Hi all, hope you guys are doing good! I'm really trying to work on quick updates, but things are pretty hectic right now. Nevertheless, here's another chapter, based on a prompt from Kelon. Thank you for submitting this one!

[I think one was requested was before this, I'll have to check, but I definitely intend to complete everything you guys send in so don't worry, I'll get to it as soon as I can! Inspiration hasn't really been around recently, so I kind of rolled with this one without checking any previous ones.]

Anyway, there are probably a few mistakes but I hope you enjoy!

"I needed this. Thank you for thinking of me."


It was hard for Erin to actually accept where she was. Working in New York City on a task force for the Feds was an unmissable opportunity, and although she debated for hours over the offer, she inevitably knew that it was what she wanted. Despite the things tying her to Chicago, Lindsay left for the Big Apple a mere month after Cott approached her in the precinct.

She stood in her office, hugging her frame as she leaned against the glass of the window. It was a giant window; one that spanned from the floor to the ceiling and offered a view of busy New York. She'd look out at random points during the day, taking in everything below her and how surreal it all felt.

It was nine thirty, and Erin thought back to Chicago. They were probably at Molly's. Ruzek was probably ordering another round of shots, Olinsky was probably slouched in the corner and Jay was probably laughing at something stupid Antonio said.

She breathed out and bit her lip. Thinking back to her team was painful.

She's been in her position for six weeks, and for six weeks she'd tried to maintain contact with those back in Chicago. She was texting Teddy as often as she could. Nadia, too. Her mother had called her once, but she rejected the call. That was something that was still going to gradually take time. She'd spoken to Voight seven times, two of which were less than five minutes of rushed conversation before they were pulled apart by menial responsibilities. Ruzek had drunkenly texted her a couple of times saying she was missed, and she'd reached out to Dawson to inquire about his progressing family situation, hoping it was all well.

Then there was Jay. Her ex-partner, the one who made her heart ache when she thought back to him. She'd tried the most with Jay to not let their friendship fade. But ironically, they'd spoken the least. Like ships in the night, their passing efforts frustrated the hell out of Erin; she'd call and hit voicemail, guessing he was busy. She'd be about to blow open an investigation, and her phone would buzz with his face lighting up the screen, forcing her to again put him second as work came first. Texts got lost and messages faded. And she missed him.

The glass was cool against her bare arms, and the rational side of her brain told her to call it a night and head home. But the lights were racing in front of her and she found it difficult to look away. She missed Chicago.

She missed the air that was so cold is burned. She missed the beers she'd get with her team after a tough week. She missed that feeling of belonging.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the door open. She didn't hear the footstep, and she almost didn't hear that had been echoing in her mind for weeks.

"Hey."

She looked over her shoulder, half thinking she was hallucinating. The air got thick and she was scared to blink, scared for what was before her to disappear.

"What are you doing here?" Although 'hi' was her first thought, she was so shocked to hear Jay Halstead that nothing in her head made sense.

She watched with a thumping heart as he took a step closer, shutting the door behind him. With just the two of them, locked and held together, she could finally breathe. As though all she'd been doing was holding her breath for the past six weeks.

Everything came into focus all at one; Jay's stubble, rough against his jaw. His dark jeans, his black shirt. His dogtag against his neck. His biceps, the curve of his nose, the softness of his eyes.

And a pizza box.

"Sal's was having a sale. Figured you'd want one."

She managed to exhale a laugh, even in her temporary state of shock. "You took a two hour flight to bring me a pizza?" He flashed a smile and dropped his head, his free hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"I miss you." He added after a while, still stood by the door.

"I miss you, too." Their smiles found each other, longing hearts softly and slowly beating to the same pace again.

He slowly took steps forward, placing the box onto her desk. Shoving hands in his jeans pockets, Jay took in the surroundings. Erin rubbed her arms as Halstead looked around the room, a look of awe growing on his face. A face she'd missed so much.

"Your own office, huh?" He noted, a warm smile settling on his lips.

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, it's... It's pretty surreal." Understatement, but she guessed he knew that already. Jay always appeared one step ahead of her.

"I bet. But Chicago's got one thing you don't." He stepped closer, until it was only her mahogany desk seperating them. She realised how much she wanted to reach out and touch him. He bit his lip before reaching down to lift the pizza box lid. "The best pizza in the world."


