Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Typical day at the 118 for Buck

They had put out a fire or 2 but it wasn't a terribly busy day

Hanging out in the firehouse was one of Buck's favorite things

It always held his family

Like Captian Bobby Nash, who has become a father to him

Or paramedics Hen and Chimney, who were his siblings

And Eddie... his best friend

They weren't his only family of course, there was still Athena, Christopher, Maddie

And others he didn't get to hang out with as often but spoke to more than anyone 

Like Jim Street, a SWAT officer in LA

Jay Halstead, a member of the intelligence unit with the Chicago PD

Tk Strand, a firefighter in Austin

Jackson West, a patrol officer in LA

Will Halstead, Jay's older brother, he also lives in Chicago, as a doctor at Chicago Med

Peter Mills, a Chicago firefighter

They had all known eachother through one thing or another

Buck met Street when he first got to LA, when Street was in a foster home that dragged him to a club Buck used to work at

Jay and Will were childhood friends of Streets, Jay moved to Chicago when he got back from the army and Will moved there as well shortly after

Jackson, he met through Street

Tk he met when he, Hen, and Eddie went to help with the wildfires in Texas

They had kept in touch and Tk came to visit, Buck introduced Tk to Street and Jackson and then they introduced Jay and Will to Tk as well

From there, they had all gotten pretty close

They texted each other all the time and tried to call at least twice a week

Then Jay mentioned a firefighter named Peter Mills and he was then added to the friend group

So now, they're a group that is made of 3 cops, 3 firefighters, and 1 doctor

It was nice

Especially when Street, Buck, or Tk got hurt and refused to go to a hospital 

They simply called Will and had him talk them through it

Will helped but definitely lectured them, going 'big brother' mode on them

Jay was very familiar with the lecture

The only thing they haven't had a chance to do is introduce them to other family

Jay would love to introduce Tk, Street, Buck, and Jackson to intelligence but when they had planned it, Street got caught up with a case, Jackson was being investigated, Tk couldn't leave Austin because Carlos was injured and Buck was asked to cover someone's shift

They had set up a week to have intelligence fly to LA and Tk was gonna meet them there but a case popped up and they couldn't get out of it

They were gonna all go to Austin but none of them could because of personal things coming up

It's like the universe wanted to keep them from introducing friends to Friends and family to family

Unless it was on its own terms

Chapter Text

Chicago Fire

Firehouse 51

Mills had come to terms with the firehouse being his family

Sure, he had his mom and his sister but the firehouse was different

Casey and Severide were like his older brothers -the ones he always wanted but could never have-

Mouch and Herrmann were the weird yet shockingly fun uncles -he never got to know his father's brother and his mom was an only child-

Otis was the favorite cousin -if that makes sense-

Chief Boden... we'll get back to that

Mills was content with his family, he'd do anything for them

Which is why he's been trying so hard to get Street, Buck, Tk, and Jackson to fly up here but things keep coming up

And while he knows the others didn't tell their friends or family too much about this friends group, Mills couldn't keep himself from telling everyone

Especially when Jay, Will, and him were planning on going to LA for Streets birthday in a few weeks

He had mentioned it and everyone asked so he told them

Not too much, just names, jobs, a few basic things that make them them

51 was very intrigued and couldn't wait to meet them

They had met his mom and sister already so the only other people in his life were next

Maybe Mills could suggest doing it one at a time?

As soon as Street has a week available, he could come up

Same thing with the others

Mills was equally excited to meet everyone else's families too

Chicago PD

Intelligence unit

Jay couldn't believe how close they had all gotten over the years

He fought with Voight for awhile but now they've grown to protect each other with everything they got

Jay and Antonio were pretty close from the start, connecting over their hatred for Voight always doing things his own way and not consulting with them 

Jay and Erin were pretty close too, now they're dating and he couldn't be happier with the development 

Burgess was still relatively new to the unit but they got to know each other when she and Adam were dating, she's pretty tough

Adam was too loyal to Voight for Jay to be close with him so he and Adam fought a lot but they were still friends at the end of the day

Alvin was strange but he had come to be the 'wise father' of the group, he was weirdly comforting

Though when Jay mentioned this to Will, Will asked if it was just Jay's daddy issues talking

He got punched for that

Kevin was pretty cool too, always standing up for what's right

Jay managed to get close enough to consider them family, and he could be happier

His life kind of sucked, growing up

His dad was always a prick, his brother took off for years, he had joined the Rangers and came back when his mom was sick only to go right back after she passed away

When he'd gotten back, his dad was worse and Jay ended up isolating himself for weeks until Mouse got through him

Then he became a cop and his life went uphill from there

He and Street were close, have been for years, then the rest of the group, then Jay got closer with intelligence 

Jay was proud to call them his family

He would do anything for them

Even try to work around their busy schedules to try to figure out how and when to have them meet his group

Chicago Med

E.D.

Will wasn't particularly close with anyone but they were all pretty close friends

He and Natalie were happy

He and Ethan hung out sometimes

Will, April, and Maggie weren't that close but they got along really well

Will and Connor were probably the closest to best friends anyone in the ED could get

They butted heads sometimes but they're the ones who hang out outside of work the most

Everyone else was mostly work friends, colleagues 

He could say they were family, his work family at least

Wills dad had obviously favored him over his brother

Will regretted bot being here for his mom when she was sick, or being there for Jay in the aftermath

But he and Jay reconnected when he came back a few years ago, he even got close enough to be in the friend group

He was surprised when Jay asked him if he wanted to meet them but he had accepted

And he was glad he did

Most of the people in the group needed some serious therapy and only 2 of them were in it

Street was traumatized as a kid and the trauma kept coming, never letting up

Buck was neglected before he ran away and lived on his own 

Tk had also been neglected to some degree, then he became an addict, got clean, then had his sobriety taken away against his will

Jackson wasnt neglected or abused but he had some trauma from work

Mills had lost his dad at a young age and almost lost his dream job

Will had to resist the urge to go all 'big brother' on all of them when they joked about their trauma

There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for them

Which is why he had taken a week off to go hang out with them in LA, and meet Street and Buck's families 

911

Firehouse 118

Buck loves his firecrew, loves his family

His everything but biological father, Bobby

His brother in law, Chimney

His self-proclaimed sister, Hen

His boyfriend Eddie -he loved saying that-

The new kid, Ravi

The 12 year old kid he was co-parenting,  Christopher 

His self-proclaimed younger siblings, May and Harry 

His surrogate mother, Athena

His older sister who raised him, Maddie

Of course there's Street, Jackson, Tk, Jay, Will, and Peter

He loves all of them like family cause they are his family

His parents were shitty

The only reason they had Buck was to save Daniel and Buck couldn't even do that so they ignored him for most of his life

Left Maddie to raise him on her own

So when Buck had the opportunity, he left

He left and traveled a few different states before landing in LA where he became a firefighter and got his new family 

He had worked in a club for a bit where he met Street, who was 16 at the time

Buck was 19, technically 

He had made a couple comments on Street being underage but understood the situation when he met Streets foster parents

He kept in contact with Street and they became friends, later expanding the group when Street introduced him to Jay and Will 

He would do anything for them

He had preemptively asked if they'd be fine with meeting his friends in a week or 2 and they said yeah so he was excited for that

The Rookie

Mid-Wilshire patrol division 

Jackson knew all the cops in the district but he was only close with some of them

Chen and Nolan were his best friends, Chen more so

They were in the academy together and got close

Angela, his T.O,  was his favorite person, she was strong and gentle, she was probably one of the scariest yet most loving people he knew

Bradford was a way different person on and off the clock

He was a bit more fun and showed he cares more often when they were off

Nyla was equally as scary as Angela but she was a little less nice unless it was James or her daughter

Grey was honestly like a father to him, if he ever said that out loud then he'd be the laughing stock of the LAPD but it was true

He had met Street when Street was working patrol for a bit

Met Buck and Jay, then Tk and Will, then Peter

He loves his family, he loves his friends 

There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for them

He'd kill for them

SWAT

20-squad 

Street never thought he'd have this many friends, let alone this much family

He was always surprised when they showed they cared about him

When Hondo would force him to take ten because he forgot to eat

When Deacon gives him advice on anything he needs

When Luca convinces him to get out of bed on his day off

When Tan tolerates his 3am texts when he can't sleep

When Chris helped him when he was fired

When they were all there for him after Nate died, when his mom died

He pushes them away and they force their way back in

He never thought he'd let anyone in when it came to things like this but 4, almost 5 years later, he actually started going to them when he needs help

Then he met Jackson, introduced Jay and Will and everyone else and his family grew

He knows who he can go to when he needs help

He would love if they could all meet and he's working on it

Jay, Peter, Will, Tk, Buck, and Jackson had something planed for Street birthday

They were gonna meet Buck's family then Streets and maybe Jacksons 

Hopefully nothing came up to cancel these plans

Street would do anything for them though, even if it meant rescheduling 

911 lone-star

Firehouse 126

Tk loves his life right now

He has a husband now, Carlos 

His dad beat cancer and is okay

He gained more family too

Like Judd and Nancy, self-proclaimed siblings

Marjan and Mateo, his best friends

Paul, the only one he can talk to about gay shit with him understanding 

Tommy, his captian

Tommy's daughters, who he's grown to love

His little brother, Jonah, his step-dad Enzo 

Judd and Grace's kid, Charlie

Carlos' big family, who have accepted him as their own

His friends in LA and Chicago were great too, they helped him through a lot

Jay helped him when his dad was sick, having a similar experience 

When Tk was recovering from his coma -and his second one-, Buck helped him through that

When Carlos was taken and Tk was panicking, Will helped him with that

They took care of each other in a way only family could

He would do anything for them

He was waiting for his birthday in a month when everyone would come down and meet his family but for now, he was excited to meet Street, Buck, and Jackson's family in a couple weeks

Chapter Text

6am

Street was in the eagles nest at HQ, eyes scanning over the items from the package he had gotten while he waited for the team to arrive

A note, a picture, a pocket knife, and a bullet

He couldn't figure out who it was from, he kept racking his memory to remember the MO but he couldn't 

He flinched when a hand landed on his shoulder, he hadn't heard anyone come into the room

Looking over, it was just Hondo

The rest of the team was behind him

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, kid" Hondo apologized "what do we got?"

"Note, pictures, pocket knife, bullet" Street pointed at each item he listed "none of which have any finger prints or DNA so we've got nothing at the time being"

Hondo picked up the note and read it out loud

"You know who I maim, you know who I kill, you know who I blame, don't doubt that I will" Hondo started "your birthday approaches, you don't seem excited, I'll kill them like roaches, Jim, your invited"

"What is this guy, a poet?" Deacon voiced "I don't think I've ever heard anyone use your first name for anything"

"Cause i don't like my name" Street shrugged

"Any idea who left this?" Hondo asked

Street shook his head before pointing to the picture

"But I do know that that's Jackson West and Evan Buckley, they're both at work right now and have no idea who this is" he informed "That's Jay and Will Halstead, they're in Chicago right now, at home, and that's Tk, he's in Texas but was on his way here, I told him to turn around and go home, make sure he's with someone at all times"

"You know these guys?" Tan assumed

"Yeah, me, these guys, and another guy named Peter Mills, we're all pretty good friends" Street confirmed "Jackson and Jay are both cops, Evan, Peter, and Tk are firefighters, and Will's a doctor, Tk is on his way back to his husband, who is also a cop, and isn't going anywhere alone, I'm gonna call Peter soon to check in but his picture isn't here so I'm not too worried right now"

"Recognize the knife at all?" Hondo checked

"Actually yeah, it was my dads, haven't seen it since I was fourteen, it was stolen from my bag at a foster home" Street answered "I only kept it out if spite so I didn't care too much"

"Who stole it?" Deacon asked

"Don't know, never tried to figure it out, there were like.. four other kids in that house and any of them were likely to have stolen it" Street shrugged a bit "guess I should've figured it out"

"You remember their names by any chance?" 

"No, I don't" Street sighed "or the address"

"The houses you were placed in should be accessible to us, Tan, Luca, get on that" Hondo ordered before looking back at Street "you call your friends, the ones that live here, and get them down here, I don't care if they're at work"

Street nodded and got his phone out, walking out of the room

Within minutes, Jackson and Buck were on their way and Luca and Tan had the -longer than it should be- list of foster homes Street had been in

"Okay, we only need the ones he was in at fourteen" Hondo added, looking over the list

Luca narrowed that down, going from 15 homes to 4

"You remember anything specific?" Hondo asked Street, who had walked back into the room

Street thought for a minute

"Single dad, blue house, huge tree in the front yard" Street listed off "that's all I got, I forced myself to forget a lot"

"That's fine, only three blue houses on the list" Luca told him "two with single dads, and one with a huge ass tree in the front yard"

Luca showed Street a picture of the house, getting confirmation 

"Okay, now we can go talk to the guy and see if he remembers who else was in the house at the time" Deacon spoke

"Wish it were that easy" Luca responded 

"What?" 

"The guy died last year... stabbed several times with a pocket knife" Luca answered

Three sighs were heard around the room

"Let me guess, cops never found who did it?" Street guessed

"Ding ding ding" Luca confirmed "never even had any suspects, it ended up being cold case"

"We can only assume it's the same guy" Deacon added "and that knife is the weapon"

"What do we do now?" Tan asked 

"Until we figure out who this is, Street, Evan, and Jackson can't go anywhere alone, and someone has to keep eyes on Jay, Tk, and Will" Hondo concluded "that said, you're gonna be staying with someone until we get this sorted"

"Already figured" Street nodded Before his phone went off "they're here"

Hondo nodded and waved for him to lead the way

They found Buck and Jackson in the parking lot, getting out of their cars

"Hey" Buck greeted 

"Hey Street" Jackson spoke

"Hey guys, we're gonna need you to stay here for a bit" Street informed 

"You said something about some guys stalking us, what's up?" Buck asked as they made their way to the building, Street and Hondo doing a quick scan to look for anything out of the ordinary 

"Got a package earlier, pictures of you two, Tk, Jay, and Will" Street alerted "and a note, pocket knife, and a bullet"

"You don't know who it is?" Jackson checked

"No, the knife was my dad's, it was stolen when I was fourteen, never figured out who stole it, actually kind of forgot about it until now, we're working on it but we can't take any chances with you guys being alone" Street explained 

"Understandable" Buck nodded while they walked into the eagles nest "I didn't tell Bobby much, just that I had to go and it was urgent"

"Good, the less people that know, the better" Hondo approved

"Guys, this is Evan, he prefers to be called Buck, and Jackson" Street introduced 

"I'm Hondo, that's Luca, Deacon, Tan, and Chris" Hondo pointed around the room 

"Hey" Buck and Jackson waved, a bit awkwardly 

"So, I got a list of kids who've gone through that home and I think you three should take a look" Luca announced 

Street nodded and motioned for Buck and Jackson to take a look first

"Seen those three around a bit but none of them were ever suspicious" Jackson spoke first, pointing to Tanner Cambell, Aiden Manchester, and Franklin Park 

"I don't recognize any of them" Buck shook his head

Luca looked at Street, who was focused on 1 person

Several blinks later, nothing was said

"Street" Luca called "kind of need to tell us who you recognize"

Hm?" Street hummed "sorry, Zachary Coleman, he wasn't in the home at the same time as me but we went to school together and he was friends with Tanner, who was there at the same time"

"Tanner, twenty seven, no priors, but there's a restraining order against him from an Aubrey Sullivan" Luca read "Zachary, thirty, got arrested for stealing a gun from Gregory Todd, the guy who had the foster home, got out last year on parole, hasn't checked in with his PO, there's a warrant out for his arrest"

"The gun happen to be a nine milimeter?" Street asked, looking at the bullet on the table

"That would be correct" Luca confirmed "I think we got our guy, now we just gotta find him"

"Great, that'll be easy" Tan sassed

Jackson's phone rang

"Angela?" Jackson answered

The phone wasn't on speaker but they heard the word 'package' and knew what it was about

"Any chance you know who it's from?" Jackson asked "I'm not sure if I can explain that but I'm gonna come get it, I'll be there in a few" 

Jackson hung up after that

"A package just showed up for me at the station" Jackson announced "I know I can't go anywhere alone right now so who's coming with me to pick it up?"

"I'll go" Tan volunteered, waiting until Hondo nodded before leaving

"I'm gonna call Eddie, see if I've gotten any packages" Buck decided, looking at Street

"Yeah, go ahead" Street allowed

Buck nodded and stepped just outside of the room, getting his phone out

"So should we talk to Tanner or Aubrey?" Luca suggested "see if they know where to find Aiden?"

"Aubrey, no, Tanner, yeah, let's check with him" Hondo decided "Deacon, you come with me, Luca, Text me the address"

Deacon and Hondo took off after that, leaving Street, Luca, and Chris

Buck came back in the room a minute later

"No packages for me but he'll let me know" Buck informed 

"Good, Jackson and Tan are on their way back" Luca added,  having gotten a text from Tan 

Street nodded in acknowledgment and took a look over the pictures again

"You guys notice how they're all on their phones in these pictures?" Street pointed out "don't know who they're talking to though"

Buck took a look at it to see if he could figure out where the picture was taken

"This was outside Eddie's house last month" Buck recalled "That's the last time I wore that shirt, it's been sitting on my floor"

"Eddie's at work right?" Street checked "and Christopher is at school?"

"Yeah, Christopher is gonna get picked up by Carla and taken home after school,  but I'm gonna see if she can take Chris to the firehouse instead, so he's with Eddie just in case" Buck decided, getting his phone out and texting Carla

"Good call, wouldn't wanna have anything happen to either of them" Chris spoke

Jackson and Tan walked in a couple minutes later, package in hand

"Put it on the table" Luca ordered, getting out his pocket knife

Jackson placed it on the table before taking a step back

Street, who always had crime scene gloves with him, put on a pair of gloves while Luca cut open the tape

Opening it cautiously, Street took a look inside

A note, some pictures, a bullet, and a badge

"Run a badge number real quick, five, eighty-two, seventy-three" Street spoke to Luca, grabbing out the badge and placing it on the table

"Officer Travis Harold, killed in the line of duty a year ago when he was responding to a shots fired call... across the street from your old foster home" Luca announced "but he wasn't on the watch list"

"He is now" Street shrugged before grabbing out the pictures "Buck, Jay, Will, Tk, and me"

He placed them on the table while naming everyone

"Nine milimeter bullet" Street added "and the note"

"Does it say the same thing?" Chris asked

"Try to find me, you'll only fail, by the time you get here, he'll be sickly pale, check on your friends, Peter too, getting close to the end, Jackson, you and your crew" Street read "what the fuck?"

"Have you called Peter?" Buck asked

"Nope, I'm going to right now" Street answered, getting out his phone, not even leaving the room this time 

Street, Buck, and Jackson waited anxiously for Peter to answer

'Probably putting out a fire, call you back when I can'

"Shit" Buck muttered

Street tried again

...

...

...

'Probably putting out a fire, call you back when I can'

"Try Matt" Jackson suggested

"Matt?" Tan questioned

"One of Peter's lieutenants" Street informed, clicking Matt's contact and hitting the call button "Peter switches between squad and truck sometimes"

...

...

"Hey" Matt answered "you don't call unless something's wrong, what's up Street?"

"Are you guys working right now?" Street asked "Peter there?"

"Mills went with Severide to the district, we got an arson fire, what's going on?"

"He have his phone on him?" Jackson spoke

"Hey Jackson, no, his phone was broken on our last call, he's gonna get a new one after work" Matt explained "Severide has his, you can call him if you need to get ahold of Mills"

"Cool, thanks Matt, I'll try to explain later" Street responded before hanging up and quickly calling Severide 

"Hey Street, what's going on?" Severide answered immediately 

"Hey, is Peter with you?" Street countered

"Yeah, you're on speaker" Severide informed

"Peter, has anyone sent you a suspicious package recently?" Street asked

"No, why?" Peter questioned

"There's someone here in LA, he's got pictures of me, Buck, Jay, Will, Tk, and Jackson, he's left us two notes and he specifically named you in one but there aren't any pictures of you" Street alerted "you need to stay with someone at all times, don't even go home by yourself, stay with someone, at least for the night"

"You can stay with me and Casey" Severide offered "we got an extra room"

"Got it, and I'll keep an eye out for any packages" Peter added "do you got any idea who it is?"

"Yeah, we're pretty sure it's this guy, Zachary Coleman" Jackson told him "you can't tell anyone about this by the way"

"Coleman?" Peter echoed "didn't we just save a Zachary Coleman from a fire last month?" 

"Yeah, I think so" Severide confirmed "probably how he found you, in an effort to assure him, you told him your name"

"He was completely uninjured, just some smoke inhalation" Peter recalled "at least we know what he looks like, we'll keep an eye out"

"Thanks for the heads up" Severide added

"Course, I'll check in later" Street promised "bye"

"Later" Peter and Severide responded before hanging up

"Alright, Peter's okay, Jay is texting me every hour, he and Will are okay, Tk's okay, we're good for now" Street spoke, assuring himself and his friends

"So we have the connection between Zachary, Street and peter" Luca spoke "how does he know the rest of you?"

"Me, Jay, and Will went to the same school with Zachary" Street answered "but I didn't meet Buck, Jackson, Tk, or Peter until after I aged out"

"Technically you met me before you aged out, when that family would drag you to the club I worked at" Buck reminded

"Right, yeah" Street nodded "that doesn't explain anything though, I had already switched schools and homes again"

"I've never seen that guy in my life" Jackson added

"You're the one that arrested Zachary" Luca discovered "when you were still a rookie, so it was you and your TO but still"

"That checks out" Jackson sighed

Hondo and Deacon came back in

"Tanner 'knows nothing'" Hondo announced "and we couldn't bring him in cause we didn't have anything on him"

"Damn" Chris sighed "You guys do know that if we don't find Zachary in a day then Street, Buck, and Jackson are gonna have to go into protective custody, right?"

