Work Text:
The phones had been going off all morning and the second Jay walked into the bullpen he saw the pile of paperwork he had to do, no doubt the amount of emails he had to answer would at least double that. It made him groan, but he flopped on to his seat with a huff. As he logged on, he glanced at the photo of his family sitting beside the monitor. He rolled his eyes, playfully flicking at Will’s face on the screen.
“Stop laughin’ at me man, not cool.”
“Jay, my office.”
Jay froze at Voight’s soft voice- one he usually reserved for people who had lost a loved one, or he was about to do something he didn’t want to. Whatever he had to say wasn’t good. Jay got up and headed for the office, closing the door behind him.
“What’s up Sarge?”
“It’s Will.”
“We had a report of a kidnapping last night, a tall man with red hair and a Chicago Med uniform on. When one of the patrols searched the area they found this.”
Voight slid a badge over and Jay’s eyes widened as he picked it up, his eyes welling.
Will’s ID.
He put it down, meeting his boss’s eyes.
“Where is he, why did they take him?”
“Now, Jay-“
“-you’re calling me Jay because you’re thinking the worst.”
Jay’s mind had immediately turned down a dark route. Voight sighed, standing from his big desk to be beside Jay. He lay a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“The rest of Intelligence is already off following leads; I told them I’d take you home. Upton wouldn’t hear of anything else.”
“What? No! It’s Will; I- I gotta- I gotta find him-“
“-don’t even think about it Jay. You know the protocol, and my hands aren’t the cleanest in the precinct but I really don’t think you should be getting into this. I won’t let you work this case.”
“This is Will we’re talking about. My brother . Hank, I- I can’t just-“
Hank moved to stand in front of his younger colleague, taking him by both shoulders.
“Give me your keys kid. Now.”
Jay hesitated, and Voight raised an eyebrow.
“I raised Erin; you really think you can keep them from me?”
Jay visibly winced- sore spot- before he begrudgingly handed over his keys. Voight span them on his finger, gesturing to the door.
“Let’s go. Doctor Manning will be there soon.”
Jay stopped dead on his feet at the mention of Will’s fiancé, spinning on his heel to face Voight.
“Natalie- is she okay? Does she know?”
“She’s the one who raised the alarm. We haven’t told her much but that woman has an incredibly smart mind; she’ll figure it out in two seconds flat.”
Jay lay on his bed, hearing the TV turn on in the living room. He sighed, staring up at the ceiling for a moment. Voight had opted to stay until Natalie came, which would be any second now. Half of Jay wanted him to stay for a while; the other part of him wanted to leave so he could get to work- despite being told not to. It’s the first time this Halstead has misbehaved, but the suits could get fucked for all he cared at that moment.
His thoughts were interrupted when the bedroom door opened, and Natalie poked her head in. It was obvious she’d been crying, and as Jay sat up on his bed she came over and took a tentative seat beside him.
“So,” Jay began clucking his tongue in awkwardness. Natalie stared at her hands, before bursting into tears again. Jay stretched an arm out and she hesitated before accepting his offer of comfort. As she leaned on his shoulder and sobbed, Jay felt a tear slip down his cheek.
“M’scared, Nat,” he murmured. She looked up at him and nodded, trying to hold back on the sobs of fear.
“I’m scared too, Jay. Will’s out there and we have no idea how to find him; we haven’t even received a ransom call or anything like that yet.”
Jay’s eyes widened and he leapt off the bed, running to his kitchen. Nat ran after him, Voight stopping at the door to watch the scene unfold as Jay tore apart the mail on his bench, digging through every envelope and package until he gave up, sitting on the bar stool closest to him. Natalie held a hand to her mouth, rubbing his back.
“It was a good thought, Jay,” she murmured. Jay hummed, glancing up to meet Voight’s gaze.
“Voight, please. If I sit this one out I- I might actually lose it.”
