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Chapter Text

Jay hates it when he has to drive out to Edison Park to drop off paperwork.

The small precinct is staffed with tired, lazy cops who are just counting down the days to retirement.

But Voight doesn’t really give him a lot of choice so he tells Hailey he’ll see her at home and climbs into the truck.

It’s a quick errand for a long drive and soon enough, he’s on his way home, stopping at a small gas station to fill up the tank.

While he waits for it to fill, watching the numbers tally up, he notices people gathered by the corner of the convenience store.

Watches all too familiar motions and sighs.

Would it be a bad thing if he chose not to intervene in an obvious drug deal this far from home when he’s technically off duty?

He decides to the head into the store to get some coffee, figuring he’ll get a closer look on his way and make a decision then.

Only when he exits the store with his coffee, the teenager is standing near the door with a gun in hand.

“Shoulda minded your own business, pig.” he snarls.

Jays sighs.

“I’m tired and the last thing I want to do is drive back to the local precinct instead of going home.” he says, “Walk away and I’ll forget about what I saw.”

He’ll also be figuring out exactly who this punk is to decide if he should follow up later but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Not today.” the kid says, shaking his head. “We’ll ditch your shit in your truck.”

Another sigh and then he reluctantly walks over to his truck, the kid trailing him.

The punk isn’t happy when he wastes an extra few seconds unlocking his gun safe and securing his weapon but Jay doesn’t care.

He’s not happy either.

There’s an old Honda parked a little ways away and he’s ordered into the driver’s seat, the kid climbing in behind him.

They don’t drive far, pulling in at a small house just a few blocks from the gas station.

A little girl, maybe eight or nine years old, is sitting on the couch watching tv when he’s shoved through the door and she looks up with wide eyes.

“There’s some rope in the hall closet.” the teen says. “Go get it, Liza.”

She glances between them for a long moment before nodding and scurrying into the hall.

“You don’t have to do this.” Jay says quietly.

“Don’t tell me what to do.”

Liza comes running back with the rope in hands.

“Here.” she says, holding it up.

“I got the gun.” the boy argues, “You gotta tie his hands.”

“But Vic… what if he..?” she trails off, looking up at Jay through frightened eyes.

“He won’t.” the boy growls, “Not if he knows what’s good for him.”

Jay ignores the threat, making eye contact with the little girl.

“It’s okay.” he tells her, “Do what he says. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She studies his face for a moment before nodding and stepping forward. Jay holds his hands out in front of him.

“Behind your back, pig.” Vic snarls. “You think I’m stupid?”

Jay turns, holding eye contact with him as he places his hands behind his back.

She wraps the rope around his wrists before tying it snuggly in place. He can’t quite stop the wince as she pulls the knot tight and she whispers an apology.

“It’s okay.” he repeats, glancing over his shoulder at her.

Once he’s been restrained she backs away, eyes darting between him and her brother.

“Now what?” she asks, “What’s the plan?”

“I don’t know.” her brother admits. “I’ll put him in the basement for tonight.”

“And tomorrow? People will be looking for him.”

“I’ll call Vinnie in the morning.” he says, grabbing Jay’s arm. “C’mon.”

Jay reluctantly follows as he’s towed toward a small white door that presumably leads to stairs, briefly considering what would happen if he started yelling for help.

“Try it and I drop you where you stand.” the teen growls and Jay turns, holding his gaze.

“There’s gunshots on these streets every night.” he adds, “Won’t nobody think anything of it.”

“Whatever mess you’re in,” Jay says slowly, recognizing the fear the kid is trying to cover with anger and bravado, “I can help you.”

“Shut up fuckin’ pig.” the kid spits out, “I don’t need anything from anyone, especially not you.”

Jay feels the heat rising at the back of his neck but forces it down, refusing to strike back. The kid is angry, afraid, with adrenaline still racing through his system.

He can try again later.

“Gran’s got some duct tape in the kitchen or the hall closet or something.” the boy tells his sister. “Find it and bring it downstairs, okay?”

“Teach you to run your mouth.” the kid hisses in Jay’s ear as he opens the door and shoves Jay onto the expected staircase.

The promised basement is still partially unfinished and Jay is forced down against an open wall. A second piece of rope is tied around his neck and the other end secured to an exposed pipe. It’s a while before the sister comes jogging down the stairs with a roll of packing tape, apologizing for being unable to find any duct tape and avoiding Jay’s eyes.

