When the bomb blasted at the other end of the park, Jay was covered behind a directional board, hence he didn't feel the impact of the blast. However, hearing the blast was enough to float him back to the war zone. The sound of people screaming, children including, reminded him of an ambush. Wait. Children? He was here with children!

"Hailey! Owen! Angie!" he ran back to where he sat. Hailey wasn't there, so he went to the sand box. He saw Hailey lying face down into the sand box. He carefully lifted her and immediately relief rushed through his body. Hailey's arms were around Angie and Owen as they both were covered underneath her.

"Uncle Jay!" Owen shrieked.

"Owen, you okay? Anything hurt?" asked Jay, quickly scanned both Owen and Angie. They were both covered in sand, shocked, but they seemed fine. Their head weren't hit either as Hailey's hands were protecting them. Jay turned to Hailey who just stirred in his arms. His heart sank when he realised she was bleeding from her head. Apparently she hit the concrete side of the sandbox.

"You're hurt. It's bleeding a lot," said Jay. He checked the wound and was relieved to see that the wound isn't deep. There were a lot of crying children around them but most got picked up by their parents immediately.

"I'm okay. Call it in!" said Hailey. She pulled Angie to her chest, the toddler was crying hysterically when she saw Hailey's blood. It's starting to get chaotic around them. Jay grabbed his phone and called 911.

"This is 5021 George, there's a blast in Ping Tom Memorial Park. I repeat, Ping Tom Memorial Park. Off duty officer reporting!"

Hailey pulled a crying little girl to her. "Hey, my name is Hailey. What's your name?" asked her. "It's okay, who are you here with?" The girl had sand in her eyes.

"My…dad," she sniffled.

"We'll find your dad, okay?" Hailey held her hand and started blowing at her eyes, blowing the sand out of her eyes. "It's okay, it's okay. Let me see your eyes," said Hailey. She helped the girl until she stopped crying.

"Go, take them both, stay in the car. I'll take a look," said Jay, holding Owen and tried to calm him down. Hailey wanted to argue. She considered asking Jay take the kids while she would go to the bombing side, knowing bomb and battered victims would do no good for Jay's PTSD. However, she knew but knew Jay would disagree. She was bloodied from the head, and she was still on desk duty. Moreover, they have Angie and Owen with them. The kids' safety is their priority.

"Alright. Come on," said Hailey.

"Olivia!" called a man. "Olivia!"

"Daddy!" the girl shrieked.

"Olivia!" the man went to them, scooped up the girl and hugged her. "Oh my God, thank you! You're bleeding. Do you need anything?" asked him.

"No, we're good," said Jay.

"Your wife is bleeding. You need a lift to the ER?" asked him.

"We're with CPD. Go somewhere safe, sir. Don't worry about me," said Hailey. The man nodded, thanked them, then went away. Jay helped Hailey up. Angie was still clinging to her neck. She carried Angie with her good hand, and held Owen's hand. Her sling snapped when she grabbed Angie and Owen earlier. Jay gave her the car key. "Be careful," she grabbed Jay's arm.

"Yeah, you too. You have a gun?" Jay touched her back. Hailey shook her head. She knew Jay carried a weapon, but she couldn't without making it obvious, moreover, she didn't want to carry a weapon with Angie around. "Here," Jay slipped his sidearm to Hailey's hand.

"No, you bring it," Hailey declined. Jay was going to act as a police, he needed it.

"Hailey, you have two kids with you," reasoned Jay. Hailey knew he had a point. Had anything happened, she wouldn't be able to defend the three of them. She shrugged the weapon to her jeans and lifted Owen up with her injured hand to get out of there quickly. They went to the car. She shushed Angie and Owen until they calmed down. She pulled out wet wipes and tried to clean up the kids' clothes and hair and gave them water. She looked at the mirror. Her wound isn't deep, but blood streamed down her face. Angie cried looking at her wound.

"You have boo-boo," said Angie.

