I already know that I break all the promises I make, I swear it's not on purpose, so I won't do it anymore, I just want you to know that I don't think about abandoning it, so even without dates set, you will be updated. And I'm not going to keep explaining my disappearance, because it's always something lol. Now just enjoy one more chapter.

A quick explanation for you. When Erin and Jay kissed and she went back to NY, it was May. And the two months after that happens in July. I'm saying this because I'm going to leave the dates in bold on the right side and I won't say more about how much time has passed, because it goes in chronological order. We go back to Erin arriving in NY after the Garry Hughes case and then move on to the end of the last chapter about what happened in Chicago. If you get confused let me know.

Chapter 18: A night owl

"There comes a time when the promise of better days to come ceases to be true."

- How I met your mother

Manhattan, NY - May/2021

The flight was very smooth and silent. Erin was lucky enough to sit with just her daughter and her friends sat together on the other side, they were still lined up and managed to see each other and even exchange a few words, but what made Erin happy, was the simple fact that those looks would be just stares for the next two hours. Erin knew that sooner or later she would tell her friends, but she wanted a little time to think about her entire night and morning.

Not surprisingly, as soon as she got home with her daughter asleep in her arms, her friends bombarded her with questions.

- Aren't you supposed to go back to your homes? - Erin says closing the door of the room where she laid her daughter.

- Not before I know what happened... - Tess says.

- Guys...

- Did you kiss? - Asks Nick who is soon interrupted.

- They didn't just kiss, they had sex. She spent the night. - Tess smiles slyly at her friend.

- We didn't have sex... - Erin points to her friend, she knew Tess was kidding, but it didn't hurt to remember. - Charlotte was with me... I went...

- You denied the sex, but you didn't deny the kiss... - Tess interrupts her friend and the agents are shocked, when the expression on Erin's face changes and she starts walking to the kitchen leaving her friends behind.

- Did you really kiss? - Nick asks as he and Tess follow her, but stopping behind the counter while Erin is in the fridge. Erin is silent, she takes her bottle of water and turns to her friends, they think she is going to speak, but in fact she opens her bottle and drinks the liquid. Only after shutting off the water does she finally speak.

- Yes... - Erin says and her friends stare at her, expecting more than a simple yes.

- If you're trying to piss us off, you're succeeding. - Tess faces her and Erin finally opens the game.

- We kissed, but it was this morning, not yesterday. - She explains.

- Did you kiss today? - Nick who asks.

- It was that time in the car, right? That's why you were weird, were you angry because he kissed you, or was he the one who got angry because you kissed him? - Tess questions.

- It wasn't in the car, it was in his apartment, in the kitchen after breakfast. - She says and turns to put the water in the fridge and get two more for her friends. - And he was the one who kissed me. - She says still with her back to her friends.

- He kissed you? How was that and is that why you were angry? - Tess asks with Nick just agreeing with her questions.

- I wasn't angry. - Erin walks over to them. - After he kissed me he apologized.

- Ownt, but...

- And then I kissed him. - Erin ends up looking nervously at her friends, both laugh at her while getting their water.

- How did this happen? - Tess asks.

- He wasn't dating? - Nick asks.

It wasn't weird for Nick to be there in the middle of a "girls" conversation. In fact, Nick was just like them, always talking about his relationships and listening to them. And actually this all started between Erin and Nick, it was Tess who came in later. Besides, the blonde was just gathering information to use against Erin when she spoke to him about Sophie.

- We were talking about the night before... - Erin starts explaining Tess's question. - He was emotional and I was drunk and then he was reinforcing in the morning that everything he said to me the night before was true and when I confronted him he was talking and suddenly kissing me... - Erin did not reveal details of the conversation, because she knew how your friends would react. She was already overthinking the words he said before he kissed her, she didn't need her friends in this either.

- Oh my... and...?

- And then we kissed and he pulled away apologizing, but it was too late, I was out of my mind and I pulled him back. Erin looks at the counter.

