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Chapter Text

Jay woke up disoriented in a dark, crusty basement. He had no recollection of how or when he got there. All he remembered was Voight telling him to cover the back of a suspected drug den and let him know whether or not it was clear. After that it all went dark.

He awoke to his hands bound together with pieces of old rope and was chained to a weathered pipe. His vision was slightly blurred.

‘Probably a concussion’, he thought.

The unit had been investigating a low-level gang for the past two weeks who were dealing deadly cocaine on the south side of Chicago. Evidence piled up revealing that this gang, El Lobo, was lacing the cocaine they were dealing with fentanyl causing mass overdoses.

Their target audience being teenagers.

Teenagers were dying all over Chicago and Intelligence were at its wits end.

Antonio came up with the idea to put all El Lobo’s places to deal on a map to see whether they could make any connections.

Jay found a lead.

He saw that on the map there was an almost spider web-type shape forming. He concluded that spiders always start in the middle of their web and work their way around to make their web bigger. By zooming further into the map, he found the centre of the 'web' where the headquarters of the gang could be. Jay then found out that the property belonged to El Viento’s leader, Caleb Lopez.

He got a warrant signed off by a judge and took his unit to the suspected drug house.

This is when everything went sideways.

“Halstead, cover the back. We’ll all take the front.” barked Sergeant Voight.

With an affirmative nod, Jay sleuthed around to the back of the house.

Normally, in this situation, everyone has a partner to cover their six. If something goes wrong your partner is there to back you up.

In this incident, Voight thought Jay was capable enough to clear the back of the house on his own. After all, Jay was a former Army Ranger.

Little did he know, this mistake could cost him his best detective.

Chapter Text

Antonio, Hailey and Voight approached the front of the house. Kevin and Adam approached the side.
This house was on a really nice street, one you wouldn’t think could house a drug den. Like the other houses on the street, this house had a cosy porch with a porch swing. A swing that belonged to grandmas and grandpas not the leader of a gang. The exterior looked as though it was recently painted, and it glistened in the Chicago sun. There was no air of danger here.

If it weren’t for Jay’s lead, this would be the last place the unit would raid.

“Chicago PD!”, yelled Antonio.

With one swing of the battering ram, the door easily swung open.

“Clear!”, shouted Adam.

“Clear!” Hailey shouted.

The house was as nice on the inside as it was on the outside. To anyone else, this would seem like a normal house ready to be put on the market. But something didn’t sit right with Voight.

“Atwater and Ruzek, check upstairs.”, Voight ordered

After a minute Voight heard something back.

“Hey Boss, you need to see this.” Adam called out

The next floor was a converted factory. It was almost as if they had stepped into an alternate universe compared to downstairs. Tables upon tables of workstations to lace cocaine with fentanyl. At least 20 bags of fentanyl stacked up against the walls. This wasn’t one small out of hand operation. This was a mass production designed to kill. Voight had never seen anything like it. This was supposed to be a low level gang, easy to find, not too bright in the head. Not like a chameleon, blending in to be unnoticed by the outside.

Kevin, Adam and Voight were soon joined by Hailey and Antonio upstairs. Although both Upton and Dawson had put on their stoic mask, everyone else in the room could see how shocked they were.

Something else wasn’t right though.

“Where’s Jay?” asked Antonio
This was when the unit realised, they hadn’t heard a peep from Jay.

Antonio and Hailey rushed downstairs to the back of the house. All the worst case scenarios rushed through Hailey’s head.
Was he shot? Did someone take him? Did he have a surprise heart attack and died straight away? Was it a mistake not to argue against Voight and let her have her partner’s back? Is she the worst partner in the world?
All these questions hit her like a truck.

Antonio was the one to pull her out of her head with just two words.
“He’s gone.”

Chapter Text

Voight was reeling.

How could this have happened? How could he have been so careless? How could he let his best detective get taken under his watch? He put him in that position, vulnerable and alone. He was the one who didn’t listen to his gut.

Now it was up to him to get Jay back.

Alive.

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The first thing Jay noticed was that his head was pounding. Although he felt that he’d already thought that before. The second thing he noticed was that he was alone.

Alone in God knows where, grabbed by God knows who.

All he remembered was clearing the back of Caleb Lopez’s property.

Just then, the door to the dingy basement creaked open, a sliver of light shined through the crack of the door. Then the sound of a deep, vaguely familiar voice echoed through.

“No not yet you idiot, I don’t want him to recognise me just yet. I still have plans for pretty boy. Plans that require patience. After all he’s done to me, he needs to suffer. Now shut the door!”

That voice. It was a voice Jay knew but couldn’t put a face to. That was going to annoy him for however long he’s stuck down here. What had he done to piss this person off for so long? Jay guessed that this man was from quite far back in his past hence why he is having trouble recognising his voice. Maybe when he sees his face, he’ll know who it is.

Now he knows his kidnapping isn’t a one-man job. One person was getting yelled at and one man was doing the yelling.

‘I wonder if there are any more men behind that door that want to kill me’ he thought.

God his head hurts.

