A/N: I'm back, finally! :) I actually split this chapter into two parts, though they will have separate titles just for the sake of ease. Plus, I am a writer by trade, so I love all this stuff. Anywho, this first part deals with the aftermath of Jay & Hailey's first deal with Booth and Garrett; the next chapter that I'll post after this deals with them getting ready for the aforementioned NYE party that Booth is throwing. Happy reading!

Jay needed a drink. Tequila? No, something stronger. Scotch? He hadn't had scotch in ages. That seemed to fit the bill, so he flagged down Hermann to order one at Molly's. He looked to Hailey, who sat next to him, just as quiet on their way to the bar as she was when they sat down.

He knew he should say something, but he wasn't sure how to approach the subject. It's not like Booth did anything horrific…or what could have been a lot worse. And Hailey had nodded and said she was okay. If only I could believe her, Jay thought. He glanced at her again, and she was absentmindedly twirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger.

She caught him looking at her, and immediately dropped her hand from her hair, but they went to the hem of her plaid shirt instead. She still didn't meet his eyes all the way, instead glancing around his face. She bit her lip, like she was thinking of saying something, but she was unsure. Just the same as he was.

He finally opened his mouth to say something, but Hermann's timing of setting his drink down ruined it. "Halstead, here's your scotch."

"Thanks," Jay replied. He saw Hermann flash his eyes to Hailey, waiting for her to order something.

"I'll take a vodka, please. Straight, no fuss."

"Alrighty," Hermann said, nodding and moving on down the bar.

Jay caught her eye finally, and he moved to grab her hand away from her shirt, but she pulled away. Since when was she nervous around him? This must've shaken her up more than he thought.

"Hailey," he whispered, grateful that her blue eyes hadn't glazed over yet. She was still there.

"Yeah?" She said just as soft.

"I know you don't wanna talk about it–" he was cut off by her voice.

"That's a terrible way to start a sentence," she countered.

Jay felt his lip tick up just a smidge at that. "I just wanna make sure you're okay."

"Yeah…" she replied wistfully, sighing and searching his face. "I am…I just wasn't expecting that. I knew he was creepy, but I didn't think he'd dare put his hands on me. I mean what the hell was that? And he kept looking at you? Like what? He wanted to get some kind of rise out of you?"

Jay sighed. "I don't know. But I'm sorry I didn't have your back. If you wanna call it, I get it. I wouldn't blame you; hell, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't wanna talk to me ever again."

He watched as her brows knitted together, obviously confused by his admission. "Jay…what….why would you…." She stopped and reached for his hand. "What in the world makes you think this is on you?"

"Because," he sighed, letting her take his hand. "I just told you I wouldn't let anything happen, and there Booth was, making things happen."

"Hey," she said gently, her voice still soft like before. "You didn't do anything wrong. You couldn't blow your cover, neither could I. If anyone should be apologizing to me, it's Garrett. He's the one that had the power to stop the situation, but he didn't."

"I heard my name?"

Hailey cringed, her face scrunching up at the sound of Garrett's voice behind her. God dammit.

Jay's face twisted into an angry snarl. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see how you guys were," Garrett tried, but Jay cut him off.

"We're okay. You, on the other hand, I don't know. Because I am this close to kicking your ass." Jay stood up from the barstool, getting in Garrett's face. The two men were evenly matched in height, but Hailey honestly didn't know who would win in a fist fight, as she had only seen Jay deck Daniel Jacobs; and she'd seen Garrett take down his fair share of low-lives.

"What is your problem?" Garrett spat.

"My problem? My problem is you," Jay emphasized, his hands raised. Hailey could see one was curling in a fist. Shit, shit, shit.

"Guys," she tried, but her voice was lost amongst the noise and music.

"You got something to say, Halstead?" Garrett asked, even know Hailey was sure he already knew the answer.

"You let him put his hands on her!" Jay stated, his voice rising a little.

"In case you haven't noticed, Hailey's a big girl, alright. She can handle herself."

"I know she can handle herself just fine," Jay said quickly. "But she shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place!"

"Look, we did the deal, no harm, no foul."

Hailey scoffed, not believing her ears. She knew Garrett could be arrogant at times, but to not even acknowledge that it might've been at least uncomfortable for her was a new low. She saw Garrett glare in her direction, and she fought an eye roll.

"Hey!" Jay said, pulling Garrett back to face him.

"Don't touch me, man." Garrett seethed, pushing Jay.

"Garrett!" Hailey said, pulling his arm. He shoved her off, which only seemed to make Jay more upset.

"Stay out of it, Upton." Garrett ordered.

"Don't talk to her like that," Jay said, opening and closing his hand. He was thisclose to taking a swing at Garrett.

