Case by Case Love

Chapter 69: Post Fall

The door busts open and Hank runs onto the roof, eyes darting left and right immediately as he looks for where his detective is. He finds Jay sitting with his back against a wall, and holds out his hand for the rest of the team to stop following. 

Erin wanted to resist and go against her gut. She wanted to make sure her boyfriend was okay. She wanted to be there for him in knowing what had just transpired. She wanted to be the person he could lean on after missing out on all those years together. 

However, she had to trust Hank. She had to understand there was a reason why he was doing it - both professionally and personally. It was hard, and every part of her said it was a bad idea, but there she remained frozen. 

Hank makes his way over to where Jay sat, kneeling down before him to look into his eyes. He could see the pain that was there. Some of it physical in seeing how he was slouched with a hand on his side. He could see the marks on his hands from a physical altercation. However, Hank knew Jay would heal from those wounds. It was just another day in the office, right? 

It was what he saw beyond the surface that concerned him as he tried to get a read as to where Jay's head was at right now. He knew he could only hold back IAD and their boss for so long before questions would be asked. Was Jay ready for what came with that? What would his answers be? 

What had happened on the roof before they got up there? 

"Jay, are you okay?" Hank questions, finally, a bit of concern in having not heard a single word spoken since arriving on the roof. There was only one other time Jay completely shut everyone out and they both knew what road that took them down. He was not about to let that happen again, for several reasons. One of those being he could see Jay bolt out of town because of him again. 

"My ribs are sore but I'll be fine," Jay answers as he finally allows himself to look into the eyes of the older man before him. He could see how they were studying him, trying to read everything about him and what he was thinking before he could say it. No matter what he said, he knew each of those words would be compared against what the eyes were seeing - and that was a two-way street with them. "I did not push him. He jumped himself."

"I believe you." Hank knew the anger that Jay felt towards Kenny Reynolds in wanting to do whatever it took to find justice and prove he was behind the death of his son. However, he also knew that Jay had better moral standards than him in handling these situations. He would go as far to arrest a guy, and perhaps make his point known with a statement punch or two, but never beyond that. 

"I placed him in handcuffs. I told him I could not wait for him to be punished for all the crimes he committed. I was concerned he would reach towards me, but yet instead ran backwards and then jumped..." Hank reaches out, grabbing hold of Jay's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze in order to offer assurance. He believed every word and knew that was what happened on the roof. However, it wouldn't be so easy as saying those words and moving on - for multiple reasons.

"How do you want to handle this? What do you want to do?" Jay takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself as he feels a flashback to everything that happened those years ago. 

He had smacked Hank the last time he tried to cover for Hailey and leave him out of it. He had smacked Hank for causing Hailey to have nightmares and trauma from a cover-up that was not necessary. 

They then repeated the notion once again, with Hank coming up with a story to tell the department about why Jay killed a suspect they were changing. He only made it worse by getting Hailey to collaborate with them. He spent that night unable to sleep, and realising he was losing track of himself. That was why he resigned the next day. That was why he accepted a position in Bolivia and left town.

He was back now. He knew what he wanted to accomplish, and how he wanted to accomplish that. He was proud of the work he had put in since returning to Chicago. he was even more proud of the relationship he had established with Erin, and built even further.

Now they were going to do this all over again?

"I am going to tell them what happened," Jay states as he looks at Hank straight in the eyes, almost ready to rip his hand out of the sergeant's hand. "I did nothing wrong as I told you that I did not push him. So I am going to walk my ass down there and tell them everything that happened, step by step, on this roof and that's it. If they believe me and find me not guilty of any wrongdoings, that's great because that's what happened. If they don't believe me and find me guilty, then something is surely wrong with them - but it's better than letting the guilt of a lie drive me crazy. I can handle this myself this time, Hank." 

"Ja-" Hank goes to start, but earns a head shake back in response.

"I can't go through that again. I can't put myself through that. I have built too much with Erin, rebuilt my own life that doing that is a risk that I am not taking. I do not want to repeat my past mistakes. You have to believe me, please..." 

Hank just nods his head in return, accepting, knowing that no matter what he said that he could not talk Jay out of what he was about to do - and that was fine by him. He knew the optics did not look good, even if Jay did not push the guy, just based on the perception of the incident and the Intelligence Unit. However, that did not mean he and Trudy weren't going to do what was necessary to ensure things did not get messy.