#Jay Halstead x Halstead Sister

[fangirlfrom-hell]

One of Those Days || Jay Halstead x Halstead Sister

We deserved more interactions between Kim and Jay, that's all I'm saying.

I was thinking about this day where I was feeling super shitty at school, my self harm habits were horrible back then and I always wanted to cry. Since my mom was working, I texted my aunt and she took me to her house. She knew I was pretending to have a headache, but anyway followed my game. My little cousin lend me her bed to lay down and she decided it was a good idea to read The Little Prince for me to fall asleep 💕

“Do you want me to call your dad?” The receptionist at school asked the girl infront of her. Her head was slightly lowered and her hair covered a good part of her face.

“Can you call my brother instead?” Becca asked in a low crackly voice.

The receptionist sighed, “Sure. But you know I can’t let you go without your dad’s permission”

The girl nodded and sat in the hard plastic chairs of the office to wait while the woman spoke on the phone.

“…Yes, she has a headache…She’s alright, but seems like it’s getting worse. The nurse checked her, but can’t really do much. Sure, she’s at the office. Thank you, Mr. Halstead”

“Becca, your brother will be here as soon as he can. Go get your stuff, I’ll call your dad to let him know”

She didn't really have a headache, but it seemed like "fake it 'til you make it" was a real thing because she was now starting to feel discomfort in her head. Although it might have been because she was struggling not to cry in front of everyone. Her nose was now red, and her eyes were watery. Everybody thought it was due to allergies or the flu, but in reality, she was swallowing hard, trying to retain tears rolling down.

“Let’s go, Beccs”, Jay said while picking up his sister’s backpack from the floor.

The walk to the parking lot was silent; she knew that if she talked, she would burst into tears. A hole in her chest appeared the minute she saw her brother, and now it was growing fast inside of her.

Jay was eagerly typing on his phone, dealing with work issues he couldn't leave for later. He was worried; since he received the call from the school, his gut told him Becca's emergency wasn't about being sick, and now, even looking at her sideways, he could confirm it.

The detective opened the car a few steps before they reached it. Both siblings went to the same side of the truck, the girl ready to jump inside, while her brother was putting her belongings on the back seat. When Jay closed the door, Becca was still outside waiting for him. She was scratching her eye, and as soon as their gazes crossed, she started to silently cry. Instinctively, brother and sister took a step forward to hug each other; there was no time for Jay to bend to her height, so she squeezed his waist tightly.

"Did something happen, or is it only the feeling?" He tilted his ear to be able to hear the answer.

Becca moved her head, saying no, her face still sunken in his stomach, "Only the feeling."

"Alright," he softly said. They stayed like that for a moment before actually going inside the truck.

With a mixture of affection and concern, Jay stared at his sister before starting the car. "Do you want to talk?" He spoke gently. Her delicate attempt to wipe away the evidence of her tears with the sleeve of her sweater tugged at his heartstrings.

Becca despised being seen in such a fragile state; the vulnerability on display only heightened her emotions. It struck her as ironic that the very person who made her feel secure and shielded, her brother, was the one in front of whom she felt the most exposed. In the tumult of her emotions, Jay remained her safe person, the only one she could trust.

"It's the pain in the chest, the black hole. It's growing."

He frowned with a slight nod. Jay knew perfectly what she was talking about, and he hated to be so powerless about it.

"I don't want to go home," she begged. Becca's face made Jay's heart drop; you could see the pain in her puffy eyes and her cheeks a bit swollen along with her pink nose.

He swallowed hard, "I honestly wouldn't take you there even if you asked me to. You are coming with me, but I still have things to do at the bullpen."

“I can wait”

On the road back to the 21st District, Jay’s phone never stopped ringing, but anyway he passed by a drive-thru to get an ice-cream for Becca, a nice attempt to cheer her up a bit.

“Feeling a bit better?” He asked before getting inside of the building. At least, the crying was controlled for a moment. “Alright, let’s go”.

It was obvious she had been crying, but nobody said a thing about it. All the cops, detectives and seargets greeted the girl with a warm smile and acted normal around her.

Becca stayed in the coffee room and never got out of there. After all the weeping, exhaustion took its toll, and she found herself drifting into sleep on the arm of the sofa. Jay periodically entered to check on her, his stress evident as he felt the weight of time pressing against him. The clock relentlessly ticked away, yet the workload showed no sign of diminishing.

Kim noticed, and after preparing to leave by taking her coat and bag, she approached her friend. "Hey! I'm already done here and heading home. If you want, and if she wants to, I can take Becca with me. I just need to pick up Mak from school, and then we'll be home."

The detective hesitated, “Uhm—“

"Look, I don't know what's going on with her, but at least she can properly rest there..." Kim's voice carried a note of genuine concern, her eyes reflecting a mix of empathy and worry for both of them.

They turned their heads to see how the girl was all tangled in her spot.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. That way you won’t have the pressure—I mean, you’ll still have the pressure, but it will be different knowing she’s comfortable in a safe place…I know the feeling, Jay”

After a few seconds of deliberating in his mind, he thankfully agreed only for his sister’s comfort.

“Don’t worry, don’t rush. You can pick her up whenever you can, doesn’t matter if it’s late”, Burgess said before departing and Jay knew she was honest, “I’ll take care of her”

Makayla was delighted with Becca's presence but was too shy to interact with her. Since they didn't have visitors often, this was kind of a new experience for her.

"Mak," her mom called, "Becca is not feeling very well, would you lend her your bed for a little while so she can rest?"

"Sure!" Despite her short life, Makayla's tender heart had already weathered enough storms, shaping her into a compassionate soul capable of understanding when someone else was beaten down or in pain. She sensed all that in Becca and was willing to make her feel good. "I can even lend her my stuffies," she added as an innocent gesture. Now addressing their guest directly, she continued, "They'll keep you company and won't be scary if you wake up in the dark."

Kim guided Becca to the room and arranged everything for her, picking up some clothes and toys that her daughter had left on the floor. Meanwhile, Makayla was opening drawers and climbing them to reach the highest shelf where the books were placed.

"There you go, make yourself comfortable," Burgess said while still fixing the unmade bed.

“And I’ll read you something to help you sleep”, Makayla approached holding a big book with her small hands.

“Mak, sweetie, no. We’re going out while she sleeps, okay? But you can read to me”, she took her hand to lead her out.

“No, mom. She doesn’t need to be alone right now”, Makayla’s big dark eyes were over Becca. “She needs a story, that’s what you do when I am sad”

Suddenly, the pain in Becca's chest intensified, and the gaping hole seemed to expand. It was as if her new little friend could read her mind. Becca yearned to be alone to release the pent-up tears, yet a lingering understanding told her that solitude might not be the best course of action.

“It’s alright, Kim. This her room, after all”

“Yas!” Mak jumped out of excitement. “Now, you lay down here and close your eyes. I’m going to read you a story that always make me feel better when I am not happy…”

With a smile and slowly going out of the room, Burgess leaved the two girls alone.

“The Little Prince is one of my favorite books too, Makayla”

“I knew it” her smile was bright.

As Becca listened to the reading, she feigned sleep. A few tears escaped her eyes, but she skillfully concealed them. Eventually, the reading ceased, and Becca sensed Mak's tiny face drawing near, checking if she was truly asleep. The youngest Halstead heard Makayla's footsteps departing from the room, but then she returned, placing a stuffed animal between Becca's arms. "Don't leave her alone, Buttons," she whispered before descending the stairs with her mommy.

Slowly, Becca opened her eyes and as soon as she made sure she was alone, she started an intense crying, trying not to make a lot of noise. She turned to give her back to the door, hidding in case someone came in. Clutching the stuffed animal tightly, she cried until exhaustion enveloped her, eventually lulling her into a fitful sleep.

She awoke in Jay's bed, disoriented about how she got there, a Mak's plush toy still nestled between her arms. Rising from the bed, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her, her head throbbing, and the discomfort in her chest persisting. When she emerged into the living room, her brother was seated on the sofa. Becca raised Buttons with one hand, a question mark etched on her face, silently seeking an explanation.

“Makayla insisted you should take it for tonight”, he answered simply.

“Oh. That's sweet”

"How are you feeling?" Jay asked, standing up to approach her, but she just shrugged. "Stupid question?"

"It's just—"

"One of those days," he completed. "I know."

"A terrible one, and it's not over yet" There was a long silence and Jay knew she was trying to say something, so he gave her time. "I was scared, Jay."

Those last words sent shivers down his spine, he understood what she was referring to and was also frightened but couldn't admit it in front of her. He masked his concern, assuring her, "You should never be scared, I'm here with you."

"I know", she gave him a hug.

"Do you want to talk now?" Becca hurriedly said no only with her head, and her brother understood.

"Okay", Jay sighed, "You haven't eaten a thing all day. Food should make you feel better. What about pizza, a movie, and the company of your favorite brother, hm?"

"What? Is Will coming?" Becca teased him, finally smiling.

"Ha! A joke, that's a sign that you are already feeling better."

The evening unfolded and laughter echoed through the room as they enjoyed the movie. Yet, even in her weariness, Becca managed to stay awake for a fleeting moment. As she drifted into sleep, the pain in her chest, a constant companion throughout the day, was miraculously eased by the gentle touch and care of her brother.

[uptondixon]

Lilsis - Jay x Halstead!Sister

You and Jay were having a fight, again. Screams being exchanged in what was supposed to be a quiet afternoon.

"Yes Jay, I didn't study for the test, so what?"

It always started like this. You would give him a smartass answer, he would say he didn't like your tone. You would answer in an even worse tone. The discussion would begin.

"Y/n, It doesn't matter what you say to me, I'm taking your phone. This is the second time you have failed this class!"

The more he screamed, the more your patience run dry. You felt a fire building inside you and the words just slipped without your intention.

"God, I really fucking hate you right now."

Silence. That's everything that followed your sentence.

Jay stared at you, wide-eyed. "What did you just say?" He said softly, look of disbelief on his face.

Jay had never heard you speak like that before and he surely wasn't ready for it.

His tone surprised you, the weight of your words just now hitting you. You didn't mean that.

"You don't mean that" Jay says, as if echoing your thoughts. His voice is still soft, different from the stressed out tone seconds ago.

It was your turn to be silent. A million things going through your head.

Jay always had a way of making you feel safe, you could never quite grasp if it was because of his job or all the years he spent caring for you, but the man sure was the epitome of safety to you.

It was his arms you ran to when something was wrong, it's his comfort you seek.

One quiet "I'm sorry" was all you could muster, looking at everywhere but his eyes.

He closed the distance between you, hugging your thoughts away. His chin rested on your head and your arms circled his waist, just like he did when you were kids.

"I love you, Jay.”

"It's okay, I love you too lil sis."

Prompt by noahsresources

[poppadom0912]

The best babysitters

Warnings: Mentions of absent father but all fluff

Summary: Work prevents you from going home one night, thankfully you’ve got the best backup in Chicago.

A/N: This is being posted later than I planned. My mum was in hospital and it gave me a scare but she's all recovered now so here this is. This is in celebration of 1k, a few more will follow as my workload has decreased significantly.

This fic exists in the same world as my other fic ‘older sister’ but can also be read as a stand alone.

You were tired.

Work was beyond busy today and your clients were being unnecessarily stressful. All you wanted now was to go home, relieve your babysitter of her duties and enjoy the night in with your daughter.

It seemed that the universe had some sort of vendetta against you though because just as you were putting the finishing signatures on the last few papers, an intern, a woman you saw earlier at reception, came running into your office slightly out of breath.

You wanted to scream.

Letting the poor intern talk, you smiled at her stiffly, dismissing her after saying you’d make your way. There was no way you could ask your babysitter to stay late for God knows how much longer, you could remember her telling you she has a lecture tomorrow morning.

Getting up from your desk, you sighed, screwing your eyes closed when you caught the time on your phone. Your sigh in defeat could probably be heard all across Chicago.

Walking out your office, the sound of your heels filled out the empty space, majority of the firm had gone home, only a few stragglers staying behind to close up on any loose ends.

Turning your phone on, you ignored the several notifications screaming for your attention and went straight to your contacts.

Your phone only rang twice before the person on the receiving end picked up.

“Hey Will, can you do me the biggest favour please… You’re a life saviour, thanks, I owe you one.”

Hanging up the phone, you stared ahead through the windows at the bustling waiting room, raised angry voices overlapping and bleeding though the walls.

You could already feel your headache intensifying.

*****

Using his spare key, Will entered your house. Shuffling inside, he took off his jacket and shoes as usual.

Hearing the front door open, little pattering feet were immediately heard running across the house. Will smiled at the sound that he didn’t hear often due to all of your demanding jobs.

“Mama! Mama oh-“

The immense joy on Harper’s face disappeared as the nearly two-year-old rounded the corner on her little chubby legs, expecting to see her beloved mother who she missed all day only to suddenly be met with her redheaded uncle.

“Well hello to you too miss Harper.” Will smiled down at his niece nonetheless, crouching down to scoop her into his arms to which she didn’t argue and instead welcomed.

As soon as she was safe in his arms, the toothiest, giddiest smile broke out on her chubby face that was so scarily identical to yours that it could only be explained by witchcraft.

Harper giggled, such a sound making Will forget about all the horrors that stained his day from the emergency department.

“Hi!” She exclaimed, her smile remained upright and never faltered. “Hi!”

And soon after, she pressed her open mouth onto his stubbly cheek, her attempt of a kiss. Despite struggling with the tough task and all the slobber that remained on his cheek, Will’s reaction was instant and wouldn’t change for the world.

“Oh, thank you so much Harper! Uncle Will missed you tons. Look at how big you’ve grown!”

But, before Will could have all his focus solely on his adorable niece, the sound of the front door unlocking diverted his attention.

Lo and behold, Jay casually strolled in as though this was another random Tuesday.

Oh, that son of a b-

Harper’s scream that followed definitely burst Will’s eardrums.

Will winced, tipping his head away to protect his ears from any further damage before turning to glare at his brother who was taking his jacket off.

"What are you-"

"You said we'd meet at Molly's for a drink but you weren't there." Jay cut Will off, a smile on his face as he looked at Harper and spoke without looking in Will's direction. "Natalie told me you were here."

"Jay Jay's jealous Harper." Will said, his tone all factual and matter-of-fact as he looked at the toddler in his arms. "He didn't want to miss out."

Jay didn't even try to look offended or hurt by Will's remark because deep down, it was somewhat true because how could Jay let Will have all the fun by himself?

"Stop hogging her you buffoon and let me hold her." Jay told Will, not waiting for a reply as he moved forward and took Harper into his arms, the girl didn't protest nor did she willingly lean forward.

"What- Uh, I've literally been here for five minutes Jay."

"Am I your favourite uncle? I knew it!"

*****

Following Jay’s sudden and unprompted arrival, Will dismissed your babysitter, paying her what you usually did and a little more as compensation for staying so late.

Once she had left, there wasn’t much left around the house for them to do besides turning the dishwasher on and making Harper’s nightly milks, but it wasn’t her bedtime just yet and maybe if time permitted it, Harper could stay up a little beyond her usual bedtime.

Consider it a small treat for this special circumstance without her mother implementing her strict nighttime routine.

While Will was sorting away the finals bits in the kitchen, Jay easily made himself comfortable in the living room while Harper continued to babble nonsensically, a few discernible words welcomed themselves into the mix. Jay allowed himself to take a second to relish in the moment, trying to prevent himself from having an existential crisis as he realised he was both emotional but also proud of how much she was growing.

“Dada, look look! S’ Dada!”

Moment ruined, Jay’s smile instantly fell.

Jay followed the direction of Harper’s index finger to the tv, his face hardening at the sight of the man who failed his fiancée and his baby who just turned one.

Harper's 'dad' was a television reporter and it had totally slipped his mind that this was the channel he worked for. Seeing his stupid face yap away about the news made his blood boil.

Jay changed the channel without a second thought.

Your ex fiancé had suddenly decided to leave on Harper’s first birthday, not even having the decency to at least show up at her birthday party.

A year later, and Harper still remembered the man whose name was her first word.

It devastated you still to this day what he had done and Harper’s random interjections of ‘dada’ only made the wound deeper.

“Dada isn’t here harper.” Jay said, tone as soft as it could be as he tried to explain it without her crying.

“It’s just uncle Jay and Will, and mama will be home soon.” Jay continued, holding the toddler in his lap so there was no chance of her running away crying.

Luckily, Harper was a mummy’s girl through and through, so despite the large absence of her father, simply mentioning ‘mama’ or anything akin to that made her entire face light up in a way that no one else could.

“Okay Halstead’s, listen up!” Will said as he entered the living room, phone in one and a towel in the other.

“Y/N’s saying it’s mostly likely going to be another two hours minimum so we’re most likely going to have to stay over.” Will told Jay specifically before looking down at Harper.

“You wanna get into your PJ’s Harps? Jay Jay can make you some milk.”

And despite her highly energised state, Harper would never turn down the enticing combination of her pyjamas and warm milk.

Crawling out of Jay’s lap, Harper moved towards Will who in turn of carrying her gave Jay the towel he was holding. And as much as Jay wanted to fight his brother, he knew Will had more experience with kids - i.e. Owen - and so he could gladly change her diaper.

With Will and Harper standing over him, brown eyes wide, glinting with a hidden intent Jay had become familiar with since childhood. It really wasn’t fair that you and Will both had your father’s eyes which Harper just had to inherit. Jay found himself useless and always surrendering to those goddamn eyes, even as the youngest sibling.

Whenever Jay remembered his childhood, it never made sense why the two older siblings never folded as easily when he looked up at them with the biggest, most imploring eyes. Even now, three decades later, and not a single thing had changed.

“Okay, okay! Just stop looking at me like that.” As soon as Jay spoke, the two rejoiced, their happiness still discernible even as they made their way upstairs.

“Let’s get this party started then.”

*****

And so party they did.

Well at least according to Harper’s standards.

The night started off with warm drinks - Harper with her milk while Will and Jay spoiled themselves to the expensive coffee beans that you easily could afford but neither your brothers indulged in unless under your roof.

Following this, Harper had a short but very fun time running around with sudden newfound energy, causing as much havoc as humanly possible for anyone her size.

It was safe to say that she tired herself quite quickly.

As Jay opened himself and Will a beer, he walked back into the living room, his eyes landing on his older brother and niece, the younger scrunched up into a little ball on Will's chest. Her face completely relaxed and arms wrapped around his torso as she snored quietly.

"Now this, after today, is my kinda party."

"Amen." Will agreed, tapping his bottle with Jay's as a silent 'cheers'.

Jay settled besides his brother, both of them staring forward at the muted movie Harper randomly chose, the first she watched that didn't have any princess affiliations.

"Gosh, it feels like years since we last babysat her." Will said, a sombre but nostalgic tone lacing his words.

"It does." Jay hummed as he swallowed his beer. "We're all so busy with work we can hardly make time for each other."

Will scoffed. "I see you almost everyday, strolling casually into the ED like you own the freaking place. Who are you kidding?"

Jay rolled his eyes but agreed nonetheless.