"Don't you start," Garrett warned. "You've been up my ass since day 1."

"Because you've been a piss-poor excuse for a cop!" Jay announced.

Garrett took a swing at Jay, but he ducked it, before landing a mean right hook into Garrett's jaw.

Before Hailey could get either of them to stop, punches were being thrown, as were kicks and hits. Garrett got Jay in the side, but Jay held his ground and took Garrett down to the ground, bloodying his nose and lip.

"Guys! Enough!" Hailey yelled, and she tried to pull them apart, but she wasn't strong enough to handle both of them.

"Hey, hey, hey!" She recognized that voice. Aaron? No, that wasn't it. Adam! She thanked God for Ruzek's assistance in breaking up the two men. Adam held off Garrett, while Hailey tried to get a hold of Jay.

"Jay!" She yelled, finally getting him to look at her. She watched as his eyes went from angry to…not calm, but a simmered down version of his earlier rage.

He huffed, letting out his breath in short spurts, as he held his hand under his ribs. "I…I'm sorry. I'm sorry…" he sounded far away, like he was dazed, as Hailey helped him sit back down.

Adam was busy hauling Garrett off towards the back door of Molly's as he looked ready to go 10 more rounds. Hailey saw Kevin come to his friend's aide, which she was grateful for, as she didn't want to leave Jay right now.

"Hey…Jay? Jay, are you okay?" She asked, crouching down to where he held his side. "Lemme see…." She asked, locking eyes with him. He rolled his eyes, which she took for his reluctant permission. She carefully lifted up his shirt to see where Garrett managed to kick him.

It was right underneath his ribs, that much she could see, as the bruise had already begun to take shape. Dammit. She went to inspect the bruise, her hand barely touching his abdomen when he sucked in a breath.

"Sorry," she whispered, locking eyes with him again. "I don't think there's any broken ribs, just one hell of a bruise." She stood up, flagging down Hermann for some ice. A minute later, she pressed the ice pack onto Jay's ribcage, to which he hissed at the cold contact.

"Mmm," he gritted.

"Sorry, sorry," Hailey repeated. "Here, just hold it there for a second." She instructed, taking her hand from it to reach into her pocket. She knew she had some gauze and other supplies back at their apartment, but she didn't have anything on her now. Crap. She held up her hand, telling him she'd be right back.

She ran to Hermann and asked for a towel. He handed her one, and she graciously thanked him. That would just have to do for now.

"Here," she said to Jay. "Press it against the ice. You're gonna hold it there till we get home."

He opened his mouth, wanting to object, but Hailey gave him a look that shut him up right quick.

"Come on," she said. "Let's get outta here."

Jay gave her a small smile, attempting to hop off the stool. Hailey wrapped her right arm around his back, and steadied him with her left. "Okay, Okay."

"I'm good, I'm good," he insisted, hating that she was fussing over him.

"Yeah yeah. Come on, Jay. Humor me, would ya?" She asked, quirking her brow in his direction.

He nodded, and let her lead him to the truck. He didn't object to her driving home either, as he knew he'd be met with a whole bunch of Hailey-isms – as he'd come to collect in his mind over the last few days. She'd either roll her eyes, give him a sassy response, or tell him that he was full of it.

None of which he wanted to deal with as the pain in his ribs wasn't subsiding yet. So, he kept his mouth shut, only smirking to himself as she started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Jay?" Hailey called once more. It had been 30 minutes since she'd left him alone in the bathroom, where he insisted, despite his bruised ribs, that he could get a shower just fine. "Jay?" She slowly walked back towards the bathroom, debating on pressing her ear against the door, or if she should knock like a normal human would. While she was having her little internal debate, she didn't even notice the door opening until she came face to face with Jay, straight out of the shower, clad in a towel.

She thought she could take a step back, but her legs betrayed her by staying frozen in place. She uttered a sound, some semblance of a gasp and a stutter; maybe trying to say the word, "Oh" or "Um," she wasn't sure. Because all she could focus on was the water dripping from his hair, as her eyes followed the pathway it made down his shoulders and chest. His towel covered his lower body, but she could still see the beginning of the blueish-purple bruise that formed by the left-hand side of his ribcage.

When she finally got her eyes to travel back up to his face, his lips held the smirk she had become used to over these last few days. She didn't have to touch her cheeks to realize they were pink. Damn him.

"Hailey?" He asked, his voice was nice, but Hailey could tell he was holding his tongue. His brows arched up, and he created an invisible pathway with his hands.

"Right, sorry. I guess I'll uh, leave you to it." She said quickly, turning on her heels. She picked up the pace down the short and narrow hallway, where she made a mad dash to their kitchen area. She could sense Jay behind her (only because she could smell some kind of mint off his body), but he must've ducked into their bedroom halfway through her journey down the hall. Duh, Hailey. To actually get dressed.

