A/N: I'm so sorry for the wait! I've struggled to get this chapter the way I want it to and honestly I'm not 100% happy with the way it is now but I just had to put something out and get over this slump of mine otherwise I don't think I would end up posting a new chapter for months, at least. This chapter is entirely flashbacks which is not like the others, but hopefully you all enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the information and dialogue used in this chapter is pulled from Chicago Justice, Season 1 episode 13 'Tycoon'. I haven't completely recapped the episode, but hopefully I've provided enough information to give you a sense of what's going on. If not, feel free to check out the episode – it's a pretty good one.

Hopefully I'll get that figured out quickly and we can get back to it soon :)

Thanks for sticking with me, enjoy!

Chapter 20 – lovers who didn't choose

'Not anyone who says, "I'm going to be

careful and smart in matters of love,"

who says, "I'm going to choose slowly,"

but only those lovers who didn't choose at all

but were, as it were, chosen

by something invisible and powerful and uncontrollable

and beautiful and possibly even

unsuitable –

only those know what I'm talking about

in this talking about love.'

(Mary Oliver)

August 2019

"Alright, listen up." Voight's voice booms through the bullpen as he stands in the doorway of his office "Halstead's running things today. All questions go to him, any new information, anywhere you go; you tell him. He's your Sergeant for this case."

Jay mustered a smile as he stood up from his desk. He took in the reassuring and prideful looks form his co-workers but avoided his fiancée's eyes. The last six weeks had been the busiest in his professional career, and the most strenuous in his personal life. His fight with Erin over her involvement with Bunny had only escalated over time. Like a kettle boiling over, their words and emotions seemed to be never-ending, filling to the brim and pouring out of them at any given time. They were on edge, stressed, upset and angry. But they had a kid to raise and a job to do, and they didn't have the time or luxury of sitting around and talking things out properly. They were both mad as hell and not willing to take in anything the other person had to say.

So, Jay had thrown himself and sat into work and sat the Sergeant's exam, while Erin had focused on getting the house ready for the baby and looking after Evie who was currently on school break. They had dinner together with their daughter, passive-aggressively argued as they got ready for bed, and fitfully fell asleep. They were trying their best to keep a brave face around their child and their team, but lately Jay felt like the façade was getting harder and harder to maintain.

"Okay well, first things first; I got a call from Antonio. He's working the Linden construction death right now and they need someone from CFD and CPD to liaise with-"

"I'll take it." the team all looked at Erin in surprise, her head down as she filled out yet another form for her maternity leave request.

at twenty-six weeks pregnant, she was on desk duty full-time, barring the occasional drive along to do witness interviews and alike. Jay tried not to let his irritation bubble up at the casual way she offered herself up.

"I would rather-"

"I was on the site the day of the accident; I already know the groundwork. Wouldn't you rather not have to diminish the number of active members that can go in the field, and just utilise the one already on desk-duty?"

"You're on desk duty because you're twenty-six weeks pregnant, Erin." Jay says, struggling to keep his voice level "But like I was saying, I would rather check with Antonio first to make sure what assistance he needs before you head over there. Sound good?"

lies, he thought. The only thing he would rather was that Erin sit her pregnant ass in that chair of hers all day and stay inside the precinct where he knew she and their unborn child would be safe. But he was mad with her and had to lead his team without showing that madness to them, because his personal life needed to stay separate from the job as much as it could nowadays. And he also didn't want to admit that she was right in any way right now.

"You're the boss."

Jay could feel Voight's eyes burning into the back of his head. He knew how they sounded – like a bickering old married couple. Ironic, he thought, considering they couldn't even agree on what to order for dinner last night; let alone the date they should commit to spend the rest of their lives together in front of the people they love most in this world.

"Okay," Jay says focusing back on the team "Homicide called just before and they've got something they want our help with. Finish up whatever you're doing and be ready to roll out in ten."

Jay follows Voight back into his office, the older man's eyes burning a hole into his head. Jay focuses on the folder in his hand, reading diligently over the case reports from the investigation they wrapped up last week. Jay had been tasked with dotting the I's and crossing the T's – Voight would claim it was for practice, but Jay likes to think it's because his boss hates paperwork more than any part of this job.

"Is there something you want to discuss?" Voight asks, sitting down across from Jay.

Jay meets his boss' eyes, feigning confusion "I'm not sure what you mean."

"Erin. I've never seen her act like that before, what going on with you two?"

"She's pregnant, her hormones are everywhere – you know how irritable she's been."

It wasn't exactly a lie. Erin had been biting everyone's head off lately. Between her and Kim, there were three sets of pregnancy hormones running rampant in the office of the Intelligence Unit and their entire team was on high alert as to not trigger either of the woman's volatile mood swings.

But Voight remained unconvinced, "Are you sure that's all it is? Seems like there's more to the story than just pregnancy hormones."

