"Hello?"

"In the kitchen."

Kate toed her boots off in the hallway, haphazardly slinging her keys into the granite bowl on the sideboard as she shrugged off her jacket, hanging it on the hook next to his. Padding across the hardwood floor, she hovered in the archway for a moment, drinking in the sight before her. Hank had his back to her, a dish towel thrown over one shoulder as he wielded a frying pan over the stove with an air of confidence that had Kate tilting her head with wry grin.

'How very domestic.'

There were a bunch of salad ingredients sat on the counter and, from the aromas circling around the kitchen, he had some vegetables roasting in the oven. With a smile, she crossed the room and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, pressing her lips to the nape of his neck before nuzzling her cheek against his back, drowning in the familiar scent of him.

"Hey, how'd it go? Doc give you the all clear?"

"Hmm-mmm. Stitches are out and Dr Halstead says I'm cleared for active duty."

Planting a kiss between his shoulder blades, she released him from her grip and meandered over to the fridge, pulling out a beer and twisting off the cap.

"Not that I should have been benched in the first place. It was just a scratch." Her grumbled complaint drew a stern look from Hank who silently told her not to start that conversation up again. Deciding to change the subject, she took a long draw from the bottle in her hand and moved to rest her weight against a nearby counter, watching him work with curious interest.

"How was your day? Catch any bad guys?"

He was quiet for a moment before he took the pan off the heat, placing it on a cool hob at the back of the stove before pulling the towel from his shoulder, wiping his hands in the fabric.

"We arrested Bunny Fletcher."

Kate's eyes bugged in her head, swallowing a mouthful of beer slowly.

"Erin's Mom? For what?"

"She called Erin this morning to say that Johnny Martelli was in her apartment with two rounds in his chest. Turns out Martelli and his partner were dealing pills and, after he was killed, Bunny tried to skate off with the product but the FBI tracked her down."

He let out a long sigh, resting one hand on the counter and, for the first time since arriving at his house, she got a good look at him. He looked completely exhausted. He had dark shadows under his eyes and a pinched expression that she hadn't seen on him in a long time.

"Erin made a deal with the Feds…Bunny gets released in exchange for Erin accepting a position with the FBI. She's gone Kate."

Kate stopped dead, the bottle of beer paused en-route to her lips as she took a second to process what he had just told her.

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"She took the job with the FBI. She already left for New York."

His simple response accompanied a casual shrug of his shoulders but Kate instinctively knew that he was in pieces on the inside.

"Oh baby." She muttered, placing the bottle down and crossing the room, pulling him into her arms as he buried his face into her neck. Kate cupped the back of his head with one hand, threading her fingers through his hair as she rubbed soothing circles on his back with the other, holding him tight as he desperately tried to keep himself together.

Erin was, for all intents and purposes, his daughter and the thought of her not being in his life every day left him with a dull ache in the centre of his chest. He knew it was the right decision, hence why he'd taken her in his arms and told her to go and not look back. But knowing it was the right decision didn't make it any easier.

"It's a plane ride away, Hank. Of course it'll take some getting used to, not having her around. I know how you like to keep an eye on her."

Kate pulled away so that she could cup his face between her palms, looking him dead in the eye.

"But you taught her well. She's great police and an even better human. You raised her right, Hank."

His eyes searched her face for a moment, almost as though seeing her properly for the first time. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he dropped his lips to hers, kissing her deeply and tenderly. When they separated, he watched as her eyes fluttered open, the bright kitchen lights drawing the shades of green to the fore.

"I love you."

Kate smiled softly, placing her palm on his cheek and running her thumb over his lower lip before leaning in to kiss him again, slowly sinking her tongue into his mouth, swirling and sucking until she pulled away with a final peck on his lips.

"I know."

Rolling his eyes, he pulled her towards the stove and the two of them finished preparing dinner together. They ate in companionable silence until Kate placed her cutlery down on the table, lifting her eyes to meet Hank's across the table.

"You know, I was planning to head out to New York in a few weeks' time to see my brother if you want to tag along?"

Kate purposely keep her tone light and conversational, watching as Hank chewed his last bite, throat contracting as he slowly swallowed the mouthful and placed his own knife and fork down. He used the napkin to wipe his mouth and rested both forearms back on the table.

"You want me to meet your brother?"

She hiked her shoulders, briefly wondering if perhaps he wasn't quite in the place of meeting the relatives yet.

"Well, it was just an idea. I mean, we could check in on Erin and see how she's settling in. I was going to float it past you anyway to approve the furlough time but-"

"Sounds like good idea."

Kate was surprised by his easy agreement, a big smile appearing on her face.

"Really?"

