Disclaimer: I own nothing except my imagination.
A/N: I'm super excited from the response that this story has received so far and I'm sorry this update took so long to come but I hope you enjoyed it.
Adam found himself Chicago bound two days later and he plugged his earbuds in, knowing Kim wasn't on the flight. He wasn't in the mood for small talk of any kind so he just closed his eyes and shut his mind. They touched down and Adam grabbed his carry-on and made it through the terminal, smiling when he saw Atwater waiting for him.
"Glad to have you home brother." They hugged and tapped each other's chest in greeting.
"I bet you had so much fun with Lance." He chuckled, knowing how much he hated being partnered with him.
"I'm never letting them loan you again." He groaned. Kevin dropped him off at his place with a promise to go out for a drink in a few days after shift. Adam was exhausted from his three days with his sister and the kids and he knew that he needed to be rested for his day back in Homicide. He grabbed himself a beer and settled in front of a basketball game, just wanting to unwind a bit before bed. He looked at his phone and unlocked it, going through the exchange of texts between himself and Kim and it brought a smile on his lips.
A: I just got back in. Any chance we can get together next time you touch down in the city? Adam didn't have to wait long for a reply.
K: Back in a couple of days, I'll call you when I get it. Night x
Adam smiled at her reply before he shut the tv off and put his beer bottle in the sink before turning in. He was up bright and early and heading into the precinct, glad to have it mostly empty. Her took a seat at his desk and started on some paperwork that he left behind.
Kevin walked up the stairs of the 26th and found his way towards his own desk and he took a seat in front of Adam, watching him as Adam kept his head down. He could see his shoulders less tense than before his stint in New York and if he was not mistaken, there was a smile lingering on his lips.
"Is that a smile I see there Ruz?" Kevin teased.
"I always smile, see?" He smirked, making Kevin laugh.
"Not like that. Who's the girl?"
"No girl, just had a great time with Liv and the kids." He deflected, returning to his paperwork.
"You can't hide it forever." Kevin was determined to find out who the lucky lady making his partner and best friend smiling like that. The rest of the unit filed in and welcomed Adam back before their Sargent walked in, calling them at attention.
"Welcome back Ruzek." Adam raised his arm in acknowledgement but kept his eyes trained on his paperwork. "I need all of your paperwork on the last case on my desk before the end of the morning." Adam watched as his boss's phone rang. "Walker." It didn't take a genius that a case was coming so Adam stood from his desk and grabbed his jacket, giving Kevin a head's up. "We got a case." Walker announced as the rest of the unit suited up.
Kevin watched Adam like a hawk as they made it to the car and he had no doubt that his recent change was due to a girl and he was going to get it out of him.
"You do know that I can see right through you, right dog?" He leaned against the top of the car and watched as Adam took his seat shotgun.
"I just, I'm not sure where it's heading and it's new and I kind of like her." Adam watched as Kevin took his spot behind the wheel.
"Good for you. Looking forward to meeting her." Kevin left Adam to his thoughts as they made it to the scene. The alley next to the house was closed off and when Adam walked into the house, he leaned down, pulling the sheet off the victims, he gasped, finding a young girl, probably no older than ten, a woman he assumed to be her mother lying next to her with a bullet to the chest.
"What do we know?" He growled, putting the tarp back down and standing up.
"Not much detective." A younger officer came next to them.
"I want this whole area canvased with a fine-tooth comb and I want every camera and pod footage within a 10 mile radius on my desk in an hour." He stood promptly and started pacing, running a hand against his face.
"Ruz, talk to me." Kevin watched him pace, knowing any case involving kids riled Adam up.
"She's Vinessa's age man. How can you be so FUCKING CALM?"
"Trust me I'm far from it but we gotta do everything we can to get justice for her. That's how we deal with this." He took a step towards Adam, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's try to get this solved quick." And for the next hours, that's exactly what they did. Adam was going to get the son of a bitch that did it even f he had to kick every single door of the neighbourhood to do it. Atwater could see Adam's agitation during the whole day so he knew exactly what they were going to do when they had caught that maniac.
Hours later found them back at the 26th with no real lead and Adam was in front of his computer looking over street cam footage and nothing was standing out and he was growing increasingly frustrated.
"Got anything?" He didn't want to look up from his task, hell bent on finding something.
