The silk drapes of the large canopy bed gently rippled in the warm, tropical breeze, giving the illusion that the fabric was dancing in the twilight as the last remnants of sun cast a beautiful purple glow over the miles of stunning island coastline. The crystal clear water surrounded the lone, overwater bungalow on all sides as it jutted out at the end of a long pier, the waves gently lapping at the wooden stilts beneath.

In the aftermath of the showdown at DuPage, Kate had promptly requested an extended leave of absence so that she could spend some much needed time at home with her surprisingly resilient daughter and already-suspended husband. While Kate had expected a certain amount of clinginess from Alexis, what she hadn't necessarily anticipated was Hank being steadfast in his refusal to let either of them out of his sight for more than a few minutes at a time. The first few days had been rocky for both of them, the nightmares keeping them awake at night and the subsequent hours of daylight were spent practically joined at the hip but, eventually, they had fallen into a comfortable rhythm of life away from the district.

In the few weeks they had been at home, Alexis had added 'hi' and 'mama' to her slowly expanding vocabulary and had taken to zooming around the house using the toy shopping cart Erin had bought her for Christmas to keep herself upright. She had rammed the pink and grey plastic cart into every object imaginable, her favourite being an unsuspecting Hank's shins as he perched on the sofa trying to catch the last few minutes of the Blackhawks game in peace.

When Erin had initially suggested that they put Hank's suspension to good use and decompress on their long overdue honeymoon, they had both balked at the idea of leaving the country merely weeks after their daughter had been kidnapped. But after a lengthy discussion and some logistical compromises, they had agreed to leave Alexis in the care of her godmother for five days rather than the ten they had initially planned, providing that somebody within the unit had eyes on her at all times.

And, for the last few days, they had been in paradise.

"I have a question."

Kate peered down the length of her body to where Hank was sprawled between her thighs, his cheek pressed to her stomach while her fingertips alternated between tracing obscure patterns across his naked back and carding softly through his hair. As much as they were both missing Alexis, it had been utter bliss to spend some time reconnecting after a difficult few weeks and it wasn't until they touched down in Bora Bora did they realise just how much they had desperately needed it.

"We've been here, what, three days?"

Kate hummed in response, her eyes catching his when he shifted his weight to his elbows, chin still resting on the soft curve of her stomach just above her navel.

"Wonder if I've put a baby inside you yet?" He growled, a sexy smirk spreading across his face as he began peppering featherlight kisses along the smooth expanse of tanned, toned flesh, the pads of his thumbs skating over her ribs as he cradled her waist in his hands.

"Wow, subtle as ever." She snorted, watching him intently as he traced his lips down the centre of her stomach, pausing briefly to kiss a circle around her bellybutton before continuing his path south towards the waistband of the soft sleep shorts she had thrown on after her shower.

Their first day on the island, Kate had wandered out on the deck to find Hank chest-deep in the stunning infinity pool, his forearms braced on the white marble as he pensively looked out over the ocean. Slowly wading through the cool, crystal waters, she closed the distance between then until she was close enough to watch the tiny droplets of water trickle over his damp skin, the sun already enhancing the smattering of freckles across his shoulders. He didn't startle when she banded her arms around his chest, placing a soft kiss to the nape of his neck as she pressed her naked torso tight against the length of his spine.

"You okay?" She had whispered, resting her chin on his shoulder so she too could gaze out over the stunning vista.

He simply hummed in response, leaning his head slightly to the side when Kate nuzzled her face against his neck, his eyes drifting closed at the sensation of her lips grazing down the long cord of muscle.

"I meant what I said you know." She murmured against his skin, the vibrations sending a zing of desire down his spine.

"What did you say?"

"That I want another baby."

He was silent for a moment before turning in her arms, a content smile on his handsome face and warm brown eyes alight with excitement.

"Just say the word." He replied gruffly, his arms dipping beneath the surface to slide around her waist, the water gently lapping between them until he pulled her flush to his chest.

"How about now?" She whispered, her lips ghosting over his as she spoke and she couldn't help but chuckle when he reared back slightly, eyes wide, face a picture of surprise.

In the days following Pulpo's brutal attack, Hank finally persuaded Kate to seek medical attention, just to be sure that the damage inflicted was indeed just superficial but her coquettish smirk told him that she had utilised the visit to the doctor to ensure they had five completely interrupted days of working on expanding their family. Not one to waste a single second of indulging in his wife's beautiful body, he promptly lifted her into his strong arms and made love to her right there against the cool tiles, the midday sun further warming their already-flushed skin. And the pattern had continued every day since, finding comfort and pleasure in the arms of one another in between long walks along the stretch of beautiful coastline, sampling delicious local delicacies and sleeping for what could have been days on end.

"Well, it didn't take long last time." He mumbled, looping his fingers beneath fabric sitting low on her hips, easing it down just a few inches to reveal the hint of a tan line.

"Ever think we might've just got lucky the first time?" Kate asked softly, one palm coming to rest on his shoulder while the fingers of the other continued to run through the short grey tresses at his temple. "You know, right place, right time."

