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This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: mentions nightmares, PTSD, stalking
“It’s only been a week Jo, you don’t have to go back. Hermann and Stella made it very clear to take all the time you need,” Jay sits on the bed watching me grab clothing for my shift at the bar.
“Jay being here isn’t helping me either. You’re back at work and I just sit here with my thoughts. It’s doing more harm than being back.”
“I can get the day off tomorrow, why don’t you take one more day and I’ll go with you?” I walk over to Jay and rest my hands on his shoulders. This man has done everything in his power to help me work through my endured trauma. It doesn’t matter if its holding me after a nightmare, talking me back to reality when my mind drifts off, or just touching me so I know I’m not alone.
“I can’t sit here another day, the longer I stay away from the bar the more it becomes evil and scary,” I cup the side of his face and run a finger over his stubble which has gotten a bit long over the last few days. “Thank you for your offer, but I have to do this. Hermann and Stella will both be there. I’m sure Kelly and a few of the guys will be there too.”
Jay kisses my palm quickly.
“Call me if you need anything, okay? And you’re still healing and will be for a while so light work.”
“Okay dad,” I laugh. Jay rolls his eyes before standing to kiss me. I thought it would be a quick peck but it’s slow and methodical. When I look into his eyes after I could tell he was just as nervous as I was about going back to the bar. “It’ll be okay,” I reassure.
“I know,” his voice is quiet. He kisses my forehead before walking to pack up the last items for work.
****
Luckily, Jay was able to go into work late so he could go with me to the bar. I kept trying to tell him it was unnecessary, but once I saw it I realized I was very wrong. Jay grabbed my bag and my hand and together we crossed the sidewalk to the door of Molly’s. The outside of it seems different now, almost as if there is a fog around Molly’s. I had been trying to detach myself from Molly’s and all the events that happened that I might have made it the monster in my story.
“Hey, you got this,” Jay whispers. His deep blue eyes bring me back, like a light glow within the darkness.
“Jo!” Stella yells as she walks closer to Molly’s. Stella, another light in the darkness. “God, I’ve missed you.” She hugs me gently once she’s close enough.
Now between two of my best friends, it feels easier to breathe.
“I’ve missed you too Stella. Thanks for filling in for me.”
“No need for thanking, I’m gonna head in. Take all the time you need,” It’s obvious that she means every word.
“We’ll follow you in actually,” once again in between my two best friends I walk through the threshold of Molly’s.
“Hey ladies!” Hermann yells behind the bar. A quick flash of Rob taking multiple swigs of whiskey while throwing around his gun flashes through my mind, “Jo do you think you’d be able to help me with receipts today?” Hermann’s voice breaks through the memory.
“Yeah absolutely,” I let go of Jay’s hand for the first time to go to the office and drop off my stuff. When I come back Stella is taking the chairs down and wiping down the tables. Hermann and Jay are talking in hushed tones over the bar counter, no doubt about me.
“Jay, you should get to work. I’m not having Voight on my ass for you being later than you already are,” I joke as I near the two.
“Call me if you need anything, even if it’s just to talk, okay? And seriously take it easy, your stitches and ribs are still healing,” Jay babbles.
“We’ll make sure she barely lifts a finger,” Hermann interjects.
“See? We’re good. I’ll keep you updated,” Jay hesitates before kissing my temple and saying his goodbyes. Once Jay is out of the bar a panic sits in my stomach, but I move to help Hermann.
“Jo, a scotch on the rocks and red wine for booth 5,” Stella passes along. I quickly pour the drinks and move to deliver them to the correct table. My legs immediately halt when it registers what the booth is. It’s the same booth I cried for Jay, where I began to mourn a man that thought I was responsible for his imminent murder. The same booth I was beaten into submission, where I came to terms with my own looming death.
“Jo, I got it,” Kelly appears and grabs the glasses from my hands to take them to the table. I can feel my face growing hot from embarrassment and frustration. I begrudgingly walk back to the bar and start to clean glasses. I try to be gentle even though I’d much rather scream and shatter the glasses against the far wall.
“There’s been a few times we’ve had to go back to places after rescues. Not all of our fires are at homes or warehouses. I’ve had to go to a fire at my doctor’s office once,” Matt talks to me.
“Matt, I’m sorry, but I’m really not in the mood.”
“Just hear me out, I promise it’s going somewhere,” he smiles. “The fire at my doctor’s office was bad, one of my first really bad fires. There were multiple casualties, the roof was caving in, we almost lost some of our team. When it came time to go back, I didn’t think much of it. But when I walked through the door all I could see was the fire and all I could think about were the people we almost lost and those we did. I walked out, I couldn’t stay. Later, Mouch had told me that if I continued to avoid the places we had bad fires at, then I’ll have no where to go. He told me that when I think of the painful memories to think of ones that bring me joy. For example, I met my then girlfriend at that doctor’s office, she was a drug rep. Long story short, there is a lot of happiness and good in this bar, a lot of joy around you here. I can’t begin to relate to what happened to you here. We’re all here for you and even if that’s to bring up a good memory for you here. Like maybe that time you had a chugging contest with Otis and you crushed him? Everyone lost their minds and Otis was convinced you cheated. That all happened in that booth.”
It’s true, that all happened early on to me starting at Molly’s. Otis was talking trash about having the tolerance of an ox and that even though he didn’t go to college, he can out drink anyone in those drinking games. Almost everyone was here between the fire, PD, and med crew. Maggie was thoroughly impressed and made it clear that she was behind me from the beginning. The night was one of my favorites at Molly’s, it was one of the first times I felt accepted in this large family.
“Thanks Matt,” he nodded and walked back to his table with Silvie.
Matt’s advice became a standard practice the rest of my shift. All the painful and terrifying memories from having the bar being overtaken can’t be undone in a night, but the pit in my stomach became less and less as the night went on. A lot of the crew came into Molly’s throughout the day, no doubt to help keep some friendly faces at various spots in the bar and I’m grateful.
“Hey! Sorry I’m late, Adam drives like an old lady.”
“It’s called defensive driving you dick,” Adam rolls his eyes as he walks past.
“Don’t worry about it, you want a beer?”
“I honestly would really love to go home, can you leave?”
“Yeah, I’ll go grab my stuff,” I head to the office to gather my things and say a quick round of goodbyes before heading out of Molly’s with Jay.
“So how’d it go?”
“A lot better than I thought. There’s too much good that’s happened in my life at Molly’s for that day to destroy it.”
“We did meet here,” Jay adds.
“We had our first kiss here too. Plus, I’ve humbled Will on numerous occasions at Molly’s,” Jay laughs and opens my car door for me.
“I’m proud of you,” I lean over and kiss him.
****
As the days passed it got easier and easier to go to Molly’s. The memories of a gun pointed at my head were pushed away by memories of Jay and I dancing after closing and playing an intense game of slaps with Cruz. Or Stella whipping out on the newly mopped floor. Or the hot dog eating contest between the firefighters and PD. Everyone made a conscious effort to be around the bar more to help fill it with even more bright memories.
There were times and days when the memories couldn’t be replaced, Hermann had to replace the bell above the door because I couldn’t stop picturing Rob beneath it.
Sadly, the nightmares had remained. I can see the dark circles underneath Jay’s eyes, the eyes that normally fill me with bliss now cause me guilt. I’ve tried to sleep on his sofa, but when I wake up, nightmare or not, Jay is in a chair awake. After a couple nights of the failed sofa plan, I went to stay at my place. The first night I was woken up by Jay banging on my door, claiming he couldn’t sleep knowing I was having a nightmare without him. Even if I slept at my apartment Jay was there either in my bed or on the sofa.
“Kim, he’s not sleeping. He’s running on black coffee, I even saw a Monster can in his trash,” I pour her a draft beer as she sits at the bar top.
“Are you sleeping? You both have matching bags under your eyes.”
“I can’t really, the most I’ve gotten is a few hours in a night,” I lean my elbows on the bar top to hold my head in my hands. “I’m so tired. I don’t think Jay gets more than me, he’s always awake.”
“Have you talked with anyone since everything happened?”
“No, I wouldn’t even know who to talk to,” I admit.
“We have resources through the precinct, I’ll text you some. You and Jay should go, or you’ll both crash and burn.”
“Thanks, I’ll talk about it with him.”
“Hi beautiful,” Jay says as he sits and the bar stool.
“I thought you weren’t drinking tonight,” I joke.
“What I can’t call my girlfriend ‘beautiful’?”
“You can, you just don’t normally lead with it,” I grab Jay a glass of water.
“Well I have to step up my game,” I laugh at his his seriousness.
“So Kim and I were talking and she brought up me potentially seeing someone. Someone to help talk through everything that happened.”
“That’s a great idea, I can help you find someone.”
“I think you should see someone too, you’re sleeping less than me which is saying a lot.”
“I know, I actually made an appointment with my old therapist for next week. I saw her when I was getting help with my PTSD from being over seas. I can see if she has any suggestions of people to go when I’m there.”
“Thanks, Kim’s gonna send over a list too,” Jay grabs my hand and starts to brush his thumb over the back of it.
“We’ll get through this,” Jay says confidently.
“I know,” I smile back at him. “You still going to be around when I finish up?”
“Absolutely. Yours or mine?”
“Yours is closer,” Jay squeezes my hand before standing up.
“Hey Jo, this was left for you,” Hermann says and slides over a yellow packing envelope. I thank him and grab a knife to rip it open. Numerous photos spill out covering the wooden countertop. The photos are all different but the subjects are the same, me and Jay. Some are just of me, or just of Jay, but most of them are of us together. The air becomes thick and suddenly the music is too loud. This can’t be happening. I quickly push the photos back into the package and run to the office to stuff it into the bottom of my bag. Even with the envelope out of sight my heart doesn’t calm down, everything feels as if it is turned up to a thousand. I jump when the door opens and Hermann walks in.
“I’m sorry kid, I didn’t mean to scare yah,” I open my mouth to say anything but nothing comes out. “Hey, hey, you’re okay. You’re safe. Why don’t you head home? We got it from here.”
Hermann reaches for my coat and bag, but before he could touch it I snatch both from the locker. He doesn’t touch me as he walks me out of the office.
“Hey Jay,” Hermann quietly calls. Jay’s smile quickly disappears as he scrambles up from his seat.
“What happened?” Jay asks quietly once he’s close enough.
“I don’t know, she was like this in the office when I found her. You guys head home alright?” Jay nods and wraps his arm around my waist to lead me out of the bar.
“We’ll be home soon, okay?” His kind tone makes it hard to keep the tears at bay.
Fourteenth part of Punisher. I sincerely apologize for the lack of posting, I think it’s almost two years now which is wild. I got writer’s block and just couldn’t work through it and then honestly forgot about this story. This chapter is short but I’ll be posting Pt. 15 tomorrow.
This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: mentions of pain pills
The car ride back to Jay’s after the hospital was a quiet one. My body and mind completely shut down after I knew Jay was okay. Jay never left my side at the hospital, I guess having a brother that works in the ER and being a cop helps break protocol. After all the excitement, fear, and adrenaline of the day I fell asleep in the passenger seat clinging to Jay’s hand. I slowly wake from Jay rubbing my thigh and squeezing my hand.
“Jo,” he whispers. “I would carry you, but it would hurt your ribs.”
I slide out of the car and lean against Jay. He rubs my back softly as we stand in the elevator. Even through the exhaustion, there’s still fear. I never felt that kind of fear before, it’s not fear for my own life but for Jay’s. That’s what’s scaring me now and I don’t know what it means. My mind can’t stop focusing on the events leading up to all of this, I always lock the door when I open. No matter how much I rack my brain trying to remember me locking the door after getting into the bar, I can’t picture it.
“Are you hungry?” Jay coaxes while leading me into his apartment. I shake my head and walk towards the sofa. I throw my coat on the chair before sitting down to take my boots off. “Jo, you have to eat with these pain pills. Will said it could make you sick if you don’t.”
I know he’s right, but all I want is to remember locking the door. Why can’t I remember that? My eyes begin to water out of frustration.
“Hey, hey it’s okay,” Jay comforts.
“I always lock the door after I get in, I can’t remember locking it today,” I hyperventilate. “Why didn’t I lock the door?”
“Jo, this is not your fault,” Jay cups my face in his hands, wiping away my tears with his thumbs.
“I always lock the door, I don’t get it,” Jay grasps my shaking hands.
“Jo, please listen. There is a laundry list of people to blame before you. Including myself,” he sighs. “I have no idea how he knew about you or about us, but I swear to you I will find out and make sure nothing like this ever happens again. It’s been a long day, we’ll talk more in the morning alright? Why don’t you get into bed and I’ll bring you something to eat and some water?”
I don’t say anything as I get up to go to Jay’s bedroom. I’m not mad at him, I don’t think I ever really could be. Chicago just doesn’t feel like the safe haven it once was.
Thirteenth part of Punisher. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: gun & violence, anxiety
“I’m sorry about this, don’t make it harder than it needs to be,” the music keeps cutting in and out from multiple phone calls.
“He’s not going to stop calling, he’ll come here,” I say while looking him dead in the eyes.
“I’m planning on it,” my heart drops at his words.
“No,” I breathe out. The man lets go of me and walks behind the bar. His eyes scan the bottles before grabbing one full of whiskey, the gun falls onto the countertop making me jump slightly.
“He doesn’t need to be here,” I try to bargain.
“See that’s where you’re wrong,” he rips off the pour top and drinks from the bottle. “He’s the most important part.”
“Please, don’t,” my chest is heavy with guilt. I knew I should’ve stayed away from him. After his drink, the man sighs and takes off his jacket before picking up his gun. I watch him helpless as he grabs my vibrating phone.
“Answer it,” I stare blankly at my phone, Jay’s name light up.
“Please,” I beg, but the man gets more frustrated.
“Answer. It. I’ve been planning this for too long for you to screw this up,” as soon as Jay’s contact lights up the phone again the man swipes to answer it before shoving it against my ear.
“Jo, Jesus Christ. You forgot to text me, why weren’t you answering your phone?” Jay babbles, I hold the phone against my ear despite my hand shaking.
“Jay,” I saw with a shaky voice.
“Jo? Jo! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Jay panics.
“No.”
“Is someone there,” my eyes travel up to the man’s face.
“Yes,” the man snatches the phone out of my hand, placing it up to his own ear.
“Detective, how are you? Any chance you got a moment to talk?” I hear the muffled yells of Jay coming through the phone.
“My name is Rob Davis, you probably don’t remember me, but I remember you. My boy - Tommy, you killed him. No one enters this bar or I put a bullet in her skull, I’ll call you and Hank with instructions soon,” Rob hangs up the phone and puts it back on the counter top. Weirdly, a part of me is relieved, there’s a way out of this. Rob begins to pace around the bar.
“I’m sorry about your son,” I say without moving, Rob stops moving and takes a deep breath.
“Like I said, I’m sorry,” he says. “And don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” Rob grabs my arm, pulling me off the floor towards one of the booths along the wall. He’s nervous, his forehead is sweating and he can’t stay still.
“You can leave, I won’t say anything, I’ll wipe the security cameras.”
“Yeah, I don’t think they’ll let me go freely.”
“You’re in pain, people do crazy things in mourning. I’ll talk to Jay and Hank,” I slide towards the end of the booth closer to Rob.
“No, this is happening. My mind is set on it,” I begin to panic, I don’t know if Jay is going to come here on his own or if he did the right thing and tell the rest of his unit what’s going on. My eyes begin to water, all I can picture is Jay dead on the bar floor.
“Kill me,” I blurt out, Rob stops pacing and stares at me. “You want them to feel how you felt, right? Kill me.” I stand in front of Rob, silently pleading with him to do it.
