Title: Second Chances

Summary: As Kelly Severide works the suspected school arson he tangles with two people needing second chances, one a new roommate that ignites deeper feelings and the other a troubled soul seeking redemption. Based on eppy 6.02 'Ignite on Contact'

Disclaimer: Same as always. I own nothing but my muse and my love for all things #firefighters #Sevasey & #Lindseride

A/N: Season 6 is off to an amazing and amazingly angsty start! Ugh hate Hope and hope she leaves lol meanwhile I do love me some #stellaride and can we please start every eppy with Severide only in his boxers‼ This is Kelly centric b/c I love him best and hope everyone likes this little eppy one shot

Note: As always "words in quotes and double italics taken from the eppy" single quotes or without are past convo's or thoughts.

"See…knew this roommate situation was gonna work out great."

It wasn't what he expected to hear the morning after…the morning after he had agreed to let fellow 51 Firefighter and longtime friend Stella Kidd stay at his place temporarily until she found a new permanent one of her own. He told himself, that true to her words, it would just be two people sharing a space and they could come and go as they please and do…whatever.

However, he was so tired from the night before that he fell asleep and woke up the next morning after sleeping in only his black boxers he had forgotten, albeit temporarily, that he wasn't alone. So he padded into the kitchen, started the coffee and then ensconced himself in the morning newspaper. He didn't even notice the other person in the room until Stella started to walk toward him wearing only a pair of dark navy yoga pants that hugged every curve and…a lacy bra top…or bra or…it showed a lot of skin and he had to force himself to think of something that turned him off or he would have betrayed…well something to hear.

"Hey…" Stella greeted him with an amused smile. The same smile that had instantly displayed itself when she walked into the main living area of his open loft and hungrily gazed upon his nearly naked frame. She could hear Dawson teasing her now about still being hung up on Kelly Severide. But as much as she tried to push Dawson's nagging tone to the back of her mind, she had to admit…her next actions would betray her true inner motives. She pulled off the dark sweat top she slept in which left only her lacy bralet underneath and then headed toward him with an inviting sashay.

Kelly could only offer her an amused smile but had to hand it to her – her cool demeanor and somewhat flippant line made him chuckle and watch her take her leave in silent amazement. She had come to him in need of help; a second chance to get back on her feet and get her life back to where she wanted. He had to admit that she had as bad luck with apartments as she did with men.

He offered her presence a frown but had to stop and ponder some new feelings that started to simmer from deep within. They had agreed they would try to put any romantic entanglements behind them and just remain friends but seeing her like that…the two of them alone in his apartment and those lines started to blur. However, he reminded himself that she wasn't giving off any signs of wanting to just find the nearest soft surface and get it on, so he had to temper those feelings and push them back down…way down.

A second chance? His mind pondered as he took another sip of his hot coffee and then headed for his bedroom to get ready for the day. And the day wasn't about to go any easier on him. Boden pressed him and Casey hard to find out who was behind the suspected arson at Donna's school and at first they thought it would be a slam dunk case. However, after they had started to prove that it wasn't arson, the can of emotional worms was opened and they were told to dig deeper – find something that would prove Donna's claim.

So him and Casey went to the school to talk to some of the kids that had been in the ill-fated chemistry class to see if they knew anything or anyone that might be responsible for the 'fire'. At first no one wanted to confess until one boy in the front row, Rashidi, who had been there trying to help Donna and the other teacher and suffered second degree burns on his hands. His body language told both him and Casey that he knew more than he was letting on – only in that moment, Severide didn't know they were about to finger the wrong man.

Just as Rashidi was going to tell them…something, they watched one of the kids named 'Mateo' who had been snarky to them earlier, offer a warning glare to Rashidi before he disappeared into the hallway with the rest of the student fray.

"What's the deal with this kid Mateo?" Severide asked later to a small group that included, his chief, Boden's wife Donna and one of the CFD AI investigators.

As soon as Donna started to tell them about Mateo's history, failed two grades, always in trouble, fights, bullying and started a few fires last season, Severide told himself that this kid was the one to blame. He had a free period before chemistry class and was nowhere to be seen. Course with Donna's urgent agitation pushing them in a direction to convict before having all the facts, which riled him up even more. He hated to see anyone bullied and if this kid Rashidi was on the receiving end of Mateo's fists, he wanted to set things right.

