"What do we do now?" Adam asks as they walk out of the hospital.

"Let's go back to my apartment, see if we can put these pieces together," Kim offers.

The other officers agree, wanting to see what they all know and put the puzzle together.

"Does anyone want anything to drink?" Kim asks the group once they are back in her apartment.

"Do you have beer?" Kevin asks.

"You know better," Kim tells her former patrol partner, reaching into her fridge.

After passing everyone a beer, Kim sits down next to Adam on the couch. "So, what does everyone know?"

"His dog is weird," Adam answers. "It doesn't act like a puppy," he elaborates after he gets looks from the rest of the group.

"I just thought he was a well-behaved dog," Kevin comments.

"Hailey would come home from Jay's and comment on how she was helping to train him," Vanessa tells the others.

"Did she ever comment on what they were training him for?" Kim asks.

"Not really."

"She had to know," Adam remarks. "Those two are attached at the hip."

"Adam," Kim scolded.

"I mean, I know I'm new and I don't know him as well as you guys, but he just seems different since he got Casper," Vanessa comments.

"None of us really knows Jay. He's really private," Kim tells her. "But you're right he does seem different."

"So, what do we do now?" Kevin asks.

"Should we do anything?" Vanessa asks. "I mean, if he wanted us to know he would tell us, right?"

"Yeah, so the plan is to act normal and let him come to us when he's ready," Kim announces giving Adam a stern look.

"What?" Adam questions.

"Please be careful about what you say around Jay."

"I am!" he argues.

"You've been saying some insensitive things around him lately."

"Like what?" Adam asks confused.

"That he shouldn't have gotten a dog?" Kim states trying to jog his memory.

"It's the truth."

"Just try to think before you speak Ruze," Kevin tells him while rolling his eyes at his best friend.

Vanessa walks into her and Hailey's home to find Hailey watching cleaning up in the kitchen. "Hey, where were you?" the blond detective asks.

"Went to Kim's with the others."

"Anything interesting?"

"Just Adam being clueless," Vanessa laughs.

"He's defiantly something else," Hailey comments about her ex-boyfriend.

"So, what kind of tricks do you help Jay teach Casper?" Vanessa asks trying to get information on the new discovery.

"What do you mean?

"You're over his place a lot. And you said you were helping Jay train him."

"Just basic things."

"He seems to be really well behaved for a puppy," Vanessa hints.

"He's a good dog," Hailey agrees.

Vanessa just nods.

"Okay, what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're acting weird," Hailey tells her.

"I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Okay, then," Hailey draws out.

"Is Jay okay?" Vanessa asks.

"Yeah, you heard Rhodes," Hailey reminds her. "He should be released tomorrow. Probably have a week or two of medical, but that's never stopped him before."

"But what about mentally. Doesn't he have PTSD?"

"You can trust him to have your back," Hailey avoids answering the question.

"Casper's not just a house pet, is he?"

"Alright, Jay will kill me if I told you this, but he's a total dog dad," Hailey tells her with a teasing smile.

Vanessa sighs, "That's not what I meant."

Hailey gives her a look.

"So, the rest of us might have gone to Med to visit Jay after work since you couldn't," Vanessa starts.

"Okay," Hailey responds trying not to give anything away.

"When we got to his room Casper was sleeping on the bed. Then Jay started having a nightmare or something and then Casper laid on top of him and it looked like whatever was happening stopped," Vanessa stops to see her reaction,

"What do you think about that?" Hailey asks trying to get a read on what Vanessa and the others know.

"Well, about that. Kevin spotted a blue vest in a chair and we saw some patches."

"And?"

"Jay has a service dog. And we aren't supposed to know."

"It's mostly to help with nightmares. That's probably what part of his PTSD affects him the most. He will have your back. And he was going to tell you guys when he was ready, but-"

"But he's a private guy."

"He just needs time."

"But Casper helps?"

"Yeah."

"Now, apparently, we need to keep Adam from doing something stupid."

Hailey raises her eyebrow in question.

"Kim said we should act normal and let him tell us when he's ready. Then, Kev told Adam to think before he speaks."

"He does have that problem," Hailey comments. "So, we just have to intercept him every time he goes to talk to Jay. Great."

"I'm sorry, I thought it was a good idea to check on him."

"Hey, don't apologize for that. You were being a good teammate."

"So, what happens now? I mean, I know what Kim said, but you're closer to Jay. Will we hurt Jay if we keep that we know from him?"

"I'll talk to Jay later," Hailey promises.

"So, we're keeping it from him?"

