AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER
Belongs to Dick Wolf and NBC. I only own the plot.
"Well?" Hank prompted when they were only met with silence.
"I screwed up. Please don't take it out on Jay," Will answered, throwing them a pleading look. Dad and I fought too hard to make sure Mom and Jay were treated decently despite the fact they're human. Can't let anything ruin it now, he thought to himself.
"Damn right you screwed up. You didn't even do a mental exam on the human so we have no way of knowing what the hell happened to him," Ava snarled.
"Actually, I did do a mental exam on him. Only I don't tend to screw around in my little brother's head," Will spat out, his voice darkening with anger.
"Doctor, are you even aware of the reasoning behind a mental exam?" Erin queried, her voice hardening. Yes, she was becoming protective. There was just something about this woman that set her on edge and she'd be damned if she was going to let her anywhere near this guy.
"Yeah, to make sure that attacked humans don't hide things from vampires and impede their jobs," the other woman replied condescendingly.
"Wrong. It's to make sure that a vampire didn't change a human's memory during an attack. It's protection for the human," Erin retorted stepping closer to her. Damn, who the hell let this bitch in here? she wondered. The last thing this human needed was a vampire making things even more difficult for him. And the bitch was completely condescending. No wonder Dr. Halstead had tried to strike her. She hadn't spent two minutes with her and she wanted to slug her. "So why don't you get out of here so Dr. Halstead and I can talk?" she demanded.
"You can't make me leave. You're not a doctor here. You're just the cop who's coming in to take the statement and we have final say," Dr. Bekker. Dumbass cop. Does she even realize how hard we have to work to make sure humans don't keep things from us so we can treat them properly? She fumed. Not that their patients were any better. Jay's eyes clouded and he scooted back against the wall, hunching over. Don't want her here. Not talking with her here, he thought to himself.
"As Jay's primary, I'm going to insist that you leave Dr. Bekker so that Dr. Rhodes and I can finish up," Will insisted.
"And why should I?" Ava demanded.
"Because you're upsetting our patient," Connor responded and led her to the door, practically shoving her out and closing the door behind him. Well, I hope that's over with, Erin thought to herself and then turned to see the human she rescued backed up against the wall, his body hunched over as he held his knees to his chest.
"Jay?" Will's voice was soft as he went over to his brother. "Hey, it's okay, Little Brother. You're safe," he assured. Hate that she had this effect on him, he thought to himself. Jay had never really liked confrontation between vampires and humans and would shrink into himself at the first sign of it. And Dr. Bekker had caused him to go into old habits.
"I'll come back later. The last thing he needs right now is to be upset further," Erin commented, her eyes clouding in concern at the scene before her. Yes, they needed information but not at this guy's expense. Damn that doctor. I could've connected with him, she fumed. But thanks to Dr. Bekker's abrasiveness, she hadn't gotten the chance to at least try. At this, the human looked up.
"No. It's okay. You can stay. I can do this," he assured.
"You sure?" his brother asked. "You don't have to do anything right now. You heard her, she's willing to wait until you're in a better frame of mind," he continued.
"She needs the info. I don't mind," the younger man responded. And it would be better to do this as soon as possible so he could put it out of his mind. Not that he would ever forget this anytime soon. No, he had a feeling that he'd be having nightmares about his capture for a long time. But he wasn't going to say that out loud as it didn't have anything to do with the situation at hand.
"Only if you're sure," the officer told him.
"I'm sure," he confirmed. Nervous as hell but it has to be done, he thought to himself. He didn't want what he had just gone through happening to anyone else. And if him talking to this officer could help prevent it, he was going to do it. And besides, he had a feeling that he could trust her. After all, she was doing everything she could to make this easy on him-which he was grateful for-and the least he could do was let her get the information she needed from him.
"Anything I should know? I mean-is there anything that could accidentally trigger a flight or fight response?"
"He's never had a reaction that I've seen but with what happened…" Will shrugged and then shot his younger brother an apologetic look. "Sorry. Didn't mean to ignore you." At this, Erin flushed. Damn it. Hate that I did that, she thought to herself. Even though it had been two years since the law had gone into effect, she still sometimes tended to ignore a human vic in favor of getting her information from the vampire in charge.
"S'okay. Things are still a little fuzzy for me," came the response.
"Which is even more reason to be safe," Erin stated. I like her. She doesn't treat Jay like shit, Will thought. And that went a long way in his book. What could he say? He was protective. The female detective smiled at him. "Now I realize we usually do this this kind of thing at the station but if you want to stay-" she began to tell him.
"We can go down to the station," Jay interrupted.