He didn't immediately respond, seemingly preoccupied with pressing a warm kiss to every patch of exposed skin he could reach but he eventually turned his attention back to Kate's face, chin resting in the hollow just beneath her sternum.

"I think she was just meant to be." He murmured quietly, easing himself up onto his hands, the muscles in his chest and shoulders rippling as he inched his way along the length of her body to settle his weight in the cradle of her thighs, leaning in to steal a hot, passionate kiss.

Kate's hips instinctively tilted to accommodate him, her low hum of pleasure muffled by his mouth when he ground the sizeable bulge in his boxers against her clothed centre. It had been just over two years since the first time Kate had welcomed him between her thighs and she idly wondered if her heart would ever not skip a beat every time he pressed his warm, lithe body against hers. As he slowly rolled his hips against her, his tongue dipping into her mouth to tangle with her own, she was absolutely certain he would be stealing her breath in ten, twenty, thirty years from now.

For as long as she was drawing breath, Kate knew that her heart would beat only for him.

He eventually broke away to trace a path of gentle kisses down the long line of her throat, the soft pecks perfectly interspersed with the occasional sharp nip, gradually forcing all coherent thought from Kate's mind. She was so lost in the sensation of his talented lips dancing over her skin that she hadn't noticed him reach down to pluck a slowly-melting ice cube from the champagne bucket on the floor and slip it into his mouth until he pushed a cold kiss to the sensitive flesh of her collarbone, the sharp change in temperature eliciting a flinch and a squeak of surprise.

He continued a meandering path along her smooth skin, leaving a trail of water behind until the cube had fully melted and, with his lips and tongue still chilled from the ice, he tugged down the soft scrap of cotton covering her chest and swiftly drew one nipple into his mouth, the tight bud instantly pebbling in response.

"Jesus Hank!" She groaned, her hips canting upwards as she simultaneously tried to squirm away from the cold while arching into the gentle flicking of his tongue.

"Hmm, you like that?" He murmured against her skin, lips pulling into a grin when she visibly shivered beneath him as he turned his attention to the other nipple, his heated gaze locking with hers just as he sucked the dusky areola between his lips.

The soft grip she had on the cropped strands of hair immediately tightened, holding him as close to her chest as possible but, soon enough, she was releasing him to impatiently yank her cropped ribbed vest over her head and toss it carelessly across the deck. With her upper body bared to his burning gaze, he repeated the process again, this time drawing the frigid ice cube down the length of her stomach, rivulets of cold water following the path his mouth tracked towards her navel until all that remained was a puddle of icy water in her bellybutton.

"No more ice if you're planning to go south of the border Mr Voight."

Hank paused with his fingers looped beneath the waistband of her comfortable grey shorts, gazing up at her with one eyebrow lifted almost in silent challenge at her warning before he pressed a gentle kiss to the sliver of flesh just above the cropped strip of curls at her apex. After sliding the soft cotton down her long legs and discarding it haphazardly in the same general direction as her vest, he settled himself between her splayed thighs and proceeded to bury his face against her centre, alternating between languid laps with the broad flat of his tongue and swirling tight circles around her sensitive bundle of nerves.

Her legs were beginning to quake as he bought her to the edge with practiced ease but, before she allowed herself to be pushed to that blissful peak, she was forcibly dragging him back along the length of her body, using a handful of hair and an ear as leverage until he was once against nestled between her thighs.

"Need you. Right now." She murmured breathlessly, mouth blindly searching for his as her hands impatiently shoved at his boxers, eventually managing to work them far enough down his thighs that his thick length sprang free, the swollen tip already flushed and leaking with excitement.

With a firm nudge on his chest, Kate rolled them both to the side, slinging her leg over his hip and nuzzling close enough to pepper a series of searing hot kisses down his throat, mewling in contentment when he gripped a fistful of wavy locks to keep her rooted in place.

His hips were rolling in slow, languid movements, the hot, hard length of him gliding through her slick folds and it didn't take much manoeuvring for Kate to line the wide crest of him up so that, on his next thrust, he was slipping inside of her molten heat with a deep groan of satisfaction. For a few long moments, he remained completely still, lost in the sensation of her perfect body fluttering around him but, as usual, his demanding wife was quick to become impatient, desperate to secure some much needed friction against her throbbing nub. Grasping a handful of toned asscheek, he began to move with purpose, his eyes drifting closed as Kate sucked a dark bruise into the flesh of his collarbone, her nails dragging drown the length of his damp back to settle on his waist, using his weight as a counterbalance to drive her hips towards his.

"Talk to me, please."

Her quiet plea was muffled against his throat but he heard her loud and clear. He had long ago been made aware of the impact his voice had on women and it became evident early on that his wife wasn't an exception. It had taken her weeks, if not months, to work up the courage to ask him to talk dirty to her in bed and he'd almost doubled over with laughter when she seemed surprised that he already knew how much his deep, raspy tone affected her.

But just as he always did, he acquiesced without complaint.

