*At Matthew Casey's and Gabriella Dawson's Apartment*
A knock resounding from the door prompted the blond to walk over. The second it was opened wide enough, he was instantly greeted with a hug from his best friend who had a backpack slung over her shoulder.
"Hey." The Truck Lieutenant smiled, looking up from Ana's small figure to see his Squad counterpart standing in the doorway with a duffle bag. "Come on in."
"Hey, guys." Gabby grinned from where she was standing a few feet away.
"Hey. Wow, uh, new place is nice." Kelly commented as he stepped inside and looked around.
"Ah." She chuckled.
Ana finally let go of Matt so he could close the door.
"Come on, you two." He gestured for the married couple to follow him. "Guest bedroom's this way."
"Thanks for doing this, Gabby." The brunette sent her a grateful nod as she made her way over to her husband.
"Appreciate it." The Squad Lieutenant murmured, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders.
"Yeah, no worries." The paramedic shook her head. "I'm glad you two are here."
And, with that, they followed Matt down a hall.
"Yeah, so here's your room and spare sheets and blankets." The blond motioned to a nearby shelf.
"Uh, thanks. It's just for a little while." Kelly shrugged, gazing around.
"Long as you need." Matt offered, winking at Ana before leaving them to it.
"Hey." She called the moment they were alone. "We're gonna get through this. You know that right?"
"Of course." The Squad Lieutenant smirked, softly. "I can do anything as long as I have you by my side."
The brunette just grinned back at him and leaned up for a kiss.
*In the Bullpen: At Firehouse 51: Beginning of Next Shift*
Kelly and Ana made their way towards Chief's Office to see that he was currently on the phone with someone. They just silently waved at him and the older man held up one of his own hands in return. The couple ended up walking into the smaller room just as the had call ended.
"Hey, Chief." The Lieutenant smiled while shaking his hand.
"Kelly." He grinned, pulling his glasses off and turning to the Captain with a warm gaze. "Ana. How are you two doing?"
"We're good, thanks." The younger man nodded.
"You ready to be back at work?" The elder inquired.
"If we weren't, we wouldn't be here." The brunette answered, honestly.
Chief just stared at them for a moment and walked over to shut the door before speaking again.
"Okay, listen. You two do know that there is grief counseling available?" He offered.
"We're good." Kelly assured and the older man's gaze moved down to Ana in response.
She flashed him a small smile but the bell went off overhead before anything else could be said.
"Ambulance 61, Truck 81, Squad 3, boat accident, 22nd and Canal."
Chief merely opened the door and the couple rushed through, making their way out towards the Apparatus Floor.
"Hey, look who finally came down from the mountain." Rick grinned as they came into view.
"Oh, I've never seen them before." Peter teased.
"Are you sure you remember how to do your job, Lieutenant?" Capp smirked, jokingly.
"Forgetting is better than never knowing, Cap." Kelly quipped right back.
Ana just shook her head, a small smile playing at her lips. She slipped the bottom half of her turnout gear on and went to hop inside the rig only to freeze as her gaze instinctively wandered towards Ambo 61. The brunette grabbed the Lieutenant's arm and nodded towards the figure of a blonde woman heading towards the driver's seat. It was only when she got in and her face could be seen in the rear view mirror, did they realize that it was not Leslie Shay. The couple stared at her for a few more seconds before finally stepping into their company's truck.
*In the Common Room: A Few Hours Later*
Kelly was sitting at the Long Table, scanning over a newspaper, while Ana sat next to him with a book in hand. They had just been silently enjoying each other's company when the new blonde paramedic from earlier took a seat in the chair at the end.
"Hey, Lieutenant. I just wanted to formally introduce myself and Dawson already warned me about the Captain so you don't have to worry about that." She smiled, holding her hand out. "I'm Sylvie Brett."
"Kelly Severide." He shook the outstretched limb. "My wife, Ana Benson."
"Yeah, I've heard a lot about you two. I just want you to know I'm really honored to be on Ambo 61." The blonde explained, honestly, moving to grab a forkfull of eggs off the plate she had brought with her.
"Uh-huh. Well, welcome aboard." Kelly nodded, curtly, standing up with the newspaper and walking off.
Ana silently mimicked his actions with her book before following after him.
*At Matt and Gabby's Apartment: The Next Morning After Shift*
"Morning." The Lieutenant smiled, walking into the main bedroom with a coffee mug in hand and gazing down at his fianceé laying in his bed.
"Check it out." The PIC held her hand up and wiggled her fingers around, showing off her new ring. "Some crazy guy proposed to me last night."
