8. Vendetta

Thanks so much for the reviews! Guess what day it is, Guess what day it is? It's CROSSOVER DAY...and Veterans' Day. Special thank you to the Veterans who have sacrificed so much so that people like me have the freedom and can watch the "Chicago PD" "Chicago Fire" and "SVU" Crossover Event and write this story. So excited for tonight. I don't really want to see Severide on my TV with Erin, but, you take the good with the bad. I'm just kidding I know there's people who do ship Erin and Kelly. Who knows, maybe he'll show up in this story...

00000000000000000000000

The next morning Hank Voight walked through the doors of the ICU and down the hallway to Erin's room. He wanted to see her before the rest of the team showed up to visit. He turned the corner and stopped in his tracks. There in a chair next to Erin's bed was Jay. His head was leaned back against the headrest, his mouth slightly open as he slept.

Voight followed the path of Jay's arm and saw his fingers intertwined with Erin's laying on the bed. He shook his head as he watched the scene in front of him. Jay clearly hadn't went back to the hotel last night and from the look of the scrub top he had on some poor nurse had clearly taken pity on the man and had given him one so that he wouldn't be walking around the hospital covered in blood.

Hank knew he needed to talk to Jay about what he'd heard last night. He knew this wasn't the time. He didn't want in office romance in his district. That much he knew. But when it came to Erin, he knew two things.

1) She was still the same smart ass, quick tongued, pain in the ass that she'd been since she was 16.

2) She valued his opinion, but she'd always fight for the people she loved.

He knew Erin sacrificed a lot in her life, the very life that was hanging in the balance as he stood in the doorway of her room. He had seen in house romances play out and they never ended well. It's one of the reasons he didn't want to bring Kim up to intelligence. He knew that she and Ruzek were together and bringing Kim up would throw Ruzek off his job.

But, Erin was more than just one of his detectives, she was his kid. Not by blood, but blood doesn't always make a family. And as his kid, all he wanted was for her to be happy. Happy and healthy, and looking at the sight before him. He knew that for whatever reason Jay Halstead made his girl happy.

"God help us all" Hank thought as he walked into Erin's room and over to the chair where Jay was sleeping. He reached down and shook Jay's shoulder.

"Halstead" Voight said and shook his shoulder again.

Jay's eyes slowly opened as he took in his surroundings. He turned his head to look at Hank Voight who was standing next to him. "What time is it?"

Voight looked down at his watch and back at Jay "It's 8 in the morning"

Jay let go of Erin's hand and stretched in his chair before bringing his hands down to rub his eyes. He was exhausted. Physically, emotionally, mentally. Every version of the word. His body was basically on auto pilot. That didn't matter though. He wasn't going to go anywhere. Not until he saw those beautiful eyes of Erin Lindsay open up and look at him.

"I'm going to go get some coffee" Jay said standing from his seat. He winced as he felt the muscles in his neck and back ache from spending all night in a wooden chair.

"Halstead, go to the hotel and get some sleep" Hank said moving to take the seat that Jay had just vacated.

"I'm fine" Jay said. He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Hank or himself.

"Halstead. Go. Get. Some. Sleep" Voight repeated. "You're not going to help Erin any if you get sick and bring it in here to her"

Jay shook his head "I'm not leaving her"

Hank took a quick glance at Erin before he stood up. "I'm giving you a direct order, Halstead"

Jay shook his head and stepped towards the man in front of him. "And I'm telling you. I'm. Not. Leaving"

Hank Voight looked at the man in front of him. If they'd have been anywhere else, he would've laid him out on the ground for stepping to him the way he just did. "You need to walk away, son"

Jay stepped back and looked over at Erin. "I'm staying. She's my responsibility"

Hank's head shot back to Jay "Your what?"

Jay said "She's my responsibility"

Hank exhaled before he looked over at Jay. His voice gruff and low as he spoke "She's nobody's responsibility. If all she is to you is some obligation, Halstead. Then you need to leave. Not the hospital...but leave here. You need to go back to Chicago"

Jay raised an eyebrow at Hank "I don't mean that she's an obligation, Voight. I mean that I owe it to her to be here"

"You don't owe her anything, Jay" Hank shot.

"You never understand anything" Jay said under his breath.

"Understand? You want to talk about understanding, Halstead? I understand that if you'd have done your job then Erin wouldn't be laying in this bed right now. If you'd have not let her go off alone, she wouldn't have been attacked, and if YOU wouldn't have let 3 hours go by before you decided to go look for her than she wouldn't have been cut open like some wild animal"

"THIS IS NOT MY FAULT" Jay had finally had enough. He wasn't going to sit and let Hank Voight put him down for this. He already felt guilty enough.

"IT WAS YOUR JOB TO PROTECT HER. YOU LET HER DOWN. YOU LET ME DOWN. YOU FUCKED UP ON THE ONE DAMN THING YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DOING. YOU HAD ONE JOB HALSTEAD ONE JOB" Voight raised his voice right back to the young man in front of him.

