Chapter 1: The News
Intelligence had just wrapped up on a tough case and decided to celebrate at Molly's.
"Where's the drinks at? What's taking Halstead so long?" Adam called out. Hailey rolled her eyes at Ruzek and walked over to Jay at the bar "Hey Jay, Adams gonna have a fit if you don't get back there with the dri-" She stopped herself when she saw that he looked frozen, eyes wide as he stared at the tv screen.
The TV showed the news with a headline, YOUNG CHICAGO DIRECTOR WINS AWARDS and a group shot of what she assumed was the director and actors. Hailey couldn't help but see the resemblance of the young woman in the middle and the woman in the photo she had seen in Jay's apartment. He never talked about the picture but she always assumed that it was his mother. "Jay?" He jumped slightly as if her calling his name pulled him back from his thoughts. He quickly shook his head and muttered "I uh I gotta go. Tell everyone I'll buy them more rounds next time?" before leaving some notes on the counter and hastily leaving. She couldn't help but notice a look in his eye that she had never seen before.
That combined with the photo made her uneasy, so she decided to go outside and make a call.
"Hailey?" The man on the other line sounded surprised. "Is everything okay? Did something happen to Jay?"
"Yeah, Jay's not hurt or anything but uh I'm not sure if he's okay. We were at Molly's and this news about a young Chicago director winning an award came up. There was this young girl in the group shot and I think it reminded Jay of his mom? I'm not sure though. I just didn't like this look he had and he just left" She noticed Will's sharp inhale as she mentioned his mom.
"Uh alright. Thanks for letting me know Hailey. And this stays between us." "Yes of course, if you need anything I'm here"
-O-O-O-O-
Will hurried to Jay's apartment and banged on the door.
"Jay come on, I know you're in there. Open up." He called out. When there was no answer, he sighed and used the spare key. He walked into the usually spotless apartment that now looked thrashed, beer bottles scattered around.
"Jay?" He called out as he searched around the small apartment.
"Jay. What's going on?" he breathed out when he found his younger brother slumped on the bathroom floor. His worry grew when he got no response from the detective. "Jay. Come on talk to me bud" he coaxed as he crouched down in front of him. "Jay?" he repeated, lowering his head to try and catch his brother's eyes. Without saying a single word, Jay just handed him his phone with an article pulled up.
A Young Chicago Director's Film Wins Awards A young Chicago director, Cameron Moore won the Best First Feature Award at the Independent Film Awards for his feature Silence yesterday. Moore's first feature starred notable actors such as Samuel H. Ray and Rachel Williams as well as two young actors from Chicago, Andre Walker and Madeline Halstead. The 92 minute film first premiered in January at the Independent Film Festival and received a standing ovation. This is a very exciting time for these young Chicagoans as many winners of the Independent Film Awards have gone on to become the biggest names in Hollywood. Silence tells the story of ー
Will's heart skipped a beat when he saw the photo and read through the article. All he could say when he looked up from the phone was "She looks just like Mom."
After a while, Jay looked up at him with red eyes and breathed out "How?"
"What do you mean?" Will asked softly, not wanting to set his brother off.
"How is she even in Chicago Will? I've looked for her everywhere for the past what? 5 years?! I mean it's like she's a fucking ghost. And then what, she's here?! How the hell does that happen?" The younger brother's voice was getting angrier every second.
"I don't know man. You know, maybe she didn't want to be found"
"No Will. A 19 year old girl doesn't have the power to not be on systems because she doesn't want to be found. I mean it's like impossible"
Underneath the anger, Will could see what Jay was really saying. She's been in Chicago and yet I failed to find her.
"Jay, listen. I know you tried everything but there's nothing you could have done if she's not on a system and doesn't want to be found. She won't blame you for that and neither should you"
"I just miss her Will. And what if something's happened to her. You know the cases we get ..." Will didn't need to hear the rest to know what Jay meant. Being an ER doc and a detective, they often saw the worst sides of people and knew the horrors that could happen, especially to young girls. "I know bud, I know. But she looks okay. And she'll find us Jay. I'm sure of it"
A/N - The characters belong to Dick Wolf and are from the One Chicago universe he created. This is my first time writing fanfiction and English isn't my first language so I'm nervous to post this but I wanted to give new things a try. I hope you enjoyed and would love any feedback!