It had taken until the third night shift at the safe house for Halstead to do the unthinkable. He had sat down to have a conversation with Bayley Martinez, mainly just to have something different to do in order to break up the monotony. Meanwhile, Ruzek and Purrazzo were at the table in the kitchen, playing some kind of card game with each other.

"Got to thank you for this. Just how I wanted to spend my week," was Halstead's opener when he sat down on the couch next to Martinez, who turned off the TV that she hadn't been paying attention to in the first place. He expected a retort full of attitude, something like, 'None of us would be in this situation if it wasn't for you.' But that wasn't what happened.

"It's not the most fun I've had either," she said glumly.

"What's your problem? Since we got here, you've made a point of not giving us any attitude. It's totally out of character."

Martinez looked at him. "Have you ever reached a point in your life where you realise you're not happy with the way it's going?"

Halstead decided to go with it, since she seemed to at least be making an effort to be civil. "Yeah, I have. There was a period of a few years where I just lived. Didn't feel like I had a purpose, and I wasn't happy."

"What changed?"

He figured he might as well be honest. She wasn't an idiot, so he was sure she knew that the relationship she had seen between him and Lindsay while they had been undercover hadn't been faked. Things like that could be picked up on.

"Erin came back to Chicago," he replied.

"Yeah, I could tell you guys were together," Martinez said, immediately confirming his suspicions. "Love and companionship where what you lacked?"

Halstead realised that what she was actually saying was that she lacked those things, and that was why she was unhappy. "They're what you lack. That's what you're trying to say to me."

"They're what I did lack. When I went into witness protection, I was miserable. Lonely, living in a shitty house, doing a shitty job. I wanted my life back, and I wanted someone to share it with."

"And you engineered your way into getting your life back, as you put it. I'm still not sure how you managed that, but you've definitely pissed some nasty people off. That's why I'm sat here in this dump instead of at home with my family."

"Family? You guys have kids?" Martinez asked, reacting positively to the revelation.

"I'm not talking to you about my family. Seems to me there's something you wanted to say to me, so say it."

She sighed. "You don't have to be like that. I get that we've gone head to head, and you and everyone on your team doesn't like me. I only insisted on being an Intelligence asset to needle you all, as I'm sure you've figured out. But now, I'm not going to do that anymore. Since Kevin took on the assignment to be my handler, or whatever you call it, we've gotten close to each other."

I knew it, Halstead thought. Atwater had been sleeping with her, probably for some time. What surprised him a bit was that he felt kind of positive about the news, although with her fondness for mind games, he had to worry about his friend too.

"Kev's been through a lot in his life, Bayley. Don't play games with him. He's such a good guy, he deserves better than that."

Martinez looked away and sighed again. "That's fair enough, I know why you've said it. You're thinking, 'This bitch has her claws into him. She's going to manipulate him, chew him up, and spit him out.' But I'm not going to do that. Like I said to you before, I realised how much I needed some genuine happiness in my life. Kev provides that happiness, and I make him happy too. I'm not asking you to like me. I'm never going to like you either. But we can stop being enemies."

After a moment of thought, Halstead decided that was fair enough. "Yes, we can stop being enemies. Do yourself a favour though. Don't say anything to Erin about you and Kev. She'd hit the roof and pull him off working with you before you knew what was happening."

"Kev already said something similar. When the time comes to break the news, we'll have to find a way to be careful about it."

"Good idea."

About half an hour later, during which time they had watched some football highlights and eaten some snacks, Halstead's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and saw Lindsay's name on the screen.

"Hi," he said when he answered it, keeping his tone professional since he was working.

"Jay, good news. The FBI got the Mexicans who were after Martinez. There was a gun fight, and all but one were put down. They've taken the survivor to put the squeeze on him. As far as we're concerned, the protection detail is over and Martinez can do home. Have Ruzek and Purrazzo take her. You come home. I'll be waiting."

"Understood," he said, totally hiding how happy the last two sentences made him. He couldn't wait to get home and see her, knowing that at this time of night she would be in bed when he got there. But first he had the job of breaking the news, firstly to Martinez, who was obviously going to be relieved.

"Good news," he announced to her after ending the call. "The FBI got the hitmen. All but one of them are dead. We can all get out of here and go home. I'm going to have Ruzek and Purrazzo drive you."

"Thank you, that's a relief," Martinez said, leaning back on the couch. "I'm in the clear for now, but they might not be the last ones who come before they decide it's better to let me carry on running my business, and they instead reach out non-violently to demand money. It's going to happen."

