Chapter 3- Time for Reckoning

Greetings one and all! Thank you so, so much for your very sweet comments. They truly make my day! You guys are killing it with sending in prompts. I'm going to try my best to get to them all. So this chapter's prompt comes from a very great writer and person!

CPDSVU: "…An idea of what season 7 could open with? Like Upstead just reacting on their feelings (instead of the slow burn that we'll probably get from the show?)"

So first, I love this idea. I know a couple other people have written on this topic and done a great job so I'm going to do my best to not step on any toes. Second, I have my theories and opinions on what's going to happen in the season opener but I'm going to try and not let that influence this. This isn't about me, but you the reader and what you requested. So without any further comments, let's get this started!

The twists and turns of life are ever mysterious and never ending. Just when defeat was all but certain, life in the form of death took them on a ride. They were down to the bare bones, three of the seven present and accounted for. Jay was the interim leader so he got the called first, reports of a break-in at a residence in the Lincoln Park area. The address was known, but certainly not one you'd expected to be called to, especially knowing who the owner of the place was. Given the day he'd had, retaliation or pushback was to be expected, but nothing of this caliber. It was late, the wind was lazily blowing around as they pulled up to the location. The numerous cars, police officers, media personnel, and crime scene investigators let them all know this wasn't about broken glass and stolen valuables. Those sixth senses they lived for told them they'd only learned of the tip of the iceberg. Kim looked to Kevin who looked to Jay, all of them not completely grasping the enormity of what was on the other side of the doors. They took the stairs two at a time, coming to a dead stop when they saw him, the enemy of their future lying dead in his foyer.

He was shot, multiple times. The door showed no signs of prying nor was there hint of a struggle. It was as if Kelton opened the front door for his killer, the time between greeting the visitor and his maker probably a hand full of seconds. No one said anything, shocked and amazed at how quickly things changed. Hours ago Kelton was delivering his victory speech and hours away from dismantling Intelligence. But now, standing over his very still body, the future was completely unknown in every possible way.

"Now what," Kim numbly asked, glancing over at Jay who shook his head. Kevin walked off, saying he needed to do something but no one really heard him. Jay walked closer to the body, examining the wounds and manner in which Kelton was laying. It was personal, it was off guard, it was going to take everything to prove it wasn't the obvious suspect. In most cases, people were innocent until proven guilty. But tonight, Voight looked to be guilty and they had to give him everything they had to prove he wasn't. It was all insane, like this night had to be a movie script. Things don't work out this way, problems don't often vanish in this manner. They stayed at the house for several hours, canvassing neighbors, listening to forensics reports, and observing everything. All signs pointed to an attack, a very personal and deliberate one at that. Whoever did this had every intention of Kelton not waking up in the morning. It was hard to not see Voight's hand in all of it.

Dawn was beginning to break over the horizon when things died down. The yellow tape remained, but everyone and everything else trickled out. Intelligence stayed till the body was transported to the coroner's office and on the table. She vowed to be quick, possibly having answers by nightfall. They stood outside the office exhausted, still in disbelief over things.

"We should try and sleep for a bit," Jay suggested to the group. It was weird being in charge. He was now the tone setter, the source they'd all turn to for answers. He loved it, hated it, pretty much feared it for the moment. Unlike Voight, Jay wasn't one to force people to push their nose to the grindstone, go all out on zero sleep and sustenance. There was just so much one could do on an empty tank. Evidence was being inspected, a body was about to be dug into, there wasn't much for them to do for a few hours. Brainstorming immediately came to mind, but it was pointless when none of them could think straight. Kim and Kevin didn't balk or ignore his instructions, just nodded and in zombie-like fashion went their separate ways. Jay climbed into the truck and drove, putting himself on auto pilot in an effort to not completely panic.

His mind drifted to her. They'd all but spilled their darkest secrets and affections, him more than her. They couldn't end this the way they were, not with the untapped potential lying at their feet. He'd miss her, he missed her tonight. Her lack of presence at the scene worried him. She was informed of the call, instructed to head over, but never did. He didn't suspect her, of course, but it was unsettling, worrisome that something might've happened. In this whirlwind time anything was possible.

