Okay...I was unsure if I was going to post this story. It was written a while ago, back at the end of season 3 when my like for Burgess was at an all time low. It has been hard to work out the ending & I don't tend to post a story until I know how it ends. Anyway I hope you enjoy the next #Burzek story...

Once we ran and lived as one
In another world, my little one
Where whispering trees and dark rivers run - Restless Nights, Bruce Springsteen

Voight waited as long as he could. They always came in in dribs and drabs but generally within ten minutes everyone was in, at their desks and making a start on the day. "Where's Ruzek?" he asked the room as he pulled the whiteboard towards the centre of the room ready to dive head long into a new case. At the very least he expected that you told one person if you were meeting a CI or were going to be late. That way they could cover all bases. This wasn't the safest job in the world nor did you spend your time chit chatting to fine upstanding Chicago citizens.

"Haven't seen him." Al muttered as he grabbed his phone. "I'll give him a call." He was surprised that it went straight to voice mail. He shrugged at Voight as he left a message. "Hey kid, you're late. Let us know where you are at."

They started on the case and Voight handed out the jobs and Ruzek still hadn't shown up and that was very unlike him. Even with all the shit that had gone on with Burgess this year he had never been late, if anything he worked harder than ever. Voight had noticed it, as had others higher up and they been impressed with his attitude and dedication, the guy had his head screwed on. When they temporarily pulled his badge he'd told Trudy that he was 'worth it' when she stuck her neck out to get him re-instated and he honestly believed that. Only once had he asked him to get his head in the game and he never gave him another cause to be concerned. Until today.

Platt saw Burgess approaching from the corner of her eye as she dealt with the man in front of her. She got him to sign some paperwork and asked him to take a seat over by the wall. "I will get someone to have a quick chat to you." She slid the evidence bag under the signed paperwork as Burgess leant on the desk.

Kim thought she recognised the wallet, but it was a pretty common looking brown leather wallet. Well worn and battered but it felt familiar. Coupled with the fact that Platt obviously did not want her to see it made her heart skip a beat. "What's that?" she asked casually.

"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about." Platt handed her some Patrol keys. "Jones is waiting for you." She nodded at her new partner, slid her glasses back on and returned to her paperwork. Jones was eager and enthusiastic. He was straight out of the Academy and Platt had already warned him to keep it in his pants because it would be the quickest way to get tossed out of the 21st. She wasn't having that nightmare again and she'd already had enough 'offers' to partner with Burgess. Burgess had been mortified because Platt, as only she could had not bothered to wait until Burgess was out of earshot. This reputation was not going to be easy to shake so Jones seemed like the kind of rookie who would not put a foot out of line.

As soon as Burgess was well out of the building she picked up the evidence bag and turned it over in her hand several times trying to get a feel for it and what secrets it may hold before grabbing the phone and calling upstairs. "Hank. Is Ruzek upstairs? I haven't seen him come through."

"No." he muttered. This was one sure way to piss him off. He better have a damn good reason, he was one man short with a fresh drug case gone bad sitting on their whiteboard. "Hasn't turned up and not answering his phone."

"That's because I have his phone and wallet downstairs."

Voight sat forward in his chair a little. "What do you mean?"

"Someone has just bought them in. They found them dumped in a vacant lot."

"Who bought them in?"

"Said his name's John Weadon, he's here waiting. Do you want to chat to him?"

Voight bounded down the stairs and together with Platt they had a talk took him through to the vacant office in the foyer and got as much info as they could. Location, time, what he did when he found them, anything he noticed in the area? It was reasonably close to Ruzek's apartment, three blocks away but nothing jumped out at them.

Platt folded her arms across her chest as Voight leant back in the chair and scratched his chin thoughtfully once she had showed the man out. "What are you thinking? She asked.

"Not sure yet." They tried to turn the phone on but the battery was dead. "I'll get Mouse to charge it up and run a GPS track on it and see where he has been. I might send Al and Antonio over to check out his place. Have you seen Burgess? Maybe she knows something?"

"Doubt it. She told me just a day or two ago that he had pretty much shut her out since the whole Roman thing." Platt slipped her hands into her pockets. "They aren't all buddy buddy that's for sure."