"You sure?" Hank queried.
"Yeah. As long as-" Jay's voice trailed off and he looked to his older brother.
"I'll be right there with you," Will promised. Not going anywhere, he thought. In fact, he was never letting his little brother out of his sight again. Maybe it would drive him nuts but he didn't care.
"Thanks," the younger man said softly. Hate that I feel this way, he thought to himself. He must look like such a weakling to the vampires. Will squeezed Jay's shoulder reassuringly and then went to sign him out, telling Sharon that he was taking some personal time before getting a wheelchair.
"Aw, come on. I don't need that," he objected.
"Hospital policy regardless of who or what you are," came the response and the younger man sighed and went to sit down. The only other sign of his disapproval of him being led out in the chair was the scowl he wore as he and once they were all outside, Voight went to get the car. Can't blame Dr. Halstead for being worried. It's his brother, the man thought to himself as he got into the car. Hell, if something like this had happened to be Justin, he'd be frantic. He then gave himself a mental shake and started the engine as everyone else got in. Moments later, they were at the precinct. Without a word, Jay and Will got out and then followed Voight and Erin into an interrogation room and the two sat down.
"Can we get you anything before we start?" Erin asked.
"Water?" Jay requested.
"Yeah, of course," Erin responded and she went back out, stopping by the vending machine, putting the money in, and then punching in the combination for a bottle of water. When it came out, she picked it up, and then headed back into the room, handing the bottle to Jay who had sat down at the table next to his brother. "Now, remember, take your time. You're safe here," she told him and he nodded.
"They ambushed me as I was getting out of the car," he stated. Jay jumped as there was a whooshing sound followed by various growls. This can't be good, he thought to himself. He had no idea why vampires would be attacking him but he knew he wasn't about to go down without a fight. He threw a punch and then grunted as he was grabbed from behind. "After that…it gets fuzzy," he admitted. "I'm-I'm not really sure how long they had me."
"You've been missing three days," Will told him.
"Three days? Seriously?" Jay queried and at Will's nod, his eyes clouded. "Damn," he stated. Had no idea it had been that long. Did I black out or did the vampires do something to me? he mused. At the comment, Erin and Hank shared a worried look. He didn't know how long he had been gone? That didn't bode well. Crap. Vampire must've kept him hidden from windows or screwed with his memory, Hank mused. Either one could make a person forget, and neither scenario was a good one.
"Jay, if it's okay with you, I'd like to try something," Erin stated.
"Okay," Jay agreed. Not sure what she's up to, but I'm willing to do whatever's needed to make sure this guy's caught, he mused.
"I'd like to go inside your head: see the attack. I understand that it's intrusive and-" Erin began to say.
"Okay. Let's do it," Jay agreed. What? No! Will's mind screamed. He wasn't about to let some woman he barely knew inside his little brother's head. Almost if he knew what the older man was thinking, Jay turned to him. "It's okay. I think we can trust her. She's been nothing but nice." At this, Will nodded. He was right. Erin had been nice, not to mention patient, which he was extremely grateful for.
"Okay," he agreed. Still don't like it, but if Jay's comfortable with it, I'm not going to undermine him, he thought to himself. Jay knew what he could and couldn't handle. The last thing he needed was him acting like he couldn't be trusted to make decisions for himself. He then watched as the female detective took Jay's wrist in her hand and gently bore down. Jay winced at the sharpness of the unfamiliar fangs and then let his body relax, letting his body get used to the presence in his head. Erin's eyes flickered as the images came. Jay was heading to his car when the vampires surrounded him. He tried to back away but he was grabbed and sprinted away, being dropped into a small room moments later. Will's eyes shone with concern as he noticed Jay's eyes glazing which was common when a vampire was deep inside a human's head. He was about to step forward Erin pulled back.
"Okay, so they surrounded you," she surmised.
"Yeah," he confirmed.
"I know they moved in pretty fast but did you notice anything in particular as they approached you?" she queried and he shook his head.
"Like you said, it all happened pretty fast," he responded.
"Do you mind if we tried focusing on the guy who first approached you?" Jay shook his head and Erin once more bit into his wrist. The vampires surrounded Jay and he stared at the first man he had noticed. Erin's eyes flickered as she took a good look at the man that Jay was watching. Nothing I can use here, she thought to herself. Damn it. She didn't want this to be for nothing. The point of this was to get information, not traumatize the guy further. Jay backed up and-felt someone grab his neck from behind. The human let out a choking sound and he tensed. Seeing the rigidness in his brother's body, Will stepped forward but Hank grabbed his arm.
