*District 21: Garage*
"You good, Kev?" Hank called out, walking in with Ana at his side and spotting the Officer inside of a nearby cruiser.
"Yeah, I think they locked me out." He replied in shock.
"Meaning?" The older man inquired, stopping near the driver's side which made the brunette do the same.
"The system's not letting me in. My radio doesn't work. I don't have any access." Kevin explained and stepped out of the car, giving both Sergeants a full view of his bruised face.
"What happened?" Ana demanded in a dark tone, walking closer to the younger man.
"They jumped me." He sighed.
"Did you see their faces?" Hank wondered, mimicking his wife's movements.
"Their faces were covered. There were no cameras. They didn't say a word." Kevin shook his head. "They were smart."
"Okay, let us find them-" The older man tried.
"You can't go to IAD. I'm guessing they've already got a open case on me. Nolan has men inside, so we can't trust that." The Officer interrupted. "And I have absolutely nothing on them still."
"Which is why I'd go elsewhere." Hank retorted.
"I appreciate that, but this is what we knew was coming." Kevin pointed out.
"Kev, there are ways-"
"Boss, we already talked about this. And I already talked to the team. I can handle them." The younger man assured. "I'm good."
"Well, all right, then." Ana cracked a smile, that was very obviously faked, and gave him a little pat on the shoulder. "Come on. We caught a case."
The brunette promptly turned on her heel and went back the way she had just come from. Hank sighed and went to follow after her but a hand suddenly landed on his arm, makng him turn back around.
"Hey, is she okay?" Kevin wondered.
He had instantly got concerned at the lack of emotion in the female Sergeant's voice. If anything, the male was supposed to be the more closed off of the two.
"I don't know." The older man swallowed and the Officer's worry grew tenfold. "She's barely even looked at me since our shouting match the other day."
*Crime Scene*
Hank, Ana, and Kevin hopped out of a black SUV. The three were all wearing bullet proof vests as they approached a nearby patrolman who was standing guard at a small gate.
"Sergeant Voight." He greeted, mainly adressing the male and not even bothering to acknowledge the female. "911 call came in about eight minutes ago."
"What was the call?" The older man inquired.
"Injured female. A male caller reporting his friend hurt. Patrol arrived, entered, found a deceased female. Male caller inside with her." The patrolman explained as he led them towards the house's main entrance.
"Okay." Hank motioned for him to continue and he stopped in his tracks just at the door, turning to face them completely.
"Sir, the male inside is Billy Braddem." The patrolman revealed.
"As in Alderman Braddem?" The older man questioned in slight disbelief.
"It's his son." He nodded.
"The ex-cop, right?" Kevin asked in confirmation as both him and Hank began moving forwards again.
"Yep." Ana nodded, popping the "p" and rushing ahead of them.
Or she would have, had her husband not instantly grabbed her arm and yanked her back. The brunette refused to look up at him but she did, however, have a fiery glare etched onto her features.
"I still want you safe. You being pissed at me doesn't change that." He murmured, switching his gaze over to the patrolman. "Don't let her out of your sight."
Ana's face softened and she conceded, letting out a small breath before heading back over to the car. The patrolman went to his and they watched as the remaining men disappeared inside the small house.
*District 21: Parking Lot*
The two Sergeants got out of their car just in time to see Adam and Kim walking over from theirs.
"The victim's IDed as Isla Sherman, 18 years of age." The male Officer reported. "She's got a few priors for drug possession as a juvie, but other than that, I mean, she's a bit of a ghost."
Hank and Ana slid in between the two as the small group moved towards the entrance to the basement. Adam suddenly rushed a head to hold the door open.
"It looks like she was an addict. No LKAs in years other than the place that she died." Kim added.
"You locate the family?" The older man inquired.
"Yeah. I tracked her mom down to Arizona. She was surprised Isla was still alive actually." The female Officer recalled as they passed through the doorway. "Written her off as dead a long time ago. Won't be claiming the body."
"And what about Billy?" Ana wondered.
Adam reappeared on her righr after closing the door.
"Oh, with him, I had to do some digging. Alderman Braddem never mentions Billy in his stump speeches. Kid's never one of the sons standing behind him at the podium. He's got no public traces." The male Officer listed as the small group stopped just shy of staircase door. "I did find him logged as a patient at more than a dozen rehabs, though."