"Sarge, all due respect but … my marriage is my business, okay?" Jay sighs

"Firstly, you two aren't actually married. Secondly, you knocked up the closest person I got left to family around here. Third, you both work for me – so if I want to make it my business, I will. I won't have whatever lovers' quarrel this is affecting the way this unit operates, especially if you're going to be taking over."

The implication in Voight's tone doesn't go unnoticed by Jay. Lately, it's felt like Voight is doubting his decision to hand the unit over to Jay. As if he no longer trusts the man to run this team responsibly.

Jay steels himself, looking his Sergeant directly in the eye as he says "You have my word that nothing else is going on. Things are stressful, prepping for the baby and all. But my focus is exactly where it needs to be."

"Alright, that's all I needed to hear."

Voight stands and Jay follows, the two heading out with everyone down the back exit. Jay's eyes linger on Kim and Erin left behind. Erin looks at him briefly before grabbing her jacket and heading out the front entrance to meet Antonio, and Jay focuses back on his team. He has a job to do, and he needs to trust that Erin can handle herself. Voight was right about one thing – he can't let his personal life with Erin affect the way he handles himself on the job. There are too many lives at risk if he lets his judgement be impaired. Erin would be safe with Antonio.

And hopefully a day apart would help relieve some of the tension between them.

Erin walks slowly into the compact offices of the Special Prosecutions Bureau, taking in her surroundings. The workspace is similar to that of Intelligence; lacking much colour, everyone's desks pushed up against each other's with a few proper offices for those of importance. She spots Antonio standing next to a short-hair, blonde woman who nudges him when she makes eye contact with Erin.

Antonio turns to see Erin and rushes towards her with a smile on his face. The two embrace, Antonio's hand on her belly as he warmly tells her, "It's good to see you."

"You too. We miss you over there." Erin smiles.

"Geez, this kid's getting big." Antonio chuckles as Erin glares at him, "At this rate you're going to be pushing out a ten-pounder at least."

Erin groans "Oh god, don't even put that out into the universe. Will said he was 10.8 pounds. Jay's lucky, because if I had been in her position there's no way you would've convinced me on a second baby."

"My daughter was 9 pounds. The nurses told me that's pretty average weight but let me tell you, pushing her out felt anything but average." the blonde woman laughs as she approaches the two of them, extending her hand out to Erin "I'm Laura Nagel. Antonio's new partner."

"Erin Lindsay. Antonio's old partner, I guess." Erin smiles and shakes the woman's hand "I hope you're keeping him out of trouble, Nagel."

"As best I can." Laura chuckles, "Come get settled in and we'll catch you up on what we know so far."

Erin nods and follows behind Laura, Antonio walking beside her as they quickly fill each other in on how they've been since he left Intelligence. Erin is quickly introduced to Anna Valdez and Mark Jeffries before turning to see Peter Stone approaching from his office.

"You must be the detective Antonio's been talking so much about. I'm State's Attorney Peter Stone."

"Erin Lindsay. We've met actually – I'm friends with Kim Burgess."

Recognition lights up in Peter's eyes and he nods "Ah, my apologies. Well, I look forward to working with you, Detective."

"Likewise." Erin nods politely as the man heads back into his office, turning back to look at her once more before closing his door behind him.

"Antonio," Erin says softly "ASA Stone, do I need to be worried about him?"

"Stone's Dad used to butt heads with Hank back in the day, but it's water under the bridge now. He knows you're not Voight." Antonio assures her.

"Okay," Laura claps her hand garnering everyone's attention "Here's what we know so far."

"Something isn't right there." Laura says as they exit Chicago Gaffney, "Benzinger's wife was cagey. She's hiding something."

"I think she's just scared. Her husband's already got one strike against him, it's easy to believe that law enforcement's going to see him as a scapegoat they can wrap in a pretty package and feed to the media." Erin argues "If anything, I think she's more so just trying to protect her husband in all of this."

Laura contemplates her words as they get in the car, nodding at the other woman "Makes sense. You know, you're pretty good at this investigative stuff, Lindsay."

Erin shrugs, feeling sheepish, "It's the same as detective work really, just a different job title."

"Stone's finished talking with the wife, and Boden wants us back down at the site." Antonio says, starting the car and heading back to the office.

…

"So, the boom pin show signs of being treated with difluoroethane – it freezes metal to negative one hundred and sixty-seven degrees; it makes it brittle enough to break in your hands. That alone tells us that someone sabotaged the job." Antonio explains to Stone and Valdez.

"Not to mention the fact that Benzinger's coffee cup was laced with pure cocaine." Erin adds.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Stone asks.

"No drug slinger in Chicago is moving pure cocaine, it's too expensive to sell on the streets unless it's cut with something else to lower the quality. Which means that whoever bought that had to have deep enough pockets to afford the price tag. There's no way Benzinger could find this kind of dope on any random dealer on the street; someone found out his work history and organised for him to be moved to this site so they could set him up to take the fall when the crane collapsed."

