A/N(a): My apologies in advance to the Gabby Dawson fans who are going to read this story.

A/N(b): This story was also (indirectly) partially inspired by FrankieFandom's "Just an Accident". Hope you enjoy though the subject matter may make that difficult. Please read and review!

Scars

"10-1, 10-1! Shots fired! Repeat, shots fired!"

Kevin Atwater and Adam Ruzek ran through the darkened streets and chased after the two dealers who were firing at them, returning a few shots of their own, hoping if nothing else, to slow the two punks down, at worst, to take them out permanently if need be. Intelligence had been investigating a string of heroin deaths and tied the batch everybody was OD'ing on back to a ring of small time dealers cutting in on the competition. They'd set up a buy for $50,000 worth of blow, when they made the bust, Antonio and Halstead had managed to nab most of the ring but two of them had managed to get away, and Atwater and Ruzek were now in pursuit of them. And given how many people, how many kids, have been dropping dead from the product they pushed, neither was too particular about if they brought these sons of bitches in alive or not, especially since they had five other members to haul in already. Around them the two cops heard the ricochet of bullets pinging off the cars parked on the street, among other things. Fortunately the streets were pretty empty in this neighborhood at this time of night and there wasn't anyone else around so they didn't have to worry about any bystanders getting caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately as far as they could tell, their own bullets were also missing all their marks, because the dealers weren't slowing down any. The two cops chased them five straight blocks, then they came to a sudden stop as gunfire opened on them from the other direction, and that turned out to be Hank Voight making his entrance from around the corner.

"Chicago PD, get your ass on the ground!" Voight ordered the two dealers.

"I'm hit!" the 20-something skinny white punk covered in tattoos said as he and his Latino partner dropped their guns and assumed the position of raising their hands behind their heads.

"You'll get another hit if you don't get your ass on the ground!" Voight told him with a pronounced kick that knocked the dealer's foot out from under him.

As soon as the last word left his lips, Voight and his men heard the sound of somebody screaming from nearby, it sounded like one block up. Ruzek called for an ambo and gave their location and told dispatch they had a possible gunshot victim.

"Cuff them," Voight told his detectives, "I'll check it out."

He kept his gun raised and his flashlight on as he followed the echoing wails of somebody screaming either in pain or terror. The neighborhood their botched sting had taken place in was poorly lit, half of the street lamps had been shot out. In the middle of the block, coming out of an alleyway between two buildings, there was a form crouched down by the curb. Voight shone his light on the figure, and he felt his eyes widen.

"Oh my God, Matt!"

Matt Casey was crumpled on the sidewalk, collapsed on his knees, his head tucked into his chest and just about to fall over, simultaneously screaming and crying hysterically. Voight holstered his gun and ran over to see if the fireman had been hit in the crossfire.

"Casey, are you alright?" Voight asked as he made his way over to the younger man. He used his flashlight to look Matt over for any injuries. As far as he could tell, Casey didn't have a drop of blood on him, but he looked awful.

"What're you doing here, Matt?" Hank asked as he tried to get Casey to focus. It was then that he realized Casey was dressed in his pajamas and his feet were bare, what the hell was going on?

Casey just now seemed to notice the Intelligence sergeant, and he screamed even louder and tried to get up, but he fell back on his knees. Voight grabbed him and tried to restrain the lieutenant. Off in the distance he could hear approaching sirens. He could feel tremors running through Casey's body and against his own, synchronized with the shaky sobs that were the only sound coming out of Casey's mouth.

"Take it easy, Matt, the medics will check you over, it's going to be alright," Voight assured him, positive that the young fireman was in shock. Living in Chicago, being shot at was practically a norm, but people still had their breaking points.

Matt took in a large breath, and yelled incoherently as he pointed to something up the street. Voight turned, expecting to see another one of the dealers he and his crew had set out to bust that night, or some other lowlife of the city, gun drawn and about to open fire. Instead, he saw another form laying in the street half a block up from them.

"Stay here," he told Matt as he let go of him and went to see what was going on.

Casey fell back on the sidewalk, a hysterical, screaming mess, unable to move from his spot.

Voight lowered the angle of his flashlight, and he felt his heart pound against his chest.

"Oh my God," he said in horror.

Gabby Dawson was laying in the street covered in blood, hardly recognizable, pieces of flesh gone from her face and pieces of bones scattered in the blood, an apparent victim of the bullets that had been flying during the chase, he couldn't even count how many times she'd been shot, though he could tell at least four for sure.

