Dancing Away with my Heart Chapter 2
"Want to see what $40,000 in ballerina costumes look like?" Jay showed the rest of the team pictures from Burgess's storage unit.
Adam whistled. "Danm." exclaimed Kevin. "That's nuts." It was hard to picture Burgess wearing these costumes. As her best friend he knew she was beautiful, but he had never imagined her like this.
"Those things are so tiny!" exclaimed Rojas. "I'm glad I don't have to wear it." she said, shaking her head.
"Me too." agreed Upton. "I hate dressing up." Both girls had always been more involved in sports than dance when they were young honestly.
Kim was home choreographing her audition piece for next week's casting for Romeo and Juliet. She had contacted her former dance instructor Mikhail who was surprised at her call but happy to help nonetheless. He agreed but promised her that he wouldn't take it too easy on her. If she wanted to do this, she needed to be committed.
Jay returned home after a debriefing meeting with Voight about their undercover case.
She didn't hear him come back in, he took the time to just watch her. She was cooking dinner, grilled chicken, broccoli, and salad; eating healthier now that she was dancing full time and policing full time. Kim was dancing in the kitchen to her performance music Red Shoes by Tcbaikovsky.
He didn't know it was possible to have a ballet or ballerina fetish. He thought with a grin. She was wearing a pair of black leggings that showed off her perfect legs and ass, and a peach crop top sweatshirt that said DANCE, with her brown hair piled on top of her head in a messy bun. Kim looked completely at home in his home and he loved that, almost as much as he loved her.
She did a quick ballet turn and ran right into him and she screamed softly not expecting him to be there. Her hand covered her mouth as she tried to regain her composure, but he didn't want her to regain her composure; gently pulling her hand away and kissing her softly first and then more intensely as he brought her body closer to his. He wanted to make her lose control.
"Hey babe."he greeted her with a smoldering smile when he finally removed his lips from hers. It did not take long for these two to heat up. She kissed him softly, happy to see him. She loved that they were always happy to see each other. Kim wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing in his cologne and closing her eyes, missing him while he was at work.
He tightened his hold on her, showing her how happy he was to hold her. His arms snaked around her small frame one hand in her hair and one resting on her ass.
"If you were wearing a tutu, we would be having sex on the floor right now." He stated, seriously and she blushed a deep pink color.
"You know we can't have sex on the stage of the Chicago school of Ballet?" she teased him between kisses, laughing at his tutu fetish.
"Killing my dreams Burgess." Jay laughed. "But we can still have sex right now." Jay declared as he got to work on distracting Kim and pulling her into the living room and onto his couch much to her delight.
Jay rolled over when the alarm went off at 6 o'clock to find Kim had already gotten up. Today was her first rehearsal with her former teacher Mikail with the intention of getting into the show that Mischa had been in when she had been kidnapped.
She was stretching in the living room and it looked like she had been up for a while, seeing as there was a pot of coffee made and Kim had a cup next to her. He took a minute to watch her, she was so graceful in her movements, and she looked good in her black ballet tights and black leotard, with her hair pulled back in a bun and a hint of makeup on her face.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Jay asked, breaking the silence. "Off and on." She replied as she sipped her coffee once she completed stretching her muscles.
"Are you nervous?" he questioned, pulling her close to him on the couch, hoping to help her relax before she goes back into the ballet world. From the little she told him, it was a cut throat, ultra competitive life. Kim let herself relax into Jay's arms, thankful for his steady support.
"I just hope my body will be able to do what I need it to do, and that we can find Mischa." Kim said seriously. She was determined to do whatever it took to solve this case, she was damn good at her job, at being a police officer. Soon to be a detective, Jay thought to himself. She slipped on a black sweatshirt and a pair of sneakers and grabbed her two bags (one her go-bag, and one her dance bag) and her smoothie.
