9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: Hope you enjoy the newest installment. Sorry on the last chapter, I had a big editing error in the name of one of my characters. It's been fixed, and hopefully didn't throw too many people off.

"Tell us the truth! Stop playing the 'I don't know nothin' game." Jay leaned across the rickety kitchen table towards the father of their victim.

Julio "JT" Hernandez just turned his head away at Jay's comment. "I don't know nothing'"

The man sitting across from Jay was probably only a few years older than they were, but life had certainly worn on him. Deep lines from a hard life of drugs, drinking, and who knows what else, told the story of his life. His clear distaste for the police was evident, and Erin thought Jay was wasting his breath on trying to get the guy to tell them something. JT was a Latin King and probably had been since he was a young teen. Maybe he was married now, had kids, and didn't spend his days on the corner, but he was still a thug.

Jay was practically vibrating with rage, "Come on, man! Your own kid was gunned down in the street. Next to a school! You telling me no one around here saw anything? You don't know who he was hanging with?"

Erin and Jay knew full well, that sixteen-year-old "Little JT" was a full-fledged gang member. They just couldn't figure out if his murder was related to the gang's drug business, random, personal, retaliation, or maybe even to do with his father's past.

"I ain't got any idea what Little JT had goin' on. He was his own man. He didn't check in with his ol' man anymore." Hernandez crossed his arms and leaned back against his chair. He gave Jay an indifferent look.

Pissed, Jay pushed back his chair, the metal legs screeching loudly against the cracked tile floor. He stood up and towered over Hernandez trying to intimidate him. "He was your own son. You gonna let somebody shoot him in the head, leave him bleeding out on the sidewalk like trash."

Jay had struck a nerve, Hernandez stood slowly, pulling up to his full height. Him and Jay were eye to eye now. The set of Hernandez's jaw told what he thought of Jay's comment. "My boy wasn't no trash," he slowly spit out.

Liking that he had gotten a reaction from Hernandez, Jay egged him on, "Really? Are you sure? Nobody seems to care he's gone. Nobody is stepping up to point the finger anywhere? Why is that?" Hernandez's nostrils flared and his breathing was becoming ragged. He looked as if he was going deck Jay, but Jay didn't seem to care as he continued, "Maybe nobody's pointing the finger cause it was you! Did you take out your own son?"

Hernandez's eyes bulged with rage, "You think I done this to my own kid?" He yelled into Jay's face.

Not backing down, Jay shrugged, "Maybe. I mean you probably jumped him into the gang yourself. He's young, he's tough. Maybe he was rising faster than you ever did." Hernandez took a step closer, the two men were chest to chest now, and both looked like they were about to strike.

Erin pushed herself off the kitchen wall, where she had been leaning and stepped forward. The two men were getting just a bit two heated for her liking. They were out here alone, deep in gang territory, and she had no desire to have to shoot her way out of the neighborhood.

She stepped forward and grabbed Jay's elbow, "Let's go. He's not going to give us anything."

Jay shrugged off her touch, "Come on, big man. You've got something to prove to me. Let's go."

Erin reached between them and physically inserted herself between the two men. "Jay, walk out of here." She looked imploringly at him, hoping he got that he needed to step back.

He gave her a hard look, before taking a few step back. "Some kind of father you are." He threw out the comment before stalking out of the kitchen door.

Erin gave Hernandez an apologetic look, "Sorry. If you do hear anything, please do give us a call."

He just gave her a disgusted look, "Bitch, get out of my house."

Erin sighed and followed the route Jay had taken to the car. She noted he was on the driver side, waiting impatiently for her to arrive since she had the keys. Not wanting to deal with another argument, she tossed the keys over the roof to him.

Within minutes they were flying through the neighborhood at break neck speed. "Jeez, slow down, will ya? I'd like to make it home for dinner in one piece."

Jay threw her a dirty look, "Whatever."

"What is your problem, Jay? You were way out of line with that guy!"

Hitting the brakes hard at a red light, Jay looked at her in disbelief, "I was out of line? He is a gangbanger. He's part of the scum that keeps Chicago down. What did you want me to do? Hold his hand?"

Erin allowed a bit of her own irritation to show through, "What happened to having a little bit of empathy for the victim, Jay? The man just lost his son."

Erin knew it was pretty much pointless to even discuss this with Jay. They'd had this conversation numerous times over the last month. He was constantly pissed off and irritated at everyone they interviewed. He certainly hadn't been making any friends on the streets of Chicago. Erin knew Jay was dealing with his own demon's, but she just didn't have an idea of how to reach him. How could she get past the anger and frustration that just poured off Jay. He never seemed to relax anymore. He rarely joked with the guys even. She knew 'her Jay' had to still be there somewhere, but nothing she'd tried seem to work.

