Kim didn't look back as she left the home she lived in for the last 4 years. She didn't want to see what she was leaving behind. And it was a lot. The last year had been hell for Kim and her family but she was finally free to move on and get a fresh start in a new city. Kim had a new job waiting for her in the new city. A new home waiting she just had to get through the 12 hour drive first. She was scared for the new start but she was also excited. She needed this, her whole family needed this. Kim stopped on the Brooklyn bridge taking off her rings and throwing them into the river before getting back in the car to continue the drive. She no longer wanted a reminder of him, they were better off without him. He had been a prince in the beginning but soon turned nasty when he made partner at his law firm. He always apologized afterwards and the gifts would flow. She tried to change him, tried to fix them but it never worked.
Kim left after he, her own husband, attacked her. He beat her in front of their children who were only 1 at the time. He attempted to rape her in front of their children. She had pistol whipped him breaking free. Taking the children and fleeing that night. Paying for a hotel in cash so they wouldn't be found. She then called the police, more specificity Captain Benson to take her statement and have him arrested. Once he was in jail and being held without bail Kim moved the kids home again. Then filed for divorce and filed for a restraining order. It took months but she finally got the Okay from the judge to move out of the city and to Chicago. Kim was able to secure employment in Chicago because of Captain Bensons connections with Intelligence. The change of pace would be nice for Kim. So Chicago was the best thing for them all right now.
After they settled into their new home they explored their new city. Kim took her twins to the aquarium and to the zoo. She decorated their rooms in a way she knew they would like and could grow with them. It was because of them that she kept fight and kept moving forward. She had no choice, she couldn't fall apart. They had only been in the new city for two weeks before Kim started her new job and the kids went to a new daycare. It had great reviews and catered to those with abnormal schedules. One of Kim's best friends was staying with them in Chicago for a few weeks till they got into a new routine and figured out how Kim's schedule would work. It was a lot but they were working it out.
As Kim walked into the district for the first time she felt overwhelmed but also excited. She headed straight to the front desk with a big smile on her face. "Good morning. I'm looking for Sergeant Voight, I'm Kimberly Burgess today's my first day." Kim tried to shake hands with the women at the desk but she barely registered that Kim was there. "He'll be right down." The person snapped. Kim took a step back and waited watching a person who she vaguely recognized coming down the stair. "Burgess? I'm Sergeant Voight. Nice to meet you. Don't mind Sergeant Platt she's like that with anyone new. Let's head upstairs and get you introduced." Kim shook his hand before they headed up the stairs. "So we are upstairs. Only accessible my hand print and PIN number. Let's continue up." Voight started as they moved.
They hit the top of the stairs Kim looked around taking in the area she would be working in now. "Alright guys we have a new member of the team. This is Detective Kimberly Burgess. She's joining us from Queens SVU. Please make her feel welcomed and introduce yourselves. Then Kevin, give her a tour and get her a locker." Voight headed to his office letting his team do their thing. "Well I will go first. I'm Kevin Atwater, been here 5 years now." Kevin offered her a hand shake. "Lovely to meet you. Please call me Kim or Burgess. I hate being called Kimberly." Kim took in the opposing figure in front her though he looked like a softy. "I'm Erin Lindsey. It's nice to meet you. Happy to have another female up here." Erin brought her in for a hug. "Sorry not usually a hugger. Just excited." Erin laughed. "It's lovely to meet you too. Us ladies need to stick together!" Kim laughed before looking to the next voice. "Jay Halstead. Good to meet you. Queens? That sounds rough." Jay offered hoping she would open up some. "Good to meet you! And yes it was hell. I don't wish it on anyone. It's all corrupt." Kim shrugged.
"Alright. Makes sense for a change then. I'm Alvin Olinsky. Call me Al or O. It's just easier." Al shook her hand. "Ah lovely to meet you." Kim smiled as she turned to see the last two members. "Antonio Dawson, pleasure to meet you. Welcome to Chicago." He smiled at Kim as he shook her hand. "And you Mister Quiet. Doesn't seem like you are the quiet type." Kim smirked as the team laughed. "Adam Ruzek. It's lovely to meet you." Adam reaches out to shake her hand. "Ah you do have a voice. Well it's lovely to meet you too." Kim laughed. "Let's do that tour now!" Kevin pointed to lead the way. "So just so you know you were right. Ruzek is always way more talkative. I assume it's because you are pretty that he was speechless. And I'm not hitting on you, I'm just trying to be honest. You are not my type but this team is a family. Whatever you are running from we can protect you." Kevin stated as they walked and pointed things out.