"Well, the wife is adamant that her husband was a saint." Valdez interjects "She doesn't know who would want to harm him."

"Where are we at with the security footage?" Stone says.

Antonio hands him a photo of a red dodge charger "Laura and Erin went through surrounding CCTV and security footage. We figured whoever messed with the boom pin would've done so within the hour before Benzinger came into work at 7:30am. This is the only car that came in or out of the premises over that time."

"Can't make out the licence plates, so it's not much to go on." Erin sighs.

"It's more than we had an hour ago." Valdez comments, giving her a reassuring look.

"Alright, you two check with the security guards and see if they've seen that car around before." Stone indicates to Laura and Antonio, turning to Erin and Valdez "You two check with Frank and Brett Linden, see what they have to say about it."

Erin and Anna wait with Brett Linden in his father's home office, standing before a massive prototype of one of his newest buildings.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Frank Linden says as he walks in, "28 West Washington. Not even built yet and I've already made a 400% profit."

Erin resists the urge to roll her eyes at the man's boastful commentary. She's met enough men like him to know that all they want to do is centre the conversation around themselves, and men like Brett eat up every word they have to say because they just don't know any better.

"That's impressive." Anna says, following him to his desk.

"Ah, anybody can make money. You know what's impressive, what's truly impressive? When you fly into O'Hare, and you see something you've built prick up into the clouds. That's impressive.

Anna smiles tightly and Erin can tell just how much she's struggling to keep up the fake niceties too. "That is impressive."

"Well, you know, everybody talks about legacy, legacy, legacy. You change a skyline, that's legacy."

Brett nods along with his father's words, appearing agitated as he looks between Anna, Erin and his father.

"I'm sure Miss Valdez and Lindsay are very busy, Frank."

"Well, Miss Valdez is absolutely right. You don't leave a legacy pushing paper. Am I right?"

Erin notices the way Brett Linden's face drops. It's a fraction of a second, the smile reappearing so quickly that you could almost believe it hadn't gone at all. But Frank Linden's comments seemed to have rub the younger man the wrong way, and Erin's curiosity is peaked.

"So, the crane operator; we aren't charging him with murder?" Frank asks, sipping his tea.

"I don't think so, no." Anna says.

"You don't think so? He killed my son-in-law."

"Actually," Erin steps in, "He may –"

"I'll call Bledsoe." Frank turns away from the women, Erin looking at Anna astonished "Best private agency detective in the country. They'll get something done."

"Frank …" Brett starts, only to be dismissed by his father.

"No disrespect, I'm sure you're a very smart girl." Frank smiles, looking at Anna and Erin feels her hand forming into a tight fist at the man's condescending tone.

"You can pat me on the head if you'd like." Anna says, face serious as ever. Erin barely manages to hold back a snicker at the way Frank Linden falters momentarily.

"Whoops! PC Felony." Frank chuckles, Brett joining in, as he holds his hands out to Erin "You got me. I confess, take me away!"

The sheer arrogance of this man had Erin's anger skyrocketing, and she was grateful that Valdez was there and able to keep her cool otherwise Erin probably would've smacked the asshole into next week.

"I apologize. You're not a young girl, you're a lady."

"I'm an assistant state's attorney, Mr Linden."

"Well, that's very good for you." Frank's façade falters momentarily, the door behind them opening and a woman walking through. Frank's attention turns to her as he speaks to Erin and Anna.

"You know what, the world would be a lot better off if everyone could actually say what they were thinking."

Frank begins to walk to the woman, and Brett calls out "Miss Valdez and Lindsay wanted to know about our enemies?"

"And if you recognize this car." Erin holds out her phone to the man.

Frank shakes his head as he looks through the photos "In my business, if we didn't have enemies, we wouldn't be winning. Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"Did anyone lose recently?" Erin interjects.

"Or particularly badly?" Anna adds.

"… Jim Florence, that son of a bitch. Brett will give you whatever you need." Frank says, walking away from them.

Anna talks with Brett about Jim Florence, an electrical subcontractor who got into a beef with his father over money; he overbilled, and Linden Corp. refused to pay, Florence sent threatening phone calls before showing up to days ago with a gun at their office building.

Erin watches the exchange; the way Anna asks Brett about his father's history. She's fishing for something, and Erin can tell, but Brett seems oblivious; Anna's kind demeanour and soft-spoken words disarming.

…

Valdez meets Erin back in the main office after she's finished interviewing Jim Florence. The man's story seems to check out, and he has an alibi to cover him for the three hours leading up to the crane collapse. Even if he is involved somehow – he wasn't the mastermind behind all of this.

"What're you doing?" Anna asks.

Erin looks up from the stack of files in front of her, "Hey. I hope you don't mind, I heard ASA Stone ask you about looking into Linden's financial history. Figured I'd get a jump on it while you spoke with Florence."

