A/N I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did. My favorite so far.

Pumpkin Glow

"Hey Nancy, it's Jay Halstead, if you get this message in the next few minutes give me a call. I was hoping you could watch Liam tonight. I know it's short notice but, just let me know. No big deal if you can't. Thanks." Jay finished hitting end in his phone screen.

"Plans tonight?" Ruzek asked.

"Not if I don't find a sitter. I can't believe I forgot."

"What'd you forget?"

"That I had a date with this gorgeous chef at that new place on Halstead of all places." Jay said, his eyes flickering with impending disappointment.

"Sounds like it was meant to be." Ruzek chuckled.

"Friday is her only night off and she had to beg for it. And now, I'm going to have to tell her I can't make it. I'm such an idiot."

"Will can't watch him?"

"Not unless Liam wants to scrub in for surgery. He's working tonight."

"Take the kid with you. Go to a movie or something," Adam offered.

"You're not serious are you?" Jay asked.

"Of course not. I've got nothing going on. I'll watch him."

"You have nothing going on—on a Friday night you have nothing planned?"

"Nope. Besides, I've wanted to check out that Jack's Pumpkin Glow and a single man walking through there is just creepy."

"Where's Jack's Pumpkin Glow?"

"Lisle."

"Where's Lisle?"

"Near Downer's Grove." Jay looked a little concerned. "I've got a drivers license, GPS and I'll make him wear his seatbelt."

"He has to sit in backseat. He just got out of the damn booster seat not that long ago."

"Yeah, no problem. Don't worry dude. I got this. Where is he anyway?"

"He should be dropped off any minute. Look, I don't want him to stay up too late."

"Okay."

"No junk food or candy."

"Got it."

"No horror or slasher flicks either."

"Got that too. Look bro, you need a night to yourself. Stay out as long as you need. Maybe you'll even get lucky. When is he getting here?"

As if on cue, Liam came charging up the stairs after being buzzed in. "I got a hundred on my spelling because you helped me," he declared, shoving his spelling test across Jay's desk.

"Team effort," Jay smiled as he looked at the brightly colored sticker next to the A+ on the paper.

Adam looked over at the paper. "Manageable? I still don't know how to spell that word."

"Well you can ask me. My spelling was manageable because my dad helped me. E," Liam spelled out.

"Well color me impressed."

"Hey there little dude," Kevin said as he swooped up Liam and swung him around causing great delight in the boy.

"L.J., an A+, nice job. Keep that up and you might find a treat at report card time," Voight said as he walked out of his office, using Liam's nickname. "Okay people. Go home!"

"Yay!" Liam exclaimed.

"Come here buddy," Jay said as he stood up and went to the front of his desk and leaned back against it. "I have something I have to do tonight, so Uncle Adam is going to take you on a field trip."

Liam looked indecisive for a minute looking back and forth between the two men. "Okay," he shrugged. "Where are we going?" He asked Adam.

"Jack's Pumpkin Glow."

"Where's that?"

"Near Downers Grove."

"Where's that?"

"I feel like I've had a similar conversation only a few minutes ago. It's in the western suburbs."

"What is it?" Liam questioned.

"Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere."

"Okay." Liam said with little enthusiasm.

Liam was buckled up in the backseat after having had dinner at restaurant of his choosing. "My dad has a date doesn't he?"

"Yes he does," Adam answered as he looked in the rearview mirror. "It's okay if he has some fun once a while."

"I know. It's fine."

"He loves spending time with you, you know." He knew that the hours were always a source of contention with anyone in the unit and whatever family they had. He couldn't imagine how hard it was for a single father to handle it all.

"I know." Liam repeated as he stared out into the darkness rushing by his window.

"You okay kiddo?"

"Sure. I'm great," Liam answered trying to perk up. "Thanks for taking me to Jake's Pumpkin Patch."

"Jack's Pumpkin Glow."

"Oh. Yeah, thanks."

"How about some tunes? My playlist or yours?"

"Yours is fine."

"Okay. Hook me up then," Adam said as he handed his phone back to Liam who fiddled with the correct buttons and started off the road trip music.

Upon arrival Adam paid for their entrance and they looked ahead at an everlasting glow of orange with occasional swatches of purple. "Now this looks cool." He said looking down at his charge who looked equally impressed.

"Whoa. I don't know who Jack is, but he sure carved a lot of pumpkins," Liam stated, his eyes alight.

"I'll say. Let's go check it out. Come on."

The guys marveled at the paths of pumpkins ahead of them, carved into amazing displays. Liam quickly got into the spirit of things as he tugged Adam along pointing to presentations that included motorcycles and dinosaurs among other things. "Look, a skeleton playing the drums," Liam shouted.