"Angie, help me okay? Can you hold this?" Hailey gave Angie a roll of bandage.

"You're hurt," said Owen.

"Yes, I am. I will be okay, though," said Hailey. Angie cried and tried to touch Hailey's face.

"Owen, can you help me? Hold Angie's hand, tell her that it's fine," said Hailey. Owen obliged.

Hailey cleaned her wound while listening to the police frequency. She winced and let out a quiet shriek when sanitising her wound with alcohol, prompting Angie to come closer to kiss her cheek and wiped her tears. After her wound was wiped clean (and kissed multiple times by Angie) and bandaged, she gave both kids water and biscuits.

"You both are very brave today. I'm gonna call your mums, okay? I'll let them know we're all okay," said Hailey.

"Is Uncle Jay okay?" asked Owen.

"Yes he is. He's helping out there," said Hailey. First she called her sister-in-law, ensuring her that Angie was fine, and Angie even got to talk with her mum. Hailey then called Natalie, but she didn't answer. She resorted to text messages before trying to call Will. Of course, Will didn't answer as well.

"Your mum is working, Owen. We'll just stay here and wait until everything is okay," said Hailey. She saw chaos outside, as paramedics and first responders went by her car. It's very unusual for her, just observing from behind a glass. Hailey kept Angie and Owen busy, telling stories and playing with stuffed toys, until her phone rang.

"Upton," she answered Voight's call.

"Upton, are you nearby Ping Tom Park?" asked Voight. She wasn't on call, and she has the injury in her shoulder, but her help might be needed.

"Yes, Sarge, I'm in Ping Tom Park Parking Lot, but I have my niece with me," said Hailey. Next thing she knew, Voight knocked at her passenger seat. She opened the lock.

"You're here with Halstead," Voight deducted.

"We were here during the blast, this is my niece Angie and this is Owen Manning, Jay's babysitting for Will," said Hailey.

"Alright. So you're sitting out this case," said Voight.

"I can send Angie back to my parents and Owen to Will's place," said Hailey. Angie sat on her lap, clinging to her while sending judging look to Voight.

"After Halstead is done, I want you two to drop them off and go to the district. Go through all camera, flag suspicious vehicles and people. We'll start eliminating. The rest of us will canvass the area and talk to witnesses in the hospital. You're still on desk duty," said Voight. He patted Angie's head.

"How many casualties?" asked Hailey.

"Ten died so far, over twenty hurt," said Voight. "You're hurt?"

"Bumped into the sand box," Hailey said.

"Aunt Hailey boo!" said Angie.

"Aunt Hailey is gonna be okay," said Voight. "She's strong. And I need her to help me find who hurt her, okay? She's going to send you home so she can help me," Voight talked in a tone Hailey never heard before.

"Voight," Voight's tone snapped back to normal. He opened the car door and left. Next Jay came, occupied the seat Voight just vacated.

"Uncle Jay!" Owen practically leaped into his lap.

"You okay?" asked Hailey. She knew it must be triggering for Jay.

"Yeah," Jay avoided her inquiring eyes.

"Jay," Hailey's tone was filled with warning.

"I'm okay, Hailey," Jay shrugged her worry off. He saw the bloodied tissue papers Hailey used to clean her wound, visibly shaken. Hailey followed his eyes and stuffed the tissues into the trash can. "You sanitised it?" Hailey nodded. Kevin, Adam, and Kim knocked on Hailey's window. Hailey opened her window.

"Hey… um?" Adam was confused. He felt like intruding a family outing. Hailey was sitting on driver seat and Jay was on the passenger seat, both had a kid on their lap. "Wow, didn't see that coming. Nice family you have there." If Hailey and Jay's looks could kill, Adam would be dead.

"Really, Adam?" Kim rolled her eyes. "Hi, I'm Kim, what's your name?"

"Angie," Angie smiled at Kim. Kim shook her hand.

