A/N: This chapter contains one of the key scenes of Burzek story (IMO), which I tried to give a different perspective and to show it from another angle. My main goal is to focus on Adam's point of view and to give him a little character growth/dynamic. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy. Reviews are so welcome.
"So, that girl with you at Molly's the other day, who is she?"
Kevin said with a satisfied smile on his face. That evening he forgot he left his friend all alone, while he was surrounding himself with booze and fun groups of girls. A bit motivated by a sense of guilt, he was pleased to discover that Adam finally found someone. Especially given his depressed state lately.
"Making progress, my friend!"
"Oh, come on! It was just a couple of shots and sharing some silly stories. Nothing special." Adam responded with no willing to further discussion of that night.
"Well, at least you've got some fresh air, right? Otherwise, I couldn't have stand your company anymore."
Adam raised his eyebrows and silently grinned, going back to work with files. The last thing he wanted to debate about was his personal life, specifically in these walls. Lately he's been quiet, diminished his past arrogance. He directed all the forces only to serve and protect.
Atwater soon left the Department for the interrogation of the suspect along with Olinsky.
After some time Sean Roman appeared on the horizon to remind about the inventarisation, that Platt loaded on his shoulders. Now it was getting on Adam's nerves.
He felt paranoid. However, since he noticed a frequent communication between Roman and Kim, he couldn't stop the annoyance in man's presence. Jealousy and anger, partly at himself, controlled his whole.
"Hey, Ruzek. Any luck with the laptop?"
"No." Without taking his eyes from the computer Ruzek threw him a strict answer, and only when Roman left with nothing, turned around to hit his back with a sidelong glance.
He wanted to express his indignation to Jay, who was sitting next to him in the room, but restrained the impulse and returned to work.
On the agenda new shooting on the North side in one of the local cinema theaters. The unknown opened fire on visitors in the lobby. At least ten people dead, five wounded. Many were fortuned to escape safely and call for help. The building sealed off ASAP in an attempt to get in touch with the shooter, to establish contact with him and rescue the remaining hostages. The motorcade of fire trucks and ambulances drove up minutes later, including Charlie and her partner Gavin. She barely slept that night, still settling down in the new place and getting used to the new life, but work always put her on her feet and forced to forget about anything else. In comparison with the shooting, all of the problems seemed void.
Unfortunately, rescue everyone failed, but the important thing that police finally caught the shooter, and Charlie brought back to life a little girl with asthma attack, who lost her inhaler, while she was inside the building. Yet she passed out again in the ambo, Gavin and Charlie drove her to Med and handed over to specialists.
"We need to go back." Gavin said, but Charlie stood behind the patient's room and watched the girl, waiting for her to wake up.
"Webber!" He called louder, tapping girl's shoulder. "We are not supposed to stay here." Then he gasped when he realized that the simple behavioral norms wouldn't move her partner that easily.
"She'll be fine. It's only asthma. You must be grateful that she didn't catch a bullet."
Charlie abruptly broke away from the glass and glanced at Gavin. "Grateful?! What kind of moron would hold a sick child... any child. I mean, what the hell! I would've shot him if I had the chance!"
"You're overreacting. But you are not so long on this job, I understand. You'll get used to it."
Charlie only examined his face with a share of hostility and after that hastily left to the ambulance. Acute sense of justice indeed sometimes prevented her to see things more realistic.
At the exit, she ran into Adam, who arrived at the hospital to see Olinsky. The last few hours Al spent with the victim – a young girl kidnapped several years ago.
They both didn't notice each other first. Both of them were not themselves. Charlie sped past Adam, furiously hitting his shoulder, he turned around to express his dissatisfaction, but when the girl turned around, he recognized his recent friend from the bar.
"Adam?" Asked Charlie, frowning. Now she was too serious and uptight. The complete opposite of the cheerful and frivolous wild child.
"I'm sorry. Tough day."
He nodded.
"Yeah, we heard. The same with us. Nothing new, anyway." Adam shrugged and lifted the corner of his mouth.
"I'd love to chat with you, but..."
He pointed in the direction of the hospital, giving the hint that he had to work.
