Avery walks out of O'Hare Airport with her bag on her back. She gets out her burner phone and finds a motel that takes cash. Once she finds one, she orders an Uber there.

Twenty minutes later, Avery is arriving at the motel.  She walks up to the desk and notices a sign that indicates it's a "no questions asked" kind of motel so she feels she'll be able to get a room without showing her ID.

'How can I help?' The desk clerk questions.

'Do you have any rooms available for two weeks?' Avery asks the desk clerk. The desk clerk looks down at the computer and after a moment, looks back at Avery.

'We do.' They nod. 'It will be two grand.'

'Is cash okay?' Avery asks, getting an envelope out of her backpack. She's been saving money up over the years and still has a huge chunk of inheritance left over from her mom.

'Cash is fine. I'll just need a name.' The desk clerk replies.

'Kate Strand.' Avery says.

.

It's been a couple of days. Avery hasn't left her motel room much since she's been sleeping so she decides to go on a walk. She gets ready and tries to not look like herself by wearing things she wouldn't usually wear before leaving. As she's walking around, she's not paying much attention to where she's going. A half-hour later, She's about to cross a street despite it being busy and the crosswalk signal being red. She's about to step into the road when someone pulls her back into the sidewalk. She turns around and sees a police officer - Detective Jay Halstead - who is doing overtime on patrol.

'You should pay attention to where you're going.' He tells her seriously.

'Sorry, I was in a world of my own.' Avery shakes her head. 'Thank you.'

'Are you okay?' He asks, noting that she's not focusing on him.

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Avery nods, faking a smile. 'Sorry about causing trouble.' She turns around and walks off before Jay can say or do anything else. Jay makes sure to take note of her appearance and where he is just in case before carrying on with his patrol.

.

The next day, Avery finds herself in the waiting room of Gaffney Chicago Medical Centre ER, better known as Chicago Med. She's been there a few hours but hasn't checked in. Dr Charles is just arriving on shift. As he's walking past Avery, he notices some fresh cuts under her wrists, poking out under her sleeve, and that she's bouncing her knees and looking around. He walks up to Nurse Leah, the admissions nurse.

'Leah?' He starts. Leah looks up at him. 'That young girl over there, has she checked in?' He subtly points over to Avery. Leah looks over at her and then back at Dr Charles.

'No.' Leah shakes her head. 'She's been here a few hours, I assumed she was waiting for someone.'

'Right.' Dr Charles nods. He takes off his coat and hands it to Leah alongside his bag. 'Watch these for me.' Leah nods and places them under the desk out of the way as Dr Charles walks over to Avery. When he reaches her, he sits down next to her. 'Hi.' Avery looks at him. 'I'm Daniel, one of the doctors here. What's your name?' Avery stays silent. 'That's okay, you don't need to tell me.' He nods. 'What brings you here?'

'I-I don't know.' Avery shakes her head. 'I was just on a walk and ended up here.'

'Do you mind if I take a look at your wrists?' Dr Charles asks. Avery looks down, sees the cuts that are showing and pulls down her sleeves.

'I'm fine.' Avery shakes her head. 'I probably shouldn't have come here.' Avery stands.

'I'm afraid I can't let you leave.' Dr Charles also stands up. He waves over security. Two security guards walk toward them.

'What?! No! You can't keep me here!' Avery exclaims, drawing attention from those around them.

'I actually can.' Dr Charles nods. 'You've got fresh cuts on your wrists and you're jittery which leads me to believe that you're a risk to yourself.'

'I'm fine. God, why can no one believe me when I say that!' Avery yells. 'Every goddamn person is so concerned, wanting to send me to a psyche facility but I'm fine! I don't need help nor do I want help.'

'It's for your own good.' He tells her.

'How do you know my name?' Avery asks, stepping back. Even though Dr Charles didn't say her name, her brain is telling her he did.

'I don't.' Dr Charles shakes his head.

'You do. You just said it! No one here should know my name. That's why I came here!' She takes another step back.

'I'm going to place you on an involuntary 72-hour hold.' Dr Charles nods at the security and they step forward to take hold of Avery but she's too quick, dodges them and runs out.  The security guards run out after her. They return a few minutes later. Dr Charles is still in the waiting room.

'She got away. She was too fast.' One of them tells him.

'Contact P.D. Give a description. Let them know a juvenile is a risk to themself. They might want to review CCTV footage so let them have access to that.' Dr Charles replies. 'Page me when they get here.'

'You got it.' The other security guard nods. Dr Charles turns around and walks back to Leah.

'Keep your eye out for that girl. If she comes back, contact P.D. straight away and page me.' He tells her.

'What are you thinking?' Leah asks.

'I'm not sure.' Dr Charles shakes his head. 'She definitely has some form of mental illness. She thought I said her name and then she said that no one should know her name which is why she came here. That makes me think she's not from Chicago. Security is going to call P.D., and they should be able to check whether her description matches any missing persons reports.'

.

A few days later, Jay is at work when Sergeant Hank Voight walks out of his office. 

'Listen up.' He gets everyone's attention. 'Austin PD has sent over a BOLO of a missing girl. Seventeen years old. Avery Strand.' He holds up a picture of Avery. Instantly, Jay recognises her. 'She's been missing for about a week. A few days ago, a girl walked into Chicago Med, agitated and had fresh cuts on her wrists. Dr Charles talked to her and tried to admit her under an involuntary hold, but she ran away and was too fast for security to keep up with her. Some officers were called so they could get a description and start looking for her. The description matches Avery.'

