A Slow Burn // Brian 'Otis' Zvonecek // Chicago Fire ✔️

02 || FIRST SHIFT

The sight of her brand new jacket that hung on the side of the truck filled Riley with dread, with memories of what happened. How her last jacket ended up so charred, so burnt that she ended up needing a new one, despite her protests that it was fine.

It wasn't.

It was taking everything in her to climb into her gear, but she did it and she did it faster than any of the guys. All of whom had noticed how her gear was brand new. The still bright and unmarked colours of her surname printed along the bottom. The lack of anything on the material, from small chars to permanent ash had them all intrigued, but they said nothing.

Riley fiddled with her nails the entire drive to the fire, reminding herself that she would be fine. That he would want her to get back into action and save as many people as she could. And she would. She was ready to kick it into gear and get back into the job she was born to do. That they had both been born to do.

"Kid, you good?" Mouch called to her, voice a little raised over the sirens. His concerned question made Casey look back from his seat, noticing the colour that had drained from Riley's face.

None of them knew. It had been held back from her file. Even the Chief didn't know.

"I'm good." Riley nodded, forcing a smile at both Mouch and Casey, who both seemed a little unsure about whether her answer was the truth but they said nothing.

Even Herrmann shared a concerned look with Mouch, one that Riley noticed as she stared between their seats and out the front window, where she could see the flames and the smoke as they approached the building.

Flashes of her last fire began to play in her mind, the heat, the smell, the cries of those around her as she searched blindly in the smoke filled warehouse. The explosion. The hands that gripped her arms so tight that they left bruises.

But as they came to a stop, she shook those thoughts from her mind and was the first person out of the truck, Otis following behind and landing next to her as he hopped from the drivers seat.

"You okay?" He asked, concerned at the look on her face as she watched the flames as they exploded from the windows, sending small shards of glass falling to the sidewalk below.

"I'm okay." Riley replied with as smile, noticing that his question was more genuine, as if he actually cared that she was okay and wasn't just making sure she was ready to face the fire.

Which she was. She really truly was.

"Squad 3, Truck 81. Give me a primary search." Boden called out, those around hearing his voice both in person and through their radios.

"Capp, Tony, Cruz, with me." Severide called out as he began to put on his mask, the others following suit.

"Mouch, Herrmann, with me." Casey pointed to the guys who began masking up. "Otis, Wolf, vent the roof."

Venting the roof, okay. She's got this, she can handle that.

Grabbing both the saw and the axe, Riley climbed onto the top of the truck, where Otis was placing the aerial. The mechanical sounds of the giant ladder moving into position were barely noticeable over the crackling of the fire, the coughs of those surrounding the ambulance and the calls of those inside searching.

Taking a deep breath and passing Otis the saw, Riley began her climb up the ladder, holding tight with one hand as she followed Otis to the roof. The fire was blocked from her view by her helmet, her eyes glued to the silver prongs below her as she got higher, repeating over and over in her head that she was ready for this.

About halfway up the ladder, a ball of fire exploded through one of the windows below them, spraying glass and sending cloud of smoke towards them. Both Otis and Riley ducked, covering themselves with their arm as they felt the warmth of the fire reach their skin.