Thought everyone deserved a little lighter chapter after everything so far. Let me know what you think!


"How's the bagel, kiddo?" Jay asked as Piper took another bite of the bagel Hailey had gotten her in the cafeteria. She'd claimed to not be hungry, but after returning to Jay's hospital room and a little convincing from the detective, she agreed to a few bites.

"Good," she replied after swallowing, "The nurses are gonna bring you breakfast too?"

"Mm-hm," he nodded, "According to Will, it's quite the spread. Nothing compared to the number five at the diner though." His eyes sparkled when Piper managed a small smile, "I think we're overdue for a visit there, don't you think?"

Piper looked to Erin and Hailey, who were seated in the visitors chairs beside her. Both women were texting and appeared to be focused. "You're gonna get to leave here, right? You don't have to stay forever?"

"Oh definitely," Jay promised. His doctors had been incredibly pleased with his progress so far. The incision from his surgery was already healing, and his lung function and oxygen levels were almost nearing normal. Will was cautiously optimistic and could tell just how ready his brother was to break out of the hospital. "Hopefully today. I can't wait to get out here."

"Not without supervision," Will announced as he entered the hospital room, "If you want to break out of here early, you're going to need a full-time babysitter."

Jay glowered at his brother. "You cannot be serious."

"Oh, I'm serious," the doctor informed his brother, "Standard protocol is another night, bro."

"Ugh." Jay leaned back against the pillows in aspiration, "You're killing me, man."

"Wish I could be your nurse this time, but I'm on shift til tomorrow," Will replied, "But if your O2 stats are still good this afternoon and someone can keep an eye on you, you can get out of here."

Jay raised his eyebrows and glanced over to Erin and Hailey hopefully. Both of his partners exchanged a look. "Are you going to behave yourself?" Erin teased lightly, earning a chuckle from Hailey, "You're not going to try anything reckless?"

"Swear," Jay said eagerly, "I will be on my best behavior."

"Please," Hailey rolled her eyes, "I'd put money on you trying to get back to work before you're cleared."

"I feel like I'm being ganged up on here," he protested, searching for someone in the room who might be a bit more sympathetic, "Pipes, you think I'm going to behave myself, right?"

Piper looked to Will, Erin and Hailey before turning her gaze back to Jay. "You gotta promise," she said seriously, eyes sparkling, "Just like you made Erin promise when she hurt her head."

"Pinky promise," Jay replied, holding up his pinky finger to the little girl, "You guys aren't going to let me get away with anything, huh?"

She shook her head and wrapped her tiny pinky finger around Jay's. "I think we can trust him," she said to Hailey and Erin, both of whom were attempting to keep a serious look on their faces, "We're watchin' you."


With Jay on the mend, the air in the hospital room was considerably lighter. Sergeant Platt had dropped off a few books for Piper, and Erin continued to send work emails from her phone while Jay rested. Hank had returned to allow Hailey to get back to the district in order to interrogate the judge's husband and the case was finally coming together.

Erin was absentmindedly running her fingers over Piper's head as the little girl tiredly rested against her shoulder. They'd barely squeezed out three hours of sleep the night before, and her sister was feeling it in a big way.

"You sure you don't want to go get some rest?" Jay offered after waking up from yet another peaceful doze in the afternoon sun. Despite the dull ache in his chest from the surgery, he was feeling surprisingly solid.

"We're not going anywhere," Erin said, gesturing to her little sister whose eyes had finally closed, "I promised her."

"The two of you have barely slept," he replied as gently as he could, "No offense Er, but you look exhausted."

"I don't think either of us are going to sleep elsewhere." She gave a small smile, "You can just focus on resting up now, got it?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, cheeky grin spreading on his lips, "Seeing that you're the only reason Will's letting me out of here, I'll do whatever you say."

"Good." Erin glanced to the door where Hank had returned from taking a phone call in the hallway. She instantly recognized the look on his face, and straightened slightly in her seat. "What's going on?"

