****

"Why would I ever do anything that asshole says?" Jay demanded, trying his best to keep his voice down.

Alyssa watched Jay, but she didn't offer up an answer. Erin observed the scene in front of her, it never struck her that Jay would even know Alyssa, but she figured it made sense he did, seeing that he had been friends with her husband at one point.

"Alyssa?" Jay repeated, softly, watching as the woman's sickly pale face somewhat softened, but her body remained rigid. "Did he mistreat you?"

Erin noticed how Alyssa's body stiffened even more, and her hands shook. She didn't speak, though she looked like she wanted to say something important. She had seen it so many times before, it was part of her job.

"We can help you, Alyssa," Erin offered, her voice gentle. "We're both cops, we can help you get away from him. But we need to know, did he hurt you in any way, physically or emotionally..."

Alyssa's eyes landed on Erin. "He-he did both," she whispered, her voice cracking. "He killed our son, because...because he, he had blue eyes, like you, Jay. Said he reminded him too much of you."

Jay's body stiffened, and it was only because Erin was lying next to him that she felt it. She intertwined her fingers with Jay's, squeezing his hand lovingly, to let him know she was here.

Alyssa looked down at her feet, then finally pushed herself from the door frame. "I don't blame you, Jay," She finally spoke. "I'm just giving you free advice. If you want to protect this family of yours, especially your little girl, then do as Callum says. He's merciless and he won't think twice about hurting your daughter. If he can kill his own flesh and blood, his own son, he can do a lot worse to Sophia." With that, Alyssa walked away.

Jay couldn't breathe, for some reason. He felt his chest tightening, and Erin leaned in to his body, placing her free hand very gingerly over the bandages that covered his burns.

"Babe, hey," she whispered, "hey, Sophia's with Will, Callum can't hurt her. Okay?"

Jay just nodded, but he could feel his heart rate increasing, making it harder for him to breathe normally. Erin sensed it too, and she kissed his cheek. "Jay, just relax, breathe," Erin coaxed, affectionately, "we're gonna get through this, together okay? I've got your back."

Jay nodded again, but he tightened his arm around his girlfriend just to be sure that he really did have her, that this wasn't just some twisted dream.

At that moment, Sophia bounced into the room, Will following right behind. He was carrying a duffle bag. He noticed Jay's tensed body and frowned, wondering if his brother was in pain.

"Jay, you alright?" Will asked, worriedly.

Jay knew what his brother was secretly asking, without Sophia catching on. "I'm good, Will," Jay promised sincerely.

Will nodded, relief flooding through his entire body. He placed the duffle bag on the empty one-seater couch while Sophia climbed back onto the bed, and gently made her way onto Jay's lap, careful not to sit too close to his stomach.

"Daddy, I eated icy-keem," Sophia declared.

"Did you now? Which flavor?" Jay asked, a small smile lighting up his face.

Sophia cocked her head to the side, frowning thoughtfully, her brow scrunched in confusion and she pushed her bangs back. Erin laughed quietly at how full of concentration Sophia looked.

"Uncle Will," Sophia turned her head slightly," which icy-keem taste did I eated?"

"It was strawberry, princess," Will laughed.

Sophia nodded vigorously. "Oh yeah...that." She spun back to look at Jay. "Daddy, I eated starberry icy-keem."

Both Jay and Erin laughed at Sophia's mispronunciation, it was just too cute for words. Jay pulled Sophia a little closer, suddenly remembering Alyssa's cryptic but straightforward message..."If he can kill his own son, he can do a lot worse to Sophia."

"Mommy, you know we saw a flight-bird," Sophia mentioned, looking to Erin as she talked about an airplane. "Uncle Will telled me we can fly in it, is that true?"

"Yeah, Muffin," Erin nodded. "One day, your daddy and I will take you on one, okay?"

Sophia jumped happily in Jay's lap. "Pinky promise, Daddy?" She turned her big blue puppy dog eyes on her father.

Jay chuckled, ruffling her hair lovingly. "I promise, Angel."

Sophia was content with that reply and she gently curled up in Jay's lap, suddenly feeling tired. "Daddy," she said quietly, "when are you leaving the hopital?"

"Don't worry, Princess," Will piped up with a knowing glance in Jay's direction, "your daddy's gonna be out of here by tomorrow evening."

