Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: Sorry for any mistakes I have made.
A big thanks to everyone who has reviewed and favorited and added this story to their alerts!
Hope you enjoy this chapter and don't want to kill me too much at the end! ;)
Chapter Three
The first thing Jay became aware of was the blinding pain in his head. The pain so intense it felt like his head was going to explode.
With a groan he tried to clutch his aching head, and immediately regretted the move when a wave of nausea hit him. He felt like he'd been hit by a truck and then backed over. Repeatedly.
Aside from the pain in his head, Jay's left side was on fire, with what felt like a couple of cracked ribs and judging by the pain in his right arm, there was a good chance it may be broken. When he tried to move into a more comfortable position another wave of pain flashed though him and Jay sank back into oblivion.
The next thing Jay became aware of other than the pain, was that he was freezing and lying on a cold hard surface. He cracked an eye open cautiously. Nothing about the freezing room was familiar. At. All.
It looked like he was in a basement of some sort, comprised of a concrete floor and brick walls. There was only one dirty window letting in a small amount of dim light, and it was up high and covered in bars.
And only one door, which was shut.
Jay had no clue where the hell he was and absolutely no memory of how he ended up there.
The last thing Jay remembered was leaving work and getting into his car, then nothing until he woke up in his current position.
Slowly and carefully Jay sat up trying not to move his head, cradling his arm to his chest. He moved to lean back against the brick wall opposite the door.
A quick inspection told him his wallet, phone and keys were all missing.
Jay might not know where he was, or how he got there. But he did know one thing. He was in trouble. Big trouble.
Two tours of Afghanistan and his time on the police force had taught him to follow his instincts and those instincts were screaming at him 'to get the hell out of there,' as quickly as he could.
Jay used the wall to steady himself as he slowly got to his feet, gritting his teeth as the pain intensified. Leaning weakly against the wall, Jay waited for his vision to clear, and the pain to subside a bit, before he shuffled his way to the door on unsteady legs.
By the time he made it the few feet to the door, Jay was shaking covered in sweat despite the freezing temperature of the room.
"Fuck." Jay muttered as he tried the door handle and it didn't budge under his grip no matter how many times he tired to open it.
Taking a step back lifted his leg, ready to kick his way though the door if necessary. But the only thing Jay's kick to the door succeeded in doing was bringing him to to knees as pain overwhelmed him. This time he was unable to breath though the nausea that hit him.
Jay really hoped that someone had noticed he was missing by now. Surely Erin would notice that he was gone? Right?
And it was then that Jay was hit with memories of the events from the previous day at work. Clashing with Voight over the case they were working on and then his argument with Erin. Her telling him she would always choose Voight over him. Feeling like she'd ripped the heart out of his chest.
Then he remembered what had happened after he left work. Heading to Molly's. Drinking. Talking to Gabby. Drinking some more. Antonio turning up. Arguing. And him tossing his badge on the bar. Quitting the Unit. Just like Erin had quit them.
"Shit." Jay said. Maybe no one would notice he was missing after all.
The problem was, that there was no way he was getting out of wherever the hell he was, though the locked door, and with his injuries Jay wasn't sure he could manage trying to get out the window. Looking around the sparse room Jay tired to find something. Anything that could help break him out. But apart from him the room was completely empty.
Jay stumbled over to where the window was situated high above his head. He had no idea what time it was, but if the dim light coming though the grimy window was any indication it was some time after dawn. Which meant he was missing about seven hours. Maybe more.
Sinking down to lean against the wall, Jay had no idea how long he sat there trying to work out a plan to get himself out of there when he heard a noise outside the door, putting him immediately on high alert.
Jay moved quickly to the door, adrenalin pumping though him masking the pain, and crouched next to the door. Wishing he had some sort of weapon. But ready for whatever came next.
Jay heard a key in the lock and seconds later the door swung inwards and a middle aged guy walked into the room. Jay quickly made his move, grabbling the unsuspecting man in a choke hold. He was able to incapacitate the man within seconds and his dead weight dropped to the cold concrete floor at Jay's feet. Jay turned to take off out of the room, but didn't get far. With his focus on taking the guy in front of him down he failed to notice a second guy walking into the room. Jay didn't even have time to raise his arms in defense before a pipe was swung at his head.
Pain exploded in his head. His life flashed before his eyes. The last thing he saw was Erin smiling up at him.
Then everything went black. And he saw nothing at all.
Erin looked down at her smashed cell phone the color leeching from her face leaving her ghost white.
"I need to go." Erin mumbled, trying but failing to make herself move from where she stood rooted to the floor in front of Hank's desk.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Hank bellowed looking from a distraught Erin to a concerned Antonio and Mouse, clearly wanting answers.
