♣️Season 2, Episode 7♣️
Nicole picks Ember up from her crib before heading downstairs, hearing a bunch of shouting, "What are those crazy boys up to? Hmm? Do you know, Emmy?"
Ember stares, wide-eyed, up at her mother before saying, "Aughw."
"Oh, yeah?" Nicole smiles, walking into the living room to see Griffin toss a football to Matt and as a result, Matt flip over the back of the couch.
Matt pops up, football in hand, "Touchdown!"
The Darden boys began cheering, Ember yelling along with them, not really making words.
In his excitement, Matt knocks over a glass on the table next to him causing Ben to say, "Broken glass- flag on play."
"Hey, no way. That was a touchdown," Matt argues, smiling, before noticing Nicole, "Oh, hey."
"Hey."
"We were, uh, just cleaning," Matt tells his fiancee.
"Really? With a football?" Nicole asks, walking through the living room to set Ember in her play pen before going to get a broom.
Ben teases, "Ooh, busted."
Matt holds the football up, "Hey, my house, I decide who's busted," He then throws a football to Ben but hits his army guy toy, "Oh, Ben, I'm sorry. Wait. Hold on," He rushes to pick it up, "Let me look. Maybe it's a sign GI Joe goes in retirement-"
"No!" Ben yells, making a grab for the toy.
"Okay, wait," Matt stops him from pulling away, "Nicole sees this kind of thing everyday. If you guys do the dishes, then she'll get him back in fighting shape. What do you say? Oh-kay."
As the boys go do the dishes, Nicole looks to Matt, "Your house, huh?"
Matt shrugs, pretending to look bashful as he wraps his arms around her, "My house, our house, either way, I wasn't busted."
"Oh, you totally were."
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Nicole sits at the kitchen table as she starts glueing GI Joe together, "You three are making quite the team."
"Yeah," He smiles, "But all five of us make a better one. Which reminds me," Matt grabs a brochure from a cabinet, "Cabin on Lake Carroll. Two days pulling large-mouth out of crystal clear water."
"Oh, man, they are going to love that. So will you," Nicole says, looking over to Ember as she starts to fuss.
"Yes, I will," Matt kisses the top of her head as he moves by her to pick up his daughter, "And someday, I'll take Em out with us. Fishing and swimming and all the fun outdoors stuff that you hate."
Nicole rolls her eyes, "I don't hate it. I just hate that Benny chose doing that stuff without me. He always invited Kelly right in front of me and then walked right past me like I didn't exist. I'm just glad that Ember has a dad who wants to do those things with her."
Matt smiles at his daughter, kissing the spot between her shoulders and cheek that makes her laugh, "Me too."
His phone starts to ring, "Hey."
Looking to Nicole, he listens to what the person on the other line says before calling for the boys into the room where he puts the phone on speaker, "Boys, I'm coming home," Heather Darden says.
"What?"
"Really?"
Ben looks to his older brother, excited, "Mom's coming home!"
"Because of over-crowding, they're letting me out early."
Griffin tells his brother, "I told you she'd come back."
They start jumping up and down in excitement as Matt and Nicole smile, Matt hiding the brochure under the table as Nicole rests a hand on his shoulder and Ember laying on his chest.
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Nicole looks up from her phone when she is pulled into Kelly's office, "Whoa, what's this for?"
"Look, I'm about to tell you something and you can't get mad," He prefaces his news.
"Kelly, I swear to God, if you got a random girl pregnant-"
"What? No. Why was that the first thing that came to your mind?" Kelly asks, crossing his arms.
Nicole gives him a look, "Because it's not out of the realm of possibility. So, what's the news?"
Kelly sighs, "We have a 21 year old sister named Katie. She's the one that I thought Benny was dating or whatever. Turns out she's his daughter."
Pausing, Nicole stares at him before he snaps his fingers in front of her face and she starts pacing, "Let me get this right. We have a sister the same age as how long its been since dad left us?"
"Yup."
