A/N Happy BeMeanToJayDay! The chapters a bit shorter, sorry, but it packs a punch(s) so I hope that makes up for the lack of words.
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He'd dropped anchor on Hayward grateful there weren't a lot of street lights in the area. The beater car he got from impound was a little cramped and between that and his vest, made it hard to get comfortable. But it didn't matter…he could ride out the discomfort. He'd been doing it for days.
Once settled, he texted Hailey.
Got a probable location on Spencer or at least where he's cutting and storing. Sending you an email with the details. Voight won't move on it if it comes from me. Call Cynthia if you need to confirm.
He didn't tell her he'd dropped anchor. They'd figure it out soon enough.
…
…
Got it. Thanks Jay.
She didn't need to call Cynthia to confirm. It wouldn't have even crossed her mind. But it killed her he put that in there…thinking she still wouldn't trust him even though they knew there was a kid now, but then again, they needed proof to believe there was a kid. Their fuck up gave him every reason to feel that way. She didn't know how she would ever make it up to him…if she even could.
Standing with her hands braced on the desk, she read the email, then straightened and rubbed her face.
"Sarge…"
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Hailey filled them all in over the radio as they raced to the scene.
"Jay's been working with Cynthia Cooper. He found a thread to pull on the tox screens that he thought might pin down a location on where Spencer's cutting and Cynthia confirmed it. We're heading to what Jay believes is the most likely address.
"He thinks Spencer might be using kids, or at least some kids to do the cutting, said it would explain the inconsistencies in the batches."
Adam came over the radio. "Makes sense…a lot of sense."
He wondered if that was something they would have thought of if they believed there was a kid. He didn't think so. Jay was a great detective, saw things from angles they didn't even know existed. Al used to tell him to watch Halstead, follow his lead and he'd go far.
Remembering what Al said was just one more thing that drove home what a fucking idiot he was.
X
Jay was relieved when a car pulled up and parked a block down on Hayward and he heard Adam radio in their location. A minute later Hailey came back with their location on 3rd and Surry.
"Got Jay on 4th and Hayward. Gray Honda Civic."
The last thing he wanted to do was inform the team, Voight, that he'd arrived at the scene and then texted Hailey, but he didn't hesitate. They needed to know.
"No movement last 30 minutes."
There was an uncomfortable pause as they all waited to see what Voight would do, but Hailey jumped in before their boss had a chance to be an asshole.
"Copy you."
They'd all been on site for 45 minutes when the pain in his lower back spiked curling him against the door while he struggled to breath through it.
He hoped the spike was due to his shift in position and the fading potency of the meds he'd taken, but knew he was probably kidding himself. He felt no rigidity but was afraid he was an hour or two away from being fucked, making his desperation skyrocket.
He straightened in the seat when the pain eased up and as much as he hated to admit it, and feared it might come to pass, he had to let the team know where he was physically. He couldn't take a chance on losing Spencer.
"Not sure I'll be able to cover 4th. Kev, Adam, you guys might need to slide or split.
"Jay…"
"I'm fine Hailey…it's a 'just in case.'"
Voight came back in agreement with the needed adjustment to the plan, all grateful it included Jay.
"Kevin, Adam, slide to Halstead once we have confirmation."
"Got it Sarge."
He blew out a sigh of relief that Voight wasn't attempting to bench him. Voight knew he would still go in, but not being benched and forcing him to go in against orders said something, he just didn't know what yet. He could think about it later after Spencer was dead or in handcuffs.
X
15 minutes later a surge of adrenaline flooded his system, dulling the pain and sharpening his focus, "Confirmation on Spencer. He and an unknown just entered through the chain link on 4th."
"Copy. Move in…"
He was sure Hailey would have shared this with the team, but wanted to reiterate now that they were on the verge of going in, "If there's kids in there, they'll be a wild card. Who knows how they'll react."
She was about to respond when Voight beat her to it.
"Copy that."
X
Jay was right, there were kids and where there's kids, there's chaos and it made for a messy bust.
Kevin, Jay and Adam stacked up and made a silent entry while the rest of the team announced themselves, hoping that would move Spencer their way and they could box him and his minions in.
It worked, they had the crew between a rock and a hard place until a scared little kid ran into the middle of the bust and right by Spencer. The asshole was able to scoop him up and actually threw the little guy in the middle of the melee and ran out the side door.
Kevin got the kid while Jay and Adam followed Spencer. They broke apart when one of Spencer's cohorts followed the asshole toward the exit. When they split, Jay and Adam split, Jay following Spencer, Adam the minion.
It was a natural split given how close they were to each. Adam forgot that Jay, running on adrenaline, was injured. He didn't look like he was in pain and he seemed as fast as ever. If he had remembered they might have split differently
Though muted by adrenaline, Jay was feeling every pain in his body and the pain in his back pulsed with every step. He was losing steam and needed the chase to end quickly or he would lose Spencer.
He needed back up ASAP but knew everyone else would be busy with all the other assholes they needed to take down. He had no choice but to push through and keep going until they got to him.
"Need back up. Alley off 4th heading towards Surry."
He got no answer and figured as much. They were all fighting their own battles and his was about to begin. He came wide around a corner to see Spencer scrambling to his feet after falling. It took two steps before Jay was close enough to tackle the asshole, and losing his gun to the darkness in the execution of it, the hand to hand fight was on.
