A few weeks have gone by since Jay and Hailey have gotten together. Five glorious and wonderful weeks, to be exact, and the couple have never been better. It's been an interesting dynamic; they're in the "honeymoon phase" of their relationship since it's new, but also in the comfortable, "together-for-years-lets-wear-sweatpants" phase because of how close they were before taking this next step. Most of their days consist of going to work together and the usual stresses of daily Intelligence life, and on the particularly hard ones, they're there for each other like they always were. Their nights are normally spent at Hailey's, watching sports and shows, and the occasional popcorn throwing or tickle fights. They've even gone on a getaway to the lake for a weekend… spending most of the time in their room. Things are good. The team has been onboard too, especially since they were pulling for them before Jay and Hailey realized it themselves. Even Voight has given his blessing… in typical Hank Voight fashion. All in all, they're head over heels for each other, without having to voice it constantly; which works since it's a flaw they both have and understand.

Their start to today is no different than any other. They walk into the precinct holding hands, smirking and laughing with each other. Platt unfortunately, is who they run into first, of course.

"Hi Sarge!" they both say cheerily, to her dismay.

"Augh, can you guys not be so googly-eyed and bushy-tailed this early, I'm going to vomit!"

"Wow, it's great to see you too, Sarge!" Hailey responds.

"Yea, ever the warm welcome!" Jay says.

"No, seriously, you're going to make me vomit up my ham omelet with your cuteness. 7:45 is way too early for that! Speaking of, take these files up with you, will ya!" Platt says, shoving the folders into Hailey's chest.

Hailey and Jay chuckle at each other, rolling their eyes. They've learned it best not to provoke Platt any further, and continue barreling up the stairs to Intelligence.

"Y'know, I really thought all these years with Mouch would warm her up… boy, was I wrong!" Jay whispers jokingly as they reach the top.

Hailey laughs. "Oh stop, y'know, they may say that about me one day… many, many, many years from now!"

"That'll never happen… but on the off chance, you'll always be the beautiful ice queen that melted my wary heart!" he winks at her as they take their seats at their desks.

By 8:10, everyone has filled in… mostly in good spirits because it's already Thursday, and the cases have actually been light this week.

"So who's in for Molly's tomorrow? Wings and Karaoke night, plus $5 Fireball shots… and before you say no, I'm gonna bust out my 'It's Tricky' rendition I've been holding out!" Adam asks excitedly, while tossing up a fake, rubber basketball; everyone laughing at his enthusiasm.

"Fireball!? Didn't that fad end in like 2013, man?" Jay jokes.

"Listen here, my wallet is down for any alcohol that's not more than 5 bucks!" Adam retorts.

"Well, I personally love cinnamon… and watching Ruzek make a fool of himself, so count me in!" Kevin says.

"Yea, I'm down too, it's been a while! Plus, Adam's drunken singing is always worth a trip!" Kim laughs.

"I have Eva tomorrow, but I can probably swing by for a bit when she goes to her friend's." Antonio says.

Adam grins and turns to Hailey, "Well, there, it's settled… what about you and Jay?"

"Hey! I am sitting right here! Y'know she's not the boss of me!" Jay responds as they all fold their arms at him, including Hailey. "…Ok fine… Hailey, are we doing anything?" they all burst into laughter.

"Yea, we're in too… but I am NOT doing Fireball, I'll take my whiskey tasting normal, thank you."

"Alright!" Adam slaps his hands… "So everyone's in and Hailey's buying…"

Their hilarity gets interrupted when Voight comes out of his office. "Alright everyone, listen up… I just got off the phone with Kelton, and he wants us to monitor the Latin Kings on 81st until our sting on Luis Fernandez is up." He says getting a groan from the room.

"Oh c'mon boss, that's gonna take months of time!" Adam says.

"Listen, I hate it as much as you… but we have to be especially careful with Kelton's orders while this mayoral race is still going on. He has the power to shut us down in a heartbeat… Antonio, you're with me. Kevin, Kim, and Adam, you'll run point from the van. Jay and Hailey, you'll be the eyes above the pawn shop… Let's move out!"

Jay and Hailey are staked out in an empty, 3rd floor room, with all their surveillance equipment on hand. It's been a boring couple of hours, but they're making the most of it. As Hailey's staring out the window with the wide lens, she senses someone staring at her. She turns to Jay eyeing her up and down with his binoculars.