"I'm not ready to talk about it. Not yet. But you are right, I'm running. And I ran far. But I did it all legally. I just don't know who to trust right now as I obviously am new and the last person I trusted the most broke my heart is ways I didn't know were possible. But when I'm ready I promise I will let you all in. Truth is I'm not sure where to begin either." Kim shrugged it off a bit. "Hey I get it. We all have shit going on. We all have a past but it seems you are doing the right thing and that's what matters. You are safe here." Kevin pulled her in for a hug sensing she needed it. "Ah we got a case they go." Kevin pointed and Kim followed. "Good you guys are here. We have a case, Burgess I will have you ride with Kevin today. Here's a vest for you to wear. It's not got your name on it yet but for today it will do. Let's head to the scene. All I know is a murder victim and it's brutal." Voight sent everyone to the scene.
Kim watched the world go by as they drove thinking about what Kevin had said. She was safe, at least from her ex. That was a good start for sure. Once the arrived the gathered to get directions. "Since Burgess is new I would like to here her thoughts to see how she processes a scene. So start off with whatever you see that's off as we walk up to the house and once we see the body." Kim nodded. "Well for starters the blood drops on the ground were left by a blade. The drops are leading away from the house. Follow the drops you will either find the weapon or where the getaway car was parked." Kim looked at the blood a little closer getting on the ground to view it up close. She then stood up and walked inside to see the body. "Hi I'm Detective Burgess. Could I see the body before you move it?" Kim asked the ME. They pulled the sheet back as Kim smirked. "Okay so our victim died from blood lose. He wasn't stabbed, his penis was cut off. The cuts are jagged and there are hesitation marks. Not a professional. He put up a fight that's for sure. He has defensive wounds on his hands. Probably passed out from shock before it was fully cut off." Kim looked at the team who looked pleased.
"How are you not grossed out right now?" Jay asked. "I've seen worse in SVU." Kim shrugged. "Okay so what's your thoughts about who did it?" Voight asked her. "Okay so this was obviously sexually motivated, chopping off someone's penis sends a pretty strong message. My top three guesses: either a rapist, a child molester or and it's a strange one, reproductive abuser. The first two are more likely but you never know." Kim looked again before Voight told people what to do and where to go. "Reproductive Abuser? That's a new one. You can fill us in later if the other two don't work out." Voight sent Kim off the search the victims bedroom. It wasn't uncomfortable for her at all, felt almost normal.
"Find anything?" Dawson asked as he stepped in the room. "A stack of photos of kids which makes me think he's sick. And a bunch of sex toys, several boxes of condoms. No proof of anything concrete." Kim showed him the stack of photos. "Yeah this is sick. Let's head back down see if anyone has anything." Dawson replied as they headed down the stairs. "Okay our victim is the home owner, Kenneth Burns. He's 38 and a lawyer. Family law apparently. Neighbors didn't hear or see anything abnormal. And when we get back we will look for street cams to see what kind of car took off with our offender." Al relayed the information they had found. "Only thing I found was a stack of children's photos. Nothing illegal about it but it makes me sick." Kim showed the team. They all left the scene and headed back to the district leaving forensics to finish up.
