Kelly pulled up to the side of Firehouse 51 in his mustang. He threw the vehicle into park before pulling the keys out of the ignition and looking down at his phone. The screen displayed a voicemail that the Lieutenant looked hesitant to play and he glanced over at his wife in the passenger's seat. Ana just smiled and encouraged him with a soft nod.
"Hey, Lieutenant, Captain Cunningham here. Call me. I need to talk to you."
Kelly rolled his eyes and promptly deleted the message.
"Do you think she wants to. . .?" He trailed off.
"I'm not sure." The brunette frowned in thought. "Hard to tell from that alone."
"Come on. We'll figure it out later." The Lieutenant murmured, grabbing his duffel bag and moving to get out of the car.
Ana went to follow but they both instantly flinched back inside when the freezing cold Chicago air hit them, laughing as they tried to warm themselves back up. Even before they attempted to leave their breath could be seen in the air but it was only ten times worse outside. Kelly reached back and produced an extra jacket, tossing it to the Captain who had already begun shivering despite the thick sweater she had on.
The brunette took it with a grateful nod and the couple stepped out of the vehicle once again. The Lieutenant rounded the front and wrapped an arm around Ana, feeding her as much warmth as he could. The two practically sprinted towards the Firehouse, meeting up with Tony halfway there. The second they were inside, Kelly released the Captain and slammed his duffle bag on the floor.
"Wow!" He looked at the Squad Member in surprise.
"Cold enough for you, Lieutenant?" Tony teased, shovel in hand.
"Yeah, I just saw a penguin, crying!" Kelly joked.
Ana, whose shivering had slowed down immensely since stepping onto the Apparatus Floor, shot a pointed look at where Peter and Herrmann were over by Ambulance 61. The hood was propped open and there was an extra set of feet poking out from underneath the vehicle but the person they belonged to was indecipherable at the moment.
"Engine's busted. Or froze." The former Candidate explained. "Anyway, Fleet Management's jammed up, so I asked Capp to take a look."
"Let me guess, he upgraded you to the full-service package." Kelly quipped, dryly, stepping over to join the three men.
The Captain followed as well, curiosity getting the best of her.
"He started going on about the air filter and then the fuel intake." Herrmann snorted. "And next thing you know-"
"Ah, damn it!" Capp swore as the sound of metal clanging rang throughout the area.
"What the Hell was that?!" The Truck Member demanded.
"Relax! I've got a handle on it." His Squad Counterpart assured as he finally stood up.
"Roll call in five." Ana shook her head at their antics and made to walk inside the Firehouse only for Herrmann's voice to pull her back again.
"You hear that, Cooter?" He smirked, elaborating when everyone stared at him in confusion. "Dukes of Hazzard?" Disappointment filled his being as still no one got the reference. "You guys suck!"
*In the Briefing Room: A Little While Later*
"We have a bona fide weather emergency. Temperature's are down to below 15. Windchill brings that to under 40. Cold weather has knocked out the servers at the alarm office. 911 is down. It is war out there and we have got to be prepared." Chief proclaimed, firmly, gazing at each and every one of the firefighters huddled together in the room.
"Motorized tools, silver bullets, anything that can freeze needs to be protected. Ten minutes exposed is ten minutes too long." Ana added with a few pointed looks of her own.
"It is us against the raving bitch side of Chicago. I expect us all to hold our own." The older man finish, warmly. "You all are dismissed."
*In the Bunk Room: A Few Minutes Later*
Everyone was crowded around one of the bunks because on said bed was a sweet baby girl that Peter was checking over.
"Ok. She's warming up. Heart rate's stable." He declared, setting his stethoscope aside as the infant cooed up at him. "No signs of frosbite. She wasn't out there long. . . where'd you find her?"
"On the apron, under the safe haven sign." Gabby replied.
"Any sign of who left her?" Joe wondered.
