9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Blood. That's all Jay could taste, all he could smell. He was fighting to open his eyes and was slowly regaining his senses. His head was killing him, and he knew his hands were tied to something. He took a few slow breaths in, trying to bypass the nausea and throbbing headache he had. His shirt felt wet, with his own blood, he eventually pieced together.

How did I get here? He thought for a brief moment before his memories flooded back. He received a text from Angela, he went to her house to look for her and then someone hit him in the back of the head. That was all he could remember. He had a concussion he was sure of that much, his head did not feel great, that was all he could make out with his quick internal survey. He finally opened his eyes and was greeted with several hard punches to the face. That was going to leave a mark, he thought as he felt the blood pour from his cheek, already feeling a black eye forming.

"Where are my drugs that you and your girl stole?" A male voice kept yelling at him.

"I told you man, I have no idea. We didn't take your drugs", Jay mustered up the strength to yell back at the man, after receiving more beatings. He was barely able to stay conscious, but he needed to figure out why they were down here in order to make a plan to get them out. He looked over and saw Angela bleeding from her stomach, also tied up on the ground. The cement was cold and damp, Jay was already feeling the chill in his bones.

Whoever was in front of him didn't seem to like Jay's answer and continued to punch him across the face once he told them to go easy on Angela. Jay was hurting, but he could take it, and he would rather take it then let Angela suffer any further.

Eventually, the two mystery men left and Jay let out a few deep sighs, trying to hold in the tears he so desperately wanted to let out.

"Angela, what the hell is going on? I need to know, did you steal their drugs?" Jay asked weakly. Every ounce of his being was trying to stay awake.

"Yes", she shamefully confessed from across the basement.

Jay's heart sank, and hopeful mood deflated. They were in some serious trouble right now. He listened as Angela came clean about what happened, he was trying to think about how they were going to get them out of here. But he was coming up blank, his head hurt so bad. And now his face. But he had to stay awake. He wasn't sure how much time had passed while he was knocked out, or what time it was. All he knew was that by now, someone probably noticed he was missing. And that someone would likely be his partner. If he could buy them enough time, he knew that Hailey would find him.

Hailey had been trying to get a hold of Jay all night. It was unusual for him to not call her back, even with him being a little distant the last few weeks. She tried once more as she made her way upstairs.

"Jay, third message. I was annoyed after the first two but now I'm getting worried, call me as soon as you can." She shook her head, unable to shake the bad feeling she had about this. She ran into Kim and Adam before going into the bullpen and asked if they heard from Jay at all. Kim shook her head.

"We were supposed to grab beers last night to make up for his Molly's ditch last weekend, but he never called me back", Adam replied, not too phased by that. But to Hailey that was a huge red flag.

They were interrupted by Trudy storming upstairs. "Hey is Halstead on a UC run?"

"No, not that I know about. Hailey?" Voight turned to her. If anyone knew where Jay was it would be her.

She shook her head at Voight, growing increasingly concerned. "No I called him a few times but never heard back…"

"I ran GPS on his truck and it's parked on a street in Englewood", Trudy said, also feeling a sinister vibe here.

"How long has it been there?" Voight inquired.

"All night. There were a few calls about suspicious persons on that street last night…" Trudy voiced what everyone seemed to be in fear of. Something was wrong with Jay.

"Okay Hailey, Rojas- go check it out. We'll follow and meet you there", Voight ordered, with the rest of the team moving quickly. Kim gently squeezed Hailey's shoulder on the way by trying to tell her that things were going to be okay.

Hailey sped over to the location as fast as she possibly could, the panic was starting to set in. She pulled out Jay's spare truck key from her pocket and unlocked it, Rojas went to see what was inside as Hailey checked out the house.

"Looks clear", Vanessa said.

"Check the glove box", Hailey replied, knowing that Jay always kept his badge and gun in there if he didn't have it on him.

"His badge and gun are still here", Rojas confirmed a second later, confirming another one of Hailey's fears.

"Okay…so he went undercover", Hailey was thinking out loud as she looked in the window of the house. The hairs on arms stood up when she saw the kicked in door frame and quickly whipped out her gun. The rest of the unit did the same, it was unspoken that she was in charge on this one.

