He couldn't believe it. That number hadn't popped up on his screen in over 8 years. The area code that determined it as an army issued number. His vision blurred and his hands started shaking as the phone continued to ring.

"-ay? Jay!" Hailey's voice jerked me back into reality. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, nothing. Just, uh. Just give me a minute," I mumble as I rush to the break room to answer the phone.

"Hello," I answer with a slightly shaky tone.

"Hello, is this Sergeant Jay Halstead?" The voice on the other end asks. I flinch slightly at the title before my name.

"Yeah, uh, that's me. What's this about?" I respond.

"This is Captain Bennett. I'm calling about a position," the guy says.

"Position? What do you mean? I was honorably discharged, what, like 8 years ago?" I say, confused.

"Nine, actually. I know that your last tour was not exactly… pleasant, which is why you were given a discharge. But one of the sergeants at a camp in Korangal Valley was just reported MIA. We were hoping you could fill in his position," the captain says.

"Um, why me? You can ask anyone that is actually still in the military," I say.

"Yes, we probably could, if we wanted a bloodbath. Korangal Valley is one of the worst places out there and you know that. Most men don't actually understand how bad it really is and that could be a disaster. You are the most experienced soldier we have that knows that place better than anyone. You and your friend Greg Gerwitz, who has already agreed to help us. Now, you should know, this job isn't exactly optional. We need you in Virginia as soon as possible to fly out. You're the best man we have for the job. I'll expect you here in two days. Be ready to serve. Your country thanks you for your service," Captain Bennett says before hanging up the phone.

As I lower the phone from my ear, I slide down the wall and bury my face in my hands. I notice Hailey entering the room, but I can't process the words coming out of her mouth. I suddenly felt like I was suffocating.

Then everything cleared. My blurry vision gave way and before I could even process that I had just had a panic attack, I was rushing to Voight's office, Hailey on my tail.

Voight looked up at me as I rushed in and I could barely get the words out fast enough.

"I didn't have a choice, Sarge, oh god, they're making me go back. I can't go back," I barely get out as Hailey helps me to a chair.

"Jay, hold on, okay. Just say it again, slower," she said with a comforting hand on my back. I could feel the questioning stares from the rest of the team outside and when I looked up I noticed the worried looks that Hailey was sharing with Voight.

"They're making me go back. The army. They said they needed someone with my experience to run a camp down there. I can't. I can't do another tour," I finally tell them and they both look shocked.

"Jay, I read your military file, at least the small bit that wasn't black lines. I thought you were honorably discharged. Why are they asking you?" Hank asks.

"I was honorably discharged, not dishonorably or medically. Technically, they can recall me back if they need me. They said that a captain over there went missing, so they need me to take over," I explain.

"Take over where, exactly?" Hank asks.

"Korangal Valley," I mumble. Hailey's face looked horrified.

"Jay, I've heard stories from there, I thought they closed those camps down," Hailey says.

"Yeah, well, never trust the army when they say something like that. I knew they still had covert camps. They're asking me because me and Mouse were some of the only soldiers that survived there during our tours," I tell them.

"Mouse is going too?" Hank asks. I nod.

"Wait, who's Mouse?" Hailey asks.

"An old army buddy of mine that worked here for a while. He was our tech guy, but he re-enlisted," I say. Hailey nodded.

"Okay, Jay, here's what's gonna happen. You're going to give me the number to the captain, and I'll do what I can. Meanwhile, just continue to work the case like nothing is wrong. Don't tell anyone what's going on, alright?" Hank asks and I nod.

Me and Hailey walked out of the office and avoided eye contact with everyone. As we sat down, Adam finally spoke up.

"So, you guys want to fill in the rest of the group on what's going on?" He asks.

"Not really," I mutter and they all exchange glances.

"Jay, come on man—" Adam starts.

"Adam, it's none of your goddamn business, okay, so let it go," I yell as Trudy walks up the stairs.

Just then Voight calls me back into his office, and Hailey follows.