“No big, sis.” the kid says, taking it from her, “This will work just fine. Why don’t you go get ready for bed?”

She nods and hurries back up the stairs as he wraps the tape around Jay’s head, securing his mouth.

“Sleep tight, pig.” he taunts before heading back up the stairs himself, pausing at the top to kill the lights before leaving Jay alone in the dark.

Chapter Text

Jay doesn’t sleep much that night.

It’s November and there’s little if any heat making it into the chilly basement.

The wall of the unfinished basement, exposed pipes and all, doesn’t make a very good pillow.

He twists in the ropes binding his wrists but for a little kid, the girl knows her knots and they hold tight.

It’s hard to know how much time is passing but he assumes it’s morning when the door opens and Vic jogs down the stairs.

The man behind him looks to be at least twenty but is dressed like a teenager with sagging cargo pants and a baggy sports jersey.

This must be Vinnie.

“You sure he’s a cop?” He asks, looking Jay over.

“I got his badge upstairs.” Vic says, jerking his head that direction. “Left the rest of his shit in his truck but I figured that might have a use.”

“I keep telling that jerk we can’t keep making his handoff there.” Vinnie growls.

He crouches in front of Jay and pulls the tape away from his face, balling it up and tossing it behind him.

“Don’t recognize you copper.” He says, “Where you from?”

“Chicago.” Jay bites out, “ Had to bring some paperwork to a local precinct.”

“Bad timing on your part, huh?” He smirks and Jay’s eyes narrow.

“Bad moves on your buddy’s part.” he retorts. “I hadn’t decided if it was worth intervening in that small of a deal yet.”

“Doesn’t matter what you were going to do.” Vinnie scoffs. “It’s what you saw.”

“So what?” he shoots back. “You’re going to kill me?

“Do what I have to do.” Vinnie says.

“How do you think this is gonna work out for you?” He challenges.

“It’s not ideal.” Vinnie admits, but shrugs, “but this too shall pass. We’ll deal with you and then move on.”

“Killing a cop is not a good idea.” Jay points out, “murder is bad enough but another cop is on the list of murders we take real personal.”

“Well thanks for that warning but I think I’ll take the chance, anyway.” he taunts.

“Then why don’t you just get it over with.” Jay snarls.

Vinnie just laughs, patting his cheek condescendingly.

“In due time.” He says smugly.

He pulls a roll of duct tape from knee of the oversized pockets on his pants and throws it to Vic.

“Save your gran’s packing tape.” He offers and makes his way back up the stairs.

Vic affixes the tape over Jay’s mouth before stepping back.

Glancing anxiously at Vinnie’s. Retreating back as he does.

Notices Jay watching and schools his features, scowling at him.

“I told you.” He growls before jogging back up the stairs.

Hailey is pissed.

Her husband’s ability to find trouble is unparalleled but if she’d known that a short drive to drop some paperwork at a precinct in one of Chicago’s outer bureaus would lead to him vanishing without a trace she would have insisted on going with him.

She’d raised the alarm about forty minutes after he’d been expected to be home. The first call at the fifteen minute mark had gone unanswered but she hadn’t thought too much of it. When a second call after an additional fifteen minutes hadn’t been answered she’d been a little more annoyed.

She’d pulled the GPS and annoyance had turned to worry as it placed him at the same gas station for over an hour.

She and Kevin pull into the gas station at the same time. Jay’s been here for nearly ninety minutes at this point but his truck, parked in a corner, is dark.

She unlocks it with her set of keys and feels her heart drop into her stomach at the sight of his keys, wallet, holster and phone piled on the driver’s seat.

She opens the gun safe with shaking fingers clumsy under the gloves she wears and sees his weapon safely tucked away.

By the time Adam and Kim reach them twenty minutes later, there’s no good news.

With the exception of one that doesn’t provide a good angle, the security cameras have been broken for months. There are no pods this far out. And the attendant doesn’t remember seeing Jay.

They canvas the nearby houses, hoping someone remembers seeing Jay or has a personal security system that can give them a direction to chase.

But they come up empty. The people in this area don’t want to talk to the police and they aren’t the type to be able to afford personal security.