"I got off the phone with Jenna," Hank said carefully, watching as panic briefly crossed his daughter's face, "And Piper's still okay to stay with me, but DCFS wants to make sure that all precautions are taken, which means she needs to spend the night at my place."

Erin widened her eyes but nodded. There was far worse news to get, all things considered. "Okay, that makes sense, I guess. I uh, told Will I'd keep an eye on Jay so he could get released and since Hailey's dealing with the case but-"

"I can spend another night here," Jay said quickly, "It's fine. Piper should be with you."

Erin opened her mouth to protest. She didn't want Jay to spend another night in the hospital, without her. She wasn't about to leave him, not after he'd just been shot. But she also had another person who was depending on her, and needed to know her big sister was there. "Jay-"

"Then you'll come with us too," Hank interjected, issuing a pointed look to his detective, "Makes sense. There's more than enough space."

Erin let out a breath, and issued a similar look to her partner. He was shocked at the fact that his sergeant was insisting that he spend the night at his house, just so his daughter could keep an eye on him, and that Piper would feel safe. "Piper's going to be relieved," she said, "And it gets you out of the hospital."

As if on cue, Piper stirred against Erin's shoulder. "What about me?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes tiredly, "I-I still get to stay?"

"Yes," Hank assured her, "You're safe with me, and Erin, and we're going to take Jay with us too. We'll all be safe at my house."

"Jay and Erin?" Piper asked in confirmation, rigidity subsiding when Hank nodded.

"Mm-hm. I know Jay's been teaching you a little bit about cooking, but I was thinking we could make my famous meatballs tonight, what do you think?" Hank gave a small smile when Piper's eyes widened in curiosity.

"Wow, I am insanely jealous," Jay said, shooting a knowing glance to Erin. He could tell his little friend was somewhat skeptical of spending time with the older man, especially if he and Erin were an option, but he wanted to get her more comfortable with other people. "Voight's meatballs are unreal."

Erin nodded in agreement, and then frowned. "I think that's what Camille tried to teach me to make when the sauce exploded."

"How could I forget," Hank shook his head teasingly, "There was sauce dripping from my kitchen ceiling. Looked like a crime scene."

At that, Piper cracked a smile. "Erin taught me how to make that sauce one time. And we didn't even burn it."

Voight feigned shock. "No way. Erin taught you how to make something? And the kitchen stayed in tact? There was no small explosion or torched cutlery?"

"Hey!" Erin protested when Jay snorted, "I'm really a lot better now."

"Hmpf. Well, Halstead might trust you in his kitchen, but I don't trust you in mine just yet," he replied, chuckling slightly when Erin folded her arms across her chest to the amusement of her little sister. She was happy to take the heat if it got Piper to smile.

"Erin didn't burn the French toast," Piper informed him, earning a wide grin from her big sister, "Or any of Jay's kitchen tools."

"Thank you for having my back, Noodle." Erin gave a grateful smile to her father figure. "Once Jay gets discharged, maybe Hank can give us a lesson on how to shape the meatballs just right."

Piper gave a small smile that almost immediately dropped from her lips. "But you gotta babysit Jay."

"You're right," Hank jumped in, "So I'll teach you, so you can show Erin next time while she makes sure Jay keeps his promise to be on his best behavior." He shot a look to his detective, "Your partner already filled me in."

"Guess it's a good thing that I've got a lot of people looking out for me," Jay replied, shifting slightly in the hospital bed, "I cannot wait to break outta here."


After a few more hours under observation, Jay was finally discharged. Despite the surgery and near collapse of his lung, the detective was faring quite well. He maintained that he wasn't in any real pain, only slight discomfort that was already treatable by a few ibuprofen instead of the heavy-duty pain killers.

Hank drove Jay, Erin and Piper back to his house, which was being actively monitored by a few covert patrolmen. He'd issued a squad car to Jay and Erin's block as well, just to be safe, but was glad that he could keep an eye on everyone under one roof. Halstead had given him quite a scare, and his daughter was almost asleep on her feet.

