For the first time in her life that she knew of Erin is speechless, had the little girl who's like her sister could actually be her niece? After the shock had worn off she looked back to her father figure.
"So what are you gonna do?" Erin asked.
"I'm gonna take a sample from me and Dani to Med hoping they'll run a DNA test for me, I need you to find me a last known address for Serena".
"Done. Hank what if and it's a really big if, what if Dani is Justin's? How are you gonna tell her the truth?"
"I'll tell her when she's older she's too young to understand right now".
"I agree. Go drop that stuff off at Med and I'll look up Serena's last known address and send it to you".
Hank was getting really emotional about the whole thing and Erin knew it. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"It'll be ok Hank, I promise".
"I could have another grandchild and I never knew it, for almost seven year I never knew. She was being abused, neglected, she could have died".
"This isn't on you, it isn't on Justin, neither of you knew. Don't blame yourself, if Dani is Justin's you can step up for her. Be the father she never had".
"How am I gonna tell her the truth?"
"I don't know".
"I'm gonna take the samples to Med, find me an address for Serena. I need to know the truth".
"You got it".
Hank coughed to get the lump out of his throat and went out to the squad, as soon as he opened the door he heard his little girl's sweet laughter and when he heard closely she almost sounded just like his son.
"Dani, come here sweet pea". Hank calls for his daughter.
The six and a half year old went to her father, normally she'd run but couldn't she she took her time going to him. She looked up at him, her bright green emerald eyes shining she gave him a bright smile.
"Yes daddy". Dani responded.
"I have a few errands to run, you're gonna stay here with everyone ok".
"I wanna come with me".
Hank bent down and brushed some hair behind her ear. "The errands are gonna be long and boring besides you've been wanting to come and see everyone".
"Ok, I'll stay. Maybe I can play a prank on Adam". She whispered the last part so the detective wouldn't hear.
That caused the older man to chuckle. "Get him good honey.
He hugged her and kissed her head, Hank had a little faith and hope that Dani was in fact his grandchild. He'd have another piece of his son. Going to his car he got in and looked at the bags that held his and Dani's cups, he wanted- no he needed to know the truth. The older man then drove off to Med.
Erin began typing on her computer looking for anything about Serena. She could feel everyone staring at her, glancing up the only people who were looking at her were Antonio, Jay, and Alvin. She didn't know what to do, it wasn't her place to say anything until the results came back but she figured they were gonna find out the truth anyway. She signed for only them three to follow her to the lounge, they went while Erin went over to Mouse.
"What's up?" Mouse says.
"I need you to find a last known address for a Serena Taylor and send it to Hank". Erin tells him quietly.
"You got it".
She was thankful that the tech was doing that and was even more thankful that Kevin and Adam were keeping the little girl busy. Erin got into the lounge and shut the door facing the three.
"What's going on?" Jay asked first.
"Is Hank in trouble?" Antonio spoke next.
"No. He had to take something to Med though". Erin answered.
"Is he ok?" Alvin asked concerned for his friend.
"He's fine. Hank took a DNA sample to Med".
"DNA? From who?" Jay asked confused.
She paused and took a deep breath. "From himself and Dani".
"Why would he need DNA from Dani unless...is Dani his child?" Antonio says in shock.
"She's not Hank's child but there's a chance she could be Justin's".
Chicago Med
Hank arrived to the hospital carrying the bag he walked inside, Will was doing his rounds when he saw his brother's boss.
"Hey Hank, is Dani alright?" Will asked.
"Yeah she's good thanks. Will, I need a huge favor". Hank replies.
"Shoot".
"I need you to have these two samples tested".
Will took the bag into his hands and gave the older man a confused but worried look. "Hank what is it?"
"These are DNA samples from me and Dani, I need you to run them and put a rush on it".
"Could Dani be yours?"
"Not mine. My son's, I need to know the truth Will this will help me".
"You got it. The results should come back in a few days though".
"Thank you and let's keep this between us for now".
"You got it".
Will then brought the bag to the lab while Hank left, he got a text message from Mouse with a last known address for Serena he then headed there.
District 21
The three men stood in the lounge completely stunned, how was it possible that Justin fathered a child and never knew about it? Erin looked down for a second.
"Is there any proof?" Alvin asked.
Erin then reached for the photos out of her pocket. "This one is of Justin and Serena almost seven years ago. Dani's almost seven, do the math. Now here's a recent one of Dani. Compare them".
They then looked at the picture and noticed how Dani did have some of Justin's facial features. She most definitely had his mouth, his nose, and the shape of his eyes. They noticed when she laughed or smiled it reminded all of them of Hank's son.
"That picture was taken almost seven years ago, Dani's almost seven. Do the math".
