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Chapter Text

Connor stared down into his cup of lukewarm brown water, that frankly didn't deserve to be labeled as coffee, solemnly.

He desperately needed the caffeine, especially after this particular twelve-hour shift, but one sip from his cup and now he’s watching it go down the sink drain as he dumps it without a second thought and tosses the empty cup into the recycling bin. He sits down in the lounge chair and lets out a sigh and the feeling of finally being off his feet for the first time since his shift started. Enjoying the blissful silence of the room, Connor closes his eyes and revels in it because as soon as anything got quiet around Med, there was always something big on its way. 

“So that’s where the hospital funding is going” 

Connor doesn’t even need to open his eyes to see the smirk on Will’s face, he could practically hear the smugness from his voice alone.

“You’d think with a hospital this big they’d actually be able to get some decent coffee at least” Connor replied in an annoyed tone. He wasn’t wrong on that note and Will had been in the same boat far too many times to even bother arguing. “I hear ya. Well, it doesn’t matter anymore if the doctor’s lounge has shitty coffee now that I’m here.” 

Connor snorted from where he was seated, still not bothered enough to open his eyes even as he felt the sofa dip under the weight of Will sitting next to him, shoulder brushing his own. 

Will laughed at the childish behavior and at the sound, Connor’s once stoic face broke out into a smile, “Open your eyes you bastard, here” 

At this Connor finally opened his eyes and turned to look at what the redhead was holding. Two cups of steaming coffee from the Starbucks joint near the hospital. Connor practically jumped at the younger as he grabbed the cup from his hand and took a sip, moaning dramatically at the taste. “William Halstead I could just kiss you right now” 

“Well," the other dragged “If it’s going to be anything like the kiss you gave me before you left this morning, who am I to say no” he finished, smiling that same smile that made his brown eyes crinkle and filled Connor’s entire being warm. He reached over with his other hand, unoccupied with his current life support beverage, and cupped Will’s chin and kissed him with everything he’s got. 

Will would never admit this out loud, his pride and dignity at stake, but every time Connor looked at him with nothing but love and compassion in his eyes, it left him breathless, he felt complete.

 After everything he had gone through with Natalie, with protective custody sending him far away from the people he cared about, with dealing with the flashbacks and trauma he didn’t want to admit, Connor had been the constant. 

The one person that had been there through it all. Jay had told him what Connor did to help the CPD find him when Ray Burke’s sons had kidnapped him. Connor had been there when Will got back and Will didn’t once see the pitying look in his eyes the others gave him whenever the redhead flinched at a loud noise. Connor was there when the two of them moved in together, their close friendship becoming more than a friendship, as he held Will close when he woke up in a panicked state. 

The two of them finally pulled apart when the need for oxygen became too hard to ignore, but their eyes never left the others. Connor grinned at the heavy blush that was now set on his boyfriend’s cheeks, somehow making Will seem even more beautiful than possible. 

The two of them still clashed heads at work and at home sometimes, that would never change. It was the way Will would silently sit next to Connor until the brown-haired man leaned into his embrace after an argument he knew shouldn’t have happened but blew out of proportion from a long day of work stress. 

Or the way he would make sure Will wasn’t stuck in his head and saying worse things to himself than he would ever say out loud when his stubbornness and impulsivity would get in the way of treating a patient.  

In the end, however, the day would end up with their limbs tangled together and Connor’s arm thrown over Will’s waist pulling the other into him and Will tucking himself into the small space under Connor’s chin. 

“Hey there lovebirds, sorry to interrupt your little moment but we’ve got people on their way” 

Will turned around to look at Maggie who was waiting by the room’s door, a playful smirk on her face as she took in the scene of Will’s flushed face and Connor’s still catching his breath. 

Connor stood up quickly and fixed his rumpled scrubs, ignoring Will’s laughter in the background as he did the same, hoping he looked at least a little bit more put together, “Maggie” he nodded. 