Anna looks at the roughly fifteen thick folders tabbed and marked up in the corner of Antonio's desk, "You went through all of these already?"

Erin shrugs "Desk duty has given me a lot of practice with paperwork. I've gotten pretty efficient with it."

"This is impressive work." Anna flips through one of the folders to read Erin's notes, "Hey, if you ever get bored over at the 21st, let me know. I'd gladly have you working for us."

"I'll keep that in mind." Erin chuckles, "Get anything from Florence?"

Anna sighs "Not really. He said something about Linden always coming out ahead; I don't know, something about it just rubbed me the wrong way."

"You know, I might have something that could help answer that."

"Got a minute?" Anna asks as she and Erin stand in Peter Stone's doorway. He looks up from the files he's reading briefly, motioning them in.

"Detective Lindsay looked into Linden's business practices-"

"Oh, she did, did she?" Peter asks, eyeing Erin.

"Just doing my part to help." Erin says politely.

Peter simply hums and grabs the paper's Anna holds out to him, flipping through. Anna motions to Erin to start talking.

"Uh, Linden. Corp's filed for bankruptcy five times –"

"They've gotten rid of debtor's prison, Anna. It's in the Constitution somewhere." Peter says, not bothering to look at either woman as he holds the paperwork back out to his co-worker.

"Maybe so," Erin grits out "But each time, he made out like a bandit whilst every other stakeholder, investor, worker, whoever; they all got completely wiped out."

Peter's face changes, his curiosity peaked, and he takes the folder back from Anna "Exactly." the young woman says, "We ran a search on Riverfront to check out how much it was insured for."

"Did you find a policy?"

"Eventually." Erin answers "He filed a certificate with the state, through a company called Alcorine Insurance."

"So, what am I looking for?" He turns his attention to Erin, holding the piece of paper to her.

"The CCs. Ones to Linden run through a server called . Anna ran through every program she could access, there's no public server with that name."

"Which means he's using a private server instead." Peter clicks on, looking to Anna who pulls out another paper from her folder and hands it to him.

"Our request for a warrant."

Peter grabs his jacket off the back of his chair, Anna and Erin sharing a smile between the two of them as he says, "I'll see what I can do."

Peter storms past them both and Erin looks at Anna, annoyed "Is he always like that?"

Anna shrugs "He's a good guy. He's a smartass at times, but he's good at what he does, and he wants everyone else to be the same way. He only acts like that because he wants us all to work our hardest, to make sure the case we present is as airtight as possible."

Erin nods, taking in the young woman's words, "Come on. We've still got a lot of shit to get through." Anna says.

…

Erin, Antonio and Laura wait in the lobby of the courthouse as Peter talks to the judge. Erin leans against the wall, trying to ignore the tightness pulling through her back. She's not used to being on her feet quite so much these days. The most exercise she gets is walking through the park with Everly after school, and the pace Erin keeps could rival a senior citizen with a bad hip and a walking stick. Her body feels heavy, struggling to hold up the extra weight she's been lugging around the last twenty-six weeks and the small reprieve she gets leaning against the cool tiled wall is replenishing.

"You're not smiling." Laura says as she sees Peter walking towards them.

"Nothing to smile about."

"You know," Antonio starts "I know a woman who could probably hack into-"

"No."

Peter's sharp tone surprises Erin. The entire day he's been either cocky or completely dismissive, but this is new. There's anger in that one, simple word.

"Whoa, whoa, what do you mean, no? Borrelli was my friend too, you know. I want this guy just as much as you."

"Who?" Laura asks.

Erin stays silent, in the background of the conversation as the three of them argue about using Antonio's hacker. She knows about Danny Borrelli, she'd met him at the gym before and his brother Jimmy multiple times when she worked cases that involved Firehouse 51. Borrelli had died in a building complex at an office complex in the West Loop. The building had been a complete death trap – safety violations, permits that had been bought off – Danny never had a chance of making it out of there. And Linden Corp. owned the building.

It goes some way to explaining why Antonio would want to use shadier tactics to find evidence, given the way it contradicted his usual moral code, but Erin couldn't figure out why it would matter in the context of Peter Stone.

"I said no, Antonio." Peter says firmly, walking away from them.

…

The three of them sit in an interview room back at the Bureau an hour later, combing through electronic files on Frank Linden and his company.

"Linden's entire life is online … Should I ask how you got this?" Laura asks.

"No."

"Well then, tell me about Borrelli. Why- how are you and Stone …"

"Look, if you don't want to help …"

"That's not what I'm saying. But this feels, at best, sketchy."

Antonio hesitates. Erin can see the emotions flicking through his eyes, something Laura has yet to pick up in the short time she's worked with the man, so Erin jumps in. She tells Laura what she knows about Borrelli, about his work in the CFD, his unfortunate death and the building that caused it.

"He and Stone used to box in my gym," Antonio says, the information surprising Erin "They'd drink together after shift. Get into trouble once or twice."

