Sunday morning, these are the day's we are supposed to wake up warm and snuggled up to the one's we love. The low, early morning winter light shining through the crack in the curtains, the soft smell of detergent warmed by the warm body's that have entangled in the night. This morning wasn't going like that for Hayley, this morning she was cleaning up the mess from the night before. It wasn't a party, no! This mess was from Garret's latest tantrum, that's what she decided that they were. He had come home, he had been out drinking with his work buddies, Hayley had cooked a steak dinner, but by the time he made it home it was cold and ruined. Luckily Hayley had managed to keep away from his fists, just the apartment had taken a thrashing. When she had finished cleaning up the mess she fed Zak, showered, and then made her way to Kim's for the day. As she parked the car and took Zak's seat from her car Jay's truck pulled in next to her, he smiled, and Sarah excitedly banged on her window as she saw Hayley and Zak.

"Morning Miss Hayley, Hi Zak, how are you today?" the toddler said as Jay set her on the ground.

"Morning Sarah, you seem in a good mood today, did you have a good sleep?" Hayle asked.

"I had Pancakes for breakfast with Owen and uncle Will, I love Pancakes! Does Zak like Pancakes?"

"Well, he's never had them he's too little!" Jay held his hand out for Zak's carrier, but Hayley had flipped the boot so she could get his wheels out. "Thanks, I'm going to take these in with us, he likes to be rocked and the seat is so heavy, he literally weights 16lb the seat is like 3 times that. Makes no sense at all, can you imagine having twins and having to carry them?" they had managed to get the frame up and lock their cars and then walked to the lobby of Kim's building. Sarah had held on the to the stroller the whole way.

"Hey guys come in; dinner is on! Hey Sarah, how are you doing today? Makayla is in her room if you want to go see her." Kim looked at Zak who was sleeping so she left him alone.

Hayley parked Zak in the hallway and followed Kim into the kitchen, to help where she could. In time the table was set, and they started to eat. Zak woke up as usual and wanted feeding luckily Hayley had pumped that morning, so Kim got to play Auntie and feed the baby. There was 12 of them all sat round the table, Hayley, Sarah, Jay, Kim, Makayla, Adam, Kevin, Vanessa and his sister Venessa. Trudy had turned up with Antonio and his daughter Ava. Ava was all over Zak between her and Sarah Hayley didn't have to do much. Hayley went into the kitchen to help load the dishwasher, Jay had followed, and Kim was starting dessert. They worked well together like a well-oiled machine, that was until Sarah came in with a plate and dropped it on the floor. Hayley cowered on the floor until she realised that she wasn't at home. Jay tried to talk to her, but she managed to get past him and lock herself in the bathroom. Kim and Trudy both tried to get her to come out, but it wasn't working. The door finally opened when Zak's cries didn't stop. Kim ushered them into the bedroom and came back with a drink for Hayley.

"I'm sorry Kim!" Hayley tried to apologise.

"What are you sorry for? You got spooked it's ok!" Kim hugged Hayley from the side. "Come out when you are ready! Ok?"

"Sure!"

Trudy had snuck in to the bedroom and was sat by Hayley.

"You know I've been a cop for 30 years this year, I've seen a lot of good cops go through some tough times, but once you join the Chicago police force you become part of a family and we all stick together, we look out for each other and we will never let you go through anything alone, and when we see one of us is hurting we close round them and we do our best to help until we have fixed it!"

"What if you can't fix it?"

"The only time it doesn't get fixed is when they are not ready to let us help. But rest assured Hayley, we will still rally round and do our hardest, especially when there are kids involved."

"it's normal for me, it's all I've known since I was 11, how do I stop it? I have no where to go, he has rights, its a waste of your time and resources. He is manipulative, he will just end up sucking me back in and then what? Wait until I do something to upset him again, then spend the week covering up the evidence! Because I do so well at hiding it!" her shoulder sag as she starts to sob again. She feels the weight of Zak leave her arms as he is taken from her and passed to someone behind her. Trudy wraps her in her arms and holds her until the sobs subside. Everyone except Jay has left by the time they leave the bedroom, they sit at the couch and watch the kids play on the rug, nothing is said between the four adults, until Hayley speaks up, her voice is almost a whisper. "You don't remember me do you Trudy?"

Trudy looks up at Hayley and looks at her. "No! Do you know how many faces I see in a day?"

"You didn't meet me as a cop, when I was 12 the Greek diner my father owned was held up!"

"I remember 10 years ago when I was working robbery homicide, we were called to a Greek restaurant, the owner and his daughter were locking up for the night and a guy came in and beat the father and took the nights takings."

