Well, actually, I had planned this one quite differently. But Jay Halstead kept popping up in my mind like an annoying big brother and literally wouldn't shut up until I wrote this chapter the way it is now. However, I like it. I like overprotective Jay Halstead.

Chapter 7

When Kim was getting a cup of coffee, she realized that someone had appeared behind her. She had a hunch who it would be. Or at least she had a hunch. After all, she had already avoided a conversation with him earlier. I wonder if she could do it a second time? Probably not.

"You want to tell me what kind of story this is? Well, you know, the one about Voight's black eye. Oh, and how come he is wearing Ruzeks' shirt now," she heard Jay's voice behind her.

Kim hesitated for a moment before turning to face Jay. He was standing directly behind her, looking at her with a mixture of concern and perhaps curiosity. The unspoken question could clearly be seen in his eyes by Kim. I mean the words he didn't utter as he waited for her to start talking on her own. Just to tell him everything.

On the one hand, yes, Kim wanted to talk about it. About the fear she was feeling. For Hank Voight. For the team. Every time they were out on the streets of Chicago, every time they exposed themselves to danger, her heart was pounding. And then there was the fear. The fear of losing someone who was dear to her. Well, particularly a special someone.

Yet, on the other hand, she didn't really know what she wanted to say. The words with which she could express her fear aloud. And she couldn't tell him about Hank either. About the worries she had for him. Of the pain her sergeant was going through. She couldn't betray Hank's trust. Not now, when he was slowly opening up to her. Now that he finally trusted her. At least a little bit.

"Kim?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't."

Kim could clearly see the concern that showed on Jay's face. Concern that seemed to be growing. Concern for her.

"What did he do to you?" Jay feared the worst at her words. Voight wouldn't . . . Jay's worried gaze slid searchingly over Kim. However, he couldn't see any injuries or bruises. Thank goodness. Well, at least not where there were no clothes covering her skin. Then again, maybe under the material covering her arms. Or on her back. Jay didn't want to imagine it. No, Hank Voight would NEVER ever become violent toward Kim. He simply couldn't imagine that. All the same, there was this nagging feeling inside him. He knew who Hank Voight was, after all. What he had done in the past.

"Jay, he didn't do anything," she looked at him indignantly. Where had Jay gotten such an idea?

"Kim, you and I both know Voight. Look, we know what he can be like when he can't control himself. What he is capable of. I mean his outbursts of anger. In the old days, Al would always keep an eye out. Al had always stepped in at the last moment before Voight could slip completely into darkness. But since Al's death," Jay left his sentence unfinished. But Kim knew what he was trying to say even so. She knew how close Voight was to the darkness, he could slip at any time. And could pull everything and everyone with him into the darkness. Including herself.

"I know what I'm doing," Kim declared.

"Really?" Jay wasn't really convinced.

"Yes, absolutely," and yet, even Kim wasn't entirely convinced by her own words. She knew how unpredictable Hank Voight could be. What it was like when his anger got the better of him. But he would never hurt her. Ever.

She would take care of him now. He was her responsibility now. And she would make sure the team didn't break because of it. Because she owed it to Al.

"I'm just worried about you," Jay then explained.

To him, Kim was the little sister he had never had. The sister he had always longed for. And he would take care of her. He would protect her. Even from Hank Voight.

"Just be careful around him," he finally pleaded.

"I will. Jay, you really don't have to worry about me. I know what I'm doing."

Jay looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. But he would still keep an eye on Kim. And on Voight. Because he didn't like the whole thing at all. More than once their sergeant had put the team in danger with his unstable behavior.

A little later, they were all standing in front of the whiteboard. After all, they had a case to solve. A murderer to catch. Another killer was on the loose.

"We need to find this guy before any leads to him go cold. Or before he might be able to get himself another victim. We can't have another killer on the loose if we can prevent it. So what do we know so far?" asked Voight, looking one by one at his team. Now it was time to find a killer. Another killer.

"The young woman was a nurse, at Lakeshore," Kevin stated.

"Moved here from Detroit six months ago. Her co-workers described her as quiet and reclusive. She never talked about personal stuff. And was otherwise rather reserved and kept to herself," Hailey recounted what she had learned from the victim's co-workers at Lakeshore.

"Was there a lover's spat? A spurned lover?" pondered Adam aloud.

"That's what we should find out. Upton, you interview the co-workers again. Surely she must have been told something about herself to someone. Is there a boyfriend? An ex-boyfriend? Or," Voight began.

"Or someone she met online," Hailey completed his sentence.

Voight nodded.

"We should also check to see if she had a Tinder profile. Or if she was signed up on another dating site. There are these single-get-togethers at a coffee shop in my neighborhood. Maybe she went to one of those, too. If she hasn't lived here in the city long, that's a good way to meet other people," Kim said.

