Sold

by EirienGER

After Jay and Will are freed from the house where they were held, the brothers realize that the kidnapper is still at large. They fear that he might already have a new plan. (This story is the continuation of the story "The Auction")

After Jay and Will are freed from the house where they were held, the brothers realize that the kidnapper is still at large. They fear that he might already have a new plan.

This story is the third part in a series. It currently consists of the following parts:

1.) Memories of a stranger
2.) The auction

You don't have to read "Memories of a stranger" to understand this story. However, it follows on from "The Auction".

_

Dislaimer: This fanfiction is just for fun. No money made, no Copyright infringement is intended. All characters belong to their respective owners.
Diese Fanfiction-Geschichte wurde lediglich zur Unterhaltung geschrieben und es werden keine materiellen Vorteile durch sie erlangt. Mit ihrer Veröffentlichung im Netz werden keine Verletzungen der Copyrights beabsichtigt.

Sold

/

If there was one thing Jay hated, it was the moment of realization when he came to in a hospital. The moment when he realized that something had gone wrong and that nothing would be the same for the next few days or weeks.

After the kidnapping by Cayden, however, the awakening had been different. The first thing Jay had noticed had been the soft mattress beneath him. When he had opened his eyes and noticed the pleasant colors in the room, when he had realized that he was no longer trapped in the dark basement room, a wave of gratitude had swept over him. Hailey had come into his room shortly thereafter and that, too, had given him comfort.

The next few hours, however, had been torture. Not only physically, but emotionally as well. In addition to the injuries, the broken bones and stab wounds, the bruises and cuts, he had suffered severe smoke inhalation. While he had not been intubated when he had come to, the shortness of breath had continued for hours.

The painkillers had ensured that he had drifted off again and again. In those cycles of sleep, he had been plagued by nightmares of what he had experienced, repeatedly believing that he and Will were still in the basement room. One time he had come to screaming and the nurse had called one of the hospital psychiatrists. Jay hadn't been able to talk to him about the torture, though. It was all still too fresh, too much. Fortunately, the doctor had not pushed him and had quickly withdrawn.

Now Jay's second day at the hospital in Sparta had begun. He still felt emotionally drained. When he thought back on the incidents, he still shivered. He couldn't believe how easy it had been for Cayden to get him and Will under his control. To play them against each other.

Will would have willingly put himself in Cayden's hands for him, and Jay had fought so hard to keep him safe. But neither of them had stood a chance against this lunatic. He had always been one step ahead of them. And as long as he was out there, Jay feared it wasn't over yet.

He would plan something new. Sooner or later he would probably find a way to hurt the Unit or someone they knew. So they had to be faster than he was. They had to do everything they could to find him. Despite everything, Jay was already feeling the urge to get out of here as soon as possible, so he could get back to actively participating in the search for Cayden.

Another thing, however, was the pain... The doctor had told him that he would have to stay in the hospital for at least another 24-48 hours. He had pointed out that there was nothing to negotiate after everything that had happened to him and Will.

The fracture of his collarbone had required surgery and they would have to keep an eye on the burns on his upper right arm. Jay had fortunately experienced little of the fire, but the wound hurt with every movement of his arm. Even holding the remote control or reaching for the water cup was painful. If a compartment syndrome developed on his arm, the doctors would have to do another procedure here - and that would prolong his stay in the hospital.

He knew it would take a lot of convincing, so Voight would let him continue working on the case. Due to his injuries, his range of motion was extremely limited. His left arm was currently still fixed to his chest with a bandage. He would receive a splint for the broken fingers, and to aid the healing of his collarbone, he would have to wear a sling. He would receive the sling the next day. The stab wounds had been stitched or bandaged, but it would be a while before he could put full weight on his left leg again. The stab wound in his thigh had been deeper than initially thought.

Despite everything, he had been able to convince the doctor to reduce the dose of painkillers. He was glad about that. It allowed him to think more clearly and he slept less.

In the meantime, he had heard from Hailey and Adam how the team had managed to track them down. The chip that had been implanted in Cayden's neck while he was in prison could have been used to find him in Sparta as well. But the fire had taken all the task forces by surprise, and Cayden had eventually escaped again. Since they did not know in which area he was currently located, the search for the chip would have been like looking for a needle in a haystack. So they hadn't even tried, after Will and he were rescued from the burning house. They were back to square one.

He had just been zapping through the TV programs without really taking notice of what was actually on, when he spotted Will in the doorway. His brother had actually made his way into his room to see him and to talk to him.

After they had spoken to each other, Jay was incredibly relieved that Will didn't blame him at all for what had happened.

"So what are we going to do about the house?" Will suddenly asked out of nowhere, and Jay had to laugh, which immediately sent new pain through his left side.

"Sorry.", Will therefore quickly added, embarrassed when he noticed Jay's discomfort.

"It's all right," Jay replied. His brother was trying to lighten the tense mood a bit, and he was thankful for it. "I'd say that's the last of our worries. We'll talk about the house once Cayden is captured."

Will nodded and became serious. "Of course..." He seemed to hesitate before uttering his next sentence. "Jay, he said something to me that worries me," he said. "I think we need to inform Fiora that he's out."

Jay looked at him in alarm. He noticed Hailey and Adam enter the room at that moment, but he only glanced at them briefly before lowering his gaze. He thought of Fiora. The recordings Cayden had played when he had been in the cube, had brought back the memories and emotions of what had happened then, and they were flooding him again right now. His breathing quickened. His lungs still burned slightly from the smoke, but he tried to calm himself, as much as his injuries would allow.

Cayden had said that he was no longer interested in Fiora. But any statement of him could be a lie...
"Shouldn't you be in your bed?", Hailey asked his brother in a not so serious tone, while the two of them entered the room.

Anyone who knew Will knew, that he didn't like to follow guidelines, and certainly not when it came to medical matters. Jay heard Will respond as usual with his all-justifying doctor talk, and he heard Adam laugh. But he didn't really follow the banter.

He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that had immediately spread inside him, when his brother had mentioned Fiora. He had already thought of it himself, that she and her family needed to be informed about Cayden's escape. But if he had actually mentioned something about her, then she was possibly already in imminent danger.

"What did he say?" he therefore burst tensely into the conversation of the three.

Hailey looked at him in surprise. Then she spotted the expression on his face. "What's wrong?" she asked immediately, concerned.

He didn't answer, but kept his gaze on his brother. "Will?"

The latter became serious again. "It's about Fiora." he briefly informed Adam and Hailey before answering Jay's question. "Cayden mentioned that you probably still cared about her. And that maybe his interest in her hadn't completely died down. He said it, when he saw your reaction to the footage."

"What footage? While you were there? What-" Adam now asked, but Jay interrupted him.

"We have to make sure she's safe. Now."

He didn't want to talk about the torture now. He wouldn't talk about it to anyone, for as long as possible. He felt anger rising inside him. They had not yet made a statement about what had happened, and neither Adam nor Hailey knew any details about their abduction. Jay tried to sit up a bit, but was immediately stopped with new pains that made him pause.

"Woah, slow down.", Adam was with him in one step and placed a hand on his solar plexus, one of the few places that wasn't injured. Gently, he pushed him back down into the pillows. "Hailey and I are here. Whatever's going on, we'll take it from here. Okay? You two need to rest."

Jay stared into the eyes of his friend and colleague. His blood pressure was skyrocketing. The drugs and painkillers were causing him to feel dizzy and he blinked against it.

"I can't lie here while he's still out there," he said.

Then he took a breath to fight the dizziness. He had to cough, as his lungs began to ache. With amazing speed, Will pushed himself up out of the chair he was sitting in and he walked the few steps to the cart, that was next to Jay's bed. In addition to the monitor on the cart, there was also a small oxygen mask hanging there. He turned on the oxygen supply and now gently placed the mask on Jay's nose and mouth.

Jay didn't know why, but he didn't want to look so helpless in front of the others, so he reached out with his free hand to pull the mask back down. He felt the stab wound in his right shoulder. Then the movement was stopped halfway by the bandage, that had been applied around his upper arm because of the burn. The tissue was swollen under the bandage and he felt the gauze peel away a little from his skin, due to the careless movement. Pain set in immediately after and he sucked in a sharp breath, as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"You can't even sit up straight, let alone walk," Will interjected sympathetically, now that Jay had opened his eyes again and as he tried to blink away the tears that had inevitably formed as the sharp, merciless pain of the burn had set in. "And you need more painkillers."

Jay was about to say something, but Adam beat him to it. He spoke soothingly to him.

"He's right, man... Yesterday we were afraid you wouldn't survive this. You guys were inhaling a lot of smoke. You can't ignore that and just move on. Not this time..."

Jay knew that Adam was referring to the last hunt for one of Fiora's kidnappers. To the fact that he had practically forced Adam and Al to hide an injury from Voight back then.

"Adam...," he shook his head.

"We're here, so talk to us. What do you want us to do?" the latter continued.

Jay hesitated. He was uncomfortable that he was forced to rely on their help.

It was true what Cayden suspected. Of course, he still cared about Fiora and he didn't want her to be in danger.

After realizing back then that he had actually lost her due to her memory loss, it took him a long time to come to terms with the facts. It had been an absurd situation to know that she was in Boston and that she was painstakingly building a new life for herself, while he was just supposed to go on living his old life in Chicago.

Little by little, his feelings for her had changed and he had managed to open up to something new. Back then, Erin and he had become a couple and they had been there for each other. Until Erin, too, had finally disappeared, leaving him behind in Chicago...

He forced himself to push the painful thoughts aside and looked at Will now.

"Please take the mask off, I'm fine," he said, calmer now. "Sit back down."

Will nodded slightly, took the oxygen mask and approached the chair again, propping himself up against the bed. Jay watched him with concern, but he knew he couldn't stop his brother from being here.

"Will suspects that Cayden might be after Fiora. You know the part he played in the last kidnapping back then. And what Woods did to her and Erin," he said, and Adam nodded in agreement. "We can't let him find her. She's finally built a new life for herself. It would destroy her."

/

Hailey watched the events unfold, tense and terrified at the same time. She had often seen Jay hot-headed or emotional before, but this was something different. The wounds of that time went deep, she could see that now. And it cost him a lot of effort to confide in them. He only did it because he was forced to.

She thought back to those terrible minutes in the basement, when she had had no way to come to Jay's aid. The room he had been held in, seemed to be completely on fire and the smoke had worked mercilessly against them when they had arrived at the house. If Adam had not held her back, she would have run into that inferno without hesitation.

Then, when they had finally heard that he was alive, when he had been carried past her and Adam, she had felt simultaneously a relief and a fear that she had never experienced before. She didn't know why, but everything inside her had suddenly told her that she didn't want to lose him.

"I remember that time well," Adam now said sympathetically, bringing her back to reality.

She shook off the memory and focused on what was happening around her. She was glad Adam had told her what had happened between Fiora and Jay back then, so she could follow the conversation.

"I'll inform Voight," she said therefore.

