I hate the last chapter I posted, so this is the new chapter. I like this one much better because we get to see some actions, and the characters are back to normal :)


Jay woke up to an alarm. He jolted awake, frowned when he realised that he was not in his room and his pillow moved on its own.

"Sorry," he heard a hoarse voice, and the alarm was off. He looked around and realised that he was asleep on his couch, on Will. He fell back to rest his head on Will's lap, yawning.

"What time is it?" he asked, holding his head. His head hurts, likely from the amount of alcohol he had. He woke up like this for a couple days, so it was nothing new.

"6 am. Sorry, go back to sleep. My shift is at 7. I'll make breakfast," Will slipped out from under Jay, slipping a pillow to replace his thigh. He took a quick shower and started breakfast. Jay needed one since he must have a hangover.

"What did you make?" asked Jay as he went to the kitchen. Will already started eating and having coffee. Jay's place is by no means near to the hospital.

"Breakfast taco, I put in cheese and ham," Will pointed at Jay's plate.

"I have tortilla and ham?" questioned Jay. He doesn't cook on a regular basis, especially lately when life had been throwing punches at him. Jay poured a coffee for himself.

"I brought it, thought I'd cook as a peace offering," Will smirked.

"Your cooking is good, Will, but not that good that if I was mad at you, I would forgive you. It'd be the drunken noodle from Thai place near your apartment," jabbed Jay.

"Noted. You working?"

"Hailey said she told Voight I got food poisoning. I'll come in, tell him that it passed. You vouch for me if this ever comes up?" Jay smirked.

"Yeah, tell Voight I was here all night. Not a lie," said Will. He picked up his toast and put the plate in the sink. "I have to go, I'm already late. Have a Tylenol or two, and take a shower. Voight will smell the booze."

"Thanks, Will," Jay simply said, but his eyes conveyed gratitude, love, and… embarrassment? Will smiled.

"Nothing you wouldn't do for me if the roles were reversed," he patted Jay's shoulder and left. He came back two seconds later, grabbing a foil-covered taco from the kitchen counter. "Nat's breakfast," he grinned, and flew out the door.


"You're doing okay?" asked Hailey when he hopped the stairs to Intelligence. Jay knew she knew; she did lie to Voight for him. But they were in the precinct, around their team.

"Yeah, it passed," he nodded.

"You know we'll be okay one man down if you're not feeling hot," Hailey frowned. Jay couldn't tell if she was really worried about him or whether that was an act because everyone in the room must be aware he got sick last night.

"I'm alright," Jay shrugged. Hailey seemed not convinced, so he continued, "courtesy of Dr. Halstead. He stayed last night."

"Alright. You two, stakeout at Henry DaRoyce's house. Hailey, fill him in," said Voight. They nodded, went to the stakeout car. They stopped to get coffee. Jay bought her a muffin; she lied to Voight for him yesterday. Hailey smiled, her eyes twinkling as she bit into the muffin.

"You're just gonna pretend that you weren't at my place last night?" asked Jay after it was clear Hailey wasn't gonna talk about it.

"Not now, Jay," said Hailey.

"What?"

"I don't want to talk about it now," Hailey looked through her lens.

"Are you mad?" asked Jay.

"No, I'm not, it just isn't the place and time to talk about it," said Hailey. "There he is," she grabbed a camera, cutting their conversation short.

They didn't have time to talk about it, because next thing they knew, they were raiding a stash house. Jay kept one eye on Hailey. Last thing he wanted was her getting hurt again.

The raid ended as quickly as it started, and they were back at the precinct trying to get the suspects to flip on their distributor. Antonio went into one interrogation room while Voight and Kim were on the other one. Hailey went into the room Antonio was in when the suspect didn't budge.

"It's over. He talked," Hailey spoke to Antonio. Antonio shrugged.

"Wait, talked what? He promised he wouldn't say anything!" the suspect asked.

"Well, don't you wanna know. He told us," said Hailey.

"He told you about Henry? Man, he's not gonna be happy, he planned to go to Iowa already," the suspect sneered.

"Gotcha," Adam, who watched the interrogation from the behind the glass with Jay, let out a triumphant laugh. "How smart is that."

"And you're going down because you gave us nothing!" Hailey threatened the suspect. In a second, he flipped, told them everything they needed to know. Hailey and Antonio high-fived when they exited the interrogation room.