“How many times do I have to tell you not to make this harder?” He snaps before hitting me in the head with the gun making everything go black.
****
My eyes slowly begin to flutter open and I’m met with a deep pain. My hand instantly goes toward the source of the pain and is met with a sticky substance. I hiss as I pull my hand away, blood covers my fingertips.
“Don’t worry about her Halstead, she’s just a little -” Rob’s voice makes the pain in my head worse. “Well look who’s up,” Rob squats down in front of me and holds the phone up for me to take. I glare at him before taking the phone.
“Jay?”
“Oh my God, Jo are you okay? I’m gonna get you out really soon okay, just hold on,” Jay rambles.
“I’m fine,” I look back at Rob. His hoodie is unzipped and a blinking red light catches my eye. I quickly look away trying to not draw attention to his chest. “Jay?”
“Jo it’s gonna be okay, I promise I’m going to get you out of there.”
“Jay, please… Please don’t come in here! Please stay away from this! I’ll -” Rob snatches the phone out of my hand and ends the call. He stands over me and quickly grabs my hair, pulling me up from the floor. He glares into my eyes before punching me multiple times in the ribs. The air escapes my lungs, I start to hyperventilate, my eyes water from the pain of my now bruised ribs.
“Pull something like that again and I’ll make sure his death is slow,” Rob walks away leaving me to steady my breathing on my own. Even with the searing pain in my side, all I could think about was talking to Jay again. I need to tell him about the bomb strapped to Rob’s chest.
I climb back into the booth, desperately needing to lean on something soft. Rob seems more calm now, the pacing has stopped, he seems more focused.
“I’m guessing Jay and Hank are on their way.”
“They better be after your little stunt,” I press into my ribs to get tears in my eyes.
“I’m sorry. I… Can I please talk to Jay again please? I want to hear his voice,” I let the tears fall freely to really sell it.
“He has some things he needs to do before calling back,” he replies sternly.
“But will you let me talk to him?” I press.
“I’ll tell you what, you can talk to him if he’s completed his tasks.”
“Thank you,” I pause. “Did he remember you?”
“He says he does, but he’s lying to save you.”
“He’s not,” I shift so my head is resting against the cushion. “He remembers everyone. It practically haunts him.”
It felt like hours before the phone rang. I wait anxiously to see if I could talk to Jay. Rob and whoever he’s talking on the phone with exchange words, it’s frustrating how I can’t read Rob. His mood is almost flat, his adrenaline from before must have worn off. Rob’s eyes meet mine, he slowly walks towards me.
“She’s been crying for you, begging me to let you talk again,” Rob taunts, then listens to what Jay has to say. “Now, now I’m feeling kind. You have one minute,” Rob hands over the phone to me.
“Jay!”
“Jo,” Jay sighs in relief. “Please tell me you’re okay. Has he hurt you?”
“Jay, we don’t have time -”
“Jo tell me you're not hurt,” I don’t answer, knowing I can’t lie to him. “God -” Jay’s yelling is muffled.
“Jay, Jay! Please, I don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Jay asks genuinely.
“Remember that story you told me of you and Mouse when you were deployed? That time when you both were playing cards with the girls on base and you thought you’d have to teach them to play poker, but you ended up losing all your care package food instead?” I lean my head back against the cushion, suddenly unbearably tired.
“Yeah,” Jay laughs. “Why were you thinking about that?”
“Do you remember what else happened that day?” I hope he’ll realize what I’m getting at.
“Jo, what -”
“Alright lovebirds time’s up,” Rob takes the phone away. “See you soon.”
That’s it, I failed him. The tears are real this time. I slide back into the booth trying to feel some sort of comfort. My body feels weak, like it’s crashing, it’s giving up. I can’t do anything else. I watch as Rob fixes himself one last drink, it’s sickening how he looks almost giddy.
“Do you have no remorse? Aren’t you scared?!” I yell at him, I’m gonna die anyway.
“Remorse? My son was murdered by your boyfriend. I died the day my son did,” Rob downs the whiskey in one go. He storms over to me and grabs my arm pulling me from the booth. I cry out in pain.
“What’re you doing?”
“It’s time to make a trade,” Rob pulls me flush to him so my back is resting against his chest. “Listen for once today, don’t make this difficult.” There’s a knock on the door and immediately Rob puts the gun to my head.
“Rob, it’s Hank and Jay. Can we come in?” Hank’s gruff voice comes through the door.
“Just you two, or I blow her brains out!” Rob screams back, making me flinch. The wooden door slowly opens.
“We’re unarmed. It’s just us coming in,” Hank is the first one through the door.
“Close the door!” Rob yells, Jay quickly closes the door behind him. I look into his eyes and don’t break eye contact. Relief somehow flows through my body when I see Jay, but it’s quickly replaced with fear when I realize what’s about to happen. My eyes begin to water as I try to peel off Rob’s arm around me.
“We’re here you have us, you don’t need her anymore,” Jay sternly looks at Rob.
“She can leave, but you two stay,” both Hank and Jay agree. Rob slowly lets me go and I walk towards Jay.
“I’m gonna put this on her, okay?” Jay says to Rob as he holds up a bulletproof vest. He slowly moves towards me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I whisper to Jay. A few tears fall down my cheeks and wince while lifting my arms.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” I start to shake my head. “I got this, now go.”
“Jay,” he shakes his head and ushers me out of the bar. “Jay, no, please.”
“It’ll be okay,” he says before pushing me through the front door and closing it in my face.
“JAY!” I bang on the door before being pulled away.
“We need to get you checked out,” the officer in full tactical gear.
“Please, you need to get in there.”
“Jo? Jo! Oh my God! Guys!” I turn and see Kim running towards me. She hugs me, thankfully the vest I’m wearing helps protect my ribs.
“Kim, you need to go in there.”
“They know what they’re doing Jo,” Adam chimes in.
“He’s wearing a bomb vest!” I scream.
“We know,” Kim says.
“You know?”
“Yeah, we figured out a way to disarm it from outside. They went in after it was disabled. Why don’t we get you checked out by EMTs and I’ll explain?” Adam directs me towards the ambulance. The EMTs take off my bulletproof vest and start doing a full work up while Adam explains some technical bullshit that goes right over my head. The bomb was disabled but they were still in there with a madman with a death wish.
“Do you have any updates about what’s going on in there?” I cut him off.
“You’ll need stitches,” the EMT interjects.
“I don’t care, Adam please,” the EMT tapes gauze to my head wound. A massive noise tears through the street. Adam and I both stand frozen as the tactical team breaches the building. As the men finish running in, Jay and Hank walk out. I watch as Jay hands off Rob’s gun to someone else and begins to look around. I’ve never felt so much relief in my life, I feel as light as a feather.
“Jay,” Adam yells. Jay’s eyes jolt to Adam and then meet mine. Jay begins to dodge people to get to us. As he gets close, Jay begins to jog. He wraps his arms around my waist and sweeps me up into a tight hug. I wince as my ribs scream out in pain, Jay quickly pulls away, but I pull him back into the tight hug and rest my head in the crook of his neck.
“Are you okay?” Jay tries to examine me from our position.
“She needs stitches and an X-Ray,” Adam jumps in. Jay moves me into his side.
“Let’s get you to the hospital okay?” Jay and I move towards his truck. “Adam, can you drive?”
Jay helps me climb into the back of his truck while Adam gets into the driver’s seat. Jay pulls on my seatbelt and then wraps me in his arms.
Twelfth part of Punisher. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: gun & violence, anxiety
For the first time in a long time, I felt safe. Wrapped tightly in Jay’s strong arms, I’ve never slept better. I’ve been awake for a while, but couldn’t bring myself to leave the warmth of Jay’s bed. The golden light from the sun softly shines through the curtains, bouncing off the brick wall. I close my eyes trying to take in the smell from Jay’s sheets, his bed is way more comfortable than mine. Jay stirs and then kisses my covered shoulder.
“Good morning,” his voice is rough and low. “Coffee?” I nod, desperately needing the boast of caffeine. Jay gets out of bed and strolls into the kitchen to start the coffee pot. His boxers sit low on his hips, his abs and muscles in full view. I rise up in bed, leaning my back against the headboard. Perfect doesn’t even begin to describe last night, somehow my time with Jay is only getting better. Jay returns with two mugs of hot coffee.
“Thank you,” I say, reaching out for the mug. Jay puts his on the bedside table before taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to me. His arm rests over the comforter on top of my lap.
“You look really good in my shirt,” I look down to Jay’s white t-shirt that comfortably covers me.
“You think so?”
“One hundred percent,” Jay grabs my mug and places it down next to his before climbing on top of the bed. I laugh as Jay kisses my face and pulls me on top of him. I straddle his waist, his hands travel down my sides to rest on my thighs.
“Any chance you can call in sick?” Jay smirks before kissing my lips.
“I can’t, we have a meeting with the deputy commissioner today. All hands on deck,” I groan. “Besides, don't you have a shift?”
“Yes, but not till a little later,” Jay flips me over so my back sinks into the bed. Jay begins placing soft kisses on my neck and his rough hands slide underneath the t-shirt. I bite my bottom lip to keep in the moan building in my throat. Jay’s face hovers over mine.
“I’m gonna go shower,” he whispers. Jay climbs off the bed, leaving me alone.
“That’s cruel!”
“Drink your coffee,” he shouts back. Once I hear the shower begin to run, I crawl over to my coffee mug. After a few sips, I stand up and start gathering my clothes. It’s more of a scavenger hunt, so it took longer than expected. I pull on my underwear and start looking for my jeans. Jay emerges from the bathroom with a towel around his waist.
“Looking for something?” He asks.
“My jeans,” I continue to look around the room, but get whipped by something. I look down to the floor to see my jeans in a loose ball. “Thanks.”
I pull my jeans on, but leave on Jay’s t-shirt and make my way to the open bathroom.
“There’s an extra toothbrush under the sink,” Jay shouts. I splash some water on my face and begin brushing my teeth. “At the risk of sounding incredibly eager, are you free for dinner tonight? I do owe you an actual meal,” I see Jay leaning on the door frame through the mirror, sadly fully clothed.
“Yeah, I get off early today,” I say with the toothbrush in my mouth, I spit the foam into the sink. “I can pick up groceries and make something at my place, if you want to meet me there.”
“Yeah, or we can meet here. I’ll pick you up,” Jay counters quickly. I wipe my face before turning to face him.
“Jay, why are you avoiding my place?” I lean back against the counter.
“I’m not avoiding it,” I raise my eyebrows at him. “It’s just I don’t want to be doing the walk of shame past Hermann.”
“Well maybe you should’ve thought about that before offering me up to the Hermann household.”
“I did not ‘offer you up.’ You needed out of that death trap of an apartment,” I laugh and walk past Jay out of the bathroom.
“Well would you look at the time, I should be getting off to the bar,” I walk over towards the front of Jay’s apartment to grab my coat.
“Are we not past this? I thought we talked through this?” I slip into my coat and smile.
“No we have, and that’s why I’ll see you at my place after work,” Jay laughs. He walks towards me as I gather the last of my things.
“You do look really good in my shirt,” he wraps his arms around my waist under the coat, his large hands lay flat against my back.
“Flattery will get you nowhere,”I kiss his lips quickly before leaving the apartment.
“Text me when you get there, please,” he yells.
Finally, the bitter Chicago air was starting to warm up. Well, warm enough for my face and fingers not to freeze. I arrived at Molly's after grabbing coffee, since I never finished the one at Jay’s.
I like opening the bar, it’s quiet, everything is clean. I get to blast whatever music I want without having to hear anyone’s opinions on Joan Jett. I go about my usual routine as I walk into the bar - throw my things in the office and then start to look behind the bar to see if I need to start opening new bottles of liqueur. The clanging of the glass bottles mixed with the music coming from my phone create a calm space. My mind wanders to the previous night with Jay, like a lovesick teenager. The joyful memories are cut short when the front door opens and closes. I locked the door, right?
A tall, large man stands with his back towards me. My heart begins to pound and my fingers go numb. The man turns around, his face is slightly creased and his hair is grey. His eyes look around the bar, avoiding looking at me. I swallow, hoping that’ll hide the fear rising in my throat.
“We’re closed,” I say, but the man doesn’t pay any attention to me. I move from behind the bar. “Hey, I said we’re closed,” I’m surprised by the power behind my statement as I move towards the man.
The man moves quickly, drawing a gun from behind his back. It feels like all the blood is drained from my body, my ears start ringing from the overwhelming situation. I’ve never looked down the barrel of a gun before and I can’t tear my eyes away from the small, circle opening.
“What do you want?” he moves towards me, I want to run, scream anything, but my body is frozen in place.
“Are you Josephine?” my eyes snap up to his face as soon as my name left his mouth. The man keeps moving towards me and finally my body jolts away. I run towards the back exit to get away from him. The man moves quickly to grab my body and slam me into a nearby wall, his gun is now pressed into the side of my skull. “I guess there’s my answer,” he sneers.
I don’t care about the gun, I try to push him off, but his grip snaps around my throat making me stop. His grip is tight, so tight I can’t pry his fingers off. Just as the black spots started to encroach on my vision, the man threw me towards the middle of the bar. My throat burns from the fresh air, coughs rack my body as I try to breathe. As I start to come to I realize the music stopped - Jay. The man stomps towards me grabbing my hair and shoving his face into mine.
“I’m sorry about this, don’t make it harder than it needs to be,” the music keeps cutting in and out from multiple phone calls.
“He’s not going to stop calling, he’ll come here,” I say while looking him dead in the eyes.
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Eleventh part of Punisher. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: cheesy lines
“You’re thinking about it too much,” Sylvie sympathizes while laying on my bed next to me. She came over almost an hour ago to hang out before my date with Jay and we’ve spent the entire time looking at outfits.
“He gave me nothing to work with, he said everything tonight is a surprise. What am I supposed to do with that? Is it a dress needed surprise or will I need sneakers?” Sylvie snickers at my panic. “Why are you laughing?” I flop on my bed next to her.
“You’re so smitten.”
“Smitten?” I mock her.
“C’mon you have to know that you can show up in your pj’s and Jay would still look at you like you hold the world in your hands.”
“What?” I laugh and look at Sylvie’s serious expression. “Wait, really?”
“Now, let’s get you into an outfit, he’s gonna be here soon,” Sylvie ignores my question and gets up from the bed to look at the clothes in my closet.
“How’d you feel?” Sylvie asks as I pull the mid-length camel, winter coat on. I open my mouth to respond, but a knock echoes through my apartment. My heels click against the wood floor as I make my way to the door.
“Hi,” I smile as I open the door to reveal a bright-eyed Jay. He’s wearing a black button down and jeans. God, he really looks hot in everything.
“Hey, these are for you,” Jay hands over a colorful bouquet of flowers. I thank him and go to the kitchen to put them in a vase. “Hi Sylvie.”
“Hi Jay,” Sylvie says sweetly as she slips on her puffer coat. “You two have fun.”
The door clicks announcing Sylvie’s departure. Jay leans against the countertop next to me as I fill a vase with water. Out of the corner of my eye, Jay has a smirk on his face while he watches me.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he smiles and shakes his head.
“Seriously, what?” I unwrap the flowers and start arranging them in the vase.
“Seriously, nothing,” That damn smirk.
“Do I have something on my face? A tag on my coat? What?”
“No you look… you look perfect. I’m just really happy this is finally happening is all,” his cheeks flush a light shade of pink. I place the full vase on the counter and walk over to Jay.
“Me too,” I wrap my arms around his neck and bring his lips to mine. “Thank you for the flowers.”