Voight sighed, and he came over to hug Jay. Jay at first froze, not sure what to do at this sudden show of affection from the man who had hated him at first. He decided to hug back, and released a breath into Voight’s shoulder.
“I jus’ need to do something ,” Jay confessed. Voight nodded, running a hand over Jay’s shoulder.
“This place could do with some tidying, first of all,” he said in a deep, gruff tone despite the fact he was still hugging Jay. Natalie snorted- except for the mail pile and a cup in the sink, the entire apartment was cleaned top to bottom; it was sparkling clean, in a way that reflected Jay’s military training. He was well disciplined from his time in the Rangers, and it showed in subtle ways like this.
“I don’t know what to do,” Jay’s voice broke Natalie’s internal inspection and she smiled, rubbing his back.
“C’mon, we can watch a movie, eat junk food, and talk about Will. Maybe it’ll give us some clues to help the team.”
“She’s right, Halstead,” Voight agreed. Jay heaved a sigh, and straightened up.
“Fine. Okay, but if you guys get anything that you think could lead to finding him- you call me. Please Voight; it’s the least you could do. I’m scared out of my mind here.”
“I’d really appreciate that too, Hank,” Natalie backed up her almost-brother-in-law. Voight looked between them, and then he groaned.
“Okay, okay. I’ll see what I can do. You two stay here, and try to keep it together. Anything you think that could help, call me.”
“Will do. Thanks, Hank.”
Jay nodded at his boss, Natalie sending him what could be considered an appreciative smile if she’d had the energy to do that. If anyone could understand it was Voight, and he let himself out after bidding goodbye. The second he was gone Natalie scooped Jay into a comforting maternal hug, giving him a squeeze.
“Let’s just try and keep it chill, okay? It doesn’t help Will if we’re crying or freaking out all the time.”
Will knew it wasn’t his bed the second he began to wake up, before he opened his eyes. The air filling his nostrils was stale, the space around him cramped. Thank god he wasn’t claustrophobic. Jay was, though-
Jay. Where was he? Was he there?
“Jay? Jay, man, you there?”
Will opened his eyes, and almost immediately realised just how much trouble he was in.
You would have thought he’d have taken the hint by being tied up in the boot of a car. When it opened suddenly he winced, shying away from the bright lights. It wasn’t the sunlight, though- these were overhead lamps, ones the surgeons used sometimes. A complete stranger smiled down at him, and Will’s eyes widened. The stranger just smirked.
“Well, when you can’t get the Halstead you want, use the other as bait.”
Will prayed that Jay wouldn’t do his usual thing and try come for him. Just this once leave it to Voight and the rest of Intelligence.
Just this time, Jay.
Natalie sat on the end of Jay’s couch, reaching for her phone. She answered a text message, before slipping down to be beside Jay on the couch. He had stretched out, reading something on his phone. Nat nudged his foot, raising an eyebrow.
“Jay, you have a really bad poker face.”
“Fuck off, I do not have a bad poker face-“
“-okay, you don’t; usually, at least. It’s really bad right now though. I know you’re working Will’s case against Voight’s instructions.”
“He doesn’t get it, Nat-“
“-he lost his son, Jay. And he nearly lost his daughter in law. I think he gets it.”
Jay blinked, letting his phone sit on his chest. He sighed.
“Nat, I’m fucking Intelligence. I’m a part of the team and they told me not to get involved. It’s like telling a kid not to push a frikken’ button!”
“They’ll do it eventually, especially when your back is turned,” Nat murmured, a fond smile crossing over her face at the memory of Owen doing that a couple of months ago. She’d told him not to play with the oven, and Will had come in just before he could figure out how to set the whole house on fire.
Will . Her smile fell.
With a pat to Jay’s leg, she nudged her head to his office.
“Have you got anything in that office of yours that could help us find Will?”
“I thought you didn’t want me to chase him?” Jay replied. Natalie didn’t even need to look at him to know he was ready to go right then.
“I don’t, but… hey, it wouldn’t hurt right? Just some looking-“
“-I’ve got something.”