"No. I need my cell phone," Jay told her. "Did you find it at the cottage?"

Hailey nodded. "All your stuff was still there. But-"

"The phones need to be scanned for malware first. Cayden could still be monitoring our actions," Will interrupted her thoughtfully, and Hailey nodded in agreement as she looked at him.

"I have the number of Fiora´s mother, Amelia Hillsen.", Jay now said.

"Too dangerous.", Hailey stepped closer to the bed. "If Cayden notices that you´re looking up the number, he can anticipate our moves. Let's inform Voight. He can pinpoint their whereabouts. He'll set things up and have Fiora taken into protective custody."

She looked at her partner determinedly for a moment before he finally nodded in agreement. She could understand how hard it was for him not to be able to take action himself. It hurt her heart to see him like this, but unfortunately it couldn't be helped at the moment.

"I understand that you would have preferred to give the news to Fiora's family yourself," she added.

He just nodded wearily in reply.

/

Will anxiously observed his brother's condition. Jay was visibly exhausted. But nothing would make his brother back down now. That much had been clear to Will, when he had come to him with his concerns. He was almost glad that Adam and Hailey had joined them and were now in charge.

He was beginning to realize that he himself could use some rest as well. But he would, of course, stand by his brother. He tried to find a more tolerable position on the chair, while Adam called Seargent Voight in Chicago and informed him about the latest findings. In the corner of his eye, he noticed Hailey watching him and he lifted his head to look at her.

"Will, you should go back over to your room," she said softly. "We'll take care of this."

"I'm fine," he merely returned.

Hailey gave him a warning look, but he ignored her. He knew how much Jay had suffered then from what had happened with Fiora. And he had also heard the tapes that Cayden had played when Jay had been locked in the cube. Not only his brother cared that nothing happened to Fiora - but also him.

Adam ended his phone call. "Voight's having Fiora taken to the station."

Jay looked at him in surprise. "She's in Chicago?"

The younger officer nodded. "Been living back in town for about a month."

/

Jay could hardly believe what Adam had just told him. He never expected Fiora to return to Chicago. Most recently, she had been building a new life in Boston, being with her family. But a lot could happen in five years.

Back then, after he'd received the package she´d sent him, he'd followed her work and publications online for a while. But he had stopped when he realized that she seemed to be doing well - and that he himself could come to terms with the past. He had been happy for her that she had found something that fulfilled her and that she was succeeding at what she was doing.

"She changed her name and moved back here. The name change may work to our advantage. Cayden hopefully hasn't been able to track her down yet."

Again, Jay remembered the package with the book that he had received from Fiora. She had published the book under a pseudonym at the time. Given her past, an appropriate precaution.

"Flora Cerro?" he asked, and Adam nodded, frowning.

"How do you know-?"

"Her work. She's been publishing photos under this pseudonym," he replied. "Five years ago, she last contacted me under that name."

"Then let's hope Cayden didn't find out about it while he was in prison," Hailey added.

/

Hank had immediately made his way to the reception area after receiving the call from Trudy. She´d told him that Fiora would be arriving at the precinct a few minutes later. He was aware that the young woman probably didn't remember them meeting before, and he wondered if she even knew that she had worked here for a few months.

"What do you think, will she recognize me?" Trudy asked with a smile as they made their way to the garage. "After all, I was her direct supervisor."

So Trudy was having similar thoughts as he was.

"I guess if she remembers anything here, it's you. For sure," he answered with a grin.

His longtime colleague laughed. "I'm going to keep an eye on this girl, Hank. That son of a bitch isn't laying a finger on her again - or on Halstead."

"That's exactly how I see it," he replied. He stopped and looked at her with conviction. "The problem will be keeping Halstead in check when he gets back here."

"You're going to allow him to come to the station?" she asked, astonished. "Put Will and him in a secure apartment until Cayden is apprehended."

"We both know what will happen. He's not going to back down and he wants to be part of the investigation no matter how shitty he is feeling right now. I can't have him supervised 24/7. So I'd rather have him here where I can keep an eye on him."

"Have fun with that," she muttered.

"Actually, I was counting on you for that, too," he now added.

"Me?", Trudy raised her eyebrows. "Hank, I'm not a babysitter. Especially not for that stubborn hothead. No thanks."

He raised his hands a little and shook his head. "I'm not asking you to babysit. You're one of the few people he's amazingly unable to stand up to. All I ask is that you keep an eye on him when I have to leave the station with the team."

"He's going to be pissed."

"We have to protect Jay from himself sometimes," he replied simply, deliberately using his first name.

After all the years of working with him and the rest of the team, he couldn't deny that he had developed fatherly feelings for Jay. The development the then young detective had made in the six years during his affiliation with his unit, made Hank proud. Jay almost never deviated from his principles and he was a good cop. Of course, the boy had his faults and his problems, too. They had clashed more than once. But Jay never had backed down from him. He was an extremely fair and just man. Hank was all too aware that he needed him on his team. He needed Jay to make the right decisions for himself now and then. To keep the balance.

"Leave me Upton," Trudy snapped him out of his thoughts and he frowned. "I'm not the only one who can keep Halstead in check," she added with a smirk.

"Is there something I should know about this?" he asked in amazement.

"Hank, it may have escaped your notice, but the woman got him to finally work on his problems and he respects her. Believe me, I have a knack for recognizing that kind of thing."

He smiled. "No doubt about that. All right, you and Hailey. You guys stay with him." he turned as a car approached their position.

It took only a moment for the officers to get out of the police car and open the door to the passenger compartment for Fiora. As she exited, she gazed at the two waiting Seargents uncertainly.

"I'm Seargent Voight and this is Seargent Platt," he therefore opened. "I must apologize for showing up at your workplace. But you were informed why you were brought here?" He walked up to her and looked at her scrutinizingly.

The young woman did not seem to have changed noticeably on the outside. She wore her dark red, thick hair in a knot and looked at him just as scrutinizingly from brown-green, lively eyes. On her left hand, he noticed an orthopedic support bandage, and he remembered that the package bomb had done some damage here. Other than that, however, she seemed fine.

"They think Alexander Cayden might be planning something," she then said in a firm voice.

"This is purely precautionary, Fiora," Hank replied. "Let's go inside. We'll explain everything to you.

"Come on.", Trudy now said, pushing the young woman along, placing a hand on her back.

/

"She's at the station."

Jay breathed a sigh of relief after Adam had checked his messages and had updated them.

"We beat him to it," Will said, also audibly relieved.

Jay nodded and lowered his gaze. He eyed the bedspread and his thoughts drifted again, as the others continued to talk. He would have liked to be at the precinct now. He couldn´t imagine what it must be like for Fiora. To be at a place she knew that she had spent a lot of time there, but also a place that she couldn´t remember.

"Jay?", Will's voice brought him back to reality.

He realized that the two Detectives had left the room and he was alone with his brother.

"Hailey just said they're taking my car back to Chicago tomorrow. We'll both fly back after we're discharged from the hospital. They're going to get us new cell phones, for emergencies."

"I don't want to wait for discharge," he replied. "We're all going tomorrow. I'm discharging myself on my own responsibility."

"No.", Will pushed himself up and got out of the chair. As he did so, he placed a hand on his stomach, apparently his wound was hurting. Still, he moved closer to the bed, where he braced himself. "You and I, we'll fly home when we're ready. And until then, you will rest. We'll talk to the doctor tomorrow, that's all I ask. Fiora is safe."

"I want to go back to Chicago," Jay interrupted him and he was already looking for arguments to contradict him. But then he saw tears gathering in his older brother's eyes. His resistance disappeared instantly as the recognized the concern in the latter's features.

"I thought you were going to die in this room," Will now continued. "Do you have any idea what it was like to see all that Cayden did? To hear it? And not being able to do anything?"

Jay avoided his gaze. He had been aware of how horrible it must have been for Will to witness what had happened.

"Your body needs time to heal," Will now added.

Normally, Jay would have started fighting. He would have insisted on deciding for himself. But looking back at Will at that moment, he realized that his brother also needed that time to heal. To keep them both safe and to even begin to process what had happened.

"It's fine." he therefore answered and he nodded briefly. "We'll stay."

Will seemed more than surprised that Jay wasn't arguing with him. Carefully, he settled back in the chair and nodded gratefully.

"You should get back to your room." Jay now said. "I can tell you're in pain."

Will grimaced. "Hasn't escaped you, has it?"

"I'll be fine, go over there and lie down."

"Jay," he glared at him. "please don't do anything rash."

He could tell Will was scared. He probably suspected that he would actually discharge himself and steal away from the hospital.

"I would never leave you here." he said and there was no mistaking the surprise on Will's face. "I'm going to stay here. Now go over there and lie back down. I'd be really pissed if you made us stay here longer than we had to."

Jay smirked slightly and they looked at each other. Neither were used to showing their emotions to the other, let alone expressing them.

Since the death of their father, however, something had changed noticeably in their relationship. They only had each other, and he felt that the last months had made their bond stronger.

"I'll check on you later," Will said, finally getting up to go back to his hospital room.

/

"Would you like some Coffee? Water?" Voight asked after taking a seat with Fiora and Trudy in the break room.

They were seated at the small, round table and the young woman was now shaking her head.

"Your new colleagues were obviously quite taken aback when our Officers showed up in your office," Trudy opened.

"My colleagues don't know anything about my past," Fiora replied as she looked at the Seargent. "So I'm sure I´ll be a topic of conversation for the next few months."

Trudy smiled and leaned back as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I'm sorry we couldn't handle this any other way," Hank now interjected. "But we had to act quickly. Cayden is currently a fugitive and we had to assume that you would be one of his targets. Your roommate has told us where you are. Does he know about your past?"

She nodded and stroked her forehead with her free hand. She was nervous, "He knows."

"And what do you yourself know about your past? To what extent have you informed yourself?" he asked further.

She looked at him with an expression that was hard to interpret before choosing her next words. Apparently, she had just decided that she had to trust them. However, he also recognized that she had worked through her past with medical help.

"I had tried to suppress my past at first. But of course I needed to know what had happened. Where the scars came from and the fears. At some point, I requested to see my records. I know what happened," she replied in a firm voice. "I know who Cayden is. Do you suspect he may have organized another contract killing?"

"No. We suspect he would currently be looking for you himself," Trudy now said.

"But, Cayden had only acted in the background in the past, right? As a principal and financier. What makes you think he's looking for me personally now?"

"Time in prison seems to have changed him. We think he's going to go after you by himself because he's already kidnapped two people. Apparently he's changed his M.O.," Hank enlightened her.

She blinked and wiped her forehead again. "He kidnapped young women again, right?" she asked quietly. "Are they all right?"

The confident facade that she had tried to put on for them, was slowly crumbling. Hank could see that clearly now. She felt for the victims, so she seemed to remember something from back then after all.

Trudy leaned forward a little and put a hand on her arm.

"He had taken Jay and his brother, Will. We found them yesterday."