As many years as Voight was a cop, he knew what he knew, but he also knew to always check and make sure. He crouched down and touched his index and middle fingers against her neck and felt for a pulse.

She was gone.

Casey was finally able to form actual words, and what he said made Voight's blood run cold.

"Is she dead? Oh God, is she dead?"

The ambulance pulled up, Voight signaled for them to stay with Casey, he got on his radio and told Halstead and Antonio to stay out of the area, he'd explain why later. By now Ruzek and Atwater were coming upon the scene with the two handcuffed dealers in tow.

"Oh my God," Adam said as he took in the sight before them.

Voight turned to his men. "Did either of you see her? Did you see either of them?"

Both men shook their heads.

"We didn't see anyone, sarge," Kevin answered, "Just those two we were chasing."

They heard a car coming up the street, Voight turned and saw a familiar blue Mustang pull up at the curb, and Kelly Severide got out. Voight headed over to him and asked, "What're you doing here, Severide?"

"I was a couple blocks away when I heard the sirens, I came to see if there was anything-oh my God, is that Gabby?"

"Don't," Voight grabbed Severide just as he started to run. Kelly struggled with him and tried to push past him, but Voight stood his ground. "Don't...you can't help her." He shook his head, and the point finally got across.

"What? What happened?" Kelly felt his eyes stinging with the onset of tears and felt his heart pulsating somewhere between his chest and his throat.

"That's what we're trying to find out."

"No! Not Gabby!"

"I'm very sorry, Kelly."

Kelly turned, and just now saw Casey for the first time and he broke loose from Voight and ran over to Matt, and skidded to a stop on his knees right beside him. Casey had been fighting with the paramedics, but when he saw Kelly, he forgot about them and latched onto his best friend and dropped his head on Kelly's shoulder as he mournfully sobbed, "She's dead...she's dead, oh God, she's dead."

Kelly hugged Matt and didn't know what to say other than, "I'm sorry, buddy." He was feeling just as lost, stuff like this didn't happen to them, it happened to people they saved, people they tried to save, never to one of their own.

The paramedics came over to examine Casey, and when he saw them he got violent and swung at them, almost chanting maniacally, "No-no-no-no-no!"

"Matt, it's alright," Kelly told him, forcing himself to remain calm, "they're going to make sure you're okay."

"No-no-no," Matt practically barked at him before burying his head in Kelly's shoulder again, "is she dead? Is she really dead?"

Severide could feel Casey shaking, and he could also feel the gooseflesh bubbling on his arms. He himself felt like he'd just had a bucket of ice water poured on him. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real.

Kelly turned his head and saw Voight coming over towards them, now what?

"They're gonna take Casey to Med," Hank told him, "I'll be along later when he's had a chance to calm down, we need to ask him some questions."

"I'm going with him," Kelly said, refusing to let go of Matt, who right now didn't seem able to stand up on his own.

"That's going to be up to the paramedics," Voight kept his cool, well aware how hard this was for Severide.

Kelly's eyes suddenly widened in horror as he realized, "Antonio-"

"I'll break the news to Antonio," Voight said.

Kelly merely nodded in response, and he had to help restrain Casey while the paramedics got him on a gurney.

"It's going to be alright, Casey, I'm gonna ride with you," Severide told him, trying very hard and failing miserably to hold back the tears audible in his throat, as well as the ones welling up in his eyes.

Voight watched as the ambulance pulled out, their sirens blaring again, then he turned back to the bullet riddled body of Gabriela Dawson, and he personally felt like he was going to be sick. But he had to be professional about it, he told Atwater and Ruzek, "I'll call in another ambo, and CSU and some patrolmen to help with the canvass, let's find out if anybody around here saw or heard anything that could explain what she and Matt Casey were doing here."

"On it, sarge," Atwater said, he and Ruzek both visibly shocked by what had happened.

Voight glanced back at the body of the young woman again, and he dreaded what he had to do now. There was no way to pinpoint how Antonio was going to take the news, but Hank decided to err on the side of caution, and called in another ambo, so there'd be somebody standing by who could restrain and/or sedate Antonio if need be, and once he found out his sister had been murdered in the chase, Hank felt certain it would be necessary.

