We're still on December 21st.

Kayleigh Alexander's wearing a scarf which she fidgets with as she sits in the break room upstairs at the 21st, looking around her occasionally as Kevin enters the room, followed by Kim who smiles warmly at the woman.

"As Sergeant Platt explained to you, Mrs Alexander, Detective Upton isn't available right now. You remember me, Officer Kevin Atwater, and this is Officer Kim Burgess. You're okay to talk to us both?"

Kayleigh nods, "Yeah, I remember you too and Detective Upton. You were both kind, didn't push me. You probably could've done that. Possibly should."

Kevin pulls a chair away from the table as Kim does the same and sits down opposite her.

"Was there something you wanted to talk to us about?"

Her fingers worry more at the loose ends of the scarf and she drags her other hand through her hair.

"Yeah though I have no idea how helpful I'll be. I should've told you that day it's just I was worried about my husband coming home. Worried about his reaction and I kept it all inside me but he knows; my husband, that is. He knows me and I finally caved 3 days ago and he talked me into coming."

"Anything you tell us about Peter Barnet and your relationship with him would help."

She shakes her head, "It's not really my relationship with Pete that I'm here about, though I suppose it affected me either way. It's Pete's relationship with that man. That poisonous bastard."

"Which man?" Kim prompts.

"James Price," Kayleigh's lips curl in disgust as she says his name, "Iraq changed Pete for sure, but that man turned Peter more. Made him bitter, angrier. Twisted him and from what I hear, he's still doing that to this day."

"What do you mean, Mrs Alexander?" Kevin asks.

"Kayleigh, please call me Kayleigh and um, well, I hear things. I still know people who know Pete, the people around him. Amy, Amelia or something. Suddenly turned up injured? I'm right aren't I?"

Neither Kevin nor Kim respond.

"Okay yeah, figures. I imagine she won't press charges. She likely loves him. Fears him too. She'll be terrified of Price, though. You know, Price has no redeeming qualities at all. He hates women, he hates men, he hates anyone who comes back from a war zone in a fit state. He's got an eye for vulnerabilities. Rules by fear and intimidation, makes people think they can't exist or cope without him. Will exploit it to stay rich. He'll hurt anyone and anything that jeopardizes it. Ring any bells?"

Kevin and Kim exchange a glance.

"Kayleigh, would you say that Barnet is intimidated by Price?" Kevin asks.

"I would guarantee it. You know when I heard about the assault on that lady. I tried reaching out to him. Once upon a time, he used to listen. Pete's dangerous, he is but if you talk to him. If you get him away from that man and really talk to him, he's different. He could be different and maybe it's too late for him but if you separate him, it won't be too late to save others from him," she exhales deeply, "I don't know if this has been helpful at all. I just - I still feel affection for Pete despite everything. The first man I fell for. You always remember them, right?"

"Right," Kim replies, "So did you get through to him?"

Kayleigh shakes her head, "No. You know the best thing for this city? Wipe Price off this earth. I don't care how you do it. Just please find a way. I wish I knew more, but that's the danger of him. The mystery of him that sucks people in. They wanna know more and yet they end up spiralling. That's all I know of him and all I ever want to know till I see a headline or get a call telling me he's in County or he's under the ground. Forever."

Kayleigh's chair scrapes as she pushes it backwards with her feet and stands up.

"That's all I came here to say. I have no idea if it's helpful. I suspect not, but I will say if Pete is unreachable but you get him alone and if you or any of your co-workers need to get through to him. To make him listen. You can call me. It's worth another go, right?"

"Right," Kim repeats, "Thank you Kayleigh."

"Let me walk you downstairs," Kevin gestures towards the bullpen and Kayleigh nods, walking ahead allowing Kevin and Kim to share a shrug of disappointment before Kim refusing to give up complete hope writes names on the pad she'd brought into the break room earlier speaks and Kayleigh stops and turns around.

"Kayleigh, before you go, do any of these names mean anything to you? Other than what you may have seen in the news?" She hands the pad to Kayleigh, who raises her eyebrows as she takes the pad from her and looks between Kevin and Kim.

Her eyes scan the pad once and she shakes her head as she looks up, but then cuts off and her eyes look back at the pad, her eyebrows lifting in recognition.

"Marcie Townsend. Yeah, If I'm thinking of the same person. Not long after Pete got back the last time, just after he started hanging around Price and shortly before he almost killed me, we went out for a meal. Price dated no one as far as I remember before or after, but he brought a dinner date that night," she taps the pad, "The date I'm pretty sure was Marcie Townsend."

