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Chapter Text

In retrospect, hiding it was a really bad idea. Squad obviously knew something was wrong, Boden knew he was falling off his game, and Matt and Sylvie were getting more and more worried the further he drifted from them. And Stella watched him fall apart with nothing short of satisfaction, digging her claws in deeper every time he tried to break free.

They'd been together for just over a year when it started to get worse. He wasn't trying to anger her, but Casey had invited him out to drink and talk. Since it had been so long and they were growing apart, he agreed, not realizing he was inviting an explosion from her when he got home. 

He was out later than he'd thought he would be and closed the door quietly, expecting her to be asleep at such a late hour. He could smell the chicken parm she had made herself for dinner, even standing in the doorway and shucking off his jacket. He peeled off his boots and padded further inside. In the darkness, he didn't see her sitting on the couch when he turned toward the bedroom. He was stopped cold by her voice before he went more than a few feet.

"Where the hell were you?"

"Casey invited me to drinks. I told you that earlier. He just wanted to catch up," he replied, his voice shaking. He had to blink rapidly as she turned on a lamp and stood up.

"Did I say you could go?" she asked venomously.

"No," he mumbled, staring at the wall behind her so he wouldn't have to see the anger on her face.

"I get you, or no one gets you. That means you don't tempt anyone. You don't hang around with your exes or crushes. So no Casey, no Brett, no Dawson, no one but me. Do you understand?" she growled.

"Yes," he muttered, looking down at the floor and clenching his jaw.

"Are you sure?" she snapped.

"Yes," he replied, although he had shifted topics and was sure about something very different than her.

*^*^*

"Captain Owen Strand," the New-Yorker-turned-Texan yawned as soon as the line connected.

"Mornin' Cap," Kelly mumbled dejectedly.

"Lieutenant Severide. Haven't heard from you since the wildfires. What d'you need? " Strand asked, hearing his uncharacteristic tone immediately.

"How soon can I move there?"

"As soon as your transfer papers clear. Did something happen? "

"You could say that. I'll start the papers. I'm going through Grissom, though. Not Boden. I don't want the firehouse knowing until I'm gone."

"Do what you need to do. TK'll be glad he doesn't have to lord over Squad anymore. Marjan and Buck are a handful, apparently. Eddie, too, but he's on Ambo."

"I'll see all of you soon. And maybe I can be so much more of a handful that you forget about how difficult they are."

"Copy that, Lieutenant. I look forward to it."

Kelly hung up first, staring at the blank screen as he set his phone on the desk. He was free now. He had a fresh slate. So why did it feel like he was being torn to pieces?

*^*^*

They saw the familiar head of short-cropped silver hair amidst the crowd as soon as he entered the terminal. He had a decently sized backpack slung over one shoulder and a small duffel in his other hand. He had a massive bruise across one side of his face and his usually-bright blue eyes were dulled with stress and fatigue. He mustered a weak smile when he saw them, though, his shoulders hunched like he was cold.

"Sure is a climate shock," he observed dryly as they stepped outside. TK nodded, gesturing toward the waiting rig. Marjan waved enthusiastically from the open window, squeezing past Buck, who had a goofy grin on his face.

Owen stopped him before he claimed his seat, just out of earshot of the other three. "If you want to talk, let me know. Is there anything I can do for you now?" he murmured.

Kelly hesitated, then looked away and responded, "Yeah. Umm... where's the nearest place I can change my phone number?"

*^*^*

Matt frowned, letting himself into Severide's office. Five minutes later - when Boden and Sylvie joined him - he was still standing in the exact same spot. The office wasn't overly decorated in the first place, but now it was completely barren. The bunk was neatly made and the desk was clear of both clutter and dust. It almost looked ready to sell. Wallace opened one desk drawer after another; all of them were empty. Brett practically dragged Casey to the locker room to check Severide's locker. It had also been stripped of life and cleaned. Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket, already dialing as he started pacing anxiously.

"The cellular customer you are trying to reach is not available at this time. Please ensure you have entered the correct phone number, or try again later," an automated voice informed him. He hung up, as did Sylvie, and they both shook their heads. No luck.

"Call Kidd. I'll tell Voight and the Chief. See what you can figure out," he said. She nodded and he walked away, dialing again. This time, it connected.

"Voight," the police sergeant's distinctive voice greeted him gruffly.

"We have a problem. We need you over at 51 as soon as possible."

*^*^*

Vega was just coming down the stairs onto the apparatus floor when the brand-new Squad rig rolled back in. Paul and Mateo were cleaning the engine while Judd watched and occasionally called out a missed spot. The Strands disembarked first, followed by Buck, who immediately went over to Eddie at the ambulance. Severide jumped down, then turned to take his luggage from Marjan and help her down after.

"Do you have a car?" she asked, keeping her voice low. He shook his head, looking around.

"Sold it to the dealership before I got on the plane," he explained.

"Do you have a place to stay yet?" she pressed with a frown. This time, he nodded.

"I got an apartment," he elaborated when she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I can take you over there if you want," she offered.

"That'd be great. Thank you. But that can wait until we leave shift. I don't have much, so it won't be a big deal to leave it here until then."

At that exact moment, Mateo finally saw him and realized why Squad had left without a call. He practically jumped off the top of the rig in his excitement, but Strickland caught him and propelled him toward the ladder instead, rubbing his ears and following his gaze. Nancy came out onto the floor to see what all the commotion was about, and Severide was suddenly engulfed by the entire 126.

Yeah, he decided. I think I can get used to calling this home.

*^*^*

"He went over my head?" Boden asked in pure shock. Matt and Sylvie - their eyes dangerously bloodshot - anxiously watched him pace restlessly. "Was it something I did? ... He didn't want anyone knowing and asking questions so he just disappeared instead? ... Is he okay, at least? Where did he go? ... Well, that's good, I guess... Why can't we know where he went? He had good ties here! ... Okay... Alright. Yes, sir. Goodbye."

There was silence in the office for a few minutes after the call ended. Matt finally asked in a frail voice, "Well?"

"He transferred out of state, and he did it through Grissom. Something happened, but he didn't say what,  and he asked Grissom not to say where. He's changing his phone number. He'll call anyone he wants to have the new one," the Battalion Chief sighed, looking down at his hands where they were planted on his desk. "That's all I know."

"Is he okay?" Sylvie squeaked, squeezing Matt's hand. 

"I don't know," Wallace muttered. Then he took a deep breath and added, "I'll get a substitute in. You two stay in here until you've calmed down a bit, then check in with everyone else."

*^*^*

He stared at her contact longer than he needed to, trying to work up the nerve to press the call button. He finally did, though, and - despite being nearly midnight in both Austin and Chicago - she picked up on the second ring.

"Hello? " 

"Hey, Sylvie," he choked, overcome by emotion as soon as he heard her voice. It wasn't love, he told himself. It was just homesickness. He'd get over it (he neglected to mention that he hadn't even gotten over it when he was still in Chicago).

"Kelly? " she asked disbelievingly. "Where-"

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you or anything. I didn't know what to say. I'm okay. I'm with Owen and TK. They're looking out for me. I don't want to worry you too much, okay? I needed a fresh start, and this felt like the only way I could get it," he blurted, unintentionally cutting her off.

"It's okay. It's okay, Kel. Matt's here with me. He heard all of that. Is that alright? " she asked gently, although he could still hear the hitch in her breath that meant she was crying. He didn't want her to cry.

"Yeah. I was about to call him, too," he whispered, wiping at his eyes. "Hey, Matt."

"Hey yourself, cowboy," Casey responded, sniffling slightly. "Gave the Chief a heart attack this morning."

"Tell him I said I'm sorry."

"We will though. For now, you sound like you're in desperate need of sleep."

"Night, then."

"Good night, Kelly."

*^*^*

Owen looked up when Severide's shadow filled the doorway and he gestured his new lieutenant into his office. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you set up a meeting with Grissom? There's one last thing I need to do in Chicago, and I need your help to do it."

"Sure. But I don't know what help I'll be."

Kelly sighed heavily, glancing away from the captain and forcing his clenched jaw to relax minutely. "You're testifying to my mental state when I arrived. We're convincing him to revoke a lieutenancy."

"Not yours, I hope."

"No. Not mine."

*^*^*

Severide looked significantly better on the screen than he had barely a week and a half before, when he'd been in Grissom's office practically begging for a transfer to Austin. The bruise was almost completely gone, and he was holding himself more proudly - more like Severide. Captain Owen Strand was as put-together as always, sitting in front of the computer with Kelly standing just behind his shoulder.

"What can I do for you boys?" Grissom prompted once the greetings had been exchanged. In Texas, Strand glanced back at Severide, giving him permission to answer.

"I need you to revoke Stella Kidd's lieutenancy," the former officer of Squad 3 responded crisply after a steadying breath. Carl couldn't help but raise a curious eyebrow at that.

"You have a reason, I assume?" he asked. This time, it was Owen who answered.

"You saw the mental state he was in before he left. Once he arrived here yesterday and changed his phone number, he started improving drastically, but it was bad enough that he's still not back to being anywhere close to the Severide I met during the wildfires. And the only person he's said anything bad about is Stella Kidd." It did not go unnoticed by either of the older men that Kelly flinched at the mention of her name.

"If she treats everyone else the way she treated me, there's no chance she would make a good leader, especially in stressful situations. If I can keep her from hurting anyone else, I'm going to," he added firmly.

"Very well. I'll have her put under review. But I'll need more evidence if it's going to go anywhere," Grissom sighed.

"I'll get it for you. Give me a few hours," Kelly grumbled.

*^*^*

She didn't recognizing the phone number, but the area codes narrowed it down to Austin, Texas, which was where the 126 was from. She picked up right before it went to voicemail.

"Stella Kidd," she greeted whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"This is Captain Owen Strand. I have someone on the line for you," a vaguely familiar voice responded.

"Stella, it's me," Kelly's voice said after a moment, sounding a bit strained.

"Where the fuck are you? What the hell do you think you're doing? I told you more than once that if I don't get you, no one does! If you're cheating, I'll have your head!" she threatened, suddenly furious.

"I asked for a transfer. We aren't together anymore. I'm not putting up wi-"

"How dare you. How dare you. After everything we've been through together, you leave without warning? Do you know what you've done? I said no Casey, no Brett. And yet you called them first. They're already planning flights to see you. Like I wouldn't notice. One way or another, I will get your location out of them, I will find you, and I will take your head from your shoulders. We had something good going, but you had to go and ruin -"

"No we didn't! That's the problem! You're threatening to kill me, but the job started when the abuse started! " he cut in, his voice choked with suppressed tears.

"Are you crying, you little pussy?" she taunted thoughtlessly. "Is the great Kelly Severide crying like the baby he is? You know, I think your dad was right. You are piti-"

"Fuck. You," he snarled. Then the line went dead.

*^*^*

The audio recorder clattered loudly when it hit his desk and he looked up in surprise as his phone followed more gently, meeting Severide's furious gaze. "Get that through to Grissom. Please," he requested coldly, turning to leave right as TK came in behind him.

"Mateo and Nancy are having eye sex and 'arguing' again," he whined. Owen sighed heavily.

"Now you know how we feel with you and Carlos. Did you tell Judd?" he asked, rubbing his temples.

"And Tommy. They don't really know what to do," TK responded.

"What about Buck and Eddie? They're practically geniuses at this," the elder Strand huffed.

"Pretty sure they're doing it for real. I haven't seen them in a while," the younger of the two reported.

"I didn't need to know that!" Owen protested, finally standing up and leading the way out toward the stairs, just as Severide hit the app floor.

The ex-CFD officer immediately grabbed hold of Mateo and practically dragged him away from Nancy and out of sight around the front of the engine, not caring that he cut directly in between them in the middle of a sentence. A few minutes later, Chavez returned, looking sheepish, and refused to look at anyone.

"Well. My job here is done," Owen chuckled dryly, returning to his office and closing the door to do as Kelly had asked.

*^*^*

"Kelly? What's up?" Sylvie asked when she saw him alone on the other end of the FaceTime call.

"Keep an eye on Kidd. She threatened to do whatever she had to," he mumbled.

"To do what?" she pressed with a frown, glancing at Matt, who was just out of the frame.

"To figure out where I am."

"Is she the reason you left?" she whispered after a second. He nodded, looking away from the phone and leaning back against the wall with a sigh. "Okay. Okay. We'll figure it out. You worry about you, okay? We're planning on flying down in about a month. We'll see you soon, okay?"

He nodded again, sending her a strained smile as he leaned forward to hang up.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

It was different, without the wind and the snow. Now he had to deal with corn silos and obnoxious levels of heat. At least he had people who cared. People who knew only the basics of what had driven him from Chicago, but were still willing to help. He had almost quit firefighting - quit his life - and they had convinced him there was humanity left to convince him to stay. Without Matt and Sylvie, though, he didn't know how long he could stay, no matter how much he tried to convince himself to forget Chicago and everyone there. 

Especially them, even though it tore a hole in his heart to do so.

*^*^*

"Hey, Lieutenant!" Mateo called from across the apparatus floor. He turned from checking through his gear where it was waiting and raised an eyebrow in question. "Captain Strand wants to see you. Says he needs you to go with him somewhere."

Kelly straightened, popping his stiff back with a quiet groan. "Alright. I'm on my way up."

"Oh, no. He's out by his car. He looked pretty impatient. He's in a bit of a rush," Mateo corrected quickly.

Severide - already halfway to the stairs - stopped, heaved a heavy sigh, and adjusted course toward the parking lot. True to his word, Owen was already behind the wheel of the running Cadillac, drumming his fingers restlessly against his leg. "Where are we going?" the lieutenant asked, closing his door and buckling his seatbelt. Strand immediately reversed out of his spot, answering off-handedly.

"You'll see. Remind me to call Grace later so she knows how much she might need to change for calls."

"Why do we need to change anything? Who's here?" Kelly pestered, watching him curiously.

"You'll see. Stop asking so many questions," Owen deflected, turning out onto the street and accelerating to match traffic.

"Stop confusing me so much," Severide protested, looking insulted. His new captain snickered, despite his efforts to hide his laughter. "Where are we going?"

"No really. You'll see. Buck said to confuse you as much as possible. Blame him."

"I usually do. Him, or TK."

"Fair."

They eventually managed to lapse into silence, although - with the intermittent laughter that overtook them - it took a few minutes. It took a little longer to get to the airport's arrivals line, but as soon as Kelly saw the pair of familiar faces among the waiting crowd, he stiffened in his seat. "Stop the car!" he practically shouted, throwing open his door before Owen had time to get them below ten miles per hour. The captain managed to stop before too long, but took a moment to breathe before he also got out.

Matt didn't have time to brace himself before Severide nearly bowled him over in a tight hug, although the only thing that saved him from falling was Sylvie, who caught him up in an embrace from the other side, her fingers twisted into Kelly's shirt. The three of them managed to stabilize themselves without separating while Owen packed their luggage into the trunk of the car. Brett eventually eased away to greet the captain of the 126, tears in her bright blue eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of him," she whispered. "I'm sorry we couldn't."

"He misses you, you know. He's not always himself," Owen assured her, leaning against the car.

Matt tried to pull away from Kelly and look him in the eye, but Severide immediately tightened his grip and shook his head, trembling slightly. "Hey, it's okay. We're here now. It's okay."

"I'm not crying," Kelly mumbled, muffled even further by Casey's shoulder. It was obviously a lie (he only shook this bad when he was upset), and Matt had to try really hard not to laugh, but none of the other three called him on it as he sniffled and straightened.

"Hey cowboy," Matt said, meeting his bloodshot gaze.

"Don't call me that," Severide grumbled, pushing him toward the waiting car. 

*^*^*

"Who are they?" Mateo asked, still in a headlock from TK. Judd wasn't entirely sure how that had happened, but he was too damn tired to fight it. Eddie and Buck were... somewhere, and Tommy and Nancy were inventorying the two ambulances. Paul was trying to get Buttercup to play, but the dog was more interested in the three people who had just unloaded from the back seat of the Cadillac.

"Hey, Casey! Hey, Brett!" TK shouted. Both Chicagoans waved, smiling widely. Severide was walking between them, looking a little dazed even though Owen was speaking to him in a low voice. As they drew nearer, Kelly's very red ears and more embarrassed expression became visible.  

"Oh, boy. What happened now?" Tommy jabbed lightly, gesturing in his vague direction even as she engulfed Sylvie in an embrace. "Good to see you, girl."

"You, too, Captain," the blonde chirped, tucking into her side.

"Judd, I thought I asked you to keep them a little organized," Owen called, leaving Severide alone by the door, where he looked content to stand and watch. "So why is Mateo in a headlock on top of the Truck?"

"It ain't my fault, Cap," the only native Texan protested hotly, shooting TK a withering glare, which was met with an angelic smile. The younger of the two dropped Mateo unceremoniously and turned to look at his father as Chavez crashed face first onto the roof of the rig.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he declared. Beside him, Mateo hopped back to his feet, punched him in the side, and smiled down at his captain, who rolled his eyes fondly.

Somewhere, a phone rang. Sylvie hurriedly excused herself, apologizing on her way off the app floor and picking it up.

*^*^*

"Hey, Nolan! What's up? " his little sister's voice asked happily in his ear. Price winced, rubbing his eyes. Trust her to have the exact opposite mood of his.

"Morning, Sylv. I needed a distraction. This case is getting to me and I haven't heard from you in a while. So what's up in life?" he yawned.

"Uhh... funny you should ask. Matt and I are in Austin right now to visit Kelly," she answered hesitantly.

"Kelly's from Chicago. What the hell made him move to Texas, of all places?" Nolan interrupted.

"Long story," she tried to excuse.

"I have time," he replied, settling back in his chair. She sighed audibly.

"I'm gonna go get the boys. I don't want to mess up any details."

"Hurry up."

"I thought you had time," she mocked.

"I have time. I don't have much patience left."

"That kind of case, huh? "

"You know me too well."

"I'm giving you a new case, when you're ready," Kelly cut in abruptly. "I need your help permanently getting someone out of our lives. She threatened all three of us."

"I don't usually get to cover up murders, but I'll see what I can do," Nolan said, just as Jack walked in, froze, and looked over at him slowly. "Shit. Jack's here. I didn't mean it. Just tell me what I have to do," he amended hurriedly, then hung up.

"Care to explain yourself?" McCoy asked. He shook his head quickly and returned to the open file in front of him.

Chapter Text

Nolan knew he'd been innocent, in the end. But Booker's end had come before his, and it was too late to change anything now.

Troy Booker was dead. And it was Nolan's fault.

Everyone assured him it wasn't. Told him he was just doing his job. Said there was no way he could've known what would happen. But he should've expected something, and maybe if he had, Troy Booker would still be alive. And if he was alive, he could ask for an appeal. And Nolan could do his best to set an innocent man free.

Maybe people were right.

Maybe the system really was broken.

The knock on his door drew him far enough back into reality to get up and open it to let Maroun in, but not enough to greet her before he returned to his desk and sat down again. She stood opposite him, waiting to speak until he forced himself to actually hear what she said. When that didn't seem like it would happen for a few years, she sighed, came to lean against his chair, and started talking anyway.

"Cosgrove called me. He was worried that you hadn't called yet. It's eleven o'clock, Nolan. You should be home by now, and - since you're not - you should've called your husband," she reprimanded gently.

He looked up at her with bloodshot eyes, then stood numbly and reached for his jacket. She followed him from the office, although he was too deeply lost in thought to notice. He glanced at his phone, which had thirteen unread messages from Frank and six from Sylvie. He opened hers first.

Sylv: I saw the news.

Sylv: Ur blaming urself arent u

Sylv: u really shouldnt

Sylv: btw kel needs u to call him later

Sylv: dont tell him i said that

Sylv: get out of your head and call me. or visit. its been 2 long

He sighed heavily and typed out a response, deleted it, and tried again a few more times. It pinged on his twentieth attempt.

Sylv: stop overthinking. i have literally been watching you type and delete for five minutes.

He closed his eyes in defeat and finally sent a simple response, hoping it would be good enough to tide her over for now. Seeing as she didn't reply, he guessed it was. Then he opened Frank's messages.

Hub: nolan r u ok

Hub: do you need me to come over there

Hub: nolan ur worrying me

Hub: please say something

Hub: nolan please come home

Hub: nolan just answer me

Hub: r u mad at me 

Hub: did i do something

Hub: babe i know this case hit hard but I'm here for you okay?

Hub: please just say you're ok

Hub: nolan please

Hub: it's going to be okay

Hub: please say something nolan

He didn't realize there were tears rolling down his cheeks until Sam put a hand on his shoulder and he took a deep breath, looking up at the faint stars through heavily blurred vision. "Go home, Nolan. You two need each other right now," she whispered. He nodded, turning his screen off and tucking it into his pocket before setting off down the street, disappearing into the dark, sleeping city.

*^*^*

Kelly groaned, stretching slowly and rubbing his eyes while he tried to figure out what had woken him up. He'd been so bone-tired the night before that he had collapsed into bed without taking off his shoes. He would regret that later, when he tried to sleep, but instead found all the dirt from them in his sheets. He grumbled, sitting up and pushing to his feet as he listened to the almost-complete silence of his new apartment. Barely three seconds later, the clamor of his phone ringing next to him split the peace, sending his heart racing as he flinched violently, scrambling to pick it up.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"So you don't even answer me now? How convenient," the distinctive voice of one Stella Kidd hissed in his ear. All the blood drained from his face. "How's Austin? Are you glad you're cheating on me? If they come back, no one will remember their names. They'll be ghosts."

"Stella, what are you talking about?" he whispered, trying and failing to keep the tremble from his voice.

"If I don't get you, no one does. How many times do I have to say it? They'll go first, for trying to steal you in the first place, and then I'll come for you," she spat. Before he could say anything else, she hung up. He swayed unsteadily for a moment, then all the blood rushed back to his head and he was running. 

Matt and Sylvie were staying at a hotel just down the street, so he didn't bother with a car, sprinting down the stairs and out into the night. He forgot all about the annoyance of wearing his shoes in bed, suddenly glad he had them. He got to their room within five minutes and knocked loudly on the door. There was a rustle from within, where he assumed the couch was, and the door opened on a very rumpled Sylvie before he could knock again. Matt came around the corner a few seconds later, pulling on his shirt and rubbing his eyes.

"Kel?" she asked groggily, noticing how flushed he was from the run. "Come in. Don't want to wake anyone else up."

He took the invitation, trying to catch his breath even though it seemed determined to choke him. "I'm sorry," he rasped.

"What for?" Casey croaked, filling a couple cups with water and passing them around.

"Stella called. I don't think you should go back to Chicago for a while," he summarized, trying not to think about his ex-girlfriend's words too much.

