Chapter 2: Friends Over Family
A/N: Ok, so just because it makes more sense in my mind, Everlee has a different dad than Erin, but she has the same dad as Teddy. Also in my story Erin is about 26, Teddy is 23, and Everlee is 19.
Everlee dashed across the ring, trying to literally run from the blast from her past, only to almost literally run into a hispanic guy on the other side. She turned searching for a way out, but they were scattered around the ring. She looked to Lex who was staring at her with questioning eyes. He must have seen the scared look in her eyes cuz next thing she knew he turned and decked the guy with Erin right in the jaw, causing a couple of the other people with badges to run to them, trying to get him off of him. Everlee looked around again, still surrounded, she quickly decided who would be the easiest target and ran at him, kneeing the blonde guy in the groin, she shoved him aside and bolted past him, making her way to the exit.
Once outside, she ran smack into someone, luckily it was a short, blonde, blue eyed someone, also known as her best friend. "We gotta go. We gotta go now!" She yelled without stopping.
No questions asked he ran after her, both hopping into his car. Turning the key in the ignition quickly, suddenly greatful he had still had his keys in his hand, he sped out of the parking lot. "What the fuck did you do, Everlee?!" he scolded his best friend, looking in the rearview mirror to see the cops running out the door.
"Nothing! I don't know! I saw Erin so i bolted, then everyone started coming after me." She was breathing hard, her heart pounding. "I wouldn't have gotten away if Lex didn't punch one of them." She froze. "O fuck! Lex punched a fucking cop and i just left him there!"
"Chill! Lex will be fine. He always is. They were after you, not him." Niko ran his hand down his face, letting out a breath. "You have no idea what you did?"
"No, i dont know! Unless they somehow found out i've been the middle man (woman) for Apollo. He had me bring some shit to the Underground the other day, but it was only once. How could they know?"
"Someone snitched, thats how." He shook his head, letting out a string of curses and hitting the steering wheel. "How do you always get yourself into this shit? Your like a goddamn trouble magnet."
The girl whipped her head around to look at her best friend. "Well, if i'm such a goddamn trouble magnet, then what the fuck are you still doing here?!"
"Hey!" The boy reached over, tugging on a piece of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. "Thats not what i meant. I just mean, every time we get you out of trouble, here comes some more right around the corner."
Everlee looked down at her lap, playing with her dark purple finger nails. "I know. I'm more trouble than i'm worth."
"I've been here for 17 years. I'm not going anywhere now."
Everlee looked over at him and smiled. Her and Niko met when she was 2, he was 3, when Teddy would take her to the park. Niko was in the sandbox building a big sand castle, when little Everlee came and plopped down on the other side, then proceeded to just sift the sand through her fingers. Niko handed the girl his shovel and continued to put sand in the bucket using his hands as she began digging a mote. "To keep bad men away," she had said. And they had spent every day playing with eachother after that, quickly becoming best friends. Niko was her first and only friend in the world. The only person to stay by her side through everything. The only one who has loved and protected her throughout her entire life. Everything her family failed to do, he did.
An hour later, Erin sat at an interrogation table next to Voight, Alexander Hale seated across from them, his arms folded across his chest.
Erin sighed. "Alexander, just tell us where she is. We're not gonna hurt her. We just need to talk to her."
Lex shrugged. "I have no idea what your talking about."
Erin nodded. "Ok. So you just punched my partner in the face for nothing..."
The dirty blonde shrugged again. "It's what i do."
Voight, finally sick of this kids games, finally stood slamming his hands on the table. "Listen to me. We've had multiple cases of kids going crazy after taking some dirty drugs, and someone said that she was the one selling them. So tell me where she is!"
"Whoa, hey!" He put his hands out in front of him. "Ever does alot of shit, but she wouldnt purposely sell dirty drugs. Look, she plays the middle man for this big time dealer, and she'll go out and sell for him occasionally."
"So suddenly you know her," Voight let out in his gravely voice.
"She's been through hell and handling drugs is something shes good at. But she is not a bad person."
"We know that," Erin said, putting her hand on her chest. "We just wanna find out whos responsible for this. " She took a deep breathe. "Everlee is my sister, i know shes not a bad person."
Something in his blue eyes changed. They suddenly turned to ice and they chilled her to the bone. "I have nothing else to tell you." And with that his mouth snapped firmly shut, she once again folded his arms across his chest and sat back in his chair, fully prepared to wait it out.
