A Few Months Later
"I swear to God, I will rip you to fucking pieces if you don't tell us where she is!" Jay yelled, pounding his fist down violently on the metal table.
The perp, Pablo Garcia, sat in his chair and began to chuckle. He shook his head at Jay who stood shaking, the anger rolling off of him in waves.
"Sorry, no can do, ese. But I bet they're taking real good care of her where ever she is." Garcia said, his eyes gleaming wickedly. "Chica's got a good ass on her, they're all gonna be loving that."
Jay lunged at him, bringing his fist down on Garcia's face again and again. The sound of the blows were sickening; all of the rage and fear inside of Jay was being released on the lowly thug beneath him. The door to the interrogation room flew open as Antonio Dawson and Hank Voight barged in, grabbing Jay and dragging him out of the room.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? We work under my rules, Halstead! My rules!" Voight roared into Jay's face, shoving him up against the wall and pinning him there. Jay struggled, his eyes still wide with a fire raging behind them.
"I'm sick of doing nothing! Every second that we sit here bullshitting is another second she could be dead!" Jay yelled back, shoving Voight off of him.
Antonio stepped in, aware of the sensitivity of the situation for both men. He put his hands up between Jay and Voight, attempting to break the standoff and diffuse the situation.
"Whoa, whoa. Let's just calm this down," Antonio said, making deliberate eye contact with both men. "This is an emotional situation for all of us, we need to keep our heads on straight and focus on what's important. And that's finding Erin."
At the sound of her name, both Jay and Voight seemed to deflate. During an undercover operation gone wrong, Erin had been separated from Jay and kidnapped by the Sinaloa cartel, one of Chicago's most notorious and violent drug cartels. Over the past three days, the Intelligence Unit had been ripping apart the city in an attempt to find her. With minimal leads and their covers blown, the group was facing a deadly situation for one of their own. The tensions were running high within the unit; with Voight on edge and Jay ready to fight anybody getting in his way, the rest of Intelligence was walking on glass.
"Bring Garcia up to the cage. I'll deal with this." Voight told Antonio, his eyes darkening. Even without his adopted daughter in a hostage situation, Voight was a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Antonio worried that Voight might just be pushed to the extremes with this case. Pushed to do things that he couldn't come back from.
The Intelligence Unit and their backup stood ready and waiting outside of a warehouse in downtown Chicago. After a bit of necessary force and two nights in the cage, Voight had gotten the truth out of Pablo Garcia. Erin was being held in the Sinaloa's main warehouse, the same one that housed a majority of their weapons and drugs. With a lead on Erin's whereabouts, the team had moved quickly, calling in as much backup as they could find in the early hours of the morning. As the sun was beginning to peak up over the city's skyscrapers, the team prepared to make their bust.
"Everybody knows the plan, stick with it and we're going to get her out of there alive. Stick to your instincts, don't try and be the hero. Get in and get out." Voight said, his voice low.
The group nodded in agreement, dressed to the nines in vests and weapons, ready to take back one of their own. Though prepared, there was an air of tension lingering over the group. Jay stood near the door, rifle in his hands and a determined look on his face. Nothing would stand in the way of Jay Halstead finding his partner.
Voight rested his fingers on the door handle and made eye contact with each member of his unit, "On my call, 1…. 2….3….!"
The door opened and the team moved swiftly in each direction, spreading out in an organized formation. The warehouse was substantial, with rows of shelving and equipment filling the interior. The team could hear laughter coming from what seemed to be the center of the building and they continued forward, keeping their footsteps quiet in order to maintain the element of surprise. Voight put up a hand, motioning for the team to stop before reaching the opening of the room. A number of tables sat lined up, covered in pounds of narcotics and illegal weapons. Workers stood at each table, measuring out quantities and bagging them up for later sale. Off to the side stood the leader of the cartel's son, Santiago Martinez, surrounded by his thugs and body guards. He crouched down and brought his hand up to touch the face of a young woman, her head tilted down with her hair shielding her face. Jay's heart began to pound rapidly in his chest and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at Antonio, who squeezed his shoulder and gave him a look as if to say, "Keep your head on straight. We've almost got her."
With the motion of Voight's hand, the team moved forward immediately, surrounding the men and women in the center.
"Chicago PD, put your hands up where we can see them!" Voight yelled in his gruff voice, maneuvering towards where Erin sat hunched over.
The gun fire rang out throughout the room and soon enough, the team was involved in a firefight. The workers began running as the team fired back at the cartel's men. Jay rushed to Erin's side, working away at the ties around her wrists and ankles, and standing her up. She looked at him and Jay's stomach sank. Her face was a mess of blood and bruises; her left eye swelled shut, a gash across her cheek and her bottom lip swollen. The anger inside Jay was almost enough to consume him.
"Get her out of here! Go go!" Voight shouted, firing across the room at a man crouched behind an overturned table.
The two partners ran towards the exit, Jay practically carrying Erin as they made their way out. Officers quickly rushed to their sides as they exited the building, ushering them towards the awaiting ambulance.
"I'm ok, I'm ok. It looks worse than it is." Erin muttered, downplaying the situation as she always did. Jay set her into the back of the ambulance, standing guard over her as the paramedics checked her out and bandaged her wounds. She continually glanced over at Jay, both partners holding each other's gaze and seeming to communicate without words. Jay had to fight the urge to shove the paramedics out of the way and hold her, wrapping her up safely in his arms. Thank God she's alive, He thought silently.
An hour later, the team stood outside the warehouse awaiting more cop cars for the remaining men in the cartel, standing handcuffed against the wall.
"You sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Voight questioned, his hands resting on Erin's shoulders.
She shook her head and forced a smile, "No, I'm fine. I swear." She shrugged out from under Voight's grip and faced her colleagues. "Thank you guys, for finding me. You did a hell of a job and I probably wouldn't be standing here without you."
"Hey, you're one of our own. We do anything for our own." Antonio assured, wrapping Erin in a hug.
After giving her statement and thanking everyone again, Erin turned to Jay who stood away from the rest of the group. "Will you take me home?" She asked softly, pulling the shock blanket a little tighter around her shoulders.
"Yeah, of course." He nodded, wrapping an arm around her and ushering her towards the passenger seat of the car. He turned the car on, switching the heat onto full blast. "I'm just gonna go tell Voight that I'm getting you home. You okay in here?"
Erin gave him a small smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." I'm fine. A phrase she seemed to be repeating a lot in the past hour.
Jay shut the door and made his way over to the group, pulling Voight to the side. "I'm going to get her home. She seems a little bit off, so I'll keep an eye on her to make sure everything's alright."
Voight nodded, "Good. She needs someone tonight and it might be a rough one. Call me if anything changes." He clapped Jay on the shoulder and turned back around towards Antonio.
"Oh, and Jay," Voight called as Jay turned his head, "Good job today getting my girl out of there."
"Thank you, sergeant." Jay replied with a nod. He climbed back into the car where Erin was waiting, shutting the door and turning towards her.
"You don't even know how happy I am to see you." He murmured, shifting the car into gear and pulling away from the scene. He reached over for her hand and she graciously accepted it, linking her fingers through his and resting her head back against the seat.
"Me too." She whispered, closing her eyes and relaxing for the first time in five days.