Timeline: Season 7 before his kidnapping in 7x09

Completed: Mar. 12, 2020

"Jay, are you okay?" Hailey asks when she reaches her partner, worried after she hears the gunshot.

"Fine," Jay grunts while handcuffing the suspect that they were chasing.

"You're bleeding," Hailey gasps when she notices his arm as he hauls their suspect to his feet.

Looking down Jay tries to shake her off, "It's just a graze. It's fine."

"Go to Med and get that checked out," Voight orders as he arrives on the scene.

"Sarge-" Jay tries to argue.

"That's an order, Halstead," Voight turns to Hailey, "Make sure he gets there and gets checked out." Looking at Jay again, "No signing out AMA."

Handing the suspect over to Voight, Hailey goes to Jay, "Come on, partner," she says as she pulls him to the car, "You know this means I get to drive, right?"

"Yeah, okay," he answers quietly. Noticing his behavior, Hailey decides to address it in the car where they can talk in private.

Getting in the car, Hailey looks over to Jay in the passenger seat before she starts the drive to Med, "Are you okay?" Hailey asks him, "I mean, you just seem a bit off."

"I'm fine Hailey," Jay answers, still not looking at her.

Trying one last time, Hailey asks, "You know, you can't talk with me about anything, right?" Jay nods his head but does not answer verbally. The rest of the ride to Med is silent.

Walking into Med the two detectives are greeted by Maggie, "Treatment two, Voight called ahead."

"Thanks," Hailey answers. Jay still being silent.

April walks in, "Hey, detectives. Jay, I'm going to get a set of vitals on you then a doctor will be in with you."

"Okay," is the mumbled reply.

"Open," April orders as she sticks a thermometer in his mouth. Jay wisely does as he is told. "Hold that for me," she tells his as she moves his uninjured arm to put a blood pressure cuff on him and an oximeter on the finger of his injured arm. "99.7. How do you feel?" She asks when the thermometer is done with its reading.

"Fine."

"Jay are you okay?" Will ask when he sees his brother in the treatment room. Jay's only answer is to look down.

"He got shot. He says it's only a graze, but he's been pretty quiet since we left the scene, even for him."

Before Will can say anything else, Doctor Crockett Marcel walks into the room. "What happened here, Detective?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"He got shot, looks like it grazed him," Hailey answers, rolling her eyes at her stubborn partner.

"I'll be the judge of that," Marcel informs the injured detective. Prodding at the wound, he determines that it is just a graze, but it will need stitches. "I'm going to irrigate it to keep it from becoming infected and then I'll stitch it up, I'll also give you a course of antibiotics to prevent infection as well, and some pain medication to help the first day or two after that over-the-counter will work just fine."

"He's allergic to penicillin," Will tells his new colleague.

While Marcel is working on the wound, Will is looking at the vitals for the first time, now that he knows Jay is okay. Looking at the vitals, everything seems to be within range considering Jay was shot. Noticing his temperature, Will asks, "Jay are you feeling okay, you're running a little warm," while placing a hand on Jay's forehead.

"Okay," Marcel interrupts, "Keep this dry, change the bandage twice a day, and the stitches can come out in a week."

"What about work?"

"Desk duty until the stitches come out." He leaves before anyone can ask any more questions.

"I'll grab his discharge papers," April tells the trio.

April returns quickly with the medications and papers, which Jay readily signs, wanting to leave.

Before the two detectives leave, Will asks, "Hailey, do you mind giving me a minute with Jay before you guys leave?"

"Sure, Will. Jay, I'm going to call Voight and let him know what's going on."

"What do you want Will?" Jay asks annoyed that his brother is stopping him from leaving the hospital.

"How are you? Really. I know this week is hard on you with the anniversary of mom's death co-"

"Stop. You have no right to talk about her. You left her, she was dying, and you weren't here."

"I know. And not a day goes by that I don't regret it. I just want to make sure you're okay to go back to work. Did you get shot because you were distracted?"

"This case. The suspect was just trying to help his mom. She's dying from cancer, like our mom. Why does it take so many people? Nobody deserves it, it's not-" Jay's voice starts to break causing Will to pull him into a hug being careful of his injured arm.