"Yes, we know that, so would the others" Deacon confirmed "so we got a Twenty-two hour window to find him"

"I called Peter, apparently Zachary was in Chicago last month" Street told them "they pulled him out of a fire"

Streets phone dinged with a text from Severide 

"That apparently they suspected he started but had no evidence to back it up" Street added

"That's lovely" Buck commented "shouldn't there be a record of him flying up to chicago?"

"Yes there should but I can't find anything so maybe he got brave and drove" Tan shrugged

"No, cause that fire was before this picture of me was taken, within a twenty four hour period" Buck pointed out "its a thirty hour drive, with no stops, if he stopped then that's at least forty"

"It's four and a half hours by flight, he had to have taken a plane" Street agreed "Jay and Will were gonna fly down here tomorrow but they're gonna have to stay back"

"If there's a Chicago to LA flight tomorrow then what's convincing us this guy isn't in Chicago right now?" Chris asked

"Cause these packages weren't delivered by mail, they were dropped off and Zachary doesn't strike me as someone who would loop in someone else to drop them off" Hondo explained 

"And there was only one flight to Chicago recently but it was canceled" Tan added "the last flight to Chicago was last month, on the thirteenth"

"Okay, so check everyone who was on that flight" Hondo ordered "he could've used a fake passport"

Luca nodded and got to work on that

"What time exactly did you get your package?" Hondo asked Street 

"There was a knock on my door around five, five thirty and when I checked it.." Street cut himself off, pointing at the package on the table "didn't even open it at home, found it too suspicious and brought it here when I was ninety nine percent sure it wasn't a bomb"

"And Jackson got his and hour and a half later" Hondo recalled "hopefully he sticks to that, we can expect another one in about forty five minutes"

"It concerns me that this note mentions Peter specifically but there aren't any pictures of him" Deacon voiced

"Yeah but Peter take more precautions than anyone to make sure he isn't followed" Buck shrugged "probably couldn't get any pictures"

"No, Deacon has a point, I take the same, if not more, precautions as Peter, and he still got my picture" Street pointed out "and Peter usually has more people around him, Zachary would've been able to pose as another person in the crowd at a fire and taken a picture"

"Would it narrow it down to figure out exactly when and where these picture were taken?" Chris asked "we already got Bucks"

"Right, last month at Eddies" Luca nodded "when were the rest of these?"

Street and Jackson each grabbed the pictures of themselves and looked at them

"The building behind me is the building me and Lucy live in" Jackson answered "can't pinpoint when it was taken"

"Alright, Street?" Hondo looked at the youngest officer 

"Your house" Street informed, handing Hondo the picture "that was taken outside your house, we had all come over to hang out and I was the last to leave"

"That's right" Hondo recalled "so that was roughly three weeks ago"

"I'd like to point out that Buck's picture was outside of his boyfriends house, my picture was outside of mine and my best friends place, and Streets was outside another friends house" Jackson voiced "and once again, we're all on our phones in the pictures"

"I was just calling Chimney to come pick me up while my jeep was in the shop" Buck shrugged "and the second picture, I was near the firehouse, Carla called me to ask about Chris"

"I was asking Lucy if she needed anything from the store" Jackson added

"I think I was talking to Tk, he got into an argument with his dad and wanted to talk" Street told them "I don't think the phone call matters"

"No, definitely not" Tan shook his head "but it's not a coincidence either"

"How long do you think this guy's been following us?" Buck asked

Street and Hondo shared a look before answering

"At least a month, probably longer" Hondo told him "He probably been trailing Street from a distance for years and none of us knew it"

"Why wait so long to do anything?" Jackson questioned "what's the point?"

Street might've had an answer for that

He didn't remember it til now but the was a fight he and Zachary got into at school

Zachary had kicked Jay's ass and Street snapped, the only reason Zachary was alive right now is cause Will pulled him off

When he remembered this, he looked at Buck and Jackson 

"October tenth" Street spoke, catching everyone off guard at the randomness of it

"Mean something?" Hondo asked

"Zachary had beat the fuck out of Jay, I beat the fuck out of Zachary, apparently Zachary thought this was some cringy high school movie cause he said something about getting his revenge in thirteen years, on October tenth" Street explained "that's in two weeks"

"He's actually held onto that?" Buck asked, exasperated 

"That's my only guess, Will was there too" Street nodded "and he liked going after the weaker ones, don't get me wrong, Peter's pretty damn strong but he's still the weakest one in the group"

"That's true, that makes sense" Jackson agreed "so we got two weeks to find this asshole?"

"More like one week, we wanna find him before he can go after anyone" Deacon reminded "so let's put his face out there, make sure airport security knows what he looks like"

"That might make him go even further off the grid" Hondo disagreed "Let's keep this in house for now, only those who are necessary should know, that includes the team, Hicks, and Streets friends"

"Probably get intelligence on it too, that's Jay's team" Street suggested  "they can monitor everything in Chicago, and when they keep things in house, they really keep it in house, Voight, Jay, Kim, Kevin, Adam, Alvin, Erin, Antonio, and maybe Platt"

"No more than fifteen people should know" Hondo decided "Jay and his sergeant, Will, Peter, Tk, Buck, Jackson and his sergeant, Hicks, and us, that's it"

"Matt and Severide got a clue about it too, but alright I'll give Jay a call then send the others a text" Street nodded

"Good, then you are gonna go get some sleep" Hondo added

"What-"

"I know you went to bed at three, maybe even later, and you've been up since five, that's less than two hours of sleep" Hondo calculated "the only reason I know you were up that late is cause you were continuaslly sending me random shit on Instagram, setting my phone off every two minutes"

"...sorry" Street apologized 

"I don't care about that right now, go call your friends, then go take a nap" Hondo finalized before looking at Deacon "can't believe I'm telling a twenty seven year old to go take a nap"

"Well when the twenty seven year old insists on trying to run on two hours of sleep, you do what you gotta do" Deacon shrugged 

Street rolled his eyes but left the room to follow the orders

Buck and Jackson stood there for a minute, not really knowing what to do

"You guys need something to do?" Deacon asked

"Yeah... sorry, we didn't think it'd be so...crucial... when we met you guys" Jackson responded 

"What do you mean?" Luca questioned while he was going through Zachary's LKAs 

"Originally, we were gonna wait for a few more days, we had made plans for all of us to meet each others other friends and family" Buck explained "we were gonna meet you guys on Streets birthday, that's why Jay, Will, and Peter were flying down here and Tk was on his way"

"Streets birthday is coming up?" Tan asked

"Yeah, he doesn't usually do much but when we were able to convince him to do something, this was it" Jackson confirmed "did you guys not know his birthday was this week?"

"No, he never told us his birthday" Luca shook his head "he has been getting less social the last couple days though, guess this would explain it"

"Then we were gonna fly to Chicago in March for Jay's birthday, we were all gonna meet his other fiends and family and when Tks birthday came around, we were gonna go to Austin for that" Buck added "but that's gonna be postponed until this whole mess is sorted out"

"Unfortunately, it looks like it's gonna take a couple days and the other three are gonna have to miss their flight" Hondo agreed "we'll make it up to him later, for now we just gotta catch this guy"

"What if you guys don't get him though?" Jackson asked "Street says you're the best team in LA but there's still a chance you won't find him"

"We'll find him" Hondo promised "Cause we aren't gonna give up til we do, even if Hicks tries to take us off the case"

"He can do that?"

"He can sure as hell try" Deacon confirmed "but this guy is going after you guys and Street, the fact that he's going after one of our own is enough motivation that we will be the ones to bring this asshole in"

"Is Annie letting you swear again?" Chris teased

"Around the kids, no" Deacon shook his head

"Hopefully we can catch this guy before Streets birthday, we can figure out something to do together" Luca spoke, ignoring Chris and Deacon "what day is his actual birthday on?"

"Friday" Buck and Jackson answered in unison 

"Its currently sunday so that gives us five days " Hondo said "plenty of time"

An hour later

Street was still asleep in the bunks when his phone rang

He absent-mindedly grabbed it and answering the call without looking

"Hello?" 

"Street, I just got a package delivered to my apartment" Jay alerted

Street was up and on his way to the other within seconds

"What's in it?" He asked

"A note, pictures of Will, you, Jackson, Buck, and Tk, a bullet, and the watch I lost two months ago" Jay listed

"What's the note say?" Street asked as he walked into the room 

"What's up?" Hondo asked

Street put the phone on speaker

"You've not seen me before, you won't see me now, you'll find me eventually, you just don't know how" Jay started "keep an eye out, you'll see me soon, the dates been moved up, Jay, it's now Friday at noon"

"Shit" Street muttered "that's five days, we gotta find this jackass"

"Jay, you should get Peter and Will, keep them at the district so they're safe" Jackson suggested "We can't take any chances"

" I got Will here but I'll send Kev and Adam to get Peter and meet us at the district" Jay agreed 

"No, this stays between us and your sergeant, nobody else should know" Hondo cut in "you should pick them up yourself"

"I'll call and give him a heads up" Street added "What kind of bullet is it?"

"Nine milimeter" Jay answered 

"Once you got Peter and are safe at the district, see if Will can pinpoint where and when the picture was taken" Deacon ordered "the more we know the better"

"Got it, I'll call you when I got Peter" Jay promised

Street hung up after that

Quickly switching gears, he called Peter -technically Matt- first

Matter answered and handed his phone over when Street asked to talk to Peter

"Street, I'm a little preoccupied at the moment, what's up?" Peter answered

"Jay's on his way to pick you up, everything got pushed forward, you're gonna have to stay at the district for awhile" Street informed "he's gonna get Will too, there's no room for argument"

"Yeah, okay, can I tell chief Boden first?" Peter asked "He's gonna need to know something"

"Uhh... hang on" Street responded before looking at Hondo "can he tell his chief at least a bit of it?"

"Will it get things done faster?" Hondo countered

Street nodded

"Then yeah, but make sure he tells his chief that he can't tell anyone else, it's classified" 

"Got it" Street brought the phone back up to his ear "yeah, you can tell him, but make sure Boden know he can't tell anyone, it has to stay between as small a group as possible"

"Got it" Peter replied "I'll let him know"

"'Kay, I gotta call Will" Street told him "talk later"

Peter hung up before Street even finished

Street relayed the same message to Will, who was at home at the time

Once that was taken care of, Street wrote down the note Jay had received and had him send them the pictures 

"So it's the same thing, all of us on our phones and in front a friends house" Street pointed out "different pictures though, and this is outside of Lucas house last week"

"So he probably took at least six or seven different pictures of everyone" Luca added "Where were Buck and Jackson's pictures taken?"

"This one looks like it's down the street from Bobby and Athenas" Buck answered "I go there for dinner once a week"

"This is by Nolans house, there was a power out on a really hot day last month and he was the only one with a working AC" Jackson added 

"Okay, so he's got Nolans address, Athena and Bobby's, Eddie's, Lucas, Hondos, he's probably got everyone so why are we the only ones he's stalking?" Street questioned

"Jackson arrested him, Will and Jay were a part of the original problem, Peter saved him though so I don't get it" Tan shrugged "maybe it's cause you've been friends with them longer than you've been family to us?"

"That doesn't make sense, I've known you guys longer than I've known Jackson and Tk" Street reminded "Maybe he does have a personal problem with them, we just gotta figure it out"

"Yeah.. call Peter again, see if he can remember anything else about the guy" Hondo ordered

Street nodded and got his phone out, calling Will

"Hey, I'm at the district now" Will informed as soon as he answered 

"Peter there?"

"Peters here" Will confirmed

"Alright, can you remember anything else about when you guys saved Zachary?" Street asked, putting his phone on the table

"No, it was a normal rescue, he was trapped on the second floor but we got him pretty fast, he was in the hospital for about ten hours but he was fine" Peter recalled "he stopped by the firehouse a few days later, wanted to talk to me but I was busy so he left"

"Think he could be pissed cause you were too busy for him?" Hondo asked

"Possibly but Severide said he was fine when he left" Peter told them "said he was sorry and- Jesus fuck, he was saying sorry for the things he had planned, wasn't he?"

"That's likely" Deacon confirmed 

"Are you with Voight?" Street asked

"Yeah, and Jay" Peter said

"Before we start this conversation, this is sergeant Hank Voight of CPD intelligence, who all are we speaking to?" 

"Hey sergeant Voight, we got sergeant David Kay, officers Jim Street, Dominique Luca, Victor Tan, Chris Alonso, and Jackson West, along with firefighter Buckley" Hondo listed "and I'm sergeant Daniel Harrelson, Hondos fine" 

"Alright, we got detective Jay Halstead, doctor Will Halstead, and firefighter Peter Mills in the room" Voight added "What do you need?"

"We're running our investigation from here but any chance you could start your own investigation in chicago?" Hondo asked "off the books, classified personnel only"

"Who all is involved?" Voight asked

"Street, Jay, Will, Jackson, Peter, and two other firefighters, Evan Buckley, and Tk Strand are being stalked and threatened by a guy named Zachary Coleman" Deacon informed 

"Got a motive yet?" Voight questioned

"Zachary, Street, Jay, and I went to the same school in long beach, Zachary bullied Jay a lot and beat him up pretty bad at one point and Street retaliated, almost killed him" Will explained "he said something about getting revenge in thirteen years on October tenth"

"Yeah and I completely forgot about it until we started getting packages from him, all of them had a note, a bullet, and pictures of all of us except for Peter, but Jackson's note specifically mentioned Peter" Street took over "mine mentioned my birthday and Jay's said the date was moved from the tenth to this Friday, which is why we could use all the help we can get"

"Did the packages have anything else?" Voight checked "Jay's also had the watch he lost two months ago"

"Yeah, mine had my pocket knife that was stolen when I was fourteen and Jackson's had a badge" Street answered "the badge was Travis Harold, he was killed on the job last year"

"Did you know him?" Jay asked

"I kinda did" Jackson confirmed spoke "he was friends with Angela, he came over a couple times when I was there watching her kids"

"Who's Angela?" Voight asked

"Detective Angela Lopez, she was my TO, she's still a good friend of mine" Jackson informed "I can see if she can tell me about Travis"

"No, we can get anything we need from his file" Hondo shook his head

"So what specifically do you want us to do here?" Voight asked "I can open an investigation but keeping it off the books will be difficult, especially when this guy's is targeting three cops, three firefighters and a doctor, some of which are well known among the district"

"I understand but I'd like to keep it to as small a group as possible" Hondo reminded "who would you have to bring in to get it done?"

"My unit, and the desk sergeant, Trudy Platt" Voight informed "Officer Adam Ruzek, officer Kevin Atwater, detective Erin Lindsay, detective Alvin Olinsky, and detective Antonio Dawson" 

"Anyone in that group you could do it without?" Hondo checked 

"No, everyone in my unit has a specific trait that got them in, they're all needed" Voight responded "it'd be this unit and Trudy and nobody else"

"....alright, off the books, get your unit in the loop" Hondo relented "it should not get out to the public so keep it from whatever higher ups you can"

"I'm pretty good at that" Voight assured "send Jay what you got, we're gonna set up the investigation outside of the district, work it on our own time"

"Call us when you got it set up and we'll talk some more" Deacon spoke "and make sure you got Jay, Will, and Peter in a safe place and with someone at all times"

"Planned on it" Voight promised 

The call ended after that

"In the meantime, we might wanna move our investigation elsewhere too" Deacon suggested to Hondo

"We'd have to take extra precautions to make sure Zachary doesn't follow us" Hondo reminded "We'd have to check all cameras in the area then send someone out to check blind spots"

"And we could totally do that" Luca nodded "and we could take other precautions too, but I think we should take this somewhere else"

"Let me talk to Hicks, if he clears it then we'll do it" Hondo decided, leaving no room for discussion before he walked out

"If we end up moving our investigation somewhere else, you two are gonna have to call your captain and sergeant, ask for some time off" Tan told Jackson and Buck "Hondo already cleared telling them too"

They nodded in agreement at that

"And it's probably gonna be at a safe house too so if it ends up with you in protective custody then me and Tan will go and get stuff you might need" Luca added 

"Should we be concerned about family?" Buck asked "if they have Eddie's address and Bobby and Athenas, he has Maddie and Chimneys and Hen and Karen's, they all have kids"

"We can have a plain clothes officer sit on their houses, just to be safe" Deacon assured "Actually, here, write down the names and addresses of your families and we'll get officers where we can"

Deacon handed Jackson and Buck each a small note pad and a pen

They looked at Street to see if Deacon was serious

"He may not seem like it but he's completely serious" Street confirmed "he understands the concern"

"I have kids, other family I'd want protected if something happened" Deacon added

They nodded and started writing

Buck handed his back first

Deacon scanned over the list and handed it to Luca

Maddie Buckley and Howard Han 

Henrietta and Karen Wilson

Bobby and Athena Grant-Nash

Micheal Grant 

Eddie Diaz

Ravi Panikar

"That's a shorter list than I thought" Luca commented "how many of them have Kids?"

"All of them, except Ravi" Buck answered "Athenas kids, May and Harry, Micheal is her ex-husband, they share custody, Eddie Diaz has a son named Christopher, Karen and Hen have a son, Denny, Maddie's my sister, her and Chimney have a daughter, Jee-yun"

"Got it, there are officers on their way" Luca promised while Jackson handed his list to Deacon

Angela Lopez and Wesley Evers

John Nolan and Bailey Nune

Tim Bradford 

Lucy Chen

Nyla Harper and James Murray

Percy West 

Wade and Luna Grey

"There's only three people on the list that aren't cops but I'd rather be safe than sorry" Jackson added "Nyla and James have a daughter, Lucy has a kid living with her, Angela and Wesley have two kids"

"Plain clothes officers on their way" Luca confirmed "there's no guarantee that they won't be spotted though, I hear Harper and Lopez are great cops, excellent detectives"

"They are, but even if they are spotted, they don't have any information as to the why they're there" Jackson reminded 

"That might bite us in the ass later" Deacon pointed out "we'll leave it be for now"

"Just gotta check, Street, anyone you need to have watched until this is over?" Luca asked

"Nope" Street shook his head

"You sure?" Tan checked

"My parents are dead, I have no siblings and all my friends are in this building or already safe" Street reminded "Yeah, I'm sure"

"Damn, could've just said yes" Chris muttered "anyway, that's done, moving on"

Hondo walked back in after that

"Luca, pull up the cameras within a three block radius, check them all for Zachary" Hondo ordered "Chris and Tan will go out and check any blind spots after, them we're heading to a safe house close to the edge of LA"

"We're all going?" Chris questioned

"No, you, Tan, and Deacon are gonna trail us from behind and sides, keep an eye out, then you're gonna come back here" Hondo explained "you're gonna keep an eye on cameras in our area and keep Hicks in the loop"

"Tan, Street, help me look through the cameras" Luca waved them over

"Street, Jackson, and I are gonna take one car, Luca and Buck are taking another" Hondo continued "We're gonna take separate routes, get there with a few minute difference, make sure nobody's following us, and lay low until we're done"

"Can i make a suggestion?" Deacon asked, continuing when he got a nod "Luca should take Buck and Jackson, should anything happen, it'd be better if Luca has another cop for backup"

"Good point, we'll do that" Hondo agreed "Luca, you good with that?"

"Yup" Luca nodded "we got nothing on cams, even expanded to four blocks, still nothing"

"Chris, Tan, go take a walk" Hondo ordered "second thought, Deacon will go instead, you go down one way, Tan will go another"

Deacon and Tan nodded and walked out

Streets phone started ringing a second later, his screen lighting up with Jay's name

"Hey" Street answered "we're about to head out, what's up?"

"We got a place set up for our end but Will got a package" Jay told him "a note, pictures, a bullet, and his mom's engagement ring"

"I thought you held on to the ring?" Street questioned "how did Zachary get it?"

"Will had it for a bit, he was gonna propose to Natalie but they broke up before he could, it was still in his locker at Med" Jay spoke "Adam looked into it, Zachary was at Med after the fire, he must've stolen it and Will didn't notice"

"How could he not have noticed?" Chris asked "if the ring was that important, shouldn't he have noticed immediately?"

"It's been a stressful month for us, gang violence picked up, the ED has been overflown with GSW's, initiations gone wrong, not to mention the regular stuff, sick kids, car accidents, domestic violence, I've been preoccupied" Will defended "and I did actually notice it was missing, I just got too busy to report it"

"How can you be too busy to report a crime?" Chris challenged "seems like you just didn't care"

"Chris" Street warned

"What do you mean, I didn't care?" Will countered "that ring is one of the most important objects in my life, I was swamped with ED cases, I started picking up the graveyard shift, I cared a lot, I was just busy"

"Oh, and you suddenly had a free schedule when your brother stopped by to pick you up?"

"Chris" Hondo warned this time 

"No, seriously, I wanna hear his excuse" Chris ignored the warning 

"Street, for the love of God, shut her up so we can tell you about this damn package" Will begged

"Yeah, go ahead, what's the note say?" Street asked

"Seen you here, seen you there, you don't see me now but I'm everywhere" Will started "you remember the story, you know the tale, I was in your territory, I watched you grow pale"

"That's unhelpful" Luca commented while Street wrote it down

"But maybe he was actually there when Jay and Voight picked him up" Street added "can you guys check cameras near med?"

"On it" Kevin spoke from somewhere a few feet away

"Obviously the 'story' is the fight that started all this" Street continued "and we already knew he was watching us, the pictures are enough proof of that"

"Right, the first three notes didn't state the obvious" Voight agreed "so is this a change in MO or does he just wanna throw us off his trail entirely?"

"He also told us he was at med this morning, why would he tell us that?" Jay questioned 

"There's also no specific time in between deliveries" Hondo pointed out "between Street and Jackson's, and Jackson and Jay's it was an hour and a half but between Jay and Will, it was just over two"

"Alright, what about the pictures?" Street asked 

"Yeah, I got a picture of Street, a picture of Tk, a picture of Buck, a picture of Jackson, and a picture of Jay" Will told them "all of them are on their phones, Jay's was taken in front of Kevin's place"

"The ones you sent us, mine were in front of Adam's house and the district, Wills were down the street from Ethans and in front of my place" Jay added "have you guys gotten any more packages?"

