She bounced on the balls of her feet anxiously as the elevator slowly climbed its way to the correct floor.

"Hey, you've got this. She already knows who you are, so this is the easy part. Just make her trust you, alright? You're good Lindsay." His voice anchored her back to reality. His quick words of reassurance brought her back from being adrift within her own worries and doubts. It was strange to have him pull her back down. In the past he'd had the exact opposite effect on her. He used to make her high. Higher than any drug ever did.

She licked her dry lips and nodded at his reassurance. "I'm good." The elevator came to a stop and her body jerked slightly, not expecting the abrupt stop. "Here goes nothing."

They stepped out of the elevator, and the room was the second door to the right. Nervously, Erin used the keycard to unlock it, enter the room, and really begin the mission. Jay stayed posted outside the door as security, silently rooting her on in his head. He wanted this to go well. He needed it to. Possibly more than Erin did.

"Hello?" The second she entered the room all nerves evaporated. This is what she did. She was a detective, and a damn good one at that. She could do this. On top of that, she didn't have to be Erin Lindsay anymore. The second she walked through the door, her past and her mistakes no longer mattered. It was refreshing.

She looked around the large hotel suite, waiting for Madison to appear. It was as big as her entire apartment, if not larger, and the room was definitely more expensively decorated.

As Erin admired the place, bare feet began to pad their way down the wood floors. A petite girl in her early twenties appeared in the foyer, and it was like seeing a ghost. She girl had long dark hair that seemed perfectly placed, yet effortlessly messy, and her skin was a sun kissed olive complexion. Erin's heart immediately clenched in her chest as flashbacks of the girl she had once considered to be a sister rushed into her mind.

She held her breath as the girl continued closer. Once Madison was in focus, Erin could finally breathe again. They may have had the same build, skin tone, and hair color, but their facial features were markedly different. She wasn't Nadia.

The younger woman held the neck of a bottle of vodka in one hand as she went to greet Erin.

"You're the cop?" She asked. Her face scrunched in obvious scrutiny. Erin felt like a piece of meat as she was looked up and down.

"Detective, but yes."

"I didn't realize this was real life Miss Congeniality." She shrugged. "It's good though. You're hot enough to play the part. I was nervous when they said I had to make people believe a lady cop was one of us, but you should be fine."

Was it a compliment, or an insult? Probably a bit of both Erin decided.

Madison set the bottle down on an end table and searched through a small clutch pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "I only smoke when I'm drinking, and I think dead sister, cop sidekick, and being put up in a 4 star hotel warrants a buzz before noon. Want one?" She held a cigarette out toward the detective.

"No, I'm good."

"'Kay." The girl shrugged before lighting up. "Would you mind cracking the window while you're right there? I don't think I'm supposed to smoke in here, and I'd rather not have to deal with anyone coming up here. I don't have the patience after that other cop asked me a thousand questions earlier."

After opening the window, Lindsay took a seat in the white suede chair across from Madison. "Sorry about that. We really appreciate how cooperative you and your family are being. We're going to do everything we can to get justice for your sister."

The room was silent for a moment and Erin could tell everything was starting to sink in for the younger woman. Madison's soft voice broke the eerie stillness. "You probably think I'm horrible, huh?"

"Why would you think that?"

"I'm some spoiled rich bitch complaining about my hotel accommodations and being questioned by the police, when this morning my sister was found..." She began to stutter, the realization finally hitting hard. Erin expected her to break down, but instead Madison took in a deep breath and composed herself. Erin could tell it was something she was used to having to do, and she empathized with her on that. She knew all about putting on a brave face and pretending to be okay when you were really falling apart inside.

"I don't think you're horrible. I think you're dealing with everything the best you know how."

"I love my sister, I do, it's just to me she's been dead for awhile now."

Erin's expression disclosed her curiosity, but she knew if she stayed silent Madison would continue. She could tell this girl was a talker the moment she met her.

"V and I were best friends. We were inseparable growing up. We did everything together. She looked out for me, took care of me, got me into trouble a little bit too. When you have the resources we did you get into things a lot earlier than you're supposed to. You grow up fast. We had a lot of fun for awhile." She took a final drag before putting out her cigarette.

"But Vanessa just didn't know how to stop having fun. She never knew when enough was enough. Sure, we go out and have a good time, but we have commitments too. We have charity events and galas and things we are expected to attend. It's all part of the image that we're expected to uphold, but she started missing events left and right. It's not strange to be out all night after partying, but when you're regularly gone for five or six nights at a time because you're too high off your ass to find your way home, it's a problem."

"And Vanessa had a problem?" Erin asked already assuming the answer.

"She was always wild, but then about a year and a half ago, on her twenty-fifth birthday, her trust fund opened up. She blew through it so fast. I don't even know what on, to be honest. Then she started borrowing money from people."

"Do you have an idea of how much she was borrowing?"

"A few thousand here and there but never enough to make someone want to kill her. The normal dealers that run in our circle are expensive. A line of good coke or a few pills every now and then never hurt anyone..."

If only you knew, Erin thought to herself.

"But she ran out of money, so I know she had to of started getting it off the street. The oxy was the biggest problem for her. She couldn't stop, and it changed her. It was slow at first, then one day it was like she wasn't even my sister anymore. I stopped talking to her. I though maybe it'd force her to get herself together. That was about six months ago."

Jay had barely let her exit the hotel room before he began his questioning. He was eager after being stuck outside the room for over two hours. "So?"

"Vanessa was an addict." Erin commented devoid of all emotion. She paced towards her own hotel room with Jay in tow.

He wanted to ask more about Vanessa's addiction but decided to save it for later. He couldn't tell by the way Erin was acting if it would be a touchy subject or not, so he pushed it to the back of his mind to bring up at a different time. "It went well I take it, if Madison trusted you that quickly?"

"Yeah." Erin shrugged. "She's definitely interesting."

"In a bad way?"

"No. She's actually not that bad." It was then she noticed Jay had been following her towards her own hotel room.

"It's okay to admit you like her, Erin." He teased bumping her with his elbow.

"I just met the girl, Jay. It's to soon to tell if I'll like her or not."

"You knew you liked me right away."

The laugh couldn't escape her throat fast enough. "I barely tolerated you, let alone like you, Halstead. Do you even remember our first week of partnership?"

"I could never forget the first day I met you."

Instantly, Erin's face fell. He wasn't allowed to say adorable flirty things to her anymore, and it pissed her off that he had even tried. Jay noticed the shift in mood and decided to clear his throat before changing the subject.

"I got extra eggrolls. They are supposed to call me when the food's downstairs in the lobby."

She was pulling her keycard form her purse when his words settled in, causing her to halt her movement. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Monday. We always get Chinese on Monday nights."

"Not in two weeks we haven't."

"I know. I just… I thought we should tonight. If we're gonna be staying here together we might as well…"

She cut him off. "What? What are you talking about?"

"You don't know that we're sharing this room?"

"No!"

He looked around making sure no one else was in the hallway to hear. "Let's just go inside and talk about it in private." He spoke hushed.

She slid the key card in and flung the door open. She might have marveled over how amazing the suite was had she not been so flustered.

Jay, on the other hand, took a moment to admire the room. "Holy shit." He looked around. "Look at this room. Did you really think the department would put up for two of these? Yeah right, Er."

"I would have appreciated a heads up before hand."

"I assumed you knew. I'm sorry."

She gave an exasperated sigh. "It's fine. We can alternate nights between the bed and the couch. I'll take the couch tonight I guess."

"Erin, we're adults. I'm not gonna try anything."

A part of her was disappointed that he'd been so quick to assure her he wouldn't make a move. A year ago they could barely be in the same room without having their hands, among other body parts, completely tangled up in one another. Now it almost felt like the idea of her repulsed him. "I'll take the couch."

Had it not been for the television, the first ten minutes of their meal would have been ate in complete and utter silence. It was not only uncomfortable but also seemingly unnatural. It felt wrong. Usually, Jay would tease Erin for her inability to use chopsticks. She would steal bits from his container because she always ended up wanting what he ordered. Their favorite restaurant always gave them three eggrolls, so they'd usually argue over who got the extra one. Now they sat like strangers in deafening quiet. Neither knew what to say, or how to act around each other anymore.

"Did you want some of this?" Jay asked tilting his carton of chow mien towards her.

Yes. "No thanks." She lied despite the fact she really wanted a bite. "I'm getting full. Probably from the extra egg rolls."

"Yeah… Probably." He went with it, but he knew her well enough to know she was lying about not wanting some of his food. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"

"Madison is having a few friends over in the morning for brunch. She wants to tell them in person. She'll introduce me then too."

"What time is that? I want to wake up and go to the gym downstairs before hand."

"It's supposed to be at eleven or twelve. She said she told them all eleven, but not to expect anyone to show up until noon. Punctuality isn't their forte, I guess."

"Then you'll fit in just fine." He grinned and watched a real smile appear on Erin's lips.

"Shut up. I'm always on time."

"Yeah to work. Everything else you're always late to."

"That's not true. I'm only late when you don't tell me where we're going. For some reason you like to make plans for me, and then never tell me what they are."

"You've always liked all of my surprises."

"Yeah, but do you know how difficult it is to figure out what to wear when I have no clue where I'll end up? You can just throw on jeans and a button down and always look perfectly fine for just about any occasion. Women can't do that."

"Aww you think I always look perfect and fine?" He teased her.

"That is not what I said, Halstead." The mood was the lightest it had been between them in the past two weeks.

"I'm pretty sure that's what I heard."

"That's your selective hearing."

"I listen to everything you say, Er. Even when you talk, and talk, and talk."

Her smile disappeared. "The only time I ever 'talked, and talked, and talked' was when I was trying to open up to you." All of a sudden she sounded offended, and Jay wondered where their playful banter had gone wrong. "I wanted you to be the first person to know everything about me. I told you things even Hank doesn't know. I'm sorry if hearing about my life was such an inconvenience to you." She stood from the couch and moved towards the bedroom. The door slammed shut behind her, and Jay knew then that he'd be the one sleeping on the couch for the night.