Thank you all for reviewing! Someone brought up the idea of Erin being pregnant in this story, and I just want to say now that Erin and Jay will not have any children during this, but, I am planning on doing a wedding. If you all are interested, I was thinking about going back through the alphabet again once this one is finished and making it all about Erin and Jay raising their children. What do you think of that idea?

On another note, I'm really disappointed at the lack of Linstead moments in last night's episode. They barely even act like a couple, and you would think that with everything happening, Jay could be there for Erin a little bit more. I had already planned on having the letter 'N' be Nadia, and I'm going to base that one off of last night's episode.

Please keep suggestions coming and let me know what you think about going back through the alphabet once this one is over and focusing on Erin and Jay having kids! Thank you!

E: Exhaustion

*Many sleepless nights working a tough case has allowed Jay to see what Erin is like when she is absolutely exhausted, and while he hates knowing the toll it takes on his girlfriend, he knows she will still always have his back.

"Alright guys! This is the break we've been waiting for!" Voight's gravelly voice yelled out to the rest of the Intelligence Unit. "Let's get suited up and get down to the warehouse! We may finally be able to take down Rogers!"

Jay stood up and looked over to where Erin was. They had been working on the case of a serial killer who targeted mothers in their thirties for the past week. It was a rough one, especially when it came to having to tell these fathers and their children that the woman was never coming home. It had taken a big toll on the team and because of that, they had barely stopped working on it. They were coming in at seven every morning and staying until midnight every night, trying to find any sort of lead on who this guy is or where he might be. Yesterday, they found out he was a man named Vincent Rogers, and today, they finally had a location. Everyone was exhausted and Jay hoped that this was the end of it.

Erin rolled her neck to the side and he could see her grimace. He waited for her so they could walk into the locker room together.

"God, I hope this is it." Erin muttered.

"Me too." They unlocked their side-by-side lockers and started to pull out their gear.

Jay slid on his bullet proof vest and waited for Erin to do the same. She turned around so he could adjust it for her; though he knew she could do it herself, he felt much better if he did it for her.

"You okay?"

"I'm so ready for this case to end." She admitted.

"I think we all are."

"I just don't understand how someone could purposely target mothers. It just doesn't make sense to me."

Jay finished with Erin's vest and then moved so that she could adjust his. "I don't know, babe. Let's just hope we get this guy."

The team gathered in the garage and split off into three different vans. Erin and Jay took the first, Voight, Dawson, and Atwater in the second, and Ruzek and Al in the third.

As Erin drove quickly to their destination, Jay couldn't help but study his girlfriend. She had bags under her eyes and her skin was a shade paler than usual. He knew that he probably didn't look much better. They had barely had time to eat, let alone sleep or shower.

"What?" Erin asked self-consciously, though she didn't move her attention off of the road.

He smiled. "Nothing. You're just beautiful." He truly believed that. Even though she looked more exhausted than he had ever seen her, she was still gorgeous.

"Shut up, Jay." He saw the smile tugging at the corner of her lips and he was glad he had been able to take her mind off of things for a few seconds.

They pulled up the warehouse and everyone waited for Voight's directions. "Atwater and Ruzek, go around back." The two men grabbed their guns and headed off in that direction as the others got into formation. Jay took the lead with Erin right behind him.

He always felt better knowing she had his back. A lot of people automatically counted Erin out of a fight; they had had a substitute in the unit not too long ago when Atwater was sick for a week and the man had made all kinds of comments about Erin's capability to hold her own in a fight. That is, until she completely took him down to the ground. Though she was tiny, Jay didn't trust anyone more than her.

Jay busted down the door to the warehouse as everyone shouted out, "Chicago PD!"

He and Erin went to the right. They both pulled out their flashlights and held them up with their guns. His eyes scanned the room, looking for any sign of this guy.

A loud, feminine scream caught their attention and they took off in a run towards a door on their side. Jay slammed his shoulder into the door and took it down. They found a woman who seemed to fit the profile of their victims being held against a man with a gun to her head.

"Don't come any closer." Rogers threatened. He took the safety off of the gun. "Put the guns down."

"You don't have to do this, man." Erin tried from behind him. They heard the footsteps of the rest of the unit coming close. Rogers must have too because he pulled the woman even tighter against him.

"Get rid of them or I'll blow her brains out."

Erin nodded. "I'm going to get them to leave." She backed up slowly until she was in the doorway. Voight and Antonio were coming and she put her hand up to stop them. Before she knew what was happening, she heard something hit the floor and then a window slamming. As she turned, she saw that Rogers had thrown his victim to the ground and then threw himself through the ground-level window. As she connected the dots, she saw Jay jump out the window after him.

