Kid Needs a Break Chapter 6, a chicago pd fanfic

LoL! I've done it again! Promised there was one more chapter and then another one reared it's ugly head! So peeps, this isn't the end. We've got another one to go after this!

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CID came in the next morning to debrief Jay. It pissed them all off. Jay was still in no condition to talk to them.

Livid about the timing, Ethan stopped them just outside the room and tried to delay the interview for medical reasons, sticking to the physical aspects of Jay's injuries and keeping to himself the fact Jay wasn't doing well emotionally and rehashing things wasn't going to help.

Making matters worse, the bastards wouldn't let any of the unit in the room during the interview. Voight fought them on it, arguing that Intelligence was a part of the investigation and adding a little louder, "Hell we were the ones that took the motherfuckers out."

The agent in charge was barely a step below asshole in his reply, "I know. I read your statements…it doesn't matter, even with the Turner's dead we need to investigate. This can't happen again."

Wielding the power of his office and the importance of the interview, he continued, "What happened is in our hands now. This is a matter of national security, not a CPD case about revenge."

Voight had no qualms treating the two agents like criminals, but was interrupted before he could silence the asshole.

"Why don't we see what Officer Halstead wants to do?"

That statement, disguised as a question, was immediately met with six voices loudly correcting the purposeful slight, "DETECTIVE!"

Voight took it a little a little further, a threat laced in his words, as he stepped closer to the assholes, "That's Detective Halstead…you'd do well to remember that."

Done with the conversation, the CID agents turned and entered Jay's room, a raging unit and worried doctor hot on their heels. They were far from giving in to the condescending pricks but Jay had put a stop to the argument.

Ethan wanted to argue with him on it, Jay looked like hell. Pain was written all over his face and his eyes were filled with despair, but the doctor reluctantly let it go when Jay told the group in the strongest voice he could muster that he wanted to get it over with.

Not surprisingly, Jay's sense of duty through the roof.

Winning the argument, the two army sergeants placated the team by 'allowing' Ethan to be in the room. 'Allowing' was bullshit to say the least. They caved to the good doctor when he demanded it.

Dr. Choi stated loud and unwaveringly clear, he was part of the initial 'incident' and being in the reserves still held his clearance. To cap things off, Ethan demanded they refer to him as Lieutenant Choi. He couldn't pull rank in this situation but he wanted it to be clear…if they ran into each other in a military setting, they would be saluting him.

Hanging out in the waiting room, pissed the interview was going so long, the team's worry for Jay ratcheted up by the minute. Knowing Jay, they knew he wouldn't take pain meds. He would want to be clear headed for the debrief and by now he would be in a tremendous amount of pain.

Voight texted Trudy, filling her in and requesting she box up their files for the investigation into 'Watchdog Deuce.' The fact the Army had an idiotic name and a nine digit code for this case, Jay's case, pissed them off. They weren't particularly surprised by it but it hurt to see their friend become a national security case code.

Not being afraid of the Army in the least, Trudy was their best course of retaliation. She would have no problem being a step above asshole and would enjoy turning her cutting snark loose on them.

An hour and a half later, Ethan entered the waiting room, body held tight with the stress of the situation.

"How's Jay?"

"He fell asleep on them. But they got what they needed…"

He let his anger seep into his words then, "…they asked questions more than once, clarifying details that were clear as day…they treated him like he was the criminal."

That information caused Voight to storm out of the waiting room. Ethan knew where he was headed, understood his anger and hoped to God the sergeant lived up to his reputation right then.

Voight caught the pricks by the elevators and stopped them from getting on when the doors opened.

"Sergeant Voight, step out of the way. We had a job to do. You must understand that."

"I understand you had a job to do but you were assholes in doing it. You talked to my Detective the way I talk to criminals…."

Stepping closer, physical threat implied but not taken, Voight did his best to shame them, "You just treated a highly decorated war hero as a criminal."

Both CID agents spoke at the same time but Voight cut them off at the first syllable.

"I'll be talking to your superior on about your behavior."

That caused both agents to smirk, it was an empty threat.

"Sergeant Major Braxton, correct?"

He saw a tinge of trepidation cross their faces.

"What you assholes failed to understand and God knows how you missed it, is that Sergeant Major Braxton was Jay's commanding officer when this shit show first happened and has been in constant contact with Detective Halstead from the start."

The unease in the two CID sergeants was now palpable, bringing an evil grin to Voight's face that he saved for the worst of the worst criminals. "You have a good day Corporal Santiago, Corporal Ernst…"

"That's ser..."

"Not for long."

Smirking at the assholes, Voight released the door and watched the elevator close, wishing it was traveling to hell instead of the lobby. But since it wasn't he went with the only viable option and called Braxton's direct line.

They had kept the Sergeant Major in the loop from the beginning. He had been relieved the Turner's hadn't killed Jay but was devastated by what happened to him. Voight had no doubt Braxton would bust his people down in rank.

Watching Voight charge out of the room, Ethan was jerked out of his thoughts by Hailey.

"Can we see him?"

He took a big breath and let it out in a sigh, "Give him a minute, I want the meds to kick in. He woke up when I was checking his vitals and refused sedation."

"What?!"

"Ya, I know, I know. He used the PCA, that's better than nothing. I'm hoping the morphine will put him out for a while. He's exhausted."

"Ethan…"

"Look guys…" he was rethinking letting them see Jay right away. "He's lost in memories when he's awake and trapped in nightmares when he's asleep. He wasn't doing well before the interview…this will set him back further…"

The whole of Intelligence knew this, or suspected it, knew Jay was sliding emotionally but they just wanted to see their friend. They wanted, needed the opportunity to help him and were being shut out.