"Yeah, we need to visit more often. Make more effort and take out the time."

The silence that followed was filled by Harpers little snores and the occasional sound of a siren blaring past in the distance.

"I'm so tired I could knock out right here on the floor."

"Don't be such a doofus, go put her down in her bed."

"Aye aye captain."

*****

When you finally returned home three hours later, tired beyond belief. You were so close to dropping to the floor as soon as you locked the door but as you ventured into the house, you were met with the most heart warming sight.

On the floor in the living room remained your two younger brothers and your daughter. Harper was still scrunched up in a ball on Will's chest, her hand clutching his shirt while said man had his face leaning forward into her hair, his breaths causing Harper's curl to move occasionally. Jay sat besides them, hands crossed slightly on his lap and his head tipped backwards, resting on the sofa.

Even as your eyes burned with the need for sleep, you took a few pictures of the scene before you, your smile not going till your head met your pillow.

If Jay and Will woke up with sore necks in the morning, there was a very seasoned doctor in the house for a reason.

[amsgrey]

Clouds

resquested by @rainechase45

warnings: descriptions of a car accident/crash, reader sustaining mild injuries in said crash, mention of blood and broken bones (not in-depth), description of hypothermia + hypothermia-related symptoms, reader really just going thru it in every way, metaphors for death, very bad metaphor writing

Authors Note: I got about 2000 words into this before i remembered that americans have different cars to kiwis. Hopefully, any mistakes are fixed but if they're not, it's because kiwis drive on the left side of the road not the right. 

When you first got your driver's permit, Will and Jay wouldn't let you drive without them. Even though you had completed the course and passed the driving test, they still didn't want you driving alone. Which wasn't an issue really, when you didn't have your own car anyway.

Now you have had your license for almost ten months. Will let you borrow his car from time to time. Today was one of those days. A friend from school lived outside of the city and Will had let you borrow his car to go see them. The drive was only about 45 minutes, not too long with your music blasting. Will and Jay were both working late, so you stayed for dinner with your friend and then started the drive home. It was 7 pm at least by the time you hit the road. The temperature was already 8 °F and only grew colder.

You always hated driving at night and in the rain, but both at the same time was a nightmare. It wasn't just rain now, sleet came down so hard and fast your wipers hardly had time to keep up. Driving in these conditions was dangerous, even for experienced drivers. So you slowed down, turned down the music and tried to limit the distractions. If you crashed Will's car he would never let you drive ever again.

Even with the wipers at full speed and your high beam lights on, the sleet made it near impossible to see. There was no one else on the road, at least, not in front of you. There was an SUV behind you in the left lane, you caught glimpses of its shape through the sleet every now and again. They were going much faster than you were, steadily becoming a larger shadow in your mirror. Eventually, you could see their lights fully in your mirrors. You let out a grumble as you realized they too had their high beams on. Flipping the tab on your rearview mirror didn't change the fact the wing mirrors were blinding you too.

"What on earth," You groaned, the only other car on the road, the only one you had seen in the last 20 minutes was burning holes in your eyes.

Everything changed so quickly. The SUV was speeding up, gaining speed even against all the wind and sleet. Then the car was hydroplaning on the ice and sleet on the road, it swung out of control, swerving from their lane and into your own. You couldn't look away from the mirror, watching in horror as the car kept spinning out of control. It slammed into the side of your car, hitting hard against your door as it pushed you off the road. Both of your cars slid down a bank, only coming to a stop when there was nowhere else to go.

You could feel the seat belt cutting into your chest, you wanted to claw it away but it wouldn't budge. The glass from the now smashed window was cutting through your skin, on your face, your arm, even a few pieces had cut their way through your jeans.

The cold was what kept you conscious. It flooded into your car, breaking the bubble of warmth and ripping away any sense of comfort you had seconds earlier. You weren't sure if it was tears or blood running down your face, but either way, you tried to clear your mind. There was a first aid kit in the glove box, one Will had made, if you could reach it you could help yourself. 

You forced yourself to go through the checklist Will ingrained in you. Starting with your head, you made note of the concussion you likely had, then your neck, whiplash for sure. Your chest next, which was in pain from the seatbelt, but nothing else you could tell for now. Your left arm was broken, but that was a problem for another time. Your legs were squished, but you should move your feet and toes without any pain. That was as good as it was going to get, you had to get out of here. The longer you stay in here, with the sleet soaking through your clothes, the longer you put yourself at risk. 

With a bit of wiggling and stubbornness, you managed to unclip the seatbelt. It didn’t move much, but with it not so tight you could now push it away from you and start the process of wiggling out of your seat. You climbed over the center console, taking your time to avoid smashed glass or hurting yourself further. Once in the passenger seat, you pulled open the glove box, dragging out the kit and rummaging through it. You ripped open one of the gauze packets, pressing it to the left side of your forehead, the sting causing you to hiss. You continued anyway, forcing yourself to open the plastic package with a sling in it. You forced the knot over your neck. Sucking in a deep breath you forced yourself to move your arm into the sling, clenching your jaw in until the pain subsided. After ten minutes of breathing through the pain, you decided enough was enough. You had to move, even if you didn’t want to, you had too. 

Throwing open the door, you forced yourself out into the weather. The first aid kit stayed tucked under your arm so that you could help the other car. Walking up the incline was harder than getting out of the car, the pain from your arm and the other scrapes and bruises weighed you down. One step at a time. One foot after another. Eventually you made it to the driver's door. The windscreen was smashed, webbed cracks making it impossible to see through. You reached for the handle on the driver side, using it to steady yourself the last few steps then yanking it open. Inside, the driver was hunched over his steering wheel. 

“Hey,” You tried to shake his shoulder, but he didn’t respond, “Please, no.” 

You took a deep breath, then placed two fingers to the man's coritod, trying to calm the sound of your own heartbeat to feel the man. 

10 seconds passed. 

20.

30. 

Nothing. No Pulse. No Signs of Life. 

You pulled your hand away slowly, as if not to disturb him. 

“I’m so sorry,” You pulled away, stumbling a few steps back. 

By now, you could guess it had been almost half an hour. Half an hour in the sleet and rain, with no coat, no dry clothes. No one would be able to see you from the road, there was no barrier or break in a fence. No one could see you.  You were at risk, you knew any longer out here would kill you. You had to call for help. Forcing yourself to walk back down the slope to your car was hell. Your entire body shook, every time you took a step, your legs shook and you had to take extra time to steady yourself. When you finally got back to where you started, the passenger side door, you used your right arm to pull yourself back into the car. You had left your phone in the holder on the 

 There were no lights on in your car, nor the other one, so you had to search with light from the moon and strained eyes. You patted down the floor of the passenger side, nothing. Leaning over the console you tried the driver side. Avoiding the mangled parts was hard, no wonder your leg was scratched up and sore. Eventually your fingers found an irregularity, your phone face down on the ground. You yanked it up, pulling it to your face and trying to turn it on. With the screen facing you, you could see the damage. It was like it had been through a blender, the only intact part of the phone being your case. It was useless. A glorified paperweight. 

“Fuck!” 

40 minutes in these wet clothes. You had never been so cold in your life. It was as if there was no heat left in the world, the comfort of warmth was a fleeting memory. The aggressive shivering was making it hard to do anything, but you were more worried about what would happen when you stopped shivering. Growing up in Chicago, with a doctor brother, meant you heard all about how hypothermia could sneak up on a person. Most people didn't see it coming, didn’t know the signs. You were painfully aware of them. 

The racing heart. Tachycardia. 

The cold white fingers. Your body pulling blood from your extremities to protect your core.

Next it would be the brain fog, shock, the feeling of being overheated. There was no telling when it could strike. 

The other driver's phone. 

A lightbulb went off, literally. 

If you wanted to survive, you had to get back to the other driver. You had to fight. 

Finding the driver's phone felt like grave robbing. You could see it sitting in his cup holder. Some kind of miracle it hadn’t bounced out. You had to lean over the man to get the phone, trying not to move him or touch the blood that was staining his clothes. With the phone in hand, you gripped it with two hands to press the power button and activate the emergency call. You pressed the phone to your ear, it rang twice. 

“911, what is your emergency?” 

“I was in an accident,” You answered, “I need an ambulance.” 

“Can you tell me where you are?”

“I- I don’t know. I’m not shivering anymore. I’m not shivering.” 

Your arm dropped, phone tumbling into the snow on the ground. 

“It’s not cold anymore.” 

“Dispatch, we’re going to need a Medevac.” 

“Hey kid,” The paramedic was trying to keep you alert, “Not far from a hospital, okay?”

“It’s too hot,” You slurred, strapped to the gurney in preparation of the Medevac, covered in foil safety blankets. 

“I know, love,” The woman was so nice, her voice was so soothing. “Just hold on a little longer, yeah?” 

You could hear the sound of the helicopter approaching, a steady rhythm. It grew louder and louder. it  felt as if it was taking the rhythm from your heart, as the helicopter got louder you could feel your heart getting quieter. 

The deafening sound and the wind that came from the chopper made you feel like you were hallucinating. The whole time as you waited for help, half conscious in the snow. It was nothing much at first, shooting stars, the moon glowing brighter and brighter. Then it was Will’s voice, Jay’s humming. All the things that reminded you of warmth, of that all encompassing feeling. 

Holding onto your own consciousness was like trying to hold onto a cloud. You could just see it, sense it, but physically touching it, holding it… it was nearly impossible. 

A moment of clarity had you reeling it in, forcing your eyes open. 

Inside the chopper was just as loud. But more hectic. A symphony of chattering radios, yelling voices and beeping machines. 

“My brother,” You croaked. 

“Don’t speak, kid,” The Medevac paramedic was a different man, older than the paramedic from before. He looked like a dad. 

“My brother, Doctor Halstead… Chicago Med.” 

The man's face was out of focus, but you could see the realization on it. He knew what you were asking. 

He turned to the other body in the back of the shopper, the one that was just a blur of blue shapes, “Get him on the radio now.” 

He looked back at you, “What’s your name kid?” 

You whispered it back to him, voice raw and mouth dry. You felt like you were drenched in sweat. Everything was burning. The clouds in your mind were getting further and further away, but you forced yourself to hold tight to consciousness. You needed to talk to Will. You had to talk to him. 

“My name's Tom,” The paramedic was placing headphones over your ears, adjusting the mic so that your voice might reach it, “I’ve got you, alright, kid? Just take it easy.” 

The other person was speaking, explaining something. You could hear the bass of his voice through the headphones, like he was speaking inside your head. But he might as well have been speaking another language, because nothing he said made any sense. Your eyes were so tired, burning from the lights inside the chopper, even though you knew they were as low as they could go. Light flares made it impossible to focus, everything blending and swirling in a sickening live painting. Nothing was peaking through those clouds now. They were dark, cold, and sinister. The ones that roll through right before a thunderstorm, before everything went haywire. 

But then there was sun, a beam of warmth that basked you in calmness. 

“Hey, sweetheart.” Will. The warmth that kept you safe. 

If you had been in your right state of mind, you would be able to hear the strain in his voice, the pure anguish. But you didn’t. All your brain could comprehend was that he was there. 

“I love you,” You whispered, not sure if it would be heard. 

Tom repeated your words, mumbling something about numbers or stats dropping. 

“I love you too.” Will replied, “I love you so much. I will always-” 

Will cleared his throat, it registered somewhere in the very back of your mind now. He was crying. 

“I will love you, forever. No matter what happens, sweetheart.” 

Will didn’t call you sweetheart anymore. It was always squirt. Sweetheart was what he called you as a child, the nickname that fizzled out when you turned 10 and having a hovering older brother was embarrassing. Again, that feeling of warmth returned. The feeling of lying in the sun after a swim, letting it dry you and warm you slowly. It was calm, gentle, nurturing. The warmth that made plants grow and flowers bloom. That you had spent your whole life with. Will was the sun in your family. Warm, nurturing and oh so loving. Always there, reliable and steady. If Will was the sun, then Jay was the moon. That Light that guided you through the dark. The one that brought coolness, serenity and wiseness. Jay was the one that kept you calm. Taught you to stand on your own two feet, to fight. The moon was always there, every single night. Sometimes it hid, keeping its light hidden, but it was always watching. 

Your brothers, your lifelines. 

The steady thrum of the helicopter was growing silent. Replaced with a ringing that pulled you into a clear empty and dark sky.

There were no more clouds. There was nothing. 

Will was on the roof as soon as he got word the chopper was getting close. The fear and anxiety that ran through his blood was making it hard for him to focus. He was standing by with strict orders not to intervene. When Goodwin had heard what was happening, she had made sure WIll knew that he could not be involved in treatment at all. No matter what, he could only watch. 

“I got this, Will,” Marcel assured Will. Marcel was a brother, he knew what it was like to worry over his sister. 

“I know,” Will responded, the words meant nothing. Nothing anyone could say would stop the thumping of his heart, the fear in his veins. 

As the chopper landed, Will watched Marcel and the trauma nurses run in, a practiced team. The hand-off was smooth as it could be, then everyone was running back inside, headed to the ED. Elevator rides with patients were always slow and nerve racking, now was no different. The Helipad was only a few floors above the ED, the distance was hardly far enough to feel as long as it was. 

“Baghdad's free” Maggie called as they barrelled into the ED. Marcel started barking orders, calling stats, medications. Will had done the routine before, thousands of times. Now, watching from outside the room,everything felt foreign and new. 

Marcel and Trinny cut off your damp clothes, replacing them with warm blankets and heat packs. 

“Temp check?” 

“61.2. Heart rates dropping. 62, 56, 43…” 

Maggie grabbed Will's arm, pulling him back as the monitors flatlined. 

“Get me an amp of epi!” 

"Epi’s in.” 

“Hold compressions…” 

“No pulse.” 

“Resume compressions.”

Will looked at his watch, the minutes were ticking by. 

“Alright,” Crockett switched with Asher on compressions, taking a step back, “Temps up to 63…” 

“It’s been ten minutes,” Asher said through compressions, “Should we try ECMO?” 

Marcel turned to Will, not for permission, but to see if he was following. THe face that Marcel saw was full of hopelessness. This wasn’t Will Halstead the ED Doc, it was Will Halstead the big brother. 

“Maggie?” 

“On it, Marcel,” Maggie stepped away from Will barking her own orders at nurses. 

How is this happening? 

Nothing else could take up space in WIll’s mind. Why was this happening? 

This morning when you had left, you showed Will the weather forecast, telling him it would be cold and rainy, that you would take your time and go slow. He knew you would too. You hated driving in the rain, so you were always alert. 

This morning, you had dropped him at work and yelled out the window, “Don’t kill anyone!” Before cackling and driving away.

You were so full of life when he last saw you. 

Now all he saw was a limp body that shared your face. 

“Will?” Jay's voice from across the ED. 

Will wasn’t just your big brother. He was Jay's too. At that moment, he knew Jay needed him. 

Will stepped away from the treatment room, intercepting Jay before he could get too close. 

“Listen to me,” Will pulled him aside, grabbing his shoulders, “You don’t want to see her right now. Marcel and Asher are working on her, they have it handled.” Lies. They were lies, or half-truths, either way, Will didn’t believe them. 

“How did this happen?” 

The Halstead brothers didn’t cry much, but now the both of them were tearing up. The fear of losing the light of their lives was weighing them both down. 

“That’s not important right now,” Will forced himself to say, “Right now, all that matters is she is getting treatment.” 

Jay nodded, he pulled out of Will’s grasp and turned to Hailey. She had watched the whole exchange, but Will hadn’t seen her until now. She looked like she might cry too. The same thoughts circling in the Halstead brothers minds were circling in her own. 

“She’s strong,” Hailey croaked out, “She’ll be okay. When she wakes up, she’ll have us, and she’ll be okay.” 

Will smiled at his sister-in-law. She really meant it, her belief giving Will something tangible to hold onto. If Hailey saw the way out, he would too. 

“I got a pulse!” 

The beeping of machines never sounded so sweet. A steady even beat. 

Will hadn’t prayed in so long, but he let slip, “Thank you, God.” A silent prayer followed. 

Where there was once nothing, now there was a wide blue sky, littered with meager clouds. They weren’t the ones that looked like faces or shapes, they were so small that they almost blended into the sky. But they were there. You could see them, feel them. God help you, you were going to reach them. 

The sun was out today too, a warm glow that set the perfect temperature. A spring morning with the first blooming flowers. The moon was there too, a watery reflection against the blue. It felt so serene here. The sun was calling to you, warming you in its embrace. You chose then, this would not be your goodbye to the sun and moon. 

Opening your eyes was the hardest challenge of the day. It was harder than walking up that slope, or staying conscious in the helicopter. Your body screamed for sleep, but you were too stubborn. You had to see the sun. 

“Will, Jay, get in here.” 

A warm hand on the side of your face, another one cradling your hand so gently. 

“We’re here, sweetheart.” 

“We’re not going anywhere.” 

This time they were real. When your eyes focused, there were your brothers. Your warmth on a cold day, the light on a dark night. When your eyes fluttered shut again, you knew they would watch over you, keep you tethered. You weren’t fearful of what would happen this time, they were looking out for you.

[unknowntoyou2205]

1, 2, 3

Info: Y/n suffers with panic attacks, and counting seems to help

Relationship: Halstead brothers x sister

From a young age y/n had always been an anxious child. While her class mates ran around the school yard playing, y/n opted to spend her time curled up in a ball at the corner of the yard, avoiding the concerned looks of teachers. The teachers never bothered her, she was a troubled kid who had good grades so they saw no need to chastise her. She lost her mum early on, and it was no secret that her father was found of the drink. Bother her brothers left home even before their mother died, so the young girl only had herself really.

When Jay returned, he seen the way his sister was and tried to get her out more often. He’d bring her to the park and try encourage her to play with the other children. It always ended in tears, so Jay ended up leaving it, thinking his sister would eventually come out of her shyness and find friends of her own. However in high school y/n became the loner of the class, no one went near her until class projects were due. She was known as the smart one in class, so naturally everyone wanted her on their team to get the good grades. So it was no surprise when she graduated all honours, even became the top of her class. The young girl got scholarships for 4 out of the 5 colleges she applied for, and she started studying forensics and lab.

It was during her early college years when Will came back. Being a doctor, he seen the signs and approached y/n, suggesting she went to get checked out for anxiety. It was in the hospital that y/n had her first panic attack. She was waiting in the waiting room, fiddling with her hands when Dr Charles called out her names. Not being good at talking to people., she often went hours without talking to her brothers, her anxiety hit the roof, and her chest collapsed in on itself. Dr Charles had seen the young girls reaction and called for her brother, before telling him that his sister had anxiety. She winded up in hysterics, and her brother and Charles struggled to help her, before Will started counting their breathing, and the girl started to calm down. Figuring out that counting helped the Halstead girl was a relieve for her brothers. She was given medication to help her, but the odd flare up did happen.

