Love at first whistle? Chicago P.D.’s intense crimes and skilled detectives are the heart of the show — but the complex romance between Kim Burgess and Adam Ruzek is what keeps many fans coming back.
Viewers first saw sparks fly between Burgess (Marina Squerciati) and Ruzek (Patrick Flueger) during season 1, episode 8, while Ruzek was in another relationship. Their banter, however, made it clear that something romantic could transpire between them down the line.
“This is complete horses—t,” Ruzek quipped in the episode while assisting with crossing guard duties alongside Burgess, who insisted he was “doing it wrong.” She proceeded to show him the right way to navigate traffic, saying, “You gotta get your hips into it … like this.”
Ruzek got a big grin on his face and responded, “You’re kind of full of it you know that?” Burgess, for her part, just smiled and replied, “Am I? Or am I awesome at it.”
By season 2, the coworkers were in a serious relationship and Ruzek popped the question. “I wanted to keep this informal, so I thought, you know, ‘What’s more informal than the locker room?’” he joked during the “Born Into Bad News” episode, which aired in May 2015. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You and I are freaking awesome. I know this is quick, but I don’t care because I love you.”
While Burgess said “yes” at the time, she later called off the engagement and went back to being friends … sort of.
“They’re two adult people who have an undying love for one another,” Flueger exclusively told Us Weekly in October 2019, alluding to a possible spark for the characters during season 7. “He’s always going to be a little in love with her, regardless of whether or not they’re in a full-functioning relationship.”
Squerciati teased that while the pair’s onscreen personas would face a “life-altering” event together, she told Us, “I don’t think this is endgame yet, but it’ll test them.”
Burgess announced during season 7 that she was pregnant with Ruzek’s child. Her world later crashed to a halt when she suffered a miscarriage — and the loss threw another wrench in the pair’s romantic relationship.
The following season, the cops were once again tested when Burgess decided to adopt Makayla during season 8. Ruzek, for his part, eventually stepped up and started helping her coparent the little girl.
“At the end of the day, I think she and Makayla, as far as I’m concerned with Ruzek, they’re everything to him,” Flueger exclusively told Us in March 2022 of their new family unit.
Fans got a real taste of what’s to come for the couple during season 10, episode 17, which aired in March 2023. During the show, Burgess brought Ruzek to her therapy session and the duo finally talked about their true feelings for one another.
“Maybe there were some times where I felt more, wanted more, and she didn’t feel the same way or want the same things. But you adjust, I adjust, we adjusted and work through it,” Ruzek confessed in “Out of the Depths.”
Burgess tried to reassure him that wasn’t the case, but she couldn’t get the words out. “I was too scared and numb,” she told him once they got back home. She then initiated a passionate kiss and the pair had sex — seemingly confirming they are back on.
The actors, meanwhile, teased in March 2022 what a Burzek wedding might look like down the road. “I think, like, they would invite Voight [Jason Beghe] over to marry them and then have some chips and then, like, never talk about it again and just be together,” Squerciati exclusively told Us at the time. “They would do something unconventional or something. I just feel like they’re best friends. They’re kind of married already.”
Scroll down for a look back at Burzek’s ups and downs on Chicago P.D. over the years:
