afterthought

takeout.

Hailey walks in that morning with her hood piled around her neck and a coffee mug between her hands. Her hair spills around her neck in the little spots her jacket doesn't cover.

She's quiet as she sits down and Jay whispers a subtle good morning when he feels her figure drop into the chair across from him.

When he gets no reply he lifts his head up from his paperwork. His mouth splits into a wide grin when he sees her, "Hey," He laughs. "Good morning."

"Shut up." Hailey burrows herself deeper into her hoodie in an attempt to stop the raging headache she has.

"I'm guessing we won't be seeing Kim until later?" Jay chuckles.

"Wouldn't count on it. I think she's more hungover than I am."

"How many shots?" He asks, smirking.

"Wine actually."

Jay leans back in his chair, "Hailey Upton and Kim Burgess wine drunk? That's very mundane of you."

Hailey shakes her head but even past the hoodie she has draped around her, he can see the hint of a smile. "Shut up, Halstead."

"Wow, it must be bad." He grins, "Need help with your paperwork?"

She lifts her head up and a toothy grin plays across her lips, "That a real question?" She pushes a comically large stack of paper before him.

Jay inhales and places both hands on the pile. To Hailey's surprise, he takes the first paper off the pile and grabs a pen.

"Hey I wasn't serious, you don't have to-"

"I don't mind." He smiles back. Her stomach does the tenth flip that morning.

"At least split it." She says as she slides half the pile back over to her desk.

He never looks up, but the grin on his face is evident all the same.

———————————

Kim does show up eventually and the team gets thrown back into the same case they've been working for a week.

The one lead they had managed to acquire had died yesterday in the shootout, leaving them with nothing.

Despite how much she should, Hailey doesn't care that they lost their lead. She'd have the situation repeat a thousand times over if it meant watching Jay walk out of that building, alive.

She thinks about it too much that morning, unaware of the dangers overthinking can cause on the job.

She's made a promise not to let her emotions control her actions and she doesn't seem to attend to the fact that it's nearly impossible with their job. With him working beside her.

That's why 24 hours after he's faced with death, Hailey won't even let him come close.

"Sarge, I'm telling you. Let me go in instead. We can't risk Jay's cover being blown." Hailey shuffles her feet in her spot on the street. Jay stands to her left, and while she can't see him, she can feel his eyes on her all the same.

It's not an unreasonable request, and if it had been anyone but Hailey asking, it might even go unnoticed. While there's no overwhelming danger of his cover being blown, it still exists in any situation.

Voight looks her over and finally nods. Hailey lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding, "Ok. Get geared up, get in there in five."

She nods quickly and tightly, no evidence of her hangover lingering. She steals a quick glance at Kim who has a knowing look in her eyes before making her way to the van to get geared up.