EPIPHANY [MATT CASEY 1]

ONE

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3 MONTHS LATER

The sun shone brightly on Elaine's fiery red hair as she walked up the driveway to Firehouse 51. She gripped the duffle bag slung across her torso as if her life depended on it and bit her lip, hearing some voices. She walked into the truck bay and saw a couple of firefighters and one of them, a female looked at her.

"Can we help you?" An older firefighter asked looking at Elaine and she nodded and spoke, walking into the apron.

"Hi, um, I'm here for the position on Sqaud?" She said and a latino walked up to her and spoke.

"Elaine , right? " He asked and she nodded and he stook his hand out and spoke.

"Joe Cruz." He said and she nodded, sticking her hand out and she gave him a curt nod.

"Nice to meet you. Can you show me where Chief Boden's office is?" She asked and he nodded and began walking her through the firehouse.

"So, this is where Sqaud hangs out at, we practically own this table." He said showing Elaine the table and then another man spoke.

"Cruz, squad sucks." He said and Elaine looked between then and Cruz shook his head.

"Don't listen to Herrmann, this is the kitchen, and that's Mouch's spot." He said pointing at the couch in front of the TV and she raised an eyebrow and continued to follow the man.

"The bunkers are located down there and this is where Boden is at." He said and Elaine looked in there and saw two firefighters sitting in front of who she assumed was the Chief. He waved them in and the two firefighters sitting before him stood.

Joe opened the door and let Elaine go in first and Chief Boden spoke.

"Elaine?" He asked and Elaine nodded and he stuck his hand out.

"It's nice to meet you, welcome to 51. This is Captain Casey, and this is your lieutenant, Lieutenant Severide." He said as Severide and Casey stuck out their hands to greet Elaine. Elaine gave the captain and the lieutenant a firm smile and stook her hand out and spoke, shaking each of their hands.

"Thank you. It was nice meeting you." She said to both, her gaze staying on the Captain for longer than Severide and Boden nodded and spoke.

"How's your brother by the way? Haven't seen him in a while." He said and Elaine nodded and spoke.

"He's good, guess he's been super busy with Intelligence." Was all she said and Kelly nodded and spoke

"At the 21st?" He asked and Elaine nodded and Joe raised an eyebrow.

"Who's your brother?" He asked and Elaine looked at him and spoke.

"Jay Halstead." She said and Joe's eyes widened.

"No, way! He's Severide's wife's new partner." He said and Elaine looked at Severide and spoke.

"Logan Rayner?" She asked and Severide smiled and spoke.

"Yeah." He said and Elaine nodded and smiled softly.

"Aw, congratulations. Logan's an amazing woman." She said and he nodded a thanks and Boden looked at Elaine and spoke.

"I hope you find a home in 51, Elaine." He said and she gave him a curt nod and walked out of his office.

Elaine walked to where Joe said the bunkers were and found the lockers. She walked to where an empty locker was and saw a tape that said D. Zvonecek. She blinked remembering when she lost someone dear to her and she shook her head and walked out of the locker room.

An alarm blared and she tilted her head.

"Squad 3, Truck 81, Ambulance 61, person trapped. 9724 North Dayton." 

Elaine dropped her bag and rushed to the truck bay floor and saw everyone getting ready in a rush to get into their trucks. She jumped into her fire suit in less than 10 seconds. She jumped up into the squad truck and sat across from Joe and he gave her a small smile.

"Ready?" He asked and she nodded and he smirked. 

They got to the scene in an instant and everyone jumped out of their respective trucks. Elaine watched as Captain Casey started moving the truck and Elaine spoke looking at Kelly who was with Boden and another chief.

"If we can move 90, we could get up to the balcony and use a pike pole." She said and Kelly smiled and spoke.

"She's right, Chief." He said and Boden nodded and spoke. "Alright, go." He said and Kelly looked at the squad truck and spoke.

"Capp, Cruz, get in that unit. Halstead, let's go." He said and began walking to the building, Elaine following. She rushed after him and the adrenaline coursing through her veins made her ansty as the candidate from 90 rushed passed her, shoulder checking her in the the process. Elaine jerked back and her hand fled to her shoulder, trying to put pressure on the bruise she knew was forming.

"Hey what the hell!" She yelled and he continued walking past her. She glared at him and watched as he started climbing the balcony. She sighed, clenching her jaw and watched as he made it to the guy in danger without a pike pole. Elaine shook her head and walked back to Squad's truck and Joe spoke.

"Hey, good thinking out there." He said and she gave him a fake smile and crossed her hands over her chest.

Kelly walked to Matt to speak about the candidate from 90 and Elaine shrugged off her jacket and inspected her shoulder, seeing a bright purple and pink bruise starting to form. She let out a groan and looked at the crowd the started clapping. Elaine saw a man wearing a black hoodie, who looked extremely familiar to the red head and she squinted to get a good look at him. He made eye contact with her and Elaine spoke.

"Hey!" She said and he began running, as she walked towards him. Matt and Kelly turned their heads towards the young woman and watched as she broke out into a sprint after the man.

"Stop!" She yelled running after him. He ran faster, jumping over some trash and Elaine pushed herself harder, into the alleyway.

"STOP!" She yelled watching as he hopped a fence and she stooped and placed her hands on her knees, knowing that this wasn't a coincedence at all.