ERIN POV.

Her plan to bring out the monster in Jay had backfired again. Instead it had brought out the opposite, his caring side, his sensitive side. Instead of being a monster he had talked about how much he loved his mother, he had cried over how much he missed her.

When she had gotten back to the precinct she had double checked everything Jay had told her, his mother's will, the medal he got from the army, the sale of his apartment. It all added up, everything in his story checked out.

But in her head nothing added up. Nothing of what she knew about Jay Halstead added up with what people had told her about him, what she had read in his file, what she had heard on the news. The man she had met in Stateville simply wasn't the man they portrayed.

Now more than ever she knew that she needed to get proof, proof that he was the man they all said he was. By now she knew he wouldn't give it to her so she needed to find it some other way. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for but she needed something that could convince her that with no doubt was this man a monster.

—-

"I'm looking for Dr. Will Halstead", Erin stated firmly as she walked up to the reception at the clinic.

"What?!" a nurse said as she tried to hear what the woman in front of her was saying over all the noise of people screaming, crying, running… it was like a jungle in there. Busy, unorganised and simply chaotic.

"I'M LOOKING FOR DR. WILL HALSTEAD", Erin now screamed trying to overpower all of the other noise.

The nurse seemed to have registered what she said but didn't seem to be in any giving mood "and who exactly are you?" she frowned.

"I'm detective Lindsay from the Chicago Police department."

"Who?"

"I'M A DETECTIVE FROM CHICAGO P.D"

"HALSTEAD! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE SOME DETECTIVE IS HERE FOR YOU", the nurse screamed out and walked away.

Erin was shocked in so many ways, what was this place she had come to. Sure Chicago Med wasn't exactly a calm place either but compared to this clinic it was like a still paradise.

"So what is it this time?", a man in a white coat now stood in front of Erin, he looked completely run-down, like he hadn't slept for days. No wonder if he worked here, she thought.

"Are you Dr. Halstead?"

"Yes that's me, what is it this time?" he repeated his question, it was clearly not the first time he'd got a visit from the police.

"Well I'd like to talk to you about your brother." Erin said and as soon the words left her mouth she could see how Will's eyes stretched and his entire body stiffed. He clearly hadn't been expecting that.

In a quick move he pulled her arm and dragged her into the supply closet. "It's the most privacy we can get here" he clarified. If she really was here to talk about Jay he wanted to make sure he would actually hear what she had to say.

"So what about Jay? What are they accusing my brother of now?" he sighed.

"It's nothing like that, I just wanted to find some stuff out about him."

Will looked up at her confused.

"Let me guess you want to find something that can speed up the process, get his execution moved up? So you can get rid of him… I know you police-people all hate him. He served his country, protected his city and you all want him dead." Will was rambling and Erin thought about cutting him off but she couldn't get a word out of her mouth.. "It's not fair, you know that? Nothing of this is fair. Can you just please let us be, let Jay be. He's gonna die alright, you already won. Okey!? Just leave it at that please".

Will turned around to get out of there as Erin snapped out of the frozen mode she just been in, she couldn't let him go away. Not without answers.

"STOP, it's not like that. That's not why I'm here."

Will halted. "Then why are you here?" he asked still with his back towards her.

"I'm here because I talked to Jay and.."

"You talked to Jay?" Will cut her off as he turned around to look straight at her, first he was shocked then he realised that she couldn't have, Jay didn't take any visitors.

"no, no, you are lying you can't have. He doesn't talk to anyone. He haven't.. "

Now it was Erin's time to cut Will off. "He didn't have a choice at first, we were working on an old case of his and we needed his help"

"And he gave it to you, didn't he? So typical Jay, even helping the people who threw him in a hole to die" Will frowned as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Yeah he did, and he have continued to help me with cases ever since.."

"I can't believe you people" Will had raised his voice now "You put him in there to die and then you force him to help you, to do your work" he was shaking his head again.

"I didn't force him to anything." Erin snorted back. "He wanted to help willingly, he still does."

Will didn't know if he should feel angry over the fact that they had taken advantage of his brothers kindness or hurt over the fact that his brother had agreed to see and talk to this detective and not to him, not to his own brother.

"You still talk to him?" Will mumbled, he'd calmed down a bit not really knowing what to think of the situation.

"Yeah, I saw him just yesterday"

"How is he?" For a moment Will had forgot about all the anger that was bubbling up inside of him, as the concern of his brothers wellbeing had taken over.

