Stella's pov: the past couple weeks has been super crazy first with the arsonist who was targeting the firehouse firehouse 17 went to then trying to get my stubborn husband to understand when he left it didn't just affect me. It also affected his friendship with his fellow squad. Member Joe Cruz but eventually everything worked out. They are finally on a better understanding, especially since Kelly had to leave again to help solve an arson case in Arizona at first I wasn't liking that he might be leaving again, but after some thinking and talking with Kelly, I was fine with him leaving again as long as he came back home and has been about two weeks since he has been gone it's been kind of lonely, but luckily he texted me every day and he calls me every chance he gets right now I'm at work getting breakfast
S= oh solid breakfast choice Gibson
DG= first time up at the quail Gotta bring my a-game
V= so how has it been without severide are you sick of the property brothers yet
S= never uh it's fine you know we've been texting a bunch talking every night
V= but
S= uh it's just um he's been kicking around this idea of moving to OFI full-time at some point you know when he's ready for the next chapter and I'm all about it. Of course it's way less dangerous. He wouldn't have to travel. He's still in the CFD family.
V= yeah, I mean I can totally see severide running OFI
S= I mean it would be amazing but I am I'm getting ahead of myself I mean he's not even home yet
Before I say anymore, or even eat my food Brett walk in with Julia so I grab her and spend a few seconds with my goddaughter till the bells go off so me and Chuck head off to a call when we arrive on scene it's a small little fire in the garage that we were able to put out, but then we found a little girl hiding out
S= hi what you doing down here
HA= is it gone?
HM= Harper oh my God come here what are you doing out here?
HA= I thought you were in the basement playing Minecraft
HA= I didn't like you yelling on the phone
S= hey Harper hey my name is Stella.
HA= are you a real firefighter?
S= yeah and that was a big fire out here huh now. Do you have any idea how it might have started?
HM= no don't do that come on she's obviously upset this could have been a freak accident. I mean this is over 100 years old Harper come on let's get you inside.
HA= bye Stella
DG= I'm guessing it started here looks like old dried up yard waste
M= wouldn't have much to get that going
S= yeah but it takes
SC= you think the little girl did it
S= she was the only one back here, and the mom was acting pretty shady about the whole thing right
H= Ah probably just didn't want her kid in trouble. Cindy would have gone all mom bear on you too probably
DR= yeah but how many of your kids started a fire like this?
H= all right are you kidding me all of them Annabelle nearly burnt down a treehouse and none of them went to jail yet all right, so what do you say you want to wash this down and get out of here
S= yeah yeah okay
H= okay
Both truck and engine wash down the area, then pack up and head back to the firehouse but something didn't seem right later on at the firehouse I'm having my guys run drills as a watch, but I'm also watching Brett and baby Julia
SC= lieutenant
S= yes one man forced outward side hey Mouch you saw all that burnt hole on the girls sleeve right
M= yeah, that big puffy jacket probably saved her a trip to the burn ward
S= well that's what bugging me actually is it didn't look like that whole happened today? Did you notice how the fabric was fed and how the inside batted was all dirty it would have took a while for it to get like that.
SC= so you think the garage wasn't the first time she did something like this
DG= I don't know girl fire bugs are pretty where that's what they taught us at the Academy anyways
SC= I heard a call one time where a 17-year-old girl said her boyfriend's car on fire right in the school parking lot
S= there's gotta be some clever way that we can see if the garage fire was just an isolated incident right
DG= there's a bunch of ways , next-door citizen, one roof , ( pulls out his phone) whoa
S= what
DG= well, according to this, there's been three small fires within two blocks of the girls house the past month
SC= that can't be a coincidence
DG= one happened last week two doors down
And that moment I decided to take truck to check it out and talk with the neighbor myself
HN= I mean, if I hadn't forgotten my phone and came back The fire might have kept going and burn the whole damn house down.
S= and you think someone said it intentionally
HN= it wasn't spontaneous combustion
S= any idea who
HN= ( looks ) I don't have any hard poof or anything
SC= do you think the girl a couple doors down did it?
HN= the kid's got issues lately throwing these crazy tantrums all the time I've heard the mom trying to keep her calm, but the poor woman is at the end of her you can tell
S= lately, so she hasn't always been like this
HN= no, no last few months maybe and I'm pretty sure I saw the girl messing around here on the day of the fire
SC= but you're not 100%
HN= well she was there for sure I just couldn't tell you what she was doing
S= ( Sese the mom get home) thank you all for your help, sir. ( leaves ) hey hey Alicia, could we just have a quick word with you?
HM= sorry it's not a good time to talk
S= well we won't take up too much of your time please we just wanna ... ( shut the door)
DG= what was that about?
