Hailey woke up at 5.30 am, before her alarm, and went for a run. She wasn't very familiar with Jay's neighbourhood, but she knew there's a breakfast café around the corner which sells very good muffins. Jay usually got her one if he owed her something.
When she got back after the run, muffins in hand, she found the apartment still dark and quiet. So Jay hadn't woken up, which was good. She knew that Jay hadn't been sleeping well again, despite him claiming that he had good therapy sessions. She started the coffee and took a shower.
Hailey's ringtone woke Jay up. He yawned and walked to the living room half awake, and answered the phone.
"Sarge."
"Halstead?" asked Voight. Jay suddenly woke up fully when he realised his mistake of answering Hailey's phone. While he always does it on stakeout or in the office without batting an eye, 6.30 am in the morning would definitely raise questions.
"Yes, Sarge?"
"There's a robbery in Uptown. I'm sending the coordinate to this phone," said Voight. Hailey walked out of the bathroom.
"Copy that, Sarge. We'll be there," said Jay. Hailey's eyes suddenly popped out to the use of 'we'. She gasped when she saw that Jay answered her phone. She didn't want the Sergeant to assume about Jay and her. Jay shrugged as Voight already hung up. "It's okay, you took me to Med last night," said Jay.
"Crime scene?" asked Hailey.
"Robbery in Uptown. It's a bank," Jay looked at the location Hailey's phone. "Give me five minutes." He went into the bathroom. When he walked into the kitchen, Hailey already poured coffee into two paper cups and raided his fridge looking for isotonic drink she knew stashed somewhere.
"Got the muffins," Hailey smiled and waved the paper bag on the kitchen counter.
"How can you be so cheerful in the morning," Jay grumbled.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I see," smirked Hailey.
"Thanks to some robbers, I only got three hours of sleep," Jay accepted the coffee Hailey offered, then led her outside.
"What did Voight say?" asked Hailey as they went into her car. There's no use arriving separately if Jay answered her phone in the morning. They still had some explaining to do to Voight.
"Robbery in Uptown," said Jay.
"No, about you answering my phone."
"Nothing," Jay shrugged. "It's okay. You really drove me to Med at 1 am. He knew I got shot."
"Scratched by a bullet," teased Hailey. Jay laughed.
"How did you get Lucia's muffins in the morning?" asked Jay.
"I went for a run, and on the way back I stopped there," said Hailey.
"You ran in the morning?" Jay shook his head. "Remind me again, am I the only one who went to Med and woke up at 1 to 3 am?"
"Yeah… need to clear my mind and think at the same time," Hailey kept her eyes looking forward. Jay glanced at her.
"Care to share?" asked Jay.
"Long story. Maybe later, when everything is clear," answer Hailey vaguely.
"Alright. Anytime you need to rant, we can do it over alcohol," smirked Jay. Hailey smiled.
"Yeah… thanks."
They arrived at the bank earlier than the rest of the team, save for Voight, whose car was parked across the bank.
"Greg!" Hailey approached an officer she knew from her Robbery-Homicide days.
"Hailey. Go on, feel free to take the lead on this one," said the officer.
"Jay Halstead, Gregory Chan," Hailey introduced them. "What do we got, Greg?"
"Four victims. Three security personnel, one most likely is the offender. Messy job. We called Intelligence because they broke into a deposit box filled with counterfeit money and narcotics," said Greg.
"Alright, let me inside," said Hailey.
"Follow me," Greg walked with Hailey, Jay trailed behind. "How's your new unit? I met your Sergeant."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, he arrived very early," they went to the bank and past two dead bodies. Hailey cringed at the amount of blood. "Not used to seeing blood now?" teased Greg. Hailey squinted at him.
"Not as brutal as Robbery Homicide, at least," said Hailey.
"You remember the nightmare we used to get after kids casualty?" Greg sighed. "The job never gets easier."
"Yeah… I know. Hey, catch up later, alright? They sprayed the security cameras with paint?" asked Hailey.
"Yeah they did, but not that smart, they parked in front. Gave the license number to your Sergeant," said Greg. They went to a backroom. Another dead body was lying on the ground.
"Sarge," said Hailey. Voight looked at them, and pointed to few marks on the ground.
"Upton. Work the body, and witnesses. Figure out what they want," said Voight. "Halstead, you're with me."
They exchanged a look, then did their jobs separately. It's not until they were ready to leave that Voight called Hailey. "You're riding with me. Halstead, you and Burgess talk to the night shift security."
Voight didn't say anything about the unusual arrangement to Hailey, but he kept Hailey under his wings throughout the day. Finally, when they rode back to the district after concluding the case, Voight addressed her about the situation.
"You know I hate my people lying to me," said Voight.
"I didn't lie to you," said Hailey.
"Out of everyone, you're the least I expect," continued Voight.
"I didn't lie," repeated Hailey, a bit upset with the accusation. At least, he could've asked.
"You're sleeping with Halstead, and you said you didn't," accused Voight.
"I don't sleep with him," said Hailey.
"Explain. From the moment you spent your day off in the park with him, with your niece and his nephew, to spending the night together last night," Voight stopped the car and faced her.
"He had trouble making peace with his dad's death, he needed help. And I helped him, he talked to me. As a friend. When I got injured, he drove me around. He wanted to drive me to the park because I have my niece staying. I think he felt that he owed me for helping him deal with everything. And when we were about to leave, Will got migraine, so we took Owen so Will could rest. That's it," said Hailey.
"Last night," asked Voight.
"He tore his stitches, called me at 1 am to drive him to Med. After I dropped him back home at 3, he told me to stay until the morning, it was dangerous and I was sleepy. We didn't sleep together, I crashed on the couch," said Hailey.
"Okay," Voight started the car. His voice softened, and Hailey found herself releasing the breath she had unknowingly been holding. "I'm concerned about him. He's not himself lately," said Voight. Hailey snapped her head to look at Voight. "I do care about my people, Hailey. I reamed him out about how he handled the fire case, about how he treated everyone, mainly you. Haven't talked to him much since I threatened to pull one of you."
"Yeah… I'm concerned too. Tried to help, but I think he just needs time," said Hailey.
"He's seeing a shrink, isn't he?" asked Voight.
"He is," said Hailey.
"Don't let him fall too deep, okay? Remember last year? I don't want it happening again," said Voight.
"Copy that," said Hailey.
"Sorry I didn't answer your call last night. Was it about the session?" asked Hailey when she hopped in Jay's truck after meeting a CI. They didn't have the chance to talk the previous day; after the case was concluded, Jay left for his therapy and Hailey wrote their reports. Jay called Hailey after his therapy session, wanting to ask about it, but Hailey didn't answer his call.
"No, it's okay. It's about the report. Were you out last night?" asked Jay.
"I wasn't feeling too hot; went straight to bed after I got home," said Hailey. She leaned her head on the window. Jay glanced at her. She didn't look too good, now that she mentioned it.
"Voight said anything to you about me answering your phone?" asked Jay.
"Yeah… he straight up accused me of sleeping with you," said Hailey.
"Yeah? And what did you say?" asked Jay.
"That we've been sleeping together for a couple months now, and are going to move in together," Hailey said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Duh, Jay, what do you thing I said? Of course the truth!"
"The truth that we've been sleeping together?" Jay laughed at her witty remark. His smirk turned into concerned frown when Hailey sneezed multiple times and visibly shivered. He rummaged the back seat and tossed her his CPD jacket. It was October, but the air was colder than usual. Hailey gratefully slipped her arms inside the jacket.
"I'll wake you up when we arrive," said Jay. He touched her forehead and frowned when he felt her temperature to be slightly warmer than normal.
"Thanks," said Hailey. She reclined her car seat and slept, covering her eyes with her arm. She woke up when Jay parked in the garage.
"Don't pass the virus to me when we sleep together," joked Jay, wiggling his eyebrows. Hailey burst out laughing.
"By the way, how's therapy going?" asked Hailey.
"It's no longer rough sessions, but as to how much it helps… I don't know. I mean, I got dreams about the war, but it no longer nightmares because I talk about it very often I kinda get used to it. You understand?"
"Yeah, sadly, I do. You heard what Greg said yesterday. Mutilated bodies, kids… I dreamed about people I care being chopped up. First time it happened I went to my parents' at 4 am, crying like a little girl. Later I didn't have that kind of reaction anymore, and after that, on my last year, I didn't dream of that," said Hailey.
"Hopefully I don't dream of that anymore," said Jay. Hailey smiled. "Hey, how's your date with the Narcotics guy? Andrew?" asked Jay.
"Aaron, and we should get inside," said Hailey. Once they were on the stairs, she brushed her fingers on Jay's elbow. "If I don't get a cold, let's grab some beers tonight."
"As long as some criminals don't decide to do drugs or kill or blow something up," smirked Jay. They buzzed in to Intelligence. Everyone was still doing their reports. Hailey sneezed a couple times, announcing their arrival.
"Bless you," said Adam.
"Raincheck on the beer?" asked Hailey when they were about to leave for the night. She fell asleep on her desk while updating her CI files. Apparently she looked worse than she thought, because Voight let her sleep until it's time to go home. She was now a proud owner of a mark on her cheek, courtesy of sleeping on a folder.
"Yeah, you need to rest," said Jay. He walked Hailey to her car. "Be careful."
"You too," said Hailey when closing her car door. She drove out of the garage, watching Jay got in his car. She intended to get home as fast as she could, so she audibly cursed when she realised a car was following her. When she stopped in a traffic light, she identified the car as Jay's. Half touched and half annoyed, she decided to just let it go. She waved to him when she got out of the car in front of her house, and fell to the couch immediately. It looks that she got a full blown cold; her nose were stuffed and she felt really tired. She didn't have high fever, though, so she was sure it wasn't a case of flu.
