It's been a day since the news broke, and everyone has been waiting in anticipation for not only Voight to return, but curious to know how Garret pulled it off. It was a little after 9 o'clock at night and Hailey and Jay had just settled in on her couch to watch a movie and clear their heads when they heard a knock on the door. They shared a look, knowing already just who it probably was. Hailey walked over to the door with Jay following halfway behind. When she looked into the peephole to see who it was, their assumptions were confirmed.

Hailey pulled back the door to a solemnly looking Garret. "Hey guys, sorry to show up so late…"

Hailey stepped aside to let him in while Jay met them and extended his hand, "Garret." He said as they nodded at each other.

"Come on, I'll grab us some beers…" Hailey says, walking up the step to her kitchen while the guys followed suit.

They all stand around her kitchen island, sipping on the brews, not knowing where to start. Garret finally breaks the silence again. "How's the head feeling?" indicating to Hailey.

"It's alright. Almost back to 100. Nothing I couldn't handle… although you wouldn't think it the way Jay was following me around like a lost puppy."

They all get a small chuckle out of it, easing some of the tension. "To be fair, I followed her around like that for at least a year as her partner before she noticed, so it's not out of the norm!" Jay jokes and they crack up.

"Hailey really has a way with the dudes, independently oblivious." Garret replies.

"Alright, alright, enough you two… we're moving on." Typical Hailey fashion, of course, as she walks back over to the living room, both guys smirking as they follow along.

Once they're all situated in her living room, another few seconds of silence goes by.

"So…." Garret starts to say, shrugging his shoulders in a way to show them to ask away.

"Yea…" Hailey starts.

"…What the hell happened?" Jay jumps right in.

"You want the unofficial story, the official story, or what really happened… well, what I can say of what really happened? " Garret responds.

"Think we already got the version that's on record from the news…" Jay says as Hailey nods.

"Yea, so what's the real story? What are you involved in, Garret?" Hailey continues.

"Well, as you know, we took Tyde back to one of our secure locations. We were hoping to get him to agree to flip on Brennan, as well as fake confess to helping her murder Kelton; in exchange we'd get him into a minimum security prison, and setup a fund for his mother… The piece of shit wouldn't agree, threatened to talk that we were trying to set him up… unofficially he escaped our custody and fled, which is part of the media's version… officially, all I can say is we made sure he'd never be able to talk and jeopardize the operation, and we still planted his gun as evidence connected to Kelton's murder…"

Hailey looks uncomfortable and slightly shocked, and Jay stares back in disbelief while dropping the elephant in the room, "So, you and your government cronies killed him?"

"We exercised a plan to maintain the greater good, as well as cleansed a severe scum from the streets…" Garret responded, softly exhaling.

"Really, Garret? What happened to you, you were so moral?" Hailey shakes her head and whispers.

"So, the government just killed him in cold blood?" Jay asks.

"He tried to evade us, I wouldn't call that cold blood… and let's not forget you almost killed him yourself. Plus, you spent years in Afghanistan, don't feign surprise. And Hailey, I heard what you did to Booth, thank you, by the way… not to mention WHO you guys work for, a guy who blurs every meaning of what's really right or wrong… bottom line is everything comes full-circle. You'll get Voight back, and you'll continue your work of cleansing Chicago, Brennan will eventually pay for her corrupt sins, as Kelton has already paid for his, and Carlos Tyde is now one less murdering, drug-dealing, rapist that's roaming the streets… I consider it a win!" Garret says shrugging, so nonchalantly, like it's the simplest thing in the world.

Hailey and Jay sit silently for a while, taking in all his words and trying to process them… the reality being they know he's right… but positively staggered to be agreeing with those dark truths. Apparently years of working with Voight, or just seeing the roughest shit of Chicago possible, will corrupt even the most righteous at times. Afterall, who's to say what's really right or wrong; it's all relative isn't it?

"Jay and I were talking the other night when the news broke; we think Tyde got what he deserved for sure. He wasn't a good guy, and would never be… still, as cops, even under Voight, we've always tried to do things by the book, it's just a lot for us to accept…" Hailey finally says.

