⋆° დ ༄ UNTIL THERE WAS TROUBLE
chapter two. the thing about heroes.

"This is Lindsay. I can't get to the phone-" Sam hangs up the phone for the 5th time, slamming it onto the kitchen table, trying to reach Erin, but no luck.

"Sam, come on. We gotta go" Jay says, standing at the doorway. Sam sighed, getting up from the table and following after her husband to grab her coat and say goodbye to Lucy and Gracie.

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"Hi. Sergeant Hank Voight. Detective Sam Halstead. Intelligence" Hank says, as he and Sam walk up to Adam and an Agent at a scene where a bomb blew up at a street festival.

"Special agent in charge, Steve Burns"

"Alright, what do we know?"

"Negative on a secondary device. We got two civilians DOA. Two dozen injured, some severely. One suspect on the table at Chicago Med." Ruzek states.

"Could've been a lot worse, if not for your people. The bomb if reasonably sophisticated, but with all the internet sites these days, you could probably build a bomb like this in your garage after a couple visits to a hardware store" Burns says.

"So we're calling it what it is? Terrorism?" Voight asks.

"Appears that way to me. I don't think we're dealing with Osama Bin Laden, but they're not stupid, either. They got a bomb into a secure location loaded with civilians."

"Anyone claim responsibility?" Sam asks.

"Not yet. That usually means they're not finished."

"Once we cleared this scene, we can run leads out of the 21st" Hank says. Burns holds out his hand for a handshake and says, "Looking forward to working with you. Let's get these bastards"

Before following Voight to where Kevin and Kim are, Sam turns to Adam and says, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good" Adam reassures his friend. Sam raises an eyebrow and says, "Yeah?"

Adam nods his head, and puts his arm around the brunette's shoulder, as they walk over to the van used in the bombing where Voight, Atwater and Kim are.

"Well, what do we have?" Voight asks.

"So, the van was reported stolen from the Gage Park area last week." Adam says.

"And apparently, they parked this van in one of these garages down there, because that traffic camera on the corner picked it up coming down the alley five minutes before the blast" Atwater states.

"So, either they got real lucky, or they knew that the garage was inside the frozen zone"

"What, you mean they got someone on the inside with access to our ops plan?" Hank says. Ruzek nods his head and says, "Yeah"

As Jay, Brayden and Antonio make their way over to the group, Dawson says, "Offender who got hit by the car is Bashir Wateef" showing Voight his tablet, "He's 25. A few arrests on his rap, but mostly misdemeanor property crimes. Nothing close to this"

"He lives in Gage Park, the same neighborhood the van was stolen from" Jay says. Voight turns to look at Jay and says, "Listen, grab Upton, and head over to med. Get me some names"

Jay nods his head and walks away, kissing his wife on her temple.

"Alright, the rest of you head over to Gage Park. Hit some wards, twist some arms, talk to your CI's. Somebody out there knows something"

"There's a lot of Arabic speakers out that way, boss. We could use someone who speaks the language" Adam says.

"Toma. He was working the detail, too. He's fluent. Helped us out with a syrian witness a few weeks ago" Kim says.

"Good find. Grab him up, then make the rounds. Probably makes sense to start with local mosques"

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While Kevin talks with an agent, going over the case with him that's on the white board, Sam and Brayden are at their desks doing some paperwork, when Hank walks onto the unit, handing Adam and file and says, "Ruzek, start digging" then walking over to agent Burns, "Okay, like I told you on the phone, rookie patrol officer, Frank Toma, he's gone missing. Phone's dead. Got a BOLO out on his car. The last time he was seen was at the festival"

"Toma was working the festival and you found jihadist websites on his browser?" Burns asks.

"Mmm" Hank hums.

"Not surprised"

"What do you mean?" Al asks.

"Toma's been on our radar. He's been attending evening prayers for several months at the Malcolm Shabob mosque, the same radical mosque that Wateef goes to"

"So you've been tracking him?" Voight asks.

"No, he was just a blip. Till now. We'll take the lead from here"

"Wait a second. Toma's one of ours. We're not going anywhere"

"Fair enough. Let's agree to keep each other informed" Burns says, shaking hands with Voight then leaving the unit with his men.