- Erin... - Tess looks at her and smiles. - So why were you strange when I got close to the hotel? - She questions.

- Because I asked him about Hailey and he was telling me they broke up. - She explains and friends understand.

Erin ends up spilling some details of the conversation, but not too much, she didn't want them talking in her head and she didn't think it was necessary either. The two end up leaving and Erin finally manages to get her cell phone. She sees four messages from Jay, two of which are photos, but before she sees what they are about, her daughter wakes up.

- Good morning Baby. - Erin calls her and takes her in her arms snuggling her on the couch. Charlotte is usually sleepy and quiet when she wakes up, so Erin was able to open Jay's message.

The first was a picture of the sheep with a message following it.

- I think someone missed their flight.
- Let me know as soon as they arrive. - JH

Erin laughs and looks at her daughter.

- You let Mrs. Baa with Jay? - She questions.

- Yes mommy, he would be very sad, you are not there to make him smile. - Charlotte says not realizing how she left her mother with her words. Erin pulls herself together and looks at the next photo.

This time it was one of him with the sheep, accompanied by another message.

- Mrs. Baa is worried that you didn't let her know you arrived all right. - JH

- Do you want to tell Jay that you arrived well? - Erin asks her daughter who quickly nods. Erin turns on the camera and they both smile for the photo, Lindsay sends and adds a message.

- We arrived well. And thank you for taking such good care of Mrs. Baa. - EL

- Sweet, do you want to make a sad face of excuse for Jay, for not having warned that we arrived? - The girl nods and Erin smiles. - Calm down... let me turn on the camera. - Erin says as soon as the girl makes a face without having a camera for her. - Ready... and... say little sheep... - Erin captures the photo of only Charlotte's face with her making a sad face and sends it.

- Sorry for not letting you know we arrived, a lot of things happened here. -EL

Erin puts down her cell phone and goes to look after and feed her daughter, but returns as soon as she hears a notification.

- With that little face, it's impossible not to apologize...

The two talk a little longer, but soon the conversation ends between them.


Chicago, IL - Jun/2021

A month has passed since Erin's return to NY. Erin was keeping her promise and got in touch with her old co-workers a few times. She was really trying and everyone was grateful for that.

She and Jay had only talked one more time since the last time she got back. She called him because Charlotte asked and so Jay ended up updating Erin on a few things and this time, the subject was Voight's personal life.

- Jay, I drew a picture for you at daycare. - Charlotte says excitedly on the screen.

- Serious? I can see? - He asks excitedly.

- No... - The toddler says sadly. - The teacher left him hanging on the nursery wall.

- Is your drawing on the wall? - Jay realizes how sad she was for not being able to show him. - You must be quite an artist. Everyone can see your drawing, did you know that the greatest artists in the world have paintings hanging on murals in the museum? Erin, you have quite an artist on your arms now. - Jay says and notices Erin's grateful look when both notice the expression of happiness.

- Do you really think? - She asks excitedly.

- Of course. - Jay smiles. - Also, when asked, I'll say I have the best artwork by the best artist hanging on my fridge. - Jay speaks and the girl is happy.

- Will you come and see my mural at the nursery? - She asks.

- Well, how about tomorrow I take a picture and send it to Jay? This way he will be able to see the drawing faster. - Erin quickly tries not to make her daughter think too much about Jay's visit.

- Look, I'm sure I'll love it. - Jay smiles.

- I can make another one now. - The girl jumps from her mother's lap and runs to her room before she has time to say something.

- You're amazing with her... - Erin smiles and says to Jay, her look is pure gratitude. - She likes you...

- And I her. - Jay say. - You do a good job with her... - Jay stares at her against the screen. - I always knew she would be an excellent mother... - Both stare at each other for a while. - I'm sor...

- Thanks... - Erin cuts him off. - I think she made it easy. Lindsay smiles at the thought of her daughter. The two are silent.

In an attempt to cut through the heavy mood about what could have been, Erin speaks up.

