"…you owe me!"

Kate froze in the doorway to Hank's house, keys still in the door as she watched him throw his phone down onto the table in frustration, bracing his hands on the back of a kitchen chair and breathing heavily.

The jangle of the keys drew his attention and the look of sheer rage on his face had Kate shrinking backwards involuntarily, half-wishing she had gone back to her apartment instead. It had been a week since Agent North showed up at the district and Hank was becoming more and more volatile with each passing day.

Thus far, Kate had restrained from asking him what the FBI wanted with him, choosing to wait and see if he would open up to her on his own.

'Evidently not.'

"Sorry, I should have knocked or something…"

Dropping his chin down to his chest for a few seconds, he let out a long sigh before straightening up, running a palm over his tired face.

"No, you don't ever have to knock. I'm sorry, it's…"

He tailed off, hand gesturing as he searched for the right words. Sliding her key from the lock, Kate stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her with a soft click. Her shift had ended hours ago but she'd agreed to go for a drink at Molly's with the rest of the unit before heading home. Hank hadn't spent much time at her apartment in the last few days and, truth be told, she'd missed his company.

Dropping her keys next to his in the bowl on the side board, she discarded her purse and shoes in their usual spots before moving cautiously towards him. This was also something new for her. Kate felt like she'd become pretty good at the subtle art that was reading Hank Voight but, given his recent unpredictable behaviour, she was struggling somewhat to know when he needed to be left alone and when he needed her around him.

But the dark circles under his eyes and the defeated expression on his face were both very clear indicators that he was in desperate need of something that she was more than willing to provide.

When he was within touching distance, she ran her palm up over his bare forearm and bicep, fingertips sliding under the fabric of his sleeve to clutch his shoulder. His eyes immediately closed at the contact and he let out a ragged breath as she coaxed him towards her body, wrapping her free arm around his broad shoulders. They stood like that in total silence for a long time, his forehead nestled in the crook of her neck as she drew soothing circles on his back.

Kate turned her head slightly so that her lips brushed against his ear.

"Do you trust me?"

After a few seconds, she felt him nod against her shoulder. Taking him by the biceps, she eased him upright so that she could cup his lightly stubbled jaw in her hands, his eyes dropping closed as she brushed her lips against his in a featherlight kiss.

Interlocking their fingers, Kate tugged him towards the stairs and he followed without question or resistance. When they passed through the bedroom, she paused briefly to toss her phone onto the bed before continuing into the bathroom where she stopped and turned to face him. Letting go of his hand, she crossed her arms over her body and pulled her t-shirt off over her head, dropping it to the floor before making a start on her jeans, pushing the denim down her thighs and kicking them carelessly in the direction of her discarded shirt. Despite her nakedness, Hank's eyes never strayed from her own as she removed the final scraps of lace on her body, leaving her bare before him.

Closing the space between them, she reached out to wind her arms around his neck, lips barely touching.

"I want you to forget everything and everyone else but me."

This time when their lips connected, it was full of pent up desire and passion, their tongues duelling for dominance. Article by article, Hank's clothes joined the ever-growing pile of fabric on the floor and, when they were finally both naked, Kate flipped on the shower and pulled him with her under the cool spray, water sluicing over them both.

Tearing her lips from his mouth, Kate's tongue tracked rivulets of water down the line of his throat, scattering kisses across his chest and collarbones as the water pounded against the tight muscles of his back. Continuing her journey south, Kate dropped to her knees before him, palms and lips massaging every patch of skin she could reach. Stomach, hips, thighs.

He cradled her head as she took his solid length in her hand, the friction and the pace drawing a shaky groan from deep within his chest. She began an unpredictable pattern that drove him crazy, her hands, lips and tongue bringing him to the edge before she'd ease off only to begin the process all over again.

Hank was flushed and throbbing by the time he tugged her to her feet, smashing his lips to hers in a desperate kiss as he pulled her tight to his body, hands dropping to the backs of her thighs to draw her legs around his waist, pressing her back against the cool tiles. A whimper escaped Kate's throat at the feel of him, hard and thick at the apex of her thighs. Kate didn't consider herself a petite woman but Hank cradled her body with surprising ease, bracing one hand against the wall and dropping the other to take himself in hand, aligning their bodies and pushing inside with one firm stroke.

For a few moments, neither moved an inch, both focused on the sensation of being intimately joined but soon the urge to move became too much and Kate's hips began roll in languid circles.