"And did he know about her? Was her mother just some fling that he cheated on mom with and then ran from?"
"No. Yes."
"Did you meet her?"
"How else do you think I found out she was our sister?"
Nicole nods, "Right, not like Benny to own up to anything."
Kelly sighs, hugging his little sister and kissing the top of her head, "Look, for now, there's nothing we can do. I'll try talking to her and maybe we can all get together and talk? She's been screwed over by Benny, too."
"That list seems to grow longer by the minute."
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After taking a minute to process a new sibling, Nicole and Gabby walk through the apparatus floor with bags of grocery's from Mills' mom's car, "Hey, Kelly. Where's Shay? Roll calls in five minutes."
"I don't know, Nic. I'm not her babysitter."
"Someone needs to be," Gabby mumbles.
"Dawson," Nicole warns.
She shrugs, "I'm not wrong."
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Heading into roll call, Nicole sits next to Matt in the back as Boden comes in, "Hey. Our house has been under the microscope lately. Everyone in this room has handled the various intrusions like professionals I know you to be. And that is why 51 is still going strong."
They clap in agreement before Boden continues, "It is your commitment to the house that allows me, in good conscious, to announce my retirement from the CFD."
Everyone sits in silence for a minute, processing the news, "It's been an honor to serve with every single one of you."
"Chief..." Cruz starts.
They sit in silence another second before the alarm goes off and Boden whispers, "Let's go to work."
"Engine 51, Truck 81, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, Battalion 25. Railroad incident. South Hamon and 75th."
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On the drive to the call, Nicole drives as Shay's punishment for being late, "Did you know?" Shay asks her.
"Yeah," Nicole looks ahead.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Gabby questions.
Nicole looks between the two, quickly, "Seriously? You really have to ask? You two can barely be in the same area together before an argument starts. Boden asked that it was kept quiet until he was ready to tell people. I honored that. That's my job as PIC and if you don't..."
Looking ahead, the trio stop talking as hundred's of people pour out of the derailed train with fires sprouting all over the place.
Matt's voice comes over the radio, "Chief, I'm seeing multiple commuter cars derailed, at least a hundred fleeing passengers and several fires, including cars and a building."
Kelly's voice comes next, "We're gonna need more alarms, Chief."
Getting out of the rig, Nicole looks to the other two paramedics, "No arguments or petty behavior on this one. Too many lives and too many incidents for things to go wrong."
"Yes, Nicole," They nod, agreeing to put it behind them for now.
"Nicole, Shay, Dawson," Boden calls for them over the radio.
"Yeah, Chief?" Nicole answers from behind him.
He points at Nicole, "Set up triage. Call it as you see it."
She nods, "Got it."
They turn, running to start working.
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Gabby takes stock, "We're gonna need more triage tags."
Shay treats a patient, "We're gonna need more everything."
Nicole looks over and sees Shay messing with her glove that's covered in blood, "Are you okay?"
She barely responds, "Yeah...yeah, I'm fine," Pausing, she says, "There's more...there's more tags in the ambo. I...I'm gonna get those. Finish bandaging."
"Shay!" Gabby calls after the blonde before taking over on her patient.
"Nic," Matt helps a man over to her, "Leg wound. He's losing blood."
The man limps along, "My daughter, Anna. She here? She's 10, wearing a striped sweater."
Nicole does a quick scan around, "No, sir. I'll let you know as soon as we see her. What's your name?"
They set him down, "Marcus."
"Marcus," Nicole looks down at his leg to see a metal rod in it, "Marcus, there are a lot of other's who are in worse shape. Can you hang on?"
He nods but looks to Matt, "Find my daughter!"
Matt barely looks back, running and shouts, "Striped sweater!"
Shay hands her a bunch of triage tags, "Here you go."
"What are the different colors for?"
"Just be glad you're not wearing a black one," Shay says, walking away.
Nicole looks back at her.
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Hearing sirens, Shay looks over her shoulder, "Typical, we ask for more ambos, they send us police cars."
"Dawson!" Nicole hears Capp call.