"Not yet, we're keeping an eye out" Luca answered as Deacon and Tan came back in "for now, we gotta get going, we'll call you guys later"

"Copy" Jay responded before hanging up

"We're good to go" Deacon assured "I suggest you head out within the next five minutes"

"Alright, pack up the evidence, we're bringing it with us" Hondo ordered

Within 5 minutes, they headed out

It was a 20 minute drive, taking different turns to ensure they weren't being followed, with Deacon, Chris, and Tan being split up, about 5 cars behind at all times

And having Tan, Deacon, and Chris do a couple rounds around the area to double check for any signs of Zachary 

Once inside, they set up the 'dining room' for their case

Closing any curtains or blinds, checking for any bugs, spreading the evidence across the table and putting certain things on the board -Street has no clue where it came from but he didn't care-

Street decided it was a good time to check in with Tk, since he had forgotten to get him in the loop earlier

Calling his friends and placing his phone on the table, on speaker, they waited for Tk to answer 

"Hey, I was just about to call you" Tk greeted "a package showed up at mine and Carlos' house, he saw what was inside, can we please have more info as to what's going on?"

"Yeah, first things first, only a few people know about it so it stays between you and Carlos" Street responded 

"Got it" Carlos spoke

"There's this guy, his name is Zachary Coleman, he, Jay, Will, and I used to go to school together, he picked on and bullied Jay more than anyone, at one point, he had beaten Jay to the point of hospitalization, in return, I put Zachary in the hospital too, Zach said he was gonna get revenge on October tenth in thirteen years" Street started "That's in two weeks, I got a package from him early this morning, it had a bullet, a note, a knife, and pictures of Buck, you, Jay, Will, and Jackson"

"Thirteen years is oddly specific" Carlos pointed out 

"Yeah, we've put that aside for now, anyway, I called everyone then called the team, Jackson and Buck came to HQ and an hour and a half after I got my package, Jackson got his and two hours later, so did Will" Street continued "Jackson's had a police badge, Jay's had the watch he lost two months ago, and Wills had the engagement ring his mom left behind for him and Jay"

"You said this guy's name was Zachary Coleman?" Carlos checked "I got him on traffic cams, less than a mile away from the firehouse and my district"

"Yeah, we figure he was traveling between states somehow, he's gotta have a fake passport" Hondo added "We're coordinating with intelligence in Chicago but we got nobody in Austin  other than you so we're working whatever we can from here"

"Well I can access anything you could need from home" Carlos told him "Sorry, forgot to introduce myself, I'm officer Carlos Reyes"

"Sergeant Harrelson, Hondo's fine" Hondo introduced "we also got officer Luca here, as well as Buck and Jackson"

"Great, I can send you the footage I found and look for more, see if he drove here" Carlos volunteered 

"Yeah, do that" Street agreed "what was in the package?"

"Right, pictures of you, Buck, Jackson, Jay, and Will" Tk informed "a note, a bullet, and a... used bandaid"

"Gross" Luca commented "what's the note say?"

"You're the forgotten one, they've not checked in awhile, I'm having my fun, Tyler, you make me smile" Tk started "that will change soon, their limited on time, he won't last til noon, I'm as silent as a mime"

"That's so creepy" Carlos said 

"How does he know what Tk stands for?" Jackson asked

"Either a, he looked up everyone of you guys and found out that way" Hondo spoke "or b, he heard someone say Tyler and figured from there"

"Alright, send us the pictures with that footage too please" Street added "I'm gonna send you guys some pictures too, I wanna see you you can identify where you are in the pictures"

"Who's 'he'?" Buck asked "'he won't last til noon'"

"That's a good question" Street nodded "Jackson's note specifically mentioned Peter, but he's with Jay and his unit now, Tk's the 'forgotten one', what if Zachary has specific labels for all of us?"

"That doesn't check out, he's only ever given Tk a label like that" Luca reminded "none of the other notes give any nicknames, what he does use is everyone's first names, yours, Jays, Jackson's, Wills"

"Yeah, sorry, that was less of an investigation question and more of a.. curiosity, my brain needs to shut the fuck up for five minutes question" Street apologized, picking up one of the pictures

"No, it's actually better if it keeps running like that, it'll help later" Hondo assured while Street started looking at the back of the photo "keep theorizing, until we get any more evidence, that's all we got right now"

"Maybe we should get Voight on the line too, see if they got anything" Luca suggested, watching Street leave the room with a confused expression 

"Yeah, patch him in" Hondo agreed before following Street 

Street was looking through his bag he'd grabbed from his locker earlier

"Whatcha got kid?" Hondo asked

"Look at the back" Street responded, handing Hondo the picture

Hondo did so, not seeing anything

"What about it?" 

Rather than answer, Street just turned around with a light in his hand

A black light

Street took the picture back and shined the blacklist on the back

He turned the picture around and shined the light on it to show Hondo

"Invisible ink?" Hondo questioned "how did you know?"

"You can see it at the right angle" Street answered, heading back to the other room

"I couldn't" Hondo argued

"Couldn't what?" Luca asked

Street started flipping all the pictures over on the table

"There's Invisible ink on the back of these pictures" Hondo informed 

"Seriously?" Tk and Carlos asked in unison 

"Yeah, Street was looking at one and apparently you can see it if you look at the right angle" Hondo explained 

Once all the pictures were laid out, Street grabbed the blacklight off the counter

He shined it over all the pictures

All of them had 1 word on the back so they had to unscramble the message

"Alright, we got guys, that, find, or, and will" Carlos informed

"We got you'll, that, know, to, and will on Streets pictures and you, catch, flight, won't, and a kill on Jackson's" Luca added "Jay?"

"My set of pictures has grow, regret, fight, I, and you and Wills has won't, me, on, I, and risk" Jay informed "we won't have the full thing until the others get their packages but it's a start"

Street wrote the others down, copying the words from their pictures and putting them on the table so they could try to unscramble them

They looked over them again and again, not making any progress

"Alright, maybe it's not all one big note, maybe each set of pictures is a different message" Street suggested, separating the words

"Okay, good point but none of them make a complete sentence so the message might be between two sets at a time" Hondo added "like yours and Jackson's or something like that"

"So we start trying to line them up together" Luca nodded "What words here work after 'you'll'?"

"Know, catch, grow, regret, fight, find, risk" Buck listed, grabbing each word as he spoke 

"Fight, flight, and bright Will be in the middle or end, they rhyme" Jackson pointed out, moving 'fight' to the side

"Alright, let's try 'grow'" Hondo decided, moving the words so 'you'll grow' was lined up

"Running with that, 'to' and 'on' are the only ones that work" Luca continued

Hondo nodded and grabbed 'to', placing it in the line

"Looks like 'catch', 'regret', 'know', 'find', and 'fight' would be next" Jackson pointed 

"So far, the second set in this sentence has been Jay's so 'regret', 'fight', and 'know' are most likely" Buck added

"Regret works the best" Street voiced, putting in in the line

"Grammatically, 'that' would go next" Luca continued

"Okay, after 'that' is probably 'fight'" Buck suggested

"And the last four unscramble themselves" Luca said as he finished the sentence "you'll grow to regret that fight, I know you will"

"Checks out" Tk spoke

"Next sentence, let's start with 'you'" Hondo decided "what's next?"

"Won't or guys" Buck placed those words near the edge

"Let's try won't" Jackson suggested "catch, risk, or find"

"Catch, then me" Luca spoke, placing them accordingly

"You won't catch me...on?" Street guessed "a flight', it rhymes"

"I won't risk a kill" Hondo finished

"'You won't catch me on a flight, I won't risk a kill'" Jackson read

"That leaves Tks words, 'guys', 'that', 'find', 'or', 'will'" Carlos added

"So my package should fill it in" Buck said "hopefully we get it soon"

Chapter Text

Bags packed, Carlos assured, shift covered, Tk was ready for his drive to LA

He left really early, 4 am early

He had been on the road for an hour, listening to music and just viibing with himself

He loves Carlos and his family but he sees them all the time, every single day almost all day and while he wouldn't trade them for the world, he does need to get away sometimes

Carlos texted him for the hourly check in and Tk assured that he was alright 

Half an hour passed by and his phone rang

He turned down the music and checked to see who it was before answering and putting it on speaker

"Hey Street, I just got on the road" Tk answered "I'll be there by tomorrow"

"Change of plans Tk, you're gonna have to go back home" Street told him "I can't explain too much but I don't think it's safe for you to come here right now"

"What's going on?" Tk asked, pulling off the road "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I don't want to freak you out but.." Street hesitated "I got a package this morning, there's a picture of you, Jackson, Jay, Will, and Buck, I don't want to take any chances, you should go back home, stay with Carlos or at the firehouse"

"Have you checked in with everyone else?" Tk checked as he started turning around "Jackson and Buck?"

"Yeah, and Jay and Will, they're all fine I just don't want you here or alone right now" Street assured "I have to call the team and Peter, I'll keep you in the loop"

"Yeah, alright" Tk nodded, knowing Street couldn't see him "stay safe, please?"

"I'll try my best" Street promised before hanging up

Tk waited a moment before calling Carlos

"Tk?" Carlos questioned

Tk felt bad for a moment, it was obvious that Carlos had gone back to bed

"Something wrong?" Carlos asked

"No, no... kinda, I'm fine but Street just called, he told me not to come to LA, apparently he got a package this morning and it had some pictures, one of me, Jackson, Buck, Jay, and Will, he's concerned that we have a stalker on our hands so he told me to go back home and stay with you or the crew" Tk explained "everyone's fine but he wanted me to stay away til further notice"

"Stalker?!" Carlos echoed "we haven't seen anything suspicious, is he sure?"

"He got a picture of me sent to his apartment" Tk deadpanned "he's pretty sure"

"Where are you?" Carlos asked "are you on your way home?"

"Yeah, I'm about an hour away" Tk confirmed "can... can you stay on the phone til I'm back in Austin?

"Of course, I don't have work today, I'll stay on until you get home" Carlos promised "what exactly did Street say?"

"That the package he'd received had the pictures and he wanted me to turn around, he called the others, everyone's okay but he's not taking any chances with something like this" Tk informed "that was it, he didn't say if anything else was in the package or if he knew who it was that left it, it was at his apartment around five am, so hopefully they got some camera in the area"

"Hopefully... we shouldn't stay home, we should go hang out at the firehouse or something, stay away from anywhere this person could find you" Carlos suggested "I don't wanna take any chances either"

"Yeah, sure, I can meet you at the firehouse or we can go together, I'm still fifty minutes away" Tk reminded 

"Maybe we should loop in your dad too" Carlos added "in case we have to get out of the house for the night, we could stay in his guest room or something"

"No, I don't wanna worry him for something that might be nothing" Tk disagreed "and I don't know if I'm allowed to tell him either, aren't these things supposed to be classified personnel only?"

"Usually but I'd rather be safe than sorry" Carlos told him "maybe talk to Street, see if he could let you tell a few people here, just so we can keep an eye out for anything"

"He'll give me a call when he knows anything more but I really think it should stay between us for now" Tk responded "I'm sure it'll be fine, you know we have the best luck known to man"

"Ha ha"

True to his word, Carlos stayed on the phone with Tk the whole hour it took to get back home

They had talked a bit more and decided against going to the firehouse as it would throw up some suspicions 

Alternatively, they were just gonna lock the doors and watch TV all day

So they cuddled up on the couch and didn't move for a good hour and a half until the door bell rang

Carlos, who had been more worried than Tk, elected to be the one to answer it

He had grabbed his gun, just in case, before walking to the door

Looking through the peephole, he didn't see anyone there

Which worried him more

He opened the door, slowly and cautiously checking around the sides of the door

Seeing nobody, he put his gun on the doorside table

What he did see, however, was a package on the doormat 

"What is it?" Tk asked

"A package" Carlos informed as he picked it up "You might wanna call Street"

Carlos took the box to the kitchen, Tk following 

Carlos opened it while Tk got out his phone

Just as Tk was about to call Street, Street beat him to it

"Hey, I was just about to call you" Tk spoke as he answered the phone "a package just showed up at mine and Carlos' house, he saw what was inside, can we have a bit more info as to what's going on?"

"Yeah, first things first, only a few people know about it so it stays between you and Carlos" Street told them

"Got it" Carlos agreed

"There's this guy, his name is Zachary Coleman, he, Jay, Will, and I used to go to school together, he picked on and bullied Jay more than anyone, at one point, he had beaten Jay to the point of hospitalization, in return, I put Zachary in the hospital too, Zach said he was gonna get revenge on October tenth in thirteen years" Street explained "that's in two weeks, I got a package from him early this morning, it had a bullet, a note, a knife, and pictures of Buck, you, Jay, Will, and Jackson"

"Thirteen years is oddly specific" Carlos commented, getting out his laptops to run his name and start a digital search, see if he could find the guy

"Yeah, we've put that aside for now, anyway, I called everyone, then called the team, Jackson and Buck came to HQ and an hour and a half after I got my package, Jackson got his, then Jay, then two hours later, Will" Street continued "Jackson's had a police badge, Jay's had the watch he lost two months ago, and Wills had the engagement ring his mom behind for him and Jay"

"You said this guy's name is Zachary Coleman?" Carlos checked "I got him on traffic cams, less than a mile from the firehouse and my district"

"Yeah, we figure he was traveling between states somehow, he's gotta have a fake passport" another guy added, though Carlos didn't recognize the voice "We're coordinating with intelligence in Chicago but we got nobody in Austin other than you so we're working whatever we can from here"

"Well I can get you anything you need from home" Carlos responded before realizing these guys probably had no clue who he is "sorry, forgot to introduce myself, I'm officer Carlos Reyes, austin PD"

"Sergent Harrelson, LAPD,  Hondos fine" Hondo introduced "we also got officer Luca here, as well as Buck and Jackson"

"Great, I can send you the footage I found and look for more" Carlos offered 

"Yeah, do that" Street agreed "what was in the package?"

"Right" Tk spoke, realizing they had yet to take anything out "pictures of you, Buck, Jackson, Jay, and Will, a note, a bullet, and a.... used bandaid"

"Gross" another voice, Carlos guessed it was Luca, commented "what's the note say?"

"You're the forgotten one, they've not checked in awhile, I'm having my fun Tyler, you make me smile" Tk started, immediately grossed out by the wording "that will change soon, they're limited on time, he won't last til noon, I'm as silent as a mime"

"That's so creepy" Carlos muttered

"How does he know what Tk stands for?" Jackson asked

"Either a, he looked up everyone of you guys and found out that way" Hondo theorized "or b, he heard someone say Tyler and figured from there"

"Alright, send us the pictures with the footage please" Street requested "I'm gonna send you guys some pictures too, I wanna see if you can identify where you are in the pictures"

"Who's he?" Buck questioned "'he won't last til noon'"

"That's a good question" Street said "Jackson's note specifically mentioned Peter but he's with Jay and his unit now, Tk's the 'forgotten' one, what if Zachary has specific labels for all of us?"

Carlos and tk shared a look of agreement, it's possible

"That doesn't check out, he's only ever given Tk a label like that" Luca disagreed "none of the other notes give any nicknames, what he does use is everyone's first names, yours, Jays, Jackson's, Wills"

"Yeah, sorry, that was less of an investigation question and more of a... curiosity, my brain needs to shut the fuck up for five minutes question" Street apologized 

Tk glared at the phone, imagining he was smacking Luca upside the head right now

This is stressful enough, Street doesn't need to be undermined right now too

"No, it's actually better if it keeps running like that, it'll help later" Hondo assured, Tk nodding along even though they couldn't see him "keep theorizing, until we get any more evidence, that's all we got right now"

"Maybe we ahold get Voight on the line too, see if they got anything" Luca suggested

Tk and Carlos could hear someone walking away in the background

"Yeah, patch him in" Hondo ordered before presumably following whoever left

Tk and Carlos kept looking through the pictures and the note, looking for anything new to add while Luca patched in Voight and the rest of intelligence 

After a minute, whoever walked out came back in

"I couldn't" Hondo spoke

"Couldn't what?" Luca asked what everyone was thinking

They could hear someone messing with the pictures while Hondo spoke

"There's Invisible ink on the back of these pictures" Hondo informed

"Seriously?" Tk and Carlos questioned in unison, flipping over their pictures

"Yeah" Hondo confirmed "Street was looking at one and apparently you can see it if you look at the right angle"

Carlos and Tk laid their pictures over before Carlos went to grab his blacklight

"Alright, we got guys, that, find, or, and will" Carlos read

"We got you'll, that, know, to, and will on Streets pictures and you, catch, flight, won't, and a kill, on Jacksons" Luca added

Carlos wrote them down on some paper he found so they could all be in the loop of unscramblling 

"My set has grow, regret, fight, I, and you, and Wills has won't, me, on, I, and risk" Jay spoke "we won't have the full thing til the others get their packages but it's a start"

Carlos wrote those down too and looked over all the words

He and Tk kept looking over then, trying to decipher the message but came up with nothing

"Alright, maybe it's not all one big message, maybe each set of pictures is a different message" Street suggested

"Okay, good point but none of them make a complete sentence" Hondo added "so it might be between two sets of pictures, like yours and Jackson's or something like that"

Carlos and Tk separated all the words to put the right sets together 

"So we start trying to line them up together" Luca agreed "what works after 'you'll'?"

"Know, catch, grow, fight, find, risk" Buck listed

Tk grabbed each word and put them in a line

"Fight, flight, and bright will be in the middle or end, they rhyme" Jackson added

Carlos put fight back in the pile

"Alright, let's try 'grow'" Hondo decided 

Tk put grow after you'll

"Running with that, to and on are the only ones that work" Luca continued 

Tk grabbed 'to' and placed it in line

'You'll grow to'

"Looks like catch, regret, know, find, and fight would be next" Jackson kept it going

"So far, the other set has been Jay's so regret, fight, and know are most likely" Buck added

"Regret works the best" Street spoke

Tk lined it up

"Grammatically 'that' would go next" Luca reminded

"Okay, after 'that' is probably 'fight'" Buck suggested 

"And the rest unscramble themselves" Luca said "you'll grow to regret that fight, I know you will"

"Checks out" Tk spoke as he moved the line to a different spot on the table

"Next sentence, let's start with 'you' Hondo decided "what's next?"

"Wont or guys" Buck answered

"Let's try won't" Jackson said "catch, risk, or find"

"Catch, then me" Luca suggested

Carlos lined them up, agreeing that they worked so far

"You won't catch me... on?" Street guessed "a flight, it rhymes"

"I won't risk a kill" Hondo finished 

"You won't catch me on a flight, i won't risk a kill" Jackson read

"That leaves Tks words guys, that, find, or, will" Carlos added

"So my package should fill it in" Buck spoke "hopefully we get it soon"

Chapter Text

Will just got off his shift at the hospital, he just wanted to sleep

But he knew Jay would be home from his own shift soon and decided to stay up

It was 8am and Will had gone into work around 8pm and they were scheduled for 8 hour shifts but they both got stuck and Jay had gone in early yesterday, around 11am when he got a call

Will was starting to doze off on the couch when he heard the door open

He looked over and saw Jay walking in, looking completely exhausted 

"Afterwork plan to get drinks canceled?" Will guessed

"Why go out when we got plenty of beer here?" Jay shrugged "I'm going to bed though"

"I'm shocked you're still standing" Will responded "Actually, no I'm not"

Jay rolled his eyes but otherwise ignored him

Just as Jay was heading to his room, his phone rang

He ignored it, figuring it wasn't important 

When he didn't answer though, Wills phone rang

Will decided against ignoring it when he saw it was Street calling him

"Hey Street" Will greeted, saying it loud enough that Jay heard "what's up?"

"Are you home right now?" Street asked "this has to stay between the group"

"Yeah, Jay's here too" Will responded, waving Jay over, ignoring when Jay groaned in frustration "what's going on?"

Will put it on speaker before giving Street the go ahead to continue 

"I don't wanna cause a panic but I got a package this morning, it had pictures of you, Jay, Buck, Jackson, and Tk" Street explained "I don't know who it was and I don't know why but I figured I'd give you a heads up"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jay muttered "we got a stalker now?"

"Yeah, sorry" Street apologized "probably my fault, I got the team coming in, we're gonna figure it out but just keep an eye out"

"Yeah, sure" Will agreed "you call everyone already?"

"Just gotta call Peter now, Jackson and Buck are working, Tk's heading back home, if we get anything that causes enough concern then you guys might have to lay low at a safe house" Street added "I'm relaying the same message to the others"

"Okay, stay safe" Jay reminded "we'll call if anything happens here"

"Yeah, hey, why didn't you answer my call?" Street asked

"Sorry, I didn't think it was important" Jay told him "we both just got off work not that long ago, I was on my way to bed"

"Alright, that's fine" Street responded "keep your phones on you"

"Sure" Will and Jay agreed in unison 

"I'll call again later to check in" Street promised 

"Bye" Will spoke before Street hung up

"So much for sleep" Jay grumbled, getting off the couch and heading to the kitchen

"He didn't say you couldn't sleep" Will pointed out "just that we had to keep an eye out"

"He also just said we got a stalker, my 'cop' brain siding with my 'ranger' brain is defeating my 'I want to fucking sleep' brain" Jay explained "I'll be too paranoid to sleep"

"You also just got off a, what, twenty hour shift?" Will guessed 

"Nineteen" Jay corrected "and I'll be fine, if I can get away with doing patrol lookout for a solid three days during a snowstorm, I can get away with staying awake long enough for them to find this bastard"

"Wouldn't it be better to sleep in case something happens?" Will asked "so you'd be more alert?"

