A/N: Back with another chapter. This one's kind of a filler, but hopefully ya'll still like it enough, as it's needed to move the timeline along. I tried to incorporate more Upstead feels, so that should tide you over until the next installment. Enjoy!

Jay woke up startled, as beeps filled the room. He realized he was still lying next to Hailey in the hospital, but she was thrashing about in her bed. He recognized the signs she was having a nightmare immediately.

"Hailey," he whispered, gently trying to grip her shoulder. When that didn't work, he tried for one of her arms, to steady her, but that backfired.

"No!" She cried, and Jay saw her brows knit together in a mixture of confusion, sadness, and fear.

"Hailey, please. It's me, Jay. You're at the hospital, you're safe." He tried to calm her down, but she was still moving about and her breathing was fast.

"Please, Hailey, please…" he begged, moving his hand up to her face, trying to cup her cheek.

"Hm?" She mumbled, like she was recognizing his voice now. He heard her breathing slow down, and he thanked God that he didn't have to page the nurse or doctor on call. He didn't want to have to have her sedated, or to be doped up on something.

Wow, Jay, take a breath there, pal, he admonished. You're not Hailey's husband…you're not even her actual boyfriend. How would you know what she'd want or wouldn't want?

"Hailey?" He asked, leaning down a little more in case she did try to speak. "Do you need me to get the nurse or a doctor in here?"

She finally opened her eyes, blinking rapidly. "What? Wh–" she inhaled sharply, trying to sit up to quick. Her eyes widened as she took in her surroundings. Jay, the hospital, the bed, the monitor, the gown she was in, all of it.

She shook her head. "No, no, I don't want any of that. Not right now, anyway. I'm sorry if I scared you. I think it was just a bad dream…" she whispered, playing with the tie of her hospital gown.

"Hey," he said softly, lifting her chin so she'd look at him. "You don't have to put that wall back up. It's me you're talking to. Don't you remember when you helped me through an episode?"

Her eyes were searching his, like she was trying to remember. Her lip curved a fraction of a centimeter. "Yeah."

"So, now it's my turn to help you. If you need me, or want me to, I mean." He said sheepishly, feeling like he'd overstepped once again.

She placed her hand on top of his, which were lying against his leg. "Thank you." She didn't say anything more for a few seconds, until he saw her try and wipe a tear away from her eyes.

"Hey, Hailey…please, just talk to me. Let it out…" he tried, wrapping his arm around her.

"I could still feel him on me…it was like I was reliving it. I've never had that happen before. I've never…"

"Been a victim of something yourself?" He offered to fill in the remainder of the sentence for her.

She slowly nodded, her gaze flitting down to where their hands joined together.

"That doesn't make you any less of a cop, or a person, Hails. It makes you human."

She swiped at her eyes again, before Jay handed her a tissue. "How can you be sure? I mean, how do you…how do you deal with it? Because as much as I want it to, I know it's not just gonna go away."

"Well, I take it day by day. And it helps that I have someone to talk to…at first it was therapy; but now, honestly Hailey, you've helped me so much since I've met you. Sometimes, that normalcy, that give and take, is the best medicine there is."

She looked off for a second, like she was trying to picture it: being normal again, after this. But, when she looked back at Jay, and felt that warm, fuzzy feeling all over again, she knew she could, at the very least, survive this.

"I hope you're right," she whispered.

"I have been known to be on occasion," he lightly joked, earning a playful push against his chest from her. And that's when she realized what he meant, by normal. Because joking with him, being with him like this, was her normal. At least it had been for the last week.

She smiled at him, and had a witty statement on the tip of her tongue when the nurse came in.

"Hello, you two. Hailey, how're you feeling?" She asked as she dragged in her computer cart.

"I'm okay. My head is killing me though," she answered honestly.

"We can get you some pain meds for it if you'd like. If we did though, your boyfriend would have to monitor you before you'd leave the hospital, as we wanna make sure you don't have any adverse reactions."

"Oh, no, he's not–" She stammered, blushing profusely.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'll take care of my girl here," Jay said, squeezing her shoulders, turning to Hailey to wink.

She nodded at the nurse, who excused herself to go get her those pain meds. When they were alone, Hailey swatted Jay's shoulder. "Excuse me? When were you going to tell me that you said you were my boyfriend?"

"How else was I gonna get to stay in here with you?" He said seriously. "I wasn't leaving your side, so I had to lie a little…"

She suddenly became bashful, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Jay," she said, and he knew that tone of her voice. It was the one she used when she wasn't sure about something.

