26. Chapter 26

A/N: I know. I suck. My computer crashed mid-editing this chapter and it somehow wiped the entire chapter so I had to restart. BUT all the chapters are written and we're going to be going hard and fast from here on out. I plan on having them all uploaded over the next two weeks.

Thanks for sticking with me for the ride. This chapter is quite content heavy and jumps around a lot - I think it's my longest chapter yet. Honestly, it feels a bit disjointed in most places, but I didn't want to waste any more time trying to perfect it and drag out the updates any longer. So, hopefully it's reads well enough …

Apologies for any spelling mistakes, it's 1:45am in Australia and I am too tired to be 100% sure that I properly proofread :P

Enjoy!

FEBRUARY, 2016

"You guys ready for this?" Hank asks as the team gears up.

"It's a simple sting sarge." Jay says as he buttons his black shirt over his bulletproof vest "We've dealt with worse." Erin nods in agreement.

"Okay then. Everyone knows their cover?" He calls out to his unit.

Everyone nods and distractedly answers "yes" as they continue getting ready. Jonathan Hayes would be at the club at 7:30 sharp, and it's already 6:45; time is running short.

"Good. We'll move out in 10. Remember, no one makes a move until Erin or Jay have the drugs in their possession. We need to figure out exactly what he's distributing, and keep him here long enough to prove he murdered Haley Morgan. And we need the drug sample to figure out what the hell kind of concoction he's whipping up."

Upon further research, they had linked Hayes' drug ring to a string of suspicious overdoses in Chicago over the past six months. The drugs were being laced with something that wasn't showing up in the victims' bodies upon autopsy, and it had stumped the Chicago Police Department. Tonight was a chance to bust the door wide open on this illicit drug ring.

"We got it Voight, don't worry." Antonio reassures.

Hank doesn't respond before he walks back up the stairs and into his office.

Jay frowns "What's up with him today?"

"I think he's just nervous. This is the first UC op I've done since I've been back. Hank just worries too much."

"He's not wrong to be worried, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't." Jay responds.

Erin turns to look at him "You don't think I can handle this?"

Jay steps forward and takes her hand in his "hey, no, that's now what I mean. I know you can do this, but it has been a while. And you're still technically recovering, I just don't want anything to happen to you."

"I appreciate that Jay, but you can't treat me like I'm made out of glass. We can't go into the field together if you're constantly going to be worried about me and what I'm doing. Our job is dangerous, it always has been. We have the best team watching our backs; trust in them. Trust in me."

Jay pulls Erin into his chest, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss into her hair "I love you, you know that?"

Erin's laughs vibrates against his chest "I had a feeling. I love you too."

"Hey, lovebirds." Kim pokes her head out from the next row of lockers where she's leaning over from, Jay and Erin breaking apart to look at her "Put a pin in it, we gotta go."

…

Their sting was going successfully so far. Erin and Jay had posed as a thrill-seeking couple with a slight problem in the romance department, and Ellie Harper introduced them to her boyfriend claiming that she and Erin had been friends since high school.

Jonathan Hayes had made it a point to flirt with Erin at every possible turn, and it was frustrating her partner to no end. All Jay wanted to do was slap the cuffs on his wrists and wipe that smug look off the man's face, but he knew he couldn't do it. Not yet at least.

"So, my girl was telling me you two like to get involved in some … recreational activities?"

Erin smiles coyly, running her hand up and down Jay's chest "She wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that. This is so embarrassing."

Jonathan smirks "Nah, come one! There's nothing wrong about vamping up your sex life."

Jay coughed loudly, puffing his chest out "Our sex life is fine."

"Come on man, I already know everything. There's nothing wrong with a few performance issues. It's perfectly normal" Jonathan said leaning in to whisper into Jay's ear "Seriously though, if you're not banging her it's a damn shame."

Jay felt his hand ball up into a fist, and he smiled tightly "Yeah, I know." He took a deep breath, forcing out a disappointed sigh "I don't know what it is man. I just really struggle to get out of my head, unless I'm on something while we do it."

