Jay looked through the window of the house and spotted Hailey talking to the woman. He took a deep breath before turning on his radio, "Hails?"

Hailey's head snapped up to the window.

The woman yelled at her and pointed her gun to Hailey.

Jay's heart dropped and his hand twitched to his own gun in his holster.

Hailey put one hand up while she pressed her radio, "Jay?"

Jay closed his eyes, "Yeah, it's me. How're things going in there?" He stepped closer to the window and placed his hand on the glass.

Hailey nodded, "We're okay." She made eye contact with him, "Juliette's having a hard time because of David's death, but we're trying to talk through it."

"Does she want or need anything?" Jay asked.

Hailey talked to the woman, Juliette, before answering through the radio, "In her words, she wants revenge and she wants her daughter to understand the effects of drugs."

"What do you mean?" Jay spotted the pregnant girl on the couch.

"She stole David's drugs and has been giving them to Nicole," Hailey said slowly.

Inside, Juliette started screaming again and walked closer to Hailey.

Hailey winced at something and Jay hit the window, "Hailey!"

Juliette pointed the gun at the ceiling and fired.

Adam lunged at Jay and pushed him to the ground.

"Get off me," Jay yelled.

"Over here, now!" Hank called from behind one of the cars.

"Get her out!" Jay said as Adam dragged him away from the house.

Hailey gasped as dust and pieces from the ceiling fell on her. She backed into the entertainment center, "Juliette, think about what you're doing."

"Do not talk to me," Juliette spit, "You lost all privilege to talk to me when you told your husband what was happening."

"They need to know," Hailey said, "What you've been doing isn't safe. Look at your daughter."

Nicole whimpered on the couch and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"Don't look at her," Juliette hissed.

"You're punishing her unborn baby for just existing," Hailey whispered, "Think about that."

"What do you even know about being a parent?" Juliette asked.

"I have a son," Hailey said softly, "He's seven-years-old and his name is Drew. He had his first day of second grade today," she smiled slightly, "And I want to go home safely so I can hear all about it. Do you remember when Nicole was in second grade?"

Juliette breathed shakily, "Stop. Stop talking."

"I bet she was cute," Hailey smiled, "Have you always had black hair, Nicole?"

Nicole sniffled and nodded. She scratched her arms and Hailey tried pushing thoughts of Drew out of her mind.

"I told you to stop talking," Juliette yelled and pointed her gun back at Hailey.

"Okay," Hailey said softly, "I'm sorry."

"Mom," Nicole whispered, "Mom, I need something."

Juliette bent down and opened the brown backpack at her feet. She tossed a small Ziploc to Nicole, "Here."

"Do I have to?" Nicole asked, "I want to stop."

Juliette's eyes flashed and before Hailey could blink, Juliette shot her gun at Nicole.

Nicole screamed as the bullet connected with her leg.

"Take it!" Juliette yelled, "Now!"

Nicole sobbed, "My leg. My leg, please."

Hailey's radio beeped and Hank's voice came through, "Hailey, talk to me."

"She shot Nicole," Hailey breathed into the radio, "She's bleeding pretty bad. Don't come in though, she still has the gun pointed at her and she's unstable."

"I want Nicole out ASAP," Hank said.

Hailey nodded, "Me too." She watched Juliette force the cocaine into Nicole's mouth and winced, "Juliette, stop."

Juliette spun around and pointed her gun at Hailey, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop talking?"

"You need to let me help her," Hailey said, "Please."

Nicole sobbed, "Let me leave."

"I will stay," Hailey continued, "But you need to let her leave. My husband-"

"Will not step foot in here," Juliette snapped.

"Then our friend," Hailey pleaded, "Please let us help your daughter. Can he come grab her?"

Nicole writhed around on the couch and cried as she gripped her thigh.

"Fine," Juliette breathed, "But you stand far away. You move even an inch toward me and you die."

"Okay," Hailey nodded and walked backwards as she grabbed her radio, "Voight."

"I'm here," Hank replied.

"Juliette's letting Nicole leave, but it needs to be Adam or Kevin. She said Jay can't come in," Hailey slowly said.

"No, you gotta let me in," Jay pushed against Kevin.

"She specifically said not you," Hank shook his head.

Jay watched Adam enter the house with his hands up and shoved Kevin again, "Hailey!"

"Enough!" Hank yelled at him, "Atwater, take him across the street."

Kevin nodded and dragged Jay to the base within the rundown house. Once he let go, Jay fell defeated into a chair.

"You gonna be okay?" Kevin squatted in front of him.

Jay put his head in his hands, "I don't want her in there."

"I know," Kevin said softly, "But you've gotta reel yourself in."