She shook her head, laughing at her own embarrassment. It actually felt good to laugh about it, as she normally would – if something like this were to happen, that is. It's not like she's around half naked men all day long. She didn't know how women firefighters did it. Cara once told her stories about the co-ed bathrooms…yeah, not exactly Hailey's cup of tea.

She sighed, deciding to remedy her screwy feelings with some junk food. She was digging through the fridge compartment for her chocolate ice cream when she sensed she wasn't alone in the kitchen anymore.

"Hi, Jay," she said, not even bothering to turn around.

"Hi, Hailey." He mocked back to her. She also didn't have to turn around to know he was probably wearing a shit-eating grin on his face right now. "I promise, I'm dressed." He added, and she knew he was fighting a laugh at her expense.

"Ha ha," she mused, pursing her lips as she finally found the ice cream. "Very funny, Jay." She pulled out both pints, deciding to have a bit from each one. She could feel his eyes on her, as if he was watching her every move.

After she had grabbed a bowl, spooned some of the ice cream in, and was getting ready to put chocolate sauce on it, she sighed and looked over at him. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Jay said, slightly frowning as he raised his hands in defense. A second later, he added, "I was just promised a famous Hailey Upton sundae, so I figured I'd collect on that now."

"Uh huh," she quipped. "And what makes you think the offer still stands?"

"Cause you're too nice of a person not to share," Jay victoriously answered, knowing he had her there.

Hailey rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile at him. "Yeah yeah, okay. Fine. Just grab a bowl and get scooping. You're gonna need a bunch of ice cream for this."

Jay jumped up and bolted for the cabinet, which made Hailey chuckle. She'd never seen someone so excited for ice cream in their life.

"Have you never had an ice cream sundae or something?" She asked him, only half serious.

"Hey, you don't get abs like these," he stated, lifting the hem of his t-shirt, "By having ice cream sundaes."

It was Hailey's turn to bite her tongue, as this was now the second time in a half hour she had seen Jay's torso. He's such a guy, she thought to herself. But, he probably had a point, she countered, as she couldn't help but notice how fit he actually was.

She gulped, hoping it wasn't audible to his ears, as it sounded so loud in her own. She turned her face downward to her own bowl, which was missing whipped cream and other toppings, she realized.

She remembered she had stashed some candies and whatnot in a bottom cabinet, but she couldn't remember which one. She searched around for a minute, until she found the bag she was looking for. "Ah ha! Everything else you'll need for a Hailey Upton signature sundae."

Jay nodded, taking the bag from her and setting it down in between them on the counter. There were M&M's, sprinkles, peanut butter cups, caramels, truffles, and Oreo's. "What, no chocolate chips?" He asked, and Hailey smacked his arm.

"Kidding, I'm kidding!" He said, feigning hurt.

"Just pick out what you want and have at it, Halstead," she instructed. She grabbed for the M&M's at the same time he did, so when their hands brushed against each other's, they both immediately pulled back.

"You go," Hailey offered, her voice barely above a whisper. She grabbed the peanut butter cups instead. Jay accepted the M&M's, and grabbed the sprinkles afterwards, trading the colored milk chocolate circles to Hailey.

"Thanks."

"Mhmm."

He took some chocolate sauce and a little bit of whipped cream, before ducking behind her to open the fridge.

"What're you looking for?" She asked as she was finishing up her own creation.

"Cherries," he plainly stated.

"Oh, right." She replied sheepishly. Oops.

"Got 'em." He pulled the box out, and handed them off to her.

"Thanks." She placed one in the center of her sundae, and seemed satisfied with her finished product.

Jay followed suit, not believing the massive sundae that faced him down now. She really eats this…and still looks like that? He wondered, taking a second to scan her figure. Sure, okay.

Hailey made her way over to the couch, flipping on the TV with her free hand.

"Anything good on?" Jay asked as he came over to join her.

"I dunno, let's see." She scanned the GUIDE for a minute, before settling on a hockey game.

"Blackhawks and Ducks," she informed him, as he got comfortable on the sofa next to her.

Jay nodded, digging into his sundae, as he wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

"No no!" Hailey said, grabbing his hand that held the spoon. "You're supposed to mix it up some! That's what makes it a Hailey Upton original."

"You know, the more I learn about you, the more I realize I have no clue who you really are."

She peaked up at him, her blue eyes shining with something he couldn't quite pin down. "Good, my plan is working." She smiled at him, which was something if he was being honest, he never got tired of seeing. Mostly because he couldn't help but beam right back at her when she did.

Hailey threw the covers off of her side of the bed, deciding to go to the kitchen for some water.

