Korangal Valley, Afghanistan

1 week later

"So, each entrance has two guards, all with guns, except for the roof. There's only one guy up there, so that's where we'll breach," Jay says, and Mouse nods, packing their equipment.

"Hey, Jay, do you know where they're keeping Logan?" Mouse asks, and Jay shakes his head.

"We're gonna have to search the place, there are heat signatures all over the place, any one of them could be Logan," Jay explains.

"Okay, we're all good, let's head out," Mouse says, following Jay.

As they approach the compound, Jay signals Mouse to help him with his harness, and Mouse helps Jay climb to the roof, and when Mouse gets up, they knock out the guard, and enter through the roof.

They searched and cleared the rooms with perfect precision before reaching the end of the hall and stopping. Jay whispered to breach as Mouse kicked the door in. They were able to see Logan tied to a chair across the room, 10 men with him. They took the guards down easily. Suddenly Mouse saw Jay fall in his peripheral vision and turned to shoot the attacker, but froze as he felt a gun pressed against the back of his head.

As he looked over, he saw Jay lying on the ground, unconscious, with a knife at his throat. He slowly dropped his gun and kicked it away. Before he knew what was happening, he felt a sharp prick in his neck and the world went black.

Chicago, Illinois

2 weeks later

"It's been two weeks, Hank!" Erin yelled, worried out of her mind. "Why the hell haven't we heard anything?"

Just as he was about to respond, there was a knock at the door. Juliana walked into the room with Lincoln on her hip and froze as she saw Hank lead the two military men into the living room. Erin quickly grabbed Lincoln before she dropped him and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hello sir. We're looking for a Hank Voight?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Yeah, that's me. What's going on?" Hank replied.

"You are listed as the emergency contact for both Jay Halstead and Greg Gerwitz. I'm sorry to be the one to inform you but they have both been declared missing in action," the other soldier said with a slight stutter.

Hank's step faltered, and he fell back slightly.

"I'm very sorry, sir. If it means anything, from the stories I've heard about those two, if anyone could make it out of there, it would be them," the soldier said before saluting and leaving, closing the door behind him.

Erin rushed up behind Hank as his knees buckled and she led him to the couch. She felt tears forming as she saw the look on his face. It was one of utter despair and disbelief. She had never seen Hank like this before, and now, with Jay? She realized how close they must have gotten in her absence and she felt the regret she's been feeling these past couple of weeks come back in full force. It hadn't been easy, staying in Jay's apartment and looking at pictures of him smiling with a beautiful blond woman at his side. Them with their kids. That could have been her. Her and Jay.

Korangal Valley, Afghanistan

4 months later

Jay's POV

All I could feel anymore was the pain. I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I could vaguely hear Mouse's voice in the background, telling me to hold on, that I had to stay alive. For the kids. For Hank. Erin. Juliana. At the mention of Erin, I tried to latch onto his voice, but I just couldn't.

I could feel the rope burning my wrists. Every inch of my body hurt. They liked using their fists. One guy nearly killed me punching the hell out of the right side of my face. Then we attempted to escape and killed the son of a bitch. Luckily, we got Logan out, but me and Mouse didn't.

That little attempt only made them angrier, unfortunately, and one of the other guys beat me so bad he broke my nose, both sides of my jaw, my left eye socket, and at least 10 ribs. That's to go along with the 5 or 6 that had been broken before that.

Not to mention my knee was probably shattered. They took a hammer to it. That one hurt. I can't really feel the rest of my injuries anymore.

I tensed as I heard footsteps approaching and as the men returned, all I could do was think of getting out of here and back to her.

Chicago, Illinois

Erin's POV

It had been four months. What was supposed to be a simple two week rescue mission had turned out to be a major fuck up. Before everything happened, that being Juliana flying to Chicago to meet her long lost father, I had expected to never see him again. I expected to get a phone call from Adam or Antonio one day that told me he had been shot. Or blown up. And for some reason, I accepted it. Now, all these months of worrying about him, I don't know how I ever did it. I regret every decision I made back then. I forgot how much I loved him. And I knew I could never give him up again.

I can't really bring myself to get out of bed much these days. His bed. Lily comes in most mornings with breakfast that Hank or Mouse made, but I'm usually not hungry. She knows that something is wrong with her dad. She never brings it up, probably afraid that someone will end up giving her the same speech her dad gave her when her mom didn't come home.

Hank offered me my old job back. I told him that I would think about it. To be honest, I had already quit my job back in New York. I just didn't want to go back to the district until Jay and Mouse were back home safe.

Will comes over a lot nowadays. He helps out with Jay's kids a ton. He still doesn't trust me at all, but has been nicer than expected after seeing me stuck in bed. Natalie has been the one to drag me out of bed and get me to shower and eat every day and I can't thank her enough for it.

My phone ringing finally brought me to sit up as I didn't recognize the caller ID. I knew it probably wasn't the army, but I could hope.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is this Erin Lindsay?" A male voice comes from the other end.

"Yes, that's me. What's this about?" I ask with uncertainty.

"It's regarding Master Sergeants Jay Halstead and Greg Gerwitz," he said and I nearly dropped the phone. "Their emergency contact, Hank Voight, said to call you as well."

"What happened?" I say, my voice beginning to waver.

"Well, as you know, they were declared MIA. The man they were sent in to rescue, escaped. Lieutenant Logan said that they got him out but they were caught. He is heading another rescue mission, this time with a full unit to aid him. We were going to send soldiers to tell you, but I figured you would want to know before it happened," the man explained.

"Um, thank you," I say, not knowing his name.

"Captain Clay Rickards, ma'am. I was the one who trained Jay. Funny thing is, now he's in charge of me. I'm going in with them. I promise, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to get him back."

"Thank you Captain. I appreciate that. You'll call me when it's over?" I say with hope.