"Jay, y'know those are for you to be looking at the criminals from far away, not at me!" she says playfully.

"I'm sorry, I just like being able to look at your assets up close, and these give me a great view!"

She rolls her eyes at him but smiles. "I really don't know what I'm going to do with you sometimes, Halstead!"

He raises his eyebrows at her flirtatiously, "I got a few ideas…"

"Jay…" she warns him good-humoredly.

He grins at her, nodding an ok, and starts to look out the window again… only backing down because he knows how much she likes to keep professionalism at work. He feels her at his side all of a sudden.

She gives him a kiss on his cheek, which surprises and delights him. "That's for all the compliments though…" she pauses, then runs her fingers under the binoculars on his chest and slowly down to his navel. "…and that's for later…" she whispers in his ear right before she steps back again. He gulps. He knows she may very well be the death of him, but it'll be so worth it.

"Never pegged you for a tease, Hailey."

"Takes two to tango, Jay!" she winks and smiles at him before she goes right back to taking photos. He shakes his head smirking.

Another couple hours go by and they're hopeful to be wrapping up soon. Nothing of importance has really come to light, except a couple of gang members coming and going from the store across the street.

Jay's listening to Hailey talk about dinner when suddenly his eye catches a quick glimmer of light reflecting off the sun from across the way. It triggers the army ranger instincts in him and he lunges across to Hailey, pulling them down to the ground right as the window explodes around them... the stray bullet getting stuck into the wall behind them. Jay hears the guys scream into the walkies from the van, "Shots fired, Shots fired…" and Voight barking out orders, but all he's concerned about is Hailey.

"Hey, you okay?" he looks her over from his position on top of her and is relieved to see she seems fine.

"Yea, I'm good, you?" she asks back, equally as thankful that he seems ok.

"Yea…"

They take a minute to embrace and hug each other, relishing that each of them are all right. Once it seems like there will be no more bullets coming at their head they get on their two-ways and start chasing down the perp as well. Never a dull moment anymore, apparently…

Hours later Jay and Hailey finally arrive home with some take-out; there will definitely be no cooking tonight now. They're beat with all that transpired. Kevin was able to pin down the offender… who turned out to be just a kid looking to get initiated. The kid had just seen movement in the window and was shooting, just to shoot and harm, killing would have been a bonus. He had no idea they were cops. Making things more complicated, because now they had to worry about how many kids were being recruited and have to adjust the whole sting operation.

Voight had insisted the two of them take off earlier than the rest, and part of the next morning too, since their day was the most traumatic. There were going to be long nights and weekends coming up now, and he needs them at their best. They reluctantly agreed, and Jay was secretly relieved because he's not taking the day so well.

Hailey grabs plates and beer for them as they make their way to her couch with the food containers. They plop down and quietly watch the TV for a bit as they eat. Jay is barely touching his food, deep in thought. Hailey notices and comfortingly touches his arm.

"Hey, you okay? You've been awfully quiet since everything happened. Wanna talk about it now that we're home?"

He swallows, debating. "Hailey, you were directly in the line of fire today… you could have been hurt or worse…"

She smiles at him reassuringly. "It's a good thing I had my knight in shining armor to protect me!"

He just gives her a look.

"Jay, it's ok… I'm fine! I didn't even get a scratch, thanks to you!"

"But you almost did…"

"But, I didn't! C'mon, we should be celebrating… we literally dodged a bullet!" she jokes to try to cheer him up.

"Hailey, this isn't funny…"

She sighs and strokes the back of his hair trying to soothe him. "I know, Jay… I get it… but it's part of the job. We get shot at all the time…"

"But I've never seen you get shot at before… Hailey, I was so scared to lose you. I can't lose you…"

"You're not gonna lose me, Jay. I'm not going anywhere, I promise!"

He stares into her eyes as she says that, sees the emotion behind it and it oddly makes him feel a little better… but he's not ready to voice it yet. A thought crosses his mind and he hops up, intent on making it happen.

"I have to go…" he says suddenly and she looks up at him oddly. "I'm sorry... I should be back soon, hopefully." He finishes saying and kisses her cheek.