"Okay, where are we?"

~~~

"Alright. This is Azul Rahim" Jay says, taping a picture onto the whiteboard, "This is the guy that got away. He's done time for assault and for robbery." then he tapes another picture next to Azuls', "This is his wife, Nadia. Their last known address is now a vacant apartment in Archer Heights"

"Wateef met Azul at a mosque last year when he recruited him on social media" Hailey states.

"So he says his only involvement in all of this was to provide security for Azul and to drive the van from the garage to the festival"

"Okay. What does he say about Toma?" Hank asks.

"He recognized Toma as 'Jawean'."

"Jawean?"

"Yeah. He said he's not sure if he's connected with the bombing"

"Why would Toma use an alias?" Al asks.

"Well, maybe it was his terrorist name" Adam says.

"Wateef confirmed that Toma also knows Azul and his wife" Upton says, as Kevin walks over to the board and says. "But, Sarg, we might have a location on Azul. I found a car. It's registered to Nadia under her name, under an old address. NVLS has tagged it seven times in the Gage Park area. Also, a neighbor has placed the couple in a small apartment on Maplewood. I got a hot and ready warrant and we got patrol sitting on it right now"

"Alright. Let's hit it" Voight says.

~~~

After capturing Azul, Adam flips over the board, so he doesn't see it, as Jay and Kevin bring the suspect into interrogation.

"Alright, listen. I want you to sit in with Porter, see what you can get out of this guy before DHS comes to scoop him up" Hank tells Hailey, then he turns to Sam and Adam, "Hey, get into those laptops and phones, you hear?"

"We're on it" Ruzek says.

"Any word on Toma?" Voight asks, as Kim and Antonio walk onto the unit.

"No. We're, um, trying to track down his boyfriend. He's a cop named Mooney" Kim says.

"Okay. Where the hell is he?"

"He's in New York visiting his mom"

"He's not answering his phone, but we're all over him. We have calls into his mother and sister" Dawson says.

~~~

"Meet Mukesh Hassan. He's an Iraqi nationalist" Sam says, handing Voight a picture, who passes it to Dawson.

"Fingerprints showed up in the TEDAC database." Adam says.

"TEDAC?" Dawson says.

"It's a lab in Virginia" Burns says, "All IEDs recovered from the middle east are sent there to be processed for fingerprints and DNA"

"So, what else do we know about him?" Voight asks, handing the picture to Burns who sighs and says. "He's an ISIS sympathizer. Uh, he's on everybody's watch list. Homeland security is now saying that there are unconfirmed reports that he entered the US over the southern border in April" then he hands the picture to Sam, who tapes it onto the board

"Sounds pretty confirmed to me" Atwater says.

"Yeah. Welcome to Chicago. Instead of catching a Cubs game, he sets up a terrorist cell with Azul and Wateef, and they recruit the perfect homegrown sympathizer"

"A Muslim cop, Frank Toma" Sam says.

"Their inside man?" Hank asks and Sam shrugs her shoulders, "So, any new leads on Toma?"

"We got his face out to patrol and every city transportation agency, but right now, he's a ghost" Dawson says.

"Well, any updates on his boyfriend? Uh, Mooney?"

"Yeah. He's on his way back to Chicago" Kim says, looking up from her computer screen, "Lands at O'Hare in 20 minutes"

"Make sure you're waiting for him when he gets home"

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After getting a hit on Toma's car down by the river promenade, the team heads over their and spots the patrol officers car.

As they get out, guns drawn, Antonio says, "Plates match. That's Toma's car"

"Frank are you in there? Frank?" Kim asks, slowly walking towards the car, "Frank, it's Kim, you in there?"

"It's clear" Porter says.

"Alright, let's fan out and find this kid" Dawson says, as the team all go their separate ways to find Toma.

"Heads up, guys. Boss just called. Feds are on their way. They're rolling in heavy. Still no sign of Toma. Sam and I will cover the north end of the park" Brayden says, through his walkie.

~~~

As the coroner wheels, Toma's body away after he killed himself, Kim meets up with the team and says, "Look, I know what it looks like, but it still doesn't make any sense, because he ran into the action, towards the van, to save more lives"

"Keeping up appearnces" Porter says, "If he's Hassan's mole, then his part in getting the ops plan was done"

"No. Cause I saw into his eyes before he killed himself. He said he was trying to stop them. He had no reason to lie to me, and he said he had an envelope in his backpack.."