“I’ll bring you flowers all the time if that’s the thanks I get,” Jay wraps his arms around my waist to bring me flush with his chest. Jay kisses my lips quickly before pulling away, “C’mon we should get going.”
“Where are we going?” I grab my purse and walk out of the apartment while Jay holds the door open.
“The Iris, I go there all the time”
“Sounds great,” I say as I hold his hand.
“Come here ‘all the time’ huh?” I joke as we stand in front of The Iris that has a giant, red ‘CLOSED’ sign across the front door. Jay stutters in shock, not knowing how to explain the situation. I laugh again, trying to show that I’m not remotely mad.
“I’m sorry, we can go back to my truck and find another spot or pick up groceries to cook,” Jay offers. I look around the street to find an alternative to keep the night going, when a bright yellow food truck catches my eye.
“How do you feel about street food?” I ask, pointing to the truck. Jay smiles and grabs my hand before pulling me across the street.
Jay and I both order burritos before taking it to a nearby bench. Stuffed full burritos are not necessarily the best date food, but neither one of us cared, it’s late and we’re both starving.
“How’s yours?” I ask with a mouth full of food.
“Probably will regret eating street meat tomorrow, but it’s so good,” Jay responds, also with a mouthful. He tilts his burrito towards me, offering a bite.
“Yours is good,” I say after taking a bite, I offer him mine.
“Yeah, mine’s better,” Jay says after taking a bite of my burrito.
“It’s definitely not.”
“Well, I guess I just need another bite,” I laugh as Jay takes a massive bite.
“How’s it now?” I ask, he holds a thumbs up. Once the burritos are finally finished, Jay and I stay seated on the bench. His arm is wrapped around my shoulders, and I hold the other in my hands, drawing the lines on his palm. A part of me thought that the conversation wouldn’t flow as smoothly because of the pressure of actually being on a date. Luckily, I was wrong, we joke and talk about everything like we normally would.
“I lied before,” I furrow my brow at his confession, trying to think of what he lied about. Hours have passed since he picked me up from my place. “When I said that I went to The Iris ‘all the time.’ Kim and Hayley helped me come up with a list of restaurants to impress you and they mentioned that we could walk in without a reservation since it was late notice, I didn’t think to check if it was still open.”
“Jay, you don’t have to try to impress me. We could’ve gone to a complete dive bar or whatever and I’d still be excited.”
“Hearing that definitely makes me feel better, but I want to impress you because you deserve it. You deserve so much more than I can give,” Jay refuses to look me in the eye and I can’t hold back a laugh. “Oh is my pain funny for you?” He mocks.
“No, no, not at all! I’m sorry. It’s just, I was freaking out about today not because I didn’t think it would be fun, but because I thought the same thing about you,” Jay’s eyes snap up to mine. I take the opportunity to lean in and kiss his lips. I take my hands away from his hand and move them to sit on either side of his face. His soft lips move against mine, his free hand grips my upper thigh. I try my hardest not to feel the burn under his fingers on my thigh and focus on showing Jay how much I care for him through the kiss. We pull away and our foreheads rest against each other. Jay’s hot breath fans against my face.
“Do you want to get out of here?” He asks, almost sheepishly.
“I don’t know what kind of girl you think I am, but I don’t sleep with guys on the first date,” I try to break the tension, but internally cringe at the attempt.
“Well good thing it’s not our first date, right?” Jay’s blue eyes bore into mine. The flecks of brown and gold are prominent when you look at them this close.
“I guess it is,” I say back in full confidence. Jay kisses me on the lips one more time before grabbing my hand and walking back to the truck.
Tenth part of Punisher. We’re halfway people. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: mentions of alcohol, teeth rotting fluff
I followed Voight’s advice to the letter, changed up my routines every day and had Hermann adjust my schedule at Molly’s. I wasn’t making the money on tips I used to with my closing shifts, but it’s necessary. I knew I made the right decision going to Voight as soon as I saw Jay. He knocked on my door the next night with a home cooked meal, he sat with me for a few hours giving me updates on all the things I missed. He came over every day after until I felt “well” enough to go back to work. It’s funny to think you can miss a place, but when I arrived back at Molly’s I was met with a warm welcome by everyone, instantly filling a longing I didn’t know was there.
“Hey Jo, can you sign for the kegs out front? Make sure they know where to go,” Stella asks before disappearing into the back. I make my way out the front entrance of the bar and sign for the kegs of beer. The two large men start wheeling the beer to the back entrance, I pray that they move quicker. The wind is making goosebumps rise on my exposed skin, making me seriously regret not bringing a coat. My leg shakes as the men are wheeling back the last of the order.
“Jo?” I turn and see Jay walking up.
“Hi,” I can’t contain my smile.
“What’re you doing out here, it’s freezing,” Jay takes off his coat and wraps it around my body. The warmth is immediate and the woodsy smell of his cologne dances across my nostrils.
“You’re gonna get cold,” I try to protest, but Jay stops me from taking the jacket off and continues to rub my arms.
“I wasn’t the one that was just sick for two weeks.” Oh right.
“Excuse me, can I get one more signature?” One of the workers asks. I grab the clipboard and sign my name, allowing them to leave to their next delivery.
“I never got to thank you for bringing me dinner,” I say when I turn to face Jay.
“You don’t need to, I think eating my cooking was hard enough,” he jokes.
“It was good!”
“Oh yeah? You really liked that rice?” I laugh.
“Yeah how does someone mess up rice?”
“I don’t know!” I hug Jay, resting my head on his firm chest. His head rests on top of mine. I close my eyes and focus on his heartbeat. I slowly pull away and look up to Jay. His large hands move to rest on either side of my face, he strokes my cheekbones with his thumbs. Jay moves down towards my face slowly fluttering his eyes closed, I gradually met him halfway, closing my eyes at the last second. His lips firmly press into mine before our lips start to move more frantically. I grip his shirt desperately trying to extinguish any space between us. Jay’s soft lips are a sharp contrast to the stubble on his cheeks. I feel like my lungs are going to explode from lack of oxygen, but I lean in as soon as Jay pulls away, not wanting this moment to end just yet. We both reluctantly pull away, Jay rests his forehead on mine. I slowly release Jay’s shirt from my grasp, trying to control my breathing.
“I should get back inside,” as much as I want to stay in Jay’s arms, I know Stella would come looking sooner rather than later and for right now I want to keep this between Jay and me.
“Yeah Will should be here any minute,” Jay pulls away a little more, looking in the eyes. His piercing blue eyes could melt anyone’s heart. I slip out of Jay’s jacket and hand it back to him before taking a few steps towards the entrance.
“I’m closing tonight,” I blurt out. “Any chance you’ll lend a hand?” A bright smile spreads across Jay’s face.
“I can do that,” I match Jay’s smile, and then quickly make my way back into Molly’s. I pick up a few empties on my way to the bar.
“Everything go okay?” Stella asks while popping the caps off two beers.
“Yeah, easy,” I say, avoiding eye contact. Luckily, Stella’s too busy to catch my blushing cheeks.
I busy myself by filling a couple of orders and opening new tabs. Jay and Will enter the bar, most of the Intelligence Unit is at the bar and they grab seats on the stools next to them.
“Hi Jojo,” Will snickers.
“Hi Willy Billy,” Will’s smile falls and he looks at Jay. “Yeah two can play that game.”
“How could you? Your own brother?” Will gasps. Jay shrugs and smiles at me. I grab the brothers some beers and slide them across the bartop. I didn’t notice Will analyzing Jay and me, all I could think about is the kiss we shared outside. It was needy and passionate, all the pent up tensions finally released.
“You two kissed!” Will announces. Jay and I snap out of it because of Will’s outburst.
“What?” Jay asks.
“You two finally kissed, or was it something more?” Will looks deep into his brother’s eyes. I look around the bar and see everyone staring, my heartbeat fills my ears, almost giving me a headache.
“Will,” Jay warns.
“You’re giving me nothing,” Will turns his attention to me, his gaze is probing. “It was just a kiss, but…. But you want it to be more.”
“Will,” Jay warns again, everyone else on the other hand finds this exchange incredibly hilarious.
“Alright, who owes who?” Will asks. Both Jay’s and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I watch stunned as people start exchanging cash, they mumble as they try to figure out who gets the payout.
“Did you know about this?” I ask Jay.
“No,” he runs his hand over his face, already exhausted by the night.
“This is insane,” I whisper. Stella walks up to the group and realizes what’s going on.
“Oh thank you! What’s my share?” She turns to Kevin and he puts some bills in her hand.
“You too?”
“Yeah, and I think this shows how good of a friend I am because I was right.”
“I quit.”
“Haha yeah good luck with that,” Stella chuckles before heading into the office.
Finally the last of the customers exit Molly’s leaving Jay and I in the bar. It was a night full of teasing and betrayal, the more of our friends that showed up at the bar the more the bet was brought up. Even Matt was in on it, he was mad we couldn’t wait another week otherwise he would’ve had the pot to himself.
Jay is putting empty chairs on top of the tables as I finish wiping down the bar top. I move to start cleaning the booths against the wall. When I stand back up, Jay’s behind me rubbing my shoulders.
“Are you feeling okay?” I lean back into his warmth.
“Yeah, I feel really good,” I look back up at him.
“I’m sorry about Will,” I laugh.
“That was unexpected for sure, but in the end it made telling everyone easier,” I try to lighten the situation so Jay doesn’t punch out his brother the next time he sees him.
“Still, it wasn’t his to tell,” he kisses my temple before grabbing the rag and cleaning the next booth. I follow him and grab the rag out of his hand to make him look at me.
“I can think of a few ways that you can make it up to me,” I flirt. Jay grabs my waist and pulls me in between him and the table.
“Yeah, I’m happy to oblige,” he leans down and kisses my lips. This time it’s slow and gentle. “Are you free Friday night?”
“I am, what do you have in mind?” I rest my hands on his chest.
“I’m going to take you out, make it a proper first date,” my hands move to rest on his biceps.
“First?”
“Yeah.”
“Some would say we’ve already had a first date.”
“When?”
“When you came over to my place.”
“What, no, that wasn’t a date,” he says trying to think through the nights.
“Well there was food, and just the two of us talking,” I try to reason. “Well actually we’ve been on multiple dates already.”
“No, it’s not a date unless I ask you, therefore those were not dates,” I smile. A glimmer of light catches my eye near Jay’s neck. A gold chain peaks out from his neckline. I slowly pull the chain out and run my thumb over the medallion. The details are so intricate, the name Saint Christopher is engraved into the metal. “It’s the saint of protection.”
“It’s incredible.”
“My mom gave it to me before I left for the war, she wore it everyday before that,” I tuck the necklace back into his shirt.
“That’s a beautiful memory.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s ok to miss her,” he nods.
“I know,” he replies sweetly. “C’mon let’s get moving,” he pulls me away from the table and smacks my butt.
“How sinful!” I joke.
“I’ll show you sinful,” he says and begins to chase me around the empty bar. He finally grabs my waist, pulling me back to him. Jay kisses my face relentlessly causing me to scream out in laughter.
Ninth part of Punisher. Thank you all for your support on the last chapter! This one is a quick one, but I hope you enjoy. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of violence, mentions of trauma
The week following the call at Molly’s, I called out sick. I didn’t leave my little space above Hermann’s garage, I needed to make a plan. But no amount of pacing or drinking helped. I can’t leave, because that’ll just delay the inevitable, but at the same time I can’t stay because that puts everyone else at risk.
I lay sprawled out on the colorful area rug that sits over the hardwood floor, while staring at the ceiling waiting for the answers to just magically appear. What the fuck was I thinking? I so selfishly want to stay, I’ve never had anything remotely close to the friendships I’ve made here. I don’t know where I could go to be completely anonymous, well maybe Canada?
I have a restraining order against him, but that’ll only hold him off for so long. I hate him, I hate myself for once thinking that what he showed me was love. I hate how even now he can still control me and instill fear even from afar.
A soft knock echoed through the painfully silent apartment. I lift my head from the floor to see Hermann peeking his head in.
“Hi there, how’re you feeling?” He asks while placing a bowl of soup on the kitchen counter.
“Hi, about the same.”
“Yeah you still look a little pale. Cindy made you some soup, make sure you eat even if you’re not feeling hungry,” I smile at Hermann’s concern. “What’re you doing on the floor kid?”
“Thinking, I thought I’d get a better perspective from here,” Hermann nods before laying next to me on the floor.
“Does this have to do with the ‘Jojo’ thing?” I physically cringe.
“Not you too Hermann!”
“Hey, I’ve only heard whispers, you don’t have to tell me anything,” it’s silent for a moment after.
“Hermann….. What would you do if Cindy was in trouble?”
“I’d protect her,” he says plainly.
“But what if the only way you could protect her was by leaving her?”
“There’s no way that’s the only option, there’s always another way. I’d probably get other people involved, there’s safety in numbers,” he pauses and looks at me. “Is there something I should know?”
“No, I’m good. I promise,” he nods and gets up from the floor.
“Well I have to get to Molly’s, you rest up and eat something.”
“Thanks Hermann.”
“Anytime kid.”
There’s safety in numbers. I stare back at the ceiling thinking over Hermann’s words, until it clicks. I gather myself up off the floor and grab my keys on the way out of the apartment.
The precinct is pretty empty and thankfully Trudy isn’t working the front desk. I tell the man in the uniform who I’m there to see and he instantly buzzes me up to the Intelligence Unit. The desks are empty, all but one. The lamp in Voight’s office is the only source of light on the entire level. I pause at Jay’s desk, looking at the framed photo of him and Will. He’s going to hate me if he ever finds out.
“Jo?” Voight’s gravelly voice bounces off the walls.
“Hi,” my voice is small, almost like a child that was just caught.
“Jay’s not here,” he says as rises from his desk to stand in the doorway.
“No I know, um I’m here to see you actually.”
“C’mon in,” Voight moves out of the way and closes the door once I cross the threshold of his office. “What can I do for you?”
“I - I need to know that this can stay between us. At least for right now, Jay can’t know,” he nods.
“Of course,” I swallow hard and start wringing out my hands trying to stop the fear coursing through my veins.
“I don’t know how much you know about me, but I came here from LA. I was running away actually, um my ex-boyfriend was, well is a runner for the Orion motorcycle gang. A drug runner - mostly cocaine.”
“I’m familiar,” he tries to encourage me to continue.
“He was really abusive, but they had the cops there in their back pocket so I could never press charges. Until one judge took pity on me and granted me a restraining order. I ran soon after it was approved, I thought I’d be safe here, that he’d leave me alone.”
“Did he find you? Are you hurt?”
“He called Molly’s while I was working, I wish I was better about hiding that it was me, but I was so stunned I couldn’t speak. I’m really scared Hank,” a tear slips out, but I brush it away.
“Thank you for telling me this Jo, I know this couldn’t be easy for you,” I nod. “Are you sure you don’t want to get the rest of the unit involved? They’d help you in a heartbeat.”
“No, no just you. Please,” I look at him with pleading eyes.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can find from my contacts. What’s his name?”
“Tyler Hunter,” saying his name made bile rise in my throat.
“Take this,” Voight hands me his card with phone number on it. “You call me anytime, I’ll answer.”
“Thank you. What should I do about Molly’s and everyone?”
“Let’s see what we’re dealing with first. When’s the last time you went in?”
“About a week.”
“Good, give it a few more days and then have Hermann change up your shift schedule. Don’t do the same thing twice alright? Take different streets when driving, go to different coffee shops, everything.”
“Okay, done.”
“And try to be around people as much as possible, where are you living?”
“Above Hermann’s garage.”
“Perfect. Call me when you have your new work schedule and I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Thank you Hank, really,” I rise from my seat.
