a change of heart

Noahs ark

*two weeks after the kidnapping*

                   Things have changed, maybe not blatantly, but things have for sure changed.  Grace is scared to walk home from anywhere, which is fine because Will and jay won't let her walk home alone, anyways.  Everyone who hugs her for any random reason holds her a little tighter and grace does the same for anyone she cares about, you never know what's around the corner anymore...  As for grace, physically she's never been better, but mentally she's still shaken up.  She does have a few reoccurring nightmares from the moment she was snatched off the street, or the moment jay found her but luckily she hasn't had any sort of nightmare or daydream for the last 5 days, so that's good, right?

"Good day at school?" Jay smiled as she jumped into the car after a long day at school. "Same old" she smiled and put her bag on the floor.  Jay nodded and smiled before driving back to the district, he won't let her stay home alone for as long as he feels like it since he doesn't really plan on losing her anytime soon, again.  As soon as they pulled up to the station they both hopped out and walked into the reception to find trudy at the front desk like usual, "how's it going chuckles junior?" She smiled.  Grace smiled back, "great, how bout' you Sarge?" She jumped against the desk.  Jay smiled and wandered over to the gate, "I'm fine, kiddo" trudy smiled and ruffled up the mini Halsteads luscious brown hair.  Grace smiled and nodded before following jay up to the bullpen where the rest of the unit were working, "hey, champ..." Kevin greeted her with a fist pump.  Grace smiled, "hey, Kev" she chuckled and smiled at the rest of the unit as she flashed them a warm smile.

                  She was sat in the break room doing homework and studying when Antonio walked in, "hey G, whatcha doing?" He went to fill up his coffee mug.  Grace smiled, just the person she was needing actually, "I'm doing my Spanish homework but I'm kinda stuck..." she sighed.  Antonio's eyes lit up, "I'll help you, kiddo" he smiled and sat down.  Grace smiled and nodded as jay was stood outside in the bullpen with hailey, just watching the pair, "how's she doing?" Hailey spoke softly to her partner.  Jay smiled, "good I think, she's had no sleepless nights for a few days" he nodded, but maybe he just jinxed it? Who knows...Hailey smiled, "that's good, sounds like she's becoming herself again" she nodded.  Jay smiled, "yeah, she's definitely herself again. The house isn't quiet anymore" he laughed.  Hailey laughed, "typical" she smiled since they all know how lively the kid can be. 

                  It was near the end of shift and the unit were all talking about random stuff, they hadn't gotten another case so they were all getting on with paperwork even though there wasn't much left to do.  Even hank was stood having a little chin wag with them all, "hey short stack, is it true that jay nearly flooded the kitchen?" Kim shouted into the break room from her desk.  The unit all smiled as they heard graces giggles coming from the break room before she walked out into the bullpen to see them all.  Hank was stood leaning in his office doorway but the rest of the team were all sat at their desks, she leant one of her hands against the wall with her arm straightened out and the other hand on her hip.  Her right leg was crossed over her left foot, she looked like an old man. 

               "Mmhmm, he broke the tap then tried to fix it with duck tape but obviously that wasn't gonna fix it was it? Then the water went all over the floor and that plonker tried to use a mop to clean it up" he shook her head.  The unit all laughed hysterically, "go on, tell us the rest of it. It's not very often jay messes up around here" hank laughed as he saw jay shaking his head.  They all had smiles on their faces, "well he called Will but he's even dumber, so he didn't know what to do either but by the time jay had the brains to turn the water off, the floor was like an aquarium. God we needed Noah's ark to save us all, never mind a mop" she shook her head and sunk her hand into her hip even further.  The unit were all in hysterics and even jay was laughing, they all loved grace for this exact reason, she was hilarious and not just because of the stories she had to tell, but because of how she told them.  Kim and Kevin had tears of laughter strolling down their cheeks and hank was howling, which was a rare scene.  Jay was hiding his embarrassment and rubbed his hand over his head, that was just a normal day in the Halstead household.

                 Grace giggled before walking back into the break room to pack up her things since it was nearly time for hank to clock them out.  "She's like an old man" hailey smiled at jay from her desk.  Jay smiled back and nodded, "she really is" he laughed before signing off on the last bit of paperwork he had for the day.  Hank walked out into the bullpen, "head out guys" he smiled and waved them off.  Grace appeared into the bullpen at those words, "see you later, kiddo" he squeezed her shoulder, "you too, uncle Voight" she smiled, that's what she called him since he's like a grand-father to her.  Jay drove them home and like always they had a good chinwag about drama from school, jay found her comical and he loves her for it. 

                Grace was laying in bed, she was sound asleep since it was 4am but all of a sudden she woke up in quite a state.  She had tears rolling down her face and she was shaking, god not this again, she had yet another nightmare, but she hadn't had one in a while.  This time it was different, it was from the moment when the men dragged her out of the van and threw her into the container.  She was scared to be alone so she threw her hoodie on and got out of bed, she quietly crept her way over to jays door and knocked lowly so she didn't wake up the neighbours.  "Yeah...?" Jay called out groggily after a seconds silence.  Grace slowly opened his bedroom door, the landing light was on so he could see her but she couldn't really see him.  Jays confused face dropped when he saw her stood there with tear stained cheeks, "oh champ...what happened?" He held his arm out.  Grace, without second thought, walked over to him and accepted the hug. 

                She sniffled as he pulled her into a hug, "did you have a nightmare?" He moved the loose strands of hair out of her face and without giving verbal confirmation, she nodded into his shoulder.  "It's okay, I've got you. You're safe, remember?" he held her tightly as she began to calm down.  After a few minutes of staying in a comfortable silence and a caring hug, he looked down and saw that she was asleep so he carefully picked her up and carried her back to her room.  He set her gently onto the bed and pulled her covers over her before smiling sadly and walking out, he made sure to leave the landing light on and the door slightly open in case she woke up again. He feels awful since he knows the kind of frustration and fear she probably felt when she woke up.