"Red!" Gabby yells to Nicole.
Nicole shakes her head, looking to Boden, "Chief, we need more hands here. Like yesterday, fast."
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Nicole works on checking a patient when a man pulls up in a car, rolling up his sleeves as he walks towards the triage area, "Sir, you need to get back in your car and drive away."
"Tempting, but you look to be about ten hands short of what you need," He pulls a bag out of his trunk, "David Arata, Chief of Trauma, Lakeshore."
She nods, "Yeah, you'll do."
"What's your head count?" He asks.
Looking around, Nicole gestures, "About 30 but we've got more incoming."
Grabbing a nearby officer's attention, Arata says, "Sir, move that man to the black tarp."
Gabby stops him, "No, wait. We haven't assessed him yet."
"Unless you have plasma, which you don't, he's dead. I need any injured who can walk to keep walking, we need space to work," Arata announces the last part to the victims.
Nicole sees Gabby just staring at him, so she taps her shoulder, "Let's get to work."
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Kelly and Clarke carry over a man, "Internal bleeding! I'm not sure how bad."
Shay goes forward, "Let me help."
"I got it," Nicole counteracts, gesturing, "Red."
Arata looks at the bruise on the man side and shakes his head, "Black. We need the space."
Clarke shakes his head at him, pointing, "No. Nicole, take care of him?"
"It's okay," The man speaks.
Nicole looks down at him before looking to Arata, "Red."
"Okay."
She stares at him, "When I say red, I mean it. You may be in charge at Lakeshore, but out here, this is my call. He doesn't move until I say so."
He nods, "Okay."
As Kelly passes Nicole, he pats her shoulder and whispers, "Way to show him who's boss."
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Boden's voice comes over the radio, "This is Battalion 25 to all fire and police personnel. Evacuate the area to a 1/4-mile perimeter. Repeat, evacuate the area. I'm gonna need confirmation that all first responders have pulled back to a safe distance."
Nicole shares a look with Gabby and Shay before she looks over and sees Squad and Truck running towards the tank and trains, "How much you wanna bet my boys are leading that damn charge?"
"If they aren't, you drink free for two years at Molly's," Gabby tells her.
A cop comes over, shouting, "All right everybody, let's go. People, if you can move, let's do it. We need to evacuate. Sir, let's go."
Arata shakes his head, "Not a chance."
Herrmann's voice comes over the radio, "Uh, negative on that confirmation, Chief."
Boden starts, "Herrmann, you listen to me..."
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After everyone had been treated, the trio stands by the back of the rig as Arata stands at his car, "Severide, Dawson, Shay, I remember you were doing rounds with Hallie Thomas over at Lakeshore, right, designs on being a surgeon."
Nicole looks down at the mention of her deceased friend as Gabby nods, "That's right."
"You were extraordinary today, all three of you," He hands them each a card, "Call me anytime. I'm always willing to help out good people."
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They arrive back at the firehouse, where McLeod is waiting for them, "I understand you had quite the day today," She greets Boden, "It's calls like that that reflect very well on this house."
"I don't give a damn how it reflects," Boden tells her, "We can't operate without the support that we need."
"But you did today, didn't you? You work with what you have and you save lives. So, whether you like or not, Chief, the system works. But, that's not your problem anymore. This is for your exit interview tomorrow. Please fill it out and remember to bring your badge."
As she walks out, Boden looks to his men and women.
Nicole speaks up, "Chief, if you're having second thoughts, maybe that means your first choice was the wrong one."
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Laying on Matt's bunk, Nicole starts to drift off as Matt stands at his desk.
"I actually missed this place," Heather's voice comes from the doorway.
"Heather?" Matt says before hugging her, Nicole getting up to do the same.
Despite everything that's happened in the past, she knows that this hasn't been easy on the woman. She could only imagine how'd she feel if she had to spend so much time away from Ember.
"Why didn't you call? One of us would have picked you up," Nicole says, stepping back into Matt's arms.