"Oh, sure. By the way, we are not obliged now to be friends or something. It's just a drinking party at Molly's, right? It was fun. That's it."
Charlie winked at him and got in the car, waiting for Gavin.
Adam wanted to wave her goodbye, but felt like someone tapped him on the back.
"Ruzek, found something new?"
Halstead's anxious face appeared before him.
"This guy, Stommer. Antonio and I interviewed the witness. Found out that he kept in the basement not one, but two girls. Voight sent me to tell Olinsky. He's still with the victim."
"Excellent. Kevin and I, we'll check the house once again. There's something not right inside."
When Halstead left, the ambulance had already disappeared.
Twenty minutes to the end of their shift, but Chicago has its own rules. That's why Charlie and Gavin were driving on another call. The rest of the time, she was on edge, aggressive and couldn't concentrate on work. Such behavior could cost a life of one woman, who the squad pulled out of a burning building.
"Damn, Weber, what happened with you today?" Gavin yelled at her, tugging her arm, while Charlie unsuccessfully tried to carry out the intubation. "Give me that!"
He took everything under control, shoving her aside. When it was done, he pierced her with reproachful look.
"You drive." He ordered as a senior. Charlie silently sat behind the wheel.
Gavin sent Carlie straight home as soon as they got to the Med and delivered the injured.
"Sleep it off, Weber. If you need to take the day off, please, do. But hold yourself together!"
Charlie nodded, that was all she could pull out of herself. And the first thing she did afterwards called Marcus to see where he was. On the other end of the line she heard cheerful brother's voice — leave a message after the beep. She had been listening to his voicemail for two days straight. At first, she didn't see him due to shifts on the ambulance, but then Marcus just stopped answering her calls and texts and never showed up in his apartment. Now her lost brother occupied all of Charlie's thoughts. He had been her constant headache through the years. In spite of what a nice big brother he was to her, Marcus was always a big one lump of troubles. She wondered if he contacted his old gang, he used to hang out with when he was a teenager and later in his early twenties.
Anyway, the least of all she wanted to go back to his place and wait for him patiently, like she often did, when they were younger. Now it was time for her to rebuild her own life and get her shit together.
It turned out that she didn't have many friends outside of the firehouse and Molly's, so she carried her tired bones to the one and only place she could come up with.
"Ruzek. Laptop." Roman shouted to Adam, when he appeared at the precinct after his long day of work. Intelligence finally caught the right guy and probably saved a lot of young women out there.
Kim and Sean was finishing their shift, too. Kim had just brought radios to rearrange them. She noticed Adam the minute Sean addressed him the question.
"Seriously?" Ruzek scoffed and shrugged.
"Hey, I heard about a copper getting stripped for six years over a stolen burner phone, so, yeah, I'm serious." Roman snapped with all the gravity.
It got Ruzek immediately. No more playing games and throwing sidelong glances. He wanted to dot the i's and cross the t's and do it right now. This was a hard day. These were hard several weeks and months. Pretty much the hardest he had ever had. He needed to cut the shit and stop torturing himself.
"You know what? You know what I think? I don't think this has anything to do with the laptop. I think it's about her." Adam pointed his finger to Kim, who happened to stay there, between two fires, and witness all the mess she had created. May be, she just hadn't acknowledge it yet.
Adam continued without hesitation.
"You want to bust my balls, look like a tough guy, right?"
"Adam." Kim finally found her voice, but it was too late for talking.
"No. You must see what's happening here. I'm not making it up. Dude's obviously into you. So you know what? You want to date her?" He stepped aside, physically showing he was finally out of this drama, raising his palms in defense of his position. Obviously, this wasn't what he really wanted, but if Kim was fine with it, he would be too. "Be my guest."
"Just get the stupid laptop, Adam!" Kim uttered loudly, ignoring his speech. She was somewhat angry. At Adam, at herself, she was only sorry, that Sean got under the hand. It wasn't his fault, that Ruzek is such an immature ass, she thought to herself.
Adam stopped for a moment by the stairs and just shook his head. He was so pissed right now, he might punch a wall easily, but he restrained himself and ran upstairs as fast as he could.
