"She knows." Adam had snatched at his phone as soon as he saw Al's name flash up. He knew that Al was going to tell her and he had barely been able to sit still all day. He been for a long run, been to the gym and tried to watch a movie, nothing could take his mind off it for long.

"Is she okay?" It was all he could think about. He'd known for a few weeks that he was getting out of the hell he had been in for the past nine years. For nine long years he had desperately tried to forget about her and had stumbled from one disastrous relationship to another, trying to find a way to forget whilst attempting to recapture the magic and feelings that he had with the one he was forced to leave behind. Not that they were all a disaster, far from it and it wouldn't be fair to the women he had shared a life with but he was never in one place long enough to let himself fall in too deep.

"Not really."

"Al, I never meant to hurt her. She's got to know that."

"Adam, you need to give her some time." He had pushed and pushed Al to tell her. He wanted to come back to Chicago but he wouldn't do that until Kim knew.

"I can't man."

"I know this is tough, but you've waited this long. Just a few more days."

"Al, I can't." He wasn't surprised to hear him start sobbing. Adam had barely been able to control himself when he first saw Al. He'd been to hell and back and was desperately trying to climb out of the abyss. "I can't."

"Adam. Come on, this is going to affect a lot of people. Let Kim get her head around it." Al hadn't told him much about Kim's life beyond the fact that she was married, although currently separated and that she had two children. He had been deliberately vague about that and he knew she was still working in Intelligence.

"Please tell me she didn't marry Roman?" he had groaned when Al told him that she was married. That was one thing that would make this nightmare worse. He expected her to get on with her life, but that would have been like squeezing his nuts in a vice.

"She didn't marry Roman. Her husband is not a cop."

"I just want to see her and apologise. I need to talk to her and try and explain all this. This fucking mess that the FEDS got me into. I want to see my family, I want to see my Pops and Mom." He was starting to sound a little agitated. "I need to come home."

"Okay. I will see what I can do but you've got to take it slow."

"I'm trying."

This had been the biggest fucking nightmare. He had gone undercover with the FEDS thinking it would be good for his career but they had fucked up royally and he'd been made. That quickly spiralled into Witness Protection that became a necessity once his family and Kim were threatened. He had seen what these animals did to people who crossed them, and he had crossed them big time or someone had and he had to cop it in the neck. So reluctantly he had agreed to be killed off and sent out of the country initially to have a whole new life. The thing about witness protection though was the family you left behind had closure. They had a body to bury and grieve over. He had none of that, no closure, no chance to say goodbye and no opportunity to save one single memento from his past. All he had was a memory that he could never shake.

When he had finally got out from under the FEDS, when every single person they had fucked over regarding this case had died his first decision was to head back home. He chose Detroit, just until he got his bearings and contacted Al. They had asked him to take his time to consider it but nothing was going to change his mind and after nine years he had waited long enough to make things right.

"Olinsky." He was still in the habit of answering his phone like he had done for years. Short, sharp and to the point. Adam knew he had the right number when he heard that greeting.

"Bet you never thought you'd hear my voice again?" Al shook his head and looked at his phone trying to place the voice, which sounded familiar but was distorted by his obvious nerves and it was a number he didn't recognise.

'Who is this?"

"Al, it's me." He paused, the name still sounded unfamiliar on his tongue after years of being known as Paul Benson. "Adam, it's Adam Ruzek."

"Bullshit. Who is this?"

"O, it's me. I swear. The young guy you pulled out of the academy almost fourteen years ago."

"Ruzek's dead."

"He was, but he lives again."

"What the fuck?"

"Witness Protection. FEDS UC case that went sideways nine years ago. I am guessing you wept over my coffin, had a beer or two in my name, gave my desk away and forgot all about me." The laugh was forced. He knew Al was going to be sceptical but he had to convince him. If he couldn't convince him he had no idea how he was going to manage the rest. "I hope at least you and Voight gave the FEDS some shit over that?"