"That right they beat him so bad I thought he was dead. But you made me feel safe, you took me back to the district and sat me at your desk, you worked all night to catch the guys, and I went home when my Mom finally came for me. I became a cop because of you, I wanted to be bad ass and help people who were scared. But look at me cowering from my own partner in my own home. What sort of life am I giving my son?" tears stream down her face and she tries to wipe them away. "I have to leave him I know I do!"

"You have to do what's right for you and Zak! We can't force you to do anything. It would only turn you against us in the long run. But we are here for you every step of the way Hayley. You need to talk day or night, you call us, you need to leave and get away you call us. You can't do this alone and we are not going to let you. Look at me?" Kim asked her.

She looked up, "We are here for you. Just pick up the phone, OK?" she nodded and stood up, getting her coat and Zak's bag ready. By the time she was packed up and ready to go Jay and Sarah were also ready to go. They said their goodbyes and when they got to the car, Jay looked like he wanted to say something, "spit it out Jay!" she told him with a smile.

"Just do me a favour and let me know when you are ready. I just don't want you to pack up and go on your own. I mean one of us needs to be close by to stop him from doing anything. OK?"

"OK! Thank you, Jay! Night miss Sarah, have a great Christmas" Sarah was waving frantically through the window.

Hayley made it home and into the apartment as the snow started falling heavy. She snuggled Zak into bed then looked at the links Trudy had sent her. When the door opened and a drunk Garret walked in Hayley knew that it wouldn't be long before she needed the help on offer. She just prayed they could get to the opposite side of the holidays. Zak was in bed so she slept on the recliner in his room.

The next morning Garret was hung over and in a bad mood. Hayley made breakfast and sat on the couch it was Christmas eve and she had been buying bits for Zak, essentials that he would need they were all under the tree she had taken pictures of it looking nice already to put in his scrap book. They had gone though. She hadn't noticed last night if they were there or not but right now, they had gone. Hayley knew that if she asked there would be a big argument. So, she stayed quiet. Garret laughed, he was sitting on his chair. Picking up her phone she text Jay 'now' it was all she could think to put without writing an essay.

'OK, give me 20 minutes, are you OK?'

'OK, yes'

Her uniform was at work, Garret hated it she felt super sexy when she first got her two's. She had come home in them and he'd virtually ripped them off her, but not in the sexy way. Called her a pig called her scum. Beat her so bad she ended up at the emergency room, that's when she found out she was pregnant with Zak. The beating stopped for a while, until he was born. Then they came back with a vengeance. She quickly packed what she could into a bag and sat in Zak's room till Jay text her.

'Do you want me to come up?'

'No but can you call me say its work? Please? I'll put you in my pocket don't hang up. OK?'

'OK?'

Her phone rang and she picked up, she shook the nerves from her voice and answered. Placing the phone in her pocket she walked out to the kitchen diner.

"Work called I have to go in. Nicola is having Zak so you don't need to worry about him. I'll see you when I finish."

"Leave him here!" Garret said

"I'll be gone for a while it's a big case. You will be going out. She will be OK with him."

"I told you to leave him here, are you deaf or just trying to piss me off?"

"No, I'm not leaving him with you, you've been drinking and you need to sleep and you have work and" Garret was up and out of his seat in seconds, he had Hayley pushed up against the wall, holding her by the throat, her feet inches from the ground. She tried to grab at him to get him off her but she was going weak from the lack of oxygen. With one last breath she pushed him back and screamed.

The door to the apartment flew open as she slouched to the floor. Hank, Adam and Jay all came through with Trudy behind them.

Trudy dealt with Zak who was hysterical in his car seat, Hank and Adam had Garret cuffed and out the door and Jay cautiously made his way to Hayley who was on the floor trying to sort her breathing out.

"Hey, you, OK?" Jay asked her as she took in her surroundings.

Bursting into tears Jay pulled her too him. They sat for a while until she calmed down. Gabby touched Jay on his shoulder and he let go of Hayley so they could check her out and get them out of this hell hole. Kim appeared and she had bags full of Hayley's clothes and Zak's stuff. His crib was taken down by Kevin and Vanessa and that was loaded into a car and then Hayley and Zak shut that chapter of their life away. Now it was time to start a fresh. She could do this. She would do this, because what she was doing wasn't living a life. They deserved better, Zak deserved better. Trudy wrapped her arms around Hayley and together they shut the door to the apartment, and on the shit show that had been Hailey and Zak's life, now their new life was ahead of them and the team was their to back them, because when you become a member of the CPD, you become part of a brotherhood. That brotherhood involves the police, the fire, the team at Chicago med. You all look out for each other, no mater what.