Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jay observed the bar in front of him with a critical eye. Molly’s it was called. He was still wearing his fatigues and had a camouflage backpack slung over his shoulder. After he and his team took down a major humantrafficer along with his whole crew in Iraq the upper brass granted them three weeks personal leave. For the first time in two years Jay was back on American soil on his way home. Chicago. His brother. Will had moved back from New York to Chicago about a six months ago and worked in de ED at Chicago Med. Through textmessages and the by-weekly videocalls the brothers kept each other updated about their lives, but Jay was really looking forward to seeing Will in person again and hugging him. After a roughly twenty hour flight from Iraq to Georgia, a two hour flight from Georgia to Chicago and a half hour drive from the airport to this bar Jay was surprisingly energetic. He spent most of the flights asleep and had time to shower, shave and change into a fresh pair of fatigues on base in Georgia before he took a flight home. He looked at his phone, 9:30 P.M. He had installed a trackingapp on Will’s phone the last time he saw him (without Will’s knowledge) and he had tracked his brother here. The bar had a cosy appearance with led-lights decorating window frames. Will had told him that this was a first respondersbar, set up by a couple of firefighters where doctors, cops and firefighters could relax, hang out and unwind from their long shifts. He pocketed his phone and opened the door. The sounds of multiple conversations, laughter and soft music greeted him combined with the smell of alcohol, sweat, cleaning supplies and deodorant. Automatically he scanned the room, searched the shadows for threats and pin-pointed all of the exits.

“Can I help you Soldier?” an older man behind the bar asked. Jay approached the bar and leaned with his hands on the polished wood.

“Yeah, I’m looking for my brother. Will Halstead,” Jay said as he slid his backpack of his back and softly put it on the floor. He surpressed a wince when the movement pulled on his bruised ribs. “Do you know where I can find him?”

The bartender eyed him up and down and put two fingers in his mouth. He whistled sharply. Jay raised his hand to stop him, but he was a second to late, because most people in the bar already heard the whistle and turned to hear what the man had to say.

“Halstead, you got a visitor,” the man announced loudly as he looked somewhere to his left. Jay followed his look and spotted the familiar red hair of his brother in a few seconds. He shot an informal salute to his brother, two fingers to his forehead. A small smirk around his lips.

“Hey,” he greeted. His voice loud in the now nearly silent bar. Will stared at him with wide eyes for a few seconds before he shook his head.

“Jay?” he asked with an unbelieving laugh.

“I’m glad to see that you can still recognize your own brother. It seems like you’re not a complete moron after all,” Jay teased him. Will rolled his eyes as he stood up and walked towards him.

“You’re a dick,” he scolded his little brother fondly as he wrapped him up in a tight hug. Jay smiled as he returned the hug and squeezed his arms tightly around Will’s torso. He felt how all his muscles relaxed as he was surrounded with the familiar touch and smell of his brother and he took a deep breath. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Will softly squeezed Jay’s shoulder and released his tight hold. Both brothers blushed a deep shade of red once they realized that nearly everybody in the bar was clapping. They akwardly looked around before Jay cleared his throat.

“Can I have a beer?” he asked. Within three seconds an uncapped bottle was placed in front of him and he immediatly gulped a mouthfull inside. Around them the conversations picked up again and the two brothers weren’t in the spotlight anymore.

“Do you want to go home or drink a couple beers?” Will asked. He kept his arm around Jay’s shoulder and Jay did absolutely nothing to throw it off, welcoming the comfort.

“We can drink a few,” he decided. “I want to meet your friends.”

“You sure?” Will asked, his tone betrayed his worry. Jay looked his brother in his eyes and lightly knocked his chest with his beerbottle.

“Promise, I’m good,” he said. Will nodded and steered his brother towards a table in the back where Jay saw two men and three women talking and laughing amongst each other. Will greeted them and they greeted enthiusiastically back.

“Guys, this is my little brother Jay Halstead. Jay these are my friends and fellow doctors Ethan Choi, Connor Rhodes and Natalie Manning and these two kick-ass nurses run our ED, April Sexton and Maggie Lockwood.” After a few rounds of handshaking and friendly greetings Jay and Will both sat down.

“So, you got any embarassing stories about Will for us?” Natalie asked after a couple minutes of introductions and getting to know each other.

“About this guy?” Jay smirked as he teasingly poked his brother in his ribcage. “Tons. What do you want to know?” Will batted his hand away.

“I’ve got an equal amount of embarassing stories about you man,” Will teased back as he poked his brother in the ribs. Jay grimaced and sucked in a sharp breath when Will jostled his bruised ribs. Will frowned and immediatly stood up.

“You’re hurt,” he said, his voice filled with undisguised worry. Jay rolled his eyes.

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed his brother.

“Jay Halstead if you don’t show me within the next five seconds where you’re hurt I’m going to tackle you to the ground and strip you in the middle of this bar,” Will threatened. Jay smiled amused.

“That’s cute, you think you can tackle me,” he smirked, but Will wasn’t amused.

