I love all your lovely reviews, and so I feel really bad about how little I update. I didn't really think a lot of people would read my story, so I was kind of taken off guard when I got all the support. I write these chapters as I go, so if I'm slow on an update it's 'cause I'm thinking through the best way to write a portion (which is the main reason it took me so long to get this chapter out to you all). In order to make this a more organized system of posting new chapters, I'm going to make Sunday the day I'll post. I know it's a week long to wait, (I'm sorry, I'm just really busy), but it will ensure that you know when to expect new chapters, while giving me time sufficient time to write the chapters so that the quality of the story does not go down. This also gives me time to take all your reviews and incorporate them into the story, potentially as soon as the next chapter.

If you have any concerns or comments, feel free to PM me. I really do appreciate all the support and reviews, so I really hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.

Chapter 6: Lost My Strength When You Lost Your Fight

(Out Alive – Kris Allen)

"Barbra James," Ruzek announced, smacking his hand against the photo pinned up on the whiteboard. "She was a criminal defence lawyer, notorious for getting the worst of the worst off Scott-free on technicalities. She was killed in the middle of the afternoon on June 1st. Halstead and Lindsay caught the case.

"There are some gaps in the file as to how they figured it out, but the only charges laid, were against one Greg Hendricks. According to the file, Barbra had represented his brother, Mark Hendricks about a month back on a murder trial. Mark had been accused of getting in a bar fight and killing another guy: a Jordan Rikoza. Apparently, Barbra didn't live up to expectations and Greg called out a hit on her because of it."

"However," he continued, "Greg never made it back to the precinct. Lindsay and Halstead got caught up in a hit and run while transporting him. Their injuries were nothing more than scratches, but Greg ended up with two bullets in his head from whoever hit him. They never did identify who the man was since he was wearing a mask. They were pros. Took the shots and got away before Lindsay or Halstead had any idea what was happening."

"Damn," Roman summarized. "And they never got any leads onto who the shooter was?"

"Not that the file reads."

Then, as if on cue, Ruzek's phone went off. Voight's name appeared on the screen. He answered abruptly, and put it on speaker.

"Boss. How's Lindsay? Did she give you anything?"

"Easy Ruzek," Voight insisted. "She's fine for now. Olinsky hunted down a doctor who told us that her internal bleeding was under control and the bullet wound was also looking better. She's not quite out of the woods, but it's looking up."

"What'd she say about Ripper?" Ruzek asked, much more at ease after hearing Lindsay's condition was looking up. "We pulled up the file and we know about the Hendricks brothers and how Greg was taken out, but it doesn't mention Ripper."

"They left it out of the file. They promised Ripper they would, if he gave them whoever hired him and it all panned out."

"That doesn't explain how they found out Ripper was the guy who did the hit. Did they also go through Donovan?"

"Not exactly. They asked around, you know, CI's and people of the neighbourhood. Apparently, Ripper had been boasting about a 'new business opportunity' that had come his way. Halstead and Lindsay were able to convince him that they had enough dirt on him to bury him alive, so he coughed up his client; Greg Hendricks."

Ruzek nodded. "Well that gives us just about nothing useful. How the hell are Ripper and the Hendricks' connected to you?"

Voight sighed, "I don't know, but it's no coincidence that it was Halstead and Lindsay who caught that case. Olinsky and I are going to swing by Donovan's bar again, maybe she knows a little more than she let on. I need you to head over to the hospital, make sure no one comes after Lindsay again. Atwater's with Dawson following up on a lead."

"Sure thing boss."

"Roman," Voight resumed, "You and Nadia go back over Greg Hendricks death. Lindsay says they weren't able to dig up anything solid on it, but maybe a fresh set of eyes will help. See if the bartender knows anything about it."

"Elizabeth?" Nadia asked.

"That's the one. I take it she's still at the precinct."

"Yes Boss."

"Good. Ruzek?"

"Yeah Boss?"

"Get your ass over here."

"Of course I'm coming."

With that, Voight hung up.

He and Olinsky were standing outside Lindsay's hospital room at the moment, since (although she had drifted off to sleep again), they didn't want to risk her over hearing anything. They just wanted her to focus on getting better.

"You didn't tell them," Olinsky pointed out.

Voight turned to his old friend. "They don't need to know."

