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Jay couldn't remember ever being so grateful in his whole life.
It had been a hard case. One that hit way too close to home. Four Veterans had died, been kidnapped, tortured and displayed in public parks for all to see before Intelligence had taken over the case. Jay had almost immediately offered to be bait. To lure the killer out.
Hailey hadn't liked the idea at all. It was too dangerous, she'd argued with him, and she'd been right. But it had also been their best shot. And it had worked.
He was banged up and more than a little worse for wear, but he was alive, and the killer was in custody. And Jay was just grateful.
"I'm gonna go and talk with Doctor Marcel," Hailey pressed a kiss to his forehead. "You try and get some more rest, okay?"
Jay nodded. "I love you."
"I love you too," she smiled softly at him, her dimple small but deep. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and poke it like he always did when he wanted his wife to laugh. But he was just so tired. And sore. Hailey squeezed his foot on her way past. "I'll be right back."
Jay closed his eyes and sunk back into the pillows. When he'd been kidnapped, held by that mad man and tortured, he'd wanted to fall asleep. But Jay resisted because he knew that if he did, he probably wouldn't make it home. It was a relief now to be able to.
That relief didn't last long.
Someone knocked on his hospital door just as he felt himself drift off. "Yes," he called out. God, he did he really sound that tired?
"Detective Halstead," Deputy Superintendent Miller stepped into the room. It'd been a while since he'd last seen her.
"Ma'am," Jay sat himself up straighter.
"At ease, Detective," she soothed. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired," he answered honestly. "And sore. And a whole bunch of synonyms for those two things."
"Well, it's good to know your humour is intact," Sam smiled. "Jay, I have someone here who would like to speak to you. Only if you feel up to it, of course."
He raised an eyebrow, or at least he thought he did. His face was still a little numb. Was it the Superintendent? Or a reporter? The case was definitely a headline maker, but springing a journalist on him wasn't Miller's style. And neither was the Supe. So he nodded his agreement.
"Are you sure," she asked. "It's pressing, but I can make it keep. At least for another day."
"You wouldn't be asking if it wasn't something big," Jay shrugged the best he could. "I trust you."
The Deputy Superintendent nodded and headed back to the door. "Come on in."
She stepped aside, and a tall man with a strong, wry frame and short-styled grey hair stepped into the room. "Detective Halstead," he nodded. "I'm Bruce Kent. I have a proposal for you."
*
Jay grunted as he pulled his shirt over his arms. His shoulders were still tender after his repeated dislocations during his kidnapping. And his left shoulder, already a mess of scar tissue, burned in protest. But he and Hailey had plans. Big plans. And restaurants had dress codes.
Hailey rolled her eyes when she came back into their bedroom. "I told you'd I'd be in to help," she grabbed his sling and placed it over his head. "Why are you so impatient? You nervous or something?"
"I'm fine," he insisted. "But you hold the cards, you know that, right? I mean it. You say the word, and I'll call this whole thing off."
"Are you crazy," Hailey tightened down the sling gently. "Jay, I am not letting you give up a shot like this."
"But you gave the FBI for me," he said. "It's only fair."
"First of all," Hailey wrapped his tie around his neck and worked her way through the familiar knot. "I didn't give up the FBI; I chose what I wanted. And that was you. That was us. And I don't have a single regret about it."
"And second of all?"
"I am so proud of you," she said. "And I won't let you pass on this because you're afraid to tell the others."
Jay snorted. "Am I that obvious?"
"Little bit," Hailey wrinkled her nose. "I'm serious, Jay. They're gonna be so happy for you. You just got to tell them. Besides, breaking bad and sad news is a part of your new gig; you gotta get used to it sometime."
"So is delegation," he wrapped the fingers of his good hand around her belt loops and tugged her closer. "What do you think, wanna tell them for me?"
"Nice try, buddy," she pressed a lingering kiss to his jaw. "Come on, we're gonna be late."
The team was waiting for them when they arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes later. Well, Kim, Adam and Kevin were at least. But they were the only ones he and Hailey had invited. Trudy and Hank already knew. They'd both been very supportive.
"You'll always have a place here," Voight had told him. "I'm here whenever you need me."
It made Jay's stomach flutter. Despite all, they'd been through over the years. All the ups and downs. All the lies, fights, and disagreements. There was no denying the glimmer he saw in Voight's smile. It was pride. Fatherly pride. And it pained Jay as much as it pleased him; would his own father have been as proud? Or would he have found fault in the path Jay was about to take?
Trudy wrapped him up in a tight hug when she found out and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'm proud of you, Chuckles."
"If you don't mind," he grinned at her, echoing their conversation from so long ago. "It's Detective Chuckles."
Trudy reached up and tweaked his ear. "Not anymore."
This was the right thing. The right move. Jay knew that. But still, the thought of telling the others made his stomach twist. So he waited. Past the greetings and the appetizers. The chatter, teasing and laughter as they tucked into and finished their meals.
