So, I was baby-sitting until 1am last night and my iPod died, so I just had to sit around and think for a good hour or so...and I came up with an idea I'm really happy with. Thanks so much for all the reviews, favourites and follows. (how is it even possible that there are so many of them?). I really hope you like this chapter.
Small Note, This chapter has a lot of people talking over the radio. I tried to make it less confusing by putting anything said though the radio in italics. (the first use of italics is a flashback, btw). Keep in mind this chapter focuses around Dawson so anything that happens in the room with him (even if it's him talking on the radio) is not in italics. I hope it makes sense. Please enjoy.
Chapter Thirteen: Hold On & Hope That I'm Dreaming
(Come Wake Me Up – Rascal Flatts)
Dawson drove like a maniac. The entire ride, Atwater was terrified he'd die in a horrible, fiery accident. He almost wished he taken up Ruzek's offer to go with him, Olinsky and Voight. In reality, however, Voight was driving his car just as fast and out of control as Dawson.
"Stay with Lindsay," Voight had instructed Roman.
"You don't want my help?" The cop asked, confused.
"Trust me, we've got the easy job here," Voight confessed. "Lindsay's still hurt. If she tries to come along with us she could tear her stitches. She's going to want to come along, but you can't let her."
The cop nodded. "I won't, and sergeant...good luck."
Voight pulled up at the destination only moments after Dawson slammed on the brakes. Essa had told them about a stretch of commended buildings on the north side of town. Apparently, Halstead was being held somewhere amongst the stretch of buildings, but she wasn't sure which building he was in.
"Alright," Voight announced as he stepped out of his van. "We're going to have to split up to search these buildings. We know Valerie is planning something big and every second we don't find Halstead, is a second he might try to take justice into his own hands at the cost of his life."
"I take it that's why we're not waiting for Olinsky's bomb tech, Jasmine?" Atwater brought up.
"Jasmine is on her way, but she lives on the far side of town. It might be a while and we don't know if we have that long. That doesn't mean we don't think this place is rigged up with bombs like the last warehouse we raided," Olinsky explained.
"It is less likely however," Voight admitted. "Chances are they wouldn't rig the place up, if they're going to be going inside it. They want Halstead to die because of the bomb vest, not because we missed a trip wire while trying to save him."
"Regardless," Dawson added. "We should all proceed with extreme caution and the second anyone finds anything, let the rest of us know. We can all hear each other through our earpieces, so we should be good to go."
"And for god's sake, Voight grumbled. "Don't try to disarm any explosives unless you're 100% positive you know what you're doing."
"Everybody got that?" Dawson called out?"
The group all nodded and Voight began assigning buildings for people for search.
"I'm in," Dawson announced over the radio. "No explosives."
"Good," came Voight's voice. "Let us know if you find anything interesting."
"Yes boss."
"Hey Voight?" Ruzek's worried voice buzzed in Dawson's ear.
"Ruzek. What do you see?"
"I just heard a click."
Dawson cursed. "I'd lend you a hand, but I'm in the building, farthest east and you're the one, farthest west."
"I think I stepped on a pressure plat. I think I see a wire, but I can't get a good enough angle to be sure."
"Atwater's closest to you. Right?" Voight asked.
"I think so."
"Yes I am. I can head over and lend Ruzek a hand. I'll finish checking my building after," Atwater confirmed.
"Okay, just be careful. Both of you."
"Yes sir."
"Al," Voight called over the radio. "If you finish searching your building before they're done with the wire, I want you to search the building I assigned Atwater."
"Sure thing."
Dawson heard a small sound. He wasn't sure what it was. Maybe a footstep, maybe a rat.
"Hey boss."
"Yeah Dawson?"
"I think I heard something in my building. I think it came from the basement."
"I'll be right over."
"No," Dawson insisted. "It could be nothing."
"Dawson," the sergeant warned.
"It might've just been a rat," he confessed. "I don't need you to stop searching your building for a rat. Halstead could be in the one you're searching. I just wanted you to have a heads up, that I'm going to take out my earpiece. I'll put it back in if this turns out to be anything."
