A pillow smacked Detective Jay Halstead in the face.
"Dude, if we're late, you're buying beers at Molly's."
Jay peeked open an eye. His partner in the Chicago Police Department Intelligence Unit, Detective Hailey Upton, stood next to his bedside. "Shit, Hailey. How did you even get in here?"
She scoffed. "I know you keep a spare key in the toolbox of your truck, besides, there are other ways I could get in." She teased, wiggling her eyebrows.
Jay mumbled something incoheren into his pillow as Hailey opened up his closet, pulling out a pair of pants and a shirt.
"Up up up an at 'em, kiddo!" She insisted, pulling off his covers.
"Aw, c'mon!" He shouted, sitting up.
"Put on some clothes, Halstead, cover up that scrawny ass," she joked, taking in Jay sitting there in just his boxers. Truth was, he was far from scrawny. Being on the Intelligence team meant frequent undercover work and weird hours, it didn't leave much time for a social life, so what free time Jay did have was spent at the gym. He had a broad, built chest and six pack abs. His arms were strong and muscular. None of this went unnoticed by Hailey when she saw him shirtless, but she didn't stare too long.
"What, you don't enjoy the view?" He said, leaning back with his hands behind his head.
"Im going to enjoy the view of Voight screaming at you if we're late."
"Copy that," said Jay, getting up off the bed and putting his clothes on.
He and Hailey had been partners for a while, and so far things were going great. He trusted her like no one else, which was one of the most important things about their relationship. He knew she'd have his back no matter what.
They went downstairs, getting in Jay's Ram pickup truck. They often rode together in the mornings, either he'd pick up Hailey or she'd drive to his house and ride with him. The latter was often a result of him not waking up on time. Sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night from nightmares of his army days, and had to take sleeping pills to get back to sleep.
Driving into District 21, Hailey kept making fun of Jay, and he gave it right back. Laughing they climbed the stairs to the Intelligence Unit, where the rest of the team had already begun the day.
"Halstead. Upton. Barely made it." Said their Sargeant, Hank Voight.
"Sarge, it's not my fault this guy is not a morning person," Hailey said, putting her hands up defensively.
"Alright well we already have a case, so everybody get in gear," Voight said curtly. He was all business when there were criminals to catch.
Putting two pictures up on the board, he began, "Double homicide on the lower East side, looks like it could be related to the fake heroin bust we had last week, so they want us to run point. The victims," Voight turned pointing at each picture, "Gavin Hawkins who was selling the bad dope, and his brother Greg, who was one of Antonio's CIs before he went dark." Turning to the team, he started delegating responsibilities. "Rojas and Burgess, I want you to talk to Antonio's other CIs who were affiliated with Greg, see if they have any clues. Attwater and Ruzek, go talk to the family. Halstead and Upton, start looking into financials. Let's tie this up."
The team split, all focused on their tasks. After a while of looking at her computer, Hailey jumped up. "I got a transfer two days ago for $5000." After some more digging, they tracked it down to a specific bank and time.
"Good work," said Voight. "Go check with that bank and see if they've got surveillance."
45 minutes later, not only did they have evidence of the guy making the transfer, they had a name. "Sarge, a Dante Morales made the transfer. He's in the system for possession." Hailey informed Voight over the phone.
"Go pick him up," Voight ordered.
Jay and Hailey were sitting outside the guy's last known address, waiting to see if he showed up.
"Alright. Would you rather... Have arms for legs or legs for arms?" Hailey asked, trying to pass the time.
"What?!" Jay laughed. "How did you even come up with that?"
"The mental picture is what really makes it exciting," she laughed.
"Alright. I'm gonna go with arms for legs. I wouldn't want to be all toes," he shivered. "I hate feet."
"Good to know," she laughed.
"Okay, my turn. Would you rather kiss Voight or Platt?"
"Oh come on!" Hailey giggled. "That's too easy. Platt all the way."
"Okay, how about Adam or Kevin?" Jay countered.
"Well, considering I have kissed Adam already, I'm gonna go with him." Hailey responded. Her and Officer Adam Ruzek had had a thing a few months ago, but it had just been for fun, nothing serious.
"Okay, Kev or me?" Jay asked cheekily.
