They all piled in Kevin's car and went to the station. Al arrived at the same time as they were piling out of the car and noticed that other than Kevin, Jay and Erin they were all wearing the same clothes they had been in yesterday...he also noticed the haggard look that Antonio and Adam were sporting. They all filed into the unit and Al went straight into Voight's office and closed the door behind him as the team sat down quietly at their desks.
"Whatever case this is...I don't know if they are up for it yet." Al explained to him what he had seen.
"No case this time Al. The new commander is demanding we meet with the shrink..." Hank reassured him, slightly, they both knew that if even one of them told them how they were doing they would not be approved to start any new cases.
"That's not going to..."
"You think I don't know that? Get Erin and Halstead in here now." Voight barked at his best friend who proceeded to open the door and yell to Halstead and Lindsay.
They got up in sync and walked in step together into the office. "What is this new case Hank?". Erin asked.
"Shrink is coming in a half hour. We don't get any new cases til the whole team is cleared." Voight told them.
Jay and Erin looked at each other...still very much in sync. "Someone want to tell me what the hell went on last night after we left Molly's". Al growled before Voight had the chance.
"Family meeting." Jay and Erin said together, laughing when Al and Hank looked at them confused.
"Explain yourselves." Voight grimaced.
"No one wanted to go home alone..."
"...so we all went to Erin's place to watch a movie..."
"...but no one was watching so Jay..."
"...told them about the stuff I have been dealing with and about how talking to Erin and spending time together outside of work..."
"...has helped him...and me to function better at work. We told them that we had to be more like a family and trust each other enough to talk about what is going on..."
"...so that is what we did...slept a little...Atwater came over this morning with coffee and we talked some more..."
"...so what does this shrink want us to prove?" Erin finished as the two of them turned back to look at Hank.
"The two of you...what the hell...how the hell much time have you been spending together?" They shrugged, still in sync and they could hear Al snicker, "They need to know if everyone's heads are in the game."
"We are closer than yesterday." Jay answered.
"Adam and Antonio...they are struggling...we will get there though." Erin told them.
"Think they can hold it together and answer right?" Al asked.
"Give us ten minutes." Jay answered with confidence.
"Would you trust them in the field?" Voight asked.
"Without a second thought Hank." Erin answered.
"When we have time to think is when it gets hard." Jay told him.
"You said you need ten...you have eight. I will have Trudy stall but you get your asses down to the conference room. Do not be late." Hank told them as he and Al got up and walked out of the office and downstairs leaving Jay and Erin alone In the office.
"How do we do this?" Jay asked looking towards Erin.
"Like this..." Erin smiled with a spring in her step out of the office. "Okay guys so we don't have an actual case until we convince the shrink that is waiting downstairs that we are all perfectly peachy and ready to get back... I for one know I am not okay but I also know that sitting on my ass while these scum bags try to take over my city will only make me worse. I know you guys feel the same so answer their questions like you need to in order for the unit to get cleared and we will have a family meeting after to decompress...maybe with a little booze."
"I've been fakin it this long, what's another couple hours to satisfy the suits." Antonio muttered sarcastically.
Erin looked over at Adam and saw that he was nervous. "It is okay to say it has been a hard couple weeks...they already know that...they want to know that our head is in the game enough to send us back out in the field."
"Which we already proved we were this last week so what is the point?" Kevin asked.
"Required to see them at least once after an officer involved shooting or anything that caught the news...took them a month to get to me after Jules...they must have had a slow week." Antonio said shaking his head.
"Two minutes to get down there before Voight kills us." Jay said ushering the entire team out and down the stairs.
Voight and Al were quite impressed with the show the team was putting on during the psychological evaluation. Every time one of them would start to struggle someone else would interrupt. Both of them knew that Erin and Jay were the true leaders of this unit and saw how much the entire team respected...and loved each other. It reminded he two of them of their first unit together.
Three exhausting hours later the team was cleared and walking back up the stairs to the unit. "Be back here Monday at eight. Do whatever you need to do between now and then and call if you need anything." Voight said before walking into the office and closing the door behind him.
Erin nodded to Jay and he smiled sadly to her before she got up and let herself into his office. She found him sitting at his desk looking at a photo of the two of them that had been taken not long after she had moved in with the Voights. "You have grown up so much since then Kid... I am so proud of you." He said with tears in his eyes.
"I wouldnt be here if it weren't for you." Erin told him as she sat down on the edge of his desk.
"This team...it saved both of us...I haven't been part of a real team since my first unit with Al..."
"That was an entire century ago. Damn old man it's no wonder you can be such a dick sometimes." She said with a smile.
"Thanks for that." He said with a chuckle.
