Kevin was quiet, well quieter than usual and enough for Kim to notice. "How are Jordan and Nessa? All settled in?"

"Yep, missing home." He peered through the windscreen as the rain poured down. It was a summer storm and came on unexpectedly so they were waiting it out. Surely whoever was in the house they were intending to pay a visit to wasn't making any moves while the heavens were chucking it down.

"You okay Kev?"

"I am." Kevin drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "How's the Assistant State Attorney Matt Miller going?" Kim smiled, nobody had really asked her about her boyfriend and as yet she hadn't invited him to meet anyone. She wanted to but was still a little nervous about how he would be received and not just because he was a lawyer.

"He's fine, we've both moved on and realised that we were just being impulsive." Kim assured him when he asked if she was hiding him from her friends because of her ex. "He's happy for me. I think you'd get on well with him."

Kim wanted someone to be happy for her but no one seemed to care. They never asked about him or made any indication that they wanted to meet him. She had been out with his friends and colleagues and had a good time but she missed her friends and the laughs they had and felt a little disconnected from everyone. Atwater asking about Matt gave her a little boost but it was short lived.

"Great. Great." She gushed. "He's funny, which I know for a lawyer is strange…."

"Assistant State's Attorney." Kevin corrected her.

Kim finally got the hint that Kevin wasn't asking out of concern for her. He didn't want to know how Matt was. He didn't care about Matt. "Actually he's a US Attorney, you know FBI and all." Kevin blew out a long slow breath between his teeth and the drumming of his fingers got louder. "What's the problem? What's Adam said?"

"Ruz? Nothing, why do you think Ruz would say anything?"

"Well he does have the tendency to get jealous."

Kevin couldn't help the bitter laugh that escaped his lips. "I know, I mean what's up with that? I mean what possible reason does he have to be jealous? You've made it patently obvious, several times now that he's only good to have around when you've got no other irons in the fire so he should be happy whenever you chose to throw him a bone."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Well you were all hot and heavy and happily planning a wedding until Roman came along and you dumped him to jump into bed with Roman, then you were happy to lead him on again until Assistant US Attorney Matt Miller popped up." Kevin's lip curled a little.

"Oh I get it, I get that you are Adam's friend but how about you drop the attitude. He's no saint." Kim folded her arms across her chest, the car suddenly felt very small. She chose to ignore the comment that she dumped Adam for Sean, she wasn't going back to that friggin' nightmare. "I like Matt, he treats me well. He's a straight up guy and goes after things he wants. He's successful and has worked hard to get where he is."

"Nope, he's no saint but he's as close as you are going to get and you know, we all work hard. So why don't you go and have fun with your lawyer." He held up his hand. "Sorry… Assistant US Attorney and stop crawling back to Ruz every time things go to shit for you. Next time you are bored or freak out about something leave Ruz alone." Kevin didn't even look at her. "I am sick of picking him up every time you kick him in the balls."

"Well thanks for that." She had no idea why Atwater kept mentioning what Matt did but it was annoying to say the least. Something told her though it wasn't complimentary and she'd be a fool to ask. What had started out as a nice change of pace being paired up with her old Patrol Partner had quickly become a bit of a shit storm and she had no idea why. Well she did and obviously it had everything to do with something Adam had said.

"Just calling it as I see it."

Kim held up her hand. "You've made your point."

"So have you, several times in fact so how about you stop rubbing salt into the wound." Atwater was on a roll and he knew he'd said too much and Ruz would ream him out but he couldn't stop himself, it had been brewing a long time. He loved Burgess, they'd been friends a long time but that didn't mean he had to accept her shitty behaviour and for the longest time she had been willing to blame everyone else when things went sideways and never actually looked in the mirror at her own behaviour. She couldn't just say, 'yep the lawyer' no, she had to make sure everyone knew he was a Assistant US Attorney. I mean that had to be a step up from a boring old cop right? Ruzek may have had a shit load of growing up to do but he wasn't on his lonesome there. "You've been too busy wrapped up in your own little world to notice that he's struggling with something or maybe you just don't care. He's off and I guess there is no point asking you if you know what's going on."

"What do you mean? What's he doing?"

"I don't know Burgess. He won't talk to anyone. I guess he feels like everyone has there own shit going on. He doesn't want to worry me because I was dealing with Jordan and Vinessa. Halstead is all over the shop and you, well you are too busy with your head up your own ass to notice that the guy you were going to marry is not doing so well." Before Kim could even answer there was a break in the clouds and Atwater was out of the car and bounding across the road leaving her a little gobsmacked and confused. Was she really so wrapped up in herself that she didn't notice that Adam was acting weird? He seemed fine when she last spoke to him.

Adam rubbed his temples, he blinked at the clock on his wall and he really had to go. He'd been called in an hour ago and usually he was there within a half hour but he was dragging his heels this morning. "What am I supposed to do?" The voice whined at him.

"I don't know Kate. I'm sorry I can't help."

