Macie's Story

14

(February 14th, 31 days old)

"Are you sure you want to go up there?" Jay asks, looking over at the console of the truck to Hailey, who was staring out the passenger side window at the familiar brick building across the street. "We can go through the side door, go straight up the stairs, we don't have to go past the front desk." He says and it makes Hailey turn her head to meet his concerned gaze.

She shakes her head, moving her hand over her chest to unbuckle her seatbelt. "No, I'll be fine."

"You sure?" He asks again and Hailey sends him a reassuring smile, opening up the truck door and climbing out, Jay following behind her moments later.

She waited by the passenger side until Jay came around and met her. His hand fell down by hers and grabbed it subconsciously, interlocking their fingers and giving her hand a gentle squeeze as he stepped forward, almost leading her in the direction of the district.

Hailey hadn't stepped foot in the building since the shooting exactly a month prior and as she got closer to the front steps she could feel her heartbeat creeping up. She took a deep breath to try and slow it down, but it didn't do anything to help, however it did get Jay's attention and he stopped in his tracks at the bottom of the district stairs.

He squeezed her hand again and shot her a smile, edging his chin forward slightly. "Hey, it's okay, I'm right here.. you wanna go in the side door?" He asks again.

This time it takes a beat to answer, Hailey fully considering the question and her response unlike last time. She hesitates for a second before she subtly nods her head. "Yeah." She says with a whisper and Jay leads her away from the front steps, taking her in the direction of the smaller parking lot.

There's a few uniformed officers standing in the lot and they all send smiles in Hailey's direction and the one that comes out of the side door as they approach moves to the side, holding the door open for the detectives for them to go through. Jay thanks him as he goes through, catching the door from the inside and pushing it open as Hailey steps inside, overtaking him. She takes slower steps until they're in the garage, where Jay catches back up with her and he instantly grabs her hand again, reassuring her that he was right there with her still.

The walk up to the bullpen is a slower one with the several sets of stairs - Hailey finds that was something she wasn't quite used to yet. Their apartment was on the ground floor so the only stairs she was used to was the one up into the cab of the truck. The four flights of stairs took a few minutes for her to get up, especially near the top because of the newfound ping she could feel in her stomach the more they climbed but Jay stayed right beside her the entire time, slowing down every time she did, only moving up one step when she did.

They rounded the corner into the bullpen and made everyone inside look before all jumping up from their chairs and moving over to where the two were to all give Hailey a hug.

"Oh my god, this is such a good surprise!" Kim exclaims as she tightens her arms around the detective and Hailey chuckles, hugging the eager officer back. "What are you doing here?" She asks as she steps back, leaving her hands against her shoulders.

Hailey tilts her head to one side. "I've come to talk with Voight."

"About coming back?" Adam jumps in.

She pulls her lips up into line. "Hopefully."

Jay speaks up from beside her, resting his hand against her back and he gives her a little tap to get her attention. "I'll go see if he's free." He says with a small point in the direction of the office in front of them before he steps away from the group, trekking over to the office.