"Cop brain says no" Jay disagreed "sorry, cop brain over brother brain"

"You're already not making sense" Will pointed out "If you continue to make less sense then I'm gonna have to get you something that'll knock you out"

"I'm making perfect sense" Jay argued 

"Cop brain, brother brain, ranger brain?" Will echoed "Yeah, you're sane"

"You of all people should know what insane looks like cause this isn't it" Jay defended "this is sleep deprived, there's a difference"

"Whatever you say" Will teased

Nine cups of coffee later, Jay was still awake and it was now 9:30

Sitting on the couch watching TV was apparently boring enough that Will fell asleep, leaning against Jay

Jay didn't mind at all, he was content with it

His senses were on high alert right now though, picking up every sound, keeping an eye on the window in case someone was out there

So he heard as soon as someone approached his door 

He tensed but didn't move, waiting to see if anything happened 

He heard something drop on the floor and someone walking away

He shook Will awake enough to move and got up

He didn't see anyone through the peephole and decided it was safe enough to open the door

Nobody was there but there was a box on the floor now

He picked it up and shut the door, locking it behind him

"Will" Jay called as he walked to the kitchen to use the big table

Will was waking up rather slowly but after a minute, he met Jay in the kitchen

"What?" He asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes

"We got a package, no labels, nothing on it, dropped off anonymously" Jay alerted, getting out his pocket knife to cut the tape

Will was more awake now, paying attention while Jay opened the box

Jay opened it slowly, just in case, and blew out a breath when it wasn't an explosive 

He grabbed out the items in the box before getting his phone out and calling Street

"Hello?" Street answered after 2 rings

"Street, I just got a package delivered to my apartment" Jay informed

"What's in it?" Street asked

Jay put his phone on speaker and placed it on the table

"A note, pictures of Will, you, Jackson, Buck, and Tk, a bullet, and the watch I lost two months ago" Jay listed, sharing a look with Will when he spoke of the watch

"What's the note say?" Street questioned

They heard someone in the background ask what was going on

"You've not seen me before, you won't see me now, you'll find me eventually, you just don't know how" Jay started reading "keep an eye out, you'll see me soon, the dates been moved up Jay, it's now Friday at noon"

"Shit" Street muttered "that's in five days, we gotta find this jackass"

"Jay, you should get Peter and Will, take them to the district so they're safe" Jackson suggested "We can't take any chances"

"I got Will here but I'll send Adam and Kev to get Peter and meet us at the district" Jay agreed

"No, this stays between us and your sergeant" another person, probably Hondo, spoke "Nobody else should know, you should pick him up yourself"

"I'll call and give him a heads up" Street added before quickly asking "what kind of bullet is it?'

"Nine milimeter" Jay responded

"Once you got Peter and are safe at the district, see if Will can pinpoint where and when the picture was taken" someone else ordered "the more we know the better"

"Got it" Jay agreed "I'll call you when I got Peter"

Street hung up after that

Jay put everything back in the box and grabbed his gun from his safe, putting it in the holster

He also grabbed his radio while Will was grabbing his phone and other things he needs

They were out the door in 2 minutes

While driving to 51, Jay called Voight

"Voight" 

"Voight, it's Jay, me and Will are on our way to the district but we can't call in the whole team" Jay started "just us and you, we're picking up Peter too"

"What's going on?" Voight asked

"My friend, Street, got a package this morning and it had pictures of me, Will, a few other friends of ours, I just got one too, pictures of Street, Will, others too" Jay explained "along with a note and a bullet, Street said it has to stay between me, you, and our group, and with his team"

"His team?" Voight echoed, Jay heard him getting into his car

"He's on a SWAT team in LA, they're working the case from there but me and you gotta work what we can from the district without letting the team know" Jay elaborated "I know it's a difficult ask but if my friends are on the line-"

"You gotta ask" Voight finished for him "I get it, we'll keep it off the books for now but we might have to bring the team in if Streets team doesn't figure this out"

"Thanks sarge" Jay responded as he pulled up to the firehouse, Peter was already waiting but chief Boden was with him as well "I just got to fifty one"

"I'll see you at the district" Voight responded before hanging up

Jay got out of the truck, instructing Will to stay put while he talking to Peter and Boden

"Detective Halstead" Boden greeted 

"Cheif Boden" Jay returned "I know Peter still has a couple hours left on his shift but... did Peter tell you the situation?"

"Not all of it but I have an idea" Boden confirmed "he's free to go but I do gotta tell you, if anything happens, anything at all, you call me and let me know"

"For sure" Jay promised "I just want to get him some place safe, I don't wanna take any chances"

"Understandable" Boden nodded "go ahead, I'll tell the others it's confidential"

"Thanks chief" Jay and Peter flashed quick smiles before heading to the truck

They got in and they were off, making a straight shot to the district

When they got there, Voights car was in the lot and Voight was leaning against it, waiting for the 3 to arrive

They got out of the truck and Jay grabbed the box before heading inside

Off the books meant going to the basement so that's where they were now

Jay got everything out of the box and put it on the table 

"And Street got a package just like this?" Voight checked  "pictures, bullet, note?"

"Yeah, mine also has this watch I lost two months ago" Jay added, pointing to the watch on the table "guess it's not lost after all"

"Yeah, it was stolen" Voight agreed

"So what do we do now?" Will asked right before his phone rang

"Probably Street" Peter guessed as Will got his phone out 

"Hey, we're at the district now" Will informed as he answered

"Peter there?" Street asked

Will put the phone on speaker

"Peter's here" Will confirmed

"Alright, can you remember anything else about when you guys saved Zachary?" Street questioned

"No, it was a normal rescue, he was trapped on the second floor but we got him pretty fast, he was in the hospital for about ten hours but he was fine" Peter recalled "he stopped by the firehouse a few days later, wanted to talk to me but I was busy so he left"

"Think he could be pissed cause you were too busy for him?" Hondo asked

"Possibly but Severide said he was fine when he left" Peter responded "said he was sorry and- Jesus fuck, he was saying sorry for what he had planned, wasn't he?"

Peter shared a look with Will and Jay, realizing how idiotic it was to just move on from that

"That's likely" someone off to the side agreed

"Are you with Voight?" Street checked

"Yeah, and Jay" Peter added

"Before we continue this conversation, I'm sergeant Hank Voight of CPD intelligence who all are we speaking to?" Voight asked

"Hey sergeant Voight, we got sergeant David Kay, officers Jim Street, Dominique Luca, Victor Tan, Chris Alonso, and Jackson West, along with firefighter Evan Buckley" Hondo listed "I'm Sergeant Daniel Harrelson, Hondo's fine"

"Alright, we got detective Jay Halstead, doctor Will Halstead, and firefighter Peter Mills in the room" Voight added "What do you need?"

"We're running our investigation from here but any chance you could start your own investigation in chicago?" Hondo requested "off the books, necessary personnel only"

"Who all is involved?" Voight asked

"Street, Jay, Will, Jackson, Peter, and two other firefighters, Evan Buckley and Tk Strand are being stalked and threatened by a guy named Zachary Coleman" Deacon informed

"Got a motive yet?" Voight questioned, looking between those in the room

"Zachary, Jay, Street and I went to the same school in long beach, Zachary bullied Jay a lot and beat him up pretty bad at one point and Street retaliated, almost killed him" Will explained "he said something about getting revenge in thirteen years on October tenth"

"Yeah, and I completely forgot about it until we started getting packages from him, all of them had a note, a bullet, and pictures of all of us except Peter but Jackson's note specifically mentioned him" Street continued "mine mentioned my birthday, and Jay's said the date was moved up to this Friday, which is why we could use all the help we can get"

"Did the packages have anything else?" Vought asked "Jay's also had the watch he lost two months ago"

"Yeah, mine had my pocket knife that was stolen when I was fourteen" Street answered "and Jackson's had a badge, Travis Harold, he was killed on the job last year"

"Did you know him?" Jay asked

"I kinda did" Jackson spoke "he was friends with Angela, he came over a couple times whole I was there watching her kids"

"Who's Angela?" Voight asked, looking at Jay expectantly, like he'd know

"Detective Angela Lopez, she was my TO, she's still a good friend of mine" Jackson elaborated "I can see if she can tell me about Travis"

"No, we can get anything we need from his file" Hondo declined just as Voight was about to

"So what specifically do you want us to do here?" Voight asked "I can open an investigation but keeping it off the books will be difficult, especially when this guy is targeting three cops, three firefighters, and a doctor, some of which are well known among the district"

"I understand but I'd like to keep it to as small a group as possible" Hondo reminded "who would you have to bring in to get it done?"

"My unit, and the desk sergeant, Trudy Platt" Voight responded "officers Adam Ruzek and Kevin Atwater, and detectives Erin Lindsay, Alvin Olinsky, and Antonio Dawson"

"Anyone you could do without?' Hondo checked

"No, everyone in my unit has a specific trait that got them in, they're all needed" Voight insisted "it'd be this unit and Trudy and nobody else"

A pause...

"Alright" Hondo relented "off the books, get your unit in the loop, it should not get out to the public so keep it from whatever higher ups you can"

"I'm pretty good at that" Voight promised, sharing a knowing look with Jay "send Jay what you got, we're gonna set up our own investigation outside of the district, work it on our own time"

"Call us when you got it set up and we'll talk some more" Deacon ordered "and make sure you got Jay, Will, and Peter in a safe place and with someone at all times"

"Planned on it" Voight promised before hanging up "Alright, call the team, have them meet us at the motel, I'll loop in Trudy"

"On it" was Jay's immediate response as he got out his phone

He sent out a message to all of them with the address of the motel they were gonna go to and regathered all the items from his package

"Okay, Will, you're gonna ride with me, Peter, you're with Voight" Jay added "and we're gonna take different routes, to make sure we aren't being followed, the team already knows the 'off the books' protocol so they're already on their way, they're gonna grab us a room and we'll set up when we get there"

"Wouldn't it be safer to have someone who isn't another potential target with you?" Will asked

"No, if this guy is following us then it would be weird if you were going anywherewith Voight" Jay explained "he'll say the same thing, trust me"

"Sounds like you guys do this a lot" Peter commented

"Deal with stalkers, no" Jay shook his head "but we've had to go off the books a couple times to handle certain cases, especially those against other cops, there no actual protocol for it but we've made it up by now so we all got a grasp of what to do"

"Is that what how it worked when they were making a case against Voight?" Peter asked

"I wouldn't know, I wasn't part of that, Antonio ran the first investigation and they've been after him ever since" Jay informed "but he's not like that anymore, I wouldn't be working for him if he was"

"What if you just don't know it?" Will questioned

"Will, in our entire lives, has anyone ever been able to lie to my face and not have me call them out within the hour?" 

"I guess not but you're also-"

"Not an idiot, he's a good guy and a good cop, and I wouldn't have anyone else as my sergeant so trust my judgment and be ready to roll when Voight comes back" Jay ordered, making sure it was clear he wasn't arguing about this anymore

"Alright" Will sighed "so what do we do if you guys don't find this guy?" 

"Then we figure something else out until we do"

Few minutes later, Voight was coming back downstairs with Trudy right behind him

"Good?" Voight checked

"Ready when you are" Jay confirmed 

"Alright, Will with Jay, Peter with me, let's move" Voight ordered

Grabbing the box and anything else they brought, they all walked out the door, Trudy reminding them how she was gonna stay back and keep a falsely labeled file for the case like usual 

After they took off, Trudy went back inside and got to work on her part

They drove around to lose any possible tails while they waited for a message from someone on the team to let them know which room they got

Before they got that message, however, Will got a call from Maggie, letting him know he had a package at the desk I'm the ED

Jay got his phone out and called Voight

"Yeah?"

"Wills got a package waiting for him at the hospital, we're gonna go pick it up" Jay informed "should only take a minute"

"Be quick, keep an eye out" Voight reminded

"Copy" 

A minute later, they got to the hospital 

Maggie was looking through some stuff on her tablet when Will and Jay walked in

"Hey Mags" Will greeted 

"Hey Will, the package is over there" Matgie informed, pointing to the box on the counter close to the elevator 

"Do you know who dropped it off?" Jay questioned while Will went to grab it

"No, it was dropped at the front desk with Nancy" Maggie responded "we have cameras out there, she could tell you what they looked like, if this is a thing"

"Sorry, can't tell you much, I'm gonna need that footage" Jay told her "can you get it from here or..?"

"No, security room" Maggie answered "I can take you"

"We got it Mags" Will insisted "thanks"

"No problem, let me know if I can help" 

They both gave her an appreciative nod before heading for the elevator 

Will easily and quickly lead the way to the security room

The door was open so they walked on in, making the guy watching the cameras turn around

"Doctor Halstead" he greeted "what can I do for you?"

"Hey Murphy, we gotta see some footage from earlier, just a few minutes ago, at the front desk" Will explained 

"Who's that?" Murphy asked

"Detective Jay Halstead, Wills brother" Jay introduced 

"Nice to meet ya detective, I'll pull up the footage real quick" Murphy agreed, turning back around towards the monitor 

"Within the last half hour" Will added, to help narrow it down

"Alright, there ya go" Murphy responded, sliding out of the way so Jay and Will could take a closer look

Jay leaned in to watch the video, speeding it up a bit

After watching for a minute, it went static for 2 minutes

It came back on and they finished watching it but found nothing

"I'm gonna need this footage" Jay spoke, looking at Murphy

"Absolutely" Murphy nodded

"We gotta go, send the footage here" Jay handed Murphy a card, linked to Voight "and this doesn't leave this room"

"Copy that detective" Murphy agreed, taking the card

Jay and Will went back out to the truck, waving bye to Maggie on the way out

Jay messaged Voight to let him know about the footage and that they were on their way 

They took off, back to driving around

"Oh, by the way" Jay started "I told you so"

"What?" 

"That Voight would put you with me and take Peter with him" Jay specified

"Really?" Will deadpanned "that's what your gonna use this weeks 'I told you so' for?"

"Yes it is" Jay confirmed "Alright, we're here" 

They got out and Jay checked the room number before easily leading the way there 

Knocking on the door and waiting a second for someone to open it, they walked into the room

"Adam got the footage back, Zachary was there, what's in the box?" Voight asked

"Everyone in the loop?" Jay asked

"Yeah" Voight confirmed

"Oh, another thing, after Zachary was in that fire, he was taken to med, he was only admitted for ten hours but he stuck around for another hour after he was discharged" Adam added

Jay hummed in acknowledgment 

"Alright, open it up" Jay ordered Will, who placed the package on the table

Will opened it before Adam took over

"Pictures, Note, Bullet" Adam listed putting each item next to the box "and a.. ring..?"

"A ring?" Kevin echoed while Will stepped closer and grabbed it from Adam

"This is mom's ring" Will realized, looking at Jay

"Thought it was in your locker?" Jay questioned 

"It was stolen or I lost it a few weeks ago, I've been too busy to file a report but I was gonna do that today" Will explained 

"Pictures?" Jay asked, holding his hand out

Adam handed him the pictures for him to look through

"Me, Street, Buck, Tk, and Jackson" Jay listed, getting out his phone

"Who are you calling?" Hailey asked

"Street" Jay answered 

"Hey, we're about to head out, what's up?" Street asked

"We got a place set up for our end but Will got a package" Jay informed "a note, pictures, a bullet, and our mom's engagement ring"

"I thought you held on to the ring, how did Zachary get it?"

"Will had it for a bit, he was gonna propose to Natalie but they broke up before he could, it was still in his locker at med" Jay explained "Adam looked into it, Zachary was at Med after the fire, he must've stolen it and Will didn't notice"

"How could he not have noticed?" Someone else, a woman, asked "if the ring was so important, shouldn't he have noticed immediately?"

"It's been a stressful month for us, gang violence picked up, the ED has been overflown with GSW's, initiations gone wrong, not to mention the regular stuff, suck kids, car accidents, domestic violence, I've been preoccupied" Will defended "and I did actually notice it was missing, I just got too busy to report it"

"How can you be too busy to report a crime?" She questioned "seems like you just didn't care"

"Chris" Streer warned

"What do you mean, I didn't care?" Will countered "that ring is one of the most important objects in my life, I've been swamped with ED cases, I started picking up the graveyard shift, I cared a lot, I was just busy"

"Oh and you suddenly had a free schedule when your brother stopped by to pick you up?" Chris challenged 

"Chris" Hondo warned this time

"No, seriously, I wanna hear his excuse" Chris ignored it

"Street, for the love of God, shut her up so we can tell you about this damn package" Will begged

"Yeah, go ahead, what's the note say?" Streer questioned

"Seen you here, seen you there, you don't see but I'm everywhere" Will read "you remember the story, you know the tale, I was in your territory, I watched you grow pale"

"Well that's unhelpful" Luca commented

"But maybe he was actually there when Jay and Will picked up the package" Street suggested "can you guys check cameras near med?"

"On it" Kevin confirmed 

"Obviously the 'story' is the fight that started all this, and we already knew he was watching us, the pictures were enough proof if that" Street added

"Right, the first three notes didn't state the obvious" Voighr agreed "So is this a change in MO or does he wanna throw us off his trail entirely?"

"He also told us he was at Med this morning, why would he tell us that?" Jay questioned 

"There's also no specific time in between deliveries" Hondo continued "between Street and Jackson, and Jackson and Jay it was an hour and a half, between Jay and Will, it was just over two"

"Alrught, what about the pictures?" Street prompted

"Yeah, I got a picture of Street, a picture of Tk, a picture of Buck, a picture of Jackson, and a picture of Jay" Will told him "all of them are on their phones, Jay's was taken in front of Kevin's place"

"The ones you sent us, mine were in front of Adam's house and the district, Wills were down the street from Ethans and in front of my place" Jay informed "have you guys gotten an Noelle packages?"

"Not yet, we're keeping an eye out" Luca answered "for now, we gotta get going, we'll call you guys later"

"Copy" Jay responded before hanging up

"Okay, the footage got us nothing except for what we already had, it doesn't show him at med until he dropped off the package" Kevin explained 

"He said he watched me grow pale, I wasn't at work when Jay got his package or when we were told about this guy" Will added "it wasn't much of a shock when we rolled to the hospital to get my package"

"Maybe he doesn't mean this morning" Adam shrugged "what if he means a different day, when one of the pictures were taken?"

"Any of these pictures taken on a bad day?" Voight asked

Will looked over the pictures, trying to figure out exactly when they were taken

"No, nothing particularly bad has happened in the last month or two, everything's been fine" Will responded "should've guessed something was gonna happen soon"

"I was hoping it'd be getting shot, I'd take that over this any day" Jay joked "Okay, so he wasn't talking about at the hospital... cause that'd be too obvious, he said your territory, that typically refers to your home or base, Street said his package was delivered to his apartment, mine was sent to mine, he could mean that he was watching us when I got my package or when Street told us"

"That's a comforting thought" Peter commented "do we know why there's no pictures of me?"

"You know everything we know, which is Jack shit" Adam shot

"We got the guys name and face, we got his motive, we just don't got his MO down completely" Kevin added "if we can figure out how he's delivering the packages, if he's the one taking the pictures, and a few other things, then we can find him"

"That's gonna be easy" Kim rolled her eyes "We're gonna keep running everything we can but in the meantime, how about you three tell us how exactly you came to be friends with three guys in LA and another in texas?"

"Thought you already knew me and Will were from long beach?" Jay questioned, looking through the pictures again, seeing if the missed anything

"Yeah, which isn't LA, we're gonna need a bit more" Kevin responded

"Street's from long beach, we met when we were kids" Will informed "then Street met Buck and Jackson, Buck met Tk, we met Peter, we'll all introduced each other, that was about four, five years ago" 

"I don't know I should be pissed or impressed that we never heard of them til now" Erin commented 

"Voight knew about them" Jay corrected "and so did miss Goodwin, Cheif Boden, lieutenant Casey, and lieutenant Severide"

"Why did they know but we haven't heard a single word of it?" Adam asked

"They knew for a few different reasons" Jay started "for one, on the off chance something happened and the others couldn't get ahold of anyone"

"Like earlier when Street needed to call me but my phone was broken on our last call so he called Casey then Severide" Peter cut in

"Or for some other just in case scenarios we've thought about, they all have our numbers" Voight finished

"And alternatively, we have sergeant Harrelson, sergeant Grey, Captain Nash, and captain Strands numbers" Jay added "its mostly a precaution, don't take it personally"

"You can justify why you told them but you haven't explained why you didn't tell us" Adam pointed out 

"We were waiting until Jay'sbirthday, they were all gonna come to chicago" Peter informed "Technically they came up here for my birthday last year, met the firecrew but they couldn't stay long enough to meet everyone"

"Jay's birthday, that's in a month, right?" Adam checked

"November eighteenth" Will confirmed

"Hey, question" Kevin rose his hand to get everyone's attention "you guys got cameras at your place?"

"Two, the door and one in my room" Jay answered "I would've gotten an alert if anyone got in so if he was watching then he was outside somewhere, check PODs and I think the building has security cameras"

"On it" Kevin nodded, Adam coming over to help

Jay's phone started ringing a minute later

Seeing it was Street, he put it on speaker

"Hey Street"

"Not Street, Luca" Luca corrected "Street just walked out of the room, but Tk and Carlos are on the line too"

"Oh, Hey Tk" Jay greeted "what do we got?"

"I couldn't" they heard Hondo argue

"Couldn't what?" Luca asked, they heard someone messing with some paper or something

"There's invisible ink on the back of these pictures" Hondo informed

"Seriously?" Tk and -presumably- Carlos asked

"Yeah, Street was looking at one and apparently you can see it if you look at the right angle" Hondo explained 

Jay and Erin flipped all the pictures over while Voight got out a blacklist

"Alright, we got guys, that, find, or, and will" Carlos informed

"We got you'll, that, know, to, and will, on Streets pictures and you, catch, flight, won't, and a kill on Jackson's" Luca added "Jay?"

"My set has grow, regret, fight, I, and you and Wills has won't, me, on, I, and risk" Jay told read "we won't have the full thing til the others get theirs but it's a start"

Erin wrote down all the words and sorted them out on the table

All of them tried unscramble but they all came up empty

"Alright.. maybe it's not all one big note, maybe each set of pictures is a different message" Street suggested

Jay shrugged in slight agreement and separated them by name

"Okay, good point but nome of them make a complete sentence so the message might be between two sets at a time" Hondo added "like yours and Jackson's or something like that"

"So we start trying to line them up together" Luca agreed "what words work after 'you'll'?"