Adam went around back, Kevin, Kim and Vanessa followed Hailey in the front to clear the house.

"Chicago PD, Jay call out!" Hailey and Vanessa yelled. But the house was empty. All seemed typical of a break in until they got to the kitchen. Hailey saw a huge pool of blood on the linoleum floor and her stomach sank.

"Adam opening up", she told him at the back door, and let him into the kitchen to see for himself. His face painted the same picture, whatever happened here, was not good.

"Jesus", he whispered under his breath, looking around at the blood in the kitchen, trailing to the back door, and then at Hailey's face. One that looked pale, and scared as soon as she looked at a picture on the fridge. Like she had seen a ghost.

"You recognize that woman?" Adam asked quietly, fearing the worst. Hailey deflected for now, needing to think about how she was going to handle this.

"There's a shell casing on the floor", she said and walked away. Adam knew this was serious by her reaction though.

By the time Voight had arrived, Adam, Hailey and Kim were out front telling him what they knew so far. Angela Nelson, no priors, not a CI of Jay's. Her house was torn apart, so whoever came here was looking for something, or someone in particular.

"Alright, Jay is missing. I want every single agency on alert…", Voight said.

"Sarge, we can't do that", Hailey cut him off abruptly, much to the extreme surprise of the rest of the unit, even Voight was thrown off by that. Jay was so important to Hailey, why on earth would she not want everyone out looking for him?

"Excuse me?" Voight replied. Hailey felt all eyes on her, but motioned to her boss to speak privately.

"Angela's husband was Marcus West", Hailey confided in Voight once they were off from the group.

"The addict who got killed at county?" Voight shook his head, slowly piecing things together.

"Ya. Jay still blames himself for that. He's been seeing her."

Voight raised his eyebrows, this starting to feel a little too familiar.

"Not romantically", Hailey sensed the tension there. "He's been spending time with her and her son, just trying to help them out."

"I see. You know why Jay came here last night?"

"No clue, he's been pretty closed off lately. I knew something was going on with him…I just…", Hailey shook her head and looked down at her feet.

"Alright, I'll fill everyone in. But you're right, we have to keep this in house."

Voight brought the team up to speed and they quickly went to work, making a few connections to Angela and the missing drugs, hopefully getting closer to finding Jay. Hailey had been in the background in the bullpen, the rest of the unit working extremely hard to find leads. They knew she was overwhelmed, even if she wasn't showing it.

Then a name popped up. Carlos Diaz, a suspect in the murder from the night before and a person of interest in Jay's kidnapping. They pinged his phone and saw that he was at a stash house near by. Hailey didn't even wait for the order, she jumped for her coat to go find this guy, Adam following her. They found Carlos alright, dead as a door nail. Overdosed.

"He's cold, been dead for a while", Adam told Hailey who walked away shaking her head. She was so frustrated. But on the bright side, they did find the missing drugs that Angela had in her car the other night. Maybe this wasn't a wasted trip after all.

The rest of the day flew by, chasing leads that brought them a bit closer to finding Jay. Turns out, their new friend Darius Walker could help.

He set up a meeting with Kev and Pedro Silva, whose drugs had been stolen. His oldest two sons were looking good for the kidnapping at this point.

"I should have said something as soon as I found out Jay was seeing Angela", Hailey confessed in a guilt ridden voice to Voight. They were sitting in his car nearby, waiting for Kevin and Pedro to meet up.

Their talk was cut short when they saw Silva pull up. Hailey was antsy to put a tracker on his car, but it was too dangerous.

Kevin was playing it cool, Pedro seemed to be buying his story. They got to the point where Kev gave him a proposition; the missing drugs and an extra 50k in exchange for Jay and Angela. But Pedro started to walk away.

"You know how this works man, I need proof of life or no deal", Kev told Pedro as the man got up in his face. He hesitated at first, but after Darius talked to him, he made a phone call, presumably to one of his sons. Kev's own heart was thumping in his chest in anticipation.

