Hailey's POV

It had been almost two hours since Charlie came to join us at the district and to be honest, I could have easily forgotten she was here, laying down on the couch in the break room.

I wasn't sure if she was napping now but last time I checked on her, she was just staring at the ceiling.

I had finished all of my paperwork and updated all the files on my CIs so I got up and headed back to the break room where Charlie still laid on the couch.

"Is the ceiling moving?" I asked her, taking a seat on the couch my her foot.

Charlie propped herself up on her elbows, an amused look on her face, "No, not in reality anyways. Maybe in my head."

"What's kept you so entertained over the past couple of hours that you haven't moved from this spot since you got here?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Charlie seemed to almost debate what to say before answering.

"You know when you're in the half-asleep but still fully awake mode?" She tore her eyes from the ceiling so they could look at me.

"Uh, no. No, I don't think so," I replied, a little confused with what she meant.

Charlie nodded, "Well, it's like when you're awake but you have all these dreams."

"So like daydreaming?"

Charlie shook her head, "No, not daydreaming. I was dreaming but in the stage where you're about to fall asleep, but I never fell asleep."

I still wasn't completely sure what she meant and Charlie knew that because she just gave up trying to explain it to me.

"Enough about me, how's your day going?" She asked, a smile forming on her face, "I mean, I know you haven't really done any action stuff yet, but how's all the boring parts about being a cop?"

I laughed, "Well, it's just apart of the job."

Charlie nodded but the smile on her face faltered slightly along with the mood in the room.

"Is everything okay?" I asked her.

Charlie bit her lip, running her lip horizontally back and forth underneath her two front teeth.

"He's going to be in prison for the rest of his life, with no parole for at least twenty-five years?" Charlie looked up at me and I slowly nodded. "That's a long time. In twenty-five years, I'll be thirty-nine."

I wasn't sure what to say to that. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Maybe I'll have kids of my own by then," Charlie continued, her voice was quiet and her eyes had softened. "My mom would have loved to be a grandma."

"Yeah?"

Charlie nodded, "She always said that and I was so little I just agreed. I don't really want kids though, it would really just be for her."

Charlie always had this way of putting people into awkward situations with the things she said. When I first met her, I thought she was doing it on purpose, almost to be spiteful, but now, I wondered if she was doing this unknowingly.

Maybe that was just the way she was.

Charlie looked like she was going to speak again since she had opened her mouth but no words came out as her eyes wandered over behind me. I turned my head to see Jay standing at the doorway.

"Voight just got a call, we're needed at a scene," Jay told me and I nodded.

"Okay," I replied and looked backed at Charlie, "Come on, let's get you downstairs."

Charlie nodded and ignored my helping hand as she swung both feet over the couch and grabbed her crutches, using them to help herself onto her one good foot. Then without saying anything to Jay, she hop-stepped past him, heading towards the stairs.

"Come on, let's go," I said to Jay as I walked past him as well, following Charlie. She had some trouble with the stairs but managed to get down by herself. She then plopped herself down on one of the benches and I went up to the front desk where Trudy was.

"Seargent, we just got a case, could you watch Charlie for a bit just until Caroline's sister comes to pick her up?" I asked though it wasn't really a question.

Trudy raised an eyebrow, "As long as I don't have to feed her or change a diaper."

"She's fourteen," I replied and when Trudy didn't say anything, I smiled nicely, "Thanks."

I was going to follow Jay outside to the car but Charlie stopped me.

"Thank you," She said, catching me off guard.

"What?"

Charlie smiled, "Thank you for everything you've done."

"No problem," I replied.

"Hailey! Let's go!" I heard Jay calling and I turned my attention back to Charlie, preparing to explain but she shook her head.

"I know, don't worry. Go and kick some butt out there," Charlie told me and I nodded and gave her one last smile before hurrying out the door.

"Looks like a robbery gone wrong," Ruzek told Jay and I as we walked into the store, "Robbers came in, took the cash from the cashier, didn't expect to see the store owner here."

I nodded, "Any witnesses?"

Atwater shook his head, "Would have been the store owner."

"Where's he?" Jay asked even though we both had a good inkling on what happened.

Ruzek and Atwater didn't answer us. Instead, they lead us behind the counter where we confirmed our suspicions.

A man in his mid-fifties lay on the floor in a pool of bright crimson liquid.

Blood.

I bent down to have a better look at what happened.

"They shot him?" I questioned, looking up at the others.

Atwater nodded, "By the looks of it."

I sighed and stood up again, crossing my arms.

"We better get working then."

When we got back to the district, ready to make some progress on the new case, the first thing I noticed was that Charlie was nowhere to be seen. I knew she had probably been picked up but I didn't have time to dwell on that fact. The robbers had quite the head start on us and we needed to catch up.

Seargent Platt gave me a nod and I nodded back before following Jay up the stairs and into the bullpen.

Burgess was already writing down everything we knew, setting up the case board so we could have a quick rundown of what we had so far. It would help us determine what to do next and possibly lead us to even more information.

"Frank Hernandez," Kim said, pinning up a photo of the shop owner, "Shot and killed in his own store today. Looks like a robbery gone wrong."

"The store does have surveillance cameras which shows that there were two robbers, both covered with black clothing so we're unable to identify anything. Only one had a gun though which is how Hernandez was killed," Ruzek added. "And they fled the scene in a grey honda civic."

Voight nodded and we all stared at the case board for a moment.

"Hey Sarge," Atwater said as he walked into the bullpen from one of the halls, "I ran the plates on the car, it came back to a William Moore. We have an address too."

"Let's hit it then," Voight told us and we got up, heading back downstairs.

After a long day, we had finally caught the two robbers who killed Frank Hernandez while robbing his store. It wasn't an easy task but it was done and all I wanted to do was go home and sleep.

Telling Rojas I'd meet her in the car, I went downstairs, running a hand through my hair.

"Night Sarge," I nodded at Trudy on my way out the door.

"Hold on Upton," She stopped me and I turned around, changing my direction towards the front desk.

I crossed my arms and leaned on the desk, "What's wrong?"

Trudy shook her head, "Nothing. I was just supposed to pass this along to you."

She then reached underneath the desk and pulled out an envelope, handing it to me. Confused, I took it anyway, looking at Trudy expectantly for an answer.

"It's for you," was all she said and I nodded before wishing her good night again and leaving the district. I waited until I was in my car with one of the lights inside turned on before opening the envelope and taking out the folded piece of lined paper inside.

Unfolding the lined piece of paper, I realized that it was a letter written by someone who had an extremely nice and neat print.

Dear Hailey,

I don't think I'll still be here when you get back but I couldn't leave without letting you know this. I am very thankful for everything you've done me these past few weeks. Thank you for not just saving my life after I was attacked and shot but also for being there for me when I really needed someone. I know I've already thanked you before but I really wanted you to know so I wrote this letter.

Don't worry too much about me. It might take a while but I'll be okay. Life goes on which means so do I. I'm sure Caroline will let me visit Dad as much as possible which will be nice since I don't want to move on without him. Things'll be different but I know we'll always have each other no matter what.

Anyways, since I won't be here to give you this letter personally, I'm going to get Seargent Platt to do so for me. Hopefully, she'll remember and you actually get this today and not in a year from now.

Thanks again for everything! Keep on kicking butt out there!

Sincerely,

Charlie

That's the end!

I'm thinking of doing a sequel so if keep an eye out for that! Or don't, I can't really control what you do.

Thanks for reading!