"Are you fucking with me?"

"No Al, I'm not." He answered the million questions that Al threw at him, about his life in Chicago, cases they'd worked on and without hesitation he had been able to confirm every single detail. He'd spent copious nights reliving his old life when he was alone and pining for his past. Obviously Al was testing him and who could blame him.

"Where are you?"

"In Detroit."

"I'll be there tomorrow."

Al had to see for himself. He called Voight first. "That FEDS case, the one that Ruzek went under on. Did anything seem off to you?"

"Apart from the fact they got one of my best UC's killed?" It had always stuck in Voight's gut how that ended. He'd tried to get answers and had got stonewalled at every turn. They'd burnt a lot of bridges trying to uncover the truth about what went wrong, who ratted Ruzek out but got nowhere. It took a long time for Voight to sign off on any UC work with them again.

"Yeah, that. Are we sure it's all above board?"

"Pfft, doubt it. They never are." Voight snorted. "Al, what's this about?"

"I just got a call about that case…." Al paused. It still seems so implausible but he had been around long enough to know that sometimes things weren't always black and white. "…I'm not sure everything happened the way we were told."

"What do you mean?"

"Listen, I am going to meet someone in Detroit tomorrow. I'll let you know."

Two days later he appeared on Voight's doorstep with a bottle a scotch. Voight rustled up some glasses and poured them both a drink. "Are you going to tell me what this is in aid of?" He held up the glass. "What was in Detroit?"

Al leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rolled the glass between his hands. "Adam Ruzek was in Detroit."

Voight breathed out slowly and sat back like all the stuffing had been knocked out of him. "Are you kidding me?"

"No, no I am not. I spent the day yesterday with Adam Ruzek." He swallowed the contents of his glass in one go and held it out so Voight could refill it. He'd be damn if they weren't going to finish that bottle tonight.

It had been surreal. He knocked on the door still expecting it to be some hoax yet before him stood Adam Ruzek, a little older but most definitely alive. "Hey O." They stood and looked at each other for a moment before Al held out his hand but instead of shaking it he pulled him in for a hug.

"Can I say, what the fuck?"

"Yep you can." Adam nodded his head. "You look good old man. Not a day older or wiser."

"Now I know it's you."

Al was exhausted; it was a long and emotional day. They had covered a lot of ground, Adam had asked him about everyone, they talked about old times and eventually they got around to the case. He handed Al his files, knowing full well that he would want to check it out. "I still don't know who let the cat out of the bag."

"We tried to look into it. Voight went all Voight on the FEDS but we got nothing. Until this day he still hates that case."

"So do I." Adam scratched his beard, it was the first time he'd let it grow in years and it felt uncomfortable. He's spent most of his time with a number one haircut and clean-shaven but now his hair was getting a little longer and he felt like he was starting to grow into his own self again, physically at least. "Can you tell Kim?"

"If you want me too."

"I don't think turning up and knocking on her door would be good. She might shoot me."

"Probably. You know she's done good."

"Is she happy?"

The look on Al's face told him everything he needed to know. "She's okay."

"But not happy?"

"Kim is having a rough time with her husband. I'm not really sure what's going on but she's hangin' tough." That piece of information had spun Adam out a little. He didn't want her to be unhappy but it changed everything, it would be easier to walk away if she was happy. Maybe.

Al now looked at Voight. "You always knew that something was up with that case."

"I did, didn't expect this though."

"Nope." He stared at the bottom of his glass holding it out for a refill. Tomorrow was going to hurt but it might be good to not be able to think about this mess for a while and the scotch would help. "And now I need to tell Kim."

Al and Voight had trawled through the notes, dragged out their own long buried files and made as many calls as they could. They were no closer to finding any answers and that was frustrating all the while Adam was hounding Al to tell Kim.

Now that he had he needed to work on getting Kim to see him again. She was coming around, not nearly quick enough for Adam though.