"You're crazy and tired," he told himself as he pulled up to his building. Parking was readily available this time of day, so it took one loop of the building before finding the ideal spot. He trudged, yawned, tip toped through the front entrance before climbing into the elevator. People were leaving their apartments as he was coming in, which was an odd phenomena. His neighbors appeared to be a day ahead of him, starting their Friday while he was still living out his Thursday. He waved with dreary, half open eyes, getting looks and delayed acknowledgments. His progress was brought to a halt when he rounded the corner, the very person on his mind resting against his front door.

"Hey," he quizzically spoke, hesitating a couple steps away from her. She was resting her back on his door, legs straight out as her hands came together in her lap. She was daydreaming, face a vision of blank. His voice moved her to blink, eventually glancing in his direction. Hailey's eyes were glazed over, the lack of sleep putting her in a great stupor. Her eyebrows perked up seeming to be doing the talking.

"How long have you been here," Jay inquired, doing his best to unlock the door without stepping on Hailey.

"Couple minutes," she mumbled. Jay shook his head, the level of stiffness and slow blinks calculated her immobility to many hours. He budged the door, offering a hand for her to grasp and she accepted. She wobbled through the dizziness, landing on a stool at his kitchen counter. They didn't speak for several minutes, Jay scrounging for food while Hailey motivated herself to stay awake. The quietness was calming, the perfect remedy for the day they'd all just lived through. They'd been targeted, shot at, lost colleagues and soon jobs before showing up at their enemy's doorstep to find him dead; and that was all before the stroke of midnight. So to hear nothing, to look around at stillness and normal things was almost euphoric. Questions pertaining to the next step danced in both their heads, each mentally concluding rest and time would work those out.

"I went to see Adam." Jay turned around, OJ in hand as he reached for a glass. Hailey detected the smallest amount of snide, watching him nod as he went to the sink.

"Even if we ended things, I still care about him. He's a friend, colleague, I wanted to check on him."

"You don't have to explain yourself."

"Well I feel like I do. I ignored you for him and I wanted to give my side of the story." Jay nodded, downing a large gulp as she continued.

"So, how was it? Any suspects yet?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now. It's really.."

"Crazy?"

"Tiring." She smirked, twiddling her fingers as her head lowered onto the counter. Sleep was really winning this time. Jay asked her about a breakfast, stopping himself as a snore slipped out from her lips. She was bent over, head completely on the counter as the rest of her was slumped in the chair, nearing the point of falling off. Jay collected her in his arms and brought her down the hall, gently placing her on a side of his bed. She never stirred during the journey, nestling rather quickly and easily against his pillows. This act of kindness wasn't looking for that kind of moment. It was a gesture of friendship, meeting a need. Jay observed her for about six seconds before melatonin's largest wave swept over his body. Without a second thought Jay face planted on the other side of his bed. Both of them were totally out, clothing and shoes still on.

…

An extra loud siren woke her up first. She blinked, cloudy eyes revealing a room she didn't fall asleep in. Her mind began working, trying to figure out how she got from the barstool to bed without realizing it. Furthermore, how she ended up in his bed was startling to say the least. This wasn't how she wanted this visit to go, never her endgame. But the soft snores to her left told her the rest of the tale, they both passed out like Sleeping Beauty. She adjusted in the bed in an effort to take him in. He was on his stomach, face turned away from her. The deep heaves of breathing made his entire back rise and fall. His shoed foot would twitch, brush kicking the end of the bed. But he didn't look peaceful, the stress rippling off his body. Muscles were tense, his body was relatively stiff. Hailey wondered if she nudged him would Jay strongly react. She rolled away from him, wanting to get up and examine how drained she appeared. It was a single, slow roll off the bed but she was on her feet without Jay waking up. Tip toeing across the room and towards the bathroom door, Hailey made it to the room and turned the light on, which was the fatal mistake. It was daylight out but the changing of the light jolted him awake. In seconds Jay was awake, sitting up, and examining his phone. While they may have rested, the rest of the case wasn't.