“Doctor Rhodes, I see you were quite preoccupied. You two can go back to your mooching after, we’ve got incoming traumas from what the CPD thinks is some kind of gang shootout, they’re out there on scene right now and the ambos are two minutes out” 

“Got it” Will responded, throwing out his now cold coffee and grabbing his white coat as Connor mirrored his actions. They shared a final look and nod, a silent don’t do anything stupid and don’t get hurt passing between them. 

The doors of the ED opened as the first gurney came in. “Doctor Rhodes, that one’s for you, you’re going to Trauma 2” Maggie yelled. 

Connor saw Sylvie and her partner come in pushing out a man who was letting out pained gasps as he clutched at his gut. He looked at the steady flow of blood seeping out of the side of the man but paused when the handcuffs came into view. “Get these off, for now, I need full accessibility to treat him” 

Two officers, Adam and Kevin, who Connor vaguely remembers from the few times he’d seen them at Med come up to him, “Doc, that man is a part of one of Chicago’s biggest gangs and is highly wanted. Those cuffs have to stay on for everyone’s safety.” Kevin says, looking directly at Connor. 

Connor barely bats an eye, he’s dealt with criminals before but as a doctor, he still has a job to do. “I need them off so I can treat my patient. If he bleeds out he won't be as highly wanted anymore now will he”. 

Adam and Kevin share a look, “Alright then, but we’re gonna be in the same room as you two. I am not taking any chances with this man. 

“Fine by me just don’t get in the way”, satisfied with the compromise Connor walks into the room where he sees Sylvie helping his team move the man onto the hospital bed. 

“Talk to me” 

“Adrian Valentino, age twenty-eight, GSW with exit wound, pain treated with ten milligrams of morphine in the field. Patient is lucid and talking. His brother and him were shot before the police arrived at the scene.” she responds, checking vitals and removing the straps of the gurney.  

“Where’s the brother?” he asked as they moved Adrian from the ambulance bed onto the hospital bed. 

Sylvie was just about to answer when they heard Maggie yell over the commotion, “Halstead he’s yours, go to Trauma 3”. “That’s him,” Sylvie said, grabbing the raft and making sure everything was set before leaving. 

“Thanks”, Connor carefully peeled back the bloodied dressing and bandages from the wound, gently prodding at it, ignoring the gasps of pain from above him.

 “I need an x-ray in here, I wanna make sure the bullet didn’t hit anything important-” Connor couldn’t even finish his sentence before he was shoved into the machine behind hard, bruising to happen in the future for sure. 

“Sedate him!” 

Adam and Kevin quickly coming into the room from where they were watching from outside the room to help hold Adrian’s flailing arms and kicking legs as the bristly man kept yelling threats at them. 

“You’re so fucked doctor, wait till I’m outta here. If anything happens to my brother I’ll kill you and everyone you care about without even batting an eye, you hear me…” 

Thank god for sedatives. 

“Alright he’s out, everyone back to where we were” 

Connor moved out of the way after yelling clear as the radiologist could finally do their job. He checked the result and relaxed just a bit, “Chest and lungs are clear, he’s all set. Get him up to the OR and page my team, we need to close that wound.” Gesturing at Adam and Kevin who were looking expectantly at him for more direction, “You two can come with”.  

A resounding collective agreement was heard and Connor led his patient to the elevator and up to the OR level. The last thing he saw from the ED level just before the elevator doors closed was Will yelling “Watch out!” 

Chapter Text

When the tattoo and blood-covered man, presumed to be a member of one of Chicago’s biggest gangs, responsible for so many of the violent crimes Will has Jay waste over solving, was rolled into the ED, Will wasn’t sure what to think, so he acted instead.

Moving in pace with the paramedic who was pushing the man’s gurney into the treatment room, Will’s eyes trailed over his patient, lingering on the bloody cut on the man’s head and the two pairs of handcuffs securing the man’s arms to the railing, “I’m doctor Will Halstead, can you tell me what hurts”  

The man, who apparently had not said a single word since they brought him in, raised an eyebrow before turning his head to look at Will. Will’s brown eyes met the other’s dark blue eyes, and the wild and manic look on his face sent a repressed shiver down Will’s back. “Sir-” Will started before the man cut him off, speaking for the first time since he was arrested,

“Halstead huh? I never knew my cop friend had such a pretty brother”. 