Y/n’s job as a crime scene analyser was a stressful job, but Jay seen his sister become more lively. Her old shy self-became a more energetic young woman, and even though Jay knew that a lot of that was due to the medication Dr. Charles put her on, he could never stop the smile when he seen her passion grow for the work she did. Majority of the crime scenes were never nice to see, but y/n always came with a smile, and left with the attitude to work. Gone were the days Jay would see her sister come to the crime scene with a slouched appearance, staying away from her coworkers and detectives. She begun talking and explaining things to Hank, leaving even Hank impressed with the new y/n.

She’d even spend nights out in Molly’s with Will & Jay after tough cases. Which was where she was when things came down on her. An arson case had just been solved, and y/n had been head of the forensics team for it. It wasn’t often that y/n took the top for cases, due to her anxiety she’d often turn down opportunities like that, but with her anxiety under control she decided to take a chance. Yet the added pressure of meetings with her team and taking control of what went on, y/n couldn’t help the feeling that started to build in her chest.

The Halstead siblings sat in their usual booth at the bar, Jay & Will joking with Severide after coming out of another big case. Many victims had been lost within the fires, and multiple casualties from the fires. Med & 51 had been run off their feet the past few days saving all they could and trying to prevent the fires from spreading, while Pd had been trying to figure out who the person was, and why they were doing it. Multiple charcoaled victims were brought to y/n to analyse, and many scenes were left with little to go by. The big hit was when the arsonist got sloppy, and 51 had gotten to the scene on time to stop the fire, leading to forensics to find his DNA on the letterbox of the front door.

The first sign of y/n’s anxiety would be her being quiet. Having not seen their sister having a panic attack in a while, they never noticed how she stayed away from the conversation, offering a weak smile that they put down to tiredness. The second was when y/n began to pick at the bottles sticker and fidgeting with the bottle. Severide glanced at the younger Halstead as the bottle was heard moving from one hand to the other. The tired sign became evident as y/n cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ear before moving in her seat, pushing at Jay slightly to get out.

The fourth sign was the one the Halstead brothers caught onto. Y/n staggered off the booth, hand on her chest as she moved to hold into a stool for balance. Y/n wasn’t one for much drink, so her brothers knew straight away that something was wrong. Glancing at his brother, Will excused himself for Severide to get up before walking towards his sister. Those around them watched as the Halstead sister’s breath became evidently sharp as she made her way to the bathroom. Not caring about it being the women’s bathroom, Will entered after her just as she locked the door to the stall she entered.

“You good?” Jay asked, seeing the slight distress on y/n’s face.

“Bathroom.” Y/n muttered to him ,rushing to get out of the booth and head to the bathroom.

Y/n held her chest as she rushed to close the toilet seat before sitting on it, leaning forwards. Tears streamed down her face as she gasped for breath, and she ignored the knock that came from the door.

Jay had walked to the bar and asked for Stella to help him get into the women’s bathroom. Wanting to be a little sensitive to the fact that it was the women’s bathroom, he got Stella to open the door for him before he went in to his brothers side. Will glanced at his brother with sad eyes, and Jay nodded in understanding.

“Y/n open up please.” Will’s soft vice was heard.

All Will could hear was y/n’s staggered breathing.

“Y/n, let me help.”

“Y/n, I’m going to kick the door in alright.” Jay spoke into the door towards y/n, knowing their sister would probably be in a ball of herself.

Lifting his foot, Jay held onto the sides of the stall as he turned to kick the door, muttering an apology to Stella as he done so. With the door opened, the Halstead’s hearts clenched at the sight of their sister with her knees to her chest, head ducked down. Deciding to move towards their sister, Will gently placed a hand on y/n’s chin, and she flinched at the contact. He forced her to remove her hands from her face and held them in his. She glanced at him with the hood of her eyes, and he smiled reassuringly as he brought her hand to his chest.

Jay watched as Will coached their sister to breath in time with him, and rolled a hand through his hair as she began to breath with their brother. Her breathing turned to hiccups as she started to breath slowly, and Will smiled at her as he placed a hand on her cheek gently.

“We’ll take this slowly Alright?” Will offered, and y/n nodded slightly.

“One.” Ill started, breathing in dramatically, “two.” He repelled his breath, watching y/n try to do the same. “Three.” In “four” out.

Y/n smiled and looked down, wiping her hands before dabbing at her face.

“There you go, that’s it.” Will smiled, talking to her as if she was a child as he wiped a stray tear that fell.

“I’m sorry.” Y/n whispered, looking down.

“It’s okay.” Will reassured her.

“You haven’t had one of them for awhile.” Jay observed, causing his sister to look at him.

“What brought it on?” Will asked, as he moved out of the cubicle so y/n could move to the sink.

“I think taking the lead on the analyses team was a big step, I got a bit freaked out I guess.” Y/n shrugged, cupping water in her hand before splashing her face.

“You were great. But don’t feel you have to continue it now that you’ve done it. What you done was a big case, maybe do a few small ones instead.” Jay stated, kissing the back of her head as he placed his hands on her head and looked at her through the mirror.

“We’re proud of you y/n, you did good. Take it easy on yourself. You took a big step this time, it’ll always be up and down, but your doing amazing regardless.” Will stated, leaning against the sink beside her as he spoke to her.

When y/n left the bathroom she seen Jay talking to a less than impressed Hermann and Will laughing beside him. Seeing the look on her older brothers face, she could tell Hermann was giving out to him about the bathroom door, but it quickly stopped when Stella hit Hermann on the back of the head.

“Take your time and come out when your ready. We can head home and have an early night if you’d like.” Jay stated, running his hands through her hair to get rid of the knots.

“Maybe another drink first.” Y/n smiled weakly, and Jay hugged her from behind.

“Whatever you want.” He smiled at her, kissing her cheek before leaving the bathroom, Will following in toll.

Y/n could only smile at Jay as he turned to face her, and he winked back, letting her take a beer from him before they sat down at their booth, talking with Severide about the time fire department was called to save a cat.

“He was worried about his sister, let him be.” Stella spoke to the older man.

“I’m just saying, you know, there are better ways to getting in than kicking the door in.” Hermann defended himself.

“Sure Hermann, I’ll take it easy next time my sister locks her self in for a panic attack.” Jay stated, rolling his eyes as Stella gave him the three beers.

[i-spaced-sorry]

Followed

Hey! I've had this idea floating around in my head for a little while now and finally got it out on paper. Halstead! Sister is followed while trying to go to a coffee shop. Hope you enjoy reading and stay safe out there y'all, it's a wild world we live in unfortunately.

“What are your plans for today?” asked Jay the minute you walked into the kitchen. 

“Well good morning to you” you sassily replied while walking to the fridge to grab the milk. 

You were off from work and had been looking forward to this day since last Monday. 

“Hmm, I was thinking of maybe going and visiting an old friend from the old neighborhood and then maybe get coffee from my favorite spot before returning home and lounging and doing nothing” you answered while sinking your spoon into your cereal. 

“Solid plan. Remember if you need me for any reason and I don’t answer, call Al.”

“Al?” you questioned when you swallowed your cereal bite. “Usually you tell me to call Hailey.”

Swiping his keys off the counter, Jay looks at you and says, “Voight switched up the partners this week and I’m with Al while Hailey is with Kevin, so I repeat call Al if you need me and I don’t answer”

“Okay” you mock saluted. 

“Pick up. Pick up. Come on pick up” you muttered while your phone was up to your ear and you looked over your shoulder while picking up the pace a bit. 

“Hey this is Detective Jay Halstead, I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave your name and number after the beep and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible” the familiar voice mail message spoke out into your ear. 

“Fuck!” you muttered while ending the call and picking your pace up a bit more after looking behind you and still seeing the person who had been following you for the past 3 blocks behind you.

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing out and bout?” asked the man while also picking up his pace. 

You ignored him and kept walking. Wondering when the hell you were going to hit 35th street. 

“Are you headed to work or school?” the man asked when he got shoulder to shoulder with you. 

You ignored the guy again really wishing your brother would have picked up. 

Gripping your phone in your sweatshirt pocket you picked up your pace again, walking slightly more ahead of the guy. 

Pulling your phone out again, you quickly ran through your contacts and clicked on Olinsky before letting it dial. 

“You’re really pretty you know that?” the man started again while finally keeping his distance from you but still following you. 

‘36th street… 36th street place… 35th street! Finally!’ you thought while reading the street signs. Al’s phone also went to voicemail. Meaning they must be at a crime scene or in the car or something.

Turning right onto the street you notice the guy who had been following you for the past 5 blocks is no longer following you but of course you don’t get far enough away before you hear, “Have a great day sweetheart! You're gorgeous!”

Visibly shuddering you honestly feel disgusting and don’t even want coffee anymore. Mainly because you're shaken up but also because it means you have to be in the area for longer. 

So you quickly pull your phone out and call a number you didn’t exactly want to call. 

“Trudy?” you sniffled when she picked up. 

“Kid, what's wrong?” she asked on the other side. 

 “Is my brother and Al on a call right now?”

You hear some rustling and then the sound of a buzzer and heavy footsteps before someone speaks again. 

“Y/N? Are you okay?”

“Jay!” you all but shout!

“What’s wrong?”

“Why didn’t you pick up when I called you? Why didn’t Al pick up when I called?”

“I’m sorry, we were doing an interrogation. What’s up.”

“Uh, can you come get me?”

“Why? Can’t you take the bus? I thought you were visiting a friend and getting coffee?”

“I visited with my friend, it was a good time but I uh got followed and cat called and feel dirty and just want to go home”

“Cat called? Followed? For how long? Al and I are on our way! Where are you?”

“Uh from 37th street all the way to 35th street. I’m walking up 35th right now. I can wait by that school that’s right there if that’s easy enough of a landmark for you guys to find me.”

You hear the car start and doors being shut before you can hear your voice echo.

“Kid, we don’t care where we pick you up. Wherever makes you feel safest is good enough for us.” you hear Al say. 

“Uh, uh, yea the elementary school should be good. I’ll be on the sidewalk.” you stuttered out while running a hand through your hair. 

“Sounds good, we should be there in 20” replied your brother. 

“Hang in there kid” added Al before the call ended. 

The next twenty minutes were the longest twenty minutes of your life. You still felt really dirty and uneasy and just wanted to be in the safety of your brother or even better the safety of your own bed. 

“Hey Y/N, get in” you heard. You looked up to see Al’s Dodge Magnum car in front of you and your brother’s window rolled down. Quickly shuffling to your feet you scramble into the back seat and audibly let out a sigh. 

“You okay?” your brother asked while turning in his seat to face you. 

Nodding, you reply, “now I am, thank you for coming and getting me. I’m sorry you had to leave work.”

Al pulled into a parking space near Scoops ice cream and stated reassuringly, “Kid, you’re family. Meaning you're important to us. No case will ever be too important to come and get you”

Smirking, you asked, “Let me guess, are you just saying that cause the guy you guys were interrogating was jamming up and you weren’t getting anywhere with them?”

 Shaking their heads, Al and Jay looked at each other knowingly. 

“But we are being honest kid, if you ever have a problem or encounter again like today you call anyone in intelligence and they will have your back!”

“Copy! Can we get ice cream now?” you chuckled.

[squadmuse]

ONE DAY IN OCTOBER - Part II

A MATT CASEY X HALSTEAD!OFC FIC (Charlotte Halstead Casey)

A/N: Part two is here, and it’s slowly but steadily getting more and more exciting! 🔥 Please read & review what you think. This is set in s7 btw. PART I

Charlotte nodded absentmindedly as she walked over to her locker and opened it up. “Yeah that’s a good idea, but I might go home and sleep.”

“It’s been a while since the two of you have had one on one time together,” stated Will as he slouched against the cool metal furniture, his brown eyes watching as his sister shoved her pale pink stethoscope away and fumbled around in her handbag. “You could always nap there, it’s past morning now so he’ll be home like always.”

Turning to face Will, Charlotte hummed indecisively. Her brother did make a good point. She could easily nap at their dad’s new apartment and catch up with him still. “You make a good point.”

“Well, I’ve been known to have good ideas, Tater,” laughed Will as he moved to help his sister into her jacket.

Charlotte narrowed her eyes at his reply and giggled loudly at it. “Was Veronica Maguire in high school one of those good ideas, Billy?” she returned, smiling cheekily.

“Ok, that was one of my bad ideas,” stated Will as he remembered back to his high school prom. Veronica’s father had chased him for what felt like half of Canaryville, all because she and Will had made out that night. “But usually I’m a fountain of good ideas!”

Charlotte couldn’t help the snort that slipped out, and it caused both Halstead siblings to laugh hard. “Well, aside from Veronica and some other questionable ideas I’ve seen from you, I’ll agree that seeing Pop is a better one. I can make sure he’s doing well, and his meds are working for him still.”

“He’s a stubborn old guy, but he’s not stupid,” said Will as he locked up Charlotte’s locker for her and began to walk with her out of the room.

“If you say so,” replied Charlotte as she pulled her handbag higher up on her shoulder. “Like Mom used to say, we’ve all got that well-meaning Halstead spunk that makes us do stupid things.”

The two siblings laughed again at their Mom’s old joke. Charlotte knew she was lucky to have such a close bond with not only Will, but Jay also, and especially after they had lost their mother.

“Mom would kick his ass if he didn’t take his meds, probably will do so from heaven.”

“Damn right.”

It didn’t take long for Charlotte to leave Med, saying goodbye to Will in her dark blue SUV. He had made sure to walk there, even though he did not need to.

The two had decided that if Charlotte was going to go visit their dad, that she should pick up his prescriptions and some healthy food. Pat Halstead was a great connoisseur of all things fatty and greasy, which, after a quadruple bypass, wasn’t the best choice at all. Luckily, there were both stores on the way to the new apartment.

She had left Will at Med just after half nine, and after sending a quick text to Matt saying she had just left and for him to stay safe, Charlotte had happily arrived home and promptly fell asleep.

This pregnancy was definitely taking more and more out of her, especially if she didn’t keep moving or occupied. But Charlotte knew she wouldn’t have it any other way, both her and Matt wanted nothing more than their own baby, and this little one inside her was so wanted and cherished already.

Charlotte had never seen her dad cry other than when her mom had died and when she had married Matt, but Pat had teared up when she had told him he was going to be grandpa. He had already been helping Matt put together ideas for the nursery, the two bonding over their love of carpentry, woodworking and construction.

Standing in the doorway of the pastel green nursery after waking from her nap, Charlotte smiled at the painted white rocking chair next to the window. Even with a serious heart condition and waiting for his surgery, her dad had determinedly made the chair for his future grandchild’s first room. It was beautiful and she had definitely cried a ton.

Sighing, Charlotte decided to go take a quick shower and then head out to see her dad. Like Will had said, their dad had a routine and would be home now, most likely watching a baseball game on the television.

The sun was still shining as Charlotte drove through the streets of Chicago, and it just seemed like a good day to her.

It had been a quick effort to pick up some healthy foods for her dad, including some homemade low-cholesterol ready meals that she had found in the food store. The pharmacy had taken a little while longer, but Charlotte didn’t mind, and she had made sure to pick up a new oxygen tank with a mask for her dad. Luckily, he wouldn’t need to use it. But it was always good to have if the need appeared out of nowhere.

Even the loving text and sweet voicemail that Matt had left while she was asleep had made her mood even more irreversibly chipper, but her husband always had that effect on her. It just felt like one of those days where nothing could or would go wrong and Charlotte was happily relishing in it as she sang along to Taylor Swift in the car.

When she did finally arrive at the new high rise apartment building, Charlotte made sure to find a parking spot around the back. It was usually used only by the building’s occupants, but her dad had given her his permission badge to display it in her own car. He didn’t want her walking too far nowadays at six months pregnant.

Charlotte had just opened the trunk of her car and was bringing out the groceries and pharmacy bags, when she felt someone appear at her side and her green eyes quickly darted to her right-hand side and to the figure who stood there. Gasping, Charlotte placed a hand on her chest.

“Mrs Aquino, goodness you scared me there!” exclaimed Charlotte softly as she quickly smiled at the older woman. Her husband, Mr. Aquino, or Bert as he liked to be called, had been a friend of her dad’s since he had moved in, and Charlotte always made sure to be polite to the couple. It wasn’t hard, they were lovely.

Mrs. Aquino waved her hand dismissively. “My apologies dear, I just saw you on your own and had to come help!” she replied sweetly, moving to take two of the bags from her, leaving Charlotte with two also. “I still haven’t met that lovely husband of yours yet, we keep seeming to miss each other.”

“Yeah, Matt doesn’t have normal shifts at the firehouse,” replied Charlotte as she and Mrs. Aquino moved to walk into the building lobby. “That and his construction company keeps him busy, but I know he’d love to meet you too.”

Mrs. Aquino nodded as she pressed the elevator button. “He sounds like a good man, and that is all you can ask for nowadays,” stated the elder woman, glancing up at Charlotte with a wise look in her eyes. “I’m sure he’ll be a great father to your little one.”

“That I know,” replied Charlotte, unable to keep the broad smile off her face at the mention of her husband as a father. She and everyone around knew Matt Casey was perfect fatherhood material and would excel at it. “This little one is very lucky to have him.”

Luckily, there were not many people getting on the elevator today, and Charlotte didn’t have much time to talk to Mrs. Aquino as they approached the twentieth floor, where she lived. Promising to keep in touch, they had said goodbye, and Charlotte had kept herself in the elevator until it reached the twenty-third floor, where her father’s new apartment was.

Coughing slightly, she stepped out onto the soft carpet and made her way down the corridor to apartment 23C, the home of one Patrick Joseph Halstead. The door was unlocked when Charlotte went to open it as she knocked, which was unsurprising.

“Pop?” called Charlotte out into the apartment as she closed the door behind her. “It’s me, Charlotte.”

Pat Halstead’s head popped out of the kitchen doorway, and he smiled ever so slightly before making his way over to his daughter as he gave her a one-armed hug. She was the only one he ever really smiled at or showed affection to nowadays, since his wife and her mom had died.

“What are you doing here, Charlie Bear?” asked a surprised Pat Halstead, using his own nickname for his only daughter.

Charlotte rolled her eyes at her dad’s comment. “What do you think?” she replied, chuckling slightly, motioning to the bags on the ground. “Here to spend some time with my old man!”

Pat grumbled. “I don’t need you taking care of me girl, you have enough to do,” he told Charlotte, but he quickly took the bags from her. “I bet that idiot bellhop downstairs didn’t help you with the bags?”

“Pop, he’s a receptionist, not a bellhop,” sighed Charlotte as she followed her father into his kitchen. He had the window open, and there was a great view of Chicago from where Charlotte found herself among the white tiles and gray walls.

Pat waved his hand in the air. “Bullshit, you’re pregnant, and he didn’t help. What kind of man doesn’t help a pregnant woman?”

“I parked around behind, so I didn’t see him and Mrs. Aquino took some until we got to the elevator,” replied Charlotte as she pulled out one of the kitchen table’s chairs and sat down. “Oh, apparently Bert wants to know if you’re going to poker night next week by the way.”

Pat nodded as he sorted through the bags, huffing whenever Charlotte tried to get up and help. “I’ll call him later, Ronnie won big time last time,” he said, looking back at her.