"Know, catch, grow, regret, fight, find, risk" Buck listed

"Fight, flight, and bright will be in the middle or end, they rhyme" Jackson pointed out 

"Alright, let's try 'grow'" Hondo decided

"Running with that, 'to' and 'on' are the only ones that work" Luca continued

Erin put 'you'll grow to' in a line as they all talked

"Looks like 'regret', 'know', 'find', and 'fight' would be next" Jackson added

"So far, the second set in the sentence has been Jay's so 'regret', 'fight', and 'know' are most likely" Buck spoke

"'Regret' works the best'" Street voiced 

"Grammatically, 'that' would go next"

"Okay, after 'that' is probably 'fight'" Buck suggested 

"And the last four unscramble themselves" Luca said, they heard the paper sliding around on the table "'you'll grow to regret that, I know you will'"

"Checks out" Tk agreed

"Next sentence, let's start with 'you'" Hondo decided "what's next?"

"'Wont' or 'guys'" Buck spoke 

"Let's try won't" Jackson suggested "'catch', 'risk', or 'find'"

"Catch, then me" Luca ordered

"You won't catch me... on?" Street guessed "'a flight', it rhymes"

"'I won't risk a kill'" Hondo finished 

"You won't catch me on a flight, I won't risk a kill" Jackson read

"That leaves Tks words, 'guys', that', 'find', 'or', 'will'" Carlos added

"So my package should fill it in" Buck said "hopefully we get it soon"

Chapter Text

Buck loved being a firefighter, he really did but he really didn't like days as busy as this

They've been on several calls in 8 hours and each one was stupider than the last

They just got back from a call when Buck's phone started ringing, getting everyone's attention as it was dead silent

He was a bit confused when it was Street calling him

"Street?" Buck questioned "it's five thirty in the morning, what's wrong?"

"I knew you were awake and at work, don't give me that tone" Steeet warned "What I'm about to tell you does not get told to your friends, it's between us and twenty-squad"

"Got it" Buck agreed, walking downstairs 

He went to the locker room and closed the door, praying they wouldn't get called out

"What's up?" Buck asked

"I got a package this morning, it had pictures of you, Tk, Jackson, Jay, and Will, it also had a note, a bullet, and the knife that was stolen when I was fourteen" Street alerted "I don't know who it was, what they want, or what they plan to do but I needed to give you a heads up"

"They got all of us?" Buck muttered "wouldn't one of us have noticed something, you and Jay especially?"

"Or Jackson, Peter takes the same precautions as us too but they still managed to get all your pictures" Street responded "if you notice anything suspicious or off in any way, call me or Hondo immediately, maybe Jackson, I'm calling everyone to let them know"

"When did you get the package?" Buck asked curiously 

"Five am, maybe a few minutes after, I got the squad coming in, we're looking into it, all I need from you us to report anything suspicious" Steeet repeated "I gotta call Jay and Will, I'll check in throughout the day and everyday until we catch this guy"

"Got it, I'll talk to you later" Buck promised, hanging up the call afterwards

He took a minute to make sure his head was clear and this wouldn't impact his ability to put out a fire or climb a tree to rescue a kid who's parents couldn't keep an eye on

After that minute was over, he went back upstairs and took his seat next to his boyfriend on the couch, leaning on him 

"What was that?" Eddie asked

"Just Street, had to talk about this weeks plans" Buck semi lied 

"Plans?" Hen echoed 

"Streets birthday is later this week, we wanted to do a big small thing, some friends of our are flying down from Chicago, Tk is coming up, Jackson will be there, we wanted you guys there too, along with Streets squad, and Jackson's friends from the district" Buck explained "wanted to see if I talked to you about it yet, and confirmed where we were doing it" 

"You're saying we finally get to meet these mysery friends of yours?" Chimney checked "I'm in"

"We haven't heard much about them lately" Hen recalled "Everyone's okay, right?"

"Oh yeah, Jay and Will haven't had much time off recently with gang violence shooting up in Chicago, ED is overflowing everyday, Wills pulling so many shifts and covering for so many people, Jay's been called in and clocked in for over forty eight hours multiple times, Tk has been spending a lot of time with Carlos and the crew, Jackson's been working his ass off between helping Lopez with her wedding and pregnancy, plus making sure he gets to P-two" Buck listed off "Streets been working on making sure he doesn't get kicked off SWAT again, he's also been babysitting one of his friends kids, apparently he's the favorite babysitter"

"We've met him before right?" Bobby questioned "in the field a couple times, back when Eddie was shot, he's a nice kid, I can see him being a good babysitter"

"Been waiting for him to meet you guys officially so we can have him as a back up babysitter for Chris" Buck added, looking at Eddie "in case we can't get Carla or Tia Pepa to do it"

"Wouldn't be a bad idea to have another option" Eddie agreed "but but need to interrogate him first"

"He's been my friend for longer than I've known any of you guys, I guarantee you'll like him" Buck promised

"That's for me to judge" Eddie reminded

half an hour later

They lounged around for a bit, no calls coming in since the last one

Eddie was reading, Chimney was playing g cards with Bobby at the dining table, Hen and Buck were playing a video game

Hen grabbed the control from Buck after a minute of arguing

"Wha- Hen!" Buck complained "why would you-"

Buck was cut off by his phone ringing

"Twice in an hour, someone's popular" Chimney teased, barely looking up when Buck got his phone out

He frowned when he saw it was Steeet again but answered anyway, already getting up and walking further away

"More news?" Buck asked, entering the locker room "can't imagine it's good"

"I need you to come to SWAT HQ, until we can figure this out, I don't want you or Jackson out there" Street informed "You can tell Bobby, if you need, but nobody else can know"

"Got it, I'll let Bobby know" Buck agreed 

"Be careful" Street warned

"Will do" Buck promised, hanging up afterwards 

He walked back up the stairs and all eyes immediately turned to him

"Who was it this time?" Hen asked 

"Bobby, I gotta talk to you" Buck ignored her "in your office"

"Okay, come on" Bobby waved for him to follow

Once the door was closed, Bobby sat in his chair behind the desk

"What's going on, kid?"

"Street got a package earlier, there was a picture of me and a note, pictures of our other friends too, he needs me to come to SWAT HQ until they got the guy" Buck informed "but it's gotta stay between very few people, Eddie, Hen, Chim, they can't know yet"

"He thinks it's a stalker situation?" Bobby asked

"I don't know, he didn't say, probably didn't wanna risk anyone else hearing but he's not giving me much of a choice, I gotta go" Buck answered

"Yeah, I'll get someone to cover the rest of your shift, go ahead" Bobby assured "I'll tell them it's strictly need to know"

"Thanks Bobby" Buck responded before walking out, Bobby following

Buck walked down the stairs to get his bag before leaving

Bobby sat down at the table again to continue his game of cards with Chimney

"What was that about?" Chimney asked

"Sorry guys, it's not public information" Bobby told them, seeing Eddie and Hen walked closer as well 

"Is he in trouble?" Eddie asked "something up with street?"

"All I can tell you is that Street and Buck are both okay, somethings going on but for legal reasons, I can't tell you" Bobby repeated more firmly "I will tell you what I can, when I can, but for right now we got jobs to do"

Just as Bobby said that, the alarm started ringing 

Everyone rushed downstairs to get ready, taking off in the engine within a minute

Chapter Text

Peter and Severide just left the 21st district, they were following up on the recent arson case, it was 51 that put out that fire so they were staying updated

The were about 5 minutes from 51 when Severides phone rang

Severide looked at it for a second before answering it, paying close attention to the road 

"Hey Street, what's going on?" 

Peter looked over in confusion

"Yeah, you're on speaker" Severide responded to whatever was said, putting the phone on speaker and in the cup holder

"Peter, has anyone sent you a suspicious package recently?" Street asked

"No, why?" Peter countered

"There's someone here in LA, he's got pictures of me, Buck, Jay, Will, Tk, and Jackson, he's left us two notes and he specifically named you in one but there aren't any pictures of you" Street explained "you need to stay with someone at all times, don't go even go home by yourself, stay with someone, at least for the night"

"You can stay with me and Casey" Severide offered, glancing over "we got an extra room"

"Got it, and I'll keep an eye out for any packages" Peter promised "do you got any idea who it is?"

"Yeah, we're pretty sure it's this guy, Zachary Coleman" Jackson answered "You can't tell anyone about this by the way"

"Coleman?" Peter echoed, looking over at Severide "didn't we just save a Zachary Coleman from a fire last month?"

"Yeah, I think so" Severide confirmed "probably how he found you, in an effort to assure him, you told him your name"

"He was completely uninjured, just some smoke inhalation" Peter recalled "at least we know what he looks like, we'll keep an eye out"

"Thanks for the heads up" Severide added 

"Course, I'll check in later" Street promised "bye"

"Later" Severide and Peter responded before Peter grabbed the phone and hung up

"So.. if we can't tell anyone about this, how do we explain to Casey why I'm staying the night at your place?" Peter asked

"Lie" Severide shrugged "a leak, rats, annoying ass neighbors, we'll figure it out"

"He'll offer to fix the leak, he knows I would've said something about rats this morning when we all clocked in, and he'd tell me to ignore the neighbors" Peter reminded "come on, you know all that"

"I also know he would still let you stay with us anyway, we don't even need to come up with anything, we just gotta ask if he's cool with it and he'd say yes with zero hesitation" Severide argued as he parked outside of the firehouse "trust me, it'll be fine"

"If you say so" Peter sighed, getting out of the car

They walked in, gave everyone a quick update on the arson case, and sat down at the table

"Hey, what did Street need to get ahold of you so bad for?" Casey asked, sitting in the chair next to Peter

"Just wanted to let me know that his birthday plans were canceled" Peter lied "I was gonna fly down to LA tomorrow but some stuff came up and we're gonna postpone it"

"Damn, that sucks" Casey commented "when is he gonna try to celebrate it?"

"Whenever his squads done with the case, it's gonna take a bit though, pretty complicated and confusing one" Peter responded 'technically not a lie'

"When is his birthday?" Severide asked

"This Friday, me, Will, and Jay were all going together and we were gonna spend the week there, meet the team he's in, meet Buck's firefamily too, maybe Jackson's friends if we had time" Peter explained 

"Sounds like it would've been a great time" Casey told him "hope it doesn't get postponed too long"

"Twenty-squad's pretty good at what they do, they'll have it sorted within a week or two" Peter assured confidently

"Hey do you remember Zachary Coleman from last month?" Severide asked, ignoring the look Peter gave him

"Yeah, we pulled him out of a fire, we were all pretty sure he started it but we couldn't prove it" Casey recalled "why?"

"Just curious, has he come around the firehouse at all?" Severide questioned, sending a quick text to Street 

"Not since he tried to come in and talk to Mills" Casey shook his head "is this important for something?"

"No, his name just kept popping up in my head" Severide shook his head

"Alright well I haven't seen him in awhile" Casey continued "should we be keeping an eye out or...?"

"Yeah, if he stops by again, don't let him leave until I get a chance to talk to him" Severide decided

an hour and a half later

Casey's phone went off, interrupting the comfortable silence floating around the firehouse

"Hey Street, what's going on?" Casey answered 

They didn't hear what Street said but Casey handed his phone to Peter, who was working on lunch since it was his turn

"Street, I'm a little preoccupied at the moment, what's up?" Peter asked

"Jay's on his way to pick you up, everything got pushed forward, your gonna have to stay at the district for awhile" Street informed "he's got Will too, there's no room for argument"

"Yeah, okay" Peter responded, putting down the knife he was using to cut some tomatoes "can I tell cheif Boden first, he's gonna need to know something"

"Uhh.. hang on" Street responded

While waiting for an answer, Peter walked over to Severide

"Things are happening, would you mind-" Peter started

"I got it" Severide cut him off, knowing what he was gonna ask

"Thanks" Peter gave a quick smile before heading towards Bodens office, figuring its probably be a yes

"Yeah, you can tell him, but make sure Boden knows he can't tell anyone else, it has to stay between as small a group as possible"

"Got it, I'll let him know" Peter promised 

"'Kay, I gotta go, talk later" Street promised

Peter hung up before Street even finished

Boden door was open so he walked in, closing it behind him when Boden motioned for him to

"Something wrong?" Boden asked

"Street called me to let me know I had to stay at the district until further notice" Peter started "There's a guy who keep dropping packages off with our friends and they all have pictures of everyone -except me- and notes, it's a whole situation, Jay's coming to pick me up"

"Need to know?" Boden assumed

Peter nodded

"I'll get someone to cover your shift and you were already gonna be gone for a week anyway, go ahead" Boden waved for him to go "I'll wait outside with you"

"Thanks chief" 

"I'll meet you outside" Boden added before Peter walked out

Peter walked back into the living area

"Here's your phone back" Peter said, handing Casey his phone "I gotta leave for the rest of the day, I'll see you guys later"

"Woah, hey, you gotta give us more than that kid" Hermann cut in "something going on?"

"This about earlier?" Severide assumed

"Yeah, things got sped up" Peter told him "but it's strictly need to know, I can't give you guys many details, sorry"

"Wait, I'm your lieutenant, I kind of have to know" Casey argued 

"Sorry, I'm only allowed to tell chief Boden, Severide already knows too but I can tell the rest of you, not until it's over" Peter repeated "what I can tell you is that Jay's coming to pick me up and we're going to the district so I'll be fine"

"Alright.. I expect to know what this is about when it's over" Casey responded, giving a look that told Peter he had no choice 

"Of course" Peter nodded "bye guys"

"Bye" Severide waved "be careful!"

That last sentence had everyone a bit more worried but nobody said anything as Peter rushed outside, meeting Boden out there

While they waited, Boden decided to get a couple more details

"Do they know who's behind the packages?"

"They're pretty sure it's Zachary Coleman" Peter reluctantly answered "we pulled him out of a fire last month, he stopped by to talk to me a few days later but I was busy"

"Did you know Coleman before the fire?" Boden pressed

"I don't think so, but I've heard the name from Jay and Will, I think they knew him from long beach" Peter told him "but I'm not entirely sure"

"If you guys need help with anything, you call me" Boden ordered, watching Jay pull up 

"Got it chief, thanks" Peter responded while Jay got out and walked over 

"Detective Halstead" Boden greeted

"Chief Boden" Jay returned "I know Peter still has a couple hours left on his shift but... did Peter tell you the situation?"

"Not all of it but I have an idea" Boden confirmed "he's free to go but I do gotta tell you, if anything happens, anything at all, you call me and let me know"

"For sure" Jay agreed "I just want to get him some place safe, I don't wanna take any chances"

"Understandable" Boden nodded "go ahead, I'll tell the others it's confidential"

"Thanks chief" both Peter and Jay gave quick smiles before heading to the truck

Boden watch them drive away before walking back in

"Now that they're gone, are you gonna tell us what the hell is going on?" Hermann asked 

"It's confidential" Boden told him "as in, I legally can't tell you anything unless said otherwise"

"Okay, can you at least tell us why they're going to the district?" Casey asked

"Casey, he can't, that goes against the whole 'confidential' thing" Severide cut in "he'll be fine, Jay's with him, Voight'll be there, probably the entirety of intelligence too"

"Since when are you so chill about these things?" Gabby asked him "You're normally the first to want to know"

"Cause I know what's going on and i understand why they can't tell you guys yet" Severide told her "if you guys were told, I could put not only Mills but Jay, Will, Street, Jackson, Tk, and Buck at risk, and a lot of others too, so chill out, and trust that he'll be safe surrounded by cops, not just any cops, our friends"

"Doesn't mean we gotta like it" Casey mumbled

"I don't like it either" Severide responded "but it's all we can do"

Everyone sighed but let it go, hoping everything would be alright

Chapter Text

"Early shifts suck" Lucy mumbled, walking next to Jackson out of the debrief room

"Could be worse" Jackson reminded "could be a graveyard shift"

"True" Luca agreed "still, why do we gotta come in at five in the morning this week?"

"Who knows" Jackson shrugged before his phone rang 

"Who's that?" Lucy asked

"Street" Jackson answered "Hey what's up?"

"Gotta give you a heads up, I got a package, there's pictures of you, Buck, Tk, Jay, and Will" Street quickly informed "also a note, bullet, and a pocket knife"

"Who's it from?" Jackson asked, walking further away from Lucy when he figured this wasn't something something should be shared amongst several people

"Don't know yet, I called in the guys to figure it out, just figured I'd let you know to keep an eye out for anything suspicious" Street added "I'm working on calling everyone else too, don't worry, it'll probably be fine but we all know better than to ignore something like this"

"Yeah, totally understandable" Jackson nodded, ignoring that Street couldn't see him "I'm heading out on patrol right now so I can't talk much but if you find anything that concerns us, let me know"

"Will do, tall later" Steeet promised 

"Later" Jackson echoed before hanging up, sticking his phone back in his pocket

He went through the usual routine, getting his body cam, the war bags, checking and setting up his shop before heading out on patrol

It wasn't until a relatively quiet hour later that he got another call from Street

Luckily, he was back at the station, working on filling out the paper work for a guy he brought in

He just got the last of it finished before his phone rang

"Hey" Jackson answered "what's going on?"

"I need you to come to SWAT HQ, for safety reasons" Street alerted "tell you sergeant about it, tell him that sergeant Harrelson is telling you that you need to come in, he'll let you"

"I can tell him the whole case?" Jackson checked "Oh, wait, I don't know anything about the case, I need more details"

"Okay, all we know so far is that the knife was stolen from me when I was a kid so whoever it is, was in a foster home with me when I was fourteen, we're looking into it now" Street explained "that's all we got right now, once Luca has the whole file pulled up, hopefully we can identify who's behind this"

"Alright, I'll look in sergeant Grey and then I'm on my way" Jackson agreed

"Okay, Buck's coming in too" Street added

"Copy that, I'll see you in a few" Jackson responded before hanging up, heading for Grey's office

Closing the door behind him, Grey looked up

"What can I do for you officer West?" Grey asked

"Sergeant Harrelson from LAPD SWAT, needs me to come to SWAT HQ" Jackson started

"For what, exactly?" Grey questioned "I didn't get a call"

"I have a friend in SWAT, his name is Jim Street, he got a package this morning with a picture of me and a few other friends, sergeant Harrelson has decided its too risky for me and the rest of out friends to be out and about with a stalker, Street says it's someone he knew from about twelve years ago" Jackson continued "could get dangerous, they don't wanna take any chances"

"Do they have a suspect?" Grey asked "do they have anything at all other than some guy who's presumably been following this.. Street kid for years?"

"Not much, the case was just started an hour ago, they're working on it but they didn't give me much of a choice about coming in" Jackson explained

"Makes sense, they don't wanna take any chances with this involving cops" Grey nodded

"And a couple firefighters.. and a doctor" Jackson added

"Before i let you leave, I need to know exactly who all is involved, names, and how you know them" Grey told him

"Jim Street, I met him when he was working patrol before getting back with SWAT, Jay and Will Halstead, they currently live in Chicago, Jay is a detective in the intelligence unit, Wills a doctor, they know Street from when he was a kid and Steeet introduced us, Evan Buckley, he prefers Buck, he's a fire fighter at the one-eighteen, he met Street when Street was sixteen, been friends ever since, Tk Strand, a firefighter in Austin Texas, he met Buck a couple years ago, Buck introduced him to the group, Peter Mills, he's a firefighter in Chicago, Jay and Will met him, now he's one of us" Jackson listed "the others involved in the case are probably limited to twenty-squad, Sergeant Harrelson, Sergeant Kay, and officers Luca, Alonso, and Tan, maybe Jay's team, Sergeant Voight, detectives Upton, Olinsky, and Dawson, along with officers Ruzek, Burgess, and Atwater, possibly Sergeant Platt, Jay's desk sergeant, the others that will know about what's going on will probably be Captain Nash, Buck's Captain, Cheif Boden, Peter's cheif, and either Captain Vega or officer Carlos Reyes, Tks captian and husband"

Grey wrote down every name that came out of Jackson's mouth so he could look into everyone later if need be

"Have you ever met Streets squad?"

"Not yet sir, we were gonna meet up for Streets birthday this week" Jackson answered

"Okay, who all had their picture taken?" 

"Me, Will, Jay, Buck, and Tk" Jackson told him 

"You can go but if anything happens, if you end up having to go to a safe house or anything, you call me" Grey ordered

"Copy that sir" Jackson nodded before heading out the door

Chapter Text

Mills was making lunch for the firehouse, he didn't have to anymore but he enjoyed it sometimes

 Everyone else was hanging in the lounge, as per usual, waiting for lunch or a call to come in

The TV was on, Mouch being in control of the remote

Nobody was talking, it was a comfortable silence

Listening to the TV and sounds of Mills in the kitchen while reading or scrolling through random social media

It was so calm and quiet that everyone startled when Mills yelled

"Shit!" 

Everyone was up in a matter of seconds 

"What?!" Casey exclaimed

Mills had moved to the sink, running his finger under the water

"You okay?" Severide asked, taking in the scene on the counter 

The knife Mills had been using now had a decent bit of blood on it

"Yeah, I'm fine" Mills assured "the knife slipped"

"The knife slipped?" Mouch echoed 

"Really, kid?" Hermann teased a bit "How did you manage that?"

"I don't know, I zoned out" Mills shrugged, grabbing a peice of paper towel and holding it over the cut 

"Hang on, I'll grab a bandaid" Casey told him, walking away

Mills removed the paper towel for a moment and inspected the cut, assuring himself he didn't need stitches

"Here you go" Casey came back in with the bandaid in hand

Mills threw away the paper towel and took the bandaid

Almost everyone had gone back to their seats, knowing there wasn't anything severely concerning

Severide and Casey stayed put and watched as Mills struggled to get the bandaid in place

After a minute of watching him, Severide just stepped forward, taking the bandaid from Mills' hand

Mills gave him a weird look 

Severide ignored it, grabbing Mils wrist and having him hold his hand out, putting the bandaid on for him

"Thanks" Mills muttered before grabbing the knife and cleaning it off

"And you're gonna continue like nothing happened?" Casey asked 

"It's not the first time I've cut my finger" Mills shrugged "won't be the last"

"Just be more careful" Severide suggested "need any help?"

"Yeah, could you make sure there's no blood on the counter?" Mills requested

Severide and Casey couldn't help but chuckle, Severide moving to check

"Surprisingly no blood" Severide announced "anything else?"