"You sure that's a smart move?"
"I need to be able to hear better. Your voices will only make this harder, but you need to stay talking with Atwater and Ruzek."
Voight let out a sigh of defeat. "Be careful Dawson."
"Always."
Then, Dawson took out his earpiece, putting in a pocket on his vest. He made his way to the source of the sound. There was an average door nearby. After checking it for wires, he slowly, slipped it open and snuck down the stairs behind it. He moved slowly, careful not to allow any creaking.
He reached the bottom to find a small room with two doors. He opened one and gasped.
It was a small room, void of any paint or furniture. There was a small steel loop attached to the floor by the far wall. A chain was connected to it. The chain was just shy of a meter long and ended in a handcuff. A handcuff that was tightly fastened around the wrist of Jay Halstead.
The beaten up detective seemed pretty out of it. His hand, which held the dead man switch began to loosen and Dawson snapped into action. He raced to his friend's side and clasped both his hands around Halstead's and the dead man switch.
The feeling of his friend's hands brought Halstead to attention. "Antonio?..." he whispered groggily.
"Yeah, Jay, it's me," Dawson practically shouted. He was so happy he felt he might start crying. "I've got you okay? I'm here."
"E...Erin?"
"She's alive Jay. She's alive. She's fine. It's all fine."
Jay smiled faintly. "Good...I'm glad."
"Alright, now Jay. I need you to do something for me. I'm not going to let go of your hand, but we need to let Voight know I found you okay?"
Jay nodded.
"I have an earpiece in my vest pocket. I need you to grab it and put it in okay. I'll keep talking to, but you need to tell Voight everything okay?"
Jay frowned. "It's been in your ear..."
Dawson smiled. "You'll just have to overcome the trauma."
Jay sighed. "You owe me."
Dawson laughed as the weakened detective did as he'd been instructed. "Are you kidding me? I found you. You owe me."
"I'll buy you a round later," Jay promised before putting in the earpiece.
"Ruzek?!" He heard Voight call in panic.
"We're fine..." Ruzek assured him. "We...We uh...We could use Olinsky's help."
Voight sighed. "Al."
"I'm headed over there now."
"Voight..." Jay mumbled.
Silence.
"Voight..." Jay mumble once more.
"...Halstead?" Voight whispered, his voice like glass. "Is that you?"
"Yeah. Dawson's here. We need you to cut me free. I'm chained to the wall."
"I'm on my way. I've got a bolt cutter in my van."
"Jay!" Ruzek practically shouted through the radio.
"Yeah. I'm here."
"Good to hear you're voice." Atwater confessed with a smile. "We'd be on our way, but we're a bit occupied."
"It's okay...I'm not going...anywhere."
"You sound a bit out of it," Olinsky pointed out. "How are you feeling? How bad are you injured?"
"I'm beat up...but...I'll be fine...once you get me out of...of this vest."
Dawson frowned in concern. "How badly beaten up are you?"
"I'll live Antonio..." Jay promised. "Just a little...just a little sore..."
Dawson wasn't sure if he believed him, but he decided it was best not to press any further on the subject.
"Jay. We know about Valerie Marshall."
"The leader..."
"Yeah, the leader. We think she had bigger plans. Something beyond Hansen Kane."
Jay's face tensed, as he remembered something important. "Antonio. You have to stop her-"
Dawson felt a cold metal object press up against his neck. He looked down, only slightly, to see a knife being held by a strong hand.
"I suggest you shut it, detective. Unless you want your partner to choke to death on his own blood."
"Jay? What's her plan?" Voight asked.
"You have an earpiece in right? Take it out."
"I don't have one," Dawson promised.
"So, you gave it to your friend. Detective Halstead cough it over or I will slit Antonio's throat."
Antonio shook this head, but Jay raised his free hand to his ear. "Look Ripper, there's no need for that. Just let Antonio go."
"Son of a..." Ruzek cursed. "Olinsky, ignore us. We'll be fine. Get to Halstead!"