"You know what? You two seem like a good couple." Hayes says, discreetly pulling out a baggie from his front pocket "I'd be happy to help you out, if you're up for it?"

Jay looked at Erin before shrugging "I guess so. What is it?"

Haynes held Erin's hand in his, bringing it up to kiss against his lips. Erin held back the shiver that threatened to run through her body, gripping the bag he was exchanging tightly in her hand.

"It's a special blend. Trust me, it's good stuff."

"Everyone in position?" they heard Hank ask through their ear pieces.

"We're round the back." Antonio answered.

"We got the front exits." Ruzek said.

"Front's secure." Atwater said from his position at the door, where he was posing as a security guard.

Jay waited anxiously as Haynes placed the drugs in his hand "breach." He whispered.

Hank, Olinsky and Ruzek burst through the front door. Antonio and Atwater both pulled out their guns as Upton and Jones busted through the back door.

"Chicago P.D! Jonathan Haynes, you're under arrest." Jay said as Erin raised her gun up to point as Haynes, Jay happily slapping the cuffs on him.

…

"Come on Hayes, give it up." Antonio stares down the man "we got you on drug charges. We know you murdered Haley Morgan because she ratted you out to the FBI. admit your guilt, sign the plea deal, you'll only get charged 5 years for the drugs."

Jonathan rolls his eyes, folding his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair "I don't know what you're talking about. I would never hurt Haley, I loved her."

Erin scoffs "yeah, the bruises you gave her sure looked like love." she throws the photos across to him, the various shots of Haley's bruised and bloodied face, arms and stomach splaying out on the table.

"What can I say? She was real clumsy." Jonathan shrugs.

"Don't even. We have proof of the abuse, we have her working with the FBI to bring you in. That's a hell of a lot of motive to want her dead." Erin says.

Hayes looks her dead in the eye "Prove it. You have no solid evidence that I did anything to her. And I know my rights. In a matter of 6 hours, you won't be able to hold me anymore. Maybe I'll go and see my daughter." he smirks at Erin.

"You're dreaming if you think you can get within 100 feet of her." Erin growls.

Antonio places his hand on Erin's shoulder, eyeing their criminal "How do you even know about her? Haley never told you she was pregnant."

"Friend of a friend."

"Haley's been in witness protection all these years, you couldn't have known unless you were looking into her. Try again."

Hayes smirks, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms "You've got nothing. And I'm not saying anything."

It had been three hours since Jonathan Hayes had been arrested and brought into the station. They had 21 hours left before they had to formally charge him possession of narcotics and intent to distribute. They needed to find solid proof of his connection to Haley's murder before that time was up, otherwise he would be gone from Chicago. His lawyer would get him off the drug charges, and Hayes would find a way to escape undetected and set up in another city; this was their one chance.

Dawson, Atwater, Ruzek and Burgess were interrogating Haye's partners who they had arrested with him. Mouse and Olinsky were looking through Jonathan Hayes' financials while Hank was out talking to a few CIs to see if they could help. Erin and Jay sat in the break room, going over their case files.

"There's nothing in here that can help us crack him." Jay sighs "We've been over this stuff a hundred times."

"We can't just let him go. The team will find something."

Mouse entered the room filling up his coffee cup and turning to face the two "How's it going up here?"

"No luck. You find anything on your end?" Jay asks.

"Nothing. For a renowned drug-trafficking ring, his financials are pretty fucking clean. I tried seeing if maybe the business was under his mother's name, or even Haley's, but there's nothing. I don't know if we're going to find anything in time."

Jay and Mouse both look at each other defeated before Erin speaks up "What about Emma?" they both looked at her in confusion "We've been operating this entire time under the assumption that Hayes didn't know he had a daughter running around. But he confessed as much. What if the financials are under her name?"

Mouse's eyes widen snapping his finger at Erin in excitement before rushing off to his computer downstairs, Erin and Jay following behind. They watch in anticipation as Mouse runs his fingers over his keyboard, stopping every few seconds to click on a different window. His eyes scanned the screen quickly before he was typing again.

"I'm not finding anything under Emma Grace Morgan." Mouse says, still looking intently at his screen.

