Chapter 16

The ride to her place is quiet as neither of them speaks. Emma sits in the passenger seat, watching out the window while Jay is starring at the road in front of them. Yet he turns around and glances towards her to make sure she's okay. The events of the last few days have been quite difficult for all of them, and being in front of such an intense fight immediately after the decision to detain Alvin made Jay worry about her. 

"What" Emma suddenly asks Jay, taking him out of his thoughts. 

"I didn't say anything," he replies, confused. 

"You're thinking," she tells him again and looks at him smiling. 

"How do you do that?" he asks her, unable to believe how well she can read him. Emma laughs faintly at his reaction, and just shrugs her shoulders. 

"You can tell me. I won't bite" 

"It's just that... When we're in a scene or things get out of the way with a suspect, you don't even flinch, but when someone from the team raises their voice, then it's different," he tells her somewhat shyly. He doesn't want to cross a line or force her to say something she's not ready for.

Emma stays quiet for a while and after taking a deep breath, she finally opens her mouth to talk. 

"It's harder when it's someone you know. I mean, it's hard to be someone you trust the one who reminds you of something you don't want to," she says with slight hesitation. 

"I said it weird, didn't I?" she asks and laughs. 

"No, no, I understand," he tells her and smiles while parking in front of her apartment building. 

"Thanks for bringing me," she tells him, and she's going to leave, but something inside her stops her. 

"Jay?" 

"Yes?" 

"Do you have to go to Molly's tonight?" her question catches him off guard. 

"I still have a few beers in the fridge from last time," she tells him shyly, and Jay can see her nervousness. 

"Let's go then," he simply tells her, and gets out of the car, making her calm down again. Of course, he wanted to go up with her.

"Do you want another one?" Jay asks, pointing to the pizza they've left on the coffee table. But he doesn't wait to get an answer, and he puts a slice on her plate. 

He's not sure why, but when he's with Emma, he feels the need to protect her. Whether he's at work or not. As they watch a movie, Emma's phone buzzes and she gets up to check it out. She's got a message from Kim. As soon as she reads it the color leaves her face and her breath is cut in half. 

"Emms?" Jay sees the abrupt change in her behavior and looks at her anxiously. 

"It's from Kim. She said Al was stabbed in prison and he is in surgery at Med" she tells him with difficulty and turns pale. 

"Let's go," he tells her quickly, turning off the TV.

When they get to the hospital, the rest of the unit, along with Platt is there. Everyone is too absorbed in their thoughts to notice that Jay and Emma went together. 

"Hey. Any update on Al?" Jay asks as soon as they enter the waiting area. 

"No. Voight's down by the surgical wing, so he'll be the first one to hear something. As soon as he does, he'll come down here to talk to us" Antonio replies, and Jay simply nods. 

He's sitting next to Emma and they wait. After a while, Voight enters the room. His facial expression is enough to make them realize he has bad news to tell them. But nothing could prepare them for what would follow. Their boss doesn't say anything and just shakes his head. Everybody understands. Alvin Olinsky is dead.

Jay was the first one to react to the news. He stayed still for a moment, but after a few seconds, he left the room. Kevin was the next, and he just turned his back to everyone to hide how he was feeling. Adam, on the other hand, knelt in front of Kim, who was sobbing quietly, and wrapped his arms around her. Just as comforting was Hank, who held Trudy in his arms, who was crying for their friend. Antonio turned around and placed his hands against one of the waiting room windows. And then there was Emma. Alone, sitting in a chair, she was trying to realize what she heard. Alvin Olinsky is dead, she was saying and saying again, and a tear started rolling down her cheek. Suddenly the walls start to narrow and the air isn't enough. Without saying anything, she leaves the room and almost runs out.

The cold air hits her straight on the face and her eyes sting with tears threatening to spill. She wraps her arms around her body and tries to calm her breathing but doesn't make it. She didn't know Alvin for as long as the rest of them, but that doesn't mean she didn't consider him her family. Throughout her life, the term family meant something different from the classic family with a mom and dad. So the whole team was her family and so was Alvin. 

"Hey, hey breathe," she suddenly hears Jay's voice and opens her eyes. His eyes are red and his eyebrows frown. He stretches out his arms and rests them on her shoulders, trying to ground her. 

"Emms, please try to breathe with me," he says softly, and the girl obeys.

Jay's heart tightens as he sees his partner so vulnerable. He's seen her sad before, but only for a while. She always had a way to bring back her smile. After a while, Emma manages to calm down and lifts her sleeve to wipe her cheeks. 

"I'm sorry," she tells him shyly and looks at the floor. 

"Hey, it's okay. You have to see how I am when something like this happens," he tells her, trying to lighten the mood. Her eyes widen as she hears him admit this and then smiles faintly at him. She doesn't say anything. They don't need words. They both understand. 

"Come on, let's go inside," he tells her after making sure she's okay.

"All right, I know we're all in pain. I get it. But the best way to honor Al is to find the son of a bitch responsible for this. So, for now, let's pull all our energy, all our passion, all our love for Al, into finding the person who did this. I know that's what Al would want. I guarantee it. When this is over, when we get this prick, then we'll mourn Al. So take the time you need, but just know that right now, we've got some business to do" Voight tells them back at the waiting room.

"All right, where we are at," Voight asks as he walks into the room inside of the prison that they had set up as their bullpen. 

"The jail is lockdown" Antonio replies. 

"Good, keep me in the loop," Voight says again. 

"Guards are going through cells, hallways, laundry rooms, looking for blood," Kim tells him. 

"And witnesses?" 

"Not yet. We talked to inmates that were in proximity to the stabbing" Emma speaks and carries a few boxes over to where Kim was sitting. 

"Well, inmates being blind, I get. What about guards?" Voight asks. 

"No luck so far" 

"The weapon's at the lab. They're checking it for prints and DNA. It was a plastic comb before they turned it into a shank" Jay says as he enters the room. 

"Boss, I found a guard who actually saw the attack. His name is Dietz. He's waiting in the hallway" Adam informs him. 

"Kim, Emma, track down every fame of surveillance video you can get your hand on," Voight tells them and leaves.