Year of fire-an Upstead story

Chapter 6: Burdens of the heart

Okay listen up we got information from Amelia Upton, that her husband, and his family own 2 abandoned properties, so I need you to check traffic cams, and pod footage to see if we can find the car they used to kidnap Hailey, near one of these addresses, once we know where she is being held, we hit it, but we go in silent,, no lights, no sirens, and we have an ambulance on standby! we don't want to spook these guys, we know both these men are dangerous, and could be armed we all go in together, and we find Hailey alive, am I clear?"

Everyone replies with the affirmative, and gets to work checking pod footage while Jay and Voight head to his office. Voight asks Jay if Will knows what has happened, and if he knows that Jay is home? Jay responds to Voight's question saying "No my mind has been only on Hailey, and blaming myself for all of this, I didn't even think about it, I can't even push myself to call him, he must think I'm so terrible, and for once I agree with him"

Voight interrupts him by telling him "Jay, none of this is your fault, yes, you left and went to Bolivia, and you didn't speak to her for a year, but you had no idea this would happen, this is not on you, if anyone is to blame it is myself, I know everything we did in the last year 2 years played a huge part in you leaving, and your relationship suffering, I will phone Will to inform him of the situation, and let him know you are home, along with telling him to come to the district, to be with you, and help you while we are looking for Hailey okay?"

Jay, his shoulders heavy with guilt and grief, quietly nods before leaving the office, each step weighted with the burden of his emotions. As he makes his way to the locker room, it's evident that he's on the verge of crumbling under the weight of his anguish. He yearns for a moment of solitude, a brief respite to drown in his sea of remorse and sorrow.

Meanwhile, Voight's call to Will delivers the harsh truth of the situation. With Jay back home, his brother's concern is palpable through the phone lines. Voight's words carry the weight of a plea, urging Will to be there for Jay in the way only a brother can, in the face of such despair.

Will, shaken by the news, promises Voight he'll rush to Jay's side, knowing that his brother needs him now more than ever. With a heavy heart, he realizes he must first seek permission from Goodwin, hoping against hope that she'll understand the urgency of the situation and grant him the time off he desperately needs. Every passing minute feels like an eternity as Will races against time to be there for Jay, his heart heavy with the weight of impending sorrow.

20 minutes later Will arrives at the district, Trudy seeing him buzzes him up, immediately knowing the reason for his being there, he runs up the stairs and into the bullpen, asking Voight as to the location of his brother, who informs him that Jay was in the locker room, looking on the verge of his breaking point, hearing this, Will's heart breaks for his brother, knowing that his brother is probably wallowing in guilt, and sorrow right now in the locker room, and that's exactly where Will heads off to.

When Will arrives in the locker room, he sees the broken image of his brother, a shell of who he usually was, who had his back turned towards him, but from the way his body was shaking, Will could immediately tell that Jay was crying, so he calls out to him, hoping that he won't scare his brother. "Jay..." Jay is shaken from the wormhole he is starting to dig himself into, when he hears his brother's voice, for the first time in a year, and turns around brokenly, and full of guilt, to look at him and what Will sees breaks his heart, he carefully walked up to Jay, sitting down next to him, pulling him into a hug, that is when Jay finally let himself break, Will telling him to let it all out, knowing his brother better than anyone else, knew that his brother must be torturing himself, feels Jay sobbing into his shirt, staining it with tears, sitting there for what feels like hours, in silence the only sounds being, those of Jays sobs, and wills quiet reassurances, breaking up the heaviness in the room.