A few weeks later, Hank was sitting in his office finishing up a case report when his phone rang. Glad for a distraction from his least favorite part of the job, he answered it without looking at the caller ID.

"Voight."

"Hey Hank."

At the sound of Erin Lindsay's voice, Hank couldn't help but smile.

"Erin. How are you? It's good to hear your voice.

"You too. I'm sorry I haven't called in a while, I…"

"Don't worry about it." Hank interrupted, "I know you're a big shot FBI agent now."

Erin laughed. "Yeah, yeah."

"Listen, my boss says I can have a few days off for Christmas so… is my old room still available?"

Hank leaned back in his chair, smiling from ear to ear.

"Absolutely, kid. When do you land? I'll pick you up from the airport."

"Not sure yet but I'll let you know." Erin told him.

"Alright." Hank said, then he added, "There's someone I want you to meet while you're here."

There was a beat of silence.

"Who am I meeting?" Erin asked, intrigued.

"Layla Martin. She works in IT for the department, and she's Cindy Herrmann's sister. We're…" Hank tried to think of the right word but all he could come up with was, "...dating."

Erin made a sound of surprise.

"Wow. That's great, Hank. I can't wait to meet her."

Hank could hear some noise in the background.

"Hank, I gotta go. I'll let you know about my flight. See you soon."

After he hung up the phone, Hank looked around his office and reflected on the changes in his life over the past year. He'd gone to a dark place after Erin left and Al was killed. Finally, and mostly thanks to Layla's presence in his life, he was finally coming out of that darkness.

Hank hurriedly finished his report and decided he was going to head home. Layla was supposed to come over after visiting her sister and he was going to be waiting to tell her just how much she meant to him.

-break-

While Hank was working late, Layla sat in her sister's kitchen, rolling out cookie dough for homemade Christmas cookies.

"Remind me why I volunteered to help with this again?"

Layla asked, swiping her hair out of her face and leaving a trail of flour across her forehead.

Cindy laughed and transferred a cookie sheet from the oven to a cooling rack.

"Because you are such a loving sister." Cindy smiled sweetly.

Cindy had recruited Layla to help bake 12 dozen cookies for the church's nativity play and reception.

"Right." Layla said, grabbing a cookie cutter to start on her next batch.

As the women continued baking, Layla's phone buzzed on the counter. Her sister watched as Layla read the text and smiled.

"Hmmhmm, and will Hank be joining us for Christmas dinner this year?"

"We haven't really talked about Christmas plans yet." Layla replied. They'd both been so busy they hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Cindy looked up at her sister, eyes twinkling, and said, "Well, you're going to be here so I have a feeling he will want to be here too."

Layla smiled and said, "I'll talk to him tonight. I'm headed to his place when I leave here anyway."

Layla finished placing her cookies on the cookie sheet and loaded the last batch into the oven. Chris walked in as soon as the oven door closed and said, "Alright, what's the gossip ladies? I hear you in hear whispering."

Cindy, who was busy washing dishes, said, "If by whispering you mean talking normally, then yes we were."

Chris grabbed a cookie when Cindy wasn't looking and motioned to Layla to keep quiet.

"Actually, Christopher, I was telling Layla that Hank is invited to Christmas dinner."

Chris grimaced. "When I think of Hank Voight I don't really picture Christmas cheer."

Cindy show her husband a reprimanding look and he quickly added, "But, he did help out Sevveride a while back so I'll allow it."

"You'll allow it?"

Chris quickly corrected and turned to Layla, saying, "I mean, we'd love to have him." As Chris retreated into the living room, he shouted, "The more the merrier, that's what I always say!"

After her husband was gone, Cindy said, "You guys are getting pretty serious then, huh?"

Layla smiled to herself. "Yeah, I guess we are."

Cindy smiled and said, "It's nice to see you so happy."

About that time, Annabelle walked into the kitchen holding a teddy bear.

"Young lady, I thought I put you to bed?" Cindy asked her sleepy-eyed daughter.

"I know, mommy, but I want Aunt Layla to read me a bedtime story."

Layla turned to her niece and laughed when she saw her bottom lip poked out. She was milking it.

"She is good, Cin, you have to admit." Layla said to her sister, then turned around and scooped up her niece in her arms, carrying her back to her room.

"Come on, sweetie. I'll read to you."

-break-

When Annabelle finally fell asleep, it was almost 9:00 PM and Layla was exhausted. She'd come straight from work and hadn't really stopped going all day.

She said goodbye to her sister and headed out to her car.

As she waited for the engine to warm up and defrost the windshield, she texted Hank.

"Sorry. Bedtime story emergency. Still want me to come over?"

She watched the bubbles, indicating he was typing a response.

"Absolutely."

Layla smiled at his response and put the car in drive, turning the radio from Christmas music to classic rock as she pulled out of Cindy's neighborhood.

As Layla sang along to the song on the radio, she thought about Hank and what her sister said about them getting serious. They were serious. In fact, Layla was spending more nights at his place than at her apartment now. But neither of them had yet to say the words, "I love you." It was a big step for both of them and Layla was afraid of saying it too soon. She was finally happy and she was afraid of rocking the boat.

Glancing in her rear view mirror, Layla realized that the black sedan behind her had been there ever since she'd left Cindy's.

