A/N This is another Fire episode I'm including because it ties into Matt's head injury.
Without further ado, please relax and enjoy the read.
~Princess <3
*Firehouse 51: Common Room*
Matt walked in from one of the various entrances and passed by Blake and Darren as he made his way into the kitchen area.
"Where's the aspirin?" The male Captain inquired as he opened one of the cabinets.
"Bottom shelf, last I saw." Blake replied before rushing off.
Matt grabbed it, wincing in pain, and Ana sighed from where she had been nursing a cup of coffee a few feet away.
"Here." The brunette murmured, pulling an unlabeled orange bottle out of her jacket pocket. "These'll help a lot more."
"Thanks." He nodded and regretted it instantly. "What are they?"
"Doesn't matter." She shook her head, pouring a few tablets into her palm and handing them to Matt. "All you need to know is they're left over from when I broke my wrist a few years back."
The male Captain returned the aspirin to it's original place and dry swallowed the new pills just as the bell went off above them.
Truck 81, Squad 3, Engine 51, Ambulance 61, Structure Fire
*On Scene*
The four companies arrived in the parking lot of a laundromat where a distressed woman was waiting for them.
"What is it?" Ana wondered as she approached her with Matt at her side.
"Please, my manager is in there. Luis, he's got really bad asthma." The woman blurted out, rushing over to the two Captains.
"He's the only one inside?" Matt asked in confirmation.
"I think so. I stepped out back for a minute, but then there was this loud bang and when I went back in, the whole row of dryers was on fire." She explained, urgently.
"All right, what do we got? Lint-trap fire?" Herrmann guessed as he joined the small group.
"Could be." Ana nodded. "Get an extinguisher in there, and be ready
with the hose line."
"Copy." He replied, heading off just as Kelly took his place.
"The manager is still inside." She informed. "Truck takes the front. Squad, you guys get the back."
"All right. Cruz, mask up, we're going in. Tony, Capp, shut down the utilities." The Squad Lieutenant ordered.
"Mouch, raise the aerial in case we need the roof opened up." Matt instructed.
"Copy." He nodded, running off to do so.
"Gallo, Kidd, with me." The male Captain finished, already halfway done with putting his mask on.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Ana commanded, much in the same way Chief would have done.
The firefighters all rushed into the burning building and came back out with the manager a little while later. The brunette kept her eyes on Matt as he crouched down and practically ripped his oxygen mask off, wincing in pain. She let out a sigh behind her cloth one and walked over.
"Just breath, Matt, I gotcha." The older woman assured, rubbing his back in comfort and doing her best to hide him from view. "Those painkillers should have kicked in by now." She frowned.
"They did." He nodded, quietly, and winced again afterwards. "The fire just made it worse."
Ana sighed again and glared up at the sky before notcing Blake watching them from a few feet away.
"51, progress report." She requested, hopping he wouldn't notice anything wrong.
"Fire's knocked out, Captain. We're giving it a final wash down." Herrmann reported.
The brunette glanced back at Blake and couldn't help but feel relieved when she found that he had turned his attention over to Stella instead. The older woman returned her gaze to Matt and found him blinking rapidly. Ana just continued rubbing his back, not knowing what else to do.
"I got you." She murmured.
*Back at Firehouse 51: Apparatus Floor*
"Keep wracking my brain. I can't figure out why those dryers would blow like that." Kelly remarked, appearing next to Ana as the firefighters all began making their way inside.
"Me neither." She shrugged.
"I mean, if they were gas units, I might chalk it up to a leak, but they were all electric." Herrmann pointed out.
"Yeah, I don't get it." Matt frowned, zipping up his jacket.
*A Little While Later: Inside Truck 81*
The occupants of 51 had been called out to yet another structure fire.
"Smoke up ahead. Man, two working fires in one shift!" Blake bounced up and down, excitedly.