Fiora's eyes widened and she looked first at Trudy and then at him in shock. "Are they alive? Are they all right?"

"They're alive. They're currently still in the hospital," Hank replied. "Apparently Cayden has become fixated on Jay and on your case in prison. We don't know why or what plans he has."

"My God... I thought this was all over." she now said, visibly shaken. "Are they going to be okay?"

Hank nodded. "We think so."

"What do you actively remember about that time?" Trudy asked now.

"Very little," Fiora now admitted. "For a while I had nightmares, I guess those are some of the memories that came up. And I recognize some places. The strongest are the feelings associated with them... But without the memories, it just doesn't make any sense. That's why I never wanted to return to Chicago."

"Why did you do it?"

"Mark, my fiance, got a job here and I also had a job offer to start working for a larger publisher. In the end, we decided to go for it."

"I know you and Jay didn't keep in touch after all that, right?" Hank added now. "Did you see Cayden at the court hearings back then?"

"No." she shook her head. "I was able to give my testimony in a separate room, fortunately. I never met him in person."

He nodded. That was good, maybe that meant Cayden was more interested in Jay than in her after all. "Do you think he knows about your return to Chicago or that you changed your name after the trial?"

"I don't see how. I was trying to start over. I started all my publications and jobs under my new name. Nothing on the Internet would indicate my true identity."

"That's good. I think that saved you on this one," Hank leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "We'd like to move you and Will Halstead to a safe house until we can get a lead on Cayden. Until it's safe for the two of you again."

Fiora seemed to think about it for a moment, then she nodded. "Can I see Jay first?"

"He and his brother won't be back until tomorrow. Or later," Hank replied.

"Please, if it's possible... let me see him," she begged.

Hank looked at her. "Fiora, I know how difficult all this must be for you. But I have to do everything I can to keep you hidden from Cayden. That means, as few people as possible will know where you are. Jay is one of the people Cayden is targeting. If - and I hope it doesn't come to that - if Cayden gets a hold of him again, he shouldn't be able to reveal your location."

"Then I'll wait here," she said.

"We're not a hotel," he replied. He really felt for the young woman, but he couldn't make an exception for her.

"Suspects are detained for 72 hours. Leave me here for 72 hours. And if Jay's not back by then, take me to this safe house."

"Hank...," Trudy looked at him with raised eyebrows. Of course - she had long since given in, and she was going to allow Fiora her wish.

He took a deep breath. They didn't have the facilities or the staff to monitor her around the clock. So there was only one place in the precinct where she could stay and where officers were assigned day and night.

"All right, if you want to spend 72 hours in a cell?" he therefore said.

"Okay." she returned without hesitation and she held his gaze.

Hank realized that she had indeed not changed. On one hand, she was this deeply hurt and scared person to whom bad things had been done. But she had definitely retained her stubbornness.

"Hank, are you serious?" Trudy interjected now.

"There we have the officers and the ability to keep an eye on her. Maybe even safer than the apartment. You can supply her with whatever she needs."

His colleague gave him a reluctant look, but she knew he was right. "First you demote me to babysitting Halstead, and now this," she complained.

He smirked, then Fiora rejoined the conversation.

"Can I inform my fiance that I'll be gone for a while? Surely he can bring some things over for me?"

"Inform him and then give your phone to Seargent Platt. Your boyfriend can drop things off at the front desk," he said, now leaning on the tabletop. "I'm not going to take any chances and expose either you or Jay to any unnecessary danger. That means no communication through traceable channels."

"No problem.", Fiora nodded.

"Seventy-two hours. And then you do what I tell you. Understood?"

"Plain and clear, Seargent."

/

Hailey had just left the small electronics store downtown and was approaching the rental car, where Adam was waiting for her. She had gotten Will and Jay a cheap prepaid cell phone so they could stay in touch.

"Did you get everything?" Adam asked when she reached the car and he addressed her through the rolled-down windows.

"All taken care of."

"Do you want to grab some lunch and then head back to the hospital?"

"Sounds good to me." she stopped and put the bag through the open window on the passenger seat, as her own phone rang at that moment. It was Voight, and she answered the call.

Neither of them paid any attention to the family van parked not far from them, with two men exiting from the side facing away from them. They wore nondescript clothing and walked around the van.

While Hailey was still on the phone, one of the men walked down the street and passed the rental car in which Adam was intently following the conversation between his colleague and Voight.

Only when Hailey noticed a movement in the corner of her eye did she react. She dropped the phone and reached for her gun. The man in front of the rental car had just pulled a gun as well, and he was pointing it through the windshield at Adam. She was quick, but not quick enough, and a shot ripped through the silence as she finally got her own gun in position to pull the trigger herself. The front windshield of the car shattered and she could see a red haze spreading through the passenger compartment.

Shocked, Hailey winced. Adam had been hit and she had to stop the shooter from firing again. She went to pull the trigger, but before she had a chance to do so, she felt an arm wrap around her neck from behind. Before she could react, something drilled into her lower back. It was a hot, all-consuming pain. Her legs buckled and the person behind her dropped her to the ground as Hailey groaned in pain and gasped for air.

She now recognized a man with dark hair above her. She tried to raise her gun to protect herself. But she was too slow, the man moved over her and kicked the weapon out of reach with his foot. That was the last thing Hailey perceived before he punched her in the face, sending the world into absolute darkness.

/

"Hailey!?", Hank yelled into the phone, but after a few seconds the connection broke.

Out of breath and shocked, he stared at the smartphone in his hands. The rest of the team had already approached and he now felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Sarge?" it was Burgess. "What happened?"

"Adam and Hailey were ambushed," he replied dully. "A shot was fired, then the connection broke."

Burgess visibly paled, and now she too was staring at the smartphone he still clutched tightly.

"Are any of them hit?" Antonio asked, who had rejoined them after a few days off.

"I don't know," awakening from his shock, he looked at Burgess again. "Try to reach Adam, Kim."

The young Officer immediately started moving, pulling her phone out of her pocket with erratic hands.

"Kevin, Antonio, try to reach Jay or Will at the hospital, apparently Cayden is still in town. Have the hospital administration position guards outside their doors immediately. Notify local authorities."

The two nodded and moved away. He himself went into his office and reached for the receiver of his business phone. He pressed the speed dial button that would connect him to the office of the Commissioner and Superintendent of their police district.

/

After his room emptied, Jay had actually drifted off into a light sleep from which he only awoke when someone touched his arm. He opened his eyes, expecting a nurse or Will to have come into the room, but then everything in him tensed as he realized who was in his room. It was Cayden.

The older man was putting something in his jacket pocket before looking at him. How was that possible? Jay's breathing quickened and he wondered if he might have another nightmare. He tried to sit up, but the older man leaned over him and placed a hand on his right arm, just below the burns and his elbow.

"Easy, Detective," he said.

With a firm grip, Cayden held Jay's arm in place, while Jay's other arm would not budge in the bandage. Agitated and disbelieving, he stared at Cayden while he considered what he could do.

If he called for help, how long would it take for someone to come? And even if they did, a nurse couldn't do anything about the man. But she might be able to alert more people?

"I know what you're thinking, but I wouldn't recommend calling for help," Cayden forestalled him. "My men are with your brother right now and have orders to take him out if you do anything rash."

Jay's gaze shot back to him and he clenched his teeth tensely as he breathed frantically. He was dizzy and he felt a leaden heaviness slowly spreading through his limbs. He realized that Cayden must have already administered something to him while he was still asleep.

"You'll never touch my brother again," he said threateningly, but it was barely more than a whisper that left his lips. The dizziness increased and he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he felt Cayden grasp his chin and turn his head in his direction. He shuddered in disgust at the touch. When he opened his eyes again, he looked directly into the cold, blue eyes of his counterpart.

"I was very disappointed that we couldn't finish the auction. Your people did a good job and tracked down the location quickly. But I was prepared," his gaze wandered over his face. "I thought you would perish in the fire. At least that would have given me some satisfaction."

Jay looked at him in horror while he still tried to free his arm from the man's iron grip. The injuries, however, ensured that he was unable to use his full strength and whatever was in his bloodstream was slowly causing him to lose all feeling in his arms and legs.

"Did you think I didn't know about the chip that they put in me in prison? I can feel it when they implant something under my skin, can't I?" he continued now in a more aggressive tone. "You should know that I removed that thing after I realized that your people only found us because of it. You have no idea what else I had planned for you and your brother."

Cayden leaned down some more and Jay closed his eyes in disgust.

"All of you are no match for me. I will always be one step ahead of you. You and your kind, you deserve all that I have done to you! You're lucky I took a liking to you and your brother, or I would have slaughtered you both back at the cottage. Auction or no auction."

An alarm sounded next to them and it took Jay a moment to realize it was the monitor in his room, monitoring his vital signs. He snapped his eyes open only to see Cayden walk over to the monitor and mute the alarm.

Jay's arm was free again, but he could not lift it. Fear crept up inside him and he wondered what Cayden had given him. Then all at once he began to gasp for air. His chest ached and his body began to shake. He was sweating.

"I estimate you will be unconscious in about 60 seconds. Therefore, I will be brief. I have received countless messages from interested buyers after the aborted auction, offering me vast sums for both of you. I will take your brother and deliver him to a buyer today."

Jay shook his head as he realized the significance of Cayden's words. This man knew no bounds anymore, living out his insane ideas. He could just sell people and hand them over to someone...

Jay had already experienced such things in his world, they had hunted down human traffickers and had freed children, who had been sold like animals over the internet - but Will was downright innocent in this respect. He had no idea what these people could do to a person.

"No!" he continued to gasp, and it took all the strength he had left to utter the next words. Again, it was no more than a whisper. "Take... take me. I... go willingly. Finish the plan... kill me. Will... not Will."

Jay felt a tear escape. Cayden ran a hand down his cheek and smiled before taking a seat again, wiping his fingers on his pants.

"You're still the naive boy I encountered in that interrogation cell..." he began, "Somehow, though, I managed to break you. I could see it in your eyes. You had already given up. It would be too easy. I don't want you to sacrifice yourself, Jay. I want you to fight for your life. Your brother still has that fight in him. I don't think he's ever really been challenged like that. Will surprised me," the older man now continued. "And he has made me very, very angry... Watching his continued struggle will give me a lot of pleasure when I receive the video footage of his buyer."

Jay shook his head again as he felt anger and despair mingle with fear inside him. He felt the pain in his chest increase by the second. He continued to gasp for air. Cayden rose to his feet.

"It was nice to meet again before I leave," he said. "I actually regret having to leave you here. In a few hours, I will be leaving the country."

In the next second, Jay's body tensed. He could no longer breathe, and fear and panic were now fully spreading through him. Next to his bed, the surveillance monitor sounded the alarm again; Cayden must have turned it back on.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to tell anyone about all this anymore."

/

"Pack up the paperwork and call Trudy," Hank entered the office room and those remaining looked at him in surprise. "We're going to Wisconsin. I've gotten the Commissioner's approval and the local Authorities have been notified."