Saturday December 23rd 2017

As much of a revelation the 'double date' had been, it's a slight step forward rather than anything else. Again.

Jay and Hailey know of what she'd said. Yesterday for a while, Kim had hoped for the best. Felt it could transform everything, but so far that's not been the case.

Today they're back to looking for links. Looking for handwriting, that one piece of evidence that means Jay and Hailey's undercover can be closed down for the best reasons.

Adam's still undercover. Still getting nowhere.

She searches through yet more pod footage, rubbing at her eyes as she's been staring at it for too long without a break when her phone vibrates and she sees a number she doesn't recognize.

"Kim Burgess," she says into the phone before she hears the voice and listens, standing up as the voice continues and grabbing her jacket already as she instructs, We'll be right there. Don't go inside. Just wait for us."

The call ends and Antonio looks up at her quizzically.

"That was Cheryl Adams. Steven Flynn's neighbor. She heard shouting and then a loud banging or thudding sound, saw someone run away from the house and a vehicle driving off at speed. The door's still open, so I've said we'll go."

Antonio nods and stands up, grabbing his own jacket and hat as Olinsky signals toward Voight's office.

"I'll tell him, Kev, you go with them. Let Platt know too and we'll join you as soon as we can."

"Got it." Kim acknowledges as she, Kev and Antonio hurry downstairs.

Cheryl Adams opens her front door as soon as she sees Kim, Antonio and Kevin arrive and hurries down the steps to greet them.

"Ma'am, I need you to go inside."

The woman looks terrified and doesn't need to be told twice as she disappears out of sight.

Kim can see the front door's still open and pulls her gun, nodding as Antonio gestures towards the back of the house and disappears out of sight.

Kim and Kevin move in unison up the steps and Kev calls out, "Chicago PD," as Kim pushes the door open and steps into the house, Kevin behind her.

As they sweep through the house, first downstairs then upstairs, there's no sign of life and as they let Antonio in through the back, there's nothing.

Except in the kitchen. A slight amount of blood on the floor, which doesn't seem to trail anywhere else, but something is better than nothing.

Voight's walking into the kitchen just as Kim's about to call for Forensics.

"We check pod footage, we check with neighbors. We don't have a body, but this blood'll reveal something." He orders as the room fills up around them.

Kim just hopes that the tide is finally turning for them all on this case.

Jay tips out the bag onto the kitchen counter and scratches his head. Maybe he did go a little overboard on the decorations.

Maybe he also went a little crazy with the chips and okay, he also bought the most expensive cranberry sauce in the store, just in case Hailey got a turkey after all.

The remaining item he's got no regrets about as he holds it up and smiles, satisfied.

He resists the urge to message Hailey now. Knowing she'll be at the bar. It's been a hard job resisting going to the bar or to see Marcie at her apartment. Demanding to know what the hell she's playing at.

Thoughts running wild in his brain about everything. What Kayleigh had told Kev and Kim. There's no doubt in Jay's mind, and there hasn't been from early on that Price is the architect of all of this. The chief instigator of the pain Jay and the other men have endured, but there's a nagging doubt there too now.

A nagging doubt he tries to rationalize and then dismiss, but it keeps coming back.

Yet another thing to add to why it's easy to stay awake, to wait until he knows Hailey'll be back at her place because his brain is too full of thoughts, present and past, to sleep for long.

Soon enough it's that time and he's laying on top of the covers of the bed, still fully clothed.

Wait till you see the amazing decorations I bought.

There's a brief rush of happiness that floods him when he sees the message has been read instantly and a reply comes back a few seconds later.

Teaser. ;D

It's fun to tease at Christmas.

Better be worth it.

The present I got you definitely is.

His cell vibrates for the incoming call immediately within seconds, ready to say hello, but as he goes to say it, she interrupts him before he gets a chance.

"We said no presents, Jay."

Jay shakes his head, "Well, that's not true. We said nothing at all about presents, and what I got is nothing special. I had free time, Hailey. You have less. Besides, I don't give to receive."

He hears the skeptical sound she makes and grins into the receiver before he turns serious and continues, "Hey, how was she today?"

"Didn't see her. Messaged me at 9pm apologizing and said she'd see me tomorrow."

"Hmm."

"My thoughts exactly. Anyway, Mr Changing the Subject, I'll get you a present too but maybe it'll be late."

"As long as it's not a Thermos, Hailey."