Voight escapes his meeting at the Ivory Tower and meets them as they return to the station.

“Anything?” He questions.

Hailey just shakes her head, chewing on her lip.

Chapter Text

Vinnie returns later. Jay doesn’t know how much time has passed. He hasn’t been brought food or water but while he’s both thirsty and hungry he doesn’t feel like it’s been long enough for that to be a problem.

“They’re starting the second canvas of the neighborhood around the station.” He’s saying as he leads the way down the stairs.

“Liza talked to them this morning.” Vic explains. “Said gram was at the store but if they come by again and don’t talk to her…”

“You’re far enough from the prime canvas area.” Vinnie says, “You might not get hit on the second sweep.”

Jay doubts it.

If Hailey and the others are short enough on leads to do a second canvas, they’re likely to cast a wider net not a narrower one.

“I’ll call Lettie. Have her come over and probably stay the night.” Vinnie continues. “Odds are, they talk to an old lady they won’t look too close if it’s the right old lady.”

That’s likely to be true. Jay has to admit. And he’s too deep into the house to get the canvasing officer’s attention. He hadn’t even been aware of the previous canvas.

He kicks his foot against the pipes.

“Sounds like you may need to hang out so you can keep him quiet when they come by.” Vinnie says darkly.

Jay kicks the pipes again. He knows he’s annoying the two but he needs to use the restroom so it’s really to their benefit to listen to what he has to say.

Vic crouches, ripping the tape from his mouth.

“What’s your problem?” He growls. “Do you want to die right now?”

“I need to use the bathroom.” He grits out. “So unless you wanna have to clean that out of your basement.”

Vic and Vinnie exchange a glance and the older man sighs.

“He’s right. We really don’t want his DNA all over the floor. Lemme call Lettie and then we’ll run him upstairs.”

Before Jay can agree or argue, tape is back over his mouth and he settles back.

The rope is removed from his neck a few minutes later and both gang members follow him up the stairs, Vinnie pressing a gun into his back.

When they reach the small restroom, he is shoved inside. The gun presses against his head.

“If the pigs show up while you’re up here, you stay quiet or I shoot one of them, you hear me?’

He nods, eyes tightly closed. The ropes around his wrists loosen and Vinnie falls back.

He relieves himself. Flushing the small toilet and washing his hands, he hesitates for a moment before tapping on the door.

Vinnie presses him up against the wall, holding the gun against his head while Vic pulls his arms behind his back and rebinds them.

Just as he’s shoved back toward the door to begin the trek back to the basement, there’s a loud knocking on the door.

Vinnie pulls him back, forcing him to clamber into the bathtub and pulling him against the wall, the gun against his skull.

Vic steps out of the bathroom and closes the door, hurrying away.

He closes his eyes.

They snap open again as he hears a familiar voice.

“Detective Upton, Chicago PD.” His wife says, less than a hundred meters away. “We spoke earlier. Is your grandmother back?”

“Yes.” Little Liza is quick to reply, her voice raising as she calls for her gran.

Jay ignores the older voice that joins the conversation. Tunes out the questions being asked and the lies being given in return. All he can focus on is Hailey’s voice. She’s so close. He wants to call out to her, to go home.

Vinnie’s threat rings in his mind. Getting another cop shot was unacceptable. Getting Hailey shot is unthinkable. He stays quiet.

All too soon, Hailey leaves. Vic returns and the two take him back down to the basement. The rope isn’t tied back around his neck and he takes the win, leaning his head back against the wall.

Liza comes down a little bit later.

“I can’t stay long.” She says looking around. “But we need your help.”

He raises an eyebrow.

“I know Vic is acting like a jerk but he’s just scared.” She says. “He never wanted to work for the gang but he didn’t have a choice.”

Jay frowns.

“Gran has dementia.” She explains. “It’s… it’s bad. But we can’t go into foster care because… Vinnie’s a perverted jackass. He likes his girls young. Like…. well like me, young. Vic can mostly keep them away but if we went into foster care…”

She trails off but Jay gets the picture.

The siblings would most likely be separated and Vic wouldn’t be able to protect his little sister.

“Vinnie found out about Gran.” She explains. “He’s been using it against Vic for over a year, threatening to report us to DCFS if he doesn’t do what he wants. Only now… this mess has got him in a bad spot.”