"What did she say?" There went that thought.

"She threatened to kill all three of us. You two, then me," he grumbled, trying to hide behind the cup he'd been given.

"I'm calling Nolan," Sylvie decided.

"He hasn't been answering you all day, and it's even later there than it is here," Matt pointed out.

"Only by an hour," she fired back, dialing before he could answer. Surprisingly, her brother picked up.

"Hey, Sylv," he mumbled.

"Nice of you to answer," she snapped, then sighed heavily. "Sorry. You remember that murder you offered to help cover up earlier? I need you to stop one now."

"What? " Frank broke in. "Why? Who's murdering who? "

"Stella Kidd threatened to murder all three of us," Kelly explained quietly. There was a brief silence from the other end of the phone before Nolan spoke.

"I thought it was supposed to be the other way around if need be, and I was going to make sure you weren't prosecuted," he whispered.

"We weren't expecting anything to escalate very much, if at all," Matt assured him, sitting down as the shock started to set in. "We need to leave Chicago."

"You need to stay out of Chicago for now," Kelly corrected gently. "We just need to stay ahead of Kidd."

"I don't want to run forever," Sylvie whispered, her eyes filling rapidly with tears.

"You won't have to. We'll figure it out. We can get through this," Frank assured her, just as Kelly's phone rang again. This time, he checked the caller ID before he picked up.

"Captain Strand? Why are you awake right now?" he asked with a frown.

"For the last time, my name is Owen. Any idea who Gabriella Dawson is? " a very tired voice said from the other end of the line.

"Yeah. Former paramedic at 51. Why?" Kelly pressed, his frown deepening.

"I just got a call from her asking for your new address," Strand yawned, so far unconcerned. All the blood left Severide's face again in less than a second and he sat down hard, tuning out the other call for the time being.

"Please tell me you didn't give it to her," he whispered.

"I did. What's wrong? " Owen asked. "She said she was just worried about you."

"She's Kidd's best friend."

There was a deafening silence from the captain of the 126 for a few seconds, followed by, "Maybe the three of you should come over here for a while. Just to be sure. I can call Wallace. Or Grissom. Up to you."

"Try Voight instead. I just got a call from Kidd threatening to kill all three of us. We're on a call with Sylvie's brother and his husband right now, so we have the Manhattan EADA and a detective on our side, plus Precinct 27," Kelly decided.

"Got it. Talk soon. Get your stuff together and come on over. I'll tell TK and Buttercup," Owen replied, then hung up.

"Pack up. Let's go," Severide told the other two.

"Where?" Matt asked, looking away from Sylvie's phone for a second.

"Owen opened his house to us. Right now, it's the only option I know of. I don't know how close Kidd and Dawson are right now," Kelly explained quickly. Sylvie was up and moving in less than a second.

*^*^*

The car sat in the darkness for a long five minutes before its three occupants finally got out and started toward the front door. A light flicked on inside as soon as the first car door slammed. Owen met them on the porch, helping to carry the light luggage they had gathered inside, setting it down beside the couch and locking the door behind them. TK was sitting at the counter and waved at them tiredly, his head held up on one hand. The subdued greetings were the only sounds throughout the building, aside from Buttercup's quiet breathing where the dog was asleep sprawled on the floor. They were still awake thirty minutes later when a light knock came at the front door. None of the Strands seemed concerned, but all three Chicagoans flinched anyway. Until, of course, Grace led Judd and Mateo inside, with Captain Vega and the twins - Izzy and Evie - close behind. All of them exchanged greetings, settling in protectively around them. 

"You've been busy," Kelly observed, his voice raspy with exhaustion and his eyes bloodshot when he glanced pointedly at Owen. Nancy chose that moment to make her appearance, having ridden in the backseat of Buck and Eddie's car with Paul. Marjan apparently was in the process of picking Carlos up to bring him over, if he was hearing TK's conversation with Judd correctly. "House'll be crowded."

"It won't be the first time and it sure isn't the last. We're here for you, and none of us plan to go anywhere," the captain responded with a yawn, taking a long drink of water. Severide nodded, suddenly unable to find his words.

Chapter Text

Matt lifted his head slowly with a quiet groan, happy to stay wrapped up in warmth like he was. Sylvie's head was on his chest, and the rest of her was firmly tucked into his side. He was splayed out at one end of a couch that wasn't his, with her to his right and someone else to his left. He turned that way to see a familiar head of silver hair hunched into his shoulder. Kelly's back was firmly pressed into him, and one of his knees was tucked up to his chest. The other one was wrapped around Buttercup, who was shamelessly taking up a good third of the space. On the dog's other side, Mateo and Nancy were cuddled together, still fast asleep. TK was sprawled on the floor below them, with Carlos clinging to him protectively. Tommy and Owen were puttering around in the kitchen, quietly making coffee and breakfast. Izzy and Evie were laying almost entirely on top of Judd and Grace, who were - unfortunately - already awake and trying to figure out how to get up without disturbing the girls. Paul... was under a chair in the dining room, somehow. A chair that Marjan was occupying. Eddie and Buck were nowhere to be seen, but he was fairly sure he heard them moving around somewhere, so they were probably awake. 

He started to doze off again, but then he felt what had woken him up. Kelly's phone - somewhere underneath both of them - had vibrated. He carefully extracted his arm from around Sylvie, who grumbled something and curled closer into him, then reached down around her and carefully extracted the phone, holding his breath every time one or both of the other Chicagoans shifted. Severide must've been exhausted; he didn't even twitch as Matt unlocked his phone with his fingerprint. There were two new messages from someone only labelled as "Daws." He frowned and opened them, carefully nudging Kelly to try to get a reaction.

Daws: she said ur in austin

Daws: im guessing she means the city and not a person?

Matt almost choked trying to keep himself from laughing and waking everyone, but he must've made some sound, because Judd was suddenly watching him curiously. He shook his head, freeing the older man to continue his escape from the twins as he typed an answer.

KS_my_@$$: city

KS_my_@$$: this is matt btw

KS_my_@$$: tonio?

Daws: yeah it's me

Daws: i got some deets from hank

KS_my_@$$: who r u talking abt

Daws: Gabby

Daws: y r u on kel's phone

KS_my_@$$: it woke me up. it was closer. i dont know where mine is

Kelly stirred and sat up as much as he could with a dog in his lap, rubbing his eyes and looking around. "Matt?"

"Yeah. Tonio texted. I answered," Casey replied, putting the phone on Severide's chest so he could take it and see. "Any idea where my phone went?"

"It's over here," Owen told him from the kitchen, vaguely pointing at an outlet. "You want it?"

Matt nodded, scrambling to catch it before it fell short and woke someone else. Sylvie stirred at the sudden movement, swinging her leg off the couch and accidentally kicking TK, who woke with an ungodly screech that woke Carlos, who smacked him violently. Tommy was laughing so hard she was crying, and Buttercup ran to her, trampling Paul's face. He sat up abruptly, bashing his head into the chair, which made Marjan jump so badly, she crashed to the floor. Izzy, Evie, Mateo, and Nancy managed to sleep through the commotion, somehow. Kelly bit his lip until he could successfully calm his laughter, although the bigger noise concern should probably have been the "fight" TK and Carlos were in until Judd bodily pulled them apart, having successfully extracted himself from Evie. Everyone who was awake carefully migrated toward the coffee and breakfast.

Owen could see Kelly's shoulders slump as the weight that had been brought on by the reason he'd left the only home he'd ever had made itself known again, and carefully pulled him away from Matt and Sylvie. Without hesitation, the captain pulled him into a hug, ignoring the inch that Severide had to hunch over to accept it before burying his face in Owen's shoulder, shamelessly slumping against him and drawing in a deep breath.

"You're not alone. We aren't going to let anything happen. Talk to us. We'll get through this," Strand whispered. Severide nodded against him and - after a few more seconds, straightened. Owen kept a hand on his arm until he spoke.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry we brought all this drama on you," he mumbled.

"Life's has to be exciting somehow, doesn't it?" the captain huffed lightly. When Kelly cracked a grin at that, he pushed him toward the food. "Go get your breakfast before it goes cold, or gets eaten by someone else. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry I gave Dawson the address."

"It's my fault we're here in the first place, and I didn't warn you, so I won't hold it against you," Severide joked, although Owen could see the pain in his eyes as plain as day when he turned away to join Matt and Sylvie.

/^/^/^/

Nolan grumbled as Frank reluctantly shook him awake from the first dreamless sleep he'd had in a week. The plane around them was steadily emptying out and Price hauled himself upright, grabbing his bag from the overhead bin and wordlessly following Cosgrove down the aisle. The bustle of O'Hare was a shock to his system, especially since he still wasn't exactly fully awake. They navigated the terminal along with the rest of the rush of people, weaving through the crowds at baggage claim in record time and then emerging suddenly into the afternoon sunlight. Battalion Chief Boden was waiting in the Arrivals lane, watching them approach.

"Gentlemen," he greeted, sounding exhausted as he opened the back door to his CFD vehicle for them. Nolan nodded a greeting in reply, slipping past him into the seat. "I wish we could've met under better circumstances."

"Don't we all," Frank sighed heavily, following his husband. Boden closed the door behind him and made his way around to the driver's seat.

They pulled into Firehouse 51almost half an hour later and got out, leaving their luggage in the buggy for the time being. Hank Voight was already waiting for them in a nearby conference room, accompanied by none other than one Jay Halstead. Frank shook their hands while Nolan made himself comfortable in an open chair, ready to get their show on the road.

/^/^/^/

Sylvie eyed the two ambulances with a certain glint in her eye that made Matt give her some space. Buck and Eddie apparently didn't get that memo, wandering over to introduce their new fellow paramedic to both vehicles. Casey was a little busy trying to keep up with Mateo, who was eagerly introducing him to the Engine rig. Something settled in Matt's chest as he looked over the fresh paint. This, be understood. He was familiar with this. Kelly was over by the Squad rig, supervising TK as he and Marjan worked on cleaning the outside. Owen was upstairs with Tommy, on a conference call with Boden, Grissom, and Voight. Everyone else was milling around, completing their own tasks without complaint. Kelly was in the middle of a sentence when his phone rang and he frowned, pulling it out of his pocket. Marjan tried to take it when she saw the caller idea, but Severide dodged, picking it up and ducking outside, putting it on speakerphone. Matt glanced at Mateo, who had fallen silent and was looking at Marwani. She pointed at Matt, then at the door her new Lieutenant had disappeared through. He took the hint and went after his longtime friend.

"So I dont even get a 'welcome to Austin' meeting then? " Stella snarled right as he opened the door. "And Gabby doesn't get anything from her boyfriend as a greeting either? "

"Morning to you, too, Kidd," Kelly grumbled. Both he and Matt were immediately looking around for the two women, hoping against all hope that they wouldn't find either of them. "Why are you here? Did you even ask for leave, or did you just leave to come and threaten us some more?" At that moment, Matt's eyes found someone horribly familiar across the street.

"Kelly, we need to go inside. Now," he murmured, never taking his eyes away from Gabriella Dawson on the opposite sidewalk. Severide glanced at him curiously, then followed his gaze, nodded sharply, and turned to go back inside. In that motion, his gaze fell on Kidd, who was just rounding the corner at the end of street. Without hesitation, he hung up the phone, leading the way up the stairs and into Owen's office.

"They're here."

/^/^/^/

It took a long minute before their words registered. Strand was immediately on his feet once it sunk in, coming around the desk as Sylvie hurried in behind them. All three CFD firefighters were pale and breathless, waiting for his advice.

"They saw you?" he asked. Matt nodded.

"Dawson's across the street, Kidd just came around the corner," he explained. 

"Stay here until I give you the all-clear," Owen ordered, already halfway put the door with Tommy at his heels. The door latched closed behind them, enveloping the three who remained behind in complete silence.

/^/^/^/

Judd saw the anger glinting in Owen's eyes even before the captain of the 126 was all the way down to the app floor, walking around until his back was to the street. "Dawson and Kidd are both on the block. They've seen Casey and Severide, but if they come in here to get the three of them, I expect everyone to act like they don't know where they went. Understand?"

There was a general chorus of affirmatives, but no one stopped what they had been doing. Owen set off to find Buck and Eddie to pass on the message, just as someone scuffed their shoes on the pavement of the apron outside. He turned around to make sure it wasn't someone actually in need of help and came face-to-face with a very frustrated Stella Kidd.

"Where are they?" she snapped furiously. He looked at her blankly. "Severide, Casey, and Brett. Where are they?" she elaborated. His expression didn't change.

"I haven't seen them all day," he lied. Her scowl deepened.

"I'm just here to take them home," she growled.

"And I don't know where they are," Owen insisted. Dawson came in behind Kidd, rolling her eyes as she caught the tail-end of his statement.

"Bullshit. I just saw them come back in here," she said.

"And I was upstairs. I just came down," the captain of the 126 replied smoothly, completely unfazed. Behind the two women, TK, Mateo, Paul, Marjan, and Judd slipped through the door off of the app floor. In the next second, Kidd's fist had connected with Owen's jaw, sending him stumbling.

"The address you gave us was just an empty apartment," she accused as he regained his balance and rubbed his face.

"Look, I just told you what I heard from Severide. That's all I know," he grumbled, looking her dead in the face. "Now, please get out of my firehouse until you've had some time to calm down."

Kidd held his gaze for another beat, then spun on her heel and stalked away. Dawson glared at him and followed her out a second later, and he finally took a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding, probing his jaw. As soon as the two women were out of sight, he turned and ran back up to his office, where Kelly waited just inside the door, between whoever entered and his two companions.

"It's me. They're gone," Owen assured him.

"For now," Severide grumbled darkly. Behind him, Matt heaved a sigh of temporary relief and Sylvie let out a choked sob before clapping a hand over her mouth and collapsing into Casey's side.

/^/^/^/

Wallace tiredly scrubbed his hand over his face, tapping the arm of his glasses against his leg restlessly. Herrmann - officially in charge of Truck 81 for the time being - stood on the other side of the desk, waiting to hear what the Chief had to say.

"I just want them home," Boden finally admitted quietly, glancing past Christopher as though he was making sure the door was closed properly.

"Not Kidd or Dawson," Cruz corrected from his slump in the corner, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"No," Boden agreed. "But the other three are our family. They should be able to call this their home still, but I'm afraid that trust has been broken."

"So we just have to show them that those two don't speak for us, then," Herrmann decreed firmly.

Chapter Text

Owen sighed heavily, looking down at his hands where they were propped on the stone countertop before lifting his gaze to the mirror, unable to avoid looking at the bruise blooming across his jaw. He prodded at it curiously, wincing at the ache that met his ministrations. The door opened behind him and he looked down again self-consciously, already guessing who he would find if he raised his eyes, and not wanting to see the pity in her eyes. He started to say something, but a voice that was distinctly not Tommy's cut him off.

"Sorry for the trouble. I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for us." Severide's voice was significantly quieter and more reserved than his usual boisterous attitude, and the Squad Lieutenant winced sympathetically when Owen turned around.

"If you want to know how to thank me, and you just didn't want to ask me, you can start by being happy. Make Brett and Casey happy, put Stella Kidd in your past where she belongs, and don't let her infect your times now. That is how you can repay me," the captain and father of the 126 told him, his tone leaving no room for argument. Kelly nodded, lifting his gaze to finally meet Owen's. At that moment, someone rapped lightly on the door behind them. Strand hated watching the instinctive way Severide immediately flinched and curled in on himself. "Come on in," he called, guessing he already knew who it was. This time, he was right.

Carlos Reyes sized Kelly up almost immediately, not even trying for subtlety. Severide, in his turn, drew himself back up to his full height, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Who are you?" the firefighter snapped.

"Carlos Reyes. I'm TK's boyfriend. I work for APD, and thought I'd drop by. Owen called me a couple days ago, after your call with Kidd. I've been meaning to come in and meet the three of you, but this was the first time I could get here after a shift and not find all of you asleep, busy, overwhelmed, or already on your way home. I was at Owen's house the other night. I don't blame you if you don't really remember that, though," Carlos explained calmly, never letting his eye contact with Kelly break. "And then I got a call from Mateo saying that you'd been found and that Owen got punched in the face, so I got off shift and thought I'd come by to see if I could help with anything."

It took another minute, but Kelly finally seemed to relax, nodding tiredly. "I guess I don't need to introduce myself, then," he sighed, glancing back at Owen, who had lifted a hand to probe at the bruise again. Carlos laughed quietly.

"No. I guess not," he agreed good-naturedly. "Knowing people comes with being this old man's cavalry."

"Who're you calling old?" Owen protested indignantly.

"Definitely not myself," the two younger men chorused without even exchanging a glance or hesitating for a beat. Strand rolled his eyes fondly, herding them out the door ahead of him.

"Hey, Cap? I need to run a few errands for the apartment whenever I go back, and it wouldn't hurt to restock your kitchen, too. I'll be back in an hour or two," Kelly said after another minute of silence, starting to veer away from them. Owen nodded.

"Do you want me to send someone with you, or will you be okay?" he asked.

"I'll call if anything comes up," Severide promised, disappearing from sight within a couple of seconds. The flicker of frustration across his face didn't go unnoticed, though, no matter how much he hoped it had.

/^/^/^/

Every firehouse Nolan had ever been in was nothing compared to how Sylvie and Matt described 51. Boden met them at the door with a strained look on his face, though, and Price immediately guessed this firehouse wasn't going to be living up to its name.

"I'm sorry," Wallace apologized in advance. "Squad is ripping into Truck, so this probably won't be a nice meeting."

"Why? What happened?" Frank asked as they followed him inside. He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping in something resembling defeat.

"They think Truck should've figured out what was happening sooner, since they're supposed to be parts of each other's lives and Kidd was on Truck." There was a pause, then, "I can't believe I agreed to walk her down the aisle. She asked me to be there as her father figure on what she believed was her inevitable wedding day to Kelly. And I agreed. I should've known better."

"How? How could you have known what was happening behind their closed doors? If I understand this correctly, she said she saw you as a father figure, and asked you to walk her down the aisle. You saw someone you cared about as your own kid, who was excited at the prospect of marrying the man everyone thought was her lifelong love. Kidd isn't the only one to blame here for no one knowing, as much as I hate to say it. Severide hid what he was going through, too. So unless you're psychic or you were there and watching, how could you have known better? And hey, at least you know now. You know what they say; better late than never," Nolan countered, following him into the debriefing room, where the firefighters were starting to get settled on one side while Sergeant Voight and the rest of Intelligence brooded on the other. All eyes settled balefully on the three of them as the door closed behind them.

"Alright, listen up," Boden began, leading the way to the front of the room. "Brett's brother is here. He's a Manhattan EADA, he's in contact with Severide and Casey and Brett in Austin right now. With him is Detective Frank Cosgrove of Manhattan's 27th Precinct, also in contact. They're working on figuring out the legal logistics of Severide's case, but they need our help to make the case airtight. I expect full cooperation from everyone in this room. Am I understood?"

For the most part, almost everyone in the room nodded their agreement, eyeing the two strangers warily. The three firefighters sitting a little separate in the back of the room didn't budge. "We wouldn't have to have a case if Truck had just done their jobs right," the bald one in the middle snapped. The tension in the room immediately thickened.

"Eh, Capp! We aren't the only ones who coulda figured out what was goin' on! What happened to doin' your own jobs?" Lieutenant Herrmann called back, twisting in his seat to glare at the Squad firefighter who had spoken.

"Gentlemen!" Nolan said abruptly, his voice cracking between them like a whip. "What's done is done. Sure, we all wish we could have stopped this from happening, but here's the thing. We. Didn't. So now, we have to help make sure things don't get worse. We have to be there, and we can't do that if we're busy ripping each other's throats out. Look, I was on a call with Severide just last night. He doesn't blame any of you. The only people he blames are Kidd and himself. But unless you want this to hit the fan, I suggest you figure out how the hell to work together, and how to work with Intelligence, because - like it or not - we do need everyone's help on this one."

The room fell silent again and Frank's shoulder pressed supportively against his on reflex as everyone finally nodded their understanding.

/^/^/^/

Mouch was already at the table with a notepad when Herrmann joined him, although the top page was still mostly blank. Christopher sat down with a sigh. "Back to the drawing board, then?" he prompted. Mouch nodded.

"Turns out everyone is of very little help right now," he huffed, brushing the tip of his pencil absently over the paper. Upon closer inspection, the only real writing was the title.

"Operation Blind Date; Severide and Chicago?" Herrmann read, his tone more incredulous than amused. "What the hell, Mouch?"

"It was Cruz's idea. He didn't like the last title I had, so I let him change it," Mouch protested defensively.

"Alright, alright, fine. Start throwin' out ideas."

/^/^/^/

Casey didn't want to leave the firehouse before Severide got back. In fact, he almost protested when Owen insisted that he accompany the Engine Company - with Judd temporarily at its helm - instead of staying back. Sylvie just resigned herself to leaving, riding along with Eddie, whose usual partner - some stranger that had transferred to the 126 from somewhere else in the AFD and decided to make his bigoted point of view very well known - had called off at the last minute. The two rigs eventually rolled out, although Matt looked like he would have rather been literally anywhere else, and Captain Strand had to swear to keep him posted when he heard anything from Kelly.

The house fire wasn't a major one. It had originated in the laundry room and caught quickly, spreading out into the pantry and then into the kitchen, where it had ignited the gas stove. The gas stove, which had a gas leak. Most stoves like that did, even when they were off, but that one in particular was worse. Much worse, by the time they got there. Matt slipped into the role of follower instead of leader with surprising ease, obeying Judd's shouted orders without hesitation. He was tasked with leading Strickland in the search for victims, and that was the first time he hesitated.

"Shouldn't we shut off the gas line first?" he called, pulling Paul back before he ran in. Judd - already starting to head around the corner of the house with Mateo - looked back.

"That's where we're goin', but we don't want the victims in there any longer than they have been already," the Texan drawled, gesturing them onward. "It'll only be a minute." 

Matt glanced at Sylvie, who was frowning slightly at the exchange, then shrugged and let go of Strickland so they could head inside. The fire in the kitchen gradually lost its velocity as its supply of fuel petered out, making it less dangerous for them to duck through. Eddie - having been a firefighter with the 118 - started getting the hose lines ready even before Judd and Mateo came back around the corner to run them.

The rest of the rescue was a blur. There weren't any victims to be found, until a small white sedan pulled into the driveway and the driver got out. "Oh my god! My house!" was how she decided to announce her presence. Matt - out of the house by that point - herded her out of the way again, explaining what they knew in a low voice. Within minutes, she was driving away again, this time to her parents' house.

"Sorry we took all the fun," Casey whispered as he passed Brett with a shrug.