"Hailey, I think I know what you're gonna say. So, before you do, let me just get this out, please?" His eyes were pleading with her too, and it took everything in her not to get lost in them.

"Okay."

"I know this wasn't…isn't real. I do, I'm not an idiot. But, Hailey, I would be an idiot if I didn't tell you that when you kissed me last night, that was the realest thing I'd ever felt. And that was the only thing that mattered to me. You are the only thing that matters to me. And I know that whenever this operation is done it'll be case closed and we'll never see each other again, but you have to know that's not what I want. I want you," he said, his voice taking on a lower quality as he spoke.

Hailey felt tears well up in her eyes again. She dabbed at them with her tissue, before attempting to say something. "When you kissed me last night, Jay, my whole world stopped. And while I'd want nothing more than to be with you like that; I don't see how…or why you–"

She felt her breath catch in her throat, and she felt really stupid for being so vain.

"Why I'd what, Hailey?"

She shifted her eyes around her face, and watched as Jay understood.

"Is that what you think? That I'd run away because things got tough? Hailey, I swear, you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen, scars or not. Those'll heal, you'll heal. But not having you in my life, that's something I wouldn't be able to get over."

"No, I know you're not that kind of man, Jay, I just–"

"Then what can I say to convince you?"

"I–"

Much like the night before, he shut her up with another kiss. This one wasn't soft, or slow, but intense and compelling, like he was saying all the things he was thinking with his mouth.

She kissed him back, trying to match his energy, and she felt goosebumps erupt down her arms and legs. She sucked in a breath of air between his kisses, and she felt some of that tension melt away in his arms.

He tugged her closer, and she felt his hand go to her cheek, tracing along the bruise she had alongside her cheekbone and ear. The laceration on her forehead was his next destination, sending a shiver down her spine as his finger traced it too. While she could open both of her eyes, the one was still slightly puffy, so they were a little uneven.

His hand held the side of her face where it was, and she leaned into his touch automatically.

"What?" She asked him, feeling self-conscious again.

"I'm just really glad you're here, Hailey. And you'll be okay. I'm not going anywhere. And I hope you know that this, whatever it is, is the best thing I've got going for me."

She smiled at him, grabbing his hand and kissing it. "Jay Halstead, you're the sweetest guy I know."

"And?" He quipped, wagging his eyebrows up and down.

"Oh shut it, Halstead, you know I think you're hot."

"I just love hearing you say it," he grinned at her, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Yeah, yeah." She tried to sound like she was over it, but as she snuggled back into his arms, she knew the truth: she had fallen hard for him, and she wasn't planning on letting him go anytime soon.

"Will you quit fussing over me?" Hailey whined to Jay.

They had just gotten back to their undercover apartment, and Jay was still holding onto Hailey's arm like his life depended on it.

"Sorry," he said, biting his lip. He knew very well he didn't have to walk Hailey upstairs, but he was feeling extra protective of her. It was their first day back – and out of the hospital – and even though it had only been two days since the incident, Jay didn't want to let her out of his sight.

"I know, you're just looking out for me, which I appreciate," she said, smiling at him as she sat down on the sofa. "But you know they gave me a clean bill of health, right? No concussions, no broken bones, nothing like that. Just one hell of a headache," she chuckled.

"I know, you're all good. But still, I just wanna make sure you're okay." He said, finally go of her arm and sitting down next to her.

"You're sweet." She said, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "But, we still gotta figure out what the hell we're gonna do about this case now."

Jay had to fight an eye roll, as he should've known she'd get right back to business after almost 48 hours at Med. "Okay, so what do you think we should do?"

"Well, have you heard from Garrett? Or…Booth?" She added quickly, hating the sound of his name on her lips.

Jay cringed at Ron's name too, still hating him for what he attempted to do – and did – to Hailey. His Hailey.

"No I haven't. I called him that night, when you were in the hospital. He was still pretty wasted, and he didn't know where Booth was. I'm surprised he even knew it was me calling him."

"Alright. Well, maybe if I call him he'll talk," she said, quirking her brow.

"You don't have to."

"I know I don't have to, but what else am I gonna do all day? It's already noon, and as far as they know, we're okay, just hungover or something from the party. They don't suspect anything, and I wanna keep it that way. So, someone's gotta reach out."

"Alright, but I'm staying right here. Because if he tries to play you, I swear I'm gonna lose it."

"Jay," she warned, eyeing him. "Come on now."

"Well! Can you blame me?!"

"Hey, babe, calm down, okay? Let's just agree Garrett and Booth could both use a few swift kicks, and move on, alright?"