“You’re important to Jay, I owe him,” he brushes it off. Without another word I leave Voight’s office and the precinct. I hadn’t spoken about LA in months, it surprisingly felt good to finally tell someone instead of carrying it around with him like a heavy backpack I can’t put down.
For the first time in a week, I went home and slept soundly till morning. No nightmares, no fears. I’m done running, it’s time to fight back.
Eighth part of Punisher. This has been sitting in my drafts forever, I’m not in love with it, but want to get the story moving along. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of drinking, mentions of violence
The week after the renewal I hardly saw or spoke to Jay. A case came in the day after and the entire Intelligence Unit rarely left the station. From what Will told me, it was a house invasion and so far only one young child survived, but they’re coming close to catching the people who did it.
I thank the man handing me brown bags full of take-out. The thin handles dig into my palms as I make my way towards the precinct. I try to hide my face in my warm scarf, as my eyes water from the cold wind flying around the street. I quickly jog up the steps and dodge the people exiting the building. Trudy’s working the front desk per usual. She shoos a man in an expensive suit as I walk up to the front desk.
“Hey Trudy,” I smile and grab her meal out of one of the bags.
“You got something for me,” she asks in her normal pleasant tone. I slide the closed container across the top of the desk. She inspects the meal quickly before closing the lid again. “I’ll buzz you up.”
I grab the handles, hopefully for the last time, and walk up the stairs to the wire gate closing off the Intelligence Unit. My heeled boots announce my entrance to the team. Kevin and Adam are hunched over a computer, while Haley and Voight are going over the board taped with various pieces of information.
“I smell Angelino’s!” Adam announces.
“That’s impressive,” I stand in the middle of the room and gesture with the heavy bags. Adam and Kevin leave their current task behind and take the food away to the kitchen. “Hello to you too,” I say under my breath.
“Hey, Jo,” Hayley waves.
“I’m Hank,” Voight reaches forward to shake my hand. This was the first time we officially met since he doesn’t come to the bar. I only know him from stories and photos.
“Nice to finally meet you.”
“Thanks for bringing this by, there’s only so much vending machine food one can take,” Hayley interjects.
“Of course, it’s from everyone at Molly’s.” Jay and Kim walk up the steps, they are donning their heavy winter coats and their cheeks are pink from the cold. Jay smiles as we make eye contact, I can’t help but smile back.
“Hey Jo! What are you doing here?” Kim asks.
“Angelino’s! You guys have to get in here before it’s gone,” Adam yelled with a mouth full of food. Kim dashed to the kitchen to join the rest of the team.
“You should get in there, that sounded like a threat,” I say to Jay.
“I’m sorry I haven’t reached out this week, after everything that happened at the renewal,” Jay practically whispers. His eyes are red and purple circles sit underneath, his lack of sleep is apparent.
“Hey, there’s no need to apologize about it, that’s not why I’m here. Will found me right away to fill me in. I get it, well I don’t fully get it, but you know,” I match his tone and step towards him, placing a comforting hand on his forearm.
“Thanks,” Jay looks towards the floor.
“How’re you doing?” It’s a stupid question, he’s obviously consumed by this.
“I’ll be better once we finally get the people who did it,” I slide my hand down his arm to find his hand. He grasps it immediately, clinging to any part of the outside world that isn’t tainted by this case.
“You call me if you ever need a break, even just for a minute okay?” I take a step closer and Jay nods.
“You want to stay and eat with us? I can get us some plates and sit in the interrogation room,” Jay offers.
“As intriguing as an interrogation room sounds, I have to get to Molly’s. You’re not the only one pulling a late shift tonight, except I’ll be making the world drunker, not better.”
“Some would say that’s better,” I laugh.
“Be careful out there detective,” Jay leans forward and kisses my temple.
“You too,” I squeeze his hand before letting go. I walk down the steps to head out of the precinct.
***
It took a few more days for the case to finally come to a close, but not in a way everyone hoped. The Intelligence Unit found the criminals that killed the family but soon after they were arrested, men in suits came into the precinct and took them away. They claimed that these men were a part of a bigger operation trying to take down a syndicate. So they practically get to walk free in witness protection and not pay for the heinous crimes committed.
The entire team were angry and rightfully so. A few of them sat quietly at a table against the wall drinking to try and shake the bad case. It’s hard to watch as I know there’s nothing I can do to ease their pain.
“They’ll be okay,” Stella says. I keep staring at the table and watch Jay bring his whiskey to his lips.
“How do you know that?” I genuinely ask.
“Sadly, this isn’t the first case like this and worse, it won’t be their last,” Stella starts pouring tequila into shot glasses. “Alcohol helps.”
“Stella, are you sure that’s the best idea?”
“It’s one shot,” she brushes off and takes the tray over to the table. The Intelligence Unit gladly accepts and down the shots without hesitation. This isn’t going to end well.
The table orders three more rounds of shots, but most of them stop once they start feeling tipsy and the weight they were carrying around was finally lifted. Jay on the other hand kept ordering whiskeys. I stand behind the bar and watch the once stoic man begin to crumble. He’s not crying or yelling, but his demeanor is different. Kim walks up to the bar while putting on her coat.
“Hey Jo, can you keep an eye on Jay? He’s taking this one really hard. He had to tell the kid what happened to his family when he woke up in the hospital, stuff like that sticks with you,” she puts her hands on the bar top.
“Of course, thanks for the heads up,” I look back to the table and see Adam and Kevin getting up, leaving Hayley and Jay at the table. Adam and Kevin wave before heading out the front door with Kim. I’m happy that Jay has Hayley, she gets it way more than I ever could. Normally it’s fun to watch Hayley and Jay interact, it’s like a brother and sister pushing each other’s buttons. There’s no humor between the two right now, Hayley is leaning forward, her brows furrowed trying to get through to Jay about something. I pour a few drink orders before heading over to take the empties away from their table.
“Jo!” Jay slurs, if he wasn’t drunk out of pain his slurred speech and lazy eyelids would’ve been really cute.
“Hey guys, can I get you anything? Water, maybe?” I ask while grabbing the empty beer bottles and glasses.
“I’d like another whiskey, no ice. Hayley?”
“Jay - “ Jay cuts Hayley off.
“No no no, I’ll order it at the bar. I gotchu Hales,” Jay gets up and walks a diagonal line towards the bar.
“Is this normal?” I ask Hayley as we both watch Jay.
“It’s not the first time, but it doesn’t happen often,” Hayley sighs. Hayley rubs her eyes, obviously tired.
“Hayley, I got him, you go home,” she shakes her head.
“No I’m fine -”
“You’re tired, I’m almost off shift anyway. I’ll give him a ride home, it’s not a big deal. Go get some rest,” she opens her mouth to fight, but it turns into a yawn proving my point.
“Call me if anything changes okay?” I nod as she puts on her jacket and heads out of the bar. I gather up the empty bottles and glasses sitting on the table and make my way behind the bar.
“Jojo, one whiskey neat,” Jay hiccups. I giggle and pour Jay a nice glass of cold water.
“Whiskey Jojo, I can’t drink straight vodka.”
“It’s water Jay, and I’m not a huge fan of this little nickname you’ve started,” Jay smiles and takes a sip of water.
“I think it fits you.”
“Keep drinking that water,” I roll my eyes and I start cleaning the used glasses. Jay makes himself comfortable on the stool while sipping his water and causally watches me finishing up my work. Kelly comes in to keep Stella company since she’s closing tonight, but gets sucked into sharing stories with Jay at the end of the bar.
Stella and I start to seal open bottles and close out tabs. I peel off to grab empties and clean tables while she deals with a few more customers. I constantly look towards Jay and Kelly, worried that Jay will start breaking down or switch moods, but it never happens. Jay continually laughs with Kelly, but his eyes start to droop as his exhaustion starts to beat out the alcohol in his system.
“Do you mind if I bail early? Make sure he sleeps in his own apartment rather than the floor of Molly’s,” Stella laughs and nods her head.
“Yeah I’m good, drive safe,” I squeeze her arm before grabbing my things from the back. When I start making my way over to Jay, his head is resting in his hand that’s propped up on the bartop.
“Hey Kelly, you’ll stay with Stella while she closes right?”
“Of course, don’t worry she’ll put me to work,” I thank him and then put my arm on Jay’s bicep.
“Jay, c’mon let’s get you outta here,” he clumsily tries to stand.
“If you want to get outta here, Jojo. Lead the way,” he grabs his jacket and starts walking towards the door without me.
“Go get ‘em Jojo,” Stella mocks. I point at her with a look that could kill.
“Don’t,” I quickly chase after Jay so he doesn’t trip down the few stairs leading from the bar. I grab him, not fully trusting his ability to stay upright. “C’mon, this way,” I wrap my arm around his torso and hook his arm around my shoulders.
“If you wanted to cuddle, all you had to do was ask,” he slurs. I bite my tongue and hope he’s too drunk to see the blush on my cheeks. I rest him against my car as I unlock the passenger door.
“Wait is this your car?”
“Yes, one you’ll be getting in,” I open the door and wait for Jay to climb in.
“Do I need to sign a waiver first?”
“Get in the car,” Jay laughs at his joke, but finally gets into the passenger seat.
It didn’t take long to get to Jay’s apartment from the bar, but in that short time he managed to change all my set radio stations to all the Christian pop stations because he thought it was hilarious. But as the night carried on, Jay starts to succumb to his fatigue, he’s sleeping with his head leaning against the window.
“Jay help me out here,” I plead. Jay shakes himself awake and leans into me allowing me to pull him out of the car. I lock the car quickly and grab Jay’s waist making our way into his building.
“Just a little bit further,” I coax Jay to make the last few steps out of the elevator and into the hallway. Jay struggles to unlock his front door, after a few minutes and refusing my help multiple times Jay opens his apartment.
“See, I told you I’d get it,” Jay strides through the door making his way to the living room and falls down on the leather sofa.
“Yeah, you got me,” I say while taking in Jay’s apartment. It’s a lot more put together than I thought it would be, don’t get me wrong there’s a ton of sports memorabilia, but at least it’s all neatly framed. It looks like all the furniture was bought together, rather than gathering old hand me downs. I throw my purse and jacket on the counter, then start the search through the kitchen cabinets to find a glass.
“Cabinet closest to the fridge,” Jay yells. I furrow my brow as I walk over the said cabinet and sure enough even in his tired, drunken state he’s right. I pour Jay a glass of water and make my way over to the sofa where he’s laying face down into the cushions. I run my hands through his soft hair making him stir to turn to face me.
“There’s a big glass of water on the coffee table when you need it,” he closes his eyes and smiles.
“You’re so beautiful.”
“How’d you know, your eyes are closed?”
“Your gorgeous face is printed on my eyelids,” and now I’m happy his eyes are closed, I can’t control my blushing cheeks.
“I got to head home Jay, you sure you’ll be okay?” I rise and take his military boots off since it doesn’t seem like he’ll be moving from the sofa anytime soon.
“Don’t worry your pretty little mind,” Jay cuddles one of his throw pillows causing a massive smile on my face.
“Text me tomorrow Jay.”
“Hey Jojo.”
“Yeah Jay?”
“Get ready, I’m gaining the courage to ask you out.”
“Thanks for the heads up,” I grab my stuff and leave Jay’s apartment.
***
I walk into Molly’s the next day to start my shift. Most of the lovely firefighters of Firehouse 51 are at the bar this afternoon, since they have the day off.
“JOJO!!” they scream out when they see me. I instantly stop in my tracks and search for Stella, who's hiding behind Kelly.
“You dug your own grave,” I whisper to her.
“I’m sorry, it just came out.”
“Yeah I’m sure,” I throw my things into the back office before going behind the bar.
“So… How was the rest of your night?” Stella asks, I’m grateful that she’s whispering.
“Nothing happened, Jay passed out on his sofa and I left.”
“I highly doubt that’s it. He didn’t say anything more to you?”
“Um…” The phone starts to ring. “I got it!”
“This isn’t over,” Stella goes to bring over some orders to tables.
“Molly’s,” I say as I pick up the landline.
“Hi baby,” his voice is rough like gravel and low. A voice I hoped to never hear again in my life. “You thought you’d run away and I’d never find you? I am your future, you’ll regret ever leaving -”
I hang up the phone before he can say anything else. I can hear my blood pounding in my ears and it’s like at any second my legs are about to give out.
“Jo you okay?” Matt asks, bringing me out of my own mind.
“Ugh yeah, spam. It was a spam call, I always almost fall for it,” I smile. He’s going to kill me.
Seventh part of Punisher. I couldn’t stop writing so here’s another part. I included a dress as a suggestion of what Jo would wear to the renewal, I’m just so obsessed with that dress, but imagine it how you want! This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of drinking, mentions of domestic abuse
“It looks great, thank you Jo,” Trudy warmly grabs my shoulder. I smile and let her get back to her other guests. The ceremony was short and sweet, Trudy and Mouch exchanged the same vows they did years ago. Trudy looked like a badass with her white suit while Mouch wore his dress uniform. Since they got married at city hall they didn’t get to have the full experience and wanted to dress up to the nines for the occasion. Everyone, out of respect, dusted off their dress uniforms as well, even the Intelligence Unit wore their’s. That left the doctors, spouses, and me in our formal wear. I haven’t had to dress up for an occasion like this in what felt like years, Silvie had to take me shopping to find a dress since I had nothing. I grab a glass of champagne from the table and bring it to my lips.
“Trudy happy with the place?” Jay asks, I nod as I swallow.
“Yeah, she even thanked me,” I say proudly.
“Well, it looks like you owe me a dance tonight,” Jay leans down to grab a bottle of beer from the tin tub filled with ice.
“Oh yeah? How did you come to that conclusion exactly?”
“It’s simple really. I helped you decorate this place and Trudy loves it so it would be a thank you dance so to speak,” Jay smirks as he pops the cap of his beer.
“Well if I had known that there would’ve been strings attached, I definitely would’ve thought it through more.”
“What more do you need to think through?”
“You don’t seem like a good dancer if I’m being honest.”
“I’m a great dancer.”
“We’ll see,” before Jay can respond we are told to take our seats for dinner and toasts. I’m sitting with most of the Molly’s crew - Stella, Kelly, Hermann, Cindy, me, and Matt, while Jay’s table is all of the Intelligence Unit. Normally I’d roll my eyes if they put Jay and I at the same table, knowing that it was them mostly teasing us, but right now I deeply wish that we weren’t at different tables.
“Excuse me everyone,” Chief Boden announces. “I was asked by the couple to say a few words.” The room quiets to listen, there are only a few clangs of silverware since people are still eating.
“I’ve had the privilege to know these two separately and as a couple. And let me tell you, if you don’t believe in soulmates, these two will make you reassess. I remember when they first met - I’d never seen Mouch so giddy and Trudy so… quiet. It was like they knew what was about to happen.
“I’ve been lucky enough to be with my wife for some years now, and her love changed me. Just like I know your love for one another has changed each other. I think anyone can tell you that love is easy, sometimes it's so simple, just like you’re waking up in the morning. But other times…. It can get really hard. Love isn’t something of convenience, there's sacrifice and there will never be a ‘right time.’ But I can tell you it’s so worth it,” without thinking, I look at Jay.
“You two have something so fierce that cannot be copied, but hell we all will try. To Randall and Trudy,” Chief Boden raises his beer to the couple that snaps me out of my daze. Maybe, I’ve been wrong this entire time to push Jay away. Boden’s words sit heavy on my chest for the rest of the toasts. Is it okay to confide in Jay? I turn to look at him again and this time I meet his bright blue, ocean eyes. He doesn’t try to look away, he smoothly winks and smiles.