"Try Emma Grace Hayes." Jay offers "It makes sense, he wouldn't think we would look under that since her legal last name is Morgan."

They wait with bated breath, the only sound that can be heard is the clicking of Mouse's fingers against the keyboard. It feels like an eternity before he finally speaks "I got a hit."

"What is it?'

"The deed to a house in Riverwood. If we can get a warrant, we might be able to find something that can tie Hayes to Haley's murder. I'm almost certain the gun will be there; police didn't find it at the scene, whoever shot her took it with them."

"This is our chance." Erin says looking to Jay.

"I'll call Hank."

It's approaching midnight when the Intelligence Unit is ready to raid the house. The judge had granted them a no-knock warrant and Voight chose to strike now instead of early next morning, in the hopes that they would be able to surprise Jones' men, not giving them enough time to hide any incriminating evidence.

Antonio and Erin covered the back entrance, Kim and Atwater on the side of the house, with Voight, Jay and Ruzek coming in the front. Ruzek signals to Jay to wait where he is, battering ram in hand, as he peeks through the window next to the front door. He holds up three fingers, letting them know how many people are in his line of sight, before nodding. Jay swings the ram back and forth, putting all his weight behind the object as the door splinters and sprays open.

"Chicago PD!" He yells, dropping the ram and drawing his weapon as Hank and Adam follow behind him. The rest of their team rush in from their entry points, guns drawn and yelling for whoever they see to put their hands up and stay where they are. Jay turns the corner into the living room and stops short, eyes wide as he takes in the scene before him.

"Oh my god."

Ruzek comes up beside him "We got him."

…

"Do we have an estimate yet?" Antonio asks as he walks back into the house, having deposited the last person they arrested into the back of the police van they had called.

Kim shook her head, looking at the thousands of small packets of drugs that lay on the table. They had busted Hayes' team in the middle of packing drugs. Jay hadn't expected it to be that easy, but it made sense; Jonathan Hayes had done everything in his power to hide this house from the police, he didn't think anyone would find it and therefore wasn't concerned with hiding his operation.

"Narcotics reckon it's somewhere between three to five million worth of fentanyl." She says.

Antonio whistles through his teeth "Just for one load?"

"Have you seen how much shit they've got lying around here? Not to mention in the kitchen and basement. It's enough to get the entire fucking country high." Ruzek replies.

"Did we find anything else?" Antonio asks.

"There's basically a mini-lab in the basement downstairs, we've got uniforms going through everything right now but it could be awhile before we find anything." Atwater answers.

"How come this shit didn't show up in any of the toxicology reports? Fentanyl isn't a hard drug to identify." Atwater asks surveying the room.

"Preliminary tests of the lab downstairs show they were modifying the strain of Fentanyl, so it was off by a few markers. Toxicology picks it up as some kind of unknown substance, instead of as Fentanyl. And even in small doses, this stuff is extremely lethal." Jay explains.

"Voight!" They all turn and look at Erin, standing at the ledge of the upstairs hallway "You should come see this."

"Halstead." Hank calls and the detective follows him upstairs to meet Erin.

Erin directs them to a room down the expansive hallway, opening the door to a light pink room.

"He had a room set up for her."

The three surveyed the room; pale purple walls, with a bookshelf on one side and a kids bed directly opposite on the other wall, Emma's name spelt out in white paint in a cursive font above the bed and a chest full of toys perfectly suited for a 4-year-old girl.

"He wasn't just planning on finding Haley. He wanted revenge for what she did; he was going to take Emma so Haley would have to live the rest of her life worrying about her daughter, or die knowing that she wouldn't be able to stop him from taking her." Erin says.

Jay shakes his head "It doesn't make sense. Why would he go to all this trouble?"

"She's his daughter; no matter how shitty a person he is, she's still his blood. He has a son, he wanted to complete the family dynasty." Voight responds "Haley was keeping him from that. People have killed for a lot less."

"Sergeant Voight." They turned around to see a uniformed female officer in the doorway, holding a clear bag up in her hand "We found a shirt and a pair of pants in an old set of pipes in the basement. They've been cleaned, but there's some blood on the cuff of the shirt."

