Chapter Text
Usually when Kim had an overnight layover, she would relax in the hotel with a hot bath and a good book. Romance being the genre of choice because deep down, Kim Burgess was a hopeless romantic and always had been. Tonight however, the rest of the crew had persuaded her that a night on the town was needed. Tomorrow was her final flight before she traded in her wings for a gun and a badge. She was finally starting at the Police Academy and she was incredibly excited.
To say Kim hadn’t enjoyed her time as a flight attendant would be incorrect. She had learnt a lot, made some great friends and had got to fly to some breathtaking destinations. But she always knew it wasn’t the place for her, it was simply a means to an end. And that end was the Chicago Police Department.
When Kim was in high school and had told her guidance counsellor she wanted to be a cop, the woman had almost laughed in her face. Since that moment Kim had kept her ambitions to herself, never telling friends or family that it was her goal in life to wear the blue and serve and protect the city of Chicago.
She was aware that she didn’t give off the vibe of a cop when you first met her but she was driven, ambitious, caring and understanding. All the hallmarks of a great cop. And most of all, she wanted to help people. She knew the job wouldn’t be easy and the process of getting there would be just as difficult but it was what she wanted to do, and nothing was going to stand in her way.
Her family didn’t have the financial means to support her through college to get the credits she needed to apply for the Academy so she went straight into work when she graduated. Kim had always been a people person, one of the reasons she knew she’d be good on the force, so when she saw a stand for flight attendants at a job fair, she knew it was something she’d excel at.
After working full-time for the airline for one year she had saved up enough to start taking some remote classes at UChicago. Her credits mainly focused around Criminology with an element of Psychology and she also signed up for a Spanish course. She had realised early on in her time as an attendant that being able to communicate with someone in their own language was an incredibly useful tool. In the back of her mind she knew this would translate to the streets of Chicago as well.
She couldn’t afford to stop working for the airline whilst she took her courses so she had to manage the studying in between flights. It was a gruelling time but Kim was determined. So when she finally racked up enough credits, she submitted her application to the academy and waited with baited breath. The application process itself was hard enough with multiple tests and assessments she had to pass before being accepted but on the day she got her letter, she knew it was all going to be worth it.
She was to report to the academy next week to undertake basic training and in a few months she would be on the beat with her FTO. All the hours serving passengers, dealing with their inane requests, breaking up fights whilst thousands of miles in the air, managing screaming babies, it was all going to be worth it when she walked across that stage at graduation, she just knew it.
So tomorrow was her final flight, LAX to O’Hare. This was one of her favourite routes, well anything that brought her back to her home was always top of the list but flights out of LA always had some characters on board.
Pulling on the little black dress which she had tucked into her case on a whim, thinking that this might happen, she matched it with a small pair of black heels. Pulling her hair down out of its bun, it hung down in loose curls over her shoulders. Finishing the look with a red lipstick she fluffed her hair and with a final glance at her reflection in the mirror, she headed out the door.
The drinks were flowing, the music was perfect for dancing and Kim was having fun. She wasn’t normally one to let loose like this, preferring to keep the more sober side of tipsy and usually ended up being the one looking after her friends. It wasn’t like she was completely legless, however she was definitely tipsy and was currently belting out the lyrics to Shake It Off with a couple of the other crew members.
When the song finished and a new one came on, Kim excused herself from her friends and headed towards the bar. She may have gone slightly too hard on that last chorus and her throat was screaming at her for some liquid. She managed to squeeze in past the other patrons hanging off the bar and caught the eye of the bartender. As she ordered a water she spotted a guy down the other end of the bar who glanced away when he noticed her staring. Kim downed her water and glanced back over. The guy was still there, beer in hand, watching her. He at least had the forethought to look slightly guilty when he met her eyes and looked down at his beer, picking at the label. Tipsy Kim had a lot more courage than Sober Kim. Yet Sober Kim didn’t hold back either. She looked over her shoulder to see her friends still dancing and enjoying themselves. When she turned around again, she noticed the staring guy was no longer there. A feeling of disappointment washed over her, she wasn’t sure why though. Sure, he was cute enough but she knew she wasn’t going to be the one to walk over and introduce herself, Tipsy Kim or not.
‘Are you just drinking water or can I buy you an actual drink?’, a voice came from behind her, it startled her so she jumped and turned around. ‘I guess I’m lucky you’d already finished that’, the voice said with a deep chuckle, nodding towards her empty glass. It was the staring guy from down the bar, and up close he was far more than cute enough. He had a boyish charm about him, Kim would guess he was maybe a year her junior. He was smiling at her, clearly waiting for a response and yet she was just looking at him. Her eyes met his, his brown eyes matching hers and she was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open.