Jay tilts his head.

“The reason you’re still alive is because Vinnie wants payment for taking care of the situation.” She explains.

Payment meaning Liza.

“But if Vic doesn’t agree, he’s just going to go to the cops. Vic will go to prison for kidnapping you, I’ll end up in foster care and he’ll….”

She trails off but there are tears in her eyes.

“Can you help us?” She asks, finally reaching out to peel the tape away from his mouth. “Please?”

“Yes.” Jay says instantly. “I’ve got friends with DCFS. We can get you placed out of the area, far enough that Vinnie can’t get to you. I can talk to the DA, try to get Vic a good deal but they might push hard anyway.”

She frowns.

“I’ll do everything I can.” He promises. “But I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”

She nods.

“I’ll talk to Vic.” She promises.

He wants to protest, to beg her to untie him now and get him a phone.

But she secures fresh tape over his mouth before he can, disappearing back up the stairs.

Chapter Text

Hailey is frustrated.

For proof of that, she’d actively participated in both canvases.

Because she has no other leads to follow.

Jay had pulled up at the gas station, the one camera angle available shows him entering the parking lot, and then he’d promptly vanished.

And she can’t even find proof that he’d continued to exist after that.

She’s talked to hundreds of people today. Some of them had been polite. Some of them had been rude.

None of them had seen her husband.

“You should try to get some sleep.” Adam dares to suggest.

He’s right.

They’d worked a full shift and each only been home for approximately two hours before getting pulled out to investigate the disappearance of their missing teammate.

That was almost two days ago.

They’re all tired.

But everyone else has stepped away from the investigation to take a nap. Except Voight but she sometimes wonders if he’s aged past needing to sleep. If he’d ever needed it.

She’s exhausted. But she can’t sleep without Jay’s arms around her.

Can’t sleep knowing that he’s out there somewhere, possibly hurting and scared.

Out there waiting for her to find him and bring him home.

“I know.” She says, “I just…”

“I know.” he soothes when she trails off, “But when the evidence shows up, you need to be able to see it. The rest of us will keep looking. We’re not going to stop. If something shows up, I will wake you up.”

She nods, sighing and steps into the interrogation room they’ve set up to nap in.

She can’t guarantee that she’ll actually get any sleep but he’s right.

She needs to at least close her eyes and try to sleep for a while.

But she’s right and sleep just doesn’t want to come.

She lays there, staring at the ceiling unable to stop herself from running through the results of the canvas in her head.

A lot of people had been rude.

They’d been dismissive that first night telling her in no uncertain terms that drugs were widespread, gunfire not uncommon and their bar for ‘ususual behavior’ pretty low.

That they hadn’t seen anything that qualified and that meant there was a good chance there hadn’t been anything for them to see.

When she’d come around a second time, asking the same questions only with a higher degree of desperation given that Jay had been missing for over twenty four hours by that point, most of them had just been annoyed.

A select few had been sympathetic; offering weak suggestions all of which had been too vague to get them anywhere.

Several had mentioned an older car that had driven past around the time that Jay had disappeared but it hadn’t really stood out enough for them to remember anything specific that might help her identify it.

There were a few older cars on the footage from the gas station but they’d run registrations and talked to the owners.

Nobody had stood out as a likely suspect.

Certainly not someone they could justify digging into further based on such a vague tip.

With one of their own missing, they might have pushed their luck a little but they’d all agreed that none of them felt like their suspect.

So either the car these people had seen had been unrelated to Jay’s disappearance or his kidnapper hadn’t actually parked at the station.

Or they’d simply avoided the single functioning camera.

She sighs heavily.

Adam watches her go before turning back to the others.

Kim and Kevin look as hopeless as he feels.

Voight is impassive but he knows he’s worried too.

It’s been nearly two days since Jay disappeared and they have nothing.

No idea what had happened at that gas station.

Who he’d come across, why they’d taken him and where he might be now.

He could be injured; badly hurt and in need of immediate medical attention.

He could already be dead.

Adam shakes his head slightly.

He can’t let himself think like that.

Jay’s still alive and they’re going to find him.

Going to bring him home and then all of them can tease him for being such a trouble magnet.

Joke about how Hailey needs to chip him and then possibly help her convince him to actually let her do it this time.