"Mikhail!" Kim greeted her former teacher warmly. They had always had a good relationship. And she hoped that would continue now. He had been one of the few constants in her tumultuous childhood. As hard as he was on her, she knew that he believed she could do it. He instructed more than he screamed, he complimented more than criticized, and he cared more than he would like to admit.
"Kimberly." he returned with a smile as he took his former pupil in his arms for a hug. She had been a few months away from being a lead dancer in the Chicago Ballet company when she tore her ACL in her left knee which led to her walking away from ballet. And straight to the Chicago Police Academy. To say her mom had been furious would be an understatement.
"You look good." He complimented her, pleasantly surprised that her body was well conditioned to jump start her ballet career.
"This is Jay. Detective Jay Halsted. My boyfriend and bodyguard." Kim introduced her partner to Mikhail who shook hands with the detective. Mikhail understood that Kim was going undercover to find out who kidnapped Mischa and bring her back.
"Nice to meet you." Jay said, shaking the older man's hand. He could tell that Kim respected and trusted him and that they had once shared a close relationship. He could breathe easier knowing that he was not going to make this harder on Kim than it had to be.
"Let's see what we have to work with. I want to see your flexibility." Mikhail declared, asking Kim to stretch and bend her body in ways that fascinated Jay. 'How is that humanly possible?' he wondered, awestruck by her ability.
"Okay, next let's see your leaps." Over and over again Kim jumped across the stage, higher and higher, feet arched and pointed so perfectly, and landing with grace. But Mikhail would not accept good, would not accept great. As much as Jay wanted to be frustrated, he could see that Kim was not. She expected this, accepted this and was going to work so hard to get her friend back.
Failure wasn't an option. She didn't know how they could solve this case without having anyone undercover. The ballet world was very competitive and secretive, they didn't trust outsiders easily. There was always someone looking to take your spot if you weren't on top of your game.
8 hours passed quicker than Jay thought possible, with a quick break for lunch and a few water breaks. "You still have the skills Kimberly." MIkhail praised his brunette ballerina. "But we do have work to do. But I think you can do it." Kim let out the breath she had been holding all day. She had to find Mischa, she needed to.
"Do you think I can get cast in the show?" she asked him honestly, worried that her work would be for naught.
"I will put in a good word with Julian." Mikhail promised her. "Now go home and rest, you'll need it." He threatened truthfully, placing a small kiss on her forehead. "We have 1 week to get you ready."
"How come no one else calls you Kimberly?" Jay teased his girlfriend as he walked her to his truck. She was so tired she didn't have the energy to lift herself up into his cab much to his enjoyment. He placed his hands on her slim waist and easily lifted her up into the air, kissing her before placing her on the seat.
"After 18 years of ballet, no thank you." Kim retorted easily. "Kim is just fine."
"How about Kimmy?" Jay teased and was treated to a punch on the arm. "Not if you want to get laid again." she threatened. "Ugh, hate that nickname." She leaned her head back on the headrest and didn't fight with her eyes closing. 8 hours of ballet in one day in a long time was going to kick her ass tomorrow for sure.
"My mom calls me Kimberly." She admitted with a yawn, laying her head back against the headrest and closing her eyes for even just the short ride back to Jay's apartment. Jay tucked that fact away in his brain to remember for later.
Jay let her sleep as long as he could before they absolutely had to leave to check in with the team. Kim had barely woken up the night before to eat dinner after showering, before falling asleep on the couch while they were watching Ted Lasso and Jay had to carry her to bed. Kim moaned as she forced her sore muscles to move, Jay was amused at the fact that it took all of her effort to slip on some pants, but decided to take some pity on her (and save some time) and helped her with socks and shoes while she pulled on a t-shirt and a denim shirt.
"There's a reason ballerinas retire around my age." Kim complained as she moved gingerly down the stairs from Jay's apartment.
"How about I give you a massage later?" Jay promised as they pulled into the parking lot behind the police station. He did feel bad for her, he had watched her rehearse so hard yesterday to the point he had considered going to Voight and cancelling the undercover op, but Kim was steadfast in wanting to help Mischa. She convinced him that it would be easier once she got back into the routine of dancing regularly.
