The next 20 minutes felt like 20 hours. Hank tried his best to look like he was enjoying the entertainment but his mind was firmly focused on what could be going on behind those doors.

"Any movement out back?" Hank asked, hiding the movement of his lips with a tumbler of whiskey, taking a small sip before lowering the glass.

"Negative." Erin replied. "We're ready to move on the order."

"Give her another 5 minutes." Olinsky suggested and Hank nodded imperceptibly.

They didn't need the full five minutes. Merely a minute after Alvin's voice came over the radio, two muffled pops could be heard from behind the heavy black door, causing the patrons nearby to duck and turn their heads in search of the source of the noise. Hank was on his feet and moving against the crowd within a matter of seconds, Atwater, Ruzek and Halstead arriving at his shoulder, all three with concealed weapons drawn.

"10-1, shots fired! Get in here now!" Hank growled, shoving the door open with his shoulder.

The four of them took formation and made their way down the dimly lit, narrow corridor. There were three black doors, one on either side of the hall and one down the end. Hank gestured for Adam and Kevin to take one each, leaving himself and Jay to take the one at the far end. He had no idea where Leto had taken Kate but he knew they needed to get to her fast.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

Hank kicked the door open and moved inside, gun trained on the scene before him. Kate was sitting astride Darius Leto, dress hiked up around her hips as she pinned him, face down, to the floor. She had one of his arms pulled behind his back, too high to be comfortable, and was pointing a weapon that wasn't hers at the back of his head. Hank noticed that her lip was cut, oozing blood and her cheek looked like it was rapidly bruising but she otherwise appeared unharmed. He let out a shaky breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding.

"Meadows, you good?" He asked, moving further into the room.

"I'm fine." She growled, obviously irritated at the turn of events. Atwater and Ruzek soon entered the room behind Voight, the former moving forward to take over holding Leto under arrest so that Kate could step back. Kate got to her feet and Voight immediately stepped towards her, his gaze focused on her lower lip, swollen from the abuse she'd suffered at the hands of the asshole on the floor. During his inspection, he also noticed that her dress had torn slightly down the middle, exposing the top of her toned stomach.

He shrugged out of his suit jacket and held it out to her, offering to help her into the garment.

"It's not him Sarg." Kate muttered as she slipped her arms into his jacket, clutching the material closed at the front to cover herself up. "He's a fucking animal…but he's not our killer."

Hank swore under his breath, his eyes burning holes into the man on the floor as Ruzek and Atwater hoisted Leto to his feet and made to escort him from the premises and charge him with the attempted murder of a police officer ('At least the night wasn't a total waste.').

"You're lucky your little friends arrived in time, bitch. I would have loved to have shoved my co-"

Kate made a move to shut the asshole up but Hank beat her to it, grabbing a handful of black hair in his fist and throwing him against the nearest wall, the force generating a grunt of pain. The look on Hank's face was terrifying as he gripped Leto's face so tight his nails were cutting half-moon crescents into the olive-toned skin.

"You look at her. You even so much as think about her ever again, I will make sure you end up in the ground where you belong, understand?" He waited a beat before shoving Leto's head back against the wall with a dull thud, breaking eye contact and looking at Ruzek. "Put him in the cage."

To say that Kate was a little surprised at Hank's reaction was an understatement. From the look on the faces of the rest of the team, she could tell that this wasn't standard Voight behaviour. Before she could get it any further thought, it was over and Kevin and Adam were frogmarching Leto out to the car.

"Let's get you to the hospital." Antonio took her elbow and made to escort her from the room.

"I'm fine Antonio. I can get patched up back at the district."

He didn't seem convinced but nodded all the same. As soon as they arrived back at the 21st, Kate peeled off towards the locker room to change, the others nodding as they checked in their weapons and moved towards the bullpen. When she was finally alone, she dropped down onto the bench in between two sets of lockers and lowered her chin to her chest, closing her eyes as the adrenaline finally started to fade.

When she had left Hank on the dance floor, Leto had taken her to one of the back rooms and closed the door behind them. He had told her to take a seat on the black leather sofa, she acquiesced with what she hoped had been a seductive smile. Leto eventually took a seat close beside her and started getting handsy, running his sweaty palms over her bare thighs none too gently.

"Why don't you give me a taste, hmm?"

As she struggled to keep her demeanour submissive, her mind raced to think of ways to get the DNA sample Erin had requested when an idea eventually hit her. Running her hands through Leto's hair, she tugged the locks firmly so that his face landed between her breasts and, as expected, he began running his tongue over her skin. She tried not to cringe at the feeling, instead making all the noises she knew would get a guy like Leto going.