"Wow. That's super cool. Go stand in front of it so I can take your picture." Liam smiled and hopped in front of it and smiled as Ruzek snapped the shot with his phone. "We'll send it to your dad." Adam texted that they were having a great time, no worries and attached the picture. But when he looked up, the truth of his words from only a moment ago had evaporated.

"Liam? Hey where did you go buddy?" He called out. The kid had been right next to him, but now all Adam could see was darkness ebbed by orange glow and a young couple who had walked by. "Hey, have you seen a boy, he's this tall," he said holding his hand up next to him, wearing a blue coat?" The couple shook their heads no. "Okay thanks."

"Liam," he yelled again as his heart began to accelerate. "Liam James Halstead!" Adam yelled. He's fine, he can't be far, Adam told himself. "I lost Jay's kid. He's going to kill me," he whispered. He debated whether he should stay right where he was or take off in a random direction. Should he run back to the entrance? Were there exits everywhere that he could leave through or worse, be taken through? Liam was a tough kid, smart. If someone had grabbed him he would have done something to get attention. Wouldn't he?

"Liam James!" Adam yelled again. "Answer me." He said spinning around. It had felt like an hour, but in reality it had probably been less than a minute. If he was going to have some kind of plan of action he needed it now. What kind of cop was he if he couldn't make a basic decision?

"Rowr!" Liam yelled as he popped out from behind a hay bale, his hands up, curved into claws.

Adam turned and grabbed him by the coat and pulled him close. "Don't you ever do that again!? Didn't you hear me calling you?" He looked down at Liam and saw his eyes open wide, uncertain.

"I just wanted to scare you." He said, his voice slightly quivering.

Adam sighed and got down on one knee and loosened his grip on the boys coat. "I get it—I do. Tis the season to scare. But I have to know where you are. It's dark, we're in a strange place. I called out for you and you didn't answer. I was terrified something happened to you."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. That someone took you."

"Like who?"

"I don't know, someone, anyone."

"A bad guy?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"I was okay."

"But I didn't know that."

Liam seemed to think about that for a moment. "Sorry," he whispered.

"You did scare me, but not how you intended."

"I didn't mean to, Uncle Adam."

"I know. But, now you stick with me like glue," he said grabbing the kids hand just as Jay texted back a thumbs up.

The trip ended a little more subdued than it began and Adam felt badly for his reaction, but the kid needed to know it wasn't okay to disappear like that. He was cop, and the mind of a cop went to the deepest, darkest places when things became uncertain. Liam had behaved perfectly after the incident staying close, listening, and even seemed to get a little more animated as they went along. But Adam knew he had rattled the youngster and the night hadn't gone exactly as he had hoped.

Not long after they left the field of pumpkins, Liam fell asleep and left Adam to his own devices and thought processes, as he drove back to the city. He figured he had better tell Jay what had happened. He hoped this ordeal hadn't put a crimp in the relationship between him and Liam and that Jay wouldn't hold it against him. He woke Liam up as he pulled to the curb and turned off the engine. "We're home," he said quietly.

"My house?" Liam asked rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Yep. Don't forget your backpack. Do you have your key?" Adam asked as they walked up to the door way. "Looks like you got a package," he pointed.

"My Halloween costume," he said scooping up the box that laid against the door. He then dug in his backpack and pulled the key ring from a clip in his backpack. "Here," he said as he handed it over and Adam worked the lock. "Adam."

"Yeah?"

"What does 'get lucky' mean?"

Adam's eyes shifted back and forth quickly. "It means you get lucky. You know at a game or something. Why do you ask?"

"I think it means sex." Liam replied as they walked into the living room.

"What? Why do you say that?"

"I heard you when I came up the steps at the district. Did my dad get lucky with my mom and that's why I'm here?"

"Oh crap," Adam said quietly. "You're dad is never going to let me watch you ever again."

"I heard Devin's brother say it too. He asked him if he got lucky when he came home on a date."

"What did Devin's brother say?"

"None of your business."

"Well, there you go—none of your business. Oh, hey I've got candy—chocolate," he said as he showed off a bag of bite size treats. "I had it in my truck, so I wouldn't forget to buy some for Halloween." He offered hoping it would distract Liam from their topic of conversation.

"So what does it mean?"

"It means if I tell you, I will never be able to babysit you again."

"So you're not going to tell me?"

"Nope. Chocolate?" Liam shrugged and took the proffered candy. "Okay kiddo, few pieces of candy and then get your pajamas on or whatever it is you wear to bed and do that nighttime stuff."

"We just got home." Liam complained.

"It's late."

"I napped on the way back."

"Five minutes," Adam said holding up his five fingers. "You can have five extra minutes."