"I'll call Trudy," Antonio said, and he picked up the phone.

"What happened? Do we know anything more specific yet?", Hank asked the group and Atwater looked at him with concern as he approached.

"We have confirmed 911 calls," he replied. "First responders confirmed a gunshot wound to Adam and a stab wound to Hailey. Both have already been taken to the hospital. The wounds are not life-threatening. Local police are already searching for the car."

Hank nodded. "Good... We need the next available flights. We're not going to sit around and wait for the Officers there to do their job properly."

"I'll book us tickets right now," Burgess said.

"Hank, we don't have the same authority there as we do here. Not the sources like here.", Antonio now indicated, after he´d called Trudy.

"That's why you stay here and stay in touch with the Special Victims Unit. I've already talked to the lead Sergeant there. He was running the operation at the house, when Will and Jay were rescued. He's a good man and we're going to support him and his team in the investigation. We need to make sure that Cayden and his men can't get to our people again. Have we heard anything more from the hospital regarding the brothers?"

Before anyone could answer, Antonio's phone rang and Hank saw Trudy coming up the stairs. He turned to her.

"I've already heard," she opened the conversation, as she gave everyone a sympathetic look. "Adam and Hailey are tough, they´ll be fine, okay?" Then she stopped in front of Hank. "What are you guys going to do now?"

He lowered his voice. "Cayden never went after Fiora. He's still in Sparta, and he put the hit out on Adam and Hailey. He must have been watching the team after they found Jay and Will at the house. Maybe he's trying to get revenge on all the members of the Unit now."

Trudy nodded. "Do we know if Adam and Hailey are still fit for duty?"

"No. We just know that the wounds are not life-threatening. Hopefully we'll know more soon. Kevin, Kim and I are going to the airport right now. Can you make sure Fiora stays here until we're sure where Cayden actually went? I suspect we won't be returning from Sparta anytime soon."

"I'll talk to her.", Trudy replied and she put a hand on his upper arm. "You guys get them all back home in one piece, okay?"

Hank knew there was no guarantee of that. But he nodded in agreement nonetheless. "We'll do our best."

He glanced after his colleague, as she headed for the stairs leading down to the entrance area of the Police Station. Then Antonio finished his phone call and scowled at him.

"What?" he asked curtly, approaching him now.

/

Will regained consciousness with an heavy headache and a roaring in his ears. Slowly he opened his leaden eyelids. At first he couldn't make out his surroundings, as his vision was still blurry for a few seconds. Then his eyes focused and he realized that he was inside a wooden box. Immediately, an image of a television show popped into his head, in which animals of a Zoo had been transported in such crates.

He startled and pushed himself up a little. Panic rising in him, he looked around and he pressed his hands against the wood. There were a few small holes on the top, probably to provide an air supply. He didn't manage to open the box, so he tried to see through the holes. It wasn't very bright, so he didn't succeed. His hands were tied in front of his body with cable ties. He couldn't believe that he ended up in such a situation again. Locked in a confined, small space.

When two unknown men in casual clothes had entered his room at the hospital and had pointed a gun at him, he had immediately realized that Jay and he had made a terrible mistake. Cayden had to have sent the men. They were probably the two masked men who had already detained him and Jay in the house. The stature and size matched. Cayden had to have tracked where they were, after the first responders had rescued them from the burning house. Apparently he wasn´t finished with them yet.

The men had signaled him that he should take a seat in a wheelchair and to come with them if neither he, nor his brother should be harmed. Reluctantly, Will had obeyed the request - he had seen no other option. No one in the small hospital in Sparta had taken notice when they had pushed him outside. Desperately, Will had hoped that Hailey and Adam might return and see him, but they had been nowhere to be seen.

Once outside and out of sight for others, the men had pressed a cloth to his face. Probably Chlorophorm, from the smell and the onset of its effects. That had been the last clear thought before he had passed out.

Will shuddered at the thought that these guys had brought him here, apparently swapping the hospital gown he'd been wearing for sweatpants and a wrinkled shirt. The shirt was unbuttoned and everything reeked of exhaust fumes. The smell of exhaust fumes not only hung in the clothes, but filled the entire air around him, he noticed. The roar he had heard when he woke up was now increasing as well. A jolt gripped the box and he was startled.

Where the hell was he? In a Truck? Or in an Airplane? He felt a new wave of fear take hold of him. If he was in the hold of a plane, Cayden could take him anywhere and cover his tracks. He wondered if Cayden had brought Jay here as well. With a trembling voice he called out to him, but he heard nothing but that roar. This at least briefly raised his hopes that Jay was still in the hospital and that hopefully he was okay.

Panicked, he raised his arms to press against the top of the box again. However, he immediately jerked back as the stab wound began to hurt and the sudden movement pulled at the stitches. He put his hands on the injured spot on his stomach and slumped back a little. He looked down. The stitches had come open and he was bleeding slightly, probably already for a while. This was not good. He was supposed to be still in the hospital, receiving painkillers and antibiotics, not in a wooden box on his way to God knows where...

The roar, the engine noise that he now actually attributed to an airplane engine, continued to increase and now he could feel the movements quite clearly. Apparently the plane was just starting to pick up speed for Takeoff. Desperately he looked around, but there was nothing in the box that would help him to break it open.

/

Everyone in the office had rallied around Antonio, who now relayed the news of his phone call to them.

"That was the hospital. Will is nowhere to be found, he is no longer in his room. Jay's condition is worse. He had a seizure and had to be sedated. He is being ventilated. They don't know what caused the seizure," he reported.

Hank stared at him as anger spread through him. "Cayden's cleaning up after himself," he muttered. "He took Adam and Hailey out of the game. He didn't want to be disturbed when he entered the hospital. Get me the video footage from the hospital and I finally want an update on how our people are doing!"

Agitated, he stormed into his office.

/

Will could not estimate exactly how long the flight had lasted. But he guessed that it had been less than three hours in which he had waited, huddled in the box, whether they were about to land or whether something happened. At first he had feared that he would freeze or suffocate in the hold, but fortunately it had been heated, so it had to be a larger plane or at least a private jet that was transporting him.

If it was a larger machine, then perhaps he could make his presence known as soon as the luggage and thus the box would be unloaded. This was currently his only hope as he waited, heart pounding, for the plane to come to a stop.

It took another agonizingly long few minutes for the plane to apparently reach its holding position, for the roar of the engines to diminish, and for the hatch to the cargo hold to open. Will listened and he realized that footsteps were approaching. Cautiously, he sat up a little and got on his knees.

"Hello? Can anyone hear me?" he tried at first.

No one answered, but he could hear that there were people near him.

"Hello? I need help!"

"There's no help coming for you, Will."

He recognized the voice immediately. It belonged to Cayden. Involuntarily he froze, and all hope of help was gone. The man seemed to step closer.

"No one will come for you because no one knows where you are," he continued.

"Jay will find me." Will muttered as the fear inside him increased and his breathing quickened. "No matter where you take me, he'll find me."

"Jay?", Cayden laughed. "I killed him."

Will held his breath, his gaze lost in nothingness as he realized the words.

"That's a lie!" he groaned, and he felt tears welling up.

"I'm afraid it isn't. I was with him when he went into respiratory arrest."

"Jay...," tears were now streaming down Will's face. "You´re a liar!" He couldn't imagine his strong, stubborn little brother being dead. "I don't believe you!", full of rage he hit the wall of the box. Then he groaned as a sharp pain spread through his stomach.

"Believe what you want. You are no longer my problem. I've sold you for a profit."

Will couldn't think straight at that moment. "Let me out of here!" he cried in a voice choked with tears, as he now kicked at the wood.

"I'm sure your new owner will talk some sense into you. Let me say goodbye to you. After the exchange, I will leave the country. I want to thank you for the exciting time we spent together. I am already looking forward to the video material, which was promised to me. Perhaps you will realize that it was better for your brother, that he did not have to endure what awaits you."

"Shut up!" Will exclaimed. He never wanted to hear that killer's voice again.

"Oh, Doctor...," Cayden feigned false compassion.

"Shut your damn mouth!", Will hit the wall of the box again, regardless of the injury.

His anger, despair, and grief outweighed the pain, and he was sure he would murder Cayden with his bare hands, if he only got the chance...

/

Three hours later, Hank and his team landed at La Crosse Regional Airport, the closest airport to Sparta.

What he had learned from the attending Doctors before their departure had infuriated him to the point that he would love to rip the heads off of these idiots, when he´d encounter them. The hospital staff had grossly neglected their supervisory duties with Jay and Will. But all the accusations would not help them now.

Jay was fighting for his life again in the hospital, Adam and Hailey were fortunately stable, even though the attack against them had been unnecessarily brutal. Both would need a few more days before they were fit for duty again.

He steered the rental car toward Sparta. Burgess was engrossed in messages with Ruzek in the back seat, which she had started with him as soon as he had become available again. Hank could understand the young woman's concern; after all, Ruzek and she had been a couple for a long time and they were still close.

Atwater, on the other hand, sat next to him and exchanged information with Antonio and the remaining colleagues in Chicago. The technical department monitored all known communication channels, forums and websites that could be assigned to Cayden in the meantime. If he tried to move anything through this, they would find out sooner or later.

"What do you hear from Adam?" he asked as he glanced in the rearview mirror and watched Burgess.

She raised her head and met his gaze in the mirror. "They're both awake and eager to rejoin the search for Will as soon as possible, Sir," the Officer replied.

"Good, we'll see about that," Hank nodded.

He had been able to review the hospitals video footage before they had left for the airport. Two men had taken Will out of the hospital in a wheelchair. Facial recognition had turned up nothing, but they were probably the men who had also attacked Adam and Hailey. Footage outside the hospital and from traffic surveillance had shown Will being transported in a family van, the same type of car seen at the scene of the shooting and knife attack.

And Hank had spotted Cayden on the footage... There was no doubt that he had done something to Jay. Hank was determined to bring this guy down, at any cost.

/

Hailey sat on the edge of the mattress in her hospital room and she waited for the attending physician to finally return. The stab wound in her back had needed stitches and was taken care of. Fortunately, it had not been life-threatening and had missed any important nerve cords and the spine. She had suffered a mild concussion from the blow, but she was eager to join her colleagues, who would arrive at the hospital in a short time. She would not sit around. With enough painkillers, she would continue to support the team, and she was eager to see Adam.

"Your test results look good," the doctor said when he finally re-entered the room. "I'm going to give you some Ibuprofen for the pain and you promise me that you'll take it easy, okay? No more fighting or stabbing in the next few days."

He smiled at her and she nodded as she half-heartedly returned the smile.

"Then I'll get your discharge papers ready. If you want to, go over to your colleague. I'll find you there then."

"Thank you, doctor."

She was truly more than grateful to have escaped the mills of the hospital system so quickly. With careful movements, she put her bloody clothes back on and she knotted the light jacket around her waist to hide the blood on her shirt and jeans as well as possible. Then she made her way to Adam's room, which was not far away. She had already written to him and she knew that, fortunately, he was going to be alright.

