September 29, 2014
Dear Staff Sergeant Halstead,
It is with great pride that the United States Army Rangers call upon you to return from Reserve Duty to fight a tour. The U.S Army will reimburse you for travel expenses to travel from your current location to Fort Lee, Virginia.
We expect your arrival at Fort Lee before October 20th.
We await confirmation of your receipt of this letter. Do not delay in response.
Sergeant Major Michael Rider
Halstead's hands shook as he read the letter a third time, and then a tenth time. His fingers released the heavy stationary, his call to duty floating gently to the floor.
Fuck.
His hands were still shaking, and his fingertips were growing cold.
No.
"Why?" he muttered out loud, a growing feeling of dread taking place in his gut. Stepping over the letter, Jay moved robotically into his kitchen, pulling down a glass, any glass, and grabbing the bottle of whiskey from the counter.
He downed a shot, and then another, and then another before slamming the glass onto the counter and abandoning the alcohol for his couch.
The Army Rangers.
He was going back.
"Fuck," he ground out, dropping his head to his hands and resting his elbows on his knees, "Fuck."
His cell phone rang, vibrating against the kitchen counter.
Sighing heavily, Jay pushed himself to his feet and strode to grab the phone before it could click over to voicemail.
"Halstead," he answered without looking at the called ID.
"I hope to God you haven't gotten drunk yet," Lindsay's raspy voice filled his ears, "We picked up a body. I'm two minutes from you."
Lindsay. He was going to have to leave her.
"Not drunk," Jay responded, "I'll be ready when you get here."
Lindsay said something in response, but Halstead's mind was already a million miles away.
He shoved his phone into his pocket and clipped his badge and gun back on. He probably smelled a little like the whiskey he had drunk, but three shots was no where near enough to put him off his game.
Nevertheless, he went into his bedroom and swiped on some more deodorant and swished some Listerine in his mouth. That was going to have to do for now.
There was a thumping on his door a few seconds later, accompanied by Lindsay's shouting, "Halstead, get a move on! Voight's already there."
Jay opened his door mid-knock, Lindsay's momentum causing her to almost fall over.
Jay caught her arm, grinning, the letter from the Army already forgotten, "Jesus, Lindsay, sure you're not the drunk one?"
Lindsay narrowed her eyes and smirked at him, "Warn a girl before you open the door on her."
"I'll keep you waiting next time, then," Jay grinned, nudging Lindsay out the door and pulling it shut behind him.
"Don't you dare," Lindsay laughed, poking his arm, "You know how much I hate waiting."
Didn't stop you from waiting for Severide at Molly's two days ago, Jay thought, but didn't say.
Instead he shrugged, "You could learn a little patience, wouldn't kill ya."
Lindsay grinned at him and climbed into the front seat of her car, "We'll never know, because I'm never going to be patient."
Her words triggered something in Jay's brain.
Patience. He was going to have to learn Army patience all over again.
"Yeah," he said, his voice sounding funny, "You'll never be patient. Voight basically raised you and that man's got zero patience."
Lindsay looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "Halstead, you okay?"
Jay nodded, "Yeah, just fine. Why?"
She shook her head, "No…nothing. Never mind."
They were both quiet as Lindsay pulled up to the crime scene and maneuvered her car into a spot next to Voight's.
Jay got out of the car, watching Lindsay out of the corner of his eye.
He wondered if she'd be patient waiting for him to finish his tour.
Falling into step behind her, Halstead shook his head. He shouldn't – wasn't fucking allowed to, thanks to Voight – think like that. Besides she was happy with Severide and the fireman was a decent enough guy.
"Hey," Lindsay's hand brushed against his side, gaining his attention, "You seem distracted."
"I'm fine," Jay said, eyes on Voight. The older man was watching them intently, waiting for Jay to make the wrong move towards Lindsay.
Lindsay scoffed and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, okay. I'm here when you want to talk though."
She squeezed his arm and headed off towards Voight.
She might be here, but would he? Jay wondered.
A/N: Okiedoke, my darlings. Here it is, by first ever foray into the world of Linstead. These two idiots have captured my heart since episode 1 of CPD, and I finally decided that it was time to write them.
Like I said, this is my first time writing them, so I really, really need and want your feedback on my characterization. I'm aware that the whole "Halstead gets called back to the Army" plot has been done before. But I have a different plan for this story, and I really hope you guys like it. I'm also aware that it's short, but I wanted to get this out there to see what I'll need to fix for future chapters.
Just two days until more Linstead =)