Tolerance Book I (Chicago PD/Med FF) by Frances51163

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven: Hard Words

Antonio looked from Adam to Hank and back again cursing himself silently.

"I need to talk to you Halstead," the Sergeant placed his mug on the small table in front of the couch so he could give his full attention to the task in hand.
"Go on," Jay instructed calmly as he sat down.
"I don't want you to go back into witness protection but for now I want one of us staying here with you. Two pairs of eyes are better than one."
"Not going to happen. I ....,"
"Oh it's happening," Hank stated resolutely, "you know Williamson and Carter are still out there and as long as they are you're in danger."
"So you saying once they're brought in taking these precautions will stop?" Jay checked shrewdly after sharing a glance with Adam.
"It will depend on what information they give up."
"Look Sarge they could come after me at any time. I'm not changing my life for them."
"So you knew one or more of them might come after you looking for payback at some stage?" Adam checked.
"He did," Antonio put in with certainty as he retook his seat, "Jay I know you've got to be sick of having us around all the time, especially when you're such a private person, but your life is at stake and that has to be a priority."
"Ye can't protect me forever so why not just leave it end here," Jay rubbed his aching temple, "any one of those guys could come after me now or two years down the line. Ye can't keep mollycoddling me.  I'm a grown man."
"We know this must be very hard for you," Adam decided to join in knowing that his friend was feeling once again as if he had no control over his own life, "but none of us really understand it because you're the one living it.  For now until Williamson and Carter are brought in why don't you agree to this and we can worry about the next step down the line?"
"Sounds like a plan Kid," Hank looked over at the squinting man, knowing the aggravation caused by the conversation was probably exacerbating the headache he was suffering from, "none of us want to invade your privacy and I get that you need your own space but you're irreplaceable and we wouldn't be the same team without you.  So what do you say?  Will you give us a chance to take Williamson and Carter off the streets while we know you're safe?"
"It's just me?"
"What do you mean?" Antonio frowned.
"Ye're not putting Will, Conor and Ethan under protection?"
"No," Hank explained, "as you know the old man pretty much kept his cards close to his chest. Williamson only knew a few things.  There's no reason to believe he knows anything about Will and the others."
"That doesn't make sense," Jay began to shake his head but stopped with a grimace, "he provided the funds for the guns and paying off the guys who attacked me outside Med.  I know we spoke about this before but why would he have been happy not being hands on?"
"We found a copy DVD when we searched his place," Antonio divulged, "it was footage of the attack.  Think he was figuring he could get his own back on you without being hands on so he could get away clean.  The DVD was enough for him."
"A DVD? Ye found a DVD and ye didn't think ye should share that piece of information with me?!" the injured man demanded quietly but intensely.
"We only found out about it on Friday," Adam quickly informed his upset friend, "we were going to tell you this morning but ...,"
"You didn't turn up," Hank finished succinctly.
"How come ye didn't find it when ye searched the residence the first time?" Jay remembered being told nothing worthwhile had shown up.
"It was overlooked because it was in a magazine," Hank took up the explanation patiently, "one of the Forensics team came across it after we had left and unfortunately it got overlooked until Friday because they had a backlog."
"Were there ..... any other videos, DVDs?" the pained man whispered out.
"No and I've already given you my word that nothing will be kept from you," Hank reminded without rancour as he stood up, "so are you on board?"
"Doesn't seem like I have much choice."
"Good," Hank looked over at Adam and then back at the seated man, "Ruzek is going to be staying with you the next couple of days and then the rest of us will take turns."
"No Sarge.  I'm staying with Jay 24/7," Adam cut in promptly with a shrug, "it's no problem."
"No," Jay voiced his disapproval immediately, "Adam rotates with the rest of ye.  I'm not putting him out any more than necessary."
"Well I think that's up to him," Hank stated with a knowing smirk.
"I'm staying until this gets sorted," Adam patted his friends' shoulder, "besides it will be like a vacation!"
"Yeah right!" Jay chided but deep down he appreciated the gesture.

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21st Precinct

Two days later Jay was sitting at his desk going through a burglary file when Will walked up the steps with Platt chaperoning him.  The Detective noted she looked a bit nervous, definitely a new look for her.  A glance at his brother however caused him more concern. He looked even more nervous.  What was wrong now he wondered as he noted Antonio, Adam and Kevin all engrossed in their work after quiet greetings.  Hank and Al were in Court and Mouse had got called to help in an IT crisis at another district so there were only four members of the Unit in the office.  Sergeant Platt, in another rare occurrence, walked Will over to Jays' desk.

"Your brother insisted he needed to talk to you," Platt offered glancing at the young mans' hand in its' black sling, "but if this is an inconvenient time he can come back later,"
"No, it's fine. Thanks," Jay frowned as the tough Sergeant gave him a final look as if he might change his mind and then headed off without looking at the redhead.
"Well that was weird," Jay shook his head as he put down his pen, "you want a coffee?"
"Sure.  We could go to this new place I found ....,"
"I meant here," the younger brother stood up and led the way to the break room, acutely aware that something was wrong, "I'll let you make it," the injured man decided as he let the redhead into the room before him and caught Adams' worried glance before he shut the door, "so what's up?"
"Nothing," Will said defensively as he took two mugs off their hooks.
"Platt was acting funny," Jay observed as he sat down at the round table and watched his visitor, "you didn't give her another dodgy diagnosis did you because...,"
"No I didn't," Will filled the mugs and added the necessary requirements before placing them on the table, "I called you yesterday.  Why didn't you call back?"
"I've been busy."
"Well how are you feeling?" Will automatically slipped into Doctor mode as he eyed his brother, noting the bruised eyes and pale complexion yet again.
"Fine," Jay took a sip of the hot liquid before looking at his sibling carefully, "so now we have the chit chat out of the way tell me what's going on."
"You should be a Detective," Will commented as he shifted uncomfortably on his seat before losing any trace of humour, "when you went missing last week .... "
"I didn't go missing ...,"
"Well you didn't tell me or the others where you were going," the medical professional explained his reasoning as he winced, "so you were missing ... at least as far as I was concerned."
"But I told them I was going to be back on Monday, that I was taking a couple of days off. I knew you'd check with them.  Didn't they tell you?" Jay asked crossly glancing at the closed door as if he could glare at his friends through it.
"Jay just let me explain," Will put up his hands in a placating gesture, "you don't need to be mad at them.  Just let me explain what ...... happened okay?"
"Go on," the Detective urged with obvious misgiving, instinctively knowing that he wasn't going to like whatever the older man had to impart.

tbc