"What? Jay, where are you going? JAY!..." he hears Hailey yell after him, but ignores her as he quickly grabs his keys and heads out. It's for the best.

Jay gets back to his place in record time, but still has a bunch of missed calls and texts from Hailey. He knows she must be freaking out, and he feels bad, but he has to do this. He scours around his room frantically. When he finally finds the item he's looking for, he yelps triumphantly.

By the time he gets back to Hailey's, almost two hours have passed. He lets himself in with his key and finds her where he left her, on the couch, only clearly more upset. He believes there were tears in her eyes and he feels horrible, but knows he's going to fix it. The angry stare she gives him cuts through his soul.

"WHAT THE HELL JAY!?"

"I know, I'm sorry…" he says tentatively as he goes to sit next to her again.

"You're sorry!? Jay, you had me worried sick... I thought you were having a PTSD episode or something! In 5 minutes I was gonna call Will to go look for you with me."

"I'm so sorry… but, today gave me a lot to think about, and I have to do this right. We have to do this right!"

"Jay, What are you talking about!?"

"Hailey, please, hear me out, alright… These past few years, having you in my life, has turned everything around for me. You forced me into things I didn't want to do, and in turn gave me everything I need. You became the best partner I've ever had, in a time in my life where I cringed at the thought of having another partner, especially a female one. You became my best friend, in a time where I swore I wouldn't let anyone in again, which led to me letting you in the most. And you yelled, and annoyed, and sarcastically chipped your way into a heart that I had thought I locked away forever…" he pauses briefly to give her time to process, watching the fresh tears form in her eyes.

She manages to eye roll at him still as she smiles through the happy tears. "Jay…"

He grins and wipes her cheek before continuing "…and these past few months, being with you, have been the best in my life. Hailey, I'm soo in love with you, so, so in love, in case you couldn't tell. And you mean the world to me…"

"Jay, y'know I love you too!.."

"I know, and today made me realize I can't lose you. I can't lose you in any way, shape, or form… Which is why I left before…" he pulls out a ring box from his pocket and she gasps.

"This was my mom's ring… and I don't think there's anyone else she'd approve of more to have it, especially the way you call me on my shit…" they both chuckle at that. "Hailey, will you marry me?"

She gasps again as the tears stream down her face now. "Jay…"

"I know, I know what you're gonna say… we've only been officially together briefly, and you don't want us making a rash decision, but…"

She finally shuts him up by kissing him. When she finally pulls away they stare into each other's eyes like they did so many times before they got together, conveying all their emotions into a look.

"Yes…" she says softly and he looks at her questioningly to make sure he heard right.

"YES!" she beams at him before she grabs his neck and kisses him again. He breaks the kiss after a while to put the ring on her, triumphantly smiling. He then lifts her up honeymoon style and starts carrying her to the bedroom.

"Still want to call Will?" he jokes.

"Shutup!" she says as she kicks the door closed with her swaying foot…

The next afternoon after lots of, celebrating… Hailey and Jay walk into the precinct again hand in hand. They walk by Platt, and this time instead of entertaining her, Hailey grabs her files with her left hand, nonchalantly showing the ring. Platt's jaw drops and she starts running up the stairs after them.

When they get upstairs, their team is already in full-fledged investigation mode, staring at their computers or running back and forth to the pin board to prop stuff up. They all stop and look when they see Jay and Hailey walk in, with Platt looking like a lost puppy behind them, and a huge bottle of Fireball in Hailey's hand.

"What's going on?" Antonio says.

"We figured since we wouldn't get to do Molly's tonight with this case, that we'd bring it here…" Jay says.

"Yea, and we also need to celebrate, soo…" Hailey says and she holds up her hand.

"NOOOO!" Kim shrieks excitedly and exchanges shocked and happy looks with Kevin and Adam.

Ironically, Platt is the first to hug them, jumping up and down like a school girl. Seriously, never a dull moment… but they wouldn't have it any other way…

[A/N: I've been trying to write chapters to this story (& most of my stories) where the end can be a conclusion, but also open-ended enough to continue if need be. I hope you enjoy this latest one, which hopefully won't be its last, time will tell. Thanks so much for all the love you've shown on this simple piece, it is much appreciated! Great to see Upstead have such loyal fans, who will hopefully be rewarded soon in the show!]