"I get that, but it seems to me it's been months now since any of you have played by the book… sometimes survival requires us to adapt. Your adapting ended up saving your unit… at the end of the day, that's what we set out to do and that should be what matters most. Outside of this, it's really all I can say on this situation."

Jay slowly bobs his head at Garret's words. "Well, thanks man, we do really appreciate all the help you've given us. I don't know if any of us would know how to get Voight back without you!"

"It was my pleasure, really! Believe it or not, this was actually one of the lighter assignments I've had in a few years… just goes to show you what I've been doing since faking my death!" Garret jokes as he starts to stand up. "Now if you you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get out of your guys' hair, I have some major sleep I need to catch up on!"

As they start walking him to the door, Hailey reaches out to his arm, a gesture to signal they're okay. "Platt is organizing a group outing at Molly's on Friday in honor of Voight's return. You should come… get to see everyone under less dire circumstances!"

Before he answers, he casually looks to Jay, trying not to overstep. "Yea, man, it'll be fun… you haven't lived until you witness a drunken Platt!" Jay reassures.

"Alright, thanks, I'll be there, not leaving until Sunday anyway. See you guys then." He says before exiting the door.

Once Hailey closes it on him she collapses into Jay, as he quickly envelops her in a hug, both glad that this emotionally draining week (months) is almost over. They make their way back to the couch and finally start their much needed Comedy movie.

After what has seemed like a lifetime, Friday has finally arrived. Voight made it back to town the night before and had already caught up with Trudy. The rest of them were all anxiously awaiting his arrival at Molly's, even some friends from the CFD and Chicago Med came, everyone happy to hear he'd been officially cleared of any wrongdoing. Hank Voight may be rough around the edges, break some severe rules, and not always the easiest to get along with, but people certainly liked and respected him and his work.

When he finally arrived at the bar, Kim, Adam, and Kevin almost knocked him over in a huge embrace. Jay and Hailey, not ones for huge shows of emotion, hung back and waited their turn. They each gave him a welcoming hug once he was free to make his way over to them.

"Halstead, I hope you enjoyed the brief reign you had as acting leader!" Voight says while Adam hands him a beer.

Jay smirks and swallows a long sip of his. "It was certainly an interesting couple of weeks before they split us up finally…"

"I'm sure it was, but I have no doubt you guys handled yourselves well. I knew everyone would be in good hands under your watch!"

"Thanks, Sarge!" Jay says feeling honored as Hailey looks over at him proudly, giving him a small smile.

"Alright, enough of this mushy business… it's time for some celebration shots!" Platt says as she signals Stella over.

Right as she's ordering, Garret walks in and makes his way over. "OH, one more Kidd, and one for you too!" Platt continues, getting a good laugh out of everyone.

"You must be Garret? Nice to officially meet you in person and say 'thanks.'" Voight says, shaking his hand.

"Same here, Sergeant! And it was no problem, really."

"Y'know, I like the way you operate… if the Feds didn't have their stake in you, I'd be making you an offer to join Intelligence."

Garret laughs. "Well, I appreciate that… but after all these years, I do think I work better as a ghost!"

The conversation stops there because Platt starts putting the shots she bought in everyone's face.

Kevin stares down at the light green substance in his hand and then casually sniffs it. "Uh Sarge, no disrespect, but what is this!?"

She gives him a look that screams duh, "Green Tea shots, what's the matter Atwater, are they not man enough for you!?"

Kevin backtracks, "Uh no, I didn't mean that, they look delicious Sarge, thanks!"

"Voight returns after months and you're really gonna make us do girly…." Adam starts to say before Kim covers his mouth with her hand. "I mean, mmmm, they look so good!"

"Pipe it, Ruzek… we'll do tequila later!..To Hank, a fearless leader returns, bottoms up!" Platt says, signaling them all to join.

"Ooh, that was tasty!" Kim says when they finish, receiving death stares from Adam and Kevin. Jay and Hailey do their best not to burst out in laughter.