S= not sure, but the neighbor is pretty convinced that Harper torched his fence
M= so what now maybe we try to get child services out to talk to the mom
DG= it's a serious bomb to jump on a family without having the full story
S= and without a court order or some actual evidence, it could be weeks before CSD actually gets around to sending someone out here now we are going to have to do something about this ourselves
We leave and head back to the firehouse. I start way out this little girl out. It's now the end of shift.
SC= hey, you headed to OFI
S= I didn't know what else to do. I know she's just a kid, but
SC= no no if this is a pattern for her there's only One Direction it usually goes you want some company
S= no I got this I'll keep you posted
I had off to OFI to see what they can do to help
VM= you're doing the white thing an ounce of prevention like they say
S= I was doing some research and there's this joint CFD- CPD youth intervention program
VM= it's a great program. Their whole purpose is trying to reach kids like this before adolescent mischief turns into something more serious.
S= I was hoping that with your clout you might be able to get them to send someone out there quickly
VM= I'll call the Pog Director right now. I'm pretty sure I got his cell number here somewhere. How's severide doing.
S= you know him he's loving his work
VM= I am so glad he's changed his mind stayed in the ATF program talent like severide it's a gift you don't ever want to take a thing like that for granted
S= well uh you know I've been telling him it's not good to take anything in life for granted
VM= here's the directors number
S= yeah thank you so much for doing this
VM= of course
Vanmeter calls the Director and explains the situation they figure out the next step now it's on them now it's the next day on shift again
S= it turns out Captain Van-meter pretty tight with the guy
SC= so what did the program Director say?
S= well he promised to send someone out to knock on their door within the next day or two, which is good as we could have hoped ( see Alicia )
HM= you've got to stop what you're doing
S= I don't think
HM= you keep talking to my neighbors you sent social workers to my house
S= they're not from child services their family program
HM= I don't care look I know you think you're helping but you're not you you have no idea what this could do to my family
S= you're right I'm sure I don't so explain it to me
HM= she was always a super mellow kid until her dad moved out, and I was stupid enough to think that I was going to be amicable but the divorce it just it's gotten so ugly so fast and now the son of a bitch he wants soul custody just to hurt me couldn't care less what it's doing to Harper if he catches wind of what's been going on with her, he's going to use it against me in court
S= that's worth I'm sorry it's happening to you, but what Harper is doing
HM= I know
S= with all due respect I am not sure that you do if Harper seriously hurts herself or someone else
HM= do you have kids, Stella?
S= no
HM= I love my daughter more than anything and the entire world and the thought of losing her I can't lose her, so please please let me handle this alone
S= Alicia ( she walks away )
Before I can even try to talk more sense into her, she walks away. I sure hope she can figure this out on her own because it's going to get bad fast. If she doesn't shift the bell go off.
M= 32nd Place
S= did that just say
SC= Alicia and Harper's house
S= yeah
We head off to the house. Hopefully it's not that bad, but once we get there, it definitely is bad. The mom Alicia decides to avoid the fire anymore to jump out of the second story window, which causes her to have major injuries once clear and Boden showed up and I went over to him.
CB= what do we got?
S= one Vic over there another possibly inside a little girl
CB= you're on primary search
Once Boden gives the orders I grab my truck guys and head inside. I sent Mouch and Carver downstairs to start looking for Harper while me and Gibson head upstairs to look for luckily, after a minute I find her in the bathroom hiding underneath the cabinet I get her out and start going to exit but of course I fall through a hole in the wall so I call for Gibson. He grabs her and goes what I get my foot unwrapped and then I get outside to check on the mother she isn't looking good. We get back to the firehouse about an hour later in my office.
CB= mother is out of surgery in ICU now it's been touch and go but they think she's going to pull through how you holding up
S= I just wish
CB= I know, but they are both still alive lieutenant which means you gave them a chance
I listen to what Boden told me and decide to just focus on the positive and that the situation is over with even though it ended in a bad way and then I get to focusing on my paperwork to get it over with. It's now the shift I am at the squat table, making sure everything went all sudden my phone goes off for a text alert from my husband saying he misses me and he said he will be home in a week which makes me happy because I just had a pretty rough shift, so that adds happiness to my life, can't wait to see him in a week
Authors note: I hope you like this chapter I try to do it justice enough also, can we talk about how this is now the third time the statement has been asked to Stella about. Do you have kids yet as in are they trying to give Stella and Kelly kids in the near future because yes please, and also this whole episode Stella was constantly looking at baby Julia like come on. Just give them a kid already what do you think?, also VanMeter can not mention the ATF case in front of Stella she doesn't like the whole arson stuff anymore .