"Nothing yet, working a few leads but waiting to hear back from my CI's." Walker walked out of his office and saw two of his Detectives right in front of him and he could see their frustration in the way they were holding each other.
"Atwater, Ruzek, my office."
"Not now Sarge."
"NOW!" He appreciated Ruzek's need to solve the case but it wasn't a request. The two stood and walked into their Sargent's office.
"What can we do for you Sarge?" Kevin did the middle man, knowing Ruzek was a ticking bomb right about now.
"What do we have so far?" He sat behind his desk, Kevin sitting and Adam staying on his feet.
"We don't have much to go off on right now. I have a couple CI's working the streets and we cam footage."
"Found anything on the footage?"
"Not yet and the father is still in the wind." Adam's jaw muscles clenched, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I don't need to tell you of the importance of solving this case."
"No you don't." Adam said through gritted teeth, turning around and heading for the door but he made it the door handle before Walker stopped him.
"Stay back a few minutes Ruzek." Adam rolled his eyes in annoyance as Kevin clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Sarge?" Adam turned around and stayed put, hoping to get this over with so he could actually go back to do some real cop work.
"I got a call from New York, they said you did a fine job up there."
"Thanks, glad I could help." Adam took a step back and was about to leave again but clearly his Sargent had other ideas.
"What's on your mind Ruzek?"
"What's on my mind is that a ten year old girl and her mother were killed at daybreak, the dad is MIA and we have nothing to go on." Adam's phone rang and he smiled as he listened to the person on the other side. "Keep him in custody, I'm on my way." He left the office and grabbed his coat on the back on the chair. "Atwater, they got the dad, let's go." He wasn't about to let this task go to anyone else.
"Molly's tonight, no's not gonna cut it." Kevin knew Adam would need to unwind after today.
"Absolutely." They made it to the airport in record time with the lights on and as soon as both he and Kevin walked into the room, they were face to face with a hysteric man.
"Why are you keeping me here? They won't tell me what's going on. They just took me here and took my passport. What is going on?"
"Where were travelling back from?"
"I was on a business meeting all week."
"Can someone confirm you were there?" Adam clasped his hands together on the table, Kevin sitting back in his chair.
"Yes, I keep all my receipts for expenses refunds and the guy at the front desk of the hotel can vouch for me. And you can look at the security footage." He ran his fingers through his hair. "Can you please tell me what is going on?" His tone was resigned, tired. Adam looked at Kevin and sighed. He hated this part of the job but he knew he had to do it.
"We found your wife and daughter unresponsive earlier today. I'm sorry Mr. Duncan." Kevin's heart went out to the man who's life they had just turned upside down.
"Please find out who did this to my family, please."
"You have our word." Adam promised. "We'll need you to come down to the station to identify them." The man finally broke down and the guys stood and left the room, requesting some uniforms to escort the man to his family.
"Let me check-in with my CI's, we need to find who did this." Kevin could relate to the man on a certain level because he knew for a fact that if Jordan and Vinessa were taken away from him, he's be destroyed. Kevin's phone rang as they excited the terminal.
"Atwater." He nodded to what was being said and even though Adam was trying to gain his attention, Kevin's attention was solely on the person on the other end of the line. "Thanks, we're on our way." He pocketed his phone and turned to Adam. "They found something on the pods, let's go." Kevin drove due to Adam's still agitated state and when they made it back to the 26th, the footage was waiting for them and they finally caught their break.
The case took them longer than they were hoping for. It was late in the evening when they finally found the guy. It had been a home invasion gone wrong and the man had shot blindly into the house. Adam rolled his shoulders as he and Kevin made it out of the 26th.
"Meet me at Molly'?" Kevin confirmed.
"Right behind you." They were quick to order shots and beers upon arrival and they had one thing in mind, unwind.
Kim landed mid-afternoon and her first destination was her apartment. All she wanted was to shower and go out for a drink with Chloe. It had been another tough flight and she just wanted to relax at this point. Chloe was insistent they try a small local pub close to her new flat and Kim was supposed to meet her there. She figured that she would call Adam in the morning and they could get together if he was off. She had found herself missing him physically since he left for his sister's house and she was looking forward to get to know him more. She found the black skinny jeans she had bought last in the back of her closet and he put it with a blue sleeveless top that stopped just mid rift and she grabbed her heels and clutch and she was out the door.
