Chapter Text
She takes another sip of the amber liquid from her glass and feels the familiar burn go down her throat. She felt the buzz thrumming through her head, but it was nothing new. She was always able to handle her liquor pretty well.
New York City.
Who would’ve thought?
She remembers the first time she’d been sent here after a little rule-bending stint with Intelligence, years ago. Voight wasn’t happy. In fact, far from it.
He’d sent her ass to the fucking New York FBI Field Office.
When did he ever do that to anyone else?
The bartender swung by her corner of the bar for the second time that evening.
“Another?” he asks.
Hailey held the glass haphazardly before smirking at the bartender.
“What do you think?” she playfully lets out before downing the rest of her neat whiskey. The bartender flashed a playful smile, getting to work on her new drink.
She’d been in New York for all of five hours and as soon as she got settled into her new condo, she came straight to the nearest bar.
No better way to Christen a move four states over.
It wasn’t a difficult decision to make. Working at Intelligence for the last seven years of her life had started out as a dream that slowly turned into a fucking nightmare. She was one of the youngest CPD officers to be promoted to detective. She had one of the most impressive undercover operations that led to that promotion. She had a reputation for taking no bullshit and upholding the law. But as soon as she began to work for Intelligence, everything went downhill.
How could she be so stupid to let a fucking man influence her moral compass?
Since then she’d kept track of Voight’s antics.
Roy Walton. Strike one.
Anna and Jay. Strike two.
Matson. Strike three.
(Realistically, there'd have been way more strikes, but these were the biggest ones to her.)
She found the love of her life and lost him because of Voight.
She lost herself because of Voight.
And she needed to get out. So, no, it wasn’t a difficult decision to make.
She just wished she’d made one a lot sooner. Because maybe she wouldn’t have lost everything…
Her head starts to spin. The bartender returns with another whiskey neat, giving her a slightly warning look– this may be your last one.
The blonde nodded in understanding, thanking him for the drink. She takes a sip, continuing to contemplate everything that led her to New York.
The last time she was here, she would text or call Jay at the end of her work day. They’d promised each other to keep updated with whatever might’ve happened at work. Good day or bad, they promised to check in.
And so they did.
They weren’t even dating then; just partners with hidden feelings for one another.
In hindsight, it was kind of funny how the FBI played a part in their relationship.
One misstep, she gets sent to work with the FBI for a few weeks. Her work with the FBI receives her a commendation and not too long after, a job offer. That job offer leads to a confrontation of feelings between her and her work partner. Which led to confessing feelings. Which led to a first kiss. Which led to sleeping with each other.
One thing led to another. And then she shot a man to save her boss’s life.
Where the FBI became involved.
That whole situation nearly destroyed her career, her relationship, and her mental wellbeing. Though the situation went away, and she and Jay ended up getting married, it still wasn’t the fairytale she’d dreamt of.
Shit kept hitting the fan at Intelligence. And it was always going to be an issue of Voight ruining things in their lives, over and over and over again.
Jay left Intelligence because of it.
She got shot because of it.
And that’s why it wasn’t hard to leave. At all.
She was done.
As soon as she recovered from getting shot, calling up a favour with the New York FBI field office with SAC Castille and ASAC Valentine was the easiest part. They’d offered her the job before, and to her incredible favour, a spot had opened up for her on their team. She would be partnered with Agent Scola, and with a few preliminary field, gun, and fitness tests, she would start to work with the same team she had met almost four years ago.
Some good luck for once.
She was nearly finished with her third drink when a familiar voice called her.
“Hailey?”
The blonde turned around, surprised to see…
“Will?"
Both of them stared at one another. They’d both had a fair bit to drink at this point.
“What… What are you doing here?” Hailey asked, confused. “I thought you were in Seattle with Nat and Owen? I thought things were good?”
Will scoffed, taking a seat next to her.
“Yeah, well. They’re not. We haven’t exactly been on the same page for a while. I guess my dreams of a fairytale ending blinded the fact that we aren’t as compatible as I hoped we’d be. She filed for divorce. And I don’t think there’s any coming back from it.”
