The Lieutenant's Candidate

Chapter XX

"Okay, Jas, what has been going on with you?" Chase Daniels's voice sounded through Jasmine Medina's apartment as he closed the door behind him.

The woman jumped slightly, turning around to face the man, almost dropping the glass of whiskey she had just poured.

"Chase, hey," Jasmine says, setting down the glass after taking a sip. "What are you  ... what are you talking about?" she asks after taking a moment to process the question.

"You've been different, Jas. Since your injury. Did something happen?" Chase asks, what appeared to be a look of worry on his face.

Jasmine paused for a moment, debating whether she should tell the man about her feelings for Kelly Severide. Or if she should just tell him that she and Kelly were about to sleep together when he barged into her apartment? After a few seconds of questioning what her answer should be, she was interrupted by Chase.

"I had a feeling when I first started that you and Severide were involved," he says and when Jasmine opens her mouth to protest, he cuts her off. "I'm not saying they're true or not but there's tension between the two of you now. And I'm thinking it has something to do with him leaving your apartment that day."

The woman's gaze fell on the honey-brown liquid in her cup as she leaned back against the counter. She was practically caught at this point but she didn't want to verbally confirm that she had been romantically involved with her boss.

"There's nothing going on between me and Lieutenant Severide," Medina denies but her answer was strained, as if it pained her to admit it. Then she tried to figure out how to address the tension that was most definitely present. "I'm sure he's just a little on-edge after my injury. Casey was the same way when Mills got injured."

"Jasmine, I'm not an idiot, come on. Even if you guys aren't involved, there are at least feelings there," Chase says, practically begging with his eyes for the woman to just come clean.

"I don't know what feelings may be on Lieutenant Severide's side, Chase, but I can assure you that I don't have feelings for my lieutenant. If you're just here to accuse me of sleeping with my lieutenant then you can go."

"Jas, I -"

"Please leave, Chase."

Chase stared at the woman for a few seconds before he turned and let himself out. When the door clicked behind him, the woman tightened her grip on her whiskey glass and raised it to her lips, draining the rest of the liquid in one knockback.

Just as she turned to pour herself another glass of whiskey, there was a knock on the door.

"Chase, I swear to -" she starts as she walks over, angrily opening the door only to find Hank Voight standing there. "Sergeant Voight? Sorry, I wasn't expecting you."

"Didn't figure you would be," the older man answers, entering the apartment as Medina stands aside to let the man in. "I don't ask this a lot but I need your help."

Jasmine stares at the man for a moment, leaning against the kitchen counter as Voight stands in the middle of the living room, his presence taking up a lot of space in what now feels like a small apartment.

"I'll see what I can help with," the woman responds, skeptical of how she could help the Intelligence sergeant.

"I need you for an undercover sting," Voight says, cutting right to the point. "Linsday doesn't fit what we're looking for and we need her in the background anyway. You can say no, I know you just got back from medical leave."

"What kind of sting is this?" the woman asks, her skepticism not fading. She had never helped the PD with anything like this. Sure, they worked together when there was something questionable about a fire but working undercover? That was something new.

Voight began to go into detail on how the Intelligence Unit was trying to take down some gangbangers but didn't have enough evidence against them. The plan was to go to a club that the gangbangers frequented and seduce some sort of information out of them. He continued to explain that Linsday was too hot-headed and there was worry that she would rush into getting the information out of them.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You want me to dress up as a hooker and seduce gangbangers to figure out if they murdered some guys?" Jasmine asks, her arms folded over her chest as her eyes remain locked with Voights.

"Yes."

Jasmine didn't say anything as she processed the information that the sergeant had given her.

"Okay, I'm in," she nods, her mind running a mile a minute. Did she have any real idea what this would entail for her? No. Was she entirely confident in her ability to do this? Also no. Was she going to do it anyway? Yes.

"Meet me at the precinct this evening and we'll go over the plan before we send you out," Voight nods, heading over to the door.

"I'm sorry, hold on, I'm doing this tonight?" she asks, her eyes widening. She figured that Voight had come to her at least a few days before she was supposed to be going undercover.

"Is there a problem with that?" Voight asks, raising an eyebrow at the younger woman.

She stares at him once more, her jaw locking slightly. "No, I'll be there."

Voight nods, bidding a silent goodbye to the woman as he exits her apartment, leaving it quiet once more.

Medina sighs, a deep breath pushing its way from her body as she rounds the counter once more to pour herself a glass of whiskey once more. She filled the glass, setting the empty bottle onto the counter before she sighs once more. Her eyes fall shut, her hands gripping the edge of the counter.

She was angry and she wasn't entirely sure why. She wanted to throw something, to break something. And it was unfortunate that the whiskey bottle was empty and right in front of her.

In seconds, Jasmine had grabbed the bottle and thrown it at the apartment door, hearing it shatter against the wood and then fall to the floor.

Her chest was heaving with deep breaths from the rush of adrenaline that she had. She grabbed the glass, downing yet another glass of whiskey before slamming the glass back down on the counter. If she was thinking straight, she would've been worried that the glass would shatter with such force.

As if the day was set to annoy her, there was another knock at the door and she could feel the anger building up in her.

"What?" she exclaims, her hands running through her hair in frustration.

The door pushed open and Gabby Dawson stood there, a mix of confusion and worry on her face.

"Are you okay, Jas?" the woman asks, stepping a single foot in the apartment with her eyes locked on her friend. It was the crunch as her shoe stepped on the glass that drew her attention down to the floor. "What happened?"

"Bottle slipped," Jasmine muttered, a shaky exhale leaving her mouth.

"Jasmine," Gabby begins but stops when she notices the look on her face. The paramedic took a deep breath, taking a wide step over the pool of glass as she headed for what had to be a pantry to her left. She pulls open the door without a word, grabs the broom and dustpan and begins to sweep up the glass.

"Gabby, you don't have to -"

She was interrupted by a shushhing sound coming from the Latina woman. Jasmine, not knowing what else to do, just stood in the kitchen and watched as the woman cleaned up her mess. She felt bad that Gabby had just shown up and had to clean but it was almost like Jasmine was rooted to her spot on the ground.

There was silence in the apartment as Gabby finished cleaning the mess, throwing the shards in the garbage, and then replacing the broom and dustban back in the pantry. When the door to the pantry shut, she turned to face the candidate, no distinguishable look on her face. In a split second, her eyes flickered down to the empty glass on the counter next to Jasmine before returning to the young woman's face.

"Let's go out" was all Gabby said and when Jasmine tried to protest, "we're not discussing this. Let's go."

The candidate stood staring at the woman who then walked over, place a gentle hand on her shoulder, and guided her to the bedroom.

"Let's get you dressed up and we're going shopping or something."

It was only about five in the afternoon, she was set to meet Voight at nine that night.

"I've got ... plans tonight," Jasmine chose her wording carefully. She couldn't afford telling anyone that she would be working undercover. She was unsure what people would say about it.

"We won't be long," Gabby dismisses as she all but pushes Jasmine to sit on the end of her bed before the paramedic turned to ruffle through the closet.

I am really sorry about this chapter lol. I wanted to get something out. I was in a car crash Saturday evening (perfectly fine just a few bruises) and my head is scrambled. Next chapter will hopefully be good lol.