The rest of the night moves along rather uneventfully. Chief Boden and other CFD members, along with Will and Dr. Charles all make their way over to the corner occupied by the renewed Intelligence department to bullshit and welcome Voight back.

Will heads over to Jay at some point. "So that's Garret, huh?" he asks him signaling to Garret talking to Hailey, Trudy, and Kevin across the table.

"Yup." Jay says simply.

"Ruggedly handsome guy!..." Will starts to joke as Jay just shakes his head at him and smirks, happy to not feel any jealousy anymore.

"I mean, he's no looker like me, but I can see why you were nervous!"

They both laugh, "Shutup, Will!"

"How are things going with you and Hailey? We haven't gotten to talk since you've been so busy with all this."

"They're great man, really great!" Jay says, grinning from ear to ear. As if sensing she's being talked about, Hailey looks over to the two brothers and smiles, lingering on Jay a little longer before she waves to Will.

Will waves back, "Yea, you two got it bad. I'm happy for you bro!"

A few feet away, Adam and Kim are conversing with Voight and catching up, learning that he spent that past few months at his distant cousin's farm in Iowa waiting for things in Chicago to settle. The thought of Hank Voight on a farm amuses them to no end.

"So boss, now that it's all cleared, did you… were you with… did you really help Brennan?" Adam boldly asks in only a way he could.

"Adam, how about we focus on the present alright? We have a lot of work to catch up on. Let's not dwell on questions that you don't need to know the answer to…" Voight vaguely responds as both Adam and Kim nod back in agreeance. They raise their eyebrows at the other as they sip their beer, surmising that maybe they didn't want to know the answer.

Soon enough it's mostly just Intelligence and Garret left at the bar, signaling the end of the night for some.

Garret makes his way over to Hailey and Jay to say goodnight, and goodbye.

"Don't be a stranger, ok? We'll get to see each other again under better circumstances, right?" Hailey says to him as she gives him a hug.

"I honestly don't know where or how long my next assignment will be… but I can promise you that whenever I'm next in the Midwest again, I'll hit you both up!.. Oh, and Halstead, I know you have that brother of yours, but I fully expect to be made Best Man!" Garret says, chuckling along with Jay.

Hailey blushes, in a scenario that she would have never believed to be in even if the world's #1 psychic told her. "Let's not get a head of ourselves, don't freak out Jay already!"

"Oh, I don't know, I think we can make him the Ring Bearer or Flower Girl…" Jay jokes back.

Hailey rolls her eyes in exasperation, wondering how she possibly got teamed up on by the only two guys that ever mattered to her. "Oh my God, I don't know what to do with you two!"

They all burst out laughing before Garret says his final goodbye. "It was really good seeing you again, Hails… I'm glad I finally got to right my wrongs… well, some of them!" he says while winking at her.

"And Jay…" he pulls him in closer as he shakes his hand. "I know you won't, but hurt her, and I'll kill you…"

Jay smirks. "Since I know you may actually mean that… you have my word!" the two guys share a nod of understanding before Hailey gives Garret one last hug.

"Take care of yourself!" she whispers as he smiles down at her before turning around and walking out of their lives, hopefully not for forever, but who really knows.

A few minutes later, Voight decides it's his turn to call it a night. Lots of stuff to get done over the weekend before returning to the fiercest police team in Chicago. He makes his rounds to hug and thank each one of them personally for having his back.

On his way out, he turns back around to the few remaining; "Oh, and Jay, Hailey… I expect some HR forms on my desk come Monday morning!"

Hailey and Jay snap their heads to look at each other and blush while everyone else laughs. "Who told you?" Jay asks.

Voight smiles. "No one… it's about time… but I mean it, MONDAY MORNING!" and with that he walks out leaving Jay & Hailey standing there with their mouths open in shock- how obvious were they!?

"Oooh, you guys got Voight'd already!" Adam says while cracking up, only to get hit by Platt. Kim and Kevin exchange money, revealing they had a secret bet going about Voight's intuition as Jay and Hailey shake their heads at them.

"What? You try going back to officer pay!" Kevin shrugs his shoulders.