However, when his fingers began tracing a path up the inside of her thigh, she knew it was time to put an end the show. Leto wasn't the kind of man who was told no very often and wouldn't take the hint so Kate took both palms and pushed firmly against his chest. She had to admit, the backhander took her by surprise and her head snapped to the side when his knuckles connected with her cheek. She tried to get up from the sofa again but this time he caught her with a right hook, her lip splitting open at the force. It was the final straw and her cover broke. She kicked Leto low in the gut and punched him hard in the solar plexus, knocking the air from his body.

In the space of a few seconds, Leto had drawn a gun and was seconds away from pointing the barrel at Kate when her training kicked in, pushing the weapon up and sideways just as his finger pulled the trigger. The bullets ended up tearing through the dry wall behind her as she tackled a man who was twice her size to the floor, ever thankful for the combat teachers she had in the past who had taught her to use her assailants own weight against them. She hadn't long had Leto unarmed and on the floor when Hank and Jay burst through the door, the rest of the team not far behind them.

Dragging herself back to the present, Kate raised her head and moved it gingerly from side to side, the muscles in her neck already stiffening at the abuse suffered. Getting to her feet, she pulled a DNA kit from her locker and took a swab of her own chest, hoping the saliva samples would still be viable. Sealing the bag up, she took her jeans and a shirt from her locker and started to change, stepping out of the blue dress and kicking off her heels.

As she shrugged out of Hank's jacket, she felt a pang of loss when the warmth it provided and the scent of him began to dissipate. Placing it over the bench next to her, she set about dressing in her own clothes. Feeling much more herself, she pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head and sat back down to pull on her socks and boots. Just as she was finishing lacing her shoes up, she heard a knock on the door and called out for whoever it was to come in.

Erin and Jay both poked their heads around the door.

"How you doing?" Erin asked, concern written on her face.

"I'm fine, just a few cuts and bruises. I'll live." She smiled, immediately regretting the decision as the cut on her lip pulled and the smile quickly turned into a grimace.

"You should let someone take a look at that." Jay said, nodded is head in her direction.

"Wanna come over here and play doctor Halstead?" Kate winked as Jay rolled his eyes but she could tell he was relieved that her humour was still in tact.

"Think you've got the wrong Halstead. Voight wants a debrief. You okay to get that patched up after?"

She nodded, grabbing Hank's jacket and getting to her feet to follow the pair back out into the bullpen where the rest of the team were waiting. Ruzek, Atwater and Voight were all still dressed in their suits from the club and, when Kate moved into the room, she could see their eyes soften at the sight of her. She knew they blamed themselves for her getting hurt.

"No-one's dead guys. Why the long faces?"

Kate stepped up towards Hank and handed him his jacket with a quiet thanks before Antonio placed a cup of coffee in her hands, encouraging her to take a seat on one of the desks.

"It should never have gone that far. We should have breached sooner!" To Kate's surprise, the comment came from Kevin who looked like he might burst into tears at any second. His hulking shoulders were slumped forward but his eyes were focused on Voight, accusation written clearly on his face. Kate considered her partner for a moment.

"It's the risk we all sign up to take, Kev."

He looked like he was prepared to argue but Voight cut across him.

"What happened in that back room?" His words asked her to tell the story but the expression on his face suggested that he would rather not know. She gave the team a second by second replay of her 20 minutes with Leto, answering any questions they had as she went.

"What makes you think he isn't the killer?" Olinsky asked, taking a sip from his own mug of coffee.

"The evidence points to someone who wants to kill women…either strippers or prostitutes right?" He nodded, following her train of thought. "This guy isn't that. He's an egotistical fuckwit who likes to knock women around…and, despite the fact he pulled a gun on me, I don't think he's a killer." She paused for a second. "Plus, I think I managed to get a DNA sample so we'll see if it comes back with a match."

"How'd you get the sample?" Erin asked.

"Motorboat." Kate hiked her shoulders, taking a sip of coffee with an air of nonchalance she only just managed to pull off with a swollen and bruised face.

The room fell quiet for a few seconds before Voight spoke up again.

"So we're back to square one. We got three dead women and a psychopath still out there on the streets."

"I don't think Erin's CI was too far off the mark when she suggested Leto." Ruzek said, stepping forward with a leaf of paper in his hand. "I did a check on all previous Pearl Necklace Productions employees that match our CI's description and got a hit on one of their ex-stars. A Xavier Munez." He pinned the mug shot to the whiteboard. He looked very similar to Leto; olive skinned, dark hair and almost black eyes. "He was let go about 6 months ago for threatening to kill these two girls." Ruzek pinned two smaller pictures of the women in question underneath the picture of Munez. They both had long, chocolate-coloured hair. "He's got a rap sheet as long as your arm and he did time at Stateville for the Manslaughter of his girlfriend 8 years ago. I also checked his cell records, his cell pinged off a tower not 3 blocks from where our last victim was found the night she was murdered."