"Wasn't Serena one of Hank's CIs?" Alvin asked.
"Yeah".
"How does the son of a cop meet one of his father's CIs?" Jay asked.
"I don't know all I do know is that Hank will find out the truth".
"What are we gonna tell Dani?" Antonio says.
"Nothing, Hank said he'll tell her when she's older. She's too young to understand right now. Just don't say anything until the results come back".
They all nodded in agreement just then the door of the lounge was opened by Dani she was going over to the coffee machine. A look of amusement was then planted on the faces of the adults.
"Whatcha doin kiddo?" Antonio asked.
"I wanna play a prank on Adam". Dani replies, her voice full of excitement.
"By making him coffee?" Jay says with a raised eyebrow.
"It's gonna be special coffee".
"How's it gonna be special?" Erin said amused.
"You'll see and don't tell him".
"Our lips are sealed". Alvin told his goddaughter with a smile.
The six and a half year old couldn't reach the coffee pot or cups so Jay got the cup for her and before he could pour the coffee in she quickly ran out and grabbed a sticky note and pen and wrote on it then stuck it to the bottom. Jay then poured in the hot liquid for her. Dani then needed help reaching the cabinets so Antonio had picked her up she opened them and found some salt and hot sauce they had kept for their food.
Dani poured in some cream then began to put in the salt and hot sauce, the adults were chuckling a little bit. She then took a spoon and began mixing it together once it was finished she put the spoon away.
"Come here D, if he doesn't like it pull the fake crying. I guarantee you it'll work". Jay told her.
"Got it".
The young girl left the lounge first while the others waited, Dani went over to Adam with the cup just as the others were leaving the lounge. The young detective bent down to the little girl's level.
"What's up squirt". Adam said.
"I made you you some coffee". Dani replied in a innocent voice.
"Thank you, see guys you should all be like Dani".
Adam then took a drink of the coffee and everyone saw the post it on the bottom, Kevin took this chance to speak up.
"How's the coffee Ruzek?" Kevin asked chuckling.
The young detective was hit by saltiness and hotness as he spit it back into the cup, he then saw a pout forming on Dani's face.
"You didn't like it?" Dani asked in a fake sad voice.
"No sweetie no, I loved it". Adam said trying to calm her.
"But you spit it out".
"It went down the wrong way".
Dani forced her bottom lip to wobble. "You didn't like it".
"Ruzek what did you do?" Alvin asked.
"Nothing. I swear". Adam tells his partner.
The little girl went to her godfather with her fake pout. "He didn't like my coffee Uncle Alvin".
Alvin then bent down and picked her up. "It's ok honey".
"Way to go Adam, you broke the kid's heart". Jay tells his friend.
"Yeah, she was being nice and you did that". Antonio backed up Jay.
"I didn't do anything, the coffee went down the wrong way". Adam tries to defend himself nervously.
"Dude you're sweating". Mouse tells him
"Just wait till Hank and Trudy find out". Alvin says.
"Platt will probably put him on patrol permanently this time". Kevin jokes.
"Imagine what Hank will do". Erin chimes in.
"I wouldn't wanna get on his bad side". Antonio spoke.
Adam was ignoring the fact that his mouth was on complete fire, he had to fix this before his boss got back. Dani was fake whining, whimpering and crying in Alvin's shoulder.
"Dani, honey I will do whatever you want ok. Whatever you want just please don't cry. I like your coffee in fact I love it watch I'll finish all of it". Adam tells her.
The little girl turned and watched as Adam struggled to finish all the coffee, everyone was laughing and chuckling. Dani then turned back to face the young detective.
"Whatever I want?" Dani speaks up, her full getting full of excitement.
After finishing the coffee Adam's whole mouth was on fire and tasted like salt, he was ignoring all of that as he got down and saw Dani beginning to smile.
"Yeah whatever you want just please don't cry anymore".
What happened next really confused Adam, Dani hopped down from her godfather's lap and went over to Jay high fiving him and everyone laughed.
"I told you kiddo it'll work". Jay told her.
"Worked like a charm". Dani said amused.
"Was I just played by a six year old?" Adam asked.
"Like a fiddle". Antonio answered.
"How is your mouth not burning right now?" Kevin asked his partner.
The young detective then ran to the bathroom and drinking water from the sink, that didn't help at all so he ran back to the lounge and opened the fridge and pulled out the milk and began chugging it. He then spit it out realizing it was spoiled everyone was laughing harder as he began drinking a lot of water to put out the fire in his mouth.
Meanwhile
Hank arrived to a house and saw it was completely abandoned, it was as if nobody have lived there in years. He got out and saw someone sitting in there yard and went over to them.
"Excuse me, do you remembered if a girl by the name of Serena Taylor lived across the street?" Hank asked the man.
