Hank walked up the steps to the Intelligence bullpen, surprised to see Erin chatting with Hailey and Jay with no sign of Cami. "Where's Cami?" he asked, approaching the small group.

"She's sleeping on the couch in your office," Erin informed him, standing up. "Where's everyone else?" she asked, glancing behind Hank.

"They're still at the house, processing the evidence," Hank informed her. "We've sent the shells off to the lab for identification and to see if they can pull any fingerprints from them. But until we get some answers, you're staying at a hotel with Cami. We'll station a patrol car in front of your room. Burgess is packing some stuff for the two of you now."

"What about you?" Erin asked worriedly.

"Antonio offered to let me crash with him," Hank assured her. "But right now, your safety is the priority."

"Hey, Sarge, I have a spare room. Erin and Cami can stay with me," Jay offered. "It'd be better and safer than having them stay in a hotel. Plus I know patrol is short staffed right now."

Erin was shaking her head before Jay finished. "We'll be fine in a hotel," Erin insisted. "Cami's been having nightmares lately, and I'd hate for her to wake you up."

Hank looked back and forth between Jay and Erin, debating whose side to take. The idea of Erin and Cami staying with Jay was more appealing to him than them staying in a hotel and relying on patrol officers to keep them safe, but he was still hesitant given Erin and Jay's history.

"I don't mind," Jay insisted. "Come on, Er. Stop being stubborn."

"You're staying with Jay," Hank stated, his tone making it clear that this decision was final. "But I'm still stationing a patrol car out front of your apartment," he added, directing that comment towards Jay, who nodded.

"Hank, can I see you in the breakroom, please?" Erin asked, her tone making it clear that she wasn't happy with the decision.

Hank nodded and headed for the breakroom. Erin followed him, closing the door behind them. "Hank, I am not staying with Jay," she insisted.

"Erin, this isn't open to discussion. I've already made me decision," Hank replied.

"Hank, please. You know why it's not a good idea for me to stay with him!" Erin argued.

The other members of the unit began to trickle in as Hank and Erin continued to argue, their voices getting louder.

"Are they always like that?" Hailey asked, turning to Jay.

"They've gone head to head more than once," Antonio answered instead. "She can be every bit as stubborn as him."

The team tried to focus on their work and ignore the raised voices coming from the breakroom, but it wasn't easy, particularly when the argument grew loud enough for them to hear what was being said.

"You've been overprotective ever since I was attacked, Hank! Can't you just let it go?" Erin shouted.

"Let it go? Let it go?!" Hank replied. "How am I supposed to let it go, Erin? I got a phone call in the middle of the night that you'd been beaten nearly to death and raped; how am I supposed to let that go? I almost lost you that night!"

"And yet you couldn't even be bothered to come to New York to make sure I was okay," Erin retorted. "You sent Liv instead! You couldn't bear to leave your work for one minute to make sure I was okay!"

"I couldn't!" Hank shouted. "I wanted to be there, more than anything. You don't think I wanted to be there? But one of my people was accused of murdering a child! I couldn't just leave, as much as I wanted to. They needed me!"

Jay flinched at that. He'd never put the timeline together to realize that Erin was raped at the same time he was dealing with the accusation of being at fault for Morgan William's death. He didn't know how he hadn't made that connection sooner.

"I needed you!" Erin cried. "The only person I wanted to see was you, Hank! I just wanted you to be there and to hold me and tell me that everything was going to be okay! I needed you, Hank, but once again, you chose your unit over me." The last phrase came out sounding more like a sob.

"Erin," Hank's voice was still loud, but it had a brokenness to it. "I wanted to be there for you. But if I hadn't of been here, one of my people would have gone to prison for the murder of a child! I came as soon as I could. I know I wasn't there for you, and I'm sorry."

Three years ago

Hank woke up in the middle of the night by his phone ringing. "Go for Voight," he answered, instantly wide awake, knowing that a call at this time of night was never good news.

"Mr. Voight? My name is Amber, and I'm a nurse at New York Presbyterian Hospital. We have a patient here, Erin Lindsay, who has you listed as her emergency contact," a voice on the other end of the line had told him.

"Erin? Is she okay?" Hank asked, instantly on high alert.