"CI was right with the production company but gave us the wrong pornstar." Voight said, his voice tight.

"They both fit the profile." Erin nodded.

Voight nodded. "Halstead, Dawson, Ruzek, go get him." The three men sprang into action, Antonio patting Kate on the arm as he passed and, together, they left the bullpen to bring Munez in. Kate's eyes were locked on the space they had just vacated, off in her own world for a few seconds.

"Hey kid." Kate looked up at the sound of Alvin's voice. Voight and Lindsay were both enclosed in Voight's office with the door closed, already deep in conversation and Atwater was no-where to be seen.

"Hi Al." Kate greeted, giving the older man a small smile as he came to a stop in front of her, placing a little green first aid bag on the desk next to her.

"Good work tonight." Kate nodded, although she couldn't shake the feeling of the whole thing being a waste of time. "Hey, he might not be a killer but you got a douchebag who gets his kicks beating up women off the streets." He patted her arm, giving her bicep a gentle squeeze. "Right, let me get a look at that cut." He took her chin in his warm fingers, not too dissimilarly to the way Hank had earlier that evening, and tilted her head to the side to get a look at the injury.

"Eh, no permanent damage. You'll be back on the billboards in no time."

Kate smiled at his assessment, a warm feeling of paternal affection settling in her stomach as she caught Alvin's chocolate brown eyes. He unzipped the small medical kit and extracted some iodine solution and gauze to clean the cut on her lip. After a moment or two of silence, he spoke again.

"You know, I've known Hank for 30 years and I can count on one hand the number of times he's willingly agreed to go undercover."

His tone was light, almost conversational but Kate could detect an underlying note of seriousness in his comment. She turned her eyes back to his face but he was focused on the task at hand swiping her face gently with gauze. Humming in response, unsure of what to say, Kate's gaze landed on the glass window of Hank's office and she studied the man in question who was deep in conversation with Erin. He looked exhausted, dark circles beginning to appear under his eyes as he interlocked his fingers across his stomach and reclined in his chair.

Kate's covert surveillance was interrupted when Alvin took a half-step back and announced that, in his medical opinion, she was as good as new.

"Thanks Al, I appreciate it." Patting him on the upper arm, she moved away from the desk and made her way to the kitchen to get herself a fresh cup of coffee. It was almost midnight and the day still wasn't over. Kate stood with her hands braced on the counter top and she let out a long breath. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off, her lip and cheek were both throbbing and her head was pounding. Once the coffee was brewed, she opened her eyes and poured the steaming liquid into a standard issue CPD mug. Just as she returned the coffee pot to the holder, a familiar voice came from behind her.

"How you holdin' up?"

Kate turned to face Hank who was stood in the doorway, hands stuffed into the pockets of his trousers and shoulder leaning casually against the doorjamb. She leaned backwards against the counter, grasping the warm mug in both hands in an effort to chase away the chill that had settled in her bones the second she was alone with Leto.

"I'm fine, honestly. Just a few cuts and bruises."

"Hmm. I'm getting a sense of deja vu. Twice in two days." He pushed away from the doorway and moved closer to her, stopping when there was barely a foot of space between them. They looked at each other for a few moments before Kate broke the silence.

"Guess I'm a magnet for trouble."

He hummed in response, eyes still scanning her face and Kate couldn't help but run her eyes over his form as he stood before her. She noticed that he had undone a second button on his black shirt since they had returned to the precinct. The top two buttons were now open, revealing the hollow of his throat and a few strands of greying chest hair that were peaking out above the dark fabric. Her eyes tracked slowly down the well-fitting shirt appreciatively until she got a hold of herself, realising that she was very obviously checking him out and her eyes snapped back to his.

"Let's just make sure that cuts and bruises don't turn into more bullet holes, okay?"

"Of course."

Kate thought he was about to turn and walk away but, instead, he closed the distance between them so that the fingers wrapped around her mug brushed against his sternum. He raised a hand and pushed a stray hair that had fallen from her haphazard bun away from her face, tracing her bruised cheek with his fingertips as he went. The connection was suddenly broken when his name was called from the bullpen, alerting them to the arrival the prime suspect. He dropped his hand back down to his side and, without another word, turned on his heel and left her there alone.

'What the fuck was that?!'