“That’s good, how is Ronnie?” asked Charlotte. She had met Ronnie a few times now, and he was a nice guy. Her dad seemed to look out for him as he was in a wheelchair after a wartime injury.

“Doing well, got into a new VA group yesterday morning.”

“That’s great news,” said Charlotte happily, her eyes alight with genuine joy for the veteran. “We could go see him with some lunch. I brought bagels and soup with more than enough for us both.”

Pat agreed before going silent as he opened up the pharmacy bag.

“You can go on ahead, I’m just going to find somewhere to shove this blasted thing,” he grumbled, pointing at the new oxygen tank.

“Hey, don’t attack it, you never know when you might need it,” replied Charlotte seriously.

“I’m fine. It’s just heart surgery that I’ve had, and you four kids keep treating me like I’m some sort of cripple!” retorted Pat as he walked out of the room, leaving Charlotte alone with her thoughts.

After a while, Charlotte decided to go up to see Ronnie herself as she knew her dad would eventually make his way up to the twenty-fifth floor apartment.

Leaving Pat to watch yet another baseball game, she smiled and made her way to the elevator for the second time that day, and pressed a painted nail against the little button to open it up.

However, it was as she stood there waiting, that Charlotte noticed that the elevator didn’t seem to be working all of a sudden and she harrumphed loudly. Now she was going to have to walk up two floors of stairs while six months pregnant and then two back down to her dad’s apartment.

She just hoped that it would be working again later, the thought of walking twenty-three floors of stairs down to the bottom made Charlotte want to burst into tears.

Undeterred, the youngest Halstead continued on her way and pushed open the door to the south stairway. It was only then that she smelled a scent that was oddly familiar, as if someone had burned a roast or something similar. Shaking her head, Charlotte started to climb the way up to the top floor.

It was probably nothing.

[marvel-and-chicago-fan]

Break Through Au

Word Count: 1.6k

Summary: You go out ice skating on the lake with your brothers and Things don’t go as planned for you three

Warnings: CPR/Death, Falling through Ice, Hospitals, Yelling

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You were on the ice with your brothers Will and Jay, even though you weren’t allowed to, you guys still went regardless.

It was 10pm, no one would be out here to get in your way or yell at you to get off the ice.

“Cmon Y/n/n, it's better out here” Jay said while attempting to slide farther out to the lake. 

“I don’t know Jay, I kinda wanna stay over here. That way I get off easier than struggling to get off if I'm way over there.” you shrugged.

“Alright then, me and will be over there if you need us' ' He pointed towards the middle of the lake.

“Alright, I’m just gonna slide around.” You shivered. Maybe I should work more layers. You thought to yourself.

After a while you got bored and decided to go over to Will and Jay who were “fighting” over who got the better hockey stick.

Will pulled out his phone and checked the time. “Guys it’s 11 o'clock, she should head home now, if we all get a cold moms gonna know that we went outside without asking her, especially if Y/n gets sick”

“But I'm getting good at hockey,” you whined.

Will and Jay just have you that look. “Alright alright let’s go” You caved.

Because your brothers were better on ice than you were, they went up ahead of you. 

“GUYS! I'M NOT AS FAST AS YOU SLOW DO-“ Before you could finish your sentence a loud Crack interrupted you.

That made the two Halstead brothers come to a halt and turn around to you. “No,” Jay whispered. “Y/n don’t move, just stay still we’ll come to you”

Before you could say anything the Ice broke.

Jays pov:

“Y/N, SHIT NO” I screamed, my little sister just fell through the ice.

Me and Will immediately slide over to where she fell in and I immediately throw my whole arm in the freezing water to see if I can feel Y/n

“Give me your other arm so I can pull you once you get her!” Will shouts.

“Once I touch something that feels semi to a human arm I pull. I can tell it’s Y/n because once I pull I feel a bit of weight. 

“PULL WILL, PULL” 

Once we were towards the edge of the Lake I pick y/n up bridal style and rushed over to land.

“Put her down here.” Will says. 

“What the hell do we do?” I cry

“She’s not breathing, Jay, you need to run back to the house and call someone” Wills is studying medicine so he knows a couple of things about what to do in a life or death situation.

“WHO DO I CALL?” I shout

“I DO GIVE A FUCK, CALL 9-1-1 AND HURRY”

My body moves into autopilot as I’m running through the forest making sure I don’t trip on any rocks or roots. 

My legs are burning and I can’t breathe but I can’t stop, if I stop Y/ns gonna die and it’ll be all my fault.

As I reach the house I punch in the code to the door and run upstairs to my bedroom. 

I basically almost threw my  phone into the air while trying to pick it up.

“9-1-1 what’s your emergency?”

“It’s -it��s my sister, she fell into the lake and I don’t know if she’s breathing”

“Check if she has a pulse”

“My older brother is with her at the lake, he-he's studying medicine so he knows what he’s doing”

“What’s your name sweetheart?”

“Uhh jay, my names Jay”

“Alright Jay, How old is your sister and how long was she under water for?”

“I don’t- 5 minutes maybe, and her name is Y/n, but we all call her Y/n/n. I don't know what I’m gonna tell my mom, that my littler sister died because we didn’t listen to her?” I’m panicking.

“Jay, I’m gonna need you to take a deep breath, I have help coming on the way right now”

How did she get my location? I didn’t even tell her.

***

The paramedics arrived and Jay led them to the lake where Will was with you. 

Will did successfully get you back but you were still unconscious. 

Why didn’t we just listen?

***

“15 Year old Female Y/n Halstead, Hypothermia after falling through ice, Was unconscious on site and Has a history of Heart issues.” The paramedic listed off all the things

(Ik that Grey's anatomy is in Seattle but because the show is so old let’s just pretend that this happened with them, it’s been awhile since I’ve watched it so if I make mistakes Woops)

“Alright,on my count if we move her. 1…2…3”Alex said.

Alex looked you over and started telling Jo things to do. “I want a head Ct, Keep me updated on her temperature and get me Derek for a consult.” Jo nodded.

Jay and Will followed Dr. Karev outside. “Is she gonna be ok?” Jay asked.

“She’s not out of the woods yet, but we won’t know more until she wakes up which will be a couple of hours” 

***

“Jay Halstead and Will Halstead” A stern voice called to them that made them Gulp.

“What in the world happened, and why did the Atwater’s call me and say that something happened on the lake and I needed to come home?” Your Mom stoked with her hands on her hips.

Jay and Will glanced at each other and knew they had no way out of this so they just decided to tell the truth and get it over with.

“I have told you guys time and time again not to play on that lake during the winter,

If you want to go ice skating go to the bigger one. Y/n has been punished enough, and as for you too, just until we get home, me and your father Will real with you. Do you understand?”

“Yes mom,” The boys said together.

“Alright, either the Atwater’s or the Uptons are going to pick you guys up and take you home. I will stay here with your sister, your father should be at home by now”

“But mom-“ Jay said. “No buts, wait here”

***

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident and A lot had happened. 

You were on the News, people came to your school and spoke about Ice safety. Jay and Will were indeed grounded but only for two weeks. The lake was now closed off while they were still doing an investigation. Which you didn’t understand why because it’s not like anything else happened but it was whatever.

“Y/n hurry up you’re going to miss the bus!” Jay shouted from downstairs.

“HOLD ON IM COMING” You grabbed your backpack and ran down the stairs.

After getting all your stuff in your backpack you got all your stuff ready to walk to the bus stop.

“Alright, what’s the rules?” Will questioned you.

“No wandering off to the other lake, don’t take off my jackets unless I really need to and don’t get anything that will drop my body temperature” 

“Good.”

“Do you still have to put my hat and Jacket on for me? I’m 15 years old.”

“Because of recent events and mom being gone and I’m going to leave soon I need to make sure you're ok, plus your body temperature is still not to its normal temp yet so layers it is.” You rolled your eyes at what would be said.

“I will pick you up for your doctor's appointment maybe 30 minutes before school ends, and Jay will drop your lunch off at the front office” Will said as he started walking at the door. 

“Bye will see you later” 

Once Will was gone, you ate the last of your waffles and grabbed your hot chocolate or what Jays calls “Jay's famous Hot chocolate” but it tasted like any other drink.

***

“I miss having you out on the lake by the middle school” Your friend Ellie said.

“Me too, but ever since my mom died Will and Jay have been strict on what I can do since my dad won’t really do much and they're trying to get me to learn stuff before Will leaves for New York and Jay leaves to serve” You shrugged.

“But I did convince Jay to get you some fries and nuggets” You laughed 

“You are literally the best, I really didn’t feel like spending all my money in my account today” Yeah the school food was expensive but it’s because you guys had fast food restaurants in your cafeteria so I guess it made sense.

***

“Hey Nugget” Will greeted you as you got into the car.

“Hi Will, can we please get McDonald’s after my appointment?” 

“Sure, where’s Jay? I told him he could get out of school early since he has a free period this week.”

“He said he wanted to stay at school, so he’s probably just walking around the hallways or doing whatever Jay does” You shrugged.

You thought about it for a while, your life was somewhat falling apart. Will was leaving for New York. Jay was getting deployed so you weren’t gonna see him. And your mom was gone so all you had left was your Dad, and your dad wasn’t the best person now since your dad died.

“Hey Will?”You broke the silence 

“Yeah Nugget?” 

“I’m- I’m gonna miss you when you leave” Here comes the water works.

“Me too Y/n me too”

Life from now on was going to be way different for you , and everyone around you knew that. You were going to get through it and it was going to be Ok. Right?

Well that’s at least what you thought…

[herrmannhalsteadproduction]

Fine is a Four-Letter Word (Chapter Five)

Summary: This is Part Twenty-Two of my series A Herrmann/Halstead Production. It is an AU where Christopher Herrmann's mom had an affair with Pat Halstead resulting in a baby. The series follows this OC character (Rebecca "Bex" Herrmann) as she grows up and gets to know her brothers and the various Chicago teams. It is very much an AU, just to underscore that. It doesn't follow the same timeline and characters will follow different paths.

Click here for the Series Rundown where you can find the links to read all of the previous installments (which I highly recommend you do so that this one makes sense.)

Rating: Mature

Relationships: Christopher Herrmann & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Original Female Character, Will Halstead & Original Female Character, Jay Halstead & Will Halstead, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz/Original Female Character, Will Halstead/Connor Rhodes, Assorted OC Couples

Warnings: Injury Recovery, Trauma Recovery, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Protective Siblings, Family Feels, Team as Family, Kissing, Romance, Mild Sexual Content, Swearing

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Friday

*** 

Jay

Jay scrubbed a hand down his face as Dr. Fredericks patiently waited for him to, you know, actually talk.

“You know what happened,” he began, figuring she’d at least heard through the grapevine if not directly from a few of her other first-responder patients. “With my sister and my brother.”

“I do.” Dr. Fredericks nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I know how you experienced it. I’d rather hear it in your own words.”

Rubbing a hand over his mouth, he slumped back in his chair, trying to gather his words. Dr. Fredericks waited. Infuriatingly patient, as always.

He couldn’t—he didn’t want to revisit that day. Any of it. But he knew the drill by now—knew he had to if there was any hope of getting a handle on it. The only way out was through and all that shit. Jay took a breath and tried to centre himself.

Slowly, haltingly, he told her everything. Every horrifying minute. Listening to the attack. Thinking that Bex—that she was dead before he could even get to her. Emery. And then Will. How he can’t stop hearing or seeing any of it whether he’s awake or asleep. How he’s trying to keep it together for Bex—trying to keep Bex together while she’s slowly falling apart before his eyes. Pretending she’s fucking fine.

Like any of them are.

They talked through his feelings of ‘misplaced’ guilt—Jay didn’t know if it would be possible to ever fully rid himself of that—and his extremely justified anger at Ty.

“I just—I want him gone,” Jay snapped out. “I don’t want him to ever be able to touch my family ever again. I’m doing everything I can think of to make that happen, but none of it feels like enough.”

Dr. Fredericks tilted her head at him. “What have you been doing?”

“I can’t work the case, obviously,” Jay said, still aggravated about that. “But I remembered my dash cam was on and it caught the phone call with Bex so I’ve handed that over. You can hear Ty pretty friggin’ clearly on that so it should help the prosecutors.” Detective Medeiros kept reminding him how huge a help that actually was.

“Mouse and I have been staying with her so I know there’s always someone there,” he continued. “But—”

“…but?” she prompted.

“We both have to start back at work on Monday,” Jay sighed. “They’re letting us switch our shifts around so at least one of us will be there—most of the time anyway, but I—I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”

“Return to work?”

“Leave Bex,” he said, shaking his head. “I tried to go for groceries on Wednesday and I-I had a panic attack in the parking lot of her building about leaving her alone. And Mouse was still there! I mean—I did it. I went. We needed food, but it…it was hard.”

“That’s understandable after a trauma like you’ve had,” Dr. Fredericks said. “Have you talked to Bex about your fears?”

“I don’t…no, no, I haven’t.” Jay sat up and grabbed the glass of water she’d set out for him. Gave his hands something to do. “Our oldest brother, Chris—he already had a talk with her along those lines this week.” Thankfully Chris had filled him in later because Bex hadn’t said a word. “I don’t—I don’t want to pile my shit on top of all that. I know she knows I’m worried about her. I keep checking on her while she’s ‘sleeping’—”

“Why the air quotes,” Dr. Fredericks cut in.

“Because I’m pretty sure she’s faking it,” he said, heart sinking all over again at the thought. “She went from waking us up with screaming nightmares to total silence in the span of a day. That doesn’t happen. But she’s resting, at least, and that was a huge fight to win.” His lips twisted in a wry smile. “One battle at a time, right?”

“That’s—”

“I know.” Jay held up a hand. “Something I need to talk about with her eventually, but I’ve been in her place, Doc. Hurt and in pain and knowing that there’s nothing you can do to speed up the process. It’s—it’s shitty and sleeping with broken ribs is actually pretty hard. I want to give her a bit of space…on that front, anyway.”

“Okay.” Dr. Fredericks levelled a look at him across the coffee table. “If talking to Bex is off the table, for now, what else do you think can be done to help you feel more comfortable with returning to work.”

Aside from removing Ty Anderson from the face of the planet? Jay blew out a breath as he wracked his brain, running through all of their plans and back up plans and—

“I think…I think we might be doing everything we can? To keep Bex safe, I mean.” He bobbed a little nod. “Aside from rolling her up in bubble wrap or something.”

“Which wouldn’t be good for her ribs,” Dr. Fredericks pointed out with a small smile. Jay popped a finger gun at her. “Fair point.” He let out a little laugh before sighing and running a hand over his face. “Can you just…tell me it’ll get easier at some point?”

“How long have we been seeing each other, Jay?”

“Couple of years,” he said, not bothering with the actual math. “Off and on.”

“So,” Dr. Fredericks said, not giving him an inch. “What do you think the answer to that is?”

Not easier.

Not ever really with the way their lives went, but eased. With time and a hell of a lot of work.

They all had a long road ahead of them.

*** Bex

Bex watched the numbers on her phone turn over and silenced the alarm as soon as it went off. Kol snuffled as he wiggled closer beside her and licked at her chin. She gave him a little scratch behind his ear.

“Good boy, Kol,” she said. “You did a good job.”

He’d snuck into her room on Tuesday night as Mouse was leaving and snuggled in beside her. Bex wasn’t about to turn him away and around one a.m., she was extra happy for that decision when he nudged her awake right as a nightmare was headed toward screaming out loud territory.

She did not need another night of waking up Mouse and Jay and having them burst into her room thinking she was fighting off an attack. Again.

Kol got plenty of treats for his help and now three nights in, they’d managed to keep up their little system. He woke her up before the nightmares got too bad. Mouse and Jay got more sleep—mostly. Jay kept checking on her, but she was pretty sure he was sleeping in between checks. She was only managing to get a couple of hours a night, but it wasn’t like she was exerting herself much throughout the day anyway.

The nightmares would fade at some point. They had to.

In the meantime, Operation Stop Worrying Your Whole Family was under way.

“Okay,” Bex said, pushing Kol away gently. “Time to get up and face the day.” She was workshopping times for how early she could come out of her room and not have Mouse look at her with that tiny little frown line between his eyebrows, asking her if she got enough sleep.

Seven a.m. and eight a.m. were not it. Maybe eight-thirty would be the magic number.

Bex grit her teeth as she leveraged herself out of bed, ribs screaming at her. Most of her body was still one giant bruise and moving, standing, or sitting—everything friggin’ hurt.

Slowly, but surely, she made her way toward her door. Taking a deep breath—ow, OW, ow—Bex pasted a smile onto her face and headed out into the hallway…

Into a quiet apartment.

Hunh.

Will’s bedroom door was open with no Jay inside—right. He was going to therapy this morning. Bex hoped the empty room meant he was following through with that and actually made his appointment. She’d overheard enough whispered conversations between him and Mouse to know they were both still beating themselves over what happened. Like any of the blame fell on them.

She crept out into the living room, shuffling along while Kol pranced beside her. With a bark, he shot ahead, nosing at the balcony door and she finally spotted Mouse sitting out there cross-legged.

“Oh, hey!” He turned around at the noise, scrambling to his feet as soon as he saw her. Sliding open the screen door, he stepped inside, scanning her face with worried eyes. That stupid frown line starting to form. “Did you get—”

“Hey! Good morning to you too,” she said, dragging that smile back out. “What were you doing out there?”

“Ah. I, uh—” Mouse rubbed at the back of his neck. Blushing. Bex’s smile suddenly felt a lot less forced.

“Mouse…” she teased, stepping closer. “Spill.”

“I was trying out a meditation thing that Lucy keeps recommending to me,” he blurted out. “Like a quiet-the-mind-relaxation-thing—”

Because he was stressed. About her. About all of this.

“Did it help?” She mentally crossed her fingers, already planning to send Lucy cookies if it had. Even a little bit.

“Oh, I didn’t—I actually got distracted watching some birds chase a squirrel in the parking lot,” Mouse confessed with a little snort. “I think they were playing? I hope they were, otherwise those were some mean birds.”

Bex laughed, doing her best to stifle the groan that followed as she pressed a hand against her side. Mouse’s face fell instantly.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” He crowded into her space, hand hovering over hers, carefully not touching. “I shouldn’t make jokes. Are you okay—”

“I’m fine, I—I don’t want you to stop making jokes,” she said. “Ever, okay?” She stared at him until he met her eyes again. “Promise?”

Mouse held her gaze before sighing and dropping his forehead to press against hers. “Promise.”

“Good.” Bex moved forward to wrap her arms around him and snuggle into his chest. “Let’s try this again. Good morning.”

“Morning, Bex.” Gentle, gentle arms wrapped around her, holding her close. “How about I make you some breakfast?” Mouse asked hopefully.

Her stomach rolled at the thought and Bex hid her grimace into shirt. “Sure,” she said. “That sounds great.”

***

Connor

Will sighed as his care team left the room and Connor sat quietly beside him, holding his hand while they both absorbed the big news.

“Guess I can cancel the rescue squad,” Will said, cracking a grin despite the dark circles under his eyes.

Connor snorted. “Like Severide would bust you out of here and risk Bex coming down on him.”

