Chapter 01: Copnapped.
Kelly was on his knees beside Shay's hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up. Once he heard what happened to the blond, he rushed here quickly. He watched as Shay started to wake up, and couldn't help but smile when she turned to him.
'Hey,' Shay whispered in a tired voice, turning her head to look at Kelly. Kelly stood up, sat on the edge of the bed, and greeted her with a smile.
He was trying to figure out how to scold the blond; it was bad enough he had to worry about his girlfriend looking for the suspect who did this.
Now he had to worry about Shay too, even though he was always worried about her. He didn't want to see his best friend hurt.
'There was an explosion,' Shay said, looking into Kelly's blue eyes as she moved her hand to remove the breathing tube from her nose.
'You weren't gonna tell anyone?' Kelly started, looking at Shay with a hard, worried look. 'About that enormous gash in your side?' he demanded.
"Sorry, I just couldn't stop. I met these two girls this morning and couldn't stop thinking about them. I had to keep moving forward." Shay explained, looking at Kelly with determination in her eyes.
"I know you understand. But things are different now," Kelly reassured her, gently placing his hand on top of hers. Shay couldn't help but smile. "You always have my back," she teased.
"Rest up, okay?"
"Okay."
"Severide!"
" Um."
"Two little girls, around 8 years old, were there." Shay whispered, looking at Kelly for information. Frowning when Kelly didn't know much, Shay sighed.
"I don't know. It's pretty bad out there," Kelly said, looking concerned.
"Just rest up," Kelly patted her leg and stood up. "I will. Maybe check on the others and greet detective Lindsay for me," Shay said with a smirk as Kelly blushed.
"I will, but she's busy figuring out who did all this," Kelly said before leaving the room.
( Erin and the team)
Voight walked into the room where his team was discussing the case and trying to figure out how to catch their suspect. Sunmer mentioned, 'We pulled the names from some people.' Sumner added, 'That he had repeated contact with,' while holding onto her tablet.
Jin chimed in, 'Haven't been able to actually access the contents of the emails, but I was able to get addresses,' with a sigh, happy that he had figured something out.
The team watched as Jin flipped through pictures on his tablet. 'Whoa. Wait a second,' Al pointed out, with Erin standing beside him glancing at the tablet. 'Wait a second. Go back,' Al repeated as Jin flipped past a few.
'Go back. Hold on, wait a sec.' Al nodded at the last picture that Jin flipped to. 'Yeah, that's him. That's the guy,' Al said confidently, knowing he was right.
Voight asked, 'What guy?' Erin checked out the picture and then back to the older detectives. 'The guy who said two big guys in sunglasses walked from the scene,' Al pointed to a man with brown hair and blue eyes.
'That's the guy,' Al was all convinced it was him who set up the bombs or at least helped out."
Erin, Voight, and Al looked over to the front desk when they heard some voices. "Thanks for everything, and sorry for what you all went through," Vaughn said, smiling as he checked out.
'You're all heroes,' Vaughn said, not noticing a group of detectives walking up to him until Erin stood on his right and Al and the others on the other side. Al shot him a fake grin before turning to the brunette detective.
Erin stood on Vaughn's right side and flashed her badge, 'Pat Vaughn?' she asked. Vaughn looked at her nervously, 'Yeah?' he replied, trying to act unfazed by being confronted by a group of detectives, especially a female one.
'Would you mind coming with us for a minute?' Erin asked with a forced smile, exchanging a glance with Al who mirrored her expression.
'I just clocked out,' Vaughn protested, not keen on engaging. 'We just have a few follow-up questions,' Erin assured, persuading him to come along.
Vaughn let out a sigh, contemplating how to escape the situation. He looked at Erin and a risky idea dawned on him - taking her hostage, even with her team around.
'Of course, sure!'
Erin nodded appreciatively that Vaughn was cooperating. As she turned around, she was taken by surprise when she was roughly grabbed, an arm wrapped tightly around her neck, a sharp knife pressing against her skin, her arms forced behind her.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Al's heart skipped a beat when Vaughn had Erin at knife point - things were going smoothly until then, and now they were in a tough spot.
Behind him, he could hear the others grabbing their guns and aiming at the man threatening Erin. Vaughn's eyes flashed with anger, but he kept his composure as he observed the dangerous situation.
Erin was struggling to break free, but Vaughn held the knife even tighter against her neck. "Easy now," Al tried to negotiate with Vaughn, urging him to release Erin without causing any harm.
Glancing at Antonio, Jay, Adam, and the uniformed officers behind him, Al noticed the determined expressions mirrored on their faces, reflecting the seriousness of the situation.
