Hailey walked into the ER beside her partner and was glad to see a calm Will waiting for them at the door. The plan was for Adam to call Will and let him know they were on their way in. He would also mention the drugs, sexual assault and attempted rape so Will had time to get his emotions under control. The last thing Jay needed right now was a freaked out brother.

Will took in what he could see of his brother's injuries; blood smeared face poorly camouflaging the darkening bruises, bloody knuckles and a splinted left arm. He knew there were bruised or cracked ribs hidden under the blanket but even with all of that he was able to remain outwardly calm. Pushing down the sexual assault for the time being also helped dampen the anxiety that burned within him.

"Hey little brother."

Will. He was safe.

Squinting open his eyes when he heard his brother's calm greeting, Jay sighed in what could only be described as profound relief and it resonated in his voice, "Hey."

Will wiped a tear rolling from the corner of Jay's eye, "Right here. Not going anywhere."

"Mmm…"

He closed his eyes again. Talking was too exhausting so he left it at that. Just the vibration of speaking shot pain through his head.

Ethan had Will step back so they had room to work but didn't kick him out of the bay knowing that both brothers would suffer from his banishment.

"Hey there Jay."

Only a finger twitched at Ethan. He really just wanted to be ignored. They all seemed to catch on to what Jay needed so talking was kept to a minimum.

Hailey waited anxiously at the door alone until Adam and Kevin arrived. By unspoken agreement, Adam joined Hailey and Kevin went to find Kim and get the status of Voight.

Will was prepared to be a silent observer not active participant in Jay's care but when his little brother's hand flopped, Will immediately stepped forward and put his hand in it, giving it a squeeze to let him know he wasn't going anywhere.

Jay briefly tightened his grip on Will's hand in return then became a rag doll again, concentrating on the hand running through his hair until he needed to answer a question. But finally feeling safe with his brother, any and all questions went unanswered as he let his defenses go and slipped into a pain induced but peaceful oblivion.

X

Kim and Kevin popped out of the next room a few minutes later drawing Hailey's attention away from her partner, "Voight?"

Lest her boss hear what she is saying, Kim spoke in a near whisper, "Mild concussion, he'll be okay. He's trying to get out of bed so he can get to Jay and pissed he's being thwarted. Maggie's handling him, Platt's on her way in."

If anyone could handle Voight, after Platt and to some extent Jay, it would be Maggie. Watching Maggie and Platt gang up on their sergeant would have been something to see, but the comic relief of that wouldn't diminish the drama playing out in front of them.

They were worried about Jay, that his concussion might be more than a concussion. He'd already had the shit beat out of him, then took another hard hit to the head when the asshole pushed him into the side of the car.

Stepping back as an unconscious Jay was rolled out, their anxiety ratcheted up a notch. Up close and in the glaring lights of the ER he looked terrible.

Ethan stopped for a moment to update the team letting April and a calmly panicked Will take Jay to CT.

"Definite concussion, but he's showing no signs of cognitive decline so we're probably looking at grade two. We'll get a CT to be sure that's the extent of it. Numerous bruised ribs and two with barely there hairline fractures. X-ray's on his wrist don't show the need for surgery but his ulna and radius both have a break. We'll put him in a splint until the swelling goes down then he'll be in a cast for 4-6 weeks."

Kim was with Voight and was only just now getting a look at Jay's injuries.

"He looks terrible."

Ethan nodded at her statement because it was the Gods honest truth, Jay did look terrible, but he had no doubt his friend would be okay just miserable as hell for awhile.

"He'll be okay guys. We're going to keep him overnight as a precaution but barring something showing up on the CT he can go home tomorrow after a follow up scan."

Anyone who knew Jay, knew he hated hospitals and would do anything to get out of them even if his stay would only be for one night.

Chuckling, Adam reminded the group of Jay's MO, "Unless he tries to leave AMA."

"He probably won't feel up to an escape attempt so I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

His endeavor to bring a little lightness to distract himself from the shit situation just made him, probably all of them, feel worse. He took Ethan's, 'he'll be okay guys' and threw cold water on it. He should have kept his fucking mouth shut.

Ethan hated to bust Adam's bubble but he wasn't one to sugar coat a situation, and unfortunately had to pour more salt in the wound with a reminder of why Jay was there in the first place.

"I'm going to work around the protocols that come with an attempted sexual assault, so I won't notify Dr. Charles but will put it down as a decline of services. I know between you guys and Will, you'll have the situation well in hand and get him more help if it's needed…"

And with that, Ethan's assurances that Jay would be okay were drown in more cold water. Jay'd be okay physically sure, but there was still the other bit of this hanging over their heads and they didn't know what to do with that yet.

The weight of the situation came through loud and clear in Hailey's sigh, "Ya, we got him. Thanks Ethan."

X

Later

While Platt, Will and the team watched Jay sleep, he was in the process of waking up, sluggishly rising to the surface from his drugged out slumber. That was until the memory of Hank getting clocked in the head yanked him to clearheadedness and startled them all with his desperate, though croaky, shout.

"Voight!"

His anxiety about Hank and the jerk of his body that went with it, spiked his pain. With a groan he rolled to his side, pulled his knee up and held tight to his injured ribs

"Right here kid."

