It was tense ride over in the car. Kevin looked at his partner out of the corner of his eye. "You need to breath Burgess."

"I am breathing Kev."

"No, take a few deep breaths. We are going to get him out and then perhaps you two can have a conversation."

"We do talk Kevin."

"Really, about what? About all the shit you've put each other through? About how neither of you can move on." It was time to put it all out there, they had danced around each other, been miserable without each other and dragged him into the middle of it. They were his best friends and he was between a rock and a hard place because he loved them both and he was sick of them both being fucking idiots. "What do you talk about?"

"Back off Kevin. Not now, don't do this now."

"Then when would be a good time?"

Kim let her eyes slide closed for a brief moment and she did take a deep breath. "When we get him back."

Rather than answer he just squeezed her hand as she drummed her fingers on her leg and they drove in peace for a few minutes.

"Bacon and Maple sugar is nasty." Kevin eventually broke silence. "Nasty as all fuck."

"I know." Kim smiled, although at a push she would admit it wasn't too bad, she was growing to like it at one stage but hadn't had it for almost two years now. She just couldn't bring herself to do it nor could she throw out the jar of maple sugar sitting in her cupboard. It had made it's way up to the back out of sight but she knew it was there. "I mean in a sandwich?"

"He's got some weird ideas that's for sure. You think he'll get it?"

"He has to Kev, if he doesn't then what? We go in with all guns blazing?"

Kevin had to agree, in lieu of any other idea it was the one that they all felt had the best chance of succeeding. "I think Grady would like that?" He had noticed the tension for a while but never said anything. He had talked to Ruzek about it and in his usual non-committal way he just shrugged and muttered something about different strokes. He never really liked to give his opinion on someone, it usually got him in trouble. Like when he gave his opinion on Roman, that had gone down well as did his fist to his face at his going away party.

It certainly gave Roman something to remember his stint at the 21st. Nobody had really stopped him or cared one way or the other. Voight just shrugged it off, the only one that was pissed was Burgess but at that stage Ruzek didn't really care, he felt like he'd deserved it and told her as much. He was having none of her attitude at the time and told her he was sure she'd get over it as quick as she got over him. Apparently a bit of time and distance from the asshole did her the world of good and she did some soul searching, along with hearing some home truths from Al and Kevin. It took a while but eventually Kim at least realised that she played a bigger part in their demise than she wanted to believe. They talked about it once and that was it. It was done.

"Perhaps SWAT will be where she lands next? They love storming in…" Kim mocked disdainfully. "Like that's got any hope of succeeding. I guess she doesn't care about the collateral damage storming the bank would have. At least this way Ruzek knows when we are coming and he will make sure as many of those people are out of harms ways as possible. You know he will."

Even Kevin had been pissed when she announced that Ruzek would try and be a hero. "No, he'll be a cop. A damn good one." He reminded her for the umpteenth time.

"Grady really don't like Ruzek does she? I mean I get it, he's as annoying as all fuck as a person but he's a good cop." Atwater shrugged, they all knew this about Ruzek. "But he's my brother from another mother…"

"Maybe she tried to crack onto him and he knocked her back?" Burgess spat out bitterly. It was beneath her to be so catty but Grady had really rubbed her the wrong way today. She was annoyed at herself for letting it get to her. She had far more important things to worry about, like getting Adam out alive.

"Doesn't seem like the type she'd go for."

"Nope, not high enough ranking for her apparently."

"Wow Burgess, put those claws away." Atwater was taken aback. "Is this jealousy I hear? You jealous someone else might snap up your boy?"

"Just fucking drive Kevin, a little less like you are in a rally car race though."

Burgess and Atwater had no idea what Voight had to do to convince SWAT to let them deliver the food but sometimes it was better not to know. Currently they were heading to the local café who were preparing the food, they had stopped at a local grocery store to pick up some Maple Sugar as the café didn't have any and they didn't have time to wait around for them to track it down. Burgess knew where to get it, even if she hadn't bought it for years.

He gave Burgess a side-eye when she nervously grabbed the box of food "I think this will work, this part anyway." Kevin carried the box of water bottles to the car while Burgess held onto the food. She was hanging onto it for dear life, like she had Adam's whole existence in her hands. If this didn't work they had no idea what else to do.

"I hope so Kev."

"He's smarter than he looks or acts."

"I know." Burgess slid them into the back seat. "It's just, what if he doesn't pick up the sandwiches? What if the assholes who've got them hostage just hand them out and he misses out. He'll make sure everyone else eats before him."

"Slow down. Burgess, it's food, Ruze will be front of the queue."

"If he doesn't we are screwed."

"No it's just back to the drawing board. It will work." It wasn't that Kevin didn't have all these thoughts himself but two negative nellies wasn't going to help. He had to stay positive because there was no other option.

They had also secured a shirt hat from the Café and when they got to the scene Kim begged Voight to let her be the one to take the food in. She knew Adam she argued and could communicate with him, if he saw her he'd know Intelligence were there. Grady, of course had a different opinion. If anyone from Intelligence took the food in he'd know and at least if it wasn't Burgess he wouldn't blow his cover by giving away that he knew her.

"That's a stupid argument." Voight cut her down. "If he hasn't given away his cover yet he's certainly not stupid enough to do it because he sees a face he knows. How dumb do you think he is?"

"I'm just trying to be the voice of reason, you all seem to let your emotions get in the way of every decision regarding this case.."

