From Gun Clips to Money Clips

A/N: Thanks to Long Live BRUCAS for the review!


Chapter VII

Voight came up the staircase and Kim could smell the tension from her desk. When she had invited Adam over for pizza yesterday, he lit up. Then at the end of the day, he had mumbled an excuse and rushed out, not to be seen again until this morning. She found him at his desk, looking like he'd pulled an all-nighter right in that chair. It had taken some prodding, but he'd stomped to the locker room for a shower and a change.

She could only think of one person who could take priority over her, Mac, and pizza and she was staring right at him.

"Morning boss." She stated as Voight strode towards his office.

Hank gave her a nod. He seemed to almost say something but then Atwater came in from the lunch room. "Hey, I found our getaway driver." He taped a new photo to their murder board. "Guy by the name of Justin 'Times' Hines."

"Who?" Hank gave his head a bit of a shake.

"He's a washed-up stunt driver. Tried to make the jump from the stunt cast to being an actor and failed. He was labeled 'difficult to work with' and now takes the odd job to cover his rent while he works his way back into the business."

"What's his name?"

"It's supposed to be a pun, y'know, 'Just In Time'?" Atwater had moved to his desk.

Hank wasn't laughing, he wasn't even smirking. Whatever he and Adam were up to last night had not gone smoothly. She cleared her throat. "That was the last slot. Who's setting the meet, Adam or Frank?"

Adam appeared from the hallway. "I will. Can you send me all the numbers?" He wasn't meeting Voight's eyes.

Kim picked up a sheet of paper, "I have them all here. Do you have a burner already or do you want to use the line down in the tech room?" She asked, referring to the phone line that maintained a constant scramble of outgoing numbers.

Adam folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket. "I'll call them from the apartment. The last thing I need is for an emergency alarm to come over the loudspeaker and blow my cover." He gave Kim a soft quirk of his lips. She knew it was his way of apologizing for his earlier behaviour. She squeezed his arm; somehow without sharing any blood, he and Mac had the same attitude in the morning after a late night.

"Good. Take Jay." Voight stated.

"Boss." Kim froze at the growl that came out of Adam. Atwater's fingers stilled on his keyboard.

Voight turned to face Adam and they stared each other down. The air crackled.

"Yes." The boss ground out.

"No." The subordinate spat.

Kim whispered "I think I forgot…"

Atwater leapt up from his chair "I'll help you." They both bolted from the bullpen and out the hallway. They slipped in the interrogation viewing room. Kim hit send on a text to Hailey to warn her to come up the back stairs and where they were…hiding?

"Kev, we shouldn't be hiding in here." Kim sighed.

"Nope, you can go but I'm staying." Atwater pulled out his phone and started scrolling socials.

"Seriously?" Kim plopped her hands on her hips and gave him a Mom-glare (she was getting good at it). Kevin looked up, blinked, and went back to scrolling. She obviously needed more practice. "Something is going on with them."

Kevin grunted. "It's been going on for awhile. I think it started after that hostage thing when I broke the van." His thumb stilled, "That's also when Voight started cycling you, me, and Hailey together as partners. Jay and Adam have been partners for that whole stretch, except when Voight takes Adam."

Kim's forehead scrunched. "Now that you mention it, I'd do at least a shift with Adam each week. He'd always buy lunch, make sure I have a full meal instead of something on the run."

A smile ghosted across Atwater's face. "You two just need to…" He cut himself off and ducked back to his phone.

"Need to what, Kev?" She tried the glare again. He didn't bother looking up.

They stood there in silence, Atwater catching up on his family drama and Kim trying to decipher the meaning of Voight's personnel shuffles and what Kevin was hinting at. The quiet was broken when Hailey slipped in the room.

"I got your text, what am I avoiding in the bullpen?"

Atwater finally put his phone away. "Voight and Ruz are at it."

She nodded. "Jay won't say anything but he has been muttering about the two of them these last few days."

"How so?" Kim leaned forward.

"Jay thought I couldn't hear him while he was talking to his brother, but what I did make out is that Adam's still on a medical watch. Will didn't pull him from active duty but Voight hasn't let him swing the battering ram in a while."

Kim's hands flew in the air. "That explains it." She let out a bark of laughter. "He's been swimming instead of running and weight lifting. I didn't ask, I just assumed he was trying something different. Don't get me wrong, all those laps are doing something to his shoulders that is…" She blushed and added, "Never mind. Not that I've noticed."

"Seriously, ya'll." Atwater widened his eyes and stared at his friend.

A knock at the door drew their focus. Platt stuck her head in as she opened it, "Are you planning on working today or just hiding in this room?"

"We, uh, are discussing…"

"The fact that your boss and coworker are having a Mexican standoff?"

Kevin sighed. "They still at it?"

Platt grunted. "We can hear them down in the lobby just yelling 'yes' and 'no' at each other."

"And you came up to check on them?" Hailey peered at the gruff desk sergeant.

Platt rolled her eyes. "Voight raised one headstrong son already, he should be better at handling this one." The three shared a look and at once, they all snickered quietly.

Kim sighed, "Do you have any suggestions on how to get them to stop fighting?" She shrugged, "You've known Voight for a lot longer and you seem to have Adam figured out."

Platt squinted at Adam's former-fiancée-turned-daughter-helper, "You don't know how to handle Adam?"

"Most days, sure, but he won't talk to me about this stuff. He shoves it down inside and changes the subject. When I see it coming, I find an excuse for him to take Mac out and he comes back happier, lighter even."

Platt gave a quick nod. "Mac's good for him." She paced the short edge of the room. She seemed to make a decision and then spoke. "Hank's worried about Adam but he can't just come out and tell him because he's Hank. Adam's rebellious streak is rearing its ugly head and it's going to get him in trouble. We can fix both problems if someone is always keeping an eye on that boy."

"Hence partnering him up with Jay." Hailey filled in the blank.

Platt nodded. "I'm trying to get them to talk to each other but – "

" – they're bad at it." Atwater finished. "Ruz's great at listening to your problems, not so good at the sharing."

Hailey pulled out her phone. "I have a solution to this problem." She put the phone to her ear. "Hey Jay? Can you go straight to that apartment Adam's using for this case? Yeah, he'll meet you there. Thanks!" She hung up the phone and strolled out of the room. The rest followed her at a distance.

Voight and Ruzek were still glowering at each other, but they'd quit yelling. Hailey strolled to their board and tapped Jay's picture where it hung under 'Enforcer – Stairs', "Boss? We have an idea on how to take down the rest of the crew after the heist but I need you to make a phone call, CPD to Army MPs."

That pulled Voight's focus away from his target and once his eyes left Adam, Ruzek took off for the garage. Voight was going to yell after him, but Platt patted him on the shoulder. "Jay's on his way to the apartment, he'll be there before Adam arrives."

Some of the tension left Voight's shoulders. Platt winked at Hailey and left to resume her post at the front desk.