"I know. I know," Will just holds his brother, like he did when they were kids, giving Jay the safe space to let his emotions out.

After a couple of minutes, Jay is able to regain his composure, wiping away the evidence of his tears. "Do you feel like going back to work today? I can tell Hailey that you're not feeling well." Looking into Jay's eyes he can see the ghost haunting him. "Okay, I'll let Hailey know."

"Let Hailey know what?" She asks as she enters the room again. "Sorry, I was about to knock when I heard my name."

"Can you take Jay home before you go back to work. He's not feeling great right now."

"Yeah, no problem. Do you need someone to stay with you?"

"No, I'm just going to sleep. My head kinda hurts."

"Okay. Come on, let's get you home."

"Hailey," Will calls as the two are leaving, "Watch out for him," he tells her when she turns around.

"Do you need me to walk you inside?" Hailey asks when they reach his apartment building.

"No, thanks though. And uh, just thanks for being you."

"No problem. I'll stop by after work to check on you. Text me if you need anything and I'll bring it then."

"You don't have to."

"You're my partner, I don't mind."

Not knowing how to answer to such a caring response, Jay just nods his head and walking into his building.

Hailey makes sure he actually made it into the building before she left to go back to the district.

Arriving back to the district, the first thing she hears when walking into the intelligence bullpen is Voight asking, "Where's Halstead?"

"When I went to grab him after we hung up, Will asked if I could drop Jay off at home. Said he wasn't feeling well."

Voight accepts this answer before turning his attention back to the case.

Walking into his apartment, Jay digs out the last picture that was taken of himself with his mother, along with the stuffed dog, made of his mother's shirts, that his maternal aunt gave him after his mom died and he had returned from Afghanistan. Laying down on his couch, Jay drifts into an uneasy sleep.

"That's it, Jay," his mom, Kathryn yells at five-year-old Jay as he kicks the soccer ball. Having a lot of energy, Kathryn Halstead has decided to sign up her younger son for soccer. Luckily for her, Jay seemed to love the sport the minute he was introduced to it.

"Mama! Mama? Did you see that?!" Jay excitedly asks his mother, while running up to her.

"Yes, Baby. I saw you did great."

"Jay, get back here," his coach calls after him. Jay goes back to his coach.

Finishing up with practice, Jay goes back to his mom and after he switches his cleats for sneakers the two walk home, Jay holding his mom's hand.

###

"Jay, what happened?" Kathryn asks when he comes home from school with a black eye.

"Nothing, Ma," he lies.

"Baby, let me see that," his mom tells him as she forces her son to look at her. "Here, put this on it for ten minutes," she tells him while handing him a bag of ice.

"Did you get into a fight?" she tries again. Jay stays quiet, not wanting to let his mom know that he actually got beat up. "Are you not telling me because you don't want your father to know?"

###

"I am so proud of you," Kathryn tells Jay.

"You're not mad?" Jay asks confused by her reaction.

"I could never be mad at you for wanting to serve this country," she says while pulling him into a hug. "You just promise me that you do everything you can to come home to me."

"I promise."

Jay wakes up to a knocking at his door. Looking at his watch, Jay realizes that he has been asleep for four hours. He opens the door to find Hailey on the other side with a take-out bag in hand, "Hey what are you doing here?" he asks as he moves to the side to let her in

"We finished early," she answers while taking a good look at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I just woke up."

"Oh no, did I wake you?" Hailey asks realizing what he said.

"It's fine. I needed to get up anyway."

"Here, I stopped at that deli down the street. I didn't know what you' be hungry for, so I got soup and a sandwich."

"Thanks," Jay tells her as he grabs the sandwich, leading Hailey into the living room, forgetting about the dog.

"Hey," she grabs Jay's attention, "What's this?" she asks referring to the stuffed animal.

"My, uh, my aunt gave it to me after my mom died. She made one for me and one for my brother. She, uh, took some of my mom's shirts to make them."

Hailey gives him a sad smile, "It's special then," she states.

"Yeah. I, uh, I wasn't home when she died. I was still overseas, and I couldn't get leave," voice cracking as he reveals this.