Now back upstairs Voight stood at the top of the stairs until everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at him. "Platt has just handed over a wallet and phone that was found abandoned in a vacant lot downtown. It's Ruzek's." An eerie silence fell over the bullpen, something just felt wrong about this. Something he wasn't able to put his finger on just yet. He handed the phone to Mouse. "Battery's flat. Charge it up & find out where he's been. Also run a background on this guy." He handed Mouse the name of the man who bought in Adam's wallet and phone.

Al had got out of his chair, the hair stood up on the back of his neck. He wasn't quite sure why at this stage. "Al, take Antonio and check out his place. Atwater check out his diary, see if he's got anything on, any cases he's been working on. Check his CI's, I want to know if he's met up with anyone recently. Go back two weeks, if that gives you nothing, go back further." He asked Halstead and Lindsay to stay on the current case on the board. "Until we know more we need to keep on top of this." He pointed to the board when Lindsay started to protest about its importance.

"What's your gut say?" Antonio followed Al out to the car park.

"Something's not right, but I don't know what." They checked out his place and nothing looked out of order. It looked like it always did; he was a surprising neat freak. Apart from a small period of time when he crawled into a dark hole when Burgess dumped him and the place went to shit he kept it pretty clean and tidy. And that's how it looked now. He hadn't made his bed but that was about it.

He had some case files on the kitchen table so they grabbed those to take back to the District. Even the neighbours hadn't seen or heard anything. He left for work yesterday morning and hadn't been back since. His car bay was empty though, so finding his truck was going to be the first priority.

"Hey Mouse." Antonio called it in. "Can you run a check on Ruzek's truck. It's not here."

Once they were all back Voight made the call. "I've handed off the other case back to Narcotics. For the time being we are focussed on this. We need to find Ruzek."

One by one Voight spoke to each of them trying to gauge his state of mind. Nothing was off the table at this stage including self-harm. "No way." Atwater shook his head and he was actually offended by the suggestion. "Sure he was gutted by the Burgess Roman thing but he's not like that. He'd accepted it, was getting back out there. He was good."

Suddenly Mouse piped up. His phone had given them nothing so far; the sim card was missing so that was going to take some time. "We've got his truck. Patrol called it in. Abandoned near the Rail Yards just off Canal St." He sent the address to all their phones and they were up and out the door in an instant.

Burgess heard the call come over the radio and she felt her stomach fall. The description of the truck matched one that was so familiar to her, the make, the colour and the number plate. "Can you repeat that Dispatch?" she asked.

She wasn't hearing things. Her partner looked at her and noticed that she had gone pale and her knuckles turned white as she gripped the steering wheel. "What is it?"

"I know that truck." It barely came out as a squeak.

"How?"

"It's…" she swallowed hard at the bile that was rapidly rising in her throat. "It belongs to Ruzek."

"Dude from Intelligence?" Jones had only been at the 21st three days so had barely had the chance to get to know anyone. Everyone knew about Intelligence though, even at the Academy if you got assigned to the 21st the first thing you heard about was the Intelligence Unit and it's reputation for never quite playing by the rules.

"Yep." She called Dispatch. "Do they need patrol assistance?"

"Negative. Patrol is already on scene." Whatever happened after that she did not know as no more calls came over the radio and every call of hers went unanswered. She tried Kevin, Lindsay and even, in desperation Platt. Not one of them answered her call.

'What's the deal?" Jones asked her. Kim could barely think. "I've known him awhile, he's…." she stuttered. "..a good friend. I used to work quite a bit with Intelligence." Jones just nodded; sure he was just a friend, that's why she looked like she was about to vomit?

'Not anymore?"

"Probably because I haven't really had a solid partner for a while. Voight's pretty choosey with who he uses." It wasn't a complete lie, Voight didn't bring just anyone up into Intelligence and the fact that she had been rotating partners recently it wasn't a surprise she'd been overlooked. That's what she tried to convince herself anyway when in reality she knew it was because of the way things had ended with Adam.

Two Patrol officers were standing watch. "What you got?" Voight asked as he approached the truck, his heart sinking the closer he got. The driver side door was open and it was parked haphazardly. It was never a good sign.

"Keys in the ignition, engines' cold though and…" the nervous officer stole a quick look at the entire Intelligence team standing before him and they did not look like they were in the mood to be polite. "..Blood in the truck and on the ground."