‘too much thinking’

Jay has had many concussions before, but he doesn’t remember them hurting this much. His head isn’t the only thing that’s hurting. His shoulders were starting to ache from being bound behind him for so long and his legs were going numb from being in a sitting position resembling an uncomfortable yoga pose.

He had the feeling that this wasn’t going to be the only pain he’d experience. It was a waiting game now.

He hopes his unit comes to get him quickly before it’s too late.

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Intelligence – 20 minutes after they realised Jay was missing

Voight rushed into the bullpen bellowing out orders.

“Atwater and Ruzek, I want POD footage from around the area Jay was taken and I want it NOW. Upton, grab Burgess and canvas the area. Talk to people in and around the neighbourhood; see if they have anything to say about that factory of a house. Antonio, you and me are gonna talk to that CI of yours, Eddy. You said he has an in with the gang. Maybe he has something that will help us get Jay back in one piece.”

“Hank, take a minute, will ya.” Trudy said gently, appearing from the top of the stairs.

Voight just gave Trudy a stone cold glare and bolted straight to his office slamming the door shut.
Trudy followed close behind only to have the door slammed into her face. Opening the door tenderly, she found Hank scrambling to get his things to leave with Antonio. The last time she had seen him in this state was when Olinsky died. The worry she was hiding instantly became unveiled.

“Hank, I don’t know what went down but I do know that none of this is on you.”

“It is.” Hank said, dejectedly. “It is on me. I set him up. But I don’t have time to talk to you now, I need to go get Jay back.”

With that, he was out the door.

Trudy remained frozen in his office. She knew that Hank thought of Jay as his son. Maybe even used Jay to fill the hole in his heart left from when Justin passed. She knew that he wouldn't stop looking until he found Jay dead or alive. Whatever was going on in his head could be dealt with later. Right now, they needed to focus on getting Chuckles back home.

Chapter Text

Jay opened his eyes to the same voice as before though he doesn’t remember closing his eyes. That voice. Ugh, why can’t he remember that voice. The familiarity is still present.

Heavy booted footsteps approach where he was perched on the floor.

“Well, hello pretty boy, welcome back to the land of the living.” Mystery Man sneers. He then turns to a man Jay thinks is his partner. “Petey must have hit that delicate head of yours quite hard. Tire irons can do a lot of damage.”

So that’s why his head hurt that much. A frickin tire iron to the back of the head.

“Hopefully not another TBI” Jay thought to himself.

Jay still couldn’t recognise this man. To be fair to him, he can’t really see much. The majority of his vision is a kaleidoscope of blur. Although not all sight is lost.

Mystery Man danced in his vision. What Jay could make out about this man was that he was a tall, muscular hispanic dude. He had hair darker than Jay’s and was clean shaven. Not much for Jay to go on. He knew many men that fit Mystery Man’s description.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” Mystery Man teased

“Well I can’t really see you properly” Jay bit out

Mystery Man drew nearer.

There was something military about the way Mystery Man held himself. Shoulders back, head held high, posture as straight as an arrow.

As Mystery Man edged nearer towards the detective, Jay got a better look at his eyes.

Mystery Man’s eyes were dark, malice shone brightly in them.

Suddenly realisation dawned on Jay.

These were the same eyes Jay had to look into 15 years ago to tell them that his brother was no more. That his brother fought for his life to withstand the torture, the waterboarding, the psychological damage. That Jay was with him when he took his last breath.

These were the eyes of Javiar Nuñez, the brother to Jose Nuñez. The soldier that was grabbed with Jay when they were POW’s in the Korengal Valley. The soldier that withstood the torture until he eventually succumbed to it.

The man - no boy, who lost his life when it should’ve been Jay.

Chapter Text

Previously…

“Mystery Man’s eyes were dark, malice shone brightly in them.

Suddenly realisation dawned on Jay.

These were the same eyes Jay had looked into 15 years ago to tell them that his brother was no more. That his brother fought for his life to survive the torture, the waterboarding, the psychological damage. That Jay was with him when he took his last breath.

These were the eyes of Javiar Nuñez, the brother to Jose Nuñez. The soldier that was grabbed with Jay when they were POW’s in the Korengal Valley. The soldier that withstood the torture until he eventually succumbed to it.

The man - no boy, who lost his life when it should’ve been Jay.”
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Jay’s eyes widened with recognition.

“Ahhh, you remember. I mean, how could you forget the brother of the man you killed” the newly named Javier cackled.

Jay visibly tensed.

Javier was also a soldier. He was the older brother to Jose. The whole reason Jose became a soldier was to follow in his brother’s footsteps and make him proud.

Jay had kept tabs on Javier ever since the funeral of his younger brother. He wanted to make sure he was ok. Losing a brother is a pain that Jay will hopefully never experience. He couldn’t imagine what life would be like without Will.

Will was Jay’s crutch and Jay was Will’s crutch. They were a package deal. Of course, things had been rocky between them, but they got through the rough patches and are now closer than ever. They both make sure to plan time just for them around their busy schedules to wind down and unload the weight that both of their jobs make them carry. It’s special and it’s just for them.

Javier lost his ‘Will’.

Jay had learned that not even 6 months after Jose’s funeral, Javier had been dishonourably discharged from the army for reasons unknown to Jay.

