By the time her dad arrives, Erin is sitting at the back of an ambulance. Voight doesn't even bother slamming the car door shut when he hops out, engine still running as he desperately searches for her. He swivels around, looking at every face, looking for the one that he needs to set eyes on. He spots the medical examiner, he sees police putting up police tape, he notices officers crowding around two bodies, both covered by white sheets and then he finally sees her, sitting at the back of an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, "Erin!"
She looks up when she hears him call her name. He doesn't bother flashing his badge, the responding officers knew him. He'd called them as he put on his shoes and searched his coat for his keys. Based on her text, he didn't want her to wait for him to get here, he wanted officers already on duty, already on patrol, already in their cars to respond, already with a head start to take the lead because by the time he found his keys and actually jumped in his truck, something could have happened to her, something bad. He lifts up the police tape to duck under it before running over, embracing her in his opened arms the second he reaches her, "Dad, I'm fine," her words are muffled because he's holding her so tight, he's rocking side to side, "I'm okay," she tries again when he pulls back to give her a look over to check for himself.
He notes that she's shivering but that explains why they gave her a blanket. He doesn't see any bruises, cuts or opened wounds. He does notice her clothes are dirty and when he flips her hands over, palms facing up, he sees they're just as dirty as her clothes.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He can always tell if she's lying.
"I'm positive."
And just to be sure, he looks over at the paramedics, both of them nodding to back up her statement.
"Okay," he sighs in relief, finally calming down, "thank goodness," he hugs her again because he just has to, she's his only family, the only living relative he has left and he almost lost her, "just tell me what happened, I'm going to make sure Intelligence gets this case."
"I don't think that's going to happen detective."
This wasn't the time. This wasn't the place. It wasn't a good idea to make him upset.
Voight turns around to face him, a man dressed in a well-tailored suit and dark shades despite the fact that the sun hasn't been in the sky for hours. A badge was flashed in his face and it took everything in him to restrain himself, to hold himself back from knocking it out of his hand.
"It's sergeant," Voight corrects before turning to face his daughter, "it's sergeant Voight."
"My apologies sergeant, I'm Agent Bell with the FBI. I'm here because your daughter is a witness in an ongoing investigation of ours," he turns to look at Erin but she's busy staring at her dad, wondering what to say, what to do about any of this.
"What do you need from her?" Voight moves to stand in front of her. His arms crossed over his chest as he sizes the agent up, "A description of the perp? A written account of what she saw?"
Agent Bell snaps his fingers and another agent approaches, "Did one of the men look like this?" He reaches into his jacket and withdraws a picture, extending it to Erin for her to take a good look.
That agent, Agent Clark, as the inside of his wallet said when he presented his badge took the photo back the second Erin nodded her head, "That's Charles Pugliese. And did the other look like this?" He hands her a second photo and when she nods again, he turns to face her father, "That is Thomas Rivera. We've been building a case against them for months. And that man," the agent nods over in the direction of the first victim, "was our star witness."
"…so you're case is tanked?" It's Erin that speaks up.
And its Agent Bell that answers, "…not exactly," he tucks his hands in the pockets of his slacks, "the trial isn't for another six months. We offered him protection; he turned it down."
Just in that moment, Intelligence pulls up, each detective hopping out of the car the second they're parked. Dawson leads the crew, all of them called out of bed and out of their homes by a text message Voight sent as he was rushing out the door. They all file in, a bit confused about the presence of the feds but based on the guy in charge talking, they know now isn't the time to get those questions answered. Dawson subtly reaches over to squeeze Erin's shoulder, furrowing his brow to silently ask if she was okay. She nods. And the agent clears his throat when it doesn't look like she's paying attention, "Our witness was the key to putting them behind bars. And now our witness is gone, however-"
"I know where you're going with that and I don't like it."
"We hate it just as much as you do sergeant but your daughter is now our key witness."