He heard Jay's voice, which made him relieved more than anything. But he didn't sound like himself, he sounded tired, and his words were slurring a bit. Kev didn't like that, but it was all they had right now. He was alive at least. Then the call was cut short.

Back in the basement, Jay was feeling a shot of adrenaline after hearing Kev on the other end of a random phone call. He just had to hang on, despite how terrible he was feeling. How easy it would be to close his eyes and drift off, he was tired and in pain after taking more punches to the face. But his team was closing in on whatever was happening here.

Angela had a lot of questions, rightfully so, Jay thought. About how he received the phone call and how his 'friend' had the missing drugs. But Jay didn't have the patience or energy to explain.

"Just focus on getting out of here okay" Angela nodded at that.

"We're getting out of here", Jay kept repeating, almost as if he needed to say it out loud to believe it himself.

He had some hope again, that his team was looking for him. They were close, she was close.

Meanwhile, the team was waiting at 4 pm that afternoon in an abandoned warehouse for Silva to show up. With what they thought was Jay and Angela. Turns out they were trying to set them up.

"No, no, no. They're not here, repeat I do NOT have Jay", Adam said over the radio as gunfire erupted in the warehouse. Silva started to flee. Voight and Hailey chased down Silva after shooting him in the leg. Hailey stepped on the wound on his leg, causing him to cry out.

"Where is he! He's a cop, if anything happens to him that's capitol murder", she whispered with a vengeance and tears in her eyes.

"Hailey, not here", Voight said with a hint of excitement in his voice. He wanted nothing more than to take Silva into the cages right now and teach him a listen.

"You better pray to God he's still alive", Hailey spat out at him as she dragged him into the vehicle and headed back to the station.

Jay was close to freeing his one arm, he had been working at it all day. His skin was raw around the rope that was tied to the pole that was trapping him. He was starting to feel weak, and he knew Angela's injuries were getting worse too. He knew that they should have done the deal by now. His mind drifted elsewhere, trying to focus on something happy to get him through. But dark thoughts were creeping in. How he was going to leave Will brotherless, and as the last living Halstead. How he'd never get the chance to tell Hailey how he really felt, how much he loved her and cared for her. How he'd never get married or have kids of his own one day. What seemed like an impossible situation was getting worse by the minute. The irony of it all. Everything he went through overseas and back at home, what might get him was trying to help out a mother and her son.

"He killed two little boys", he heard Angela crying across the room, mumbling and crying things about Marcus. The guilt Jay was feeling, had been carrying around and eating him alive was too much. Rationally, he knew telling her the truth was a terrible idea, but the words spilled out anyways. His head injury, he thought. And in the event that they didn't make it out here…

"Marcus didn't kill those kids", Jay admitted, shamefully.

"What?" Angela questioned.

"I'm a cop. That's how I met Marcus, I arrested him", Jay came clean, hanging his head as he felt Angela's anger from across the room.

From there, it went exactly how he was anticipating it to go, but he didn't really care. He deserved her wrath, her hurtful words. He caused this. But when he heard Angela threaten that she was going to tell their kidnappers he was a cop…he couldn't let her do that. They would kill them both. She didn't seem to believe him, all she could see was red.

The mood in the room instantly changed when one of the Silva brothers came in a few minutes later. Jay looked at Angela, begging her with his eyes to keep quiet. Well with the right one, the left one was pretty swollen shut. He thought it was over when he heard Angela whisper something to one of the men, but thankfully she pulled back. They would live to see another hour.

"Sarge, we need leverage… let's use the youngest son against Silva", Hailey told Voight while they were down in the cages.

"The honours student?" He questioned her sceptically, this was not Hailey's usual approach. Thinking back to a similar case last year, where Jay wanted to do the same thing. But Hailey pushed back, saying it wasn't fair to play with an innocent man's life. How times have changed. But then again, this was Jay they were talking about. Voight knew Hailey would move heaven and Earth to get him back safely.

"Ya, he's the only thing this guy cares about", Hailey agreed, showing Voight she was willing to go there. A side of her he was not used to seeing.

"Do what you gotta do", he gave her his blessing and returned to the cages with Silva.