"Hard to imagine Stone getting into trouble." Laura says Erin chuckling in agreement.

"Danny was our friend. His death could've been avoided if things had been done the right way." Antonio says.

"And Linden skated." Erin adds.

"He's always skated."

"Not this time." Laura says, focusing back on her laptop.

A little while later, they find the break they need in the form of an email sent from Frank Linden to Henry Tomczak – head of the 409 with local mob ties. He and Linden had been talking to one another over the last month, with the last message sent four days before the building went down; 'Meet me at Scappy's tomorrow 10 o'clock'.

"CI of mine tends bar at Scappy's, you want to get a real drink?" Antonio says.

Laura smirks "It's one in the afternoon, but if you're buying …"

Antonio nods, smirking at Erin "Sorry. Best I can do is virgin for you, mama. Maybe a ginger ale on the rocks?"

Erin rolls her eyes, shoving Antonio's shoulder as they head out to the car.

"You're sure it was her?" Peter asks.

"CI recognised her photo." Antonio says.

"With both Linden and Tomczak from the Local." Laura adds.

"And you found out about this how?"

"I told you, a CI-" Antonio starts, but Peter cuts him off before he can finish the excuse he's about to spit out.

"Because I'm not going through all this just to have my case thrown out in court because of someone's personal agenda!"

"Hey, if you don't want to use it then fine, don't use it!" Antonio snaps.

Laura grabs Antonio by the arm, stopping him before he can walk off "I don't see the problem here, Stone. We're investigators, we investigate."

"It's a problem if the way you investigated was without a warrant, via some hacker. I'm responsible for your investigative work, and I can't have you two out there jeopardising this entire case!"

"We're not." Antonio says firmly.

Erin can see Stone's disbelief, and before she has a chance to think it through, she steps in, "CI of mine reached out to us out of the blue, and we checked it out. That's all there is to it."

Stone looks surprised, looking back and forth between Laura and Antonio for confirmation. When they both nod, Peter acknowledges Erin. Something about the entire exchange annoys her; he keeps referring to her only after someone else has backs up what she's been saying. He doesn't seem to trust her, and she can't figure out what she's done to instil such behaviour from him.

"Good work." Peter simply says, walking into his office.

Laura and Antonio both look at Erin thankfully and she shrugs in reply. At least if things go sideways, it's not their team on the hook for it.

The case gets a huge break when they learn that Sarah Wheeler, wife of the deceased, was on the crime scene four minutes earlier than the TV segment she said alerted her to the accident had aired. Peter, Erin and Anna head to her house to check her statement over with her.

The exchange only served to piss Erin off more. Watching Peter Stone threaten to keep Sarah's daughter in foster care 'until she's old enough to vote' had been a low blow, and the maternal side of her wanted to step in and protect the mother and daughter instantly.

"Detective Lindsay, can I speak to you for a minute?" Peter asks when they get back to the office.

Erin nods and heads into his office, closing the door behind her.

"You got something on your mind, Detective? You've been fuming the entire drive back."

"It's not my case, how you handle your business is your choice." Erin says.

"But you don't agree with the way I'm handling it, do you?" Peter argues.

Erin sighs "I don't think it was right to threaten a grieving widow with the future of her daughter's life to manipulate her into giving you the information you wanted. There are better ways to go about it. It just doesn't feel right."

"Doing the right thing in regard to Sarah Wheeler, went out the door the minute her involvement with the murder of her husband came to light. She has blood on her hands, just as much as her father does. She chose this path."

"Understood." Erin simply says, hand on the doorknob ready to exit when Peter stops her.

"I have to say I'm surprised that you would have an issue with it. Being Voight's girl and all."

Erin bristles, turning her head to look at the man "I assure you, ASA Stone. I'm nothing like Detective Voight. And if that's why you allowed me to be on this case, then you made a grave mistake."

With that Erin flings the door open and stomps back out to the main room.

Their case moves pretty quickly after that. The team locate the Dodge Charger spotted fleeing the building site, after a photo of it is framed on Tomczak's office wall. To top things off, they also find an empty case of difluoroethane in the boot. The case looks to be coming together, and everyone is confident that they'll be able to put Frank Linden away.

Until Mark Jeffries come in and tells ASA Stone that he's arranged a plea deal with Frank Linden – serving no jail time.

The outcome upsets everyone, and Erin feels despondent as she sits next to Antonio on the bench in the courtroom while Frank Linden's deal is processed in front of a judge.

"Actually, your honor; the People have a request." Peter says.

Everyone's attention is peaked, interested in what the Attorney is pulling.

"The indictment against Linden Corp was satisfied with a $500,000 fine."

"The court's aware of that." The Judge says.

"However, the Grand Jury has also handed down a murder indictment for Frank Linden personally. And I've requested that Mr Linden be taken into custody now."

There are audible gasps through the courtroom as Antonio and Laura step forward, cuffs in hand to arrest Frank Linden and Erin watches on impressed. Looks like ASA Stone has more tricks up his sleeve than she first thought.