Erin dropped the blanket from her shoulders and rose to her feet, "…what does that mean?"
"It means that in six months you are to testify in federal court about what you saw today. It means that you will be under our protection."
"…like you protected the last witness?" Voight interjects.
It's Agent Clark that responds, looking more towards Erin than her father despite him being the one to ask the question, "We'll send you away. We'll bring you back closer to the trial date. We offered that option to the last witness and he declined. We are hoping that you don't."
"…and what if I refuse?"
"The protection?"
"No, to be a witness. I saw them practically hunt him down. And then they killed that other guy," she waves off into the direction of the second man she witnessed them murder, "for seeing them kill your last witness! What if I don't think it's worth it and I don't want to be a part of your case? What if I refuse to testify?"
Agent Bell sighs, "…then we'll have to do it the hard way and be forced to draw up a subpoena and force you to testify. And being a witness isn't an option to you, taking our protection is the only option on the table that you have the power to decide on. We spoke to one of the responding officers, he said you told him that Charles and Thomas had spotted you before police arrived. If they've seen you then you need our protection, our full protection, not just an officer or two outside your residence, you need more than that."
"I can't just leave though," Erin looks up to her dad, hoping to gauge his opinion but he's quietly waiting to hear what she has to say, "I mean, I have a job. I have bills. I have family and friends."
"These men are not to be messed with," suddenly they turn around at the sound of a third voice, a woman, and based on the credentials that she flashes, she's a federal prosecutor, "we've made a mistake in not emphasizing the importance in accepting the full protection of the FBI to our first witness. We should have pushed him to agree to be sent away. We don't want to make that mistake again. I'm Anna Valdez, I'm working with the FBI to prosecute this case."
Erin rubs her temples. She shuts her eyes, taking in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. She doesn't notice that the prosecutor had stopped talking until she reopens her eyes, noticing the woman patiently waiting for Erin's full attention before she continues her attempt at persuasion.
"Both of these men are very dangerous. We've been trying for years to put them away and we finally got a crack in the case when they slipped up and executed a man in front of our witness just like they slipped up and executed our witness in front of you. They will come after you. They won't give up. He's the first witness they've killed but we've had two informants before him that went missing. They're not above hunting you down if it means it buys them their freedom. They won't go down without a fight. The FBI can protect you. They'll send you away with one of their most awarded, skilled and highly recommended agents and they'll fly you back when it's safe. The FBI is looking for them. They'll find them. They're going to arrest them. And the second they do; we'll bring you back. So, what do you say, Erin?"
She clears her throat and she ignore the look on each face of every member in Intelligence when she says, "…no thanks."
The federal prosecutor nods her head. Both agents prepare to argue in an effort to change her mind but it was Voight that raised his hand to send everyone away so he could have a moment alone with his daughter, "Dad, you're not going to change my mind. I don't need protection. I don't need to be shipped off to nowhereland! I-I can just stay with you. I don't need to actually leave the freaking city! Why are you going to try and convince me to leave?"
"Why?" He scoffed, "Because I don't want you to get hurt Erin, that's why!" Voight seethed. She was just too stubborn for her own good. Damn it. She gets that from him. She reminds him of him.
"I won't get hurt if I stay with you!" She really didn't want to leave. She's practically begging him to see it from her point of view. To up and just leave her home with a stranger is crazy, it's weird, no matter if the stranger is protecting her or not.
"My team is going to offer to assist them in their investigation. The more help, the better and we can get you back once it's safe. I won't be able to focus if I have to worry about you. And you're not invincible, I'm not invincible. It's smarter if you play defense so we can be proactive in this."
She's almost a 30-year-old woman yet talking to her dad made her feel like a teenager all over again. In her peripheral, she can see the members of Intelligence keeping their distance, acting as if they're standing far enough away that they can't hear what they're saying. She moves closer to her dad, lowering her voice so his team couldn't keep eavesdropping, "What if you assign Dawson to watch me? Or Burgess? Or Atwater? Or even Ruzek? I'm willing to take Ruzek."