"It doesn't matter who left her. Safe haven means just that. No questions asked." Herrmann retorted, looking over at the older man. "Right, Chief?"
"Absolutely. What matters is she is here with us now. Our job is to get here the best care that she can get." He nodded. "So let's bring her over to Chicago Med. I'll call DCFS."
"Although I don't know if we'll be taking her anywhere anytime soon. That ambo's laid up." Peter shot a pointed look up at Capp, making everyone else do the same.
The man gazed around confused for a moment before realizing.
"I'm making some serious headway." He assured.
"Get it done then, Capp. Right now." Ana ordered, letting the baby play with her pinkie finger.
"In the meantime, I have some diapers, wipes, formula in the truck." Chief handed his keys over to Mouch. "Bring it over."
"Will do, Chief." He murmured, casting one last glance at the baby before leaving.
"Oh. All right." Sylvie grunted, picking up the infant and frowning at a distinct smell wafting off of her. "Uh-oh, our little guest smells kinda ripe. Might need a change."
Joe and Otis immediately looked at each other with wide eyes before walking away, neither of them wanting to be forced into diaper duty.
"I'll do it." Gabby and Ana both offered at the same time.
"Are you sure? I'd be happy to-"
"Absolutely. And I'll tell you what, Captain." The Candidate smiled, taking the baby from Sylvie. "You can change the next one."
"You got yourself a deal, Dawson." The brunette smirked, casting one last soft gaze at the infant before making her way out of the room.
She stepped into the hall just as Kelly walked by and immediately slid into step alongside him. He smiled down at her but a familiar voice had it fading immediately as well as the couple turning in the direction it came from.
"Good morning." Lynette greeted with an unimpressed look on her face.
"Morning." The Lieutenant returned while Ana just nodded, shyly.
"You got a minute to talk?" The blonde inquired.
"About?" Kelly answered with a question of his own.
"Briefing room." Lynette nodded, curtly and brushed past him without even waiting for a response.
The couple exchanged a quick glance before following after her, not really having another choice.
"I hear Police Intelligence took down your arsonist." The blonde recalled as she stepped inside and Ana tensed, not liking where this was going. "Head shot, right?"
She punctuated that sentence by slapping the file she had brought with her down on one of the tables.
"Right." The Lieutenant saw no harm in confirming that.
"Must be one Hell of a story." Lynette pointed out while taking a seat.
"Yeah, my wife would know. Not only was she there but her father, the Sergeant of that unit, fired one of the shots." Kelly could feel his anger getting the better of him but saw no reason to stop it, especially when Ana made no move to calm him down either. "Are you fishing for details, or are you just raw that someone did the job you weren't willing to do? Captain."
"I need your eyes on something." The blonde began, sliding the file over to the couple and opening it for them to see its contents. "Electrical fire sparked by a short in a computer server. Ceiling collapse nearly took out the first company on the scene."
"Yeah, we heard about it." The Lieutenant muttered, begrudgingly sitting in the chair next to her.
Ana came up behind her husband, wanting to take a look at the photos for herself.
"Fire suppression system malfunctioned. Convenient." Lynette rolled her eyes. "Figured there's something in these boxes that someone wanted to burn, but deadline to file's coming up, and I've got nothing more to go on."
"This is- this is unbelievable." Kelly shook his head. "Are you seriously asking me to help you out of a jam? Again?"
The blonde looked away and swallowed at that.
"I get that you don't want to do me any favors. You're entitled to that anger." She conceded, gathering up the photos and sliding them back into the file before standing back up and dropping them right in front of the Lieutenant. "But out of respect for the firefighters who almost lost their lives, maybe you can pull your head out of your ass and help us out."
Lynette stormed out of the room, leaving the couple alone.
"And now, I wanna strangle her." Ana glared after the other woman's retreating figure.
Kelly snorted, softly, before resting his head against her arm.
*In Kelly's Office: A Few Hours Later*
The couple had been scanning over the photos Lynette had given them when the Lieutenant looked up at the sound of a baby cooing.