Jay sat up and Natalie raised an eyebrow- okay, she really had to take pointers off Jay. He was fast when he wanted to be.
He handed her his phone and she scanned over the screen, skimming all the cop jargon to find what he wanted her to look at. Right in the middle she found Will’s car, with the plates removed. She immediately knew it was his- he hadn’t found time yet to pay someone to replace one of the covers around an indicator light on the back.He also had a stuffed animal picked out by Owen especially hanging against the boot window, and Natalie looked at Jay.
“Call Hank. Surely this is something he needs to know-”
“-Nat… I can’t call Voight. I did this even when he told me not to, I broke direct orders. He could suspend me, and because I used police database technology I could lose my job.”
Nat sighed, her eyebrows furrowed.
“Fine. Okay. Then what do you suppose we do?”
“We wait.”
So they waited. Twelve hours passed since the report had come in, and while Jay mooched on the couch Natalie flicked into mother of toddler mode and ordered dinner, then told Jay to shower. Usually there would be some sort of snarky remark; that evening he couldn’t even really muster that. When Jay went to the bathroom and Natalie heard the shower turn on, she bit her lip. Mother mode told her this was not a good thing to do. Fiancé mode told her she had to if she wanted Will to show up at their wedding.
She reached for Jay’s phone, surprised to see it was unlocked. Cops shouldn’t leave their phones unlocked. Going into his call log she found Boss (Voight) and clicked call.
“Jay?”
“Hank, hey. It’s Natalie, I- uh… I think we might have a way to find Will.”
“I’ll be right over-”
“-no! Don’t. Jay doesn’t know- I mean… I want to surprise Jay. Look, Will’s car is on the corner of Denny’s and Lucerne street. It has it’s plates off but there’s a toy in the back window, it’s- it’s there. You need to move, Hank-”
“-okay Natalie, calm down. I need you to relax; why didn’t Jay call me?”
“He’s uh- he’s taking a nap right now, he uh- his uh- his blood pressure was through the roof from the stress but I’m watching him. We’re good.”
“Right… well, thanks for the tip.”
“Sure. No problem Hank.”
She hung up, and put Jay’s phone back exactly where he’d left it. She even deleted the call from his call log- something he’d mentioned doing when he and Will were up to no good.
“Nat, wake up. Natalie.”
Nat’s eyes opened and she took in Jay’s shaking form, watching as he pointed to the tv she hadn’t even realised was turned on. The news was playing, on a 24 hour loop, and Natalie’s heart dropped when she realised what Jay had wanted her to wake up for.
“ The victim, a man in his mid twenties, is still yet to be found. His car was searched by the Chicago Police Department, who came up with nothing of use. More coming soon.”
Jay flicked the channel on to mute, his eyes wide.
“Nat, I- I really don’t think-”
“Oh, Jay…”
Natalie extended an arm, rubbing his bicep with a hope of comforting him. He sniffed, standing abruptly- almost as though he didn’t deserve the comfort.
“Fuck what Voight said- that’s my brother out there, that’s our Will. I gotta find him, Nat, I can’t let them find his body.”
“I’ll come with you,” Natalie offered. Before the sentence was really out of her mouth Jay had vetoed it.
“It’s not safe; I’m trained, and I know my way around a couple bad guys lookin’ for me. I just need to find a way to get to him. Where could he be?”
There was a knock. An envelope slipped underneath the front door. Jay grabbed his gun off the bench and was ready to shoot, but by the time he got to the door whoever had delivered the envelope was gone.
“What is it? Jay?”
Jay had immediately let go of the paper, raising his hands up as he dashed to grab his phone Natalie had put on charge before she’d fallen asleep on the couch. When he returned he used a pair of cooking tongs to lift the letter, reading it. His face hardened into the glare Natalie knew he used on the job; the one that made him look emotionless and empty.
“I’m callin’ Voight.”
