This is just a one-shot I typed up on my phone after the second episode of Chicago Fire season 3. Just a hypothetical but I thought I'd share :D I don't own any of the characters but I do enjoy writing them.
"Hello, sorry to call at this hour but Kelly Severide needs a ride home. I tried to get him into a cab but he kept telling me to call you, could you come pick him up?" The unfamiliar voice on the other end of the phone asked. Erin Lindsay was not used to receiving phone calls at two in the morning but none-the-less she tried not to sound as annoyed as she felt.
"That's okay, where is he?" She asked rubbing sleep from her eyes with her free hand.
"Jamison's Bar, corner of Hughes and Twelfth, he's pretty drunk" The man responded, sympathetic.
"I'm on my way" Erin replied before hanging up. She switched on her bedside lamp and got dressed pulling on the first items of clothing she found. It was two in the morning, nobody was going to comment on her fashion sense. Once dressed she switched off the light and used her phone to light her way through the apartment, halfway between the kitchen and lounge room the screen timed out leaving her mid stride in the darkness. She could hear Halstead breathing evenly as he slept on the sofa. Fumbling in the darkness she promptly dropped her phone then kicked her toe as she moved to retrieve it. Before she could consider her new flatmate she cursed loudly and dropped her keys. The noise sounded ten times as loud as it usually would. She froze, hopping that Halstead would stir slightly then return to sleep.
"Lindsay, is that you?" He asked squinting in the dark to see her.
"Yep, sorry. Go back to sleep" She responded, finally finding her phone, she stood and pulled on her coat and boots before realising her keys were still on the floor.
"What's going on" He asked sounding confused.
"Nothing, go back to sleep" Erin replied as she found her keys. She then let herself out the front door and made for her car cutting the conversation short, leaving Halstead thoroughly confused. Once in the car she took a moment to plot the journey in her head, driving after being startled awake was dangerous, sleep inertia wearing off. In the non-existent early morning traffic it didn't take her long to arrive at her destination. On the front steps of the dodgy looking bar sat two men, one was Kelly Severide, the other she assumed was the barman who had made the call. Reluctantly she got out of the car and greeted them, Severide rushed to hug her, she shoved him into the car roughly in response. She thanked the tired barman quickly and returned to the warm interior of her car. Despite his inebriated state Kelly had understood her body language and kept quiet. The trip back to her apartment took twice as long because she had to stop for him to vomit. In that moment she could have renounced alcohol once and for all. He kept his mouth shut as she led him up the stairs and sneaked him through the apartment, she didn't really know why she was being so careful, it was her apartment after all. In truth she just didn't want Halstead to get the wrong impression. Once her bathroom door was firmly shut she pulled off his clothes and pushed him into the shower, but not until after he had tried to kiss her. She handed him a toothbrush before leaving him to wash. He emerged smelling much better and she helped him dress in boxers and a t-shirt before handing him a glass of water and ordering him to drink, he obliged then followed her into bed. He tried to snake his arm around her but she pushed it off and rolled away from him. It didn't take long for them both to fall asleep.
When her alarm went off four hours later she was far from ready to face the day. She had no idea that missing half an hour of sleep would leave her feeling so dreadful. She slipped out of bed leaving her drunken companion to snore alone and threw herself into the shower. Feeling much better she dressed and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Halstead was awake and sat on the couch watching cartoons while eating Fruit Loops with strawberry flavoured milk. The sight made Erin feel ill but she didn't comment instead fixing herself some wholegrain toast with avocado and a mug of coffee. In a coordinational nightmare she managed to drop her mug, burn her hand and cut it on a ceramic shard in a matter of seconds. She slipped to the floor and sat cradling her profusely bleeding hand while wondering what the hell she had done wrong. It was then that she understood why sleep deprivation was so effective. Hearing the commotion Halstead was quick to rush to her aid.
"Are you okay?" He asked wrapping a tea towel tightly around her hand.
"Just fine" Erin responded in an attempt at sarcasm, it was so pathetic she wanted to cry but instead she gritted her teeth and tried to stand up. Had it not been for Halstead she would have fainted.
"Take it easy, you're going to need stitches" He instructed supporting her as they made their way to the front door.
"I need my stuff" She argued before instructing him to collect her gloves, wallet, phone and badge which he handed to her keeping the keys for himself. She didn't protest when he helped her into the passenger seat nor when he insisted they go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. He tried to joke about the bizarre situation while they waited, she didn't crack a smile and thankfully they didn't have to wait long.