Jay looked up and glared at him.

"I'm just saying, Voight's gonna take you off the case altogether if you continue," Kevin said, "You want to help get Hailey out of there? You distance yourself from your emotions, go upstairs, and prep yourself for the final shot."

Jay swallowed and nodded, "I can do that."

Kevin clapped his hands together and stood, "Let's go."

Hailey watched Adam carry Nicole out of the room, "You did the right thing, Juliette."

Juliette shook her head and raised her gun back to Hailey, "I can't stand you."

"I'm trying to help you," Hailey said softly, "I want to help you get out of here alive. Letting Nicole leave was a step in the right direction."

"Toward what?" Juliette asked, "Jail?"

"At least a shorter sentence," Hailey walked toward her. She kept her eye on the window and tried to see if she could spot Jay in the house across the street.

Juliette shook her head, "There's no point in that. I'm not going to jail."

"Jail is better than dead," Hailey whispered, "Think about your grandchild."

Juliette cocked her gun, "That bastard child? He doesn't deserve to live in this mess of a world."

Hailey shook her head, "This world is not a mess."

"Tell that to my dead boyfriend," Juliette breathed.

"I'm sorry he was taken from you," Hailey continued moving slowly across the room.

"Don't lie," Juliette spit, "You feel no regret for his death."

"You don't know that," Hailey said softly. She finally positioned herself near the window, hoping Jay could see her.

"I don't have a shot yet," Jay said into his radio.

"Hailey doesn't want you to hurt her if possible, but I don't care," Hank replied, "You get Hailey out of there anyway possible."

"Copy," Jay answered.

"You could hit the ceiling," Kevin suggested.

Jay shook his head, "I can't risk weakening what she's already done. I want to actually-"

"Don't finish it, but I know what you mean," Kevin breathed.

Jay nodded and repositioned himself in the window. He whispered, "Come on, Hailey, give me an inch."

Kevin adjusted his binoculars, "See that?"

"Yeah," Jay checked to make the gun was loaded. His finger twitched slightly as Juliette's gun came further into his view of the window; it was pointed directly at Hailey and he tried to remain calm. "Kev, call Voight," he breathed.

Kevin nodded and radioed Hank, "Voight."

"Take it," Hank replied.

"Think about what you're doing," Hailey said, her hands in the air, "Do you really want this?"

"I want to hurt your husband like he hurt me," Juliette breathed.

"David shot Jay though," Hailey pleaded, cursing herself when her voice jumped an octave, "He had no choice."

"There is always a choice!" Juliette yelled. Her hand shook as it held the gun facing Hailey.

There was the unmistakable sound of a bullet breaking glass and Hailey dove to the side covering her head. Juliette screamed in pain and dropped her gun causing it to go off and shooting into the wall.

Hailey quickly sat up and crawled across the floor to grab Juliette's gun.

The door burst open and Hank was the first to reach them in the living room. "Hailey," he helped her stand, "You okay?"

Hailey nodded and watched Vanessa and Adam put Juliette in handcuffs despite her bleeding arm.

"We need to get you out of here," Hank said and set a hand on Hailey's back.

"How's Nicole?" she asked softly as she was led out of the room.

"She'll be fine," Hank nodded.

"Her mother was forcing her to snort cocaine," Hailey breathed.

"I know," Hank said and walked Hailey to his car.

"That's not fine," Hailey snapped.

Hank closed his eyes and nodded, "I know."

Hailey was going to reply when she noticed Jay walking out of the house across the street. She pushed past Hank and ran at him.

"I've got you," Jay breathed as he wrapped his arms around her, "I'm here. You're safe."

Hailey finally let her emotions get the better of her and sobbed into Jay's shoulder.

Jay squeezed his eyes closed and gripped the back of her shirt.

"I thought I was going to die," Hailey said.

Jay nodded and tangled his fingers in her hair, "But you didn't."

"I want to go home," Hailey whispered, "Please. I need to see my son."

Jay swallowed, "We can do that," he pulled back and set his other hand on the side of Hailey's face, "You've earned it."

Jay had his arm wrapped around Hailey's waist as they walked through the front door into the house.

"You're finally home!" Drew ran over to them.

Hailey weakly laughed and knelt down to hug him. She gripped him tightly and blinked back the tears in her eyes, "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Drew said.

Hailey smiled and looked at his face, "How was school?"

"Good," Drew grabbed her hand and pulled her to the living room, "I didn't tell Dad anything yet so we could all talk together."

Will chuckled and stood next to Jay, "I did feed him dinner; we had mac and cheese."

"Thanks," Jay said softly.

"Rough one?" Will asked.