They sat down on the floor, their backs against the high windows and a pizza box between them. Erin dived in, savouring each cold bite she took. It tasted like home.

And that's all there was; the sound of soft chewing and a distant humming of New York traffic below them.

"God," Erin began as she started on her fourth slice. "I forgot how good a Chicago deep pan is." She groaned into the bite, elicitng a laugh from Halstead beside her.

"Can't beat it." He agreed, tilting his head back so it rested against the cool glass. Erin felt him looking at her, and the warmth of that glance seemed to set her whole body in a burning heat.

After taking a final bite, she tossed the crust back to the box and leaned back, too. Tilting her head to the right, she looked straight at him. A guy she'd missed so much her heart began to ache.

"How's Voight?" She asked after what felt like forever.

"He's been better. He's kinda distracted a lot... Like his head's someplace else." Erin knew the feeling. "But, we went out for drinks the other night and-"

"What?" She asked, not sure she'd heard it right. As far as she remembered, there was a thick tension between Hank and Jay that seemed to make everyone uncomfortable. Voight was always wary that Jay was going to get too wrapped up in a romance to stay focused on the job and Halstead never liked his Sergeant's tactics.

"I know," Jay said with a laugh. God, she missed that sound. "Pretty crazy, right?"

"More like unimaginable." Erin laughed.

"And, he, uh... He asked me to look out for Justin." He made eye contact again. A burning feeling ignited in her. "Said I could talk to him about my time serving, or something."

"That's great." This felt surreal; the way everything seemed to be falling into focus the minute she left. Why couldn't Hank bond with Jay while she was still his partner? Why couldn't Justin show Jay respect when she was there to witness it?

"Yeah..." He seemed to trail off, and Erin wondered if his headspace was the same as hers. "In fact..." He reached into his back pocket and drew out his wallet. Flicking it open, he pulled out a small picture and handed it to her.

A sonogram.

"Me and Justin hit the gym the other day and he gave it to me. He said whenever I was gonna come up to see you, he wanted you to have it."

Erin thumbed the picture in front of her, smiling down at the squiggly lines and shapes that didn't seem to make sense, but made her heart swell.

"Thank you." She said, looking up at him again. He smiled in response and held her gaze.

Her lips parted to tell him something but her throat went dry before she could. For the past six weeks, she'd had speeches swimming through her head, she'd typed out essays on her phone to send to him, all the while backing down before hitting send. And yet there he was, sitting right in front of her, close enough for her fingertips to touch his cheek and her lips to tingle against his. And she was silent.

Maybe it was because everything felt inevitable. Because although he was on her New York Office floor, in a matter of hours he'd be back in Chicago and she'd be back to missing him more than she thought possible.

"There are still days when this doesn't feel real." Jay eventually said, his gaze firmly on the space between them. "And I'll walk into the precinct, expecting you to be standing there, just... Pouring coffee."

She nodded and frowned sadly. She knew what he meant.

There were days where her eyes would flutter open into the darkness, and her head was light. Days where it wouldn't immediately hit her, where she was. Where she'd think she was in Chicago, and the district was just a mere ten minute drive like always. And then realisation would hit her, and she'd have to ignore that sinking feeling deep inside of her as she dragged herself out the door to an apartment she still couldn't call home.

She bit her lip and looked up at Jay, their eyes meeting. And it felt like home.

Feeling her breath being stolen away, Erin looked back down and clenched her jaw before speaking, wondering what good it would do to let some truth slip now.

"You know, I..." She could feel her heart thudding in her chest. "I almost didn't get on that plane." She felt his eyes on her, urging her on. "I had your number on my phone, ready to call, and everything..." She let out a hollow laugh but it echoed hauntingly.

"Call me to say what?" Her breath quickened again, her pulse thumping. A part of was is back in the break-room, the small kitchen area adjacent to Hank's office. She could feel the sweat gather in her palms, like it did whenever he moved close to her in that room, and her heart sang out in fear and excitement, dreading the moment Voight was sure to walk in and catch her painfully aching for the guy in front of her.

And even though she was in New York City, and Chicago was a mere star in her skyline, she still felt that same fear.