"You did good back there. Seems like Queens lost a real asset." Kevin was impressed already by this new member of the team. "Thanks. All things I've seen before, a lot. Still makes me sick though." Kim smiled sadly. As they returned to the district they heard Ruzek talking about her and how he found her hot. She laughed it off as did Kevin as they entered the bullpen. "Everyone has a task but I want to know more about this third option Burgess suggested. What would we look for? How does this work? It's a new one for us." Voight asked her to take the floor. "Okay so your reproductive abuser it a generally well liked guy, charming, good looking, rich or appears to be. Has a god complex. He believes these women should have his children but he doesn't rape them. He simply wines them, dines them, takes them to a fancy hotel to have sex with them. He uses a condom so the women is none the wiser. But he pokes a pin hole in it while 'going to the bathroom' then uses it like normal. Once a women is pregnant and they call him to ask for him to pay for an abortion he convinces them to have the baby. They will be a family. He will pay for everything. And he pays but only calls or sees them once a month. The worst part is, it's not illegal. There is no law against what he's doing. However it's being advocated to be a form of rape now. They consented to sex with a condom, not having semen inside them by deceptive motives. It should be a crime, no doubt. So we should be looking for his name on birth certificates, listed as the father. If he is he probably has 20 kids if not more around the country. Bank statements looking for amounts the same going out each month, checks if he writes them to the mothers for child support. Phone records same called numbers over and over again. It's a bitch and it leaves a trail of damaged people in its wake." Kim nodded that she was done and the team looked sick.
"Okay let's start checking his emails, his phone calls and text messages, bank records, medical history, birth certificates, anything and everything about this guy. Find out why!" Voight walked back into his office looking a bit rattled by how sick people can be. "That's a lot but thanks for the info. It will help either now with this case or later down the line. Good job kid." Al patted her back as she took a desk and started to look into her hunch. An hour later the team was getting frustrated no leads had popped up yet. "Okay so he has never been arrested or even questioned in a rape or as a child molester. Unless it was never reported." Erin stated looking defeated. "His bank records show lots of money going out in cash the same times each month. Doesn't say what it's for though but I doubt you can pay your mortgage in cash." Dawson explained.
"Okay so you all thought I was crazy but I looked into it and he has 25 kids in Illinois alone. Lord knows about other states. That probably explains why he has so many photos of kids. I wonder if the mothers knew about each other. Can someone look on social media or maybe a website? See if these ladies met or know each other while I finish printing these out." Kim explained than asked as she kept getting all the birth certificates printed. "Alright I think I have something. It's a Facebook group. Kenneth Burns Reproductive Abuser or Rapist? They all talk about their experiences with him. Some calling him a rapist, accusing him of poking holes in condoms, some think it's just a coincidence, others calling an a abuser. It's pretty intense between the ladies. Which I would expect but one says something about confronting him. That's who we should start with." Adam explained as he read the posts. "Can I see that page?" Kim asked. "Yeah of course." Adam moved so she could sit and read through it.
"Alright while Burgess keeps looking at that page the rest of you start talking to these women. The mothers of the kids he fathered. Someone knows something!" Voight barked as they all took a stack of certificates to divide the work up. Kim buried her face in the posts, taking lots of notes figuring out who was on what side and why. It was many long hours of notes and reading before a sandwich was placed in front of her with a drink. Kim was surprised and looked up in shock. "Um thank you. How did you know what I like?" Kim asked Adam very confused. "Erin called Olivia and asked. She said chicken or turkey and no coffee. That shocked us all. A cop who doesn't drink coffee can't be trusted!" Adam laughed at her shocked face. "Thank you so much! How much do I owe you?" Kim asked very grateful for the gesture. "Nothing! Without you we would still be chasing our tails." Jay responded with a large smile seeing just how surprised and grateful she was. "Thank you truly. This is actually one of my favorite east coast spots. The original location is in Delaware, and yes I have eaten there many of times. And when I lived there briefly I told my agent I needed to be close to at least one location. He got me a townhouse between two. It was heaven." Kim laughed before taking her first bite. Moaning in happiness at the taste.
"Well I guess that's the sound of making Burgess happy with food!" Adam laughed watching her grin as she ate her favorite sandwich. "Let's eat and work. We need to get this done." Voight stated as they worked and ate. "So we didn't get anything from these ladies?" Kim asked after a few bites. "No the one who confronted him had a alibi and others claimed to know nothing." Al explained watching her process. "Maybe we are going about this wrong. What if it's someone he just had a date with? They had a date and then she google searched him and came across this site like we did. Or someone who saw the site and decided to take matters into their own hands. People have killed for less. I've seen homeless people killed over stealing an empty can from another homeless person. Who was his last few calls with? Maybe that's something?" Kim rambled on. She had little experience with these types but more than this group of cops. Especially since they had never heard of this type of person before.