Hailey had been by Jay's apartment to ensure everything was in order, and grabbed the clothes he'd had in the dryer for him and Piper for a few days. She'd even thought to pick up a few more books for Piper and Jay's computer. Jay was incredibly grateful that she thought ahead on his behalf, and was also feeling guilty that she was still feeling guilty. He knew it wasn't her fault at all – it could have been any of them – but he also knew that if the roles were reversed, he'd be beating himself up as well.

While Jay had initially insisted that he'd be fine on the couch, both his sergeant and ex-but-not-ex girlfriend and partner determined that he needed a decent bed. Justin's room had two twin sized beds, and Erin insisted that Jay needed the extra room of the queen size bed in her room to rest his shoulder comfortably.

And so Jay was relegated upstairs to rest while his boss taught his little friend how to make meatballs. He was admittedly pretty jealous – he loved spending time with Piper, especially in the kitchen. There was something so adorable about how she hung onto every word and piece of cooking advice he had, like she had to memorize everything.

He was also incredibly grateful that his boss had stepped in to keep Piper safe. The second he was shot, Jay thought about his girls. He'd seen instances on patrol when a parent or guardian got injured, and DCFS needed to step in to care for the child, even if it was temporary. With Piper's recent experience with Bunny and given how fragile she was physically, Jay was beside himself with anxiety thinking that Piper would be passed off to another unknown family.

Piper gently held his hand as Voight drove along the street to his house. The little girl was still incredibly worried about him, and it made his heart ache. She was just as empathic as her big sister, who was repeatedly stealing glances at him in the rearview mirror.

Both of his girls were doing their best to stay awake in spite of the previous late night. Even though Piper had slept briefly against Erin in the hospital room, Jay was also glad both of them would sleep safely in Voight's house. The man slept with a shotgun beside the bed for crying out loud.

"Are you okay to stay down here with Hank for a bit while I get Jay settled upstairs in my old room?" Erin sank down to meet Piper's gaze after Jay trudged up the creaky steps to the last bedroom on the right, per his boss's instructions, "I'll just be a few minutes, and you're safe here."

Piper nodded and held Erin's hand tightly. "You're gonna make sure he brushes his teeth?"

She smiled and stroked the end of Piper's pigtail. Sometimes her little sister was just so innocent and sweet it almost made her forget all that she'd been through in nine years. "Tops and bottoms," Erin confirmed, "Then I am going to dig into your delicious meatballs, and we can see if Hank has a game or two tucked away in a closet somewhere, what do you think?"

"I'm safe here?" Piper asked, looking over her sister's shoulder at the sergeant bustling around the kitchen, "With Sergeant Voight?"

"Super safe," Erin replied, moving her hand from Piper's pigtail to her cheek. "This is actually one of the places I feel safest in the world." She swallowed, "Hank first brought me here when I was fourteen. He uh, had picked me up because I was out late at night." Erin glossed over the details of exactly what she was doing that evening – Piper didn't need to hear about at nine years old. "And he brought me to spend the night here. I remember I left really early the next morning because I didn't want to be late for school, but I always wanted to come back." She gave a small smile at the recollection, "And then, a little while later, Hank said I could stay for real, and for as long as I wanted. And the room Jay's staying in now, that's my old bedroom. It was the first time and the first place I ever felt safe going to bed in."

Piper nodded again in understanding. "That's how I felt at Jay's house. I-I wasn't scared to fall asleep."

Erin bit down on her lip slightly to keep it from wobbling. She would never be able to thank Jay enough for doing what Hank did for her, for Piper. "You're safe here too. With me, and Jay, and Hank. I promise."

"I trust you. And Sergeant Voight, too." Piper looked over Erin's shoulder again. "Do you think he started the meatballs without me?"

"No way," Erin smiled and stood, "Hank, are you ready to bestow some of your culinary skills on Piper here?"

