Chasing The Burn

Chapter 14

Jay's smile is contagious as he walks into the house. Sienna and Kelly are in the kitchen, chopping up vegetables for the pasta they are cooking.

"Hey" Sienna beams, "You're home early"

He kisses her on the cheek and shakes Kelly's hand in a typical bro-hug.

"I have amazing news, couldn't wait to tell ya" He says grabbing a piece of tomato.

"Oh?" Sienna stops cutting, "What's up Jay-Bay?"

Jay chuckles, "Hayley is officially my girlfriend"

Kelly is the first one to congratulate him in a hug, as Sienna jumps up and down. She hugs Jay tightly, "That only took a year and a half. Congrats, Jay-Bay. Where is she? I need to lay down ground rules for dating my BFF"

He rolls his eyes, "I never laid down ground rules for Kelly"

"That's your problem" She deadpans. Kelly chuckles in the background as he drains the pasta. Jay smirks, "She's coming over in a bit, do not embarrass me, Fizzer. I will kill you."

"I have never ever embarrassed you before."

Kelly snorts as Jay gives her a look of disbelief, "Sure you haven't."

**

Kelly pulls her to the couch as Jay goes to open the door for Hayley. He kisses her shoulder, "You okay, after yesterday's incident with the boy?"

"Cade" She confirms his name, "I will be. Things like Jay finally getting his happily ever after and you always lifting my spirits... that's what keeps me going."

He smiles, "You're a cheeseball."

Sienna laughs loudly, "And you ruin my soppy moments."

He chuckles, kissing her lips softly.

Hayley walks into the living room with a bottle of red wine in her hands. Sienna stands up and out of Kelly's embrace as she hugs her blonde friend.

"Hey" She beams at Hayley, "Good to see you"

"You too, Si. Better circumstances than yesterday"

Sienna's smile fades a bit, "Yeah" She breaks the tension, "So is he treating you well?"

Hayley laughs as Jay rolls his eyes, "Yeah, you taught him well, Si."

"That's good" She beams, "Are you treating him well?"

Jay groans as Kelly snickers. Hayley flushes red, "I would always treat him well, and if I don't you can use my own gun on me."

Sienna nods, satisfied. She grins, "Alright, good enough for me."

Jay rolls his eyes as he walks up to his best friend, he gives her a playful shove. "That's not embarrassing me?"

Sienna smiles cheekily, "I have never agreed to that, Jay-Bay. Come on, let's eat so I can tell Hayley some stories about when Jay was younger and he prepared a dance to Justin Bieber's 'Baby'

Jay narrows his eyes, "Alright, I'll just tell Kelly about the time you kissed goodnight your poster of Kurt Cobain every evening."

"Alright, let's not share stories." She backs off with a pout.

"Yeah thought so."

**

Jay Halstead sits outside his house as he tries to get signal for a video call coming from Afghanistan. He got a weird text message from an old Captain telling him to answer a video call at exactly 8pm.

He laughs at the three people inside still going crazy, each with a glass of wine in their hands. While him and Kelly are totally fine, having more tolerance, the two girls are getting a bit tipsy. He's overjoyed that Sienna approves of his relationship and has formed a great friendship with Hayley. He's also overjoyed that he's finally in a stable relationship, as he has never been this happy.

Erin was always a mystery, and she broke his heart. He'd never forgive her for leaving but things always work out for a reason and he's happy that she left, otherwise he might have never met Hayley.

The blank screen suddenly comes alive as the older man's picture pops up. 

"Captain Jay Halstead, good to see you man."

"You too, Rogers" Jay chuckles a bit, "You still collecting dust out there?"

The older man chuckles, "Barely breathing. Might be my last tour. How's life on the outside - where are you now?"

"Chicago" Jay smirks, "Police Detective."

"Congratulations, Halstead. I'm happy for you."

"Yeah, what's with the mysterious call, Cap?"

The man sighs as the line buffers. The connection is terrible but he manages to hear some of the words the Captain says.

"Four of our men died today in an illegal mission, they set us up for failure. That blast was intended to kill. Two of our men got taken hostage by the Taliban. You might know one of them, Greg Gerwitz."

Jay inhales sharply, "Mouse."

"Yes, Mouse. He's taken as prisoner."

"Ah fuck" Jay has the urge to throw his phone on the ground, "What's your POA? How are you getting them out?"

The captain looks distressed, "our resources are getting cut down to the minimum, we don't have enough manpower. The Taliban are ruthless man, and the USA pissed them off. We don't know what to do anymore. They aren't just targeting soldiers, they are tearing this place down and everyone living here. We need more manpower. We need better strategies."

Jay frowns, "What are you saying?"

"We need you to deploy to Kabul again."

**

**

A few chapters forward will feature around Sienna, Jay and Mouse. Be warned the next few chapters will be violent and sad. Sorry it's short, had to get this chapter out for the next few.

So sorry it took so long to update, but I'm back now for the next few chapters and will take a short weekend-break on Friday to Sunday.