Stella laughed in response. He turned to look at the two Captains with a grin on his face and ended up doing a double take at what he saw. Ana was leaning forwards in her seat, gently rubbing Matt's shoulder while the man himself had his eyes screwed shut in pain and was massing his forehead.
He suddenly straightened in his chair and blinked a few times before attempting to look normal. The brunette retracted her hand and they proceeded to act like nothing had just happened. Blake's joyful expression had completely faded at this point. Something was seriously wrong with Matt and he needed to find out what it was. . . whether the Captain wanted him to or not.
The young man was broken out of his thoughts when the truck suddenly swerved off to the left. Stella quickly got it under control and it veered back to the right, however, now the vehicle was heading straight for two young women taking a selfie on the sidewalk.
"Kidd!" Matt yelled in warning.
Stella was able to brake in time and the girls had fallen backwards just as the truck came to a stop. The male Captain immediately turned to check on his female counterpart.
"Ana, you all right?" He inquired, worriedly.
"I'm fine." The brunette assured, ignoring his sigh of relief as she shoved the door open and hopped out. "Hey, are you girls okay?"
"Yeah." One of them nodded.
"You sure?" Stella asked in confirmation and they nodded again response.
She made her way over to Matt's side of the Truck and found the tire sitting at an odd angle.
"Dead in the water." She sighed.
Sirens suddenly wailed down the street as the rest of the companies raced towards the fire a few blocks away.
"Everyone, grab your packs and tools." Ana ordered, grabbing her Halligan and adjusting her mask. "We're going on foot."
"You heard her. Let's go!" Matt commanded.
"Copy that." Blake responded, running off to do so.
They arrived on scene just in time to see Ambulance 61 drive away.
"Hey, no need to rush. Fire's already out. No injuries." Herrmann reported.
"Sorry, we had a mechanical issue." Matt apologized right as Ana gazed up at the building before them.
"Another laundromat?" She asked in disbelief.
"Yep. Started the same way as the last one, clothes dryer. Owner said she cleaned the lint traps this morning but it still ignited. Heated up so fast, it blew the door right off the machine." Kelly explained. "I've never seen that happen. Now I've seen it twice in the same shift."
"What the Hell's going on?" Matt inquired in confusion.
The Squad Lieutenant just shook his head and walked off.
*Chief's Office: Not Too Long After the Call*
Due to the recent laundromat fires, the Officers of 51 decided to do some digging and see if there had been any calls similar to the ones they had received during this shift. Sure enough, there were.
"Engine 17 responded to one. Bronzeville, 43rd and King Drive." Herrmann called out.
"Facility manager reported that the dryer belt from the motor to the drum was replaced on the sixth of the month." Chief read aloud as Matt walked in.
"Found another one?" He inquired.
"We found three more." Ana corrected, tossing a file into a pile and grabbing another.
"Hyde Park, Lawndale, and now. . ." Kelly trailed off, gazing at some of the photos.
"Bronzeville." Herrmann finished for him.
"Five laundromat fires since Monday. And every one started in the dryers." The Squad Lieutenant summarized, looking up at Matt who'd made his way over to the coffee table and picked up a file.
"Could it be some kind of insurance scam?" He wondered.
"That's what I thought. But, unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any link between the establishments and they're all independently owned." Ana sighed, leaning back in her seat.
"None of the dryers had frayed belts or build-up in the lint filters. All the exhaust ducts were clear. It doesn't make any sense." Kelly shook his head.
"Is somebody targeting these businesses?" Matt asked in confusion.
"Random laundromats all over Chicago?" Herrmann retorted in a tone that made it seem like it was very unlikely.
"Something's going on, that's for sure." Chief pointed out. "We've got four victims in the hospital, one of them critical."
"Well, 81 is up on blocks for a while. If you want to go nosing around, I got time." Matt shrugged, setting the file back down.
"You wanna jump in the Squad, head back to that first fire for a closer look?" Kelly offered and the male Captain nodded in reply.
