A/N:I'm going to keep putting Burgess and Atwater in some chapters because I feel like they're overlooked.
typical disclaimer
Everyone is sitting in the bullpen when Olinsky finally speaks his mind.
"You two," he motions to Erin and Jay. "There's something going on here." Jay looks at Erin, she looks to Voight who in turn is watching both of them. Something that he does more in recent days. Antonio is watching Jay, who is becoming increasingly nervous under Olinsky's stare. And Ruzek, he's watching the whole scene unfold.
"Alvin, seriously? Me and him?" Erin wants to see what he knows. "Alright I'll bite. What's your reasoning?"
"The looks. They're different than they used to be. They're longing. These are like you haven't seen each other in weeks even though you carpool everywhere." Everyone was interested now.
"And he drives now sometimes," she sends a glare towards Jay. "And you touch him more," which makes Voight also send a glare to Jay. "Not weird it's in a comforting way, just like you're making sure he's still here. Keeping him grounded."
She nods and looks over at Antonio. He shrugs, knowing what she's about to do. She laughs in response and turns to Jay sitting on the edge of his desk, who has a look of confusion and fear. Erin moves to stand in front of him, puts one hand on the nape of his neck, the other fists his shirt pulling them together.
At first Jay is startled by the kiss, mainly because their co-workers are watching them. Then he reacts normally, one hand on her hip and the other is palm flat, fingers spread against her back. The kiss is simple but she draws it out as much as she can before Voight tries to kill Jay again. And it's almost as if Jay can read her mind, because in that instant he pulls away. He doesn't bother to look around at anyone, he doesn't move. He just tries to realize that they just kissed in front of everyone and he's still in one piece.
"See! I knew there was something going on." Everyone's stares switch between Jay and Erin to Olinsky. "And that, that is a look that an old married couple has."
They have another bust to do and the whole team is ready to breach the house when Burgess radios.
"Atwater's on foot in pursuit of the suspect down the back alley." Ruzek, Voight and Olinsky ran to the alley, leaving Jay, Erin and Antonio at the house when there's another radio in. "Shots fired! I repeat. Shots fired in the alley!" Erin's heart drops, she could hear the fear in Burgess' voice. It's the same way her voice gets when Jay goes out of her sight.
Once it's confirmed that they have the suspect, Erin, Jay and Antonio meet the others in the alley. She sees Atwater laying against a wall and Burgess putting pressure on his abdomen, waiting for the paramedics who seem to take forever. She flashes back to Jules, how she thought they were never going to show up. Burgess is fighting back tears, not wanting to seem weak in front of her partner, or any of the detectives. And Erin thinks that she could never be that strong if it were Jay.
She needs to make sure he is alright, for her sake and his. Erin walks over to Jay, who is standing against another wall. She squeezes his arm, letting him know that it's going to be a rough night. Because that could have been any one of them.
They all stay with Burgess in the waiting room. They're all seated in the three sided room, Burgess then Erin with Jay closely next to her, with Ruzek and Olinsky on another side, and Voight and Antonio across from Jay. Every now and then Erin looks over at Jay, as if to make sure he's still there. His gaze catches hers and he sees the pain, the fright in her eyes. He wishes he knew how to comfort her but he doesn't, so he simply holds her hand and hopes for the best.
Erin sits with an arm around her shoulders until Burgess excuses herself down the hall. Erin glances at Jay then leaves in the opposite direction. He knows to give her some time to herself, but after ten minutes he starts to get worried. Searches down all of the hallways until he finds her on a bridge, staring out to the skyline. He sees her tear stained cheeks, make-up all messed up, and some blood from Burgess' hands found its way to her jacket. He can see that she is shaking, not just her hands this time, but her whole body. Jay waits for her to speak, not knowing if she's ready.
"It could be you, you know?" She turns to look at him. "That could be you in surgery." Jay turns her fully towards him and grabs her shoulders.
"But it's not. I'm right here, Erin. I'm fine." Erin nods, tears filling up her eyes, burning to pour out. Until one finally does, and the rest follow. Jay pulls her in close to him, trying to make her realize that he is fine.
When they finally make it back to the group no one bothers them. They take the two empty seats in the corner and wait. Ruzek left to get food sometime while they were gone. When he came back he sat next to Burgess and handed her some candy. They all laughed at the rookie, "What, it was all they had!" Even Burgess managed to laugh at him until,
"Family of Kevin Atwater?" Not one of them stood up faster than Burgess. "His surgery was touch and go for a while but he's stable now. He lost a lot of blood and is going to be in serious pain for a bit." He rambled on about medical stuff that no one knew. "He's sedated but you can see him if you would like." Burgess nodded and followed the doctor to his room.
Erin turned around to Jay who was standing immediately behind her. She put her head in the crook of his neck when he pulled her into a tight hug. "Voight's gunna see." She felt him shrug.
"I don't care, all I care about is that you're safe." She felt him inhale deeply. Erin pulled back and stood next to Jay, still tucked against him.
"Hey you two should go home." Voight didn't seem mad. "I'm going to wait with her for a bit." Jay nodded for the both of them, feeling the sudden need to be closer to Erin.