“Hey—ugh.” Will’s face fell. “I almost made a joke about how now was the best time since she’s out of commission, but—”

“Too soon.” Connor shook his head and Will nodded solemnly.

“Way too soon,” he agreed. “Think she’ll be coming by today or should we call her with the good news? Oh, we gotta talk to Jay and Mouse about moving stuff around so I can have space to maneuver. Our apartment isn’t exactly wheelchair friendly.”

Dr. Allan was letting him take very short walks, but he had to be careful due to the severity and placement of his wound. He couldn’t stress his abdomen while it was still healing which meant lots of bed rest and using a wheelchair more often than not to get around. At least for the next few weeks.

And Will was right about his apartment. Seemed like it was time for the discussion Connor had been prepping for in his brain over the past few days.

“So,” he cleared his throat. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Mm?” Will glanced at him before continuing to type out a list on his phone, head shooting back up when he registered the serious look on Connor’s face. “What’s up?”

“I think that it would be best if you came home with me instead of your apartment,” Connor said, squeezing Will’s hand gently when he instantly started to argue. “Just—wait, please. Hear me out.”

Huffing out a breath, Will sank back against his pillows, the fight draining out of him as quickly as it had flared up. “Tell me.”

“My place is bigger,” Connor began. “You’ll have more room so you won’t have to worry about bumping into anything.”

“At least if I bump into anything at my place, I’ll know it didn’t cost five grand a cushion,” Will snarked and Connor raised an eyebrow at him.

“What happened to hearing me out?”

Will mimed zipping his lips, making Connor laugh softly as he rolled his eyes.

“Better.” He leaned in and took Will’s hand again. “There’s a ramp to the building and the elevator is solid.” Will and Bex’s place had two steps to get in and Connor had a disconcerting lack of confidence in the elevator. “I’ve got a walk-in shower,’ he continued, trying to hit all of the highlights right off the bat. “It’ll be easy to make it accessible and you can’t deny that my mattress is way better than yours.”

Using his free hand to unzip his lips, Will said, “…I do love your mattress.”

Connor knew that would be a point in his favour.

“I know the biggest issue is that you want to be back with Bex,” he said and Will nodded. “But this would just be temporary and like you said, she’s trying to recover too. Jay and Mouse are there. They’ve got her covered. And I’m pretty sure they won’t be leaving anytime soon so five people trying to operate in your apartment is a recipe for disaster.”

“Five?” Will’s face scrunched up in confusion. Connor fought off the urge to sigh.

“Yes, babe, five,” he said. “You think I’m not going to be with you for every step of your recovery, no matter where you’re staying? I already talked to Goodwin about taking a leave.”

“Con…”

“Out of everything, that is the one thing that’s non-negotiable. I mean it.” Connor blinked back tears as his breath caught. “You don’t—you don’t know what it was like, Will. You got shot. Right in front of me—I was—you almost bled out in my arms. I thought you were going to die, that I was going to lose you and I couldn’t—” He swiped a hand over his cheeks, shaking his head. “It was the worst day of my life and I just…I don’t want to let you out of my sight for a little while, okay? Is that—will you let me do that? Please?”

Will opened his arms as Connor’s voice broke on those last words, letting Connor sink into them—carefully—and they held each other until Will whispered, “Okay.”

Connor sat back up, searching his face for any hint of doubt or reluctance, but he was smiling softly at Connor through teary eyes. “Are you sure?”

“You’re right about all of it,” Will said, chewing on his lip as he considered his next words. “Your space is a better set-up, but more importantly, I think it would be best for us to be together in that space. Mouse and Jay have Bex covered and we can still visit and like you said, it’s temporary. I’m not letting Jay steal Bex as a roomie now. He had his chance.”

Relief flooded through Connor as a week’s worth of tension just…disappeared. “That’s—thank you, babe.” He leaned in for a kiss. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Will said, quirking an eyebrow at him. “I’m calling dibs ‘not it’ on telling Bex about this.”

Connor sat back in his chair with a thump.

Well.

Shit.

***

Jay

Jay walked out of the doctor’s office and blinked at the sight of Voight and Olinsky standing next to his truck. His heart dropped.

What now?

“What’s going on?” he called out as he jogged over. “What happened? Is—”

“Bex, Will, and Emery are all fine,” Voight said, cutting off his immediate worries. “There’s nothing wrong with your family or the team, but we do need to talk.”

“Not here,” Olinsky added.

They both looked grim and Jay had about a thousand questions, but all he asked was, “Where?”

Voight jerked a nod at his truck. “Follow us.” He stalked off toward his vehicle without another word, assuming Jay would follow as ordered. He’d promised Bex and Mouse he’d be back right after his appointment, but something was clearly going down and Jay didn’t want to be out of the loop. Whatever it was, it was serious enough for them to track him down at his therapist’s office.

He shuddered to think of how many privacy laws they’d violated to do that.

Jay got in his truck and followed them out of the lot, bracing himself for whatever shit was coming their way now.

***

Hank

Al was silent beside him as they drove toward one of the abandoned industrial yards that Hank preferred for meetings like this.

Silent and yet incredibly loud in his judgment.

“Spit it out,” Hank growled.

“Is this really the right way to play it?” Al sighed.

“I’m not going to risk someone else breaking the news,” he shot back. “We need to catch him off-guard. See his face.”

“You don’t actually think he had anything to do with it.” Al turned and Hank could see him staring at him out of the corner of his eye.

“I hope not,” Hank said slowly. “But I also know we’re all capable of almost anything when someone threatens our family. And I think I have to see his face to know for sure.”

They rolled along the cracked pavement of the empty warehouse yard with Halstead pulling in close behind. He slammed the door of his truck as he got out, striding over to stand with vibrating impatience as he waited for them to join him.

“What the hell is this about?”

Hank waited until he was right in front of him. Eye to eye. “Ty Anderson is dead.”

Halstead blinked, unmistakable shock crossing his face. Unfiltered.

Good.

“What the—when? How?”

“Stabbed,” Al piped up. “Tuesday night. They did an internal investigation that came up as ‘fucked around and found out.’ Which tracks.” He shrugged. “Detective Medeiros only found out about it last night and came knocking on our door this morning.”

“She said he was found in section of the prison where the cameras were on the fritz,” Hank said, still watching Halstead carefully. “Nobody saw anything. Nobody heard anything. He bled out before he was found.” He waited a beat. “She wanted to know if we’d heard anything.”

Halstead narrowed his gaze. “Asked me what you dragged me out here to ask me.”

“We just want to know if anybody’s gonna hear something,” Hank said, crossing his arms as he stared right back. “Better to do clean up now than be caught with our pants down later.”

Closing his eyes, Halstead shook his head as he took a deep breath. “What?” he demanded, shooting a glare at both of them. “You think I had something to do with this? Ordered a hit?”

Hank shrugged. “Wouldn’t blame you.”

“If I was going to kill him,” Halstead snarled, jabbing a finger at him. “I would have done it that day. At Emery’s. He’s fucking lucky Hailey was there to stop me.” He shook his head and let out a harsh breath. “No,” he said, a little bit more even this time. “I wouldn’t—I didn’t have anything to do with it…but I hope whoever did? Made it hurt.”

The crime scene photos flashed through Hank’s mind. “You got your wish there, kid.”

Halstead went quiet for a moment. Calculating. “…was it you?”

The thought had crossed his mind. Briefly, hours later in the aftermath, when he’d met the sunrise in his kitchen with a bottle of scotch at his side. He knew enough people, had enough money, and was owed enough favours to make it happen.

But Al had shown up, tugged the bottle out of his hand and halted his silent plans with a quiet word. She wouldn’t want that. Don’t put it on her.

“No,” Hank said, meeting Halstead with a steady look of his own. “None of us.”

Halstead nodded, relaxing minutely before flinging out a hand. “Then who?”

“Guy like Ty,” Al said. “The possibilities are endless.”

***

Statesville Correctional Center

Peters

Nathaniel Peters had worked at Statesville for the better part of twenty years and has crossed paths with all kinds of inmates. Mean ones, innocent ones, friendly, scared, pissed off…

All kinds.

But only one had ever truly unnerved him.

Robert Forrest. Or Ramsay as he was better known as. His crimes of record were hacking and embezzlement, but the cops and the feds and the rest of the suits had no idea who they were really dealing with. The other criminals did though and Peters had heard all of those rumours. Witnessed enough violent outbursts to believe them.

Most of the more violent residents at Statesville had a kind of anger that Peters could understand. A rage that burned hot and fast, leaving a path of destruction before flaming out. It passed.

Ramsay. He was nothing but rage. A constant fire that burned cold. Controlled. He wielded his anger like a knife and there was no running once he had you in his sights. The hunt was all part of the game for him. It didn’t matter if he did the killing or if he paid one of his many pawns. As long as there was blood in the end, he was happy.

Peters was very invested in keeping Ramsay happy.

The guard before him had already up and ‘quit’ abruptly. Ramsay paid the warden well enough that he had the run of the place. The way Peters saw it, he might as well play nice and earn his extra money while he could. Stay on Ramsay’s good side…such as it was.

As soon as he had enough for that little fishing hut down in Florida, he was out of here.

In the meantime, he’d be the best damn pawn in Ramsay’s arsenal.

Knocking on the door of Ramsay’s cell, he waited for permission before sliding open the window. “Some detective’s asking questions,” Peters said. “But the warden has it handled.”

“And Mitchell?”

“Says thank you for the bonus,” Peters said, holding back a snort. The other guard jumped on the job as soon as it was offered. Didn’t hurt that he’d been itching to deal with Anderson since day one. “He’s waiting until the questions die down before taking his early retirement. Everything’s holding up so far. Nothing to tie back to him.” Ramsay hummed, pleased. “I do appreciate tidy work.” There was a pause before his face suddenly appeared in the window, taking everything Peters had not to flinch.

“Do you think she’ll be pleased?” Ramsay asked, eyes wide and unsettlingly earnest.

“Who—”

“My songbird, you idiot,” Ramsay hissed. “My Bex. Do you think she’ll like her gift?”

“Y-yeah,” Peters managed to get out. “I think she’ll be real grateful.”

Ramsay backed away from the door with another little hum. “Good. Maybe I should send her some more flowers. To help her recuperate.”

“I’ll get right on that,” Peters said as he slid the window closed. He shuddered as he walked back down the hall. He might be a coward and a pawn…

But at least he wasn’t Ramsay’s girl.

***

  Jay

Grateful felt like the wrong word when someone had been murdered—even someone like Ty—but Jay wouldn’t lie and say he wasn’t relieved.

Ty was gone.

He could never touch his family ever again.

For the first time in a week, Jay felt like he could actually breathe.

“What now?” he asked Voight.

“Detective Medeiros gave us permission to let the most important people know so that’s where we’re headed next,” Voight said, jerking his chin at Jay. “We were going to hit 51, Med, and then your place. Coming with?”

“Yeah,” Jay nodded. “Definitely.” He needed to be there for this. To let Emery, Will, and Bex know they were safe.

No matter how it happened, that part he truly was grateful for.

Click here to read Fine is a Four-Letter Word on ao3 [A/N - please do click over to read on ao3 because there are some important notes at the end of the chapter to read]:

And here is the tag list (let me know if you wish to be added or removed):

@sorry-i-spaced, @thegirlwhowishedeveryonelived, @thewannabewriter, @lexhalstead3

@foxes-and-cats, @sensitivemallysix, @emme-looou, @lookingfortherainbow85

[sheetsonfire]

Figures

Fandom: Chicago Med

Characters: Halstead!Sister, Jay Halstead, Will Halstead

Genre: hurt/comfort, illness, fluff

Warnings: seizures, hospitals, injections

Word Count: 1897

Summary: The reader has a rough day of seizures, they are reluctant to go to Med until they have no choice. - but things are always easier with two big brothers by your side.

Requested By chrisevansdaughter: [...] could it be possible for you to do a halstead! Sibling reader where she has seizures, because of previous problems with low blood sugar and she had one whilst they are at home after not feeling the best, but she has to take a trip to lex because they don’t let up but she hates the hospital so it’s just fluff and comfort from a personal experience.

A/N: Thank you so much to @elius-learns-to-write for convincing me this wasn't total garbage. Sorry, it's shorter than usual, I am having a confidence crisis, but I'm working on it! I hope my research on this subject made this more readable.

-

The first thing that registers is the sharp throb of a headache that radiates throughout your forehead, intense biting stabs that make you wince even in the haze of your semi-consciousness.

The second thing you notice is the heaviness in your limbs, your eyes feel sensitive to the light and your absolute reluctance to move is the giveaway that you hadn’t fallen asleep on the couch in a natural or peaceful way.

Soon the memory of your intense nausea and shaking came back to you. There are vague memories of you trying to make it to the couch but not quite managing it - slumping into the arms of your brother, Jay, who luckily happened to be heading to the kitchen.

Your blood sugar must have been in the tank, causing you to pass out. You started seizing soon after, leaving Jay to holler out to Will who was in his bedroom to bring the emergency kit that he kept for when you stayed over.

The third thing that comes to you is that the ‘pillow’ beneath your head was not a pillow at all, but rather the muscular cushion of someone’s leg.

There's a hushed murmur of conversation that you can't quite concentrate on when a clearer voice reaches you, “Come back to us, kiddo, open those eyes.”

A gentle hand cards through your hair, brushing stray strands away from the clamminess on your forehead - it sparks a flurry of warm memories of being cared for, of being protected, from childhood right to the very present.

The owner of the voice was simultaneously irritating for asking that you wake up, but also soothing upon registering it to be the voice of your brother Will.

“Mngh, no. Hurts.” You mumble, turning yourself to face the back of the sofa, trying to somehow make Will’s leg comfier to rest your head on.

Your brother chuckles, squeezing your shoulder, “I know, I know it does, but I need to make sure the glucagon is doing its job.” Ah, yes, the magic of glucagon, the thing in charge of keeping your blood sugar in check, especially after a seizure.

“You finished napping yet?” Another voice comes from the direction of the kitchen, and you huff, playfully punching Will in the knee.

Will sulks as he pays for Jay’s teasing remark, “Hey! What was that for? I’m not the one accusing you of napping.”

You groan as you try and sit up, squeezing your eyes shut as the headache zings behind your eyes. “Mh, you’re closer, otherwise he’d get it.”

“He deserves it more anyway, he’s the one that stabbed you.” The voice is closer to you, on the couch, by your other side. Jay makes yet another joke as he tries to keep the mood light, wrapping an arm around you to steady you in your newly upright position.

“How are we doing, sweetheart?” He asks softly, being more sincere now that he was taking a look at you. You were groggy and in discomfort - seizures often took it out of you.

“Peachy.” You grunt, opening a weary eye to see Jay offering you a sandwich and a bottle of water. Something with carbs was always advised after a seizure, and Jay was usually the one to take care of that department, he always made the best sandwiches. ‘Thanks, Jay.” You murmur, sitting still as you slowly snack on your recovery food taking sips in between.

Jay's warm palm moving in small circles on your back is a safety blanket for you, feeling the tension between your shoulders and at the base of your neck begin to melt away.

You answer Will’s questions as you let him take the new readings with a finger-prick test, the method he swore by due to the delay in a glucose monitor reading.

Jay had taken that time to focus on looking out the window, moving his view away from the needle.

Will does what he needs to do with the lancet, pricking you for a sample of blood.

Like a well-practised dance, Will takes the test strip with your blood and inserts it into the meter, waiting for it to provide a reading, whilst you hold a small piece of gauze to the prick on your finger.

Will sighs, humming in concern.

“These levels aren’t what I’d like, Y/N, if it gets worse or you start to feel like you’re gonna seize again, we’re going to Med.”

Jay turns back to you at those words, a grimace on his face, knowing that your reaction to Will’s decision would be emphatically in opposition.

“Will, seriously? No way, I hate that place, I’ll be fine!” You try and stand up to prove your point, only to feel the world swim and your legs fail to cooperate.

“Woah, hey.” Jay is quick off the mark, hooking his arm around you to bring you back down to the couch.

You glance at Will who’s got his hands out to steady you too, you involuntarily scowl at his “Told you so.” expression.

“A little backup would be nice.” Will addresses Jay, scratching at his head as he wonders whether he should just take you to Med now, not missing the way you try to act like you’re not moments away from passing out again.

“Don’t look at me, you’re the doctor and the bad cop in this situation, I get to be the good cop when it comes to medical emergencies.” Jay seems rather smug and it makes you laugh half-heartedly despite your exhaustion and shakiness, both you and he shared a deep disdain for Will’s place of work.

You’re trying to get up again, not really sure where you want to go or what you want to do. A fog of confusion shimmers in your mind, and before you know it Will is grasping your shoulders, looking at Jay.

“Lay her down on the floor.” Will commands, and Jay wastes not a second in obeying. He shifts to support your head and gently encourages you to lie down on the floor, giving you one of those stern yet loving looks as you try and resist. He’s watching worriedly as your eyes wander erratically, knowing you’re trying to fight what’s coming.

“It’s alright, Y/N, just-” Jay’s about to encourage you to let it happen, to let them take care of you when your whole body goes limp. Jay holds you steady, turning you on your side as you begin to convulse again.

Will moves back to his kit, preparing a secondary dose of glucagon, there’s little Jay can do but stop you from hurting yourself as you ride it out.

Your brothers share a look as Will injects you in your upper arm, there’s an unspoken agreement that there is no choice but to take you to Med now, they needed to get this under control in a secure environment with additional solutions available - even if that meant you’d be in a sour mood later, they would take it.

-

The second you consciously smell the air after waking up you let out a disgruntled groan, you knew exactly where you were - and it wasn’t Will's apartment anymore.

You were indeed at Chicago Med, and more specifically in the diabetic clinic on the third floor - a space you were unfortunately all too familiar with.

“Hey kiddo, you with us?” A gentle voice pulls you to open your eyes properly, scanning the room briefly your gaze settles on Jay sitting on the chair beside your bed, smiling at the sight of you finally awake.

He had his detective badge around his neck.

Observant as he was trained to be, he clocks the question on your lips, and speaks before you can ask, “Visting hours were over a few hours ago, so was shift change - so I may or may not have implied it was a police matter of importance that I was here with you.”

You laugh groggily, but then it falters into a frown, softly chastising your brother. “Jay, I shouldn’t get special treatment.”

Jay chuckles too, you were always conscious of not using his job nor Will’s to get any kind of tenuous form of preferential care. Your self-awareness was something he admired about you.

“I know, I’m sorry, sweetheart…” Jay pauses, scratching at the back of his head. “But uh, Will got called in downstairs, and I couldn’t sit at home alone knowing you were up here alone too… You worried me today, Y/N.” There’s a somberness in Jay’s eyes, he didn’t do well with not being able to have control over a situation, and not being able to help fully was one of his biggest struggles.

Your eyes soften, carefully reaching out a hand to hold Jay’s. “Big brother, I’m alright, they’re really great at what they do here, I’m sure they’re gonna figure out how to keep me on a safer track with all this. I’m feeling better, I promise.”