“I swear to God Jason,” he narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t speak ill of the name of the Lord William,” Jay said on the exact same tone as their mother had used when they were kids.

“Logan said it was just bruised,” he tried to reassure his brother as he unzipped his jacket and shrugged his arms out of the sleeves. He bit his cheek to surpress a grimace when he moved his ribs the wrong way.

“I don’t care what Logan said, he’s a medic, not a doctor,” Will said, his eyes firmly fixated on Jay’s covered ribs. Jay rolled his eyes, put his jacket on the table and lifted his shirt. A strangled gasp escaped Will’s lips as he saw the damage on his little brothers torso. Different shades of yellow and green covered the right side of Jay’s ribcage while the area surrounding his kidney’s was a dark shade of blue. Jay sat with his back against the wall and let his brother poke and prod his torso while he answered his questions. Yes, it hurts a bit. No, I didn’t take any meds, hey don’t give me that disappointed look Will. No, I’m not hurt anywhere else. Yes, I’m sure. After what felt like an hour for Jay, but was actually only a few minutes, Will concluded that his brother wasn’t dying and the doctor suddenly dissapeared towards the bar.

“Never tell your older siblings when you’re hurt, especially if said older sibling is a doctor. They’ll never let you out of their sight again,” Jay advised the other people at the table who spent the last few minutes talking amongst each other while trying and failing not to stare at the brothers.

“He cares about you,” Maggie stated wisely. Jay looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“He’s an overprotective idiot,” he muttered, but his tone was fond and his eyes were soft. The other doctors shared a few sceptical, but amused glances and held their mouths shut. When Will eventually returned he was carrying an ice-pack wrapped in a towel. Jay had already opened his mouth to protest, but one look from his brother had him accepting the ice-pack and he carefully pressed it against his side. Jay would rather die than admit that the ice felt nice against his bruised skin, but judged on Will’s slightly smug expression he knew that already.
The rest of the evening was spent in pleasant conversations as both parties got to know each other. The doctors and nurses enjoyed seeing this new side of their friend. The protective older brother side has shown sometimes while interacting with patients, but nothing compared to the easy banter and brotherly affection between the Halstead siblings. After nearly two hours most of them decide to leave as Ethan, Connor and Maggie had early shifts the next day. They said their goodbye’s and split off, Will and Jay getting into Will’s car.

“So, how long are you in town for?” Will asked while he was driving both of them to his appartment.

“I’m on leave for three weeks, taking a flight back early morning on the seventh next month,” Jay said.

“You could’ve called ahead you know, I might’ve been able to take a few days off,” Will said accusingly. Jay shot him a shit-eating grin.

“Nah, your face was worth it. Really, you should’ve seen yourself,” he snickered. “By the way, do you know a Sharon Goodwin?”

“Yeah?” Will said suspiciously. “That’s my boss.”

“Great, I called her about a week ago and starting the day after tomorrow you have 10 days off,” Jay said triumphantically.

“What? You called my boss? How did you arrange that on such short notice?”

“Yeah, used some of my natural Halstead charms to convince her,” Jay bragged teasingly. Will shot him a dry look.

“Alright, easy hotshot,” he deadpanned. Jay just snickered.

“So, how come you’re suddenly on a three week leave?” Will informed. “From what you’ve told me that should be near impossible for you to arrange.”

“Brass decided that we could use a break,” Jay shrugged. “I didn’t want to look a gifted horse into his mouth and gladly accepted.”

“You know, like two weeks ago an American rangerteam took down some major terrorist/humantrafficer somewhere in the Iraq. I’ve seen it, it was on the national news for a few days,” Will said. Jay just hummed.

“Really?” he informed with an innocent and blank look on his face. “That’s such a coincidence.” Will looked sideways and he saw a small smile on his brothers lips.

“That was you right?” he asked.

“You know I can’t really talk about my job Will,” Jay said while he shot a mischievous wink at his brother. Now it was Will’s turn to hum.

“I know,” he said. That used to be a point of frustration between the two of them, but they had worked it out with Will asking less questions and Jay telling everything he was allowed to share.

“I’m proud of you,” Will said sincerely. He looked towards the side and had short eyecontact with Jay before the latter turned his head away, a faint blush visible on his cheeks.

“Thanks Will,” Jay said softly. He couldn’t hide a small, pleased, proud smile. Will ruffled his hair and Jay squaked playfully and slapped his brothers hand away.

“Watch the road you idiot, two hands on the wheel,” he protested against the rough-housingsession in the car. Will rolled his eyes.

“Yes sir,” he mocked.

“I have an uncomfortable, 30 dollar couch available for you or we can share my bed if you’re not to old for that,” Will suggested on. a teasing tone.

“I’ll take the couch, I’ll probably wake you up a few times if we share your bed,” Jay said with a slight self-depricating smile. Will frowned.

