"We were together even when we were apart."
- Shannon A. Thompson
By the time her phone alerts her to a text from Jay Tuesday morning, she's been in the FBI squad room for two hours and she's feeling every second of them.
She'd been so drained last night that she'd fallen asleep quickly and dreamt of the Brooklyn Bridge and Jay, his tall frame next to her looking out over the skyline. She felt happy and peaceful and excited when she woke up.
And then she'd walked into chaos. Their double murder had turned into a triple, and their leads were still just one confusing twist after another.
When she stops to check her phone, she has to blink to focus on the screen. It's the first time she's looked up from case files in entirely too long and her eyes feel the strain.
4 days, Hailey.
Best news I've heard all morning.
Same case?
Yeah. Might be a little MIA today.
No worries. Kim says hi. She's ready for you to come be responsible for me again.
Me too.
He's typing again, but OA's voice distracts her.
"Hailey. Come on, we've got a lead."
She grabs her jacket and pockets her phone and follows him out.
—
Except, they don't have a lead. Not really. She feels like they're chasing their tails, and she says as much to OA on the way back a few hours later.
He frowns. "I know. Maggie would say that the good thing about chasing your tail is that you're bound to catch it eventually."
"That's a good way to look at it, I guess," she says.
"You can say it's annoying. We don't spare feelings around here."
She laughs. "Good. The idea is nice, but I'd prefer actually getting some results currently."
He nods. "You hungry?"
She thinks about Jay immediately, the teasing way he showed he knows her so well. "I might be a little hangry, yeah," she says, and he laughs.
"Yeah, let's fix that quick," he says. "Maggie gets this look, like I need to watch my back when she's hungry."
"Sounds like you and Jay have more in common than just the Army."
"Your partner served?"
Your partner. It's silly because that's exactly what he is. But hearing someone else link him so casually to her makes her smile.
"Rangers, yeah."
OA glances at her as he switches lanes. "Afghanistan? Iraq?"
"Afghanistan. We… he's more open about it now, but it's not something we discuss often."
He nods. "Yeah. I get that. It's hard to explain, if you weren't there."
"I can't imagine."
"You don't want to," he says, and for a moment she thinks of Jay, how etched in pain his face is anytime it comes up, even now.
The car pulls to a stop and she glances out the window. "Egyptian?"
He nods. "That cool? Figured you might want to try some local places while you're here."
"For sure. Beats the vending machine dinner I had last night," she laughs, hopping out of the car and following him inside.
—
The food is good, and relaxed OA is chatty, funny in a way that reminds her just enough of Jay that she feels at ease.
They talk about the case some, his time undercover and her run as Kelly. It's not a replacement for either Maggie or Jay, but it's nice, and she knows he's a good guy.
Her phone rings as they're finishing up and she picks it up without glancing at the screen. Kristen has called a couple times with updates, so she feels safe assuming that's who it is.
"Upton."
"Halstead," Jay mimics, and she smiles. "Are we not on a first name basis anymore? Should I call you Special Agent? I could be into that."
She rolls her eyes. "Hi, Jay. Sorry, I thought you were someone else." She mouths sorry to OA, but he waves her off, finishing up his food.
"God, already forgetting me? I guess it's a good thing I'm coming to remind you."
"It is a good thing. What's up?"
"Sorry, I know you're in the middle of it today. I just had a question about one of your subpoenas on the docket next week. A couple pages are missing from the file."
He fills her in on the case and she gives him the missing info to the best of her ability without her notes in front of her. "Can I call you when I get back to the hotel? I can pull up my old notes."
"'Course," he says. She hears a commotion in the background, a familiar, commanding voice.
"Is that Platt? Tell her hi, but only if she's in a good mood."
He laughs and she hears him relay the message to Trudy. "She says hi and asks if you're enjoying your nice suit."
"Huh?" She asks.
"Don't worry about it," he mutters. "I'll let you go. Call whenever you're free tonight."
"Okay," she says, and she glances at OA. For his part, he doesn't seem to be paying any attention. She doesn't want to hang up the phone.
"Hey, Hailey?" Jay's voice pitches low, and she knows he's trying to keep quiet. "Miss you."
She smiles. "Yeah, you too. Later."
"Sorry," she says, pocketing the phone. "Jay's covering a few notices to appear for me so he's playing catch up on cases even I barely remember."
"No worries," he says, signaling for the waitress. "You two sound close."
So much for him not paying attention. "Yeah. We are."
He glances at her closely as the waitress brings the bill. She reaches for her wallet, but he shakes his head.
"Nah. Consider it thanks for saving my ass last week."
She starts to protest, but he just raises his eyebrows. "Okay," she says. "But we're even."
"Sure." He tosses a couple bills on the table and stands, smirking. "Ready to get back at it? Not hangry anymore?"
She rolls her eyes and follows him out the door.
—
Jay hangs up the phone and watches Platt head back down the stairs out of the squad room.