"Well..." Hailey thought for a second.
"Shit, there's our guy," Jay said. "Saved by the bell."
They jumped out of the truck, walking quickly down the sidewalk.
"Dante Morales?"
The man turned, and when he saw them started running. Jay and Hailey pursued, quickly catching up, Jay tackled the man and Hailey cuffed him.
"Seriously, man, you know running just makes you look guilty." Jay told him, and they took him back to the station.
At the end of the day, Hailey was getting ready to leave. They had spent most of the afternoon questioning Morales, and he'd given them a pretty solid lead on the man who had paid him to make the transfer.
"Hey, you still want to come with me to my boxing class?" Jay asked Hailey.
"Oh yeah, I need to take out my aggression on your face," she laughed.
When they pulled up to Jay's gym, Hailey made her way to the women's locker room, which was empty, changing into a sports bra and spandex pants. She braided her blonde hair neatly down her back. Walking out to meet Jay, she saw him waiting on the other side of the room wearing a t-shirt and athletic shorts, talking to some other guys.
Walking up behind them, Hailey slapped Jay's arm. "Alright Halstead, ready to get your ass whooped?" She asked playfully.
All of the men turned to look at her. She felt their eyes scan down her body. She smiled awkwardly.
Damn. When Jay turned and saw Hailey, that's the first thought he had. Her tight work out clothes didn't leave too much to the imagination. There weren't many women who came to this gym, especially pretty, petite blondes with curves in all the right places. Jay took notice of the other guys reactions too, and suddenly felt a bit possessive.
"Hey, if you need a sparing partner, I'll volunteer." A guy named Todd said to Hailey.
"Um, i think I'm good with kicking Jay's butt, thanks." She responded politely.
The guy named Todd stepped closer. "I think i could teach you a thing or two, honey," he winked at Hailey.
Seriously? Thought Jay. "She said she's good, man." Jay said angrily.
"No, Jay. He's right. I really need some help." Hailey said sarcastically.
Hailey climbed in the ring. After a bit of sparring, Hailey took out Todd's legs and pinned him strongly to the ground. "I taught 4 years of self defense classes to teach women how to protect themselves from predators," she spat at Todd.
He stalked away, his pride bruised.
Jay walked up. "Now that, was awesome." He smiled at Hailey. "That guy is a tool."
After some work outs, just the two of them, they got ready to pack up their stuff. Even though no one else had bothered her, Jay noticed eyes on Hailey the whole time, and he couldn't figure out why it bothered him so much.
When Hailey came out from the showers, Jay asked, "Molly's?"
"Oh yeah." She said.
When they got to the bar, there was already a crowd of first responders and friends gathered there.
"Hey! Halstead and Upton are here!" Officer Kim Burgess walked up, putting her arms around them. "Come sit with us!" They moved to a table where Ruzek and Officer Kevin Attwater were sitting.
"I just got my ass kicked by a girl," Jay told the group.
They spent the next several minutes praising Hailey and poking fun at Jay.
"I love me a strong woman," Adam told Hailey suggestively.
Oh brother. Could this guy be any more obvious? Jay thought.
Adam flirted with Hailey all night. Jay had thought their thing was over. Guess not. Hailey seemed to be enjoying herself.
Jay went to the bar for another drink. "Can I get another?"
"Damn, Detective. Hard day?"
Jay turned to see Paramedic Emily Foster. They'd run into each other on scenes before but they weren't really friends.
"Nah, just a long one." He responded, watching Hailey and Adam.
Following his gaze, Emily smiled knowingly. "You've got a thing for your partner?"
"What?! No." Jay told her.
"Mhmm." She laughed. "Dude, it's all over your face."
"I do not have a thing for her, I just don't like Adam using her when it suits him." He huffed.
"Okay, prove it." Foster said, downing her drink. Jay followed her lead, and ordered another drink.
The next morning, Hailey knocked on Jay's door. Seriously? Two days in a row he hadn't woken up on time? That was uncommon. Her knock didn't get a response, so she used the key she still had from the day before to enter his apartment.
"Halstead? What's the deal, man?" She said, walking down the hallway. "You're really off your game if-"
When she opened the door to his bedroom she froze. He wasn't alone.
"Shit."