- And how's it going with Superintendent Miller? - She asks. Jay told days ago about the first female district superintendent who came in and said she was going to bring intelligence into the world today and who challenged Voight about taking things off the books.

- Well... I can tell you that opposites attract... the...

- Don't tell me you're interested in her... - Lindsay jokes and laughs knowing it wasn't him he was talking about, because if there's anyone who follows the rules, it's Jay.

- No... - Jay laughs and points his finger at Erin. - I think you can have a stepmother after so long...

- What? - Erin almost screams in shock. - Is Hank dating Superintendent Miller?

- Not exactly what I said, but I see them both working late even though they have nothing to do, he even laughs sometimes and I was on patrol once because of Trudy's orders and let's just say I saw him opening the car door and it was her coming down, right in front of a restaurant. - He updates her on some things he's seen, smiling at Lindsay's surprised face.

- I don't believe he's interested in anyone, I haven't seen him like that since Camille. - Erin looks at Jay from the screen. She feels that he is there ready to listen to her. She feels comfortable opening up to him. - You know... at first we didn't care, we knew we were going through a lot and that he had lost the love of his life, but as time went by, Justin and I... - His eyes filled up when he thought in the brother. - Justin didn't want him to move on, I thought he would forget about Camille, but after Hank started picking on him he asked me to help him find someone for Hank... - Erin and Jay laugh. - He never wanted, never accepted any meeting we set for him. I don't know if he's tried any yet, but I'm glad to see that he now has some interest. - Erin says and smiles at Jay.

- Well, I don't know where this is going, but at least they don't fight each other like they did in the beginning. - Jay laughs.

- You know... they were the only example of parents I ever had. When I joined their family, I thought that soon something bad would be coming, you know? - She says and Jay nods, but lets her continue. - But then I grew up watching them, I don't think I've ever seen someone love and be loved like Hank and Camille. I always thought they were the only ones, of course... they also fought, but even in those moments I saw the love there... - Erin lets a tear escape and quickly wipes it away, but it doesn't go unnoticed by Jay. He would clean her up if he was by her side. - I never thought I would be worthy of such love, you know? That she would find someone and have something like theirs and . . ." Erin stares at Jay, eyes just as full. - I'm sorry... - She wipes her face and laughs. - Suddenly I'm here in my lamentations and...

- No, Erin... what you said about being worthy, you...

- Jay... - Charlotte appears suddenly, interrupting what Jay was about to say to Erin. - I made a new drawing for you. Me, you and mommy here in NY. - The girl shows the sheet covering the entire screen and then Erin wipes her face and smiles, moving her daughter's hand a little away so that Jay can see the drawing properly.

They didn't stay on the previous subject anymore, Charlotte turned their attention to her and even so, the drawing of the girl moved their hearts. The three together. That's how it should be, that's what they wanted, but that wasn't their life and it wouldn't be. The call ended, and so did the calls. There were no more calls or they didn't have time, or Charlotte was already asleep and they preferred not to try and let the mood get awkward.

Jay thought about them every day, he lay in bed every night and imagined Charlotte wasn't adopted, she was their baby. The night he was leaving, she told him she was pregnant, they stayed together, he stopped her from entering that room armed because they were still partners. She didn't go to NY, he proposed to her at Molly's the same night they told everyone about the pregnancy. This was the life Jay wanted, he wanted to open his eyes and see his two girls snuggled up next to him. He wanted to know about every detail of Charlotte's life. It was everything he wanted most, but that wasn't the reality.


Chicago, IL - Jul/2021

Superintendent Miller was very strict about following the rules, about modernizing intelligence. She wanted to bring them to reality, to modernity. She wanted to show everyone and especially Hank Voight that she wasn't going to let him break the rules. Erin and Jay even talked about it and Erin liked that she had someone to try and keep Voight from going outside of the books the way he always did. Not that sometimes it wasn't necessary, but not in the intensity and quantity that the intelligence sergeant always did.