“Thank you all so much for being here. We know we surprised everyone when we got married nearly ten years ago. You are all so important to us, that we wanted to go through this with you. We love you, now drink up!” Mouch yells. People immediately get up to get more drinks and start mingling again. I shoot down the rest of my champagne and go behind the bar to get more.
“I think you’re off the clock Jo,” Will jokes.
“It’s like a safe space, a security blanket almost.” I gesture to ask if Will wants another beer and he nods. “So how’s everything going with you and Nat? I mean, your ‘guy’ and his girl?” I slide him the opened beer.
“What?” his eyebrows furrow.
“You and Nat? The girl that just went through the ‘massive life change,’ you know who you have feelings for?”
“What? I wasn’t talking about us,” Will begins to whisper yell.
“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.” I whisper back.
“No I really wasn’t talking about us. Why would you think I would be talking about us?!”
“Because her husband died a year ago?! And you’re shamelessly in love with her?! Also everyone knows that when they say ‘I know someone who’ they’re really talking about themselves!” I whisper yell back to him.
“I’m not shamelessly in love with her, please.”
“Yes you are.”
“No - I was talking about Jay!”
“What?” My voice sounds as if I was punched in the gut. Hearing that Jay wants someone else feels painful. It has to be karma for not speaking up sooner. I lost him.
Before Will can say anymore, Jay walks up to the both of us. He slaps his brother on the back and scolds us for not joining the party.
“I should get out there, thanks Jo,” Will stands up from the stool and walks away.
“What were you two talking about?” Jay asks through a laugh.
“Ugh… you actually.”
“Yeah? Whatever he said he’s lying,” Jay jokes, but I don’t laugh.
“He said you have feelings for someone, and it’s painfully obvious apparently.”
“I wouldn’t say painfully -”
“But you do?” he nods. “I’m happy for you,” I plaster on a fake smile.
“You are?” he asks, almost confused.
“Of course, I’d love to meet her if I haven’t already,” Jay starts laughing.
“Jo,” he holds my hand. “I guess it isn’t so painfully obvious to one person. To the one person it matters.”
Oh shit.
“C’mon,” he doesn’t wait for me to speak. “I think you owe me a dance.”
Adele’s cover of “Lovesong” comes through the speakers as guests begin to couple up. Without a word I walk out from behind the bar and take Jay’s hand again. He strokes his thumb on the back of my hand as he leads me out to the dance floor. My other hand rests around his neck while his free hand wraps around my waist to pull me close. Our temples rest against each other as we sway to the music.
“I feel so stupid,” I whisper.
“Don’t, you needed time.”
“Thank you for giving it to me,” I pull away to look into his eyes.
“Of course, take all the time you need, okay?” I nod. “You look beautiful,” I can feel my cheeks flush.
“Thank you. You look…. Really hot in that uniform,” he laughs.
“Thank you,” we hold each other’s gaze. I watch as Jay’s eyes flicker down towards my lips. I look down towards our feet, not allowing the potential kiss.
“I’m sorry, it feels like everyone is watching us,” I whisper.
“You never have to apologize to me about that,” he whispers in my ear. “And you’re right, they are. Stella just gave me a thumbs up,” I laugh. Jay and I sway there for a while, despite knowing everyone is looking I never want to leave Jay’s arms. Luckily another slow song begins to play.
“I wanted to ask you something, um, police related,” he nods.
“I can’t get you out of that parking ticket Jo.”
“I paid it already,” he laughs. “No, I have this friend from back in LA and her boyfriend was horrible. He’s this drug runner, that would hit her so she got a restraining order. She moved to Boston to get as far away as possible, but would the restraining order still work in Boston?”
“Yeah, it should. Does she think he’d follow her out there?”
“Maybe? He’s unhinged and obsessive.”
“Well, I have some friends from the service that are now cops out there. I can give them her information to check on her.”
“You’d do that?” he nods.
“She’s important to you and she must be scared out of her mind.”
“Yeah, she is. But it took a lot of convincing to get her to even let me ask you about it, so I don’t know.”
“Whatever she’s comfortable with, you let me know.”
“I will, thank you,” Jay spins me out and back, making me laugh. I’ve never felt a moment more perfect than tonight. I guess I’ll have to make Will that Manhattan after all.
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Sixth part of Punisher. Not a super exciting chapter, but it’s important. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of drinking, mentions of a fight and harassment
Things have drastically changed in the days following the bar fight. Instead of Jay avoiding me, I avoided Jay. Whenever he came to the bar to order drinks, I immediately went to tables to grab empties and refills. Or when he walked over to close a tab I would find something to clean in the back. I know what you’re thinking and yes, it is childish and the worst way to handle things, but right now I don’t know what else to do. Honestly, I can’t think straight right now. Everytime I try to think through all the possibilities of a potential relationship between Jay and I my irrational thinking kicks in and I end up with an outcome that couldn’t possibly be correct. I can tell that I’m hurting Jay, that he was hurt after he spoke to me and I froze instead of reciprocating any sort of feelings.
“Jo….Jo!.... Earth to Jo!”
“What, sorry?” I turn to Emily.
“Can I get a refill please?” I move to grab the wine bottle and refill her glass.
“You okay Jo? You seem a little out of it today,” Silvie interjects.
“A little?” Emilly scoffs as she sips her wine.
“Just tired, I’ve had a lot of late shifts,” it’s not a complete lie.
“You sure it doesn’t have to do with someone with a name that rhymes with Ray?” Emily jokes.
“Em, please not today,” my body is exhausted, it can’t handle trying to explain the situation further.
“You can talk to us, about anything,” Silvie reassures.
“Yeah, I know I joke about it, but we’re here for you,” Emily agrees. The girls get up from the stools and move to the table with Matt and Cruz. What is wrong with me? I just need to not think about him and eventually things will go back to before I met him. I didn’t always know Jay Halstead, and the world still turned.
“Hey Jo, can I get a beer?” Will asked. Of course, I really should look for a different job. I grab a beer from the fridge and pop to cap for Will.
“Here yah go Will.”
“Thanks, can I ask you something?”
“Um…” I stutter. “I guess it depends.”
“There’s this guy I know who likes this girl.” Will whispers. I glance back to the table he just came from, Natalie laughs as Maggie finishes telling a story. Ah, gotcha.
“Alright.” I stop wiping down the counter and lean on my forearms so we can speak in a whisper.
“The girl is great, everyone likes her. But, she’s just had a major life change and he doesn’t want to be ‘taking advantage’ so to speak. But people can see that she very obviously has feelings for him too. What do you think he should do? Since you are a female.”
“Is that the only criteria you have?”
“You are also a bartender.”
“Whatever. Has this ‘guy’ made his feelings known to her?”
“Yeah, it’s shamefully obvious.”
“Good, he’s going to have to be patient. Since she just went through a major life change, she’s probably scared and doesn’t want to hurt him in the process.”
“Okay, is there anything he can do to help?” I take a deep breath and think hard for a minute.
“I think the best thing he can do is to show her that he’s not going anywhere, that he’s willing to wait as long as she needs. Because there’s no telling how long that’ll be, so being reassured in that would help a lot,” Will nods and takes a sip of his beer.
“You see why I wanted a female bartender to talk about this with?” I roll my eyes. “Thanks Jo, really.” I smile at Will and go back to wiping down the counter.
“Hey! Hey guys! Listen up!” Mouch runs into the bar with Trudy in tow.
“Hey, hey! Listen to the man!” Hermann grabs everyone’s attention and Mouch nods in gratitude towards his best friend.
“Not everyone’s here…” Mouch looks around. It’s true, some of the firemen and Intelligence Unit - including Jay - are missing from the bar tonight.
“Oh my God,” Trudy groans, “We’re renewing our vows!” The bar immediately erupts into joyous screams to congratulate the couple. I haven’t seen Trudy smile this big before, her cheeks must be hurting. The couple are herded into a giant hug from their friends and coworkers despite the objections.
“Jo, get the champagne! We need to toast!” Hermann shouts and I start passing out champagne flutes. Once everyone has some champagne, Hermann stands on the ledge to make a speech. “These two lovebirds have stood the test of time not to mention life threatening events because of the love they share. I won’t get too sappy cause I don’t want Mouch to start crying, but the love you have is special. You can tell by the way you look at each other or the way you talk about each other. Not many people get to experience that, but I can’t think of two people who deserve it more. We’re excited to continue on this journey with you. Cheers!” Everyone yells out before taking a sip. The couple are bombarded with questions about the renewal and how they came to the conclusion.
Hermann’s words swirl around my head, I want to be loved like that. I’ve only experienced harsh, painful love. Love that isn’t really love, more like imprisonment.
****
The days leading up to the renewal were hectic, since Trudy enlisted my help early on. It wasn’t an ask either, she threw down some binders for food options and told me to pick what I think would be best. Of course I did as told, since Trudy scares the shit out of me, and ever since I’ve been her go-to girl. I would be lying if I said the entire planning process wasn’t fun, one day Trudy brought cake slices to the bar to test out.
Currently, I’m fulfilling my last duties - transforming the bar. It feels right that Mouch and Trudy settled on the bar, it only took Hermann offering it up multiple times a day. The bar is empty as everyone has shifts today so they could get tomorrow off. It took me about an hour to move all the tables and stools around to provide a walkway for the ceremony. Once that was done, I took a break to lay on the floor since I never workout, but probably should start. But quickly, I realized my time crunch since I needed to run back home to get ready. The rest didn’t take long. Hermann brought over all the ironed out tablecloths before his shift, so I put those on the tables and booth tables that were left over after moving stuff around. I just started filling up vases with water for the flower arrangements when there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Trudy coming to take a quick peek I didn’t think to look through the peephole first.
“Hey, I have some stuff Trudy needed to be dropped off,” Jay spews out quickly. Stunned by Jay’s presence, I silently move out of the way so he can enter.
“How are you?” I force out.
“Good, ugh work’s been really hectic,” Jay puts the box of decorations on a covered table. “You?”
“Good. I somehow got roped into doing all this,” I move to look through the box. It’s filled with framed photos of Trudy and Mouch, including a photo from their wedding day.
“Look, Jo. I’m really sorry about stepping in. I just… the guy had it coming,” I laugh.
“He did. But I don’t want you to get in trouble because of me. It’s not worth you losing your job.”
“I would love to be able to stand here and tell you it will never happen again because I know that’s what you want to hear. But my only regret from that night was not stepping in sooner. And if I lose my job from punching out a guy who harasses and assaults you then so be it.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything, I’ve wanted to tell you this sooner, but you’ve been avoiding me like the plague,” I cringe.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to go about everything afterwards so I just avoided it. I know I hurt you and I really am sorry.” Jay smirks and nods.
“I should let you get back to all of this,” he moves his hands gesturing to the pure chaos behind me. “I’ll see you later.” My hands begin to shake. Say it, now. Go! Everything starts moving in slow motion, I want to tell Jay that I care. That I care for him and what happens to him, and the feelings I have are so confusing it’s infuriating. But it’s as if I’ve gone mute and my throat is too dry to speak.
“Wait!” I call out as Jay’s hand encompasses the door knob. He looks back at me, his blue eyes only make it harder for me to speak.
“Yeah?” He questions as I stand there opening and closing my mouth trying to speak. He takes his hand off the door knob, and like magic my heart rate decreases and my vision finally begins to clear.
“I could use some help here, if you’re free,” I stutter out. He smiles and slips off his coat.
Fifth part of Punisher. So sorry it’s taken so long to update, hopefully it’s worth it. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
I honk my horn as I pull into Hermann’s driveway. The Hermann family pauses to wave before taking some of the boxes out of Matt’s truck. Once I park, I grab one of the heavy suitcases in the back seat and make my way to the apartment above the detached garage.
“Here let me help,” Matt takes the suitcase out of my hands and without breaking a sweat he lifts the suitcase that I tragically tried dragging up the stairs.
“Thanks, and thanks for helping today. And lending your truck.”
“No problem, glad someone is actually using this place,” he puts the suitcase done on the hardwood floor and whispers, “I can think of one other person who has a truck and would love to help you. It was his idea in the first place.” I roll my eyes and pick up a cardboard box.
“Not you too Matt, you’re supposed to be on my team,” I whine. Trying to avoid this conversation, I start unwrapping glassware from the box and putting them into cabinets.
“I’m on your team Jo. I’m just stating from observation.” Matt says while leaning against the island.
“Yeah well, you obviously haven’t been ‘observing’ recently,” all of a sudden how the cabinets are organized becomes incredibly fascinating to me.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he furrows his brow with genuine curiosity.
“I kinda… went off on him about talking to Hermann. And… I haven’t talked to him since.”
“Ah, well apologizing would be a good start,” he says simply.
“I’m not trying to give him ideas that he can start making choices for me ‘cause he was right this one time,” I put my hand on my hip as if I’m standing my ground.
“Did Hermann force you to move in here? Did Jay handcuff you to the radiator to make sure you stay?” I shake my head no. “We look after our own, they probably aren’t the healthiest boundaries, but it’s what we do. I know Jay, and he goes above and beyond for everyone.” Matt says softly. It’s not “I’m gonna throw this in your face cause you’re so wrong,” it’s gentle. That’s something I’ve learned over the months of knowing Matt, despite his massive stature he’s the biggest softie of them all. I smile at Matt because I’m speechless. I know he didn’t mean to, but the guilt of Jay’s and mine exchange has only grown from Matt’s words.
“Hey, c’mon you two! We have to unload the cars!” Hermann yells jolting us back into reality. Matt squeezes my shoulder before heading out the door.
*****
The firemen of 51 once again take up almost the entirety of the bar top tonight. I laugh as Kelly is pushing Stella’s buttons. Apparently, Stella voiced her opinion on vanilla Oreos the night before and Kelly has latched onto it.
“It’s not an Oreo! There needs to be chocolate for it to be an Oreo!” Stella says through her teeth.
“But the company made them, therefore it’s an Oreo,” Kelly says calmly. Stella hits her hand on the bar top and shouts to Hermann that she’s taking a break. “It’s so easy,” Kelly practically giggles while taking a sip of his beer.
“Hey, can I get a beer please?” Jay looks anywhere but me, my heart sinks knowing that I caused all of this. I start to work on the drinks, hoping that it works. I pour quickly trying to avoid Jay asking any questions as to why I’m not simply reaching for two beers in the fridge under the counter. As Jay traces the knots in the wood on the bar top, I slide the old-fashioned under his nose. His beautiful blue eyes finally make eye contact with mine.
“What is this?” I naw on my bottom lip.
“An apology,” I lean my forearms on the bar top in front of him, so I don’t have to speak as loud.
“You never make these. How did you know I even liked them?”
“Will.”
“Will,” Jay repeats and smiles.
“I’m sorry that I bit your head off when all you were doing was trying to help. I see now, that you weren’t trying to make any choices for me or force me into anything.”
“You’re forgiven. And I’m sorry too,” he says and takes a sip of the old-fashioned.
“Don’t be too sorry. You’re still paying for that or Hermann will have my head,” Jay laughs.
“Deal. So you move in yet?”
“Yeah a few days ago. I’ll probably gain twenty pounds while I’m there because Cindy bakes so much.”
“You should have her drop some of that off at the district.”
“I’ll let her know,” a smile spreads across my lips, that Jay matches. I’m so grateful how easy it is to fall back into conversation with Jay, I’ve missed this. I’ve missed Jay.
“Um have you heard anything about Eve, the woman who was attacked in my building - old building?” I quickly correct myself.
“She’s doing well, out of ICU. She’s safe in the hospital, there’s a guard with her 24/7. Voight fought for us to take the case and find who did it, but the commissioner shut it down.”