"Erin Lindsay?" The nurse called, looking exhausted.
"You head into work, this won't take long, I'll text you and you can come pick me up" She said adding the last bit as encouragement.
"You sure you're okay?" He asked looking concerned.
"I'm fine, thanks" Erin replied before making her way to the nurse, she gave a small wave as she followed the nurse into the maze of the emergency department.
"Erin is it?" The doctor asked as soon as she was seated on the bed.
"Yes"
"What a way to start a Wednesday" He commented looking at the blood soaked tea towel.
"Not exactly something I planned" She explained
"Of course not! Now, what's happened?" He asked while peeling away the fabric, the cut was right through the webbing that connected the thumb and pointer finger of her right hand.
"I dropped a mug and I was a bit too eager to pick up the pieces"
"And you've burned the hand at the same time, it's starting to blister" He pointed out as he inspected her hand.
"Great" She shrugged.
"Any allergies?" He asked as if he'd asked the question a million times that day.
"Nope"
"I'll just get some stuff then I'll stitch this, dress the burn and you'll be on your way. How's the pain?" He pressed looking up from the wound with a painfully forced sympathetic look.
"It's fine" She answered
"But it does hurt?" He asked prodding her hand with a gloved finger.
"Yes"
"Good, no pain would suggest nerve damage" With that he stood and left the room momentarily. He returned, gave some quick injections of local anaesthetic before stitching the wound, he slathered on a thick, dark ointment then wrapped the hand carefully and instructed her not to use it. She thanked him and left the hospital. Halstead arrived quickly and was sufficiently sympathetic to her injury. Voight was less impressed, confining her to her desk for the day and scolding her stupidity. She couldn't even raise her early morning drunk rescue mission in defence so she settled into her chair and got to work. Nadia kept her supplied with coffee and biscuits from the tea room and tried to be cheerful but Erin wasn't in the mood. At midday she received an apology text message from Severide, she ignored it. With her technological wizardry she aided the team in solving the murder of a fourteen year old girl who had been found under a bridge with no ID. Cyber bullying and an obscure online cult were to blame. Halstead was very gentlemanly and insisted on driving her home at the end of the day despite the fact she felt much better. He looked hurt and confused when she discovered a cake and note on her kitchen bench. She said he could eat it before retreating to her bedroom, note in hand. He knocked a few hours later and delivered her dinner in bed, keeping her company while she ate. He tried to probe into the early morning escapade and cake situation but she wouldn't talk. She called for an early night ending their strange bonding session.
When Severide knocked on the door the next morning the last thing he expected to see was Halstead. After an awkward pause Halstead explained that he was staying on Erin's couch until people stopped trying to kill him.
"I just wanted to see Erin" Severide explained pushing his way into the apartment.
"I don't think she's up yet, but feel free to wait" Halstead said resuming his breakfast routine. Severide stood looking frustrated but soon became absorbed in the ridiculous cartoon Halstead was watching. It took Erin twice as long as it usually would to get ready with only one functioning hand. She took a moment to process what she was seeing when she entered the kitchen.
"Erin, what happened? Are you okay?" Severide asked looking at her bandaged hand in concern.
"I'm fine. What do you want?" She asked trying to ignore Halstead's look of pleasure, it was obvious something bad was going on between her and Severide.
"I just wanted to talk" Severide responded, before looking pointedly at Halstead.
"I'm running late" She said checking her phone screen to confirm the time.
"Okay, but we need to talk" He said giving her a hurt look before leaving the apartment.
"What's going on there?" Halstead asked as soon as Severide was gone. He knew Erin wasn't going to answer but he asked anyway.
"Are you ready?" She asked completely ignoring the fact that he has spoken.
"Yep, do you want me to drive again?" He asked looking at her hand.
"Do you want to drive again?" She asked causing him to frown in frustration.
"Why do you always answer questions with questions?" Halstead asked grabbing the keys from the bench and leading the way out of the apartment.
"What do you mean?" She responded just to annoy him. The drive to headquarters took longer than usual as school traffic exacerbated their lateness. Once at work they quickly set about finding the route of an overly habitual drug smuggler. Erin was left at her desk while the others went to test their theory. Today she was in a better mood and enjoyed joking around with Nadia, they glued the pages of Ruzek's report together and generally messed up people's things. Nadia braided her hair, something Erin couldn't manage with one hand, and in return Erin shouted lunch. She felt comfortable discussing girly things with Nadia and even sought advice on the Severide situation, she hadn't escaped life with a drunken mother only to date an equally out of control man.