“Alright.” Voight says, distracting him from his spiral. “Let’s get back on the local gangs. Nobody knew Jay was driving out that way, this has got to be related to something local. We’ve got the local officers working with CI’s. If something comes up we’ll know.”

The team turns back to their computers.

Jay lifts his head tiredly from the wall as the door opens and watches as Vic jogs down the stairs.

To his surprise, the kid comes to kneel in front of him, ripping away the tape over his mouth.

“Look,” he says, visibly trembling. “I know I got no right to ask anything of you after what I done to you but if I asked you to help me protect Liza, would you still help?”

“If you get me a phone, I’ll do what I can.” Jay says. “I won’t insult you by making promises I can’t keep about keeping you out of prison. Even if I don’t press charges, the DA may still decide to charge you to prove a point. But I can make sure Eliza is placed with a family far away from here where Vinnie can’t touch her.”

“I don’t care about me.” Vic mutters, “I screwed up too many times already. But you can help her?”

“I promise.” Jay says.

The kid nods and sets his gun down, reaching behind Jay to untie the knots on the ropes around his wrists. The door slams open behind them just as Jay starts to feel some slack in the ropes and Vic turns around.

“Vinnie.” he gasps, “Hey, what’s going on?”

“I could ask you the same, brother.” the man says, sauntering down the steps with his gun in hand. “You weren’t just letting him go were you?”

Chapter Text

“No way.” Vic says, shaking his head. “You know I can’t afford to do that.”

Vinnie brings up the gun and Jay quickens his struggles to slip free, trying to keep his shoulders still.

A shot rings out and Vic falls to the side as the gun swivels to Jay.

“That kid always was nothing but trouble.” the banger says, turning his weapon on Jay, “But his sister’s cute.”

The ropes fall away and Jay dives for Vic’s discarded weapon, hearing the bang and feeling fire rip across his right side. He gets to the gun, twisting to aim and firing off two rounds, hitting the man at center mass.

Vinnie drops and Jay wastes only a second kicking the gun away from his lax hand before turning back to Vic, pressing a hand into the oozing hole on his left shoulder.

“You’re okay.” he tells him, “Just try to relax and breathe easy. You got a phone on you?”

“Left. S-side pocket.”

Jay fishes the phone out, dialing 9-1-1 while offering further assurances.

“I get shot in the shoulder all the time. Hurts like hell but you’ll be fine.”

The line connects and he rattles off.

“This is Detective Jay Halstead, badge number 51163. I need a bus at 112 N 3867 S in Edison Park. Shots fired at and by the police. I have two individuals down.”

“I’m routing an ambulance to your location, Detective. Can you describe the nature of the injuries?”

“GSW to the left shoulder. He’s losing a lot of blood. The other took two rounds center mass and he’s not moving. Please advise responding units there may be both a tender aged female and an elderly female in the residence.”

“Understood, Detective. I’ll pass it along.”

“There may also be additional armed hostiles on the main floor, proceed with caution.”

“Copy that.”

“Help’s on its way Vic.” he says, putting the phone on speaker and setting it aside. “Just hang in there, okay? Your sister needs you.”

“Maybe she’s better off without me, man.” Vic slurs, “Just make sure the gang can’t get to her okay?”

“I promise to get her out of this neighborhood but that won’t change the fact that she needs her big brother.”

The paramedics reach them in ten minutes, being led into the house by a pair of anxious patrol officers. One of them checks Vinnie’s pulse, shaking his head to his partner before they converge on Vic.

“16 years old, GSW to the shoulder. Pretty sure the bullet is still in there but he’s losing a lot of blood.” Jay passes on as one of them presses gauze against Vic’s should and the other starts collecting vitals.

“We’ll take care of it, Detective.” the man promises him, “Are you hurt?”

“I got a minor graze,” he says, barely stopping himself from touching his side with blood soaked hands. “I’ll keep.”

“You up for giving us a statement?” One of the patrol officers asks, “We’ve got an old lady that can’t even keep her own name straight and a nine year old who ain’t talking.”

“I can’t imagine she would.” Jay says, “Kid’s probably scared half to death. But I can help you piece things together.”

Another pair of patrol officers arrive, setting up in the basement to assist the paramedics if needed and to monitor Vic whose role in all of this is yet to be determined. Jay follows the officers up the steps and then impulsively takes a page out of Hank Voight’s playbook.

