AN: Ok, so I lied. To myself apparently. I just needed to take a nap. Darn fickle muse. Just had to spring this idea in my head. You know the drill. Let me know. Happy Monday!

Since the house is on fire let us warm ourselves. ~Italian Proverb

I could hear shrieking. What was that high pitched annoying noise that brought me right out of a deep sleep? I look to my clock and note that it is three in the morning. What in God's name is going on? That's when it hits me. It was the smoke alarm. And it wasn't just for my apartment. It was for the whole building. I jump out of the bed like the damn thing is on fire and I shove my feet in the shoes that are still next to the bed. I had stumbled in at midnight after working overtime, so I had been lucky that I had even made it to bed. I am blindly grabbing my work bag and heading out of the door before I even think about what I am doing. When I look down the hallway, the smoke is already making the space hazy.

Mrs. Allen! Oh God, will she even hear the noise? I start running to her door since she is older and I'm worried she would just ignore the commotion. Luckily, she is opening her door just as I reach it. Relief consumes me as we grab each others hand and head for the exit. We are making our way across the street and I look back. My heart immediately sinks. The whole third floor is already engulfed in flames. They lick the side of the building from out of the windows like a dog licking his lips at a new meal. It was fast and wild and I knew in that moment that it would hit my apartment soon. So much for those design ideas I was thinking of.

Sirens. I can hear them now out in the distance. A part of me is relieved to know that they are on their way. However, I also know that they won't be able to save a thing. As I step up onto the curb on the opposite side of the street, I instinctively wrap an arm around Mrs. Allen which is when I realize that she has forgotten a coat. Shit. Look who's talking. I wasn't any smarter. The cold is finally starting to seep through the long sleeve t-shirt that I had thrown on before bed. Well, there goes my CPD coat and my cellphone which is currently sitting on my night stand. Oh well. Not going back in that blazing inferno for something as trivial as that. My neighbors are still pouring out of the building and are making their way over to where we are standing. I'm glad to see the O'Ryan's and the Smith's. Two of the families with small kids. They are whole and safe, but obviously scared.

The sirens are blaring loud now and I'm happy to see the truck pull up outside. As the firefighters start to pour out of the rig, I realize that I recognize every single one of them. House 51 was ready to work. I don't even pay attention to what they are yelling back and forth to each other. I know the reality. They are not going to be able to do much. The fourth floor is already billowing out dark, thick smoke and then a window on the second floor breaks and flames start coming out of it. It was the apartment next to mine. I can feel Mrs. Allen's shoulders begin to shake as she starts to cry. My heart breaks in that moment. The poor woman had just lost her husband the year before. Life could be so cruel sometimes. I look up as Lt. Casey begins to head in our direction.

"Burgess?"

I nod as he makes his way up to us.

"This is your place? Where is your coat?"

I point to the burning building and Casey frowns. He runs back towards the truck and begins to start pulling blankets out of the truck and is then yelling for the rest of the firefighters to help. He makes his way back to us and then begins to wrap Mrs. Allen up in one of the blankets before handing one to me.

"I'm sorry, Kim. There's nothing we can do at this point, but contain it."

"I know. I understand."

"How long has it been going?"

"I don't know. By the time the alarm woke me up and we got out here, the third floor was already completely in flames."

Casey did not look happy. He excused himself and headed back to the truck. I stay next to Mrs. Allen. We just continue to watch the flames eat at that brick building and I know that it will completely gut the inside. It was strange to be watching so much that I had worked so hard for basically be going up in smoke. But what else was I going to do? The fire had all of us in a trance. You couldn't take your eyes off of it. That's when it hit me. It would all be gone. No little spot to call my own. No leaky kitchen sink. No noisy radiator. I had no idea how attached I had become to that place.

More sirens. I look up as I see several black cars make their way up to the scene. Surprise is an understatement when I see Voight get out of the lead SUV. He heads straight for Chief Boden and they begin conversing about something as they point to my building. That's odd. Intelligence is not normally called to building fires. The next thing I see is Atwater and Ruzek jogging straight for me. Kevin reaches me first and wraps me in a bear hug that is quick but full of concern. As he pulls back, Adam is right behind him. This hug is so different. Adam has tucked my head right under his chin and his arms have a touch of almost desperation. I hate to admit it but I could have stayed there forever. In his arms, I feel safe. In his arms, I feel like things will be okay. He lets go and steps back. We've developed the strangest of friendships at this point. We have not talked about a thing, but have almost gone back to an alternate reality of what our friendship could have been if we had not been together. We aren't texting friends or drinking buddies, but we aren't avoiding each other anymore. We also aren't avoiding touching each other. It's a strange dance that I am not sure how much longer we were going to be able to keep up. I then feel Erin pull on my arm in order to wrap me in a hug. That's when I note that I am also surrounded by Antonio, Jay, and Olinsky. As Erin finally lets me go, I address the rest of them.

"What are all of you doing here?"

Atwater answered.

"The Chief called Voight. Said that this is the third apartment building to go up in the last few days. They are starting to see a pattern and the arson unit wanted us to be in the loop quickly. How you doing? You ok?"

"I'm fine. They think this could be arson, too?"

"Won't know till they can get in there and see what's what."

That may have been what Atwater said, but I saw the look in his eye. They were pretty sure that this would be the same thing. I pull the blanket tighter around myself. I wasn't cold, but it was a comfort thing at this point. I watch as Adam shrugs out of his jacket and then places it over my shoulders. I was going to protest, but saw the look in his eye. No argument was going to work. I let it sit on my shoulders and just breath in the smell of his cologne. A much better thing to be filling my nose with than the smell of the smoke from the fire. Erin places a hand on my arm as she redirects the conversation.

"Do you know where you are going to go? Do you have a place to stay?"

I see Atwater grimace.

"You know I would offer, but we already have my cousin crashing on our couch."

"It's okay, Kev. I know."

"Jay and I have a couch if you want."

Ugh. So not the best option. Especially since Erin's room did not exactly have doors. It was more of a studio apartment masquerading as a one bedroom. Adam clears his throat.

"I know you will say no, but I have a spare room. Might be more comfortable than a couch."

I could feel the group almost collectively back off from that one, but I found myself looking right at Adam. Why was I even considering it? I should say no. It would be weird. It would be a bad idea.

"OK."

What did I just say? How in the world did my tongue just make a decision for me? I watch Adam blink like he wasn't sure he just heard me right, but then the next second he is taking his keys out of his pocket. He pulls off one of them and places it in my hand.

"Since I won't know how late we are going to be."

I can feel myself nodding and I am just fully realizing that I have agreed to this. Voight is now calling the unit over and they all reach out to me before heading that way. I then note that I am still wearing Adam's jacket.

"Adam."

He turns back and I pull it off to hand to him.

"Thank you, but you're going to need that."

He takes it from me and smiles before catching up with the group. What in the world am I getting myself into?

Post note: Sorry if there are grammer/punctuation errors. I did some major editing and I might have missed some stuff.