“Why, you and Adam were there.”
“Let’s say, the commissioner and Voight don’t play well together,” Jay states while taking a sip of his drink. I can tell it really bugs Jay that he’s not on the case. There is probably more that he isn’t mentioning, but I don’t push. As much as I would like to beg Jay to fight for the case or at least find out more information, I change the subject and Jay doesn’t object. The other members of the Intelligence Unit join Jay and fall into conversation with the firefighters of 51. Kim starts to tell one of her stories from her patrol days, I can’t help but look at Adam. The way he looks at her can make even the Grinch’s heart grow. The simple look of deep admiration paired with a glimmer of perfection. Because to Adam, Kim is perfect. I’ve never seen unequivocal love like in the relationships here. Everyone’s laughter breaks me out of the love spiral, I’ve been getting into quite a few of those lately. It’s hard not to compare the softness and healthy relationships to the ones I’ve been exposed to. I let my mind wander as people exchange stories from the previous week.
“Hey, can I get two beers,” a rough voice interjects. I nod and start fulfilling the order. “And a scotch, no ice too,” he adds. His brunette beard is thick and his matching brown eyes are heavily dilated from the alcohol. I start pouring the scotch and notice his slightly swaying form observing me.
“Anything else?” I ask as I push the scotch over to him.
“I should order something just to watch you move some more,” he bites his bottom lip.
“You have a tab open or you paying for those now?”
“Oh don’t try to get rid of me princess,” my body shivers at the terrible pet name. I open my mouth to ask again, but am cut off.
“Watch it,” Jay’s voice is almost venomous as he glares at the guy.
“Name for the tab,” I say before anything can escalate. I stand in between the men as best as I could with the angle of the bar top.
“Richards, I’ll talk to you soon sweetheart,” the dunkard thankfully gets up to leave. I look over to Jay as he’s watching the man walk back to his table. Jay’s eyes watch his every move making sure this character doesn’t try anything again. Jay and I make brief eye contact before I go to charge the drinks to Richards’ tab. This wasn’t the first time someone has tried to drunkenly hit on me at the bar, but there haven’t been many. Normally being surrounded by the large firemen scare the cowards off. This is the first time that Jay’s been here to witness it, however. I feel suffocated by eyes on me, even though no one was actually looking at me, once the guy left everyone went back to their conversations.
“You know what really pisses me off?” Capp says. Oh no. “How movies make it seem that cops and firefighters don’t like one another!” Capp states passionately. Once his words left his lips it felt like a weight was lifted from my chest. I should’ve known Capp wouldn’t bring up anything serious, let alone what just happened. Kevin jumps in to agree with Capp and just like that, the worry flowing through my veins dissipates.
“You okay?” Stella whispers so only I can hear her. I nod and brush off the incident quickly. I tell her I’m going to clean some glasses as I grab a plastic crate that’s only half full, but she doesn’t argue. I really am fine after that asshole with zero manners. I felt safe in the bar, everyone has my back and he’d have to dive over the bar top to really get to me. My mind couldn’t fight off the pet names however. When those fell from his mouth it was as if old wounds were reopened. That’s what he would call me, he only used my name when he was angry with me. He liked to use those ridiculous pet names to manipulate me and it worked. I can’t stop the intruding thoughts of him and all he’s done to ruin me. I grip the edge of the sink and try to steady my thoughts and my breathing. A large part of me wants to throw the glassware against the wall and scream. I close my eyes and start thinking about all the things I can feel to ground myself. He’s not here, he’s not going to find you. You got out. My heart begins to return to a normal rhythm and my breathing slows, leaving my head a little dizzy. I finish the last few glasses and make my way back out to the bar.
“Final call!” Hermann announces and rings the bell to notify the bar.
“Alright who needs a ride?” Hailey stands and puts on her coat. Kim and Adam both take Hailey up on her offer. Kevin left hours ago to get back to his siblings, stating he doesn’t trust them to not burn the house down. “Jay?” she questions.
“I’m good, my truck is here,” he tilts his water glass to his partner. They all say their goodbyes and head out of the bar.
“You want some more?” I nod towards his water.
“I’m good, thanks. Don’t think you’re off the hook for never seeing the Godfather.”
“Oh my God, give it a rest,” I leave to clean up some empties.
“It’s a classic!” Jay continues to argue.
“No, a classic is To Kill A Mockingbird, or Titanic. Not a movie that men only like because of an outrageous amount of violence.” I say while putting empties on the bar top.
“Never seen those.” Jay joins and starts gathering empties from the last few tables.
“You’ve never seen To Kill A Mockingbird or Titanic and you’re giving me shit about not seeing Good Father?”
“It’s the Godfather, first of all.”
“Whatever.” I roll my eyes and place the final bottles on the bar top. Jay laughs as he sits back down.
“Hey gorgeous, wanna close out that tab for me?” I turn and am met with alcoholic breath so powerful that it could melt off your eyebrows. Ah, Richards.
“Yeah, give me a second and I’ll get it for you.” I can feel Jay’s glare.
“Why don’t you give me your number while you’re at it?” I ignore him and scowl at Jay to make sure he does the same. “Oh what, cat got that pretty tongue of yours? I can think of so many things for that beautiful mouth,” he whispers and glides his hand up my back.
“Get your hands off of me,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Oh playing hard to get?”
“What-” Jay cuts me off.
“She said get your hands off of her.” Jay’s jawline looks as if it’ll snap from the pressure.
“Stay out of this man, it doesn’t involve you,” Richards’ hand slowly travels down my back getting dangerously close to my butt. I push him away before he could get any further. Richards falls to the floor, since he couldn’t grab the bar quick enough in his drunken state. This only angered him. I immediately freeze in fear when Richards starts to move with his fist cocked. A blur of movement swiftly meets the man and slams him into the wall. Jay’s forearm digs into the man’s throat applying enough pressure to limit his airway.
“What’re gonna do hit her?” Jay is seething. The man gasps for air, his friends get up to help him.
“Jay,” I try to warn, looking at his friends not knowing if they’ll attack Jay.
“You look at her again and I won’t hold back. Got it?” Richards nods.
“Jay!” I yell, trying to end this entire situation. Hermann and Kelly run over and pull Jay off of him.
“You and your friends get out of here!” Hermann yells following the men towards the front door to make sure that they leave. Kelly tries to calm down Jay, but Jay just brushes him off and walks over to me. He gently grabs hold of my arms and lets his thumb rub against my upper arm.
“Are you okay?” I stare in his eyes. It’s like the violent man that just attacked someone melted away and left a concerned, soft exterior. “Jo? I’m sorry I should’ve stepped in sooner.”
“Get out,” the words fall out of my mouth before I know what is happening.
“What?” I peel off Jay’s warm hands.
“Get out. You just fought someone, get out,” I grab Jay’s coat and throw it at his chest. He catches the coat, but doesn’t move, stunned by my response.
“Jo, please,” I shake my head. “Listen -”
“No, Jay,” I cut him off. He takes a step towards me but I push him away.
“I’ll leave I promise, just please tell me why you’re mad at me?”
“Not here,” I give in and walk towards the front door. I wrap my arms around my torso once I meet the winter air. Jay offers his jacket, but like a child having a tantrum I refuse. “Why did you do that? He can press charges, you can get in trouble Jay.”
“His hands were all over you, he didn’t take no for an answer.” He says simply.
“God, when are you going to realize I don’t need saving?!” I yell trying to get a reaction out of him.
“I know you don’t need saving,” he says, his voice gentle. “But you need to understand that I can’t sit by and watch…. especially when it’s you.” It feels like I’ve been punched in the gut. I would be lying if I said that I haven’t been waiting for those words. I want Jay, but I can’t bring him into anything that may follow me. “I’m sorry for overstepping Jo. I’ll see you later,” Jay says defeated and puts on his coat. Jay walks past me to get to his truck and I can’t stop watching him, like an idiot, I haven’t said anything. I know I should’ve lied and told Jay that I don’t have feelings for him so we could move on, but I couldn't.
“C’mon Jo, you’ll freeze sweetie,” Stella comes out the front door and wraps her arms around my shoulders directing me back inside.
Fourth part of Punisher. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of drinking, blood, mentions of violence/attack, long (!)
“Jo, can you get that order ready? I have to go do inventory in the back,” Hermann asks. His silver eyeglasses are perched on the bridge of his nose, the reflection of the paperwork on his clipboard plays across his lenses. I nod and start to pour a few glasses of wine to take over to the table in the back corner. A few weeks passed since my first day and Hermann and Stella have started to trust with a lot more responsibility around the bar. It’s been great getting closer with the regulars and I’ve even stopped by the firehouse to have lunch with everyone a few times. I pick up some empties on my way back to the bar and start to wash the used glasses. It was a pretty quiet night and the crowd has only thinned out as the night went on.
“Hey Jo, how’s loverboy?” Emily insinuated. I met Emily and Silvie during one of my first shifts and they really latched onto Jay’s and my relationship, or lack thereof. We ended up having a few drinks after my shift on the same day Jay dropped me off at Molly’s. The way I feel when I’m with Jay is new, something I’ve never experienced before. When Jay is around I feel….. Safe. It’s like I can fully be myself, there are no eggshells to tiptoe around.
“He’s at the table near the door, why don’t you go ask him?” I ask.
“Oh please, you must have noticed how Jay likes to hang around Molly’s, but really only during your shifts,” Emily whispers.
“And how he’ll stay late on the nights you’re closing up,” Silvie lowers her voice to match Emily’s. I pause cleaning and lean onto the bartop in front of them.
“You guys just described yourselves,” I whisper back.
“That’s not true, we are here… an average amount,” Emily fights back, but not really believing it. Silvie says nothing, but I can tell by the way her eyes are moving that she’s trying to do the math. I smirk and say nothing. They’re not wrong about the amount of time Jay spends at the bar. Sometimes he comes in with a few members of the Intelligence Unit or with Will, but he always spends time at the bar to talk. And then there are the times he’s come in alone and sat on the same stool all night to ensure his spot is saved. But I’ve tried to not think about it if I’m being completely honest. A part of me feels like I’m crossing a line I’ll never be able to step back, I’m supposed to be hidden, flying below the radar. I’ve really tried, people have offered to hang out on my days off or grab drinks and I always turn them down. I could never live with myself if any of these people got hurt because of me. I keep telling myself that I have everything exactly how I want it, but that is a big fat lie and I have no interest in fixing it.
“Hey Jo, can I close out?” the breath in my lungs immediately dissipates. Jay really is punch you in the gut kind of beautiful.
“Yeah, course,” I move further down the bar to the register. “How’s Will doing these days?”
“He’s good, the long shifts are killing him, but other than that he’s good.”
“Well maybe you shouldn't keep him out this late,” he smirks and hands me his credit card.
“Yeah, probably shouldn’t. He’s just being a good brother,” I hand Jay his receipts to sign.
“Will you come around tomorrow?” Really smooth, that didn’t sound too eager at all.
“Can’t sadly, I pulled the short straw of late shift patrol.”
“Wow, how’d you get so lucky?” He hands me back the signed copy.
“It’s a gift I guess. At least I’ll be with Adam, you remember him right?” Adam Ruzek, probably one of the tallest men I’ve ever seen. It’s hard to forget him since he acts like a teenage boy trapped in a man’s body. I smile and nod at Jay’s question. “Yeah, so at least I’ll have someone to talk to.”
“How are him and Kim doing, still on the outs?”
“Yeah. Hey don’t let me regret spilling that to you,” he taps his knuckles on the wooden bartop.
“First, I’m offended. I’m an excellent secret keeper. Second, maybe it should be harder than a couple of beers for a detective to start disclosing secrets,” I shrug.
“It’s called confiding actually.”
“Oh is that right,” I smile.
“Yes. I’m sorry, I have to go. I’ll see you around Jo,” Jay starts backing away towards the front door.
“Bye Jay.”
Is it too serious to tell him to stay safe? The words were on the tip of my tongue, ready to be dropped, but it never came. I look to the girls at the other end of the bar who give me a look of victory from Jay’s and my interaction. I simply roll my eyes and get back to work.
****
My eyes are barely staying open as I park my car in front of my apartment building. That’s right, I have a car. A real shitty one to match my apartment. It does provide some comfort knowing that it’ll never get broken into. The frigid air does very little to wake me up, my body is deeply craving sleep. Between the double shift today and the closing shifts the nights before, I haven’t gotten enough sleep to say the least. My feet slowly trudge up the creaking stairs, for some reason someone years ago thought it would be a good idea to paint them white, but never did any touch ups and just left it to chip and fade over time. The ceiling in my apartment was “fixed” a week ago, but by the looks of it I wouldn’t be surprised if it dropped again.
“Time for sleep,” I smile lazily. I plug my phone in to charge and go to the closet to hang up my coat. My bed has never looked so inviting, hell my water ruined coach looks like a good place to sleep right about now. I start to brush my teeth when I hear a muffled yell. I pause and wait for it to reoccur, but after a few seconds I start to believe it’s my tired mind playing tricks.
“Help….please,” it’s so faint that if you weren’t looking for it you’d miss the outcry. A loud crash follows which causes the adrenaline to course through my veins and bolt out of my apartment. A woman lays in the hallway, I look to the stairs and the vibrant blood clashes with the white stairs and banister. She groans and tries to move.
“Hey, don’t move,” I say as softly as I can. I take off the hoodie that I always wear under my coat and start to push it under her head as a makeshift pillow. Her eyes flutter closed, but she doesn’t try to move anymore. I start to get up from my knees and her hand quickly snatches my forearm.
“Please don’t leave me,” her voice is hoarse. This is the first time I really look at her face that’s covered in blood and cuts. Her eyes are hollow and tired. I look down to her hand that’s also covered in blood, there’re cuts across her knuckles. She fought back.
“I’ll be right back, I just need to get my phone. Just relax, you’re safe,” I had no place to tell her how to feel, but once she loosens her grip I take full advantage and run to my phone to call 911. As I’m explaining the events to the dispatcher I take the rolls of gauze and first aid kit from my apartment with me to the hallway.
“What’s your name?” My voice is calm, I start to try and wrap the injuries bleeding the most.
“Eve,” her voice faint and weak.
“Hi Eve, I’m Jo. You’re not alone okay? I’m not leaving you,” she nods slightly keeping her eyes closed. “The police are coming.” Once I finish wrapping the wounds on her face, I start to look over the rest of her body to see if anything needs immediate attention. Her upper arm was slashed and she was stabbed in the leg which is basically gushing. They might’ve nicked the artery. As fast as I can without putting her in too much pain I wrap up her arm and start pilling on copious amounts of gauze to her leg wound. The bright red liquid stains the used gauze and my hands as it can’t be stopped by the gauze alone. I start to undo my belt and wrap it above the wound.
“Eve, this is going to hurt, but I need you to stay still so I can stop the bleeding okay?” she groans in response. Her skin is almost as pale as the white wooden floor. I leave her for one last time to get a wooden spoon from my kitchen. I start the tourniquet and try to push away Eve’s cries of pain. “I know, I’m sorry,” she doesn’t respond. Once the tourniquet is in place I get more gauze to put pressure on the wound.
“Police! Call Out!” I’ve never felt so relieved to hear those words.
“Up here! Hurry!” I shout back.
“Holy shit.”
“Jo?” My head snaps up to Jay’s face.
“Jay, help her,” my exhaustion slowly defeating the adrenaline in my body.
“I got this Jo,” Adam moves to put pressure on the leg wound. I slide back to lean against the wall.
“Jo, what happened?” Jay’s face directly in front of mine. I’ve never seen his eyes this close up before, there’s so many blues thrown together.