"Hey, check it out." He called, nodding out into the Bunk Room.
The Captain gazed over from her spot on the bed and a soft smile appeared on her lips. Gabby was watching as Matt gently cradled the baby she had found earlier in his arms.
"Awwww." Ana gushed.
Kelly took in the sight for a couple more seconds before turning back to the photos, picking one up and holding it over his shoulder.
"You seeing what I'm seeing?" He inquired.
"Yep." The brunette popped the "p,"spotting it instantly.
The Lieutenant placed the picture back on his desk and replaced it with his phone. He dialed a number before pressing to his ear and waiting a moment.
"Yeah, Captain Cunningham, please."
*In the Briefing Room: Not Too Long After the Call*
"Your theory is wrong." Kelly declared, dropping the file onto the table. "Computer servers nowadays, they're all backed up on a cloud. There's no real point in torching it."
He shrugged his jacket off and placed it on the back of a chair while Lynette eyed him, skeptically. Ana just watched all of this from where she was leaning against a wall near one of the various entrances in silence.
"You trying to tell me that the server wasn't tampered with?" The blonde scoffed in disbelief. "Because if you look-"
"No, no, no, I'm not saying that it wasn't messed with. I'm just saying that that wasn't the target." The Lieutenant corrected. "It was just the- it was just the fuse. Here, look- look at this." He rushed out, opening the file and pointing at one of the photos before she could interrupt him again. "This ceiling debris, the deepest char is on the top, not the bottom where the fire started. So whoever engineered this, they packed the above floor with accelerant. So my guess is that someone really wanted to burn these billing folders. So they paid off or leaned on the IT guys to get access to the server room and the utility space in between the floors." Kelly speculated, plopping down into the chair with a groan. "That's what I think."
"This is why we need you in Arson." Lynette smirked.
Ana tensed at that while her husband's face fell completely.
"Is that what this was about?" He muttered.
"Six firefighters nearly died in this collapse. A matter of inches, and they would have been gone, just like Shay." The blonde pointed out, oblivious to how the couple's temper flared at the mention of their late friend.
"Don't." Kelly growled, lowly, shaking his head. "Don't use her name like that."
"All I'm saying is that a person like you, with your talent and your dedication, you can help change the way OFI operates." Lynette backtracked, quickly. "You can make sure important cases like this never fall through the cracks again." The Lieutenant just stared at her, blankly, and she let out a sigh. "At least consider it."
Ana snorted, softly, at that. This woman clearly didn't know Kelly at all if she seriously thought he would ever consider leaving Squad or even 51 for that matter.
*In the Locker Room: A Little While Later*
Matt was passing through doing something on his phone and had just walked by Ana, who was rummaging through her locker, when Kelly stepped out of the shower area.
"Hey." The Squad Lieutenant glanced around and continued after seeing that, besides the Captain, they were alone. "Uh, What's going on with you and Dawson?"
"Just old habits, I guess." The blond shook his head.
"Yeah, right." The brunette rolled her eyes.
"Hush you." Her best friend playfully swatted at her head but she dodged the hit easily.
"Maybe it's time to put yourself back on the market." Kelly suggested, smiling slightly at their antics. "Cut the ambiguity."
"You know what, I think you're right. 'Cause I'm kind of chasing my tail right now." Matt admitted, quietly.
"That's a first." Ana teased with a smirk.
It fell immediately as Joe ran in, out of breath.
"Lieutenants! Captain! Brett and Mills are in trouble." He panted out.
*At Diversey and Kenton*
The Squad Rig followed behind Truck 81 as it rolled to a stop behind an abandoned Ambulance 61.
"I need two people out here." Ana called as she hopped out, shivering slightly and wrapping her turnout coat tighter around her small figure.
"Mouch, Herrmann, stay with the ambo." Matt ordered in response. "Everyone else with me."
The rest of the firefighters all entered the warehouse to their left.