Hailey rolls her eyes again laughing. "I can't with everyone tonight!" she walks back over to the bar and yells down, "Kidd, can we get another round of tequila please?"

They all chuckle as Jay puts his arms around her. It was a close-the-bar-down type of night anyway.

The next day Jay told Hailey that he had to return to SWAT to wrap up some loose ends with open cases he had and that he probably wouldn't be free until after dinner. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to gather up the girl's finally for some much-needed brunch and female time before things got chaotic once more. With the Unit back together, who knows when they'd have another fully free weekend again. The day went by marvelously, and even though she missed Jay when he wasn't around, catching up with the girls was a lot of fun.

She returned back to her place a little before 5pm to dim lighting, lit candles, and the distinct smell of Lou's pizza in her oven. She smiled as she saw Jay's keys a top her hall table by the front door. When she rounds the corner after stepping into her kitchen, her heart bursts as she sees Jay straightening her living room; a bouquet of flowers along with a bottle of bourbon wrapped in a bow on her coffee table.

He senses her and pops his head up in shock. "Hailey, I figured you'd be out at least another hour. Kim was supposed to text me when you guys were done!"

She smiles, realizing the setup. "Kim had a little too many mimosas… and me? What about you? You told me you had to work all day!"

"I did… well, I had to work for like an hour, the rest of the day was to be reserved for surprising you… Surprise!" he says a little glumly, bummed that his plan didn't work out.

She makes her way over to him and wraps her arms around his neck, realizing his slight disappointment instantly. "Jay, you didn't have to do all this… but I love it!"

"And I love you…" he whispers as he kisses her softly and she all about melts. He leans his forehead onto hers as he pulls back and they just stare into each other's eyes for a bit.

"Is that Lou's that I smell in the oven?" she asks as she strokes his hair.

"Mhmm… and did you see what was on the counter?"

"No…" she says as she turns her head around to get a glimpse, bursting out in laughter soon after.

"Maraschino cherries, well played!" she smirks at him flirtatiously.

"I did promise you I'd show you my skills with a cherry!" he wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively as her eyes went wide.

"How long has the pizza been on?" she asks as she breaks away from him, making her way back into the kitchen to his dismay.

"Maybe like 10-15 minutes, why?" he yells after her.

"Perfect… I'm gonna turn it off, we'll heat it later!"

She responds from the kitchen, confusing Jay, but he catches on seconds later when she returns with the cherry bottle in hand and seductively pulling her shirt off… throwing it to him as she starts making her way to the bedroom, loving the lustful look she put in Jay's eyes.

"Wait, I'm supposed to be seducing you…" Jay manages to rasp out.

"Oh, you can, after I have my way with you…" she stands in her bedroom doorway waiting, making a show of unbuttoning her jeans and leaning against the doorframe in just her bra. "You coming?"

Jay almost trips as he runs over to her at lightning speed, yanking his shirt off along the way. She contagiously laughs as he growls and lifts her up before throwing her onto the bed and following suit. She wraps her arms around him and murmurs before he starts to kiss her again,

"And Jay, I love you too!"

"Yea, yea, I know… but it's time for less talking you little minx!" They giggle as they kiss, ending all conversation for a while.

They didn't get around to eating the pizza until 10pm, but neither minded in the least… besides, the candied cherries held them over. Neither knew what the future would hold from these moments on, but they knew it certainly would never be dull, and no matter what, they would face it together. After all, that's what good partners do…

[A/N: Well, another conclusion transpires. Thank you to everyone for the positive response, wonderfully kind feedback, and for following along on this story's journey. I truly appreciate it! It definitely ended up being longer and unfolded in a different way than originally intended, and I couldn't ask for a better audience. Hope you guys enjoy this final part as well. I will be taking a brief break from writing after this, as I'm pretty busy the next couple weeks… but I will return with more one-shots, possibly an update to another story, & a promised upon plot soon. Until then, thanks so, so much again! Looking forward to reading other Upstead stories, and hopefully seeing some photos of filming soon - *coughs* I'm talking to you Jesse & Tracy, get on that, we miss our Upstead! ;) ]