Thank you guys for your reviews. Let me know what you thing about this chapter. I was inspired by Chicago Fire 05x18 and Chicago PD 05x14 as well as from the review of Extraordinarygirl116

A punch in the face. One kick into the stomach. Another blow to the face. A group of children circled around two students and cheered them on, "Fight! Fight Fight!"

"Hey you two! Apart!" a teacher shouted, trying to calm down a brown-haired boy who was furious at his classmate.

"Calm down!" He grabbed the boy's arm in annoyance, "What's your name?" He waited in vain for an answer, "Your name!"

"Zachary Halstead." he hissed as he wiped away the blood streaming from his nose.

"Well then Zachary, come with me."

Zachary did not have to wait too long in the school's secretariat. Soon after arriving he heard a door opening, and footsteps approaching . Within moments he was in front of him. His hands on his hips, Jay looked at his boy shocked. Gently, he lifted Zach's chin and looked at the injuries and scratch marks, "Hey. What happened?" he asked softly.

Quickly Zach pushed his father's hand away, crossed his arms and looked to the ground silently .

"I'm waiting for an explanation, Zachary. If I'm helping you, then I need to know what happened."

"It was nothing," he mumbled.

"Come on, out with it. Silence has never brought you anything." Jay waited strained for an answer, but before Zach spoke, they were called to the headmaster.

"Mr. Halstead. We don't tolerate violence at this school. Your son, Zachary, has unfortunately struck a classmate so hard that he is in the hospital now." With an aggravated look, Jay glared at his son as the headmaster continued, "The classmate will be fine. Fortunately, it was just a laceration on his head and a broken rib. However, I can't tolerate Zachary's behavior. I'm forced to suspend him for the rest of this week."

"A suspension? Is that really necessary? I mean, we don't know who started it. Maybe Zach fought back."

"Mr. Halstead or should I rather say detective Halstead? As a police officer, you should know that bodily harm is a crime."

"I understand your concerns and Zach will definitely not get away with it, but it was the first time. Detention should be enough."

"Didn't you receive our letters?" the headmaster asked with interest.

"Fuck." Zach murmured softly, but loud enough for Jay, who vouched for his son, "Of course, but considering the hard times, we should make an exception." Jay stammered, not knowing what the letters were about.

"Unfortunately we have looked away too often. My decision has been made. Zachary doesn't need to come back until next week." he said, rummaging in a drawer and handing Jay a letter, "I assume you don't know what we are talking about. Zachary disturbed lessons, his grades are bad, and recently he refused to respect the flag."

"I understand," Jay finally agreed with the headmaster.

"Can't I stay at home?" Zach moaned as Jay parked in front of the district.

"No. Honestly, I think you're missing a bit of rigor in parenting and as long as you don't tell me what was going on, you'll stay here."

"I couldn't help it that he couldn't defend himself." Zach muttered and trudged behind his father.

"You learn to box for self-defense and not to beat up your classmates." Jay hissed annoyed.

"Maybe that was a kind of self-defense."

"You seriously expect me to believe that?" Jay questioned suspiciously.

"Mom wouldn't be mad at me."

"Correct. She would be disappointed." Jay stated.

Almost at the same time Platt's voice rang through the reception area, "Detective Halstead, you made a big catch."

Without further comment, Jay opened the door and led Zach up to the bullpen.

"Wait in the break room." Jay mumbled and disappeared into Hank's office.

"What did the kid do?" he asked curiously.

"He hit another kid." Jay answered and took a deep breath, "He was suspended until next week. Today is Tuesday... I don't know what to do with him for so long."

"Of course you can bring him to work. Do you want to punish him?"

"Yeah. I think so, but above all he should learn a lesson."

"I think that wouldn't hurt." Hank agreed and they talked for a while about what would be best. After that Jay headed to the break room. Without looking at Zach, he poured himself some coffee.

"How long should I stay here?" Zach asked softly.

"Until I'm finished with work," Jay answered curtly.

"Do you have a charging cable with you? My Smartphone battery is empty."

"That's your bad." Jay took a deep breath, set the coffee cup aside and stared at his son with a look of disbelief in his eyes, "Listen. I don't care that you hit your classmate in the face,, because I think you had a big reason for doing that. But whenyou don't appreciate the flag and oath, you hurt me."

"I'm sorry."

"I thought we fixed everything." Jay said.

"I'm really sorry. I wasn't thinking." Zach replied.

Jay took a deep breath, "I have to work." He took his coffee cup and hurried out of the break room. After two hours silently staring at the wall, Zach slowly walked to his dad, who was sitting at his desk.

"Can we talk, please?" Zach asked softly. Jay stopped typing on the keyboard and looked into his son's eyes expectantly .