“Jay, I’m sorry, I-”
“-Voight, we have to do this. I’ll suit up, I’ll wear a mic in my boot, whatever. He’s my brother, Voight, and I need to do this.”
Hank held a hand up to silence Jay. Jay still had more to say but found his mouth wouldn’t let sound come out when Voight held up his hand like that. Natalie was sitting on a bar stool, typing Will’s number into her phone, deleting it, and then typing it in again. She was listening to Hank and Jay, but all she could think about was Will.
“Halstead, I can’t let you come with us. You know the rules-”
“-you’ve never cared for the rules so don’t play that card, Voight! I know you’re a dirty cop that doesn’t dob and right now, I need your help to find my brother. I need your help, Will needs your help.”
Voight had always had a soft spot for the two Halstead brothers- they were two people so dissimilar sometimes he questioned their relations, but it became clear when they wanted something. The determined look in their eyes was so similar; sometimes it did his head in.
And now Jay was standing in front of him, that determined look in his eyes, and Voight had a violent flashback to when the roles had been swapped; Jay was being held hostage and was constantly tortured on film. Will had been in the same shape as Jay was now, with his wide eyes blown in worry, the deep eye bags from lack of sleep. Voight sighed. He couldn’t lose Halstead.
“Jay, go take a shower, okay? We’re nearing 24 hours and I know you need to calm down. Showering can help.”
Natalie’s voice broke through Halstead and Voight’s stare-down, and Voight nodded.
“I’ll sort something out with the team Jay; we’ll keep you in contact.”
He held up the letter too, with pain in his eyes.
“We’ll print check and maybe do some door knocking; surely someone saw what happened.”
“Mm. Hope so.”
Voight squeezed Jay’s arm, Jay shoving him off as he went into the bathroom. The door closed behind him, and Natalie turned to Hank.
“I don’t know what to do,” she confessed, tears filling her eyes all over again. She thought she was empty. There was always more tears. There wasn’t another Will.
“Just keep doing what you’re doin’; watch tv, try and think of some way to track Will down, try and get some sleep… oh, and Manning…”
Voight leaned close, hesitating before he whispered in her ear.
“Keep an eye on Halstead. They don’t make cops like him anymore.”
Then he was gone.
Jay let the water run, staring blankly at the shower curtain. His feet were freezing, standing on the cold tiles, but he didn’t care. The running water was soothing but he couldn’t face the fact that once he got into that shower he would probably start crying.
He hadn’t cried since his dad’s death, when he’d crumbled into Will’s arms and sobbed until he couldn’t anymore. Now he couldn’t, and all he wanted was his big brother to tell him to stop crying over him; it wasn’t right.
There was a gentle knock at the door.
“Jay? You okay in there?”
Her voice was gentle and caring and Jay swallowed. He got redressed, turning the water off. When he came out of the bathroom Natalie was leaning against the wall opposite the door, and she sent him a smile.
“You know it’s okay to be scared.”
“Mm.”
“You know it’s okay to talk about it.”
“Mmhmm.”
Jay’s throat tightened, and he felt his eyes well. His eyes stared at the floorboards of his apartment and he felt a hot flush rush over him. Nat pushed off the wall, approaching her brother-in-law. The second her hand touched his bicep he jerked back, wiping furiously at the tears still falling. No matter how hard he tried to get them to stop they didn’t. Nat approached him with her hands raised slightly, showing him she wasn’t a threat.
“Jay, it’s okay. I know you’re hurting; I am too. We’re both scared and worried, and we just want Will back.”
Jay gasped back a sob, sliding down the wall. His knees automatically drew to his chest and he buried his head there as a form of protecting himself.
“Oh, Jay…”
There was some shuffling and he felt a warm blanket placed around him- he’d only managed a t-shirt and basketball shorts- then he heard Natalie sit beside him. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders, rubbing his back slowly.
“I’m sorry Jay, I’m so sorry.”