"Good job," said Voight, who met them at the hallway. "Let's go to the airport."

They went to the airport. Hailey and Jay sat at Starbucks near Henry's gate is, and waited for him to appear.

"There he is," Jay spoke into his intercom. He pretended to take a picture of Hailey who sat with Henry to her back. Henry walked to them, clearly sensing something isn't right. Jay looked at Hailey, and through silent conversation, he knew Hailey knew what's going on.

"Excuse me, is this the gate going to Iowa?" asked Henry at Jay.

"I don't know, we're going to Seattle," Jay pointed at the next gate. "It should be written there on the screen."

"You want more sugar?" asked Hailey, finding a reason to walk from the table to approach him from behind. Jay could see Antonio approaching behind Henry. Henry was wearing a jacket, so he might be carrying a weapon.

"No, I'm good," said Jay. The moment Hailey stood, Henry grabbed her and pointed a gun to her.

"Back off or I'll shoot her," Henry said to Antonio and Adam who were behind him. Hailey looked at Jay, he looked terrified. Strangely, she felt calm. This wasn't the first time she had a gun pointed at her, and sadly, wouldn't be the last one. She nodded to Jay, who shook his head slightly. She only asked for Jay's consent in this one, because she knew she would be able to get this done without getting anyone injured.

Jay couldn't believe it. He really would bubble wrap Hailey after this. For someone with a gun to her head, Hailey was remarkably calm, even able to calm him down a little. She was about to do something, he knew. He just knew. They made eye contact and she looked down, glanced at around Jay's torso. Gun. Jay understood that she needed backup. Jay prayed quickly and prepared himself. Around them, Antonio and Adam waited, tried to open conversation, but they had been in the unit long enough to know that Hailey was about to do something. Voight was further back, didn't want to crowd the scene. Henry hadn't felt Hailey's gun, which was concealed by her jacket, so she only had a little time before he did.

"You, you're gonna blame these cops when I blow your lady's head!" Henry threatened to Jay. Hailey nodded, very slightly, but enough for Jay to grab his gun while Hailey stomped on Henry's feet, pointed the gun away from her and the crowd, forced him to drop the gun, and threw him over her head near Jay's feet. Jay pointed his gun at him, followed by Antonio and Adam.

"Chicago PD. You're under arrest for drugs possession, distribution, being accessory of murder, and your little act just now," smirked Hailey. Jay exhaled the breath he unknowingly had been holding. As Antonio moved to cuff Henry and Adam secured the gun, Jay gripped Hailey's arm.

"You're okay?" he asked quickly.

"Yeah, she is," smirked Adam, finding Hailey's act arousing. Jay shut him down by throwing murderous look at him.

"Yeah," said Hailey, holstering her gun. Few people around them clapped and whistled at her. Hailey smiled awkwardly. Hailey sighed and grabbed her coffee. "I'm gonna need something stronger than this," she said. Voight who came to them smiled.

"Tequila is on me. Good move, Hailey," Voight smiled proudly.

"Thanks Sarge," Hailey said. As they walked away, she tried her recently injured shoulder. She threw the suspect using her good shoulder, but just for precaution, she tried moving her arm. It didn't hurt at all. She waited for Jay to catch up with her. They were heading back to the district to interrogate Henry and write reports.

"You okay?" asked Hailey once they were out of hearing range of everyone else.

"Yeah," said Jay. Hailey wasn't convinced, but she didn't want to make a scene. Once they were in the car, she faced Jay.

"Talk," she ordered.

"It's the adrenaline," said Jay. He pulled Hailey close and gave her a side hug. "I'm glad everything is okay."

"Except you. We've been there before, you know."

"Yeah, except the fact that you got three injuries in a row lately. If he blew your head for real, I'm…" Jay's voice broke. "Point is, I wasn't ready."

"I wasn't ready either. Jay, don't treat me like a porcelain doll," Hailey grabbed his arm. "I'm touched to know that my safety means a lot for you, and same goes to you by the way, but your face when I was there wasn't the face of a cop who knows that his partner is capable. And I know you weren't acting," said Hailey.

"Guess I let my instinct as a friend took over my cop instinct, sorry," said Jay.

"Are we good?" asked Hailey. "As partners, are we good?"

"Yeah, we are," said Jay, then starting the car.