Hailey woke up to sound of her door opening. She grabbed her weapon, which was still in the holster on the table, and went to the kitchen entrance where she could face the culprit.
"Put your hands up!" she yelled. Apparently with a stuffed nose and hoarse voice, she didn't sound intimidating. Even her voice sounded strange to her ears. "Ah, shit, Jay. I almost shot you!" she barked when her partner appeared before her, grocery bags in hand, a sheepish smile on his lips. He laughed when he saw Hailey pointing the gun at him.
"That makes us even, you're pointing a gun at me now," he laughed. "I rang the doorbell and I called you, nothing," said Jay.
"That's not funny," Hailey glared, but knew with her bloodshot eyes she couldn't channel the anger.
"Are you alright? Was you passed out cold?" asked Jay, putting his hand to Hailey's forehead to check her temperature.
"I was sleeping," Hailey put her gun in the holster back. "I thought we called raincheck on the beer."
"We did. I'm bringing you some supplies," said Jay. "How's the cold?"
"It's the same," said Hailey. She shrugged off Jay's CPD jacket she wore since they were in the car. She had her usual jacket below, but she felt really cold and kept Jay's jacket with her the whole day. She went to the bathroom and took out a thermometer. 99 degrees… still fine, but she was really tired. After washing her face and pulling her hair into a bun, she stepped out of the bathroom. Jay already prepared her a mug of tea and a bowl of soup.
"Thanks. And… for making sure I got home safe. You could have warned me, you scared me," said Hailey.
"Yeah, sorry for that. Spur of a moment decision," Jay sat in front of her. "I'm sure you haven't eaten. Or drink. How are you gonna recover?" he scolded her lightly.
"My throat hurts, and dizzy," Hailey sipped the tea. Her congested nose began to clear up because of the steam.
"What's going on with telling me when you need help, which we talked about yesterday?" asked Jay.
"It's just a cold, I don't need help," said Hailey.
"Eat," he pointed at the soup, and pulled out his own dinner, a sandwich. Hailey stopped eating halfway, after her throat and stomach gave up.
"I'm done," she announced. The soup from her corner deli was usually her favourite, aside from her mum's. But her throat felt like sandpaper, she had no appetite, and her head felt very heavy. Her headache, in turn, made her slightly nauseous. She put the soup in a container then walked to the living room, curled up under a blanket. When Jay went to the living room after cleaning the kitchen, it was clear she was feeling worse than previously. She had pulled a trash can closer to her to throw away the tissues she used, and she was nestling her head in her hands. Jay knelt next to her, feeling her temperature. There was a chance that the cold had turned into flu.
"No, no fever… I think," said Hailey. "It's the headache."
"You want some Advil?" asked Jay. Hailey nodded. Jay went to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and the pills. He popped two and presented it to Hailey who took it. She snuggled to the couch, burying herself deeper in the pile of pillows and blanket. Jay went to the kitchen, making some drink. When he went back to Hailey with a mug filled with hot toddy and a glass filled with straight whiskey in it, Hailey was still in the same position, but her uneven breathing and congested nose sound gave away the fact that she was awake.
"Here, drink this," Jay shook her shoulder lightly. Hailey saw the glasses on the table and reached for the one with straight whiskey. Jay snatched the mug from her hand. "Nice try. This one's mine," he pushed the other glass to Hailey's hand.
"Ah, I'm disappointed," Hailey smirked, mulling her mug. "You put far more whiskey here than my mum, I'm actually impressed," she sipped her drink.
"Anything you need before I head out?" asked Jay.
"No, thanks, Jay," said Hailey. "I'm just gonna call it a night." Jay followed her to her room. "Tucking me in again? I'm not sure whether to be embarrassed or flattered," Hailey slipped under her blanket. Jay switched off the lamp.
"Have some rest. I'll see you if you get to work tomorrow," said Jay.
Hailey called in sick to work the next day. Jay had a therapy session after work; in which he had a rough time. He had to talk about his surroundings, people in his life now, and Jay was forced to relieve the hostage situation with Hailey which appeared in his nightmare before. He had a panic attack during the therapy session, something that was no longer a routine. At 9 pm, he rang Hailey's doorbell. After a few minutes, Hailey opened the door, sleepy after a nap. She was taken aback seeing Jay's face. His eyes were red and bloodshot; it was clear he had been crying.
"Jay?" she let Jay in, and closed the door. "What happened? You alright?" she asked concerned. Jay pulled her into a hug and squeezed her. She was about to question him when she felt him sob against her shoulder. She rubbed his back and let him cry.
I was caught up in my other story that I kinda forgot about this one, my bad! And coincidentally last chapter so far in my other story (It's Mutual c6) and this one ended the same way! Please read that one and let me know what you think!