"That I wasn't ready for this." She finally replied, her eyes flickering around the room. They finally landed on Jay. "That I wasn't ready to leave." She tried to add the word 'you' to the end of the sentence, but the sound got caught in her throat.

"So, what changed?" He asked, his eyes unmoving. She thought she could faintly detect a tone of hurt in his voice, but it was gone almost as quickly as it came.

"I realised that life isn't meant to be convenient." She replied blandly, her eyes unconsciously sad.

Truthfully, she stood on that terminal and thought about how easy it would be to back out of the whole thing. Voight would take her back with open arms, as would her unit. The State Attorney would be pissed, and Erin would have a lot of crap to take for it but it would eventually fade.

And maybe that's what scared her the most; the safety of it all. For once, she needed to rely on herself. She was grateful to Voight, but she needed to get away and work on her own career. It wasn't fair to burden him forever.

After a few moments, Jay crept to his feet. Erin watched him as he slowly rounded on her desk, looking down at a frame propped in the corner. He turned the picture round to him and she felt something swell inside of her when a small smile crept on his lips.

"This is a great picture." He mumbled, eyes looking down and refusing to leave the sight. Somewhere between him saying it and looking up, Erin had followed him off the floor and to the desk. She was close to him, looking at him with hopeful eyes and a smile that broke something inside of him.

And then all at once there were tears in her eyes. She wasn't a snivelling wreck and she wasn't strong and composed. She was in the in between state where everything was shaky and uncertain.

"Look, uh..." Her voice was raspier than usual, holding in the emotion. She looked down at blinked back any tears threatening to fall in front of Jay. "I needed this tonight. Thank you for thinking of me."

The words were on the tip of his tongue: I'm always thinking of you. But it was cheesy and would make anything between them uncomfortable. So instead he smiled back at her, stepping closer until her perfume surrounded him.

"No problem." The word was begging to be said, achingly forming on his tongue. And since he'd already silenced himself once, he let the term flow from his lips without a care. "Partner."

He heard the breath leave her lips and the smile stretch across her face, from dimple to dimple. They were partners. Nothing would change that.

She exhaled a breathy smile and enveloped their bodies without giving it a second thought. Her arms were snaked around his shoulders, hugging him tight to her body. Although tensed at first, he quickly eased into her body and let himself melt into her.

Her breaths were heavy, heaving her chest into his with each gulp of air she drew. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged him a little tighter, scared if she didn't, he was going to fade away.

When the fire settled and the heat between them burned a little less intently, Jay felt her grip loosen and her eventually reluctant pulling away. As a small distance between them formed, Halstead leaned back in, ducking his head slightly lower in order to allow their lips to meet.

Erin was stiff for the first second, her whole body freezing at the notion of Jay's lips on hers. His hand was still on her waist from the hug and the skin beneath his fingertips burned.

Her lips pushed back a beat later, moving and gliding in a desperate attempt to make up all the time she'd lost in her life not kissing Jay Halstead. Her hands were on his shoulders. Then neck. Then in his hair. Tugging and pulling. He bit her lip.

At some point, Jay spun Erin and she felt dizzy, not daring to open her eyes out of fear of breaking the moment. She felt the wood of her desk pressed against the back of her thighs, and soon glided herself on top with the help of Jay.

The kisses then became feverish. She fisted his shirt and tugged him closer. His tongue found its way into her mouth as he stood between her parted legs.

She heard a rustling of papers and stationery as Jay attempted to move scattered objects from around Erin, his kisses slightly sloppy in the effort. She heard things fly from the desk and hit the floor, all the while the beating of her heart overpowering it all.

Then a loud crash brought them back to reality. It was Erin's landline that had gone flying to the floor. Her eyes flashed open but she couldn't suppress the chuckle in her throat. Jay rested his forehead against Lindsay's and laughed with her, his whole body moving in his chortle.

It was deathly silent apart from the contagious laughter of the two, and Erin relished the lightness in her heart she'd been struggling so much to find. After a few moments, she pulled her head backwards to get a clear view into the eyes of her partner.

"Is this gonna be a regular thing?" She asked in a hoarse whisper, the smile never leaving her lips. "Pizza and making out on my desk?"

A larger smirk graced his lips, and Erin realised she could look at it forever.

"You bet."


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