#this took me longer than planned because I accidentally deleted the Upstead prompt while trying to transfer it onto here

[sylvies-chen]

Fic request. I have two.

15 for Upstead and 29 for Burzek.

Thank you! :)

Hi anon, tysm for the request! These are going to be more than 100 words (I know some people are very strict on what a drabble is but consider these short oneshots instead). I’ll post both of them under the cut!

Also, here’s the PROMPT LIST in case you want to spend more!

15. “When I’m with you, I’m home.” (Upstead)

“So your apartment’s getting fumigated again?”

Hailey nods.

It should be normal for Hailey to stay over at Jay’s, especially since her apartment’s been sprayed for termites so many times. Month five of the pandemic isn’t exactly making people eager to invite her into their homes so when Jay offered to let her crash with him, it seemed like the logical move. Intelligence can quarantine together, after all, and she’s only been back from New York for a couple of months so staying with him feels like making up for lost time. That is, until she gets to his apartment the first night and all of her complicated little emotions kick in.

“Ugh, yeah. This is the third time in two years. You know, the building I stayed in back in New York wasn’t fumigated the entire time I was there. My landlord’s becoming more trouble than he’s worth, maybe I should just move,” she grumbles while spreading sheets over his sofa (she’d chosen the couch since she’s shorter, and frankly, sleeping in his bed is too tempting to agree to).

“What, are you missing the hosh-posh NYC hotels?”

“Maybe a little,” she admits with a grin.

“Well if you move to New York for the fancy hotels then I’d have to go too, and that’s something I’d really rather not do.”

“You would?” A small lump catches in her throat and she stops fussing with the sheets instantly. His eyes are already on her when she looks up. They’re nervous but intense. Oh god, she

“Yeah,” Jay replies, his voice raspy and bashful. He nervously fluffs the pillow on the couch but then moves closer to her. She can see him swallow hard, his eyes never leaving her. She moves to plug in her phone in the charger next to him, but he doesn’t move out of the way for her and it just makes things even more tense. There’s so little space between them right now. It’s not professional. Why does she love it so much? “When I’m with you, I’m home.”

“I...” Her eyes go wide at his word, her breathing becoming naturally heavier. His lips part only slightly when she doesn't break her gaze.

Her heart melts. Hailey is his partner, friend, maybe even something else. But now she’s... his home?

“I- I just mean,” he continues before she can speak, clearing his throat awkwardly, “we’re partners. I’m going where you’re going, remember?”

She wants to say that his words back then were under a completely different context. Following someone to a new unit is one thing, but following them to a whole different city is a new level of personal. She also wants to tell him that she’s home when she’s with him too— more so than any home she’s ever lived in (even with her own family). But that’s a whole other conversation. It’s a wall crumbling, a damn breaking, a reason to finally let him make her happy. And she isn’t sure if she’s ready for that yet.

“Yeah,” she settles on as her response, softly squeezing onto the pillow in her hands. “I remember.”

Hailey doesn’t get an ounce of shuteye that night. Her mind wanders, replays those words over in her head, and wonders if maybe, just maybe, Jay's sitting in his bed doing the same thing.

29. “It’s okay to cry.” (Burzek)

Kim wakes up in the hospital and the fluorescent lights are blinding.

It’s the first thing she notices when her eyes open. That, combined with the noises, makes her head pound and the bullet wounds in her stomach sear with blazing agony. The second thing she notices is the warm hand squeezing hers. It takes all of her might to turn her head but when she does, the hand holding hers belong to none other than Adam Ruzek.

Because of course it’s Adam. Because it’s always Adam.

“Hey,” he whispers, sitting upright and leaning over.

Kim opens her mouth to speak to him but nothing comes out at first. It’s the first time she realizes how dry her throat is. God, everything in her body hurts like hell. “Hi,” she manages to sputter out, her voice hoarse and quiet like Makayla’s when she came down with the flu.

Wait. Makayla. She has a daughter. Where’s her daughter? “Makayla,” she sputters. “Where is she?”

“Don’t worry, she’s at school. She made me promise to pick her up after so you’ll see us again in the afternoon.”

Kim smiles faintly, envisioning Makayla’s excited and impatient face as she waits for the school day to end.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like hell,” she mutters teasingly, holding her side in pain as soon as she laughs. “It’s like the world’s worst hangover except, you know... I got shot.”

Adam tries to laugh but it fades quickly. His grip tightens on her hand, and his other hand moves to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear before caressing her cheek gently.

“Walton...” Kim asks.

“I don’t know,” he admits to her, hanging his head. “Voight and Hailey went to chase leads while I stayed with Makayla, and then.... I don’t know.”

Her eye catches his. She sees it all on his face: his tightened lips, his steady hands, his tender eyes. There’s something so soothing about him; there always has been. It’s a calmness, a steady but reassuring force that makes her want to completely crumble. She feels the tears well in her eyes.

“It’s okay to cry,” he tells her softly. “You know that, right?”

And in one fowl swoop, the damn breaks.

In one fleeting moment, everything she’s been feeling about what she went through comes flooding in through torrential sobs and hiccups.

As always, Adam’s there to hold her.

“Hey, shhh. It’s okay. I’m here.” He presses his forehead to her. It’s soft, but there are tears of his own coming down too.

It’s painful; it’s beautiful. And for one moment, she swears she never wants to be without him again.