“We can share my bed, I don’t care if you wake me up. I’ve lost count of the amount of times you woke me up at night when we were younger, because you were to scared to sleep alone because of bad dreams or a thunderstorm outside,” he said. Jay blushed and ducked his head.

“I was like three,” he protested.

“And five and six and nine and ten and thirteen and fourteen and seventeen,” Will added. Jay shot his brother a dirty look who just raised an eyebrow in response.

“Fine,” Jay sighed and gave in. Will shot him a triumphantic look and steered his brother towards his bedroom. Jay dumped his bag on the kingsized bed and started unpacking while Will used the bathroom. He threw his dirty fatigues and clothes in the laundry basket and put a glass of water on the nightstand. After that he switched places with Will, took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and changed into his pyjama’s, a pair of shorts and an old white t-shirt. Will sat under the covers with his back against the backboard and was scrolling through his phone on the side of the bed the furthest away from the door. Jay surpressed a fond smile, he knew his brother had chosen that side on purpose so that he could take the side the closest to the door. That was the place where danger was most likely to come from. It calmed Jay a lot knowing that he was between his brother and potential danger so that he could protect him, as he was the best trained out of the both of them.

“Gosh, your bed is so soft,” Jay sighed as he laid down and sank into the matrass.

“Everything seems soft if you compare it to a military-issued matrass or some random grassy field outside,” Will deadpanned. Jay rolled his eyes and rested both his hands behind his head.

“Lift up your shirt,” Will ordered. Jay looked at him and saw a tube of bruisingcream in his hand and sighed.

“Really?”

“Humor me.”

“Whatever,” Jay rolled his eyes and lifted his shirt. Will squirted some cream on his hands and carefully started rubbing it on Jay’s bruises.

“So, Dr. Manning is your girlfriend?” Jay informed suddenly. Will make a choking sound and shot his brother an incredulous look.

“What? No!” he protested venemoushly, his head as red as his hair.

“But you want her to be,” Jay prodded. Will ducked his head and ignored him as he continued rubbing the cream. Jay just smiled.

“She seems nice enough though,” he nodded approvingly.

“She’s awesome,” Will agreed.

“My gosh you are a goner for that woman,” Jay moaned.

“Am not!”

“Yes you are! Dude, you have a lovesick smile on your face and I’m not even talking about that look in your eyes. You should ask her out soon or it will be like Alicia Meyjers all over again.”

“Hey, you promised you would never talk about her again.”

“Come on man, you pined over her for years and when you finally had the balls to ask her out she moved away a week later,” Jay laughed. “How can I not bring that up?”

The brothers stared defiantly into each others eyes for a few seconds, both not willing to back down until Will stubbornly raised his chin and turned away from Jay. He rubbed his hands clean on a towel and put the bruisingcream back in his nightstand.

“Goodnight,” he said snootily as he clicked out his light beside the bed. Jay snickered and also turned off his light.

“Night Will,” he greeted. Jay spent a few minutes tossing and turning, not comfortable with the soft mattrass and sheets. His unconcious mind missed the constant noises from a military base. He didn’t want to admit it, but the cream did help soften the constant, whining ache from the bruises, but they still pulled on his skin.

“What is it?” Will whispered.

“It’s just so soft and quiet in here,” Jay sighed. “I’m drowning in this mattrass.” Will rolled his eyes at his dramatics and with one swift move he carefully pulled his little brother towards him. Jay got turned on his good side, his head resting on Will’s chest. One of Will’s hands on the back of his head, the other between his shoulderblades.

“Better?” Will informed. Jay nodded, The firm hold on his body calming his restless energy below his skin and the rythmic beating of Will’s heart in his ear relaxing his mind. Will stroked his hair in a quiet confirmation.

“Love you,” Jay said, softly sqeezing Will’s arm.

“Love you to bro,” Will said and rested his cheek on top of his brothers head. In a few minutes Jay’s breathing evened out and all the tension seeped out of his body as his muscles relaxed. Will took a deep breath and faintly smelled Jay’s walnut shampoo. His hand played a little with the small hairs on his little brother’s neck while he tried to relax in the moment. Suddenly after two years his brother was back with his signature Halstead smirk and mischievous green eyes, but also with new scars. It’s hard to love someone who served in the military and Will worried a lot about Jay. Every time his phone or doorbell rang he was scared that it was someone that would tell him that his brother had died in action. Will worried when Jay’s smile didn’t reach his eyes, when he flinched from slamming doors. He worried when Jay stared into the distance or drank a few beers more then usual. He worried when Jay came home with injuries and new scars all over his body. He worried when he saw the news about terrorist attacks in the Middle-East, but most of all Will knew that he was terribly proud of his brother. Even if it was hard he would stand by his brother’s side and love him with all his heart, even if it broke his own a little in the process. Will knew that Jay signed a contract, the government owned him and he knew that Jay needed to go back in three weeks, but that was still twenty-one days away. Will pulled Jay closer and let himself drift off into sleep with the knowledge that his little brother was safe, loved and in one piece right beside him.

For now at least.