"And she's yours? Because I'm seeing double right now," asked Adam.

"She's my niece," it's Hailey's turn to roll her eyes.

"And Jay?" asked Adam, pointing at Owen. Owen squirmed in Jay's lap, burying his head in Jay's shirt. Jay poked him until he giggled.

"This is Owen, Natalie's son. Will's sick, I'm babysitting so he can rest at home," said Jay. Angie poked Owen, earning a giggle from her newfound friend. Hailey poked Angie in the stomach, making the little girl squirmed in Hailey's lap.

"You're hurt? Did you see anything?" asked Kim to Hailey.

"I heard blast, and I jumped at them. I stayed that way until Jay came," said Hailey.

"She has blood eee-verywhere," said Owen.

"It's alright Owen," said Jay. "We'll drop you home safely, and then Will can take a look at Hailey."

"We'll send pictures," said Kim. They all went away towards the scene.

"Where's your sling?" asked Jay.

"It snapped when I grabbed them," said Hailey. "Sit in your seat, little lady," said Hailey to Angie. Angie obliged. Jay placed Owen in his car seat as well.

"I'll drive. Do we need to pick up new sling for your hand?" asked Jay. They exchanged place.

"I don't think so, it's nearly healed anyway," said Hailey. "My parents aren't picking up. I can bring Angie to the district, she can keep herself company. Will didn't pick up as well," said Hailey, and tried calling Will again.

"Neither Will nor Natalie picked up. What do you reckon? Bring them to the district?" asked Hailey.

"Yeah, I think so. They can keep Platt company," Jay snickered. Hailey laughed. "Oh well, they can stay in the break room. Let's pick up some snacks for them."

"You're going to regret that, but we have no other options. So much for babysitting," Hailey rolled her eyes. Jay stopped at a supermarket.

"What should I buy?" asked Jay. Hailey gave him Angie's biscuit. Once Jay got out of the car, Hailey read texts on her phone. Turned out her parents were outside of town. They were going to go back to Chicago later, so they would pick Angie up at the district. Hailey called Chicago Med ER.

"Hi, this is Detective Upton. Can you put me through to Dr. Manning?" asked Hailey, relieved that she recognised the voice as April's.

"Dr. Manning is currently busy, can you leave a message?" said April.

"Yes, please. Tell her that her son Owen is at 21st district, and she can pick him up anytime," said Hailey. She hung up after saying thank you. "Your mum is going to pick you up later, until then, you're gonna play with Angie, alright?" asked Hailey. She looked at Angie who was asleep. Before long, Jay came back.

"Biscuits, milk, and coffee for us," said Jay. Hailey smiled thanking him.

"Lucky you went to buy coffee earlier, otherwise I wouldn't be at the sand box," commented Hailey.

"Yeah, I hadn't reached the vendor when the bomb went off. I'm gonna take a look at your wound later," Jay pointed at her head. She knew it was of no use to argue with Jay.


Once they got to 21st district, both Angie and Owen were asleep. Hailey carried Angie with her good hand. Jay followed her with Owen in his arm and Angie and Owen's bag in the other.

"Do I wanna know?" Platt looked at them when they walked up the stairs to the district.

"Sarge," Hailey smiled at Platt.

"Why do you each have a kid that looks like you?" asked Platt.

"My niece. We were in Ping Tom Park when the blast happened," said Hailey. "That's Dr. Manning's son. We work as babysitters in our free time," she said, half sarcastic, half serious.

"They are gonna be picked up later, we're here to look through camera footages," said Jay. "And she's hurt, we need emergency kit."

"Let them sleep in the break room. I have some mattresses they can lie on," said Platt. She went to the locker room with them, providing them some mattresses from a locker. Angie and Owen each got one mattress. They let the door open so they could hear voices.

"Come on, I'll take a look at your wound," said Jay. "And later you have to go back to Med, you did carry Owen with the injured hand." Hailey followed Jay back to the locker room. He took out her bandage and looked at the wound. "You sanitised it?"