The bullet that had hit him had been a through and through and had not injured any major organs or arteries. It had hit him in the shoulder and he would have to wear a sling for support, but given the facts, this was an extremely fortunate outcome.

Still, when she stepped into his hospital room and saw him, she was startled by how pale he was. But he smiled, when he spotted her.

"Hey, look who's up and about already," he said.

She stepped closer and was incredibly relieved that he actually seemed to be okay. She took his hand.

"That hospital gown suits you." she said, smiling wryly.

He grinned. "Still glad when I´m back in my own clothes, though."

She nodded. "Are you really all right?"

"Yes. I'll be released tomorrow," he replied with conviction. "Go upstairs and check on Jay."

By now, they had both been informed of the latest events by their colleagues. Neither knew anything more specific and Hailey was dying to see her partner as well. Adam knew that - he always sensed when something was going on inside of her. And in the last few hours, her world had been shaken up.

She promised Adam that she wouldn't be gone too long. Then she took the elevator upstairs and she was surprised when she was denied access to Jay's hospital room. Supposedly, the doctors were doing some tests and examinations. So, with an uneasy feeling, Hailey went back to Adam's room to wait with him for the rest of her colleagues.

/

Will was exhausted. He had been so incredibly horrified and angry that he had cursed Cayden with all kinds of swearing. He had tried everything to get free when the crate was unloaded from the plane, but it had only resulted in his wound bleeding more.

Now he was huddled in the crate, which by now was inside a vehicle. It was dark and cold. He was actually being shipped like an animal to another place and he had no idea where he would end up.

He was grieving the loss of his brother. Of course, he hoped that Cayden had lied to him, but he felt such pain inside that he was beginning to believe that he had actually lost Jay. Again and again he was overcome by his emotions and it hurt so much that he almost wished he could follow him.

Will didn't know what was in store for him. Who Cayden had sold him to. So maybe it was better to bleed to death in that damn box.

/

Hank entered Jay's hospital room and stopped in the doorway. The attending physician had not wanted to discuss all the details with him on the phone, but had approached him and the others in the waiting area. He had asked him to come into Jay's room with him. Here he wanted to fill him in on what they had found out. Kim and Kevin were finally able to join Adam and Hailey to check on them.

He had never seen Jay look so pale. He was as white as the sheets around him. A tube, which was connected to a ventilator, was providing oxygen. The mechanical pumping of the machine could be heard, and he watched for a moment, as Jay's chest rose and fell.

The sight of Halstead immediately reminded Hank of Justin. For a moment, he thought he saw his son lying in the bed, and he felt tears welling up as the painful memories returned.

"Sir?" the doctor addressed him.

He blinked and the vision disappeared. Hank woke up from his stupor and entered the room. He moved closer to the bed and the doctor stood next to him. As he looked at the young Detective for another moment, his anger returned. He remembered that the hospital staff had allowed Cayden to walk in on Halstead and do this to him.

"So, you wanted to fill me in?" he therefore challenged the doctor, as he now turned to face him. "Tell me he's going to be okay."

The young doctor looked at him sincerely. "As I said before, we are very sorry for what happened. This man, your suspect, he first injected him with a drug mix and then apparently injected a not insignificant amount of air through the venous access. The injected air resulted in an air embolism. As a result, the patient lost consciousness and we had to resuscitate him. We placed a central venous catheter to decompress the ventricle. His prognosis is good."

Hank raised his eyebrows and literally nailed the doctor with his gaze. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and took a small step closer.

"The prognosis is good? What does that mean to you?" he asked calmly, but his undertone was sharp and the doctor cleared his throat nervously.

"He's out of danger. We were able to determine the drugs administered via a tox screen. That's less of a concern."

„And what are you worried about?"

The doctor swallowed visibly before speaking further. "Because of the embolism, there is a possibility that the patient could have suffered a stroke."

Hank inhaled audibly as he turned his head to look at Jay again. He ran his hand over his forehead and shook his head as the words slowly dawned on him.

"You're telling me that my best Detective may never be able to return to active duty or may have suffered physical and mental impairments because you were unable to have a kidnap victim monitored?"

"Sir, there's no way we could have known that..."

Hank waved it off and stepped up to Jay's bedside. Deep down, he knew that the hospital staff was only partially to blame. He himself should have immediately made sure Jay and Will were monitored. The local Police had made mistakes. They were all to blame by underestimating Cayden.

"How soon can we find out if he has sustained any permanent damage?" he then asked.

"We can lower the sedation and let him wake up for a few minutes. I'd run some quick tests." the young man replied.

"Okay, then do that."

/

When Will regained consciousness, it took him a moment to realize the events of the last few days. Motionless, he lay on his back and he thought back to the last moment before he had passed out again.

After a long ride, the box had been opened and he had looked into the face of a massive, blond man. The man had been holding something in his hand, a Taser Gun, he now realized. The man had fired the Taser Gun immediately.

He was still dazed and wanted to stand up, but something held him back. Only now was he really aware of his surroundings and he raised his head to look down at himself.

A tiled, oblong room surrounded him. A metal toilet and sink were mounted to the wall, operated by knobs instead of faucets and levers.

If he didn't know better, he would guess that he was in a police cell or a room in a mental institution. There, such devices prevented inmates from hurting themselves.

But he knew that couldn't be where he was. Cayden had sold him to someone, so it had to be a person who had seen the live video stream on the Darknet. He was lying on a blue mattress that was covered with thick plastic. The kind they used in medical facilities.

His wrists and legs were attached to the mattress with straps. By now he was wearing only his sweatpants. His upper body and feet were naked. They had carefully cleaned and re-sewed his wound. He was not in pain; an IV in his right hand testified to the fact that he had probably been given painkillers and saline.

He looked to the end of the room. There was a door that had no handle and could only be opened from the outside. A small shatterproof window, crisscrossed with wires, offered a view into the room he was in. Above the door in the corner, a camera was monitoring him.

What the hell was going on here?

/

Hank stood next to Halstead's hospital bed, and he watched as the doctor and two nurses prepared everything to wake him up. Jay was still intubated, but the doctor had told him that if the tests came back good, they could remove the breathing tube.

"Lower the dosage and administer Naloxone IV," the doctor then turned to him. "He's about to wake up. Please stay in the background."

Hank nodded, but gazed spellbound into Halstead's face. It wasn't long before he briefly opened his eyes for a moment.

"Jay, can you open your eyes for me one more time?" the doctor asked, and he leaned down a little. "Open your eyes."

After a moment, Jay actually complied. Hank continued to follow everything.

"Very nice." the doctor affirmed. "Look at me. You feel something in your throat, that's a tube to help you breathe. Okay?"

Jay did not respond, but simply looked at the doctor.

"If you understand what I've told you, then blink."

It seemed like an eternity to Hank, but then Jay blinked twice.

"Very good." the doctor now took Jays free hand. "Can you squeeze my fingers? Squeeze as hard as you can. Very nice, a firm handshake. Well done."

All at once Hank was uncomfortable watching the tentative attempts of his Detective, but he could not avert his gaze. The doctor now uncovered Halstead's feet. He was wearing compression stockings. All of this seemed so incredibly wrong that Hank's anger at Cayden was rekindled.

"Can you move your toes for me? Both legs?"

To Hank's relief, Jay complied with this request as well, and he felt hope rising.

"Good. Very good." the doctor seemed satisfied. He gave Hank a quick look and nodded, before turning back to Jay. "We're going to remove the tube now. I want you to exhale firmly when I say so."

A few seconds later, the tube was out. Jay coughed and gasped for air, but then his breathing calmed down and he sank back into the pillows, exhausted. He closed his eyes and seemed to drift off again immediately.

"Oxygen saturation looks good," a nurse informed the doctor as he listened to Jay's bronchial tubes with a stethoscope.

"The worst is over." the doctor now told him, and Jay opened his eyes again for a moment. "We're going to take you to CT now, and then you can get some more rest. Everything will be fine."

Jay nodded, but to Hank the words seemed like the purest mockery. Nothing was fine. Jay would be stuck here in the hospital for days while his brother was kidnapped. Two of their team were injured and Cayden was still on the run.

Nothing was fine...

/

Hailey had left the others after a while and once again made her way to Jay's room. She was exhausted and in pain, but she wouldn't really rest until she knew how her partner was doing.

Voight had been gone for what seemed like an eternity and the others were also eager to get an update on Jay's condition. Kim had offered to go with her, but Hailey wanted to be alone and had declined with thanks. Fortunately, Kim was sensitive enough to understand that she was serious.

She propped herself up against the wall a bit as she approached Jay's room. She saw Voight standing in front of the entrance. He was typing something into his cell phone.

"Sir?" she addressed him.

He raised his head and looked at her in surprise. "Shouldn't you be taking it easy?"

"I'm fine, Sarge."

He merely nodded in response.

"What did you find out regarding Jay? How is he doing?"

"I was just about to give you all an update. He was awake briefly, is off the ventilator. It's going to be a while before he wakes up properly."

Hailey looked past Voight into the room and saw the pale figure lying in the bed. Seeing Jay like that sent a jolt of pain to her stomach, and she refocused on her Supervisor.

"I'll stay with him for a minute," she said, "I'm sure the others will be happy to hear the news from you."

Voight gazed at her. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked.

She nodded. "Go on. I'll take over."

After a moment, Voight actually started moving. Perhaps he had seen through the fact that she wanted to be alone in the room with Jay. That she wouldn't allow her feelings to show themselves until she didn't have an audience. Either way, she was glad he was leaving. When the elevator doors at the end of the hall finally closed, she entered the hospital room.

She approached the bed and her gaze lingered on Jay's momentarily relaxed features. It was good that he was asleep and that he didn't yet know what had actually happened. That Will was missing.

She moved closer and sat down on the chair that had been moved back next to the bed. Carefully, she placed a hand on a free spot on Jay's right arm. Fortunately, he didn't wake up and she felt his body heat under her cold hand. In one fell swoop, all the tension drained from her. The events of the last few hours overwhelmed her and she finally began to cry softly.

/

It had taken an infinitely long time until Will heard sounds from outside and he turned his head back to the door. During the time he had lain here in silence, he had thought again and again about Cayden's words. About whether he had actually killed Jay. A part of him still wanted to believe that he would see him again soon, that it was a lie.

The door opened and everything in Will tensed. He had no idea what would happen now. A pretty woman in her fifties stepped into the room. Astonished, he looked at her.

"Dr. Halstead." she opened the conversation as she came closer. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."

Will just stared at her and waited. The thoughts raced in his mind. A woman had bought him? Had she made sure he'd been fixed up?

"I apologize for the straps," she continued with a slight smile on her lips. "I just want to keep you from hurting yourself."

"Why, because I was expensive?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Challengingly, he looked at her. Her smile widened.

"Oh, you were outrageously expensive. I would have bought your brother, too. But alas, the salesman took him off the list."