He nodded, taking a sip from his glass as he watched her face light up from across the table and Hank knew that he'd do just about anything she asked if it meant seeing that smile on her face. The two of them finished their meal and, when they lay in Hank's bed later that evening, Kate tucked comfortably against his side with her head on his chest, he casually suggested that she might want to think about leaving some things at his place.

"Hmmm, you'll regret that offer when you step on bobby pins at three in the morning on the way to the bathroom."

He chuckled in response and, with a gentle kiss to the top of her head, he told her to think about it.

"You know, we should probably think about filling out the HR paperwork as well. Miller will have my head on a stick if she finds out we've been seeing each other for nearly four months without documenting it."

His fingertips were tracing their usual pattern on her back as he spoke, the words rumbling in his chest under her cheek.

"It's just a formality anyway. The real fun begins when we start telling the team."

Hank groaned at the thought of having to tell his unit that he had broken his own rule, the smugness would be just unbearable. With a sigh, he wrapped his arms tighter around her body, pressing his lips to her temple.

"We'll speak to Miller after shift tomorrow, at least then it's done."

Kate tilted her head back so that she could look at him.

"Does that mean I can call you my love bug at work?"

The look of sheer horror on Hank's face generated peals of laughter from Kate who was subsequently punished with a sharp smack on the globe of one ass cheek for her trouble.

"Tease." He grumbled and soon enough, the two of them drifted to sleep but their slumber was short-lived when the buzzing of an incoming phone call woke Kate just before 3am.

With a groan, she stretched out a hand towards her phone, connecting the call without opening her eyes.

"Yeah?"

The line was silent on the other end for a beat before the caller eventually spoke.

"…Meadows?"

"Al? What's up?"

Hank shifted behind her, nuzzling his face into the back of her neck and entangling his leg with hers, stroking one palm up her bare thigh, over the flesh or her hip and stomach to cup one breast, palming the weight as he pressed a kiss to the skin of her back.

"Uhhh…why are you answering Voight's phone?"

'Shit.'

Kate froze, her eyes popping open as she pulled the device away from her ear, scanning the phone to discover that it was indeed Hank's work cell she was holding in her hand rather than her own. Feeling her still in his arms, Hank propped himself up on one elbow to peer over her shoulder and, seeing Alvin's name on the screen, he plucked the phone from her fingers.

"What have we got Al?"

Kate closed her eyes with a groan, wishing that the ground would open up swallow her whole as she heard Alvin brief Hank on a new case.

'The cat is well and truly out of the bag now.'

There was no way they'd be able to explain this one away. After another minute or so, Hank ended the call and dropped his chin in the crook of her neck, pausing for a moment before speaking.

"Well, I suppose that's one way to tell him."

He let out an amused chuckle at her answering groan, mortification clear on her face as he left a parting kiss on her shoulder before rolling to his side of the bed, getting up and heading to the bathroom.

"C'mon, we caught a case."

Kate lie still for a few more seconds before throwing the sheets from her body and scooping Hank's discarded t-shirt from the floor, slipping it over her head before heading into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. When Hank appeared fifteen minutes later, freshly showered and dressed in jeans and a button down, Kate handed him a steaming mug and headed back towards the bathroom to take a quick shower herself.

As she turned the temperature down from the inferno that Hank preferred to a more tolerable setting, she felt her body gradually become more alert, her mind already agonising over the embarrassment of her rookie error. And with a member of the team no less! The only small mercy was that it was Alvin and not Jay or, God forbid, Adam.

With a perfunctory wash of her body, she stepped out from behind the steamed glass and dried herself off, moving into the bedroom to get dressed. She had just pulled on her panties when Hank appeared in the doorway, crossing the room to retrieve his badge and weapon from the bedside table.

His eyes tracked her as she moved around the room and, as he clipped his badge in its usual place next to his belt buckle, a grin slipped onto his face watching her wiggle into her jeans, the perky flesh disappearing behind the denim far too quickly for his liking.

When Kate turned in search of her bra, she stopped dead under Hank's heated gaze, his eyes roaming freely over her naked upper body. Plucking the black lace from the floor, she raised an eyebrow at him as she secured the fabric around her chest, hiding her breasts from his line of sight.

"Enjoying the view, Sarg?"

"I was, yeah."

She snorted at his response, rolling her eyes as she pulled her shirt over her head, running her fingers through her hair and pulling the locks into a high ponytail. When they were both dressed, they left Hank's house together but separated with a chaste kiss at the end of the path, Kate getting into her Jeep and Hank crossing the street to his SUV.

When Kate arrived at the scene ten minutes after Hank, Alvin raised a questioning eyebrow at her but, mercifully, stayed silent.