He let out a small sob, followed by one a lot louder, and longer. He wrapped his arms around his knees and cried. He cried for Will, he cried for his family, he cried in fear, he cried for Natalie who might have lost another husband. He cried for himself- all the shit he’d seen and been through that he wouldn’t wish upon anyone.
When he was calmer, Natalie rubbed his back.
“C’mon, let’s get you into bed. Sleep will help, I promise.”
“Take off the blindfold.”
Will’s eyes were exposed to the room and although it was dim he couldn’t help but wince- his eyes were sensitive. He immediately got a glimpse of three white men, all wearing superhero masks. Will smirked, rolling his eyes.
“Last time I checked Spider-Man was a 15 year old kid, not a 40 year old man with a dad bod.”
“Shut up!”
The Iron Man masked man stepped closer, and he was quick to slap Will. White-hot pain flashed through him but he knew his jaw wasn’t broken- he was bruised, though.
“Man, I don’t know what the hell you want from me, but you should know there’s people lookin’ for me. When they find you you’d wish you were dead.”
Will eyed the third man, the smallest in a Hulk mask, who seemed to look down for a moment. The Spider-Man rolled his eyes.
“You think your brother’s going to come running after you, hm? You really think Jay would risk his life, for his older brother? The brother that wasn’t around for him when he needed you the most?”
“It’s hilarious actually, that you’re not worried about Voight. Jay’s a puppy compared to the Sarge.”
Will wasn’t letting down with the smart talk. Iron Man leaned to whisper into Spider-Man’s ear, who nodded.
“Do it.”
“Do what? What are you-”
A scream tore through Will when he felt what he determined was an electric cattle prod hit his side. He panted, trying to breathe through the pain, and remember what to do. Jay had talked him through what to do if he was kidnapped once- why couldn’t he remember it now?
“Listen, Will… we don’t actually want to hurt you, we just need some information.”
Hulk was stepping up and Will sighed.
“Look kid, I don’t know what Iron Man and Spider-Man have told you, but I’m just an ordinary guy. I’m a doctor, I have a girlfriend and a stepson who loves to give me black eyes with blocks, and my dad was an asshole-”
“-not information about you. We need information about Halstead.”
“I am Halstead,” Will spoke slowly. The three laughed, before Spider-Man got a grasp of Will’s thick hair, tugging to keep his attention.
“This can go one of two ways; you give us the info, or we… pull it out of you.”
“Kiss my ass,” Will snarled.
“Okay then, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Jay woke up when he felt a dip in the bed, his eyes shooting open with a fist raised as self defence. Warm hands grabbed his arms, convincing him to lie back down.
“It’s okay Jay, it’s just me. Sorry, I didn’t realise you were such a light sleeper.”
Natalie’s face was now visible, blurred vision clearing up, and Jay blinked slowly. Nat brushed a hand through his hair.
“Voight wants us to meet him at the precinct; he wants you for something..”
Jay raised an eyebrow.
“Do you know what for?”
“He wouldn’t say…”
“Shit. Thanks, Nat.”
“Detective Halstead.”
Jay froze at the sound of Platt’s voice, but she just nudged her head upstairs.
“He’s waiting for you kid, go.”
Jay hummed, taking Nat by the arm.
“Come with me.”
Ruzek and Dawson immediately stood from their desks to hug their co-worker, sympathetic smiles on their faces. Ruzek got there first and despite his past differences with Halstead he wrapped his arms around him, sighing against his shoulder.
“We were all sorry to hear what happened man, it’s awful. We all want to find Will.”
“Yeah I know man, thanks. I really appreciate it.”
Dawson followed up with something that had the same underlying meaning, before he extended his arm to Natalie.
“Welcome to the district. We swear we’re mostly good cops.”
“Atwater,” Ruzek coughed, the group chuckling while the larger man rolled his eyes. He reached up and shook Halstead’s hand.
“Boss’ waiting for you in his office.”
He nodded at Natalie.
“Sorry Ms Manning, you’ve gotta stay out here.”
