Jay was sitting with Camilla on the couch at some warehouse party at two in the morning when he saw Hailey come in with a few friends. There was cocaine on the table, the crowd was rough, and he was spiraling just as must as she was, but he had been checked out just enough to miss how off the rails she was, or was heading.
He understood it, he hadn't been in the best mind set lately. With how he'd been handling things since Lindsay left and he got Camilla's brother killed, he felt like a hypocrite for coming down on her when she lost someone she once loved forever and in a horrible way. She wasn't the best with compartmentalizing after stressful things happened in her life. She shut down, shut people out, and she had a history of drug abuse to prove it.
He frowned as he watched her move around the room, and Camilla easily picked up on his distracted state. Even through his drunken lens he knew she wasn't high, but he knew there were very few reasons other than drug use for why she would show up at this party. The second someone approached her he was on his feet.
"What is it?" she frowned as she stood with him and grabbed his arm. "Who is that?"
"My kid sister," he said.
"I've seen her around, it's been awhile, but she was a serious partier," she grinned. "Now I know where she gets it from."
Jay shook his head and crossed the room quickly and determined. He stepped between her and some sketchy looking guy and allowed her to register that it was him, to avoid scaring her or causing a scene, before he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her a few feet away from the crowd.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he said seriously as he dropped his head to whisper in her ear. "I'm working. Ryan."
"I-I'm just hanging out with people," she mumbled. "You're hurting me."
He loosened his grip but didn't let go of her. "Come on," he said. "We're leaving."
"No," she tried to pull away from him, but he wouldn't let go. "I'm not doing anything."
He pulled her close so he could look in her eyes. He was looking for signs that she was high and she let him, because she wasn't, or she was hiding it well enough. "We're leaving," he repeated.
"Ryan, come on," Camilla said. "Let her party."
"She's going through something," he snapped as he turned his head to glare at her.
"Aren't we all?" she asked, almost in an accusing tone.
"Just because I'm spiraling doesn't mean I'm going to take her down with me," he said. "Hailey, let's go."
He pulled her through the crowd and she let him. She knew something was going on with him too, she could see it before all this happened with her, but now she could really see it. It was right in front of her and she wasn't used to seeing him this undone. They stepped out into the fresh air and he let go of her, only to pick up his phone. He was drunk, he was waiting for a girl who didn't know anything about him that was real, and he was trying to figure out what to do with his sister when he wasn't any better off.
"Why are you here?" she finally asked.
"I'm undercover," he said quietly. "Why are you here?"
"Those are my friends, and Scott's friends, and this is what we used to do. We're just hanging out," she said. "Undercover for what?"
"It's a long story," he sighed and brushed her off. "Hails, did you slip up?"
"No," she frowned and he saw the tears pool in her eyes. "It's just, they miss him as much as I do, and they understand the loss. Without any judgement on how he lives, or how he died, they knew him for who he really was."
"Hails, I understand," he said softly. "Erin was pretty rough around the edges, and her back story is no picnic, but all those things didn't hold a candle to how amazing of a person she is."
"Yeah," she said. "This has been really hard for me."
"I know that," he said. "Even if you weren't together, you had a past and those feelings were very real."
"It's not just that," she shook her head. "It could have been me. This could have been my story. If you and Will didn't find me, if you didn't step in-" she shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'd be lying if I said that very thought hadn't crossed my mind," he nodded and put his hands on her arms. "That's why seeing you in there scared me so much. You turned your whole life around, Hails. Don't go backwards."
She wanted to ask him if he was going backwards, she wanted to know what he was doing since Erin left, because lately he had been reminding her of how he was when he came home from war. He was distant, he was distracted, and he was hurting. But, she didn't get a chance to say anything because both of their attention was pulled away by the sound of a car accident.
Jay took off toward the chaos and Hailey followed, even if she didn't want to, but she was more afraid to stand in the street alone. Now that she wasn't drinking or on drugs, she was more aware of her surroundings. Maybe it was Scott's death, or things she saw while helping out in Intelligence, but she knew what people were capable of and it easily terrified her more than whatever was waiting for them on the other side of the building. Plus, she knew Jay would protect her at all costs, but she wasn't prepared for what they saw.
At first Hailey thought the girl was just hit by the SUV, which was bad enough, but Jay dropped to the ground in front of her and she saw the gunshot wounds. The man that hit her seemed upset and confused, the girl had just run right out in front of her. It sounded horrible, but Hailey was relieved because her mind had been running wild for a few seconds wondering if he was someone that they should be worried about.
He was on the phone with 911, Jay was telling the girl she wasn't alone, and Hailey put the pieces together that whoever she was, she was dying. He held her hand and she stared right into his eyes, and something told Hailey that he wasn't going to forget this woman. There were some things you can't unsee, and this was one of them. After a moment he rose and he made a phone call, and she didn't have to ask to know he was calling Voight for help.
Jay hung up and turned to find Hailey staring at the dead girl on the road. He had a heavy frown on his face, he saw this stuff a lot, and it always made him angry, but he could tell she was upset. He turned her away from the girl and put his hands on the sides of her face. He scanned her eyes briefly before he dropped a kiss to her head and looped an arm around her as they waited for the police and Intelligence to arrive.
"Hey," Kevin said with a worried expression as he approached Hailey. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," she said as she took a breath and put her arm around her back as he put his around her shoulders to pull her close to him. They were still keeping their relationship quiet and private, not everyone in Intelligence knew about them, so they had to be careful how much affection they showed. Right now, it just looked like he was comforting her while Jay talked to Voight.
"What's going on?" he asked. "Why were you guys here?"
"Jay was working," she said. "I was out with some friends from college."
"You ended up at the same party?" he looked around. "In this neighborhood?"