Jay chased after the man who was responsible for six different families losing their wife or mother. Rogers still held the gun in his hand and the streetlights glinted off of it every so often, reminding Jay how badly he needed to catch this guy.

He picked up the pace and hoped he had the strength to keep this going. Rogers didn't look like he was getting tired, but Jay's already exhausted body needed rest. He realized that Rogers probably felt most alive when he was killing and that was definitely working against him.

Rogers turned a quick corner and Jay went to follow him. He was surprised when instead of seeing the man running, he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

Jay didn't even have time to get his gun up. He knew any sudden movements would cause Rogers to shoot. He was trapped.

"You don't have to do this." He attempted.

"I've already killed six women, and I'll probably get attempted murder on that last one. What's killing a cop really going to add to my sentence?" Rogers took a step forward. "I have no reason not to shoot you right now. It's just a shame the rest of your unit won't be here to see it."

Jay braced himself for impact when he saw Rogers' finger on the trigger. He always knew he was going to die at some point, but he didn't think it would be this soon. He had hoped to marry Erin first, have a couple kids, retire to Wisconsin. He hoped the team would keep Erin from going off the deep end.

He blinked just as the gun went off and waited for his body to feel the pain, or to just feel nothing at all. He didn't understand why nothing happened until he looked over and saw that Rogers was on the ground with Erin on top of him. He didn't know where she had come from, until he saw the opening between the two houses on their right.

His mind jumped back into action when he saw Rogers throw Erin off of him. Her body slammed to the ground with a loud thud, but she was already back up and holding a gun on him.

"Get down on the ground!" she screamed.

Rogers started to laugh and Jay had never heard a more sickening sound. "Little girl, you don't know who you're messing with."

He noticed Rogers' gun on the ground at the same time the man did and they both dove for it. Rogers hand wrapped around the end of it, but a shot rang out and then the gun clattered to the concrete.

Jay looked over to Erin, who had her gun out in front of her and was breathing heavily. Jay pressed his fingers to Rogers' neck; he was dead.

He sat back on the ground and took a second to breathe. He had honestly doubted that he was going to make it out of there alive, but thanks to Erin, everything was okay. He had no idea how his tiny partner had tackled a man who was at least six feet tall and probably over 200 pounds.

"Halstead, you good?" he heard Voight call out as the rest of the team ran over. Antonio ran to Erin and Jay could see now that she was shaking. She handed her gun to Antonio and nodded her head to show that she was fine.

Ruzek offered him his hand and Jay grabbed it to pull himself up. He went over to Erin and put his hands on her shoulders. "You good?" she nodded. "Thanks for having my back."

"That's why you have a partner." She said.

"What happened?" Voight wondered.

"Rogers had a gun on me. Right as he was about to shoot, Erin came out of nowhere and tackled him."

"Lindsay, you took him down?" Atwater asked in shock.

Al looked at the younger man. "What are you implying, Atwater?"

"Nothing, just that he's a big guy and she's so small!"

"I'm pretty sure Erin could take all of you guys down." Al informed the rest of the team. Ruzek and Atwater laughed, but Antonio and Jay stayed quiet; they knew that was probably true.

"How did you do it?" Ruzek questioned.

"I saw them stop running, so I cut through someone's yard and I went around to the other side and then I came from between those two houses," she pointed across the street, "and I just jumped on him."

"That doesn't explain how he ended up with a bullet in his chest." Voight chimed in.

"I had my gun on him after I got up and he and Jay reached for his gun at the same time and I saw that he had it, so I shot."

"Okay." Voight nodded his head. "Good work, Lindsay." They saw the ambulance rolling up to collect the body. "Let's get back to the 21st and get this paperwork done so we can go home. I'm giving you all the day off tomorrow."

"How was the woman? Is she okay?" Erin wondered.

"She's fine. Roman and Burgess were waiting with her and they're going to take her home after she's cleared."

"Good."

"Who wants to make the phone calls to the families?" Voight questioned. They had to tell the loved ones of the six victims the good news. "Lindsay?"

"I'll do it." She agreed.

"Let's get back there then." The team walked to the SUVs together, glad that there had been a happy ending to this case.

LINSTEAD LINSTEAD LINSTEAD

It was after midnight when Erin and Jay finally got back to the apartment. They climbed out of Erin's car and even though he didn't say anything, Jay noticed the tense way his girlfriend walked and her slight limp. Tackles were never easy, and usually the men he was tackling weren't too much bigger than him. He imagined that Erin was feeling like she got hit by a truck right about now.

He saw her hesitate before climbing the stairs and instead wrapped his right arm around her waist and lifted her off the ground.

"Jay." She groaned.

"Hey, it's the least I can do for my partner after she made an awesome save today." He carried her up the stairs to get into the building, and then up the stairs to their apartment. Erin didn't really fight him on it, so he knew she was in pain.