"What time is it," Hailey cooly asked, doing her best to brush off that the technically just slept together.

"Noon," Jay replied through a yawn.

"So that was what, four hours?"

"Something like that." Hailey's hair was a royal mess, hair barely hanging on to the hair tie around its' girth. The bags and puffiness of very little sleep stood out like a sore thumb. She sighed, praying for an escape route from all this. This wasn't the life she planned out in her mind. Her intentions were to never be this involved with colleagues nor did she ever envision sitting court side to the demise of Intelligence. But for the moment it's what she had, it was her life story and she had to make the best of it. She brushed her hair with her hands, balling it all into a messy bun and heading back for the bedroom. Jay was standing in the closet, throwing on a new shirt as he pushed his boots off. Hailey darted out and headed for the living room, she felt to be a massive invader of privacy.

His apartment was a mess and the organizer in her came out. It wasn't uncommon for him to get messy, especially after the few weeks they endured. She hoped he didn't mind her motherly action, like she was cleaning up his door room on parent weekend. The tidying up began in the living room, straightening out pillows and TV remotes before heading to the hallway. Shoes were cast in random fashion, as if they were launched upon Jay's entrance. She was in the kitchen, loading dishes while humming something random when he returned, taken aback with humor.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Sorry, habit." She shut the water off to face him, the two of them meeting at the kitchen counter. Looking back, this pause in their day was the start of it all. It wasn't grand or something worth remembering, but it was the point in time where they finally reached enough. No more mixed signals, gone was the tension. It was them, in his kitchen, both nervously smirking at each other.

"So…"

"Yeah…" Jay split away first, slowing walking towards the couch before turning back, throwing a shoulder in his direction. He planted in a corner while Hailey took a chair, resuming their awkward silence and million meaning looks.

"How was Adam?" Hailey looked down as she spoke.

"Fine, I guess. We only saw him for a couple of seconds and that was after Platt made a deal with someone. He wasn't too thrilled to see us, but it was okay."

"This is all nuts." Hailey nodded.

"Did you know?"

"No, did you?" She shook her head.

"How did things end up like this?" Jay thought for a moment, stealing a glance at his lit phone before replying.

"Like you said, a day of reckoning was coming. We all make wrong choices and sometimes the consequences come back to haunt us." More true words had never been spoken. Quite frankly Jay was tired. Tired of the dancing around and coded messages. For once in his life he wanted things straight, good or bad he wanted to know everything. It was the only way out of this most recent mess.

"But how stupid of him. He had to know things were going to end this way, why throw away a perfectly good, promising career. And for what? Approval from Voight? Reconciliation for all the grief he gave Antonio? It was stupid! And why didn't he come to us for help!" Hailey smacked the arm of the chair, rising to pace up and down Jay's living room rug. Jay loved it, watching her emotions bubble over. She was pretty reserved at work, her mood almost always a step below everyone else. It's not that she was detached but she liked to keep her secrets, do enough to bond with the team and victims, but Jay always felt she was holding something back. So this outburst from her made him chuckle. It let him she was just like everyone else.

"I don't know. I have no clue what happens next, or where we go from here."

"And you're the one in charge?"

"Yeah. But can we forget all the other crap for a minute and talk about this," Jay motioned between the two of them while he spoke. Hailey knew this was coming, it was the large cloud hanging over them since she showed up to his doorstep. Looking back, she wasn't sure what made her do it. Perhaps her subconscious pushed her, made her do something out of character for a change. She ignored the feelings for so long, blamed other people and past issues for the roadblocks. But now she was standing in his apartment of her own doing, still refusing to blurt out what both of them knew to be true. The writing had been on the wall for so long the ink was beginning to fade. The real question was if she truly meant her thoughts and actions.

"Can we drop the mixed signals and weird dance? I'm tired of existing in neutral." She inhaled, bit the side of her mouth, and sat down while exhaling.

"Okay." Jay sat up just a tad, one leg crossed while the other hung off the couch.

"I care about you, Hailey. A lot. I can't do all of this without you there in some way. Remember when I told you work place romances aren't a good idea?" She nodded while rubbing a temple.