"Well, I wasn't going to stay there a minute longer than necessary," The couple shrug in agreement, "I was hoping I could get a set of keys so I could be there when the boys wake up."
Nicole takes her keys out of her pocket, "Sure. If someone stops by in the morning, that's just Lily, our nanny for Ember."
Matt smiles, "They are going to lose their minds when they see you."
"Matt, Nicole, this whole thing, it made me realize, I need to make some changes in my life."
"Whatever you need," Matt promises.
"I know that. I do. But, I also know, that when I wake up tomorrow, everything I see, everywhere I go, will remind me of losing Andy and Jen. I've got this old friend in Florida. She owns a building and needs a manager. It's rent free and a steady job," The couple realizes what this means.
Matt interrupts her, "Heather...take a little time."
She shrugs, "I've cleared it with the probation department."
The couple share a look.
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Nicole walks out with Kelly, discussing the whole new sister thing when they see Benny waiting by his car, "What's up?"
Benny nods to Nicole, "Does she know?"
"That you're a terrible father? I've known almost my whole life. That the amount of kids you screwed up are now up to five? Yes," Nicole crosses her arms.
Sighing, Benny nods, "You're right. Let's face it, when it comes to women, I'm a world class screw-up. Something goes wrong for me, and I make sure I scorch the earth as I leave town. I did that to your two's mother. I did it to Katie's mom. And now I'm doing it again to Beth. She's probably gonna divorce me, but at least I can be around for the boys. I'm sorry I wasn't around for either of you. Anyway, they got soccer, so...if I hit the road now, I should be able to make the game."
Nicole looks to Kelly, letting him respond, "That's good. Good."
"Yeah. Do me a favor, will you? Would you tell Wally, Chief Boden, that...51 is his house."
"I will," Nicole nods, "Gladly."
Benny kinda smiles at her snark, "Oh, one last thing. Your sister, Katie. I haven't spent much time with her, but...she seems like a nice person."
"No promises," Kelly says, "I already have a pain-in-the-butt little sister."
Nicole hits his shoulder, "We'll try."
Benny nods, "See you, Kelly. Nicole."
As he walks away, Nicole looks to Kelly, "I have...something I have to do. You go see Katie without me. Tell her I'll meet her for coffee tomorrow morning. If I can manage to stop crying long enough."
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Nicole holds Ember in her arms as she and Matt say goodbye to the Darden's. She sniffles, trying to stop from crying as Matt speaks to Griffin.
"Do me a favor and take care of your mom and brother, okay?"
Griffin nods, smiling jokingly, "As long as you take care of Nicole and Emmy."
Matt nods as Nicole gives a watery chuckle, before he kneels down, "You know, uh, your dad always used to tell me that we didn't become men until we got our badges. His original badge will always hang on the academy wall, but...we made this one for you."
"Is this his number?" Griffin asks, tracing the number.
"Yeah. I was in line right after him," Matt pulls out his badge, "So our badges are only one number apart."
Griffin looks to Matt, "Can I keep yours too?"
Matt closes Griffin's hand over his badge, "Absolutely."
Nicole smiles at Griffin as he hugs Matt, "Sorry, bud. I don't have a badge. Paramedics are too cool for badges."
"That's okay. You're kinda hard to forget anyways," Griffin smiles, moving to hug her next before kissing Ember's head, "I'll miss Emmy, though."
Nicole looks to Matt, with tears in her eyes.
Ben stands in front of the couple now, holding GI Joe out to them, "This is for you two so you don't forget us."
"Not a chance," Matt tells him.
They then all move into a group hug, with Nicole's head in Matt's chest to hide her tears.
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AN: In case you didn't see, I have a new updating schedule:
Thursdays: Loved Cubed
Fridays: Fire of Hope
Saturdays: Army Goddess:
Sundays: Burnin' Love (busy day yesterday, which is why I haven't updated until now)
QoC: How do you think Nicole is gonna cope without the Darden boys?
Thanks for all of the votes and reads and comments!!