"Yeah, his school records are a mess. I mean, this kid's been in and out of a different school every year since he was 14." Kim chimed in.
"Huh." Hank grunted, moving to open the door.
"So we're thinking Braddem kicked him out of the house?" Ana guessed.
The men let the women through first before following after.
"Yeah, I mean, that would be my guess. I can't figure out his relationship to Isla, though. Friends, boyfriend, maybe they just use together?" Kim speculated as the group walked into the District itself. "I'm scouring social media, uh-"
"Hey." Trudy suddenly called as they were about to pass by the front desk and gestured to the room across from herself. "She's been waiting for you for over an hour. We're halfway to that being her permanent office, so could you, please?"
Ana stole a quick glance and instantly looked back down at the floor after spotting the Deputy Superintendent inside the small room. Hank nodded and went over while the two Officers headed through the gate.
"Uh uh, missy, I'm not done with you yet." The Desk Sergeant snapped, jokingly, when her best friend moved to join Kim and Adam. "What's going on with you two? I could sense the tension between you from a mile away."
Ana just gave her a half-hearted glare in response, almost willing her to drop the topic.
"Oh, don't give me that look. I can see it plain as day." Trudy scoffed, lowering her voice a bit. "I know you and the way you're acting. . ." She shook her head. "You aren't mad at him, Ana, you're scared of him. You are scared of you own-"
"Because he's not my husband right now!" The brunette hissed, ripping her face mask off and letting out a breath. "I'm assuming you heard him shouting through the gate at Kev the other day?"
"Who didn't?" She retorted, dryly, hoping her normal sarcasm would bring some comfort to the clearly upset woman in front of her.
It worked, judging by the small smile on the Sergeant's face. It disappeared a second later, though.
"Put yourself in my shoes. Who did that sound like more to you? Henry? Or Hank?" Ana whispered, the last name coming out so quietly that Trudy had to strain to hear it.
"Hey, I understand. . . given what happened the last time the real Hank Voight appeared around you." She spat, bitterly, reaching over and giving her arm a small comforting squeeze while resisting the urge to glare a few holes into said man's back. "Look, if you ever wanna talk, well, you know where I live."
"Thanks, Hun." The brunette cracked another small smile before, finally, heading upstairs.
*Bullpen: A Little While Later*
Ana looked up from her desk when Hank walked in with Kevin at his side.
"Tell me we got something." The older man demanded.
"I confirmed a blue Sedan outside Isla's apartment around the time of death. Caught it coming and going. Matches the witness' time frame, but there's no POD outside of Isla's. So the car turns into her block, I lose it, and I catch it leaving minutes later." Kim explained from her desk.
"So we can't confirm the plates or that it was even outside of Isla's. It's possible somebody exited the car, went into the apartment, but we have zero way to prove that." Jay pointed out from where he was standing to the female Officer's right.
"Hey, I think I got something." Hailey spoke.
"What is it?" Ana inquired as she and everyone else aside from Adam, who just had to turn around, moved to crowd around the blonde.
"TV was on in Isla's apartment last night, so I followed a feeling, and this was playing during the time of death." She informed, showing them a video of a news report and the presenter looked exactly like the man Billy described when asked if anyone else was in the apartment. "White male, 40s, grey hair, green eyes. Blue and red tie. Suit."
"And a voice like he's telling a story." Hank finished for her and glanced back at Kevin.
"Can happen during trauma. Brain's wires get crossed, latches onto the wrong thing. Officials report this trend. I don't think Billy has any idea what's real." Hailey sighed.
*A Few Hours Later*
Ana had been working on some paperwork while trying not to eavesdrop on the conversation currently happening between Hank and Sam in the older man's Office. It became extremely difficult, however, when their voices got too loud for her to block out and she was forced to listen to it anyway.
"Over 12 hours on an open and shut scene, and now we've got an ex-cop Alderman in the 21st, meeting with his son's investigator. You disobeyed a direct order." The Deputy Superintendent growled.
"Because it wasn't real." The older man pointed out.
"If I give you an order, it's real." She shot back.