"Sylvie!" Joe called, worriedly, rushing ahead of everyone else.
"We're here, quick!" She screamed back. "Over here!"
"Sylvie!" He yelled, breaking out into a sprint.
"Cruz! Careful!" Matt warned.
Everyone else raced after them and rounded a corner to see the two paramedics kneeling on some scaffolding that was covering a large hole. They appeared to be holding onto something in the hole and, as the firefighter got closer, it became quite clear that it was a young girl.
"I'm okay!" Sylvie assured. "Help us hold her!"
"Everybody watch their step!" Kelly cautioned, holding onto Ana's hand tightly as they walked around the perimeter of the hole.
"We rigged this to keep her from falling in any deeper, but it's not gonna hold too long." Peter explained.
"The barbs are digging into her torso. She's losing blood." His partner added just as the girl let out a pained shriek.
"We'll take it from here." The Captain nodded before turning to the two Lieutenants who had crouched down opposite of where the paramedics were.
"Otis! Tie a girth wrap." Matt instructed, looking at Kelly. "What do you think? Mini-lite cutters?"
"Cutters could cause too much of a jolt." He shook his head. That rebar's in there pretty good. . . I need to go slow."
"Capp!" Ana called.
"Yeah." The man responded.
"Get him the whizzer saw."
"Secure!" Otis called, having finished with the girth wrap.
"Tony." Kelly called, motioning for the other man to spot him right as Capp handed him the requested tool.
He made sure it was working before leaning in and beginning to cut at the barb.
"No, no. No, no, no! No, no, no!" The girl suddenly became panicked and started shaking her head back and forth.
"Hey, hey. Calm down! Hey, sweetie, listen. I'm not gonna be able to cut through this rebar unless you calm down, okay?" The Squad Lieutenant stopped cutting and tried to soothe her but she just became even more hysterical.
"It's not real. It's not real! IT'S NOT REAL! IT'S NOT REAL! NO!" She shrieked.
"I need her to calm down." Kelly turned to the paramedics for help as the girl kept repeating those two phrases over and over again.
"Celia! Look at me. Look at my face. Right in my eyes." Sylvie instructed, managing to break through her hysteria. "Do you feel my hand? Feel the texture of my skin? Okay, that's definitely real, right? Do you believe me? Can you trust me that much?" The girl nodded along to her questions. "Then trust me when I say we are here to help you, okay, but we need you to stay still. Okay? Okay."
The Squad Lieutenant began cutting again and managed to get all the way through this time.
"All right, I'm done!" He declared.
"All right, let's get her up!" Ana commanded.
She watched as the firefighters hoisted the girl out of the hole and over to safety.
*At Molly's: Later That Night*
The beloved firefighter bar had been decorated in a Hawaiian theme in honor of the luau style party being thrown for Chief's father. Kelly, who was wearing a tiki shirt, and Ana, who was sporting a purple lei, were making their way up to the counter when they spotted a familiar figure perched on one of the stools.
"You're stalking me now?" The Lieutenant scoffed in disbelief.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself." Lynette smirked.
"It's too late." He laughed, taking the seat next to her and pulling the brunette into his lap.
"You thought about my offer?" The blonde wondered.
"Yeah, I have. Uh, and I'm- I'm- I'm good where I'm at." Kelly nodded, glancing warmly around the bar before his gaze landed back on Ana.
"Well, when you change your mind, and you will, call me." Lynette offered.
"Fair enough." He conceded, taking a swig of his drink.
"You know, I don't think I ever got to say it during all this craziness. . . I'm sorry about Shay." The blonde murmured. "I really am."
"Yeah, you kn-" The Lieutenant paused and looked around again. "She would've loved this."
Ana rested her head against Kelly's shoulder and spoke in a voice quiet enough for only him to hear.
"Yeah. She would have." The brunette agreed with a sigh.
A/N I hope you all enjoyed! Till next time.
~Princess <3