"Yeah, the alcohol burned, give me a heads up if you'll do it again," said Hailey. She knew how much paranoid Jay is about injuries, must be something that happened when he served in the Army.

"Sorry," Jay offered an apology before dabbing alcohol swab on her wound. Hailey cringed. It didn't hurt as much as before, but it still stung. Jay quickly redressed her wound. "It looks fine. You have to change the dressing later."

"Thanks," said Hailey. They quickly went to work, going through camera footages. They managed to eliminate cars and isolated two suspicious vehicles.

"I'm gonna take a look at Owen and Angie," said Jay. He went to the break room. Owen and Angie were playing with blocks and puzzles. Jay kept them company for a while. After he gave them biscuits for snack, he heard a cough behind him.

"Hi, dad," Kim teased him.

"Kim, really? You too?" Jay rolled his eyes. Hailey's and his eyes sure got a lot of workout done today, with people teasing them.

"They're really cute. You didn't send them home?" asked Kim.

"Angie's grandparents—Hailey's parents—are out of town, they're going to pick her up later. We are unable to contact Natalie, Med must be slammed, it's the closest hospital to the scene. Will didn't pick up too, he was pretty sick in the morning, he must have turned off his phone. Natalie's shift ended at 6 though," said Jay.

"And how's Hailey doing? Her shoulder and her wound?" asked Kim.

"Would is cleaned and dressed. Shoulder, though, is another story. She carried Owen earlier with that hand, which she shouldn't do," said Jay.

"What are you both doing, babysitting together?" Kim voiced what was in her mind, and everybody's, since they met in the park.

"I owe her a lot, dealing with what happened last week. And she got injured, she was upset she couldn't drive. She had promised to babysit Angie. So I offered to drive her. This morning, Will got sick, Natalie was on shift, and the babysitter couldn't keep Owen until Nat's shift ends. So I took Owen with us so Will could rest," said Jay.

"I thought…"

"What?"

"No, nothing. You just look like a family," Kim smiled. Jay seemed at ease with Hailey, Angie, and Owen, unlike his usual restrained self. She witnessed a lot of Jay's teasing and flirtation towards Erin back then, but this is a side of Jay she never saw before. He seemed completely at peace, almost content.

"Yeah… didn't think of that before. It's nothing like that, Kim," reasoned Jay.

"Hey, it's not me you have to explain to. I imagine Sarge will have your head on his table soon," Kim smiled. "Talking of, one BOLO got a hit. We're going to pick up the driver. Sarge wanted you to dig into him—which I'm sure Hailey started already."

"Alright, you two behave nicely, okay? I'll just be outside, you can call me or Aunt Hailey if you need anything," said Jay. He ruffled Angie's hair before went outside. Hailey was at her desk, deep into her digging into one Anthony Wesley.

"This is a street cam just facing his house, you wanna take a look?" asked Hailey, waving a thumb drive.

"I'll be downstairs, then," said Jay. Hailey was engrossed in her digging of the suspect, she didn't realise Platt went into the break room to play with Angie and Owen. When Hailey went to the break room after sending some information to the team, she smiled and leaned at the doorframe to watch them.

"That's a side of you I didn't expect," commented Hailey.

"Oh, I just didn't get the chance with my own," said Platt.

"Thank you for keeping them company. I bet Angie didn't expect that when she begged to have a sleepover in my place," Hailey squatted when Angie ran to her. She picked Angie up and let Angie pet her wound. Angie insisted to kiss her wound. "She's been kissing my arm since yesterday because I was hurt. And now my head," said Hailey.

"When Dr. Manning picked Owen up, ask her to look at your wound," said Platt. She rose and exited the room. Hailey fed both the kids and used her computer to show them cartoon. She had to admit that both kids behaved very well for their age. Owen must be used to entertaining himself, having a single mother who worked shift hours. Angie's mother is a nurse who worked shift, too.