"Voight," Olinsky called. "I'm coming to you!"
"Take it out!" Ripper demanded, pressing the knife tighter to Dawson's throat. Jay did as told and handed over the earpiece. Ripper dropped it on the ground and stomper on it.
Dawson growled under his breath. He didn't check the second room. That's probably where Ripper came from. He wondered if Dante and Valerie were here too.
"Rip," Came another voice.
'Speak of the devil,' Dawson thought, rolling his eyes at the irony.
"Let's get out of here," the voice belonging to Dante, insisted.
"Unlock the walking explosive. Their friends are surely on the way," Ripper noted.
Dante unlocked Jay's hand. "Let go Antonio," he demanded.
Dawson looked at Jay, unsurely. "I can hold it," the weak detective promised.
Dawson growled as he was pulled to his feet. "You'd better."
The two detectives were lead up the stairs. Ripper held his knife closely to Dawson's neck, while Dante kept a gun trained to the back of Jay's head. They practically pushed the weakened detective up the stairs. Jay barely had the strength to walk. Dawson noticed this and wondered how much longer he could keep holding onto the dead man switch.
"Freeze!" Voight demanded as the two criminals lead their hostages out of the building. Voight and Olinsky both had their guns aimed at their enemies, but neither had a clear shot.
"I don't think you're in any position to be giving orders here, Hank Voight," Dante barked.
"You're not walking away from this alive," the sergeant snapped. "We'll put two in your brain if you have to."
Ripper laughed. "You going to tell pretty little Erin that you killed her partner? And Antonio? Somehow, I don't think so."
A black van, with no windows in the back, pulled up on the street nearest them. Valerie Marshall stepped out of it. Voight turned his gun to her as she approached. Olinsky kept his trained on the other two.
"Oh, put the gun down Voight. You wouldn't shoot a pregnant woman. Besides, even if you would, you wouldn't risk taking down Dawson and Halstead with me. I die, they will kill your friends," Valerie said sinisterly.
"I will take you down with me," Voight promised.
"But it'll be to my benefit. I'll still have my revenge. The man who killed Hansen Kane will feel the pain he cause to those I cherish."
"Cut the crap Valerie," Voight barked. "This isn't about Hansen Kane. It never has been. You never cared about Essa. Or Lee."
"I love my fiance Sergeant Voight."
"Then why do this? You're not helping him. You're only ruining his life further. He loves you Valerie. You and your unborn child! Why throw that all away for some revenge you don't even really care about?"
"Silly Hank Voight," She said with a laugh. "You have no idea what you're talking about."
"This isn't about Hansen, Valerie. What is it about?"
"Hank. May I call you Hank?"
"No."
Valerie didn't even skip a beat. "I was genuine once. I was going to help Essa put her past behind her. I wanted to help, but not with anything illegal. I wasn't going to help at first. Dante pulled me aside though. He told me Essa was losing her mind. She paid the bills so he let her live with him, but she was really better off in a loony bin. I told him I'd go alone with the charade. I was never going to do it. I just thought if I said I'd do it, it would help her. That's all Dante was ever doing. Trying to keep his roommate sane enough to keep paying the bills, so he didn't have to."
Voight shook his head. "Something changed. What was it that made you decide to risk everything? Your engagement? Your friend? Your child?"
Valerie, only for a moment, looked unbearably sad. "I have nothing left Hank. Nothing, but this, this last act of vengeance and it won't matter."
"You have a family!" Dawson shouted. "That's not nothing!" Valerie walked up to Dawson. She put a hand on his shoulder and Ripper pressed the knife against his skin almost hard enough to draw blood. Dawson didn't waver though. "My family left me. I would do anything to get them back. Don't throw it all away."
"You know what it's like to lose your family?" she asked, without waiting for an answer. "You would do anything to get them back? I would too. I have lost my family, Antonio. Lee just doesn't know it yet."
Dawson's eyes drifted to her stomach. He looked back up to meet her eyes. He left out a ragged breath. Valerie smiled weakly and turned back to Voight and Olinsky.