"You bet," Hank replied, gesturing to a chair that he'd pulled up to the counter for Piper to stand on, "Finally, someone worthy of all my secrets." His eyes twinkled when Piper flashed a smile. The child reminded him so much of his almost-daughter, and it warmed his heart.


Erin knocked lightly on her bedroom door. It was so weird to have Jay staying in there, but at the same time, it felt…right. "It's me," she called, "You okay in there?"

Jay pulled open the bedroom door, boyish grin on his lips. "Didn't trust me to get into bed by myself?"

She shook her head. "Came to make sure you didn't have any case files or anything. You need to rest."

"Yeah, yeah," Jay scoffed, holding out his empty hands, "No case files, no work, just me in the childhood bedroom of a one Erin Lindsay."

"You're the first guy I've ever had up here," she mused, glancing around at the faded posters on the wall and the lamps that Camille had picked out, "Hank's always been a stickler."

Jay snorted. "It's a nice peek into high school Erin. Who knew she was such a Third Eye Blind fan?"

Erin wrinkled her nose, "They're good, Jay. Classic."

He chuckled when she placed her hands on her hips defiantly. "I know, I went to a few concerts myself back in the day. Surprised I didn't see you there with all these posters."

"I wouldn't have remembered," she scoffed, "High school Erin wasn't exactly into the whole live music as much as she was into the drugs and the booze and anonymity." She met Jay's gaze and immediately blanched, "I-I'm sorry, you don't need to hear about-"

"You don't need to hide anything from me," Jay shook his head and took her hand gently, "I want to be there for you. That means all of you. High school Erin, right now Erin, all the Erins."

A smile formed on her lips. "You just got shot, Jay. I don't know if you can handle all the Erins right now."

"Try me," he replied, settling down on the bed. His bones were aching and he was exhausted, but he just needed to hear her voice. "Tell me a story."

Erin let out a sigh and pointed to the bed. "First you better get comfy under the covers, Halstead. I'm going to assume you brushed your teeth, tops and bottoms?" Her eyes twinkled knowingly, "I know Hailey packed your toothbrush, and a little someone wanted to make sure I remind you to brush."

He just grinned as Erin adjusted the comforter across him and perched on the edge of her childhood bed. "Maybe I can tell you about the first time I tried to climb out that window," Erin mused, taking another look around at the bedroom. It had been after a rough day at school, and sixteen year old Erin thought she was done for after failing a calculus exam, as passing grades were part of the new family rules she'd been subject to. Erin intended to sneak out in an attempt to avoid troubling the Voight family any further, but Camille caught her, and convinced her that everything was okay, and that they'd work on calculus together.

She also thought about the second time she tried to climb out the window. The window did really shake in the wind, and wasn't made better by her futile attempt to sneak out at the ripe old age of thirty. Hank had caught her with her body halfway out, and she felt like she was in high school again. He'd been disappointed and angry before she promptly broke down in tears and informed him that it wasn't the drugs she was seeking out – it was Jay.

It was the only other night her almost-father held her on the bedroom floor while she wept uncontrollably, entire body aching from withdrawal, but mostly heartbreak. He'd held her similarly when she first came to stay with their family, after a brief Bunny-induced setback. Erin had never forgotten just how fiercely Hank loved her, and how he would stop at nothing to protect her.

She saw the same fierce protectiveness in Jay when it came to Piper. He loved her so much.

Jay nodded eagerly at her story proposal, but furrowed his brow when he noted just how awkwardly his partner was sitting on the bed. "You're not going to hurt me, Er," Jay said gently as she ran her fingertips over his arm, "Really."

Erin shook her head. "I hadn't seen you so hurt before," she choked out, emotion rising in her throat, "I-I mean, it was always me getting hit with a bike or…" she trailed off, "And after the whole Keyes thing, I-I didn't see you in the hospital. Your adrenaline was going but now-" She cut herself off with a sniff and a shake of her head. "I'm sorry. You're the one who's got the hole in their chest, not me."