"I'd be happy to join you two as well." Ana tossed her file back onto the table with a loud thunk.
"I'll call HQ and tell them they better issue an alert." Chief stood up from the couch and made his way over to his desk.
The Squad Lieutenant and the two Captains left the small room while Herrmann continued to search through all the files for anything they may have missed.
*Laundromat From the First Fire*
Matt and Kelly dragged one of the extremely burnt dryers forwards with a grunt. Ana offered to help but they, of course, refused to let her.
"Any news on your boss?" The brunette wondered, turning to the woman from before.
"I heard they had to keep him overnight for observation." She recalled.
"Probably just being cautious." Matt pointed out, crouching down and shining his flashlight inside the drum.
"So, you said you were outside, right? You didn't see how the fire started?" Ana asked in confirmation.
"No, sorry." The woman shook her head.
A metal creak told them Kelly had pried the back of the dryer off to inspect the hardware.
"There are no heat marks on the motor. Coil's intact. Doesn't look like it was anything mechanical." He reported.
"Burn patterns are similar to the ones we saw at the other laundromat. It's as if the clothes burned the machine instead of the machine burning the clothes." Matt observed as the Lieutenant came back around to the front of the dryer. "Almost like the laundry was soaked in gasoline."
"Do you happen to know who the customer was that was using these dryers?" Ana inquired, turning back the woman.
"Actually, I was using them for our wash and fold service." She replied in confusion.
"Could anyone have tampered with the loads after you put them in?" Matt wondered.
"I don't think so, but then, I was outside." The woman shrugged. "I had to clear my head. The perfume was getting to me."
The three firefighters all glanced at each other.
"Perfume?" Kelly repeated in question.
"In the detergent." She turned and pointed at a blue box sitting on some of the washing machines a few feet away. "That cheap-o stuff."
The firefighters shared another look and began making their way over to it. Ana let out a small cough once she was close enough to smell the fumes and brought a hand up to press her mask tighter to her face. She also waved off the two men when they glanced back at her, concerned.
"It's nothing special. You'll probably find boxes of that in every laundromat in Chicago." The woman assured. "It's produced and distributed locally."
Kelly put his pocket knife away and dusted off his hands before grabbing a pinch full of the detergent and holding it up to his nose.
"It's not just scented. There's something else in there." He realized and Matt moved to take a whiff for himself. "If this stuff contains a combustible compound, something that doesn't break down in the wash, but clings to the fabric. . ."
"And they're shipping this to every laundromat in Chicago?" The male Captain added.
"Then we have a big problem." Ana finished, grimly.
*Distribution Site of the Contaminated Detergent*
"You got no right to do this. I don't get these orders out, that's my ass on the line." A man argued as he tried, in vain, to finish loading his truck.
He reached up to close the tailgate but Kelly mimicked his movements.
"Well, sorry, pal. This truck's not going anywhere." He retorted.
The man turned and spotted a blonde woman with a clip board walking out of the building.
"Ms. Heimark! Hey, these guys just came barging in here, telling me I can't make my run." He yelled.
"What is this, another surprise inspection?" She sighed, heading in their direction.
"We're not with Fire Prevention, ma'am, we're from Firehouse 51." Matt corrected.
"Well, I don't see anything on fire, so why are you telling my drivers what they can and can't do?" The woman demanded.
"You in charge here, ma'am?" Kelly wondered.
"I am." She nodded. "Marcy Heimark."
"Well, Marcy," Ana began, stepping forwards from where she'd been hidden behind Matt the whole time. "your detergent is starting fires at laundromats all over town. There's been at least four that we're aware of."
"What?" The blonde asked in confusion.
"It clings to clothes and ignites inside of commercial dryers." Kelly elaborated.
"Hang on. Dryers are a very common fire hazard, as I'm sure you're aware, especially in winter." Marcy pointed out.
The Lieutenant just walked a few steps over and grabbed one of the boxes of detergent.