"If you get a confession, you don't need forensics," Severide reminded them which only caused the agitation in the room to grow and the CFD officer to remember to keep their anger in check and let the process run it's course.

But that didn't sit right with him and he felt his anger starting to stew inside his frustrated frame. And that was about to boil over when Dawson would return from a call with some startling news.

XXXXXXXX

"Whoa there."

Severide turned to see Stella Kidd near him and offered her a tight lipped smile. "Yeah…doesn't work," he huffed as he looked at her with a strained expression.

"What's…going on? Roomie?" She tossed out there lightly.

"Just…ah this kid…the one from the school…he knows something and now he just got beat up for it and…and we have no proof because the kid won't talk. Won't say who did it."

"Who do you think did it?"

"I…I don't know for sure," he replied as they looked up to see Boden at the end of the hall with Casey and Donna. "Maybe they know now."

He pulled away from Stella's concerned expression and headed toward them; arriving just in time to hear Donna tell them that Rashidi won't say it's Mateo and the teacher who was burnt in the fire was just put into a medically induced coma and the prognosis was slim.

That made his blood boil even more. First this kid Mateo started a fire that caused a lot of damage and nearly killed someone and now he was using violent tactics to keep the one person who knew from talking. And now…now it was time to stop talking and take action.

"You want to call OFI for the results?" Casey inquired.

"I…can do more than that," Severide answered. And without telling any of them where he was going, he pulled away and left three wondering expressions in his wake.

On the ride over to the school, a little voice inside his brain tried to tell him that he needed to stop and think about his actions before he did them. But he wasn't listening. He wanted to set things right. He wanted to help Rashidi do what he wasn't able to at that age – fight back.

Stop dwelling on the past! You know you need to wait for the process to catch up! His brain warned again as he stopped his car and marched into the school with a head full of steam. He lined up Mateo in his sights and headed straight for him, determined to get a confession from him one way or another.

And he would, only it wouldn't be what he wanted…or expected.

Severide followed the unsuspecting student down the stairs, onto the landing and then called out "hey!" before he caught up and then started to thrown down some angry Severide muscle. He grabbed Mateo by the arm, turned him around and then shoved him against the wall and started to hit the wall on either side.

"Hey…you like to intimidate people!" Severide growled as he hit Mateo on each shoulder once more.

"Hey what the hell!" Mateo angrily shot back.

However, as much as Mateo might have thought himself an intimidator or a bully for those younger and perhaps smaller than him, he wasn't a match for Severide's fists of fury. He would find out what it was like to be on the receiving end of intimidation – and he wouldn't like it.

"Get the hell away from me man!"

"You beat up Rashidi," Severide stated firmly. "And we know why. He knows you lit that fire," Severide pressed on. Now for the first time since he had met Mateo, Severide could see real fear and uncertainty in the younger man's eyes.

"Sounds like you got it all figured out. So what you want from me?" Mateo asked point blank as Severide's frame continued to block any escape path.

"I want you to admit it," Severide stated plainly.

Mateo could see that he had lost his fight and the determined firefighter wasn't going anywhere until he heard what he wanted. So…he gave him his version of the truth.

"Okay sure. I dropped his punk ass and then I chucked a match in the chem lab. So what?"

"So what?" Severide countered as his frustrated agitation continued to gain momentum.

"It's not my problem man," Mateo offered with a nervous chuckle; trying to sound calm and in control but rapidly losing the battle.

That attitude…that I don't care attitude caused Severide to react with a bit more force than expected. "Not your problem huh…huh…" Severide barked as he shoved Mateo against the wall and then in a surprising turn of events, grabbed him by his green sweatshirt and pushed him over the rails; his body half suspended over a few flights of open stairwell. "HUH!" Severide shouted as he roughed him up a bit more.

He finally let Mateo up and the younger man was able to wrestle himself free and shout, "get off me man!" and then stare at Severide with actual fear. He didn't hold his ground as Severide had expected…he didn't fight back…he just ran. He looked at Severide for a few seconds with an expression of fear before he…ran.

What have I done, Severide's mind inwardly groaned as he stood alone in the stairwell a few minutes to try to collect his thoughts. Mateo had confessed only…only he didn't feel like it was a win…no victory for the good side. It felt now…like he was the bully and Mateo was now Rashidi. This didn't go accordingly to plan.