Antonio was on his way to Med and would be kept in a 72 hour psyche hold. He'd taken the news about as badly as Hank had figured, and right now he didn't want to take any chances that Dawson would do anything drastic in his grief. In his gut he knew he did the right thing but he was having a hard time not feeling like he'd just betrayed the detective. He returned to the scene, EMS had taken Gabby away earlier, but her blood remained on the pavement. Everybody else from Intelligence was there and just barely able to hold it together. As far as they were concerned, this had been one of their own that had been killed. Unfortunately there was the question had Gabby been hit by the dealers' bullets, or Ruzek and Atwater's, or both? Nothing would be certain until the ballistics report was in, though an educated guess had been made based on the position of Gabby's body on the street, from what was presumed to be the angle she was standing at when hit, and so far it was leaning towards Kevin and Adam being in the clear, but nobody was going to be satisfied until the final report was in.

"Any witnesses?" Voight asked.

Halstead cleared his throat, "Same old, nobody saw anything, nobody heard anything, nobody will testify to anything...there are a few people on this block with security cameras, we're pulling the footage now."

"Good." Right now he'd take anything they could get.

"CSU only found Gabby's blood around here, apparently Casey wasn't hit," Jay added.

"That's something," Voight said, "but what the hell were they doing out here? And why...Gabby was still dressed, Casey looked like he jumped out of bed, why?"

Everyone looked at each other and tried to consider the possibilities.

"Maybe we need to go check out the apartment," Atwater suggested.

Voight had never been to Casey's apartment, not since the whole Jack Nesbitt ordeal when a murdered woman's body was found there anyway, but he kept tabs on his people and theirs, and he knew that the apartment Matt and Gabby lived in was about a mile from that neighborhood. He couldn't think of any reason the two of them would come this far on foot, if someone had broken into their apartment, if a fire had broken out at the apartment, none of it added up. But he hoped Atwater was right and they'd be able to find some answers.

Before he could answer, his phone buzzed, the number got his attention and he took the call. A minute later he hung up and told the others, "There's been a development at Med."

Maggie was waiting when he entered through the automatic doors.

"What's going on, Maggie?" Voight asked.

"Everybody here is trying not to lose it, we all loved Gabby."

Voight nodded. "How's Matt doing?"

"I'm not sure," she told him. "He's being examined right now."

"Was he shot?"

"No. But EMS said he went into seizures on the way here."

Voight squinted one eye, "How'd that happen?"

"They don't know. At first they thought it might've been an adverse reaction to the drugs they were giving him to calm him down...but it sounds more like some kind of interaction with something else."

"Well I happen to know Matt Casey doesn't take drugs," Voight said.

"I know," Maggie told him. "Kelly is beside himself right now-"

"Where's he?"

"A cop has been assigned to Casey's room to get a statement from him whenever he's able to talk, so far nobody except the medical personnel is allowed in there. Severide's calling the others to let them know what happened, I expect we'll have a waiting room full of firefighters in about an hour," Maggie said.

"Later I need to get a statement from Kelly," Voight said.

"Was he there when it happened?" Maggie asked.

"He was nearby, I'm wondering if he might've seen anything. But what'd you call me for?"

"As I was saying, Kelly's not good for much right now, but Casey started throwing up and Severide told us that Casey's had the flu all week. Apparently it's so bad he had to take off last shift."

And that would explain anyway why Casey wasn't dressed. Voight was starting to put the pieces together. "And if he has it that bad...he might be taking something over the counter to deal with it that could've interacted with the drugs the paramedics gave him."

"And Kelly is in no condition to drive, and there's nobody else that can go to the apartment to see what medicine he's on," Maggie said.

"Funny you mention that, I was just heading over there to see if I can find out what's going on...I don't suppose Casey said anything."

"He's alternating between throwing up, screaming and crying," Maggie shook her head, "no, he can't tell us anything. As a precaution, we're running a tox screen, but if you can find out what if anything he's on before that, it would help us a lot."

"Will do, Maggie."

"Hank...please tell me you got the bastard that killed Gabby."

"I hope so, Maggie...I hope so."

"Hey!"

Voight and Maggie turned and saw Kelly standing in the middle of the corridor.

"What's the deal? Why won't they let me in to see Casey?"

"Standard procedure, Casey could be an eyewitness to what happened, when he's able to talk we need a statement."

"A statement?" Kelly looked ready to hit the ceiling. "He's losing it in there, somebody needs to be with him."

Hank and Maggie looked at each other and Voight told Severide, "Follow me."

They went down the hall to Casey's room, even before Voight entered he could hear Matt's hysterical sobs. He addressed the patrolman standing beside the door, flashed his badge and told her, "Take a walk."

