Folks, sorry for not posting in a long time, but I lost my pet and I was a mess for weeks.

Words can not describe how I loved this animal, so I wasn't able to update the story for a long time.

Anyway, I'm back now. I hope you will enjoy the story!

Have a good time and enjoy your time with your friends, family and your pets. Life is short sometimes ;(

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"We handed the case over to colleagues,"; Voight announced on Jay's first day of work when he was back at headquarters.

"I want us to focus on the boy and the murder of his parents,"; Hank clarified and nodded to Hailey to provide Jay with the necessary information and clarify the current state of the investigation.

"The boy's name is Johnny. His parents are Meg and Arthur Lewis. The father worked as a detective at CPD on the Midway suburbs. " Jay's face darkened. He quickly combined what that meant, glancing at Hailey in a meaningful way.

"So a perp who's going after cops?"

Hailey sighed heavily, then moved her head forward.

"At least this fits the pattern of two other murders that have occurred in the last two months. "

The situation was interrupted by Trudy Platt, who entered the room. Her face alone didn't bode well and that's exactly what seemed to be true in the end.

"Jay, I just got a call. Ben's missing. His teacher looked for him everywhere, but he never returned to the classroom after the break."

Horrified Jay looked at Platt, then looked alarmed at Hailey and then at Voight who pointed his thumb outside.

"Drive on, Halstead,"; he told him, which he could not say twice. Pretty tense he climbed into his car and set off for Ben's school. Since the search there was unsuccessful, he went home, hoping that his son had gone there. Nervously he unlocked the apartment and ran into the living room.

"Ben?"; he shouted through the rooms, but received no response.

He only found what he was looking for in his bedroom. But not at all in the way he had hoped for. He had the feeling his heart stopped as he stared at his open safe. His gun was missing. Ben knew the code!

"Damn,"; Halstead whispered before rushing to the door and slamming it hastily as his brain combined the horror scenario.

For a moment he became dizzy. He couldn't believe what he had seen. Since his son was little, he had preached that his service weapon was taboo.

Actually he had judged Ben with his 9 years so mature that this topic did not need any discussion, but obviously he was wrong. Nervously, Jay let his eyes wander between the road and the windshield while he drove the car through the neighborhood. His fingers bobbed over the wheel in panic. What if he screwed up? What if he used that gun to hurt somebody? He couldn't think about it any further, because shortly before the school building Jay made a find.

With squealing tires, he drove into a parking bay, jumped out of the car. Ben, who was looking at his father with his eyes wide open, started running, but Halstead had caught up with him quickly. Frightened, the boy leaned with his back against the fence, trembling, and brought out the weapon which he let hang down. With eyes wide open, father and son stood at a certain distance from each other. Jay made a suggestive gesture.

"Give me the gun!"

When Ben did not move, he became increasingly louder.

"Give me the fucking gun!"; Jay screamed. Ben flinched, handed his father the pistol with both hands and looked at him guiltily. He breathed a sigh of relief and let the gun on his belt buckle disappear before rudely grabbing his son by the neck and steering him towards the car.

"You and I really need to talk. " That's all he said.

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"What the hell was that? Are you insane? You can't just steal my gun. This is a weapon. You kill people with it. "

Ben, who sat quietly next to his father, sobbed hit. Jay seldom raised his voice when it came to parenting, but that afternoon he nealry lost his mind. This time there was no comfort, no empathetic words and no pity. Halstead was angry and he made that clear to the younger one.

"I'm going to ask you for the last time and I'm going to be very calm. What was that about? Were you showing off for the other kids? Or do the same thing as the guy who shot your teachers and friends? Why did you take my gun?"

"No!" Horrified, Ben looked up, hit by the fact that Jay thought he was capable of something like this.

"Then what?"; He pushed around, cried bitterly before he started to talk in a fragile voice and looked at Jay with eyes wide open. At that moment he looked like his mother.

"I was just scared. I thought, if I brought these, nothing could happen to me."

Ben said that so honestly that Jay actually believed him.

"And how were you gonna do that? You can't even shoot?"

The boy didn't look at his father, kept silent.

"It's a weapon that can hurt people badly. What you did today is very dangerous and I am extremely disappointed in you. I thought you were much more intelligent. " The 9 year old nodded understandingly.

"It's okay that you're scared and completely understandable after what happened. But this is not the way. And you know it. You could have put other people in danger. Not just yourself. Not to mention, you can't just skip school Your teachers were worried. " Unhappily Ben looked at his father, but said nothing.

"We'll talk it over with Dr. Charles and until then, you're grounded. No TV, no Playstation. So you can think about what you've done. "

Ben chose to remain silent. Not a word passed his lips. Not when Jay started the engine and not when they came back home.

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"Jay, what happened? Talk to me?"; Incredulous, Halstead shook his head and squinted towards the children's room where Ben was lying in bed. He then closed the door to the living room so that he could talk to Hailey undisturbed.

"I can't believe what he did today. " Stunned, Halstead shook his head and looked at his girlfriend in shock.

"Ben ran away from school and stole my gun from the safe. I just caught him on the street. "

"What?"; Hailey looked no less shocked.

"He says he was just scared, but I've never seen him like that before. I thought I could trust him.

"Wow."

"I didn't raise him like that, Hailey. "

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I have an appointment with Dr. Charles the day after tomorrow with Ben. " Hailey, who clearly saw how much the matter affected her friend, reached for his hand.

"Hey, this is not your fault. He's just having an extreme reaction to what's happened lately. " Skeptically Jay looked at his girlfriend.

"Maybe, but I don't know if you can blame it all on that. Since he was little, I taught him that my gun was off limits. That you can do a lot of damage with this. I told him about Afghanistan, about how I lost friends there. He's not 5 years old anymore. He can certainly assess the consequences. "

"You want me to talk to him?"

"I don't know if that's such a good idea. " Hailey walked away from Jay, looking at him sadly.

"You want to hear what I think?"; Jay nodded.

"He's traumatized. " Jay wanted to deny it immediately, but Hailey got there first, put his finger on his lips.

"Now you let me finish. I would like to remind you briefly of how you used to react before you had been in therapy. You pulled your service weapon on me. You've been drifting for a while. "

He tried to open his mouth, but she shook her head.

"No, Jay. Don't deny it now. Deep down you know that there is no normal reaction to what he has experienced in the last 3 weeks. Sometimes we just can't see it anymore because we're brutalized by our job. " Halstead closed his eyes and said nothing back. He spread his arms and leaned against Hailey, seeking protection. After both had enjoyed some of the time together, he crept into the children's room and sat down at the edge of his son's bed.

Ben had fallen asleep in the meantime and remained in his blanket with his eyes closed. Thoughtfully, Halstead looked at the 9-year-old, then lovingly ran his hand back over his cheek before pulling it back and looking at him with concern. Hailey watched the scene from the doorway as she smiled sadly. . .