"Ask me what you really want to ask me, Kevin," she sighed.
"Look, I know you've been having a hard time, and I get it," he nodded. "But, what are we doing? If you need some space, or this isn't working for you, just tell me because I'm not really sure what to do here."
Every bone in her body wanted to run in that moment. He was giving her an easy way out, and she wanted to take it. She liked to self-sabotage and this was the perfect moment. She could say yes, she needed space. Or no, it wasn't working for her. She could even say something about how it wasn't his place to do anything, that she didn't need to be saved, that she didn't need someone to take care of her, or that she was too much of a mess to bring him down. But, she liked him, she really liked him, more than she ever liked someone, and that was part of the problem.
"It's not any of those things, and it's not you," she shook her head. "I come with a lot of baggage, and you don't."
"Yeah, I do," he said. "Up until a few weeks ago I had sole custody of my brother and sister, that didn't just happen because of good things going on."
"It's different. You are steady, and I've always been a mess," she said. "I'm used to healthy relationships, and I don't want to mess this up because we've got a good thing going."
"Yeah, we do," he smiled. "I'm not afraid of a little mess, and I'm okay if you need to grieve Scott. You shared something and he meant something to you, so you don't have to hide that from me."
"Thank you," she smiled as she squeezed his hand, the only public display of affection they could hide.
"Hails, come on," Jay said as he broke up their conversation. "We're going home."
"You're not staying to work?" she frowned.
"Not for this," he said as he put his hand on her back and nodded at Kevin. He pulled her toward Will, who was waiting to pick them up. "If you want to keep you two a secret, you better cool it in public."
"I don't care about keeping us a secret," she said. "I think he might, though."
"It's not you," Jay shook his head. "It's the job."
"Maybe," she sighed.
"Look, he's about eight years older than you and he's a cop and you're a student," Jay tried to explain. "It's not that you're doing anything wrong, but it's enough to have people talk and Kevin is a private guy."
"What's going on?" Will asked as they climbed into the truck.
"Not exactly sure yet," Jay said. "A girl was shot and that's just about all we know."
"I meant, what's going on with you two being at the same party?" he clarified.
"I'm working undercover," Jay said. "Hailey was hanging out with some friends."
"And, you ended up at the same party?" Will glanced at his brother.
"She's fine," Jay said.
"She's right here," Hailey said from the back seat.
"I have to ask," Will said as he glanced at her in the rear view mirror.
"No, you really don't," she said. "You guys chose to because you still don't trust me."
She jumped out of the truck once he pulled into the driveway. Jay reassured Will that she was fine, she wasn't drinking and she didn't take anything. He followed Hailey inside, leaving Will to now worry about his other sibling as he climbed into his car and headed for work. He didn't worry much about Jay, he was always the classic older brother type who took care of everyone else, but now he was the one going through something.
Will had been a little distant lately, his siblings were both going through really rough times, but things were going really well for him. His biggest problem was trying to find a place and time to be with Natalie. He lives with two people and she had a child, so they resorted to hooking up in her car and him sneaking over to her place after Owen went to sleep.
It wasn't ideal, but their feelings for each other were growing. He felt almost guilty for being so happy when Jay and Hailey were clearly struggling, but he couldn't help it. They worked together, not just at the same hospital, but sometimes even on the same patients. Today, they had a teen girl who mysteriously started losing feeling in her foot and before they knew it, paralysis started spreading up her body.
It was confusing and it was worrisome, but nothing worried them more than when Will started experiencing the same symptoms. Will was trying to stay strong for Natalie, he could tell she was scared, but he was scared too. And, even though he didn't want to admit it, he needed Jay around. He didn't want to dump more problems on his already stressed out brother, but Will knew a part of Jay liked feeling needed and he liked being the one they turned to. He liked being the hero, in any way it came his way.
Jay came to the hospital immediately after Will called and he was the calming force his brother needed as they worked to solve the case. When they figured out the paralysis was due to a tick, Natalie removed it and the paralysis stopped progressing at knee level. After Will assured he was alright, Jay dropped Hailey off to stay with Will and he headed back to work.
Will could tell Hailey was a bit upset at the situation, but she was holding it together better than he expected. To his surprise, she was doing a good job distracting both of them from the situation. She brought him food, his laptop and a few movies, and a deck of cards they were using to play crazy eights as they talked.
"So, I got some tests done," she admitted.
He grinned. "You think I don't know about that?"
"You do?" she frowned before she sighed. "Are there any secrets in this hospital? What happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?"
"It's still very much in place," he said. "You're on my insurance, and I was billed for some of the tests, even though I know Connor buried most of them."
"I was going to tell you," she said.
"I know," he nodded.
"I just wanted to bring you good news for once," she said.
"Hails, you don't have to worry about me," he said. "I'll be there no matter how bad it is, just like I'll be there when it's good."
"Well, it is good," she said. "I'm fine, but I'm guessing you already know that."
He grinned again. "I do know that, and I'm happy," he nodded. "I want you to always be okay, that's why I asked you if anything happened at the party. I know loosing Scott hasn't been easy on you, and as much as I don't want to see you head down that road, I know it's possible. So, I want you to know that even if you did slip, Jay and I, we're still going to be here."
"I know that, but I'm okay, Will. And, it's because you guys are there, and were there, and will be there. I don't need to escape from my life anymore, and I've gotten through losing him sober, so I can get through just about anything." She said as she looked at him and smile spread across her face. "Even you being mysteriously paralyzed. This, scared me, but being here with you is better than being out at some party."
"Come here," he held his arm out and let her climb into the bed beside him. He put his arms protectively around her and pulled her close to kiss her head. "I love you, and I'm really proud of you."
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