The victim at the crime scene was a caucasian male who appeared to be in his thirties and, from initial inspection, it looked like he'd been shot once in the chest and once in the head from close range. He looked completely out of place in the alley where he'd been found, given that the suit he was wearing probably cost more than six months' rent at any one of the nearby properties. Kate crouched down next to the body, pulling on some latex gloves as her eyes scanned the prone form.

"Looks like a 9mm was used judging by these bullet holes. His watch, wallet and phone are all still here so it doesn't look like a robbery."

Tugging his wallet from his jacket pocket, she flipped the leather open and pulled out his ID card, reading the name from the plastic card and checking the picture.

"Peter Stone. Thirty-eight years of age. Home address is in New York."

"Did you say Peter Stone?"

Hank had appeared behind her, hands jammed in the front of his vest as he traded a look with Alvin. Kate put the ID back in his wallet, putting the whole thing into an evidence bag and pushing back into a standing position.

"Yeah, you know him?"

The two remained silent for a few seconds until Alvin eventually spoke.

"That's the Special Victims Unit Assistant District Attorney…he's the guy who put Hank in jail."

Kate's eyes snapped to Hank's face but he was studiously looking down at the body, refusing to meet her eyes. Before she had the opportunity to question him further, the rest of the team had joined them around the body to provide updates on their initial canvass of the area.

It was only then that Kate realised that Kim Burgess was stood at Kevin's elbow and a spike of sadness at Erin's absence hit Kate square in the chest, taking her by surprise.

"Okay, Antonio, Kim, I want you doing knock and talks, see if anyone saw anything. Halstead, you and Ruzek put a call in to SVU, get copies of all of Stone's files, previous and current cases. If someone had a beef with him, I wanna know about it. Atwater, Meadows, I want footage from every POD camera, video doorbell, nest cam and anything else we can get our hands on. Al, you're with me."

Kate levelled him with a look that told him in no uncertain terms that they would be talking about this later before bumping her fist against Kevin's bicep, the two of them turning and heading off to search for video footage of the crime scene.

"So, you didn't tell her about your stint in Stateville?"

Alvin punctuated the silence with his question, toothpick dangling from between his lips as he looked out of the passenger side window, the sky beginning to turn a deep shade of orange as the sun began its ascent to begin a new day.

Hank let out a sigh, leaning one elbow against the closed window whilst the other gripped the wheel, keeping his eyes firmly on the road in front of him.

"Never came up."

Olinsky barely refrained from rolling his eyes at his oldest friend, instead lifting his eyebrows and taking a deep breath as he looked across the cab.

"Is it serious? This thing between you?"

He already knew the answer to the question but he asked it anyway, curious to see if Hank would confirm what he'd known for a while.

"She's the best thing that's happened to me in a long time, Al."

The cab was silent for a few seconds before Alvin spoke again.

"You know, we all lose our way at some point in our lives Hank. She doesn't strike me at the kind of woman to judge or to cut and run as soon as the going gets tough. But she does strike me as the type to light your ass up if you lie to her."

"I didn't lie to her I just…I hadn't found the right time to tell her, that's all."

Alvin nodded his head, conceding that it probably wasn't high on Hank's preferred conversation topics. With a wry grin, he took the toothpick from his mouth and bought it in front of his face, studying it like it was the most interesting object in the world.

"Well, I guess when you've got a gorgeous woman twenty years your junior balancing on your balls most nights, talking about your time inside isn't going to be high on the priority list."

"Fuck you, Alvin."

The two of them shared a grin but Hank got the message loud and clear. He knew that he would need to give Kate full disclosure if he wanted her to stick around. Alvin was right, she would tolerate a lot of things but she wouldn't tolerate being lied to.

"So how long has this thing been going on?"

Hank glanced at Alvin out of the corner of his eye.

"The CPD Christmas Gala."

A knowing smirk passed across Alvin's face.

"Ahh. That red dress seal the deal, huh?"

When they arrived back at the district, Hank and Alvin put a call in to Captain Olivia Benson of the Special Victims Unit, letting her know that Stone had been found dead on their turf. Benson didn't even know that Stone had left the state so, by the time the rest of the team arrived, they had no further information on what he was doing back in Chicago.

"Well, we start from the beginning. Reach out to your CIs, see if anyone knew why Stone was back in Chicago. As far as we know, he hasn't had an active case here for years so something must have bought him back."

Kate kept her eyes on her computer screen, her mind spinning with the new information. She knew he'd done some pretty dubious things in the past but how the fuck could he have neglected to tell her that he'd actually gone to jail!? She was pulled from her thoughts by the return of Adam and Jay, both of them ladened with boxes that they'd managed to pick up from Cook County.