"So are you and Kim going to get back together?"

"Damn kid, you're killing me with the questions."

"You guys should. I'm pretty sure she still likes you and I'm absolutely sure you like her."

"Absolutely huh?"

"Absolutely." Liam said as he sat down on the couch and dug out the remote and turned the TV on. He flipped around until he found a slasher flick.

Adam grabbed the remote. "No horror movies," he said changing the channel to a cartoon.

"Who said?"

"Your father."

"But it's only for five minutes."

"You watch the cartoon, you can stay up for a half hour." He offered. "And try on your costume so I can see it."

"Deal," Liam said munching on chocolate as he tore open the bag.

Over an hour later, the chocolate was nearly gone and the cartoon movie was over and Liam had modeled his firefighter attire. "What was that cartoon called?"

"Hotel Transylvania."

"That was pretty funny."

"Look, Hotel Transylvania part two is coming on."

"No more TV. Bedtime and I mean it this time. I need a drink," Adam said standing up, and stretching before he turned the TV off.

"Dad has some beer in the fridge."

As Ruzek went to the kitchen Liam grabbed the remote off the coffee table and turned the set back on and found another horror movie. "Michael Meyers," he said smiling as the blank faced serial psycho killer began to stab his way through the holiday.

Adam was heading back to the living room when the front door opened revealing Jay, who stood there to see his babysitter drinking a beer, his son, still awake on the couch with candy in his hand, chocolate on his face watching the movie; Halloween.

"What is happening here?"

"Hey Dad," Liam said casually.

"Yeah, hey," Adam said as he set the beer down on the coffee table. "You're back early."

"Early? It's after 11:30."

"Already huh?"

"It's late, he's eating candy and watching a horror movie." Jay pointed out.

"Yep." Adam nodded. "He sure is. Look, he's a master manipulator, I'm out of my league."

"I took a nap on the way home," Liam chimed in.

"Did you now?" Jay asked. "Well, movie time is over and so is snack time," he said as he picked up the remote and turned off the TV as the villain was chasing down his next victim. He then grabbed the bag of candy and looked at how empty it was. "What happened to not staying up late, no junk food," he said holding the bag out, "and no horror movies?"

Adam who looked like he got busted by his own father, just stayed mute and shrugged. "You," Jay said pointing to his offspring, "get ready for bed right now!" The boy shot off as if he had been sprung from a cannon.

"Look dude. I know it doesn't look good, but we were watching a cartoon. Hotel—Hotel something."

"Transylvania," Liam yelled from the bathroom.

"Yeah, Hotel Transylvania. I can tell you what happened in it as proof. And I tried to get him to go to bed, but he did fall asleep in the car and one piece of chocolate turned into more. And the beer, the beer, I just opened. I had turned the TV off when I went into the kitchen to get the beer. He must have turned it back on and changed the channel. I swear we had it on the Disney channel."

Jay looked over at his friend and coworker, his face straight and unforgiving. He then shook his head and smiled. "It's okay man. I'm just giving you a hard time to freak Liam out."

"Well you freaked me out."

"I knew he wouldn't be easy tonight. He doesn't like it when I don't give him a heads-up when I'm going out."

"Thanks man. I swear I tried."

"I know."

"How was your date? Did you get what you needed?"

"What I needed?" Jay asked as his eyebrows went up.

"Well, did you have fun?" He asked avoiding the whole get lucky phrase. "Will you be seeing her again?"

"We plan to try and hook up again."

"Ahh, so you did get something out of the deal."

"Yeah. Dinner and companionship," Jay replied.

"Right, companionship."

Jay shook his head and sighed. He had had a nice time with Kara, but he had discovered that dating anyone outside of the first responder nation never ended well. But they were both willing to figure out another night that worked with their schedules.

"Oh, his costume came. He tried it on. It fit fine."

"Great. One less thing to worry about."

"Um, Jay."

"Yeah," Jay replied as leaned against the back of the couch.

"I wasn't going to tell you, then, I figured I should. Um, well—I lost him."

"Him who?"

"Him Liam. I mean I found him again. Obviously. But we were in the pumpkin thing and it's lots of winding pathways and I was texting you and when I looked up he was gone. It wasn't long, but I was totally freaked out and figuring out what to do when he jumped in front of me trying to scare me." Adam looked at a stone-faced Jay and continued. "I grabbed him by the coat, told him that he had scared because he had hidden from me and didn't answer when I called him. I mean I called him over and over and even used his middle name, but he wouldn't come out.

"I know none of this looks good and you'll probably never let me watch again because I'm a total failure, but I thought you should know."

