2x06 - Prison Ball - Atwater thanks Ruzek for having his back and learns that claustrophobia is not something to be laughed at.

"Get your hands off me man, you can't put me in here. You don't understand, you don't understand!"

Regardless of how hard Ruzek struggled, Wright had an iron grip and managed to force Ruzek into the waiting cell. As both big guards blocked his only escape route, the undercover officer decided to try a different tactic.

"Alright, listen, let me make a phone call, one phone call."

Parish shook his head. "If you didn't want to lose your privileges, you shouldn't have started that fight."

"One phone call, that's all I'm asking. Just one phone call!"

He took a short step forward but it was of no use; Wright simply slammed one thick fist into Ruzek's already tender torso. A sharp pain lanced through his ribcage and Ruzek found himself on the ground, glaring up at the men he might consider his fellow officers any other day.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Parish warned.

Ruzek sucked in a breath, momentarily forgetting that in this situation, the blue-shirted men had all the power. Looking in disgust up at Wright, Adam couldn't help himself. "You son of a bi - augh!"

If Wright's fist had been bad, his knee was ten times worse; Ruzek swore he could feel at least one rib give way in protest. He groaned, slumping back against the dirty bunk. "Okay, a'right, a'right, a'right."

One breath at a time, he told himself, panting through the pain. When he had collected himself somewhat, Ruzek tried again. "Let me see Herrera."

Parish and Wright exchanged a look. "Uh, what did you say?"

"Herrera, the guard, tell him I'm here, man." Ruzek allowed some desperation to leak into his expression; if he was honest, that's exactly how he was feeling. "Please."

Ruzek pressed his face up against the tiny window in the door, straining to see if either Parish or Wright had come back. "Come on, come on."

No such luck. Turning and smacking the wall in frustration, Ruzek couldn't contain himself any longer. "You gotta let me outta here!"

"God…" Sinking down on the grubby mattress, Ruzek rubbed absentmindedly at his aching ribcage. He was sure he hadn't been in here longer than an hour or so, but he could already feel the walls closing in on him. His heart beat loudly in his ears against the otherwise stifling silence of the miniature cell. Closing his eyes, Ruzek took a couple of deep breaths.

You're alone, there's no way out. Nobody knows where you are, nobody cares. Nobody's going to come looking for you...

Ruzek's eyes flew back open, a short cry of distress escaping from his mouth. He forced himself to take another couple of deep breaths, not that they seemed to do any good. His pulse thrummed sharply in his throat.

Focus. He needed something to focus on.

Locating the sole hangnail on his right thumb, Ruzek pressed the offending digit against his lips and bit down. Hard.

"Kevin, Kevin it's over!" Antonio yelled, straining against the bigger man and finally succeeding in pushing him back.

Kevin jerked away from his coworker, rolling his shoulders and drawing himself up to his full, impressive size. Tucker looked up at him in fear from the ground. "Hell yeah, I'm a cop, you punk ass bitch! And I got you on a wire for murder!"

There's no way out. Nobody's coming for you. Nobody believes you. There's no way out.

Ruzek had lost all sense of time. There were three hundred and seventy two cinder bricks in the wall across from the bunk, and it took him all of five steps to get from the toilet to the door. Ruzek had chewed his thumb into a raw, bleeding mess.

"Come on, come on, let me out." Adam murmured to himself, sitting back against the wall and twitching one foot nervously.

There's no way out. Nobody's coming for you. There's no way out. You're going to die in here.

That was a new thought, one Ruzek didn't like at all. It tightened his chest, made it harder to breath. He could no longer hear his own heartbeat over a shrill ringing in his ears, and his hands tingled with numbness.

There's no way out. Nobody's coming for you. There's no way out. You're going to die in here.

Dimly, as grey spots danced across his vision, Ruzek realized that he was hyperventilating.

It was late evening by the time Atwater and Antonio had wrapped up their business at the prison. Although Parish had been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in the moment, once the dust settled he had demanded a very thorough explanation. It had taken Atwater, Antonio, and the Warden to sort things out.

Leaning back in his chair, Parish ran a hand tiredly over his face. "Well, I can't say I really understand what happened here."

"Look, all that matters is that we couldn't have gotten our job done without your help. So thank you." Antonio credited, reaching across the table to shake hands with the still incredulous head guard.

Atwater also shook Parish's hand before standing and rolling his shoulders. He'd taken a harder beating today than he had in a long while. "So, we good? Let's grab Ruzek and roll. I don't even want to think about how much paperwork I have for this thing."

"Ruzek?" Parish questioned, looking tired. "There's another one of you?"

Antonio nodded. "Yeah, went by the name of Reynolds. He was the one who attacked Atwater in the dining hall."

"That guy definitely does not look CPD," Parish mused, shaking his head. "He should still be in solitary."

"You left him in the hole?" Antonio asked incredulously. "Even after he lead you to me and it all checked out?"

Parish stood and shrugged, reaching automatically for the keys on his belt. "Look, there's only one of me. There was no way to vet all your guys at once. Let's get him out."

