Chapter 10

Kevin Atwater found the spot where Luis Vega would hang out, a bar in which his sister, Camilla, worked. They agreed on a plan; Hailey and two undercover cops would be there to back up Jay, to help him get Access to Luis.

It all worked just like they had anticipated. Jay sat down at the bar, talked to Camilla, flirted with her a bit. Luis wasn't very approachable or talkative at first, therefore a bar fight was staged, in which Jay could help Luis out, and in the end both left the bar together in a hurry.

Hailey stayed behind, taking care of the innocent bystander that Jay had punched by accident. At the same time, she tried to figure out Camilla. She didn't want to admit it to herself that she wasn't too thrilled seeing Jay flirt with her. But that was the job, and Hailey wasn't Jay's girlfriend, so she pushed away any jealousy that came creeping up on her. Still, she would keep an eye on Camilla. Boyfriend or not, Jay was her partner, and she would look out for him. Always.

Jay had made the first step; he and Luis bonded. They waited for Camilla to come home, sitting on the stairs of her apartment building, chatting. When she finally arrived, Jay came inside with Luis, and while Luis went to bed, Jay stayed in the kitchen with Camilla. Even if Luis was still suspicious of Jay, Camilla seemed to like him, seemed to like flirting with him a lot.

Jay's wire was still on, so Hailey could listen to their conversation. The flirting was one thing, but the conversation got more serious. Jay sounded so sincere in what he told her. Should she worry about him? Was Jay really over all the things he had witnessed and done in Afghanistan? Or did it still haunt him? His recurring nightmares clearly suggested that. Or did he simply tell Camilla all this to make her trust him, to get to Luis? Maybe it was a combination of all things, Hailey wondered.

Hailey, Jay and Voight met the next day, and while Voight was on the phone, Hailey handed Jay all the information they had gathered on Luis. When she wanted to tell Jay about Luis' tours in Afghanistan, Jay interrupted her quickly, he didn't want to hear anything about that. "I did a tour there too. I know what he saw."

Hailey looked at him, and she just had to ask, "The stuff you told Camilla about when you came back, is that true?"

Jay just nodded, clearly not willing to tell her more. This was still too painful, and he didn't want to share with Hailey right there. Perhaps one day he would.

Before Hailey could ask anything else, Voight joined them and saved Jay from Hailey's inquiring glance, and they talked about their approach. Voight gave Jay some Oxy for Luis, which Jay reluctantly accepted. It would be a way to gain Luis' trust, something to trade in for a favor.

Jay wasn't happy at all to give a fellow veteran Oxy; this stuff was dangerous, and Jay felt it was wrong to push Luis in that direction. But he didn't have a choice, his boss ordered it. So he did it.

Jay went to Camilla's apartment once again. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he offered Luis the pills in exchange for a chance to get a job in Luis' crew. Jay felt how the lines got blurred for him. He and Luis had known the same people, had seen a lot of the same gruesome things, seen children being killed. Both had images in their minds that haunted them, that they would never forget. There was an actual connection. Jay could have ended right where Luis was. He wanted to help. And there he was, giving him narcotics.

Hailey was worried.

She was in a van with Al, watching two other suspects in the kidnapping case, probably Luis' accomplices.

They checked plates, ran names, and were sure they had their crew. One step further.

"Al," she said, after the work was done. "Should I worry for Jay?"

"About his undercover job?"

"Yeah, he's bonding with Luis too much."

"No surprise, they experienced similar things."

"Exactly." Hailey looked at her colleague. "He's sharing so much with Luis, and with his sister. I'm afraid he's getting too close."

"Keep an eye on him, but don't interfere just yet." Al said. "He's got a job to do. If his actions threaten the success of our operation, we must act. Until then – wait and trust him."

Al was right, as much as Hailey disliked it. She needed to stay back and watch out for Jay. At the moment there was nothing else she could do.

So Hailey did what Al had suggested, she didn't mention to Jay what she had heard on the wire, or that she was worried he was getting too close. But she watched and listened carefully, more than he realized.

She watched when he entered the bar, in which Camilla worked, again the next day, heard when they flirted, when Camilla kissed him. And she felt the familiar sting of jealousy again.

Jay got what he needed, however: Luis' location.

Before going to see Luis, Jay met with Hailey, told her where he would be. Even though he bonded with Luis, even though he didn't want to talk to her about Afghanistan, he still knew he had to keep her in on what was happening.

"It seems I'm gaining their trust," he said to Hailey, while they were walking along the street.

"Yeah?" Hailey tilted her head and looked at him.

"It took some flirting, which isn't all that bad," he grinned. "Better than sharing war stories."

"Oh?" Hailey pretended to be surprised. Since Jay didn't know she witnessed it, she couldn't even address the kiss in a joking way. Camilla seemed to be a nice person, but still – Hailey would have preferred Jay to not flirt with her.

They discussed the next steps, and when they approached the bar, where Luis was supposed to hang out, Hailey and Jay went in different directions.