"These fires aren't caused by mechanical defects, ma'am." Matt explained, covering Ana's face mask.
The brunette didn't protest and put her own hand over his. They both knew what Kelly was about to do and neither of the three firefighters wanted her to breath in that crap.
"What are you doing?" The blonde snapped as the Lieutenant opened the box and dumped some of the powder on the ground.
"The burn patterns indicate that the clothes were contaminated with a substance that reacted exothermically." He revealed, standing up and pulling a box of matches out of his pocket.
"I'm sorry, you're firemen, right? We deal with product safety inspectors at the state and federal level who-"
She cut herself off with a gasp as Kelly dropped a lit match onto the detergent and it erupted into a small fireball.
"Marcy, your detergent is contaminated with some sort of combustible fuel." The Lieutenant insisted, stomping the flames out.
Matt dropped his hand once it was completely out and Ana shot him a grateful look in reply.
A few minutes went by and the three firefighters ended up waiting outside while Marcy went to make a few calls. Kelly walked over and frowned when he noticed the brunette rubbing the other man's arm while he massaged his forehead.
"You okay?" He wondered.
"Yeah. Must be the fumes from that junk." Matt lied, turning around just as Marcy showed up again.
"We recently switched chemical suppliers and it's possible they sent us something that was mislabeled." She sighed. "We have never had this problem before."
"How many units have you distributed since the changeover?" Matt inquired.
"W- a- a lot." The blonde stuttered out. "We haven't shipped any of this batch out of state yet, but we've been making deliveries across the Chicago area. About a 30-mile radius. But don't worry, we are halting production until we get to the bottom of this." She assured.
"That's not good enough." Kelly shot back. "You've got to track down every box you've sold and make sure not even one more gets used in a load of laundry."
"I'm sorry, that's just not feasible." Marcy shook her head. "You're talking about hundreds of laundromats, nursing homes, uniform suppliers-"
"All right, here's what we're going to do." Ana sniffed as her nose started running a bit from the cold Chicago weather. "Matt and I will take the Squad back to the Firehouse. Sev-"
"I'll stay here and we are going to make a lot of phone calls." He finished with a small smile, already knowing what she was going to say.
"And Marcy, I'm not just a firefighter. I'm also a cop. . .so I can have a team down here with a warrant and if it comes to that, trust me, they'll find a reason to shut you down." Ana warned and, by now, the blonde's eyes were blown wide with fear. "Cause if you don't cooperate, and I'll know if you don't, someone will end up dead."
The brunette turned and headed back towards the truck with Matt right behind her while Kelly and Marcy made their inside the building.
*Firehouse 51: Common Room*
The two Captains had made their way over to the coffee pot and were in the process of pouring themselves a drink when Blake spoke up from the kitchen area.
"Hey, Captain- Captains." He corrected upon seeing Ana and suddenly looked unsure of what he wanted to say.
"Whatever you wanna say you can say it in front of her." Matt assured and the older woman flashed a small smile in response.
"Okay, well, I, uh, figured I'd go on a grocery run since Truck is out of service." Blake began.
"Good thinking." The male Captain nodded.
"Picked up some more aspirin." He added, casually, and placed it on the counter next to the other man. "You can put that in your locker. I got another one for the house."
"Thanks, Gallo." Matt nodded again.
"Hey, uh, not to pry anymore, but can I say just one thing?" Blake asked/pleaded and Ana looked up in intrest.
"You really crave the rolled up newspaper, don't you?" The male Captain joked, turning to face the younger man completely.
"No, I don't, really." He promised. "But, uh, remember how you called me out after the gas station fire?"
"Uh-huh." Matt gestured for him to continue.
"You were mad because, by not reporting my situation, I robbed you of your accountability." Blake recalled.
"I said I remember." The male Captain nodded again.
"Well, it's kind of a two-way street." He pointed out. "Isn't it?"