"You're being pretty quiet over there, Halstead," Kevin said as he swatted a chuckling Adam with his napkin. "Everything good?"
Jay shared a look with Hailey, and she gave him a small encouraging nod. "Actually," she started for him. "There is something Jay's got to tell you."
They all settled down at once and gave Jay their undivided attention.
"Uh, Intelligence has been my life for the better part of a decade now," he cleared his throat. "And you guys are a huge part of that. In fact, you're all of that."
Jay faltered, and Hailey reached out and squeezed his knee in support.
"You guys have all had a hand in making me the man I am," he continued and threaded his fingers through Hailey's under the table. "I don't know if I could have done it without you. If I'd have this life that I love, with the person I love, without knowing all of you. Without having you in my life."
"Careful, Jay," Kim teased and kicked him gently. "This is starting to sound like a goodbye or something."
He swallowed hard. It was now or never. "That's because it is. Of sorts at least."
It was like the air got sucked out of the room as he watched his team's - his friend's - faces fall in a mix of shock and confusion.
"I don't understand," Kevin was the first to find his voice. "I thought you were good? That your return to duty was a lock?"
"It is," Jay shook his head. "I will be back on the job, just not with Intelligence."
"What?" Adam stood up. "Who's this coming from? Voight? We'll go talk to him, whatever he's thinking, whatever his reasons, we'll—"
"Guys," Hailey cut across him. "Let Jay finish."
Kim tugged Adam back down and kept a hand on his arm, ad the other held tightly onto Kevin's.
"I got a job offer," he finally said. "Out in Los Angeles. They like the work Intelligence does here and want to start up a similar unit. It comes with a promotion to Sergeant and the chance to pick my team. Build it all from the ground up. And then try and do some good in the world."
"But what about," Adam trailed off, his eyes darting between him and Hailey.
"Hailey's coming with me," Jay said. "She'll be the senior Detective in the unit and my second in command."
Their faces were shocked again.
"I leave at the end of next week," he continued. "To get the lay of the land, get things set up for Hailey and me. Then start getting a feel for the people out there."
"And I'll join him in a couple of weeks," Hailey picked up. "Just after the New Year. Hopefully, by then, we'll have things wrapped up here."
"Things like what," Kevin asked.
"Getting our apartment sold," she listed. "Sorting all our furniture and stuff, what we're going to ship out to California and what's going to stay here. I'll handle all our must appears. And then, of course, helping you guys study your asses off for the detective's exam. It's being held in the middle of January, it'll be tight, but I think we can do it."
Adam looked at them, stunned. "You guys are really doing this? It's not a joke?"
"It's not," Jay said. "I have to do this. It's not an opportunity I can just let pass me by. I'm sorry."
"Jay," Kim shook her head. "Don't apologize. We get it. We'll just…miss you. Both of you."
"Yeah," Adam echoed. "I'm happy for you man, I just - I don't want you to go."
"Hey," he tried to smile. "This isn't a goodbye, okay? It's a see you later?"
"People always say that," Kevin frowned. Jay knew he was thinking about Vanessa and the painful slow fade away from them as she settled into her new life in Boston.
"Since when do I say what I don't mean," Jay asked. "Hell, since when does Hailey?"
That put a small smile on the larger man's face.
"Besides," Hailey bumped into Kevin's side. "You can't tell us that a little furlough in sunny Los Angeles in the middle of winter doesn't sound like heaven. You guys will come out and see us all the time."
"Ooh," Adam teased. "Sounds like an order; I thought Jay was the Sergeant."
They all laughed.
"And we'll be back too," Jay insisted. "As often as we can."
"You know," Kim sniffed. "Mak's going to make you promise to take her to Disneyland when we tell her."
"We'll take her," Hailey promised. "We'll take her every year."
"Twenty bucks says she drives Jay crazy in under an hour, singing the Frozen soundtracks," Adam suggested.
"I'll take that bet," Hailey said and signalled the bartender for another round.
"I can't tell you what an honour it's been," Jay raised his drink when it arrived. "To serve alongside you guys. To watch you all find yourselves. To see where you started and where you are now. I know what you all only that the brightest horizons in front of you."
"Who'd thunk it? Jay Halstead is a poet," Kim teased as tears dripped silently down her face.
"We all got it in us somewhere, I guess," he blushed.
Kevin raised his glass to Jay. "Way to go, Jay. Very proud of you. But man, I'm gonna miss you guys."
"Gonna miss you too, man," Jay clinked their glasses together.
"We're going to miss you all," Hailey added.
Adam leaned back in his chair. "Intelligence is a family. Take that with you guys to Cali, and you'll be fine. But just remember: once a member of this family; always a member of this family."
"Absolutely," Hailey agreed.
"Always," Jay nodded and looked around the table. Into the eyes of people that had once been strangers. Then friends. Then so much more. Adam was right; they were a family. A family that he was leaving behind. That was letting him go. Letting him fly because they knew he would soar. Just like he knew they would too. It was a sight he couldn't wait to see. "Always."