Chapter 25: Sniper shot.

Next chapter! :)

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.

I do not own Chicago PD or any of the characters.

Jay's PTSD is brought to the fore. This will be explored in a couple of following chapters, for him and Hailey. Reviews are welcome :)

For a couple of evenings after the domestic violence case, Hailey had suffered from nightmares. Nightmares of the abuse she had witnessed and had been a victim of during her childhood. Jay sat with her, talked to her, held her when she cried and assured her that everything was alright. There were great parts of life, too.

Over the next couple of days, there were a spree of killings, all performed by snipers and, as soon as Hailey saw the first victim, she knew that it would have an effect on Jay's mental health. That was why she was the one to take the ballistics report into his office. The sniper's riffle was a military-issued one. She had seen the affect a similar case had had on him a couple of months ago, when military had been targeted by terrorists. The nightmares, the panic attacks, the violent vomiting which had come with them. She knew the case would trigger Jay's PTSD and she knew that he knew that, too, but, this time, he was Sergeant of the Intelligence Unit, and she knew that factor would make him even more stressed.

Hailey knocked on the door. Jay was looking over the initial crime scene report and he looked up and Hailey knew that he knew what was coming, so she closed the door so that they would not be overheard. Jay would want privacy for this. Hailey walked over to Jay and passed the file to him. "We received an initial report from ballistics on the gun. It's an Army-issued sniper riffle. It's registered to an ex- Private Evan Porter. He was dishonourably discharged a year ago."

Jay's eyes glanced over the information, before he just asked, in a detached tone of voice, "Do we have an LKA for the dishonourable discharge?"

"Not yet, I thought I'd give you the information before the rest of the team." Hailey replied, carefully, her blue eyes searching Jay's green ones.

Standing up, Jay shook his head. "You didn't have to do that." He paused, then touched her arm affectionately. "Trust me, I'm fine. It'll hit me later." There was a silence and Hailey could see the look in his green eyes. He would power through the day, through the case, and, only after it was finished, would he allow himself to give into what he was feeling. The trauma, the flashbacks. He would do his best to keep them at bay. "Let's update the team and find an LKA."

Hailey just nodded and replied, "Copy that, Serg." Jay gave her a small smile and she followed him into the bullpen and returned to her desk. When it came to Jay dealing with his PTSD, Hailey knew that she needed to allow Jay to deal with it himself, unless it became a problem. She would always be there for him, just as she had always been there for him.

With his hands on his hips, Jay asked the rest of the unit, "Do we have an LKA for the ex-Private Evan Porter?"

Kim was the first to answer; her time as a patrol officer had made her far quicker at finding information than others and she was always keen to do her best work for Jay. She respected him a great deal and she knew how important he was to Hailey. She looked up at Jay, who was standing by Hailey's desk, with his hands on his hips. "I've got it, Serg. Should I call SWAT to back us up?"

Jay shook his head and walked into his office, grabbing his tactical gear, including his sniper riffle. Hailey watched him, slightly wearily as he did this. "Here's the plan: Upton, Ruzek, you take the front of the house. Burgess, Atwater, you take the back."

Kevin and Adam glanced at each other, and Hailey was glad that she was not the one who asked, "Where will you be?"

"I'll be in an elevated position." Jay paused, then asked, "Do we all know your positions? Let's role. I'll get a search warrant by the time we're there." As he passed her, Hailey watched the back of his head. She could see the tension in his whole body and she grabbed her own vest before she followed him.

Adam chuckled as he put his own on as he remarked, "You see what I mean? You don't cross Jay Halstead."

During the search warrant on the Private's house was a large collection of guns, as well as a list of the people he was going to kill. They were names of people who had been his friends, but had not supported him after his discharge. Hailey stayed on the front-door, outside, and Kevin at the back and Jay was on the rooftop across the street, but the information was clear. The ex- Private had even ticked off the names of the people he had already shot. As Jay had suspected, when the ex-Private had returned home, he did not want to go with them quietly and he raised his gun at Kevin. The next second, he was down on the pavement, with a single gunshot to the head. Kim, Kevin and Adam remarked on their awe of that shot and, whilst Hailey felt it also, she looked at Jay on the top of the roof. His eyes were fixed on the body. He was totally still. He had been forced to kill one of his own.

After 10 minutes, Jay had still not moved from that spot. "Is he ok?" Kim inquired, slightly concerned.

Hailey took off her vest, then suggested, "How about you guys go back to the district? I'll see you guys tomorrow." Jay did not want an audience for this. She gave Adam a reassuring smile, assuring her new partner that it was alright.

On the rooftop, Hailey found Jay in the same place he had been for about half an hour now. His eyes were still fixed on where the body had been. His hands were shaking, and Hailey could see his eyes were glazed over. Carefully, Hailey removed the riffle from his hands and removed the bullets and, as she was doing that, Jay remained totally still.

Hailey placed the riffle away, then spoke to Jay. "Jay, can you hear me? Jay, you're in Chicago, you're safe." No response. His green eyes were totally blank. Hailey knew that this was PTSD. In the same soft voice, she just said, "Jay, I'm staying right here. I'm not going anywhere."

After another silent and still 10 minutes, Jay's eyes finally focused on what as in front of him. He was back. He was in Chicago. He was safe and he could hear Hailey's voice. Taking in a shaking breath, he called her name. "Hailey?" He reached out for her and she wrapped her arms around him and, with that human contact, Jay broke down into tears. He clung to Hailey, hiding his face in his arms. He sobbed and cried, "I'm sorry, Hailey! I'm so sorry, Hailes!"

Rocking Jay back and forth in her arms, Hailey kissed his hair and just whispered, "It's okay. You're ok. I've got you, Jay." She held him close as he sobbed into her arms.

Hailey drove back to Jay's apartment, because it was closer to where they had been. Jay was sitting on his bed, still trying to process what he happened. Hailey found his anti-anxiety and PTSD medication, with a glass of water, which he accepted, with shaking hands. He took them, then said, "Maybe I should sleep on the couch?"

Sitting down next to him, Hailey looked into his eyes and shook her head. "No, Jay, you're going to sleep right here. You'll be with me, and you'll be safe." She paused, then added, "Try and get some sleep. I'll be right here with you."