A/N: I do not own any of the Chicago Fire, PD or Med characters that show up in my stories… I just like to play with them. I DO own the characters of Katherin, Ken and anyone else that I make up. This one plays fast and loose with the time lines of the seasons… Gabby isn't around and Stella and Severide aren't together. *I feel like I probably don't need to say this every time…

Warning: Domestic violence, and sexual abuse mentioned ; rated for language and future scenes.

Chapter 3

Kat made it back to her house fairly quickly, and without any issues. She took off her coat quietly, unsure if Ken had come back to the house or not. When she tiptoed upstairs she and found he wasn't there, and breathed a sigh of relief. She found her phone , it was dead of course so she went to the bathroom, plugging it in to the charger she had in there. Kat turned the water on in the shower as hot at she could stand it, then started peeling off clothes, and unknotted her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror at the black and blue marks covering her whole body and wanted to cry. How did she let it get this bad ? She stared until the mirror fogged up then she gingerly made her way into the shower. As the hot water ran down her body she thought back to the extremely sweet people she met tonight . All they wanted to do was help her, a stranger. She told herself she would bring money to the firehouse for the drinks and food, they deserved that. Kat stood under the water for a good 30 minutes , in an attempt to warm up but also to wash away the tiredness and self loathing she felt. She washed her hair and made a mental list of everything she needed to get done. Change the locks. Talk to the hot detectives. Visit the firehouse . She moved her fingers around her body checking for anything broken and didn't feel anything , so no trip to the hospital was necessary . She knew from past experience not to go unless something was broken or dislocated . If she went for every bruise she got… it wouldn't be good. Kat finally rinsed out her hair and turned the water off. She got out and wrapped a towel around her, being as careful as she could with the bruises. Her phone lit up on the counter, getting her attention so she grabbed it and laughed. Kelly had immediately messaged her the address of their house, but she had about 15 other messages from the other fire fighters , even some from the detectives that had been there, with variations of the same message "Hope you are okay. " She scrolled through them and stopped at another one from Kelly that read "If you don't come to the house tomorrow, I'm coming to find you." Normally she would be terrified at getting a message that read that, because normally the person sending it would be threatening her. But this time? She was already warm from the shower but she could feel the heat in her whole body rise. She wasn't blind, the man was attractive in every possible way. She shook her head and tried not to think like that, just responding with a "Did you give my number to the whole bar?" Kat padded off to the bedroom and pulled out warm pajamas, when she heard her phone ping . She grabbed it and plugged it back in to the bedroom charger , and smiled at the response she got. "They're family." She quickly got dressed , slid into bed and decided maybe having a family wasn't so bad after all. "I'm in bed, let me know you made it home in one piece. For some reason I've taken a liking to you crazy folks." His response came quick "Already here. See you tomorrow. " there was no question mark, so she knew he was making a statement . She put her phone down , closed her eyes and fell asleep dreaming of blue eyes and that smile.

The next morning Kat went to stretch and hissed at the pain. Oh yeah, she had fallen, no… been thrown down a flight of stairs last night. She got up and checked herself in the mirror. The bruises were already changing color, with any luck they would fade in the next few days. Kat brushed out her hair and quickly got dressed. She shot a message to Kelly asking for the time to be at the firehouse, and he responded almost immediately with "Any time is good. Can't wait to see you. " Awwww, that was sweet. She grinned from ear to ear as she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen . She started humming to herself as she made breakfast , toast with coffee since she was going somewhere. When she finished eating she cleaned up, grabbed her purse she had forgotten the night before, chucking her phone in it, her coat and Kelly's hat and scarf, and headed out the door.

Firehouse 51 wasn't a very far drive from her house. She stopped at a bakery on her way there, figured the crew might appreciate something sweet this morning, and pulled up to their building . She got out and admired it. It looked like it could tell a million stories, of the neighborhood and of its occupants. Holding the box of pastries in one hand and made her way to the front door. When she got there she walked in to what she guessed was the garage. There was a big red firetruck with a ladder attached, a slightly smaller truck and an ambulance parked inside . As she made her way in further she saw a smaller vehicle that said "Battalion Chief" on the side. She stood for a moment in awe, she had never been to a firehouse before and it was all kind of overwhelming . She heard a noise behind her and saw two men walk out one being Kelly.

"You came. " He grinned at her with that same adorable grin she fell asleep thinking about .

"I did." She held out the box "I brought pastries, in case anyone's hungry." The box got snatched from her hands fairly quickly by the older man and Kelly grabbed her now empty hand and gently pulled her towards the door.

"Come on, you can meet everyone officially. The hungry one is Mounch ." He laughed when she gave him a raised eyebrow look.

"What's with you guys and nicknames ? " She waved to the older man who waved back but couldn't speak due to the food he shoved into his mouth.

He led her to the common room where there were a familiar group of people. They all waved and smiled at her making her feel welcome.

