A/N So I realized that I posted the last two chapters in reverse order so I flipped them to match the order in which they aired on TV. Either way, here's another Fire episode that I'm including because it deals somewhat with Matt's head injury as well.
Without further ado, please relax and enjoy the read!
~Princess <3
*Firehouse 51: Common Room*
"Morning." Matt nodded, walking in with Ana at his side and spotting Blake in the kitchen area.
"Morning, Captains." He greeted while cooking some breakfast at the same time.
The brunette stayed at the coffe pot and began pouring herself some of the hot liquid while the male Captain rounded the counter completely.
"I wanted to let you know, with respect to our conversation last shift, that you don't need to worry." He assured. "The headaches, all that? Stopped."
"That's great." Blake grinned.
"Yeah, and I talked to Will Halstead over at Med, so it's all good." Matt added and Ana looked up in feigned surprise, setting the coffee pot back down.
The redhead, of course, had called the brunette immediately after and told her what happened.
"What's all good?" Sylvie wondered, having walked in and caught the tail end of their conversation.
"I, uh, had a couple bad headaches last shift, but, uh, it's all cleared up." The male Captain explained.
"Oh. I'm glad you're better." She smiled.
"Thanks." He nodded and walked off with Ana in tow.
"So, you talked to Will?" The brunette inquired once they were a safe distance away.
"I. . .may have made it seem like I was talking about a friend but, yeah, I talked to him." Matt scratched the back of his head, sheepishly.
"Well, you're feeling better." She chuckled, pushing ahead of him. "That's all that matters."
He just smiled, warmly, and followed after her.
*Briefing Room: A Few Hours Later*
Kelly was currently teaching a class at the academy and the students were coming to 51 for a visit. As a result, he wanted to create a little scavenger hunt and even got Matt and Stella to help him out with it.
"Grabbed the ones off truck and engine." The male Captain informed, entering with Stella right behind him.
They were both holding a thermal camera and placed them on the table along with the few the Lieutenant had already procured.
"I also found two older units hidden in storage." Ana spoke up, walking in with a smile.
"I told you we had it covered." Matt rolled his eyes, fondly.
"Yeah, and my Godson is teaching a bunch of new recruits how to be firefighters. You think I'm gonna miss out on that?" The older woman scoffed.
"That's plenty." Kelly assured through his laughs. "I only need six."
"How's the class?" Matt wondered.
"Couple promising up and comers. Then there's Jacob Mercer, who gives it his all, but scares the Hell out of me to see him in a CFD uniform." The Lieutenant admitted.
The male Captain made a cutting motion near his throat with his thumb.
"Drop the hammer." He advised.
"You think? It's still pretty early." Kelly pointed out.
"This is no job for wannabes." Matt retorted and the other man sat back on the table. "Me and Darden went through the academy with a guy named Mazzuca. It was one red flag after another with him, but, somehow, he made the cut. Then, in his first year riding engine, he drops his line, bails out on his team, and puts one of them in the hospital. We either have the firefighting gene, or you don't." He reasoned.
"We all know Ana needs to be in the same room as him to get a read so, what's your take?" The Lieutenant inquired, looking at Stella while the brunette just smirked in reply.
"My take? " She asked in surprise and Kelly nodded. "Well, uh, I mean, Girls On Fire isn't exactly the academy, but, in my experience, there's a lot of raw talent out there, and with encouragement and a little support, you'd be surprised how some people can rise to the occasion." The female firefighter explained just as Kylie, Chief's new assistant, appeared in the doorway. "Case in point. Hey, Kylie, what's up?"
"Uh, Lieutenant Severide, Chief asked if you could join him in his office." The girl informed.
Kelly gave another nod and followed her out of the room.
*A Little While Later*
The Squad Lieutenant was waiting on in the Hallway with Stella and the two Captains while Chief gave the recruits a tour of the Firehouse. One of the boys made a remark about how firefighters slept with their boots on to save time just as they rounded the corner.
"All right, then." The older man stopped and turned to face the class once they were close enough to the four other firefighters.
"You guys learn anything?" Kelly wondered.
"Yes, sir." They chorused. "Thanks, Chief!"
"You're welcome." He nodded, turning to walk off. "Good luck to you all. Listen to this man. He knows what he's talking about."
"Okay, one quick drill before you go. Over there, we have some thermal imaging cameras." The Squad Lieutenant gestured inside the Briefing Room. "Somewhere in this firehouse, we've hidden a pipe wrench that's been heated up to A Couple Hundred Degrees. First one to find it gets to sit out next time we hump high rise packs up the stairs. All right? Let's go, move it." He commanded and the recruits all rushed in.
Most took the time to put on their gloves before hand, one boy just grabbed the camera and ran off. He eventually ended up behind the firefighters and brushed passed Ana without so much as an "excuse me."
The brunette instantly tensed up, inhaling sharpy as she was overwhelmed by an extremely bad feeling. What scared her the most, though, was the smaller version she got when he moved in front of Kelly for a few seconds.
"Is that Mercer?" Matt inquired in a quiet voice after the boy disappeared back into the Briefing Room.
"Mm-hmm." The Lieutenant nodded.
"Not a lot of method to that madness." He remarked, leaning towards Stella a bit. "Where'd you hide the wrench?"
She discreetly pointed towards the storage room in front of them just as a recruit tried scanning it.
"I. . .guess they don't realize they won't get a reading through solid doors?" Matt raised an eye brow.