Face scrunching in disappointment and sadness, Adam was desperate to be there for Jay, "Maybe…but maybe it will help having us there, a distraction."

"I get it Adam. I know you guys want to be there for him, support him…but…how about we let him sleep and I'll check in when he wakes up…we're walking a tightrope here."

Resigned to the fact they wouldn't be seeing Jay right then, they made themselves comfortable in the waiting room. They weren't leaving until they absolutely had to.

The morphine didn't take him down for long and woke with a start, Jackson's name on his lips.

He rubbed his eyes, clearing the blurriness, the tears. His brain wouldn't shut down for long even with the pain meds and the exhaustion just put salt on the wound and heightened the flavor of his emotional pain.

Shifting position, he sent pain shooting through his body and it took everything in him not to scream.

He breathed through it, always breathing through it, but it was still there. He cringed while he tried to find a comfortable position…a less painful position…comfort didn't exist right now.

As painful as his back, his injuries were, it didn't touch his heart…reliving it…all of it, his own physical torment interspersed with what the Taliban did to Jackson…forced to watch what they did to Jackson…that was the worst of it…that was the real torture.

What had happened to him those days ago, what the Turner's did, was nothing but the key to the box of his failure, his pain. And now he didn't know if he could put it away again.

There was a big part of him that thought he absolutely deserved that pain and he knew it would be a road block, it was before. Now Will was hurt on top of it.

That spun his mind out on others who might hurt Will to get to him, it had him dipping his toe in a pool of suicidal thoughts…if he wasn't here he would be protecting Will, those he loved.

Those thoughts went away as quickly as they came. To cause his loved ones pain in that way, over a future possibility, was something he couldn't do. He was stuck in his cesspool of thoughts and with every tick of the clock he waded further into the deep end.

Afraid of sedation, he pushed the button on the PCA administering a dose of morphine and hoping this time it would work…but like always, it was nothing more than a painful ride to purgatory.

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"You sure you don't need any help? You've got five broken fingers."

Jay had let Ethan help with his shirt and remove the bandages on his back wrists and ankles, but that was as far as he would go.

"I'll figure it out. I'm fine."

"Okay. I'll be out here. Give a holler if you need me."

Ethan watched his friend's slow walk to the bathroom for a shower. The cuts on Jay's back were healing but the black threads of the stitches were still ugly, the bruises on his back and sides were still ugly, his whole body was still bruised and it was ugly and made him angry.

He had never thought in a million years he would see Jay like this again, but there he was, bruised and battered slogging to the bathroom. He knew if he could see Jay's face it would be a stoic mask covering profound emotional and physical pain…pain that for now, he could do nothing about…and that made him furious.

Jay knew he was in Chicago but that didn't stop him from feeling the grit of the desert sticking to his sweaty skin and the need to scrub it away. He washed the sand out of his hair as best he could with five splinted fingers, knowing there wasn't any sand, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel it.

Scrubbed clean, he hid in the flow of the water, letting it roll off his back not caring about the sting…not aware of the sting, too lost in his thoughts. He stood until his weakened body protested then sat on the shower chair, not feeling the need to be strong. He just wanted to be clean…and alone.

When pain started to radiate through his body, pulling him out of his spinning head, he stifled a groan and stood, grasping the bar and closing his eyes as he willed himself not to pass out.

Calming the pain with his breathing and steadying himself on his feet, he awkwardly shut off the water and opened the shower curtain. He got as far as wrapping a towel around his waist before his eyes landed on Jackson's bloody and bruised naked body curled up by the door, wrists and ankles encased in chains.

"Jackson…" he whispered.

He thought the kid was dead until he burst into a brutal coughing fit, blood tainting his lips.

"Jackson!"

Fevered eyes met his and a whisper broke through the drip of the water.

"Help me Sarge. Please, help me…" Then he sucked in a wheezing breath that triggered another round of hacking until he fell quiet, blood dribbling from his mouth.

Frozen in place, body trembling in pain, Jay half begged, half ordered his subordinate to stay with him.

"It's okay man. Hold on. Just hold on, okay? They'll come for us."

He watched Jackson's eyes lose their light and his body become a burnt shell before it finally crumbled to ash.

Tears flowing, Jay's eyes were riveted to his smoldering failure so he didn't hear the knock or notice the door opening, but winced when Ethan stepped in the dust of Jackson.

Sound broke through the electricity crackling in his head but he didn't understand it…understand anything, he was barely even aware of being dried off and helped into sweat pants and a gown.

Following his friend's line of sight, Ethan turned to the door, "Jay…Jay…what're you seeing?"

"They burned him. They burned his body."

Ethan's heart seized, "You're in Chicago, Jay…in the hospital…Jackson…" he put a hand on each side of Jay's face and forced him to meet his eyes, "…that happened a long time ago."

He got no response at first, but then Jay blinked at him.

"Ya. Ya…I know. Chicago."

Ethan scanned his buddy's face again. "Let's get you back to bed. We'll skip the shirt for now and get some new bandages on you."

Pain stricken eyes flicked away from his before he grabbed Jay's elbow and helped him back to bed, choosing to ignore it when his friend stepped over something only he could see right before they exited the bathroom.

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Oopsie. That's not the last chapter. I wonder how many times I have said 'one more chapter' huh…well here's another one…one more chapter peeps! Hope you enjoyed and thanks as always for your reviews, comments and kudos! You are the bombdiggity! Stay safe!