Jay had his mother to worry about around this time. All his focus needed to be on her, in her last days. Not to mention that he was also recovering from his injuries that he sustained while being a POW.

He never got round to digging deeper into the enigma that was Javier Nuñez.

Jay could only guess that the profound loss that Javier experienced tipped him over the edge, forcing the army to let him go.

But why the dishonourable discharge?

That was the thing Jay never understood nor did he look into out of respect for Javier.

He had lost his brother. Jay wouldn’t be able to function let alone continue to serve if he lost Will.

“I didn’t kill Jose.” Jay mumbled

There was so much more that he wanted to say. He just couldn’t. The main reason being that most of it was classified and the other being that he didn’t want to relive the trauma from back then. He had worked so hard to box it up and shove it as far back into his mind as he could.

Javier Nuñez wasn’t going to ruin that. Not on Jay’s watch.

“You could’ve stopped them from torturing him. All you needed to do was talk. He was your subordinate, it’s your job to look out for him. You failed him.” Javier snarled

Jay stayed quiet. He didn’t have the energy to argue with him about what happened 15 years ago. Or maybe it was that he felt Javier was right.

The truth was that Jay was superior to Jose. They were both grabbed together at the same time. Jay did all he could to keep Javier’s little brother with him for as long as possible but there were things Javier didn’t know about what went down. It was better that he lived in the ignorance.

At least that’s what Jay thought at the time.

Javier reached his gloved hand into his pocket. Jay, expecting a gun, subtly tensed. Instead of a gun, Javier pulled out a small, slender rodlike instrument Jay knows and fears so well.

A needle.

“Enough of our squabbling, there’ll be time for that later. I’m going to untie you and you aren’t going to put up a fight. If you do, Petey will shoot you so fast you won’t even realise it until you end up in Hell.” Javier said spitefully.

All too quickly, Jay felt cool metal rest at the back of his head.

Javier continued his little dialogue.

“I want you to take this syringe and inject it into your arm.”

“No way! I don’t even know what’s in there” Jay shouted with newfound energy.

“It’s my own special concoction. That’s all you need to know.”

“I’m not putting that in my body. You can’t make me.”

Jay knew that was a weak argument but honestly, his head hurt so much he couldn’t think straight.

Jay had already gone through this once in the Korengal Valley. Back there they liked to inject random things they whipped up into Jay’s and Jose’s bodies. They liked to see the effect it had on their ‘stolen soldiers’.

“How about I pay that doctor brother of yours a visit. Maybe I’ll send Petey over there to rough him up and drag him back here.” Javier teased in a way that meant business.

“Don’t you dare lay a hand on Will! He’s not involved in this. It’s me you want to torture, not him.” Jay all but yelled. “Just give me the damn syringe”

Javier smirked. “If that’s what you wish.” He handed Jay the syringe and watched with glee as its contents made its way into his arm.

As soon as the syringe was empty, Javier jumped up and made a beeline for the door.

“I’ll be back soon Pretty Boy. Then the real fun will start. This was just the taster into what I have in store for you.”

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Back at the 21st District

“Eddy was a bust” Antonio disappointedly announced to the unit as he walked in. “He said he didn’t know anything, but he did say he’d keep his eyes and ears open.”

Voight stormed into the bullpen. Clearly in a different mood to Antonio. “Have we seriously got nothing!? You’re all elite CPD officers. How could you find nothing?” Hank bellowed.

All the unit could do was stare blankly back at their sergeant. It was true, in all their digging they had come up empty. All POD cameras caught unhelpful angles, and no one has been able to locate members of El Viento. It’s like they dropped off the face of the earth.

Will Halstead bounded up the stairs to the 21st district. It was that time of the week that he and Jay would meet for lunch together. Jay was supposed to meet him back at Med, but he didn’t show.

It’s not the first time Jay’s been late for their lunch together. Sometimes a case would get in the way, and they would either have to reschedule or take a late lunch. Jay would sometimes text Will letting him know if he couldn’t make it but most of the time Jay would get swept up in a case and completely forget.

Will just assumed it was one of those times so he thought he would do what he normally did and make himself at home at Jay’s desk while he waited.

“Hey Sergeant Platt! Could you buzz me up, please?” Will asked politely. Always the gentleman, he liked to say.

“Oh, hey Will. Yeah sure.” Trudy replied, miserably.

‘Huh, that’s odd.’ Will thought. Normally the sergeant is in as high spirits as Trudy Platt can get but right now, she looks downright depressed. Must be a rough day today.

As Will ascended the stairs, he could hear Hank yelling about something.

‘Must really be a tough day then’ Will guessed.

Will reached the top of the stairs unknowingly stealthily as he seemed to shock everyone in the bullpen. He scanned the room for his brother, but Jay was nowhere to be found.

“Um, hey everyone. Where’s Jay? We were supposed to have lunch today, but he never showed.” Will stuttered out, trying to keep the worry from showing in his voice.

“Hi Will.” Hank finally said. “Maybe we should talk in my office”

The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Will, sensing something was up, snapped.

“No! If something’s happened to my brother, I want to know about it right here, right now!”