The Long Haul

Chapter 16

He wanted to yell back - to tell her the long list of teenage nightmares he'd witnessed at work, but he knew it would be as pointless as screaming at a brick wall. Luckily, he was more in control of his rage than he was last night, so he easily steadied his thoughts, mentally reminding himself that he was the adult in this situation.

Jay hesitated for a moment, processing the depth of the situation. "Look, last night wasn't just about you lying or sneaking around. Emma could have been seriously hurt. And watching you there, drunk, it scared the hell out of me. But right now, I'm more concerned about what you asked when I said you're in a lot of trouble."

At hearing that, a brief glimpse of last night's argument came flashing back and she felt a shiver down her spine. She looked away, pretending to be disinterested, but he could see the defensiveness in the set of her shoulders. "I was drunk. It was nothing. Can I go back to sleep now?"

The shadow of their father loomed large between them and he still had so many unanswered questions, especially after last night's comment. Seeing an opening, Jay chose his words carefully, "What... happened with Dad?"

A flash of vulnerability passed across her face, but it was gone as quickly as it came. "Nothing," she snapped, her voice icy.

"No," he replied firmly, deciding to press forward. "It's not nothing. You immediately assumed I was going to hit you with a belt. That's not 'nothing'."

Alex bit her lip, looking anywhere but at Jay. "I said I don't want to talk about it, Jay."

He had hoped that she'd open up a little and let him in, but apparently that was too much to ask from a rebellious teenager. He was starting to fill in the blanks himself as her lack of response spoke volumes, but he wanted to hear it in her own words. He wanted to help her. Since she wasn't going to open up, he knew what he had to say. It had to be crystal clear now that she was sober. He gently placed his hand under her chin and tilted her head up to meet his eyes just like he'd done the night in her bedroom when he saw what their father had done to her. "Alex, I'm not going to hit you. Ever. Not in a million years. I need you to remember that."

There was a brief moment when their eyes met, a thousand unsaid words exchanged. The relief in Alex's gaze was undeniable. For a fleeting moment, the hardened mask Alex wore crumbled, revealing the scared teenager beneath. But as quickly as it had appeared, her defensive walls shot back up. "Whatever," she retorted.

Jay sighed, realizing that getting her to open up was not going to be easy, but that didn't mean that he was going to give up. He was just going to table the conversation for now, since pressing too hard too fast might push her even further away. "Look, we need to establish some ground rules here. You've been living with me for a while now, and things are different. It's time you understand that."

She rolled her eyes, "Is this your 'I'm the boss of you now' speech?"

He'd thought long and hard about the consequences of last night, and although he'd never admit it, he even started to google how to handle a rebellious teen. Quite frankly, he was in over his head on all of this, but he was trying damn hard to not go under. Ignoring her sarcasm, Jay continued, "You're grounded. Two weeks."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, "You're joking, right?" It felt extremely out of place to be grounded by her brother of all people - someone who had barely been in her life the past four years and now he suddenly had authority over her? It didn't sit right.

With a deep breath, he simply replied, "During these two weeks, no going out after school or on the weekends. You can come straight to the precinct after school and on Saturdays if I have to go in. You'll stay there until I finish my shift or I take you home."

Her face fell, any semblance of remorse replaced by open annoyance. "You're seriously going to babysit me at your work?"

"Would you rather have an ankle monitor?" he dead-panned. While it was his attempt to return some sarcasm, their eyes locked and Alex tried to read if he was being serious or not. However, there was no way she could risk him following through with a fucking ankle tracker, so she rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat with a huff. Jay continued, seeing that he'd won, "Maybe spending some time at the precinct will give you some perspective on why I worry."

She scoffed, "This is so unfair."

"You can be mad at me all you want," Jay replied evenly, his gaze unwavering. "But this is the decision. You made a choice last night, and now you have to face the consequences." He sat up a bit straighter in his chair, proud that he'd kept his cool during this whole encounter.

She scoffed, rolling her eyes, even though inside, she was anything but casual. The prospect of being paraded in front of Jay's cop co-workers was mortifying. But more than that, the events of the last night and her brother's reaction were starting to crack the protective shell she'd built around her emotions. She felt exposed and vulnerable, and she hated it. She huffed, frustration evident in every line of her posture. "Fine," she spat out.

"And, Alex," he added, more gently this time, "We need to talk about everything. Not just last night, but everything." It was more than clear what he really wanted to talk about.

She scoffed, running a hand through her tangled hair as she stood up, "Yeah, sure. Can't wait," but her sarcastic tone couldn't hide the uncertainty and fear that the walls of truth were closing in on her and she wouldn't be able to hold them off much longer.

Jay studied her for a long moment. He truly wanted this to work out - he wanted his sister to live with him, to have a place where she felt safe and cared for. That was what his mother would have wanted and since his father was incapable of providing that, he knew that he had to do it instead. Jay took a deep breath and said genuinely, "I want to trust you. Prove to me that I can."

Without another word, she turned on her heel, leaving Jay alone with his thoughts in the sunlit kitchen. Jay watched her go, taking a deep breath. He hated playing the bad cop, especially with his sister in these unchartered waters, but he hoped that this might be a turning point for her, even if it meant enduring her teenage wrath for a while.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Has anyone else rewatched Chicago PD? I'm on my third rewatch and I always love the first 5 seasons!

I'll try to write as fast as I can but apologies for any delays between future chapters as I'm now writing these as I go. Your reviews, votes, and messages mean SO much to me and are a true source of motivation. If you have any suggestions of things you want to see in future chapters, don't hesitate to let me know. If it fits with my version of the characters and storyline, I'd love to find a way to work it into a future chapter.

Thanks for reading!