Before he entered, Jay briefly wondered about Hailey's reaction to when he told her about flirting with Camilla. He liked the flirting, Camilla was nice. But why had he told Hailey? Did he want to tease her, make her jealous? And – was she jealous? He wasn't sure. He couldn't tell from the way she looked at him. Then he shook his head. He had made a promise to himself, when Hailey had joined the unit. They would be friends, nothing else. No need to make life more complicated. Perhaps a fling with Camilla was just the right thing.

While Jay talked to Luis again about getting into his crew, the team pulled one of his accomplices. The kidnapping crew was one person short, and that was Jay's chance. He convinced Luis and his accomplice Josh Miller that he should be the third person. It was obvious that Miller didn't trust Jay, didn't want him in, but his hands were tied. He needed a third man, so he reluctantly agreed.

As a last attempt to help Luis out of this mess, Jay tried to convince him to stop Miller from killing the kidnapped child, and he was successful. Luis wanted to do the right thing. He took Jay's phone and gun, just like Miller wanted, and they drove to the empty warehouse.

Then they turned against Miller together, overpowered him, entered the building, in which the child was held hostage. They were greeted by gunfire; and soon Jay and Luis were caught in the gunfire from the abductors guarding the kid and Intelligence, coming to help.

Jay could make his way over to the kid and free it. Unfortunately, though, Luis was shot and went down.

Jay ran to him, performed CPR, but didn't succeed. He crouched over Luis' body, desperate.

"Jay!"

The world was blurry for him, he didn't even realize someone was talking, yelling to him.

"Jay!" louder.

Coming out of his daze, he looked up, looked in Hailey's worried face.

"Jay, an ambulance is on the way," she quietly said.

"Too late," Jay uttered breathlessly.

Hailey put her hand on his arm, pulled him up. "Jay, come with me."

"Hailey, he tried to save the kid."

"I know, Jay."

"He wasn't a bad guy, Hailey."

"Yes, Jay."

"If I hadn't given him the oxy, he might still be alive."

"Jay, it was his choice to take it, not yours."

"It's my fault he's dead."

"No, it's not your fault, Jay." Hailey tried to convince him, but by looking at him she saw that he didn't believe her. Jay *wanted*to feel guilty, *wanted* to feel bad. And he had every right to be angry, sad, to mourn Luis. He might not have been an actual friend, but he had tried to do some good in the end, and Jay cared. He needed to mourn his fellow soldier.

So she just stood there, hand on his arm, waiting.

In the evening Jay stood at the gate to Camilla's apartment, breathing heavily. He needed to tell her about her brother's death.

His phone rang.

Hailey.

Jay briefly considered answering, but then didn't. He opened the gate.

"Jay."

Jay looked around, saw her sitting in her car a few feet away. He reluctantly approached her car.

"Are you following me?" He hadn't even noticed.

"I told you I'll watch out," she just shrugged. "You want to tell Camilla?"

"I have to, Hailey."

"OK, I get that," she answered. "I'll wait for you."

"You what?"

"I'll wait, Jay. Don't be too long." Hailey grinned almost invisibly.

Jay rolled his eyes. So much for Hailey trusting him.

A few seconds later Jay was at the door, Camilla opened, and Jay went inside. She had been crying. Jay wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

He didn't tell her that he was around when Luis was shot, didn't want to give away too much. He told her that Luis had tried to save the kid, that he died trying to do the right thing. She deserved to know that.

"Can you stay?" she asked, when she had calmed down a bit.

"My friend is waiting," Jay answered evasively.

"Please!"

If Hailey hadn't been outside waiting, Jay would have stayed. A part of him wanted just that. He slowly stepped back, out of the embrace.

"I need to go, Camilla," he said softly. "Please call me if there's anything I can do. Luis' funeral, anything you need. OK?"

Camilla nodded, crying again. She clearly didn't want Jay to leave.

Jay kissed her forehead quickly, then turned around and left.

With a deep sigh, he sat down in the passenger seat of Hailey's car.

"You ok?" she asked.

"No, not really."

"Where's your car?"

"I took the train."

"Want me to take you home? Or have a drink someplace else? Molly's?"

"Definitely not Molly's," Jay said. "I want to be alone."

"OK, home it is," Hailey decided. "And I will stay, no matter what you say."

She didn't ask what had happened in Camilla's apartment, and Jay was thankful for that. But when they arrived at Jay's place, Hailey parked the car and followed Jay inside. She was determined not to leave him that night, if he wanted her there or not.

She made herself at home, grabbed a bottle of whisky from the shelf, two glasses, and sat down on the couch, waiting for Jay to join her.

Jay looked at her, as if he only now realized that she was still there. Hailey gave him one glass of whisky, and Jay sat down next to her silently.

They didn't talk much that night, but Hailey stayed on his couch, watching out for him. As far as she could tell, he didn't have any nightmares, but she heard him toss and turn, get up, walk around, go back to bed. He was not OK.