"Talk to Owen, will you? That didn't seem quite right," she replied, catching his arm long enough to see him nod before letting go so he could get back into the Engine rig. Eddie went ahead and drove them away, but Judd insisted they stick around to put out hot spots as they flared up. Unlike Chicago - where they only had to wait thirty minutes - he demanded that they stay for an hour to be safe. Matt shrugged and settled into his seat, scanning the windows for signs of heat waves. This was always his least favorite part of a rescue.

/^/^/^/

He closed the trunk a little more violently than he intended to and circled around the car to the driver's side. Or he would have. If he'd barreled over the two women standing in his way. When he lifted his gaze from their knees to their faces, he froze. 

"Fancy seeing you here. Making yourself right at home, aren't you?" Kidd sneered, taking an uncomfortable step closer. He matched it with a step back, which made his hip clip the left taillight of the car.

"Well, seeing as this is my home now, yes. Yes I am," he replied, just barely managing to keep the tremor from his voice as she stepped even closer. Dawson appeared behind him so he couldn't keep retreating.

"How could you do this to me, Kelly, baby? To us? We could've figured everything out and been happy," Stella entreated him, the derisiveness dropping out of her voice as she begged. He swallowed hard enough that his throat clicked loudly.

"No we couldn't," he whispered, glancing over his shoulder at Gabby, who hadn't moved. When he turned back, Kidd was barely an inch away from him and he flinched backward. Dawson's hands grabbed onto his biceps, keeping him rooted in the shade of the tree, where no one could really see them.

"You don't even want to try?" Stella murmured, leaning in so her lips brushed his ear. He tried and failed to pull his head away, stopped by one of her hands wrapping around the side of his head. His breath was coming in quick gasps as the panic set in and she shushed him, firmly pressing a finger to his lips. He could smell her nail polish, and it made his head pound.

"Please..." he begged, blue eyes alight with terror. She misread it.

"So you do want me back?" she whispered, pressing her body to his and capturing his chapped lips in hers.

He voiced a small cry, twisting against her as her hands slid into his shirt. She pulled back only long enough to take in more air, nipping at his lips hard enough to make them bleed. He shook his head violently enough to get free, ducking his head so she couldn't reengage. "Please. Stay out of my life," he gasped. With his eyes glued to the ground, he couldn't have seen it coming in time to defend himself.

The first punch dislocated his jaw. He collapsed sideways against the car from the shock of it, his eyes going wide. She tutted in disappointment. "You should've listened to me, baby," she crooned. "Then I wouldn't have to do this."

And his world went black.

Chapter Text

He came around with a pounding headache. His breath rattled in his chest painfully, even though he was breathing fast and shallow to keep the pain to a minimum. He wasn't in the parking lot anymore. In fact, he wasn't anywhere near it, much less his car. Which meant that Dawson and Kidd had probably moved him. The right leg of his pants was soaked in a disquieting mixture of blood and liquids he wasn't sure he wanted to identify. His jaw was no longer dislocated, although - based on the throbbing pain - it hadn't been reset correctly. He could feel the bruises blooming under his skin, and there were cuts in places he didn't remember being cut, which meant the two women hadn't stopped when he had finally lost consciousness.  

He managed to labor to his feet. Eventually. He had to turn almost all the way around just to look either way for a clue to where he was, since he couldn't turn his head very far without pain. Making up his mind, he hobbled toward the closer street, keeping his head down to avoid anyone's gaze. He got lucky, somehow. The girls hadn't taken his wallet, and there was a motel a few blocks away. He quietly checked out a room, took the elevator up to the third floor, opened the door, made sure it locked behind him, closed all the blinds and curtains in the small suite, tucked himself - shoes and all - into the bed and burrowed into the blankets, and fell asleep even though it was still before noon. His phone was vibrating under his hip when he woke up. It was from Owen and he almost picked it up, but decided against it and turned off the sound, staring at the number of missed calls and anxious texts before tossing it aside and staring at the wall.  

He didn't know what to do, but he did know this was all his fault.  

/^/^/^/   

Owen paced anxiously as his call once again went to voicemail, this time after five rings. He almost cursed, but then looked over at Matt and decided against it. If he lost his cool, everyone else would panic.  

"Any luck?" he asked gently. Casey shook his head, valiantly battling tears. "Okay. Okay. Have you tried tracking his phone's location again?"  

"Not yet," Matt admitted. "Sylvie's phone is better at that. Dunno why."  

"Can you ask her to? It didn't go straight to voicemail that time. It rang out," Owen assured him. "I think he turned his phone back on."  

Matt's eyes brightened and he nodded enthusiastically, hurrying from the office to find his girlfriend. Strand sighed, and pressed the call button again.  

/^/^/^/   

"Sylvie, slow down. Breathe. What's the matter?" Nolan interrupted the near-incoherent babbling from the other end of the phone. There was a pregnant pause, then a short sob.  

" Kel's missing. He won't answer his phone. He just went out to run errands, and told Owen he didn't need an escort from Kidd and Dawson, and now he's gone and we don't know where he is and we don't know what to do and - " she descended into panic again and Price sighed, rubbing his eyes, looking up from the phone on the table in front of him. Boden stood across from him, his face horrified.  

"They're in Austin?" he breathed. Frank - at Nolan's shoulder - nodded tiredly. "Do you think they took him?"  

" It's the best explanation we have right now, " Owen interjected. " We're still looking, and his phone is back on, so we'll see how much longer he's missing. "  

"Copy that. Would you mind heading to the airport in about an hour? I have a couple men heading down to help the three of them settle," Boden asked.  

" Sure. I'll see what I can do. Who am I looking for? "  

/^/^/^/   

"Hey, Tonio! Anything yet?" Jay called over to Dawson's desk, leaning back in his chair and cracking his stiff back. Antonio looked up from the screen in front of him, his face haggard.  

"Yeah," he mumbled. Voight - who was just coming out of his office - changed course to look over his shoulder.  

"What am I looking at?" he grumbled.  

"Unexplained injuries," Dawson summarized, gesturing for Halstead to join them. "Going back to only about a month after Sev and Kidd got together."  

"Seriously?" Jay snapped, grabbing the file and peering down at the letters on the page. "It says he kept saying they were from earlier calls."  

"Who backed him up most of the time, though? And what did the others say about it?" Antonio pointed out. Jay flipped through a few more pages before he finally found the names of the others who had given statements.  

"Kidd and Gabby. And everyone else said there was nothing recent to cause the injuries," he admitted. Voight snatched the file from his hand and glared down at the names.  

"Who's up for visiting Austin?" he eventually growled, looking between them.  

/^/^/^/   

Herrmann squinted against the glaringly bright sunlight as soon as he and Cruz stepped out of the airport. There was an Engine rig waiting in the line, lights flashing but sirens conspicuously silent. Captain Owen Strand was leaning against its side, eyes narrowed at his phone in frustration. Cruz glanced at Herrmann, who shrugged and started walking that way.  

"Gentlemen," someone said behind them. They turned in unison to see a young man with wavy black hair and familiar green eyes.  

"TK Strand, I assume?" Herrmann asked, returning the greeting. TK nodded, glancing over their shoulders at his father, who had taken to pacing with the phone to his ear.  

"Kelly's phone is finally ringing, instead of going straight to voicemail, but he still isn't answering. Sylvie and Matt are trying to track the location, but it seems like he turned it off. That, or Kidd and Dawson found him and did the favor for him," he explained. Cruz nodded.  

"We can give it a try. See if he'll answer the phone for someone he doesn't know is in town," Herrmann offered. TK's eyes brightened and he nodded enthusiastically, leading them over to the rig. Owen hung up just in time to greet them, the usual warmth almost completely gone from his voice.  

"Still nothing," they heard him whisper to TK as they clambered into their seats.  

/^/^/^/   

It was a different ringtone than it had been before that woke him up. His pulse pounded painfully in his head, made worse by the alarm and the sunlight that streamed across his face. He managed to roll over with a groan, picking up the phone with a wooden hand and squinting until the screen lost enough blurriness for him to read the caller ID; Cruz .  

"Hey, Joe," he croaked.  

" You sound like shit ," Cruz observed eloquently.  

"Yeah, well. I feel like it, too," he grumbled, rolling away from the window so his eyes stopped burning so badly.  

" Did I catch you at a bad time? " Joe asked.  

"Don't really have a better time. Whaddya need?" he replied cryptically, focusing on keeping the slurring from his voice.  

" Just, wondering where you are. I was gonna ask you about your new ‘house, " his former 2IC offered by way of explanation.  

"Hotel. What do you want to know?" he deflected.  

" Where's your office? "  

"Don't have one yet."  

" Oh ."  

They lapsed into silence until Kelly's phone chirped to tell him that there was another call coming in and he made his excuses to hang up. He only realized afterward that he had stayed on long enough for someone to trace the call.  

" Fuck ," he whispered, hanging up on Owen again and then tossing his phone aside.  

/^/^/^/   

" Nolan. How's Chicago going? " McCoy asked, like Frank hadn't already been sending text updates.  

"Well, Squad and Truck aren't killing each other anymore, and Cruz and Herrmann just went down to Austin to help find Severide," Price huffed, scrubbing a hand over his face.  

" How's Sylvie holding up? " Samantha pitched in.  

"As well as she can be, I guess. She's been a little worried about finding Kelly, so I haven't heard from her recently," Nolan sighed.  

" He's missing? What happened? " Maroun pressed.  

"He told Captain Strand he was going out to run a couple errands but didn't want anyone to go with him, and then he never came back. Cruz just called him and he actually picked up this time, so Officer Reyes is finding his location now. We think the girls found him, and it didn't go well, but we don't know for sure yet."  

There was silence from the other end of the line for a moment, then a rustle and hushed whispers so quiet that he couldn't make out the words. He waited patiently, until his phone notified him that there was an incoming call and he hung up, sending Sam a text to explain himself and assure them both that he would keep them posted.  

"Price," he droned automatically, before he ever even looked at the caller ID.  

" I think you mean Cosgrove-Price, " his husband's voice retorted immediately.  

"Frank! Any luck?" Nolan replied, his expression brightening, and then falling again when the automatic response was a heavy sigh.  

" We found him, but he's refusing to open the door and they don't have a reason to break in, " Frank explained.  

"I thought you didn't have to have a reason if you believed there was someone inside that was hurt or a threat to themselves," Price asked, suddenly confused.  

" Nolan. Baby. That's one of the exceptions to needing a warrant. I mean he's alive and responsive, so emergency personnel don't have a reason to go in ," Frank reminded him patiently.  

"Oh. Are Matt and Sylvie there to help?" Nolan suggested.  

" Owen apparently just left to go back and get them. I'm not optimistic, though. He checked into a hotel with cash sometime this morning and hasn't left the room since then ," Cosgrove replied. " I suggest you talk to Cruz or someone else. That's all I know. "  

"Okay. Love you. Talk later, alright?"  

" I'll hold you to it. "  

/^/^/^/   

He knew at least three of them were outside the room's door, waiting to take him back to the firehouse, but he didn't want them to see him like this. He'd taken four showers since he'd woken up again, and still felt disgusting. Having to put the same disgusting pants back on after each one probably didn't help matters, but he couldn't convince himself to leave them off. They reminded him of what had happened, but at least they were another layer of protection from the elements and people in general.  

"Kel?" Sylvie's voice asked through the door. "It's just me and Owen and Matt. Everyone else is gone. Can you talk to me?"  

He shuffled over and sat down against the door with a sigh. "I'm sorry," he croaked. "I shoulda had someone go with me. I'm sorry, Cap."  

"It's... Owen. And you couldn't have known they would attack you. It's alright. We get it," Strand responded gently. He heard at least one hand brush against the flimsy door. "Can we come in?"  

Kelly hesitated briefly, looking down at himself self-consciously. "Give me a minute," he mumbled, barely loud enough for them to hear. It took almost thirty seconds just to get back on his feet and unlock the door, and then another ninety to shuffle to the undisturbed bed. He swaddled himself in blankets so most of him was hidden, then called out that it was okay for them to come in.  

Matt opened the door quietly, peeking in to check on him even before the others could step past him. He kept his face turned away, hoping to hide the bruises and the blood that still oozed from some of the deeper cuts. Sylvie hurried to his side starting to hug him and then pulling away with a frown. She didn't get far before he pulled her in and buried his face against her chest.  

“Oh, Kelly,” she whispered, shushing him gently as her hand brushed through his damp hair. His arms tightened around her, muffling his cries further. Matt knelt beside him, trying to pull the comforter away to check on him. Immediately, he scrambled backward with a hoarse shout, his eyes bloodshot and puffy. He narrowly avoided falling from the bed, hastily pulling the blankets and sheets closer to himself. Owen caught him, helping him regain his balance and then backing up to give him space.  

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled once his breath came back and his trembling had subsided slightly.  

“This isn’t your fault. It’s theirs. We’ll figure it out,” Strand assured him grimly. "I promise you that much. You deserve the best, and that isn't what they're giving you. Okay?" 

Kelly looked back over his shoulder, tears welling in his eyes as he saw the truth in Owen's, but then he nodded. Sylvie came around and carefully hugged him again. 

"Let's get you cleaned up and changed, okay?" Matt murmured, putting down the backpack Severide hadn't even realized he'd brought. "You've been out all day, and they obviously didn't leave you untouched. You'll feel better. I promise." 

As he took the bag into the bathroom, which was still humid from his recent shower, it did not escape his attention that all the clothes belonged to someone else, from Judd's sweatshirt to TK's baseball cap and from Mateo's shirt (yes, too small). no, he didn't care) to Matt's pants and Carlos' shoes. Whether or not he cried at the blatant affection was his secret to keep. 

Chapter Text

Kelly knew already that he was a waste of time. It didn't help that everyone was wasting even more time assuring him he wasn't. He'd locked himself in his new office (repurposed closet while they shuffled around the actual offices so he could move) to work on the last reports from Chicago, which he emailed to Owen to be sent to Boden. Even the mind-numbingly dull paperwork couldn't distract him from his thoughts, though, so he ended up staring into space with the pen he'd been using held loosely between limp fingers.

The knock on his door startled him so badly he fell out of the chair and smacked his head on the desk on his way to the floor. Already occupied with the pounding headache from before, he didn't even notice how hard he hit. He scrambled to his feet and cracked open the door. Tommy was standing there, with her two daughters shifting behind her. He frowned and opened the door wider so he could slip out into the hallway with them.

"Captain Vega? What do you need?" he prompted. She sighed heavily.

"I was wondering. Would you be opposed to having Evie and Izzy stay in your office today? Owen and TK have taken over the room they usually stay in," she explained. He cocked an eyebrow at that, but nodded, doing a mental inventory to make sure there was nothing dangerous in his office.

"Yeah, they can stay in here. I'll leave the door open, too," he offered. She gave him a wry smile for that, which he did his best to return.

"Thank you. You're a lifesaver, Kelly," she called over her shoulder as she hurried away. He shook his head with a disagreeing look on his face, but followed the girls back into his office nonetheless. At least he could do work. He'd get back to rescues soon, he told himself, not sure if he believed that Owen would actually hold onto him after all of this shit. He sighed and sat down at his desk, watching the twins play even as he returned to the reports.

/^/^/^/

Halstead was awake before Voight when the wheels of the plane hit the tarmac, reaching over to smack Antonio on the back of the head to get him moving. Adam - across the aisle with Al and Hailey - didn't need any sort of coaxing, leading the way down the aisle with the rest of the Intelligence Unit trailing behind him like (very exhausted) ducklings. There was only one APD cruiser in the arrivals line by the time they got outside, and an officer was leaning against its side, but stepped forward to meet them.

"Chicago Intelligence, right?" he asked. At Voight's nod, he mumbled something to himself (it sounded like 'there's more of them than I thought') and then stood a little straighter. "My name is Carlos Reyes. I work pretty closely with the 126, since I'm the captain's future son-in-law, and I've had a few conversations with Lieutenant Severide since his arrival in Austin, and I've talked to him since he went missing. It's like two different people." 

Halstead nodded, remaining silent as Voight introduced each of them by name. He was closer to Severide than almost everyone else there. Except maybe the Carlos kid, now. He almost cursed at that realization, but bit his tongue to lodge it in his throat. Hailey raised her eyebrows at him nonetheless and he cringed slightly, realizing his frustration must've shown on his face.

Later, he mouthed, shaking his head. She nodded and turned back to Reyes.

/^/^/^/

Matt glanced sidelong at Sylvie, who was watching Kelly with a furrow in between her eyebrows. Kelly, who had been found only a few days before but insisted on being part of the 126's rescues. Kelly, who had all but ghosted them since they'd patched him up in that seedy hotel room and given him everyone's hastily contributed clothes. Kelly, who was smiling wanly as he followed Izzy and Evie out of his office, his expression strained and just a little too forced. Kelly, who glanced up and saw them watching and immediately turned away, his shoulders hunching self-consciously as Vega greeted her daughters enthusiastically and thanked him for watching them, frowning slightly at his mumbled comment, turning to look at them.

I have to do something useful? she mouthed. Matt's frown deepened and he glanced over in time to see Severide walking away. 

Without hesitation, he grabbed Sylvie's arm and all but dragged her after Kelly toward the closet that served as his cramped office. "We are staging an intervention," he informed her, leaving no room to get an argument in edgewise. Not that she really tried, allowing him to pull her along with only a shrug in response.

Severide hadn't closed his door when he returned to his desk, and he didn't lift his head from the desk when their shadows filled the doorway. As Sylvie sidled closer, she could hear the hitch in his breathing that meant he was trying to hide his tears. She perched on the arm of his chair and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, rubbing gently at the knots of tension she found. He turned and buried his face in her stomach, his own arms loosely wrapping around her waist. Matt gently closed the door, then came over to sit on the desk, watching Brett stroke her free hand through short silver hair, her big blue eyes focused solely on the broken man in her arms. There was just enough space in the chair for Casey to maneuver until he was wrapped partially around Severide, who relaxed into their touch almost immediately. His breathing slowly evened out and - for the first time since he'd woken in that alleyway and made his way to the hotel where they'd found him - he sank into a deep, peaceful, truly restful sleep.

/^/^/^/

Herrmann looked up from the papers in his hand as he approached the door to Severide's temporary office, checking to see if the door was still open. It wasn't, and Joe was sitting in a chair that definitely hadn't been there before, reading through his own stack of paperwork. "Is he okay?" the older of the two asked, gesturing over Cruz's shoulder.

"As far as I know, he is. Casey and Brett are in there with him. I just didn't want to let him have an unwelcome visitor, so I made myself into his personal door guard. Did you need to see him or something?"

"No, not really. I was just gonna go in and check on him," Christopher sighed, pulling up his own chair on the other side of the doorway, right as Sylvie came out into the hallway.

"He's asleep right now. We'll stay in there with him, but can you just make sure no one comes in until the alarms go off or one of us tells you otherwise?" she whispered. Herrmann nodded immediately, opening his pen and settling deeper into the chair.

"No problem," Joe stage-whispered back. She nodded and retreated back into the room without another word.

/^/^/^/

"Alright, y'all," Judd drawled, loudly enough to grab the attention of everyone on the apparatus floor, which meant most of the 126 firefighters and paramedics could hear him. "Whenever you ain't out on a call, I want y'all looking for the two women that did this to Lieutenant Severide. Everyone know what they look like?"

No one shook their heads, remembering Kidd and Dawson from when they had come to the firehouse and punched Owen in the face for standing up for their resident (oblivious-to-their-feelings) polycule. Judd nodded, satisfied, right as Mateo piped up. "I have something from Kidd's Insta over here."

Within seconds, they were all swarming behind him, peering over his head and shoulders to read the text on his screen.

AITAH for following my boyfriend out of town?

He didn't give me any warning whatsoever, and moved O.O.S. We're both firefighters,

and he moved to a new firehouse, but he had the transfer go over our C.O.'s head so that

no one would figure out until after he left. He didn't tell anyone where he was going, and

changed his phone number, so we had to wait until his new C.O. called mine, and for him to 

call the two faggots he's trying to get with and tell them where he went. Since we never officially 

broke up, I went out to try to find him, and brought my girl best friend with me, but he's been 

avoiding us since we arrived. The one time we actually talked, he just ended up yelling at 

me that it was over, without telling me why, and he must have told his new firehouse some

sort of tall tale because they kicked me out before I could really ask why. I'm still in town and trying to

figure out how to find him and ask him without the firehouse there to interfere, and without dealing

with the two faggots he's cheating with.

So, AITAH?

"That's not what happened!" Marjan protested hotly, jabbing her finger at the screen as she turned away and narrowly avoiding Mateo's head. 

"At least we know they're still in Austin," Buck grumbled, folding his arms. He didn't relax even when Eddie wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"She can't call Casey and Sylvie that!" TK shouted. Grace, who had just come in when they started reading, pulled him away from the group a few paces and pulled him into a hug so he could cool off.

"Yes, you're the fucking asshole! How is that even a question?" Nancy spat, trembling with rage. Owen reached out in silence and opened the comments out of curiosity. There, at the top, was the other half of the pair they were tracking down.

gab.daw.g10309:  no grl!!!!! he's the AH not you. He shouldnt have cheated and def not with 2 ppl at 

the same time!!!!!!!!

lost.boiz666: u no calling the two ppl that counts as a hate crime right

stell.ar4321 (replying to: lost.boiz666): ur missing the point. hes cheating on me

lost.boiz666 (replying to: stell.ar4321): do u have proof of a relationship btween them tho

casey.closed;)51 (replying to: stell.ar4321): we literally just followed him to make sure he's okay

you didnt part on great terms (u literally abused him). theres nothing going on between us, yes ur the AH,

no ur never getting back with him, no the firehouse wont let you anywhere near him, no u shouldnt have 

punched our new co, and no ur not a firefighter anymore

casey.closed;)51 (replying to lost.boiz666):  also thx for standing up for us im mentally buying u a drink rn

we needed that

ks.my.a$$.xx (replying to gab.daw.g10309): would it kill u to keep ur nose out of our business and stop following

me

f.my.life17 (replying to ks.my.a$$.xx): damn. tell her, man. sounds to me like shes the AH and you did wut

you had to

gab.daw.g10309 (replying to ks.my.a$$.xx): @f.my.life17 stay out of things you dont understand

and yes, for ur knowledge, it would, @ks.my.a$$.xx

ks.my.a$$.xx: great how soon can you do it then <3

"Holy shit, Lieutenant!" Paul observed eloquently. Mateo's jaw dropped as he finished reading the exchange, and Owen pulled out his phone to make his own comment.