"He was playing you" Burns says, cutting the officer off.

"He was about to take his own life. Why the hell would he play me?"

"He was stalling. Probably thinking about killing you, and then decided to take the easy way out"

"Oh, is that what they teach you in your profiling class at Quantico?"

"Kim. Kim, that's enough" Hank says.

"Have you ever looked a real killer in the eye? Do you even know what that looks like?"

"Get her out of here" Hank tells Sam, who nods her head and puts her hand on Kim's arm to try and move her away.

"Are you benching me? Seriously? Why the hell are benching me for?" Kim shouts, as Sam pulls her away. Sam shakes her head and says, "No, no, don't say it. Just keep walking"

"I'm fine. I'm fine"

"Kim, look at me" Sam says, as Kim turns around, her eyes puffy from crying, "You're gonna get through this. You're tough, don't let some Fed stand in your way. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah"

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Kim and Sam get out of the vehicle after parking it on the side of the street and the detective says, "Kim, this is a bad idea, on so many levels. We should let Voight know what we're doing"

"We'll let him know if we find something" Kim says, folding Toma's letter and putting it into her back pocket.

"What if this is a set up, right? What if it's booby trapped? What if Hassan and his guys are inside?"

"Toma sent me here for a reason, and it wasn't to kill me. I trust him"

Sam stops in front of the officer and says, "You didn't know him well enough to trust him. He may have become a cop just for this. That's what these people do"

"These people?"

"Terrorists"

"He had a story to tell, Sam, but he didn't think anyone would believe him. So, I'm going into that apartment to get the rest of the story. If you trust my instincts, come. If you don't stay here, it's your call" Kim says, walking away with her gun drawn to the apartment building. Sam sighs and follows after Burgess with her gun drawn as well.

As they approach the front door, Sam asks, "Ready?"

"Yeah"

Sam takes a deep breath and opens the door and with their guns still drawn they make their way down the stairs and to the apartment door, when Kim kicks it in and they clear it out, only to find everything to do with terrorism.

"Oh my god. What is this?" Kim asks.