Will swallowed and he lowered his gaze. Had Jay been taken off the list because he was already dead?

"What list?" he asked. "What does it mean when someone is taken off?"

"You're worried about your brother," she said, stepping closer. "I'm afraid I can't comment on that."

"What do you want from me?"

She let her gaze wander over him. "I have very exclusive tastes," she began, "I really wanted you in our collection."

"Your collection?" he repeated. "What does that mean? Who are you working with?"

"Get well first, then we'll talk." She answered. "If you behave yourself, my assistant will cut you loose. How would you like that?"

Will just looked at her without answering. He had been passed from one Sociopath to the next. He was just becoming all too painfully aware of this.

"If you won't talk to me, I'm afraid I can't help you, Will."

"I'll talk to you and do anything you want if you do one thing for me," he replied.

"And what would that be?"

"Call Sparta Community Hospital and ask for my brother. Jay Halstead. I need to know if he's still alive," his voice trembled as he made his demand.

He didn't know the woman. He didn't know what she was after or if she would help him. But he had to at least try.

"From now on, the world out there doesn't exist for you, Will," she said. "You'd better come to terms with that real quick."

With those words, she turned and left the room. Desperate and speechless, Will was left behind as fresh tears made their way up.

/

When Jay woke up, he felt as if he had slept for several days straight. When he opened his eyes and his pupils adjusted he realized that he was not alone in the room.

People were talking quietly. Spread around his bed, sat his entire unit with the exception of Antonio. He looked at them in surprise, and Voight was the first to notice he was awake.

"Welcome back," he said.

"What happened?" the words came out slurred and he wished he wasn't being watched by five pairs of concerned eyes.

"You've been asleep for a while, the doctors had you sedated for a while longer. How are you feeling?"

Jay looked at them again. He felt that he appeared to be under heavy pain medication, which slowed his reactions. Then he realized someone was missing from the room. Someone who shouldn't be missing if everything was okay.

"Where's Will?" He could tell immediately by the reaction of the others that something was wrong.

"Will's not here," Voight replied. "Can you tell us anything about what happened?"

Wide-eyed, Jay looked questioningly at his Supervisor. "What do you mean Will's not here?"

Everyone looked at him anxiously, and Jay grew uneasy. Hailey stepped closer to the bed and Jay noticed how pale she was. "Cayden was here," she said with a worried expression.

He looked at the others again. He was completely confused and overwhelmed. Only now did he discover that Adam had a sling on his arm.

"Adam?" he tried to make sense of everything that was going on around him right now.

Briefly, his eyes fell shut again. What had they just been talking about? About Will... Will wasn't here.

"Okay.", Voight said at that moment. He must had realized that it was too much for him. "Everybody out. I want to talk to Jay alone."

The room emptied and Jay looked at the older man, waiting.

"Cayden was here and hurt you. We've been waiting for you to wake up for a while."

"I don't understand."; Jay's head went completely blank.

"Just tell me what you remember about the incident," Voight urged.

"I don't remember anything."; he turned his head to the side and searched hard for anything. The last thing he remembered was sending Will back to his own hospital room, because he was supposed to be recovering. "Sarge... Where's Will?"

/

Hailey waited outside, listening intently to the words Voight and Jay were exchanging.

"He doesn't remember," Kevin said from beside her, "We don't have anything."

"Give him some time," Kim added.

Adam appeared next to Hailey and she looked up at him. He'd been discharged that morning and had immediately joined them in Jay's room. To her relief, he seemed to be doing well.

She herself had taken a pain pill fairly early, but she was beginning to feel the lack of sleep. She still felt exhausted. They had been waiting all night to see if anything new would come up or if Jay would wake up.

"Let's sit in the waiting area," Adam suggested. "Voight will keep us informed."

"We finally need to do something," Hailey said in frustration. "The field units don't have any leads. We should get back to our Precinct and put out all available manhunts for Will and Cayden."

"That's all been commissioned," Kevin said from beside her. "Our colleagues are keeping me informed. The van that was spotted at your crime scene has been found. Torched on a side street in La Crosse."

Hailey thought about the new information.

"What was located nearby?" asked Adam. "The airport?" Kevin nodded.

"Then Cayden took a plane," Hailey now said with conviction.

"With a private jet, he could get anywhere he wants," Adam said. "He has enough connections and money to organize something."

"But the flights still all have to be registered. Even if he faked his papers, there still has to be proof of his destination," Kim said.

Hailey could now literally see how the fighting spirit slowly returned to each one of them.

"What are we waiting for?" she therefore asked. "Let's contact airport authority."

/

"The substances we detected via the tox screen included GHB and Rohypnol," the doctor explained. He had been summoned to Jay's room by Voight.

"That explains the memory loss?" the latter echoed.

"Yes. That and the effects of the embolism can significantly affect the memory."

Jay followed the conversation, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Will had been abducted and Cayden might have said something to him about where he had taken him. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn´t remember.

"How are you feeling otherwise?" the doctor had moved closer.

"I'm fine," he replied as usual.

"Seargent Voight, would you mind leaving the room for a moment?" the doctor now asked, and after a moment's hesitation, he complied.

The doctor sat down in the chair next to Jay's bed.

"Your vitals are good right now, considering the circumstances, but after what happened, we're going to have to monitor you for a while. So why don't you tell me how you're feeling?"

"How long do I have to stay?" asked Jay instead.

"About a week."

Jay felt as if all remaining strength was draining from his body at that moment, and he literally sank into himself.

The truth was, he wasn't feeling well. He felt exhausted to death, his entire body ached, and worrying about Will nearly drove him out of his mind. He couldn't lie here for a full week and wait it out.

"I know about your situation and I would love to tell you otherwise. But you need to stay on the heparin IV to prevent re-clotting. After such a severe embolism, there could be other complications, Pneumonia or inflammation of the pleura are not uncommon here. We also need to monitor your EKG. You suffered a respiratory arrest and we had to resuscitate you. The chest compressions fractured two ribs, in addition to the injuries you already had."

Jay didn't want to believe that his health was really that bad. But he knew the doctor wasn't exaggerating. It was perhaps better than him sugarcoating things.

"I want you to give me your word that you will discharge me as soon as possible," he said as tears formed in his eyes.

"Then work with us and tell us how you're doing. Take the medications and painkillers, only then they can make a difference. Maybe I can shorten your stay by a few days. But you have to follow our guidelines." The doctor firmly gazed at him. "Do we have a deal?"

Jay nodded reluctantly. "Deal."

/

Will had been held captive in the room for three days now. Next to the door was a window with a frosted glass pane, through which he at least could see some daylight. He could estimate the times of day relatively well, but the loneliness and uncertainty were already gnawing at him.

The guy Will had seen briefly when the box had been opened, had come to him a few hours into the first day and had removed the cannula in the back of his hand. Will had tried to ask him questions, but the burly man had not responded. Apparently, he was the "assistant" the woman had spoken of. He had simply continued with his task.

He had brought a steel chain with him. Using a lock, he attached one end of the chain to an eye plate, the counterpart of a carabiner, which had been fastened to the wall with screws. The other end he put around Will's ankle and again he used a lock to secure the chain. Only then did he finally remove the straps, so that Will could at least move again.

Will had tugged like a madman on the chain and locks after he had been alone again. But the devices were impossible to break without tools. He had to realize that this was probably not the first time these people had held someone. How many others might have been in this room before him? Or were there others even now? The woman had said she wanted him in her collection. So maybe there were several rooms like this.

After a while he had surrendered to his fate and had tested out how far he could move in the room with the chain. He reached the toilet and the sink effortlessly. So he could at least ensure the most necessary personal hygiene and he had free access to water. Something he had longed for during his first hours in the room. However, he did not get further than to the middle of the room. Within no time, he hated the feeling of tightness around his ankle and the sound of the chain when he moved. He doubted that he would ever get used to it.

On the second day, the assistant had placed a shirt on the sink for him. Similar to the scrubs they wore in the hospital. Will had been glad to at least cover himself again. Whenever he could, he turned his back to the camera that was next to the door. He felt like he was constantly being watched, and he wondered if he was beginning to develop some Paranoia. Cayden had said he was getting footage of him. So it was only natural for him to feel that way, right?

There were three meals every day. In the morning and evening, a large piece of bread and some hard cheese. At noon, a portion of rice with white beans. Nothing to ensure the supply of sufficient nutrients, but also not the worst Will could imagine. The first two days he hadn't touched the food. Today, on the third day, however, he hadn't been able to stand it and had eaten the bread in the morning and the rice later.

The woman came in every day. Except for the food, the only change of the day. She always kept out of reach for him, asking him questions, but he met them with stoic silence. Since his request to check on Jay, he had decided not to give her what she wanted from him, if possible. Whatever that might be.

"You've been eating," she noted that afternoon. "I hope you're settling in."

As usual, Will didn't answer. He turned his head to the side and stared at the wall. What could he possibly say to that? It was ridiculous to assume that he would settle in here. He was a prisoner.

"My husband will be here tomorrow," she said. Now Will looked at her again. "With him, you'd better break your silence, or he may become very displeased."

He wondered if he would finally find out what his future here would be by tomorrow. She must have realized what he was worrying about, because she smiled.

"Don't be afraid. We'll want to keep you around for a while."

/

Hailey dialed the number of Jay's backup cell phone and she waited for him to pick up. They had been back in Chicago since the day before and she had promised to keep him updated with everything.

In the meantime, they had found out that Cayden had left the country on a private plane. Where he had ultimately taken off to, was unknown to them. They had only been able to track the plane's first stop. A small airport in Pennsylvania. They didn't know if Will had been on board of the plane, but she had just been looking through a file of new printouts from the Special Victims Unit and something had caught her eye.

Jay picked up after the third ring, but didn't sound well. Hailey knew how much her partner was suffering from being left at the hospital and not being able to do anything.

"You do know that the Department is monitoring all of Cayden's known channels, as well as checking other Darknet Transshipment Points for suspicious activity?"

"Mhm." was all Jay returned in response.

"I have two lists here. One was retrieved and printed three days ago. Then an updated version two days ago. Seemingly rare animals are being offered to buyers here, at horrendous prices. Three days ago, a red fox and a brown fox were put out for sale. A day later, the brown fox was removed from the list. The red fox, however, was sold. I put Officer Benson on it."

She waited a moment, but Jay seemed to immediately get what she was getting at.

"Will was sold on by Cayden. I wasn't." he said in amazement.

"Exactly," Hailey smiled. They finally had a lead.

"Has Benson been able to find out anything? Where do we need to look?"

"He was able to trace the buyer's IP address back to the state, at least. Guess where he was sold to."

"Pennsylvania." Jay replied.

"Pennsylvania." Hailey confirmed. "He was on that damn plane..."

"Will must have been taken from the airport to his location. You guys need to check all traffic records from the day when the plane landed there," Jay said excitedly.

"I'll talk to Voight right away. We will find him, I promise you." Silence spread on the other end of the line. "Jay?"