“The kid downstairs,Vic, and the DOA, Vinnie is all I know, abducted me two days ago from the gas station by the highway. I spotted them making a drug hand-off and they saw my badge and I guess they just panicked. Vinnie was in charge, the whole thing was his idea. Vic didn’t want to help him but Vinnie said if he didn’t, he would go to CPFS about the grandma. I guess her dementia is pretty bad, and if anyone had a clue, they’d be removed from her care. They’d try to place the kids in the area, keep them in the same school but probably not together and that would leave Eliza vulnerable to Vinnie and some others from the gang who are interested in her.”

“So he helped Vinnie abduct you, let him bring you back here to protect his sister?” the cop questioned.

“Yeah. I don’t know for sure how much Eliza knows but he made her help too. Vic told her they were in deep if they didn’t.”

“Okay.” the cop nods, “What happened tonight?”

“Vic came down. Told me he’d help me, get me a phone, if I could promise to protect Eliza from the gang. I agreed and he was in the middle of untying me when Vinnie showed up. He was angry, shot Vic, took a shot at me. I was able to get the rest of the way loose and then grabbed Vic’s gun and shot him. Then I applied pressure and called for an ambulance.”

“Okay.” the young man says, making a few notes. “I’m sure you know that they’ll be needing a more formal statement from you in a few days.”

Jay nods.

“Of course.”

“There’s another set of paramedics coming.” the man continues. “I’d be sure to have them look at your side.”

Jay rolls his eyes but nods and the two men disappear back into the basement.

Chapter Text

The front door flies open and he sees a familiar blonde ponytail flipping through.

“Jay!” his wife calls out.

“I’m okay.” he says, turning to face her fully, “Hailey, I’m okay.”

“You’re bleeding.” she corrects, eyes flitting over him and immediately settling on his side.

“Just a graze.” he assures her, reaching toward her and then pulling back as he remembers the blood all over his hands. “And this isn’t mine. There’s a kid downstairs. He tried to help me.”

The basement door opens and the gurney is wheeled through. Vic’s eyes are still open and Jay moves away, coming alongside.

“You’re doing great, kid.” He tells him, “I’ll see to Eliza. You just hang in there, okay?”

Vic nods, breath fogging up the oxygen mask and Jay follows the stretcher out to the street, watching as they start to load him before turning to catch Eliza as she barrels forward.

“He’s gonna be okay.” He promises, kneeling to catch her eye, “He’s okay.”

“Is he going to go to jail?” She asks.

“He didn’t wanna do this and he tried to help me.” He says, shaking his head. “I’m gonna talk to the DA, okay? Most of the blame is on Vinnie and I’ll do what I can to make sure it lands that way.”

Her eyes widen for a moment and then she nods.

“He never wanted to hurt you.” She insists.

“I know.” He says, “I know. I’ll do everything I can.”

It takes almost twenty minutes to get things wound down enough for him to leave.

He convinces DCFS that Eliza is at risk of gang retaliation and gets both a promise that she’ll be placed outside of Chicago and permission for Hailey to take her back to their apartment for the night.

Then he has to convince his wife to take her home and get her settled for the night with a promise that he’s fine and he’ll explain everything later.

Voight drives him to the ED where he gets five stitches in his side and then meets with ADA Stone, convincing the man that the blame for his kidnapping rests on the dead banger Vincent Reynosa.

In the end Victor is let off with a minor possession charge and three months probation.

Jay gets to visit the kid shortly out of surgery to tell him the good news.

Vic opens his eyes as the door opens, sighing when he sees Jay.

“They tell you how bad the book’s getting thrown at me?”

“Three months probation for drug possession.” Jay says, unlocking the cuff from the teen’s wrist. “DCFS has a lead on a possible foster home for you and Eliza in Gary, Indiana. Might just take a couple days to lock down.”

“What about the kidnapping charges?” Vic asks, eyes narrowed.

“The DA has declined to charge you for that with the understanding that you were acting under duress.” Jay offers, meeting the kid’s eyes. “Just keep your nose clean and you’ll do alright.”

“Liza okay?”