"He's not great…" Erin said honestly. "He is kind, funny, caring. But he isn't great, he's exhausted, he tries not to show it but you can see he's hurt, broken down and he's still grieving his mother… your mother.." She abruptly stopped realising she had probably already said to much.

As she was talking Will had collapsed down by one of the walls now sitting on the floor. "Yeah, go figure, after everything they've.. you've.. put him through.."

They both went quiet, staring off in different directions.

"It doesn't add up" Erin suddenly blurred out after a minute of silence.

"What?", Will asked confused.

"Jay… what he has done… everything that's in his file… and.. and the way he acts. It just doesn't add up. He doesn't act like a monster, he is nice, he is charming, he is… caring."

Will looked up, surprised, his mouth a gape. What did she just say, did he hear it correctly. Was the woman in front of him, a detective from the Chicago Police Department never-less, doubting whatever his brother was guilty or not.

"Well that's why I'm here. I wanted to see if you could shed some light on it for me, explain why I'm not seeing his dark side. You must know him better than anyone. I need to move on from this, but I don't know how… I figured maybe if I heard it from you.."

Will cut her off… "You don't see the 'monster', the dark side, because there is none. Jay didn't do it, Jay is innocent. He isn't like that."

"What about all the evidence… how do you know he didn't do it, do you got any proof?" she could see how the anger came back in Will's eyes. "No, I didn't mean it like that. Just enlighten me, I want to know everything, I need to know everything," Erin pleaded.

Her words seemed to calm him down again and he looked down at his hands, just the way Jay had done every time he was about to open up.

"I know it because I know my brother." Will finally said, almost in a whisper. "I know it because I know my brother" he repeated but now louder.

"Jay is the best person I have ever met. He's loveable and caring, he puts everyone above himself. He always have and he always will. An army hero, a prodigy detective.. actually he was just that good in all senses that I was starting to resent him." It hurt when he said it now but it was the truth, Will had been jealous of Jay, over everything he'd accomplished.

"He saved lives, he was a hero overseas and then here in Chicago and what did I do? I was a drop-out medical student who partied too much. I was starting to resent him but I couldn't because he loved me."

Will was still looking down at his hands, but Erin could spot the tears that was running down his cheeks as he talked.

"It wasn't always like that though. When we were kids the roles were reversed. Well Jay never resented me at least he never showed it. But I was the prodigy son, I had it easy in school, I didn't even try and still I aced all the tests. I was popular too everything was going my way. For Jay it was different, things didn't come as easy to him. I mean he did always do good in school but he had to work for it, work hard and it made him look like a geek which led to him being picked on, bullied even."

"But he never let it break him. Nothing ever broke Jay Halstead. He stood up for himself when he needed to. Although, he never really cared too much what people did to him or thought about him however when they went after someone he cared for it was another story.."

Will had been rambling on for quite awhile now and Erin didn't really know where he was going with it all but she had decided to let him talk, like she had done with Jay the previous day, it seemed like Will had been carrying this around for awhile and he needed to get it out.

"Well I guess what I'm trying to say is.." he finally said. "that Jay is the most caring, most loving person there is. He had worked immensely hard to get where he was and he never did it for himself he did it to protect others. Because that's how he is, how he has always been. Ever since he could walk he have been looking out for me and he looked after our mom too. He was just 12 when our father left but he took the role as the man of the house, he was always there for us."

"I hate myself for the way I acted, I didn't appreciated what he was doing", Will was whispering the last sentence as if it was meant more for himself than Erin.

"Anyhow there is just no way that Jay could have done what they are accusing him off. There is just not a chance…. it's impossible."

Will couldn't be more confident of what he was saying and as he said it Erin believed every single word. Because everything Will was saying added up with the Jay Halstead she had learnt to know over the last couple of months.

They sat quiet for a few minutes before Erin suddenly whispered "I believe you.."

Erin was as shocked as Will over the words she had just muttered, but it was the truth. "I actually think I believe you" she repeated.

Before anything more was said the door swung open. "There you are Halstead… are you looking to get fired or what? Get you ass back out here, there is an ear-infection in room 3", a nurse snorted before disappearing just as quick as she'd appeared.

"Ehm.. guess I should get back to it.." Will said as he started to make his way to the door.

"Can I just ask you… why is it you work at this dump, and not like Chicago Med or something?"

Will smiled at her. "Having a brother on death row doesn't precisely give you the best resume."

"Hey detective…" he was almost out the door when he stopped. "Could you please ask Jay to let me visit him… or just tell him I miss him?"

"First of, you can call me Erin and secondly I'll make sure of it!".

"Thank you…. Erin!", the two shared a short smile before Will was out the door.