"I need ... to go." Erin said again.
"Erin was that Jay?" Antonio asked.
Shaking her head Erin blindly reached down to the floor for her cell phone, the screen of which was a spiderweb of broken glass.
"Someone had better start talking. And fast." Voight said.
"Mouse was able to turn on Jay's phone remotely and get us a location." Antonio said looking at Erin.
"And why would he have to do that? I thought Halstead was home with the flu?" Voight asked angrily.
"Jay's not at home with the flu." Antonio told him.
"So you and Erin decided to lie to me?" Voight said slamming his hands on his desk. "Someone start explaining. And it had better be good."
"Jay left Molly's last night and hasn't been seen or heard from since. His phone switched off." Antonio explained.
"Is that where you were last night?" Voight asked Erin who nodded her head.
"I need to go." Erin said again and moved towards the door.
"I think you need to see this before you go." Antonio said to Erin pointing to the tablet that Mouse held in his hands.
"As I said Mouse was able to turn on Jay's phone and we located it a block from your apartment Erin." Antonio said giving Erin an apologetic look.
"He was headed to my place?" Erin asked shakily.
"We think so." Mouse said.
"And why would that be?" Hank asked Erin.
"That's not important right now." Antonio said. "We checked the pods in the area and found this."
Mouse clicked on the tablet and brought up a slightly grainy image of what looked to be Jay walking down the street, apparently headed to Erin's apartment. They watched as Jay stopped, took his phone out of his pocket and looked down at it.
Then they could only look on in horror as, while Jay was momentarily distracted with his phone. A dark colored sedan pulled up next to him, two guys got out, one appeared to say something to Jay while the other swung a bat or pipe at Jay. He raised an arm to try and fend off the blow from the second man, and then the first man struck Jay in the back of the head and he dropped to the pavement. Both men kicking an unconscious Jay before picking him up and tossing him into the back of their car.
"Oh my god." Erin gasped, covering her mouth with a shaking hand, horrified at what they had just seen. And then she remembered the phone call she received minutes before and couldn't stop the tears that ran down her pale cheeks. "Oh no." She cried out and took off out of Hank's office.
"Erin wait. Where are you going?" Antonio asked as he Mouse and Hank followed her out into the bullpen.
"I need to go to see Will." Erin explained wiping her eyes before grabbing her coat and searching frantically for her car keys. "Has anyone seen my keys?"
"I need to go. And I can't leave if I can't find my God Damn keys." Erin said moving papers in search of her missing keys. "Where the fuck are they?" Erin asked scattering the items on her desk to the floor.
"Erin calm down." Voight said placing his hands on her shoulders, his anger from before fading as concern over Jay and now Erin had taken over. "I'll take you where you need to go." He promised her.
"I need to go to the hospital. Will called they brought someone in fitting Jay's description."
"I'll drive you there myself. Antonio you fill everyone in on the situation. I want that phone. And I want an ID on those two guys and that car found yesterday. Let me know the second you have anything."
"Will do. Let us know what you find out at the hospital."
"Erin is Will going to meet at the ER?" Hank asked her. "Erin?" He asked her again when she just continued to stare at Jay's empty desk shaking her head.
"We aren't going to the ER." Erin said barely above a whisper.
"Where are we going then?" Hank asked confused.
"The Morgue. Will wanted me to come with him to identify the body." Erin said tears streaming down her face.
The next ten minutes were a blur. Later Erin couldn't remember leaving the precinct or the car ride over to the hospital. But suddenly that's where she and Hank were. They met a distressed looking Will Halstead out the front of the hospital.
"Please tell me Jay turned up at work and there's no way this can be him." Will pleaded as Erin and Hank Voight walked up to him.
"I'm so sorry Will." Erin said her thick with tears as they walked into the hospital and then into the elevator that would take them down to the Morgue.
"It's not Jay right? It can't be." Will said in a shaky voice.
"I'm sure it's not." Erin said, and was praying like crazy she was right and it wasn't Jay laying down there on a trolley cold and devoid of life.
"I can do this. You two can stay here." Hank said to Will and Erin as they stepped out the elevator.
"No I need to see for myself." Will said and Erin nodded in agreement. As much as she didn't want to walk through that door she needed to.
Hank flashed his badge and explained why they were there, then stayed put while Erin and Will walked down the hallway and into a viewing room.
Erin took a shaky breath and caught Will's hand in hers as they walked into the viewing room.
An attendant nodded in their direction as he saw them enter, and when they were ready pulled back the white sheet to reveal...
AN: Please review and let me know what you think.
Is it still really not September 30?
Next Chapter: Is Jay dead or alive? All will be revealed in the next chapter…..Maybe.