"DO YOU NOT THINK THAT I DON'T BLAME MYSELF ENOUGH FOR THIS?" Jay yelled. "DO YOU NOT THINK THAT I WISH EVERY SECOND THAT IT WAS ME IN THAT BED AND NOT HER? I FUCKED UP, I SHOULD'VE WENT WITH HER. BUT DON'T PUT THIS ON ME. IF I HADN'T FOUND HER SHE'D BE IN A BODY BAG RIGHT NOW...She'd be dead, Voight...She'd be dead"

"Is there a problem in here?"

Jay and Hank turned their heads to look at the woman in scrubs standing in the doorway.

"No. There's no problem" Jay said

"I'd like to remind you that this is an Intensive Care Unit. The people in here are very sick. I don't think this is the place to be having your family feud" The ICU nurse walked past Jay and Hank and looked at the machines checking Erin's vitals. "If it happens again, you'll both be asked to leave"

Jay and Hank watched as the nurse made a note on Erin's chart before leaving.

"I'm going to go get a coffee. I'll be back" Jay said before turning around and walking to the door.

"You say you love her? Look where loving her has put her" Hank said softly looking at Erin who was still in her coma.

Jay exhaled before turning to look at Hank "You're just mad. You're mad because Erin made a decision about her life without asking what you thought. I'm going to be in Erin's life. I am going to marry her. We're going to have a family. If you don't like it. That's your problem. Fire me if you want. I don't care. But, you're not going to keep us apart. I love her, and one way or another you're going to learn to have to accept it"

00000000000000000000000000

Jay and Hank had spent the rest of the day in silence. Neither one of them spoke. They had both said what they needed to say and nothing else needed to be shared.

Jay flipped through his phone looking at the score of the White Sox game. Anything to try to take his mind off of the events of the last few couple days.

Hank Voight sat on the other side of Erin's bed. He was flipping channels of the TV that was mounted to the wall. He shook his head as he flipped through the channels before landing on the Investigation Discovery Channel and sat back in his chair as he watched a show about a serial killer.

The sound of the door to Erin's room opening turned Jay and Hank's attention over to the person walking in. Trudy Platt walked into the room a somber look on her face.

"Platt" Voight nodded at the woman standing in front of the door.

"How...how's she doing?" Trudy asked looking at Erin who was laying in the bed.

"About the same" Jay said looking up from his phone.

"She's tough though. She's hanging in there" Hank added.

Trudy nodded and looked around the room. "Um. I don't know if you heard. But...Mike Lane made his bond"

"What?" Voight asked.

"He made his bond. The attack on Erin happened in costal waters off of the Mexican boarder. The Mexican authorities had nothing else to hold him on. So he's currently on a flight back to Orlando International Airport" Trudy explained

"What about assult on an officer, attempted murder?" Voight asked.

"They could only hold him on the money laundering charge. He made the bond and he's on his flight home" Trudy explained.

"When does his flight land?" Jay asked looking at Erin's sleeping form and back at Trudy.

"Jay...I...I don't think..." Trudy started

"What time, Platt?" Jay asked standing up from his chair.

"He's expected to land within the hour" Trudy said looking down at the floor.

Jay nodded and grabbed his coat and walked out the door, out of the ICU and out of the hospital. He walked past Kim and Adam coming back from having dinner and brushed past them without speaking.

"Where you going, Halstead?" Ruzek asked watching Jay walk past him and into the night.

"Maybe you should go check on him" Kim said dropping her hand from Adam's and looking up at him.

Ruzek nodded and leaned down and kissed Burgess on the lips "I'll be back"

Kim watched as Adam took off jogging after Jay and she watched until the two men disappeared into the parking garage before she turned and walked into the hospital.

000000000000000000000000000000000

"What exactly are we waiting on?" Adam asked from the passenger seat of the SUV that was currently parked outside of the Orlando International Airport.

"Nothing" Jay said reaching into the glove box to pull out the gun that was hidden inside.

"Jay. What are you doing?" Adam asked. Watching the man in the driver's seat take the safety off of the hand gun and make sure it was loaded.

"If you've got to ask questions Ruzek, maybe you should leave" Jay said not taking his eyes off of the doors of the airport.

"I'm sorry. I'm just wondering what's so important that it's taking us away from the hospital"

Ruzek saw Jay's entire body tense as he followed his gaze to the man that was walking out of the airport.

"Shit" was all Ruzek was able to say before the driver side door opened and Jay Halstead stepped out and made his way across the street.

Ruzek hurried out of the car and after Jay who was following Mike Lane down the sidewalk and towards a parking garage that was on the side of the airport.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Ruzek asked as he walked after Jay.

"No" Jay kept walking. His entire body tense and his eyes dark as he kept his eyes on Mike Lane.

"You don't want to do this, Jay" Ruzek said trying to reason with the man.

"You don't know what I want" Jay spat he looked over at Adam and Adam stepped back. The gaze he was met with was not that of his "Best Good Friend" Jay Halstead. This was the gaze of someone who was out to get even. Out for revenge.

"Give me the gun, Halstead" Ruzek said reaching for Jay's shoulder.

"Fuck off" Jay said shoving Ruzek with such force that he stumbled off the curb and into a group of travelers.

"Sorry" Adam offered to the people he'd been shoved into and he looked up scanning his surroundings and felt his heart race when he realized that he could no longer see Jay.

All he heard was a gun shot ring out into the night.