He put her down to unlock the door and they walked in together. Erin silently went to the bedroom and he watched as she peeled off the V-neck she had been wearing. Her jeans came next and he was shocked at the bruises she was covered in. Her back was especially bad, which he figured was from when Rogers had thrown her to the ground.

"How about a bath?" Jay suggested.

"That sounds nice." Erin agreed.

He went to the bathroom to start a bath for her. He made the water warm, but not so hot that it would burn her skin.

Erin walked in with just her bra and underwear on and stood in front of him. He immediately knew what she wanted; they didn't like to bring their personal life into work, so even though he was worried about her earlier, he couldn't really bring attention to it without seeming like the overly attentive boyfriend. He held his arms out and Erin practically collapsed into them.

"I'm so glad that freak is off the streets, but I've never been more exhausted in my life." She mumbled into his chest.

Jay kissed the top of her head. "Go ahead and take your bath. I'm gonna try to make something to eat." Despite the fact it was so late, he was starving and he knew she probably was too.

Erin shook her head. "I don't want food. I just want you."

He knew she meant that in a completely innocent way, and he understood. It had been a rough week and today wasn't the smooth ending they had hoped for.

"Take your bath, baby. When you're done, I'll hold you all night, okay? Try and relax." Erin bit her bottom lip and he knew there was something that she wasn't saying. "What's wrong?"

"I could have lost you today." She stated. "If I would have jumped a second later, he would have shot you. You wouldn't be here right now."

"But you were there. You stopped it from happening."

"I don't wanna lose you, Jay."

"You're not going to lose me."

"We have a dangerous job. I know that. I know that we go in there every single day and put our lives on the line for this city, but it's so hard to face the possibility that one day, you might never come home."

"Hey, listen to me." He tilted her chin up so she had to look at him. "I promise you that I will do everything in my power to always come home to you."

Erin buried her face in his chest. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." He kissed the top of her head.

"Will you take a bath with me?"

Their bathtub was tiny as it was, but he would never deny her anything. He just nodded his head and stripped out of his clothes. He sat down in the warm water and waited patiently for her to join him. She settled between his legs and leaned her back against his chest. He heard her sigh at the relief of the water on her aching muscles. He kissed her temple and closed his eyes to try and enjoy this as much as possible.

They sat in a comfortable silence, both lost in their own thoughts. About five minutes later, Jay looked down and realized Erin was half asleep. He pulled the plug on the drain and stood up. He put his hands under her arms and helped her to her feet. He started the shower instead and began to wash Erin's hair for her. Her eyes were shut and he couldn't help but place a gentle kiss on her lips when he saw how content she looked.

After he had helped her clean up, and then cleaned himself, they got out of the shower. Erin walked quietly behind him into their bedroom and caught a pair of her underwear and one of his t-shirts that he threw to her. She dropped her towel and got dressed and tried to climb into bed, but Jay stopped her.

"Let's eat something first." He tangled his fingers with hers and kissed the top of her hand. They left the bedroom together and he went to the kitchen to search the cabinets while she tried to find something to watch on TV.

Jay sighed. It was too late to order any food, but they didn't really have anything that could be made easily. "How does macaroni and cheese sound?"

"That's fine." She answered.

Jay put the pot of water on the stove and went to sit with her. He lifted up the shirt she was wearing.

"Not tonight." Erin pleaded.

"Relax, baby. I just want to see your bruises." Her face flushed in embarrassment at her assumptions, but he just kissed her cheek. "They're pretty nasty."

"They don't feel too great either." She lifted her arms so he could put the shirt back on her.

"Thank you for having my back."

"I'll always have your back."

"You know Atwater was wrong for what he said, right? I think you're the strongest one in our unit."

She smiled. "Now you're exaggerating a bit."

"I don't mean physically strongest, though I'm pretty sure you could take all of us down. People shouldn't underestimate you." He kissed her forehead.

"Water's boiling." She stated.

Jay turned to look behind him and saw that she was right. He went over and dumped the macaroni into the pot, and it didn't take long for it to finish. They both ate quickly and quietly while staring mindlessly at the TV.

As Jay finished, he saw that Erin was almost sleeping sitting up. He took her bowl and put them both in the sink and decided he could clean up tomorrow. He went over to the couch and Erin took his hand with no hesitation. He led her to their bedroom and practically collapsed onto the bed.

Erin sank down next to him and he looked at her. She looked like she could fall asleep within seconds and there were bruises covering her body, but he still wouldn't give her up for anything. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"I love you." He whispered as he pulled her close to him. She buried her face in his chest and he wrapped both arms around her. As he predicted, she fell asleep in about a minute. The last thing he could remember thinking before falling asleep was how lucky he was to have Erin in his life.

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