"Hey," Adam exclaimed, earning an elbow to the gut from Burgess since technically they're not supposed to be able to hear the conversation. Ruzek practically cowers away when caught, looking up at the sky to avoid the glare being sent his way from his boss.
Despite her attempt at not having them overhear, they still heard.
"I would if I could afford to lose members of my team. We're already a member short because of Al's passing," they both take a silent pause out of respect, "but I don't have the power of the FBI, I need you safe. I know they can protect you. This isn't easy for me either Erin, but I have to put you first and this is the safest option. Wherever the hell they send you, it'll be safe."
"…but dad-"
"Just do it for me, please, Erin. We have more Voights dead than alive. I can't lose you too."
"Ugh," she comes close to stomping her feet but she's not a child and she's not a spoiled brat so she holds in the urge to whine, "that was a low blow. You're playing dirty."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures."
Erin bites down on her bottom lip, displeasure evident by the frown lines, scrunching up her face because goddamn she's going to agree, she's going to give in. She's going to lose her job.
"Fine," she grumbles, "I'll do this but I'm not happy about it."
"I'd be worried if you were…" he gives her elbow a squeeze, encouraging her to uncross her arms.
She does. And she isn't happy about that either. Erin wraps her arms around her waist because they need to do something besides dangle at her side. And she's a nervous wreck. She's on the verge of a breakdown, an emotional meltdown if she didn't get some rest soon, if she didn't get a chance to process everything that went down in the last hour or two.
"Your father tells me you've changed your mind."
She jumps, Erin practically jumps out of her skin when the agent makes his presence known. Last she saw he had walked off to ask more questions, to look at the bodies, but now he was back and he was standing behind her. She whirls around, face flushed and she asks, "If I were to agree to protection, what does that entail?"
"We'll keep it subtle," Agent Bell reassures, extending a hand to place on her shoulder, hoping that it'll offer some form of comfort, "you and one of our agents will catch a flight to one of our safe houses, you'll stay there until we catch them."
"I'm not so sure about sending her away with just one agent," now it's her dad that's speaking up and he has the audacity to sound concerned when it was him who convinced her to agree to all of this in the first place, "I just think she'll need more protection. Sending one agent with her to stay practically in the middle of nowhere isn't enough especially if they locate her."
"They won't locate her," Agent Clark attempts to reassure him but based off the look on Voight's face, he doesn't want to be placated, "our safe houses are never discovered; they're secluded and secret for a reason. And unfortunately, the department heads will only spare one agent because they want all hands on deck and the state allots us a certain amount of funds to disperse and most of those funds are going to be used for our men on the ground."
Agent Bell picks up the conversation, chiming in where he's needed, "These are dangerous men and in our division we only have six agents assigned to this case, we're sending one with you," he flashes his eyes to Erin before looking back at Voight, "we're low on available agents because other departments and divisions within the FBI are working other cases that are just as important as this one. We're working with what we got. One agent is enough, especially one from our team."
"Who is this one FBI agent that's going to be with me?"
"Agent Halstead," he tells her, "you'll be meeting him when he picks you up to go to the airport."
"…and where are you going to send her?"
Agent Clark looks at Voight, face stoic and unemotional as he robotically answers, "I'm sorry but that's classified information. I know you understand." It sounds rehearsed. It's probably not his first time saying it.
"I'm her father though," he shoves his fists into the pockets of his leather jacket, "and a sergeant."
"And it's nothing personal, it's just the fewer the people that knows her location, the better. Some agents on our team won't even know where she's located and there's a reason for that."
Erin pulls her hair up, lifting it from her neck, pulling the hair tie off her wrist to hold up her ponytail. She was stressed. And she needed better access to the back of her neck to rub it, "So with this witness protection program you're forcing me in, will I be getting a new name? A new identity? A new background?"