"Like hell," Olinsky snapped, somehow managing to keep his voice more-or-less calm. "It's part of the case. Everyone needs to know as much as possible. This really isn't the time to compartmentalize."

"This is exactly the time to compartmentalize," the sergeant retorted. "Emotions are running high. Everyone is pulling out all the stops to find these bastards. They're going to lose their heads sooner or later. We need to avoid putting any more pressure on them."

Olinsky ran his hands over his face. "Hank. You know what Lindsay said. Ripper's dangerous."

Voight nodded. "I got that much."

"I get that you're trying to help out. Emotions are running high, but the first person whose going to lose their head is you. You need to realize that it's not your fault Hank."

"Yes it is," he said dangerously quiet.

"You didn't shoot Lindsay. You didn't take Halstead."

"Maybe not, but I'm still to blame. Just like the photo said; this is on me. We both know I've done enough things in my past to earn this hatred. They didn't. They just...they just worked under me. That's not their fault Alvin. It's mine. Now...Now Lindsay's in a damn hospital bed and Halstead's being held by god-knows-who!"

"I know Hank," Olinsky said quietly. "Let's just take a step back, go over what we know."

"There's a man and a woman. They took Halstead and the man shot Lindsay. They reached out to Donovan who put Ripper on the case of ensuring Lindsay died. Ripper was a part of a case that Lindsay and Halstead worked, in which, the man who hired Ripper was murdered by an unknown party," Voight summarized, occasionally pausing to take a deep breath in an attempt to calm down.

"Seems like a hell of a coincidence," Olinsky admitted.

"This would all be much less confusing if I believed in coincidences."

Olinsky laughed, but it died off when he looked back at Lindsay's room.

"Ripper's the man who has Jay?" Lindsay had asked.

"We're not sure. He is the one who took the daughter of the surgeon who tried to kill you...and where she is...Halstead was," Voight had summarized.

"Ripper...he was off Hank. Really off. I felt uneasy about letting him walk away, but it was the only way to get him to give us the client."

"And there was no middle-man? A Michelle Donovan?"

"That doesn't ring any bells, but look, Hank...The bartender, when she told us about Ripper, she warned us that he wouldn't tell a cop anything, but he was a sucker for a pretty girl. Jay and I, we decided it would be best if I went to talk to him alone...you know, flirt a bit, get him bragging. He just started talking away."

Erin swallowed hard.

"He said a lot of things Hank, but his eyes lit up like christmas lights at one point. It was when he told me how he loved...how he loved explosives. He loved to test different kinds of trigger mechanisms. Weight, light, touch, heat, you name it. He just loved all of it. Hank, if he has Jay..."

Voight put his hand on Lindsay's shoulder. "These guys are professionals. I'm not sure how they pulled it off, but they meant for it to be Ripper. Every step is planned. The fact that Ripper's an explosives enthusiast..."

"You have to find him Hank."

"I'm here boss!" Ruzek called out, rushing towards to two senior detectives from down the hall.

Voight was shaken from his thoughts. "Good. Watch Lindsay," was all he said before walking off.

"He gonna be okay?" Ruzek asked Olinsky quietly, once Voight was out of ear-shot.

"Would you be?" He replied before joining his old friend on his way out of the hospital.

Ruzek sighed and walked into Lindsay's room. He put his hand on one of hers as he sat down in a chair, that had been pulled up to her bedside.

"Damn it," he whispered. "I'm not okay right now. If I were in Voight's shoes..." he laughed under his breath, but there was no humour behind it. "He's going to rain hell down on this earth for what they've done to you two."

"You lied," Voight whispered to a terrified Michelle Donovan.

She pushed her back up against the wall harder. Voight was standing only a few feet away from her. His gun was placed up against her temple.

Olinsky was standing on the opposite side of the otherwise empty bar, holding her cousin, Mitch, at gunpoint. The two detective's had returned to the bar shortly after the two of them had returned from the hospital (to get Michelle's concussion checked out). She had been sporting a bandage on her head, but Voight had ripped it off to show that he meant business.

"I didn't lie," Michelle whimpered, her tough-girl attitude from earlier had been completely destroyed, now replaced with the attitude not unlike that of a scared second-grader. "I gave it to Ripper. Didn't you find him?"

"You're right," Voight growled. "You didn't lie, but you left something very important out. Why did you pick Ripper? It wasn't random."

