Unlikely Partners Chapter 6
"When we get out of here, they are going to make us talk to Dr. Charles." Jay warned Kim of police protocol.
"Jay, I've had my niece blown up in an explosion, been shot in the face, been on trial for murder, my sister was raped, and I lost my baby." Kim stated irately. "I've done the PTSD thing." she muttered defensively. When she tried to pull away from him, hard to do when you are trapped by rocks and handcuffed, he leaned in closer to her and apologized.
"Kim, I'm so, so sorry. I know it hasn't been easy for you." He returned the favor and kissed the top of her head.
His apology quickly deflated her anger, he hadn't meant to upset her. She wasn't used to people apologizing to her for their behavior. She always forgave people, because she hated conflict, had grown up in conflict
Not that he had forgotten, but she was so cheerful that he didn't know how she did it. "How do you cope with all of that?" He asked tenderly, trying to soften his first statement about Dr. Charles. He brushed some hair off her face and felt terrible when he felt tears on her cheeks so he wiped those off gently too.
"How many times have you been shot?" She wondered, the two of them had a high rate of finding themselves in trouble. "I've lost count?" Jay shrugged. "Do you mean like actual incidents or actual bullets that have hit my body?" He asked for clarification.
"I've never been shot in the face though." He declared, rubbing his hand over her cheek gently and there was not a scar from that incident miraculously. "Good health insurance." she commented off the cuff.
"This is my first time being kidnapped." She said, checking off an invisible box on a fake to do list.
"And being blown up." Added Jay, getting into the competitive spirit.
"Are we keeping score on all the bad things that have happened to us while working?" Kim laughed.
Their adrenaline had faded many hours ago, pain and exhaustion kept them going in and out of sleep.
"Get down!" He yelled as he jerked wildly, his voice echoing throughout the metal shoebox they were in. Kim was concerned that he was having a flashback, but to what she was unsure. And she didn't know what had triggered it either. She was afraid that he was moving so much he might cause any rocks on top of the van to collapse further on top of them and needed to wake him out of his flashback. He did however, manage to loosen one of rocks that was pining his leg down, enough for her to kick it off his injured leg much to her relief.
She felt comfortable with his arm around her, as if he were protecting her even while they were sleeping. But all of a sudden she felt him stirring unpeacefully and she watched his handsome face struggle to awaken. She couldn't reach him with her hand so she whispered so not to disturb him, "Jay." Her small hand grabbed his larger hand and she gently rubbed it back and forth while trying to wake him. "Jay, wake up." She pressed a sweet kiss to his cheek.
"Do that again." he whispered. Kim froze, did he know who she was? Did he think it was Erin or Hailey?, she worried. He seemed to be less stressed now than a few minutes ago. "Kim?" he asked, reaching for her, surprising her by asking for her by name. She rewarded him with another kiss.
"Not a bad way to wake up." Jay said, stretching his tense body, now that he knocked the rock trapping his leg off, he could move more freely. It also meant he could feel the pain more acutely in his foot and ankle, but if Burgess was going to kiss him, maybe the pain was worth it?
Kim closed her eyes exhausted. Just a few minutes she promised herself, her hazel eyes fluttering shut. It was quiet, too quiet. Jay realized suddenly. The bubbly and chatty Burgess finally ran out of words he thought with a smile. The smile faded as he saw her relaxing into sleep. She looked so peaceful that he wished he could let her sleep, wished he could watch her sleep but a person with a concussion should not be sleeping.
He hated to do it, but he had to wake her up, "Kim!", he called loudly without shouting. She stirred slightly but was a deep sleeper. "Burgess, wake up!" He tried shouting louder this time.
She startled so fast out of her sleep that when she saw Jay and not Adam she pulled away so suddenly that she would have hit her already concussed head against the side of the van. Jay had no time to react, he threw his free arm over her body to catch her head, the momentum of the movement carrying his body over onto hers.
Her eyes slowly opened to see Jay perched on top of her legs, his hand gently cradling her head. She focused on his blue eyes full of worry for her. Finally, their breathing slowed, but neither of them moved. There was a vulnerability in Kim that attracted him, her openness despite all she endured in her life. And her strength, Jay noted. She was strong to have gone through everything she had and still be so optimistic, to think that what they did made a difference.
"Sorry your jersey got trashed." Kim lamented quietly, breaking the silence, her hand brushing off some dirt and debris.
"Don't worry, going to make the department pay for the dry cleaning." He replied wryly.