"You have to believe me, I'm very sorry. I've only used my right of free speech. I didn't know that you would make a big drama out of it."

"Come on, let's go on a trip." Jay said.

A little later he knocked on an apartment door.

"Why are we here?" Zach wondered.

"You'll see," Jay muttered. Shortly thereafter, the door was opened by a man, "Jay Halstead, what a honor." he grinned. "Hey Paul, it's been a long time." Jay smiled.

"Damn long, you must be little Zach ... come in." he said, hobbling ahead. Wondering why the man hobbled, Zach followed his dad.

"I suppose you don't remember me anymore." he noted after sitting down in the living room, "I saved your dad's ass."

Speechless, Zach looked at his dad, who nodded slightly, "It happened before you were born, but I already knew mom. I was called back to the Army Rangers and was in Afghanistan for a while."

"Did you tell him the story of where he got his name from?" Paul asked with interest.

Jay shook his head and Zach looked back and forth between the older men.

"You were named after a comrade. Zack, but written with a K. We got ambushed and he was shot while your dad and I were damned lucky." Paul explained. Zach stared at his dad incredulously , "Is that true?"

"Yeah. I've known him since early childhood. He was my best friend." Jay replied softly.

"By the way, you owe it to me that your dad still has both legs." He tapped against his left hollow leg. Below his knee was a prosthesis. "I pushed him away before the grenade blew us both apart."

"Why are you guys telling me this?" Zach asked softly.

"I want you to understand that your actions were a sign of disrespect. Disrespectful of everything we fought for." Jay explained to his son, who listened attentively, "Of course, you have the right of free speech, but I just want you to know there is more to it."

"I'll never do it again." Zach promised.

"You don't have to promise because you have the right of free speech. I just wanted you to know our point of view." Jay explained.

On the way back to the precinct, Zach decided to tell his father the whole truth, "I hit him first, but just because..." he stopped, thinking how to say it, "I lost control because... he insulted mom. I had to hit him and then it escalated." In understanding, Jay nodded, "Alright. I probably would have done the same thing."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Nobody insults Erin and gets away with it."

"So, you're not mad at me anymore, are you?" Zach asked softly.

"I can never be mad at you. I would have liked to give that guy two broken ribs." Jay winked.

"You shouldn't mess with us." Zach giggled.

"Exactly, but next time just let him talk and walk away. Those people aren't worth it."

"Yes Sir." Zach grinned.

Bored, Zach turned in his dad's chair, examining the framed family picture on the desk and listening to music on his iPod. On this Thursday morning the intelligence unit was called into action and he was left by himself. High and holy, he had to promise his grandfather and dad to do no mischief.

After a while, they returned with a girl, who was quickly taken to the break room by Kim and Hailey. Curious, he watched every single step. The girl was dirty, scared and cried easily.

"Dad. What happened to her?" Zach asked curiously.

"Trudy needs help at the front desk," Jay replied curtly.

Zach knew right away they had something important to talk about up here and that he couldn't stay. He grabbed his bag pack and joined Platt.

"Hello. I want to pay my fines," an older man said. "Is the CPD now employing children?"

Zach looked up from his iPod, but as he looked t around, he realised that no policeman nor Trudy was in sight.

"Yes. I'm Sergeant Halstead. How can I help you?" Zach grinned.

"I want to pay my parking tickets for incorrect parking." he explained, putting the money down on the counter, "Could you possibly get your supervisor?"

"I'm the supervisor." Zach grinned, took a flashlight and asked, "Is that real money?" as he shone the light on the bill.

"What?" he asked indignantly.

"We always have problems with fake money here."

"Even if, one shine should be enough."

"No no no. It isn't real." Zach said and examined the bill from all sides.

"Of course that's a real one." he complained.

"Even a 6-year-old sees that it's a fake and I'm nine. Checkmate." Zach grinned. At the same moment Jay and Hailey came down the stairs. They wore their vests and were in a hurry, but the man stopped them, "I want to talk to someone who is responsible for the reception."

Confused, the two cops looked to Zach, who satalone behind the counter and grinned naughtily. For a brief moment Jay closed his eyes, but he also had to grin a little. He could well imagine what Zach had said.

"Oh, you think that's funny huh?" The man asked, reading out the name on the vest, "Detective Halstead? Then you probably also know Sergeant Halstead, who claims I was going to pay with fake money."

"Sergeant, huh? Where's Platt?" Jay asked curiously.

"I don't know. Suddenly everyone was gone." Zach shrugged. Jay stepped up to the counter and quickly did the work so the man could leave.

"As a sergeant, you may want to have a bit more respect for strangers." Jay winked.

"But Trudy said you have to have some authority. The man wouldn't have taken me seriously otherwise." Zach explained.