“She’s fine. Paramedics cleared her on scene. No injuries. She’ll be staying with my wife and I until DCFS can square final details on this foster family. I’ll try to bring her to see you tomorrow.”

“My gran?”

“She’s upstairs being evaluated but her dementia is pretty advanced. Chances are she’s going to end up in a care facility. I suggested it might be helpful to get her out in Indiana where you and Eliza can visit but I don’t know if that’s gonna pan out.”

“I..I don’t know what to say.” He stammers, “I can’t thank you enough. Especially after everything.”

“What happened wasn’t your fault.” Jay says firmly, “Just stay outta trouble, huh? And take care of your sister.”

“I will. Thank you, sir.”

Jay offers him a nod and then steps back into the hallway where his boss is waiting for him.

“Why do I feel like I’m not getting the whole story here?” He asks wryly.

“Because you’re not.” Jay says with a smirk, “spirit of the law, Sarge.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” The man says, with something like pride glinting behind grey eyes, “Whatdya say we get you home before your wife calls the Coast Guard? Again.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, “Home sounds good.”

As they walk down the hallway, the man’s words register.

“Did Hails really call the Coast Guard?”

“No. Because I didn’t let her.” Voight says, rolling his eyes. “Can you stop getting kidnapped now? Cause she’s a nightmare to deal with when you do.”

“Got a weird way of pronouncing best detective on the force, Hank.” Jay jokes and the man shakes his head.

“Let’s just get you home, eh? Some of us didn’t just get two days paid time off.”

“Trade you.” Jay offers but also starts walking toward the exit.

Hailey is sitting up at the kitchen island, sipping at a cup of coffee when he walks in. The lights are dimmed but he can vaguely see the young girl asleep on their sofa.

“Hey.” he whispers.

“Hey,” she says, pouring him a mug and sliding it across the counter.

“Thanks.”

“Your side okay?”

“Five stitches.” he answers. “It’s not bad.”

“Can you tell me what happened now?”

“How’d she go down?” he asks.

“Took her a bit to fall asleep.” she admits.

“Mind if we talk in the bedroom?”

She nods and they take their coffee into their room, settling on the bed. He walks her through what happened and how he’s shifted the blame to help Victor and his sister.

“You sure you want to get him off on this?” she asks. “It sounds like he treated you like shit.”

“He was just a scared kid trying to protect his sister.” Jay says, “He deserves a break for once in his life.”

“Okay.” she agrees. “You’re a good man, Jay Halstead.”

“I am a tired man.” he says, letting out a yawn. “That basement was cold and exposed pipes don’t make for good pillows.”

“Sleep.” she says, taking his coffee cup and putting it and her own on the side table. “I think I can be a better pillow than those exposed pipes.”

“Yeah?” he says with a grin, sliding under the covers and curling into her.

She drapes an arm over him and pulls him closer.

“I missed you.” she whispers.

“I know. I’m sorry I scared you.” he tells her, tilting his head.

“Can’t even trust you to get gas by yourself without getting kidnapped.” she grumbles, burying her face in his chest.

He’s almost asleep when she speaks again.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers.

“For what?” He asks, combing fingers through her hair.

“I was there.” she says. “Twice.”

“I know.” He tells her, still carding through her hair.

“You heard me?” She asks, sounding pained.

“The second time.” He confirms. “They’d brought me upstairs to use the restroom. You said you’d been by before.”

“I’m sorry.” She repeats.

“It’s not your fault.” He says, lifting her chin to kiss her forehead and then catching her eyes. “To be honest, I was glad you didn’t know.”

Her nose scrunches adorably in confusion.

“Vinnie said if I made any noise or let the cops know I was there in any way that he would shoot them. When it was a random officer it wasn’t an option. But when I heard your voice…” he trails off, pressing his lips against her forehead again.

“They were going to kill you.” She says shakily.

“I know it’s not what you want to hear,” he says slowly, “but better me than both of us.”

“Well luckily, it was neither of us.” she says firmly. “And I’m never letting you out of my sight again. I talked to Will and he’s agreed to implant a subdermal gps chip.”

He’s not sure if she’s serious or not but decides that’s a problem for in the morning.

“I love you.” He tells her instead, kissing her forehead again and then settling his head to the pillow.

“I love you too.” She answers. “Sleep. I’ve got you.”

With a contented sigh, he drifts off to sleep.