Erin spends the next few days in court, watching the trial of Frank Linden play out before her. She had told Hank and Jay that she needed to see this case through, and they had been fine with her taking the time off it meant she was staying off her feet. Her blood pressure was still elevated and a cause for concern for her OBGYN, so any time she was resting – even if it was to watch an intense murder trial – was worthwhile.

She can see the jury is not quite convinced by Peter's findings, or his witnesses. When Sarah Wheeler suddenly takes the fifth, and Brett Linden vaguely confesses to Anna that he knew the outcome was inevitable for his sister and willingly threw her under the bus to save his father; it seems as though all hope is lost. Until Mark Jeffries gives Peter an invitation to the Opera fundraising event that Mark Linden has invited him to, and Erin and Antonio are requested to wait outside until they need to escort an 'intoxicated' Peter from the premises.

"Convincing performance, ASA Stone." Erin says once she and Antonio have taken him outside of the venue.

Peter smiles cockily in answer "I can be quite impressive when I need to be."

Antonio watches them in confusion as Peter walks to his car, Erin's eyes on him the entire way.

"You good?" He asks.

Erin nods, "Yeah. I just hope this does the trick."

Antonio follows her to the car, unconvinced but not willing to push the subject either. It's not his business.

…

Peter's antagonization seems to do exactly what they needed it to. Frank Linden willingly puts himself on the stand; Laura, Antonio and Erin sit with bated breath as they watch Peter stand before him.

The jury seems impressed, at first, by the way that Frank's self-inflation. Until Peter pulls out a copy of the man's major thesis from when he was in college, outlining the Pinto case – a lawsuit against Ford which opened a discussion into weighing the risk of human life against corporate profit. A thesis in which Frank Linden had vehemently agreed with and defended Ford, supporting the argument that human life was not worth more than the profit a company could make. Frank Linden argued that the thesis was 'legitimate treatise' – only for Peter to show the jury that the only other scholar legitimising the thesis was a book written but none other than Frank Linden.

"I question the validity of that theory, and you said it was a legitimate treatise. Are you changing your answer?" Peter asks.

"No, I'm not." Frank growls.

"Of course not, because it was cited by at least one noted scholar." Peter waves the book in the air, "Tell me, sir, under your theory, how many people have to be put at risk of bodily harm before the corporation says, 'Stop, we have made enough money'?"

Frank snorts dismissively, "There's no way to answer that question. It's theory."

"Well, sure there is. It's right here in your treatise. 'When the cost of defending lawsuits exceeds the company's expected profit margins.' That's what you wrote, isn't it?"

"If you say so."

"They're your words, Mr Linden. Not mine. And the insurance policy on Riverfront would've netted you over half a billion dollars."

"Objection." Linden's lawyer calls out

"That's a lot more, I suspect, than it would cost to defend one of those pain-in-the-ass wrongful death lawsuits."

"Objection." the lawyer calls again, the judge overruling.

"I employ thousands of people, okay?" Frank stutters, "I have hundreds–"

"It's profits. It's all about profits." Peter cuts in.

"You're goddamn right it is!"

Erin's jaw drops at the man's outburst. The jury gasps and several shocked conversations spring up throughout the courtroom. The judge bangs his gavel, demanding order to be restored.

"It's all about profits, even when the wrongful death was that of your son-in-law? What if it was your son? Your daughter?"

Erin looks at Brett Linden, his hopefully eyes dimming at his father's lack of response.

"I employ thousands of people, okay? I have hundreds of commercial tenants …"

"That's all." Peter says, walking back to his table and sitting down next to Anna.

…

"You should all have another drink." Jeffries smiles "If I'm correct, you won't be coming back here for awhile."

Erin looks to the team confused, the other four people echoing the same questioning look to their superior "The dirty laundry I was talking about, those secrets Linden will sell for his freedom; most of it belongs to our esteemed membership here."

The team look around at the surrounding patrons of the club, Erin lifting her glass up to cheers Jeffries as he walks out.

They stick around for a while, getting their money's worth of quality scotch and warm ambience. Antonio and Laura head out first, needing to head home to their kids. Anna follows shortly after, heading out for a date. Erin and Peter are the last to leave, the man walking her out to her car to make sure she gets there safely.

"I owe you an apology." Peter says suddenly, "I, uh, I was wrong to lump you in the same category as Voight."

"Why the change of heart?" Erin asks, surprised.

Peter shrugs "You protected Antonio and Laura, without asking for anything in return. That's not Voight's style. And besides, I shouldn't have let my father's beef with your boss impact the way I conducted myself. So, I apologise."

"Thank you." Peter stares down at her for a moment, and Erin frowns "What?"

"You intrigue me, Detective Lindsay." Peter smiles "Hopefully I'll get to work with you again sometime in the future."