Even with Jay's injuries the playing field was close to even. He was the superior fighter and let the muscle memory of so many fights in Chicago and overseas take over. He was also fueled by another surge of adrenaline and a shitload of rage. It was a desperate, merciless fight.
They were exchanging blow for bloody blow. Jay's vest protected his ribs, but it still left everything from his bellybutton down exposed and Spencer was keyed into that fact, alternating between gut shots and blows to his face.
A steady stream of blood from cuts to his right cheek and left eyebrow joined the blood flowing down his face from his older injuries; his split lip was a bloody mess and the cut and scrapes on his chin and forehead oozed.
Jay looked bad but Spencer didn't look much better. He'd been aiming the majority of his punches to the Spencer's face hoping to knock him out sooner rather than later. Hitting the hard plains of the asshole's ugly mug over and over again were bloodying up his knuckles but if there was pain he didn't feel it. The bloodier the better. It meant he was doing some damage.
When Spencer stumbled backwards, Jay stumbled forward and tried to end the fight, landing a right hook to the asshole's cheek, followed by a hard left to his temple.
A grunt of pain made it through his clenched jaw when he landed the last punch and the power of it vibrated down his left side. Against his will, his arm pulled tight to his body and he curled slightly to his left.
Even though the brutality of the blows almost dropped him, Spencer clocked the move and yanked Jay into a bear hug.
As soon as the asshole's arms closed around him, Jay delivered a solid head butt to his nose and could hear the crunch of it even through his ringing ears. Head butts usually hurt the giver as much as the receiver and this time was no different, but his body had taken over because his mind was panicking. He needed help.
They swayed and stumbled as both their bells were rung by Jay's move, but Spencer didn't let go. He adjusted his hold, pulled Jay closer with his left arm and with his right, threw two quick jabs to Jay's exposed left flank. The fight was over.
The blows to his kidney sent him to his knees with an earsplitting scream. He slid down Spencer's body grappling to stay on his feet.
On the verge of passing out, his body acted on instinct while his brain was lost on the explosion in his back, and sent an upper cut to Spencer's balls. It didn't have as much power as it normally would have but it was enough to bring the asshole to the ground with him.
It put a pause in the action and though he was at a level of pain too intense to breathe through, he put the time to good use.
Growling in pain through clenched teeth, he fumbled for his handcuffs and cuffed Spencer's right hand to his left, closing both cuffs as tightly as he could. Dead or alive, Spencer would have to drag him along if he tried to get away.
The asshole came to his senses when the cuff closed tightly around his wrist. Jay left his dominant right hand free while incapacitating Spencer's with a tight cuff, but dominate hand or not, it made no difference, he was down and in excruciating pain, making him an easy target.
Jay was curled on his side and unable to move when Spencer got to his feet. The asshole jerked their cuffed hands in his desperation to get away, but only succeeded in dragging his almost dead weight a few inches.
Unable to escape, Spencer took out his anger on the 'fucking cop' attached to him. He leaned down, grabbed Jay by the hair and slammed the side of his head into the ground. A kick in his protected ribs followed but did nothing other than roll him onto his back and cause Spencer to stumble.
It hurt like hell and was weaker than fuck, but he jerked his left arm, pulling an off balance Spencer to his knees then clocked him in the temple.
The asshole recovered quickly, a baby could have delivered a harder blow, but it served its purpose, Spencer was back on his knees and he didn't have to worry about a kick to his head taking him out permanently.
He was somehow able to partially block Spencer's next punch and change its trajectory, splitting the skin under his eye instead of breaking his nose, but the move served no other purpose than to take Spencer's anger to another level.
A moment later a frustrated yell of 'Goddamn motherfucker' proceeded the punch that took him out of the fight for good.
The blow to his groin was hard and on point and sent the pain ricocheting back and forth between his groin and his kidney. He curled up, free hand automatically cupping himself, leaving Spencer free rein on the rest of him.
Weaving in and out of the agony as each hammer of a punch landed, was the thought that the team would be there soon, they would take down the others and back him up and if it was later rather than sooner, Spencer would have a hard time getting away being cuffed to a dead body.
"JAY!"
He didn't hear Kevin screaming his name or the gunshot that followed. He didn't feel the blood splatter hit his face or the tug on his arm and jerk of his body as Spencer fell away from him. He felt nothing but all encompassing pain now that his body wasn't distracted by individual blows.
He blinked out of consciousness a moment later when the pain that had been seeping into his heart with each and every punch, joined the pain in his body.
They didn't come. No one came to back him up.
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A/N
Okey dokey peeps! Hoped you like what Barbara did when wearing her mean jeans. She's still wearing them, so…once again I've been accidentally lying about the chapter count. Barbara knew it, but didn't inform me…as usual…she is such a brat.
Might be a little late with the next chapter for a few of reasons: Barbara screwed up a lot of stuff for chapter 9 with her chapter 8 mean ass shenanigans, she added some stuff to the last chapter of He's a Keeper that is mucking stuff up in a loverly way and I am having a procedure done on my back and might be higher than a kite on drugs. So there it is.
Okey dokey! See you next week sometime. Stay safe peeps! Big smooch!