Alvin arrived at the station grumpy, hung over and late.
"Morning Al", said Adam as he walked into the open space.
Al simply nodded and headed for his desk with Adam trailing behind him. He watched as Alvin sat down behind his desk.
"I take back what I said yesterday. Not only do you look like crap but the old Alvin is back".
"Yeah, whatever, kid".
Alvin opened his drawer and looked for his phone charger, but couldn't find it. He swore under his breath as he closed the drawer and stood.
"Has anyone got a charger"?
Kim stood. "Here, you can borrow mine".
She met him halfway and handed it to him. "Are you OK"?
"I've had better days", he said before turning around and heading back to his desk to plug the charger into the wall socket and then his phone. It was an old phone and he knew it was useless trying to turn it on until the battery had a 10% charge.
Kenny took in another blow from Ricardo as Caitlin looked on helplessly. She had been sat down on a chair, with plastic restraints around her wrists and legs and gagged. Vitto and Tony were holding Kenny up as he took the beating. They were in a back room in the back of the bar.
"Who do you work for? The FBI? The DEA? The CPD"? asked Ricardo.
Kenny smiled. "For your mother"! he responded.
Ricardo punched him again in the stomach as Caitlin turned her head away as Kenny keeled over.
Ricardo walked over to her and forced her head straight and removed the gag from her mouth. "Oh no you don't. You're going to watch this".
He leaned in and whispered behind her ear. "Maybe you're also a cop or an agent"?
He yanked her head back. "I kill people for a living", she said through gritted teeth.
He let her hair go. "Good. You're going to come in handy".
Alvin walked in to Hank's office.
"You wanted to see me"?
"Yeah. Did you know about Caitlin"? Hank asked.
"No. I didn't know". He wasn't entirely lying to Hank. Yes, he had known that she was back in Chicago but not that she was working for the FBI.
"Huh", said Hank.
"What's that supposed to mean"?
"I don't know. You too were close before she skipped town. If there was one person I thought she would have told, it was you".
"Yeah, well I guess things change", said Al as he dug his hands in his pocket.
"Guess so".
Alvin headed back out of the office and returned to his desk. He looked at his phone and as it was at 15% charge, he turned it on. He placed it on his desk and started typing on his keyboard when a single chime emerged from his phone. He picked it up and opened the message.
It was from Cat and it said '911'. He then looked at the time she had sent it: 02:10. Right after she had left his apartment! He sprung to his feet and called Hank.
"We've got a problem. Caitlin's in trouble"!
Hank took the phone out of his hands and looked at it. "You only notice this now"! He yelled at Alvin.
"My phone was dead. You think I'm happy about this".
"Ruzek, ping the phone number that sent this and find me its location, now"!
"It's got to be Lombardi. I can't think of anyone else"!
"Her phone must be switched off. I can't locate it"!
Alvin looked at Jay. "Do you remember where you went when you stumbled in on their operation"?
"Yeah, of course".
Hank looked at them. "Ok, everybody gear up. Let's hope we're not too late". He gave Alvin a nasty look. "This one's on you"!
The sped through the city, luckily the bar wasn't far from the district. Alvin bit his nails as he waited impatiently to get to their destination. Hank was right, this one was on him and he felt responsible. Had he truly said to Caitlin how he felt about the two of them being together, that he didn't care what the others would say, none of this might have happened.
Ricardo pulled Caitlin to her feet as he could considering that her legs were bound, just as Marcello entered the room. "Let's end this". He said as he nodded in Vitto's direction.
Vitto and Tony lowered Kenny so that he was kneeling on the ground. His face was bleeding and covered in bruises.
Ricardo took his gun and put it in front of Caitlin's restrained hands. "Take the gun"!
"No"! she said as her entire body shook realizing what they were expecting her to do.
He violently slapped her across the face and she tasted the blood in her mouth and felt it flow from the side of her mouth as she groaned in pain.
"I said take the gun"!
She took the gun in her right hand as well as she could considering the little movement she had with the plastic restraints. She, who was a solid and calm shooter, found her hands shaking.
Marcello placed himself by her side. "Now, kill him".
Her eyes filled with tears. "No. Marcello, please, just let him go, I'll do anything you want me to".
"Good, because what I want you to do is place a bullet in his forehead and kill him"!
Ricardo yelled at her. "Do it"!
The team entered the bar by force and walked in cautiously as they cleared the first parts of the building. Hank motioned with his free hand to head towards the back as they heard Caitlin's voice.
"No! I can't"!
They heard another violent sound, the one of a hand meeting skin. Jay and Alvin were the first to erupt into the room. "CPD, put your weapons down"!
What happened next, happened very fast. Vitto and Tony dropped their guns and fled. Caitlin gave a sigh of relief as she dropped Ricardo's gun that was in her hand, as if it was burning her.
The rest of the team came in at that moment. Alvin looked at Caitlin and eased up seeing that she was still alive. In one quick movement, Ricardo grabbed Caitlin from behind and grabbed her neck with his big firm hand as he held on to her with the other. Caitlin squirmed under his hold but there was nothing she could do without the freedom of her arms and legs.
