explosion (jay halstead / one chicago)

chapter 32

jay's pov

I got out of the car with Liz when I dropped her off and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss me goodbye before she walked over to Silvio. With a smile, I waved at him as I got back into the driver's seat, and he returned it. Quite some time had passed since the two of them started at the academy. This had become our routine on most days.

Liz and Silvio had clicked immediately, and they spent a lot of time studying and preparing for tests together when they weren't at the academy. Silvio was a really nice guy. Liz had introduced us almost immediately on some stormy Chicago evening when I picked her up. Following that, Silvio had become a solid part of our friend group and often hung out with us at Molly's.

I was glad Liz found such a good friend among her classmates. I had never doubted she would easily make friends there, but I knew how nervous she still got about such things. From all I heard, the two of them were doing great at the academy, and as far as Liz told me, the bullying had stopped as well, once those idiots realized she wasn't up for their stupid jokes.

When I walked into the district that morning, I couldn't help but smile at the thought that in just a few weeks' time, my girlfriend would be walking these floors, in a police uniform, reporting to her sergeant at this desk and going on patrol with Burgess. Oh, right, I forgot to mention that – it wasn't official yet and we all agreed on not telling Liz until it was, but Kim filled in her FTO paperwork. If everything went right, she would be riding with Liz as her field training officer.

"What's up, Jay!" I fist bumped Adam as I passed him among entering the bullpen. "I heard there's a discount at Molly's tonight, you coming?" he asked. I quickly thought about it, then nodded. Liz had an important test tomorrow, so her and Silvio were probably going to study in the evening anyway. They could use some time without distraction, and the prospect of spending the night alone at my place wasn't too thrilling. "Sure," I agreed, and Adam turned towards Erin and Antonio, clapping his hands triumphantly. "See, not everyone here is fucking boring like you guys."

"I told you there are family obligations," I heard Antonio complain, but his words barely got through to me as my eyes fell on the investigation board in the corner of the room, and a particular name and photo stuck to it. This couldn't be true. For a moment, I was unable to move and just stared at the pretty blonde woman with piercing blue eyes in the picture. Then I took a deep breath and rushed into Voight's office, knocking on my way in but not waiting for an answer.

I closed the door behind me and took a seat opposite my sergeant. We stared at each other for a few seconds while I carefully considered my next step. It wasn't necessarily my thing to think much before I spoke, but I knew that this was a tricky situation, and whatever it was about, Voight would take every word and every impulsive reaction of mine into account when deciding how to proceed.

"I thought Narcotics were taking the case," I finally said. Voight nodded, never taking his eyes off me. "They were," he replied. "Until the officer they had undercover mysteriously disappeared." It took a moment for me to fully understand what he meant, and a lot of emotions boiled up inside of me as I ran a hand over my face. "You saying they killed a cop?"

Voight nodded again. "You know best what Sienna Evans and the people she's surrounded by are capable of," he noted. Then he got up and took a step towards me while I looked down, trying to sort out my messy state of mind. "There isn't much of a case as long as we don't find that cop, but the commander wants Intelligence to take over," my sergeant informed me. I lifted my head up to meet his gaze. I knew what was coming next. "Jay, if you want to sit this one out..."

I didn't let him finish. "I'm fine, Sarge," I protested. "As you said, I probably know these people better than anyone else. You need me." Voight observed me with his most intense gaze for a moment, and I was almost certain he was going to send me home. "Hmm," he then agreed. "It's your call. But if it doesn't work," he pointed his finger at me, "you're out. You understand?" I nodded. I knew he was taking a high risk letting me stay in the first place. I was in no position to ask for more.