"Thank you, Hailey. Finally..." His voice was heavy with emotion that he was obviously trying to keep under control.

She almost started crying herself. She wished that he could be here with them now. She took in a deep breath. "I'll call you right back after I talked to Voight, okay?"

/

It was about noon when a well-dressed man stepped through the door. Will had stood up and stepped into the room as far as he could. The man stopped a few steps away from him.

"You've recovered, very well," the man addressed him.

Will looked into his eyes. They may have brought him here like an animal and left him defenseless, but now he finally felt like himself again. He would show this guy that he was not going to be easy to handle.

"What's this about?" he asked. "What am I here for?"

"My wife..." the man began, as he took off his jacket and put it over his arm. "She found you attractive, I guess. She likes to observe and select people for our little business here."

"What is this place? It looks like a hospital. Your people know how to suture wounds and how to put in IVs. So, what exactly do you do?", Will looked at him expectantly.

He hoped he would finally get an answer as to why he was here.

"Isn't it obvious?" his counterpart asked.

"Enlighten me." Will replied, and he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The man laughed softly and arrogantly. It was clear that he didn't like Will's behavior.

"When you were brought here, we ran some tests," he said. "Checked your compatibility. Tomorrow morning, I'll run a split LTX on you. Does that answer your question?"

Will froze, and all at once he felt as if someone had punched him. This man was going to take out part of his liver. Had he just heard right?

"I think we understand each other now," the man said with satisfaction.

All at once he realized why he was here. Why the place looked like this... Organ trafficking.

He had been sold on by Cayden to an organ trafficker. Little by little, they would first remove parts of the organs he could continue to live without. Part of the Liver, part of the lungs, a kidney. Until eventually they would also remove the vital organs and sell them on. If he was to live that long at all. Any procedure carried so many risks, especially in an environment like this.

"How many people are you holding here?"

"That's not your concern."

"Are you even a surgeon?" he asked, but he felt foolish. Even if this man was a butcher, he would not be able to stop him from doing the things he intended to do to him.

"We'll take good care of you," the man simply replied. "After all, we want to get as much profit out of you as possible."

/

Nervously, Jay awaited the results of the latest examination. His attending physician had promised that he would be released if everything looked good. He had complied with everything the doctors and nurses had asked of him. He was feeling much better and had gotten up for the first time the day before.

He wanted to finally be able to actively participate in the search for Will. He knew his colleagues were working day and night, looking for a viable lead, but he desperately needed something to do. If he couldn't finally return to Chicago, he would go insane.

"Pack your things." the doctor smiled as he entered the room. "I can let you go with a clear conscience."

Those were the best words Jay had heard in recent days.

/

Hailey was pleased to see that Jay had finally been released from the hospital and should be arriving at the precinct shortly. She herself and Adam were also doing fine, and they were all working flat out to find out more about Will's whereabouts.

By now they had several vans and trucks on their list that had left the airport after the private jet had landed. The owners were questioned and the cars were searched. All this was gradually processed by the local authorities. So far, none of the cars had led them to Will. However, not all of the vehicles and owners could be located immediately either.

Voight had released Fiora from protective custody, as soon as it was determined that Cayden had absconded abroad. She had nevertheless asked to speak with Jay. Surprisingly, Jay had agreed to meet with her that evening. Hailey wasn't sure if Jay wasn't taking on too much. But apparently it was important to him to see her.

When her phone rang and Seargent Platt's number was displayed, she immediately picked it up.

"A cab just spit out a pretty beat-up detective at the door," the Seargent merely said. Then she hung up.

"Jay's here!" Hailey exclaimed. "Let's go downstairs!"

/

He had to brace himself with one hand, but Jay stood at the reception counter and let Seargent Platt's speech wash over him. While the Seargent was happy to see him and mentioned several times that 'he had cheated death', as usual she showed her delight by reproaching him about it shortly after. About how reckless and careless he had been. Now she was complaining because he had appeared here in his condition.

Actually, he wanted nothing more than to get to his workplace, but of course there was no getting past her.

"You better listen to what Hank and I tell you from now on, okay?"

Jay nodded, not wanting to provoke any more tirades, but Platt opened her mouth to continue speaking. Then his colleagues came down the stairs to greet him and Jay knew he was redeemed for the moment.

After the greeting and many words of encouragement, he slowly worked his way up the stairs. Hailey walked beside him, the rest was already back in the office.

"Are you okay?" she asked, as he stopped on the first landing to rest his aching leg for a moment and to catch his breath.

He nodded and looked at her. "Just slower than usual." Her look was sympathetic and he was glad to finally see her again. "Thank you for everything, Hailey. I would have gone crazy in the hospital without your messages."

"I just wish we had actually made more progress by now," she replied.

He lowered his head as he braced himself on the handrail and continued walking. "I wish that, too."

/

"Are you sure you want to go through with this today?", Hank looked at Halstead. "Tomorrow's another day."

Since Jay had come straight to the precinct from the airport, he had thrown himself into work. He had gone through all the files and reviewed the leads they uncovered.

Of course, he had come to the conclusion that they had done their homework and that there was indeed currently no clue to his brother's whereabouts.

Just before their conversation, he had watched Jay pour himself a coffee and take a pill with a shaking hand. It would not be long before his energy would be fully depleted.

Now the meeting Fiora had asked for was the last thing on Jay's schedule. Then finally, he had agreed, he would let Hank drive him to his apartment and he would hopefully get a few hours of sleep. If Hank hadn't insisted, he probably would have worked through the night, too.

Hank didn't know what he was trying to prove to himself or if his behavior was to keep him from thinking about what he had experienced. But Jay was in a dangerous downward spiral, and Hank took it upon himself to keep a close eye on him.

"I'd still like to talk to Fiora, Sir," Jay finally answered his question. "I've agreed to her appointment and she's already on her way."

Hank nodded. "Okay. Go into the locker room and take a breath. I'll let Fiora in when she arrives."

/

When Jay opened the door to the break room a little later, Fiora looked up. It took a split second, but then she recognized who had walked in and she smiled.

Jay was strangely excited to see her. Limping, he approached the small table and took a seat on one of the chairs. His injuries still restricted him in some movements, but overall everything worked out quite well.

Fiora looked at him uncertainly. "How are you?" she asked first. "Seargent Platt told me that Cayden-"

"I'm fine," he interrupted her, before she could speak further. Then he looked at her for a moment. She hadn´t changed much, but she seemed more grown up and confident than she had been five years ago. "I'm sorry. It's good to see you," he then said. "Even if the circumstances aren't the best."

"It's terrible what happened," she said. "I wanted to thank you. You reacted immediately and had me taken to safety. After all this time, I didn't expect to be in a situation like that again."

"We had no idea that he had escaped," Jay said. "I'm glad nothing happened to you."

"But to you and your brother." she replied, and it stung Jay to think of Will again. "I know you're still looking for your brother. I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?"

He knew she hadn't really wanted to talk to him about this, but current events seemed to be taking a toll on her as well. Originally, he was sure that she had wanted to tell him why she had never responded to his messages. After he had received the book from her five years ago, he had wanted to inquire how she was doing. She had never written back.

At that time he had already been with Erin. It had never been about getting back together, but he would have liked to know if she was getting along. He had told himself then, that she probably still needed time to process everything. That it was hard to build a new life. But even later, he had never heard from her again.

Jay lowered his head. "You don't have to feel obligated to me, Fiora. I'm fine, and I understand if you don't want to be reminded of what happened back then."

With that, he alluded to her lack of response from back then. Silence followed and he looked at her again. She shook her head slightly.

"It's not like that," she said then. "I didn't know how to face you again or how to contact you after the way I treated you in the hospital. I was so overwhelmed, but I shouldn't have just left you like that. Maybe I should never have sent you the book."

He frowned and gazed at her. Then she continued.

"Then, when the messages came from you, I was suddenly afraid of my own courage. I didn't want to reopen old wounds by sending you the book."

"No." he leaned forward a little. "You didn't. I was happy to hear from you."

"Sometimes I think it's only because you helped me back then, that so many bad things happened to you."

He shook his head vigorously. Her words surprised him. Did she think she was to blame for all this?

"Cayden is responsible, no one else," he said. "What he did to people... To you and your family. My colleagues, to Will..." he faltered, unable to speak further all at once.

God, he missed Will.

"And to you," Fiora gently added. "Look at what Cayden is doing to you right now."

He looked at her and his eyes suddenly filled with tears as emotion overtook him all at once. He didn't know why he couldn't control himself right now. Maybe it was fatigue or the ever-present worry about Will. Suddenly he felt exhausted.

It probably hadn't been a good idea to meet with Fiora right away after all.

"I'm sorry." he said, and he lowered his head again. "I'm not in a good shape right now."

She got up from the chair and came over to him. In the next moment, he felt her hand on his back, as she stood beside him. Then she pulled his upper body a little toward her and she gently enclosed him in a light embrace. For a moment he allowed it and he leaned his head against her center. Then he pulled back and wiped away the tears that had escaped. She kept one hand on his back and stayed with him.

"The doctors told me that I'd never remember anything," she said softly. "But I remember." Jay looked up in surprise. "No details," she continued. "But I remember your kindness, your patience. I know you helped me so much back then. You don't deserve to suffer like that."

Jay didn't know what to say in response. He was too surprised.

"I'm back here now. In Chicago." she continued. "And if I can help you with anything, please contact me, okay? You'll find your brother." she said with conviction. "And when he gets back, I'd like it if we all got to know each other better. Maybe you can tell me how we met back then?"

Jay nodded. "Yeah, maybe."

She seemed serious. "Will you join us for dinner? My fiancé would love to meet the man I owe my life to. Bring Will, okay?"

"You're engaged?", Jay was surprised and he was happy for her, but he couldn't show it right now.

She nodded. "Mark is an Editor. So I want to have a Detective, a Doctor, and an Editor at my dinner table as soon as possible. Okay? You´ll find him."

He looked at her and shook his head. "Fiora, there's no guarantee that we'll find Will alive."

"You have to believe. I know you will."

She put a hand on his cheek and smiled at him once more, full of warmth. It felt good that they had talked. Even though the conversation had gone quite differently than Jay had suspected.

Fiora had definitely changed. But maybe it was something he needed right now. Maybe it was good that she had come back into his life.

/

Will had spent the past few days trying to loosen the screws on the hook in the wall. He lay on his left side and he tried not to behave conspicuously. After the procedure in which they had removed part of his liver, they had left him mostly alone.

He had turned his back to the camera and pressed against the screws with the lock and chain again and again, gradually loosening and undoing them. He had already been able to unscrew one of the four screws. The second one was also already moving a bit. Soon he would be able to grasp it with his fingertips and turn it as well. Only two to go then...

His goal was to get to the window next to the door, break the glass with the help of the hook and the chain, and to get out.

No matter where he was, he would keep running until he could call for help. It had been five days since the transplant procedure. He was sure he was already strong enough to hoist himself outside.

