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“Rollins, Tamin!” Olivia called, walking out of her office. “We got a hit on a case down in Chicago, M.O matches a serial rapist of ours. I’m going to need you two on the next flight out.”
“Voight’s unit?” Amanda questioned, glancing up at Olivia.
“He’s going to have a Detective waiting for the two of you at the airport.”
Amanda spent the rest of that day tying up loose ends with the DD-5s on the current cases they were working and making plans for the girls while she’d be in Chicago. Sonnny stood in the doorway of her - their - bedroom while she packed.
It’d been a couple of months since they crossed that line and it still sometimes felt like a dream. It was like she couldn't believe it was actually happening; couldn’t believe that it was his clothes in half her closet, in drawers of her dressers, his toothbrush sitting in the bathroom next to hers and the girls’, his shampoo lining the shower, hair gel and razor in the bathroom cabinet or his briefcase hanging on the hook by the door, next to Jesse’s backpack.
He’d already unofficially moved in. If it were anyone else, she’d be worried they were moving too fast; but it wasn’t just anyone. It was Dominick Carisi - her best friend, her partner, the man she’d been in love with for years - albeit she’d never admit it. He was it for her and they both knew how serious this was.
“Wasn’t there a Chicago Detective that hit on you the first time?” Though his tone was light, teasing, nowhere near the bitter undertones she detected with Khaldun.
Amanda snorted. “Jealous, Carisi?” She glanced over her shoulder at where he leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. “It was an officer and it was just a harmless flirtation. You still talk to Adam; we both do. I think you should know he’s figuring things out with his former partner.”
Sonny smirked as he walked further into the room, coming to stand behind her. “That seems to be a theme.”
Yeah, it did.
“Thank you for watching the girls,” Amanda said, turning around and wrapping her arms around his waist, glancing up at him.
“It’s not a problem, Amanda,” he told her, pulling her closer. “I’ve spent more time here than I have my own place since Fin’s not wedding. It’s no different than when I watched them while you went to Atlanta.”
“Well, it’s a little different.”
“Yeah, this time I’ve gotten used to sleeping in the same bed with you every night.”
“Sounds like you’re gonna miss me while I’m gone, Sonny.”
Sonny leaned down, placing a quick kiss to her lips. “I always miss you when you’re gone - even if it’s just for a couple hours when we leave for work.”
Amanda lightly slapped his arm. “Don’t get all cheesy on me, Counselor.”
“Can’t help it, you just do that to me.”
The next morning after dropping Jesse off at school, Sonny drove Amanda to the airport, meeting Kat as she arrived. “Hey, be safe in Chicago, alright,” he called when Amanda stepped out of the car. “Both of ya.”
“I’ve got your girlfriend’s back, Counselor,” Kat told him.
Amanda leaned through his open window, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I promise, I’ll be fine. Kat’s good and so is Voight’s team if you remember.”
“Ya I know.”
Amanda filled Kat in on what she remembered from the Intelligence Team and the New York cases matching their rapist on the plane ride. “Though, I think their team has gone through as many shake ups as ours has in the last couple of years.
“You still talk though?”
Amanda shrugged. “Updates here and there. I’ve mostly kept in touch with Ruzek and Burgess.I think Liv still talks to Voight. We both talk to Lindsay; but she left the Chicago PD for an FBI task force in New York a couple of years ago.”
“That blonde agent that stopped by the precinct before?” Kat questioned, bringing up the day Erin stopped by for a quick lunch with her and Olivia. It was the only get together the three of them could swing that week with all of their caseloads.
It was, after all, Olivia - and by extension, Amanda - who helped Erin move in, who helped her settle in when she first moved up here. They’d kept in touch ever since, getting together whenever they could. Noah and the girls had even grown to love their mother’s friend.
“Yeah, they’ve probably gotten new detectives by now.”