“Oh- oh, okay… Jay, you gonna be okay?”
“I’m good Nat, you just wait here. Maybe one of these monkeys can get you some coffee?”
Ruzek huffed and walked into the break room, Natalie following after him. Jay sighed and gestured to Hank’s door.
“Guess I gotta go see what he wants.”
“Yeah, he said it was really important.”
“Voight?”
“Jay, come take a seat.”
Voight stood from his desk, his forehead wrinkled with stress and the smile lines near his eyes had creased- not from smiling, though. In fact, he looked as though he’d been dragged through hell and back, Dean-Winchester-Style. Jay took a seat and Hank sat on the end of his desk, clasping his hands together. Jay frowned, furrowing his brows.
“Hank?”
“We think we might have the location of Will.”
Jay broke into a huge smile, but Hank held his arm.
“Don’t get too excited, we… we may be too late. A CI reported about fifteen minutes ago that they were carrying a bag out of there. It- it was covered in blood, Jay. They said that the bag was just big enough to carry a body. Jay, we need to go now, but-”
“-but I can’t go find my dead brother.”
Voight seemed to silent for a moment, before he stood.
“We’ll keep in contact. You and Natalie need to stay here, in the meantime. Are there any family members you could call?”
“It’s just me and Will now Voight, literally,” Jay murmured.
Then his eyebrows furrowed.
“Actually, it might just be me.”
“Ruzek, you take the staircase. Burgess and Atwater I want you to go in from the front door. Remember there is a hostage in there so we have to do whatever we can to get him out of there alive. Are we clear?”
“Yes sir!” Everyone immediately agreed. Antonio went to ask where he was going when Voight gestured to the back.
“You’re comin’ with me.”
“CHICAGO POLICE!”
Will’s eyes shot open and he tugged at the cable ties on his hands, realising there were at least three keeping his hands bound. He groaned, the concussion setting in. He couldn’t go to sleep, it was the golden rule when there was a concern for concussion.
“Will? You there?”
A familiar but hazy voice called out to Will and just as he yelled to reply he felt a sharp slice on his neck, someone holding him from behind.
“Don’t even think about it,” they hissed into his ear, and he rolled his eyes.
“Y’know knives don’t scare me, right?”
“Hm. But it might scare Halstead.”
Will’s eyes widened when he realised there was a camera set up in front of him, pointing directly at his face. He swallowed, before stopping his movements. Maybe there was another way.
“Halstead, this is a reminder that even when you’ve left your past behind, it’ll always be there behind you, ready to get you at the last second.”
“Wait, what?”
Will tried to look up at his kidnapper who retaliated by slicing his arm. Will cried out in pain, throwing his head back as he screamed. Spider-Man covered his mouth to muffle the screams, until there were suddenly footsteps.
“Boss, we gotta get out of here. Now.”
“Not until I see Halstead. I want him to feel what I felt when he killed my uncle in cold blood.”
“We’re out of here.”
The two accomplices made a dash for the door, still wearing their Iron-Man and Hulk masks. Spider-Man huffed, before he tugged Will out of the chair. His legs were weak, and he looked at the doorway. Surely if he made some sort of noise, if he could call out, drop something, they’d notice.
That was when he spotted the cattle prod on the table beside him- it was the same one he’d been tasered with multiple times and he winced looking at it. A plan began to form in his mind.
He was getting out of there, and he wasn’t going to let them get to Jay.
“Will? Will Halstead, if you can hear me I need you to yell or make some noise!”
Burgess felt Atwater bump her side as they walked together, guns held out in front as self defence. Kim realised Kevin was whispering into his radio, requesting back up for a particular area of the house.
“Dispatch this is Kevin Atwater of Chicago Intelligence, we’re going to need backup here on the right side of the house. We’ve got potential suspects and one hostage in sight.”
“What? Where-”
Burgess’ heart stopped, rising to her throat when she peeked into the room Atwater had poked into mere seconds ago.
