Surprise! Thought I'd upload early as a treat because I've gotten so many nice comments. Thank you for continuing to review, it makes it so much easier to write

"That storm kicked my ass," Erin grumbled as she stretched slightly in Jay's bed. After several hours on the bathroom floor in Piper's lap, Erin finally felt well enough to be upright for a few minutes to make the trek from the bathroom to her bed. Unfortunately, she overestimated the time it would take to get all the way upstairs, and only made it to Jay's bed on the ground floor, which if she was being honest, she wasn't that upset about. She forgot how much she loved sleeping in sheets that smelled like her partner.

Her sweet little sister practically refused to leave her side and seemed to want to maintain constant contact. Jay could sense just how nervous the child was and was per usual, a godsend. He kept Piper calm despite her anxiety, and even found little ways to make her smile while she sat beside Erin on the bed.

Jay even found time for a mid-day nap beside his girls, and he couldn't remember the last time he was relaxed enough to fall asleep in the daytime. Piper sat awake and watched how her sister instinctively cuddled closer to Jay when he laid down on the bed, and how he held her, even in his sleep.

In all her years, Piper had never been with a family who loved each other like Erin and Jay. She knew that they weren't together, as they had made that part clear, but she could tell how much happier they were when they were close. She'd only known Jay for four or five weeks, but in the weeks Erin had been back in town, her friend was like another person.

"You had us worried there for a second," Jay said honestly, lightly running his fingers over her cheeks in the morning sun. After a day of activity, he and his girls had just needed a day of relaxation, despite the unfortunate circumstance. The good news was that Erin appeared to be faring far better, and Piper was still snoozing.

At the sound of Erin and Jay's low voices, Piper roused slowly. "Hi Noodle," Erin gave a smile when Piper cracked her eyes open. The little girl was cuddled into her sister's side, between her and Jay. Erin's color was much better than the day before, pale cheeks replaced with a healthy glow from the sun she'd gotten.

"You feelin' better this morning?" Piper asked carefully, glancing up to meet Erin's gaze.

"So much better," she confirmed with a smile, "Storm's passed and I feel much more solid."

"I'm glad," Piper exhaled in relief, "Me and Jay were really worried."

"We were," Jay nodded in agreement, still lazily laying against the pillow. He never wanted to get up. "But Erin's on the mend."

"You're gonna take it easy today, right?" Piper asked knowingly.

Erin chuckled. "I am. Might just lay here all morning, what do you think?"

Piper nodded. Erin was going to be okay. They were safe.

Erin mindlessly combed out Piper's soft hair with her fingertips as she laid in bed, the repetition and comfort allowing the little girl to drift off again in the early morning sun. It wasn't long before Jay's fingers in her hair lulled Erin back to sleep as well.

When she awoke, Erin almost immediately panicked. Piper was still beside her, but farther away on Jay's pillow, and Jay was noticeably absent. She shook her head slightly, trying to rid herself of the nagging thoughts. She missed him. She wanted him close.

Erin gingerly vacated the bed and padded to the kitchen, in hopes of finding her partner cooking breakfast. Instead, he was seated at the kitchen table, scrolling through his phone, looking incredibly stressed. "Hey," she murmured, pulling out a chair to sit in front of him, "Everything okay?"

"They uh, they think they got the guy who attacked you," Jay said slowly, glancing up from his cell to meet Erin's gaze.

She widened her eyes and swallowed, "I um, have to ID him, right?"

Jay nodded, "Lawrence Irving. No word yet on this Donny guy or your father though."

Erin nodded, "When um, when do we need to leave?"

He sighed, "I um, I asked if we could put it off til tomorrow morning, just to give you a bit more time. I hope I didn't overstep but I just wanted to keep you and Pipes out of the city for as long as possible and-"

"That's okay," she interrupted, "I um, I don't want to go back to real life just yet."

"They're going to need Piper to see if she can ID him as well," Jay rubbed his cheek, "Tried to see if they could make the case without it, but I think it's going to be crucial."

Erin let out a sigh. "So the current theory is that this guy, Lawrence Irving, is somehow connected to Donny, who is part of the drug dealing network who hurt Piper?"

Jay nodded. "There are a few couples who we think are part of a wider distribution network that the team's been picking up, and uh, someone gave up this guy's location."

She swallowed again. She knew her partner, and she knew there was something he wasn't telling her. "What else?"