It was Jay Halstead that met Kat and Amanda when they finally landed at O’Hare International Airport. He’d changed since the last time Amanda saw him - though that’d been roughly six years since the last time. He’d seemed lighter somehow, happier despite the circumstances.
“Rollins,” he greeted, taking her luggage from her and Kat, before tossing them both into the backseat of his pickup. “Good to see you again.”
“Wish it was under better circumstances,” Amanda guestered towards Kat. “This is Detective Tamin.”
“Halstead,” Jay said in greeting, shaking Kat’s hand. “Voight really wants to hit the ground running,” he added once they all piled into his truck. Jay caught them up to speed on everything the Intelligence Unit had uncovered in their investigation as they drove towards District 21. They already had a possible suspect - one Erick Standford.
“So this guy got bored in New York and came down here?” Kat said, glancing between the two older detectives.
“Wouldn’t be the first time a serial crossed state lines,” Amanda explained, she shuddered a little. “Or the first time we’ve had a case crossover with Chicago.”
“Hey,” Jay said, glancing over at her as they stopped at a red light. “ I don’t think this is gonna be like Yates.”
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I hope so.”
“Took you long enough Halstead!” a sharp voice came from the desk as the three detectives walked up the steps into the lobby of the district.
“Chicago traffic, Trudy,” he explained. “You remember Detective Rollins from last time… And this is Detective Tamin.”
Trudy Platt barely glanced up. “Voight’s been waiting - best not keep him waiting.” Amanda swore she heard something along the lines of ‘being distracted by pretty ladies” as they followed Jay up the stairs towards the Intelligence bullpen.
“Well, she’s something,” Kat commented, as Jay unlocked the door for them.
“Don’t let Platt’s hard exterior fool you,” Jay told her. “She’s really a softy at heart; but of course she has appearances to keep up.
Amanda snorted, remembering how the woman responded to her and Fin when they first came down here. “Yeah. She’s really something.” Amanda hadn’t had that much interaction with the older desk Sergeant but there was just something that Amanda liked about her.
Once in the bullpen, there were more rounds of introductions and hellos. Amanda laughed as Adam pulled her into a hug. When she pulled away her gaze landed on Kim. “You doin’ okay?”
“As I can be,” Kim responded with a slight shrug and Amanda could still see the slight stiffness in her movement. “Getting shot is a bitch - but glad to be back at work.”
“Yeah, I get that. Sniper bullet to the shoulder,” Amanda agreed, lifting her left shoulder.
Suddenly Voight walked into the bullpen from the opposite direction, a blonde detective trailing after him and all the catching up was put to an end. His eyes fell on Amanda. “I take it Halstead briefed you on the road over,” he shook hands with Amanda and then Kat.
“Yeah.”
“Good, we’ve got a hit on Stanford,” Voight said, glancing around. “Let’s roll.”
The two of them were sitting in Hailey’s Jeep, waiting for their Stanford to show up. The one who could hopefully be their serial. It seemed to be the long game though, they’d already been out here for a couple of hours; but Voight was adamant they just wait it out, see what would happen.
Truthfully, Amanda was getting kind of bored. She hated all kinds of stakeouts - the sitting, the waiting. Then Carisi came around and they started becoming slightly less boring; but then he left.
So maybe that’s why Amanda found herself breaking the silence, prying a little when she probably shouldn’t. It wasn’t as if she knew Hailey Upton all that well; she’d literally just met the woman at the start of this case; but something told Amanda that she’d understand.
“I’m not trying to pry here, but you and Jay?” If there was one thing Amanda was good at, it was picking up on things between people - well other people - and she saw something between the two detectives. The same thing she was sure Fin saw between herself and Carisi.
Hailey’s head turned towards the other woman, a small smile forming on her lips before disappearing. And if Amanda weren’t a trained Detective, she would have missed it. “It’s that obvious, huh?”
Amanda just shrugged, not making a big deal out of it. “I’ve known a thing or two about getting close with your partner.”
