A/N: And hey hi hello, here's another chapter for you guys! I'll be busy tomorrow, so I wanted to get this in now while I was motivated, LOL. Hopefully I'll have another installment soon, but I hope that this tides you over until then. Also, are you guys excited for the crossover on Wednesday? I am! And then the next week is supposed to be an Upstead-heavy episode, so I hope we get good things for them in 7x16! Anyways, enjoy this next chapter!

It had been a month since the darkest day of Hailey's life. It had only been about 1 week into her new detail: the 21st district, in Hank Voight's Intelligence Unit, actually. She knew to most people it would sound crazy, but she strangely felt closer to Jay when she was there.

"Morning, Hailey!" Kim greeted her, in her usual sunny disposition, which roused Hailey from her thoughts.

"Hey, Kim," she smiled sweetly in the direction of her colleague, with whom she shared a desk.

"How're you doing today?" Kim asked quietly, almost meeting Hailey's eyes.

"I'm here," Hailey replied, trying to keep her tone neutral. She knew Kim was just being kind, as she always was with Hailey. She was glad to be partnered with her; but she'd be lying if she said it didn't make her miss her original partner even more.

Wish you were here, Jay. She sighed, pulling out her memo book to get started on those reports that had been sitting on her desk since yesterday. She saw that Kim followed suit, getting busy with her paperwork until the rest of the boys arrived for the work day.

"Good Morning ladies," Adam's voice carried up the stairs, so he was heard before he was seen. Kevin followed behind him, giving a 'Sup' type nod to both Kim and Hailey.

"Hey," Kim and Hailey said in unison, sharing a small smile at the simultaneous answers.

Ruzek and Atwater took their seats, and Voight came upstairs with Platt to announce the details of an important new case.

"I just got word from Med. Another kid has died from that deadly outbreak. And since we don't know what's causing it yet, they've called a Code Silver, which means that no one gets in or out of the building. We have got to find the source of the bacteria strain before more victims drop!"

"I've got your assignments here," Platt continued, passing out papers to each team. Hailey and Kim were due to talk to Veronica Kim, a grad student who worked alongside their first victim, Samuel Larsen. Adam and Kevin were supposed to track Larsen's last known movements via cell towers and socials. Meanwhile, Platt and Voight were needed at a debriefing with Sharon Goodwin and Chief Boden, as the citizens of Chicago were understandably freaked out by this supposed epidemic.

What a world, Hailey thought to herself as she grabbed her jacket and headed out with Kim.

Jay couldn't believe it had really been thirty days since Garrett had kidnapped him. He also couldn't believe he'd survived this long too. Yes, he'd had worse living conditions while overseas, but this, for what it was, was ridiculous, not to mention slightly cruel.

Miniscule scraps of food, barely enough water, and not even a drop of sympathy from his captor. What a jackass. Jay shook his head, sighing as his wrists were itching like crazy from where the zip ties had rubbed them raw.

Sure, Garrett would take them off occasionally, but only when the situation absolutely required it. Then he'd be tied right back up, forced to sit (or stand) in that dark and damp room for hours on end.

Unsurprisingly, he hadn't run out of memories of Hailey yet, as he could keep dreaming them up if he had to. Her gorgeous smile, her wave of golden blonde hair, her sarcastic tone of voice when she one-upped him, which was often. He missed those things terribly. He was in the midst of remembering another moment when Garrett interrupted him.

"Your old teams on the news, buddy," Garrett snarked, not even bothering to acknowledge the irony behind his statement. He and Jay were far from buddies, and he knew that. "Seems like they're in the midst of that viral outbreak. Sucks to be them right now."

Jay looked at him confused. "What do you mean?"

"Just heard that one of them was taken to Med, special circumstances via quarantine, I guess. I don't know, I didn't bother to listen to the whole news segment on my drive over here."

"Why even tell me then, huh?"

"It's fun to play these mind games with you, man," Garrett chuckled, sinking down to face Jay. "Besides, since I haven't had to kick your ass since the first day, where else am I gonna get my digs in?"

"You're such a piece of––"

"Ah, ah," Garrett warned. "I wouldn't." He wagged his finger for effect, and Jay briefly wondered if there was any way to dismember it from his hand, just so Garrett could feel a fraction of the pain Jay felt now.

Garrett's phone rang, and he tugged it out of his back pocket, reading something off it. "Oh, this is…this is perfect." He let out a dry laugh, to which he was met with another confused look from his prisoner.

"Looks like karma came for Hailey after all. One of my friends at Med just told me your brother admitted her into quarantine."

"You're lying," Jay quickly accused, not wanting to believe that awful truth.

