UPSTEAD ONE SHOT(S)

Do The Best You Can

Gist: When Hailey and Jay are at the bar after the Mosque episode (I can't remember the ep, sorry). Hailey chooses to stay with Jay over Adam (my spin on).

"How can you be a good cop and just let things go?" Jay asked Hailey, finding it hard to let that particular case go for many reasons. "You gotta do your job the best you can, then go home and pretend the bad stuff never happened" Hailey advised, taking a sip of her beer. "Is that way you do?" Jay asked further. "No" Hailey smiled, guilty as charged. "I didn't think you did" Jay chuckled, swigging down a mouthful of beer.
For a few moments after that, the two partners sat in silence and listened to the music that was playing in the bar. It wasn't uncomfortable silence though, it was comforting. The vibration of Hailey's phone interrupted the two's silence, suddenly. Picking her phone up to see who it was, a small smirk tugged at the corner of her lip. "Adam?" Jay guessed, seeing the smirk on Hailey's face. "Yeh" Hailey nodded, placing her phone face down back on the bar bench. "You should go" Jay urged, not wanting to hold Hailey back from being with Adam. "It's okay, it won't be anything important" Hailey declined the offer/order, wanting to stay and support Jay. "You sure?" Jay checked, happy that she wasn't going; but also feeling guilty. "Yeh, I'm sure" Hailey assured, more than confident in her desicion. "Okay" Jay smiled, subtly looking Hailey up and down.

"I was blind, Hailey" Jay stated, catching Hailey's attention again. "Jay, you weren't blind" Hailey sighed, seeing the same conversation creeping up again. "I was, Hailey. We were both in the Military, I let that cloud my judgment" Jay persisted, the guilt and frustration with himself only growing. "Jay, I let you do that. Plus, you had every right to want to think he was innocent. Especially after what you both went through" Hailey said, watching as her partners hand shook with adrenaline. "Just because we both went through hell, doesn't make it right" Jay said, shaking his head in annoyance. Hailey's heart sank at seeing her partner so broken, she wished she could just take all the pain away from him. "It doesn't, but you can't make it right now. We've all let our personal feelings in the way of our professionalism. We aren't perfect, we're humans. Stop being so hard on yourself" Hailey put her hand on Jay's shoulder. They weren't the touchy-feely kinda friends or partners, but Hailey senced that it was what Jay needed in that moment.

"When I was on tour, I saw a lot of things that I'd never wish for my worst enemy to see. When I came back, I thought all the bad things would stop. But it never, and it sill bothers me to this day. It's frustrating" Jay opened up, letting Hailey in more than he ever had before. "I can't imagen, Jay. What you did so was brave, you show still are. You manage to be a detective and save people every day, and, for the most part, you don't let your personal emotions get in the way. That's pretty fantastic if you ask me" Hailey praised, truly boggled to how Jay coped with such trauma; when triggers were around every moment of the day. "Hu, thanks. I don't know how to argue that one" Jay chuckled. Hailey's words were like a key to a frustrating up-opened box inside of him. He realised that Hailey was right. He managed to pull through ninety-nine percent of his triggers every day, and save so many people; bring justice to the city he grew up in. Jay would never fully recover, or be pleased with his progress, though he was proud of himself for doing what he did. "You weren't ment to argue back" Hailey smirked, watching as Jay sat up a little straighter on the stool. "Thanks, for everything" Jay thanked, so grateful for what Hailey had done for him over the last two and a bit years. He was sure he'd be dead, or close to being dead, by then if it wasn't for her. "Don't thank me. I'm your partner, it's part of the job" Hailey replied, not aware of how much of an impact she had on her partners life.

If only she knew.