A/N: Hey there! I just wanted to state a little trigger warning here. There's no explicit description of violence, but at the very end of the chapter it is clearly mentioned. So if you struggle with that theme, DO NOT read the last part in detail!

"… and that's all we got on this case."

Detective Mullins put the last box down and looked around.

"So, the last time Rojas reported was two days ago?", Voight asked.

"Yes."

"And she was undercover for six months now?"

Detective Mullins nodded.

"Are they able to find out that she's a cop?"

"According to our information, they don't have any contacts inside the CPD, but we can't know for sure. Maybe someone new joined in and knows a cop or somebody from the gang has lost faith in her. It doesn't matter what they think or know, either way she is in danger."

"Sure. Where do we start?"

"Did you hear anything from the lab yet?"

"No", Adam chimed in, "they told us that we have to wait at least 24 hours."

"That's too long", Kevin muttered in the background.

Adam looked at him with an apologetic look on his face.

"They're working as fast as they can and they promised me to prioritize this case, but they need the 24 hours. I'm constantly in contact with them and as soon as they have the results, I'm the first person to know."

"That's good Ruzek", Voight said and looked at the others.

"Alright guys listen up. If we divide these files, we're much faster with working through them. Halstead and Upton, you take the boxes number 1 to 5. Ruzek and Atwater 6 to 10 and Burgess and I take 11 to 16. Detective Mullins, you assign each of your officers to one of my teams to provide expert opinions."

Detective Mullins nodded and turned to his officers. He called their names and pointed to one of the teams. In no time, each team of Intelligence was joined by one officer from the Undercover Unit. They took their boxes and walked into different directions to find enough space to work.

Jay and Hailey chose one of the surveillance rooms downstairs. Officer Bright had been assigned to join them. He was Vanessa's partner and the one to whom she reported directly.

"Did she sound nervous when she last reported?", Hailey asked while they placed the boxes in the room.

"No", Officer Bright answered.

"How did you stay in contact with her?"

"Via a specially made phone. The technology department of the CPD has equipped it with several apps to prevent unauthorized access. Plus, only we can track the phone."

Jay and Hailey listened attentively.

"And what do you think led to the fight in her apartment?", Jay asked.

"Either it's a crazy test or they found out that she's not who she claims to be. I think they found out that she's a cop, but I have no idea how."

The detectives nodded.

"Let's take a look at the files", Hailey suggested and opened the first box.

Within minutes, they were reading through the files, each one of them highly concentrated to not miss anything.

Upstairs, Kevin and Adam were looking through their boxes with Officer Hayden. They've already spent more than two hours sorting through all the files, desperately trying to find any useful information. Adam was reading through the file of a gang member that was rather new while Kevin tried to locate a car that belonged to one of the bosses. Officer Hayden was helping Adam with the files of the new gang members.

"Damn it!", Kevin shouted and smashed his fist on the table.

Adam and Officer Hayden startled.

"Hey Kev, what's wrong?"

"I can't find this damn car!"

Kevin rose from his chair and headed for the stairs.

"Kev, wait!", Adam called out, but Kevin was already out of hearing range.

He ran down the stairs, past Trudy's desk and out of the district. He needed to get some fresh air to clear his head. He was thinking about Vanessa and imagined what they were doing to her. By now, everyone knew how brutal and reckless this gang was, especially the bosses. Kevin tried to gather himself, but it was almost impossible.
He sat down on a bench a few meters away from the district, placed his arms on his knees and lay his head into his hands. As soon as he closed his eyes, he saw Vanessa's face. She was smiling and her eyes were sparkling. He remembered that expression from their meet up at Molly's. He loved to see her like that.

"Kevin?"

Kim approached slowly. Kevin didn't answer, so she took that as a good sign. She sat down next to him and watched him from the side.

"You okay?"

He shook his head slightly.

"You wanna talk about it?"

He didn't answer. That caused Kim to regret her question.

"Look, I'm sorry if I pushed you. You don't have to tell me anything, that…"

"I'm not sure if I can take this."

His statement caught Kim off guard.

"What?"

Kevin turned his head to her.

"You know how I meant that. You've been in my ear for a while now. Say it."

She shook her head in confusion. He raised his eyebrows. Then she got it and a small smile appeared on her lips.

"Say it", he repeated.

"You love her."

He nodded barely visible. Kim put a hand on his back to comfort him. He turned his head away again and observed the people on the other side of the street. Despite his best efforts to prevent the crying, some tears found their way down his cheeks.

"She'd been about two months undercover when we met by pure chance. I thought that she'd get into trouble, but Vanessa stayed very calm. She even seemed happy to see me and we agreed on a meeting. About three days later, we met at a restaurant she recommended. It was far away from the gang area, so we didn't have to care about whether they'd find us. Plus, she promised me that they didn't follow her, and she was right. We spent the evening there, laughed and talked a lot. After dinner, before we parted ways to our cars, she thanked me for helping her to forget her assignment. She said that this was the first evening during which she thought of something else than making a mistake and destroying their work."

Kim listened attentively.

"Seeing her so happy, so careless… It made me realize that I care deeply about her and that I'd rather run to her boss and ask him to pull her off the job. But I didn't and I didn't tell her either. She hugged me and shot me a smile that I will never forget. I watched her drive away and couldn't stop thinking about that smile or her."

He paused. Kim tilted her head to make sure that he was still breathing.

"Did you see her again?"

"No, but she gave me the number of her special phone. Actually, it was forbidden because the phone was used to communicate between her and her team. But Vanessa said she almost couldn't stand not being able to talk to anyone else."

Kim smiled sadly.

"When we spoke for the first time, she'd had a rough day and asked me to listen to her. She rambled on for hours and I just listened. I enjoyed hearing her voice because it meant that she was still okay. We spent a lot of nights like that. And I thanked god every time when she picked up my call. The next time we saw each other was yesterday at Molly's…"

He trailed off, thinking about last night. Kim rubbed her hand up and down his back.

"We're gonna find her Kevin. As Voight said, we won't stop before we got her back, okay?"

"What if it's too late? What if they already killed her?"

"No! Stop it, you can't go down that road! We're gonna get her back in one piece."

He lowered his head.

"What if I never get to tell her how I feel?"

He looked back up and the pain in his eyes almost broke Kim's heart.

"You will! We're gonna find her and then you get the chance to tell her how you feel. But we need all hands on deck to find her, okay? So let's go back in there and help the others. Come on."

She stood up and extended her hand. Kevin took it and stood up too. They walked back into the district and returned to their places. Adam squeezed Kim's hand as she walked past them into Voight's office and Voight nodded at Kevin.

They spent the next couple of hours sorting through the files and collecting the key information. Everyone tried his best to stay concentrated and focused. After all, they weren't just looking for anyone, they were looking for Vanessa. And who knows what she's going through right now…

On the other side of the city, close to the industrial area, dull screams were heard from the basement of a house. Since it was not a residential area, but a vacant workers' quarters, no one could hear them.
Again and again fists and belt strokes hit her, and she screamed as loud as she could at every blow, but there was no one to help her. The only thought that didn't make her give up was that her team had probably already brought in Intelligence. Kevin and the others were probably already looking for her.

"Please Kevin, help me!" she whispered silently and screamed again as the next fist stabbed her…

A/N: Hey again!

I hope you liked this chapter. I know it's been a long time but as I said before, I'm on vacation now, so I have more time to write😊.
Anyway, have a good day and I wish you all the best! ~ D.