"Well I wouldn't say no." She replied with a grin, and he was happy to be able to put the smile back on her face. He felt her lean on him for support up the stairs, her hand gripping his arm tightly as she forced herself to move.
"Hey, twinkle toes!" Sergeant Trudy Platt called to her. "How's it going?"
"Hey Sarge!" Kim greeted back, trying not to groan with each step she took.
"It ain't' easy getting older is it Burgess?" The desk sergeant teased the younger officer.
"That's for damn sure." Kim replied, but this time a groan escaped.
Kim looked up at the remaining 10 steps and didn't see how she was going to make it. "I'll meet you up there", she tried to persuade him to go on up without her, but he was too polite to do that. So he did the next best thing and bent down to carry her piggy back style. Kim was not too proud to turn it down and wrapped her arms around his neck as he grabbed her legs and pulled them around his waist.
"How was dance rehearsal?" Kevin wondered as he saw Jay carry Kim up the stairs to the bullpen.
"Kicked my ass for sure." Kim replied truthfully. Kevin made her sit in his chair knowing she wouldn't make it the few extra steps to her desk. Jay knocked on Hank's door to let him know that he and Kim were there for their debrief meeting. The other three Intelligence team members would be up shortly.
"How did it go yesterday?" Hank asked Kim and Jay as he wandered out of his office with a cup of coffee.
"Ballet is no joke." Jay admitted truthfully as he handed Kim a cup of coffee from the break room, before sitting on Kevin's desk.
"Mikhail thinks I have a good shot of being cast in the show that Mischa was in, so we should be able to make contact with the people she was talking to regularly before she went missing." Kim added optimistically. "Hopefully get some leads, find some suspects, track her down."
"Here is a list of all the people working at the Chicago School of Ballet when Mischa went missing. From ballerinas and dancers to directors, choreographers, to janitors." Jay handed Voight a file with names and information they had received from the ballet school the other day.
"Anything I need to know?" Their sergeant asked seriously. He knew Kim was determined to find her friend Mischa, but he wanted to make sure she didn't get in over her head. He made eye contact with Jay to make sure that everything was still good.
"Well we need to get back to rehearsals." Kim stated, reluctantly, forcing herself out of Kevin's chair. Kevin was a little worried at how sore she seemed to be and how her body was responding to doing ballet again. He didn't doubt she could do it, but he wondered about the toll it would take on her body and whether she should be doing it at all.
Jay was exhausted looking at what Kim put her body through the repetition of ballet. He understood though as a baseball player, the importance of doing the same things over and over until they became second nature to you. After a little stretching and warming up, Kim's body seemed to be able to pick up where she left off yesterday.
Kim was warming up on the stage, preparing for the day. She was going to reveal her audition piece and tune it up. Jay was on the phone catching up with Kevin on any details from the last shift while they waited for Mikhail to arrive. Kim insisted on being there 30 minutes before she was supposed to. It was instilled in her to be early from her ballet teachers and then the police academy.
"What piece are you auditioning with?" Mikhail asked as Kim put herself into position in center stage. Jay sat in the front row, excited to see Kim on stage in costume performing.
"Red shoes." she declared, showing off the unusually red pointe shoes laced on her feet. She shocked him with her audition piece.
"That's the piece you tore your ACL on." he remarked astounded.
"I want to kick it's ass." she replied confidently and calmly. Jay was so proud, and Mikhail thought she was a different person than when she last danced. She was defiant, almost dangerous, aggressive, confident, and strong.
Jay held his breath as she made her way through the piece beautifully, artistically, technically. Mikhail, of course, had some pointers. But it was successful.
"Sometimes ballet is like boxing, you have to punch the opponent in the face." Kim declared with a veracity that she never had before. She had changed a lot in ten years-older, yes but wiser and stronger too. She performed the piece 6 more times before Mikhail was satisfied and then they moved back to her pointe work.
