Dreaming Out Loud // Jonathan Toews, Chris Kreider, Nathan MacKinnon

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois, September 18, 2019

Jacqueline walks into the precinct with her ring finger hidden inside her front jean pocket. Even though her famous big sister practically revealed her news to the world, she still wants to keep the news on the down low for people involved in her professional life. She never liked to be the center of attention and mostly, she did not want people to focus on her romantic life with a renowned hockey star.

Her partner, detective Gerard Hanson, looks up when he hears her approaching and beckons her over. He knew of her engagement and not because he received the information from her. Alike the majority of the world, he watched Evangeline's appearance on Cyndi Jackson's talk show and found out through there. Ever since he found out, he has been teasing his partner non-stop about it.

"Hello, Detective Toews!" Hanson quips as Jack takes a seat at the desk beside his.

She rolls her eyes at him and turns to her computer screen.

"Please do not start with me, Hanson," she warns, "Don't you have something better to do?"

"Actually, I don't. The Chicago abductions front has been quite silent ever since we closed the Glendale case," Hanson beams at her, "besides I'd much rather talk about your engagement to the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks."

Jacqueline ignores him, opens the webpage, and starts typing up a report for another small case that they closed after the Glendale case. It was very minor, a mother lost her son in a shopping mall but it turns out that he found his way home. The woman was embarrassed that she got the police involved but since she did, Jack had to do the report.

"I mean, it's nice that the kidnappings has stopped, but it's kinda boring around here," Hanson continues.

Jacqueline likes Hanson well enough. At first, she was very reluctant to work with him because he, like herself, was a young detective. She did not trust him at all, especially since her last partner turned out to be a dirty cop who fed the department false evidence in exchange for money from an underground gang. The department showed her some sympathy and tried to convince her to trust again. They threw this carefree, overly enthusiastic goof at her and she resented him at first.

He proved her wrong after their third case together. She was held at gunpoint after following a bad lead, and there was goofy Gerard Hanson, having her back and taking down the criminal before he pulled the trigger on his partner. Although she is a bit sardonic and pessimistic by nature, she manages to find Hanson to be good company. He balances her out and it strengthens their partnership in ways she cannot describe.

"Hanson! Hale!" The pair looks up as their chief beckons them over into the boiler room.

The detectives follow their chief's directives and enter the boiler room. Their entrance attracts the attention of a distressed middle-aged man who is looking at them with sad grey eyes. He looks like he has not slept for days, and maybe he has not. Jacqueline notices that there is a mug of warm coffee on the table in front of him but he did not even touch it.

She sits down across from him as her partner takes the seat next to her. They both examine him while they wait for their chief to give them further instructions. The chief waits for everyone to settle down before he opens his mouth.

"This is Victor Pearson, he came in this morning reporting his wife missing. He came by yesterday but that was before the 48 hour, and after day two, his wife is still missing," he briefs.

Jacqueline purses her lips as she turns to the man. She does not want to give him warm looks of sympathy as to avoid feeling sorry for the older man. It is important for Jack to compartmentalize work life with her personal life. If she feels too much sympathy or emotional connection with a victim's family, she will drown herself in investigative work. Jonathan does not deserve a fiancée who is obsessed with her work.

"She was last seen at the breakfast table three days ago. Victor says he saw her before he left for work. He came home that night and she is nowhere to be seen," the chief continues.

Hanson nods in comprehension and gives his undivided attention to Victor as well.

"Mr. Pearson, has she been acting strange days and even weeks prior to her disappearance?"

The unsettled man nods quickly.

"She seems paranoid, as if someone is watching her. I'm not sure if she's paranoid that I'll catch her doing something. At first, I thought she was cheating on me..."

"So what if she is?" Jacqueline cuts in cynically before adding, "I've seen cases like this where the perpetrator is usually the scorned husband or the other man."

Victor looks taken aback by her comment, and at least it is the first emotion she has seen out of him ever since she walked into the boiler room. Hanson and the chief look appalled by her gruffness.

"Hale!" The chief scolds.

Jack ignores him while her partner scowls.

"I'm sorry Mr. Pearson, Detective Hale here is recently engaged and you'd think she would have a better and more optimistic outlook on marriage," Hanson apologizes while shooting Jacqueline a side glance.

She doe not blame her partner for antagonizing and apologizing for her since she is always the negative Nancy around this precinct.

"Excuse my bluntness, Mr. Pearson. I am not one to beat around the bush," Jacqueline concedes with a partial apology.

Victor Pearson nods slowly in understanding and proceeds to brief the two detectives on his relationship with his wife and about the events days prior to her true disappearance. Jacqueline learns from the debriefing that this man and his wife, Katherine, have two kids and have been a happy family until something happened. Victor is unable to explain or put a finger on what exactly happened to their marriage but the once-strong family structure has died down.

Jacqueline has never emotionally connected with any of the victims but she cannot help but relate this issue to her own family. She ignores that comparison and has pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind by the time she and Hanson left the boiler room for their lunch break. The two detectives had promised Victor that this case is their first priority and that they will look into it.