"Nope," he declared. "This time, I'm not. Hopefully your brother's smarter than you are, or else Hailey's in big trouble…"

"Jackass," Jay muttered under his breath.

"What? What was that?"

"Nothing." Jay ground out, gritting his teeth so hard he thought they'd be stuck that way forever.

"That's what I thought. See ya around Halstead. Maybe I'll keep Hailey company for you in the meantime..."

He slammed the door shut before he could hear Jay's curses and screams for him to stay the hell away. And Jay knew it too, laying back down on the ground, hating that Garrett could very well do, or say, whatever he wanted. And there wasn't a damn thing Jay could do to stop him.

Hailey hated hospitals. Fucking hated them with every fiber of her being. And yet here she was, the third time in not even 3 months she was admitted to one. "Dammit," she cursed as Natalie pulled out the needle with which she took blood.

Kim grimaced at Hailey, who tried to keep her face calm. She didn't hate needles as much as she knew Jay did, but she still didn't like the sight of her own blood being guided through one.

"I'm done now, I promise." Natalie reassured, before collecting the other two tubes. She left the two detectives alone for a moment.

"Hailey, I'm so sorry I didn't go in with you. Had I known Veronica was infected, I would've had your back!"

"Kim, you had to take that call from Voight. It's okay," Hailey told her for the thousandth time. "Then it could've been the both of us here right now."

"Still," Kim said, ducking her head. "I'm sorry."

"I know. And I appreciate it." Hailey said, giving her a small smile.

Kim gently tapped Hailey's shoulder, before going to call the rest of the unit to update them about Hailey's condition.

Hailey sighed, waiting for Will to whisk her away to the quarantine unit. She was going to be under observation until they figured out if she was in fact contagious. That's just fucking fantastic.

She supposed she'd rather have physical pain right now though. It would be a welcome relief from the heavy emotional shit she'd been dealing with over the last three weeks. Her transfer order out of Robbery-Homicide and into Intelligence had gone over well, except for when she told Garrett, who about flipped his shit.

"Why?"

"Because I can't do this anymore."

"What?"

"This, Garrett! Pretend like I can just be normal without him. I can't, and if being in a new environment is what'll help me feel better, then that's what I'm gonna do."

"So, this is about Jay, again? Jesus Hailey, when are you gonna let that go?"

"LET IT GO?!" She had screamed at him. "You're such an arrogant asshole, you know that!" And with that, she left, thankful that she was going to get away from Garrett and all his bullshit. She didn't want to be around that toxicity anymore. Her heart couldn't handle his negativity.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Will's voice. "Hi Hailey. It's time."

"Alright," she breathed. "Let's do this."

She was wheeled over to the unit, and instructed to sit behind the plastic confinements until the rest of her tests results were in. She did as she was told. As members of the unit came to visit her, she couldn't help but focus on who wasn't there. She could hear his voice now, telling her how crazy it was that she'd go in alone. She chuckled to herself, shaking her head.

"What's so funny?" A young girl asked from next door. Hailey found out her name was Amanda.

"Nothing," Hailey said, smiling again. "Just thinking of someone special."

"Are they waiting for you once you get out of here?" Amanda innocently asked.

"Yeah," Hailey admitted. "They are."

Jay wasn't one to give up so easily. Garrett had underestimated that about him. He knew it wasn't the smartest idea, but given his limited mobility, not to mention limited options, he went for it anyway.

He had carefully worked his legs up into a position where they could reach the door handle. He tried to finagle it with his foot, slipping it between the handle and the frame. He tried to curl his toes around the handle, pulling on it as hard as he could. It didn't budge.

Defeated, he moved back into his original position. He knew he couldn't knock it in the other way. Plus, your shoulder, you moron, he chastised. He groaned because as if on cue, a pain from his bullet wound flowed down his entire arm.

He fought through it, and continued to think of a way to get out. While he had gotten used to Garrett being gone during the day, as he still worked in Robbery-Homicide, he hadn't gotten used to his coming around at night. He'd sometimes check in on Jay, and the two wouldn't even speak, just acknowledge the presence of each other with a glance or nod. Other times, he'd stand outside the door, and Jay could hear bits and pieces of conversations he presumed Garrett was having with Booth, as the words 'drugs' came up way too often for it to be anything else.

Jay shook his head, remembering how much he wanted to kill Booth that night of New Year's Eve. He thought he could never hate a person more; but he proved himself wrong with Garrett. He still couldn't believe the gall of that guy: telling him Hailey was infected by the virus.

There was no way – no one in Intelligence would put themselves out there like that. At least, he hoped they wouldn't. Course, he also knew Voight's team, and he definitely knew Hailey. She was stubborn, much like himself. So, if anyone were to sacrifice themselves in some way, it was probably going to be her.