Will couldn’t stop his slight flinch this time and clearly, it was what the man had wanted, the dark look in his eyes intensifying with an emotion Will didn’t even want to think about. Will shook his head and grabbed a pair of gloves, putting them on to inspect the cut he had seen earlier. 

Will gestured at the paramedics who had brought the man in, “Alright what’re we dealing with”

At first, none of them had answered, still looking at the man on the gurney who simply smiled at them, showing off bloody teeth, before closing his eyes and humming a sound to himself. 

“We haven’t got all day, let's go” Will ushered, sending them a reassuring nod. 

“Name’s Francis Valentino, age thirty-two, possible grade two concussion, laceration on the forehead and a bad one on the arm, we gave five milligrams of morphine for pain” one of them stammered before they grabbed the raft and practically ran out of the room. 

Will couldn't decide if he wanted to join them. 

Will glanced at the sluggishly bleeding forehead wound that he needed to dress, “The head wound doesn’t look too bad and patient is lucid and talking, but I want a CT just to make sure”. Will grabbed his flashlight from his jacket pocket, “Mr. Antonia could you open your eyes for me, I need to check your pupils”. 

The humming didn’t stop but the dark-haired man did open his eyes, squinting a bit when the light from Will’s flashlight hit his eyes. “Pupil response is normal. Let’s check out that arm”, Will was pulling back the long sleeve Francis was wearing when the man gripped Will’s wrist in a tight hold. 

Fear was crawling up Will’s spine but he forced himself to be calm as three officers ran into the room, guns trained on the now laughing man. “You need to let go of me Mr. Valentino” Will said,  his voice stammering in the end and he mentally berated himself for letting his fear take over. 

“Oh come on now doc” Francis’s low grumbly voice filled in the silence that had fallen over the room, making it feel a few degrees colder than before, “I don’t hurt things I like” he dragged. 

The sound of heavy footsteps interrupted whatever Francis was gonna say next and when Will saw who walked in, he sighed in relief. 

“Let go of my brother you bastard” Jay seethed, pulling his gun and aiming it right in the middle of Francis’s head. Francis looked between the two of them before he finally let go of Will’s hand, the imprint of his fingers still visible on Will’s wrist. 

“My favorite cop, hiya Jay” he smiled, his bloody teeth only adding to his manic-like persona.  

Jay glared at the man one final time before turning to look at the other three officers in the room, “Why the hell didn’t any of you intervene? You’re supposed to be the damn feds so act like it” he yelled, grabbing Will’s hand to look at it himself. Will didn’t want to encourage Francis by giving him the reaction he wanted, Will tried to placate his older brother, “Jay, it’s alright I’m fine, it’ll just bruise and leave a mark, you don’t need to worry-” 

“I didn’t know you bruised that easily doc. I love when I leave marks on my toys” 

Will couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling that churned in his gut now, the comments from earlier and this one making him feel uneasy. 

“What the fuck did you call him bastard” Jay moved around Will, rage taking over every rational thought in his mind, and roughly grabbed the collar of Francis’s shirt and leaned in close to his ear, making sure no one else could hear him other than Will who was still standing close by. 

“Listen good you piece of shit, lay one hand on my brother and I’ll make sure the rest of your life is worse than hell, got that?” 

Jay pushed the still smiling man back onto the bed and looked directly at Will, “I want you to finish your job and then get someone else in here, I don't care who it is as long as it’s not you ” 

“Jay, outside right now” 

Will lead his brother right outside of the room where his patient couldn't hear him. “Jay I get that you’re worried but he's my patient right now and I’m his doctor. He’s just trying to rile you up and he’s using me to do it.” Will said running a hand through his red hair. 

Jay scoffed, “Will, you don’t understand how dangerous that guy really is. Why do you think we’ve got those three feds in the room right now and no one else other than his doctor. The CPD is not taking chances and after the shit he was saying in there, neither am I”

“Fine, he should almost be done anyway. He just needs to get his arm re-dressed and go up for a scan and he’s all yours.” Will walked back into the room, Jay following close by. Francis didn’t mind them, instead, he was staring adamantly at the three officers behind them. 