Jay nodded and swallowed hard.

Will set his hand on Jay's shoulder, "Let me know if either of you need anything." He squeezed slightly and walked out of the house.

Jay closed his eyes and took a breath before walking over to the couch and sitting on Drew's other side, "Could you wait a quick minute, Drew?"

"But I've been waiting all day," Drew groaned.

"I know," Jay nodded, "And I'm sorry, but I think Mom wants to take a shower and you should take one too so you're ready for school tomorrow. We could hang out in mine and Mom's room after to talk?"

Drew sighed, "Okay, that's fine." He stood, "But don't take long."

"I won't," Hailey smiled slightly.

"Good," Drew ran upstairs.

Jay squeezed Hailey's knee and stood, "Think you'll be okay on your own?"

Hailey nodded, "Thank you."

Jay kissed the top of her head, "I love you."

"I love you too," Hailey breathed.

"I'm ready, I'm ready," Drew said as he ran in Jay and Hailey's room.

Jay laughed and patted the mattress, "Come pop a squat then; Mom's almost done."

"Perfect," Drew climbed on the bed in his pajamas and set himself close to Jay.

Jay smiled and wrapped his arm around him, "You seem like a completely different kid right now."

"Is that okay?" Drew asked.

"Definitely," Jay said softly, "I like when you feel safe with us."

"I just missed you a lot," Drew shrugged.

"We missed you too, trust me," Jay rubbed his arm.

Hailey opened the master bathroom door, "Okay, I'm ready to hear all about the first day of second-grade."

Drew pulled at the sheets and comforter, "Sit right next to me."

Hailey laughed softly, "Of course I will." She sat on the bed, "Do you want to be under the covers too?"

Drew shook his head, "I'm okay next to Dad."

"Okay," Hailey smiled and folded her hands together, "So let's hear it – what was the first day of school like?"

"I was really scared," Drew started, "So I didn't have a good morning. Ms. Sampson gave me something though."

"What's that?" Hailey asked.

Drew crawled over Jay's lap, "I should have come prepared," he whispered and ran from the room.

"Doing okay?" Jay asked Hailey softly. She shrugged. He grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly, "I'm here for you."

"I haven't felt that scared for my own life in a long time," Hailey breathed.

Jay nodded, "She was insane."

"I couldn't stop thinking about that baby," Hailey said, "She was essentially killing it."

Jay shook his head, "It's-"

Drew walked back in with a cube, "Look," he climbed back on the bed and situated himself back between Jay and Hailey, "She said it's so I can fidget. She didn't like when I scratched."

"You scratched at school?" Hailey raised her eyebrows.

Drew blushed and nodded slightly, "Not hard."

Jay lightly grabbed Drew's arms and looked them over, "We need to get better at this, bud. Did Will clean these up?"

"A little," Drew said quietly, "I'm sorry."

Hailey shook her head, "Don't apologize. We know it's going to be hard for you to stop. It was very nice of your teacher to give you that, though."

Drew nodded and played with the cube in his hand, "It has a lot of buttons and stuff."

Jay smiled, "Very cool."

"What happened after that?" Hailey asked.

"Um," Drew blew out his breath, "She talked about the rules which is good because rules are necessary."

Jay chuckled, "What are the highlights?"

"No running, obviously," Drew said, "We also need to raise our hands to talk and we cannot interrupt anyone."

"All good rules," Hailey nodded.

"Rule number one is to be kind," Drew continued.

"I like that one," Jay lightly squeezed Drew's leg.

"I hope people follow it, it's really important," Drew said.

"Definitely," Hailey replied.

Drew sighed, "And then we started some school stuff. We needed to draw pictures of ourselves and label the colors," he rolled his eyes.

Jay held back a laugh and glanced at Hailey, "What's wrong with that?"

"Really, Dad? Colors? I'm going to school to learn about science and reading, not colors," Drew shook his head.

"Colors are still important," Jay chuckled.

"Whatever," Drew sighed.

"Did you talk to anyone while you colored?" Hailey asked.

"Oh no," Drew said, "Definitely not."

Jay cleared his throat, "Sorry, what?"

"I was busy," Drew shrugged, "I don't need to talk to anyone when I'm doing schoolwork."

Jay's mouth gaped slightly and Hailey flicked the side of his head.

Hailey looked at Drew, "What about when you weren't coloring?"

Drew thought for a second, "Well, I talked to Matt at lunch and during recess."

"Oh, I loved recess," Jay smiled, "What'd you play?"

"I read a book," Drew said.

Jay blinked, "You read?"

Drew nodded, "About dinosaurs."

Jay looked at Hailey and mouthed, "What?"