"So what's the deal, Sarge?" Hailey asks hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Jay, there's nothing I can do. This order came from way higher up. I'm sorry," he says and I barely make it to the chair before I collapse.

"Hank, my last tour nearly killed me, how am I gonna do it permanently?" I whisper.

Hailey sits down next to me and tries to comfort me, but I shove her off and rush out of Voight's office and past the team, including Trudy, who is still standing there.

The second I get inside my apartment I take out a bottle of whiskey and start chugging. By the time I realize I've downed half the bottle, there was a knock on the door, and I look through the hole to see Hailey on the other side.

I stumbled to the door and swayed slightly as I opened the door and I let Hailey in. I take one last swig of the whiskey and I soon passed out on the couch.

CPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPD

When I finally came to, the first thing I noticed was my pounding headache. A quick look at my phone told me I had been asleep for a day and a half. Which meant I had to be on a flight in two hours.

I ran to the bedroom to pack and was extremely surprised to see Hailey sleeping in my bed.

"Hailey?" I said, shaking her.

"Hailey, wake up," I say, shaking her again. She starts to move and soon she is awake.

"What time is it?" She asks.

"10:30. My flight leaves in two hours," I tell her before going to pack.

"Wait, Jay, hold on a minute. We need to talk about this," she protests.

"Hailey, not now. I need to call Voight and get a bag packed. God, I never thought I would have to do this again," I say, mumbling the last part to myself. Hailey gives me a sympathetic look.

"It's okay, don't bother calling Voight. He got everything sorted out already. He told me to see you off. He told the team, too," she tells me.

"Thanks," I say.

"Of course. Now can I help pack anything?" She smiles.

After a half an hour I finally have everything packed and Hailey is driving me to the airport. As we arrive my stomach is in knots and I'm already feeling lightheaded. My fatigues suddenly feel extremely heavy and I start drifting off.

"Jay, you okay? You don't look too good," Hailey asks.

"Yeah, I'm good, just nerves," I say with a forced smile and I get out of the car to grab my bag.

"Alright. Come on, I'm going with you," she says.

As they call my flight, I have to make myself get up out of the seat. Then, before I know what is happening, Hailey's lips are on mine.

I obviously look shocked, because she just smiles and laughs.

"I know I didn't tell you how I feel in the hospital, but I'm telling you now. I think I'm in love with you, Jay Halstead. So you better come back in one piece," she says before pushing me off with tears in her eyes and a sad smile on her face.

I turn to walk onto the platform, but before I reach it, I turn back around and say, "I think I love you too, Hailey Upton." She smiles and waves goodbye. I do the same.

CPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPD

ONE YEAR LATER

I couldn't believe this was happening. I was actually back in Chicago. I had spent the last twelve months looking at nothing but sand and endless desert. Unfortunately, I wasn't back on my own terms. I was here on business.

Apparently Intelligence was working a case involving dead soldiers. Which the military was not happy with. After several unsuccessful attempts of telling Voight to back off over the phone, they sent me in to make him back off.

So here I am. Standing in front of District 21, coming up with hundreds of excuses not to go in. For one, I was still wearing my fatigues, as this was a temporary, few hour mission. Of course, I was scheduled to fly back to my post later in the evening. And I didn't want the team to see me like this after a whole year had passed. A pretty bad black eye, left arm in a sling, a slight limp, and several broken ribs that was the result of a bad encounter with an insurgent group from overseas.

But then I realized that I had to go in one way or another, so I went ahead and walked through the doors, only to be met with a bone crushing and extremely painful hug from Trudy.

"Jay? Oh my god, I've missed you so much!" She exclaims before really noticing the bruises and bandages. "Oh my god, what happened to you?!"

"Oh, uh, it's nothing, just a few bruises. I actually need to speak to Voight, if that's possible?" I say.

"Oh yeah, of course! I'll come up with you. They haven't removed your hand print, so just go right up," she says.