God, why was he so comfortable right now?
I guess there are no personal space restrictions if you are handcuffed and buried alive with a person?
Why was he still sitting on Burgess?
"Jay?" Kim asked softly. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion?" she joked to hide her worry that he was hiding his injuries from her.
Her question brought him back to the present. He should be checking her head.
"Does this hurt?" he asked, gently pressing two fingers to her left temple. "No. she responded, her breath teasing his face. Jay moved his fingers to her forehead and pressed, "here?" Kim didn't so much answer with words as with her body as she winced in pain and tried to pull away despite Jay's 200 pound weight on top of her. He stroked her hair to sooth her pain. "Hey, it's ok. I promise." He moved his fingers again and she winced again all across her forehead.
"Yeah, you've definitely got a concussion. You need to stay awake." He declared in a tone that said he expected to be followed. Kim saw the leader in him that made him a great Army ranger and a great police officer.
"How does your hair smell so damn good even after being covered in dust and dirt?" Jay asked in disbelief. It was intoxicating in general being this close to Kim, which he was not prepared for; but she still had to smell good too? She laughed, confused as to what the big deal was, she liked to smell good. "Vanilla and Papaya."
"How's your face?' He questioned more seriously. She had been punched a few times when they were grabbed and he knew she had multiple bruises.
"Feels like I got punched. Sore." She tried to laugh it off, but they had been trapped for hours now and the pain was really settling in. He didn't know why he did it, but his fingers started tracing over the skin and bruises as gently as if he could heal them just by touching them. She felt goosebumps down her neck and back, and shivered despite the heat in the van.
"You cold, Burgess?" Jay Halstead teased as he felt her shiver in response to just his touch. He then moved his hands lower slowly down her sides over all her ribs.
"See, I"m just checking for injuries." He explained with a smirk. Kim found this side of Jay very sexy and very appealing.
"Well, I hope you are very thorough." She replied flirtatiously. Jay gulped, he hadn't really expected her to throw his flirting back at him.
Maybe it was all the hours they had spent together so far, they had discussed everything from most embarrassing moments to family problems to their actual jobs and their worst cases. He realized that they had similar interests and personalities; they just never had the time before to figure that out before.
Jay started his hands at the top of her rib cage and gently made his way down both sides of her body. Her Cubs t-shirt was old and worn and now had some holes in it and was soft to touch. As he got further down it started to ride up and his fingers accidentally met the warm skin on Kim's back. He felt like he was burned, but he couldn't stay away from the fire. She gasped softly, whether it be from pain or not he couldn't tell.
He started to apologize, but saw the look in her eyes. Her hazel eyes were half closed, and she looked sexy as hell. "Kim…" he half whispered, half-groaned.
"Yeah" "she smiled as her one free hand was wrapped in the softness of his t-shirt underneath his jersey, keeping him close. She could feel the muscles he worked so hard to maintain.
It was so quiet in the van, weirdly peaceful if they weren't trapped or hurt. They didn't know that help was only a couple hundred feet away. In that moment, it was only the two of them, and nothing else seemed to matter. Maybe all that mattered was the absence of pain.
As reluctant as Jay was to move he was surprised that Kim seemed to feel the same way. He was more shocked at how tight she was holding on to his t-shirt. And that she wasn't turning away his moves either. And why did that suddenly matter to him?
His eyes sharpened when he saw the bruises on Kim's face. He despised men who hit women, and he hated domestic violence cases the most.
"Hey," her smoky voice full of emotion and want. (or was he imagining it that way?) close to his ear. His fingers finally willed themselves off of her ribs to the black and blue mosaic on her face. "Does this hurt?" he checked her jaw so carefully, Kim could barely breathe.
His warm calloused thumb ghosted over her lips. "Does this hurt?" he dared her with a gleam in his eye. Despite their conditions, Burgess would not back down from a challenge.
She whispered, "yes" and subconsciously licked her lips which lit the fuse that they had been building all day, and Jay's self control finally snapped. All the stress of the day needed a release and this was it.
He lowered his lips to Kim's and he could taste the flavor of her chapstick, "Your lips taste good." He whispered against them. "What flavor is it, because I am buying you a case of it."
"Passionfruit." she responded, and moved her lips to meet Jay's again and cupping his cheek with her hand, keeping him close. His fingers played with the curls in her hair, the two of them finally relaxed despite the circumstances.
Kim wondered if that meant that they were going to be kissing more after tonight and hopeful that they would make it out alive somehow to find out