Title: Chasing the Future
Chapter 10 – Manhunt!


Erin had only seconds before the world before her erupted in gunfire. She dropped her phone as she dove for her gun and started to fire back. But time wasn't on her side and she knew she had to get out and fast. So she bolted for her bedroom door, slammed it shut behind her and despite being in her pajamas and not wearing any shoes, she lunged onto the fire escape and frantically started to climb down.

"There!" Someone shouted just as she reached the bottom and then pressed her body against the cold stone wall as gunfire sprayed around her. She heard sirens approaching and knew the men above her were out of time and for that she was grateful.

As soon as the gunfire stopped, she wasted no time in pulling away from the side of the building and racing around to the front, feet bare but gun in hand.

"Erin!" Hank shouted as his car came to a screeching halt and he and Charlie bolted toward her.

"I'm fine but they're still in the building!"

Hank looked at Charlie with a frown. "Go. You can't be here. They can't see you."

"I can't just sit out a fight. I'll be careful. Go."

"Halstead what's your twenty?" Voight asked on his radio as the three of them raced into Erin's apartment building.

"One minute out."

Erin listened as Voight gave the rest of the team further instructions, but her mind raced with panic more for Kelly and George. "Hank, they're gone!"

Voight looked down at her bare feet and then up at her anguished expression but knew to argue with her about her chief concern of worry was a lost cause. "You have no shoes. Wait here!" Voight directed as he radioed the rest of the team to cover the back and the front.

"Hurry Halstead!" Erin barked under her breath as she leaned against the cool brick building and cursed as time seemed to take an eternity to pass before the rest of her team arrived and swarmed into the building. Erin rushed inside with Voight and back up to her apartment, while the rest of the team continued to search the area; Charlie back into the shadows before anyone could see he was there; an hour later, back on a plane to Philly to continue his search for the person behind the deaths.

"Did you find them?" Erin asked in desperation as Jay hurried back into her apartment about twenty minutes later.

"No. I called Hailey as she has a few CI's in this area that are connected with the underground scene. They might hear something and she'll let us know."

"Okay…okay," Erin muttered as she looked at Voight in misery.

"I called Matt and Boden. They haven't heard or seen him but will join us in looking for them. Did he say where they might go?"

"LA," Erin whispered in sorrow as the team paused in what they were doing and looked at her with pensive expressions. "That's what he said earlier. He had to get out of town. Just keep…on the run. Keep moving."

"With a kid, he'll make an easy target," Hank mentioned matter-of-factly as Erin's brows knitted. "That's a fact and I doubt Kelly's an expert at disappearing. He'll make a mistake. We just need to find him before they do," he huffed as he radioed to the street. "We'll find them."

"Already got the team back at the house working on the camera footage for the area."

"Good maybe they'll pick up Severide and his kid too. Alright listen up…" Hank Voight's gruff voice directed the team to look at him for their next move.

But Erin's mind was spiraling out of control with worry and panic. She kept trying to text Kelly's temporary number, over and over, but to no avail. The same message kept replaying over and over … "the number you are trying to reach is no longer in service."

He had pulled the chip on the temporary phone and was gone. "Come on Kelly…please pick up…where are you!" She whispered as she pulled away from the team and wandered over to the kitchen and looked at the two coffee mugs on the counter and felt her heart sink.

'Everyone I care about has been killed. I can't afford to lose George…Erin…if something happened to you…I wouldn't forgive myself.'

"He's gone…they both are," she whispered as Hank neared and rested his hand on her shoulder.

"We will find them. We have the airports, bus and rail covered. I need you to be strong right now and so do they. Think back…did he say anything?"

"He uh…Hank he has…no money. He can't use a credit card because they'll find him…he said that. I don't uh…don't think he'd hitch with George but um…" her voice trailed off as her lips slightly quivered. "I think he'll lie low for tonight and then…Hank we need to find them before the morning."