"She was a good kid that girl, shame what happened to her". The man replied.
"What happened?"
"That no good boyfriend of hers killed her".
"Marco Adrian".
"Yeah".
"When'd she die?"
"If I remember right her daughter was about 2, 3 months old".
"She had a daughter".
"Dani, she named the baby after her sister".
"You remember what happened before she died?"
"They got into a huge fight one night, he accused her of sleeping with someone else and the baby wasn't his".
That caused Hank to stop for a moment. Had Marco known the truth all along? Did he really know Dani wasn't his child?
"Did he know the baby wasn't his?"
"Yeah, during the fight she told him he wasn't the father after that there was gunshots. He killed her while Dani was asleep. After that he packed up and left with little Dani".
"Thank you".
Hank then headed over to the house and headed inside, he opened the door it was dead silent in the house. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. He walked around the lifeless house. He then headed upstairs he saw the bedrooms, he went into one that use to look like a nursery. Under the crib he saw a picture, it was of Serena holding Dani, he then put the picture in his pocket.
He was sickened at what he was told, Marco killed the mother of his possible grandchild in the same house where Dani was. If he had known the truth everything could have been avoided with Marco. Serena would be alive, Dani would have a mother, they'd have a family that would care and love for them.
He continued to go through the house and when he got to another room there wasn't much in there except a mattress on the floor, a nightstand, and a dresser. Something had caught his attention from the dresser, it looked like a piece of paper hidden under a few things moving them he picked it up to see an envelope with his name on it. He felt chills going through his body as he opened it and saw a letter in there, taking it out he began to read it.
'Dear Hank,
If you're reading this it means Marco finally killed me. I wanted to tell you the truth before I died but never got the chance, Dani is your son's child. I know what you're wondering how did you're CI get involved with your son? I met Justin at a party one night, we both were drunk and one thing led to another. A month later I found out I was pregnant I was going to tell the both of you when Marco found out, he assumed that the baby was his I tried to get away from him but I couldn't. He threatened to kill me and the baby if I tried to leave so for my baby's sake I stayed. I wanted to get into contact with you but I was too afraid for me and my baby. After Dani was born Marco began accusing me of cheating on him and that Dani wasn't his. I tried to convince him she was his but he never fell for it. I'm so sorry for not telling you or Justin about her, I wanted to call you so many times and tell you but I was too afraid of Marco. I was afraid of what he'd do to me or Dani.
I had to protect my little girl. I need you to promise me that if anything should ever happen to me or Justin that you'll look after Dani for us. I don't have no family and I don't want that son of a bitch doing anything to harm my little girl. Raise Dani to grow up strong, brave, fearless, everything I couldn't be for her. Raise her as your own. Make sure that bastard can't do anything to her, make sure he can't hurt her.
I'll be at peace knowing you'll do whatever it takes to protect Dani and keep her safe at all cost. I don't care what you have to do to keep my little girl safe and protected, I know you'll do it anyway. Again, I'm so sorry for not telling the truth.
Serena.
Something wet had began falling from his eyes he saw the paper getting wet from his tears, this had confirmed his suspicious. Justin was Dani's biological father which meant his little girl was his granddaughter all he had to do was wait for the results to come back and prove it. Suddenly anger and fury had burned heavily into his body, he stormed out of the house going to the prison where Marco was. He wanted to see what the bastard had to say for himself.
After the drive to the prison Hank managed to get the warden to let him talk to Marco, he waited as the gang banger was brought to the room. A moment later two guards were escorting him to the room. As soon as Hank laid eyes on the no good son of a bitch it took all of his physical strength not to run over and start beating him.
The guard forcefully shoved Marco down in the chair, he laid his cuffed wrists in his lap as he smirked at the older Sergeant. Hank looked to the guards. "Were good guys".
The two left leaving Hank alone with Marco, once the guards were out of view Hank had back handed Marco across the face then punched him a few times in the midsection.
"I know Marco. I know everything now". Hank said in a murderous tone.
"And what exactly do you know?" Marco asked a bit amused, as he spit blood out his mouth.
"I know you killed Serena when Dani was a baby. I know you aren't Dani's biological father. I also know that you knew Dani wasn't yours but yet for six and a half years you kept another man's child. I wanna know why".
"That fool didn't deserve Dani, I was there for everything he wasn't".
"That's because you wouldn't let Serena leave, you threatened to kill her and Dani if they left".
"The bitch knew what she was getting herself into".
Hank then punched the gang banger across the face and he punched him two more times, the last blow ended up breaking his nose. Blood began gushing from Marco's nose getting everywhere.
"That was for Serena".
He then sent a few punches to Marco's midsection, after that he forcefully grabbed the gang banger by his hair. When Marco looked into Hank's eyes it was as if he was looking in the eyes of the devil.
