Hey guys. I hope you're enjoying the story. I'm having fun with it! I'm not sure what's going to happen with Jess and Ruzek... I'm not totally sold on them yet. But, Jess isn't sold on him either. :) Leave a comment with prompts or feedback!
Jess opened her eyes and squinted against the early morning sun. She groaned and pushed herself up to sitting. A noise had her quickly looking behind, alert and fully awake.
This wasn't her dad's house.
"Hey there."
And that wasn't her dad.
She squinted at him, trying to remember his name. Alex? Andrew? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What happened last night?
"I'm making toast. You want some?"
Jess shook her head. She stood uncertainly, looking around. She had slept on the couch. She looked to the man in front of her with a question in her eyes.
"Nothing happened. Besides you passing out and me bringing you home to sleep it off on my couch."
"Right," she said quietly. She hugged her lightweight jacket more closely around herself. "Thanks for that."
He was studying her face. Jess shoved her hands in her pockets. Her empty pockets. She looked around.
"I flushed them," he said unapologetically.
Jess took a step toward him. He flushed her pills down the toilet? "Those weren't yours to do that," she said.
He ignored her anger. "Do you need a ride somewhere?"
Jess raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. She needed to find Jay and get her bag and phone. She looked over at the stranger, still unshaven and in clean jeans and a Henley shirt. He didn't look like he was on his way to work. She could just imagine what Jay would say when he saw her with some guy after storming out of Molly's and taking off for the night.
"I'll take the el," she said. "I have to go meet my brother." She started toward the door, then hesitated when she remembered she didn't have any money for fare.
"Here," the man said coming up behind her. He pressed a twenty into her hand. "Take care of yourself." Concern was etched on his face.
Jess shook off his worry. Worrying about her was a waste of time. His and her brother's.
"Thanks again," she said. She slipped the bill into her pocket and headed out the door.
Once outside the apartment building, Jess freed her hair from the braid it was barely contained in anymore. She made an effort to pull it back into a bun at the base of her neck, but wasn't sure how much of an improvement it was. She looked at the street signs on the corner, not sure of where she was. If her house key wasn't in her bag, she would skip finding Jay and head straight to her dad's. Instead, she was going to be letting the walk of shame carry her straight to Jay down at the police station. And if he didn't have her bag, over to Will at Chicago Med. She clenched her jaw and started walking.
#
Jay checked his phone again. No new messages. Of course not. Jess had only stormed out of Molly's ten hours ago. She would let him and Will worry for at least another ten hours.
"Do you want me to talk to Platt? Have some patrols keep their eyes open for her?" Erin asked.
Jay set his phone down on his desk. "She'd be furious."
"Yeah, she would," Erin agreed. She raised her eyebrows at him meaningfully.
Jay glanced over at the bullpen, empty except for Kevin and Burgess coming up the stairs. "I can't not do anything," he said quietly. "She's not safe."
"She's also not a child," Erin responded.
Jay opened his mouth to respond, but the phone on his desk rang. He gave Erin a look saying he still didn't agree with her and picked up the receiver. "Halstead."
He listened intently. "Yeah. I'll be down," he said. "Thanks, Sargent." He stood as he hung up the phone. "I have a visitor," he told Erin. "One guess who it is." He jogged toward the stairs.
Sitting on the bench in the lobby of the precinct was Jess. She was hunched over, staring down at her sneakers. Jay slowed down as he approached her.
"Jess," he said before he got too close.
She looked up.
She looked awful. Jay set his jaw. He tried to think of Erin's unspoken advice. He tried to follow Erin's advice.
"I have your bag."
Jess' hands were clenched together. She nodded shortly. "That's what I'm here for."
Jay returned her nod, an exact mirror of her gesture. "Come on upstairs."
She looked at the stairs and shook her head. "I'll wait here."
Jay's brows knit. "Is there a reason you don't want to come up to intelligence?" He glanced over at Sargent Platt behind her desk. She wasn't pretending to not listen in. He took a step closer to Jess and blocked her from Platt's view. "Do you have something with you?"
An annoyed look crossed Jess' face, but she shook her head. "I'm clean. Nothing on me."
"Then come upstairs. Meet the team." He didn't know who she was spending her nights with, but broadening her social contacts would go a long way toward pulling her back to where she belonged.
He hoped.
