Hi so here is another chapter, I published this and then went back to look at my notes for this story. I haven't been feeling this one for a while and I think the best thing to do is bring it to the best end that I can. Therefore there will be one more chapter for this story that will be through Hank's eyes and it will bring this story to a close.

I hope I have done this justice, this was a tough one for me, emotionally draining and I think after writing three stories back to back for this wonderful fandom it's taken it's toll. I think I need to take a bit of a break from Chicago PD and then come back refreshed. I do have in my planning book a great Hank and Jay story in it's works so I will go and look at that once some other stories have been crossed out the book.

I want to thank you all so much for the support you've given me over the years. It means more than words can say.

So onwards with the new penultimate chapter of this story and I will publish the last one soon.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

Please Read and Review.

And warnings for triggers.

Call It Paradise

Chapter 12-I Shall Believe

In which a deal is reached. Jay and Ethan concede on what they can live with. Hank just wants everyone to come out alive...and someone to fill the empty desk next in his unit.

It's Will who opens the door.

"Jay" he turns shouting into the wilderness that is what has to be the most messy kitchen Hank has seen in a while (seriously he can see his wife rolling her eyes at it) and he inches in as Jay comes out half asleep still.

"How's your son?"

"Sleeping. He's…I spent the entire night watching him in the corner like some twit and then—"

"And then I dragged him back and we got drunk" Will said turning to the stove. "Can I get you a coffee Voight?"

"Please. Is Ethan still sleeping?"

"Connor gave him some anxiety meds and they knocked him out like a light" Will said cheerfully. "And then we can take today and discuss what happens next"

"What happens next…yes…that was what I wanted to come and speak to you about. Saunders is asking for a deal"

Jay snorted but mercifully kept his mouth shut. Hank was not entirely sure what he would do if it was Justin in Ethan's shoes but then again he was the first to admit that he was not the best Dad when it came to this shit. Case in point when his son was shipped out because really…what else could he do?

"No needle?"

"We don't do that down here Will" Jay said quietly. "What is he prepared to testify too?"

"He'll confess to Ethan, Colin and three other boys all on the Swim Team, two have graduated one is a freshman but he's got the groundwork done on another one, amazingly once the story was leaked, how many boys were coming forwards. It appears the school did hear rumours and whispers that there was an issue but he was a charmer to the parents and he got them results."

"So they let him stay?" Will said appalled putting down his coffee cup.

Hank shrugged.

"I don't know, I don't know but there is something murky under the rocks there. Good thing I know a woman who mans the front desk of the prescient and she was a little board so she went for drinks with someone and as it turns out this someone was a reporter…you get how this is going to go, no names of course but I imagine that school will be cleaning up this shit for a very long time"

Jay took a sip of coffee and winced in that post hangover way that Hank knew intimately.

"Good" he said viciously. He put down his coffee mug and then. "So he'll plead to

molestation…what else?"

"If we offer him parole it's Colin. I don't know the specifics but the DA is talking twenty five to life and parole in 30 at the minimum. Considering what he is I think you and I both know he's not going to make it twenty five days in prison never mind twenty five years. What this does do is make damn sure that Ethan never sets one foot in a courtroom, he never has to be sworn in under oath, never has to testify, never has to go through this again. He can focus on rebuilding…I spoke to Colin's mother and while she's emphasised that she understands it's your families decision she would like it so that her son doesn't get dragged through the mud. Colin did take a gun and a bomb to school…she'd like some form of closure. I don't blame her to be honest but the decision is up to you"

There was a pause as Jay looked down at his fingernails. Hank could see that he was picking at them, could see that they were chewed down and he knew that it was a stress mechanism and he resisted the urge suddenly to reach out and sooth the cut fingers.

"What would we have to do?"

"He signs a statement, he's already done one so It shouldn't be too hard. And I would recommend suing the hell out of that school but that being said that's your choice. All I will say is that you have one hell of a shot"

Jay said nothing for a second and then.

"Where is he?"

"Holding and then in Riker's."

"I don't know if I wanna see him again"

"So you can do what fuck the entire thing up? Look Jay I get it I do, I'm a father and if this was my son then I would be annihilating the entire world right now but I am telling you that if you do that not only will it take you away from Ethan when he needs you the most it will get this fucker a reduced sentence, and quite frankly I am not gonna go back to Colin's mother and tell her that's why her son's rapist who paid for him to be shot in the back of her head is free and on the streets"

Jay nodded for a second and then.

"Yeah well don't ask me if I could" he said finally. He pulled a face and then.