Despite his anger, Jay had slowed to a reasonable rate of speed as they light turned green. Erin let out a slight sigh. She studied Jay's profile as he drove for a few moments. The set of his jaw and the rigid hold he had on the steering wheel told her he was anything but relaxed. She was just so worried about him.

"Stop staring at me. I'm fine." He suddenly announced, not bothering to even look at her.

Realizing he was aware of her concern, she decided to just put it out there. "Well, I am not sure about that. You seem different lately."

He let out a dramatic sigh, "I'm fine. Just do the job."

"I'd like to, but you make it hard." Erin responded.

"What's that supposed to mean. I do the job." He did turn to her now. Anger and disbelief clear on his face, this time directed at her.

Erin gritted her teeth, "You're hard to work with lately. Going off on victim families, getting in their faces. Being reckless on calls. I'm supposed to have your back, but you are running off half-cocked most the time."

He rolled his eyes, and glanced back at the road. "Give me a break, Erin. This isn't about the job. This is about us. You don't like that I made the decision this time, and now you are trying to find any way you can to control me."

Erin gave a laugh of disbelief, "Really, Jay? You think too much of yourself." Erin fumed on the inside. Yes, she was hurt by the end of their relationship. Yes, his words then and now bruised her heart, but her actions were all out of concern for his well-being. She wanted him to get better, get back to normal. Erin tried a different angle, "You know Dr. Charles really helped me out last year when I was having a hard time. Made me see things a bit more clearly."

Jay gave a derisive laugh, "A shrink? You think that because I don't want kids and marriage anymore, I need to see a therapist." He spared her a sideways look, "Uh, Erin. Don't you remember that it was you who said that it was for the best? Marriage and kids don't work in our kind of jobs. Why was if fine for you to have that point of view, but for me I need to 'see things more clearly' with the help of a shrink?'"

Erin jumped in, "I'm not talking about that, Jay. Feel how you want about us and all that. I mean about your mood swings."

They had arrived at the precinct and he slammed the car into park. Spinning around in his seat he gave her a cold look. "I don't need you telling me how to feel or how do my job. You don't want to have my back. Fine. Talk to Voight and get him to switch things up. I'm just over this." At that, he dropped the keys in her lap, got out of the car, and slammed it behind him.

Erin slumped in the passenger seat. She just couldn't get through to him. It seemed like every move she made, he just got angrier with her. She didn't want to give up on him, but he was making it hard. Erin thought maybe she'd make a stop in with Dr. Charles herself to see if he could give her some advice. Just because Jay wouldn't' go see him, didn't mean the doctor couldn't give her some insight into how she could help him.

Erin had been at her desk about a half hour when her and Jay had both been summoned into Voight's office.

"You want to explain to me why our victim's father is on the news claiming two of my detectives have accused him of murdering his own son?"

Erin slide a sideways glance at Jay. That'd been fast. News vans had littered the neighborhood since the shooting, Hernandez probably had just walked out his front door and started talking to the first reporter with a microphone. Erin stayed silent. If Jay wanted her to say out of it on the job, she was going to stay out of it in the office, too.

Voight's narrowed eyes glare drifted back and forth between the two. "Nothing?"

Jay shrugged, "We don't have any suspects."

Voight looked at him with interest, "You think the dad actually had a hand in this?"

Jay faltered a bit, "Well, no, but you know he has heard something about his son's shooting. No way the Latin Kings are in the dark on this."

Shaking his head, Voight leaned back. "The media in Chicago has been all over the police. You can't go out guns blazing on the dad. We don't need our case on the evening news." When Jay made face, Voight continued, "Lay off the dad."

Jay sprang up from his seat. "Are you kidding me? You! YOU are telling me to hold back? Are you forgetting that I know how you deal with things?" His sweeping look encompassed Erin and Voight.

Voight perked up at that, "You two got a problem?"

"No-" Erin reported.

"Maybe," Jay answered at the same time.

Erin looked at Jay in surprise, but he refused to meet her eyes and kept his eyes focused on Voight.

The narrow line of Voight's mouth, told her he was contemplating actually listening to Jay. "You don't want to be partnered with Lindsay anymore?" Voight's eyes skimmed back and forth between the two. Erin's heart dropped. She knew tension was high between them, and they had been bickering a lot, but she couldn't believe Jay was actually asking for a partner change.

Silence held the room. Jay just stared at Voight defiantly. "Do what you want." He spit out before stalking out of the room. Erin watched him go in shock. Voight nodded at her to shut the door.

After closing it, Erin sank back into her chair. She eyed Voight cautiously. She tried to keep a stone face. She didn't want her personal emotions spiraling this conversation out of control.

Voight nodded at her, "And what do you want?"

"We're fine. Just a rough case." Erin tried to blow off the situation with the wave of her hand.