“Copy that,” Dispatch replied, and Kevin silenced the radio.
“We gotta go in. You call Voight and tell him where we are; we don’t need bomb squad or forensics. Will’s alive.”
Out of the corner of his eye Will spotted Kim Burgess, who put a finger to her lips. He blinked twice to show he had noticed her, and she slipped away. Will hesitated but backed away from the cattle prod. The less noise he made the better from there on out.
“Let’s go Halstead, surely that brother of yours has our ransom by now.”
“Ransom? Dude, Jay’s more broke than me and that’s really saying something.”
“Shut it!”
Spider-Man taped his mouth, stopping him from making noise completely. Will turned to stare back where he’d seen his brother’s co-worker, begging her for help silently. If she was going to help she would have done it by now, right?
Will huffed against the tape, surprised when he struggled to get his breath back. Tape wasn’t supposed to suffocate you- well, not to his knowledge. He focused on breathing, staring at the door.
Surely Jay was here.
Surely someone would help -
“CHICAGO PD! RAISE YOUR HANDS!”
Kim barged into the room, Kevin right behind her. Ruzek and Voight followed, Dawson focusing the sniper on the guy with a Spider-Man mask. Will’s eyes seemed to light up at their entrance and he hit his kidnapper in the side with his elbow, getting out of his grip. His legs faltered for a moment, but Dawson was there and he grabbed him by the arm, keeping him upright as he dragged the older Halstead away to safety. Voight gave him a pat on the back and focused on the kidnapper, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Let’s just… talk.”
“Jay, Jay they’ve got him!”
Natalie nearly leapt off the couch in excitement, her hand going to her mouth. Jay shot up and collected her in a bear hug, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“Oh thank fuck,” Jay breathed. Natalie sobbed into his shoulder and Jay buried his head into her hair, trying to stop the tears threatening to fall. Natalie rubbed his back, pulling away as she held up her phone with Voight’s number and a text message. She re-read it again and beamed as hard as she could, pulling away so she could call Hank.
“Voight.”
“Hank it’s me and Jay; is he okay? Is he alive?”
“We’re stopping to pick you two up then heading to Med, okay? He needs help, and an assessment before we let him go home.”
Jay took the phone.
“Boss?”
“Halstead, your brother has been asking for you since we found him.”
“Oh my god, Voight I should have been there.”
“Jay you did exactly what you’ve been trained to do in the force. Everyone here is proud of you. Hold on son; we’re nearly there.”
“I- I can’t thank you enough, Voight. I really can’t-”
“-save that shit for later, right?”
Jay chuckled against his tears, and Voight sighed.
“We’ll be there soon. Just hold on man.”
“WILL!”
There was nothing more to be said when Will Halstead walked into the precinct; Natalie was there in two steps and hugging him to her, his head buried into her shoulder. Jay was there not a second later, and he let Nat have her moment before he pulled Will into a constricting bear hug.
“Oh my god,” Jay breathed, tears streaming down his cheeks. He sniffed, trying to put his walls back up but Will just hugged him even tighter despite his injuries, sighing against Jay.
“Dude, you have no idea how glad I am to see you.”
“I think I have an idea,” Jay murmured, flicking Will’s ear. They separated, and Voight made a gravelly noise in the back of his throat.
“To med, everyone. Now.”
Connor Rhodes was the doctor on duty in the ED, and when he looked up for a moment he spotted the familiar shock of red hair. He broke into a smile and nudged April, gesturing to the clan coming in.
“Go get Maggie and Dr Reese,” he murmured. April took off as Connor approached Will, Nat, Jay and Voight. Will seemed slightly out of it, his eyes not entirely focused, but he sent Connor a half smile.
“Hey man.”
“I have to say Will, you’re looking okay for someone who’s been missing over 48 hours,” Connor joked. Will staggered from his brother to hug Connor, who sighed.
“That’s how I know you’re concussed. Orderly get him to 3 please.”