"If he really loves you and you've told him that his drinking is a problem he'll stop drinking!" Nadia announced evidencing to Erin just how much progress she had made in the last six months.
"Okay, so say he stops drinking, what then?" Erin asked.
"Then you agree to go out with him!"
"What if he doesn't stop?"
"Then you focus on tackling bad guys and forget about him!"
"Life is so much easier when you're a teenager" Erin announced in response.
"Sure" Nadia said sceptically.
"If Voight gets back and we aren't there he's going to get annoyed" Erin added indicating that the meal and conversation were over. They walked back to the station, made their way up the stairs and had just sat down when they heard the team arrive. Perfect timing. They listened to Halstead's detailed version of events, in which he was single-handedly responsible for stopping the truck and arresting the two smugglers. Antonio set the record straight and kindly tried to make it sound less eventful than it had been. He'd been benched enough times to know how much it sucked when the team came back with an awesome story. Erin gave him an appreciative smile and got back to work organising files and sorting paperwork.
"You coming to Molly's?" Halstead asked as the team descended the stairs together at the end of the day.
"I don't think I've done much to deserve a drink, sitting at a desk all day" She said scowling at Voight.
"You can come out tomorrow, but you go in first, I don't want somebody shot in the back" Voight reasoned.
"I can shoot left handed" Erin replied shaking her head in disgust.
"So you coming?" Halstead asked again.
"No, I have some stuff to do"
"I'll get a cab" Halstead said handing her the keys. Driving without the proper use of her right hand was harder than she expected but she got to her destination safely none the less. Erin felt nervous knocking on the front door of the small apartment.
"Detective Lindsay, how can I help?" Matt Casey asked opening the door enthusiastically.
"Is Severide here?" She asked hopefully trying to look past the fireman into the apartment.
"No sorry, he was but he left about ten minutes ago, didn't say where he was going" Matt responded.
"Thanks" She said turning to leave.
"He's having a really hard time at the moment, I've never seen him this out of control before" Matt added sounding genuinely concerned.
"I can't help him if he refuses to help himself" Erin replied cryptically before disappearing down the stairwell. Unwilling to search every venue that served alcohol in the city she made her way home. Severide sat leaning against her door with an apologetic look on his face.
"Hey" He said standing as she neared the door. She let him in and set about making dinner while he sat watching her.
"You wanted to talk" She prompted putting the dish in the oven.
"I loved Shay but I've been doing everything wrong. Instead of making the most of the time I have I've been stupid, really stupid and I'm really sorry" He said keeping eye contact with her despite the fact that tears welled in his eyes. Erin nodded and took a moment to think before responding.
"I can't have another alcoholic in my life. I won't" She replied, her tone indicating just how serious she was.
"I'll stop drinking, I have stopped" He guaranteed looking determined.
"Okay, but don't do it for me, do it for yourself. I'm not going to be blackmailed into a relationship with you because you'll drink yourself to death if I leave" She said sounding harsh and distant.
"Erin, I wouldn't do that"
"I don't know that" She said knowing how much her comment would hurt him.
"What now then?" He asked after a thoughtful pause.
"You can take me to dinner on Saturday night" She answered.
"I'll see you then" He said pulling her into a hug before leaving the apartment with a grin. He passed Halstead on the stairs still grinning like a madman.
"I can stay somewhere else if you want to play scrabble with Severide!" Halstead announced as he let himself in. Erin had served her dinner and was sitting at the table eating it. She shook her head and didn't respond. "Seriously though, I'm confused, this morning he looked like a kicked puppy and now he's grinning like a Cheshire cat!" Halstead added.
"None of your business!" Erin replied wondering whether or not she should eat in her room.
"I don't want you to miss out on make-up sex" Halstead said seriously. Erin blushed.
"I don't want you to..." She began but had made it to her room before she finished, it was a good thing too because she didn't really know how to respond to that. She ate her dinner and went to bed early.
So I considered writing their date but couldn't seem to find the motivation to make this a multi-chapter thing, especially seeing as I'm trying to update 'A New Beginning' regularly (its Linseride if you want to check it out). Leave me a review if you want, I might even write more of this if someone can suggest a reasonable plot line :D