She heard Jay sigh next to her, and she wrapped her arms around his, scooting over to him more so that her hands splayed out over his chest.

"Better?" She whispered, as she could perfectly fit her head in the crook of his neck.

"Mhmm," he replied, and she felt his chest tighten under her fingers.

She smirked, running her hands over him, before she began to move her lips against the shell of his ear, down his jaw, and she had reached his neck before her phone so rudely interrupted them.

"Dammit," she cursed, and it was his turn to smirk. Her breath tickled his face, and he kissed her, pulling her to him so she could lay down on the couch too.

"Hello?" She asked, letting out a breath as she settled against Jay.

"Hailey," she rolled her eyes at the sound of his voice.

"What Garrett? You don't reach out for 2 days, so what could you possibly want now?"

"It's not what I want, it's Booth. He wants to meet with you and Jay."

"About what?"

"He said you guys never got to finish discussing your deal on New Year's Eve, so he wanted to finalize it."

"That's all he said?"

"Yeah."

"Wow, you're either stupider than I thought, or you just really don't care about anyone or anything else besides this job. Either makes you an asshole, Garrett."

She felt Jay's chest vibrate with a snicker as he laughed at her sassy remark. She shushed him, which apparently Garrett overheard.

"Wait, you're with Jay right now?"

"Yeah, he's sitting next to me, why?" She knew it wasn't 100% the truth, but she suspected telling Garrett they took their fake relationship to a real level wouldn't help move the conversation along.

"Why'd you tell him to hush? What? Does he have something to say to me?"

"Will you quit it, Garrett. This has nothing to do with Jay, alright? It does, however, have everything to do with me, Booth, and honestly, you. Are you seriously that dense as to ask me if we'll meet with him again?"

"I don't follow."

"No, of course you don't. Because you were too plastered on NYE for Jay to get answers from you, and you haven't even bothered to ask what the hell happened to us at that party!"

"What're you talking about?"

"If you really don't know, why don't you go ask your boss, huh? I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you how he really tried to get something from me."

"Look, Hailey, I know Booth can be a little aggressive, but–"

"Garrett," Hailey had an edge in her voice, which made Jay perk up.

"Gimme the phone." He told her.

She shook her head, but Jay wouldn't let up, giving her a look that said: Let me handle this, please? She obliged, giving him her cell.

"Garrett, I'm apparently gonna have to spell it out for you. He attacked her that night at the party, alright. He beat her, and tried to….he tried to take advantage of her. If I hadn't gotten back there when I did–– look, it could've been worse; but what happened shouldn't have happened at all. And you didn't even bother to see if she was alright. Or what the hell happened to either of us at that party. That's why she's pissed, and frankly man, so am I."

"Jay, you don't understand–"

"You're right, I don't. We're supposed to be working this case together, and all you've done is either push us away or been a total prick this whole time."

"I'm sorry, okay. I'm sorry, but this is important. Booth still wants to make a deal. If we can get him on this, he'll go away for life, alright? Isn't that what we all want?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's willing to put you in contact with his higher up. If we get that, we'll nail both of them to the wall on distro, possession, all of it. No question."

Jay set the phone down, flipping it onto speaker. "Say it again so Hailey can hear you out."

Hailey looked from him to the phone, before leaning in closer to listen. "Hailey? You there still?" Garrett asked.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"Look, like I told Jay, Booth's still willing to deal. If we can get him on this, we can get him dead to rights, okay? Life without parole, no doubt. Can you guys please just come at least to show him a good faith effort?"

Hailey scoffed, looking at Jay. Jay was looking right back at her, and his eyes held a different intensity than she was used to seeing.

"Listen, we only do this if you think you're gonna be okay," he whispered into her ear, out of Garrett's range.

"I mean, if it's a guarantee, shouldn't we? That's a lot of product gone off the streets of Chicago, not to mention nailing not one, but two SOBs? Sounds good to me."

He nodded, his hand touching her shoulder. She placed her hand over his, before telling Garrett that they'd go ahead with the new meet.

"Good, that's really good. Thanks guys." Garrett said, before hanging up.

Hailey sighed, leaning back against the couch. "Alright, so what're we supposed to do until then? It's not till, when? Tomorrow night, right?" She looked over at Jay, who was stewing next to her.

"Whatcha thinking?" She asked him, putting her chin on his shoulder, wanting to hear him out.

"Nothing," he said, his eyes still looking downward.

"Jay," she said his name with purpose. "What's on your mind?"

"I just hope you're okay with me sticking to you like glue tomorrow night. Because if he gets within a foot of you, I'm gonna kill him."

