We had been following a case to do with a bombing at a Military recruitment center. As soon as Sarge told us about the case I could tell Jay was going to take it a little deeper than any other case.

Kev was going undercover at a mosque again, Jay and I kept watch outside. Kev knew what he was doing and he knew how far to push in this case. Once we were back at the district all of us except Jay thought it best to wait things out.

"What about the 'Chicago must burn' manifest? We can't wait this out Sarge." Jay told Hank.

"Jay, we don't have enough concrete evidence" Hank began telling him when all of our radios went off.

"Sarge, possible bomb at the VA hospital." Adam came in to let us know.

"The two Halsteads, go. We'll send the bomb squad." Hank instructed both Jay and I.

We suited up and Jay drove as fast as he could to the hospital. Once we got there, there were already uniformed officers on scene creating a perimeter.

———-

The bomb squad had checked the hospital and found nothing, Jay chatted with an officer while I walked off to update the team through the radio.

"Sarge this is y/l/n" I decided to keep my last name at work to avoid confusions. "No bomb at the scene-" I started.

A large explosion happened a few feet away from me, the blast sending me stumbling back and making my ears ring.

"Jay." I breathed as soon as I registered what was happening.

"Y/n! You okay?!." I heard Jay's muffled voice and then felt his arms behind me helping me up.

"Yeah." I nodded even though my hearing hadn't fully come back.

We both ran forward towards the people closest to the blast trying to help. Jay and I shared a look, I knew we both wondered how we could've missed this.

—————

Jay and I drove back to the district.

"Are you alright?" I placed my hand on Jay's thigh as soon as he parked.

He took a deep breath and turned to me, I could tell he was angry. "I just want to stop whoever is doing this." He slipped his fingers into my hand.

"We will, just don't do anything crazy please." I leaned over for a kiss and he returned the gesture.

After more investigation we found that the bombs had been undetectable to the dogs because of the ingredients used in them.

It seemed as though we followed thousands of leads in this case which took us nowhere until we found a lead that took us to a guy names Tariq, but after following and trying to catch him he only got himself killed.

Jay's frustration only grew bigger and bigger with each thread we pulled. Hank constantly found himself reminding Jay to stick to the plan and keep his personal feelings aside but it seemed as though it went in through one ear and out the other. I knew what this meant to Jay but I also knew that when hr got like this he was only increasing the risks of getting himself killed.

Hank sent Jay and I to Tariqs house with the bomb tecs to see if we could find any information. As soon as Jay and I got there our guns were drawn prepared for anything.

"Stay behind me." Jay extended his arm back to make sure I was behind and not beside him.

"Ready?" I whispered.

"Let's go." He kicked the door in and we went inside. We inspected the rooms until we got to one where there was a woman holding something in her arms looking terrified.

"CHICAGO PD PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Jay yelled at the woman only frightening her further.

She said nothing only whimpering while holding whatever she had in her hands tighter. "M'am put your hands up where we can see them." I tried to talk to her in a calmer tone.

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Jay yelled again.

I started approaching the woman feeling as though she wasn't a threat to us. "Wait!" I yelled back to Jay.

"What are you doing! Step back!" Jay shouted at me.

"JUST WAIT!" I yelled back, holstering my gun and taking a look at what she was holding. "Jay it's a baby! It's a baby." I told him.

Jay put his gun down and I took a deep sigh relieved that we hadn't taken a shot.

_______

After the woman had been taken into custody Jay and I got back in the car. "I'm sorry." Jay shrugged.

"It could've been a bomb Jay, there's no need to apologize." I tried to reassure him.

"It's just..." he took a deep breath and I saw pain in his eyes. "I've seen women use their children before y/n." His eyes watered.

"I know Jay, I know." I took his hand. "But you're not in Afghanistan anymore, I need you to understand that." I spoke gently to him.

He squeezed my hand.

__________

Things in the case were growing more aggressive and heated by the second, Kev had even been beaten by Homeland officers.

