Jay was thrilled that he had confirmation from Voight that the judge would be able to help him tomorrow. His plan had been very spur of the moment, but he was going to trust his gut and not overthink it this time.

Knowing that he could no longer put off the inevitable, he headed down to the garage. When his hand reached to open the door, he paused, staring at his red knuckles. Regret filled his body. He was used to criminals trying to get a rise out of him, and he was almost always successful in not letting it happen. However, his little sister knew the exact buttons to push that sent him over the edge.

Jay took a deep breath, vowing to keep his temper under control this time, no matter what she said. He had to be the adult here at the end of the day, and getting into another yelling match wasn't going to solve anything.

3…2…1…

Alex was lying down on the bench as her cuffed hand rested on her stomach. She glanced over at the footsteps entering the room, confirming her suspicions. "My savior," she said flatly as she returned her eyes to the ceiling.

"Get up, we're going home," Jay explained, without wasting any time unlocking the cage and stepping inside.

She turned her head and stared at his sideways figure coming closer. Honestly, she was relieved to hear she was getting out of this place.

"It's not my home," she retorted reflexively as she sat up.

Jay ignored her comment, crouching to unlock the cuffs. The metal clicked open, and Alex immediately brought her opposite hand to her freed wrist, rubbing it with exaggerated care. She shot him a glare, but he didn't react.

"Let's get going," he announced, pointing to his truck still parked inside the garage.

Without wasting another moment in this god awful place, she climbed into the truck's front seat and sank back against the headrest, exhaling a shaky breath. Her palms brushed against her thighs in a nervous rhythm, trying to steady the tension coursing through her. She knew she'd fucked up, and the weight of her mistake continued to press down on her chest.

They headed down the road in silence as Jay contemplated what to say - how to start the conversation. He had a million options swirling in his mind, but he was mostly surprised that Alex had been silent up. Maybe she'd been doing some of her own reflection.

As he rolled up to a red light, he knew he had to start somewhere. "You know what you did today is absolutely unacceptable." He kept his tone steady and firm, and voice at a normal decibel. "You put the entire case in jeopardy, and you could have gotten seriously injured." He let out a heavy exhale. "These aren't people you mess with - that's why we're investigating them, Alex."

Alex kept her eyes straight ahead. While internally she knew what she'd done, she wasn't able to let that level of vulnerability show on the outside. So she was stuck with no choice but to deflect. "Maybe you should have worked faster to get him off the street."

Jay instinctively gripped the steering wheel tighter. His tongue ran along his front teeth to keep him in check. He refused to take the bait. "Who were you buying drugs for? Emma? Those friends of yours?"

She shifted in her seat, her posture tense at the mention of her friends. "You don't know anything," she snapped, hating how close this was feeling.

"You're right! I don't. I don't know anything because you won't let me in. It's just constant jabs and sarcasm, and we get nowhere."

There was a minute of tense silence where the only noise was the hum of the engine and the occasional turn signal. Jay had bit his tongue, but he could no longer hold back the question that had been eating away at him. He was prepared to get stonewalled per usual, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to get answers. "Have you purchased drugs before?"

That question caught her off guard, but she didn't show it as she continued to stare ahead. "Wouldn't you like to know," she snapped.

"Yes, I damn well would like to know."

She let out a short, bitter laugh. "Oh, I see. You're trying to figure out just how screwed up I am, right? So you can decide whether your sister is a lost cause."

Jay exhaled sharply, gripping the wheel tighter. "That's not what this is about, Alex."

"Sure it is," she fired back, finally turning to look at him, her eyes burning with defiance. "You want to know how broken I am. How far gone I've let myself go. And then you'll decide if I'm worth fixing."

Her last word caught his attention, and his mind drifted back to the conversation with Voight. So Jay did something completely out of character - and slightly illegal as well. He pulled over into the right lane and flipped on his police lights as he put the car into park. He needed a moment to sort this out - and this was the best way to do just that without causing an accident.

Alex sat up straighter when she saw the lights flash from the top of the windshield. "What the hell are you doing?"

Jay parked, killing the engine but leaving the lights on. He turned to her, voice steady. "There's nothing to fix, Alex, because you're not broken - even if you have purchased drugs before." He paused purposefully to see if she'd offer up any information. When she didn't budge, he continued, "You've made some…a lot of very poor decisions lately. But you're not broken. You're hurting. There's a difference."

Alex turned toward the window, her reflection a blur against the glass. A knot tightened in her throat, the unfamiliar weight of his words hitting her harder than she wanted to admit. She was used to the shouting, the accusations, the raw anger that usually followed her screw-ups. But this - his calm, measured voice and unexpected compassion - was something else entirely. It chipped away at her defenses, each word finding a crack in her armor, and she hated it. It was too much.

