Adam pushed through the cage and ran down the stairs toward the front desk, "Hey Sarg, you seen Kim?" Platt spun around and pointed toward the mailroom behind her. "Thanks, boss." He knew this was a long shot but he had to try. He took a deep breath to steady his nerves and rounded the corner, "So, I need a favor…" Kim jumped, startled by the sudden intrusion. "What the hell? You can't just sneak up on me like that." Kim rolled her eyes in Adam's direction as he smiled sheepishly at her. "And that smile doesn't work on me anymore." She reminded him dryly.
"I need you to get Liam from school and get him to soccer tonight." Kim could feel her blood boiling, this was the fifth time in a month that Adam had tried to pass their son off on her. "No, there's a reason we have a custody schedule, it's your day and you need to figure it out."
He closed his eyes trying to calm his frustration, "Antonio and I have to go under tonight, I really need your help, please."
"Remember when Liam was born and I moved back to the beat so he could have a steady parent? Maybe you should try to prioritize your son like I did." Kim slammed the mail on the counter and headed for the door pushing past Adam as she did. Adam stared at her as she walked away, two years of divorce and the hurt and anger between them was still just as fresh and raw as the day Kim left him.
"Need a sitter?" Adam snapped out of thoughts, "Yeah, is Sylvie off today?" Antonio nodded his head, "I'll text her." Adam didn't know what he would do without Antonio and Sylvie, she had picked up so much of his slack the last couple of years and she was the one person he knew that Kim wouldn't have a problem watching Liam. "I told you divorce wasn't fun, remember the shit Laura put me through, you're lucky its Kim and not someone vindictive."
Adam huffed, "She doesn't make it easy." Antonio put his hands up, "Stop, you might be my partner now, but she was my partner first, you're both family and I'm not getting in the middle, so keep the comments to yourself." Adam bowed his head and nodded slowly, "Sorry" he felt like the only thing he ever did anymore was apologize.
Kim felt the vibration of a message alert on her phone and pulled it out, 'Sylvie's watching Liam' was all the message read from Adam. She knew her unwillingness to compromise with Adam was selfish and she would rather Liam be with her when he wasn't with his dad but she needed Adam to realize that Liam was a responsibility that he couldn't just set to the side anytime it wasn't convenient for him. She responded with a thumbs up emoji and shoved her phone back in her pocket.
"Hey, Burgess!" Kim was trying to sneak past the front desk without being detected by a certain desk sergeant. "What's up?" she plastered on a smile hoping Platt couldn't see the annoyance on her face. "Everything okay?" Kim nodded her head, probably too enthusiastically but either Trudy didn't notice or she wasn't in a mood to care. "Intelligence needs an officer, you're the only one available." Kim's smile quickly fell to a frown and she started to protest but was stopped abruptly, "Just get your ass up there, Voight's already signed off on you." Platt waived her off without looking at her any further.
Kim stood at the palm scanner and ran her hand under, the door clicked open and she moved to walk up the steps. It had been over a year since Kim was asked to assist on a case, Voight had decided it was better if her and Adam didn't work together on cases after they got into a fight at a crime scene in front of witnesses.
She reached the top of the stairs and looked around, she missed Intelligence, once upon a time this was her family and her whole world but now Antonio, Adam, and Voight were the only members left that she had worked with, everyone else had moved on to other projects. She spotted Adam who was avoiding eye contact, "Burgess, in here." Voight motioned her toward his office. "Ruzek, you too." Kim heard the audible dramatic sigh from Adam and tried her best to keep her face neutral.
Adam shut the door behind him and leaned against the frame, not wanting to take the seat next to Kim. "Burgess, I need you to work this case, are we going to have problems if you do?" Voight looked from Adam to Kim, "I don't have any problems, boss." Adam could feel Voight's eyes boring into him. "No problems." Kim answered quickly. "Ruzek, I swear we have any problems and your ass will be down on the beat from here until I say when." Adam shifted his eyes to meet Voight's, he knew he wasn't playing around and nodded. "We need a female officer I can trust and you're the only one I know who has the skills to pull off what we need."
Adam shifted against the door frame and Voight looked at him, "Ruzek?" Kim turned and looked at him, his body language was screaming annoyance, "Relax, I don't want to be here just as much as you don't want me here but we're grownups and have a job to do." She huffed as she turned back around and met eyes with Voight. "I'm glad you think I hate you that much." Adam quipped back without thinking.
"CHRIST DO YOU TWO EVER STOP?" the boom of Voight's voice shook Kim to her core. "How am I supposed to trust that you can make it through one case without killing each other when you can't even sit in an office together?" Kim didn't know how to respond, she felt like a child being scolded by the teacher. "Sarg, can I say something?" Voight's eyes shot to Adam warning him it better be constructive. "I don't have a problem with Kim working a case up here, I have a problem with both of my sons' parents working the same dangerous case." Voight nodded his head in understanding, "I would never risk Liam losing both of you, I'm sure we're all going home tonight or I wouldn't do this." Kim gave Voight a small nod and Adam accepted the decision with defeat etched on his face.
Kim headed into the locker room, to change out of her blue's into street close, she could feel his presence and she looked around the locker door, "What?" she barked at him. "Listen, I know we don't see eye to eye on, well, anything but I need you safe so just follow orders okay." Kim slammed her door closed and crossed her arms over her body defensively, "I know how to do my job Adam, I've been doing it longer than you, remember? I just need you to do yours and cover my ass." She moved passed him as quickly as she could and escaped out the door. "Covered" He whispered to no one in particular, smiling at the tiny reminder of the oddly similar yet so different conversation they had so many years before.