Pandora's Box Discovered

IV

"Jeez, Chuckles, put some clothes on, will ya? This is a police station, not a strip club."

It was exactly the kind of greeting the desk sergeant of the twenty-first district was known for, the kind of greeting every officer both expected and feared to be welcomed with. Blunt, dripping with sarcasm, on the verge of humiliating. Officers worked with Platt and had done so for quite some time knew to ignore the quips after a while, and the braver ones would counter with their own witty rebuttals every now and then. Those who weren't as brave at least learned to grow a thick skin.

For the longest time, Jay had been among the latter. It had certainly taken some time for him to warm up and feel comfortable with the back-and-forth banter, but in the last three and a half years he had become one of Trudy's favorite verbal sparring partners. He jumped at every opportunity to correct her whenever she called him by his moniker, letting her know that it was 'Detective Chuckles if you please' and he was never shy of a saucy remark, even when she went blue. And he always rounded his jests up with one of those unbelievably charming, mischievous lopsided grins that made his blue-green eyes twinkle and brought out the crow's feet wrinkles of carefree amusement – if she were twenty years younger and not happily married, she'd be absolutely smitten.

Today, however, all the above were missing.

No playful repartee – instead of the much anticipated 'only in your dreams, Sarge' she was met with eerie silence – and no enchanting smile either, not even a faint upwards curl of one corner of his mouth. She was met with a blank mask, as if someone had numbed his usually so expressive facial play. In fact, Halstead didn't so much as glance in her direction when he stumbled into the precinct, though he did look like a terribly inaccurate impersonation of the American flag: chalk-white complexion, red-rimmed eyes, bluish-tinted lips. Goosebumps on his arms poorly imitated the stars.

Before she could comment on her observations, Jay already bolted past her desk and down the hallway, leaving her to stare after his disappearing form, flabbergasted and with trepidation settling in the pit of her stomach.

Worrying wasn't something the desk sergeant did a whole lot of. Few things in life were worth making a fuss about. If one just let them, most issues tended to resolve themselves on their own anyway, at least in her experience. But she knew that petty things had the potential to grow into bigger problems, which was why she never fully brushed it off whenever the pesky uneasiness sought refuge with her. Thus, she remained alert and observant, just in case something raised red flags.

Red flags were most definitely raised by Halstead's unusual behavior.

Granted, they hadn't been red from the start, were more of a marigold shade of yellow when she first noticed that something was off. The young detective had been tenser and more on edge. He'd become quieter too, succinctly tinging the flags in a bright tangerine, then a rusty orange as he withdrew into himself more and more. Now, they were alight in a burning fiery red. A gradual turning of colors that almost resembled a gorgeous sunset but quickly lost its appeal to Trudy once she bore to mind what would inevitably follow.

It was that pull of the impending darkness after the sun vanished behind the horizon, the prospect of seeing the already dimmed lights go out in one of the brightest cops she'd ever seen that set Platt's antennae quivering. And if she read the signs right, the former ranger might have already reached the very edge of the terrifying black hole at this point. She needed to intervene sooner rather than later, preferably before he plummeted straight into the all-consuming void.

Distinct sound of awful retching echoed from where Jay had disappeared to, a cruel joke telling her she might already be too late for that. Platt grimaced upon hearing the revolting acoustics, but stifling concern implored her to check on her Detective Chuckles regardless of her own aversion. Skimming the foyer in search of one of the more seasoned patrol officers who were well acquainted with the bureaucratic razzamatazz, she was relieved to spot one of the amid filling out a call-related incident report.