At first, she told herself it was just a coincidence that the car was going the same direction as her, but after making a few unnecessary turns, she was convinced she was being followed.

Trying to remain calm, Layla picked up her phone and called Hank.

"Hey, you almost here?" He answered.

"Hank, I think I'm being followed."

Hank stood up from where he sat on his couch and walked into the entryway, grabbing his coat from its hook.

"What kind of car? Can you see the driver?"

"I can't really see. It's a black sedan, older model. Maybe a Ford? I think it's been following me since I left Cindy's house."

The thought of someone hanging around Cindy's house, with the kids there, made Layla scared and angry.

"Okay," Hank said, getting into his car and turning on the blue lights, "Where exactly are you right now?"

As Layla told him where she was, Hank drove as quickly as he could. Due to the holiday season, there was more traffic than usual and Hank cursed more than once at drivers that wouldn't move out of his way.

Layla stayed on the phone and kept driving, the sedan still tailing her.

Finally, Hank caught up, turning off his patrol lights before turning onto the street Layla was on. When Layla saw his SUV in her rearview, she let out the breath she'd been holding. She watched as he slipped into the lane behind the black sedan.

Using the radio in his truck, Layla heard Hank call in the license plate to dispatch. A moment later he got a response. "Sergeant, the plate is registered to Jerry Blackman. White male. 40 years old. No active warrants. Should we show you in pursuit?"

Now knowing who was following her, Layla felt sick. What exactly was his goal here? To scare her? It had worked.

Layla's hands tightened on the steering wheel as she heard Hank respond to dispatch, "Negative, dispatch. Disregard plate information."

Hank put his phone back to his ear.

"Layla, listen to me..." From spending time in Intelligence, Layla knew the tone in his voice. He was all business now.

"... I want you to drive to Precinct 21. Trudy is filling in on desk tonight. I'm going to call her and let her know to be out front waiting for you."

"Got it. What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to follow this son of a bitch and make sure he never comes near you again." Hank said, ending the call before Layla could say anything else.

Layla put her phone down and tightened her grip on the steering wheel.

When they got about three blocks from the precinct, Jerry must have realized what was going on and shot out of the lane, almost hitting an oncoming car. As he sped past Layla, she let out a shaky breath and pulled up in front of the precinct.

Immediately, Hank turned on his lights and sirens and took off after him, the roar of his engine almost drowning out Trudy, who said, "You okay?" as soon as Layla stepped out of the car.

Trudy led Layla into the vacant office at the bottom of the stairs and closed the door.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Layla replied, but her shaking hands betrayed her nerves. Trudy smiled and said, "Let me go get you a cup of coffee."

Layla nodded and Trudy started to open the door.

"Trudy?"

Trudy stopped and turned back to face Layla.

"What is Hank going to do when he catches up with Jerry?"

Trudy pressed her lips together and her eyes flickered to window.

"Cream and sugar?" Trudy asked, ignoring her question.

Layla sighed, wondering if maybe it was better she didn't know anyway.

"Yes, cream and sugar. Thanks."

As Trudy left and closed the door behind her, Layla tried to ignore the fear she felt. Fear from being followed, fear from wondering what Hank was going to do and fear from wondering if Jerry was more of a threat than she'd originally thought. Clearly, if he was willing to go as far as to tail her car, she'd mis-judged him.

Trudy came back in with two coffees and gave one to Layla.

"Hank can take care of himself." Trudy assured her, but Layla knew she'd be nervous until he walked back into Precinct 21.

-break-

Hank followed Jerry to an old cabin on the edge of town. Jerry pulled into the driveway at a high rate of speed, swerving as the snow and slush caught his tires. Hank pulled in after him, throwing the car in park and jumping out as Jerry tried to run into the house.

"Jerry. Stop running!" Hank called out, loudly.

Jerry, in his haste to get away from Hank, slipped on a patch of ice and went down. Hank stalked over to where he was and put his foot on his back, keeping his face down in the snow.

Jerry, out of breath, started cursing at Hank.

"What the fuck, Voight? I wasn't doing anything."

Hank knelt down and drove his knee into Jerry's shoulder. Then he leaned down and put his face close to Jerry's ear.

"Listen to me, you son of a bitch. I don't know what this obsession is that you have with Layla, but it ends now."

Jerry tried to buck Hank off, but Hank added more pressure.

"All I was doing was trying to apologize for the misunderstanding we had at the mayor's party. That's all."

"Maybe I'm not making myself clear."

Hank pulled his gun out of it's holster, placing the barrel of the gun against the back of Jerry's skull. He stilled immediately.

"Turn in your resignation tomorrow and don't ever come near Layla again."

Jerry started to say something and Hank cocked his gun.

"Jerry. You're not listening. Turn in your resignation tomorrow and get out of Layla's life within 24 hours or I'll be coming back here without this badge. Do you understand?"

When Jerry didn't answer right away, Hank put more pressure on his shoulder and Jerry cried out in pain.

"I understand!"

Hank stayed there for a moment, letting the message sink in, before finally standing up and releasing Jerry.

As Hank walked back to his car, he holstered his gun and called out over his shoulder, "Don't make me come back here, Jerry."