He adjusted his stance, feet shoulder-width apart, one hand planted against the wall and the other gripping the fleshy globe of her ass, supporting her weight as she worked his shaft inside of her. Kate gripped the back of Hank's head, dragging his mouth back towards her own so that her tongue could dart past his parted lips, groaning at the intoxicating taste of him.

"You feel so good inside me."

Her whispered complement spurred Hank into action and, with a growl, his hips began to rock in a smooth, steady rhythm, drawing a long moan of pleasure from Kate who matched his thrusts with enthusiasm. Burying his face in her neck, Hank sucked the flesh of her throat into his hot mouth, teeth nipping the tense cord of muscle, the slapping sound of their wet bodies colliding filling the bathroom.

A handful of particularly deep thrusts had Kate tumbling over the edge into bliss, the muscles in her stomach and thighs trembling before she became boneless in his arms, her head falling back against the tiles with a thump as he mumbled soft words of praise against her throat. After a moment, Kate unlocked her legs from around Hank's waist, feeling him slip from her body as her feet returned to the floor but she wasn't left empty for long. Seconds after she turned to face the wall, palms flat on the slick tiles, Hank was pressed flush to her back and re-entering her with a grunt of satisfaction.

Taking her hips in his hands, Hank once again set a slow, steady pace, enjoying how she instinctively drew him in deep, holding him there as if she didn't want to let him go. Arching her back, Kate rested the base of her skull on his shoulder, the change in angle generating a delicious friction that sent her careening towards her second orgasm.

"Tell me you love me."

His voice was so low and deep that Kate almost didn't hear him over the thrum of the running water. He ran one hand up over her ribs, skating between her breasts to rest at the base of her throat, her pulse fluttering rapidly under his fingers. Kate could have cried at how vulnerable he sounded, the request sounding more like a plea as he held her close to him.

"God I love you." She breathed with no hesitation. "I love you so much."

Hank managed three more thrusts before reaching his peak with a guttural groan, withdrawing from the warmth of her body to coat the backs of her thighs with his release, the evidence of his climax being swiftly washed away by the water flowing over their flushed, heated skin.

After a moment, Kate turned in his arms, running her palms up over his flanks to settle on his chest, leaning in to press a sensual kiss to his mouth. When his fingertips drifted south, she halted him with a hand on his forearm.

"But you didn't-"

"We've got all night."

He hesitated for a beat but, when she drew him into another lusty kiss, he allowed her to tug his hand away from her body.

"Turn around." She mumbled against his lips and, once again, he obeyed without question. Kate wasn't sure how she should feel about him being so uncharacteristically docile but she was relieved that he felt comfortable enough with her to let his guard down and be taken care of in this way. She was acutely aware that Hank viewed himself as the 'man', the protector, the provider and she idly wondered how long it had been since anyone protected or provided for him.

Squirting a generous amount of shampoo into her palm, Kate set about washing his hair, using her fingertips to massage his scalp as she worked the fragrant soap into a lather. Once she had rinsed the bubbles out and was satisfied with her work, Kate moved on to lathering his back and shoulders with his body wash, the familiar scent of sandalwood with an underlying hint of citrus permeating the air around them.

When they were both clean and sud-free, Kate turned off the shower and passed him a large charcoal grey bath towel, taking the other for herself, wrapping the soft terrycloth around her body and stepping out onto the cool tile. The two completed the rest of their nightly ablutions in near silence before slipping under the sheets, Kate immediately shifting into Hank's open arms.

With her head buried in the crook of his neck, Kate draped her thigh across his hips, tracing her fingertips lightly up and down his sternum in a rhythmic, soothing motion.

"You know the whole 'sharing' thing works both ways, right?"

She felt him tense in her grasp, the palm skating up and down her back pausing.

"I'm not going to ask you to tell me anything. I just need you to know that you can…and that it won't change how I feel about you." She paused for a second. "Unless of course you tell me you've harmed an animal in which case I'd leave your ass in a heartbeat."

Kate felt a light chuckle vibrate under her cheek and she couldn't stop the wry smile that crept onto her face, knowing full well he was recalling the very same memory from a few months ago as she was.

"RUZEK! Hold your fucking fire!"

Kate poked her head out from behind the building she and Kevin were taking cover behind, her eyes scanning the street for the flash of brown she'd seen not seconds before. Spotting it about fifty yards up ahead next to a beat up Maxima, Kate turned briefly towards her partner.