"Hole's closed up," he assured her, placing his hand gently on top of her fingers, "Just a dull ache, I swear. I promised I was going to be honest, right?"

She nodded and wiped her eyes quickly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Jay murmured, "Wasn't your fault. Wasn't anyone's fault, really. Shitty situation."

Erin leaned forward and gently placed a hand on his warm cheek. "Hailey uh, was really beating herself up about it." She let out a breath as she felt the tickle of his almost-beard against her palm. "I-I tried to help, but I wasn't great, because if it were me I-" Her breath hitched, "I'm just really glad you're still here."

"Me too." Jay turned his head and kissed her fingers gently, "Now, where's that story I was promised?"


Erin was tired.

Scratch that, she was exhausted.

She'd barely managed a few hours of sleep in the hospital chair, unable to take her eyes off her partner for very long. She needed to see his chest rise and fall, feel his warm skin against the palm of her hand and know that Jay was breathing. The thought of something happening to him was buzzing in her stomach, and she wasn't about to leave him alone any time soon.

Hank had been a godsend. Piper was skeptical of the older sergeant, but Erin's father figure certainly had a way with kids. After Jay's breath evened out following her calculus story, she pushed herself off her childhood bed and shuffled down the steps to make sure her little sister was alright. She hadn't realized how long she'd been upstairs, but one glance at half a pan of meatballs simmering in Camille's sauce indicated she had missed dinner and the cooking lesson entirely.

She found Hank and Piper in the living room, the little girl beside her father on the couch, one small hand on his forearm. Piper was clearly fighting sleep as Hank flipped through what appeared to be an old cookbook, showing Piper various recipes that she could learn to make.

Piper's eyes widened slightly when she heard her sister descend the steps. "'s Jay okay?" she mumbled tiredly, looking hopefully up at Erin, "He's resting?"

"Jay's resting comfortably," Erin confirmed, sinking heavily beside Piper on the couch, "Fast asleep. I made sure he brushed his teeth too."

"Sergeant Voight taught me how to make the meatballs," Piper said proudly, "And how to not burn them."

"They looked amazing," Erin praised, "I'm going to grab some. Did you get enough to eat, Noodle?"

Piper nodded. "I had three whole meatballs."

"They were a great success, so now we're flipping through some other easy recipes in Camille's cookbook," Hank said after a tired smile formed on his daughter's lips, "Erin proof."

She rolled her eyes, and Piper giggled. "I'm just teasing," he told Piper, "Erin's not too bad a cook."

"Erin makes really good breakfast," she informed him seriously, "Erin's French toast is better than Jay's pancakes, and we're going to do a tasting test soon, right Erin?"

Erin grinned. "Right." She reached a hand out to stroke Piper's hair. Her little sister was so adorable it practically made her melt. "I actually think it was Camille's recipe."

Hank flipped through the pages of the old cookbook before stopping at a page that had some writing scrawled in the margin. "This one?"

She sucked in a breath when she saw Camille's handwriting on the recipe for the French toast she'd made for Piper a few times. It was a simple recipe that she'd memorized, but what struck her was what was added in by her almost mother.

Erin's favorite. Extra cinnamon.

Tears welled in her eyes before she could stop them. "That's the one," she managed, "Camille's French toast."

Hank gently squeezed Erin's hand. "Well, tomorrow we're going to put my waffles in the running against the French toast and Halstead's pancakes, and one of these days we can do a big taste test, how about that?"


Erin let out a yawn as she sat at the kitchen table in Hank's kitchen. Piper had been absolutely wiped the night before, but unfortunately slept relatively fitfully. After Erin had gotten both of them tucked in bed, she was ripped from sleep by soft cries from the other bed. Her poor little sister had gotten caught in a nightmare.

Thankfully, Erin had been able to settle her quickly but she spent the rest of the night on high alert, tucked into bed right beside Piper. Her sister's small form cuddled into her own, and Erin fell asleep feeling so grateful, but also so overwhelmed. Piper was so special, and she was glad she was able to handle her nightmare on her own, but there was a consistent nagging in the back of her head – what was she going to do if she couldn't promise that Jay was alive and well, and fast asleep in the room next door?