"Nope, I got it" Mills assured "thanks"

"Yup" Severide nodded, going back to his seat, Casey following

---------------------------------------------------------------

Working a case was always a bit stressful

Some were easy and they were closed in a day, others took almost a week

That said, they've been on this case for 4 days now and had no leads

They were all exhausted 

None of their CIs has gotten back to them, they had nothing on the PODs 

Jay was particularly frustrated 

Let's rewind a bit

Someone called 911, reporting shots fired

Jay and Adam happened to be close by so they both responded to it

There was an offender fleeing the house, Jay took off after them while Adam cleared the house

Jay chased the offender for 5 blocks before he lost them

When he got back to the house, Adam was just punching a wall in frustration 

There was a family in the house, a mom, a dad, and a 6 year old daughter

They were all dead

They rolled the crime lab, no prints, no DNA, nothing

So 4 days later, still nothing

Jay was frustrated with himself mostly, for losing the offender

He was glaring into nothingness for a good 5 minutes when he had taken a break to get some coffee

Voight walked in and he had yet to move

Jay mentally acknowledged his boss but didn't respond when Voight called his name

"Halstead!" Voight repeated for the 3rd time, placing a hand on Jay's shoulder "Jay"

"Sorry" Jay immediately apologized, he'd not heard what Voight said but assumed he wanted to get to the coffee and move out of the way

"Kid, what the hell is going on?" Voight asked "You normally respond a lot faster"

"Sorry, I was just zoned out" Jay responded "still kicking myself for losing that jackass, I guess"

"You shouldn't be, he opened fire, you were taking cover" Voight reminded "There were civilians around, you couldn't risk returning fire, you did nothing wrong"

"I know, doesn't help" Jay shrugged "I'm fine, I'm gonna get back to work"

Voight nodded and let Jay get away with that for now, deciding he'd talk to him again later

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Firefighter down, I repeat Firefighter down" Eddie Diaz called through the radio "Buck fell through the floor, I'm heading to the basement now"

"Diaz, it's not safe" Bobby responded "stand down and get out of the building, now"

"Sorry cap, it's Buck" Eddie reminded "I'll be quick"

...

"Fine" Bobby allowed

Eddie kept going, running down the stairs faster than he ever has, determined to get to his boyfriend

He was by Buck's side in minutes, immediately checking for a pulse

"I got Buck, pulse is weak but steady, a few burns, I'm coming out soon" Eddie spoke into the radio

"Got Hen and Chimney standing by" Bobby assured

Eddie quickly picked up Buck and made his way back up the stairs

It took longer than wanted but after a few minutes, Eddie walked out the door with Buck

He quickly placed him on the gurney and stepped back so Hen and Chimney could start assessing the damage

Unfortunately, they still had a job to do so Eddie had to get back to work while Hen and Chimney started their way to the hospital 

An hour later, the fire was out and they only had a few minutes left of their shift

Eddie was the first one to change out of his work clothed and head out, immediately heading to the hospital to see Buck

Bobby was right behind him

Buck had a few superficial burns and was quite bruised but got away with no broken bones

He was still asleep when they got there though, which was a little concerning

They each took a seat next to the bed and waited, switching between reading books and updating the others

Eddie just left to go to the bathroom when Buck stirred

Bobby put down his phone and waiting for a moment

After a minute, Buck opened his eyes and looked around

He sighed when he realized he was in the hospital again

"Hey Bobby" Buck muttered

"Hey kid, how you feelin?" Bobby asked

"'M okay, this is the... eleventh time I've woke up in a hospital" Buck shrugged slightly "feel like the universe wants to kill me but keeps failing"

"Let's hope it doesn't win" Bobby responded "Eddie will be back in a sec, he's just in the bathroom"

"Street?" Buck asked

"I called him, he's caught up in a case right now but he'll stop by as soon as he can" Bobby explained "Jackson too"

"Kay" Buck acknowledged 

Eddie walked back in before Bobby could say anything else

"Hey Buck" Eddie greeted "You gotta stop falling through floors, babe"

"I've only fallen through three" Buck reminded "not my fault the world hates me"

"Three is still too many" Eddie told him "Carla just picked up Christopher, you alright for her to bring him here?"

"Of course" Buck assured 

---------------------------------------------------------------

Street had stepped aside earlier when his phone rang and was clearly worried about something something he came back into the room

Hondo kept a close eye on him all day, watching when Street checked his phone every 5 minutes

It wasn't until an hour later when Street got another call and stepped out of the room to take it

Hondo watched through the window as Street was listening to whoever was on the other end

Watched when all the tension and concern left Streets body

Street even had a small smile for a second before quickly telling them something and hanging up

"What was that about?" Hondo asked curiously

"Nothing important" Street dismissed 

"Kid, you've been worried for an hour, what happened?" Hondo pressed

"Buck got hurt at work again, he's in the hospital, told captain Nash I'd stop by after we were done with this case" Street relented 

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" Hondo questioned "you could've slipped out for a few" 

"No, the one eighteen is there right now, I don't wanna overwhelm him, I'll stop by later but captain Nash was just giving me an update"

"He okay?"

"Yeah, a few burns, cuts and bruises, very mild concussion, he's awake and talking to everyone right now" Street informed 

"What happened this time?" 

"Fell through a floor at that fire this morning" Street told him "not the first time, and knowing Buck, won't be the last"

---------------------------------------------------------------

One very stressful shift later, Will was looking forward to going home

He was stopped, however, by Maggie calling his name

"Yeah, Mags?" Will asked, walking over to the desk

"I hate to ask, cause I know how your shift just went, but doctor Riley from the graveyard shift called in and another is on a vacation, could you cover, please?" Maggie requested "we can't afford to be shortstaffed right now, not with how busy it's been lately, I swear, someone said the Q word"

"Yeah, it's fine, I can cover" Will assured "I'll go change back"

"Thanks Will, you're the best!" 

Will gave a smile before heading back to the doctors lounge

Connor was getting his stuff and was about to leave but stopped when he saw Will putting his stuff back

"Thought you were heading home for the day?"

"Doctor Riley called in sick, Maggie asked me to cover" Will explained shortly

"How many shift have you covered this week?" Connor questioned "eight?"

"Seven" Will corrected

"Whatever, when's the last time you went home?" 

"Uhhh... " Will trailed off, thinking

Connor rolled his eyes but started getting his stuff out of his locker 

"What are you doing?" Will asked

"I'm covering for doctor Riley, you are going home" Connor ordered, holding up a hand when will tried to argue "your eyebags have eyebags, honestly, you look like a raccoon"

"I think I should be insulted by that" Will muttered "it's fine, I'll get a nap later"

"You've been running on fumes since tuesday" Connor argued

"...it is tuesday.." 

"It's Friday!" Connor corrected "dear God, Will, go home!"

"It's not Friday, is it?" Will mumbled, getting out his phone

Connor merely blinked at him before walking out of the room and to Maggie

"How many shifts has he worked in the last week?" Connor asked her, pointing behind him towards the doctor lounge

"Let me check" Maggie started, pulling it up on her tablet "...Will Halstead!"

Will startled, looking out through the glass before hesitantly walking out

"You've worked eleven shifts this week?" Maggie questioned, putting her hands on her hips

"...have i?" Will asked, tilting his head a bit

"Will, I swear- go home!" Maggie ordered "who approved this?"

"You, Daphne, miss Goodwin, I don't know" Will shrugged 

"I did not approve eleven shifts, and I wouldn't have asked you to cover Riley's if I had known, go home, Connor can cover" Maggie decided, leaving no room for argument "are you okay to drive?"

"Yeah... no, probably not" Will admitted 

"The room breathing?" Connor assumed 

Will nodded

"I'll find someone to give you a ride" Maggie volunteered, already walking away

"You are gonna go change back and get your stuff" Connor added, pushing Will towards the doctor lounge

Will merely listened, the more he thought about it, the more he realized he'd do more harm than good right now if he tried to work

By the time he walked out, Archer was waiting by Maggie, shrugging his jacket on as she spoke to him

"You've worked eleven shifts this week?" Archer questioned, noticing Will walk up "you do know what staying up for so long can do to the brain, right?"

"Yeah, I know, I don't need another lecture" Will rolled his eyes

"Another?' Connor echoed "you haven't even gotten one"

"I might have texted Jay earlier to let him know I was on my way home and why... he called me" Will elaborated

"See, if Jay, the most accident prone, overworking, most likely to kill himself cop we know, is telling you that you shouldn't be working so much, I think that's a sign" Maggie responded "doctor Archer is taking you home, he's on his way out anyway"

"Come on kid, you look like you're about to fall asleep standing up" Archer commented, joking to hide the genuine concern

Connor gave Will a quick pat on the shoulder before he walked away, Archer following

---------------------------------------------------------------

Jackson was on patrol when he got a text from Street, asking if he'd checked on Buck yet

He had stopped by for literally a minute before work and Buck was okay so he was okay with leaving him alone -with Maddie-

After he quickly relayed that info to Street, he noticed a person trying to break into an old rundown store

He radioed it in and got out of the shop

"Hey!" Jackson called "LAPD, back away from the window!"

The person, a guy, probably 6', 180 pounds, pretty muscular, turned around

He got a gun out of his waistband and shot at Jackson twice before taking off

The gunshots missed Jackson and bystanders

"Damn" Jackson muttered, getting his radio out and following "seven-adam-nineteen, in foot pursuit of a male suspect, white, dark jeans, black shoes, green shirt, shots fired at police, requesting backup to *insert Street names here*"

"Seven-adam-nineteen, copy that, backup en route" 

Jackson kept chasing the suspect, hoping he didn't take anymore shots

A minute later, though it felt like an hour, a cop car rounded the corner, effectively cutting off the suspect

The suspect went to turn around and run the other way but stopped when he saw Jackson with his gun on him

It was Tim in the shop, he had his gun out the window, aimed at the suspect but he wouldn't shoot when there was too much of a chance he could hit Jackson

And Jackson wouldn't shoot with too much of a chance he'd hit Tim

Unfortunately, the suspect seemed to know that, he raised his gun, aiming at Jackson

Jackson kept his eyes on the suspect, him and Tim ordering him to put the gun down

The suspect, however, didn't listen, he took the shot at Jackson

Jackson went to drop to the ground, a second too late but a second later, he'd be dead

Tim reacted quickly, shooting the suspect before getting out of the car

He hit the suspect in the leg, nothing that would kill him

"West!" Tim called, hamdcuffing the suspect "you okay?"

A groan

"Kid!" Tim called again, hoping for a more effective response

"I'm good" Jackson spoke, struggling to his feet "bullet grazed me"

"Put pressure pressure it" Tim ordered, already putting pressure on the suspects bullet wound 

"Already doing that" Jackson responded

Tim reached up to his radio and called for an ambulance to take the suspect

"You're gonna ride with him to the hospital, and get checked out" Tim told him 

"Copy that" Jackson nodded

---------------------------------------------------------------

Judd always said Tk was welcome to his and Grace's house any time

It just took a year and a half before Tk took it seriously 

Judd hadn't been expecting anyone so he was surprised by the knock on the door

He paused his game and got off the floor, getting up and opening the door

"Hey Tk" Judd greeted, inviting him in "everything okay?"

"Carlos is visiting his parents, my dad is too busy with mom, Matteo and Nancy are out, Marjan and Paul are busy, and I'm bored" Tk explained, walking through the house and dramatically flopping on the couch "please tell me you aren't doing anything right now?"

"Nope, Grace is at work and Grace's mom insisted on taking Charlie tonight" Judd told him "I'm free all night"

"Thank god" Tk muttered "it's been so fucking quiet all day, I can't stand it"

"Well lucky for you, kid" Judd started "I got a new game last week and I've yet to play it"

Tks eyes visibly lit up when Judd handed him a controller 

Judd sat down on the floor again while Tk sat up behind him on the couch, crossing his legs

Chapter Text

2 days later

Luca and Hondo were taking turns keeping watch through the night, each taking a shift

Luca had 11pm-3am then Hondo took over at 3am-7am

But there was one person that stayed awake all night

Hondo just took over for the night, Luca going to bed

He walked into the kitchen to get some coffee and was surprised to see an open laptop on the table

Actually, no he wasn't

They have cameras set up around the house so the laptop was where the feed was going

He was surprised to see the other laptop, the one with a bunch of stickers on it

Streets laptop

"What are you doing awake?" Hondo asked, going to the counter and getting some coffee

"Looking through traffic cams" Street answered, not taking his eyes off the screen

"It's three in the morning, you should be asleep" Hondo reminded

"I'm not gonna be able to sleep until Zachary's dead or in prison" Street responded

"...fair enough, coffee?" Hondo offered, holding out a cup he had already poured

"Sure" Street accepted, taking the cup

"So, have you found anything new?" Hondo asked

"Not yet, still looking, there are a lot of traffic cameras, especially going in and out of LA, yet not a single one caught Zachary" Street complained "but Carlos sent that footage of him from Austin, he was heading in this direction, we lost him about two miles outside of Austin, haven't been able to find him again"

"We will, it'll just take some time" Hondo assured

"Yeah well I don't really want my friends to put their lives on hold because of something I did, y'know, if Zachary has an issue with me cause I managed to kick his ass, I wish he'd just come find and fight me and leave my friends out of it" 

"Well Jay and Will would probably still be a part of it, since you were defending Jay" Hondo reasoned "but why he brought Peter, Buck, Jackson, and Tk into it, I have no clue"

"It doesn't make any sense" Street muttered "and if they were brought into it to get to me, why not go after you guys too?"

"You're right, it doesn't make any sense" Hondo agreed "why only bring in this specific friend group, why not bring in your whole family?"

"Right, it's so difficult to figure out his main goal here, if he wanted to kill me, i wish he'd get it over with instead of taunting us for a week" Street continued "and how the fuck is he going from Chicago to LA so quickly?"

"Maybe he's not, maybe he's got a friend helping him" Hondo suggested "We looked into Tanner already, his alibi checks out, does he have any other known associates"?"

"Not that I know of... maybe another kid from that foster house?" Street shrugged "we didn't look into them, did we?"

"We did not" Hondo confirmed, getting out a third laptop, his own, since Street seemed determined to look further into the cameras

"There were four other kids, one was Tanner, Tanner actually was close with a kid named Oliver" Street recalled "maybe Oliver was friends with Zachary too"

Hondo nodded in acknowledgment as he pulled up the list of kids

"Oliver Hale, he's twenty eight, lives in an apartment building in long beach, not too far from Tanners place, no crime records though" Hondo read "there could've been something expunged that I wouldn't have access to"

"Definitely something, he used to break into places all the time, smash windows and doors, he used to take some of the other kids with to get their anger out, took me once" Street remembered "I didn't like it, he ended up getting arrested once or twice before I was out of that house"

"How would that have gotten expunged, that's some pretty decent vandalism, breaking and entering, trespassing" Hondo listed "someone really likes him"

"He was one of those kids that got whatever he wanted" Street added "If he asked for it, if he wanted it, he'd get it"

"So the exact opposite of you?" Hondo guessed

"Pretty much" Street nodded

"Aha, thank you Garcia for sharing your skills!" Hondo exlaimed "he does have a record, trespassing, breaking and entering, vandalism, aggravated assault, attempted murder- how?!"

"He's gotta be paying someone off or something" Street assumed "does it say who he tried to kill?"

"He tried to kill... holy shit, he tried to kill Buck" Hondo alerted

"What?" Street finally looked away from his screen "when?"

"A couple years ago, he broke into Buck's apartment and tried to kill him in his sleep" Hondo informed, turning his laptop around so Street could see

"He told me someone broke into his apartment but not that that someone tried to kill him" Street sighed, scrolling through the report "Buck... I'm gonna kill him myself, I swear to god"

"You really didn't know about this?" Hondo checked

"No, I swear, he never told me" Street promised "he asked me to help him put in a security system because someone broke in but nothing else, they didn't steal anything, he said they had been arrested, he called nine one one when he heard his door open, Athena responded to it"

"Do you know who his lawyer was?" Hondo questioned "his lawyer could've had something to do with it"

"No he didn't, his lawyer was Wesley Evers, Wesley is married to Angela, Angela was Jackson's TO, Jackson told Wesley that the guy broke into Buck's apartment so while Wesley would've followed the rules, he wouldn't have let the guy get off easy" Street explained "he wouldn't have helped pay off a judge either, he'd be putting too much at risk with his family and his job"

"Okay, so we gotta figure out who the judge was" Hondo decided "not too difficult" 

"You do that, I'm gonna try to find Oliver" Street decided "and Tanner, his alibi mightve checked out but that doesn't mean he isn't a part of it"

"True" Hondo nodded in agreement

"Got the judge" Hondo announced at the same time Street said "found Oliver"

"Who's the judge?" Street asked

"Judge Doyle" Hondo answered "Where's Oliver?"

"Buying plane tickets out of chicago to LA" Street informed 

"When?"

"Right now"

"So Zachary's in LA and Austin while Oliver is in chicago" Hondo elaborated "that explains that" 

"Do you got the judge taking a bribe?"

"Yes I do" Hondo confirmed "only took three hours"

"Be glad it only took three hours, could've taken a lot longer" Street reminded

"True, alright, we'll wait for the others to get up then me and you will go meet Oliver at the airport and head to HQ to fill in Hicks and the team" Hondo declared

"It's four and a half hour by flight, we won't have to leave for at least another two or three" Street told him

"Alright, we'll leave in two hours" Hondo reiterated

an hour later

Buck and Luca walked into the kitchen, already talking about what they were planning on doing to pass the time until someone found something

They stopped when they saw Hondo and Street at the table, both of them on their laptops

"Okay, Hondo I expected" Luca started "I thought I told you to go to bed?"

"Oh, you did" Street confirmed "turns out it was a good thing I ignored it, we got something"

"You- I'm knocking your ass out later" Luca promised, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down at the table next to Street "what do you got?"

"Oliver Hale, he's a friend of Tanners but we're assuming he's friends with Zachary too" Street informed

"Got anything to back it up?"

"Getting there, he was in chicago, he's on a flight back here, scheduled to land in about two and a half hours" Street finished "and, get this, he knows Buck"

Street turned in his chair to glare at his friend, who was leaning innocently against the counter

"How does he know Buck?" Luca asked

"How does he know me?" Buck echoed

"Remember a few years back when someone broke I your apartment and you had me help you install that security system?" Street reminded "And how you did not tell me that the person that broke in tried to kill you?"

"Sorry, what happened?" Jackson asked, walking in

"Listen- I have a very reasonable reason for that-"

"That reason better not be 'cause it doesn't matter' or 'cause he failed', okay, you gotta tell me when these things happened cause I could've followed up with the case" Street told him "Cause Oliver was that person and he bribed a judge and got it all waved and now he's probably looking to finish the job"

"He bribed a judge?" Jackson asked "I remember that, Wesley was his lawyer" 

"Yeah, but I'm mostly sure Wesley doesn't know about it, it's between the judge and Oliver, and Hondo found proof" Street continued "so we can bring his ass in as soon as he lands and hold him for forty eight until we charge him, see if he'll give up Zachary"

"Me and Street are gonna go get him as soon as he touches down at the airport, then we're heading to HQ to fill in the team and question him" Hondo added "in the meantime, someone should be awake, you should bring Jay and his unit in on what's happening"

"Yeah, Jay's a fucking early bird if I've ever known one" Street rolled his eyes, getting his phone out 

"If he's not awake, then Someone should be up on watch" Jackson said, also getting some coffee

"Actually, considering how similar him and Street are, he mightve not slept either" Buck reminded

"That's a good point" Jackson agreed

Street rolled his eyes but mostly ignored them -and Hondo and Luca chuckling- and just hit Jay's contact, calling him and hoping he was awake

"Street!" Jay answered "dude, we've got a huge fucking problem- will you dumbasses wake up?!"

Everyone was on alert as soon as they heard Jay yell -and Street didn't even put it on speaker yet-

"Not you Street, these idiots are still half asleep" Jay quickly informed "whoever was on watch last, which I'm pretty sure was Hailey, fell asleep and now I can't find -fucking move- I can't find Peter!"

"The fuck do you mean you can't find Peter?" Street questioned "he's not in the room?"

"No, he's not in the fucking room!" Jay confirmed "and he's not anywhere in the motel, the parking lot, or even on the block, and he doesn't have a phone right now so we got no way to fucking track him and Street, I cannot do this right now"

"Hey, hey hey, wait a sec, we got something new, that's why I called, Oliver Hale was in Chicago until an hour ago, he's on a flight here right now" Street cut him off from spiraling "I'd bet a hundred bucks he's got Peter with him"

"Can confirm, got him with Oliver on security cameras at the airport" Hondo told them "looks like he was drugged, he seems pretty out of it"

"Me and Hondo are meeting him at the airport when he lands, we'll bring the team, we're taking this jackass down" Street assured "then we'll find Zachary and put an end to it all"

"Easier said than fucking done" Jay muttered "you better get him back safely, I'm not-"

"I know" Street interrupted 

"Street-" Luca tried

"I'm getting him home safe, Luca" Street cut off with a glare "if it's the last thing i fucking do, these guys will all go home safely"

Hondo reached over and muted the call

"You can't make promises you can't keep, kid" he reminded softly "it's just giving him false hope, Peter could already-"

"We assume nothing until we see him" Street snapped "he already knows that, he's a cop too and was a ranger, he knows better than to believe a word out of my mouth but Peter would not let that asshole kill him, not without a fight and a major scene that would get the attention of bystanders"

"I don't doubt that, but.." Hondo trailed off

Street seemed like he wanted to say something but bit his tongue and just got up, walking out of the kitchen

"Sit down" Jackson ordered when Hondo went to follow, allowing Buck to go after their friend

"I was just-"

"I know, I know you were just reminding him of reality but he's already lost everything outside of this friend group and SWAT, he cannot handle losing someone else" Jackson explained "none of them can, him, Jay, Will, they are all each other have left from when they were kids, and don't don't me wrong, Street would rather die than go back there, he also misses when he was a kid, cause everyone he cared about was alive, that is why Street was making that promise, Jay has lost too much, so has Will"

Hondo sighed, thinking about what he knew and what he probably hasn't been told

"Trust me, he knows all about false hope, empty promises, the likelihood that Peter could be dead, but if he let's himself even think about that, he'll isolate and shut down and if he does that right now, someone will end up dead, and it's probably gonna be him" Jackson continued "he's already close, the only thing keeping him from that right now is cause he feels guilty and thinks he owes it to us to solve this case"

"Guilty?" Luca echoed

"Cause Zachary's vendetta is with him and the rest of us were dragged into it, Street thinks it's on him that Buck can't be with his boyfriend and kid, that I can't hang out with my other friends or see my parents, that Peter can't go check on his mom, that Tk has to lie to his family's faces everyday until we figure this thing out, that you guys are stuck here cause someone has to be on watch and it can't be him" Jackson elaborated "he thinks it's his fault Will can't work right now or see his girlfriend, that our friends and families have no clue what's going on right now because it's essential personnel only, he and Jay are the only ones that don't have anything outside of this group and work so they're both spiraling in different ways right now and it is our jobs to keep them from losing their shit"

"Shit, you're right" Hondo sighed "you're right, you're right, you're right, I should talk to him when this is all over"

"He alright?" Luca asked with concern "stupid question, will he be alright?"