"It could be Haley's." Erin points out, Voight nodding in agreement.

"Get this to the lab, tell them we need it tested today." Hank barks out.

"We might actually have proof." Erin says looking optimistically at Jay.

"Here's hoping kid."

The team had been sent home after the raid, Erin and Jay had picked up Ben and Emma from the sitter's house before heading home. The children had both been extremely tired out by Uncle Will, who had taken them on a play date with Natalie and her son Owen, and both kids were falling asleep on the drive home.

"Did Ben go down easy?" Jay asks as he sits on the couch.

Erin looks over from her place in the kitchen "He was too tired to try and fight it. At least he'll be well-rested, less likely to make a fuss when we drop him and Emma off with Will tomorrow."

"You know, it's kind of nice. Having two kids around the house." Jay smiles.

Erin nods as she sits next to him on the couch, drink in hand. "It is. We never really talked about how many kids we would have. I know we've agreed on having more, but we didn't really define the number."

"Hmmm, I'm thinking 6." Jay declares.

Erin snorts into her glass "if you think I'm pushing 6 of those things out of my body, you're dreaming. Did you forget how big the doctor said Ben's head was? No way."

Jay laughs softly "I was thinking we could adopt. It always made me sad, thinking of how many kids were out there already just waiting for someone to love them. It would be nice to give a child a home."

"Really?" Erin looks surprised "I never really considered adoption. Then again, I never thought about being a mum until I was pregnant. But, I'd like that. I was so afraid to go into CPS because of how many shitty foster parents there are in the system, it would be nice to break that stereotype. But 6 kids is still too many."

"Okay." Jay agrees "Well, we've got five bedrooms in this place. How about three kids? One for each room, with a spare for guests or unexpected kids."

Erin laughs at his explanation "I like your logic. Okay, four kids." She turns to face him properly and sticks out her hand "Shall we shake on it?"

Jay smirks, leaning forward and speaking low "I've got a better idea." He says before capturing her lips with his.

Erin's phone ringtone pulls her out of her sleep early the next morning. She stirs, smiling widely as she feels Jay's naked form resting over hers, his legs tangled up with hers and his head rests in the crook of her neck and his arm wraps tightly around her.

She looks over at her bedside table as her phone resumes ringing softly, quickly picking it up when she notices Olivia is calling her for the fifth time this morning.

"Hey, hold on." She says as she answers the phone, slipping out of bed and grabbing Jay's t-shirt off the floor from the previous night and pulling it over her head as she heads downstairs to the kitchen.

She takes her phone out of its position between her lips - a habit that annoys Jay to no end - and presses it back up against her ear "Sorry, I didn't want to wake Jay. What's up?"

"I'm sorry to call so early, but there's been a development with Yates." Olivia says.

"What happened? Did the judge grant him the earlier release?" Erin panicked.

"Worse. Erin, Yates escaped prison this morning with another inmate."

"... What?" the words barely make it out of her mouth, she feels like someone's taken the breath out of her "How the fuck did this happen Olivia."

"We're still piecing everything together. It only happened around an hour ago, he couldn't have gotten far. We're doing everything we can to capture him."

"What can I do to help?" Erin asks "We're wrapping up our case today, but I can be on the first flight out as soon as we're done. The team can manage without me."

"That's not necess-" Olivia begins, but Erin stops her.

"Yes it is Liv. I'm not going to sit here while Yates is running around free. He's been locked up for 11 months, who knows what he's capable of? Just because he didn't kill anyone in lockup doesn't mean he's lost the urge - he could be unstable, he could hurt anyone and everyone. I'm not letting that happen."

"Okay, okay. I get it." Olivia replies, "But you need to finish your stuff in Chicago first, and talk to Jay and Hank about all this. Let me know when you fly in and I'll set up arrangements to get you to the precinct."

Erin lets out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding "Thank you Liv."

"It's going to be okay Erin, I don't care what it takes. I will drag him back to prison or zip him into a body bag. But he's not slipping through our fingers."

"I know." Erin says, jumping when she feels a set of hands on her hips "I gotta go, call me if anything changes."