"So, here are all of Stone's Chicago case files, SVU are emailing his more recent files over as we speak." Adam dropped two large boxes onto his desk and Jay did the same.

For hours they poured over files, video footage, CI leads and every other piece of information they could get their hands on to explain why Peter Stone was in Chicago. Each path led them down a dead end street until eventually Kim darted to her feet, waving a sheet of paper in the air.

According to Stone's phone records, he'd been in regular contact with a Rebecca Milton, an up-and-coming defence attorney based in Chicago for the last four months. His financials also confirmed that he'd bought at least four plane tickets to and from Chicago in that same time frame, indicating that the two were likely in contact with one another.

"So what's the connection? Business or pleasure?" Hank asked, his eyes darting between the DMV picture of the woman that Kim had pinned to the whiteboard and the rest of the team.

"She isn't in any of the recent case files so my guess would be the latter."

"Alright, Kim, Alvin, you two go talk to her and see what she knows. The rest of you, keep digging."

Before Kate could get back to her task, Hank called her into his office and, with a sigh, she got to her feet and followed behind him, closing the door before standing in front of his desk.

"Take a seat."

She wanted to tell him to go fuck himself and that she was going to stay exactly where she was. Instead, she swallowed down her irritation and did as he asked, dropping down into one of the chairs as requested.

Hank leaned forwards, his elbows on the smooth wood.

"Look, I know you're angry I didn't tell you but it's not the sort of thing you just blurt out."

She listened as he tried to justify his behaviour. Kate knew he had a point but it felt like too big a piece of information to leave out just because you hadn't quite found the right time to bring it up. Shifting her weight forwards, she braced one elbow on the arm of the chair, using her thumb and forefinger to press against her eyelids before letting out a sigh.

"I'm not angry that you served time, Hank. I'm disappointed that you didn't trust me enough to tell me."

"I do trust you. More than I think you realise." He stood from his chair and rounded the desk, taking a seat in the chair next to her instead. The blinds to his office were drawn so, safe in the knowledge that they were shielded from view, he reached out and took one of her hands in his own.

"When Camille died, Justin went off the rails. Starting getting in with the wrong crowds, drinking, taking drugs. He was involved in a car wreck that paralysed the driver's son. He was under the influence at the time and…I tried to bury it."

He took a breath, trying to drive away the gnawing anxiety settling in his stomach at revealing so much of his past indiscretions.

"Internal Affairs had been after me for years. I'd earned a…reputation…for being a dirty cop who did what he needed to do to get the job done. They eventually built enough of a case and I was charged with harassment and attempted murder. Antonio was the one to nail me."

Kate raised her eyebrows at the last comment, not quite believing that one of the men in Hank's unit had been the one to pull the metaphorical trigger on him. He gripped her fingers tighter as he pressed on.

"I did six months in gen pop at Stateville before IAD cut me a deal. Look Kate, I'm not an angel. I've done things…some truly terrible things that I'm not proud of. But I'd give my life for this city, for this unit, for you."

Her eyes filled with tears and she suddenly lacked the energy to fight the wave of emotion washing over her as they began to track down her face.

"Hey."

Hank swiped a thumb over her cheek, brushing the tears away as he cupped her face.

"I love you. And, if you let me, I'll spend the rest of my life trying to be the man you deserve. But I can't change my past, Kate."

Leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead, Hank got to his feet and returned to his side of the desk, pulling open one of the drawers and removing a manilla file. Laying it on the desk, he flipped the page open and pushed the stack of papers towards Kate. She scanned the first page, her eyes taking in the bold lettering at the top - RELATIONSHIP DISCLOSURE FORM. She noted that he had already filled out his section and the only thing left to do was for her to sign her own name, fill out her badge number and identify a suitable alternative for all of her future evaluations to avoid any conflict of interest.

When she raised her eyes to meet his, he held her gaze steadily.

"You know my reputation. You've heard some pretty terrible things about me that are more than likely true. This isn't just about declaring a relationship with a superior. There are people out there that want to hurt me Kate and, if they want to come after me, then they'll come after you too."

He was pleading with her to think hard about what she was about to do. The decision she was about to make was going to have ramifications now and later down the road for the both of them and it wasn't a decision to be made lightly. Sure, there were probably hundreds of skeletons in this man's closet that she didn't know about; his time at Stateville was a prime example. But she believed that she knew his heart. Underneath all of that tough exterior was a man who ultimately wanted to do the right thing, to shield those he loved and to help make 'his city' a better place. She wasn't sure exactly when it had happened, but Kate knew that she would move heaven and earth for the man opposite her and, in her mind, this decision was one of the easiest she'd ever have to make. Looking him dead in the eye, she gave a little shrug with one shoulder.

"Then let them come."