He rubbed his cheek. Jay didn't want to tell her, but he knew that she had a right to know, even if it could hurt her. "We um, we think your father is involved somehow too. Donny or whatever his name is seems to be obsessed with Piper, and was never a registered foster parent. The Irving's, um, looks like they let him take her for some period of time. It's all kind of fuzzy, unfortunately." He paused, "Pipes, um, she showed me a location where we think the Irving's held her before Donny took her. It wasn't great, but it was a good lead."

Erin felt her blood run cold. Bunny had never given her a straight answer about her dad. The most information she ever got was through Piper, and even that was spotty. "Could Donny be our father?" Erin asked after a moment, "I-I know Bunny said his name was Kenny and that he was in Greenville and Joliet but you said nothing popped there."

"It's possible." Jay reached across the table and stroked Erin's fingers, "We need to find him first. I've picked up some bits and pieces from Pipes in our time together but I'm not sure what she remembers. With trauma, uh, sometimes it just really jumbles up the brain."

Erin nodded. "I could try to talk to her. Yesterday when I was laying on the bathroom floor, she uh, told me a story about one of the nicer foster parents she had. Mrs. Allison?"

"Allison Chase," Jay nodded, "Based on her file, Piper was there for about four months before the Irving's. The Irving's were about a year and a half, but we know she was with Donny for a lot of that time. And then the Adler's, the Montgomery's and the Davis's before she landed at the Marsh's." He swallowed, "I um, I've read her file more times than I can count."

"H-how many homes was she in?" Erin asked softly, her voice thick with emotion, "I um, didn't want to ask before. I guess I didn't want to know."

"Fourteen," he said as gently as he could, still rubbing his thumb over Erin's cool fingers, "Anywhere from two years to two days."

Erin managed a weak nod and willed the tears in her eyes to abate.

"Hi kiddo, did you have a nice rest?" Jay lifted his gaze to his little friend who was emerging from his bedroom. She was so small, so innocent, so…so many things. It broke his heart.

Piper gave a small smile and approached the kitchen table, "I fell back asleep."

"You did," Jay chuckled, "When I got up you and Erin were still snoozing away."

"Hey, Noodle," Erin greeted. She instinctively wrapped an arm around her and leaned down to press a kiss atop her soft hair. Erin immediately blanched, not sure if Piper would reject it. She let out a breath when Piper leaned in closer.

Piper glanced over at Jay on the other end of the table. "W-what's wrong?"

Jay furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, kiddo?"

"You look worried," she whispered, "Like you did when Erin got sick yesterday."

Nothing got passed Piper.

Erin shot Jay a look. She didn't want to tell Piper either, but they were going to need to explain why they had to leave Wisconsin after just three days. "They got the guy who we think hurt Erin," he said carefully, speaking as lightly as he could to avoid scaring her, "Which is good news. We just uh, gotta get back to Chicago to see if Erin recognizes him." Jay cleared his throat, "And um, we want to see if you recognize him as well, since there's a chance he was involved with Donny and the Marsh's."

Piper was quiet, still leaning against Erin. "So Erin got hurt 'cause they wanted me back?"

Shit. Literally nothing got by her.

"Erin got hurt because they are bad people," Jay assured her, "But we think Donny or someone put them up to it."

"Because he wants me," Piper said flatly, "He said he was keepin' me around as a favor. I bet whoever he was doin' the favor for is mad that he doesn't have me anymore."

Erin shot another urgent look to Jay. "He told you that?" he asked, "That he was doing someone else a favor?"

Piper nodded. "He didn't ever say who. The other family, they gave me to Donny 'cause they were traveling a lot. Donny and his wife kept me for a while, but I wasn't allowed to talk to the other people who came around sometimes." She thought for a moment. "I told you about the long drives, when he'd take us up to Canada sometimes, to get the drugs. There was a man up there, he'd come over and always ask to see me. I-I think he was in charge."

Jay swallowed. "Did you ever see that man again?"

Piper shrugged. "A…a few times. When we'd go to Canada. Once um, he came to Chicago, I think. I never knew his name, but he was friends with Donny. I wasn't supposed to ask questions, and I always got in trouble if I did." Worry clouded her eyes. "Am I gonna have to talk to them again?"

Both Erin and Jay shook their heads in unison. "No, no," Jay promised, "There's going to be a two way mirror, so we can see them, but they won't be able to see you. And they won't come anywhere near you, okay?"