“I heard her yell for help, I think she fell down the stairs,” Jay follows my gaze to the stained stairs behind him. “Her name is Eve,” he nods and pulls away to talk into his radio.
“Eve, Eve, can you hear my sweetheart?” Adam yells to Eve, she winces in response. “The ambulance should be here in a minute, just hold on okay?” Eve’s eyes flutter open and frantically look for me.
“Hey, I’m right here. I’m not leaving,” I walk and practically collapse on the other side of her. Her bloody hand finds mine like it’s her only lifeline.
“Ruzek, I’m going to clear the rest of the building. Jo stay with Adam,” normally I would fight and tell Jay to not go alone, but my body is gradually fading.
“We’re good man, go,” Adam urges. “Jo, you okay there darling?” his voice sounds morphed in my mind.
“Yeah I’m fine,” Adam reaches for his radio, I watch him talk but nothing comes out of his mouth. I shake my head to try and get my mind straight.
“Paramedics!”
“Up here guys!” Adam yells back. “Eve, the medics are here, you’re gonna be okay.”
“What do we got?” One medic asks, Adam takes it upon himself to explain the prior events as best as he can from the information I gave him earlier. I release Eve’s hand and move so the medics can help her, she seems to understand because Eve doesn’t fight me moving away. It felt like an out of body experience watching them try and save Eve.
“There’s a blood trail leading a few floors up, went into the apartment it started from but it’s empty. Cars are on their way to secure the scene,” Jay is back, but I don’t look at him. “Hey Jo, why don’t you sit down?” Jay grabs my arms and gently leads me to a clean stair to sit. “What’s the ETA on that second ambulance?”
“Two minutes,” one medic answers while removing my sweatshirt from under Eve’s head to get her on the back board.
“Second ambulance?” I ask.
“Yeah, just to check you out really quick. You might be going into shock,” Jay responds softly.
“I’m fine, just really tired,” my voice is barely above a whisper.
“Just in case, okay? Here,” Jay takes off his CPD bomber jacket and wraps it around my shoulders.
“Jay give us a hand,” Adam calls while grabbing hold of one side the back board that holds Eve.
“Yeah. Stay right here, I’ll be right back,” Jay rubs my back before getting up from the stair and helping get Eve down the stairs to the ambulance. I rest my head against the wall as my body enters full crash mode. I just want to sleep. “Jo, come on let’s go get you checked out,” Jay helps put my arms through the correct holes of his jacket and leads me down the steps to outside.
The steel of the ambulance is cold against my butt. A woman with red hair and bright green eyes starts taking my vitals. The blue and red lights of the cop cars light up the entire street. People are bringing a ton of equipment into my apartment building, whoever was sleeping in the building isn’t anymore.
“Well everything looks good. Her body is crashing from all the adrenaline, so she’ll need some good rest, but other than that she’s fine,” the medic tells Jay.
“Thanks Terry,” Jay replies before taking a seat next to me. He hands me a water bottle, I accept it with my blood stained hand. I should be acting more freaked out about the blood, but I’m too tired to lie.
“You did a great job in there. You a nurse or something?” Terry asks me.
“Um, no,” I leave it at that. Like I said, I’m too tired to lie. A guy that’s mildly balding with a thick beard appears from around the corner of the ambulance. He has a massive camera balanced around his neck.
“I need to take photos,” he says plainly.
“Photos?” I ask confused.
“C’mon man, can’t you give her a second to breathe?” Jay defends.
“You know the protocol Detective,” there’s no life in his words. I place the water bottle on the ambulance steel and take off Jay’s jacket. The man positions my hands to take photos for evidence. After he’s satisfied with the photos of my hands he starts to circle and take pictures of my clothes, the fact he does it silently makes me uncomfortable. I think Jay feels the same way since he wraps me again in his black jacket and tells the rude man that’s enough. Jay leads me back to my apartment. The building is full of officers and lab techs, the whole place is a crime scene. Jay and I don’t talk till we get inside my apartment. A part of me is embarrassed that he has to see my shitty apartment, but it’s quickly pushed away.
“Do you know her?” Jay asks.
“No, but I don’t know anyone in this building,” I answer honestly. “I try to keep to myself.”
“You can wash your hands,” I nod and move to the kitchen to start scrubbing the dried blood from my hands. “Maybe, you shouldn’t stay here tonight.”
“If you’re worried about the noise, I’m way too tired to care. Besides, this building has never been safer with all the cops crawling around,” I try to joke.
“I have an extra bedroom Jo, it would be no trouble,” he pushes.
“Thank you, but I’m fine. I promise,” the skin on my hands is just about raw once all the blood is off. I let my hands stay under cold water to try and ease the pain. “Um, will you let me know what you find out about Eve? Let me know if she’s gonna be okay.”
“Yeah. I’ve heard you’re a good secret keeper.”
“Thanks,” I hand him back his jacket. Jay smiles and hesitantly moves toward the door.
“Before I go, at least take this,” he hands me his business card. “Call me if you don’t feel comfortable staying here, I’ll come pick you up.”
“Okay, yeah,” my fingers run over the raised lettering across the card. Without another word, Jay leaves. I lock the door and make my way to my room to finally get some long overdue sleep. I don’t look at the time, I know that won’t help me. The muffled talking and walking from outside my apartment gradually lull me to a deep sleep.
A slight vibration slowly brings me out of my nightly slumber. I never plugged my phone in to charge after the events of last night, it’s settled next to me by my pillow. I have three missed calls from Hermann. It’s almost noon, but I’m still tired. I call back Hermann knowing he’s probably freaking out since I haven’t answered.
“Hey kid!” His immense energy brings a smile to my face.
“Hi Hermann, everything okay?”
“Yeah, we’re good. I heard about last night, how are you?” Of course he did.
“Yeah I’m good, still trying to wrap my head around it, I guess.”
“Of course. How about when you’re up for it you stop by Molly’s I want to ask you something.”
“I can be there in an hour,” Hermann and I exchange our goodbyes. I groan spills out of my lips as I stretch my arms above my head. Once I finally move from my bed, I immediately go to shower, something I probably should’ve done last night. The boiling water feels euphoric against my skin and the steam cleans out my mind. I need to come up with a story with details to explain last night. There’s no way that people won’t push like they did last night, I was given space because of the tragic event. A dull pain flows down my legs as I clean the new bruises on my knees. I didn’t realize how hard I slammed my knees on the hardwood in the hall last night. Once I pull myself from the warm confides of the shower I have to rush to put on jeans and a sweater before being late to meet with Hermann. I don’t have time to blow dry my hair so I throw it up in a bun before grabbing my keys and running to my car. The hallways and stairs are covered in black dust from fingerprinting, it’s surprising how quickly they cleaned everything up.
Luckily, there’s a free spot not too far from Molly’s. It’s decently full for a Saturday afternoon. The inside heat is slowly thawing my frozen hair and face from the freezing wind.
“Jo, you want a cup of coffee?” Hermann is the only one behind the bar and I’m very grateful for that.
“Yes please,” I sit at one of the stools and welcome the hot cup of coffee.
“How’re you doing?” Hermann comes around the bartop to take the seat next to me.
“I’m good, still a bit tired if I’m honest.”
“Yeah, what happened last night must’ve really taken it out of you.”
“I didn’t realize that all first responders are such gossips,” I take a sip of the hot coffee.
“Oh the worst,” he laughs. “I’m not good about beating around the bush so I’ll just go right into it. I have an apartment above my garage. It was meant for my mother-in-law but she had to move into assisted living.”
“That’s - good for you?” I’m confused.
“I think you should move in there. It’ll -”
“Oh Hermann I don’t think so, I have a place.”
“I know, but it’s a scene of a crime. They still haven’t found the person who did that to that poor girl. You can pay rent if that makes you feel better, and we don’t even have to see each other. It’s that separate from the main house. Look from what Jay said I don’t think it would be good for you to stay there,” Hermann’s eyes grow wide as we realizes he gave away his source.
“Jay? Was this his idea?” Hermann stutters trying to find a way out of the hole he dug for Jay. “Great, I’ll see you tomorrow Hermann. Thanks for the offer,” I abandon the rest of the coffee and get up to leave Molly’s.
“Hey kid, it may not have been my idea but we would love to have you,” Hermann expresses sincerely. The anger that was boiling inside of me settles at his kind words for a moment.
“Thanks, I’ll let you know,” he nods and makes no effort to stop me from storming out of the bar this time. Once I enter the cold streets I’m met with a few members of the Intelligence Unit including the perpetrator himself, Jay Halstead. I exchange short greetings with each one before they head inside.
“Hey how are you doing?” Jay says once everyone is gone.
“Fine. I would ask you the same thing, but you must be tired since you’ve been so busy,” Jay furrows his brows.
“What? What are you talking about Jo?”
“I just had a really interesting conversation with Hermann. About my living situation. That you instigated,” I start to walk towards my car, ready to leave Jay without another word.
“Jo, please. Let me explain -” I spin around so fast it almost makes me dizzy.
“No. Do you think that shitty apartment in a horrific neighborhood was my first choice? But I’m doing this on my own for once.”
“You don’t have to do this on your own.”
“Yeah well I also don’t need people making my choices for me. Goodbye Jay,” I turn and walk towards my car. Never in my life did I wish I was getting into a Lexus more than right now.
Tags (hopefully I did this right!) - @whit85-blog
Third part of Punisher. I apologize it’s taking me so long to post these, but want to make sure they’re good for you all. Thank you for the support so far!! This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the shows.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of drinking, long (!)
Things are going really well at Molly’s. It’s like falling into step during a choreographed dance. It feels odd to say that I’m comfortable and confident when it’s only my second shift. I’m working with Stella tonight, who to say the least had a lot of fun the night before. When she first walked into the bar she looked as if Casper made a stop in Chicago. At the start of opening she kept her jacket on and slammed down cups of black coffee. Her body seemed to stay in a permanent state hunched over the bar top while she only communicated through slow movements with her fingers. I couldn’t watch her pain any longer, so I used my break to grab a cheeseburger and fries so greasy the oil soaked the paper bag.
“You need to put something solid into your body,” I announce as I plop the white, greased bag on the bar top in front of Stella’s practically limp body. She slowly lifts her head with a deep groan and analyzes the bag.
“I’m a firefighter Jo, my body is a temple. I can’t eat this,” I can’t stop the laugh that escapes my lips.
“Are tequila shots a part of your ‘temple’s’ regimen?” she sniffs the bag and sighs.
“You see, the tequila actually kills all the bacteria in the stomach,” Stella examines the golden fry before taking a bite.
“Be sure to tell your theory to the doctors that come in later, I’m sure they’d love to hear that.”
“I will,” she says with a mouthful of cheeseburger.
Just like magic, Stella is back to her bouncy self. It amazes me how much like Hermann she is, she practically floats around Molly’s. She talks to everyone and makes sure they’re having a good time. Stella sets the tone of the entire bar, bringing life to every inch of the place. It’s nice to watch her interact with others, a part of me is envious of how natural it comes to her. A part of me is, also, envious of her relationship with Kelly. His eyes when he looks at her are filled with unconditional love and the way Stella looks at him when he’s not looking confirms that she feels the same. I’ve never had that… or will have it. The bar top serves its purpose as a closed door to the patrons on the other side, I open it as much as I want and they see what I want them to see. I’m in control.
It’s a busy Friday night, the bar filled quickly. The firemen I met last night stroll in with the same vigor as the night before, obviously hurting a lot less than Stella was a few hours ago. Stella plays it off as if she didn’t have a raging hangover, but Kelly quickly throws her under the bus. Cruz yells as he claims he’s known the truth all along, but Mouch steps in to deny it, leading to Cruz listing out facts about how he knew. I place a few beer bottles in front of the guys, trying not to get involved.
“I’m sorry about them,” Matt says.
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. They’re funny,” I smile.
“You don’t have to hear it all day long,” Matt grumbles as he takes a long sip from his beer.
“This is true. I get them in concentrated doses,” I excuse myself to collect empties at the tables scattered around the room. With my hands full I turn to head back to the bar top, but crash into a hard body. I stumble back from the blow and the mystery man swiftly grabs my arms to keep me from falling. Once I get my footing back, he releases my arms.
“Sorry about that. Are you okay?” His voice is like velvet that draws my eyes up to look at his face. Wow. My mind fell into a haze barely registering his question.
“Um, yeah. Thanks,” he smirks at how long it took me to answer his question. Really smooth Jo. “I should get back to work, sorry about running into you,” I walk backwards a few steps, he immediately steps forward keeping the same amount of space between us as before.
“Let me at least help you with those, I’m heading to the bar anyway,” before I could object, his large hand cradles the numerous beer bottles that were once in my hand. Before my brain can spiral about his large hands, I spin and head back to the bar. I silently weave through the customer’s of Molly’s, I needed to get back to my safe zone to hopefully make his charm less effective. He gently places the bottles on the bar top for me to discard, I smile and thank him. Before I can ask for his order, the firemen and Stella welcome him to the bar.
“Hey Jay, haven’t seen you around here in awhile,” Stella mentions.
“Yeah I know. Um have you seen my brother anywhere?” Stella shakes her head no. Brother? I try to seem like I’m not listening while cleaning up behind the bar and get any excuse not to look at him again. One embarrassing moment for tonight is enough. Out of nowhere, Will pops up and slaps Jay on the back. They go in for a quick hug before Will says hi to everyone.
“Hey don’t kill me, but I invited Nat. I know it’s supposed to just be us, but she had a really rough day,” Will whispers, Jay shakes his head to let him know he’s totally fine with it. “Great, thanks man.”
I put two glasses of red wine on the bar top for two women that definitely want to take a firefighter home tonight. After how many women these men turned down the night before I highly doubt they’ll have any luck, but I’m kinda rooting for them.
“Hey Jo,” Will smiles.
“Hi Will,” I say in monotone to mess with him.
“Have you met my brother Jay?” Will slaps Jay’s chest which startles Jay a little, making me smile. Geez, these guys must have gorgeous parents. Will is handsome of course, but Jay...
“We kinda ran into each other actually.” I smirk.
“Oh that’s great, he’s a really good guy. He’s a cop, detective, sorry,” Will corrects himself, Jay is glaring at him.
“I’m not making you a manhattan,” he slaps his hand against the bar top.
“Worth a shot. Can I get a glass of chardonnay and a beer, oh and whatever Jay’s having,” I nod and grab Will his drinks. He slides me his credit card to open a tab then walks off to see Natalie at the table.
“I’m definitely missing something, why does my brother want a manhattan?” Jay finally asks.
“Oh Jay it was great!” Stella jumps in to tell a very colorful version of the events that happened between Will and I. As she finishes up she is swept to the end of the bar to take an order.
“She was drunk last night” I mumble under my breath. Jay smirks, knowing Stella’s retelling was probably fabricated. “What can I get you?” I try to change the subject.
“A beer please,” I nod. “You’re new here Jo?” He phrases it as a question, but it's definitely more of a statement.
“Yeah, started yesterday,” I hand him his beer.
“Thanks. Are you from Chicago?”
“No, LA actually, lived there my whole life,” I lean my forearms on the bar top in front of him.
“Wow, big change.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if I thought it all the way through to be honest,” he smiles.
“Well let me tell you if you haven’t figured it out already, snow and winter are incredibly overrated.”
“Ah yes, that’s exactly what I needed to hear. I can go back to LA now.”
“Glad to be of service,” he shrugs. Jay stayed on the same stoll at the bar for the rest of the night. It was strange how easy it was to talk with him, he offered stories about his job and funny stories about him and Will growing up. It’s so beautiful to have those stories, that he’s gone through life with someone that deeply and come out the other side. I tell him that I don’t have siblings and mostly spent time with my mom when I was young. Jay was quick to offer up Will to fill the void.