When they arrived in the district, Antonio and Voight were drawing confession from Henry. Jay, Hailey, Kim, Kevin, and Adam started writing reports and had dinner. Hailey was nearly done and Jay was halfway through when Voight walked to his office.

"He flipped. Go home." Everyone let out a relieved sigh. It was a little before 8 pm, perfect time for a hangout at Molly's. "Here, as promised. Your first drink on me today," Voight put a glass in front of Hailey.

"Cheers," said Hailey, then gulped the tequila. The liquor burned her throat, exactly what she needed after a long day.

"Molly's?" asked Kevin.

"I'm five minutes away from finish. I'll meet you guys there," said Hailey. The rest of them rolled their eyes or groaned, they know Hailey's habit of finishing reports early.

"I'll take a raincheck," said Jay. He nodded to Hailey, "a word?" he whispered. Hailey followed him to the break room.

"Will and I didn't speak since weekend. I accidentally said something unpleasant. I overthought, I, I think, and my release was booze. I had beer every night, sometimes two, three… four, didn't throw away the bottles," Jay looked sheepish. "Cue to yesterday, when you and Will found me. I wasn't passed out, I was sleeping. I didn't sleep well, the nightmares are at peak. I don't know how worried you were, but you must be worried at some point. Sorry," said Jay.

"Ask for help, Jay. I'm here. So is Will," said Hailey.

"Thanks, but… as the therapist said, the more often I deal with this on my own, it would make my mind remember what to do, and eventually, do it on reflex," said Jay. Hailey squeezed his arm, nodded to send him out, then finished her report. She went to Molly's and joined the team. It's been a while for her since she last joined them, because of the injuries she had. They were joined by some CFD members and took turn to let out some steam on the karaoke machine.

"Hey!" Sylvie Brett sat by her when Antonio was singing some Michael Jackson. Hailey smirked. She heard before she joined, Antonio and Sylvie were together briefly.

"Hey!" Hailey yelled over the noise.

"Saw your partner at the bombing scene. Heard he called it in," said Sylvie. "I thought he got injured, he was pale, like just lost a pint of blood. I asked him whether you were there, he said you weren't."

"I was there, but I wasn't on call and on desk duty, and I couldn't respond because… yeah, I had other things," said Hailey.

"I know. You had family member with you. Is Halstead doing okay?" asked Sylvie.

"What do you mean?"

"He went to the truck to sit down for a while. It wasn't a hot day, but he was sweating a lot," said Sylvie.

"Uh, yeah, just a reaction. We had a hell of a case the week before, probably not enough sleeping," said Hailey.

"Right, it's nothing then," said Sylvie. She yelled and clapped when Antonio was done. Hailey laughed when Antonio dragged a confused looking Cruz to the the stage. She missed this, having fun with the team and, basically, the front-liners of Chicago.


On the weekend, finally Will and Jay got time to clean up their father's apartment. They arrived early in the morning. Jay passed Will a cup of coffee.

"Thanks. Hey… tell me if you want to call it a day," said Will, anticipating Jay's reaction.

"Okay," Jay went to open a drawer in the living room.

"Is everything okay?" asked Will.

"Yeah. Had therapy last night, I'm a bit tired," said Jay.

"Slept well?" asked Will.

"Surprisingly, yeah. I watched TV until I fell asleep, though, but I don't need to be coddled anymore. The more I talk about it, apparently… I'm dealing with it," Jay smiled triumphantly.

"Good," said Will. They started cleaning the apartment, from the living room and moving to the bedroom. Jay had been avoiding cleaning the drawer in which he found his photos; he wasn't ready. Will opened the drawer and put the photos and articles in the box which Jay would take.

"You wanna take these?" Will waved the photos. "Yeah, you want to." Jay didn't respond, he had trouble processing all these. A month earlier, he was still fighting with his dad about the apartment, and now… he shook his head.

"May I ask?" asked Jay.

"You never asked for permission," Will pointed. Jay laughed dryly.

"How did you take dad's death? Were you really as calm as you showed me?" asked Jay. Will stopped putting things into boxes, he sat on the bed.

"I know… medically, there's nothing more can be done for him. I guess, understanding it from medical point of view helped me. I struggled, Jay, as a family member, I did. Nat talked me through after you got mad at me. I was angry towards the hospital; that drained me too. That night, I didn't sleep, thinking what else could be done. However, as a doctor, I know we did everything," said Will.