Jay noticed the way the dark-haired man was so focused on the trio, “Don't let him scare you”. 

“Jay, I'm gonna need some help with his wound here,” Will asked, gesturing to the blood-soaked bandages around Francis’s arm. The cut wasn’t deep but it was long, trailing from diagonally from the point of Francis’s elbow to palm. The bandages needed to be replaced but the cuffs were restricting access since they were locked on top of them. 

Will sighed and mentally prepared himself for the argument that would for sure happen. “Jay I’ll need you to remove the handcuffs of his hand so I can redress the wound and make sure it doesn’t get infected” 

“Are you out of your mind!” 

Some things never change. 

“I get it but it’s only one hand and it’ll take less than five minutes for me to redress it, please Jay after this I’m gone from here and he’ll be the CPD’s” Will reasoned. 

“Doc are you really gonna pass me around like that, how crude” 

Neither brother paid attention to him, a silent argument happening between them. In the end, Will’s point of this being the last thing he needed to do won Jay over as he pulled the key to the cuffs and moved to Francis’s side. 

“Pull anything and I’ll knock a bullet into your head so fast” Jay threatened, unlocking the right-hand cuff. “Does the feistiness run in the family detective, because if it did….” Francis trailed off, winking at Will. 

Jay didn’t react verbally this time, but the way Will’s shoulders tensed was making it quite difficult. Shaking his head, Will went back into his professional mindset, as he gently peeled back the gauze and cleaned the wound with saline, all while ignoring the way Francis was staring at him. He grabbed fresh bandages and wrappings and finished dressing the wound, making sure nothing looked wrong. 

“Alright, we’re all done here.” Will turned away from the dark-haired man, “Jay you can- Watch out!”. 

Jay didn’t even see it coming. He turned around at Will’s warning, hands reaching for his fun but it was too late. 

The tallest of the officers who were the only other people in the room, pistol-whipped Jay across the temple, knocking him out and sending him sprawling to the ground. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not scared detective” the blond ‘officer’ said, grinning down at Jay’s unconscious

“Jay!”

Will moved to go to his brother before a familiar grip on his wrist roughly pulled him back onto a chest behind. He tried to move but froze when he heard the telltale sound of cocking and the sharp bite of a gun pressed against his temple. A scene that plagued his nightmares becoming a reality once again. 

He felt Francis move behind, move to press his chest closer to Will’s back, and breathed down Will’s ear,

“Hi there pretty doctor, help me out of these cuffs would ya” 

Chapter Text

Will couldn’t breathe. 

He felt the coldness of the metal travel through his entire body, making every part of him freeze. He hadn’t looked away from Jay’s still body on the ground, a small puddle of blood around his brother's head, as he tried to force his lungs to expand. 

“Micheal, get the keys off the cop,” a voice says right in Will’s ear, breaking him out of the dazed state of mind he was in, making the redhead flinch into the unwanted hold Francis had him in. 

He heard Francis’s arrogant laughter as the man dug the pistol into Will’s head even harder, making him wince in pain as the shock in his body was getting replaced with panic. 

Where the hell was everyone else

“P-Please just let me help my brother, he’s bleeding” Will stammered, doing everything he can to not fall down into the pit of fear that was churning in his gut. If he let his panic take over, it would be a lost cause. 

The man with blond hair, Micheal, comes around to Will and Francis, sneering at Will before he threw the keys from Jay’s pocket at him. Will didn’t even move to try and catch it, letting it hit his chest lightly and fall into his lap. 

“Listen closely now doc, see this little thing I have in my hand. One wrong move on your part and  boom , your brains are gonna be scattered all over this white floor. Grab those keys and unlock the cuff from my either hand” Francis threatened, all cheeriness from earlier gone. 