Hailey was pacing upstairs in the kitchen, on the phone, trying to figure out where Silva's youngest son was. Her emotions were starting to take over. She had been strong all day, but the cracks were starting to spread. Jay had been missing for a long time now, and she knew as well as anyone that wasn't good. The longer he was gone, well, frankly the less chance that he had. She had to find him alive. The thought of a world without Jay in it was too much to bear. She slammed her coffee mug against the sink in frustration, shattering it all over the lunch room. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but she was too far gone.

Adam saw this happening, and cautiously knocked on the door to let Hailey know he was there.

"You alright?" He asked, knowing that she wasn't. He asked her what was going on, trying to give Hailey a chance to take a breather. She let her guard down, which surprised him. It was right then and there that he knew for sure, her reaction was confirmation enough to him. Considering they all had their suspicions about Hailey and Jay at this point, no one knew better than Adam. He watched last year as she cried for him when he got shot, when they got together but her mind was always somewhere else, that her heart always belonged to someone else. He put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, the tears falling down her cheeks more steadily now.

"We're gonna find him, you know that right?" He said confidently, as his eyes met her piercing blue ones. She bit her lip and nodded.

"We're gonna find him", he repeated and stayed with her while she cried for her partner and all that was hanging in the balance.

Hours had gone by, but they finally received a location on Jay and Angela thanks to some not so by the book interrogation by Hailey and Vanessa. The facts didn't really matter right now, what mattered was getting Jay back safe and sound.

"3900 West Union, old manufacturing plant- let's go, NOW", Voight barked. Hailey could feel a bit of relief in her chest, they knew where Jay was. What kind of shape he was in they had no idea, but she was hopeful that he was still alive.

She couldn't stop fidgeting the whole ride over. All she kept thinking about was what she would tell Jay when she saw him. That was keeping her going right now. Believing in her heart that he was alive. When the arrived at the plant, her and Kev split up from the rest of the group to take another side of the building. She couldn't walk anymore, she was running, desperately wanting to get to Jay as fast as she could. They looked around, not seeing a way in. That was until Kev pointed out a heating vent. One that only Hailey would be able to fit through. Voight told them to wait, but Hailey wasn't going to take that as an answer and Kev certainly wasn't going to get in her way. He knew the look in her eyes, he knew how much Jay meant to her. If she could get in there even a minute faster than anyone else, even without backup, she was going to take that risk for him.

He helped hoist her up and she slid through while everyone else tried to get in the building another way.

Jay was downstairs, having finally broken free. He conned the first brother into getting close enough to knock him out with the pipe. He had no idea how close his team really was.

He made sure Angela was free from her wrist ties, and gave her the pipe to protect herself. He was going upstairs to take care of the other brother. Standing up for the first time in a while did not feel too good, it took him a second to orient himself. He was dizzy and sore. But he needed to push through, he was so close to getting them out of here. All he had to do was take on one last guy. All of his training, in the Rangers and CPD, brought him to this point. One more guy.

He snuck up the steps and managed to surprise the other brother who was on the phone. After a battle, Jay ended up stabbing him in the stomach, taking him down. He let out a sigh of relief as he leaned over his body. He thought he was dreaming when he heard another voice call out for him.

"JAY! Jay, are you okay?" Hailey practically screamed from the doorway. She rushed to his side, reaching out to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, giving him a squeeze.

He was confused though, he wasn't sure if this was actually real. He was still looking down at the body beneath him until he heard her again.

"Hey, Jay, are you okay?" She mumbled softer this time, her voice was calm and soothing. He looked up and made eye contact with her and he knew. She was real. Her big tear-filled blue eyes were staring back at him, her face was close to his, looking him up and down. He relaxed for the first time since this ordeal happened. He was safe. She was here, his partner, his Hailey. The look they shared was intense, like it was just the two of them in the room. How it always was.

Her hand was still rubbing his shoulder, she was shocked by how much blood was on his face and his shirt. She gently touched the back of his head, he winced. She was trying to figure out where he was hurt, turns out it was in a lot of places. But he was okay.