'Sarge, I saw her the other day.' Jay pipes up. 'She was about to cross into the road without looking. Luckily, I saw and pulled her out of the way. I told her to be careful and she said she was in a world of her own. She looked a bit agitated then too but walked away before I could do or say anything.'

'Avery has a history of psychosis. She had a manic episode not that long ago. She ran away to L.A. She also has a history of an eating disorder, so we need to track her down before she decides to leave Chicago if she hasn't already, or she hurts herself more than she already has.' Voight says. 'She's been through a lot in the past few months. She was shot a few months ago at the Harry Styles concert, her injuries were quite bad. Shortly after that, her brother was injured and had a stay in the hospital, then more recently, her best friend became ill all of a sudden and was rushed to hospital.' He explains. 'Avery is clearly having a psychotic episode. According to her family and friends, she's not violent towards other people, even when she's having a psychotic episode.' He turns to Jay. 'Do you remember where you saw her?'

'Corner of Wabash and Kenzie.' Jay replies.

'Let's get looking at security cameras from that area and see if we can track her with facial rec. Let's hit all the motels and hotels in the area and see if she as a room in any of them.' Voight instructs his team. 'The family has said that she may use a fake name - Kate Strand. Kate is her middle name.'

'Halstead, I want you to call Austin P.D. and let them know that we've had a positive sighting, tell them that we're doing everything we can to track her down and that once we do, we'll section her and take her to Chicago Med. It might be useful for her family to come here, ready for when we find her.' Voight tells Jay who nods. 'Upton, Burgess, I want you two to go to motels and hotels in the Wabash and Kenzie area. Atwater, Ruzek, get looking at security footage. I'll get dispatch to put an alert out.' Everyone nods and gets to work whilst Voight returns to his office. Jay looks at the BOLO for the contact for Austin P.D., picks up the receiver on his phone, puts the number in and holds the receiver to his ear.

'Austin P.D. Sergeant Morris, how can I help?' Comes over the phone.

'Hi, this is Detective Jay Halstead from Chicago PD Intelligence. We've had a positive sighing of Avery Strand.'

'Give me a second, let me send this call through to the Officer dealing with this case.'

'Thank you.' Jay replies and Sergeant Morris sends the call through to Carlos.

'Officer Carlos Reyes.' Carlos introduces himself.

'Detective Jay Halstead. I'm from Chicago P.D. Intelligence Unit. We've had a positive sighting of Avery Strand.'

'When?' Carlos asks.

'A few days ago. I saw her myself before I knew she was a missing person and she was spotted by a psychiatrist at Chicago Med. He tried to section her since she had fresh cuts on her wrist and was acting out of sorts, but she ran away.' Jay informs him.

'Do you know where she is now?' Carlos questions.

'Sadly, no.' Jay shakes his head. 'We're doing everything we can to track her down now that we know she's here.' He continues. 'Do you have a contact number for her family so we can inform them?'

'Erm, no need.' Carlos says. 'She's my sister-in-law. I'm the only person her dad and brother trusted with this. I'll let them know and we'll be in Chicago as soon as.'

'When you get here, come to the 21st District. Say that you're here about Avery Strand and who you are and the desk sergeant will bring you up to us.'

'Thank you so much, Detective.' Carlos says appreciatively.

'Do you have a personal cell we could have?' Jay asks. 'I'll call if anything changes.' He continues grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. Carlos tells him his number and he jots it down. 'Great, thank you. I'll speak to you soon.' They both hang up and Jay puts the phone down. He gets his own phone out and quickly texts Carlos so that Carlos also has his number.

In Austin, Carlos stands up from his desk as soon as he gets off the phone with Jay and walks to a conference room where Owen, Megan, T.K. and Jason are Every day, they've been going with Carlos to the station and sitting in there waiting for news.

'She's in Chicago.' Carlos tells them. 'Two positive sightings of her.'

'Is she okay?' Owen asks, standing up.

'She was spotted at one of their hospitals by a psychiatrist, with fresh cuts to her wrist and agitated. They tried to section her but she ran away.' Carlos informs them. 'They're doing everything they can to track her down. The detective I spoke to, he's with their intelligence unit. I've heard rumours about the said unit and they're damn good at their jobs.'

'But Ave is even better at hiding.' Jason points out. 'I want to come with you guys to Chicago if that's okay?'

'Of course.' Owen nods at him. He looks at Megan.

'After what happened between us I uh- I think it's best that I stay here.' Megan states. 'I'll see her when she gets back.'

'I'll call my mom, you can stay with her.' Jason tells his girlfriend.

'Jase-'

'She would insist too,' Jason raises an eyebrow, 'I don't want you to be alone but I also want to be there with Ave.'

'Okay.' Megan nods after a moment's hesitation.

'I'll book some plane tickets and a hotel.' T.K. states standing up. He looks at Megan. 'She's going to be okay. Once she comes home, we'll get her the help she needs.' Megan nods, sadly.

'You'll keep me updated?' Megan asks, looking at Jason.

'Of course, I will.' He nods, grabbing hold of her hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Will Avery still be in Chicago by the time they get there? Keep reading to find out!

Be sure to read "Addicted" by DharmaWinter
for Megan's perspective!

Let me know your thoughts on this chapter and what you think will happen next!

Much love