Thank you, folks. I was so happy to read all of your comments.

I hope you will enjoy the new chapter!

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"Thank you,"; Jay whispered as he lay two hours later next to his sleeping son and Hailey.

Upton sat up slightly and gently touched Bens cheek with the back of her hand while she worriedly looked at the boy.

"He would need a mother to take care of him,"; Halstead looked thoughtfully at his son, who was holding his teddy bear.

"I can't offer him that."

For a moment there was an oppressive silence before Jay gathered all his courage and asked the all deciding question. It's now or never.

"Hailey, how would you feel about actually moving in with us temporarily? It would be good for Ben and we could try out how it works?"

Hailey paused abruptly, eyeballing her boyfriend with an uncertain look.

"Are you serious?"

Jay nodded.

"Wow, that's pretty sudden. Are you sure that's a good idea? Especially now when the little one needs stability and needs you most?"

"To be honest, I'd really like you to support me in the days ahead. It would also be important for Ben to have someone else to be there for him besides me."

Hailey nodded in affect, but then let out a soft sigh.

" You know, if at some point things don't work out between us, it would be another failure for him." Halstead pushed around, gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"Well, I had actually assumed that we were in love,"; he joked, which she commented with a sad smile. She moved closer to him, gave him a long kiss.

"Can I take that as a yes now?"; he didn't let up, so she pinched his cheek in a funny way.

"Weirdo", she he whispered softly before smiling meaningful, giving him a long kiss. . .

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The next day Hailey drove to work. Jay, who had the much heavier part that morning, woke up his son so that they could set off together for the memorial site. Nobody said a word in the car. Two streets in front of the school, Ben suddenly grabbed his father's right hand. Jay acted accordingly and turned off at the next street corner to stop in one of the parking lots. He turned off the engine, looked at his son with a serious expression."

"What's up, big guy? There's something wrong with you." Ben pushed around, didn't look Jay in the eyes once, then he came out with the truth in a shaky voice.

"I don't want to go there. I'm scared."

Fearfully Ben looked at his father.

"Hey", Jay looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm with you. All the time. Nothing can happen to you and the other kids." But he shook his head.

"It's not just that. I don't want to cry in front of the others." Sensitively Jay squeezed the hand of his son.

"Ben, when something like this happens, it's perfectly okay to show emotion and cry. Oscar was one of your friends."

The 9 year old nodded silently.

"I know it's hard and you don't want to go back there, but sometimes it's important to face your fears and put the bad things behind you."

"Have you ever done this before?"; Jay nodded sadly.

"Oh, yeah."

"Did you have to cry too?"; Halstead moved his head forward again.

"Come on, big guy. Two are stronger than one alone,"; Jay reached for Ben's hand again. Reluctantly, the boy looked at his father before he unbuckled himself melancholy and then stepped outside.

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"And? How did it go?"

"It worked, but he cried a lot,"; Jay pointed towards the back seat where Ben had fallen asleep from exhaustion. They had picked up Hailey directly from the guard and were on their way to her home where she wanted to pick up some more things.

"I'm glad we got that over with." Hailey nodded at him, looked out the window lost in thought, and wrapped one of her blonde strands of hair around her finger.

"This was important for him to be able to work through this. I think so, too. Besides. . ."

Halstead couldn't finish his words. Hailey tapped him from the side.

"Jay, hold on a second. You see that?"; she pointed continuously outside, where the two of them were staring directly at a small boy of about 5 years of age, who was walking lonely and alone and rather lost on the street. Those two knew too well what that meant. Someone had neglected his duty of supervision and since this could quickly become dangerous for a small child in Chicago, they immediately took action. Halstead parked the car at the side of the road, then they got out. Jay locked the car so Ben was safe. Together they walked towards the helpless looking child. In order for the little one to gain confidence, Hailey went down slightly.

"Hey, sweetheart. How did you get here? Where are your parents?"; Restlessly he pointed inside towards a house, bobbing nervously up and down.

"Do you live there? Is this where your mommy and daddy are?"; Jay wanted to know, but did not get a conclusive answer. Especially since the boy seemed visibly worried. Instead of an answer, the little one snapped at Jay's hand and ran with him in the direction of a garage entrance. Halstead looked at Hailey in a meaningful way. Halfway through the race, he held the boy back. Something was not right at all, because the little one looked in panic at the locked door of the house.

"Okay, buddy. You and I are gonna go out to the car and while Jay looks after your mommy and daddy, you tell me a little bit about who you are, okay?"

Meaningly, Hailey looked at Jay once more before she took the boy by the hand and ran with him to the car to call for reinforcements. In the meantime, Jay passed on the most important information to Voight. He pulled out his gun. Tense, he moved to the garage, which was open to his amazement. The lower floor was darkened. Nervously he drove his pistol through the nearby surroundings. Then, shortly after entering the living room, he looked in shock at two bodies lying on the floor, visibly shattered. His eyes froze as he realized that the boy must have seen everything. He tried to feel the pulse once more, but it did not succeed.

"This is 5021 George. We need reinforcements. Two dead after GSW's." He had just made the necessary report over the radio when a tremendous force threw him to the ground and a terrible burning sensation filled his chest. Soon after, everything went black. . .