"Well, I kinda lied. To both of us. At the time I was trying to convince myself that I wasn't feeling what I felt and didn't really want to do I was thinking. But through everything we've been through this year, you're the one thing that's always been there. You've been the bright spot in my day. I'm not promising eternity right now, but I would like to make this something bigger." There was a pause, Jay throwing the ball to her and hoping she'd volley back. She coked her head, a very small smile creeping from the corners of her mouth.

"Why do you think I broke things off with Adam?" Jay's eyes went wide, mouth meeting at a corner of his face.

"Because he got in the way of your work."

"What Adam and I had was fun, but you and I are much deeper than that…and we haven't done anything yet."

"Well what do you think all that was," Jay answered while pointing behind him towards his room.

"Oh my word that doesn't count.."

"-Well technically…"

"No. Jay Halstead" she replied while smacking him, her face that of shock. His laughter and her loving harm was the antidote for everything. While they were still battling in the trenches, this was the first time both of them could look up; realize there is hope in the midst of chaos. Then something very out of character for both of them happened next. Jay was looking down at his phone, beginning to answer questions regarding his whereabouts, when Hailey launched for him. He didn't have time to react, dropping his phone on the floor as Hailey's lips met his. It was a release of emotions, the angst and hesitation rescaping from both of them as they collapsed onto the couch before rolling onto the floor.

"This is just a reaction to the stress of the day."

"Totally," Jay replied before they connected again. It was good, it was freeing, this was a moment, a thing they both needed. Similar to when you go several years between a beach trip. When the sand finally touches your feet you realize how much you missed it. Like it's something that's always been there that you ignored for so long. So when you finally react on the impulse, do the one thing your heart and soul have been dying for, life feels worth it again. Furthermore, you wonder why it took you so long to finally do it.

Jay's buzzing phone brought things to a sudden stop, Hailey moaning in annoyance as Jay reached for the device. Work was forever and always going to be the hurdle in their way. But for the first time since entering Intelligence, Hailey hated it.

"Yeah," Jay answered, doing his best to hide the happiness and catching of his breath.

"Where are you? Platt's asking for you. We have a potential suspect" Atwater said.

"Tell her I'm on my way and I'll pick up Hailey. Have you heard from her?"

"No, called and texted couple times but she hasn't responded."

"Ok, I'll stop by her place, be there in twenty." He waited till the phone call was definitely over before getting up, speed walking to the hallway to grab a pair of shoes.

"So slick," Hailey joked. Jay shrugged, waving for Hailey to hurry up. A weight felt to be off their shoulders. Gone were the days and moments of uncertainty and dodging the obvious. All that stood in front of them were unblemished days. She stood out in the hallway as Jay locked the door, his gait extra fast in an effort to make up the time. His first day as interim leader wasn't going how he'd imagined, but then again nothing went as planned in their line of work. They made it to the elevator, rode in silence before heading to the street. Jay rounded the driver's side of the truck, stopping while his hand was on the handle.

"What?" Hailey was silent and somber, very detached from her mood a few seconds ago.

"Are you sure about this? Do we really want to mess up what's worked for us? Especially now in the middle of all of this?"

"Hailey, the only thing I'm confident about is this. I couldn't have gotten to where I am without you. I don't know what is going to happen in the coming days, but I know I want you there with me. We'll always be partners, we'll always have each other's back. The logistics will be figured out when they come along." She loved that, nodding in total agreement as she climbed in. They drove off into the unknown, fully embracing that one couldn't function without the other.

"We should have a name."

"Huh?!"

"A hybrid name, like a celebrity couple." She thought for a bit, the name popping into her mental viewfinder as they pulled into the district."

"Upstead." Jay laughed, rolling his eyes in her goofiness.

They started filming today and I'm celebrating. The hiatus is over! I hope you guys enjoyed this one. With all the unknowns surrounding pretty much everyone it's hard to plan a story. Also, it's my goal to stay away from cheese as much as possible and I hope I succeeded. Thank you so much for reading!