However, everything fell apart when Samantha Miller's son was found dead. The subject has changed, the rules have changed, and her orders to Sergeant Hank Voight are that he do anything and everything to find those responsible for the murder of her only son.

Quickly intelligence was working day and night, tirelessly to get results, however it cost them dearly when they discovered that Kim was kidnapped.

- Marcus and Dimitri kidnap Kim and kill Darrel! We can't let them kill Kim. - Voight tells everyone in the bullpen.

- Can't we leave? You sent her to that dangerous place, you are all to blame and if anything happens to her, I swear to God I will finish you all off. - Ruzek screams in the middle of the intelligence room and throws all the paperwork from a table on the floor and walks out of the bullpen.

The blonde didn't want to stop looking for his partner, he didn't want her to think he wasn't looking for her, but months ago she asked him to be Makayla's guardian and he needed to pick her up from school.

Adam decided not to worry the 6-year-old girl, he didn't want her to be upset and scared by the kidnapping, so he lied and Herman got him a trusted nanny so they could pick up Kimberly.

It was two exhausting days, two days without answers. Everyone was tired and scared. Was Kim still alive? Would she be all right when they found her? They didn't know, but they couldn't stop looking.

They were after clues, none of the ones they received led to Kim, at the moment they were looking at the security cameras from the streets and they didn't even know how many times they did that, they looked around where she disappeared, but nothing showed. They were all in the bullpen when they heard the gate open, nobody knew someone was coming, so they figured it was some information about Kim and were surprised when they saw Erin Lindsay coming up the stairs. Jay was the first to approach.

- I didn't know you were coming. - He approaches and hugs her.

- I wouldn't stop coming. - She smiles at Jay and everyone. - I know I'm not much help and I don't even have answers, but I want to help in whatever it takes. - She says and has no fights or discussions, all help was welcome at the time. Erin walks over to Ruzek. - We'll find her. - Erin says.

- How can you be sure? She could be dead, it's been two days and we don't have a fucking lead! - Adam screams, but that doesn't surprise anyone present, he was like that since the kidnapping and Erin didn't shake, she just held him and controlled him.

- You know how I know? Because I know Kim... - She holds Adam's arms. - We all know her, she's smart and tough. We know she's going to fight for her life, if not for her then for Makayla. I know we're going to find her, because as much as she's tough, she's being sought out by the best team in Chicago. - Her hands go up to Adam's face. - She wouldn't want you to lose control like that, she would want you trying your best to find her without taking your anger out on who is helping you. Come on, let's look.

They spend the rest of the day looking for Kim, still without any important information or leading them to find where Kimberly was.


- They gave me a few days for Kim. Marshall understood the situation and Nick is very good as my replacement, I failed everyone here for a long time, and I promised not to do it again. - Erin says to Hank and he nods.

- You know you're welcome here and now we need all the help we can. - He walks over to her and hugs her.

Erin leaves Voight's office and still without much to do decides to go for coffee in the break room.

- Oh... I'm sorry... - Erin opened the door to the break room and saw Jay and Hailey kissing. She quickly apologizes and closes the door. She couldn't run, even if it was what she wanted she wouldn't run from it, she took a deep breath and walked back to her makeshift table.

She notices Jay leaving and Hailey right behind. She doesn't dare look up, she doesn't want to meet either of their eyes, she doesn't even want to broach the subject, but then she senses Jay walking toward her. She would like to run now, but even that doesn't feel like she has the courage to do it, but to her relief, her cell phone rings. Quickly Erin picks him up and attends to him and to help even more, she has a clue.

- Hey, everyone... - Erin calls everyone's attention, Jay looks embarrassed, but stops and leans against Hailey's desk as Erin walks by to get Voight. When everyone is gathered she speaks. - I asked everyone to search the photos of Marcus and Dimitri, I know that their name and the photo was not being found in any police records, but there were two guys who looked like them in the FBI records. It wasn't my jurisdiction so I didn't say anything beforehand, I didn't even know if we were going to find any leads, but we did. - While she was talking she had already forwarded the clues to be printed and walked to the printer to get them. - Here are all the possible addresses they could be, I know there are many, but it's the best lead we have so far.