Sophia nodded and yawned, letting out an involuntary squeak as she did so. Within minutes her tiny little snores could be heard, signalling that she was fast asleep.

Will nodded at Jay and Erin. "If you need me, I'll be outside," Will reminded his brother.

"Thanks, Will," Jay replied, not just talking about taking care of him but also for taking care of Sophia when Jay couldn't.

Will smiled and left the room.

Erin snuggled closer to Jay, her hand still resting on his abdomen. Despite the bandages, she could still feel the hard and toned muscles that were his abs.

"There's something you need to know, Er," Jay whispered, stroking Sophia's hair while she slept peacefully.

"Whatever it is, you can trust me, Jay, I got you" Erin reassured him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Callum and I were friends from childhood," Jay started and Erin could practically already hear and feel the pain in his voice, pain that was not from his injuries but from the memory he was most likely reliving as he spoke. "We were brothers, that's how close we became. I was 18 when I lost my mom, she was everything to me. While Will partied, and Dad mostly drank himself to the point where he became abusive, my mom was always there for me. Before she died, I told her I wanted to join the Army, do something worthwhile with my life. She supported me, but Dad didn't, said I was just gonna screw up, like I always did. I never forgot his words, he basically admitted I was a screw-up."

By this point, Erin already had tears in her eyes. How could a father think that of his son! Jay was probably the most amazing man out there, the most moral, most loving, most honest even, and there was no man like him as far as Erin was concerned.

Jay could feel Erin kiss his shoulder, silently urging him to continue, that he had her support no matter what. "When I was deployed to Afghanistan, Callum and I ended up in the same battalion. We recalled all the times we'd played on that barren land, especially after my mom passed. It's those memories he was trying to bring back when he tortured me."

Erin winced at those words, knowing she never wanted to hear them ever again, she'd already heard it in reference to Jay twice and it physically hurt her heart.

"After the first tour, Callum, Mouse and I, along with 8 other men, were tasked with an undercover op, off the records. Callum was the commanding officer, we had to follow his orders. He picked a lot of fights, but I was always able to keep him from doing anything he'd regret. On an op, we were stationed in Kabul, and a kid, not more than 10, Erin...he approached us."

Jay closed his eyes, tears finally falling, his voice breaking and the muscles in his jaw jumping. "I don't know what happened, I just remember Callum pulling out his gun, and telling the kid to get lost or he'd shoot him. I tried to stop him, and the kid just wanted food. Nothing else, he meant no harm. Callum rounded on me, he was angry, nothing like I'd ever seen before. The look in his eye...he was unstable. He would've shot me, but the kid jumped in the way, blocking me. Callum saw that as a threat and he shot the kid point blank in the head. Central mass."

Erin gasped softly, tears streaming down her face. She understood now why Jay was so worked up whenever a case came up involving a dead kid, his mind probably jumped back to that day, when a kid died for him, for someone he didn't know, and that image haunted Jay so much, everyday.

"Callum was discharged, sent to therapy, he came back 2 months later, claiming he'd been cured. Everyone believed him, except me and Mouse. I was commanding officer at that time, and I think Callum resented the fact that I replaced him and gained the respect he never gained, he constantly fought with me. What Alyssa said earlier, she isn't wrong," Jay ended, looking back at the sleeping form of his daughter. "Callum's capable of worse than killing his son."

****

“Hey Princess, I’ve got some good news for you,” Will smiled to his niece who was sitting with Jay and Erin, bored out of her little mind. She had done nothing but talk for the past 3 hours and after some sort of power nap she was finally recharged but with nothing to say.

His niece’s head popped up from where she was nestled into Jay's side.

“Wanna get your cast off?” Will asked his niece.

Sophia looked at her uncle inquisitively. Lifting her arm she asked. “This?”

Will nodded. Turning round her used the scissors specifically designed to cut the hard cast.

Sophia looked slightly concerned and stared at her dad with doe eyes.

Jay had noticed the hint of panic in his angel's eyes and looked at her caringly. “Why don't you tell me one of your stories, Angel?”

Will silently thanked his brother, Sophia was difficult to keep still on a normal day and with him trying to take a cast off her arm would have her wriggling around like none other.

