Halstead came in the next morning to find Erin and the boss goin' at it in Voight's office.
The rest of the team was already there, doing their best to ignore the screaming voices and the wild gestures going on behind the glass.
"What the hell's goin' on in there?" Jay asked.
Everyone looked up.
"That's above your pay grade." Antonio Dawson replied. "An' nice of you to join us, by the way."
But Halstead ignored the jab...he was trying to figure out what could possibly have Erin and Voight trying to draw blood the way they were.
He could read his partner pretty well...and he couldn't remember ever seeing her so mad. And Voight...there was a vein pulsating at his right temple. His face was red and he was pounding on the desk to drive home whatever point he was trying to make.
The boss looked like he was about to give himself apoplexy.
A minute later the door was flung wide open...slamming against the wall and bouncing back. And Erin stormed out into the bullpen.
Halstead stood up and started to approach her but she pushed right past. She took the stairs two at a time, and Jay took off a beat behind.
"Hey...wait up!" he called as he chased her out of the station to her car.
Lindsay yanked open the driver's side door and looked at her partner like she was seeing him for the first time.
"Where're we goin'?" Jay asked...reaching for the passenger side door handle.
"Stay out of it, Halstead. This has nothin' to do with you."
"Whaddya mean 'nothin' to do with me'?" he asked. "I'm your partner."
"And you need to turn around and go back inside." Erin told him. "This is something I gotta do myself."
"That's bullshit..."
"I'm gonna say it one more time. Mind your business...turn around...walk away."
And with that she slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door. She hit the lock before Halstead could try and hop in.
He watched as she sped down the block, wondering what the hell was going on, and when they were gonna let him in on the secret.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Erin Lindsay drove in a half fog... heading to an apartment she'd never been to before. She was so mad she could barely make out the street in front of her. Voight was, ugh ...what? An ass? A selfish ass? And she was gonna put an end to his crazy plan, right now.
Her car screeched to a stop and she slammed it in park. Then she marched up the steps and pounded on the door. Again and again. Patience not one of her virtues.
"What the hell," Kelly mumbled, fumbling with the lock. Then he smiled when he saw the beautiful detective standing on his doorstep for the first time.
"Erin?" he asked, not sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him at this early morning hour. "What're you doin' here?"
"Can I come in?" she asked.
Not even waiting for an answer she pushed right past Kelly.
She was obviously pissed about something.
"Uh...sure, c'mon in..." he said a questioning look replacing the smile.
As soon as he shut the door she turned back around...quickly closing the space between them.
No smile, no hug...all business. Police business.
"You're gonna call Voight right now and tell him you changed your mind...that you're not doin' this. That there's no way in hell..."
"Just come on in and sit down," said Kelly pointing to the living room. He took a step closer, taking Erin's arm to lead her to the couch.
But she yanked her arm away, staying right where she was.
"I don't want to sit down. I want you to tell Voight to go to hell, you changed your mind, whatever."
She took a breath.
"You have no idea what you're doing, Kelly. And you're gonna get yourself hurt...or killed. Now either you call Voight...
"It's not that simple Erin." he said. "I owe him."
"It is that simple! You are a firefighter not a cop! You don't have a clue!" She exploded. "So, here, I'll even dial for you."
Erin held out the phone to Kelly, pushing it into his hands.
Kelly took a step closer to the detective, but instead of taking the phone from her he touched 'End".
"Kelly." she said, an almost imperceivable hint of desperation in her voice. "You are a good guy, a really, really good guy. And I've seen things go south faster than I can even tell you..."
"You think I don't know that?! You think that hasn't crossed my mind?!"
His sudden outburst threw her off her game for a second.
She took another moment and tried to appeal to his sense of reason.
"Kelly, I know you think you owe Voight something, but you don't. You don't owe him shit." she said, her voice softening. "I can't let you do this."
"Let me?" Kelly asked eyebrows raised.
It was nice that she was concerned for his safety...but nobody...not even a beautiful lady cop...told him what he could and couldn't do.
"Don't give me any shit," Erin finally cracked a small smile. "You know what I mean. Now call Voight and tell 'im you had a flash of sanity and changed your mind."
"It's too late." he said, resigned to what he had to do. "He's already setting' it up."
They were at a stalemate.