“I’m so sorry, Will. How’d you end up in New York?”
“Ah, I just needed to get out. Across the country. New York was home for a while before I ever moved back to Chicago. Thought I’d start over again here.”
“No kidding.” She’d forgotten Will basically grew up here. She remembered Jay telling her about how their father felt so disappointed by Will wanting to pursue medicine and didn’t give a cent towards his education. He put himself through school. And though he’s successful now, it doesn’t exactly erase the dysfunctionality that ran within the Halstead family.
The blonde discreetly rolled her eyes.
Yeah, I was once a Halstead too.
Hailey gets the bartender’s attention. “Two more please,”
The bartender gives her another cautious look. “Okay, but I’m cutting you off after this. You’ve been swaying the past twenty minutes.”
“I know. Thanks, James.”
“Yep,”
The blonde turns back to the redhead.
“How’d you end up here?” Will asks.
“I finally quit Intelligence. I mean, I probably should’ve left a lot sooner, but part of me felt like I needed to stay even after Jay left. Then I got shot a month ago saving Voight’s ass and that was kind of it for me. I called in a favour to my friends here at the FBI field office and they miraculously had a spot for me. I just landed a couple hours ago.”
He's slightly taken aback. “Shit. I didn’t know you got shot, Hailey. I’m so sorry. I’m glad you’re okay,”
“Thanks,” she says. “And you?”
“I transferred over to the ED at St. Barnabas. It’s in the Bronx. It’s a rough area but I needed somewhere new. But I also just arrived today. What are the chances of that?”
Hailey nods, as the bartender returns with their drinks and her bill. The blonde thanks him, sliding the two glasses towards her and Will.
“I know we haven’t really checked in with each other since Jay left, but how have you been, Hailey?” He asks sincerely.
She shrugs her shoulders. “I’ve had my ups and downs. I’ve been pissed as hell that he just upped and left. Even more since he’s ghosted me. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I divorced him.”
Will regretfully nodded.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve reached out sooner, Hailey.”
She furrows her brows, shaking her head. “It’s fine. It’s over with. I came here to start over too,” she paused for a moment, contemplating her next question. “Has he reached out to you at all?”
Will shook his head.
“Nope. Same thing. Ghosted me. No texts, no calls. No sign of life to ensure that he’s alive. He could be dead for all I care and I wouldn’t fucking know. It’s the same shit with him, Hailey. He did this when we were kids. He did it when he retired from the army. He did it before he met you.”
“I remember,” she scoffs.
Will sighed. “You helped him a lot. And I have to thank you for that. The change in him was so clear. I’m just sorry that the work you did with him has gone down the fuckin’ drain.”
Hailey let out a gentle huff, looking at the redhead. She’s not sure if it’s the alcohol or the way that Will is so well articulated, or if it’s just months of loneliness, or all three, but something shifts as she’s looking at her ex-brother-in-law. She’s always known he was good-looking (it’s those damn Halstead genes), but something about him in this light made him look even more attractive than usual.
“We can’t fix everyone, can we?” she asks rhetorically.
“No. And I do that professionally,” he quips.
Hailey lets out a cackle. And he’s funny. Fuck.
She thinks of a way to change the subject.
“I’m glad to have a familiar face here in the Big Apple. I’m glad I bumped into you tonight,” she says.
The redhead smirks. “Well, technically, I bumped into you. I thought I saw you from the back of the pub and had to find out. I’m glad it was you, Hailey.”
They share another gentle look. Hailey raises her glass.
“To starting over,” she says.
Will raises his too. “To starting over.”
They clink their glasses, holding eye contact as they take the first sips. The thoughts running through her mind are unholy, and she fights to keep them at bay, but he seems to be looking at her in the same way.
The redhead puts his glass down, and leans in a little closer.
Hailey’s heart is racing. It feels so wrong, but she doesn’t reject it.
What is there to lose?
She pulls the redhead by his shirt collar, crashing her lips onto his. To her surprise, he welcomes it, placing his hands around her waist as she wraps hers around his neck.
What happens in New York when you're divorced (so they say).