"W-W-Wh-What?" She stammered. "I-I just p-picked him 'c-cause-"

Voight pressed his gun harder into her forehead.

"I-I have a list. I-It's a book. I keep the order of who's next- Who's the next employee to get a job- It has all their specialities and about how much money th-they expect from a job. There's also who hasn't gotten a job in a long- a long time. Ripper was- he was at the front- the book- it said he hadn't gotten a job in a while."

"We need to see this book."

Michelle nodded. "I-It's in the back. I-I'll show you."

Voight removed his gun from her forehead. "Screw with me and my friend's going to put two in your cousin's head."

She nodded again, shaking as she did. She lead Voight to the back, explaining more about her book. "I keep it locked up in a safe. After all, my employee's- they can get really competitive." She paused, crouching in front of a safe that she had lead Voight to. "It wouldn't take much to mess up the order- erase a few things here, write a few things there-, but I can promise you that none of my employee's have had access to the book."

She punched in the code and handed the small, red notebook to Voight. He flipped through the pages. "Has anyone else had access to this book? It was clearly tampered with."

"Huh? No it wasn't-"

Voight showed her a page in the book where a couple eraser shavings still on it. "Someone clearly erased a name here. You'd have to be blind to miss it. I'd guess it was Ripper's name. Now, I'll ask again; has anyone had access to this book?"

"A-A client," she stammered. "He- He wanted to see who I had working under me. I- Normally I wouldn't pull that stunt- It's horribly unprofessional of me- but he's a regular...and he offered a lot of cash."

"Name," Voight demanded.

"H-He's dangerous. H-He'll kill me."

"And I won't?!" Voight snapped.

Michelle Donovan gulped, "I- I can't."

"Fine. Come with me," Voight demanded as he headed back to where Olinsky was with Michelle's cousin. She followed obediently. He put the notebook down on the counter and aimed his gun at Mitch. He fired off a round into his leg.

Both Mitch and Michelle cried out. The latter attempted to run to her cousin, but Voight stopped her as Mitch collapsed to the ground.

"Move and he gets one in the other leg," the sergeant of Intelligence warned.

She froze. "Fine," she whimpered. "God damn it, fine! His name is Liam, Liam Vega."

Voight picked up the book and looked straight at the woman. "Now wasn't that easy?" he chirped. "I'll be taking the book by the way."

"Wha- You- You can't-"

"Watch me. I'm going to end your little business."

Without another word, the two detective's left the bar. Neither of them felt even a little bit of regret for what they'd done. They were closer to finding Halstead and that was all the mattered.

"Elizabeth, the bartender, she says she doesn't know anything about the hit on Greg Hendricks. Said she'd never even heard the name before, or seen his face and I believe her," Roman explained into his phone. "We also ran the half-face sketch of the man who did the drop past her. She said it looked familiar, but she couldn't put a name to the face. Probably just a customer who came to her bar a couple times. Nadia and I let her go."

Voight nodded as he drove through Chicago. "What'd you Liam Vega?"

"Damn near nothing."

"What's that mean?" Olinsky wondered out loud. "He stays off the grid?"

"He was never on the grid. There's not even a birth certificate for the guy."

"So what'd you find? You said damn near nothing."

Roman sighed, "It could be nothing, and it's kind of a stretch, but Ranger- Platt's tech guy- he ran the name 'Liam Vega' through an anagram program. Have you ever heard of Avail Gem?"

Voight looked at Olinsky, who shrugged. "What is it?"

"It's a company, sells items used in construction. Pallets, wood, paint- you get the gist. Anyways, they recently had one of there warehouses shut down. Get this, because you shut it down."

"Me?"

"The warehouse was apart of a larger drug smuggling operation, headed by Lee Tanner. Ring any bells?"

"I think I remember."

"I do," Olinsky added. "That was the bastard who sold drugs to those high school boys. Remember, all five of them OD'ed."

Voight nodded. "Oh yeah, but I don't recall this 'Avail Gem' you're talking about."

"Of course not," Roman continued. "They were small fry in comparison to the whole operation. I can't imagine you would've bothered to remember them, but they sure remembered you. The CEO of the company has been vocal about his opinions of Intelligence. He claimed your investigation was illegal and without good reason. He seriously hates you guys."

"That definitely sounds like a motive to me."