Jay shakes his head with a smile, despite your disdain for the hospital you had always done better than him. “When did you get so wise?” He teases, squeezing your hand gently.

“I’ve always been wise, thank you very much.” You snipe jokingly, taking mock offence to the idea that you hadn’t always been of sound logic and optimism.

“Yes you have, you definitely get that from me though, not this guy.” Will’s voice catches your attention, he was now in scrubs and had you giggling a little more as he poked fun at Jay.

Your other brother studies you with his medical eyes and then his worried sibling ones, approaching the free side of your bed. He smoothes out the flyaway hairs atop your head, giving your shoulder a squeeze. “How are we doing, kiddo?”

A yawn escapes you, still holding Jay’s hand as you shrug, reaching for Will’s hand too, “Much better. I’m sorry I caused such a fuss. Do they know what’s going on?”

“Nothing to be sorry for, Y/N.” Will reassures, “They think you might have overdone it this week with the extra shifts you took on after school, your body couldn’t keep up.”

You sigh with an understanding nod, it didn’t surprise you that was the cause of your problems, “I thought I was doing a good job of keeping up, guess not.”

Will gives you a reassuring smile, “Hey, it’s alright, sometimes we can’t always get it right. You know you can always ask me or Jay to help you keep track or reassess, it’s not a bother.”

“Never a bother. It’s not even a question.” Jay chimes in, squeezing your hand gently.

Listening to their reassurance made you feel more relaxed for the first time in a few days, knowing that it was okay to take it easy and rely on your brothers a little more than you had been lately. “Thanks, guys. I guess you are pretty good brothers after all, even if you did stab me with needles and drag me here.”

The two of them laugh at your slight pout, Will looks at you with that smug face, “Sweetheart, sorry to say but we’d do it again and again if it meant getting you better.”

“And I carried you, actually, there was no dragging.” Jay corrects, feeling smug.

You huff, but you’re smiling too, slapping at both of their arms playfully, “Figures.”

-

Fin.

tags: @chrisevansdaughter - @elius-learns-to-write - @resanoona - @dumb-fawkin-bitch

[deanstead]

Coming Home

Pairing: Will Halstead x HalsteadSister!Reader x Jay Halstead

Requested: yes, by anon

Summary: Y/N returns to Chicago to surprise her brothers but she’s not telling them everything. Meanwhile, a series of mysterious calls and texts seem to hint at something else brewing in the background.

Word Count: 4.6K+

Square Filled: Kidnap/Hostage for #resa.3kfiestabingo

Warnings: canon typical mentions of kidnapping, stalking

A/N: Hi guys! I’m still on vacation but I managed to get this out while I was recharging. Might have some mistakes but overall I still hope yall like it!

HALSTEAD!SISTER MASTERLIST

“Y/N?”

An incredulous look crossed Jay’s face, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing - you, standing right in front of his door.

Before you knew it, Jay was right in front of you, pulling you into his arms and lifting you off the ground as if you were a small child once again yet you couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of you. A genuine laugh that you felt hadn’t left your lips in months.

“What are you doing here?” 

You gave him a look. “Seriously? We’re doing this out here? With my luggage?”

Jay smiled. “Give it here.” He took your carrier before he opened his door, pushing it open with his foot so you could step into his apartment.

Jay’s apartment was almost like how you remembered it, as if almost no time had passed since you’d gone off to study and decided to stay in Europe for some experience. You knew your brothers would have preferred for you to at least return to America but they also agreed that you needed to do what you felt was right. 

But it really was nice to be home. 

“Does Will know you’re back?” Jay asked, handing you a glass of water. When you didn’t answer immediately, he narrowed his eyes. “You went to his place first, didn’t you?”

You let out a small guilty laugh at his accusatory tone and shrugged. “I figured he was the one with more regulated hours. But I couldn’t find a Halstead there. He moved?”

Jay nodded. “Yeah, you know things happen.” 

You nodded absentmindedly. “At least you didn’t.”

“That’s kind of the reason I didn’t.” Jay said with a smile.

You looked up. “What if our baby sister couldn’t find either of us?”

“I’m not a baby.” You shot back.

Jay let out a chortle. “You will always be a baby.” He teased gently.

You didn’t let on the exact reason why you were back and although Jay knew something was a little off, he didn’t push. Instead, he called Will, with a vague phone call so that you could surprise your oldest brother as well.

“Jay, I’m coming in!” Will said, his strained voice from the other side of the door telling you that he was a little worried.

The door opened, Will freezing in the door frame for a second before a look of surprise with a happy smile. “Y/N!”

You allowed the oldest Halstead to give you a tight hug, enveloping you in his arms and you felt another wave of security as well as ease wash over you, reaffirming your decision to come home.

Jay ordered in, so the three of you could spend some quiet time together, Jay’s apartment resounding with laughter like it usually did when the three of you were together.

“How long are you back for?” Will asked, taking a sip of beer.

You shrugged. “I might be staying.”

You didn’t miss the sparkle of hope in both their eyes as they glanced at each other.

“I mean if I can crash here.” You said, a slightly cheeky tone slipping into your voice. 

Jay rolled his eyes. “You can have the whole freaking apartment if you want.”

You laughed. “Yeah, I just… well I missed you and I thought it was time. But I came here with no plan so you’ll have to feed me until I find a job.”

Will smiled. “I think the ED has a spot.” 

You raised an eyebrow. “As long as you promise to not breathe down my neck.”

You’d taken the job.

There’d been a bit of a turnover lately and Maggie needed an experienced nurse, which was just as well. You were sure being a Halstead also helped.

“Remember what you promised me.” You said through gritted teeth on your first day.

But working at Med had turned out much better than you’d expected. Other than the fact that Will had kept his promise and tried his best to keep out of your way, the people you worked with were really great. Even the paramedics and firefighters that came in were a hoot, and you’d quickly become friendly with almost everyone. 

So things seemed really good.

Until it started up again.

It had seemed mostly innocent enough, getting a few missed calls from unknown numbers while you were on shift. You’d barely put any thought into it, letting the phone ring as you moved quickly through the ED, from room to room, just another day in the ED.

The mistake you made was picking up one day after your shift.

“Hello?”

When you were met with silence, you paused and repeated the greeting. “Hello?”

Now, there was a slight crackling. You frowned, pulling your phone away from your ear to make sure the call was still connected, before you took a quick screenshot and tried one more time. When there was no response still, you disconnected the call, slipping your phone back into your pocket.

You didn’t give the call much thought, especially since there were plenty of scam calls going around and you figured this was just one of those calls. 

But the calls didn’t stop and you’d even asked Jay if there was anything that could be done but the numbers kept changing and based on what Jay could do at this point of time, considering there was no apparent threat, it didn’t lead to anything much.

Of course, you’d kept the frequency of the calls from Jay, which was why he wasn’t as worried as he probably should have been. You’d even kept the weird “I see you” texts from Jay since you figured it was probably some prank or a wrong number.

It only hit you one day when you were heading out of Med, alongside Will, when you thought you saw a familiar figure standing a distance away.

Your head whipped around and you felt that familiar feeling of dread, a feeling you hadn’t felt for months since you’d been back in Chicago, surrounded by friends and your brothers. 

“Y/N?” 

Will looked slightly concerned as he glanced over your head from where he towered over you, trying to see what had caused your reaction. 

You looked back at him, before glancing over your shoulder again, where there was no one. 

Maybe you were just imagining things. Maybe it was just one of those empty deja vu feelings. 

You shook your head at Will with a smile. “I just thought I saw…”

Will looked like he was waiting for you to finish your sentence but you shook your head with a smile. “Come on, let’s go. Jay’s gonna complain if we’re late again.”

Will looked slightly unconvinced but smiled. “I bet he’s not even there yet.”

You didn’t respond, pulling your brother to his car, once again unaware of the pair of eyes that were watching you from afar.

Jay glanced up at the clock with a sigh. The bullpen was already empty and he’d wanted to be home slightly earlier today so he could have a meal with you. But looking at the time, you’d probably be at least half asleep by the time he got home. 

His phone buzzed just as he pushed his chair back, stretching as he did. With a small smile, he leaned over to answer the call on speaker, sure you were just going to whine over the phone about him being late and probably asking for some late night snack.

“I’m leaving, I swear. What can I get you?” Jay spoke with an amused smile, grabbing his jacket.

But the words that bounced back at him made him freeze in his tracks.

“What are you doing here?”

Your voice shook slightly with an emotion that sounded a lot like fear. 

Jay frowned, quickly shrugging on his jacket, grabbing his phone and rushing down the steps. He couldn’t hear much of what the other person was saying, so he just pushed himself faster, speeding past the front desk his phone still pressed against his ear, barely hearing Trudy’s “Where’s the fire, Halstead?” comment before he was out the doors.

What was at most a 15 minute drive felt like forever, as Jay sped through the streets, finally pulling up outside his apartment building, not even bothering to wait for the elevator.

The door to his apartment wasn’t even shut properly, the door merely resting on the frame. Jay pulled his gun out as he’d done so many times at other places, except that he could feel the bad feeling turn his stomach over.

Jay nudged the door open with his foot, pulling his focus forward and using trained eyes to glance around his apartment. 

Stuff was strewn all over the floor, pieces of broken glass from a shattered cup, leaflets spread across the floor. He knew what he was seeing - a struggle. Most definitely.

“Y/N?” He called, even though he knew it was useless. This wasn’t a random robbery or attack. You’d known the person who’d come in. You had been the target. 

Even so, Jay cleared each and every corner and room, before he called Will to get him to come over before he called Voight.

It was only after he’d finished calling everyone he needed to call that the information he’d already known finally clicked into place, settling into a dark place in his chest. 

Someone had taken you.

Jay could hear people talking but he wasn’t processing anything, his mind trying to sift through the few months since you’d been back, trying to figure out what it was that he’d missed or what you hadn’t told them. 

“Jay.”

Kim touched his elbow gently and he glanced up now, realizing he was supposed to provide some sort of response. 

“What?”

Kim exhaled gently before she repeated herself. “Adam’s taking Will’s statement. I’ll try to make this quick, alright?”

“I’m working this.” Jay responded, looking Kim straight in the eye.

Kim nodded. “I don’t think Voight’s taking you off. Just talk to me, so we can work this together. That’s the fastest way we’ve got to find her. Because we will.”

Jay exhaled before he nodded, letting Kim ask the questions, swallowing down the annoyance of feeling like a victim’s family.

“She didn’t tell us anything. But she was jumpy, everytime her phone rang. She stuck a little close to us when we were out, even at Molly’s, as if she was five all over again. Damn it, I should have wrangled it out of her.”

Kim glanced up at her friend. “Jay, let’s focus, alright?” She paused and he nodded. “So she didn’t say anything?”

Jay shook his head. “She didn’t even really tell us why she was back. I bought the whole ‘new environment’ excuse for a bit, but things were a little different.”

Kim nodded. “Okay, tell me about the phone call.”

Jay exhaled slowly. “She knew this guy, I’m sure of it. But I couldn’t make out what he was saying…”

Jay looked back almost helplessly at his friend and Kim nodded. “Listen, we’ll find her.”

Jay nodded again, glancing back at the bullpen now where Will had just emerged from Voight’s office. He turned to glance at Kim again. “Let’s do this.”

You glanced up now, feeling the defiance in you rise to almost the same level as your fear, the figure pacing in front of you now a familiar one. Your hands were fastened securely behind your back, the cable ties so tight they were cutting into your skin. 

This was the reason you felt the need to return home standing right in front of you.

“You followed me here?” You asked, doing your best to keep your voice steady, not to betray even a sliver of the actual fear that you felt. 

You were pretty sure that your frantic call to Jay had gone through, even though your phone was now probably still stuffed in the corner of the couch, where you hoped Jay or someone would find it. Which gave you a sliver of hope that was only present because of the fact that you’d returned home. At least you were in Chicago. Jay and Will would find you. You just needed to hang on until then.

“You wanted me to find you.” 

You exhaled slowly, not really succeeding in blocking out his voice, the memory of the first time you’d met Tobias Mills still clear in your mind.

He’d come in after an accident in a lot of pain, so you’d done what you did best. As you assisted the doctor on call in the ED, you connected with the patient. Except that this time, it had backfired. Mills had become totally obsessed with you, so much so that you’d been forced to get a restraining order. But even that hadn’t stopped him. He’d watch you from across the street, or send you messages. To this day, you still had no idea how he’d even gotten your number. So as a last resort, before you lost your last shred of sanity, you’d left, packing your bags almost overnight and taking the first available flight straight to Chicago.

But now he was here.

What was worse was that he’d somehow managed to follow you all the way to Jay’s apartment, picked a night Jay was late and practically taken you by force. 

“I should have known.” He muttered as he paced in front of you, as if he’d forgotten you were there. “This was why you turned me down. But two of them?” 

His voice raised at the last question and he looked furiously at you.

“Two?!” 

You flinched, even though you were trying hard not to. Even so, your brain was already putting all the pieces together. He’d stalked you, seen you with your brothers and put everything together into his own narrative. Again.

Jay put down the phone a little harder than he’d meant to, but the rest of the bullpen barely flinched, like they hadn’t heard it, the sound of furious typing and vague telephone conversations not pausing.

Jay could feel his anxiety mounting as each second ticked past but he glanced towards the pantry where Will was sitting, looking down at his hands and reminded himself that at least he was able to do something and that the both of you were counting on him.

He closed his eyes for just a second, even though he knew Kim had looked up and was watching him now.

There was something missing and he knew it. There was something he was not seeing and he just needed one piece to put it all together. At least that’s how he felt. 

With not much to go on, seeing as they weren’t able to find much prints, the team had tried to backtrace your steps but even finding your phone was futile because the burner phones were practically untraceable. After exhausting all possibilities in Chicago, Jay was pretty sure it was something that had followed you home from Europe. Or someone. So Intelligence had put in more efforts to try to connect with the contacts you had had there.

But there was still nothing. Jay had no idea why someone had taken you, what they wanted. He couldn’t think of anyone who wanted to hurt you, but if it was someone who wanted to hurt him, there would have been a ransom call, a message, something. The silence, the lack of knowledge, it was killing him.

Jay heard the door click open, Will motioning towards him with a flick of his head. Sighing, he pushed back his chair, knowing that nothing good would come out of going to his brother with little to no answers.

“Jay, you have to tell me something.” Will said, before the door was even fully closed. “I’m climbing the walls here.”

Jay exhaled, before he looked up at his brother. “We don’t have a lot to go on.”

There was a pause before Will spoke again. “You’re telling me you have nothing.”

Jay didn’t answer.

“Jay, you have nothing? Nothing that could help us find her? She’s out there, somewhere, scared out of her mind and there’s nothing?”

Jay couldn’t even blame Will for raising his voice. Frustration, that was all the emotion behind Will’s voice, frustration that Jay himself couldn’t even express since he was in no position to at this moment. He couldn’t, he had to focus. 

Jay exhaled gently. “We’re working on it, Will.”

Will knew that, he’d just let his frustration get the better of him. He hadn’t meant to make Jay feel worse but just as he opened his mouth to tell his younger brother so, the door opened. 

“Jay. I think you need to take this call.” 

Without another word, Jay gave his brother a look before he headed back for the bullpen and Kim led the conversation. “Hey, Stacie. It’s Kim. Can you repeat what you just told me?”

Jay listened with quiet building anger as the girl on the line talked, explaining that she had been your roommate and had also worked alongside you at the hospital. Then she talked about the patient who’d come in and formed an unhealthy attachment to you, how he waited in front of the apartment building, how he came to the hospital, but she didn’t have a conclusion for the team.

“I don’t know what happened after that. I tried to convince her to continue staying with me so that I could look out for her but she said she didn’t want to create trouble for me. She was worried that he’d do something to me too, so…”

Kim’s eyes flicked to where Jay was gripping the edge of the table so hard, his knuckles were turning white. That sounded just like you, and that really tore at Jay. He didn’t know why you didn’t tell him, or Will. Why didn’t you call to say you were having a tough time, or tell them when you’d come home?

But Jay spoke anyway, keeping his voice so steady, a stranger wouldn’t have realized they were talking about his sister. “Do you have a name?”

Tobias Mills.

Jay was now staring at the records that they’d barely managed to wrangle out of the European authorities. 

Stalking. Threatening behavior. But nothing that could get him convicted.

“I got him.” Adam broke the silence, finally looking up from where he had been studying the airport footage for almost an hour.

“Facial recognition missed him because of what he’s wearing but I’m pretty sure that’s him. Right?” Adam asked, playing the footage again.

Jay gave a grunt of acknowledgement before he studied the footage playing. Tobias had reached Chicago slightly two weeks after you had and someone had met him at the airport.

“I’m on it.” Kim said, before anyone else could say anything, already running facial recognition on Mills’ acquaintance as the rest of the video played out. 

Ben Mason.

Facial recognition popped quickly with a record that didn’t make Jay feel any better. Multiple counts of assault, misconduct, illegal firearm possession, the list went on.

“The money trail. Mills must have paid him for his help.” Kevin said quietly, glancing at Jay.

Jay growled, the worry blooming in his chest. What exactly had Mills paid for?

But thankfully he didn’t have much longer to blindly worry. “Mason’s uncle owned a factory that’s now out of business. As far as we can tell, it’s been abandoned for at least a year. It’s under his mother’s maiden name so…”

Kevin didn’t finish his sentence before Voight nodded. “Gear up.”

You could feel your heart pumping in your chest, feel the adrenaline working through your veins as you now lay on your side, unsure where the pain was coming from, other than the cable ties cutting into your skin. Maybe the roots of your hair were still smarting from when he’d pulled your head back roughly to look at him, or maybe it was when he’d raised his leg to kick you in the chest in his frustration, making your entire body topple backwards. Or maybe it was just the ache from having your arms pulled backwards for such a prolonged time.

“If I can’t have you, no one can.” 

The words echoed in the empty area, bouncing off the walls as if to intimidate you further, even though he’d left a while ago.

Mills had been prepared. That, you knew. Maybe he’d hidden you somewhere no one else would find you. Maybe that’s why Jay hadn’t come for you yet, because you had no doubt that Jay would be here if he knew where you were. 

There was a slam, which signalled his return and you felt your breath pick up. You were sure that if Jay didn’t come soon, things were going to get ugly soon. He was either going to do whatever he wanted with you or kill you in a fit of rage - you didn’t know which was worse.

You tried to breathe slower, reminding yourself you weren’t going to show him fear no matter what. You didn’t raise your head as the footsteps got closer, and you wondered what he was up to. If you didn’t know any better, the footsteps sounded… tentative.

“Y/N!”

The voice you’d been waiting for, the sound of safety you’d known your entire life and you raised your head now, slightly worried that you were imagining things.

His name felt like it was stuck in your throat, the energy suddenly sucked out of you as you felt the adrenaline drop all of a sudden.

“Oh my god.” His voice swept past you, landing on you gently, just as he reached you. You heard his knees hit the ground as he bent over you. “Are you hurt?”

You still didn’t answer him, the fog in your brain worried that it wasn’t true, that when you looked up it would be Mills again. 