"Your welcome. And of course. The mission is tomorrow morning at 0800. Hopefully, if everything goes as plan, we'll have them back by 9," the captain says before hanging up.

I slowly stood up and walked into the kitchen, where I managed a smile seeing Hank surrounded by children.

"Grandpa Hank! Grandpa Hank! We're gonna be late for school!" Lily yelled as she grabbed a pancake off Grayson's plate, causing chaos, and soon, Hank was trying to wrangle the three oldest when Lincoln started crying. I walked over and picked him up and started calming him down.

"Everybody! Go get ready for school! If you're late nobody is getting ice cream later!" Hank announced, finally exhausted.

"That's not fair!" Grayson yelled as he chased Lily to her room.

"Grandpa Hank, huh?" I say when it's quiet again.

"Yeah. Me and Jay got extremely close after you left, Erin. He is like a son to me. So is Mouse. After he joined the unit, we all started hanging out, sharing crazy stories. Me, Jay, Mouse, and Sophie that is," Hank says, but his smile fades a little at the thought of Sophie.

"What was she like?" I ask.

"Honestly, she was the funniest person I had ever met. She brought out something in Jay that had been destroyed by you, Erin. I'm not telling you this to make you feel better, but you need to know."

Juliana joined us at the table and gave me a hug and a small smile before Hank continued.

"He wasn't lying when he said he was in a bad place. I was the one who dragged him out of the bar every night. And it wasn't even just you, anymore. After you left, Erin, his PTSD got so heightened he couldn't function. I was the one who calmed him down in the middle of the night when he woke up screaming and sobbing. I was the one who talked him through breathing techniques when the flashbacks got too much to handle. Then he started using. Whatever he could get his hands on. Then he got that letter, the one that said he had to go back, for Sophie. He showed up at my office and started sobbing and I could barely make out the words," Hank said, pausing.

"Anyway, I got him to go home, and when I got there, he was passed out on his bed, and I helped him through withdrawal. It was intense, and he ended up sleeping for two days straight, so I packed his bags, helped him get ready, and saw him off at the airport. Then he was gone for 12 months and when he got back there was a beautiful girl on his arm," Hank said, then started talking about Sophie again.

"When he first got back, he showed up at the district with her, and everybody crowded him, and I could tell it was making him uncomfortable, so I told everyone to back off and that's when I noticed Sophie. But not because she was nervous or anxious like you would think she would be. She stood tall and introduced herself, and within a minute she had everyone in the district wrapped around her finger, including Platt."

At that I raised my eyebrows, and Juliana gave me a confused look.

"Platt is the desk sergeant," I say and stop as realization dawns on her.

"Oh. Yeah. She's intense," Juliana says and I laugh before turning to Hank.

"Did you get the call?" I ask. He nods.

"What call?" Juliana asks, looking at me, then Hank.

"Jay's old captain called. Said they were doing a rescue mission for Jay and Mouse," Hank explains.

"That's good! Right?" Juliana says when she sees our faces.

"It could be. But we have no idea if they are even still alive, and if they are, we don't know if they will be able to make it to a hospital," I say, regretting it as Juliana's face drops.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and as Hank goes to get it, I check my phone for the first time in weeks. I had turned it off, not wanting to have to deal with anybody. My eyes went wide as I turned to the door to try and stop Hank from opening it. It was too late.

I ran back to the bedroom with Juliana right behind me. My eyes skimmed the texts and they were all variations of 'Erin what's going ons' and 'Where the hell are yous' and 'Can you answer mes.'

"Mom, what do we do? You didn't tell him where we went, right?" Juliana said, and I shook my head. Then he barged in.

"Erin? What the hell is going on?" He yelled, and I could hear Dean start crying from the living room and Hank walked in a couple seconds later with Dean on his hip, who had curled into Hank's side.

"Look, David, let me explain," I start, but he cuts me off.

"Explain? It's been five months since I've seen you, Erin! What is there to explain? I'm your boyfriend for Christ's sake!" David yells back, and I look at the ground. I notice Hank leading David to the living room, so I follow.

"Look, David, I'm sorry, but it was important—" I start as we sit down, but Juliana cuts him off.

"—It's my fault. I flew here to meet my father. I knew he was a cop, and I knew he lived in Chicago. I found his picture in mom's wallet and I just couldn't help myself. I asked around and I finally ran into him, literally, at his district, and there was a bomb threat, so he was busy, and he told me to come wait for him here. I fell asleep, and the next thing I knew, he was shaking me awake and a few minutes later, mom was at his door, and everything just happened so fast," she says, stopping when David doesn't even look mad.

"Why didn't you just tell me that, Erin? I wouldn't have been mad. You were just coming to get Juliana. I am mad, however, that you refused to return any of my calls or texts and didn't even come back. Then I find out you quit your job? What's going on?" David asks.

"David, it's a long story," I say, trying to get him to drop it.

"We have time," he says, and I realize Hank had already put the kids down. I sigh and begin.

"This apartment. It belongs to Jay, Juliana's father. I tracked Annie's phone here and I came, surprised to see Jay behind the door. He yelled at me and told me to get out, which I completely deserved, after everything I did to him, but I barged past him and eventually we calmed down and just talked. The next day I went with him and Hank to the district, where a couple of soldiers came and said that there was a rescue mission they needed him and his best friend for. So they went. And I've been here ever since. He asked me to help Hank watch his kids. I owed him that. And it was only supposed to last a couple weeks, David. He's been MIA for four months. They're doing a rescue mission in the morning, and I have to know if he's okay," I say, barely holding back tears near the end.

David's face softened slightly as I mentioned Jay was military. He always had respect for military and first responders. Then he pulled me into a hug and all I could think about was how it wasn't Jay's arms that were wrapped around me.