Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.

A/N: Side Note. A guest was wondering where Hailey was and how my story looked similar to someone else's. I just want to clarify that this is a Kim/Jay story, Alternate universe type where Hailey does not exist. I also do not read any Upton stories so if it looks like another one it's purely coincidental.

Jay and the rest of the unit were sent home after Voight sent a car to sit on the bar Owen Jacobson was sitting in now. They were tired from their last case and although this wasn't technically a regular Intelligence case, Voight had promised his detective that he would see it through. Jay grabbed Will on the way after he had checked on Kim one last time, Avery leaving with her aunt Nicole for the night.

"Crazy night huh?" Will offered Jay a beer.

"Yeah, crazy." He sighed.

"So, you really think the ex did this?"

"Moving forward, I won't be able to talk about this with you."

"Oh, come on Jay, this isn't remotely that kind of case. I was on the scene, I saw her car get wrapped around that pole, same as you."

"That's the working theory." Jay finally admitted.

"I hope you nail his ass."

"That's the point." He huffed.

"So Avery seemed to respond very well to you."

"Don't you start with that too, I'm not getting attached."

"That's not where I was going with this but now that you do mention it."

"Shut up." He threw his beer cap at his brother. "I'm going for a shower." He downed the rest of his beer and left Will alone in the kitchen. It wasn't uncommon for Jay to put the water as hot as his body would allow it but he was dead on his feet and he needed something to take the edge off. Closing his eyes and running his fingers through his hair, a pair of brown ones found their way into his thoughts. First with fear, then with understanding and then safety. The size of them had jumped at him when they made eye contact on the other side of that window. His instant need to protect her, to keep her safe had overpowered the rest of his instincts and keeping her safe going forward was the point of getting to the bottom of this investigation. Cases that involved kids killed him, his dreams often still haunted by them from his tours with the Rangers so having these kinds of cases, especially when they happened in front of his eyes, made him more determined. He would get a good night's sleep and get back to work. He washed himself and got out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist. He saw his brother still siting on the couch nursing another beer but he ignored him and went straight to his room. He slipped in briefs and under the covers and closed his eyes, a different set of eyes greeting him this time. He hadn't expected them, having seen them for only a short period of time but there they were. They were older, wiser, but identical to those of her daughter. She also needed to have answers and he drifted off promising himself that he would get them for both.

When Jay woke up, he felt as rested as could be expected after everything that had happened the previous night. He changed into jeans and a t-shirt, placing his star around his neck and his gun against his right hip, the familiar weight of both a comforting presence. The house was empty and he found Will's note saying he was heading in for his shift, promising to update him on Kim's condition when his rounds were done. He made himself some breakfast and a coffee before heading out. Waiting at a red light, bringing his go cup of coffee to his lips, realizing how close he was, he took a right when it turned green, heading to get an update himself. The ED was busy, like it often was, but he spotted his brother coming out of a room so he made his way over.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I realised that I was close so I decided to come get an update myself."

"She was discharged about an hour ago, she left with her sister and daughter." Jay deflated quickly.

"You said you'd keep me updated."

"Yeah, when my round was done, I'm not done yet."

"I'll need you to swing by the district when your done to fill in your statement." He said in a clipped tone.

"Whoa there, Jay, where is this coming from?" He placed a hand on his chest to keep him in place.

"Nothing, just tired." He shrugged his brother's hand off. "I've got to go see what the team has found out." He pulled away and walked out of the ED leaving Will wondering what exactly was going on.

His mood didn't exactly brighten when he walked up the steps of the district and up to Intelligence, thankful that Platt was being too busy grilling some of her patrolmen to pay attention to him though everyone looked at him when he made it to the top.

"What?" He eyed every member of the team.

"It's a dead-end man." Adam eyed him sympathetically.

"That can't be." Jay refused to accept that so easily.

"We checked into the address you sent us where she got her oil change. Nothing on the pods puts Jacobson on the property while her car was in there."

"He could have paid someone off." Jay was quickly getting frustrated and that wave of emotion surprised him. "We dig in every one of those employees financials."

"We need a warrant for that Jay and we don't have enough to make it stick." Kevin hated to see this fall through but they didn't have much to go on and unless something popped, they had to let this go.

"A warrant." He seethed. "We've done worse for less." He didn't notice Antionio's eyes on him, just his Sargent's over his shoulder.

"We don't have enough Jay, I'm handing this over to Homicide to wrap up."

His jaw ticked and he stormed out of the bullpen and into their locker room, making a fist and throwing his frustration out on the closest locker he could find.

"What the hell has gotten into you?" Antonio walked in after him.

"This is our case Tony, no way in hell should we just hand it over." He threw his arms out wide.

"Voight is right, we don't have enough."

"Since when has that ever stopped us huh?"

"Just let it go Jay." He clapped him on the shoulder. "We did all that we could."

