Authors note: It's been a while since I've written anything but I'm trying a new writing challenge (14 random prompts over 30 days) and figured I'd use Hailey and Jay for some of them since I've really enjoyed their relationship so far. This one is set after the season finale.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, just borrowing the characters for my own entertainment.

Prompt: Comfort

The knock at the door wasn't completely unexpected even if it was past midnight. Hailey had put it at a ninety percent chance given the events of the day, and she couldn't say she was disappointed when she opened it to find Jay, looking happier than she had expected, holding a case of beer in one hand and a takeout bag in the other.

"Please tell me you haven't eaten yet," he said as he walked past her; they were beyond asking permission to enter these days, "because if you have, I ordered way too much."

"I have not," she said, closing the door and following him into the kitchen.

She had managed to shower and change into sweats since she returned home, but that was about it. Hailey knew she should eat something, she hadn't had anything since breakfast, neither of them had. But even with that knowledge and the smell of chicken noodles coming from the bag Jay had just dropped down onto the side, she couldn't stop thinking about the past eighteen hours.

The day had started off so well, but then the van, the hail of bullets, Adam being arrested and Kelton's death…Hailey wasn't sure if it could get much worse. Yet when she looked over to Jay unpacking the takeout boxes, she had a flash of the day he was shot, the day she thought he might die.

"Hey." Jay was holding a beer out to her, looking far more concerned than he had before. "You okay?"

"Tired," she said as she reached out and took hold of the bottle, but Jay didn't let go. Instead he continued to stare at her, he knew it was more than that. "We could have died today."

She left out should have, but she had seen the state of the van after they climbed out. If any of those bullets had been a couple of inches lower…it was something of a miracle they left unscathed. And Hailey knew she had Jay to thank for that. He had worked out what was happening before she had and pulled them to the ground. A few seconds later and it would have been a different story, that much Hailey was sure of.

"We're still here," Jay said as he finally released the bottle to her, "and neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon."

"Until they break up the unit," she muttered as she took a swig of beer.

It seemed Jay had heard her given the frown on his face. She hadn't meant to kill the positive vibe he had entered her place with, but she needed to vent. It was their thing after all, talking through the bad bits, but maybe there was something more there today given the way Jay was looking at her, just as he had earlier in the break room. She wasn't sure she was ready to push him on that topic yet though. They were both exhausted, she just wanted to sit down for a bit, focus on the most important parts; Kelton's murder and Adam's arrest.

"Come on," she said, setting her beer down on the side and nodding to the couch; the food and drinks could wait. Jay seemed hesitant but set his beer down and followed a few steps behind her.

Hailey was about to ask if he had heard anything from Voight or Antonio, the fact that both of them had pulled the disappearing act was making everything worse right now, but before she even got the first word out, she heard the sound. A gunshot.

Her muscles tensed as she turned back to where she thought the sound came from, but then she was falling. Hailey grunted as her back hit the carpet; then the sound came again, but this time she could place it better. It wasn't a gunshot. It was a car backfiring. She should have known better but in her sleep deprived state she had mistaken it. As had her partner given the way he was lying protectively on top of her, surveying the area.

"Jay." She got no response; he was still looking off in the direction of the street.

"Jay." She tried again as his chest met hers. He was breathing almost twice as fast as she was, a focused look in his eyes, which meant he was still assuming the worst. She didn't want to startle him, worried that she might trigger a panic attack, but she had to get him back.

Slowly she reached a hand up and placed it on his left shoulder, but still she got no response. She called his name a few more times, trying to keep the worry out of her voice, as she gently squeezed his shoulder, but still she got nothing. It was only when she moved her hand to his cheek that he finally looked at her, tears in his eyes.

"It's okay, it was just a car."

He didn't speak but Hailey could feel his breathing returning to normal. She kept her hand on his cheek the whole time, wiping away the two stray tears that fell as he closed his eyes.

"We're okay," she repeated causing Jay to nod. "Gotta say that was not as soft a landing as the van."

"Shit, sorry," he said, suddenly seeming to realise their position. He started to move away but before he could get too far, Hailey rolled on to her side and pulled him back down next to her, a very similar position to how they had been lying earlier in the van.

"Jay, wait."

This was dangerous territory; she knew the lines between good friends and something more were starting to become blurred, but she also knew they both really needed this. Before Jay had a chance to say anything else, she shuffled a little closer and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him tight against her. Seeing him like that, with all the memories of the day, she could feel the tears forming in her own eyes and while she hated to admit it, she just really needed some comfort right now.

It took Jay a moment but then his arms were around her, holding her just as tightly as he had earlier that day.

"I'm not sure if I said it before, but thank you," she whispered.

"What for?"

"Saving my life." The whole day had been such a whirlwind, and she may have already thanked him, but she needed him to know. "Without you…"

"You've saved me enough times before," he said, pulling back a little until they were face to face. "I've always got your back. Just like I know you've always got mine."

"Always," she said as Jay brushed his thumb across her cheek removing some of the tears that had fallen. "I…uh we…we're partners."

Hailey saw the small smile on Jay's face before she closed her eyes and pulled him back into a hug. She had almost said something she wasn't sure she was ready to say, but she didn't want to risk making anything awkward. For now this was all she needed, and she was pretty sure Jay felt the same. So they stayed lying on the floor of her living room, silently holding onto the other, before drifting off to sleep.