"There's another bomb near a school in Bridgeport," Jay went to the room and plopped next to Owen. Hailey could see how disturbed he was. Owen crawled to his lap and sat there.

"School? That doesn't make sense. Bombing a park on a Saturday means they wanted attention, wanted to create mass casualty. But a school, on a Saturday…" Hailey passed Jay a cup of coffee from the machine, noting that his hands were shaking.

"There's a homecoming night later. Five teachers and ten students, all members of the committee, were hurt. Two security guards were dead," said Jay.

"Oh, crap…" Hailey didn't realise she cursed in front of Angie and Owen. Angie leaned to her, hugging her neck. Hailey sat beside Jay. She whispered to Angie who hopped next to Owen on Jay's lap and gave Jay a hug. Jay pat Angie's head until she fell asleep, leaning on him. Voight went into the room to grab coffee.

"The suspect is on the way here, border patrol picked him up in the airport, trying to board a flight to Canada," said Voight. Hailey nodded. Voight stood in front of her.

"It was terrible, Sarge. Many families were there. I didn't help at all, just stayed in the car," Hailey shook her head.

"You were off duty, you have bigger responsibility," Voight nodded at Angie and Owen, both was asleep on Jay's laps.

"Yeah, I could only think about what would I tell their mums if they were injured," Hailey smiled. "Next time she stays over, we'll watch cartoon at my place."

"Do I need to ask about the two of you?" asked Voight, clearly referring to the fact that Hailey and Jay were in the park together, at weekend, in what seems to be a family outing. Hailey glanced at Jay, who was asleep beside her. He looked peaceful, each hand around each child. Both Voight and Hailey cannot help but smiled seeing them.

"No, nothing Sarge," said Hailey.

"Alright," said Voight.

"Hey, Dr. Manning is here. I asked her to look at your head wound," Platt peeked into the break room, followed by Natalie. "Oh, my heart," she gasped looking at Jay, Angie, and Owen.

"Sergeant Voight. Hailey, Sergeant Platt said you got hurt in the bombing?" asked Natalie. "We were swarmed today, it was terrible. Thank you for keeping Owen safe," said Natalie, standing beside Hailey to look at her wound.

"I got it sanitised already, twice," said Hailey.

"I noticed that. It was clean, I'll just redress it. Keep it dry, and change the dressing twice a day," said Natalie, putting a clean dressing on Hailey's wound.

"Thanks, Natalie," Hailey smiled. "Hey, Jay, wake up. Natalie's here," she held Jay's shoulder firmly. Jay woke up.

"Sorry, didn't realise I fell asleep," said Jay. "Owen, your mum is here." He shook Owen lightly. Owen opened his eyes and leaned to Natalie, who caught him.

"Let's go home, okay honey?" Natalie carried Owen. "Thanks for keeping him today, guys. And for taking care of Will," said Natalie.

"I'll walk you out," said Platt. Natalie took Owen's bag and they left.

"Go home, you two. It's your day off, you're not on call today," said Voight. "The suspect is on the way, it shouldn't take him a lot to crack. Explosives were found at his house, along with detailed plan of the attacks."

"We'll wait until Angie got picked up. My parents should be here anytime," said Hailey. Her phone rang. "Ah, just in time," she rose from her seat and picked Angie up from Jay's lap, forgetting that she shouldn't use her right hand.

"That's why you need your sling," chastised Jay.

"Take her to Med," said Voight to Jay. "I'll send you out," Voight motioned to Hailey. Hailey gave a horror look to Jay that her parents were going to meet her boss. Jay hid his laugh. Hailey did look like a student whose parents were called to the principal office. To be honest, it was kind of hilarious. It took everything in him to not follow them and peek from the stairs.


Sorry, abrupt ending! It shouldn't be end of chapter yet, but it's too long so I ended it abruptly. Thanks for all the kind comments on the last chapter! Reading update on other fanfics really boost my writing mood too!