"Kev, cover me."

"What the fu-"

Kate bolted down the sidewalk, head ducked and knees bent as she darted towards the white Toyota.

"Meadows, what the hell are you doing!?" Came Hank's gruff voice over the radio as he watched on from his place behind a nearby wall.

Scooping up the shaking animal under one arm, Kate waited for a pause in the gunfire before taking off back towards her partner, her back hitting the cool brick just as a bullet took out a chunk of stone where her head had been seconds earlier.

Sliding down to the floor, Kate clutched the little Terrier to her chest, her heart pounding twice its usual speed thanks to the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

"Hey little buddy, you're okay." She petted his head gently, hands checking him over for bullet holes, breathing a sigh of relief when she came up empty.

"You serious? All that for a damn dog?"

Kate looked up and was greeted by a partially amused, partially exasperated Kevin who simply shook his head before opening fire once more.

When they arrived back at the district, Kate didn't even have the chance to sit down before she was hauled into Hank's office.

"Uh-oh, you're in trouble now." Adam sing-songed as she passed by.

"Fuck you." She grumbled, rolling her eyes at her petulant colleague.

Kate went to close the door behind her but stopped at Hank's request to leave it open, moving to stand in front of his desk, waiting for him to speak. He was reclined in his chair, fingers interlocked across his stomach and both eyebrows were sitting high on his forehead in silent question.

"You need something Sarg?"

"Do you have a death wish, Meadows?"

Keeping her eyes on the blinds behind his head, Kate shook her head in the negative.

"No Sarg."

"Huh. Then please explain to me why you thought it was a good idea to run through a wave of bullets to rescue a fucking dog?"

Kate hiked her shoulders.

"I like dogs."

She heard both Adam and Kevin snort in amusement from out in the bullpen, knowing full well the two of them would be eavesdropping like the little old ladies they were.

"You like…Jesus Christ."

Hank closed his eyes and leaned forwards in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. When he opened his eyes again, he tilted his head to one side slightly, considering her for a moment.

Kate Meadows was one of the toughest cops he had ever had the good fortune to encounter. She was wicked smart, fiercely protective and would put her life on the line time and time again to honour her oath. But she also had one of the biggest hearts of anyone he had ever met. It was one of the many things he loved about her but, as her boss, he struggled to navigate the balance required to keep her safe and give her the freedom to thrive. Whilst he considered today's stunt an unnecessary risk, he knew that Kate didn't see things the same way he did.

"Well, it's a good job you like people just as much as you like animals then isn't it?"

Kate scoffed, her eyes meeting his for the first time since he'd summoned her to his office.

"God no, I like animals way more than I like people."

Planting a light kiss at the base of his throat, Kate shifted to straddle his hips, the sheets pooling at her waist as she braced her weight above him, hands planted on either side of his head, lips brushing against the tip of his nose.

"I could never share my bed with a man who's mean to animals."

He hummed in response, his palms sliding up over her smooth thighs to rest on her generous hips.

"But I'm serious." Kate pulled back slightly to look deeply into his eyes. "I want to be there for you…if you'll let me."

Lifting a hand to her face, he cupped her cheek gently and pulled her towards him, sealing his lips over hers.

"I love you." She murmured in between kisses, leaving his mouth to track damp lips down the flesh of his throat, groaning when she felt him stir beneath her. Kate continued showering his neck and chest with attention as she rocked her hips against his own and, soon enough, he was once again hard and throbbing between her thighs.

Tearing her lips away, she leaned over to pluck a foil packet from the nightstand and shuffled backwards on his thighs slightly so that she could sheath him in latex. Tossing the wrapper to one side, Kate repositioned herself over him and slowly sank down, sighing in pleasure at the satisfying stretch.

Planting her palms on his chest, Kate began a languid pace, keeping him firmly rooted inside of her as she rolled her hips back and forth. His hands tracked over her body, pausing occasionally to map the marks on her skin; the scar from her kidney donation, the lone freckle that sat just above her naval, the healed bullet wound near her left clavicle, the thin silvery scar on her shoulder from protecting Alvin from a knife-wielding nutcase. Sliding both hands up her toned torso, Hank cupped her swaying breasts in his hands, squeezing the flesh, fingers tweaking the already firm nipples into stiff peaks.