She felt unbearably hot, even though she knew the reason they had the heat on was because it was cold out.

Maybe it's not so much the heat in the room, as the heat from the guy next to you, her mind taunted.

Well, Jay certainly didn't help things that's for sure. She felt her face heat up at the thought of him earlier this evening, in his ever so evident lack of clothing.

Cut it out, Hailey! She reminded herself. She needed to stay focused. She sighed, running a hand threw her messy waves. She finally pulled open the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. She was closing the door when she almost jumped out of her skin.

"What the—Jay!" She exclaimed, slapping a hand over her chest, as if her heart could actually tear through her skin from beating so fast.

"Sorry," he said casually. "Couldn't sleep," his brows arched up, and he caught her eyes, as if he was waiting for something.

Oh, he was asking me, not staying the fact for himself, Hailey realized. "Um, yeah," she answered awkwardly. "You?"

He shrugged, closing the fridge after grabbing a water too. They'd been ever so often sharing their food, like normal people living together would, but sometimes it still felt weird — because they weren't an actual couple.

"So, what's on your mind?" She asked him, noticing he was peeling the label off the water bottle.

"Hm?" He asked, looking up at her.

"You're fidgeting," she observed, pointing to his fingers chipping away at the paper.

"You noticed that, huh?" He inquired.

Hailey shook her head, tilting it ever so slightly to look at him. "So..."

"So..." Jay mocked. "I should be asking you why you were up at," he checked the time on the microwave. "4:25am."

"Just wondering what in the world Booth is up to. Like we've done one successful deal with him, and he's already acting like we're his favorite people in the world."

Jay scoffed, which made her ask what it was towards.

"I'm just pretty sure he could give two shits about me, Hails," he offered.

She didn't miss his nickname for her, but she'd address that later. Right now she was curious about his earlier statement. "So, you really this guy would just give it up if I what? Went out with him?"

Jay's lip and brow tipped up in the same direction. "Something like that, yeah; as much as it pains me to say it."

Hailey couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "What're you thinking?" She asked, as she could practically see the gears shift in his brain.

"Well, why can't we use that our advantage?"

"Jay, I'm not sleeping with Booth, no matter how much bad dope it gets off the streets!" She lightly yelled, hoping she made her point.

Jay had to bite his tongue, partly to keep from cracking a smile, but also because he was trying very hard not to picture Hailey in that way.

Neither effort was successful, as while his eyes traveled her body, he could feel the grin break out across his face. Oops.

She really was gorgeous. Jay wasn't blind, after all. But he'd known that since he first laid eyes on her a year ago at Chatham. Even still, here, in the dimly lit kitchen, wearing slim sweats and a pink tee shirt, her hair tied up into a messy knot, and her face scrubbed clean of makeup, she was radiant.

"What?" Her question drew him from his internal monologue.

"Hm?" He asked, embarrassed to be caught now. Nice one, Halstead.

"I asked you if that's what you meant, about Booth I mean."

"Oh, right. God no, but a little harmless sweet talk to throw him off wouldn't hurt matters," he tried to say it as nonchalantly as he could, as the mere thought of Booth getting that close to Hailey again — after tonight — made his blood boil.

"Mhmm, okay. Sure, Mr. I Know Everything. So, what? Do you have a script for me?"

It took Jay a second to realize she was teasing him, as her signature smile lit up her whole face.

"Very funny Upton," he played it off.

"I am, thank you." She quipped, which made Jay smile just like she was. "Okay, but seriously Jay, what're you getting at?"

"Hailey, I'm not getting at anything, I promise. I just meant that if Booth eyes you, then just play him, not too much, but just I don't know, be a distraction?" The last part came out as a question because he couldn't believe he was essentially telling his new partner to flirt with a disturbed individual, not to mention dope-smuggling criminal.

"Ha, whatever you say, Halstead. But, I can't exactly stun in paint splattered sweats and a tee shirt, now can I?" She moved her hand up and down her current ensemble to emphasis her point.

"Well, it's not like I brought a tux," Jay joked.

Hailey tapped her chin with her finger, humming a little bit. "Hm. Alright, well then I guess we're going shopping tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"Jay, the party is in two days…" Hailey reminded him.

"Who said that?"

"Did you not see Garrett's text?"

"Nope," he popped the 'p' for effect. "Guess he left me out of the loop on that one. How nice of him."

"Will you two ever get along?" Hailey asked generally.

"Nope," he repeated his same action from seconds earlier.

Hailey playfully shoved his shoulder. "Psh, okay then. Fair enough. Not like I can blame you. He was a jerk tonight."

Jay agreed with her admission, finishing his water before tossing the bottle in the recycle. Hailey followed suit, and the two didn't speak again until their legs bumped when they climbed into bed at the same time.