Voight evaluates all the addresses, he looks at them one by one and mentally does the math in his head and he knows which ones Kim is most likely to be at, he also knows who owns some of these houses and when his gaze lands on a specific address he knows exactly who helped Marcus and Dimitri.

- I want you to look at these addresses, I know some and I know that Kim will probably be here... - Hank writes down and marks all the addresses he has in mind that may be Kim is, but he is pretty sure that the address he he scored for himself, it was right. - I'll ask the patrol to help with the search, I'll look at the ones left, just to make sure I'm not mistaken. - He says and without saying anything or waiting for the others to say he leaves.

Erin knew him, she knew him too well to know that he had something on his mind and that he probably knew something that he wasn't telling anyone. She was thinking of following him, but just because he said it was at the address he marked could be where Kim would be found that she didn't follow him. When Justin died he only asked them to check the suspect house, he didn't say that was where Justin's killer could be. Erin guessed at that moment that Voight wasn't going after Kim but who had kidnapped her.

Everyone started getting ready, not caring that Hank left, just Erin and...

- Where are you going? -Erin holds Hailey by the arm as soon as she sees her coming down the stairs.

- I know he knows something else. - Upton says to Erin.

- And he said he would go alone... - She says to the woman.

- Yes and you and I know what he means by that. - Hailey takes her arm out of Erin's hands and faces her.

- Yes, and if you know him so well, you would know that he won't stop whatever he's planning just because you followed him. - Erin says.

- He has to stop, he knows very well that he shouldn't do whatever he's planning and you shouldn't support him...

- I'm not supporting him, Hailey! I already tried to stop it. That's why Al died. As long as we're covering for Hank, our lives will be affected, it's not about him, it's about us! It's about you following him, Hailey. It can harm you. - Erin warns.

- No, Erin. It can harm someone. Hank keeps doing the wrong things and everyone lets him, everyone covers for him. I'm not like that, I'm not going to let him go down, neither will our team go down and you wouldn't know it, you're no longer part of it!

- Hailey... - Erin calls her, but she has already gone down the stairs, as soon as Erin starts to follow her, Kevin calls her.

- Hey, are you coming with us? - He asks and Erin looks at the stairs going down and then at the stairs going up and decides to follow Kevin. Hailey is making up her mind and Erin decided a long time ago that she wasn't going to harm herself anymore, not with a three year old waiting for her at home, and she knows Makayla wanted her to do what she could to get her mom back home.


As Erin said, Kimberly Burgess fought for her life, she didn't let go, she didn't stay in her captivity waiting to die, as hard as it was, she fought, no matter how sore and hurt she was, all she could think about was Makayla, in returning to her daughter. They were getting along, Makayla even called her mommy the last few days and she wasn't going to miss that, she wasn't going to miss the growth of that beautiful little girl that she loved so much. So she fought and when she decided to give in, she was finally found.

- Look at this... - Adam points to a huge parking lot and all four of them run inside.

They found the possible car Kim was taken in sunk in the river, this was bad to see as before confirming there was no one in the car they thought she might have drowned.

Jay was ahead of everyone, with Kevin close behind when he spotted blood on the ground towards a car.

- Kim... - Jay runs and opens the passenger door finding her unconscious. - Kim... - Jay holds her and shakes her face waiting for her to open her eyes. - Here... guys, I found her. - He screams and everyone runs to her. -She has a pulse, but she's weak. - Jay says taking her out of the car.

- Take her to the hospital, there's a patrol car right ahead. - Erin says and warns over the radio while Jay passes Kim into Kevin's arms. Adam is in shock but manages to control himself when he sees that she is alive.

- Don't you think it's better to wait for the ambulance? - He himself asks afraid that she will break some part of her body.

- She lost a lot of blood, I think we better go now. - Kevin says and everyone ends up agreeing.

