One Hundred and Twenty Five

The call out had been routine, as routine as it could be for summer in Chicago during the sweltering heat. Maggie and Roman had spent minutes chasing the suspect who'd spent part of their marathon firing pot shots at them. They had gone over fences, through alleyways eventually ending in a small run down, back garden in a house that was being renovated. It wasn't until Roman was putting the cuffs on their perp that Maggie had noticed the crimson trail of blood on the edge of a concrete step. She'd followed the blood trail all the way to that abandoned fridge and after that...

Antonio could see that she was affected, her voice had been devoid of all emotion as she took them through the scene fact by fact. Her unseeing blue gaze was resting anywhere but on the fridge holding the trussed up body of that tender age boy. He'd always been able to tell when she was shutting down, it was in the way she held herself, stiff and professional, her hands folded neatly in front of her. He understood it was a self defense mechanism. He didn't blame her, shit Antonio could barely stand to look at the child but he forced himself to. He had to take in every detail of the time so he could do the poor kid some justice. Roman was already leading Maggie away from the scene, his gentle palm lightly grasping her elbow as he guided her in the opposite direction. He was already pressing a plastic bottle of water into her hand and drawing her attention to the direction of their patrol car.

Antonio rubbed his fingertips across the line of his jaw as Sergeant Hank Voight stood beside him, the two of them peering into the fridge with keen analytical eyes. The kid couldn't be more than seven years old, the fact that anyone could do this to a child sickened him. It filled Antonio with an unholy rage, one that coursed through his veins like a thousand needles stabbing underneath his skin. Every time he blinked he saw Diego tied up to that chair in that shitty hotel, this could have been him if his team hadn't found him first, this could have been his little boy.

"We're gonna catch the guy who did this." Voight said in that low gravelly tone of his, his head tilted towards Antonio so the younger man could see the truth in his eyes.

"I know we will." Antonio promised, bobbing his head to acknowledge his mentor's words.

It was a promise he made to that kid, one that he intended to keep.

—-

The silence was oppressing. Sean could feel it weighing down in the space between him and Maggie as he navigated the streets of Chicago back to the precinct in order to write up their report on their gruesome discovery. Maggie was in no fit state to drive, he hadn't said anything at the scene but he had seen the tremble of her hands when she had taken the water bottle from him. She'd spent the majority of their journey with her head tilted towards the passenger side window, the plastic of the water bottle creaking as she clenched her fist around it over and over again.

"I'm sorry." she said quietly, breaking through the fog of stillness in the car. "Just seeing him like that..."

She trailed off, a quiver to her voice as her jaw clenched and her cobalt eyes turned glassy. She didn't have to say a word. Sean knew that feeling it was the one that left a bad taste in his mouth and a painful ache in his heart. He couldn't get the image out of his head, how small that boy had looked, the bruises on his tiny form.

"I know." he said stoically. "We saw something traumatic today, you don't need to apologize."

"Seeing him..." Maggie stopped herself before taking a deep breath and starting again. "... I couldn't stop thinking about Diego and when he was taken. I couldn't stop thinking about how that could have been him if they hadn't found him."

"That happened before my time." Roman informed her solemnly. "Kim said Antonio was never the same after that, not that I can blame him."

"He was different when I came back." Maggie murmured with a distant look. "The cases with kids hit harder now and I know it's because he sees Diego in those children."

"... Kayla's pregnant." Roman said abruptly, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Maggie turned her head towards her partner in surprise, her lips apart as she studied the profile of his strong features.

"We found out a few days before Sorenson..." he trailed off, his knuckles turning white at the memory of Kayla locked in that prison cell. "I was worried about the stress he caused."

"Is the baby ok?" Maggie asked him quietly, her hand coming to rest on the crook of his arm, bringing his attention back to her.

"The doctor said it's fine." Sean reassured his partner. "We've been staying at Kayla's dad's the past couple of days, that house has always been a safe space for her and right now she needs that more than ever."

There was silence for a moment as Maggie processed his words, already she could feel that smile twitching at her lips as she allowed her mind to wonder a couple of years into the future. It wasn't hard to imagine the type of father that Sean would be, she imagined his child with Kayla's dark hair and his azure eyes. Their child would be loved, there was no doubt in her mind about that.

"You're gonna be a great dad." Maggie told him, a grin breaking out over her pretty features.

For the first time since their shift had started Sean found himself smiling, it had become all the more real now that he had told Maggie and he could feel that ache in his chest get just a little lighter as he spoke again, allowing those words to sink in.

"I'm gonna be a dad."

Hey guys, I didn't realise how close we were to the end of this fic! There's only a few more chapters to go!

Anime: How could you not be after seeing that scene. Maggie loves Antonio so much, she would do anything to strip away those nightmares. I wanted to show that things like that don't go away. It's something I think he will always battle with.

Lauren: Thank you so much for your kind words. No matter what happens between Maggie and Antonio they will always be there for one another.