Hailey seemed to take in Amanda’s words, mull them over before she spoke again. “Tell you what. We catch this son of a bitch and afterwards, I’ll take you to Molly’s, buy you a beer and we can talk about it. Or not talk about it. Whatever.”
“Deal.”
The next couple of days kind of went by in a blur - questioning witnesses, suspects, running down leads. It was the same as it was in New York; just without the sound of her girls running towards her at night, or the warmth of slipping into bed beside Sonny.
Instead, she was slipping into a hotel room she shared with Kat, having to settle with a quick phone call or facetime with Sonny instead. With the time difference, if she were lucky to get back early, she could say goodnight to her girls.
“You seem happier,” Kat commented one lucky night when Amanda was able to see her girls before bedtime.
Amanda stared at the ceiling and let out a sigh. “I never realized I could be this happy.” Amanda said, shaking her head. “Things with you and Ceiine still good?”
“She asked me if I wanted to move in with her.”
“That’s a big step,” Amanda turned her head. “And you seem a little...hesitant.”
“Well we have only been dating for like a year and half,” Kat said, slowly. “And a good part of it was during a pandemic….I just don’t want to think we’re moving too fast.”
Amanda chuckled. “Well, I shouldn’t be one to judge on what is moving too fast… But, if you want my advice - if you’re happy and it feels right, go for it. In our line of work, it’s nice having someone to come home to.”
“Thanks, Rollins.”
The following day, they finally caught a break; it turned out Stanford knew more than he was originally letting on. And their serial was actually a duo. Atwater and Ruzek were sent to pick up a known associate of his - Tom Hancock and Voight had them pick up Stanford again. And an hour later, they were both sitting in Interrogation.
Amanda stood in the observation room between the two interrogation rooms with Kim, while Hailey and Jay were in with Stanford and Voight and Adam were in with Hancock. Stanford was still only talking in circles and Hancock was only talking to a lawyer; but with the new information they’d found, they had the two of them dead to rights.
“I’d be glad to know that it’s over; but I know it’s far from it.”
“Now comes the fun part,” Kim said.
Amanda didn’t see why they were trying for confessions they probably weren’t going to get. She didn’t see either of these two breaking. Now, it was just going to square away all the evidence and let the courts take over.
“At least these sons of bitches will go down for this, whether they confess or not.”
“Is New York going to want to take precedent over the court proceedings?” Kim asked, glancing over at her.
“That’ll be something for the DA to decide. But honestly? I’m glad that’s above my pay grade.” Amanda met her gaze, smirking. “Since this is technically, y’alls collar; you get to have all the paperwork.”
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, that joy is all yours,” Amanda laughed. “No, there'll probably be plenty for Kat and me to do once we head back.”
Turns out, Voight wasn’t letting any of them start on any paperwork that day. He sent them all out by five, giving them all a break. “Go. Get the hell outta here. Paperwork can wait, you all deserve it.”
Hailey said something to Jay before crossing from her desk, grabbing Amanda before she turned. “I guess I owe you a beer… and a conversation.”
Amanda shrugged. “I’ll definitely take the beer; but you don’t owe me an explanation if you don’t want to.”
“It’s fine,” Haliey walked over to her desk and grabbed her jacket before joining Amanda again. Hailey glanced towards Kat. “You too, Tamin! Come on, I’m buying you a beer.”
“Just so you know,” Hailey said as they walked the short distance from the car towards the front door. “Molly’s is a firefighter’s bar.”
“Firefighter’s huh?” Kat commented as Hailey reached for the door knob. She and Kat shared a look.
“Intelligence and 51 are almost like a family, albeit a makeshift one,” Hailey explained. “I swear we see just as much as them as we do our own unit. There might even be some doctors or nurses from Med showing up too.”
Amanda just blinked. “Everyone down here seems to know everyone, then.”
Amanda was answered by an older man standing behind the bar, yelling Hailey’s name as they walked forward. Somehow Chicago - or at least this part of the city - didn’t seem all that different from Loganville.