"You too." Olivia says before they both hang up.

Jay tightens his arms around Erin's waist as she turns around to face him "Hey you, who was on the phone."

"That was Olivia, she was updating me on what was going on with Yates." Erin takes a shaky breath "It's not good."

Erin had called Hank and informed him of the situation, and he had told her to take the morning off to get herself sorted so she could fly out as soon as they were done with their undercover assignment.

It was nearly 11am, and they had just dropped Ben and Emma off at the Will's house.

"Is everything okay? You guys seem a bit off." He asks his brother.

Erin holds Ben to her as Jay watches her "Yates escaped from prison this morning. It's kind of thrown us for a loop, especially Erin."

"Shit." Will mutters "Well, I got these guys for today so don't worry about that. And if you need anything, let me know."

"Thanks man." Jay hugs his brother before turning to his partner "We better get going Er."

Erin nods and kisses Ben's temple, holding him close to her before passing him off to his uncle. She gives Emma a hug after Jay and follows him outside to the 300.

"Are you okay?" Jay asks once they were sitting in the car.

Erin lets out a low hum in answer, focusing on the road as she pulls into traffic "Yeah, just got a lot on my mind."

Jay reaches over and squeezes her thigh "It's going to be okay Erin, Olivia and her team know what they're doing."

"I know she does, but Yates is tricky. He's not like any criminal I've ever dealt with before." Erin sighs "I'll feel better once I'm there, I just feel at a loss right now with how to help."

"You're doing the best you can babe." Jay reassures.

Erin stays silent, and Jay doesn't push her which she's grateful for. He knows she's not pushing him out, she's just trying to process everything that's going on within herself first.

Jay looks out the window as Erin drives. They've come a long way since the last time they dealt with Gregory Yates, but he'd be lying if he said he hasn't felt anxious since the moment Erin first mentioned his name last week. Just because they had moved forward, doesn't mean the past wouldn't haunt them still. It was a part of their history they would have to live with, for the rest of their lives.

The Intelligence Unit are all seated behind their desks when Erin and Jay walk into the offices around midday.

"How's it going with Hayes?"

"We presented him and his lawyer with all the evidence. But he wants to talk to you guys; figured it made sense to wait to formally charge him until you find out what he has to say" Kim says.

Erin and Jay look at one another confused, placing their stuff on their desks before heading to the interrogation room.

"You rang?" Jay says as they walk in.

Jonathan Hayes sits up as he sees the two detectives "I heard through the grapevine that you two got my kid. I wanna see her."

Jay scoffs "Not a chance in hell."

"I have a right to see my kid. I'm willing to give you a signed confession in exchange." Hayes offers.

"You must be really fucking stupid." Erin mutters and both men look at her shocked "You really think you can bargain with us? You killed that little girl's mother, in cold blood while she was upstairs. You scared her for life. She's never going to forget that night, and she has to live with the fact that her own father did that to her. He made her an orphan."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Hayes growls "that little bitch got what she deserved."

"What she deserved!? All she was trying to do was make her daughter's life safer! She was protecting her daughter, and you put her in danger! You're the reason she could grow up in a crappy system getting tossed between foster homes until she ages out. Everything that happened is on you."

"Erin…" Jay speaks firm, looking her in the eye "You need to calm down."

"I'm fine." She snaps back, walking over to Hayes.

"You already know the situation; we have your DNA and Haley Morgan's blood on the shirt found in the basement of the drug house that you put in Emma's name. We have solid proof. You're not getting out of this. A signed confession doesn't work in your favour anymore; the time to plea out was last night when we offered you a deal. It's too late now."

Erin looked the man dead in the eyes as she speaks to him "Enjoy your last few nights in the world, because I promise you this; after your hearing, you will never again be a free man. And you sure as hell will never be able to hurt that little girl again. So you're going to sign a confession anyways and you're going to accept whatever happens to you, and you're never going to see your daughter for as long as you live. I will make sure of that myself."

Jay watches as Erin storms out the door before rushing after her, shutting the interrogation room door behind him.

"Erin." Jay says, grabbing her by the wrist "What the hell was that!?"