We had found out Jake was planning an attack on the mosque so we had to move fast and get there as soon as possible. As soon as we rolled up Trudy and I began hollering instructions to the patrolmen to clear at least 4 blocks around the mosque.

Kev was inside and things were looking bad, it looked as though Kev wasn't getting much progress in trying to talk Jake down, he had ordered everyone against the wall and threatened to start killing everyone soon.

"Sarge let me go in, I know I can talk him down." I heard Jay as he walked up to Hank.

As much as I hated the idea of Jay going in I trusted him, and I knew he was good and taking control of situations like this given his experience.

"Jay, I can't let you do that." Hank stopped him.

"Sarge, please trust me, I'm telling you I can do this." Jay insisted.

Hank noticed me keeping an ear out and gestured for me to step over. "Is his head screwed on right?" He asked me.

I sighed, Jay turned to look at me and I knew he expected me to say no. "Yes, I know he can do this Sarge, you should let him in." I was firm with my answer.

Hank nodded. "Alright, strap on a mic and go in," he instructed Jay.

"Be careful," I told Jay before he ran off.

"I'm coming back to you, I promise." He ran back and kissed me quickly before running over to the van for a mic.

I knew he couldn't promise such a thing, but we knew the risk of our jobs and that was the harsh reality of it all.

Jay went in, I stayed outside with the rest of the officers, behind the cars, guns were drawn. A hostage come out and we were able to get some information from him about how things were looking inside.

Even though I was fully concentrated on the situation ahead I couldn't shake off that sick feeling in my stomach from the worry I was feeling. I could hear Jay through the mic I had in my ear and it seemed as though things were calm.

"Look, I'm not armed." I heard Jay's voice. It was like a new bubble of worry burst in my stomach.

He had taken a gun in which he had probably dropped. I felt my breath hitch and Trudy noticed. "He's got this." She reassured me.

I nodded, I knew he could do this, but the possibility was still there, the possibility things could go south real quick.

From what we were hearing it sounded as though Jay was able to keep a good line of communication going until we heard a struggle. Not knowing what was happening was hell and then we heard a gunshot.

I got up ready to run in but the hostages started running out, I kept directing them to safety while watching the door waiting for Jay to walk out and once he did I ran over.

"He's dead." That was all he said. I nodded taking a big sigh of relief that it wasn't him.

"I'm gonna have to take your badge." A homeland officer walked up to Jay.

"He saved all these people, he diffused the situation, he did nothing wrong what are you talking about?" I stood in front of Jay protectively.

"Your badge." He ignored me.

"You take his badge and people are gonna hear about the way you treated one of my detectives, just take the win." Hank stepped in.

You could see the anger fill the officer's face but in the end, he accepted defeat and walked away.

"Thanks Sarge." Jay nodded to Hank.

"Go home, you'll fill in the report tomorrow, good job today." He congratulated him before walking off.

Jay and I got in the car to head home. It was silent, I didn't want to say anything because I wanted Jay to talk to me when he was ready but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen and I just wanted to know he was okay.

"Jay talk to me please." I kept my eyes on the road.

"I'm sorry-" he started.

"No Jay don't apologize please, I just want to know you're okay." he placed his hand on my thigh.

"I feel like I screwed up, I should've known Miller was involved." He was beating himself up.

"Jay it wasn't your fault, whatever you went through, no one should ever have to see things like that. But you're here, you're the best detective, you're such a good person Jay and an amazing husband. The war will always be a part of you Jay but that's not who you are. You saved all those people today Jay, don't be so harsh on yourself." I tried my best to be there for him.

He took a second to take in what I said. "Can we stop for some beer and a pizza?" His smile was back.

"Of course we can." I smiled back.

"I love you, baby, thank you for being there for me." He grabbed my hand.

"Through thick and thin honey, I love you too." He lifted my hand up to his mouth and kissed it.