"Screw you, Halstead, I'm going to sleep and I'll buy you a pebble if you aren't careful. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Jay replies with a laugh.

It's easier to sleep after all. At least for the first hour, anyway.

Saturday December 24th 2017

Because of the holidays, the one communication Jay's had in recent days from Barnet asked if he'd work this morning so here he is, in the driving rain, navigating his way through hectic Chicago streets and seeing hordes of people last-minute shopping.

Normally he'd be one of them, snatching time in between getting bad guys to find something he'd hope Will would want while wrestling with whether he should even bother getting his dad a bottle of something.

Sometimes he'd lose the battle with his conscience, buy something, and end up in a fight with home, go home with the bottle untouched and drown his sorrows over the following days.

Before Erin, anyway. When there was scarcely anything to be seen of Will and Afghanistan and losing his mother had laid a trail of destruction on and around him.

Tomorrow he'll call Will. Screw the consequences. He misses his big brother. He's tried not to think of him, but this time of year it's hard not to remember everything connected to Christmas.

His mom singing Christmas songs. Her voice was sweet and tuneful while the rest of the Halsteads weren't quite so much.

For all the bad, there was good.

Talking of bad, last night's sleep had been awful. Aside from that first hour, memories of Afghanistan plagued his sleep. Tired of waking up panting, sweating each time he'd got ten minutes here, or twenty minutes there, he'd got up and had a shower. Tired of what he saw in the mirror, he'd shaved.

It helped. Makes him feel more in control.

He arrives at the first bar a few minutes later, jumping out of the van and making the delivery. He feels the buzz of his cell when he's unloading the 2 crates and figures if it's important it'll go to voicemail.

As he slides back into the driver's seat, he pulls the phone from his pocket and sees there's no message, but he can see the number and dials it.

The line cuts out and the number's unobtainable. A burner phone perhaps? He'll talk to Al later. He'd had a message first thing to call as soon as he's done with deliveries, so he'll do that when he's back at the apartment.

Jay carries on with deliveries and he's on his penultimate one in Canaryville when his cell vibrates again.

Whoever's trying him has awful timing as Gerard Carter steps outside and nods towards the younger man next to him. His son, Clark, who takes the 2 crates individually into the building and both men turn away with no further word.

"Merry Christmas," Jay mutters under his breath sarcastically.

Only 1 more delivery to go at least.

He reaches for his phone but the sound of a car horn has him looking up quickly and he does an immediate double take as a man standing outside the car, opens the car quickly, slides in and the vehicle speeds away.

Jay gets a partial plate at least which he memorizes for later, his thoughts preoccupied though with thinking it can't have been, right? And yet the person looked exactly like him.

He looks back down at his cell, at the number of the missed call and it's different from before. He holds the phone up to his ear, and it rings out this time.

Rings out for two minutes until Jay gives up, he'll try again later. For now, just get the next delivery over and done so he can relax at least a little.

The first task for Kevin on Christmas Eve late morning is looking at pod footage in the tech room They should get the initial results on the blood residue found in Flynn's home later today.

He's deep in concentration staring at the footage when a hand slaps on his shoulder.

"Guess whose undercover just ended without warning."

Kevin whirls around in his chair and fist bumps his partner.

"Just like that?"

Adam shrugs, "Well, he was saying something about laying people off and he just pointed toward the door and at me."

"So we got nothing?"

Adam smirks, "Oh ye of little faith, yeah I got something," he pulls his cell from his pocket, holds it in front of his partner and grins at the low whistle from Kevin.

"Now what the hell would veterans centers want that amount of coke for?"

"Exactly. Especially as that bar's regulars were mostly older guys. Voight's talking about getting a warrant, though he wants to be sure Jay and Hailey are safely out of the way first," Adam points toward the screen Kevin's been staring at which hadn't paused, "Hey, that the vehicle we're looking for cause someone just got out the car?"

Kevin turns his chair back towards the screen and nods, zooming in on the figure approaching the Flynn house.

He narrows his eyes and then zooms in closer, not releasing a breath until he hears Adam's emphatically spoken, "Holy shit."

"Yeah, you got that right, bro."

"I'll get the others," Adam says quickly, leaving Kevin staring at the screen, blinking in disbelief.

Jay takes the keys from the ignition, opens the door and slams it behind him, rubbing at his chin, yawning slightly as he pulls the cell from his pocket and walks toward the building, ready to drop off his keys and get on with looking forward for once to Christmas.