Hailey shook her head and rubbed Drew's arm, "You can spend recess however you want."

"I know," Drew smiled.

"Did you like your lunch?" Hailey asked.

Drew's smile grew, "You wrote me a note."

"We did," Jay winked at Hailey, "Was that okay?"

"It made me feel way better," Drew nodded.

"Good," Hailey lightly hugged him and kissed the top of his head.

Drew yawned and leaned into her.

"Maybe it's bed time," Jay said.

Drew's eyes widened, "No, I didn't tell you about the best part of the day."

"And what was that?" Hailey asked softly.

"During science, Ms. Sampson made a volcano!" Drew smiled.

"Now that's cool," Jay chuckled, "Volcanoes are awesome."

"It was the coolest thing in the world," Drew said, "We went outside to do it too."

"That sounds like a lot of fun," Hailey squeezed him against her.

Drew nodded and stopped himself from yawning again.

Jay glanced at his phone and chuckled, "Drew, it's time."

"No," Drew finally yawned.

"Yeah," Jay got out of bed and lifted Drew.

"Do I have to sleep?" Drew asked and set his head on Jay's shoulder.

Hailey nodded and followed Jay to Drew's room, "You can't be tired in school tomorrow."

"I guess," Drew breathed as Jay laid him down in bed, "Will you both be home sooner tomorrow?"

Jay smiled sadly, "We'll try."

"Good," Drew closed his eyes.

Hailey kissed his forehead, "Goodnight."

Jay tucked him in, "Sleep tight."

"G'night," Drew mumbled and grabbed his stuffed bird.

Hailey smiled and walked out with Jay. She walked downstairs and Jay raised his eyebrows before following her.

"What're you doing?" he asked.

Hailey looked through the junk drawer until she found one of the first folders Grace had ever given them. She sat at the table and opened it.

"Hailey," Jay said softly and sat next to her.

She flipped through the papers before jumping up and grabbing a pen. She grabbed one of the papers and signed her name quickly along the bottom line. She slid the paper in front of Jay, "Sign it."

Jay's eyes widened, "Hailey."

"Sign the paper," Hailey whispered.

Jay looked up at her to see her eyes filling with tears.

She set the pen in front of him, "Jay, sign the damn paper."

"Hey," Jay whispered and stood, "What's going on?"

"Sign it," Hailey's voice cracked.

Jay shook his head and hugged her tightly.

Hailey cried into his chest and gripped his shirt.

Jay ran his fingers through her hair and breathed, "It's okay. You're okay."

Hailey slowly quieted down and stepped back to rub her eyes.

Jay held her hand and they both sat at the table, "Where is this coming from?"

"I want her baby," Hailey whispered.

"Whose baby?" Jay asked and wiped her eyes.

"Nicole's," Hailey sniffled, "Jay, she doesn't want it."

"How do you know?" Jay shook his head, "Did you talk about it?"

"I heard her," Hailey hiccupped, "She told Juliette that she didn't even want the baby so there was no reason to hurt it."

"She could have said that in the heat of the moment," Jay said softly.

Hailey shook her head quickly, "She said it from the moment the entire thing started. Jay, we can do this. We can adopt her baby." She set her hand on the papers in front of Jay and patted the table, "Sign it."

Jay took a deep breath, "That woman wanted to kill you."

"Then I will kill her with kindness and adopt her grandson," Hailey begged, "Jay, sign the paper."

Jay scooted his chair closer to her and grabbed her hands, "What about Drew?"

"He will like a little baby brother or sister, he'll understand," Hailey argued, "We need to do this."

"That baby's going to be sick," Jay said.

"And when you wanted a crack baby months ago, that was allowed?" Hailey asked, "Jay, we can do this, remember?"

Jay sighed and rubbed his face, "Hailey…"

"Please," she whispered.

Jay swallowed and looked at the papers in front of him, "These aren't even for that specific baby."

"I know, but we could ask Grace for help," Hailey set her hands on his arm and squeezed tightly, "Please."

Jay looked up in her eyes, "We've compromised before, so let's do that again."

Hailey swallowed, "By doing what?"

"I want to meet Nicole for real," Jay said, "I want to go see her tomorrow in the hospital and hear the words come from her mouth. I want to talk to her as a person, not as a suspect."

Hailey nodded quickly, "We can do that."

"And then we can have a more serious discussion between us and Grace about adoption," Jay finished.

"Thank you," Hailey whispered.

Jay nodded and hugged her tightly.

A/N: What do you think? I've already decided which direction I want this to go, so I hope you'll all like it! I'm really really nervous about this chapter (especially about the beginning), so please let me know what you think. Thank you all!