She was late to court.

Hailey knew, when she stopped at her favourite coffee shop already five minutes late out the door, already having snoozed her alarm that morning three times, that she would be rushing as fast as her stiff pantsuit and two inch heels would allow her to.

"Why can't I ever find parking in this stupid place," she grumbled to herself as she spun her car around the dizzying parking tower trying to find an open spot.

Finally, at the very top of the building, there was a parking spot, and she swung into it before another car could snap it up from her. She smiled to herself, finally something was going her way. She locked her car with a loud beep as she walked to the stairwell, checked the time on her watch, and began jogging.

Hailey, this is an important case you're testifying for, so if it goes long then don't worry about coming in afterwards, Voight's voice filtered through her mind and she picked up the pace.

"Quicker the day starts, quicker the day ends and I can relax on the couch with-" she stopped herself short and thought of her partner, a small smile slipping onto her face.

Hailey and Jay had been hanging out a lot more recently, more than just the thing that works, but watching Hawks' games together, going to the range together, relaxing at each other's places, just feeling the warmth that came from being friends with someone who you care so much about.

Maybe it's more than that, she thought to herself as she swung down the third level of the staircase, huffing a bit louder, or Hailey, maybe you need to hit the gym if you're panting this early into your jog.

She rolled her eyes at her internal monologue and kept going. Taking a moment to sneak a glance at her watch, she realized her coffee wasn't in her hand. Oh gre-

She could've tripped on air, on something, on nothing, but the fact of the matter is that she tripped.

Thrown forward she was, and over the last two steps before the next landing she went, crashing down on the concrete. Her briefcase softened the blow but didn't take away from the pop she heard from her left ankle before the most infuriating pain she'd ever felt before flared up in her leg.

"Oh piece of- I don't have time for this!" She picked herself up off the ground, holding onto the staircase railing for dear life. She dusted off her suit and smoothed out the wrinkles before testing out how much weight she could put on her foot. She winced, but it held, and she grinned in relief before realizing there were still two landings left to go.

"Come on Hails, slow is smooth and smooth is fast," she muttered again and again to herself as she stepped, or rather limped, down each stair until she made it to the end. She felt sweat gathering at the base of her neck and back, but once she opened the staircase door into the coolness of the day she felt the breeze blow over her and she sighed.

"Just make it through the day."

…

Just gotta make it through the work day, just gotta make it through the paperwork, then I can go, he thought to himself, his eyes not reading the words on his screen even as he blinked and blinked again.

She was on his mind.

Well, recently she always was, but today was the first time she hadn't been in the office since she'd returned from New York, and it brought back some of the longing and sadness he'd felt during her stint at the FBI.

She'll be back Halstead, just get your work done and then you'll go to her house, maybe drink some whiskey, she'll tell you about her day in court and you'll laugh at her annoyance at her suit, the jacket probably lying on the couch, a glare being thrown in its general direction every so often at different points in her story. He smiled to himself at that thought, and began to read again, this time the words going in, but the voice in his head reading it to him was hers, her cadence pulling him in and making him interested even through the most mundane of documents.

…

Her leg was absolutely throbbing. Sitting in a court pew for a few hours before you even testify will probably hurt your legs and back from the lack of movement, sure, but she could legitimately feel her ankle ballooning under her pant leg.

As long as I don't limp going up to the stand, I'm golden, she reassured herself, lost in her own thoughts and pain until the bang of the gavel signaling lunch snapped her out of it.

She stood up, and promptly grabbed onto the pew in front of her to balance herself. Hoping it was played off as nonchalance, she gripped it and maneuvered herself through until she was forcing herself to walk stiffly out the door and into the hallway. As she looked around for a bench, she spied a bathroom and shot over to it as fast as she could and hid herself in a stall, allowing her first open wince to come out in full force. She closed the top of the toilet and plopped down heavily on top of it, deciding to take a peek at the damage.

"Holy-" she cut herself off as the door banged open and two voices, ones she recognized from court, came in and began talking about their sore legs from sitting in the pews all day.