Erin and Voight walked out of the interrogation room, both with irritated looks on their faces. The rest of their unit waited for them in the hallway. "He's not budging," Erin sighed. "But he did tell us that Everlee sometimes sells for a big time dealer, but most of the time she just plays middle man for him. Other than that, he gave us nothing."
"Great," Ruzek let out. "Well atleast he told us a name."
"We didn't need a name. We already knew it," Hank told him.
"I dont remember knowing her name."
Erin let out a breath. "She's my sister. Thats how we knew her name."
"Wait. Seriously?" Jay said, disbelievingly.
"Yeah. I haven't seen her since she was a kid, but that was definately her."
Her partner nodded. "So what do we do now?"
Antonio stepped up. "Well, now that we have a name, we can go to the computers. See if we can get an address for her."
Olinsky nodded in agreement. "We can also go back to the Underground, see if anyone knows anything else about her. Where she hangs out, who she hangs out with."
Erin shook her head. "Everlee didnt really have friends growing up except for one. She didnt really want any friends other than him. But its been so long, i dont even know if theyre friends anymore."
"We can still try," Jay told his partner.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"Why is it that every time we go to someones house on this case, theyre never home?" Jay questioned, not really expecting an answer.
"Apparently fate does not want me to find my sister," Erin supplied, as her and her partner headed back down the stairs.
"Why are we here?" Everlee asked her best friend, as she sat on the couch she has spent many nights watching movies with her boyfriend.
"Because since they already have him and they have no reason to search his house, this is the safest place to be right now."
"Whatever you say. Your the smarter one." She stood up and headed towards her boyfriends room. "I need a fucking joint," she said under her breath, going for Lex's bedside drawer, where he stashes his weed. "Then i gotta head to the bar. I still gotta work tonight."
"Your still going to work tonight? Are you insane?"
"We still need the money, Niko. We are barely keeping that roof over our heads."
The boy sighed. "Fine. But i'm coming to act as lookout."
Ever chuckled. "You mean pretend to be my lookout while you really sit there and get hammered."
"That too," he smiled brightly at her.
10 o'clock at night and here they were heading back to The Underground. As soon as they got there, Olinsky lead Ruzek towards the man with the mega speaker, showing him his badge as soon as he had his eyes on him.
"You know Everlee Courtney?"
The man, knit his brows together in confusion. "Who?"
"EV. Her boyfriend is a fighter here name Alexander Hale."
"Oh! Her. Yeah she's not here."
Ruzek rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we know that, but do you know where she is? A job, a hangout. Something?"
"Yeah, yeah. She's a bartender over at the club..uhh..." he snapped his fingers a couple of times, trying to remember the name. "Fang. Works there over nights sometimes. Did she like kill somebody or something? Cuz i can see that happening."
Ruzek chuckled. "No. Nothing like that," he told him as Olinsky called to let Voight know, so he could head over to the club.
Everlee walked behind the bar, her hair pulled up into a messy bun, in her regular work outfit of short cargo shorts and a crop top with her motorcycle boots. First thing she did was pour a shot of Jack and handed it to her best friend then pouring one of her own. She held it up in a toast, "To my best friend, who has helped me run from the cops more times than i can count."
Niko stuck tongue out of his mouth. "Hell yea," he smiled, throwing the shot back at the same time as the girl across from him. She then handed him a bottle of beer and got to work, asking the people around the bar what she could get them, and making different drinks. She was so busy working, she never noticed the 3 cops walking into the bar, but Niko did. Jumping over the bar, he grabbed ahold of her arm. "They're here," He told her as he started dragging her out from behind the bar and towards the back door, only to run smack into Sergeant Hank Voight. The girl slammed the heel of her boot down onto the mans foot then bringing her knee up, only connecting with his thigh. Niko shoved him out of the way again heading for the back door, only to get grabbed from behind. Instinctively he swung, connecting with the other mans chin.
Jay grabbed his chin. "Thats the second time i've got punched today!" He grabbed the smaller man before he could run, slamming him, face first, into the wall.
Suddenly a small, colorful ball of fury was on him, punching him in the back over and over again. Erin grabbed for her, only to take an elbow to the mouth. Finally Voight, who had quickly recovered from the small attack, grabbed the small girl from behind, holding her arms behind her and nearly getting his nose broke as she lased out, throwing her head backwards. "I forgot how fiesty you could be, Little One."
Everlee kept fighting the hold he had her in. "Let go of me!"
"You know," he said, as Erin put handcuffs on her held back wrists, "Your kinda difficult to keep track of." Then he had to literally drag her, kicking and screaming, to his car.