Let's see how this goes...I started this story way back in 2016 & would go back to it every now & then & work on it. Obviously things have changed from those heady days. Initially it was just after that debacle with Roman. Now it's changed a little & Burgess is obviously in Intelligence along with Al and Antonio still around & her & Adam are working at being friends at least.

Hopefully I have fixed up all the inconsistencies from the original version.

Also, unlike me I haven't finished writing this story yet...I usually have them finished before I post but I feel like being a rebel & living on teh edge so here we go.

The Foyer of the District was abuzz. It wasn't that there were many people there but those that were milling around were loud enough. Kim was late, Intelligence had been quiet lately and she had taken an extra overtime shift back on Patrol. She liked to do it occasionally just to 'keep her eye in'. She was also saving for a long overdue vacation so the overtime pay would come in handy. "Sorry I am late." She breathed out, still tucking her shirt in. "Half the streets were blocked this morning."

"Yeah. I heard. They've got some hostage thing going on down at the Citibank branch on Milwaukee." Her partner for the day was waiting for her and handed her a radio and flicked the keys around in his hand.

"Really?" Kim had had her IPod on in the car on the way in. That was unusual, she liked to get up to speed with the news in the morning as it generally gave her an indication of the day ahead. For some reason today she felt the need for music. It was just one of those days when she needed to zone out and music was good for that.

Platt was looking a little flustered. "I need you two to go relieve Garcia and Martinez on the perimeter."

"Really." Burgess blurted out before she realised what she had said. One of the benefits of coming down from Intelligence was that she usually didn't get the menial tasks that Patrol usually endured. Standing on the perimeter was considered Rookie work.

Her partner pushed her towards the door, he did his best to avoid getting on Platt's bad side. Joshua Jones or JJ as he liked to be called was a newly minted cop and as eager as they come. So far he seemed a good fit and Platt couldn't fault his enthusiasm, but he needed to dial it down some days. His desk sergeant didn't do 'happy' well.

"You done this much before? It's probably not the most exciting thing I guess but you never know what might happen right? Things can jump off anywhere." He was like an excited puppy.

"It's pretty rare that guarding the perimeter will be anything but boring. Just gawkers trying to get in and idiots pissed off because we are blocking them from getting to their favourite coffee shop." Kim did her best to temper his expectations. They could very well be in for a very long and boring shift.

Jones was leaning on the bonnet of the Patrol car lamenting that nothing was happening. Up until today he had been pretty busy and he was certainly enjoying being out of the Academy. The 21st district had a reputation of being full throttle, having the Intelligence Unit upstairs certainly livened things up. He had been excited when he found out he was going to be partnered up today with Burgess. She had been on Patrol up until a year ago and had worked her way upstairs. JJ had been told that she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty.

JJ had tried to stay away from any of the gossip that swirled around the locker room with regards to the personal lives of his colleagues. One thing he didn't want was her asking about his personal life because that was a little confusing for him so he just avoided it altogether. Perhaps if he didn't ask too many questions about her then she wouldn't ask him about his life outside the job. Being a cop and gay was a tough road to plough and he wanted to prove himself as a good cop and not be the poster boy for diversity.

Suddenly the radio crackled into life on her shoulder. One hostage had been released, a woman and her baby. Then it went quiet again. "Well at least we might find out something?" Jones went back to leaning on the bonnet. "What are the chances of something happening now?"

"You will learn not to hope for too much action. It can go sideways in a way you could never think in the blink of an eye."

Commander Crowley mounted the steps of District 21 with some trepidation, beside her the SWAT commander. Platt peered over her glasses and nodded as Crowley pointed to the stairs. She had no idea why they suddenly needed Intelligence's help, but she was sure she would find out soon enough.

Only Voight and Al were upstairs. He had given the team the day off, they had worked twelve days straight on their last case. It had been long and relentless with each of them pulling 20 hour days at some point. They had wrapped it up late last night and only Al had trudged in that morning, he didn't really have much else going on these days. Work kept his mind of other things, or more to the point off losing Lexi. He knew Voight would be at his desk by 7, like he always was. Voight was also keeping one eye on the Hostage situation and it had piqued Al's interest too. It was out of their realm but that didn't stop them being interested in case something changed.

Al bought him in a coffee and they chatted about the case. Voight liked to get Al's opinion on how the team worked together when he wasn't around. It was always unfiltered and he trusted Al to give it to him straight. If he felt that someone wasn't pulling their weight Al would tell him.

Leaning back slightly in his chair when he heard the gate buzz he was surprised when Commander Crowley appeared at the top of stairs. Al nodded at the commander when he realised he wasn't required for this conversation and left them to it. He closed the door behind him as Crowley introduced Commander Wettering. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Sgt Voight." Wettering shook his hand. "Your teams reputation is certainly well known."

He nodded. "What's this about?" Voight didn't like to be buttered up.

"As you are aware this hostage situation at the Citibank on Milwaukee has been going on for a few hours now and we didn't have much of a clue what was going on inside." Wettering started. "Now we do."

"What's this got to do with Intelligence? You need our help?"

"Perhaps."

Commander Crowley leant forward. "An hour ago they released two hostages. A mother and her young baby."

"Are they okay?"

"They are." Crowley and Wettering exchanged glances.

Voight was starting to get agitated. "Spit it out."

"We were interviewing the mother, getting details of what was going on, how many men inside. How many hostages." Wettering continued. "Anyway to cut a long story short, one of the hostages stuck his business card underneath infant's clothes when he held him for the mother for a few minutes." He pushed the card across the desk towards Voight. He picked it up and stared at it in disbelief. "Is Officer Ruzek here today?"

"No, the team has the day off, they wrapped up a case late last night."

"Can you think of any reason why someone other than Officer Ruzek would have this card."

"Plenty. He probably gives them out to any number of people."

Wettering then went on to describe the man according to the mother and it certainly matched Ruzek's description. Voight picked up his phone and called the number. It was switched off. "We've already sent a patrol around to his house, he's not home and his truck is parked in the area of the Bank. We believe that Officer Ruzek is one of the hostages, along with 12 other people and two offenders."

Voight ran his hands through his hair. "Are you kidding me?"

"Sadly not."

"How can we help?"

"You know him, how he works, how he thinks. Perhaps Intelligence can be of assistance as we try and work through this." Crowley had done her best to think of any reason to keep Voight and his team away from this but there was none. There was also no way that they would sit by while one of their own was in the firing line.

Crowley and Wettering left without saying a word to anyone on the way through. Voight eventually came out of his office and Al waited for his explanation. He could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't good. "Who was that guy?" Al asked.

"Wettering. From SWAT." He tapped his leg nervously. "That hostage situation they've got going on. They need our help. The woman who was released gave a description of one of the hostages who had slipped his business card beneath her baby's clothes." He held up the card. "It's Ruzek."

"What?" Al pulled off his beanie and ran his hands over his head, a habit of his when he was nervous.

"They are pretty confident that one of the hostages is Ruzek."