"He didn't one way or the other." Jay laughed.

After a while, Zach made his way to the break room, because he was hungry and thirsty. The girl who was brought in earlier in the morning sat shyly on the floor with her back against the couch.

"Hey. I'm Zach. Who are you?" he asked, but she said nothing. Zach took the packet of biscuits off the shelf and sat down beside her, "Are you hungry as well?" and held out the bag.

"I'm just guessing your name. Are you Mia or Sophie?" Zach asked, "Or maybe you're Princess Leia of Star Wars?"

She smirked slightly, "Emma."

"Hey Emma. Why are you here?" he asked.

"My parents were..." she broke off her sentence, crying.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Zach said calmly and looked into her sad eyes. He wanted to comfort her, but didn't know how, but he knew what his parents would say, "If you want to talk to someone, I'm here for you."

"As if you would understand ," she hissed.

"Maybe, maybe not." He breathed in and out, "My mom died 8 months ago. She was shot."

"Really?"

Zach nodded slightly, "I miss her very much."

"How do you manage to cope?" She asked.

"I don't know. Sometimes I imagine that it was just a bad dream, and when I go to the kitchen in the morning, my mom, dad and my little sister are happily having breakfast... In the beginning everything was strange and unbelievable, but I think you should be grateful for that what you have."

"I'm supposed to go to my aunt. She's coming from California to pick me up."

"Make the best of it."

"That's easy for you to say."

"I'm serious. It just makes it harder when you're mad at people who are not to blame." Zach sighed.

"A few cops were laughing earlier. A nine-year-old was kidding people at the reception... that's was you, wasn't it?" she smiled.

"It sure was! I love jokes!"

In the meantime, the detectives returned. They had brought in the murderer, who was now being interrogated by Antonio and Hank. Kim, Kevin, Adam, Hailey and Jay overheard the children's conversation as the door to the break room was open. Jay had no idea that Zach was feeling that way.

Joyfully Zoey hopped down the steps gradually. She was highly motivated that Monday morning. Today her class went to the Natural History Museum and she loved such trips.

"Good morning my favorite brother." She beamed and saw her brother almost asleep at the table.

"You're annoying," he mumbled wearily.

"Where is daddy?" Zoey asked curiously when she didn't see her dad.

"No idea." Zach muttered and got the cereal box.

"He is always awake before us." Zoey stated, "Who's going to make breakfast now?"

"No idea."

"Maybe daddy has overslept?" Zoey mused.

"Maybe," Zach muttered, shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"Can you come to daddy with me?" Zoey pleaded.

"Go yourself."

"Please. You're my favorite brother." Zoey begged.

"I am your only brother."

"Please..." Zoey tried to convince him with a cute puppy look in her eyes.

"Fine," Zach groaned annoyed.

Listening to the door they noticed a faint indistinct mumble. Carefully, Zach opened the door. Shocked, they saw their dad, who rolled uneasily back and forth. He still had his normal everyday clothes on and the blanket had been kicked off.

"Did daddy have a bad dream?" Zoey asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I think so." Zach answered.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Zach shrugged his shoulders, "But we should wake him up, right?"

"I don't know." Zoey said, shrugged her slender shoulders as well as Zach slowly approached the bed.

"Dad?" Zach asked softly, before raising his voice, "Dad! Wake up." But Jay continued to sleep, mumbling unintelligibly to himself. Zach exchanged glances with his sister before gently grabbing his dad's shoulder and shaking it slightly, "Dad?"

In a flash Jay woke up, grabbed his son's arm and with his other hand gave him a powerful resounding slap in the face.

In a reflex, Zach touched his ear. He felt a sharp pain and a hollow feeling in his ear. Looking back at his hand, which was previously at his ear, he saw it was bloody. A small stream of blood spilled out of his ear and trickled down his neck. Shocked, Zach looked at his dad, who looked just as shocked. Zoey stood in horror at the threshold.

Jay closed his eyes in stunned silence for a moment before trying to explain the situation. But Zach did not hear his father's words, even though he could see his lips move. He barely heard his environment as everything sounded very quiet and dull. Zach jerked away from his father, as he wanted to pull him into a hug.

"I hate you! I wish you were dead!" Zach shouted angrily. Although he screamed, he could barely hear his own voice. Suddenly Zach ran out of the bedroom, Zoey looked at her dad in disbelief. Never had dad hit her or her brother. And it was obvious to her that he was already sorry for it. Nevertheless, she ran after her brother.

Jay, however, ran his hand helplessly over his face. He would never beat his own children. On the contrary, he abhorred such parents. Stunned, he got up and tried to catch his children before they both disappeared from the house, but he was too late. Jay had arrived at the stairs when he heard the front door slam shut...