It's the rain thundering off the buildings around him and him being distracted by his phone that means he's only aware of the screech of tyres until they're almost next to him. It all happens so fast.

Too fast for Jay to react. Hands, more than 1 pair grab at him. Punching him and he fights for all he can for as long as he can, hearing grunting and briefly satisfying grunts of pain from his attackers.

Then there's a sharp familiar pain at the back of his neck and the lights go out.

Hailey knows exactly the moment the feeling she thought from years ago that shed been able to consign to the worst memories of her life cabinet returns.

The moment icy tendrils of fear creep their way through her veins and there's that moment of desperation and helplessness she never missed in the first place again.

It's when Marcie, who's never looked more in control than she had earlier today: more clear-eyed than in all the time Hailey's known her, is looking at her cell and it rings and she's the epitome of poise till less than a minute later and her face crumples and she stares at Hailey, pale and wide-eyed and Hailey knows then.

Knows that Jay's in trouble. Knows that lightning has struck twice and just prays that it doesn't end the same way.

The lights never fully turn back on for him. Jay can hear screaming. He can hear yelling. He can hear crying and he can hear someone begging.

For hours and hours.

He can't make out words. He can't make out the yelling, and he can't hear what whoever's begging is saying.

Only later, it must be later when frigid air awakens his senses, and it's pitch black aside from what lights surrounding what Jay can just about make out is a vehicle he's in. He's dragged from it and dropped to the ground. The drop steals Jay's breath from him for several long moments.

He lies there. Finding his breath eventually, already beginning to shiver when he feels someone's breath against the back of his neck. It almost feels reassuring for a moment because it's hot and he's so cold.

Belatedly he realizes they're speaking, and he tries to tune in. It's all a blur till the last few words which he doesn't mistake even semi-conscious and it feels like his stomach has dropped through the hard ground beneath him.

"Merry Christmas, Detective."

The last sound he hears is laughter. Cold, mocking laughter.

Christmas Day

The bar's closed now. Earlier than usual because as soon as Hailey had left the bar, she'd called Voight and hurriedly explained what had happened. He'd told her that the person spotted outside of Flynn's home on pod footage was Marcie.

Marcie's at the 21st now. Willingly.

The blood they'd discovered doesn't belong to Steven Flynn at least, they're still trying to find out who, but if Flynn is the one who's found Jay each time, Hailey has hope even if it's growing less by the moment that he'll help again.

She's at her UC apartment because right now she's only got 1 thing, 1 person on her mind. Jay and getting him back.

When she'd walked back into the bar after the call with Voight, Marcie hadn't been there. An hour later, she'd walked into the 21st.

Hailey knows there's no talking to her. No chance they'll get anything or find anything from her, not yet. Though if Jay's still missing in a few hours, she will talk. Hailey will make sure of that.

It's not looking good in terms of Marcie's involvement, but the rule in this case has always felt like expect the unexpected, so why would now be any different?

Hailey's undercover hangs by a thread. Or maybe it doesn't exist at all. It's the least of her concerns now. Her first instinct had been to search for Jay. Everyone is doing that anyway. Patrols are out there searching for him. Beyond the time some of them were due to be working. The time they could be at home with their families for Christmas.

Hailey stares at her cell. Willing it to ring. Frustratingly, upsettingly. it remains resolutely quiet.

The fine rain hasn't stopped for hours, the cold is frigid. The wind whistles between the disused factories. Distant lighting reflects against the puddles, and a rat scurries between the abandoned buildings.

Till it pauses, making a small diversion as it sees the body and slowly approaches it from a few metres away, sniffing at the ground, the smell changing slightly as it nears the body. A metallic smell rather than rainfall.

The body is clothed in expensive quality clothes now sodden with rain. The body is face down, eyes closed, the hands unmoving, fingertips stained with blood.

The rat sniffs at the ground more and moves along next to the body until its level with a hand. The rat's hungry. Food is scarce when you're one of many others scavenging in a desperate quest for something to eat.

It opens its mouth and lowers it toward the fingertips, finally some food and only this rat so far aware of the rich feast they're about to begin.

The movement is minute, perhaps just a muscle reflex in someone close to death or even past death, but it serves enough to startle the rat and it moves away till it pauses and looks back watching the body before closing in on it again when there's no other sign of movement.

This time as its teeth attempt to break the skin, ready to gnaw its way through skin and bone, the body moves again followed by a quiet desperate groan, though the rat barely hears the noise as it scurries away and into the night.