Parish strode purposefully into the solitary wing with Antonio and Atwater hot on his heels. All three men ignored the prisoners surging against their tiny windows for the slightest peek at the outside work, heading straight for the cell where Ruzek had been deposited almost six hours ago. Fitting the key into the door, Parish glanced in briefly before erupting into a flurry of action.

"Damn!" The older guard threw the door open and rushed into the tiny cell, Antonio close behind. Ruzek was sitting on the floor, slumped back against the bunk. He was panting harshly as though he'd run a marathon and his whole body was shaking violently, his hands curled up in front of him.

Antonio stopped short at the sight, confused. "What's going on? Is he seizing?"

"No, panic attack," Parish replied. "Sometimes they get claustrophobic, can't take the small cells. Help me get him up, will you?"

Nodding, Antonio moved inwards to help Parish haul the shaking undercover to his feet. That's when Ruzek seemed to come back to life, surging upwards and throwing out his arms, slamming a stunned Parish down into the old metal toilet. His other elbow caught Antonio in a glancing blow to the throat, and detective fell back against the bunk, coughing harshing from the sudden impact.

"Kevin!" He managed to choke out, already rising to his feet.

Atwater surged towards the door, arms out to contain Ruzek and stop his flight. He needn't have bothered. Ruzek's head swam dizzily at the sudden change in elevation plus the oversaturation of oxygen from his increased breathing rate. He barely crossed the threshold when he tipped forward, dizzy and off balance. Atwater caught him hurriedly.

"Hey, hey, Ruzek, calm down!"

Shaking his head, Ruzek tried to fight weakly. "Nah... l-let me… go! I… I didn't…"

But Adam couldn't get a real sentence out around his gasping breaths, and Atwater held him just a little bit tighter as he sagged, his legs unable to support him. "Hey, Adam, it's Kevin. You're out, ok, you're out."

"Ngh… Kev?" Ruzek blinked several times, squinting up at Atwater. "I can't… my chest…"

"You're hyperventilating," Atwater replied calmly. "Try and slow your breathing down, or you're gonna pass out."

Ruzek nodded weakly, but his breath continued to come in sharp gasps, his face flushed and sweaty. Groaning, Parish picked himself off the cell floor. "That won't do any good. Just get him outta here."

Atwater walked around the side of the ambulance, where Ruzek was putting up a fuss about being put inside. Antonio had insisted on calling a bus after Ruzek had continued to hyperventilate and passed out while on route out of the prison. Adam had come round shortly after the paramedic's initial examination, but was refusing to allow them to put him inside the vehicle.

"Sir, we have to transfer you to the hospital for a full eval. At the very least, you need an x-ray to make sure none of those ribs are broken."

"Naw, you know what, I think I'm good." Ruzek said, pushing the blanket off his legs and trying to get up.

"Sir, you need to stay put. You were unconscious-"

"This punk givin' you guys trouble?" Atwater asked, strolling over. Ruzek looked sheepish and actually allowed the female paramedic to reposition his leg onto the gurney.

"Can you talk some sense into your friend here?" She asked. "The hospital's just a 20 minute ride away. We can even sedate him if he really wants."

Atwater nodded. "Let me talk to him for a minute."

Giving the large man a thankful look, both paramedics backed off. Ruzek sighed and looked pleadingly up at Atwater. "Don't make me get in there, man. I just spent six hours in a tiny brick box. Just because this one's metal doesn't make it any different."

Atwater felt his neck flush guiltily. This whole operation had been Kevin's idea, but in the end he never would have gotten close enough to Tucker if Ruzek hadn't been able to think on his feet. If Kevin had moved faster, Ruzek wouldn't have ended up in the box. "Look, man, you don't really have another choice. It's either you get in the ambulance or you get in Antonio's tiny little car."

Groaning, Ruzek scrubbing at his face with one hand. "Ah, fine."

"You heard what they said, they can sedate you if you want."

"Naw, I think my pride's taken a big enough hit for today, thanks," Ruzek snorted. "I'm assuming there's no way we can keep Voight from finding out about this?"

Now it was Atwater's turn to laugh. "Are you kidding? What the hell were you thinking volunteering to go under in a prison if you have claustrophobia?"

"I was thinkin' that, uh, Halstead looks like too much of a boy scout and Lindsay's charm might be too distracting. Besides, gen population wasn't so bad." Ruzek offered up sheepishly. Atwater punched him playfully in the shoulder and he sobered up slightly. "I, uh, I haven't had a panic attack like that since I was like ten. I didn't think it would… get to me like that."

Atwater sighed. "Well, I'm just glad we're all out in one piece. Thanks for havin' my back."

Ruzek nodded and the two cops clasped hands in a sincere handshake. Kevin started to walk away, before realizing there was one more thing he had to say.

"I owe you one, brother."

Reclining back against the gurney pillow, Ruzek gave a smirk. "Hell yeah, you do!"