XXXXXXXX

"Where have you been?" Casey questioned as he returned to 51 and then neared Casey and Boden in the main conference room.

"I went to the high school," he answered with a slight huff as Casey and Boden exchanged worried glances.

"What did you do?" Boden asked, knowing full well what his hot tempered Squad Lieutenant was capable of.

"Got Mateo to confess," Severide answered as both Casey and Boden looked at him in shock. "Only…I don't think he did it. Says he threw a match but…wasn't it a chemical fire?"

"Yeah," Casey confirmed. "Why would he confess to a crime he didn't commit?"

Severide paused a few seconds but he knew – Mateo confessed because he had bullied the younger man into it. Damn…I went there to stop a bully but became one instead…something I swore I'd never do. "This kid is damaged."

After that he felt…empty, depleted…defeated. He looked at the somewhat disappointed expression on Boden's face and felt his stomach sink. He wanted the truth so badly he was willing to stoop to a lower level to get it – only…it wasn't the truth and he knew it.

"What's going on?" Casey asked when Severide held his place before following Boden toward his office to review the evidence.

"I uh…the kid was…ah never mind," Severide tried to shrug it off as he nodded to Casey. "Let's go find the real arsonist behind this."

"Severide…"

"Yeah I'm good," he pasted on a tight lipped smile as he tried in a vain attempt to assure Casey he was okay and the subject now needed to be dropped.

But he swore to himself that once they found out who the real culprit was he'd go over to Mateo's and make things right. And they would find out and the truth would hurt…them all. There would be no victor's in this situation – only losers.

However, not all would be lost as there was still one more second chance waiting to happen.

As he neared Mateo's home; the address he had gotten from Donna in an attempt to make things right, his stomach started to tighten as he wrestled with how much to tell the younger man that he had once wrongly fingered. Severide didn't expect much in return – only to be heard and make sure the younger man knew – he had a second chance and to make it a good one.

As soon as the door opened, Mateo looked at Severide and tried to push it closed; but Severide was too fast and ensured the door stayed open long enough for him to be heard.

"Hey…hold on. You're off the hook," Severide told Mateo in haste. That made the younger man pause, his facial expression soften the door to open a bit wider. "Look…I know what it's like when everyone already has their mind made up about you," he started; this time speaking from personal experience and a somewhat troubled childhood. That also made Mateo look at Severide in a new light – like for the first time in a long time a stranger…an adult stranger knew what he was going through.

"Sometimes it's easier to let them think the worst." That small confession prompted Mateo to open the door even wider and Mateo to listen attentively.

"Doesn't have to be that way," Severide told him in truth; his facial expression now filled with friendly concern. "You decide who you are, not them. But you can't go around beating people up every time you feel disrespected; that'll take you down a dark road – trust me," he paused as he tried to push away his own inner demons that started to resurface. He didn't expect Mateo to say anything and so far the younger man had kept quiet – Severide just had to make right the wrong he had committed earlier.

"You have a second chance here Mateo," Severide added just as he turned to leave. "Don't blow it."

And that was it, he said what he came to say and that was it; he felt good and he hoped that it would do some good. But part of him knew that he also offered that second chance to himself and unlike when he was Mateo's age he was now in a situation to take that second chance and use it for good. He just did.

He wouldn't know for sure but just before he cleared the walk completely Mateo showed some concern and asked how the teacher was – and that was the small glimmer of hope that both needed to see. He hoped things would be different now for Mateo and that he'd take that second chance and make a better life for himself.

And Mateo would – the main reason being that someone…for the first time in a long time cared; sought him out and let it be known that he was worth something. He had a second chance and he was going to use it for good.

Severide got back into his car and exhaled heavily; his head a bit light but the inner agitation nearly subsided. He wanted nothing more to just go home and crash after an emotionally exhausting day. But just before he could direct his car to the right a text came through and he was quick to read it:

'First beer's on me. 51 won the muster…come help us celebrate. Missing your presence!'

Severide smiled at Stella's text and without any hesitation he turned the car to the left and headed for Molly's. A second chance? He had offered one to someone else…why not offer it…himself.

THE END!

A/N: Well…hope I'm not too rusty at these one shots and hope you all liked this a little so please do review before you go and thanks so much!

PS: hope you all enjoyed the latest update to 'A New Start' and will be caught up (read/reviewed) before the next angsty update! (and maybe some couple time hehe)