Damn her and her good heart, he thought. Please be okay, Hailey. I can't lose you, too.

The words "Clear" had never sounded sweeter to Hailey's ears than they had in that moment. Will Halstead had just broken the good news to her, and she jumped up so fast you'd have thought she'd won the lottery or something.

She smiled at Amanda, giving her a fist bump through the plastic. "You got this, kid." The girl smiled back at her, and while Hailey hated to leave her at such a vulnerable time, she had a job to do. She promised Amanda she'd be back ASAP if she needed, to which the girl smiled appreciatively.

"Thank you, Hailey. That guy's lucky to have someone like you in his life."

She felt fresh tears prick her eyes, but she pushed them back. She smiled back at Amanda. "Thanks, Amanda. You're gonna meet someone like that too one day. But for right now, focus on getting better and getting out of there, okay?"

She watched Amanda nod her head. Hailey reciprocated, before she followed her sergeant back to the district. She had a case to finish solving.

When she arrived back at the 21st, she was greeted by hugs and cheers for her safe return. She hugged her colleagues back, grateful to be discharged so she could get back to work. They had a suspect now, at least they had caught them on video. The blue pick-up truck tip from earlier had paid off.

Dr. David Seldon was their man. All they had to do now was find him.

Intelligence searched high and low for any sign of Seldon, only to discover he had been assigned to the CDC's taskforce for the viral outbreak. They started at Med; as the code silver had been lifted once the quarantine unit was set up. Dr. Goodwin took them back to the lab, but Seldon was nowhere to be found.

They struck out there and at his ex-wife's house, but one tip finally paid off. BRT HQ was holding their budgetary meeting, and Seldon had planned to have his research funded by them before they rejected his proposal. They had their connection, but could they get to him before time ran out?

They had to move fast, but they were successful in bringing Seldon down. Thank god, Hailey thought, as it made her very nervous to watch her boss have to face off with the crazed doctor. She and Adam were ready with their long guns though, successfully firing distraction rounds into the ceiling, before Kevin and Kim took him out for good.

It was after all of this Hailey announced that she could use a drink. She expected some of the team to join her, but surprisingly, the only one she found herself meeting up with at Molly's was Adam. Not like she minded, as she had gotten to know him second to Kim. He seemed chill enough where she figured she could just say or do whatever, and he wouldn't make a deal of it. Which was honestly what she needed after such an insane case.

"So, cheers….to making it out alive?" She tried, giggling at how stupid that sounded. Adam clinked his beer with hers anyway, and the two sipped on their alcohol while contemplating what to say next.

"Hailey, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but–"

She cut him off, the response "That's a terrible way to start a sentence," on the tip of her tongue. When she remembered the last time she said that phrase, she clammed right back up, which allowed Adam to finish his own sentence.

"–just know that I'm here if you ever do want to talk about it. Jay was the best partner I had in a while. He was a good guy, all-around. You didn't get many people of his caliber anymore. Not in our line of work, anyhow."

Hailey nodded, taking in his very correct words. Jay was the best guy, that she knew deeply. "Yeah, he was the best."

"I'm sorry you lost him," Adam offered, looking at her with soft eyes. They weren't the same as Jay's, in color nor gentleness, but she knew he was trying. And for that she let herself feel a glimmer of something other than sadness. Nostalgia, she supposed, if she had to pinpoint the feeling.

"I just– god, I miss him so much, you know? I never even…" She sniffled, fighting against the tears that were threatening to spill. "I never even got to say goodbye."

"I'm sorry, Hailey. You're not alone in that, just know. None of us got the proper end with him either."

"I'm sorry," she tried, feeling like a jerk for monopolizing the conversation. It wasn't all about her; he was right….she wasn't the only one who lost someone. Intelligence had lost a dear friend and co-worker in Jay Halstead. She had a right to respect that more than she was doing right now. "I know how much he meant to you guys too."

"Yeah. There was never a dull moment with him, that's for sure. He kept me from going off the rails more times than I can count. He was just so good at being good, if that makes any sense." He took a big swig of his beer, flagging down Hermann for another.

"It does, I think." She answered, finishing off her bottle too. They ordered another round, and soon two became three, which became four, and then five. By six, Adam was singing along – loudly, and off-tune – to "Sweet Caroline," which made Hailey howl with laughter at how bad he was. But it was the first time she had laughed in a long while. And she didn't hate it.

The only thing she hated herself for was the morning after Molly's, when she woke up in her own bed, with the hangover from hell. The thing was: she wasn't alone. And that's what hurt her heart the most.