He thinks about Hailey, her quiet "yeah, you too," and the airfare confirmation email sitting in his inbox.
He stands and makes his way down the stairs, catching Platt as she rounds the corner to her desk.
"Hey, Sarge? Can you do me a favor?"
She glances at him. "I'm not necessarily inclined to do that, Halstead. But what's up?"
He smiles his most come on, you know I'm charming smile, but she doesn't even flinch. May as well just go for it. "Can you take my name off the call list this weekend?"
She eyes him. "Intelligence doesn't usually get called in on weekends unless you catch a case. Trying to avoid some all-hands-on-deck disaster I should know about?"
He shakes his head. "No, of course not. Keep a secret?"
She rolls her eyes. "Jay, if you knew a tenth of the secrets I'm taking to the grave for this city, you'd never sleep again."
He pauses.
"That means yes," she says.
"Right. Well. I'm going out of town this weekend."
There it is, the tiniest flicker of interest. "Oh?"
He nods.
"Perhaps to visit a certain member of the team who's currently on loan to the FBI?"
He shrugs. "Perhaps."
"Gotta make sure she doesn't get too comfortable in those nice suits, huh."
He glances away quickly. "She won't."
Platt nods. "Yeah, Jay. I think I can take your name off the call list this weekend."
He raps his knuckles on the edge of the desk. "Thank you. You're the best."
She nods, barely glancing back up from her paperwork. He turns to go, but her voice stops him.
"You know, you could have just gone down to records and asked Virginia for the missing pages of that file. You didn't have to call Upton."
He grins, already typing in the code to buzz back up. "Yeah, I did."
—
"So you miss me, do ya?" Her smile greets him a few hours later as he's just finishing a quick dinner at home.
He smiles. "Yeah, that sounds familiar."
"It occurred to me after we hung up that you could have just as easily run down to records to reprint the file. I didn't have to scour my memory."
He laughs. He's caught. "That was an option, sure. But then you wouldn't have gotten to talk to me."
"Oh," she smiles. "So that was purely for my benefit."
"Yeah, for sure. I didn't want to hear your voice at all. I dreaded making that call."
"Mhmm," she says. "Believable."
He grins, heading over to settle on the couch. "How'd the rest of the day go? Any luck with that case?"
She shakes her head. "We can't seem to get ahead of it. But I'm just glad I'm home- well, here, now, and can put it away for a few hours."
He nods. "I'm sure it won't nag at you for hours or anything. Maybe actually try to put it away for the night."
She rolls her eyes, but nods. "It's dumb, but I kind of hoped all the fancy tech would make it easier? It's impressive, but at the end of the day, it's no different than back home. People still do horrible things and it's still hard to catch them."
He frowns. "I know."
"But, anyway. No more work talk for the day, unless you actually need my notes for that subpoena."
He smiles. "No, I think I can manage."
"I figured. Oh, I thought of something I want to show you this weekend."
He raises his eyebrows suggestively and she laughs, the sound coming through the phone speaker and filling his living room.
"Don't be a perv. How do you feel about heights?"
"That depends. Does your plan include throwing me off a very tall building?"
"I'm gonna play it by ear, see how I feel."
"Hailey, I spent a good chunk of my 20s parachuting out of perfectly good aircraft. Heights don't bother me. The fact that you can't promise to not toss me off a building, however, little worried."
"Just checking. OA took me for Egyptian food today. I'm gonna see what other places he recommends to spare you from the pizza horror I experienced."
He laughs. Her nose wrinkles in disgust at the memory and he really, really misses her. "He a good guy?"
She nods. "He is. He's steady. He was a Ranger too."
"Good. At least I know he knows how to watch your back."
"You don't have to worry about me, Jay. I can take care of myself," she says, but there's a hint of a smile before she glances away.
"Oh, I know you can. But I'm still gonna. That's what partners do."
"Does that mean I have to have a talk with Kim about watching your back while I'm gone?"
He laughs. "You know Kim's good. She probably has a lot of questions for you, though. Supposedly I'm annoying on surveillance and she's surprised you put up with me."
"Well," she says, "you are annoying after hours in an enclosed space. But you have your good points too."
"Ouch. Care to elaborate on the good points?"
She frowns. "Sorry, coming up blank. You'll have to remind me this weekend."
"I can do that."
She yawns, leaning out of frame, and he smiles. It's not late, but he knows she's been up a long time. "Hailey?"
"Hmm?"
"Go to sleep." She's going to fight it.
"I don't want to." There it is.
"You're tired."
"Yeah. I just meant- "
she starts, but he smiles and shakes his head.
"I know what you meant. Talk to me tomorrow. Do me a favor and don't plan any more sightseeing things that involve tall buildings until you can promise my safety."
"I'll consider it."
"Good enough. Night, Hailey."
She waves, the screen goes dark, and he sighs.
Saturday feels like an eternity away.
—