As I walk up the familiar stairs to Intelligence, I nearly stop walking and Trudy notices, stopping me.

"Hey, what's up?" She asks.

"I, uh, I just, don't know what I'm going to say. I left without telling anybody," I say.

"Well Voight told them, so they know you didn't have a choice," she says.

"Yeah, I know, but today's little visit isn't social. My supervisor sent me to deliver a message to Voight. I'm scheduled to fly back tonight. They figure I'm their last shot at getting Voight to back off," I tell her and her face drops slightly.

"So you're not back for good?" She asks.

"Nah. They're not giving me any time off. Soldiers are dying by the dozen over there and it's stressing everybody out, which has everyone working overtime. I feel like I haven't slept in a month," I say, running a hand over my face.

"Yeah, well you look like it, too. I'm sorry, Jay. You don't deserve this. I wish there was something I could do," Trudy says.

"Eh, it's alright. I guess I should get up there, though," I say. "Could you go up first, though. You know, warn them, maybe?" I ask. She nods and heads up.

"Guess who I found loitering downstairs!" I hear Trudy say and I finally follow her up.

I notice the looks of shock on everyone's faces first. Adam, who looks more confused than anything. Kevin, who has a smile slowly forming on his face. Rojas, who just looks shocked. Kim, who looks like she is about to jump up and hug me any second. And Hailey, who has tears in her eyes. Then she's running towards me and jumps into my arms. I barely catch her with my one good arm. Then her lips are on mine again and it feels just as good as the last time.

Then Voight walks out of his office and walks towards me, enveloping me in a hug as well.

"How you doing, kid?" He asks and I shrug.

"As well as can be expected, I guess," I say. That's when I notice a new guy sitting at my desk and I shake hands with him and introduce myself.

"Jay Halstead," I say and his mouth forms a smirk.

"Oh, so you're Halstead. The guy that abandoned this team to go back to the desert and shoot a bunch of innocent people," he says, laughing.

I shoot him a look and say, "Watch it."

"Jay, man, what hell happened to you?" Adam asks.

"Oh, this? It's not a big deal, just a small mission went a little wrong," I lie.

"Look, guys, I hate to break it to you, but I'm only here for a few hours. My supervisor flew me out on a helicopter this morning. And it's about this case you're working," I say, turning to Voight.

"Of course, the phone calls didn't get me to back off, so he sends you," Voight says.

"Yeah. And I hate to break it to you, but he's right. You guys need to back off this case," I say.

"Wait, what? Come on, Jay, this is serious. I thought you would be on our side. A ton of soldiers have been dying, and we can't figure out why. We don't even have any suspects. Which is why we need to keep working," Adam says.

"Okay, look, the military is also running their own investigation, and that's all I can tell you, but even more soldiers are dying overseas. There are a ton of insurgent groups that are forming in cities all over the U.S., and especially in Afghanistan. Alright, that's the real reason I got all these injuries. They're everywhere. We're understaffed and undermanned. And it's really hurting us, okay. We need you guys to hand the case over the Army. I'm sorry," I tell them.

"But we might be able to help, there's no way we're backing out of this case now," Hank says.

"Look, Sarge, I've lost 32 men this last month alone. That's way too many death notifications for me to handle. I don't think I can deal with many more. So I'm asking, just let this one go. This case needs to be solved inside the army," I plead.

Finally the new guy speaks up. "Why should we listen to you. I mean, we're gonna work this case whether you like it or not."

"Oh, shut the hell up Matthews," Adam says.

"Look Jay, we've got to solve this case. People are dying," Voight says.

"Voight! Look, these guys bombed our camp last week. I got away with a few minor injuries. I lost a ton of good men. And Mouse… He wasn't so lucky," I say quietly.

"Wait what does that mean, Jay. Is Mouse okay?" Adam speaks up.

"He made it through surgery, but he's still in critical condition. He's been my second in command. They think he'll recover enough to return back to full duty. If he makes it through the week, that is," I tell them. "Look, just back off this case, alright. We can't lose too many more men."