With a heavy sigh, Jess stood. She stayed an arm's length away from Jay, but followed him silently to the stairs. She waited without speaking while he punched in the code and held his hand over the palm scanner, then passed through the gate when he held it open.
She looked like she wanted to shrink into her jacket when they got up to the bullpen. Jay watched her eyes scan the room, taking inventory of the guns and their locations, edging to the left so a wall was at her back. He knew the tactics. He had used them for too long himself.
Erin rose from her desk. "Hi Jess," she said. She earned a small smile in response from Jess.
Jay moved to block his sister's right side, knowing how vulnerable she would feel with the stairs there where someone could approach suddenly.
Olinsky had come in while Jay was downstairs and looked up from his desk. "This your sister, Jay?" he asked.
Jay nodded. He started to put an arm around Jess, then thought better of it. "This is Jess."
Kevin smiled from where he sat on the edge of Burgess' desk. "Hey. Good to see you again."
Jess glanced at Jay. "Sure," she said. Jay could tell she was remembering the tension at Molly's last night that Kevin witnessed.
Burgess approached with a big smile. "So nice to meet you, Jess. Jay said his sister was back. Were you away at school?"
Jay felt Jess stiffen next to him. "I was…" Her eyes shifted away from Burgess. Jay could see her respirations start to increase. "I was deployed," she said.
"You're home now," Jay said under his breath. "Think about what's right here."
"Hey, Kim, I have a question for you," Erin said, motioning Burgess over.
"I'm glad we met," Burgess said, still smiling, but concern in her expressive brown eyes. She went to Erin. Jay watched his girlfriend whisper something to Burgess, discreetly nodding toward Jess.
"My bag," Jess said tightly. She jammed her hands into her pockets. Her shoulders were a straight line of tension.
"It's on my desk." Jay went to get it. Jess stayed put, head down, but her eyes alert to everything around her.
She grabbed it from Jay when he handed it to her. Slinging it on, crossbody style, she took a step back.
"Do you want to stay for awhile?" Jay asked. He tried to sound casual, unworried. Like he wasn't freaking out at not knowing what Jess did all day. At the thought of her being alone. "You could hang out here."
Jess was already backing away. "Thanks for holding onto my bag." She turned and jogged down the steps and right into Ruzek coming up the stairs.
#
Jess crashed into a solid wall of a person. She quickly pulled away, trying to shove down the rising panic that threatened.
"Sorry," came the man's voice. Hands reached out to steady her.
Jess was about to fight the hands off when the voice registered. It was familiar.
She tilted her head up and saw the stranger from last night.
She saw the recognition flash into his eyes, then confusion.
"Jess?" he asked.
She opened her mouth, but couldn't remember his name. Aaron?
"Adam," he reminded her, seeing her confusion.
"Ruzek!" came a sharp bark from behind her. "Get your hands off my sister!"
Adam quickly released Jess. She hadn't realized he still had his hands resting lightly on her upper arms.
Jay shouldered his way between them. "You ok?" he asked Jess.
"Fine," she said, more shaken by seeing Adam unexpectedly at Jay's precinct than by the collision.
Jay squared off with Adam, raising his eyebrows. "Get away. Give her space."
Adam raised his hands and took a step back down the stairs. His eyes went between Jess and Jay.
"He's your brother? Halstead?" he asked. Catching himself he turned his attention to Jay. "She's your sister. I didn't know your sister was in town."
Jess avoided his eyes. Adam worked with Jay. Of course. He was a cop like her brother. And he could tell her brother everything.
"I've got to go," she muttered, starting down the stairs again, gripping the strap of her bag tightly.
She made it downstairs and almost to the door when she heard her name.
"Jess."
She waited for Adam to catch up to her, glancing toward the gate that blocked Intelligence from the rest of the station.
Adam glanced back over his shoulder, too. No Jay. "Hey, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know Jay was your brother."
"And I didn't know he was your coworker," she said shortly.
Adam leaned in closer, lowering his voice. "Does he know? About…"
"About the drugs?" she asked. She saw the desk sergeant look up at the two of them and lowered her voice. "He knows." She fidgeted with the strap of her bag.
"And the nightmares?" His eyes locked onto hers. Jess tore her gaze away.
"Tell him whatever you want," she said, backing away. "I have to get out of here."
"Jess," Adam said. "Just hang on."
Shaking her head, Jess turned and pushed through the door. She had no idea where she was going.