"So you don't care that I'll lose my job if I don't turn up. I am already under the pump because I missed last week." She missed last week's shift because of a hang over. Kate was an aid in a Nursing Home for people with dementia. She hated it but Adam had called in a few favours with a girl he had been seeing on and off, very casually for a few months. It had cost him, he had to take her out a few times and while she wasn't a complete bust she was starting to get a little too clingy and he needed to pull the pin. One more thing he did for someone he quite frankly didn't like. "Sammy will miss out on his birthday party because I have no money."

"I will lend you the money."

"What good is that? I can't pay you back because I won't have a job."

"And if I blow off work today I won't either." Adam snapped. He'd got in way over his head with his sister and she just kept taking from him. Initially it was nice to be wanted, it was nice that someone cared enough to want to spend time with him and he did love that kid. He was a bit of a nerd and an oddball but they had smashed out a star wars marathon one night when Kate was working a night shift and went from there. "I'm sorry."

"Well thanks for fucking nothing. Hey Sammy.." she yelled out to her son. "…Uncle Adam won't be over so forget about soccer."

"Can't one of the other boy's Moms pick him up?"

"Those drunk bitches? I wouldn't trust them as far as I could kick them."

"You are one of those drunk bitches remember?" Adam finally snapped. She seemed to have a very short memory because it wasn't that long ago she was begging him to bail her out after she got picked up on a DUI and sadly it wasn't her first DUI either.

Kate had laid it on really thick, she blamed Adam because they had been drinking in the bar after he'd had yet another kick in the nuts from Kim. When she stormed out he didn't expect her to go and pick Sammy up on her way home. He actually didn't think she was dumb enough to drive but as he soon found out it wasn't that she had just made one mistake, it was one of many. She wasn't dumb; she just didn't care but she sure as hell made him feel guilty about it.

He made the charge go away because basically Kate was on her last warning and she was terrified that she would lose Sammy. CPD threatened to call in DCFS and Adam stupidly wanted to believe that she had learnt her lesson this time.

For all his bravado as a cop, and he had balls of steel on the job he was piss weak when it came to women and he let one after the other walk all over him. It had to stop.

A week later she had forgotten all about his efforts to bail her out and was back trying to guilt him into helping her out again. He needed to cut her loose, but that damn kid.

"Fuck you." He wasn't surprised when he heard the call disconnected.

Tossing his phone across the counter he leant forward and exhaled deeply and slammed his hands against the hard surface. "Fucking idiot." He chastised himself.

His phone rang and he reached for it expecting it to be Kate again, begging him for forgiveness and pleading with him to help her out, just 'one last time.'

'Mia'

His head was pounding…..again. He seemed to have a permanent headache lately as he hauled his ass up the stairs and into work. Thank god no one was here and he was hoping that he'd be left on his own to get stuck into the case. Even this place had the ability to make his head throb lately. For such a long time it was a sanctuary for him, when his foot hit the top step he could just push everything to one side and be Officer Ruzek, a member of Intelligence and a bloody good cop.

Now, he doubted if anyone would piss on him if he were on fire. He certainly wouldn't.

"Hi." This was the last thing he needed. Kim bounded out of the break room with a coffee. He didn't know what was going on but she seemed overly intent on being friendly lately, to everyone. In the past he loved her enthusiasm but right now, at this point in time it was like a knife through his skull. "Sucks to be called in on a Sunday hey?"

"Yep." He slung his jacket over the back of his chair and turned on his computer. "Must have ruined your plans."

Kim actually thought he was being nice and that perhaps Atwater had been off course. She had watched him over the past few days and he had seemed fine. A little quieter but still the Adam she knew and …. She wasn't going there. "Well, we were…" Adam however didn't give her the chance to finish her sentence when he got up and walked into the break room with his coffee mug in his hand.

"Adam." Kim had followed him in there and he kept his back to her so she couldn't see his eye roll. "Are you okay?"

"Yep. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I was talking to Kev."

"Must have been nice. So nice in fact you are in here and I get the feeling I am about to get a lecture about something I've obviously done."

"He's worried about you?"

"Ahhhh….so he's worried and you want to know why?" It would have been nice to hear that she was worried, but he'd given up waiting for something like that to happen.

"Don't be a dick Adam."

"I'm fine Kim. I'm busy, I've got a bit going on." He poured one too many sugars in his coffee. "Speaking of which, we need to make a start on the background of this dead banger before Voight gets here."

He stopped in the doorway, a little too close to her. To close for him anyway because he could feel her heat and it wasn't his to want anymore. "I'm doing just fine, nothing that a few more hours sleep wouldn't fix." He winked at her and flashed her his crooked smile. Yep he was piss weak. "Tell Atwater to keep his eye on the prize."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure." He shrugged as he headed towards his desk.

Kev kept calling Matt 'Assistant US Attorney Matt Miller'. He sounds pissed off with him and me. You don't know anything about that do you?"

"Nope." He lied smoothly.

"He's not the bad guy." Kim watched Adam for a moment but his face was almost unreadable. There was something though and she couldn't put her finger on it, there was one point in time she could read him like a book but either she had lost that ability or he was better at hiding his tremendous pain from her. "He's a nice guy." She added weakly, she couldn't help herself.

"Dwayne Cole." He slapped the dead banger's photo up on the board. "What's his deal?"