"Well a dead guy won't be good for our case there, slugger," she tried to joke, but clammed up when he shot her a more serious look. Oops.

"Hey, you know we can do this, right? I wouldn't have agreed to it if I didn't expect you not to leave my side anyhow. We're a team, you and me. I trust you."

He leaned in closer to her, his eyes locking onto hers. "I trust you too, Hailey. Completely, one hundred percent."

"Good." She said earnestly, kissing his nose.

She smiled at him when she saw his face soften. "Y'know, you're kinda cute when you're mad."

"Oh, then I must be adorable right now," he sassed, which made her toss her head back in laughter.

He couldn't not smile at her when she was genuinely beaming like that. He slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him once again.

"Hey!" She said playfully, curious as to what he was doing.

"Hi," he said just as sweetly. He held her close, and he searched her face, trying to figure out what look she had in her eyes.

It didn't take him long to figure out when she leaned down and kissed him. Her lips weren't light like before, as she was taking control this time.

He tried to match her pace, but before he found a rhythm, she was moving down to his jaw and neck.

"Hailey," he could hear the rasp in his voice.

"Hm?" She hummed against his neck, which only made his head buzz with more emotion, more need.

He opened his mouth to give her a response, but instead what came out was a groan, as she had snaked her hands underneath his shirt, just as his found their way underneath hers.

"Two can play this game, Upton," he whispered, surprising her by flipping them over, so she was underneath him instead.

She let out a gasp at the change in position, but didn't object when he mimicked her earlier movements.

"I give up," she said as he found her pulse point. "You win," she sighed, her head falling back as her body arched against his.

"I have a pretty great prize," he said, his hands toying with the waistband of her jeans.

"Uh huh," she breathed, finally pulling his shirt up his back. He took the hint, discarding it completely from his upper body.

She cheekily pulled at his belt, bringing him back down to her, while simultaneously beginning its undoing.

He changed course, snaking his hands up rather than down. He had almost made it to her chest when there was a knock at their door.

"Should we?" Hailey whispered, looking at him.

"Hell no," Jay said, loving how she gasped when he ground his denim clad hips into hers.

"Halstead? Upton?"

Shit. They both knew who those voices belonged to.

They hurriedly pulled apart, Hailey yanking down her shirt and smoothing out her hair; Jay tossing his t-shirt back on his body and redoing his belt.

"Hailey, Jay, it's Sergeants Voight and Anderson. Open up!"

Jay ran to the door first, while Hailey fixed the couch cushions. He quickly glanced back, and she gave him a thumbs up. It was only then he pulled the door open to greet their commanders.

"Hank, Max. What brings you guys over?"

"We need to talk," Voight said. "Can we come in?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. What's this about?"

"Hailey, you too, please. Join us," Sergeant Anderson interjected, ignoring Jay's initial question.

"Alright." She sat down on the couch, as did Jay. Their sergeants stood in front of them both.

"Was is it?" She asked, looking between the 3 men.

"Garrett called us. Told us you and Halstead went rogue at the New Year's Eve party? Almost blew the deal with Booth?" Sergeant Voight didn't state it like fact, but rather asked it like a question.

"Hailey?" Max asked, looking at her, like she could somehow clear this up; as if they'd heard wrong. Which they had, she thought to herself, as she couldn't help but scoff at the ridiculousness of the accusations.

"Max," she began, and Jay followed suit with, "Hank."

"That's not what happened." They said at the same time, looking at each other before glancing at their respective commanding officers.

"If anyone's been A-WALL this whole op, it's Garrett," Hailey began. "He's been sneaky, snarky, underhanded, and I don't– we don't," she clarified, looking at Jay. "We don't trust him."

"What has he done, exactly?" Voight asked, looking at Jay to fill in some blanks.

"Well, he let Booth get his hands all over Hailey; and came at me in a bar for no reason a few nights ago. He pulled a gun on me at the original meet up site, not to mention has been a complete jerk to the both of us since this whole thing started."

"But you two still managed to do the deal with Booth," Voight countered.

"Sarge," Jay tried, but Hank held up his hand.

"Halstead, that's enough. Look, I get it. You guys don't trust him. We'll look into it, but for now, we both want you to continue as if nothing's happened. You understand? Because if there's tension between you three…"

"Booth's gonna get spooked. And we can't afford not to get that bigger fish," Max tacked on.

Jay nodded, understanding where they were coming from, even if he didn't agree with it. He saw Hailey shake her head yes too. Everyone was now on the same page.

Then why'd they both feel like something was going to go very wrong?