During water breaks, Kim asked who was still involved in Mischa's life that would want her gone. "Is it financial, romantic, jealousy?" she questioned.
"Her ex-husband is still in town." He declared thoughtfully.
"Alexander?" Kim said in shock. Once upon a time, the three of them had been quite close. "Can you get in touch with him for me?" Mikhail nodded as Jay set about looking into him on his computer.
"Hey boss, we might have a lead." Jay explained to Voight, taking his call to the back of the auditorium where he wouldn't distract Kim.
"He's going to be here in an hour or two." Mikhail explained as Kim stretched her sore muscles, and did barre work before continuing her pointe exercises.
"Kimberly?" Alexander asked in shock as he approached the stage.
"Alex!" Kim called, happy to see her old friend. Jay smiled as he noticed the difference in formality between Russians and Americans.
"Actually, it's Officer Burgess. I'm Detective Halstead." Jay introduced himself.
"Jay's, my boyfriend and bodyguard." Kim announced, showing Alex he could trust him.
"Are you looking into Mischa's disappearance?" Alexander asked hopefully.
"Can you think of anyone who would want her gone?" Jay began questioning the Russian man. "Or if she would want to go somewhere?"
"In the middle of a show, without her daughter she would not leave." Alexander protested that line of thinking, leaving only an abduction as a possibility.
"Is she seeing anyone?" Jay asked as kindly as he could ask an ex-husband about his ex-wife. Alexander sighed, "We are working things out. She has moved back in with Katerina. We are happy." He replied worriedly.
"Is there anyone who is unhappy about that fact?" Kim asked curiously. "Maybe Antony?" Kim suggested Mischa's former partner.
Alex shook his head in the negative. "Antony is busy choreographing for the Russian Ballet company. Plus, I don't think Mischa has spoken with him in years."
"Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?" Jay inquired, wanting to eliminate Alex as a suspect. Kim would have liked to stay with him during the interview, but she needed to get back to rehearsal.
"Alex, I am so happy for you and Mischa. I promise we are doing everything we can to find her." Kim said to reassure him, touching his arm lightly to reassure him.
Adam returned his phone call. "His alibi checks out. She is on the rental agreement for his apartment. It seems like his story is legit." Ruzek informed the detective.
"Thanks man, Kim will be relieved. They were close friends. She will be happy to hear." Jay answered. Alex had left a little while ago to be there when his daughter woke up from her nap. Kim was finishing her rehearsal, and Hank said they didn't have to come back to the station and could have an early night.
Jay, the ever patient boyfriend, but also a cop watched the ballet of Romeo and Juliet. He figured he read the play in high school and saw the movie with Leonardo Dicaprio so he thought he could follow along. What he didn't realize though was how interactive the male ballet dancers were with the ballerinas. It made him shudder to think of another man touching Kim like that. They hadn't been dating long, but the feelings he had for her were deep. Like forever deep.
"You're doing a solo right?" he asked, his blue eyes worried. Kim laughed, but thought it sweet, and unnecessary. She was good at her job whether it was as a cop or a ballerina she could play her role.
Jay trusted her, he did, he just didn't trust others intentions and he wouldn't like their hands all over his girlfriend, even if it was a necessary maneuver. He knew he would have to get over it though, if he wanted the operation to be successful. Sometimes they had to do things they wouldn't ordinarily do or like.
Kim could see how annoyed Jay was watching the ballet. His face was tense like when he was in work mode, but Kim knew how to distract him. She stood up and blocked his view of the tv, stood in front of him and placed his hands on her waist and waited for him to make the next move. Before she knew it, he had turned her so she was lying down on the couch and he was looking down at her. His blue eyes softened, as his face came closer to hers and got lost in her. His hands in her hair, his lips kissing her face until they met her lips and he took her breath away, their clothes on the floor, the ballet forgotten.
He didn't forget the massage he had promised her either and after that the pair showered and went to bed before another tiring day of ballet and police work.