"…not exactly," Agent Bell chuckled, actually finding humor in her response, "the witness protection program, that's more so the U.S. Marshalls area and it's for life. You're not hiding forever. There's no need for a name change. We're just hiding you temporarily and then you'll be back to live your life, the life of Erin Voight. No one else."
"Bell," it's Agent Clark that nudges him; he seems to be the more serious partner of the two, "we need to wrap this up," he looks to Erin, cutting to the chase and getting straight to the point, "we've been here long enough, we're going to have an agent take you home and stay with you until Halstead picks you up. I want you to pack only the essentials, leave behind any electronics, only bring clothes, toiletries and a sentimental object that'll help you get through the days."
She's practically being ushered away by the agent that's supposed to take her home. She wasn't introduced to him but based on neither Bell nor Clark walking with her, she assumes they're staying at the scene, "Wait, I'm leaving tonight?"
"You're leaving as soon as possible."
"We don't know how much time we're working with," the federal prosecutor stepped forward, taking a more empathic approach than her counterparts did, "we get it's hard and your life is suddenly out of your control but we just want to keep you safe while we find them and put them away for a very long time."
"Can my dad at least take me? If I don't know how long I'll be away, I at least deserve to say goodbye to him."
"He can hitch a ride with Ben." Ah, so that's the name of the agent who's supposed to be escorting her to her apartment, "we're a bit pressed for time so if he's going then you all need to go. While you're packing up, Agents Bell and Clark will contact Halstead, they'll work out the details of your travel and then Halstead will pick you up."
Agent Bell stepped forward, grabbing her arm before she had a chance to walk away, "Keep your head low. Listen to Ben and then when you're in Halstead's care, listen to him. We will stay in contact with you when you depart and if you wish to contact your father, just let Halstead know, he'll let you. We're not trying to prohibit you from talking to your loved ones, we just want to make sure it's done in the safest way possible."
Erin doesn't get a chance to respond. Her brain doesn't even have a second to process all of the things she's witnessed and the information she was given in the last few hours. She feels her dad's arm around her shoulders, tucking her body into his chest as he leads her towards the back of the truck, tossing Dawson the keys to his car and Burgess the keys to hers. She doesn't remember getting in the backseat of the truck, she doesn't feel her dad reach over to buckle her in and she doesn't recall her dad giving Ben her address or sliding into the seat next to her. She's mentally exhausted, emotionally fragile and physically drained and her body is ready to shut down on her.
"It's going to be fine."
And it takes her dad attempting to cheer her up for her to break out of whatever fog she was in.
"You don't know that."
"I do," he doesn't seem as worried as she is at the moment, "once I know you're gone, once I know you're safe, my team is going to offer to work with the FBI. They're low on men, we'll lend some of ours. We'll help them and then we'll get you back here."
She shifts in her seat, turning as far as she can with the seatbelt restricting her to face her dad, "What if you don't find them in time?"
"We will."
"What if you don't?"
"…but we will."
"But, what if you don't, dad?" Her voice is louder, stronger, "What if they find me before you find them? What happens then? I'm risking my life for stuff that I'm not even involved in. All I am guilty of is trying to make some extra money! I was just heading to my car to go home!" Erin looks up, meeting her dad's gaze in the darkness as she blocks out the fact that Ben is driving and he can clearly hear the conversation happening behind him, "I'm going away to who knows where with who knows who for who knows how long and if I don't agree to that then I stay here and possibly get gunned down in the middle of the street like the last witness. I hate this." She pulls her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her bent legs and pressing her face against her lap, hinting to her father that this conversation is over, at least for right now because she's tired, she's drained and she's trying so hard to keep her head on straight and her mind clear. It hasn't even been a full day, yet it feels like the last two hours have spanned out across an entire lifetime. She's tired. And she isn't looking forward to any of this. But, it's no use in fighting it because the alternative is much worse; it's a grave scenario that she doesn't want to entertain.