His hold on her neck tightened and she felt her airway tighten.
Jay looked at Alvin. "He's strangling her"!
Alvin made an attempt to walk towards them, but Marcello pulled out a gun from his coat pocket and placed it against Caitlin's temple.
"Not another step, or she's dead"!
Alvin took a step back, put his gun away in the holster and lifted his hands. Hank watched, he knew they were using Caitlin as an incentive and he didn't like it!
"Now, it's your turn to put your weapons down"! said calmly Marcello.
They all bent down and slowly dropped their guns including Alvin, never removing his eyes from Caitlin. Her hands were trying to free themselves from the restraints and Ricardo's hold, but it was useless. She was starting to lack air.
"This doesn't need to go down this way", said Hank just as calmly as Marcello. No one needs to leave here in a body bag. I'm sure we can work something out".
"I don't make deals with cops", said Marcello.
"It's us you want, not her. Just let her go".
Marcello taunted Hank. "You see my son he's got a discipline problem on top of being very thorough. He won't stop until he's done"!
Adam looked at Alvin as Hank continually tried to convince both Ricardo and Marcello to let Caitlin go. "He's going to kill her if we don't do something and fast"!
She was starting to make really terrible sounds as Ricardo constricted her throat, tighter and tighter. Her eyes that were till then wide open with fear, a natural reaction, were slowly starting to close and Alvin could see that her chest was moving less and less from the lack of air.
He very discreetly placed himself in front of Jay and lifted up the back of his shirt revealing a Glock. "You're going to have to be precise and fast", he whispered.
He felt Jay take the gun. Jay quietly armed the gun and removed the security lock on it.
"Go"! said Jay. Alvin knelt down instantly and Jay fired. The bullet hit Marcello in the carotid and he instinctively dropped the gun pointed at Caitlin's head as he grabbed his neck, where blood was gushing out of.
Jay moved in and aimed the gun at Ricardo. "Let her go"!
Ricardo loosened his hold on Caitlin and eventually let go. She fell to her knees and keeled over as she placed her hands around her neck, coughing and panting.
Had Hank not been within a stride from Caitlin, Alvin would have been by her side first. Hank knelt by her side and cut the restraints off. "Caitlin, are you OK"?
She tried to talk but her throat hurt her too much and she was still gasping for air. She nodded. "OK. Don't try and talk". He turned to Alvin. "Get two ambulances dispatched over here ASAP"!
Alvin nodded and still not taking his eyes off of Caitlin, called into central to dispatch the ambulances.
Within minutes, they arrived and took care of them. They helped Caitlin walk over to the ambulance as the other team wheeled Kenny on the gurney towards the other ambulance.
The team met outside just as Director Paterson arrived on the scene.
"Paterson", he said as he showed his plaque.
"Voight", said Hank, his hands holding the top of his bullet-proof vest.
The two men talked as Alvin's eyes strayed to Caitlin's ambulance. She was sitting on the steps leading up to the ambulance as they checked her out and gave her some oxygen. He walked over. The paramedic returned inside the ambulance to fill in some paperwork allowing Alvin to be alone with her.
She removed the oxygen mask and looked at him.
"I thought I'd lost you", he said. "I'm sorry".
Her hands were shaking and she tried to talk but her voice was rasp and almost non-existing. He put a finger on her lips. "Shh".
She stared at him with her beautiful brown almond-shaped eyes that were filling up with tears.
"Come here".
She stood up and he took her into his arms and held on to her tightly, so relieved to feel her heart beat against his chest. "I've got you".
Jay who was with Kenny, turned around and watched the scene unfold. He took a mental note of the kind of tenderness Alvin was holding her and how she held on to him. Adam walked up to him . "That was a damn close call, if you ask me".
"Yeah", said Jay, "they both were lucky. Had we gotten here any later, they would have both been dead".
"I don't want to think about that. Hey you want to ride with Kenny and I'll ride over with Caitlin"?
"Yeah, I'll go with Kenny, but I think someone's beat you when it comes to Caitlin", Jay said as he looked in the direction of Caitlin's ambulance. Adam followed his stare.
"Alvin's been in a foul mood all morning, not sure I want to piss him off by taking his place. We'll meet you back at Med".
The paramedic came back from inside the ambulance and frowned. "Caitlin, you need to keep that oxygen mask on".
Alvin and Caitlin separated and he helped her put the oxygen mask back on.
"I'll hook you up to the monitors and then we'll be on our way". He looked at Alvin. "Are you riding to Med with us"?
Alvin stared him down. "Did you really just ask me that question"?
"No, of course not. I'm sorry". The paramedic helped Caitlin settle down on the gurney and hooked her up to the monitors.
As the ambulance drove away, Alvin took Caitlin's hand in his and kissed it. "I'm never letting you go, ever again! You got that"!
Caitlin nodded and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. But as he held on to her hand, she knew that she was safe and so, she let herself slip into semi-conscious state.