OW.my.head911:  well kids this has been fun, but I would like to confirm that none of you condone murder,

correct?

and next time @stell.ar4321 tell the whole story. and don't punch me in the face for doing my job better than

you ever will. btw, how did u enjoy being demoted?

oh and @gab.daw.g10309 maybe u should be the one to stay out of things u don't understand, bc this is much

deeper than i think ur shallow mind can handle

Immediately, his phone started blowing up with furious responses from both Stella and Gabby. The only responses from Kelly and Matt were laughing emojis and hearts, which did nothing to calm the two women. It took a moment to realize there was a comment thrown in there from Sylvie that had them all lapsing back into quiet rage afterward, although it was satisfying to see a bunch of strangers leap into the attack on the two women that followed. An attack that Severide and Casey opted against getting involved in.

sylver.angel8 (replying to OW.my.head911):  careful u might break them

then again, thats ok after what they did to ks.my.a$$ in an alley when all he was doing was getting groceries for

the firehouse. which all spoiled btw bc its so hot outside so thx for that @gab.daw.g10309 and @stell.ar4321 u wasted

money and time and food. oh and ks.my.a$$ is fine, thx for checking in. i mean honestly, if u want to get back 

with him, im sure ur worried about him. then again u knocked him out in an alley where no one would hear and used his 

unconscious body for ur own gratification. we arent stupid, unlike a couple of very specific ppl here, and my brother is an EADA

working the case, and we have a shit ton of friends at more than on police station working on bringing you in. In fact, good luck

dealing with THREE angry precincts, you dumb bitches.

my.fave.word.is.NOlan33 (replying to sylver.angel8): go get 'em, sylv. ur brother says to say hello, but hes a little busy with 

the file to pick up his phone and see why im so proud of u. he wants u to know hes got a pretty good case so now he just 

needs the defendants.

eada.NOt.today09 (replying to my.fave.word.is.NOlan33):  liar. im right here. the file's already ready. and airtight.

f.my.life17 (replying to eada.NOt.today09): wut does that mean? like it means u cant lose?

eada.NOt.today09 (replying to f.my.life17): thats exactly what it means. and i dont even have the victims statements yet.

f.my.life17 (replying to eada.NOt.today09): damn. i almost wish them luck

sylver.angel8 (replying to f.my.life17): dont they dont deserve it

"Okay. Time to find our defendants, no?" Owen interrupted before they could keep scrolling and get immersed in another argument. Mateo shot him a wicked grin and put the phone back into his pocket.

"Absolutely, sir," Tommy agreed with far too much cheer for such a situation. "It's time for Lieutenant Severide to be allowed to live."

/^/^/^/

Owen looked up from his computer screen at the sharp rap of knuckles on his doorframe. Carlos was already halfway inside before he even registered who he was looking at. He stood up to greet his future son-in-law, gesturing toward an open chair and then sitting next to him instead of returning to his position behind his desk.

"What can I do for you, Officer Reyes?" he asked, recognizing that Carlos was still on shift. The title still got him a disgruntled look, though.

"I thought you should know you have more backup now. The Chicago P.D. Intelligence Unit just took over one of our conference rooms. Didn't give us much warning when they said they were heading down," the younger man responded, watching as his words sank in and Owen grinned at him.

"That's fantastic news. We'll find them faster now," he pointed out when the smile wasn't returned. Carlos sighed heavily.

"I know. Hypothetically, you're right. But they aren't the easiest to work with-" he began.

"Neither are we, and yet here we are," Owen cut in.

"-and they saw the Instagram exchange from earlier," Carlos finished as though he hadn't spoken.

"I take it they weren't happy?" Strand observed.

"No, they enjoyed it. They had just been wishing y'all had a bit more tact with all the cards we have at our disposal," Reyes sighed heavily.

"If it helps, I don't think they really registered everything that was being said or they would've been a bit more careful themselves," Owen pointed out patiently. "I'll see what I can do about making sure no one makes it worse, though."

/^/^/^/

"Chief? Can we have a word?" Nolan asked from the doorway of Boden's office back in Chicago, Frank standing at his left shoulder. Wallace nodded, gesturing for them to come in and close the door.

"What can I do for you?" he prompted once they two younger men sat down.

"We know we haven't been here in Chicago very long, but we were wondering if you would be opposed to letting us go down to Austin to get a bit more involved," Frank replied, glancing at his husband for editing. Nolan just nodded encouragingly. "That way we can also be there for our sister and give Matt and Kelly a few more familiar faces without continuing to send your firefighters away."

"Well," Boden started, then stopped. It was Nolan's turn to glance anxiously at Frank, who squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Well, I certainly won't stop you. Give everyone down there my best. Except the girls. You can give them my worst."

Chapter Text

Nolan led Frank off the plane with his prosecutor's air about him, the armor of his three-piece suit firmly in place and strengthening with each confident stride forward. Their luggage came down onto the carousel about the same time that they arrived and they wasted no time heading for the doors to try to find a ride. Cruz and Herrmann cut them off when they tried to call an Uber, pointing toward their rental car instead. Without a word, the prosecutor and the detective climbed into the backseat, eager to get to the firehouse and start getting the story together. When they pulled up to an actual house instead, the two Chicago firefighters got twin warning looks.

"Relax. We just got off shift, and everybody came here to help keep an eye out. If they thought there wasn't space for a sleepover last time, they'll be thrilled that now there's four more of us," Cruz assured them. 

"Where is 'here,' exactly?" Nolan asked icily.

"Captain Strand's house. Come on in," Herrmann replied, already closing his car door. Cruz happily followed, with the other two trailing behind cautiously.

Inside, the bustle of multiple conversations combined with the running commentary of the television provided a comfortable drone of background noise. Almost instinctively, most of the 126 (and Carlos) and the Intelligence Unit had formed a circle of bodies around Matt, Sylvie, and Kelly, who were standing be one end of the couch talking to Voight and Jay. Every eye within sight turned to assess them when they came in. Unsurprisingly, it was Brett who broke the almost-silence that had descended on them immediately.

"Nolan!" she squealed in delight, hurrying over to throw her arms around her older brother. Frank pulled an insulted face right before Matt engulfed him in a hug as well. Kelly hung back, a small smile gracing his lips as he held their drinks, although he carefully kept from making eye contact. As it was, both of the newcomers could see the cuts and bruises on his face from the beating he had taken, and his avoidance of contact with anyone except Owen, Brett, and Casey told them almost everything else they needed to know about what had happened that day. Frank was released first and Matt clapped him on the shoulder, moving away to get them drinks.

"Hey, Sev," the homicide detective greeted the other third of the polycule. "Who is everybody here?" He carefully avoided asking Kelly if he was okay (or any variation thereof) so that the fire lieutenant didn't retreat back into a shell of his own creation.

"That's Owen Strand. He's the Captain, and he rebuilt the 126 when he transferred here from New York after an explosion wiped out everyone but Judd. That's TK, Owen's son. He's talking to and engaged to Carlos Reyes, who's an APD officer. Over there's Judd Ryder, the sole survivor from the previous 126. Next to him is his wife, Grace, who's a 9-1-1 dispatcher we work with a lot. That's Mateo Chavez, former probie of the 126, and pretty much the class clown. He's dating a paramedic named Nancy Gillian. She's over there talking to Captain Tommy Vega. The two younger girls are Evie and Izzy, Tommy's twin daughters. I'm sure you've acquainted yourselves with CPD Intelligence already, so I won't go through all of them. That's Marjan Marwani. She's pretty big on social media. You've probably heard of her. Used to be a firefighter out of Miami. That's Evan Buckley, but nobody calls him that. His name is just Buck, and he's dating Eddie Diaz. They were originally working in Los Angeles with the 118, but transferred down here after a... conflict of opinions with one of the older members. Eddie's son, Christopher, is over there with the twins. He's really sweet and a lot of fun. If you can meet him before you leave, do so. That's Paul Strickland. He's actually from Chicago, so we've worked with him before, which is nice. And whenever he decides to make an appearance, the Bernese Mountain Dog is Buttercup. Really chill, really sweet. And... yeah. That's everyone," Severide rattled off, looking over at him to make sure he was following, and chuckling slightly at the deer-in-headlights expression on his face. "It's okay if you didn't get that. Most of them don't know you, so they'll probably introduce themselves anyway."

"Thanks anyway," Nolan said from behind Frank. Kelly nodded and looked away again, just as his phone buzzed with an incoming message from the new Austin-Chicago groupchat.

Boss: img1.jpg

[image description: a view of Owen's living room, taken from where someone was sitting on the counter. It's filled to the brim with people, all of whom appear to be enjoying themselves, except Severide, who is just visible next to the couch, looking lost.]

KS_my_@$$: im adding nolan and frank to the chat

[Frank Cosgrove-Price and Nolan Cosgrove-Price have entered the chat]

[KS_my_@$$ changed Frank Cosgrove's name to Homie_cide]

Homie_cide: wtf kel

KS_my_@$$: :).

[KS_my_@$$ changed Nolan Price's name to Iceman]

[Homie_cide changed their name to Cops_grove]

KS_my_@$$: :(

Cops_grove:  deal

His phone continued to vibrate, but he put it into his pocket anyway, weaving through the crowd until he reached the French doors and slipped outside into the fresh air. A few minutes later, he heard them open again and Matt joined him, offering a fresh bottle of beer, which he took gratefully. Neither of them said anything, standing in comfortable silence for a while. The noise from inside was muffled enough that they could hear the nightlife waking up all around them. Neither of them spoke, waiting patiently. They didn't have to wait long before the doors opened for a third time and Sylvie came out with a glass of water and a cookie in hand, although she immediately found a place to put them down when she saw the look on Kelly's face, wrapping him up in her arms and tugging him down to bury his face against her shirt. He vented a trembling sigh, the tension in his shoulders bleeding away under Matt's careful ministrations.

"Come on. Let's get inside and get settled before all the good spots are taken, okay?" she eventually whispered. Kelly nodded, taking another second before straightening and following the two of them back into the house.

/^/^/^/

Stella watched as Severide returned inside with Matthew and Brett, bile rising in her throat. Gabby, perched next to her, sighed and shifted positions in a fruitless attempt to get comfortable on the tree branch she occupied. "Anything?" she asked impatiently. Stella pulled the binoculars away from her face and scowled.

"They were outside for a few minutes, but they just went back in. At least I didn't have to see them make out," she grumbled.

"Has everyone else started leaving yet?"

"No. I'm not even sure whose house it is at this point."

She lifted the binoculars again, trying to see beyond the French doors and into the house beyond. Both of them were so focused on the house that they didn't hear his approach from behind them. "Is that your house, ladies?"

She saw Gabby turn slightly to look below them, the blood draining from her face. "No, officer. We're trying to check in on her boyfriend," Dawson squeaked.

"Why couldn't you go up and ask? You're trespassing on private property and those binoculars could be seen as a tool for stalking, both of which are legal offenses. The owner of that house has security cameras all over his property. You're on the footage almost four hours ago coming up into the tree, before anyone else arrived, which is why he called me. So I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

"Are we under arrest?" Stella asked, making no move to get down from the tree. The officer - Reyes, according to his name badge - sighed heavily, planting his hands on his hips.

"Not yet, no. But I have to give you an official warning," he huffed. She nodded and climbed down, following Dawson, who had been closer to the trunk of the tree. Once she hit the ground, her hand delved into her purse under the pretense of putting the binoculars away and wrapped around a familiar canister instead.

He cried out loudly as the pepper spray made contact with his eyes. While he was distracted, the two women bolted toward their rental car, which was parked further down the street.

/^/^/^/

Owen opened the door cautiously when he heard the frantic knocking. Severide - sleeping lightly on the couch wrapped up in Matt and Sylvie - was very suddenly awake. Carlos was leaning heavily against the doorframe, his eyes horribly bloodshot and filled with tears. Sweat was soaking into his collar and his whole body was trembling. Before Owen could even react, Kelly had extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and hauled Reyes inside, guiding him toward the kitchen and helping him out of his uniform until he was wearing only a white undershirt on his upper body. They pulled out an empty chair from the table, careful not to wake anyone sleeping around it, and set it next to the kitchen sink.

"Soft washcloth," Kelly requested from Owen in a whisper. "Make sure TK is still asleep. We don't want him freaking out and waking everyone." 

The captain of the 126 nodded and hurried away. Behind him, Kelly started checking under the sink and in the fridge. "What d'you need?" Carlos asked, his voice hoarse.

"Preferably? Milk, Aloe Vera, saline solution, the works," Severide replied, resurfacing triumphantly with the milk and pouring two glasses, one of which he handed to the young police officer. "Drink this. Slowly. Swish it around your mouth. Try to get as much spray out of your mouth and throat as you can." Carlos nodded, squinting up at his face as he checked his eyes again. A shadow fell over them and Kelly turned slightly to see Voight standing there, just as Owen appeared behind the police sergeant, holding up the cloths. "Do you have aloe? And saline?"

"Yeah. Hang on," the elder Strand whispered, passing off the cloth and turning away again. Hank sighed and folded his arms.

"Do I even want to know why you know how to treat pepper spray without a medical professional?" he grumbled. Kelly's hands stilled where they had been soaking the washcloth in a combination of cold water and milk and his eyes drifted from his task to the floor.

"Google. I had to learn somehow unless I didn't want to work the next shift unable to see," he mumbled. Eventually. By that point, Voight (yes, Voight) had sidled over and wrapped his arms around the firefighter's shoulders comfortingly.

"I'm sorry I asked. Let's just focus on Carlos here for now, all right?" he said, looking down at the younger man until he looked up and nodded.

/^/^/^/

Matt woke with a start at TK's alarmed screech the next morning, as did the rest of the household. Carlos was sitting at the kitchen table, squinting at his phone through eyes that were red and puffy. The skin around them was littered with the fading remnants of pepper spray irritation burns. Hoarse coughs emitted from the miserable police officer on occasion. With TK's worried bustling and the riot of everyone waking up, Matt didn't see Kelly at first. But then a gap appeared and he saw the silver-haired lieutenant blearily lifting his head from the tabletop and looking around. The space in front of him was covered in an assortment of odd materials, from an empty jug of milk to a half-full bottle of Aloe Vera and a soiled washcloth. Owen was leaning against the counter beside the stove, tiredly watching the pancakes he was making cook. There was already a full pot of coffee in the machine, along with enough mugs for everyone. Voight was lounging in another chair around the table, scrolling through an article on his phone. Sylvie labored to her feet, pulling him up after her.

"So," she began once they were standing in the crude circle instinctively formed by Carlos, Owen, Hank, and Kelly. All four of them glanced over at her guiltily, although she hadn't actually said anything yet. "Suppose you can convince a judge to give you a warrant yet?"

"We got it last night. We just have to go pick up the hard-copy if we want it," Severide yawned, stretching in his seat until his back popped loudly.

"We want it," Frank decreed, pouring himself a mugful of coffee and overhearing their conversation. Wiry arms wrapped around Sylvie from behind and she leaned back into her brother's touch serenely, feeling his laughter vibrate through them. They would have lapsed back into silence if Halstead hadn't piped up from the living room.

"Kidd's active on Instagram again."

Immediately, half of the people in the house had their phones out, not knowing that the exact same thing was happening in Chicago.

stell.ar4321: for those who have been following my updates, here's one for you--

my boyfriend sent out some kind of bodyguard to scare me and my bgf last night, and yet he

claims he wants us to just leave him alone. which one is it?

There were a few muffled sounds of annoyance and protest, and then a flood of replies.

guardian.angle.uwu (replying to stell.ar4321):  he's a police officer. u were trespassing on

our fire cap's property, and he's a good friend (engaged to said fire cap's son). and then u maced him

in the face and ran.

lost.boiz666 (replying to guardian.angle.uwu): damn. she really doesn't know how to stop, huh?

gab.daw.g10309 (replying to lost.boiz666): she shouldn't have to. this is all her bf's fault

ks.my.a$$.xx (replying to gab.daw.g10309):  how, exactly, is this on me if she's the one abusing me,

and trespassing, and assaulting an officer of the law? and if she wants to blame this on me and make

me out to be the bad guy, y is she calling me her bf and trying to chase after me?

bluejay.not.bluebird3 (replying to ks.my.a$$.xx): so in TX, that's a maximum of 2-20 years plus $10K

for domestic abuse, up to a year for trespassing, 2-10 years plus $10K for stalking, 2-10 years plus $10K 

for assaulting a police officer, and a year and $4K for resisting arrest. and we have ways of making those 

charges stick

eada.NOt.today09 (replying to bluejay.not.bluebird3):  i did say i made the case airtight

sylver.angel8 (replying to eada.NOt.today09): and there's a good reason you're EADA

not.your.mann81 (replying to stell.ar4321): I think you need to change your name. You've been anything

BUT "stellar" since all of this started

manimal1771 (replying to gab.daw.g10309):  even if this was all his fault (which it very much is NOT), 

you aren't helping matters in the slightest by encouraging her to continue abusing him

smoke.eater.in.the.house.51 (replying to stell.ar4321): you're saying this like it's a bad thing for him to 

stand up for himself and have friends ready to help him with it

gay_c.ritter (replying to smoke.eater.in.the.house.51):  in case this didn't get through ur thick skull, IT'S NOT

A BAD THING

patty.cake765 (replying to gay_c.ritter): and u shouldn't have called @sylver.angel8 and @casey.closed;)51 wut u called them

trans.and.proud.of.it8008 (replying to patty.cake765): the only thing u succeeded in doing was pissing off a ton of firefighters.

cereal.killer.not.serial666 (replying to stell.ar4321): and u should know i'm out for blood after what u did to my fiancé. and

the fact that the only reason he isnt in the hospital rn is because the person u claim is ur bf had enough practice with

u to know how to treat pepper spray irritation at home

gingerhead.man13.5.4 (replying to cereal.killer.not.serial666): med doctor here. how is he

bluejay.not.bluebird3 (replying to cereal.killer.not.serial666): all of us are out for blood. who's leading the line?

cereal.killer.not.serial666 (replying to gingerhead.man13.5.4):  much better now i just wish @ks.my.a$$.xx didnt have to

learn the way he did

gingerhead.man13.5.4 (replying to cereal.killer.not.serial666):  at least it worked instead of making things worse

ks.my.a$$.xx (replying to gingerhead.man13.5.4): everything's worse when it's drama with these 2

Owen interrupted any further biting remarks when he announced that breakfast was ready to be served, setting heaping plates of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and chicken sausage out on the table. Kelly hurriedly cleaned up the mess he had made in treating Carlos, who was being smothered against TK's chest and only half-heartedly struggling. Empty plates were passed around and filled, along with mugs of coffee, ignoring the vibrations of phones in favor of immersing themselves in the family they had built.

/^/^/^/

Boden glowered down at his phone screen, pacing the length of his office and gradually wearing a track into the floor. Kidd and Dawson were just digging themselves into a deeper and deeper hole. He was drawn from his musings by a tentative knock on the doorframe and he whirled to fix his piercing stare on Herrmann.

"Mouch and I came up with an idea to make sure our kiddos aren't permanently estranged from Chicago," he announced. Wallace raised his eyebrows - a silent prompt to continue. "We have some good footage of some of the good the three of them - especially Severide - have done up here. Like the funeral they arranged to have everyone attend. That sorta thing. We were thinkin' we could put together a video of all those clips, and have civilians and firefighters and anyone who wants to come in and thank them, as a way to show that we appreciate them for their hearts and not just their work."

There was silence in the office for a minute, then a short sniffle. "Do it. It's a good idea," Boden said before Christopher could comment on it.

Chapter Text

No one ever made the mistake of saying the girls had been smart in how they had followed Kelly. It only took surface-level digging for Chicago Intelligence to figure out where they were staying. They had paid cash, but used their real names and bunked in the same room. They had also made the mistake of telling the clerk at the front desk that they were travelling from Chicago to find Stella's boyfriend. When Halstead passed on the word to Cosgrove and Price, he hadn't even bothered to put on a vest. 

"I'll be back soon and we can all tell Kelly. Now would be a good time to get everyone's statements for the trial," Frank observed with a wicked grin that Nolan had gotten used to seeing when he was about to close a particularly difficult case. The prosecutor nodded, loosening his tie and finding his briefcase in the living room.

The house around them was mostly quiet while everyone else slept, having found comfortable places to settle in out of the way. Matt and Sylvie had gone with Kelly earlier that night back to his apartment to salvage what they could after the girls had ransacked the place. Reyes shuffled out the door behind them, locking it behind them and then climbing into his cruiser. The others claimed rental cars and extra fleet vehicles from Carlos' precinct. Nolan climbed into the rental he and Frank had finally gotten from the airport, plugging the address of the apartment building into his phone and pulling up directions. He was there and knocking on the door within ten minutes, still blinking sleep from his eyes. Casey let him in after a brief hesitation and he walked in to see papers scattered across the floor. Kelly was leaning back against the couch, staring vacantly at a shattered picture frame that still hung haphazardly on the wall. The picture inside was barely visible, but Nolan could still make out his sister's laughing face and Matt's arm around her shoulders. He guessed that the ghost of the third person was Severide himself, but under the red and black paint and the burn marks and the holes where shards of glass had been shoved through the photograph, it was almost impossible to tell. More black paint had been used to mark X's over Sylvie and Matt's eyes, and red paint gave them devil's horns. The same red paint had been used to write "fag" on the wall around the frame in three-foot-high letters that dripped and rolled down the existing décor. Sylvie was in the kitchen, her face streaked with tears as she carefully wrapped any dishes that had survived in towels and packed them into a cardboard box with the untouched pictures that Kelly hadn't gotten around to unpacking. Once the door had closed behind Nolan, Matt returned to packing Severide's remaining clothes into a backpack that had somehow escaped the carnage unscathed.

"So we can add another hate crime to the list, then?" Nolan asked, trying for levity even as his voice fell flat. Because - unfortunately - that's exactly what he was seeing.

"And B&E," Kelly responded monotonously, leveraging himself to his feet with a grunt. "Did you need something?" he added, gesturing to the briefcase still in Nolan's hand.

"Yeah, I... uhh... I need to get witness and victim statements. The most important being the ones from you three, then Captain Strand, and then the others," Price huffed. "And we might need to call up to 51 and see if we can get anything for the trial out of them."

"I'll get you their phone numbers when I remember," Sev promised hollowly, taking down the picture he'd been glaring at and sniffling quietly as he turned to toss it toward the trashcan, which was already almost overflowing.

"Hey, wait," Nolan blurted before the ruined frame could leave his hand. "What was that picture from?"

All three of them immediately froze. Matt's face rapidly turned fire engine red and he hurriedly looked away. Kelly tilted his head as he looked back down at the photograph, this time more fondly.