"You wouldn't be standing here, telling me that if you believed a word out of your mouth." Antonio didn't know what was happening to his partner, wasn't sure how to help him, but as his best friend, he would back up whatever he wanted to do.

"We got a case." Kevin poked his head through the door.

"Come on, let's get this day started." Jay only grunted at his partner and he was out the door, his attention now on work.

Kim woke up from the lack of comfort, the neon lights of the ED doing nothing to help the thumping in her head. Her room was quiet as the rest of the staff moved around, the department starting to come to life. Dr Halstead had told her that if everything went well and she spent a good night, she would be likely be able to go home when he did his rounds, promising to check on her himself. Nicole had gone home with Avery about thirty minutes after Dr Halstead, his brother and partner had left, promising to take care of her daughter until she was able to bring her home herself. She tried to sit up in bed when the pounding in her head became heavier.

"Hey, don't push your body too much, you're probably still feeling the effects of the crash." Will walked in and helped Kim sit up in the bed.

"Thanks, I really thought the headache would been gone this morning."

"Give yourself a bit of time, it was a pretty bag accident you were in."

"I know, I just want to go home."

"Well you are in luck because I am going to check you out and run a few standard tests and you should be able to call your sister to bring you home."

"Okay thank you." It took about thirty minutes, ten questions and a CT scan and Dr Halstead cleared her for home with a few days of rest before going back in the fray of a busy job like child services. Kim texted her sister so she could bring her a change of clothes considering hers had been stained with blood and had been traded for a hospital gown.

"Mom." Avery bounced inside her room and jumped on her bed.

"Be careful sweetie, mommy is still hurting."

"Is that true?"

"My head still hurts." She brushed a strand of hair out of her forehead. "So you have to be soft."

"Okay." She snuggled into her side.

"I brought you everything you need to get out of this place."

"I wouldn't mind feeling normal again and get some breakfast."

"How about pancakes at your favourite restaurant." Nicole tickled Avery.

"Can Jay come?" Nicole and Kim exchanged a glance and Kim looked at her daughter.

"He can't sweetie. He was very nice to help you and to keep you company while I was hurt but Detective Halstead has a lot of work to do and we won't be able to see him again unless we see him walking down the street, or at the store, I'm sorry baby." Avery pouted and tried to give her mom the best puppy dog look she could muster, her bottom lip pulled out. "That look won't work with me Avery Burgess." She chuckled.

"I'm sad." She pouted again.

"Don't be sad, Jay's grumpy anyways." Will walked in to give his final instructions.

"Is not." She defended Jay with everything in her, making all three adults laugh.

"I'll make sure he knows someone is in his corner." Will ruffled her hair playfully. "Are you ready to take care of your mom today? That's a very important job."

"I'm ready." She smiled.

"Alright, the three of you take care and hopefully stay out of this place."

"We will, thank you Dr. Halstead." Nicole wheeled Kim out with Avery sitting on her lap and made a quick stop for breakfast even if it was clear that Kim was tired from everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. She was more than happy to make it home and spend a quiet afternoon with her daughter after promising to Nicole to take it easy and follow the doctor's instructions of rest.

Kim was snuggled in her bed with Avery watching a princess movie after dinner when there was a nock on the door. Kim groaned as she extricated herself from the covers and pulled her sweater closer to her body. She opened the door, not even bothering to look throw the peephole, only to be surprised by the sight of her ex, Owen.

"What are you doing here?"

"I heard about the accident and I came to see how you were doing." He looked worried but Kim didn't buy it. "Was Avery with you? Is she okay? Can I see her?"

"Yes, she was with me and no you can't see her. You're not even supposed to be within fifty feet of me, or her for that matter."

"I know you don't mean that Kim."

"The hell if I don't." She growled, ignoring the thumping that has returned at the sight of him. "This is the second time that you've put MY daughter in danger so I'll be damned if you ever put her in harm's way ever again."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't act like you don't know anything about that." Her voice was raising steadily with the anger she was feeling. "That cut break line, how stupid do you think that I am?"

"You are out of your mind Kim, you can't go around throwing accusations like that."

"If the shoe fits." She growled, her arms crossed tightly across her chest.

"I'm not going to let you fill our daughter's head with these lies about me." He put a hand on her shoulder and tried to push past her but she stood firm and didn't allow him farther inside the apartment.

Avery snuggled deeper in the blankets as her mother left to answer the knock on the door. She liked being surrounded with warmth and she did her best to stay in her mother's lingering heat until she returned. The movie wasn't very loud so it allowed her to hear who was at the door so she stayed very quiet until the voice became louder, suddenly scaring her. She could hear her dad scream at her mom and she didn't like it. She scrambled out of the blankets quietly and found her mother's phone, dialing the one number she knew by heart, pressing the phone to her ear.

"911, what's your emergency?"