Erin looks taken aback, unsure of how to respond. Peter starts to back away, to head to his own car, and Erin simply says "I should get home. My daughter. My fiancée will be waiting."

"Goodnight Erin."

"Good-goodnight Peter."

September 2019

"Okay, are we ready?" Jay asks Everly, the little girl nodding in response "Erin, let's go!"

"Quit rushing me, Halstead!" Erin yells down the staircase.

Jay smiles tightly, doing his best to keep his frustration to a minimum. These days, it seemed the littlest things set he and Erin off. But today was going to be a good day. Today was Evie's official adoption date. They'd gotten the call from her case worker last week and here they were, bright and early on a Friday morning, heading to the courthouse to legally bind themselves as parents and guardians to Everly Amelia Collins.

"Alright, I'm here. Let's do this." Erin says excitedly, waddling up to her family as they wait for her at the front door.

Erin take Everly's hand in hers, leading their daughter out of the house as Jay walks behind them. They get in the car and Everly sits in the back playing with her iPod, her earbuds sound-proofing the world around her.

"Hey," Erin says softly "Can we just … can we set everything else aside today? For her?"

Jay nods, cautiously taking Erin's hand in his "For her."

"She's going to be our daughter today." Erin smiles, tears pricking her eyes.

Jay's smile echoes hers "She's always been our daughter, from the moment you brought her home."

"Good morning, everyone." Judge Bishop warmly greets Erin, Jay, Everly and their friends and family who have come to watch this momentous occasion in their little family's lives.

Erin and Jay smile politely, sitting on either side of Evie who's nervously clutching one hand of theirs each. They can feel the nervous energy radiating off their little girl, feel the breath she's holding until the judge says the words that they've been waiting two years to hear – they know how she's feeling, because Erin and Jay are feeling the exact same.

"We don't get a lot of happy days in Family Court, but today is definitely one." Judge Bishop addresses the small crowd of people; Hank and the entire team from Intelligence along with Platt, Antonio, Will, Natalie, Gabby, Matt and Everly's grandmother Ruthie were all seated in the rows behind the soon-to-be Halstead trio. They'd all played a part in Erin and Jay becoming parents to Everly, and it felt fitting for them all to be here to witness the culmination of their foster journey.

"I'm sure you're anxious and excited to get things going, so I won't hold you up." Erin looks over to Jay and is granted a touch of telepathy when he meets her eyes. They share a look, once that holds every word, they're too emotional to express right now. Jay reaches his free hand behind Evie to rest on Erin's shoulder, his fiancée squeezing his hand tightly to reassure him. To remind them both that this moment was real. It was finally happening.

"We are here today to officially create a new family," Judge Bishop continues, motioning to Erin and Jay "Jay Halstead and Erin Lindsay, do you wish to adopt Miss Everly Amelia Halstead, nee Collins, into your family today?"

The decision to change her last name had not been made lightly. Jay and Erin had offered to hyphenate it, or to keep her last name as Collins if that's what their girl wanted; but Evie had wanted to become a Halstead, just like her dad is, like her mother would be and like her brother soon would be as well. She was being given a second chance at a family, and she wanted to embrace that. 'I think my mummy and daddy would like that, too. I think they'd want me to have your name.'

Jay and Erin stand, Everly staying seated but still holding both their hands tightly.

"Yes, your Honor." Erin says firmly.

Jay nods, repeating "Yes, your Honor."

"Everly," Judge Bishop calls gently, waiting for her to make eye contact "Would you like Jay and Erin to be your mother and father?"

Evie looks nervously between the two people she's grown to love and cherish in the last two years. The people who have protected, loved and cared for her. As Jay and Erin both smile down at her, Evie can think only one thing – these are her parents. She would always have her mummy and daddy, but Erin and Jay had become her parents as well. And while she would never forget the parents who gave her life, who raised her for the first eight years of her young life; she was happy that she found two people to love her again. And a whole lot of people that came along with them, who wanted to be her family. Everly looks up at the judge and quietly nods.

"I need to hear you say yes or no, please Everly." Judge Bishop says.

"Yes." Evie says softly, clearing her throat and repeating loudly "Yes, I would like that."

The Judge smiles at the little girl and nods to her parents, looking down to sign the 'Certificate of Adoption' before him as he says,

"Well then, by the authority vested in me by the State of Illinois, I declare Mr Jay Halstead and Miss Erin Lindsay adoptive parents and guardians responsible for the care and wellbeing of Miss Everly Amelia Halstead. You are officially a family. Congratulations."

Evie's sweet giggles were the first thing that Erin heard as Jay swooped her up into his arms. Erin watched Jay hold their daughter against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. They were a family. Officially. No one could take Everly from them. She was legally her mother, and Jay was her father. Jay's eyes meet Erin's, and he holds one arm open, welcoming her into their hug and she quickly accepts.