"Hmm, really? I hope you took some time to think about it." The blond smirked, leaning down for a kiss.
"Oh, my God." Gabby suddenly pulled back wide eyes.
"What?" Matt wondered.
"There is no way that Severide and Benson didn't hear us last night." She giggled.
"Oh, no, we definitely did." Ana chuckled, appearing in the doorway with some coffee of her own. "Well, I did. Kelly never actually came home last night."
"Well, do you think he's- do you think he's okay?" Gabby inquired, sitting up in concern while Matt leaned back on the bed in suprise.
"From my perspective, it's actually pretty normal. Just means he probably went out, met some woman and decided to stay over at her place after having a little 'fun' with her. I wouldn't worry about it too much." The brunette shrugged, turning to leave before suddenly pausing and nodding down at Gabby's hand. "Oh, and congratulations."
"Thanks." The blond grinned after her retreating figure.
*At Firehouse 51: A Few Shifts Later*
Ana had been standing at one of the sinks, washing up after doing her business, when Herrmann suddenly poked his head in.
"Hey, Captain." He greeted, casually leaning back against the wall.
"What's up, Herrmann?" Ana smiled.
"Are you and Severide still staying at Casey and Dawson's place?" The older man inquired.
"Yeah." She nodded. "Why?"
"Eh, he was in Molly's last night, ten sheets to the wind." Herrmann admitted, quietly. "He say anything about it?"
"No, I didn't see him." The brunette sighed, shutting off the tap and grabbing a paper towl to dry her hands off. "Figured he was out. . . you know."
"Yeah, guys on first watch said he came in last night after bar time." The older man revealed with a small shrug. "Went to sleep in the bunk area till shift started. Second time this week."
Ana frowned at that. Why wouldn't he just come to me?
"I'll talk to him." She murmured. "Thanks, Herrmann."
"Yeah." He nodded, disappearing back around the corner and leaving her alone with her thoughts.
*In Kelly Severide's Office: A Little While Later*
The Lieutenant had been sitting at his desk, doing some paperwork, when his wife appeared in the doorway.
"Hey." She smiled.
"Hey." He greeted, turning to face her.
"It occured to me that we haven't actually been on any kind of date in a while." Ana pointed out, walking over and gently sitting on his lap. "So I was thinking, you, me dinner. . . tomorrow after shift?"
"Sounds perfect." Kelly grinned, softly, leaning up for a kiss.
"Ambulance 61, Squad 3, Truck 81. Victim injured in utility vault"
"Duty calls." The brunette sighed, hopping off of her husband and racing out of the small room.
"Doesn't it always." He smirked, following right after her.
*On Scene: A Few Minutes Later*
"Fire department!" Matt called upon seeing no one around in the deserted lot.
"Where's the victim?" Kelly wondered.
"Who called it in?" Ana muttered, not liking this one bit. "All right, spread out and take a look around."
"Hey, over here!" Capp called a few seconds later, having found the utility vault.
Everyone rushed over to see two men slumped over one another at the bottom of a square-like hole.
"Guys, can you hear me?" Matt yelled, not receiving a response.
"The victim on top is breathing. I can't get a read on the one under him." Rick shook his head.
"There's not enough room to get down there and carry them up. We can lower someone in upside down, though." Kelly observed. "Get the victims handcuffed to some webbing and pull them up."
"I am the smallest." Ana pointed out, quickly coming to the decision that this situation was much more important than her own trust issues.
"Not a chance." The Squad Lieutenant smirked.
"Yeah, we need you up here to order us around." Matt teased.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes, fondly. "Mills can go instead."
"I'm on it." Peter nodded, racing off to grab his harness while Joe set to work raising the aerial.
The two Lieutenants and their Captain peered back into the hole just as Chief's buggy pulled in a few feet away.
"Guys, right there. Check it out." Kelly pointed down at one of the unconscious men.
"Top victim's holding a cell phone." The blond realized.
"He must be the one who called for help." Ana murmured, thoughtfully.
"But if he was okay when he called, how is he now unconscious?" Peter frowned as he rushed back over, now fitted with a harness.
"Hey, they could've hit a gas pocket." Gabby suddenly spoke up. "They could be asphyxiated."
"Mask up then." Ana ordered right as Chief appeared beside her.
"Yeah." The former Candidate agreed, retrieving his gear.
Kelly grabbed his too just in case.
"I'm gonna need a Hazmat and two backup ambulances at 8922 65th Street." The older man radioed.
