«Oh my god, how long's it been?!", Kiem squealed when Vanessa came over to their table.

"Way too long", she said and smiled at each one of them.

"Where have you been?", Adam asked interested.

"Undercover, most of the time. They put me back to the unit I worked with when we met. You remember the guys you threatened in that warehouse?"

"Sure", Kevin said, laughing.

"Yeah, they took me back and now we're working long term cases. Last assignment I finished after about six months of constant undercover work."

"Wow, six months is a long time. How do you do that?"

"I don't know… guess I just remind myself of how many people I can help by doing this."

"Wow", Hailey said breathlessly.

Everyone fell silent for a few moments. Vanessa constantly looked around in the bar and ordered a small gin tonic. Hailey sensed that she was nervous.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, depends. You know, it's pretty dangerous for me to be here. If the wrong people see me with you…"

"Then why are you here?", Kevin asked alarmed.

Vanessa's eyes lingered on his a little longer than usual which didn't go unnoticed by Hailey.

"I wanted to see you guys. And I heard that you two finally got yourselves together", she answered, looking directly at Jay and Hailey.

Hailey blushed and nodded. Vanessa smiled.

"I'm happy for you. Make sure it works out, alright?"

"We'll do our best", Jay chimed in and put an arm around Hailey's waist.

Vanessa nodded.

"You better 'cause I have a gun and I know where you live, Detective Halstead."

Jay saluted and everyone started laughing.

"Well, it was good to see you. I'm gonna pay a visit to the district when this assignment is wrapped up, okay?"

"We can't wait", Adam said and hugged her first.

The others followed his lead and then, Vanessa turned towards the exit. Hailey noticed that she looked back once more. When she turned her head slightly, she saw Kevin's eyes were locked on Vanessa's. Hailey smiled to herself. She always knew that these two had a special chemistry.

The rest of the night passed by fast. When Molly's emptied and Herrmann called out the last round, they started gathering their things.

"You leaving detectives?", Mouch asked, when they came over to pay their tab.

"Yeah, we're ready to call it a night. Long day", Jay answered and gave Herrmann his credit card.

"Sure. Trudy said that the gang crime is getting worse again. How does that come?"

"Well, the Black Lives Matter demonstrations brought up a very important discussion and some people don't want to see that many things have to change. Those opinions collide with the ones who want change and there you go. Plus, the drug business is flying high again after quarantine and everything. You know, take all of it together and then boom."

"Yeah sure. Means more work huh?"

"Yes. I just try to do my part, and the rest is not really my responsibility. It's the only way I can make it through work", Jay said, lifting his shoulders.

Hailey nodded in agreement.

"Greet Trudy from us. Good night guys."

Everyone waved goodbye and then they left.

A/N: Hey there!

It's been a long time, I know… This is a very short one and it serves more as a fill in for the next one. I currently have a little writers block, so no promises on the date of the next chapter. I'm doing my best.

Thanks for reading and have a nice day 😊! ~D.

P.S: I hope that no one felt offended by me mentioning the BLM and COVID stuff… I just thought it would serve as a good ending here because there isn't much more that they could talk about with Mouch… If you see these things differently than me, please don't hate me! This is just the way I see it and it is completely okay if you see it differently. My opinion is influenced by the way I grew up and by my family which is surely different than your situation. And of course, nothing I say has to be true, I'm just a writer playing with my phantasy after all 😊