Vaughn squeezed Erin's neck harder with the knife, feeling her struggle to break free. 'I'm walking out of here,' he told her as he applied more pressure, not wanting to hurt her but knowing he had no other choice.
" Back up!"
Voight raised his hand and stepped forward until he saw blood trickling from Erin's neck. Her hazel eyes showed pain and fear.
'Don't go any further, Vaughn,' Voight warned, his voice losing patience.
'I've got nothing to lose,' Vaughn retorted as he backed away with Erin in his arms.
'Now I'm taking her,' he added, breathing heavily and scanning the room full of angry detectives, especially Voight, Al, and the other three.
Voight refrained from ordering his team to shoot, knowing it would only harm Erin more.
'What do you hope to achieve?' He asked, hoping to convince Vaughn to release Erin, observing the expressions of the others.
Antonio had a deadly look as he aimed his gun at Vaughn, ready to shoot without hesitation if given the chance, yet hesitant to harm Erin.
Voight looked at Jay and could tell the young detective had a thing for Erin.
He looked at Adam, who seemed ready to snap, but neither of them was going to shoot until they had a clear shot. Al looked just as concerned, having known Erin for as long as Voight did.
Then there was Kelly, unsure of how he would react if he found out. Voight demanded harshly, 'Do you think we're gonna let you drive out of here?' showing Vaughn the consequences of taking Erin.
Vaughn replied, 'I got no problem slitting a throat, especially a cop's,' as he gripped Erin tighter, causing her to stop fighting due to the pain.
Voight's heart raced as he tried to free Erin, especially as he saw her losing consciousness from lack of air and pain. 'Easy,' Voight said more calmly, hoping to give Erin enough time.
Vaughn yelled 'Back off!' as he backed away and saw a fireman trying to intervene. Cruz, witnessing the chaos with Mills, decided to step in to help when he recognized Erin in Vaughn's arms.
'Hey, what's happening here?' He asked, realizing Vaughn couldn't see Mills and hoping to free Erin.
Cruz knew Kelly's reaction would be irrational if he found Erin injured, so he attempted to approach slowly.
'We're just trying to save some people,' Cruz insisted, but Vaughn snapped back, 'Shut up! I'll take her with me first, then I'll consider releasing her once I'm outside,' as he reached the doors.
Erin's eyes were darting everywhere as she tried to fight, but then her head started spinning and it was getting harder to breathe.
She felt blood running down her neck from where the knife had dug in, and she glanced at Voight, who looked nothing but furious.
'Hey,' Voight said, his patience wearing thin and his heart pounding in his chest, 'Let's just talk about this.' He took a deep breath.
Vaughn growled, 'Not another word!' as he headed towards the door. Leaning down to Erin's ear, he threatened, 'Tell your guard dogs to back off, or I'll shoot every one of them.' This sent shivers down Erin's spine.
She swallowed and, feeling the knife move slightly away from her neck, 'Do it!' Vaughn snapped, struggling to keep his grip on her arm.
'Hank, stop!' Erin's voice was harsh and low due to the pressure on her neck.
'I... I'll be fine... Just let him go,' she coughed as her vision blurred.
Vaughn just didn't give anyone a chance to stop them. He dragged Erin out of the hospital and into a dark van with no plates, shoved her in the back, and then hopped in the driver's seat.
Voight bolted out of the hospital with Al, Antonio, Jay, and the rest following close behind. They all came to a halt when they spotted a dark van speeding away, leaving tire marks.
"Damn it! Damn it!" Voight cursed, turning to his team with rage in his eyes. "We're gonna find these bastards, figure out who's behind the bombs, and bring Lindsay back. No messing around!"
Voight was relieved he didn't have to repeat himself. He glanced back at the sound of a voice and softened as he saw Kelly hurrying over with Casey, Boden, and the others.
Cruz and Mills were already there, assisting the detectives in convincing Vaughn to release Erin.
"Hey Voight, what's going on?" Boden asked, quickly scanning the area for Erin but not seeing her anywhere, not even next to the new detective or Jay.
"Seriously, where's Erin?" Kelly questioned, noticing the worried expressions on Antonio, and Voight's faces, Cruz's and Mills's gave him guilty looks.
Kelly attempted to move forward to search for his girlfriend. "Where the hell is she?!" His temper rising.
"Calm down, Kelly. Let Voight explain first, and then we can figure out how to help find Detective Lindsay," Casey said, holding onto Kelly's arms to prevent him from doing anything he might regret.