"What do you want me to say, hmm? How fucking fantastic you feel? Like your body was made just for me?" He husked, using the handful of hair to gently tilt her head backwards until he could meet her eyes. "That I can't wait to see you swell with my baby."

Kate was in sensory overload the second he opened his mouth but the moment she looked into his beautiful russet orbs and listened to him gruffly tell her how he couldn't wait to grow their family, the liquid desire pooling low in her belly began to spread outwards like wildfire, igniting each and every one of her pleasure centres simultaneously. Her inner walls throbbed and pulsed rhythmically around him, the telltale sign that she was careening ever-closer to the edge but, instead of increasing the pace, Hank hiked her thigh further along his torso, the subtle change in angle giving him greater access to the sweet spot within her that would almost certainly have her seeing stars.

"Now be a good girl and come for me."

Her back arched at his heated words, the wiry hairs on his chest grazing perfectly against her over-sensitised nipples as the waves of euphoria crashed around her, an uninhibited wail of rapture tearing from her throat as she fell apart in his arms. Hank wasn't far behind her but held off long enough to watch her beautiful face contort in pure ecstasy, her torso sheening with sweat as she continued to undulate against him, drawing out every last drop of pleasure.

"God I love you." She hummed against his neck, her lips brushing against his damp skin as she tucked her face against his throat, palms gently coasting over the straining muscles in his arms and chest and Kate, once again, found herself marvelling at her husband's incredible physique. When he came with a grunt of relief, his hips jerking sharply against her, Kate eased him down from his high with soft words of encouragement and gentle pecks along the broad expanse of his chest until he eventually fell still, sweaty and spent.

They lay entwined together in content, comfortable silence for a few long moments until Kate eventually spoke.

"So, are we really gonna do it?"

Hank teased his fingers through her wavy locks, his chin resting atop her head as he gazed out into the darkness. He didn't need to ask her what she was referring to. It had been the hot topic of conversation in the Voight household for the last few weeks.

Retirement.

A word he'd been dreading for the last decade and yet, now that it was finally here, the only feeling in his chest that he could properly identify was one of excitement; perhaps with a hint of relief knowing that he had somehow made it out alive. He had served the Chicago Police Department with pride for the last thirty-plus years, doing what he could to keep his city safe. But now he was moving on to perhaps the most rewarding job of all - being a father and a husband. He knew it wasn't going to be an easy transition. The job was pretty much all he had known for most of his adult life and he had absolutely no idea how he was going to fare not being a cop.

It was in his blood. His DNA. It who he was.

But it was the right move, for him, and for his family. And it wasn't like he was going to be doing it alone.

'I wanna grow old with you Hank and if that means giving up the badge…then I think I wanna give up the badge.'

There was no doubt in his mind that Kate would've had an incredible career ahead of her in Intelligence if she wanted it but they had both made the conscious decision to put their daughter - to put each other - before everything else. Kate had briefly mentioned doing some part-time consultancy work at the Ivory Tower and the instructors at the academy had been pestering Hank for years to impart some of that invaluable, hard-earned knowledge on the next generation so, while it was clear they had options, they weren't in any rush to get back into work.

"We sure are." He mumbled quietly, pushing a soft kiss to the crown of her head, inhaling the familiar floral scent of her shampoo as he smoothed his palm up and over her bare hip. "But I think we should tell the unit before we give Sam the papers. I don't want them hearin' it through the grapevine."

Kate hummed in agreement, her heart already clenching at the thought of telling her family despite the fact she knew they wouldn't simply disappear from her life just because she wasn't in the unit anymore.

"You know you're gonna break Atwater's heart right?"

"Oh, don't Hank!" She moaned, already picturing her partner's devastated expression. Kevin was the kind of cop you could pair with anyone and he'd make it work but there was something about the duo of Meadows and Atwater that just couldn't be replicated with anyone else.

"I'm serious." He continued. "I paired that man up with every other member of the unit when you were on the bench, including Burgess, but it was like I'd tied one of his hands behind his back or somethin'."

Kate was filled with a rush of affection towards her partner and, once again, she was filled with an uncomfortable sensation of doubt wondering whether she was doing the right thing.

"They're my people and I love them dearly…" Kate eased her face away from Hank's chest, peering up at him with suddenly a serious expression. "…but could you imagine having to try and explain to Alexis why mommy isn't here anymore?"

Hank cast his mind back to when Justin was killed and he could recall thinking at the time that the only saving grace was that Daniel was too young to understand what was going on. He had been visiting Olive and Daniel in Arizona one Christmas when his five year old grandson had crawled into his lap and quietly asked him why his daddy was in heaven. He had swallowed thickly and stumbled through what he'd hoped was a child-friendly explanation of the concept of death but the thought of having to repeat that very same conversation with Alexis if anything happened to Kate made his blood run cold.

"I don't wanna imagine it." He said gruffly, tugging her back against his chest with a sigh. "Leaving the unit isn't gonna be easy but…it's the right thing to do."

After a moment, he felt Kate nod against his chest and, as the breeze began to ripple the silk drapes, Hank idly wondered if the right thing and the easy thing would ever be one and the same.