#2 The Darkest Fire

Chapter Forty One

"What do you mean you got expelled?" Matt said lowly, anger tugging at his voice. "I'm sorry Uncle Matt but a boy..." "A BOY DID THIS TO YOU" Matt shouted now running his finger over Violets bruise, Violet sadly shaking her head. "It was kind of my fault. I hit first" Violet replied, Matt sitting down on his chair, Gabby now sitting up on Matts bed. "What's his name?" Gabby asked. "Ben Darden" When Matt heard Violets response he looked up at Gabby, Gabby doing the same. "Uh, what did he look like?" "I dunno. Brown hair, blue eyes? All I really know about him is that his family just recently moved back from Florida" "Oh my God" Matt and Gabby both said as they stood up, a smile spreading across his face. "Do you know them?" Violet asked, Matt nodding his head. "I was best friends with their dad..." "Wait, so there's another one of him?!" Violet asked sounding annoyed, Matt chuckling. "Yeah, Griffin. I missed those boys so much. What I don't understand though is why Heather didn't call me letting me know they were moving back to Chicago..." Matt said looking at Gabby, Gabby shrugging. "Im pretty sure there's a great explanation...Maybe she just lost your number" Matt nodded before looking to Violet, noticing she was staring out of space.
"Hey" Matt said snapping his fingers in front of her face, breaking Violets gaze. "Hmm?" Violet asked staring at him, Gabby smirking. "You like him don't you?" Gabby asked, Violet looking to her shrugging. Matt looked at his niece and rubbed his temples. "Maybe..." Violet replied, making Matt sigh loudly, Gabby chuckling. "Cmon Matt you knew this day would come" "I know, but I wasn't expecting it to be THIS soon" Matt said, Violet looking at him nervously. "Hey, she's preparing you for the future" Gabby said placing a hand on her stomach, Matt looking at her smiling.
"Are you mad?" she then asked, Matt pulling her into a hug, stroking her hair. "Of course not!" Matt said, Gabby smiling from the bed, slowly standing up, placing her hand on her stomach. "I'll be in the bathroom" she said leaving Matts office, closing the door behind her. "Gabriela" Chief Boden said as he walked into the sleeping quarters, Gabby stopping in front of the bathroom, placing a hand on the knob. "What's up Chief?" "You need to leave, now..." "Why?" "Have you checked your phone?" Chief asked, Gabby pulling out her phone, noticing 7 missed calls from Erin. "Chief, what's going on?" "It's Antonio... He's been shot" Gabby's phone dropped out of her hands, Gabby placing her hands over her mouth. "Oh my God" she mumbled, trying to make sense of what was happening. "Permission to leave shift?" "Granted. I already have your spot filled in" Chief replied, Gabby nodding, a tear trickling down her cheek. Chief saw this and placed a hand on her shoulder, Matt opening the office door. "Everything's gonna be okay" Chief assured her, Gabby wiping her tears, suddenly chuckling. "I know. It's just that my brother is so hard headed and always finds himself in trouble" she replied, Matt walking over. "What going on?" he asked, Gabby looking at him, her eyes red. "Antonio was shot" "AGAIN?!" Matt asked, Gabby nodding. "I'll see you after shift" Gabby said pecking Matts lips, squeezing Chiefs shoulder. "Thank you" she told him, Chief nodding as they both watched her leave, Chief looking at Matt, crossing his arms. "You better treat her right" he said, Matt looking at him and smiling. "How'd I get so lucky?" Matt asked, Chief shrugging. "I honestly have no idea" Chief replied walking away just as the bells went off. *TRUCK 81, SQUAD 3, AMBO 61, BATTALION 25 Car Wreck 73rd N Drive* the dispatcher announced, everyone running to the trucks in unison.
__________________________
"Kelly!!!" exclaimed Max as Kelly walked into the Boys Home, Max hugging him. "Hey there bud" Kelly said ruffling his hair, Max patting his hair back down. "What're you doing here?" "I thought I'd just come by and say hi before I went to shift" "You have shift today?!" Max then asked, sounding excited. "Yeah, everyday except Saturday's and sometimes Monday..." Kelly replied, Max running over to his guardian. "Mrs. Holmes, can I go with him?" Max asked pointing to Kelly, Mrs. Holmes looking at Kelly unsure. "Who is he?" Mrs. Holmes then asked, Kelly stepping forwards and shaking her hand. "Hi, I'm Lieutenant Kelly Severide. I work at Firehouse 51" Mrs. Holmes looked down at Max, who was giving her the puppy eyes. "When does your shift end?" "Eight" "Have him back by 8:30. Can you sign this sheet for me first?" Kelly nodded and scribbled his name on a visitor log, Max sliding on his hat, one that Kelly then recognized. "That's a nice hat! It looks like the same exact one I had when I was your age" Kelly said, Max looking at Kelly and smiling. "Thanks. My dad gave it to me before he left. He said it was from his older son" Max replied as he got in Kellys car, Kelly getting in on the other side. "Where's your dad?" Kelly asked as he started the car, Max shrugging. "I don't know. I only see him once a year" Kelly then looked to Max, remembering his past. He had only seen his dad once a year, and got a Christmas Present every Christmas. "What's his name?" "Benny" Max then said, Kelly's heart beating faster. 'No, it can't be....' Kelly then thought to himself. "What's his last name?" "I don't know. I've always asked my mom, but she never told me. She didn't want to feel 'embarrassed'. I don't see why she would he embarrassed by his last name" Max replied, Kelly tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Max noticed this and looked at Kelly nervously. "Are you okay?" Kelly looked to him as he pulled up to the firehouse, realizing the garages were empty, parking the car. "Can I see that hat for a minute?" Kelly then asked, Max looking at him awkwardly before taking off his hat, handing it to him. Kelly remembered he had always written his initials in permanent marker on the tag inside, and when Kelly flipped over the hat and when he read the tag, his heart stopped. In big washed out letters was 'KBS', the letters he had written about two decades ago. "What's wrong?" Max then asked, Kelly handing him back his hat and smiling. "Nothing, it's just that whenever I got a hat, I put my initials 'KBS' on the tag, like that" Kelly replied pointing at the tag, Max's eyes going wide. "Whoa, that's creepy" Kelly laughed at the boy and watched as he put the hat back on, getting out the car. "What's this supposed to mean?" Max then asked, Kelly locking his car and shrugging. "I don't know. Its probably a coincidence. I bet there's many other people in Chicago with the initials KBS" Kelly said as they walked into the Firehouse, Max plopping down on the couch. "This is the place to be" Max then said kicking up his feet, turning on the TV. "Oh no. You're a mini Mouch aren't you?" Kelly asked, Max looking to him confused. "What's a Mouch? It sounds bad" Kelly laughed at Max's response, sitting down next to him. "It's not what you think. We have a firefighter here who we nicknamed Mouch. It means half man, half couch" Kelly explained, Max laughing. "Oh I get it!" "You two should get along just fine. Oh and by the way, when he gets here, I wouldn't be sitting there. That's his spot" "How will I know who he is?" Max then asked as Kelly stood up, walking towards the hallway. "Trust me. You'll know right away" "Where're you going?" "To my office. I gotta get some paperwork done" Kelly replied walking away, closing his office door, sitting down in a chair. Without hesitating he flipped open his computer, quickly searching up Benjamin Severide just as his phone started to ring. "Hello?" "Kelly?" a familiar voice asked on the other end, Kelly suddenly looking confused. "Who is this?" Kelly then asked, waiting for an answer. "It's Benny. I need a favor"