"Buck's got him right now" Jackson assured "he knows what he's doing, they'll be out here in a few"

"He knows Street will deny it if you say it but actually really likes hugs, especially when he's in need of comfort?" Luca checked "and that he gets real quiet when overwhelmed?"

"Yes, Luca, Buck's known him longer than you have,  he knows what he's doing, he knows Street will tell you when he's all good in morse code, he knows Street will pull away if he doesn't want a hug, he knows about all of it" Jackson promised

"Since when does he know morse code?" Hondo questioned 

"Since he, Jay, and Will were kids, they used it when one of them needed help on a test in class" Jackson told him, chuckling a bit "it's also how we plan to send out a message if we need help but can't say so, we have radios that can go across the country, we take them everywhere we go, if one of us is in trouble, we send an sos and our location, or as much as we can at least, through in morse code, some of us being cops or firefighters really helps disguise it and Will just tells the truth when his coworkers ask"

"Okay... since when did you know morse code?" Hondo directed the question at Luca this time

"Soon as I knew Street did, it's not that hard to learn" Luca shrugged "only took a few days"

"I'll keep in mind that four of six of us know morse code then" Hondo decided

"Right, you, Street, Deacon, and I" Luca assumed, getting a nod in confirmation 

A few minutes passed before Street and Buck came back in

Hondo raised an eyebrow at Street

'you good?'

Street gave a nod in return

'fine for now'

"Alright, we got two hours to kill" Hondo announced "those of you who need it, get your breakfast, I'm gonna go make sure me and Street got everything we'll need when we go get Oliver and Peter"

Hondo got up, Street following suite, intending to help

"Oh, before I go do that, when was the last time anyone actually witnessed Street eating?" Hondo asked, stopping Street in his tracks

"Breakfast" Buck started "yesterday"

"I saw him grab a snack around three yesterday but nothing since" Jackson added

"He had a granola bar at one, thirteen am" Luca informed, lightly glaring at Street

"Alright, it's settled, Street, get some breakfast, then you can come help me if you want" Hondo ordered

Street sighed but sat back down, subconsciously tapping a quick, two worded message on the table, getting at least a chuckle out of everyone

"Doesn't change a thing kid, eat" Hondo responded

"Luckily, we got the stuff here, I can make some breakfast burritos" Luca volunteered

"Can I help?" Buck asked

"Sure" Luca allowed

Hondo walked out, knowing someone was gonna make sure Street ate something

45 minutes later

Hondo was still double checking the bag when Street walked in

He looked over, a silent question being asked

"Yes, I ate, I'm good" Street answered "Did you get everything?"

"I'm double checking now, we still got an hour to go" Hondo told him "you finish gettig Jay and them in the loop on Oliver?"

"Yeah, and they got him on PODs all around Chicago, near fifty one, twenty first, Med, Jay and Wills place, Peter's house, Severide and Matt's, Voight, Ruzek, Kevin, Hailey, Kim, Boden, Maggie, Connor, even miss Goodwin, they really covered all their bases" Street listed "and I got him on traffic cams about a month ago, near your place, mine, Lucas, Chris, Deacon, Tan, Jackson's, Angela, Tim, Grey's, also Buck and Eddie's, Hens, Athena and Bobby's, Chim and Maddie, the one-eightteen, HQ, midwhilshire, and I called Carlos and TK, they got him near Carlos' district, the one-two-six, their house, Owen's, Judd, Marjan, Paul, we got this guy near every place we go to on a weekly basis, he wasn't careful about cameras, like he didn't care"

"Or like he knows he can't get caught" Hondo added "if he's just trying to kill Buck, then he's going for one specific target that we can't even prove, we got Zachary already, but we don't got Oliver on anything other than circumstantial evidence, we can't prove he's doing anything other than him bribing the judge"

"We also got him trespassing, we can't see him entering any places but we can see him on Tarlos' yard, going into the building I live in, he's heading around the house Buck and Eddie live in, we can see him going into the building Lucy and Jackson live in, and Jay and Wills, it's still not much but I think it's enough" Street told him 

"Lead with that next time" Hondo told him, but he was smiling so he was happy with the news "that's enough to at least get a warrant to check his place and his phone records, see if he's had any contact with Zachary recently or at all"

"We should get that started before Oliver gets here, right?" Street assumed

"Yeah, let's go" Hondo nodded, zipping the bag and throwing it over his shoulder

The others were still in the kitchen on the phone with intelligence and Tarlos 

"We're gonna head out now and get a headstart on the warrant for his phone and house" Hondo announced "sergeant Voight, if you guys could figure out where he was staying in chicago-"

"We're already on it" Voight cut him off "Kevin and Kim are heading to his place now"

"Copy that, we'll let you know when we got something" Hondo promised "we'll call you guys back later"

"Later" Voight echoed, hanging up the phone

"Bye TK" Street added

"Later guys" TK responded before Street hung up the call, grabbing his phone off the table

"We'll call you guys later" Hondo told the others "we're heading to HQ first, gonna loop in the others and get that warrant, probably join the search for a bit before we head to the airport"

"Copy that, I'll wait for Oliver's phone records and go through them here" Luca added "stay safe out there, and I mean that, Street, don't do anything stupid"

"You do stupider stuff than me and you know it" Street shot back

Luca flipped him off while the others laughed

"Let's go, kid" Hondo ordered, putting his hand on Streets shoulder and giving a light shove towards the door

Chapter Text

"Two days and absolutely nothing" Jay muttered, laying back on the bed that had a few papers spread over it "how do we have nothing?"

"Jay, you know these kinds of criminals take time to catch" Voight reminded "we'll get him, you just gotta be patient"

"Sorry, but with the knowledge that Streets birthday is the day this guy decided to move up to, I am out of patience" Jay responded

"Patients are my things anyway" Will joked from across the room

"Fuck off" 

"We just gotta hope we can get this guy before then" Adam spoke "then you can make it up to your friend"

"No, he's had some really shitty birthdays but this is gonna be what makes him never acknowledge it again" Jay told him "he'd rather get beat half to death than have it in his head that his friends were all put in danger of his birthday because of him"

"Come on man, it's not his fault" Antonio reasoned 

"No, I know that" Jay assured "doesn't mean he does'

"I guarantee he's spiraling right now, he hasn't slept in at least twenty four hours and he hasn't eaten in over twelve" Will added "You think Jay can get obsessed with these cases, wait til you see Street"

"Can I ask something?" Adam started

"You just did" Jay muttered

"Go ahead" Will ignored Jay

"If you guys have been friends since you were kids, how come you call him by his last name?" Adam asked

"A lot of bad memories with his first name" Jay simplified "the last person to call him that was his mother, she's dead now but she almost cost him his job and his family"

"Not to mention his dad spitting his name like it personally offended him" Will added "not even his closest friends call him Jim, everyone calls him Street, it's how he introduces himself to new people too"

"Makes sense" Antonio shrugged "Twelve years of abuse, having his name thrown around like it was part of whatever punishment, I wouldn't want people using my first name either"

"How old were you three when you met?" Adam questioned

"Shortly after he was thrown into the system so he was twelve or thirteen, which put me at thirteen and Will at fourteen" Jay guessed "unsurprisingly, we met at school, after everything that happened, nobody talked to him at all, like he'd snap, so me and Will decided to give it a shot, almost twenty years later, it payed off" 

"You guys must've gotten pretty close to stay friends this long, especially in different states" Voight pointed out

"Yeah well.. trauma bonding" Will shrugged

"What's that mean?" Antonio asked

"Um.. after the whole 'Zachary putting me in the hospital' thing, a lot of other shit happened, shit we never talk about or acknowledge, just... let's leave it at that" Jay decided

"Wait, no, what happened?" Adam pushed

"Bottom line is, we're all we got left, until we got our current jobs and made other friends, it was just the three of us" Will told him 

"Some more elaboration would be great" Antonio told him

"Look, all three of us were drowning, and none of us knew how to save each other, the only thing that got us through was the understanding that we were all drowning together" Jay responded "none of us would probably be here today if we didn't have each other, seriously, let's leave it at that" 

Antonio and Adam raised their hands in surrender, sensing they pushed a little far and were dangerously close to a line they wouldn't be able to uncross

"I'm gonna go check on the others" Jay announced, getting up and walking out of the room

Peter, Kevin, Kim, Hailey, and Alvin had all gotten a different room as to keo it less crowded

Jay carefully walked out of the room he's been sharing with Will, Antonio, Ruzek, and Voight and went straight next door, using the spare key and going in

Everyone was asleep, which wouldn't be weird since it's 3 am but someone was supposed to be on watch

He quickly looked through the room, the motel and the parking lot, having Voight, Adam, and Antonio help him go around the block too before his phone rang

Streets name came up

"Street!" Jay answered it "dude, we've got a huge fucking problem- will you dumbasses wake up?!"

He cut himself off when he realized everyone was still asleep

"Not you Street, these idiots are still half asleep" Jay quickly informed "whoever was on watch last, which I'm pretty sure was Hailey, fell asleep and now I can't find- fucking move- I can't find Peter!"

"The fuck do you mean you can't find Peter?" Street questioned "he's not in the room?"

"No he's not in the fucking room!" Jay exclaimed, heading back over to his room "and he's not anywhere in the motel, the parking lot, or even on the block, and he doesn't have a phone right now so we got no way to fucking track him and Street, I cannot do this right now"

"Hey hey hey, wait a sec, we got something new, that's why I called" Street cut him off from spiraling "Oliver Hale, he's on a flight here right now, and I'd bet a hundred bucks he's got Peter with him"

"Can confirm, got him with Oliver on security cameras at the airport" Hondo spoke up "looks like he was drugged, he seems pretty out of it"

"Me and Hondo are meeting him at the airport when he lands, we'll bring the team, we're taking this jackass down" Street promised "then we'll find Zachary and put an end to it all"

"Easier said than fucking done" Jay muttered "you better get him back safely, I'm not-"

"I know" Street interrupted 

Will put a hand on Jay's shoulder, feeling just as distraught but it wasn't as obvious

"Street-" Luca tried

"I'm getting him home safe, Luca" Street snapped "if it's the last thing I fucking do, these guys will all go home safely"

The call was muted for a bit, which gave Jay and Will enough time to share a concerned loo

Jay muted his end of the call too

"If it weren't for Buck and Jackson being with him right now, I'd be on the first flight to LA to make sure he didn't do something stupid" Will started "look, we both know he will do everything in his power to get Peter back but we also know the odds of everyone coming out of this alive"

"Will, I don't need the 'we know the odds' speech, I get that, but none of us will survive losing anyone else and we know it" Jay reasoned "this shit started with the three of us, that's how it's gonna fucking end, Peter, Buck, Jackson, Tk, they didn't know us until years later, they shouldn't be in the middle of this"

"They shouldn't be but they are and we're gonna have to accept that" Will told him "you're right, none of us could handle losing anyone else when we could've prevented it but we're gonna have to cause if we lose someone, Buck, Jackson, and Tk, they're gonna need more support, and we are the only ones that could give them that"

"If there's something you three aren't telling us, we need to know" Voight cut in

"Nothing that would be helpful to the case" Will shook his head

"That's not for you to decide" Voight told them "someone's gonna tell me the whole story before it gets someone else caught in the crossfire"

"It's not ours to tell-"

"Bullshit" Adam interrupted "it obviously affected all three of you, we gotta know everything or we can't help you"

"I'd rather cut off every single one of my fingers and turn them into a smoothie and drink it than tell you something like this" Jay argued 

"We need to know everything" Antonio spoke up "whether you want to tell us or not, we gotta know, so talk to Street and see if he's fine with telling us"

"I'm gonna guess this has something to do with what you were talking about earlier" Voight added "the thing none of you talk about?"

"...yeah, it is, there's a reason we never talk about it" Jay told him "but I will talk to Street and see if it's okay"

"The sooner the better" Antonio nodded

"Jay" Street called, prompting Jay to unmute the call

"Yeah?"

"We'll get him back" Street promised

Jay and Will shared another look

"I know" 

40 minutes later

Street and the others stayed on the phone to keep each other updated in potential breakthroughs

Meanwhile, Voight wants to know how they got into this position 

And so does Jay 

So they muted the call again and got right to it

"The point of putting him in a room with you three was so he would have someone there to protect him if we got found" Voight lectured "what the hell happened?"

"I.. I fell asleep Sarge, it's my fault" Hailey confessed "I was on watch last, Olinsky and Peter were sleeping, I-"

"How did you fall asleep?" Voight cut her off "it's your job to stay awake when you are watching someone in protective custody!"

"I know sarge, I didnt think I was going to but I did and I'm sorry-"

"Sorry?" Will interrupted "you're sorry- oh, she's sorry"

Will looked over at Jay

"She's sorry that she fell asleep on the job and got one of our best friends taken by a phsyco that wants us all dead!" Will snapped 

"Will" Jay warned quietly 

"You had your turn to spiral, now it's mine" Will shot back "if Peter ends up dead or ij any more danger or hurt in any way, that's gonna be on you"

"Will-" Hailey tried

"Hailey, he's right" Voight cut in "if Peter dies then that is on you, you fell asleep and nobody else was awake"

"I screwed up, I know, but how was I supposed to know they found us?"

"That was the point of someone being on watch at all times!" Will reminded

"You fell asleep, Peter got kidnapped, and all you have to say for yourself is 'I screwed up'?" Jay questioned "you didn't just screw up Hailey, you basically invited them in- was the door even locked?"

"Alvin locked it" Hailey answered

"No I didn't, I told you to lock it" Alvin corrected

"...seeiously?" Will muttered "we trusted all of you to make sure he was safe- that we were all safe and you-"

"Don't blame me" Hailey interrupted 

"No, I'm gonna blame you because this is all your fault" Will told her 

"You know what, it was your friend that got us into this mess!" Hailey argued "cause he couldn't control himself and had to be the hero, had to avenge his friend-"

"Don't you fucking dare" Jay cut in 

"Because he had to prove he wasn't just some kid with an abusive father and a drug addict mother-"

"You're one to talk!" Jay cut her off 

"That he helped kill and throw in jail!" Hailey finished

"Hold on" Kevin spoke up "What'd your friend do?"

"He was forced by Karen, he didn't do it on his own will" Jay corrected 

"You don't know the whole story, you don't know everything everything happened when he was twelve to now" Voight added "You were the one that fell asleep on watch, don't blame that on him, he's every bit a victim in this as Jay and Will and Peter"

"I'm not blaming him for me falling asleep, I'm blaming him for putting us in this kind of situation" Hailey shot "Zachary would've been going about his life and we would be doing paperwork at the district right now if he could've kept his fists to himself"

"You can't honestly tell me that if one of your friends got the shit beat out of them, you wouldn't fight back" Adam retorted "I'm just saying, if some dude beat the hell out of Kev, or Jay, or Al, hell, even Voight, I'd definitely want to return the favor"

"Exactly" Jay agreed "thank you"

"Why wasn't I on that list?" Kim asked

"Cause I wouldn't beat the hell out of them, I'd kill them" Adam explained quietly

Kim gave a him a smile before focusing back on the task at hand

"If you're done blaming Jay's friend, and a fellow cop, for this assholes actions, I can tell you guys what I've found" Kim announced 

"You found something?" Jay asked, immediately leaning down by her shoulder to look at the laptop she was using "what do you got?"

"I started looking through more cameras, following Oliver on them after he'd leave the area of one of our places, I think I might have where he was staying" Kim started "when he first got here, he had three bags with him, when he took off for the airport this morning, he never put the bags back in his car, so-"

"They're still at his place" Kevin finished for her 

"Alright, nice work" Voight approved "Kevin and Kim, I want you to head there and search through his stuff, the rest of us will stay here"

Kim nodded while she and Kevin got up, grabbing their jackets and going out the door

"We're gonna head out now and get a headstart on the warrant for his phone and house" Hondo started, prompting Jay to unmute "sergeant Voight, if you could figure out where's he's been staying in chicago-"

"Already on it" Voight cut him off "Kevin and Kim are heading to his place now"

"Copy that, we'll let you know when we got something" Hondo promised "we'll call you guys back later"

"Later" Voight echoed before reaching over the table and hanging up "Upton, I want you to go help Kim and Kev"

"Why-"

"Cause I don't trust you not to say anything else around Jay" Voight interrupted "go, it wasnt an option"

Hailey huffed but complied, leaving the room

"Adam, Antonio, I was you two to look keep going through footage, see if he was anywhere else" Voight added "y'know what, Jay, you help too"

"Oh thank god" Jay muttered, immediately pulling Kim laptop closer "was getting sick of doing nothing"

"You need a distraction, we need another pair of eyes" Voight shrugged "I'm gonna call Trudy, get her in the loop, let me know if you find anything"

"Copy that boss" Adam gave him a thumbs up

Chapter Text

Street was hanging out at the 118 for a bit

Bobby was in the kitchen, Hen was reading on the couch

Chimney, Buck, Eddie, and Street were sitting at the table, random conversations bouncing between the 4

"I'm telling you, mirrors are blue, they have to be!" Chimney argued 

"No, they arent" Buck shook his head "they're clear"

"If they were clear, they'd be windows!" Chimney reminded "someone back me up here, they're blue!"

"I don't think mirrors have a color" Eddie told them "they're just.. mirrors"

"Mirrors are actually green" Street responded 

"How are they green?!" Buck asked

"The edge of a mirror is green and when you face two mirrors together, the reflection is green" Street explained 

"I don't think that's right" Chimney denied

"Actually" Bobby spoke up from the kitchen "He is right, mirrors are green"

"No they arent" Buck tried

"Look it up" Bobby shrugged

Before anyone had the chance to get their phones out, the familiar click clacking of crunches sounded through the station

Eddie and Buck were the first ones up, Street following just after

"Chris is here!" Eddie announced to the other three, going downstairs to meet him

Buck and Street followed too

"Hi dad" Chris greeted before looking past him "Buck, Street!"

Chris rushed past his dad to his best friends

"Wha... I give up" Eddie sighed, going to say hi to Carla

"Hey superman, how was school?" Buck asked, crouching to hug the child

"It was good, I made a new friend today" Chris beamed

"Oh, what's their name?" Street prompted

"Matthew Kay, his dad's a cop like you!" Chris exclaimed 

"Kay?" Street echoed with a knowing smile "did he say what his dad's name was or where he works?"

"In SWAT, he didn't tell me his dad's name" Chris told him

Street smiled wider and got out his phone, pulling up a picture

"Is this Matthew?" He asked, showing a picture Deacon had taken of them last time they did a team hang out at Deacons house

"Yeah, you know him?" Chris questioned

"I work with his dad" Street confirmed 

"Let me see" Buck ordered, taking Streets phone

"So the Hondo he was talking about today was the same Hondo you always talk about?" Chris assumed

"Yup" Street nodded

"I don't ever wanna hear you say you don't like kids again" Buck spoke up as Eddie started walking back over "Look at this"

Buck handed Eddie the phone

Street had Matthew on his shoulders and was helping him and Samuel make a huge tower with blocks

"Adorable, why are you showing me this?" Eddie asked, handing the phone back

"We have photographic proof that he loves kids yet he claims he doesnt" Buck informed

"You know the last time i said I didn't like kids was mostly in reference to the little twerp that kicked me in the shin, right?" Street reminded "that was over a year ago"

later that day

Street left the firehouse and went over to Deacons

Apparently Samuel wanted to hang out and wouldn't stop bothering Deacon about it

They ended up working on the tower from the other night

"How many blocks do you have?" Street muttered, seeing how many there were still on the floor "it's already pretty tall"

"Mom got us more so we could build it to the ceiling" Samuel responded

"To the... okay, I'll be back in just a second" Street promised, getting a nod from the child

He went out to the living room where Deacon was sitting

"Do you have a step ladder?" Street asked him

"... for what?" Deacon countered

"Just- do you have one?" Street repeated

"Yeah, in the kitchen, next to the fridge" Deacon nodded "why?"

"Cause the tower has gotten taller than I thought and they want to keep going" Street answered, going to the kitchen

"How much taller do they wanna go?" Deacon questioned, following him

"To the ceiling" Street responded, grabbing the step ladder 

"Do you want some help?" Deacon offered

"Considering you're the only other person in this house that's over five feet tall right now, yes please" 

Deacon chuckled and followed Street to Samuels room, Matthew has joined them now too

"Hey Matty, make any new friends at school?" Street asked, setting up the step ladder next to to tower

"Yeah, Christopher, he's really nice" Matthew nodded 

"He is really nice" Street agreed "I know his dad"

"You do?!" Matthew exclaimed, now excited "are you friends with his dad- when's the last time you talked to him?"

