Welcome to a slow burn Linstead. It will follow canon with the show up to a point. I'll let you know episodes and important events that go along with the chapter. Anything that's recognizable and the characters belong to NBC. There may be some direct quotes from the show, those will be noted at the end of the chapter. It starts after Al's funeral but will quick jump backwards to around Season 1. There's no set update schedule so please be patient with me. This will be multiple chapters and I'll try to give warning when it's getting close to ending. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!

Setting: 2 weeks after Al's Funeral in Season 6 Episode 1

Chapter 1

Hank Voight sat in his arm chair staring into his glass of red wine. The TV had long switched to the nightly news but Hank heard nothing but background noise over the dull buzzing in his head. Normally, wine would not be his drink of choice but since the loss of Alvin Olinsky, red wine found its way into his hand more and more often. And not just the wine; bourbon, scotch, whiskey, you name it; he drank it in the last two weeks. With a giant swig, the remainder of the wine in his glass made its way down his throat.

Groaning, he rose unsteadily to his feet with the intent to head to bed. Some sleep would make the hangover less painful in the morning. He was looking around for the remote when a quiet knocking sounded from the direction of the front door. Unsure of who would be knocking this late, Hank took a sobering breath before opening the door. Standing on the front porch with a mixture of sadness and uncertainty on her face was Erin Lindsay. Before his brain could process who he was seeing, her small arms were wrapped around him and a quiet "Oh, Hank, I'm so sorry" echoed through the stillness of the house. Erin was home.

After the long hug in the front hall, Erin and Hank moved to the kitchen. Almost every important conversation that had been held in this house occurred around the kitchen table: the discussion of the rules when Erin came to live with the Voights, Erin informing Hank and Camille that she had been accepted to the police academy, the two older Voights sitting her and Justin down to tell them that Camille was sick. The list was endless. Hank turned back to the table with fresh glasses of wine for himself and Erin. She accepted hers with a small smile and a nod. When Hank sat down, Erin gently placed her hand over his on the table.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't be here for his funeral," she started. "I should have been but I was on assignment and didn't know. When I got back to New York, I finally got all of your messages. You can't really have thought I would stayed away. "

Hank had to clear the emotion from his throat in order to get the words out, "Erin, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here, especially now."

"Don't be ridiculous, I am not leaving you here to handle this on your own. I wish I could have been here, for you and for him. I took emergency leave as soon as my debriefing was cleared. I am here for a week and you're not getting rid of me before that."

Hank looked at her, recognizing the fire in her eyes in addition to the pain He knew from experience there was going to be no talking her out of this. Despite his concerns, he was going to be selfish and enjoy the little time he had with her here in Chicago.

"Well, I guess we should go get your room made up then."