Sophia nodded. “Did Uncle Toni tell you that he used the flashiest lights again.” Sophia giggled happily.

“Did he?” Jay chuckled too, in fact Sophia had been the one to tell him, a number of times. “Did he go fast too?”

Sophia suddenly turned serious. “No daddy. Don’t be silly. I was in the car, Daddy.” Jay had never drove erratically with Sophia in the car, neither did anyone else who had the little Halstead in the car.

Jay marvelled, Sophia was too observant sometimes. He knew not to interrupt now, his daughter was definitely not finished.

“And the flashiest lights, they made people moved,” Sophia continued. She had been mesmerized that the lights had such an impact on the people. “He was like a superhero,” Sophia added excitedly but one look at her father made her quickly counter. “Not like you, Daddy, though”

Jay couldn't help but chuckle.

Will also couldn't help but bite back a chuckle as he pulled the plaster away from Sophia's arm, she was small in size so the cast hadn't been too bulky for her. The cast had gone straight to the bin.

“Feel good? Can you move it?” Will asked his niece and watched as she tried to move it, he noticed the look of a painful giggle radiating from Sophia.

Jay had also noticed the look his daughter gave. “You okay, baby?”

“It's tickilishing,” Sophia giggled after a while.

“Does that feel better, Muffin?” Erin asked from the end of the bed where she had perched herself.

Sophia nodded and inspected her arm. Will observed carefully making sure his niece could in fact move her arm easily. She had been there for quite a while getting used to using her arm again.

Jay, Erin and Will had been conversing but they even nearly had whiplash at the speed Sophia's head popped up.

“Can I go to the park now?” Sophia chimed.

Jay shook his head. His daughter would never change.

They hadn't even thought of a response when Sophia piped up again. “When you geted better Daddy.”

“How about I take you to the park when I finish work? You can stay at my place tonight,” Will spoke up before he headed off towards the nurse's station to update Sophia Grace Halstead's patient file.

Sophia hesitantly agreed.

Jay hadn't missed the hesitancy in his daughter's eyes. “Angel? What's wrong? Do you not want to go to Uncle Will's?”

With no response from Sophia, Erin moved closer to the small Halstead. “What's up muffin?”

“I thought you liked staying with Uncle Will?” Jay added. It was true Sophia adored her Uncle Will, the two had a close relationship, Jay thought Will was compensating for moving to New York but he didn't care, he was glad Sophia had Will to turn to if Jay wasn't there.

“I wanna stay with you and Daddy,” Sophia whispered.

Erin looked to Jay and shrugged. “A hospital isn't- Sophia, muffin, a hospital isn't very comfy to sleep in.”

Jay shrugged too. He wasn't about to spin it around and coax his daughter to stay with his brother, there was clearly a reason why Sophia didn't want to go.

Erin's eyes widened. “Are you scared, Sophia? Are you scared that Daddy's going to get hurt again?”

Sophia nodded after a while.

“Soph, I'm okay, look. I'm okay,” Jay tried to reassure his daughter. Since they had been here Sophia had done nothing but talk, no wonder why. He thought. He should've seen it.

Sophia snuggled further into her father's side. Erin caressed the small Halstead's hair as she looked to Jay. She could see he was feeling guilty.

“I can go to Uncle Will’s house. On a condi-condition,” Sophia struggled on the word before she continued with her condition. “He doesn't put bears on the telly.”

Jay chuckled, Will only really watched baseball and even then it wasn't the cubs that he supported.

“Angel, Uncle Will doesn't watch football. And- it's - he supports White Sox.” Jay loved his daughter's confusion, it was all he needed to put a smile on his face.

“It's still sports, silly Daddy,” Sophia giggled a hand drastically smacking her forehead.

*****

Hank Voight entered his detective's room, only to find Sophia sitting in Jay's lap, bouncing animatedly as she chatted away. Despite the news he was about to give Jay and Erin, Voight couldn't help smiling at the sight.

"Daddy!" Sophia was saying excitedly as if suddenly remembering something "Tomorrow is Connie's happy day, Connie telled me she will give me cake!"

"That's great, Angel," Jay smiled, kissing Sophia's head. "Will you go to school tomorrow?"

Sophia hadn't returned to school since she broke her arm, their lives had been a little too hectic to ensure stability for the young Halstead so Jay was a little surprised when Sophia said she wanted to return to school.