"Sergeant, all due respect, I have to stay here until I can get a statement," she said.

Voight looked at the man laying in the bed curled in a ball crying his eyes out, and asked her, "How long's he been like this?"

"Since I arrived," the patrolman answered.

"You really think he's going to be saying anything anytime soon?"

"Sergeant-"

"This guy's allowed in here," Voight pointed to Kelly, who made his way over to the bed and leaned over the rail and pulled Casey against him in a strong hug.

Voight continued to explain, "There're going to be some firefighters and EMS down here later who are going to want to see him, they can come in, but nobody else, you got that?"

"Yes sir," she responded meekly.

To his surprise, once she was gone, Casey actually was able to form words, though not too many. In between sobs he choked out, "Kelly...do you know...do you know..." that was as far as he could get.

Kelly tightened his grip on his friend and said reassuringly, "We're going to find out what happened to Gabby, Casey, don't worry, whoever did this is going to pay for it."

Casey choked on his sobs and was unable to speak again.

"I'll be back later," Voight told Severide.

Right away Voight could see something was wrong. Casey's truck and Gabby's car were both parked at the curb, lights were still on in the apartment, the front door was open and a window was broken, the glass was shattered in the yard down below. He and Atwater proceeded with caution and made their way inside. For the most part it didn't look like a struggle had taken place. A couple of things in the living room were knocked over but that could just as easily have been from somebody running out in a hurry as someone busting in. They went room by room and finally cleared it, and satisfied nobody was still there, they searched for any medicine out in the open, or even not in the open.

"Just see regular stuff here," Atwater sorted through the medicine cabinet, "aspirin, sinus pills...birth control."

Voight entered the bathroom carrying two white bottles. "Got anti-nausea pills and allergy pills here...not sure off hand if these would interact or not. We'll haul it all in and let Maggie figure it out...hey, what happened here?"

"Huh?" Kevin turned around and saw Voight had stepped back out of the room and was looking at the wall. He went over to see what it was Voight was seeing and they saw that the wood had splintered from the door being kicked in.

"Who do you suppose did that?" Voight asked.

Atwater shrugged. "Front door wasn't broken in...the broken glass was outside, so whoever busted the window did it from in here."

"Gabby wouldn't let in anyone they didn't know...even if Casey was delirious with a fever I doubt he would either."

"So then they knew whoever it was," Kevin said.

"Unfortunately, neither of them can tell us who it was," Voight replied.

"Or what they were after."

"No...but maybe we can find out. Let's see if their phones are here."

The two cops went to the bedroom and found the covers thrown to the foot of the bed, one phone was on the nightstand, it was Casey's. It was the only phone they found.

"Gabby probably still had her phone on her," Kevin said.

"We'll get them to release her personal belongings from the morgue and have the techs dump it, if they did know whoever was here, maybe they sent a text we can dig up and get something to work with."

Voight's phone buzzed again.

"Yeah?" he answered. Atwater noticed the sergeant's eyes widening slightly. "Okay." He disconnected the call and said, "They got something on the surveillance cameras. Let's get this dropped off at Med and head back to 21."

"What's going on?" Hank asked as he and Atwater entered the bullpen.

Halstead, Ruzek, and Burgess were all gathered around Ruzek's laptop and looked over at their sergeant.

"We ran the footage from the cameras," Halstead told him. "You need to see this."

Voight stepped behind them and looked at the screen.

"We got film from 8 cameras around that block, all different angles, we got them put together, and this is as much of the story as we can get answered here," Ruzek said as he reset the video.

The night vision footage showed the block where they'd found Casey and Gabby. It was empty aside from the parked cars. Suddenly there was movement coming from the alleyway between two buildings, it was Casey half running and half staggering as his feet made contact with all the litter and debris in the street, looking to be in an absolute panic. A few seconds later, Gabby came running through the same alley and seemed to be gaining on him. The footage switched to another angle and showed the two oncoming dealers who turned to fire back at the two Intelligence cops who were chasing them. Amidst the gunfire, there were a few flashes as Gabby got hit and she went down instantly, Casey had gotten half a block down before the shooting started and whether it was connected to the shooting or not, he fell on his knees, and he stayed there. He looked back, and when he saw Gabby he started screaming, and he stayed in that spot, not moving, until a couple minutes later when the footage showed Voight coming up to him.

The video ended and everybody stood around in silence, unsure what to make of what they'd just witnessed.

"Matt Casey was running away from Gabby?" Voight asked. He looked around at the detectives and added, "Why?"