The Depth Between Us

Part 2: A New Beginning

The next day, at the District, Hank talked to Michelle in the interrogation room about what happened with Shane the night before. After the conversation ended, she had asked him to bring her a custody form for her to fill out. When she was done, she requested to give it to Jay Halstead.

Jay walked out of the break room with two cups of coffee. One for him and one for Hailey.

"Thanks." she said to him.

"No problem. It's our everyday jet fuel." Jay said as he sat back in his desk chair and put his feet up on his desk.

Hank walked back to the Intelligence Unit with an envelope in his hands.

"Halstead? Can I see you in my office?" he asked.

"Sure." Jay said, then stood up from his desk.

"Shut the door, please." Hank said as he sat down behind his desk.

"Yes, sir." Jay said, then shut the door behind him.

"I just got done talking to Michelle." Hank said, starting a conversation.

"Is she okay?" Jay asked.

"Yeah. She was able to tell me everything that happened with her and Shane." Hank said.

"Good thing there's a cell with his name on it." Jay said.

"There's one more thing. She also filled this out and requested to give it to you." Hank said, then slid the envelope across his desk to Jay. 

Jay took it into his hands and opened it. He pulled out the form and read it to himself. He had a shocked expression on his face after he was done reading it.

"Michelle signed away her parental rights?" Jay questioned.

"Yeah, that's not all. She signed over guardianship to you. Michelle feels that her daughter can use a male role model like you in her life." Hank said.

"Sarge, the last thing I need right now is to take care of someone else. I don't know how to take care of a kid." Jay said.

"First, she's 17 years old, so not a kid per say. Second, Michelle didn't want her daughter being placed in the system so she put her all trust in you. You can't turn your back on them now." Hank explained.

Jay knew that was all it took to convince himself that he has to do this to help someone else.

"All right. I'll do it." he said.

"Excellent." Hank said as he stood up from his desk.

"I'll get in touch with her friend's parents to see if they bring her to the station." Jay said when he stood up from the seat.

"It's already been done. Take the rest of the day off so that you can get to know her and help her settle in." Hank said as he opened his office door to show Jay out.

"What? Take the day off? Come on, you know that's not me." Jay questioned.

"You know damn well that you don't disobey a direct order from me. Don't worry, we'll get touch with you if anything comes up." Hank said.

Jay sighs and walks back to his desk. He gathers his things to take back home and waits. He stares at the guardianship form, thinking about the whole abuse situation. Everyone in the Intelligence Unit absolutely hates the cases that involve children.

An hour had passed and Hank walks out of his office, which gets Jay's attention.

"Come on, the girl's here." he said as he walks across the room.