"She was found unconscious on a sidewalk; she's been badly beaten, and she has some broken ribs, a broken nose, a broken eye socket, and a black eye, as well as a concussion," the nurse informed him.

"But she'll be okay?" Hank asked worriedly.

"She doesn't appear to have suffered any lasting physical injuries," the nurse replied, and Hank let out a sigh of relief. "But Mr. Voight? I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it appears that Ms. Lindsay was raped."

Hank almost dropped the phone at those words. "Are…are you sure?" he asked, his voice catching.

"I'm afraid so," Nurse Amber replied. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this."

"Thank you for letting me know," Hank told her. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

As soon as Hank hung up the phone, he realized that he couldn't go. Not now. Not with what Jay was going through. He knew if he left now, before Jay was cleared of murdering that little girl, Jay would be thrown to the wolves, and there would be no saving him. The thought of not being able to go to Erin now, when she needed him the most, was heartbreaking, but he knew he could call Olivia Benson and she'd be at Erin's side in an instant. Jay, however, had no one but him in his corner.

His decision made, Hank picked up the phone and called Olivia. "Liv, Erin's been attacked. She's at New York Presbyterian, and she's in rough shape. I can't get away right now; can you go to her?"

"Of course," Olivia replied, not a moment's hesitation in her voice. "I just have to get someone to watch Noah, but I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Liv," Hank told her, his voice breaking. "I have another favor to ask of you, too."

"Anything, Hank," Olivia replied. "Just name it."

"She was raped, Liv," Hank informed her, his voice rough with emotion. "I need you and your team to take the case. Please? I need to know that it's being handled right."

"Oh, Hank; I'm so sorry," Olivia replied sadly. "And yes, of course we'll take the case. We'll do whatever we can to find the man that did this to her."

"Olivia? What are you doing here?" Erin asked as Olivia appeared in the doorway to her hospital room.

"Hank called me," Olivia replied gently, walking into the room and taking a seat in the chair next to Erin's bed. "He told me what happened and asked me to come."

"Is he on his way?" Erin asked hopefully.

Olivia shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Erin. He has something going on right now and can't get away just yet, but he promised he'd come as soon as he can."

Erin tried to hide her disappointment. There were only two people in this world that she wanted to see right now. One couldn't be here because he wouldn't leave his work, and the other couldn't be here because there was no way Erin could ask that of him, not after how she'd left him. "It's okay," she tried to assure Olivia. "I know he's busy."

Present Day

Several minutes passed without the sound of raised voices coming from the breakroom and the team breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that the two had managed to work things out. They remained silent, however, all of them processing the conversation they'd just overheard. While Antonio and Jay had known about Erin's rape, neither of the men had realized that Hank hadn't been able to go to her side after it happened. For the rest of the team, it was the first time learning that Erin had been raped, and pieces began to fall into place for them.

When the door to the breakroom finally opened, Erin emerged. It was obvious that she'd been crying, as her eyes were red. She avoided eye contact with everyone as she made her way to Hank's office to check on Cami.

Hank emerged a couple of minutes later, his face expressionless. "I assume you all heard that?" he asked.

"We tried not to," Burgess replied apologetically.

"Mmm," Hank grunted in reply. "Well, now you all know. Erin was planning to tell you eventually."

"Is that somehow connected to what we found outside your house today?" Atwater questioned.

Hank shrugged. "Honestly, we don't know. Erin was getting threats from someone in New York and they tried to kill her and Cami, which is why she came here, but we don't know yet if it's connected or not. Her team doesn't think so; they believe it's linked to one of her past cases. But the man that attacked her, they never caught him," Hank informed them. "He stole her badge, wallet, and phone after he attacked her, so he had access to a lot of information on her. So it's possible that the two are connected."

"What can we do, Sarge?" Ruzek asked. "How can we help?"

"Right now, you can help by continuing to do what you're doing. With the possibility that this guy has followed her to Chicago, I've requested all of the information her team has gathered so far; they should be sending it over shortly. I've also asked Olivia Benson and her team to send over the case file from Erin's attack, in case it is related," Hank informed them. "Until we know more, I'll be staying with Antonio and Erin and Cami will be staying at Jay's."