"We have a call out….teams are looking but we aren't the only ones. Charlie had to go back home. He thinks that someone high up in the Philly PD and the Philly FD are connected to the deaths of Leslie Shay and Benny Severide and now…Mac Lester."

"Kelly will be next on that list if we don't find them," she managed softly. "Where would you go if you were on the run and trying to stay out of the public eye?"

"And didn't know the city very well?" Hank added as the rest of the team neared them.

"Shelters?" Jay suggested.

"He won't take the chance," Hank pondered as he slowly headed toward the window and stared out into the dark of night. He looked at his worried reflection and then shook his head. "Time's not on our side."

Come on Kelly…where are you?

XXXXXXXX

"Where are we going daddy?" George asked as he clung to his father's neck.

Kelly bit back his pain from earlier in the day as he pushed them further into the night. He wasn't sure where to go, but knew he had to find a place to lie low for the night and then find a way to head west as soon as there was some light in the sky.

"We need to find a place to sleep."

"Why?"

"We just need to. A safe place."

"Want mommy."

"Yeah…me too," Kelly whispered as he slowed his pace a little as he felt his heart rate starting to beat a bit more painfully in his tender chest. He knew the L train had a part where it was underground but wished he had paid more attention when Matt had showed him the ins and outs and felt his face cringe.

'51 is your family now. If bad things are going to happen, let them help you. They're stronger than you think and will help you get through anything.'

Trudy's words rang in his head as he continued to slow his pace and try to get his breathing under control. He spied a service door that he hoped would take him to the train, where he hoped he could just slip on and ride to the other end of the city and then find a way out of town.

He elbowed his way through the door and then paused once inside as he heard his son whimper and now questioned his actions and if they were actually the right thing to do.

'I want to help you Kelly. Please let me help you…please promise me you'll be here in the morning.'

"She'll hate me now for sure," Kelly huffed as he stumbled toward a small alcove and looked for a place to put down his son. But here was only the cold, dirty ground and instantly his brain started to chastise him for leaving. He wasn't aware of the showdown that went down at Erin's and so told himself that she was safer with him not there.

'You have all of 51 and 21 on your side and that means the whole force. Kelly, you don't have to run. You're safe here.'

Her words sounded so calm and reassuring that he once again found himself questioning his actions for leaving in the middle of the night. He spied a bathroom that said out of order and hurried toward it. He jimmied the lock and was able to get himself and George inside and then lock the door behind them. He quickly checked the stalls to make sure they were somewhat clean and there were no rats before he took off his jacket, put it onto the floor and then took his son onto his lap and held him close.

"Shhh just close your eyes and try to sleep," Kelly whispered as he felt his body start to shiver. As tired as he was, he knew he had to stay awake for both their sakes and was thankful for a few hours rest at Erin's. But as he heard George's whimpers his heart started to break.

He pulled out his real phone and stared at the blank face plate. He was tempted to turn it on and tell Erin where he was, but knew as soon as he did, he'd be found and they'd be killed. A pay phone? At least tell her you're okay and you have to leave to keep her safe, his brain tried to reason.

Kelly leaned his cheek on the top of his son's head and briefly closed his eyes and replayed the scene in Erin's apartment with the two of them on the couch – just talking. It wasn't a big moment but then he remembered Shay had told him that the important things in life weren't made up of one or two big moments, but lots of little ones that came together to form bigger moments and that's what counted most.

Fatigue finally caught up with him and he found himself fighting to keep his eyes open but losing the battle and collapsing into sleep on the bathroom floor.

XXXXXXXX

"How's Erin?"

"She's fine but worried about Kelly and George. Charlie…"

"Don't worry Hank, I wasn't seen. I saw the direction they ran and told the uni's but then left it up to them. I'm guessing they got away?"

"For now," Voight replied firmly. "You watch your six okay? These guys are playing for keeps."

"I'll let you know as soon as I find something on the guys out there."

Hank hung up and then looked at Erin who stared out the window as the police car slowly meandered the quiet, dark streets.