- You guys go, I'll stay... - Erin says.

- I'm going too. - Jay says and helps everyone get into the car.

The two begin to search the place in search of any clues or suspects, but as they imagined, there was nothing. Erin takes a moment to rest and leans against a wall.

- Hey are you okay? -Jay walks over and places a hand on Erin's shoulder as she looks down, when their eyes meet, he doesn't say anything else as he pulls her into her arms. - She's going to be fine... - Jay calms her down while Erin holds back her tears.

- I know you do, but...

- Hey... she's tough, she'll be fine, we all will. - Jay continues his consolation.

- Listening? - Their radio plays and Jay walks away enough to talk to Kevin.

- On the wire, which was Kev. - Jay answers.

- Adam will stay with Kim at the hospital and I don't want to leave him alone, someone needs to get Makayla. - Kevin warns.

- Okay, we'll do it. - Jay warns and hangs up.

- I'll tell Hailey and Hank, you look for her, ok? - Erin says and Jay stares at her.

- We can let you know by message. - Jay says.

- I know, but they're going to want information and I think we're going to be short since three are in the hospital and the two of them are alone. Get Makayla and meet us in the district, would you? - Erin doesn't want Jay to be involved in whatever Voight and Upton are involved in right now and now is the time for her to try to pull Hailey out of the ambush that she herself is in.

- Are you really OK? - Jay still seems a little unsure.

- I am, I promise. - Erin forces a smile as she leaves.


Erin knew where to look for them, well, not exactly which house, but when she scanned the addresses, she remembered an informant of his that he'd taken her to a few times in the past, she'd try her luck with him.

She wasn't wrong about his intuition, she soon found Voight's car and Upton's parked. She gets out of the car and runs to the door, but before she gets there she hears a gunshot.

- Damn it! - Lindsay screams, takes her gun, looks around to see if there was no one else outside and storms into the house. Everything is empty around her, except for the noises heard under the house. They are in the basement. Erin soon heads for the door that leads to the basement stairs. When she finally arrives, she hears another shot. This time she saw who it was, it was Upton, she had just executed the suspect.

The scene after that happens all too quickly.

- What did you do? - Voight yells at her who seems scared by what just happened, but she answers him.

- He was going to shoot you. - She yells at him.

- I dumped his gun ammo. - Voight warns.

- How was I supposed to know, he had it in his hand, I don't know...

- Lindsay, what are you doing here? - Hank notices her presence. - One more following me, what's your problem? I thought the unit sergeant was me. - He shouts indignantly.

- I came to try to stop Hailey from harming herself, but I see that I arrived too late. - Erin puts her gun in her pocket and faces Hailey. - I warned...

- What did you want me to do, he was going to shoot...

- I wish you hadn't come. - Lindsay says and runs a hand over her face.

- Did you find Burgess? - Voight questions.

- She's in surgery, Atwater is with Ruzek and Halstead went to get Makayla. - Erin updates.

- What will we do now? - Upton says looking at the dead body.

- We won't do anything. - Lindsay says and looks at Voight who nods.

- Let me take care of it. - Voight says and Hailey stares at them.

- How do you take care of it? - Hailey questions.

- They won't fall for that you tried to protect me Hailey, not with the Ivory Tower on top of us, I need to get rid of that body. You two were never here. - He says and Erin starts walking out. Not that she agreed with Voight's actions, but she learned that she has battles not worth fighting.

- You can't do that, I killed a man to save you! - The blonde yells at Voight.

- I didn't call you here! - Voight yells at her and stares at Erin. - Get it out of here. - He orders.

After a brief argument Upton gives in and goes with Erin away, the car ride is silent, almost all the way to the district, but Hailey doesn't contain herself.

- You are always like that? Covering for him? - She questions Lindsay who is not even willing to turn her face to look at Hailey, she knew that way and they were already arriving at the district, but she had a total of zero patience to listen to Hailey. - You should stop it or you will harm yourself. It's always the same with you...