Voight smacked his lips together in irritation. "It's been a month of hard cases for that guy. You said you could keep him in line."

Erin couldn't fight the sigh that came out. She used to know she could keep Jay in line. In the past all he needed was a hand on the shoulder or a softly spoken "Jay" and he would step back to regroup. Now she had physically put her herself in the way of a gangbanger, and he still hadn't backed down. "I'll talk to him."

Voight raised his eyebrows. "It doesn't seem like he's listening to you much these days."

She took a deep breath, "I'll talk to him." Erin firmly stated.

Giving her one last doubtful glance, he abruptly changed the subject, "How about you come to dinner tonight? You haven't been by the house in months. Olive and Daniel would love to see you."

Erin hesitated. It was true she had avoided the Voight household the last few months. Initially, she'd tried to be supportive of Olive and Daniel, but the tension between her and Voight as Crowley had closed in, had made family dinners just more and more awkward. Instead, she'd spent most her time with Jay. After their break up, she'd stayed away to avoid uncomfortable conversations. Realizing that she'd been neglecting her familial duties, she felt immediately guilty.

Erin gave what she hoped was a pleased smile, "Um, yeah. Dinner sounds great. How's Daniel?"

Voight's face lit up, "That boy is a wonder. He's gotten so big. Waddling around everywhere. I've had to baby proof the whole house."

Erin couldn't help but smile at Voight's joy. She knew how hard it had been on him to lose his wife. Now his son. He had to feel so alone. Daniel was the only thing he had left. "I can't wait to see him." She meant it, too. In all honesty, they were all she had, as well.

After a bit more chit chat, Erin left Voight's office. Erin noted Jay's empty desk, and a quick glance into the break room showed it was empty as well. She headed down the hall to the locker room. She really wanted to try and have a calm discussion with Jay. She was shocked that he had brought up the idea of switching partners. Despite their strained relationship, they were still Lindsay and Halstead, right? Erin had a hard time imagining the job without him by her side. If they could just sit down and have a reasonable discussion, Erin was sure that they could get to a good place.

Walking quietly into the locker room, Erin swung her head down the rows of lockers, checking for Jay. As she turned into the last row, she saw him. His back was braced against the locker, his head dropped down, eyes closed. It looked like all the rage that had been coursing through him had been expelled, and now he just looked drained and exhausted. With his eyes closed and his face relaxed, Erin couldn't help the flip that her heart did. She just wanted to step up close, wrap her arms around him, and just let the weight of his burden fall onto her shoulders. Letting instinct control her, she took a few cautious steps toward him. So lost in thought, he didn't hear her approach, she cautiously lay a hand on his shoulder. Startled, his bright blue eyes flew open and met her concerned ones. The look between them told Erin that there were still unresolved feelings between them. The pull was undeniable. Giving in, Erin slipped her arms around his strong torso, lying her head against his chest, and for a moment, he stood rigid in her embrace. Her heart skipped a beat when he suddenly wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. She left out a relieved sigh. Erin relished the feeling, as he dropped his head onto her shoulder. She could feel his breath against her ear, and the warmth of his body against hers.

This was them. She knew in her heart, that their relationship was not beyond repair. This is what they needed. Just a few moments alone to regroup, reconnect, and work things out.

Not really wanting to end the moment, but feeling the need to voice her feelings, Erin pulled back slightly, so she could see his face. His eyes held a bit of softness in them, that she hadn't seen for months. She reached up between them, her hand lightly brushing his cheek, "Jay, I-"

"Yo, Halstead!" Ruzek's booming voice burst into the locker room, and the moment was broken. His arms dropped from around her, and he side-stepped quickly into the main aisle. His quick movement left Erin with her arms grasping air, and she felt like moment had literally slipped through her fingers.

"What's up, man?" Jay spoke, his voice sounding scratchy and raw.

"I was just making sure…" Ruzek's voice trailed off as Erin popped around the corner into his eye line. Ruzek's eyes darted back and forth between the two, clearly trying to determine what exactly he had interrupted. Not interested in being the subject of any squad room gossip, Erin gave Ruzek a brief nod and moved past him towards the door. As she made her way into the hall, she could hear him murmur to Jay, "You still good?"

"Yeah, we're good." She could hear Jay's reply. Erin let out a relieved breath she had been holding. Hopefully Jay meant what he said. She hoped they really were good. She needed them to get back to a that place. The look in his eyes, had told her that he missed her and needed her, just as much as she needed him. In her heart, she felt like maybe this was the moment where they finally turned the corner and figured out what the future could hold for them.

Thank you for reading! It still amazes me how many people have viewed and favorited this story. I appreciate the few who take them time to write the reviews. They do inspire and let me know I am telling a good story. I think we are about halfway through at this point. I've got a few more chapters, and then we get some new "complications."