"Okay, okay. Shh you're okay Jay, I'm here", she kept repeating as she saw him start to process what was happening. The blood was dried in his hair on the back of his head, but still fresh in other spots. She didn't know where it was coming from. And his eye. He had to turn his head pretty far just to really see her. He started to say something to her but she was still trying to help him. Then he cut her off, almost not believing the words out of his own mouth. He thought about what he would say to her for hours, and all he managed to come out with was, "I need to go help Angela." She looked at him distraught, like she didn't want to let him out of her sight again. But she was in a form of shock too, a false sense of security that she had found him alive and mostly well. They would have their talk later, they needed to get out of here first. So she stayed there, in a knelt position and watched him stand up, and stumble back down the stairs. As quick as their reunion had happened, it was over. She sent a message over the radio to send ambulances. She had no idea what was coming next. She would think about what she could have done differently for hours to come.

She was in the middle of requesting assistance and getting in touch with the team when she heard it. The distinct sound of a gunshot from the basement she just saw her partner walk down towards. She immediately ran down the steps, heart pounding in her ears, her adrenaline going a mile a minute yelling out for Jay. She heard him before she saw him, crying and gasping for air. Her blood ran cold.

"No, no, no", she mumbled as she looked around the room trying to figure out how this had happened. Then she saw Angela, lying down with a gun sprawled out next to her.

"YOU BITCH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" Hailey couldn't control herself at this point. She kicked the gun away from Angela, not even bothering to check if she had a pulse, she didn't care. She knew that was against protocol, but she thought to hell with protocol right now. She rushed back to Jay's side, putting pressure on his chest.

Her eyes went wide seeing where Angela had shot him. He didn't have a vest on. This was real this time. She tried to blink profusely to clear the tears in her eyes so she could really look at Jay.

"Jay, stay awake, stay with me", she begged him as she watched him struggle to keep his eyes open. He likely had a punctured lung, she was praying that was it, but she didn't like where the bullet hole was on his chest. She couldn't tell if there was an exit wound. His lips were already turning blue. She weighed her options, if he blacked out- should she start CPR? Wasn't exactly how she figured the first time her lips would meet his, but this was serious. She decided against it since he was still fighting.

"I already called an ambulance, we're getting out of here. Help is on the way alright?" She continued talking to him to try and keep him alert, but he was losing a lot of blood.

At some point, Adam, Voight and Kevin came downstairs. She must have called for them, but she didn't remember doing that.

Kevin sprinted back outside to direct the paramedics in.

"Hailey, what happened?! Jay, buddy…?" Adam said with a rare showing of emotion in his voice too as he came closer to the two of them and realized how serious this was. Even Voight looked several shades paler.

Hailey couldn't move her hands, but she motioned towards Angela. If they could have taken a picture right there of Voight's face. The look of pure hatred and disgust- it was worth a thousand words.

"I'll deal with her later", he said coldly. Adam and Hailey continued to talk to Jay, who was in and out of consciousness. Hailey was still crying, her hands shaking with his blood all over them. Seeping out through the cracks of her fingers, she couldn't contain it. Voight and Adam weren't trying to stop her, they knew nothing they could say right now would help. The cruel irony, how close she had been to finding him. Little did they know, that's not what had happened and Hailey would come undone with guilt about it later.

"Hai-Hail", Jay kept trying to choke out with his eyes closed. The sound of his voice was foreign to her, she was in a complete panic that she just stared at him.

Voight and Adam were watching this unfold in front of their eyes, completely terrified. Jay was using his last breaths to try and say her name, that obviously meant something to him. Hailey was just hovering there, sitting over top of him, frozen in place not responding to him, until Adam jumped in.

"Jay, Hailey's here, she's right here man, look- open your eyes", he said trying to alert the two of them to each other. As much as he didn't want to think this way, this could really be it. If this was Jay's last moments with them, he wanted Hailey to see that he cared so deeply for her. He was literally bleeding out, and all he was trying to say was his partner's name. Hailey quickly snapped out of it once she heard Adam say that.