They stand in that moment, entwined for what feels like hours. The claps and chorus of congratulations fades into the background and all that matters is the three of them. Their family. Evie lifts her head off Jay's shoulder suddenly, looking down at Erin as she asks.

"I'm really yours, now? Forever?"

Erin smiles tearfully, "Forever and ever, Ev."

…

Erin, Jay and Everly lie in bed later that night. They'd spent most of the day at Hank's house with their friends celebrating their official adoption of Everly. They'd had a barbecue and sat around the living room trading parenting tips and secrets and reminiscing over old stories they'd all shared during their years in first response work together. Evie sat, enthralled as she was told story after story of her parents before she knew them.

Everly was now sleeping peacefully between the two of them. She lay on her side facing Erin, her little arm stretched out over Erin's baby bump. Erin had her arm across Evie with her hand resting on Jay's mid-section. Jay's hand reached around Erin's shoulder, holding both girls in his embrace. Their little world safe and sound, a tangle of limbs and sleepy grins that had yet to leave their faces since this morning.

Jay holds his girls tighter, releasing the breath he feels like he's been holding since the day he and Erin first signed the papers to petition for adoption. It's been a long process, but standing here with Erin and Everly, Jay knows with absolutely certainty that his entire world is right here in his arms; despite everything that's going on between he and Erin, this family they've created is perfect in its messiness – they are his light in the darkness.

"Today was a good day." Jay says softly.

"Yeah, it was." Erin agrees, looking up from Everly to meet Jay's eyes "We're going to be okay. Right?"

Jay's heart just about breaks at her question, the insecurity flashing in her eyes disarms him completely; all the irritation he's been holding inside for the last few weeks feels like it's evaporated in the last five seconds. Jay nods emphatically telling her, "Of course. We're always going to be."

Erin nods and closes her eyes, Jay following her lead. They both fall asleep feeling more assured than they have in months. Despite how unresolved their issues are, things can wait for a little while longer. They don't need to rock the boat right now.

The post-adoption glow lasts but a few days, before Jay gets a call from Will during dinner. And when Jay returns to the table, both Erin and Evie can tell that something's changed. They eat dinner and Erin takes Everly upstairs to brush her teeth and shower. As soon as she hears the running water, Erin marches back down the staircase and into the kitchen where Jay's washing the dishes. His hand moves slowly, methodically around the greasy pan, but his focus is elsewhere as he stares out the window above their sink.

"Hey," Erin says softly "What's going on?"

Jay sighs when Erin wraps her arms around him from behind. It's something she hasn't done in a while and the feeling is more comforting than any words she could offer in that moment. It grounds him, pulls his focus back to the here and now.

"My Dad's out of the hospital. He wants to talk to me."

It had been a month since Pat Halstead underwent major surgery, after sustaining injuries during a fire in his apartment building. He'd been trying to help get the residents from the upper floors out of the building when part of the roof collapsed and pinned him. Will had called Jay at the time, letting him know that Pat had significant fractures to his spine, a few cracked ribs and severe smoke inhalation; but thanks to Connor Rhodes his father would make a full recovery.

Jay hadn't gone to see him in hospital. He'd asked Will to keep him up to date on his progress, but other than that Jay had stayed as far away from his father as possible.

"Are you going to see him?" Erin asks.

Jay shrugs out of her hold, rinsing off the last dish and moving to put away the food, "Why would I?"

"Because he's your dad?"

Jay scoffs "He hasn't exactly been Dad of the year, Erin. He didn't care about his sons when we needed him, I'm just doing what he taught me. I don't care about him."

"And yet, you asked your brother to call you with any updates on his condition. That doesn't sound like a son who doesn't care about his father to me." Erin argues "Maybe he wants to make amends."

"It doesn't matter. It's too late."

"It's never too late. Maybe you just need to be willing to give him a second chance?"

"What, like you're giving Bunny? Oh wait, this would be her, what, eightieth chance now?"

"That's not fair." Erin snaps, "This isn't about my mother, stop avoiding the subject. Why won't you at least hear him out? See what he wants before you make a decision that you can't take back."

"I know my father well enough to know that whatever he wants from us is nothing but bad news – it would do you good if you recognised the same about your mother before she takes advantage of how weak you are when it comes to her, again."

Erin stands in shock, staring at Jay. He keeps moving around the kitchen like nothing's happened, like he hasn't just taken a stab at her heart. Of all the things he could say, to call her weak was a cheap shot. Until this moment, Jay was the only man who had ever called her strong. Who had seen her weaknesses as strengths, who assured her that her kind-heart and forgiving spirit made her a better person. He'd been unlike all the other men in her life, until right now.

"Fine. Do whatever the hell you want," Erin begins to walk out of the kitchen but stops and turns before she gets too far "You're being an opportunity to have your father in life. To try and write a better future between you two. I never got that chance. Your daughter will never get that chance with her birth father. The fact that you could throw that away so quickly, that you could be so dismissive, is just plain arrogance. And the only person that's going to regret it is you."