Then I finally walk away. I shoot a look to Hailey, who follows me to the locker room.

"I'm sorry about all of this, Hailey. I don't have a choice. But you guys need to hand this case over," I tell her.

"It's okay, Jay, I get it. And I know you have to go back. But please, be careful. When you walked up there with all those bruises, it really freaked me out. I don't think I could handle losing you," she says and I pull her into a hug.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to come home safely, okay? But I need you to try not to worry about me. I know for a fact I wouldn't be able to handle it if something happened to you out in the field because you were too worried about me to do your job," I say.

Then she pulls me in for a kiss. It felt really good. As our tongues interlocked, it got more intense and she began to unbuckle my belt. I started pulling on her shirt and it felt amazing just to be in her arms again after a year.

As we lay on the locker room bench afterwards, we both laugh and redress ourselves before heading back to the team.

When we get back upstairs, Voight motions me into his office and I close the door behind me.

"Kid, I know you're just following orders, so I'm gonna ask you this and I want you to give me an honest answer," Voight says.

"Okay," I say slowly.

"How are you feeling? And don't say fine cause you aren't," he asks.

"Voight—" I start.

"Jay. I can see the toll that this job is taking on you. You look like hell. When was the last time you slept, or ate for that matter?" He says.

"I mean, yeah, it's been tough, being back overseas, but I'm learning to deal with all the triggers and the nightmares again. It'll take a while, but I'll be okay. My commanding officer has made it very clear that I'm not leaving my post any time soon, so I'm doing the best I can to adjust," I tell him.

"Okay. But if you ever need someone to talk to, or just listen, you can always reach out," Voight tells me.

"Thanks, Hank. Really. But I do need you to back off this case, it's for the best," I tell him.

"Alright. We'll back off. You take care of yourself, Jay," he says and I shake his hand.

"Thanks. Well, I've got to get back, they're flying me back out already," I tell him.

"Jeez. They're really working you hard," he says.

"Yeah. We're extremely undermanned, and plus, I want to check on Mouse. They've also got me already working on rebuilding the part of the camp that was destroyed," I say.

"Man. Well, like I said before, I'm here for you," he says.

"Yeah, thanks. I've got to get back, though, so," I say, going to leave.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you sometime," he says and I nod before leaving, making eye contact with Hailey before I walk out.

The ride back to the helicopter was long and tiring. By the time we reached the helicopter pad, I was ready to pass out. But I knew I couldn't, because my boss wanted me to run another mission right when I get back.

CPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPDCPD

"Halstead!" I hear someone yell my name. I jerk awake, and realize that I had fallen asleep on the helicopter.

"Yeah, sorry. We ready?" I say, jumping into action.

"Yeah. Let's go," he says.

As we file into the building in formation, gunshots ring out. We all run to cover behind boxes and fire back.

I give the order to start moving forward, and I have my men cover me as I move up. I reach the door and open it, clearing the room as I go. I feel Mark, one of my men, put his hand on my shoulder to cover me.

Then, shots ring out and I feel myself fly backwards as bullets hit my vest. I look down and see blood start to stain my fatigues. Mark pulled me back behind a wall and put pressure on the wounds.

"Come on sergeant, stay with me. Just stay awake for me," Mark says and can hear him fire back just as my eyes slide closed.

"No, no, no, no, Halstead, come on, stay awake! Don't do this, man, I'm not going to lose you," Mark says, jerking me awake again.

"Mark, get out of here," I manage.

"No, man, I ain't leaving you," he responds, pressing harder to try and stem the blood flow.

"Mark, that's an order. Get yourself and these men out of here. It was an ambush. Get out. I'm not going to tell you again," I say.

"Jay. I'm not leaving you here. Okay, now let's get out of here, together," he says, so I let him help me up and he drags me out, and just as he gets me to the medics, I pass out, leaving the pain behind.