Peter raced over to Rick and the latter connected one of the ropes hanging off the ladder to the harness while the former adjusted his mask.
"Up!" Kelly yelled, holding up two fingers and watching as the former Candidate slowly rose into the air. "Stop!"
"Are you ready?" Ana wondered as they flipped him upside down.
"Yeah." He nodded and they immediately began lowering him down.
"Winch line comin' down!" The Squad Lieutenant called once Peter was at the bottom.
"We're good to go!" The former Candidate yelled back a few seconds later.
They slowly pulled the first victim up, getting him onto a gurney and into the awaiting hands of Gabby and Sylvie.
"Hang on, Mills!" Ana peered down the hole again, not liking the way her gut was churning right now.
"Take it up!" Peter nodded despite knowing they probably couldn't see it.
"Okay, second victim, ready to go." Kelly motioned for them to pull him up.
They repeated their actions from before and the two paramedics from Ambulance 61 whisked him away as well.
"All right, Mills. We're bringing you up now." Ana called, quickly realizing something was very wrong.
The others caught on quite fast upon seeing Peter's limp figure dangling freely from the ropes.
"Mills!" Kelly yelled out, worriedly.
"Pull him up fast." Chief ordered.
"Get him up, damn it! Go!" The Squad Lieutenant urged as the members of Truck 81 began working to pull him out.
"Mills! Can you hear me?!" The Captain cried right as Peter's body suddenly stopped moving.
"The line's stuck." Matt ground out, latching onto the rope and pulling it as hard as he could.
"Mills!" Kelly yelled again, trying his hardest not to shout for his wife's sake.
"Come on, pull harder!" Chief instructed rather harshly.
"Mills!" The Squad Lieutenant called once more just as his Truck counterpart ran by him. "If his mask gets knocked loose and the gas gets to him-"
"Here, I'll try and unsnag him." The blond raced back over with a long wooden pole before he could finish.
Matt lowered it down and immediately leant in after it.
"Hold him, damn it." Ana growled out, grabbing onto his legs while Kelly and Chief went for his lower back. "Come on, Matty."
"He's loose!" The Truck Lieutenant pulled the pole back up and chucked it aside.
"Pull him up!" Chief commanded, instantly.
"Hang on, Mills." Ana murmured.
"Mind his head." The older man warned as Peter was slowly but swiftly raised out of the square hole.
"We got him, we got him, hold on." Rick grunted as Mouch and Herrmann both raced over to help. "All right, I got his feet. All right."
They slid him into a stokes basket and unhooked him from the ropes while Gabby and Sylvie got to work.
"Mask was secure. Breathing normally." The PIC reported, pulling the SCBA off just as he started to come to.
"What the Hell happened down there, Mills?" Kelly demanded, wrapping a comforting arm around Ana when she let out a huge sigh of relief.
"I don't know, I- started getting hard to breathe, I- I must've blacked out." Peter panted out.
"Maybe his SCBA malfunctioned because he was upside down." Rick frowned in thought.
"Whatever it was, his vitals are stable." Sylvie pointed out. "He's okay."
"Glad you're all right, Mills." Chief nodded, quietly.
"Yeah." The former Candidate agreed as he was helped back onto his feet.
"Capp." Ana called.
"Yeah?" He wondered.
"Check out that equipment when we get back to the house." She ordered, heading back towards the Squad rig with her husband in tow.
*Later That Night: At An Unamed Restaurant: Sometime After Shift*
Ana was standing outside, gazing around and seemingly waiting for something. Kelly told her earlier that he had to run an errand before their dinner real quick so she agreed to meet him instead. The brunette had just looked up from checking her phone for the upteenth time to see the man, himself, walking towards her.
"Hey, Honey. Sorry, I'm late. That thing took longer than I thought it would and-"
"Kelly." She interrupted, gently, stepping towards him with a serious expression. "You told me a couple days ago that you could do anything as long as I was by your side. So talk to me." The Captain murmured, lifting a hand up to his face. "Tell me what's going on inside that pretty head of yours."
The Lieutenant glanced off into the distance as his eyes suddenly glazed over.
"She was my-" He sniffled, trying to will the tears away but to no avail. "-she was my best friend."
"I know." Ana smiled, sadly, stroking his cheek and pulling him into a small hug before dropping her hand into the crook of his elbow. "Come on, let's get something to eat."
A watery chuckle made it's way past Kelly's lips and he pressed a gentle kiss into his wife's hair before letting her guide him into the restaurant.
A/N I hope you all enjoyed! Till Monday!
~Princess <3