She managed a small sniff as Erin rubbed her arm lovingly. "It's gonna be okay, Noodle," she promised, "We're going to get through it together."

"We gotta leave now?" Piper asked quietly, the sadness in her voice pulling at Jay's heart strings. His least favorite part of making the trek to Wisconsin was leaving Wisconsin, and his little friend felt the same way.

"Yeah," he said in an exhale, "But the good news is, there's always next summer. Maybe then we can do some fishing and camping. Or the winter when its super cold but there's snowmobiling and ice fishing."

Piper cracked a small smile. She definitely wanted to come back to Wisconsin with Jay and Erin.

The drive back to Chicago was just as quiet as the drive up. Piper stared out the window for the majority of the trek, appearing lost in thought. Every time Jay tried to strike up a conversation, he was met with the timid version of his little friend that he found five weeks ago, not the spunky soccer player he knew in Wisconsin.

Erin too was lost in thought as the farmland passed by. She thought about her father, the man she never knew but could somehow never escape. She thought about her mother, who consistently did her best to drag her down to her level and made an effort to undermine her at every stage in her life. She thought about Hank, and Camille, and Justin. But mostly, she thought about Jay. And Piper.

She could count seven different times in New York that she almost boarded a plane or jumped in a car to get back to Chicago, back to Jay's arms. Of course, she thought about it nearly every day, but there were seven times when she nearly booked a ticket or got in her car.

The first was her third day working for the FBI, and one of the higher ups had taken her out for dinner. He wasn't involved in her hiring process, and he was a sleezebag. He'd put a hand on her leg and instead of kicking him in the balls, Erin froze. She'd been able to get herself out of the situation quickly, but as soon as she exited the restaurant, all she wanted was Jay's arms.

The second and third were after evenings of drinking alone. She'd almost made it a point not to make friends – nobody needed to see her spiral – and she was alone. After stumbling home from the bar beneath her apartment, Erin huddled on her tiny bathroom floor and wept. She tried to not let herself cry, but on the few nights she'd indulge in a drink or five or ten, it just happened. And all she wanted was Jay's hands to hold her hair, rub her back, and tell her it would be better in the morning.

The fourth time she bought a plane ticket. A picture of her and Jay had fluttered out of a suitcase because she still hadn't unpacked after six months, and she needed him. She wanted his strong chest to hold her upright as she crumbled, the way that nobody else had ever done before.

The fifth time was after a Cubs game. She'd flipped on the TV and landed on a game between the Yankees and the Cubs, and she knew that Jay was watching as well. She wanted to be beside him, tucked into her favorite place between his chin and his shoulder. She grabbed her keys off the counter with the intention of driving, before talking herself down. It was just baseball.

The sixth was after she saw the news. She heard about Al, and was positively overcome with guilt. She knew she couldn't drink, or god forbid take any pills since she didn't have any connections (though that had never stopped her before), and all she wanted to do was rush home and feel Jay's breath atop her head as she held him.

The seventh had been just before her last assignment, the assignment before she found out about Piper. There wasn't a particular trigger. Erin just woke up with an ache in her chest. She wanted to go home.

"You feeling okay?" Jay turned to her as he merged off a country road and onto a highway, "Four hours and no cracks about my driving abilities?"

"Guess I just trust you," she shot back, running a hand through her hair. She turned around to see if Piper was still awake. "Lots of cows out here, huh, Noodle?"

Piper nodded. "That's how I learned to count."

"By counting cows?" Jay glanced into the rearview mirror when she nodded, "There were cows in Chicago?"

She shook her head. "On the drive to Canada. They always wanted me to fall asleep, but I wanted to know where we were going. So I tried to stay awake by counting the cows that I saw. But I always fell asleep 'cause of the sleeping pills."

Erin drew in a breath, unable to find the right words to respond to her sister's statement. "You're safe now, kiddo," Jay assured her. He gave a smile when Piper nodded in understanding. He'd tell her every second of every day if he could, that she was safe, and that she was loved.

Due to some heavy traffic, it was dark by the time Jay dropped Erin off in front of her apartment building. He resisted the urge to ask her to spend the night at his place, with him and Piper because again, they were seriously flirting with their friendship.

After a day of driving, Jay was beat. He managed one story to put Piper to sleep, which thankfully had the desired effect. He quickly fell into a dreamless sleep before he was abruptly awoken by the angry buzz of his cell phone on the nightstand.