Erin lets out a deep breath "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap like that. He was just so smug, I couldn't … I shouldn't have reacted like that."

"Why don't you go home? I can handle our paperwork." Jay suggests "We don't have to pick up the kids until 8."

"No, I need to be here. I can't just sit at home, all I'm going to think about is-" she stops short, shaking her head "I just can't."

Jay nods "okay, but you gotta go cool off."

"We still have to formally charge him so he can be processed, and do-"

"I can handle that with someone else. You need to take a beat; you're no good to anyone if you can't stay in control. And I'm not letting you go to New York without me if you're going to act like this."

"Seriously?" Erin looked at him annoyed.

"Seriously. I'm not letting my partner go chasing a serial killer if you're not on your A-game. You have a family to think about Erin." Jay said sternly "I'm going to get Antonio and head back in, you need to go anywhere but here right now."

Erin storms down the stairs, the rest of their team watching her go as Jay came into the room.

"Antonio. Let's go." He motions his head and the older man walks with him back to the interrogation room.

"She good?" Dawson asks "Hank filled us in."

"She'll be fine, she just needs to cool off. She's not in the right headspace to deal with this, even if she can't see that right now."

…

The slamming of the gate-door to the entrance of the Intelligence Unit offices pulls Trudy Platt's attention from the paperwork she was so diligently focused on. She looked up to see Erin storming past her front desk, knocking into one of her uniform officers, barely acknowledging them as she pushed on. Kim stared at her friend in shock as Platt yelled out.

"Lindsay! Watch it!" she scolds, Erin waving her hand in dismissal as she heads out the door.

Kim makes a move to follow after her friend, but Platt stops her "Burgess! Mind the desk."

Platt grumbles to herself as she pulls her coat on and heads to catch up with the detective.

"Erin!" she calls, the young woman only a short distance ahead of her. She keeps walking away, and Platt's irritation grows further "Dammit Lindsay, if you don't get your ass back here I will tase you!"

Erin stops a few steps later, standing in place and refusing to look back at the Sergeant. Trudy catches up to her and grabs Erin by the shoulder, turning her to face her "What the hell do you think ..."

Her voice fades away as she sees the tears that have built up in Erin's eyes "What happened? What's wrong?" she asks softly.

Erin wraps her arms around herself "Everything! I verbally abused a suspect, I snapped at Jay. I'm no good to anyone, because all I can do is think about what kind of damage Yates is doing while he's on the run, and I can't even do anything about it because I'm stuck here!"

Her words come out in a blubbery mess, and Trudy's irritation fades away as she hugs Erin tight."It's alright sweetheart, just breathe."

"I can't handle this Trudy. I can't fail her again." Erin cries into the older woman's embrace.

"You didn't fail her. She loved you so much. I know you loved her, I loved her too. She wouldn't blame you for what happened. And I know she wouldn't want you to suffer like this Erin."

"I'm sorry." Erin pulls back"I didn't even think about how you must be feeling with all this."

"It's fine. I know he's going to get what's coming to him, I believe that with my entire being. You'll get him Erin." Trudy says "But if you keep pushing my officers around, I'm going to put you in holding for the night. Understood."

Erin let out a short laugh "Understood. I'm sorry about that; I guess I didn't realise just how much this was affecting me."

"It's alright. Now, can we go back inside? My old bones can't handle this cold weather."

Erin smiles as she wipes her eyes with her sleeve "Yeah, let's go."

Trudy wraps her arm around Erin's shoulder, leading her back inside and up to the Intelligence Unit office.

…

Jay and Antonio are walking out of the interrogation room as Erin and Trudy walk up the stairs.

"You good?" Trudy asks her. Erin nods in return, and both she and Antonio walk back to their respective desks.

"You guys get what you need from him?" Erin turns to face Jay.

"Yeah, he signed a confession in exchange for not being put in gen pop, and giving up how exactly he found where Haley was, and as a result finding out Emma was alive. Apparently he's got a couple enemies in there he'd like to avoid." Jay replied.

"That's good." Erin agrees "I'm sorry about earlier. I was feeling a lot of things, and I took them out on you. That wasn't fair."