"It's from when we ambushed Matt at Molly's. We asked him if he'd be willing to join the relationship about a week before, because it didn't seem right without him, and he wouldn't give us a straight answer-"

"Obviously. What were you expecting?" Nolan jabbed, unable to resist the opening he'd been given.

"You're one to talk," Sylvie grumbled from the kitchen, trying and failing to keep from laughing as Matt's face somehow turned even redder.

"I know! Isn't it great?" Nolan retorted.

"Anyway," Severide interrupted loudly before they devolved into a full-out argument. "Matt was just sitting there sputtering and not actually completing a sentence, and then he finally managed to excuse himself to the bathroom to clean off all the beer he'd spat all over himself, and then he never came back. So we tried again a week later, and this picture was taken after he kissed Sylvie for the first time."

"You mean to tell me you're together and pining after each other that hard anyway? And Stella-" Nolan sputtered, his eyes widening.

"Stella and I were never in a relationship to begin with," Kelly confirmed grimly, his levity fading.

"So that means... it was... non-consensual-" Price stammered, trying not to insult anyone. Severide's eyes snapped up to stare directly at him, darkening angrily, although the hatred he saw there wasn't directed at him.

"Call it what it is, Nolan. She raped me. Forced herself on me. 'Non-consensual' is a fucking understatement," Kelly snapped before turning away. 

No one was laughing anymore.

/^/^/^/

Cosgrove and Reyes had the honor of going through the door to the hotel room first when - even after multiple knocks and calls of "APD! Open the door!" from Carlos - they received no response from within. Intelligence spread out to search the shared suite without prompting, automatically splitting into pairs. Within minutes, calls of "clear" were emanating from the other rooms and they all regrouped in the common area. Voight, Frank, and Carlos - the two highest ranks and the only local - stepped aside to plan, but returned quickly.

"Ruzek, Atwater, you'll take the first shift of the stakeout. You see any sign of anyone in here, you call us and find a way to keep them from leaving," Hank ordered, his piercing stare sweeping over everyone gathered before locking on his two officers, who nodded firmly.

"Unless you know for a fact that the people inside aren't Dawson and Kidd," Cosgrove clarified, seeing the question forming on Adam's face. Their nods were more confident that time and everyone else led the way back out into the hallway.

Frank was the first to react. The two women had just stepped out of the elevator, whose doors hissed closed during the long moment of disbelief. Then he took a step forward and they both bolted toward the doors to the stairwell. Every single police officer present flooded forward. Carlos quickly overtook Frank, skipping steps and spinning around the banister at every landing. Hank, Ruzek, Olinsky, and Atwater piled into the elevator, trying to cut them off at the ground level four stories below. 

Kidd went down first, her head cracking against the wall hard enough to make her cry out in pain. Carlos continued down the steps, leaving her arrest and the reading of her Miranda Rights to Frank, who was more than happy to take the opportunity to hiss concerningly specific threats into her ear as he frog-marched her down the remaining flights of stairs, passing Dawson and Reyes. There were wicked smiles exchanged once they all reached the lobby, where other guests and employees alike stared in shock at the mass of police officers and their two charges.

"I think Nolan might be getting impatient. He's out for blood with these two," Cosgrove whispered to Voight, just loud enough for Kidd and Dawson to hear. Both of them went as white as ghosts and the two men chuckled.

"I can't wait to watch," Upton added, sidling up next to them.

/^/^/^/

Paul was the one who'd come up with the vague outline of an idea.

Marjan and Cruz found the design blueprint for Benny's cabin further north.

Judd led the money collection from the rest of the 126, who were more than happy to pitch in and bring more money from friends.

Grace found the large plot of land outside the city limits and bought it, just barely outbidding the man who had almost gotten it instead.

About the time they all got there on their day off, they realized that none of them had experience building a livable structure. And so began the process of hiring contractors that would let them help with what they knew. Owen probably figured out their mysterious days off long before the three Chicagoans, but then again, one of the three was an unofficial arson investigator, and the other two had a habit of being dragged into his adventures, so it was really just hard to tell.

Within the first week, the foundation had been laid, but then it rained and they couldn't get out to help the contractors, who were more than happy to have their own time off at the request of the 126. Once the rain let up and the area was once again dry, the hard part got underway.

/^/^/^/

"Joe! Herrmann! Care to help?" Brett called from a storage room as they walked past. The two men exchanged a glance, then backtracked and looked in on her. She was sitting against the wall, papers strewn across her lap and on the floor around her.

"Hey," Cruz said slowly, scanning the debris. "What're you doin'?"

"Remember that paramedicine program I started with Mouch up in Chicago?" she began excitedly. When they both nodded hesitantly, her face brightened even further, somehow. "I want to start it down here, too!"

"Sounds great. So what do you need us for?" Christopher prompted when she gave no indication of continuing.

"I need you to testify on my behalf," she explained vaguely, just as Nolan passed the still-open door and froze.

"Why are you going to court?" he asked in a low voice.

"Nonono," she scrambled to reply. "I'm not. I just need them to confirm the benefits of having the paramedicine program in Chicago so that we can start another one down here. They don't actually have to testify or anything. I just didn't know what else to call it."

Her jaw snapped shut when he gave vent to an aggrieved sigh and she stared up at him with her wide blue eyes. He sighed again, this time in resignation, knowing that he couldn't be mad at anything when she looked at him like that. "Let me know if you need anything from me. I think it's a good idea," he allowed. She leapt to her feet with a cheer, spilling even more papers already-cluttered floor in her haste to engulf him in a tight hug.

It was the happiest he'd seen her since he got to Austin. She was in her element, and he refused to let her be taken back out of it. No matter what it took, he'd keep his little sister happy.

/^/^/^/

"Where are we going?" Kelly asked the second all four of them were in the car and the doors were closed. Owen looked over at where he sat in the passenger seat with a sad smile and a sigh.

"Doing what we should've done when you got here. And what I promised you during the wildfires. And what I absolutely would have done if I'd only remembered instead of focusing on what you left behind," he explained. Matt and Sylvie - in the backseat - looked even more confused, especially when Severide's expression brightened.

"Should we be worried?" Casey stage-whispered, drawing a giggle out of Brett. Kelly twisted in his seat to glare at him mockingly.

"It can't be that bad. We're just getting a tour of Austin," he assured them sarcastically.

"Oh no," Sylvie snarked. "Knowing you, it'll all go wrong."

"Hey!" he protested, suddenly insulted. "I'm not that bad!"

Owen started driving before anyone could respond and he twisted back to sit correctly in his seat, grumbling good-naturedly all the while.

(Rest assured, dear reader, nothing went wrong. For the most part. There was a small fiasco with a bird, an ice cream cone, and a spoon, but that's a story for another time.)

/^/^/^/

(Jack "Boss" McCoy has started an Untitled Chat)

(Jack "Boss" McCoy has added Frank "Hub" Cosgrove and Nolan Price to Untitled Chat)

(Jack "Boss" McCoy has renamed Untitled Chat to Austin Project)

Boss (6:17 a.m.): Nolan- How is the Austin Project going?

Nolan (6:20 a.m.):  We arrested both Kidd and Dawson and are waiting for the trial

Hub (6:21 a.m.): im sorry. i think i missed something. We?

Nolan (6:21 a.m.): i was encompassing everyone who came to austin for specifically that reason

Nolan (6:21 a.m.): dumbass

Boss (6:23 a.m.): now, now boys. be nice

Hub (6:24 a.m.): yes dad right away dad

Boss (6:24 a.m.): im choosing to ignore that

Hub (6:24 a.m.): *insert scandalized gasp here*

Boss (6:25 a.m.): ANYWAY

Boss (6:25 a.m.): What's this about a 'phone war' I keep hearing about?

Nolan (6:25 a.m.): So Kidd and Dawson both have Instagram right

Nolan (6:25 a.m.):  And Kidd posts this question that basically asks everyone if she's the AH for following Severide to Austin

Nolan (6:25 a.m.): NEGLECTING TO MENTION THE REASON HE LEFT HER IN CHICAGO WITH NO WARNING

Nolan (6:25 a.m.): AND CALLING MATT AND SYLVIE HOMOPHOBIC SLURS IN THE PROCESS

Nolan (6:26 a.m.): so apparently Captain Strand opened the comments section

Nolan (6:26 a.m.): JUST TO SEE

Nolan (6:26 a.m.): and the first comment is from none other than GABBY FUCKING DAWSON

Nolan (6:26 a.m.): confirmation pending on whether that's actually her middle name

Nolan (6:26 a.m.): of course, taking Kidd's side and being polyphobic (is that a word? it is now) as all hell

Nolan (6:27 a.m.): so of course the 126 isn't happy and starts writing out their own comments

Nolan (6:27 a.m.): and my phone starts going off when Sylvie and Kelly get involved

Nolan (6:27 a.m.): and Frank's is going off because of Sylvie

Nolan (6:27 a.m.): so we put in our own two cents

Hub (6:28 a.m.): and that was just the first time

Hub (6:28 a.m.): the second time was after they pepper sprayed Carlos Reyes, complaining that Sev sent his "bodyguard" after them

Nolan (6:28 a.m.): yeah that one didn't go over well either

Nolan (6:28 a.m.): i just got to the courthouse, so i have to go

Nolan (6:29 a.m.): talk later

/^/^/^/

Kelly was already scrolling through Instagram when his notifications informed him that one Stella Kidd was active again. How she'd managed that while waiting down at the courthouse, he didn't know, but there she was.

stell.ar4321:  well I guess you won't be hearing from me for a few weeks or something. the 

boyfriend called in the cavalry for no reason and - since some of them are police officers - 

had me arrested. you know who wasn't arrested? the two gays he ran off to be with. isn't that 

illegal? to be w 2 ppl at once, i mean.

It was barely seven in the morning, so the Strand house was only just starting to wake up around him (no one had gone home overnight yet except to get a change of clothes, and he didn't have an apartment anymore). He was the first one fully awake and therefore the first to respond. Up in Chicago, second shift had just entered a three-day break between shifts and were taking the opportunity to sleep in. They didn't even know about the arrests yet.

ks.my.a$$.xx (replying to stell.ar4321): I didn't even have to call them in. they showed up

and were decent human beings of their own accord, which is more than I have ever been

able to say of you. and it's not illegal to be in love. it's up to the people involved to negotiate 

terms. which we have done. it's illegal to stalk someone. and to resist arrest. and to abuse 

your domestic partner. and to rape them. and to beat the shit out of them. oh sorry, that

isn't the official terminology, is it. i believe i mean AGGRAVATED ASSAULT.

stell.ar4321 (replying to ks.my.a$$.xx):  you always were a self-entitled drama queen. i'm

just trying to save you from yourself.

trans.and.proud.of.it8008 (replying to stell.ar4321): i think you're completely missing the point 

here. he doesn't need saving from himself. he needs saving from you, and that shouldn't have to 

happen in the first place if you love him as much as you say you do. and never once have you tried 

to have a civilized conversation with him. i think you'd learn a lot that you didn't know before if you

actually bothered to put in that much effort. and you've never even tried to apologize, which would 

be the decent thing to do. you have to admit at least that something happened between you that

made him pack up his life and leave the two people who have done the most to save him since they

joined him down here.

Paul flopped down on the couch beside Kelly, carefully navigating to avoid running into the still-sleeping Matt and Sylvie. Severide instinctively leaned into his side slightly, already typing again, although he took a second to whisper "thank you" just loud enough for Strickland to hear.

ks.my.a$$.xx (replying to stell.ar4321):  do you want to tell everyone what that bruise on my 

face when i left Chicago really was or should i? because i've let them keep thinking it was

from a call, in case you actually changed and took the hint that there was nothing between us

but what you forced. i can change that pretty quickly though. maybe tack on another fine or

something.

Marjan - just coming into the room squinting at her phone - looked up at the two men who had beat her to the conversation, concern washing over her face when she saw the position Kelly had curled into with Paul's arm around his shoulders.

eada.NOt.today09 (replying to ks.my.a$$.xx):  I'm ready when you are. I'm already at the

courthouse, and would be more than okay to add on the extra punishment, even if it is only to

one of the girls' sentences.

cinnamon.roll.with.a.knife333 (replying to eada.NOt.today09): remind me not to get on your bad

side. and at least the one we're adding to is the one that did more direct damage.

cruz.control81 (replying to ks.my.a$$.xx): my curiosity is peaked, but no one here can make you 

say something you don't want to, and most of us don't even want to. do it in your own time. we have

your back, and we aren't going anywhere.

Severide sniffled slightly, wiping at his eyes and taking a shaky breath. Somehow, that set off some sort of sixth sense in the two other Chicagoans curled up beside the three of them and Matt sat up, immediately drawing him into a hug, which Sylvie was quick to join. They had no idea what was being said, but they knew he needed them, and that was enough.

ks.my.a$$.xx (replying to cruz.control81):  thanks, man. i just want this all to be over with, so 

i might as well just say it now.

i let everyone think the bruise was from an accident on a call. you all believed me because i'd 

stayed behind for a minute on the last call of the shift, and it was there when we came back to

the firehouse for the next shift. that was a lie. there was blood on the cast iron pan in the kitchen

when i left, and it was mine. i doubt it's still there, but that's what really happened. i went out for 

drinks with someone i cared about, and she got angry enough that i hadn't asked permission that

she slammed a cast iron pan into my head.

"Holy shit," Paul breathed. Matt looked pale.

"That was me, wasn't it?" he whispered. "The person you're talking about having gone out to drinks with that day."

Severide took a moment to breathe before nodding shakily and burrowing deeper into the group hug that both Marjan and Paul had joined at some point while he was typing. His phone wouldn't stop vibrating with responses, but he couldn't bring himself to look. Seeming to understand, Sylvie pried it from his trembling hand, silenced it completely, and set it on the coffee table. The stairs creaked quietly and Matt glanced up to see Owen coming down them, his own phone held to his ear.

"Nolan called as soon as he read it," the captain explained, coming over to run his fingers soothingly through Kelly's growing hair, which was starting to get long enough to curl. Severide was gradually relaxing into the familiar touches and warmth, his eyes drifting shut and allowing him to slip peacefully back into sleep that had eluded him for days. "He's just adding it as a note to the end of the statements he already got."

"Good. We don't want to go through that again," Matt said, his voice thick with emotion as he remembered the tears spilled the first time the three of them had given their statements for Nolan to put in the file.

Chicago was more than happy to deal with the responses for them, as were Intelligence, Cosgrove, and the rest of the 126.

/^/^/^/

Nolan looked up from the file open in front of him, frowning thoughtfully. One of the other attorneys in the room glanced at him sidelong, slightly worried. He shook his head at her and she turned away again with a shrug. He tucked the file back into his briefcase and stood up, already dialing Frank's phone number. By the time he got to where the two women were being held, Cosgrove was waiting for him in the same blackout gear he'd worn for the arrests. The on-duty officers led them back to the cell where Stella and Gabby - along with a few other women - were waiting to be moved or released.

"Kidd and Dawson, approach the bars," one of the officers called. Without a word exchanged, they obeyed, watching Frank warily all the while and barely sparing the smaller man beside him so much as a cursory glance. That was their first mistake of the day. Between the two of them, Nolan was the more dangerous one.

"Aren't we supposed to have a lawyer present?" Stella snapped. folding her arms as though to shield herself.

"I am a lawyer. Just not yours," Nolan replied coldly, his kaleidoscope eyes settling into an expressionless steel grey. "And no, you don't. Not for this part. I'm not asking any questions. I just thought I would introduce myself, since I'll be the one prosecuting you. My name is Nolan Price. Manhattan's Executive Assistant District Attorney. This is Detective Frank Cosgrove. I believe you've met already."

"To put it lightly, maybe. Are you sure you can handle all the lies being told about us?" Gabby sneered. Mistake number two.

"Absolutely," Nolan responded shortly. "I already have."

"That's how he became EADA, and you'd do well to remember that," Cosgrove added over his shoulder, falling into step at Price's flank as they walked away again.

Chapter Text

Halstead folded his arms and scowled from between Ruzek and Atwater, watching the rest of the Intelligence Unit make their way through the ABIA terminal toward the waiting plane. Having been stuck (voluntarily) on "bodyguard duty," the three of them would remain in Austin to keep an eye on everything until the arraignment and trial had passed. Voight was well aware of Jay's annoyance that they weren't all staying, but carefully stayed turned away so that he wasn't guilted into turning around. It was already weighing heavily on his shoulders, but he had a precinct to get back to and a fire department to update in full. He just had a 160-minute flight to endure before then. Plenty of time to regret not being one of the three to stay.

"They'll be okay. We were there for the hard part. They're safe now, and we aren't abandoning them completely. We'll still be exchanging updates," Al assured him quietly, leaning into his shoulder. He took a quiet breath and nodded, comforted by the familiar weight.

"I know. But - just this once - I wish they didn't just have to settle for that."

/^/^/^/

Kelly sighed heavily, closing the door to the hotel room behind him and carrying the envelope addressed to him. It seemed legitimate enough, but he tossed it onto the counter anyway and went to get a sweatshirt from the next room anyway. He was too mentally exhausted to deal with much, so he also poured himself a mug of cheap coffee, draining it all in just a few gulps. All the while, the envelope glared at him from where he'd discarded it. Matt came in right before he picked it up and called a greeting as he headed for the bedroom, where Sylvie was dead asleep after hours on end of pitching the paramedicine program to Austin Fire Headquarters, and Kelly muttered a response, slicing open the envelope with his pocketknife. There was only one paper inside, with his name scrawled across the top of it in familiar handwriting. He swallowed, checking to make sure the bedroom door was closed before unfolding it the rest of the way.

Kelly Benjamin Severide-

Some lieutenant you make. You destroyed my life, and the life we could have had.

You blame me for driving you away and for all of your problems, and yet I have been

the only constant in your life. Brett hasn't always been there for you, and Casey left you

for Seattle. Even Shay and Darden didn't bother sticking around, because it's YOU who always 

drives everyone away. You're suicidal, and I tried to save you from yourself. Gabby did,

too. And what did we get for it? A cross-country chase and an arrest.

We're getting out of here, and we will come to get you. You need saving. Your father was

right about you. You're a disappointment to his name. But I can help you. 

I'll see you soon, love. I know I'm not guilty, and soon the whole world will. Just a few

more days before I see you again.

-Stella Kidd

He took a trembling breath, rereading the words that glared up at him. Anger flared up in him at the mention of Shay and Andy, followed immediately by guilt, and he swiped away the tears building in his eyes, ignoring how much his hands shook along with the rest of his body. His vision was starting to go gray around the edges as he turned the paper over and over. There was a small mark in blood at the corner of the page - a promise to follow through with everything she'd written. It slipped from his fingers like water, drifting innocently toward the floor. He followed it much less gracefully, his knees hitting the tile with an audible crack. The dull throbbing that followed reached him sluggishly. As though from the other end of a long tunnel, he heard Matt call his name from the now-open bedroom door, but somehow knew that he was out of sight. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, and the words taunted him even as they blurred into thick black lines across the white page. It was all just too much. Too much threats and stalking and -

"Kelly, hey. Listen to my voice. Come on, come back. It's okay," a familiar, comforting voice murmured in his ear, all silver and smooth and light. The paper was gone, and slim fingers brushed through his curls. He was slowly being rocked back and forth, half-laying in strong arms. His hands were loosely grasped in someone else's and - as his vision slowly cleared, familiar blonde hair and green eyes swam into focus. "Breathe, Kel. You're okay. You're safe. They can't hurt you, okay? It's alright. Ssshh."

"M- Matt?" he croaked. A sad smile overtook the face that floated before him. His jaw cracked, happily informing him that he'd been clenching it painfully tight for who knew how long.

"Hey," Casey whispered softly. "Welcome back."

"I think I need to throw up," Severide admitted, bile rising in his throat to match the tears in his eyes.

"That's okay. We're here. We'll take care of you," that silver voice assured him. He turned his head, struggling to sit up when he realized he was laying on Sylvie. Matt stood and left for a few seconds to get a bowl, then returned and helped them both into relatively seated positions, wrapping around Kelly when he started to shiver. "It's okay."

"Why can't this all just be over?" he whispered, hunching over the bowl and leaning into Matt in equal measure. "I'm so tired."

"I know, Kel. I'm so sorry," Sylvie replied, just as quietly.

/^/^/^/

[0:00 - 1:56]

A young woman - maybe 24 years old - shifts in her seat, positioned beside Squad 3's rig. She's holding a baby, and looking at someone behind the camera. "When you're ready," Boden's voice prompts her, and she nods before looking straight at the camera.

"I've never actually met you," she begins. "Not in person, anyway. But you saved my life. I don't know if you remember, but you talked me down from a roof when this little one's father -" she holds up the baby, which coos happily "- left before he was born. I was 22, trying to finish college, and it had all gotten to be too much. There were police officers on the street, with a 9-1-1 operator connecting me to them. I was crying and watching them and barely standing on my own -" by this point, she's crying again, and someone hands her a tissue, which she takes gratefully "- and then you just walked out of the crowd of people watching, and you took the phone, and you introduced yourself like it was just a normal conversation. You talked to me like I was human, instead of porcelain, and you told me all about how your best friends had died saving people, and you almost followed them, but then you had other people there for you, and somehow you just kept walking. And you asked me to do the same. To TRY to do the same, so that you could say you tried, and not have to go through the process of carrying all that guilt again. So I did, because you saved my life. And now you've saved my baby's." She stops talking for a minute, looking down at the child, who reaches up from the swaddle of blankets toward her. She smiles softly, then looks back up at the camera again. "You introduced yourself, but - at the time - I didn't think there would be a point in doing the same, but I wanted to tell you now, so you believe me when I say I'm doing so much better. My name is Sarah Frick, and I'd like to introduce you to Andrew Kelly Frick. My little Andy. Because you two saved me, just like your friends saved you. So... thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"Thank you," Boden murmurs. She nods and stands with a final smile at the camera.

/^/^/^/

"Movie night!" Matt called from the couch, waving the remote. Sylvie came running from the kitchen, where she had been finishing the dishes, and tumbled over the back of the couch to sprawl out beside him. Kelly shuffled out of the bedroom and burrowed into the space between them, red-rimmed eyes turned on the screen in dread.

"What did you pick this time? It better not be 'The Proposal' again," he grumbled half-heartedly. Matt gasped in exaggerated offense.

"How dare you? What do you have against Ryan Reynolds?" he protested.

"Absolutely nothing. Just the plot," Severide huffed, rolling his eyes and purposefully burying his elbow in Casey's ribs, which elicited a surprised yelp.

"Okay, okay! It's not 'The Proposal!' I just grabbed one of the Star Wars movies, okay?" he blurted, squirming away.

"Which one?" Sylvie asked, side-eyeing him balefully.