But the pressure on your wrists lifted as Jay sliced through the cable ties. “Are you hurt?” He asked again, pulling you up against him, his eyes scanning you up and down.

“Jay?”

Jay nodded now, a small frown forming on his face. “Yeah, it’s me. You’re okay. We’re here. Will’s right outside.”

You didn’t answer but your body now slumped against your brother’s.

Jay turned and nodded at Kevin so that he could bring Will in. Jay knew it would be better to take you outside but he was a little worried about any injuries you might have and if moving you would make things worse. You couldn’t even seem to articulate if you had any injuries.

“Jay? Y/N!” Will’s voice reached you now, as he got to his knees next to Jay, his fingers going straight to feel your pulse, peering at your pupils now. 

“Y/N, does anything hurt? Look at me, Y/N.”

You raised your eyes now to meet Will’s before you shook your head, the fog finally pushing back down again. “Will.”

Will let out a breath that sounded like relief, before he nodded. “Okay, if you’re not hurt we should get you out of here first. Come on.” 

Jay nodded, as Will put an arm around you as well, helping you up. Jay let Will take over as he repositioned his hold on the gun in his hand, getting to his feet as well.

But what threw a wrench in their plans was the back door opening.

Both you and Will looked up at the sound of a door opening and you saw the look on Mills’ face change, the absolute wrath that crossed his face as he saw you pressed against Will’s side. Will felt your hand close around the shirt he had on, the material crumpling in your hand. Jay pressed down his confusion that Mills had gotten past the patrol cars that were supposed to be stationed out there, raising his gun.

“I told you. You’re mine.”

His sentence was cut off by a simultaneous growl from both Jay and Will as you coiled backwards.

Will’s eyes caught the flash of metal first as Mills raised the gun in his hand.

Instinctively, Will pulled you against him and turned, as if he’d done this a thousand times. You let out a sharp inhale, confused for a moment if it was really Will who was now standing between you and Mills, before the gunshot rang out. 

You could feel the fear that gripped at you so hard that it felt like it was hard to breathe. You were afraid to even turn, afraid to know if Will was hurt because of you. 

“Y/N, you okay?” Will’s voice in your ear.

“Will, you…”

You felt Will shake his head. “I’m okay, are you…”

That’s when you felt the energy leave your legs, your body only supported by your oldest brother’s arms around you. 

You turned but Jay stepped behind Will now to block your vision. “It’s over, let’s get you out of here.”

Your brothers took you to the hospital to get checked out. But other than some bruises, pain that would last a few days and some dehydration, you weren’t badly hurt. 

No one had told you much details, but you were sure that the gunshot you thought was Mills shooting Will was from Jay. And if it was between Mills and Will, you were glad Jay had shot the bastard, even if it made you feel dirty inside for even thinking it when someone had died.

You could hear Jay’s voice behind the closed door, raised as he questioned someone on the line.

“What the hell do you mean? My brother and sister could have died! Any one of my team members could have been shot!”

Will turned to look at you now, giving you a small smile. He looked like he was about to say something when the door slid open, Jay stepping in and closing the door behind him.

Your brothers exchanged a look like they’d already had a discussion among themselves without you.

So you knew they wanted to talk, wanted to ask you something. It didn’t take a genius to figure that out. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jay broke the silence first, unable to keep the sadness out of his voice.

You glanced up, surprised. You thought he’d be pissed, like really pissed. Maybe just slightly less than the anger he’d shown while he was on the phone outside.

When both of them didn’t say anything, you let out a short breath. “The whole point of a new environment was for me to grow up. I was supposed to grow outside the shelter the both of you had created for me since I was a baby.” You paused glancing up at them. “I didn’t want to worry you. I thought I could handle it, I didn’t think he would…”

Will moved first, heading towards your side and pulling you tightly against him before he sat on the side of your bed facing you. 

“You’re our younger sister. Worrying us is part of your make up. Jay worries me all the freaking time.” Will said gently, earning him an annoyed puff from the younger Halstead. 

“Yeah, says Dr Halstead who got beaten up within a day since he returned to Chicago.” Jay slightly mocked, moving closer as well.

You laughed, the chuckle bursting forth and making your side ache a little. 

Jay smiled at you. “Promise me something.”

You glanced up at your older brother.

“Don’t keep such serious things from us. Once it starts feeling funky, you tell one of us. Tell Kim. Tell Sylvie. I don’t care who, just tell someone.”

You were quiet for a second, before you nodded. “I promise.”

They both leaned in at the same time, Will putting a hand on the back of our head gently as they squashed you between them, the three of you emanating the same feelings, glad that you were all here together.

Home.

THANK YOU FOR READING!! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS!!

If you want to support me, buy me a coffee!

[fangirlfrom-hell]

Remember that I'm stupid and accidentally delated my blog and lost all my fics 😭 I found some, and I'll be re-posting them during these days. I'm still positive I will find the rest.

Chicago PD Masterlist

Requests

Becca (Halstead sister) sees her father die

Halstead Sister

Big Brothers' Reunion Goes Worng

Can I do an Experiment?

A Day Full of Emotions

The Funeral

Cool Girl

October 1st and Traditions Gone Worng

Several Missed Calls and a Sprained Ankle

Absolution and Mercy (7x9-7x10)

Marigolds: A Day of the Dead Story

In trouble

Music Fest

One of those days

The Weight Station (S2x03)

Chapter 1

The Fragile Bonds

Part 1 Part 3

Part 2 Part 4

Upstead Daughter

Swearing Jar

When your Parents are Detectives you Gotta try Harder

Jay Halstead x Reader

How Many Detectives Are Needed To Sleep A Baby?

"My Daddy has to Fight Some Bad Guys"

Exciting

[samantha-chicago]

Chicago PD Masterlist

Reaction (Will Halstead, Adam Ruzek x Everleigh Lindsay)

Photographs (Antonio Dawson, Intelligence x Reader) 

Baby (Adam Ruzek x Reader)

Panic (Adam Ruzek x Reader)

Shooting (Adam Ruzek x Manning!Reader)

Saving Him ( Reader x Adam Ruzek, Alvin Olinsky, Intelligence, Med)

Back Home (Jay Halstead x Halstead!Reader (Wife), Adam Ruzek, Kevin Atwater)

Back In Town (Reader x Adam Ruzek, Kelly Severide, Greg 'Mouse' Gerwitz, Jay Halstead, Will Halstead, Intelligence + More) Part I Part 1 *NSFW*  Part 2

Blood (Kevin Atwater x Reader)  

No Air (Adam Ruzek x reader, Kelly Severide x sister!reader)

That's Alvin Olinksy (Leslie Shay x Halstead!Reader)

Meet The Boyfriend (Dante Torres x reader)

Protective *NSFW* (Dante Torres x Atwater!reader)

[poppadom0912]

Excuses

Warnings: Mentions of fainting, diabetes, canon-typical injuries

Summary: You suffer the consequences just because your teacher thought you were making excuses.

A/N: First fic of 2024!!! I had plans that I was going to post weekly in the new year just like last year but things went downhill. This january and february has had its very good but also really bad moments and even writing this was a struggle. I've found myself in a weird place of wanting to write but struggling and all of a sudden not being able to balance my schoolwork and writing. So I took a lil step back to solely focus on my work but looking at everything now, my fic updates will be much less frequent but hopefully just as or if not, more fun to read.

I feel bad for not saying or posting anything since the new year but I'm here now and hopefully will be more alive. I've got lots planned for you beautiful people, several series and way too many fics in my drafts that I cannot wait for you all to read. This wasn't as long or as juicy as I intended but my brain completely failed me so I hope this is good enough. I initially wanted to post this at the beginning of March but I finished the final editing today so here you go!!

Final note before we start, I have general knowledge about diabetes but that's all from my grandma. I have no idea if it's the same for teenagers so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Happy reading!!

Your biology teacher had been on maternity for three weeks now and you were seriously contemplating life.

Because of the crappy rules surrounding maternity leave, when your teacher refused to return before her three months ended, your school had a supply teacher fill in for her till she came back.

Since day one, you knew you hated her.

It was mid lesson and you knew as soon as you started feeling sluggish that your sugar levels were dropping. Your thoughts were only confirmed when your Dexcom receiver let you know of your decreasing glucose.

This wasn't a usual occurrence. Will and Jay always made sure you had eaten enough and you had the means to maintain the needed glucose levels so that nothing happened.

Alas, you were up late revising and you were stressing about keeping up your good grades. Jay was rushing you out the door because he needed to go to a scene he'd just been called to and Will was out walking Kol and hadn't seen you leave.

In conclusion, it'd been a hot minute since you last ate something.

The school were well aware of your diabetes. It was one of the very important things your brothers stressed them about when you first started.

Most students knew about it actually, having seen your Dexcom and not understanding since a diabetic child apparently wasn't common according to them.

So, when you randomly pulled out a snack from your bag mid class, no one questioned it and instead would make sure you were okay. There'd never been a problem before in school and everyone wanted it to stay that way.

However, this new teacher, Mrs Byrne was apparently completely unaware of your medical condition.

"Y/N. You know the rules about eating in class." She said strictly, pulling away all the attention from the board onto you.

She stopped you in the middle of opening the packet of fruit gummies. You frowned, looking at her confused along with your classmates.

"I have diabetes." You said bluntly, continuing to open the packet. "I don't eat this and I'll pass out."

Mrs Byrne only rolled her eyes, smiling at you condescendingly. "I've heard that excuse hundreds of times, give those to me."

You scoffed at the audacity, refusing to hand over what was yours.

It was when she started walking towards your desk with a pep in her step that the entire class got involved. Their raised voices overlapped, some angrier than others over what was happening.

However, you too were Stubborn alike to your brothers so you kept as firm of a grip of the packet. You turned a blind eye to the anger fuelled cover teacher. You continued to smile as she spewed threats of all sorts.

Due to your frustration and annoyance over the teacher who wanted to take your gummies away, you didn't notice how everything started change; how hard it was to move your eyes and lips, your limbs getting heavier and you thoughts slowly getting muddled up.

Lost in a daze, you were no longer able to fight back when she pulled harder, successfully snatching the small packet out of your hands. It was now that the class got furious, your friends were already up and at your side but now they were verbally attacking the teacher.

Fed up with her petty behaviour, you were going to get up and go to the nurses office who would take care of you but getting out your seat was harder said than done.

With one of your friends help, you weren't too sure who was helping you from your hazy sight that cleared when you blinked too many times.

You were wobbly on your feet, taking slow and hesitant steps towards the front of the classroom but before you could leave, you felt your legs give out and everything went black.

*****

It turned out that supposed crime scene that he was imminently needed at was nothing but a prank by a bunch of college boys resulting in a grumpy Hank putting them in cuffs and having them fined for a very reasonable reason.

That's how the rest of the unit found themselves finishing up paperwork, catching up about life in general as they debated what they were getting for lunch.

Jay was smugly sitting back, eyes flickering between Kevin and Adam who were bickering over something trivial when his phone rung, catching everyone's attention.

They were all so bored and normally when one of their phones went off during work hours, it meant something came up and they were needed.

In interest, everyone turned their heads towards Jay and waited for him to tell them they got a crime scene.

Picking up his phone, Jay's brows furrowed at the number, confused as to why your school was calling him in the middle of the day. They'd only call him if two things happened: You'd gotten in trouble or you got hurt.

"Hello. Is this Y/N Halsteads brother Jay?" A voice he couldn't recognised asked, most likely some lady from the main office.

"Yeah, that's me." Jay confirmed, sitting up in preparation for whatever he was going to be told.

"So sorry to interrupt you sir but Y/N collapsed in class." The lady said with guilt laced in her words. "Your other brother didn't pick up the phone. We called to let you know we had to call the paramedics and they've taken her to Chicago Med."

"Uh yeah." Jay said, collecting his jacket and keys. "Yes, thank you."

Not waiting for a reply, Jay hung up and quickly knocked on Hank's office door frame.

"Sarge, I gotta get Y/N-"

"Go get her. We're done here."

*****

Wanting to pull his hair out, Will rubbed his eyes in frustration, glaring at his patients scans that only confused him further. He was tired and was coming to half way through his twenty four hour shift.

"Dr Halstead- Uh, Dr Rhodes in T4." Maggie stumbled, looking down at her brick and making sure she read it correctly.

"What's wrong?" Will asked, confused as to why Maggie changed her mind which she usually never did.

"It's Y/N."

Now fully awake, Will followed Connor towards the ambulance bay where you were being rolled in. You were groggily sitting up on the stretcher, you hair a mess and a few scratches around your face and hands from when you fell.

"Sylvie, what happened?" Will asked the blonde paramedic while looking you over. He desperately wanted to check you over himself but let Connor do his thing. He really did not need Ms Goodwin on his case today.

"Teachers didn't tell us much but her classmates said she collapsed after not being able to eat." Sylvie relayed the minimal information she knew, shrugging her shoulders when the two doctors looked at her weirdly. "No one would tell us anything more."

"Y/N, it's Connor. Can you hear me kid?" Connor said while pulling out his penlight. He was like another brother to you, his concern just as high. "Can you tell me what happened?"

You groaned, mumbling nonsense with your eyes screwed closed. Your words were mostly unintelligible but Will understood them mere seconds later.

Fixing the problem you complained about, Will turned down the lights and let Connor continue fussing over you.

It didn't take long to find out the cause of your collapse, Will sighing at the news when he read the numbers from your tests.

"I thought she was always on top of her sugar levels." Connor said, closing the room door so you could sleep in peace.

And what he said was completely true but they weren't aware of why you couldn't today specifically of all days.

"She is." Will said, rubbing a hand down his face in frustration. "Maybe her dexcom malfunctioned or something."

Connor hummed, agreeing with his friend.

"Hmm, maybe."

*****

Arriving at Med, Will gave Jay a detailed rundown of everything he new about your medical state but also the events pre your hospital arrival.

Getting a good look at you, holding your hand in his and kissing you on your forehead, Jay was more than happy to leave you in your oldest brothers safe hands while he got to the bottom of this entire ordeal.

He noticed Sylvie was still at Med, Foster mentioning they were running low on a few supplies so they needed some stocking up. Jay took this opportunity to interview the two paramedics and try to get further understanding on this situation that wasn't making much sense to him.

Arriving at your school, Jay had some thoughts in mind but they weren't very concrete and his confidence wasn't as strong as he'd like it to be.

Walking into the school, Jay immediately noticed an entire class sitting and standing around in the corridor waiting in front of the principals office.

One of the girls who had been sitting in a chair had caught sight of Jay, her eyes widening before she smiled, gently nudging the girl next to her and pointing in his direction. The girls reaction was the exact same.

This created a sort of domino effect as the boy next to her noticed Jay and everyone was telling the other of his sudden arrival. The once silent corridor was now beginning to fill with murmurs and whispers, all their eyes glued onto his figure that moved down the corridor, their shocked faces quickly changing into smiles and smirks.

It seems that Jay had a reputation of sorts.

"Why are you making so much noise? What did I just say about talking-"

The principal cut himself off from his scolding when he suddenly noticed Jay's presence, his face blanching as all the pieces clicked into place.

"Detective Halstead! What a surprise, we weren't expecting to see you so soon-"

This time Jay cut him off, not too bothered about his lack manners. "My brothers with Y/N at the hospital so I thought there was no other perfect time."

The principal remained silent.

"Now, why don't you explain to me why my sister fainted under your watch?"

The students behind Jay couldn't help but snicker knowingly.

[amsgrey]

Jumped

Request: I would love to see something Like IT’s Career day at school and Jay and Will come to teach about their jobs along with others. And Halstead's sister gets bullied. During the break of moving in between careers someone comes and beats her up in like the bathroom and leaves her there and no one notices her being gone untill the end of the day. (I kinda want like Fire, Med, and Pd to find her)

sorry if it doesn’t make much sense you can choose how to end it and stuff

I also LOVE your fics I can’t wait to see more❤️

Authors Note; Y’all really love the angst huh, gotta deliver,, and hopefully you enjoy this little drabble. Also, part of me really wanted to title this, 'big sister hugs' because I think that Hailey would be the best big sister and also give the best big sister advice.

warnings: private girls school (yes that's a warning), bullying, getting jumped (i guess?), hospital and injuries,, Jay and Will not knowing girl bullying and being stubborn, a very poorly written plot

High school was not always easy, but you were comfortable at your school with your friends. That was until there was a security issue and Jay’s information got leaked. Your apartment, school, Jay’s license plate, everything that could be used to track him ended up in the hands of the ‘bad guys’. Jay and Will had broken the news to you that they were pulling you from your current school, and moving to another school closer to Will’s. A private girls school, the ones with the fancy uniforms and stuck-up kids who thought the law didn’t apply to them because they had money. You hated it. You had begged Jay and Will to let you stay, but there was no changing their mind. 

The first week was hell, you knew no one. Starting in the middle of the year meant that everyone knew you were the new girl. You were enrolled under your mother's maiden name, for extra safety. It was weird not hearing your name followed by ‘Halstead’. After the first week was gone, you decided to stick it out until the problem with Jay blew over, by then, you could probably convince them to let you go back to your other school. Three weeks passed by and intelligence solved Jay’s leak. 

“So,” You began on Sunday family dinner, “Now that the whole leak in PD is over…” 

Jay and Will shared a look from across the table. 

You narrowed your eyes, “What?” 

Will ran a hand down his face, “Listen…” 

“You won't let me go back.” 

“It’s a better school-”

“Better?” You spat, “How is it better? I hate it there!”

“It’ll get better,” Jay said, “You just need more time to adjust.” 

“I don’t want to adjust-” 

“We’re not pulling you out,” Jay said, “I know you're struggling right now, but you’ll make some friends and-” 

“I can’t believe you.” You pulled away from the table, leaving your half-eaten dinner where it was and stomping off to your room. Jay stood to follow, ready to scold you for storming away and having such an attitude. 

“Jay,” Hailey grabbed his arm, “Let her cool down.” 

Jay and Will didn’t budge on your school. You had gone from begging to bargaining with no success. Now you were giving them both the silent treatment. You knew it was immature and frankly ridiculous, but you were too mad to think clearly. Jay had already scolded you for not talking to him for the last week. You had ignored him. 

Hailey was the only one you spoke too, because it wasn’t her fault that Jay was being stubborn. Even so, you didn’t tell her everything when she stopped by your room. Namely, the career day that was coming up. You knew telling her meant she would tell Jay. And Jay and Will had a terrible habit of embarrassing you at school. At your last school's career day, Will and Jay had come and talked for hours about their funniest stories. You knew if they came this time, your peers wouldn’t be as amused. 

When career day did roll around, your dean stood in front of the school in the auditorium, introducing students and their parents. Your school was much smaller than your last one - something about smaller class sizes being better for learning - so the auditorium wasn’t fully packed. 

Not everyone brought their parents, but the popular kids with parents who had good jobs came. Like the group of girls who hated you, who all brought at least one parent. Your dean invited students to the stage by class and then had the student introduce their parents. Your class was last, the biggest number of parents who had come. You were sat at the end of your class, mostly because you didn't have anyone to bring. Not that it bothered you.

