The Soldier and The Spy: Jay Halstead- Episode 2

Chapter 4

Thirteen Years Ago

"It's not gonna stop."

"Yes it is."

"You said that ten minutes ago."

"Yeah, which means it's ten minutes closer to being d one."

"Or it's getting worse."

He let out an exasperated sigh and turned to see Tess smirking at him, not at all bothered that they were stuck inside this bus shack waiting for the rain to stop.

Which it would.

Soon.

It had been three days since his mom's funeral and there'd been very little of that time he hadn't spent with the woman next to him. The morning after Jay had woken with her arms still wrapped around him but thankfully there hadn't been enough time to feel embarrassed about the fact that he had cried himself to sleep on top of her because Will had started loudly knocking at his door, calling him down for breakfast. He'd kept his family distracted while she snuck out, nearly choking when his father brought up the 'bizarre' conversation he'd had with their neighbour; apparently after the wake Mrs. O'Farrell next door had seen what she described as a 'demon with skinny white limbs' crawling up the side of their house. She'd vehemently advised they call the priest back but thankfully neither his father or brother put any stock in her story, instead joking about the repercussions of mixing a lifetime of religious fanaticism with too much sherry. Still when Tess had picked him up 15 minutes later he'd made a quick exit just in case one of them put two and two together.

They'd spent the drive to her place laughing about it and he'd taken great pleasure in her blush as he teased her, but then it had been his turn when they'd arrived and found her aunt home and not at work like Tess had said she would be. If Jay had had any doubts about their relation the familiar wicked grin she gave as she rounded the corner into the Brownstones front hall and saw him would have put them to rest. She looked exactly like Tess, the only difference being a few more lines on her face and brown eyes instead of blue but aside from that the two could have been sisters, a compliment he could tell she'd appreciated. She'd also been positively gleeful at the opportunity to embarrass her niece and he'd been just as amused, especially when Lydia shooed her upstairs to change; the reluctant way Tess looked between them told him her aunt was the kind to share but instead she had just stared at him, that grin slowly fading as a deep sadness took over.

"I'm going to hug you now." She'd said before doing just that, getting in close and wrapping her arms around him. Tightly. "Thank you."

It had taken him a second to understand but then she'd whispered it again, thank you for saving her, and as soon as he caught the tremor in her voice he was hugging her back just as tightly. He tried to tell her he didn't need any thanks but Lydia just shushed him, squeezing with a strength he hadn't expected from her small frame before she took his face in her hands and told him that he was to drop his letters off in person now and that she'd only stayed to tease Tess and was late for work. In the next breath she'd been out the door and he'd found himself thinking how much his mom would've liked her.

He certainly did.

Once she was gone he'd made Tess give him the tour, even poking his head in her closet despite it being far too small; it had hurt to hear how she'd chosen the smaller room because the one across the hall had made her feel suffocated but he understood. He felt the same way about being in his house now.

Because of that they'd decided to spend the day outside and had ended up walking the entire length of the Riverwalk, twice, only stopping to grab lunch, and as they ate he'd realized it was the first time they'd been together outside an active war zone. After what they'd been through he was starting to feel like he knew Tess almost as well as he knew himself, but the longer they spent together the more he realized how much he still had to learn, from their very different high school experiences, she had been much more popular than him, at least in Victoria, to her time at MIT and their introductions into the military. Jay was still impressed at how heavily she'd been recruited but he didn't envy her training, not the eighteen months at the Farm and certainly not the fact that she'd been the only female recruit, pretty much the only female in general aside from two instructors and a few staff. She didn't go into detail but he knew it couldn't have been pleasant.