench and sat down. "It's a good thing you came here today, kid. Otherwise, the boys would have left me hanging with the grill."

Erin nodded and gave a small smile and went back to her hot dog. They kept eating in silence until Erin's head picked up at the sound of an incoming woman's voice. She turned around to see that it was her brunette friend wearing a light sundress. "Hi Kim."

"Hey Erin," Kim greeted as she took a seat next to them. She gave a small nod towards the sergeant's direction. "How's it going?"

"Good, and you?" Erin said, almost in a smooth manner and not as stilted as it used to be.

"I'm good. Really good. Just talked to the newbie in Intelligence and gave him the usual runaround here." Kim was still a patrol officer with her partner, Sean Roman.

Erin nodded. She remembered Hank saying something about the new hire.

Trudy chimed in, "Oh, Detective Chuckles? Yeah, he is something, alright."

Erin's ears perked up at Trudy's name for the new detective. "Detective Chuckles?" she asked.

"Oh, it's an inside joke between me and him. His real name is Jay Halstead," Trudy explained.

Erin nodded. "What's he like?"

"Young. Good-looking. A little hot-headed. File says former Ranger," Trudy listed.

Erin briefly remembered that Mouse was a former Ranger too before he came to work for the CPD. She wondered if he knew who this Jay Halstead was. The ladies ate in silence for a little while before Antonio and a younger guy came over to their table.

"Hey ladies," Antonio greeted, holding a beer in his hand. Trudy and Kim greeted him while Erin gave a simple wave off before looking back down to her plate. The younger guy stood a few inches taller than Antonio. "This is Jay Halstead. I think you pretty much know Sarge and Burgess," Antonio said. Then he turned towards Erin's direction. "And this is Erin Lindsay."

Jay held out his hand to greet her, but she didn't shake it. He slightly tilted his head at this, wondering why she wasn't saying anything. He turned towards his friend for a little help. Trudy then spoke up, "Erin." As if she was in a daze, Erin snapped back to the present moment and looked up to greet those kind blue eyes before her. Though she didn't reach out to shake his hand, she softly greeted him and gave him a small smile. Antonio then patted Jay's shoulders, "We're going to go sign up for some of the games. See you ladies later." They walked off in the opposite direction for a little bit before Jay stopped his tracks and was sure no one else could hear him.

Antonio noticed he stopped and turned around to see Jay stuck his thumb over his shoulder and towards the direction of where the ladies were. "Sorry, I guess I should have prepared you beforehand," Antonio said. He took a sip of his beer before he continued on. "Erin has autism."

"Ah," Jay said. The sudden admission about her made him feel insecure for some reason.

"Don't worry. That's how she is with everyone," Antonio said.

"Is she a cop?" he asked.

The older detective shook his head, "No but she works in the forensics unit downstairs."

Jay nodded. So she works with Mouse. Interesting. He made a note to ask Mouse later about her.

Jay continued to hang out with the rest of the team, watching Erin from a distance. From what he noticed, she mostly kept to herself and enjoyed watching the water, which was the west side of the park faced. He'd be remiss if he had not taken note of her brunette hair and the way her skin glowed and how her eyes were breathtaking. As he watched her, he saw an older gentleman walking towards her, taking a seat next to her at the picnic bench. The older man's back was faced towards so he couldn't see who it was. But as soon as both Erin and the older man got up, Jay was surprised to see who it was – Voight. He watched them exit the park and get into Voight's SUV. That was strange. From what he got, it sounded like Hank didn't have any family besides the unit. Perhaps he was wrong.