- I stopped it, you are the one who should stop it! - Erin can't take it and stares at Hailey as soon as they stop in the district parking lot. - Don't like Voight's work? Great, quit your job or report it, but don't try to change it, you're not wasting time, you're risking your job, your life. - Erin takes the keys and gets out of the car.

- He killed a man! And you're letting him get rid of the body. - Hailey gets out of the car and yells at Erin.

- No Hailey, YOU killed a man! YOU followed him! YOU shot and YOU got in the car with me to get back! - Erin stops and approaches Hailey. - Are you feeling guilty? Are you remorseful for what you've done? Go in there and say you killed a guy, say you did it to protect Hank and he was torturing the guy, and say Voight is disposing of the body. But don't play the victim, because no one forced you to follow Voight when he gave orders to find Kim. Assume its consequences. - Erin says quietly this time, not wanting to draw attention from the district and when she finishes she leaves Hailey and enters the district.

Hailey still had a lot to talk about, she liked the job and she liked Voight, she just didn't think it was right how he acted in some situations. So she doesn't think Erin has the right to show up after 4 years and try to lecture her.

When Hailey decides to go after Erin, she runs past the entrance and Platt realizes that the two women are irritated, she even called both of them, but none paid attention and they went straight up, Erin was ahead of Hailey and the blonde didn't want to create a scandal in the district and then decided to try to keep up with Erin, when they were both walking up the stairs Hailey finally spoke.

- Do you think I wanted to...

- Makayla... - Erin stops her and tells her that the girl is there, then Jay spots them and walks over to them. The two manage to control the emotion, but before Jay realizes that both are strange and seem irritated.

- All good? - He approaches them still at the top of the stairs.

- Yes... - Erin lies and he knows it's a lie, but he doesn't say anything.

-Yeah I brought Makayla, I think now she has to know about Kim, all the way in the car she came asking and said it's "great" and her parents died, so she's "prepared" to know about Kim.

- My God... - Hailey says and looks to the break room where the girl is currently sitting looking at them. It wasn't so easy to distract a 6-year-old child who had already had many traumas in his life, unlike a child who still had his innocence intact.

- Did you say something? - Erin questions him.

- No, I said I would explain better to her later, but I think you can do it better. - He says to Erin and looks at Hailey and starts to explain. - Why...

- I'll go there... - Erin interrupts, takes her hands out of her back pockets, looks at Jay and walks past him.

- What happened? - He questions Hailey.

- Nothing... is she okay? - She tries to change the subject, but Jay won't let her.

- You know I'm not going to fall for that, right? - He continues and Hailey turns and faces him.

- I know... - She half smiles. - But I'll tell you at home, now let's worry about Kim and Makayla. Hailey speaks.

- Where's Voight? - He questions.

- We still haven't arrested the suspects, he asked me and Erin to come help, see if we found some more clues.

Jay knows all three of them, he knows they're hiding something and he knows Voight must be up to something and he kicked them both out and they're probably angry and arguing about it. He is reassured by knowing that whatever Voight is doing, the two are far away and have moved away from it. He didn't want Hailey getting involved with Hank's affairs and even less that Erin would be faithful to him again, Halstead smiles when he sees how much Erin has changed in that regard and smiles even more when he looks at the break room seeing Makayla hugging her. She may have changed in some ways, but she hasn't changed at all and he is happy to see how the children always trust and lean on her.


Night came on that exhausting day, it didn't seem like the day had only 24 hours, they were exhausted, they were happier knowing that Kim was stable in the hospital. Erin didn't give Makayla any details, said that Kim was injured and was in the hospital and that she would be able to see her soon, managed to distract her to ask her to draw to help her mother get better, and then left Jay and Hailey alone when decided to go to the hospital.

Kim was unconscious but no longer at risk. Erin stayed with Kevin at the hospital and Adam went to take Makayla home. She didn't know where Jay, Hailey or Voight were, but at the moment she didn't care and just hoped her friend recovered soon.