“Got it doctor.”
An orderly and one of the newer nurses approached Will, directing him with soft voices to bed number three and the nurse immediately started the physical examination. Jay and Nat joined Will in the small room while Voight stopped outside. From nowhere Maggie and Sarah Reese showed, both with wide eyes.
“Sargeant Voight, thank you.”
Maggie squeezed his arm while Reese poked her head in to greet Will. He waved lazily, before slipping into a minor doze. Jay was careful as to how he woke him up, knowing if Will had a bad concussion then it wasn’t a good idea to let him sleep. Reese, happy with having just seen Will, rushed back to work while Maggie took over the newer nurse, telling her that there was another patient who needed assistance. The nurse and orderly left, leaving Will’s closest friends- his family- the only ones in the room.
45 stitches across various parts of Will’s body, an x-ray, and a concussion test later and Will could finally get some rest. While he had to be woken every hour, he was allowed to sleep so that was what he did. Jay and Natalie sat on the seats by his bedside, both watching over the older Halstead. Helen had brought Owen in only for a brief visit to see Will then whiskered him away. Will had been glad to see him, if only for a couple of minutes.
Now, in the darkness, Jay and Nat had a moment to think about everything that had happened. Natalie was exhausted but she could see Jay was deep in thought, and leaned across to squeeze his bicep.
“Jay, talk to me.”
“Oh- I- uh, well-”
“-Jay. I know something’s going on in there. Let me in.”
Jay heaved a deep sigh, a frown crossing over his features.
“It’s my fault Will got taken. That guy tried to bribe me to let him out of the bullpen. When I refused he was yelling about how he was going to kill me, how he was going to do it from the inside out and in a way I never would have considered.”
Jay’s eyes darkened and Nat brushed her hand down his arm slowly, trying to offer some comfort.
“Jay, it’s not your fault, okay? That guy- that criminal ? He had no right to do that. You were sticking to the rules, you were doing what was right and he shouldn’t have threatened you like that.”
“Because I was sticking to the books, that guy got loose! Ugh, I wish just for once I could have been more like Voight, or Olinsky… even Lindsay.”
“I don’t. Jay you’re a strong cop without breaking many rules, so why would you change? It’s worked for you until now, why would you change everything after just one incident? I’d understand maybe changing one or two things, but deciding to play off the books… Jay, if you were caught they wouldn’t let you be a cop. Not anymore.”
“Will got involved. My brother got involved in business that he had nothing to do with, because some guy was pissed off at me for refusing to break the rules.”
“That guy kidnapped me because he’s an asshole, not because you decided to stick to the rules.”
Both Nat and Jay looked over to see Will had woken up, and he smiled tiredly.
“Jay, man, don’t blame yourself, okay? This- you are one of the best cops I know and I don’t think I’m biased most of the time. Well; some of the time.”
Jay shook his head, about to complain, when Will stopped him.
“Listen to me. I’m the older brother here, it was not your fault that he decided to hurt you in a way no one expected. He got out; shit happens.”
“I can’t let you take the blame for this, Will,” Jay replied in a low tone.
“But I’m not, bro; it’s no one’s fault. I wish you could understand that.”
“Maybe one day I will, but for now… I just need to live in my own guilt for a bit.”
“Take this from someone with personal and clinical experience; guilt is just as bad for killing people as bullets are. You can’t go through day to day life carrying guilt on your shoulders.”
Jay stretched out from his hunched position, running a hand through his hair before he met Will’s gaze.
“Let’s make a deal; you let go of your conscience about dad, and I’ll… I’ll get help for my guilt over this.”
“No, man… I can’t-”
“-and why not?”
Jay’s blue eyes flashed with anger and maybe even hurt. He’d been vulnerable and Will had thrown it back in his face.
“Because I gotta get some help too man, I can’t just let go.”
Will sent his younger brother a knowing look and Jay sighed, a smile crossing his face.
“Guess I can’t say no to that.”