Voight took a step towards her, forcing Grady to step back. "That's because having a heart makes you a good cop, you should try it sometime."

SWAT insisted that Kim wear a bullet proof vest under her shirt but she was worried they'd notice it and they had specifically asked for no cops and didn't want to do anything to make them angry or jeopardise the food getting through the door. First things first, they had to get it in there and then they could worry about the next steps.. Luckily she did as they asked her, through the doors, to lift up her shirt and turn around so they could make sure she had no wires or concealed weapons.

Adam smiled a little, the concealed weapon he got, the wire, meant fucking nothing to them but then again they were pretty stupid. Gun toting idiots. It was a nice view however for the brief few seconds he saw her.

Adam had been on edge ever since they agreed to let them deliver food. He had to appear like he wasn't excited about it or interested in what and how it was going to happen and also make sure he was in line of sight of the doors. One thing that nagged at him was that the mother that they released was probably only aware of Larry and Mo, she didn't know about Curly. He'd figured it out but was pretty sure no one else had except for Jack and it was only a few hours ago that he figured it out too. He'd asked Adam if there were three and he nodded.

While he was surprised when Kim appeared at the door he managed to keep his face dead calm. It was enough to know that Intelligence were on it. He expected nothing less. He had a few seconds to let her know about the third person and held three fingers down between his legs like a catcher. No sooner had Adam indicated three Curly stood in front of him. "What are you smirking at?"

"Starving Dude and she's hot. I guess I miss my girlfriend, she's a bit of a goer." Adam cocked his head. It was the first time that Curly had spoken to him. "Keen as mustard."

"You look like you'd fuck anything with a heartbeat."

"Yep." It was a strange conversation, after almost thirty hours of nothing he wanted to talk now?

Curly looked over his shoulder, still blocking Adam's view. "I guess, I mean she's got a mouth that I'd like to stick my poker in.."

Then she was gone and Adam decided he definitely wanted to see a bullet in this guy's head. He wouldn't mind sinking a boot into his gonads for good measure either.

It was all over in less than a minute.

Adam jumped up when they bought the food in and offered to hand it out. He doled out the sandwiches and water. He saw the one that was for him and made sure everyone got something to eat before he sat down to get into his. He was starving and needed to eat because he felt himself getting fuzzy and that wasn't what he needed right now. He was working on very little sleep so getting some food and water into him was a priority.

"What are you smiling at?" Mo snarled at him. He was definitely the least stable of the three. He wasn't the leader but obviously wanted to be.

"Sandwich is good, hit the spot."

"Great, now you'll stop fucking nagging? You are fucking annoying."

"Yep." He went and checked on a few of the elderly hostages, making sure they had eaten and drank the water. He was grateful for Jack and his wife Clary who were level headed and helped Adam keep everyone calm and out of the path of the Larry, Mo and Curly. Jack was a school principle and his wife Clary was a store manager.

Mo had tried to goad him into doing something rash but Adam was way too smart for him even when Mo was laying into him, he'd wait until Larry was asleep as he seemed to be the one most in control. Curly just watched Mo beat him and said nothing. Jack tried to intervene and copped a kick to the ribs for his trouble and Adam begged him to stay out of it.

He still had no idea how they were going to get out of here but he had to put faith in his team and CPD because that's all he had. At least he knew when it was happening, he had no idea what it was but expected it to involve a lot of bangs, people and smoke. It was SWATS MO, Intelligence weren't much better either. They were coming in all guns blazing, that was one thing he was sure of.

Checking the clock he knew they had three hours; three hours to navigate, keep everyone calm, including their captors. He needed to move people into safer locations without alerting anyone that something was happening. Jack and Clary seemed to clue onto something after the food had been delivered. "What?" Jack whispered. "What's happening?"

Larry, Mo and Curly were momentarily occupied discussing their next move, not that they made any attempt to keep their voices low.

Adam kept his voice low and quiet and spoke quickly. He'd sat down next to Jack while Clary was helping the elderly couple find a comfortable spot. "We need to get everyone away from the doors and windows and take shelter behind that counter but do it slowly and quietly."

"Why?"

"When I click my fingers you need to take shelter, okay?" Adam didn't look at them, he stared straight ahead and watched their three captors closely.

"What are you going to do?"

"Click of the fingers Jack, click of the fingers."

"You going to tell me who you are?" Adam had contemplated telling Jack who he was but couldn't risk it. He insisted that he was an Insurance Assessor, one of those assholes who always told you you were underinsured and wouldn't get back what you expected. Someone everyone hated.

"Your Fairy Godfather."

Bang on four o'clock Adam clicked his fingers and the doors burst open. Adam threw a paperweight he'd managed to find at the clock on the wall, causing it to shatter and it caught everyone by surprise. Then the first shot was fired and the screaming.

They lied, somewhere someone said you never hear the bullet but it was a lie. He remembered watching a TV show once that talked about it. That you never hear the bullet that got your name on it. They were constantly surrounded by gunfire, not daily or even weekly but they'd all heard enough of them in their day to know what it sounded like.

But they lied.

Kevin heard it, he heard the bullet from the moment it left the barrel of the gun until it thudded into flesh, it wasn't his bullet, it didn't come for him but it was the only bullet he heard in the chaos.

That was still ricocheting through his head when the body behind him hit the ground with a thud.