"We really connected tonight…or at least I thought we did," Erin stated with a slight sour note.

"You probably did, which is why he thought he had to leave."

"I told him he was safe and we could help him."

"And then your place was shot up."

"Okay so not my best promise," she groaned as they headed toward a more seedy part of town. "I made him promise…he said he'd be there in the morning."

"He knew what you wanted to hear," he replied as she grimaced. "He trusted a cop in Philly and now he's out here and that cop is dead."

"Never knew you to be the voice of reason," Erin deadpanned as they neared one of the L station stops. She cast a glum expression out the window and felt her heart sink deeper and deeper with each turn of the tire.

"Kelly's been on the run for a few weeks, he knows where to hide and how to keep his son safe."

"These guys are playing for keeps. What are…" she paused as he brought the car to a stop outside a fenced off entrance into one of the underground tunnel stations. "Did you see them?"

"No but look at the fence. Does it look like someone might have gone through it. Let's go take a closer look."

She wasted no time in pushing herself from the car and hurrying toward the fence. Sure enough it looked like it was pushed open a few feet, enough for someone, or two someone's to fit through and disappear into the darkness ahead. "Good eye."

"Years of looking for what doesn't belong," he quipped as he called the rest of the team to give them a heads up and ask for updates.

Erin pulled a small flashlight and then looked down and let a small gasp escape her lips. "Hank!" She called as he hurried to her side and looked down at the end of the spotlight. Both of them stared at the set of large footprints and the set of smaller right beside and then just one set. "He must have picked up George."

"Let's go. Halstead…" Hank started into his radio as Erin started to pick up the pace. She reached the stairs and hurried down; her heart now racing at top speed. She landed at the bottom and overheard a radio call that made her heart stop cold.

"Dispatch. I found some guy with a kid passed out on the bathroom floor. Door was jimmied open. I think I'll call DCES. This guy could be high or dead. I'll keep you posted."

"Go," Hank nodded to Erin who hurried past the now startled security guard.

"Hey! What's going on?"

"No calls are going to be made. We'll take it from here."

"Officer…"

"Sargent," Hank Voight interjected gruffly; an action that made the security guard bristle. "We'll take it from here."

"You know those two?"

"They are witnesses on the run for a grisly murder. Call dispatch back and tell them you were mistaken; they have already moved on."

Erin slowly pushed the bathroom door open and felt her heart sink further than she thought possible. "Kelly…" she whispered in misery as George started to stir. She quickly kneeled down by their side, just as George started to squirm.

With sleep still in his eyes, Kelly started to get agitated that they had found them and George would be taken from him.

"Kelly…it's me…it's me! It's Erin!"

"Wh…Erin…" he stammered as he shook himself fully awake and then looked down at George who settled down as soon as he saw it was Erin. "No you can't…you can't be here…" he insisted as he heard shuffling toward the door and bristled once more.

"No…you can't. It's no place for a kid," Hank stated as Kelly looked up in shock. "We get why you ran but you're safer with us."

"Can you take me to LA?"

"No," Hank replied firmly as he helped Kelly stand up; Erin grasping and cradling George in her arms and hugging him close. "This ends here…on our turf."

"Come on," Erin whispered as Kelly looked over just as she planted a kiss on George's head; his head resting on her shoulder. "Let's go home."

"I don't have a home."

"Yes you do."

He was tired and out of options and knew it would be just a matter of time, especially with his limited funds, for him to find a secure place for him and his son to disappear for good. But as he gazed upon his son, tenderly nestled in her arms his heart swelled and he finally listened to the voice inside his head – trust these people…it's time to stop running…it's time to end this for good.


A/N: Hey everyone…sorry it took so long to get this out but blame real life…I have no other excuse but that. Ugh. I hope you all liked this update and now that our little family are back together, how are they going to end this hunt? And how will they start their new future as a family? Please do review before you go and thanks so much!