And then Voight handed out the rest of the tasks to the team. Jay noticed that Voight had given Kim a task that made her stay close to him. But why? Maybe he shouldn't have settled for Kim's short answer, her attempts to reassure him. Maybe he should have kept pushing for answers. Until he had the answer that satisfied him. In the meantime, he'd watch out for her. His little sister.

For the rest of the day, Jay's worried gaze kept sliding to Kim. Questioning. Scrutinizing her. And now that he knew what to look for, what exactly he had to be aware of, he noticed so many little things along the way. A glance. A gesture. A touch. And he remembered other things he had seen in the last few days. For example, the fleeting touch of Kim on his arm to calm him down when Voight raised his voice. The small smile that crept onto Voight's face for a split second at that touch. Or the cup of coffee she set down in front of Voight. Without being asked to. Or the chocolate bar Voight brought from the vending machine for Kim when he'd gone to get his own snack. Or Voight's gaze that kept sliding to Kim. It was these little things that made Jay wonder if there was more to Kim and Voight's story. That there was something Kim was keeping from him. You know, something he wasn't going to like.

It was already late in the evening when Jay approached Kim again. Once again he was trying to talk to her. Kim was just standing in the locker room in front of her locker and took out her bag.

"Kim," he called out her name to get her attention.

Kim turned around to face him. She should have known he wouldn't give it a rest. Well, but not that he was going to confront her twice in one day. Apparently, Jay just wouldn't let it go. The thing she couldn't explain to him.

"Voight and you, what is it exactly? Something going on between you two?" he finally asked the questi on his mind.

Kim hesitated, well what was it? You know, the thing she had with Voight. Was it just friendship? I mean, was she just concerned about him? Or was there something more? Kim didn't know that herself. The only thing she knew was that Voight needed someone. Someone who would be there for him. Regardless of what it was about. Now, she would be that someone. She would be a friend to Hank. Or whatever else he needed. Anything at all. You name it, she would do it. She would do it for him.

"Jay, no, well I, . . . uh, well I don't know."

"But there is in fact something going on."

"He needs someone. Uh, you know, he needs me. And I want to be there for him," she then replied. It was the only answer she could give Jay. For the first time, she said it out loud. The first time she admitted something to herself. That she admitted she cared. About Voight.

They sat down on the bench in front of her locker. Jay reached for Kim's hand.

"Kim, please. Talk to me."

"Jay, I can't tell you what happened. I don't want to betray his trust. And, you know, umm . . . I' m okay. Really. And there is nothing wrong with Hank . . . Well, okay, there is, but it is something that I can handle by myself. Really, I can do it. So please try not to worry about it. About me."

If there was one thing Jay Halstead didn't like, it was this moment. It was the fact, then, that he didn't know what dark business of his their sergeant might be involving Kim in. OR that he was possibly even hurting her. Well, one way or another.

"Promise me you'll come to me if you need help. No matter what it is about. You come to me. Right that minute," Jay demanded insistently.

"Jay-"

"Promise me, please Kim. Promise me you'll come to me if you need help, if you need someone to talk to. Or if anything else isn't right. Or if he hurts you. Promise me."

Kim clearly saw the concern in his gaze. She didn't want him to worry about her.

"I promise," she then agreed.

Jay nodded. That would have to be enough for him. But he would still keep an eye on Kim and Voight.

Leaving her alone Kim had time to think about the last 24 hours. About everything that had happened. All that she had felt. The chaos was not easy to put in order. The chaos that was her thoughts and feelings. All she wanted was to be there for someone who had lost a good friend. After all, she just wanted to support someone who was grieving. Well, actually.

However, talking to Jay had somehow brought up thoughts she didn't really want to have. There were thoughts that she had already had this morning. About her sergeant. If only very briefly. She should stop having such thoughts. After all, Kim had decided for herself to be only a good friend for Hank. And that' s what she would continue to be. A friend. And nothing else.

And then Kim took her jacket and her bag. It was time to go home. In fact, all Kim wanted to do was get into bed and sleep; she had gotten far too little sleep last night, after all. Entering the bullpen, she saw that the light was still on in Voight's office. She couldn't help herself. She couldn't stay away from him. Slowly, she walked up to the half-open door and watched her sergeant for a moment.

Hank Voight was sitting at his desk. His head lowered. He looked kind of sad. Pensive.

"It's late. You should get home, too," Kim said then, breaking through his thoughts.

"I still have so much to do."

"Work will still be here tomorrow morning," Kim contradicted him.

"But-"

"Come on, I'll drive you home. And on the way, well, you know, we'll swing by the italian restaurant. And you can pick up some takeout," she suggested.

Voight hesitated. Truth be told, he didn't want to go home. To the place where he was all alone with his dark thoughts. But then again, you know, maybe, he HAD to eat something that didn't come out of the vending machine.

"How about we go to the diner? My treat." he then suggested to her.

"Sure," Kim replied, smiling at him. That smile she had given him several times before. That smile that he liked. Somehow, anyway. And that gave him that sort of warm feeling.