It took another hour before they found the person who had been sending threats to the victim. None of them were surprised when they found out it was a women who had the same thing happen to her just in another state. She never got justice for herself and wanted to rid the world of a scumbag who was proud of what he was doing. It was well planned and well thought out but in the end she was going to jail for premeditated murder. It was mixed emotions from the entire team as she was lead off to a holding cell. Kim was proud she done so well on her first day but couldn't shake the feeling that what that women had done was right in a way. She decided to make a tea while she finished her paperwork. Heading to the break room in silence.
"You know you did good today." The voice startled her. She turned to see Adam standing in the doorway. "Then why do I feel like shit? Why do I feel like that poor women should have gotten off for what she did?" Kim asked feeling defeated. "Because you're human. Because you can relate in some way. Because of her many other women won't end up with unwanted children." Adam walked closer watching her tense up some. "Why do you think I can relate?" Kim asked holding her cup tightly. "Because your running and because you are scared. A man hurt you badly. Left you so broken you don't know how to get past it. But not all men are like that. There are good men in this world. You need to let someone in." Adam moved even closer looking deep into her eyes. "One day when you are ready I want to be that guy. You are the most beautiful women I have ever seen. And your brains are just as beautiful. For now I will wait for you." Adam leaned in to kiss her cheek before walking away. He didn't miss the gasp as he got closer and he didn't wait for a response either.
"Did you really just make a move on Burgess? On her first day?" Kevin asked shocked just like the rest of them. "Not really just told her that I think she's the most beautiful women ever and that I know she's not ready but I'm here when she is. Left it at that. Balls in her court." Adam shrugged as he walked back to his desk. They watched as Kim walked back to her desk with her cup in hand. She looked flushed, maybe embarrassed but didn't say a word. She got back to work and finished up her paperwork before handing it in. Everyone was finishing up around then and they were all talking about going out that night. As Kim started to leave she heard her name being called out. "Burgess? You want to join us tonight? Going to a local bar for drinks." Erin asked hopefully. "Sorry but I can't. I have to get home. Maybe another time." Kim tried to sound like she was just busy and lead to questions. "Okay if you change your mind give me a call." Erin handed her her card with her numbers since they didn't have time for that earlier. Kim nodded and headed to her car.
"Wonder what she's running from?" Jay watched as she got in the car and drove off. The others wondered the same thing. "She will tell us when she's ready. Until then we leave it alone." Dawson reminded them as they left for the night. They all continued to the bar to drink away their sorrows. Kim arrived home to see both her kids running around playing with their Aunt. "Hey my babies! How was your day?" Kim got on the floor to hug them. "Mommy!" Her daughter Mia said hugging her. "We had a good day. We played with new friends." Her son Milo said hugging her. "Well I'm glad you guys had a good day. Were you good for your Auntie April?" Kim asked holding her kids. "Yes they were so well behaved. There is dinner in the kitchen for you in the oven on warm. I'm gonna head to my room give you guys some time together." April left to her room to get some work down. Luckily she was able to work from home so she could work from anywhere.
Kim ate her dinner while the kids talked about their day. Kim was thrilled they had a good day and enjoyed the new daycare. It made her decision to come here easier. After dinner Kim played with the kids before getting them bathed and settled into bed for the night. Once they were settled Kim headed to the couch to think about her day. To process what she had been through that day. Truth be told she couldn't get Adams words out if her mind either. It was strange how someone could feel that way after just one day but it was also strange that Kim liked it. She had way too much drama going on to even think about it seeing as her divorce wasn't finalized and she was still dealing with the trauma. She didn't know how long that would last either. Only time would tell how things worked out for her and her children.
Kim never even realized that she fell asleep on the couch. Only being woken up by the cries of one of her children. Kim ran to their rooms seeing it was her daughter crying. "Baby what's wrong?" Kim picked her up holding her tight as the settled on to the rocking chair. "I saw him hitting you!" Mia cried out hugging her mother tighter. "He will never hurt me again. I promise you we are safe here." Kim rocked her daughter till she was asleep again. Kim was afraid to put her daughter down but she did eventually and headed to her bedroom. Kim got into her bed before she started to sob. Letting out all the pent up emotions. Crying for herself, crying for children, crying for life she used to have. Kim cried herself to sleep that night, scared for the future.