The door opened and Will turned onto his back. He saw the woman enter the room. She was carrying a plate of rice in her hands. Will also recognized some meat and vegetables. Astonished, he looked at her. This was the first time something deviated from the routine.

"We have another surgery coming up in two days," she said, "You should eat."

Will cringed. In two days already?

"I don't know what it's about," she continued. "But I'm sure you'll be fine in no time. You're young and strong." She let her gaze wander over him and there was no doubt what she was thinking about at that moment.

He shook his head and spoke to her for the first time since the first day.

"You disgust me," he said with undisguised contempt. "You saw on the Livestream how my brother was tortured. I have no idea if he's still alive and I'm going to slowly die in here. Don't you care about any of this?"

She looked at him for a moment. "That's what we bought you for," she returned unapologetically. "Now eat."

She set the plate down in the middle of the room, so he could grab it if he wanted. Will, however, had lost his hunger. He turned back on his side and stared at the screws in front of him.

He had to move faster. He really needed to get out of here before they operated on him again. Every time they did, he would get weaker and his chances of escaping would diminish.

/

"Ten days.", Halstead was standing in Hank's office and he couldn't blame him for giving him a speech right now. "My brother has been missing for ten days and we still have nothing."

Jay had been hyper for days and had only gone home to shower and sleep. Despite his injuries, there was no stopping him, though he looked like he was going to collapse at any moment.

"We'll find him. There's only one car left and the owner has been wanted for days. If we find the car, we find Will."

"We both know that's a dead end. The ones who have him are professionals. We need to finally find out who transferred the money."

"Like you just said, they're professionals. The transfer is untraceable. Jay. I want you to sit down here now and calm down!"

He sympathized with the boy, but he had long since run out of patience on the matter. He himself was tense to the breaking point because they were getting nowhere.

Jay had stopped in the middle of the room and was staring at him agitatedly. Instead of sitting down, the Detective turned around all at once and left the room.

/

Hailey stood in the doorway to the break room. Jay had motionlessly been staring out the window into the darkening evening sky for what felt like an eternity now. He hadn't even heard her coming. Slowly, she walked closer.

"Jay?"

Startled, he wheeled around and then he grimaced as the movement had obviously caused him pain. She could see that he had been crying.

"I'm fine." he said immediately, and he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. "Is there anything new?"

She shook her head. "Go home," she said, "I'll drive you."

To her surprise, he agreed. "Yeah, I need to get out of here."

He walked past her and she glared after him. She would take the opportunity to talk to him when they were alone in the car. Shortly after, they left the Police Station grounds and she steered her car onto the next bigger street.

"I think Will is dead," he blurted out all at once, before she could say anything.

Hailey was speechless at learning his thoughts and she steered the car to the side of the road, where she turned off the engine.

"Why would you say that?" she asked, "You can't think like that."

He took a deep breath. "It's been ten days. Someone who watched the livestream bought him. These people..." he hesitated. "These monsters are after only one thing. They want blood. I have to finally face the facts."

"There's no evidence of that at all," she countered. "You've got it all wrong, Jay. We're not giving up until it's too late."

"I'm not giving up after all," he looked at her agitatedly.

"It sure sounds like it."

Jay turned his head and looked out the window into the darkness.

"I can't sleep, Hailey. Whenever I close my eyes, I see these images in front of me. Imagining Will lying in my place and no one coming to get him out of there.", tears came to his eyes again.

"Hey.", Hailey put a hand on the back of his neck. She was glad he finally confided in someone.

She was still searching for the right words when her smartphone announced the reception of a message. Jay's device was also vibrating in his pocket. So it had to be about work.

She quickly pulled it out of her pocket and checked what she had been sent. Then she raised her head and looked at Jay excitedly.

"They've arrested the owner of the car and they're questioning him right now."

/

Will turned his head as he heard noises. Someone was approaching the door. Today was going to be the next procedure.

He lay on the mattress, completely exhausted from the pain that had plagued him throughout the evening and night. He had not slept.

From the moment he had learned about the second transplant, he had refused to eat. At least that was how he had wanted to show his resistance.

He had also spent every possible minute trying to loosen the screws further, but his resistance had ultimately robbed him of any possibility of escaping in time before the procedure.

When the assistant had discovered on the second day that Will had not touched either breakfast nor lunch, he had returned with the husband shortly thereafter.

Will had already braced himself for the man to confront him, so he had stepped into the middle of the room as far as the chain had allowed him to.

Completely unexpectedly, the assistant had given him a massive punch in the face the next moment, that had immediately sent Will to the floor. He had landed on the fresh scar that came from the liver transplant.

Nausea had overtaken him as he had lain on the floor, dazed and gasping for breath. The husband had come closer. First he struck again, and Will felt his fist collide with his eyebrow. He felt blood drip into his eye and he pressed a hand to the laceration.

After that, the man had slammed his boot down on Will's ankle with such brutality, that the chain around his ankle burst Will's bones. He had cried out and tried to get up, to get away from the two. But before he had had the chance, the husband kicked again. This time he caught Will's hand and he could have sworn that he had heard exactly how his metacarpal bone broke with a loud snap.

After that, he had lain shaking on the floor and hadn't moved.

"I don't think you have fully understood your situation yet, Doctor," the last word was spoken contemptuously by the man, like an insult. "You should understand that we only care about your organs. I don't give a damn about how you are doing. I will break every bone in your body if you don't do what we want you to do."

Will had kept quiet, waiting to see what would happen next. The man had crouched down beside him.

"Don't try to irritate me. Eat your damn rations and keep up your strength, or we'll force-feed you. And I'm not talking about a fancy gastric tube. I'm sure you know what that would mean?"

It had taken everything he had to give in, but Will had nodded in agreement. The man had pushed the metal bowl of rice, which had been sitting untouched on the floor, over to him. So far, in fact, that the bowl had touched his cheek.

"Eat the rice." he had urged him. "Now."

The nausea in Will's stomach had still been there, but with his uninjured, bloody hand he had picked up some rice and finally put it in his mouth. The man had snorted with satisfaction, stood up and addressed the assistant.

"You wait until he´s eaten it all. If he refuses, you know what to do."

The assistant had nodded and the husband had left the room without another word.

Since the incident, Will had only lain on the mattress, trying to find a painless position. Because of the injuries, he had known that he would not be able to get free in time. Will was aware that his only chance to escape had been lost for weeks.

The door opened and he expected to see the assistant, who would pick him up for surgery. But instead, two people dressed in black rushed in with guns raised, and Will flinched, startled.

/

Nervously, Jay waited outside the farm building, from which four people had already been brought out on stretchers. Four people who had been held here, had had their organs removed and sold on the black market.

He waited anxiously for Will to be taken outside. His brother just had to be here.

Because of his injuries, he had not been able to participate in the operation himself. But the first thing he had done when the Investigators learned where the owner of the car had taken Will, was to book a flight.

Again, someone was brought outside and Jay thought he recognized a strand of red hair. He quickly approached the Paramedics, who were pushing a wheeled stretcher to a waiting Ambulance.

"Will!", Jay walked alongside the stretcher, but it was another young man lying there, not his brother.

Disappointed and worried, he looked toward the basement exit where they kept bringing people upstairs. Then he heard someone call his name.

"Detective Halstead?" a young female Officer approached him. "They're bringing people out at the other side of the building, too."

"Thank you." Immediately, he started moving.

He walked with a limp around the waiting ambulances and emergency personnel. He walked along the long side of the building and then he realized, which exit the young woman had meant. It, too, was swarming with Police Officers and Paramedics. He stopped and tried to get an overview.

"Jay?" He shot around and nearly lost his balance when he recognized the voice that had called his name in disbelief.

His eyes actually fell on Will, who was sitting on a gurney in front of an open ambulance. Jay immediately noticed the bruises and yellow makeshift splints on his wrist and his foot. He was injured, but Will was alive. That was all that mattered.

His brother, however, looked at him as if he had seen a ghost. Jay took the few steps to him as quickly as he could. With his free arm, he immediately pulled him into a hug and tears of joy streamed down his face, as relief flooded his body.

He felt Will also carefully put an arm around his middle and hold him tightly. After a long moment, they broke away from each other and now Jay could see tears on Will's face as well. His brother was also crying.

"I thought you were dead...," Will said softly. "Cayden said he killed you."

Startled, Jay looked at him.

"No. No, I'm fine, Will. It's all good," he tried to reassure him, and he put a hand on Will's cheek. "I'm here."

/

A year later

The doorbell rang and Jay glanced through the peephole. Surprised, he found Voight standing at his door. He opened and took a step back to let him in.

"Sarge?" he greeted him. "Is everything all right?"

Jay was currently on sick leave for a few days and wasn't due back on desk duty until the following week. It had been just over two weeks since Angela Nelson had shot him and had injured an artery in his shoulder.

Voight wordlessly handed him an envelope and Jay frowned. He pulled out the flap of the envelope and finally pulled out a photograph.

It showed a dead body. Looking closer, he realized it was Cayden.

Startled, he looked up. Voight met his gaze. Jay's pulse quickened.

After Cayden had disappeared nearly a year ago, an international arrest warrant had been issued for him, and they had continued to try to track him down in addition to their current cases. But they had been unsuccessful.

At least, that's what Jay had thought.

"How?" was all he could get out at that moment, but then he awoke from his stupor. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you wouldn't have approved."

That was true. His moral compass would have allowed even someone like Cayden to get a trial and a conviction under current law. Even after everything that had happened. Part of him was relieved, too, though, he had to admit that much.

The body had been badly mauled. It certainly hadn't been a quick or painless death.

After Will had been freed from the organ dealer's farmhouse and after the culprits had been arrested, Voight had sworn to him that he would track the guy down and bring him to justice.

Voight noticed Jay's speechlessness and continued.

"He was staying in Cuba." It didn't surprise Jay that Cayden had picked a country that didn't have an extradition treaty with the United States. "I pulled some strings, and when my contacts found out where he was living and what business he was doing there, they weren't too pleased."

"He continued to do business there?"

"Human trafficking, kidnappings, his damn websites. Apparently the local cartels didn't like that. Especially not when they found out what he was already doing here."

Jay mostly found it hard to believe that such organizations also possessed anything like a moral compass or rules. But apparently Voight had only given the appropriate guidance to the right people, and the dirty work had been done by someone else. He looked at him again and wondered, as he often did, what his superior was actually capable of.

"We'll never speak of this again," the latter now said.

Jay was confused, but he nodded in agreement. It would be a while before he realized that the ever-present threat of Cayden was finally history. Would he say anything to Will and Fiora about it? He couldn't decide at that moment. He planned to think about it thoroughly first.

Voight turned to leave.

"Thanks, Sarge." Jay said, handing him back the photo and stepping a little closer. "Really... Thank you. Burn the photo."

The elder nodded and put the picture in his pocket. Then he patted Jay on the healthy shoulder.

"See you next week."

With those words, he pulled the door closed behind him, and Jay remained in place for a while at first, until he finally allowed himself to fully admit the relief.

/

THE END