"I just talked to him today, you remember my friend, Buck?" Street questioned, quietly thanking Samuel when he handed him a few blocks to add 

"Yeah, the firefighter that came over for dinner a few weeks ago" Matthew recalled

"His dad is Buck's boyfriend" Street informed "I went to the firehouse earlier and hung out with them, and Chris"

"You know Chris too?" Matthew smiled wider

"Yup, for a couple years now" Street confirmed "since he was seven, actually"

"That's four years" Matthew easily calculated "You've known me for five" 

"Correct" Street nodded "another thing too, since I know your parents, Christopher's dad is more likely to let you and Chris hang out outside of school"

"Really?!"

"Eddie shockingly trusts my judgment, and he's heard me talk about your dad before so yeah, probably" Street shrugged 

"Yes!" Matthew cheered, fist bumping the air

"But it's also partially up to your parents too, not just Buck and Eddie" Street reminded "And just cause I know both sides, doesn't mean they aren't gonna wanna meet"

"That's a good point" Deacon agreed "much as I trust your judgment, I'd rather not have Matthew out with some kid or kids parents I've never met"

"Aww" Matthew sighed 

"It's not a no though, I just wanna meet Eddie" Deacon quickly added "and I'm sure Eddie will probably wanna meet me"

"Exactly" Street nodded 

It wasn't rare to see Jay in the ED

Sometimes it was for a injury and sometimes it was to see his brother

It varied on the day

"Detective Halstead" Connor greeted "don't tell me, you were stabbed?"

Jay, who was sitting back in the hospital bed, gave him a look

"Are we sure I'm the detective?" Jay quipped, pressing a bit harder on his bleeding shoulder "Cause I would've never guessed I'd been stabbed"

"Someone here with you?" Connor asked, moving Jay's hand to look at the wound

"Ruzek drove me, he's parking the truck" Jay informed, grimacing as Connor peeled back his shirt sleeve

"Doesn't look too deep, I'm gonna clean it and cover it, then you'll be good to go" Connor assured "your brother know your here?"

"Not yet" Jay shook his head "not really my first insinct to call him when I'm hurt"

"Maybe it should be, he'll find out anyway, you know that" Connor reminded "I can call him, if you want"

"Not yet, after you get this stitched up, I'll see him before I leave" Jay responded "why are you in the ED?"

"They needed an extra set of hands, doctor Riley called in today" Connor explained "I was off but I dropped Will off and Maggie asked if I'd stick around"

"Hope you didn't have any plans" 

"Wait for your brother to get off shift" Connor shrugged "nothing other than that, and I was supposed to get lunch with my dad so this gave me a good excuse to ditch him"

"Nice" Jay smirked

Connor smiled back 

"Alright, I just gotta cover it now" Connor announced just as Adam walked in

"All good?" Adam checked

"Just gotta get bandaged up" Jay told him "and say hi to Will, then I'm good"

"Cool" Adam gave him a thumbs up before sotting in the chair near the door "Well we're all done with work for the day, you going to Molly's with the rest of us?"

"No, we're doing a group call in a bit, soon as Will and Peter get off work" Jay told him 

"Any specific reason for calling a meeting?" Connor asked 

"Not sure, Street called it though so probably something to do with either Christopher, Matthew, Samuel, Lila, or Victoria" Jay guessed "usually the main reason he want to do a group call nowadays"

"Oh, cause you don't do the same thing after an interaction with Vanessa or Jordan" Adam rolled his eyes "or my nephew or Mac"

"You got me, I ramble about every child I hang out with" Jay retorted "you know what, Peter does the same thing when he sees Boden or Herman's kids"

"Doesn't Jackson do it too?" Connir recalled "you all do"

"When we first met, you said you didn't like kids" Adam remembered "yet, your Makaylas favorite uncle"

"Can't help it if I'm fun" Jay teased "and when we met like six years ago, I've changed"

"Not by much" Adam shook his head

"Fuck you" Jay retorted

Adam just flipped him off in response

Connor walked out of the small treatment room and almost ran right into Will

"Hey, my shift just got done" Will told him "how much longer you got?"

"I got an hour, but you might wanna stuck around a few more minutes" Connor responded, nodding towards the room behind him

Will gave him a confused look before looking into the room and sighing

"He okay?" Will asked

"He's fine, shallow stab wound, doesn't even need stitches" Connor assured "he's gonna finish his IV then he's heading out"

"Alright" Will muttered "thanks Connor"

"Of course" Connor smiled "I gotta check on a patient, text me when you leave"

"Will do" Will promised 

Connor gave him a quick peck on the lips before walking away

Will walked into the room and glared at Jay

"Heyyyy... Will.." Jay greeted "how you doin'?"

"Can you... tell me when you're hurt?" Will countered "whether you need medical treatment or not?"

"Sorry, I was gonna text you but I figured I'd get it taken care of first, I'm fine" Jay assured "Connor cleaned and covered it, and put me on a fuckin' IV just cause, but I'm good"

"I know you are but I'd like if you could tell me when you're coming in for even the smallest thing" Will reasoned "just so I know before hand"

"I'll try to remember that next time" Jay promised

"I'll hold him to it" Adam added from his spot in the corner, startling Will "sorry"

"Yeah, and I'll get the rest of intelligence on it too" Will nodded

"Will, dont" Jay shook his head "if you talk to them, they will never stop teasing me about it, I'll text you if and when I'm coming in"

"You better, or I will talk to them" Will warned "I'm just got off work, I'll wait with you until your IV is done"

"You really don't have to-"

"Thanks Will, I should get going then, Mak wanted me to be there for tonight's sleepover with her friends" Adam cut him off "wouldn't wanna let her down"

"Go ahead then, I'll drive him home" Will responded 

"Cool, see you tomorrow Jay" Adam added before walking out

Jay sighed dramatically and laid back on the bed, hoping his IV finished quickly

"Annie is great, she's a great mom and she's a great friend but if she buys them any more blocks, I think I'm gonna lose it" Street ranted "to the ceiling, we built it to the ceiling!"

"Don't know why you're complaining, that sounds like a blast" Jackson retorted

"No, cause I had to be very specific- they drew blueprints for the fucking tower!" Street exclaimed "actual blueprints and if I went to put a block in the wrong spot, Samuel threw a different block at me!"

"Oh no, a four year old threw some blocks at you" Jay snickered

"Actually, he has a point, four years olds can throw pretty hard" Buck defended

"Yeah, Owen didn't like me so he threw some toys at me, everyone at work thought I got into a fight" Will added 

"Exactly!" Street agreed "I have bruises- and he knew what he was doing cause it was only ever when Deacon wasn't in the room, I tried telling Deacon but he and Matthew denied it, how are children such good liars?"

"And What'd Deacon say to you?" Buck questioned 

"He just laughed!" Street told him "he thought I was being ridiculous, I've met criminals that were worse at lying than these two little kids"

"You haven't been teaching them, have you?" Jay teased a bit 

"So it could come back and bite me in the ass, no" Street shook his head "anyway, we finished the tower"

"How'd it turn out?" Peter asked

"Well it reaches the ceiling, like Sammy wanted, and it has a very specific pattern of colors, like Matthew wanted, so I think it's good" Street responded "Oh, and Christopher met Matthew at school today"

"Oh?" Will prompted "How'd that go?"

"Chris is excited to hang out with him again, it helps that Street knows him and his dad" Buck answered "he wants to invite Matthew over but Eddie wants to meant Deacon first, so do I"

"Didn't you just say that it helps that Streets knows both sides already?" Peter questioned 

"Well yeah, that just makes it so Eddie and Deacon are more likely to let Christopher go to Matthews or Matthew go to Christopher's, doesn't mean they wouldn't wanna meet" Street explained "they may trust my judgment but they're gonna want their own personal judgment too, considering they're their kids"

"Exactly, I've met Deacon already but Eddie hasn't and while Eddie believes that Deacons alright, he wants to see for himself" Buck added 

"Same with Deacon" Street nodded 

"Makes sense" Peter shrugged 

"But it'll be a bit easier for them to trust each other with Street vouging for them to eachother" Buck continued "so, actually, I was hoping that maybe you, Street, could see if Deacon would wanna join the next family dinner at Bobby and Athenas?"

"I can ask, he'd wanna bring Annie and Matthew at least too though" Street reminded 

"Oh, yeah, of course, I already talked to Bobby about it, he talked to Athena, they said it's cool" Buck assured "they can bring the other kids too, Lila is close to May's age, Samuel isn't that much older than Jee-yun, Victoria is walking and talking so she could go along with them too" 

"I'll ask Deacon tomorrow" Street promised "fuck- stupid table- I'll be right back, someone's at my door"

"It's one am?" 

"I know, hang on" Street responded, they could hear the familiar beeping of a gun safe a second later

"Who do you think it is?" Jay asked everyone, listening to Streets footsteps

"Hopefully no one bad" Will responded "now sshhhh"

Everyone stayed silent after that, trying to hear if something was wrong

"All good, just a neighbor asking me to be quiet" Street announced coming back in "It's actually pretty late and I gotta work in the morning, so I'm gonna go"

"I should too, before Will notices the time and knocks me out" Jay joked "night guys"

"Night" Peter and Jackson echoed

"Night Jay" Street added

"Talk to you tomorrow" Buck promised

Jay and Street hung up after that

The others all slowly left the call too

It was about 3am by the time Buck and Peter hung up

Chapter Text

Oliver's house was clear, no signs of him or Zachary there, and nothing to suggest he had anything to do with anything

Street and Hondo grabbed Chris, Tan, Deacon, and Stevens -cause Luca was at the safe house with Buck and Jackson- and headed to the airport to wait for Oliver's plane to land

They were in pairs, Street with Hondo, Chris and Deacon, and Stevens with Tan

"What's our main target here?" Chris asked "Oliver or Peter?"

"Peter take priority, get him first, then Oliver" Hondo ordered "once we can ensure Peter's safety, then we can move in on Oliver"

"Shouldn't Oliver be the higher priority?" Chris questioned "since he's our only lead to Zachary?"

"Peter isn't even supposed to be anywhere near this, we get him out first" Street argued 

"Better yet, Chris, Deac, Tan, and Stevens you guys focus on Oliver, make sure he doesn't get away, we'll get Peter" Hondo decided

"Copy that, we got paramedics on standby" Tan informed "Wilson and Han are ready when we need them"

"Did you just say Wilson and Han?" Street checked "from the one-eighteen?"

"Yeah, why?" Tan asked

"No reason, they just work with Buck" Street shrugged 

"So we trust them?" Tan guessed

""Yeah, completely" Street confirmed 

Hondo was slightly more comfortable knowing Streets friend would be with paramedics he trusted completely, he knew it helped Street to know this as well

Another 30 minutes until the plane landed 

Everyone was spread out, at least one of them should be able to see Peter or Oliver

Things like this aren't usually SWATs area but they made an exception

Honestly, Street was gonna be here whether they liked it or not so it might as well be his team that backs him up 

"Maybe we should've grabbed more officers" Tan spoke up "more people to cover the exits"

"That's not a terrible idea" Hondo agreed "but this is an in-house case, not a lot if people would help without knowing the details"

Street was thinking for a second before he added

"What about some of the officers at mid-whilshire?" He suggested "they're close and we can trust them to keep it to themselves, ask for a few specific officers... I still have the watch commanders number"

Hondo seemed to think about it before nodding 

"Call him, get whoever, we'll fill them in"

Street nodded and got his phone out, dialing Sergeant Grey's number quickly

"Sergeant Grey"

"Hey Sergeant, it's officer Street" Street responded "hope you're not busy, we could use your help"

"What do you need?" Grey asked

"Detectives Lopez and Harper, Sergeant Bradford, officers Chen and Nolan, and you, in the next ten minutes preferably" Street listed "We're at the airport, on the east side"

"I'll round them up" Grey promised "We'll be there in five"

Grey hung up after that

"They coming?" Hondo checked

"Yeah, they're on their way, it's only six more people but it's better than nothing" Street shrugged "Technically two of them are detectives but they're two of the most badass people I've ever met"

"You say we can trust them then we can, that's all I need" Hondo responded "but I better be up on that list of badasses"

"You're number five" Street told him "but considering how long that list is, that's pretty good"

"I'll take it"

5 minutes later

Street spotted Grey and the others immediately 

They spotted them even faster and easily made their way over

"Street" Angela greeted "was starting starting think we'd never hear from you again, you promised to call"

"Sorry, been busy" Street apologized 

"Sorry, we don't really got time for pleasantries" Hondo cut in "Sergeant Harrelson, SWAT"

"Sergeant Grey, midwhilshire, how can we help?" Grey asked

"Not really enough time to fill you in on all the details but basic info, this guy" Street showed them all a picture of Olvier "is working with a guy that had a stupid grudge with me, he took one of my friends from Chicago and they're on their way here"

"This have anything to do with the package situation?" Grey guessed as Street showed them a picture of Peter

"Yeah, the guy Oliver is working with is the one sending them" Street confirmed "main priority is getting Peter back"

"You ask me, I still think main priority should be arresting Oliver" Chris cut in through the radio

"No one asked you" Tan retorted

"Ignore them,  main priority is Peter" Hondo chimed in "ours is anyway, Chris, Tan, Deacon, and Stevens is getting Oliver"

"If it's alright, I'd like to be on that side too" Angela responded 

"Me too" Nolan added

"Count me in on that" Chen continued

"Hold on, it's not our call" Grey cut them off

"Some of them should be on Oliver" Hondo agreed before looking g at Street "you know them, who do you think should stay on Oliver?"

"Sergeant Bradford, Detective Lopez, officer Chen, Detective Harper should stay on Oliver" Street listed 

"Why not me?" Nolan asked

"Sergeant Bradford's the fastest and fights the best, Chen would have an easier time getting through a crowd, and I was thinking maybe Detective Lopez could find a good spot-"

"In case worse comes to worse and you need someone to take out Oliver" Angela finished for him

"Why don't we have Chris do that?" Hondo questioned 

"Angela has slightly better aim in a crowded area" Street reasoned "and Detective Harper is good at blending in in case we need someone to tail him if we don't get Peter"

"Makes sense" Nolan nodded

"Shouldn't you have already known all that?" Hondo asked him

"Uh actually, believe it or not, he's been on the job longer than I have" Nolan corrected "I've got three years"

"And he has six" Hondo nodded with realization 

"Exactly" 

"Alright, where do you want us?" Grey asked

"Bradford and Chen, I want you two on the ground with us, not too close though" Hondo started "Lopez, wherever you think you'd have the best shot, Harper, you find somewhere casual, anyone else would be there, you don't look like you could even know us"

"Copy that" Bradford nodded, motioning for Chen to follow him away

"I'd recommend up there in that area" Street added, looking in a spot above them "its got a pretty clear view of everything, you'd be pretty hidden"

Lopez looked at where he was pointing and nodded in agreement

"I'll check it out" she responded before walking off

Harper didn't say anything, just walking off in the opposite direction 

Hondo almost questioned it but decided not to when Street didn't react

"You two can probably go over to that side, if you have an opportunity to get Peter without any harm, go for it"  Hondo told Grey and Nolan

"Oh, and another thing" Street stopped them "We're pretty sure he was drugged, not sure what with yet but he was pretty out of it on the video, so be careful"

"Will do" Nolan promised "do we need paramedics on standby, I can call-"

"We got some already" Hondo cut him off "thanks"

Nolan nodded before he and Grey made their way towards the other side

"We got ten minutes before they land" Hondo announced 

"Alright then we got the time, so I'll ask" Lucy started "Where's Jackson?"

"At a safe house" Street answered 

"Why's he at a safe house?" 

"To stay safe" Chris responded before Street could "That's the point, dumbass"

"Chris!" Hondo chastised 

"He's at a safe house cause of this case, Zachary's been following me for... who fucking knows how long and he started following Jackson and some of our other friends too" Street explained "he's not there by himself obviously, he's with our friend Evan Buckley from the one-eighteen and Luca"

"So you're a target?" Tim cut in "why are you here then, shouldn't you be with Jackson?"

"That's a shockingly good point" Chris agreed 

"Chris" Hondo warned again

"I promised my best friend I'd get Peter back" Street told him "no way in hell was I sitting this out, not again"

"Again?" Angela echoed

"Ignore that" Street shook his head "bottom line, whether I came here with twenty-squad or not, I was coming here"

"Figured it'd be better if he had the right backup" Hondo added 

"You could've told him to stay put" Tim reminded

"Hate to break it to you, I wouldn't have listened" Street reasoned "even if it got me fired.. again.. I would've gotten here to help Peter"

"You do know that if you got fired again, the odds of you getting another chance would've been pretty slim" Tim argued 

"My friend is in harms way because of me, I wouldn't have cared about anything until I knew he was safe" Street retorted "I'm not gonna care about anything til I know he's safe"

"And honestly, Tim, you would do the same thing" Angela added "You can hardly blame him for being ready to ignore the rules for his friend"

"And I wasn't about to tell him to sit this one out" Hondo continued "his friend, his call, he's making more of the decisions today"

"Which I think is a bit backwards" Chris muttered

"Officer Alonso, if I need your input or opinion, I will ask for it" Hondo snapped "until then, focus on your job"

"Back to my original question, if Streets a target, how do we know this isn't a trap Oliver knew he'd fall for?" Tim finished

"We have no reason to believe its a trap, we have Oliver on camera and proof he bought a ticket for this flight" Hondo responded 

"Do you have reason to believe he actually got on the plane?" Nolan cut in

...

"I'll call Luca" Hondo decided, getting his phone out

"I'll call Jay" Street added

"Do you got him?" Jay asked as soon as he answered

"Not yet, we might need intelligence to go to the airport Oliver was, Luca checking to see if they actually got on the plane" Street explained "just hold on a sec"

"Street-"

"Jay, if they got on the plane, we will be on them and have Peter back before they can say 'fuck you' but we need to make sure they're on the plane first cause if they aren't, then we're wasting our time here when we should be back at the house, looking for Zachary" Street cut him off "we just gotta know first, which we are checking right now, if they aren't on there, you guys are gonna have to search for Oliver in chicago" 

Jay didn't respond so Street just waited for Hondo to let him know what was going on

Street couldn't hear the conversation but he could tell when Luca told Hondo what was in the footage cause of the way he sighed -you know what I'm talking about-

Hondo was quick to finish the conversation and hang up, walking closer to Street again 

"What's wrong?"

"Oliver is on the plane" Hondo told him 

"That's good-" Nolan tried

"Peter wasn't with him" Hondo interrupted 

Street was confused for a millisecond before it clicked at what Hondo was insinuating 

"No" Street shook his head "no- he's not- he.."

"We don't have him leaving with Peter at any point between believing the ticket and getting on the plane, so Peter might still be at the airport" Hondo informed "but we're not sure.."

Street snapped put of whatever downspiral was in his head, bringing his phone back to his ear

"Jay, you and the team needs to get to the airport, get paramedics on standby, he's not with Oliver" Street quickly explained "he's still at the airport, but you've gotta be fast"

"Guys, Let's go!" Jay called to what Street can only assume was the team "Will, you too, we need all eyes on deck here"

Jay hung up before Street could say anything else so he just put his phone back in his pocket

"Now's the part where I say you gotta sit this out" Hondo started "well get Oliver, Tan will take you back to the safe house"

Tan alerted that he was on his way

"Oh, cause his friend won't be here, we're gonna be two guys short" Chris mumbled "course"

"I'd rather be two guys short than have one guy overly distracted" Hondo retorted "we don't need twelve people for one guy, we can roll with ten"

"Street" Angela called through the radio "let us know when they find Peter"

Street nodded but didn't say anything, he knew Angela saw it anyway

"I'll see you in a bit" Hondo promised as Tan walked up "you know where it is?"

"Yeah, Luca told me" Tan nodded "lets go"

Street followed Tan out to the car, going on autopilot 

Once Tan was driving, his brain caught up with the situation 

"Jackson's gonna be so pissed" Street muttered "so is Jay if.."

"You think they'll blame you?" Tan questioned 

"They wouldn't be in this situation if it weren't for me-"

"Zachary Coleman put all of you in this situation" Tan cut him off "Oliver Hale put you in this situation, all of you, not just Jay or Jackson or Will, all of you and that's not on you"

"Zachary wouldn't be so pissed if I didn't-"

"Defend your friends?" Tan finished for him "protect your friends- he threw the first punch, if he hadn't beat the hell out of Jay that day, you wouldn't have retaliated"

"More violence wasn't the answer" 

"No, but you were fourteen and just saw your best friend be put in the hospital by this prick, you were pissed, I probably would've done the same thing!" Tan reasoned "even if you hadn't beat him up just as bad, he still would've tried to find another grudge to hold on to, be happy he didn't send bombs in those packages"

"Kinda wish it would've been a bomb" 

"Don't say that, no you dont" Tan shook his head "if it had been, all of you would've been dead and-"

Tan was cut off by another car ramming into theirs, hitting them head on

Street would've stayed conscious the whole time but whoever it was, backed up and hit them again before speeding off

The second hit was when it all faded to black

Chapter Text

Okay so when I started this book, I was majorly hyprlerfixated on all these shows, still am but I've fallen out of writing them a bit

I know I was supposed to post today but I couldn't get myself to write the next chapter

Because of that, amd other things coming up, I'm gonna put this book on hold for at least a few weeks

Just a few weeks, I'm not done writing it entirely 

I still plan plan finish it at some point but it's gonna be awhile

Sorry if this disappoints or upsets anyone

I'll post another note when I'm gonna start posting this again 

If anyone also reads any of my other books, I'm still gonna post in those as frequently as possible, and the adopted AU is still getting updated on a regular basis

So sorry, hope you've enjoyed so far!

I'll see you in a few weeks!

:D

Chapter Text

Soo.... 

I reread this book a few times and I kinda fucking hate it now

Like I was so close to deleting it

So I'm gonna start it over, a separate book completely 

I'm not sure when it'll be out but I already have some different ideas for it

But along with that there will be other changes

One or two characters will be changed out, based on hyperfixation and favorites

There will be some backstory changes, again, based on the characters and what makes more sense for what

And lastly, there might end up being an added character too, making it 8 instead of 7

Maybe

I'm undecided on that last part

I'll figure it out when I get there

If anyone wants me to keep this book up anyway, incompleted, let me know

Otherwise... I might take it down

Again, undecided

That's it

Buh-bye!!