Huh, you have it bad hm? Hailey closed her eyes for a moment and took a breath, then returned to examining her ankle.

The left side was a kaleidoscope of blues and purples, one line of bruising swooping around her achilles and finishing at the inside of her ankle. She sighed and pulled her hosiery sock back on, managed to wrangle her foot back into her heel, I'm going to regret that one later, she thought, and stood back up. She flushed the toilet as though she'd actually gone, to not look like a creep, and unlocked the door, walked to the sinks that were being vacated by the two from court and washed her hands.

As she dried her hands off, she realized that her phone was still on silent and she should probably check her messages before trying to find something to eat. A few emails for other cases popped up on her screen, a message from Platt about some mail that had come in for her, and about an hour ago now, a few messages from her partner. She smiled as she opened the app, her grin only widening as she read.

JH: You probably won't see this until after court, but wanna hang out tonight afterwards?

JH: Voight's letting us off at regular time since it's been quiet and there's a Hawks game on. I know you hate court so I'll let you rant all about it too.

JH: And I'll bring pizza. :)

Hailey looked at herself in the mirror and was shocked to find her cheeks betraying her giddiness at the prospect of seeing Jay that evening. A small chuckle escaped her as she replied.

…

HU: Trust me, ranting won't even be enough to tell you about how court is going.

HU: And I've already got beer at my place, so we're set.

HU: See you soon :)

Jay had been grabbing lunch and had just returned to the precinct when his phone pinged with a few messages, and could only smile in response as he pocketed it back. He looked up to find Platt staring at him from her desk, mail to be organized in her hand.

"What's up Platt, do I have something on my face?" He looked at her, confusion beginning to bubble in him as she stared at him for a moment too long.

"Yeah Chuckles, definitely something," she hummed to herself as she turned back around and began sorting through mail.

He frowned, wiped at his face, but shook himself out of it as he buzzed himself through the door to Intelligence. He plopped into his chair, looking at the empty desk in front of him and smiled again, forgetting all about Platt as he responded to Hailey.

JH: Can't wait

…

Court couldn't end fast enough.

Hailey had managed to get through her testimony without incident and soon she was back in her seat, right foot bouncing, left foot pulsing a beat alongside her heart, as they finally adjourned for the day with a bang of the gavel. No sooner than the judge had dropped the gavel she was out of her seat and walking as fast as she could towards the parking garage, forcing her mind to ignore the pain as she walked, desperate to make it to her car. She made it to the garage only to realize that she would have to walk up five flights of stairs to get to her refuge.

"Slow is smooth and smooth is fast," she repeated again to herself, gripping the railing and pushing herself up one foot at a time.

At this point she couldn't ignore the pain anymore and winced with every step. Her heels clacked, echoing unevenly through the stairwell and she kept pushing, her hand on the railing turning whiter and whiter as she went. By the third landing, where the air had tripped her just that morning, she stopped for a moment to allow herself a moment to breathe. She brought her phone out of her pocket and realized that the work day was over for Intelligence. Taking out her earbuds, she plugged them into her phone, pushed them into her ears, and hit Jay's contact, listening to the dial tone for no more than two rings before his voice filled her head, soothing her aches and pains with a simple,

Hey, you out of court?

"Yeah, just finished, thought I'd call on my way to my...car," she replied as she began taking the stairs once more.

Wanna tell me about it?

"I'll save my...story until you...get here," she said through breaths, between steps.

You good Hails?

The sound of her nickname in his voice made her smile, but she didn't want to worry him, "yeah I'm good, just taking the stairs in heels. Hate these stupid things."

His laugh was instant and a healing balm, well I was about to head out to grab the pizza now, not Bartoli's, but it still smells amazing and should be a definite mood lifter after court.

"Oh I'm starving, I can't wait"

…

They talked until she got into her car, and he promised to be at her house not long after her. As the click of the phone and the dial tone droned in his ear, he frowned as he hopped into his own car.