"Hold on. Just give her a few more minutes. He'll be okay," he murmured encouragingly and the younger man nodded.
"I just-I hate this. I hate it when Jay's a target," he stated.
"I understand. He's your younger brother, you look out for him," Hank said and Will nodded. Wish there was something I could do, he thought to himself. But he knew that there wasn't and that he would have to let the Intelligence handle things.
"Jay, what is it?" Erin asked, seeing the same thing as well.
"The smell-it's making me sick," he replied.
"Smell?" Erin echoed. Vampires don't generally wear cologne so what could be making him react that way? she wondered.
"The guy behind me. He smells-like musk and tar," Jay confirmed. At this, Will's head whipped towards them in recognition.
"That's Alabaster. He's allergic to it," he reported. "Dad used to wear it a lot when we were kids in order to blend in but then he noticed Jay getting ill whenever he was near," he continued. "As far as I know, it's not a common cologne anymore." Hearing this, Erin nodded. That'll narrow things down, she thought to herself.
"Can you see anything else?" she prodded.
"Uh, I'm not sure," came the response. "I can try," he offered. Once more, Erin bore down and Will blew out a breath as he watched. Jay struggled against his captor as his vision started to blur. No…please…he thought as he struggled to keep conscious. One of the vampires approached him and the human's eyes caught site of a mark on his neck.
"Can you focus on that tattoo?" Erin's voice broke through Jay's memories and he nodded. Jay looked at the tattoo. That was a star of some sort. Hell if he knew what it was or what it meant though. Seeing the star, Erin gasped and gently pulled her fangs out of the human's wrist.
"What's wrong?" Will queried, seeing the look. She looks like she's seen a ghost, he thought to himself. But why? What had she seen?
"I think I know who took your brother," she said.
"What?" the men chorused.
"The tattoo looks familiar to me. Let me and my team handle it…please?" she responded.
"You promise you're gonna do your best in finding him?" Jay asked.
"I promise," Erin replied.
"Okay," Jay agreed.
"You're free to go. We'll keep in touch," Erin stated and she and Hank left the room as Will led Jay out.
"You okay?" Hank asked.
"I could feel his fear, Hank. He was terrified," Erin responded. "And the star on that vampire's neck. That's the mark of-"
"Montague," Hank interrupted. "I remember him," One hell of a bastard. Practically every precinct cheered when he had to release the humans in his care, he mused to himself.
"Yeah. I do too," Erin stated. And I didn't like feeling that fear I got from Jay, she mused. Jay? Was she already thinking of him as Jay? That was odd. She didn't usually get so informal in her thinking when it came to victims. Giving herself a mental shake, she followed Hank back to the bullpen. Meanwhile, Will had taken Jay back to his place.
"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself? I mean…I just got you back and-" Will worried.
"I'll be fine," Jay interrupted. "Go back to work," he insisted.
"Okay, okay. I'm gone," Will said and then went out, heading back to Med, where he was met by Connor.
"Hey, how'd it go?" Connor queried, his voice laced with concern.
"It went. Jay was nervous, but he handled it like a trooper," Will replied. "Damn I hate this. When we were younger, Mom and Jay were always vulnerable and we taught 'em how to defend themselves and the fact that I failed-" Connor shaking his head cut Will's sentence short.
"You didn't fail him. You had no reason to suspect that a vampire would kidnap him and throw him in a factory. The only way you could've failed is if you had stopped searching for him and you never did," his friend stated.
"Keep reminding me of that?"
"Always." While all of this was going on, the vampire Montague glowered at his followers. I can't believe they screwed up like this, he fumed. Yes, he understood needing to dodge Intelligence, but what had they been thinking letting their slaves escape?
"I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT I'M HEARING! YOU LET THEM ESCAPE!?" he roared, backhanding a male vampire who shuddered as he fell to the floor as other vampires watched the scene, their expressions troubled and wary. Their leader was not happy, though they could hardly blame him. It had taken a long time build up their factory and now their supply was gone.
"Master, we had to leave just as you did when the police came," the underling stated. "It was the Intelligence Unit and that unit's formed of some of the most powerful vampires out there," he reminded. Please let him see reason, he prayed. He didn't want to get killed. At once, Montague composed himself.
"You're right. My apologies," he responded. Not sorry. They're the ones who failed, but I need to keep them on my side, he mused as his eyes clouded with determination. Let the human enjoy his freedom while he had it. He'd be his again soon enough and he'd show him what he did to humans who dared to run away from him. With that, his lips curved into a terrible smirk, and he let out a booming laugh. One way or another, he would have the final word and there was nothing the human could say or do to stop him.