"We're going to go now. Detective Halstead will be coming with us-"
"The hell he is!" Dawson growled.
Valerie raised a hand, turning back to the detective who was now struggling viciously. "I sympathize with you Antonio Dawson. In this moment of weakness, I'm going to let you go. Once we get Halstead into the van, along with me and Dante and Ripper, we will drive away and drop you off somewhere."
"Valerie, I know you've feel like you've-"
"Don't tell me what I feel. Do you know how long I've been pretending? How hard it's been to keep Lee believing? I've had to say I feel sick, sleep in another room, because I can't bear sleeping beside him, not when I know there'll just be this giant lie between us. I say the appointments are while he's working. I make up things they say. I lie to him everyday."
Dawson couldn't find any words. No one could.
"I haven't even gotten to mourn because I've been so busy lying." Valerie's sadness slipped away. A face or true hatred returned. "I can't go home again. All I have now is this revenge. You will not take the finale from me. Not when it is all I have left. Let's go."
"Valerie! I will end you!" Voight cried out, as Dante and Ripper threw Halstead and Dawson in the back of the truck before getting in themselves.
The woman turned around, wearing a smile. "It's been real Sergeant, but I'm afraid the game's over now."
After driving for a while, the van had stopped. Ripper and Dante had gotten out of the back and he assumed Valerie had gotten out of the front. He couldn't know for sure because the back was completely separated from the cab of the vehicle. Dawson could hear them talking, probably about what to do with the extra detective. He wondered if Valerie would actually let him go.
"Antonio," Jay said quietly and weakly.
"Don't say anything Jay," the detective insisted. "I'm going to get you out of this." He grasped the hand that held the switch. "Hang on okay?"
Jay shook his head. "I have to stop her. I can do this. It'll be easy. It won't hurt. I won't feel a thing. It's about stopping the bad guys right?"
Dawson shook his head furiously. "It's about getting you home."
"I don't know exactly what she's planning, but there's going to be a lot of collateral damage Antonio. That's what she told me. I can't let that happen."
"Listen to me Jay Halstead. You will not give up on me, or Erin. She's waiting for you to get back safely."
Jay smiled at the mention of his partner's name. "I'm truly glad she's okay, but..." he trailed off. "You know I have to do this. I'm not giving up. I'm just trying to save lives."
Dawson let out a ragged breath. His eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "Just promise...Just promise me you'll wait until the last possible moment. Give us as much time as you can to stop it our way."
"I have faith in Intelligence, but if we run out of time...tell Erin I'm sorry. I don't want to die Antonio...but my life...It's not worth more than any other life. What if they're children? I'm not afraid of doing my job. I will keep Chicago safe."
Dawson blinked back tears, squeezing Jay's hand as tight as he could. "We'll find you in time."
"You have no idea how much I hope you do."
The door swung open and Dante grabbed Antonio and threw him from the car. He tried to fight, but Ripper pointed a gun at Jay and Antonio froze.
The two detectives held eye contact as Ripper and Dante hopped into the car and threw a phone at Dawson. As They slammed the door shut and rove away, Dawson dropped to his knees and watched. For a moment he didn't move. Then the moment ended.
He picked up the phone and dialled a familiar number.
"He wanted me to tell you he's sorry."
There was a brief moment a silence before Erin Lindsay replied. "I'm getting a trace on your phone. I'll pick you up."
Dawson nodded. He didn't argue her leaving the precinct. It's not like there was anyway he could stop her now.
"I'm going to find him," She stated surely. "I don't care if I have to burn every criminal in Chicago to do it. Are you okay with that?"
Dawson smirked weakly. "I'm okay with that."
I'm happy with this chapter. I know you all wanted Jay, but my stories not done yet, so I hope you enjoyed my compromise. I feel like the ending was a bit off, but I could just be crazy. Please let me know what you think. I really love all your support. It means the world to me. See you next Sunday. Oh, and sorry if anyone was OOC. They might've been. I tried. I hope you enjoyed!
Next Chapter:
Chapter Fourteen: I'll Burn You To The Ground