Will manages a head twitch and picks up the key from where it lay, turning around slowly to unlock the other cuff. His shaky hands making it hard to fit the key in the slot and the gun trained on his head was no better. “Can you just point that thing the other way, I can’t focus” 

Will blurted without thinking, almost regretting it immediately after seeing the glare in Francis’s darken. 

He was not expecting the white sharp pain from the gun whipping across his face. 

Will felt his neck twinge with the force he was hit with, making him see stars for a few seconds as the taste of blood filled his mouth and he clutched at his throbbing jaw. Francis dropped the gun next to him and grabbed Will’s chin, almost a mockery of the way Connor had done the same thing so intimately just earlier and forced Will’s teary eyes to look at his raging ones. 

“I don’t think you fucking understand what’s actually going on Halstead. Do you even know who I am? I run the biggest ring in all of Chicago and am the most wanted man on the FBI’s list” 

Francis dropped Will’s chin and grabbed the gun, this time focusing it on Will’s sweaty neck. “Get the key and get me out of these damn cuffs”. 

Connor stepped out of the ICU room where Adrian was resting after his surgery. Kevin and Adam were sitting vigilantly in the room even though the guy was handcuffed and still knocked out. Adrian’s vitals looked good and the stitching up process had gone without a hitch. 

Connor was just about to leave to check out his schedule when a loud alarm started blaring in the hospital, sending a chill down his spine. 

Code Silver 

There was an armed person in the hospital. 

Connor shot a look behind, making eye contact with the two police officers. No conversation was made as the three of them ran towards the stairs of the hospital, avoiding the rush of panicked patients and doctors and nurses following protocol and getting to safety. 

Kevin stopped before they could get far, “Wait, Adam, if it’s back up for the Valentinos, someone’s gonna come and look for Adrian. One of us has to stay”. 

Connor looked at the two, worry growing at what could be happening at the ED level. “Listen we don’t have time for this, the guy’s gonna be knocked out for at least two more hours”. 

Adam nodded, “Okay I’ll sit back on this and stay up here but Connor you can’t go down there. If it is Valentino’s men you’ll be shot dead within seconds”. “Ruzek’s right. You don’t have any protection either and it’s nothing we're willing to risk” Kevin added. 

Connor ran a hand through his hair and looked straight at Kevin, “I get it, okay I do, but I’m a doctor and if there’s people hurt down there, they’re gonna need all the help they can get. I’ll follow your lead but please, I can’t stay up here.” “Will’s down there too and if something happens to him..” he added softly, not wanting to finish his thought. 

After a second, Adam agreed with him. 

He knew it was a risk but it was something Connor was willing to do and now knowing that Will was down there, Adam could sympathize with how the other man felt. “Okay here, take this and put it on,” Adam said, taking off the protective vest he had on and passing it to Connor as the latter put it on. 

When he was ready, he nodded goodbye and turned to Adrian’s room. 

“Let’s go, stay behind me and stay quiet,” Kevin said, leading the two of them through the two flights of stairs to get to the ED entrance. 

‘Will I swear to god, if you’re somehow in the middle of this I’ll kill you myself’  Connor thought to himself, wondering what he’d type of hell he’d as soon as they opened the doors.

The sound of the alarm blared at the same time Will finally unlocked the final thing keeping Francis chained. The black-haired man rubbed at his bruised wrist as he jumped off the bed and stretched and groaned in relief, almost kid-ish in a way if it weren’t for the shiny gun.

Will still hadn’t moved though, not even to wipe at his busted lip that was continuously dripping blood all over his white coat.

Micheal and the other two moved Jay’s body to a sitting position letting the Halstead’s slack body lean against the wall of the emergency room. Will got a look at the cut on Jay’s forehead, sighing in relief internally when he saw it was probably superficial. Jay would probably have a concussion at best when he woke up. 

“I see your friends have finally realized something was wrong huh?” Francis asked Will, turning to face the redhead with a smile planted on his face. “Let’s go say hi”.

Francis moved quick for someone who had a concussion but Will made it pretty easy too. He grabbed Will’s hand and led him outside of the doors of the room and finally into the open of the ED. 

Will’s eyes widened at the sight. 