He ignored Platt's growl of 'Hank,' but got out of the damn wheelchair anyway, stepped closer to the bed and ignored the spin of the room.

Blinking at his boss, then leaving his eyes at a squint, Jay croaked out, "You okay?"

"I'm good. Gotta pretty big goose egg to the back of my head but I'll be okay."

Trudy internally scoffed at Hank for downplaying his injury. The stubborn ass also had a pretty good concussion, but let it go knowing Hank was holding back the full truth so he didn't worry the kid.

Jay blew out a breath, dipped his chin in a nod and passed out as "Okay, good." was leaving his lips.

They all sat there a while longer, Hank leaving once under the guise of making a call but they all knew by the look on his face he was leaving the room to puke. He would never admit to having a concussion.

Hearing what happened to Jay made him sick and knew it would be a hard emotional recovery as well as physical but he had no doubt the kid would come out the other side. Jay was the strongest person he knew.

Will hated with a passion when the 'dangerous' aspect of Jay being a detective was thrown in his face and not left lurking in the shadows where he wanted it to stay. When his little brother was injured, it would spike his fear and start all the tumbleweeds of 'what ifs' rolling around in his head.

This time Jay was hurt and then almost hurt, in a way he hadn't freaked out about before. A 'what if' he didn't realize existed. It was because of the 'what ifs' that Jay never told him about these short undercover stints, he knew it would worry him.

In fact, Jay rarely talked about his job, period, to spare him that anxiety as much as he could. Will knew the danger was there, his little brother just didn't want to poke it by talking about the source of his anxiety.

He wasn't mad at the team for what happened to Jay. He knew, 'shit went sideways,' as Jay liked to say, was always a possibility. The Unit would always have his back but sometimes that wasn't enough. Jay was good at his job, his unit got the hardest cases for a reason, they were the best of the best. But the criminals they dealt with were also the worst of the worst.

So he tried not to think of the scarier aspects of being a cop in Chicago and focus instead on who his brother was, what he brought to the table when protecting the the city. His experience and military training were a given but he was also ridiculously caring and compassionate.

No, Will wasn't mad at the team and he was proud, as always, of his brother. He was just freaked out by the new 'what if' that came into the light.

XXXXXXX

Jay had starting having nightmares where the team didn't get there in time when he cut back on the narcotic pain meds, which was the day he was released from his two day stint at the hospital. He would wake up a trembling, sweaty mess but Will was always there and sat with him through it.

Two days after he was out, he even told Will he 'went to' Afghanistan when everything was happening…going to happen. His confession brought forth a mixed bag of disbelief, confusion and something else that might have been wistfulness in Jay.

"Fuck. I never thought I would want to go back there…"

Will kept quiet and just listened knowing his little brother had more to say.

Tilting his head, he looked at Will with glassy eyes and a hint of a smile twitching on his lips, "…it was nice to see them again…the guys, and have it not be a nightmare of the humvee…"

Will had no words for that and if he did they would be stuck in his throat, so he rubbed Jay's shoulder which earned him a small smile.

Jay had wanted to tell Will he was scared shitless when it was happening. He always thought he would be able to fight and protect himself from anything. Being proven wrong had shaken him to his core, but he didn't say anything. Will didn't need to know that…no one needed to know that.

XXXXXXX

Voight let him come back to desk duty a week later. He knew he looked like shit. The bruises were still dark and he still had stitches above his eyebrow and on his cheek, but he needed the distraction and his concussion symptoms had cleared with only the dull throb of a headache remaining and the other injuries he could work through.

Plus, it would have been pretty hypocritical of Hank to put the kibosh on his return to work since he had 'stopped in to check on the unit for a moment' two days after it happened and didn't leave.

X

Trudy scowled at her bruised detective as he came up the steps. He looked tired and probably shouldn't be there but she understood it was the best place for him to be. Will said Jay was fine, or would be…was getting there…he wasn't jumpy anymore and the nightmares were tapering off.

Will thought the distraction of work might actually help Jay process things. So there he was, gracing the doorway with his presence, eyes sparkling with genuine mirth and a smirk on his split lips just for her.

Deadpan in her delivery as usual, she pointed at his splinted wrist, "You cleared to drive with a broken wrist there, Chuckles?"

He raised an eyebrow at her stealthy mother-henning and wondered how much blatant, though sarcastic mother-henning he was going to be hit with in the coming weeks. He was pretty sure she did it just to mess with him. Not that

she didn't care, she did, but she sure as hell wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get under his skin.

He lifted his other arm, "They come in pairs. I'm good."

"Uh huh. Well, since you got another arm, save me a trip and bring these up to Hank."

She handed him one stack of files, then another knowing damn well he wouldn't be able to hold all of them and buzz himself up. Hell, he wouldn't even be able to open the door if she buzzed him up.

"Ha ha very funny Sarge."

"I know, Detective Chuckles, I'm just a hoot. Come on."

XXXXXXX

XXXXXXX

I apologize for leaving you on a comedic cliffy. Therefore, I will try to get the next chapter out sometime tomorrow morning. I hate leaving you guys dangling in that positive energy.

Big smooch to make it better! Stay safe peeps!