Leaving the body where it lies, still except for the faintest of movements as the chest rises and falls far slower than it should and the slightest of sounds, as one eye tries to open but it's too bruised and swollen, that's lost even in the vast emptiness of where it, or rather, he lies.

"Hailey."

A sound that's lost as it's captured within the sound of the wind and no one replies and no one's coming.

If the man has any conscious thought, he'd realize that. It's as much reflex, the natural reflex of what could be a dying man, to call for her as it is breathing.

Except Jay Halstead's not dying, he's not, from somewhere within he resolves that today isn't that day for him and he could never give up hope in her, not after all that's been. Not now. Even when he has no right to have hope at all. When he's almost forgotten what hope is.

He shuts his eyes while he waits, it's just resting them, that's all.

A thud shatters Jay's peace, invades his sleep and he's got no idea how long it's been, he's barely aware of anything except a heaviness.

He can hear voices. One of them female. She sounds concerned and he manages a smile or the worst impersonation of a smile because he knew she wouldn't let him down so he repeats her name even though it takes all the strength he has.

"Hailey."

The silos. We already called 911. They're here now. Go to Med. He's alive.

Hailey responds quickly. Familiar with the routine now, though it's so messed up that any of this can be called routine.

She presses call back on the number that just rang as she leaves the apartment, not having taken off her coat the entire time, and runs down the stairs rather than waiting for the elevator.

She almost cuts the call, so used to it being disconnected and a burner, but then a voice answers. A female voice and Hailey halts on the stairs.

"Hello? Who's this?"

"Oh god," she hears followed by, "Oh shit," and Hailey thinks she can hear other voices in the background but the call ends and she can worry about it later, for now she has to get to Med.

She reaches the entrance to the ED at the same time the ambulance arrives. The sirens had been sounding, at least as it pulled up, a sign of life she reasons to herself.

The doors open outward and she hovers close by, as the paramedics jump out of the back, including one woman who looks familiar but is seemingly not in uniform, though Hailey pushes the thought aside right now.

She doesn't want to get in the way, but at the same time she wants so much to see him. To see for herself, he's living. He's still breathing because at least while he is there's hope.

Medical staff swarm around the gurney and Hailey can't get near. Till she does, till a space opens up by Jay's head.

Jay's face, his eyes are swollen. He looks like he shaved, so he looks so much younger. He's complexion is chalk-white, and he looks like he's dead, but they're all talking about him, barking out instructions and relaying information so he can't be, right?

She leans into him, close to his ears and tells him, "Fight, Jay, fight," because though he's unconscious they say people can still hear and she needs him to fight. Needs him to know she's here.

That's all she has time to say as someone gently moves her away allowing a nurse to move into her place as they go through another set of double doors and she hears someone shout, "Put him straight into Baghdad," and she goes to follow them but then to her right, sees Olinsky and she stops short.

"How did you know? How did you get here so fast?" she asks him, confused.

"You called, remember?"

Truthfully she doesn't, but she nods anyway and then a thought strikes her, Al's words from days ago 'Take care of each other' and the tears swell as she feels Al's hand on her shoulder.

"Hailey Upton?"

She turns slightly toward the voice saying her name. A voice that's familiar, but she can't place where from but the woman standing there, raising her hand in a gesture of hello is the same woman Hailey had thought was a paramedic without the uniform.

Perhaps she'll talk Hailey and Al through Jay's injuries. His status.

"I'm so sorry I cut you off earlier. We usually use a burner and I forgot."

Or not.

"And you are?" Al asks from beside Hailey.

The smile, uncertain though it is, reminds Hailey of a picture from what could almost be a lifetime ago but is just a matter of weeks and she steps closer to the woman.

"Kacey Stapleton, that's right, isn't it?"

Aaah, do you know how much of an aaah moment it is to have just gone past the very beginning of this whole story. I was worried maybe I'd rushed these chapters but then remembered we got to over 80k words to get to this point, it's fine.

Anyway, I still hope this was okay. Please let me know.

I know there was a lot that's happened to say the least, but to post chapters on different days is a near impossibility for me when i've written them at the same time. Still no conclusive answers and poor Jay, but once one domino falls etc… I should say again I have the last scene of the entire story already written and I'm so excited to get to that point at some point but we have a wee while to go yet.

I've got a week and a bit off coming up and my plan all being well as of now is to complete the story (as in get it all written or as near as I can) while I'm off and I hope to be back with the next chapter a lot sooner. Take care and please everyone stay safe xxx