"I am not that bad at picking movies!" Matt grumbled. When Kelly just raised an eyebrow, halfway through the process of silencing his phone and putting it aside, he relented, "Empire."

"Good answer. Right answer," Sev noted approvingly, not noticing when Sylvie hid his phone and checked her own for notifications from anyone.

"No need to sound so surprised," Casey mumbled, finally starting the movie. They'd all forgotten about the world beyond the screen within fifteen minutes - exactly what the plan had entailed.

/^/^/^/

Nolan sighed heavily, scrubbing a hand over his face as he left the courthouse and pulled out his vibrating phone. "Sylvie. What's up?" he greeted, valiantly battling - and losing to - a yawn.

"Kel had a panic attack," his sister sighed, nearly whispering. "We calmed him down, he slept a little, managed to convince him to eat a bit, and then had a movie night, and he's asleep on the couch with Matt right now, but I'm going to send you and Frank a few pictures. You aren't going to be happy about what they mean."

He fought down another aggrieved sigh. When would the universe decide Kelly Severide had gone through enough torture? "Why? What happened?" he settled on.

"Stella's been getting notes out of the courthouse. Based on the security footage Halstead, Ruzek, and Atwater have gotten from the hotel, it's one of the security guards, and it looks like he might've been following the Instagram wars we've had."

"I assume you have a name?" he asked hopefully, pausing before getting into the rental car.

"No. Not yet. I was hoping you and Frank might be able to get that, since you've actually seen these people in person by now," Sylvie replied apologetically.

"Alright. We'll see what we can do," he assured her.

"And Nolan? " When he hummed encouragingly, she continued. "Heads better be rolling."

"Plan on it," he promised.

/^/^/^/

[2:00 - 3:15]

Boden doesn't have to prompt the teenager that took the young woman's place. He starts talking almost before the camera's set up correctly, then cuts himself off with a quiet apology and starts again.

"A few years ago, there was a problem at a pool involving a fire, and a bunch of wires, and a bunch of kids in the water. My mom died in the accident that started all of that. She'd been on her way to pick me up so we could leave for a friend's birthday party. I remember watching her car come through the wall, and just knowing she was gone." There's a pause, and a sigh, and then a moment of silence. "You all showed up not even five minutes later, when we were all trying to get out of the pool. You seemed like a god." A wry, self-conscious laugh follows that statement. "I was only there because I wanted to learn to swim so I could join the school swim team when I was old enough. But I couldn't swim alone yet, and everyone else was scared enough that they left me behind in the water. I was trying so hard, just to cry for help, but I didn't think anyone heard over all the chaos. And then you... you were standing at the edge of the pool and directing people out to safety, and you just stopped for a second. And then you turned around like you'd finally heard me, and you were covered in ash and your hands had been burned at some point, and you'd just come straight from another call, and you were probably really tired, but you didn't even wait to take off your equipment and your boots and your coat and jump in. According to all the other firefighters, that's just how you tend to live; jumping straight into an issue." Another laugh, this time amused. "There was this other bundle of wires on the pool deck that hadn't been shut down yet, because there were too few firefighters to get everyone out, and stop the fire, and deal with every last wire. I couldn't see it, but you could, and you swam so fast. You grabbed onto me, and - instead of turning around for the wall, you just swam us both across the pool, and helped me out of it first. All this time, that bundle of wires is getting closer and closer to the water, and I slip. You grab onto me and practically throw me out of the water and then pull yourself after me right about the time all the other firefighters start yelling. Because less than a second after you get out of the pool, the wires are in it. I'm shaking so bad, you just pick me up and carry me outside like you didn't just narrowly avoid death. I was so scared to get in a pool for weeks, and then my teacher gets an email from you, and you say that it's highly unlikely that anything like that will happen to us again, and that all of us will be okay to just move past it and use it as a learning experience." A brief pause. "I wanted you to know... I joined the swim team because of you. And I swim for you and my mom. So thank you for my life. Wanna race?"

/^/^/^/

"What is this?" Kelly asked disbelievingly. In an arc off to one side, the 126 exchanged glances. Owen looked vaguely amused where he was standing with Matt and Sylvie behind Severide.

"We... rebuilt your cabin down here. So it was less of a strange new world, or whatever," Mateo - ever so eloquently - informed him.

"But... how?" Cruz raised his hand, nudging Herrmann in the ribs until the older firefighter grudgingly followed suit. "Of course it was you two."

"It was the 126's idea!" Christopher protested hotly before he saw the familiar grin on the Squad Lieutenant's face.

"And it is much appreciated," he assured them all, starting toward the front door.

"We already moved your stuff in. That's why Brettsey over there kept you out of the hotel," Marjan added, eliciting a groan from Matt and a laugh from Sylvie. "By the way, how did you two manage that?"

"Don't ask," Matt warned before Sylvie could launch into a detailed description of the many activities they had done throughout the day.

"Eeeewwww," Mateo groaned. Kelly snorted, slipping inside, listening to Matt's protests of 'not like THAT' and everyone's responses of 'but that's what you WANT, isn't it? ' before devolving into arguments and good-natured shouting.

/^/^/^/

"How are they?" Boden asked as soon as the requisite greetings had passed. Hank couldn't help but sigh.

"There's definitely rough days, which is why we left Jay and Adam and Kevin down there, but overall, the three of them are doing better, and the 126 is looking out for them just like you all would," he assured the restless Battalion Chief.

"Kidd and Dawson were arrested. Their arraignment is in a few days," Upton added.

"How'd your Dawson take it?" Boden pressed, his voice softening almost imperceptibly with concern.

"He's in surprisingly good spirits," Burgess replied. "They weren't on the best of terms when all of this started, so I think he's just glad she's being dealt with."

"Do you guys have to go back to testify?" Otis butted in from behind the Chief.

"Depends. They have three of us, and we might be able to testify virtually. Or they might not need us at all," Lindsay told him. "We're staying up here for the foreseeable future."

"It's good to have you back. I'm sure Chicago's glad to see you," Ritter joked, lightening the mood of most of the room. Voight remained on edge, but that was just how he always was.

/^/^/^/

Kelly stirred slowly, then woke up faster as the ringing of a phone cut through the haze of sleep. Matt, who he was wrapped around, mumbled a complaint and buried his head under a pillow while Sylvie slept on undisturbed. The ringing stopped for a few seconds, then started again and he groaned. There wasn't a name displayed, just 'Unknown Number' and a phone number based in Manhattan. He grudgingly picked it up before it disconnected again.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Morning," a vaguely familiar female voice greeted him, very much awake.

"Who's this?" he grumbled, shuffling out of the room and over to the kitchen to make coffee.

"Right, sorry. Samantha Maroun. I work with Nolan. You can call me-"

"Sam. Pleasure to put a voice to the name."

"Same to you. Jack's here with me."

"Morning, Severide."

"Hey. Nice to hear from you. What can I do for you?"

"Absolutely nothing. We just called to check in on you. You're an hour behind, right?"

"Uhh... yeah. It's about six right now."

"It's seven here. We're at the courthouse," Samantha explained. "How's everything down there?"

"Moving as smoothly as it can, for the movement. Your boss is definitely a good asset to have for this. Everyone's looking out for us, making us feel at home, the works. It's nice to be wanted for real, you know?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We've had a lot of conversations with people who feel the same way," Jack sighed. "Let us know if you need anything, okay? We're here for you."

"Thanks. I'll let you get to work."

The line clicked dead after a few more seconds of good-byes and he poured a coffee, then plopped down at the rickety little table to nurse it. Almost an hour later, Matt shuffled out to join him, yawning widely and stealing a sip from his lukewarm mug. Sylvie just wrapped around his back like a spider, eyelids at half-mast.

/^/^/^/

Kelly was safely hidden among the firefighters of the 126, the off-duty police officers of the Austin Police Department, and his five "bodyguards," and Sylvie and Matt happily sandwiched him between them. Well, as happily as they could manage, anyway. The two women hadn't been led in yet, but Nolan and the defense attorney were already getting comfortable. Over the course of the next twenty minutes, everyone else found their seats, except for the judge, who waited another ten beyond that to make her appearance. There was a rumble around the room at the clerk's order to rise, presenting Presiding Judge Eileen Olmstead, then another as they all sat again. After formal introductions were made, Olmstead read off the (extensive) list of charges. One glance at the girls told Kelly all he needed to know; as the list ran longer, they were getting more and more scared, especially because Nolan didn't seem worried about prosecuting both of them at the same time, even working alone. He just kept those kaleidoscope eyes fixed threateningly on them, edging toward gunmetal grey as the arraignment continued. Dawson couldn't even look at him, but Kidd couldn't look away, her fear slipping through the cracks in her self-confident mask.

"Mr. Arthurton, have you discussed the charges as I have just read them with your clients?" Olmstead concluded.

"I have, Your Honor," the defense attorney replied, taking a sheet of paper from his assistant.

"Do your clients wish to enter pleas at this time as to the charges of the indictment?"

"Yes, Your Honor." An almost imperceptible breath, then "Both clients wish to plead 'not guilty' on all counts."

"Not guilty on all counts, which leads us to the next step. Is there discovery?"

"There is, Your Honor," Nolan said smoothly, "and it will be going out to the defense shortly."

"Will there be plea discussions?"

"No, Your Honor."

Beside Kelly, Sylvie sucked in a surprised breath, her eyes widening in a way that - given any other context - might have been comical. It was a sentiment echoed around the room, and Severide's hand clenched tightly around Matt's, although his gaze remained glued to the verbal tennis match below. There was a brief discussion of a status update a few days later, where the time of the trial would also be set. Once it was established that there were no further questions to be asked, Olmstead moved on.

"The Magistrate Judge ordered detention pending trial. This remains in effect. Is there anything more for today?"

"Not from the defense," Arthurton replied, already packing up the few papers he'd gotten out. "Thank you, Judge."

"From you, sir?" Olmstead asked, turning to a thoroughly unfazed Nolan.

"Nothing more, Your Honor," Price answered, inclining his head politely. "Thank you, Judge."

The arraignment's formal conclusion flew by, but Kelly didn't move until the girls had been led away and Nolan was visibly waiting for them all at the door. No words were exchanged until they were outside the courthouse, when the EADA's mask slipped. "Dawson's not guilty? She is by fucking association," he grumbled, thoroughly pissed off on Severide's behalf.

"Drinks, anyone?" Cosgrove cut him off before it went any further.

"God yes. Food, too," Nolan huffed, a sentiment echoed around their shrinking group as most of the APD drifted away.

Chapter Text

"Wallace Boden," he greeted, not recognizing the number displayed on the screen. There was silence from the other end of the line for a long minute, and he prompted, "Hello? Is someone there?"

"Sorry, Chief. He needed a second. All three of us are here," Casey's voice finally sighed.

"Mornin' Chief! " Sylvie chirped, infallibly positive and able to draw a smile from him.

"Good morning to you too. What do you need?" Wallace asked.

"C'mon, Kel," Matt whispered. Someone - presumably Severide - cleared their throat weakly.

"Hey, Chief. Umm. We don't need anything, but I just... wanted you to hear this from me. I'm sure you already heard from Voight, but Kidd and Dawson were arrested. I wanted to tell you their trial starts in two days. They both pled not guilty at the arraignment," Kelly finally said, his voice shaking. "And I thought it was high time to send my father-figure my new phone number," he tacked on. trying for levity but coming across as serious anyway.

Tears prickled behind Boden's eyes and he took a deep, trembling breath. "I heard. We all did. It's good to hear from you again. I'm glad you're doing better." There was a non-committal noise from the other end of the line and he frowned. "You... are doing better, aren't you?"

"Definitely better than when I left. It's just... a lot. You know? " Severide sighed.

"I know. But you still have us," the Chief replied warmly, just as the alarms went off. "Nice talking to you. Don't be a stranger. I have to go."

There was a chorus of "be careful, Chief "s and he smiled, hanging up. He took a moment to compose himself, then hurried out to meet everyone else on the apparatus floor.

/^/^/^/

[3:30 - 4:15]

"I just wanted to say that you never ... personally saved me, or even anyone close to me. I know that doesn't make sense, really, but I want to thank you anyway. I heard what you and your friends did for the man who lost his wife and didn't have anyone else, and I wanted to thank you for helping to make Chicago better for everyone. I know at least five people who heard about that and tried to do the same for people they met, on a lesser scale, and a few of the people they helped have told them that the actions you inspired kept them from killing themselves. So... thank you. Thank you for their lives, and thank you for helping make us better."

/^/^/^/

Stella was handcuffed on the opposite side of the table with Arthurton when Nolan and Frank walked in, although she remained unaware of the presence of Kelly and Owen behind the mirror that dominated one wall. Severide's hands - stuffed deep in his pockets - were clenched so tightly into fists that they trembled violently despite his efforts to calm himself. Strand looked unfazed, although his eyes were uncharacteristically cold as he glared at Kidd.

"Who are you? Seriously," she grumbled, rolling her eyes once she recognized her visitors.

"Manhattan Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price. This is Detective Frank Cosgrove, Manhattan Police Department, Precinct 27," Nolan replied smoothly, setting down his briefcase and settling into his seat. Frank remained standing, although he leaned casually against the wall to ease the tension.

"Why is the Manhattan EADA prosecuting me in Texas?" she sneered.

"Because you decided to drag my sister into this when you attacked her and her boyfriends online," Price informed her casually.

"Kelly isn't her boyfriend! I don't care if Casey is, but Kelly is mine! " she shouted. He shrugged.

"He says otherwise. According to the three of them, they've been dating each other for over a year," he corrected, locking gunmetal gray eyes on her to gauge her reaction.

Hundreds of microexpressions flitted into view before she finally settled on red-faced rage. "They're lying! We were great together, and he turned into a coward! This is all their fault! Gabby and I did NOTHING wrong!" she roared, trying to stand up. The chain of the handcuffs went taut, jerking her forward when she tried to pull beyond the bar she was locked onto. Nolan didn't even flinch, although Frank was suddenly standing stiffly upright.

"Maybe I should come back when you've had time to calm down and realize you're wrong. I would know. She's my sister, after all," Price responded, his voice quiet after the echo of her voice faded. Without waiting for her to find more words, he gathered his briefcase and followed Cosgrove out.

/^/^/^/

"Dad! Guess what? " Lily exclaimed as soon as she picked up the phone. He could almost see her wriggling excitedly wherever she was sitting. He raised his eyebrows, even though she couldn't see him.

"What's up?" he prompted her when she seemed to genuinely wait for him to say something.

"Jalen brought me in to the 2-7 for a school project where we were supposed to interview a first responder, and everybody was answering my questions, and then they said to call you for the rest of them. So. Is Nolan in Austin with you? "

"He is."

"Is it true you arrested the people who were hurting Griffin and Ben's papa? "

"I arrested one of them. One of the Austin police officers arrested the other one. But yes, we got them."

"Good. Will you be a witness in an upcoming trial? "

"I will if Nolan needs me on the stand. He managed to convince the Austin ADAs to give him the case, and they've already gone through the arraignment process. We actually just got back to the 126 from talking to Kidd."

The sound of a pencil scribbling over paper met his words instead of another question, and he heard Jalen laugh. "You should see the look on her face right now," his partner told him. "Keep talking."

"The trial will be broadcast, but not publicized. It'll just kind of happen to be on a news channel if someone bothers to turn that one on. I'll give you more details later. It starts in about 4 days, so Lily, you'll probably have to record it to watch if you want. Once it starts, if I'm a witness, I won't be able to keep you updated in as much detail, but I can try to tell you what I can when we get home."

"Are Sylvie and Matt okay? What happened to Kelly? Is the 126 cool? "

"Everyone's okay. Just healing right now. I'll try to explain what happened to Severide later, but I don't want to get details wrong, so you'll have to wait a bit longer on that one. I do know it involved some pretty bad domestic abuse and then stalking when he moved to Austin to get away, and it got worse when Matt and Sylvie joined him down here, but yes, the 126 is good. They've been protecting the three of them without question and helping them heal."

"That's good. Nixon says we have to go now, but can we call you again later? "

"I would never dream of turning that down. Talk then, okay?"

"Okay! Bye, Dad! "

Nolan came into the room barely a second after Lily hung up, lifting an eyebrow in question. Frank just grinned and shook his head, tucking the phone into his pocket and standing up to fold the shorter man into a hug, which both of them immediately melted into, content to stay where they were. Neither of them needed to say anything.

/^/^/^/

Severide was already sitting in a booth in the back corner of the little shop when Matt and Sylvie came through the door. There were three steaming cups on the table in front of him and Casey grinned wickedly. "That's a lot even for you," was his greeting. Kelly rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat and looking up at them with a smile.

"Make yourselves comfortable," he invited.

"Oh, I don't think my comfortable is socially acceptable," Sylvie snarked. Both men looked at her in shock, Matt's ears rapidly turning red. "Just an observation!"

She wedged herself into Kelly's side, pulling his arm around her and taking a big gulp of her coffee, breathing in the steam blissfully. Matt chuckled, shaking his head and sliding into the booth across from them. Immediately, Sev reached out one leg to press against the captain's, making sure he never felt left out. Case smiled, draining half of his own drink in seconds and then sighing contentedly.

"First date in Austin, right?" he asked.

"Had to be consistent. Had coffee in Chicago, might as well have coffee in Austin, too," Kelly confirmed with a smile of his own.

"What a sap," Sylvie huffed, although no one would hear her complaining.

/^/^/^/

[4:45 - 5:30]

The man that takes the place of the last person isn't there to talk. He's the start of a slideshow. His face is covered in soot and he's leaning heavily on a firefighter, whose mask obscures most of his face. They have their arms around each other's shoulders, and the man is looking up at him gratefully. The picture changes before they can decipher who the firefighter is, this time to a view of the back of an ambulance. Severide and Casey are sitting on the back bumper, masks and helmets sitting next to their feet. They're both laughing, despite being covered in ash and the fact that Matt is holding an ice pack to his boyfriend's head. Sylvie is standing in front of them with her hands on her hips, caught in the act of exasperatedly shaking her head at their antics, although she is smiling too. The picture shifts again, and Kelly is grinning at the camera in front of the Fire Academy. It shifts again, and Matt and Andy are on either side of him, then again, and their whole class is there, pulling faces at whoever tried to chorale them. The next picture is of Kelly's back as he sprints into a burning building, with the rest of Squad just visible flanking him. The next is the three of them sprawled out on the bunk in Severide's office, with paperwork scattered across their tangled legs. Another picture, and Kelly is being embraced by a woman whose child is just visible in his arms. Another, and he's holding the hand of a terrified little boy he had just carried from the collapsed building visible in the background. Another, and he's standing in front of 51 with Squad, Matt, Pouch, and Sylvie. Kelly is the only one bent over to cuddle the dog instead of looking at the camera, although Casey is looking down at them fondly. Another, and all of 51 is smiling at the camera with their arms around each other's shoulders.

/^/^/^/

"They're saying it's working!" Sylvie shouted excitedly from where she had her laptop balanced precariously on her knees. Everyone in earshot turned to look at her, briefly abandoning their tasks to make sure everything was okay.

"What is?" Kelly prompted from the kitchen.

"The paramedicine program Cruz and Herrmann and I started down here! It's working! I just got an email from AFD HQ to congratulate us!" she replied, almost wriggling in her excitement. Matt carefully swooped in and rescued the laptop before it could crash to the ground, brushing a kiss against her brow in silent congratulations of his own. Kelly's grin said everything.

"This calls for a celebration!" he decreed, turning quickly and rushing about the kitchen. Twenty minutes later, a tray of apple-streusel muffins - Sylvie's favorite of his recipes - was presented on Owen's desk, and the 126 proved why they were known as a rowdy bunch.

/^/^/^/

Kelly couldn't bear to be in the courtroom when the trial started, opting instead to watch the livestream from the safety of the couch in the cabin the 126 had built, wrapped up in a thick fuzzy blanket. He purposefully kept the sound and the subtitles off, though, filling in the words he could imagine everyone saying solely based on the expressions that the camera picked up. Whoever was manning the camera must have been interested in the Manhattan EADA, because - more often than not - the frame strayed over to where Nolan was patiently reading through the file open on the table in front of him. That particular habit drew an amused snort from Sylvie, who had Kelly's head in her lap.

"He's already memorized those. He just doesn't want to talk to anyone," she explained when he shot her a curious glance. His lips twitched, but the strain around his eyes told her everything she needed to know about why the smile didn't break through.

Matt came back into the room with an empty bowl, a large bottle of water, and the TV remote, settling himself at Kelly's feet just as Kidd and Dawson were led into the courtroom and seated at the defense table, sneering across at Price, who sat alone. Or so it seemed. Frank was perched directly behind him, pale eyes laser-focused on the two women. Severide shrank back into the couch cushions as the camera angle shifted so that it appeared that the two women were glaring straight at their virtual audience. Then the screen cut to a view of the judge's arrival and all three of them relaxed. 

Time crept by at a snail's pace, and yet - before they knew it - the opening arguments were over and the court went into a recess. As soon as it did, Matt's phone rang. He automatically picked it up and put it on speaker, knowing it was Frank.

"We're only going through one witness today, and then picking up where we left off tomorrow," he informed them.

"Who's the witness?" Kelly croaked, cracking his jaw as his teeth unclenched.

"Boden. Virtually. He agreed to testify about your mental state in Chicago, and Grissom is confirming it tomorrow. I don't think you should watch those ones, but I'll let you know how it goes, and what the jury is looking like," Frank promised, pushing through the crowd to catch up with Nolan and then emerge somewhere quieter. "Look. You don't have to worry about anything. Nolan's already got a good grip on the jury even with just the opening statements, and we have a solid case. You three just worry about living life and getting settled. We're more than happy to handle the rest."

/^/^/^/

Sam paced the width of Nolan's office restlessly, scrolling through the comments about the trial on her phone. When it trilled to life, she wasted no time answering. "What's up with you two strangers?" she greeted, unconcerned now that she knew it was Frank.

"Just needed to call someone back home, but Lily's in bed and it's a school night, Jalen's on a case, and Nolan told me to only call McCoy in an emergency," came the exhausted reply. She glanced at the clock, only just then noticing the late hour, as if Jack's knock on the doorframe hadn't warned her already. She quietly lowered the phone and put it on speaker before replying.

"Well, we're both here, and happy to help. Is there anything you need?"

"I need Sylvie and her boys to not have to go through all this shit, and I need to go home," Nolan grumbled from the other end of the line. It took no effort to imagine the loosened tie and closed eyes as he leaned back into the couch, and she couldn't help a small smile.

"We need you here, too, and if you need one of us down there to help, we'll be there before you hang up the phone," Jack promised, which earned an amused snort from Frank.