Jay stared at the back of her head after he'd let it all on the line, feeling vulnerable himself. Like he was setting himself up for absolute failure. But he was ready to embrace whatever came, because for a change, he felt more confident in the direction he was taking things.

After an excruciatingly long silence, Alex finally spoke, "No, okay?!"

Jay blinked, the word pulling him back into focus. "No?"

She sighed, the sound heavy and resigned. "I haven't done it before," she said, her tone flat. Then, with a flicker of her usual sarcasm, she added, "I was a drug-buying virgin until today."

Jay winced at her choice of words but felt a wave of relief wash over him. It wasn't perfect, but it was honest. His sister wasn't deep into the world he feared, and that alone was a small victory. There was something different about the way she said it, too - an edge of truth he hadn't heard in a long time. He latched onto it, hoping it could be the start of something. A crack in the wall.

"Have you tried drugs?" he asked, his voice careful but insistent, gently pushing forward.

Alex stayed silent, her gaze fixed on the window. Her body betrayed her, though - a slight flinch, her shoulders tensing. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and that was all the answer Jay needed. The flicker of hope he'd felt seconds ago collapsed under the weight of her unspoken admission.

"What kind?" he asked, his tone firmer this time.

Her stomach knotted as she felt him closing in again, relentless. She'd already let her guard slip once, and it had been a mistake. Why couldn't he just stop? She'd given him a little truth, and instead of being satisfied, he wanted to tear down the whole damn wall.

Alex groaned, turning to rest her head against the seat. "God, can you give it a rest already?!" she snapped, her voice flat and cutting, meant to shut him up.

Jay's jaw tightened. "Which ones?" he pressed, his tone sharper.

He wasn't backing down, and Alex knew it. The man was relentless when he got his mind set on something. But she was just as stubborn and had no intention of baring her soul, especially not now. She'd let a sliver show through and she wasn't going to let that happen again.

She scoffed, shifting in her seat to face him. "Fine. I've done them all. Meth, crack, heroin - oh, and a side of mushrooms for dessert. Happy?"

Jay exhaled sharply, trying to rein in his frustration. "Alex."

"That all pairs well with a strong vodka on the rocks," she added with mock enthusiasm, pretending to throw back a shot "Gotta go big or go home, am I right?"

Jay stared at her, his green eyes searching for any crack that would let him in. But she was holding steady, defiant and unreachable. He ran a hand over his face, muttering under his breath, "Unbelievable."

"Unbelievable is right," she shot back, turning toward the window again. "You're fucking unbelievable."

The air between them hung heavy, her sarcasm a shield she wielded like a weapon. But behind her bravado, her pulse thrummed in her ears, a sign of the fear she was working so hard to suppress.

Jay leaned back against the seat, his grip on the steering wheel loosening. He wasn't going to win this round, and he could feel it. Still, he wasn't ready to back down entirely. "I'm asking because I care, Alex," he said quietly. "Not because I'm trying to pick you apart."

Alex barked out a laugh, short and bitter. "Yeah, sure. You care. That's why you arrested and locked me in a cage."

Jay's jaw tightened, but he forced himself to stay calm. He reached forward and turned the key, the engine roaring back to life. "Fine," he said simply, his voice even. "We'll talk when you're ready."

Alex stared at him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she turned her head back to the window, her reflection flickering against the glass as they pulled back onto the road. "Don't hold your breath," she muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Jay flipped off the police lights and merged back onto the road, the tension in the truck thicker than before. The rest of the ride was quiet. Alex didn't look at him again, her face set in a hard, emotionless mask as she stared out the window.

When they finally pulled into the parking lot outside his apartment, Jay turned off the truck and sat for a moment, his hands resting on his lap. He didn't look at her, but his voice was steady when he finally spoke. "You can keep hiding behind your sarcasm all you want. But I'm not going anywhere. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not ever."

Alex let out a soft, bitter laugh, unbuckling her seatbelt and pushing open the door. She stepped out, throwing him a glance over her shoulder. "Sure, Jay. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

She slammed the door shut before he could respond and headed toward the building. Jay stayed in the truck for a moment, watching her go, his mind churning. He'd made progress - he'd gotten her to come clean about one thing - but whatever walls she'd built were still firmly in place and he wasn't getting through - not today at least.

With a heavy sigh, he grabbed his keys and followed her inside, knowing this battle was far from over, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if it was one that he could even win.

A/N: Thank you for sticking with me! This chapter took a lot longer to put together - I rewrote it three times before I finally felt comfortable with it. I hope you enjoyed!

I also can't believe this story has been going on for over a year now. Thank you SO much for your support - it means the world to me! Please leave a note to let me know what you thought of this chapter. It's great motivation for me to write more!