"So I know you met most of these people last night." He pointed as he introduced them "My squad members Joe, Capp and Tony." They all waved and nodded to her. "The paramedics of Ambo 61 Sylvie Brett and Emily Foster ." they smiled and waved at her. "And these are the members of truck 81. That's Otis, you met Mounch outside, that's Stella Kidd." He pointed to the third female in the room . "And here's Herrmann."

She turned around and looked into the eyes of the sweet bar owner that was so kind to her the night before . Kat dropped Kelly's hand and wrapped her arms around the older gentleman who was shocked at first but then smiled, patting her on the back gently.

"What's this for now?" he pulled back and grinned at her.

"Thank you. For your kindness and hospitality and … here. " She pulled out a few 20s from her wallet. "This is for the drinks and food last night. It's the least I can do."

Herrmann just threw up his hands and backed away. "Nope, can't accept that. I told you it was on the house, and I meant it. " He walked away and sat down at one of the tables.

"Herrmann you never give anything away, you sure you're ok ? We need to check you for a fever?" Otis teased attempting to put his hand on the other man's forehead and getting it swatted away.

"I'm fine! Listen kid, you can come to Molly's whenever you want. Don't pay attention to these knuckle heads, I give lots of stuff away. " that was met with a lot of laughter causing Kat to smile. At that moment a very large dark skinned man came striding in with Captain Casey .

"Is this the famous Katherin I've heard so much about this morning?" he walked up to her and stuck out his hand to shake hers. She shifted her belongings and was surprised at how strong his grip was. "Chief Wallace Boden."

"Infamous maybe. Call me Kat." She smiled up at him. "Thanks for letting me barge in this morning Chief." She figured they had told him her story already so she didn't feel the need to expand. She waved at Casey who smiled a million watt smile at her. " I didn't come empty handed, there is a funny named man somewhere eating the pastries l brought."

That caused most of the room to jump up and scatter to search for him, leaving just the Chief, Kelly and Matt. "Why don't we go to my office?" he held out his hand to take her coat, which she handed to him and followed the group. "Marcy, can you take this coat for me?" the brown haired woman sitting behind the desk jumped up and did what he asked, and then he pointed her through the door. "Have a seat."

"Um, I really don't want to be a bother…" she wasn't sure why she felt like she had been sent to the principals office, but she did. She sat down in a chair in front of his desk, while he sat behind it. The other two stood towards the back of the room by the door, leaning on the wall.

"No bother. My men told me that you were attacked, and that you didn't want to press charges ?" she started to speak but he wasn't finished so she quickly snapped her mouth shut. "I don't usually like to put our house in the middle of situations that are out of our control but when I have a group of my employees coming to me saying they are concerned, I take notice."

Kat turned around and gave a semi glare to the men standing by the door, then turned back around and started "Sir it's really not that big of deal. " She stopped when she heard Kelly and Matt both walk towards the desk.

"It is a big deal. Not to put your business out there Kat but Sylvie said you were covered in bruises." Kelly sat in the chair next to her.

Dammit, why did that pixie woman have to be so loud. "Okay yeah, she's right. But-"

"No buts. Now I won't force you to do anything, but I strongly suggest you talk to the detectives that were there last night. Or their Sergeant, he could get this taken care of. " She heard Matt make a noise and Kelly and the Chief stared at him for a second before the Chief continued . "I also suggest you go to Med, get the bruises documented. "

Kat closed her eyes tight, wishing she was invisible . She opened them when she felt a hand on hers, she looked down and then at Kelly. "Guys I really REALLY appreciate this, please don't think I'm not grateful for all your kindness and concern. I'll be honest with you, if I go it'll be really bad. He's…" god she almost said it, how powerful he was in this town. That would be a mistake. "He's well connected, let's just say that. I've tried running, hiding… He finds me."

"Restraining order?" Matt spoke up from behind them.

"I've had several. I wish they did something , they don't . " She remembered back to when that first RO was issued and how angry he had been. That time he didn't hit her.. He did something much worse. Her punishment for making him use his power and get the thing thrown out. "I'll talk to the sergeant if you want, but can he come here ? I really don't need to be seen in a police station." Her hand started shaking. Kelly felt it and squeezed trying to silently reassure her.

"I'll call him right now." The chief picked up his phone , indicating they were done with their conversation for now, so the trio got up and left the office.

"Well that was entertaining. He's scary!" Kat whispered afraid he would hear .

The two men with her laughed. "Chief? He's a big teddy bear." Kelly commented and they laughed even harder when her eyes went wide.

"Him? Yeah no, I don't think so." Kat shook her head and followed the men out of the office area and in to the common room again. The crew had tracked down Mounch and had their pastries , so they were all happy and full. Kelly offered Kat as cup of coffee when the alarm bells rang, indicating truck 81 and the ambulance were needed somewhere . Matt squeezed her shoulder gently and walked away with his crew, while Kelly and Kat sat down at a table.

Chief Boden was in his office on the phone. "Voight, I need you to come to the firehouse as soon as possible."

"Everything ok Chief? Your men?"

"They're fine. There's a young lady here that needs to talk to you, and can't go to the district."