"No." Hank snapped and the squeaking of his chair told Ana he had just stood up. "Not if you don't tell me why you're giving it to me."
"That kid was found holding the murder weapon laying next to the dead girl." Sam hissed.
"I'm aware." He scoffed.
"And yet, you haven't charged him." The Deputy Superintendent yelled.
"What if that kid in there were Black? Would you be ordering me to charge ASAP?" Hank questioned, angrily. "Cause I think if that were an 18-year-old Black kid in there. . .with no rich family, no politician father, you wouldn't be pressing me to charge until I had the whole of it, until it felt right. But he's white, he's privileged, and you're damn scared the media's gonna hand you your ass your first month of work." The Sergeant spat, coldly. "I don't care who his father is. You do."
"All right. You take the full 48 if you need to." Sam conceded. "I'll make sure you can have it."
Ana waited until the Deputy Superintendent was halfway down the stairs before heading into the small room with a soft smile on her lips. Hank, who was about to sit back down, instantly threw that idea out the window and stared at his wife with warm eyes. Despite his confusion, the older man just stood there and patiently waited for her to make her move. And she did, stepping up to her husband and bringing a hand up to his face.
"Welcome back." The brunette murmured, leaning up for a well needed kiss.
Hank practically slumped in her hold, uncaring of how or why but feeling happy and relieved that she wasn't mad at him anymore
*Conference Room: The Next Morning*
After spending most of the night talking to Billy again, sober this time, the kid immediately refused a lawyer or any of his father's help for that matter. He had agreed to talk to them and the team was currently fact checking his story.
"Once he's high, we can't confirm any of it. There's no black duffel bag at the scene." Jay sighed, referring to how Billy claimed that Isla already had the drugs on her.
"No reports from neighbors hearing any arguing, no signs of forced entry." Hailey added with crossed arms.
"Right, so what about the knife?" Kevin wondered. "If he pulled it, Forensics should be able to confirm it."
"No, we're dead there." Kim shook her head. "Forensics ruled the kn*fe inconclusive. blood and prints were contaminated."
"So what else we do have then?" Ana inquired, pacing around her husband a bit.
"Not much. We can't confirm anyone was inside the apartment besides Billy." Jay replied.
"Here's an odd thing." Adam spoke up. "I ran Isla's cell phone. Everything matches with Billy's story, except for when she texted him to tell him she felt bad, she was all the way out in Lake Forest." He explained.
"Lake Forest? She has connections out there?" Hailey asked in surprise.
"Billy never mentioned anything, but the phone tagged her location. She was definitely there." The Officer
nodded.
The two Sergeants shared a look and Kevin relaxed a little, happy to see that Ana was back to her old self again.
"All right, good. Let's run with that." Hank decided, moving to leave the room with his wife in tow.
*Bullpen: A While Later*
When searching a house in Lake Forest, the Team stumbled upon a basement filled with at least a million dollars in heroin. They brought the owner, Hadley, in for questioning but she refused to talk and lawyered up. Hank and Kevin then went to have another talk with Billy and he happened to recognize the insignia on the bags that were seized as the sames ones that Isla had in the black bag.
"Guys, I made a connection. Check this out." Jay spoke up, rushing over to the whiteboard and taping up a photo of a white man with a beard. "This is Tim Rollins. He's 36 years old. He's got a history of violence, two priors for drug possession with intent to distribute in Indiana. Now, Hadley has calls, Venmo requests, and social media hits with this guy. So does Isla. And her social media is loaded with pictures of the two of them right up until when she met Billy." The Detective explained, holding up another picture of Isla and Tim together.
"Ex-boyfriend." Hailey realized.
"The drugs are definitely his. Isla knew it. She was itching. She went back. She stole the drugs." Kim speculated.
The two Sergeants exhanged a quick glance.
"Bring him in." Hank ordered, heading back into his Office.
"Nice work, Bluejay." Ana smiled from her desk.
"Thanks, Sarge." He nodded and went off to catch a bad guy.
*Still in the Bullpen*
The second Adam walked in with Kim and Kevin his side, Ana stood up from her desk and placed a hand on his arm.
"Hey, are you all right?" She inquired, gently.