"Meaning?" Matt inquired, taking a few steps towards the other man and he did the same.
"How can your firefighters look out for their captain if he's withholding information from them about his own. . . situation?" Blake quipped, ominously. "That's it, that's- just wanted to say that."
He returned to the groceries and the male Captain gazed back at his female counterpart.
"He's not wrong." Ana shrugged.
Matt gave her a playful glare but Herrmann appeared in the Hallway behind him before he could say anything.
"Hey, Casey, Ana, we're getting an update from Severide." He informed, urgently, racing back the way he came.
The two Captains followed after him, leaving both the coffee and the aspirin behind. The Engine Lieutenant led them into Chief's Office where the older man was waiting for them with his desk phone on speaker.
"Marcy's people figured out the problem. Thanks to a shoddy supplier, they ended up with methanol in their detergent instead of sodium lauryl sulfate." Kelly revealed.
"Any luck on rounding up the bad batch?" Chief wondered.
"We've contacted just about every customer who received any, but there's still one truck out there, making deliveries." The Squad Lieutenant explained. "Driver won't answer his phone, so we're pinging his GPS unit. Hold on a sec. You find him?"
"Yeah, we located the truck. He's at one of our clients right now, but he's still not answering his phone." Marcy replied.
"Try calling the client." Kelly suggested.
"We've been calling them. They're not answering either." The blonde sighed.
"I don't like the sound of that." Herrmann grimaced.
"Where is this place?" The Squad Lieutenant inquired.
"1492 West 18th Street." Marcy answered.
"Hey, you guys hear that? That's right by the firehouse." Kelly pointed out.
Chief shared a quick look with his second in command.
"We'll check it out." Ana nodded and the older man hung up his phone.
*Inside Chief's SUV*
"Should be up here, end of the block." Matt recalled from the passenger's seat.
The older man glanced out of his window.
"Is that truck on fire?" He inquired, worriedly.
"Yes, it is." Ana confirmed from the back seat.
Chief pulled into the parking lot and the three firefighters got out immediately.
"Hey!" The older man yelled.
"My exhaust is smoking, I can't figure it out." The truck driver shook his head.
There was another man with him and they were both holding fire extinguishers.
"Get away from there." Matt snapped. "Back up."
"Engine 51, roll out to 1502 West 18th." Chief radioed, crouching down to get a better look at where the smoke was coming from.
Ana was staying farther away than she would have liked due to her lungs.
"What is the big deal? It's probably just a plastic bag stuck to the catalytic." The driver pointed out.
"Chief! Cargo's burning." Matt warned.
"If you weren't ducking calls from your office, you would know." The brunette growled, making the man take a step back in fear. "This isn't a truck you're driving. It's a damn bomb."
"How much detergent you carrying?" The male Captain demanded.
"Four pallet loads." The driver replied.
"That's enough to level the whole block." Matt estimated, grimly as he and Chief backed up to where Ana was standing.
"Herrmann, get your foam working as soon as you land." The older man ordered.
"Copy that, Chief." He replied as some wailing sirens signaled their arrival.
"Guys, move back." The male Captain instructed.
The civilians picked up their extinguishers and did as they were told just as a silver car pulled up behind the engine rig. Marcy and Kelly hopped out and the blonde joined her driver while the Squad Lieutenant walked deeper into the scene.
"Hey, what happened?" He wondered.
"Detergent leaked through the floorboards. Hit the hot exhaust." Matt replied from where he was unwinding Engine's hose line.
Chief grabbed the end of it and put it over his shoulder.
"Second we open that tailgate, we flood the truck with oxygen." Kelly pointed out.
"We don't have a choice. We'll just have to be ready." Chief decided. "I'm gonna need a volunteer to open that door."
Ana took one step forwards and was immediately met with several protests.
"Not a chance in Hell." Matt glared.
"Anyone other than you." Chief added in agreement.
