can't change what you don't know

you should be the worried one

The trio sat in the back of the van and watched as Tatum look outside, she seemed rather scared while doing so, through the tinted window on the side of the van. Jay shook his head, "the poor kids probably shitting herself now..." he rubbed his face with his hand. Hailey nodded, "well we did scare her half to death" she sighed and took the file from the side, the file that contained their final pieces of evidence, they could finally arrest him. Kevin nodded, "I'm sure she'll have locked the doors if nothing else, let's just get this over with" he got into the front so he could drive back to the district.

~~~~~~~~~

Tatum jumped again as there was a loud bang on the front door, shoot, it's 3pm, that means aidans after his boots now. She ran over to the door and unlocked it to let her step brother inside and out of the cold, "why's the door locked, you never lock it?" He raised an eyebrow and took the boots from her hands. Tatum shrugged, "I got spooked" she shook her head. Aidan nodded, "alright, well have fun doing nothing dipshit" he smirked a little as Tatum shook her head, also smiling a little, before he left again. Now that he had left she locked the door again and ran back over to the couch, it was only a matter of time before her parents would get home and kill her for still failing biology even though she is slowly getting there.

                                   ~~~~~~~~

                   Jay and hailey put the evidence file onto Hanks desk, now they just needed to wait until the family were all home so they could go and arrest Ryan, get him where he belongs and help Tatum out of that household if nothing else.  They walked back into the wire room and sat down to watch the footage and at least check that they hadn't scared Tatum too much but when they saw her asleep on the couch again they relaxed, obviously she'd let it go now and she could go back to being peaceful again.

~~~~~~~~~

The intelligence unit were now gearing up and raring to go, they were beyond ready to arrest this fraudulent man and get these kids into safe hands. Jay and hailey were a little attached to the case since they'd gotten rather close to the kid, even if their interactions were sad. Hank strolled into the garage holding the arrest warrant, "let's go go go" he waved them off to their vehicles. Jay and hailey ran off to jays truck as the rest of the team panned out and got into their own vehicles. Everyone was eager to arrest this scammer after the trouble he'd been causing to the city.

~~~~~~~~~

It was now around 6:15pm and the family were sat eating dinner at the table, once again the others were ignoring Tatum so she kept her head down and took small bites from her food. She was half expecting Ryan to start yelling at her but instead they ignored her existence, not that she was complaining much, the silence was better than a screaming fest. It was quiet for a second, almost too quiet, but that was only the calm before the storm.

Before Ryan could say another word, the front door flew open, "Chicago PD!" A husky voice growled before a montage of cops ploughed into the kitchen. The kids slid back in their chairs in fear slightly, but Tatum instantly recognised the two detectives in the back, it was jay and hailey. Ryan stood up, "woah you can't do that, what's this about?" He scoffed at the oldest officer which they could all only assume was the boss. Hank scoffed back, "we can actually, Ryan jenson you're under arrest for tax fraud..." he started to explain his rights before cutting him up and handing him over to Kevin who then lead him out of the house.

Cassie stood up, also instantly recognising jay in the back as they held an awkward seconds worth of eye contact, "what the hells going on?" She put her hands out. The kids now standing together and away from them all, "I'm gonna need you to come with us ma'am" Adam held his hand out. Cassie shook her head, "am I arrested?" She huffed. Hank shook his head, "do you wanna be?" He raised his eyebrows. The kids had no clue what was going on, brea was on the verge of tears, Tatum had a blank face and Aidan looked clueless. Cassie sighed, "what about my kids?" She looked over her shoulder discreetly. Hank nodded, "we'll take care of them, but I advise that you start moving" he nodded to adams hand which was still out waiting for her to take it so he could lead her out.

Cassie huffed but finally agreed, she walked towards the door where she stopped and stood in front of jay, "screw you" she scoffed. Jay shook his head and avoided eye contact with her, "stop smack talking me and start worrying" he sighed. Cassie laughed in disbelief, "you should be the worried one" she shook her head and fought adams nudges away. Jay finally looked at her in confusion, "what's that supposed to mean?" He rolled his eyes, hailey was standing next to him feeling a little awkward and tense. Cassie shrugged, "you see the middle one?" She nudged her head over to the kids. Jay nodded, "Tatum?" He raised an eyebrow. Cassie nodded, "yeah, she's your kid..." she laughed. Adam nudged her arm one last time before she finally caved in and followed him out of the house.

                 Jay froze, what? No, she can't be, she's just messing with him.  Hailey looked at her partner, half shocked and half worried, "you good?" She nudged his arm once she saw jay staring at Tatum with wide eyes.  Jay snapped out of it, "she's my kid..." he shook his head in shock, how didn't he know about her? Is it even true?  Hailey shook her head, "don't just take her word for it jay, let med run a dna test at least. You don't wanna get her hopes up..." she placed a hand on his shoulder, "but right now these kids are out priority, wether she's yours or not, so we've got work to do" she added confidently.  Jay cleared his throat and nodded sternly, "yeah, come on" he began walking towards the kids next to his partner, that statement continued ringing in his ears, he has a kid? What? This can't be happening right now...

~~~~~~~~

Tatum finally looked up to see the familiar faces again, "let's get you guys some place safe" hailey smiled and began leading them out of the house. They all smiled, Tatum nodded and smiled at them both though which made jay smile back, if she was his kid, he feels like he failed her in a way, even though he didn't even know she existed. As Tatum walked past jay, he looked down at her, she was small for a thirteen year old but the resemblance between himself and the kid was noticeable now that he was paying attention to her looks in a more serious manner. He followed behind the kids, Tatum in specific, and opened the door to his truck so the kids could hop in the back. Tatum smiled as he held the door open for her since she was the last to climb on up, "thanks" she nodded before he smiled and closed the door.

She may be a troubled kid for now, but jay could see how sweet she was really, she had good manners, good humour and she was generally nice from what they'd heard over the past week. Hailey squeezed jays shoulder as they walked past each other so they could get into the truck themselves, and finally drive the kids back to the district where they'd have to explain to them what was happening and what would happen from here on out. He had only just stopped thinking about what Cassie said to him now that he had to focus on the road instead, but the thought of Tatum being his kid made him feel slightly protective...