"I get it." Jay sympathises "but we can't keep doing this Erin, you gotta talk to me, especially with this going on."

"I know. I promise, I'll do better." Erin sighs, walking towards him "Are we okay?"

Jay nods, wrapping his arms around her "Yeah, we're okay."

They stand in their embrace, revelling in the quiet peace after their blow-up. Someone coughing interrupts them, and they turn to face Alvin.

"Sorry, but you've got a phone call. Mark Warner." he informed them.

Erin nods and goes to answer the call "Hi Mark. I was just about to call you."

"Erin, I saw an arrest report for Hayes. What happened?" Mark said frantically.

"We arrested him for dealing out of a club in South Chicago. Raided a house he had under Emma's name and found a shitload of Fentanyl being readied for distribution, as well as proof tying him to Haley's murder. We got him."

"You got him." Erin can practically hear the smile that is spreading across Agent Warner's face, the relief evident in his voice "Thank god."

"He'll be processed and moved into lockup tonight, but he might be out on bail. I'm not really sure; it's all up to the judge. But either way he'll be under heavy surveillance, he's not slipping through." Erin explains "He won't get anywhere near Emma."

"Is she still with you?" Mark says.

"Jay's brother is looking after her at the moment."

"Okay. I actually have some news myself."

"Oh yeah?" A smile grows on Erin's confused face as she listens to Mark tell her his plan "You have no idea how much I needed to hear some good news today. Let me see what I can do on my end, I'll let you know what I find."

"Thanks Erin. I'll talk to you later."

"I'll text you if I find out more information." Erin says before hanging up.

The unit had spent the rest of the day filling out paperwork, dotting their i's and crossing their t's in the most pedantic methods to ensure that nothing fell through the cracks with this case. They had worked so hard to make sure that Hayes would pay for what he did to Haley, and to all the other people who had been affected by his drug distribution rings.

They had finished around 6:00pm and Hank dismissed them early, he and Alvin both staying back to wait for Jonathan Hayes to be transported downtown to lockup. Jay and Erin reached Will's house an hour later to pick up the kids.

"What time is your flight?" Will asks as Jay secures Emma's buckle on her car seat.

"The only flight I could get is at 10.40 tonight, but it'll give us enough time to do what we need to do tonight." Erin explains.

"Stay safe, okay? I know Jay seems cool, calm and collected, but I can tell he's nervous about you being there on your own. And I don't want anything to happen to you either." Will says giving her a hug.

Erin reaches up and kisses his cheek "Thanks Will."

"Good luck with tonight." He says heading back into his apartment.

…

"Where are we?" Emma asks holding Erin's hand tightly.

Erin smiles down at the little girl "We're visiting a friend of mine. He really wants to meet you, is that ok?"

"Yes, I just wondered." Emma says quietly, following Erin's lead. Warner stands at the door, a bright smile on his face as he sees Emma.

"Erin!" Emma loudly whispers tugging on the detective's hand "I know that man."

"Really?" Erin asks surprised as they stand before Warner

Emma nods looking up at her "my mummy used to show me pictures with him. I saw one of him holding me, but I was only a baby so I don't remember."

Warner laughs at Emma's blunt explanation "You're right, I did meet you when you were a baby. That was the last time I saw you or your mum. I have that photo inside, would you like to see?"

Agent Warner welcomed them all inside, Jay sitting down with Ben asleep on his shoulder and Erin sitting next to him with Emma firmly on her lap.

"Why are we here?" Emma asks.

Mark sits across from them on the coffee table, leaning in so he was at the same eye-level as Emma "Well, Emma and Jay found the men who hurt your mum. And now that you're safe, we wanted to talk to you about where you would live."

Emma looked confused "You don't want me anymore?" she looked at the two detectives.

"Oh no, sweetie." Jay interjects "It's not like that. We love having you with us, but your mum made plans for if something like this ever happened to her. So that someone would look after you."

"Who?" Emma presses.

Agent Warner looks nervously at her "Your mum wanted me to look after you. That's why Erin and Jay brought you here today. We wanted to know how you would feel about staying with me?"