"I didn't want to make it too easy." Stella shrugged.
Kelly glanced at Ana and did a double take when he noticed how intensly she was watching Mercer.
"Hey, you okay?" He wondered, slightly concerned.
"Keep an eye on him." She muttered in a tone that had them all tensing up a bit.
The boy suddenly ran up to the door they were just talking about and pushed it open.
"Ohhhhh." Stella exclaimed.
"I got it! I got it!" The boy yelled, dropping the hot wrench and screaming in agony a second later.
"And that is why, we never forget to put our gloves on." Matt grinned, walking over to Mercer and guiding him away. "Come on, let's get some water on that hand."
"Okay, that may not have shown the best instincts on his part." Stella conceded as Kelly bent down and picked up the wrench with an oven mitt.
"You think?" Ana scoffed, casting one last glance in Mercer's direction.
She didn't feel anything when he was with Matt so that was somewhat a relief.
*A Few Hours Later*
"Hey, Ana." Chief called, spotting her walking through the Hallways a few feet away.
"What's up?" She wondered.
"This is Violet Mikami; Brett's newest partner. They were on a call a little while ago with Truck at a Deli. The owner had fallen and hurt his arm. They assumed it was just an accident till Violet received this letter when they got back." He explained, handing her a paper with the words, "That fall wasn't an accident," written on it.
"Hmm, well, it might be worth it to head back to the Deli if you haven't aready." The brunette suggested, in a strangely monotone voice. "Tell you what, I'll call one of my Officers, Adam Ruzek, and have him reach out."
She gave the letter back and pulled her phone out instead.
"Thanks. . .Ana was it?" Violet smiled, the Officer part not yet registering with her.
"Let me make something clear." The shorter woman began, staring at the other brunette with such an intense look in her eyes that it made her face fell slightly. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for Wally and for Sylvie."
With that, she continued on her way. Violet looked at Chief in confusion and he just gazed at the blonde instead.
"You want to explain or should I?" He inquired.
"Well, I've been given the speech myself so I guess it's my turn to give it now as well." Sylvie rolled her eyes, fondly.
The older man just chuckled, softly.
*Chief's Office: The Next Shift*
There was an incident at the academy's smoke box earlier and Kelly was in the middle of explaining what happened to Chief and Ana, the latter of whom was seated next to him on the couch.
"He refilled the air bottles while there was an engine company idling next to the compressor. Diesel exhaust got sucked into the air intake. There was a warning sign right on the machine: 'Do not use near exhaust fumes.' It's been drilled into them." The Lieutenant pointed out.
"The CO alarm, it didn't get tripped?" The older man shook his head.
"Oh, it did, but Mercer didn't realize what it was, so he overrode it." Kelly spat with small shrug. "He's lucky he didn't kill anyone."
"I should have trusted your instincts." Chief muttered.
"No, this one is on me. I- I was trying to avoid a tough decision." The Lieutenant confessed.
"No, it isn't. Either of you." Ana sighed, placing a comforting hand on her Godson's shoulder. "It's not your fault that Mercer didn't have enough common sense to read the warning label and Wally, Sev made his own decision. Whether or not you trusted his instincts doesn't change that." She reasoned.
The two men just smiled at her, warmly, grateful for her kind words but not entirely sure they believed them.
*A Little While Later*
Ana was hanging out at the Squad Table with the Lieutenant and his crew when suddenly-
"Kelly Severide!" Chief Mercer boomed, storming over looking absolutely murderous. "Where do you come off blaming that incident on one of your recruits? You're responsible for their well-being. It's your job to teach them the safety protocol. So if they failed, it's because you failed." He spat while the younger man stared up at him in shock. "You're not passing the buck on this one, pal. I called Tiburg. Say goodbye to your cushy side-gig at the Academy. Your teaching days are done!"
"Where the Hell do you get off threatening him like that?" The brunette spoke up, angrily. "We both know you can't make that happen no matter how much you want to."
"Stay out of this, Benson." Mercer hissed.
"Captain Benson." She growled, shooting out of her chair. "And no, I won't. Consider that's my Godson you're chewing out for nothing more than doing his job."
"Doing his job?!" The chief scoffed. "He-"
"Was generous enough to give your son way more chances than he deserved and this is how you return the favor? By throwing it back in his face?!" Ana glared, harshly. "Reading a warning sign is common sense and it is not Kelly's job to teach it to him. That's yours, Mercer, and you failed."
The man was struck speechless. He tried and failed to come up with good argument against that and let out a low growl before turning on his heel and marching back the way he came.
"Thanks Ana." The Lieutenant murmured, looking just a little bit shaken from that encounter.
"Of course, Sev. Any time." The brunette smiled, her mood doing a complete 180 while placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.
The older woman removed it a second later when her phone buzzed and she took it out, reading the contents of the screen with a sigh. Kelly smirked, knowing that look all too well.
"Case?" He guessed.
"Yep." Ana nodded, looking conflicted between going to help her team or staying to protect her Godson in case Mercer came back.
"Go. I'll take care of Boden." The Lieutenant promised.
"Are you sure?" The brunette wondered.
"Yes, I'm sure." Kelly chuckled.
"Okay, then." She conceded, giving him a quick hug.
Ana glanced back at him one last time before rushing off towards the Locker Room.
A/N I hope you enjoyed! See you all on Monday!
~Princess <3