"No. I just want to wait until he's released. I'll talk to him about it when he's home."

"Should we be the ones to tell him?"

"No, I can do it. This PTSD is a bit of a sensitive topic for him."

"Okay. Sorry to put you in this position."

"It's okay. You guys meant well," Hailey bids Vanessa a goodnight before finishing what she doing before they stopped to talk.

Hailey's now thinking of a way to break it to Jay that the others know. She knows that he wasn't ready for other people to find out, but she doesn't regret having Will bring Casper to Med for Jay. Maybe she should talk to Will to see if he has any ideas on how to break the news to Jay. She knew that keeping this from the others would come back to bite them, but this is not how she thought it would.

A/N: Alright, I'm not happy with this chapter but I wanted a filler to give a look into what the others are thinking. Sorry it's on the shorter side of my word range, but I had trouble getting to the 1,000 words.

So this is the last chapter for a while. I want to take this time to edit and move this story over to my AO3 account. I also want to figure out where I want Hailey and Jay's relationship to go. Hopefully we can see what's going to happing in the show soon with NBC announcing Once Chicago returning on November 11. Fingers crossed that the COVID situation doesn't get worse and allows them to return to filming safely.

Questions & Comments:

viggochk- Chapter 30- I love this story! I have a dog that Ive trained as a therapy dog (not as a service dog). He has visited hospitals and schools with me and he knows how to apply pressure to calm nervous kids and stressed patients.

That's so cool. I have a friend from my undergrad whose dog was certified as a therapy dog the year after he graduated. I don't know if his dog knows how to apply pressure though. Well, I hope that how I described them teaching Casper was accurate.

Lauren (Guest Aug. 22, 2020)- Chapter 30- Nice to know he's okay. Just wish he opens up more to Dr. Charles though. Also nice of the team to come visit him knowing that Hailey didn't visit him that day any by coming they now know about Casper. I really hope by knowing, they'll be able to help him.

Yes, nut I feel that Jay wouldn't willingly open up– at least not at first. If I remember correctly, from season five when he was forced into therapy, he wasn't open until he was ready at the end of the episode where he went on his own (not because it was an ultimatum that Hailey had for him for they to stay partners) and that was when he was talking to a complete stranger. Here, he is talking to Dr. Charles; I wouldn't go as far to say that they are friends, but I believe they would be acquaintances and he would be more hesitant to talk with someone he knows and who also happens to work with his brother. As for the others, we'll see what happens.

Patty (Guest Aug. 23, 2020)- Chapter 30- Vanessa may be the youngest of them all, but she's the wisest. They aren't supposed to know. Wonder what they'll do with the knowledge they have. Great chapter. Loved it all.

She is. I feel like she is very perceptive in the show about Hailey and Jay's relationship, so I'm trying to show how she is perceptive to more than just that.

Daiseyangel- Chapter 30- Now everyone knows allthough Jay doesn't know it yet of course. I hope they don't treat him differently. Hopefully they can knock some sense into Adam so he doesn't say something stupid.

We will see what happens. Adam on the other hand... I don't think he thinks things through and that's the way I'm writing min, other than being an ass to Jay, is that he doesn't have a filter between his thoughts and what he actually says.

Update on all stories:

-"Rock Bottom": I have not forgotten about it. It will be completed, but I am holding off on working on that until I have time to do more research to portray the subject in a respectful manner.

-"Man's Best Friend": Going to edit and add to AO3. This gives me time to decide how I want Hailey and Jay's relationship to go. Give me your input: Platonic Upstead or Romantic Upstead?

-Whump prompt by floopdeedoopdee: in progress. Have 1 chapter complete and started the second, it will be 5 chapters. I will post when it is complete, one chapter a week.

-Deaf Jay: I am still on chapter 3. The problem with that one is that I am using the deaf chapter from here for the first chapter, so I am trying to make all chapters around 3,000 words which takes me more time than my normal 1,000-2,000 word chapters. Originally I wanted to do about eight chapters pre-written and post weekly, but this is really slow because of time I have to write. If I post what I have now I can do biweekly or once a month updates on it. The majority of the first chapter is the same, but I added to it and I also changed some things to make it (hopefully) more accurate to Jay's situation. So, even if you read that chapter, I would suggest skimming for the changes that were made.

-"One-shot Sunday": First one will either be up this Sunday or next Sunday. I'm taking requests, so if you want something leave a comment on the first one-shot or send me a PM. The first one is going to be a modified version of a one-shot that didn't make "A to Z". Same plot, less whump.