Welcome to a slow burn Linstead. It will follow canon with the show up to a point. I'll let you know episodes and important events that go along with the chapter. Anything that's recognizable and the characters belong to NBC. There may be some direct quotes from the show, those will be noted at the end of the chapter. It starts after Al's funeral but will quick jump backwards to around Season 1. There's no set update schedule so please be patient with me. This will be multiple chapters and I'll try to give warning when it's getting close to ending. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!
Setting: Immediately Following Chapter 1
Chapter 2
The next morning Erin and Hank fell easily back into their morning routine. She started the coffee pot while he got the scrambled eggs started. Erin popped 2 pieces of bread in the toaster, poured juice, grabbed mugs and milk for her own coffee. Hank plated the eggs, grabbed the toast, and brought the plates to the table just as Erin finished pouring coffee. They split the paper, reading quietly with few words spoken through breakfast. Neither one of them had ever been much of a morning person.
Approximately 30 minutes later, Hank loaded his plate and mug into the dishwasher, gave Erin a quick kiss to the top of her head, and went out the door to work. Erin took some time to really look around the house for the first time since arriving the evening before. In the light of day, the small little signs that Hank was not taking care of himself as well as he should were much more evident. Instead of the well maintained house Erin was used to, there were dishes in the sink, at least a week's worth of newspapers piled haphazardly on the kitchen island, and general clutter everywhere she looked.
Erin spent the better part of the day getting the house back in shape. Each room revealed new things that had been neglected during the last few weeks. She did 3 loads of laundry, vacuumed, and tidied up before spending the afternoon catching up with Annie and Travis. In addition to helping Hank out, Erin was trying to distract herself from the building nerves. That evening most if not all of the Intelligence unit would be at Molly's grabbing a few beers after shift. It was time to give them an explanation for her quick departure. The team wasn't the problem, just the thought of seeing Jay was the source of all her nerves.
At 8pm that evening, Erin found herself standing outside the door of Molly's nervously fiddling with her shirt. Smoothing the hem down over her hips, Erin took a deep soothing breath and reached for the handle of the door. Just as she was about to pull it open, she heard someone exclaim "Erin?!" Looking to her right, Atwater stood a few feet away, clearly heading to Molly's himself.
"Hey," Erin said with a small, awkward wave.
"Oh come on, none of that. Get over here." Atwater said, opening his arms in an invitation.
With a smile, Erin moved into his arms for a hug. "It's good to see you Kev!"
Atwater held her out by her shoulders to get a look at her. "How are you holding up?" he asked.
"Honestly, I've been better. It's been a rough couple of days."
"More like a rough couple of months."
"Yeah, that's true" she agreed.
"Speaking of rough couple months, you know he's probably in there right?" Atwater asked with a quirked eyebrow.
Erin couldn't help the sheepish smile that spread across her face. "I was hoping having the team as a buffer might limit some of the fireworks"
"Well then," Atwater said as he swung an arm over her shoulder and opened the door, "let's get the show started then."
Upon entering Molly's, Erin was grateful for Atwater's strong arm around her shoulder, otherwise she would have lost her courage. Not even 10 feet away at one of the high bar tables, Jay sat with his back to her. Antonio was sitting to his right, back to the wall, scanning the bar. Across from them Ruzek and Hailey were laughing at whatever story Jay was telling. Within seconds, Antonio's eyes caught hers and his eyebrows rose in surprise. Not long after Antonio saw them, Ruzek and Hailey noticed the pair approaching the table.
"Woah." slipped out of Adam's mouth without him realizing.
Jay's eyes snapped to him at the strange exclamation. "What?" He asked. Glancing around the table, Ruzek, Antonio and Hailey were all looking in the direction of the door with a mixture of expressions on their faces. He turned to look himself and the vision felt like a punch in the gut. Standing not 5 feet away was Erin. Their eyes met and the little air left in him fled his body.
"Hi" she said so quietly it was a miracle anyone heard her over the din in the bar.
Jay was on his feet in a flash. "Nope, I'm not doing this here." he said as he hastily put on his coat.
"Jay…" the pained tone to her voice almost broke down his barriers but he didn't allow himself to pause.
"Nope." Was the last word out of his mouth as he breezed past her on his way out the door.
Erin stood there, mouth open, watching the closed door after Jay left. Honestly, she expected that to go much worse but the encounter still stung. A gentle tap on the shoulder brought her attention around to Antonio.
"It's really good to see you." He said, bringing her into a hug. "Stay and catch up a bit?"
Even though she wanted to rush after Jay, she had missed the rest of the team while she was gone too. Antonio returned to his seat, she hopped into Jay's across from a still surprised looking Adam and a less than thrilled to see her looking Hailey. Atwater came back from the bar with beers for the two of them and the team quickly fell into easy conversation even with the black cloud of Jay's departure hanging over them.
About an hour later, Ruzek was at the bar waiting for his and Hailey's drinks when Erin leaned in next to him. She ordered another round of beers from Herman and then turned so she was facing Adam.
"So how long have you and Hailey been sleeping together?"
He choked lightly on his drink and started to sputter. "I…. I… What?!" he managed to get out.
"Is it more than that?" Erin probed.
"I don't know." He answered with a sigh, "How could you tell?"
"Just the way you guys move around each other. It's familiar…" she replied wistfully, looking at the door again. Ruzek put a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her a concerned look.
"Just be careful, okay?" she says. At that moment, Herman placed their drinks on the bar and she shoots him a small smile before grabbing her beer and walking back to the table.
After finishing the current round of drinks, Erin says her goodbyes and promises the group she will see them again before she heads back to New York. The 15 minute drive to Hank's gives her time to think about how to approach Jay the next day. She had hoped to avoid having their conversation at the apartment they once shared but based on his reaction tonight, it might be her only option. She pulled into the driveway and shuffled her way to the front door. The sound of someone clearing their throat had her reaching for where her gun was usually holstered. Squinting through the darkness she could see the lanky frame of Jay Halstead sitting on the bench by the front door. Erin winced as she watched him take a drag off a cigarette and then snuff it out. That was a habit he kicked a long time ago.
As their eyes locked for the second time that night, Erin could see the combination of hurt and mistrust on his face. The silence stretched between them until Jay spoke, his question hanging in the air between them:
"How did we get here?"