"Okay kiddo, you ready to help make the waffle mix?" Hank asked, handing Piper a spatula. "I think we've got all the ingredients laid out."

The little girl nodded eagerly, but nervously glanced up at the ceiling when she heard footsteps. "It's just Jay," Erin assured her quickly. Hank had brewed a second pot of coffee to keep up with the demand, but it wasn't working quickly enough. "I'm going to go check on him, make sure he's following the doctor's orders and is resting up."

Erin padded down the hallway toward her open bedroom door and stifled another yawn. Piper had picked up a habit or two from her partner, and was awake on the earlier side. Jay was up early as well, but was quickly relegated back to bed by all three of his babysitters.

She expected to find him back in bed as instructed, but instead saw her partner fully dressed in a t shirt and jeans, buttoning up a blue flannel. "What are you doing?" she asked, hands on her hips.

"Voight said we'd head out after breakfast," Jay shrugged, "Takes me a little longer to get ready, so I figured I'd get a head start."

"You're going into the district today?" Erin asked incredulously, brow furrowed, "You got out of the hospital yesterday, Jay. You're supposed to be in bed."

"Yeah, but we need to catch these guys," he replied, buttoning up the flannel.

She shook her head, "You really should be resting. You said you were going to take it easy, and not go back til you're cleared."

"I'll be fine," Jay shrugged, "If I need to take a nap, there's a couch in the breakroom and-" He stopped when Erin shook her head adamantly. "Erin, I'm a big boy."

"No, Jay," she insisted, "I know you're going to want to get back out there, and you can't." Unwanted tears filled her eyes as Jay appeared slightly frustrated with her and let out an aspirated sigh as he geared up to refute. He didn't seem to understand just how much the thought of him out in the field was wreaking havoc on her heart.

Almost immediately, his eyes softened at Erin's tear-filled hazels. "I almost lost you. We almost lost you," she choked out, "I-I can't go through that again, so please, for me, for Piper, just stay here, okay?"

"Er-"

"Please," she begged, "I'm not strong enough to see you laying in hospital bed again." Tears trickled down her cheeks before she could stop them, "If you had died, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself because I-I wouldn't have been able to tell you how much I love you."

His eyes softened further as Erin stifled a sob. "I love you too much. It-it would kill me if anything happened to you, okay? So just please, stay."

"I'll stay," he promised, bring a gentle hand to wipe her cheek, "I just thought it would be better for Pipes if I went to the district with you guys, but if you'd feel better if I stayed here, I'll do that."

"W-what?" Erin sniffed, "We're going to the district?"

Jay nodded slowly. "Did Voight not mention this to you? They're looking to pick up Donny today. Voight's gotta be there, and Jenna said if he can't physically be near Piper, it's best if she's at the district, so the plan was to have you and Piper hang out in the breakroom while he's out with the team. That's why I was planning on coming too."

Erin felt her entire body relax. Jay wasn't venturing to the district to get back to work, he was heading there to be with her and Piper. She'd taken a shower to wake herself up, and Jay and Hank must have discussed while she was getting ready. "He probably got distracted making waffles with Piper." She managed a small smile, "He got out Camille's old waffle iron and everything."

He took her hand carefully and brought it to his chest. "I'll stay here if it would make you feel better, Er." Jay gave a crooked smile, "I'd do anything for you."

She let out a breath, feeling the heat of his body beneath the palm of her hand. His heart was beating, his body was warm, and Jay was alive. "I want to be able to keep an eye on you, so I'll make an exception. But you'll park your ass on that couch, Halstead."

Jay chuckled. "I'm sorry that I freaked you out. I promise I'll be on my best behavior." He clutched stroked her fingers softly. "You're not going to lose me again. I love you too much to go anywhere."


Of course they still love each other!