"I thought you didn't struggle. Did you become a jerk after taking the news? Anyone became your punching bag?" asked Jay.

"You became a jerk? You were always one, Jay," Will smirked. Jay threw a sock ball to him. "I took off on Ms. Goodwin, about the hospital policy. Yeah, she was my punching bag."

"Smart, lashing at your boss. Lucky you still have a job," Jay laughed, amused.

"She let it pass," Will shrugged. He started cleaning the bedside table. "Hey, Jay…" He trailed off when he opened a thick book.

"What is it?" asked Jay.

"It's…" Will's eyes nearly popped out. It's a diary, full of dates and their names. Apparently Pat Halstead noted when he heard from each son, and where were they at the moment. Jay's name and "Afghanistan" were on a lot of pages, and suddenly it changed to "Chicago", where the dates became further and further apart. Will's pages have "Sudan" and "New York" on it before it became "Chicago" and the dates became closer apart.

"He kept an eye on us," whispered Jay, wiping his tears.

"He did," said Will. "You want to keep it?"

"Yeah… I think so," said Jay.

They were drained by the time they finished. Everything was in boxes, and Will called the moving company to tell them what to do. They sold and donated all the furniture, donated the clothes, and each took home a box filled with photos and memories: Jay's first homerun ball in elementary school; Will's best student award in high school; family photos. It was around 2 pm, both were starving. They decided to eat in a restaurant nearby.

"Jay, isn't that Hailey?" Will asked, pointing at a table across the room. Jay looked over his shoulder. From behind, he was sure that was Hailey. She was with a man who Jay felt familiar with, but couldn't point his finger at.

"Yeah, I think," said Jay, quickly turning back. After Will warned him about not leading Hailey on, he tried to keep his distance. They talked at work as usual, but Jay stopped popping in to Hailey's place as he wished. He came to pick her up in the morning when they carpooled to a crime scene, and dropped her back at home without stopping for a drink. He tried to recognise his pattern: he would be too caught up drinking and talking until naturally he crashed at her couch. If Hailey noticed something different, she didn't point it out, and Jay was relieved. He didn't know how to explain it to her.

"Who's she with?" asked Will.

"I don't know," Jay shrugged, turning his attention back to his food. He cursed when Will smiled and waved. "Damn, Will," he rolled his eyes.

"She turned and saw me," Will said with low voice. Jay turned and waved, and they continued eating. Minutes later, Hailey was at their table.

"Hey, guys," greeted her.

"Hey, Hailey," said Will.

"Didn't expect to see you around here," said Hailey.

"Yeah, we just cleaned our dad's apartment," said Will.

"Ah, right. This is Aaron, he's in Narcotics," said Hailey. "Aaron, this is my partner Jay Halstead and his brother Will." They exchanged handshakes.

"Alright, see you on Monday," Hailey said towards Jay. As they walked out, they watched Aaron put his hand on Hailey's back.

"Wow, that's clearly a date," commented Will.

"Yeah, I think so," said Jay.

"You don't know?" asked Will.

"No, I don't," Jay stole Will's dumpling. Will glared at him, but decided to drop the conversation.

"You're gonna be okay? We just cleaned dad's apartment, something that you've been stressing about," Will asked before they left.

"Who stressed about what?" asked Jay, trying to sound offended. "You were the one who got sick last week."

"Don't lie. I know you," Will countered.

"I am okay, surprisingly. Discovering things was hard, it happened when we first visited. Knowing he kept track of me, I was caught by surprise. But today I knew what to expect, so it wasn't hard," said Jay.

"It's good. Did the therapy help?" asked Will.

"It did. I think, I'm starting to feel the advantage. I got only one nightmare this week, after Hailey was held hostage by the guy we were trying to catch," said Jay.

"Oh yeah? How did it end up?"

"Obviously, well. She was just here," Jay rolled his eyes at the stupid question. "She's a badass, she threw the guy, bigger than me, over her shoulder. Remind me not to get on her bad side?" laughed Jay. Will laughed with him, smiling at how proud Jay was of his partner.

"Alright. Don't ever make her mad," warned Will.

"Not that I plan to," smirked Jay.


How is it? Is it better than last chapter?