"Erin? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," Erin managed, "I'm sorry that I woke you up, I just-" Her breath hitched, "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. What are you doing up?" Jay mumbled into the phone, "What's going on?"

"I asked for a copy of her file," she choked out, "It was in my mailbox and I opened it when I got back and-" Jay could have sworn she stifled a sob, "Fourteen homes, Jay. Fourteen."

"I know," he murmured, "She's been through a lot."

"She was on track for adoption four different times," Erin informed him, "The Andrews, the Greens, the Hills and the Chases. And each time it got close, the family bailed. From the time she was a year old. I know you said you guys were looking into all the families she stayed with after the Irvings but I think it goes farther back than that."

"Someone was pulling the strings since the beginning," Jay sat up in bed and quickly shed the sheets to pace. He needed to think. "Piper said that Donny kept saying that he was looking out for her. What if he's the reason the other families backed out? None of them left a reason beyond her not being a fit, right?"

"Nothing," Erin confirmed, "Nobody reported any injuries or anything, but maybe she was too young to remember. I-I know Hank was lookin' into my mom but what if it's our dad?"

"We're still trying to track him down," Jay said gently. "It's a possibility."

"My fucking family," Erin lamented, rubbed her left temple as she leaned over the kitchen table, "I just-it's so much. I can't get over how much she bounced around."

"She'll have some consistency soon," he reminded her, "The judge is hopefully going to grant overnight visitation in the next week or so. That's a great step in the right direction."

Jay heard another sniff on the other end of the line. "Er? You still there?"

"Yeah," she whispered, "I just uh- I want to be good enough for her."

His heart clenched. "You are good enough."

She sniffed again. "Thank you. I um, I don't deserve the fact that you think highly of me. Not after everything I put you through."

"Erin." All he wanted to do was to leap through the phone and wrap her up in his arms. He could envision exactly what position she was in. The files and paper would be spread across the table, resting beneath two or three coffee cups despite the doctor's order to avoid it while her head recovered. She would be bent over the table, hands shaking from the excess caffeine. "Even when I was angry, and hurt, I never thought badly of you. You're the strongest person I have ever met."

He could hear her crying in earnest now. Jay was quiet as he listened to her harsh sobs. "Do you want to come over?" he asked hopefully, "She's sleeping, but it might make you feel better if you could see her." He grimaced. It was a total lie. Yeah, she'd probably feel better after seeing her sister, but he'd feel better if he could just hold her closely.

"I- I want to but I shouldn't," she said in an exhale, "I gotta stop falling apart on you. It's not fair. I'm a big girl."

Jay smiled sadly to himself. She always tried to be so strong. "We'll be here, if you change your mind, alright?"

She sniffed again. "Thank you. I'll um, let you get back to sleep. Sorry again for waking you up."

"Night, Er." Jay waited for her to disconnect the call before lowering the phone from his ear. He let out a heavy sigh. He really wished she'd just come over so both of them could sleep.

"Jay?"

Shoot. He'd woken Piper up.

He quickly pulled open his bedroom door, which was already ajar in case she needed him throughout the night. His little friend was standing in the doorway and had clearly been roused by his voice as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Hi, kiddo. I'm sorry I woke you up."

Piper shrugged and shivered slightly from the chill of the air conditioner. "I-I heard you talking. I thought you had a nightmare."

Jay smiled softly and crouched down to meet her gaze. "I'm okay, I promise. I just got a phone call, that's all. No big deal."

"Was it Erin?" Piper asked, "She's the only person you call late at night."

He chuckled at Piper's statement. She wasn't wrong – lately, Erin was the only person who ever called him late at night. "It was Erin. She's okay though, you don't need to worry. How about another story?"

"If she was okay, she'd be sleeping, not calling," she replied, eyes full of worry, "Is she sick again?"

"No, no," Jay shook his head. Piper was too smart and he was too tired to try to spin Erin's late night phone call. "She um, I think she was just having a bit of a rough night. But she's okay, really."

"Can we go see her?"

Jay's heart clenched again. His sweet little friend was worried about her big sister, and truthfully, he was too. He didn't love the idea of Erin being alone with Piper's file and her own self-doubt. "It's late-"

"She's so close," Piper practically begged, "Please?" She looked into Jay's eyes, "You wanna see her too. I can tell."