"I agree, and the photos of Halstead and the Blanc girl, Shelby, they show boxes in the background. A warehouse maybe? One that's been shut down?"

Voight smiled. "Send us the details and get Atwater and Dawson to join us. You meet us there to, and get Nadia and that Ranger guy to see if they can get us blueprints of the warehouse."

"I thought Dawson and Atwater were working a lead with the CSI's," Roman mentioned.

"Their lead will wait, this one may not. We need as many men as we can get."

Lindsay slowly let her eyes slip open. She looked around her hospital room. Voight and Olinsky had left. Ruzek was standing in the doorway on his phone.

"You'll let me know what you find right?" he whispered. A pause followed. "Thank you...And Voight...Good luck."

"R-Ruzek?" Lindsay mumbled.

The detective turned to his injured friend, whispering goodbye to Voight and hanging up. He sat down beside her bed once again.

"What's goin' on?" she asked sleepily.

"They've got a lead, a warehouse. It's a bit of a stretch, but they think that's were the photos of Halstead and the Blanc girl were taken. Halstead's probably not there anymore, but the girl might be." Ruzek looked closely at Lindsay and sighed, putting a hand on her wrist. "They will find him, maybe not at the warehouse, but they'll find him."

"I know," she whispered, sniffing back a tear. "It's just...after how much more damage is done? One more bruise or after he's...after he's..."

"Erin-"

"I saw the photo Adam," she cried softly. "It was sent to Hank right?"

He nodded, but said nothing.

"So this-" she pointed to her wound. "-and Jay...it's all because of what he's done?"

"Erin, he never meant for this to happen to you. Either of you."

"But it has...and I...I can't." She broke down in tears. "I can't lose him. He's my partner. We've lost too many people recently and I...If Jay doesn't make it- because of Voight..."

"You can't think like that."

"I trust Hank Voight with my life. He saved me when no one else even tried. He took me in and I am eternally in his debt. This bullet wound, it's nothing in comparison to that. Nothing. But Jay...he owes Voight what? His job? Not his life."

"I don't know about that," Ruzek said with a small smile. "Intelligence isn't just a job. We're a family Erin. For someone like Jay, who doesn't have any other family, it's an even stronger family. Jay owes Voight for giving him a family." He stared right at Erin, putting his second hand on her arm. "For giving him you."

There was a pause from speaking while Erin broke out in sobs and Ruzek held her tightly.

"I'm sorry," she choked out.

Ruzek pulled back from the hug. "For what?"

"I'm such an idiot. I can't seem to stop crying. I let my partner down, and now all I'm doing is crying."

Ruzek smiled lightly. "You're not an idiot, not for crying and not for letting Jay down, because you didn't let him down and you've earned the right to cry. You got shot and your partner's missing. He'll tell you that himself, right as soon as we find him. Okay?"

She nodded. "Okay. Okay."

"Good, now get some rest."

"You'll wake me up as soon as you know how the raid went right?" She asked quietly.

"Oh of course. You may be bedridden right now, but if I don't, you'll kick my ass when you're better." He said with a laugh. "'Cause you're a badass, not an idiot."

She smiled. "Right back at you."

"Huh?"

"It's okay," she explained. "It's okay to cry, Adam. Jay'll tell you that when you get him back."

He just nodded. "Go to sleep."

The female detective closed her eyes and slowly drifted off as Ruzek sat and watched. After a couple minutes her walked over to the window and looked out the window at the beautiful sight of Chicago waking up. As he watched the lights of the city, he thought only of his family at intelligence, his wounded sister and his missing brother.

He'd deny it if anyone asked, but if the faint light of the hospital room, a single tear fell down the cheek of Detective Adam Ruzek.

I hope you enjoyed it! I'm actually happy with this chapter, but I'll let you all be the judges. I really meant to have them find Shelby Blanc this chapter, but I guess they'll have to find her next chapter...or will they? Dun Dun Dun! (sorry it's midnight, I'm really tired). What'd you think of the scene with Ruzek and Lindsay? It was requested by Kelleigh. (Thanks for the idea btw). The talk about it all being because of Voight was requested by linsteadlove (thank you too). Keep the ideas and reviews coming. Next chapter will be up next Sunday.

Next Chapter:

Chapter Seven: Don't Want To Go Down Like The Setting Sun