Sophia nodded. "Uncle Will wants me to bring him cake too, Daddy."

Erin laughed. "Your uncle is a sneaky one, isn't he, Muffin?"

Sophia agreed. "But you and my daddy can lock him up, you is superheroes."

Voight smiled, shaking his head at the little Halstead's words. When he cleared his throat to announce his presence, Sophia nearly fell off her father's lap. She giggled, "Grumpy Hank!"

"How you doing, kiddo?" Voight asked gently.

"I'm gonna have cake tomorrow!" Sophia declared proudly and then giggled again.

"Well, then, that sounds wonderful!" Hank agreed smiling once again. “I see you got your cast off.”

Sophia continued bouncing happily in Jay's lap . “I did. Look, Grumpy Hank.” She raised her arm to show Hank what she was so proud of.

Just then, Will walked in. When he spotted Hank, he knew at once that the Sergeant needed to have a word in private with his detectives, so Will approached his niece.

"Hey, Princess," Will greeted Sophia. "How about we go get you a sandwich?"

"But I'm not hungry, Uncle Will," Sophia protested, forgetting about Jay's burns and hugging onto him tightly.

Jay winced. "Soph, it's alright," he soothed, trying to not wince as her knees rubbed against his burns. "Uncle Will is going to take care of you, okay baby?"

"But Daddy," Sophia almost sobbed, "I don't want to leave you."

Erin's heart was hurting at the sight. She knew Sophia was worried about her daddy getting hurt again, as they had established earlier today. It was why she was being so clingy. Erin rubbed Sophia's back gently. "Muffin, nothing's gonna happen to your daddy, okay? I'm here," Erin reminded the little girl.

Sophia looked at Erin with her big eyes. "Pinky promise, Mommy?"

Erin could feel Hank's gaze on her at the mention and she hid the blush the came to her face. "Yeah, baby, I promise."

Finally, Sophia unlatched her arms from around Jay's neck. "Daddy..."

"I'm not going anywhere, Sophie," Jay assured his distraught daughter, his heart breaking as he saw her tear-stained face. He reached out and wiped her tears away. "Now, go be a good girl for Uncle Will. Can you do that for me, Angel?"

Sophia nodded vigorously, determined to make her daddy proud of her. Just like she was proud of him. "Okay Daddy." She turned to Will. "But if you naughty, Uncle Will, I gonna put you on the naughty step."

Jay, Erin, Will and even Voight burst out laughing at the sassiness that had suddenly returned. It was times like this when Erin realized just how much like Jay Sophia really was. She could turn off her emotions immediately or switch from them so effortlessly, and that Halstead sass was something that Erin just loved more than anything, in both Jay and Sophia.

Sophia climbed off Jay's lap and jumped onto the floor. Will took her hand and with one nod at Jay, he disappeared with Sophia.

Voight moved closer to the bed and sat on the chair beside the bed. "We got a lead on Stone," he spoke suddenly.

Jay's body stiffened and even Erin sat up straighter. "Where is he?" Jay demanded.

"Halstead...."

"Sarge, I need to know. Where. Is. He?" Jay repeated, clenching his jaw.

Voight let out a sigh. Another thing about Halstead he admired was his stubbornness and integrity when it came to doing the right thing. "We tracked him down to the hospital," Voight finally revealed.

Erin nearly topped off the bed and Jay could feel anger boiling up inside his body. "I'm going to help," Jay declared. Both Voight and Erin were about to say something but Jay stood up, albeit painfully. "I'm not changing my mind," he promised them. "That son of a bitch has done enough to hurt me and Sophia, even Erin. I'm not going to sit back and let him get away."

Erin stood up too, watching as Jay hid his pain as he pulled on his t-shirt and grabbed his gun. Erin snatched up her own gun and Voight knew there was nothing he could say to prevent Halstead from helping out, so the three cops made their way out.

****

Meanwhile, Will was leading Sophia to the basement when one of the nurses approached him. "Dr. Halstead," she panted, "Dr. Charles wants to speak to you about a patient, it will only take 5 minutes."

Will was conflicted but knew he had to do his job too. "Okay. Um, Lily, can you stay with my niece till I come back?"

"Sure," Lily nodded.