"Well, if it does, that's for you to handle," he said. Finding something closer to common ground with her was one thing. Worrying about her problems was another, and he wasn't going to spend his mental energy on it. He had enough going on in his own life at the moment.

Halstead stood up and made to go through to the kitchen. But Martinez's voice stopped him before he got out of the door.

"Hey."

He stopped and looked at her.

"Thanks."

The word sounded odd coming from her. He wasn't sure how to respond, so he merely nodded and walked into the kitchen.

"Are we done?" Ruzek guessed hopefully, having apparently overheard some of what had been said in the living room. Purrazzo looked equally keen to get the good news, if it was coming.

"We're done," Halstead took pleasure in saying. "The FBI got the Mexicans. Killed all but one of them. Martinez is cleared to return home. You guys are going to take her. I'll see you in the office in the morning. Goodnight."

Without waiting for any discussion on the subject, he grabbed his car key off the table and left via the back door.

"Quickest I've ever seen you move," he heard Purrazzo call after him, which made him smile. He didn't feel guilty in the least for leaving so quickly. There was a warm, comfortable bed waiting for him, with his super hot girlfriend in it.

Within moments, he was in his car and driving home, keeping his speed close enough to the limit to be reasonable. He decided to make a phone call during the journey.

"Call Kevin Atwater," he told the car's audio system. It took a few rings for him to get an answer.

"Hello," Atwater said, sounding sleepy.

"Kev, I thought you might want to know that the FBI gave us the all clear and Bayley is on her way home with Ruze and Purrazzo."

"You thought I might want to know?" Atwater asked a little cautiously.

"Bayley told me you're together, man. And I pretty much knew anyway. I'm not going to say anything to Erin, that's your problem to deal with. I'm just looking out and saying she'll be home soon if you want to go over and see her."

"Alright, thanks. You're a good man."

"Kev? Friendly advise. Be careful. There are many ways this could blow up in your face."

Atwater thought about that for a moment. "I know. But she's worth it. I'll find a way to break it to Lindsay."

"Alright. See you tomorrow. Or today, I guess," Halstead said, remembering that it was past midnight.

"Yeah, later."

The call ended, leaving Halstead to think about getting home. It took him less than ten minutes, although it felt a lot longer.

When he got to the apartment, he entered as quietly as he could. Clementine could be a light sleeper, and he didn't want to wake her. At least with Erin home, there was no Kayla sleeping on the fold out couch. She would show up in the morning, in time to make breakfast.

He crept passed Clementine's bedroom door, smiling affectionately at the quiet snoring he could hear inside. Then he reached the master bedroom and quietly opened the door.

"You awake?" he whispered.

"Yes," Erin replied quietly.

Jay could just about see in the darkness that she was lying down, facing his side of the bed.

"That call was the best news I've had in some time," he said, getting undressed as quickly as he could.

"You sure got home pretty fast. I thought you might," Erin said coyly.

"It's been a few days since I got into bed with you. I've been looking forward to it."

Tossing his jeans to the floor, Jay got into bed. He was now only wearing his boxers.

"I've been looking forward to it too."

As she said that, Jay felt her hand work its way into his boxers. It was cold, and he could tell by the feel of it against his skin that she was wearing the infamous rubber gloves again. It was a nice surprise, and it got him hard in seconds.

"Mmmm, I like that," Erin purred, clasping her hand around it.

"I like it too. Kinky Erin is the best Erin. But we're not going to make a baby with hand jobs, no matter how good they are."

Moving her hand delicately against him, for now at least, she kissed him on the lips. "You'll just have to perform twice then, won't you?"

Erin pushed the blanket aside and moved down the bed so that she could go to work with both hands. All that was left for Jay to do was lay back and enjoy.

Only five hours later, Jay was awake again. He found the other half of the bed empty, and guessed that Erin was in the shower. He felt happy, thinking back a few hours. The super hot hand job had only turned out to be an appetiser. They had made love twice afterwards, a performance that he was proud of. Day after day, he only felt happier and more certain of his decision to propose to her.

"Fuck it, I'm doing it today," he announced to the empty room. With that decision made, he got out of bed feeling full of determination. In order to pull it off, he had to buy a ring fast. And he had to talk to Clementine. But one way or another, he was going to get it done.

A/N: Atwater and Martinez are officially a couple, although they're keeping it quiet from Lindsay. Do you think they make a good couple? Or is Atwater making a mistake?

Jay has decided that the time has come to propose. He's got to buy a ring, get Clem on-board with his plan, and pull it off, all on the same day. Can he do it?