The two walk the poor man out of the precinct, but before Jack can open the door for the man to leave, the door opens from the other side. She stares expectantly at the direction until she sees her fiancé on the other side. His face lit up as soon as his dark brown eyes falls on her.

"Hey," he greets as he steps aside to let Victor leave.

Hanson fakes a cough and excuses himself from their vicinity. His departure leaves the couple alone by the door. Jacqueline wraps an arm around his firm waist, pressing her body tightly against his. Even though she had never been a PDA person, she cannot help it. Seeing his face and having him in her presence leaves her no choice.

"What are you doing here?" She asks as she looks up at him.

Jonathan grins at her cheekily and turns to his side to open the door for her. Rolling her eyes, she walks out of the door with him following closely behind her. Ever since the two began their relationship, Jonathan has dropped by the precinct occasionally to take her out to surprise lunches. As much as she appreciates the thought, she finds it unnecessary and a bit embarrassing. Her entire precinct should not view her as a girl being swept off her feet by a hockey star. She spent years building her reputation and did not want her colleagues to see her as one with giddy human emotions.

"I'm taking my wife out to lunch," he replies.

Jacqueline opens the passenger seat door of his black Mercedes G-Class SUV and casually slips inside. She grins, waiting for her fiancé to start up the car.

"I'm not your wife," she points out.

"Not yet."

"Careful now, it'd be a shame if something happened between now and the wedding date..." she trails off teasingly, earning a scowl from Jon.

The car pulls out of the parking space and speeds off to their lunch spot. Jacqueline figures that he is trying to spend as much time with her as he is able to, now that they are getting married. Jonathan is gone most late afternoons and nights during his home hockey games while Jacqueline is gone for most of the mornings and afternoons. On a daily basis, they rarely spend time together. Jon's occasional road trips to other states and to Canada do not help that either.

As a couple, they are like complete stranger at times. Jon spends more time with his teammates than with her. Jack spends more time with Hanson and her fellow detectives than with him. They are almost invisible to each other and in all honesty, Jacqueline gets so caught up in her work that she forgets Jon exists sometimes. She forgets she has a boyfriend off in some ice rink winning games and making a shit ton of money.

It seems like their relationship is set up for failure but that has never been the case. Even if they see each other for three or four hours per week on average, they still love each other. If Jon is home, they sleep in the same bed, right beside each other—and it makes Jack feel safe in her slumber. She will never tell him, but she cannot sleep well on nights that he is not beside her. She loves nothing more than having his warm, firm body pressed against her during the nights.

Jacqueline knows that there is no one else for her; Jon is the only one she will ever be willing to spend the rest of her life with. He is the only one who understands her demanding schedule and the only one who sees past all the barriers she has built up around herself. For someone who does not show a lot of emotions, it means a lot for someone to shake them, to fight past the fortress and find them worthy enough to put in all the effort. Jon is that person for her.

"I know you are tired of the overly expensive lunches, so here's what I did: I made you a ham and cheese sandwich and brought you to the United Center," he gestures out the window.

Jacqueline sighs as she looks out the window at the back of the familiar building.

"The boys are still in for the optional skate, so I was thinking we can eat our homemade lunches together while we watch these idiots tumble on the ice," he gives her a half smile as he reaches for the brown bag in the backseat.

Jack is not sure if she even is allowed inside the hockey arena during the team's optional skate. However, she is really not in the mood to sit across from Jonathan in a fancy restaurant after the day she had. Katherine Pearson's case hits a little too close to home for her and she wants to focus on watching Jon's teammates do their practice skate instead of on the ramifications of moving forward with this case.

She gets out of the car and accepts her fiancé's waiting hand, and they both walk inside the building together.

"So, have you decided on your best man yet?" Jacqueline asks casually after they entered the rink.

The familiar swooshing sound of blades slicing through the ice fills her ears as she is brought to the front row. Jon looks down at her and grins.

"I think Kaner would throw a killer bachelor's party," he replies, grin on his face.

Jack scoffs, shaking her head. She looks out to the ice and identifies Patrick Kane in an instant. He is skating circles around the net with his hockey stick held up over his head. Two more guys are cracking up as Pat kicks the puck past the goalie into the back of the net with the side of his left skates.

"I'll need to have a few words with him before he starts planning," Jack smiles teasingly as she turns to look at Jon again.

Jon smirks as he takes out a sandwich from the brown bag. He hands it to her and shoots her a feigned doubtful look. It is rare for them to spend any quality time together, and they have never done this before. He really enjoys this moment, and since they will be married in a few months, he is going to take any opportunity to spend more time with her and to make her fall for him even more than she already has.

"Are you really going to make Pat throw a tame bachelor's party?" Jon frowns at her, "can you let me have fun for once?"

Jacqueline grins as she leans over to give him a quick peck on the lips.

"They don't call you captain serious for you to have fun, babe," she teases.

Her fiancé groans at the comment as he shoots her a mock glare.

"Shut up and eat your sandwich."