Erin had a gnawing feeling deep in her gut telling her that this was gonna turn out to be a recipe for disaster.
The plan was not really a plan, just some harebrained scheme thrown together out of pure desperation. Voight was risking an innocent man's life for a bust...and that was just not right.
"Erin." Kelly said softly as he tried again to lead her over to the couch. "I've been in tough scrapes before...an I've always come outta 'em. I just gotta keep tellin' myself this one's not gonna be any different."
Erin stared into those blue eyes that wouldn't back down.
She couldn't help but remember the last time they were this close. He had needed her. Katie missing...and he needed hope.
Well now, she needed something...she needed for him to be safe. And for that to happen he couldn't go through with this suicide mission Voight was passing off as a viable operation.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
They walked down to the Starbucks over on the net block, neither of them saying a word. They sat across from one another sipping their coffee...and as they walked back to her car Kelly was convinced of only one thing...he wanted to see this woman again, on a real date or several real dates.
But as far as Voight's plan...it was still a go.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
It had been a helluva shift...with nonstop calls, every damn one of them needing a squad.
The first call had set the tone for what next twenty four hours were gonna be like...two girls, about the same age as Katie had managed to slam into the back of a dump truck. So violently it took the roof of the Prius clean off. The driver didn't have a chance. As Kelly wedged under the truck and snaked his way half up the little silver car, he could see the carnage. That grotesque image wasn't one he'd be forgetting any time soon.
By some miracle the passenger slipped under the truck in the nick of time. She was sandwiched between the two vehicles and very much alive... in full blown panic mode.
If she wasn't claustrophobic before, she sure as hell would be after this.
"Help me! Oh, God, get me out of here!"
"Don't worry, we'll get you out. Try not to move. Just a few more minutes."
Kelly tried to calm her asking her name, telling her his...all the while using the jaws to try and free up a little space. The good and bad news was she didn't seem severely injured...her lungs were working just fine. Sometimes it was easier when they were unconscious, he thought.
It felt like it was taking forever to get to her...but they finally were able to extract the nearly hysterical young girl from the crumpled mess that had once been a nice little car.
"My friend, Kate? Is she still in there?" asked the girl frantically as Shay and Dawson wheeled her to the ambo.
"We're gettin her out now." Kelly assured her as he started for the car again. "You just hang in there, okay?" The girls almost the same age as his sister. Now one dead. Almost the same damn name. He took in a deep breath.
"Hey, Lieutenant..." Clarke said, already making his way to the bloody scene. "We'll handle the recovery."
Kelly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks, man."
The whole shift was one run after another. But the last call was a tough one...elderly man trying to stay warm with a space heater. One that was probably older than him. Caught fire while he was sleeping taking the entire house in minutes threatening the homes on both sides. Squad found his body quickly, then scoured every room to make sure he was alone.
"Fire Department, call out!" Over and over. No response...all the rooms empty. The old man all alone.
"Chief, all clear."
"Get your guys out. This things going down. Two minutes, tops," said Boden anxious for his men to exit the home, watching Truck work their asses off to save the adjacent houses.
As Kelly came through the front door, a large piece of the door frame came with him, landing squarely on his shoulder.
"Ahhhh," he cried out going to one knee... Mills on him instantly.
"C'mon, I got you," said Pete helping his lieutenant up and over to the waiting Shay.
"I'm good. I'm good," insisted Kelly rotating his sore shoulder around and around.
"You sure?" Shay asked taking off his turnout coat, not waiting for an answer.
"Yeah," he insisted grabbing the bottled water Boden offered.
Shay and Dawson checked it out, pulling and pushing from all degrees, satisfied nothing was broken.
"You're gonna have a nasty bruise. It'll prob'ly be sore for a while." said Dawson.
"You think?" Kelly said sucking down the last of the water.
Shay handed him an ice pack.
"You have ibuprophen in your locker, don't you?" she asked.
"Yes, mother..." he replied.
As Kelly jumped in the Squad, he felt the vibration of his phone.
What now...he wondered. Who'd be calling him at this hour?
Voight.
Jeez...didn't the guy ever sleep?
"Yeah."
"It's a go..." Voight rasped. "Tonight...ten o'clock. Be here seven thirty."
Kelly'd almost forgotten all about his new part time job.