Jay inhaled deeply and crossed his arms. "When he was around six or seven we were in this nocturnal habitat at the St. Louis Zoo. One minute we were both watching a bat eat some fruit and the next he was gone. Just like that—poof. I spun around, looked left and right and did it all again. There is no other terror in the world like the feeling that you get when your child disappears. I'm a trained professional and I froze, just stood there listening to my hammering heart. I walked around calling out his name, asking if anyone had seen him. It was probably a minute later that I found him hiding behind behind a pillar near another display. He thought watching my meltdown was hilarious."

"Wow," Adam replied.

"He didn't think it was so funny when I was done with him. It was the first time, the last time—hell, the only time I have spanked him. So, I'd say he got off lucky. But, thanks, I needed to know. Kids are constant motion, constant buzzing, annoying, unstoppable motion." He finished sounding defeated. "You did fine."

"He's a good kid. You're a lucky man."

"Yes he is. And yes I am."

"I can't believe he's ten already."

"I know. I had a hard time with this birthday. Double digits now. Too fast—he's growing up too fast."

"He only called me Uncle Adam a couple of times. The other times it was just Adam. And once he called me Ruzek."

Jay smiled and chuckled. "Thanks for watching him, especially on such short notice."

"So I'm not fired?"

"Not even close."

Adam smiled and nodded. "Thanks. It doesn't look like I'm going have kids any time soon, so I have to get my fix with my nephew and Liam."

"Happy to oblige," Jay said.

"Hey kid, goodnight. Thanks for hanging out with me," he yelled out.

Liam came charging out from the bathroom, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. Jay looked over and cringed. "Don't run with the toothbrush in your mouth!"

"Sorry," Liam said as he pulled it out leaving a trail of toothpaste mixed with chocolate on his face. He then plunged face first into Ruzek giving him a big hug. "Thanks for watching me Uncle Adam."

Adam put his arms around him and smiled as he looked over at Jay. "You're welcome kiddo. I'm glad you had fun."

"And now you have chocolate and toothpaste all over your shirt," Jay said shaking his head. "But you probably deserve that much."

"It's nothing I haven't done to myself. Okay guys, I'll catch you later."

"Thanks again man." Jay said as Adam left the apartment. "And you. Get finished and into bed. I'll check on you in a few minutes."

As Liam disappeared back into the bathroom, Jay sat down on the couch and grabbed Adam's abandoned beer and took a long drink.

Ten minutes later Jay dragged his weary body into his sons room. Liam moved over so Jay could sit down on his bed. "Adam said you hid from him when you were at the pumpkin thing."

"Yeah, but just for a minute. I thought it would be funny."

"Was it funny?"

"I guess not."

"Do you remember what happened in St. Louis, at the zoo?"

Liam looked like he was making a tremendous effort to conjure up the memory. "The bat house?"

"Yeah, the bat house."

"Oh yeah."

"Did I think it was funny?"

"No you didn't."

"Don't hide from adults especially when they aren't expecting it and are calling your name. Got it?"

Liam nodded. "Got it."

"Okay, good. It better not happen again."

"Okay. It won't."

"And don't expect me to feel sorry for you if you have nightmares." Jay said as Liam wiggled his way further under the blankets.

"I won't. That movie stuff doesn't scare me. But if you have a nightmare you can sleep with me," Liam offered.

"I'll keep that in mind," Jay said quietly as he bent down and kissed his son on the head.

As Jay got ready for bed it was the conversation with Liam about nightmares that kept replaying in his head. As he sat on the side of his bed he stopped and thought about what his son had said. It then occurred to him that the many times he had woken up and found Liam next to him in bed, he had assumed that the boy had had a nightmare, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it wasn't about Liam's dreams, but about Jay's nightmares. How could he have missed that. His son was coming to him not because of any of his nighttime fears, but because of Jay's own. He must have been calling out in his sleep, pulling Liam from his own. His son came to give comfort not to seek it.

As he laid down he remembered a case from a few years ago that ended with a ten year old boy in the trunk of a car. Jay had pulled him out, knew he was dead, but still had to try CPR. He had to try because this was a child who had had everything ripped away from him. He had to try because his parents didn't yet know it, but they had lost everything too. And he had to try because he could never look into the eyes of his son again if he didn't.

The effort didn't last long. The boy had been dead for hours and Jay lost another piece of himself that day. He had gone home late, relieved the babysitter and stood and watched Liam sleep. His head barely taking up any room on the pillow, his face a holding serene look that only sleep can bring. Jay was dead tired, but couldn't make himself move. So he took off his coat and shoes, laid down and slept on his son's floor. When he woke up hours later, Liam was curled up next to him, a blanket covering them both. All Jay could think of was who was taking care of whom?

Soundtrack: This is Halloween when the guys are in the pumpkin patch