He couldn't help but let a smile play on his lips. "You're right. I'm gonna grab a shirt, and then we'll take a quick stroll down the block, sound good?"

She relaxed and nodded. "Alrighty kiddo, you want to put some shoes on? I think we can probably just head over in pajamas, huh?"

Piper nodded again and scurried to don her shoes. Jay quickly grabbed a clean shirt and a zip up before following Piper's lead. His heart swelled when she reached up to grab his hand for the walk over. Every time she showed affection, no matter how small, Jay felt like the luckiest man in the world.

"It's a little chilly, isn't it?" He mused as they walked down the block toward Erin's building. The days were still hot and humid, but this particular evening was cool and windy.

"Uh-huh," Piper nodded, teeth chattering slightly. She was clad in her puppy pajamas and a jean jacket, but was still shivering. Jay could also tell she was nervous as she glanced around the empty street. There weren't any people around, save for the man walking on the other side of the street, but it was enough to raise her anxiety.

"C'mere," Jay said, and boosted the little girl into his arms, "I've been told I'm like a space heater."

"You are warm," Piper murmured, relaxing as soon as Jay carried her up the steps to Erin's building, "I didn't think it was gonna be cold yet."

"I'm sure it'll still be crazy hot during the day, but the nights cool down with the wind." Jay didn't want to set her down as they stood in the elevator. There was something about holding Piper close that filled his heart in a way he couldn't seem to verbalize.

"Is Erin gonna be awake?"

"I bet," Jay mused, "I just talked to her a few minutes ago. If she doesn't answer, she probably just fell asleep." He knocked gently on the door, hoping it would get Erin's attention, but not wake the neighbors. When he heard shuffling on the other side of the door, he smiled, "She's up."

"Jay?" Erin glanced into the peep hole and quickly unlocked the door, "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

"Figured you could use some company," he replied, flashing a cheeky grin. "Turns out my voice carries, and Pipes was up too, and we thought a little midnight stroll would be nice."

A smile played on her lips as she dragged a hand through her hair. Jay Halstead, ever the knight in shining armor. If armor was a black v neck. "Did Jay drag you out in the middle of the night, Noodle?"

Piper shook her head quickly, still in Jay's arms. "We missed you."

She smiled wider at that. "I missed you guys too." She glanced around her apartment, which thankfully wasn't too much of a disaster as she hadn't been around to do much damage. "I don't really have any food or anything here to offer."

"We came for the company and the comfy couch," Jay replied, heading over to the sofa, "And the large television." He set Piper down carefully before taking an exaggerated seat. "It is nice. I bet the re-run of the White Sox game would look pretty good, what do you think Pipes?"

Piper nodded in agreement, her eyes already drooping with exhaustion. "You gonna watch too, Erin?"

"Absolutely," she replied, taking a tentative seat beside her little sister. When Piper didn't tense up but instead leaned into her arm, Erin felt like a weight had been lifted. Maybe things would be okay.

"Thank you for coming," Erin murmured after Piper almost immediately fell asleep between her and Jay on the couch. The little girl was resting on Erin's shoulder, but had a hand atop Jay's arm, as if she needed to know both of them were there. "I um, didn't think I was going to sleep tonight."

"How much caffeine did you have?" Jay asked knowingly, turning his head to meet her gaze. He smirked when she didn't deny the consumption, "I know you."

"I couldn't stop reading it," she whispered, "I wanted to, but I couldn't and then…" Erin trailed off.

"I get it," Jay nodded, "I do." He reached his arm around Piper to drape over Erin's shoulders as well.

"Jay? Jay?" Piper mumbled almost immediately after the loss of contact.

"I'm here, you're okay," he replied quickly. Jay's chest ached when she cuddled into his side, but then reached for Erin's arm to maintain contact with her sister. "Go back to sleep, kiddo." He pressed a kiss atop her soft hair as she settled.

Erin gave a watery smile when Jay brought his hand to the back of her head. He always knew. "Caffeine is not good for concussions," he chastised gently as he rubbed her scalp with his nimble fingers, "As someone who is well versed in concussions, you should know this, Erin Lindsay."

She grunted in response, appreciative of Jay's touch. She'd needed it, more than she wanted to admit. "What would I do without you, Jay Halstead?"

I know Wisconsin was cut short but I've got some Jay drama (and some other stuff ;) ) coming up since it was requested and I couldn't resist so stay tuned!