“Thanks Hermann,” Hailey said, grabbing the beers, handing one to Amanda and one to Kat. As soon as Kat grabbed the beer, she was pulled into a conversation with Kevin and Vanessa.
Hailey made her way through the bar, saying hi to what Amanda could only assume were the firefighters she was talking about. Hailey made a stop at a table near the back of the bar, Amanda figuring the younger detective didn’t want eavesdropping ears. Not that she could blame her all that much - she and Sonny were still kind of keeping things under wraps. Sure disclosure paperwork was signed and submitted; but they weren’t advertising it.
“So you know a thing about getting close with your partner, huh?” Hailey said around the rim of her beer.
Amanda glanced down at the table, picking at the label of her own beer. “Yeah, well. Been there and done that. I fought my feelings for so long because I never thought someone like me, someone with my past deserved a man like him. And then he left for the DA’s office and suddenly I found it harder to fight them; and then I finally took the leap.”
Hailey gave a slight nod. “I feel that. I never had a good example as a kid. And now I’m realizing that I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. But Jay’s been great, understanding. He’s made the fact that I finally took that leap worth it.”
“Seems like the good ones do.”
“I’m still scared that I’m going to fuck it up, though,” Hailey said, forcing Amanda’s own fears, something even Amanda has never had the guts to do. “I don’t know how to have a real relationship, you know?”
“I feel that,” Amanda echoed Hailey’s own words. “Hell, it wouldn’t be the first relationship I’ve blown up.”
“There’s definitely a but there.”
“But, I think the difference here is that for the first time in my life, it finally feels right,” Amanda turned to look at Hailey. “And yeah, I may still always have those little voices in the back of my head that I’m gonna fuck it up; but I know Sonny won’t let me.”
Hailey just nodded, as if she was letting the words really sink in.
The two women fell into a deeper conversation, about details of their childhood, their family dynamics that only one another would really understand. Something only someone who grew up in an abusive household with an abusive father would truly understand. How much it stays with you, how it affects you, warps your view on life.
“You know, I haven’t even told Jay all the little details,” Hailey said, leaning back in her chair.
“Sometimes it’s hard opening up to those closest to us,” Amanda told her. “Hell, I’ve told complete strangers in bars things I haven’t told some of my friends.”
Hailey laughed. “You mean like me?”
Amanda pursed her lips. “Well, I wouldn’t call you a complete stranger…. But, I’ve learned it’s also easier to talk to someone who understands because they’ve been through something similar.”
Amanda knew she’d be a work in progress for a while, unlearning everything that was forced on her from childhood. Always doing the work, reminding herself that she did in fact deserve Sonny, that she deserved to be happy. That her girls deserved to be happy.
“Baby steps, then.” Hailey said, holding up her beer bottle.
Amanda echoed her words and clinked her bottle with Hailey’s.
“Voight knows though,” Hailey admitted after a while. “And he seems fine with it. I’ve even gone to him after a rough case basically begging for a new partner and he shot me down. Saying that Jay and I work too well together to split us up.”
“Two team relationships and your Sergeant is fine with it?” Amanda chuckled, taking a sip of her beer. “My Captain’s head would explode.”
Hailey shrugged. “Somehow it works, I don’t know.”
It was Hailey who dropped Amanda and Kat off at the airport when their part of the case was done. The only thing left now was to let the Chicago courts do their jobs.
“Just once, I’d like us to not have a case as the reason to drag us down here,” Amanda commented as she stepped out of Hailey’s Jeep.
“Maybe one day,” Hailey called.
Amanda pulled a card out of her pocket, holding it out towards Hailey, who wordlessly took it. “You ever want to talk about you know -” vaguely mentioning their talk in the bar -- “or anything, call me.”
“Thanks, Amanda.”
“Sure thing.”
“What was that about?” Kat asked, after Hailey drove away and they made their way through the terminal.
“Turns out, Detective Upton and I have more in common than I thought.”