There were at least six other men, dressed fully in black all carrying their own weapons. Their guns were drawn on the other doctors and the few patients who were now trapped with them. There weren’t too many civilians in the ED and Will silently prayed that it stay that way. 

His gaze slowly tracked over each person, realizing that at least two of them were wearing police uniforms, the same ones Micheal and the other two in Francis’s room were wearing. 

“Why did it take this fucking long to get here” Francis yelled right next to Will. One of the men stepped up and stood in front of them.  

“We had a few run-ins with the feds at the scene boss, took a little longer to get here then plan-” 

A gunshot went off. 

A body dropped to the floor. 

Chaos ensued. 

Will was on the brink of a full panic attack now. His breaths coming too fast and too shallow as the now dead man lay on his shoes, the blood from the hole in the man’s head painting Will’s white sneakers red as the loud shot from the gun rang in his ears, overpowering the screaming that erupted. 

“Shut up!” Francis yelled as three more shots went off in warning. The sound of people trying to suppress their crying and panic the only thing left. Francis tried to move to the front of the entrance doors, but Will had enough. 

Will tugged at his arm still tight in Francis’s grip, “Just let go of me, I won’t do anything else, I’ll just stand here with the rest of them. You can still see me perfectly fine” he tried to reason, his voice just on the edge of sturdy. 

Francis took a slow deep breath and exhaled loudly. He turned his head roughly side to side, cracking it before turning to look right at Will. 

That same look from earlier was back but now it felt ten times worse. Will didn’t even know what was happening until he felt two other pairs of arms wrap around his own, immobilizing him. He thrashed in their hold and tried to escape but didn’t get far before a punch straight to his chest had him bent in half, weight fully relying on the two people holding him. 

He groaned lowly in his throat and didn’t even have a chance to catch his breath before he was hit again, this time on his side. He vaguely heard someone yelling his name, but couldn’t think over the throbbing pain coming from his middle. 

“You don’t fucking learning do you?” Francis seethed, looking down on Will’s hunched over figure. He grabbed a fistful of Will’s red hair, eliciting another pained moan from the man, and got right next to his ear “This is my game  Will , and I won’t hesitate to treat you like the bitch you are”.

Francis let go of Will’s hair, gravity making his head fall to his chest as he struggled to breathe and catch his breath. Francis looked up at the two men holding onto Will, “Put him with the others for now. I wanna have some fun with this one later”. 

Will tried to regain his footing but with the rough way the men were dragging him across the floor, it was making it very difficult. He looked up just in time to see Ethan and April’s worried gaze before he was thrown to the ground, his ribs sore with the movement. 

“Will, hey you’re gonna be just fine. We’ve got you” he heard April say, as she and Ethan helped him get to his feet. “I’m fine, just a little beat up” Will responded looking around to see who else was in here with them, trying to distract himself from the words Francis whispered in his ear. 

“Anyone hurt?” Will asked, looking at the forming bruise on Ethan’s cheekbone. Ethan dismissed Will’s worry with a nod, “Not anything dangerous, mostly just superficial scrapes and cuts from them trying to rough us up”. 

“I’ve got a young woman in Trauma 4 who came in for a bad cold and a senior man here for a sore throat,” April said, joining the conversation between the two. They all spoke in hushed voices, Will wincing every now and then as they kept their eyes forward. Everyone on the ED shift right now stood in a line, afraid that any movement might trigger another dead body. 

Will finally relaxed a fraction more with what the situation allowed, his mind now slightly clearer as a new thought entered his mind, “What about the other levels, where’s Goodwin and Doctor Charles.” His heart sank and his eyes widened with fear once again, “What about Connor?” Will asked. 

April put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently in reassurance. “They shut down the power to the elevators and no one has tried to go up and no one has tried to come down too. He went up to the surgery level before this hellhole started, he’s okay, Will”. 

Will sighed in relief, content that at least Connor wasn’t and that he could get help. Until the task force got here, they had no other choice but to cooperate with Francis and his men, and with the weird interest Francis had in Will that the doctor could no longer dismay, Will knew it was going to get worse from here.