“I’ll keep you updated on that,” I laugh.
“Are you and your mom still close?”
“Um no, she… she died about ten years ago,” even though her death happened so long ago it still felt so weird saying it out loud.
“I’m sorry Jo. I lost my mom to cancer a few years back.”
“So you get it,” he nods and offers a somber smile.
It wasn’t till Will and Natalie announced their departure, that Jay made any moves to leave Molly’s. The bar was slowly emptying out as last call was already declared.
“I should head out, it was really nice talking with you Jo,” Jay stands.
“It was really nice talking with you too Jay,” I say sincerely. He smiles wide before making a beeline for the front door. I can’t help but stare until he’s fully out of sight, my cheeks start to hurt from fighting the smile on my face. I tuck my loose hair behind my ear and start grabbing the empty glasses from the bar top.
“Have fun?” Stella questions, I jump slightly not realizing she was standing there.
“Another good night for tips, yeah,” she looks at Kelly who’s the last of the firefighters at the bar.
“Sure, doesn’t hurt that Officer Handsome was here all night either.”
“I… I’m going to wash the glasses,” I pick up the large plastic crate with dirty drinking glasses and head to the back where Hermann showed me where the sink was. Stella didn’t mention Jay again, but it didn’t matter. The damage was done, Jay’s blue eyes and the way he got so passionate during a story were ingrained in my mind for the rest of the night.
***
Hermann asked if I could open Molly’s for him the next day as he was running late with paperwork at the firehouse. I had a short shift that night anyway and could use the extra money no matter how little. Hermann told me to meet him at the firehouse to give me the keys since they haven’t been able to cut me my own yet. The firehouse isn’t far from Molly’s, a couple blocks on foot. I prepared myself with my warmest coat for the trek since the wind chill makes Chicago brutally cold. I focus on the sound of my shoes against the wet pavement to take my mind off of how cold I really am.
The firehouse is a ball of color on this cold, dark Chicago day. The plain brick buildings surrounding it emphasize the reds and yellows. It somehow feels untouched by the rest of the city, a true sign of purity. As soon as I walk through the doors of the firehouse I’m met with the sweet smell of food cooking. It’s as if my feet have a mind of their own and take my body towards the magnificent smell’s source. The kitchen was buzzing with people cooking, talking, and playing card games.
“Jo!” Stella yells, “what are you doing here?” she walks over to me, leaving her conversation with Matt and Kelly, who both wave at me.
“I’m here to get the keys from Hermann, do you know where he is?”
“Yeah, he’s in the garage let me take you to him,” I try to argue that it could wait, but Stella insists. “Hermman!” she yells once we get into the garage.
“What?!” he snaps back. She giggles as we both walk towards the outburst. As we turn around the big fire engine, I see why Stella was so insistent about not waiting. “Oh hey, Jo,” he says calmer.
Jay is standing tall with a notepad in front of Hermann. Stella silently excuses herself from the conversation and makes her way back inside. Hermann pays no attention to his surroundings as he’s searching for the three keys I need to open Molly’s.
“Hey,” Jay smiles.
“Hi.”
“Here you go, I labeled them for you so you know what lock they go into. Once you get inside, lock the front door, just in case,” I nod and take the keys from him. The silver keys have thin pieces of masking tape on them with dark blue sharpie stating what they open.
“Thanks, I’ll see you there,” I back away from the men to head back to the bar. Hermann nods and waves.
“Hermann we’re done here right?” Jay asks.
“Yeah, let me know if you find anything,” Hermann states somewhat hopeless. Jay puts away the notepad in his back pocket of his jeans and jogs to catch up to me. The sound of Jay’s thick boots hitting the cement fills the sound of the garage. When he finally catches up to me, he moves ahead to open the door to outside for me.
“So you’re stalking me now?” He jokes.
“Um how did you get to that? Hermann asked me to come here,” Jay quickly fell into step with me, not that it was difficult as he’s much taller than me.
“I was here first,” he says plainly.
“Oh well, with that bulletproof logic…” he laughs.
“You headed to Molly’s?” we stop walking once we get to the sidewalk.
“Yeah, I’m opening today,” Jay slips the keys to his car from his jacket pocket.
“Let me drive you.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that. It’s only a couple of blocks and you’re working,” I spew out trying to find an excuse that’ll stick.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m parked right here,” he brushes off quickly. I roll my eyes at his back and get into the car. Jay puts the car into gear and sets off towards Molly’s.
“So, is Hermann okay?” I ask since I couldn’t get his hopeless tone out of my head.
“His house was broken into, they didn’t get a lot, just some jewelry and a few Alexa’s. His wife came home which freaked them out and they bolted before they did any real damage.”
“Jesus. Poor Hermann. Do you think you’ll find his stuff?”
“Probably not, that sort of stuff is so small that they may keep it for themselves instead of pawning it, but we’ll try,” the car is silent for a little while till Jay pulls in front of Molly’s.
“Thanks for the ride.”
“Course,” I get out of the car and make my way onto the sidewalk. “Hey Jo,” Jay says out of his rolled down window.
“Hey Jay,” I say while playing with the keys Hermann gave me.
“Are you working late tonight?”
“Not too late, I have a short shift.”
“How about I meet you here later and we get a drink?” Jay says casually. I bite my lip and look down the street in hopes to take my mind off of what he just asked.
“Maybe,” I say as I make eye contact with him again. “See yah Jay.”
Second part of Punisher. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the show.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language, mentions of drinking
Shit, shit, shit. I sprint down the dry cement while dodging walkers and people standing on the sidewalk. I look down at my watch again hoping in some magical way time has stopped. I’m about to be late to my first shift at Molly’s, I wish I could lie and say this is a new low for me, but alas. This time wasn’t my fault though, a portion of my ceiling in my shit apartment fell onto my even shitter sofa in the middle of the night and the super was zero help about cleaning it or caring about fixing it.
I quickly duck out of the way of a couple holding hands and immediately am met with a loud honk from the car that I stepped in front of. Without a thought, I jump back onto the sidewalk and mouth a quick “sorry.” Without gauging the driver’s reaction, I turn and run around the corner. Molly’s is in my eyesight now, I have seconds to get there before being late. Thankfully the cold air is keeping me from sweating profusely, but it’s burning my lungs with each breath. But finally, I burst through the heavy, wooden door of Molly’s.
“I’m not late!” I lean over, put my hands above my knees and start wheezing. The run quickly caught up to me leaving my lungs dry and my forehead damp.
“Yeah, you’re right on time,” the man with grey hair behind the bar states confused.
“Did I say that out loud?” my throat hurts, I would definitely die early in the apocalypse with this stamina.
“Yeah you did,” he states again. Shit. I look to him again to see if I finally regained control of my body. Standing back up and pushing my shoulders back I walk over to the bar.
“I’m Jo, Stella hired me for the open position,” I say, still somewhat out of breath.
“Yeah, everyone calls me Hermann. I’m one of the owners along with Stella,” he shakes my hand. “Welcome to Molly’s!” he smiles.
Hermann dances around the room showing off different memorabilia and letting me in on the various secrets of the pub. Like how one of the floorboards near the front window will dip when it gets really cold outside and how the register might need a hard hit every now and then since it’s the original. Hermann is like a kid in a candy store showing me around, I can’t help but smile at his passion. Even the boring stuff about cleaning empty bottles and finding more napkins, it seemed like he was going to jump out of his skin from enthusiasm.
“I know it’s a lot, but you’ll catch on quick,” Hermann and I stand behind the bar as people slowly start flowing in. Most people ordered simple drinks of beer or wine, I try to keep up with all the work that Hermann mentioned before so everything doesn’t fall on him.
Hours passed when Stella walks in with a gang of men following behind her. The group raises the level of chatter in the bar, women gawk while the other men roll their eyes. They all crowd around the bartop laughing loudly about a story that I definitely missed the punchline to. The men are skyscrapers, tall and wide. I finish up an order and make my way over to Stella.
“Jo! Look at you behind the bar,” she smiles. “I hired her,” she turns to the man next to her and boasts. He shakes his head while smiling.
“You’ll have to excuse her, some of us had a few before heading over here. I’m Kelly,” he extends his gigantic hand to me, it easily swallows mine.
“I’m Jo, she’s right though, she did hire me,” Stella lightly slaps his arm.
“See I told you,” Kelly just laughs and nods. “You gotta meet the rest of the guys. Guys! Guys! Guys!” She yells, getting the rest of the men to quiet down. “This is Jo, Jo meet Firehouse 51.” The guys all wave and go down the line introducing themselves.
“Well, what can I get you guys?” They all order various beers and whiskey drinks. I fly up and down the bar fulfilling their orders, it’s weird how good it felt to be behind the bar.
“So Jo, where are you coming from?” Matt Casey asks while putting his beer bottle to his lips.
“LA, came in a little while ago,” I answer casually as I clean off some empty glasses.
“Oh Los Angeles, the land of sunshine and the best taquitos I’ve ever had. Why would you leave?” Cruz askes, he didn’t make eye contact. His eyes were staring off at the ceiling, like he was imagining those taquitos.
“I apparently have a deep desire to freeze to death,” the men laugh and agree. I leave my answer at that and no one asks a question prying deeper. They all fall into conversation with one another, they include me whenever they can, but I enjoyed listening to their interactions. I hadn’t seen people act like this in a while, when they smile it’s genuine rather for manipulation and by the way they talk to each other you can tell they care for one another.
The bar becomes a tight squeeze despite it being a Thursday night and most people have work tomorrow morning. A few girls have tried and failed with the men of Firehouse 51, I give them credit for trying. I’m finishing up an order when everyone begins to welcome a few new members to the group.
“Hey doc!” Kelly cheers at the couple. “We can move down,” he looks around at the guys. It was a nice gesture, but there was no way they were fitting two more people into their group. The woman standing is gorgeous with shiny brown hair and big brown eyes, she looks up at a tall, broad redhead with a beard. She doesn’t want to hang with him, her eyes are begging him to find an excuse.
“No don’t worry about it, we’re gonna grab a table. Thanks though!” The redhead plays it off well.
“Oh! Oh! Meet Molly’s newest addition!” Stella yells from behind Kelly. They’re off shift tomorrow and Stella is taking full advantage of her day off tomorrow. A part of me feels grateful for how inclusive she’s being. I laugh and extend my hand.
“I’m Jo,” he quickly takes my hand and shakes it twice.
“Will,” he smiles, he’s incredibly handsome with a great smile.
“Natalie,” she extends her hand after I let go of Will’s.
“What can I get you guys?”
“A glass of chardonnay please,” Natalie says.
“Ugh… a manhattan for me,” Will says. By the reaction of the other guys and Natalie, this isn’t Will’s normal drink or possibly a drink anyone orders here. A manhattan is a bitch of a drink to make, it’s a lot of different alcohols with very specific measurements.
“Rye or Canadian whiskey?”
“Rye,” I nod and get Natalie her glass of wine. All eyes seem to be on me about this drink.
“Any particular brand?”
“No, I’m good with anything.” I lean over to the small fridge behind the bar and pull out a glass bottle of beer and pop the top off. I smile and set it in front of Will.
“Sixteen dollars, or do you want to open a tab?” Stella bangs on the bar top while the other men snicker. Will bites his bottom lip to keep from smiling, he pulls out a twenty and puts it on the bar top.
“I like her,” Natalie says to Will as they walk away.
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Welcome to the first part of a new series: Punisher. This is a Chicago PD/Fire imagine with an original character. I don’t own any of the plot points or characters from the show. Also, it doesn’t follow any particular season or sequence in the show.
Series Summary: Josephine (Jo) never expected to find support and pure love when she left Los Angeles. She ran away to Chicago and was content with living an insignificant, hidden life. But everything changes when she walks into Molly’s to get a job.
Josephine (OC) x Jay Halstead
Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. 5 Pt. 6 Pt. 7 Pt. 8 Pt. 9 Pt. 10 Pt. 11 Pt. 12 Pt. 13 Pt. 14 Pt. 15
The italicized lines are internal thoughts of the character.
Warnings: language (?), mentions of drinking
The neon red “Molly’s” sign lit up the sidewalk outside the bar. I tighten my jacket around my torso as the Chicago wind tears down the empty street. I’m going to get frostbite before I gain the courage to enter this godforsaken bar. It doesn’t help that the “STAFF WANTED” sign hanging in the window taunts me every second I stand outside the old pub. A friend of mine from back home gave me the name, and said it was a safe spot since a bunch of cops and firefighters hang out there after their shifts. Before I know it, I take one more deep breath and my legs are moving up the stairs to the front door of the bar.
As soon as I enter the dimly lit bar, I’m immediately grateful for the warmth floating throughout and the loud chatter. It all feels so incredibly average, normal, and I’m grateful for that. I find an open seat at the bar top and wait for the tall woman with angelic curly hair to take my order. The bar is packed and despite it being after New Year’s, they still have Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. Donning the surrounding walls are framed news articles, awards, firefighter gear, and various Blackhawks jerseys.
“Sorry about the wait, what can I get you?”
“A beer, please, and can point out the owner?” She flips her long hair over her shoulder and bends over to the mini fridge to grab a bottled beer.
“Depends, you got a complaint or something,” she stares at me while popping the cap off.
“No, no I wanted to know if the open position was still available,” I stutter out. She quickly smiles and her glare forms into a welcome invitation.
“Oh yeah, forgot about that. I’m one of the owners, I’m Stella. The other owners are out tonight, but they might stop by a little later. Do you have any bartender experience?”
“Um a little, I did it a bit in college but I’ve worked in restaurants since high school.”
“You got a resume or anything on you?” I quickly unfold the white paper from my pocket and hand it over to Stella. “Josephine….”
“I go by Jo actually,” she nods while taking in my sparse resume. It’s quiet for a moment.
“Alright, now I gotta ask… are you some badge groupie?”
“Excuse me?” a part of me felt like I should be offended by the comment since that accusing glare is back in Stella’s eyes.
“A badge groupie,” she restates.
“I don’t even know what that is,” it takes everything in me to not cower away.
“You want the job ‘cause a bunch of firefighters, cops, and doctors hang out here and you want to get a lil’ something something on the side.”
“Oh no, I’m done with dating for a while. I, ugh, just got out of a long relationship,” I start peeling away the label of my beer with my thumb.
“Okay,” she eases up and looks over my resume again. “Well, I think you’ll do great here. I can start you on a two week trial so the other owners can get to see your work.” My thumb halts mid movement.
“Wait, seriously?” I say astonished.
“Yeah, it would be nice to have some more female energy in this bar. I’m with guys all day, they don’t exactly want to talk about anything beyond sports and construction.” I laugh.
“Well I’m in.”
“Can you start tomorrow, say around 3?” She folds up my resume and puts it into her jean back pocket.
“Yeah, that works.”
“Great, welcome to the Molly’s team,” her name is called at the end of the bar. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Stella runs to the end of the bar to fulfill an order. I leave my half finished beer and some cash on the bar. It felt weird sitting there by myself, it just seemed like an open invitation for trouble. I stroll out of the bar with my head down, surprisingly ready to meet the cold air outside. Chicago will be good, the new is good. The sound of my heeled booties hitting the pavement bounce off the brick walls as I start the trek to my apartment. A fresh start.
Wanted to let you know that I’m working on a new series that will be about 20 chapters. It’s a Jay Halstead x OC and the name is.... Punisher. I got the idea and planned it out while listening to Phoebe Bridgers’ Punisher album. I want to get a few chapters written before posting. Thank you for your support with Golden.
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