"I'm sorry Jay," Hailey tells him, placing a hand on his arm for comfort.

"I didn't know how sick she was. She never told me, if I knew I would have tried to get leave."

"She probably didn't want you distracted," Hailey tries to come up with an answer that would make any kind of sense.

"She had to go through everything by herself, Will was off in New York partying. Dad was drunk. She died alone."

"She was strong to go through that herself."

"How do you know? You didn't know her."

"I know because I know you. You are such a strong person, I know you had to get it from someone and I know you didn't have the greatest relationship with your dad."

"I miss her," Jay whispers.

Hailey takes the uneaten sandwich from Jay and places it on the coffee table before pulling him into a hug. Jay tries to pull away, not used to coming into this type of contact from anyone but his mother, but Hailey just holds him tighter. Eventually, Jay realizes she's not going to let go and lets himself melt into her embrace.

"I know. And it's okay to miss her and maybe she didn't want her dying to be how you remember her. Do you want to talk about her?"

"What's there to talk about?"

"What was she like? She had to have the patience of a saint to be your mom," Hailey tries to lighten the mood.

"I think that was more Will's department," Jay answers, "But, yeah. She put up with a lot, from me and Will fighting, Will fighting in school, dad's drinking."

"Are you saying you never got into a fight at school?"

"I'm the one who got beat up."

"Oh."

"I was always closer to her than my dad. He hated it, but she loved it. Will seemed to outgrow mom by the time he was at the middle school. She did her best to protect us from his drinking, but we knew."

"She loved you and she was proud of you. I know I didn't know her, but I also know it's true."

"How?"

"The way you talk about her, I can tell she loved you. As for being proud of you, it's hard not to be."

"Thanks," Jay takes a couple of minutes before he speaks again, "She would have liked you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you keep my ass out of trouble."

The two sit in a comfortable silence for a while longer, just enjoying each other's company. Having an emotionally tolling day, Jay tries to stifle a yawn.

Not wanting to be the reason that is keeping him up, she tells him, "It's getting late, I should be going. Are you going to be okay by yourself?" she checks, not wanting to leave him by himself if he's not okay.

"Yeah, thanks for stopping by." Hailey is on her way out when she hears her name being called. "Do you mind coming with me somewhere on Saturday?"

"I want you to meet her." Shocked, Hailey is speechless. "If you don't want to I understand."

"No, no. It's not that. I'm just surprised. Are you sure you're going to be okay if I leave?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks for being here."

"Always. Do you need a ride to work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'd be great."

"I'll pick you up at seven then."

The next day, Hailey picks Jay up at seven sharp.

"How did you sleep?" she asks on her way into the district.

"Okay," he lies, evident by the bags under his eyes.

Stopping at a red light, Hailey gives Jay a look, letting him know she doesn't believe him. For once, she is glad that Jay is on desk duty, knowing that his head is most likely not in the right place to be working in the field.

Arriving at the district, they are greeted by Kim, "Hey guys. Are you feeling better Jay?"

"Yeah, thanks."

When everyone else arrives, Voight announces that since they closed their last case and do not have anything urgent at the moment, they are going to use the day to catch up on paperwork. This causes everyone to groan, except for Jay and Hailey.

Jay because he is not the only one stuck on in the bullpen and Hailey because she will be able to keep a closer eye on Jay.

The team spends the day on their paperwork before leaving for the day. "Anyone going to Molly's?" Ruzek asks.

Kim, Vanessa, and Kevin give different variations of yes.

"Not today," Jay answers.

"Why not?" Ruzek asks.

"Can't drink and I just want to get home."

"Hailey?"

"I think I'm just going to relax at home tonight."

"Your loss."

Saturday, Jay picks up Hailey in the early afternoon after stopping to get flowers for the grave. The ride is silent as Hailey doesn't know what to say and Jay is lost in his own thoughts.

Arriving at the cemetery, Jay parks near his parent's plot, before leading Hailey to where the grave is. He places the flowers on the headstone, where she sees, Kathryn Halstead 1961 – 2006. Loving daughter, sister, wife, and mother.

"Ma, this is Hailey. She's my partner at work. You would have liked her, she keeps me out of trouble."

