Perfect Storm

Chapter 17 - Falling Into Place

After closing the Peter Stone murder case, for a solid twenty four hours Hank and Kate only left the bedroom to use the bathroom and search for sustenance, both of them quite content to stay wrapped in nothing but the sheets and one other.

They used the time to learn as much about each other as they could; some things trivial but some significant building blocks to who there were as individuals. Kate learned that Hank was an only child who's father was killed in the line of duty when he was eight, the catalyst for he himself wanting to become a cop. She also discovered that he had a weakness for salted caramel ice cream and was, without any shadow of a doubt, an 'ass' man. Hank, on the other hand, learned that Kate had a debilitating fear of clowns and a tiny tattoo of a butterfly on the inside of her right ankle, apparently the result of a teenage rebellion.

Late in the afternoon, Kate was comfortably situated between Hank's thighs, reclining against his chest as the fragrant hot water lapped soothingly around them. The base of her skull rested over his right shoulder as he traced his soapy hands over her body, leaving no patch of skin untouched. When his fingers mapped the raised ridges of the scar on her chest, Kate knew what was coming before the words had even left his mouth.

"How did this happen?"

Kate remained silent for a few moments, lulled into a state of contentment by the sound of his heart thrumming steadily against her back and the feel of his warm lips on her shoulder.

"I was engaged to a cop in New York. He's a detective for the NYPD Counter Terrorism Unit."

She paused for a second, drawing a deep breath before sharing her recollection of the day her world had fallen apart at the seams.

Kate shoved the door to their apartment open with a grunt, balancing the grocery bags in one arm as she shuffled down the hallway to drop them on the kitchen counter. Today was their three year anniversary and it had been six months to the day since Jake proposed. Her eyes dropped down to her left hand, the beams of sunlight filtering through the kitchen blinds bouncing off of the beautiful radiant-cut diamond ring, the weight of it still foreign.

Sergeant Walker had granted her request to take some personal time so that she could get home before Jake did and set her plans in motion. She was going to cook his favourite meal, enjoy some wine together and then show him her new purchases from the boutique underwear store that had just opened off of Canal Street. The timing was unfortunate. The Intelligence Unit had just closed a huge case with Kate finally locking up major drug player Tate Hudson, the head of the Latin Kings. Ideally she would have liked to stick around to help with the paperwork and make sure everything was in order when the DA filed charges but, with Walker's assurance that he'd do it himself, she left it in his capable hands and headed home.

A noise from upstairs yanked Kate from her thoughts and she instinctively drew her weapon from its holster on her right hip, pointing the barrel at the stairs that led to the first floor of their apartment. Moving slowly and silently, she stepped towards the staircase and took them one by one until she reached the landing, arms still outstretched with her gun at the ready.

Then the noise came again, only this time Kate could identify it as a moan. A woman's moan to be precise. Her heart dropped into her stomach and her throat threatened to close up as her pulse began to race. Shoving their bedroom door open with the toe of her boot, her face drained of colour as she took in the scene before her.

There he was. The man she was planning to spend the rest of her life with, reclined on their bed with a tiny blonde sat astride him, his hands gripping her thin, pale hips so hard that angry marks had already begun to bloom on her porcelain skin. Time seemed to stop all together. She couldn't recall how long she stood there before she met Jake's ocean blue eyes over the woman's shoulder and he sprang into action, bucking her from his body as he scrambled out of the bed, clutching a sheet around him as he stood.