Chapter 24: You and Jay were more than partners.

Jay/Hailey. Set after series 7. At Kim and Adam's wedding, Jay and Hailey finally confessed their feelings and spent the night together and now they are back in Chicago and hiding their relationship from their friends.

Second chapter of the day! :)

Jay/Hailey.

Please read, enjoy and review. Suggestions for future chapters are welcome :)

The next morning, Jay and Hailey were woken by a call from a Sergeant from another district. A woman had been brutally murdered in her own home, so Jay and Hailey made their way to the district, not caring if anyone saw that them arriving together. The only person who did was Platt and she already knew that they were together. Jay called Kim, Adam and Kevin and he and Hailey met them at the crime scene. No-one thought twice about Jay and Hailey arriving together, because, during their partnership previously, they had sometimes spent time on each other's sofas, after a case or if the other one didn't want to go home. As far as Kim, Kevin and Adam were concerned, they were best friends.

Jay walked over to the other Sergeant, who had command of the scene. "Sergeant Halstead. Intelligence Unit. What have you found in the house so far?"

The other Sargent sighed as she described the scene, then she showed Jay, Hailey and Adam the scene itself, where the victim had been found, whilst Kim and Kevin were taking witness statements. As soon as Hailey saw the victim, she felt sick. It was a woman, beaten to death. There would always be cases which felt personal to different members of the Intelligence Unit, and this felt personal to Hailey, and she would not rest until the murderer was behind bars and, even from glancing at her slightly, Jay knew this, too. He could see the fire in her eyes, but he could also see the pain. It was, potentially, a domestic violence case and those affected Hailey in the same way that military cases affected him. No matter what, he would be there to support her and he knew that, right now, the best way to do that was to make headway with the case. Hailey would talk to him about it when she was ready. Jay knew that.

Back at the 21st District, the unit spent the entire shift looking for leads, but there were none. There were no police reports that could explain who had murdered her and, by the time midnight arrived, Jay left his office and said, "Everyone, go home. We'll pick the case up tomorrow." Kim, Kevin and Adam moved, but Hailey stayed where she was, with her eyes glued to the screen. This woman had been killed and they had no suspects, and she was searching her file, hoping to find something. The first person they had checked was her husband, but he seemed clean. Slowly, so that as to not startle her, Jay walked over to Hailey's desk and sat down at the edge of it. He titled his head and said, in a low voice, "Hailey, we need to go home. Get some rest."

Hailey's eyes remained on the screen. In a tight voice, she said, "A woman was murdered in her own home. She was beaten to death. It was personal, Jay! The killer knew her and we have no leads."

Jay bit his lip and insisted, "Hailes, we can't help her if we have no sleep." He paused, then added, "Let's go back to my place. Rest and start afresh tomorrow."

Sighing, Hailey just nodded, standing up and picking up her jacket. They went to Jay's apartment, just because it was closer than Hailey's and Jay wanted to try to help Hailey to sleep. He found an old jumper and a pair of PJ trousers for her to sleep in that night. As they sat down together on the bed, Hailey did not reach out to Jay as she normally did. Her eyes were fixed on the wall, just as they had been on the computer screen earlier. Jay watched her and pressed his lips together, before he asked, in a low voice, "Hailes, is there anything you want to talk about?"

Hailey turned to face him for the first time that evening and he could see the look in her eyes. Hailey knew that Jay knew what she was feeling. She shook her head slightly and reached out for one of his hands, touching it lightly. "No, not tonight. Not until we're through the case." She paused, then added, looking into Jay's eyes, "I know I'm safe with you."

"Always, partner." Jay gave her a small smile, then waited until she lay down in bed before he did the same thing. That night, neither Hailey nor Jay slept. Hailey couldn't sleep, because of the case, of the images in her mind, and Jay didn't sleep because he wanted to be there for Hailey, as silent support, just as she had been there for him, countless times and always would be.