"Okay. I'll take to Ethan, I won't make any promises—"

"Do It" came a voice and all three of them turned. Hank would have cursed himself if he was of a mind but he could not help himself it was impressive. The kid had managed to sneak up on all of them and two of them were cops and both pretty good ones.

Jay was on his feet in a flash.

God he was getting too old for this.

"Buddy—" he started but Ethan had shook his head.

"I don't…I want this to end Dad. I don't want to keep telling this story for the rest of my life, I want it over with. I want to go in the pool for fun and I want to swim because it's what I loved and not because of this, I want to go and tell Colin's mom how much of a good kid he was and I want to tell her that I did what I had to do…is his sentence gonna change all that much if he doesn't take this deal?"

"Probably not" Hank said easily. Dark eyes stared back at him and it was like they were looking into his soul. Maybe Erin was onto something when she talked about channelling spirits because it was very apparent that Ethan and Camille could both do that thing where they got him to spill his guts just by looking at him.

"He's looking at life either way, what this gives him is hope at the end of the tunnel that he might be younger than eighty when he gets out. It also spares you a trial—"

"He doesn't care about me"

"No but he does care about himself. These guys…they don't want to be outed as what they are. A quiet deal gives him some kind of privacy in prison at least for the first few months"

In truth Hank didn't know. He didn't know if it was practical or not. He didn't know why and a long time ago he had learnt not to trust the criminal mind. It didn't work like that, he didn't work like that.

"And Colin…I mean…nobody has to know he did what he did right? I mean…I mean the bomb—"

"People do know what he did" Hank said quietly. "The school knows, school kids know but the school by the time the courts and the press are done with them won't have a leg to stand on. But this is your choice and I want you to chose it. If you don't want a deal then we go for trial"

Ethan nodded and then he slid his eyes to his Dad.

"What do you want to do?"

For a second the two of them stared at each other and then Jay sighed.

"If you want this to go away then I accept that, taking a plea deal is no sign of weakness Ethan. If you want to do this then both your Uncle and me are behind you one hundred percent"

Ethan nodded and then he caught Hank's eye and swallowed.

"Do it" was all he said and Hank nodded.

Jay was up in a flash hugging his son and for a second father and son clung to each other. Hank watched them and felt strangely sad which was odd because…well…his relationship with Justin was…better he supposed than it had been.

"There's another thing I wanted to talk to you both about" he said quietly.

Dark eyes, a carbon copy of father and son turned to look at them and Will Halstead made up the trio. For a second the three of them stared at him.

"Jay I want you to consider coming to work for me in Intelligence"

Whatever Jay was supposed to be expecting it was clearly not that. For a second the two of them stared at each other and then Hank shrugged. "I want you to come work for me" he said again so there would be no confusion. "You're a good cop Jay and your street smart, you should have been on my radar before now but Denny Woods is a piece of shit who likes to ground good cops beneath his shoes. What I do is real police work and I expect real police to do it. Your real police, your real police with bells and whistles on. I have to give you that."

Jay opened his mouth and Hank could see it reflected back in him. Hank too when Camille had died had wondered if he should throw in the towel. Hell he had wanted to go a lot earlier but she had refused to let him go. She had told him that he had to keep going, to keep doing the job and now the job was really all he had when you thought about it.

"You sure you want me?"

"Yes"

There was another pause and then…

"Oh hell no Dad you are not quitting your job because of me. I am not having that on my conscious. I think it would be really good for you. I mean…as cops go they were alright with me" and with that he nodded at Hank as if that was going to make it all alright again.

"Thanks" Hank said as Will Halstead shot him another look.

Jay stared at him for a second and then.

"Are you sure that you want me?"

Jesus what was it with these kids and weather or not he wanted them? How had Hank become a surrogate parent to every waif and stray cop that existed out there?

He sighed again, he was taking in more air than he was anything else at the moment too.

"Jay you're a good man, a good father and a good cop, and you've got street smart that you can't teach, your clearly good with kids and you see things that others don't. I want you in my unit, and this is me asking nicely but I want you in that spare desk and I intend to have you there, so take some time, be a family and then in three weeks report to Intelligence and let's get started"

And that was that.

For a second Jay Halstead blinked and then he grinned and Hank finally could see the boy in him again.

It was a nice sight.

He left the apartment and he knew deep in his bones that he was going to be okay. That Jay and Ethan were going to be okay. That they would survive this, call him naïve but he knew it. Hank had been doing this too long to not know.

And as he walked away for reasons that he didn't totally understand he found that he was smiling and the day was a bit brighter and that tonight he might call Justin and hear his son babble to him and know that everything was going to be alright.

And there you go, I hope that this isn't too terrible and I thank you for your support. See you soon.