Adam and Kevin were in a booth at the back of Molly's as they knocked beers back, their Sargent having given them the next day off after a hard case.
"So, tell me more about that lady friend of yours." Kevin wasn't going to let him get away with not telling him anything.
"I met her on the plane to New York." He smiled as he remembered their first meeting.
"See, that smile right there." He pointed at Adam. "You're totally hooked man, you're in trouble."
"You might be right but I don't regret anything." He admitted. "She's beautiful, smart, funny and she has that way of carrying herself that just has you gravitate towards her." He looked ahead of Kevin just as the door to Molly's opened and he saw the most beautiful girl walk in, followed by her best friend. He couldn't take his eyes off her as his smile grew wider. Kevin turned to see what Adam was looking at and his eyes fell on two girls he had never seen before.
"Why don't you just go see her?" Kevin gave Adam his attention.
"Nah, I'm good. She's supposed to call me tomorrow." He said absentmindedly as he kept his eyes on her.
"Come on, just go." Adam smiled back at Kevin but he got another idea instead. He hailed the waitress and sent two glasses of wine over.
Kim and Chloe were laughing as they sat at the bar but they were interrupted but the waitress bringing them two glasses of red wine.
"From the gentleman in the back." She turned around and instantly her eyes fell on Adam who winked at her, making her laugh.
"Thanks." She smiled at the girl behind the bar. "Come on Chloe, I'll introduce you." Now that she had seen him, she wanted to go see him and thank him properly for the drinks.
"Fancy meeting you in here." He slipped a hand around her waist as she made it to him.
"What are the chances?" She leaned up and kissed him soundly on the lips. Her arms found their way towards his neck as he deepened the kiss and a deep clearing of someone's throat pulled them apart.
"Kim Burgess, I would like you to meet my partner Kevin Atwater."
"It's nice to finally meet you, Adam has told me great things about you." She extended her hand and he enveloped it with his much larger one.
"And Ruz didn't lie when he said you were beautiful." She blushed a light shade of pink at the compliment. She noticed Chloe fidgeting in her spot, her eyes on Kevin.
"Oh and this is Chloe, best friend extra ordinaire." Kim made the introductions.
"Welcome to Molly's Chole." Kevin extended his hand and kissed the back of hers.
"Thanks." She smiled coyly.
"So you're the infamous Chloe, we haven't formally met. I'm Adam Ruzek." They both shook hands.
"Glad to finally see you up close and not from across a bar. This one has been tight lipped about you." She nudged Kim's shoulder, Adam's grip still around her waist.
"He's been a tough nut to crack too. If you hadn't shown up tonight, I'd still think you were cooked up by his brain."
"We weren't trying to hide, it's just pretty new."
"Some of the best things deserve to go slow." Kevin couldn't keep his eyes on Kim's friend, who returned his attention. The boys scooted over and let the girls slide in next to them and they made conversation, getting to know more about each other.
In a matter of seconds, Chloe and Kevon suddenly became unaware of them, the two of them in their own bubble.
"Want to get out of here?" Adam whispered to Kim's ear.
"I think they won't miss us." She giggled. She got out of the booth, Adam right behind her. He put some bills on the table and guided her out of Molly's and towards his Tahoe.
"Where to?" He didn't want to influence her so he gave the the power to decide.
"My place?"
"Sure, we'll get your car later." He assured her.
"I came with Chloe."
"Even better." He helped her inside and walked around and got into the driver's side, looking at her for directions. She texted Chloe about leaving with Adam so she wouldn't worry and then she kept her eyes on Adam as she gave him directions. Once they were inside her building, his hands hummed at the need to touch her but just like before, she was the one in control so he let her unlock her door and invite him inside, Adam closing the door behind him.
"Welcome to my place." She said with a smile as she turned the lights on. He took a step towards her and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her to him.
"I missed you." His lips ghosted over hers.
"How much did you miss me?" She would be lying if she hadn't entertained thoughts of the two coming together but she wanted to take things as slow as he wanted but looking in her eyes now, that's not the plan he had in mind. His lips found hers in a bruising kiss and Kim started pushing his shirt over his head as she guided him towards her room. Their clothes were shed in record time and Adam laid her down gently on the bed, ready to show her exactly how much he had missed her.
A/N:Please take a few seconds to review before you go, your thoughts mean everything to me. - Sarra