The husband was the killer. He had been abusing the victim, his wife, for years, but she had never reported it. Hailey and Adam had arrested him and Adam had watched as Hailey had not wasted a second in tackling the man, or how she had spoken to him during the interrogation. He even found Jay and told the Sergeant he was worried. Jay wasn't worried. Hatred of domestic violence was a part of Hailey, because of her childhood and he wasn't going to judge her for that, ever.

As soon as the case was over, Hailey walked into Jay's office and asked, with a slight head tilt, "Our thing at my place? Whisky?"

Jay just nodded, grabbing his jacket. When he reached Hailey, he kissed her softly and smiled and she smiled back, before they left the district. As soon as they arrived at Hailey's house, they sat together on the sofa, with a glass of whiskey each. Hailey pulled her blonde curls out of the bobble and sighed. "When I saw that woman, I saw my mum and when I saw her husband, her evil, vile husband, I saw my father." She paused, then looked at Jay. "Jay, that's all I could see."

With a reassuring smile, Jay just said, "There's nothing wrong with that."

Hailey scoffed and rolled her eyes, before she had a drink of whiskey. She shook her head again. "Maybe. Maybe not, but that all I could see. I don't understand how it happened. She was murdered in her own home, by someone who should've protected her, been her ally. The sad thing is it didn't surprise me when we found out it was the husband and we got justice for her, but we should've stopped him before that. Life is awful sometimes, isn't it?"

"It can be. But there are great parts of life, too."

"How can you think like that? You saw the worst of the world, in Afghanistan."

Jay put his arms around Hailey and nodded. "Yeah, I did. But when I was struggling, you pulled me back."

Hailey rested her head against Jay's shoulder and closed her eyes as she whispered, "I wish I could stay here. You're the only person I know will have my back, 100%. You never judge me." She ran her hands through her hair and looked up at Jay, with a small smile.

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Jay moved to answer it, but Hailey smiled and walked to the front-door, running her hand through her blonde curls again. It was Adam. "Adam, what are you doing here?"

Adam saw Jay over Hailey's shoulder, but he wasn't surprised. He cleared his throat and replied, "I just wanted to check on you. I know it was a tough case for you."

Hailey smiled and nodded. "I appreciate it, thanks."

Jay left the sofa and walked over to the door, standing next to Hailey. He glanced at Hailey, having a silent conversation, before offering, "We're having a drink. Do you want one?"

"Nah, thanks. You guys should talk- partner to partner. I mean, you were partners." Adam cleared his throat, feeling stupid. "I'll see you tomorrow. Night."

As soon as the door was closed, Hailey and Jay resumed their places on the sofa and Jay put his arms around Hailey. Smiling, Jay asked, "Was it just me, or did Ruzek seem really awkward?"

"He did, yeah." Hailey paused and added, "I don't think he thought anything of you being here, though." There was a silence, then Hailey kissed Jay and whispered, "I want to stay here all night." The two of them fell asleep on the sofa, with Jay's arms wrapped around Hailey.

The next morning, Hailey arrived 10 minutes after Jay and Kim and Adam arrived shortly after that. Adam knew that he was not to ask about Hailey's boyfriend again, not after the conversation with Kim, but he wanted to check that she was alright. "Hey, Hailey, you doing ok?"

Offering her ex-boyfriend a small smile, Hailey nodded, "I'm good, thanks, but I really did appreciate you coming to check on me."

"Yeah. I mean, we're partners now." Adam glanced at Jay through the glass of his office. He shrugged, smiling. "Even though we're partners, I get it. I can't say I wasn't hurt you went to Jay, instead of me. But you and Jay were more than partners. You guys are best friends and I totally get that."

There was a silence and Hailey just nodded as she replied, with a smile, "Yeah, Jay's my partner and my best friend." She waited until Adam went into the breakroom, before she looked at Jay through the glass of his office and she smiled, before continuing with her work. For her, being with Jay was the best thing ever and their weekend together truly had been the most perfect time ever.