“Next up, we have Olivia and her mom, Jen.” 

Jen was a dentist, she spent 10 minutes explaining how her job worked and then opened for questions. There weren’t many, mostly a few questions from seniors about collages and other stuff. 

Then it was Sophie, with her dad the Banker. 

By the time the girls who hated you were called up, you were ready to fall asleep. No one here had an interesting job, most of the jobs were boring well playing jobs that you could never see yourself doing. 

The main girl who didn’t like you was Madison. She wasn’t fond of how the teachers asked you for answers in class, not that you could do anything about that. Her friend group was made up of 5 or 6 girls who were seemingly lovely. All smiles and compliments around teachers but spread vicious rumors and lies when adults couldn’t hear. You had heard them speaking about you a few times, not that you cared. It wasn’t great to be the new girl with all the rumors, but you had banked on leaving the school before for long. Which, you knew now, wasn’t an option. So now you were stuck with the girls who all hated you for rumors or lies that you didn’t even know. 

Madison brought her mum and dad with her, real estate agents who worked together selling multi-billion dollar houses. The whole time she had a smug look on her face. When she sat back down in her row, she turned in her seat, looking back at you. 

“Didn’t bring anyone?” She asked. 

You didn’t bother replying. 

“Is it because your parents are coke addicts?” Her friend beside her pressed. 

How that rumor even started you didn’t know, it was so absurd.

“Or is it because they’re dead?” Madison pressed.

You gave her a bored look, “I’ll take my family over your fraud family any day.” 

Madison opened her mouth to bark something back, but was shushed by your teacher. She turned back to face the front, arms crossed over her chest. No doubt stewing in your words. 

“We now have some guests to speak to you,” The Dean said through the microphone, “We reached out to some of our first responders and invited them to come speak to you too. Everyone please welcome Dr Asher and Dr Halstead from Gaffney Chicago Med.”

Will and Hannah walked to the stage, both in their Med scrubs with doctors coats on. Will was looking for you, you could tell from the way his eyes scanned the faces in the audience. You slumped in your chair, avoiding looking at him at all. 

How did he find out? Did he and Jay find out somehow? Did your school contact them? 

You really wanted to disappear now, your face was no doubt bright red by how much it was burning. You prayed silently that Will hadn’t told Jay, but you knew it was a useless prayer. If Will was here Jay would be too. 

You got your answer when the dean explained that there were more guests outside on the fields. She ordered everyone to head that way, ushering students with promises of something ‘exciting’. 

Outside, firehouse 51 had parked their rigs on the grass. 51 had their ladder extended, Mouch standing at the controls grinning like a champion. Not far from Mouch was Trudy, flanked by two patrol cars and their officers. Looking across the gathered first responders it didn’t take long to spot Jay and Intelligence. Their own cars were parked on the grass, the lights on. Everyone but Voight had their vests on, adding to the dramatic atmosphere already created. 

Students huddled around, entranced by the cars and rigs which you had seen plenty of times. You tried to hide towards the back, but Kelly had spotted you and tried to usher you closer. You shrugged back at him, trying to make it look like you were stuck within the crowd. 

“Firstly, we would like to thank Sergeant Trudy Platt and Sergeant Hank Voight, as well as Chief Wallace Boden for coming today. We are hugely appreciative to hear from you,” The dean spoke into a microphone, “Secondly, I want to ask students to be respectful, as these hard working men and women have taken time out of their busy days to come and speak to us. So we are going to listen and show respect. There will be time for questions and demonstrations at the end. Please Welcome Sergeant Trudy Platt.” 

The crowd clapped as Trudy took the mic, but it wasn’t too enthusiastic. Trudy gave a similar speech to last year. Along the lines of what made district 21 special, intelligence and the hardworking patrol officers. She talked about fake calls and how breaking the law would wind you up in her cells etc. It was funny, a few quips earning laughs from teachers and parents. But you had heard it all before. You were dreading what the others would say. You didn’t want everyone knowing your brother was a cop, that would cause way too many issues. 

So instead, you slipped away from the crowd, heading back towards the school building to hide in the bathroom. 

You didn’t think anyone would notice, most people were paying attention to the speakers or interested in the rigs. You were wrong, of course, being followed almost immediately by Madison and a couple of her friends. 

You got to the lockers before they announced themselves. 

“What did you mean my parents were frauds, bitch?” 

You turned around in fright, not even hearing them sneak up on you.

“I didn’t mean it,” You replied, “I’m sorry.” 

You were, kind of. Mostly you were sorry that you had said it, because she genuinely seemed shocked. But this was Chicago, anyone with any money committed fraud, it was kind of the standard. 

“I don’t care if you're sorry,” Madison snarled, she was taller than you so when she stepped closer you couldn’t help feeling intimidated. “What did you mean?” 

“Madison-” 

One of her friends pushed you hard against the lockers with a forearm over your collar, “Answer the question.” 

You were by no means a confrontational person. Growing up, Jay always tried to teach you to talk out your issues, violence or fighting wasn’t a good solution. Will was the same, although both of them weren’t always the best at doing as they counseled. 

“I just meant that,” You were panicking under the glare of all three girls, “You know, this is chicago and-”

“And what? Everyone is a criminal like your addict parents?” Madison got in your face again. 

“My parents weren’t addicts,” You scoffed, now annoyed that she wouldn’t let that go. 

“No?” The girl who was holding you back moved her arm further up your neck, pressing against your throat, “Then where are they?” 

“If my parents were addicts, would you really think I'd be in a private school?” You pressed, “Use your brain for once, please.” 

You should have known that would piss Madison off. She let out an annoyed scoff then pulled back her fist and punched your square in the nose. The force slammed your head back into the lockers, the sound echoing through the empty halls. The punch wasn’t hard enough to break your nose, but you would feel the blood start to drip down your lip. Madison shook her hand like she had taken more damage than you had. 

“Want to say that again?” The third girl finally spoke up. 

It was like they were all gaining confidence in the security of the three of them. When one of them said something the others would laugh and smirk. 

“I don’t like bullies, you know,” Madison said. 

God, the irony. 

This time the punch came from the third girl, landing in your stomach. You didn't know her name, but she was on the volleyball team, so her punch was much stronger. Your body doubled over, arms crossing over your stomach as your lungs tried to fight your diaphragm for air. The arm holding you up was dropped, and your body fell to the ground as you tried to force yourself to take some deep breaths. 

“This is what you deserve,” A girl said, before another blow landed on your ribs. The wind was knocked out of you again, causing you to cough and choke. 

Madison crouched down to your level, “Bullies like you deserve to be put in their place.” 

You didn’t have time to appreciate the irony this time, because she was kicking your head, hard. 

Your body reacted on instinct, curling into itself to try to protect you from another blow that was sure to come. 

“Hey!” 

The three girls sprinted at the voice, running away from their actions. 

“Hey, kid,” A hand on your shoulder made you flinch, when your vision cleared you realized it was just Kelly. He held his hands out to show you he meant no harm, then gently helped you sit up. 

“You’re alright,” He said softly, steading you sitting against the lockers. You couldn’t even reply, focused solely on breathing through the pain in your head and side. 

“I found her,” Kelly said into his radio, “North Hallway, bring a jump bag.” 

Kelly gently touched the side of your face, tilting your head to look at the side you had been kicked. 

“You still got that med kit in your bag?” He asked, knowing Kidd had taught you that in girls on fire. 

“Yeah,” You said softly, your voice above a whisper. 

Kelly ripped open your bag, rummaging through it until he found the small first aid kit. He was only after gauze, once he secured it, he ripped the package open and pressed the gauze to your head. 

You winced, instinctively pulling away from him. 

“I know,” He said, sitting down next to you so he could hold the gauze in place, “Sorry kid. 

You both looked up as the sound of footsteps came running towards you. You might as well have been on fire, the entire house was rushing towards you. Jay and Intelligence were there too, Will and Asher running along beside everyone. 

“This is overkill,” You said to no one in particular. 

Kelly chuckled, shuffling so that Will could take his place next to you, “We’re all here for you, kid.” 

Will replaced Kelly’s hand with his own, when Kelly pulled away you could see blood on his hand. 

Jay croached on your other side, letting Will, Hannah and Brett take care of you. 

“What happened?” He asked, looking over your bloody nose, head injury and the way you were holding your side. 

You didn’t want to be known as a snitch, one glance behind your brother and you could see students being held back by teachers and 51. The school day was almost over, everyone would be gathering their things to leave. You hoped you weren’t in front of someone's locker who hated you, this would definitely make them hate you more. 

You looked back at Jay, his eyes filled with worry, “What happened, squirt?” 

“I, uh.. I fell.”

Will scoffed, “You fell?” 

“Yeah, I’m clumsy,” You said.

“You fell and hit your nose and the side of your head?” Hannah asked, voice soft, “Are you sure that's the story you want to tell?” 

Over her shoulder, Kelly was talking to Voight and Hailey. Hailey was pointing something out, a camera that was positioned above one of the classroom doors. 

“Yeah,” You didn’t sound confident at all. But right now, you wanted to be anywhere but here.

Jay looked pissed, but he didn’t say anything. He got to his feet and stood out of the way as Hannah and Will helped you stand. They lead you over to the stair chair, despite your very vocal argument that you were fine. 

Being wheeled through the crowd of students and their parents was the most embarrassing thing you had ever experienced. You passed by Madison at one point, who was leaning against her locker talking to her parents like nothing ever happened. You avoided looking her way, instead focusing on what Brett was saying about getting to the rig. 

Outside the building things were less stressful and crowded. You managed to convince the four hovering adults that you could stand on your own to get into the back of the ambulance, even if you didn’t really think you needed one. 

“I’m really fine,” You argued for probably the fifth time, “I think you're overreacting.” 

Will sighed, running a hand down his face, “You are too stubborn for your own good,” He muttered. 

Violet chuckled, “Just lay back, alright? You aren’t getting out of this, no matter how much you complain.” 

She was right, but that didn’t stop you from pouting the whole way to Med. 

At Med, Will hovered as Hannah stapled the laceration on your head. You weren’t too happy about the idea of being stabled back together, but Will had taken a photo of the laceration to prove you needed it. 

“That’s so gross,” You said, pushing the phone away from you. 

“That’s why you need staples,” Will explained, rolling his eyes.

Not long after Hannah had treated you and left you to rest, Jay, Hailey and Voight walked in. 

“Are you doing alright?” Jay asked, hesitant to start another argument. 

“I’m fine,” You repeated, “I don’t know why everyones making such a big deal.” 

“You were attacked at-” 

“I fell.” You interrupted. 

“Y/N-” 

“Jay.” You echoed in the same tone.

Jay's face flashed with irritation, he looked to Will for help. 

“We know that’s not true,” Will said, giving you his best parental disappointed look. 

“The whole thing was caught by the security cameras,” Hailey spoke softly, she was the only person in the room who knew what it was like to be a teenage girl in high school, “We just want to know what they said.” 

You tried to come up with some kind of explanation that wouldn’t get anyone in trouble, but you came up short. 

“It’s not that big of a deal,” You shrugged, avoiding eye contact with all of them. 

Will leaned forward, he looked wary, “Listen, squirt, we want to help, but we can’t unless you tell us the truth.” 

“That is the truth,” You argued back, crossing your arms definitely, “It’s not a big deal.” 

“You’re in the hospital!” Jay gestured around, “What about this is ‘not a big deal’.” 

You scowled, refusing to say anything else and just sitting silently. 

Voight squeezed Jay's shoulder, “We’ll let her rest, come back later?” 

Jay nodded, not bidding you goodbye as he stomped out of the room. You hadn’t seen him this mad in forever, you weren’t sure if this would blow over as easily as your other fights. Voight followed after Jay, he told you to get some rest then followed his detective to try to calm him down. 

Will got up to leave too, he told you to rest and said he would come back soon. When the three left, it was only Hailey who stayed behind. 

“I know you’ve been struggling at school,” She took a seat on the bed next to you, “I know what that’s like.” 

You fiddled with your fingers, not wanting to admit she was right. 

“You know what happened today wasn’t right,” Hailey continued, “Jay wants to press charges.” 

“What? No! That’ll just make it wor…” You stopped yourself.

“Make what worse?” Hailey pressed. 

You took a deep breath, trying not to get upset. 

“Whatever is going on, I can help,” Hailey promised. 

“You can’t get me out of that school,” You scowled. 

“I think after today, that might be possible.” 

You leaned back into the pillows. Dr Asher had given you some pain meds for your head, they removed the sharp pain and replaced it with a dull throb. You could feel it more as you got more upset. 

“There’s this stupid rumor that my parents are addicts,” you explained, “Madison is always taunting me with it, saying that's why no one ever comes to parent evenings or teacher interviews…” 

Hailey didn’t say anything, she just sat listening patiently. 

“Before you guys came, she asked why my parents weren’t here and I said that I would rather have my family over her fraud one.” 

Hailey nodded as she listened. 

“It was stupid and as soon as I said it, I regretted it. When we were outside I went inside to go to the bathroom and Madison and her friends followed me… They, uh… Madison wanted to know why I said it and I apologized but she didn’t- she, she didn’t care and…” 

Hailey got the cue, “Okay. It’s alright.” She pulled you into a gentle hug. “Everything’s going to be alright.”

[sarahmadpeople]

Family Dinner

Summary: Halstead’s sister thought that this time, family dinner would be peaceful but boy was she wrong.

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Hailey Upton, Will Halstead x Halstead!Reader, Jay Halstead x Halstead!Reader

Characters: Halstead!Sister Reader (OFC), Dad Halstead, Will Halstead, Jay Halstead, Hailey Upton, Jay’s daughter (OFC)

Tags: light angst, fluff, brother love, family dynamics

Warnings: none

Word count: 1101

Disclaimer: i don’t own any of the characters and this is purely fiction but based on true event ✌🏼

a/n: first chicago med fic although i’ve been watching the series since forever,, jay and hailey have a daughter in here (they deserve so much),, sorry for any mistakes and hope you enjoy this short fic ~~

Masterlist

~

There’s no Halstead family dinner that’s uneventful and that includes tonight. Everyone’s here at dad’s home for our weekly dinner. Will was the one who insisted on having dinners like this to spend time together after dad’s narrow escape from death in the apartment fire (and to watch dad’s diet once in a while, not that Will would admit that).

Dad’s seated at one end of the table and Will at the other end while Jay and Hailey sat at one side of the table and Alina and I sat at the other side of the table. Alina is my niece, Jay’s and Hailey’s daughter, who’s turning 8 years old in a few months.

Our plates were all loaded up with food that Will and I cooked since we’re in-charge of dinner tonight.

“The mashed potatoes are so good! I’m guessing Evie cooked it?” Jay said, in between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes. I laughed, “That’s right, big brother, and it’s mom’s recipe so can’t go wrong.”

There’s a pause of silence after I mentioned mom but that’s normal, we all miss her. Trying to cheer the moment, Hailey complimented the pasta that everybody knew Will made because it was his go-to dish to cook (and his most famous in the family). Dinner resumed and everyone made small talks with each other.

“I want to eat bread with nutella,” whined Alina and I glanced over to see that her dinner was already half-eaten. “Go and take the bread and nutella from the kitchen,” I instructed and Alina smiled cheerfully, skipping to the kitchen and back to the dining table with said items.

I helped Alina to spread the nutella on the bread and continued eating my dinner. Not even 5 minutes later, Alina called out to me, “I want more,” so I said, “You can do it yourself, Alina”. I pushed the bread and nutella to her. I was about to continue eating when dad voiced out, “Why can’t you just do it for her? She wants to eat it.”

Before I could even answer, he continued, “Sometimes, I think that you don’t like Alina. The way you treat her at times is just uncalled for.” I looked at dad, was he being serious? Was he really going to talk about this during dinner? Granted I’m not the kind of aunt who’s lovey dovey with their niece but that doesn’t mean I don’t love her. I’m rough with her because she’s like my younger sister who can tolerate and even return that treatment to me. It was like your typical sister siblings behaviour. Regardless, it was a mutual agreement that we don’t upset each other while eating and dad being dad, went straight to break it.

“Dad, Evie’s in the middle of eating, she hasn’t eaten since lunch and was busy the whole evening, besides, Alina’s old enough to spread the nutella on her own.” I heard Will saying. I felt myself shut down, which usually happens when I’m upset.

“Yeah dad, Alina can do it herself, don’t be mad,” Hailey started before turning to me and apologised, “Sorry Evie”. I shook my head and smiled (more like grimaced) at her, whispering a short “it’s okay”. Then, before Alina could reach the bread, I took it and made one for her. My eyes got teary and I knew if I talked I’d cry so I whispered to her, asking if she wanted more. Alina nodded so I made another piece for her.

I went silent the entire dinner. Having lost appetite after what happened, I ate slowly and ended up picking half of what’s left on my plate. I felt Will nudging my leg from under the table and I looked up to see the concern in his eyes. I smiled and continued picking at my food.

One by one, everybody finished their dinner and I carried my own plate together with what’s left on the dining table to the kitchen. Tonight, it was also mine and Will’s turn to clear the dishes and clean the kitchen. So while the two of us were in the kitchen, the rest were in the living room watching tv.

“I’m sorry about dad. He shouldn’t have said that, especially when we’re eating.” Will said, starting what he hoped to be a conversation that I honestly was not in the mood for. I shrugged and replied, “Whatever, not the first time and i’m sure it’s not gonna be the last. Let’s just clear all these so we can go home.” My tone giving Will no room to retort or continue the conversation. So we cleaned in silence and soon dad’s kitchen was back to its original state, clean and tidy.

‘Hey dad, I’m gonna go home first. See ya around,” I didn’t bother to wait for any replies before heading out the front door.

“Evie!” I heard Jay called out and stopped. I felt Jay approaching before he entered my line of sight. “I want to apologise for dinner, about Alina and Dad. I know you love my daughter, no doubt about that. It’s not fair for dad to say that to you, after what you’ve done for Alina ever since she was a baby. I’m not excusing him but it’s not like you don’t know him, right. Please don’t let this be our last family dinner.” Jay said.

I scoffed because yeah, I know what dad is like, but I thought he could’ve at least spared my dignity over dinner. “Don’t worry big brother, I’m not gonna disappear just because of tonight. I’ve faced worst than this, and I’m sorry too about Alina, I could’ve just prepared more than one piece of bread and no drama would occur. It's my fault too.”

Jay laughed and shook his head, “Don’t blame yourself, we’re Halstead, what’s life without drama,” he paused, then continued, “Okay, not gonna keep you here any longer than you’d want, so see ya around kiddo, and wait for Will, you live with him,” Jay ruffled my hair and went back in. Seconds after, Will was rushing out of the house.

“You’re so impatient, lil sis, left me high and dry in there to explain to dad why we’re rushing back home,” I heard Will and rolled my eyes. As Will turned the car engine on, he looked at me and said, “Dad said he’s sorry for what he said just now,”

I nodded. I looked at the house dad stayed and thought about the people inside and knew that I wouldn’t change this family for anything, even with the baggage it comes with.

“Okay.”

~

thankss for reading!! ❤️