It was almost midnight, when he landed at the nearly emptied bar and ordered a single drink from Herrmann, who was already cleaning the counter. One drink and then he was going home. He needed to wash this day away with all the mixed feelings it brought to him. No matter how much the last scene at the precinct hurt him, it was also too much to handle. Decision made – moving forward is the only option.
On the other end of the bar there was a girl, sitting with her head in her hands, staring into the phone screen. Adam thought he could give himself a chance and chat for a little bit, but the second later changed his mind and kept silent. The girl lifted her head and glanced at almost the only person at the bar in this hour.
"Well, how long has it been." Charlie said tiredly and sighed.
"Cheers." Adam raised his glass and took a mouthful of his whiskey, then drank it all till the last drop.
"Yuck! How can you drink this?" Charlie flinched in disgust. She was a non-drinker on daily basis, only occasionally.
"Easily. Years of practice." Adam snapped conceited. No, he wasn't ready for any small talks. Only truth or dare. "By the way, you were not so picky a few days ago." He continued, trying to sting her.
"That wasn't me. Someone trapped me in. It's their fault. Please, don't tell my mom." She responded, showing no emotions with a bit touch of sarcasm in her tone.
Adam half smiled, lifting the corner of his mouth and Charlie just went back to the phone screen, tapping something with her finger. After a short pause, it was now Adam's turn to break the silence.
"I won't on one condition. You'll have another drink."
"With you?"
"See anyone else?" Herrmann disappeared in the back room about five minutes ago, probably finishing his accounting work, so there were only two of them, apparently.
"Alright. Let's roll. I guess Christopher won't be mad, if I steal one of… these." Charlie stood up and reached for the bottle behind the bar. "It's a gift. For you being a good police. And an excellent drinking buddy. Like… the best I've ever had."
Ruzek grinned, then smiled widely. For the last few minutes he was thinking about anything but Kim and Roman probably making out in that fucking evidence room. This image annoyingly stuck in his head since he had left the precinct.
Charlie tried on the role of bartender and served Adam hospitably, while he was sitting at the edge of the stool and watching her deftly managing the drinks.
"Charlie." His soft concerned voice touched her ears.
"Yeah?"
"I think I've made a huge mistake."
She suddenly looked up at him and gave him a worried look. Then she opened her mouth to answer, but didn't find the right words. After that, she tried to figure out the question, but she didn't really want to disturb Adam's feelings.
"What do you mean?" she finally said in the lack of options.
"I mean that I am an impulsive prick. I feel so weak that I allowed myself to let her go, but at the same time, you know… I never wanted her to suffer or to feel trapped. All I ever wanted is honesty and a sense of freedom. For both of us. I guess this was not what she wanted, though."
"We're talking about Kim now, aren't we?"
"Yeah…" he said with a small chuckle. "You're attentive. Ever considered to be a police?"
"Ha-ha! Well, I don't know what happened with you two, and I actually don't really want to know, because it won't make any difference. She cheated on you? She told she didn't love you? She… I don't know, slept with your brother?"
"Isn't this counting as cheating?"
"You are not following. She did none of those things, right? Just called off the wedding and stuff. Have you tried to reach her? Talk to her?"
"Several times. She acted like everything was just fine. And now she's going to date Sean fucking Roman, and I've kinda pushed her into his arms."
"Jesus. What an odd middle name."
"You're not following." Adan interrupted her immediately by speaking her own words.
"If she's going to date Sean fucking Roman after everything you've been to, I don't think she is the right Missis. But hey! This is the opinion of the girl, who hasn't even loved her fiancé and still said yes to his proposal. Don't listen to me. Just be honest with yourself… I think it's a toast, we should drink to that, what do you think?"
Charlie raised her glass and took a big sip of a drink. It was so strong that she almost choked.
"I'll drink to that." Adam followed her example and took a mouthful of liquor.
"Adam?" after she stabled her breath and stopped coughing, she glanced at him under her brows and nervously tucked her hair. "I think, my brother got into trouble. Again. And I'm terrified it's something serious this time."