"Love the way you touch me." Kate breathed, her head falling back and her eyes fluttering closed.

She wasn't usually this vocal or coherent in bed but something told her that he needed to hear everything that would usually pass unspoken in her mind. He needed to hear exactly what he meant to her. Kate lifted one palm from his chest to clutch one of his hands, dragging it down over her rib cage and stomach to settle against her centre.

"Please Hank." She begged. "I need you."

He pulled her down so that their sweaty chests were pressed together, one arm banded around her back as the fingers of his other hand brushed repeatedly over her pulsating nub. The angle was awkward but he needed her close.

"Come for me, Kate. Let me feel you."

The combination of his gruff voice and the dual stimulation of his thick shaft and rapid fingers sent Kate spiralling into a spine-tingling orgasm, her entire body going rigid above him as she whispered his name against his ear.

Still buried deep inside her, Hank rolled Kate onto her back, her thighs hiking up around his ribs as he continued to thrust in and out of her body, his face buried into the soft skin of her neck. Kate held him close as she cooed in his ear, telling him over again how much she loved him, how much she wanted him to come inside her. With one final thrust, he erupted with a deep groan, his chest flushing red and the veins in his neck protruding with exertion.

Hank dropped his weight onto Kate's body, completely sated and suddenly bone tired as she held him in her arms. When he eventually came back to himself, he gently withdrew from her body and slumped onto the mattress beside her, his chest and torso gleaming with sweat. After a beat, Kate pressed a kiss to the underside of his jaw, leaning over his body and, under his heated gaze, carefully relieved him of his latex confines. Leaving him sprawled amongst the sheets, she got to her feet and disappeared off into the bathroom, returning a few minutes later with a warm, damp cloth, gently swiping the fabric over his sensitive skin. When she was satisfied that he was suitably cleansed, she tossed the cloth in the general direction of the laundry basket and slipped back into bed next to him, pulling the sheets up and over their bodies.

They lay in silence for a long time before Hank's husky voice broke Kate out of her reverie.

"I'm not who you think I am, Kate."

Turning onto her stomach, Kate propped herself up on one elbow to look at him, watching his face carefully. Through the dark, Kate could see that he was staring steadfast at the ceiling, eyes fixed and unblinking.

"What makes you say that?"

"I've always tried to be a good man. To do the right things. It's never black and white but, over time, the lines just became so blurry that I couldn't even see them anymore. And then when Camille passed…" He paused for a moment, shoulders hiking into a half shrug. "…it just hurt…all the time."

Kate could feel her eyes burn with unshed tears, wanting desperately to reach out and comfort him but she remained where she was, letting him continue with his train of thought.

"Eventually I felt like I couldn't feel anything at all….I was just numb. It meant I could turn off that switch inside of me that allowed me to do the things I did and still sleep at night."

Turning his head, Hank locked eyes with Kate.

"I'm not a good man. I know how I police. I've done things that I can't take back and…" He paused to draw breath, his warm brown eyes filled with emotion. "…I don't wanna be the thing that wrecks you."

Kate lifted a palm and traced her fingertips along his forehead, down his cheek to cup his jaw, his eyes falling shut briefly at the contact.

"You've known me long enough to know that I don't say anything I don't mean and I certainly don't make promises that I can't keep." Kate traced a fingertip over his brow, mapping the freckles on his skin and the lines on his face. "I'm with you, Hank. For as long as you'll have me. Or until we run out of road and the wheels fall off."

Leaning down, she placed the gentlest of kisses to his lips, praying to anyone that was listening that he was hearing her, that he understood what she was telling him. Whether they liked it or not, everybody had a past; good, bad or otherwise. Kate had done things that she wasn't proud of but Hank had this terrifying ability to go to an incredibly dark place within himself and she knew that ability was likely to have resulted in some pretty harrowing experiences.

As she held him in her arms, listening to his breathing finally become slow and even, she wondered if she could stay knowing that he wasn't being completely honest with her. She wasn't that woman, the one who could just turn a blind eye and walk through life blissfully ignorant of the things the person lying next to her was doing. Blissful ignorance was a place inhabited by idiots, and Kate was far from stupid. But Hank wasn't just anyone. Kate thought she had been in love once before but what she felt for Jake was just a drop in the ocean compared to what she felt for Hank.

If a choice had to be made between full disclosure or being without him, she was in so deep already that she wasn't sure that she even had a choice anymore.