She sounded tired, and not just court tired, he thought, and decided he would pick up some brownies on the way too. Even now with a response to his worries, he still had an urge to get to her house quickly, so he put his truck in drive and set off for her place.

…

I'm exhausted, she sighed, having finally reached her place.

She stepped out of the car, and with no one around, she limped heavily towards the entrance. Her keys all looked the same to her as she fiddled to find the right one and finally opened the door. Not even bothering to kick off her shoes, she ripped off her suit jacket and launched it onto the top of her couch, flopping onto the soft cushions with a heavy sigh of relief.

"Ow," was all she could muster. She closed her eyes, focused her foot throbbing, and before long her doorbell rang.

She took out her phone and pulled up her messages with Jay,

HU: I'm assuming you're at my door with pizza?

She heard a phone ding on the other side of her front door and she smiled.

HU: There's a key under the rock to the left of my door, you can let yourself in.

A few moments later, her spare key jingled in the door as it opened and her partner walked in, the smell of pizza wafting through the entryway and her living room, making her mouth water.

"You see, Hailey, you have a lot of rocks at your front door so it took me a minute to-" he stopped short, seeing her suit jacket on the top of the couch, her smile upside-down as she craned her neck upwards to look at him, "that bad of a court day?" he finished with a chuckle, seeing the tired look in her eyes as her signature wide but tight-lipped smile graced her face.

"You could say that," she replied, lifting her left pant leg to show the damage to Jay, "I went a couple rounds with a staircase today."

He looked at her with confusion as he set the pizza down on the counter, before walking over to her and seeing her ankle, more purple than anything, and his eyes widened, before he winced in sympathy.

"Oh Hails," was all he said, before lifting her legs off the couch and sandwiching himself where they used to be, plopping them back down on top of him and beginning to examine her ankle, "why didn't you say anything?"

She winced as he prodded and turned her ankle, "I didn't want you to worry, it's not that bad."

He gave her a look and slowly slipped her heel off her foot. A sigh mixed with a wail of pain leapt out of her mouth and she dropped her head back onto the couch.

"I'm never wearing heels again." Her voice filtered through as she slung an arm over her eyes and he smiled sadly.

He took a moment to stare at her, the frown lines on her face having seemingly disappeared as he held her legs close to him.

"Alright, I think we gotta go to Med for this," he said, breaking himself out of his own reverie and she sat up quickly, looking at him in disbelief.

"It's only a sprained ankle though!"

"Yeah but are you a doctor? What if there's a break in there somewhere?"

"I guess…"

"Also, you're telling me you were in heels all day with this much bruising?!"

"Beauty is pain Halstead, you should've seen me trying not to trip on my way up to the stand."

"You can tell me all about it while we're in the waiting room at Med"

She groaned and widened her eyes, a pout beginning to tip out of her lips, and he stared her down, willing her to break before he did. It was quiet until her pout broke into a smile and they both laughed for a moment.

"Fine, I'll go." she relented, "but can we eat first? That pizza is about to eat me by the smell of it," Jay nodded and laughed.

She moved her legs off his lap and began to stand, but Jay touched her shoulder,

"Don't worry, I'll get it," he said with a small smile and squeezed her arm as he stood.

Hailey watched Jay as he moved into her kitchen, grabbing plates as though he knew the lay of the land, as if it were their place. That would be nice, she mused, shaking herself out of her thoughts as he walked back over with pizza.

They ate and chatted about their days, Hailey ranting about court and Jay stifling his laughter at her hatred of it to avoid getting smacked. Soon enough they finished, and even though she was adamant to get to the truck herself, having already amended to him arguing that he'll drive, he still snaked an arm around her waist and held some of her weight, the amount growing as they did the slowest three-legged race ever to his truck.

"Hey Jay?"

"Yeah Hails?"

"Thanks for taking care of me."

"Always."

He helped her into the passenger seat and as he walked around to his side, he smiled, thinking about how he always wanted to be there for her.

Always will be, Hailey.