"Last night and today Hank...we are going to change things in here...we are going to rotate partners and we are all going to learn to have each other's backs...that includes you and Al."
"Which one of us is the Sargent here Kid?" He jokingly asked.
"You know it needs to happen...all of us have stuff we are good at and stuff we stuggle with because of our pasts...if we mix it up we can get a better balance on our team...know when to stand up and when to hold back."
"I am still not a fan of in house romances." He said leaning back and crossing his arms.
"And I am not a fan of you meddling with my personal life Dad." Erin said rolling her eyes.
"Send everyone home to shower then meet back at Molly's. That show you guys pulled off...tonight I'm buying."
Erin walked out into the bullpen and passed on the message to be at Molly's by ten. As she watched her team walk out the door she felt an arm wrap around her shoulder and she leaned into it. "I'll meet you at your place in a half hour." Jay whispered in her ear before swiping his jacket from the back of her chair and walking down the stairs.
"How you managed to get them both wrapped around your finger is a mystery to me." Al said as he put his arm around her shoulders and led her out and down to the parking lot, "See you in an hour Linds."
When she got out of the shower she could hear her TV on and knew Jay had let himself in, she hurried to get dressed and threw her wet hair up into a messy pony tail. "How are you holding up Halstead?" She asked as she plopped herself down on the couch next to him.
"Hard to see everyone struggling...you have been amazing though...knowing exactly what to say and do..."
"Me? You are the one who told everyone about...everything and then held Antonio all night...I just had everyone come over."
"Voight listens to you."
"I told him to butt out of my personal life." Erin said, and smiled when she turned her eyes from the TV to Jay's horrified expression. "Relax...the next thing he told me was that he was buying tonight...so let's go before he changes his mind."
Jay stood up shaking his head and tossed her his hoodie and shrugged on another one that was almost identical. "How many of these do you have?" Erin asked as she put it on and zipped it up.
"A few." He said smiling, "I can't help it if I know what I like."
When they walked into Molly's they found Hank, Al and Kevin sitting around one of the bigger tables in the corner. Erin made her way to the stool next to Hank and Jay sat down next to her. He slid them both a glass with his favorite whiskey. "You better take care of my girl Halstead." He grunted.
"You know I will." Jay told him.
When Erin saw Voight nod in approval she reached both her arms out hitting the two of them. "Really?" She asked giving them both a death stare.
"Damn Al, which one you think she gonan kill first?" Kevin asked, the two of them laughing.
By the time Adam walked over a minute later the whole table was cracking up. He sat down next to Al who wrapped his arm around him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Adam looked over at him like he had lost his marbles, "I love you Kid." Al told him as he kissed him one more time. The uncharacteristic display of affection made Jay and Erin smile, they had been around long enough to know it was either all or nothing with the older generation.
Antonio came in ten minutes later followed shortly by Nadia who had perfectly curled hair and make up as usual. "Now that you are all here we are going to discuss what happened earlier during that three hour bullshit fest." Hank said trying to sound serious. "You guys are fucking amazing and I could not have dreamed of a better team to work with. Now having said that, Erin tells me things are going to change. You are numbered in order of when you started working with me and you will rotate through. Nadia I have you enrolled in the starter classes for academy. We will be doing a lot of your training ourselves like we did with Adam but there are a few things you need to do before we can do that. We will have at least one night a week where we do dinner or drinks or something away from work. And as much as I hate it we will all participate in solo counseling. One hour each month is mandatory but you can go as often as you need."
"A shrink? Really Hank?". Erin asked annoyed at the last part.
"You tell me there isnt at least one thing each of you is dealing with and I will take it back...but seeing as you all had a pow wow at your house last night..."
"Give me a damn drink." Erin said with a humph. As much as she hated it she knew he was right.
The more alcohol the team got in their system the more they relaxed and opened up. Al told the team that his wife was dating, Antonio told them Laura was keeping the kids away, Kevin talked about how he was raising his sister with the help of his Aunt because both of his parents were in jail. Hell, Hank even told the team about how hard it was for him to see Justin and Olive together because it made him miss Camille. Nadia shared her experiences with NA. Jay and Erin stayed pretty quiet all night as they had shared their stories the night before.
The later it got the more Erin leaned into Jay, he had his arm wrapped around her shoulders and could not believe that Hank had not killed him yet. Around one Hank and Al left, a half hour later Kevin left with Nadia saying he would drop her off at her apartment. Antonio left with his sister at two When they officially closed the bar.
At two thirty Herman told Jay to take Erin and Adam home so he could leave. Jay smiled and thanked him for letting them take over the bar before dragging the two of them out into the cold.
They had become a family. Everyone knew that the next few weeks, he'll, maybe years would be hard at times but they all knew that their team had their back anytime day or night.