"I don't think planes fly that fast," he observed.

"They do when it's Jack. Just watch," Nolan huffed, somehow managing to sound even more exhausted than his husband.

"How's the trial going?" Sam asked.

"I have most of the jury already, and we've only had one witness. I've looked over the defense witnesses, and I'm confident I can swing the rest of them during the cross-examinations. It looks like it'll go quickly, and I doubt the jury will be out for long, but I don't want to jinx anything, so we're anticipating the longest possible trial that could come out of this. Judge Olmstead has agreed to send subpoenas out as soon as there's any indication that we might need more reports out of Chicago, or from Chicago Intelligence to corroborate Frank and Reyes' recollection of the arrests," Price assured her. Jack nodded.

"Keep us posted, let us know if you need anything, and - for the love of God - go get some sleep," he ordered.

Frank snorted, but it was Nolan who snarked back, "Yes, dad. Right away dad," which earned a fond eye roll from both of them as they hung up.

Chapter Text

[5:45 - 6:35]

There's a group of seven people crowded into the frame of the camera, grinning sunnily at whoever stands behind it. Starting on the left, they introduce themselves.

"I'm Tyler. You saved me and my little sister from a fire three years ago."

"Sean. You saved my dad from a car accident that would have killed him if you hadn't gotten to him when you did."

"I'm Mary. I'm only alive because you and Captain Casey got me out of a collapsing house after a car crashed into me through the wall."

"Kaden. You saved my little brother from a fire at his school."

"We're Carly and Kara. We're twins, and you kept both of us from being the only twin left after a car bomb exploded on a lower level of the parking garage we were in."

"I'm Andy. You rescued my dad after an accident at the construction site where he was working, and he was able to come home, unlike my mom years ago. You're the reason I'm not a foster kid."

In unison, they chorus, "Thank you for their lives, and our own. You're our guardian angel, and we can't thank you enough."

/^/^/^/

"Is this another surprise visit to the airport to pick up someone from Chicago again?" Kelly asked when Owen all but dragged the three of them out to his car without a word of warning.

"You got half of it," the captain admitted with a shrug. "If I told you that Nolan and Frank are in the other car, would that help you get the other half?"

"Jack is coming?" Matt blurted, his eyes widening.

"Among others. Don't run them over when you see them," Owen warned, only half-seriously. "They wanted to talk to you three as soon as possible, and Cosgrove and Price insisted they be the ones to pick them up, so we're shuffling cars when we get there."

They lapsed into silence instead of continuing to pester him with questions he would simply refuse to answer. Kelly leaned tiredly against the window beside him, watching absently as Austin flitted past beyond the glass. Brett - wedged between him and Matt - kept a concerned eye on him, loosely holding his hand. As they pulled into the Arrivals pick-up line, he squeezed back and pulled away, sitting up straighter and hopping out of the car as soon as it stopped. Frank and Nolan had beaten them there, and Cosgrove was tightly hugging a young girl while his husband greeted the other three warmly. 

"Kelly Severide, Matt Casey, meet Jack McCoy, Samantha Maroun, Lily Cosgrove, and Lieutenant Kate Dixon," Nolan introduced them. "Sylvie, you better remember them." 

Kelly turned to check on Brett, who was being unusually quiet, then grinned when he saw that she had taken over embracing Lily. As he watched, Cosgrove's daughter pulled away and looked up at him curiously. After a moment, she said softly "I'm sorry you've been through so much. You look like a nice person," and then proceeded to wrap her arms around his waist and hug him gently. For a moment, he just stood there in surprise, then reached down at Frank's encouraging nod and hugged her back.

"Thank you," he whispered when she pulled away to greet Matt. She smiled at him sunnily.

"Any time," she promised.

/^/^/^/

The courtroom had erupted in chaos the second Kidd lunged to her feet during Nolan's cross-examination of her. Dawson had followed suit behind the prosecutor, and the bailiffs were all immediately moving to apprehend them. Frank beat them there, jumping the barricade and pulling Price backward by the shoulder out of the way of a flailing punch from Stella, who had gone completely off the rails screaming at him.

"Sit down!" Cosgrove roared at her. Her jaw snapped closed with an audible click and her eyes went wide, but she didn't settle back into the seat. Dawson's struggles subsided as the bailiffs marched her away, but they didn't have as free of access to Kidd with Frank and Nolan in the way. Price looked surprisingly unfazed, his calm an anchor for the rage that threatened to sweep away Cosgrove's tenuous control. "Now," he snarled when Stella still didn't obey. 

"This is cause enough for another minor charge," Nolan observed quietly, his head tilting thoughtfully as his steel grey eyes drilled into Kidd. Judge Olmstead - being led out of the way in a protective detail of police officers - glanced at him quickly. "Lucky for you, I don't especially feel like putting you even further away if it means we have to draw all of this out even longer. But if you keep digging yourself a deeper hole, I will happily continue to bury you in it. Come on, Frank. Let the bailiffs do their job."

Without another glance back, the two Manhattan natives turned and walked away from where Stella remained frozen.

/^/^/^/

Kelly only had a few moments to second-guess himself before the video call connected and he leaned back from the laptop. Boden didn't say anything for a long minute, one hand pressed to his mouth and his eyes swimming with unshed tears. Matt and Sylvie pressed in against his sides a little more firmly, waving excitedly. On the screen, Mills came into view beside the Chief, the rigs just visible behind them as everyone else that had remained in Chicago followed suit, calling out happy greetings. Grainger and Pelham were there, too, grinning at the polycule.

"Hey there, strangers," Severide greeted once they had settled enough that he could be heard. There wasn't a dry eye in either house as calmer greetings were sent back to him. "Miss me?"

There was an emphatic "yes" from the entire gathering and he chuckled wetly, ducking his head to look at his folded hands. "It's good to see you again, and I'm happy as long as the three of you are happy," Boden finally said.

"Thanks, Chief," Matt replied, a wobbly smile gracing his face as the conversation seemed to come easier after that.

/^/^/^/

"Hey! Aren't you that guy that came here and then got those two girls arrested?" someone called from the sidewalk as he, Cruz, and Herrmann got out of the car, headed for the front door of the restaurant. Kelly froze, his spine stiffening, but Herrmann stepped between him and the stranger.

"So what if he is? It doesn't affect you," Christopher snapped, his shoulders rigid.

"Just leave him alone, man," Cruz added. "Why do you care?"

"Why'd you have 'em arrested for makin' sure you were safe?"

"You'd do well to back off. You don't know the full story, and if you did, you wouldn't be siding with them," Joe bit out, his teeth clenching.

"Whatever, man. What a bunch o' fag-" the man started to retort. Kelly crossed the distance between them in two long strides and curled his fingers into the front of his shirt, shoving him back against the wall and leaning in dangerously close.

"Keep your opinions to yourself, and your nose out of my business. This doesn't concern you in any way whatsoever, so you go about your life and I'll go about mine. And we never have to cross paths again. Deal?" Severide snarled, his blue eyes turning flinty. The man sneered up at him.

"What are you gonna do 'bout it? Fuckin' -"

He hit the ground hard when Cruz yanked Kelly back just in time for Herrmann to deck him. Shaking out his hand, Christopher turned to look back at them, pasting on a winning smile. "Maybe we should try a different restaurant, no?" he asked. Kelly nodded and they headed back to the car, leaving the man crumpled and confused on the sidewalk.

Three minutes later, they came back and went inside to get an employee to help him, then left again, this time for real.

/^/^/^/

[7:17 - 8:01]

It's another slide show of pictures, although this one is actually short video clips. The first thirty seconds are focused on a building that is burning strongly. There are some firefighters running across the lawn, but most of them are by the rigs, anxiously watching the front door. After an anxious wait, the viewer can see why, as Matt staggers out, his arm around Severide's shoulders for support. Less than five seconds after they appear in the doorway and escape onto the porch, the roof buckles, sending up a vicious plume of smoke and debris. The clip immediately cuts to the next, where the camera has to zoom in from across the apparatus floor at 51 to focus on the laughing polycule. There's soot and something that might be watery spaghetti sauce on Matt's face, and Kelly is doubled over at the look of stunned disbelief on his boyfriend's face, barely avoiding getting sauce all over himself from where it stains his hands. Sylvie has her own hands raised in surrender, starting to back away, and Severide raises an eyebrow at her, playfully ruffling Casey's hair, which draws an indignant shriek from the blonde as red follows the motion.

/^/^/^/

Nolan breathed in deeply through his nose, closing his eyes as he entered the museum. Frank - already inside on a bench - chuckled warmly.

"Look who finally made it," he greeted, standing to embrace his husband. "Ready to go? Kel recommended this really good pizza place for lunch."

Nolan nodded with a sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly under the warm pressure of Frank's arm around him, which immediately squeezed tighter. "You have questions, don't you," he said - more of a statement than a question. Cosgrove hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Ask away, but once we get the pizza, I'm not talking about court anymore."

"Alright. That's fair. First and foremost, are you okay?"

"I'm so tired, Frank. I don't want my sister to be going through this. Hell, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but here we are. And I'm pretty sure Kel isn't happy that I'm prosecuting, especially since it means I'll be hearing the whole story, and too many people he knows already know bits and pieces. He doesn't want this to follow him, and yet..."

"Yet everyone he knows is going to remember it."

"Yeah."

They lapsed into silence, not really registering the fact that Frank's time was being eaten up under their combined strides until they were standing outside the mom-and-pop restaurant. "I'm just going to say, from what I've heard, they won't have to deal with it much longer, and everyone they know should know them well enough to forget about it," Frank finally said, squeezing his shoulders again and then letting him go to open the door.

"I know. I just wish it hadn't even started. I wish it was just over."

"I know. I know."

/^/^/^/

"Judge Olmstead," came the greeting from the other end of the phone line. He couldn't stifle a satisfied smile. He'd gotten the right phone number on the first try.

"Good morning, Judge. My name is Jack McCoy, Manhattan DA, calling on behalf of my prosecutor, Nolan Price."

"The Severide v. Kidd and Severide v. Dawson cases," she confirmed, recognition evident in her voice. 

"That's correct."

"What can I do for you? " 

"I need you to fax me all of the case files you have access to. I'd like to review the case myself for details that may have been missed."

"EADA Price said the same thing the first time we met. I would be happy to help. Give me a couple of days, and then you should have them."

"Very good. Thank you."

Chapter Text

"Minefield? Really? God, only in Texas," Kelly huffed, rolling his eyes jokingly. Owen and TK shot him twin disgruntled looks.

"You're one to talk, Mister Tries-To-Rescue-A-Hostage-Firehouse-By-Himself," Matt grumbled where he was sitting a few feet away, which earned him an annoyed glare.

"Okay, Mister Runs-Into-A-Collapsed-Parking-Garage-Without-Backup," Sylvie laughed.

"You did what? " Paul shrieked, almost doubled over laughing. It was Casey's turn to look put out. 

"If you think the minefield was bad, have you heard about the time that Dad insisted on going into a house that had been collapsed in a tornado to get a couple of kids, and then it shifted on top of him and we couldn't get him to respond for at least two minutes?" TK pitched in.

"It wasn't my fault the radio went out and I couldn't respond!" Owen protested, although he was laughing too, by that point.

"Can we talk about Sev's hobby of solving arson investigations?" Tommy called out as she passed the table, headed toward the pair of ambulances parked beyond them.

"Hey wai-" Kelly started, but was cut off by amazed shouts of "That's a hobby?!" and "Arson isn't a hobby, Sev!" which he dutifully ignored, even as the already-chaotic gathering devolved into blatant insanity.

/^/^/^/

Nolan was paying as little attention to the other people on the sidewalks as he possibly could, too exhausted from a day reviewing the court files to grace anyone but Frank with his attention. Lily had remained behind at the firehouse with all of her new friends, with the excuse of "you guys sound boring." Frank had only put up the barest argument before relenting and following Nolan to the courthouse that morning. And Lily, of course, had been right - it was mind-numbingly dull. Now, though, they were free, with hours of daylight left to spare, during which time they explored what they hadn't yet seen of the city.

Frank was rambling about one of the more recent cases Shaw was updating him about from Manhattan, occasionally nudging Nolan with his shoulder to keep him from zoning out too much. Nolan - who had been absently staring at the sidewalk passing beneath his feet - only saw the scuffed and dirty pair of boots before a beefy arm slammed into his shoulder hard enough to send him reeling. He would have fallen completely if Frank hadn't tightened his grip on his hand and pulled him closer, looking back over their shoulders at the sneering redneck. His fingers twitched instinctively and Nolan dragged him forward before he could go for his gun, shaking his head slightly and rotating his arm in an attempt to relieve the dull ache.

"Ignore him," the prosecutor whispered. "He's not worth it."

"Are you okay?" Frank replied, pale blue eyes scrutinizing his husband's face worriedly.

"I'm fine. Probably won't even bruise."

"Hey!" someone drawled behind them. Out of instinct, Cosgrove started to turn, but Nolan's hand tightened to the point of pain and he stopped. "Hey, I'm talkin' to you!"

"Nolan..." Frank murmured, glancing worriedly at his partner.

"Find a place that looks friendly. I'll follow your lead," Nolan mumbled back, almost drowned out by a passing car.

"Hey! You that prosecutor?" the man behind them shouted. They could both hear his footsteps speeding up toward them. "The one from New York? We have our own prosecutors, ya know. And 'sides. You prob'ly got the story backward. Everybody knows men abuse girls. It ain't the other way 'round."

"It can be," Frank retorted before Nolan could stop him.

"The hell did you just say to me?" Great. Now the stranger was angry. Their day was just getting better and better.

"Nice going, Frank," Nolan grumbled.

Cosgrove was at least wise enough to look sheepish, ducking his head sideways. "Sorry 'bout that."

A meaty hand landed on Nolan's shoulder first, pulling him backward away from Frank, who immediately spun around, one hand flitting toward the gun that wasn't there. There was a thick arm around Price's throat in half a second, pulling him flush against a sweaty chest. The few other people on the sidewalk gave them a few strange glances, but none of them stopped to help. Nolan twisted violently, spinning to the side to wriggle his head out of the lock. The grip tightened in response until he was desperately heaving to pull in air, dull fingernails scrabbling uselessly at the thick material of the jacket covering the arm holding him in place. The edges of his vision started to go grey and he braced himself, his pulse throbbing through every cell in his body.

"Nolan? Hey! Let him go!" Frank shouted, held in place by a knife against his back. "Let him go! "

Nolan knew he wasn't going to make it much longer as the grey became black spots across his vision and he fumbled to hold himself up on the arm across his throat, shifting most of his weight to one leg and bringing the other heel up behind him. There was an aborted groan and the arm loosened enough for him to drop free, sucking in a huge lungful of much-needed air and then slumping sideways to cough violently. The man who had pinned him was writhing in agony on the ground behind him, and - in the moment of distraction - Frank twisted free of the knife-wielder's faint grip and ran forward to scoop Nolan into his arms.

"We need to go," the prosecutor rasped, struggling to get his feet under him. Frank nodded and picked him up, grunting when his knees cracked audibly.

"We aren't far from the 126. We'll be okay," he assured Nolan, who was still struggling to retain consciousness. He didn't get a response.

/^/^/^/

"Frank? What happened?" Tommy asked, having turned around when she heard his scuffing footsteps and seeing Nolan draped across his arms.

"Help him," came the choked response.

"Bring him to the ambulance, and tell me everything that happened," she ordered. Owen - walking down the steps - looked over at the sharp tone she'd taken on and then started running, tucking his phone into his pocket so he had both hands free to help.

"Cosgrove, go call McCoy. Tell him what happened. We'll take care of Nolan," he assured the panting detective, who nodded and started pacing a few feet away, dialing with shaking hands.

/^/^/^/

Jack looked up from the mess of papers scattered across his deck when his phone rang, pushing open files out of the way so that he could pick it up. The caller ID simply read 'Cosgrove' and he frowned, checking the clock. It was still late morning in Austin.

"McCoy," he greeted once he picked up.

"Nolan and I got attacked. He was in a headlock long enough to almost lose consciousness, and I got him back to the firehouse, but he hasn't been responding," the usually unflappable detective rattled off in a shaking voice, completely bypassing the expected greetings. "I think they're trying to stop swelling so they can get him to the hospital, but I'm not sure."

"But you're sure you're safe now? Both of you? What did they want?" Jack pressed. He heard Frank take a deep breath and braced himself.

"The only thing the guy said was that Nolan got the story wrong, since girls can't abuse men. I think it was my fault he got pissed, though. Once he had Nolan in a headlock, we were kind of at a standstill because I didn't have my gun and there was a knife to my back and at least three people to get through. I mean, until Nolan kicked the guy in the groin and it all went to shit, anyway. That was the only reason we got out of there. I have never felt more useless in my life."

"You're wrong. It's not your fault. They were just ignorant. And both of you are going to be okay, so don't beat yourself up over it so much. You're the reason the two of you got away before the people who attacked you regained their wits, right?"

"...Yeah. I had to carry Nolan."

"Exactly. It'll all work out soon, and you two can come home safe."

"Thanks, dad," Frank sighed, although there was no hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"You're welcome. Keep me updated."

"I will. Thanks. Talk later."

Jack hummed an affirmative and then hung up, scrubbing his hands over his face as he turned back to the haphazard piles of reports and pictures. He had work to do.

/^/^/^/

"What do you mean they were attacked for no reason?" Shaw exclaimed once Dixon was done talking. Stone looked up sharply from where he was engaged in a quiet discussion with Benson and Stabler, who also looked up with more than mild concern.

"Look, all I know is that Frank panicked pretty bad when he carried Nolan into the firehouse, and it took Jack a while to calm him down. No one's pressed him for details, and we sure as hell aren't pressing Price for any more, with the shape he's in. I don't have details, but from the looks of it, Nolan was choked pretty badly," Kate replied, sounding exhausted.

"So everyone will be okay?"

"Nolan will be fine. Frank wasn't hurt at all, just shaken up. Everyone else was either at the firehouse or the store in one of the rigs. We're all back now."

"Well. That's reassuring, at least. Thanks for the update."

"Sure. Talk later."

/^/^/^/

[8:03 - 8:28]

It's 51 that files into the frame this time. Most of it, anyway. They take almost fifteen seconds to get settled and actually turn to face the camera. Boden is in front of them, and shifts his feet before clearing his throat and beginning.

"Hello, Kelly. Matt. Sylvie. We just wanted to say..." here, he trailed off and looked away. Pelham stepped out of line and came up beside him.

"You're sorely missed up here. We're all behind you as long as you need us to be."

"We'd be glad to go to court against them for you," Otis offered.

"You always have a home here," Grainger added, and the video faded as the entire firehouse waved at the camera.

/^/^/^/

"You look horrible," Lily said as soon as she saw Frank hunched on the bottom step. 

"Thank you," he grumbled, although he gave her a strained smile when he lifted his head. She frowned at him and lowered herself down in front of him.

"I heard what happened. Kate tried to keep me from hearing, but Jalen got a bit excited," she assured him, stopping his hunt for words to explain Nolan's unusual absence. "How is he?"

He sighed heavily, looking down at his hands again. "Resting upstairs in Owen's office. The swelling in his throat is finally going down, but the bruises are pretty bad and he's still having some trouble breathing. His voice is pretty bad when he tries to talk, and we had to knock him out with medicine just to get him to stop trying, because it was just making things worse."

There was silence for a minute, and then she leaned forward a little further toward him. "You know it isn't your fault, right? This all falls on Kidd and Dawson. And the guy who did it without knowing anything."

He looked over at her with a sad smile, but nodded his understanding. "When did you get so wise?" he asked wistfully, standing and pulling her to her feet as well. "Let's go see how Nolan's doing, okay?"

"Okay."

/^/^/^/

"I still don't know what I did so horribly wrong. I don't know how we ended up here. I just wanted him back.

That prosecutor says I never had him, which makes no sense. 

Price seems familiar. He says Sylvie's his sister, but that isn't what I mean. There's something else there. I just can't put my finger on it.

I don't think I did anything wrong. Neither does Gabby. At least, she didn't last time I talked to her. Ever since she called Antonio, though, I think she's been avoiding me. And everyone else, honestly. I don't know what's happening anymore. 

Kelly hasn't visited me yet. He's probably screwing around with Casey and Brett and forgetting all about what he and I had.

And oh what we had was wonderful. I appreciated it, so why couldn't he? He brought this on himself."

Chapter Text

So life happened. I'm sure y'all have noticed that updates have been coming further and further apart. I have been having a lot of trouble writing fics that have been going for a while, and then some. I can start, but I can't get myself to keep writing. 

So life....

I got diagnosed with autism.

One of my family members died.

We had to get rid of the dog I've had for years.

My brother moved out.

A few of my friends moved away because America and told me not to keep in touch.

etc.

Sorry for the delay. I'll update when I can, but expect it to be random and far-between at best. I will keep y'all updated in the notes as I can.

Chapter Text

Peter's head snapped up from the paperwork in his hand when the door opened and familiar footsteps could be heard treading toward them. Dixon saw him a few seconds later and nodded a greeting, then looked past him. Olivia finally looked up from where she and Elliot were reviewing a case file, which Stabler quickly closed and hid in his lap. Fin snickered quietly from his own desk, shaking his head when Kate raised an eyebrow.

"I'm betting that's the Austin Project file?" she prompted. Stone glanced back at the two sheepish police officers, then nodded at Dixon.

"They managed to convince McCoy and Maroun to send them a copy after it was all sent up," he explained, not even trying to hide the fact that he had the exact same file in his own hands. "Then they made Fin and I copies so we could all see it ourselves."

"Are Rollins and Carisi helping at least?"

"No. They're a little busy with the kids. We didn't want to distract them," Stabler admitted, putting the file back on the desk and opening to the page they had been on. "Welcome back, by the way. Nice to see you, too."

All he got in response to that was a heavy sigh.

/^/^/^/

Stella got settled at their familiar little table first, frog-stepping around their attorney when the guard pulled her along by her elbow. Gabby met her eyes briefly before following. Their handcuffs were released just long enough to move around to the front, then tightened roughly again. Neither of them so much as flinched at the rough pinch of the metal against their skin, too accustomed to it by this point. Price was already seated at the other table, his arms folded and resting on the lower edge of the file he was reading - too thin to be theirs, and marked with the Manhattan seal.

"Is he reading a file for a different case before he even finishes this one?" Gabby whispered incredulously as the detective - Cosgrove - leaned down to say something to the prosecutor, who nodded and glanced behind him, where the 126 had been sitting. Kidd didn't respond, although she kept a careful eye on Nolan, not missing the bruises wrapping around his throat.

"Is he familiar to you, too?" she finally murmured. Gabby tilted her head in consideration.