"You still trust him?" Sam asks, before they start searching the apartment.

~~~

"Sam, check this out" Kim calls out from the kitchen and Sam goes to join her, "It's a journal, um, with surveillance photos, dates, times" then Sam grabs the journal and looks through it, "Hear me out. Toma's running his own little undercover operation. This is his cover apartment. Look" then she points to the front where there are cards with numbers on them, "Look, there's numbers for Intelligence, FBI, JTTF. What else would he have that?"

"Okay. That might explain the alias."

"Exactly! Look, he's working the mosque. He's working the jihad sites to...to get an in, to build a case. He was trying to stop them"

"Let's call Voight"

Kim dials Hank's number and puts him on speaker, who says, "Where the hell are you?"

"I'll explain everything later. Put me on speaker. Everyone needs to hear this" Kim says.

"Okay, we're listening"

"Okay, Sam and I are in an apartment in Oak Lawn that Toma was using to run a solo undercover operation on Hassan's crew"

"Hank, he was doing surveillance on these guys. We have dates, times, locations of meetings, photos of different players, license plate numbers" Sam says, skimming through the notebook.

"Guys, I'm looking for a password to access Toma's social media accounts. Do you see anything like that in the journal?" Adam asks.

"Yeah, maybe. Sam's sending it to you now" Kim says, as Sam snaps a picture of a post it and sends it to Adam.

"Alright, I got it" Adam says and a couple seconds later he says, "Alright, I'm in"

Kim points to a picture and says, "That's the van from the festival. Toma had these guys in his sights. He just didn't know it yet. That's what he was talking about. He blamed himself for the deaths of the people at the festival"

"Hey, what's going on?" Hank asks to Kim and Sam.

"We found some photos taken three days ago at the old Quincy's Coffee Warehouse. All of our players are there, plus two vans, One of them used in the festival bombing. I'll send another picture now" Sam says, snapping a picture and sending it to Adam.

"That means there's another can out there with a bomb in it"

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"Kim you there?" Hank says over the walkie.

"What's up, Sarg? We just left. Headed to the pier" Kim says, as she and Sam drive towards the pier where the police academy is having their graduation.

"Alright, look into Toma's journal. See if there are any other possible targets."

"Let me see" Kim says, looking through the journal, "Got some coffee shops. Restaurants. The names of a couple mosques. Um...wait. I've got Azul and two of Hassan's guys in the stands of the Smithville high school stadium"

"That could be it" Sam says.

"Yeah. Okay, we're five miles away, and there's a game today. It starts in two hours."

"Okay, go there now. I'll notify aviation. Keep me posted"

"We're on our way" Sam says, turning the car around, "Hold on"

"Air one to all units in the zone." Dispatcher says, from a helicopter, "I have a subject vehicle just turned onto Lake. They're stopped in heavy traffic, heading westbound on Erie, just west of Huron street, approaching Cherry"

"We're a block out" Kim says, as Sam drives faster, and hits into the same heavy traffic.

Sam and Kim get out of the car and Sam radios, "We have eyes on the suspects" then they draw their weapons and race towards the van.

As Sam and Kim slowly approach the van, kim yells, "Show me your hands! Your hands!"

Sam opens the drivers side door and pulls the driver out onto the ground and yells, "Don't move!"

"What did I say? I'm talking to you. Put your hands on the dash" Kim yells at the passenger, who slowly puts his hands on the dash.

"Kim, you good?" Sam shouts from the other side, pointing her gun at the driver.

"I'm good" Kim yells, then opens the passenger side door, "Get out"

"Hands behind your back" Sam says to the drive, then cuffs him.

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"Alright, so the last time you were here, I asked you how you felt about Erin's apartment being empty. You said angry, sad"

"Yup" Sam says, picking at the cotton pillow resting on her lap.

"Tell me why?"

Sam shrugs and says, "I don't know"

"Sam.."

"What do you want me to say, huh? Hell yes, I'm angry. She's like a sister to me and she left without saying a goddamn word to me. No goodbye. No last hug. Nothing! She left me. Why does everyone leave me?" Sam says, tears now starting to blur her vision.

~~~

Sam walks to her jeep after her therapy session and puts her keys in the ignition, but doesn't start it and rests her head back on the head rest, when her phone starts ringing.

When Sam looks at the caller ID to see her husband's name pop up, she ignores it and tosses it on the passenger side and starts the car.

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Sam walks through the cemetery and sits in front of her mother's grave stone, resting a bouquet of flowers in front of her grave stone and says, "Hi mama, it's me" then she wipes away the tears in her eyes, "I miss you so much and I need you right now, more than ever. You're gone, my father is in prison for conspircy to your murder, grandpa hates me, Justin's dead, Erin left without saying goodbye, Hank lied to me. Jay, Kelly and the kids are still here, but they can't help as much as they want to. Why does everyone leave me? I mean, do I have that much bad luck, that everyone around me gets hurt?"

Sam sniffles, lifting her head from her knees, continuing on with her rant, "How did I even make it this far? I mean, I'm just gonna hurt everyone around me, either tomorrow, next week or next year. It's bound to happen. I was born into bad and I can't seem to find my way out of it"

"Sammy"

Sam stops herself from crying, knowing that voice and says, "What are you doing here?"

"Jay called. Said you didn't come home from your therapy session. So, I thought I'd find you here" Kelly says, sitting down next to his best friend.

"I'm fine, just leave me alone"

"No, I won't. Not when you're like this. I've seen this, when your mom died, and you know how that ended. So I need you to have faith in me"

Sam moves away from Kelly and stands up and says, "No. I'm bad luck. Everyone around me either gets hurt or leaves. I'm a curse, Kelly and that's my story"

Kelly stands up pulling his best friend into a hug and says, "You're not cursed, Sammy. You're a survivor"

Sam scoffs, pushing Kelly away, saying, "Survivor of what, Kells? Because the way I'm looking at things, its telling me, I don't deserve to be here, I don't deserve to be happy. Asher stalked me for 14 years, planning a way to kill me because Emma died that day at graduation, instead of me! I was supposed to die when I was 17, Kelly. And I wish I did" then she walks away, wiping her tears back to her jeep.

a/n:

My baby Sam deserves the world and so much more 💔