"Hi, Mrs. Halstead. You'd be proud of Jay, he's a great detective."

Hailey listens to Jay talk to his mom for probably forty minutes before she hears footsteps behind her and someone calls out to them, "Jay? Hailey? Is that you guys?"

"Hey Will," Hailey greets. Jay remains silent, still resentful that Will had the chance to say good-bye and he didn't. Wanting to give the brother's some time, she whispers to Jay, "I'm going to give you guys some time. I'll be by the truck."

Once the two brothers are alone, Jay asks, "What are you doing here?"

"It's been thirteen years today. I know I wasn't around before, but I'm trying to be now."

"Why did she have to die? She had so much life left."

"I don't know. But I do know that she fought to the end."

"Was she in pain?"

"They probably had her on a strong pain drip at the time. She probably wasn't aware of what was happening."

"Do you think she thought that we didn't care? Because we weren't there when she died."

Will feels his heart drop when he hears his brother ask that question. "No. She knew you couldn't be there. If anything, it would be me that she would have thought didn't care. But she knew you were overseas and you would have been there if you could. She would never think that of you, you were her baby."

"Do you regret not being there?"

"Every day, but Jay we can't live in the past. And as much as it hurts to know that she died alone, I know mom wouldn't want our last memory of her to be watching her as she took her last breath. She would want us to remember her how she was before the cancer made her look so sickly." At this point, Jay has unshed tears resting in his eyes. Will notices and pulls his baby brother into a rare hug, causing the tears to spill. Jay clutches Will's shirt like a lifeline. Will just holds him, wishing that he could take away the emotional burden.

After what seems like forever, Jay has managed to compose himself. "Do you want to go home now?" Not able to speak, Jay just nods his head. Will walks Jay over to his truck where Hailey is waiting for him.

When Hailey sees his face, she gives him a comforting hug. "Can you drive him home?" Will asks her with an underlying tone of, he's in no condition to drive and I don't want him getting into an accident.

"Yeah, no problem."

"I'll check in with you later, okay?" Will tells Jay as he helps Jay into the passenger seat of his truck. Jay just nods. After shutting the door, he turns to Hailey, "Take care of him, please."

"Always," Hailey answers before she gets into the truck. Will watches at his brother's truck leaves the cemetery, glad that his brother has a friend like Hailey.

When Hailey gets the two of them back to his apartment, she makes Jay a cup of tea to help calm him. After he finishes the tea, she makes him lay down on the couch. With his head in her lap, she rubs his back hoping that will put him to sleep. After a few minutes, Jay has fallen asleep with the stuffed dog in his grasp.

Not wanting to disturb Jay, Hailey, leans her head back and falls asleep where she is. Wishing she could take away his pain, the only thing Hailey can do is hope that he is feeling better when he wakes up later.

A/N: First, I know Jay seems a bit OOC, but this is FanFiction and I imagine he has a soft spot for his mother.

Secondly, regarding a Deaf Jay Fic, after seeing that there are people interested in that being an independent story, I am going to continue with it. As of right now (March 28, 2020) I have added and made some minor changes to the first chapter to make it work in the long run better. I am currently on the second chapter now. Like with all my stories, I do the research to make it as accurate as possible, but if there are mistakes let me know nicely as a learning experience. That being said, I want to write a few more chapters before I start posting it. If there is anything that you want to see in it, either leave a comment on this story under Chapter 4: Deaf or PM me until that one is published. The title I have right now is "Silence is a Strange Sound" this may change by the time I post.

Lastly, by posting the Deaf Jay Fic, I am most likely going to put "Rock Bottom" on Hiatus. I will come back to finish it at some point, but I started that Fic not knowing where I was headed with it. This is still the case, where I don't know what direction it is going in. Mental Health is an important topic and I want that Fic to represent the importance and not make light of that situation and/or people suffering from mental health challenges. With that being said, Mental Health is especially important in times like this (Pandemic), even with social distancing check in on your friends especially those fighting mental health challenges via calling, text, video chat, e-mail.

Conversions:

99.7= 37.6

If you made it this far, I apologize for the long author's note. Everyone stay safe- this is a crazy time, practice social distancing, if you can stay home- stay home.