"Maybe? I can't place why, though," she replied, just as the doors opened and the 126 filed in. Kelly was the second person through, just behind Captain Strand. Nolan stood to greet them, embracing Sylvie gently. She said something that had him turning back to look at the two of them and both women froze.

"Oh my God," Gabby whispered. "Are they twins?"

Stella heard the laughter out on the apron even before she emerged onto 51's app floor. There was a blonde woman standing in front of Boden and Squad, her face lit up in a contagious grin. Kelly and Casey were both talking to her curly-haired escort, who - despite the heat - wore a three-piece suit. 

"What's going on?" she asked Cruz, coming to stand behind him.

"That's Sylvie Brett-Price, the paramedic that's transferring here from Manhattan. And Nolan Price. He's a prosecutor or something. He's here to talk to Stone, I think," came the response. Cruz didn't even look at her, enraptured by the new arrivals. As they watched, Price lifted a hand in farewell, said something quietly to Sylvie, and then turned away to get into a waiting car. "They seem like a lot of fun."

So much fun, Stella thought to herself. "I think he's her older brother. He visited 51 a couple times. Never stayed long. He was only ever in Chicago for work, so we didn't see much of him. Brett did, though. She sat in on a bunch of his trials. He's the one that got Peter Stone to move up to Manhattan."

Gabby nodded absently, still staring in shock at the siblings, who were engaged in a heated discussion with Casey and Kelly, who was grinning like a madman. At least he looked happy, even if it was disgusting how he went about it, Stella allowed. Although she still didn't understand why he had led her on instead of saying he was already taken. He'd brought most of this on himself, but maybe - just maybe - she and Gabby had gone too far.

/^/^/^/

"Uncle Jalen!" Lily exclaimed, bolting up from the table where she was doing homework sent from school. Shaw barely had time to drop his bags and brace himself before she slammed into him with a bear hug that he eagerly returned. "Guess what!"

"What's up, kiddo?" he chuckled, lifting her a little higher to humor her.

"Nolan won the case against Kidd! She stopped trying. Dawson's being a -"

"Lily," Frank interjected warningly.

"-holdout. But it's almost over. You missed the fun parts!"

"My getting strangled was fun?" Nolan asked, his voice still a faint rasp as he leaned against the wall.

"Well... no. But I mean now it's just logistics, right? Compared to what it was like when we got here, it's kinda dull."

"That still doesn't make it fun," Kelly emphasized, coming around the corner and sending a sloppy salute toward Jalen, who returned the greeting with a nod, finally putting Lily back on her own two feet and making a show of holding his back as he looked around. It didn't escape his attention that Engine and Ambo both were out, although the second ambulance remained behind, although Eddie was conspicuously absent.

"So. Catch me up. Tell me everything," he demanded jokingly, settling into an empty seat at the table.

/^/^/^/

"Where's Lily?" Frank asked, walking into the spare office where he had left his daughter with Cruz and Herrmann while he ran down to the courthouse for a brief meeting.

"She said she had to go to the bathroom. She usually spend forty minutes in there?" Christopher replied. Frank frowned and shook his head, glancing back out through the doorway.

"Not unless she's feeling bad, and she was fine when I left earlier. Have you talked to Nolan?" he replied when he turned back around. 

"Yeah. He hasn't seen her. Owen hasn't either, and - according to Marjan - the bathroom is still occupied. At least, it was when she went in to check fifteen minutes ago," Cruz explained, already standing up to follow Frank out of the room, just as Marjan came running up, Nolan on her heels.

"She's gone. Somebody call Carlos," he demanded.

/^/^/^/

Gabby and Stella both looked up from the table when the visiting room's doors opened. A girl no older than fifteen walked in, dark eyes scrutinizing them carefully. Something about her rang a bell, but - until she introduced herself - neither of them could place the familiarity. For a brief moment, Kidd entertained the idea that she was a third Brett-Price sibling, but quickly dismissed it. One of the security guards remained in the room while she got situated across from them.

"Hello," she greeted them with surprising warmth. They exchanged a glance, then echoed the sentiment. "My name is Lily Cosgrove. You've already met my dad, I think."

"That's right," Stella confirmed when Lily lifted an eyebrow waiting for their response.

"Do you mind if I just talk at you for a minute? You're welcome to respond when I'm done, but I want to get it all out there."

"Go ahead," Gabby invited.

"I know you two probably didn't endorse it, but my dads were attacked in the streets the other day by someone who thought you were right. He insisted that you couldn't be wrong because women can't abuse men. And yet here we are. You sexually assaulted one of my dad's sister's boyfriends when he couldn't defend himself. This is the same man that you allegedly abused in Chicago before he moved down here. And you followed him. I'm curious about one major thing. When you figured out what made him think he had to leave for his own safety, what made you think it would all work out okay if you followed him anyway?" Somehow, Lily's voice had remained entirely calm the entire time, which only made everything worse. Neither of the women said anything, looking down at their hands where they were cuffed to a bar built into the table. "I'll let you think about that. Have a nice rest of your day."

Lily stood up and turned to the guard, right as the door opened and a very cold-faced Nolan Price appeared. Lily stiffened, dread briefly flitting across her face before calm confidence took its place and she braced her shoulders. "Hey, Pops," she drawled.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Cosgrove," he responded icily. "Your dad is looking for you. As is an entire firehouse. And Officer Reyes. I think you have some explaining to do. Don't you?"

"Yes sir," she mumbled, ducking her head and following him out of the room. Right before they disappeared from sight, Nolan's arm settled comfortingly around her shoulders and she grinned up at him, although everything he said was too quiet for anyone else to hear.

/^/^/^/

Sylvie was the first one to the restaurant, settling into one of the round booths in the corner and order drinks for everyone. Nolan's bourbon had just arrived when Frank, Matt, and Kelly walked in and settled around her.

"Nolan's on his way. He had to wrangle Lily into agreeing to not disappear again since she didn't listen to me earlier, and Cruz and Herrmann refused to agree unless she stopped making their lives living hell," Cosgrove explained when their glances all fell on the unclaimed seat beside him. "The bourbon was a good idea."

"Are you encouraging me to get my own brother drunk?" Sylvie laughed.

"Not at all. It's even harder to deal with Drunk Nolan than it is to deal with Tired Trial Nolan."

"I'm literally the same person in any mood, Frank. Scoot over," Nolan grumbled, having come into earshot in time to hear the tail end of his husband's statement.

"Obviously, you've never met you when you're drunk," Frank observed. "Remind me to record you next time. You're a lot more fun that way."

Nolan's jaw dropped open in insulted disbelief, right as their waiter approached and they placed their orders. Once she left, Frank turned back to Kelly, his expression settling into something more serious. Nolan immediately took a substantial drink from his bourbon. "Are you planning to head back to Chicago once all of this is behind us?"

"I'm not sure," Severide mused. "Owen needs me down here for Squad, so I might stay a while longer until someone else can get promoted to lead it. But I don't want to stay in Austin. There's just too much that happened here, and I don't want to stay in its shadow. But there's the same problem with Chicago, so I'm not sure I could handle trying to go back, especially because so many people know everything that I had been trying to keep hidden. So I guess I'll stay here for a while, and then find a place to start over. I'm sure I'll visit both houses when I can, but I don't think I could stand staying at either of them long-term. It'd just be too much."

Nolan nodded his understanding, looking down into the bottom of his tumbler. No one commented until well after the food arrived and the topic of conversation was much lighter.

/^/^/^/

Laughter echoed through Owen's house, permeating the very air they breathed and sinking deep into the walls. Kelly - reclining on his couch with his arms around Matt and Sylvie - grinned, watching Nolan trying to navigate the chaos of the 126 that packed the room. Lily was holding court while her father looked on in amusement, both of them pitching in to regale Mateo, Buck, and TK with stories of their adventures and past cases. They both made a point to steer clear of the story of the murder at the restaurant, though, almost without conscious effort, and no one else dared to bring it up. Judd and Grace wove through the crowd, exchanging greetings with everyone. Owen, Tommy, and Marjan brought food out to sit on the table, but didn't make a big deal of it, knowing that if they did, it would be gone in less than five minutes. Eddie and Carlos were playing with Buttercup on the floor while Michelle watched with a mug cradled in her hands as she leaned against the wall. Christopher and the Vega twins were drawing in the middle of the room, seemingly uncaring whether they got underfoot. With the women's convictions, they could finally breathe easier. 

Well, except Nolan, who was thanked every ten seconds or so.

/^/^/^/

Sylvie was still smiling when she excused herself to take her phone call. Matt and Kelly both leaned against the wall by the front door to wait, waving her away fondly. She waved to Owen on her way past, already picking up.

"Evening, Jack!" she chirped as soon as the call connected.

"Hello to you, too," McCoy replied warmly. "I take that to mean Nolan won the case and you're all celebrating? "

"We've been celebrating since nine this morning. I thought at least one of them would tell you. Kidd and Dawson both were convicted and sentenced for every charge against them," Sylvie corrected.

"The last thing I heard was that Lily had disappeared and Nolan had to be the one to find her at the courthouse," Jack chuckled.

"Yeah, that was fun. But it's all resolved now, so I'm not worried, and you shouldn't be, either," Brett sighed, looking up into the watercolor sunset.

"Noted." There was a brief pause, then, "So when's the wedding, and am I invited? "

"Jack!" Sylvie yelped, instinctively checking over her shoulder. All she got in response was raucous laughter.

Chapter Text

"Smoke-eaters in the house!" Capp shouted, all but jumping up from the Squad table. Herrmann and Cruz - walking up the apron - exchanged a glance and a grin as the rest of 51 flooded outside. Boden, Grainger, and Pelham hung back slightly instead of joining the overwhelming clatter of questions, already noting the exhaustion written across their faces.

"Sev's fine. Nolan and Frank have done their jobs well. All three of them are talking to someone just to get over it. The 126 helped them move into their new apartment in New York. They have yet to share the address, but we've heard good things and they're getting settled with the 255 up there. Karns has made it abundantly clear he's glad to take Sylvie back, especially with the paramedicine program. Pricegrove has gone back to Manhattan, and I'm sure there's plans being planned already, but for now, we're just getting home again," Herrmann sighed, just as Cindy and the kids came outside as well.

Boden stepped aside before Max barreled into him. Christopher barely caught all of them, smiling tiredly at Cindy, who hung back slightly so he had room to breathe. Cruz bear-hugged Javi, who started laughing uncontrollably. Chloe embraced Herrmann when the kids finally let him go, whispering something only they knew.

/^/^/^/

Nolan was the one to wake Frank when their plane touched down, instead of the other way around. The polycule had flown out a week before, while the two of them were still sorting out the last few legal issues of moving Kidd and Dawson to an Illinois prison instead of a Texas one. Finally, they were able to return home. 

Because of how late the flight had landed, Nolan left Frank to fetch his briefcase while he picked up a deeply-asleep Lily and went to wake Jalen a few rows ahead of them. They shuffled through the terminal to luggage claim in silence, absently weaving through the scattered crowds. Jalen and Frank were kind enough to grab all of the baggage so that they didn't have to wake Lily. Within twenty minutes, they'd managed to make their escape out to their waiting cars. Shaw dismissed himself, yawning and waving to them as he kept walking. Nolan carefully settled Lily, then bid Frank good-bye and called a taxi.

"Where're you going?" Cosgrove mumbled.

"Seeing Kelly and Sylvie and Matt. I need to talk to them," Nolan huffed, tipping his head back to try to see the stars high above. 

"Nolan. Dear husband. Love of my life. It is barely three fifteen in the morning. They will not be awake by the time you get there, so unless you want to deal with a tired and cranky Sylvie and exhausted Kelly, I suggest you get in the fucking car," Frank grumbled.

"Matt's already awake, and it'll still take a bit to get there," Nolan protested weakly.

"Fine. I was trying to be nice. Nobody wants to deal with a tired and cranky Nolan, so I will throw you into this car if I have to, drive you home, drag you to bed, pin you down, and wait for you to get at least three hours of sleep," Frank growled, opening his door again.

"I already called a taxi," Nolan whined, although he didn't struggle when warm hands closed around his arms and guided him to the passenger seat.

"No one has to know. C'mon. Seatbelt," Frank murmured as Nolan's eyelids drooped dangerously low. "You're such a child sometimes."

"Mm. You love me though."

The only response to that accusation was a resigned sigh, and Nolan fell asleep with a smile gracing his lips.

/^/^/^/

Matt had to nudge Owen awake an hour before his flight back to Austin, both of them still exhausted from the hassle of moving and unpacking as fast as they could. They started eating in silence, staring absently at the empty table. Unsurprisingly, Owen was the first to break the peace.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay longer? Until you're settled, I mean," he yawned, squinting at Matt across from him, who looked up blearily.

"No. We're alright. Thanks for the help, but..." he trailed off, dropping his gaze again.

"...but you need the space and the time to settle yourselves and make it home," Owen finished for him, nodding sagely. "Well in that case, I'm happy to leave you to it. Stay in touch, and give the other two my best, okay?"

"You got it, Cap," Matt agreed, standing and reaching for his jacket. Owen returned to the couch to pull on his shoes and grab his luggage, then followed him out the door and down to the street.

"Best of luck, Captain," he said before he climbed into the Uber.

"You too, Captain," came the response, accompanied by a quick grin. Then the door closed, and he was off.

/^/^/^/

Nolan was still asleep pinned down by half of Frank's weight when Lily walked into their room the next morning, still scrubbing the sleep from her own eyes. He still wore his shoes and most of his suit, although he had tossed the tie to one side and abandoned his jacket. The vest and button-down that remained were rumpled and his once-styled hair was tousled. Frank had actually taken the time to change before trapping his husband, although they had both foregone sheets and blankets. 

"Pops," Lily whispered. Nolan mumbled something incoherently, then slowly blinked at her when she shook the arm that wasn't falling asleep under Frank's weight. 

"What's up?" he asked, voice rough and slurred with tiredness.

"You said we'd meet up with Matt and Kelly and Sylvie this morning. Matt just called you and I had to answer," she said.

"Is he still on the phone?" Nolan questioned, carefully extracting himself from Frank, who barely even twitched.

"Yeah. He wanted to talk to you." He nodded and stood up, finally emerging from the vest and stretching before following her out of the bedroom and taking his phone.

"Matt," he greeted.

"Hey. Owen left a while ago, and Kel and Sylv just woke up. Are you comin' over today or waiting to get settled?" Casey's voice asked after a moment, exhaustion evident even over the line.

"I think Frank already got hit by the jet lag again, but Lily and I should be on our way shortly. I just gotta clean up first," Nolan yawned. "Want me to grab coffee on the way?"

"No need. I have a pot started, and the boys should be up soon. Once that happens, we won't have a choice but to be awake enough to entertain them. Especially if you're bringing Lily over for them."

"Well, at least all three will be entertained, right?"

"Yeah. Absolutely. Alright. I'll let you go get ready. See you soon. Give Frank our best."

"I will. Talk later."

"Yep. Bye."

"Bye, Case."

/^/^/^/

Stella shifted restlessly, trying to delay having to get up for as long as possible. Gabby - on the bunk below her - nudged her mattress with one foot until she rolled over to look down at her.

"You're thinking really loud. What's going on?" Dawson asked.

"Just.... nothing. Maybe I was wrong. I don't think Kel was as happy as I thought he was."

"Who cares, Stell? He's supposed to make you happy. Don't worry about him," Gabby huffed. Kidd sighed and rolled over again. She didn't move again until the guards came by to unlock their cell, although her mind was still racing. 

/^/^/^/

It was Kelly who opened the door for Nolan instead of Matt, a steaming mug of coffee in one hand and an apple-streusel muffin in the other. It was a miracle he managed to undo the locks and turn the knob without dropping anything, although he didn't risk giving Nolan or Lily a hug with his hands so full. Sylvie had no such reservations, dropping her own breakfast on the table so she could run across the living room to scoop Lily into a tight embrace.

"Hey, Nolan!" Matt called from the kitchen, where the sound of popping bacon almost drowned out the clatter of silverware and the toaster clicking to brown the bagels.

"Morning, Matt," he yelled back, careful to close the door behind him.

"What happened to the suit?" Sylvie teased, gesturing at his black sweatpants and loose hoodie.

"I was in a rush, and Frank's stuff was easier to put on," Nolan grumbled, just lifting the side of the hoodie to show her the number of times the waistband of the sweatpants had been rolled in on itself. Kelly couldn't help but snort out a laugh, earning himself a half-hearted glare, although it was reassuring to see he'd recovered his sense of humor.

"Well now you don't have to worry about getting your breakfast on a nice suit," Matt argued for him, peeking through the doorway leading into the kitchen.

"Who says we haven't already eaten?" Nolan protested.

"Lily looks like she might starve if she doesn't eat something in the next ten minutes, and I already heard you say that you were in a rush, and Sylvie told me that means you do something else instead of eating so you can get ready sooner."

"It's necessities! I'm multitasking!"

"Breakfast is necessary, too, Pops," Lily cut in, right before the Darden brothers ran down the hallway and almost bowled her over in her excitement.

Nolan threw his hands up in defeat, although his kaleidoscope eyes danced with mirth and the corners of his lips curled upward. Sylvie - finally released from Lily's death grip - walked over to him and hugged him just as tightly, making it nearly impossible for him to take an adequate breath.

"Frank will try you for murder if you don't let me go soon," he wheezed after a minute, awkwardly tapping her back.

"No he won't. He'll arrest me, sure, but we'll have to put up with your reanimated corpse if you actually want me to be tried," she grumbled against his chest, although she took the hint and loosened her grip slightly.

"I think the worst part would be the smell," Kelly observed where he leaned against the wall. "We'd all be happy enough that you didn't permanently die, except for that part."

That comment drew stares from the three kids, who had commandeered the couch. "Why are we planning how to reanimate Nolan's corpse?" Griffin asked.

"More importantly, why is Nolan suddenly dead?" Ben corrected, not having heard the initial exchange between the siblings.

Kelly sighed heavily, rolling his eyes to the ceiling in fond exasperation and shaking his head.

/^/^/^/

Frank's phone chiming was loud in the office where he had settled himself after Nolan and Lily left without waking him up, drawing him from his thoughts with a jolt in time to realize that - in his distraction - his pen had trailed loosely across the paper in front of him, crossing the work he'd already done. He heaved a sigh and set both the pen and paper aside, reaching for the device behind him.

Matthew Casey  has created an Untitled Chat

Matthew Casey added Nolan Price, Sylvie Brett, Owen Strand, TK Strand, Frank Cosgrove, Carlos Reyes, Kelly Severide, Mateo Chavez, Marjan Marwani, Nancy Gilligan, Tommy Vega, Judd Ryder, Grace Ryder, Wallace Boden, Joe Cruz, Christopher Herrmann, Tony Ferraris, Harold Capp, Eddie Diaz, Evan Buckley, Mouch, Otis, Paul Strickland, Samantha Maroun, Jack McCoy, Hank Voight, Tonio Dawson, Jay Halstead, Adam Ruzek, Kim Burgess, Erin Lindsay, Hailey Upton, Al, Ritter, Mills, Michelle Blake, Kev Atwater, Fin, Kate Dixon, Benson, Stabler, Stone, and Jalen Shaw to Untitled Chat

Sylvie Brett renamed Untitled Chat to Austin Project Pals!

Jack McCoy: what

Joe Cruz: wait y do some ppl have nicknames and others dont

Matthew  Casey: ur allowed to change names

Matthew Casey changed their name to Matt

Frank Cosgrove changed Stone's name to Pebble

Pebble: wtf homie-cide

Frank Cosgrove changed Nolan Price's name to Iceman

Jalen Shaw changed Frank Cosgrove's name to Copsgrove

Copsgrove changed Jack McCoy's name to Dad

Dad: why

Copsgrove  changed Dad's name to Padre

Padre: no

Copsgrove changed Padre's name to Father

Father: stop

Copsgrove changed Father's name to Boss

Boss: what did i do to deserve this

Iceman revoked Copsgrove's name-changing ability

Copsgrove: what

Copsgrove: since when can you do that

Iceman: forever. i just never told you

Kelly Severide:  😂

TK Strand: pls never do that again

Kelly Severide: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

TK Strand: stop

Kelly Severide changed Owen Strand's name to Captain Hair

Kelly Severide changed Sylvie Brett's name to  Angel Love

Angel Love  changed Kelly Severide's name to Kel

Copsgrove: ew

Matt: oh shut up homie-cide

Matt changed Joe Cruz's name to Cruz

Cruz: thx mat

Matt: excuse me? 🤨

Cruz: MATT

Cruz: SORRY I MEANT MATT CAP

Cruz: autocorrect is being... not smart

Matt: excuses, excuses

Kel: matty

Kel: he's my man

Kel: i'll deal with him

TK Strand:  👀

Nancy Gilligan changed Mateo Chavez's name to Angle Can't Spell

Angle Can't Spell changed Grace Ryder's name to Angel

Angle Can't Spell changed Judd Ryder's name to Angel's Cowboy

TK Strand: 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Angel's Cowboy changed TK Strand's name to Manhattan Cowboy

Matt: OKAY ENOUGH

Matt: I actually made this for a reason

Matt: sylvie asked me to

Angel Love: sooooooo.......

Matt: when are we getting together for something OTHER than an emergency?

Radio silence. For at least ten minutes, Frank's phone was silent. Then schedules started sending. Nolan's was thrown in with an unspecific "anytime. i can ask to move or reassign trials," which earned a round of teasing about his rank up until Jack cut in and asked Nolan to take his cases, when everything turned to blatant laughter. Frank shook his head fondly at their antics and turned back to his work.

/^/^/^/

When their laughter finally subsided and Sylvie had busied herself making a spreadsheet of schedules, Matt passed out plates and guided Nolan to the armchairs and the couch. The kids calmed down enough to eat, leaving enough room for the upcoming conversation to be heard. Kelly was the first to broach the topic.

"You said you wanted to talk?"

"Subtle," Sylvie grunted around a mouthful of bagel. Severide rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, actually. I did," Nolan started, then paused and took a deep, bracing breath. "I've been getting quite a few messages from a Carl Grissom lately. Says he's some sort of Chief from CFD. He says morale at 51 is surprisingly low, and that he's been getting pestered with questions about updates for all three of you, and that no one wanted to ask you only to be deflected. So, how would you feel about visiting and showing everyone you're actually fine?"

He held his breath while the Darden boys looked up at their adopted parents hopefully, even as the adults exchanged glances. "We haven't started working yet," Matt observed helpfully.

"It'd be nice to see everyone again," Sylvie added in.

Severide sighed, although his expression said he'd already decided. "What the hell. What would it hurt? Why not?"