"That was for Serena, Dani, and the father".
Marco spit some more blood and drool out. "I knew before Dani was born she wasn't mine!"
"When'd you find out Dani wasn't yours?"
"I knew from the start, when she got pregnant she wasn't even with me. I wasn't even in the city when she got pregnant so when she turned up like that I wanted to see if she'll tell me the truth she didn't, she told me I was the father".
"Why would she tell you that you're the father of another man's child?"
"You'd have to ask her that". Marco then dryly chuckled. "Oh wait you can't".
"I'm only telling you this one time, if you or any of you're guys ever come back around my daughter. I can promise you that I can and will make all your lives a living hell".
An evil smirk appeared on Marco's bruised and bloodied face. "You keep calling Dani you're daughter, let me ask you this Voight. You sleep with Serena? Knock her up? Maybe you were the other guy all along. Wouldn't surprise me after all Serena got around anybody could be that kid's father but let's get one thing perfectly clear. I raised Dani and once I get out I'm coming for her".
Hank then beat the gang banger for a couple of moments and left before he killed him. After finally getting all the anger out of his body the older man felt slightly better. He had to clean the blood from his knuckles before Dani saw and he didn't want to explain that.
He took some cleaner out of the trunk with a rag and cleaned the blood. Looking down he saw his knuckles bruising that would be a problem. After that he headed back to the District.
District 21
After finally getting rid of the hotness and saltiness of his mouth, Adam had went back to the young girl to figure out the rest if her deal. Dani was now at Antonio's desk coloring when he went over to her, the little girl looked up to see Adam there.
"Hi Adam". Dani said with a smile.
" Hey sweetheart, so about doing whatever you want. What do you want to do". Adam replies.
A mischievous grin appeared on her face. "That's for me to know and you to find out".
"What?"
"You heard her Ruzek, that's for her to know and you to find out". Antonio backed up the young girl.
"Am I getting played again?"
"You'll never know brother". Jay tells him.
A short time later Hank had arrived, he managed to wrap his knuckles to hide his bruises. He wasn't gonna tell nobody about his day's events. Not until he was ready. He was walking up the stairs and when he got to the top he saw Dani coloring at Antonio's desk and everyone else catching up with paperwork. The six and a half year old glanced over to see her father and practically ran to him.
"Daddy!" Dani yelled excitedly.
Hank then swept her up but was careful of her side. "Hey sweet girl, how was your day".
"It was so much fun, I played a prank on Adam".
"Did you now?"
"Yeah, I made him coffee but put salt and hot sauce in it. Jay told me before I gave it to him that I should fake like I'm crying and it worked. He said we could do whatever I wanted".
"Boss, I got played by a six year old". Adam complained.
"Suck it up Ruzek, you're fine. Stop acting like a child, besides it ain't her fault you got played you fell for it". Hank told his detective.
Dani then looked up to her father. "Daddy, can Adam babysit me on Saturday?"
Hank thought about it ever since he had gotten Dani he hasn't been out, Alvin wanted to take him out for a couple of hours. The older man thought no harm of his detective watching his little girl, he knows the person, she'd be safe, and they'd be at his house.
"I don't see why not".
"Did I just get volunteered for babysitting without being asked". Adam said.
"Would you relax Ruzek, it's only gonna be for a couple of hours".
"Yeah. Besides I have some stuff planned for us to do". Dani told him.
"And what might that be?" Adam asked her.
"You gotta wait till Saturday. It's a secret".
"She's practically a mini Voight".
"You got that right".
That had gotten Hank right in the heart, he knew deep down no matter what the results said Dani was in fact his grandchild. He was still gonna wait for the results to prove it.
The next few days had gone by and Will had finally gotten the results back for Hank, he was gonna hand deliver them to the older man. One afternoon Hank was at the District, he brought Dani since she was still healing. She had stayed in the lounge the whole time, everyone was going over their current case, Hank was in his office on the phone.
Trudy saw the older Halstead and buzzed him up to the squad, he headed up and passed by the squad. Jay saw his brother holding something in his hands and he glanced over at Erin. He knocked on Hank's door and the older man signed for him to enter.
"What's up Will?" Hank asked.
"For you, I figured I'd hand deliver them to you. I hope there the results you're expecting". Will answered handing over the envelope.
"Thank you".
"No problem".
Will then left as Ha k opened the envelope and read the paper. He dropped it in shock as tears formed in his eyes. Erin had went to her father figure's office and saw him. She saw the couple of years run down his face.
"Hank what is it? Are those the results?" Erin asked a bit worried.
"Yeah they are". Hank said, his voice breaking.
"And what does it say?"
"Dani's my grandchild which means…
"Justin's her father".