Hindsight

Fiasco

"Ok. I got an idea." she huffed after a moment of pacing about frantically with one hand still clutching onto her dislocated arm, "Punch me."

Just like that Lansing nonchalantly suggested.

Adam shook his head at her offer, adamant to not hurt his partner any further. "Whoa! You must be out of your mind! Why would I do that?"

The police sirens were only getting louder and louder and they can now practically see the faint flashing of red and blue lights indicating to them that they definitely need to act fast and do not have time to be arguing.

"To make it look like our perp, whom you beat to death, attacked me!"

A story of a woman in distress who needed help will always work. She wasn't capable enough to defend herself so her partner did what he had to do.

Simple as that.

"But he didn't."

This was a plan that will never work.

"Exactly, Ruzek! Now hurry! We don't have time to be thinking!"

Shaking his head, "No!" his shout was matched with a strong stomp of his foot that could rival any child's. "I'm not gonna punch you. I can't. You're..."

She's a girl.

He can't punch a girl.

"Oh, c'mon, get over it! I'm tryna help you here! So punch me! I don't care! I promise I won't hold it against you!!"

Waving his hands around, Adam viciously ran them over his face, frustrated. "I can't. I can't."

"Ugh!!"

Growing up as the youngest and the only girl of eight children with all the seven kids before her being boys, she have had her fair share of being shoved and pushed around. So a little consensual beating from her partner wasn't a big deal to her.

"Here." she shook away her nerves and pointed at her cheek, grabbing Adam's blood-caked hands, "But not too hard that my jaw needs to be wired shut. And not too light that it doesn't even leave a mark."

"Kate! I can't!"

To be honest, she was still pretty scared to a degree that Adam would black out again and this time bludgeon her to death instead.

"Just do it!"

She can do this - lie to IA for him.

That's what partners do for each other, right?

"No!"

She've never done something like this in her entire career or even got involved in something so illegal. This was somewhat of a thrill. This adrenaline rush was what she've always been looking for.

Only in Intelligence.

"Ruzek!!"

Looking into each other's bloodshot eyes, they both took a deep breath and she nodded.

"I don't wanna hurt you." he said as he curled in hand into a fist, pulling them back.

She's ready.