Because of the dark skinned Officer's situation, patrol never rolled while they were chasing Tim Rollins down which, in turn, caused Adam to take a bullet to the chest. Thankfully, his vest took the worst of it leaving him with nothing more than a nasty bruise.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Sarge." He assured, giving her a small smile.
Jay suddenly stepped forwards before anyone could say anything else.
"We got Rollins entering the Wilson CTA stop two minutes after your - call, Ruz, and then exiting again at Belmont." He informed.
"Rollins has a cousin that lives two blocks from Belmont. Great place to hide out." Hailey added, walking over just as Hank appeared in the doorway to his Office.
"Hey, Adam. You okay?" He wondered while shrugging his leather jacket on.
"I'm good." The male Officer nodded.
"All right, so, you guys are not relying on Patrol this time." Ana began.
"We secure the location and contain the perimeter ourselves, understood?" Hank finished for her. "Let's do it."
The couple shared a quick kiss before the older man followed the rest of the Team into the Basement/Garage Area. Or, at least, that's what he thought anyway.
Ana went to sit back down when she realized that Kevin was still there, staring off into space.
"It wasn't your fault Kev." The brunette sighed, breaking him out of his trance. "You have to know that."
He just gazed at her for a moment before walking off as well.
*Later That Night: Near a Warehouse*
The team had finally been able arrest Tim Rollins and he was now in custody, however, there was still one more problem that needed to be taken care of.
Kevin was standing in an eerily vacant parking lot, leaning back against the front of his car. A familiar back SUV suddenly pulled up a few feet away and Hank and Ana hopped out of it. They silently made their way over and leaned back on either of the dark skinned Officer.
"It's starting to get cold." The older man remarked, ominously, and his wife shivered a bit as if to prove his point.
"Yeah, I know I got two options. Let you guys make some deal for me, or I hand over my badge." Kevin sighed.
"Well, we can't have you in our unit, Kev." Hank pointed out, gently.
"But we're aren't gonna let you go without a Helluva fight either." Ana added, softly.
"I know. I get it." Kevin muttered.
"So let us help you." The older man reasoned.
A silence fell for about a few seconds but the brunette broke it a moment later.
"Henry already talked to Nolan." She explained, quietly, looking down at her shoes.
"Listen. The deal would be we put a beef on your record. Official complaint. I mean, it would tie you down. It means you'd never make detective, never leave our unit. It's a brick, but Nolan would stop coming." Hank offered.
"I'm not taking that." Kevin spat.
He stood up and began marching towards the driver's side door while the Sergeants followed him every step of the way.
"Then you won't be able to be a cop anymore." Ana swallowed, thickly.
Not like either man could see that through her mask though.
"Maybe I don't wanna be a cop anymore." The Officer shot back, whirling around angrily. "I'm constantly looking over my shoulder. I'm mad every hour, every minute, every second. I'm mad at Nolan, I'm mad at Voight, I'm mad at Ruzek. I'm mad at every white cop that feels like they can make a deal for me. And every cop that's done this job the wrong way, which means I'm mad at myself. I'm so mad, I don't even think I can do the job the right way anymore!" He rambled, brokenly.
The brunette didn't know what to say. In fact, she looked about ready to cry for her Officer and friend. Hank, on the other hand. . .
"Then do it different." The older man retorted and Kevin scoffed in response. "Do it different. That's the win. You get to do it different."
"And Nolan skates?" The younger man argued.
"Nolan. Nolan, the way he polices, he's not gonna last another year." Hank shook his head.
"Then what's the point of giving him a damn thing?" The Officer hissed.
"Because it's not a new world yet." The male Sergeant ground out. "It's just not."
"So we just wait for the whole world to change and just pull me up?" Kevin asked in disbelief and suddenly thought of something. "What would you do? Voight? In my skin, with this world, would you do that?"
"Me? No." Hank answered with no hesistation at all.
Ana finally caught her bearings and was able speak again.
"But we're not you, Kev. You are a good cop and a good man." She assured with a warm gaze. "If you ask me, the second you're not anymore is the moment they win."
"Kevin, listen, we'll back you no matter what you choose." The older man promised and the brunette nodded in agreement. "But the question is, what do you wanna do?"
The Officer just stared at his two Sergeants in response.
A/N Now cue this brillant scene:
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! See you on Monday!
~Princess <3