Hank Voight knew exactly who he was referring to. The team had come in this morning already talking about her. "Be there soon. " He responded and hung up. He grabbed his jacket "I'm going to 51. The girl you all met last night is there, wants to give a statement." He asked for Antonio to stay there, take the lead if any case came up. "Halstead, with me." Jay grabbed his coat and followed his boss to the car.

When they walked into the firehouse Hank saw her immediately. She seemed to be relaxed sitting there in the station, chatting with Severide and the rest of Squad 3. He cleared his throat as he walked up to the table announcing his presence, Jay tagging along beside him . Kelly and the girl rose together and stood in front of him , and he got a good look at her. She had pale skin, sandy blond hair and dark circles under her eyes, indicating the stress she had been under. "Sergeant this is Katherin Bend. Kat, this is Sergeant Hank Voight of the Intelligence Unit , and you met Jay last night."

Kat smiled at the blue eyed detective. "Nice to see you again." She stuck her hand towards the older man "Kat. Thanks for coming down here Sir." He took her hand and turned it over, showing her wrist.

"This the only one?" he nodded at it, releasing her hand . Kat shrunk back against Kelly, who put his hands at her waist to steady her.

"Um, no sir." She stammered, turning red.

"Well, let's have a talk." He walked to the Chiefs office and waited for her. Jay shook his head slightly and whispered at her "Don't mind him. He's always this way. " then he walked off to the office too.

Kat turned towards Kelly "Maybe this wasn't a good idea…" and he just shook his head.

"No, it is. You want me to go in there with you?" she nodded rapidly. " Voight is rough around the edges but he is fiercely determined to catch the bad guy. He's the right man for this." He walked around her and held out his hand, taking hers and leading her into the office, shutting the door behind them, then closing the blinds.

"Take me through what happened." The sergeant was sitting on the couch she hadn't noticed was there before . He stared at her , and it made Kat nervous .

"Well, I told my ex I was going to leave yesterday… and he… threw me down the stairs." The last part came out rushed and jumbled together. "I'm fine, no broken bones or anything, just a lot of bruises." She still was standing near the door, she felt that was the best place to be for an easy escape. Jay patted the seat next to him indicating he wanted her to sit down so she moved slowly over towards him.

"Lets see." The gruff voice from the couch spoke up again causing Kat to jump a bit.

"See?" she looked at Kelly with wide eyes. She knew this was coming but this was a room full of strangers. She wished the floor would open her up and swallow her.

"The bruises. If you aren't going to Med we need to document them." Jay answered this time, softer and with a more gentle tone. "I would have Brett do it but I saw the ambulance was gone." Kat closed her eyes and nodded . She took her shirt off, and stood in a room with 3 grown strange men, half naked and feeling mortified. She heard a sharp hiss come from both Kelly and Jays directions , and opened her eyes when she felt Kelly come up behind her, like he was trying to protect her. She threw a look at the older man's direction and saw his demeanor had changed. His face had softened, he felt sorry for her. She heard the phone clicking next to her a few times. He motioned for her to put her shirt back on and rose, crossing to her.

"I'm sorry we had to do that. Are there more?" she nodded blinking back tears . "We don't need to see those. I want a name, for you to write your statement and we will go, okay ? " he laid a rough hand on her arm, and could feel her trembling. "Did he do anything else?"

"Not this… no. " she shook her head. No reason to relive that ordeal, the fall had been enough . Hank caught the quick change to her answer but didn't respond to it. He had her sit and write everything down on a pad of paper before asking her again for the name.

"Ken… Kenneth Bowman." This time the older man made a noise, deep on his throat like a growl.

"Who's that?" Kelly asked , and Jay answered .

"He's a major crime boss. Runs the Irish mob that operates out of the South side of Chicago. They are into gun running, drugs, women…" he looked at Kat.

Kat knew what he was thinking… she figured it was easier to let them think she was a common prostitute that had crossed the boss instead of who she really was. The men stood, with Hank taking her information and the copy of her statement and walking out the door. Jay held back a step. "I'll call you if I have any other questions." His blue eyes looked sad a bit as he nodded to Kelly and walked out the door to join his boss.

Kat wanted to go home. She still had things to do , call a locksmith, get some groceries … they didn't understand this was a typical day to her. Kelly came and sat next to her, grabbing her hand. "Hey, if you need a place to crash you can stay with me."

She looked at him with a blank look on her face why is he inviting me to his house? Oh, yeah… He's a nice guy. She smiled at him "That's really sweet, but I need to get home. I was going to have the locks changed today…"

"Matt and I can do that. He's owns a construction business and I… well… I just want to watch out for you. " He grinned at her.

Kat was taken back. "Oh, gosh… okay?" she didn't quite know what to say. She reached down and grabbed her bag pulling out his hat and scarf he had lent her. "Here, I brought these back for you."

He shook his head and held up his hand, stopping her from giving them to him. "Keep them." He stood up and motioned for her to follow, so she shoved the items back in her bag and did.