Emma stays quiet, looking between the three adults in the room "Were you friends with mama?"

Warner nods "I was. I loved her very much."

"She said that people we love look after us." Emma says softly "Will you look after me?"

"Of course." Warner says emphatically "I promise you, I will look after you as best as I can."

Emma looks to Jay and Erin "Can I still see you? I like playing with Baby Ben."

Erin and Jay both smile at the little girl "Of course you can honey. We can set up playdates, and do dinner nights. Anytime you want."

Emma nods, taking in the information she's being given "If mama trusted you, than it's okay to me."

Mark's smile widens "You'd like to live here? That would be okay?"

"Yes, I would like that." Emma smiles, sliding off Erin's lap and walking the short distance to Warner "Do you like hugs?"

"I love hugs." he says, opening his arms as Emma walked into them.

Jay and Erin stayed for a few hours, having dinner with Mark and Emma before deciding to leave the two to get better acquainted with one another and get Erin's luggage and drop her to the airport.

Jay and Erin walk to the car and Jay wraps his arm around her shoulders as they walk. Erin leans her head on his shoulder as she holds Ben against her chest.

"We did good today." he murmurs leaning in to kiss the top of her head.

"Yeah, we did." Erin smiles "They've both been through a lot, but I think they're going to be okay. They've got each other."

Jay placed Erin's bag in the trunk of the 300, Erin placed a sleeping Ben in his carrier and they both got inside the car and readied themselves to drive to the airport.

"Are you going to be okay with him on your own?" Erin asks looking at Ben in the rearview mirror.

Jay chuckled as he started the car "I've looked after him before on my own Erin, we can handle ourselves. I know you need to do this."

"Thank you for understanding." Erin says and leans over to kiss him, but is interrupted by her phone ringing.

She frowns as Hank's caller ID lights up her screen "Hey Hank." she answers, putting the phone on speaker

"Erin. You need to come to the house as soon as possible." Hank's voice sounds serious, and Erin's stomach drops.

She looks nervously to Jay "Is everything alright?"

"I'll explain when you get here." Hank says, giving nothing away.

"We're on our way now Sarge." Jay says, pulling the car out of the driveway and rushing off to his boss' house.

…

Jay pushes his key into the lock, holding the front door open to let Erin enter in while holding Ben in her arms. She follows the source of light coming from the living room, confusion filling her face as she sees Hank on a video call with Olivia Benson.

"What's going on here?"

Hank stands to face his detectives "I've already called the team in for 5am, but we thought you should know the situation first."

Erin turns her direction to the computer screen at Olivia "What's wrong?"

"We tracked Gregory Yates down to this cabin on the edge of a lake, upstate New York. He killed the father that lived there, the little girl was hiding in the cupboard. It seems Yates just killed him for the sake of it, there doesn't seem to be any other motive."

"Did you get him or not Olivia?" Erin asks tersely.

"We didn't. He was in the guy's car, but we thought he had gone on foot into the bush. We didn't realise until it was too late."

"I'm confused." Jay speaks up "Why are you calling with this information when Erin's supposed to be in New York in three hours anyway? And why is our team being called in."

Olivia holds up a piece of paper "Because he left this on the victim's body."

The colour drains from Jay's face as he reads the words, looking over to Erin "Yates is coming to Chicago."

Erin's hold on her son tightens, her eyes never leaving the screen as she re-reads the note.

See you back home, Erin.

"He's coming for me."

A/N: We finally made it! I told you there would be one final hurdle and, seriously, did you think I was going to write a post-nadia-death story without including the man who killed her!?

I hope this chapter was readable lol. I wanted to get this case done with and I was scared that jumping around so much in this chapter might make it feel a bit disjointed and may mean it lose some key scenes, but overall I'm quite content with it. And since I'm considering writing a sequel of individual outtakes from different parts of this story, I figured it would be okay to cut some things out for now.

Hope you liked it! Are you happy Emma is with Agent Warner, or were you hoping for her to stay with the Halstead family? Leave a review and let me know your thoughts!

Can't wait for you guys to see what's coming, have a good week x

Maddie