On the same night...

Jay's apartament

- Jay, marry me? - Hailey proposes.


At dawn...

Chicago Medical

- She woke up... - Kim's doctor warns.


In the morning...

Intelligence district 21

- The suspects are gone... - Voight counts.


Manhattan, NY - Jul/2021

She was apprehensive, pacing the apartment. Her work day was already over, but that was another reason why she was nervous.

When Erin learned about Kim's kidnapping, her hands couldn't be tied, and she needed to help. In the short time Erin stayed in Chicago, it was enough time for her to prove to some that she meant what she said when she said she wouldn't abandon them again, but it was also enough time for her to have some conflicts.

She only stayed long enough to see Kim awake, the suspects were still missing, well at least that's what some thought, but even if no one had said anything everyone knew their sergeant and so figured they wouldn't show up again. She left just days after they rescued Kim.

However, a few days later they received word that one of them had been found and Jay let Erin know that they would be out to capture it. She hadn't traveled to help them capture the man, but she was being updated on every detail.

- Come on Jay... - The agent starts talking to herself. Walking back and forth. Jay promised he would call her if anything happened, the problem is that it's been 4 hours since she has any information, no news and whenever she calls, she's out of area.

The minutes were passing, it was already late at night, her daughter was already properly asleep in her mother's room and Erin knows that she will only be able to sleep when she has news that they are all fine.

Erin knew what they were getting into, she knew the whole case and she just didn't stay any longer because the case didn't need an FBI agent. She went to help Burgess and had to go back to NY. So there she was, pacing back and forth with her gaze focused on the cell phone on the table and imagining it might ring at any moment.

When a noise sounded in her house she startled, she wasn't expecting her door to be the one that would ring at 1am. She got worried, her heart started beating faster, she didn't know what was going on, but from the situation she could imagine. Bad news travels fast, they say, but Erin was waiting hours for news and with no phone calls and in another state, she could imagine that bad news was knocking on her door, she could feel it.

Erin didn't want to answer, so much so that it was on the third knock that she finally decided to walk to her front door and it was also halfway through that her cell phone rang. She was torn. She didn't want to miss that call, but on the other hand she had someone knocking on her door. She knew that probably either her door or her cell phone had the information she'd been waiting for all night.

She really wanted it to be over the phone, that way she would know that everything was fine and that they only took so long because the case was a difficult one. Because if she went through the door, she knew that an officer or Tess or Nick would probably be there on the other side to tell her some bad news from Chicago. She thought that, because she imagined that if bad news had to arrive, she would first reach someone reliable in NY to deliver such news personally.

Yes, Erin always thought the worst, her life always had these ups and downs, but this time she had a point, everything was very strange and they were on a very complicated case.

Taking a deep breath and praying that on the other side of the door was her neighbor who sometimes knocks at inopportune times, Erin decided to abandon her cell phone and answer the door. Whatever was on the other side would either be quick, or it would have the information she'd been waiting for all day, but not in a good way.

Taking a deep breath and opening the door. The person on the other side was confirmation for all her suspicions, it was confirmation that they didn't have good news, it wasn't necessary for that person to say a word, she knew that something bad had happened and her doubt was.

- Tell me he's alive... - She says and then collapses in the arms of the man in front of her, even without knowing the answer, her heart hurts knowing that someone she loves so much is hurt.

"When faced with bad news, what we must do is divert the bad thoughts, pray and, as difficult as it may seem, we must hope that the best happens."

- Letícia Butterfield


A/N: For those who follow the series until today, I know that I didn't follow the exact timeline of Samantha's son's death and Kim's kidnapping. Not even the names are the same or anything like it other than the death and the kidnapping, but I didn't watch the episodes, I just learned what happened and decided to take that information and add it to the story. It's not an exact sequel to Chicago PD, even if I try to run it in chronological order.

Comment a lot. You will finally find out who is in the hospital. Jay or Hank? Make your bets! Kisses and until the next.