"I'm right here Jay, I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here. I'm going where you go", she managed to get out tearfully. Jay's eyes popped open just enough when he heard her say his line, his lips curling up into a small smile. Voight and Adam exchanged a small look, clearly something she said resonated with Jay, enough to keep him with them.

"That's good Hailey, try to keep him awake, ambulance is less than a minute out", Voight reassured her, fearing for his detectives. Jay tried to say something else to her, but his words weren't coming out. She nodded at him, giving him a look that only he understood. Hailey felt his hand come up and hold onto her thigh, aware enough that she wasn't able to move her hands from his chest to hold him back, though she desperately wanted to. His one good eye went wide, the pain was unbearable, as his hand dug into Hailey's leg.

"I know Jay, I know. Don't talk alright, just try to stay awake. I'm right here, I'm not leaving you", she said while trying to comfort him in any way that she could without moving her hands. He nodded ever so slightly and didn't care that he was holding onto his partner who was straddled on top of him in front of Voight and Adam. If this was it, he wanted Hailey to know that he loved her. The look on her face told him that she did. Nothing else mattered for now.

The paramedics arrived, quickly packing Jay up onto a stretcher and getting him back upstairs. Hailey helped carry an end, talking to him the whole way, trying to think of anything and everything that might keep him awake. She was running on autopilot, pulling herself together to be brave and calm for her partner who had a long fight ahead of him.

Voight ushered them through, putting a comforting hand on Hailey's back. She nodded, and without looking hopped into the back of the ambulance with Jay. The doors were quickly slammed shut and they raced to Med. The whole ordeal lasted less than five minutes, but it felt like an hour. Hailey was nervously watching the paramedics work on Jay, cutting open his shirt, attaching a heart monitor and IV's and checking readings constantly. The dark spot on his shirt where the bullet had entered was bright red against his chest now covered in gauze. It didn't look like there was an exit wound. She wasn't sure if that was worse. But Hailey could tell by the paramedics face that this wasn't good. Hell, she had seen enough of these to know this wasn't good. But she couldn't think like that. She finally took Jay's hand in hers, he felt cold and clammy. Signs of shock, she rationally thought. But to her, the fear was there that Jay was giving up. She squeezed his hand, trying to tell him she was there, and look for any signs of life, but they didn't come.

"Jay, please", she pleaded quietly. "You're going to be okay, we're almost at Med."

Then it dawned on her, they were going to Med. Will. Selfishly, she had been thinking of herself through this, but what about Will. He didn't even know Jay was missing. What was it going to do to him to see his brother rolled into the emergency department like this? They had failed Will, but most of all- she he had failed Will. She was supposed to keep his brother safe. And now this. He had a bullet in his chest, was choking on his own blood, and his face was swollen to an unrecognizable level. She started hyperventilating, should she tell Jay right now? Tell him she loved him? What if this was their last moments together. She was about to have a full on panic attack, to the point that the paramedic had asked her if she was okay. Then she felt Jay's hand squeeze back, very weakly, but it was there, almost as if he knew she was losing control. I'm still here Hailey, is what she imagined that meant. She wiped the tears from her eyes and leaned over him again. His one eye was open just a crack. She thought she saw a smirk from under the oxygen mask. She gently placed her other hand over his forehead, and held it there. He looked at her once more before slipping away again.

"Stay with me Jay", was all he could hear through the fog. He was out of it, but he could pick out her voice anywhere. He felt her holding his hand, and touching his face and he tried to smile. In any other circumstance, he would welcome her touch like this. His vision was blurry, and there was this pain in his chest. But he felt strangely calm, despite feeling so tired and cold. He was ready to accept whatever came next.

I'd be lying if I were to say I haven't thought about the Chicago PD Fall Finale every day since it happened! I think this is the best cliff hanger they've ever done in terms of keeping spoilers under wraps. Personally, I don't think we have anything to worry about, Jay is going to make it. I'm speaking it into existence! They would be absolute fools to kill him off, but of course the angst of him getting shot is still there for sure. I think there have been so many good fics about this and I can truly see aspects of all of them playing out in some way! I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and your theories for the Jan 8th premiere. Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2020! - K