‘So darlin’, about that drink’, he said softly. Kim shook herself back into the current moment.
‘Vodka cran’, she said, her voice coming out much quieter than it usually did.
‘Vodka cran coming right up’, he said with a wink and turned round to signal the bartender. Kim took a moment to appreciate his shoulders and arms in his tight flannel shirt before realising she was doing exactly what she had gotten annoyed at him previously for doing.
Pull it together she thought, you’ve seen a hot guy before .
The bartender had finished fixing their drinks and the guy turned around, sliding the glass with her drink in towards her, and grasping his beer in his hand.
‘Thank you’, she said, again with a much quieter voice than normal. Kimberly, come on .
‘Adam’, the broad shouldered man said as he took a swig from his beer, the condensation from the rim glistening against his lips. Her gaze slid down to his lips and when she raised them again and met his, he was watching her intently. Something about this man was making Kim want to throw caution to the wind but she steeled herself and focused instead on the drink sitting on the bar and picked it up to give her something to do with her hands.
‘Kim’, she said smiling, happy her voice was back to its normal volume.
‘So Kim, come here often’, Adam said, winking at her again. She didn’t know if it was just the alcohol coursing through her system but she let out a loud laugh.
‘That line normally work for you?’, she asked whilst holding in another laugh that was threatening to burst free. Adam smirked but seemed to take it in his stride however, his glistening eyes never leaving hers as he raised his bottle to his lips again.
‘First try, so you tell me’ he winked again. Kim let out a girlish giggle that she didn’t even know she was capable of and put her hand over her mouth to stifle any further ridiculous sounds.
‘Well Adam’, she said slowly, the alcohol running through her veins giving her a confidence that she had never had before. She was already standing relatively close to him, the crowdedness of the bar not allowing them much personal space but she inched closer, feeling the heat radiating off his body and rested her hand on his arm. ‘I’ll give you a 7 out of 10’.
Adam feigned hurt by raising his hand to clutch at his heart, the arm that Kim was resting her hand on staying firmly placed on the bar. ‘You wound me Kim’, he said, smirking at her, ‘Surely that warranted a 7.5 at least, if not an 8!’
She giggled as she took another swig from her drink. Flirting with strange men in bars was not her standard evening activity but she currently was not mad about the turn of events.
‘You’ll have a chance to improve before I give you a final score’, she said. She noticed every time she spoke, his eyes never left hers. She had to take note as with most men she spoke to, especially when dressed in her flight attendant uniform, their eyes tended to veer south when she was speaking. However Adam’s eyes never left her face, occasionally roaming down to her lips, but the rest of the time his gaze never left hers. The realisation sent a warm shiver through her body.
‘And any tips on how to improve my score?’, he said slowly. His voice was low and was starting to make Kim’s insides have a warm and fuzzy feeling, like the comfort of a thick blanket on a cold night. It was a peculiar sensation but not one that she could say she was adverse to.
‘Ask me to dance’, she answered as she finished the rest of her drink in one swallow, looking pointedly at him whilst she did.
‘If that’ll help,’ he said, matching her action and downing his drink before offering her his hand. Kim placed her hand in his outstretched one, feeling that sensation of comfort again as his larger hand dwarfed hers. He led her over to the dance floor which was busier than when Kim had left it. Her confidence was starting to waiver now, what if she tripped over her own feet, what if she tripped over his feet. As these thoughts were swirling around her head, she barely had a chance to notice that Adam had stopped. He turned around and tugged her into him, one hand stayed grasping hers and the other settled on her hip, his fingers splayed across her back. Kim rested her other hand on his chest, the beating of his heart giving her something to calm her breathing to. They started to sway, and Kim was only vaguely aware that they were not in time with the music, but she didn’t care.
‘Earned a higher score yet?’ he whispered in her ear as he brought his head down to rest against the side of hers.
‘Getting there’, she murmured, letting her eyes close as he pulled her closer, the hand on her hip moving to rest on the small of her back. He was warm and solid under her hands and she allowed herself to get lost in his smell - woody and generally male with a hint of something else that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. At her answer, she felt him chuckle but he didn’t stop them swaying.
This was not where Kim had seen her night going a few hours ago, but here in the arms of a man she barely knew, she felt content.