The brunette sighed but acted like a good little girl and stayed back. The older man moved forwards but paused a second later.
"Chief, let me and Severide handle this." The male Captain offered.
He just glanced between the two, as if he were actually considering it before continuing forwards. Kelly looked at Matt and the latter held his hands out in a "what?" manner before coming up behind Chief to help him with the hose. The Squad Lieutenant took his position near the tailgate, instantly feeling the warmth coming off of it.
"Really heating up in there." He warned.
"They're waiting on you, Chris." Ana informed.
"Almost there, guys!" Herrmann replied as Kelly used his Halligan to pry the padlock off. "How's that solution?"
"I'll be ready." Darren assured. "Charge the line."
"All right. Charging the line!" The Engine Lieutenant yelled.
Chief opened the nozzle just in case and, sure enough, it sprayed foam. He closed it again and got into position.
"Okay, everyone. Take cover!" The older man ordered.
"Let's go! Back out, back out!" Herrmann commanded, leading his crew behind their rig while Ana crouched low to the ground.
Kelly opened the tailgate and ducked out of the way as the flames roared to life. He got back to his feet just as Chief started spraying the cargo with foam. It took a bit but, with some help from Matt, it seemed like they managed to put out the fire. The older man turned the hose off and the Squad Lieutenant inched closer to peer inside the truck.
"It's all good." He nodded.
"Damn, I gotta get out of the office more often." Chief laughed.
Matt, Kelly and Ana just all grinned back at him in response.
*Later That Night: Molly's*
Ana was nursing a few Tequila shots at the bar but, to be honest, she'd barely drunken any of them. The brunette kept glanced back at Matt who was at a table with Sylvie a few feet away. His headaches were growing more frequent and they were steadily getting worse at the days went by. It was really starting to worry her now.
The brunette sighed and turned back to her drinks after checking on Matt for the upteenth time tonight. However, just as she was about to down one, the older woman caught something out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at it. Her favorite redhead was sitting at the end of the bar on his phone with a beer in front of him. She suddenly had an idea and went over to say hello, taking the shots with her.
"Dr. Halstead." Ana greeted with a teasing smirk on her face.
"Sergeant Voight." He smiled, putting his phone away. "Or is Captain Benson right now?"
The brunette let out a small laugh but her good mood faded, quickly when she glanced back at Matt once again. Will, of course, noticed immediately.
"Hey, everything okay?" He wondered.
The short woman sighed and gazed down at the bar, playing with one of the shot glasses.
"If I tell you something, can it stay between us?" She asked in confirmation, already knowing the answer but needing to be absolutely sure.
"Of course." The redhead nodded with zero hesistation whatsoever.
Ana let out a breath and downed one of her shots.
"About 8 years ago, Matt suffered a head injury on the job that resulted in a cracked skull." She began and Will, patiently, waited for her to continue. "He healed from it, of course, and was fine. . .until about a week ago. He took another hit to the head and, although it wasn't as bad, he's still experiencing headaches that I think are growing more frequent. He also has experienced some tunnel vision which, as we both know, is consistent with a concussion for his type of injury." The brunette paused and threw back another shot. "I'm getting pretty worried, Will, and I can't get him to see a doctor on his own terms so what I'm wondering. . .is if you think this is something I might have to force him into for his own safety."
The elder Halstead brother glanced down at the bar and took a sip of his beer before replying.
"If the headaches continue to get worse then you might have to." He nodded. "Another thing you and I both know, is you don't mess around with head injuries."
"Yeah, thanks Will." Ana nodded, flagging Herrmann down for some more shots.
"Anytime." He smiled.
Little did the redhead know, that he would end up having the same conversation for a second time that night. But this time. . . it would be with Matt himself.
A/N I apologize for the late update. For some odd reason Wattpad wasn't letting me post it yesterday. Like, I could message other people and read other books just fine but it would not let me update this book. Very strange.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed! Till Thursday!
~Princess <3